The Rise
of HR
Wisdom from 73
Thought Leaders
Editors
Dave Ulrich, William A. Schiemann, gphr and Libby Sartain, sphr

foreword

Amy Schabacker Dufrane, sphr
preface

Jorge Jauregui Morales, hrmp

Provider of the globally recognized PHR®,
SPHR®, GPHR®, HRBP®, HRMP®, PHR-CA®
and SPHR-CA® certifications



The Rise of HR
Wisdom from 73 Thought Leaders

Editors
Dave Ulrich, Bill Schiemann, gphr and Libby Sartain, sphr

foreword

Amy Schabacker Dufrane, sphr
preface

Jorge Jauregui Morales, hrmp


Copyright © 2015, HR Certification Institute
1725 Duke Street, Suite 700, Alexandria, VA 22314
ISBN 978-1-329-01831-0
All rights reserved. No part of this book covered by copyright herein may be
reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means – graphic, photocopy,
recording, taping, or digital – without written permission of the publisher.
www.hrci.org
www.riseofhr.com


Every contributor to this remarkable volume has graciously donated ideas and
time to the over 1 million global HR professionals who want to make a difference.



HR Leadership for the Future Workplace
Amy Schabacker Dufrane
First, on behalf of our more than 140,000 certificants and the HR Certification
Institute (HRCI) board and staff, I would like to thank Dr. Dave Ulrich, Dr. Bill
Schiemann, GPHR, and Libby Sartain, SPHR, for contributing hundreds of hours
of their personal time to ensuring that this book illuminates the value and impact
that HR professionals bring to organizations every day.
As the industry’s foremost voice for human resources certification, HRCI has brought
together the world’s leading HR experts to share insights on our profession through
this inaugural Institute-sponsored publication that is being distributed globally in
an effort to advance the HR profession.
Seventy-three human resources thought leaders from across the globe volunteered

to contribute their expertise to this compilation of wisdom regarding the HR
profession. Together, their contributions offer a comprehensive look into the critical
issues transforming human resources—one of the fastest-growing professions in the
workplace and one that is being influenced by many factors, including technological
developments and globalization.

PHR • SPHR • GPHR • HRBP • HRMP • PHR-CA • SPHR-CA  I


FOREWORD

The human resources profession sits at the center of some of the most important
decisions in any business and is rapidly expanding its influence in the workplace. In
the United States alone, economists predict double-digit growth for human resources
managers this decade, as business operations increase in volume, complexity, and
variety. Organizations across the globe recognize the contributions of HR as a means
to elevate acceptable business practices to exceptional business performance.
HRCI is approaching 40 years of certifying human resources professionals. Turning
40 affords us the chance to reflect on the lessons of youth and apply them to the
future. During the first four decades of our organizational journey, we have faced
numerous opportunities and tests of character. From these experiences, we have
gained valuable knowledge about how to create still more opportunities and how
to rise to meet oncoming challenges. Most importantly, we at HRCI feel privileged
to have served—and to continue to serve—the HR field by helping to spread, scale,
and support best practices and professional standards.
As HRCI looks ahead to the next 40 years and beyond, we recognize that HR
professionals will play increasingly critical leadership roles within their organizations,
further underscoring the need for strong leadership in our field.
As the world’s leading provider of certification for human resources professionals,
HRCI has a lengthy record of propelling the HR profession to new heights. The

organization began certifying HR professionals in 1976 and has evolved into
providing new opportunities for ongoing career enhancement for the human
resources professional. Among other HR credentials conferred by HRCI, the PHR®,
SPHR®, GPHR®, HRMP®, HRBP®, and CA® are the world’s most recognized HR
certifications. To date, nearly 140,000 professionals in 100 countries have earned
these credentials through HRCI.
It is both an honor and a pleasure to present the impressive collection of insights,
observations, and provocations about the future of human resources presented in
this book. Without the leadership of Dave, Bill, and Libby, the astute contributions
of Virginia Lyon, PHR, and the both highly committed and competent staff of the
HR Certification Institute, this publication would not exist.
Thank you!
II  HR CERTIFICATION INSTITUTE • riseofhr.com


PREFACE

Jorge Jauregui Morales
President, World Federation of People Management
Associations
(WFPMA)
These are exciting and frightening times for professionals in HR and in other human
capital roles. We are all challenged globally to respond to the rapidly changing
world around us. I am privileged to serve as president of the World Federation
of People Management Associations, representing more than 90 national human
resource associations and more than 600,000 people management professionals.
In this role, I see many global trends that will reshape our professional and
personal world. These trends are influencing, and will continue to influence, the
role of HR and human capital practices in organizations, whether they are private
sector, government, NGOs, or nonprofits.

For example, leaders in almost every country are facing shifting demographic
trends, including five generations simultaneously in the workforce for the first time,
the ever-expanding roles of women and minorities in organizations, and an aging
population in many industries and locales. These undeniable trends are occurring
amid geopolitical shifts, unprecedented economic challenges in many regions, and
unstoppable acceleration in technological innovation. And, no part of the world
today can survive without increasing innovation, collaboration, and productivity.
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PREFACE

Change is everywhere and all the time. For HR professionals and leaders who
manage or shape human capital, whatever game you are playing will be changed
not once, but many times over the next decade.
This is the crucial setting in which the HR Certification Institute (HRCI) saw the
need to pull together HR thought leaders from around the world from associations,
universities, consulting, government, and business to discuss these challenges. I
participated in the first such event in Chicago last November where the goal was
to model collaboration, innovation, and global insights on human resource issues.
The result of that discussion was an invitation to more than 80 global leaders
to contribute their thinking to a truly remarkable anthology. Dave Ulrich, Bill
Schiemann, and Libby Sartain, who moderated the event, have pulled together 73
of these leaders to answer a simple question: What do HR professionals need to
know or do to be effective in today’s and tomorrow’s business world?
This book contains essays from these thought leaders that provide fascinating and
unique insights into the role of HR in today’s changing business environment. The
contributors to this book address questions that will shape tomorrow’s HR: What
will customers and investors expect of our organizations, and how will HR leaders
help grow value for these external stakeholders? What can HR do to deliver and

optimize talent? How can HR professionals build organizations with capabilities
in innovation, collaboration, culture, and execution? How can changing technology
and advanced analytics be applied to human capital management? How will the
HR function be governed in the future? What competencies will be critical to
success as an HR professional tomorrow?
These topics—and many more—provide rich reading and a head start for those who
aspire to be tomorrow’s leaders and who desire to add value through HR. What’s
exciting about the organization of the book is the ability for readers to move around
to topics that may be of the most interest to them. Also, in asking for essays, Dave,
Bill, and Libby limited lengthy dissertations and instead focused authors on key
points—making this an enjoyable read. They also added a useful overall introduction,
conclusion, and section introductions that help frame the book’s contents.
What is equally impressive to me is that these thought leaders have collaborated
in an unheard of way to share their global insights. No one has been paid, and
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Jorge Jauregui Morales

everyone who has contributed has done so because of their personal commitment
to the profession. HRCI has graciously spearheaded this event and is willing to help
distribute this work for free. With them, I envision up to 1 million HR professionals
worldwide accessing this book. What a remarkable statement about how we can
further this great profession.
Regardless of your current role or life stage, this anthology will provide new insights,
but it is up to you to translate those insights into practice in your organization.
Also, as the world shrinks and our reachable networks increase, I hope that you
will share these insights with your colleagues, enabling these ideas to reach the far
corners of the globe. Let us join together in the rise of HR.
J. Jauregui Morales, HRMP

February 2015

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CONTENTS

introduction

Advocates of the HR Profession...................................................................................1
Dave Ulrich, William A. Schiemann and Libby Sartain

1 context to strategy
Introduction..................................................................................................................13



HR’s Role in the Digital Workplace: A Time for Reinvention........................... 19
Josh Bersin Bersin by Deloitte


The Case for Change Capability: How HR Can Step Up

and Stand Out as a Strategic Change Leader .......................................................25
Holly Burkett Evaluation Works

Environmental Scanning: An Emerging Challenge for HR Professionals.......35
Wayne F. Cascio University of Colorado Denver


Twelve Predictions for a New World.........................................................................41
Seth Kahan Visionary Leadership

What HR Needs to Do to Help Develop Global Asian Talent...............................47
Chee Wei Kwan Human Capital Leadership Institute

Ethics: The Price of Admission in High-Performing Organizations.................55
Clarissa Peterson Abt Associates



The Reluctant HR Champion?..................................................................................61
Robert Ployhart University of South Carolina

Knowing the Internal and External Public-Sector Environment:

Applying HR Competencies for Results...................................................................67
Fagan Stackhouse Charleston County / Neil Reichenberg IPMA-HR

Context Matters: Building Strategic HR From the Outside In...........................75
Charles G. Tharp Center on Executive Compensation and HR Policy Association

HR as Orchestra Conductor.......................................................................................81
Ian Ziskin EXec EXcel Group LLC

2 organization
Introduction..................................................................................................................91

The Importance of Culture to Achieving Superior Business Performance:


A Leadership Opportunity for HR...........................................................................97
Hugo Bague Rio Tinto

The Future of HR Is beyond “HR”........................................................................... 103
Kenneth J. Carrig SunTrust Banks / Aki Onozuka-Evans HR Consultant



HR as Guardian of the Future................................................................................ 111
Lynda Gratton London Business School


Stop Advising, Start Leading.................................................................................. 117
Kristi McFarland New Seasons Market

HR and Transparency.............................................................................................. 123
Susan Meisinger Columnist, Consultant and Advisor

HR From Around the World … Let’s Unite!.......................................................... 129
Regis Mulot Staples



Think Like a Marketer!............................................................................................. 135
Libby Sartain Business Advisor, Board Member and Volunteer


CHROs Need to Move From Influencing to Being Actively Engaged

in the Business............................................................................................................143

Padma Thiruvengadam Integra Lifesciences



From War for Talent to Victory Through Organization....................................149
Dave Ulrich University of Michigan and The RBL Group

Winning in the Mobile Internet Era: What Should HR Know

and Do to Be Effective?.............................................................................................. 157
Arthur Yeung China Europe International Business School

3 Talent Supply
Introduction................................................................................................................ 167

HRCI Certification as a Leading Indicator of High-Potential HR Talent...... 171
Amy Schabacker Dufrane HR Certification Institute / Iona Harding Harding Resources LLC

CEOs Want Better Performance. Great Culture Can Make It Happen............ 179
China Gorman Great Place to Work®

Strategic Workforce Planning: Preparing for Today and Tomorrow.............. 189
Carl Rhodes Human Capital Institute



Wake up, HR! Your Talent Supply Chain Has a Problem................................. 195
Lance J. Richards Global HRUnconferences and Crowd Companies



Driving Time to Value in the Human Age.............................................................203
Mara Swan ManpowerGroup

4 talent optimization
Introduction................................................................................................................ 213

HR as Organizational Leader and Champion of Diversity and Inclusion... 217
Andy Brantley College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR)

The HR and CSR Partnership: Talent-Related Benefits

for Employee Volunteerism......................................................................................225
Paula Caligiuri Northeastern University




Leave No Slice of Genius Behind: Selecting
and Developing Tomorrow’s Leaders of Innovation...........................................233
Linda A. Hill Harvard Business School



Finding Our Resilient Center.................................................................................. 241
William (Bill) G. Ingham Visa Inc.



The Wisdom of Women (and Madonna)................................................................ 247
Tacy M. Byham Development Dimensions International, Inc. / Debbie McGrath HR.com



HR Imperative: Raising the Bar on Engagement................................................257
David Shadovitz Human Resource Executive

Engaging White Men to Drive Diversity and Inclusion....................................263
Carole Watkins Cardinal Health

Attracting and Retaining Talent Through Differential Treatment.................271
Sandy J. Wayne University of Illinois at Chicago

5 Information & Analytics
Introduction................................................................................................................279

HR Analytics and Metrics: Scoring on the Business Scorecard........................285
Richard W. Beatty Univeristy of Michigan

HR’s Role in a World of Pervasive Information...................................................295
Wayne Brockbank Ross School of Business University of Michigan

HR Disrupted: The Next Agenda for Delivering Value.......................................303
Diane J. Gherson IBM

Workforce Analytics for Strategy Execution........................................................309
Mark Huselid Northeastern University

Don’t Forget About the Machinery.......................................................................... 317
Mark James Honeywell

Developing an Evidence-Based HRM Through the Conscientious Reliance


on Evidence, Sound Decision Process, and Stakeholders Perspectives............323
Denise M. Rousseau Carnegie Mellon University

Optimizing Talent: HR’s Key Role for Tomorrow................................................329
William A. Schiemann Metrus Group


6HR Governance
Introduction................................................................................................................339

The Future of HR: Will You Be Ready, Willing and Able to Lead?...................347
Mark Blankenship Jack in the Box Inc.



Avoiding the “Profession” Trap by Reaching Out and Retooling HR...............355
John W. Boudreau University of Southern California


The Future of HR: A Context of Change and Opportunity................................361
Peter Cheese Chartered Insitute of Personnel and Development (CIPD)




HR Challenges and Solutions for Small,
Medium-Sized and Family-Owned Businesses...................................................369
Jorge Jauregui Morales World Federation of People Management Associations (WFPMA)



HR as the Cultivator of Organizational Paradoxes ...........................................375
David Kryscynski Brigham Young University / Mike Ulrich University of South Carolina




The HR Leadership Diet: Trimming the Fat and Building Up Muscle
for a Sustainable Future-Ready Workforce..........................................................383
Low Peck Kem Public Service Division, Prime Minister’s Office of Singapore




HR: Think Big and Bold...........................................................................................391
Brigette McInnis-Day SAP


To Usher in the Age of HR, We Need to Start By Tearing It Apart.....................399
Ron Mester ERE Media, Inc.




Balancing Respect and Opportunity: When Is It Time
to Press the Reset Button?.........................................................................................407
Lorraine Murphy Air New Zealand


Renaissance HR......................................................................................................... 415

Anthony Nyberg and Mike Ulrich University of South Carolina

Hilton Worldwide: CHRO Lessons Learned From Our IPO Journey..............421
Matt Schuyler Hilton Worldwide

What Do HR Departments Need to Know in the Future?..................................429
Paul Sparrow Lancaster (UK) University Management School


7 HR Professionals
Introduction................................................................................................................439

Developing Human Resource Professionals in India.........................................447
Arvind N. Agrawal RPG Group

Always Global, Always Digital!..............................................................................455
Pranesh Anthapur Nutanix, Inc.

HR as Business Partner............................................................................................461
Richard L. Antoine AO Consulting and National Academy for Human Resources (NAHR)

Succeeding as a CHRO: Advice From an Observer..............................................465
Fred K. Foulkes Boston University

Creativity, Innovation, and Leadership as Key Factors in HR’s Future ....... 471
Pedro Borda Hartmann Mexican Association for Human Resources Management (AMEDIRH)

Behavioral Characteristics of Highly Successful HR Leaders:

A Subjective View....................................................................................................... 477

Alan R. May Boeing

How Do We Get There From Here?..........................................................................485
Kathryn McKee Human Resources Consortia



Leveraging Employer Branding as a Key Business Strategy............................493
Tresha Moreland Dameron Hospital Association and HR C-Suite


The Status Quo Is Your Biggest Threat..................................................................499
Donna C. Morris Adobe




From Banking to Berries: Acquiring Business Knowledge
All Over Again to Create Impact.............................................................................505
Lynne Oldham Driscoll’s


How HR Can Get the Squeaks Out of an Organization ..................................... 511
Garry Ridge and Stan Sewitch WD-40 Company

Health and Financial Wellness as Keys to Productivity ................................... 519
Dallas L. Salisbury Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI)






Speak the Language!.................................................................................................527
Jill B. Smart National Academy of Human Resources (NAHR)




Marketing, Measurement, and Modern HR.........................................................533
Joyce Westerdahl Oracle


Tests and Trials to Certify Human Resources Professionals.............................541
Peter Wilson Australian Human Resource Institute (AHRI)

conclusion
Now What? Implications for the Profession

and for You, the HR Professional............................................................................551
Dave Ulrich, William A. Schiemann and Libby Sartain



introduction

Advocates of the HR Profession
Dave Ulrich, William A. Schiemann and Libby Sartain
We are advocates of the HR profession. For the most part, we like HR professionals
(probably more than 1 million people worldwide), but liking the people in HR does
not sustain our HR activism. We strongly believe—and, importantly, can quantify—

that working in HR today delivers outcomes that matter to many stakeholders.
When HR professionals do their work well, good things happen to:
• Employees who have both higher work productivity and personal well-being
• Organizations that deliver on business goals and create cultures that endure
• Customers who receive products or services that matter to them
• Investors (debt or equity) who have greater confidence in future earnings
• Communities (cities, regulators, society) where citizens needs are better met
In a world of increased volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA),
HR issues matter more than ever.

Great (and risky) time to be in HR
The increased relevance of HR functions, practices, and professionals to stakeholder
outcomes makes this both a great and a risky time to be in HR. The good news is
that HR professionals have more opportunity to influence business success. The
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introduction

Conference Board’s 2014 survey of global CEO challenges ranked human capital
issues as the number one challenge.1 We have also found that the leadership profile
of successful CEOs matches the leadership profile of effective CHROs,2 and that
HR issues are increasingly a part of firm valuation by thoughtful investors.3
Estimates are that about one-third of the issues discussed at the board level are HR
related (e.g., succession planning, talent review, executive compensation, governance,
strategy execution, ethics, and culture).
But it is also a risky time to be in HR because the performance bar is higher. HR
professionals are under more scrutiny than ever to respond as their role takes on a
higher profile. When understudies become the leads in a play, when backup players
enter a game, or when employees become owners of a company, opportunities for

both success and failure increase. Likewise, as HR professionals shift from policy
administration, employee transactions, and functional excellence to business
outcomes, they will have more and unique opportunities available to have influence.
Indeed, HR is at a crossroads. We believe that HR can rise to this occasion and
meet these higher expectations. As the role and function of HR continue to evolve,
the business world’s perspectives on the field will need to evolve with them. To
respond to the new HR opportunities, many HR legacy mindsets that may have
been true in the past need to evolve to modern realities, including:
Historical Myth

Modern Reality

HR professionals go into HR because they like people.

HR is not just about liking people, but about understanding and
solving people-related problems in organizations. In fact, HR
often requires tough people choices to assure business results.

HR professionals don’t believe in or rely on numbers.

HR has relied on data for years; now more than ever
predictive analytics guide HR decision-making.

HR professionals want to get “to the table” where business
decisions are made.

HR professionals are now invited to the table; the challenge is
knowing what to contribute to stay.

HR’s customers are the employees in the company.


HR’s customers are the customers of the company; HR work
helps both internal employees and external customers.

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Dave Ulrich, William A. Schiemann and Libby Sartain

HR’s measures of success come from delivering the practices HR is about delivering business results; the scorecard of HR
related to HR (e.g., staffing, training, compensation, etc.).
is the business’s scorecard.
HR is responsible for the organization’s talent, leadership,
and capability.

Line managers are the primary owners of talent, leadership,
and culture; HR professionals are architects who design
blueprints and inform choices.

HR’s primary role is to keep the organization compliant with
laws and regulations.

Good HR leaders help the organization make good business
decisions that match the risk tolerance (or appetite) of
the organization.

Why this book and why now: Rising to the opportunities for HR
As the bar on HR has been raised, many thoughtful groups are working to shape the
future of HR. John W. Boudreau and his colleagues (sponsored by SHRM, PwC, and
NAHR) are focusing on expectations of HR constituencies, HR and performance,

talent pipeline for HR professionals, and rewiring of the modern world. Pat Wright
and his colleagues (with NAHR sponsorship) are studying the role of the CHRO,
with a particular focus on senior leader succession. Professional HR organizations
such as CIPD, AHRI, NHRDN, and others are exploring innovative ways to respond
to the opportunities.
To complement and rapidly advance this work, HRCI decided to use the wisdom
of crowds to gather perspectives on the state of the field, the future of HR, and the
ways HR can rise to the increased opportunities. To do so, HRCI invited about 75
HR “thought leaders”4 from all areas of HR to offer their insights on a relatively
simple question: What do HR professionals need to know or do to be effective in
today’s and tomorrow’s business world?
While this question sounds simple, answering it is not easy. It requires granular
thinking about HR across numerous variables: from industry (e.g., public versus
private sector) to firm size (e.g., large global firms versus small startup ventures)
to the global reach of an organization’s operations. The answer to this question
also requires mature thinking about a wide range of HR functions, from doing
administrative processes more efficiently and providing HR functional expertise
to offering integrated HR solutions to multiple stakeholders and managing the
paradoxes inherent in modern organizations. Managing HR at the crossroads

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introduction

means making these transitions by requiring that HR professionals both master
new ideas and no longer do some of the practices of the past.
We also believe that the “content” of what HR professionals must learn has to
be shaped by the “process” of doing HR. How HR works together within the HR
profession and between HR and its constituents (e.g., leaders, employees, customers,

investors, communities) reflects the modern adaptable, networked organization.
HR as a profession should model what we ask organization leaders and employees
to do, including:
• Collaboration – We appreciate that competition can lead to progress. But in
today’s business world, those who compete most effectively over time need to
learn to collaborate and work together. Traditional “command and control”
leadership styles are being replaced by “coach and collaborate” approaches that
make the whole greater than its parts.
• Innovation – We should focus more on what can be than what has been, which
requires innovation. Innovation can and will occur in HR services, business
models, and mindsets. We should look for new, creative, and pioneering solutions
to business problems.
• Application – We realize that activity for the sake of activity is not helpful. HR
practices, governance, and competencies should result in favorable stakeholder
outcomes. We want to see more ideas with impact, where academic theory and
research inform practice and where practice guides research.
• Globalization – In our digitally wired, global world, ideas move quickly—
instantly even—from one part of the world to another. HR work should be
adaptive to unique global contexts so that learning can occur through diversity
of thought.
As editors of this volume, we strongly believe that the opportunities facing HR will
be realized when HR content informs, and HR processes model, the modern and
ever-evolving organization.

How to read and use the book
As discussed, we asked a number of thought leaders to share their insights on how
HR professionals can be effective. We did not have a preconceived framework for
how these thought leaders would answer this question, but we hoped we would
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Dave Ulrich, William A. Schiemann and Libby Sartain

access a broad cross-section of ideas. We have been delighted by the thoughtfulness
with which they approached the question and both the breadth and quality of their
responses. We are especially pleased that many of the thought leaders were also
willing to prepare a short video clip to go along with their essay to make their ideas
even more accessible.
When we met with thought leaders and reviewed their essays, we distilled their
ideas and placed their essays into seven sections. Figure 1 shows the flow of these
ideas and Table 1 offers the details behind each of the seven sections. Each section
represents a body of knowledge or insights that HR professionals should be aware
of in order to respond to the opportunities they face.
HRCI (and other partners) have sponsored and underwritten this project. HRCI
plans to share this book with its 140,000 certificants. We believe that with other
HR associations joining this effort and with the book being forwarded to aspiring
HR professionals, these ideas could touch more than 1 million HR professionals
and others in related professions.
As an HR professional who wants to get better, we encourage you to look at sections,
articles, and authors and to read, watch, and learn from these thoughtful HR
leaders. We hope the ideas captured in this book will lead to experimentation and
adaptation. We hope that the HR field will rise to the promises and opportunities
available to us. We hope that the next generation of HR professionals will also be
advocates for the HR profession and continue to evolve it to deliver sustainable value.

PHR • SPHR • GPHR • HRBP • HRMP • PHR-CA • SPHR-CA  5