Evolution of HR Role, Functional Areas, Diversity Policies, and Retention Programs

HR Role Evolution and Required Skills

A)Discuss the evolution of the HR role from administrative to strategic.  What internal and external factors were involved in this transition? Discuss and provide examples of three different types of skills needed by HR professionals to be effective as strategic business partners. 

B)Reflect on the HR function in your current organization or an organization you have worked for.  Evaluate the HR role in the organization and discuss the alignment between HR priorities and the organizational strategy (do not name the organization). In other words, did you see evidence of a strategic focus?  Why or why not?

A)Select three functional areas of HR (i.e. recruiting, selection, training and development, compensation etc.) and, for each one, discuss how that function supports the HR and organizational strategy.  Provide specific examples of goals and outcomes that support organizational success. 

B)Consider the organization you work for or one you have worked for in the past.  Evaluate the effectiveness of the HR function overall and at least two specific functional areas (do not name the organization).  Share at least one HR program or initiative that you found particularly effective and discuss how it supported the organization’s strategy.  Why was it effective? 

A)Discuss how an organization’s culture can impact policies and behaviors related to diversity and multiculturalism.  How can HR influence organizational culture to support diversity and multiculturalism?  Discuss at least 3 policies or practices that HR can propose and how they should be communicated to senior leaders. 

B)Evaluate and discuss the diversity practices and policies of your own organization or one you have worked at.  How does the organizational culture influence diversity and multiculturalism? Provide specific examples, but do not name the organization. 

A)Why is retention such a major focus for human resource managers?  How does focusing on retention add strategic value to the organization?  

B)How would you go about developing a retention program for your organization? Be specific in terms of what steps you would you take.  What might be some of your biggest challenges? What type of metrics would you need to obtain and what methods would you use?