From Picnic Organizers to Strategists: Turn of the Wheel for Human Resource Managers

Abstract

Human Resource (HR) managers traditionally have not occupied a very significant position and Human Resource Management (HRM) activities have often appeared to be disjointed and haphazard, giving little consideration to the organization’s strategy. However, recent developments have provided HR managers with the opportunity to move from their typecast role of picnic organizers to becoming strategic partners. This paper delves into the terrain of changing roles of HR executives by undertaking an analysis of the extant literature. It presents a review of various typologies of HR roles. It then highlights the emerging evidences vis-à-vis the changing HR roles. The paper further discusses the key strategic domains where HR executives are making their presence felt. The paper drives home the point that the mixed bag of empirical evidence on HR roles suggests that while the value of HR executives has indeed been elevated in recent years yet in several organizations they are still grappling with the challenge of proving their mettle. On the basis of the above discussion, various research propositions are presented for future research.