a reflection by Kathy Miller

One of our Human Resources clients once raised the following issue: "If we, in Human Resources, change to become more customer-focused, and give our internal customers whatever they ask for, how do we make sure that we give them what they really need?"  The following article gives my reactions to this very valid question.

Most organizations are not in business to deliver Human Resource (HR) services. Rather, they are geared toward producing and delivering goods and services such as chemicals, cars, and health care. The HR department exists to support the company in carrying out its main mission effectively and profitably. Yet, organizations frequently view the HR department as a hindrance to their performance rather than as support. The HR department is sometimes viewed as the creator of a morass of paperwork and red tape, and as the police of the organization -- always on the lookout for mistakes and misdeeds.

Companies are calling for HR professionals to change the way we view our roles and to alter the way we function.  If we can't make this change, our future is in jeopardy.  As Kenneth M. Alvares stated in writing about The Business of Human Resources (see reference below), "Today's business environment allows little tolerance for departments that exist solely as overhead."  We must become more customer-focused. The call for HR to become strategic partners with the broader organization and its businesses is resounding.

And yet, many of us in the HR professions are serving customers who are not necessarily sophisticated consumers of our products and services. This is not meant to depreciate our customers. As I noted previously, their expertise is focused on other parts of the organization and business. However, a relative lack of awareness of HR-related laws coupled with a somewhat casual understanding of HR methods and practices can lead our customers to ask for the "wrong" services.

I know that I run the risk of sounding arrogant by using the word "wrong."  I do not mean that we know more than our customers about their needs.  I do mean that sometimes our customers may not know exactly how to ask for what they need.  For example, a manager who has an employee with a performance problem may ask us to recommend training to address the employee's performance problem.  In reality, the customer really needs a solution to the performance problem ... which may or may not involve providing training for the employee.  Our customer may not know what will fix the problem; therefore he/she asks for a familiar "solution."

Our challenge is to address our customers' needs even when they don't know how to ask for what they need.  Of course, due to our own biases, we may run the risk of attempting to provide them with what we think they need, rather than what they really need.  We, in HR, are susceptible to the latest fads and our own pet theories just like everyone else.

However, we are in an environment that demands a "pull" rather than a "push" system for HR.  In this environment, to avoid providing empty products and services to our customers, we must focus with them on the outcomes they are trying to achieve, and the service characteristics that they value such as speed, responsiveness, thoroughness.  Then we can collaborate with our customers to define the services that will be most likely to address their needs.

We can learn from the automotive manufacturers that use "pull" systems to produce cars that customers want.  While we customers may not "want" air bags, we do want safe cars.  We leave the specifics of how to ensure our safety to the experts.  Yes, we may, at times, question their decisions and ask for evidence.  Nevertheless, we trust that ultimately the experts will design the safety mechanisms that will meet our needs.  Likewise, our customers may not know exactly what mechanisms to ask for to ensure the results they are after.  However, they want us to attend to their needs and they want to be convinced that we will ultimately use our expertise to provide them with the services that will meet their needs and have the characteristics that they value.

Therefore, as we redesign our HR organizations and become more customer-focused, we should be listening to our customers carefully. However, rather than asking them what services they want, we should be asking them about their needs and objectives, and about the expectations they hold for our products and services. Then we can apply our expertise to design HR systems that really listen to the voice of the customer.

Reference:

The Business of Human Resources
Alvares, Kenneth
In D. Ulrich, M. Losey, and G. Lake
Tomorrow's HR Management
John Wiley and Sons, 1997