Business relationship

A good test of assessing the current state of HR in a company is to ask. : “Tell us something about your business.” Very often we at HR are preoccupied with discussing the latest challenges /innovations in HR practices ( recruiting, training leaders, incentive compensation, HR analytics etc.) Dave Ulrich puts it well when he says “HR professionals almost invariably define  BUSINESS as HR business.” While there is no doubt that all of the above are important  they are not THE BUSINESS. They are in support of business. But the real business is external: the context and setting in which our various business verticals operate , the expectations of key stakeholders and the strategies that give Kuoni a unique competitive advantage. Therefore if HR professionals are to be true business partners, then they must learn the art of taking the outside reality and bring it into everything they do. This is the challenge of HR going forward and I do hope we are able to contribute to business performance, by changing our mindset to centre on the goals of business.