Contributors to Today’s Strategic HR

Earlier this fall, I started a series on Strategic HR (aka SHRM "the topic not the organization") and while my intentions were to write more on this topic, time got away from me.  However, I did write and initial post that many found helpful which was referencing contributors to the topic of SHRM.  Today's post is a guest post by +Tina Gist who is both an HR professional and a graduate student of HR working on her masters degree and the graduate certificate in HR.  The following goes into much greater detail about several of the most interesting thought leaders in this field.  I personally had the good fortune to meet Dr. Lawler in person at both the Though Leaders Retreat this fall that I wrote about and at the Leadership Conference in DC as we were introduced to the SHRM Foundation board for which he is on.  I have also seen both Micheal Losey and Bill Conaty speak at prior SHRM events.  Enjoy the work from one very talented and knowledgeable student at UIS where Leadership is truley LIVED!

            There have been and are many major contributors to the world of human resources. It is the connection to the business and importance of the human capital that have created the new world of human resources and the strategies we use to succeed in business.  Many of these contributors have shared their insights and expertise and will continue to share through their various research and publication efforts in the future.           

            Dave Ulrich is a Professor at the University of Michigan and co-founder and partner of RBL Group, a consulting firm that assists organizational leaders.  He is an author of many books and publications related to human resources and leadership. He was ranked the #1 Management Educator and Guru by Business week and labeled by Fast Company as one of the 10 most innovative and creative leaders as well as most influential person in HR by HR Magazine for three years. (Turner, 2012) Ulrich and his colleagues: Wayne Brockbank, and Jon Younger have articulated how the modern HR organization can be organized into shared services, centers of expertise, and business partners.  (Dave Ulrich, 2012)

            Wayne Brockbank is a Clinical Professor of Business at Ross School of Business and is the Director of the Center for Strategic HR Leadership at the University of Michigan. He is also a consultant and executive educator at The RBL Group. He has published The HR Value Proposition and HR Competencies: Mastery at the Intersection of People and Business and The HR Transformation.  He has written many articles in top HR publications, one particular article included the six roles that leaders expect their HR professionals to fill; strategic positioner, credible activist, capability builder, change champion, innovator and integrator, and technology proponent. Brockbank’s research and contributions will continue to educate and further develop the world of HR. (Banning K. E., 2012)

            Norm Smallwood, co-founder of the RBL Group; he has co-authored/authored ten books and published hundreds of articles in leading journals and newspapers. His contributions are based on leadership. He has created a way to add value to business through leadership branding, capitalizing on capabilities, and his distinct ideas for talent management and reputation. (Meek, 2012) Smallwood and Ulrich have worked on the outcomes of effective leadership and investing in leadership. (Dave Ulrich, 2012)

            Edward E. Lawler III is a professor at the University of Southern California Doctorate in Psychology. Lawler’s career has focused on organizational development effectiveness, and strategic human resource management. He has written over 350 publications and 45 books in this area. In one article “What Makes HR a Strategic Partner” he notes there are three main tasks to the fundamental success of HR: to perform the administrative and clerical tasks that provide governance for all the legal and administrative compliance, perform as a business partner and as a strategic partner. He notes that the administrative and clerical tasks must be performed efficiently by reviewing process improvements and outsourcing simple tasks as needed. One cannot move to the next level of being a business partner or strategic partner without getting the basics mastered. The next step of becoming a business partner is by delivering HR practices and services that support the organizations business model and meet the demands of managers and employees followed by becoming a strategic partner. Most importantly and consistent with other contributors is to include an acute awareness of the role of human capital in the overall corporate strategy. (Oliver, 2012)

            Susan E. Jackson Ph.D. is a Distinguished Professor of Human Resources Management in the School of Management and Labor Relations at Rutgers.  She has a Doctorate in Organizational and Social Psychology. Her focus has been managing for environmental sustainability, work team diversity, and strategic human resources management systems. Jackson has published more than 150 scholarly articles as well as an author/co-author/editor of 12 books. (Profile: Susan E. Jackson, 2012) Her work helped understand what burnout is and factors to counteract it.  Jackson has done extensive research on employee burnout and recognizes the role human capital plays is important in the success of business. Her contribution to environmental sustainability has led her to found the website, GreenHRM.org, a resource for “ecofriendly” HRM Scholars, students and executives interested in workplace management practices. (Adams M. , 2012)

            Randall S. Schuler is also at Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations, a Distinguished Professor of International HR Management and HR Strategy. He has authored or edited over 45 books. He is one of the most cited management scholars in the past thirty years. He will contribute to the world of HR for many years to come especially with his current project, co-editing the Global HRM series which consists of 20 books and more than 300 articles. (Johnson, 2012)

            Edgar H. Schein, a former educator at MIT Sloan School of Management  and has a PhD in Social Psychology from Harvard.  He has contributed to the world of HR through organizational development and is the inventor of the term, “corporate culture”.   While many of his articles and books are not labeled as “strategic” they are strategic in nature, as he has written on various organizational concepts, business management functions and corporate culture. (Fox, 2012)

            Jeffrey Mello, a Dean at Siena College, School of Business and Professor of Management and Business Law. He holds a Ph.D. in Law and Public Policy: Human Resources Management and Organizational Behavior.  He has many substantial contributions to the field of human resources. He has written the Strategic Human Resource Management textbook with 3 editions and many other book chapters, articles, essays, journals, and reviews relating to the field ranging from labor law, affirmative action, union labor, and social media.  Dr. Mello wasn’t able to find an appropriate textbook for his human resource class so he decided to write his own. His contribution focused on investing in people and strategic planning. (Lance, 2012)

            George F. Dreher a Professor of Business Administration at Kelley School of Business at Indiana University with a Masters degree in Industrial Organizational Psychology, and a Ph.D. in Psychology.  He has authored the book Human Resource Strategy: A Behavioral Perspective for the General Manager as well as many other publications. His contributions, as provided by Rhonda Hernandez, focused on salary, gender, minorities, and cultural perspectives.   She discussed the gap between white-male professional and women and men of minorities. Dreher explains how white male professionals receive higher salary, promotions, and benefits that women and male minorities in the United States and recommends more research to find a resolution to these inequalities.  Dreher believes if industries used the same tools for measurement it would help to alleviate some of these limitations. (Hernandez, 2012)

            Professor Thomas W. Dougherty is known for his expertise in mentoring.  He is a Professor of Management and Chair of Business and Economics at the University of Missouri Trulaske College of Business.   He has also contributed through networking processes and their role in employee career success as well as career development, career burnout, managing turnover and stress. He has been published in many professional journals and his book, Human Resource Strategy: A Behavioral Perspective for the General Manager that he co authored with Dreher.  (Tracy, 2012)

            Bill Conaty, a businessman and leader that spent a 40 year career at GE, now retired and contributing as a role model through Conaty Consulting, LLC.  He has a Bachelor in Business Administration. He spent 15 years as Vice President of Human Resources at GE and was a key asset to the former CEO Jack Welch. Conaty’s career is interesting to follow where he started as a plant manager focusing on operations to human resources, his forte. He served as the Chief HR Officer and helped lead GE to become an incredibly successful business that focused on employees.  His biggest claim to fame is his book, The Talent Masters:  Why Smart Leaders Put People Before Numbers, a book he co-authored with Ram Charan.   His contribution as a strategic business partner using succession planning, workforce development, and emphasis on putting people first made him successful in business and made an impact on how people view human resources today.  (Schmidt, 2012)

            Michael R. Losey, a University of Michigan graduate with his Masters in Business Administration degree in Industrial Relations. He holds a SPHR, Senior Professional in Human Resources Certification as well as a CAE, Certified Association Executive. Losey was the past president and CEO of the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) and held this position for ten years. His contribution revolved around putting people first and that people are the greatest asset in the business. He was a major player in increasing knowledge and membership of the SHRM. Strategic HR Management is a recognized profession thanks to his leadership at SHRM and the growth of the organization under his leadership. (Raker, 2012)

             John Purcell, Associate fellow at the Industrial Relations Research Unit at the Warwick School of Business.  He is known as “The expert on employee relations”. and  for his work and contributions to the field of strategic human resource management. His emphasis on linking and managing people and the effectiveness of the organization as a whole is of key notability. He has authored numerous publications but most significant is the third edition of Strategy and Human Resource Management with Peter Boxall. He continues to research the link between managing employees and how effective the organization is at achieving its goals. (Lambert, 2012)

            Peter Boxall is the Associate Dean of Research at the University of Auckland Business School. He has a Ph.D. in Philosophy with emphasis in Human Resource Management. He is known for his contribution as co-editor of the book The Oxford Handbook of Human Resource Management.  Forming the HRM goals to motivate employees and how these goals contribute to their business strategies are his key contribution. He suggests the answers are found in the organizational culture and business objectives. He believes setting goals are the key to success, “priority one, without an understanding of the HRM goals or how to implement them, employee performance and motivation will decline and organizational culture will become caustic.”  (Trine, 2012)

            Greg L. Stewart, Professor of Management and Organizations at the University of Iowa. He has a Ph.D. in HR Management and Organizational Behavior. Stewart has published several textbooks and numerous professional journal articles and is considered an expert in the areas of human resource management, personality and performance, the influence of candidate characteristics and self-directed teams.  (Adams, 2012)

            Kenneth Brown also a Professor at the University of Iowa. He has a Masters Ph.D. in Psychology. His expertise is e-Learning, motivation and self regulation as well as training design and evaluation. He has a Senior Professional in Human Resources Certification and has contributed to the field of HR as a professor and co-author of the text, Human Resource Management: Linking Strategy to Practice  (Banning J. , 2012)

Conclusion

 There are a number of contributors to the world of HR, Ralph Christensen and Jac Fitz-enz, “The father of measurement” to name just a couple more. The HR audience is growing as we join management at the table and streamline processes and functions that contribute to the bottom line. Companies that include HR and the many contributions made by the professionals of the past and future will only gain insight and success with implementation.

Bibliography

Adams, L. (2012). Greg l. stewart's strategic hrm contribution. University of Illinois at Springfield.

Adams, M. (2012). Contributions to strategic hrm by susan e jackson, phd. University of Illinois at Springfield.

Banning, J. (2012). Kenneth g. brown and his contributions to strategic human resource management. University of Illinois at Springfield.

Banning, K. E. (2012). Wayne brockbank: Contributions made to strategic human resource.

Fox, L. L. (2012). Edgar h. schein: Contributions to the study and practice of strategic human resource managment (shrm). University of Illinois at Springfield.

Hernandez, R. (2012). George f. dreher, phd. University of Illinois at Springfield.

Johnson, R. A. (2012). Randall s. schuller: Strategic human resource managment contributor. University of Illinois at Springfield.

Lambert, E. (2012). John purcell: The expert on employee relations. University of Illinois at Springfield.

Lance, J. (2012). Jeffry mello's contributions. University of Illinois at Springfield.

Meek, B. (2012). Norm smallwood's contributions to strategic human resource management. University of Illinois at Springfield.

Oliver, R. (2012). Shrm: Edward e. lawler iii. Unversity of Illinois at Springfield.

Profile: Susan E. Jackson. (2012). Retrieved Nov 10, 2012, from Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations: http://smlr.rutgers.edu/susanjackson

Raker, A. (2012). Michael r. losey: Sphr, cae. University of Illinois at Springfield.

Schmidt, K. (2012). Bill conaty: Influencing the field of human resources. University of Illinois at Springfield.

Tracy, J. (2012). Thomas w. dougherty's contribution to strategic human resource managment (shrm). University of Illinois at Springfield.

Trine, A. (2012). Peter boxall: Contributions to strategic human resource managment. University of Illinois at Springfield.

Turner, D. (2012). Dave ulrich: Individual research paper. University of Illinois at Springfield.

Wilkes, M. (2012). Contributor: Ralph christensen. University of Illinois at Springfield.