365 post and responses

Open the file and read the instructions

I NEED THIS ASSIGNMENT FOR 2 DIFFERENT STUDENTS WITH THE SAME TEACHER (2 DIFFERENT COPIES FOR 2 STUDENTS) I will upload the file to respond to it later (4 responses)

ASN4 – IBM (20) For MGT 365

Please read the attached case describing IBM’s Global HR Strategy in 2010. 

Boudreau_Modify IBM Case Study_PDF Only-CS5-partC-FINAL TO POST(1)

After reading the case please address the following questions in your initial posting.

How would the new structure and roles for the HR function change the necessary qualifications for future IBM HR leaders? For example, would the blending of the roles of business support and centralized functional support create a greater need for HR leaders adept at both business and traditional HR capabilities? Would traditionally trained HR recruits have the necessary background in business? Would traditionally trained MBAs have the requisite capabilities in the disciplines of HR?

How would the new structure and roles change the necessary qualifications for the role of leaders outside the HR profession, as talent strategists and decision makers? 

What skills should all business leaders be expected to have regarding fundamental principles of learning,engagement, motivation and employee relations? 

Bonus – Research the current status of IBM and its Global HR strategy?  Was the Global HR strategy successful? Why or Why Not?

https://www.ibm.com/employment/?lnk=fab

IBM’s Global Talent Management Strategy:
The Vision of the Globally Integrated Enterprise

By John W. Boudreau, Ph.D.

STraTEGIc Hr ManaGEMEnT
case study–part c

Project team

Author: John W. Boudreau, Ph.D.

SHR M project contributor: Nancy A. Woolever, SPHR

External contributors: Randy MacDonald
Richard Calo
Michelle Rzepnicki

Copy editing: Katya Scanlan

Design: Jihee Lombardi

© 2010 Society for Human Resource Management. John W. Boudreau, Ph.D.

Development of this case was made possible by a grant from the Society for Human Resource Management
and the National Academy of Human Resources. Information presented was current as of the time the case was
written. Any errors are solely the author’s.

Note to Hr faculty and instructors: SHR M cases and modules are intended for use in HR classrooms at
universities. Teaching notes are included with each. While our current intent is to make the materials available
without charge, we reserve the right to impose charges should we deem it necessary to support the program. However,
currently, these resources are available free of charge to all. Please duplicate only the number of copies needed,
one for each student in the class.

For more information, please contact:
SHR M Academic Initiatives
1800 Duke Street, Alexandria, VA 22314, USA
Phone: (800) 283-7476 Fax: (703) 535-6432
Web: www.shrm.org/education/hreducation

10-0432-part C

© 2010 Society for Human resource Management. John W. Boudreau, Ph.D. 1

INtroductIoN

Between 2002 and 2009, IBM had created a unique workforce management
initiative (WMI) that reflected the increasing need for global organizations to
have a transparent and comprehensive view of their talent supply, requirements and
implications for business

strategy

. The system was successful, being used by more
than 80% of all IBMers as a natural way for individuals to track and plan their
development and performance, for managers to estimate talent requirements and
availability, and for IBM’s strategic planners to gather data from this “living market”
to estimate future opportunities and challenges.

coNNectINg tHe WmI to tHe emPloymeNt lIfe cycle Process

Implementing the WMI system required creating or incorporating specific
“technologies” into every stage of the employment life cycle, from planning through
deployment. It involved tools for HR, IBM managers and IBM employees. The
box below shows the technologies and the areas of the employment process they
supported.

case Study Part c

Technologies
Workforce
Evolution

Technologies
Expertise
Assessment Profile
/ SEAS
CV Wizard
Learning@
IBM (Learning
Management

Technologies
Demand
Capture
Metro
OnTheMark
Capacity
Planning

Technologies
Global
Opportunity
Marketplace
Metro

Contractors
CSA, CITRuS
Contractor
Registration
(process for on/
offboarding)

Technologies
Skillmaps (Skill
Gap Closure)
moving to
Learning@IBM
Learning@
IBM Explorer
(Career)

Technologies
Professional
Marketplace
CV Wizard
Expertise
Assessment
Profile / SEAS

Technologies
Manager Portal
and Workforce
Dashboard
WMI SPoE for
Employees “Your
career” portlet
WMI integrated
with Workforce
Dashboard for
Managers

STRATEGY
DEMAnD &

SuPPLY
PLAn

ACQuIRE &
TRAnSITIOn

DEVELOP DEPLOY
EMPLOYEE

PROGRAMS

Develop HR
strategy

Manage taxonomy
and resource

profiile

Perform capacity
planning

Recruit employees Plan development
portfolio

Identify, select
and assign

Performance, pay
and incentives

Benefits

Workforce

programs

Develop individuals

Manage
development

programs

Source contractors

Perform
onboarding

Perform transfers

Perform
offboarding

Perform
operational
optimization

Develop learning
strategy

Assess supply

Manage supply

Manage demand

Develop workforce
management

strategy

2 © 2010 Society for Human resource Management. John W. Boudreau, Ph.D.

The implication of this system was that a great deal of the day-to-day work involved
in workforce management would reside with managers, team leaders and employees.
Yet, overseeing, maintaining and improving such a system would require talented
HR leaders. Those leaders might be deployed in central organizations that supported
workforce management across the globe. They might be located in functionally
specific units (such as units that were experts on talent acquisition, training
or organization design) that were assigned to particular regions or countries.
Moreover, in the existing HR organization at IBM, there were several established
roles. Some HR leaders served as “business unit HR leaders” who worked directly
with businesses, regions or countries to support their particular strategies and
HR needs. Others served in “centers of expertise” and provided specific expertise
and consulting in areas such as compensation, benefits, staffing, development and
labor relations. Still others served in HR “operations,” maintaining and enhancing
the supporting infrastructure of the function, including information technology,
communication, legal compliance, and data analysis and reporting. The exhibit
below shows IBM’s organization structure before its redesign.

While it was state of the art by traditional standards, the strict divisions between
HR roles would not allow enough fluid movement and integration across those
roles. For example, prior to the global HR transformation, the top row of boxes
below the senior vice president of HR had an HR leader supporting each of the
major HR functional areas such as learning, compensation and benefits, diversity,
and workforce relations. The bottom set of boxes shows the assignments of other
individuals to be HR leaders for the major business units and service areas of IBM.
Not only was this division of expertise potentially more expensive, it limited the kind
of flexibility needed by a more dynamic and globally integrated organization.

SVP, HR

IBM’s HR Organization Before Being Redesigned to Reflect the Globally Integrated Enterprise

Diversity Comp. & Benefits Learning
Workforce
Relations

Global Talent HR On Demand

Global
Technology

Services

Global
Business
Services

Systems &
Tech

Sales &
Distribution

Integrated
Operations

Software
Group

Corporate &
Admin

© 2010 Society for Human resource Management. John W. Boudreau, Ph.D. 3

aPPlyINg Process excelleNce PrINcIPles to Hr

A central tenet of IBM’s view of the evolution of world markets was that in order
to support a truly globally integrated enterprise, the underlying functions that
supported the enterprise (such as sales, marketing, IT and HR) needed to evolve to
be “globally integrated support functions” (GISF). A graphical illustration used by
IBM to depict the idea is shown in the box below.

global support
functions

• Consolidate
• Reengineer
• Eliminate
• Automate

customer fullfillment

Procurement

global logistics

sales operations

It

marketing processes

communications

c & N

finance

Human resources

legal

real estate

What this meant was that HR would need to approach itself as an end-to-end
globally integrated solution. What engineering and solution principles might help
HR become more efficient and effective in how it moved talent around the world?
How could existing HR resources be used more effectively? How might the different
HR roles (business partner, center of expertise, operations, global center, etc.) be
arrayed most effectively to support this?

The answer came in many forms, some reflected in the broad organization design
and mission of HR, and others reflected in subtle changes in HR roles. This was
apparent in the new organization structure for HR that emerged as the implications
of an end-to-end solution perspective on HR became clearer. The new organization
structure is shown in the exhibit on page 48.

4 © 2010 Society for Human resource Management. John W. Boudreau, Ph.D.

In the new organization design, HR processes such as learning, recruitment and
compensation were placed where they were most effective. Also, as shown in the
second row of boxes in the exhibit, the leaders of each functional area of HR were
“dual-hatted,” meaning that they led not only a significant HR functional area, such
as compensation or recruitment, but at the same time they supported a large IBM
business area as the HR “business partner.” For example, in the left-hand box, the
HR leader for the “Recruitment” HR function was also the HR business leader for
“GBS,” or Global Business Services. This pairing was made because GBS was the
largest user of recruitment services. On the top right, the person in charge of HR
Business Development was also the “business leader” for the Software business.
These roles were grouped because the Software group had traditionally done the
most acquisitions.

SVP, HR

IBM’s HR Organization Before After Redesigned to Reflect the Globally Integrated Enterprise

GBS &
Recruitment

GTS &
Compensation

Service Delivery &
HR Delivery

S&D & Labor &
Empl Rel

STG & Geo HR
Support

SWG & HR
Business Dev

Design, Deploy &
Deliver

Recruitment
Staffing Ops

Design & Deploy
Employee Comp
Exec Comp
Sales Incentive Progs
Recognition Programs
Unit Facing Comp Teams

CHQ & Research
IBM Ctr for Learning

& Dev

Design, Deploy & Deliver
Leadership Develop (ER, TR, TT)
Management & Exec Development
Executive Search
Unit facing Leadership Dev Teams
Change Mgmt/OD-OE
Learning Programs & Methods
BU Support-Research & CHQ HR

Diversity & Wkfc
Programs

Design, Deploy
Diversity Progs/Constituencies
Perf Mgmt Progs
Capacity Planning: WMI
Mobility & Exchange Progs
Labor Cost: Restructuring
Employee Experience
Unit facing Wkfce Mgmt Teams
Execute EO Compliance

Enterprise
Support

Deliver
Global Admin
Equity Operations (Off Svcs)
Shareholder Relations
Govt/External Relations

Compliance Reviews
HR Development

Integrated HR
Services Team

Design, Deploy & Deliver
HR Globalization &
Transformation
HR Program Management
HR Intelligence
Retirement Benefits
Health Benefits & Safety Svcs
Develop & Deliver HRIT

Deliver
Employee Svc Ctrs
Vendor Mgmt

Design & Support
(Based in geos)
Labor Relations
Employee Relations

Design, Deploy &
Deliver Geo HR
Coverage

Design, Deploy & Deliver
Commerc Engage & SO
M&A
Divestitures

© 2010 Society for Human resource Management. John W. Boudreau, Ph.D. 5

PuttINg Hr Processes WHere tHey are most effectIve

One significant idea was that HR activities, like IBM’s talent more generally, would
be placed where they could be most cost-effective. For example, administration of
IBM’s learning system had been based in Florida, but the servers that supported
the data system for learning were located elsewhere. Why not move those servers
to Florida so that the program implementation and data support could be more
integrated?

A growing realization was that with global changes in the labor force, the heaviest
WMI workload was going to be in Asia. Yet, HR administration and support had
traditionally been housed in the United States. The support center was a 24/7
operation to be sure, but if the heaviest demand was going to occur during business
hours in Asia (the middle of the night in the U.S.), did it really make sense to have
U.S. HR staff working in the middle of the night instead of moving the support
center to Asia?

dual-HattINg global Processes aNd busINess PartNersHIP

An implication of the dual-hatting model within the Global Integrated Enterprise
was that there would be a much stronger connection between the day-to-day talent
planning at the business level and the operations that were supported centrally.
The challenge became how to develop and motivate HR to have an eye on both the
central and the business-specific elements of performance. Traditionally, it was very
easy for the HR operations to become disconnected from the business operations,
because HR leaders working as business partners might not be familiar with the
global process operations and vice versa.

The GIE model and WMI required something different. This organizational
model change requires integration between line HR and staff HR initiatives and
day-to-day activities. The idea was that about 100 HR folks would run the WMI
full time, but it would work because more than 500 HR business partners would
understand it and help their business units use it on a day-to-day basis. This meant
that the WMI processes needed to be simple, intuitive, easily learned and applied,
and the organizational model had to be integrated in a way that enabled such
implementation.

The “dual-hatting” of top HR leaders, described in the exhibit on page 48, played
a key role. This had the effect of keeping the global processes as simple as possible.
It is easy for such processes to grow in elegance and complexity when the person
responsible for them is solely focused on enhancing them and constantly adding
the latest innovation. However, when the person running a global process also
has responsibility for supporting a unit with thousands of employees, the amount
of available time becomes very limited. This sets a natural priority so that only
the most vital and impactful innovations are made in the process, and the process
itself is relentlessly simplified. Otherwise, no one would have time to do both jobs
effectively!

6 © 2010 Society for Human resource Management. John W. Boudreau, Ph.D.

success aNd cHalleNges oN tHe HorIzoN

The successful evolution of IBM to a GIE and the development of the WMI to
support it through talent was justifiably regarded as a financial and organizational
success. IBM could point to its own evolution as an example of the kind of
transformation its products and services could engender in its customers.

IBM’s talent management system was fast becoming a uniform—yet constantly
adapting—tool not only with the HR function but throughout the organization.
The underlying logic of the Taxonomy was not only enhancing utilization rates
and responsiveness, but also supporting a stronger “decision science” for talent
management by seamlessly integrating demand, supply and development. The
increased clarity between the “demand signals” in the businesses and the response of
the talent system allowed greater speed and clarity. For example, IBMers noted that
a decision to manufacture chips for video games changes the skill set needs of IBM’s
chip manufacturing in as little as six months. IBM’s HR partners must be ready
to work with business leaders and flex to that new demand immediately once the
business decision is made. The Taxonomy and the WMI allow those business signals
to be translated into specific talent capabilities, which can be arrayed against learning
assets and talent movements. Rich Calo used an ice hockey analogy and likened this
to allowing HR to “skate to where the puck is going to be” rather than reacting to
changes after they occur.

This success brought its share of new questions.

n How would the new structure and roles for the HR function change the necessary
qualifications for future IBM HR leaders? For example, would the blending of
the roles of business support and centralized functional support create a greater
need for HR leaders adept at both business and traditional HR capabilities? Would
traditionally trained HR recruits have the necessary background in business?
Would traditionally trained MBAs have the requisite capabilities in the disciplines
of HR?

n How would the new structure and roles change the necessary qualifications for
the role of leaders outside the HR profession, as talent strategists and decision
makers? As more key decisions about talent demand, supply and development were
made by business leaders working directly with employees, what skills should all
business leaders be expected to have regarding fundamental principles of learning,
engagement, motivation and employee relations? Should IBM’s business leaders
be as informed about principles of talent markets and decisions as they were about
principles of decisions and markets for money, customers, supply chains and
technology?

© 2010 Society for Human resource Management. John W. Boudreau, Ph.D. 7

n How would IBM leverage its success with the WMI directly into products, revenue
and customer service? Few organizations had systems that so seamlessly integrated
talent with business needs, and many organizations were willing to invest to
attain such systems. To what extent could IBM’s lessons in developing its internal
talent systems become services and products for its clients? Who should run such a
business?

n How could HR retain the vital balance between the “soft” and the “hard”
benefits? The WMI enhanced HR’s role as a data-driven and analytically powerful
discipline, capable of solving talent issues with the kind of mathematics and logic
previously reserved only for more tangible resources. Was there a danger that the
intangible and unquantifiable aspects of IBM’s employment relationship might be
lost in a sea of numbers, equations and optimization rules? After all, people are
still not simply elements of an inventory or products awaiting shipment. Should
the job of retaining IBM’s intangible values and employment brand be explicitly
assigned, or should it be a specific accountability for every business and HR leader?

8 © 2010 Society for Human resource Management. John W. Boudreau, Ph.D.

Boudreau, J. W., Ramstad, P. M. (2007). Beyond HR (chapters 6-9). Boston:
Harvard Business School Press.

Cascio, W. F., & Boudreau, J. W. (2008). Investing in people. London, UK: Pearson.

Lawler, E. E., III, & Boudreau, J. W. (2009). Achieving excellence in human
resources management. Palo Alto: Stanford University Press.

Ready, D., & Conger, J. (2007, June 1). Make your company a talent factory.
Harvard Business Review.

references and Endnotes

1 Palmisano, S. J. The globally integrated enterprise. Foreign Affairs, 85(3), 127-136.

2 Ibid.

3 Ibid. p. 129.

4 Lesser, Ringo & Blumberg. (2007). Transforming the workforce: Seven keys to succeeding in a globally integrated world (p. 3). Armonk, nY: IBM Institute for Business Value
Executive Brief.

5 Bartlett, C., & McClean, A. (2006). GE’s Jeff Immelt: The voyage from MBA to CEO. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Publishing.

6 An excellent background reading for this case is: Applegate, L. M., Austin, R., & Collins, E. (2009). IBM’s decade of transformation: Turnaround to growth. Boston, MA: Harvard
Business School. Other sources include: Austin, R., & nolan R. (2000, Mar 14). IBM Corp. turnaround. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Publishing. Maney, K. (2003). The
maverick and his machine: Thomas Watson, Sr. and the making of IBM. Hoboken, nJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Garr, D. (1999). IBM Redux: Lou Gerstner and the business
turnaround of the decade. new York: HarperBusiness.

7 IBM Corporation. (2009). Working at IBM. Internal company presentation.

8 Hemp, P., & Stewart, T. (2004, December). Leading change when business is good. Harvard Business Review, p. 61.

9 Ibid. p. 68.

10 Daniel, T. (2009). Managing employee performance. SHRM Online. Retrieved September 17, 2009, from www.shrm.org/Research/Articles/Articles/Pages/
ManagingEmployeePerformance.aspx.

11 Boudreau, J. W. (2010). Retooling HR. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Publishing. Cascio, W. F., & Boudreau, J. W. (2010). utility of selection systems: Supply chain analysis
applied to staffing decisions. In S. Zedeck (ed.), Handbook of industrial and organizational psychology. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association.

12 Dowling, P.T., & Schuler, R. S. (2005). International human resource management. Excel Books. Schuler, R., Briscoe, D., & Claus, L. (2008). International human resource
management (Routledge Global Human Resource Management). Routledge. Robson, F. (2009). International HRM case study—international assignments. SHRM Online.
Retrieved June 10, 2010, from www.shrm.org/Education/hreducation/Pages/InternationalHRMCaseStudyInternationalAssignments.aspx. Wright, G. (2009, May 19). American
companies seeking to go global can face big HR hurdles. SHRM Online. Retrieved June 20, 2010, from www.shrm.org/hrdisciplines/global/Articles/Pages/BigGlobalHRHurdles.
aspx. Smith, J. J. (2008, Oct. 1). Most multinational firms not tracking expats’ ROI. SHRM Online. Retrieved June 20, 2010, from www.shrm.org/hrdisciplines/global/Articles/
Pages/Expats%E2%80%99ROI.aspx. Smith, J. J. (2008, June 24). Employers need to improve long-term management of global talent. SHRM Online. Retrieved from www.shrm.
org/Publications/HRnews/Pages/EmployersneedImprove.aspx.

13 Boudreau, J. W. (2010). Retooling HR. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Publishing. Cascio, W. F., & Boudreau, J. W. (2010). utility of selection systems: Supply chain analysis
applied to staffing decisions. In S. Zedeck (ed.), Handbook of industrial and organizational psychology. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association.

14 Cappelli, P. (2008). Talent on demand. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Publishing.

15 The present case, Part B, deals primarily with the first of these goals – system design and data capture, while Part C addresses implications for the design of the HR organization.

16 Boudreau, J. W. (2010). Retooling HR. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Publishing.

17 Weatherly, L. (2005). Competency models series part I: Competency models—an overview. SHRM Briefly Stated. Retrieved September 21, 2009, from www.shrm.org/Research/
Articles/Articles/Pages/Competency_20Models_20Series_20Part_20I_ _20Competency_20Models_20-_20An_20Overview.aspx.

Weatherly, L. (2005). Competency models series part II: Competency methods and uses. SHRM Briefly Stated. Retrieved September 21, 2009, from www.shrm.org/Research/
Articles/Articles/Pages/Competency_20Models_20Series_20Part_20II_ _20Competency_20Methods_20and_20uses.aspx.

Weatherly, L. (2005). Competency models series part III: Competency-based performance management. SHRM Briefly Stated. Retrieved September 21, 2009, from www.shrm.
org/Research/Articles/Articles/Pages/Competency_20Models_20Series_20Part_20III_ _20Competency-Based_20Performance_20Management.aspx.

18 Boudreau, J. W., & Ramstad, P. M. (2007). Beyond HR. Boston: Harvard Business Press.

19 Boudreau, J. W. (2010). Retooling HR. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Publishing.

20 For several examples connecting the talent pipeline to concepts from supply chain management, see chapter 5 in Boudreau, J. W. (2010). Retooling HR. Boston, MA: Harvard
Business Publishing.

1800 Duke Street
Alexandria, VA 22314-3499

MGT 365 Week 10 response

Kara Houser

I believe that the necessary qualifications may change but not too heavily. In my opinion, after reading the case it seems as though as long as a person is able to understand IBM’s business practices and goals then they would be successful in the HR position. It also mentions in the case that the system would have to be easy to learn, meaning it could be adapted by someone who was trained solely in HR. Although it would be optimal to have a candidate that comes in with skills in both traditional and busines HR capabilities, I do not see it as being a large requirement. It would simply mean that now a candidate that does have both may stand out more than someone who does not. 

              For leaders outside the HR profession it would mean having to take time to ensure they are well-versed in key areas of HR. Some things may include having knowledge on company policies, conflict management, training, and recruitment. Naturally, this will take time for these people to receive the proper training, but I believe that the HR skills may come more quickly to these people because they know what the company needs on a business side so that could help them transition into an HR role. Just like the HR role, any person who comes in having a background in HR along with business skills, will be more desired with this new model but that does not mean that the current employees will become obsolete. Just like any role, as long as a person is open to learning then they will be able to fulfill the new combined position.

              I feel as though it is important for any business leader to showcase skills such as patience, welcoming behavior, kindness, and the willingness to be open minded. These things are so important because it shows the employees what the standard is for that company and will encourage them to be just as good of an example in their daily work lives. Leaders in any business have a lot of sway naturally, and employees are much more likely to pick up on their small behaviors, tones of voice, and word choice. If a business leader is unable to display those skills, I strongly believe that they should not be in that leadership role in the first place. A leader who is unable to display this will, overtime, cause the company more harm than good because they will produce poorly motivated employees who are negative and not passionate about their work and therefore become unproductive.

Jeffrey Mandeville

IBM is trying to create a new structure that is more efficient and cost-effective. Some qualifications would change for HR. I there are HR specifically tied to a certain department, IBM would want to hire someone that has the qualifications suited for that position. HR is not a generalized position, the qualifications for it changes dependent on what types of company it is. Not all HR recruits would have a background in business. If an HR employee is currently working at IBM and then IBM management tells the employee that are going to transfer to oversee another department. Of course, they are going to need new training in order to best do their job in the different department. People who have MBA’s have a little HR experience depending on the courses they took at university. It would completely depend on what type of MBA they took. If they took an MBA in HR management, then yes, they would be suited for an HR career with business background. But if they took other MBA’s then they would need training on the disciplines of HR.

The dual-hatting model would make HR have a stronger connection between planning and business level operations. HR need to have an eye on both central and business performance. The model has made the process a simple as possible. An HR employee may have little time on their hands depending on the number of employees they have to interact with. Dual-hatting will prioritize time so only the best innovations are made.

Fluid business communications and effectiveness are important skills. In IBM, the HR need to learn where everything is effective. The new structure IBM placed learning, recruitment, and compensations at the top of the most effective. Pairing HR employees to be where the have the most skills, will make communication smoothly while at the same time making it effective.

8 minutes ago

Benjamin Wieringa 

IBM & HR

COLLAPSE

Top of Form

New Structure of HRAs we move towards people handing their data on an individual basis, the need for HR changed. IBM has been at the forefront of this change as they place more responsibility on managers than the traditional HR department. This strategy of enabling managers to be more of an HR role is helpful as it allows for better feedback and quicker responses to situations. The movement of more HR duties to managers does not eliminate the need for the traditional HR department. Instead, it just changes the way it needs to function. Instead of being an administrative body of the company, it must be a teaching unit. HR will have to work closely with managers to treat everyone fairly and give nonbias reviews.  
New Qualifications In the past, companies tend to promote the best workers into manger positions. Simultaneously, this seems like a logical train of thought. It can lead to workers not utilizing their unique skills. For example, just because someone is very good at coding or working on cars does not mean they will be right at a management role with dealing with employees and customers. HR now needs to find and cultivate talent to be the leaders of the future and need to either find people with the correct qualifications or train them as they grow through the company. 
Business leaders qualifications Business leaders now need to be looking for the business leaders of tomorrow. It is essential to find empathetic, open-minded people, and willing to listen when they disagree. While these skills can be more natural for some than others, they must be trained and practiced in a business environment. 

Bottom of Form

3 hours ago

Sheila Magnan 

IBM Discussion

COLLAPSE

Top of Form

If IBM were to implement a new HR structure, HR leaders I believe will have to increase their knowledge of general business skills while also having administrative skills. I think because administrative duties are becoming more and more automated, there is less need for employees to carry out these administrative tasks, and more towards implementing business strategies. For example, HR would be able to contribute more to employee training for a project and getting the right personnel for certain jobs in the organization. I think that HR leaders need to have background of both business and HR education in order to be the most effective in helping a business. We still need people to understand the automated processes and be able to explain them. I think traditionally trained HR recruits would have a harder time in being effective in the new structure because there are so many new skills and complexities now in what makes a business successful, which includes more responsibilities from HR. Traditional HR employees might have a harder time learning new structures if they have already been set to utilize a limited number of skills for many years. I think the roles for people such as talent strategists and decision makers would ultimately be working together with HR in a two way communication stream in order to create a culture that would help a business succeed. People who are able to seek out talent and make thought out decisions are extremely valuable to companies and I don’t see them going away. I think business leaders have to be able to communicate with HR back forth on a consistent basis, and also know how to engage their employees to get the most out of them. Proper training should be a very higher standard in company culture to mitigate any type of internal risk. Business leaders also have to be able to adapt to what the company will need from its employees and be able effectively communicate that to the firm. I do think executives and leader should have a very hands on approach in the development of its culture and the training of their employees. 

Bottom of Form