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—
 - Two-thirds of respondents to a new survey by the Human Resource Planning
Society (HRPS) and the Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp) concluded that HR is not
responding quickly enough to strategic growth challenges and a similar percentage felt the
emphasis on organizational growth is changing the meaning of "strategic HR."

Jay Jamrog, i4cp's senior vice president of research said:

"It can be hard for HR to keep up in high-growth companies. Those firms are not only
scrambling for the talent they need to keep growing, they tend to have a strong focus on issues
such as meeting customer needs, delivering quality products and staying innovative. A lot of HR
pros don't have much expertise in these areas. It requires a different kind of strategic HR to help
drive growth."

The study found that the majority of senior HR professionals were not playing a significant role
in organizational growth strategies. About a third (33 per cent) said they were "on the sideline,"
concentrating on other goals such as talent acquisition and integration. A further 10 per cent said
HR leaders "weren't involved at all" and 22 per cent said HR was operating "below the
executive-team level."

However, about a fifth of respondents said senior HR leaders are critical members of the
executive team, and 16 per cent that HR plays a key role in promoting organizational growth.

Jay Jamrog commented:

"Even though they are in the minority, these are the HR professionals who are probably the true
business partners. They understand the executive point of view and know what it takes to help
their companies grow. But even if they're not represented on the executive team, HR can provide
a crucial supporting role to leaders who are focused on growth."

Asked what HR needs to do to become more effective in this area, 68 per cent highlighted the
need for development programs to help senior professionals improve skills at growing their
organizations. Other commonly cited strategies were "designing and staffing the growth-related
organization," and helping leaders to "frame" the growth challenge.

Ed Gubman, HRPS special issue editor said:

"The survey data strongly suggests that, in addition to talent acquisition and leadership
development targeted to growth, HR leaders must dramatically increase their external focus - on
markets, customers and new ways to serve them - if they are going to be strategic players going
forward."