The HR Value Proposition

3

External Stakeholders

Investors and Customers

To what extent does our HR work link to the intangibles that investors value?

To what extent do we use HR practices to build long-term connections with target customers?

IMAGINE THIS: Dan Bennett returns from an HR conference full of ideas for a new initiative (in performance management, say), assembles a task force, and implements the program companywide. After some initial resistance, the ideas take hold, and the program becomes part of the way HR does its work. Dan declares victory, and the design team delightedly moves on to the next new thing. Sounds ideal, doesn’t it?

When we tell this kind of tale, people tend to snort and say, “Nothing ever goes that smoothly.” True, we say, but even ...