WORKSHIFTER - Dispatches from the New Executive Frontier

I just read an interesting article by Charles Rosenblum entitled "Thinking Like a CEO" in the September issue of Talent Management. For human resource folks wanting a seat at the table with the senior leadership teams, this article offers lots of food for thought. It talks about the importance of HR in being able to understand how HR practices impact the bottom-line. Understanding the value of fixed vs. variable costs when you think about how to utilize talent could be a breakthrough for Human Resources in speaking the bottom line language. Business success begins with business strategy -- but once that is clearly defined, real success and execution happens with talent. Human Resources should continually ask, on behalf of the organizational strategy, "do we have the talent we need to meet our current objectives?" Sometimes that might mean augmenting your existing teams with variable cost resources that have been there and done that before. Therein lays the value of interim executives to assist with key business deliverables.

The human resource professional who brings to the table the resources to get key initiatives accomplished timely and effectively is not only speaking the bottom line language -- but acting on it!