Henley Business School reveals what organisations want from their HR

The Henley Human Resources Centre of Excellence at Henley Business School has just completed new research to discover what organisations want right now from their HR function.

The Henley HR Centre of Excellence focuses on applied research to help HR clients answer questions like: 'What does a business want from HR?', 'What does a good HR person look like?' and 'How do you develop great HR capability?'

The new research showed that the HR function faces both great challenges and opportunities in understanding the business, its challenges and adding value, to provide:

- Operational efficiency in HR activities: quickly slimming down existing processes and policies in line with cutbacks and finding creative ways of delivering lower cost alternatives that are not too different in quality.

- Balance between the short and long term: with CEOs in survival mode, it is imperative that HR manages the tension between saving money now and the need to identify good people, place them in the right jobs, develop them and keep them.

- Focus on what is important: HR must ensure decisions are fact based so that business performance is balanced with maintaining business reputation for both corporate social responsibility and employer branding.

- Real emotional support to the organisation: HR has to step up and implement sound, consistent strategies to help everyone through the lows of the recession, managing not just the process, but also the sentiment, the environment, and some of the messaging that goes round.

The research analysis also shows that only a minority of HR professionals are stepping up to the challenge of the recession by focusing on adding value to the business and dealing with people with integrity and respect.

The Henley Business School Advanced Human Resources Business Partner programme is based on current new studies like this along with other real-world business research into what is required from HR today. The Advanced HR Business Partner programme is intended to provide HR professionals looking to move to more senior roles with the necessary leadership skills to understand and contribute to overall business management; to help them focus on aligning the HR agenda with the strategic business imperatives of their organisations, on deriving competitive advantage for the business through delivery of that agenda and on developing their own strategic leadership skills.

The Advanced HR Business Partner programme is part of Henley Business School's portfolio of executive development programmes aimed at helping organisations to develop effective leadership and the right calibre of managers to survive and thrive in today's turbulent economic times. The extensive executive education syllabus includes both customised and tailored qualification programmes which are highly practical, designed to create immediate impact and make a real difference back in the work environment.

About Henley Business School
Henley Business School was formed from the merger of Henley Management College and the Business School at the University of Reading. It is one of the longest established Business Schools and the world's third largest supplier of MBA education. It delivers business management training to managers in more than 140 countries worldwide with around 7,000 people studying at any one time.

Henley Business School is one of Europe's largest full service business schools, with a comprehensive range of management programmes from undergraduate to board level. Encompassing the world-ranked Henley MBA, executive and distance learning MBAs, DBAs, PhDs, MScs, BScs, BAs and its internationally renowned open and tailored executive education, it provides learning and development opportunities from the start of a career through to senior executive levels. With expertise in the development and delivery of solutions to the management and leadership challenges of our times, it is also one of the very few international business schools to hold triple accredited status (AMBA, EQUIS, AACSB).

PR Contact Details
Judith Hunt
Communications Management
Calverton House
2 Harpenden Road
St. Albans
AL3 5AB
+44 1727 737989
www.henley.reading.ac.uk