• Human resources is an important business driver in our increasingly global economy.resume image by Danil Vachegin from Fotolia.com
  
  A report from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business recently cited “ability to attract top talent,” “approach to employees,” “the manner in which employees are energized,” “ability to develop people” and “ability to reward top performers” as being among the top 22 issues driving business management. All of these “human capital” issues fall under the human resources function, making it an important part of strategic leadership for today’s businesses. Gone are the days when human resources generalists were there to sift through resumes and ensure insurance claims got paid. In our global economy they are being called on to align their functions with business strategy and even help chart the course.
  
  

Managing Talent, Motivation and Retention

• Recruitment and retention remain important human-resources functions, but to survive in today's business environment, HR must essentially develop a people strategy for their organizations. They must determine who are the right candidates for every level of the organization.
  
  They must also institute systems to keep employees committed to the workplace, balance their lives, reward performance, and ensure transparency and accountability, while at the same time sync these systems with the company's finances and business lines.
  
  

Meeting the Diversity Challenge

• Diversity is no longer synonymous with hiring more women and minorities. Diversity in terms of race, gender and ethnicity are still very important, but to attain true diversity, HR must develop a culture in which there is diversity in age, background and experience, disability status and thought. HR should evaluate employees by their personalities, work styles, strengths and weaknesses, and use all these factors to aid in hiring new employees.
  
  Moreover, HR must learn to spot where diversity is needed for breakthroughs in sluggish business lines and be able to make the business case for example, in hiring a 20-something to manage a department.
  
  

Minding the Bottom Line

• HR's new role is to become a world-class department within the business organization contributing to its economic success. This means hiring good people who make more money for the company. But it also means ensuring compensation and benefits are fair and don't break the bank.