Human resources professionals will, no doubt, continue to be challenged and
stretched in 2010. Expectations from CEOs, other senior leaders, employees
and legislators make the role exciting and demanding. But budget cushions
from the past for large mistakes and workarounds no longer exist. So HR’s
decisions and actions will have to be bolder than ever….and so will its
impact.

To achieve this, HR professionals in 2010 will need to demonstrate:

Business IQ

Its customers, trends and finances should all become
increasingly familiar to the HR professional. Now, more than ever, HR
professionals must know what makes their company tick. What are the
company’s core objectives in 2010? What is driving revenue? What are the key
roadblocks? Armed with this knowledge, how will the people strategy change
to enable the company to be successful?

Laser Focus

With limited resources HR will have to get focused and
creative with solutions that will make the biggest impact on the business.
Again, HR must get to know its senior leaders and what’s “keeping them up at
night.” What HR solutions will solve their problems and help leaders meet
their goals? Your priorities ultimately should be the same ones as senior
leaders.

Courage

As one respected HR leader recently told me, HR needs “guts.” The
The HR professional must have a voice and speak proactively with carefully thought out advice and decisive actions. Be the first
with sound ideas and the first to raise the red flag if leaders are heading
down the wrong path. No more “tip-toeing” around senior leaders or waiting
for others to speak up first. It’s time to be bold.

Resilience

Thick skin is not new to the HR tool-kit, but it remains
critical to the success of the HR professional. We will be called upon to
make challenging, sometimes unpopular, strategic decisions and to continue
working hard. Demands on the HR function will not lessen.

2010 is an exciting time for HR. The stakes are high and so are the
opportunities for HR to make its biggest impact yet.