Strategizing For HR - human resources departments - management issues

HR Magazine, Feb, 2001 by Kathryn Tyler

For example, the HR department at UCSD conducts focus groups with internal customers, primarily academic departments, to ask what their service needs are and how HR can support them. Ask yourself, how can we improve our current products and services? How can we use new technology to make our services more convenient and efficient? What else could we do to attract and retain employees? Dwyer also recommends asking your senior manager for specific information regarding the overall business plan as it relates to your HR plan.

Interview your supervisor, suggests Carol Asselta, SPHR, human resources manager for PECO Energy Company, a Philadelphia utility. "Say, 'I could serve you better if I understood what your major goals are and what you want from me. If you're not at the table, there are other ways to link in. Write a draft and get them to review it. It's a reverse way of doing it, but a lot of times you need to start with that to show that you understand the business."