Some CEOs may be clueless, but most are working hand-in-hand with HR to make businesses better. For evidence that HR is playing a more strategic role in organizations, look no further than some of the provocative, challenging questions that CEOs have posed to HR professionals. How would you answer these questions?
- What can we do to attract valuable employees in a climate of 3 percent unemployment?
- On what basis should we evaluate senior employees?
- Is there anything you are currently doing in HR that you do just because you’ve been doing it for a long time? Can you stop doing it?
- Are you proud of working for this company?
- Every day, we should try to find someone whose work/life we can impact and increase their work output or experience. Are we doing that?
- How can we use the collective bargaining agreements to forward the goals of this organization?
- How do you think we should be structured as an organization?
- How do we develop a diversity program that really makes a difference?
- If you could change three things about this company regardless of time, funds or manpower, what would they be?
- If we continue with our current practice of matching the external market in compensation, won’t we have trouble recruiting and retaining the best?
- How can I get HR more involved in solving business problems?
- Do we always remember that employees must put their family responsibilities first?
- What are we going to do to ensure that we have skilled people to run this company 10 years from now?
- What can we do to increase participatory management in the company?
- Why is our turnover rate increasing?
Workforce, June 1999, Vol. 78, No. 6, p. 36.