Orme opens conference with call to build reputation that leaves people ‘fighting to join your organisation’
17 September 2008
HR’s new role must be as advocates for the organisation and customer service rather than simply advocates for employees, new CIPD chief executive Jackie Orme told delegates in her first speech at the annual conference.
Outlining the changing shape of HR, Orme said that while employee advocacy and “bringing the human touch to what we do” would always remain integral to the role, as business leaders did more of this themselves, HR would be freed up to spend more time “building a reputation in the marketplace that leaves talented young people fighting to join your organisation”.
She said the change was being driven by a change in the nature of leadership, which was becoming more “value centred” and focused on employer branding.
“How you do what you do matters just as much as what you do – if not more,” she said.
Orme added that the changes to HR’s role, together with the credibility and respect that the function commands in today’s business environment, “gives us tremendous opportunity”.
“We have the headroom to grow our role as a function. To capitalise on the unique organisational insight we have to act as a catalyst for change. To drive the big shifts that can make a fundamental difference to the succe
ss of our organisations in the future,” she said.
Orme also told delegates that the changing nature of HR meant that the CIPD needed to be more relevant and topical “to ensure that we’re leading change, not just following it”.