The global financial crisis presents both an opportunity and a threat for HR, according to a major new study published today by the CIPD.

The first report of the CIPD’s Next Generation HR project recognises a far greater focus amongst senior business leaders on genuinely sustainable performance, and identifies examples of the best HR functions seizing the opportunities this focus offers the profession. However, the institute is warning that more needs to be done to ensure “the rest of HR catches up with the best of HR”.

The report finds that individual examples of leading edge practice are outstripping leading edge thinking. According to the CIPD, this makes it essential that a new, simple language and a different way of defining and thinking about the future direction of the profession is quickly developed. The Next Generation project aims to play a leading role in filling this gap.

The report calls on HR to put “organisational insight” at the heart of its work, focus on long-term organisational “equity” in a similar manner to how marketing builds a brand, and to take a stewardship role guarding the organisation’s health.

CIPD Chief Executive Jackie Orme said: “The world has changed, and business is changing too. Those changes play to the strengths of the best of HR, as our research has found. But if the rest of HR doesn’t catch up with the best of HR, the profession will get left behind. We’ve seen glimpses of the future in our work. Our determination is to play a leading role in ensuring this emergent next generation practice contributes to a swift evolution of HR from its service driven and process owning heritage to the provider of relevant and timely insight that adds real future value to organisations.

“In publishing this first report, and in our ongoing work on the Next Generation HR project, we’re building a movement for change in HR. We’ll be taking our findings on the road, reaching out to CEOs and HR leaders to stimulate debate. We want to work with HR functions to help them become truly insight driven, and to support the development of the next generation of HR talent to be able to step up to the plate. The danger for HR is that if it does not step up with sufficient urgency or credibility, it will be left behind as CEOs turn elsewhere for the solutions to the challenges we’ve identified.”

Lee Sears, Director at Bridge, who has led the research for the CIPD, added: “Some HR functions are consistently bringing the clarity and timely and impactful solutions that will enable their organisations to thrive. This unique ‘organisation insight’ is founded on an intimate understanding of the business drivers, allied to a sophisticated appreciation of how human and organisational issues uniquely combine to deliver short and long-term performance.”

The report is now available at www.cipd.co.uk/nextgen