Coming soon · Book Profile
Human Resource Champions
To create competitive advantage, the Human Resources function must evolve from a focus on administrative activities to a business partnership that delivers measurable results by mastering four key roles: strategic partner, administrative expert, employee champion, and change agent.
A profile of this book is on the way.
What it’s about
In an era of intense global competition, Human Resource Champions argues that sustainable competitive advantage comes not from strategy, technology, or products alone, but from building superior organizational capabilities. Dave Ulrich provides a powerful framework for HR professionals and line managers to transform the HR function from a bureaucratic cost center into a strategic partner that creates value and delivers results. The book redefines the work of HR by focusing on deliverables rather than activities, outlining a model of four key roles—Strategic Partner, Administrative Expert, Employee Champion, and Change Agent. Each role is detailed with practical tools and real-world examples, showing readers how to execute business strategy, build an efficient infrastructure, increase employee contribution, and lead organizational transformation. This is an essential guide for anyone who wants to elevate the people-side of the business and prove HR's direct impact on the bottom line.
The through-line
- Who it’s for
- The reader is an HR professional or line manager who feels their function is undervalued and stuck in an administrative, reactive mode. They want to make a real strategic impact on the business and earn a 'seat at the table,' but they lack a clear framework for how to transition from a cost center to a value-creating partner.
- The problem
- The business faces relentless competitive pressures, and the HR function is seen as a bureaucratic impediment to change rather than a driver of competitiveness. Line managers view HR as the 'policy police' and not as a strategic resource. HR professionals feel frustrated, defensive, and uncertain about how to demonstrate their value. They are tired of performing transactional work and want to contribute to the company's success, but feel ill-equipped to do so.
- The plan
- Reframe your thinking from HR activities to HR deliverables that create value.
- Master the four key roles required of an HR Champion: Strategic Partner, Administrative Expert, Employee Champion, and Change Agent.
- Learn and apply the tools for each role, such as organizational diagnosis for strategic partnership and reengineering for administrative expertise.
- Champion employees by managing the balance between demands and resources to increase their contribution.
- Act as a change agent by using a systematic process to build the organization's capacity for transformation.
- The payoff
- You become a respected and credible business partner, actively contributing to strategic decisions. · The HR function is seen as a source of competitive advantage, directly linked to the company's financial and market success. · Your organization becomes more agile, efficient, and capable of out-executing competitors.
See our guide
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- Do Human Resources And People Management Well →
- HR Business Partner →
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- Partner With The Business As An HR Business Partner →
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- HR Generalist →
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- Recruiter / Talent Acquisition →
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- Recruiter / Talent Acquisition →
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Additional reading
- Immunity to Change: How to Overcome It and Unlock Potential in Yourself and Your Organization · Robert Kegan and Lisa Laskow Lahey
This is the authors' previous book, which provides a deep dive into the ITC framework that is presented as a key tool in Chapter 6 and used by the fledgling DDOs in Chapter 7.
- In Over Our Heads: The Mental Demands of Modern Life · Robert Kegan
This book lays out the foundational theory of adult development and mental complexity that underpins the entire DDO concept, explaining the 'adaptive gap' that DDOs are designed to address.
- Mindset: The New Psychology of Success · Carol Dweck
The book explicitly references Dweck's work, contrasting the 'fixed mindset' (prevalent in ordinary organizations) with the 'growth mindset' that is fundamental to a DDO's culture.
- Organizational Culture and Leadership · Edgar H. Schein
Mentioned in the book, Schein's work provides a foundational understanding of organizational culture, which is the primary medium through which DDOs operate.
- The Functions of the Executive · Chester Barnard (1938)
Chapter 10 identifies this book as providing the seminal concept of 'willingness to contribute to the cooperative system,' which forms the theoretical foundation for the modern construct of Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB).
- The Psychology of Careers · Donald E. Super (1957)
Chapter 3 cites this as a foundational work that established the concept of career stages, a model that has profoundly influenced career development theory and research for decades.
- Decision-making in the employment interview · E. C. Webster (1964)
Chapter 6 highlights this as the key report from the influential McGill University studies, which revealed the cognitive biases inherent in unstructured interviews and shifted the focus of research toward understanding the interviewer's decision process.
- Principles for the Validation and Use of Personnel Selection Procedures · Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP)
Multiple chapters (e.g., 13, 15) refer to this document and the related AERA/APA/NCME 'Standards' as the authoritative professional guidelines that define best practices and core concepts, like the modern unitarian view of validity, for the entire field of personnel selection.
- Managing Human Assets · Beer, M. et al. (1984)
This is a seminal book that introduced the 'Harvard framework' of HRM, emphasizing a multi-stakeholder approach that considers the interests of employees, not just shareholders. It provides a foundational 'soft' HRM perspective.
- Strategic Human Resource Management · Fombrun, C. J., Tichy, N. M. and Devanna, M. A. (1984)
This book introduced the 'Michigan framework,' which advocated for a 'hard' HRM approach focused on tightly matching HR strategy to the business strategy (vertical fit). It is a foundational text for the strategic alignment concept.