Six Paradoxes - Analyzing One Paradox - "Business and People"

This week we read that effective HR must learn to master six paradoxes, being able to simultaneously produce multiple outcomes. (Ulrich et al, 2012). 
I found that the paradox that I wanted to explore more was between the business and people. HR is known as the area of an organization that is the most concerned with people and how people do business. After reading and doing research this week - HR needs to focus and maintain knowledge about business and incorporate that into how they deal with the people side of their job.

HR professionals are being asked to be more strategic and business savvy in today's economy - this paradox of creating a balance between personal relationships and business performance allows for a successful paradox.

When an HR department can handle all 6 paradox's successfully they are able to handle many different areas of the business at once all working interconnected where HR strategy and HR creditability go hand in hand. Understanding how the six paradoxes work in order to strengthen the way HR does their tasks, make my understand HR practices more. I found this to be valuable in my understanding that HR is not just about hiring and firing anymore - they are really about development, training and finding ways to stay relevant in the current world marketplace.

If I was a manager tasked with working with HR this information about mastering the six paradoxes is extremely important in order to understand what areas need improvement and how the HR department needs to function. It is a balancing act between gaining loyalty and credibility with the employees while also keeping the goals of the business in the forefront. HR needs to be available and able to be at the table when the strategic meetings take place, and understand the business needs, as well as, the staff needs - this is where there is a blurred line and the effectiveness of simultaneously delivering the multiple outcomes necessary to become and stay successful.





SHRMconnect already held many topics and discussion about the paradoxes - it was nice to see how other people were reading the same textbook and what questions they were asking. Like the examples below - I was able to find the answers to many of my initial questions without having in inundate the discussion boards with repeat questions.

http://community.shrm.org/communities/viewdiscussions/viewthread/?GroupId=19&MID=21250
http://community.shrm.org/communities/viewdiscussions/viewthread/?GroupId=595&MID=16945


Reference:
Ulrich, D., W., Younger, J., Brockbank, & Ulrich,M . (2012).  HR from the Outside In: Six
Competencies for the Future of Human Resources. SRHM.  ISBN978-0071802666