The capability – or lack thereof – of HR staff has been much talked about in recent years. The discussion has largely focused on whether traditional HR professionals have the right skills and experiences to meet the challenges now facing the modern HR function. The leading HR bodies – the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) in the UK and the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) in the United States – plus key HR commentators, such as Dave Ulrich, have challenged HR to develop new competencies and redefine its roles to focus on results and the value it can add to organisations.

At the heart of this debate, and pushing it forward all the time, is the notion that what counts as ‘HR work’ is gradually but persistently evolving. Changes such as the devolution of responsibility for elements of HR work to line managers, the centralisation of administrative HR activities into HR shared services, and the adoption of ‘e-HR’ integrated systems have brought with them new challenges and also new resourcing requirements. Indeed, HR resourcing is changing indelibly, with an influx of people without traditional HR backgrounds and the rapid growth of HR outsourcing. Simply put, HR isn’t what it used to be.