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Companies today face a huge challenge: Managers and leaders in an organization must be able to competently operate in a corporate structure that is horizontal with flattened management layers and is forced to deliver multifaceted knowledge in a global
environment. (1)
Last time we looked, no one taught that kind of management course in college.
Human Resource (HR) practitioners face a unique challenge of their own. No one can deny the importance of their jobs, skills and capacities within a company. In fact, study after study shows that when evaluating their marketability in the workforce, most HR practitioners know that their skills are invaluable to a company's successful operation.
But in the face of the shrinking bottom line and in light of a new age in corporate goals and strategies, HR practitioners need more than their specialized skills - which brings us to two very important questions:
Do great HR practitioners make good managers?
Where can HR practitioners learn the skills to become leaders, generalists, motivators and strategic thinkers in a knowledge-based society?
The answer to the first question is painful. As seen in companies worldwide, good practitioners do not automatically make good managers. But there is good news: there is a place where HR practitioners can learn the skills to become relevant managers, professionals, and powerful leaders across a
variety of business disciplines.
Many HR practitioners who are experts in the field lack the skills and knowledge to negotiate, handle teams, and understand the principles behind the other functions in a company. To be a successful and relevant manager, a great HR practitioner must also be a good marketer, a handy accountant, a high-level interpreter of law, a sensible operations manager, and, at times, an international emissary. In fact, according to McGill University Professor Henry Mintzberg, managers are now required to
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