Knowledge that Transforms

No Abstract.

This article describes how Prudential—in a dramatically changed marketplace—engaged its 55,000 employees as partners in transforming the company's many disparate businesses into one integrated company. Using a combination of large‐and small‐scale meetings, follow‐up actions at the work unit level, and sophisticated performance enhancement processes, OPX (One Prudential Exchange) is helping transform Prudential from a staid insurance company to a modern financial services powerhouse. OPX has introduced the One Prudential vision to the company's 55,000 employees in nearly 300 large‐scale meetings in 12 cities, and has institutionalized problem resolution and breakthrough dialogue processes in over 3,500 follow‐up work unit meetings.

Numerous studies have found that supervisors rate women lower than men for similar levels of performance, suggesting that for female employees, performance alone may not be able to guarantee fair ratings. What is not clear is whether this disparity is a function of the gender composition of the supervisor–subordinate dyad or simply a case of male supervisor rating behavior. Based on data from supervisor–subordinate dyads in four organizations, we found that after controlling for performance, both male and female supervisors exhibit a positive bias toward subordinates of the same sex and rate members of the same gender higher.

This study investigates the relationship between a number of organizational characteristics and the decision to outsource HR. Determinants of the outsourcing of four categories of HR are examined: HR generalists activities (e.g., performance appraisal), transactional activities (e.g., payroll), human capital activities (e.g., training), and recruiting and selection. HR executives in 432 organizations provided data on outsourcing levels and organizational characteristics. Reliance on HR outsourcing was associated with idiosyncratic HR practices, strategic HR involvement, positive HR outcomes, promotional opportunities, demand uncertainty, and pay level. As predicted, however, the impact of organizational characteristics varied among the different types of HR activities outsourced.

HR professionals must always be “becoming” or constantly changing and adapting. For the last decade, many have argued the business partner role as a complement to traditional HR administrative work. We argue in this paper that HR professionals should move beyond partners to become players. HR professionals as players are “in the game, on the field, making a difference” through their HR work. In this article, we suggest that to become players, HR professionals must learn to coach, architect, build, facilitate, lead, and provide a conscience to business leaders. Specific knowledge and tools for each of these roles are described.