OBJECTIVE:

Re-position HR Department to
Support Evolving Business Strategy

Situation
A large academic medical center initiated an aggressive strategy to distinguish itself from its market competition. Several key objectives were central to this undertaking. These included; a focus on improved customer service; visible improvements to the campus; enhanced academic offerings; and distinction as “employer of choice”.

With more than 11,000 employees, the organization has a very high profile in the community. They were recognized for excellence in academic quality and patient care. However, their reputation as a preferred employer was far more tenuous. The Human Resources function had suffered from a chronic lack of resources and was poorly positioned within the management hierarchy. Additionally, minimal HR support was available to managers and application of talent management policies and practices varied widely.

Strategy
HResults was engaged to study the effectiveness of HR services throughout the enterprise; recommend improvements to the infrastructure and design a model for HR service delivery.

Client engagement and HR staff involvement is essential to the success of this type of undertaking. Balancing the needs of the university, hospitals and physician practices presented an additional challenge on this project. Critical steps were to:

  • Obtain senior leadership sponsorship and buy-in through development of a clear set of guiding principles and defined outcomes;
  • Establish a senior level advisory team comprised of representatives from all major constituencies to provide input, hear feedback and endorse recommendations;
  • Gather feedback through interviews, focus groups and process audits;
  • Apply HR Effectiveness measures and competitive practice data to design recommendations;
  • Engage joint HR and operating management teams in targeted re-design activities;
  • Pilot process changes and service delivery model in key client areas and evaluate outcomes

Outcome
The evaluation and re-design of the HR function resulted in significant change for this organization. Most significantly:

  • The functional departmental structure was abandoned and replaced with a service delivery model with three major components:
    • A client facing “Business Partner Team” with experience and competencies matched to the diverse customer base;
    • An “HR Service Center” which is responsible for all processing and automation
    • “Centers of Excellence” for talent acquisition, reward programs and development
  • Senior HR staff were appointed to steering committees for major organizational initiatives
  • HR function moved to new, modern facilities to improve service and access for employees
  • Key processes were automated and employee self service was introduced for routine tasks such as open enrollment
  • Short term savings of nearly $200,000 were realized and longer term recurring annual savings opportunities of over $1mm were identified enterprise-wide

Our Recent Work

Organizational Strategy and Design

A partnership of WL Ross & Co. and Ranieri Real Estate Partners completed their acquisition of Deutsche Bank's multi-family residential mortgage business. Now known as Berkeley Point Capital, with major operations in Bethesda MD, Boston MA and Irvine CA, it is the nation's second largest originator of Fannie Mae loans and services a $29 Billion loan portfolio.

HResults was engaged by the new ownership team to facilitate the design and migration of Human Resources programs and activities to the new independent entity and to ensure that Berkeley Point employees would experience a seamless transition upon Change of Control.

 

View All Stories »

About HResults

HResults is an HR Advisory Firm specializing in Organizational and HR Effectiveness.  Based in Philadelphia, with an office in Indianapolis, our practice focuses on the strategic, operational and cultural aspects of the people side of the business in the “new normal” environment of constant change . We enter an engagement with the understanding that our clients are investing in us as well as their own organization. We reciprocate by investing the time it takes to understand a particular business and culture and avoid making the assumption that a particular approach or solution fits all situations.