P&P June 2016

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Leaders of health and human services know
that to achieve the vision and mission of their
organization, they must have a strong foun-
dation from which to operate. That strong
foundation consists of resources in many
areas—research- or evidence-based practices
that support children, adults, and families
to successfully navigate their lives toward
a state of well-being, solid policy and finan-
cial resources to support those practices, and
modern systems that provide accurate data for
effective decision-making.
But who makes all this work on the ground? A
stable, competent and well-trained workforce,
that’s who!
And who works with the health and human
service leaders to find the right people to be a
part of this workforce? One of the most impor-
tant members of the executive team—Human
Resources Leaders!
Evaluating Human Resources
in the Context of Human
Services: HowWe Did It
Based on two national surveys of health and
human service CEOs and multiple discussions
with leaders from across the country, APHSA’s
National Collaborative for Integration of Health
and Human Services identified the workforce to
be an absolutely essential part of any successful
effort to move health and human service (H/
HS) government entities at all levels toward
the desired future state of a highly integrated,
outcome-focused, generative organization.
The Workforce Committee of the National
Collaborative explored the role, function, and
effectiveness of the fundamental linchpin to
this workforce—human resources (HR)—by
creating an analytical framework, and a sub-
sequent survey based on this framework, to
understand more fully the extent to which
HR serves as an effective strategic partner for
leaders in health and human services (H/HS).
The full results of this survey can be found on
the APHSA website at
content/APHSA/en/pathways/NWI.html, and
are highlighted below.
Framework for HR
Roles/Functions
Over the past year, the Workforce Committee
developed a framework to further define HR
as a strategic partner and more clearly convey
HR’s opportunities and roles within H/HS.
This analytical framework highlights four
primary functions for which HR is responsible:
Execute on the HR Administrative Functions;
Develop Talent; Influence Culture; and Influence
Direction. The graphic belowmore fully describes
how each function is defined.
Human Resources
as a Strategic
Partner for Health
and Human Services
By Anita Light
June 2016 Policy&Practice 21
Illustration via iStockphoto