P&P June 2016

Human Resources as a Strategic Partner for Health and Human Services By Anita Light

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 http://www.aphsa.org/ content/APHSA/en/pathways/NWI.html, and are highlighted below. 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. Framework for HR Roles/Functions

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

Illustration via iStockphoto

June 2016   Policy&Practice 21