The function needs to be technology and business-centered in order to play a significant role in the construction of organization's strategic planning. The need for knowledge and training must also go beyond the frontline worker and reach all levels of the organization. HR has to become a champion of developing leadership and management skills. While we have learned that employee loyalty is a scarce commodity, we have also learned that loyalty does not always rest where we have traditionally expected to find it. The loyalty of employees to the enterprise is limited.
Leadership skills can create relationships between individuals that go beyond the enterprise.
People's skills and their ability to meet new challenges must continually change and expand along with business needs. The key asset any employee brings to a company today is knowledge. Conversely, when an employee leaves a company, that knowledge also walks out the door. Attracting and retaining employees becomes even more critical in the face of these new realities. While the paths of HR and IT must converge in order to meet the new demands of the workplace, it is in this arena that the two paths must also diverge.