How to... do more for less

Times will be tough for a while yet and HR will be asked, and asked again, to do more for less. The function needs to respond with positive, effective answers – if it doesn't HR will be considered naive, difficult and irrelevant. Unfortunately, a decade of economic boom and spending has left many professionals with a lack of personal experience of delivering more for less. Peter Goodge explains how new thinking and research can help. 1 Acknowledge changeBe clear about what HR needs to do to really make a difference in the business. Do a fresh assessment of the situation to recognise the areas that are different in this tougher economic climate. Start by asking business managers what they think is more and less commercially important today. Explore and challenge business plans to identify the people issues, and work out HR’s new priorities. Expect a few surprises – better basics (for example, performance management, job training) are often really important.