ABSTRACT
The skill required of the new HR manager is that of successfully co-ordinating the various players so that the business gets a coherent service. There are implications for skills and development in the introduction of shared services. There are matters to be confronted both in terms of de-skilling and up-skilling. The issues here concern responsibility and boundary management in the context of a segmented service, that is one with different, separate strands of service for different activities. Organizations have the aspiration that by diminishing the importance of administrative activities, the HR function can concentrate on higher value-added work. Segmenting HR services helps make clear to customers what they can expect from different parts of the function. In the desire to be aligned with the business and to devolve as much activity as they can to line managers, some HR departments either deny they have a role in relation to employees or relegate it to a purely care and maintenance state.
