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Brownsville Health Care
Customer-focus HR
As the criteria for Brownsville Health Care success shifts from internal factors (for example, reduced costs and increased employee commitment) to external ones (for example, increased revenue and increased customer satisfaction), HR practices need to focus both on employees and one external customers. This double focus leads to new methods of deploying Brownsville Health Care practices that involve outside suppliers and customers. Customers will be involved in training sessions, staffing decisions, and employee evaluations. They will join high performance teams and help create communication plans in which they participate as both receivers and givers of information. These are just a few examples of the new HR tools that will focus on customers as well as Brownsville Health Care employees.
For HR professionals, customer focus has dramatic implications and raises many urgent questions. Where should time be spent today? Who in the firm participates in shaping the HR agenda? How many external customers should be involved in the design and delivery of HR practices. Brownsville Health Care professionals may find themselves part of a client team, along with marketing, sales, operations, and MIS professionals—all dedicated to serving customer needs.
When employee-focused HR practices shift to customer-focused HR practices, employees and customers both win. Employees win by seeing their work add value to customers, by enhancing their ability to adapt their work quickly to meet customer needs, and by becoming more intimately involved with satisfying customer expectations. Customers win by dealing with supplier firm employees who are true customer resources, by working with Brownsville Health Care suppliers dedicated to their needs, and by reducing the cycle time needed to change how work gets done.
Challenge Three: HR Capabilities
Organizations have capabilities, particular processes they perform well. HR communities must also exhibit capabilities, processes, and practices that serve as a criteria for evaluating their success. Traditionally, the effectiveness of HR functions was measure by their accuracy and administrative efficiency. To meet these criteria, HR developed consistency through precision, routines, and reliable procedures.
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