<p>HR professionals working to be viewed as a strategic corporate resource, and not a transactional outpost, can help their cause - if they align themselves with the right group of colleagues: the Workplace Populists.</p>
<p>Our survey reveals that there are two kinds of executives: the HR Populists and the Workplace Warriors. The former is more concerned about so-called people issues like employee retention, the cost of labor, health care benefits and succession planning. The latter is laser-focused on the bottom line, more concerned about sales, revenue and new products.</p>
<p>Neither the Workplace Populists nor the Warriors are found in one particular industry or role, making it all the more difficult for HR professionals to distinguish their potential allies from those who may be a tougher sell. It´s an important distinction since the Workplace Populists value HR more than do the Warriors who may need special care, handling and messaging.</p>
<p>To identify Workplace Populists, there are some telltale signs:</p>
<ul>
<li><b>Workforce vision:</b> Taking care of employees is key. A good benefits package, diversity and competitive salaries are more important to the Workplace Populists than to the Warriors in creating an ideal workforce.</li>
<li><b>Colleagues:</b> Populists view finance as a very strategically valuable function - perhaps as a crucial means to the end of funding programs for the Populist vision of an ideal workforce. Also of significance, the concerned value HR more than do the Warriors.</li>
<li><b>Issues:</b> Lobbying - influencing the opinions of others - is much more important to the Workplace Populist than to the Warriors, especially when it comes to labor laws and regulations and to reduced compliance costs. </li>
</ul>
<p><img src="/portals/hrcom/story_images/Article_Images_2005/dec_19_veritude_hrmm_1.jpg"></p>
<p>The biggest difference between the Workplace Populists and the Warriors in their assessment of various functions within their companies revolves around finance. The Workplace Populist considers finance to be especially strategically valuable. This respect for finance is also reflected in the Workplace Populist´s views about metrics: They´re much heavier users of metrics and value their importance more. For example, 60 percent of the Workplace Populists track labor cost as a percentage of revenue versus 38 percent of the Workplace Warriors.</p>
<p><img src="/portals/hrcom/story_images/Article_Images_2005/dec_19_veritude_hrmm_2.jpg"></p>
<p>When asked to consider various components that contribute to an ideal workforce, our panel reveals a disconnect between the Populists and the Warriors on every issue. The biggest areas of disagreement: benefits, diversity and competitive salaries.</p>
<p><img src="/portals/hrcom/story_images/Article_Images_2005/dec_19_veritude_hrmm_3.jpg"></p>
<p>While our executive panel overall didn´t rate lobbying very highly, the Workplace Populists have a much greater interest in the activity than do the Warriors - especially when it comes to lobbying for labor laws and regulations and for lower compliance costs.</p>
