The human resources function in general and human resources professionals in particular should be uniquely positioned to provide leadership for the transformation of the enterprise. After all, if the key obstacles blocking this shift toward the reinvention of the corporation are attitudes, ways of working, and people and legacy cultures, shouldn’t the very department that’s specifically responsible for “people issues,” the human resource function, be the natural leader?

Although some human resource professionals are rising to the challenge, too many are not. The basic problem is that in the first era, human resource professionals were mere suppliers of human resource functions, such as staffing needs and compensation planning. This may have made a lot of sense during a period of stability and steady growth. But as we move into the digital economy, the human resource profession needs to reinvent itself and forge partnerships with others in the organization for the transformation of the corporation.