his, Ulrich believes HR needs to conduct an audit to examine whether there is a staff culture which will be able to achieve these goals; and this will need assessment of the required "knowledge, skills, and abilities; appropriate measures, reward and incentives; organizational structure; communication systems; ability to change; and leadership." HR must identify areas where change is needed.
HR must play a strategic role in improving employee morale, which improves commitment to the job and encourages employees to stay (Nelson, 2002, 3). It must make an effort to understand the issues as the employee sees them, and find ways to fix the problems. HR is well-equipped to present employee concerns to senior leadership, such as line managers, so must be able to communicate well with these people.
At a recent AHHRM meeting, Professor Michael West, professor of organizational psychology and director of research at Aston Business School reported that in hospitals with strong HR function, mortality rates were up to 33 percent lower than in hospitals with less effective HR units (Black). While H
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