HRM Continuum

A few nights ago while I was studying for the SPHR certification exam (yes, by the way, I am now SPHR certified!), I got to thinking about the wide range of companies I've researched lately and the even broader range of their approaches to Human Resource Management. As I was about to take a test on "Strategic HR Management," it was very much on my mind what constitutes "Strategic." I thought about the extremes, the continuum if you will, of various HR departments' Modi Operandi and visualized this simple model.

I'm sure the extremes are familiar--I know I've heard professionals talk about 'transactional' vs. 'transformational,' but I propose that many HR professionals assume they're 'transactional' when they're really only 'transitional.' So, this is what I think the progression is:

TRANSACTIONAL => TRANSITIONAL => TRANSFORMATIONAL.

I threw this pictorial representation together and also fleshed out these descriptors to give you, in my opinion, what it means to be in each category.

Anyway, hope someone out there likes it. I thought it was a simple, relevant way to depict how companies approach HR...and maybe incite some thought on how to move up the continuum.

(There are various graphs/models that could probably be overlaid this to add more understanding--I.E. "Value to the Organization" sloping up left to right, "Critical Skills", "Adaptability" also increasing as you move to the right, etc.)