Book excerpt: This book has been written for the HR Practitioner and will provide readers with tools, guidelines, ideas, and strategies for developing their role within the Human Resources function. This text focuses on current issues and future trends in both the HR profession and the workplace. Organizations will continue to be forced to function in a lean and mean manner, HR professionals are now required to manage outsourcing functions and to move through multiple internal roles quickly. This book will act as a roadmap to help them plan and implement these roles quickly and efficiently, aligned to their organizations strategy.