Dave Ulrich is a key player in human resources.

The professor, speaker and consultant is on the faculty at the University of Michigan and has written dozens of books talking about the human resources profession. On Jan. 31, he spoke to HRDailyWire about some of his essays that analyze how human resources works in this digital era where both technology and context are important.

"There are two general ways to get external insights:  from structured and unstructured information," Ulrich said, discussing what he calls STEPED and the responsibility of HR people to discover more about the context that their companies operate in. "Structured information comes from spread sheet, traditional data ... Unstructured information comes from observing and sensing what is happening."

As examples of a structured data approached, Ulrich mentioned a new Amazon delivery center that was built based on the demographics of the workforce in the area, as well as other examples of shaping social and economic decisions.

Ulrich also identified a trend in "core HR competencies," where he said studies show tremendous evolution in goals like better understanding and business, managing incorporate culture and improving a personal brand. However, he said, for some reason, HR people tend to rate themselves lower than they are rated by their peers.

Discussing an essay called "HR on Steroids" in which Ulrich spoke about a new role called "leadership capital partner," he told HRDailyWire that the role of private equity is shaping how human resources works.

"We found that some of the most exciting HR work is in private equity," Ulrich said. "In private equity, business results are very clear and explicit.  HR either contributes or does not to those business results.  We point out in the article practical ways that HR can deliver real business value in creating the investment fund, assessing the value of a potential asset, transforming the asset so that it delivers results, and disposing of the asset.  Often HR is not as directly involved in these business decisions, but in private equity, these decisions are so important to do and to do quickly, HR can be very involved."

In terms of talent recruitment, Ulrich identified "hyper-performers" as individuals who are far ahead of the pack in terms of productivity and capability.

"Hyper-performers have enormous choice about where they work because  of their track record of success,"  he said. "Any firm ... who attracts these performers has to create a package that appeals to personal financial interest, or pay, and non-financial interest, or well-being."

Read about all of this and more at Ulrich's web site at the RBL Group.