Introduction During the last 25 years, constant market- place discontinuities and the accelerating pace of change have seen traditional busi- nesses and organizations redesigning them- selves for superior organizational perfor- mance (Delaney & Huselid, 1996; Huselid, 1995; Huselid, Jackson, & Schuler, 1997). In this quest, human resource management (HRM) has aspired to be a business partner for more than a decade. There has been a continuous debate on how human resource strategy can be linked to the business strat- egy of the organization (Martell & Carroll, 1995; Pfeffer, 1994; Schuler, 1992; Ulrich, 1997; Wright, McCormick, Sherman, & McMahan, 1999; Wright & McMahan, 1992). Recently there has been an emphasis among academics and practitioners on peo- ple (and people management systems) as a source of competitive advantage (Bartlett & Ghoshal, 2002; Becker & Huselid, 1999; Ul- rich, 1998). Previous empirical research has given useful insights about the linkage of HRM with firm performance (Becker & Huselid, 1998) and has consistently found that more effective HR management is asso- REDESIGNING THE HUMAN RESOURCES FUNCTION AT LAFARGE Human Resource Management, Fall 2003, Vol. 42, No. 3, Pp. 271–288 © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI: 10.1002/hrm.10085 Ashok Som This article describes the detailed process of redesigning and implementing the human resources (HR) function at Lafarge. The article argues that a well-articulated and integrated approach of (1) recruitment, selection, and induction, (2) retraining and redeployment, (3) a performance appraisal system, (4) a compensation and reward mechanism, and (5) rightsizing and (6) inte- gration is required to be aligned with the overall business strategy of the organization. It also re- inforces that the foundation of a value-added HR function is a business strategy that relies on people as a source of competitive advantage. Key challenges for Lafarge in the future include (1) maintaining the change momentum, (2) fast and effective integration of acquired compa- nies and transfer of “best practices,” and (3) attracting and retaining a diverse workforce through their internationalization program. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Correspondence to: Ashok Som, Assistant Professor, Strategy and Management Area, ESSEC Business School, Paris, Avenue Bernard Hirsch–B.P. 105 95021 Cergy-Pontoise Cedex, France; e-mail: SOM@essec.fr