Dana Gaines Robinson is the founder and president, and Jim Robinson is the chairman, of Partners in Change, Inc., a human resource consulting firm whose clients include The Gillette Company, ING, Wachovia, the YMCA

Research clearly indicates that there is a strong need for the Human Resource (HR) function, and the people in it, to adopt a more strategic and business-linked approach. In one study business executives ranked the HR function as third, after sales and customer service, as a function that makes a very significant contribution to a company's bottom line.