Why HR Sucks and How to Fix It
Image source
My worst experience with HR is a broken confidence. She smiled and listened and within an hour violated my trust.
Human Resource personnel are among the most criticized people in business.
HR is criticized for:
- Treating humans as resources.
- Not understanding positions they’re filling.
- Managing paper better than people.
- Subservience to policy and procedure.
- Defensive, CYA postures.
- Lack of operational experience.
- Working for the C-Suit, not the people.
See the entire list on Facebook (3/5/13).
New potential:
HR matters because people matter.
“I don’t know about you, but I love HR.” Dr. Vik (Doc) in “The Culture Secret.”
They are underrated, over-criticized, and underutilized. Jack Welch believes the head of HR should enjoy equal standing with Chief Financial Officers.
New focus:
Doc says, change the name from Human Resources to Human Empowerment (HE). The job of HE is, “Maximizing human potential.” Doc goes on to say, “HE could be the single biggest champion of your companies Culture.
New ideas for HE:
- Focus more on development.
- Become more human. Since when does serious work prohibit smiling?
- Sit in the seats of workers and do their jobs.
More on Facebook (3/5/13).
Doc adds:
HE includes personal life. Enrich employee’s lives and they’ll be better employees. Hire a coach. Doc was the Coach at Zappos for five years. He helped employees sort out issues before they erupted. HR loved him.
HE delivers fun. Change the image of HR by taking charge of organizational celebrations.
HE attends team and department meetings to connect, not to police.
Read more in Doc’s book, “The Culture Secret.”
Connect with Doc on Linkedin.
What small steps could transform HR to Human Empowerment?
As an HR professional, I am really looking forward to the comments today. I wonder if I’ll pick up on something that I – personally – could do better.
Reveal yourselves, Leadership Freaks! I am anticipating some creative thoughts and solutions to the problem of integrating HE into the workplace.
Thank you Lynn.
I appreciate all your feedback on Facebook as well! I’m looking forward to comments as well.
Thanks for all you do for others.
Hi Lynn,
Integrating HE into the workplace is in my book, The Culture Secret! And by demand – I have workbooks to help in more detail coming in April:) Best of Luck!
Love – Doc
Great post looking forward to hearing what the folks have to say
Me I got nothing !!! Hehe
I will mention our people are our greatest assest and doing what I can when I can to let them know that is how I feel. Got to be a pony in here somewhere.
Scott
Thanks Scott.
The fact that people are the greatest asset only amplifies the importance of HR… or HE if you choose.
Love the attitude shift– humans are our most valuable resource, but it doesn’t mean we should treat them as anything less than human. Thanks for the fresh perspective!
Thank you Justin.
I wonder if something as simple as giving more respect to HR and a stronger focus on development wouldn’t be the best steps toward HE..???
You’re absolutely right. It will take attitude adjustments on both ends, I think. The relationships must be the priority.
OK Justin, Thank you for your expertise! Now, time to take it to the Next Level – that’s like you!!!
Love Doc
Sure fits with my experience with HR. I did confidential interviews once across a gov’t department and they were the least trusted group by far. My own experience was mostly negative, though I know there are great individuals in HR. Love the Human Empowerment concept! Given the importance of talent management and the impact of satisfied employees on productivity and quality, it makes sense to enhance the role, but it would be a huge culture shift inside HR units and would require many departures.
Thank you Jane.
You got me thinking about whose court is HR in? Are they for organizations or people? Of course the answer is both but it’s a devilish answer.
Both I could live with – it’s a corporate service, after all. But many seem to think they are there only for the organization, and have no moral obligation to even be humane in dealing with non-management folks. Some seem to enjoy wrecking health and lives. And the sad part is that most people say they went into HR because they loved helping people!
Going into HR is like going into health care. The frustration is Health care is less and less about health care.
Thank you for your insightful comments Jane – I’m thinking you will be starting the process:)
Love – Doc
Well, as they say, “Good Luk with all that.”
It is NOT HR’s fault, it is the C-suite that does to them what it wants and focuses them on the psychopathic side of running a business. Our Generally Accepted Accounting Practices treat people as a cost on the ledger of life. That crap all cascades down.
Over my 30 years, I have seen some attempts to address it in one company or another. The average company will SAY something like, “Our people are our greatest asset,” but then go look for some of that.
Because senior managers like extrinsic rewards, the whole operation works that way. Because senior managers like golf, they do teambuilding around a golf resort. Since people are often disposible, they treat them like paper tissues (I will go no further in that description).
I once had the CEO of a company at a retreat with his top managers blurt, “Asking employees for ideas is like asking the vegetables to design a refrigerator.” (He was not trying to be funny…)
Executives are SO far isolated from the workers that they have little clue as to who they are or what they do. Why should they treat them with respect?
How can a chain of 5000+ retail stores operate with none of the workers qualifying for any benefits — no health care in a company that labels itself a pharmacy?
Look at the people on minimum wage – 80% work for billion dollar companies that are profitable. Some even help their new hires apply for Medicaid and other government benefits designed to help the poor — and these are the new hires.
Let’s not place all the blame on HR. Lots of guilty parties making a lot of financial decisions to support the stock prices, not the people. Are there good exceptions? Surely.
Wasn’t Jack Welch the guy who highly criticized that jobs increasing report right at the election, going on TV saying that the President was faking the numbers? Yeah, let’s use him as a positive example…
Thank you Dr. Scott.
I’m hopeful that you come out of your shell! 🙂
Seriously, I think you’re nailing an important component of this issue. It seems to boil down to the idea that HR is the “puppet” of people at the top. We know people are reluctant to give up power once they have it.
If I hear you, one way to change HR is to change the attitudes of people at the top.
You have my best
The thing is that HR is not the only function that is a puppet of people at the top. We’re just choosing to focus on HR today. 🙂
Addendum: It is about Money. That means it is about Taxes and reducing costs. Does that really seem like a good base for building people skills and investing in organizational development? Any wonder why “Re-Engineering” took off and the focus changed from improving the processes to reducing headcount.
I always liked this: “How long can we go lean and mean until we become gaunt and dead?” (source unknown)
Thanks for the quote. OUCH!
Hello Dr. Scott, I like your question, “How long can we go lean and mean until we become gaunt and dead?”
Great post!
HR officers are in a tough position due to the fact they MUST answer to the C-Suite. Where the C-level officers should be helping the organization define and cultivate a culture, they often don’t. Result- a tough time for HR to find the character (not solely talent) that is right for the organization.
The right people ARE the most important resource for a company, however, C-level executives normally throw that thought out the window when it comes to the bottom line.
Thanks Wanna.
Lets include the idea of “cultural fit” when thinking about people… but, what if we want to change the culture… 🙂
Sometimes it all comes down to changing the name. Though many tasks and duties would be similar, Human Empowerment allows for a new definition and a new set of behaviors than human resources.
Thanks for sharing this with us, Dan!
Thanks David.
The HR section of Doc’s book is one of my favorites. I agree that something as simple as a name change could get the fly wheel of transformation going. We know it takes follow through but you have to start somewhere.
If you don’t like HE then pick HD – Human development. Or, HOD – Human and Organizational Development… I guess the deal is to put a positive spin on something that matters so much.
I like Human Empowerment And Development (HEAD) ^_^
Yes, Thank you David! You are so right on!Let’s all help make this world a better place…starting with empowering peoplel and companies:)
Love – Doc
Office politics and HR departments – two good reasons to go into business for yourself! (I did, 19 years ago.)
HR horror stories: the HR gal who loudly & indignantly shared my salary with every one in the company; the HR person who had the receptionist write down what time everyone arrived at work every day – to the minute; the HR person who proudly announced the new policy of “black mark” accumulation for sick leave; being a Director and sitting in on meetings where HR heads discussed how best to *not* give raises to certain employees and still not be sued; the HR woman who kept looking at her watch during a critical one-on-one meeting; the HR manager who insisted on getting system administration privileges so she could have access to all the employees personal files and emails — I could go on.
As a consultant, I deal with HR folks who do not understand the jobs they are trying to fill, and just rely on a check-list of keywords. (I have learned to insist on conference calls with the actual people who have the need.)
I am sure there are gifted and caring individuals in the HR industry who truly want to empower employees. I just haven’t met one yet.
Sad but true.
Oh my! This has not been my experience either before I worked in HR and definitely not when I moved into HR. People who break confidentiality get fired. Period. An HR person walks the line between being the representative of the C-suite and the champion of the people. There aren’t that many bad workers, just people who do not fit the jobs they have. I have spent many hours counseling all levels of employees on how to follow their dream even if it meant leaving the company (and if they decided to leave, I let them know how to be sure they didn’t lose benefits). Happy employees are a company’s biggest asset. The key word here is happy!
I have to say that most days HR doesn’t have to “walk the line” between representing employees and representing the Company. Most days, it’s one and the same. The goals mesh and make sense to everyone – even in union environments where there exists an adversarial relationship. Most days, everyone valiantly works at satisfying the customer. Most days, everyone relentlessly goes at doing the right thing.
Thanks Jennifer.
You give voice to the dark side of HR.
My impression has always been HR was the department with the goal of PROTECTING THE COMPANY (from the people). Obviously – and unfortunately – not the approach you are speaking to in this article.
Thanks.
This is way employees don’t trust HR.
Yes, and well said! Let’s start the change:)
My comments support Dr. Simmerman’s. When an HR department is doing many of the things we criticize it for in the article, I think the criticism should be directed at the CEO. Those CEO’s have an ear much closer to the CFO than the Head of HR. This CEO hires the head of HR who has a financial bent. Over time, the human side of HR is silenced in this kind of company. If the CEO believes in people empowerment, it can happen. If he or she doesn’t, it won’t. That’s written more dogmatically that I usually write, but I feel strongly that most of the problems with HR are the CEO’s fault. HR is a support group for what the CEO really wants.
Thank you Peter.
There’s probably enough blame to hits lots of people. But if everything stands or falls on leadership, how could CEO’s be excluded?
I just conducted a training session with supervisors and asked them to describe the role of HR. The most common response was you do the hirind and firing. Then I explained that was not the role of this HR department. The job of HR is to help every team member , supervisor, manager at every level to reach his or her goals and objectives through ;;;harmony… productivity…. compliance with laws and policies… while supporting the company to be profitable. Of course they were surprised but that is the path we are on.
Exactly. The people who manage the human resources on a day-to-day basis are not HR professionals. They are supervisors and managers.
And the good news is that usually they do a really good job of it. They know their people, know their talents, know their quirks and moods; they know the equipment, know the client, know the suppliers; they know how to get everyone moving to satisfy the customer. Gotta love them.
KaChing.
HR education initiatives are in order. Teach organizations what HR does and would like to do!
Ha ha – absolutely right, Guy – that’s why we need to start a new path!
There is truth to both aspects of your blog. In my opinion, HR at a major strategic inflection point. (Read my ASTD article on 7 Myths; September 2012). The chief talent officer or CHRO (depending on company org structure) can play one of the most strategic advisory roles to the CEO– especially if we believe that the organization and management models of the industrial age won’t transport into the information age. If innovation is strategy… and key to business success … then our people become our very best assets. How companies hire, deploy,promote and develop this resource to create, capture and deliver value will be THE differentiator in modern business. My 2 cents — having sat as the head of talent for one of the top companies and for one of the top CEO’s in high tech.
Thanks for sharing your passion and insights, Annmarie.
I think the changing world and younger generations are driving HR to transform into more relevant forms. YOu’re nailing it.
Annmarie, your 2 cents are worth a million bucks – thank you for sharing – Impressive…
As an HR Professional, my goal every day is to help leaders understand the value HR can and should bring to an organization. HR should partner with leaders…and not have leaders running the other way. Unfortunately, HR has the same wrap as the Principal’s office, and that is not how we should be viewed. Once HR Professionals are able to establish that trusting rapport with leadership, there can be endless opportunities for HR to engage the workforce and become that strategic partner they should be!
Ha ha – yes, like getting called to the Principal’s office – how true…and I thank you for sharing how it could and should be:
I’ve run our team building game, The Search for The Lost Dutchman’s Gold Mine, with entire HR groups on a couple of occasions over the years. The exercise sets up tables of 5-6 and the goal is, “To mine as much gold as we can.”
No mention is made of winning and no mention is made of competition. The game rewards collaboration and teamwork at the tabletops and across tables.
These HR groups play about as well as school teachers in a high school, based on data. They generally work okay as small teams but inter-team collaboration is a very minor part of how they think and operate. Each person tends to not depend on anyone else.
My guess is that the internal culture of many of the HR groups is not clear and defined and aligned. Each person has their area of responsibility / turf and they can generally avoid needing to collaborate or work together.
It is the old, “shoemaker’s children don’t have shoes” model of how things work. HR may DO teambuilding, but they may not operate as such.
(of course there are LOTS of exceptions, but this is just one view.)
Usually by the time people get to HR they have exhausted other avenues trying to resolve their issue. Where I work HR looks at people who come to them with issues as “complainers.” They go straight to management and escalate the issue, rather then working with the employee and the manager to find a “win-win” solution.
I guess there are times when HR must “police” or deal with violations of policy, but I love the idea of “connect not police”!
Paula, that’s true. Ensuring compliance will keep everyone out of trouble, both company and employees. Just think of the rules around health and safety, or anti-trust.
At a recent company off-site, my management colleagues put up charts and graphs illustrating how employees helped the company make their numbers. I was the last speaker and introduced my talk by saying, “We’ve just seen all the great things you have done for the Company. Now let me tell you what the company does for you.” They were surprised to learn all the advantages there were to working for our organization. I got so many requests for follow-up information sessions! It was a great way to “warm up” the HR image. It was a moment of connection.
I don’t think I’m so popular when we have to release someone from the company – regardless of the reason for it. There is no amount of empathy that will ease the employee’s pain in that moment. You can only hope that you carry yourself with compassion and that the employee will eventually remember that you were respectful at a difficult time. And we never know how they will remember, because they are usually gone from our lives. This and other such actions are areas of great uncertainty for HR professionals, where very little validation exists.
Maybe it should be known as Shared Human Empowerment (SHE) to get rid of the male connotation. 🙂
Love it Stuart! Maybe That’s the new name!
Great discussion.
As SVP in a Fortune 50 company, I am proud to say that not all HR departments are victims of their own limited value. At our company, HR is embedded into our business units, and they “roll up their sleeves” to help accomplish our objectives. It’s refreshing, and highly effective. Our goals are their goals. As a result, I find myself more thoughtful about how our business plans impact HR resources and scope. It’s a win-win.
This approach is very different from the HR departments in the other Fortune 100 companies of which I have been a part. For those companies, HR existed as a group that wrangled resumes, onboarded new team members, managed the merit process and helped out when you had a performance issue on your team.
The difference? A visionary HR leader who believes in extending the value of his team beyond the traditional boundaries of human resource management. I’m a fan.
Thank you for this post! I am an HR professional with a great deal of experience at all levels of the profession. I love HR, however we cannot escape the criticism because for many it is true. I decided some time ago that I would live by the following basic guiding principles:
1. Come prepared to lose your job everyday because the work you do requires telling the truth, which some don’t want to hear.
2. Be honest, employees can handle it and it is not always a legal risk to do so.
3. Spend more time developing a deep understanding of the income side of the balance sheet rather than being policy police.
4. Never stop learning and developing your skills, particularly in IT.
5. Don’t be afraid to develop professional relationships with employees at all levels of the organization.
6. Smile and be happy and keep a good sense of humor. There can be nothing better than working for and serving employees if you approach your job with the right attitude.
Yes! Janice, do people tell you that they like hearing you laugh? I often get told how they have never heard other HR folks laugh, but that I’m always so cheerful.
And you are right: be honest. People can take it. I had a senior member of management tell me very early in my work life that the truth is never misplaced. I know we can get into a big discussion about delivery. But really, once the truth is out there, it’s a relief for everyone to be free to deal with the issue rather than be in possession of disinformation.
Funny, but I read that as “demonic possession” instead of possession of disinformation. My bad. But it has been that kind of day and that kind of thread.
Before my “HR as Puppet or Puppet Master” blog, and before looking at this thread started by Dan, I wrote another blog about Gullability and how easy it is to fool people:
http://performancemanagementcompanyblog.com/2013/03/06/how-gullible-are-we-why-education-is-important-for-our-society/
I think a lot of that carries over to the communications issues within a company, and between workers and HR. It is about believing what is not true, but how people can be rallied with only part of the informational reality. This is one of the main reasons why HR needs to constantly communicate.
I am sure that we all have a lot of war stories about issues like dis-information (or demonic possession!).
Have FUN out there!
.
Nice job on the 6 guiding principles Janice! You Rock! And thank you for sharing:)
I just posted up an illustrated blog post — my 200th, which is kinda neat — and it focuses on HR as Puppet Master or Puppet. Heck, I even included two poems.
http://performancemanagementcompanyblog.com/2013/03/06/is-hr-the-puppet-master-or-the-puppet/#
Dan – remember that YOU started all this (grin).
.
Dear Dan,
What an excellent post about HR. I like each suggestion and point about HR. And I would like to say that whole essence about HR activities, criticism and people perception is caught by this line- HR works for C suite and not for the people. My research findings, experience and people exchanging their feelings justify the claim. The fact is that HR department itself is not an autonomous department. It is created as a convergence of management and employees with an intent to grow both, employees and management. But the actual practices have taken different shape. The reason is simple. Management has never treated HR department as independent department and most often influenced its by their vested interest. Now HR department employees have to save their position by not questioning the management decisions. They are ultimately employees. And in order to either go for the policy or management decisions, they find that management is much more powerful than policy itself. So, their survival depends upon the following the orders of management. In the process, they change their focus from employees serve to management service. They adapt many tactics, practices that include flattering, buttering, backstabbing, manipulating, twisting and interpreting policies etc.
The whole exercise create negative and unfavorable environment for the employees. They attribute blame to HR department but the fact is there bottleneck is somewhere else. Management on the other hand, enjoy their position and HR department becomes like sandwich. So, by changing the name of HR to empowerment may not serve any different purpose. Initially it might serve as a fad but the practices will be same. To change HR is about changing the mindsets of HR department and over and above, mindsets of management. Unless management change their mindsets to change the human resource department, no change in HR attitude, behaviour and practices is possible.
Well said Ajay! Guess it’s time to get some green lights from the TOP!
Human resource should be called human empowerment like you said. HR’s role should be an Enablers role
Human Empowerment.. Imagine, if this philosphy was applied to the United States Government. Simply stated the entire world’s quality of life would improve. I have always believed that simplcity is the best answer. I have empowered my staff and i witnessed consituents reaping the benefits on a daily basis. People love to be acknowledged for their skills and talents, most of all love to be respected for using them. I hope this philosphy goes viral.
While not an HR person, I spent over 10 years as an employee benefits consultant; and I agree 100% that they underrated, over-criticized, and underutilized — and in the last decade or so, have been the most heavily “hit” when it comes to staffing reductions. Well-trained HR (or HE) professionals are worth their weight in gold; possibly moreso than any other non-revenue producing, non-production position. My experience is that whenever any of your listed criticisms are applied to HR professionals, Dan, it’s because of C-suite management’s failure to empower them to properly fulfill their responsibilities.
Great post and great discussion!
I am missing the aspect of sustainable, long term HR solutions. As long as companies and HR departments don’t think in the longer term aspects, there is no chance to get credibility. I believe that every company has its own HR Karma and will eventually pay the dues or get the reward for it.
I have seen HR being one of the key players and strategic partner. I have also seen organization where HR is not included at all. For me it boils down to true leadership of the CEO and of course the HR leader.
HR has also an incredible wide spread of activities and various roles to play. Without leadership, many HR folks get lost in this. This is true especially in scenarios where companies go in cost saving mode and reduce staff in HR.
Martin, Great comments – thank you! The new HE department could and should champion the Culture – then it’s a win-win:)
WOW ! talk about a hot button. This all comes down to Leaders being accountable for their actions and not using the HR folks as scapegoats for their lack of integrity. Time and time again we see Leaders (and managers alike) through up their hands and cry ” I have more important things to do rather than babysit this employee through this problem (although I probably created the problem). HR go deal with it !” It happens all the time and there just does not seem to be any “accountability” for those great Value Statement that are plastered all over the company. INTEGRITY, HONESTY, ACCOUNTABILITY, WALK OUR TALK, ETC. ETC. How is it we don’t get “People make this damn thing work, If you don’t value that what do you Value !”
I remember the time when senior managers were testing mission statement bullets and one was,
“We manage with uncompromising integrity.”
The managers downstream of these top guys reframed it a bit to read:
“We manipulate with inflexible righteousness.”
Neither version was used in the final version of that Mission Statement, for some reason…
(True story — I was leading the workshop for 20 managers and supervisors where we were testing different bullets! And this was a really good company.)
“A Desk is a dangerous place from which to view the world.” (I have a cartoon on that one!)
Once you become a supervisor or a team leader, you just joined the HR department.
I like the sense of collaboration your statement gives.
Hi Dan,
Touchy subject. And probably never ending story for HR. My experience as HR professional is that one false assumption is at the heart of this dissatisfaction:
“HR problems are problems of the HR department”
This assumption has led to various misunderstandings with all parties involved, management, staff and not the least, with HR workers themselves. The HR roles that an HR department should hold, vary per organisation. A weak HR department doesn’t know which roles to assume causing gaps or overlaps in responsibility. Add an org that doesn’t know what it wants from HR and you have chaos. For fear of repeating myself in comments to your posts: there is no blue print for success! There is however a recipe for failure, which is a management that doesn’t know its staff, don’t know what they do and have no clue how to motivate them. No HR department in the world can solve that problem, believe you me.
Excellent! Usually HR people are very few as everything gets outsourced. So in all fairness nowadays there is often nobody left to speak to unless you are willing to communicate with an electronic system. Jenny
Respect! HMMM… Goes both ways, to many are Brain washed by corporate with its get rid of the upper wage earners and higher of the streets for lower wages of course comes from the corporate bean counters. HR needs a good direction from corporate, if they have no backing they will simply push papers….
I kept reading, and reading, and reading, hoping to see more support for the many HR professionals who do not fit this stereotype. I have worked with them, over and over, during the past 20 years – phenomenal individuals who take care of people (employees and management). These HR professionals exist, too: They speak out with courage (sometimes at great risk to their own reputations) on behalf of employees for what’s right. They think ahead to “what if” situations, to protect their leadership and their organization from trouble or bad press. They are on the front lines helping with employee morale and commemorative events. They listen with confidentiality and provide sound expertise and advice in a counselor-type role when employees have very private, very upsetting situations. It is important to remember that HR professionals are not the decision-makers. HR can speak out with courage; they can try to protect with determination; they can listen and advise with compassion; but ultimately, the decisions belong to someone else – management or employee. And, when the advice, guidance and recommendations are ignored, and something goes bad for the decision-maker, HR is the easy scapegoat. Which, by the way, often accounts for the “CYA” mindset that was mentioned. We all know the adage: Trick me once, shame on you. Trick me twice, shame on me…and I’ll cover my tracks next time. If you’re seeing obsessive CYA mindsets in your HR individuals, consider how it began. Their trust gets broken, too.
It may be some people’s experience that HR is a thorn in their professional side, but I believe it’s easier than you might think to find the HR teams who are paving the way as strong strategic partners with exceptional customer service skills.
Thank you to Janice…You seem to embody what I’m trying to say.
I agree. Most of the times, the role and image of HR is a reflection of leadership towards people issues. HR very often ends up being the “bad guy”. Look for good HR Karma and you find excellent HR teams!
Thank you!
The problem is — that for HR to be a respected, strategically aligned function — you need to love HR not just your HR person!
Fantastic post! Always enjoy your insight. I like the idea of transforming the department into a Human Empowerment Department. I just may bring this to our next Leadership Meeting.
The object is to remove the disconnect throughout any organization. The more segregated the departments are the less understanding there is between them. HR needs to support what seems many times as opposing teams in the game. The perception of HR and their function depends very highly on the focus placed on them. The answer is to provide the proper culture in any organization that brings success as a whole.
I don’t have too much interaction with the HR dept where I work, since we are broken up into big divisions. HR is only there when they are needed and from what I see they work more for the organization than the person. However, they do provide lots of “human empowerment” development courses, sessions, etc. for all to participate in. So I’m a bit torn on how I feel about them…
“People are the most valuable resource in an organization and it is too important for HR to be accountable.” With over 20 years of experience including six years as an HR executive that is my take now that I am in general management. I want to the goal of my HR team to improve three things:
1. Engagement of our people
2. Productivity/Creativity of our people
3. Help people be successful
My best HR person is a former line manager that I cajoled into taking the role.
I have been an HR professional for 12 years; the first 10 years in a Fortune 50 organization with over 400k employees and the past 2 years in a non profit organization. As an HR professional, I always lead with providing quality customer service.
This concept is based on offering service with a smile, understanding your audience and jumping into the trenches with operations. I am a firm believer in earning respect because it allows everything else to flow better and makes the difficult conversations palatable.
I am an agent of the organization first but I provide customer service to all. During my HR career I have created an environment of trust through building relationships with my workforce. This concept takes a lot of work but yields major dividends. Simply, get to know your workforce
overtime and make an effort to find out 10 things about your employees. During the course of this expedition, their interest or development needs will surface. At this moment, HR will lead the charge towards retention and making a vested interest in employee development.
Whether the name is HR or HE, it’s always about training, treatment and environment.
Operational people should do the recruitment because they are the only ones that can gauge peers.
HR should be renamed: personal staff and should do what they have been created for: be the intermediaries between the company and the people.
There should be enough work for them in that.
The fact that these people have taken too much power in the corporate world is due to lack of ideas and bad management, but it’s never too late.