Comments on: Change The Name of Human Resources or HR? http://www.balance-and-results.com/change-the-name-of-human-resources-or-hr.html Effectiveness in Human Resources, Leadership and Personal Success Strategies Tue, 17 Jan 2012 14:50:01 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Dave Crisp http://www.balance-and-results.com/change-the-name-of-human-resources-or-hr.html/comment-page-1#comment-301 Dave Crisp Thu, 10 Jun 2010 16:35:06 +0000 http://www.balance-and-results.com/?p=223#comment-301 Thanks Doug, You echo the sentiments of lots of observers. Fortunately HR is finally coming to realize that true 'fairness' isn't 'everyone the same' but in fact, everyone as they need to be treated. It's one of those great hurdles of leadership that I often talk about in presentations - how do you actually DO this? HR still has a long way to go to achieve its full potential and until it does people are right to question its value and plenty are. There are 2 parts - the strategic (positive, innovative, developmental) and the basic admin stuff which can be outsourced lots of ways to 'cut back' if it can't be streamlined and minimized in-house. Most great HR departments are spending more money training leaders rather than administering basic programs, just as Finance and IT struggle to fully automate the routine work everywhere and concentrate on strategic contributions. HR just has a more challenging subject matter - human beings who come in all shapes, sizes and attitudes to try to work with. Thanks Doug,
You echo the sentiments of lots of observers. Fortunately HR is finally coming to realize that true ‘fairness’ isn’t ‘everyone the same’ but in fact, everyone as they need to be treated. It’s one of those great hurdles of leadership that I often talk about in presentations – how do you actually DO this?

HR still has a long way to go to achieve its full potential and until it does people are right to question its value and plenty are. There are 2 parts – the strategic (positive, innovative, developmental) and the basic admin stuff which can be outsourced lots of ways to ‘cut back’ if it can’t be streamlined and minimized in-house. Most great HR departments are spending more money training leaders rather than administering basic programs, just as Finance and IT struggle to fully automate the routine work everywhere and concentrate on strategic contributions. HR just has a more challenging subject matter – human beings who come in all shapes, sizes and attitudes to try to work with.

]]> By: Doug Leary http://www.balance-and-results.com/change-the-name-of-human-resources-or-hr.html/comment-page-1#comment-299 Doug Leary Wed, 09 Jun 2010 14:14:22 +0000 http://www.balance-and-results.com/?p=223#comment-299 I much prefer calling it the Personnel Department. How did the working public ever accept a term as dehumanizing as "human resources?" But I agree that simply changing the name won't do much. Large HR organizations have, in the name of fairness and uniformity, tried to reduce the human judgement factor in performance reviews, creating elaborate, formulaic evaluation systems. But these often end up dictating how employees approach their work. Those who focus too much on actually doing their jobs and not enough on managing the mechanics of the review process are at a disadvantage. That HR budget would be much better spent training managers to recognize good and bad performance when they see it, and giving them the authority to act accordingly. I think HR organizations should be trimmed back to fulfilling legal requirements and running benefits programs. Let managers run the company. Let the Personnel Department do the necessary legwork. I much prefer calling it the Personnel Department. How did the working public ever accept a term as dehumanizing as “human resources?” But I agree that simply changing the name won’t do much.

Large HR organizations have, in the name of fairness and uniformity, tried to reduce the human judgement factor in performance reviews, creating elaborate, formulaic evaluation systems. But these often end up dictating how employees approach their work. Those who focus too much on actually doing their jobs and not enough on managing the mechanics of the review process are at a disadvantage.

That HR budget would be much better spent training managers to recognize good and bad performance when they see it, and giving them the authority to act accordingly. I think HR organizations should be trimmed back to fulfilling legal requirements and running benefits programs. Let managers run the company. Let the Personnel Department do the necessary legwork.

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