I subscribe to the HR Daily Advisor in my RSS feeder. The site is a great resource for HR Generalists, but the content always reminds me of why I really dislike my chosen career in Human Resources. If there’s an issue or question related to compliance or paperwork, the HR Daily Advisor has a thorough and comprehensive answer.
Is it me, or does this information gives you hives? Quick! Someone pass the EpiPen because I just had an anaphylactic reaction to HR record keeping.
As I’ve written before, there are important activities at a company that pertain to personnel management. Those functions are related to federal & state compliance issues, payroll, basic employee management and training, and the administration of company policies and procedures. I have one simple question to ask, though: should this work be done in the name of Human Resources?
I know it’s important for employees to have a single point of contact for benefits, resources, training, etc.; however, it’s wholly inefficient to ask a single department to function as a conduit for administrative matters, talent management, policies, procedures, compliance, recruiting, retention, training, employee branding, etc.
American monopolies have histories of failure. Bloated oil companies and bureaucratic airlines don’t create efficiencies; these operating models increase consumer prices, reduce innovation, and slow things down. Might I ask: In the spirit of being faster/better/cheaper, why does HR still operate under a hodgepodge model where anything related to an employee falls under one umbrella?
You used the term “personnel management.” So I’m going to reveal my age! Back when I had my first jobs (one as a Radio Shack manager in their boom days in the 70s and 80s), no one had ever heard of the term “Human Resources (or HR). The function was referred to as “Personnel Department” or simply “Personnel.”
Back then companies (at least Radio Shack) would go out of the way to retain you and place you in a different position if you there was a personal need.
So, my question for you, the HR expert, is when did “Personnel Departments” morph in “Human Resources?” And when did employees become less important assets to companies?
PS I don’t pretend to understand all of your posts, but I read all of them. I’m becoming a big fan of yours for too reasons: You are not afraid to express you opinions and I adore you since of humor!
Herb, thanks for the compliment!
I have no idea when personnel management became human resources, but it was before 1995 — that was my first job in an office. I worked as a human resources assistant. My father-in-law worked for the phone company and it was always PERSONNEL. That was the department you called when you had any trouble.