Readers have strong opinions,
especially when you get into the debate over the strategic value of HR and
getting a “seat at the table.” I recently devoted one of my Last Word columns
(titled “HR ‘Hate’ Endures”)
to a new study by Deloitte Touche
Tohmatsu and The Economist Intelligence Unit on the same subject. Here
are some of the comments:
·
From a business and executive coach in
Indianapolis:
“I read the Fast Company article when it
originally came out. To tell the truth, it hit the nail on the noggin. Our
profession seems more like social work and transactional HR voodoo than anything
that will help the business fulfill on its strategic agenda and we seem happy as
clams about it. Meanwhile, HR doesn’t have a ‘seat at the table’ and gets its
resources slashed or outsourced. And we wonder why. Poor us. On the other hand,
I keep seeing executives selecting pals from production, sales and other
departments to be their ‘HR guys’ rather than selecting people who can translate
the business’ strategic goals into a people strategy that works. I’ve seen HR
professionals hire ‘people people’ (still don’t know what that means), thinking
that on-the-job training will take care of everything that’s missing. We did
(and continue to do) it to ourselves.”
·
From Barbara (no city given):
“Almost 25 years ago, I remember a midlevel sales manager telling me that ‘HR
can’t do anything.’ Since she was talking about my chosen profession, I
defended against her remark, but, as you can tell, I never forgot
it. Why? Because I suspected there was a lot of truth to it. Of
course, there are HR folks who have had and continue to have impact. But
for the most part, HR practitioners are bureaucrats, administering policies and
ensuring procedures are followed. … I think the HR profession is ripe for major
overhaul, and it’ll probably come from outside the profession. What that
will look like, I’ll not venture to guess, but it will probably be very, very
different from anything we’ve ever
imagined.”
·
From Meg in New York: I question how a publication whose prime readership is the very group
Mr. Hollon has chastised on repeated occasions allows such drivel. More
disheartening is Mr. Hollon's total lack of respect for the HR profession,
supported by his latest fear that, again, no one will speak up and help HR
professionals. Quite condemning and quite irresponsible, especially in light of
the Jeff Schwartz interview which offered a fairer assessment, to which Mr.
Hollon chose to paraphrase in his one-sided perspective. … Your ‘HR “hate”
endures’ is completely inappropriate and likely a tagline for nothing more than
the shock value. … Shame on you for disrespecting your readership, yet once
again.”
Have a comment on this subject or
one of my blog posts? I’d love to hear what you have to say. Until we get the
comment posting function on this blog operational, send me comments at jhollon@workforce.com. I will publish as many of them as I
can.
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