A little under a year ago I had a personal aha moment where I realized that I was onto something big. Like most, the events that lead up to this happened over the course of many years, but unlike most of them it would change my life. I realized that the phrase “Human Resources” had to go. I reached this conclusion after spending a number of years interacting with the staffing industry as an agency recruiter, consultant, temp and human resources recruiter.
It wasn’t that the human resources team needed to go or that certain members of the team needed to go, though I’m sure this could be true in some organizations as much as it is with other teams or individuals. The problem is in the wording and everything that it creates with respect to workplace attitudes. According to Wikipedia, the objective of HR is “The objective of Human Resources is to maximize the return on investment from the organization’s human capital and minimize financial risk. It is the responsibility of human resource managers to conduct these activities in an effective, legal, fair, and consistent manner.” The funny thing is that a few days ago I was talking to a recruiter buddy and he mentioned a similar phrase that was even more of an issue in my book: “Human Capital”. He’s still an hr recruiter.
Disclaimer: I don’t fault him or anyone else who uses this terminology. I do believe that it needs to change. I also think that the industries that propagate it are in need of some radical change. And like it or not, they are going to change whether they like it or not. There are some who are pushing the envelope like Best Buy did with their results-only work environment and others that are just making solid efforts to help people cope with the challenges of being a full time employee and having a life too like J.M. Family Enterprises. I’m not sure about best buy, but I’m pretty sure that J.M. Family didn’t get to where they are today overnight. Neither did Google, but both companies are in the Fortune 100 Best companies to work for in 2008 along with Starbucks.
But not every company is a major retailer or the largest Lexus dealership in the world so they can’t afford to experiment or invest in experimental programs like the one that Best Buy embarked on or like J.M. Family maintains. These programs are expensive. So what I am proposing isn’t an expensive journey, just a starting point. The starting point that I’m proposing is to eliminate the use of the phrase “Human Resources” and along with it “Human Capital”. As a replacement I propose that organizations use a more pleasant phrase like “Employer Relations” or “Work Stream”. I really like Work Stream because it emphasizes the organic aspect of how people interact with the work ecosystem they are a part of. Something that happens upstream impacts life downstream, and things that happen downstream are critical to the survival of those upstream.
With a new philosophy for employers in place there will not be overnight progress toward becoming a top employer, but none of the companies that I’ve referred to got where they are today overnight either.
