A recent LinkedIn article by Bernard Marr raises the provocative question: do businesses no longer require their HR departments?
Bernard points out that even the name ‘human resources’ is a big no-no, stating that no employee wants to be called such and that people are at the heart of any successful company. He also argues that there is a basic problem in HR’s attempt to support employees at the same time as it is required to help manage situations such as performance, discipline and appraisals. He describes this as a ‘conflict of interest’, with the result that most HR departments concentrate on the management aspect at the expense of the employee support side.
However, his main question is around the value that HR does – or doesn’t – bring to businesses. He points to examples of companies that have closed, reduced or outsourced their HR functions and not suffered any substantial problems, suggesting that they were not receiving significant value from those departments in the first place. The article suggests that HR is often caught up in bureaucratic, legal or administrative work that doesn’t offer any ‘unique benefit’.
Bernard suggests that a new model should be put into place. The function should be split into two teams, one providing employee support from junior level to top executives (including staff engagement, development, culture, etc) and the other providing people analytics. This latter team would use measures to identify solutions to recruitment, talent gaps, staff turnover and so on.
When this has been achieved, he recommends that anything remaining should either be outsourced or automated so that all in-house HR work delivers results to the performance of the company.
You can read the full article here: Why We No Longer Need HR Departments.
