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The Wall Street Journal Online recently published an article entitled “Ten Things Human Resources Won’t Tell You.” The ten things mentioned seemed to run the gamut of topics from the dangers of being fired by postings on social media to stating that HR is not the employee advocate. Ninety percent of the comments (up to 26 total by the time of this post) made in response to the article are slams against HR in support of the negative messages set forth in the article. It appears from the number of negative comments, that HR departments haven’t made much progress in building credibility since the 2005 article, “Why We Hate HR.”
Of the ten things mentioned, “In some companies, we’re not very useful at all,” may be one of those emotion-provoking comments that infuriate some HR folks. However, instead of letting your emotions take over your open-mindedness, ask yourself these ten questions:
- How valuable am I to the organization?
- How have I communicated that value to the organization’s leaders?
- How have I communicated that value to the organization’s employees?
- What measures am I using to determine success?
- How are the HR programs aligned with the goals of the organization?
- Do I advocate for employees fairly and consistently?
- Do I know how to balance the competing interests in the organization to provide a fair viewpoint?
- Do I clearly communicate the reason behind my position to employees, managers, and company leaders?
- Am I an example to those within and around the organization of its key values?
- What can I do today to serve my customers?
As always, your comments and questions are encouraged!
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Sheri Mazurek is a training and human resource professional with over 16 years of management experience, and is skilled in all areas of employee management and human resource functions, with a specialty in learning and development. She is currently employed as the Human Resource Manager at EmployeeScreenIQ, a global leader in pre-employment background screening.
