Hr Isn't Working for You

Keith Hammonds tries to show in his article why we should hate HR, through a set of flawed and yet valid points of some companies. He uses reasons that make sense in the old thinking of what HR positions were supposed to do. However, in recent years there has been a shift in the hiring and usage of HR.

Many companies are more concerned with the bottom line in order to hire properly qualified individuals to perform their HR functions. Some of these companies have even outsourced some or all functions of HR to consulting companies that specialize in human resources. So to say that most “HR people are not the sharpest tacks in the box” is an understatement when the hiring practice of the companies that he discusses involves not hiring the right person for the right job. A person that is not in the right position for their abilities will yield poor results in respect to performance. However, when a company hires a qualified person for to be a head of an HR department, such as Betty Lou Smith at Hunter Douglas, the HR department will be able to have a larger part in helping the company achieve their strategic goals.

The author says that “HR isn’t working for you,” he is right the HR department should be working for the best interest of the employee. The HR department needs to be focused in protecting the company from various law suits that could bring the potential of causing the business into financial ruin. While there are many people that would believe that the government should stay out of business, they are the ones protecting the employees since they see it as their responsibility. This is the reason that the government has issued laws that have created such things as Equal Employment Opportunity and Occupational Safety and Health. When a company violates one these it can result in large payouts to the person or persons involved, this is what HR needs to be focused on preventing. The author says that HR needs to make exceptions