...Why We Hate HR In a knowledge economy, companies with the best talent win. And finding, nurturing, and developing that talent should be one of the most important tasks in a corporation. So why does human resources do such a bad job From: Issue 97 | August 2005 | Page 40 | By: Keith H. Hammonds Well, here's a rockin' party: a gathering of several hundred midlevel human (Yo, Wayne Newton! How's the 401(k)?) They are here, ensconced for two days at faux to confer on "strategic HR leadership," a conceit that sounds, to the lay observer, at once frightening and self contradictory. If not plain laughable. Because let's face it: After close to 20 years of hopeful rhetoric about becoming "strategic partners" with a "seat at the table" where the business decisions that matter are made, most human aren't nearly there. They have no seat, and the table is locked inside a conference room to which they have no key. HR people are, for most practical purposes, neither strategic nor leaders. I don't care for Las Vegas. And if it's not clear already, I don't like HR, either, which is why I'm here. The human force that blindly enforces nonsensical rules, resists creativity, and impedes constructive change. HR is the corporate function with the greatest potential the one that most consistently underdelivers. And I am here to find out why. Why are annual performance appraisals so time henchman for the chief financial officer, finding...
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...The article Why We Hate HR by Keith Hammonds, deputy editor for Fast Company, discusses the ineffectiveness human resources have on a company. He very boldly argues that HRM’s striving to become involved in strategic business planning and to have “a seat at the table” are inhibited by the routine functions of HR and administrative expectations (Hammonds, 2005, p. 1). Hammonds’ article develops claims that lead up to his conclusion that HR is a wasted talent for a company to utilize to gain differentiation, competiveness, and value. The critiques Hammonds used to define human resources can be used to explore the potential value and capabilities HR has to offer a business and possibilities of a company gaining in the HR area of the work force. Hammonds argues that the focus on performance impedes on an organization’s ability to deliver value to employees and customers. “You’re only effective if you add value,” he quotes Dave Ulrich, “… you’re not measured by what you do but by what you deliver,” (Hammonds, p. 3). In order to achieve added value, organizations can consider adopting new HR practices. In R. Wayne Mondy’s Human Resource Management text book, the evolution of HR is discussed with a simple conclusion that there is no pattern for how human resource tasks are now achieved. The only certainty is that the previously identified HR functions must still be accomplished. Each company must choose the appropriate vehicle for doing these tasks based on specific needs...
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...one which is most criticised. The debate whether HR is for the benefit of the employees or the organization has been one of the most contentious issues in management. The fact is that, the purpose of HR function is to enable the organization to achieve its strategic goals by providing it with the best possible talent. Therefore, before evaluating whether HR is on the side of employee or management, one must understand that HR is part of the organization and exists for the benefit of the organization. However, this does not necessarily mean that HR has to be against the interest of employees. The HR is the function which is responsible for managing the organization’s human capital. In this age of Knowledge economy, human capital is a strategic asset which can give the organization a competitive advantage. However, since HR is the employee facing function, employees expect HR to be of assistance to them and help them with their issues at the workplace. When this does not happen due to one reason or another, the HR is seen as the Bad party which is just working against employee interest. In reality, the fact is that the HR is neither on the side of the management, nor on the side of the employee. The purpose of HR is to meet its role in the organizational strategy. When we talk of strategy, many a times, HR gets ignored because of a feeling that HR cannot be responsible for anything strategic. The most well known function of HR such as recruitment, compensation, training etc....
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...SUMMARY In the knowledge economy, companies with the best talent win. And finding, nurturing, and developing that talent should be one of the most important tasks in a corporation. So why does human resources do such a bad job – and how can we fix it? Keith Hammonds, the deputy editor of Fast Company, asserts that human resources offices should manage an organization’s human resources the same way the information technology office manages its computers and the finance office manages its capital. They should think strategically. Instead, human resources offices focus on such administrivia as pay, benefits, and retirement - - processes increasingly being outsourced. That should be good news: human resources offices will then be free to focus on the strategic implications of what they do - - are their actions serving the organization’s strategic goals and making it more effective and successful? Unfortunately, they’re not used to thinking about such things and aren’t very good at it. Hammonds identifies four reasons why human resources offices aren’t doing a good job and suggests five ways to fix them. CRITIQUE In a well written article, Hammond delivers what he promises. His characterization of the kinds of people who generally seek to work in human resources is accurate. They like to work with people, but aren’t very business oriented. Their perspective is typically much like that of a social worker. Human resources offices emphasize inputs rather...
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...Why We Still Hate HR By Karen Southall Watts (2008) A few years ago, while plowing through my reading and research in graduate school I read an article called "Why we hate HR" by Keith H. Hammonds. In his extensive look at HR, mostly from a big corporation viewpoint, he described HR as "a dark bureaucratic force that blindly enforces nonsensical rules, resists creativity, and impedes constructive change." Ouch! From my point of view, training entrepreneurs, coaching businesswomen and talking to jobseekers I must say, we still hate HR. Let me tell you why. The folks in HR still don't get it. As a group they still don't understand what the company does, who the customers are and what the core business drivers are. I base this assessment on the calls I get from clients that start with the words, "You'll never believe what HR did this time." The HR professionals I've talked to over the last few years have a mind-boggling understanding of paperwork, regulations and dodging phone calls. However, once they glance outside their own office they seem to be mystified. There is still a bias towards "efficiency" instead of value. HR offices are keyed into the number of hours of training they provide-not the results delivered. They seem to collect job applications and process job candidates in a manner designed to prove their own competency and not as a pipeline for needed talent. Automated systems may make it easier to outsource the administrative tasks of HR, but they don't necessarily...
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...Chapter 1, Activity 4 – What HR Managers and Departments Do Today The assignment was to read several business publications, review their contents, and from that compile a list of what HR managers and departments do today. It’s easy to understands that HR managers and departments have a mired of completely different tasks they need to effectively perform. I had several takeaways from both the text and publications I read. The first was how extraordinary each HR representative must be in order to maintain efficiency and must have excellent multi-tasking skills; especially in smaller departments. Even to manage the outsourcing of some of their responsibilities still requires the knowledge and know-how to ensure it’s done correctly. The numerous articles I read support the varying topics HR managers need to track and many of them are constantly changing and/or evolving with new insights to consider. Here is the list I put together. “What HR Managers and Departments Do Today” 1. Defend its HR department business practices. 2. Advise senior leadership and managers. 3. Counsel and/or mediate with/for managers and employees. 4. Diligently keep up on new labor relations and compliance laws. 5. Employee training: new hire, diversity, EEO, etc. 6. Employee personal development, to include wellness programs. 7. Personnel and production analytics review. 8. Manage performance employee reviews, to include promotions and firing. 9. Execute and/or...
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...BEST PRACTICE v. BEST FIT How do we know what is an appropriate HR model for a firm? Best Practice Model ! Argument: all firms will see performance improvement if best practice implemented (see empirical evidence) ! Method: identify best practice, give HR a high profile, get top level commitment, sell it, do it, measure it, reward champions ! Advantage: much agreement / tradition on basic best practice. Also recognition of ëbadí practice. Established rules of thumb for selection; training; appraisal methods. No need to re-invent. Itís out there. ! Disadvantage: difficulty arises when we go beyond these straightforward practices. There is great diversity of ëbest practiceí which moves away from uniformity. Pfeffer(1994 listed 16 practices for ëcompetitive advantage through peopleí. Danger of becoming an end in itself at the expense of company goals / interests. Can be conflict between benefit to company & benefit to worker ie reengineering & downsizing. Employees may lose their voice. May not be appropriate in all situations or even in sections of same business. High Performing Work Systems (HPWS) High Involvement ! Ability ñ enhance employee ability & knowledge through good recruitment & training ! Motivation ñ motivate desired behaviours through strong incentives ! Opportunity ñ encourage ideas & contribution from motivated & better trained workers Characteristics of Best Practice Model: Work teams~ flexibility 2-way information ~ comms Care...
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...or quality of work. In this paper I will give a summary of an article called becoming an evidence based HR practitioner. This article is relevant to this paper because it gives background on how to address issues in the workplace, using evidence based solutions. Also, I have chosen to focus on team building exercises and how they affect employees in the workplace. I will include evidence to support my argument whether or not this is a useful technique. Becoming an Evidence-Based HR Practitioner Becoming an evidenced based HR practitioner was a very insightful article to read. The article described EBHR as a decision making process that combines critical thinking and scientific evidence along with business information. It also informs the reader how to get started as an EBHR practitioner. The key aspect to EBHR is to actively manage professional decisions. This involves making decisions using practices supported by high research. The article also includes step by step set of approaches to becoming an evidence based HR practitioner. It offers guidance for evidence- based practice the article underscores the connection between effective practice and organizational research. Team Building and Employee Relationships The question I decided to focus on was “Do team building exercises improve relationships among employees?”First I decided to address why team building seem like a good technique to use in the workplace. First it facilitates better communication...
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...HR and sustainability: An odd couple? By Marc Gunther Published March 20, 2013 This Q-and-A with Andrew Savitz explores how the human resources department can be a powerful tool for corporate sustainablity programs. Savitz is the author of a new book called "Talent, Transformation and the Triple Bottom Line: How Companies Can Leverage Human Resources to Achieve Sustainable Growth" (Wiley 2013). As you can guess from the title, Savitz argues that employees are the key to creating sustainable companies, but that they -- and their colleagues in human resources -- are often overlooked when companies embark on environmental programs. I think he's on to something. I've long thought that the single biggest business driver of corporate sustainability initiatives is the way they help better companies attract better people and motivate the ones they have. Savitz has spent his career working with companies on social and environmental issues. A lawyer by training (and before that a Rhodes scholar at Oxford), Savitz has been a congressional staffer, the general counsel for the Massachusetts Office of Environmental Affairs and head of the environmental advisory practice at PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Since 2005, he has led a consultancy called Sustainable Business Strategies. Here's our online conversation: Marc Gunther: You say that you've written the book "in large measure to bridge the gap between sustainability and HR." HR? Really? Why do we need human resources people to get...
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...and experience the things happening in the actual world of Industrial through our On-The-Job-Training(Internship) in HR Department and other Industrial establishments related. We have given 360 hours to undergo and pursue this training that will help us to acquire knowledge and skills that will serve as a tool to face the challenges of life in the future. It will set our mind of what does a real world of industrial is all about. Others think that industrial matters only on encoding or interviewing applicants which is true; however, it also matters or related in decision making. It also related to the development of our skills in communication, teamwork, enhance knowledge and management. Thus, experience is vital to one’s improvement and preparing students to their career is the best way to set them on success. Pierre and Paul is my first company to work with but unfortunately, I didn’t want the nature of the work so I decide to look for another company that will give me an opportunity to learn more and it was related on my course. My concern classmate informed me that National Bookstore Inc. is looking for Interns so I grab it. I started my OJT on July 29, 2013 at National Bookstore Inc. I really amazed and glad because we all know that National Bookstore Inc. is a well known company in our company. I was assigned at the HR Department because the Assistant HR Manager their said that they need OJT’s on their department. I accept it because I wanted to assign there. At first...
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...(Re)Designing the HR Organization Amy Kates, Downey Kates Associates M 22 any HR functions have gone through the process of transformation over the past decade. This redefinition of the work of HR is intended to allow a more strategic focus on talent management and organizational capability while systematizing HUMAN RESOURCE PLANNING 29.2 and controlling the cost of transactional work. Little formal consideration has been given, however, to how these new complex HR organizations should be configured to best achieve these goals. This article highlights the operational challenges created by the most common organization design used by HR departments—the business partner model—and presents an emerging model— the solutions center—that is intended to address these flaws. Each model is described and discussed and a set of considerations for the HR leader is offered in order to maximize the effectiveness of the chosen organization design. Over the last decade there has been a profound shift in the work of the HR function. The publication in 1997 of David Ulrich’s Human Resource Champions spurred HR leaders across various industries to realign their organizations in order to undertake “strategic business partner” work. At the same time, a focus on cost-cutting and efficiency aimed at staff functions in general—and at HR in particular—has pushed much HR transactional work into shared services or to outsourced vendors. For many HR departments, this process of “transformation...
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...The Evolution of HR: Developing HR as an Internal Consulting Organization Richard M. Vosburgh, Mirage Resorts, MGM MIRAGE A s the role and impact of the HR profession continue to evolve, we have reached a critical crossroad. Together and now, business leaders and HR professionals have the opportunity to understand the history that brings us to our current situation, to be informed by predictable trends, and to make the transformation necessary to result in organizational competitive advantage and HR functional viability. Over the last hundred years, the HR profession evolved dramatically, usually in response to external conditions. Unquestionably we are changing—the issue in front of us is whether we will define that future or simply react to the changes that continue to occur in the economy and in our business models. Human ResouRce Planning 30.3 11 If we do not step forward with compelling HR leadership, the future will be determined for us. When the June 2005 Business Week reports “Why HR Gets No Respect,” the August 2005 Fast Company proclaims “Why We Hate HR,” and the “evil personnel director” in Dilbert continues to get knowing laughs, something is going on that the HR profession needs to address. This set of issues goes beyond the never-ending lamentations about lacking a seat at the table for the top HR person—this is about the future of HR in total. We present a historical review and conclude that HR’s greatest opportunity is to develop the organizational...
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...Kara Gershman Experimental paper 2 (chapter 10) Due: 3/19/03 *Write about an experience that involves decision making and use 2 concepts from the chapter (10) and write about what you have experienced from each concept. My experience with making decisions comes within my everyday life. Whether I am making decisions at the workplace or just on what I want to eat, it is all a decision and are brains need to process these decisions we make. I think it is very important to use your brain and think before a decision is made. Most people just speak or act without thinking of the consequences, and this is when making decisions can be hard. Even living at college, balancing 2 nanny jobs, and school allows me to make decisions whether I like them or not. An experience that I have used decision making in is when I nanny and how I got my nanny jobs. There were many decisions I had to make. I had to make sure the family was flexible with time (seeing I’m in school), was the right fit for me, and I was the right fit for them. Pay was also a hard decision I had to make. I have been a nanny for the 3 years I have been at school here at SNHU and I enjoy it thoroughly but I am constantly making decisions when it comes to babysitting. The Rational Model proposes that managers use a rational, four-step sequence when making decisions. You need to “1. I identify the problem, 2. Generate alternative solutions, 3. Select a solution, and 4. Implement and evaluate the solution you chose.”...
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...Transition in Leadership: the issue and office dynamics of bringing lateral at senior positions. HRM in Banking : Term Paper Mrinal Mardia Content: 1. Introduction - Is Leadership that critical! 2. Need of Hiring Laterals a. Globalization b. Lack of Inner talent recognition c. Volatility – 2008 Crisis. 3. Issues – a. Financial, b. Performance, c. Culture – Leadership Behavior and Employee Engagement. 4. Way Ahead 5. Bibliography Transition in Leadership: The issues and office dynamics of bringing laterals at senior level. The dictionary defines leadership as the act of leading, guidance, and direction. Wikipedia defines Leadership as “a process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task". The key difference is between the first and the second is words like social and enlist. It means leadership cannot be forced it has to be commanded and not demanded. And therefore still in the 21st century each not much has changed in the leadership arena. The companies and large and organization are still looking for people within the organization than bringing in people from outside because of the simple...
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...The Best HR Department Project Lauren Secko Human Resource Management SNHU 71 Aiken Street, Unit H6 Norwalk, CT 06851 Telephone: 203.550.8114 Email: lsecko@newcanaanymca.org Instructor: Dr. Bonnie Nelsen Executive Summary The best HR departments are ones that bring out the best in the team that they are working with. This is done through asking for and being open to feedback from those that you are representing. There are many components that go into this process, and one is no more important than the next. It is all of them together that brings forth an innovative and inclusive HR department that is there to service each and every staff member that is hired. From training and development, to retention and top talent recruitment, HR departments need to understand what is important to their staff and how they can make that team feel engaged and valued. When one is able to perfect that, they can then formulate a department and company that is working towards a common mission and goal. I hope to address this process through my paper that follows. The Best HR Department The best HR departments are ones that are able to attract and help to retain top talent. These departments help their employees feel valued as more than just a number or a tool to make their company better. Instead they make sure that employees know that who they are outside of work and what experiences they bring to the table every day, are valued and received. HR should be a place...
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