Human Resources is often the punching for columnists looking for a way to connect with their readers. Human Resources for better or worse is in charge of hiring, and considering the number of hires versus applications in any company, they're are always cheap shots that can be taken that people in a crowd will cheer.
In many organizations, sales and marketing professionals are even taught to use Human Resource as an excuse for not meeting quotas. Everyone knows that hiring is the basis of success (remember the "get the right people on the bus" mantra?), and Human Resources is in charge of hiring.
David, Mezzapelle, a member over at the job boarders network, has an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal on why Human Resources professionals should be treated with respect, and how they can be a competitive advantage when they're used as a strategic resource rather than a convenient excuse.
In a company built to leverage human capital, the HR staff would spend less time processing benefits requests and more time being the expert resource on the state of the organization's work force and its ability to perform.
That has been difficult in the past, because many of the administrative duties assigned to human resources involve a lot of detail and complexity that make them labor intensive.
But now, Web-based applications, many of which lend themselves to self-service, offer a solution. Employees can visit a Web site to sign up for benefits, change their addresses, enroll in training programs, search for jobs, assess their knowledge and set goals and objectives for the year. Managers can use them to give out bonuses and raises, appraise performance, transfer employees and find internal candidates to fill open positions.
What's more, many companies offer HR outsourcing services, and a number of large companies have entered into long-term contracts to outsource multiple HR processes to a single vendor. I believe that for most companies, outsourcing is the right way to handle HR administration. Not only does it release HR professionals from a set of no-win activities, it frees them up for work that is of greater benefit to the organization.
We get this. The explosion of tools that can automate HR processes is something we follow closely, and it's the basis of our TalentFilter product. Our goal was to find something that recruiters do and make it easier. Human Resources in general has a lot of paperwork, but although the benefits side of the house is working on less admin work, the recruiting side should be focused on talent acquisition, and that means more time building relationships with a workforce and less time chasing paper.
And in the process, we think that CEO's will start to see HR as a partner, and not just the place that keeps birthdays straight and passes out paychecks.
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