Nonprofit HR’s Blog

Steve Browne collected some ideas from HR professionals at a roundtable in Cincinnati on what HR can do to make itself better. Here are some of the best ideas.

• They knew their business objectives. This isn’t the classic “HR needs to know the business” mantra. It is a call for HR to see itself as a business function that needs to have objectives and results just as much as every other department within an organization.
• Everyone realized they’re in HR! What is this blasphemy? It’s a fact! HR needs to proclaim to executives that all employees have a hand in HR. This isn’t just about a person, or a department. Wherever there are people involved, the potential for an HR situation, issue, or opportunity will be present. Think of HR as integrated throughout instead of the lone silo at the end of the hall.
• They knew how they affected the bottom line. HR needs to own up to this. As a business function, HR affects the bottom line both positively and negatively. If an organization only thinks of HR as “overhead,” we might as well be furniture. Knowing how HR makes a difference to business results is critical.
• They were responsive. To let people hang out there and not know what HR is/isn’t doing with their situation is a poor practice. If HR would like to launch positively into the forefront of people’s minds, it must get back to folks in a timely manner. It’s only human … hence the name of the profession!