Just wondering....

Has the HR function been seduced by the glare of celebrity lights, and are they now pursuing programmatic glamour at the expense of their operational capability? Are we going toward more PR and less HR? Is the branding of our company becoming more of a distraction?

In recent weeks I have heard from several people that they have seen a worrisome trend in some larger HR organizations. According to these casual observers the HR organizations are spending more and more of their resources, and often the resources of the managers they are supposed to support, in pursuit of popular programs.

I have to admit to being more than a bit curious about this observation. Are we beginning to see operational excellence compromised for the sake of departmental recognition? Do we have great and highly visible programs, but cannot get an offer letter out for three weeks? Are we moving away from the HR business partner model to something else?

Are we so infatuated with implementing comprehensive processes for performance management, as an example, that we forget to calculate the impact on management time. What good is a process with all the bells and whistles if there is not enough time to get it done?

I would like to hear your opinions and observations on these questions. Are you seeing some of what I refer to in the preceding paragraphs?  Also, in setting up an HR function from zero, what would you focus on first, and after that? And if you had to shrink a function, what would you do first?

Just wondering....

What do you think?

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