
The XpertHR Employment Intelligence guest blog post series continues today with a particularly thought-provoking entry from leading US HR blogger Paul Smith, author of the always-excellent (and highly recommended)
Welcome to the Occupation blog.
Paul is a Human Resources Manager at a non-profit organisation in Philadelphia, PA. He also compiled the recent
HR Carnival Jukebox HR blogging extravaganza, styled as "a cornucopia of HR-related blog posts, tailored in a fashion similar to a jukebox."
Paul Smith: If I could change one thing about HR...
Maya Angelou said: "If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude."
Words to live by for sure. But they came to mind recently when I was asked "if there was one thing you could change about HR, what would it be?"
I know exactly what I would change if I could. But I have serious doubts that it's feasible or if it would be widely accepted enough to actually occur. So I just may need to change my attitude.
HR is expected to assume temporary roles.We have to be educated in medical matters so as to understand what constitutes a disability or a serious medical condition and what doesn't, and have the whereto not to invade medical privacy. We have to understand the legal obligations behind each one. We have to have legal knowledge to prevent discrimination in employment decisions. We also need to understand how medical insurances are going to work. We need to understand the economies of benefits and of how compensation structures work. We also need to understand the dynamics of the human condition and be able to counsel employees and managers on how best to maneuver through each circumstance involving each type of personality.