What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title.
Morning all - always good to start a Thursday with a bit of Shakespeare :)
I had a interesting / challenging discussion yesterday with a friend of my dad (he has strong opinions on just about everything & likes to stir people up!), anyway he was telling me about a radio programme he listened to that discussed why it is called "Human Resources" and why it was changed from Personnel. His argument went along the lines of the name Human Resources basically "dehumanises" employees & makes them into the same sort of thing to a company as stock or cars etc and that changing the name of things is basically a management pen pushing exercise with no real rhyme or reason to it. And don't get him started on those companies that call HR "People Departments"!
At first i was quite defensive & i effused greatly about the benefits of HR departments but then it got me thinking ( and where Shakespeare comes into play). What's in a name? Why do some people get so worked up on a title rather than look at the substance beneath it?
I just wondered what people's opinion is of the title Human Resources? Has anyone worked in companies that have other names for it? Does HR need to be rebranded under a new name in the future?
This brings me onto my second related point - job titles. There is often a hullaballoo at work about job titles! Take my company for instance, we're going trhough a merger & each time a layer of the structure is released people are getting really het up about a title rather than looking at the job description that supports it & what will be involved in the actual role. This can be frustrating especially when people have different expectations of what a job title means. For example, in my company an HR Assistant is more senior to an HR Administrator but in the new structure it's the other way round which has sent everyone into a tizz.
How best can we manage people's expectations & pre-conceived ideas about job titles?
Any thoughts would be welcome :)
Jill
Replies
How vain, without the merit, is the name - Homer (not Simpson!)
Richard, it is a radical solution you suggest but i like the idea of it. I think Job Titles can be both beneficial in many ways & a hindrance in others (like what's currently happening in my company) but i think the removal of them would potentially send some people i work with over the edge presently! Something to consider...
I agree with you Mike that Job Titles can give you a sense of pride & identity and i'm all for that (i was chuffed to bits when i had my own "office" with my name on the door a few years ago) but as you say it should be judged on outputs, actions, results etc which often is not the case. I think people often will happily take on the job title as it makes them look good but perhaps not the responsibility or accountability that it comes with.
The power of association (dun dun DUN!) is frankly annoying but nevertheless a cross we must bear. What i find frustrating is culturally (and i've found this in a few companies i've worked in) employee's opinions of HR are poor, they have this preconceived idea that we're the enemy! A lot of the time employees don't have much to do with HR unless there's an issue, hence the power of association comes in to play. Rachel i had a similar experience when speaking to my ex-boss just before Christmas, when i said i now work in HR he said "so other than hiring & firing you dont do much then?". he was lucky this was via text message otherwise he'd of had a festive black eye! Haha.
To go back to your point Mike I think it's people's perceptions of HR is what i was initially angling at. To me the name is irrelevant but apparently it cause debate that can go on national radio so i dont think it's something we should totally ignore. Perhaps a promotion of what we do & why we are ace (cos let's face it we are!) could help.
Rachel - i totally agree about raising the awareness of HR to school leavers as like you didnt really know anything about it. We need to invest in our future generations :)
Thanks for the thoughts :)
Jill
Love this topic! I also love how you started to get defensive, I would have been the same!
We have a lot of different job titles in our company and staff that like having Manager or Director in some cases in their title which I can fully appreciate as having Manager in your title can sometimes give you that bit more "oomf". I certainly found this in my company as I am the sole person in HR, so it was changed to Manager as I manage the function.
I've been a Personnel/Payroll Officer, a HR Advisor,a Personnel/Health and Safety Officer, HR Officer and now HR Manager. In most of them doing the same thing. I found the HR Advisor one hardest to come to grips with as felt what I did the HR Officer title was more appropriate. I felt I wasn't at that level to have Advisor in my title but my Manager at the time was having none of it.
As for the department I think Personnel is just seen as a more old fashioned title and that Human Resources is a more modern phrase. However it also goes with the question What do you do!? My colleague was asked this by her daughter who is 4 and she said basically I help hire staff, tell them off if they are not being good, help them improve and fire them if I need to! In a nutshell I guess that is what we do plus the hundreds of other tasks that fall into the HR remit and I imagine this varies from business to business.
I think as HR professionals we need to let school leavers know about this profession as I certainly didn't know it was a career and kind of fell into it.
I do like the idea of getting rid of them altogether however in reality can't see that happening....not in my company anway!
Thanks
Rachel
A lot of people see job title as status and I think we all probably feel like that to some degree having worked hard to get the jobs that we have - we all have aspirations I'm sure to get 'up the next rung' in some way, shape or form.
I agree that people should not be judged on job title or what department they work in rather by the outputs, actions, behaviours and results that the role / department should be accountable for.
I quite like the notion of just getting rid of job titles and replacing with grades or tiers and excellent job roles and objectives/accountabilities. I don't think it will happen as job titles also give a sense of purpose and identity in an organisation.
From a community perspective as well as an organisation we all need to feel a sense of pride & belonging and job titles do this to an extent as they do give you an identity, sense of purpose and belonging in the organisational context - it's good to feel part of a team.
To join Jill with the quotations I think the other thing to consider especially related to the Human Resources aspect is I think a name takes on new meaning through association i.e. what the department does and what they're responsible for
Personnel or Human Resources does it matter? Is it the name itself or what people know this department to be associated with that really drives the debate.....culturally how do you see HR?
Do they influence the culture, empower employees, help people reach their potential etc
Or are they the department known as the....
Policy Police who manage the disciplinaries and sack people etc
The power of association cannot be underestimated
Hi Jillian,
I agree re the Job Titles it always makes me smile when people get hooked on these.
A radical solution but one that could easily work with some thought is to remove them. All of them. With a good job description why do you need one? Most organisations have level's or grades as well as job titles and these could remain but removing the actual job title would force people to think a little more carefully about their actual job description and the requirements of the role rather than their pre-conceived ideas.
I guess the question is do they bring a benefit or are they a hindrance? If they are a blocker to the right culture and employee understanding of their responsibilities then remove them......