Is HR Becoming Extinct?

When GM announced they were putting a non-HR professional in the top HR slot in the organization there has been a lot of chatter about how HR is looked at in organizations. In my experience I have been on both sides of the fence. I have been the HR Business Partner working strategically with management to streamline processes and help them achieve their goals. On the other hand, I have also been that person who “handles all of the paperwork” and makes sure everything is in order so we don’t get fined, or even worse sued. Now, I am sure a majority of you, like I do, prefer the first scenario, but I have to wonder if our opportunity to continue down that road is slowly slipping away.

For years, HR has struggled to get a seat at the table, to be looked at as a partner with management. It’s what we want, yet what are we doing about it? Are we taking the time to understand the business? How do we as HR professionals help run the organization more efficiently? Do we step out of our HR box and see the big picture? One of the companies I worked for had everyone who was hired into a support staff position was required to spend a few hours each day rotating through each job within the operations function of the organization. This gave new hires a greater understanding of the organization, but also how their job related to the bottom line. Now, I know this is not feasible for most organizations, but what if as HR professionals we took that same process into account. What if we spent a few hours with Accounting talking to them about what they do, or find out what R&D is currently working on? I will tell you what it does… it builds rapport, trust, and respect.

If we want to keep our seat, we cannot get lazy. We have to keep working on those relationships. If we want to get there we need to start building those relationships. We need to understand the talk, dig deep, and get involved. As the economy changes, so are organizations, which means HR is evolving … Are we going to be a part of that evolution or part of the extinction?

Job Board Beware

As more and more individuals hit the job boards looking for their next opportunity, the more job boards pop up to battle it out with the big dogs, like Monster, CareerBuilder, and Yahoo! Hotjobs. It’s been widely discussed that most people don’t find jobs this way, but we have to cover all bases, right? However, as a job seeker we need to keep an eye out for those sites that may display some questionable information. It can be disheartening to apply for a position that you are really interested in, re-tool your resume, draft an awesome cover letter only to find out that job did not even exist.

There is at least one particular job board (hint: it’s name has an animal in it) out there that I have found that I have noticed takes past postings and reposts them under a different company name, making it look like it is a brand new job has been listed. I found this out as I was in the interview process for a recent opening and knew the description inside and out. A few weeks later I found another job with the same exact title, description (they didn’t even take the previous companies name out of the description!), and location posted. The only thing that was different was the company name. I was immediately suspicious, so I checked the company’s website for more information. They didn’t have an opening, which brings me to the conclusion that the job was a fake. (Just to be safe I contacted another employer that was “listed” and they informed me they had no such job posted).

Now, why would a job board post a fake job, you ask? That’s a really good question. They may be using your information for other purposes (possibly selling your information or adding your information to a mass marketing list) or in some cases, especially, the job boards that charge the job seeker for services could just be using it as a way to pull you in and get your money. However, here are some tips when applying to positions you find online:

•Always check the website of the company that you are applying for a position to. This should ensure that the position is legitimate and you can apply directly through the site, instead of through a “middleman”.

•When applying for jobs you are not sure about, take off your street address and just have your city, phone number, and email address. This way they can contact you, but you are not giving away your home address to just anyone.

•Be leery of postings that are posted without the company name, unless it is listed as confidential. These could be blanket posting and just be used for fishing…no real job.

•Also, track the places that you post your resume. I receive a call every day, at the same time, from one vendor who wants me, as a job seeker, to pay for their services. (Most of their jobs are already online, so there is no added benefit there).

As stated before, as a job seeker you have to keep your opportunities open and do not put all your eggs in one basket. Just because job boards are (or should only be) one aspect of your job search, due diligence is still necessary as to not waste your time on something when you could have used that time to find an opportunity somewhere else.

Let’s See Where This Takes Us…

As the economy changes we are encountering a place where very few of us have been before…In order to move forward and keep the train going we need to learn from each other, share ideas, and work together to get where we want to be.

HR continually changes on a daily basis, which is one of the reasons why I got into the field. I liked not knowing what each day would bring and the variety it brought. I liked the fact that I constantly had to continue learning and I could not become stagnant.

The thoughts surrounding the creation of this blog are just that. A place to learn, share, and move forward…Enjoy!