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February 26, 2008 6:45 AM

Does HR Need a Name Change?

Renaming HR to reflect a truly strategic function within organizations

I just read a great post on Kris Dunn's HR Capitalist Blog about how Seth Godin suggested that the name of the HR function should be changed and then try to be exceptional.

For those of you not familiar with Godin, he is a well known and respected marketer, so HR isn't normally something he focuses on, but he makes some interesting points. His argument is that HR has grown up with a tactical focus, which was fine unless your goal was to do something amazing. He goes on to suggest that HR be renamed "talent" so that HR can change what they do. He acknowledges that this may seem like spin but:

"What if you started acting like the VP of Talent? Understanding that talent is hard to find and not obvious to manage. The VP of Talent would have to reorganize the department and do things differently all day long (small example: talent shouldn't have to fill out reams of forms and argue with the insurance company... talent is too busy for that... talent has people to help with that.)"

It's an interesting idea, especially when more and more organizations are trying to move HR to become a truly strategic function within the organization, and the benefits of this approach are proven. Perhaps the idea of human "resources" and its history relegates it to a tactical role in too many organizations, leaving little room for innovative thinking or truly strategic approaches.

In his post commenting on the Godin piece, Dunn argues that many in the HR profession are still personnel people, focused on transactions and that a "better plan is to offer up some professional credentials that transcend the SPHR, and focus on recruiting, performance management, innovation, leadership development, etc. The high end skills that allow someone to call themselves 'Talent.'"

Based on what we see everyday with our customers, there's definitely a mix of transactional and more strategic people working in HR across the globe. The most successful organizations we work with are those that get the idea that a tactical transaction is a means to an end, and not just something to check off the list. I’m not sure that HR needs a name change, but maybe we all need to take a hard look at how we’re doing business and where HR fits in so we’re moving toward being less about "resources" and more about "talent".

What do you think? Does HR need another name change?

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June 26, 2008 9:15 AM

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