Straight from the Tundra

I work in Human Resources.  Just for fun, I did a Tween Scan for "Human Resources" and I was disappointed in the messages that were listed on Twitter that quoted Human Resources. I was disappointed, but not surprised.  It seems that the general opinion of my profession, at least from the technology heavy Twitter community, is that we are not business savvy, don’t provide a great deal of value, say "No" a lot, and throw a lame party.  The one area where there were some positive comments was around Employee Relations activity and knowing what to do with people, which I guess isn’t surprising.

This did get me thinking about the future of the Human Resources profession.  If you believe in an almost Free Market economy that  Dan Pink’s book  Free Agent Nation highlights as being already visible today, I have to ask the question does the Human Resources profession have a place in that type of a future workplace?

Now, let me say that I’m not 100% a Dan Pink convert in that I do think his book makes it seem almost easy to strike out on your own, find work, and make a good living.  I know lots of people do, but I also think that there will be a role for large companies, who employ a lot of people,  out there for a long time to come.

However, I do believe that many professions will turn to more of a Free Agent type of job relationship that is so common in the High Tech circles already.  I think you will see Sales people Accountants, IT professionals, Marketing, and PR, creative roles, and business leaders migrate in this direction. I can certainly see groups of people with varying skill sets coming together to work on a project that they are all interested in, working through that project for some pre-determined or extended period of time, and then disbanding again when the work is done.  I think this type of arrangement becomes easier and easer for people to accept, when we continue to have ups and downs within our economy and the layoffs continue to happen at a regular clip. More and more people are going to finally say, "That’s it. I want to be in control for a change."

So, does Human Resources have a future?  Well, my answer is, "It depends."  (OK, I think that was funny, because it is a classic HR line.)

In all seriousness, I do think HR has a strong future in either a Free Agent economy or in a more traditional structure. But, it will depend a great deal on our ability to transform into a business leader that happens to work in Human Resources, instead of the group that holds the keys to the birthday cake and balloon budget.

Specifically, within a Free Agent economy, which is what this post is about, I think there is a great of opportunity for the Human Resource profession. I think there is value in having someone who has a clear understanding of the talent necessary to complete a project effectively, is able to attract and retain that talent for the course of the project, and then keep his/her finger on the pulse of a diverse talent team where the HR person pulls in the right pieces at the right time to get work done. It’s almost like we need to get into the mindset of "Just in time talent management."  I think there is also a role in increasing productivity, having clear and measurable objectives and milestones for the team, breaking down barriers to success, working with the senior leader on motivation and strategy, etc.  There is a great role here where Human Resources can and should have an opportunity to drive real success.

The funny thing is that I think that last paragraph represents a lot of what happens with great Human Resources professionals today. They aren’t as well known, but we have people out there right now driving the business forward, solving problems, and providing their business opinions on non-HR issues. The profession needs to continue to evolve so we can develop more people like these so we aren’t just known for throwing a lame party.