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More and more organisations are ditching the traditional HR department and opting for a more progressive approach.
The rise of the people and culture department has been noticed recently. Jade Green, a people and culture specialist, discussed why companies are following the trend and rebranding their HR teams.
“It’s actually getting to the true root of what they should be doing. Human resources, what are we a piece of machinery that your plugin and press go? It’s quite dehumanising, even though it’s got the word human in it,” said Ms Green.
“People and culture remind us what the essence of the role is. Why are we there? The HR team is there to get the best out of the people and to build a culture. And culture isn’t just beanbags and ping pong tables and hot meals, although, you know, sometimes that’s good. Culture is what your people do when you’re not watching.”
Ms Green hopes the rise of this new terminology will spark a change for organisations to focus on the issues that really matter to employees.
“When I’m working with my clients, I’m always suggesting to them, ‘Don’t go and hire your traditional high HR person anymore … it feels really old and stagnant, industrialised.’ I’m always saying to them, ‘Get [an] HR compliance consultant and an agency to do that stuff’, she explained.
“If you’ve got that many problems that you need someone sitting there all day doing the compliance side of things, you’ve got a whole culture issue. Whereas if you get someone in that’s focused on people and culture, and really unlocking the potential in the humans, and it’s a different lens, I think that the landscape is going to change for all businesses.”
Treating the people and culture role as a path to connecting with staff and showing empathy is the key to employee wellbeing, said Ms Green.
She continued: “Always use our powers for good, not evil. It’s not about manipulation. If you can stop and have some empathy, put yourself in those shoes, understand they are humans too, and then look at it from that lens, and then work with them and meet them where they’re at, it’s only going to benefit you.
“As the business leader, you’re the one that’s going to get better focus, better attention, better quality work, more creativity, more energy, more smiles. And we know that like happy employees make happy customers.”
Ms Green’s comments come after research by Sage showed 73 per cent of HR professionals, and 85 per cent of other C-suite executives believe the term “human resources” is outdated.
Jack Campbell
Jack is the editor at HR Leader.
