Is there a role for HR?

Is the HR an unnecessary financial burden on a company or does the department have a valuable role to play in the future success of industry?

A report out recently from the Chartered Management Institute called Management Futures suggests that the world of work in 2018 will see many more people working from home. In fact of the 1,000 professionals consulted for the report, 65 per cent expect working from home will be commonplace to reduce the carbon footprint and 73 per cent think work-life balance will be the key to job choice.

Add this to the fact that many of the traditional duties of the HR department are now being outsourced, for example payroll, and it starts to look like human resources professionals will need at the very least to do some comprehensive PR if they are to survive.

Thinking of my own dealings with the department I am not altogether sure what they do for an employee beyond sending out the company policy document and making sure they have filled in the correct starter forms.

Having not had to seek them out, thankfully, on any employment law issues, my perception of human resources is based entirely on the job seeking process. And it's not a good one. I have seen the department as the gatekeeper between me and the person I want to see my CV - an unknown force which I had to cleverly circumvent if I was to get my CV successfully seen by the person who I am want to work for.

One suggestion is that, in the face of all the predicted problems of retention and recruitment of talent, HR departments are going to become a destination for employees to visit and discuss their career options.

I like this idea of going to an HR department to discuss my career - how I'm developing in my role and what opportunities could be open to me. I think people would feel much more likely to stay within a company if they felt their career was being actively managed.

I'd like to know if you have a relationship with your HR department. Is part of their remit to identify high performers, to talk to employees about career paths, to offer advice and suggest strategies for individuals to get the most out of their jobs and their relationship with your employer?