Human resources is a relatively new field compared to other business functions like operations, sales, finance, and marketing. HR has evolved over time, starting as a clerical personnel function focused on record keeping, then becoming more involved in labor relations and legal issues. Now, HR professionals are expected to act as strategic business partners who understand the bottom line while also advocating for employees. The document discusses the changing role and competencies of HR professionals. It argues that an important role is being an "employee advocate" - someone who listens to employees, provides empathy and advice, and helps solve employee relations issues with common sense rather than just policies. By having diverse HR staff who employees feel comfortable speaking with, an organization can better

1. Putting Human into Human Resources
Human resources is a relatively new field of study compared with others in
business such as Operations, Sales, Finance or Marketing.
Since modern business administration studies started, Taylor focused on
Operations and productivity. Sales is said to be one of the oldest professions
and Accounting was created by Luca Pacciolo, a Florence monk, in the 1600s.
Human Resources is relatively new, and its evolution can also be tracked in the
name of the field: Personnel, Industrial Relations, Human Resources, Human
Capital in the future?
As the profession evolved so did the profile of the incumbents.
We could “generally” state that in the Personnel days it was more a clerical
work. No dominant college degree was required in the field. It’s general functions
were payroll, record keeping and administration.
The Industrial Relations era, was dominated more by Labor and Union relations
it was the time of Legal and emerging Industrial Relations degrees.
On the other side, the psychological and organizational behavior approach
started to evolve as well, with a focus on understanding the individual and his
interpersonal relationships.
Then the “Business Partner” era came and we needed to “focus on the
business”, be “real” partners, understand the bottom line, speak the business
language etc…
This of course is critical, what’s the use of HR professionals if they don’t
understand or add value to the business?
Also in the last two decades new and complex issues have arisen in the
environment in which HR had to take a major lead in ensuring Diversity and
Inclusion as well as many work related issues and regulations. These issues
have dramatically changed the way HR professionals work.
HR Competencies.
With so much change...what are the key competencies of an HR professional?
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I personally believe the Ulrich model is the best way to capture the multi
dimensions of our work, based on the axes: Strategic /Tactic, and
Business/People Ulrich defined our role into four key quadrants:
• Strategic Partner
• Change Agent
• Functional Expert
• Employee Advocate
It’s not my purpose to describe the Ulrich model, but rather to express my opinion
on the Employee advocate role.
An Organization needs a face.
And that face in many cases is HR. In day to day it’s your boss, no doubt, but
when somebody needs to express himself in confidence, when an employee
needs somebody to bounce ideas off, express himself or herself and feel that
someone is actively listening to them. If an employee wants to feel a part of
something bigger, the HR door should be opened to help that person.
HR support adds tremendous value to an organization.
Sometimes it’s just listening, or showing empathy, sometimes is just advice or a
casual chat to decompress stress, but always with an attitude that we care for
that person. It’s a “service” that organizations need to provide to have a healthy
work environment. Employees must be able to walk up the aisle to talk with the
organizations “face”
If we just had out a 1-800 number for the employee assistance program, we are
not doing our job.
Or if in difficult of employee relations cases, we just had out policies and re send
people for training, we are not helping to solve the issues; if there are employee
relations problems we need to listen to understand have empathy and put
common sense in to the situation, be someone that helps, rather than a policy
policeperson.
And of course we are all different and interact differently; so are our employees,
of whom we are advocates, and according to their personal style, they will go to
the person they feel more comfortable speaking with and dealing with, so the
more diverse the HR group, the better it will serve the employee population.
The Human touch
It might seem corny or unprofessional, but we need to provide service with a high
touch, high feeling interaction.

3. Emotions are an important part of our life, and this touchy and feely support will
make our employees feel part of something they belong to.
Miguel Premoli, April 2005
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