Guru

Human resources is very clever at reinventing itself. In recent decades the function has evolved from welfare to personnel to human resources and beyond.

And, of course, HR job titles have changed in line with this transformation. Doesn't HR just love its special job titles! Makes it sound terribly strategic and important (which, of course, it is, Guru hastens to add).

You only need to browse the latest jobs on offer on the new PersonnelTodayJobs recruitment site to realise what a diverse profession HR is - in terms of its job titles at least.

'Personnel' remains the term of choice in many public sector HR departments, and indeed at Tesco, where former group personnel director Clare Chapman insisted on using the term because "staff don't know what human resources means".

Earlier this year, the Royal Navy rebranded its HR professionals as 'personnel logisticians'.

Human resources assistant/officer/adviser/manager/director are the preferred job titles in the public sector, but further rebranding is afoot.

Several HR directors have changed the wording on their office doors to 'chief people officer' in line with CEO, CFO etc.

And Guru has come across several 'HR leaders' - which unfortunately brings shamed rock star Gary Glitter to mind.

But the latest HR job title to sneak on to the scene appears on the business card of one Genevieve Glover at AEG Europe, who works under the job title 'human solutions director'. Guru is sure she is a lovely lady, but... yuck - the job title stinks!

Can anyone beat 'human solutions director' for nausia-factor?

Surely a human solution is what you get if you drop a person into a vat of nitrochloric acid.