The Work Foundation has launched an 18-month research programme to examine the future of the HR profession.
The Future of HR Programme launches at a time when many practitioners face the difficulty of cutting costs and staff while keeping motivation and engagement as high as possible.
The programme aims to challenge the received wisdom around HR – from the point of view of both apologists for it and critics of it – and ask fundamental questions of the function – what is it for, who does it serve, what is its outcome and how should it be configured to deliver it better.
Marianne Huggett, associate director at The Work Foundation, said: “We plan to produce insights that are different from most of what is said and written about HR. We are neither believers in nor enemies of the HR profession, preferring at this stage to remain agnostic.”
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Current sponsors of the programme are: The Department of Health, PepsiCo, Standard Chartered, Surrey Police, the Metropolitan Police and Cambridgeshire County Council.
A final report will be issued in the autumn of 2010.
