Do not forget people are the priority in HR

I couldn’t agree more with your news story about HR paying the price for concentrating too much on strategic practices as opposed to operational matters (Personnel Today Just the Job, 2 August).

I consider myself to be an operational HR manager within the contact centre industry, and there is little doubt in my mind that we are losing sight of the ‘human’ in our job title.

We appear to be more process driven than ever with very little consideration for the human element. Don’t get me wrong, processes are vital for effective operations, but they are guidelines not strict edicts which must be followed at all costs.

I find it difficult to agree with the comment made about operational HR specialists being hard to find though. It seems that whenever I go for interviews, the feedback I get indicates that I am too operational and not strategic enough.

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Seems you can’t win.

David Johnston
HR manager
RHL City Point