HR role in City meltdown sparks debate on HR Space

The debate over HR’s role in the banking crisis raged on last week.

HR practitioners rushed to Personnel Today’s community site HR Space to give their views after industry figures said reckless lending had been fuelled by poor people management.

Rob MacGregor, national officer for trade union Unite, said that an aggressive sales culture had developed in the City, and that HR policies had become shaped by the target-and-reward culture.

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One HR Space, ‘Kevin’ responded: “Crikey, I wondered how long it would take before HR got the blame for a global financial meltdown! HR has spent the last 20 years being beaten up for not being commercial enough.”

However, another poster insisted: “Having worked for many years in a certain large financial organisation, there’s no doubt in my mind that HR has been as guilty as anyone else.”