HR’s lack of confidence keeps function in shadows

I am amazed that our profession continues to devote so much of its time to what we should be called (Personnel Today, 1 May.) You can never please all of the people all of the time, and it seems that in our profession we can hardly please a few of the people some of the time.

Haven’t we got enough to do without continually rehashing this debate, particularly when the rest of the world doesn’t really care anyway, as long as we do our jobs properly?

Personnel v HR v human capital? We are the function that ensures the best is done for our people, either directly by the HR and personnel function, or through line managers in other functions across the business.

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I don’t hear finance or operations wondering what to call themselves. It’s about time HR and personnel just got on with it. Most businesses lack confidence in their HR and personnel functions because the HR and personnel functions lack confidence in themselves. Changing the name will not improve business confidence. When the results come in, everyone will know who you are and what you stand for.

Rebecca Maxwell, founder, MaxSkills HR