HR professionals will have to adapt to survive

HR professionals finally have their CEO’s attention, but to make the most use of it, they need to act less like an HR professional and more like a CEO. (Photo: Twitter)

It’s a great time to be in human resources. CEOs finally understand the value of people management. But that doesn’t mean HR professionals can sit back and rest on their laurels. In fact, it’s now, when all eyes are on the HR department, that professionals need to prove their mettle.

There’s a distinction to be made between the human resource department as it currently exists and the human resource functions it provides, as noted by SHRM president and CEO Johnny C. Taylor in his opening address at this year’s conference. “The question is whether our profession is the right people to manage and deliver that function,” he said. Those functions all could be divvied up between other departments: payroll issues under the finance umbrella, diversity and equity under the purview of legal–even talent management and recruitment could be taken up by marketing.