Diane Weston expressed her desire "to work with a company ready, willing,
and able to rethink HR in concert with other corporate and goals... (I
think it was in LO662)." Jack Hirschfeld responds or follows with a very
interesting discussion on HR and the rest of the organization. I would
like to share the following, because I think it is important to the
development of organizations that learn.
One of the majors problems I experienced with HR was that HR professionals
tried to run parts of my interactions with employees from their own
offices, without really understanding what is going on. In one instance,
they tried very unsuccessfully to control what and how much I interacted
with the union officers (all employees in my own unit), because I "could
endanger the relationship between the company and the union." This is
when the learning problems is. These professionals, as many other groups,
strive to "keep their expertise intact and protected from intruders"
bacause most of them (us) perceive knowledge as a source of power. They
might also perceive this expertise as a protection against being fired,
etc. So, HR professionals "do" things, but do not help too many people to
"learn how to learn to do things." I think that this retards the
development of a learning organization.
This might changing for several reason. Jack mentioned one of them that
the increased understanding of the crossfunctionality, and concurrent
learning. HR activities might be questionned by some people who have
embarqued in true quality improvement journeys (the ones that inlcude both
"the lirics and the music" - I liked that analogy). In this case there
have been some that have been advising companies to get rid of the
activities that serve internal customers ( as in HR' fucntions), because
they might be dangerously inefficient (e.g., Oren Harari, "Internal
Customer, R.I.P.," Management Review, June 1993). Some organizations are
now outsourcing some of the HR activities that cannot be easily integrated
into the most direct functions dealing with the external customers.
Finally, I would add that the HR function, as we know it today, might be a
casualty of the new organizational waves!
Ivan,
***************************************************************
R. IVAN BLANCO, Ph.D. Voice 305 899-3515
Assoc. Prof. & Director Fax 305 892-6412
International Business Programs
Andreas School of Business _________E-Mail Addresses________
Barry University Bitnet: Blanco%bu4090@Barryu
Miami Shores, FL 33161-6695 Internet: Blanco@bu4090.barry.edu
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"Las naciones marchan hacia el termino de su grandeza, con
el mismo paso que camina su educacion." "The nations march
toward their greatness at the same pace as their educational
systems evolve." Simon Bolivar
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