Welcome to the HR by Design Blog

Welcome to our new website and blog. It is my hope that this blog will open up candid conversations of interest about human resources practices and processes and human resources issues. To commence with, it has always staggered me how people with very little knowledge about HR feel they can comment, yes even slander the poor HR folks. Further, it surprises me that people with very little skill decide that they are human resources experts. Like any profession, you will have your good to great practitioners and your not so good ones!

In defence of the poor HR practitioner, who usually chooses to not respond to such comments, as it would be seen to be poor form, it must be realised that HR practitioners are in the business of providing advice. This is achieved through consulting with others, collaboratively arriving at decisions within the context of very complex workplaces and challenging industrial laws or agreements.

I am always intrigued by the way people refer to human resources as the soft side of the business. Be rest assured,  there is nothing soft about attending an industrial commission. There is nothing soft about having to terminate someone’s employment, particularly in a redundancy situation where you know you will be changing that person’s life forever. There is nothing soft about having to terminate employment due to performance related issues even though, on occasion, you may take the view that the person deserves termination.

Over the course of my career, I know I have made people happy, and been the good guy, when they have obtained a favourable decision about a matter close to their heart. Conversely, I have felt the wrath of disenfranchised staff, and been the bad guy, when they don’t get their own way.

It has been wonderful to receive a sincere, heartfelt thank you knowing that some of the small things you do to make employees feel valued, is appreciated. Yet quite by contrast having people ring you at 2.00am abusing you is not much fun nor are implied threats of physical harm. All of which had been part of my very long HR career.

You see it all depends on what side of the HR equation you are on! As I’ve said before, nothing surprises me, I’m an HR professional…Enjoy