Dive Brief:
- A recent article in The Atlantic by Christine Bader, an ex-BP policy development executive (today a “corporate idealist and change agent”), cites the classic 2005 Fast Company article, “Why We Hate HR,” as the way HR departments often are defined by both the workforce and C-Suite denizens alike.
- Yet, says Bader, employers/companies looking to be more competitive and, at the same time, more decent regarding social responsibility, can’t get there without a “smart, flexible HR department.”
Dive Insight:
Bader says the impending demographic shift to younger workers means HR needs to step up and help those Millennials be part of an employer’s transformation. To do that, she suggests HR get "out of the way” (less paperwork, red tape, etc.) and let the "company do good” by “channeling the company’s talent and resources to help both its bottom line and society at large.”
A third way for HR to get with the program is by working to eliminate “unconscious bias,” which causes a lack of diversity within many workforces, according to Bader. She mentions employers like Lear, Eileen Fisher, and Google as successful examples of those three much-needed HR strategies.
In other words, these changes are already happening in isolated places, but there's far more work to be done.
