CSI determines HR is Dead

Every so often a conversation about the health of our profession makes the rounds.  For example, in 2003 Workforce Management ran an article titled “HR is Dead…Long Live HR.” In late 2007 Fast Company weighed in with “Why We Hate HR,” which got the attention of many in HR and fueled more speculation that we were seeing the last days of our profession.  In the last 60 days or so the topic has come up again in HR-related blogs and tweets.  Here are some links you may want to check to get a feel for the conversation:  Punk Rock HR, Human Race Horses, HR Ringleader, Rehaul, and HR Bartender.  I”ll use the next few posts to look at the evidence both pro and con.  Before we consider the “CSI” forensic evidence surrounding the “corpse”, let’s consider how a profession dies.  A profession dies when it become obsolete.

1.  Death by obsolescence may be the result of technological change.  It is hard to find a buggy-whip maker today, largely due to the success of Ford’s model-T.  I can remember as a child when you could go to People’s Drug Store to test the vacuum tubes from your black and white TV.  Those tubes and the testing machine are gone, along with the jobs required to create them. At the pace of technological change today, almost everyone can think of an example of a technology shift that changed an industry and killed a profession.

2. Obsolescence may occur due to shifts in market demand.  As tastes change and the demand for products change, the professions that create/grow/manufacture those products will change as well.  Before 7-11, the milkman delivered to our front porch. Another childhood memory is our neighbor who built a two story air conditioned garage to house his chinchilla ranch.  Fortunately, he kept his day job.

3. Obsolescence can result from outsourcing.  I’ve seen examples of this in the timber and defense industries as well as in HR.  Depending on the location of the outsourcing, some of the displaced employees may find jobs with the new provider of the services, and a very small number may be able to become consultants.

4. Obsolescence can occur due to off-shoring.  We’ve seen this in the shoe, steel and textile industries.  When these jobs move off-shore almost everyone affected has to find a new profession.

5. Most often, obsolescence occurs due to some combination of the first four changes.  The layoffs facing the print and network news organizations seem to be in part due to technology and in part due to shifts in markets.  Technology has created new web-based media, and we like it!

So what about the forensic evidence surrounding HR’s body on the floor in the office?

As we look for clues, we see that HR has been subject to a lot of technological change. Many manual transactions in payroll and benefits have been replaced by automated functions.  Employee and manager self-service has also contributed to the demise of HR, as the need for a local office has been reduced.  Over there we see some evidence of market demand shift, right beside what looks like some pretty heavy outsourcing.  It’s hard to tell which came first, so we’ll have to take this evidence back to the lab to re-create the time-line. Over here we see some traces of off-shoring; but that will have to be confirmed back at the lab.

Our preliminary conclusion?  At this point it certainly looks like HR is dead, a victim of obsolescence.  With fingers tightly gripped around manual processes, HR tripped over a huge pile of policy binders.  His cries for help would not be heard by those co-workers who were no longer in the office.  They’d been set free by technology and were out serving customers or working from home.  He even tried to send an email, but they were on Facebook and Twitter.  Too little change, too late in the game.  Now that you’ve seen the clues, what do you think?