Human resources is oftentimes known for it’s negative reputation. (McGrory-Doxon, 2012) How do we get past that? Yes, human resources professionals fire people, yes they discipline people, but on the flip side we also provide team building and training sessions to increase employee’s effectiveness. Because of the wide range of duties human resources professionals face everyday, not one set of God given traits is ever the best for every situation. Northouse stated a criticism, “that the trait approach has failed to take situations into account.” Being a high energy level extrovert in a layoff situation may not be the best way to come off to an employee.
To get past the reputation of human resources only being the “bad guys” last year I started walking the manufacturing plant floor one time each shift everyday. This showed employees that HR has a presence in both the good times and the bad. I have been able to expand my personal relationships with people, and have built trust between other leaders in the organization by sharing knowledge I have built simply by walking and talking to others. Our lesson commentary stated, “Humans are programmed to smile back when another person smiles at them, in turn causing endorphins (pleasure chemicals) to be released in the brain.” (L2, P. 11) This shows, even if I don’t stop and talk to every employee, a simple smile can change how someone is feeling. Breaking this barrier between HR and employees will hopefully let employees know that we are approachable whether they have issues or successes to share.
Employees expect human resources representatives to exert a certain level of leadership in the company. No, they may not be the high-level decision makers or produce any profit, but they do control the culture and moral within the company and employees. Oftentimes we hear the phrase, “lead by example”. I believe if HR representatives are able to share normal personal relationships within the workplace they may be more approachable, a “safe place”, they may be more valuable than an organization may think.
McGrory-Doxson, Amanda. (2012). How to get past the negative HR reputation. Retrieved from: http://www.benefitspro.com/2012/08/03/how-to-get-past-the-negative-hr-reputation
Northouse, P.G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Los Angeles: Sage
Publications.
Pennsylvania State University World Campus. PSYCH 485 Lesson 2: Trait Approach. Retrieved from https://courses.worldcampus.psu.edu/su15/psych485/001/content/01_lesson/printlesson.html