The Working Week 60

HR departments continue to get their fair share of stick from many quarters and it often seems that there is still a huge gap between what senior managers want from HR and what they are actually getting most of the time.

To explore why this isand what the strategic role of HR ought to be, Wayne is joined this week from the UK by Jo Sellwood, who is a managing director of specialist HR recruiter, Strategi Search & Selection.

They explore what it is about HR that makes it so easy to stereotype – although there's a thin line between stereotyping and accurate observation.

Is it, Wayne wonders, the sort of people who are recruited into HR? Or is it, as JO argues, that HR folks need to "put their business hats on" and prove to colleagues in other functions that they understand the organisations within which they work.

According to Jo, critical skills for HR professionals are relationship-building and influencing ability – and they'll need both in spades if they're going to start to repair their reputations.

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