The Work Foundation has announced that it will be examining the future of HR, looking at:

- Who and what HR can uniquely champion.
- The role HR plays in levels of risk aversion, professional judgement and accountability in the organisation.
- Employee engagement where alignment of objectives and motivation cannot be taken for granted so that this tension drives innovation, diversity and positive energy.
- Future trends in the economy, the workforce and the workplace within which HR operate.

Thank you The Work Foundation! I will be watching the progression and final outcome with great interest. What does HR produce? Has it been the case that HR has hidden behind the intangibility of people management? I have always though this to be an excuse, although direct impact is sometimes difficult to measure we can measure preceived indirect benefits and absolutes like reductions in employee turnover, absence, recruitment costs etc.

Is there also a propensity hide behind the need for process and procedures, generally driven by legislation, but occasionally over-engineered for political correctness and to feel that HR controls the process rather than management?

In regard to engagement, I seem to get a different and vague response about what “engagement” actually is from almost every HR practioner I meet, I will be interested in their results in that respect.

Personnel Today are looking for your views on this…