Seth Godin has a notion that corporate philosophy will change if we quit referring to “Human Resources” as such, and instead re-christen it “Department of Talent.” He says the idea of HR came about in an industrial age, and demeans employees by treating them as a natural resource. Allow me to make the counter argument:
Treat people like people, and they won’t care what the department is called. How you treat them is more important than a word. And that particular word has a track record of negative effects.
Airheads
I started working in television news behind the scenes, doing graphics. I worked my way up to eventually handle any and every job behind the scenes of a newscast, including two years as a director. By age 20, I was responsible for coordinating and executing on deadline with a crew of seven reporting to me. But I wasn’t ‘talent.’
Teevee news, like the entertainment industry, reserves the word ‘talent’ for those who appear on camera. My colleagues who would get freelance production gigs for sporting events and the like were warned about what was and was not considered appropriate when speaking to the ‘talent.’ The ‘talent’ was simply too important to be bothered. Once I made the transition to an on-air reporting job, I loathed being called ‘talent.’ I often quipped that I’d rather be known as ‘hustle’ or ‘effort’ or ‘ingenuity.’ But not ‘talent.’
I found the word loaded with self-importance, and frequently applied to people who in fact had no talent. Many assumed the mantle of the word, which granted instant puffery to recent college graduates who would lord it over the rest of their (limited) known universe.
Generation ME
We’ve already seen the forecasts of the Worker of Tomorrow; the Millenials. I call them Generation ME. Like Windows ME, it looks like an upgrade but won’t play well with your existing system and might just crash everything. This is a generation that as a whole has a completely new paradigm for employment and career, and wants to know right off the bat what is in it for them. (No, not every single individual. We’re talking trends here.)
This is the generation that flings caution to the wind and posts career-limiting information to Facebook and MySpace and personal blogs. This is the generation that has grown up in a nearly consequence-free environment. This is a generation that has no problem with self-esteem and ego… do we really need to feed that right off the bat by saddling them with the word ‘talent?’
I’ve seen the effects. It’s not pretty. I’m thankful every day that I escaped that environment with my identity and self-worth intact. And the notion of wantonly extending that culture across the board in every occupation scares the hell out of me.
Seth is right: what you call a department can have a great impact. He just picked the wrong replacement. ‘Talent’ is not a panacea. It is the first step toward malignant narcissism.
[tags]Ike Pigott, Occam’s RazR, broadcasting, language, human resources[/tags]
While we’re at it… anyone got a better word?
Ike,
Have to be honest here: I have yet to discover any value in HR, and changing its name won’t change their lack of contributions to the business. Sorry. I have to say unkind things about a department, but I’m simply testifying to my experiences.
What I think Godin was trying to get at is a subject that Joel Spolsky has also addressed (and for that matter, Google): creating a work environment where people are freed from having to focus on anything that doesn’t help them be productive.
That’s not in and of itself a bad thing. As you point out, though, the details of how you get there are hard to get right.
Rachel, we’re on the same page. I’m all for creating an environment that values people. I just don’t think over-inflated self-worth is an entitlement.
They had a sign on the door: ZERO DEFECTS, so I turned away.
Earlier, in the Army, I had gritted my teeth when being directed through the PERSONNEL PROCESSING CENTER and later assigned to a CONTROL GROUP.
HR was a bit more intimidating than personnel office.
I have known some of the “talent” Ike has worked with. The guy had a degree in Theatre. He had worked in different tv news markets in Alabama.
It was really weird when I realized he was living his life performing for us. When the guy was in the hospital for life threatening surgery, he was still talking to visitors in his broadcasting voice.
When his health continued to decline, I phoned him at his brother’s home in Virginia. After the conversation, his sister in-law said that when he was just around him he talked in his normal voice, but as soon as he began talking to me on the telephone, it was like a switch was flipped on. He began talking in his broadcasting voice.
We’ve already been through this renaming, several times over. It doesn’t do a thing, except increase expenses by requiring that we order new business cards, change the signs on the doors, and reprogram all of our software to include the latest buzzwords. “Human Capital Management” was a big bust, but it was great to have a new term to throw around. Bah! Stick with HR. Those that hate HR are not going to change their opinions just because we slap a new name on it.