THE DE-PERSONNEL ISATION OF HR

Being married to a man who has worked freelance for many years means we don't always speak the same language. (Last time he worked in an office, Charles Dickens had the next desk). I sometimes find his advice about the workplace, well, quaint. If I ever come home moaning about a problem at work - and who of us doesn't? - he will exclaim, indignantly, "Well, you need to go straight to someone in Personnel and tell them about it!".

Oh, sweet innocence! Yes, time was when there was an office full of Personnel people who spent their time bending the rules, umpiring disputes and making us all feel rather looked-after. I know. I've certainly worked in places where that was the case. At one agency I worked at (ok, it was sadly defunct HHCL), HR had a whole team dedicated to keeping us happy. One Valentine's Day we turned up and there was a brass band playing us love songs as we walked into the building. (Yes, I totally felt the Love.)

Back in the day, when Personnel departments hired you in, there was a feeling they had some responsibility to help you settle in, maybe even take an interest in how you were doing. It's been the longest time since Human Resources/Talent/People Team/Human Interests (or whatever name, user-friendly or baffling, they go under) have spent their time being arbiters of small-scale disagreements, let alone prioritising employee happiness. Today's HR specialists are a very different breed.

In many companies your first direct contact with HR is when they hand you a contract, your second when they are sliding a redundancy consultation letter across a desk to you. This is because the world has changed. In creative industries (the only field of which I am qualified to speak) there is almost constant pressure to reduce resources (which is you, me and our lovely salaries). Meanwhile global holding companies, especially those which are US-based - have a robust approach to redundancies (unless you're lucky enough to have a French, German, Spanish or Italian contract, prepare for hand-to-hand combat over the negotiation). Some managers even report that they keep a rolling file of "R" (for redundancy) forms, ready and approved just in case they need to make the necessary staffing cuts. What a thought! You may not even know it, but your redundancy could be already tee-d up, sitting in an envelope waiting for someone, usually in HR, to deliver the blow.

This means that if one of the HR team turns up unexpectedly to a meeting they may as well be carrying a scythe. This hardly makes them the most popular kids in the playground.

To be fair, current HR departments exist to be the company's first line of defence. They are not impartial arbiters, unofficial trade unions or your bezzie mates. And they have their own salaries to think about too. Their role is chiefly to protect the company (usually that means its managers and executives) from any repercussions from its actions. Complaints? Difficulties? Feedback? You are semaphoring a legal problem waiting to happen. Frankly you may as well turn up with a barrister in a wig. In some communications holding companies the heads of the HR function are actually ex-employment lawyers, so good luck there.

It makes for a tricky Catch 22. With no one to protect employee's interests, worker bees are forced to find other helpers. Lawyers are one source, if you can afford it. (Interestingly though anecdotally, it is claimed the number of redundancy cases taken to tribunal is increasing.)

Then there's the rise of informal, ground-swell organisations. Look at "Diet Madison" in the US, which 'outs' serial sexual misconduct in advertising and often succeeds in getting the culprits fired. (I imagine there are one or two m/ad men on this side of the Atlantic sleeping less soundly on their Silentnight's).

Personally, I don't think vigilante justice is the way to go. But unless we present people with other means to air their concerns impartially and without prejudice, then they will find their own ways. And the coming generations are less biddable than the old boomers. They've seen the success of #MeToo. Up with this they will not put. If I ran the world - well even only the HR bit - this zeitgeist would be giving me pause for thought.

I reckon it's time to reinvent the HR role. In these uncertain times no-one needs or wants HR to be like Monty Python's Spanish Inquisition, with their chief weapons of surprise, fear, ruthless efficiency etc. We need a more collaborative approach. Already in Germany, workers councils are an important force within companies with a big say in redundancies, working hours, salary levels and firings. Imagine if HR functions were something we could be involved in, rather than having inflicted upon us.