The Future of H.R. in Florida

I have plans to participate in many things in 2024. I even thought about changing my career from Human Resources, but I realized it makes more sense to change the reputation of H.R. instead. After several days of thinking I decided I will still consult but only on Businesses and H.R. Matters that will make a profitable difference from the company.

I can only say that I am absolutely sure a problem exists as I learned by being a contractor. I leveled my work to the Fort Lauderdale, Boca, and West Palm Beach area to avoid the traffic congestion in Miami. During the beginning of my contracting career working from home was not even an option. One of the hardest things is as a professional you do not speak negatively of your previous employer. Therefore, you may uncover things that you will never talk about once you leave the organization. Organizations need to understand that without employees, there is no job. They deserve to be respected and they should always feel comfortable coming to H.R.

I have partnered with some of the most well-known recruiting agencies. I know they are under pressure with filling requisitions but there is a huge need for change in this area as well. I believe the change starts at the top. Making money comes before ethics, and values of the company. This is not a valuable way to conduct business and directly effects retention, employee performance, and creates a culture that employees will leave. The days of an employee staying with a company for 25 years is slowly disappearing. This generation has found so many ways to make money, that as soon as they feel stressed, and the culture is not welcoming, they leave.

Tension in the workplace has to be addressed, some employees have no customer service experience at all. We have leaders who do not care about developing other employees, and truly have no management or leadership skills at all. I can only speak for Florida where my experience was gained. I have never shared this before for confidential reasons, but things need to change for 2024. I have kept a detail journal where I have studied specific issues for years on how we can make this change before it's too late. Most recently based on an analytical study, I have been looking closely at hiring trends. I find they are more personality based instead of actual qualifications and this behavior has to stop.

Finally, after studying many compliant issues, Florida has to be held accountable. Why are they not doing random compliance checks unless someone calls and complains? The Head of H.R. should be including in business meetings and changes. I believe H.R. is under appreciated, payroll professionals are not respected for the work they do and how important they are to the company. Therefore, I will stop consulting on generalist and project duties and focus on creating respected H.R. Departments and better work cultures. If you have had some poor experiences with H.R., please share without the company's name. I may not be able to make a difference everywhere but not tying is unacceptable.

Francine Cook Nikimac Solutions Inc. Debra Grant Heather Watson, PHR, SHRM-CP LHH Bridgette Nelson, MSOD, SHRM-CP Brigette Hyacinth