Why Doesn't This Hr Department Get Any Respect?

Why Doesn’t This HR Department Get Any Respect?

by Robert Galford

Harvard Business Review

Reprint 98204

CASE STUDY

The new head of HR has tried everything he can think of to change his department’s reputation as an administrative backwater. But he’s still swimming against the tide.

WHY D OESN’ T THIS HR DEPARTMENT GET A NY RESPECT ?

by Robert Galford

“

don’t know which problem to tackle first,” Luke Robinson said, sighing. Kate Rose, sitting across the table from him sipping her coffee, gave him a half smile. “You’re definitely in a pickle,” she said. He rolled his eyes. “Thanks a lot,” he replied. “You have an excellent grasp of the obvious. But what should I do?” Robinson and Rose had been at the café for almost two hours; the lunch rush had abated long ago, and the midafternoon coffee drinkers were starting to trickle in. Robinson, managing partner of human resources at Loft Securities, had called Rose in part because she was a friend, but also because she was the vice president of human resources at a successful public-relations firm, and he

I

knew that she was a first-rate manager. Over lunch, he had recapped his story.

A Rewarding Challenge?

Before Robinson joined Loft just over a year ago, he had been a partner at the Powell Group, a well-known HR consulting firm. His specialty there had been working with financial services companies, but when Powell’s own head of HR resigned abruptly for personal reasons, the senior management team asked Robinson to take over HR and help Powell retool its recruiting and development processes. Robinson had worked very effectively as HR director, helping the company’s consultants evaluate potential new recruits and putting together some

very attractive development programs. The Powell Group, with Robinson’s help, had quickly become a robust competitor for talent. Despite his success at Powell, Robinson accepted the job at Loft because he thought it would be a rewarding challenge. For most of its...