HR Nitty-Gritty: "HR is under threat in Small Businesses"

1. How has HR changed since you first entered the sector?
When I started in HR businesses were very much “top – down” organisations. The bosses told and the employees did. The competition for talent in certain business sectors empowered employees, made them more selective and engendered a more consultative approach from potential employers. Meanwhile as far as unskilled workers are concerned, nothing has changed.

2. How are HR departments managing / promoting employee engagement nowadays?
To ensure that employees are committed to their organisation’s goals and values, motivated to contribute to organisational success, and are able at the same time to enhance their own sense of well-being, HR departments such as ours recruit, develop and assess our staff in line with a set of values that were set with the staff involved ( this link for more).

3. What's the most common HR mistake you see?
Adapting a role to suit a candidate rather than continuing to search for one that meets the business needs.

4. What's the future for the HR department, what does HR's role look like in 10-15 years?
HR is under threat in SME’s, the function is disappearing. In 15 years other than larger corporations, HR will be an on-line service outsourced to boutiques in the same way recruitment is today.

5. What are some of your favorite websites for HR news?
http://www.personneltoday.com/

6. What does your company specialize in?
We, Copernicus International Consulting Ltd, improve business performance, in other words make businesses more efficient and more profitable, devise and help them implement short, medium and long term strategies and where appropriate internationalise them in to new markets. As a fundamental part of this we ensure that within our client’s organisation employee engagement is absolute. Change cannot happen if a team are pulling in different, personal directions.

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