Comments on: Are HR Projects Like IT Projects?

By: Miki

Miki — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 22:07:47 +0000

I think that Sensei is right given an HR organization of the caliber of IBM’s. I also think that that quality of HR can be counted on two hands and MAYBE a foot. I certainly don’t believe that it applies to the majority of companies.

By: Bob

Bob — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 14:35:17 +0000

Sensei- the “indispensable in regards to working with other cultures” is something I wish my HR department helped us out with on my Korea project in 1997. Turns out they knew nothing about Korean culture, business or otherwise. We had to stubb out toes quite a bit before realizing how important it was to understand historical, cultural, and language issues related to getting out work done.

By: Bob

Bob — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 14:32:22 +0000

Miki- I can always count on you to tell it like it is. I agree completely as you might have noticed. Glad to hear someone chime in who has direct experience with this. What do you think of Sensei’s remarks about “HR is indispensable in regards to working with other cultures”?

By: ActiveEngine Sensei

ActiveEngine Sensei — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 12:13:37 +0000

There is an irony here in that in many cases, HR and IS are lumped into “overhead” in terms of accounting.

Certainly HR has evolved away from the traditional approach of “helping employees fill out forms”. For companies going international HR is indispensable in regards to working with other cultures. Generally they become the focal for training people how to communicate with new team members with not only different backgrounds but with different cultural frameworks.

However, the PMO should still be the focal point that communicates the constraints of the operating environment for the business. Too many times the disparate cultures become the excuse for dysfunction.

By: Miki

Miki — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 08:05:45 +0000

That has to be the stupidest statement that ever came out of McKinsey! I spent 25 years as a recruiter and another decade teaching line managers better hiring skills and in most instances HR has neither the knowledge nor the business acumen to detail staffing needs for any project, tech or not. HR’s preference for controlling staffing budgets has more to do with amassing organizational power than with its ability to translate strategic initiatives into action. Staffing needs and talent acquisition, motivation and retention is the province of line management at every level.

By: Bob

Bob — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 01:17:03 +0000

Sensei- the more I think about this the more I see parallels with HR and IT in terms of the service orientation they must have towards the rest of the organization. Also there are similarities in terms of understanding the mind of the “served” as much as possible in order to do the best job they can.

By: ActiveEngine Sensei

ActiveEngine Sensei — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 16:07:20 +0000

I am not a fan of HR assuming a role that reaches beyond the behavioral sciences. That is, HR is best equipped for talent acquisition that aligns to fulfilling the goals of the strategy, and can help people acquire some skills, but in the end the talent has to be judged by business unit’s management.

It has been my experience that HR can help with determining the number of staff to fill the ranks, but in the end the department themselves best know what they need. They live it everyday.