I often encourage my clients to go to HR for help, even when the company has hired me to work with an individual in either a performance improvement, leadership development or outplacement role. But HR’s first allegiance is to the organization, not the employee.
HR can advocate for the employee by providing management training on conducting performance reviews and developing employees. But it is the responsibility of HR to help protect the organization from potential lawsuits, and to enforce directives from the management team.
A properly trained HR manager can be an advocate for both the organization and the employee when it comes to treating employees fairly and with due process, and helping managers to make selection and retention decisions that are in the best interests of the organization. At their best, they can function as both consultant and mediator, and can be a valuable asset for both the employee and the organization in how to effectively implement any organizational change initiative.
MAY
About the Author:
Deborah Brown (Debbie) founded Atlanta based D&B Consulting, Inc. in 1993 to provide executive career and leadership coaching, and executive career transitions and outplacement services to organizations and individuals. She is a Master Practitioner of the MBTI personality assessment and a Certified Social + Emotional Intelligence Coach® through the Institute of Social + Emotional Intelligence® of Denver, Colorado. Debbie earned the SPHR (Senior Professional in Human Resources) certification.