A few weeks ago I suggested that we should put our current way of doing human resources out of business to “make way for a newer, awesomer HR.”

John Sumser wrote an interesting response on his blog, HR Examiner:

What if the goal of the HR operation was to put itself out of business? Not as a way of moving on to a better type of HR but as an end in itself. Why shouldn’t HR be responsible for solving a set of problems and then closing the door?

Part of HR’s Public Relations problem stems from the idea that HR should be a permanent fixture. What if that just doesn’t make any sense at all? Who says that the problems HR addresses can’t be settled, wrapped up and dispensed with? Why shouldn’t having an HR function demonstrate a lack of maturity in an organization.

So what do you think?

Me? I think John makes some good points, but I also believe there will always be a need for leadership readiness, sourcing, strategic compensation, and all the administrative crap that needs to get done. And I don’t believe those are all things organizations can handle internally without an HR department.

But HR as we currently do it? Sure. Let’s put that out of business permanently.

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