Many of us in OD end up being employed by, or else working as contractors to, "HR."  By now, the downside, organizationally, of an HR affiliation is well known to all of us:

The reputation of HR in many organizations is encumbered by a long ‘history,’ in the perception of many organization members ("Personnel Department"), to the point where some won’t give the function a real chance to prove it has changed.

In this era of downsizing, HR is additonally burdened, in many situations, by being the "fall guy" and taking the blame for carrying out management’s ideas. Becoming tinged with a ‘cutter’ reputation harms the Department’s efforts to do what it is really in business to do - capitalize upon human assets- through training, strategic, recruitment, redeployment and retraining, and in other ways.

Tragically, in today’s fast moving, often crisis environments, even HR is affected, and may fail to keep clearly in mind its real role and ultimate mission - preserving and growing the human asset and its direct derivative - organizational capability.

How, then, to address this state of affairs?

Clearly, fundamental changes and much rethinking are needed to restore both the perception
and the reality of the real Mission, including restrategizing, adequately resourcing, finding ways
to surprise and delight HR’s various customer and stakeholder bases. Dave Ulrich and others
have written entire books about the numerous and serious changes that are needed.

However, one necessary step may be to find a new name for "HR."

I would like to make a serious suggestion - rename it the Department of Human Assets, or ‘H.A.’ for short. The name would have a connotation of valuing the human assets of the organization that I have come to believe ‘HR" may have lost, and would help all affiliated with "HR," including OD types.

IF accompanied by a major change in behavior, this function would have a chance to try to live up to its new name, by attempting to measure the loss to organizational capability from the departure of knowledge and experience associated with downsizing, and otherwise being ‘assets’ focused.

IF accompanied by a major change in behavior, the function would have a chance at deploying
learning histories and knowedge management mechanisms addressed to loss of human capital.

IF accompanied by a major change in behavior, the function could measure itself by the net gain, or loss, of skilled and capable human beings to the organization and its core capabilities.

Such reform issues aside, I would also like to make the argument that Human Assets, or HA, could additionally be charged with creating and sustaining the ‘fun,’ and the creativity and innovation that’s at the core of every organization capable of sustained survival - and become a welcomed contributor.

Although modern mangement thought is ready to acknowledge the importance of creativity and, yes, even fun in the organization, no department or function has given the driver responsibility …and who better than the former, and now reconstituted and refocused, ‘HR’ function?

Just how to go about imparting fun into serious, even dull organizations is the subject of another article. The point here is, I believe that HR can learn to drive this, and in so learning, become in fact, a valued, and valuable "Department of H.A.! Breaking out of the old paradigm, and changing the name, can be a first step - if genuine behavior change really is to follow.

If not, who are we going to let the fun and creativity generation default to? The trainers? They already have gotten the message, in many cases, and are enjoying the benefit of doing serious work within a ‘fun’ context….’HR’ just might, even, ask THEM how to begin!

Sorry, I can’t tell you what’s really "fun" in your organization - you’re going to have to investigate that one yourself. Suffice it to say that we’re not talking about the usual, run-of-the-mill "fun and games" that today’s HR departments sometimes sponsor - it’s more like a set of creativity and self-challenge activities that bring out real humor, real insight, and real creativity (think of Dilbert, for an insight as to what really inspires, breaks tired old paradigms, etc).