Memoir 8: Why Human Resources?

July 27, 2015
1130

As many of you may know, I'm going into HR Management as my profession.  But how many of you actually know what HR does other than lead your mandatory orientation meeting for a new job?  Probably not very many of you.  Because of this lack of knowledge, Human Resources might sound very boring, but I promise you from my perspective, it's not boring at all.

So, next to becoming a pastor at some point in my life, out of all my talents and abilities and therefore many professions I can choose from, why something as "mundane" as Human Resources?  Well, just think of the title.  Have any of you thought about how weird "Human Resources" sounds?  After all, what is a resource?  A resource is a substance of matter that can be implemented for beneficiary use, and because of its finitude, it can be used up, and so we seek new and better methods to maintain that resource.  Think of any resource we use:  water, gas, electricity, food, etc.  We have these valuable resources, and since they become used up after a period of time, we seek new and better methods to maintain them.  This is exactly why every single one of us goes to the grocery store — to replenish our food resources, and the grocer has to maintain  those resources, and its suppliers, and the cycle continues.  It's the same exact thing with human beings.  People are a resource — the most valuable resource in the world.  After a while, people get used up, and it's HR's job to seek new and better methods to maintain the people they have.  This is done through a variety of methods — training new employees, developing the skills of current and loyal employees, leadership empowerment, benefits & compensation, performance appraisal & evaluation, and more.  No matter which method is used, the goal in mind is always to help the employee, and that's exactly it for me:  I love helping people.  I will help people in any capacity that I am able.

Sure, some methods that HR uses to maintain their current employees might have a selfish motive depending on the organisation or the individual HR department, but what's so wrong with that?  If a company or an organisation wants to keep you for purely selfish reasons, obviously they like you enough to go out of their way to keep you.  If you didn't matter to them, then they would just let you leave.  But HR is more than that.  In a fully functional, healthy organisational structure of a company, a good HR department seeks ways to develop their current employees, give leadership opportunities, and give fair compensation & benefits.  The ultimate effect might be to keep you there for their own benefit, but the comfort and happiness of the employees are also kept in mind.  As long as the department and the organisation it works for follows ethical principles, HR will do its job right by keeping its employees satisfied.  A good HR department does not want its employees to be unhappy, and if they are, will seek ways to change that, because unhappy employees only leads to chaos.

I see HR as an opportunity to put my Christian principles into use in a practical way to serve, help, and love people in Christ.  As Christians, I believe we all should seek ways to serve, help, and love people.  Being commissioned to spread the Gospel (Matthew 28:18-20), we're not really doing our job as Christians if we don't seek ways to serve, help, and love people in Christ.  So, that's why I'm going into human resources.  As human beings are the most valuable resource in the world, it is my desire to empower people through development, leadership opportunities, and other methods.