I saw re-engineering described in a way that made me stop and think (as you know adding value and creating efficiency are two of my guiding philosophies):

Re-engineering involves looking at the entire organization to simplify or eliminate unnecessary processes with the goal of increasing customer satisfaction though improvements in efficiency.

This got me to thinking about the sometimes bad reputation Human Resources has in organizations and led to think about the following questions:

1. When have you as a professional engaged in your own re-engineering? When was the last time you took a hard look at how to improve your customer satisfaction through the elimination of unneccesary processes? What actions did you take and what was the outcome?

2. If Human Resources does have a bad reputation for customer service (i.e. to our Employees and Managers) what can we do as a profession to re-engineer ourselves to improve this?

I would love to hear your answers. I’ll even tell you what, I will buy the person with the best answers coffee at Zeitgeist Coffee in Seattle if they are in the local area (this should get the recruiting agencies attention).

Dan Hall

Seattle Human Resources Manager