I have yet to hear anybody call themselves a Human Resource so why should an HR Department think of them in this way? Each of us is a person, which means that the term “personnel” has much more relevance than “HR”.

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the term “Human Resources” was first used in a business context in 1961, although some business commentators believe that HR could be traced back to the earlier part of the twentieth century.

Too many businesses make managing people too complex. The process of so-called “HR” is full of jargon confusion, which often puts a barrier between people that work in the business and those responsible for managing them.

Even the name of the department HR – Human Resources – is wrong. Nobody ever refers to themselves as a human resource; they are people! It is well to keep this simple thought in mind when you are involved in the day to day management of a business.