Is HR too helpful?

Is HR too helpful? HR's service-led culture is hampering the department in the business and preventing HR making its life easier, claims HR director Ed Golitko.

"HR people are very service-oriented and you have to break them of that." So says Ed Golitko, human resources director at technology firm EMC and the man currently pushing through an HR systems transformation to move into the Cloud.

Of course there's nothing wrong with wanting to be of service, but when taken to endemic levels this can limit potential. "HR people are by their very nature service-oriented people," Golitko explains. "If a manager calls them and says 'can you help?' then from their point of view they have a customer and they end up over-supporting instead of showing them how to do it. We have to train HR people to say no. That's the biggest challenge we face. HR people will say that they love serving people and that this gives them a sense of purpose."