A new era for HR? [Management HR]

You've got to feel sorry for the beleaguered Human Resources manager. Never a big favourite with other managers, the HR supremo has a reputation for being a corporate henchman, the slasher of salaries and the harbinger of all things doom-related. But are these stereotypical images out of date? According to Jackie Orme, chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), there's a revolution going on, albeit a "quiet one". Industry's key gripes about HR can be summarised in terms of costs, which represent a big factor, followed by the impact in the past 13 years of the avalanche of regulations and legislation cascading from government departments. Finally, HR people, with their palpable enthusiasm for 'soft' skills, appear to have little interest in business or strategic issues.