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Do people outside HR know what we mean by the 'People Profession'?

Jonny

My wife, a teacher, has quizzed me on the phrase 'the people profession'. It's a term we use a lot at the CIPD, to include HR, L&D and OD professionals. Her comment was that as a teacher, she's a people professional too - and I see her point. Indeed, any one of a number of professions could be described as 'people professions'. Is it a term you use, as an HR, L&D or OD professional? And is it a term that your colleagues outside of HR tend to understand & recognise? 

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  • I don't think non-HR people understand what HR really involves (and even less so OD) and I am pretty sure they don't understand what we mean by the term "people profession". Some HR departments are renaming themselves as the "people" department, but I'm still not sure it actually registers with staff what that means.

    The blog that @Johnny highlights from Rebecca is interesting. There's another word in there that I think actually better reflects what we do.. "workforce" - as a collective, we do everything we can to develop, improve and support that workforce - we're not necessarily supporting all people, but only those who work for us or potentially want to work for us. Maybe the next iteration will see us reframing ourselves as "Workforce Development Professionals"? Or maybe not. What is in a name?
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  • I don't think non-HR people understand what HR really involves (and even less so OD) and I am pretty sure they don't understand what we mean by the term "people profession". Some HR departments are renaming themselves as the "people" department, but I'm still not sure it actually registers with staff what that means.

    The blog that @Johnny highlights from Rebecca is interesting. There's another word in there that I think actually better reflects what we do.. "workforce" - as a collective, we do everything we can to develop, improve and support that workforce - we're not necessarily supporting all people, but only those who work for us or potentially want to work for us. Maybe the next iteration will see us reframing ourselves as "Workforce Development Professionals"? Or maybe not. What is in a name?
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