Business schools have long been revered as institutions that produce managers, CEOs, and industry leaders of tomorrow. These hubs of intellectual discourse are where many assume they are given the perfect toolkit to navigate the complex world of business. Yet, when it comes to Human Resources (HR), a significant portion of what business schools teach is based on an antiquated model that does not always serve the evolving needs of employees in the contemporary corporate world.

Many business schools, rooted in traditional management theory, view HR primarily as a support function, a subsidiary to the 'more critical' business functions like marketing, finance, and operations. Such a perspective is reductionist. In reality, HR is the backbone that holds an organization together, ensuring that its most valuable resource – its people – are motivated, satisfied, and aligned with the company's vision.

Let's consider the history of the Toyota Production System (TPS), which eventually led to the concept of Lean Manufacturing. This system revolutionized the automotive industry, and its principles have profound implications for HR.

Originating in Japan post-World War II, the TPS aimed to optimize production, making it more efficient and flexible, eliminating waste, and improving quality. While the system's principles were initially developed for manufacturing, their broader applicability provides insights across various industries, including HR.

Toyota believed that there was always room for improvement. Every process could be refined and made more efficient.

The company institutionalized the concept of Kaizen, or continuous improvement, encouraging all employees, regardless of rank, to suggest and implement process improvements.

What is the HR Relevance?

This principle underscores the importance of fostering a culture of continuous learning and improvement within organizations. HR can implement training programs, workshops, and feedback loops to ensure employees consistently grow and refine their skills.

Toyota understood that its success was due to efficient processes and its people.

The company developed two pillars for TPS: "Respect for People." This meant treating employees with dignity, acknowledging their contributions, and fostering growth.

HR plays a pivotal role in ensuring that employees feel valued and respected. This translates to better employee engagement, retention, and overall job satisfaction.

Instead of stockpiling inventory, Toyota developed a system where parts were produced only when needed.

This "Just-In-Time" approach reduced waste and increased efficiency. It demanded meticulous planning, clear communication, and a deep understanding of the production process.

Analogously, HR should ensure the right talent is available at the right time. This involves strategic workforce planning, anticipating future skill needs, and ensuring the organization isn't overstaffed or understaffed.

Toyota believed quality shouldn't be an afterthought but should be built into the process itself.

Through Jidoka or automation with a human touch, machines were designed to detect errors and stop production, allowing issues to be addressed immediately.

For HR, this principle emphasizes the importance of instilling quality in every HR process, from recruitment to training. It means creating systems that can self-identify issues or areas of improvement, ensuring that HR services remain top-notch.

The Toyota Production System, while rooted in manufacturing, offers profound lessons for HR. By understanding the core principles of efficiency, respect for individuals, timely resource allocation, and quality assurance, HR professionals can reimagine and optimize their functions, driving value for the organization.

Business school curriculum often focuses on the mechanistic elements of HR: performance appraisals, recruitment metrics, compensation structures, and so on. While these are essential, they often overshadow the more human aspects – understanding emotions, fostering relationships, and building organizational culture.

Business school teachings typically stress a narrow, hierarchical view of talent. It's almost as if they're suggesting that only the top echelon of employees, the 'high-potentials,' deserve significant investment. This philosophy bypasses the vast potential latent in employees at all levels of the organization.

Most HR courses focus on training and development as a one-time intervention. Continuous learning and the notion that employees evolve with changing job roles, industry landscapes, and personal ambitions are often amiss.

To reshape HR, we must reconfigure how business schools approach the subject, making it more holistic, dynamic, and people-centric.

Future HR professionals must be trained to understand the nuances of human behavior, emotions, and motivations. Integrating subjects like behavioral science, psychology, and philosophy into the HR curriculum.

Every employee has potential. The challenge and opportunity for HR are to tap into this reservoir of talent across the organization. Business schools must teach students to look beyond the conventional hierarchies and recognize value at every level.

The world is changing at an unprecedented rate. Continuous learning is not just an add-on but a necessity to keep up. Business schools should impart this as a foundational tenet, teaching HR professionals to create systems that enable lifelong learning and adaptability.

A siloed approach no longer works. HR professionals of the future should be well-versed in the fundamentals of all business functions and must be trained to foster collaboration across these functions.

One glaring omission in many business school curricula when addressing HR is the role of emotional intelligence (EI). In a world increasingly driven by artificial intelligence and automation, EI stands out as a distinctly human trait indispensable to HR.

While technical skills can be taught, EI – the ability to understand, manage, and express emotions and interact effectively with others – is harder to instill. Business schools must emphasize teaching and nurturing EI as a complementary skill and a core competency for HR professionals.

Mental health and overall well-being have become paramount in the corporate sphere. As gatekeepers of organizational culture, HR professionals must be equipped with tools, strategies, and frameworks to foster an environment where employees' mental and emotional well-being is front and center.

The gig economy, characterized by short-term contracts and freelance work, has reshaped the world of employment. This presents challenges and opportunities for HR, a topic often given only a cursory glance in traditional business school teachings.

Rather than viewing the gig economy with trepidation, business schools should train HR professionals to harness its potential. This involves creating structures that accommodate the flexibility gig workers seek while ensuring they feel integrated into the company's culture.

Traditional benefits, often tied to full-time employment, need a revamp in the age of the gig economy. HR professionals should be at the forefront of devising innovative benefit packages that cater to gig workers' unique needs and challenges.

Modern employees, particularly the younger generation, are keenly aware of and driven by a company's sustainability and social responsibility stance. This has significant implications for HR in recruitment, retention, and organizational culture.

Business schools must train HR professionals to understand that today's talent seeks more than a paycheck. They seek a sense of purpose and alignment with a company's values. HR should be equipped to weave sustainability and social responsibility into the company's fabric, making it a genuine attractor, not just a buzzword.

It's not enough to onboard employees with the promise of purpose. Through initiatives, feedback loops, and programs, continuous engagement is essential to keep the flame of purpose alive and ensure employees feel they are contributing to the greater good.

The world is evolving, with it, the demands and expectations placed on HR. Business schools must take a proactive stance, revamping their curricula and methodologies to produce HR professionals who are not only adept at handling traditional tasks but are visionary leaders, sensitive communicators, and champions of change. The future of work hinges on the ability of HR to be both strategic and empathetic, and it starts with a transformation in how we educate our future HR leaders.

In today's digital age, HR isn't just about people—it's also about how technology can empower and elevate the human experience at work. But does the curriculum of business schools reflect this intersection adequately?

No longer is it enough for HR professionals to be familiar with essential software tools. They must understand advanced HR tech platforms, analytics, and even a grasp of artificial intelligence. Business schools should integrate tech-focused modules that arm HR students with the ability to select, implement, and optimize the latest tools in the HR tech landscape.

The HR decisions of the future will be deeply rooted in data. Predictive analytics can foresee talent gaps, recognize high-performing employees, and predict turnover rates. Business schools must focus on imparting data literacy skills, ensuring that future HR leaders can make informed, strategic decisions backed by robust data.

As businesses operate globally, HR professionals manage a workforce that spans cultures, time zones, and regulatory environments.

HR professionals must navigate cultural nuances with finesse. Business schools should emphasize the importance of cultural sensitivity, diversity, and inclusion, equipping students with skills to foster a harmonious, inclusive, and diverse workplace.

The pandemic has irrevocably altered the workplace, making remote work a norm rather than an exception. This presents unique challenges for HR, from fostering connectivity among dispersed teams to ensuring productivity without physical oversight. Business schools should incorporate modules that address these dynamics, offering strategies and solutions tailored for the remote work era.

In an age of rapid change and ambiguity, ethical considerations are paramount. HR professionals play a pivotal role in upholding and instilling these values.

Business schools should provide robust training on ethical decision-making, ensuring HR professionals can navigate grey areas, uphold organizational values, and serve as ethical torchbearers.

HR must be a haven for employees who wish to report misconduct. Business schools must instill the importance of creating transparent, anonymous reporting channels, ensuring whistleblowers are protected and concerns are addressed judiciously.

Case Study: The Revolution of Penguin Books

Penguin Books, founded by Sir Allen Lane in 1935, aimed to provide good-quality contemporary literature at an affordable price. Before Penguin's inception, quality books were often pricey and not easily accessible to everyone.

While returning from a meeting with Agatha Christie, Lane found himself at a railway station with limited reading choices. The options available were either popular magazines or mediocre, overpriced hardbacks. This experience sowed the seeds for Penguin Books.

Lane visualized a series of paperbacks that were affordable and of high literary quality. He believed that there was a vast untapped audience of readers who wanted quality books at pocket-friendly prices.

Lane's intuition was spot on. The first batch of Penguin paperbacks, priced at just sixpence (equivalent to a few dollars today), flew off the shelves. These were the same price as a packet of cigarettes, making quality literature accessible to virtually everyone.

At the time, paperback books were often associated with low-quality, sensationalist literature.

Lane focused on design to set Penguin Books apart and emphasize their quality and distinction. He introduced the iconic, color-coded covers: orange for fiction, blue for biography, and green for crime. The clean, minimalist cover designs with the recognizable penguin logo lent an identity to the books.

Besides adding a visual appeal, these design choices also imbued the paperbacks with a sense of legitimacy and quality. It wasn't just about affordable literature but about affordable, quality literature.

In 1960, Penguin Books decided to publish D.H. Lawrence's novel "Lady Chatterley's Lover," which had been banned for its explicit content. The decision led to a highly publicized obscenity trial in the UK.

Rather than shying away, Penguin defended its decision on artistic expression and literary significance. The trial became not just about one book but about freedom of expression and the changing societal norms.

Penguin won the case, leading to massive sales of the book. Moreover, this victory cemented Penguin's reputation as a publisher unafraid to challenge the status quo, standing firm for literary value and freedom.

Penguin Books' journey underscores the transformative power of visionary leadership, innovative business strategies, and the courage to challenge established norms. By recognizing a need and daring to meet it head-on, Penguin reshaped the publishing landscape and democratized access to quality literature. This historical case from the realm of books serves as a testament to how innovation, coupled with a deep understanding of the audience's needs, can lead to monumental shifts in industry paradigms.

Why does that matter to HR?

The case of Penguin Books, while seemingly distinct from HR, offers pivotal lessons that HR professionals and leaders can internalize and adapt to their organizational contexts. The crux lies in understanding that, at its heart, HR is about human experiences, aspirations, and the facilitation of an environment that fosters growth, innovation, and alignment with broader organizational goals. Here's why the Penguin example matters:

Just as Allen Lane identified a gap in the market for affordable, quality literature, HR professionals must have the acuity to recognize gaps within their organizations. This could be regarding talent, skills, culture, or engagement. Recognizing and proactively addressing such gaps can enhance employee satisfaction, productivity, and organizational success.

The iconic design of Penguin Books is more than just aesthetics; it's about identity and branding. Similarly, HR plays a significant role in shaping an organization's internal brand identity. An organization's culture, values, and employee experience all contribute to its identity, influencing talent acquisition and retention.

Penguin's decision to publish "Lady Chatterley's Lover" and the subsequent trial underscores the importance of upholding core values, even in the face of controversy. HR often finds itself at the crossroads of ethical dilemmas and organizational challenges. The ability to navigate these situations with integrity and alignment with the organization's core values is pivotal.

Penguin's mission to provide quality literature to the masses mirrors HR's role in democratizing access to opportunities within an organization. This could be in the form of transparent promotion paths, skill development opportunities, or ensuring diversity and inclusion so that everyone, irrespective of background, has an equal shot at growth.

Much like in publishing, innovation in HR often requires challenging established norms. Whether reimagining traditional hierarchies, introducing new working methods, or fostering a culture of continuous feedback, HR leaders need the courage and vision to push boundaries.

While HR and publishing might operate in distinct spheres, the principles that drive success in one can often be translated to the other. The Penguin Books example is a testament to vision, innovation, and the relentless pursuit of meeting human needs – principles that are at the very core of Human Resources.

At the intersection of business and human potential lies HR, a function with the profound responsibility of managing a company's most valuable asset. Business schools recalibrate their teachings, shedding outdated models and embracing a more holistic, people-centric vision. In this reimagined paradigm, HR is not just a support function but the very heart and soul of an organization.

The field of HR is at an exciting crossroads, marked by challenges and brimming with opportunities. As gatekeepers of knowledge, business schools have a profound responsibility to anticipate future needs and reshape their HR curricula accordingly. This isn't merely about producing efficient HR managers—it's about nurturing visionary HR leaders who can steer organizations with empathy, foresight, and strategic acumen. The future beckons and it's time for academia to rise.

Image courtesy Dom Fou @domlafou

 About Jim Woods
Jim Woods is the President & CEO of Woods Kovalova Group, a diversity, equity & inclusion expert who helping organizations for over 20 years. He knows how to create an environment where everyone feels respected and valued – no matter who they are or their background. His work with Fortune 500 companies such as Cisco Systems, Microsoft, and Boeing demonstrates that he understands how major companies operate.

With this level of expertise, you can be confident that Jim will help your organization reach its goals of creating a safe and equitable workplace. In addition, his strategies have proven successful in inspiring corporate cultures worldwide to pursue true transformation toward anti-racism and social change within their ranks.

Reach out today to learn how partnerships with Jim’s team at Woods Kovalova Group can make meaningful changes in your organization’s culture!