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Will Your Security Pass Work Tomorrow?

Or will you be surplus to 'human resource' requirements?

Reading the Sydney Morning Herald recently, an article about the UK based UBS approach to 'letting staff go' caught my eye. UBS (UK) took a novel approach to staff reduction - cancelling the security passes for all those employees who are 'no longer employed' before they arrived for work one morning (can't say they were fired or retrenched as they have actually not been given official notification regarding their employment status). The fact that people could not even retrieve their personal belongings but were given them by new security guards or had to ring an employed friend to pack them up and bring them down is a whole new approach to human resource management. While admittedly this has happened in the UK, what does it mean for Australian employees working locally for large corporations?

Whose turn will it be next?

Have human resource management practices changed so radically that staff are just a group of generic 'resources' to be added, moved or removed from a corporate chessboard? After all, when employing staff, in providing them with a security pass, an induction/on-boarding program, and/or a buddy to assist them during the initial  settling in period the message to the new employee is, the employer trusts you and in return expects hard work and loyalty. Then a few years (months or weeks) down the track, these same people who are  doing their job become 'surplus' to the human resource requirements of the organisation. Rather than thank them for their service and loyalty when letting them go, the message given is we no longer trust you and the best way to let you go is by going 'surprise your security pass is cancelled'. It appears in the world of efficiencies, profits and returns to shareholders 'letting go', as a responsibility of the human resource department seems to have lost the 'human'. Given the new approach to 'letting go', should I always keep my resume up to date and my personal possessions in a box with my name and mobile number? Then even before my probation period is over should I start looking for a new job just in case? Is this the beginning of a trend where not only 'human resources' become generic but also employers? Or can we increase efficiency and reduce confusion by simply changing the title of the department to 'Resource Management'? Would love to hear your comments.   Deborah Barit is the Director of Impressive Interviews, author and consultant specialising in training professionals, new graduates, specialists and other occupations for job interviews. Email: info@impressiveinterviews.com.au Mobile: 0412 007 682