Welcome to the HR Corner, where future topics of deliberation will mainly focus on the management of the tradeshow workforce and the dynamics of the employer-employee relationship. But first, let’s define human resources, explore its origin and examine the unique role of HR in the tradeshow industry.
Human resources is defined as the management of an organization’s workforce, governing the attraction, training, assessment and rewarding of its employees. HR is responsible for defining and safeguarding a company’s vision, values and beliefs as shared by its employees, managers, clients and stockholders. HR personnel act as the primary liaison to labor unions, ensuring compliance with employment laws and labor laws.
HR has quickly evolved as a strategic cornerstone of the corporate structure. In today’s high-tech global economy, more companies are outsourcing traditional HR functions, like administration of payroll and benefits, in order to focus more on the science of business, the culture of the organization, talent management, mergers and acquisitions and labor relations.
Since the early 1900s, academic scholars sought to apply science to the management of people in the workplace with the intent of increasing productivity. Pioneering research studies into human behavior exposed a correlation between factory productivity and employee satisfaction. Employers suddenly realized the inherent value in controlling worker motivation by addressing the employee’s social needs. The radical notion that workers were individual assets, not just cogs in a wheel, gave weight to the premise that how a worker fits in the company, and the way he views the company, has a direct impact on the success of the company. This philosophy spawned the discipline human resources, or simply HR.
The function of human resources in the tradeshow industry is unique and complicated. Unlike other industries, HR duties are often performed by non- HR personnel. The hiring process typically starts with the union dispatch office. It’s the working foreman and leadmen who shoulder the burden of training and overseeing productivity.
The labor coordinator also plays an important role in the process. They are challenged to generate a motivated workforce show after show, regardless of the part-time nature of the business. On the surface it seems problematical, but HR is the glue that binds these seemingly loose threads of workforce management. HR promotes the vision and beliefs of an organization, as described in a mission statement.
This is especially important in the tradeshow industry because a company’s appearance and principles are hinged to the conduct and behavior of the labor, not just its performance. Where else do the customer and the production line share the same space? An effective HR program persuades proper group behavior.
The role of human resources in the tradeshow industry may seem intangible, but it is actually the concrete line that divides the growing companies from the fly by nights.
Next topic: The psychology of the labor coordinator
