Danielle Fields elucidates the changing face of Human Resources.
History of Human Resources
One year prior to the First World War, in 1913, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development was established. This is considered the first Human Resources organization as we think of the field today. The predecessor of the CIPD inspected factory conditions [1]. Through and after World War I, the organization shifted to help people develop skills which made them attractive to hire, which was called, “skilled labor.” In their efforts to develop a skilled labor workforce, they propagated the idea that investing in employees could make a business better.
Before human resources came into being, it is well known that the Industrial Revolution fostered extremely adversarial positions between the factory workers and those who owned the factories. At the turn of the 20th century that tension decreased dramatically as businesses began investing in their employees for the sake of the company. James Burnham dubs this “the Managerial Revolution.” [2] Within the managerial revolution, Human Resources became embedded in the economy.
Today, the field of Human Resources is still seeking to develop the skills of their employees and create working conditions which allow personnel to perform at their best.
Movius Human Resources professional Danielle Fields reflects: “As HR professionals, it’s our job to make sure that a company is running on all cylinders, and that spans from the legal aspects to hiring and recruiting to employee engagement to performance reviews…[because as an HR professional, you need to] be a business partner…facilitating conversation from the top down but also from the bottom up.”
When asked about this, Danielle adds that as an HR professional, “You’re basically the middle person, giving the ideas and strategic initiatives from leadership to the employees, but you’re also making recommendations and sharing knowledge and information to help leadership make the best decision. You kind of serve as a bridge to both sides.”
How HR looks today
Danielle believes that investing in people is key to creating a thriving business, so she is always available for employees. Whether that means hearing their voices, conveying that voice to leadership, sending out memos, managing the online HRIS system, recruiting, or designing programs that foster healthy company culture.
When asked what a healthy company culture looks like, Danielle replied, “It’s a culture where the employees understand expectations—where they’re thriving in their roles because they’re quality hires but also because you have leadership who are on the same page and communicating as such…[and are committed to] creating a workforce that is respectful, compliant, and fun.”
The reason that I reached out to Danielle specifically was because she organized a fantastic event for International Women’s Day. Her event engaged all employees across the globe even though it was a virtual event. When reflecting on that event, Danielle attributes her success to the fact that, “it was something different, interesting, and important so people bought into it.”
On further reflection, Danielle emphasizes the “importance of celebrating our women…whenever we have an event that’s celebrating people, and it’s going to engage our various teams—not like a typical meeting,” she laughed.
Global and Hybrid work environments
Even though Movius recently moved into magnificent offices in Bangalore and Alpharetta, a lot of our team members still work remotely in various parts internationally. Because our company has personnel in Europe, Australia, and South America, Danielle’s International Women’s Day celebration needed to engage a global audience as a virtual event. That is not always an easy task.
When asked about how to be a successful HR professional in multiple offices across the world, Danielle reflects, “engagement is huge whenever you’re in a hybrid environment because you still want people to feel connected. I think Movius does a great job with Microsoft Teams, conferencing, and Movius does a lot of travel and that’s pivotal.” In January, the company flew its employees to Greece, and on Wednesday the company celebrates our grand opening in Alpharetta, Georgia.
When asked about the global nature of the company, Danielle explains the international Human Resources structure:
“It’s a global company with a localized disposition. What that means is that even though we’re a global company, in these places where we’re local, like India, US, UK, we do what makes sense for those locations.”
In the end, apply to Movius:
As a Movius employee, I feel as though the company has invested a great deal in me. My department set aside a budget for everyone’s professional development. Further, I am confident that I could go to Human Resources if I ever had a concern.
To learn more about what positions are available, check out our careers page at: https://movius.ai/careers/