Where Do We Go From Here?: Imagining New Roles for Human Resources

The author found herself in agreement with Dick Peterson's basic points that changes in the political, social, and economic environment since 1980 have created a different ethos in human resources (HR) practice and HR research and employees are at a greater disadvantage than they were 20 years ago. Despite these major points of agreement, there were 2 questions that the author had: 1. Did HR have any better options than to adopt the strategic approach? 2. Would employees be any better off today if they had declined to do so? Although the current environment is not very favorable to employee advocacy, trends in employee relations have a way of reversing themselves as economic and political conditions change. Moreover, changes in conditions are often brought about by the vigorous efforts of committed individuals who can se a better way of doing things.