In the U.S. it's at 71%, Canada 75%, and the United Kingdom 79%. What is "it"? The percentage of human resource professional roles filled by women. You could label this The Feminization of HR as Julie Cook Ramirez does in her recent article for web site Human Resource Executive Online. It wasn't always this way - the figure has roughly doubled in the last thirty years. Should this come as a surprise? Many experts say no. It seems more a natural progression of sorts. Looking back at the thirty year period past, many of the women who filled clerical and supportive roles within human resources and related areas were plodding through the ranks. These women were already in the pipeline (and knowledgeable) and so were promoted. This is the simple explanation.
A more complex explanation dips into what qualities and skills women bring to the human resource table versus their male counterparts. The article sites these, very translatable, skills:
- emotional intelligence
- the ability to multitask effectively
- an innate capacity as a teacher
- a nurturing nature
This certainly is not to imply that males are lacking in any of the above skills - what the above list points to, though, is that females tend to have more developed skills in these areas. One could also make an argument that overuse of these same skills can make a terrible human resource manager - and you would be correct. It could also be pointed out that many female human resource professionals have gone in a completely different direction and exhibit terrible employee relations skills in a misguided attempt to be seen as "not like a woman".
In the end sex should not be a determining factor when it comes to filling a human resource position. What should matter is what skills the individual brings and how well they fit into your organization's unique culture.
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