I have to agree with your article. As a former vic...

I have to agree with your article. As a former vice president of human resources, building trusting relationships with our internal customers was a challenging task. Although I tried to create an unconventional team that was knowledgeable and friendly, employee perceptions of HR from prior companies was hard to overcome. Even my supervisor was hard to convince that "HR business as usual" was not adequate for employees today. For example, we traveled the country in the fall conducting in-person health fairs in order to meet with employees and family members one-on-one, explain changes in benefits and prepare them for open enrollment. We created some great relationships by providing this service every year. However, top leadership must completely buy into the idea. Otherwise, people will not trust the people department.