HR Doesn’t Need a Rebrand, It Needs a Redesign
After my recent viral post on LinkedIn, it became clear: the debate around whether to rename HR, People & Culture, People Operations, Talent & Experience, isn’t just about language. It’s about legitimacy, strategy, and survival.
The comments were rich, candid, and sometimes blunt. Some believe HR’s main job is still to minimize legal risk. Others feel the title change is nothing more than “lipstick on a pig.” However, what united the thread was this: if HR wants to evolve, it must deliver real business value.
The question isn't “what do we call HR?”
The real question is: What does HR need to become to stay relevant and effective in the business?
In my view, there are two viable paths forward, and most organizations will need both.
Path 1: Do the Hard Work to Be Business-Relevant
This is the traditional but often neglected path. It requires HR leaders to step out of the HR bubble and lean all the way into the business. Here's what that looks like in practice:
1. Learn How the Business Makes Money
If HR can’t explain how the company turns revenue into profit, it will always be viewed as a cost center. Learn the business model. Sit in on customer calls. Partner with finance. Ask operations what keeps them up at night. This insight transforms HR from order-taker to strategic partner.
Example: If you're in retail, understand foot traffic, basket size, and same-store sales. Then show how your frontline training program lifts those metrics.
2. Connect People Programs to Business Metrics
Every HR initiative should be mapped to a specific business objective, not in vague terms.
How does your performance management system impact productivity per employee?
Does your onboarding process reduce time to revenue for new hires?
Can your engagement survey predict voluntary attrition and save costs?
Use data to tell the story of how talent drives value.
3. Translate HR Speak into Business Speak
Avoid HR jargon. Instead of talking about “learning journeys” or “employee sentiment,” talk about “sales enablement” and “retention cost avoidance.” Speak the language of margin, growth, and customer lifetime value.
“We’re not just launching a new LMS. We’re reducing the onboarding ramp-up time by 20%, which translates into $XM in earlier productivity.”
Path 2: Rethink the HR Delivery Model with the Third Workforce
The second path requires a more radical shift in mindset. Instead of doing more with less (which we’ve been asked to do for decades), we need to redesign how HR is delivered by fully embracing the Third Workforce.
What is the Third Workforce?
It’s the integration of AI, automation, and digital ecosystems alongside your human and contingent talent. In HR, this means:
AI assistants handling policy inquiries
Bots triaging leave requests or running pre-boarding workflows
Automated systems monitoring attrition risks and flight data
Chatbots running pulse surveys and sentiment analysis in real-time
The Payoff? Free Up Human Capacity for Strategic Work
Let’s be honest: too many HR pros are stuck drowning in tasks that machines can do better, faster, and without burnout. By layering in intelligent tools, we can:
Reclaim HR time from admin work
Deploy that talent to talent strategy, capability building, and organizational design
Deliver faster, more consistent experiences to employees and managers
This isn’t about replacing HR. It’s about unburdening HR, so it can finally do what it was meant to do: lead the people side of business transformation.
Putting It Together: The Modern HR Function
A modern HR team is defined by more than its title; instead, its value and velocity define it.
Here's what forward-thinking teams are doing:
Mapping every HR program to a business goal
Automating low-impact processes to elevate human talent
Leveraging data to drive decisions, not just dashboards
Co-creating solutions with Finance and Operations, not working in isolation
Using AI as a teammate, not a threat
And yes, some are calling themselves People & Culture or Talent Experience, but not because it sounds better. Because they’re actually doing the work differently.
So... Does HR Need a New Name?
Maybe.
But only after it’s done the hard work to earn a new identity.
A new name doesn’t change legacy behaviors. It won’t magically convince the C-suite that HR is a strategic asset. And it certainly won’t fix systems built for a different era. But when HR starts speaking the language of the business, when it frees its own team to act more strategically, and when it steps into the driver’s seat of organizational growth…
That’s when people stop caring what it’s called.
Because they already know what it means.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jeff Lupinacci spent the last 25 years at some of the world's best-known companies, such as Intel Corporation and Kimberly-Clark. His career spans key executive roles such as Chief Learning Officer, Chief Talent Officer, and Chief Integration Officer. After a successful corporate career, Jeff turned his focus to his true passion—serving the overworked and under-resourced HR profession.
Beyond his corporate success, Jeff is a sought-after speaker and thought leader, with his insights featured in leading publications such as CFO Europe, Nikkei Business Magazine, and Baylor Business Review. In addition to his business leadership, Jeff is an adjunct professor at Baylor University, where he teaches Human Capital Management for the Executive MBA program and leads the HR Strategy and Analytics capstone for undergraduates.
Jeff is the best-selling author of The Talent Advantage: A CEO’s Journey to Discover the Value of Talent. He lives in Dallas, Texas, with his wife and two doodles.