Being a business major, I got to thinking the other day about what possible role the "Human Resources" department could play in the future of the corporate world, especially in light of the Transhumanist movement. Obviously, the first order of business would be to rename the discipline of "Human Resources" to "Personnel" (or "Personnel Management") this would be the most Politically Correct term in a time when not all people (therefor, not all employees) are human.
But the really interesting part begins to emerge as you explore the role that a Human Resource Manager plays in the healthcare of employees. In the beginning, people couldn't expect any sort of healthcare from their employers, mostly because they couldn't expect decent healthcare anywhere to begin with. People used to become sick much more often and stay sick much longer than now.
Luckily, all that has changed, and as people gained exposure to the healthcare industry, businesses began to see that it would be in their interest to help improve their employees' health (by helping financially with their healthcare) At that point, Human Resources was largely concerned with curing or treating existing illnesses, this is how medicine functioned at the time.
The Medical Industry has since discovered various ways in which to prevent illness, which has caught the attention of business owners and Human Resource Managers, because preventing illness in employees means less sick days, higher morale and productivity, and generally improved public image. So now many businesses offer programs such as incentives to promote physical activity, some even furnish on-site gyms or office jogging-groups or sports teams.
As you can see, Human Resources went from being unconcerned with the health of their employees, to becoming concerned with Treatment of illness (or repair) of their employees, to now becoming concerned with prevention (or maintenance). My point may, at this point, be rather obvious. If you trend this out, you'll likely come to the conclusion that I have: The "Personnel Manager" will, doubtless, be concerned with not only the repair and maintenance of their employees, but the improvement as well. Just look:
Repair (Notable decline in performance surrounding "event")
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Maintenance (Prevention of "events" which may effect performance)
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Improvement (Improving performance beyond that of "average" healthy employees)
Obviously, Human Resource Management is presently concerned with "improving" their employees, through training and performance review and such, but that's not exactly what I'm referring to. What I mean is: One day, your employer will pay to augment your body with technologies that might improve the way in which you perform your essential job tasks. Imagine, for instance, that your job involves exposure to hazardous materials (let's say, for example, CO gas) You can't smell CO, so there's no way to tell if you're being poisoned until you're in moderate trouble. Your employer can't help you be "so healthy you're immune to CO gas" however, he may be able to invest in an enhancement to your body that will alert you to high levels of CO in the air, or let you detect it by sense of smell, or even actively remove CO from the air in your lungs. This is a somewhat weak example (CO meters and gas-masks are obviously cheaper than implants) but it's a good picture of what I'm getting at.
Anyway, just some food for thought.
Be Well,
Nick
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