‘You may choose to call it gender equality, but I prefer to call it evolution’. Gone are the days when Human resource Management was viewed as an occupation or career women tend to pursue more than their masculine counterparts. In recent times, however, there seems to be a twist to this platitude. What could be the rationale behind it? This article will first define what Human Resource Management is all about and also identify some roles the Human Resource Manager plays in an organization. The rest will be left to your discretion to decide whether or not Human Resource Management is indeed losing its feminine touch to the males. Come to think of it, whenever you hear a company’s HR, a woman comes to mind, right? …. Well you are not far from wrong. But you will be surprised to know that research has proven that a lot of males have are showing interest and pursuing this ‘feminine course’.

The role of the Human Resource Manager is to handle and coordinate the activities of the employees in the organization. In the past, many employees viewed the Human Resource Manager as the “wicked witch” in the organization but recently there has been a revolution in this perception. Human Resource Management is now viewed as the link between management and employees. The Human Resource Manager also seeks to address issues bordering on the well-being of the employees. Perhaps the most important duty of the Human Resource Manager is to recruit personnel and make sure to train and constantly align their preferences, goals, and activities to that of the corporate goals in order to achieve organizational objectives. Yes, it requires the manager concerning himself or herself with activities in the field of accounting, marketing, research, and development just to name a few. Human Resource Management was viewed as a reading course that did not require much conceptualization, calculation, and any technical know-how.

To talk turkey, in the past it was not given the recognition it deserves in organizations. One will only notice the Human Resource Manager serving tea at meetings and not doing anything relevant. Apparently as a man you must not pursue a feminine course such as Human Resource Management and that is the tag that my colleagues identified me with when I went for an internship program in one of the giant companies here in Ghana. An economist professor or student will tell you that all resources can be managed but the most difficult task which requires exceptional dexterity and versatility is in managing the most labile of resources, the human. Why? Because humans have the tendency to complicate matters just to suit their own preferences and this becomes a daunting task when an individual is expected to channel the thoughts of a host of employees to the accomplishment of the overall organization goals. I believe this change of mindset has brought the recent males in this field.

A 2016 report from the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) found that 72% of Human Resource Managers are females. Companies like OLAM Ghana Cocoa, Ecobank and many more have their Human Resource Managers as males. That notwithstanding, we still have a lot of companies such as MTN Ghana, Vodafone, Guinness who have their Human Resource Managers as females. So, I personally believe that Human Resource Management is not losing its feminine touch but rather there has been a change in the mindset of people about Human Resource Management hence the recent involvement of the males in this field.