DriveThruHR, a daily broadcast on all things HR, recently hosted Valerie Warnock, head of PeopleMatter's Human Resources, to talk about 'organic HR.' (Listen here.) In the interview, Valerie mentioned that it's time to rebuild the HR model, and step outside of the traditional concept of an HR department. I'm going to elaborate on why this is so critical in foodservice.

HR is an industry that has remained stagnant for the majority of its existence. Traditionally it's a department stuck in the 'remote' office or corner, expected to handle everything from hiring to offboarding, but stay out of other departments' day-to-day operations.

Then enters the Internet, and social media and consumer-driven messages. Suddenly, HR is hit with an influx of change. And in survival of the fittest, you need to evolve. HR's next evolution, especially in restaurants, is to "de-silo," or break down the workflow walls built tall around individual departments.

To "de-silo," human resources needs to get a hand in marketing, public relations, product branding and more. Leverage social media campaigns to recruit new hires; compile frontline feedback on a new company product; promote training program success in a press release — a siloed HR department can't capitalize on these programs because they all require inter-departmental cooperation.

This department "cross pollination" synchs company initiatives and unifies branding and culture; everyone is working together for bigger, better results, not independent of one another. Valerie nailed it when she said today's forward-thinking companies are defining "how to partner with other departments to bring branding and recruiting together." This year, 89 percent of companies used social media networks, typically owned by marketing, for recruiting. (Source: Mashable)

And with the growth of social networking and real-time sharing, stand-alone HR solutions can't keep up today's workforce. Foodservice businesses need technology that can connect and evolve with their tech-savvy teams, HR processes and organizational goals. In fact, Gartner projects that by 2013, 15 percent of business intelligence deployments will combine BI, collaboration and social software into decision-making environments; and by 2014, 40 percent of spending analytics will go to system integrators.

So how do you get ahead of your competition and kick-start the evolution? Rather than looking at your current process, try looking at where you need to be. Take into consideration industry innovations, relevant social media outlets, culture and brand messages, and the development plan for your foodservice business. Open a conversation with your executive team and department heads about where you want to go and what you need to get there. Then, empower your HR team to lead the charge.

When every employee comes together in a concentrated effort, there are no walls, silos or weakest links. SaaS solutions help "de-silo" your business, increasing efficiency, engagement and visibility. Integration is where we are heading, in every aspect of the foodservice industry, and HR is the golden thread that can tie everyone together.

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