Why Do We Celebrate Human Resource Professional Day?

Why do we celebrate Human Resource Professional Day? Because without HR, we’re working in the dark.

The future of work will be built on the agile, people-centric foundations created by human resource professionals worldwide. We should take time to celebrate it!

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From the rise of hybrid workforce management strategies to prioritising human output in the technical age (amongst other human capital industry drivers and trends), HR leaders and teams are increasingly being leaned on as facilitators of wholesale culture and working change.

Of course, the hard work of HR professionals often goes unsung, which is why if anyone asks you, “Is there an HR appreciation day?” you can now answer yes!

The History of Human Resource Professional Day

Despite the term welfare secretary, labour manager or “Human Resource” floating around for over a hundred years, Human Resource Professional Day was founded in 2013 by then Governor-General of Jamaica, Sir Patrick Allen. 

Since then, Human Resource Professional Day – celebrated every September 26th – has become a focal point of HR celebration and appreciation worldwide.

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How to Celebrate Human Resource Professional Day

As with any other holiday or day of appreciation, there are a variety of ways organisations can go about celebrating Human Resource Professional Day, such as:

• Organise an HR appreciation day, celebrate HR impact with unique company success stories, and enhance HR professionals’ visibility across an organisation’s online and offline working matrix.
• Commit funds to establish clear lines of Human Resource progression and career growth, especially for new starters in the department or your recruitment and talent networks. This can take the form of HR explainers, case studies and content strategies elevating HR as a business-critical role and a job where young people or staff looking to retrain can easily see progression, stability and happiness.
• Take the day to reflect on the impact of Human Resource teams in an organisation and plan for the future. This can be done by organising an HR away day, an activity day, or simply a celebratory meal to say thank you for the work to date.
• Create HR and HR-adjacent mentor groups; commit time to creating cross-hierarchy and cross-department relationships between senior and junior HR workers and HR and non-HR workers to better share skills and learning across silos, demographics, and skill sets. This will also open the eyes of non-HR workers to the essential work HR team members do in a more tactile, personal way.
• Inspire other individuals to take on jobs in HR! Again, this comes back to committing time and effort to spread the gospel of Human Resources, but internally with other stakeholders in the company. If you encourage HR-adjacent professionals to discover the benefits of an HR career, you’ll find more and more people leaping into the sector.

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Notes for Leaders on Human Resource Professional Day

When was the last time you patted an HR worker on the back? 

Developing human capital functions is vital to any modern workplace; taking a day to honour that is no bad thing.

An essential part of any celebration day is for leaders to recognise the value of HR professionals truly and to become internal advocates for understanding how HR works and what drives the HR team forward.

Get A Better Understanding of Human Resource Professionals And HR Departments

How your HR team interacts with the rest of an organisation is only the start.

We suggest senior leaders and board-level stakeholders make an effort to invest in HR and to see how that investment can improve business function from root to branch.

You’ll find people management buy-in increases, and HR becomes more proactive advocates for company culture and the health of workplace welfare.

HR Is The Soul Of A Company

It’s crass to remind our readers that Human Resource team members do more than maintain employee records or hold annual reviews for senior leaders – they are often a company’s soul. 

They represent the Front Door for new hires, are the spine of how an operation works together and works for one another, and are a focal point for staff development and skills investment.

A good HR team guarantees a happy workforce that feels engaged, heard, seen and trusted. And in today’s fragile working environment, that solidity is recruitment, retention and work culture gold dust.  So dedicate a day to honour human resources personnel, and you’ll see how a team that spends time in the trenches of the job truly appreciates the value they contribute.

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