HR as Employee Advocate

The role of the employee advocate is one of the hardest HR Roles defined by David Ulrich. It can bring a lot of conflicts between Human Resources and management of the organization. But the conflicts are usually healthy and they produce better solutions for employees and the organization.

The employee advocate knows the interests of the employees and the plans of the organization and help to find the suitable win-win solution for them. The organization can ignore employees in the planning of new initiatives sometimes. The employee advocate returns the employees and their interests to the discussion as they can feel informed and comfortable.

The employee advocate helps to get better conditions for employees at the affordable price for the company. When the organization plans to reduce headcount, the employee advocate represents the employees and knows, what the employer can afford to pay. The employee advocate proposes the plan, which is socially responsible and the employees can trust the employer, that the offer for them will be fair enough.

The employee advocate and change agent HR Roles can look similar, but the change agents helps to prepare for the changes and facilitates the change process, the employee advocate fights for the employees. Sometimes, the fighting is tough and painful, but the result can be amazing as the employees feel trust to Human Resources. The employees can come to Human Resources to get some support and help.

Originally, the employee advocate were the trade unions, but nowadays, Human Resources can get better conditions for employees as Human Resources can communicate directly with the top management and has better tools to find out emotions of employees.