For nearly a century, Industrial Relations Counselors, Inc. (IRC) has led and promoted the development of management practices and social policies that have enhanced the effectiveness and shared successes of organizations and employees around the world. In 1970, IRC’s consulting unit was spun off as a for-profit subsidiary and in 2010, the IRC Board sold the consulting firm (ORC Worldwide), and rededicated itself to its nonprofit mission of research and education.
In 2015, IRC was renamed Innovation Resource Center for Human Resources (IRC4HR™) to recognize its role as a source for innovation and practical insights, while signaling continuity with its commitment to bringing together employers, academics, policy makers, and other stakeholders for collaborative, ‘make-a-difference’ projects on challenging workplace issues.
To this end, The IRC4HR™ Board of Trustees is proud and excited to announce its recent funding and sponsorship of two important programs:
- A multi-national research project on the current state of the employment relationship. The study is using a systematic framework of HR and other workplace practices to assess what determines the effectiveness of this relationship – for both employees and employers – and the impact of the relationship on engagement, productivity, and performance. IRC4HR™ is joined by the Australian Research Council and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada in funding this important study.
- An open-source initiative on the future of the HR profession. CHREATE is the collaborative effort of a group of CHROs from leading organizations, led by a small group of academics and industry thought leaders, focused on defining – and working to enable and accelerate – the future of HR.
Jodi Starkman is Executive Director of the Innovation Resource Center for Human Resources.