So an HR director yesterday told me that she had (only half-jokingly) been mulling over whether she and her team were worth the money that they cost the business.

I don't know but I guess that she and her team will cost her business somewhere between £300k and £500k per annum.

Her (deliberately provocative) question was: would that money be better sitting in a reserve account earning interest, sitting there as a fighting fund to pay lawyers and disgruntled former employees if the proverbial ever hits the fan? Sometimes of course, it would be needed. But often, she speculated, it wouldn't. So if HR wants to be truly commercial, her tongue-in-cheek thinking went, why not simply disband?

It kind of sounds counter-intuitive coming from someone who relies on HR to put a roof over her head, but it is worthy of a bit more analysis before an instant dismissal.

Tell me what you think........