GLOBAL HR PROFILE
A Modern Day Medicine Man
By Archana Mehta
Markus Voelker, GPHR, sees human resources as its own type of science.
V oelker may not be a medical doctor like his father and grandfather , but he sees human resources as its
own type of science.Voelker, who has more than 20 years of experience as an HR professional, stresses the importance of
understanding human needs, the way people collaborate and their motivations. “I’m, in effect, a medicine man taking care of staff
members,” Voelker says.
Voelker honed his skills for seven years at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in Paris and is now
a learning and training specialist at the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in New York, where he has spent the past five years.
His role entails managing the organization’s newly created leadership program, all learning technologies and a distance-learning program
to certify UNFPA’s 2,500 employe