Those hidden agendas ...

Everyone always has a hidden agenda, even if it's subconscious, or if they aren't intentionally trying to hide it. In thise case, Human Resources has a hidden agenda for reception. Currently, this company has no dedicated full-time reception; the phone coverage is just parceled out amongst the employees.
The HR manager confided to me their problem; she said that only the women managers are picked on to cover phones, and that the men - the primary decision makers in the instance of hiring full-time reception - never cover the phones. She said, "At the new plant, they can either hire a full-time receptionist, or they can start taking their turn covering the phones."
Since a full-scale move like this is the appropriate time to implement changes, every time the issue of reception comes up in discussion, she says something to try to guide the team towards her hidden agenda. When the office move is discussed, she says, "We don't have a full time receptionist, and we will need that in order to staff to reception areas at both plants for a while ... we don't have a receptionist ... we need a receptionist ..."
From an employee standpoint, I fully understand her. The company I worked at previously did a poor job of assigning phone coverage duties to the admin department, and the phone backup duties most often fell on me and my sister; we both worked in marketing. It takes time away from an employee's regular job, cuts into another departmental budget, and fosters ill-will and grudges and bad attitudes.
It is worthwhile, I believe, for this company to consider hiring a receptionist - and if they do not, a comprehensive assessment of current policy needs to be performed, and an open table discussion opened up for affected employees to voice their feelings. Hopefully, by utilizing a quality team process, and including all the participants, management can at least get the attitudes to change, even if no further budgeting is allotted for a new receptionist.
Oftentimes, the employees just want to know that their voice is heard, and their opinion is not valued. If they do not perceive this equity, then they feel misused and misunderstood by those that they see as the pencil-pushers in the back office.