In the course of my consulting practice I have the opportunity to talk with a number of individuals within the HR and business space on a daily basis. So when twice in a week I get the same question posed to me, it makes you wake up and think twice about how you answer.
The first time occurred during the facilitation of our two day seminar on "Achieving HR Excellence through Six Sigma" when one of the participants remarked that she does not understand why HR people shy away from solutions that will improve the effectiveness of their space within the organization. The second one happened within the groups on LinkedIn when Dr. Ed Holton posted a question with the same title as this post.
Does HR have a problem with getting it? I suppose it depends on who you talk to. However here is my take on the response. Many contributors to the HR space believe that we need to change our message and I would agree.The problem becomes what do we change the message to?
I would suggest that we need to reassess where you want to take your career. If you are happy with being the corporate fireman and spending your days putting out those fires that arise because we are embedded in the stance of being reactive to the environment around us so be it. But at the same time we would suggest that you stop by your local business supply place and purchase a calendar and begin to cross off each day with a large red X. Why? I would suggest that you are counting the days until you don't have a position. This is not because your organization decides to let you go. This is because the position will evolve into another dimension. dimension in which there will be more demanded of you then you are currently providing your organization.
On the other hand if you want to become a vital part of your organization then you need to change your focus to a proactive stance. You need to change your perspective to one of challenging everything the organization does related to human capital. Become proactive in solving the organizational problems.I just finished reading John Bodreau's Beyond HR in which we suggests that we need to look at HR from a talentship view. while I disagree with some of his points, the basic point is that we need to become more involved in the hiring process from the point of view of delivering metrics which show the benefits of the talent acquisition process.
As Dr. Holton so aptly asks, if accounting, finance, C-Suites and marketing get the message why can't HR. It is a critical point in time that HR has to understand that we can no longer tolerate being the organizational punching bag. We can no longer tolerate being the answer that managers use for why the system does not work. As HR professionals, many of you who are in Atlanta at the SHRM conference, we need to stand up and say enough is enough. We get the message. We understand what our new role in the organization is supposed to be. We are not your punching bag, but rather play a vital role in the success of your organization. we are the ones who understand the valuable role our human capital play better than anyone else in the organization. We are the ones who hear and understand what trials and tribulations they are going through. We are the one who know the obstacles the market is putting in front of us when we source out that next best talent.
Why does HR not get it? We do not have a choice but to start getting it. It means the success of both your career and the success of the organizations that employ us.
