The New HR

By Jan van der Hoop

I don’t think a day has passed in the last three weeks when I haven’t found myself in a conversation with someone – be they HR professional or senior executive – who declared emphatically that the time has come for HR to reinvent itself.

It’s not a new topic, of course. The HR function has been engaged in active handwringing about its strategic role, its contribution, and its ‘role as a full partner at the table’ since at least the late ‘70s when I did my first summer co-op as a Personnel Clerk.

But there’s a certain matter-of-factness to these recent conversations that’s new to me. I don’t know if it’s because of this economic roller coaster we’re riding, or if we’re just plain tired of throwing the same old solutions at the same old problems and hoping the outcome will be less inevitable… either way, I smell change in the air.

Ever since Fast Company published Keith Hammonds’ essay Why We Hate HR (http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/97/open_hr.html) just over a year ago, I’ve been mulling over the question of reinvention more consciously than I had previously. Hard as the article is to read, I have to acknowledge that there is a grain of truth to it. More than a grain.

There’s little point in going into an exploration of why things are the way they are, although I do have some deeply held beliefs that I have been known to share freely with trusted company over a scotch. More valuable, I think, is to offer some thoughts on the way forward.
Here, then, is a draft manifesto for the New HR for your consideration. I’d like this to be an open conversation and welcome all contributions and comments.

HR has one job: business success. Anything else is useless and a waste of time and resources. If it doesn't improve business outcomes (respecting all stakeholders), we're not doing it.

HR isn't the Complaint Department or Corporate Daycare. We're going to hold people capable and accountable, and teach those who need it to grow up and stop wasting our time.

We won't accept mediocrity. Human Resources can no longer be the place people go when they can't find meaningful employment. We want - and demand - the best and the brightest people with solid line experience, who understand business and who value the essential role of people in securing strategic objectives.

Nothing is sacred. We're going to critically re-think everything we do. We are willing to revisit – and challenge – the assumptions behind our systems and processes. Our workforce and our business imperatives have changed dramatically over the last decade; our most basic fundamentals have not. We simply have to stop trying to fix today’s problems with yesterday’s solutions. Truth be told, they weren’t all that effective then either.

We're not in charge of the holiday party anymore. Yeah, that's right. We aren't the social secretaries. We have real work to do. See #1.

Business is gonna want a seat at our table. The time of putting HR at the kid's table is over. People – our ‘human capital’ – are now our only meaningful source of competitive advantage. As we step up to our full responsibility as stewards of that resource, the line guys are going to be coming to us. We can’t let them down, and we can’t shy away from holding them accountable.

Rules are for fools. We're tossing out the rule book. We're not hall monitors anymore, and most policies are written for the lowest common denominator. As we raise the bar and bring in better quality people, most of the ‘rules’ will become redundant. We're going to expect grownups to behave like grownups, or they're gone. Regardless of their title. Any questions?

We're going to make pay-for-performance work. Forgive us if we insist that the best people who make the biggest impact (respecting all stakeholders as in #1 above) make the most money.

No more workarounds to make up for weak managers. Please see #1. Our job is to make our company work most efficiently, not to find ways to convince people to put up with weak, uninspiring leadership. Managers who treat their people poorly will be asked to leave. We won't be making up policies to make up for bad managers, and we refuse to ask people to lower their standards. It's either up or out.

We're going to put the "human" back in Human Resources. They're not numbers on a spreadsheet or "FTEs" that can be treated like a commodity. They're people, with fears and hopes and dreams. And for a few hours a day, they come to our place. We'll make sure that (along with #1) we remind ourselves every day that what we do is about people. Mediocre people = mediocre business. Great people = great business.

1 comment:

Detry Carragher, CHRP said...

Here here! Thank you for speaking what's been on my mind. It's time for a change. And by the way, when we ask clients if they have a dedicated HR person, the response "yes we have someone who does payroll" will no longer be an adequate response. You can market your products/services and analyze your finances, but HR is the one that can sway the bottom line pendulum either way.

-Over and out!-