HR has stood silent at the corner of the room for too long. We (HR professionals) have been trained to comply, to run processes. We need to start generating more impact. We need to move away from the dunce cap, we need to start moving and creating a new status quo.
I tried to list 10 innovations HR brought to the table in the last 10 years. Got frustrated. For sure, we found out new ways to frame same old problems, but what about solutions? 9-box made us look to talent using two axis, but have we solved the ‘talent war’ issue? Leadership pipeline presented us with a nice zig-zag of leadership development, but this means that we are developing better leaders?
Daniel Kahneman quoted an interesting study in Thinking Fast and Slow: If people were alone and saw someone getting attacked on the street, they tended to help. However, if they were in a group, they wouldn’t act (probably waiting for someone to do something?). Seth Godin (in poke the box) brings a similar subject to the table: we (Society) are trained to ignore rather than to act – according to him, society has trained us all to keep our heads down and quotes: in many police departments, the first suspect in a despite is the one that took time to call.
WE HAVE A PROBLEM HERE! HR has sat for too long in the corner. HR professionals were trained by the corporate society to keep his head down, not to speak up (“what are you talking about, you, cost center???”). We have a problem here of lack of action. Lack of depth. Lack of creativeness. AND WE SHOULDN’T IGNORE!
But is all of this caused by society? Aren’t we protagonists? Are we really speaking up when we need, or waiting for people to invite us to speak? Are we raising and marching at the front line or waiting someone to pick us to their team?
(Actually, if we were going to put together a business superstar team, would we pick ourselves?)
Going back to 9-box: for sure re-framing is a great step (better than no step at all) but are we targeting the right issues? Are we in flow, in movement, or just walking around ourselves?
HIGH IMPACT HR: what about instead of changing the way we read the problem we target the problem itself? Instead of trusting our instincts, start making decisions based on facts and hard data? Instead of serving internal clients, start to serve business itself? Instead of complying with the status quo, start inventing the status quo? Instead of sitting in the corner, STAND UP AND ACT (in a bold, effective way)?
(Business leaders may not be ready for that. Companies may not be ready for that. May not understand the importance of people to leverage business, or may not understand why is HR speaking up so boldly. But is this going to change if HR stays acting the same way it acted for decades?)
Best
Alex
photo credit: cogdogblog via photopin cc
