The ZALT Bubble
with ZANDY
No more “bloody HR”
HR, it’s time to look in the mirror!
We are lucky enough to work with many different HR teams. We see how they operate but more importantly we see, hear and experience how they are viewed by their business leaders, colleagues and employees. Unfortunately as a profession we generally do not rate well. Google “terrible Human Resources” and it will produce almost 8 million hits, or “why I hate HR” to see in excess of 65 million hits.
We know it too, in our heart of hearts, when we think things like “the business does not understand what we do” or “we do a great job but don’t have buy in” or “we aren’t seen as core business… but should be”. And in the deepest recesses of our thinking (or after a red wine or two) “I am irrelevant to this organisation”.
Where do you and your HR team sit?
Move from “bloody HR” to “brilliant HR”
So, how do you move from being viewed as a “blocker”, past being a “process pusher” through to being a “thought leader” in the business? How do you influence and shape business leaders thinking, business goals and the associated action?
Clarity of Expectation
It’s about clarity and control of purpose. HR can do this through articulating and managing focus, workload and the expectations of your clients and stakeholders. In David Ulrich’s book The HR Value Proposition he talks about choosing the right HR role, for example Employee Advocate, Functional Expert or Strategic Leader. Each requires a completely different focus and outcome expectation. If you are expected to be one and deliver another “bloody HR” is likely to result. So, let’s embrace the responsibility of setting and managing the businesses expectations of us by proactively having clarity of purpose.
Credibility and Reputation
Associated with this is the need as HR Practitioners to purposefully manage our credibility and reputation. There is nothing soft and fluffy about developing and maintaining workplace relationships, as HR, they are our strategic advantage. This requires a dedicated approach of auditing the health of current relationships, setting goals and developing action plans around key relationships. Barnes and Scott’s book Consulting on the Inside, emphasis the need to build your practice by building those relationships.
Where is your HR Team?
Where do you and your HR team sit on the “blood HR” to “brilliant HR” ladder? Where would you ideally like to be? What is working for your HR team currently? How are your strategic relationships? We’d love you to share your thoughts.
