My End-of-Year HR Wish List

By BLR Founder and Publisher Bob Brady

I’ve been writing this column for 6 months. Unlike most of my writing during my 30-year career, it allows me almost total freedom to pick whatever subject I want and hold forth with an E-pinion. It’s a labor of love and has given me a lot of satisfaction, particularly when readers respond with their views. Thanks to all of you who have done so.

Your comments have prompted me to think about where HR has come from, and where we’re going. Here—at the end of one year and the beginning of another– are a few thoughts about where we should be going:

Strategic Focus and Mission

What I wish for most is that HR could take its rightful place at the strategic table. Too often we’re not taken seriously, and too often the reason is that we see ourselves as “HR guys” rather than as professional managers committed to helping our organizations succeed. HR represents the “enlightened view” of business self-interest, but we have to be business people first, and HR people second.

HR’s biggest challenge (and biggest opportunity) is in the area of strategy. We need to know what kind of organization we work for; what its strategy is; and how our HR strategies should be crafted to help the business meet its objectives:. Marketplace success is almost always the most important organizational metric—even for nonprofits—and HR has to stay focused on seeing our service to people as a means to that end.

Healthcare Costs

One of the scariest problems facing business today is healthcare costs. Just about the only thing that we, as HR managers, can do to impact costs in the short to medium term has to do with wellness. If we can help our employees and their families improve their health habits, we can impact healthcare costs. It’s not immediate. It’s slow, but it is sure.

A faster path is in the area of “presenteeism”— the term refers to an employee being physically present but not performing well because of illness or injury. I’m not talking about people coming to work when they are sick, out of a misguided sense of duty, but, rather, about people whose nutrition or lifestyle choices cause them to be sleep-deprived, hungover, etc. If we can change habits that lead to poor performance, we can improve productivity right now, while our overall wellness programs cut into insurance costs.

Equality and Fairness

The press is filled regularly with accounts of corporate CEOs who make hundreds of millions per year, even as skilled jobs are exported overseas and Congress equivocates about token changes to the federal minimum wage. While labor cost control is important to keep a competitive advantage in the global economy, this necessary tension seems out of balance. This may be one area in which HR can act as a corporate conscience.

Asset Building

People are an asset; not a cost. Employees who improve their skills make themselves more valuable to their employers. In the constant battle to keep costs under control, investments in training and development are often budget casualties. Looking for low- cost alternatives, and getting the most for every training dollar, should be an HR priority.

Ethics and Values

Enron and other corporate scandals remind us of the need for ethics and values. HR is a leader here. As we look at the new year, we should all commit to maintaining and raising the ethical values of our organizations. Our employees deserve it.

Happy holidays, and as always, I’d love to hear your views. Email me at Rbrady@blr.com