Meanwhile, at the same conference, consultant Hunter Lott says he often hears, “HR, the people that keep me from doing what I want to do.”
Where Is HR Really?
Mundy, Vice President, Human Resources and Communications for the Climate Solutions sector of Ingersoll Rand, asserts that one of the problems is that HR managers lack concrete guidance about how to partner with C-suite managers. He suggests an easy way for HR managers to step forward:
Ask this question of every action you take in HR, says Mundy—Does this action cause friction in the business or does it create flow?
Mundy’s approach seems like a good place to start. It’s a lot clearer than, for example, trying to figure out how to “align human talent resources with corporate strategic philosophy.”
Mundy thinks that HR managers often put too much emphasis on spending a equal amount of time and attention on everyone. That doesn’t go very far in eliminating friction. Mundy encourages HR managers to “identify the critical points of the business where the strategy succeeds or fails, and provide relevant talent solutions.”
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Why Is It Hard for HR Managers to Maintain a Business Perspective?
Mundy thinks it’s hard for HR managers to maintain a business perspective because they think they are near the pinnacle of the organization. They think that because they can demand information, reports, and documents, and numbers from everyone else in the organization.
That’s backwards, Mundy says. In fact, HR is “far removed from the points and people that make a difference with customers and a difference to the business.” Sobering, but maybe that’s where a lot of departments are.
‘You ARE the Table’
Meanwhile, there’s Jim Collins saying “You ARE the table. He suggests that “getting the right people on the bus” is management’s most important job. HR can certainly help with that.
Collins’s keys for finding the right people:
- Share core values with the organization and its leaders
- Do not need to be tightly managed
- Understand that they don’t have a job, but a responsibility
- Do what they say they will do–always
- Possess window and mirror maturity (take responsibility when things go badly, point out others when things go well)
- Corporate objectives align with personal ones
Where are you on the strategic continuum?
___ I’m the table
___ I’m at the table
___ I’d like to be at the table
___ I’m far removed from the points and people who make a difference
We’d love to know where you sit.
Make a comment below or email me at sbruce@blr.com. Thanks!
HR is far removed from the people and points that make a difference to the business? Tell that to the disgruntled high performer who’s thinking about leaving the company if better retention efforts aren’t made, or the vengeful terminated employee who sues for an amount that could devastate the company’s finances.