I know what I think of the above mentioned question: hell no, if you blog on a regular basis and read the other blogs, the first thing you notice is that almost on-one(!!) go by their real name, Yours Truely included.
HRpunkrocker, HRmaven, HRwitch – and now adding to the brigade: HRDragon…

If you read
this article

you get the feeling that HR people does not feel like real employees.
I really do not think it is because we are superior people with a higher intellectual capacity, say like a salesperson – but I think it is because we often become pariahs of the organisation. We discipline people, we enforce corporate policies, we are often caught in OHS with all the legislation that acompanies that. We are the bottleneck – if you ask the managers – that stomps the growth.

So being the pariahs – we tend to give ourselfs cool nicknames and bitch on how other are utter morons.
Because nobody appreciates the benefits of a well-running, competent HR department. We do actually recruit the footsoldiers and generals, we assist with driving corporate strategy, we develop policies and guidelines so to keep a logic, fair and transperant way of conducting the internal business.

But they just bitch. So to ventilate our frustration – we bitch back. And give ourselfs cool nicknames, and blog like crazy to tell the world what we actually are contributing with and to.

Not that I do not recognize the benefits of a cool, and smooth running operation in accounting, sales, logistics, operations, businessdevelopment, and so forth. But they get recognized because they contribute directly to the running of business. Human Resources does it in the background.

And they don’t get to get cool nicknames…
Have a good sunday, friends.

I have been wondering about alot lately – some of the thoughts keep popping back into my mind – so I guess I either got a one-track mind or they are rather relevant or atleast interesting – and that is quite okay with me.

I keep noticing the different types that show up in HR departments.

With no evil intentions – I will try to make a description of the types I met through my career – it a key point for me that NO evil thoughts are intended.

The Cervix Brigade:A rather common specimen of HR is often the kind-hearted person, that after a few psycho-dynamic courses looks at their colleagues as potential clients, where they with their “Mother-Earth-loves-you” approach starts to dispense therapy as there where no tomorrow. I suspect their intention to enter HR is that it is cheaper than open a private practice and it is also a more stable income with a stable client platform. I often refer with great affection to those brothers and sisters as the Cervix brigade or less actionate as the Womb-squad.

The Wanna-be’s: four horsemen of Know-it-All. Most middlemanagers know them by heart. The back-seat drivers of Management. They hold the theory well as skilled masters of Management book quotes, that they dispend at every opportunity. Unfortunately they hold no basic understanding that from book to reality there are not just XXXX pages between covers, but a world of facts, context and some common sense. They impress in the beginning, but when shit hits the shovel, they cannot make a difference. In project groups you can spot them easily, as most presentations start with a lengthy theory lecture, and as the presentation inevitably moves towards the end where you start to present what you would be recommending the paint runs thin… I consider those to be invaluable in the beginning but a nusiance in the end.

“I used to…”: oh dear, my favorite. Often a candidate with few years of experience, with some okay projects on the CV. Every time they start a job, the try to replicate former succes with complete disregard for the context issue. Most minor organisations hire one of those as they impress at the interview and often can document 100 years of past experience, but they just never take the time to understand the culture, context and market situation before they pull out Ye Trusty Suitcase Of Former Glory and start implementing their former succes. When the projects run in to problems, as they inevitably do – the organisation is always to blame: Not mature enough, to simplistic, not enough support, no qualified managers to grasp the importance of their past experience and the value they OUGHT to reap from it. They burn-out by sheer frustration when they realise they are fighting windmills with a tennisketcher.

The Boxed-Focused HR person: ”

I am good at recruitment, and I stay good at recruitment /salary /compensation /legal issues /Trade union relations and I stick to that, thank you very much”. I think of them as specialists, that live behind a very high wall, that takes energy to climb and when you finally climbed it and you dangle percariously on top of it just to get told ”I aint buying”. Sigh… A former colleague described them as a One-Tool-toolbox. A nessecity for a large corporation, but poison of new-thought-and-new development in anything but the ultra-large HR organisation.

The Dreamer. The one that holds no respect for the fact that HR supports the organisation in their overall work. They consider implementation as a unfortunate fact that is best left for managers. I hold them dear to my heart, because every organisation needs a village idiot, that makes things grow. But they have a tendency to become the village lunatic as fact-based implementation holds NO interest. They need support - perhaps from the Cervix brigade and the One-Tool-Toolbox. A former VP once described them as scientists that looks at the organisations as guinea pigs in a gigantuan lab experiment… We both sniggered

I oughtta gone to LawSchool: A slight variation of the One-Tool-Toolbox: They are structured and have often impressive memory as they can quote the complete works of our law-making fathers – from the equal-rights law to Workmans compensation act without blinking. Everything is law for them, and they are often established legislators-judge-executioner by own appointment. They hold a certain position in the organisation – especially in organisations that has a lot of blue-collar workes in Denmark. Revered and feared, because they can stop ANYTHING by uttering following sentence: “you cannot do that! It will be in violation of…. §XX subsection YY” – and often they succeed because the opponent does not hold the same knowledge (I have seen dreamers go home sobbing violently after meeting one of these characters). They are the one that on occasion can watch a movie where the bad-guy CEO plans to lay off 100.000 people just because the coffee was cold and think “ooh… he cannot do that – because it is in violation of the mass redundancy act of 1762″. Often they get their day of judgement when they meet the lawyer that teaches them that law is not cast in steel but cast in “truth is what the hell we establish it to be and THEN intrepets the law accordingly”. That leaves them befuddled and in disarray.

What type am I then? A mixture of the above mentioned. I will not go into the ratio between types, but I think the type less represented in me is the “One-Tool-Toolbox”.

My thoughts on how to become valuable to an organisation.

“Remember to remember….” Never forget you are there to serve as the “Human Resource Know It All” oracle.

“Be the role – not just the person”: It is okay to remember who you are, but you are being paid to do a job – feel free not to do it, but then leave the organisation by the doors marked “EXIT”. Do the job with respect for your core values and use them to influence the process. But things are often done because THEY HAVE TO. (layoffs, Salary cuts and what-not).

“Remember where you are”: Get to knwo the organisation and the culture and the context. without that knowledge you are simply lost without a map and a compass

“The Map is not the terrain”: Your theoretical knowledge and experience is great, but not easy to implement. With the risk of sounding like a nerd: you will be flying by map and instruments if you rely only on those two skills.

“Let people get to know you”. Spend time with the managers, directors and VPs and the janitor. Tell them about you be curious about them. When the relations are in place, things become so much more easy.

“The difference between thinking outside the box and being plain weird is hair-thin” – Every organisation needs to be respected and development and change for the their own sake is doomed. Every time you change you create confusion; give it time to swallow and understand and adopt. Then change again. The good partner/consultant dispenses change innovatively in a way that create value, because it creates value and not because it is innovative. if you thrive with creating innovate solutions – then go freelance and live from it; if you want to be a company consultant, hone your skills in designing something innovatively, but you need to develop those skills along many others.

most importantly: be humble with the people you work with but respect you self.

Kindest,

Steen

Recruitment and layoff.

I read a lot blogs in my pastime – redundancies are a common subject.

With the risk of just adding one more I would like to share my thoughts with you anyway

When the “ball” is rolling, costumers lining up at the door pawing to get in, recruitment is the name of the game.

You have to assist the management with describing what they really want, in regards to their organisation, tasks and colleagues.

It is the fun part of HR; you can fulfil the dreams of the applicants and the managers.

You have the position to decide whether those dreams become reality. I tried interviews where the recruiter displayed an immense arrogance; thank God it is a loooong time ago, but the experience stayed with me.

I emphasize to the manager, that we are most likely the first time the applicant gets to know someone from the company. The impression the applicant gets from that interview stays with them for a very long time.

Of course I need to test the candidate for motive, abilities and references and on occasion press for references.

But I have still to be respectful, careful and considerate in that process. Because the impression lasts, and lasts and lasts…

Now the situation looks so different. Oh dear, the world has changed. We went to bed in an economy just slowing down – and woke up one morning in an economy gone to Siberia.

Layoffs are an issue now that presses on the management and in the nature of gravity pulling the hard tasks downwards: it exerts it toll on HR.

I would like to emphasize that it is a more awful time for the for-applicant-now-colleague that faces the long, lonely walk down to the Unemployment Office than it is for the HR Partner. It is a terrible decision to sack people, and fortunately I have been blessed with managers, that shared my view:

It is a necessity for the company to survive, but we have still to be respectful, careful and considerate in that process. Because the impression lasts, and lasts and lasts… And it lasts not just for the one given their notice, but also for those who “stay onboard”.

Now management and leadership have to walk together.  You HAVE to keep focus on both groups. You have to assist those given notice in shaping a new future and you have to assist and show clear leadership in shaping a new road for the remaining employees.

Because the impression lasts…

And there are no easy cures. HR development is not just part of the organisations strategy in the Good Ol Times – it is a necessity in the Good Ol HARD times.

And if any: HRD is often one of the causalities of recession. It is expensive, but I really believe it is worth it.

Share your thoughts, please.

Steen