Giving up is hard to do
Forget coffee, chocolate, cigarettes and carbs – here's what you really should be dropping for LentSo, it’s Lent. You’ve scoffed your pancakes and read twelve articles/tweets/blogs on what you should give up. Well, bin what you’ve heard. Right here’s the stuff you should be getting your precious head around.
Consider these five common HR behaviours. If you’re guilty of any of them, ditch them until Lent ends on Holy Thursday and maybe even beyond that. Come on now, don’t be a wimp.
Harping on about the top table
Stop worrying about the ‘top table’, unless you’re getting married and have arranged some rather tricky table decorations. Spend the time not worrying by writing a list of the five things that need to happen (or better still, you need to do) if you’re actually going to reach this supposed nirvana.
Being the FD’s lackey
Ever feel that Human Resources is little more than the military wing of the Finance department? Spending most of your time engineering short-term gains for the C-Suite and shareholders by slashing costs and sweating resources? (Well, even you don’t think you are, some of your colleagues probably do.)
Spend Lent constructing alternative strategies for when the next list of unrealistic redundancy requests gets emailed through. At the very least, spend it concentrating on the work you do that helps the long-term sustainability of the organisation and aids the hard-pressed individuals slogging away within it.
Trend-following
Yes, Google has some fab principles. Yes, law firms are experimenting with ‘CV blind’ interviews. Yes, more and more organisations are hiring ‘Employer Brand Directors.’ (Snort.) And yes, social media can drive talent pools, increase engagement and replace African famine with chocolate and lemonade for all.
But just because they’re doing doesn’t necessarily make it right for you. Create your own trends with initiatives that add value to the strategic imperative, and don’t follow the bandwagon like a legless dog tied to the rear axle.
Jargonising
Phrases such ‘add value’ and ‘strategic imperative’ should never be used. Ever, ever. Remember too that HR jargon, used for an external audience, usually makes you look insular or insecure. Take a leaf out of Cicero’s book and adopt the plain style.
Forgetting the ‘H’ in HR
Yes, we’re a grown-up function now. We strategise (sometimes) with the big boys and girls, and we can vaguely quantify our contribution to the bottom line. But remember that we’re about human stuff too, not just numbers.
Take some time to walk the floor, meet some new recruits, have a passionate debate with a colleague. Ditch Twitter and spreadsheets for a month – replace with conversations with real people whose joy, fear or frustration is visible in their eyes.
About the author
