I spent my first 10 working years (with 3M Company) in Clerical Work design and Computer Systems Design for wholesale operations.
I learned that great technology and process design can ENABLE excellent performance but do not necessarily create it; the human element is critical. How people are led and managed; how they are encouraged to collaborate, innovate, and take personal ownership all produce startling impact on morale, performance, personal growth and even the shere quality of personal life.
A brief spell in Sales and Procurement training taught me that things don’t happen in business just because they are correct; power, networking, influence, negotiation, …. all have their place, rightly or wrongly. If you want to change something, you have to make sure you are correct but, then, you have to fight for what you believe in, even if there are personal risks.
I then moved into HR fully in Management Training and Development (both with 3M and also running my own consulting practice). At that time (and in many organizations now), it felt like a packaging department. We seemed to take little accountability for hte product and spent most of our time renaming and repacking it. But, then came a transformation. An injection of non-HR people into HR triggered a change. We realised that HR is a very complex role. One the one hand we could design and define optimal processes and tools for maximising individual and team performance, and for enabling individuals and teams to grow to their true potential (really, all we need to do!). On the other hand, without direct authority, we had to earn trust and win the support of the line – So, Do we plead for support? Do, we empower (i.e., say it is not OUR problem)? Do we fight, go to the top, and demand that managers do what is right for the company and the staff? ….. We tended to the latter and a powerful learning experience it was.
After 30 years of international HR experience (UK, USA, Canada, KSA, Israel) I now believe:
– HR can make an immensely positive contribution to any business if it is willing to take true accountability
– HR must understand and talk line processes and language, not teach managers psycho-babble
– HR needs to understand process design, contemporary technology, and data/statistics
– HR needs to understand psychological principles, HR theory and law, and process design
– HR needs professional sales and negotiating skills
– HR sometimes needs to fight for what it knows is right – “Turkeys don’t vote for Thanksgiving dinner!”
– HR sometimes needs to fight for what it knows is right – “Sometimes, things simply aren’t simple”
– The 10’s are the era for a new breed of HR professionals – this is our time!
