Steve Browne came up with the neat idea of bringing together some of the greatest minds in HR to share their thoughts on how how HR can get better.  Steve is Executive Director at La Rosa's Pizza in the US and is a massive HR radical.  You can find his post at "The Carnival of HR", with contributions from nearly 50 HR professionals around the globe.

I made a contribution to the Carnival. Here is an extract with three of my suggestions with an explanation of my platform for making these assertions for the benefit of my US cousins:

Having spent many years running the Kent Branch of The CIPD in the UK, acting as a board member of the CIPD Council, working in HR for a Pharmaceutical Company and teaching Strategic HR at MBA level, I had an extended period to study HR strategy and practice from the viewpoints of my original careers as a scientist, innovation leader and HR academic. I wrote some of this down in the book "Punk Rock People Management" – a manifesto for better HR. I was really pleased to find that my disruptive thoughts on making HR better concurred with CIPD CEO Peter Cheese's musings, when I attended an event he spoke at. Here's my thoughts from my 15 years "hard labour" at the CIPD:

Understand the business – Good HR professionals align the HR strategy and tactics with the long-term business imperatives.  It’s what I call the “HR Six Pack”:

Understand the numbers – Business starts with the financials rather than the appraisal process etc. A grip on the numbers gives you the context to make better HR decisions by fact rather than guesswork. HR professionals also need to be data savvy rather than leaving that to the IT or finance professionals. This is developed further in the excellent post by MJ Carty on data and social media for HR at the Carnival of HR.

Understand the context – You’ve got all your HR / Business qualifications right? So why isn’t your CEO wanting to implement the 9 box model, 360 degree appraisals, Ulrich's HR model and so on?  Business schools offer an idealised view of how things should be at work, but work rarely works like that. Successful HR professionals understand context and adopt a “best fit” approach, seizing opportunities to make their workplaces great and understanding the nuance of time and timing. This is usually superior than attempting to plug in “best practice” elements without considering the context, rather akin to attempting a kidney transplant without considering the recipient. Having posted a torso, I will resist the temptation to post any more body parts to illustrate this point!

For more straightforward thinking on subjects such as recruitment, induction, engagement, rewards, appraisal, promotion, innovation, training, learning, conflict, unions, exit and so on pick up a copy of “Punk Rock People Management”.  Head on over to The Carnival of HR for some great insights into making HR great.