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Jonathan Gabay

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Talking Point: Do HR pros need to get back to basics?

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HR is not just a job – it’s a career.

As a vocation, it often attracts people who want to help employee communities feel wanted and understood.
 
To this end, scores of HR operational models have been adopted, practiced and adapted over the years, many of which include the core ideal of ‘staff engagement’.
 
But how can you really involve people during turbulent economic times when many feel anything but ‘positively engaged’ with their employer’s promised ethos? Just as importantly, how do you deal with being treated as the HR equivalent of Dr Jekyll and Mr/Ms Hyde?
 
Models for boosting employee performance are, of course, all too familiar. At a basic level, they include providing staff with a safe environment, developing employee surveys, practicing ‘open-book’ management, linking performance to bonuses and running a 360° feedback process, which takes all levels of seniority into account.
 
In other words, it is about complying with the standards taught on the finest HR degree courses. Yet what works on paper – however laudable –often does not work in reality. The problem appears to be that such standards have become so ‘over-processed’ that they may have ended up diverging from their core aims.
 
Outsourcing the human element
 
I recently took part in a BBC debate that looked at British design. A gentleman pointed out that, in the name of efficiency and ‘best practice’, new British bus designs have eradicated all traces of character from such vehicles. Some may say: “Who cares – they are more efficient.” But such details can and do make a difference.
 
Indirectly his argument reminded me of how HR has been driven to completely outsource human instinct and innovation and replace it with automated technology.
 
It is hardly surprising that all too often, rather than being admired as good Samaritans with professional standards, today’s HR professionals are increasingly scorned as regulation administrators, holiday rota bureaucrats or employment paralegals.
 
However, this is not only unfair on HR professionals. It is also provocative to the workforces that they serve. Rather than investing in nurturing talent and thus improving performance (resulting in greater all-round rewards for everyone), HR specialists have now become cynically regarded as experts in legally making people redundant.   
 
While difficult issues such as dealing with unfair dismissal have always been important in HR management terms, such priorities have now taken centre stage. As a result, we live in a world of HR metrics rather than people matters.
 
Now before you start thinking that, given today’s harsh realities, HR sadly has little other choice, I would like to suggest three small steps that could contribute towards you adopting a much broader alternative approach:
 
1. Focus on human relationships rather than human resources
 
Having spent 30 years helping brands to revamp how they are perceived both internally and externally, I can reveal that, when it comes to online or offline questionnaires and assessments, people follow their own personal agendas when filling them in – even if you make allowances for the usual inconsistencies.
 
In today’s climate of fear, which is driven by the spectre of unemployment, I continually hear horror stories related to yearly assessments. Rather than being rewarded for effort (not necessarily monetarily), the best someone can often hope for is to keep their already undervalued job. How? Well, mostly by providing prudent answers.
 
While 360° assessments are meant to avoid such tactics, they are set up to fail if administered clinically rather than measured carefully. Tick boxes with suitably graded, pithy sound bites are passed as read. Middle-to-large organisations may understandably feel pressurised here and feel that they are not left with much choice.
 
However, I suggest that, rather than surrender totally to ‘efficient’ automated talent management procedures, it might be time to revisit the notion of concentrating on Human Relationships rather than Human Resources.
 
2. Encourage communication
 
To improve the quality of human relationships in the organisation, it might help to run quarterly departmental forums where practical, for instance.
 
Better still, as custodians of the internal brand, encourage organisational leaders such as chief executives to go beyond simply saying to employees: “Hi my name is _______, I am the new boss. My door is always open,” only to never be seen or heard of again. 
 
In other words, get them to take the time to actually talk to people and communicate, not least to ensure that facts are separated from fears expressed as gossip over the ‘water-cooler’.
 
Different organisations have differing commercial sensitivities about how much information that they can share.
 
But at least by creating a culture of participative management, employees may gain a better understanding of the rationale behind strategic decisions – and even go so far as to realign their mid- term personal objectives in order to fulfil long-term corporate ambitions.
 
3. Provide recognition where it’s due
 
Although money is tight, it doesn’t mean that people shouldn’t be recognised for their contributions. It’s funny but often, if people understand the reasons for decisions and are given encouragement, small yet sincere gestures start to mean something.
 
Here’s an example: I was once involved in a Disney (US) leadership programme. Running an operation such as Disneyland is no small feat and making employees feel like they have more than ‘walk-on’ parts on an illusory stage is not easy.
 
But every organisation is only as strong as its apparently smallest cog. I visited the organisation’s laundry division. 
You’ve probably never given it a second thought, but Disneyland, with its wide choice of hotels, needs to wash and press literally thousands of towels, bed linen and so on every day.
 
But rather than find laundry workers who were fed up with their lot, I met people who took genuine pride in their work. They were not ‘management high-flying politicos’, but it didn’t mean that they weren’t recognised, and even celebrated, for performing what is a critical function in the Disney ‘magic’ machine.
 
Regular forums were held with management. Instead of simply being promised promotion, they were regularly given practical training that actually led to their being able to move onwards and upwards as opposed to just gaining the odd day away from the daily grind. 
 
Professional on-site nurseries looked after the kids, and – here’s the most interesting part – regular ‘thank you’ gifts were given, simple things like a family ticket to the cinema.
 
A rewarding profession
 
‘Cheapskate’ may be a word that comes to mind. If so, you’re failing to get the point. Instead it’s about acknowledging effort and making people feel wanted in a way that’s meaningful to them.
 
But it also makes sense for HR professionals to show that any bonus – however great or small – is granted because of an individual’s genuine contribution.
 
Some may be rewarded because they hit profitability targets, others as a result of their dedication…Either way, tangible positive rewards rather than threatened alternatives make for a more secure and happy team.
 
To be involved in helping others to build up their integrity, trust and contribution to the world of work and beyond must make HR one of the most rewarding of all professions. In fact, a recent poll listed it within the top three best careers to have (see below).
 
But I worry that this position is becoming increasingly precarious. The more that HR relies on artificial processes rather than on developing human potential, not only will the internal brand suffer, but one of the most desirable professions will be threatened with joining a very different list.
 
Leading the ranking in the top worst careers are lumberjacks – people who are paid to cut growth off in its prime and manage the process with efficient exactitude. We simply can’t afford to let HR go down the same path.
 
Best jobs:
  1. Software engineer
  2. Actuary
  3. Human Resources Manager
  4. Dental hygienist
  5. Financial planner
  6. Audiologist
  7. Occupational therapist
  8. Online advertising manager
  9. Computer systems analyst
  10. Mathematician
Worst jobs:
  1. Lumberjack
  2. Dairy farmer
  3. Enlisted military soldier
  4. Oil rig worker
  5. Reporter (newspaper)
  6. Waiter/waitress
  7. Meter reader
  8. Dishwasher
  9. Butcher
  10. Broadcaster

Jonathan Gabay is a brand expert and author of 'The Brand Messiah'.

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One Response

  1. HR – losing its way?

     

    "The problem appears to be that such standards have become so ‘over-processed’ that they may have ended up diverging from their core aims."

    I agree! I think this is very apparent in performance review models where the primary focus of training for managers is often on the logistics: timeframes, how to complete the form or use the online system. The art of how to have a meaningful two-way conversation about performance and development seem to be an after-thought. Yet surely this is the core purpose of such a system in the first place? 

    Your article raised so many good points about today’s approach to HR. I have long thought that the profession has been losing it’s way – "back to basics" is a great concept.

    Antonia
    Blue Dot Human Resources

     

     

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Jonathan Gabay

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