Finally the Sun is Setting on Obsolete HR Practises

The Week that HR Rocked

It’s been a long time coming...but it’s finally here.I’m thrilled to see where we will take this.I’m excited about the immense opportunities to make a difference.The future of HR is NOW.

The HR Evolution

The CIPD Annual Conference and Exhibition took place on 4th – 5th November in Manchester.The theme of the event – “Future-focused HR Leading Business Success.”Peter Cheese, CIPD CEO painted an aspirational picture of what this future could look like in his opening address."HR must continue to innovate and adapt to meet the rapidly changing needs of business." Peter CheeseSee and hear more of him speaking here.Now I couldn’t physically make it to the event in Manchester. But trust me I was there! I followed via social media - Twitter.

HR is Art

“Quick Draw McGraw” artist-doodlist Simon Heath’s illustrations are amazing!

He visually narrated the main topics and presentations of the whole two day event and perfectly captured the “this is HR but not as we know it” vibe.

Pop over to The HR Rule Breaker’s Facebook page (yup that’s me) for my top pick topics and tips how to break the rules – but not the law!

Repair Rusty Mind-sets and Fix Broken Beliefs to Seize the Future

Last week I shared a The HR Rabbit Hole article “How to Boost your HR Credibility and Restore Your Swagger Today” on Recruiting Blogs.

A Recruiting Blogs community member, posed this question.“How would you coach a [HR] team who doesn't quite know how to shift the mindset?” Katrina KibbenThis is a critical question that we need to answer if HR is to evolve and “truly lead business success”.In the heat of passion I fired off a 10 point answer from the heart – “Here’s my 2 pence worth…”But this question is too important to leave there.I relooked at the question and the conversation.I now add my head to the heart response. Here are some of my ‘swaggeriffic’  tips on how to lead and coach a team to shift its mind-set.These 10 moves are battlefield-tested.1. Redefine (Reframe) HR. Make it sexy - make it epic!  HR is:

• The Alpha and the Omega of the employment relationship.
• The Guardians of the Employer Brand.
• The Objective Presence in the organisation - not on the side of management nor on the side of employees; but on the side of what is right for the business.

Fly that flag - tell everybody.2. Set the purpose of HR in your given context. Go bold with big picture stretching stuff.Don’t burn yourself out demanding respect and begging to be invited to sit at the top table. The food might be rubbish.Trust and respect are earned. Forget the top table and do the work.For the love of all that is sacred, avoid the low hanging fruit. It’s an irrelevance trap. Aim low ...well you know the rest. Document!3. What pain(s) does HR solve? Lead the team in thinking and answering this question. Document!I was listening to a Jon Nastor ‘Hack the Entrepreneur’ podcast a while ago. His guest, Matt Barrie, said of his business (and I paraphrase), “better to be a painkiller than a vitamin.” BOOM!Vitamins are optional non-essential nice to takes.HR is not optional. HR is a painkiller - period!4. What aspirations does HR help the organisation achieve? Lead the team in answering this question. Document!5. As HR leader make it your business to find out the aspirations of each individual member of your team.How will you help them achieve it?How will you guide them to help themselves to achieve their aspirations. Document / Personal Contract!6. Be ready to defend your team from all foes!  As an HR leader you are responsible for keeping all obstacles away from your team members.Pay close attention on the kind of devilish distractions ('politricks', tasty tempting low hanging fruit etc.) which may prevent them from doing meaningful work7. Get respect! Anything – and I mean anything - documents, advice, policies - that comes from HR must meet the 4 point criteria. It must:

• Put the ‘human’ before the ‘resources.
• Reconnect with what matters to businesses and people
• Solve real problems
• Create meaning and make a difference

Hold everyone accountable. No compromises on values/ethics! No free passes!Don’t focus on being ‘liked’. Instead focus on dominating in your niche as HR – human value creation.No other function is positioned to do this as well as HR – no offense to our Marketing and PR cousins.Do this and you will be rocking a fly HR swagger!8. Reward like you are Oprah. Use and deploy incentives.Ensure liberal and regular distribution of chocolates, wine, thank you notes, cupcakes and whatever you can.Award and gift consistently for the right behaviour, output or mindset; even if level of results not there as yet.9.  Jokes and Laughter mandatory. This is best tonic. HR is crazy, funny but important work.10. Repeat whole process regularly.

Are You Ready To Shine in HR's Bright New Dawn?

HR is now a fast moving continually changing discipline.If it doesn’t adapt it will get left behind.If it doesn’t continuously advance, it will become a liability to the business and a menace to the community it is meant to serve (employees).It’s up to you – us – to raise the bar, to do HR differently and to do better. No, not better, make that stellar!Let’s continue this conversation, wherever it may take us. Share thoughts on the future of HR in the comments.Until we meet again next week down the HR Rabbit Hole…