The Burning Question: Has HR Lost Its WHY?

The Burning Question

I am late. In fact, I am over 2 million views late to this party. 2,229,697 views before me to be exact at the time of writing.

Last Thursday, I watched Simon Sinek’s now famous TED Talk for the first time. ‘Start with why - how great leaders inspire action’, TEDx Puget Sound If you haven’t watched and listened to this 18 minute 1 second mind-shift; here is your chance HERE.

Sinek reveals the powerful pattern that he says profoundly changed his world view and understanding of how great leaders inspire action.All great inspiring leaders and organisations in the world, irrespective of the generation, have one thing in common.

Dr. Martin Luther King, The Wright Brothers, Apple etc.

They lead from a position of “WHY”. It is their purpose, cause, belief, their reason for existing that sits at the core of how they think and act.

With their “WHY” firmly anchored, they then build out to the “HOW” and the “WHAT” Thankfully, Sinek decodes the power for us in a simple diagram – “The Golden Circle”.

2 minutes and 9 seconds into his TED Talk video.The bottom line is, “People don’t buy what you do. They buy why you do it.” The “WHY” is both the key and the glue that extraordinary leaders use to inspire people to act, contribute to a cause and follow them.

Brainpoke bombs rained down for the entire 18 minutes and 1 second TED Talk. When it ended, I could feel the wheels turning in my brain.I was suddenly super conscious of the damning questions about HR’s relevance and value regularly paraded in the media and within many organisations. An uncomfortable thought flared. The burning question. Has HR lost it’s WHY?

HR: A Discipline in Search of its Why?

We have learned that the key remarkable leadership does not lie in focusing your energy on ‘what you do’ and ‘how you do it’. The easy low-hanging fruit on which most people and ordinary organisations build their leadership and businesses.

According to Sinek, the extraordinary starts with your WHY? It is your purpose, cause - your reason for existing. This must inform every aspect of how you think and act.

What is HR’s WHY? Unsettled but curious, I headed over to Simon Sinek’s website and blog in search of more inspiration, and if I am honest, answers to my burning question about HR’s relevance and value.

What did I discover when I arrived there?

3 compelling statements that conjure up the magic of three. Think Holy Trinity; 3 Wise Men; 3 Act Story; Thyme, Garlic and Onion (foundation ingredients in Caribbean cooking), 3 Wishes.

Imagine a world where people wake up inspired to go to work.
Imagine a world in which trust and loyalty are the rule rather than the exception.
Imagine a world where we feel safe at work.

Did you know? “The number three is the smallest number to create a pattern; and patterns please our minds” Henneke Duistermaat, Enchanting Marketing. Note self: File that nugget for later.

These 3 statements paint a picture of a better future. Echoes of remarkable visionaries, artists and storytellers resonate. “I have a dream”. John Lennon’s song “Imagine all the People”

Can you imagine such a world? .

Lost and Found: 4 Places Where HR Might Find its WHY

1. Where you can lose your Why? You can lose your Why in the daily grind of low value busy work, handling testy issues and in the humdrum but necessary transactional operations.Your Why can be gobbled up when you fall prey to the pull of prestige – chasing a seat at the top table over producing meaningful great work.

You can misplace your ‘Why’ when you lose focus on your purpose. Skipping from the latest faddy thinking (Millennial whispering) to the next shiny object (Big Data is HR’s savior) that comes along distracts you from the real work to be done.

You can mislay your ‘Why’ when you allow unhealthy preoccupations and fear (Artificial Intelligence will replace the human workforce) paralyses you from seeing opportunities and new possibilities.

2. Reconnecting to HR’s WHY? First you will need to unplug from old beliefs and out-dated practices.HR must shrug off its reputation for blindly enforcing the rules and following the way it has always been done. HR are you accepting being told what to do or are you setting the agenda for the most important issues to address?

Begin by challenging the conventional and question the accepted HR wisdom and norm. Subtle or bold as you like; but just begin. Dare to ask, “does this strategy or rule value the ‘human’ before the ‘resource’?”

If the answer is “no”; ditch it completely or replace it with one that does.

Here is a mini checklist to help you determine which strategy or practice to keep and which to dump.

It is obsolete – a relic from the Personnel era.
They are an insult to common sense.
Don’t contribute to the fulfillment of the organisation’s purpose
Discourages desired values, behaviours and willingness to contribute.
Suck the humanness, creativity, independent thinking out of employees and you too.
Make HR look like a Dodo!

Don’t put your faith in the phrase, ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’. Just because something is not broken, doesn’t mean that it is fit for purpose now.

3. Why give a hoot? Don’t wake up one day questioning ‘what am I doing?’ or ‘what is it all for?’ Once that feeling takes hold of you, your employees will feel it too. Together you will be cast adrift, without purpose and motivation. Having a sense of purpose can mean the difference between making a great contribution and a mediocre one.

Dare to Care and Dream. People go to work every day to earn a living, but many of us also want to be part of something bigger than ourselves – building a better future, creating a thing of use, an experience of value that never existed before. We want to belong to something – a movement - that will have an impact and even change our world.

4. Finding HR’s New Why? It is a challenge; but what dream or cause is accomplished by following the well-trodden, easy path?

HR’s new WHY – leading the charge for relevance and remarkable value - starts in the mind. It must be rooted in the belief that change is possible and that you can personally contribute to that making that change a reality.

It must be built around a dream and a care that is unfamiliar, desirable and meaningful.It must paint a picture of a brighter, better future in sharp contrast to the now. The image of this cause must be so compelling that it is worth the discomfort to achieve it to both the leaders and the contributors.

Lead Your Way to Valuable HR with Powerful Questions

So what does HR stand for – its reason for existing?

It is time to ask these questions – the hard ones. But HR needs a safe place for honest reflection, openness, authentic inquiry and intelligent conversation.

HR, don’t leave it for others to lead this expedition. If you don’t contribute to driving the search for HR’s why, you will be left struggling to swallow someone else’s idea of HR’s purpose. This is not the time for tea and sympathy; tip-toeing around tough truths. Ask the deep questions and don’t be fobbed off with frou-frou responses.

Can HR create value to the organisations and community it serves?
Can HR inspire action and lead transformation in the organisation and community it serves?

I believe so; but we need start with the Why?

What do you think is HR’s WHY? Have you found it?

Let’s talk about it in the comments.

On my reading list:The book:‘Start with WHY: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action’ by Simon Sinek.