HR2BE

Every journey has a beginning; A single step taken, over the bridge between Then and Now, that challenges the adventurer to continue what has been started and to go forward and explore, learning new things and to share those experiences with those of like mind. We know this as easily as we know the back of our own hands. As Children, we learned it through the fairy tales and adventure stories that we read. As Adults, we learned through our own actions and experiences and in turn became defined by the journey that we have taken so far. Not only does every journey have a beginning but they also have a past; light or dark; long or short; sweet or sour. A past that defines the reasons for the journey itself.

The past behind this journey is simple enough. As I said in my first post, until recently I was the HR Director for a large multi-national (Fortune 500) in Australia & New Zealand. Over the years prior to being appointed to the role, I had steadily been building a model in my mind for HR that I hoped would enable the function to become a true business partner, not just a token voice at the table or, worse, viewed as a bureaucratic necessity. Though in itself, that is exactly the perception we continually have to challenge. The model itself centres on trying to balance the schizophrenia that HR practitioners feel between Process / Compliance and Strategic partnership and engagement. The only real way to achieve this is to realise that HR, as a function, needs to be operated as a business with all HR practitioners adopting a commercial focus.

If we look at HR as a business, then certain things become clear. A successful business with multiple complementary product lines has a solution oriented approach to providing services to the customer; it undertakes detailed and regular reviews as to who are their customers and what are their needs; and it regularly reviews its products and demonstrate the cost of delivery of a service as well as the net benefit of that service to a customer. It is evident that if you look at HR, it has multiple product lines or, better still, call them Lines of Business. These range from Recruitment through to HR Business Partners; Training to Compensation; and Benefits and beyond. Within each of those Lines of Business, there are multiple product offerings whether that be as simple as an Advertisement for recruitment, or as complex as Change Management for organisational restructure.

If we do not change our way of managing HR and how we deliver services to the Businesses that we support, we will always be viewed as the Bureaucracy or the Process Police. At best, we will have pockets of true partnership but no real coherence in the model and solutions that are used to supplement that partnership. Change must come to HR or what remaining value we have will steadily erode and we will, once again, find ourselves as a sub set of Finance or, even worse, Facilities! Of course, these are all just my thoughts and they may be wrong. Having put the model in place once, there are certain things that must be true and in place in order to stand a chance of success and therefore this model may not suit every organisation. However it is not just a model, it is about cultivating true partnership through commercial bias and demonstrated successful delivery of business enabling solutions that speak loudest. I hope you travel with me and help me develop the ideas further as we go.

Why HR2BE?

Of course, every model needs a label. Mine has HR2BE. On one level it stands for the delivery of HR solutions and services to the Business and the Employees. On the other level, it stands for the potential in HR to truly become a recognised business function. One that when realised has the same level of impact, influence, partnership and respect as any other part of the key business functions.

And Finally...
I leave you with a quote from John Steinbeck to think about when you consider the journey that HR must take to realise its full potential:

"A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you can control it"

All the best

Jim

Good-bye to All That

Yesterday, having been made redundant, I left my role as HR Director for a Multi-National Fortune 500 in Australia and New Zealand and in doing so, closed that particular chapter of my life with a final blog to the team with whom I had worked so closely and had so much fun with during my time with the Company. I thought I would share it with you so you could see a bit of the past that creates the future. By the way, in case you are wondering, "Good-bye to All That" is the title to Robert Graves' autobiograhy.

If Today was your Last Day

For those of you not aware, I used to write a weekly blog for the HR team in A&NZ. It seemed somehow appropriate to finish my time with one final edition.

I was driving in to work this morning. Not too early, you understand, but still early enough to catch the last of Sonia and Todd on Mix 106.5 FM. Anyway, I was coming down the freeway and just driving on to the Bridge when a new song from the “Dark Horse” album by Nickleback came on.

Now I am sure you can appreciate, as tomorrow, my last day with the Company, has drawn ever nearer, my thoughts have perhaps inevitably turned inwards and centred on things achieved and not achieved, successes and failures, fun and frustrations. I have also been thinking about how to celebrate all that we achieved together and a way for me to say goodbye. As I think the majority of you know by now, I am a firm believer in everything happening for a reason. Whether that be not being able to buy the house you had set your heart on, or missing the train, or indeed heading off to find another role. So picture this. There I was, pulling on to the Bridge (that’s the Harbour Bridge, in case you were wondering) and wondering how best to take that next step and what it might look like when the song came on. The song is called “If Today was your Last Day” and the first three lines of the lyrics answered everything for me in one perfect moment.

“My best friend gave me the best advice

He said each day's a gift and not a given right

Leave no stone unturned, leave your fears behind”

Have a watch of the video:


(Sadly to watch the actual music video you have to go to YouTube direct. Here's the link)

Too often in our lives we spend too much time either worrying about the future or wishing we could change the past. Too little of the time, do we spend living in the present. We should celebrate and recognise the past for providing all the events that have made us who we are today. We should also recognise that the future is uncertain and with that recognition, deal with it when it happens rather than worry about it before it does. After all, it may not happen the way you think it will.

We are all being impacted by change. We are implementing it particularly with the current changes and this will occupy you all in ever increasing ways over the coming months. Don’t lose sight of how this can affect you as individuals. Try and become more aware of how you react in your dealings with people. We need to continue to empathise with our customers, staff and team members and in doing so, help them to make the changes that will drive success, both personally and professionally.

I will close by just saying this. I have thoroughly enjoyed working alongside you all. In everything that we have achieved, I have never once had cause to doubt that the team could, and would, do it. We embarked on a journey and, although the brand and the path of that journey may have changed, the philosophy must not. We must continue to recognise that by acting as a business and not a bureaucracy, HR shifts the paradigm. We become the trusted advisor that creates value within the Business through the targeted solutions and services that we deliver. By understanding the business imperatives and adopting a commercial bias, we prove ourselves as true partners.

Thank you for your unfailing support, guidance, humour and, above all, your teamwork.

And Finally…

With another cold weekend forecast, wrap up warm, relax and get ready to keep doing that voodoo that you do so well next week! I leave you with a quote by that famous Greek author, Anonymous:

“Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we’re here we should dance”

All the best
Jim