signed-11_8Looking for a hot conversational topic when you’re stuck chatting with a bunch of HR professionals? Whether you’re sitting with two of them at the train station or stuck in some in-house training session with your company’s entire HR team here’s a surefire discussion starter: ask them who they serve in their organization. In other words whose needs are they there to meet and/or satisfy? The business? Leaders and managers? Employees?

I guarantee this exchange will be both captivating and heated. I’ve participated in informal roundtables with this as the topic du jour and enjoyed cocktail parties (whilst sipping a lovely Kir Royale) where the discussion on this subject was so tempestuous we managed to barely escape just short of actual fisticuffs.

The answer, proffered by your average HR practitioner, to this seemingly basic question will vary based on any number of factors; the type and size of organization she has worked in as well as the sort of organization in which she was trained in the ways of HR. The answer will be formulated depending upon the HR pro’s previous mentors or bosses, and also the type of specific roles he has held in the human resources field. What was measured? What mattered? (note: contrary to popular opinion what matters does not get measured nor does what gets measured….matter.)

 

The answer, as far as I’m concerned, is “HR serves everyone.”

We serve the needs of the business. In accordance with laws, regulations, policies and the dictates and desires of our CEO or business owner, we serve, protect and defend.

We serve the needs of managers and leaders. We don’t cover up their shenanigans of course, but neither do we bring them down and lay blame. Rather, we assist them in everything related to the management of their people/human capital/resources. We coach, guide and support them so they can focus on running the business.

We serve the needs of employees. We hold their hands, we answer their questions, and we help them solve problems. We may, depending upon the need, talk to their mothers, spouses, priests or parole officers.

And when we do all of these things right we are also serving the needs of those who are external to our organization – our candidates, our communities, and our customers.

Here’s the deal…so often in human resources we’ve tended to think of these things as mutually exclusive. “I can’t be an advocate for employees if my role is to protect the needs of the company” is something I’ve heard more than one HR practitioner say. Or “I need to maintain impartiality so I can’t be too friendly with employees.”

Both of which, of course, are utter crap.

You can work in HR and be a competent and caring business professional without being a solemn and dour robot intent on spreading doom and gloom with every policy update. You can serve others without being servile or subservient. It’s not the role of the HR lady to keep a candy dish on her desk, bake muffins for birthdays and holidays, and take minutes at the weekly leadership meeting but you can still be pleasant and kind.

The strategies and goals of the business inform what HR does…but the how is what each of us as HR professionals determine once we realize who we serve.

The how is the magic sauce.

This question – “who does HR serve?” – is perhaps the most elemental aspect of human resources and goes well beyond a practitioner grasping the bodies of knowledge or being fully capable in the HR competencies. The answer to this question lays the foundation for one’s entire career in and around HR.

So I wonder…how many HR professionals are truly delivering … to all?

HR Service Delivery: Signed and Sealed

3 thoughts on “HR Service Delivery: Signed and Sealed

  • December 28, 2015 at 8:41 am
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    Love your take on this question! You’re right on the money when you say ‘the “How” is really the magic.’ and HR should serve everyone. I hope you had very happy holidays! (:

  • December 28, 2015 at 2:39 pm
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    And this is exactly why I want to transition into HR. It’s not about being the “HR lady” or anything like that. It’s a wonderful place to practice real servant leadership, because effective HR teams are comprised of people with that attitude. The needs of the company and the needs of the employee are not mutually exclusive, and people look at you like you have three heads if you start suggesting it.

    HR can be an invaluable tool in building a stronger organization, if everyone recognizes it’s about more than cardigans and Coach bags and sensitive conversations about whether or not Becky in accounting is or is not stealing your good pens.

  • December 31, 2015 at 12:34 pm
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    Robin- good stuff, as usual! As an HR leader I really push supporting the “how” of the business objectives we are trying to meet. It is a key role to every organization and we have a huge ability to drive business results when we focus on who we serve. I think it is a balance of the external (customers) and internal (employees). The easier we can make the day-to-day of being an employee, the more focus our folks can place on the customer. Thanks for your take on this– love it!

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