No, I'm not suggesting that HR pros get MBA's or take hours of bland classroom tests about business best practices.
But I am suggesting that they learn how to run a business, to outsource the administrative and compliance minutiae, to actually apply business principles realtime, and to truly be a strategic leader along with the rest of the leadership team.
We need only to look at our family tree.
Ack, right?
Last week John Sumser wrote a post titled Revisiting Why They Hate HR, basically reliving the painful truths of the Fast Company article from five years ago titled Why We Hate HR.
Because they still exist today. Or are they really improving?
It's not all HR's fault, though. For decades running Personnel meant hiring, onboarding, handing out benefits packets, performing reviews and firing and laying off when necessary.
And are in the heart of a silo, untouched by the tendrils of strategic management and experiential learning.
Management created a big part of the us-against-them; HR was a necessary evil that fell into the general collective camp of employees, unions, etc.
I've been to many HR events where the proponents of evolving HR are working hard to, well, evolve HR into business savvy leaders -- like at HRevolution.
Two examples that merged for me this week include (which many of you may already be familiar with):
In both examples the HR becomes a profit center, a business driver, a business leader -- like the general collective camp of employees, unions, etc. should become -- and it's all to serve the customers who keep us all in business.
Management and HR need to merge in the middle, become one another and serve the customer.
Otherwise, you still got a whole lot of hating goin' on.
Post by Kevin W. Grossman (join me on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn - and now join HRmarketer on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn!)
Labels: business development, human resources, leadership, strategic management