HR Rules vs. Basic Logic

A complicated dance (doesn’t have to be).

Let’s try a little thought experiment. Go into an urban center. Find 100 white-collar professionals. Bring them into a room. Ask them, “What is the worst thing about Human Resources?”

Over 80 are going to say “HR rules,” and I can virtually guarantee you that.

(I don’t mean “HR rules!” as in “HR is great;” I mean HR rules as in processes and regulations.)

Let me hit you with one of the biggest tire fires with how we structure work:

• The same department that policies your behavior is supposed to own your engagement
• And the same department that drives your firing is supposed to drive your growth

Um. WHAT?!?!?! If you explained that to a three year-old, he/she wouldn’t even be able to understand it. Now, yes, parents police your behavior and drive your engagement — that’s true. But work ain’t the same as family, even though we love to say that.

Meanwhile this same department, good ol’ Human Resources, tends to be desperate for a “seat at the table” when the big decisions are made. That seat hasn’t arrived yet in most companies, and it would be pretty easy to argue that HR could use a big shift in focus. It would also be relatively easy to argue that HR is a…