[Author’s note: Last week, a reader informed me that my translation of “Carthage” into Latin in my article two week’s ago was in error. I originally went to a knowledgeable friend to verify that my high-school-level Latin translation was correct. Next time I will get a smarter Jesuit. Take a hike, Father!] The issue in Part 1 of this article series was how the staffing/HR profession got to where it is today and why it is not such a nice place to be. This week, the issue is how to get out of here. The first and most important consideration is: Think small! That’s right, think small. In HR/staffing, whenever we hear the words “strategic” and “change” we start to salivate, as we dream about new budgets, training seminars, off-site meetings (with lunch included), milestones, access databases to track information, color-coded bar graphs, project planning, program managers, team T-shirts, coffee mugs, mouse pads, and all the other paraphernalia we need to make sure everyone knows what an important and meaningful task it is we are involved in. Success ends up being secondary to the illusion of being very busy and very, very important (well, self-important anyway). We tend to over-think and over-engineer issues. We like making a space shuttle where a mini-van would have sufficed. So in an issue involving change you first must consider the legacy (of our own making) that you are competing against in your efforts to be perceived as a valuable component of the business plan and not just a service provider. And the legacy of human resources is often not all that compelling to your prospective business partners. It makes it difficult for them to take you seriously as a contender for a peer position of mutual respect and responsibility. Truthfully, many HR/staffing organizations do not go out of their way to breed confidence. Many managers may have been trained and mentored by managers who grew up in the “good ole days” of “Personnel” and who have handed down their own career long doubts, prejudices, antidotes, and disappointments with HR/staffing as part of their ingraining and mentoring. Your organization may be better than most, but your management team might be populated with managers from other companies with different histories. In addition, there is the HR/staffing stereotype, which lingers over all of us, deserved or not. (Question: How many HR/staffing professionals does it take to change a light bulb? Answer: I’m sorry, do you have an appointment?) No matter how complex and all-inclusive the plan you develop is, if the intended audience is not listening to you then you have already failed on “day one” of your project plan. It becomes just another opportunity to promise the world and only manage to deliver Rhode Island (no offense to my friends in Providence, but small jokes are the legacy of that state). To succeed in building a strategic business partnership, you must build up to it. And in doing this, never forget the KISS rule ó Keep It Simple Stupid. In business school they taught the principle of simplicity in planning through the following story (which, if not true, certainly should be): Auto manufacturers would shut down for one or two months a year to re-tool the assembly line for the next year’s model car. Two weeks before re-opening they would run a “test line” to ensure the line worked properly. This particular year there were issues at one point in the line that had not been foreseen. Assembly took three times longer than planned and the whole process was disrupted. But the plant had to re-open in one week. In a panic, senior management offered the plant engineers a bonus of $5,000 to come up with a solution by the end of the day that would resolve the problem and could be implemented successfully in less than seven days. In the late 1930s, $5,000 was more than a year’s salary for a degreed engineer, so the enthusiasm and competition was intense. The five engineers went down to the plant floor and watched the assembly process, used stop watches, made notes on clip boards, used tape measures to determine distances, and studied blueprints of the building’s layout for possible demolitions, additions, or alterations. Four of the engineers worked diligently until the last minute developing schemes that included using hydraulic lifts and turning arms, bowing the assembly line at one point to increase the distance to be covered and consequently the time to complete this part of the assembly, adding areas to the plant, developing a two-tier assembly line, slowing down production line speed, and redesigning the automobile that the plant was already re-tooled to build. All the ideas were expensive and time consuming, and it was questionable as to whether or not they would completely, or even partially, resolve the problem. After returning from the factory floor, the fifth engineer went into his office for two minutes and then went to lunch. Before leaving, he handed in his solution, a one-page memo with one sentence: “Only use left-handed or ambidextrous assemblers at this point on the line.” He solved the problem. He won the money! The problem was complex, but that didn’t mean the solution had to be. It merely had to solve the problem. A minor point of semantics, perhaps, but an important one nevertheless. He observed the problem with the intent of fixing it, not with the intent of constructing a solution. The first steps to becoming a strategic business partner are, therefore, simple. They involve:
Presence Presence is more than a function of physical location, although that is an important factor. Many HR/staffing groups that have left the back office corner hang on to the “cave dweller” mindset. They only come out to fulfill an HR/staffing mission, and then return to a whirlwind day of reading and revamping obscure policy and procedure manuals. But it is important that you remain connected and current within your chosen profession, but not at the cost of totally excluding all aspects of professional development.
Sharing Knowledge Sharing knowledge is a critical component in developing mutual respect and a sense of partnership. After all, you may be afraid of the unknown, but you will never respect it.
Creativity Creativity is key to dispelling the idea that HR/staffing has but one role and one service to offer. Here are a few examples from my own experiences:
(Shortly after I started the above programs, HR informed me that due to a projected reduction in the staff plan, I should plan on eliminating one or two “heads” from my headcount. I went to the VPs of Sales, Marketing, and QA and informed them I was going to have to curtail my joint support programs due to headcount cuts. They went to HR and advocated the importance of my team to their work. Imagine that, my partners fighting for my team!)
Impact Impact is the part that not only insures you have relevance, but that you broadcast it.
Shared Respect Shared respect is critical. Not only must others respect you, but you also must respect them. See your “clients” as partners, and not “typical hiring managers” whose lack of understanding of your business process and terminology causes you to laugh at them (not unlike they do to us):
The first indication that this is working for you is when you are “dragged into” a spontaneous meeting by one of your partners on a subject that does not involve HR/staffing because they value your input anyway. Being seen as a partner starts with being seen as someone with an overall contribution and not as a focused specialist with one and only one function to offer. There are bigger issues to overcome and other aspects to consider. But first, think small. Have a great day recruiting.