Using a popularity scale of one to 10, with 10 being wildly popular (Mickey
Mouse, a free lunch, an after-Christmas sale) and one being wildly unpopular
(telemarketers, Congress and rush-hour gridlock), where would you place human
resources?
Many people who have been working more than 10 years would rate HR a two --
right in there with the Internal Revenue Service and members of the American
Dental Association. Those people remember when HR worshipped the rules and their
favorite word was "no." They have learned to work around HR, if they
think about it at all.
Newer entrants to the work force are more enlightened. They know that in many
places, the paper-pushing, picnic-planning policy police of yore have gone the
way of the T-Rex and Dodo bird. That's because as business has changed, HR has
changed, too. Today's HR professionals still respect the rules, but they jump
right in to help solve problems and now their favorite word is "yes."
No wonder today's employees are more likely to rate HR an eight or nine.
Of course, a few old-guard holdouts still lurk out there giving HR a bad
name. How do you know whether your HR department is friend or foe? Here's a
simple test: Do they understand your part of the business? If no one in HR can
tell you your department's turnover rate, how long it takes (on average) to fill
a job in your department, how much your department contributes to the bottom
line or what your best performers actually do all day, then they're probably a
foe. We encourage you to ignore them -- except when it comes to legal matters,
or if you think you have a chance to turn them into a friend.
HR pros who are friends are business-focused. They help engineer ways to make
the business better, and to do this they have to understand the organization and
all its components. In this case, an HR pro can offer you much more than just
accurate information about the vacation plan. She can help you redesign jobs,
create an incentive plan to drive up profits or find an assessment tool to
improve your hiring success. If someone from HR asks about your business, is
willing to hear about your business or (best of all) works alongside you in your
part of the business, you've just found a valuable partner.
The trick, then, is getting the most out of that partnership. As with any
successful relationship, it demands give-and-take. But if you invest in a
partnership with HR (assuming you have an HR function where you work), you're
sure to reap sizable dividends.
Take Action
Identify your resources. Start by figuring out how HR is structured. In
some cases, a central HR function serves the entire organization. The department
has specialists in each discipline of HR, such as staffing, compensation and
benefits. In other organizations, each business unit or department has its own
HR function; they're usually staffed by HR generalists who have broad knowledge
in all areas of HR. Some large companies have a hybrid of these two models.
None of these is the "right" approach. The only thing that matters
is that you know whom to go to for help. The ideal is to bond with an HR
generalist who can either work with you directly or connect you with the
appropriate specialist. That person also can advocate for you within HR. If you
can't identify an individual to work with, find a handful of specialists and
build relationships with them.
Teach a crash course. For anyone in HR to really help, they need to
understand your part of the business almost as well as you do. Offer to take
your HR contact to lunch once a week and spend the time teaching. Be willing to
invest some serious time because your course needs to be thorough:
What do you see as the primary purpose of your department?
How is your department's success measured?
Where is your department excelling and failing? Why?
Who are your star performers? What sets them apart?
Who are your poorest performers? What sets them apart?
What are your biggest frustrations and challenges?
What do you see as your key strengths?
Where would you like the department to be in a year? Why? How do you plan
to get there?
What happens in your department every day? What are your production
schedules, budgets, deadlines, productivity goals and so forth?
Be honest. Painting an artificially rosy picture won't get you the help you
need.
Take a crash course. Invest some time learning about HR, too. Listen to
what your contact tells you about his job. And if you don't know, ask the
following questions:
How does HR function every day? How are priorities set?
What expertise does HR have to offer?
Whom do they see as HR's key customers?
What makes them say yes or no?
How is HR's performance measured? How do they win or lose?
Which HR programs or initiatives do they think are working best? Why?
What challenges does HR face? (Budgetary? Staffing HR? Time?)
How do HR initiatives in your company (pay rates, benefits, employee
development) compare to those of your competitors? How do they compare to the
average company in your area?
Put your cards on the table. This relationship -- like any other --
demands honesty. Share how you really feel about HR, pro and con. Explain where
those feelings come from. Are they based on bad experiences, successes or
hearsay? Talk about what you appreciate about HR and what drives you crazy.
Bring up HR efforts in other companies that you've heard about and like or don't
like. Then ask HR for the same feedback about you and your department.
Keep HR in the loop. Once members of the HR group have a solid
understanding of your department, they need to stay current. The more they know,
the better, and the more they can observe firsthand, the better. There are lots
of ways to do that:
Invite your contact to shadow you for a day or parts of days -- let him or
her watch you and your department in action.
Invite HR to sit in on your staff meetings.
Send HR copies of key memos, status reports and other information tied to
department milestones.
Plan regular lunches or meetings with your HR contact.
Choose your battles. Don't drop 15 problems in HR's lap and expect equal
attention to them all. Other departments need help, too. Identify your top
concern and work with HR to resolve it. Getting one thing done will give you a
sense of accomplishment and boost everyone's credibility.
Don't jump to conclusions. It's great to go to HR with ideas, but don't
get too invested in a single course of action. Your HR partner may see other
options. Managers often request training when they face challenges. But changes
in hiring practices or even job design may be better solutions. Respect HR's
expertise.
Be willing to be a guinea pig. Perhaps you read about a cool HR effort in
The Wall Street Journal. Or perhaps you had a great idea yourself. If you find
yourself wondering, "Why don't we...," consider volunteering to pilot
a program. You can team up with HR to develop a program, and then test it in
your department. Together you can work out the kinks. If it succeeds, you'll get
the benefits and you can enjoy the acclaim as the program is rolled out through
the rest of the company.
Stay Out of Jail
If you have an HR function, you should always consult with them about
Check with HR before you take action.
No matter how great your partnership is, HR pros will sometimes say no. It
doesn't mean they don't like you. Remember that one of HR's greatest
responsibilities is to protect the company from lawsuits. As one HR executive
observed, "The better we do our job, the less visible we become."
Employment law is complex; trust HR's counsel.
