The very nature of the HR role is to look outside the HR function and support people practices across the organization. That external focus produces a void. HR gets it wrong when they don’t look first at the people in their own department, don’t develop HR employees, and miss opportunities for HR to lead the way.
Are HR Employees Left Out in the Cold?
All too often, HR managers are accommodating, unassuming, and reluctant to ask for training and resources that benefit HR.
Asking for training, professional memberships and development opportunities (like attending conferences), and pay increases just isn’t comfortable for a lot of people in HR roles. I can say this with confidence because I coach/ consult about this topic at least once a week!
When it comes to participating in internal training for managers or employees, HR folks are often left out in the cold. Enrollment surpassed the number of purchased seats? It’s an HR employee who’s asked to step back. Expenses for professional memberships got axed in the budget? It’s HR employees who give up their memberships first.
This phenomenon extends to people practices, too. In the midst of managing annual performance reviews, HR managers neglect to give their own team members timely reviews (and sometimes raises that are associated with those reviews). HR employees often don’t get the feedback, delegated tasks, or clear expectations that HR is pushing everyone else in the organization to provide.
When the cobbler’s kids have no shoes, it’s a missed opportunity to showcase the possibilities that will inspire others.
HR Gets It Wrong When They Don’t Model Best Practices
Rather than being stoic, unselfish, and other-oriented, HR should more often seize learning and development opportunities. HR should be the first to complete people-related processes and to demonstrate the impact of using systems, processes, and resources for continual engagement and growth.
When HR doesn’t model that they value learning – even inadvertently – they’re signaling to the rest of the organization that it’s less important than they profess.
When HR doesn’t abide by deadlines set for performance reviews, they’re greenlighting procrastination by others, too.
When HR neglects the basics like recognition and feedback, they’re not going to be taken seriously when they tell managers to give the feedback and to document it.
When HR managers fail to delegate and provide OTJ learning opportunities, they’re going to have a tough time in talent review meetings when they try to get other managers to take these steps.
When HR steps aside, they’re affirming the negative stereotypes that keep HR from having that proverbial "seat at the table."
Everyone in the organization benefits when HR leads by modeling best practices. Everyone benefits when HR supports the people in HR, just as they expect managers throughout the organization to support people. When HR managers are highly effective and have strong employee engagement, the organization itself will be stronger, nimbler, and less susceptible to high rates of turnover.
The Unrecognized Organizational Benefits When HR Leads the Way
In addition to improved engagement and retention, organizations get clarity and a solid example when HR leads the way.
Here are five additional benefits you will see if you hold HR accountable for leadership inside the HR department.
Training Reinforcement is only possible when someone familiar with the training, key principles, and practical applications has also experienced the training. HR employees should be particularly well-versed in management training and tools or models used for supervising others.
Relevant Solutions are more likely when solutions are understood. Interactions across the organization enable HR to identify employee needs and offer resources to meet those needs. But if HR employees aren’t fully familiar with the training, systems, and resources available, they’re less likely to find the right fit between needs and solutions.
Business Acumen grows when HR engages with colleagues from other departments in ways that expose them to real business challenges, decision-making processes, and real-time work. Without enough time to get in the field, HR’s best opportunities for learning about the business are often in training workshops, committees, and other cross-functional gatherings. Stronger business acumen makes HR employees stronger partners to the business.
Quality Assurance comes from participating in the training, using the systems (in practice, not theory), and making tweaks to ensure relevance and feasibility. Not only should HR employees receive training, they should receive it first in most cases. They can be “canaries in the coal mine” to test, tweak, and later reinforce what’s being taught.
Credibility and Trust grow when competence and confidence are apparent. All too often, HRBPs and employees seem timid, uninformed, or limited in their knowledge base. They can become bottlenecks if they don’t have answers or can’t see how the pieces fit together. Those slowdowns and non-responses make managers reluctant to engage with their HR partners as often as they otherwise might.
To learn more about leadership at every level, leadership practices, and employee engagement, take a look at these free courses on People First Leadership Academy:
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