HR Fishbowl

Just wanted to post a quick note to my regular readers (all 16 of you) that my day job right now has me running in so many directions that the idea of even looking at my blog is inconceivable.  Although I plan on remaining radio silent in the blogosphere for the coming days, I’m sure I’ll have much to rant about when I get through to the other side.  In the meantime, thanks for your patience, keep checking back, and keep the faith around “HR Under-Engineered!”

I hear this all the time in jest.  Then I started to wonder whether there is something to it.  Why is it always the employer’s responsibility to improve morale?  So much of what effects negative sentiment in the workplace is a result of things that cannot be controlled – whether by employer or employee.  Sure, there are a bunch of asshole managers out there…always will be.  But there are also a lot of droopy eyed sorry ass no fun sonofa you know what employees out there too.  I got news for you, u sorry souls…work sucks!  And as long as you’re working “for the man” it probably will.  In my mind you really only have two choices (some would say three): 1) get over it, cheer up, smile and laugh a bit more, be thankful for the little things, and make the most of what you got  or 2) quit and bring your black cloud somewhere else.  The third choice is you stick around and make everyone else miserable.  That’s not a choice in my book.  I’m still going to play my role in helping create a productive, challenging, rewarding, and fun workplace, but I’m also going to encourage our leadership team, our mangers, and our employees to take responsibility for their own satisfaction.  Real lasting positive change comes from the grass-roots level – always has.  Employees need to stop waiting for someone else to brighten their day…and they definitely shouldn’t be expecting HR to do it for them.

To me  HR is all about one thing – optimizing the performance of people in organizations that are highly reliant upon human capital for their success.  All this talk over the years about “getting a seat at the table” becoming a “strategic partner of the business” is great…it’s helped move the needle for sure.  But I would argue that getting to the table is the easy part…staying there is the real test.  Forget all this lofty strategic thinking for a second; get back to focusing on the fundamentals of serving your customers – the operative core to any business dynamic.  HR’s clients are many, but above all else they are the employees.  Does it matter what the “Average Joe” is saying about HR?  If Joe is my client, damn right it matters…even if he has a completely warped sense of who we are and how things work.  HR Fishbowl is dedicated to surfacing and socializing what others are saying about HR primarily to heighten our awareness.  Most of it probably shouldn’t be taken too seriously.  All of it, though, should cause us to pause.  There will definitely be a negative slant to the matters we bring to a simmer…we don’t need another blog devoted to patting ourselves on the back.  So buckle up, strap on the chin-strap, and get ready to take your lumps…but do it with the understanding that knowing our clients better – just knowing how they may be thinking about us – only helps us to serve our purpose with distinction.