HR and Courage

When you hear the word “courage,” what do you think of? Many people think of soldiers or firefighters, and those are great examples of courage. But there are also examples of courage in business. Unfortunately, courage on the people side of business is often lacking: courage to do the right thing, courage to stand up to other executives, courage to point out the long-term value of decisions that may not have a short-term ROI.

To be successful, each functional area of the organization must define its message and then be brave about defending and championing its cause. Marketing pushes branding; sales pushes price and delivery; production demands the best equipment and processes; and finance fights to maintain a healthy bottom line (even in the short term) to satisfy investors and Wall Street. That’s the way it works. The CEO pulls it all together and tries to balance the “causes” of each department.

But who is championing the cause of the people, the employees? I hope your answer is, “HR.” If you’re in an HR position, you must have the courage to champion your cause just as the other functional areas champion their causes. Examples of people causes worth championing are: performance management, employee retention, employee development and training, compensation (in its broadest sense), and positive contributions to the organization’s culture.

Side note: Clearly, HR should take the lead on people issues. However, if HR is the only department paying attention to the people side of business, your organization is headed for trouble. Every functional area in the organization must share responsibility for the people side of business. How can other departments support the cause? Encouraging employees to attend training; providing daily recognition; fostering teamwork; paying close attention to what kinds of people are being hired, etc. Reach out to other departments and help them also be champions of the people side of business. Help them help you.)

If you truly believe in HR’s contribution to the organization, then support it and defend it with facts, figures, anecdotes, examples and all of the things that other functional leaders do to create support for their areas of responsibility. Championing the people side of business probably takes more courage than any other functional causes. For example, we often hear leaders say, “People are our most important asset,” and yet, their actions often don’t support their words. Someone must have the courage to stand up, confront them, and “tell the Emperor he has no clothes.” That someone is you.

It also takes tremendous courage to move ahead with people-based initiatives that defy a stringent ROI analysis. Other departments frequently move forward on projects without ROI information because they know it’s the right thing to do. Don’t back down on an HR issue you feel strongly about just because you can’t quantify the ROI yet. Many successful companies who are known for their outstanding people practices (e.g., Southwest Airlines, The Container Store) focused on the people side of business because it was the right thing to do, not because they knew it would generate a positive ROI.

It can be lonely championing causes that don’t appear on the front page of the financial section of the newspaper; but no one ever said it would be easy. The good news is that it’s well worth the fight. When you muster the courage to defend the people side of the business, you have a positive impact on the success of your organization, and you can sleep well at night knowing that you are actually doing what most organizations say they believe in…taking care of their most important assets

HR and Courage - To learn more about this author, visit Al Lucia's Website.

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