HR gets blamed<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\nI\u2019ve heard many theories offered over the years for why HR has such a questionable reputation: <\/span><\/p>\n\n- HR is too compliance driven. <\/span><\/li>\n
- HR only cares about protecting management (like the Uber case might suggest). <\/span><\/li>\n
- HR doesn\u2019t know the business.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
- HR is focused on the wrong things.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
While these issues might be true in isolated cases, it doesn\u2019t line up with what I\u2019ve seen.<\/span><\/p>\nIn my experience, HR professionals are smart, motivated people who care deeply about helping both employees and the organization succeed. HR often has the clearest picture of what\u2019s truly happening within an organization and what needs to be done to prepare the organization for success.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nHowever, there\u2019s one ingredient I\u2019ve found to be in short supply in HR. And, I believe it\u2019s the missing piece that would transform HR from being viewed as an administrative necessity to a strategic leader.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nCourage.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nDespite often knowing what to do, I\u2019ve seen far too many HR colleagues defer to others. They accept an executive\u2019s critique on an HR initiative while knowing it\u2019s unwarranted. They allow a manager to make a bad hiring decision because it\u2019s \u201ctheir team.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\nIt\u2019s not because they lack ability or knowledge. It\u2019s not because they don\u2019t care. It\u2019s because they are afraid. Afraid of losing what little influence they feel they have. Afraid of looking incompetent. In some cases, afraid they\u2019ll lose their jobs. Whether or not these fears are warranted, they feel very real. And that fear changes their behavior.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThis is why courage is needed. WWI hero Eddie Rickenbacker said it perfectly: \u201cCourage is doing what you\u2019re afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you\u2019re scared.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\nThe work of human resources is profoundly important. Employees depend upon HR to ensure fairness, safety, and opportunity. Managers need HR for guidance and support. Leaders rely on HR to facilitate a culture and work experience that supports organizational progress. This work is far too important to allow fear to get in the way.<\/span><\/p>\nBut how do you become more courageous? <\/span><\/p>\nBased on my experience, there are a few things you can do to prepare yourself for moments when you need to find the courage to move past the fear. <\/span><\/p>\n\n- Get clear on your values. <\/b>When I was 13 years old, my dad\u2019s boss ordered him to go back on his word with a customer he\u2019d known for years. After some heated words were exchanged, my dad quit with no backup plan. He was faced with a decision to either compromise his integrity or find a new job. To my dad, his integrity was never for sale. So despite the challenges this could create for our family, he made the hard, scary call. Do you know which of your values are worth fighting (or quitting) for? Make time to get crystal clear on these things so when the moment arrives for you to fight for what you believe in, it\u2019s an easy decision.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Make yourself \u201cunfireable.\u201d<\/b> I\u2019ve heard so many people say something like, \u201cI can\u2019t say that \u2013 I might get fired.\u201d Here\u2019s the reality: If you are so replaceable that one comment can get you fired, you\u2019ve got bigger problems than courage. The key is to focus your energy on becoming so valuable that you\u2019re nearly impossible to replace. You can achieve this through gaining expertise and specialized knowledge. Or, it can happen because you\u2019ve raised your hand to offer help so many times that the organization has become dependent on you. The more valuable you become, the less afraid you\u2019ll be to rock the boat when it\u2019s called for. And, frankly, even if they did fire you (or you had to quit), you\u2019d have no problem finding another job. <\/span><\/li>\n
- Build a posse.<\/b> It is infinitely more frightening to stand alone in the face of adversity than it is to stand with others. One of the most important things you can do to create a feeling of strength and confidence is to invest your time in building a powerful network of relationships. Seeking out those who have common interests, goals, and values will provide you with support and encouragement when you need to take a stand and push beyond fear. In fact, the Latin root of the word \u201cposse\u201d means power. Harness this power in your career.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Courage is something you cultivate over time. The more confident and grounded you become in who you are and what\u2019s important to you, the less daunting it will feel to push beyond the fear and be the leader your organization desperately needs you to be. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In light of recent incidents, HR expert Jason Lauritsen outlines what HR managers are often missing in the modern workplace.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":5371,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[80,70],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-leadership","category-rethinking-hr"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.small-improvements.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.small-improvements.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.small-improvements.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.small-improvements.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/42"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.small-improvements.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5365"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.small-improvements.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5365\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45098,"href":"https:\/\/www.small-improvements.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5365\/revisions\/45098"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.small-improvements.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5371"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.small-improvements.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.small-improvements.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.small-improvements.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}