Monday, March 12, 2007

HR be damned....

Half said and half unsaid thoughts from a business leader:

1. Intellectually challenged people make it to a career in HR.
What is your IQ? Oh am sorry, yours is slightly better but if you average it out among all professionals, then it will hover around 90.
2. HR can never understand the business. How on earth do you think you will strategically partner me in my growth plans?
You don't understand my product idea. I mean, you do, but with lack of technical knowledge you half comprehend it!
3. I will do my own thing and not include you in my forward thinking and ideas. However I will expect you to manage talent, envisage the challenges to talent management processes as a result of the changes I make and build my organisation.
4. I think you are a glorified clerk.

Wow, do you expect your colleague in HR to make any sizeable difference to your organisation? God save thy people!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Much as I can see your point, I must say a cliché is often the result of most egregious behaviours seen. Clichés like Indians are good at maths also originate similarly.

Three of 4 HR managers, that I have encountered - and in 15 years post-MBA, I have encountered many - were useless jobsworths, and in Europe, always blonde (another cliché).

That said the 1 of 4 who have been smart belonged to high-performance companies like Goldman Sachs, Royal Bank of Scotland and Marakon Associates. Even McKinsey HR left a bit to be desired. And I better not say anything about the HR woman (nearly always women, why??) responsible for campus recruitments for P&G way back in the early 1990s!

The question is where do you break the cycle - should it be the organisation or should it be the individuals in HR?

Shreyasi Deb said...

I get your point too. I have written a bit on that in my first post here. Don't get to write much..paucity of time to read and research!
I think the individuals should start making a difference and it will spread, after all we all carry cliches from our previous experience.
I thought McKinsey doesnt believe in an HR function at all.The business does that work fairly well.

Anonymous said...

McKinsey has HR function alright. Someone has to be around to spout the clichés, no? They do bring a lot more business people to their campus PPTs (UK) but the 'answers' always come from HR and are nearly always wrong, as we find out in the course of transaction.