HR and the destruction of humanity

In the latter years of my career in finance there was a growing movement to “teach HR people to think like finance people.” The reasoning was founded on the belief that if HR understood the concepts of return on investment (ROI) they would be better equipped to argue the case for HR investment. This was especially true for justifying spending in areas such as training and development.

While there is some merit in focusing HR development in this area, in many ways it is ill advised. HR can be the polar opposite of finance. The world of the accountant is based heavily on reason and logic, while core aspects of HR depend upon psychology and emotion. This was evidenced by significant early work in understanding human motivation and the link between financial reward and performance.

HR can emulate the world of finance by understanding the foundational concepts as well as adopting many of the disciplined and structured aspects of effective process management. After all, the “cost of process” does much to drive organizational effectiveness – so HR processes MUST be streamlined to the maximum degree possible.

But in many other ways the HR profession is the polar opposite of finance, principally because it deals with how and why people behave. If organizations are to create employee engagement and develop a positive workplace culture, it is behavior that is at the heart of the needed changes NOT process.

This requires a shift in professionalism – one similar to that already experienced by quality managers and accountants. This shift is from a process, task, and activity bias to one more heavily based on the professional advisory role. In particular, advising senior management as well as ALL those in leadership positions, about how to understand people – their motivations and behaviors but also how to personally behave as a leader. While HR maintains responsibility for areas like equal employment opportunity, application of required employment standards, HR “needs” planning, arbitration and problem resolution, and the provision of employee health and assistance programs, these alone will not solve engagement issues.

HR today is about re-thinking what Fredrick Herzberg’s two factor theory of motivation addressed, and asking which aspects HR are responsible for, and which are essentially “out of their control.” This approach will allow the clarification between what factors HR needs to take accountability and responsibility for and which one’s it needs to exert influence around to optimize performance.

To fully understand this transition HR leaders should read “The Trusted Advisor,” by David Maister. While essentially written for management consultants it clearly demonstrates how those with a solid functional expertise must change their way of interacting with others to become influential in decision making. Quality Managers had to do this as part of the quality revolution (remember “Quality is Job #1”). Accountants had to make the transition to impact the effectiveness of how decisions were made on investment and other uses of cash. HR managers must now learn how to shift their approach, in order to influence the creation of a “preferred workplace” where people are motivated and engaged.

This is not created by HR but by the everyday behavior that underpins every interaction that takes place between people. Employee to employee. Manager or supervisor to employee and other managers. Employees to suppliers and customers. Everywhere. Everyday. As the phrase reflects “these are the moments of truth” that determine what type of workplace exists.

If HR people fail to make this shift and to bring the uniqueness of human behavior into full understanding which drives the desired behavior, they will fail to deliver on positively impacting human behavior on organizational performance. They will further drive humanity and the unique nature of leading people effectively, further out of the workplace. What will be left is people following instructions. Saying goodbye to innovation, creativity, positive reinforcement, improvements in mental health and above all, a workplace where people want to be and can actually have fun AND perform.

Nick A Shepherd, FRSA., FCPA., FCGA., FCCA., FCMC.

Ottawa, December 2023.