Improving HR | NO HR NECESSARY?

THE BIG IDEA

I’ve been a little quiet since the beginning of the year; quiet… but busy!

The pace of lay-offs in HR has been increasing since mid-December, and I’ll be discussing that, and some trends I’m seeing, in this article.

But before we get there, the reason I’ve been busy…

In my network and beyond, there are tons of HR folk being impacted right now 🙁 and I we was seeing lots of “Open for Work” flags and “Please think of me…” posts.

So, given I have a 6,000+ network of HR in the US, I thought I’d do something to help connections happen – the result is HR Jobs by View Beyond LLC.

Basically, this is a free listing service for HR jobs, not another application system (you provide a pre-existing link or email to apply).

And, most importantly, it’s not a scraper bot grabbing random jobs from across the web.

My aim is to help people in my network who are hiring for HR find people in my network who are looking for their next gig!

Bottom line: Please visit HR Jobs and a) add a job if you have it (it’s FREE); and b) apply for a job if one fits!

I will be circulating open positions to my 6,000+ network of HR colleagues and encourage you to share the link widely: viewbeyondllc.com/hr-jobs

OK, with that covered, let’s talk about some trends.

The first is simply that lay-offs are happening; far and wide beyond HR.

There’s much in the media about bandwagon jumping in the tech industry, with a magical 5% reduction in force seeming to be consistent – almost as if the execs at one company are thinking “well, such-and-such-competitor has laid off 5%, maybe we should also…”

But aside from the lemming-like trend to slash just because others are, what’s surprising about this knee-jerk is how HR is being impacted at the same time.

We’re seeing HR at all levels being cut, and especially recruiting.

Which is odd, given that even at this time last year, the “Great Resignation” was still a thing and companies were bemoaning the lack of available talent for mountains of jobs… And the lack of recruitment resource to source and select for roles.

More confusing, a quick scan of job boards shows that there’s still tons of positions open.

Yet, here we are… shedding HR and, particularly, recruiters.

HR and recruiting colleagues who tell me that they are applying for 10s, even 100s, of open positions and getting zilch response

(because there aren’t enough recruiters to do the recruitment, obvs)

If I were a more cynical fellow, I might suspect sabotage; starve HR, cause failure, outsource HR.

In my more reasonable moments, I might be more charitable, and put it down to executive short-termism.

Except for the second trend I’ve been seeing, which makes me think my more cynical side could be closer to the truth.

Since January, I’ve been hearing anecdotally about HR functions being slashed and then tucked in under the Finance organization

(more specifically, CHROs being let go and the whole HR organization then reporting to the CFO – and not as a holding pattern, but as announced reorganizations)

Now, HR being within Finance isn’t new – in fact, in many small companies, HR grows out of Finance, when it begins to expand beyond simple Payroll and Benefits processing. But, in my experience, it hasn’t often been the case that HR is collapsed under Finance – well, certainly not at the rate I’m seeing it at the moment.

All of which brings the intrepid Improving HR adventurer to a question…

What if this is a good thing?

TRY THIS

Let’s play the thought experiment out: what if HR is led by Finance?

Of course, the knee-jerk is to clutch pearls and scream: BUT FINANCE DON’T DO PEOPLE!!!

But let’s not play absolutes, this a thought-experiment after all 🙂

Firstly, let’s generate a broad list of what HR delivers:

Workforce/HC Planning
Talent Attraction
Talent Management
Talent Development
Team & Organization Effectiveness
Employee Relations (inc. Policy & Practice)
Compensation, Payroll & Benefits
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Now, there are a couple of these factors that could find a home, because they have overlap/synergy with Finance: Workforce/HC Planning (think headcount budget), and Compensation, Payroll & Benefits.

But that leaves a majority of the factors adrift – or, more specifically, without a sound foundation for strategic and/or tactical leadership.

So, HR shouldn’t report to Finance then?

Weeeeelll…

Let’s keep the thought experiment going.

Let’s put Employee Relations under Legal. The logic being that HR is providing first-level support to situations that, if escalated, could end up with Legal taking the lead. While we’re doing that, lets also split DEI, and put the legal/compliance aspects with Legal.

That does, of course, leaves the more cultural/transformational aspects of DEI to be placed. For me, that needs to sit at the core of Talent and Team/Org Effectiveness. That’s also where we’ll provide a home for the strategic end of Workforce/HC Planning

(with a note of the overlap/partnership with Finance we mentioned earlier)

Lets put Talent Attraction with Sales & Marketing – because it’s actually likely they’ll be able to do it MUCH better than we can, because of synergies with product/service marketing.

In doing so, we’ll keep the bit where we can make a difference by folding selection and onboarding into Talent Management.

When we take a look at what we’re left with… Well, let’s just say it’s not your Father’s HR, that’s for sure.

Workforce/HC Planning
Talent Management (inc. Selection/Onboarding)
Talent Development
Team & Organization Effectiveness (inc. DEI Strategy & Transformation)

Remember, the factors that are now NOT on the list are still being done elsewhere in the company – and arguably better/tighter than in the more generalist HR function.

To go back to the start of our thought experiment, I think this short-list is what’s behind the knee-jerk, “But Finance doesn’t do people…”

But, I would argue that, by doing our thought experiment, we have disproved the automatic assumption “Finance doesn’t… therefore HR must…”

In fact, with this focus upon core value-add that can’t be fulfilled by other functions, we may just be dancing on the edge of a refined value proposition for our function.

But here’s the thing: I don’t think it’d be called HR any longer – there are just too many connections to the old-school in that term.

For me, the term that fits best is one I’ve been using for a couple of decades: Talent & Organization Capability. This is where differential value is achieved already within HR, all the thought experiment has done has shown how we can clear the decks to do more of what really counts:

Talent & Organization Capability

USE THIS

We’ve only scratched the surface of this thought experiment in this article; wouldn’t it be fun to have it with the leaders of Finance, Legal and Sales/Marketing as a strategic exercise rather than in reaction to lay-offs?

Here’s a little exercise that can help your thinking.

For each of the list factors above:

Describe what visionary/strategic/tactical outcomes it delivers
Identify which items from 1) could be delivered better/tighter by an alternate function
For those items from 1) that don’t fall under 2), write the clear value proposition that completes the statement: “This has to be done by a specialist function because…”

With each factor completed using this rubric, you’ll be ready to turn this particular thought experiment into value-added, strategic planning.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

“Letting go gives us freedom, and freedom is the only condition for happiness. If, in our heart, we still cling to anything – anger, anxiety, or possessions – we cannot be free.” ~Thich Nhat Hanh