Most companies we engage with at VeryHR, initially contact us for an audit or because they have a compliance or performance-based issue. It’s fair to say, the most commonly known view of HR is based on Fordism. That is clearly defined structures, paths and direction. There is a preconceived notion amongst many that HR is the agony aunt of a business, the paper pusher of an organisation, the rule giver and the list goes on.
When in fact, I will argue that HR is the gatekeeper of everything that is human within an organisation. HR is its beating heart. We often end up going in a completely different direction to what our clients anticipate when they first approach VeryHR for advice and strategy.
You see, to empower people, you need to light a fire within them. You need to ask the questions that will make clear their way forward to them. What is your company’s mission? What are your value’s? Are you carrying these closely held ideals to the culture of your company?
To control people, stifle them with policies, rules and practices and constraining them within a rigid definition of what they do each and every day – that’s micro-management. This will only prove counterproductive to your business.
To grow your organisation, you need to build connections with your brand, your people and super energise your team to get their creative juices flowing. It demands trust as well as a culture that allows risk taking and embraces failing – how else do we learn?
HR needs to be about engagement, rewards and lean policies that enable the human to grow, develop and give more of themselves in what should now be a two-way conversation. The age of Fordism is gone, welcome to Agile HR.
Originally posted on LinkedIn