Human Resources are having an identity crisis.

Just browse on LinkedIn and you see a new model of HR every week… Next Generation HR, Ulrich 2.0, the People Value Chain, HR Delivery model… it’s clear that this is an organisational function in the midst of an existential meltdown. The function that was designed to resolve issues in the workplace is now a serious source of pain and stress. How did it come to this? And what role to they really serve?

Employees know how they feel. According to Forbes, 47% of workers don’t trust HR to deal well with conflict or to support them with promotion. The reality for many employees, and particularly those who have a complaint; who are having their performance managed; who feel bullied or harassed; who are subject of a disciplinary investigation; who have been overlooked for promotion; who conflict with a colleague, or a manager is that HR are at best an administrative annoyance and at worst, the custodians of a policy suite which promotes blame, division, confrontation, negativity, fear, betrayal, stress, and resentment.

‘I will go to HR’ or ‘I will take a grievance out against you’ is still used an existential threat against a colleague or a manager. HR, in these cases, become the Sword of Damocles hanging above people’s heads. For many employees, the HR function is seen as the controlling parent, the police officer, or the authoritarian arm of management. Therein lies the HR Paradox. On the one hand, HR are an enabler and a strategic partner. On the other hand, HR, and their associated rules and processes, are seen to be complicit in the devastation of people’s lives and the destruction of relationships at work. Most mainstream HR policies are the antithesis of a fair, just inclusive, sustainable, and high performing organization everyone aspires to be. They are neither values-based nor are they person-centred.

And people are tired of it.

Unless HR become less protective of their policy frameworks, and less resistant to innovation and creativity in the way that they deal with complex people issues, I believe the role of HR faces not just an identity crisis, but an existential one. That’s not a great future for such an important function.

What do we do now?

All this sounds pretty depressing but I feel this moment in time represents a golden opportunity for HR to transform itself into something new, modern, and progressive.

Our work at TCM proposes a new, radical operational model to HR: People & Culture. A model that does away with rigid policies because they aren’t needed when a culture is healthy and functioning. This isn’t just a rebrand of HR, it’s a transformation of its very identity. One created from the combination of four key elements: People, Culture, Justice, and Strategy.

This approach is gaining traction. There are numerous examples of organizations who are embracing the shift to people and culture. To test the water, I ran an online poll, and the response was very interesting. Of the 50 people who responded to the poll, it suggested that over half of the responders had either adopted the title ‘people and culture’ or were considering doing so in the future. Only 20% of respondents rejected the idea saying that they had no plans to make the shift from HR to people and culture.

Not just a rebrand, a transformation

There is a real opportunity here for HR to come into its own – coaching and supporting managers on how to manage difficult situations, have good-quality dialogue and build resilience in their teams. It is a chance for HR to remind managers of the values the organization holds dear, and to nudge them towards the type of behaviours and open adult-to-adult interactions the organization wants to see. I agree with Ben McCormick when he says:

‘By owning and communicating culture, ensuring that it is embedded yet constantly evolving and by acting as the intermediary that aligns those at the top with those lower down the chain, HR can affect significant change at every level and enable the delivery of results that empower and engage the entire organization.’

The new people and culture function presses home the message that compassion is not something soft and fluffy that just gets rolled out when something bad has happened. Compassion needs to underpin every action and decision that managers take when it comes to their people. It is about them really listening, putting themselves in the other person’s shoes and being able to come to a collaborative, joint decision about a set of circumstances or a problem. It is these principles which are the beating heart of a transformational culture and it is these principles which the new people and culture function should protect with every possible effort.

The best managers are those who do this with authenticity – and who also have a strong awareness of their own needs. Managers and leaders should be hired against these competencies and they should be trained fully in them. Compassion for others starts with self-compassion. The new people and culture function needs to encourage managers to take time out for themselves, to reflect, breathe and notice how they are feeling and responding – because if they can take a calm and mindful approach, they are going to be better equipped to handle other people’s problems.

HR will transform to People & Culture when they:

• Become less risk averse and less rigid. This will mean that the traditional employee handbook will need to be transformed to ensure that it aligns to the purpose, values, and culture of the organization.
• Embrace data and an evidence-based approach to underpin the development and deployment of its people and culture strategy.
• Reconnect with its employees at every level of the organization – engage in big conversations and organization wide listening exercises to understand what their employees really need
• Make wellbeing, engagement, and inclusion strategic priorities which combine to deliver a world class employee value proposition (EVP)
• Develop a Transformational Culture Hub which will become the enabler of a new and exciting partnership/social contract between unions, management, and other key stakeholders.
• Work closely with colleagues in customer experience to align Employee Experience (EX) with the Customer Experience (CX)
• Work closely with key stakeholders to ensure that there is an adequate talent pipeline to meet the short, medium, and long term needs of the organization.

Sadly, if HR are unable to achieve at least some of the above, it may become increasingly marginalised, and the HR function could become little more than an administrative function in our firms. Without some serious soul-searching and a radical reform of it purpose and modus operandi, HR, I predict, will become ever less transformational and ever more transactional.

And if they do adopt a people & culture approach, they are poised to take their place as one of the most (if not most) strategically important functions in a modern organisation. Are you ready?

Learn more about the People & Culture Operating Model and our ground-breaking alternative to traditional HR policies, the Resolution Framework.

This round table event entitled ‘Is the Future of HR People and Culture?’ can be viewed in full on the People and Culture Association website – https://www.peopleprofessionals.org/ipcw/