When you think of HR, what is the first thing that comes to mind? Compliance officer? Gatekeeper? Controller? Or is it trusted advisor? Enabler? Business partner?
The HR profession has transformed from being a highly administrative function to being a strategic voice in business. Traditionally, HR has been perceived as a gatekeeper. Instead of managers being able to move forward with their ideas or challenges, HR was a roadblock where necessary action stopped. There was an us vs. them mentality that pushed leaders away and forced them to circumvent processes to still get their job done.
Gatekeeper: a person or organization that controls whether people can have or use a particular service (www.dictionary.cambridge.org)
When I started my career, I knew one thing for sure: my mandate was to connect with people, develop meaningful relationships, elevate the employee experience, and make things happen for the business. And through my lived experiences, I learned that a command-and-control approach with people and processes (i.e., being a gatekeeper) did not produce results. I also knew that from an HR perspective, well designed guidelines that fit the culture and values of the organization were necessary and added value to the employee experience. So, the trick was to figure out how to produce results, animate the culture and values of the organization, and nurture the employee experience by empowering them in their roles and their decision-making.
The choice for me was always simple on how I would show up and perform. To be an enabler, I had to pave the way to make things happen, influence people’s decisions with knowledge and data, and help leaders bring their ideas to life through collaboration.
Enabler: a person or thing that makes something possible (www.lexico.com)
One of my greatest memories in HR was working at a land development and housing company. Working alongside the Vice President of Housing and other members of the senior leadership team, we clicked and made significant progress on the employee experience. My commitment to being an enabler was an important piece to my success in moving the business forward, as described here by the VP of Housing:
“Rita is the first HR person I have worked with that gets the relationship between operations and HR. She is an enabler of people where others are gatekeepers. Rita consistently earned and built trust on the senior team through outstanding credibility, objectivity, and professionalism. She challenged experienced managers in our construction and sales culture to modernize and be open minded to the benefits of cultural change and modern people policies.”
My goal was to create an open and collaborative space for leaders to feel safe, to be vulnerable, to proactively raise people issues, to evaluate options to solve problems, and to create solutions that fit the situation.
My role as enabler looked like this:
Trusted advisor: earning trust, respect and credibility by being present, walking the talk, listening well, asking the right questions, and challenging thinking by bringing forward different perspectives.
Business knowledge: leveraging human resources knowledge and investing time to understand the business, the people, and the drivers for success.
Open door philosophy: having an open door for employees and leaders to discuss issues, to clarify understandings, and to be a sounding board. My door was always open.
Delivering candid feedback: being comfortable with the uncomfortable, having difficult conversations, and offering honest feedback with empathy, courage, and respect.
Being proactive: anticipating what the business required and bringing forward valuable ideas and insight to make informed decisions about people.
Collaboration: great things happen when people work together. Collaboration is one of my values and it is how I partner with the business to improve people decisions.
How can leaders support HR to be an enabler to the business?
Be accountable to themselves, their teams and the organization.
Communicate often. Leaders are a pathway to raise awareness, share knowledge and keep employees informed.
Leverage human resources. HR is on your team and they want you to succeed!
Be open, transparent and honest. Share information often and speak up if you cannot meet a company deadline.
When in doubt, ask for HR’s help before a small people problem becomes a big people problem.
Put employees first. HR is supportive when they know leaders have done everything in their power to work with their employees and position them to succeed.
Get social and take a break with your HR partner. We are human too! Go for coffee. Create space for HR to get to know you, your pain points, what keeps you up at night. Developing trusting relationships is hard work but well worth it when you want to accomplish great things together. Trust me, this is a cool thing to do!
HR is no longer an administrative function, but an enabling voice to organizations. And as the future of work evolves, HR will continue to be a center of influence and a strategic voice to organizations.
HR is in a unique position to influence business and people decisions and offer valuable insight. It can connect the dots between people, data, and business, giving organizations a competitive advantage. Organizations that enable HR will improve business performance.
As human beings, we are wired for social connection. This is a year where that wiring has been tested in every aspect of our lives. As I write this blog, it is the last month of 2020, and a time to reflect on what this year has taught us about where we show up as gatekeepers and where we show up as enablers. How have those occurrences impacted your ability and capacity to experience connection?
I believe it is in each one of us to be an enabler. Human beings have the ability to be open minded, to collaborate, to be vulnerable, to empower others, to be empathetic, to communicate often, to be active listeners, to show up with no judgement, and to accept different perspectives. Imagine the possibilities if the enabler lens was expanded from the HR function in a business and applied to a vision for humanity and the world. Just imagine!
Driven by connection,
Rita
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Rita Filice, BCOMM, CPHR
Partner, BreakPoint Solutions
ritaf@breakpoint.solutions
www.breakpoint.solutions
780-250-2544