When I tell people I’m in HR, I typically get one of two kinds of replies based on their experience with the profession. The first, and most common, is the inevitable joke about the policy police, with the exclamation “I’d better watch what I say around you!” The second is usually an expression of curiosity about what HR people actually do, and, of course, I love the opportunity to shed some positive light on one of my favorite topics.
Across my 20-year career leading people strategies, I regularly see more head-scratching than not when it comes to the topic of the HR profession; it’s clear that people often don’t know exactly what it is HR does. Because HR tends to be added only as a business grows beyond 50 or even 100 or more people, small to mid-sized businesses and their teams are often the last to really get HR — both literally and figuratively.
Discouraging? Maybe to some, but not to me; I love a good challenge. More than that, I especially enjoy demystifying the field of HR so people can see the raw potential of smart HR done well. Even more satisfying is when I have the opportunity to provide the inspiration and tools to do just that.
As an HR professional and former university instructor of human resource management, I frequently work with small businesses, managers, HR managers and leaders who aren’t sure where to start in terms of building an effective HR function. I like to begin by exposing the myths about HR first, as it’s an easy entry point to a conversation about potential.
Myth No. 1: HR is the company police force.
It’s such a cliché, but at least once a week someone says to me, “Oh I better watch what I say, HR is in the room!” Every profession has its stereotype, and because most HR departments own some aspect of compliance and policy creation, collaborating with managers on discipline and termination actions, HR automatically earns the reputation of being the company police force.
The reality should be very different. Part of HR’s role is to provide the foundational structure to ensure employees are treated fairly and equitably throughout the employee lifecycle, including policy, process and compliance with laws relating to employment. This doesn’t mean it’s their job to enforce all of them — it means your company now has tools in place to make sure that everyone is treated equitably. Without this kind of foundation, the Wild West has a way of creeping in, and that creates problems for business owners and employees alike.
Myth No. 2: HR isn’t there for the employees.
Because HR spends a lot of time coaching and counseling managers, guiding them through difficult employment-related conversations, employees sometimes feel like HR teams are there only for the company leadership.
I hope this isn’t the case, anywhere. Simply put, HR is there to provide the counsel, tools and resources to support all employees, managers and leaders, not as a hall monitor, but as a promoter of talent and driver of efficiency and productivity, all while performing the role of coach, advisor and advocate as appropriate at all levels of the organization, through all stages of the employee lifecycle, and in all aspects of the employee experience from A-Z.
Myth No. 3: HR doesn’t understand business.
This might have been true for your grandfather’s personnel department. There was a time that HR was there only to provide back-office support for the administrivia of employment.
Today’s HR teams are different because today’s HR function is different. The evolution of HR from the tactical to the strategic means that a critical competency of an effective HR practitioner is some understanding of the business they are in. This enables much better talent support and direction on people programs, including compensation, learning and development, organizational design, performance management, succession planning and more.
This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the many myths about what HR is, and what it isn’t. As business leaders, it is important to keep in mind that a critical foundational element to empowering both your HR function and your managers is enabling them to spend their time on what matters. This starts with a focus on streamlining lower priority tasks, so HR and managers alike can quickly shift their attention to something more important: your customers.
