What should HR be known for?

HR are responsible for so many things. When answering the question ‘What should HR be known for’ it might not be an easy, straight forward answer. I personally believe the HR team should be seen as credible, professional, forward thinking, approachable, supportive and high performing. This may seem like a list of buzz words but I have spent a lot of time thinking about this.

I remember delivering a training session once on High Performing Teams. We asked the group to take a look around the business and point out any of the teams that thought were high performing and to tell us why.

Every group said the HR team was high performing. There was a huge sense of pride, we had been proactively working hard towards it, together as a team.

We wanted to be known as experts in our area. As responsive and enabling, supportive and caring. We wanted to be seen as trusted partners to the business and always professional.

Taking responsibility for every element of the employee lifecycle we had a big job on our hands but we wanted to demonstrate that all parts of the journey were thought about and actions were in place to make improvements.

And probably more importantly we wanted to be known as being a cohesive team. That everyone knew what was going on, people would get the same answer from any of us that they asked a question to and we were all clearly working towards the same goals and very much aligned.

So what should HR be known for? Let’s go back to my first comment.

Credible, professional, forward thinking, approachable, supportive and high performing.

Credibility

This is achieved by doing things right, on time, with clear attention to detail and accuracy.

There are some things that HR do that, if not done correctly, it would be disastrous. When done without error they are rarely spoken about. For example, sending contracts and offer letters, issuing change letters, reference checks etc. All those important compliance activities that are beyond super important and people just expect them to be done correctly. It’s things like this that create the foundation for the department. Accuracy and attention to detail are super important and if things were sent out with errors all over the place the department would lose all credibility.

How do you achieve this? Explain the importance of the role and the tasks people are doing. Explain how this work fits into the bigger picture and the credibility you are building as a team. Talk about employees like your customers and that you want to deliver an outstanding level of customer service. Show people what good looks like. Create templates to remove the possibility of mistakes. Make your expectations clear.

Professional

These days being professional doesn’t mean wearing a suit. I do remember being given advice once that you should dress for the job you want, not for the job you have. Your work attire shouldn’t define you. These days I work remotely from home, I can’t remember the last time I wore a pair of high heels or a blazer and I don’t think wearing a hoodie makes me any less professional in my current role.

So what does professionalism mean in HR?

Confidentiality

Keeping information confidential. It’s one of those things that is just a given when working in a HR team. People just expect it. Private, personal and sensitive information is shared with HR on a daily basis. If anyone in the team was mistreating this information and sharing it wider than it should be the department would once again lose credibility. If anyone in the team is just starting out in their careers it’s important to let them know what kind of information can be shared and what can’t and also who they can share it with. We can’t just assume people know this stuff. If employees thought the HR function couldn’t keep information confidential then they would very quickly stop going to them.

Respect and Courtesy

Being a HR professional means that you treat others with respect, regardless of their position or background. Always being polite, courteous, and mindful of your language and behaviour.

Integrity

Always working with integrity. Working in HR you should be known for upholding honest and ethical behaviour in all your interactions. You admit when you have made a mistake and take responsibility for your actions. There have been a couple of times over the years when I made a mistake and felt absolutely awful. By being open and admitting what has happened people will undoubtedly have huge amounts of trust in you.

I have also been asked by an employee to lie on a rental reference letter. I turned round and asking him if that’s the kind of HR he wanted in the organisation he was working in. A HR team that would be prepared to lie, and he responded with “no”.

Emotional Intelligence

This is such an important skill in all walks of life but I think for HR professionals it is super important to display emotional intelligence, by being aware of your emotions and managing them appropriately. We deal with incredibly difficult and emotional situations on a regular basis. We need to show empathy and understanding towards others' feelings and perspectives. Remain professional by not oversharing your own emotions but only sharing information that is relevant at the time. The situation is about them, not you.

Forward Thinking

HR functions that are not forward-thinking might be seen or described as being reactive, stagnant and just simply transactional. A HR department should be much more than that and be seen as a group of people that are looking to the future, are proactive and are taking a strategic approach to human resources. They should be anticipating future challenges and opportunities, and implementing innovative solutions to drive the organisation's success. A forward-thinking HR professional goes beyond traditional HR functions, fully understands the business and embraces the part they have to play in contributing to the overall success of the business.

Approachable and supportive

HR is viewed as the team that you can speak to or go to when you have any personal problems that are affecting you within the workplace. Through my career I have spoken to so many people with different issues, and honestly, nothing will surprise me these days. Whether its medical or health problems, relationship issues, financial worries, people expect HR to be there for them. To be able to speak to them in confidence, to provide support and guidance. And do you know something, this is exactly what I expect from a HR team too. Yes, we are there looking at the People Strategy, the proactive initiatives to support employee engagement and all that good stuff but at the end of the day, when people need us we need to be there for them.

This doesn’t mean that we need to absorb their emotions and take on the world. What we can do it listen, show empathy, offer advice and sign post them to resources that can help them.

High Performing

HR teams should be high performing. I know that I have high expectations of myself in my professional career, but I really do think that HR teams should strive to be the best they can be. Not to settle for just being reactive. At the start of this article I mentioned that I leading a team that people in the business described as being high performing. This felt like a huge achievement because I had been working closely with the team to achieve this status. If you are intentional about it, you know where you want to get to and how to get there then you can absolutely create a high performing HR team.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on what HR should be known for.