HR and Bad Days

My fellow #Trench HR pro, Charlie, had a Red Pensil day on Friday and I get it. I get it completely. I've been there, done it and have had enough of those days myself.

It's on those days when I reenact, when I doubt, when I want to lash out, and when I go home and wonder. . . 

• Why me, why now and why must the stakes always seem so high?
• Who let me down, what don't they get about getting it right and why did I just look outward?
• What went wrong, what was missed and what, really, is the worst thing that can come of this?
• When was the last time something like this happened? And realize it's been a long time.
• Where can I make adjustments and tweaks to get things back on track?   

It's a feeling I've known too well throughout my career and one of the things that keeps me up at night until the sun comes up and then, as another day begins, I wonder, "how could I have even doubted myself, my leadership, my team, our commitment and our individual and combined capabilities?"

Bad things happen and it sucks when they do. Yes, I have had to bring my credibility to bear more times than I've wanted to (and that hurts) but the reality is - that's life. We roll with the punches and come back strong. We can do that because we are good. We are good at what we do and our track record speaks for itself.

It's not about HR, it's not about data, and it's not about technology working - or not. It's about coming to work and showing up and caring.

It's about leadership. I know that, you know that and from what I know about Charlie, I know that he knows that too. And I know that he is going to be all right.

We all are.

HR: One Devil of a Profession

"Wouldn't it be grand if the human resources department could free itself from bookkeeping and law clerking and devote itself to the business of having a life?"

These are not my words, but the words of another. Where do you think they came from? Human Resource Executive, SHRM Magazine, or HR blogs? Has to be something recent, right? It's all the rage in HR circles today. 

If you guessed an article published September 8, 1999, you are correct. 

In his article, "Angels in the workplace save him from the devils in HR," author Dale Dauten described an angel of an HR dude who dissuaded him from a career in HR. He went on to quote an HR consultant who noted that the profession 'has made a pact with the devil: the more labor legislation that gets enacted, the more pay, prestige and power HR gets.'

The more things change, the more things stay the same except, this time,  nothing has changed. It's 2010 and the devil of a conversation remains.

I have a tenuous relationship with HR but stay with the profession because there are things that I value and I enjoy. Yes, there are things that I don't and I can control them. I dislike benefits so I stay as far away from them as I can. I want to learn more about talent management, so I direct my efforts that way. Easy peasy, right?

To a certain point, yes, but I can't control everything. One thing out of my control is SHRM, the  organization that represents me as an HR professional. I've had a very arms-length "take-it-or-leave-it" attitude towards SHRM yet all this hoopla about lawsuits, transparency, and the what-not has caught my attention.

When I look at SHRM today, I see messiness, I see cat/dog fights, and I see distress. What's real, what's the other side of the story and is this blown out of proportion? I don't know. I don't know what's going in, on or at SHRM (arms-length approach, remember) but I do know what's going on with me.

When I look 10 years to the future, I see HR pros referring back to the devil of a 1999 article wondering why we still haven't changed. I see me reminiscing about the days of SHRM and seeing the questioning looks of the faces of young HR pros asking, "What is SHRM?"

SHRM, be an angel and get it together. This is not the way to change the course of a profession.