1e inside the But “it’s easy to get sucked down into that,” says Mark Royal, a senior
consultant with Hay Group. “There’s a tension created by HR’s role as protec-
d the empty tor of corporate assets-making sure it doesn’t run afoul of the rules. That
n now. “Get- puts you in the position of saying no a lot, of playing the bad cop. You have
Jbably made to step out of that, see the broad possibilities, and take a more open-minded
r just a year. approach. You need to understand where the exceptions to broad policies can
ant.) be made.”
I never catch Typically, HR people can’t, or won’t. Instead, they pursue standardization
readily pro- and uniformity in the face of a workforce that is heterogeneous and complex.
ance evalua- A manager at a large capital leasing company complains that corporate HR is
1 or not with trying to eliminate most vice-president titles there-even though veeps are a
s to business dime a dozen in the finance industry. Why? Because in the company’s com-
mercial business, vice president is a rank reserved for the top officers. In its
n California’s drive for bureaucratic “fairness,” HR is actually threatening the reputation,
rtcomings of and so the effectiveness, of the company’s finance professionals.
ate return on The urge for one-size-fits-all, says one professor who studies the field,
near that kind “is partly about compliance, but mostly because it’s just easier.” Bureaucrats
the decisions everywhere abhor exceptions-not iust because they open up the company
reliable, and to charges of bias but because they require more than rote solutions. They’re
time-consuming and expensive to manage. Make one exception, HR fears, and
ularly asks its the floodgates will open.
sng them: Do There’s a contradiction here, of course: Making exceptions should be
ettbh between exactly what human resources does, all the tirne-not because it’s nice for
irk? Rucci cor- employees, but because it drives the business. Employers keep their best peo-
3” as monthly ple by acknowledging and rewarding their distinctive performance, not by
treating them the same as everyone else. “if I’m running a business, I can tell
2″ per se, Rucci you who’s really helping to drive the business forward,” says Dennis Ackley,
lave an impact an employee communication consultant. “HR should have the same view. We
lgs, depending should send the message that we value our high-performing employees and
ytime soon get we’re focused on rewarding and retaining them.”
351; practices in Instead, human-resources departments benchmark salaries, function by
13 the business function and iob by job, against industry standards, keeping pay-even that
of the stars-within a narrow band determined by competitors. They bounce
performance appraisals back to managers who rate their employees too highly,
rough that asi- unwilling to acknowledge accomplishments that would merit much more
mits to having than the 4% companywide increase.
leased to em]. Human resources, in other words, forfeits long-term value for short-term
tect themselves cost efficiency. A simple test: Who does your company’s vice president of
e; between you human resources report to? If it’s the CFO-and chances are good it is-then
Jto the file and HR is headed in the wrong direction. “That’s a model that cannot work,” says
one top HR exec who has been there. “A financial person is concerned with
In the last two taking money out of the organization. HR should be concerned with putting
bot regulations. investments in.”
lpational Safety
tR13,at_ These are 4. The corner office doesn’t get HR (and vice versa). I’m at another rockin’
‘lag to apply tea. party: a few dozen midlevel human-resources managers at a hotel restaurant
in Mahwah, New Jersey. It is not glam in any way. (I’ve got to get a better
PLACE THIS ORDER OR A SIMILAR ORDER WITH US TODAY AND GET AN AMAZING DISCOUNT 🙂