Laura Mazzullo, Author at RecruitingDaily https://recruitingdaily.com/author/lauramazzullo/ Industry Leading News, Events and Resources Fri, 24 Dec 2021 21:27:06 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.2 Radical Empathy, Radical Praxis, Radical Flexibility https://recruitingdaily.com/resource/radical-empathy-radical-praxis-radical-flexibility/ https://recruitingdaily.com/resource/radical-empathy-radical-praxis-radical-flexibility/#respond Tue, 14 Sep 2021 02:23:30 +0000 https://recruitingdaily.com/?post_type=resource&p=28100 This three-part series looks at what’s next for human resources and talent acquisition. Radical HR: where we are now, where we're going next and recentering the heart of organizations.

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Radical HR. A Series.

This three-part eBook looks at what’s next for human resources and talent acquisition. Part one makes a case for 2021 as HR’s moment of radical praxis, part two for rebuilding the relationship with TA, and part three for recentering what functions as the heart of organizations.

Inside the Cover

  1. Radical Praxis: What Happens When HR Gets Rehired?
  2. Radical Empathy: A New Relationship for HR and Recruiting
  3. Radical Flexibility: The Great ReawakeningAbout the authors

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Dismantling the HR Ego: Looking Outside the Echo Chamber https://recruitingdaily.com/dismantling-the-hr-ego-looking-outside-the-echo-chamber/ Wed, 12 May 2021 18:00:00 +0000 https://recruitingdaily.com/dismantling-the-hr-ego-looking-outside-the-echo-chamber/ This series takes a deeper look at what’s happening inside human resources and talent acquisition now. Over three parts, we’ll hold up the mirror for self-reflective HR and TA pros... Read more

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This series takes a deeper look at what’s happening inside human resources and talent acquisition now. Over three parts, we’ll hold up the mirror for self-reflective HR and TA pros keen to open their eyes to the vulnerabilities impacting the work they do, from inside, outside, and the echo chamber surrounding the space.

If you’ve made it this far, you know that we have egos, and not just us (though certainly us, too), but everyone. These egos influence us and the way we interact with people around us. Sometimes our egos go undetected, minding their business and letting us go about our days.

Other times, they cloud our judgment and make it impossible to act objectively or even rationally. While we believe that ego is primarily an individual issue, one that we ultimately control, it can also manifest on a larger level.

The HR echo chamber is a prime example, one where the majority of the ideas come from a few folks at the top that bounce around and around and around. Now, to be perfectly clear, we’re not here to attack any one person, organization, or association. That’s not our style.

The HR and TA industries are rich with resources. We’re writing this in one such destination, grateful to have the platform. But we have noticed ego often creeps into the conversations surrounding these spaces, both from the people doing the resourcing and those absorbing and putting the information into practice.

 

So, What’s the Problem?

The concept of an echo chamber comes from media studies, and while definitions vary, the basic theory is that these are environments where opinions and beliefs get reinforced through repeated interactions with peers or sources who have similar tendencies and attitudes.

In practice, that means reading and re-reading similar stories, listening to similar presentations, and internalizing similar thoughts from the same thought leaders until you consider their word to be the final truth. We see the effects of this with some of HR and TA’s more rigid mentalities.

This is not to say that the information out there is bad. But the ego associated with the HR and TA echo chamber has led to the idealization and adoration of some over others, directly challenging the growth and expansion of ideas. At a time when many are looking to move the needle on initiatives such as diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, we have to challenge the status quo.

That isn’t comfortable for some egos, and that’s the point. The same old doesn’t cut it anymore.

It’s up to HR and TA to shake off their egos and develop resources outside of said echo chamber – resources full of new or even dissenting ideas and opinions.  

 

But What Else is There?

We’re here to advocate for a more flexible sentiment. We want to hear from up-and-coming voices and explore content that exists outside the immediate landscape. Doing this supports both unlearning and gaining a broader understanding of what surrounds you. It also helps you overcome your ego and bring a fresh perspective back to HR and TA.

Where to start? Micole Garatti, Marketing Director at Fairygodboss, recently said, “Be the person in the room who constantly brings up other people who should also be in the room.” Think about that because it requires humility and the ability to actively listen to, recognize, and amplify the thoughts of others.

That can be a big ask of our egos. But what impact could you have on those around you by merely introducing them to someone else? Seeking out people who think differently than you do, who challenge your mindset, is a small step in an entirely new direction. You might already know these people and just haven’t thought of them in this context.

They could be hiring managers, marketing, legal, even your CEO. Why not step outside the HR and TA comfort zone to invite others in?

Likewise, look for adjacent content. We send one another things we find interesting almost every week. Very few have anything to do with HR or TA directly. Not long ago, this meant an episode of the podcast, Call Your Girlfriend, about burnout that talked at length about what’s behind the façade of success and ambition.

The episode was mostly about workplace issues, even though the hosts consider themselves a journalist and a businesswoman, respectively.

You might be questioning the relevance of certifications or continuing education from one organization versus another. Know that you have options. You don’t have to follow a set course because it’s what someone, somewhere recommended.

In the same vein, you might aspire to become an influencer, wondering why you see the same people on these lists, year in and year out. Recognize that what worked for them likely might not work for you. Blogs don’t have the same pull in 2021 that they did in 2011. Everyone has a podcast now, and many think Clubhouse is the new Twitter.

Maybe that means this is your chance to revolutionize HR and TA on TikTok. You get to decide. Just don’t let the fame go to your head, OK?

Ego surrounds each of us, and in professions that rely on engaging other humans, egos get magnified. To cut through the noise of the echo chamber and find your true voice, you need to get quiet and listen. Drop any and all doubt and silence your inner critic by listening hard to yourself – and to others.

Foster self-trust by acknowledging you don’t have all the answers and neither does anyone else. At the same time, adopt a mindset of mental liquidity, which enables you to quickly change your mind without being stuck on a particular worldview.

The point is to get familiar with your ego, where it comes from, how it infiltrates your work and shapes your way of thinking.

We think HR and TA owe it to themselves to unlearn, to dismantle the ego in, out, and all around the space. That’s why we’re here to pose this challenge. We’re ready to take this journey, growing pains and all. Are you?

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Dismantling the HR Ego: Collaborating with External Skeptics https://recruitingdaily.com/dismantling-the-hr-ego-collaborating-with-external-skeptics/ Tue, 11 May 2021 18:00:00 +0000 https://recruitingdaily.com/dismantling-the-hr-ego-collaborating-with-external-skeptics/ This series takes a deeper look at what’s happening inside human resources and talent acquisition now. Over three parts, we’ll hold up the mirror for self-reflective HR and TA pros... Read more

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This series takes a deeper look at what’s happening inside human resources and talent acquisition now. Over three parts, we’ll hold up the mirror for self-reflective HR and TA pros keen to open their eyes to the vulnerabilities impacting the work they do, from inside, outside, and the echo chamber surrounding the space.

Ego impacts the way we see the world around us. It influences how we perceive threats, challenges, and opportunities. And whether we realize it or not, ego clouds the judgment of HR and TA on a daily basis. This is not a criticism so much as an observation and a concept we explored in-depth in the first part of this series.

For this part, we’re going to carry the conversation forward and look at what happens when ego intervenes in HR and TA’s interactions with other audiences.

But first, Nietzsche:

“What damages a person most is to work, think, and feel without inner necessity, without any deep personal desire, without pleasure—as a mere automaton of duty.”

Now, read that last part again. What did you see first – automaton or automation? We talk a lot about automating HR and TA, allowing these functions to free up time in their day, to improve speed and efficiency.

And while automation absolutely works to the benefit of HR and TA, it doesn’t solve for what’s happening internally – for being automatons.

By many accounts, HR and TA have spent the last year just trying to get the work done. They were told to do more with less and to do it now. Given that HR and TA partner with others, these pros have found themselves in precarious and unenviable positions.

That’s not necessarily new, so much as it’s gotten worse. The blame and shame game has led to increased finger-pointing – at hiring managers, at candidates, at leadership – and intensified feels of loneliness, inner turmoil, and defensiveness.

More often than not, this plays out as ego on the part of the HR and TA pros, tasked with justifying their actions and expertise at every turn. But defense mechanisms aren’t the answer, and sometimes the only way out is through.

 

Mending Fences

You’ve probably heard about Clubhouse, the audio-only chat-based social network. HR and TA took to the app almost instantly, launching rooms and having conversations about everything from robots inside the ATS to griping about hiring managers. The nice part about these off-the-cuff discussions is that people from across the space have a platform to share their experiences.

Listen in, and you’ll realize that ego creeps in pretty quickly as some get louder and more aggressive and others jockey for the opportunity to demonstrate their expertise. Even in a room with like-minded professionals, HR and TA still feel the need to prove their worthiness.

There are four possible responses to most scenarios – fight, flight, freeze, or fawn. Since flight might imply weakness and freeze could infer incompetence, the ego of HR and TA tend to go with either fight or fawn, depending on the threat at hand. But what typically comes across to the other party is insecurity.

Insecurity leads to discomfort, discomfort to miscommunication, miscommunication to misalignment, and the issues pile up from there. How do we help HR and TA persevere? We make it OK to be vulnerable. We make it OK to be human. And we start to mend fences with the other side.

 

Improving Communication

We’ve talked about the challenge of silos and the “us versus them” mentality before but not in terms of finding a solution – and certainly not through the lens of ego. And at the end of the day, it’s these gaps that create the tension and cause ego-driven reactions.

Going back to Clubhouse for a moment, one thing we repeatedly hear in HR and TA rooms is that “we’re speaking different languages.” It’s the Tower of Babel, and it’s up to HR and TA to bridge the divide and make sure everyone is on the same team.

It’s nearly impossible to predict or control external variables, so much of this work needs to come from within HR and TA. That means learning to understand our egos and use them to our advantage, through active listening and effective communication.

Both require discipline, practice, and taking comfort in our own discomfort. Adam Grant recently shared, “Vulnerability is not the opposite of resilience. Vulnerability builds resilience. Projecting perfection protects your ego but shuts people out and stunts your growth. Revealing struggles shows humility and humanity, opening the door to new sources of support and strength.”

Rather than keep pointing fingers or making excuses, HR and TA need to drop the façade, within this space and out. There is nothing perfect about working with other humans, day in and day out. Humans are, by nature, flawed creatures. Pretending otherwise is how we become that “mere automaton of duty.”

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Dismantling the HR Ego: Escaping the Internal Demons https://recruitingdaily.com/dismantling-the-hr-ego-escaping-the-internal-demons/ Mon, 10 May 2021 18:00:00 +0000 https://recruitingdaily.com/dismantling-the-hr-ego-escaping-the-internal-demons/ This series takes a deeper look at what’s happening inside human resources and talent acquisition now. Over three parts, we’ll hold up the mirror for self-reflective HR and TA pros... Read more

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This series takes a deeper look at what’s happening inside human resources and talent acquisition now. Over three parts, we’ll hold up the mirror for self-reflective HR and TA pros keen to open their eyes to the vulnerabilities impacting the work they do, from inside, outside, and the echo chamber surrounding the space.

We recently talked about what’s next for HR and TA, and in doing so, we realized that we might be getting a little ahead of ourselves. Like the rest of the world, we’re eager for those next steps, a return to “normal,” or at the very least a life that vaguely resembles the “before times.”

The truth is that many in HR and TA are burned out, and if they’re not there yet, they’re well on their way. As a result, these spaces have become contentious – a hotbed of infighting that goes beyond Twitter and LinkedIn.

HR and TA professionals are tired. Tired of doing more with less, tired of solving everyone else’s problems without outside support, and frankly, tired of each other. Of course, a lot of these feelings actually pre-date the pandemic, an experience that’s only exacerbated the situation.

We’re talking about years of blame and shame, unhealthy behaviors and unchecked biases, defensiveness, resistance to feedback – and that’s just what’s going on inside.

The issue is how these internalized struggles present, and often it comes across as ego. Sure, some will say we’re wrong, that there is no ego, just insecurity, but even insecurity sometimes masquerades as arrogance or, worse, indifference.

 

How We Got Here

There are a few ways to talk about ego. We can look at it in the Freudian psychoanalytical sense, where ego serves as the mediator between the person and reality. That echoes the function of HR and TA, which work as mediators, sitting between the organization and its audience, typically employees or job seekers.

Or we can take a more philosophical approach and see ego as the self of self-consciousness of self-reflection, which also applies because here’s the thing: everyone has an ego. It is a driving force for human beings, whether we realize it or not. As Cy Wakeman advises, it’s when we accept and get to know our ego and how it distorts our thinking that we’re able to overcome its challenges.

In the past, HR and TA often found themselves stuck in a fixed mindset, mired in ‘that’s the way we’ve always done it‘ thinking. A never-ending list of demands meant these pros constantly felt the pressure to demonstrate their worth to their organization and audience.

That’s not to say HR and TA didn’t want to be strategic and innovative but getting stuck in the weeds kept them in one place while the world around them evolved.

Over the last decade or so, organizations grew flatter, and job seekers grew more empowered. Technology and automation entered into the conversation, a threat to some and a boon to others. Compensation and benefits became freely discussed between coworkers.

Work took a turn for the transparent, but what’s unclear is if HR and TA were psychologically prepared for the shift.

Even so, HR and TA certainly saw what was happening, absorbing and observing. That why we’ve heard the desired ‘seat the table’ diatribe repeated over and over again. The convergence of internal struggles and an external evolution forced HR and TA into an awkward – often uncomfortable – spot, so it’s no surprise that we see self-protection in the form of egocentrism as the outfall.

 

How We Move Forward

Dave Ulrich recently wrote, “For decades, all of us in the human capital profession have relied on best practice logic…But using best practices falls short when human capital issues become ever more central to changing business conditions.”

That’s where we stand now, so what can we do about the damage done to the HR and TA psyche? We can understand how the state of HR and TA informs everyday actions and decisions. We can find new ways to resolve what HR and TA feel on the inside. Some say they’ve been lumped together, others siloed.

Some feel lonely, others hyperconnected. Almost no one has the support they need, and nearly everyone has questions about where the function should report and how it advances.

Tech is a great example, given the reticence by many to adopt solutions designed to support and not supplant. If and when HR or TA moves to implement tech, do they have the power or budget to decide? Does the CFO or CEO always need to get involved?

Training is another example. Who is coaching HR and TA through this? What’s the hang-up? Do HR and TA not feel ready to embrace new technologies or opportunities to develop? Do they feel threatened by newness? Is ego blurring their vision?

HR and TA are trapped in a cycle that’s creating a disillusioned population of professionals, doubtful of their own expertise and without the toolkit to succeed.

The frustration is both palpable and justified. Ulrich says that “now is the time for HR to reinvent itself by moving beyond benchmarking and best practices to guidance.” While that may be true, it won’t fix what’s broken on the inside. And for that, there is no sweeping statement or easy answer.

Instead, there’s the admission that there’s work to do inside the house first. That looking inward and accepting ego’s influence will help HR and TA evolve to a future state.

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Radical Flexibility: The Great Reawakening https://recruitingdaily.com/radical-flexibility-the-great-reawakening/ Thu, 11 Feb 2021 20:00:00 +0000 https://recruitingdaily.com/radical-flexibility-the-great-reawakening/ This three-part series looks at what’s next for human resources and talent acquisition. Part one makes a case for 2021 as HR’s moment of radical praxis, part two for rebuilding... Read more

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This three-part series looks at what’s next for human resources and talent acquisition. Part one makes a case for 2021 as HR’s moment of radical praxis, part two for rebuilding the relationship with TA, and part three for recentering what functions as the heart of organizations.  

The Great Reawakening

If we’ve learned anything over the last year, it’s that the “doing things the way we’ve always done them” fixes absolutely nothing. Knowing that the world has experienced a period of collective, sustained trauma, there’s been a lot of talk about building resilience, agility, flexibility, and the like.

But what about grace? For ourselves and those around us? HR has long had its critics, both external and even some on the inside, doing the work. Where are the encouragers? Are you one?  

The HR of 2021 is not going to be the same HR of 2020. Nor is it going to be the HR of 2019, 2009, or anything before. The HR of 2021 is part of a great reawakening on the part of organizations and the larger collective consciousness. In part one of this series, we advocated for introspection and a call to action.

In part two, we talked about empathy and repairing the relationship between HR and TA.

Now, it’s time to think about the future.  

Lars Schmidt refers to HR’s internal conflict in his book, Redefining HR, reminding us that there is a distinction between the old-school teams and next-generation leaders. More than that, what we need at this exact moment is a way to and solidify HR as a next-generation function.

Finding Center

Given its role at the center of the action, critical to the health of the overall organization and all of its various functions, we would argue for HR as the heart, anatomically and metaphorically. The heart is necessary. You quite literally can’t go on without it, and yet, it’s pretty easy to overlook just how important it is, day-to-day.

You don’t always see your heart. You don’t always know when it’s hurting. And as a result, we sometimes end up more damaged than we realize.

There are a number of ways we could take this metaphor. However, we’re not here to talk about HR in a cutesy, Valentine’s paper heart sort of way. That’s been done before.

There are no two ways about it: HR is a vital organ and, as it stands today, is pretty broken. And once you’ve been heartbroken, you have to pick up the pieces. You have to reconsider patterns and habits. You have to rethink who you were, decide who you want to be, and unlearn what you once believed in order to evolve.

Reflecting on her 2020 HR heartbreak, Kayla Moncayo wrote, “We must stop convincing humanity they have to experience tragedy to earn good things in life.”

Do you hear us, HR?

We want to see HR through a “can’t live without out it” lens. In a “this is the department that keeps your organization happy, healthy, and alive” sort of way. CEOs are always the first to say that their people are their biggest asset. And HR represents the people.

Despite this undeniable connection, the HR muscle has weakened over the years, and its heartbeat has slowed. But HR can’t neglect its own health any longer.

 

Beyond Purpose

The pre-pandemic narrative focused heavily on reskilling and upskilling in the face of automation. We read scary statistics from McKinsey that estimated “between 400 and 800 million individuals could be displaced” and “75 million to 375 million may need to switch occupational categories and learn new skills.”

We talked about work-life balance or work-life integration and whether remote work was actually productive. We let HR get sick with worry about an unknown future rather than work as an organization’s main artery of support.

You’ve likely heard of purpose-driven organizations. Deloitte explains that purpose “articulates why an organization exists, what problems it is here to solve, and who it wants to be to each human it touches through its work.” Deloitte also shares that these companies witness higher market share gains and grow three times faster on average than their competitors while achieving higher workforce and customer satisfaction.

These are the types of ideas that make the C-Suite care, and let’s be honest, if HR is the heart, the C-Suite is the brain. There’s no denying their role – or say – in the matter.

 

Getting There

So, with that in mind, we’re not going to say we have the business case for a heart-led approach to HR all figured out. What we do know is that present circumstances aren’t the only reason HR is in this place. Organizations have been neglecting these teams for years. It wasn’t until HR was needed the most that anyone realized how bad things had gotten.

The good news is, we’re waking up.

Still, we can’t move from old-school to next generation if we don’t acknowledge the value in emotional intelligence and the softer side of what HR represents. If we’re to believe that humans are an asset, we must treat them as such, including HR and its varied professionals.

Yes, hearts can harden, and encouraging HR to become heart-led will mean working through the pains brought on by years of derision and disdain. There will be valves to unblock before HR will live at the center of organizations, where it can focus on connecting with others, creating and caring for the community (and itself), and pumping in fresh energy and ideas.

That will take acknowledging lived experiences, shoring up weaknesses, providing help when it’s needed, and demonstrating grace whenever and wherever possible.

And, of course, it will take a whole lot of heart.

 

Additional resources:

LISTEN:

Spark Conversations: Power of Purpose – Kellee Marlow & Eric Kim

READ:

Adam Grant – Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know

WATCH:

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Radical Empathy: A New Relationship for HR and Recruiting https://recruitingdaily.com/radical-empathy-a-new-relationship-for-hr-and-recruiting/ Wed, 10 Feb 2021 20:00:00 +0000 https://recruitingdaily.com/radical-empathy-a-new-relationship-for-hr-and-recruiting/ This three-part series looks at what’s next for human resources and talent acquisition. Part one makes a case for 2021 as HR’s moment of radical praxis, part two for rebuilding... Read more

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This three-part series looks at what’s next for human resources and talent acquisition. Part one makes a case for 2021 as HR’s moment of radical praxis, part two for rebuilding the relationship with TA, and part three for recentering what functions as the heart of organizations. 

 

A New Relationship for HR and Recruiting

The last 12 months have delivered countless clichés. Now more than ever. The new normal. These unprecedented times. We also heard a lot of “We’ll get through this together,” which seems to indicate a level of solidarity that didn’t exist pre-pandemic, so why would it now? The world is full of silos, and HR is no different, often caught in a tug of war with related functions, but mainly TA.

Much like the two-party system, HR and TA’s rift is growing increasingly contentious, despite everyone ultimately wanting what’s best for the organization. HR wants to own TA, likely because it factors into their performance, while TA is on a Rodney Dangerfield-level quest for some respect for their expertise.

The ownership mentality pits one side against the other, allowing the misery and judgment to continue. That said, if 2021 is HR’s moment of radical praxis, it needs to do more than self-reflect.

It needs to assess its collateral damage and find a way to repair relationships. TA first. You need each other more than you realize – or are willing to admit.

Before we hug it out, let’s look at what happened and how we fix it.

The Power Struggle

For today’s purpose, we’re going to talk about radical empathy. The concept, which has a few definitions, encourages people to consider another’s point of view. The key is to consider it even when (maybe especially when) we disagree in order to connect more deeply with the other side. “Side” is an important word here because there are almost always two sides to every story (and relationship).

Some say there are three: yours, mine, and the truth. But what about yours, mine, and ours? Are we on opposing teams – or the same one?  

Regardless, the trouble begins when people start to struggle, something the pandemic only exacerbated. When we start to struggle, we tend to see ourselves as alone, without resources, direction – or help. When we feel alone, we get scared and look for a way to control the situation.

Wanting control leads to power … and you probably see where this is going.

Researcher Brené Brown sees power as the real issue, noting that Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. said power is “the ability to achieve purpose and effect change.” That right there could be the mission statement of both HR and TA professionals the world over.

And even though these functions aren’t known for their power within organizations, Brown goes onto say, “What makes power dangerous is how it’s used. Power over is driven by fear. Daring and transformative leaders share power with, empower people to, and inspire people to develop power within.”

Now, some will take umbrage with her use of the word leadership, and to that, we say, don’t. It doesn’t matter if you are an HR Business Partner or Talent Acquisition Associate. Leadership isn’t what’s wrong here – you are all leaders in your own right. It’s power – and power is in direct conflict with radical empathy. 

 

A New Position

To improve the connection between HR and TA, you need to stop looking for power over the other. That’s not going to improve outcomes. Instead, you need to think about how you’re evaluating your team, as well, a team. How are you working together to engage talent? Who is talking to who?

HR needs to stop looking down on recruiters as less-than, and recruiters need to realize that HR isn’t the enemy. One does not have power over the other.

Having more experience doesn’t make you more empowered. Ageism works both ways (and isn’t helping anyone!). Assuming you need to power over someone more experienced than you because you’re more innovative, or assuming you need to power over someone less experienced because they lack expertise is only making things worse. No respect!

For these barriers to come down, you can’t be too busy (or powerful) to talk to each other. In the world of Zoom, are you making time?

Remember open door policies? Have the doors slammed shut? Think about creating one specifically for HR and TA. Make it an open-heart policy, one that enables you to get back on the same team and become true partners.

That could mean hosting office hours so recruiters can check in with HR and vice versa. Don’t sit – or struggle – in silence. HR and TA are both based on relationships. Yours can be mutually beneficial if you remove fear, power, and shame from the equation. Is it going to take work? Absolutely.

But as Brown says, “Getting it right is more important than being right.”

Likewise, getting to a place of radical empathy will be a build process. There will be growing pains along the way. Building is rarely seamless or easy. Still, someone needs to take the first step. Someone needs to open the door.

We need to put joy back into the work we do. It’s supposed to be fun to hire. It’s supposed to be rewarding to partner with the people around us. If we move away from power and ego and allow trust and collaboration back into the HR-TA relationship, we can center ourselves around connection and humanity, as Brown urges, and use empathy to drive our agendas, cultures, and values.

 

Additional resources:

LISTEN:

Unlocking Us – Brené Brown with Joe Biden on Empathy, Unity, and Courage

READ:

Tina Marie Wohlfield – Stop Collaborate and Listen: Developing Impactful HR Partnerships through Collaboration

WATCH:

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Radical Praxis: What Happens When HR Gets Rehired? https://recruitingdaily.com/radical-praxis-what-happens-when-hr-gets-rehired/ Tue, 09 Feb 2021 20:00:00 +0000 https://recruitingdaily.com/radical-praxis-what-happens-when-hr-gets-rehired/ This three-part series looks at what’s next for human resources and talent acquisition. Part one makes a case for 2021 as HR’s moment of radical praxis, part two for rebuilding... Read more

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This three-part series looks at what’s next for human resources and talent acquisition. Part one makes a case for 2021 as HR’s moment of radical praxis, part two for rebuilding the relationship with TA, and part three for recentering what functions as the heart of organizations.

What Happens When HR Gets Rehired?

By now, we all know about 2020 and its impact on HR and TA. For many, it meant turmoil and disruption, subject to job loss and the search for something new. For others, it meant a call to action, to perform without a roadmap or resources in place.

There is burnout on both sides and a lingering sense of uncertainty. A lot has happened in a relatively short period of time, and many of us are still working to reconcile and process. Even so, we know from past crises that things will turn around eventually, and when they do, it pays to be prepared.

But how do you prepare when there’s still so much unknown? You turn inward before looking out. Many things remain outside of your control, especially now, but there’s always more you can do inside.  

There are different ways to approach HR’s role within an organization. For years, we’ve heard the call to “secure a seat at the table” and “think more like marketing,” and while this advice is no doubt well-intentioned, it’s also misplaced.

There’s exhaustion to work through, fatigue – and let’s face it, a bit of an image issue to reconcile. 2020 only illuminated that, and without self-reflection, these symptoms will only get worse. It’s time for solutions, for radical praxis.

Here’s why:

Shifting Mindsets

If you work in HR or a related role, take a minute and ask yourself what you’ve learned over the last 12 months. Do you want to keep doing this work? Because if there were ever a moment to get out, it would be now. Are you still in it? OK, keep reading.

If you’re in it and committed to continuing, you need to be in it harder than before. HR is harder than before. Recruiting is harder than before. And things might get worse before they get better. We don’t know. Accepting that we’re dealing in unknowns, we need to start identifying what’s changed.

For one, there’s the continued push towards “strategic” HR, a word we’re all so sick of hearing. Still, to move ahead, we need to understand what this means in today’s context. For years, HR existed as solely transactional. The departments where someone would show up and say, “Can you answer my question about X benefit?” or “I need your help to hire Y.”

That was it, like ringing up an order at the grocery store. Scan the items, hit total, collect the money, and hand over the receipt. Have a nice day – see you maybe never. A lot of old school practices are based on this type of methodology.

Over the last decade, folks have been working to break down this wall and introduce “strategy.” In doing so, we overlooked that HR had been taught to be guarded, to protect their information and knowledge. So much so that HR folks were encouraged not to talk to their peers because why would you share trade secrets?

Not to take a seat at the table or in that meeting, to sit quietly and do the work. Not to ask for what you want and need from leadership. Not to feel worthy of budgets, opinions, or perspectives.

Sure, you could argue it’s because no one encouraged you to speak up, but think about what got internalized along the way. Some unlearning needs to take place. Now, we have this call to be strategic. The call itself isn’t new. It’s just growing louder.

Strategic exists on a continuum: one that favors relationship building, asking for help, learning from one another, and more. The problem is, how to be strategic when you still have the transactional work and less headcount to rely on? HR is being pulled in different directions.

Hence the need for a reckoning.

 

What’s Next

By definition, praxis refers to the necessary relation between theory and practice – making the implicit explicit. Radical, in most instances, means advocating for complete change or reform. Taken together, the idea of radical praxis is about embracing a new way of thinking and being.

If we’re to make the implicit explicit, HR needs to rethink its role as soon as possible.

HR can continue on this current path, where all of these problems can continue to exist and rehire and pretend none of this ever happened, or it can figure out its problems and pivot in a new direction.

In some organizations, HR might remain strictly transactional if that suits the workforce and culture it supports. In others, it might need to become more strategic to help redefine the employee experience.

HR is full of employees. Employees who need help, coaches, and training. Employees who also face burnout if not considering self-compassion and boundary setting. Coming off the back of 2020, HR probably needs this “now more than ever” to reconcile the “us versus them” mentality that’s led to this point.

It isn’t HR against employees or HR against the organization. HR bridges the gap between employer and employee and needs to demonstrate that it serves both parties (and itself) equally.

That takes emotional intelligence and self-worth, two things that aren’t always easy to quantify or develop.

You don’t have to be kind. You can remove the heart and humanity from the equation. You can choose productivity and efficiency.

HR has done that for years, and ultimately, you have agency over the decision.

It’s the power of choice that makes 2021 your moment to decide.

 

Additional resources:

LISTEN:

Ten Percent Happier – The Scientific Case for Self-Compassion

READ:

Laurie Ruettimann – Betting On You: How to Put Yourself First and (Finally) Take Control of Your Career

WATCH:

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