HR is Headed for Self Destruction - Workology

HR is Headed for Self Destruction - Workology HR is Headed for Self Destruction One of my favorite old skool hip-hop songs is Self Destruction. After 20 years, I still know over 90% of the lyrics. It is one of a few old skool jams that causes me to stop whatever Im doing and lose myself in words and nostalgia for a few minutes whenever I hear it. HR is Headed for Self Destruction It isnt lost on me that the lyrics are still very much relevant and applicable today but I dont want to talk about that stuff here. This isnt the place for it. This is a blog about HR leading organizations to high levels of performance. And although pop culture and politics trickle into the conversation, we always have to bring it back to the practical application of business theory and operations. Otherwise, were just more rhetoric and a symptom of the problem. I digress. The song popped into my head recently as I was planning an exercise with my HR team about the connectedness of our functions. This is the first time Ive worked somewhere with departments within the HR department, where everyone had a specialty and there were no generalists. And the in-fighting between the groups is something to behold! I thought only practitioners and consultants had beef (see Notorious B.I.G for definition). Now Im learning HR specialties fight with each other over who is the most important, who deserves the most accolades, attention and budget resources. I found myself looking to these lyrics for explanation and  inspiration It really aint the rap audience thats buggin Its one or two suckas, ignorant brothers Trying to rob and steal from one another You get caught in the mid So to crush the stereotype heres what we did We got ourselves together so that you could unite and fight for whats right Not negative cause the way we live is positive The first thing I had to remember is the majority of HR people do not feel this way. The majority of us are positive about  and supportive of what each area is trying to do. We recognize each others value and we celebrate it. There are only a few bad apples who are insecure in their knowledge and their roles that are causing the problems. The positive voices must continue to speak often and loudly to mute and drown out the negative sounds. Pop pop pop When its hot whos to blame? Headlines, front page, and raps the name Whether it is talent or benefits or safety, when things go wrong with the people functions, HR as a whole gets blamed. Business and the world of work at large doesnt care about the specialties. They see us as ONE. We need to start seeing ourselves the same so that we work to help each other and not undermine each other. If we want to develop and grow to another level We cant be guinea pigs for the devil The enemy knows, theyre no fools Because everyone knows that hip-hop rules HR is still fighting to be seen  as a valuable aspect of business. In this post on my blog, I talked about why this continues and what HR can do to make it better. Fighting each other doesnt help our cause. We need to focus on what we have in common and how we are connected, not further division. The other areas of business get this and, for the most part, keep internal disputes under control and under the radar. HR must learn to do the same. Its time to stand together in a unity Cause if not then were soon to be Self-destroyed, unemployed The rap race will be lost without a trace The wars between the specialties has HR headed for self destruction. By setting out to make the other look less valuable,  the whole profession looks foolish and we all suffer because of it. We must learn to focus on understanding the specialties within our function and how we can help each other to be successful and advance. If we dont, organizations will continue to look outside of HR for the leadership, guidance and strategy to direct the goals and path of the organization because no one has  the time or desire to deal with drama! Because the real enemy is our outside competition the companies and industries we compete with for customers and market share. Not Operations or Accounting or IT and definitely not the other functions of HR. Learn to be Self-sufficient, independent To teach to each is what rap intended But society wants to invade So do not walk this path they laid. Its Self Destruction