What HR pros must do to remain culturally relevant
Modern human resources leaders must be bold employee advocates–and be willing to challenge the status quo in their organization.
“I don’t see color.”
I had to gag. Here we were, just a few HR professionals discussing racism and conscious bias, and a veteran HR professional had to blurt out those four oblivious words in response to how to create a more equitable and inclusive workplace.
What a cop-out. It’s very similar to “say it when I’m out of earshot” or “yes, but I didn’t tell you that” or other sayings that some unscrupulous HR professionals convey to peers and employees as a means to look past, if not implicitly legitimize, bad practices.
Such behavior has contributed to a lot of stereotypes surrounding the profession. It’s why so many people think that HR is just a lackey of the organization’s leaders and that HR professionals deal only with compliance. Heck, there’s a reason why the most well-attended sessions at HR conferences and networking events are often the employment law session. Not saying that’s a bad thing, but… it’s compliance. And good HR is more than mere compliance.
Likewise, a good number of HR workers may feel content with 9-5 jobs that are relatively comfortable, stable and straightforward (especially if you play decent office politics).
Until now.
The reckoning
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