My industry is falling apart… and I couldn’t be happier about it.
Why?
Because it is time for HR to die.
This might sound like something melodramatic or vindictive, but truthfully, it’s neither. Let me explain.
If we’re going to put things in boxes (something I vehemently hate but try to make peace with for the sake of communication), I work primarily on the OD side of HR/OD, which stands for “Human Resources/Organizational Development.” In an organization, this is the group who deals with anything “people-related.” In theory, it’s the human side of business.
In practice, though, it often ends up being more about Human Resistance than being a Human Resource. To add insult to injury, this side of business doesn’t really get treated like a respectable part of the business, either. There are (at least) three very good reasons for this (and none of them are the “fault” of HR/OD people):
Recently I’ve been noticing a trend for many organizations to outsource more of their HR/OD workforce. These people can, supposedly at least, easily shift into a more consultative type of role, and by doing this a company can reduce it’s full-time employees and drastically cut expenses.
What’s exciting about this seemingly scary trend is that if it can continue on a large scale, and HR can disintegrate to the point where it doesn’t look anything like where it started, there will be an opportunity to build something new in its place — which is exactly what needs to happen.
Also, I’m pretty sure most of the wonderful people I know in HR/OD would relish the opportunity to actually, finally, BE a human resource (something the current system will never allow).
We, as a workforce and marketplace, haven’t been ready to create something new until very recently. But now we are. The evidence is piling up around us, in the form of the R.O.W.E., the 20% rule, and “crazy” new ideas entering the business lexicon from books like ReWork and Drive (and hopefully My Book when it comes out).
Soon, we will build what should have been there all along: internal, equal, top-level* strategic business partners who are 100% sold out to building a healthy work environment, fostering exceptional company culture, and championing full employee engagement. (I call the leader of this group a Chief Culture Officer, and it is one piece of the puzzle in the very exciting future of organizations.)
The death of HR will mean the birth of something much better.
I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait.
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P.S. For a more in-depth look at this issue, download the article “Talent Pool or Talent Puddle” by Marc Effron and Miriam Ort.
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*I say “top-level” so you know where in the organization I’m talking about — but I had to add this footnote as a caveat, because, as we know, the real leaders of the future lead from the bottom.
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I’ve always wanted to know “Why?” (God bless my saintly parents). I reason that if we can understand why things are happening — if we can figure out what’s hiding in the background motivating people or systems or organizations — it’s easier to make sense of things and figure out how to respond.
Today I wanted to share with you a few ideas that I’ve found interesting and valuable. They should also help explain why I think the way I do about the world. These first two are excerpts from the 2009 Deloitte Shift Index (you can get the whole report here if you feel so inclined).
Why does passion matter? Because staying competitive in the newly globalized labor market requires all of us to constantly renew and update our professional skills and capabilities. The effort required to increase our rate of professional development is difficult to muster unless we are passionately engaged with our professional activities. (p. 70)
I’m part of a tremendous tribe of people over at the Management Innovation eXchange — or MIX — who are discussing this idea in depth right now, particularly how to create communities of passion (get a taste here).
Trends set in motion decades ago are fundamentally altering the global landscape… Clearly, there is a fundamental disconnect between the mind-set and practices of companies and the environment in which they compete… These findings suggest a fundamental re-thinking of the way we do business is in order. (p. 81-82)
I drastically shortened this quote; the whole two pages it comes from are a great read if you have time. The marketplace is shifting in completely unprecedented ways. Fortunately, we have better tools than ever before (i.e. collective global brainpower) to help us understand what’s going on.
The next thing I want to share is a video from TED called “When Ideas Have Sex” — turns out it’s much less bawdry than you might hope, but still incredibly brilliant. 
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What makes America great is not our endless preoccupation with liberty or freedom (those things are great, but they’re more effects than than they are causes).
It’s not our military force or our Constitution (impressive creations, perhaps, but still not the source of greatness).
It’s not our our radical inclusiveness or endless diversity (again, more of an outcome — though I must say I am very proud of those things when we do them right).
Like most things (true for organizations and leaders, for example), it’s the WHY that makes America great.
It is the underlying motivation of our founders — WHY this country exists, in the first place — that has made it a great place to live for many years.
At its core, America was founded on the idea that certain ways of treating other human beings are NOT OK. Our architects rebelled under a banner that said, “If people are not being treated rightly, it is up to us to speak up and change it.”
What makes America great is our fundamental passion to challenge the nature of societal entropy. It’s an internal fire that makes us stand up and shout, “THAT IS NOT OK!” — and then, even more importantly, to DO something to change it.
What makes America great is our desire to grow, to evolve, to become something better than we were. And because this started with our founders, this catalytic energy is somehow baked into our DNA.
To be sure, we make (and have made) our share of mistakes, but greatness isn’t defined by the fact that we do stupid things, but that we FIX them and don’t repeat them. That we now recognize the equality of different genders and races, for example, and that we’ve changed our systems to reflect this new way of thinking.
Why am I bringing all this up?
Because a moment very similar to 1776 is upon us again. But this time, the threat is not an oppressive country “out there,” but the institutional systems we built, right here.
At this very moment, far too Americans are suffering at the hands of a economic system that is tragically unjust and unfair. It is unsustainable at best and will be our complete undoing at worst.
It is NOT OK for corporate profits to be soaring while so many people remain un- or under-employed.
It is NOT OK for incomes to be this disparate.
It is NOT OK for jobs to pay so much less than what people need to live.
It is NOT OK for 82% of our people to not be passionate about the work they do. (82%!?)
It is NOT OK for people to die making our gadgets (this may happen overseas, but these are our companies).
It is NOT OK.
As Americans, we have a duty to do something to change the status quo.
Those in power have no reason to change. But that is the very reason revolutions happen.
Will you stand up? Will you do something?
America is great today because a fiery group of rebels believed SO STRONGLY that they could create a better life that they went to war with the greatest empire on earth. I do not believe today’s revolution is one of violence, but it will take the same spirit.
Do we believe in a better life that much?
What will it take to upset you enough to do something?
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P.S. Today marks the 43rd anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination. In honor of his life and activism, GOOD posted a terrific article today that is along the lines of this post. Check it out here.
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Further recommended reading:
Dutch bankers’ bonuses axed by people power from The Observer
Vietnam by Bob Lefsetz
Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1% from Vanity Fair
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Copyright © 2005-2012 Josh Allan Dykstra
