Could you be committing these HR faux pas? HC reviews the five sins of ‘bad HR leadership’ that could be costing you big time in the credibility stakes.
Let’s face it – HR is one of the toughest jobs in the world, and no one’s perfect, but HR consultant and blogger, Tim Sackett, has given a blistering attack on bad HR leadership that could actually serve as a useful warning of what not to do if you’re looking to build your credibility in HR management.
Here are the five traits of bad HR leaders according to Sackett:
Using bad metrics
Failure to track results, or failure to measure the things that matter, mean most decisions are being made based on bad data, or simply relying on instinct. Some HR leaders are more focused on looking like they’re doing well than finding out whether they actually are doing well, Sackett suggests.
Not taking appropriate risks
“Lousy HR leaders love to cover their own ass more than any other single thing they do,” Sackett says. “Organisations take risk every single day. It’s not HR’s job to eliminate risk, it’s our job to champion appropriate risk and be all in with our business partners.”
Not being a master of the tough conversation
Unfortunately for HR, many tough conversations fall within their responsibility. It’s vital that HR address misconceptions, be clear about expectations and assess problems beyond a surface level.
“Most leadership fails at this, but HR can’t. We have to be the coaches for all other leadership in our organisation,” Sackett says. “If anyone knows how to have a tough conversation, it has to be HR.”
Not being able to clearly articulate the corporate vision
An on-going area of improvement for most HR leaders, those that ignore the need for alignment are limiting their organisation.
“Another sign of lousy leadership is when your leader just uses the organization vision and can’t break it down to a functional level,” Sackett adds. “This is just flat out lazy.
Not being able to treat employees as equal but different
Sackett says there’s a difference between treating everyone the same, and making everyone feel equal, and it’s a difference HR needs to recognise.
“I want all my employees to feel like no one is better than another, but we also have to have a fundamental organisational understanding that at certain points and times some employees must be treated differently, for the good of the organisation,” he says. “Lousy HR leaders are uncomfortable with this concept because it’s easy to just fall back on ‘we treat everyone the same'."
What do you think are the worst traits HR leaders can have?
