I was asked by Steve Browne for a post that summed up my thoughts on how HR can get better. Steve is Executive Director at La Rosa’s Pizza in the US and is a massive HR and rock music radical. So here is my post with some background as to why I feel able to comment on such matters for my US cousins.
Having spent many years running the Kent Branch of The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) in the UK, acting as a board member of their Council, working in HR for a Pharmaceutical Company and teaching Strategic HRM at MBA level, I had an extended period to study HR strategy and practice from the viewpoints of my original careers as a scientist and innovation leader. As a result, I wrote a manifesto for HR transformation in a book called “Punk Rock People Management”. In case you are wondering if this requires HR pros to pogo whilst doing staff appraisals, relax! The “Punk Rock” aspect of the title simply refers to three underlying principles of the punk rock phenomenon that apply to good HR strategy and practice:
Simplicity – Simplification in punk was about three chords or even less. Lou Reed once claimed that anything more than three chords is jazz. Likewise, good HR and great leaders make the complex compellingly simple. If HR is overly complex it’s no surprise if managers reach for their own versions of policies and procedures.
Keep it simple
Brevity – Brevity in punk was exactly what it said on the tin. The Ramones managed to get their message across in just over two minutes and some of Wire’s early recordings coming in at under one minute, compared with the neo classical 20 minute overtures that characterised Prog Rock (Make no mistake, I’m a big Prog Rock fan as well, but we’re not here to discuss musical tastes). To misquote Albert Einstein good HR keeps things as short as they need to be but no shorter …
Keep it short
Authenticity – At punk’s core was the idea of telling it like it is. Good HR also keeps things real. In practice the great HR professional speaks in the language of the business they serve rather than hiding behind HR jargon. Jargon is a natural feature of all professions, but when it excludes rather than engages it has lost its purpose as a kind of ‘shorthand’.
Keep it real
I was speaking with Ron Thomas, CEO of Great Place to Work, in the Gulf just recently. We discussed some other qualities that characterise great HR, amongst them:
Understand the business – Good HR professionals align the HR strategy and tactics with the long-term business imperatives. It’s what I call the “HR Six Pack”:
The HR Six Pack – not modelled here by Iggy Pop …
Understand the numbers – Business starts with the financials rather than the appraisal process etc. A grip on the numbers gives you the context to make better HR decisions by fact rather than guesswork. HR professionals also need to be data savvy rather than leaving that to the IT or finance professionals.
Understand the context – You’ve got all your HR / Business qualifications right? So why isn’t the CEO wanting to implement the 9 box model, 360 degree appraisals and so on? Business schools offer an idealized view of how things should be at work, but work rarely works like that. Successful HR professionals understand context and adopt a “best fit” approach, seizing opportunities to make their workplaces great and understanding the nuance of time and timing. This is usually superior than attempting to plug in “best practice” elements without considering the context, rather akin to attempting a kidney transplant without considering the recipient.
For more on subjects such as recruitment, induction, engagement, rewards, appraisal, promotion, innovation, training, conflict, exit and so on pick up a copy of “Punk Rock People Management” or attend one of our Music and Business keynotes or masterclasses.
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Peter Cook leads Human Dynamics, offering better Organisation Development, Training and Coaching. He offers keynotes that blend World Class Leadership Thinking with the wisdom of the street via The Academy of Rock – where Business Meets Music. Author of seven books on Business Leadership, acclaimed by Tom Peters, Professors Charles Handy, Adrian Furnham and Harvey Goldsmith CBE. Connect with us on our Linkedin Company Page and join our group The Music of Business where we discuss parallel lessons from Business and Music.
Contact him via peter@humdyn.co.uk
Peter Cook - Speaker, Author 
May I quote you? This is great! Sherry
Sent from my iPhone
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Be my guest Sherry – of course you may
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Being just that (little) bit older, I never really ‘got’ punk. My particular musical journey had relished the way that over the previous decade, the ‘artists’ had largely freed themselves from Tin Pan Alley and argued that musicianship was the key factor; of course this was to a large extent what Punk was rebelling against.
Only as Punk evolved, did I begin to value the energy and the ‘challenging the givens’ (see Charles Handy/John Martin – it should have been one of Pinchot’s 10 commandments but wasn’t. I think Greeks said something similar, along the lines of ‘kicking against’ something or other).
So maybe Punk evolved because it became one of the ‘givens’, & the next generation needed something new to challenge
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Well, each generation is compelled to dislike the previous generations music. I concur as a musician that there was a lot of ‘rubbish music’ in the punk movement. At some level it was not about music anyway?
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You don’t always realise it at the outset, but It never is just about music; for some it’s a means to an end, for others an end in itself.
(… & yes, there’s a lot of rubbish in every genre)
Each to their own
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