Ed O'Brien's courageous approach to HR for global, creative companies.

Eyepatches, Capes, Oysters, Innovation, and Human Resources

What do all of these things have to do with one another?  They all tie together in the person of the late David Ogilvy.  He liked to wear capes and his Ad Agency created the iconic advertisements using the man in the eye patch and matching oysters to beer.  His organization was one of the most creative of its time and was hugely successful.  

So how does that connect to Innovation and Human Resources?  Well, in 1985 during a dinner in London of top executives he addressed the issue of corporate culture.  He wondered if the agency had one:  "Apparently we do.  We seem to have an exceptionally strong culture.  Indeed, it may be this, more than anything else, which differentiates us from our competitors."  

It starts with the working atmosphere:  "Some of our people spend their entire working lives in our company.  We do our damnedest to make it a happy experience for them."  We treat people like human beings.  We help them when they are in trouble - with their jobs, with illnesses, with alcoholism, and so on.  We help our people make the most of their talents.  We invest an awful lot of time and money in training - perhaps more than any of our competitors.  

Our system of management is singularly democratic.  We don't like hierarchical bureaucracy or rigid pecking orders.  We abhor ruthlessness.  We like people with gentle manners.  Our NY office goes so far as to give an annual award for what they call "professionalism combined with civility".  We like people who are honest.  Honest in argument, honest with clients, honest with suppliers, and honest with the company.....

Innovation, creativity, and great design thinking can and will differentiate an organization from its competitors, but the right culture must be in place first.  It requires a culture where creativity and treating people well gets as much attention as spreadsheets.  I think David Ogilvy did a better job articulating this notion than I ever could.   That is where Human Resources can make an immense impact...in developing the right type of culture to allow Innovation to flourish.

Is HR becoming a portal!?

I am astounded at the rate at which I see HR support in multiple forms ( Employee Relations, Benefits support, Training & Development, etc.) being reduced to a portal that people are sent to get their answers.....or sometimes not really to get their answers but to log questions.

I get it.  HR like everyone else is being asked to do more with less and the favorite solution is to "automate" any process that can be.  I don't think just because you "can" means you "should".  I am stealing that quote from the first Jurassic Park movie.  It referenced the wisdom of using cutting edge technology to bring the dinosaur back to life. I question the wisdom of taking the human touch out of HR.  Employees need to be able to reach a live person on occasion and they shouldn't have to go through a mine field of websites and/or automated voice response systems to do it.

I take a different approach.  I give EVERYONE I support and work with my one and only cell phone number (I don't have a separate personal phone).  I tell them they will compete with my wife, kids and others to reach me, but I am available to them when they really need to talk to a live person.  Now, when I offer my cell phone number, I expect our HR processes to be good enough to avoid the need for me to receive too many calls.  I also expect those working for me to make sure they are as available as possible as well.  In my experience, I have not been bombarded with calls though over 2000 people have my number and know I want them to call me if they need help or direction.

I have also been in the position to work directly with external clients in my HR Leadership roles, and I know our Clients like the ability to reach me directly if needed.  In fact, on a recent phone call from a Client (at a Fortune 500 company) this Corporate Leader talked to me about how refreshing it was to be able to reach a HR person on a moments notice. She said she used to know who supported her in HR in the past and how vital that person was to her.....now she said she has lost contact with HR...not knowing who specifically she should be trying to Partner with.

Which takes me back to the HR as "portals" premise.  I think it is getting overused because someone can show they can reduce headcount costs with software.  I am a believer in using technology to enable the cost efficient handling of transactions and many linear logical tasks.  My concern is that the problems employees face are not always "linear logical" and sometimes it isn't even an answer they want.  I hope the pendulum starts its inevitable swing back in the direction of "high touch" as I think it will allow HR to regain the relationship currency we have lost.

Progressive Employee Benefits

In the past I have talked about HR getting more aggressive and creative with employee rewards and benefits.  Here is an article that shows what some creative companies are doing with benefits.

www.economictimes.indiatimes.com/HR_policies_theres_more_to_it_than_meets_the_eye/rssarticleshow/2866713.cms

If you think you are being progressive with "Adoption Leave" wait until you read about "Heartache Leave" provided by a company in Japan!

In the footsteps of my Father...

My Father is the best HR Executive that I have ever known, but of course, I am biased. I am biased, but he still deserves that honor. Having worked for over 35 years with Corning Inc. in one of the more progressive HR functions in the world, he had a terrific opportunity to work with some of the world’s foremost experts in the HR field, plus a few great leaders. Some of the key people he worked with include Mike Beer, Peter Block, Ken Freeman, Amory and Jamie Houghton, Peter Senge, Barbara Bunker, and Ed Lawler.

From this experience, he molded a unique HR perspective that was based on only what works, not all the popular beliefs that don’t really get results.

He worked in union and non-union environments as a Generalist, created one of the strongest Training & Development functions of any global company, and then served as the HR Leader for Asia for over two decades, developing a special expertise in Japan.

My approach is very much grounded in his experience. He has been my mentor and I am blessed to have that opportunity.

Keep reading my blog and learn some of his secrets. The first, is about having courage and the willingness to give your opinions and to push back when you need to. In fact, as he says, “if as an HR professional, you are not “pissing people off occasionally” you are not doing your job”. In HR you have to do what is right for the people and the business ----that means having the courage to push people to be better, to do the right thing, and to make organizations more effective. See my comments about “courageous HR” each week in this blog.

Over time, I hope HR professionals and other executives will benefit from other insights from my father. He has lots to teach us.

HR Courage

“Courage” is a work seldom brought up in the context of a discussion about Human Resources or Human Resource professionals, yet it is the single most important characteristic of great performance in the field of Human Resources.

Why is it so important in Human Resources?

It is important because HR professionals have a duty to protect employees, the business, and its shareholders. As other functions like Finance and Legal also exist to protect the business and shareholders, I will focus my comments on courage in support of employees, as HR performs more “solos” in this area.

HR professionals many times find themselves in the midst of many big business discussions and decisions where they need to take a stance to ensure good people management decisions are being made.

You can’t be a great HR executive without great business acumen with a full understanding of how people decisions impact business results and shareholders over time. End of story. But, that is not enough. Great HR professionals start from the perspective of what makes good business sense and then also need to ensure great people related decisions are made.