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Add Value To Your HR Practice

by Rey Misoles

As HR practitioner, are you a Cost-Center or Profit-
Center? How do you contribute to the bottomline
results of your oganization?

By the way, this is not just for HR people but also
for non-HR managers who understand that human
resource management is a line function.

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HR discipline is a closed niche, at least from my
perspective. This has both a positive and negative
impact. Let's try to discuss some of the points.

The Good Side

Being highly-specialized, HR is an indispensable
factor in every organization. In fact, when companies
implement labor-saving device like retrenchments and
lay-offs, the last one to go will always be HR people.
Most often, they don't go at all.

The nitty-gritty, or what is sometimes called the
"dirty job," will always be HR's - nobody wants to
handle them, definitely not manufacturing or sales.
Even to the point of disciplining their own men,
departments oftentimes rely on HR to do this for them
- which I believe is a practice that belongs to the
old school of thought. And the ultimate horror of
management function - terminating employees, is always
the butter on HR's bread. No wonder, we're always the
last to go!

These are just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak, on
the importance of the HR function in an organization.
What a big tip!

The Bad Side

However, being highly-specialized also brings with it
a great disadvantage. In terms of promotions and
organizational movements, seldom is HR considered if
at all. That's why we almost always see somebody who
joins an organization in the HR department, and
retires in the same department 40 years after. Not too
bad! I mean, at least one keeps his job over the long
haul.

Another point is, we are most often considered as
idea-implementers and not idea-generators. We may have
spearheaded a company-wide "Employee Suggestion
System," without even participating. Why can't we?
Of course - it seems awkward if we give rewards to
ourselves (just in case our suggestion gets
implemented). Well, some mature organizations have a
way out of this trap.

O-I-C

So how do you get out of this cycle (please note I
didn't say "vicious;" if you think it's a vicious
cycle, please read again The Good Side).

By putting yourself into the company's profit stream.
Mind you, it's not easy. You need to develop some new
skills, something that contributes directly to your
company's bottomline. It means investing in yourself -
time and effort. Again, it's not easy. It takes 1,000
hours to learn a new skill; 5,000 hours to master that
skill.

Oh my, I'd rather stay in HR (did I hear you say
that?). For those who dare to venture, come with me!
Let's get down to specifics.

One very good skill you can learn is making a website.
Please don't shout at me - "IT BELONGS TO IT
DEPARTMENT." In todays hi-tech everything, you can't
leave your fate to anybody's hands. You must learn how
to do it if you want to survive.

But what are the benefits of learning this skill? Good
question. And this is especially true to companies who
maximize the use of modern technology. As HR, we have
lots of programs - recognition, simple celebrations,
current updates, name it you have it all. Wouldn't it
be nice to have at your fingertips the skills to
document and show these activities right after the
event? Yes, you have IT - who is also very busy with
their priorities. You may have your request done, but
. . . you know what I mean.

Knowing how to create a website, creating an HR
website, and being current and up-to-date in bringing
your activities to your constituents is such a great
feeling - and an excellent morale booster. Besides, it
makes you a valuable player in your organization, too.
Believe you me, it's not easy - but it's not that
difficult either. If you only have enough "why's," you
will suddenly have more than enough "how's."

"But it's not in my JD." Yes, that's why it's called
extra mile.

To get yourself started, I'm giving you access to a
user-friendly resource where you will learn the basics
- from the perspective of a newbie:

http://leadersladder.org/newbieclub/tund.html

Oh, I forgot to tell you. It's not just about website
building. It's everything about your pc and the
internet. Enjoy!

- Let me know when you've created a new website, I
might have a tip or two to improve it!

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Please feel free to email me your comments, reactions,
or suggestions so that others may also benefit. It is
one way where we can help our fellow HR practitioners
grow and improve in this super-complicated field of
people-management.

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"Don't bother just to be better than your
contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better
than yourself."

- William Faulkner

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