As a recruiter who does a significant percentage of my executive searches in the HR function, I love this post and hope every HR professional reads it and takes these thoughts seriously. I think HR has an additional challenge in an organization in that the HR language is not the language of the CEO. So HR has to be able to translate for those executives who do not understand how the good work HR does actually translates into the bottom line of a thriving business. Should it be evident/obviously/no-brainer? Discussion for when we all have tall drinks with fruit and umbrellas in them. For now, please be able to leap into the CEO's world. It helps when you're sitting at the table where you truly belong.

Peter,Thank you for referencing my book. This discussion has been helpful. Here's what I'm personally thinking about these days on this topic. Corporate Executive Board research shows that on average only one out of ten employees are engaged and aligned with their organization's goals. For that reason, I think it's wise at the beginning of each year for HR to help the leadership team to go back to the basics. Most organizations miss the opportunity to renew at the beginning of each year a shared annual vision among their members. The shared annual vision comes about from answering the following questions: where are we going?; why is it important?; how are we going to get there?; and, what's my (each member's) role? When a leadership team takes the time to answer these questions and hold conversations throughout the organization to help ensure that there is clarity about the vision and values, it helps bring about strategic alignment and improves employee engagement. In addition, I'm finding that more organizations are wisely investing time throughout the year to discuss the "how we will" get there (i.e. our values) and, in doing so, making it clear "how we will not" get there (i.e. what behavior is not acceptable because it is inconsistent with our values). In these conversations, participants share examples of how we are living up to our values, how we are not and where we are at risk of failure to live up to our values. Here's another area that HR leaders might consider focusing on. Most organizations are good at defining what they expect of employees in terms of annual tasks. They are not so good at defining what leaders are expected to do for employees then measuring and holding them accountable. Every organization should conduct an annual employee engagement survey to provide accountability and the questions in the survey should express what leaders are expected to bring to employees. A leaders performance review, pay and promotion potential must reflect their performance in the realm of employee engagement. I was just speaking at an organization that counts among its employees some of the brightest minds in the world and yet they were not doing this. These things sound basic, I know, but how many organizations do these basics well? I believe HR leaders can and should take the lead in these areas.

Great post Peter. I am looking forward to more conversations with you!Happy New year~Shennee

This is a super cool post. I love where you went with it, and I really like the points you made, and the questions you asked. I will mull these over. Thanks for writing such a wonderful post.

Some great points there Peter and I like your three questions.I think we need to be clear about the goals of HR. In broad terms we can say there are two main goals: one is of economic (helping the business to grow) and other is socio-political (or social legitimacy). Each HR function needs to be clear about their own economic and socio-political goals within the context and then ask your three questions i.e. identify areas that are really adding value to the business and get rid of those which are not (similar to lean concept).

Peter, great post! Here are a few immediate problems that need to be addressed. First one is that HR needs to recognize there is a problem, which I don't believe many HR Professionals do. I recall listening to a Blog Talk Radio show a couple of months ago when an industry professional commented that the only people who keep talking about HR being dead is HR, so if they stop talking about it the problem will go away. Very wise comment coming from someone who holds a prominent position within the leading HR Organization in the country and someone I would want on my team (NOT). Second, people who have been out of the industry longer than Ronald Reagan or Bill Clinton have been out of office need to stop touting themselves as HR gurus or professionals. I talk to people every day who are in HR and are still looking for that so called seat at the table. It reminds me of the quest for the "Holy Grail" where the search seems to always fall short. Lastly, it is time to get new blood in companies, try some new ideas and start moving industry forward. For too long HR has been run with a closed door policy where only the chosen have been let in, where everything is sugared coated enough to make you ill. Please does HR Professionals really believe that people can't see right through the phony facade many portrait. In too many instances HR is managed by people who only hired people that think like they do. You were either a follower or you were an outsider. In a time when many of the functions of HR can be easily outsourced you have to wonder if change doesn't come soon will it ever as many companies are learning to manage with significantly smaller groups. For all those who are truly trying to bring change for the better to the industry, I wish them all the success they need in making it happen for everyone else time for a career change!Look forward to your follow up post.

Peter- very interesting post that will make each of us think. As I see it, there are two camps of HR pros. The first camp is perfectly happy being known as the group that handles the administrative and functional aspects of human resources. I think we need these people and I question whether you would ever get these pros to want to think strategically. The second camp is the one who wants to be considered a major contributor to how a business is run. For pros with this drive, they gravitate to organizations that value HR in this way. These are the people who know how to speak the language of business and demonstrate the value of HR from a financial standpoint. Many organizations do not have a culture that supports HR professionals behaving in this way, so it can be challenging to find a fit. I think we'll always have this division in HR. So the real challenge is for each of us reading your post to determine if we're "Camp 1" or "Camp 2". Then we can determine if our start, continue, stop list matches the organization we are serving. If not, move on. If it does, do great things. Either way, HR is alive and well in so many forms. I welcome the chance to see how each of us embraces 2010 and the changes it may bring! Really enjoyed your post and look forward to other comments.

Ok Chris I will give you a starter, this list to be defined and developed to make it your own. Also some personal to do's to support the how!Start: working the talent process and the intangibles. And creatively imaginer the transactional stuff into efficient processes that support business performance. I know that some of this is still necessary but it should not be all consuming!Continue: To ask questions like: “If this was my business what would I do differently?” How would I prioritize for fast gain?Stop: accepting that what we do today is all that we can do. There is no future in that and today’s perceptions will continue to haunt us.Also we need to think what it is we need to work on- after all we cannot take care for others if don’t take care of ourselves:So here are some personal “to do’s” things to work on as HR Professionals1. Develop our leadership skills – give direction and a sense of hope2. Develop Business intuition- business sense and start connecting the dots3. Evaluate everything with a business-leadership bias4. Start using your connections- a leader understands that they cannot do it alone5. Reflect that how you see your world is a result of who you are6. Leadership is as much an art as it is a science (maybe even more so!)7. You develop credibility when you begin to show people that you genuinely want to help and care8. Treat the business as your own and treat people how they want to be treated9. Harness the hearts and minds and increase engagement as a result10. Take the difficult decisions and do it fast(Adapted from the 21 Irrefutable laws of leadership – John MaxwellSo there you have it! For 2010 I challenge HR to define its destiny as those who can look into the eyes of our fellow human beings and say we had the courage and leadership competencies to make a difference and we did it! We achieved success for the good of all we served. I leave you with a quote which I really like its by Alan Cohen when he said “To grow, you must be willing to let your present and future be totally unlike your past. Your history is not your destiny."

Great post, Peter. Glad we just connected with each other on Twitter. It is always great to discover strong, critical thinking!Thanks for getting this posted here, Karla! Great stuff!

Peter, interesting post. I have a few thoughts:1. I sometimes think that focusing on HR as a profession instead of people as HR professionals actually does our profession a disservice. "HR" doesn't need to do anything to improve. HR professionals do. We need to have a clue how our organization makes money. We need have a deep understanding of how you inspire people to do amazing things. And then we need to make sure that our managers are inspiring people to do things that make the business money.I worry that by focusing on "HR" instead of "Me, the HR professional," it become too easy to put blame on something bigger than oneself. Know what I mean?2. "For HR it means getting busy adding value and engaging the talent in our organizations." What does that mean in plain english? These kind of buzzwords sound nice, but often don't actually help people understand what it is they need to do. I think I know what you mean, and I think I agree, but the words you've chosen obfuscate your point (ironic use of the word "obfuscate" intentional).3. Is it possible we're overcomplicating what we do? That's not to say that what we do isn't important - I passionately believe it is. But as HR professionals have fought to prove our value and worth to organizations over the last few decades, it seems as though we've created a perception that our profession is so complicated that you need a PHD to do it effectively. A lot of what I would consider "good HR" is actually just common sense (that unfortunately isn't all that common). It's a throwback to small/family business values.The most powerful piece of your post - your "three questions" - unfortunately gets buried at the end of the article. I would love to see you expand on those three, as I believe that's were real change for us as individuals and as a profession will take place.Thanks again Peter! I love when an article causes me to think (I haven't written a comment thing long in some time, so kudos for getting the gears to really start turning!).- Chri

Thank you for the awesome guest post Peter. I believe your decade list of questions is actually timeless :-)