Human resources team members are a vital piece of the organization’s fabric. The mark of an effective HR leader is that leader’s ability to guide teams. The best HR leaders can also conduct strong exit interviews, taking the data collected from those exit interviews and incorporating it into a solid departmental strategic plan that supports employee retention and recruitment.
 

Strong HR leaders know the organization’s goal and make key recommendations. They have the capacity to advise without the fear of reprisal. Ultimately strong leaders do not work autonomously but are independent enough to step back and make non-influenced decisions that benefit the organization and its employees.

The function of HR is not to be a watchdog but rather to be a companion to leaders who need solid data and support to recruit and retain great talent. Whether leaders can develop a reciprocal relationship with this key component to the fabric of the institution will be a determining factor in their success.

This reciprocal relationship is demonstrated by transparent, consistent effective communications that include listening to both the leadership and HR personnel. Not achieving this reciprocal relationship goes beyond losing great talent and not being able to recruit effective employees; it has real and significant financial implications. In 2017, it was reported that it takes one-fifth of that employee’s salary to get him or her replaced, not including all the downtime required to bring someone new up to speed and also not accounting for the loss of institutional memory.

Imagine if that good employee is on a path to becoming a great leader. What if that employee was well respected by other valuable employees who then decided to follow the leader out the door or leave on their own when encouraged by those they see as mentors to do so? What a tremendous and costly loss to the organization in terms of time and talent.
 
On the contrary, there are HR professionals who do not follow up, are power driven, and should have been replaced once they lost their ability to be strong leaders themselves. These individuals are typically short lived, as are the poor leaders who selected them. The fear of negative publicity or backlash within the organization drives these individuals to ask others to handle those pieces they know are not aligned with good management practices or sound policy. This scenario amounts to one weak pin using another weak pin in the hopes that no one will notice the bad behavior and less-than-stellar results.

Transparency and Communication

Fortunately, employees often do notice and talk amongst themselves, sometimes seeking outside help to remedy the situation. Are there attempts to silence those employees who do speak up? Sometimes the organization is concerned that a choice to seek outside help or counsel may lead to a perception that they are not responsive to the needs of employees.

The best course of action here is to encourage more discussions within the organization. It is imperative that employees feel that they can find a safe place to talk about anything that may be confusing, challenging, or may create additional anxiety.

Remember that if employees do not have the information that will calm their fears, then there is a greater possibility that some employees will “make up” facts to fill the void. Think of an instance when a rumor started based on only a small bit of information. The rumor may have had some element of truth to it, even if it was only a small tidbit. It is not until the organization confirms or denies that information that it should become a topic of discussion.

Building a Culture of Trust

The HR professionals who are struggling to balance what management wants with compliance requirements and their own moral beliefs must be able to develop courage and learn to live with the actions and decisions made. Witnessing a change in leadership that appears unethical or one that conflicts with an HR department that is attempting to advise based on another standard will often spell disaster.

Once employees feel that they cannot trust the HR department to do anything about what they perceive to be an injustice, it is most likely that leaders and their teams in other areas of the organization will seek outside counsel. Soon other departments will follow their lead. The best leaders understand this and do all they can to work with employees and not bury any issues that have truth attached to them.

Author Bio

Dr. Shanda Gore is the Founder and President of Mays and Associates, Ltd. (MAYS). She is the author of The PinLeader Path: Identify, Engage, and Develop Effective Human and AI Leadership for Your Organizational Culture.

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