Organizations Should Hold People Accountable
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
I saw a comment the other day that I haven’t been able to stop thinking about. It said that human resources is no longer about managing people. It’s about leading a dynamic system that integrates talent, technology, artificial intelligence, and data. I don’t know about anyone else, but that’s not an HR shift to me. Human resources has always been about aligning talent, technology, and data.
I know this might sound like venting … and maybe it is. But I do wonder if one of the reasons HR professionals often feel like they’re getting the brunt of negative talk is because of statements like this. Ones that don’t hold the rest of the organization accountable.
Yes, HR manages people. In their department. The accounting department should be managing their employees, and the sales department should be managing their employees. You get the point. HR is not solely responsible for managing the entire workforce.
And yes, HR plays a role in aligning talent. We’re a part of workforce planning, recruiting, training, and performance management. So are the operational managers. HR doesn’t recruit the workforce in a vacuum. They don’t train in silos. And they’re not directly responsible for the performance management of the entire workforce. In fact, in addition to HR and department managers, employees play a role in the employee experience life cycle.
Today’s organizations rely on technology to operate. Technology is constantly evolving, and new technologies are being introduced all the time. One of those new technologies is artificial intelligence (AI). AI is by definition a technology. Organizations should include AI in their technology strategy. Personally, I would be concerned if the organization doesn’t recognize AI as part of their technology strategy because separating the two might not yield the best desired result.
Lastly, data is a part of everything we do in the business world. We use it in every department to track progress, make decisions, and evaluate results. Granted, what gets tracked might vary by department and function, but it’s all data. We need to know what data to collect, how to analyze it, and how to present it to others.
So, what I’m saying is that HR is about leading a dynamic system that integrates talent, technology, and data. It’s true. But it’s also true of every other manager in the organization – accounting, sales, operations, etc.. And frankly that’s nothing new. I’ve been in HR for a long time and that’s always been true.
What could be new is that organizations need to start holding people accountable for actually doing these things. And business leaders need to hold themselves accountable for doing these things. In all fairness, maybe that’s what the original comment was intended to say. Business leaders need to be held accountable for managing a dynamic system that integrates talent, technology, and data. Now that makes sense to me.
- Hire the right people. (TALENT)
- Give them the right tools. (TECHNOLOGY)
- Coach them for high performance. (DATA)
The business world is changing all the time. But there are some aspects that remain the same. We need to be accountable for delivering those results.
Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby while exploring the streets of New Delhi, India