You know what an HR Renegade is:
ren·e·gade
(n.) One who rejects conventional behavior.
(v.) To break with established customs.
You know what our mission is:
Our Mission: Impact the bottom-line by recruiting great people and inspiring them to do amazing things that drive business results.
Do you know what the principles of the movement are?
I want you to help me develop the principles of the Renegade HR movement. One that I’m particularly passionate about: People are an organization’s greatest resource. What are your ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.
The most important tenet or principle is to not be afraid to challenge the status quo – it sounds trite, but questioning and challenging the norm are the mother of true innovation in any field. However, questioning is nothing if you don’t have suggestions for improvement.
You can mold and condense this how you see fit, if you’d like to use it!
Thanks Chris and keep fighting the good fight!!
@Dan – awesome suggestion! thanks!
I love your emphasis on people. A theme that I’ve been hearing a lot about is “People should be treated like assets, not expenses.” As part of that (if you follow the financial analogy), I would also say that people can be assessed in the same manner a company’s finances. Understand who are good investments, liabilities, and there may be people who you would ID as “expenses,” but if you are having issues with your company’s financial portfolio, now’s a great time to focus on your talent portfolio. They’re the ones who get the job done!
@Emily – Thanks for the kudos, and you’re spot on!
It’s great when the HR world breaks with established customs…I just think it is too rare. I believe lots of HR folks hang out with, listen to and talk to other HR folks. I think there needs to be more interaction between them and the rest of the world. There’s lots to learn from those not in the HR business…
You already know I also love your line that work is something you do…not somewhere you go. I’m very glad that Renegade HR is back!
@Leanne – Thanks, and I agree about getting out there more and talking with some non-HR folks. I need to make sure “work is something you do, not somewhere you go” finds its way back into the picture.
LOVE it!!!! I am so excited about this movement. It’s time for another shift… Personnel to Human Resources to Human Capital Innovators. If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got. Make calculated bold moves! Glad I stumbled across your site in my search for out of the box HR thinkers/leaders. Looking forward to joining the renegade brigade!
I think one of your principles should be
“Focus on results, not time.”
So many companies are still living in the days when time and physical prescence mattered. With the technology of today, people can give companies great results without having to physically be in the office.
I am a major advocate of the Results-Only Work Environment (ROWE). As long as the work is getting done, it doesn’t matter where or when it happens.
@Carrie – I’m glad you found the site, too! Looking forward to having you in the movement!
@Jennifer – I’m a huge fan of ROWE, too! I had a manifesto section with a short list of principles on the site before, and “Work is something you do, not somewhere you go” was one of them. It will probably come back in one form or another. Did you see my recent slidecast on ROWE (click here)?
You’ve started a great conversation, Chris. How about a vote for honesty and truth-telling. Say what you mean and mean what you say. Half of the people problems I encounter in my consulting practice would disappear if we could only adhere to this principle in our organizations.
@Ann – great suggestion! Transparency (or lack thereof) is a big problem at many organizations.
HR should take the position most parents do… work very hard to leave behind moral, ethical, productive adults. HR needs to look at their responsibilities through the same lens. If HR worried more about ensuring employees get what they need to be moral, ethical, productive and happy – they’d have, well, moral, ethical, productive and happy employees.
I would take it to the extreme like Zappos does – the result may be that you find an employee a position with another company.
Always felt HR missed the boat on this. You get what you want when you help enough other people get what they want. Thanks Zig Ziglar!
Getting out of one’s comfort zone and expanding one’s network to include people of all backgrounds is helpful. You never now who has the answer to your questions. I am fortunate to have created a global network of professionals in all industries within the U.S., Puerto Rico, and Asia.
@Paul – When you first started talking about HR as a parent, I got a little nervous (uh oh – he wants us to babysit?). But as I read on, I realized what you were getting at.
And I think Zappos is a great example of how to manage people in a way that aligns what they do with what your business goals are. Zappos doesn’t motivate people… they inspire them!
Demonstrate HR’s revenue generation capabilities through solid, well-defined metrics. HR isn’t just a cost center anymore. Step up.
@Lucilla – That’s a great point. Frank Roche mentioned a week or so ago that it would do HR a world of good to have lunch with people outside of HR and get some new ideas and a fresh perspective. Sounds like you’ve done a nice job of gaining a global perspective!
I know – we immediately go to the way we parent today (can you say “helicopter”) but I’m really thinking about how I was parented – a bit tougher, a bit more falling down and getting back up and a bit more focus on the end result versus how you feel today. I am not one to coddle.
@Ben – I love that you say well-defined metrics and not just metrics. I think HR went through a period for a while where we measured everything just because we could, and a lot of what we measured had little or no real business impact.
@Paul – Great point about helicopter parenting vs. more sensible parenting. On an unrelated note, I love (and gasp at) the stories you sometimes hear from recruiters about helicopter parents.
Don’t allow others to reject ideas because:
1. They tried it before and it didn’t work
2. They’ve never tried it before
Also, quantify your results!
@HRPufnstuf – Thanks for the comment! I’m noticing a trend around innovation.
A critical principle, I think, is that people must act like assets in order to be assets. That means taking ownership of their careers and aligning their career direction with the organization’s mission and growth. The alignment creates a value and distinction that is missing in most organizations today.
Career ownership is a tremendous retention strategy that fosters engagement and energy in the workforce. (As I use ‘career ownership’, it’s a partnership between worker and organization…the employee wants to stay, not leave!) HR can support the process a little or a lot and see immediate connection between employees and business direction.
Getting employees aligned with business direction will get an invitation to the table sooner rather than later…and none too soon, at that.