HR means human resources and that means people. I absolutely hate the term HR. There is so much stigma around it that it’s hardly possible to have a serious productive conversation about HR when you use that term.

HR means people. Having the right people in place. People development. Making sure they are engaged and productive. Making sure they have all the tools, skills and information to do the best job possible. Making sure they know what their goals are, what they are supposed to be working on and why. Why it matters. How it contributes to the success of their team, department, division and the whole organization. That’s what HR should be about.

It’s funny, when I talk about developing HR in small organizations, most CEO’s just want a solid policy manual and a recruiter. That will take care of HR!!??? But HR is so much more than policies and procedures and police in the workplace!

If you want to do it right, you need to truly care about your people, so that they want to work for you and make you succeed. They need you to be involved, to communicate, give feedback, be transparent about where the company is headed and explain how every single one of them plays a unique and important role. That’s how you end up with engaged and motivated employees!

The people processes have naturally developed and evolved for good reasons. The performance management cycle, for example, starting with goal setting, followed by coaching, continuous feedback, ongoing two-way conversations and re-evaluation of goals, that exists for a reason. It can be very formal or very informal or anything in between, depending on the unique culture. But it needs to be practiced and reinforced at all times.

When I talk to CEO’s of small and medium sized companies and I ask them what is their biggest asset, all of them say “our people”. When I ask them what is their biggest expense, most of them say “our people”. When I ask them what they invest most of their time and energy into, they rarely say “our people”. It’s developing the business, you know, solving problems, dealing with customers, work… It doesn’t take a genius to see the disconnect.

Strong and successful organizations have solid people processes, humble leaders, transparent culture and they communicate effectively and often. Employees love their jobs, they care and they are engaged. The people element is very present throughout all levels, regardless of the size. And everyone wins.

You can only get there with a solid “HR”. And we can help you build it.  OD&HR base