Rethinking HR : Resources are Human Beings with Needs and Personal Lives

-
Do you consider yourself passionate about HR? I care equally about business interests/results and people matters. It is an enjoyable "juggling" or balancing act. It keeps you engaged. Unfortunately, concerns often conflict and it puts HR on a rough spot; it is a consistent reminder of our vulnerabilities as humans and professionals, regardless of our field of work.  It is also fair to say that among my other top interests are Fashion and Cooking. To me, both are synonymous of cultures in so many ways: both Fashion and Cooking/Cuisines tell you so much about a given society and/at a given time. It is a constant discovery, and stimulates creativity. It is also sharable.

Share Help Resources

Click to Visit the Lifeline
This week's shock hit hard and so close to home with the tragic losses of Fashion icon Kate Spade and celebrity Chef  Anthony Bourdain. Please, refer to available sources for help @afspnational , or text “Talk” to 741741.I
They will be remembered for their outstanding , out- of- the box achievements. Kate Spade' s design stands out for its purity, modern and happy lines. Women have been wearing a lot their Kate Spade handbags this week! Bourdain opened our eyes and hearts to so many unknown parts of the world because cooking and storytelling connect us to so many facets of the world! The media has been inundated by coverage of Tony Bourdain's life! We grieve...

Too much Communication?

As I so often questioned myself on whether I was leaning too often or too much on the Communication aspect of HR, this week made me realize that it is acutely relevant that we listen, communicate and share, and help the members of our organization be/live their lives. I do not intend to minimize the call for serious attention to business performance: it is crucial for the existence of any business. As HR professionals and as a HR function we are accountable for performance standards and results of our organization. But again, we should never lose sight of the fact that organizations are made of people, human beings who have personal lives. Neither should we give lip service on the subject. Why? Because businesses need to be sustainable. It is irrelevant to talk about HR and cultivate or create a breakdown in communication, because it would be alienating the human aspect and needs of our (organization) resources. Advances in HR technologies, practices, and need for business results improvement should never stir away from human considerations if our main resources are human.

HR Has a Role to Play: Find Yours

While the balance is uneasy to reach, it is not unattainable. HR has a role in society in general in global citizenship with the need to address societal concerns/issues, such as Public Health and Safety matters within the boundaries of the profession, and through attention to HR programs. We can think Communication to address Work/life balance and business goals, Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) to provide support within respect of privacy, Wellness to join with Public Health efforts, Updates on Policies, Procedures, and benefits to meet changing needs of both organization and people. We need to stay alert and  evolve with times and places.

So, HR is business; but it cannot continue as business as usual. We cannot be trapped in rigidity and/or routine, nor should we be smitten by technologies. We need to actually and actively balance business and evolving human needs, and we need to commit to such level of business performance, and service, and social responsibilities as well. That is regardless of our level of HR: regardless of our mission, job, or task.

En Synthèse....

La Vulnérabilité des Ressources Humaines

Parfois, nous sommes mis à nu et arrivons à la triste réalisation de notre impuissance face à certaines situations.  La France a partagé la perte encore vive des USA dans deux domaines qui font sa notoriété: la Mode et la Cuisine! Double tragédie avec la perte tragique du designer  Kate Spade and Chef  Anthony Bourdain (en mission en Alsace) la même semaine, c' est trop!  N' hésitez pas à faire appel aux sources d' aide qui existent @afspnational ,  or text “Talk” to 741741. 
M/F Suicide ratio 2015 (OMS)
Autres sources locales: cliquer ici. 

Pour communiquer sur le sujet, n'oubliez pas ces recommandations de l'OMS. 
Les RH doivent rester concernés et connectés. Après tout, et avant tout, nous avons affaire à des être humains. 
Update; Sharing from @afspnational : Tune in to @CNN on Sunday, June 24th at 7 pm ET for a special on suicide prevention hosted by @andersoncooper and chief medical officer, @cmoutierMD.
cnn.it/2IgOTgg

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

COMMUNICATION, SAFETY & WORKPLACE: "Je suis Charlie"

-
Image
©AR_HRComatrix_SCharlie C ommunication is powerful, today more than ever, with social media . Frontiers are erased . Time elapses. Things and situations take a different dimension. Everything is "here and now ". This week, " Je suis Charlie " has been the most recent and poignant picture of the power of communication. All started and ended in the workplace . Chilling for HR and Safety people. P eople all the over the world spend most of their time at work . The typical workday is about six to eight hours in the the US with the new approach to the notion of full time job . In France it is typically eight hours, with often some flexibility, and despite the official 35 hours a week. . How can we protect workers against unexpected violence since they spend most of their time at work? H R is not about damage control ; it is about proactivity . Disturbingly enough, only 31% of workplaces in the US seem to be proactive in emergency preparedness, acco...
Read more

CATCHING FIRE: WORDS of WISDOM ABOUT and FROM MILLENNIALS- LESSONS FROM MILLENNIALS Part II -

-
Image
A lot has been said about Millennials. There are you tube videos , articles , blogs , research and polls... Most of them trying to help us understand this new generation. They appear as aggressive, daring, intimidating,  careless, smart, fast, clueless, in sum "different," regardless on who sees them. They certainly have many faces. Turning a New Leaf With Millennials © 2013 AR_HRCom-Millennials Those of us who have been working side by side with them have most likely experienced mixed feelings. It is basically turning a new leaf. Let's move toward greener fields! These young  partners can be exuberant and very lively and their concerns about professional or personal life can feel overwhelming. Often times you get what you see and hear. Does it make your assessment easier? I doubt. To me the challenge in assessment comes from the necessity to distance oneself from the individual. The ability to intellectualize things in this matter is a real gift. I can dea...
Read more

Holistic HR - Part I: Is Mental Wellness Relevant?

-
Image
Ad_HRComtx_1_620 © A s we are navigating the new ways of work, one aftermath of the pandemic for many of us is the unpleasant discovery of unvisited or neglected matters: our mental wellness. More than ever HR has to embrace its evolving approach to its core responsibility: HR is about "the whole person". T he pandemic has brought to the surface so many elements that neither HR nor the people had thought about, although always existing. To me, the two major concerns about mental wellness are depression and domestic violence. I have to admit that I never seriously thought about it until I lost sleep myself and couldn't understand why I was so inexplicably restless and unfocused. Quite a few people I talked to shared similar occurrences. This can only be exacerbated by the sense of isolation from familiar working environment as we work from home or are still transitioning to go back to work. If any of this happened to you, you are quite normal in highly abnormal ti...
Read more

Holistic HR - Part II: Socially Distant and Staying Relevant

-
Image
Ted_HRComtx_HolisticHR © Carving a Path for 2021 I t is said that silence is death, and that no news is good news. I have to say that I have been like many of us: affected in one way of another by Covid, being socially distant within relevancy. New resolutions? At least, carving a new path... in this icy cold world full of hot topics. It is not easy: it takes daring and willingness.   T he new year - already not feeling so new by now - has to be better in many ways, because it is practically a call to duty. What the pandemic has brought to us is not isolation but the exposure to a global environment that could reveal itself to be highly toxic , as well as the possibility of exacerbation of some situations of at-risk people . As we advance into 2021 we see the emergence of Wellbeing vs. Wellness verbiage because if anything last year has brought to light, it is the awareness of the importance of mental health .  This is more than ever a reason to understand and embrace that...
Read more

WORK LIFE / BALANCE DEBATE- PART II: The Five TOPS by Regions, Countries, Companies and Jobs -

-
Image
The FIVE MOST IMPORTANT ISSUES BY REGIONS and COUNTRIES I t is educating to see the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)  map of better life index . The assessment of better life varies by regions and by countries, from life satisfaction to safety through education and environment. OECD better life index responses - 2014 Interesting enough, Health is primary in France, Canada, Australia, the Russian Federation,  and Norway. Life-Work balance is important in Mauritius Island, Mali, Montenegro and Nicaragua. Life Satisfaction prevails in US, Germany, UK, as well as Croatia, Poland and Sweden and Finland. Safety is paramount in Japan, Venezuela, Kazakhstan, and The Bahamas. Education is important in Mexico, Brazil, Chile and Argentina The FIVE TOP COMPANIES According to Glassdoor, there are 25 companies that are rated to be the best in work/life balance policies. Employees do love it. Those organizations include non-profit, as w...
Read more

Christmas ..Holidays...Party Season..Why?

-
Image
You Party because You are Expected To .... By now you have your Holiday party planned or maybe you are already over it. Preparation can be hectic . You have been trying to give another nice end-of-year party and your hopes are that it will be. It is amazing when we break it into pieces how many things something as simple and as common as a end-of-year Holiday party could involve. From very small to very large organizations, the idea behind it is to cultivate good employee relations . Employees look forward to this event. Life partners are involved in "shopping" for the occasion. It is indeed the networking event of the year for many, the one coming after social networking . As a child I remember going to business Christmas parties where the whole family was invited and children given very nice presents by Santa Claus! For HR, it falls into a busy period: time for performance reviews, time for seasonal hiring for some, time for reporting, and this year, time for prepar...
Read more