G2 HR Muse – Your Way to a Seat at the Table January 2016

Where are you today? Whinging about wanting to be at the table? Or like an embedded TV reporter* in the hull of the tank? Let’s take stock….

Business is changing and it is a fast moving ship – not an ocean liner that takes days to shift direction. Data and analytics are more than a trend. Cloud computing, i.e., SaaS is here to stay. Social media platforms prevail.

And, all of these are more than touching HR processes, departments and professionals. HR is colliding with social, mobile and technology platforms and getting their ass kicked into a proverbial Boot Camp.

So if you want to “have a seat at the table” bone up, hone up and get off the personnel round about and on to the HR super highway. Speed up, learn the new stuff, get embedded and assume the reins. Uncomfortable with financials – log on and learn how to read and interpret an annual report. Does the term ‘big data’ scare your socks off? Leverage your fear to learn what it is and how and when to use analytics to drive insights about your organization’s human capital.

Want a seat at the table? Get comfortable with a variety of technologies, learn the numbers, and dive in head first to have them do your heavy lifting so you can steer the when and where not just the how. Then grab a chair, saddle up to the table and help your organization to make sense of competing demands, accurately predict human capital needs, and become the HR Advisor known for uncovering human capital insights and empowering your company to act on your data-driven perceptions. Become seamlessly efficient with data, technologies and social media but not burdened by them.

Whether the table is formal or casual, make sure it is set with cutlery, glassware, place settings and serving dishes that you are at ease with and know how to use. No fumbling with the service à la russe. No eyes turning in two different directions wondering, “Do I use the cutlery from the outside toward the plate or the other way around?!?!”

You’ll see – you’ll like it at the table when you are confidently armored with technical skills that are driven by perceptive knowledge and guided by acute insights. So stop whinging and get armored to impart insights to your organization’s successive human capital needs.

Note:
* Thank you to Jeff Perkins, former VP/CPO at NPR in Washington DC for the concept.