Q&A: The Good That HR Does

In The HR World’s recent webinar The Good That HR Does, Emma Djemil, Founder, Be Unstoppable, Kirsty Baggs-Morgan, Founder, Ethica HR and Simon Noble, CEO, Cezanne explored the multi-faceted ways HR contributes to the smooth running a of a business and the general welfare and happiness of employees.

Sponsored by Cezanne the webinar is available online and through our podcast series. There’s plenty of good ideas through the session, but we had a couple of other questions left over, answered here by our panellists.

1: Are there any specific areas of training or knowledge you think HR professionals should have in order to do their job better?

Emma: In terms of training or knowledge my take on this is that the most effective leaders, whether HR or otherwise, have a good level of self-awareness. This means that they understand what motivates them, what drains their energy, what triggers unhelpful responses from them and what matters to them the most. Of course, maintaining your technical awareness is important but I think we have a tendency to focus purely on the technical aspects of the profession, pursuing professional qualifications without being intentional about the kind of HR professional we want to be. Therefore, I would like to see a blend of keeping up with the trends in the profession as well as the personal self development / self-awareness piece.

2: Do I need to have the most up to date HR software solution or is it better that I fully understand and use the solution I already have?

Emma: Software is not my area of expertise however I feel like we have a tendency to run after the next shiny thing that purports to solve all our woes. I would rather we understand and fully utilise what we have before chasing after the newest.

Simon Noble: This is a “that depends answer”. Most people don’t use the technology they have very well or only use about 15-20% of its power. That’s like buying a 4-bed house and living in the kitchen. So the first question is are you really using the whole house before you buy a new one?

Secondly If your current tool won’t do what you need to get the efficiency’s you want then be very specific about the problem you are trying to solve before heading out to the market to pick a shiny new toy that might look good but doesn’t address the core problems you have today or for the future.