How often do we duck and dodge our problems? Sometimes our response is to paint a rosy picture, creating professional watermelons, yet the problem endures and we become talent ostriches.
While the real bird does not bury its head in the sand, HR professionals can. The difference is our denial is cloaked in quick sand and its pull is felt far and wide.
Three common ways that we shrink ourselves are:
Indulging a delusion: In an era of return to office mandates, leaders are alluding themselves to think that the world of work – society at large – has not changed. The same holds true that an organization’s mission and purpose is enough to retain unicorn talent. Many companies have a compelling mission and employees are looking for the best overall experience. If HR removes itself from the heartbeat of its people and operations, they will become strangers. No amount of snazzy branding or corporate-speak can make up for having one’s head buried in the sand of “how things used to be.”
Adopting benchmarks as strategy: Both over or under using benchmarks is risky. However, for those who rely too heavily, outside of analysis paralysis surrounding “did we meet the benchmark?”, many can overlook the need for a strategy informed by benchmarks but composed of differentiating decisions. One should know what the benchmark is, how the market is trending and then, choose what to do in response. Some benchmarks should be met, some exceeded and…some even lagged. Only “keeping up with the Jones” is destined to fail. Only offering the bare minimum in all areas will lead to fickle talent attraction and retention. In contrast, time and resources are finite, so exceeding in all areas is also not tangible. The result is choosing where, how and to what extent to exceed the market. In the areas where lagging is either necessary or appropriate, organizations must own the choices, monitor them and mitigate where possible.
Becoming oblivious to industry growth and development: For those who decide to become specialists over generalists, temptation creeps in to only grow in one’s area of focus or to assume one’s expertise will consistently be enough. Subject matter experts must keep their heads up and on swivel. Understanding and articulating how to apply one’s expertise to an ever-evolving industry is step one. The second step is keeping an eye to the trends, tools and technology that will bolt onto or possibly replace one’s expertise. Relevance is a real concern, whether we want to admit it or not. No one is too tenured to be vulnerable and an active learner. Job shadowing and development projects are for everyone.
To the Point
Keep your head up! Don’t feed your inner ostrich.
Image source: Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm
GIF courtesy of Wix
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