.png)
Don't compare me to those HR ladies, I am nothing like them! This is what I said with the greatest confidence to a CEO who mentioned a few names from Dubai's HR community and asked why I don't join their group.
Strong people who know who they are, are not afraid to say this! Unfortunately, society brainwashed us with the "humble" mindset and now we are afraid to say the most basic things or be who we are!
So, no! I am not like most HR people. I have studied bloody hard, I think differently, I do things differently, I say things differently, I see things differently, I question everything including what I do, and I do like to be different. I think of things your brain would never think of. Hence, I deliver very different results and I am very different.
I don't vomit HR textbook or ChatGPT word salad just because that makes me sound trendy. I say things people don't like to hear because that is the truth and only the truth can provide you with solutions to your problems. I don't fall for trends, best practices or the facade. I see through things very quickly and I value different things to most people. I know myself hence I don't easily fold.
Three weeks ago I had a meeting with a COO and I talked about how they can reform HR. The meeting was supposed to be 1 hour and we ended up talking for 2.5. He said that he had never seen HR in this way. This one sentence made my day. These are the things that make me happy when I can provide something nobody else does! I am proud of that. I could never be proud of implementing, saying, thinking, or viewing things the same way everyone else does. When I do that I feel like meh. I feel like I haven't done anything only followed others. That's boring!
And that's exactly how I feel when these HR pros are talking about their interventions and what they do; boring and lacking imagination. In 2024 HR lady from a big consultancy is still talking about suggestion boxes. I fell off the chair during the conference. I was thinking, woman, aren't you ashamed because I would be. I would rather stay quiet.
However, as I am preparing an HR Strategy workshop for 27 senior leaders I came across some bloody brilliant strategies. Those left me thinking that there are still creative and highly competent HR people out there who don't sing the same song, aren't afraid to do things differently (and what makes sense to their people and business) and they are the ones crashing it. The rest are just crying on LinkedIn about how much they are not valued. Well, maybe because you don't provide any value. These guys aren't crying, they are making things happen and if you would ask me to belong to their circle I would be right there.
Don't be afraid to say "I am nothing like these people" because it is not arrogance or a bad thing. Those who can say that are the ones who make things better. The others are just cruising along with the rest because belonging with their besties or staying in the good book of their boss is more important than doing the right thing for the people and businesses they serve.
PS: I don't like to belong to any group. As thinking about it now, I never did. I never even did what my close friends were doing at school or as a grown-up and I am quick to distance myself from anyone. I know who I am and I like it that way.
HR Got This So Wrong!
The Blind Leading the Disengaged: From Ignoring Employee's Experiences to Intentionally Designing Them
Comments