Some of the best information and guidance I’ve seen emanating from HR deal with the bursting of corporate myths and puncturing of executive bubbles. This is a priceless service.
For example, periodically we see studies indicating that executives overwhelmingly believe that morale is high, while their employees are in reality demotivated to the point of clinical depression. Similarly, surveys have shown that senior managers believe compensation to be a motivational key (as if Herzberg never existed) while employees actually seek to use their full range of talents on jobs that provide gratification. (This means, of course, the executives are continually salving unhappy employees with money, making them wealthier, unhappy employees.) A recent instance of this phenomenon was an article in HR Magazine that was noted in no less than The Wall Street Journal.
Personally, I don’t believe that executives are malicious, malevolent, or mindless. But I do believe they are often clueless, because they are not listening to the beat of a distant drummer, but rather a non-existent drummer, amplified by the likes of internal yes-men and external consultants with fads to sell.
Let me put it another way: No one is telling them the truth, and their own positions make is difficult for them to find the truth. (“As a matter of fact, sir, I’m not motivated by that last 2.8% raise, but do find it demeaning that I can’t grant a simple customer request for a replacement part without clearing it with two levels of management which delays the decision by a week.”)
An HR department in tune with organizational culture, politics, and personalities can proactively work to validate or invalidate the corporate belief system and provide pragmatic techniques to reconcile cognitive dissonance. It’s just plain dumb, for example, to demand that sales professionals provide point-of-contact full disclosure but not provide sales people with modern lap tops, and it’s bizarre to place your client service representatives in red cubicles. (Don’t laugh, I’ve been involved with both scenarios, and at one point made $35,000 with the simple suggestion that they paint the place some other color than “I’m furious red.”)
If you’re sitting there smugly recognizing that senior management is disassociated or too far removed from daily reality, wipe the smirk off your face and demonstrate, scientifically or anecdotally, that they are wasting money and talent. Some consultants will tell HR people that senior management is “the enemy.” That’s nuts and simply bitter. Senior management constitutes the prospect whom you can immediately help and, therefore, enrich the organization, truly reward people, and build HR credibility.
Go out there tomorrow and burst a corporate bubble. Slay a myth. In so doing, the baseless belief which you might just destroy in the process is the one that says that HR is worthless and can’t help senior management. Worth a try, isn’t it?

Alan Weiss, Ph.D. is the author of 25 books, including Million Dollar Consulting (McGraw-Hill), which appear in 7 languages. He runs the unique Million Dollar Consulting™ Colleges three times a year. You can reach him at http://www.summitconsulting.com, where you can also download hundreds of free articles. He was recently inducted into the Professional Speakers Hall of Fame.®


© Alan Weiss 2006 All rights reserved.