Even a casual glance at geo-politics tells us that the world has a vast leadership deficit. As many as half of the world’s population live in countries led by sociopaths (perhaps more).  

Human Resources can’t be blamed for the ascendance of flawed political leaders. But it does have some responsibility for who becomes the leader of enterprises. The question is How, with all the advanced HR tools and techniques at our disposal, do bad leaders still get to the top? The answer appears to be that much of HR practice actually makes it easier for sociopaths and other unwise leaders to rise. The more rigid a system is, the easier it is for the unscrupulous to manipulate it. 

The problem with so much HR process is that it substitutes for conversation at the human level. And it distorts the conversations that do happen. The standard performance appraisal is a case in point – a mechanical exchange loathed by both manager and managed, it reduces almost everything to numbers, creating an environment where honest exchange is nigh-on impossible. The increasing use of HR analytics (sometimes called banalytics because much of the data is “so what?”) also takes HR away from its basic humanity. The way we think and behave is heavily influenced by whether we experience the world around us through abstract phenomena such as numbers or scores or through relationships. So we can also ask Is HR in danger of losing its humanity? 

We believe that HR is at a crossroads. It can continue along the path of being numbers-driven until it becomes just another minor function of Finance with a relatively short-term horizon on the business. Or it can rediscover its humanity and realise its potential to enable the longer-term survival and success of the business. 

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We can also make a strong case for a redefinition of the role of HR as the connectors in the organisation. 

From this perspective, connection takes many forms – all of them vital to the health of an organisation in a complex, chaotic world. Let’s look at some of them: 

Connection with core values. The NHS now has more than 200 trained ethical mentors; staff able to support colleagues in thinking through whether they have an ethical dilemma and, if they do, how to approach it. By contrast, many banks responded to the scandals of the past decade by running compulsory ethics training and compliance that has arguably had little effect on attitudes and simply encouraged some creative minds to find new workarounds. While HR doesn’t have to set itself up as the moral guardian of the organisation’s values (especially where there is a separate Compliance function), it can create conditions that tap into most people’s innate need to feel that they are a good citizen, where ethical conversations become part of the normal working agenda.  

Diversity management. In a similar manner, attempts to overcome institutional barriers to equality of opportunity have often floundered. Some organisations have abandoned implicit bias training, because it doesn’t work. The main reason for that is that it is presented in the abstract. Whereas co-learning partnerships between senior leaders and more junior employees from less privileged backgrounds clearly does have a major impact, not just on the individuals involved, but on the organisational systems that underpin inequality.