Why is taking risk so hard for HR?
Anand Bhaskar
CEO | Strategic HR Leader & Coach | Empowering CXOs at Fortune 500s (Unilever, GE, Microsoft) | PCC ICF | Angel Investor & Startup Advisor
The most intriguing part about human beings is the inherent contradictions in words and action.
There isn’t a soul who would argue against risk taking. But when it comes to self, there is a huge reluctance to take risks. Having worked in HR for most of my professional life, I have worked with many HR professionals who are extremely good in writing competencies & values, encompassing an element of risk taking. Also talking about risk taking culture being required in organisations and how it can positively impact growth etc.
However, the interesting contradiction I have observed is the inability of many HR professionals to take risks themselves. A deep sense of insecurity creeps in when they are required to test new ideas without a safety net. Over years I have been hearing some of these highly accomplished HR professionals’ talk about great ideas, transformational thinking and entrepreneurial orientation. I have been on industry panel discussions with them on a few occasions. However, when it comes to matching words with actions at their work place, the gap is not insignificant.
The question is not about these individuals. They are human after all. The moot question is why is HR risk averse? Why are the preachers & custodians of change unable to walk the talk?
Do share your thoughts?
Anand Bhaskar
Founder & CEO Planet Ganges
Planet Ganges has deep expertise in the area of creating habit forming learning experiences for Organisations using machine learning & AI.
Business and HR Consultant , Leadership and Prosperity Coach, Specialist in Diversity and Inclusion, Poet
7yMaybe it's because HR puts a lot of value on 'experience'- that's how we assess people we hire, promote etc. We look for relevant experience, instead of the ability and willingness to learn. Experience is backward looking, it's looking at the past, at what the person did. It's a 'safe' ( I'm not sure it's the best) way to assess anything. A risk by definition is doing something not 100% safe- which may not have a precedent, something done in the past to prove it can be done. Experience, rather too much focus on it, is contra enterprise ( I think I just coined a new phrase) The best work I ever did was when I was recruited to hold a post for which I had very little experience- it gave me the latitude to experiment, and Business loved it. I'm guessing there must be many reasons for non risk taking in HR- but I've always felt a bit miffed about 'experience'. A threshold of relevant experience is needed, beyond that it's just how fast a person can learn, how visionary he is and how he can create a future rather than relocate his past into a new environment
Director Founder at Salaah Advisory - Expertise in HR Strategy Talent Management Compensation Coaching and Mentoring
7yBhaskar, before we ask HR to take risks outside themselves, let us ask how many are willing to take a primary risk - measuring their own performance against quantified targets. The HR community is very good at insisting that all employees have TARGETs for measuring performance but when it comes to their own, the stock answer is "we are a qualitative function". Specifying targets implies risk - the risk of not performing. If HR is a qualitative function with "Long Gestation Periods" (quotes are mine) are they willing to take the risk of postponing their own compensation increases till the outputs of their own interventions become visible? That is 24 /36 months? Interventions are easy. The tricky part is being accountable for the results Amitabh
CHO Nidra Hotels I InvestorI Startup Acceleration IncubationI Ex-PepsiCoISapient|HCL |Vice Chair, ISTD,Noida | Executive Coach | NLP | PMP | NSDC I Yoga(BVB)
7yThis is interesting paradigm you have opened. I believe ability to look at larger picture and challenge the status quo will only let HR folks to survive this tide of transformation else automation world will replace this function with tools and systems...risk taking appetite and organisation ecosystem must drive this for HR teams to keep their jobs ....this saying and doing gap will continue widening if HR leaders do not build it as culture to survive... but yes I see legacy killing this entrepreneurial spirit in thumping change agents... yes i do not wish to generalize as i have seen some of my last organisations doing it amazingly well...and Sapient was one of them
I coach leaders to transition into senior & top management roles with ease. | Executive Coach, Leadership Facilitator| CEO, A Brighter Life | Mentor for Coaches (ICF)
7yWell that's a very broad brush stroke generalisation you make. .probably to provoke. . But the general point of whether or not people have a gap between saying and doing. .sure there is...businesses value risk taking and entrepreneurial spirit. .many humans don't. .so when people speak on behalf of business, they say the right things..don't they.