"Communicate like hell"

In his opening address at the recent annual conference of the Society for Human Resources Management, Jack Welsh was less than flattering of the HR profession. In reading this article I couldn't help but to think back to a common theme throughout the HR classes at the UCBX as well as what my HRST teacher has been telling us from day one. HR needs to be more integrated into a company's strategic planning. Welsh made many points that may to ring flatteringly in many HR professional's ears however.

Welsh's main point that while most HR professionals like to complain about HR's place in the company, or the lack of respect that they receive from their coworkers, they have nothing but themselves to blame. When asked how many people in the crowd came from a company where the chief HR officer was on the same footing as the Chief Financial Officer only a hand full of hand went up. "Damn it! Not enough," exclaimed Welsh. The point that piqued my interest the most was that rather than blame this dynamic on non-forward looking executives, he blamed it on the HR professionals themselves. He said that it is up the the HR professional to put themselves in a position to where they need to be considered on the same level as the CFO.

Welsh's points went hand-in-hand with what Jun has been telling us all summer - make yourself more valuable to the business. If the HR professional waits for the business to make them more valuable they are going to be doing themselves and their business a disservice. As Welsh said, HR professionals need to "Deliver, deliver, deliver. Over-deliver. Make your boss smarter than the question. Give top managers the stuff they've never thought of."

In this time of great challenge to all of us in the HR profession I feel we need to take this as a call to action. Any employee who is not actively looking for a way to make themselves more valuable to their company is in danger of being laid-off.