“I don’t get no respect.”
----------Rodney Dangerfield
What department of a company do you think I’m talking about here?
Top management's view:
- wonders how it spends its time
- wonders how it spends the company’s money
- thinks it’s not focused on the business
- doesn’t think it’s delivering competitive advantage
- doesn't think it's demonstrating ROI
Answer? Marketing Department. Surprised?
This was how many companies used to feel about Marketing 10+ years ago. At that point in time Marketing’s main function was advertising.
One of the most common complaints from Marketing professionals back then was the lack of respect they received from the rest of the company. The decisions made by the salespeople, engineers, finance/accounting people all seemed to carry more weight than Marketing. As a consequence, it was difficult for them to have much influence on strategy, product development, operations and other key business decisions.
But Marketing has come a long way since then. Now it’s almost the heartbeat of the company, defined holistically as product, price, place, and promotion.
Today it’s HR that “gets no respect”. Even Wikipedia rubs it in. Marketing is "the activity, set of institutions and processes for creating, communicating, delivering and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners and society at large". HR, meanwhile, is "the name of the function within an organization charged with the overall responsibility for implementing strategies and policies relating to the management of individuals".
There have been a gazillion articles written on what’s wrong with HR, asking should we even have it, what it will take to fix it, etc. I like what Dave Ulrich, professor at the University of Michigan, has to say: HR needs to follow an “outside/in” approach. It needs to shift from an internally focused function to one with a business agenda as its foundation.
By being plugged in to the external market, understanding stakeholder needs, macro-trends and creating solutions aligned with strategy, HR will play a large part in a company’s success. Research shows the one consistent element once people reach the C-suite is the fact that technical and functional expertise matters less than leadership skills and a strong grasp of business fundamentals.
I've been talking about HR as a whole. Do you think Compensation is guilty of any of the above? If so, better start studying those balance sheets and income statements.
Jacque Vilet, President of Vilet International, has over 25 years’ experience in Human Resources. In her current role she works with start-ups and multinationals on both domestic and international HR issues. Jacque has an M.S. in Psychology and an MBA from Southern Methodist University. She speaks at conferences in the U.S. and overseas, contributes to various HR and talent management publications and conducts frequent webinars.
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