Welcome

Fashion is not limited to clothing that appears on runways. Things go in and out of vogue in our business landscape and right now, anything with the word “future” is hot. Future fit. Future of work. Future proof. The pressure is on to find new ways of doing more with less – not in the future but right now.

As our businesses attempt to box their way through headwinds of low growth, rising fears of how technology will impact not only jobs but also the deep structures of organisations going forward, not to mention the impact of an ever-constricting regulatory framework, it’s never been more important for us to create enabling, energising environments. For decades, the term “human resources” has glibly slipped off our tongues as we’ve built policies and procedures that, rather than recognising the breadth of human endeavour, have focused more on marshalling resources to drive organisational efficiency.

It’s understandable that when the going gets tough, the tough turn to Section 189 of the LRA and a cycle of contraction sets in. Just as the business needs to desperately tap into the innovative and creative wells that are the hallmarks of being human, our key “resources” lose their sense of potency, are unable to see opportunities and become paralysed by the change that’s taking place.

The nature of our human condition is that when our survival is under relentless pressure, we do much better when we confront the demons and sense-make collectively. Academic research conducted after the global financial crisis conclusively showed that when leaders under threat become more directive, teams become less effective.

As illogical as it may seem, our primary role as HR professionals operating in tough times is not to be locking down processes that drive our people harder, but rather to encourage leaders and managers to publicly confront tough realities and open up opportunities for even more engagement that nourishes ideas for new ways of creating value across organisational stakeholders.

It is my hope that this issue of CHRO Magazine inspires you to create rich learning environments that encourage the things we human beings do best: ask the tough questions, experiment and respond to fast feedback. For if there was ever a time to tone down the resource component and amp up the human in human resources, it’s now.