I was thinking today about the difference between mastery and judgement. Both are critical in HR as in other professions. As I learned from my plumber recently.
We’ve had a mysterious leak for some time, and the insurers sent in some experts to trace it. They were baffled, and did some work with some fancy technology to exclude a likely source. All seemed sound and we redecorated, and, yes, the damp patch re-appeared. To cut a long story short, it was a general plumber who found a simple leak from an upstairs cistern.
Hopefully that will be the end of it, but it reminded me of the adage ‘if your favourite tool is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.’ We can love our specialism, and be so eager to share our expertise that we don’t explore alternatives, or dig deeper into the real issue.
This is why HR Centres of Excellence and HRBPs need to work collaboratively to ensure that client groups get best practice that’s truly relevant to their needs.
In your role, when might you be tempted to offer your favourite solution?
