Reputation

Reputation comes at the end and also at the beginning, like the chicken and the egg, or the actors’ equity card.  You can’t get anywhere until you earn it, and yet you need it to get your job done.  This means that we need to ask ourselves continually how our actions will affect how we’re regarded.  For example, when advising line managers or participating in a meeting; ‘how will this be seen?’; ‘what are the implications of this for the reputation of our function?’; ‘how can I explain this in a way that shows that we understand the commercial pressures?’; ‘is there an opportunity here for me to make links with good HR practice in a helpful way?’.

• HR has a seat at the table – at key meetings at all levels, you ensure that HR influences business strategy as well as operations
• Employee engagement improves because of your influence
• You are seen as a helpful partner in the business – known for your commercial insight as well as your understanding of what gets results
• People listen to you and trust your judgement because they respect you and your contribution
• Your company is seen as a good employer because of your influence on how people are managed
• People say great things about HR in your organisation

HR have been called ‘shrinking violets’, and this isn’t good for our function.  On the other hand, in order to maintain our integrity, we have to be careful with self-promotion.  This means that we need a particularly sensitive, and sensible, kind of political awareness and political intelligence.