We should learn to share and share alike
I was recently in a meeting with an HR colleague from our sister business.
We were preparing a joint presentation for a mutual customer and he presented –
with some flourish, I might add – a service level agreement to me that he
thought I could take a few pointers from.
It was my boss who pointed out that maybe he should have removed my initials
from said document before handing it over (I had e-mailed it to him six weeks
earlier). I allowed myself a wry smile and the meeting continued.
Why should I tell you this? Well, two reasons: it’s the one of the few times
I have not risen to the bait and lost the high ground, and it also started a
train of thought; as HR practitioners, are we about creating win-win
situations, or do we just spend our lives with our arms around our work, hiding
it from others?
Apart from a pain-inducing trip to Harrogate (how many times do 14 drinks
get charged to an editor’s Amex card?) and an occasional employment law update,
how much knowledge do we really share with each other?
I’m no zealot about this, but it did amuse me when I received zero replies
to my request for help posted on an HR website. However, the next day when I
replied to someone offering a policy document, I received 26 e-mails –
including one from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.
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So, before you flick to Guru, think about what would be the return on
investment of a couple of hours spent with someone in a similar job to you in a
different business. Maybe I am naive, but I think the more we share and share
alike, the better. And if there are any networking groups out there, invite me
– I’ll buy my round.
Hartley is an HR director at large
