Other departments always complain that HR is flakey and not hard-nosed enough. So why do you insist on perpetuating that myth by devoting a slice of your usually insightful news coverage to some stupid astrology survey (Personnel Today, 11 April).
As a ‘process-driven Capricorn’, I’m not one to put my trust in these surveys. What do I care if my boss is a ram or a bull, or whether I’m recruiting enough Geminis? At the end of the day, someone’s suitability for their job hangs on whether they have the appropriate skills, not on whether their rising sign matches mine.
It drives me mad when my HR team spend half their lunch hour poring over their predictions in the tabloids, shrieking with glee when Jonathan Cainer’s glib, over-general forecasts suddenly ‘come true’.
Croner says that the best managers are Leos and Aquarians. I don’t even know when my manager’s birthday is, nor do I think it is relevant to his ability to do his job.
Perhaps, as a Capricorn, I am ‘averse to new ideas’, as Croner’s survey suggests. What I do know is that there are enough fads circulating in the HR community without suggesting we put greater faith in horoscopes than established recruitment and performance measures. Competency-based interviewing and ability testing are perfectly valid means of evaluating whether someone will succeed in a role. Drawing up their birth chart is not.
It is only by demonstrating our value to the business with hard facts that the HR profession will be taken seriously by the top brass.
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