The Roles of HR, Lawyers, and Us.

The resources organizations have to support their human capital can vary greatly. Some have it all in-house while others primarily outsource. There could also be a mix of the two. Or, in some instances, there's none and ownership decides to do it all themselves.

For the ones doing it solo, no judgment. I greatly respect entrepreneurs and business owners, and if they've created something, they have the right to decide how it operates. Further, depending where in the lifecycle the business is, the resources may not be there to align with internal or third-party support. That aside, going at it alone is tough, stressful, and I will always advise to get some sort of help in this space for the health of the business, the team, and yourself. However, be aware that even with the additional support, it doesn't always get much easier.

This piece will focus on the ones with the resources: Human Resources (HR), Lawyers, and beyond.

Organizations working with HR and Legal are not immune to people problems. Think about it this way: the business has been growing. Revenue is up. Head count is up. Square footage has increased. You finally get to a point where you hire in-house HR, and you've had your attorney who's counseled you along the way. Yet people challenges persist.

I wouldn't blame HR or the lawyer one bit.

To me, HR and the lawyers exist to protect the organization. For example, HR is an invaluable resource who ensures management practices and company policies are in alignment with labor laws. Further, there are significant details within these areas, and they execute on the updates and changes to ensure you're in compliance. Additionally, they support with corrective action, hiring, employee inquiries, benefits, payroll, and many other business-critical functions that there's not enough room to list. On the other hand, lawyers work to ensure you don't get sued. They provide counsel and options when dealing with challenges and they advise to minimize legal risk.

Let's discuss what they aren't doing.

They're not leading teams, building culture, motivating, inspiring, setting standards, giving feedback, having the one-on-ones, or driving accountability. If goals aren't being met, there are attendance issues, bad attitudes, a lack of drive, or a culture with no purpose, HR or the lawyers won't fix this. This rests solely on L1 and L2 leadership, and if they haven't been given training or have the experience, they won't fix it either.

That's where we come in. The roles of HR, Lawyers and us greatly vary.

Leaders at all levels are constantly being pulled in a hundred directions. What ends up getting prioritized are revenue generating and customer-facing activities. Before you know it, the day is over and a few things have happened: a problem was fixed but not the root cause, the inbox filled up, the one-on-ones with the team were cancelled or rescheduled, and you weren't able to connect with one of your team members to give advice on a situation and provide development. If this is you, no judgment here. Days are busy, there's never enough time, and you wear many hats. However, is this sustainable? And how does some help sound?

Our Executive Coaching, First Time Manager, and Tough Conversations coaching plans are built to address many of the challenges mentioned above for all leadership levels. We have dialogue around what's going on, get on a scheduled cadence to provide ongoing support, and leverage real-world experiences to help.

If you're leadership, how does having someone in your corner who has relevant experiences, can answer questions, and you can bounce ideas off of in privacy with complete confidence that it goes nowhere sound?

Or

If you're leading the organization, how does having a resource who is aligned directly to a team member to help develop critical leadership skills sound? What could improved performance do for you and the business?

It's already May. We're here when needed.