When People Say HR Stinks, It's Simple...Don't Stink...

If you're a HR blogger, you probably got the news early today from a PR type -the HR haters are out again, via a whitepaper called The Role of HR in the Age of Talent (based on research by Vurv and Human Capital Institute). 

More news that says HR isn't cutting it in the business world.  What else is new?  For a summary of what it says, I roll with Ann Bares of Compensation Force:

"This is a report that every one of us in the profession should read.  The news is not necessarily good.  It tells us that while talent management has become a top level concern for organizational leaders and boards, the HR profession has not yet made the necessary strides - in business acumen, prestige and influence - to earn the right to own this concern.  In the words of the study: "... its almost as if corporate leaders have made a collective, unconscious decision that talent management is too important to be left to HR."

I'm sure the study contains all the normal hand-wringing buzzwords, including Strategy, a Seat at the Table and not to be forgotten, Change Management.  The study probably says HR's not meeting the expectations in any of them.  Got it...

The answer?  Don't be angry - be different.  Be remarkable.  Every time you hear a study like this one, start a value added project and deliver the goods.  Make people say, "you're different from other HR people I've met"...

Let's stop wringing our hands and start acting like we belong.  Please.  Every time you comment on a story like this one, you guarantee five similar studies/articles will come along in the next year.

So, be different - don't comment, don't lash out.   Put your energy into cramming the stereotype down the world's throat by being a different type of HR pro.