I sold my soul to HR
Disclaimer: This is not a political or religious blog and I am not advocating any position or agenda. As any HR professional will tell you, the need for neutrality on these matters is important; they don’t belong at work. I have my own opinions on these matters but I choose not to bring them into this blog. That being said, on with the post!
How open would you be to have your company or HR Department scrutinized and critiqued? Would you be willing to invite someone in to provide some honest feedback? I’m not talking about consultants. HR consultants are familiar with the HR process and even though the feedback can be helpful, what if you wanted a fresh perspective? What could you learn from it?
In his book, I Sold my Soul on eBay, author Hemant Mehta auctioned off the opportunity to be sent to church by the winner. On his many visits to various Christian churches around the country, Hemant provided detailed critiques and feedback about what he witnessed, what he liked, and what he didn’t. Why was his feedback so different? Hemant is an atheist and was not raised in the Christian faith (He was raised Jain). You can’t get a fresher perspective than that. What was the point? The winner of the auction, Jim Henderson, routinely sends people to church in order to get the exact kind of feedback that people like Hemant could provide; an outsider’s view unhindered by the status quo.
Hemant’s book is an interesting read that provides in-depth analysis of these churches and what image they are conveying to outsiders. We all know that most people have a negative perception of HR. Despite conducting studies to confirm this, what have we done to get some honest feedback from people outside of HR? Is this even feasible? What could it tell us not only about how to improve our image at the office, but also how to attract more people to the profession itself? How open would you be to this type of critique? Considering Hemant’s book was published by a Christian publishing company, his critique is being taken seriously. Sometimes when you need to make a change or better understand a problem, you need to look for resources outside yourself. Any suggestions?
