HR and culture are NOT the same thing

I know a good proportion of you reading this blog are HR or People leaders, and you’ve probably just felt yourself bristle at little at the title of this week’s entry. Or, maybe you’re nodding vigorously in agreement. I mean no offense.

There exists a sub-section of HR professionals who are very serious about developing a high performance culture, and who are good at it. Those within that sub-section are valuable assets to their company, and if you have someone who fits that description in your team, you should treat them very well indeed.

The truth is, HR and culture just aren’t the same thing. I understand why people get confused - you’d think they go hand in hand. Plenty of those working in HR, though, are by their own admission not great with people. Why a career in Human Resources appealed to those individuals is a different question, but members of an HR team can be very good at what they do without giving culture a second thought. Many others who do care about culture have been disempowered by spending years being ignored by senior leadership whenever they make suggestions that would improve working conditions and/or performance. As a result, they no longer try.

It’s important to get to the bottom of this difference between HR and culture development. Human Resources, at least as it exists today, is about compliance and protecting the company. As people in all parts of the world have become increasingly litigious over the last ten years or so, it’s critical that businesses play by the rules and tick the legal boxes that say they’ve treated employees fairly. Not doing so can lead to massive costs in the form of lawsuits and settlements.

There are people in the workforce who know exactly how the system works and look proactively for loopholes to exploit, allowing them to take long-term sick leave, claim unfair dismissal and leverage any hint of inequality, real or imagined, to their own ends. Employment law was designed to protect employees from harsh treatment by their employers, and while the net effect of more favourable legislation in employment law, worker’s rights and related fields has been positive, creating better overall working conditions, honest businesses can be caught out and need to be wary of those who cynically exploit the rules for their own benefit.

This is the function that a large proportion of HR professionals perform - keeping their company compliant while also doing their best to ensure their colleagues don’t get the short end of the stick unfairly.

Culture development, on the other hand, is about driving performance. It means creating an environment in which people thrive, an organisation that employees love being part of and a career that gives a sense of value, impact, connection, recognition and growth. Creating a high performance culture means setting the bar far above what’s legally required and demands a different perspective and set of skills.

Hiring an HR consultant or establishing an HR function in your business won’t automatically improve your culture, unless you’re able to identify someone who understands the difference between compliance and culture development, aligns with your objectives and knows what to do to create an ecosystem that moves you closer to them.

People who straddle both sides of the fence do exist, and both functions are important. Just don’t assume that someone’s HR background means they know how to build an outstanding team and culture. Instead, when you’re assessing consultants or candidates for an HR position, ask them how they’d approach culture development. Have them give you examples of when they’ve built high performance cultures in the past, what they did, specifically, to drive the necessary changes and how they’d adapt their approach to your company.

A great HR person or team is incredibly valuable. They’ll keep you on the right side of employment law, and they’ll help you assemble and align your team. Just make sure you’re assessing the right things when you decide to bring them in.

(P.S. If you know someone who needs to read this today, send it to them and encourage them to subscribe to the Versapiens blog. If you haven’t subscribed yet, come join us on our journey through the intersection between culture, technology and business.)