Your Human Resources Department: Jedi, or Sith?

 

Check virtually any organization’s mission statement (or similar self-description document), and you will invariably find words to the effect that they consider their employees to be their most valuable asset. It’s true, of course, but it’s true of well-managed teams and poorly managed ones as well. From recruiting to assignments, compensation packages to promotion criterion, what the Human Resources Department does, or fails to do, clearly has an extraordinary impact on the chances of the organization’s success. Since much of management science has to do with recognizing and frustrating those pathologies of thought that can infest and harm the organization’s chances of success, the question must be asked: from a Project Management point of view, what are the behaviors of poorly-performing HR divisions? Put another way, is your company’s HR department filled with Jedis, or Sith?

Who, Exactly, Taught Those Sith Guys How To Talk Smack?

For those of you who have been confined to that part of the world free from American pop culture influences, according to the Lucasfilms/Disney Star Wars movies, a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, a galactic empire arose from a galactic republic because an evil cult, known as the Sith, infiltrated the government, eliminating the virtuous sect of the Jedi. Similarly, in this galaxy, as 2016 gets ready to transition to 2017, the virtuous ProjectManagement.com website struggles against the forces of fraudulent management science initiatives, some of which have wormed their way into typical Human Resource departments. Had the Sith revealed early on in their insidious efforts who they were, or exactly what they were trying to accomplish, they would have been frustrated; however, since they were able to hide their allegiances and true intent, they successfully overcame the forces of good and attained absolute control. Similarly, one sure way of advancing an agenda that advances the careers of a few insiders at the expense of the macro organization is to influence the HR department to enact certain practices. If your HR department does some of these things, it may have already been compromised. In that galaxy far, far away, we had Obi-Wan Kenobi state “Only a Sith deals in absolutes” (which is, itself, an absolute, but we’ll let that pass for now). Is there a similar, readily-articulated test in our PM galaxy that could help identify the forces within HR working against the whole organization?

Sure. Consider first off the difference between the desired goals of the self-seeker and the macro organization: the macro organization seeks to improve itself by attracting and retaining talent, and ensuring that the rewards the organization has to offer go towards the most deserving. It is, in other words, striving towards a true meritocracy. Compare that to the goals of the self-seekers, who look to be the recipients of the rewards that the organization has to offer without actually having merited them.  I discuss this at length in my most recent must-have book, but, for the purposes of this blog, here’s a short list of symptoms that the people in your HR department might have glowing orange eyes sometime soon.

Beware Whom You Elect Emperor

Some of the cruder compromised HR departments won’t even bother to erect a convincing facade of following merit-based processes when hiring or promoting, meaning that people who are clearly not deserving or competent will suddenly be announced as having been “assigned” a certain role, with no opportunity for others to compete for that position. Compromised HR departments that do erect such a facade aren’t much better – they invariably skirt the vetting process by pointing to an acute need, or some amorphous capability or experience owned exclusively by the selected “candidate.”  When some capacity not normally part of the job description suddenly becomes the standard by which all candidates are measured, it’s a “tell” that the position is, as we Americans colloquially put it, wired. And, just so we’re clear, applying for a position that’s wired, and not for you, is a colossal waste of time.

An ancillary effect that occurs as the less-deserving advance within the organization is that the more-deserving are displaced, or frustrated. What happens then? Well, it rarely happens immediately (Hatfield’s Rule of Management #3: Your antagonists never receive their comeuppance in a timely manner, or in your presence), but over the long term frustrated superior performers will be drawn to organizations that more closely resemble a true meritocracy. Organizations structured more like a true meritocracy will almost always out-perform those that do not. Combining the premises inherent in the previous two sentences yields the conclusion that organizations based on a true meritocracy will attract talent, while those that don’t will repel it.

Meanwhile, Back At The Jedi Temple…

Oh, sure, they’ll attract the occasional Darth Maul or Darth Vader, though it should be noted that Vader was originally Skywalker, a powerful and virtuous Jedi, prior to being converted to the Sith. The truly talented never need to resort to the underhanded political tactics of the inept to get ahead, but the inept can’t get ahead without them. The ability of your HR department to differentiate among them is one of the primary indicators of long-term project management success.

However, if you experience difficulty breathing when a new addition, who’s been assigned a high rank, holds their thumb and finger up about one inch apart, then it may be time to look for a more meritorious project team.