“You’re HR, so you should…”

I just love hearing this…sigh.

For along time, this used to pissed me off. Please stop telling me how to do my job, HR is not the scapegoat you’re looking for.

Then I began to see a pattern and it occured to me; this is code for an overwhelmed person or manager that needs my help. It almost always came as the result of an unmet expectation or worse, a stealth expectation they never even knew they had. Researcher and Author Brené Brown defines stealth expectations in her book Atlas of the Heart as: “the unconscious, uncommunicated, and often unacknowledged expectations we hold for ourselves and others, which can lead to significant disappointment and conflict when unmet.”

Its common to face problems in business and at work that are not our fault and somehow manage to become our responsibility. (Ask me what I know about employee satisfaction and turnover…)

In my experience working as part of ‘in-house’ HR departments, I have learned valuable lessons about the ubiquitous impact that systems and internal processes can have on the people and the ability of a business to achieve its goals, or not. How we work, including the conditions we create or tolerate to work within, have a direct link to employee satisfaction which ultimately affects the profitability and achievement of the goals of the business.

Outsourcing systemic dysfunction to HR without giving them the agency or authority to impart real change is a trap. Authority and accountability must go hand in hand.