I took the red pill

Yes, I used to watch The Matrix, A LOT.?

Morpheus:??"You take the blue pill…the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe.? You take the red pill… you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.”

In the fall of 2022, I had my own red pill/blue pill moment.? My direct manager, the Global Director of HR, had a blunt conversation with me. She was responsible for the overall direction of the organization’s HR function and my performance management/development but had no control over my day-to-day HR existence.

“The relationship isn’t working with the guys.? I don’t know if we can fix it. “

The guys were the site’s leaders: The Plant Manager and the Finance Director.? The gist of it was they didn’t like working with me.? They were unable to use their words with me and complained about me to my manager.? ?A few of their complaints were warranted and most were differences of opinion on the direction of the HR function.? Some of their complaints were personal.?

“It’s up to you.? If you feel you should look for another job, I won’t think badly about you for doing it.? However, I think there is an opportunity for real growth if you stay and try to fix it.? Think about it and let me know.”

I thought about it.? I decided, I was not going to focus on getting the site leaders to like me.? Getting them to like me was beyond my control.? I had to focus on actions which were in my control.?

I emailed my manager with my decision.? She responded, “Good Girl.”

I focused on ways I could add value, and yes some of the ways to add value were “people pleasing,” maybe too much of my focus.? I became hyper focused on closing my never-ending list of recruitments which I was told were critical but untethered to any kind of business strategy.? I did not know then, but that tactical work was still people pleasing, which kept me tethered to my mop.? ?

?Where I was truly adding value: restructuring the orientation program to enable better onboarding, working with the Production Manager to redesign the jobs in his department, devising a communication strategy for our deskless workers and aligning the HR strategy to the organization (albeit with ZERO feedback from the two site leaders).?

I kept trying to engage with the senior leadership.? The initiatives would ultimately need senior leadership support.?

The evening of February 1st, I was permanently unplugged from my organization and truly on my own.? ?The Plant Manager told me I would land on my feet.? Instead, I landed on my head (although it was a soft landing).?

I do not remember the exact number of recruitments I closed in the fall of 2022, but I know it was more than 10 and it might have been 15.? Many of them were hard to source technical roles.? This achievement did nothing to make them like me.? They didn’t value me.? Maybe they did not expect me to achieve those results.? It was like the dog that caught the car, they did not know what to do with the new hires.?? ?They could not blame HR for being shorthanded.? They had to deliver results. They had to show that the increase in payroll budget and headcount would increase revenue.? ?

During the month of February 2023 while applying for open positions (when I should have been resting), I was also reading.? I read “The 9 Faces of HR” by Chris Dunn, “HR Disrupted” by Lucy Adams, and “HR From the Outside In” by David Ulrich.? I completed 40 hours of CE for my SHRM-CP cycle.? I was a guest speaker telling “My HR Story” to Business 101 students at Ivy Tech.? I delivered presentations on Careers in Manufacturing to local high school’s class entitled “Preparing for College and Careers.”?

Then I found a rabbit hole.? I do not remember how I found the rabbit hold.? I was listening to podcasts by Lucy Adams, David Green and Josh Bersin while I walked to keep the crazy away.? I was following David Ulrich on LinkedIn.? I discovered Hacking HR on LinkedIn.? I found Kelly Swingler on LinkedIn, and my eyes were opened to burnout. ?I was finally able to understand my mop’s role in my own burnout.? And I kept going.? I found an HR tribe in that rabbit hole.

I discovered I had something to say.? But having something to say doesn’t make you an ideal interview candidate if the goal is to assimilate to the organization rather than invigorate the team.? I felt I was no longer hire-able.? ?There were many emails to interview teams which thanked them for the opportunity, acknowledged I was probably not what they were looking for, but if it was a path they wanted I would be open to the experience.? I was rejected a lot.?

I did not want to go back to my mop and my people pleasing.? I did not want to fall into the trap of getting them to like me.? I wanted to bring my authentic self to work.? I had something to say.? I wanted to drive change in the HR function.? I partnered with a like-minded HR professional, and we launched Human Soul People and Process Partners .? My business partner, Maria Mercedes Romano often tells me “they are not ready for your truth.”? So, we are in search of clients who are ready for our truth and are ready to change their organization's HR function to be both people focused, and business focused.?

It’s time to connect all your people to the business strategy.? It’s time to create less friction with the HR processes to enable employees to focus on the customer.? It’s time to craft experiences which foster open communication, psychological safety, innovation, development, and growth.? Your employees should choose to work for you every day.? Your people should feel comfortable bringing their authentic self to work and be able to connect with the organization’s purpose.? Their daily actions should drive value for the customer and the organization because they receive value from those experiences.?

There is a better way.? It’s down the rabbit hole.? ??