05 traits that any HR professional should not have:
1) Ego or Attitude: Larger than role attitude: Well, where you are working with people, interacting with people and the number of people that you are interacting with is large, you cannot afford to have ego. You need to come down from your level and talk. It is not easy, just next to impossible to match with the expectations of everybody. In this profession, people will hate you, ignore your contribution, blame you but in spite of that you cannot afford to have ego. I have seen HR professionals who are over-flowing with ego. When they start talking, it appears as if they are doing any favor by interacting with you, communicating with you and updating you with new strategy or policy. This is another reason, as why HR professionals are not able to make that impact in this profession to make them counted.
2) Should not be emotional: “Touch everyone’s heart and don’t let them touch yours”. “Be empathetic but don’t cry with your employees”. Every human being is emotional and it’s only irony that to be effective and focused, HR Professionals should not be emotional. By emotional, there is a chance and high probability that they will not be able to do justice with their work. They are like that fish, which need to swim in water to survive but should not get wet.
3) I know everything (I don’t need to learn from you): This is another negative trait of HR. They present themselves in a way, as if they know everything. That is not an end, the irony is that neither do they have “Subject matter expertise” nor they are good in “Human Relations” and nor do they want to learn anything. This reminds me one story of goat and lion. Goat, whenever she see or come across lion, she closes her eyes and assume that once I close my eyes, lion will not be able to see me. So, that is a situation of HR Professionals.
Read this axiom:
- If he don’t know and don’t know that he don’t know, he is arrogant, Avoid him.
- If he don’t know and know that he don’t know, he is a student, Teach him.
- If he knows and know that he knows, he is sleeping, Wake him up.
- If he know and know that he knows, he is a Leader, Follow him.
4) I am GOD; I am The Kingmaker:
- If you are hiring someone;
- If you are paying salary to someone;
- If you are giving promotion and growth to someone;
- If you are nice to someone
You are not doing any favor to him. He deserves, that is why he is getting. If you are giving, even though he do not deserve, then you are Corrupt.
Many of HR Professionals send across this message to the shop-floor that “Don’t mess with me, I can spoil your career” or “I have done favor for you. Respect me”.
5) Should not be biased (No Favoritism; No Grapevine; No Office Politics): HR Professionals, most of the time keep themselves engaged in “Office Politics”. They initiate “Grapevine”, water this grapevine and believe in this grapevine. Whatever might be the reason but it is a gray area and they need to improve on that. This is another reason that no one take HR professionals seriously. I know, in one of my previous employment, when we started “Employee Relations” and “Employee Communication”, all employees use to consider this HR Representative as “Company ka jasoos” (Detective from management). In office politics, most of the time HR Department is considered as “Hub of All Politics”. HR Professionals need to come up, and increase their level of thinking. They need to be more matured.
