News and analysis Leader
Editor’s letter
Our recent HR Most Influential
(HRMI) unveiling event featured
so many brilliant chats and catch-ups.
But one has particularly stuck with me
(and that’s not because I drank too
much fizz to remember the rest).
“I met X tonight – they’re brilliant,”
HRD number one (I won’t share
names) told me. “I saw them on their
phone so I went over and said ‘are you
on your phone because you need to be,
or are you a bit of an introvert and
don’t know anyone here yet?’”
It transpired that it was the latter,
and thus a strong connection and
potential friendship was forged. For
me this interaction perfectly sums up
the warm and incredibly generous
energy at HRMI each year, and I’m
sure at other events hosting high-level
HR folk. It encapsulates a key part of
what professional influence – and
fellowship – is all about.
“It was great, you can stop that right
now,” another attendee, one of our topranked
thinkers, chastised me when I
posited that my presentation (in which
my PowerPoint clicker fell off the
lectern at least three times) might not
have been the slickest.
Yet it’s by no means just about HR
being a nice bunch – an accusation
levelled in a derogatory dismissive
fashion at HR over the years.
Returning to my original anecdote, the
first HRD could have just done the
easier thing of leaving HRD number
two to their emails. But they took the
risk of challenging a stranger to step
outside of their comfort zone.
Perhaps our third-ranked most
influential thinker this year, professor
of business psychology at University
College London and Columbia
University Tomas Chamorro-
Premuzic, put it best in his speech.
He pointed out that despite Brits’
reputation for avoiding confrontation,
we have the right “attitude” when it
comes to “self-criticism”.
This is something we should be
proud of in differentiating us from the
US, where in some quarters “HR has
been co-opted by the self-help
industry” and has lost a healthy
“cynicism and the ability to not take
itself too seriously”, he said.
He referenced the work of professor
of organisational psychology at Queen
Mary University of London Rob
Briner, who this year entered our HR
Most Influential Hall of Fame for
exactly this endeavour of challenging
the profession – something he does out
of an impassioned and deeply caring
belief that HR can, with the right
support, achieve great things.
But it’s the balance that is so crucial
here. In her acceptance speech our
number one most influential thinker,
Novartis professor of leadership and
management at Harvard Business
School Amy Edmondson, spoke on her
work on psychological safety.
“People cannot flourish in a culture
of fear… there is a lot of fear out there,”
she mused, referencing the challenges
that political volatility, technological
change, and rapidly-emerging but
then declining business models and
opportunities increasingly pose to our
professional confidence.
I personally feel so lucky to have
been welcomed into such a warm
community over my four-and-a-bit
years at HR magazine. Committing
words to print… constantly generating
ideas… getting up on stage in front
of top business professionals and
academics… The fear of failure would
be even more real without a supportive
audience at the receiving end.
And I know this is the backing and
guidance others in the extended HR
family regularly enjoy from each other.
“What a great role model he is in
this sector – talking to whoever will
listen, talking about all that is great in
HR,” commented HRMI practitioner
ranking panellist Martin Tiplady
accepting government chief people
officer Rupert McNeil’s number one
ranking (McNeil was called away last
minute), and summing up how
remarkable it is that someone at the
heart of government and the Brexit
maelstrom still finds time to share with
his profession.
So keep supporting each other
HR. But also keep challenging.
Because at such times we all need
a (critical) friend. HR
Jenny Roper
Editor
HR magazine
More than just a magazine
Our
mission
statement
HR magazine is for
people-focused,
forward-thinking,
business leaders who
want insight into and
examples of
businesscontextualised
HR in
order to develop
high-performing
organisations. As the
leading individually
requested magazine
for senior HR
professionals, we are
aspirational,
accessible and
opinionated. Whether
in print, online or
face-to-face, we are
the hub through
which the senior HR
community can
connect with each
other. We promise to
always view HR from
a business
perspective, give
access to leaders
and leading thinking,
and always tell you
what you need to
know, not what you
expect to hear.
As well as HR magazine in print, you can interact with our various brands online and in person
4 HR October 2019 hrmagazine.co.uk
/hrmagazine.co.uk