HR Punditry

Take a wry look at HR from a new perspective!

Welcome to my world – it’s one that not all HR folk want you to know about!

I deal in ‘employment relations’ not ‘employee relations.’ There is a subtle but significant difference; I believe that HR should be working for the greater good of the organisation which employs it.

I specialise in ‘managed exits.’ All the trials, tantrums and tribulations - from employers and employees alike - that come with the everyday requirement companies still have for professionally removing people - whatever the reason - that no longer fit their organisation.

Some say that it’s dirty work, that it’s the drafting of over-generous payouts or the shadowy world of non-disclosure agreements; buying the silence of execs just to see them quietly and contentedly on their way.

It’s none of these although I’m often the last resort. I’m the employment relations master, parachuted in when HR often doesn’t have the skill or the will to work in their company’s best interests.

I’ve seen a lot of things that business does and doesn’t do. So read on; you might be shocked and surprised by what you hear. Or then again, you might not...

When Change Comes to HR

There’s one thing that frequently surprises about the mainstream HR narrative. It’s the unflappable belief that HR folk are masters of organisational change; that they take change their stride, and it’s done with a process-driven approach that removes the inevitable emotion that goes with it. But here’s my issue. Yes, this might be true for(…)

Craig Smith | Nov 25, 2014 | Uncategorized |

HR Frenemies and Chinese Walls

It was Renaissance political theorist Machiavelli who, in his treatise ‘The Prince,’ famously said: “keep your friends close and your enemies closer.” His advice to leaders was penned more than 500 years ago but the concept is alive and well thanks to an expression that Machiavelli wouldn’t have heard of but which is widely used(…)

Craig Smith | Nov 25, 2014 | Employee Relations, HR, Leadership, People, Published Articles, Strategy |

Dry your tears with this huge cheque

No matter how unpleasant this essential HR process is, there’s a big difference between doing exit ‘professionally’ and doing it with the interests of the business at heart. And, let’s not beat about the bush, it’s almost a universal failing of HR to do managed exits ‘properly’. Don’t get me wrong, the process of ‘managed(…)

Craig Smith | Sep 4, 2014 | Employee Relations, HR, Managed Exits, People, Published Articles, Strategy |

HR and the employee’s “inner chimp”

With workplace disciplinaries on the rise, HR frequently has to deal with angry employees who feel their trust has been breached. But Josh Sunsoa asks, does HR bring this situation on itself? Have you ever witnessed perfectly normal staff suddenly become so enraged that they lose all sense of proportionality or judgment when it comes(…)

Craig Smith | May 6, 2014 | Employee Relations, Published Articles |

Firing people – it’s never personal

Firing people is part of doing business and dismissals happen a lot more than resignations. It’s time we dropped the euphemisms. There are lots of phrases in business that describe the same thing. In my world, they’re called ‘letting people go’, doing ‘managed exits’ or ‘releasing people’. But is the reason there are so many(…)

Craig Smith | May 6, 2014 | Employee Relations, People, Published Articles |

Blog