A Sign of Being Human

The need for appreciation isn't a sign of weakness, but rather it is a sign of being human.

How can you better validate and appreciate the people in your life? I challenged my audience at Duke University to consider this question, and then I took it one step further saying, "Identify someone that you don't think would actually want the recognition and tell them specifically (and sincerely) what you appreciate about them." One month later, I followed-up with the audience members to find out what they had done.

An executive raised her hand to tell me that she had reluctantly recognized a long-time employee. "He was always doing great work, and yet I had never said anything in the past because I didn't think he would want to hear it," she said. "However, after your challenge I decided to take a chance," pausing for a moment, she then said, "After recognizing him for his amazing work over so many years he came into my office and said that in NINETEEN years of working for the organization he had never had anyone acknowledge his work." She humbly concluded saying, "He told me thank you for noticing and then he walked out . . . I had no idea."

The simplicity, the influence, and the power of genuine appreciation should not be taken for granted. Please consider the benefits of communicating in a positive way that builds trust, creates hope, and inspires confidence. How can you better validate and appreciate the people in your life?

The need for appreciation is not a sign of weakness . . . it is a sign of being human.

Should we still call it Human “Resources”?

Should we still call it Human Resources? Or is there a better way to describe what HR professionals do? If people are to be viewed as more than assets, then maybe we need to change the title of Human “Resources” to reflect the changes as well. To be credible, we should get beyond administration of paperwork to consider what we could be doing: humanizing the workplace.

In my opinion, the HR professionals of the future have an opportunity to change the workplace so dramatically that they will no longer like the term “resources” as it no longer describes what they really do (I’ll explain when you see my answer to the next question).

Allan Collins, President & CEO of SuccessInHR.com, recently asked this question on LinkedIn: “What is the single biggest opportunity HR professionals need to prepare for in the next 1-2 years?”

My response is this: To create meaning, live the values, and HUMANIZE the workplace for employees. I’ll lay out my case for this in my next post.

How would you answer Allan’s question? What do you think is the single biggest opportunity for HR professionals? Assuming they should even still be called human “resource” professionals . . . what do you think?