Nicole Hopkins, MBA

The world of human resources. It's a hell of a lot more than just hiring and firing. The fact is, being a profession where the majority of work is kept behind Oz's curtain, it's not very surprising that I am constantly looking for ways to reframe what I do for a living.

After reading far too many articles titled "why human resources is dead" I've decided it's time to find a new way to speak about the evolution of my profession.

Recently a former colleague and I went out for a drink. We spent the greater part of a year together working on her individual development plan, guiding her through conversations with her Manager and navigating growth in a startup environment. The end result - she finally got the promotion she deserved. As we drank a nice glass of Pinot reflecting on her journey thus far she said something I took to heart (remember, HR folks only ever get maybe three compliments a year). She said "Nicole, if I had a dollar for every time I've heard 'Nicole said this would happen and it happened', I'd be rich!" We laughed about the fact that much of the coaching and skills I aim to impart on Leaders have been acquired through a decade of seeing the worst case scenarios. Unfortunately, for most, they do not understand the value of spending a little bit more time up front on things like role clarification, expectation setting or building trust with their employees until it's too late and they then experience the worst case scenario themselves.

Despite this rather depressing thought, I focused on the upside of this compliment - knowing that I have valuable knowledge that can be shared with Managers and Leaders to make them the best version of themselves. I continue to focus on coaching, training and developing leaders proactively in an effort to prevent them from being a bosshole and hopefully provide a great experience for whoever is working with them.

Through the evolution of Human Resources to People Operations most companies have taken part by pushing title changes and little else. The investment to create efficiencies and bandwidth to truly be strategic partners is rare, leaving most HR professionals in a traditional, reactive state. For those of us who have experienced first hand what it can be like having a proactive approach and seat at the strategic table, it's hard to look back.

Imagine you are sitting down to play one of your favorite games. You turn on the Xbox and it begins to load. It may be your first time or perhaps it's just a new level. A friendly face appears. She's smart, like really smart. She reminds you of a friend. And because she wants you to survive and win! she begins to give you guidance. How to use your controls, what to watch out for, where you may want to begin your mission. This is a prologue, or Cortana (if you're a halo fan) and Cortana is what now a days is referred to as People Operations.

Sometimes you get a player who hits A and completely skips the prologue, runs into the battlefield and jumps on a grenade. They then call for a medic and when the medic arrives, the player is complaining about how long it took the medic to help them. Traditional HR are medics. More often than not, this is how they are used in businesses today.

Of course, if the player listens to what Cortana has to offer and uses it to their advantage but still find themselves in need of a medic, People Ops will be there to take the role of the medic and still help the player survive.

This is the key difference between the two. HR are medics. People Ops are Cortana, with the necessary skills to be a medic when needed.

Many people wonder, why would I invite my medic to strategize about my approach to the game? Think of it this way - that medic has seen time and time again where players make mistakes, what they could have done to avoid them and how to approach it next time to get a different result. Medics, with the right resourcing and involvement, can make excellent Cortanas.

So if you work in HR, I have to ask - what % of your time is spent being a medic vs. being a Cortana?

If you're not in HR and have worked with a Cortana, how has it changed your perception of the profession?

Nicole Hopkins, MBA

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 8K followers 500+ connections

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Corporate Training, Change Management, Career Development Coaching, Leadership Development, Team Building, and Training

Experience

Up & to the Right Consulting

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Licenses & Certifications

Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument (HBDI) Certified Practioner

Herrmann

Certificate IV TAE (Training & Assessment)

Hostec

Return to Work Coordination

Workcover New South Wales

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