I was facilitating a leadership development workshop for HR professionals last week and, during that workshop, one of the senior HR leaders in the room made the following comment, “Focus on the Goal, Not the Role”. I loved hearing that, especially in a room full of HR leaders who were having some identity challenges. This organization had recently been though a restructuring of the HR organization and many people were still unclear about their roles and responsibilities.
Because this is a very large company, gaining consistent clarity across the entire organization about HR roles and responsibilities may not be that simple, yet, each individual in that room could begin to make positive impact by doing just what was said by a senior HR leader the room, “focus on the goal, not the role”. Typically the goal is to support the business and the leaders in the business. Regardless of whether the HR professional is in a Compensation role, a Recruiting role or an HR Generalist role, the goal is the same – support the business. Keeping that in the forefront of their minds might just help with some of the “that’s not my role” antics that tend to come up in situations such as this.
I think this is also a profound thought for any leader to promote amongst their teams. If all team members are clear on what the goal is and everyone is set on reaching that goal, then the environment becomes much more collaborative. It becomes less about who has a particular job title and who “should” and “should not” be doing certain tasks but instead, it is about the goal of driving the business forward. “Focus on the Goal, Not the Role” and see what kind of response and results you get!
