An  MBA Student from Australia recently asked me – “Is HRM (Human Resource Management) only practiced by top officials like CEO’s and other policy makers of an organization, or is it – can it – also  be practiced by employees at some other level lower than upper management?” I thought it was a great question and very topical in light of what’s happening in the corporate world today.

Whose job is it? Who is responsible for hiring and training in your organization? Right sizing in recent years has put added pressure on an organizations management team to ensure they have the right person doing the right job. With the constant roll-out of new technologies, rapid change is becoming the “new normal”. In the past – HRM – was a function of the human resource department. In some respects HR was seen as a necessary evil. They completed the paperwork, walked the new hire through the orientation process and then passed him or her over to the Department Manager. Today, HR is seen as an equal partner – often given full status afforded all Executive Vice Presidents, including a seat around the board room table. HR must play a key role in an organizations long-term strategic plan because they need to understand where the organization is headed to ensure that the workforce has the skill set capable of reaching that goal.

However, it’s a catch-22. Here’s the billion dollar question; How do we as a company provide the training that our workforce will need to ensure its long-term viability, yet do it in the confines of a limited budget? Answer; Become a learning organization. Make training everyone’s responsibility – not just HR’s. Managers, supervisors and team leaders need to become coaches. A portion of every managers’ compensation package needs to be tied to training. It shouldn’t be – “What have you done for me lately” it should be “What have you learned lately”.

Jack Welch – legendary retired CEO at General Electric – felt that part of his success at GE was attributed to what he called the “Vitality Curve”. His managers had to promote the top 20% of their staff annually. They got to keep 70%, but they had to terminate the bottom 10%. I make it a point to talk about Jack’s 20-70-10 rule in all of my management and leadership development workshops. It always makes for a great debate. Whither you agree with his policy or not – it certainly drives the message home that your role as a manager is to teach someone something. If you’re not teaching someone something – then you aren’t doing your job as a manager. I think it also sends a message to the employees that they best hit the ground running and keep learning if they want to be part of GE’s future.

Shareholders need to realize that generating profit for short-term gains doesn’t guarantee the company’s long-term viability. Employees need to understand that their only guarantee of job security is their level of knowledge. The more they know the more value they are to the organization. The question management needs to answer is – “How much of your company’s future are you willing to give away for short-term gain by not spending the training dollars needed to ensure long-term sustainability?” Human Resource Management – Whose job is it? Your company’s or yours? A great question indeed. I hope you know the answer. Your future depends on it.

Ah, spring in Canada! There’s nothing quite like the changing of the seasons to get your heart pumping. Everyone seems to have an extra bounce to their step. The migrating snowbirds are returning from their winter retreats, and the trees and grass – once dormant – are starting to show signs of coming to life again.

Spring – a great time for renewal. A great time for all of us to dig ourselves out of the winter doldrums, dust off our summer sports equipment, get the bike out of storage or go for that long overdue walk. Spring is a great time to “re-sharpen the saw” as Stephen R. Covey would say. The season of new beginnings is a perfect time for self-reflection and re-assessment. Are you getting what you want out of what you’ve got? Are you getting your WIIFM? (What’s in it for me) Spring is a good time to ask yourself: Are you happy and content with where you are at this stage in your life, both at work and at home? If the answer is yes – great. However, if you’re not perfectly satisfied, what are you prepared to do about it? You need to change the behaviour to change the result. Doing the same thing and expecting a different result is the true definition of insanity. You need to have a Dr. Phil moment and take an honest look at yourself and your surroundings and come to terms with whatever it is that is getting in the way of you getting what you want.

It may come as a surprise to some people but life is not meant to be a spectator sport. Life is a ticket to the greatest show on earth. You need to get off of the couch, roll up your sleeves, and get back in the game. Where would you like to see yourself in 6, 12, 18 or 24 months from now, both in your personal and professional lives? Success is a matter of being focused on the goal and being prepared to do whatever you need to do to accomplish it. Success for the most part – in any undertaking – is having a plan and then working that plan, and if you’re not accomplishing what you set out to do, then you need to change that plan and start again.

Larry Winget in true Larry Winget fashion sums it up best in his book – “It’s Called Work for a Reason: Your Success is Your Own Dam Fault”. Wishing and hoping won’t make it so. You need to develop those kinds of habits that are going to take you to where it is you want to go. (Soft skills like patience, open mindedness and empathy) Don’t wait for perfect! There’s never going to be a “perfect” time to start, a “perfect” set of circumstances, or a “perfect” plan. You need to heed the advise of Esther Dyson: “The delusion that you’re perfect – or that if you do the right thing, things will always work out OK – makes you resistant to change and fearful of failure … you’d rather not discover that you’re imperfect, that maybe what you were doing was wrong. The more people can go through these discoveries the better.”

So remember – Any time is a good time to start a new beginning. Why not make spring time – your time for renewal? Strike up the band. Shake the dust off your action plan and get at it! Read a book, attend a workshop or join a group of like-minded people. The point is – stop talking about it – and do it!