If there is one thing Covid19 and remote work is teaching the business community about HR it is that competence matters. To be fair, competence has always mattered, but in recent times the ‘Community’ seems to be moving away from competence in the real world to focus on becoming a popularity club on the online world. As a result what we are observing today is the further polarization not just in politics, but between real communities and faux communities:
Faux communities are the ones where people are two-faced, people say one thing and do another. Faux communities post social media cliches and wax semantics laced with inspirational click-bait. Faux communities only publish a point of view once a PR firm has proofed or polled the talking point. And ultimately faux communities are ‘fair-weather’, like a lawyer who represents a client in the near-term rather than serving their community for the long-term.
The expression: culture is what happens when the boss is not around is proving to be the litmus test of our work and our times. Today, more than any other time in our work history, real – i.e. competent HR professionals are able to show their net worth and work as if their passion for HR is, get this, real. Like-minded HR leaders should join this kind of real community. We’re building one and it starts with "why" - why don’t you join us?