When I was asked to do an interview with the Australian Financial Review on the lack of male presence in the field of HR, I must admit that my first reaction was a little on the side of 'so what??'. But the more I thought about it, the more I became certain that the root cause of this could well be a fundamental misunderstanding or misrepresentation of what 'HR' is and the potential that it has to make a real difference in an organisation.
12 years ago when I started Focus HR, I would ask my clients 'what do you think HR does?'. Responses would vary from 'you take care of the soft, fluffy stuff' to 'you are the people who tell me what I can't do!', with the occasional enlightened response of 'you help me motivate my people'.
And if this is the perception that is out there about what HR is, of course it isn't attractive ... to anyone really!
But we are missing the true value of HR in those responses. The power of HR (and I use 'power' in the positive sense) lies in the ability to positively influence the behaviour, intent and understanding of others. Traditional HR might not hold positional authority in the same way that other managerial roles do in an organisation, but that doesn't mean it is without impact.
In fact, my key point with the AFR was that HR as a profession plays an amazing role of being the nexus between high-level business strategy and engaging the hearts and minds at a grass roots level of the people who will deliver on it. Because let's face it - even in an age of AI, and robotics, and automation, when it all boils down, it is still people who deliver the outcomes.
So does gender really matter in a good HR practitioner? My answer is 'no'. Do I know amazing females practicing HR? Absolutely yes! I also know remarkable males. The ratio is indeed a little skewed. What ultimately makes a great HR professional is curiosity, a detailed mind, pragmatism, healthy scepticism, the courage to have difficult conversations, the determination to stay the course, and the ability to take often-abstract big picture goals and translate them into language that people at every level in an organisation can connect and align with.
Now if that isn't a challenging career choice, I don't know what is!!!
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1moNo offence but I have found male HR more sensible and empathetic than females. And I am feeling bad while writing this but this is true. Recently I had an interview with female HR and we didn't discuss a single thing about job description as she was way more interested in my personal life and why left that job and this job. Why I changed my field. Why I took another breath while I can easily manage to stay alive in that single breath. Seriously. I could not stand her for 30 minutes I don't know how the people in the office stand her annoyance. And it is not just a one time thing. Honestly I try to avoid them from now on. Be sensible only ask job related questions otherwise don't.