4
HR
West
G
rowth. Progress. Improvement. Achievement. Success. These few
words strike to the very core of the purpose of human resources.
Those of us who have taken up this challenging and meaningful
work spend our days creating constructs and methodologies that drive
results, that optimize the performance of people and of organizations, that
focus on outcomes desired today and systems of sustainable success for
yet unknown challenges. As we have written before, heady stuff — this
pursuit of individual and organizational greatness. More than a labor of love,
a profession of passion. Of purpose.
And yet amid this realization of the incredible impact that great HR achieves,
the adage that the shoemaker’s children have no shoes comes to mind, and
maybe something beyond that. If HR practitioners were the equivalent of
shoemakers, there is no doubt those children would be well-shod. However,
we brilliant cobblers might very well be barefoot ourselves.
In a two decade travel through our profession, I have yet to meet a colleague
who did not have a deep interest and applied effort in developing the
individuals within their organizations. Career plans, development plans,
leadership plans, succession plans. Lots of plans. Encouraging those
we counsel to keep abreast of what is happening. To continually expand
horizons. To embrace the fact that the ability and willingness to learn is the
only skill set of the modern age. And, to laude the reality that only those
who are accountable to themselves for this growth, progress, improvement,
and achievement will experience long-term success. That regardless of what
one’s organization provides, the modern career in any discipline requires a
personal commitment and diligence to and for development.
And the plan for their own career, development, leadership, etc., etc.? Uh,
we will get to that later. We’ve got a lot of work to do helping others.
A favorite expression is that we are too busy mopping up the floor to turn
off the faucet. I know I have often been guilty of that, despite my fervent
intentions. We often get so busy with the doing and the day-to-day that we
forget to look up. Many colleagues affected by the new reality of our less
than robust economy have shared that the industry of our profession had
simply passed them by. Secure in good jobs, they hadn’t taken the time
to keep up with the when’s, where’s and what’s of the evolution occurring
outside the confines of the desk they were happily working. When these
good and solid folks found themselves looking, the tools they had relied
upon were no longer those being demanded.
And the pace of change! The shifting demands of what our customers — leaders
and organizations and employees — demand of and define as great HR.
As your association, our only reason for existence is to provide resources for a
meaningfulandsuccessfulcareerwhich isdemonstrated inthecreationofthriving
people and organizations. Founded more than 50 years ago with one goal —
the development of the profession and those who practice it.
The largest gathering of our community — HR West— is upon us. Hundreds
of individuals who embrace development as the key to success come
together to learn and to share and to honor all that we do. We hope to see
you there. It is the only reason we — your association — exists.
A final thought: “A passive approach to professional growth will leave you by
the wayside.” — Tom Peters
We are actively looking forward to travelling the next leg of your journey by
your side. We will bring the shoehorns.
Wishing you a wildly successful career,
Danika Davis
Chief Executive Officer, NCHRA
415.395.1911
Executive Letter
“Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement,
achievement and success have no meaning.” — Benjamin Franklin
