Keeping the Human in HR

I was the dinner speaker at a SHRM group just before Memorial Day weekend, which was also the beginning of our move to our new office space – a week long project involving more technology than I ever want to think about again! So while my dear management team was directing furniture placement and dealing with phone issues, I was getting to talk about my favorite subject, talent management and development across the generations and, more important, their Roles. It wasn’t a huge crowd, but I met a real HR star.

As the dinner conversation went around, someone at my table had a sad story of a plant closing, a large plant employing many people for whom that’s been their only job.  Interesting, in the light of statistics that show length of tenure for most populations is decreasing.  There was no budget for outplacement services but she did the most amazing things to help people find new jobs, people who’d never had a resume and had language and social barriers to overcome in the process.  She saw nothing special in what she was doing or what her efforts were accomplishing, not just for the people but for their community and in a broader perspective, for our economy.  She just did it because it was the right thing to do.

We chatted a bit about her own career aspirations and I gave her my card.  I just read this email from her:

“I wanted to take a moment and share with you something that happened this morning. We spoke briefly last night after the meeting regarding my own situation and challenges with our plant closing and my search for the “right” position.

“This morning I was working on yet another resume for a plant employee and one of the employees came to my office. He is an assistant supervisor, union position, very conscientious and respectful. He is an amateur baker on the side and makes beautiful cakes for all different types of occasions. He came to me this morning and said “I have something for you” (in very broken English). He was grinning ear to ear and I said “You have something for me?” and then he said, “I really appreciate you and what you’re doing for us and I baked you a cake”. Well, it was 20 minutes before I quit crying. The icing was purple, my favorite color and the only thing I could do was hug him because I couldn’t talk. He then invited me to a picnic he is having at his house for the employees in a couple of weeks and he left.

“Right now I have to focus on my current activities here and not be sidetracked by my own job search. I think it would be very selfish of me especially after this morning. Thanks again for your very informative presentation last night. I look forward to speaking with you soon.”

Just a nice reminder that whatever you do, ultimately it’s the relationships that are the most gratifying.  If you’re a recruiter reading this and want to connect to this star, just contact me.  No cake needed.