In the atrium below I could see the sly smile of Comms Director Gabriel Silk sidling up to Sally Gulliver as she nibbled through her lunch. His tray landed next to hers with a provocative slap. ‘So,’ he said, ‘I hear you’ve made all of your HR policies redundant…?’
Sally grinned with professional satisfaction. ‘Not all of them, you need a few basics, but mostly, yes…’
Gabriel sat down and started to attack the Bolognaise steaming gently on his plate. ‘Isn’t that like Finance chucking out their calculators?’
‘No,’ said Sally firmly, before adding waspishly: ‘Difference is, policies are a crutch we don’t need.’
Gabriel snorted, tendrils of spaghetti sprouting from his mouth, making him look like a ‘B’ movie monster. ‘But how will everyone here know what they should – or should not – be doing? You can’t just trust people to do their jobs, you know – that’s not what they’re here for.’
‘No? What are they here for, then?’
‘Well it’s not for the love of a good company, is it? Enough wages to pay the Chardonnay bill, and as much free stationery as you can get past Security.’
‘You old cynic, Gabriel. You don’t think it’s possible for people here to believe in what we do? In the difference we can make?’
His lips smeared vampirically with bolognaise sauce, Gabriel Silk looked flatly at Sally. ‘What difference do we make, Sally? Are we “changing people’s lives through pink blancmange”, perhaps…?’
Sally shrugged and launched a rocket leaf into her mouth. ‘You’re Comms; why don’t you and I create something people can get behind? I mean, that’s why I got into HR in the first place: to try in some small way to make people’s lives better…’
‘You think a strapline can make people’s lives better?’
‘Course not. But I think the idea behind the strapline can help people make their lives better… don’t you?’
Wearily, Gabriel sighed. ‘Why is the most naïve function in any organisation always HR…?’
‘Not naïve; merely principled. We still have a vision. Talking of visions, you appear to have bolognaise sauce on the end of your nose…’
Next time: Tell Me Why We’re Here Again? @BinglebyinHR
Bingleby was confiding in Richard Goff
"Why is the most naive function in any organisation always HR..?"
Spend a day in my workplace...then say that...
One heck of a read!!!! Can't wait for the next one.
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