Posing in Human Resources

Advances in medical treatment need to be accompanied by statistics and other objective data to support their implementation. Thus, for example, a specific drug will provide an improvement over the previous one in terms of reduction or elimination of side effects or simply remission of the health problem. In the same way, a new machine to treat a certain cancer will be accompanied by data on mortality reduction. The medicine, therefore, is due to the criterion of efficacy and not of trend.

In the Human Resources function, terms such as competencies, emotional intelligence, motives, talents, employer branding or inbound recruiting have had their 15 minutes of fame before declining. Specialized magazines and forums of all kinds have accommodated at the right time those trends that we were all beginning to adopt, but quickly came another that overtook the previous one. Very VUCA (oops!!!).

The problem of such a short life is that from the birth of the new concept to its worldwide dissemination there isn’t enough time to empirically demonstrate its effectiveness. Yes, empirical. Do you remember your philosophy classes? Descartes, Hume, Locke, Popper…

The new trends very often suffer from contrasting data. Public presentations and the articles that support them make the new technique an end rather than an instrument and do not produce objective results that justify its use. The process is to first incorporate the concept and then we will see what the results are.


Medicine does not present any therapeutic alternative without accompanying it with real and objective data. You should demand the same of everything new. Do not pay attention to the wood and insist on being shown the trees.


Here’s an example: HR Analytics, that new way of working (of which I am a user, supporter and defender) through the analysis of huge amounts of data by means of algorithms. Try searching in Google, don’t do it, I’ve already done it: almost 300 million references. Locate the next professional event of trends and analyse its presence, do not do it, I’ve already done it: about 50% of appearances. All disseminators will tell you what you can do with this technique, they will share a correct enumeration of benefits, some pilot experience, how it will evolve, but no real profit with empirical basis. How much will I shorten my selection process? My savings in euros? How much will I reduce turnover? And talent management? How will it help me in career development compared to previous methods?

Medicine does not present any therapeutic alternative without accompanying it with real and objective data. You should demand the same of everything new. Do not pay attention to the wood and insist on being shown the trees.

P.S.: Many years ago, a major publishing company had hired a consultant to design their dictionary of competencies, which was the trend at the time. In a meeting with them, they showed me several folders with outstanding graphic quality that included their competency mapping. A great job, no doubt about it. They already had it. Then his HR director turned to me and said, “I really don’t know what to do with this now”.

Source upper image: https://mx.depositphotos.com/

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