Have you ever noticed how small most HR teams are in comparison to everything they’re expected to do?
In many organizations, HR makes up only about 2% of the workforce. Yet they’re responsible for the business’ most valuable asset – PEOPLE. That means culture and employee experience, hiring, retention, growth and development, managing performance and workforce planning—all while keeping risk at a minimum with mandatory training, compliance with employment laws, payroll, and benefits.
To make things harder and even more confusing, how HR’s success is measured is rarely clarified for an HR team. Fewer than half of HR professionals say they have strong performance metrics for their HR function. Perhaps because the executive team has little knowledge of everything HR is capable of accomplishing outside of hiring, firing and compliance.
So HR – the people in charge of ensuring the organization’s most important asset is properly functioning and productive – have little clarity, structure, or support. Neat.
And at the center of this pressure is one big tension: compliance versus people strategy.
The Two Sides of HR: Compliance versus People
After 17 years we’ve worked with hundreds of HR professionals and their surrounding support teams as either their employer’s consultant, a brainstorming partner, a webinar attendee, or in conversations at events and conferences. And we’ve noticed there are essentially two types of HR professionals – rarely does one professional embody both.
1. Compliance (The “Left-Brain” Side)
This side of HR focuses on rules, policies, and risk management. As you likely already know, this is “left-brain”—it requires analytical thinking, attention to detail, logic, and consistency.
Compliance HR ensures the organization follows labor laws, anti-discrimination rules, wage and hour laws, health and safety standards, and data privacy requirements. It protects the organization and the people in it.
Non-compliance can lead to lawsuits, fines, damaged reputation, and low morale. For example, in one fiscal year alone, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed 110 lawsuits challenging unlawful employment discrimination.
Compliance is serious business. Without it, organizations are exposed.
2. People Strategy or Culture (The “Right-Brain” Side)
The other side of HR focuses on people and culture. This is “right-brain” HR because it relies on emotional intelligence, creativity, big-picture thinking, and the ability to understand human behavior.
This includes shaping employee experience, building leadership capability, improving engagement, strengthening culture, and aligning talent with long-term business goals.
Today’s HR leaders are increasingly expected to think strategically, beyond managing paperwork and policies. Smart organizations are asking their HR team to help the business grow and evolve.
This is the side of HR that transforms organizations. Without it, organizations can stay stagnant.
Why This Matters
Problems arise when one side dominates the other. If HR focuses too much on compliance, it can become reactive and bureaucratic. Policies may be technically correct, but employees may feel unsupported. Leaders may struggle with development and engagement. HR becomes the “policy police.”
On the other hand, if HR focuses only on culture and strategy without strong compliance foundations, the organization risks legal exposure, inconsistent practices, and serious liability.
Neither extreme works. HR teams that are strong in both compliance and people strategy will have:
- Higher employee engagement
- Lower turnover
- Better alignment with business goals
Like anything in life, balance is a good thing.
Can HR Professionals Do Both Equally Well?
I can do math, but it’s not a strong talent of mine and I don’t like doing it.
I can, however, fairly easily whip up a new plan to build long-lasting and sustainable culture change after a series of listening sessions with employees.
That makes me “right-brained” and on the people strategy side of things. If I were an internal HR professional, I would absolutely need someone else to help with the compliance side of things.
So whether you as an HR professional need to come in a pair depends on whether you are left- and right-brained or heavily lean towards one side, what you enjoy doing, what you’re good at, and what you want to grow into.
Certainly it’s important to have both “sides” and continuity between them.
What This Means for Organizations
In today’s workplace, talent is one of your greatest strategic assets. HR should not be forced to choose between protecting the organization and growing it.
Instead:
- Leaders must recognize that HR requires dual expertise, and most likely that means two different people (i.e., sides of the brain) running the two different sides of HR.
- HR professionals should be allowed to specialize without losing sight of the bigger picture. While this often happens in large organizations where a large HR team is needed, smaller organizations could find ways to allow their HR manager to specialize and grow or use fractional HR services.
- Organizations should measure HR success beyond whether or not there was a lawsuit and focus on measures like turnover, employee engagement scores, and number of people promoted from within (of course, only if HR has influence and control over these areas).
When both sides of the brain are strong, HR becomes both trusted and transformational. It protects the organization and it moves it forward.
If this conversation resonates with you, it may be time to strengthen both sides of your HR function.
If you’re stuck in compliance and need a partner on the people strategy and culture side, schedule a discovery call to explore how we can help you build an HR function that protects your organization and empowers your people.
You might also explore our Strategic HR Influence Resource Bundle to help you expand your impact, increase credibility, and influence leaders and the workforce with confidence.
