Note: Each of the truths will have it’s own blog post in this 8-part series.

There is nothing more contagious than an idea whose time has come.

Our beloved HR profession is liberated only when it is no longer defined through its own self-referential lens. Our undisputed yet undiscussed 7 HR Truths become self-evident when HR is sieved through the eyes of a polymath.  This blog series will draw upon a plethora of diverse disciplines that can coalesce our profession into simple yet powerful truths. Imagine an avant-garde approach to HR with seven additional tools in your HR toolkit that have so few moving parts that their impact is augmented by virtue of minimal complications. 

HR Avant Garde 7 truths

Are you asking different questions than everyone else?

Each truth puts HR at the center of business, fostering the powerful dictate that the business of HR is business. Innovation is born out of asking different questions than the masses. Each HR truth instinctively emerges as answers to different questions that demand more from our profession. The most radical thing about these truths is their lack of radicalness. These innate truths sprout from both the common sense and wisdom that can be rediscovered when our profession is stripped of its detritus when we look at HR with fresh eyes.

The best innovators lack hubris by never stating they have the right answer to the different questions they pose, but merely develop a specific point of view they toss out in the marketplace of ideas. These 7 HR Truths make more urgent demands of our HR profession, and so we have clarified these truths so you can see why HR is the greatest backstage pass to business ever.

HR is...

Each truth puts HR at the center of business.

There is nothing more contagious than an idea whose time has come, so stay tuned for our next 7 blog posts! 

7 HR Truths:

  1. HR is accountable for at least half of a company’s growth.
  2. HR owns most of the problems a company experiences through its choice architecture.
  3. HR is the last field of competitive advantage, making every company an HR company.
  4. HR explains the gap between tangible book value & market capitalization.
  5. HR is not Admin; it is the indispensable Internal Marketing Department.
  6. GAAP does not accurately reflect a company’s worth as it exists in the knowledge economy.
  7. Compensation Plans are optimized when developed within the context of a nation’s tax code.

Vincent Suppa works with startups and investors and teaches graduate courses at New York University. His email is suppa@suppa.org.

© Vincent Suppa 2019