HR & Comms: Is a TRUE collaboration possible?

I’ve spoken a lot about change recently, and perhaps that’s because the last few years has meant huge changes for me in terms of my working life and also my personal life.

We know that everyone is impacted differently by change, and we can even point to models where people talk about the various stages people go through; like denial, resistance, exploration and then finally commitment (Scott and Jaffe. 1998).

One of the most important strategies with change is effective communication. However in some organisations this may not be considered your ‘domain’ or ‘area of expertise’.

Again it’s that mentality that HR does the hiring and firing and shouldn’t get involved in other areas of the business. But it’s the silo way of thinking that gets the organisation into trouble i.e. “I look after my area and you look after yours”.

If we in HR are going to work on strategic projects like lifting employee engagement, talent management, recruitment campaigns and cultural change don’t you think we should get involved with how it is going to be communicated?

In terms of employer branding I believe we need to be involved and actually even lead this discussion. It’s no good letting the comms team choose your images or look and feel of your recruitment adverts if they contradict with the message that HR is putting out there about the brand. It’s imperative that the two functions actually work together.

I mean I haven’t got a communications degree, but I have studied communication management at a Masters level and have some appreciation of what it’s all about. I also place my ‘HR hat’ on, and realise the detrimental impact poor internal communication can have on our people. Working on recruitment and selection campaigns also gives me insight into our brand perception, and how we attract staff.

I guess I’m talking about a real collaboration between these two functions. And in saying that, ‘collaboration’ is a bit of a buzz word that people like to throw around, particularly since the GFC where resources have become scarce.

The free dictionary interestingly defines ‘collaboration’ as

1. the act of working with another or others on a joint project
2. something created by working jointly with another or others
3. the act of cooperating as a traitor, esp with an enemy occupying one’s own country

Hmm so perhaps HR working with Comms is more like cooperating as a traitor?? (only kidding!).

Harvard Business argues that ” Many people, we suspect, would define collaboration as any situation where people work together in a coordinated way to achieve common objectives and would include highly specified and synchronized coordination, such as traditional assembly line operations”.

They go as far as to talk about different types of collaboration:
Transactional versus Relational Collaboration
Loosely versus Tightly Coupled
Static versus Dynamic

So how do you get this collaboration to get started when it appears that you have a power struggle on your hands or that you have to prove you know what you are talking about?

At his stage, I’m being polite, persistent and keeping myself grounded in research. At the same time, things like this generally need to come from the top so it’s important that the Senior leaders in HR get the ball rolling. I try to keep an open mind, and also to keep focussed on how I can change my approach to better influence them.

I’ll keep you posted with this, but in the meantime drop me a line if you’ve ever had this experience before and want to pass on some tips!