’ve attended a number of SHRM conferences and heard a lot of SHRM speeches,
but through all of them, one thing has been constant: I’ve always had a hard time
getting a fix on where SHRM president and CEO Sue Meisinger was coming from. Her
farewell address here in Chicago was no exception.
Meisinger is retiring from SHRM next week,
and the 60th annual conference here in Chicago is her swan song, her last act, her
final bow. I thought her final speech before the opening general session would be
similar to what she said in her resignation memo and generally list her accomplishments and proudest moments while also saying goodbye.
And although she did a little bit of that, she also told the
crowd that she was going to say something surprising—and she did.
"Please stop asking for a seat at the table," she told the
14,000 SHRM members and conference attendees. "Everyone wants a seat at the table,
and everyone wants the CEO’s time and attention. … The point is to add value and
become essential … so that seat at the table has your name engraved on it." When
you do that, she added, "you’ll have a seat at every table."
This is the kind of thing I wish Meisinger had said before
at this conference, because it bears repeating. Too many human resource people
talk about wanting that all-important seat at the big table,
but
getting too focused on it is a sure way to keep from ultimately getting there.
Meisinger’s counsel to her membership is right on the money.
Focusing on what your business or organization needs from you, and how you can anticipate
and give them what they will need in the future, is the real ticket to the top.
Given that I am a proponent of the philosophy that it is never too late, it was
nice to hear Meisinger say these things, even if she did wait until her last annual
conference to do so.
Maybe Sue Meisinger’s speech reflects a change in priorities
for SHRM,
a change in focus that reflects the very real fact that neither SHRM nor
any other organization can be all things to all people all the time. And maybe the speech
is a little dose of pragmatism, an acknowledgement that the post-Meisinger SHRM
will be less focused on building its war chest and more on addressing the very real
concerns of the HR profession.
I hope that’s the case here. SHRM really needs to focus less
on the money and more on the needs of the great mass of human resource professionals
who are trying to figure out just how they can make themselves essential and invaluable
to their organization. There’s no clear path to get there, no single way to the
top, but just getting some practical advice, counsel and training on how to better
balance the demands placed on a modern HR professional in the 21st century would
be a good start.
So farewell, Sue Meisinger. Good luck and safe travels. I
didn’t always agree with you, but you never failed to surprise and amaze me—even
to the very end.
Workforce Management Online, June 2008 -- Register Now!
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