Rule #1: The operating conditions of HR have changed.
Most of us were trained for a version of HR that built around stability.
We dealt with:
- Clear roles / career paths
- Predictable growth
- Leaders who decided things
- Systems that (usually) worked
You know, and I know that’s not the world we’re in anymore.
Today’s HR job is less about designing systems and more about holding them together while they’re actively being stress-tested by things like layoffs, AI, politics, burnout, and constant change.
If you feel like you’re always reacting instead of building, that’s not because you’re bad at the job.
It’s because the job became a different one.
So how do we deal with this?
If the operating conditions of HR have changed, then the way we work has to change too!!
And I don’t mean to “learn to cope better”, I mean we need a new default way.
4 ways to deal with this:
1️⃣ First, we stop pretending stability is coming back.
In the past, a lot of my personal HR frustration came from waiting for things to “settle down” so that I can FINALLY build the thing, fix the system, or roll out the strategy the right way.
But constant change is the standard now so instead of designing for a perfect environment, HR needs to design things for durability with:
- Fewer one-time processes
-
More flexible guardrails
- Clear principles that hold up even when plans change
- Baked in agility
2️⃣ It’s time to shift from long-term certainty to short-term clarity.
TBH: you might not be able to promise your employees or your team a five-year roadmap, maybe not even a 5-week roadmap. But what you can do is give everyone clarity on things like:
- What matters right now
- What decisions have been made
- What’s still outstanding
- And when you’ll revisit things
Don’t forget: Clarity beats certainty every time, especially in unstable times. (Which we are in!)
Double down on clarity in meetings, company comms, and most interactions. Trust me, your team and employees will appreciate it.
3️⃣ It’s time to get clear about what HR owns and what it doesn’t.
When everything is on fire, HR becomes the default catch-all. But that isn’t sustainable…
Deal with the new operating conditions by:
-
Saying no to being the emotional buffer for bad leadership
- Naming when an issue is a decision problem, not a people problem
-
Resetting expectations around what HR can realistically carry - “Our team does not have the bandwidth of resources to launch that new program at this time.”
4️⃣ Stop measuring ourselves by the outputs that belong to the old rules.
If you’re still judging your effectiveness by how “polished” things look, how perfectly processes run, or how calm everyone feels, you’re setting yourself up to feel like you’re failing.
But you’re not!!! I promise.
In our new reality, good HR isn’t about polish. It’s about:
- Seeing issues earlier
- Adjusting faster with low ego
-
Naming what’s actually happening with clear and concise comms
- Building systems that can hold change without collapsing
If you feel like you’re reacting more than building, that doesn’t mean you’re behind!!!
It means you’re working in the reality we’re all in now. More on measuring ourselves next week.
