oo much of HR is treated like internal marketing.
- Convincing people everything is fine.
- Selling the “isn’t our company great?” message.

But what if HR is closer to engineering than marketing?

Think about an engineering manager in a factory. Their job isn’t to make machines look good in company colours — it’s to keep the line running.
- Fix breakdowns quickly.
- Do preventative maintenance before things fall apart.
- Focus on uptime and performance, not appearances.

Most managers don’t realise they have a hidden superpower.

This week's 12 minute HR lesson: Whitney: the greatest.

(Warning: this week's episode come with an ear worm risk)

This week I gush over one of my least favourite artist, and how Whitney Houston's performances help us understand and see talent.

Management is hard and unpleasant, and many shy away from the unpleasant parts. But it has to be done, because systems only work if everyone pulls their weight. This lesson talks about the pressures that management places on the manager, and the managee.

We rattle off the term 'best practice' all the time, but is it true? Is there a 'right way' to do things in all situations? Let's discuss.

Stopping and thinking is a skill. Too little, and you blunder from mistake to mistake, too much and you get analysis paralysis. I discuss one of the great pauses of history, how the courts expect us to pause, and how that mechanism for pause is you.

Everyone has two parts to them, two sets of needs. What is too much to ask, and what is reasonable to ask, when it comes to enforcing the contract?

Maslow explained how our needs are a hierarchy, but he also had a hammer. Maybe he did some DIY on the weekends.

In this episode I explain how we used to what we are good at, but we need to challenge ourselves to pick the best path, not just the most familiar.

When is a manager's style wrong? Why do we need to intervene? There are many ways of dealing with situations, but most of the time rough handling of others isn't appropriate. This lesson helps you think about how and when the ends justify the means.

Apologies are an important social tool for getting us back to harmony. But does it always work? what does sorry mean? If someone apologises, is that a giant history eraser? Do we have to accept, or can we set aside?

Understanding what sorrry means, and what people mean when they say it is an important skill for every HR professional or manager.

ER is a skill set within HR that many struggle with. To make it harder, it's not even clear in the industry what people mean when they use the terms ER, or Employment Relations.

In this episode I talk about the dual meanings of ER, how they are two different sets of work that require different sets of knowledge, and different sets of skills, so you can understand the differences.

Want to be wiser? Want to appear wiser? Or at least be less foolish? The answer is it depends. Have a listen.