I'm just a sales person, he replied, it's just that I sell money. Butwhat about all that City-speak? Well, he admitted, it isn't really thatcomplicated but the language acts as a barrier to people entering theprofession. In other words, by being impenetrable to those of us on theoutside these City types are able to appear so much cleverer than therest of us; part of a club that is difficult to access.
The reason I mention this is that communication is at the heart of theHR profession. So why is it that so often our language is impenetrabletoo? This was brought home last month when a recruitment agency founditself up against Naomi Campbell and Germaine Greer for the Foot inMouth gong at the Plain English Campaign's annual awards.
As a newcomer to the HR world (but with many years of writing aboutbusiness) I assumed plain talk was an inherent part of the success ofcommunicating strategy, goals and expectations to the workforce. But Ihave already discovered there is a touch of the City here too.
So it's no surprise to me to see Henley Management College's Chris Bonesdeclaring we should 'drop the jargon that makes us sound likeaccountants'. Nor CIPD chief economist John Philpott saying: 'Resolve tostart a revolution in manager-employee conversations. HR should aim tokill off management-speak and get bosses and workers talking sensiblytogether' (p12). And all this can only become more important asemployers plug skills gaps with workers from EU accession states(p22).
Nowhere is the gulf between what businesses seem to want to hear anddiscovering true talent more apparent than in the plethora of leadershipbooks out there, as Richard Donkin points out (p14). I cringed when Iread that one Yale University student's application to investment bankUBS included thoughts such as 'always push your comfort zone'. Comparethat to the 'deadbeat from Connecticut' who recorded his world travels,showed his diary on YouTube and gained sponsorship from a confectioneryfirm as a result. Now that's enterprise. Yet which one has attractedpotential employers? You guessed it, the student.
So I certainly will be straight talking - and I want you to be straighttalking back. Contact me at any time to tell me what you think of themagazine. Let's open up the lines of communication.
Email sian.harrington@haymarket.com.
