Follow the Rules

Two days ago, an ex-colleague of mine asked me if she could put me to be one of her reference checks to a potential employer. Of course I readily accept given that now I am neither an employee or an employer but unemployed. 


The HR personnel from the potential employer called me at 11.30am and asked if I was available to do a 20 minutes reference check over the phone with her. I hesitated as I was on my way out to meet a few friends for lunch. So I decided to tell the HR personnel that I was a bit caught up and if she could call me back at 3pm.


At 2pm, my mobile phone rang and as I was in the elevator on the way up to my apartment and with my hands full, I did not manage to answer the call. Not recognizing the number, I returned the call. It was from the potential employer. She immediately asked if she could perform the reference check. Immediately, I thought to myself - hmm, this lady must be quite anxious to hire my ex-colleague. So I said we could chat although it was only 2pm.


Some background - my ex-colleague is currently on a hourly-rate job in Singapore. This meant although the company contributes CPF on top of her hourly rate, she is not entitled to any other benefits eg medical/insurance/dental etc


The potential employer then started going through her list as if she was a robot programmed to go through questions 1 to 10 without digesting if the answers I had already given her answered the other remaining questions. What finally got me thinking was when she said - CS is currently on a temporary job with you, is she entitled to any variable bonuses?


Suddenly it dawned me even though this potential employer has a solid brand in the USA, in Singapore - the employees especially in the human resources division, still have not figured out what it means to work for a brand that stands for "raw freedom and empowerment one gets from strapping on some leather and driving down the open road". One might even say there are no open roads in Singapore so maybe that is why human resources practitioners follow the rules by the book and even asks questions by the book. Or maybe we all grew up in an environment that meant following rules obediently? 


For me, being a human resources practitioner myself, I see these are areas in which human resources practitioners must grow in. I realised growth in these areas cannot be taught ie through books or from a classroom. It has to be experiential. The mindset towards this change needs to be there and more on-the-job training with a specific focus on freedom and empowerment needs to be given for the human resources industry to move in a direction where HR can really demonstrate value to an organisation.