Advance praise for The 9 Faces of HR “Delivered in the fresh, street-savvy voice of prolific blogger and HR change agent Kris Dunn, 9 Faces is a glorious, in-your-face exposé of the profiles for success or failure in our HR profession. 9 Faces inspires, amuses, even offends at times, but ultimately it equips you with an informed awareness for maximum success, even the most challenging corporate environments.” —Doug Dean, CCP, Chief Human Resource Officer, Children’s of Alabama “Like any great artist of our time, Dunn is a master of his medium, effortlessly weaving pop culture and wit to breathe life into a daunting topic with an approach- able framework to for HR pros to maximize influence — and their careers. Two enthusiastic thumbs up!” —Holland Dombeck McCue, Head of Employer Brand, Delta Air Lines “Insightful, refreshing, motivating and entertaining! I didn’t put The 9 Faces of HR down until I read every single page. It’s like a walk backwards through your career with a spotlight on the good, bad and ugly. I laughed, blushed and almost cried. It doesn’t matter which stage of your career you are in or which of the 9 faces of HR resonates with you, you will emerge from this book with innovative ideas to take you, your team and your organization to the next level.” —Allison Cox, SVP Talent Management & Leadership Development, Simmons Bank “Written in the spirit of empowering our profession, 9 Faces in the most enter- taining ways, The 9 Faces of HR forces HR to turn the mirror on ourselves (scary, I know) and identify who we are now, which “HR Face” we aspire to be, and what skills will make all HR pros viable and valued in the modern workforce.” —Dawn Burke, Career VP of HR, Founder of DawnBurkeHR “If you want to change the trajectory of your career, the trajectory of the HR profession and the trajectory of the business you support—this book is written for you.” —Ed Baldwin, HR Director (People and Culture), Mikron “This book will encourage, embolden and cause immense self-reflection on career choices and the purpose of HR in the next chapter of work.” —Kathy Rapp, Managing Partner, hrQ “Kris Dunn is a true innovator in the talent space and I highly recommend The 9 Faces of HR for anyone looking to build a career or HR function that thinks dif- ferently and is valued by the C-level.” —Scott Stone, Principal, Butler Snow Advisory, Career CFO/COO “The 9 Faces of HR is an exercise in self-examination for the HR professional and no matter where you are in your professional journey, you will benefit from this book.” —John Whitaker SHRM-SCP, Vice President Talent Acquisition, DentalOne Partners “I started my HR career as one of Dunn’s Assassin’s, I like to think of myself now as The Natural, but I’m probably more of a Mentor on my best days. Reading The 9 Faces of HR, I felt a little like Lauren Hill, as Dunn was strumming my pain with his fingers, singing my life with his words, and telling my whole life in HR with this book. He definitely was killing me softly, in the best of ways!” —Tim Sackett, President, HRU Technical, and author of The Talent Fix The 9 Faces of HR A Disruptor’s Guide to Mastering Innovation and Driving Real Change The 9 Faces of HR A Disruptor’s Guide to Mastering Innovation and Driving Real Change Kris Dunn A playbook for empowering your HR career and transforming the world’s greatest profession Society for Human Resource Management Alexandria, Virginia www.shrm.org Society for Human Resource Management, India Mumbai, India www.shrmindia.org Society for Human Resource Management Haidian District Beijing, China www.shrm.org/cn Society for Human Resource Management, Middle East and Africa Office Dubai, United Arab Emirates www.shrm.org/pages/mena.aspx Copyright © 2019 Kris Dunn. All rights reserved. This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information regarding the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that neither the publisher nor the author is engaged in rendering legal or other professional service. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent, licensed professional should be sought. The federal and state laws discussed in this book are subject to frequent revision and interpretation by amendments or judicial revisions that may significantly affect employer or employee rights and obligations. Readers are encouraged to seek legal counsel regarding specific policies and practices in their organizations. This book is published by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). The inter- pretations, conclusions, and recommendations in this book are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the publisher. This publication may not be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in whole or in part, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or oth- erwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8600, fax 978-646-8600, or on the Web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the publisher for permission should be addressed to SHRM Book Permissions, 1800 Duke Street, Alexandria, VA 22314, or online at http://www.shrm.org/about-shrm /pages/copyright--permissions.aspx. SHRM books and products are available on most online bookstores and through the SHRMStore at www.shrmstore.org. SHRM, the Society for Human Resource Management, creates better workplaces where employ- ers and employees thrive together. As the voice of all things work, workers and the workplace, SHRM is the foremost expert, convener and thought leader on issues impacting today’s evolv- ing workplaces. With 300,000+ HR and business executive members in 165 countries, SHRM impacts the lives of more than 115 million workers and families globally. Learn more at SHRM .org and on Twitter @SHRM. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Dunn, Kris, author. Title: The 9 faces of HR : discovering HR disruptors that add value, drive change, and cham- pion innovation / Kris Dunn. Other titles: Nine faces of HR Description: First edition. | Alexandria, VA : Society for Human Resource Management, [2019] | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2019012952 (print) | LCCN 2019015391 (ebook) | ISBN 9781586445744 (PDF) | ISBN 9781586445768 (ePUB) | ISBN 9781586445775 (Mobi) | ISBN 9781586445737 (pbk. : alk. paper) Subjects: LCSH: Personnel management. Classification: LCC HF5549 (ebook) | LCC HF5549 .D864 2019 (print) | DDC 658.3--dc23 All product names, logos, and brands are property of their respective owners in the United States and/or other countries. All company, product and service names used in this book and related products are for identification purposes only. Printed in the United States of America FIRST EDITION PB Printing 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 SKU: 61.19301 Dedication or my family (spousal FTE Angela, 2.4 FTE dependents Drew Fand Brady and a dysfunctional cat named Dorito), which is pre- dictably nuclear while also following the arc of an underappreciated Netflix sitcom—thanks for the love, drama, support, and laughs. For my parents, who taught me the value of waking up every day and competing at work, and also kept the house stacked with magazines that influenced me to write and have a point of view. RIP Kent and Deanna Dunn, I miss you. For my HR brethren at all levels reading this hot take on your future prospects—shine on you crazy diamonds. I believe in you even when you don’t. Create something new this month even if it pisses someone off. Contents List of Figures ix Foreword xi Preface xiii Acknowledgments xv 1 Meet Jenn, VP of HR at GridLoad . 1 2 Absolutely No One Grows Up Dreaming of a Career in HR . 5 3 My Life with the Crazy People Who Hate HR . 13 Bonus: A Special Crazy Boss Story from KD’s Diary . 21 4 HR Stereotypes and the Evolution of HR Saying “Yes” . .25 Bonus: “God’s Plan” from Drake Is Telling You How to Do HR . 33 5 HR’s Big Innovation Problem . 37 Bonus: Jedi Mind Tricks from Salesforce com. “Equality Matters as Much as Diversity” . 43 6 How the 9 Face of HR Model Works . 49 7 The Great BS Artists Who Gave Us the 9-Box Grid and Performance vs . Potential . .55 8 HR Nerd Alert: The Four Factors that Drive the Ability to Innovate, Add Value, and Drive Change in HR . .65 9 Professional Tourette’s Is Dangerous (Cognitive Skills) . 69 Bonus: Revenue per Employee and the Emerging Title of “HR Capologist” . 75 10 Give Me What I Want or I’ll Ruin Your Career (Assertiveness) . 79 Bonus: He’s a Good Guy, Except for the Jihad . .85 11 Take this OPS Manual and Shove It (Rules Orientation) . .89 Bonus: How Elon Musk Decided if His Assistant Needed a Raise . .95 12 May I Show You My Signed Picture of Dale Carnegie? (Detail Orientation) . 101 13 Let’s Do This: A Tour of the 9 Faces of HR . 107 vii viii Contents 14 The Natural . 111 Bonus: We’re All Working for the Same Boss, Aren’t We? . 119 15 The Mentor . 121 Bonus: Quiz—How to Tell If You’ll Be Running HR at a Great Company in the Next Ten Years . 129 16 The Judge . 133 Bonus: Lessons from Uber: Sometimes Your HR Job Changes . 143 17 The Assassin . 149 Bonus: HR Metrics: Stop Measuring You and Start Measuring Them .