Using jargon can alienate those who don't understand the meaning
In ramping up the HR transformation — you know, HR’s transitioning from a cost centre to a strategic partner to the C-suite — here’s one low-hanging fruit that HR professionals might include among their critical imperatives.
Dump the jargon, to put it plainly.
In June, the Canadian Council of Human Resources Associations brought together about 50 vice-presidents and representatives of HR-related associations. Their job for the day was to mull over what HR needs to start doing and what it needs to stop.
Sure enough, dump the jargon was on the list, along with stop being faddish and stop being a dumping ground for bad ideas.
It’s precisely because HR needs to gain respect from executives in other business functions, that HR professionals have to watch what they say.
“HR professionals have to be careful not to use language that comes across to colleagues as HR-speak. It’s predictable and alienating,” said Daryl Gauthier, director of HR at ePost, adding that HR jargon is one of his pet peeves.
HR professionals aren’t necessarily the worst culprit of buzzword overuse — marketing and IT departments top the list, according to the people interviewed for this story. But given the mandate of forging bonds within an organization, HR is under a greater burden not to indulge in off-putting jargon use.
“When you use jargon, it makes you feel like you’re the master of your domain. You sound like you know what you’re talking about,” said Edmond Mellina, president of Transitus Management Consulting. “But the problem with jargon is it creates barriers.”
Even the term “strategic partner” is starting to sound like empty jargon to Mellina, so often is it thrown around and injected into any kind of statement about HR’s contribution.
“Talking about real business issues in a down-to-earth, pragmatic way — this is how you come across as being strategic. It’s not by using the word ‘strategic,’” said Mellina, who couldn’t resist adding a quip: “Being a strategic partner is a lot like teenagers having sex. A lot of people talk about it but not a lot of them do it.”
Mellina added that words such as “growth,” “innovation,” and “strategy” are also in danger of lapsing into meaninglessness from overuse.
But is there a quick cure for HR types who are prone to jargon? Try asking them to recall the last time they worked on a HRIS (that’s human resource information system) implementation with the folks in IT (an acronym for information technology) department, suggested Mellina.
“How did they feel when the IT geeks kept using terminology they didn’t understand? Naturally, they felt frustrated. Guess what, that’s the way line folks feel about HR when HR jargon is used all the time.”
Related to the topic of HR buzzwords is the increasing use of fancy job titles — think “vice-president of evangelizing” instead of “VP of marketing,” an example offered by Gauthier, or “manager of first impression” instead of “receptionist,” a contribution from Kevin Dee of the Association of Canadian Search, Employment and Staffing Services.
Increasingly, “associates” or “consultants” are used for jobs formerly described as “cashier” or “clerk.” However, this trend is only likely to grow, given their support among the people interviewed for this piece.
“Those are words that break down barriers within an organization. They give employees a sense of empowerment,” said Jay Myshkowski of recruitment firm Robert Half.
Dump the jargon, to put it plainly.
In June, the Canadian Council of Human Resources Associations brought together about 50 vice-presidents and representatives of HR-related associations. Their job for the day was to mull over what HR needs to start doing and what it needs to stop.
Sure enough, dump the jargon was on the list, along with stop being faddish and stop being a dumping ground for bad ideas.
It’s precisely because HR needs to gain respect from executives in other business functions, that HR professionals have to watch what they say.
“HR professionals have to be careful not to use language that comes across to colleagues as HR-speak. It’s predictable and alienating,” said Daryl Gauthier, director of HR at ePost, adding that HR jargon is one of his pet peeves.
HR professionals aren’t necessarily the worst culprit of buzzword overuse — marketing and IT departments top the list, according to the people interviewed for this story. But given the mandate of forging bonds within an organization, HR is under a greater burden not to indulge in off-putting jargon use.
“When you use jargon, it makes you feel like you’re the master of your domain. You sound like you know what you’re talking about,” said Edmond Mellina, president of Transitus Management Consulting. “But the problem with jargon is it creates barriers.”
Even the term “strategic partner” is starting to sound like empty jargon to Mellina, so often is it thrown around and injected into any kind of statement about HR’s contribution.
“Talking about real business issues in a down-to-earth, pragmatic way — this is how you come across as being strategic. It’s not by using the word ‘strategic,’” said Mellina, who couldn’t resist adding a quip: “Being a strategic partner is a lot like teenagers having sex. A lot of people talk about it but not a lot of them do it.”
Mellina added that words such as “growth,” “innovation,” and “strategy” are also in danger of lapsing into meaninglessness from overuse.
But is there a quick cure for HR types who are prone to jargon? Try asking them to recall the last time they worked on a HRIS (that’s human resource information system) implementation with the folks in IT (an acronym for information technology) department, suggested Mellina.
“How did they feel when the IT geeks kept using terminology they didn’t understand? Naturally, they felt frustrated. Guess what, that’s the way line folks feel about HR when HR jargon is used all the time.”
Related to the topic of HR buzzwords is the increasing use of fancy job titles — think “vice-president of evangelizing” instead of “VP of marketing,” an example offered by Gauthier, or “manager of first impression” instead of “receptionist,” a contribution from Kevin Dee of the Association of Canadian Search, Employment and Staffing Services.
Increasingly, “associates” or “consultants” are used for jobs formerly described as “cashier” or “clerk.” However, this trend is only likely to grow, given their support among the people interviewed for this piece.
“Those are words that break down barriers within an organization. They give employees a sense of empowerment,” said Jay Myshkowski of recruitment firm Robert Half.
