My advisor and mentor Robin Andrulevich used the term “Reverb” to describe the integrated talent management programs she developed back in 2015 at Juno Therapeutics. This was around the same time I was forming my company, and the name resonated with me – it was brilliant and sticky. Jump ahead three years following the acquisition of Juno by Celgene. I was getting ready to rebrand uniquelyHR and couldn’t think of a better name to describe what we do. Why? Because we too believe that every people decision companies make reverberates throughout the organization.
At the Seattle HR Collective summit last fall, Dan Spaulding, CPO of Zillow made this remark:
“The decisions and language you use as business leaders today will echo into the future of your company.”
People Operations vs. HR
Over the past few years, the term People Operations has emerged as a term that clearly describes the work we do Many companies have replaced HR with People Operations; others have drawn a distinction between HR (administrative) and People Ops (employee focused).
According to Forbes “Adopting a new name, such as People Operations, is one way to send a message to other business leaders that the role the function plays is indeed critical to an organization’s success. It’s not just the group that plans parties and hands out awards…it’s the group that enables and empowers people to get the work they need to do done.”
At Reverb, we’ve always done more than HR. Clients come to us for integrated, stage-appropriate services to help them grow their business, including leadership development, team effectiveness, and executive coaching. We pride ourselves on having experienced consultants with strong business acumen, who are also people focused employee advocates. We don’t believe in having to choose between the company and the employee because we know what’s good for people is good for organizations.
HR (Still) Gets a Bad Rap
With fifteen years in HR before launching uniquelyHR in 2015, I was no stranger to the reputation of the HR function. I’ve been fortunate to work for companies who saw HR as strategic, demanded that HR professionals had strong business acumen and that HR worked on behalf of the business. I benefited from leaders who taught me not to work in a vacuum and to have a point of view, enlist business sponsors, and measure results. While administration is always part of the HR function, it was never the focus.
I lived through the 2005 Fast Company article “Why We Hate HR” and reactions including one called “Why We Still Hate HR, 12 Years Later.” Unfortunately, there are still those who treat the function as an administrative bureaucracy, always side with management, and act as people police. They are practicing a thinly veiled version of what used to be called “Personnel.” As a result, positive sentiment about HR continues to wane.
Startup, With People
I respect the HR function and those who practice it well, regardless of what they call themselves. For us, our new name Reverb is a way of telling people what we stand for – healthy inclusive culture, engaged employees, and work that drives business results. Our new tagline “Startup, With People” demonstrates our focus and commitment to the most important part of any company — people. We look forward to continuing to work with values-driven companies who care about their people.
