A WORD OF WARNING - my work has always been outside the square, so if you find any of this confronting (or just think it is wrong), you can’t say I didn’t warn you in advance. I focus my clients on “ends” not “means” – AND IT WORKS! These thoughts are a culmination of all the different “BS” factors I have come across which you may experience this year:

1. “We are sending all our managers to leadership development”

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard this from business owners with incredible optimism and enthusiasm – as if sending these people (who obviously have a problem dealing with people) to an expensive, two week course will change their management style.

Truth: They come back from the course with great intentions and a shiny folder of things to do. Usually the folder is filed away, things are long forgotten after three months and you are back where you were! The issue is the selection of your leaders in the first place – your best performer is not always the person you should promote to manager.

2. “INSERT HR STRATEGY HERE” is past its use by date…

Of course this "strategy" has been such a problem for managers it is a great idea to kill it off and bring in a new way of doing things.

Truth: This is often driven by HR software developers. What better way to drive profit than to bring in a new “system” (and I recently saw a client who was swept up in the emotion and signed up for a $150,000 “system”), and promote it as the next big thing. “Performance Management” - for example - should be simple and cost effective, and what satisfies that criteria more than a manager sitting down with a staff member for 30 minutes a year to talk about their career?

3. Getting my HR sorted is just so complicated …

Business owners and managers are so confused about the myriad of people things they have to do, legally and to engage staff. Once one thing is sorted something else comes up.

Truth: There are a lot of touchpoints in HR but they can be quickly analysed and sorted under a framework, and reviewed regularly using a proactive HR Plan. How many of you actually have a people plan? I bet many of you have a financial plan, marketing plan, business plan etc. Staff are your biggest cost – makes sense to have a plan to me!

4. Watch out for fancy business terms designed to impress you…

Recently, I received a few emails from an HR company trying to get me to sign up for their “corporate event“… “attempting a revolutionary experiment in analysing the engagement of human capital and in leveraging the dynamics of win-win networks.

Truth: What the heck does that mean? That’s called HR jargon designed to intimidate and impress. The rest of their emails were just as confusing as that line above. By the third email, I deleted them from being able to email me.

5. So I have to work with you for a year or two right? I need to budget..

Business owners are wary of consultants. They want things fixed but believe it will take ages and a consultant could cost them a six figure sum over a year.

Truth: What most businesses want is an analysis of where their HR is now, what is working and what is not. Are they legally compliant, is their management up to speed and what do their staff and customers think of the business? They then want a strategy and plan to fix it all.

6. “I already have a business coach/consultant helping me with my people challenges…”

I heard that from so many business owners in the last 12 months, I can’t even count how many it was. I asked them one simple question: “If you’re in an ongoing relationship with a business coach to solve your people challenges, then why are you reaching out for help?…stunned silence.

Truth: If you’re going to hire an expert, make sure they are hired to identify and solve your problems in a set time frame. Not to have you join in a long-term program that “circles the wagons” and provides a steady income stream to the coach, but doesn’t actually solve your challenge. Don’t confuse activity with accomplishment (“means” and “ends”). Of course if you are satisfied with a relationship maintain it, and benefit from it. Just don't do it for the sake of having someone to turn to.

Keep one eye open this year and avoid being “sold” on distractions that don’t actually help your business grow. Create your own destiny by rising above the whirling noise around you and staying focused on what really works – identifying the cause of the pain and fixing it, quickly.