With a Little Help from My Friends
HR is trying to fix a hole. Not in policy—in practice. The gap between what leaders say and what people feel.
They call it compassionate management. Not soft. Not optional. The hard stuff—fairness, trust, consistency. The things that make people stay, try, care. You might think all you need is love. HR doesn’t. They’ve seen the data.
Leadership nods. Of course they do. Engagement. Wellbeing. Inclusion. It all sounds right. Looks good in strategy papers.
Then the numbers land.
And now we have to work it out. Targets tighten. Costs climb. Performance moves centre stage—again. Compassion? Important. Just not that important.
Managers feel it first. One minute it’s empathy. Next minute it’s help. Two vacancies. One deadline. No slack. By midweek, compassionate leadership feels like a long and winding road with no time to walk it.
So they cut corners. Not badly. Not deliberately. Just enough.
A quick “are you okay?” Then straight back to “is it done?”
HR keeps going. To some, the fool on the hill. Out of step. Still right. When people feel like numbers, they act like numbers. Minimum in. Minimum out.
And yet… it is getting better. In places. A leader pauses. A manager listens. A team comes together and sorts it without fuss. Small wins. Easy to miss.
But here’s the snag.
You can’t say “people matter” and then only count what they produce.
So round we go. Fast. Familiar. Slightly disorientating.
HR will keep making the case. Managers will keep juggling. Leadership will keep saying the right things.
But people will always work it out.
Not from what leaders say— but from what they count.
With a little help from my friends.
Blair Mcpherson former Director author and blogger blairmcpherson.co.uk
