Rob Jones: 10 Things HR can learn from Ghostbusters

Who you gonna call?

When the idea of a Ghostbusters-themed HR blog post arose during a Twitter conversation earlier this week between me and @HR_Cass, there was only ever one potential author to fit the bill.

So it is my honour and privilege once again to welcome UK HR blogger Rob Jones back to the XpertHR Employment Intelligence blog, with another guest post looking at the lessons HR can take from a deathless film classic from the 1980s (and, as Mr Jones himself points out below, another one starring Dan Aykroyd). Following on from his recent post drawing out HR lessons from Trading Places, Rob Jones here casts his eye over Ghostbusters.

I've incorporated links to a number of pertinent scenes from the film, which should provide context for what Rob has written (and which should also bring a smile to the face of everyone watching them). But if you are in the very fortunate position of never having yet seen Ghostbusters, please do make sure you seek it out post-haste!

Rob Jones is the author of the excellent Masters or Bust blog. You can also follow Rob on Twitter and connect with him via LinkedIn.

This magnificent feast here represents the last of the petty cash...

Rob Jones: 10 Things HR can learn from Ghostbusters
Some weeks ago through a confluence of events and some curiosity on my part I ended up writing a blog entitled 10 Things HR Can Learn from Trading Places. I thought I was done and dusted with my film-inspired HR posts. But then enter from stage left Cassie Lloyd-Perrin. Miss Lloyd Perrin is an HR professional who was involved in a Twitter conversation with Michael Carty, in which I somehow got involved.

And the next thing you know I arrive here, with another film-inspired HR post....

There does seem to be a consistency in that it's another classic 80s movie. And so far Dan Aykroyd is the constant theme.

But before anyone suggests it: NO I'm not doing a Blues Brothers post!

So here goes:

1.    Ensure your methods are reliable and valid

• Pertinent scene: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fn7-JZq0Yxs

As the inimitable Bill Murray (playing Dr Peter Venkman) demonstrates with an attractive undergraduate - it's easy to monkey with the process to get the outcome you want. However, you risk invalidating both yourself and the process you are operating - and potentially getting the right outcome in your eyes but the wrong outcome for the organisation.

2.    Diverse teams work

• Pertinent scenes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEbSABWJiJc and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3v_ogRaTf4 and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyYUr4rZY1U
  

Whilst there exists something of an innate desire to recruit people in our own shadows the idea of a team full of people all with the same strengths (and weaknesses) is not the most effective way forward. The beauty of the Ghostbusters team is the diversity of personality, interests and let's face it - motivations (at this point we return to Dr Venkman!!). The caveat is that having a team member who collects "spores, moulds and fungus" is not essential

3.    Consider the impact of regulation before enforcing it

• Pertinent scene: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vxEimC3HME

The Ghostbusters example is an extreme one and I can't think of the organisational equivalent of releasing hundreds of trapped ghosts but Walter Peck's insistence on 'turning off the power grid' is an interesting metaphor for regulation. Yes, it can be good. But before you enact it think through the impacts, the fallout and the costs

4.    Get your hands dirty

• Pertinent scene: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ng0olzfFzog

It does seem sometimes that HR professionals are turning into procurement specialists. Are we doing less and outsourcing more, or just taking the unsexy parts of the jobs and paying suppliers to complete them? Whether it results in "he slimed me" or something more benign it will be difficult to maintain credibility to the organisation and let's face it to yourself if you don't get stuck in at times.

5.    Value yourself and what you do

• Pertinent scene: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087332/quotes?qt=qt0946064

The scene where Venkman gets slimed is a turning point in the film as it's the first time the team have presented charges for their services (Venkman: "Let's talk serious, for the entrapment, we're gonna ask you for 4 big ones $4,000 for that, but we are having a special this week on proton charging, and storage of the beast, so we are gonna ask for $1,000. Fortunate.") Their first client immediately rebuffs them with the perception that their services are too expensive. But they (unlike you) have a neat rebuttal: "Oh, that's okay we can just put it right back in there." What's interesting is that they value their service and are not willing to capitulate on that value. They see what they are doing as having a value to their customer and charge accordingly. Do you?