So, HR has been accused of not taking risks. We’re being told that risk taking – good risk taking – is an important part of our economic recovery.
Why should we? For decades, HR has been browbeaten into risk avoidance, not risk taking. The hiring of HR people has included people with administration backgrounds and legal backgrounds. In general, neither administrators or lawyers have entrepreneurial leanings. Neither of these types pushes the envelope and tries new things. Risk taking is not in the “comfort zone”
What to do? If we agree that good risk taking behaviors are needed in the HR community, we need to make a few basic changes.
First, we need to make Risk Management a more prominent part of the “body of knowledge” in the Human Resource Certification Institute’s certification process. Teach it, and require it as a part of PHR or SPHR certification. When I took my SPHR exam, I don’t recall answering any risk questions. To be fair, I was in enough of a test panic mode that I doubt I could recall any question in the SPHR exam beyond what year the Taft-HartleyAct was passed. 1947, I think.
Second, we need to practice good risk behaviors in our personal lives. This is a life skill, and taking good and prudent risks is not well tought in our society. Just as negotiation is not a part of the North American culture, the basic midwestern risk profile is to not do it until at least three other people have tried it, whatever it is. I know people with rotary dial phones in their house – this touch tone thing is just a fad, perhaps…
Finally, we need CEOs and CFOs that recognize and reward good risk taking. Behavior rewarded is behavior repeated. We have been talking about performance management and performance reviews. I’ll bet money that none of your review forms have a discussion of good risk behaviors that are a part of the feedback loop, unless the job title has “Actuary” in it somewhere…
Until we’re rewarded and not punished for it, I don’t think it will happen.
Karl Ahlrichs' Uncommon Experience 
You go Karl!