Within the past week I have had several conversations with HR professional peers with a rather disturbing thread to the conversation. I had one individual tell me that if we treated HR as an individual, they would fail an Emotional Intelligence analysis ( and you think you can use it to judge candidates) I have others tell me that many of our colleagues want to return the era when we were called personnel. Still others suggest that if we continue in the track we are in, the profession will cease to exist.

At the same time other of our peers argue for a seat at the "partner table." I challenge you to define what we have done to earn that seat. Many managers see us not as a partner but an obstacle to the organization. We are not aligned with the business strategy but rather we object to changes in the way the organization operates because that is not the way we do things. We remain stuck in a world that has changed, we are just on a journey which isn't the journey we thought we were on.

If you open your focus and your mind it may not be too late to change your focus. We may not have reached the point of no return and we can still demonstrate to our organizations that we are a vital part of the organization and its future.

So I challenge each and every one of you to become a vital cog in your organization by learning the language of your business. Change your path so that you are no longer a  drain on the organization.