Yes, that's a fax machine.
We don’t appreciate plumbing until we have a pipe burst below the sink and it doesn’t work anymore... we go to flush the toilet and it’s suddenly clogged- or worse - overflowing. Suddenly something that was seamless - isn’t. Our day is disrupted, our fight or flight senses are going & we are knee deep in towels on the floor with one hand wiping up water so the wood doesn't buckle, while trying to get kids off to school delaying work, customer meetings or other important things. Human Resources is much like this. Businesses think it’s not needed until the pipe bursts. I’ve seen this scenario so many times over my decades as an HR Consultant. We aren’t “needed” until there’s a problem. But here’s the thing- how could your day have gone if the pipe hadn’t burst? Would your precious breakfast moment with your children given you the opportunity to know what’s going on with them at school with their teacher or friend before they headed off for the day setting them up for success? Would you have been able to make that new customer sales call leading to much needed revenue for your business? Would your mindset have been better to connect with your new employee if you hadn’t been knee deep in towels on the floor when you started off your day leading to a better first impression for them in their first week on the job? I can go on and on. But you get the picture. HR isn’t a nice to have. It’s like having a good plumber install your pipes right the first time so the chances of surprise moments like this are less likely - but when they do break down over years and time of wear and tear- we are there to jump in, mitigate the damage and repair it for you - so you aren’t the one holding the towels. You are the one going back to breakfast with your children, focusing on the important things that drive both your business - and life- forward. If we aren’t part of your infrastructure already, we can still fix it - but it takes a lot longer and it costs WAY more when we have to redo the pipes rather than install them right the first time and maintain and them. Let me say that again. It’s more costly when we have to redo them - rather than manage them. And at that point- you are knee deep in towels, still, until we can mop up the mess someone else created or neglected. When we do a good job - the pipes don’t burst & businesses often don’t appreciate running water or a functioning toilet- it's happening as it should- the awe of how well it works goes unoticed. HR is often forgotten about when everything runs smoothly. It’s our job to keep the pipes clean and the water running. It's our job to prevent drama- not just react to it when it happens. If you are having too many disruptions - maybe it’s time for a new plumber AKA -HR. At InnovateHR - we spend time and care making sure our clients have the right infrastructure from the start... and we have a two hour promise responding to our clients AND their employees when they call us- because we know things don’t always go as planned - and we will be there with the towels. 
