Twenty years ago, superhero movies could be made and people would only be interested in the conflict and how their childhood dream of toys coming together to fight each other are being realized on the silver screen. Now, superhero movies have to do more, they have to have real-life sensitivities, social commentaries, and real-world parallels. Some even aim for the Oscar. So of course, it should come as no surprise that the biggest superhero franchise is choke-ful of real-life parallels of HR lessons. Here are a few:
1. Thor
Like Thor, Get Ahead of the Learning Curve
As humans, we learn everyday and this is also true about businesses. Your company needs an HR manager or employee that will never stop learning. Throughout the Marvel, Universe Thor has always been shown going from one planet to another seeking answers or knowledge whether out of his own volition or when sent on the mission by his father. So like Thor obtaining the Mjornlr, when the day came that all hope seemed lost. When the business seems all but dead and in need of a hail mary, he will swoop in with the right information, strategy, or tip at the right time and save the day.
2. Shuri
Shuri the Tech Guru
We have access to more information than the entire generations before us. Whether it’s video conference, digital workspaces or employee engagement software. All of these are needed to cooperate and accomplish tasks. your company needs to stay high tech and thus a technology savvy like Shuri is needed to be able to handle this important task.
3. Doctor Strange
Master of Time and Space
Your organization needs a Stephen Strange. Whether as an employee or as HR manager, the ability to look into the future and predict multiple scenarios and anticipate the one that ultimately benefits the organization, in the long run, can not be overestimated and you do not need an infinity stone to do this. You just need a team member that is forward thinking and always calculating. The information that this member produces is going to be necessary for strategies and decision making which leads us to the next HR lesson from Avengers;
4. Iron Man
Strategist/Planner
A lot of information will be available to the company. A series of scenarios will present themselves. What do you do with these? Well, you simply need an HR manager like Tony Stark who is proactive, strategic and can play in gray areas if necessary. His ability to understand that taking the fight to Titan instead of waiting for Thanos to arrive on Earth is a necessary strategy to reduce the damage of his homeworld. He also came up with a flawless plan to effectively disarm the mad titan. These are all makings of the perfect HR manager. Assuming your company does not have anyone that would act impulsively to disrupt his plan, which leads to the next HR lesson from Avengers.
5. Star-Lord
Hot Blood, Hot Thoughts, Hot Deeds.
People like Peter Quill aka Star-Lord should not be left to do as they please. Anyone that is capable of lashing out instead of sticking to the plan or freaking out when the slightest thing goes wrong or even celebrating a little bit of victory when the larger battle has not been won should be kept under the watchful eye of the HR manager so that he doesn’t sink the ship of the company at the harbor. The Impulsive Member that allows Emotions to control his action? Get Rid of Him. He poses an astronomical risk.
6. Spiderman
MBTI Extroverts. (ENTJ, ENTP, EFTP, ENFP, ENSJ). Your friendly HR-hood.
Your team needs an employee that exudes exuberance youth. Someone who is always enthusiastic to work and ready to provide ideas for the effective working of the team as well as thinking on his feet in times of tension when other people would freak out is an inevitable addition to your organization. Get someone like Peter Parker that you don’t need to beg to save the world or your company because he has his priorities straight and he would eagerly do what is right without being told. Another advantage of enthusiastic people like this is that they also push other members to work more. They encourage constructive competition which would go a long way in helping the company grow.
7. Captain America
A beam of sunshine gets things done. A single ray of light? Not so much.
When it comes to teams, you either have a team, or you don’t, there is no in between. This is perhaps the biggest take away from the character of Captain America from his famous line “We have to do this together” and when asked if they fail, he replied, “then we do that too as a team” showing that he clearly understands the importance of an efficient team. He knows that every HR manager should know and what a lot of people don’t; When facing a threat, when solving a problem, when trying to overcome any hurdle, all hands are needed on deck or certain failure is guaranteed. As an HR manager, find all the ways of building a relationship between employees(after work games or parties) so that every time, everyone is in a cooperative mood.
Set aside differences. Bury the Hatchet.
In any organization, there will surely be conflict. Whether as a result of competition or inconvenience. Employees will sometimes get into a dispute. That is ok. What is not OK is for them to remain in this state of dispute. That is why an HR manager must know how best to resolve disputes. A manager that can make the team get over little differences in pursuit of the ultimate goal is indispensable. Whether it is to band together to defeat Thanos and his horse of mindless alien invaders, irrespective of civil war or to help employees overcome their differences to meet deadlines, conflict resolution skills are needed.
How we can help
If you are Shuri the Tech Guru, or aspiring to become Shuri, JustLogin’s HR suite could be just right for you to streamline your HR processes in a breeze through being paperless and system integrations. We help you automate your HR, so you can focus on your people, culture and business. Find out more about us here.
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