I've worked with quite a few top performers in many different settings from every possible department. The one thing all of them had in common? They all made their co-workers and cross-departmental colleagues look like rock stars too.

They hit their budgets and made our finance team look like they nailed it. They nailed our marketing messaging and acted like marketing had handed it down from Mt. Zion. And most importantly to me, they accurately forecast their staffing numbers, reduced needless turnover so I could be a more prepared recruiter and had minimal employee relations issues so that I could focus on better issues. These people were respected throughout the business because they took the time to understand how everything came together and made the effort to be considerate of the organization's needs. If you're in HR and want to be great at it, you have to be that rock star every day.

When your IT group has an issue, you shouldn't have to be given “the talk” or “the head shake.”

When your marketing department starts talking about ramping up for the holidays, you know they need an extra person to get the extra distributions out. When your finance department starts talking budgets, you need to be able to talk confidently about what you need and where you can cut.

How are you going to do that?

You're going to get out of HR and into your workforce. You're going to spend more time learning about the line of business you support than anyone else.

Thinking about getting a PHR or SPHR? Use that time to learn your organization inside and out and, maybe more importantly, where you interface and can anticipate potential issues, problems and solutions. No test is going to prepare you for that. No course is going to give you that knowledge. Leave the office and learn more than you ever have about the machine that keeps you employed.

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