SSSShhhhhh… The HR Is Here…
– By Arshiya Shaikh
A call from an HR and phew! That kosher curve on his face disappears. Expression changes, eyes narrow, eyebrows stick to the eyes, dried throat and heartbeat down in the dumps. Leaning forward he murmurs “Yes”. As if he is certain that a call from HR is directly proportional to all his performance swings last quarter. Are we Corporate Monsters who show up with our ugly faces during performance appraisal sessions, increments, warnings, or disciplinary actions? A so called “employee friendly” institution fails to make its impact on the employees.
The goals are set, decisions are made, execution is Expected. However, how is the HR perceived? A hardheaded individual, wearing management mask moving around the room, just to get hold of a dark horse in the caravan, isn’t it so? It has been said, “Never befriend an HR nor be their foe”. Can’t it be the other way around? Why is it that the employees don’t like HR? Every word coming out of an HR always gets highly scrutinized and criticized. HR’s are employees too! who are paid to set productivity standards, code of conduct, culture of discipline, ethical atmosphere, but not to threaten or create a terror filled environment. They are ordinary employees but with not so ordinary popularity. HR is not the management but HR makes up the management. We aren’t Monster’s after all.
Intellect is the real Capital
An organization is like a Country where the head of the organization is the President and HR’s are Cabinet Ministers who raise-pass bills and suggest amendments in the existing policies for betterment of the society i.e. employees. The ultimate decision making power lies with the president and it flows down to the employees through the HR. A learning, fostering, growing organization is a result of united efforts between the employees and the HR management.
Human Resource is a function where Humans are valued as a precious and priceless resource. Humans are the brain behind every function- creativity behind marketing, numbers behind finance, algorithms behind technology and revenue behind sales. Any organization is valued and respected for their investment in the intellectual capital which it builds and sustains over a period of time. Human resource is not specific to one single department but managing employees is a rather continuous practice observed across the organization. Today, HR departments are confined within their cocoon of transactional activities like recruitment, payroll, statutory compliance’s, on boarding, off boarding. However, the human resource department should primarily be looked up to for employee relations, team building, team engagement, competency mapping, succession planning, training, and a platform to excel and to exceed. With technological advancement HRMS can bring in automation which shall take care of the HR transactional activities, however, what matters most is to understand the emotional quotient, to accept the behavioral pattern, to respect the professional and personal space of an employee which no automated system can accomplish.
Homo Sapiens — Smartest of All, Are We?
It is essential to behave like humans with humans. Not every person is the same. No two individual in a finance department may have same affinity for numbers. A school dropout like Albert Einstein taught us the theory of relativity whereas a graduate business tycoon Dr Karsanbhai Patel made us familiar about his Indigenous product called “Nirma”. Every Human is blessed with an intellectual capacity and ability that differs from another, specific to his own. Both Einstein and Patel are visionaries in their own particular domain but their interest, their thought process, their way of looking at the subject differs. The only common factor is the anxiety to quench their thirst for knowledge and to achieve success. Goal is to excel and to exceed. As a Human resource professional your aim should be more on increasing the employability of an employee. Extending your helping hands for those slow learners who are passionate to achieve the overall vision of the organization but lack motivation and the necessary resources to perform to the best of their abilities. In order to develop a close and friendly relationship with employees, HR should conduct frequent training programs. A regular interaction is a must to understand the common interest, to drive the common organizational goal.
HR should be perceived as a brand ambassador of the employees at the same time a trustworthy business partner for the Management.
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Very well written and well framed thoughts , HR is perceived to be a devil’s advocate, but in reality they should be some one, who will uphold & up keep the human values and increase the employ-ability of employees.