Backseat Driving

The occasional notices announcing the annual picnic or lunch with

competitions thrown in for the children of the employees are methods of making

the inmates of any organization sit up and take notice of the organ called the

HR.

HR from time immemorial (rather since when they have been around) has not

been taken to kindly by the other intellectually stimulated departments of the

organization. And with theories regarding the redundancy of HR doing the rounds,

its time someone sat down and took stock of the happenings in that part of the

world for the rest to see. Its time the curtains are drawn back and we take a

sneak preview!

HR is the polished form of an interview panel or an internal form of

consultancy. They do the murky job of hiring and firing and trying to keep the

employees happy, which sadly is the toughest job on the management’s hands. So

in a way they are responsible for the firm clocking productivity. They are the

ones who do the dirty jobs and yet get the brickbats. But the HR guys themselves

beg to differ. According to them they perform a highly respectable job, and are

the backbone of any organization. They provide the link between the various

wings and help hold the family together with their innovative methods of

bonding.

We seem to be living in crazy times where identity is the most important

qualification for one and all. What matters is the public perception about you

and the work you do. So its natural for the HR guys to be screaming out loud

hoping that one of the passersby will hear their cry, put them on a pedestal and

convert their image into one of significance.

No surprise then when the significant publicist wants to know your

credentials for fame. So then it warrants that you are so qualified that people

take you seriously. That’s why its important that even HR plays a role that is

an all pervading one with knowledge about all the different niche departments

within an organization. Considering that they are the ones who sit in on an

interview they need to understand more than just the company history and the

basics of reading the body language of the interviewee.

Today HR professionals do not really practice bookish HR. As a function HR

has evolved and taken on a different shape altogether. The new role envisages a

more dynamic professional who having pulled up his socks is capable of

delivering more tangibles in a shorter time frame. The function demands a

proactive approach intertwined with positive thinking and optimism. HR is

expected to become the facilitator of change among the various departments.

But what we see is a strange clamming of HR professionals to their

traditional and archaic roles without embracing any of the expectations that are

part of their job profile. They seem to be gradually turning into silent

co-conspirators along with the top management in forming anti-employee

guidelines and policies, whether with regard to compensation, salary, or

appraisals. So its no surprise then that employees do not view them as

confidantes or people they can turn to in times of need. They are viewed as

personnel who could be done without. Naturally the next logical step would mean

to just have a single person panel for the job of hiring and firing, which the

numerous consultancies would more than happily do. But does that solve your

problem?

One of the first steps would be to ensure that HR managers make an effort to

understand more than what is defined as part of their job profile. In times

where information and constant value addition are the only safety nets that we

have against becoming dispensable, it’s time that HR personnel also learn the

line functions or atleast understand them better. True HR is where an executive

of that department is involved in the recruitment process as an expert to

comment on the suitability of the candidate for the job, carrying out

performance management, developing specific tools for the organization which are

not purely generic and developing specific training programs which fulfill the

needs of the employer instead of merely providing soul or dhaba curries. So to

avoid falling into a rut, "the HR manager needs to understand the nuts and

bolts and the Java script of each job in the line function, which would help in

recruitment and appraisal," as Rajababu says. Considering that we live in a

multidisciplinary world it is essential for HR folks to keep abreast of line

functions as a measure to ensure survival. In fact as both Gautam Ghosh, senior

executive, Satyam Learning Center and Hema Ravichander of Infosys claim,

"HR cannot confine itself to an ivory tower and operate from there."

Hema goes a step ahead to say that, "HR should become a business strategy

partner and thereby prove itself worthy of proper recognition instead of

delivering in a vacuum."

But K Kasi Vishwanath, Manager HR, Wipro Infotech, contends that HR has been

relegated to the back seat because of the fact that it is seen as a welfare

function and something that is "goody-goody." It is not something that

is measurable like the sales target of a sales executive. This, he feels is one

of the reasons that HR is left clamoring for attention when it should accrue to

it by virtue of its work.

If we are to look at specific functions carried out by HR in terms of

organizing an impromptu cake on your birthday when you would rather be left with

your small group of friends, to being the third party when others are washing

their dirty linen in public, HR does not a play an enviable role at all. But why

is it that such actions which are taken by the human resources guys with noble

intentions in mind are always misconstrued and seen as another attempt to barge

into the gang to broker peace and thereby take over the position of close friend

when the other protagonist exists? Most employees contend that the logic behind

this is that HR professionals quite forget the pulse of a new recruit or an

older employee once they are recruited and the customary greetings are made on

birthdays and anniversaries. There should be genuine attempts to bridge the gap

between employee expectations and ground reality to ensure satisfaction and this

is absent in most cases.

Another complaint against these well meaning souls is that they are mere

organizers of get togethers’ which are methods of causing inconvenience to

those who would rather spend the day at home getting to know their family

better. Ajay Oberoi, VP-HR, Aptech Training maintains that, "These

activities when carried out as part of an activity without keeping the end

result in mind become counter productive. If adding fun and friendship are part

of the original plan then emphasis should be on those two factors so that the

desired results of building camaraderie are ensured. It should not become an

obligatory thing for employees." It should become the "interface"

between employers and employees as M L Taneja, VP HR, HCL Infosystems believes.

It is true that HR is a department, which hires and fires people. But as R

Chandra Sekaran, senior vice president, Cognizant Technology Solutions says,

"Recruitment and people power planning are definitely inseparable

responsibilities of a HR department. The people development function, which is

the most integral part of HR, includes morale building activities, training,

management and leadership development, and career management." Taking

people out for picnics and other outings are effective ways of encouraging

bonding. Especially in the IT industry where the average age of the employees is

around 25-26 years, the atmosphere is more light-hearted and these exercises

provide a sense of belonging and collective identity which ultimately results in

increased retention.

The HR guys should realize that they mould and select the most important

aspect of business today, which is knowledge or human capital. So they should

try to recast themselves in their original form of a body for the people, by the

people and of the people. But there is a move to shift to the higher floors and

rub shoulders with the powers that be, in an attempt to build an identity for

themselves if not as an organ of the people then as something that plays a key

role in formulating key decisions or guidelines for clocking productivity. HR is

entrenching itself in new found comfort zones and in the process getting branded

as part of administration and maintenance, which is the main reasons for their

clamoring for a separate and respectable identity in keeping with their

activities.

The first step to freedom would mean breaking free of the Pygmalion Effect

imposed on HR by the corporate world, which views HR as a predominantly

maintenance organ. If this myth is shattered then the battle is half won. The

next logical step would be to try and bridge the gap between employee

expectations and the actual capabilities of the HR personnel. They are the ones

looked upon to create a culture radiating energy and synergy with scaleable

processes and systems.

Policies that are implemented and formulated should be employee friendly and

not included with a mere profit motive in mind. There should be fair methods of

rewarding good performance and the organization and its dealings should be

transparent, rather the employer should be a good corporate citizen.So the real

success of HR will be visible when it impacts on management decisions affecting

human capital. Relationships between employee and employer are still bipartite

even today. But with the changing winds this will become a tripartite function

between team member, team leader, and the organization.

HR is not putting up notices or formulating guidelines to sent out as

booklets to all the employees with a strict code of adherence. It’s about

taking care of those you hire and honing their talent to put to better use in

the future.

Dhanya Krishnakumar In New Delhi