Widening Horizons

The name HR itself

is indicative of its function and activities. HR deals with the human

beings who are working in and for an organization. The act and impact

could be direct and/or indirect. Traditionally, HR has been a support

function and a cost center.






In good old days, HR used to deal with employees handling products of
the company. The products were manufactured in the factory environment

and delivered to the customer in ready state. The features, quality,

packaging, appearance, etc of the product were all set during its production.

And these were the factors that satisfied the customers while realizing

the value for their money. To summarize, the skill and the motivation

level, the state of mind, appearance, communication and other such characteristics

of the person who was presenting the product to the customer had very

little role to play in the selling process.

Since the 1990s,

two concepts have been catching up very fast in India. First is the

concept of service across industries and the second is the concept of

internal customer, which is primarily an off-shoot of the first but

within the organization. However, the people are becoming more sensitive

to the needs of internal customers and the concept is still catching

up.






Market trends indicate that service is one of the key elements which
create a major differentiation for a company in selling its products.

Now, the services do not come free. They are available as a range of

products and can be priced accordingly. The deliverables can be clearly

defined and measured.



Further, service is one of the real and key enablers in product sales.
Nowadays, the customer does not buy products or services, but hankers

to buy a comprehensive solution. One who can offer the complete range

of products and services under one roof with overall single-point responsibility

is today's winner and will survive in the long run.






In the services industry, deliverables are not produced and packed in
the factory environment. Skilled professionals, while working with and

for the customer, design, produce and deliver the services. Hence, a

set of factors which are relevant to the production life cycle of a

product have to be prevalent while service assignments are executed.

Some of these factors are:






* Skill level and experience of the person delivering the service





* State of mind and motivation level of the person delivering the service





* Communication, presentation and personality of the person delivering
the service






* Tangible deliverables like documentation and handouts that go along
with the service






* Tools, technology, aids and other similar components that are used
while services are delivered.






Let's now take a close look at some of the factors specific to IT:





* Traditionally, the IT industry meant a group of professionals with
an engineering background. Lately, the IT professionals come from other

relevant disciplines line MCA, DCA, etc. However, the latest trend in

India has shown management students and people with functional experience

joining the IT industry






* Most of the time, technical professionals work in the software factory
with limited exposure to the customer and outside world






* Traditionally, the technical professionals specialize in certain areas
and strive to keep themselves updated with advancements in the same

technology domain






* The manpower demand and supply model has major gaps and mismatches.
It has led to a scenario where the IT industry has become the employees'

market






* The overseas opportunities are massive. Today's professionals carry
different pressures while opting for overseas jobs such as money, peer

pressure, advanced working environment in terms of technology and infrastructure,

family pressures, etc. Some are genuine, but most of them are perception-driven






* During the early stage of their career, IT professionals have very
little perspective. They see lot of opportunities and lot of money around.

They observe emergence of new technologies and want to get associated

with almost every new development. In the process, they land up hopping

jobs at the cost of loyalty to the profession






The market for IT professionals is immature, driven by perceptions and
misconceptions. Hence they have to be dealt with differently. The motivations

for IT professionals are different, so the retention schemes and policies

have to be different. HRD will have to find out a new, innovative and

effective approach to deal with IT professionals.






The HR way


There is no simple, straight and final formula to it. Maybe individuals
have to be understood and then driven accordingly. One of the effective

means could be to create significant and visible differentiation between

star performers, average performers and non-performers. To enable it

effectively and practically, the action depends on the line managers.

It is the functional heads and managers who have to get into the role

of HR managers. Even if so, the challenge still persists with HRD to

train and groom the line managers.






In another way, maybe HR has to go through what Quality has already
gone through. In the 70s, Quality was a tool to save cost and was implemented

as Quality Control. In the 80s, Quality helped in reducing cost and

was implemented as Quality Assurance. For most of the present decade,

Quality has been an important tool to manage cost. Now, Quality is no

longer just a department, but it is built into the process. Quality

is an assumption. Quality is a must. Quality does not differentiate

with hype, but it makes organizations more competitive. Likewise, HR

has to go through a similar process. Probably, HR will not have three

decades for it. It will have to move much faster, from a cost center

and a department to an integral part of business planning, review and

operations.






SUDHIR AGGARWAL,




Head, Professional Services Unit (Mumbai),


HCL Infosystems Ltd.