Article: "HR is more about relations than numbers"

Entrepreneurship

"HR is more about relations than numbers"

EO is one of the world's most influential communities of entrepreneurs, supporting today's business owners in all aspects of their entrepreneurial journey.
"HR is more about relations than numbers"

Founded in 1987, Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) is the only global network meant exclusively for entrepreneurs – entrepreneurs for whom success in business has already become a way of life. EO helps transform the lives of those who transform the world. Globally, EO has 12,000+ members.

To be a member of EO the applicant must be an owner, co-owner, founder or controlling stakeholder in a business grossing a minimum of USD 1 million annually. EO South Asia region was launched with a chapter in Mumbai in 1997 followed by chapters in New Delhi and Kolkata in subsequent years. Today EO South Asia has about 1235 members across industries.

Chiranjiv Patel, the Regional Director at Entrepreneurs' Organization, South Asia talks about the talent challenges in promoter-led businesses, and how EO helps in mitigating these talent challenges.

What are the talent challenges faced by the promoter-led businesses? 

While considering the experience and qualifications, the timing of the talent acquisition plays a very important role, especially in the promoter-led business (PLB). Too much of management is going to create a difficult situation for the employee to handle it, and it does happen in this PLB business structures. Majority of the traditional Indian businesses are still PLB and the key is to make sure that the roles of each director are clearly defined, which is lacking in majority, and the results are faced by an employee.

Multiple level engagements with a single employee for multiple responsibilities gives a tough challenge to the employees to perform and that is one of the major reason the HR faces a major challenge in the stability and performance of an employee. However, if the same can be taken care of, the integrity and stability of the employees with great performance can be seen.

Also, if the entrepreneur is looking in terms of growing a company, then the entrepreneurs will realize that a different leader, may be in a new form within an existing set of employees or a new one, is required. Here also, there needs to be a complete clarity from the new leader in order to articulate and align where or where-not to get involved. The same needs to be backed by the decision-making clarity as well.

Any tool kits/frameworks adopted by talent leaders among EO members in solving current talent challenges?

Talent, always a challenge for lot of businesses, needs an expert platform to get it resolved. EO doesn’t have a collaborative platform for hiring or acquiring the right talent. However, the entire cycle of sharing and experiencing, the learning exchanges, and all is structured in such a way that it opens up doors for the best of talent mediums that are available. All the members of EO, as we already know, are of the best of the companies across different countries, and hence, there is an indirect platform to put across such challenges and overcome it. Also, the trust and respect of EO members and the companies involved helps the members connect with the best of the talent pool and agencies to get this challenge resolved. 

How has HR industry evolved in the talent management arena?

Over the past few decades, the HR industry has evolved dramatically. Undoubtedly, it has changed every time the economy and the business models have changed it. At the initial levels, there was no defined path of how the talent acquisition was supposed to be done; it was all requirement and recruitment. Started as the “No Respect” industry for few years, the HR has become an important function now in any organization. Unlike Finance, HR involves more ‘art’ than ‘science’ and more ‘relations’ than ‘numbers’. Though there are huge variations in the HR as an industry according to the geography, there is a talent pool available with this knowledge, skills & abilities of recruitment, talent acquisition, talent management, and now transformed to people management.

Evolved with time with different turns and twists (please refer to the above diagram), the HR is involved in major roles and multiple accountabilities; a chain link between the process and the people to maintain the balance between the strategic focus and day-to-day focus. An additional fold and an up gear in the industry is from talent management to people management, where the focus is less on skills as a measurable tool, and more on the holistic approach to cultural fit.

What are the pre-requisites if an entrepreneur wants to join EO as a member?

Members of EO must be the owner, founder or majority stakeholder of a business earning a minimum of US$1 million in the most recent fiscal year. Once the complete application is filled, the local chapter will schedule an interview with the interested applicant to further explore the interest in EO. The selection is also based strictly on how much the applicant aligns with the core values of EO, along with the applicant’s level of interest to give back to the organization. It is also taken care that the one who is selected for this organization, is willing to align, gel-up and participate himself/herself with the EO members so that the addition brings in a lot of value to EO as an organization. 

And what are the benefits will he/she receive as being an EO member?

As a member of EO, one gain the access to a wide variety of tailor-made benefits designed to help him/her grow his/her business and become a better leader. Supporting the complete entrepreneur, EO offers numerous resources to help him/her excel in his/her business, family, community and personal life. As a global entrepreneurial network, EO offers the connections, tools, and resources one need to reach the next level in the entrepreneurial journey. Global Events, Regional Events, Chapter Events, and Forums are also the strong benefit of any EO member. The Global Universities organized by EO also brings in once in a lifetime experience to the EO members.

How does EO help in:

personal development of leaders: Events & Forums brings in a huge change in one’s life and helps in personal development of the leaders. Programs like Global Leadership Academy, Executive Learning programs, and such others helps in the overall development of an individual leader.

community engagement: GSEA (Global Student Entrepreneurship Award) that EO does across the globe for all the student entrepreneurs is the biggest give away to the community in terms of creating future entrepreneurs, by giving them a platform to come and display their business creation, helping them with the seed money that is required, and mentoring them to be great entrepreneurs in their own area.

EO's global makeup comprises nearly 12,000+ individual members - what is that one idea which makes EO succeed?

In one sentence, it can be said that it serves the unique needs of an entrepreneur to become a complete entrepreneur that can transform the lives of other entrepreneurs and in turn bring positive transformation across the world.

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Topics: Entrepreneurship, Leadership

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