Que faire – HR?

At the recently concluded World HRD Congress in Mumbai, I was the proud recipient of the “HR Professional of the year” award. As I came down the podium, beaming with confidence, many famous HR leaders, Coaches, and CEOs congratulated me. Yes! I was virtually on cloud nine! This award took me one step closer to my career goal of becoming a Global HR leader. Lost in my thoughts, I suddenly espied an elderly gentleman, maybe in his late sixties, seated a couple of rows away. He actually took the effort to come forward and shake my hands. Then he said, almost disarmingly, “Congratulations! What have you received the award for?” I replied, by reflex “For my skills and contribution to the field of HR”. I jumped further stating how HR contributes to the sustainable organizational performance and overall societal welfare. I spoke with so much excitement that it must have amused him. He complimented me and slowly shuffled back to his seat. There was something in the way he asked me the question. I let my grey cells judge that he must most definitely be an accomplished person. Though intrigued as to his identity, I went back to my seat to enjoy the rest of the event. 

As luck would have it, I bumped into him during the buffet dinner. We occupied a corner table so that we could savor our gourmet meals and have an interesting chat. “I’m Derrick*” and I’m from France. I have come here to attend the event and also to visit this lovely country, India”, he said. He went on to speak...mostly about his career. He revealed he had been working in the field of Training and Development for almost 4 decades now, extensively travelling around the globe as a Business Coach and a Trainer. He spoke about diverse topics like cultural differences across the countries, Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, Governmental policies, economics, and European social model - specifically about El Khomri law in France. He also spoke about his love for this country...Clearly, this man had immense knowledge and honestly I had trouble matching him in the conversation especially as a listener.

He asked me, “What does HR actually do here in India”? Up went my antenna! The Taylors and Kotters in me sprang up and it was my turn to talk now. Trying to make an impression on him, I spoke about how HR had come a long way from its humble beginnings to the most hotly debated topic in the board rooms. Often considered as a department to support the business in the past, HR today has evolved in a big way– a key shift being “Working ‘for the business’ to working ‘with the business’”. There has been a huge change in the way HR operates and adds value, especially through the multi legged stool model of Corporate HR – Shared services, Business HR, Center of excellence, Outsourcing, etc. I also spoke about the unique HR concepts of resource-based view, Best HR Practices, Best fit models and all that. While I was in a flow trying to prove my point of view, I could not help but notice that this person was not convinced. It was evident that he could not see the real value of HR. But the gentleman that he was, he patiently heard through all the HR gyaan I was giving him with my limited HR experience. “So, what else?” he said after I stopped talking. I was puzzled. I was not sure if he was testing me but I tried answering the question in a different manner. I talked about how HR balances business and people, ethical practices, CSR initiatives, cultural aspects, etc.

We debated about this for a while but I gave in after some time given his insights and his vast experience. But clearly, this was one of the most interesting conversations I had with a stranger in a long time. Finally, we exchanged good byes and parted ways.

In the next couple of weeks, I wanted to attempt answering this intriguing question “Que faire – HR”? and I’m talking about not just answering this question within the spectrum of HR activities like OD, resource sharing, etc. but as a function contributing towards the larger good of business and the country as a whole. Therefore, “Que faire – HR”? — It is not that we do not have an answer to this question but oftentimes it is difficult to express it. HR is not just judged for its performance on Return on Investment alone but also on the Return on Expectation. We are dealing with ‘people’ and expressing expectations can be difficult given that psychological contracting can be both transactional and relational. It is subjective and complicated since people are free to think and make their own choices. All of these clearly are influenced by national and institutional cultures.

To draw a parallel, HR is like a working government and the organization is like the country driven by business & profit motives. On the one side, HR is expected to promote business with a neo-liberal policy approach that includes increasing organizational effectiveness through performance, identifying STAR talents, Grade and Band allocation, pay for performance, promotion etc. and on the other, ensure justice and equality, faster turnaround, lower investment at an organizational level.  Most of the times it never goes hand in hand. Values can be Left/Right, Authoritarian/Libertarian etc. stemming from either Deontology or Teleology. Given the complexity involved, so “Que faire – HR”?

I took a step back and reflected on a variety of things. I felt it was unfair to state what HR does from the business perspective alone — because there is a huge dependence on the type of organization, values of its leadership, interests of its stakeholders, etc. For example, HR can be well placed in its people practices in a capital intensive organization rather than in a labor intensive organization, especially taking competitive environment into account. Therefore, the best way to attempt answering the question “Que faire – HR” should be from a holistic point of view — linking individual, group, private sector’s workforce contribution to the overall country’s economic development including its socio-cultural, environmental and ethical aspects.

Here is my other view on the question - “Que faire – HR”?

a) The Indian government recognizes the role of private sector in its tiger economic policies. As per a report by Crisil, private sector’s contribution is as high as three-fourth of the overall GDP. HR plays a pivotal role in building private sector workforce broadly from an ability, motivation and opportunity point of view, be it through best practices or best fit models. So, HR’s efforts in hiring the right talents, developing them, creating a high performance culture and retaining talents are directly linked to the development of the country’s economic development at some level. The higher the efforts put in by the HR, the greater the overall economic output in the form of Goods and Services. 

b) HR helps to cope up with change. The business scenario has constantly evolved. As quoted in the book Change management and the human factor by Frank E. P. Dievernich, Kim Oliver Tokarski, and Jie Gong, change is like a totem before which we prostrate and in the face of which we are powerless. Change is directly linked to development and observed as a way of business, more so now, at the time of hyper-competition and free market. Most of the successful organizations today that are 10+ years old are nothing like the way they started. Change is considered to be at the heart of any successful strategy. Therefore, if change is inevitable, then HR as change agents are the game changers in their ability to encourage innovative thinking.... to drive acceptance of change in the private workforce which comprises of close to 80% of the total country workforce in the age group 16 – 60...Fostering a coaching and mentoring culture, HR ‘IS’ the change agent, challenging the organization to attain greater heights.

c) While business is driven by profit motives, HR takes the role of being agents of morality driven by ethical practices. HR believes that if an organization can make some decisions, then it must be responsible for the consequences of its decisions. Between the two contrarian views of people are selfish, acquisitive and aggressive by nature vs. people are moral, reasonable and capable of self-governance, HR believes in the latter. It sets precedence through the people practices, instilling values and inspiring individuals to be socially and morally responsible. Responsible behavior translates to responsible individuals. Such individuals translate a greater positive energy in their forward thinking and actions. This in turn translates to a reduced social inequality and thinner disparity. In other words, a happier society! It is this joy quotient which translates to contentment and positivity and has its effect in the overall consumerism and secularism of the country.

d) In the times of globalization, one of the key concerns is the negative effects on Mother Earth, more popularly referred to as ‘the race to the bottom’. HR tries to mitigate these negative effects by collaborating with the business and the principal shareholders — be it to reduce the carbon footprint, or to take up Go Green initiatives or 20/20 targets. According to a report, the total contribution through CSR in 2014-15 is a whopping INR 4,368 Crore by over 460 companies. HR makes a difference to the society by recommending the right causes to fund — be it rural development, promoting education or any other philanthropic initiatives. The real bottom line is that it touches the lives of millions of people for a greater, brighter tomorrow! The other way of looking at this is that HR contributes to innovation, brand building and long-term thinking through CSR initiatives – a definitely better way to engage with both customers and employees. The significant point to be noted here is that HR is silently performing the role of a CORE FUNCTION rather than a support function!

e) HR plays a key role in transforming the knowledge and skills landscape of the country to make India a super power. According to a report by the Labour Bureau, the workforce demographics has had a steady increase of young labor force in the country. Currently at 463 million, India is placed 2nd and eventually will compete for the no. 1 position. This is of huge significance to India, considering many developed countries are facing an ageing population. India on the other hand, will have one of the highest young human capital pool for building a greater economy. While this works in our favor, it is important for the leaders to prepare Gen Y and Gen Z to take greater responsibilities. HR plays a transformational role in creating the leaders of tomorrow, be it transfer of knowledge and skills from Baby Boomers or Gen X to Gen Y and Z or promoting younger leadership at board level through mentoring programs or engaging the younger workforce through flexible HR policies or promoting diversity and inclusion or by promoting women in leadership to counter the glass ceiling. All of these promote new forms of organizations such as Technocracy, Adhocracy, Virtual organization and Holacracy for a greater motivated workforce.

While all of it is not driven by HR alone, HR does significantly contribute by championing all of these through its people-centric qualities. HR is self-driven to deliver by touching the lives of talent at a personal level in a profound way. When effectively implemented, HR policies will play a pivotal role in helping our people resources rediscover themselves, take up assignments that give them greater satisfaction, provide the wherewithal to improve their skills and abilities, make them cope better, create a roadmap for inner contentment ...Won’t be crossing the line if I say “like a religion in its own right till retirement”!!

This is another attempt by me to answer Derrick. I would love to hear your answers as well. So “Que faire – HR”? 

If national and institutional cultures can influence HR, won’t the HR strategy and practices be driven by them inherently? If so, isn’t HR a small player in the larger scheme of things?

References

1 http://www.thehindu.com/business/Economy/only-pvt-sector-investment-can-give-legup-to-economy-crisil/article3649282.ece

2 http://www.epw.in/journal/2014/50/web-exclusives/analysis-corporate-social-responsibility-expenditure-india.html

3 http://labourbureau.nic.in/asc2kch4.html, http://labourbureau.nic.in/asc2k422.html

Krishnan Bangaruswamy is the Global – Talent Acquisition Head, Omega Healthcare