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HR Related Question
HR Related Question answered by Prof. Madhukar Shukla (Prof. OB and
Strategic Management, XLRI Jamshedpur), courtesy www.humanlinks.com
QUESTION : There is a big discrimination between Tech. departments and
Non technical.Now how does the HRD team prove its presence when not
even
management takes it seriously.How does one break the ice to start HRD
activities.
Rajat Ahuja
ANSWER : The issue you have raised is perhaps quite typical of the
engineering-driven organisations. One can, of course, bemoan that if
the
management doesn't believe in HR, why have a HR department at all -
but
that would not lead
anywhere. The reality in many organisation still is that the
management
expectation from the HR department have not changed since the days
when
it used to be the backroom support P&A department.
Therefore, as you rightly mentioned, the aim should be to "break the
ice" and establish the credibility of HRD dept. I think that to
reposition itself, the key lies in what kind of "HRD activities" the
department engages in. This is very critical if HR is not to be
perceived as just a support function to manage canteen and work on
payrolls. You may like to consider the following points :
Firstly, if the HRD department is to be seen as a strategic partner
which contributes to the corporate goals, it must align its activities
and interventions with the company's priorities. In many companies,
HRD
teams function as an almost autonomous unit, with agendas and
activities
which do not have any relevance to corporate goals. Even the routine
HR
activities, such as training, performance appraisal, etc., do not
focus
on what may be relevant for corporate objectives (e.g., training may
continue to focus on "personal development" neglecting the needs to
develop specific functional skills).
Secondly, the need to be more customer focused. In most companies HRD
dept still operates as a subsidised function, without any specific
performance accountability for its contribution. While a very
comfortable situation for many HR professionals, it also results in a
lack of customer orientation of HR activities. In fact, I have seen
that
many HR professionals don't even realise that they are actually a
service provider to a set of customers within the organisation. To
become more customer-focused, the HR team would need to maintain a
more
regular and meaningful contact with others within the company.
Lastly - and following from the previous point - is the issue of
skills
and competencies in the HRD team which required to play a more
meaningful role within the company. Beides the skills and competencies
in the HRD field, the HR professional would also need to acquire more
cross-functional exposure and understanding. One of the reason why, in
many organisations, the HRD professionals do not have credibility, is
because they do not show an understanding as to how the business works
-
e.g., balance sheet, workflow, market dynamics, etc. A broad-based
business knowledge is a must for understanding customers' needs and
customising one's activities to meet those needs and priorities.
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