\u2018You should not stop being people\u2019s advocate! The day you end being one is the day the HR dies\u2019.<\/i><\/p>\n
These words which I happened to randomly listen to while working at Oracle as an Engineer, later became the cornerstone of my HR career. While I believe that any job has its own merits and fashions, there are certain jobs that have the capability to make impacts of higher gravities. HR is one, nevertheless, it goes a thankless job in some organisations.<\/p>\n
HR, like any other job, is like a two-sided coin. You will have happy days; and then there will be days that give you a headache. Interestingly, the primitives on which the functions of an HR are based invariably embrace the \u2018headaches\u2019. What\u2019s fun if things go as in the books; HRs come into play when things are not in line or if there\u2019s no line at all. Thus, the headaches become opportunities. We cannot really see these as binaries\u2014either yes or no\u2014but grey. Let\u2019s have a closer look:<\/p>\n
HR team\u2019s vision will only be successful when your company has a management that believes in people. Forget your company\u2019s revenue, business strategy and everything else; it\u2019s the faith of the management in the people business and their mindset of treating people as the largest investment that drives the success of any HR team.<\/p>\n
Starting from the CEO, every C-level and VPs should have a clear understanding and buy-in to the policies that the HR team parks on. This is the biggest factor of all which decide if an HR\u2019s life is hell or heaven.\u00a0This<\/a>\u00a0article on HBR says that during 2008 recession, only a \u00a0third of HR departments were consulted when layoffs happened, pointing to lesser influence HRs had in strategic business\/people decisions\u2014this is fast changing now.<\/p>\n It\u2019s imperative for the modern day HR to work closely with the line managers as well, to make sure that the \u2018people mindset\u2019 envisaged at the top level trickled down appropriately at the length and breadth of the organisation. The organisation\u2019s profitability comes only through the growth; and growth comes only through its employees and culture\u2014not the C-officers alone! HR is certainly a partner in strategy execution, and hence they should have business acumen and understanding as well as the people mindset. 33% of execs believe that there\u2019s ineffective HR leadership that drives their organisation to the unsolicited directions as per\u00a0this<\/a>\u00a0HBR report. This can be tricky and painful for some of us, but definitely the need of the hour; it has always been, but clearer in the recent years.<\/p>\n With the advance of technology, data has come to play a major role for the HR as well. This has helped establish data-driven strategies. Since most HR operations have gone digital, HR gets instant access to the data and can run an analysis on it to reach faster and effective conclusions. Analytics has resulted in the greater impact of HR activities starting with talent acquisition through engagement to exit.<\/p>\n Gen X is fast coming to the top of the ladders, and most \u2018workforce\u2019 now comprises of Gen Y and Z. The millennials tend to pose and trigger a change in the way most HR teams function. The factors that excited Gen X may no longer be valid\/needed for the Gen Y\/Z. This needs a larger discussion in all organisations, where HR takes the lead role.<\/p>\n Starting from how your recruit talent to keeping them engaged should change due to this workforce change. Your \u2018food coupons\u2019 or \u2018telephone reimbursement\u2019 may not be an attractive benefit as it used to be. Your vacation plans, office timings, attire requirements and health initiatives may need a thorough change keeping in mind the interest of the new workforce. This is one place where HR gets into agonies or ecstasies. This also points to changing your HR practices and policies to accommodate the new-styled workforce who love things to happen faster and easier.<\/p>\n Gone are those days HR recruited the \u2018protagonists\u2019 alone. Ideologies and societal factors keep changing, and Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) has become another opportunity for HR. While this is seen as an ecstasy from a philosophical standpoint, various reports suggest that the pay gaps and men:women employee ratios are still really bad in numbers. The report from\u00a0WeForum<\/a>\u00a0suggests that in 82 out of 142 countries, pay gaps based on gender is still increasing. This is alarming, and agonising for the HRs, for they have been trying to establish a reverse scenario through D&I and localisation initiatives.<\/p>\n KPMG<\/a>\u00a0reports that HRs around the world struggle to keep in line with the global workforce, which turns out to be an agony for the HR fraternity, yet. With globalisation, teams become more and more integrated and agile, which HRs must run fast to cope with. Increasing number of remote, and arguably virtual, employees demand that the HRs tighten their belts.<\/p>\n Organisations today want not job-seekers, but talents. For example, in IT, with the massive \u2018attack\u2019 of automation over the services sector has diminished the glitter of the old glossy, silky texture of the industry to a great extent. Companies today want to find talents (\u201cattraction\u201d) rather than applicants finding them for jobs (\u201cacquisition\u201d). The onus is on the HR team.<\/p>\n The new organisation have a diverse workforce that constantly looks for enhancing their skill set. The old school training curriculum is undergoing a thorough revamp, which is, yet again, equally agonizing and ecstatic for HRs. Starting from the training modes\u2014virtual to gamification to anytime anywhere learning platforms\u2014to the training content, organisations are thoroughly revamping their L&D strategies with the Gen Z in mind.<\/p>\n Another area of concern for the HR is retention. It\u2019s way beyond creating a good brand; stories float about youngsters rejecting offers from big brands to choose what they want to do in small companies. Retention plans of the new age is another agony for HRs, planning of which needs a thorough analysis of their workforce as well as the industry trends. People don\u2019t just stay back for money.<\/p>\n As it goes without saying, HR Tech is already here. Yesteryears\u2019 Personnel Manager changed to HR, and then got transformed into People Enablers over a period of time. The new role of HRs will be that of technology and business leaders enabling people functions with the help of cutting edge tech. Coming of tech into HR will certainly reduce the job opportunities of the existing HR workforce, but wait! It\u2019s a two-sided coin again. While this is seen as an \u2018oh-my-god-am-I-gonna-lose-it\u2019 scenario, why don\u2019t we look at the brighter side of it? It gives us room for learning technology and pouring it into what we have been doing, thereby making a yet greater, happier, better workplace! Ain\u2019t it ecstatic?!<\/p>\n Disclaimer: Any of the discussions above does not reflect the views of author’s<\/i> present or previous employers. Views are all personal. Originally posted by Arunanand T A<\/a>\u00a0on his blog peoplefirst.in<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u2018You should not stop being people\u2019s advocate! The day you end being one is the day the HR dies\u2019. These words which I happened to randomly listen to while working at Oracle as an Engineer, later became the cornerstone of my HR career. While I believe that any job has its own merits and fashions, … Continue reading “The Agony and Ecstasy of Working as HR Professionals in Organisations Today”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":73,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[30,7],"tags":[13,32,17,31,33],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.nipmkerala.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.nipmkerala.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.nipmkerala.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.nipmkerala.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.nipmkerala.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.nipmkerala.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75,"href":"https:\/\/blog.nipmkerala.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74\/revisions\/75"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.nipmkerala.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.nipmkerala.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.nipmkerala.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.nipmkerala.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nData and Opportunities for Analytics<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\nChanging Workforce<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n
Pay Gaps and Diversity<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n
Attraction, Training and Retention<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n
HR Tech: the future<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n