At a  Thought Leaders’ Forum organized by a national body of HR professionals, one of the leading lights of the Indian HR firmament was asked a question - WHO DOES THE HR FOR HR???  Though the question was brushed away with a lighthearted reply, it needs to be addressed earnestly for effective HCM.

With rapid advances in the field of HCM we have hordes of young HR managers armed with the latest techniques- psychometric testing, competency mapping, assessment centers etc. In most of the cases the shop floor experience of such managers is limited to the Orientation Program of the company.  Consequently the decision making of such managers is reflective of their knowledge and experience.  

During a seminar on Competency Based Assessment, a senior HR manager of a leading MNC was invited to talk about the HR practices being followed by his corporation.  He stated that his company emphasized teamwork.  Accordingly the employees were divided into teams.  These teams were then set targets, which were very much on the higher side.  To facilitate the employees to meet their targets, the company provided the facility of a free dinner and drop home by taxi.  The employees’ performance was monitored on a regular basis, and those not achieving the targets for three months were encouraged to leave the corporation.  This gentleman took the entire credit for having introduced this system in his organization.

From the discussions that followed it was evident that this learned gentleman was a HR manager with lot of knowledge of HR processes but not a single day’s Line experience.  Consequently he was not able to identify with his Line colleagues and continued to relate to them in the third person.  Further having never worked in the field for a single day, from his ivory tower, it was beyond his comprehension as to the kind of stress he was placing the employees under, by setting unrealistic and hard targets.  For this having worked in their shoes was a pre requisite. 

 So there is definitely a need for someone to do HR for the HR so that the variance between the preaching and the practice of HR is minimized. 

A common belief among the HR practitioner I have come across is that in order to facilitate this process of HR for HR, the Human Capital Management or HCM should not remain the exclusive domain of the HR department.  The HR department should only act as an influencer or a catalyst. The ideal role of the HR function would be to move from the traditional “control” philosophy to becoming  a provider of vision and support.  This would in turn  ensure that the HCM philosophy is unbiased, and driven by the line managers, so that it becomes an organization wide discipline. 

Further the HR departments need to align the management goals and the individual employee’s goals with that of the organization.  The focus of the HR interventions should move beyond the organization, and encompass the employees and their families as well. For this the HR activities for the employees and their families in the  PSUs and Private companies having dedicated townships are a pointer towards the steps required to be taken by the HR departments to ensure long-term success of its HCM strategy.  

Author : Subhash Bhasker