'Employees are our biggest asset' is the most often heard phrase in corporate parlance and it is interestingly inserted to assert an enterprises' continued focus on building human / intellectual capital. It also becomes the focus when any cost cutting is discussed....the asset soon turns into a cost discussion.....this brings in the question....why are employees subjected to the perceived notion of a highly interchangeable component?
Exaggerated as it may sound at first sight.....it is a reality that dawns upon introspection. It is heart wrenching to hire the best possible talent and to let them go because of change in market forces, economic environment or improper business acumen. While the first two are not entirely controllable, the third is a serious human error which essentially derives information / indicators from the first two with a fair dose of fundamentals related to the business. The core (and this is my opinion) is to make HR a strategic part of growth than a mere support function.
The ground rules for hiring as set by HR will involve information gathering from all disciplines in a company - market opportunity, internal preparedness, budget availability, investment capability, competition scenario, leadership within the enterprise and the growth visibility for each individual who is hired. It is seldom an intensive practice to involve HR and assimilate all the above information to give a combined indicator for building intellectual / human capital.
The leadership can set a system to forewarn or possibly gauge the impending changes to the market environment.....mind you, this is easier said than done but a consistent process to review and assess builds in the immunity to withstand vagaries in the market dynamics. The leader can instill the sense of passion and motivation to achieve stretch targets......which helps contain the human numbers and possibly not be swayed by boom or be hit adversely by a crash.
In the end.....it is left to a leader, his vision and passion to retain the tag of an asset on his employees. It is his ability to demand and put to use various information at his disposal to make informed decisions. Well, this is my perspective.....am sure there are many other ways to look at it too.
Exaggerated as it may sound at first sight.....it is a reality that dawns upon introspection. It is heart wrenching to hire the best possible talent and to let them go because of change in market forces, economic environment or improper business acumen. While the first two are not entirely controllable, the third is a serious human error which essentially derives information / indicators from the first two with a fair dose of fundamentals related to the business. The core (and this is my opinion) is to make HR a strategic part of growth than a mere support function.
The ground rules for hiring as set by HR will involve information gathering from all disciplines in a company - market opportunity, internal preparedness, budget availability, investment capability, competition scenario, leadership within the enterprise and the growth visibility for each individual who is hired. It is seldom an intensive practice to involve HR and assimilate all the above information to give a combined indicator for building intellectual / human capital.
The leadership can set a system to forewarn or possibly gauge the impending changes to the market environment.....mind you, this is easier said than done but a consistent process to review and assess builds in the immunity to withstand vagaries in the market dynamics. The leader can instill the sense of passion and motivation to achieve stretch targets......which helps contain the human numbers and possibly not be swayed by boom or be hit adversely by a crash.
In the end.....it is left to a leader, his vision and passion to retain the tag of an asset on his employees. It is his ability to demand and put to use various information at his disposal to make informed decisions. Well, this is my perspective.....am sure there are many other ways to look at it too.
8 comments:
HR today is woefully ill-prepared to meet the significant structural changes that were occurring. Employees are worn down by “change fatigue” and concerned about their jobs but the HR policies in many media houses have failed to perceive any underpinning rationale to the changes.
Vidyut Kumar Ta
The traditional policies and practices of employment stability has become a passé as the incumbent HR team in many places have neither the skill nor the experience to create policies and practices more fitting to the competitive environment
Vidyut Kumar Ta
The word Humar Resource has lost its meaning. Their roles are restricted to hiring and firing people. very little is done to groom the employee, develop them as better individuals and professionals. wish many leaders think like you, there could be some change in the system
Nice one. You have hit upon one the biggest conundrums of modern corporate functioning. HR is important, but in its present shape, it can't assume a strategic role. I don't know if we really need HR as it exists now.
Metro Pulse, there are still many companies that i know of give the importance due to HR and have seen to be among the preferred employers. Guess it takes the right leadership and vision to make this happen
Phalguni, i believe there are many leaders there who do believe in the power of HR....and are consciously bringing about a change...yes, as you said...i do wish many many more follow it.
Aanand, the way HR is run in some organisations cannot be taken as an example to question their importance....as replied earlier....it just takes a good leader / champion to use them as a strategic partner in an organisation's growth
I can relate a sales job to share market... the buying depends a lot on market conditions, business scenario etc but the differentiating point here is that a good sales person believes in 2 things:
1. That he is the BEST sales guy around.
2. He is selling one of the BEST products in the market...
However client behavior can’t be controlled but somewhere I feel the every client is an intelligent buyer and knows to read conviction in the sales guy... so the above 2 points could be a pointer to client's behavior
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