Professionals working
in Human Resource Function Often solicit in a belief thattheir role is very
descriptive in nature with intangible output; hence their performance cannot be
measured accurately. Is it genuine?Definitely not, the performance of HR
professionals can be measured like any other employee. Let’s reassess and
redefine the role of HR Function.
Whenever HR
professionals are askedto describe their role, they often talk about
Recruitment, Compensation & Benefits, Performance Management, Training and
Development, Managing and Motivating Employees, Succession Planning, Change
Management, Organizational Development, so on and so forth. Are these the
onlyroles of HR Professionals? Do HR Professionals have freedom to perform
following tasks -?
Hire a new employee or
terminate the employment of existing employees?
Recommend annual
increment or promotion of employeesto the higher level in an organizational
hierarchy?
Provide training,
coaching or mentorship to any employee of organization on its own?
Approve Paid/sick
leave in an organization?
Decide a successor for
a manager or a leader on its own?
Decide benefits
entitlement for employees?
Create organizational
culture or execute change?
The answer is big NO.
HR professionals working in any organization cannot do any of the above-listed
activities without the consent ofconcerned functional or team manager. So, what
is the role of HR Professionals in an organizational set-up?
Consultant
– HR Professionals should be a part of solutions and results
instead of problems and complications.They should also be well-versed with
skills and competencies required to be successful in an organization. They must
have the thorough knowledge of all job descriptions existing in an
organization. They must provide consultancy services to business and help them
find ways to create competitive advantage.
Communicator – It
has often beensaid that HR Professionals are a messenger between management and
employees OR they create a bridge between employees of organization and
management. However, it is not true. They are not mere messengers. They are
communicators, which means, they must understand messages correctly, interpret
it in the language being understood by other stakeholders, select appropriate
medium of communication and communicate it as efficiently and effectively as
possible without getting emotionally involved in the communication process.
They must be empathetic but not sympathetic. The business place is not a place
to demonstrate sympathy. Sometimes they need to communicate tough decisions of
management to employees and at times may need to make management aware of
impediments of employees. But it is observed that many times they damage the
matter by getting emotionally involved in it.
Process
owners – HR Professionals are process owners. They must ensure that all
processes are followed diligently without exceptions. By cherry picking
employees they tend to build resentment among employees and thereby creating an
environment of favoritism and bias. They must continuously work towards the
improvement of processes, make them simple to understand and follow and thereby
improve process efficiency by saving time and resource. They must use Lean
Methodology to improve processes.
Facilitator – One of the key roles of HR Professionals is
to facilitate training and development programs and create an environment of
coaching. Coaching is possible in a set-up of mutual trust and respect. As a
facilitator, HR professionals work towards improving functional, behavioral and
leadership competencies of employees and thereby create successors of existing
leaders and high-performing employees to ensure business continuity in case of
any unforeseen circumstances. As a facilitator,
while on one hand they work with employees in developing their career plan in
alignment with organizational vision and goals; on the other hand they help
managers and leaders define talent management strategies to manage employees
who are -
High Performers and
High Potentials
High Performer and Low
Potentials
Low Performers and
High Potentials
Low Performers and Low
Potentials
Compliance
Manager – Organizations often get into trouble for not following
applicable legislations as well as failing to comply with Standard Operating
Procedures of an organization. Not complying with applicable legislations leads
to punishable criminal offense and thereby affects operations of an
organization; not complying with SOP’s led to corruption and thereby affects
business continuity.
Brand
Ambassadors – HR professionals communicate with several external agencies as
well as job candidates, educational institutes and government bodies. They need
to always represent values, culture, and ethics of an organization. Also, those
employees who decide to separate from organization become its de-facto
brand-ambassadors. HR must ensure that all employees who resign should be
treated as per policies of an organization and with respect. The way HR
professional conduct themselves in an organization is followed by all
employees. Hence, it is a responsibility of HR professional to keep their
conduct professional and follow values of an organization all the time.
Project
Managers – Every sub-function of HR is a project. Campus hiring is a
project and so do performance management, compensation benchmarking,
cost-benefit analysis of new and existing benefits, and leadership development.
Each of these projectsrequiresa thorough planning, information gathering,
stakeholder’s management and execution. HR Professionals shall be efficient
project managers.
All of the
above-discussed activities are measurable. The success criteria of employees
must be based on quantity, quality or other pre-meditated deliverables. In
order to execute these roles, HR professionals must have a thorough
understanding of the business model of organization, products or services of an
organization, human psychology, and behavior, and awareness of competitions.
HR professionals need
to understand that they are not Social Reformers or Human Right Activists
working on the payroll of an organization. They are working for business. Their
efforts must make the business profitable.
Their primary role is to safeguard the interest of organization against
all adversities.
Being well-versed with
business model plus Thorough understanding of products or services of
organization plus Ability to communicate effectively across hierarchy plus
Attributes of a Consultant plus Project management abilities = Your Ticket to
the Topmost Role in Organization
Do you still believe
that HR is a messenger between employees and management?
Do you still believe
that HR plays an important role in your selection or termination or performance
appraisal? If yes, then you are being misguided by your managers.
Do you still feel that
performance of HR Professionals cannot be measured? In that case, please take
help of HR Analytics. Anything that can be measured can be manage
About Us
As a Principal Consultant, Sanjeev is credited with pioneering best
practice HR systems and processes for clients. As a Talent Strategist, Sanjeev
partners with organizations hiring managers to find, select, and hire top
talent which provides a foundation for organization's future growth
Contact Us
No:
22, C2, 6th Floor
Hermes
Heritage – II
Shastri
Nagar, Yerwada
Pune
– 411006
Phone
no: 9975689991
