ZAMS HR Consultants

HR is omnipresence. It is everywhere .It is , however ,not omniscience because it does not have an integrated view of business due to historical reasons. To become omniscience its focus has to shift from routine and non- –strategic activities to value addition. To be a non-performing asset is sin and crime in todays’ business environment. The diversion in focus calls for paradigm shift in the mind-set , not only of the HR professionals but that of Top Management as well.

The spirit of an Organization is always created by the top Management. They have to be visionary, mission-oriented, receptive and demanding so as to create competitive work climate for all to excel. No one can rise above ones’ environment. we all are products of our own environment for reasons of social internalization. For creative and innovative pursuits, work climate has to be enabling, rejuvenating and full of actions. Culture building is the main responsibility of HR professionals. This has to be well articulated and communicated across the hierarchy by the Top Management so that there exists clarity about the role profile of HR.

HR has to earn acceptability through , effective, useful, visible and timely services to the customers---all the other departments within the company including the community. How to earn acceptability? This is a million-dollar question. Service with delivery of results on continuos basis is the need of the hours.The existing perception of HR being reactive, non-strategic, status qouist has to be changed. The answers lie in major shift in their outlook, emphasis and skill-sets . The specific requirements are; crediblity, customer-orientation, leadership, diagnostic insight and versatility

Credibility It comes from reinforcement of faith by internal customers. Positive perception goes a long way in gaining acceptability. Perception lasts longer than facts. HR has to demonstrate business sense and convert their activities into profit centre. While dealing with people issues, focus has to be on what is wrong instead of who is wrong. Policies and procedures are to be applied with imagination, innovative zeals and creative urge to transform the work climate from constraining and restraining to enabling ones. HR roles must enhance individual, departmental and organisational effectiveness for value addition. As internal consultants, HR professionals have to perform the roles of enforcers, protectors and facilitators.

Customer-Orientation. Services being provided by HR have to be useful and timely from customers’ view point. The processes required to be followed must include management by walking about, frequent interactive sessions, daily team briefing sessions, feedback sessions with line and functional managers. This process would help them to feel the feelings of the user departments. Frequent exchange of views, appreciating the problems, visits to shopfloor, departments ,branch offices/units would enable them to provide needed services and resources in terms of training back-up, manpower, and infrastructure support. Consequent transformation of HR image as facilitators with insight into customer orientation would become feasible. Planned proactive interactions will help HR to review, modify and redesign systems, policies by incorporating the views, suggestions and aspirations of line managers and Departmental Heads. Policies so evolved will gain organization--wide-acceptability. Users will have a sense of ownership and involvement in the proposed HR interventions leading to their timely implementation. A sure recipe for harmony at work place with enhanced prestige for HR professionals

Leadership. This status has to be earned. Strategies required to be followed are; initiation and articulation of pro-active HR processes aimed at challenlising the collective initiatives of all within the Organisation.HR professionals have to envisage emerging global trends and suggest policy initiatives with strategic thrusts on Organisational competitiveness .Interventions so designed have to facilitate accomplishment of business plans with visible impact on bottom-line. HR has to provide leadership in articulating the vision and mission .Their approach besides being unconventional, has to be pro-active and unbiased. HR expertise as reflected in major policy initiatives in the areas of innovative practices with resultant synergy in the enterprise working would be the determining factor for their corporate acceptability.

Diagnostic Insight. This quality is key to success for those who want to be leaders in their key functional areas. Qualities such as listening skill, patience, empathy and tolerance for others, would give a better insight into human problems at workplace. This comes with experience. Issues need to be approached with open mind .Mastery over communication skill provides better insight into human complexities . Communication to be effective must meet certain criteria - transmission, reception, feedback and performance. Communication based on trust is always a competitive asset. Positive perception of HR professionals by other departments is a pre-requisite for establishing rapport . Once that is achieved, acceptability and diagnostic insight will be logical outcomes.

Versatality. It is key to employability. Pre-requisites for achieving versatality status are ; knowing the basics of business, mastering communication skills, facilitating lines managers to implement HR policies, ideas, programmes and be visible and available. They are to be familiar with general work processes of the company todeal the problems with empathy. This enables HR professionals to provide guidance to line managers in the fields of man-mangement, employees counseling, conflicts resolution. Culture building through healthy rites and rituals, skill up-gradation through continuous learning efforts will not only generate respect and recognition for HR services but also guarantee them a strategic role in the organisational hierarchy. A sure passport for corporate dominance and visibility.

CEO AS CUSTOMER NO.1
Research based studies world over have established that HR Professionals’ success depends on the support of their CEO. HR efforts should therefore, be to win over & convert their CEO as their customer NO.1.How could HR do it? Never before HR has gained so much importance. It is due mainly to its strategic linkage to business survival. The main strategies are - aligning all HR initiatives to business plans with focus on jobless growth and boundarylessnes operations, internalizing and institutionalizing Vision, Mission and value systems of the enterprise. The roles of HR have to be facilitating, enabling and rejuvenating. A long-term view with focus on bottom-line is a prerequisite for the success of any HR initiatives. Recruitment and selection processes have to ensure appointment of candidates meeting the expectations of customers both internal and external instead of historical job descriptions.. Creation of learning culture with emphasis on employability is key to competitive edge.. Evolution of a competitive work culture rooted in equity, fairness creativity and innovation will turn Organisational turf into a towering inferno of mental energy . If such bold steps are undertaken, CEO would find in HR the trusted TEAM MEMBERS in transforming the company vision into business realities. Once that happens, Corporate visibility for HR is guaranteed.

WORLD CLASS HR PRACTICES.

HR roles and focus have to be on evolving high performance work processes with attributes such as employment security, selective hiring , self-managed team, decentralized decision making, high compensation contingent on results, competencies management, learning culture through ongoing training and retraining based on training needs identification, reduction of status difference and sharing of information. To make the employees feel wanted and cared for, induction scheme, feedback sessions, career counseling job rotation, job enrichment and job enlargement daily team briefing sessions, associating employees in various decision making platforms, institutionalizing healthy rites and rituals such as birth day greetings, annual day celebration, giving gifts to employees on their marriage, best employees award, long-service award, suggestion schemes, open house meeting , QCs, Kaizen initiatives , Exit interview and similar processes. In this era of jobless growth 70% to 80% of our waking lives we spend at workplace. Emotional support and harmony at workplace are also equally crucial for creating a vibrant and fun-filled work environment

MAGIC OF INNOVATIVE HR PRACTICES

My own experiences with petrochemical, steel and aviation industries would be worth mentioning.

> A leading petrocomplex in public sector undertaking in Maharashtra could transform itself into a pocket of excellence by adopting unconventional HR practices. Conductiing Training programmes for the wives of the employees across the levels with focus on their supporting roles, open house meeting, making line managers responsible for their team members, HR operating with a boundaryless mind-set , daily team briefing , extending HR activities beyond organisational boundaries in activities such as community development programmes, and evolving a trust and transparency based wok climate . Cumulative impact of all these interventions was many fold--- harmony at workplace, top-down support for bottom- up action, improved bottom-line . Consequent grading of work culture as pocket of excellence by world bank team.

> HR policies adopted at Mega steel plant again in Maharashtra produced excellent reasults—NO disputes—No union-work culture, HRnet open computerised appraisal systems based on quarterly review against set targets, learning environment , 50 man- hour training per employee p.a, 100% knowledge employee with high degree of computer literacy despite being located in backward and highly hostile external environment. Highest Compensation package in the region—internally equitable and externally competitive, Complexion of the employees highly cosmopolitan in nature. The HR practices were described as recipe to be the benchmark of the world by renowned consultancy firm---Mckinensy and Co.

> Aviation (former International airports authority of india) example is unique. Since its inception in 1973, HR policies were aimed at creating a trust based and participative work culture. Achievements on IR front were unprecedented. The management evolved a practice of according recognition to majority union based on an election process once in two years. The union getting majority on all India basis— at all the four airports—DELHI, MUMBAI, KOLKATA , and CHENNAI is given status of bargaining agent and recognised union. This practice has since been institutionalised at the airports within the fold of AAI(international ) operations. These experiments have stood the test of time with very positive results ---a history of uninterrupted harmonious IR as compared to other aviation enterprises, improved bottom-line since inception, all major expansion through self generated revenues .Credits for this goes to the first Director personnel of IAAI Mr. S.A.Raza and top management team.

> All the three examples cited above are direct results of pro-active roles played by the HR professionals and top management teams based on institutionalised leadership

Conclude: In the context of emerging trends in the field of information technology, boundaryless business operation, seismic upheavals in the in social , political and economics arenas, effectiveness of HR professionals depends on the their capability to transform their organization into a pocket of excellence. This is only possible with the active involvement and support of all since secret of success depends on inter-dependability and value addition. Therefore key to corporate visibility of HR rests on their being business partners which enjoins on them to inculcate the qualities of the Strategic Expert, Administrative Expert, Employee Champion and Change Agent.

To retain market leadership in a global corporate Olympics, answers lie in personnel power.

Remember - we cannot prepare the future for next generation but we can prepare the next generation for the future.