The dilemma of being an HR Manager

You should read this column if you are an HR manager. Some time back, I was in a conversation with HR managers from different Organisations, and the subject of discussion veered towards what it meant to be a HR manager. There were quite a few war stories. However, one emerging theme was how, in many cases, HR managers have become mere tools in the hands of the CEO, a handmaiden or a hatchet man. These are not stories which are shared in conferences that many of these managers routinely go to or address. For example, one person shared how after implementing a voluntary retirement scheme for employees he was forced to leave without any compensation! In todays age of competitive talent market, one would have thought that the HR managers rule the roost. After all, when capital was scarce, the finance professionals were in control, when market share and customer acquisition were the constraints, the marketers and sales professionals were on top. Should we not have HR professionals at the helm of affairs today? Swayed as we are by the heady examples of some of the best workplaces in the country, we are often blind to the reality of the struggle that many HR professionals have to go through on a daily basis. Some time back, the CEO of a finance company came to the HR head to demand reimbursement of salaries for his cook and the driver. Though not a part of the company policy, the HR head, together with the Finance head, worked a scheme of making payment against vouchers. Happy at having been able to do his bosss bidding, the HR manager went back to report to his boss, only to be told that since both the cook and the driver were there for more than four years, the back wages for these years also needed to be paid! It is not surprising that most HR professionals seem to leave their jobs in four years time. In fact, it became so difficult for us at the Institute to maintain an updated list of HR professionals, company wise, that we took the help of a professional firm to do it! On the other hand, many CEOs complain that HR managers have no more commitment to the organisation than any other employee. Worse, they seem to implement cut & paste approaches to employee engagement and retention with little knowledge of business differences. Historically, who are the people who specialised in HR (or Personnel Management, as it was known earlier)? For how many was it the first choice? Medicine, engineering, finance, marketing, and HR after that might have been a pecking order for many. Just like there are people who decide early on to specialise as a veterinarian in spite of getting a chance to do a degree in medicine, there were people who chose HR because it was their passion. However, regardless of what was the route to HR, all HR managers today have to compete with some of the best brains in the industry, from any function. The heads of HR of Infosys, TCS, and Satyam in Software industry are not career HR

professionals. The heads of HR of Marico, and Crompton Greaves in manufacturing, and Cadbury and Nerolac paints in FMCG are not career HR professionals. Indeed, HR is being viewed to be too important to be left to just career HR professionals! So if you are an HR manager, chances are you are holding your job in spite of competition from competent professionals within your Organisation and outside, from within HR and outside. If CEOs expect more from HR managers it is my belief that more than inadequate competencies of HR managers it is the increased demands from the role which is the reason. So what can CEOs do to ensure that their HR head does not leave in four years and becomes a true business partner? Here are some thoughts: 1. Recognise the importance of HR and value of your intangible assets, particularly people A few years ago, Infosys did a human capital accounting exercise which valued each employee at more than 70 lacs, the total value of human capital far exceeding the revenues of the Organisation. Any CEO who only looks at the financials in a balance sheet, audited by chartered accountants, and does not understand the value of intangible assets like human capital, has to go back to school. 2. Understand that for the CEO, winning in the talent market is as important as winning in the market for customers CEOs of older established companies like RPG group are quoted in the press saying that they spend fifty per cent of their time in HR related matters. In one case, one CEO in a BPO company tried to restructure the company into 3 committees, preferring to lead the committee on creating a great place to work over the operations and mergers and acquisitions committee. If you are a CEO and your HR head finds it difficult to get 10 minutes with you every day, you may have to re think your priorities. Consider the core values of Google, one of the strongest employer brands in the world. The first value simply says, We want to work with great people Senior managers spend up to 50 per cent of their time meeting prospective new hires. 3. Support your HR head in understanding business strategy, as well as, operations You can either have an experienced business head who is keen to make a career transition to HR, or you can have an experienced career HR professional who is keen to understand your business. Both have different kind of challenges to face. If it is a career HR professional, you will have to invest time in giving the business perspective, just as you have to give time when a new marketing head from outside your industry joins. If you are a large Organisation which has good quality HR professionals at different levels, make a stint in HR mandatory for career growth within the organisation. Similarly, encourage HR professionals to take up a stint in other functions. 4. Deal with mindset changes required in your team Contrary to traditional patriarchal or feudal mindsets, employees are not children, patients, subordinates, or camp followers. While organisations in new age industries like IT, Retail, ITES etc find it easy to accept newly found freedom and lack of subservience that employees demand today, often older

organisations, and particularly their established leaders find it difficult. Many HR Managers have found, to their cost, the high price of trying to introduce new ideas like 360 feedback and employee feedback processes- actions that clash with established hierarchical mindsets. The fact of the matter is that what senior managers are comfortable with is often at conflict with what employees today, particularly younger employees want. And of course, such senior managers could be from HR as well. For example, seniority based perquisites like the size of cabin, type of travel & lodging entitlements etc are often seen as discriminatory by younger employees, and as justified by older senior employees. If you are the CEO and you appreciate the above three points, you will have the job of helping your HR head navigate the existing power structure and find the best way to bring about change. While the above assume a enlightened CEO, in the mould of a Kumar Mangalam Birla, what could you do if you are an HR manager who is not interested in being a handmaiden, or a hatchet man for the CEO, but who believes that she can bring about genuine change, and contribute in making the organisation a great place to work? You may like to keep the following points in mind:

1. Today you have a choice Unlike in the past the job market has never been hotter for good professionals. Do your homework. Does this industry depend on attracting and retaining talent, or is winning favours from the government more important? What is the buzz in the market about this company? If you are an HR head, find out what happened to the previous one. How much appreciation does the CEO have for the four points mentioned above? Ask the CEO about customer perception. He might talk about the customer survey and what they have done about it. Does he talk about the employee survey and what he has done about it with equal passion? Many people join organisations for money or glamour only to realise that the CEO is paying lip service to creating a great place to work. I am using the term CEO loosely to mean the key decision maker, in family owned organisations it could be the owner. If your CEO does not appreciate HR, do not waste time trying to convert him. There are many who are willing to support you if you have what it takes. A friend recently joined a group not known for their people orientation, with a tall claim, I am joining to reform them. We are all taking bets on how long he lasts. Establish boundary conditions early on to the relationship, preferably at the recruitment stage. 2. Commit to the partnership with the CEO & with the Organisation If you have the advantage of having a CEO who appreciates HR, commit to the relationship. Look at successful HR leaders chances are they have spent significant time with the organisation. Before employees can say,I want to work here for a long time HR managers have to say it. Commitment also means taking time out to understand the business and its impact on HR strategies.

3. Do not cut and paste Yes, you had a very successful leadership development process in your previous organisation. Do not think of replicating it blindly. Answer the question, What will make employees think that we are unique? Like some consultants if you are still quoting what you learnt ten years back, watch out for others who are better learners and might do a better job than you. In particular, build and leverage your understanding of the intangible value of your human capital. Make it tangible for your CEO. Sometime back when the HR Head of Nerolac Paints wanted a budget for his employee referral scheme he generated his own budget as a percentage of the savings that the referral scheme would yield. The CEO was only too happy to approve. 4. Understand organisation dynamics - Distinguish between politicking and positive political skills Positive political skills are essential for your success. You need not indulge in politicking and backstabbing, but you will need to develop mentors, allies and partners in the existing power structure, as you often try to change it. Choose your battles carefully. A well known HR head engaged a consulting company to do talent assessment of the senior management team. No sooner was the assessment complete, he was asked to leave. It appeared that many old timers were not assessed positively. What the HR manager had not counted on was that the supportive Owner -CEO will not be willing to go against his trusted senior loyalists. The same was done far more smoothly in another organisation in a phased manner. 5. Build heroes out of your senior managers, including your CEO Pygmalion effect is more powerful than even positive politicking skills. In the process of bringing about change do you make people feel good about them selves? Aditya Birla group recently took hundreds of employees to Thailand to participate in an internal employee recognition programme. People across levels were nominated by colleagues on upholding employee values. By sharing the right stories and putting in place the right measures, many Organisations are able to establish that effective managers can demonstrate both caring for people and results. The tide of change is in favour of the HR manager. The demographic changes are going to force organisations to change, even if the supply demand imbalances in the talent market were to be addressed. If you are an HR manager, you need not be the handmaiden or the hatchet man any more. You are destinys child.

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The author is CEO of The Great Place to Work Institute, India. He can be reached at pbhattacharya@greatplacetowork.in Views expressed are personal.