I am sure ,it is the caption that made you open the post. That is natural and fine. I have been transcending with this question for the last two and half decade and the whirlpool is settling, though not fully. What are these HR guys do whole day? I am sure all of you , who are non HR must have encountered this question. I know many of my colleagues who would say , next birth , I will make it a point to be in HR . The most envying would be the sales guys who have a target sword hanging preposterously all through out. They may be partially right too but whether HR is hard requirement or hardly required is a deeper perspective.
I also define HR as high resonance. Resonance and radiate are two distinct word in physics. In a telecom cellular network we have these towers that are called BTS, Base transceiver Station. These tower do both ,they receive and radiate. Interestingly what you resonate affects what you radiate and also vice versa. Resonance is more of relating , its about matching frequency and pulsation. HR also need to resonate with the business pulsation. They can not be only radiating the policies and procedures. Resonance requires relating and getting closer , it needs non judgemental movement and a desire to understand. Its about synchronicity. If the traffic and signalling is not proper and the required channels are absent the dialogue will fail. One relates with what one respects and believes to be value adding. Every human being is distinct and special and hence HR needs to have unflinching faith in human beings. They are responsible for people and they stay in people. It is through people they change and bring change. The continuity of this flow and appropriate understanding of the same will determine what HR brings to table. They are the part of the whole but are responsible for the whole. Hard Required!
I am there , I am not there but I am still there. Another understanding of the HR function is that they are invisibly visible. There are lot of tacit contribution that comes through professional HR team. Talent sourcing , learning and development , change management , creating responsible conversations in the organisation, understanding culture and building on it , the plate is unlimitedly full. HR bring a differentiated advantage to the business by being the only function which has presence every where and no where . They are the guys who have the wholistic view of the organisation. Sales Marketing will limit to their domain and may have no mutuality sense towards other function , while it is HR who is seeing what no body is seeing. Organisations are like living organism , all humans are same in terms of organisation but they are different in structure. All organisations are also like organism ( Check similarity in the words like organ , organisation and organism) but the difference is in the structure. They are the soft in the hard and hard in the soft , they deal with paradoxes. Hard required!
I go to lot of institutes to speak and they ask me to give analogy to the HR function and some of my favourite analogies are as follows
HR is like parents. Why do I say that? These days a school going child gets up in the morning and the parents push her to get ready to go to the school. The poor child ,whose weight at times is equal to the weight of the bag , has little choice . Willy nilly she dresses up gets carried to the bus stop. forty minutes travel to the school , by the time she reaches school , all mothers who had come to drop their children are still discussing the problems and comparisons of the maids. Some of them spent less time as they had to go to the office or their husbands had to leave for the office. Any way, the child travels to and fro and spends time at school with children of different background and values and come back home. Mother or maid , depends, feeds the child in the noon and the child gets ready to go to , what are called status classes, where the children are pushed. Painting , skating , calligraphy , sports and if nothing then tuition. Evenings are for watching cartoon and rest of the time some other electronic gadget. The quality time that the child spends with parent is minimal. Now in all above chorus , if the child has developed something that is a social taboo or behaviour that is not generally accepted , the response of other would be straight “ Parents have not inculcated the right values”. You may be called to the school and may also be made to confront the other complaining parent. I am sure your will get concerned and you will own it. You will try to talk to the child , some of us may fight with our spouses and play a blame game. Some of us may solve it while many may dissolve , looking for a change of school. The moot point here is that parents own. So is the HR , thousand KM away a Sales zone , the boss and subordinate are attending those classes in the evening or sharing glasses in the evening HR does not know but when the equation is not matching and resonance disappears , it becomes a HR problem. HR has to tell the employee that your performance is not up to the mark. Most of the HR guys here become the mouth piece of the line function and do great injustice to the values of the profession. Lot of wrong gets done under the guise of business and normal statement aired is “ It is business not charity”. HR needs courage and capability of a parent who has a special sense to understand , relate and help evolving the responsible behaviour. HR need to be fair , firm , furtive ensure absence of other F’s. Hard required!
Pandit in the Military Unit . I recently discovered that each military unit headed by colonel has a pandit. This pandit performs all pujas on all occasion of religious importance. He also is story teller who would share the mythological stories with the unit members and keep the morale upbeat. He is also considered close to the Colonel and can share the bad news also. His views are considered just and representative of the soldiers in the unit. He is the most are and involved human being in the platoon. There can be other religious representatives in the unit depending on demographics of the unit. In case of war they not only pep up the soldiers by intensifying the emotions but can also lift guns and shoot the enemies. The Pandit is HR and the colonel is COO. A true Pandit is a Hard required.
HR is like a House wife. Have you ever noticed that all that culinary competence that your wife has is not imbibed from the Bombay Catering College. She has also not done the course in biochemistry where she understand the chemistry and the reactions there in. She also is not a diploma holder in the inventory and warehouse management but ensure the right retrieval of all material in the kitchen allowing waste to the minimal. The similarity is predominantly in application of what is there in the kitchen , who likes what and in what format , she knows. She also know that the small rice has different application compared to whole and unbroken rice. She has a sense , a discerning sense. HR also has that discerning sense of where lies the talent , application of the talent and placing the right human resource appropriately in right time and format. Hard Required!
HR is Achaar (Pickle). If the organisation is a plate and other functions are main food then HR is like pickle. Pickle is less in quantity and get placed in one of the corner of the plate. It add distinct taste and if it is not there the plate looks incomplete. The most interesting observation is that Achaar is also made up of the same ingredients that other dishes in the plate are made up of. Hence a bit of HR goes with every dish in plate. It emulsifies with all that is there in the plate.
Seeing Beyond Business. All business operates in a context and understanding the context and comprehending it intuitively and futuristically is what the HR needs to be keeping an eye on. All other function only know their function and can see the future from limited horizon. I have observed in my 26 years that there are business heads who do excellent in terms of delivering business results but the sustainability is completely compromised. In a fast moving VUCA world , every body is determined to prove his presence and move forward once the desired flags are being hoisted. The organisation , the people , systems and structures takes a toll impairing the sustainability. This is where HR can be seeing that others can not. Organisations are societies and if the society is adversely impacted , over a period of time it will impact the business. Cause and effect are not closely related in time and space is completely true for the corporate world more than any other sphere. Hard Required!
Making work work for people. All functions want a delivery to be done and targets to be met. Its all about , what does it take to do it? How does it feel like doing it is what HR needs to figure out. There is too much rationalisation around capability , competence but undervaluing contribution. Its not about turn around but its about transformation. Its not about the targets that are ti be given, it about giving employees the sense of abundance and meaning. How does their contribution makes difference to the organisation and society at large is an important motivator to the employees. Involving people in the bigger picture and a purpose that is more than them individually. Hard Required!
If the above Hard required are ignored HR is Hardly Required.
