The Dilemma of Being an HR Manager

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 today’s 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 boss’s 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.

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 destiny’s 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.