HR- DIRECTIONIST TO THE STRATEGIST

Authors names: Bhumika Joshi, Pallavi Chapke, Mithil Bhalerao

Institute Address: Late Narayan Meghaji Lokhande Maharashtra Institute of Labour Studies,
D.C.Marg, Parel, Mumbai- 400012. Email id: milsplacement@gmail.com

ABSTRACT
There has been a shift towards knowledge as the core of any organization. Human Resources
Department (HR) in Organizations across the world are making their best efforts to retain the
talented and knowledgeable people. In earlier days knowledge was not given the core importance
as it has been observed today. With the changing times the Role of HR has also changed from a
Directionist to a Strategist and a Visionary. The expectations of the Management, Employees &
Industry have undergone a sea change with the changing times. This paper presents a practical
insight into the current role that HR enacts.

KEY WORDS
• Human Resource Department (HR), Knowledge Based Economy, Role of HR, Strategist,
Change Agent.

INTRODUCTION
HR is a responsible authority in an organization to get right knowledge and skills placed at a
suitable place in an organization benefitting the employee and the organization. In a knowledge
based economy the role of HR assumes greater importance in order to survive in the cut throat
competition. HR creates a pool of talent and knowledge and also maintains it for success of an
organization.

In the 1980’s & 90’s HR played a very limited role with respect to their functions of
Recruitment, Compensation & Benefits, Performance Management System, Learning &
Education etc. There were rigid and set patterns which were followed in each of these functions.
For e.g. In Performance Management System employees were promoted after completion of
certain period in a single role and accordingly their compensation was managed, Recruitment
was done on the basis of particular standard in terms of matching the role to the skillset and
profile of the potential candidate. New trends in selection process have emerged and the
transition from normal selection process to competency & knowledge based selection is in boom

The role of HR was of issuing directives to the people in terms of what is expected of them at
work. An employee was expected to follow the instructions given by the superiors. There was a
difference in the Thinkers & the Doers which changed during global scenario and employees had
to think & apply knowledge both to perform a task with minimum intervention of the thinkers.
This led to empowerment of employees with respect to their rights and duties.

STRUCTURE OF HR DEPARTMENT:
Initially it was only a single department handling all the various functions of HR. But now in this
knowledge based economy the HR has to cater to different needs of the organization and
employees. The Department has undergone a restructuring and “Center of Excellence” & HR for
Business units has evolved. It is a matrix structure where both the “Center of Excellence” & HR
for Business Unit co exist in the same organization. The Center of Excellence is involved in all
the Strategic HR planning and decisions like Designing the Core values, Mission and Vision for
the organizations, Development of Policies and manuals, Manpower Planning, Career Planning,
Succession Planning etc. Different HR’s are aligned to the various business units in an
organization, which takes care of all the HR functions with respect to that particular business
unit. They are involved in the implementation of the strategic decisions taken at the top and
fulfilling all the needs and requirements of the business units.

ROLE OF HR:
The entire gamut of HR functions has been broadened to manage changes in the economy which
is knowledge driven. The role of HR has had a paradigm shift from providing support functions
to Strategic Business Partner with emphasis on employee productivity and customer orientation.
It is also playing a role of a Change Agent. There are continuous efforts made by HR to
transform the organization to people driven rather than policy driven.

Imbibing Core Values

Core values are always aligned to the vision of the company. These are the pillars on which the
organization credibility stands. These set of values are to be imbibed in every employee and
should be religiously followed by them and a deviation to which will not be tolerated.

The role of HR here starts with the framing of core values for the organization and then imbibing
it onto the minds of each and every employee. Reinforcement of the core values is done by HR if
any deviations are observed. Recruitment now is not only done on the basis of the skill set
possessed by a candidate but also by considering whether his candidature is consistent with the
core values of the organization. One of the key parameters considered for performance appraisals
now is whether the employee in his working patterns has displayed or abided by the core values
of the organization or not.

Strict Compliance of Ethics & Integrity

“Ethics is the talk of the town”. Ethics is the way of doing right things in a right way and not
engaging into any malpractices. HR is the Chief ethics Officer for an organization. HR needs to
recognize the employees with strong ethics & integrity. Ethics should also be followed in
transfer of knowledge inside out. Recruitment processes now also include administering of
psychometric tests for having an insight into the candidature of a person with respect to ethics &
integrity. Ethics hotline is a new tool developed in many organizations for keeping a check on
unethical practices taking place anywhere in the system.

Organization Culture
It is a mix of values, beliefs, attitudes and habits fostered by an organization and tradition and
norms created while conducting a business. It shapes the attitude towards work, management,
corporate strategies and policies. The culture can be sustained and developed by framing right
policies in consensus with the employees working at all the levels.HR can be a facilitator of a
culture which allows greater individual freedom and the scope for knowledge sharing. When
people join an organization they bring with them different values and beliefs that they have
nurtured .The task of HR here is to streamline their thinking with the organizational culture.

For e.g. The employees of the Taj Group are trained in varied fields like sales and marketing,
finance, hospitality and service, HR and more. They also have to take part in various leadership
programs, so that they could develop in them a strong, warm and professional work culture.

Establishing transparency
Transparency is a process of building the trust among the people which also leads to enhanced
communication through information exchange and free flow of knowledge. It provides an access
to information which plays an important part in empowering the employees and get their
cooperation. HR is a vital part of a communication channel who liaisons the management and the
employees bridge the communication barrier. Recently the technology has also played a role of
catalyst in making the system transparent. The new methods to manage the information like
ERP, MIS etc are already been deployed. They make the system more transparent by increasing
the employee’s accessibility to the information. Every employee should be communicated with
regards to all the activities taking place in the organization. Lack of transparency leads to high
employee turnover rate by employee dissatisfaction also it can lead to a corporate scam.

Establishing Connection
It has been observed that the loyalties of the employees have shifted from organization to the
superiors. Earlier the trade unions were the connecting nodes between the employees and the
organization, providing protection to the employee’s interest and also a better bargaining
position. In the case of a knowledge economy especially if we consider today’s service sector
with a pool of knowledge workers who have shifted their loyalties towards their bosses by which
they improve their collective bargaining power. All this has led to a disconnection between the
employees and the organization and also brain-drain from the organization.
For e.g. "A project head from an IT firm switches his job to another for better opportunity,
which is likely because of the knowledge he possesses, there is a possibility that his co-workers
follow him"

Managing Expectations

In a knowledge economy Employees have shifted their expectations from basic hygiene factors
to self actualization needs. In the earlier era people were contented with the job they do which
helped them to fulfill their basic needs. There was no separate department to train them and
improvise the skill sets; people were involved in self learning process. Now they look for much
more then their basic job profiles. The organization require people with multiskill who can better
perform in a cross functional teams. The HR needs to identify the expectations and the talent of
the people and align them with the organizational goals.

For e.g. MBO, balanced score card.

Creation of synergy
Business units act independently but to achieve overall organizational goals HR needs to
synergize the strengths of all the units collectively. This will also add a competitive advantage to
the organization. As there are conflicts between various units HR intervenes with the conflict
resolution strategies. External stakeholders like the suppliers, customer, outsourcing firms also
adds to the strength of an organization. Thus the synergy between these agencies and the
organization has gained importance.

Mergers & Acquisitions

The current trend is to merge or acquire the business for the purpose of transfer of knowledge
and talent. In Mergers & Acquisitions HR encounters a problem during the pre and post
acquisition period. The pre acquisition period involves an assessment of the cultural and
organizational differences, including the organizational cultures, role of leaders, life cycle of the
organization, and management styles. The usual impact on employees is high turnover, decrease
in the morale, motivation, productivity leading to merger failure. The other issues in the M&A
activity are the changes in the HR policies, downsizing, layoffs, survivor syndromes, stress on
the workers, information system issues etc. The human resource system issues that become
important in M&A activity are human resource planning, compensation selection and turnover,
performance appraisal system, employee development and employee relations. Each
organization has a different set of beliefs and value systems, which may clash owing to the M&A
activity. The exposure to a new culture during the M&A leads to a psychological state called
culture shock.

For e.g. The case involving Hindustan Lever Limited acquiring TOMCO, the employees in
TOMCO enjoyed better terms and services compared to the HLL employees. The HLL
employees argued that if TOMCO employees are allowed to work on their original terms and
conditions, two classes of employees will come in existence. Since both the set of employees
now belong to same firm, a case of discrimination will arise against the employees of HLL.

Facilitator in Knowledge Management

When an employee leaves an organization with him his knowledge also leaves. Knowledge
Management i.e. to Acquire, Organize and Apply Knowledge has been evolved to tackle this
problem. HR plays a part in acquiring knowledge by emphasizing on knowledge based
recruitments, planning activities like Knowledge Sharing Forums, Quiz, Case Studies, Mentoring
and Coaching etc for opening new avenues for knowledge creation & dissemination of acquired
knowledge. Rewarding & recognizing employees for sharing knowledge. It is also involved in
continuous development of knowledge through various learning and development activities.

Employee Empowerment
With the changing role of HR the employee’s role has also changed. Now they are empowered
with knowledge, resources and responsibilities. The organizations are becoming flatter and
enabling employees to take decisions in their own sphere. Balance has been achieved in authority
and responsibility.

For e.g. In MBO the employees are to set their own goals along with their superiors in line with
the organizational goals. This makes them more responsible towards the commitment they have
made.

Performance Management Systems

In the earlier days this role was very limited to only promoting the employees to the next level of
hierarchy, identifying performance of the employees & accordingly appraising their pay
packages. There was no need felt to think about career planning and other related areas as the
employees were contented with the system. But in today’s knowledge based economy employees
have many opportunities so it is important to for HR to move beyond the primitive functions of
PMS.

Armstrong and baron (1998) defined PMS as “A strategic and integrated approach
to increasing the effectiveness of organizations by improving the performance of
the people who work in them and by developing the capabilities of teams and
individual contributors”

Now it focuses more on goal setting, establishing Key Result Areas, review of performance,
performance appraisal, reconciling organizational goals with personal goals, career planning etc.
It also helps in identifying the core competencies i.e. competency mapping, training needs etc of
an individual employee.
For e.g. Computer Sciences Corporation India follows a Model of Plan, Do, Check and Action
where Planning (Setting Objectives), Doing (Competency Development), Checking (Continuous
Monitoring), Acting (Performance Evaluation).

CONCLUSION
HR is still more focused on transactional activities and HR operating efficiencies than on high
level strategic people issues. The management has to recognize the important role of Human
Resource Department in order to successfully steer organizations towards profitability It is
necessary for the management to invest considerable time and amount, to learn the changing
scenario of the HR department in the 21st century. In today’s era it has to play an important role.
The role of HR manager is shifting from that of a protector and screener to the role of a planner
and change agent. Having a vision and strategic thinking has become need of the hour for HR.

Trends in Human Resource Management have changed the way we work, as organizations are
more depended on HRM to increase the success ratio in today’s competitive global environment.
The functions of HRM has widened with the emergence of a knowledge based economy where a
new class of workers ie knowledge workers has emerged. The key issue today concerning the
HR is the retention of these knowledgeable people. The opportunities in the market have risen
and competitors are always ready to pay a good price for the services of these people.
Knowledge now attracts more money and these employees no more have only basic needs to be
fulfilled by an employment. They have moved towards the self actualization needs where the
expectation of these employees have grown and it is a tuff task for the HR to fulfill those needs.
Thus there are conscious efforts that have taken place in the form of employee engagement
activities, Counseling, Career Planning etc. HR is also playing a vital role in reducing the costs
and boosting employee productivity

“I never predict. I just look out the window and see what is visible – but not yet seen” (Peter
Drucker)

REFERENCES

 Human Resource Management – Michael Armstrong

 Organizational Behavior – Fred Luthans

 Internet – Wikipedia

 Managing for Winning – Dr.Vishnu Mhetras

 www.tata.com

 Report on Human Resources Management in the Knowledge Management- Iulia

CHIVU, Faculty of Management, Romania