Skip to main content

Why can’t HR position itself as a Main Business Function?

Human resource is the people science and the most complex as it’s is dealing with the most uncertain creatures i.e. we the humans.
Still, this function of HR that is responsible for reward and recognition for other departments is still not getting the due recognition for itself!

“Why the Indian HR Ecosystem lags behind the HR ecosystems of developed countries?"
Let's try understanding the reason …..
The impacts of globalization in the industry is continuously evolving and consequently pushing all work functions to become in-line. Whereas the primary functions like sales and tech are the first one to get aligned, it poses a lot of challenges for secondary functions like HR to match up the same.

Sadly, in accordance to a study, 51% of companies are linking business impact to HR programs. In addition, 60% believe in holding HR accountable for not just talent, but also business outcomes. This indicates that almost half of the HR industry is still in the support/administration mindset.

Also, The Hindu (sep’14) stated that 18% of senior leaders say senior HR professionals have no involvement in business strategy at all. And these include the people at the level of CHROs and Director HRs.
This concludes two things that either HR doesn’t project them as a business function or not mentally ready to align with business function.

The possible solution could be the top leaders aligning KPI and KRAs of HRs to the business objectives of the organization. Further, it requires reviews to ensure the proper execution which is mostly lacking in the organization.

Another reason that some of top hr consulting firms found was, that the HR doesn’t relate itself to the business scenarios the way they should do to suffice their role. And therefore, they do not feel the need of updating themselves with the current case studies which are, of course, costing a lot and creating a gap in becoming a complete business function.

Until or unless they relate themselves with the PAT, ROI, and TAT they wouldn’t be able to complete this gap ever, more than culture and employee engagement plans, their employer branding should lay focus on company’s market share, upcoming projects and company’s growth plans.

In ET Feb’2018, one of the reports claimed that more than 30 HR leaders have quit joining another company in the past six months which is highly shocking as the salaries at these levels are highly competitive. Though the issues they stated was more of cultural and expectation mismatch it strongly points towards the lack of stakeholder management due to shorter stints than 6 months.

HR can align themselves with the expectations of the business head of the respective organizations so that they can reach their goals in a more structured manner. Most of the HR failures are believed to be directly or indirectly linked to the disalignment with the business heads.

As per Mainstay Head, it is something to ponder about and make the HR department more effective.

Still, there is a long way to go for HRs for increasing their score!

Pankaj Minglani 
Principal Consultant & Director
Impeccable HR Consulting Pvt. Ltd

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Radical shift of 2023 priorities: from CXOs desk

Highlighting CXOs 2023 oriented strategies: Converging or Diverging? Adapt or lose ; 4k CXO level believes in this Darwin’s theory of evolution for the massive turbulence in the corporate sector. Top-level priorities have shifted dramatically in order to adapt to the situation transforming digitally and broadening their focus to include the following factors: The climate clock is running out Believing in ‘Now’ or ‘Never’; CXOs are all set to take initiatives towards mitigating climate change with a commitment to reducing the carbon footprint, says Deloitte’s 2023 CXO Sustainability Report. 84% of CXOs believe that the world can achieve global economic growth while also reaching climate goals. War for getting a right talent Gartner’s report is a reflection of the war on talent stating that 49% of CEOs believe it is very tough for us to identify and hire the kind of people we need for our firm. Around 85% of CEOs believe Upskilling is the only path to a future-proof career. Bl...

HR Agility: Managing the Change!

Progressive organizations that are seeking a profound competitive edge in the digital world have been increasingly focusing on the need for HR agility. However, there is lurking concern that HR agility is endangered to become a trending buzzword in corporate conversations. HR agility is basically the ability of the HR function to react instantly and adequately to the evolving employee expectation, business conditions and workplace disturbances. Therefore, HRs are expected to elevate their functions to a level where they can keep pace with the evolving demand. Today’s business processes have a more stable environment. The objective is to drive efficiency, consistency and risk reduction through tight procedures and controls. It is with the emergence of global competition, changing customer demand, political turmoil, supplier upheavals and economic troughs that the stability is getting replaced with permanent volatility. Gone are the days when the pre-structured polici...

Perception for Human Resource professionals created by Social Media

The above conversation may be fictional but the underlying thought behind it isn’t. The perception that friend 1 ( Sharad) had about HR’s is exactly what most people think and a lot of the credit goes to social media. Articles from popular micro-blogging sites are shared on a daily basis on social media and they help in spreading this common thought. As an HR, I take offence to these articles and understand that humour is important but not at the expense of a profession.   HR is supposed to be the one common bridge between all the other departments. Right from recruitment all the way to the exit, we do it all. And yet our work goes unrecognized. Is this point of view harming HR as an industry? No, not yet. I am sure this is a common consensus that people love reading, laughing& sharing there funny HR articles without realizing that they are spreading false facts by dissing an entire profession. Let me tell you the reality of being a human resource profess...