Monday, April 27, 2009

Some one initiated the below topic on Linked:hr
Should HR Professionals be political? Is there a reality between playing politics and pleasing others? Truely this profession is meant to de politicize the organisation,while many still play politics and call themselves HR professionals. This a lie
My response to the question -
I do not understand why this question is directed only towards HR professionals? I construe that the topic might have been an outcome of a bitter experience with an HR professional.
Ideally, it is not required for any professional to be political, if he/she is competent and equally convincing. Business operations turn out to be successful if they are built on strong foundation of ethics, trust, transparency and competency. Politics crops up when there is some amount of insecurity and lack of clarity; hence, professionals should work on the basis of facts & statistics. Data is the strongest weapon in the hands of professionals, and data alone distinguishes between performance and non-performance. I would suggest that all the decision points should be well documented in the form of an email or letter, duly signed by the decision maker, so that there is no lack of clarity in messages. Important messages need to be communicated by the decision making authority, so that there is no rumour mongering amongst stake holders. Any thing that is not validated in the form of data is a rumour, and rumour has no place in any organization. HR professionals have an instrumental role in advising the management on techniques of arresting unnecessary rumors within the organization, and facilitating forums for information dissemination. It is a human choice to distance oneself from the political environment. After all, work should be one's passion, and not merely a job!

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

My experience in Human relations management

I have enjoyed the Human Resources profession. My experience has not been Human Resource Management but Human relations management, and I have lived every moment truly, to the brim. Every individual that comes across you through out your career is special. Every moment of your career is memorable. When you roll back in time, standing at the peak of your career,you savor the past..!Unless you share a personal rapport with each individual, you do not understand the human dynamics. I have been very fortunate to have worked with a varied sector of businesses and people from different nationalities and cultures. It is not easy for teams to work in new and multi-cultural environment, where opinion clashes are common. It helps when all managers are good people managers, besides being domain specialists. The first important trait of an HR manager, that experience taught me, is to develop people skills amongst leaders. By doing that, you are developing multiple human resource specialists in the organization, each one managing his/her teams efficiently on hard and soft skills.
I observed that, what most people appreciate, is - Clarity in business/individual objectives, fairly decent work environment and an understanding superior. Of course, it is a feel good factor, if there is a clear career path, fairly decent compensation and opportunity to voice opinions.
An interesting observation is that if you wish to implement change, there is resistance only when things are not fairly transparent. Most stake holders appreciate a direct dialogue, free from sugar coated and misleading words. Most change catalysts are people who anticipate benefits, post change. I will write on Change Management and my experience with various business models, in my forthcoming blogs.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Side effects of Recession

This monster called 'RECESSION' has snatched sleep from over a million eyes. Both employers and employees sail in the same paper boat! Do we really have a water-tight mechanism to fight this monster? Every single day, I see glum and expressionless faces of people, who are not sure of tomorrow!! All that goes on in their minds is - "God knows whose turn it is today!"
There has to be a way out and we must explore ways to fight the lows out!
Comment on this blog and suggest ideas to overcome this crisis.