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In a knowledge economy, companies that have the best talent win. Are human resources executives making the most of -- finding the best hires, nurturing the stars, fostering a productive work environment? Just as IT runs the computers and finance minds the capital, HR should be joined to business strategy at the hip
The HR function is in a state of transition caused by the growing globalisation of businesses and talent pools, managing constant change and responding to competition. Increasing pressure to identify and develop next-generation leaders have resulted in maturing the role of HR mangers who now play a more strategic role to the business as a whole. "In the past, HR managers were often viewed as the systematising, policing arm of executive management where their role was more closely aligned with personnel and administration functions that were viewed by organisation as paperwork and more as a support function. While hiring, compensation and salaries, and dealing with benefits still remain the core competency of HR, many new dimensions have been added to their profile such as training, learning and development of employees, performance management, reward and recognition, employee relations, succession planning, organisation development etc.," says Asim Handa, Country Manager, Futurestep.
"The primary focus of the new age HR personnel is to support the business in enhancing employee productivity. Therefore, it is important that HR personnel understand the business which s/he supports and have a feel of the pulse of the business on a regular basis. Since the current environment is very dynamic, the new age HR personnel is expected to keep abreast of developments and latest trends in the marketplace and competition. Some of the key expectations that a business may have from an HR professional is his/her ability to spot and attract high quality talent, have a sound understanding of what makes people productive, share this expertise with business managers and coach them to implement actions to enhance productivity," notes Anuraag Maini, Sr. Vice President – Head of Human Resources, DLF Pramerica.
So are HR executives making the most of finding the best hires, nurturing the stars as well as fostering a productive work environment? "HR’s main value addition and contribution to an organisation is by and large to find the best hires. This requires robust processes and an effective talent management proposition in totality. In today’s context best hires are found and will come to work for you only if you are flexible to their needs, create long lasting solutions and refine the same. A productive work environment is the sum total of collective efforts by business and HR. Therefore, HR executives have to rise up to the challenge and ensure that there is a pipeline of right talent available to board their bus at the right time," feels Jacob Jacob - Executive Vice President - Human Resource Department, Oberoi Realty Ltd.
Sound HR executives are continually developing innovative ways of finding the best talent, attracting them to the organisation using effective marketing techniques and then making compelling offers to bring them into the organisation. "HR executives are responsible for talent management in partnership with the line managers and define competencies for success in different roles, communicate them across the organisation, develop tools and programs to assess people and develop them. Once the stars are identified, development and retention plans are co-created with the line leaders and shared in as transparent as possible manner," adds Maini.
Speaking about the future of HR in a knowledge economy like ours Handa asserts, "As the role of HR managers evolves, they will be responsible not only for acquiring and retaining talent but also for successfully nurturing and developing talent. Growing pressures of work makes it crucial for employees to be adequately trained and well equipped to cope with changing environments. Hence, it is imperative for HR to continuously assess employees especially mid-management to identify individuals who have the potential and ability to become multi-dimensional, multi-functionally talented and easily able to adapt and handle new situations etc."
"The business of the future will have to be run by a robust HR framework. I believe the HR frameworks will differ across businesses of similar size and industry and will be governed more so by principles of innovation and creative HR. HR management is an art and will have to be refined in the knowledge economy of today," adds Jacob.
With talent getting scarcer by the day, retaining talent is becoming the top priority of most organisations. HR managers play a very crucial role in devising new retention tools and techniques. This is more crucial in a knowledge economy like ours today.
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