When industrialization began in the UK, the emphasis was on production. The focus was on producing large quantities at minimal costs, the human aspect was not only neglected, but very often it wasn’t even given a second thought. Many years later, gradually people started noticing the human component involved in production starting with the Hawthorne experiment and started assessing the impact it could have on the productivity of an organization. We have now come a long way from those times when humans were not considered as a resource to the times when macroeconomics identifies land, labour and capital as the fundamental resources to start an enterprise. We have accepted the fact that the human factor is critical to organizations. Today its no secret that great organizations are built on the shoulders of great people!
Much has changed in the field concerning itself with managing people, yet not much has changed too! I Am not being cryptic here but the truth is that starting from supervisors to control the people on the floors of factories, to setting up personnel departments to do the same thing and finally labelling them as Human Resources and throwing in a couple of fancy terms and jargons which few would understand not much has changed. Our perceptions about the importance of people has definitely changed, yet many of our practices remain deep rooted in the past.
Sadly many of us in the human resources field have become complacent about our practices. We need to understand that this is the age of constant evolution, an age where businesses have to continuously reinvent themselves to survive. My point being that if businesses have changed, strategies have changed, technology has changed, then why should HR be still stuck to the archaic methods of the yore. Today, the dynamics of business are different and business cycles are rapidly getting shorter, HR needs to get out of its role as a support function to be able to contribute to the business. HR was the custodian of the company’s data, the enforcer of the company policies but that must change soon.
Fifty years ago, no one would have dreamt about a mobile phone, yet today mobile phones, tablets and internet are so common that almost anyone and everyone has it. The days of the legacy systems are over. Today and quite possibly in the near future, most of the transactions with the HR department will happen through the mobile. There will be a time when recruitment as a function will become obsolete, there will be systems which will analyse the candidate’s profile on a platform like LinkedIn and give you a hiring index which will tell you whether the candidate can be hired or not. Today what we could only have dreamt of some years back is turning into reality in the HR function. We as a function need to evolve with these changes or the Darwinian ‘Survival of the fittest’ will come to haunt us very soon!
HR as a function will have to start supporting business in meeting its needs as a strategic business partner than performing the role of a facilitator. The organizational culture for a workforce which will be comprised of millennials is not going to be made up of age old policies but by a new line of thought. Flexible work timings, work from home and a more relaxed approach to work for millennials who will harness technology to deliver results in a much more different way than the conventional work force will be a requisite. Companies will need to be present on social media where interactions with your clients, customers, employees and prospective employees will happen. HR will not work in silos but will be the catalyst for the different elements in the chemical equation for success.
Most importantly as a function we need to work more in line with the demands of the business and its employees. Disruption will be the new norm and we will have to be there to make change the new normal. We will have to assist constantly and tirelessly in keeping the fluidity of the organizational culture. We will not just be hiring people and managing their performance, we will be setting new standards, and we will be keeping a tab on the external environment while also being the first ones to react to change. Businesses today are more dependent on intellectual capital than ever, we will be ensuring that this capital continues to multiply, which is not an easy task and would require continuous effort in training and development. We will have to ensure that the transactions which are a necessity for us like collecting information, marking attendance etc. do not take more than a few seconds, eventually employees should have their priorities set on the business rather than in dealing with processes.
Finally, the time has come where the HR department needs to take up the mantle for change and act in a manner befitting it. Our aim has to be nothing short of ensuring that our presence is felt, without being taxing on the employee’s time and at the same time we should be able to provide him an experience that makes him/her feel like coming to work every morning and giving his/her hundred percent!
