Hr functions:no longer a side business for an enterprise

The human resources function is no longer a side business for an enterprise. It has come to occupy the centre stage in many industries
In the knowledge economy of today, career growth is a direct outcome of the investment one makes in training and skill development. Increasing consciousness about hiring the best person for the best job is matched with unique approaches to retain talent in an organisation. The human resources function is no longer a side business for an enterprise. It has come to occupy the centre stage in many industries. An independent study revealed that over 80 per cent of the CEOs from different industries consider HR a core function.
In the hotel industry, for instance, Keshav Baljee, vice president, corporate affairs of Royal Orchid Hotels explains, “HR has stepped into the boardroom - from supporting business decisions as data provider, it has turned around to play the role of decision making as an intellectual partner. The quality of business decisions has a huge payoff. Secondly, HR drives and controls (employee) cost and employee engagement. In the days to come, service (of products) is going to be the basic differentiator. The service industry is an absolutely perception based industry and the frontline staff is responsible for driving the majority of business.”
Ajay Trehan, CEO, AuthBridge Research Services points out, “A service organisation stands on 3 pillars – People, Processes and Clients. Ultimately, the last two pillars also in some way depend on the quality of the first pillar. Everything boils down to people. To improve revenues and profits, the organisation has to be in a position to hire and retain talent. We have invested into providing our people a strong positive environment to work in and that is what has paid off over the years.”
Stronger balance sheets
A majority of senior mangers today agree strongly that HR has contributed to quantitative results and strengthening of balance sheets. Baljee further adds, “Some of the timely business decisions taken on cost and quality, deployment of human resources, etc. yield quantitative results which are visible and measureable. It has been proved that employee productivity and business results are directly proportional. Also, in today’s business environment, to derive extraordinary business results, it is imperative that the employees are kept charged at any given point of time. The current HR has moved from transactional to strategic role to drive people capabilities and drive competitive business advantage.”
The right kind of investments
To derive quantitative results from advanced HR functions, it is important to make investments in the right area. Ashok Reddy, managing director, TeamLease Services explains, “Contribution of HR to business results in quantitative terms is likely to increase in future. It is important to now focus on training and scaling up the internal teams to increase productivity and performance orientation. Reward structures should be built around performance.”
A happy workforce is the key to productivity and success. Karthik K S, CEO, 24x7 Learning explains, “A strong HR function results in a happy, motivated, loyal workforce leading to enhanced productivity. This increases the ROI significantly. Happy and productive workforce is probably the best advantage and edge the business will have in the marketplace. Investing in learning and development initiatives as part of the HR function, and up-skilling and cross-training your workforce also helps insulate an organisation especially in times of recession.”
In future, HR functions will expand in the areas of competency management and talent management initiatives. Clearly, the role of HR will become more strategic than operational or tactical. It is also important for HR mangers to look to prepare selected few employees to take charge of some of the top jobs within the company. When hiring fresh post-graduates or graduates, the role of HR must evolve into bringing them up to corporate needs. As rightly summed up by Baljee, HR must ultimately look at the futuristic needs of the organisation such as competencies, business expansion, cost rationalisation, attracting the right profiled employees and keeping them hooked on to the job!
* This is by Unnati Narang - "Ascent" -"Times of India", 29-7-2009