Is HR Really Supporting Work-Life Balance or Just Following Orders? Let's Discuss!

Hi,

Dear HR,

This is an HR bashing thread with a question for HR: What are you doing in your work? Are you really following HR principles or just acting as told to save your own job? 😉😉😉😉😉😉

In foreign countries, they have a strict work culture; rarely do they need to work on weekends or after office hours. Some 2-3 people in our company went to Germany. What they observed was that during the 8 hours, they dedicated themselves to work and didn't indulge in gossip. For 8 hours, they concentrated on their work with minimal lunch and tea breaks. (Here, as HR, we promote gossip. You know why? Because you don't leave your employees after 8 hours. Every employee works 10-12 hours, so you have many breaks, but the net work done is the same. Your main workplace becomes the coffee machine. 😉)

After 8 hours, they are free to do what they want.

Weekends are mostly small picnics for them, with no foolish calls from managers who are slogging in the office, asking you for files, soft copies, or requesting you to come into the office to work.

This is where we lack professionalism in our timings. It is the duty of HR to properly acquire manpower. Whose fault is this? The HR who does recruitment and frames policies.

Who is responsible for the disturbed balance of work and personal lives of employees? The HR. They are now starting new talks and discussions with employees, asking for their opinions.

LISTEN: Your employee has a personal life. Don't exploit them.

Don't just work because you're being paid. Think about others. You may be the only one in the company with less work, who likes to spend more time in the company because it feels like home for you, and you are a special person in it. But don't expect your employees to do the same because they are slogging. Respect their personal lives. If you have some sense, try to implement these changes in your company. Don't appreciate the extra working.

You are the one who does manpower mapping. 1 out of 100 stays, that one is inefficient. 2 stay, 2 are inefficient and need to stay to complete their work, which according to HR is mapped and can be done in 8 hours.

But if 100 (the whole company) stay, can we say 100 are inefficient, or is the HR inefficient for not knowing manpower mapping?

I know no HR can dare to reply to this because they themselves know that despite knowing this, they can't do anything to stop it. In this case, they work for their personal gain. No one looks at what's happening to their employees; they only see the pay they're getting and other things.

This surely needs a reply from the MBA student who is going to work tomorrow. Hope he gets what is ethical and what's not.

And the manager too, who is doing this to save his own job and not following the real ethics for fear of losing his job.

If not fully, I can agree with you to some extent...

We have a 9-hour working policy, 5 days a week. As HR, we spend a minimum of 4 hours with the employees rather than sitting in our cabin.

Achieving 50 hours a week for 12 weeks gets the team a picnic sponsored by the company.

Gossip in our concern attracts the worst punishment.

Coffee comes to the table, no coffee machines.

On Fridays, no one is allowed in the office after 6.15 PM.

I have been with this company for 5 years. Till this date, neither have I made any official calls to our employees on Sat/Sun nor have I received calls from my management.

I hope at least I have replied to some part of your posting. If I am wrong, please correct me. I would feel happy.

Hi Ravi,

You are right. In my earlier company, we didn't follow the ethics you mentioned. But my Manager HR always used to emphasize balanced work-life. Neither he nor I ever stayed back after office hours. Pending work should not be carried home. Many employees think that if you stay back after office hours, you are loyal to your company and impress the boss.

However, my boss used to receive complaints about my Manager HR. Seeing him not stay back in his responsible position, many old staff would say, "What kind of Manager HR is he?" This is what the boss used to hear.

But still, my manager says, "I plan and organize my work; that's why I never need to stay back." I miss him today, but I am walking on his path.

Regards,

Sowjanya

Hi,

I have a different story from my previous company. They used to call me on Saturdays and Sundays even for recruitment. If I wanted to leave at 6.00, my manager used to say, "Why so early?" This scenario happens in most companies.

Thanks,
Manish

That's right, Sowjanya.

There are also some diamonds in the coal mine. Even my boss likes to organize our work, and even though he is not a management person but a technical person, he has all the qualities of a true HR. Rarely do we need to wait after office hours, and we utilize our day effectively, whereas some officers daily wait and make their subordinates wait.

This shows that the HR quality does not necessarily have to be present only in HR; it can be found in every person. So, HR needs to embody this quality.

Manish,

You just see and work with people like my boss and the one with whom Soujanya was working; for them, respect automatically comes, and when necessary, without your boss telling you, you will understand that late staying is required.

P.S. Just yesterday, I was in the office until 01:00 AM, but I did not get angry as I knew this is once in a blue moon and was really required.

Hello,

What HR has said is true. I recently resigned from the HR manager post because I didn't take nonsense from management and preferred to do what is right and beneficial for employees and work culture in the long run.

I think if we need to make a better work culture, then each HR (including me) of each company should go beyond just providing the best monetary benefit and brand name, and believe in building in people and not just empowering employees. Skills can be bought with money, but trust, faith, and loyalty have to be created or generated.

Thank you

Hi HR,

You may come across as harsh, but you serve as an eye-opener for many HR professionals. Sometimes, we get so caught up in work pressure that we end up expecting our employees to work long hours. There's a default mindset that associates working late hours with loyalty or hard work, and vice versa.

As an HR professional myself, I will definitely take your ideas into consideration. Thank you for your post.

Regards,
Deepa

Everyone is talking about working late and stuff.
If one looks into the root cause, it's competition amongst peers which has been in our blood since childhood.
When they get into work, they do the same things. [Evening PA].

Solutions:
1) Tell the reporting managers to focus on "QUALITY OF WORK" NOT THE hours spent as the sole criteria for judging performance.
2) Provide all the managers with training to avoid the PA errors.
3) Build an employer brand image as a company that encourages work-life balance.
4) Break down the projects so that the 80-20% rule won't happen again and again.

Regards,
Nidhin Jacob

Hi Peer,

You are lucky to be part of such a company, but doesn't it increase the problem of over-liberty for the employees? Sometimes, they may try to take undue advantage of the leniency shown to them. This is what is happening in our company.

Regards,
Fauzia

I am taking the liberty of copying Shilpa.u's posting in this CiteHR to possibly answer your quesion on how best you can make your workplace a better place! Just go through it and think how you can take up as much as you can from her precepts!

Quote:

1: Master the art of Metrics: Metrics are a critical business component in many parts of a company.

2: Delight Employees with the Unexpected: When it comes to measuring employee satisfaction, statistics show (and you probably know) that happy employees stay longer and are more productive. So what makes employees happy? Benefits, compensation, and work/life balance are the most important factors in overall job satisfaction.

3 Keep the Lid on Healthcare Costs: You know what a challenge it can be to balance healthcare that both your company and employees can afford and appreciate.

Disease management is another area that engages employees and ultimately benefits the company by reducing costs and preventing catastrophic claims.

Prevent Healthcare Fraud and Related Costs

Dental benefits

Wellness programs

Audit Coverage: make sure the healthcare policy is only covering those who are eligible.

Talk to your Provider: Make sure you're both aware of the warning signs of healthcare fraud

Reward Whistleblowers: Offer incentives to employees covered by your healthcare plan. It's in their best interest to prevent fraud because it helps keep their healthcare costs down

4: Create a Safe Workplace

It sounds like a simple concept, but it may be more of a challenge than you think. Look at the potentials for danger to you and your employees, and you'll see that safety has many meanings

Prevent Workplace Accidents

• Establish Management Leadership and Employee Involvement

• Create Safety Committees

• Conduct a Worksite Analysis

• Conduct Safety Training

Preventing Violence in the Workplace: This is a safety issue that many companies don't really take into consideration, but violence in the workplace is a growing problem.

• Post a policy

• Form a dedicated management team

• Track incidents

• Act consistently

• Conduct Violence Prevention Training

• Plan your Response

Preventing Domestic Violence: Thousands of domestic violence incidents spill into the workplace each year and can affect employee morale, productivity, and performance — and can put other employees at risk as well. See how other companies are handling this issue. Techniques include:

• Educate employees about domestic violence and provide resources

• Train managers to recognize the warning signs of domestic abuse

• Implement security measures to protect employees

• Refer victims to your employee assistance program (EAP). If you don't have one, consider developing one.

If an employee has been the target of domestic violence and their performance is suffering, consider alternatives to termination, such a flex time or a leave of absence.

5: Hire Right

You know that hiring the right person is essential to the success of your business.

Develop a Hiring Strategy: Don't wait until the day an employee gives notice to decide what/how/who you need to fill that position. A tight labor market means you need to be ready.

Match your strategy to your company: Does your company have the time and money to train an employee from the entry level, or do you need a fully qualified person to jump in and hit the ground running?

Determine what you're looking for in a candidate: What makes a person a good candidate for a job in your company? Go beyond the basic job description and make a list of the background and characteristics that would help a person best fit each job. Just be careful that you don't develop a profile that could be construed as discriminatory.

Develop a Budget: Work with management to set a budget for hiring. Take into consideration the hiring tools you will likely need, and the projected cost of each.

Choose your Hiring Tools: Which sources work best for you: newspapers? Web? Placement agencies? You'll have to consider:

• Cost

• Time constraints

• Availability of qualified applicants

6: Create an Ethical Workplace:

It's not just the right thing to do, it's also the legal thing to do. You can help your company on both fronts by taking some key steps:

Establish a Code of Ethics: It sounds like a daunting task to some, but a code of ethics puts your company, your employees, and your clients on the same page so everyone knows what to expect.

Develop the Code: Look at who you are as a company, and how you approach your business. Write it down. Ask employees for their input. Look at what other companies have done. After you have a draft in place, print it up and have everyone look at it. Can everyone live up to the promise?

Promote the Code: Once you have the code in place, make an event of it. Unveil the final version at a staff meeting. Place the code prominently throughout the company. Ask employees to sign an agreement to follow the code. Make it part of your company's culture.

Review the Code: Businesses change; and in time, so may your code. Review it annually to make sure it's still a good fit.

7: Conquer Your Compliance Challenges

It's a moving target: HR management laws are always changing — sometimes in small ways, sometimes in more complicated ways. You need to stay on top of those changes. Make sure you're up to speed on:

• USERRA regulations regarding employment, reemployment, benefits, and more

• FLSA and new overtime regulations

• HIPAA guidelines for security

• FTC rules on disposing of confidential consumer report

8: Make Your Policies and Practices

“State of the Art”: Your company needs to keep pace with current technology, and decide how to address the use of different technologies on the job

Internet Use, Cell Phones, Camera Phones, Blogging, Identity Theft

9: Prepare for the Worst

It may be a local storm, or a nationwide emergency that affects the operation of your business. Whether the emergency is small or large, the key to keeping things running smoothly is planning. As an HR manager, you need to think about:

• Compensation: Will you pay staffers who can't work because of the emergency? If so, will you modify their pay?

• Benefits: Do your vendors have disaster plans?

• Work/Life: Are your employees prepared for a disaster? Will you be able to reach everyone in an emergency?

10: Strive for the Best

HR managers are becoming key players in the success of their companies. You can play a valuable role in your company's future:

Align the HR Agenda with Your Company's Needs: Listen to what your management is saying, and work together to make sure you're giving your company what it really needs.

Build Credibility and Influence: If you have a strong understanding of your company's culture, you can ask the challenging questions to help your company stay productive. And don't be afraid to suggest innovative solutions to longstanding problems. Your vision can lead the company forward.

Sell the HR function: Your company has customers, and so do you. Your customers are your company's leaders. Make sure they know what HR really does, what you have to offer, and how managers and employees can use HR resources to their best advantage.

Think like a Strategic Partner: The more you approach HR as an internal business, the more successful you are likely to be. And that success can only benefit your company.

Be a key Player

Unquote

Jeroo

Mostly, management fails to know the basic needs of employees and forgets common sense. Employees do not need stress-busting or stress management training, along with a bundle of jobs and 12-14 hour workdays. What they need is an 8-hour job and the liberty to go home and spend time with family and friends. Most employees are educated and smart; they do not appreciate HR delving into personal matters. They are knowledgeable and know what they want. The best training needs are analyzed by the employees themselves.

We Indians may be perceived as greedy, always seeking more projects, and pushing our employees to their limits in terms of strength, skills, and work pressures, which could lead to an eventual explosion. Subjecting employees to the extreme limits of their abilities and strengths is only necessary in certain professions like doctors, navy personnel, and defense personnel. It is not ethical to stress all employees by creating a challenging environment.

Please let me know if you need any further assistance.

Hi,

After going through all the comments, remarks, and suggestions, I just wanted to share my experience with a well-known corporate company. There is nothing like professional HR existing; people are just saving their own heads and following all the trash put forward to HR. No employee satisfaction is focused on; it's all on papers. I regret if I sound rude, but what we learn and believe in is to put things into practice, and for that, you need the higher management who believes in the same values.

Secondly, in some companies, HR is simply seen as someone who is there to distribute salaries and manage leaves. I apologize for being blunt, but this is a fact, especially regarding some very well-known corporates. It's sad...

Regards,
AB :(

Dear HR,

What you have said is absolutely correct, but there are always some things in the professional life of HR that you cannot avoid. If we want to meet top management for important decisions, we often need to schedule meetings in the late evening as business hours are typically focused on other priorities. Similarly, when it comes to recruiting, candidates often prefer to schedule interviews on Sundays.

In my current organization, an old economy company, the owners have personal relationships with long-standing employees and prefer direct communication with them. They expect loyalty from their employees and appreciate it when individuals demonstrate loyalty by working late hours or coming to the office on weekends. As a new professional manager, navigating such expectations can be challenging.

Best Wishes,
Amit

Hello everyone,

Firstly, I would like to congratulate Pir for being so lucky to have had an employer like his in his past company.

Secondly, may I know if you are still fortunate in your present job?

Thirdly, I would like to share my experiences.

I started my career in a company that you could say is a pioneer in HR practices in India. I was with that company for about 9 years and learned all the ins and outs of HR practices, including the values and principles. I even learned how to be a bit of a hypocrite, though it was more minor than major.

After nine years of working, one fine morning I decided to get married and relocate myself to the magical city of Mumbai. I was very excited when I got my first job in Mumbai, but believe me, I could not continue with the company for more than 3 months.

The reason was that the work ethic was missing from the company. Then I joined another company because with my previous employer's stamp and experience, it was easy. However, I could not continue with the organization for more than 6 months because this company was worse than the previous one; they were only hypocritical and nothing else.

They wanted to engage in all sorts of activities that would not be acceptable to any normal human being with values.

By doing this, my biodata became ugly, and where I am working now, I am only working to make my biodata look good. In this 1.5 years, I have learned the truth: first, work to save your head, and then everything else comes.

Shakila

In continuation with this thread - HR managers are responsible to the extent of what happens in their department, and ALSO the culture of the organization jointly with the top management.

The HR for HR said, "Mostly management fails to know basic needs of employees and forgets the COMMON SENSE... Employee does not need stress busting, stress management training, along with a bundle of jobs and 12-14 hour work. They need an 8-hour job and liberty to go home and spend some time with family and friends. Most employees are educated and smart and would not like the HR poking into personal matters; they are knowledgeable and know what they want. Best training needs are analyzed by employees themselves. We Indians are so greedy you may say we seek to grab more and more projects, and are literally extending our employees' strength, skills, work pressures, to the extreme limit, which may explode sometime. These subjection of employees' limits of abilities, strengths are required only in certain professions like Doctors, Navy, Defence. And it's not ethical to literally stress all your employees by calling names a challenging environment."

(By the way - you should really reveal your name. It would be a pleasure to know the first name and a few more details of the person who starts such interesting topics).

So we all need a way out of this and for some weird weird reason - the responsibility late sitting, no KRAs, poor policies, etc comes to the doorstep of HR. Bear in mind that the HR has a dual responsibility of keeping people engaged in their work as well as performing the tasks given by the top management. A tightrope walk across the Himalayan peaks is easy by comparison.

Last time I checked - HR people are employees too. Just as an employee in accounts or IT or sales or any other function does what his boss tells them to keep their jobs, so also does the HR and there is nothing wrong with this AT ALL.

The real problem is that business exists to make profits - not give people jobs. People exist to help earn revenue. The problem arises only when profits take the place of people. That's when the management in its wisdom says "replace that person if he is not willing to do X task." Whether the task is within working hours or legal or ethical is of small consideration when the focus of the management is profit alone. People are viewed as things and not people.

How does an HR person function in this scenario? As long as your values don't eat you inside. Or as long as you can fool yourself that "this is the way things are" or "things will change soon" or "This never happened."

In one of my previous organizations, I told my superiors that if they wanted to reduce attrition (and subsequent recruitment and training costs), then the only thing the organization had to do was reduce the targets. Obviously, they did not do this and so continue to face the same issues.

This will be the same story with most other organizations despite the facilities which they provide for their employees. How many HR people are going to be willing to risk their jobs to tell the management that they have to change certain strategies? Managements always want to reduce costs so that profit is maximized - but fail to understand the indirect costs which arise when quality is sacrificed for low cost.

HR is possibly the most frustrating job in an organization. If an exit analysis is done only for HR folks, I am sure that job frustration would rank in the top 3 reasons for leaving!

More viewpoints please.

Regards,

Ryan

Very true, Ryan. Employees are often only considered meagre resources, but management tends to overlook the power that employees possess—their effective work hours. It's also true that HRs may be hesitant to change the strategy and the current scenario. It is indeed a painful situation.

How does an HR person function in this scenario? As long as your values don't eat you inside. Or as long as you can fool yourself that "this is the way things are" or "things will change soon" or "This never happened".

This happened with me; I could not do the HR job further, as it was against my values, ethics, and I could no longer fool myself that this is the way things are done, etc... and ultimately, a time comes when you see yourself literally dragging yourself to the office, and feel like working with no interest and ultimately one day, you are forced to resign. 😢 😢 😢

Hi all.

How many of us are satisfied with our own job? Are we given an opportunity to do what we want to do? I can expect a "No" from many. I know many HR people who have very good caliber but are not given the opportunity to do their best even in reputed companies. HR is very rarely involved in business strategies, only in very big corporates. When we can't do big things (not given the opportunity), why should we talk about it?

Regards,
Sowjanya