HR Focus 2018 - Business Manager HR Magazine, January 2018

anil kaushik
Challenges ahead!
Human resources function has been evolving a lot. Overemphasis of technology in HR has been a point of discussion in recent past and as a consequence, organisations are looking more seriously at HR than before but rest assure the function is not going to die or disappear as many people have been forecasting. It is very much here and will remain till involvement of people is replaced by something invisible resource in business.
When we look at the coming year, some of the challenges HR might face or it may have to focus this year should be about impact of labour reforms, on the employee relations and business in total, Govt is keen to take on. Handling sexual harassment matters at workplace would be next one, because these are increased enormously in recent past along with issue of reputation management. We have seen how chairman of a big conglomerate had to apologise publically last year due to inadequate comments of HR person to employee.HR has to call out risky practices that might bring down or dent the credibility of organisation. Use of electronic gadgets against management by employees at workplace can be another area, which is ever increasing phenomenon in almost all business sectors which is competent to disturb harmonious employee relations. Next one might be the area of performance management which has seen the changes. It is now taking shape of continuous feedback from earlier one of a system where feedback was given either yearly or six monthly.
Permanent workforce is now a matter of past. Not many organisations have policy of employing people on their permanent rolls. Either workforce is engaged as trainee, or on fixed term contract or temporary or through contractor agencies. In all such models, the necessary element is of job insecurity. Organisations are not in favour of providing job security for at least initial five years. And with this kind of increasing workforce HR is expected to create harmony, engagement, loyalty, sense of ownership, discipline and productivity. In manufacturing sector it is a big issue and would be more serious in near future where contractual blue collar employees put in production processes are changed at short intervals and floor officials are expected to deliver high productivity with zero accidents. Worrisome aspect for HR would be to resolve this self contradiction created by organisations and find a balance approach to satisfy needs of both.
Our special feature on challenges and priorities which is going to be faced and addressed by HR in 2018 and thereafter comprises of very rich and innovative ideas with ground reality by industry experts and professionals from different sectors.
If you like it let us know. If not, well, let us know that too.
Happy Reading!
Anil Kaushik,
Business Manager -HR Magazine
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CHR
Looks like a great line up of articles - congratulations. Rather curious if any of the HRs mentioned the role of Government policies - because clearly a lot of this has to do with the way the policies put a lot of pressure on the employers. Is there any talk among employers avoiding "Women employees" altogether or being very careful about when they hire them after the Maternity Benefits amendment?
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