Is HR the Unsung Hero of the Workplace, Much Like a Stay-at-Home Mom?

HR as the 'Stay-at-Home Mom' of the Organization

HR is like a 'Stay-at-home Mom'. They make all the resources available, provide all the needed comfort and cushioning, and ensure that there is never a gap between available talent and required talent to avoid any kind of productivity loss to the organization. They ensure one receives their salary well on time, that too well justified (by adjusting all the overtimes and commissions). They ensure one keeps developing through various IDP and T&D programs and conduct timely appraisals to check the talent level in order to either appraise the talent or to develop them further so that the employee can always remain aligned with business objectives.

Ensuring Employee Well-being and Organizational Discipline

They take care of all the grievances and other issues. They ensure discipline in the organization. They also conduct all the administrative tasks to ensure that insurance, visa, medical facilities, travel programs, PF, gratuity, and other facilities are in place. They go to the extent wherein they conduct happiness programs (team outings, family get-together events, weekend parties, etc.) to ensure employees' mental and psychological well-being. Unfortunately, like any 'Stay-at-home Mom', even HR is undervalued and often misjudged.

Dear Sunita,

Your last post was in 2011. It's good to note that you have visited this forum after a hiatus of 11 years.

HR Functions and Their Perception

In your post, you have converted Job Description (JD) statements of a junior HR position into "HR does so and so." At the end, you have expressed your grievance that HR is not valued or is misjudged. Nevertheless, the HR functions you have mentioned are service functions. These were functions of a personnel manager of the erstwhile era. You have not mentioned any function that impacts the business positively.

Responsibility of HR Professionals

If HR is undervalued or misjudged, then the HR professionals themselves are to be blamed. Look at the quality of the posts on this forum. After spending years in HR, people do not know how to write a simple post on a public forum. One's personality is understood when one puts his/her thoughts in the public forum.

Measuring HR Impact

Anyway, keep aside the quality of business writing. In the list you have provided, you have not mentioned the ROI of the various activities of HR. How many HR professionals are capable of measuring the impact of their activities on business? How many HRs measure ROI on the training programs they conducted or the cost of attrition? If they don't measure, then what holds them back?

The Importance of Numbers in HR

The top leadership is interested only in promoting and expanding their business. They are interested in numbers. HR professionals are unable to talk the language of numbers, and that is why they are not valued. If one is to be valued, then one must project one's intellectual assertiveness. Far from demonstrating intellectual assertiveness, most HR professionals mentally reconcile to play a second fiddle.

Ambition in HR

If one were to succeed, one has to be ambitious. Not that HR professionals are not ambitious, but their ambition is limited to becoming VP (HR) or Director (HR). Why do they not aim to become CEO?

Role of HR Bodies

What I have written is about individual HR professionals. What about the various HR bodies that operate even at the national level? What exactly have they done to highlight the value of the HR function? Other than conducting seminars on leadership, employee engagement, or some similar subject, how many times do they take up the cause of the employees where rampant violation of labor laws takes place? If HR is a people's function, then how many times have these HR bodies stepped in to provide justice to the people? Why do they fail to demonstrate their leadership?

There are a few other reasons as well. However, I do not wish to put forth all and paint HR's negative image. To sum up, let me say that today's HR has evolved from yesterday's personnel management. However, it is just a physical transformation. The real intellectual evolution is yet to take place. When HR evolves, they will be valued. That is for sure!

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar

Dear Sunita,

However grim the picture seems, it is changing. Our last year's survey of more than 400 HR professionals shows that of the four roles of an HR professional (Administrative Expert, Business Partner, People's Champion, and Change Agent - as given by David Ulrich), while the Administrative Expert is still a dominating role, the HR Business Partner is not far behind. HR's involvement in bringing about change is also not low in priority, although it is still not the top priority.

As long as HR professionals are well-trained and help their organizations become more effective, they will retain their importance. Have faith, and think positively!

Best wishes,

Team HRM For Non-HR Managers

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Hello Mr. Diveker,

Wow, I missed this forum so much in the past years. It’s great to be back after many years and getting this grand welcome. Thanks for your wonderful insight about Human Resource functionality.

Really fascinating to know that for you talent acquisition, talent management, organization and employee development, performance appraisal, salary restructuring, compensation and benefits, grievance handling, HR administration are just some petty HR functions handled by so-called “junior HR employees.”

I really wonder what the senior HR professional does then? Maybe busy teaching professional writing to random people on public forums... :)

HR's Strategic Role

Just for your info, what I mentioned in my post:

HR ensures there is no gap in talent; says that HR plays a strategic role in ensuring that the business doesn’t suffer due to lack of competent resources. Hence, HR plays a strategic role in doing manpower planning and budgeting.

It is the HR which ensures that once you hire a resource, they should settle well in their space (guess then only they will be able to perform & then only the organization will perform.) I don’t need to mention who plays the big role here.

It is the HR which does the well-rounded grooming of each professional through various IDPs and T&D programs including the one who is due to take the next C-Suite position through succession planning (Oops, again a strategic level thing done by HR.)

Compensation and Benefits

It is the HR which works on employee’s compensation and benefits to ensure the compensation remains competitive with the external market. If not, the attrition will go up which, if goes beyond a level, is not considered healthy. Cost saving for the organization and retaining the best talent is a part of HR functionality (sorry for you but again a strategic task done by HR.)

Performance Appraisal Process

It is the HR which goes through the cumbersome process of performance appraisal, but it will be good to know for you that the appraisal process doesn’t go only from HR’s table and is done in a day. On the contrary, it involves everyone from the HR to the supervisors, to the line managers, to the general manager, to the HR director, and sometimes to the CEO of the company & easily takes weeks or even months to finish. So, if at all your junior HR does all these, then time for you to hire more resources and get it done correctly and effectively.

Grievance Management

Grievance management - It is not a work but an art, and a person who is not well aware of HR can never do it effectively. An HR has to become a psychologist, a friend, a family, and what not to deal effectively with grievances. Again, by reading your post, I doubt you have much knowledge about the same.

HR as 'Stay at Home Mom'

Why I mentioned HR is like ‘Stay at home Mom’ is because even after doing everything from ‘Pin to Plane,’ they get the same treatment like a mom (who after spending hours ensuring the well-being of the family barely gets even a single recognition or appreciation from others. Or shall I say, she is mostly taken for granted. The same is happening with HR these days, people have made it a point to take HR for granted & talk ill about it. Considering what all HR does, it deserves anything but to be taken for granted.

Measuring HR's ROI

Talking about ROI. YES, it is pertinent to measure HR KPIs and that is the reason we have HR Scorecards, wherein every activity of HR gets measured and quantified. It is hilarious to know that you feel HR is not able to talk numbers. On the contrary, in today’s world HR is all about numbers and deliverables. They have long back made their way into the boardroom, unfortunately, there are people who still feel HR functionalities are just the JD of a Jr. HR professional. It’s high time when people should and must change their attitude and thinking about HR. If you have an iota of doubt about how to measure ANY HR functions, please enlighten yourself with some study material and white papers. Let me know if you want me to pass on some to you.

Unfortunately, my post was not about all these, but about the treatment it gets after doing as much. Of course, people’s ignorance has a big role to play here (as clearly reflected in your post).

Expecting a better and more mature response next time.

Till then good luck with your trainings,

Regards,

PS: Btw, you are right about what you write reflects your personality... . Your post too talks a lot about you as a person.

Dear Sunita,

It appears that you were expecting a reply that corroborated your views. Probably, my contrary reply has incensed you. You have given a rebuttal to my post. However, please note that your post was on why HR professionals are not valued or why due cognizance is not taken of their work. Your concern is that HR's work is underestimated across the board.

Nevertheless, proving me wrong will not help you or any other HR professional in any way. A metaphorical depiction of HR as a "stay-at-home mom" may sound nice, but it will not alter the situation in any way.

My views are based on interactions with hundreds of HR professionals with whom I have interacted in the last 15 years. Additionally, I have also interacted with a large number of business owners.

You are entitled to your views, and I to mine. The views need not conform to each other. Therefore, I wish to stop it here. I do not wish to give a rebuttal from my side.

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar

Dear Mr. Divekar,

Glad to know you have years of experience with HR professionals and business owners. Please know the person you are communicating with may have a richer portfolio.

Anyways, no rebuttal, of course, and yes, everyone has the right to have his/her point of view. However, what surprises me the most is when people talk ill of their own profession. Even after having years of experience, they fail to stand by their own profession and question it.

Please know you have a choice not to respond; however, I would appreciate it if you could please elaborate on your below-mentioned statement:

"Proving the wrong will not help you or any other HR professional in any way. A metaphorical depiction of HR as 'stay-at-home Mom' may sound nice, but it will not alter the situation in any way."

It would be interesting to know what 'wrong I am trying to prove?' How it sounds nice to you when I say HR is treated like a 'stay-at-home Mom,' and which situation will not alter?

Sorry, but your viewpoint will certainly help me in doing some self-introspection about my viewpoint towards HR.

Many thanks with regards,

Sunita