Article Summary

A New Mandate for Human Resources

Human Resource Management DATE OF SUBMISSION-08.01.2013

SUBMITTED BY:SECTION-C, GROUP 13: ANKUR JAISWAL - 2012PGP048 HARSH KUMAR - 2012PGP127 KUMAR ABHISHEK- 2012PGP178 NISHANT KUMAR - 2012PGP231 RIZWAN MOHAMMED P A - 2012PGP308 VINIT ANAND - 2012PGP439

Achieving the organizational excellence is the work of HR. HR can help this in four ways: It should become a partner with senior and line manager in strategy execution Ensuring high quality at least cost Increasing employees contribution and ensuring work satisfaction Improving organizations capacity to changes

Need of HR in changing times

HR should play a leadership role in meeting following competitive challenges 1. Globalization: It requires organization to learn and collaborate and to manage diversity, complexity and ambiguity 2. Profitability through growth: Companies should increase efficiency and cut cost by downsizing, clearing debris, reengineering and delayering. Also companies should be creative and innovative so as to acquire new customer and develop new product 3. Technology: Ideas and large amount of information can flow very quickly. The challenge for managers is to make sensible and good use of the technology. Also it should be done only as per the requirement. 4. Intellectual capital: successful companies are one which can attract, develop and retain individual who can ensure both globalization and opportunities in technology. 5. Change, change and more change: The greatest competitive advantage for any firm is to keep on learning, innovating and takes on new strategies easily.

HRs New Role

As all the other traditional forms of competitiveness can be copied, the only competitive tool left is organization which can be strengthened by HR assuming following new roles: 1. Becoming a partner in Strategy Execution HR people should be closely involved in how a company carries out its strategy which can be achieved with four steps: a. HR should be held responsible for defining and stating the structure of organization which will drive the implementation of organizational strategy.

b. It should be held accountable for conducting an organizational review which will help managers which components of the company must change in order to facilitate strategy execution. c. HR dept. should identify methods for renovating the parts of the organizational structure which are in need for change and restructuring to maintain its alignment with organizational goals. d. It must take stock of its own work and set clear priorities on those activities which are related to business results. 2. Becoming an Administrative Expert They have to find processes which can be done better, faster, cheaper and then fix those processes in order to improve their and organizations efficiency. They can prove their importance by rethinking and reimagining how work is done throughout the organization. 3. Becoming an Employee Champion Following are some suggestions which can help HR become people champion: By holding HR accountable for ensuring that employees are engaged By giving HR responsibility for orienting and training line management By recommending ways to solve morale problems By representing employees to management and becoming their voice

4. Becoming a Change Agent HRs role as a change agent is to replace resistance with resolve, planning with results, and fear of change with excitement about its possibilities. Four steps which HR should follow to altering culture: a. Defining and Clarifying the change b. Stating & explaining why change is necessary c. Defining a process for assessing difference between old and new scenarios d. Identifying approaches to cultural change and implementing the best one.

Four Changes for the Line

The conventional duties expected from HR professionals are not the need of the hour. They are not very relevant in the present scenario. The new mandate advocates a fundamentally different approach in the way an HR professional think and behaves. It also involves a change in the expectations and behaviour of the senior executives towards the HR staff. They should

set a platform so as to enable HR to focus on outcomes instead of activities. The senior operating managers can accomplish this in four different ways: 1. Communicate to the organization that soft stuff matters: The senior managers should demonstrate how soft skills like cultural change and intellectual capital are critical to business success. They can do this in many ways. For example, they can talk seriously about the value addition achieved by organizational capabilities that inspire investors, customers and employees confidence.They can include HR professionals in strategy discussions and formulation so as to show that HR is an essential part that cannot be ignored. 2. Explicitly define the deliverables from HR,and hold HR accountable for results : The senior managers should clearly communicate to the HR professionals about the expectations and also should adopt suitable measures to monitor, measure and reward performance. 3. Invest in innovative HR practises : The senior managers should be trying to create new and innovative and HR practises and also should be aware of the innovative HR practises in other organizations. Once identified, the line managers should expect HR to adapt to them, not adopt them. It is not advisable to completely copy the practises of another organization. Care should be taken such that focus on what works elsewhere but also what works in the company`s unique competitive situation. 4. Upgrade HR professionals : The quality of the HR staff should be improved. Companies need people who have indepth knowledge about business, theoretical and practical aspects of HR and should be capable of managing culture and making change happen. The HR should have the right set of skills. This is often the hardest part; sometimes such people could be inside the organization itself. They might only need some fine-tuning which can be accomplished by proper training.

Hard Work Ahead

HR professionals must begin to act professionally. They must focus more on the deliverables than on getting their work done. The focus should be on how their contribution can add value to the organization. They must measure their effectiveness in terms of business competitiveness and lead cultural transformation. The senior managers have the obligation to destroy the stereotype associated with HR and should demand more of HR function. They need to invest in HR as if it were a business. They should be committed in unleashing the full potential of HR.

Critical Review of Article A new mandate for Human Resources The article has clearly mentioned why the traditional HR practises are insufficient in the present scenario. The article has convincingly stated the need for HR practises to be moulded according to the changing times The article has substantiated with adequate proof on why the current HR practises should be based on outcome rather than on the activity itself There are also interesting examples of some of the companies which have inculcated different practises to smoothen their HR practises HR`s role has shifted and the only competitive advantage which cannot be copied can be enhanced by becoming partner in strategy execution, by becoming an administrative expert and an employee champion. The article has clearly demonstrated the role and importance of HR in an organization and its relevance in the present situation.