SYNAPSE - 2014
SYNAPSE - 2014
HR : A Roadmap for the Future
- Stuti Pandey, HRM 2013-15, XLRI Jamshedpur
In a 1996 article, Thomas Stewart called upon
companies to rethink the need for a department
which spent 80% of its time on routine administrative tasks while gaining a net increase of
30% on its salary. He was referring to the HR
department which he suggested should be abolished, rubbed out, eliminated, tossed, obliterated, nuked and forced to walk the plank. While
the statements does make the budding HR
inside me rise up in protest, what we also need
to consider is that nearly two decades later the
question still looms large of how much of a
value add is HR really for an organization.
This makes it imperative for HR to keep metamorphosing so that it remains relevant for
organizations.
Fostering a culture of innovation
Innovation is one of the most powerful strategic
tools that organizations can wield in today’s unpredictable markets. However fostering innovation requires an environment that kindles and
fuels its existence. While there are no set environmental parameters that guarantee innovation
organizations can always work towards creating
Be Strategically Proactive
From the perspective of the HR department
organizations can exist in four modes. These
four modes are as follows:
Being strategically
proactive gives a
definite edge in the
long term.
1.
Operationally Reactive
2.
Operationally Proactive
one by promoting innovation as high on the
agenda and by removing bureaucratic layers that
hinder innovation. The HR could play an important role in creating a culture that encourages
and rewards innovation through
3.
Strategically Reactive
Recruiting the right set of people
4.
Strategically Proactive
Communication
Training and Development opportunities
Rewards and Incentives.
Most firms function in the operationally reactive (performing basic administrative tasks like
payroll, performance management which are
hygiene factors) or proactive modes (working
on bettering HR designs and offerings in terms
of relevance and convenience). While each of
the modes offer certain competitive advantages
to the firms, being strategically proactive gives
a definite edge in the long term. Three distinct
ways in which HR could achieve a proactive
strategic role have been chalked out below
(Wayne Brockbank , 1999):
1.
Facilitating mergers and acquisition activities,
3.
Aligning internal capabilities with future
external environmental requirements.
Some 65% of all Mergers and Acquisitions fail in
various phases of their existence. These failures
are a result of various factors .According to data
Fostering a culture of innovation
2.
Facilitating mergers and acquisition activities
from Deallogic, U.S. companies had spent $219
billion on mergers and acquisitions till Feb 2013.