HR needs support, not judgement

Search the web and you will find countless judgments and diatribes about the inefficacy of HR. For a while I was part of this group of people who denounced HR. But the more I engage with my colleagues and partners who have the difficult job of managing this function, the more I realise that the blame cannot be laid at their feet, nor can they be held solely responsible for the present state of HR.

Let's park our judgements and take an objective look at the HR function and some of the challenges they face.

The first challenge they face is clarity of expectations. Few leaders or leadership teams are able to clearly articulate what they expect from HR. Everything that doesn't belong elsewhere can tend to get dumped on them. More often than not, issues relating to people (which leaders and managers should handle) are pushed on to HR. In the less developed organisations, administration is clubbed under the HR function. Many times facilities too. This dilutes and diverts the focus of the function leaving leaders stretched thin and defocused. Any performer or function is only going to be as good as the expectations you lay before them. There is an overwhelming focus on talent acquisition and often HR is judged by their ability to hire quality and quantity on time. Leaders who are part of the recruiting effort tend to forget their role and failures are only attributed to HR. And the same happens with performance and talent management too.

Second, I wonder how many leaders are really aware of how much the function has changed in the last two decades. The qualities and skills needed by HR professionals two decades ago are very different from the ones needed today. Sadly enough most HR heads today hail from that era, and while some of them have made the transformation, many have yet to do so. This equally limits their ability to mentor their younger colleagues. Outsourcing has meant that the operational and transactional content of the HR role now lies outside the organisation and outside the direct purview of the HR function. HR professionals are encouraged to be business partners, which is a different order of skills, attitudes and competence. Lacking mentorship and investment in re-skilling, this is not happening at the pace required.

This leads me to the core issue - support. Organisations where leaders are supportive of HR and understand the value and impact of the function have exceptional HR practices and a function that is respected. Others languish. I believe that great HR is an outcome of a CEO or leadership team that values and supports HR. I see support lacking in following areas

The role of leadership: Leaders who are unable to harness and leverage the function appropriately do little to support it or develop it. HR is treated transactionally, has transactional expectations and, hence, is reduced to a transactional function. Yes, it is up to the HR leader to influence this, but try influencing someone who doesn't "get it" and you will realise that after a particular point in time, it is better to cave in and do what's asked for, or quit.

The role of academia: Premier B-schools and even specialist HR colleges have done little to revise curriculum and pedagogy. Content seems to stay the same. The course curriculum and competencies that colleges develop has to change.
The author is Gurprriet Siingh, country head - YSC India. Re-printed with permission. Link: