From Isolation to Integration: HR's Role in Business Growth - Chanaka Jayawickrama

How important is the role of HR in business and does the HR professional him/herself really know the value theyr bring to the business growth. Chanaka Jayawickrama , Assistant Manager - Talent Management of Bodyline shares his views.

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During a recent conversation with a few of my HR colleagues, I received an intriguing question. The team was eager to understand how they could make more significant impact on the business, as they felt their current efforts were falling short.

My response was, that there’s no need to start anything new, as they are already contributing towards the same goal. My statement was quite confusing for this team, so I gradually broke it down into simple chunks for better understanding.

The issue, as I see it, is that many individuals work tirelessly to complete their daily, weekly, and monthly tasks but having very little awareness on how their efforts align with the broader business objectives.

This realization inspired me to write about how you can better understand your contributions to the business as a HR professional under this article.

One effective way to understand your impact is by considering counterfactual scenarios related to your role at HR.

“What if your role didn’t exist?”

One way to start building a logical framework around this idea is by, imagining the consequences of this.

Imagine that you are responsible for the company’s recruitments, and a decision is made to eliminate your position. What would be the consequences?

There would be no replacements for departing employees, no further maintenance happens with the CV bank you were managing for future openings, and there won’t be any interns developed within the organization for upcoming opportunities.

Ultimately, these gaps would disrupt the smooth operation of the business, irrespective of the nature of the function these individuals were assigned. Without the right people in right numbers, how can the organization maintain its usual operations?

Thinking this way, will illustrate your importance within the organization and highlight how significantly you contribute its effective operation.

Here is another perspective to consider,

When working in HR, having financial acumen is essential, don’t you think so?

What happens if you are lack in understanding of your department budget?

Consider that you are responsible for planning and organizing all the events within the organization. These events might include religious ceremonies to traditional celebrations like Awurudu to entertainment events to award ceremonies where employees are recognized and so on.

Now imagine, that you have no clue of any financial aspect pertaining to these kind of different events. In such a situation, you might choose the best venue in the town for an entertainment event, plan hundreds of activities for traditional ceremonies without considering the costs and, organize award ceremonies at top-tier locations.

While these efforts would undoubtedly treat employees to a greater experience, these would come at a significant financial cost to the company during such an economic crisis we all are going through.

But, having a clear understanding of the financial aspect, ensures that you can plan the events that are both impactful and financially responsible, balancing employee satisfaction with the organization’s financial health.

Every company has a projected bottom-line number to achieve each year. To reach the projected bottom-line, the company must generate budgeted revenue, while critically controlling the expenses. If you, as an HR professional, are unaware of these financial dynamics, you might inadvertently hinder the organization’s profit maximization efforts.

Conversely, if you critically evaluate all financially viable options before making decisions, you are actively contributing to the Business’s success.

As a HR professional, possessing financial acumen enables you to make informed decisions that align with the company’s profit goals, thereby enhancing your impact on the organization.

Can you see now, how you are contributing to the business?

?Here’s the next perspective to help you understand how you contribute to the Business

Can you imagine a situation where HR doesn’t invest in Training & Development of the company’s employees?

Imagine you are responsible for Learning & Development (L&D) function within the organization. Strategically, the company has several key objectives to achieve over the next 2 to 3 years. To meet these goals, specific levels of knowledge, skills and behaviors are crucial among employees.

As the L&D lead, if you fail to identify competency gaps within the workforce, you will miss opportunities to address these shortcomings and develop employees for future critical roles.

This could have a lasting negative impact on the organization’s ability to achieve its business objectives, affecting leaders and employees, while allowing competitors to take proactive actions and seize a significant portion of your business.

By proactively assessing and addressing competency gaps through effective learning and development interventions, you not only support current business objectives but also prepare the workforce for future challenges and opportunities through succession management.

Are you now convinced of the significant contribution you provide towards the business as a HR professional?

Lastly, below perspective completes the coverage under this article

What is the extent to which you use data in your decision-making process?

For instance, if you are the recruitment lead for your organization, do you track and maintain statistics related to your recruitment efforts? Do you keep records of the sources for each designation through which successful candidates were ultimately hired?

As an example, let’s assume you recruited 50 marketing executives last year, and 75% of them were found through internal referrals. Would you focus on internal referrals for the next available Marketing executive position based on the past data available? Through this, you demonstrate a proactive approach to fill vacancies quickly and at a lower cost, as you don’t need to invest time and money in job postings and other recruitment channels.

When costs are minimized and the replacement lead times are shorter, you contribute to the smooth functioning of the business and help maximize profits.

If you take the time to consider above scenarios from the three to four perspectives discussed, you will undoubtedly see how your role in HR significantly contributes to the business.

?Chanaka is a frequent contributo to HR body of knowledge on digital media platforms. You may directly connect with him on LinkedIn at : https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/chanaka-jayawickrama/

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