PASS is agony, NICE is ecstasy- Shifted Gear of HR for 21st Century

•  “Business of the Business is the Business only” . This used to be the opening statement of my professor of HRM during my management studies. This statement was contrary to my perception about Human Resource as a profession or a career. I had been living with internal conflict as why this statement is repeatedly used by the professor that too in HRM class? My pre-conceived notion alike other HR aspirants who enter the world of Human resource in college was that Human Resource is not the business but a service or support to the business that’s why HR function in organizations  is called support function. My quest for my personal ecstasy and agony while working as HR professional since my internship to till date started. Within the set context for HR as support function, I realized that as long as HR is perceived as people’s partner in the organization, most of personal KPIs of HR professionals are accomplished so their 360 degree performance appraisal results in outstanding category at the end of the year. In the early years of first decade of 21st century, In India organizations began to adopt some of the world wide proven practices for better and sustainable business performance and one of them was Balance Score Card (BSC) fist published by by Robert. S. Kaplan and David. P Norton.  When brainstorming and focused group discussions were happening in board rooms of the organization on how to align departmental KRAs and KPIs around the four pillars of BSC, these were the HR professionals who were in most confusing state when their turn came to align their KRAs and KPIs with BSC of the organization. The reason behind confusion was not their lack of competencies but the role they had been performing since years had never made them to reflect that how they had been partnering with the business? Processing, Advising, Sensitizing and Supporting (PASS) were the roles HR professionals were doing and were getting passed also year on year. When concepts like BSC and others models asked HR professionals to become not only people partner but also business partner then PASS model based approach became an agony for HR professionals.

Fig 1: Transactional HR – Agony of today’s HR professionals

•  This is where my professor was indicating during my management studies of HR that HR folks have to be Roman in Rome if wanted to be ecstatic and in leading role. More long as HR professionals remain Alice in Wonderland and do not foresee where the future of business is, more of agony for them will surface than ecstasy.
• Agony of HR Professionals – to be PASS
• With the advent of technology, internet and eruption of IOT (Internet of Things), competition intensified and amid the intensified competition, organizations exponentially moved to create consumer experience rather only providing quality product and services. By delivering around the PASS, HR professionals are able to create good amount of employee satisfaction by providing quality HR products (timely pay roll, leave processing, grievance handling, benefit processing, meeting turnaround time of vacancy closure, meeting training man days targets, closing PMS cycle on time after several follow ups, providing on time administrative support. Employees are also often found satisfied with the quality of advisory services of HR on organizational procedural events as well as on their personal issues and dilemmas.  HR Hooter of the organization mostly hoots right on the time with the swinging of arm of POCO Meter. POCO Meter is a performance indicator of Policy Compliance (POCO) in the organization. Higher the POCO meter reading, higher the performance and lower the POCO Meter readings; lower the performance on account of policy and statue compliance of the organization. I ever found HR in the middle of all affairs of the organization, being it internal or external or both. “None of the organizational calamities either man made or natural can be controlled without the HR” has been a opening statement of functional and departmental heads in the meetings and “ We need your Support” is a routine closing statement and the baby born out of the calamity is becomes the baby of HR instantly. It is also somewhat true that transfer of the baby rights has always been an ecstatic point and sense of importance for the HR. Once the calamity baby comes out of the danger, with a super closing statement that “without the support of HR, it could not had been possible” that event is closed with the conferment of “Masters of Support” degree to HR which HR has been preserving since years that HR is a support function. 

(Fig 3: POCO meter - )

Agony of HR professionals erupts in organizations today as long as they work around transactional models of HR and PASS is one of such models. By data processing, advising, sensitizing and supporting, the sense of business partnership in HR professionals does not sustain for longer period. After sometime HR professionals find themselves alienated from the main purpose of the organization and personal career objectives. Their association with the organization for the broader purpose for which organization has come into existence gets faded for the want of playing a lead role in line with contemporary business needs.

Ecstasy of HR Professionals – To be NICE

In today’s time when organizations are racing to generate the consumer experience by their products and services by nurturing, influencing, catalyzing and empowering the consumers so the HR is moving from the traditions of employee service to employee (consumer) experience and also attempting to be business partner. In the wake of such market and competition driven organizational urgencies an integrated model of NICE both for business and HR has been becoming success and ecstatic point.    

To be ecstatic, HR professionals are seeking to be NICE in business world of NICE. Being NICE for a HR professional is being transformational and a stride to create employee experience.  

(Fig 2-Transformational HR – Ecstasy of Today’s HR) 

Nurturing

 A man also grows with the growth of sapling which he planted. To Nurture, to Grow!! HR professionals in today’s organizations are expected for not only to preserve but also to nurture. Nurture the legacy, the values, the culture and the custom, traditions and even processes those have become the identity of the organization since years. Many of the organizations in today’s world have been focusing on value based culture. In Indian context, TATA, Aditya Birla Group as old legends and Nuvoco Vistas Corp Ltd to name amongst new entrants are known to nurture whatever has become identity or should become the identity of the organization. When we go in detailing to see who’s there to drive and nurture the culture in these organizations and whose ecstasy it is?  it’s none but Human Resource Professionals. It is ecstatic for HR professional to advise, profess and demonstrate on values and legacy of the organization. The intended resultant of Talent Management, Employee Engagement and Organizational Development – the today’s HR, comes by nurturing the process, nurturing the action plan and nurturing the emotions and wants of the targeted population. Actions those seek to create employee experience are converted into sustainable desirable results by nurturing them. Even while repeatedly working on defined processes if doer does not nurture them, he seldom counts it in his list of elements for creating a good experience. Processes those have become practices in the organizations are the culmination of nurturing and that’s the reason when organizations intend to replace those practices, first resistance comes from the person who has nurtured it the most. I found, HR professionals those nurturing the processes, practices and assets are more ecstatic than those are only processing because nurturing brings ownership also. Sense of ownership owns the person completely intrinsically and extrinsically both. 

Nurturing = (Processing + Owning) X Purpose

Influencing

As depicted in PASS model, traditionally one of the roles of HR is considered as advisor. As the treatment of advice being optional at receiver’s end, does not guarantee that receiver shall act according to the advice given. Here from the agony of the HR professional begins. Erstwhile and even now HR department works at intersections of various departments of the organization. Today’s HR is not the HR only; it is HRBP (Human Resource Business Partner) now.

As long as HR was HR, it was an adviser but as HRBP, it is a partner or to say it is a part – owner in the business therefore adviser has to become the influencer. Influencing is not completely about the power of position but as per Cambridge Dictionary, influencing is the power to have an effect on people or things or a person or thing that is able to do.  HRBPs in the organizations those are able to influence as partner in decision making, influencer as consultant doctor to diagnose, influencer as partner in planning for work design and lay - out, performance management, career planning, design thinking and influencer as coach for the entire organization are more ecstatic than those merely in advising role. HR is the only function in the organizations which is called as business partner. Being business partner is about being system thinker. Any idea emanating from the wisdom of a system thinker has always been more effective to influence the minds and actions of the others. There are several examples in the industry where at the time of leadership crisis, HR has been given the role of top leader of the organization. One of the criteria’s in which HR superseded other colleagues in such crisis was the ability to think holistically thereby influencing others to act for the common purpose that is the vision and mission of the organization.    

Catalyzing

Change management is one of the competencies identified for todays and future HR professionals. To be adaptive to changed business environment, organizational designs are changing so the relationship among the stakeholders. Change is inevitable and every organization is bound to pass the test of change either enforced or self emulated if it has to be alive and sustainable. To convert the change into visible change, less of enforcing but more of catalyzing is required. Catalyzing to bring outside-in (Organizational Purpose) and then processing it inside with the aid of organizational values to get the result as inside – out in the form of alignment, innovation, creativity and operational excellence is considered as catalyst role of HR professionals.

Almost all the organizations are having their organizational ATP (Annual Training Plans) and IDPs (individual Development Plans) however ATP and IDP is ever unfinished story year on year in the organizations. HR managers or training managers are often seen sensitizing the middle and lower level employees for importance of completion of IDPs and top level employees for meeting organizational ATP targets. Of course this sensitization awakens their senses but fails to activate to act. It is also true that self development is individual’s responsibility, organizations only facilitate therefore catalyzing employees for their personal development and to get them avail developmental facilities being offered by the organization is found one of the ecstatic point for HR professionals in today’s organizations.

Seeing organization is growing and its employees are updated and boosted to lead makes HR professionals happy.

Empowering   

When it comes to define empower in context with organizations and employees, I define it as Employee Power (Em-power). Indeed, Employee Power is Organizational Power (OP = EP). Supporting someone to do or empowering someone to do both may deliver the same end result but later one will also seed ownership, leadership, self reliance, decision making and courage. There are several ways and techniques available in the organizations for employee empowerment those range from virtual to real. Employee self service through online HRIS, flexi pay, ESOPs, Y2TW (Your Time, Your Work) generally it is called as flexi working, appraise self, appraise your boss (360 degree feedback), open town halls etc are some of the empowering ways by the HR from its own wallet in today’s time. It is a shift by the HR from conservatism to liberalism and liberalism is empowering in today’s decentralized world. Due to the impact of organizational development, participative management in organizations, formation of cross functional teams, and encouragement to culture of coaching is becoming very common now a days in the organizations. All these OD practices are being led by the HR and while leading them, HR professionals themselves feeling empowered. Empowerment comes in whatever ways is ever ecstatic.

Therefore in today’s organizations, for being ecstatic, HR professionals should be NICE rather than PASS. There are several studies and researches have been conducted that how employee engagement, coaching, employee empowerment have transformed the organizations. Being NICE will bring HR professionals closer to the business as well as people and will make them not only true people’s champion but also ecstatic Human Resource Business Partner.

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