StrongHR WeakHR

As one joins the world of organised workforce, one realises there are only two kind of organisations, one where HR practices are strong and the other where HR practices are weak. Strong HR, Weak HR are index terms coined by employees that signify a composite effect of Leadership, Culture, Policies, Fairness, Transparency, Equity, Opportunity, Progression, Growth, Inclusion & Work environment of the organisation. It has nothing to do much with compensation, designation, reimbursement, performance management systems, HRMS, people analytics, productivity metrics, staff benefits, employee engagement practises deployed in the company.

As a first step let's understand, that there can be StrongHR in an organisation without an HR department also. The two are not linked. One of the largest HR teams sometimes are the weakest and many organisations having no HR departments have been able to given a strong sense of existence to employees. HR that employees feel is a composite whole that is driven by the supreme leader of the organisation, the senior leaders, ways of working, respect and appreciation, daily language used at work, rewards and the growth opportunities employees receive. It becomes easier to drive larger workforce with the help of an effective HR department but an ineffective function can be equally detrimental.

Strong HR is a sense of empowerment that an employee feels when he/she wakes up and gets ready to log in to the first call of the day or drives out from his/her parking lot towards the office. The thoughts that emerge in the mental cloud as he/she walks into the office. Will I be valued?, Can I contribute?, Am I doing something meaningful? Can I really say what I think is right? Will I be heard? Will I be respected for my skills? Will I be included, appreciated? Will I get bullied by my boss? Will I be pressurised by boss's favourites?

Weak HR is a sense of helplessness that exists in employees. When they don’t know whom to talk about career progression, how to get guidance on learning & growth. How to handle harassment and unnecessary pressure faced. Whom to seek when he/she is getting sidelined, work is not getting appreciated, no recognition, no inclusion, communication not coming through, not getting to know how and why other are people getting promoted, rewarded?

The situation gets worse moreover, when they reach to the HR function and the HR function doesn't have convincing answers. The eyes of employees really get pale when they see blank and evasive HR team.

HR function is a magic function of the organisation. It can be respected as a touchstone that can be leveraged to turn the organisation into an exciting and energetic arena and it can be just a stone in a people dump yard, trampled as people pass over it. ?Respecting the HR function, people practices, manpower policies and having golden rules on workforce management bring respect to everybody who has decided to work in the organisation.

HR function is supposed to be custodian of the Organisation culture, leadership traits, employee value proposition. It should be completely avoided to be asked to do menial jobs in meetings, arrange for lunches, do the picnics, arrange for leadership team family offsites. When the HR function is assessed by the quality of chicken served post the board meeting and not on the effectiveness of the people strategy it weakens the backbone of the organisation strength.

When HR function, practices, policies are respected, employees see it, feel it and they all feel a sense of safety, comfort and solace that they are cared for, will not be betrayed, belied, deprived of respect, appreciation and growth. Thats StrongHR and employees talk about their workplace with an added sense of pride.