Transforming organisations:

HR professionals urged to be more professional

HR should always provide professionalism and never become personal loyalists of owners and board directors of organisations, a group of panellists told a recent workshop on the strategic role of HR in driving high performance in corporates.

Worldwide studies reveal that a staggering 24 percent of employees across several sectors are not actively engaged at work while a meagre 13 percent of are engaged, the panellists said.

CEO and founder, Colombo Leadership Academy, Riaz Hassen said HR professionals in an organisation should play a positive role in the decision-making and drive performance for business excellence.

He said HR should play a more dynamic and independent role in the organisation in leading change and transformation, creating value propositions in driving high performance cultures and also making the organisation a great place to work for employees.

“The HR should never be yes men at the Board room but instead be independent and play a dynamic role in driving performance and enhance employer satisfaction,” Hassen said.

The program in Colombo was organised by the Colombo Leadership Academy with People Business India and focused on aligning human resources with strategic business growth, articulating and implementing compelling Employee Value Propositions (EVP), identifying and developing employee potential, building a high performance organisation and business transformation through leadership transformation.

Director, People Business India, Dr. Sandeep K. Krishnan, Founder Member, People Business India, Mervyn Raphael, CEO and Founder, Colombo Leadership Academy, Riaz Hassen, Director, Avix Consulting Group, Arosha Jayasundera and Personal and Emotional Intelligence Coach, Archana Law were the resource persons.

The workshop focused on educating participants on the many crucial areas of correctly managing and using human resources in the business context. The panellists stressed the importance of motivating employees to work hard and be more engaged. Dissatisfaction has led to a large number of employees in organisations to be actively disengaged resulting in a drop in performance.

Studies reveal that although HR manages human capital for a company, it is rarely brought into the strategic planning arena of the boardroom. Experts say that although HR does not bring in money, it can increase profit margins. Hiring quality people with good character which is in the domain of the HR are taking on more importance and makes it lot easier for HR to find its rightful place in the boardroom.

Corporates pay attention to educational qualifications such as MBAs and so onbut not leadership skills of employees which could lead to disengagement. There is not use in shifting disengaged employees from one department to another to make a change. The panellists also focused on going beyond technical skills of employees to theirfluency of relating to people. DirectorPeople Business India Dr. Sandeep K. Krishnan said over 70 percent of organisations use renumeration to motivate employees. Companies need to focus on making the organisation a great place to work. Organisations should think what unique opportunity it could offer to employees. - LF