Feature

HR’s impact on business outcomes

HR policies and processes have to be more focused on optimizing business outcomes. Faiz Askari writes how HR impacts an organization’s growth strategy

The HR department of an IT organization has a very critical role to play in today’s context. HR’s responsibility starts at attracting the right talent, nurturing them in the organization, ensuring adequate training, and mostly importantly, retention of this talent. The HR department’s ability to do its job well provides a competitive advantage to the organization. Evidently, a weak HR department could negatively impact an organization’s growth strategy directly.

HR should be given its due importance and visibility in the organization’s framework.  Ideally it should enable the organization to meet with its business objectives. Shrikant Kulkarni, Senior VP, HR, KPIT Cummins said, “The HR team needs to take focus on key initiatives in the areas of talent attraction, retention, people development, etc. All this is possible only if the HR is continuously connected with the employees through communications at all levels; it should be able to feel the “pulse” of the employees.”

Iti Kumar, AVP–HR, GlobalLogic conceded, “We believe in aligning all HR practices with business.  We have a collaborative approach and partner with the business function, facilitating them in day to day operations.  We work more as a consultant and do not reflect power center approach in any of our actions. We create an extended HR team by involving all the employees of the company in decision-making and in launching new policies, processes or practices. For example, we had recently revised the ‘core values’ of the company. Prior to doing so, we sought employee feedback on the same and also later once the core values were rolled out.”

HR should be able to provide a competitive edge to the business through a qualified and motivated workforce.  Sanjay Paul Antony, Senior VP-HR, Subex Azure, stated, “There should be clarity about the type of people resource we need to manage our business. And secondly, there is a need for understanding that people programs and initiatives must be designed and implemented. A successful HR function would work towards designing and implementing the solutions for getting the right talent, developing and retaining them.”

Pravin Tatavarti, Managing Director, Allegis India opined, “HR should be focused on driving the business strategy and partner with business in execution of its plans. HR is all about leveraging talent and it should partner with business in attracting retaining and transforming the right people to the right jobs.”

Best practices

360 degree performance management feedback system, open book management style, rewards and recognition, coaching and mentoring through trainings, employee assistance programs (EAPs), clearly defined and measurable KRAs, are just a few of the best practices which soon will no longer remain optional for companies to adopt and implement. In the long run, HR best practices are beneficial for both an organization and its employees.

Elaborating further, Kulkarni said, “In KPIT Cummins, the employee referral program is one of the most encouraging recruitment practices. Our existing employees refer their friends and acquaintances to join our organization. It helps us in our recruitment process, and also reflects their own contentment in working with us. This certainly creates a bond between the employee and the company.” Another major area where companies should follow best practices is the appraisal process. “We at KPIT Cummins follow the 360 degree appraisal process, whereby the feedback comes from seniors, peers and subordinates,” added Kulkarni.

A motivated employee can contribute significantly to an organization’s objectives. There is a need to ensure complete transparency and keep employees updated with the company’s goals, progress, challenges, etc., through constant and vigorous communication.

Sharing his own experience at Subex, Antony stated, “For us, one of the significant focus areas have been leadership development. We followed a three-stage model for our ‘Subexian Leadership Programme’ (SLP). The way we looked at SLP, as with any process of building competencies in individuals was through the following steps—create the right attitude for the change, deliver the relevant knowledge, improve the skills/knowledge, transfer the newly acquired competencies into their day-to-day activities and then help them get used to the new way of working.” They started this with an Assessment Center for all participants. After this, each participant went through a 12-month long training program with classroom inputs and assignments. The third stage was for each of the participants to try their new learning on-the-job and also, to be change agents in the organization by taking up some of the learnings from the program, form focus groups and implement some new initiatives.

From planning to execution

Highlighting the importance of planning, Antony said, “Let us take the on-boarding process, for example. This is one process where we have received consistently outstanding feedback from new joiners. It is meticulously planned and executed so that everyone is able to be productive from Day 1. Everything, including business cards, seating location, computers, access cards, briefing on policies, a note on frequently asked questions for new joiners—all are done on Day 1. This projects a professional image of the company, and the new joiner can be productive from Day 1.”

Training still drives

Elaborating on some of the special tools that can enable the HR department to build an added value for the organization and for the employees, Rosita Rabindra, Executive VP and Head of HR, NIIT Technologies said, “All IT companies need to make individuals undergo rigorous technology training to make them ‘project-ready’. Also, soft skills and behavioral training is something that the academia has not focused on and the development of such soft skills must become a priority for IT companies. The training program at NIIT Technologies for its employees are both project and role-driven.”

The necessary precautions

Kumar asserted that it should be ensured that there is a line of sight so that goals across levels are aligned, “Goals should be objective and driven around the balanced scorecard approach—customer centric, financial, business processes and learning.”

People efforts go high up when their goals and efforts are linked to organizational goals. In addition to this, Tatavarti said, “Companies should ensure that they communicate their execution strategy to their employees and establish their goals and roles in achieving their business objectives.” Inability to do so may lead to loss beyond repair.

faiz.askari@expressindia.com