How The Role Of HR Department Today Goes Beyond ‘Hire And Fire’ To People Development & Culture Building

Over the years, the Human Resource department (“HRD”) has evolved beyond ‘People Management’ and its traditional set of duties - hiring, onboarding new talent, managing payrolls, checking legal and compliances, completing exit formalities and other administrative processes. In the last few decades, businesses have started identifying people as an asset to organizations. HRD has started emphasising on skill development, training of employees to improve an organisation’s effectiveness and culture building. With massive transformation, industrial and tech revolutions, especially post-pandemic, the role of HR has never been more crucial and specialised. Today, technology has invaded every possible nook and cranny, hybrid models are the new work order, the great resignation has altered the course of employment and companies, attrition rates have skyrocketed and the mental health of the workforce has become a priority.

In the present scenario, the role of HR has evolved into playing a key role in an organisation’s growth trajectory. Being the internal gatekeeper, the manager of an employee’s life cycle, and the bridge between top management and the employee base, it bears the responsibility of achieving organisational operational excellence. Now is the time for the HR department to step in and step up, to re-imagine and redefine their role in a company. 

The Employee Epicentre:  In the words of America’s pioneering saleswoman Brownie Wise, ‘If you want to build a business, build the people’. Employees are the ‘human resource’ of an organisation, and investment in them reaps dividends. The HR’s job to look after the employee’s well-being has never been more urgent since the pandemic. A report by Microsoft found that 54% of Generation Z workers, 41% of the entire global workforce, could be considering handing in their resignation. This trend of resigning stems from a rising tribe of unhappy, dissatisfied, frustrated workforce - lack of empathy and people’s skills being primary reasons. For businesses to scale, especially start-ups that are witnessing massive employee drain, there is a need for the HR to build a culture of empathy, of safety, security, and most importantly, to be a ‘people’s officer’ who works on interpersonal relations and develops an empathetic attitude towards the employees. 

Adapt, Adopt, Evolve: An article in Harvard Business Review states how employing analytics in HR makes human resources management more “deliberate and systematic,” which in turn renders the organization “more evidence-based, talent-centric, and meritocratic.” Technology and regulations are evolving, and so is HR at a supersonic speed. The question of whether AI will replace humans is immaterial - what is important is will HR rise to the occasion and be in sync with innovation, automation and transformation because the adoption of the same, like AI for hiring, automation for operational tasks like attendance management and employment record management etc, will cut down time spent on repetitive tasks and concentrate on the bigger picture - improving business growth, strengthening employee trust and loyalty.

With corporates cutting the fat and focusing on leaner, specialised teams, data analytics, especially predictive analysis has swung into action. Listen, engage, innovate, and incentivise is the new mantra. Instead of a post-mortem of an event, HR is now expected to think and act in advance. 

The Remote Control: Hybrid work models are here to stay, and with employees increasingly opting for the work-from-home option, it raises concerns about cyber security, data confidentiality and employee privacy. HR is now managing an invisible workforce and hence has to re-strategise and work on effective policies and an uninterrupted stream of communication in order to avoid any conflicts or misunderstandings. Innovative ways of relationship building in the hybrid is a challenge HR has to face to sustain personal-professional growth and extract the best from the employees.  

Present Ready & Future Focused: From the chores of day-to-day working and management, there is an essential need of the five-year view and planning. Organisations now pose a pertinent question, especially to HR, ‘Are we ready?’ The traditional job description of an HR has today given way to a far sharper, intuitive, evolved profile, one that is result oriented. They are going beyond timekeeping and recruitment responsibilities into making their organisations future-ready by hiring right, strengthening capabilities that will be needed by the organisations in the immediate and near future, nurturing diversity and building a cohesive culture where everyone has a space to voice their thoughts, to contribute. The modern-day HR has to convincingly project him/herself as the champion of employees, be their collective voice. They have a huge role to play in cultural assimilation during mergers and acquisitions which is critical to success in such endeavors. Not only are they now accountable to identifying, nurturing, grooming and delivering successors for the organisation, but they also have to instil an environment of constant learning and development, an open-door policy of communication and maintain a steady pipeline of high-performing, highly motivated people to meet the demands of today and future.

Building a Culture: One of HR’s core areas of work is building and ensuring a strong work culture, and with it, professional excellence. Attrition rates are far less in companies that are invested in people development programs, that foster a healthy and happy workplace culture and do not hesitate in providing opportunities for growth within the organisation. Emphasis is increasingly being put on personal excellence, to take stock of ‘how well are we looking after our people’. Are they simply good workers doing their job or are they going beyond the call of duty too? The human resource department policies have to continuously develop effective people development strategy, and design and execute training programs that not only work on their skills, knowledge and professional capabilities, but goes deeper and works on their attitude, relationship skills, and interpersonal skills, into making them better human beings who are productive contributors to the society too. HR plays a key role in curating and instilling a culture of mutual respect, of tolerance, of kindness, of holistic well-being, which the employee carries with him/her for life, wherever they go.