The occasional notices announcing the annual picnic or lunch with competitions thrown in for the children of the employees are methods of making the inmates of any organization sit up and take notice of the organ called the HR.

HR from time immemorial (rather since when they have been around) has not been taken to kindly by the other intellectually stimulated departments of the organization. And with theories regarding the redundancy of HR doing the rounds, its time someone sat down and took stock of the happenings in that part of the world for the rest to see. Its time the curtains are drawn back and we take a sneak preview!

HR is the polished form of an interview panel or an internal form of consultancy. They do the murky job of hiring and firing and trying to keep the employees happy, which sadly is the toughest job on the management’s hands. So in a way they are responsible for the firm clocking productivity. They are the ones who do the dirty jobs and yet get the brickbats. But the HR guys themselves beg to differ. According to them they perform a highly respectable job, and are the backbone of any organization. They provide the link between the various wings and help hold the family together with their innovative methods of bonding.

We seem to be living in crazy times where identity is the most important qualification for one and all. What matters is the public perception about you and the work you do. So its natural for the HR guys to be screaming out loud hoping that one of the passersby will hear their cry, put them on a pedestal and convert their image into one of significance.

No surprise then when the significant publicist wants to know your credentials for fame. So then it warrants that you are so qualified that people take you seriously. That’s why its important that even HR plays a role that is an all pervading one with knowledge about all the different niche departments within an organization. Considering that they are the ones who sit in on an interview they need to understand more than just the company history and the basics of reading the body language of the interviewee.

Today HR professionals do not really practice bookish HR. As a function HR has evolved and taken on a different shape altogether. The new role envisages a more dynamic professional who having pulled up his socks is capable of delivering more tangibles in a shorter time frame. The function demands a proactive approach intertwined with positive thinking and optimism. HR is expected to become the facilitator of change among the various departments.

But what we see is a strange clamming of HR professionals to their traditional and archaic roles without embracing any of the expectations that are part of their job profile. They seem to be gradually turning into silent co-conspirators along with the top management in forming anti-employee guidelines and policies, whether with regard to compensation, salary, or appraisals. So its no surprise then that employees do not view them as confidantes or people they can turn to in times of need. They are viewed as personnel who could be done without. Naturally the next logical step would mean to just have a single person panel for the job of hiring and firing, which the numerous consultancies would more than happily do. But does that solve your problem?

One of the first steps would be to ensure that HR managers make an effort to understand more than what is defined as part of their job profile. In times where information and constant value addition are the only safety nets that we have against becoming dispensable, it’s time that HR personnel also learn the line functions or atleast understand them better. True HR is where an executive of that department is involved in the recruitment process as an expert to comment on the suitability of the candidate for the job, carrying out performance management, developing specific tools for the organization which are not purely generic and developing specific training programs which fulfill the needs of the employer instead of merely providing soul or dhaba curries. So to avoid falling into a rut, "the HR manager needs to understand the nuts and bolts and the Java script of each job in the line function, which would help in recruitment and appraisal," as Rajababu says. Considering that we live in a multidisciplinary world it is essential for HR folks to keep abreast of line functions as a measure to ensure survival. In fact as both Gautam Ghosh, senior executive, Satyam Learning Center and Hema Ravichander of Infosys claim, "HR cannot confine itself to an ivory tower and operate from there." Hema goes a step ahead to say that, "HR should become a business strategy partner and thereby prove itself worthy of proper recognition instead of delivering in a vacuum."

But K Kasi Vishwanath, Manager HR, Wipro Infotech, contends that HR has been relegated to the back seat because of the fact that it is seen as a welfare function and something that is "goody-goody." It is not something that is measurable like the sales target of a sales executive. This, he feels is one of the reasons that HR is left clamoring for attention when it should accrue to it by virtue of its work.

If we are to look at specific functions carried out by HR in terms of organizing an impromptu cake on your birthday when you would rather be left with your small group of friends, to being the third party when others are washing their dirty linen in public, HR does not a play an enviable role at all. But why is it that such actions which are taken by the human resources guys with noble intentions in mind are always misconstrued and seen as another attempt to barge into the gang to broker peace and thereby take over the position of close friend when the other protagonist exists? Most employees contend that the logic behind this is that HR professionals quite forget the pulse of a new recruit or an older employee once they are recruited and the customary greetings are made on birthdays and anniversaries. There should be genuine attempts to bridge the gap between employee expectations and ground reality to ensure satisfaction and this is absent in most cases.

Another complaint against these well meaning souls is that they are mere organizers of get togethers’ which are methods of causing inconvenience to those who would rather spend the day at home getting to know their family better. Ajay Oberoi, VP-HR, Aptech Training maintains that, "These activities when carried out as part of an activity without keeping the end result in mind become counter productive. If adding fun and friendship are part of the original plan then emphasis should be on those two factors so that the desired results of building camaraderie are ensured. It should not become an obligatory thing for employees." It should become the "interface" between employers and employees as M L Taneja, VP HR, HCL Infosystems believes.

It is true that HR is a department, which hires and fires people. But as R Chandra Sekaran, senior vice president, Cognizant Technology Solutions says, "Recruitment and people power planning are definitely inseparable responsibilities of a HR department. The people development function, which is the most integral part of HR, includes morale building activities, training, management and leadership development, and career management." Taking people out for picnics and other outings are effective ways of encouraging bonding. Especially in the IT industry where the average age of the employees is around 25-26 years, the atmosphere is more light-hearted and these exercises provide a sense of belonging and collective identity which ultimately results in increased retention.

The HR guys should realize that they mould and select the most important aspect of business today, which is knowledge or human capital. So they should try to recast themselves in their original form of a body for the people, by the people and of the people. But there is a move to shift to the higher floors and rub shoulders with the powers that be, in an attempt to build an identity for themselves if not as an organ of the people then as something that plays a key role in formulating key decisions or guidelines for clocking productivity. HR is entrenching itself in new found comfort zones and in the process getting branded as part of administration and maintenance, which is the main reasons for their clamoring for a separate and respectable identity in keeping with their activities.

The first step to freedom would mean breaking free of the Pygmalion Effect imposed on HR by the corporate world, which views HR as a predominantly maintenance organ. If this myth is shattered then the battle is half won. The next logical step would be to try and bridge the gap between employee expectations and the actual capabilities of the HR personnel. They are the ones looked upon to create a culture radiating energy and synergy with scaleable processes and systems.

Policies that are implemented and formulated should be employee friendly and not included with a mere profit motive in mind. There should be fair methods of rewarding good performance and the organization and its dealings should be transparent, rather the employer should be a good corporate citizen.So the real success of HR will be visible when it impacts on management decisions affecting human capital. Relationships between employee and employer are still bipartite even today. But with the changing winds this will become a tripartite function between team member, team leader, and the organization.

HR is not putting up notices or formulating guidelines to sent out as booklets to all the employees with a strict code of adherence. It’s about taking care of those you hire and honing their talent to put to better use in the future.

Dhanya Krishnakumar In New Delhi