The quirky business of Human Resource management and tips to ease the journey
Authored By: Geetanjali Pandit Gupta (Chief People Officer of Zee Media Corporation Ltd)
Not all brides have it as tough as the Indian bride, especially in an arranged marriage (the observation is strictly mine and all resemblance to real life is intended, nothing is coincidental). She’s expected to be all things to all people at all times. And woe betide her if she slips. She is to be demure vis-a-vis the in-law clan. She is to be modern in the interface with friends and at work. She must be well turned out. She must respect the traditional while being good at household management, especially in the kitchen. And much more. Talk about performance pressure!
This shape-shifting and all things to all people is a part of the HR paradigm in many organisations. So Human Resources needs to showcase steady and rising engagement scores while maintaining organisational decorum and perhaps, discipline when required.
To contain payroll costs while having the ability to attract top talent, though not necessarily for top dollar. To be the custodian of an increasingly vital employer brand while knowing fully well that the entire organisation is impacting and shaping it.
To be held accountable for shaping organisational culture while actually being just one part of the organisation and a host of times, still struggling to be counted amongst the equals.
Some things that have helped me to ease my journey along this path:
– Acceptance. That this is the nature of the beast. It is going to happen and you will need to deal with it as it arises without imposing your expectations on what ought to be the definition of your function.
– To sharpen the metrics that measure HR performance.
– To know the business of your industry, the business of your firm and the macro-environment around the business.
– Give up the fear of figures and embrace figures, percentages and analytics in a big way.
– Accept that organisation culture is a shared result and that you need to work subtly to shape it.
So keep the conversation going and let me know your views on this!
The author is the Chief People Officer of Zee Media Corporation Ltd
News Source: Linkedin updates of Geetanjali Pandit Gupta
