Changing face of HR

You might have read a lot already with the same title, so am moving directly to latest two name tags of the role- ‘Personnel Manager’ & ‘Human Resource Manager’.

Around two decades back organizations had a role of ‘Personnel Manager’. (S)He used to administer payroll and employee benefits . Gradually they moved to more accountable role and re-christen as ‘Human Resource Manager’. But still there exist an identity crisis for the clan of HR managers. Modern commoners assume role of HR is to hire and fire employees.

Personnel managers focused on tracking and maintaining employee records, counsel managers and employees, respond to top managerial questions. HR managers still do all but with topping of new technology. Accumulation to their profile is to react, proactively react to – (not in any order)

• Utilization of employees to their maximum potential and help them to realize it
• Optimize the cost along with  higher productivity
• Brand the employer
• Preserve  the talented resources and refine the unproductive and costly member of staff
• Attract talent
• Understand and act according to business
• Communicate
• You can add more :-)

All these aim to Create a better (read healthier, safer and happier) workplace.
All the above errands affix the term ‘Strategic Partner’ to former role tag.

HR is no longer a by-stander, the day the employee joins a firm,  the face of firm are the HRs. Even before they join their roles-responsibilities, span of control, paycheck etc are decided by HR. Going even further proactive HRs groundwork on existing employee work pattern i.e. predict if the employee is going to stay during and post assignment or will move on along with the reasons for same.

Few major efforts to regular compliance monitoring, compensation & benefits  for employees are

Even for the employers the HR activity embraces CSR planning and execution, Employer branding, Grievance eradication, Leaders identification & sparkle and framing business policies & strategic planning.

HR moved from policies framing of employment, holidays etc to making People. People who work as team and sharing emotional bonding rather than remaining just employees.

Thus the HR skill set also got upgraded, as

• Strategic partner
• Change driver and manager
• Employee engagement architect 
• Talent manager
• Leaders creator

Thus again the name HR need to be renamed. New school of thought call – Human Capital Manager. What’s next? 

Succession Planning

Succession planning is the procedure of identifying potential leaders in an organization to fill important positions in near future. It is important for an organization to find the right people who will fill key positions. Any organization needs to select the candidates carefully, as they would in key positions and strategically significant roles with great responsibility and power. Thus organizations need to adopt a detailed and broad system of selection, inspection, grooming and orientation.

This process of succession planning enables organizations to:

•  Assess if they have the right skills mix to achieve company goals – and determine what gaps exist that must be closed. 
• Identify talented employees and provide education to develop them for future higher level and broader responsibilities 
• Identify which employees are at risk of leaving. 
• Retain superior employees 
• Build “bench strength."
• Determine where people belong on the bus. 
• Determine if they should be on your bus - or someone else’s.

Succession plan ideas can be

• Strategic succession plan - It is done when organization knows about any upcoming key vacant position. Generally at such situations, current (or outgoing) key role holder is involved in the lookup for a successor and also gives initial guidelines about the role.
• Emergency succession plan – It is done when a critical key role holder departs unexpectedly due to illness or accident.

Also, succession plan depends upon the company policy.

• Some organizations prefer to use the talents within the company to grow and lead
• Some companies adopt talents outside the organization to avoid collision amongst employees

Further, strategic succession plan can be

• Immediate (0 – 1 year)
• Mid-term   (2-5 years)
• Long term  (beyond 5 years)

Key elements of succession planning:

• Identification of key position
• Identification of key talent
• Assessment of key talent
• Grooming and development
• Support through transition

Steps to ensure Effective Succession Planning

• HR and business leaders should monitor succession plan.
• Rather than just recording performance, potential for future roles need to be assess. 
• Manage succession data on individuals and talent pools.
• Balance talent development and acquisition in achieving future objectives.
• Integrate succession planning systems with other businesses and HR systems in the organization to achieve efficiency, consistency and impact.

Barriers to succession plan

• Projected shortage of talents
• Cost and Time
• Talent retention 
• Conflict within employee and employer
• Insecurity feeling
• Lack of learning opportunity
• Expectation of organization