HR headed by Delivery/Business guys – Future of tomorrow!

The role of HR in today’s world has changed – It is not a mere line function but an extended arm to the core business of an organization. HR functions as a strategic partner – Be it formulating policies, following practices, recruiting, nurturing & retaining talent & growing the business.

HR in the IT Industry is heavily with recruitments – Training, Compensation & Benefits, Employee Relations & Organisational Development complete the entire gamut of activities. Given that HR & business work closely it would be advantageous for organizations to have people with business/technical background in HR.

So, be it forming new policies, conducting surveys & designing compensation & benefits packages, understanding the pain points of the employees. Finding resource utilization & staffing projects movement of resources within projects, proactive recruitments based on manpower planning with industry know-how, multi-skilling resources & building successful teams – Business knowledge would add value, help track loopholes & solve issues to reach closer to the grey areas & achieve near perfection!

How many times have we come across policies which need alterations?
2 different projects – 1 overstaffed (with additional buffer resources for contingency) & the other understaffed. People who want to move into projects of their choice & ultimately quit coz they don’t get to.
Some skills which are rare & difficult to hire & have, the other skills which are easier to get & yet we try maintaining salary parity – which is another myth.
Trainings – which generally talk about man hours/days in a year – but not why & which based on individual strengths & weaknesses.
Companies which talk about retention policies but not about creating a brand/experience that employees never think of quitting.

HR continues to do a great job – its a tough one – only when they do not perform is their presence felt till then no one thanks or rewards them for a job well done. Having said this, it is left to the delivery/business guys to provide significant market inputs/intelligence to frame better policies & implement better practices year after year.

Given the importance of HR & its strategic partnership with business, it would be great to have some one with business background heading HR – This well could be the future of tomorrow!