CASE STUDY I

The gimmicks of

management
For HR to be a strategic partner in business it is not just the sole responsibility of the business to elevate the role of HR, rather it is a mutual collaboration of the people management team and business leaders to work in tune of the common goal.

people

BY DR. P VIJAYAKUMAR AND RADHIKA SUBRAMANIAN

hekhar had recently joined as the HR Head of the global operations business of Supreme Bank in Mumbai. The bank had over 10,000 people in its India operations alone, across different cities and several thousand more across other low-cost, high value destinations globally. He felt like a cross between being a senior leader and a nobody. Every location had an HR Head and all of them reported to another regional HR Head who reported to the global HR Head of Operations who then reported to the HR Head for the Bank globally. Shekhar found his team to be extremely tenured within the system. They had all spent anywhere between eight to fourteen years with Supreme Bank in largely operations roles and eventually moved to HR. The word on the floor was that people applied for HR internal job postings when they needed a break from the hectic life in operations, because life in HR was like a

holiday with fixed times to come in and sign out for the day and not much to do while one was in office. It was the same situation in all the cities, the team said. Even the senior HR leadership was over 20 years in the system and they hadn't changed anything or questioned it so far. The reputation of HR in the organization disturbed Shekhar, but somehow what surprised him was that it didn't affect any of his team members. They simply shrugged it off saying, "We are after all not engaged, what else would employees do"? This shocked Shekhar and he decided that before meeting with any of the stakeholders, he would spend his first two weeks understanding what his team did on a day-to-day basis. "How can any HR team not be completely occupied," he wondered. His first meeting with his team confirmed his worst fears. They were largely involved in less value adding administration activities such as updating

56

December 2013

www.humancapitalonline.com

I CASE STUDY

information and organizing hiring drives and then conducting new- hire orientations. The high attrition of over 26 per cent, which was far greater than industry benchmark, ensured that they only had recruitment and new-hire orientations to do throughout the year. Moreover, his team that came with prior experience in hardcore operations continued to work with a process mindset. They 'logged-in' at fixed times and 'loggedout' at fixed times no matter what. Leaving early meant booking a half-day leave and staying back meant recording over-time. As a result, he noticed that most employees in the 24/7 process never saw the face of an HR person because they would have all logged out after their general shift. Apparently, the move to the general shift was the USP of applying for an HR job posting. They also had a tool that mandatorily captured productivity by making everyone account for their 9-hours in 30 minute slots every day. He was also surprised that his team of

11 people had 10 women. On discussing further with his team, he found out that a round of downsizing had taken place about seven years ago. Fearing the worst, most male employees had put out their CVs and had shifted jobs, while most female members decided that it was the best time to take a long break for maternity. After the break period was over, some came back while the male employees who had found other jobs obviously did not. In the process of these conversations, he also unearthed a gender-inclusion concern. His lone male team member came up to him and said, "I am extremely demotivated. I have no one to communicate with. All the other team members are always talking about their children, their mothers-in-laws, and the food they have cooked that day. I always get left out of conversations. I feel very lonely and I think of quitting. I am already looking out for other opportunities." The more he heard about the team's state, the more Shekhar began to doubt his

www.humancapitalonline.com

December 2013

57

CASE STUDY I
career decision. Was this the right place to be? Would this place help him build his subject matter expertise? Was the leadership bothered about HR at all? He decided to explore this angle in his stakeholder meetings the following week. One of his first meetings was with the Business Head for the Mumbai office. Roy: "So how have your first few weeks been?" Shekhar: "It has been interesting. I have been having several conversations with my team and understanding what they have been involved with. The work seems largely recruitment and postrecruitment related. I am wondering if that is also the management's expectation from them." Roy: "I am glad you asked that question. We really want HR to do a lot more than what it is being done at present. A lot of things such as training, performance management and mobility are being managed by the business itself and it is a huge pressure on their time. We need HR to step in and take over." Shekhar: "Really? I was not sure the business wanted HR involved. I have not seen the team involved in any client relationship work with business heads." Roy: "Of course business wants them involved. I have been chatting with a few of them and they all agree. I spoke with Sangeetha who heads Reconciliations earlier this week and one of her key concerns is HR. We spent most of our time discussing our coping strategies in the absence of HR involvement." Shekhar: "That's good and bad news at the same time. I am sure we can work towards greater HR involvement. However, there are some things I am curious to understand. How is it that HR has not been involved in this so far?" Roy: "Well, it has somehow just not happened. It has always been an expectation but somewhere between the local office here and the head office and global office, by the time there is an agreement on how things should progress, they get forgotten or de-prioritized. With you coming on board, I am very confident that we will see the change we need. And, you will make the change happen." Shekhar (after considering the last statement for a few seconds): "So how would you recommend we proceed from here?" Roy: "You are the expert, Shekhar. I really don't think I need to tell you how to proceed. I am expecting you to take charge and lead. However, I can tell you this. As a business, we are moving into new products for erstwhile untouched markets - both in terms of people and geographies. This means not only being able to ramp up efficiency on existing products and services, but also being able to ideate and innovate new products. That is the business need of the hour. And, I will expect HR to support that strategy in every way it can." As Shekhar left the meeting with Roy, his antennae were up. The problem was within HR itself? How is it that HR couldn't agree on what its roles should be? Was this territoriality playing out? How should he deal with this new twist? This is not going to be easy, he thought to himself. Even if I work through HR's internal issues, how is like going to be successfully implemented and ingrained in the organizational culture? The business has not been used to a proactive HR team, how will they really deal with that? The team has not been fully engaged, forget being involved in more non-admin roles. Will they have the capabilities needed to execute on the new expectations? Back at his desk, Shekhar drafted a detailed document asking questions about HR's role in the Bank. While he had his answers to the questions, he did not want to write them down, so that it did not come across as imposing when shared with someone else. He wanted the questions to be discussion points. Unfortunately for him, his boss' enthusiasm was not reflected in the larger group. The other HR Heads

DR. P VIJAYAKUMAR Chairperson - Center for Social and Organizational Leadership TISS, Mumbai Dr. Vijaykumar teaches OD & change and research methodology at TISS. He works in the areas of strategy as practice, innovation and leadership. His current research interest is to understand managerial micro activities.

RADHIKA SUBRAMANIAN Director and Co-Founder WukiLabs Technologies Ms Subramanian is Director and Co-Founder at WukiLabs Technologies that drives organizational and social transformation through technology. She has worked with HSBC, Goldman Sachs, Nomura and Lehman Brothers.

58

December 2013

www.humancapitalonline.com

I CASE STUDY
did not even respond to an all-HR Head email by the Regional Head of HR on this topic. When invited on calls to discuss, they were largely quiet and unfriendly. In a few one-on-one discussions with some of his HR Head peers, Shekhar saw stiff resistance to the idea and a reaction that was very personal. People felt as if asking those questions was a personal attack on their capability and that Shekhar, who was new to the system, was questioning their contributions and their role in the last several years, which he had no right to do. One of his peers spent seven straight hours on a phone call explaining to Shekhar what the history and context of the organization was and how he should know these things before asking questions. Shekhar felt taken aback. These are supposed to be senior leaders, he said to himself. How can they react personally? Aren't they supposed to be able to look at things objectively and the HR function first? Even the regional HR Head's support wasn't doing anything to reduce their resistance. It felt like a losing battle. However, Shekhar also knew this was an important battle to fight - HR would become redundant if it did not deliver to business requirements and establish itself as critical to the growth and development of Supreme.

n Shekhar's situation, introducing even a small change within the team is an uphill task. Foremost, he will have to earn the trust and confidence of his team; followed-by bringing a change in attitude and culture. No leadership theory about implementing and embracing change and earning trust and respect will hold no water if Shekhar talks tough in his first meeting with the team. It will only alienate the team and induce stiff resistance to his well-meaning change ideas. Shekhar will have to give the team, benefit of doubt and move forward on the premise that earlier no senior HR leader made an effort to make in terms of making the team understand that in today's business scenario, HR has evolved from being a mere administrative and recruiting function to a 'strategic' business partner. Looking at the tough circumstances, Shekhar will have to take baby steps, beginning with striking a personal rapport with the team. He can do this by having regular lunches with the team in the office cafeteria without jumping into the business agenda. This will help him to appeal to the emotional psyche of the team comprising of mainly women. It will also induce confidence in the lone male member of the team as he will not feel left out and will be prepared to partner with Shekhar as a change agent. With one person on his side, the initial small win is very vital for Shekhar to create the momentum going forward. Over a period of next few weeks, Shekhar can make his team understand the importance and benefits

www.humancapitalonline.com

December 2013

59

CASE STUDY I
of partnering with business by citing examples of successful companies as case studies and sending team members to various industry forums wherein the team gets a practical understanding of how HR being at the table with the business can bring a paradigm shift in the way businesses operate. Also, appealing to individual team member's emotional psyche with the 'what's in it for me' approach will set the stage for the team buy-in. Instead of waiting for a 360 degree change in attitude of the team, Shekhar should reward the early adopters for significant movement in the right direction which will motivate the mere onlookers. Shekhar will have to begin the change adventure with realistic expectations that things may probably get worse before they get better. The tactic of 'listen, listen and listen' while dealing with his team and other teams will be the first step for Shekhar to get buy-in. By listening, he can understand the fears of everyone involved and introduce 'small yet meaningful' changes, instead of headlines grabbing alterations. He will have to demonstrate practically the strategic value HR brings to the business by turning around one business unit to begin with. In this case, the Reconciliations team which Roy, the Business Head mentioned about. Before approaching, Sangeetha, (Head of Reconciliations team), Shekhar as a leader, has to approach his team to seek their help in turning around things with the assurance of 'freedom to make mistakes'. Outside the HR function, it will be twice as hard for Shekhar as business does not have the 'trust' factor because of the HR team's past track record. As a true leader, he has no choice but to accept the past failures and work together with the business and his team to come up with multiple short-term goals. Fulfilling short-term goals and demonstrating short-term wins will help Shekhar win the business as well his team's confidence. Introducing a scorecard mechanism detailing joint successes of HR and business teams' (as agreed upon by various businesses) for public display on the company intranet will demonstrate a wider and shared commitment on part of both HR and the business for larger organization success. Shekhar will also have to convince the business and HR team to outsource administrative HR tasks to concentrate on the core tasks such as employee engagement, performance management, HR metrics, etc., which in turn will improve the HR's image in front of the entire organization and act as a huge morale booster for the team to exceed expectations. At every step in his plan, Shekhar needs to acknowledge his stakeholders separately and applaud their genuine efforts towards changing things in the best interest of the organization. He has to identify and groom potential leaders in his team to ensure team members' competence grows in disciplines such as change and relationship management. Providing the team with multiple learning avenues will ensure that the team members always find new challenges and when groomed as leaders, they will have a personal stake in ensuring the transformation is taken to the next level and does not die out. The success of the tactics suggested will ensure the sustainability of the transformation. Also, structuring the HR team (reporting to Shekhar) by assigning roles to the members such that, they are not only responsible for their personal success but also for the success of the entire team and ultimately the organization, is vital. The structured approach will guarantee future successes even if Shekhar or Roy move out of the organization as their replacements will have the foundation in place to implement newer practices and ideas without starting at the grassroots.

SAKAAR ANAND
Vice President - HR CA Technologies Sakaar Anand leads Human Resources (HR) for CA Technologies India. Sakaar has 15 years of experience in Information Technology, handling software development and delivery from global locations, working on domains like retail banking, credit cards, inventory management, portfolio/stock management and after sales service.

60

December 2013

www.humancapitalonline.com

I CASE STUDY
hekhar should do a thorough analysis of the teams' current capabilities in terms of functional and behavioural competence. It is clear that they do lack the functional capabilities to a great extent due to various historical reasons; such that most of his team members have been moved from operations; do not have formal education, experience and exposure in training, performance management and mobility, which is still managed by business itself. At the same time, they know the business process well and once they acquire the requisite HR knowledge and skillsets, they will be able to align and customize the organizational needs. Acquiring knowledge and skillset is not a challenge, compared to taking them into confidence and identifying the potentials to carve out the future plan for fitting role and responsibilities. Shekhar needs to create a structure and fix up the job profiles and accountabilities to begin with.

workout the short-term and longterm plans. There is a need to highlight the importance of changed and competitive business scenario and take the commitment of his team for ownership to deliver the results. The Critical Success Factor (CSF) for Shekhar is winning the confidence of the team. Once they are on board, as a team, he can garner the support of the stakeholders by partnering and collaborating for the common goals and accomplishments.

Institutionalization of process
The HR process should have clear linkages with other business processes and business results in common threads, such as X matrix. It should clearly establish how this function is contributing to the profitability of business by reinforcing its activities and various processes. For example, the company recorded 26 per cent attrition, which is much higher than the benchmark, if it is brought down to 12 per cent how it will impact the business results and the morale of the employees. Training should aim to enhance the capabilities of its people for multiskilling, which will ultimately help the business to increase manpower productivity. Institutionalization of performance management system is to reward and recognize the people and use it as a tool to motivate for higher performance and delivery on stretch goals. Business should feel the value derived by the HR function and not as an agency, which is to transact the activities as per the checklist, like a ritual. People across the business should be able to see the business impact and presence of the HR function at all levels. Once HR is able to reach this level by institutionalizing its processes by delivering consistent performance in partnership and collaboration with other stakeholders, it will be sustainable and will not depend on the association and leverage on individuals such as Shekhar or Roy. This is because at the end of day, every business organization has to deliver the performance to sustain it HC in long run.

RAVI MISHRA
Vice President - HR

Birla Carbon

Intent is more important than content

Shekhar should infuse the spirit of trust to take the team on board, and instead of criticizing the present state of affairs, should focus more on moving forward. He should convert business expectations as discussed by Roy in time bound plans. He should influence Business Heads to have a buy-in for his plans and proposals to get the support for execution in terms of necessary resources and empowerment, so that his peer group and Regional HR Heads should support and fall in line. It is important for Shekhar to have strong and convincing points which states that it is high time for HR to contribute proactively to business results to avoid the opportunity of missing the bus. He should set the norms for a robust periodic performance review.

A postgraduate in Social Work (MSW) from J. K. Institute of Social Sciences, Lucknow, he has been associated with Human Resource Management in diversified organizations such as, Nicholas Piramal Group, Mardia Group, Bihar Caustic & Chemicals, UltraTech Cement. He is currently working with Birla Carbon as Vice President - HR.

Inside and outside

He should share his thought process about his role, responsibilities and expectations of the business with his team. He should invite their viewpoints about proposals and

www.humancapitalonline.com

December 2013

61