The ONE THING that HR leaders should focus in 2014 to contribute to business success such that by doing it everything else will be easier or even unnecessary!

1. www.peoplematters.in
www.peoplematters.in

2. Some of the HR professionals wanted the function to brush up their
basics – Focus on employee relations and employee engagement and
become strategic partners of business
HR leaders placed a lot of emphasis on talent management and talent
development and said it is time for organizations to follow a peoplecentered culture
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www.peoplematters.in

3. www.peoplematters.in
Businesses worldwide, including India, need to adapt to
the uncertainties in the market and the changes that are
happening at a pace that is faster than ever before.
Businesses need to drive productivity through value-add,
innovation, and of course, revenue. This calls for a
redefinition of the rules of the game, and in turn, the HR
strategy. The good news is HR leaders today have the
opportunity to redefine some of these rules..
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4. www.peoplematters.in
Finding, developing and hanging onto enough of the qualified, quality
people you need to keep your company thriving in an increasingly
competitive, global economy may be something you’re dealing with
today. If not, it’s a good bet you’ll be dealing with it at some point in
the not-too distant future, as a recent survey found that 61 per cent of
Indian organizations couldn’t hire people with the right skills due to
talent shortages. Talent shortage or not, there’s no shortage of advice
floating around about the best systems, software and social media
tools for finding top prospects and those ever-elusive passive
candidates.
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5. www.peoplematters.in
In today’s hyper-competitive environment, traditional approaches to
strategy are obsolete. The notion that a grand designer would be
able to analyze the conditions facing the firm and design an effective
strategy to move the organization forward is nothing but an illusion.
Today more than ever, strategy has to involve people — both at a
rational and an emotional level. Unless companies find ways to
engage their people’s energies in developing new strategic ideas
as well as putting these ideas into action, their strategy—however
brilliant—will fail.
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6. www.peoplematters.in
Which of your three children or your six grandchildren do you love the most?
I was recently asked this by a sincere, but oblivious person. I love all my
children and grandchildren equally. Likewise, it is nearly impossible to say
“which is THE most important theme for HR 2014?” I think many of the ideas
are relevant, so I will offer a menu of HR hopes for 2014.
• HR outside in
• Talent
• Leadership
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7. www.peoplematters.in
The main focus for most organizations in 2014 should be on talent
management and talent development, particularly the managerial and
technical roles in the organizations. One of the major reasons for the focus
on talent is that it is a great way to get the HR function into a broader
discussion about what is next for the organization and what the business
strategy should be. Allowing the HR function and talent management to
contribute to the overall effectiveness and financial performance of the
organization is the best way the HR function can add value to the
corporation.
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8. www.peoplematters.in
Being an HR professional and running an HR organization can be
quite complex. First, you have to manage many administrative
things well: Staffing, onboarding, compliance, training, employee
relations, communication, payroll, benefits, time tracking, and
generally making sure that people stay out of trouble. And of course
if you let any of these things slide or go awry, your reputation is at
risk.
But despite this important administrative role, in today’s business
climate this is just not enough.
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9. www.peoplematters.in
You have three geometrically shaped empty boxes in front of you. One
is a rectangle, second a triangle and third a square. You need to fill them up.
If you act locally (assuming different shaped boxes as different issues in
different countries), you might have pulled out a large cardboard and a
scissors, cut three different solid shapes as per requirement and filled it in.
Now if you decide to act globally, you might figure out creating some sort of
fluid, which can be placed in each box and it takes the shape of that
container. What have you done here? Created a long term solution (come
what may the shape of future boxes) and potentially saved a few millions in
cash and a load of time for your efforts.
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10. www.peoplematters.in
The one big people agenda for 2014 will be centred on productivity.
With the economies remaining turbulent, the challenge to survive
and then hopefully thrive will demand a very close look at staff
productivity. Making an honest assessment of the issue is fraught
with its share of business outlook, assessment and the emotions
around it. Many companies in India have been more paternalistic
and soft in their historical attitudes to productivity. Outdated labor
laws, lack of a social security net and the general comfort with
mediocrity of many managers has made the challenge delicate.
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11. www.peoplematters.in
HR needs to rethink its positioning from being a business
partner to being a catalyst for creating innovation across all
parts of the organization. HR has many levers, which can
enable us to tap into the creativity that people bring to work
every day. If I look at my team in the last three to four years,
we have created what we call a culture of “ideapreneurship” –
where employee ideas are feeded, nurtured and harvested to
add value for our clients. This culture of “ideapreneurship” has
led to $230 million of value being added to our clients over
and above the commercial contract that has been negotiated
with them. So, I would say that there is a direct financial
impact if you tap into the ideas that employees have to
enhance what we call the value zone between themselves,
the company and the customer.
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12. www.peoplematters.in
The business context is very volatile and opportunities are shrinking
day by day. Organizations will undergo challenging times and unless
people are motivated and engaged they will not be able to succeed. If
I were to choose just one thing that HR leaders should focus on, it
would be keeping employees motivated and engaged with the
business plans. This is important both in the private sector and the
public sector companies, but PSUs are governed by government
rules so we don’t have all the levers that private sector companies
have.
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13. www.peoplematters.in
So, what can we expect from HR in 2014? To answer this question,
a review of the year might be in order. The current year was a
somber one for business as we faced an economic slowdown, high
and persistent inflation and a sharp fall in the external value of the
rupee. Business confidence was low and investment plans put on
hold.
Given the impending elections, it is unlikely that a slew of bold
reforms will be announced. Large government spending to boost the
economy is unlikely given the high fiscal deficit, which the Finance
Minister has promised to rein in. Any prospect of an economic revival
will have to wait the swearing in of a new government. Given this
scenario, I venture to suggest the following priorities for HR in 2014:
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14. www.peoplematters.in
As President of the Employers’ Federation of India (EFI) and also of the
National HRD Network (NHRDN), I interact with many people across the
country and across sectors. As I meet employees, managers, trade unions
and people from the government, there is clearly an issue with respect to
Industrial Relations that needs to be addressed. Contract labor is here to
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stay. The problem is that we have not got the balance right between various
aspects of the ecosystem in terms of costs and benefits, and the short- and
long-term implications and this is creating problems in the system.
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15. www.peoplematters.in
The days of traditional banking are gone. The days of
building your product and people breaking down your
door to buy it are gone and the days of HR being
non-strategic are gone. In 2014, many markets will
finally be recovering from the recession and
assuming parts of Europe does not fall into deflation,
(which is a real threat and if it happens, it will s tall
the recovery as it did for Japan), then many
businesses across the world ill start 2014
optimistically. Instead of discussing
controlling costs, managing working capital and hiring
freezes, discussions will be about growth and new
opportunities.
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16. www.peoplematters.in
A lot of talent assessment was done in the past decade through various
interventions like 360 degree feedback, assessment centres, engagement
surveys and the like but developing and nurturing talent in the business
context was weak. Investments in such assessments need to be converted
into human capital assets for the organizations. This requires understanding
the talent not only in the business context but also in the context of gender
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and generation diversity under one roof.
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17. For Further Information
Kindly Contact
+91 (124) 4148102
info@peoplematters.in
www.peoplematters.in
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The One Thing
January 2014
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