The role of the human resources (HR) division of a company has changed dramatically from a mere advisory agent to a strategic contributor to the overall organisational goals.
Having been called a "business partner" for a long time, HR today is being asked to align itself with all the divisions in an organisation and play diverse roles, defining a common culture for the entire organisation.
This was the broad consensus that emerged from a recently concluded HR summit on "Leading Through Strategic HRM: CEO's Kaleidoscope" organised by the All India Management Association (AIMA).
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In the context of globalisation, and the consequent change in HR's role, innovation has become the name of the game.
Commenting that HR executives had acquired the reputation of being professional mourners, Anil Sachdev, chairman, Grow Talent Company Ltd, said at the summit that simple innovative practices like encouraging inspired conversations among people could go a long way in creating a different environment and thereby improving productivity.
"HR has to design organisations today and lead them forward by sharing equal risk and responsibility. It has to play its role in 'demystifying' business strategies, so much so that they are clear even to employees at the lowest rungs," Sachdev said.
An attempt needed to be made to transform 'industrial houses' to places that resembled homes in terms of experience, and HR, through innovative practices, could do that and play its new role.
To retrench workforce and downsize was not the only role for an HR professional, he said.
Stressing the importance of the top management to believe in the importance of innovation, Rakesh Pandey, chief human resource officer, Marico Industries Ltd, felt that HR needed to help decrease the fear of failure thereby contributing to an increase in experimentation.
Oft-repeated was the observation during the session that values were extremely important. "It is easy to get people of the right domain knowledge, but to get people of the right values is vital and HR has to play that role today," Sanjay Goel, senior vice-president and business leader, GECIS, said. The two-day summit was the second in a span of one year.