 "HR as a change agent")
The human resource function played an important role in setting up basic operations, with a focus on providing adequate resources for services like staffing and payroll. In the following years, as the sector welcomed the wireless mobile devices, which brought in revenues with every minute of usage, it was the sales, distribution and marketing teams who led the sector on its growth path. As the sector learnt to stride the growth path, talent was hired in great numbers. But while business grew and revenue margins broadened over the next few years, HR witnessed a growing trend of employees graduating from these nurseries and moving to other companies across sectors. The telecom sector and economy continued to grow at a rapid pace and this trend of exiting employees plagued HR managers.
In response, the sector quickly adopted policies to address the fundamental question: why does an employee switch to another company? HR proactively devised solutions to motivate, train and engage employees, while building a strong employer brand , enabling employees to connect and align themselves with the company s goals. The focus also shifted to streamlining and putting in place processes to standardise systems and practices to leverage synergies of scale for HR operations.
These practices were introduced across verticals within HR to support business which was constantly breaking new ground and making novel demands on the HR function. The challenge was to position telecom as an employer of choice, and living up to the brand promise and positioning. Around this time, Airtel launched the Young Leaders Programme envisioned to hire the best managerial talent from top B-schools in the country to build a solid leadership pipeline, an investment which has started to yield tremendous results now. This young and ambitious talent was ring-fenced with attractive and innovative reward programmes and other long-term investments like leadership development programmes. While the young talent was being groomed by a variety of experiences to take on leadership challenges in the future, mid-career professionals from across industries were attracted to the promising telecom story. Thus, people from banking, insurance, FMCG organisations started joining telecom pioneers in sales, customer service, etc. This diverse set of talent had challenging assignments as the industry constantly innovated on products and processes. Airtel, in particular in the last decade, has metamorphosed from a mobile service provider to a media and communications behemoth with operations across the world and product offerings ranging from digital TV to enterprise solutions for billion-dollar giants.
The value of business expansion is reflected not only in the financials but also the opportunities that we can afford to give our employees across functions, businesses and geographies, especially in the uncertain regulatory times of today. But usually, such variety of opportunities is often associated with uncertainty and ambiguity. These twins are enough to erode any value that HR processes may create over a period of time and hence need to be dealt with effectively. This is where the HR function and line managers shook hands and clearly articulated not only level progression but also career progression to talent within the organisation. Career paths for various functions were introduced as a ready reckoner for any employee keen to know what critical experiences he or she needed to gather to reach a particular destination within the organisation. These career paths continue to evolve with the roles in the organisation as the industry keeps making fresh demands of its talent.
Lest we mistake HR managers to be the lone rangers in this journey, people managers have been instrumental in managing and engaging talent with the aid of the various tools available to them. Competency frameworks, career paths et al can only be effective if managers themselves are able to assimilate them, evaluate team members objectively and communicate effectively and consistently. Also, 2007 onwards, as the industry grew in size with more operators coming in, the talent marketplace became extremely cut throat. This was the time for the HR function to shift gears and become a key differentiator. These line managers became more demanding of HR and expected innovative solutions not just around talent acquisition but also other facets such as reward and recognition, talent management etc.
This welcome shift gave HR the impetus to innovate and partner with business on key talent issues. In Airtel, we introduced Organisation and Talent Reviews to have a common view of our capability gaps and talent pipeline with business. Over the years, this process has defined how talent is managed within the organisation. In the last couple of years, there has been a lot of discussion in progressive organisations on Hi-Po (high-potential talent) identification and development. This stems from the fact that while organisations have become extremely large and complex, they have also become very focused on enhancing strategic capabilities by putting their best talent in the most critical roles. This high potential talent is usually identified through a series of discussions and assessments and provided with critical on-the-job training inputs to help them realise their potential.
Over the last couple of decades, the telecom industry has gone through a series of shifts and has witnessed its share of highs and lows. As we prepare for the next wave of transformation with data delivered over new platforms like 4G, we have to ensure that our people are equipped to handle the diverse demands of the Indian consumer. The HR function will have to continue to play the important role of integrator and innovator for the organisation. This can only be done by having a view of the long-term strategy, anticipating needs and innovating on solutions. HR will be the major change agents for dynamic industries like telecom, helping managers straddle multiple eco-systems such as voice and data. If ever there was a time for HR to come to the table, it is this!
Krish Shankar
Executive director, HR, Bharti Airtel