This is the first of a series of writings towards exploring the possibility of eliminating the HR function. By eliminating, I don’t mean that we will hold the function by the scruff of its neck and throw it out of the window (as much as all non-HR people would want to do it..;). What I mean by elimination is that is there a possibility of slowly and steadily transferring what is being done by the HR function to the employees who are handling the business. I know that you would say that who has the time to do that. But let us try to look at the various sub-functions covered by the HR team and then decide. Almost always, the first function that comes to mind when you think of HR is Recruitment & Selection. Let us discuss this here:
The Recruitment & Selection process has the following key steps:
1) Realization: The first step in a Recruitment Process is the realization that you need to recruit. You might say that this is stating the obvious, but I have seen numerous organizations where there is a disconnect between the Business and the HR function in who is to realize it first. Business says that if a guy has left, why do we need to inform HR and HR says that how we are supposed to be so sure that a replacement is needed. So a manpower requisition process is conjured up (this may be online or paper based going through a series of approvals at various levels). This essentially means that the business is informing HR that a new person is required, along with the listing of the kind that a person should be.
2) CV/Resume Generation: After the HR team has “realized" that the organization needs a new person, we move on to the next step. The HR team then activates what is technically known as the process of Recruitment (in simple language, this means generating as many wanted CVs from various sources as possible). This process could vary from giving advertisements in newspapers, contacting the network of recruitment consultants, browsing through professional networking sites a.k.a Linkedin, or just looking for referrals from current employees. Essentially, at the end of this step, the HR team is looking for a long list of eligible candidates for the prized position.
3) Short-listing: So now that we have a list of eligible candidates, we start the selection process (a.k.a a ‘swayamvar’ of sorts, the only difference being that the bride is replaced by a job). The first elimination step is left to the HR team where they have to match various criterion required by the Business. HR may follow a comprehensive exercise of elimination (even an Assessment Centre) or at times just a cursory glance at the CV and forward the first shortlist to the Business. Business would in turn approve / reject the CVs and the selected participants would then be called for interview.
4) Business Interview: This is often the decisive step in the whole process and the “go – no go” decision is based on this. This might again involve multiple rounds of interview, tests, and other selection tools based on the kind of profile that we are looking for. HR has to do the job of coordinating and making sure that everything is in place for this interview.
5) Offer Generation & Acceptance: If all stakeholders (HR, Business and the candidate) agree, then an offer is generated by the HR team and sent to the candidate. This might be as simple as a one-page document detailing the address and date of joining along with the salary details. Or this might be a comprehensive contract letter along with details for Medical Tests and so on. However, the purpose here is to communicate that the candidate has been selected basis certain conditions and needs to join on a particular date at the given address.
6) Joining Formalities: This is the day of joining for the participant where he/she is taken through an induction program. Again, this program may vary from a drab filling up of various forms (Employee Details, Bank Account, Mobile, PF and so on) to a week-long induction detailing various aspects of the organization.
Now that we have an idea of the broad steps in the Recruitment and Selection process, let us see if these processes can be covered by the Business itself:
1) Realization: This step itself becomes redundant since there is no HR team to be informed. Business can itself decide if and when they need a replacement to be hired or a new position to be added. This will in turn take care of the limits on the costs involved.
2) CV/Resume Generation: Supposedly, this is the step where HR adds most value and no one in the Business team would have the time to do this. However, the most relevant CVs and the right contacts can be generated by employees within the team. Moreover, GenY is tech savvy enough to generate the right CVs through the various portals available.
3) Short-listing: HR often does the initial short-listing based on the competencies required for the job. Most times, these are based on subjective criterion in an attempt to drive a common culture through the organization. However, my argument here is that it’s the Business that drives the culture and the HR team is just a medium to drive that.
4) Business Interview: Most times, we find that this is the most neglected step in the process. I have seen irrelevant external “experts” being used to take this decision for certain organizations. What I am trying to drive in here is that most time should be spent on this step and should be conducted by relevant managers/team members.
5) Offer Generation & Acceptance: I propose that instead of a full fledged HR team required for this step, we can have an admin team looking after this step.
6) Joining Formalities: The admin team can also look after coordination for this step. This may be a common step conducted once a week / once a month. However, again we do not need a full fledged recruitment/training team for this.
Is there a step in the Recruitment process which cannot be conducted by the Business. My answer to this would be a resounding “NO”. It’s just that the Business team should have the will to do all this.
The Recruitment & Selection process has the following key steps:
1) Realization: The first step in a Recruitment Process is the realization that you need to recruit. You might say that this is stating the obvious, but I have seen numerous organizations where there is a disconnect between the Business and the HR function in who is to realize it first. Business says that if a guy has left, why do we need to inform HR and HR says that how we are supposed to be so sure that a replacement is needed. So a manpower requisition process is conjured up (this may be online or paper based going through a series of approvals at various levels). This essentially means that the business is informing HR that a new person is required, along with the listing of the kind that a person should be.
2) CV/Resume Generation: After the HR team has “realized" that the organization needs a new person, we move on to the next step. The HR team then activates what is technically known as the process of Recruitment (in simple language, this means generating as many wanted CVs from various sources as possible). This process could vary from giving advertisements in newspapers, contacting the network of recruitment consultants, browsing through professional networking sites a.k.a Linkedin, or just looking for referrals from current employees. Essentially, at the end of this step, the HR team is looking for a long list of eligible candidates for the prized position.
3) Short-listing: So now that we have a list of eligible candidates, we start the selection process (a.k.a a ‘swayamvar’ of sorts, the only difference being that the bride is replaced by a job). The first elimination step is left to the HR team where they have to match various criterion required by the Business. HR may follow a comprehensive exercise of elimination (even an Assessment Centre) or at times just a cursory glance at the CV and forward the first shortlist to the Business. Business would in turn approve / reject the CVs and the selected participants would then be called for interview.
4) Business Interview: This is often the decisive step in the whole process and the “go – no go” decision is based on this. This might again involve multiple rounds of interview, tests, and other selection tools based on the kind of profile that we are looking for. HR has to do the job of coordinating and making sure that everything is in place for this interview.
5) Offer Generation & Acceptance: If all stakeholders (HR, Business and the candidate) agree, then an offer is generated by the HR team and sent to the candidate. This might be as simple as a one-page document detailing the address and date of joining along with the salary details. Or this might be a comprehensive contract letter along with details for Medical Tests and so on. However, the purpose here is to communicate that the candidate has been selected basis certain conditions and needs to join on a particular date at the given address.
6) Joining Formalities: This is the day of joining for the participant where he/she is taken through an induction program. Again, this program may vary from a drab filling up of various forms (Employee Details, Bank Account, Mobile, PF and so on) to a week-long induction detailing various aspects of the organization.
Now that we have an idea of the broad steps in the Recruitment and Selection process, let us see if these processes can be covered by the Business itself:
1) Realization: This step itself becomes redundant since there is no HR team to be informed. Business can itself decide if and when they need a replacement to be hired or a new position to be added. This will in turn take care of the limits on the costs involved.
2) CV/Resume Generation: Supposedly, this is the step where HR adds most value and no one in the Business team would have the time to do this. However, the most relevant CVs and the right contacts can be generated by employees within the team. Moreover, GenY is tech savvy enough to generate the right CVs through the various portals available.
3) Short-listing: HR often does the initial short-listing based on the competencies required for the job. Most times, these are based on subjective criterion in an attempt to drive a common culture through the organization. However, my argument here is that it’s the Business that drives the culture and the HR team is just a medium to drive that.
4) Business Interview: Most times, we find that this is the most neglected step in the process. I have seen irrelevant external “experts” being used to take this decision for certain organizations. What I am trying to drive in here is that most time should be spent on this step and should be conducted by relevant managers/team members.
5) Offer Generation & Acceptance: I propose that instead of a full fledged HR team required for this step, we can have an admin team looking after this step.
6) Joining Formalities: The admin team can also look after coordination for this step. This may be a common step conducted once a week / once a month. However, again we do not need a full fledged recruitment/training team for this.
Is there a step in the Recruitment process which cannot be conducted by the Business. My answer to this would be a resounding “NO”. It’s just that the Business team should have the will to do all this.
