While this may sound easy to do, I have seen lot of senior HR people struggle to relate themselves to the same people they are supposed to provide service to. HR is a support function after all, and its best to work towards the best interests of the line function. Not that one ought to compromise on the ‘policies’ of the organization, but too much of red tape and the line function starts hating the HR function.
How does one do that? Some very basic but effective tenets are as follows:
Understand the business – Whether it is a manufacturing, sales, or any other kind of service organization, it is essential for any HR professional to be conversant with the kind of business it is operating in. It is surpising to see so many HR heads who have no clue of the product, the work conditions in which their employees operate in, or the drivers required for an employee to succeed in the organization.
Understand what the top management is thinking – There are so many times when we see the HR function playing a reactive rather than a proactive role in understanding the direction of the organization. The HR function has to position itself as an important cog in the whole scheme of things rather than play the role of just an administrative function.
Speak their language – There is lot of HR jargon that creeps into our daily vernacular because of the kind of work we do. However, this is not always appreciated by the line function who do not care about the HR models and concepts that we harp about. Very few HR professionals are able to explain the concepts in their head to the line employees (both in a presentation or a written document).
Identify the cliques – Every organization has its own set of cliques that are critical in the day-to-day operations of the line function. It is essential to identify these and decide on which cliques one wants to be part of and which ones to stay away from. This choice would be critical in determining the HR function’s success in the organization.
Network – The HR team has to be on top of what is going on in the organization. Both formal and informal sources of information have to be identified, nurtured and then harnessed to keep a constant track of the pulse of the line function.
While all of these may sound obvious, there are times when we get lost in our domain / functional knowledge and try to push things down the throat of the line function. This may not be appreciated over a longer term and its best to align ourselves to the line function to be more effective.
After all, lets not forget, HR is an enabler !!
