Our dilemma!!!

Companies are striving to become different. Why??? Because they believe that by becoming different, they can achieve the "so called" competitive advantage. They are  coming to terms with the fact that the way they manage people contributes to make them different. This poses a huge challenge to the HR. In the effort to become different, HR faces the dilemma: who do we represent, the employees or the management?

The answer is simple and straightforward. HR represents both. But representing this duality is challenging. The two groups often have contradictory goals. So how does the HR become effective? The answer could be by employing the strategy of "satisficing". However, in order to pursue this strategy, HR departments need to have people with HR qualifications and expertise. HR professionals need to understand and cater for employee needs and at the same time pursue HR policies which contribute to the organisation's bottom line.

Do we have such HR departments? Do we have such HR professionals? Or having qualified HR professionals is enough to pursue both management and employee interests?

We have been hearing employees talking about how difficult and bad their bosses are. They are rude and nasty. They bully or verbally  abuse their employees. The sad thing is that employees do not know where to report such cases within organisations or/and beyond. Bosses are not always the HR managers. They could be senior managers and line managers who have no people skills. When such things happen in organisations, often the HR is not in a position to protect employees. In our companies, HR managers give priority to hold on to their jobs rather than protecting their employees or they collude with the managers who abuse their employees. When such concerns are taken to senior managers, they do not want even to acknowledge the existence of such problems. These issues are insignificant for them and often are totally ignored.

So how do we protect our employees while pursuing organisational goals?

First, HR managers need to perfectly wear the two hats. They need to research HR matters and give ethical and professional advice to senior managers on HR matters. Second, the denial syndrome has to stop. Third, organisations need to equip all their managers with people skills in order to protect their employees and pursue employee-centric policies. Finally, employees should be given clear instructions on how they should go about reporting their grievances and concerns. If organisations are not able to take these simple steps, they are not matured enough to talk about 'becoming different' or 'achieving competitive advantage'.