HRINTERACTIVE

The role of the Human Resource Manager is evolving with the change in competitive market environment and the realization that Human Resource Management must play a more strategic role in the success of an organization. Organizations that do not put their emphasis on attracting and retaining talents may find themselves in dire consequences, as their competitors may be outplaying them in the strategic employment of their human resources.
With the increase in competition, locally or globally, organizations must become more adaptable, resilient, agile, and customer-focused to succeed. And within this change in environment, the HR professional has to evolve to become a strategic partner, an employee sponsor or advocate, and a change mentor within the organization. In order to succeed, HR must be a business driven function with a thorough understanding of the organization’s big picture and be able to influence key decisions and policies. In general, the focus of today’s HR Manager is on strategic personnel retention and talents development. HR professionals will be coaches, counselors, mentors, and succession planners to help motivate organization’s members and their loyalty.
From an administrative perspective, the focus is now on a strategic outlook where talent HR professionals look at improving the work environment and plan out human resource needs. This article looks at major challenges that industry is facing in terms of human resources and human resource management.
• Managing Knowledge Workers :Essentially, here we are looking at different kind of people who does not obey the principles of management for the traditional group. This boils down to higher educational qualifications, taking up responsibilities at a lesser age and experience, high bargaining power due to the knowledge and skills in hand, high demand for the knowledge workers, and techno suaveness. The clear shift is seen in terms of organization career commitment to individualized career management. Managing this set of people is essential for the growth of any industry but especially the IT, BPOs and other knowledge based sectors.
• Managing Workforce Diversity :- According to Thomas (1992), dimensions of workplace diversity include, but are not limited to: age, ethnicity, ancestry, gender, physical abilities/qualities, race, sexual orientation, educational background, geographic location, income, marital status, military experience, religious beliefs, parental status, and work experience. The future success of any organizations relies on the ability to manage a diverse body of talent that can bring innovative ideas, perspectives and views to their work. The challenge and problems faced of workplace diversity can be turned into a strategic organizational asset if an organization is able to capitalize on this melting pot of diverse talents. With the mixture of talents of diverse cultural backgrounds, genders, ages and lifestyles, an organization can respond to business opportunities more rapidly and creatively, especially in the global arena (Cox, 1993), which must be one of the important organisational goals to be attained. More importantly, if the organizational environment does not support diversity broadly, one risks losing talent to competitors.
This is especially true for multinational companies (MNCs) who have operations on a global scale and employ people of different countries, ethical and cultural backgrounds. Thus, a HR manager needs to be mindful and may employ a ‘Think Global, Act Local’ approach in most circumstances. In many ways, the effectiveness of workplace diversity management is dependent on the skilful balancing act of the HR manager.
• Managing Technological Challenges :In every arena organizations are getting more and more technologically oriented. Though it is not in the main run after the initial debates, preparing the work force to accept technological changes is a major challenge. We have seen sectors like banking undergoing revolutionary changes enabled by technology. It is a huge challenge to bring in IT and other technology acceptance all levels in organizations.
• Competence of HR Managers :As it is more and more accepted that lot of success of organizations depend on the human capital, this boils to recruiting the best, managing the best and retaining the best. Clearly HR managers have a role in this process. Often it is discussed about lack of competence of HR managers in understanding the business imperative. There is now a need to develop competent HR professionals who are sound in HR management practices with strong business knowledge.
• Developing Leadership :It is quite interesting to note that there is less importance given to developing leadership at the organizational level. Though leadership is discussed on basis of traits and certain qualities, at an organisational level it is more based on knowledge. The challenge is to develop individuals who have performance potential on basis of past record and knowledge based expertise in to business leaders by imparting them with the necessary “soft skills”.
• Managing Change :Business environment in India is volatile. There is boom in terms of opportunities brought forward by globalisation. However this is also leading to many interventions in terms of restructuring, turnaround, mergers, downsizing, etc. Research has clearly shown that the success of these interventions is heavily dependent on managing the people issues in the process. HR has a pivotal role to play here.

The role of the HR manager must parallel the needs of the changing organization. Successful organizations are becoming more adaptable, resilient, quick to change directions, and customer-centered. Within this environment, the HR professional must learn how to manage effectively through planning, organizing, leading and controlling the human resource and be knowledgeable of emerging trends in training and employee development.

PERCEPTION MATTERS
( why leaders should consider managing their image — and ways to manage it.)

A Leader’s Image :Your image is the concept that others form about you as a result of the impressions you make on them. Your effectiveness as a leader is tied to your image. Your ability to project a leadership presence in the eyes of employees, customers, other important constituencies, and the general public is closely related to your ability to do your job well.
Your image, then, can be either an asset or a liability as you engage in the tasks and roles of leadership.

Many people make the mistake of assuming that paying attention to image building is superficial and therefore unimportant. However, leaders can benefit from knowing how they come across to others and making improvements if necessary.

A study of 150 senior executives who attended the Center for Creative Leadership’s Leadership at the Peak program shows that the image leaders convey has a significant correlation to perceptions of their leadership skill. In this study, leaders who conveyed a strong vision were rated higher on several important factors than those who conveyed a weaker vision — factors such as the ability to lead change, being dynamic, competence in strategic planning, being farsighted, inspiring commitment, being original, and having a strong executive image.

Each of these factors is tied to specific behaviors and can therefore be improved through awareness and practice.

Image is commonly thought of as being based on various external aspects of a person, such as physical appearance or formal status. Your image is affected by these elements, but it is also affected by any impression you make on others. Your personality, behavior, body language and speaking style all contribute to your image.

Your image may be the conduit through which people initially know you; it can have a great impact on how they get to know you as a person and as a leader. Whether someone is getting to know you through a first meeting, over time, or even through the media, your image is being broadcast and your reputation is being formed.

In the short term, image is important because you have only a few minutes to interact before others draw conclusions about you. In the long term, your image is tied to your credibility and effectiveness. In particular, people value consistency in what you say, what you do and how you appear.

Fortunately, you can have a great deal of control over the image others have of you. Laura Morgan Roberts of Harvard Business School puts it this way: “People manage impressions through their nonverbal behavior (appearance, demeanor), verbal cues (vocal pitch, tone, and rate of speech, grammar and diction, disclosures) and demonstrative acts (citizenship, job performance).”

Crafting your image requires you first to gain a clear picture of the image people are currently perceiving, then to decide what image you would like to portray, and finally to develop the skills to close the gap.

Why Manage Image? :- Why should leaders focus on understanding and managing their image? Here are several reasons:

You already have an image. The question is whether it’s the image you want and need to have to be an effective leader.

People form opinions of others all the time. By being mindful of your current image and taking a proactive approach to improve where necessary, you can close the gap between the way others perceive you and your desired image.This is particularly important in today’s large, geographically dispersed organizations where employees may spend little time with senior managers and, therefore, see them only in limited contexts.

People will make assumptions about you. :-In the absence of solid information and frequent communication, people often make assumptions. And what they invent is likely to be a distortion of the truth. Your image as a leader runs the same risk. In the absence of credible information and personal insight about contacts with you, people may reach erroneous conclusions about who you are, what your values are, what kind of leader you are and how well you are doing in your job.

Your image speaks louder than you do. You may spend a lot of time creating and polishing what you have to say — preparing documents and presentations, crafting your message. But all that information is interpreted in the context of who you are — more precisely, who people think you are.
How you say something has a great impact on what people hear you say. Your message is carried strongly by intonation, body language and demeanor. Your words, actions and manner need to be congruent; otherwise you will be doubted.

People seek personal connections. Image is interpreted through the lens of personal preference. Your image is often greatly influenced by your personal connections with others, or their being able to identify with you in some personal way.

People have high expectations. We want leaders to be likeable, personable, regular people; at the same time we want them to be above reproach, better than average and demonstrative of our high standards. In the days of YouTube and MySpace, camera and video phones, and instant communication, a leader’s image can be tanked or tarnished with one misstep or incongruous action. Impressions can be hard to live down.

Long careers demand investment. You invest in your career in many ways: education and training, experience, networking, and goal setting. Don’t let a negative or poor image limit or sabotage your leadership potential. Just as you pay attention to developing the technical expertise and interpersonal skills needed to be successful in your job, you should develop your image in a way that serves you as a leader.

Your image affects the performance of the people around you, especially your direct reports.
If you come across as a person who is productive, optimistic, thorough and fair, these characteristics will be seen as desirable among your direct reports. The reverse is also true. Scheming and sloppiness can also be transmitted.

(This excerpt from Building an Authentic Leadership Image was written by Corey Criswell and David Campbell of the Center for Creative Leadership: )