The answer lies in learning, unlearning and relearning, which is the mandate for success.

Culture of continuous learning

Central to preparing for the phenomenon called ‘permavucalution’ is the notion of perpetual learning. “It’s not just about acquiring new skills but also unlearning outdated ones and relearning in alignment with evolving organisational needs,” emphasises Anil Mohanty, CPO, DN Group. This culture of continuous learning lays the foundation for a workforce capable of navigating the complexities of the modern workplace, where AI integration is not just a possibility but an inevitability.

As highlighted by industry experts, including leaders from Maruti Suzuki and other prominent organisations, traditional approaches to strategic planning are becoming obsolete. Instead, businesses are embracing a mindset of learning, unlearning and relearning to navigate through the complexities of the modern world.

“Businesses must cultivate resilience, fortifying themselves against unexpected disruptions while remaining poised to capitalise on emerging opportunities.”

Anil Gaur, senior HR professional

AI: A catalyst for transformation

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is at the forefront of this transformation, promising to revolutionise industries and streamline operations. Systems enabled by AI have the potential to make decision-making more efficient, reduce manual intervention and enhance accuracy. “Leaders must emphasise the need to view AI as an enabler rather than a threat, recognising its ability to simplify tasks, accelerate processes and improve overall productivity,” advises Mohanty. Additionally, they must stress the importance of adequate training and preparation to harness the full potential of AI and ensure that all stakeholders are equipped to embrace this technology.

The fourth industrial revolution, driven by advancements in AI, machine learning, 5G technology, robotic and quantum computing, presents both unprecedented opportunities and challenges. To remain competitive, businesses must invest in up-to-date technological infrastructure and foster a culture of digital literacy and innovation.

“It’s not just about acquiring new skills but also unlearning outdated ones and relearning in alignment with evolving organisational needs.”

Anil Mohanty, CPO, DN Group

Embracing uncertainty

The advent of the VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity) era further underscores readiness in the face of constant flux. What was once considered an exceptional circumstance has now become the norm, demanding a paradigm shift in mindset and strategy. “Businesses must cultivate resilience, fortifying themselves against unexpected disruptions while remaining poised to capitalise on emerging opportunities,” emphasises Anil Gaur, senior HR professional.

Furthermore, the need for flexibility and adaptability has never been greater, as businesses must navigate unpredictable disruptions such as economic downturns and public health crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic. To thrive in this environment, organisations must embrace a more iterative and responsive approach to strategic planning, continually reassessing their strategies to capture emerging opportunities and address evolving challenges.

Therefore, rather than overestimating future growth or relying on long-term projections, businesses are encouraged to focus on short-term strategies that prioritise agility and flexibility. By staying attuned to current market conditions and avoiding overly speculative assumptions, organisations can position themselves to respond effectively to unforeseen challenges and capitalise on emerging opportunities.

Logic and pragmatism

Amidst market fluctuations and economic uncertainties, leaders emphasise the importance of logic and pragmatism in decision-making. Rather than chasing quick gains or engaging in speculative practices, businesses are advised to pursue gradual, incremental improvements. “This entails avoiding excessive risk-taking, maintaining a balanced approach to planning and prioritising long-term sustainability over short-term gains. By adopting a logical and methodical approach to business strategy, organisations can navigate through turbulent times with resilience and confidence,” suggests Mohanty.

Crisis as catalyst for innovation

Agreed, there is a perpetual state of crisis, but then it also presents an opportunity for innovation and evolution. Startups, buoyed by government support and venture capital, are driving change and challenging established norms. However, as Gaur cautions, “the journey from inception to success is fraught with challenges, requiring not only creativity and strategic direction but also the ability to navigate crises of leadership, autonomy and control.” 

Embracing change with confidence

As organisations embrace the imperatives of learning, adaptation and resilience, they are better positioned to thrive in an ever-changing business landscape. With the right mindset and strategic approach, organisations can transform challenges into opportunities, paving the way for a brighter and more prosperous future in the dynamic world of modern business.

However, “despite the urgency and significance of the ‘permavucalution’ phenomenon, awareness and adoption remain limited within the business community, particularly in regions such as India,” points out Gaur. While some forward-thinking organisations and industry leaders have begun to embrace the permavucalution mindset, many others remain unaware or indifferent to its implications.

He further suggests, “Moving forward, it is imperative for businesses to prioritise education, awareness and proactive action in response to the permavucalution paradigm. Professional bodies, industry associations and thought leaders have a vital role to play in facilitating discussions, disseminating knowledge and driving organisational change.”

While the road ahead may be fraught with uncertainty, it also presents boundless opportunities for those willing to embrace change and innovation. By harnessing the collective ingenuity of industry stakeholders and leveraging the transformative power of technology, organisations can navigate the turbulent waters of modern commerce with confidence and resilience.

The post Navigating the ‘PermaVUCA’ business landscape: Strategies for success appeared first on HR Katha.

With climate change, the end of the pandemic and the start of a new war and economic downfall, this new theory talks about the world losing its linearity and moving to a stage where people, and for our purpose, organisations, have to brace for constant change.

Jaikrishna B, president-HR, Amara Raja Group, cites this theory as a turning point in human resources and believes the tenets of the tripod to be of great importance today.

“More the uncertainty, more the missing human touch, greater the need for tripods.”

Adil Malia, CEO, The Firm

The tripod of work is a theory developed by Gillian Stamp that emphasises the importance of a healthy workplace with the help of the three core tenets.

It helps visualise tensions felt by everyone when managing and adds great value in teaching leaders to understand the dynamics within themselves and their relationship with others.

At its core it stems from the importance of open dialogue among people from all levels of work and a diverse organisation with workers from a wide range of cultural backgrounds to help be more effective as individuals and team members.

The tripod allows for a clear thought process while ‘tasking’ subordinates. It ensures that employers maintain a level of ‘trust’ with their employees by giving them the freedom to complete their tasks and making sure they are on the right track. It also ensures that they are ‘tended’ to and helps them to focus on their goals. In this way it creates growth opportunities and helps employees feel connected to the organisation.

The efficacy of the tripod is dependent on these three factors:

Tasking

Tasking is the process of sharing information and intent. It is the job of the organisation to explain to their teams, the work that needs to be done. This is when you set deadlines, expectations and define the quality of work required for a certain task.

Delegating tasks could also lead to others asking questions about control and trust. This is where the balance between tasking and trust needs to be found. For instance defining limits for exercising judgement could be a good way to establish a balanced approach to a task.

When tasking, it is imperative that you and the team are in sync with the work on hand. Details about the projects must be understood by all involved. It is best to specify what each member is expected to do as well as set timelines for each task. The last thing you’d want to do is set unrealistic expectations in unachievable timelines.

“To tend is to show compassion, appreciate the needs of others and act upon them.”

Jaikrishna B, president – group HR, Amara Raja Group

It is also crucial to understand the limits of your team members. Do they have the skills? Are they knowledgeable enough to complete the task? Where could they need assistance to complete the tasks? These are questions one should ask themselves before assigning work, to ensure a balance is maintained.

Adil Malia, senior HR leader and CEO, The Firm, believes that the new generation of employees, confidential and self-reliant as they may seem, feel an acute need to depend. This makes it more difficult for employers to identify weaknesses in their employees and delegate work accordingly.

Trusting

It is important that your team knows and feels that you trust them to get work done on time and in accordance with the standards set by you. This allows for a team to work with confidence, independently.

A Thiru, ex-group president human resources at Cadila Pharmaceuticals, believes that a lack of trust in one’s employees could lead to inefficiency as it creates unwarranted anxiety that leads to further delay in work.

As employees visit office spaces less frequently with the onset of hybrid working arrangements, it has become increasingly difficult for companies to build a relationship of trust with their employees. Thus, taking steps to build that trust has become of utmost importance to organisations, says Jaikrishna.

With trust, creating a pleasant work environment becomes simple, allowing a group to have a singular vision resulting in less friction.

A lack of trust in a team or organisation could lead to catastrophe, creating dysfunctional work environments and hidden agendas, leading to unhappy and dissatisfied workers.

For a coherent organisation, trust needs to be tended. The perfect balance between trust and tending creates an environment where employees work towards a common goal, thus, achieving better results within the given time frame.

Tending

In corporate terms, tending refers to the process of monitoring work without getting too close or interfering. As a leader you want to be able to ensure your team is on the right track without making it seem like you don’t trust them.

Jaikrishna B believes the role of a leader needs to evolve with the times.

“To stay ahead of the competition and prioritise agility, trust could play a vital role in encouraging faster results from your employees.”

A Thiru, ex-group president human resources, Cadilla  Pharmaceuticals  

Jaikrishna emphasises the importance of tending in today’s volatile times, especially with the upcoming generation of workers. Putting others’ needs before yours as a leader is a must in today’s corporate world.

The way today to retain your workers is about understanding their individual needs and being flexible in your policy and approach. The new generation of employees is very demanding and knows their worth in the market. They expect their employers to act on their demands and employers cannot call them unfair, he says.

Finding the balance between tending and tasking is difficult but could be achieved with constant reviews. Since you have a deadline, constantly reaching out to your team and ensuring that they are on the right track is vital. This also gives you an opportunity to provide input and renewed direction.

The tripod of work has proven to be an effective module for leaders to follow. It teaches leaders to be more respectful and compassionate towards their subordinates, though the definitions for the three core tenets could be tweaked to suit the uncertain times we are in today.

“The tripod, in its essence, is believed to have timeless relevance,” opines Malia.

The tripod provides a solid foundation for corporate leadership and seems to achieve what it strives to, provided that a concerted effort is made to strike a fair balance between Trusting, Tasking and Tending by those implementing it.

The post Can ‘Gillian Stamp’s ‘Tripod’ cope with new age corporate standards? appeared first on HR Katha.

In the 20th century, the world seemed dependable, uniform and operated with a fair degree of predictability. Organisations were designed around central authority, predictable business models and a willingness to follow the overarching cultural and market rules.

Today’s VUCA world (volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous—an acronym coined by the US military to describe extreme conditions in Afghanistan and Iran) is turbulent, unpredictable, fragile and most importantly, disruptive.

During the last one decade, coaching has emerged as a transformation tool of choice to deal with the VUCA world and the disruptive changes in our ecosystem.

Further, research in the area of leadership development points to the fact that the old prescriptive ways of developing leaders based on a preset scale of competencies does not help them to address adaptive business challenges in the VUCA world.

This calls for a greater focus on building the ‘capacity’ of leaders to address emerging business challenges through individual transformation and change. Therefore, traditional classroom-based training approaches may not be practical from a business perspective and more one on one coaching is called for to address individual leadership maturity and capacity needs. Though cohort-based learning could lend support in sharing best practices and learning from peers.

Perspectives on coaching

There are many definitions and perspectives on coaching. However, the most insightful perspective on coaching comes from Tim Gallway, a tennis expert. Galleway says- “Coaching is unlocking a person’s potential to maximise their own performance. It is helping them to learn rather than teaching them”. Every word in Galleway’s articulation is important: first, it entails that we must see people in terms of their future potential, not past performance; second, it refers to unlocking the potential, which means the ownership for action rests with the coachee and third, coaching is more of learning and less of teaching. Coaching is a lot about the shifting perspectives of the coachee and dynamically changing the context they operate from. I will elaborate more on each of these elements, the underlying psychodynamic principles, conditions for ensuring success of coaching and the business benefits of coaching.  

Tim also highlights the need for a coach to identify the inner game the coachee plays, while concentrating on the outer game. The inner game which comprises beliefs, assumptions, fears, and mental chatter has to be regulated and managed by the coachee to reach the coachee’s potential.

Coaching is based on the fundamental principle of identifying a person’s potential. Good people managers understand this secret and they place bets on their high-potential talent. Celebrated executive coach, John Whitmore, affirms that while it is important for managers to focus on peoples’ potential, it is even more important for people to recognise their own hidden potential. Whitmore believes that only 40 per cent of people’s potential manifests successfully at the workplace. The rest of the potential remains hidden and dormant. Both external and internal blocks obstruct the manifestation of complete potential. Typical reasons for untapped and dormant potential are lack of opportunities, restrictive HR practices and manager’s incessant focus on results chucking individual development to chance.

Thankfully, the picture is changing and coaching has certainly earned respect as a key development intervention in organisations. Executive coaching has come a long way in the last one decade.  Perpetual demand on leaders and employees to deal quickly and frequently with paradoxes and complexities of work and life has increased dramatically. To effectively navigate the complex change process, the need for top-class executive coaches has become greater than ever before. Coaches are engaged for a variety of needs and specialities, such as executive coaching, performance coaching, leadership coaching, public speaking & voice coaching, life coaching, and so on.

Principles of coaching
Harvard Business Review’s research report identifies the top three reasons why coaches are engaged:

•    To develop high potential, as a sounding board, and to address derailing behaviours. Clearly executive coaching is growing by leaps and bounds. As per the ICF-PWC (International Coach Federation) research report, the coaching industry globally has an revenue/income of over two billion (USD).

Evidently, executive coaching has earned recognition as a potent transformation tool among business leaders. Coaching is about bringing the desired behavioural change in the coachee. I would like to elaborate on the principles of the science and art that form the basis of coaching. The first principle is that, more self-awareness creates a strong foundation for change. Self-awareness demands two outcomes: the ability to be conscious of one’s own sense of self, emotions and behaviours providing a congruence in our thought, speech and action; and a cohesion between how we see ourselves and how others see us. People can regulate and change only those patterns of behaviours that they are aware of and are willing to engage with. This awareness helps to bring about change in attitude change, overthrow self-imposed limitations and build skills for change.

•    The second principle of coaching is taking responsibility for own actions, but do remember that people take responsibility when they are able to exercise choice. Deep down, people want to have choice and independence. All the progress in the world has taken place because humans wanted choice. For example, passionate people make conscious choices. In a healthy coaching relationship, a coachee chooses his agenda and acts on it. A coach merely stands by and guides the coaches in a non-directive way. This simple principle of choice leading to responsibility and commitment makes change in behaviour possible.

•    The third key principle of coaching is—there is no path without risks. In fact, doing nothing in itself is a risk since one will end up with a default future, which will only happen to them and they have no influence over. A coach pushes a coachee out of his/her comfort zone for superior results. This is where a skilled coach makes a big difference. As a matter fact, smart coachees are aware of what they need to do and what risks to take, but it takes a strong coach to transcend beyond the self-imposed, self-limiting and self-defying limits. Tim Galleway, in his book The Inner Game of Tennis makes a profound point when he says— the most common complaint of sportsmen ringing down the corridors of the ages is “It’s not that I don’t know what to do, it’s that I don’t do what I know”.  Therefore, each of us seems to have an inbuilt immunity to change and transform.

•    The fourth key principle is that all coaching conversations are generated from powerful questions that open up the coachee’s mind. Skilful questioning is the best tool in the hands of a coach, and if used well can bring about ground-breaking changes. It is based on the well-known norm that telling or asking closed-ended questions saves people the trouble of thinking. However, asking open-ended questions pushes people to think on their feet. All of us have heard about 5W1H framework of asking questions but let me tell you that good coaches never use the WHY question. The reason is simple— a WHY question implies criticism and makes people defensive. Consider these questions posed by a driving instructor to a learner driver: the first question is— “Why don’t you slow down your car near the traffic light instead of breaking hard?” The answer could be “No I tried to slow it down” or “I don’t know”. Now replace the question with: “How will you mentally calculate the breaking distance as the traffic light changes?” or still better “What should be the safest speed of the car when you are expecting the traffic lights to change?” Questions without why will not only remove defensiveness, but will also help a new driver improve his driving skills. As a matter of fact, answers to questions give valuable data for coachees to act upon and help the coach determine the next line of questioning. Questions are the building blocks of good coaching conversations. Marilee Adams, executive coach and consultant, has aptly said — “Great results begin with great questions!”

Coaching models
Structuring a coaching session needs a framework. The GROW model (Goal, Reality, Options, Wrap-up) is one of the most common coaching models used by many great coaches. The GROW framework provides a simple four-step structure for focussed coaching conversation. During the first step of a session (Goal), the coach and coachee agree on a specific topic and objective for the discussion. During the second step (Reality) both do reality testing thru assessments, perspective testing and objective feedback. Then they move onto the third step (Options), where suggestions offered to solve the problem and different choices are evaluated. And finally (Wrap-up) the coach and the coachee commit to a set of actions, define a timeline and agree on how to measure progress. In other words, the GROW model deals with four fundamental questions: G (Goals)—what do you want? R (Reality)—what is the present situation? O (Options)—what could you do? And W (Wrap-up)—what will you do?

Coaching, if used well, can make a positive difference and save billions of dollars worldwide. However, you must be aware of two key challenges. Coaching practice remains an unregulated industry globally, and it has become fashionable for retired executives to anoint themselves as executive coaches (some years back, the self-awarded label was consultant!). The second and most important issue is that of untrained individuals calling themselves coaches. This is causing huge damage to this respectable profession. Some international bodies are doing their bit by offering certifications but their efforts are neither guaranteeing high coaching quality nor protecting some of the best coaches. Therefore, identifying qualified coaches with strong management and leadership experience is a key challenge for human resource managers.

Making a coaching relationship successful is a three-way responsibility. It is shared by the coachee, coach and coachee’s manager. That said, there are some preconditions for the success of coaching. A coachee must evaluate himself honestly—this is easier said than done. All of us have blindspots and unfortunately, the higher the executive is in the hierarchy, the more damaging the blindspots could be. It is very difficult to help a coachee, who is in denial mode. Secondly, a coachee must acknowledge his own contribution to certain dysfunctional patterns of behaviour. All of us have negative and dysfunctional patterns of behaviour, or in other words, the shadow or a dark side of our personality. Acknowledging this shadow is a bold step. Simple acknowledgement of the dark side is no guarantee that improvement will happen, but awareness and acceptance of one’s contribution to dysfunctional behaviour can lay a solid foundation for long- term behavioural change. Staying in the shadow, acknowledging it and identifying a way out of it would help individuals overcome the limitations that come in the way of liberating themselves.

Thirdly, a coachee must be open to feedback. A 360-degree feedback is used commonly. Some coaches even include spouses, children, close family members and friends in addition to work colleagues in the process of identification of behavioural patterns. It is important that a coachee must be self-reflective. Making sense of highly complex behavioural data can be overwhelming, and therefore, a coachee’s emotional maturity and level of consciousness—both for the current state of being and for the need to transform and change—becomes crucial for individual transformation.

Finally, the coachee’s manager must also be supportive and offer many opportunities to experiment with new behaviours at work. In essence, the success of coaching is a shared responsibility of the coachee, coach and coachee’s superior. Unless the manager is able to create the appropriate environment for the coachees to operate in the transformed space, and also provide feedback on an ongoing basis, the coachees will not be able to live their transformation and could potentially slip back into their comfort zones.

As coaching comes of age and managing leadership transformation for individuals continues to remain top management agenda, behavioural scientists are engaged in trying new approaches to coaching. Skill, performance and behavioural coaching are practised by coaches, but honestly the results are mixed.

Let’s understand this with a pyramid model. A human personality can be understood at three levels. At the top of the pyramid are observable behaviours and actions—what someone says and does. Below this level are the underlying drivers that get manifested as personal style, preferences, motivations, assumptions, beliefs, and mental models which are also referred as the person’s DNA. At the bottom of the pyramid are the deep-life experiences, childhood experiences that shaped your personality and even abuses that a person may have been subjected to as a child.

This is a broad structure of our personality.  Most coaches operate at the top of the pyramid. Performance and skill coaches typically operate at this level with occasional dabbling at the next level of underlying drivers. Let me explain this with a real-life example of a manager who came to me to improve his delegation skills. I taught him some tools to help him delegate both task and authority, but retain overall accountability.

This coaching operated at the behavioural level. After more probing I realised that this manager believed that he cannot go wrong and that everything he does has to be perfect. Therefore, there was a significant resistance to delegation. Finally, I realised that as a child he was punished severely whenever he made a mistake. This was the root cause level intervention. After some deep, passionate and personal dialogue, the manager realised the root causes of his behaviour and was able to change the same for the better. In the next few years, he became skilled at delegating and earned well-deserved career growth. Coaching at the bottom of the pyramid is generally avoided and is often considered the realm of trained psychiatrists. However, well-trained coaches can help coachees touch the deeper core of their personality to get permanent results. The psychodynamic approach to coaching can create positive and lasting results. This is not to suggest that coaches have to be trained in psychiatry but well-trained and skilled coaches can certainly help individuals explore the core of their personality for lasting changes.

Coaching: Best practices

As mentioned earlier, the effectiveness of the coaching process is dependent on the personal involvement of the coachees and their commitment to walk on the path of transformation. However, sound coaching processes operate on certain best practices, and a few recommendations from renowned coaches have been listed below. These best practices ensure that the coaches are well supported and equipped on the journey of self-discovery:

Self-awareness and responsibility: Coaching works because it adheres to the key principles of development, that is, self-awareness and responsibility. In coaching situations, these are not mere advocacy measures but a journey of self-discovery that a coachee must undertake. Perhaps one of the first tasks for a coach is to create self-awareness for the coachees so that they cultivate self-reliance, self-belief and self-dependability. Responsibility is crucial for high performance. When we accept responsibility for our thoughts, actions and consequences, our commitment and performance intensify.

Stretch goals: Professional coaches believe that people possess more capability than they express. We all have seen people give their best during crises. This means, the capacity exists and crisis acts as the catalyst. Coaches derive the best from coachees with carefully- designed stretch goals and actions. Coaches see people in terms of their future potential, not their past performance or historical track record, no matter how impressive it might be.

Transitional space: Great coaches create transformational changes by creating transitional space — a place where a coachee can experiment with new behaviours without being afraid of failure or criticism. No other development tool provides such a robust safety net to experiment, reflect and learn. New experiences and perspectives push coachees out of their comfort zone and trigger powerful learnings that last.

Spirit of inquiry: The primary skill of a good coach is to ask powerful questions. Questions could take many forms, and discovery is the foundation. Powerful questions make coachees think creatively, examine core issues and take action. Powerful questions open the blind spots and encourage a coachee to discuss “undiscussables”.

Agenda: A coach always works on the coachee’s agenda, which makes the process of coaching more powerful than anything. The coach’s role is to influence the agenda, not set it. The learning experience is first and foremost, for and about the coachee. Coaches view coachees as Michelangelo’s marble block — once you remove the excess material, a beautiful statue emerges.

Coaching is not merely a problem-fixing technique, but a managerial philosophy and a powerful world view. The INSEAD Global Leadership Centre believes that leadership coaching is more an art of discovery than a technology of delivery. Coaching is not something that you do to people but entails joint accountability, exploration and partnership.

(The author is ?group head- human resources at Kotak Mahindra Bank)

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Digitisation is creating tectonic shifts in the way individuals work and engage. The way employees interact—with the world at large, amongst themselves and with the organisation—has undergone a fundamental shift. Their perspective of engagement and learning is not what it used to be even five years ago! These behavioural changes are deeply impacting the cultural fabric of the organisation.

The question, of course, will be the extent to which the HR function will innovate, in order to make itself more relevant and create value in this changed reality.

HR technology, in a lot of organisations, is still quite nascent. One of the challenges faced is the integration of systems. Whilst some organisations have adopted state-of-the-art add-on HR applications, their basic data warehouses have not undergone the much-needed overhaul. Thus, they have multiple systems that do not communicate seamlessly with each other.

Nonetheless, the function has adopted mobile applications for more efficient recruiting along with tools, such as virtual interviews and applications to engage with prospective employees, to improve candidate experience. Internal social networking applications are changing the process of employee engagement, improving information access and knowledge sharing between employees, and fuelling innovation. Social technologies also play a big role in leadership access, increasing transparency, and building more neutral avenues for employees to share their opinions. Several bottoms-up organisation changes can be driven effectively through these.

Learning is becoming more shared, application based and bite-sized. The realms of learning are becoming wider and more outside-in with YouTube and MOOC platforms, such as Udemy and Coursera.

Technology-enabled delivery in HR will allow HR professionals to free up their time and utilise their skills more effectively in the areas of strategic advisory to business rather than operations.

Big Data

Big Data is everywhere and will be the foundation of all decisions. HR can be no exception to this. As a function, however, HR has relied heavily on the emotive/qualitative aspects of situations for decision-making. Data consumption has largely been restricted to the basics—reporting lagging indicators rather than predictive data.

The fragmented existence of data, as it is currently available, poses immense processing challenges and is vulnerable to errors, thus hindering integrated analysis and meaningful conclusions. Going forward, HR professionals will embrace technology to build the right metrics to track, analyse and report data-driven decision-making to redefine all aspects of talent and people practices.

Business and people managers are seeing value in HR analytics and starting to increasingly demand direct access to employee data on an ongoing basis. Manager portals on company intranets now empower managers with critical employee data and real-time updates on all employee lifecycle events.

In order to build the necessary inter-linkages that are scientific in their basis, qualified data scientists will be required. Advanced analytics teams can help uncover underlying trends in human capital data and generate transformative, compelling and actionable insights for informed decision support. Also, it will be necessary to present this data in a simple and intuitive manner, since the objective of big data is not to increase complexity, but allow meaningful insights to shine through.

The role of HR will then be to integrate data insights with their expertise in the qualitative and emotive elements of human behaviour, leading to much more holistic decision making.

As digitisation and analytics become more fundamental to business advisory—resulting in innovative and agile people management practices to stay competitive—HR will be truly digital!

Change is the name of the game!

In the VUCA world, the mandate for leaders is to be quick and decisive, taking the most appropriate actions in the least time. The HR function has been faced with the demand for transformation—to drive strategic changes in the way business operates. As one harnesses the power of technology and digitisation, one will free up one’s time to do this better. However, in order to do so, one will need to re-skill oneself and adopt a more flexible mindset. HR cannot just be playing a catch-up game in this fast-paced environment. HR people need to be early embracers and innovators in the true spirit. Agility in the way HR operates will underpin its success in the days to come.

(The author is MD, CHRO, Citi-South Asia).

The post How digital mindset can transform HR appeared first on HR Katha.

In today’s VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity) landscape, small and big companies are continually facing uncertainty and volatility in their operations. The working environment is increasingly becoming very complex and ambiguous. This has put human resources into a challenging situation in terms of making definitive decisions in the workplace. HR has to look constantly at new tools for making risk-free decisions, and this is where the help of HR analytics comes in.

HR analytics is the use of statistical methods like factor analysis, correlation and regression and making use of different sources and variables to arrive at meaningful insights. It helps HR understand the dynamics in the workforce.

One cannot rely on a person’s experience or tacit knowledge to base one’s decisions on, but on real data and numbers to back one’s workplace decisions. This has proved to add value and improve workforce resource utilisation and deployment. HR analytics is not about merely collecting vast amounts of data, but analysing and processing it to provide meaningful insights. These insights are then used to provide the answers sought by the company, to the following questions, among others:

• Will the predictive attrition model help identify who is going to resign in the next, three, six or 12 months? What is the efficiency factor of this predictive model?
• Is the new tax-friendly employee compensation and benefits programme driving higher retention?
• Are the highly engaged employees at the workplace highly productive? Are they spreading positive employer brand in the workplace and social media?
• Will work from home/flexible working hours lead to better engagement, and to what extent?
• Which generation of employees (Gen X, Gen Y, Gen Z , Millennial) is contributing more towards profitability?
• What are the major reasons for attrition? Is the preventive HR intervention effective in controlling attrition?
• Is there any correlation in employees who are leaving within six months of joining?
• Is there any relation between employees who stay within 10 km radius and retention?
• Is the newly designed Employee Fraud Risk Management effective? Is there any correlation between frauds committed by habitual noncompliant employees/ disengaged employees?

Finance function decisions are based on data, such as graphs, charts, etc. However, in HR, it is based mostly on the relationship component and there is always the risk of being judgmental when it’s a person making decisions. Through HR analytics, this risk can be minimised.

HR can study the behavioural competencies of high-potential employees and share the data with the recruiting team to help them identify potential employees. This data can also be used in training. HR often comes up with various mechanisms intended to achieve employee satisfaction, leading to employee engagement. But today, the mechanism depends on what the employees value more and whether it is going to achieve the outcome.

Based on the HR analytics data, human resource policies are customised, for example, the recent decision by the Government of Delhi regarding the odd and even number cars taking turns to run on the roads. This has led some companies to offer Delhi metro cards to employees and encourage them to take local public transport instead of using their cars. Some companies are exploring the option of working from home.

People management is being accomplished with change thanks to evolving HR analytics. It gives a clear view of performances and drives the organisation towards its goals. This has led managers to understand their employees better and contribute towards planning for their training and development. In turn, the employees will be motivated to be more in tune with the culture of the organisation.

People analytics empowers HR with the ability to identify the gaps between employees and training, which is necessary to be bridged. This is especially important with new hires to help them understand expectations and workflow processes quicker. By digging into insights, HR managers can not only identify which hires will be low but also the high performers.

Predictive analytics contributes to analysis of the workforce beyond the mere basis of academics. While recruiting, many companies look for candidates with high academic records. But this is not full proof of a candidate’s ability to perform. Some bugging questions come to mind:

• Why does one programmer perform better than the other?
• Why do some average employees succeed while some perceived as good recruits fail?
• How much time does it take the new employee to be productive?

One way to employ the use of HR analytics is acceptance and deployment of HR management systems and cloud storage availability. These make it possible for organisations or companies to store all their data in a manner that can be integrated with other workplace operations.

Such cloud software today is readily available and affordable. It is time for employers to take advantage of this progress. By deploying HR analytics, companies collect data based on attrition, retention and other HR aspects. These metrics are then used further to look for trends based on ratios and accounts. The data is then vigorously analysed to give Google insight into employee trends. These insights could be effectively used to shape the organization’s policies and decisions. Businesses have noted that the ability to take initiative is a better indicator of actual performance.

Companies are deploying predictive analytics to drive their HR strategies. Employee data from all locations is analysed and processed to develop programmes based on age, demography and tenure. Information from predictive analytics/HR analytics is used to attract, retain and manage the right talent. To change the course of the manner in which they deal with employees, data-based information is used like predictive attrition models and exit analyses. This predictive modelling tactic is more handy than trying to figure out later why an employee left.

The new approach of HR/predictive analytics provides the ability to measure, quantify and qualify employee data. The new method digs into the ‘why’ rather than the ‘what’ to get the better perspective of things.

HR analytics helps to develop a workforce that is engaged, agile and flexible by using data to gain valuable insights on employees. In the diverse Indian context, the need for HR analytics is felt even more because every company has a broad array of people to manage. Proper management of this varied workforce is a prerequisite for greater synergy and productivity within an organisation. Companies must look towards HR analytics as the new tool to power an organisation’s success through smart people management.

(The author is a HR consultant.)

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