HR should stop doing politics – D Shivakumar

Excerpts from the Q & A session between Pankaj Bansal, Co-Founder & CEO, People Strong and D Shivakumar, Group Executive President – Corporate Strategy & Business Development, Aditya Birla Management Corporation Pvt Ltd at AIMA’s 15th National HRM Summit 2017.

D Shivakumar, Group Executive President - Corporate Strategy & Business Development, Aditya Birla Management Corporation Pvt Ltd. at AIMA's 15th National HRM Summit.

D Shivakumar, Group Executive President – Corporate Strategy & Business Development, Aditya Birla Management Corporation Pvt Ltd. at AIMA’s 15th National HRM Summit.

When we reimagine HR, what do you think should HR stop doing?

I think HR is very important and should evolve with the times. I talk to a number of people across the industry, and I would say that in many organizations, HR is seen as a political unit. Why do people feel that? First HRs should rid themselves of politics. HR has a lot of confidential information, HR should not trade in that. The HR department should be staffed with people who can maintain high confidentiality. The biggest problem in every company is that people say HR people blabber, and hence they do not trust them. So the dividing line between a good performer who needs to be promoted and somebody who doesn’t need to be promoted etc. is becoming a problem.

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Managing post-appraisal meltdown

In a recent survey of HR professionals by All India Management Association (AIMA), 70 per cent of the respondents said that they expected annual performance appraisals to cause employee attrition. Also, the survey revealed that neither the appraiser nor the subject were completely happy with the appraisal process.  Still, there is no stopping the annual performance appraisals.

The appraisal season is almost over and employees have been handed out their rewards and retributions. In a few weeks, the emotions will subside, new equations among colleagues will become routine and teams will settle down after promotions, transfers, exits and replacements. However, the HR managers and department heads will have a torrid time till then. They will have to play confidants and counsellors, even shrinks, to the unhappy majority. Also, the appraisal outcomes will add fresh fuel to the debate about the utility of annual appraisals and the legitimacy of the appraisal processes. Continue reading

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