Today the management science, art, terminology and philosophy has undergone a drastic & radical changes. Management is a very-2 deep and wide subject. The word management can be attached to any field of life, discipline of knowledge. For example scientific management, financial management , marketing management and human resources management etc. The other can be crisis, change, disaster, events , funds, anger management etc. The commonly understood management term is in relation to the business at a micro, small, medium and large scale. The more it is relevant to the corporate world. In all lines of management there are specified skills required. Without updated managerial skills on daily basis the management will be poor and cannot stand and survive so will be a failure.
The most complex task of management is of human resources. As this is the key asset which states and defines the health of balance sheet and the various assets and liabilities mentioned in this. If an organization can successfully handle its human resources then it can stand as a winner. RECRUITING AND RETAINING THE BEST TALENT IS THE MOST DIFFICULT TASK. Only Total Quality Management (TQM) can provide for Total Quality People (TQP). There was never felt the need for professionalism, expertise, excellence and eminence as it is today. Today we are not to live as per the survival of the fittest but to live as per the survival of the wisest and smartest. The pace of change in the scenario is very fast and rather so much fast that the moment you are updating yourself , the more changes will take place. No body can claim to be 100% PERFECT & PROFESSIONAL.
To stay in the market you need to keep your legs on your head and run at an infinite speed. It is like that if you are standing at one place , you need to run at the fastest infinite speed just to stand there only where you are now and if you are willing to go ahead of that place then you can imagine the speed at which you need to run. This I have quoted to interpret and explain the UNTHINKABLE PACE / SPEED OF CHANGE.
Now in this write-up I will mainly focus on HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT(HRM). It has been rightly said that it is only people who earn profits and not the organizations. Any company is known by its people and its people are known by the values they follow and nurture. All the results depend on the HR. To get success in HRM one must first focus on HUMAN RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT (HRD). HRD & HRM ARE TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN. AS TQM & TQP ARE. THE TRAINING IS THE KEY TOOL / MANTRA.
Work culture and corporate values are very important. VALUES ARE ROOTS AND FOUNDATION . Values drive the human beings. People join and people leave but the best values and the best systems continue for generations. The sole reason is roots / foundation is strong. The quality of human resources matters most. Only people incur profits or losses.
The delegation and decentralization are the key mantras of success. The attrition rate to be kept at the minimum or negligible level. The manpower need to be made accountable and responsible. There must be the freedom to manpower to come out with their innovative ideas . The high performers need to be awarded and rewarded. This is all management and if this is not then what else management is about? The ultimate purpose of the management is to go higher & higher , more efficiency, more effectiveness, cost containment and quality enhancement , more turnover, more profits, productivity and profitability. This all is possible with the best management of HR. In business and management for better results two areas are very concerning and important and these are RISK-BEARING & DECISION MAKING. These things need to be fast and accurate. The importance of these cannot be denied in the modern times.
The top management and the head of departments (HOD) to ensure that each employee is given the best environment and surroundings . Each employee to be given on yearly basis Key Result / Responsibility areas (KRA) , based on which he will submit his report under the Ongoing Performance Appraisal System (OPAS) and the rating / promotion decisions will be taken. KRA is given by employer to employee and OPAS is given by employee to employer / HOD.
I remember one case when I was working in the bank and one day I was on an inspection visit of the Company in Gurgaon. The chairman of that Company told me that for the last number of years I do not have any problem from my workforce in the factory and manpower in the office due to one single reason that I tell my people in the presence of all that YOU TAKE CARE OF THE COMPANY AND I WILL TAKE CARE OF YOU. Each and every employee has freedom and easy access to me for any of their personal or impersonal problems. The chairman said that my production schedules never get hampered and get completed on time. Each employee observes discipline and delivers maximum.
In one more case the manpower is so trained that there is no loss to the employer and their demands too are met. What happened once there was a strike in a shoe factory in Japan. In Japan they mean by strike that they will continue production wearing black badges showing their protest for meeting demands. In this way the production is continuing as well as the protest. In shoe factory means the marketing will be possible only when the shoes of both the feet will be manufactured , but what the labor did , they continued to manufacture only one feet shoe . This way marketing was not possible . The employer took a lenient , compassionate and humanitarian view by thinking that the work force is at least continuing the production of one feet shoe. Their demands were met and then the labor commenced manufacturing another feet shoe . Then the marketing was done. But there was no wastage of resources and time. MAN & MACHINE HOURS WERE SAVE AVOIDING LOSS TO THE COMPANY AND THE DEMANDS OF LABOR WERE MET TOO.So the MANAGEMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES CAN DO WONDERS . But the irony and paradox is that HR is a qualitative phenomenon and do not find place in balance sheet , whereas the MAN BEHIND THE WHOLE SHOW IS HR. SO TAKE CARE OF YOUR TEAM/PEOPLE.
Ashok Aggarwal
Dated 25th June,2015
