Effective communication by the business and HR collectively works the best towards damage control or mitigating a negative.

While recruiting during a turnaround, HR should be honest and transparent with the candidates on the key concerns within the organisation and what exactly the company is expecting from them. It has been noticed that, if handled well, the organisation can find appropriate people who find handling turnaround situations a great challenge and satisfying as a career opportunity. They can truly help organisations deliver.

Q. How can the HR best respond to the change in management during a turnaround as also when there is an external agency/person involved to set the mathematics right?
A. As there is no established rapport and trust that people have with the new management, HR can act as a bridge between the employees and the new management. Therefore, the responsibility of the department increases manifold.

Ensuring alignment between the new management and the business and people needs is the key to success and HR is best poised to deliver on this front.

Q. Please share with us a turnaround that has inspired you.
A. It was a situation when we had to turn around a company through a management change.

The new team had been hired, the top existing team had to be fired. The challenge was to ensure no unplanned people exit and integration of the team in the shortest time possible to ensure business transformation. The first part of the exercise was completed in a day. The jolt was absorbed and reduced through continuous daily communication over a fortnight, independently with the old and new teams and jointly with them. We ensured the induction and orientation of the new management and the team were handled by existing business teams and the HR department. After two months of the change, we conducted a trust building intervention with an external faculty. The communication on any people issue continued for six months, with lesser frequency with the time lapse.

We did not have a single loss of client or a team member. The market share of the business improved dramatically within a year. The business works as a one-unit cohesive team. Read more...

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Sandeep Banerjee, Managing Director & CEO, Edenred India

.....Q. The youth today wants the best. What are the challenges you see for organisations here?
A. According to a UNICEF 2011 report, India is one of the youngest nations in terms of demographics. With globalisation and MNC entrants in India, youngsters are becoming global citizens. Today’s youth values communication, job enrichment, career and succession planning, over increase in compensation. Firms too realise hikes can be easily replaced by competitors and intangible benefits is the differentiating factor.

Q. What do you expect from HR?
A. I expect the basics with reference to HR operations, as routine elements of the HR function needs to be ensured. HR needs to start contributing more meaningfully to sense people issues proactively. The key points here are feeling the pain, emotionally connecting, getting to the root of discordant behaviours, aligning with the leadership team towards finding enduring solutions and effectively executing for enduring business impact and organisational and cultural transformation.

Q. How can the HR needs be best communicated to the CEO?
A. There is no substitute to in person conversations with facts and data. Trust and transparency between the duo, along with the rest of the leadership team, is the main determinant of free and fair communication, thus leading to quicker response times. Read more..



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The Sharpest Arrow in Ceo’s Quiver

Q. How can HR link itself to the overall business strategy?
A. To be involved at the start of the strategy development, HR has to understand where the organization is going and what will that mean for its skills and talent needs, e.g., how many people will retire. It should also understand what skills will they take with them; the expansion plans; what skills will that take; the business trends and the impact they will have on skill needs.

Q. How can a CEO participate in making efficient HR processes?
A. CEOs need to use their role to help the organisation understand the critical contribution of HR to business’ success. But they also want senior HR executives to be more assertive in demonstrating their value and demanding their issues be recognised. CEOs believe senior HR executives can and should drive their agenda forward by ensuring they are business savvy, relevant, trusted and focused on issues that matter. HR needs to pound the table more as their issues get ignored in the heat of the battle.

Q. Which are the key strategic areas where involvement of HR becomes mandatory?
A. CEOs need leadership that is skilled, available and ready to act. HR needs to play a leadership role in identifying and developing talent. CEOs are looking to HR to help identify the behaviours and skills that will drive its productivity and success. Now that economic recovery is underway, most CEOs expect HR to lead a renewed focus on both talent management and succession planning.

Creating the employer brand
HR plays a key role in connecting culture with objectives and defining and communicating what makes its organisation a great place to work.

4 generations at the workplace
CEOs want HR to help predict and manage the impact of four generations at the workplace.

Social media
HR must have a solid grasp on how to use social media to communicate with and recruit employees.

Trend analysis
CEOs expect HR to forecast and analyse trends that will impact the business.Click here to read full interview..

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