If you want to know what differentiates a true People Champion from the bosses lackey/ executioner , look at their battle scars.
The Wonder Woman Fight
Removes the God of war- aka The Exceptional Asshole from the organisation- The great performer who is invaluable to the Business/ functional leader and everyone is blindsided to the collateral damage . Whether the person plays politics/ withholds information for personal career growth or destroys his/ her team on the altar of productivity, the reporting manager will always say ….sab changa si! – they come up with excuses , training programs and tired shrugs . The second act is telling HR- why don’t you find me a successor and I will get him/her out- this act usually plays out for 6 months when every person presented , including Einstein in a role which teaches relativity is rejected.
One of the CXO’s I supported was dependent on a VP for fast execution. But whomsoever I placed in that team reported the same problem- this VP’s active and passive reluctance to share vital information. The BU leader tolerated him because he was able to provide results – often at the expense of his and supporting teams.
The Yoda Battle
If your CHRO is passionate about developing the internal talent- this is the battle he/she fights very often . The development and promotion of internal talent over external .
The CHRO understands the Information Asymmetry in Decision making for hiring and succession planning and its consequences , i.e. rejecting the potential of internal folks because you know too much about them and hiring from outside because you know too little ! The Yoda battle is tough and is a long drawn affair often with no discernible awards for the HR leader. If the person whom they sponsored or canvassed for fails – then they get to hear I told you so’s and if they succeed more often than not the reporting manager takes all the credit.
A corollary of the Yoda battle is to convince management to pay for Development in terms of both time and money. Often time is at a greater premium than money. People rise to their level of incompetence because the management refuses to invest in developing them , I do not mean the 3-7 day development program at the nearest resort, I mean sponsoring a leadership development program from INSEAD or an innovation program at MIT, or a year long executive development program – these take away your best for a time period that their immediate supervisors hate . But like all good fights- this one needs to be fought – and if you make a habit of winning this fight- you and your team are doing a great job in HR .
The Equalizer
This is a battle for the soul of HR and maybe the organisation. This is the toughest battle there is – and will often result in the right CHRO getting the sack. Let me explain by examples
- Boeing’s CEO overseas catastrophic failure of manufacturing, process and risk management – which result in more than 300 people dead and the only action the company has taken is remove him from the Chairman position- i.e. a PR stunt. I know the board decides , but I do not see anyone resigning in protest. This is how HR becomes accomplice to the murder of a companies culture, and in Boeing’s case- literally and figuratively
- The automobile belt in NCR / Pune and chennai is shedding jobs everyday- where are the compensation cuts that should be announced for the top management. Where is the right sizing at the top level.
- ICICI Bank- regularly fired folks at junior and middle level who were discovered to show impropriety , but when Chanda Kochar,s apparent misdemeanour came to light- not even a rap on the knuckles, just a limpid letter saying they have confidence in her leadership. And after this HR wonders why it is the butt of jokes and the only thing the employees expect them to do well is a Rangoli at Deepawali. If HR wants to be taken seriously- they need to act with same level of intent and “power” at the top management that they display with the rest.
Being the Equalizer is tough- it fights for reducing compensation differentials between the bottom and the top, it fights for same intensity of action at the top as you would take with the “aam admi”/ bottom level in the hierarchy . This is the fight that leaders are made of , because it literally fights the pillars which hold the organisation together,this asks uncomfortable questions in a management meeting, this makes your peers ditch you for coffee breaks and this makes you question & balance your career with doing the right thing and then realise the question itself is wrong – the right decision does not care about balance.
Omar Farooq
Founder & CEO
AceProHR