HR in a challenging environment

HR in a challenging environment
 
Have the challenges of the current economic climate made it more difficult for HR Managers?
Yes!
We have never experienced so much change & uncertainty in the field of business.
The last major global economic crisis was 80 years ago and most leaders and managers have not experienced such conditions before.
Some organizations are ceasing to exist. Will that happen to yours? We cannot allow fear in. We will look at what is possible and achievable. Others rely on HR leadership.
What can we do about it as HR Professionals? There are four major areas where an HR Professional can significantly contribute to the organisation’s success over and above the current HR Function when times are difficlut. We can:

1. Look at current HR Strategy and see where we can be far more proactive in terms of scenario and strategy planning.
2. The good thing about a crisis is that it forces you to re-examine your business model and see if there are any better ways of working. There have been some radical break-throughs in business models in crisis that have at the same time yielded a lot more value to the end client while reducing costs for providing that service or product. Examples are the Tata fully functional car (sold for $2,400) and the iPod delivering hi-fi portable premium sound for a fraction of the previous cost.
3. HR’s function would be to facilitate and inspire departments or the senior team to re-examine four areas that can benefit from a hard re-assessment: The Customer Value Proposition, the Profit Formula, the Key Resources deployed and the key Processes of the organisation.
4. Look at additional ways of adding value to the organisation through the development and growth of its products and services. Innovation is critical in difficult times and the ability to be able to look at your markets and then identify the areas that you have not been servicing takes a lot of courage.
5. HR’s role is to challenge each department and force it to re-examine the areas where it can add a lot more value. This can possibly be done in the role as a trainer or facilitator or it can employ outside consultants to do this.
6. Look at the added skills and competencies needed by our people in difficult times. People need to learn and change faster than ever before. It is now that the critical need for training exists. If you don’t train your people when they really need it, then when will you train them? Crisis handling knowledge and skills are not available internally. People need communication,re-assurance, motivation and inspiration. For some, there is more operational time available and therefore more time for training. In Cyprus the Human Resource Development Authority can cover most of the cost.
7. Look at enhancing and developing the specific Leadership skills needed to be able to cope with Challenging times. There are new and radically different Leadership and Management skills that are now needed to be able to cope with the crisis. These include speed, a sense of urgency, fast problem-solving, taking decisions on limited information, implementing hard decisions in spite of resistance and most critically managing and leading the emotions in the organization. It is HR’s role to bring this to the attention of the management and go about providing them with the skills needed to manage in a crisis!

It is HR’s role to bring about change and development and the optimum time is when the organization needs it most!