Setting up of The HR Department

Monday, October 12, 2009

As an MBA graduate, fresh with HR concepts, theories and passion in mind I applied for the position at X company through campus (Alliance B School, Bangalore). The profile said that the candidate would be required to setup the HR department for them. This was exciting.. a golden opportunity extended to few, recession or not,.. and a place where definetely the HR fundas would come to the rescue.

Fast Forward... Application.. Interviews... Selection.. Offered.. Accepted.. Joined. Thoda re...wi...nd.. Yes! When I joined I felt lost. I was drowning into the sea of facts and data and was desperately trying to make some organised sense of the information provided. The quick facts read as follows: Employee strength 55-60; SBU(s) - 6; Location Presence - 7; Industries/ Product Lines - 7-8; HR functions - Haphazard; Policies and Procedures - None!

Every SBU head and/or location head chose their own ways of functioning, their own procedures of discipline, their own methods of appraisal (actually just the salary hike). I was (and am!) required to create policies that would run uniformly throughout the division which would have to take into consideration the existing systems, the pecularities of different SBUs' and find a way to weave in the similarities. And so my journey began...

I began with Employee files and documentation - the employees were so reluctant to 'dig out' the documents and exclamations screamed on their faces, voices and mails. Although the procedure is still under process after 3 months I have quite a bunch to show off as The HR Department. Next, Offer Letter, Appointment Letter and Confirmation Letter had to be restructured - before this we provided a 1 page offer cum appointment letter which seemed important only once a candidate referred to the "Subject Line". My HR supremacy helped me finish this procedure quickly! Then, I started with some orientation document called the Induction where a new employee atleast felt he was famliar with the foundation, walls and pillars of the organisation if not the internal workings.

Further to a sample of the Employee Feedback and based on the data recieved we planned on conducting certain Training Programmes and implementing a Customer Feedback Form. Here I recieved my first real obstacle as an HR where I had to explain that this was not a cost to the company but a strategic measure. Voices rose, tension filled, dates rescheduled and finally the procedure is underway. The Attendance and Leave policy followed which was implemented after a lot of pre-and post research internally, interspersed with a little dissapointment. This was my first real stint at grievance handling when my days would start by explaining, listening, being crass, being nice and phew...! Internal Referral Policy, Grievance Handling procedure, Consultant Base.. and the list is endless. No guesses to assume that my plate is full and slowly my appetite seems to be decreasing.

At the end of three months I have a new-found respect for the HR profession and the bar seems to be rising. It is so easy to bat an eyelid, to snigger at the 'insignificant clause,' so easy to find the loopholes but behind every policy lies a history, context, arguments, hindrances, corrections, suggestions that is lying invisible in the chapter of an HR manual. "HR is mundane, HR is administrative, HR is unnecessary, HR is a burden, HR needs no skills, HR knows no shit" - Really? I invite you to step into my shoes (Its prominent yellow in colour and is starting to wear out though!).
 


4 comments:

roopali said...

Superb Radhika, I am proud of you,. So less time and so much work already done. This is the profile every HR guy would crave for and you are doing more than justice to it.

People who say HR is a burden a waste of time and look down upon HR,its time that they learn and understand what exactly is the role of HR in the well being of the organization. They better clean the dust on their glasses.

Good work and keep going....

Nisha said...

Really Good work, being HR a Thankless Job.

Anonymous said...

Amazing job performed and you'll have a great career .

Radhika said...

Thank you so much for the feedback and appreciation! :)