Difference between Business HR & Conventional HR

Corporate HR and Business HR are terms used to distinguish area of operations. In organizations which are concentrated on single core business the terms are one and the same.

There has been an increasing awareness in the past decades that HR functions were like an island for cool comfort jobs which are far away from the hard world of real business. In fact I have received many such comments on this from colleagues who were headed departments like Sales, IT, Finance, Customer care etc. In order to justify its own existence HR functions had to be connected with the strategy and day to day running of the business side of the organization.

Here is a small attempt to distinguish between Business HR and Traditional HR. Actually, the question behind writing this small article is “what roles can be identified for the current day HR department in the context of increasing globalization of the corporate domain?”

I used to perform the below KRA in previous organizations apart from the conventional HR operations. I introduced new revenue models in my previous organizations, increased profit ratio, enjoyed the pressure too and stood as a successful leader. Often, I happened to receive a query from HR community that “why not a CEO from HR background?”. Who will stop you if you handle the below KRA.

Business HR:

·    The primary goal of Business HR is to increase employee productivity by focusing on business obstacles that occur outside of human resources.

·   The primary actions of Business HR are to identify key HR areas where strategies can be implemented in the long run to improve the overall employee motivation and productivity.

·  Ensuring Effective Manpower planning, recruitments, training & skills development, provide effective supervision and leadership, grievances handling and retention of team.

·    Plan and direct the organization’s activities to achieve stated/agreed targets and standards for operational, quality, culture and statutory adherence.

·       Review and report performance / progress of the organization on a regular basis & ensure the efficacy of System.

·  Examine the functional operations and identify profit improvement / cost reduction opportunities.

·         P & L responsibility.

·    Maintain and develop organizational culture, values and reputation in its markets and with all staff, customers, suppliers, partners and regulatory/official bodies.

·         Engage, Build and maintain effective long-term relationships with key members of the client team and discussing future Trend in Operations.

·       Create cross-functional project teams to encourage team building & employee development in terms of Knowledge & Skills.

·  Conducting continuous audits on MIS to ensure compliance and sound functioning of the process.

Corporate HR:

Corporate HR can play a significant role in monitoring the implementation of corporate HR policies throughout subsidiaries. HR can thus become "Champions of processes", building commitment of top management, providing training for managers and monitoring these processes. Corporate HR has a social responsibility to ensure future leaders are sensitive to and equipped to deal with global challenges. This creates a new role for HR as ‘guardian of culture’, overseeing the implementation of global values and systems.

However in a diversified organisation there may be need to have Corporate HR and individual SBU or Business HR as each business may need to have unique business requirement.

When Organisations grew and they could see the visible impact of good HR practices in their bottom line, they wanted HR to reach out to where the business is, rather than be restricted to cool comforts of corporate Office. Both are one and the same for a small company where there is only one HR dept but for a large organisation which has large geographical spread or multi business environment, the HR team at the Corporate Office would be called Corp HR and the HR presence in individual businesses would be called Business HR.

For Ex. Recruitment strategies are handled at Business HR level and hiring also happens there. There is a small team of senior recruiters at corporate office to handle corporate openings. However, Rewards are managed centrally. Salary structures, annual increments guidelines etc are all planned at corporate level. Payroll processing is at corporate level however entry is done at business level. Training is handled at business HR level however succession planning is done at corporate HR level.

Please add your suggestions in the same page as the viewers of this page also read the same.

Regards

Ram

Ram.k.reddy@adrgroup.in

Differences between Jan Lokpal Bill and Govt Bill

The streets are witnessing a demand that the government's Lok Pal Bill be replaced by the Jan Lok Pal Bill (JLP) as drafted by the team led by Anna Hazare. There are several significant differences between the two bills. In this note, we describe the some of these differences.

First, there is a divergence on the jurisdiction of the Lok Pal. Both bills include ministers, MPs for any action outside Parliament, and Group A officers (and equivalent) of the government. The government Bill includes the Prime Minister after he demits office whereas the JLP includes a sitting Prime Minister. The JLP includes any act of an MP in respect of a speech or vote in Parliament (which is now protected by Article 105 of the Constitution). The JLP includes judges; the government Bill excludes them. The JLP includes all government officials, while the government Bill does not include junior (below Group A) officials. The government Bill also includes officers of NGOs who receive government funds or any funds from the public; JLP does not cover NGOs.

Second, the two Bills differ on the composition. The government Bill has a chairperson and up to 8 members; at least half the members must have a judicial background. The JLP has a chairperson and 10 members, of which 4 have a judicial background.

Third, the process of selecting the Lok Pal members is different. The JLP has a two stage process. A search committee will shortlist potential candidates. The search committee will have 10 members; five of these would have retired as Chief Justice of India, Chief Election Commissioner or Comptroller and Auditor General; they will select the other five from civil society. The Lok Pal chairperson and members will be selected from this shortlist by a selection committee. The selection committee consists of the Prime Minister, the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, two Supreme Court judges, two high court chief justices, the Chief Election Commissioner, the Comptroller and Auditor General and all previous Lok Pal chairpersons.

The government Bill has a simpler process. The selection will be made by a committee consisting of the Prime Minister, the leaders of Opposition in both Houses of Parliament, a Supreme Court judge, a high court chief justice, an eminent jurist and an eminent person in public life. The selection committee may, at its discretion, appoint a search committee to shortlist candidates.

Fourth, there are some differences in the qualifications of a member of the Lok Pal. The JLP requires a judicial member to have held judicial office for 10 years or been a high court or Supreme Court advocate for 15 years. The government Bill requires the judicial member to be a Supreme Court judge or a high court chief justice. For other members, the government Bill requires at least 25 years experience in anti-corruption policy, public administration, vigilance or finance. The JLP has a lower age limit of 45 years, and disqualifies anyone who has been in government service in the previous two years.

Fifth, the process for removal of Lok Pal members is different. The government Bill permits the president to make a reference to the Supreme Court for an inquiry, followed by removal if the member is found to be biased or corrupt. The reference may be made by the president (a) on his own, (a) on a petition signed by 100 MPs or (c) on a petition by a citizen if the President is then satisfied that it should be referred. The President may also remove any member for insolvency, infirmity of mind or body, or engaging in paid employment.

The JLP has a different process. The process starts with a complaint by any person to the Supreme Court. If the court finds misbehaviour, infirmity of mind or body, insolvency or paid employment, it may recommend his removal to the President.

Sixth, the offences covered by the bills vary. The government Bill deals only with offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act. The JLP, in addition, includes offences by public servants under the Indian Penal Code, victimization of whistleblowers and repeated violation of citizen's charter.

Seventh, the government Bill provides for an investigation wing under the Lok Pal. The JLP states that the CBI will be under the Lok Pal while investigating corruption cases.

Eighth, the government Bill provides for a prosecution wing of the Lok Pal. In the JLP, the CBI's prosecution wing will conduct this function.

Ninth, the process for prosecution is different. In the government Bill, the Lok Pal may initiate prosecution in a special court. A copy of the report is to be sent to the competent authority. No prior sanction is required. In the JLP, prosecution of the Prime Minister, ministers, MPs and judges of Supreme Court and high courts may be initiated only with the permission of a 7-judge bench of the Lok Pal.

Tenth, the JLP deals with grievance redressal of citizens, in addition to the process for prosecuting corruption cases. It requires every public authority to publish citizen's charters listing its commitments to citizens. The government Bill does not deal with grievance redressal.

Given the widespread media coverage and public discussions, it is important that citizens understand the differences and nuances. This may be a good opportunity to enact a law which includes the better provisions of each of these two bills.

-Courtesy IBN

Launching "Upadhi" in Prakasam District, AP

Not-For-Profit – Upadhi

Mission: Aiming for better society through our vision of providing employment for people in rural segments.

To support our mission statement, we began with the idea of linking rural youth to job opportunities in Indian corporate and development-sector organizations. As a part of this noble cause we have taken Kurnool district, AP for a pilot project and initiated a program called “Upadhi”. Since its inauguration in April 2011 we have placed more than 600 candidates through various job fairs conducted under this project. All these candidates are from rural areas and financially weak families. 

Upadhi is completely a nonprofit bustle where we will not charge any service fee neither from the government nor candidates or industries. From the perspective of the Indian economy, more jobs mean a contribution to GDP, more foreign exchange, more raw materials for industries, more manufactured goods and more services. Hence, employment for the rural youth has the potential to provide momentum to the giant wheel of the economy.

All able bodied un-employed persons in the 21 to 45 years age group of the local population shall be compulsorily enrolled to form human resources units in every Village / Panchayat. Enrollment shall be an incessant progression. And employment could be for any level i.e., a software engineer, medical, an MBA, nurse, pharmacist, carpenter, plumber, security guard, sales force, warehousing assistant, driver, etc.

With the confidence gained from the success and series of activities done earlier, we are now expanding our activity to Prakasam District basing at Kandukur town, Andhra Pradesh. When I was looking for a helping hand to make this program successful in Prakasam District, Mr. Srikanth has assured his kind support in terms of Finance, Hospitality & Infrastructure. Mr.Srikanth will announce the inauguration date in a press meet very soon.

Project Mentors:

Mr.Srikanth Chowdary Kancharla: A young Engineering graduate, A visionary leader started his career with CMC and then served major corporates for more than 6 years. Presently he is a Director at Prakasam Engineering College, Kandukur, AP. His vision and the values he believe in were made Prakasam Engineering College to stand as one of the best in AP. He is highly dedicated to the people of rural background in developing their skills and making them Industry Ready and placing them in different verticals.He was honored with "NTR Seva Award" from Honorable Governor Mr.Narsimhan, Andhra Pradesh for serving the flood affected areas at Kurnool, Organized by NTR Trust, Hyderabad.He is a member in CII,CSI and IEEE.

Ram K Reddy A, HR Business Partner: Ram has more than 15 years of experience in organizations leading the HR function. A hands-on experience as the Strategic HR and SBU Operations Head has helped Ram to polish his skills in the area of People Management. He has been associated with the organizations like Reliance ADA Group, Mind Source, Optimal Minds etc. He holds a Masters in Business Administration (HR) and PGDM in HR. He was honored with “Leadership Excellence” award from President HR, Reliance Communications. 

Rural India is the heart of the nation. If it functions well, the country flourishes.

Let us reach the untapped potential.

Write a mail to ram.k.reddy@adrgroup.in for further details.

The Top 5 Interview Questions That Employers Should Always Ask

Making a decision on whom to hire during the job interview process isn’t an easy task. Finding and hiring the best candidates starts with asking the right interview questions. I never miss to ask the below questions to assess the job applicant whether he is a strong potential hire.

1. We all make mistakes on the job. Share with me 2 mistakes that you have made in your current or past job. How did you resolve these mistake(s) and what did you learn from the mistake?

Reason to ask this question: You can check their ability to acknowledge that they have made mistakes. You can check their ability to problem solve, fix mistakes, make decision under stress and whether the mistake became a learning experience or not. Also we can understand whether he can do better job when faced with a similar situation in the future.

2. If I were to contact your current supervisor/colleague today for a reference, what would he/she say about your work performance and commitment to the job?

Reason to ask this question: You can check his honest and his self-awareness on his work done.

3. What is your long term objective? Share with me 3 activities you do in a day to achieve your goal?

Reason to ask this question: Working without keeping a goal for life is equivalent to missing a heart in human body. This question will help us to understand whether the candidate does a goal in his life and how they in line their daily schedule towards it.

4. How does your past and current work experience that makes you the best fit for this position?

Reason to ask this question: This question requires the job applicant to give real life examples of their specific experience and skills sets and how this experience can be applied to the job that you are hiring for.

5. What is your life’s philosophy?

Reason to ask this question: We can predict his behaviour in the organization based on the philosophy he has adopted in his life.