Challenge for HR - National HRD Network

across the cultures there might be
issues of cross-cultural communication.
l Teams must be trained to adapt to the
new teams or assignments, whenever
new teams are formed so as to ensure
continual continuity. For example an
organization serving various clients can
ask the employee to switch between the
teams to achieve the adhered
schedules.
l Right kind of empowerment to the teams
to deliver the goals.
l To resolve the cultural boundaries, solve
conflicts, interpret outside influences
and decide on consensus method with
virtual team approach.
l To operate cultural differences, which
range from unique communication style
to complex value systems, complicated
by language barriers can be worked out
with virtual team.
l Finally, employees are under
tremendous stress to deliver, adhere to
schedules, adapt to the changes in the
teams, learn new technologies, may
involve wide traveling, work at odd hours
(defying the biological clock), etc.
Addressing the issues HR need to
optimize the human resources to attain
the organizational goals.
HR cannot use the same yardstick to what
it has been using for traditional teams. HR
Carried from Page 42
Selecting the potential competencies
The HR Department uses suitable tests
and interview techniques to evaluate
whether the potential competencies are as
per the requirement and would fulfill the
needs of the internal customers. Ensuring
this is very important. Though it takes lot
of time and effort, it will help to deploy the
needed competencies fulfilling the needs
of the internal customers.
Induction and Socialization
The process of induction and socialization
would help the HR Department to provide
the human resources as needed by all the
internal customers. The cultural shocks
can be avoided and it prepares the human
resources to adapt to the organization's
culture and value system. Ultimately the
customers have to be satisfied and all the
activities of the HR department would
focus on that.
Decide the performance metrics for
different levels /functions
A system to monitor whether the needs of
the internal customers are fulfilled has to
needs to strategize to address the
challenges. It has to be proactive and be
ready to embrace the challenge rather than
wait for the situation to arise and react to it.
Success of virtual teams depends on
1. Building trust: People can be trusted in
a virtual environment.
2. Ground rules and norms are important
for teams to establish. They are useful
in determining how team members
interact and what kind of behavior is
accepted.
3. Adequate resources to be made
available to foster the performance, if
not it hinders the performance and
questions the existence of virtual teams
itself
4. Collaboration culture needs to be
brought in as the virtual team functions
autonomously and the roles are
independent.
5. Agreeing on goals and schedules,
project specific and performance
metrics enables single platform for
discussion and deliverables.
6. Encouraging participation especially
during the meetings, as certain members
may be reluctant to participate. Different
personality types due to change in
cultures and language will naturally
'speak up' in different ways, and ensure
there are team members but not lurkers.
be devised. The Performance metrics for
each individual employee in line with the
department's objective which will be in line
with the organization's vision has to be
developed. This performance metrics will
vary according to the levels and functional
area. The performance metric system will
be devised with full support from the internal
customers.
Communicate
The performance metrics designed has to
be communicated clearly to the human
resources scattered in various departments.
Only if this is done properly, the needs of
the internal customers will be met. The
system for evaluating the performance
metrics, what metrics they have, who would
evaluate them, what rewards would they get,
etc., has to be communicated clearly.
Evaluate, Provide feedback and Skill
Development
Periodically evaluating the performance and
providing feedback has to be undertaken
by the HR department. The performance
management system must be in place to
provide regular feedback to the employee
7. Providing a private space can be
created to allow members to share
thoughts outside the scope of
assignment and such measures
minimize coordination problems and
promote social exchanges among
members.
8. Coaching or helping team members to
adapt to the new environment and be
part of the team
9. Rewards and recognition shall be
followed at every milestone being
achieved, which reinforces the virtual
teams.
10. Continuous Communication is vital for
the success
Virtual teams are effective and they achieve
the difficult tasks that have been hitherto
difficult to handle. Sun Microsystems
developed a new electronic customer
ordered system with a virtual team
composed of 15 engineers from three
different companies from three different
countries.6
Virtual teams may look futuristic today, they
will probably common form of work in the
organizations in the years to come. There
is tremendous opportunity for HR
professionals to strategically position their
organization towards sustained competetive
advantage and also positioning the firm for
virutal team success.
u H
Quality Function Deployment (QFD): An Alternative Context
for improvement. Not only that, decisions
regarding advancement in his/her career
has to be taken at the appropriate time
and evaluating the performance would
help. Apart from all this, HR department
has to constantly be on the vigil to satisfy
the needs of the internal customers. The
system of evaluation would help to identify
the need fulfilled, the gap existing and the
remedial measures (skill development) to
be taken to further satisfy the internal
customers of the HR Department.
Conclusion
Thus the existing functions of the HR
Department can be looked from the
Quality Function deployment dimension.
Ultimately, it is the quality of human
resources that matter for the effective
operation of the organization. An
organization has to give high priority to the
quality of human resources who get inside
the organization because they are the one
who determine the quality of other
components in the organization. In other
words, the quality has to start from human
resources.
u H
| HRD News Letter | December 2007, Vol.23, Issue:9 41 |