the new hr

Innovation
Culture
DR SANTRUPT MISRA
is CEO-Carbon
Black Business
and Director-Group
Human Resources,
Aditya Birla Group.
How can HR ensure an atmosphere of
collaboration and diversity?
The world over, and especially in the Indian
context, the younger generation is being far
more collaborative. Again, organisational culture
is at the core of a collaborative mindset. The
Aditya Birla Group encourages leaders to be
collaborative because we believe the process has to
start from the top. That apart, we are increasingly
espousing collaboration not just as an articulated
value, but as an element embedded in our value
of ‘seamlessness’. We define seamlessness as
collaboration and team work. There are task forces
that promote collaboration, and employee surveys
gather data on how well we work as a team.
We are cashing in on technology to encourage
collaboration, moving talent from one business to
another, and encouraging different businesses to
work together. For instance, exploring whether our
insurance and mobile businesses can work together
to get a larger share of the customer’s mindshare
and of course wallet share as well.
A well-established company with a robust
foundation is often susceptible to an
atmosphere of complacency. How can HR
build a sense of urgency around innovation?
Plan, budget, and set goals in a manner that sets
challenges afresh, which in turn makes it difficult
for people to be content with the status quo. Also,
a hugely competitive world characterised by new
products, processes, initiatives, and technology
allows little room for complacency. We believe
complacency is death! Again technology is making
inroads into our daily lives too in an unprecedented
manner. Stakeholders viz. your competitors,
customers, and shareholders constantly push you
to come out with something better, different,
and newer.
It is the responsibility of HR to foster
innovation, but often HR itself gets caught
in the conformity trap. This points to
the need for innovation within HR. Your
thoughts.
HR is the central function in an organisation and
hence its initiatives touch people’s lives on a daily
basis—from the time they join to the time they
leave or retire. Hence it is extremely important that
HR itself is innovative. Any HR innovation would
serve as a source of inspiration.
In most progressive organisations, HR is being
innovative and futuristic.
Our Group has invested heavily in technology to
bring HR in different forms to people. We have put
in place many programmes to build high-potential
talent. Through initiatives such as setting up a group
of counsellors, we help employees achieve worklife
integration and also solve any personal issues
they have. We are constantly seeking newer ways
of improving their lives to help them serve our
customers better. Some firms are experimenting
with radical concepts such as doing away with
performance review. We do not know how these
measures will play out, but the fact they are trying
to demolish well-established processes and creating
newer ones shows HR managers are thinking of
future challenges. However, routine HR functions
and responsibilities would always remain the
foundation on which we build the rest. In the
Aditya Birla Group, we talk about ‘brilliant basics’
that is delivering the basics brilliantly for us to do
other better things.
What will be the future role of HR
managers?
What will change is the way the HR function is
delivered and connected to the business. In many
organisations, HR managers will function more as
business managers and lead businesses themselves.
They will be the conscience-keepers of the board of
directors and counsellors to the senior management
team, and increasingly be brand ambassadors of the
organisation. HR also will be at the centre of creating
an external network: of experts, academicians, and
institutions that will create value for the organisation,
and of course be a custodian of organisational
culture. And as employees demand more and more,
HR’s role will scale to a new high.
(As told to Anitha Moosath and Poornima Subramanian.)
34 INDIAN MANAGEMENT NOVEMBER 2015