Creative Human “Intelligence”

Management –
The future path of HR
By Dr. Sandeep Kuulshrestha

Human Resource Management function is a vital function in most of the

organizations today, with variations of its strategic role. Some
organizations have taken this function to new heights by successfully
introducing performance management features like Six Sigma, Balance
Score Card, 360 degree appraisals (now 720 and 1080 degrees as well) and
technologically, customized programs are available on SAP and ORACLE
platforms to support the e-delivery of HR, another empowering tool. Some
Organizations have re-christened HR as “Human Capital”, “Human
Asset” and so on. The important thing is to make the function relevant
with the changing times, with any nomenclature, as found suitable by any
organization. The growth in services and customer delivery has made HR
quite close to the Customer Relationship Management function and these
functions have to work in tandem, so that appropriate organizations goals
can be met. With the current organizational challenges and the future
dynamics, there would be a defining need to look at HR with a different
perspective, the creative side of it, to cope up with the changing times. If
we can, for gossip sake or in all seriousness try to look at HR in the future,
it can be well seen that HR is most likely to go through a whole
metamorphosis and transform into a “creative” function. It could be either
a role in itself, as a part of the HR domain or a HR function in totality. Let
us assume HR’s extended role as “Creative Human Intelligence
Management”, explained as under;

Creative Human Intelligence Management (CHIM) would consist of all

such activities which enrich & entertain human minds at workplace and
make them deliver in highly empowered, flexible and experimental
environment, with their creativity promoted and supported by the
Organization. The function of CHIM would be:

1
a) Recruiting with Creativity: Recruitment, as an exercise, would be
done by visiting the candidate’s residence and seeing how he/she
manages the household. Alternatively, a webcam or other
technological sources can be utilized for this purpose. The candidate
could be asked about his/her take on life and relationships, along
with the professional skills and expertise. In another way,
interviewers should give presentation about the company first and
then ask the candidate, to ask questions. Through the quality of
questions posed, the recruiters can find whether the candidate is
suitable or not. In the second round, there should be just one
question, “given this situation, how will you contribute”

b) Home as office: The concept of “work from home” would be given

more prominence owing to the growth in the cities and more time
taken to reach the workplace. More and more job functions would be
included in this concept. Technology would be of immense
assistance

c) Encourage employees to take up creative interests: Employees

would be sponsored for short term courses in music, gardening,
interior design, pottery, journalism, poetry and fiction etc, which
would broaden their horizon and would inculcate a sense of
creativity in whatever they do.

d) Three-day weekend: Three day weekend will be encouraged after

four days of extensive work in certain organizations and Fridays
would be utilized for sending plan of next working week to the team
lead/superior

e) Rewarding the under-performer: Under-performers can be rewarded

by giving paid holidays and giving them no work. They could be
asked to give solutions and suggestions and subsequently, it could
be observed by the management whether the concerned individual
is a habitual under-performer or his intelligence needs to be boosted.

2
 f) Creative Performance Management System: Creative PMS can be
based on the principle of “Surprise Reviews”, wherein the format of
appraisal forms could be very simple (around one page) and any
person, with whom the individual/team has worked, could be asked
any feedback. The Boss should go to a restaurant/pub to have the
appraisal interview, with the team members

Besides the above mentioned points, there can be a lot of activities and
processes in HR which would act as “Human Intelligence Boosters”. There
is a definite need to utilize the human potential to the maximum, with less
of stress and more of enjoyment and entertainment. An employee needs to
be entertained at workplace, not by means of any jam sessions or parties,
but by the way he/she would be treated at the workplace. A good work
culture, where human intelligence is respected, results in excellent
performance and sound HR practices.