Global HR Manager, Skills and Competencies

ABSTRACT

Human beings working in organizations are not finished products. Developing and
harnessing the potentials and skills of employees towards achievement of organizational
objectives and success is a challenging task for the HR Managers. The impact of LPG
and ICT on business has removed all boundaries and business firms, today, work,
compete and collaborate in a global environment. The role of HR Practioner as training
coordinator or personal manager has been getting very low priorities. In this globally
competitive environment with large-scale mergers, acquisitions and ICT enabled
organizations, the HR Managers have to sharpen their skills and competencies to face the
challenges in performing the role as a strategic partner in the business operations. In this
article an attempt has been made to have an insight into the new set of skills and
competencies required for HR Managers.

The human resource management function has been facing ever - increasing and

complex challenges with globalization and subsequent integration of world markets along

with advances of ICT. The paramount concern of HRM is to develop, maintain and

enhance competitive advantage in the International Context. Today organizations work,

compete and collaborate on a global environment. There are constant pressures and

compulsions to reduce cost and improve quality of products and services. Human

Resource Managers have to play a strategic role in creating, developing and retaining

high quality world-class human resource to gain competitive edge. Organizations in spite

of the geographical distances, linguistic and cultural diversities and differences have to

establish its identity. Interestingly, global organizations must be able to develop and

enrich competencies with knowledge and skills drawn from local communities that

participate as employees in their global work places.

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In this knowledge era, the management of human assets so as to contribute to strategic

competencies of the organization is the biggest challenge for the HR professionals.

Human resource practioners have to look for an answer to human resources development

rather than Human Resource management and Human resource management has to play

the central role in the organizations in facilitating development of competitive advantage

through people. This presupposes that there should be paradigm shift from the traditional

skills and competencies of Human Resource Managers to new competencies in the new

millennium to cope with emerging challenges. Some of the important roles the HR

professionals need to play so as to become a strategic partner of the business are

discussed below.

I. HR Manager as Knowledge Manager

Organizations become successful in the global environment only if they can

attract, develop and retain best of the knowledge and skills in them. Knowledge

management has become the key factor for success due to the shift from industrial

economy to a globally decentralized–information-driven economy. Human Resource

Management and Knowledge Management should be properly integrated to best develop

and leverage the potential value of an organization. Human Resource practioners have the

critical and central role in integrating these vital components.

Kael wiig who coined the term “Knowledge Management” says “ knowledge

management is a systematic, explicit and deliberate building, renewal and application of

knowledge to maximize an enterprise knowledge-related effectiveness and returns from

its knowledge assets”. Knowledge Management is the formalization of access to

experiences, knowledge and expertise that create new capabilities and enable superior

performance, encourage innovation and enhance the customer value. Academicians and

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writers of management books and articles have identified people as well as knowledge as

determinants of organizational competencies. Pfeifer (1994) for example suggests that

effective management of people including developing and improving people, sharing

information, creating self-managed teams and training people are critical factors for

competitive advantage. Human Resource Management must be in a position to create

enrich and sustain competencies/capabilities with knowledge and skill coming from local

communities where the work places are located. Explicit knowledge can be packaged as

information found in the documents of an organization-reports, articles and manuals,

patents, pictures, video images, software’s etc. However tactic knowledge which is

embedded in individuals and shared and exchanged, is the key for getting things done.

Explicit knowledge can grow and sustain itself only through the continuous development

of tactic knowledge. The role of HR Professionals in the field of knowledge management

may be visualized in the following areas.

a) Development of new knowledge

Survival of an organization essentially depends on development of new

knowledge based on creative ideas, innovation, analysis of failures and

experiences of individuals and R&D. The HR practioners should be able to

map these new ideas and innovative experiences available within and outside

the organization and share and empower the employees.

b) Retaining new and existing knowledge

Knowledge and skills embedded in individuals within and outside the

organization should be accessible to those who can put it to use effectively to

gain competitive advantage. HR practioners have to build a culture of

knowledge sharing and development within the organization.

c) Knowledge Distribution

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 Knowledge stored in corporate depositories has to be properly indexed and

distributed to through training and development programmes so that it can be

put to effective use. The target employees for training and imparting the

relevant knowledge and skill should be identified and appropriate programmes

have to developed to impart the knowledge and develop the competencies in

the employees continuously. This role has been played by HR professionals to

some extent but they have to redesign the Training and Development

programmes so as to reorient such programmes to have a firm base on

knowledge creation, sharing and retaining.

d) Creation of a learning culture

An organization performs effectively only if available knowledge areas are

combined to develop new products and services. The products and services

are naturally developed through the efforts of multidisciplinary teams. HR

Practioners do undertake programmes to promote teamwork and team spirit. It

is equally important in the present environment to concentrate on teamwork

and team spirit coupled with team learning. HR Practioners have to cultivate a

culture of learning, individual learning and team learning. The spirit of

learning and innovation should be properly nurtured by enabling policy

decisions and practices by HR Management. HR Managers have to convert

the organization into a learning organization wherein we may notice the

following features.

1. People do things that really benefit them and the society at large.

2. Every individual in the organization is continuously learning and

stretching himself to improve individual potential and contribute their best

to the organization.

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 3. People work in teams combing the individual capabilities intelligently.

They recognize the importance of synergy.

4. People are free to enquire each other about their feelings, assumptions and

biases.

5. An atmosphere of mutual trust and respect among the employee prevail

and they work together regard less of their positions.

6. People experiment, take risks, innovate and openly assess results.

HR professionals should be proactive in developing an understanding among

the top management of the organization to appreciate and involve them in

implementing Policy decisions in building learning organizations.

II. Competency/Capability Builder

Organizations may have efficient systems of identifying and recruiting people

with right skills and knowledge, but it is essential for the HR Professionals to develop the

capabilities of the people hired, so that they perform and contribute willingly to the

success of the organization. In this context the role of HR Manager as a builder of

competency is highly crucial not only for new members but also for the existing

manpower.

HR Professionals should be skilled to map the existing competencies and also the future

requirement. They have to identify the capabilities required for short term as well as long

term. The role of HR Managers is to provide competencies suitable to the activities of the

organization of the present and future. In the context of just in time hiring of skills and

competencies, the role of HR professionals are viewed as the source for survival and

growth of the organization.

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III. HR managers as Strategic partners

HRM is the process of developing applying and evaluating policies, procedures,

methods and programmes relating to the individuals in the organization. It has been

established that effective HR practices can improve business performance. HR practices

should be business-driven and impact-driven instead of routine activity oriented.

Innovative HR measures should be definitely forward looking and enabling HR

professionals to assess and diagnose the process and people capabilities. In this post LPG

era, the success of organization is centered around strategic HR. Business objectives are

achieved by the people working in the organization. The days of treating HR function as

a supportive function is of the past. HR function today, is an integral part of the corporate

strategy Wright and Snell (1998) have suggested that in a business, strategic HR deals

with those HR activities used to support the firms competitive strategy. Walker (1992)

defines strategic HRM as the means of aligning the management of HR with the strategic

content of the business. Strategic HRM encompasses all those activities affecting

behavior of individuals in their efforts to formulate and implement the strategic needs of

business.

In this fast changing competive business environment, survival and growth is

possible only through performance. Organizations perform only if the people perform.

Thus it is absolutely clear that the business strategy should be integrated with HR

strategy. The HR Practioners have to face the challenge of mastering new capabilities in

building strategic HR matching with the business/Corporate strategy.

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IV. HR Manager’s talent retention role

Organizations have undergone a total turnaround from physical technology to

information technology enabled institutions. We also notice a shift from capital centered

economy to HR centered economy, from material growth to sustainable development and

from conflict to cooperative working environment. The traditional roles of HR

professionals such as arbitrator, negotiator, conflict manager, IR manager etc are of low

priorities today particularly in IT organizations. The major problem faced by the HR

professionals in IT organizations is the problem of attrition/employee turnover. The HR

Managers role now basically is aimed at recruiting and hiring high quality IT

professionals and devising programmes aimed at retaining them in the organization for

longer periods.

The change in IT is faster than any other processes and it demands tomorrow’s

knowledge for today’s application. People being the integral part of the whole system, it

is absolutely necessary to select the best talent, develop and retain them for a longer

period. The IT sector thrives on new technology. Hence it is essential that the

organization acquire these new technologies and train the employees to update their

skills. It becomes necessary to develop a shared culture where employees embrace the

changes naturally and willingly and acquire new skills. HR professionals role in IT

organizations particularly in the context hiring Just in Time (JIT) skills to cope up with

the changes in technology will be crucial for the success of the organization on

continuous basis. The major HR functions in IT organizations will be buying talents,

borrowing talents and building talents (3Bs). Interestingly, IT industries are largely

technology driven and people are in the core to develop and drive technology and hence

in IT sector HR management and the role of HR professionals become the greatest

business enabler.

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V. HR Manager’s role in Mergers and Acquisitions

Global organizations are increasingly using mergers and acquisitions in order to

strengthen and maintain their positions in the market places. Regardless of industry, it

appears to have become all but impossible in global environment for firms to compete

with others without growing and expanding through deals that result in mergers and

acquisitions. This trend seems to continue for sometime if one takes a look at the annual

increases in mergers and acquitions. However, we also see extensive failures in such

deals. The major reasons for such failures of M&A have been identified as culture

clashes, incompatibility and loss of key talents. The merger of two culturally different

organizations results in conflict during the initial period of M&A leading to decrease in

employee morale, anxiety and uncertainty about future etc. To avoid failures of M&A

deals, programmes should be devised to change the mindset of the people. Integrating

both the organizations to a new entity needs open communication at each level so that

both the cultures merge amicably. Timely actions initiated by the HR managers to retain

talent from the organization, and initiate steps to avoid culture clashes go a long way in

the success of M&A. HR professionals should be proactive to identify the talents in both

the firms and appropriate strategies should be implemented to avoid draining of talents.

HR manager should analyze the cultural differences, problems and issues and build

proper remedial measures to build confidence and motivate the people for the success of

M&A. The HR department should play a proactive role to anchor the whole process

providing systematic approach and initiatives so that the deal becomes a success story.

VI. HR Manager’s roles in Virtual Organizations

Virtual organizations are social networks in which all the horizontal and vertical

boundaries are removed. These organizations have options for flexible work practices

such as flextime, part time work, job sharing, walk-office and home-office practices. The

most important determinant in such environments is the extent of control on employees

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or the amount of autonomy the members can have. Virtual organizations have become

realities due to the availability of information networks, emails, mobiles and wireless

connectivity. These organizations better known as digital organizations are networks of

corporations made possible by ICT, which is flexible and able to meet the requirements of

the market. The employees of these organizations work at dispersed work places, at their

homes or residential colonies or distributed office units globally. The ICT combines the

skills of different employees physically dispersed and coordinates the activities in order

to achieve the organizational objective.

Every organization needs a team to carry out the activities effectively and it is

basically true in the case of virtual organizations also. People build team and

communicate using links like WAN, Video Conferencing or emails and portable

telephones. Virtual Team working is also practiced by global organizations. The HR

manager’s in virtual organizations need totally different set of HRM skills for

coordinating and controlling the virtual team members. In a virtual organization people

are left to do their best to produce world-class products and services. An objective

analysis of these knowledge based organizations reveal that the people in such firms have

greater skills, variety and high quality of work life. People enjoy greater autonomy and

financial stability. Hence the HR managers have to face a situation where in they are

supposed to keep the members together by his soft skills and ensure loyalty and

commitment. The major challenge will be to recruit such high performing, self-

performing individuals and build them into a virtual team.

Conclusion

In the international HRM context, the HR manager’s role essentially is managing

people to deliver world-class products and services regardless of geographical distances,

differences and cultural diversities. HR outsourcing has been on the rise according to

market surveys from Gartner and Forrester Research. It is anticipated that 85% of US

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companies will outsource at least one component of their HR function by 2006.The

global knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) is likely to grow at Compounded Annual

Growth rate (CAGR) above 45% to touch $17 bn by 2010. Workplaces are becoming

globally distributed. In the context of Just in Time (JIT) hiring of skills coupled with

virtual teams and walk-office and home-office concepts getting more and more accepted

globally, HR practioners need to tighten their belts and learn new competencies and

improve capabilities to face the challenges of changes. It is also felt that efforts should be

undertaken to map “the Best HR Practicies”. B-Schools have to re-design the curriculum

and develop appropriate programmes to train and develop global HR Managers with the

right skill set and capabilities. B-Schools may include programmes to impart deeper

understanding of organizational operations, cultural sensitivity, cross cultural leadership

skills, change management skills on global scale, team building skills in the context of

global operations etc.

References:

1. Mahaveer Jain & Parth Sarathi :- Annual Handbook of Human resource

Initiatives 2005-Initiatives and interventions-India”.

2. Mr.Biswajeet Paataneyak, Human Resource Management –2004, Prenticc

Hall, India.

3. HRM Review-Vol 6, Issue-1, January 2006.

4. Budhavar.P and Sparrow.P (1997)-Evaluating levels of strategic integration

and development of human resource management.

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