HR Leadership & Risk Mitigation between the PM and HRPM

( in Project Management)

Pic by Ivan Bandura

Karan Dokras
Product Development || Sales || Core Team || AKIVA, Gurgaon, Haryana, India

Dr. Uday Dokras

B.Sc., B.A. (Managerial Economics) LL.B. Nagpur University, INDIA
Graduate Studies, Queen’s University, Kingston, CANADA
MBA CALSATATE USA
Graduate Diploma in Law, Stockholm University, SWEDEN
Ph.D. Stockholm University, SWEDEN
CONSULTANT HR & Administration, FDCM ESSELWORLD GOREWADA ZOO Pvt
Ltd.

ABSTRACT

Moving beyond the traditional view of risk as a value destroyer to seeing risk as a potential value
enhancer requires creativity and vision, as well as a management control system within which this
creativity can flourish and lead to market success. Here the role of human resource is vital. HR
practices will contribute to creating risk as well as mitigating them. Herein lies the double edged
character of people management. How one can be reduced to enhance the contribution of the other is
what this article deals with.

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 Abbreviations

PM - Project Manager
PHRM-Project Human Resource Manager

Key words
Mitigation strategies, hazard, risk management and strategy, HR, Motivation of employees

Introduction: Right from our school days, we have been hearing about projects (Science projects, Math
projects, group projects?). Then you have something as big as DRDO’s CHANDRAYAN Mission (To
study the Moon by landing on it). This is also called a project.

So, how exactly does one define a project?

Though there are innumerable variations within, a project is a task that needs to be completed.

 If DRDO calls its mission a project, it is because it wants to achieve a certain goal.
 If a teacher gives a project to a student, he/she wants the student to complete an assignment.
 When we hear about projects in the context of companies, it has the similar meaning. It is that
of accomplishing a defined goal.

Projects don’t get done by themselves. They need people to carry them out. This is where project
managers and project management team come into the picture. When we look at the project
management life-cycle, there are many people and groups involved. They help in designing, developing
and delivering the goals set out in the project. The objective of this article is to define the roles and
responsibilities of a project HR manager in the project management team.

A project consists of a diversity of individual’s movements and organizations which are all congregated
to attain a definite task in an unambiguous time. Leadership is an important characteristic for manager
in managing projects. Leadership skills can improve productivity, which results in effectiveness,
satisfaction, and extra effort. Managing a project is not an easy job. Moreover making sure that the
project is successfully completed within the allotted budget and time frame, with the intended results,
is even more difficult. A project manager has to undertake huge responsibilities on his shoulders. Even
the experienced project managers at times find it difficult to keep control on all the aspects of a project.
This clearly indicates that the job of a first time project manager would be all the more difficult.

A key element in the success of a company is good leadership skills of a project manager and a project
can be managed with minimal problems occur. Apart from that, interpersonal skills are also needed in
order to reflect the project manager's ability to bring workers involved in a project. The goal of the
research is to delineate project leadership as a managerial function in order to provide comprehensive

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insight needed for garnering success. The foundation of the problem domain is in the setting that the
person performing the function of project management is expected to manage a complex system, steer
it towards a purpose, continuously facing limitations and changes in the resources and environment.
For a project to be successful, it requires a complete team effort. The roles and responsibilities assigned
to the team members could be small or huge. But, at the end of the day, every role and responsibility
matters as it’s a collective team effort. It is this effort that drives project on the success path. Project
manager and project management team are like two facets of a coin. Hence, for the project to be
successful, both project manager and the team need to work as an efficient team.

The issue of project leadership needs more attention in project management literature, even though calls
have been made for more research on project leadership1. It is apprehended on the basis of literature
that there is a vital need of effective role which must be able to lead and manage simultaneously in
complex and challenging working environment. Project leadership is critical to overcome this
challenge, which has been cultivated as a brainchild of leadership and management in last decade.
Therefore, it becomes important to understand the differences between project leadership and project
management,to determine the effect of project leadership performance on success or failure of project 2.

Human Resource Paradigms

Organizations face a constantly evolving risk management landscape. Employee training and shared
information are essential to mitigate risk. An effective HR system can be very useful for supporting
compliance throughout your organization. How the management team views and feels about human
resources directly affects human resource management. Like risk, human resources are pervasive in the
business. Human resource management is most effective when integrated with decision making
throughout the business. This leads to recognition that each production, financial, and marketing
decision has a human component or influence. Which choice is made, how the decision is carried out,
the follow-up and monitoring depend on people. Isolating management team and employee issues from
production, financial, and marketing management frustrates people and creates unnecessary risk in a
business.enterprise.

To understand fully how human resource management and risk management are interrelated, one must
understand human resource management. It is the staffing, training, development, motivation, and
maintenance of employees to help accomplish organizational goals. Effective human resource
management also helps employees accomplish their career goals. HR, as a process, can be broken down
into specific activities: job analysis, writing job descriptions, hiring, orientation, training,
employer/employee interactions, performance appraisal, compensation, and discipline. Understanding
these activities helps explain the relationship between human resources and risk. Failure to successfully

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carry out these activities increases risk and penalizes the business by not taking advantage of what its
people.could.be.contributing.

Who is a Project HR Manager?

A project HR manager is a person who is responsible for leading the human resources in a project. In
other words, project HR managers are the spearheads employees of a project. They ensure that the
project is completed within the specified deadline by assisting the project managers and gets delivered
to the client without any flaws. If the PM handles all the aspects of the project from project initiation
to project delivery all the human relations issues and risk mitigation is managed by the project HR
manager.

To put it simply, he is the champion of the project. He provides the vision of the project to his team
members and keeps their focus firmly fixed on the same. He/she is that person who ultimately gets
praised for the success of the project or discredited for the failure of it. The project manager is
accountable for the fate of a project and the project HR manager for that too but more so for the fate
of the humans.

What is a Project Team?

A project team is a group of individuals teamed together. Their purpose is to achieve a specific
business task or goal. The project teams can be created on a temporary basis or for a very long
duration. The duration can range from a week to few years. These skilled individuals can be either
from different functional areas or a similar one. Further, a company can create a team out of the
existing employees or can hire new people to manage the project. A project manager is also an
integral part of the project team and the project HR manager is above them all as far as non-
materialistic aspect of the project goes. The team and the manager collectively together contribute to
the success of the project.

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How does a project manager handle risk?

Managing risk involves identifying potential threats or positive developments. The risks could be in the
form of a probability of a key team member resigning from the job or a sponsor suddenly pulling out
of the project. Next is the job of developing a course of action in case the risk plays out. It involves
various responses such as looking for alternatives, estimating the cost of other solutions etc. The HR
function has a critical role to play in risk management. HR needs to identify and manage its
people risks effectively if it is to contribute to an organization’s success. There are many
people-related risk exposures that can have a significant impact on an organization’s objectives
and reputation.Managing risk begins with managing culture, and culture is inevitably shaped
and shepherded by the men and women in executive leadership. Negligent hiring and retention
are at the top of the risk stack when it comes to curtailing effects on a company. People are
sources of risk, and any time a company makes an improper hiring decision, the company
potentially opens itself up to negative consequences.

Risk comes in many shapes and sizes, and can come from many directions, both internally and
externally. Much time and energy is spent managing risk presented by economic and commercial
forces to ensure sustainable profitability and growth, but we shouldn’t forget the significant risks that
relate to maintaining the internal capabilities of an organization - its people or human resources (HR).
And while risk is inevitable, there is a critical need for organizations to identify, understand, prioritize
and manage key risks with a pragmatic, integrated and coordinated approach. The long-term and
sustained success of an organization relies on the recruitment, training, development, motivation,
behavior, intentions and retention of employees with sufficient skills that help accomplish
organizational goals. The two key factors, both closely aligned with strategic objectives are an
effective Enterprise-wide Risk Management (ERM) framework, and HR Management. All
management inputs and interventions have a significant human component and can all adversely
affect an organization’s performance and future. In fact, the HR component is critical to risk
management because not only are the people actions are the key risk areas but also because people are
also critical in managing risk. In short, people actions cause risk but other people resolve these risks
by their temperate, remedial actions. Human resources have two roles in risk management. First,
people are a source of risk, e.g., shortage of employees, people doing sloppy work, an employee
refusing to take on additional responsibility, or a key employee leaving two months after completion
of a one-year training program.

Second, people are important in handling risk, e.g., people using their ingenuity to solve unexpected
problems, employees going the extra mile for the good of the organization, a key employee

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redesigning her own job to avoid unnecessary delays in getting work done, or an employee persuading
a talented friend to apply for a position in the business. Human resources include more than regular
full-time employees. They include all management and labor personnel, owner family and non-family
members, full-time and part-time people, and seasonal and year-round employees.

Human resources play important roles in businesses of all sizes. Orientation and training matter as
much for one employee as for 20 employees. A business with just two people can have serious
conflicts that jeopardize the business’ continuity and success. No team of people is so small as to
avoid the need for leadership or so large as to make leadership impossible.

Risk management also involves communicating. The project manager needs to inform the team
members and other stakeholders about the risks. It also includes, in some cases, assigning the task of
handling a specific risk to a certain team member. If he/she doesn’t optimize the risk, it is the job of
the project manager to hold the person responsible. Finally, the role of the project manager is to make
sure that the risk response is implemented as envisioned.

Responsibilities of a Project Management Team

The members of the project management team also have certain responsibilities. The priority is to
carry out the tasks assigned to them by their project manager. Further, the members need to
communicate to the project manager the task progress. In case, there are any changes/issues, they are
expected to immediately inform their leader.

In case, the team member has been taken into the team as an ‘expert’ in some area. Then, he or she is
expected to show initiative and not wait for the project manager to guide them even on small tasks.
What if the team members do not get along with each other? It can lead to delays and, in worst case
scenarios, to the failure of the entire project. Hence, they need to work with the other team members
and treat them with cordial respect.

If it is a huge project, then some members act as team leads and provide help to the team members. In
this way, there would be better coordination among team members. Also, the project can be delivered
to the client on time without any delays.

The issue of project leadership needs more attention in project management literature, even though
calls have been made for more research on project leadership1. It is apprehended on the basis of
literature that there is a vital need of effective role which must be able to lead and manage
simultaneously in complex and challenging working environment. Project leadership is critical to
overcome this challenge, which has been cultivated as a brainchild of leadership and management in

6
last decade. Therefore, it becomes important to understand the differences between project leadership
and project management, to determine the effect of project leadership performance on success or
failure of project 2.

What is Risk Management?

Effective risk management is essential for the success of large projects, particularly for the one-of-a-
kind projects that characterize much of its mission. Risk mitigation is an outline of steps to minimize
or eliminate a hazard or dangerous situation. Emergency preparedness for the following risks:
weather, fire, hazardous material and violence. Risk mitigation strategies are designed to eliminate,
reduce or control the impact of known risks intrinsic with a specified undertaking, prior to any injury
or fiasco. With these strategies in place, risks can be foreseen and dealt with. Fortunately, today’s
technology allows businesses to formulate their risk mitigation strategies to the greatest capacity yet.
While every organization needs to identify the strategies that are most appropriate for them, here are a
few simple strategies to perfect the process.

In the end, that’s what project managers and HR project people do. They mitigate risk in the release of
projects by managing the entire process from ideation 1 to planning to creation to execution and
rollout. Put simply HR mitigate people-related risks to ensure everyone at the organization is set up
for a successful, supported, and happy career.

Human resources have two roles in risk management. People are the main sources of „competencies‟
and „capabilities‟ of the firm that leads to profitability. 2

First, people are a source of risk, e.g., shortage of employees, people doing sloppy work, an employee
refusing to take on additional responsibility, or a key employee leaving two months after completion
of a one-year training program. 3

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Second, people are important in handling risk, e.g., people using their ingenuity to solve unexpected
problems, employees going the extra mile for the good of the organization, a key employee
redesigning her own job to avoid unnecessary delays in getting work done, or an employee persuading
a talented friend to apply for a position in the business.

Human resources, especially key-persons, are so important within the business. A key employee is
someone who cannot be easily. The most common of the reasons people leave is the competence of
the managers that leads to a bad work atmosphere and push the employee to quit the company. 4
It’s an exciting and challenging time to be in HR leadership. Elemental forces are driving HR out of
its long-established functional orbit around the business and pulling it into the core value drivers.
Leaders who can effectively navigate this positional shift will have an unprecedented opportunity to
bolster business outcomes and worker productivity as well as their own careers.
REFERENCES

1. See Ideation in Architecture by Srishti Dokras, research paper in academia.edu

2. 360-degree feedback was collected on 2,187 HR leaders spread across hundreds of different
organizations with 68% of those leaders located in the US, 11% in Asia, 8% in Europe, 7% in
Latin America, 4% in Canada, and 1% in Africa, Zenger Folkman collected

3. Competing for the Future, Gary Hamel,C.K. Prahalad, Harvard Business Review, August 1994
4. The Loss of A "Key Person": Risk To The Enterprise; How To Manage It? R.M.A.
Zhongnan, University of Economics and Law Wuhan China, IOSR Journal of Business and
Management , Volume 17, Issue 2.Ver. III (Feb. 2015), PP 38-44