Organisations have now recognised this new icon on the corporate horizon, which promises a more effective way to relate with manpower and business. Gone are the days when the role of the personnel man was likened to that of an animal tamer, cracking his whip to make the animal perform a set of stunts and tricks. Today, the role has taken on the mantle of a mentor and the profession has grown now to be aptly called human resource development (HRD).

Today, with the foreign investment and sourcing coming to Indian shores, not to mention the further opening up of the economy and recruitment on the upswing, the corporate czars have realised the importance of harnessing and strengthening one of the most important industry resources, mainly people power. This is where the human resource manager steps in to orchestrate an entire gamut of related functions.

”We are a relationship based company and this is one of our core corporate values,” says TB Patel, who heads the HR portfolio at Jacobs H&G. ”Our focus is on our people and we believe that they are our most treasured resource. People play an important role in the success of an organisation and they have to be groomed, nurtured and respected.” Yes, mission statements have now begun to reflect the industries awakening to its people as important resource other than machines and money.

”HR picked up in the last decade or so,” informs Sanghamitra Bhattacharyya, who teaches at the Loyola Institute of Business Administration (LIBA), Chennai. She attributes the reasons for this to increasing job insecurity in the business world and uncertainty following large-scale downsizing and restructuring exercises in organisations.

The HR consultant with Assessment India, Pune, Shekhar Manelkar points out that there is a focus on competencies for traditional HR functions of recognising, recruiting, retaining and developing talent. Managers are more aware of their responsibility to people working with them than they were before.

The senior general manager with Glaxo SmithKlein Pharma, Keith Pinto, believes that today HR is more integrated in business. The tools have developed to a great extent and global practices have reached India, much because of the progress in the telecom sector, due to which one is able to share best practices across the globe.

Management institutes now widely offer Human Resource Development courses both at degree and diploma levels. Many institutes conduct online courses in HRD as well. Admission to the degree courses is through a common entrance test followed by an interview. A Master’s or PhD in Psychology, especial Industrial Psychology, moreover, qualifies one for a senior post in Human Resource Management.

HR professional may work in an organisation, management consultancy and academics as well. There is tremendous scope for consultants as change agents for corporate, trainers, career counsellors, recruiters and headhunters.

Engineering companies prefer their senior staff to handle the HR portfolio.

Technical executives who have worked at site have a greater understanding of human psyche and understand human behaviour better. The HR executive, Voltas Limited, Kaustubh Joshi points out that competency mapping, training need assessment and measurement of training effectiveness is an important part of personnel management.

Another interesting trend is that the administrative and legal aspects are being outsourced while strategy and developmental work is retained within the company. There is a slew of consultants who can contribute to this ideation process.

There is an increased awareness among academics and corporate of the need to use HR as a strategic partner in business, in reality, few organisations are actually being so visionary and proactive. The HR professionals should ensure they have an impact on the business.

They have to stay a stage ahead of others and think faster than line functionaries who are caught up in numbers. ”Equipped with sound strategic thinking, people skills and administration discipline, the HR person is geared to take over the CEO post,” opines Pinto.