Why do companies seem to have cut back on soft skills training - like team building, leadership training, etc.?

LinkedIn Question from Mel Wildermuth:

If the number one reason for employees leaving is manager or team leader, why do companies seem to have cut back on soft skills training - like team building, leadership training, etc.

With the cost of turnover easily discovered, why do many companies see relationship training as an expendable expenditure?

My Answer:

Dear Mel,

In this era of quarter on quarter survival, the management is always under pressure to show immediate results. Initiatives around Training, Quality, HR & Organization Development and R&D, which can only yield dividends in relatively longer term, are first to be trimmed in an adverse situation.

Following changes in the mindsets are needed desperately.

1) The management needs to focus more on "value perspective" and less on "cost perspective". This essentially means that the organization needs to constantly endeavor to generate more value at the same cost rather than getting better figures through creating same value at a lesser cost.

2) The owners of the critical functions like Training, Quality, HR & Organizational Development and R&D need to establish a clear connect of their output to the bottomline and the valuation of the organization. The management will then be vary of trimming down the investments on these functions.

All of us are pushing the business down a deep hole with our being "cost conscious" without even realizing it. It's high time that we switch over to being "value conscious".

Regards

Sudhir

R.E.S.P.E.C.T. -- remember Aretha Franklin singing about it? What about you?

LinkedIn Question by Art Miller:

R.E.S.P.E.C.T. -- remember Aretha Franklin singing about it? What about you?

How important is it for you to show respect for others? How do you do it? In what ways do you want others to show respect for you?

My Answer:

Dear Art,

I try being respectful to others by

1) Respecting their time and being punctual;

2) Listening to them;

3) Not judging them and accepting them as they are. All of us are an outcome of our upbringing, cultural & economic background on which we hardly had any control and which may differ substantially from person to person;

4) Respecting their ways and traditions.

I naturally expect people to reciprocate. However, I also realize that they are not going to respect me for the heck of it...I have to earn it by consistently giving them respect.

Regards

Sudhir

Unethical Human Resources Department

LinkedIn Question from Mayank S:

Unethical Human Resources Department

My past experience tells me that HR Dept's primary goal is to protect the company's reputation. No matter what happens, the HR department will never make an apology and will bent every effort to ensure that the company's reputation is not in jeopardy. I find this very unethical.

I strongly feel that both individuals and organizations must admit their fault if they are indeed at fault. Whats your opinion?

Thanks

My Answer:

Dear Mayank,

I couldn't agree with you more. Times have changed but HR as a function has stayed where it was during the begining of the Industrial Revolution. As standard questions I always asked following questions to the candidates for positions in HR.

1) What is HR's role in an organization?

2) Why did you choose HR as career?

Trust me, I am still to get a satisfactory answer to these questions. So much so, the employers also don't know what to expect from HR.

I firmly believe that HR has to get out of its gatekeeper role and be the bridge between the employer and the employees, the "human" and the "resources", the goodwill and the bottom-line and between the "hard" and the "soft".

However, it's easier said than done. HR folks are as human, as insecure and as vulnerable as any other employee...they would always find it difficult to go against their employer's wishes for the fear of loss of their jobs or a bad appraisal.

Probably, only way to turn this around is to outsource the function to skilled, unbiased and secure professionals and agencies who would only take the right and ethical decisions irrespective of who is the beneficiary.

I sincerely hope that the HR function and the organizations wake up at the earliest.

Best regards
Sudhir

What do you think is the most important quality to be a successful leader?

LinkedIn Question from Sharat Thakur:

What do you think is the most important quality to be a successful leader?
Leadership quality is something which has been debated for long. Some say its an inherent quality, some say you learn it over a period of time. So what do you think is that one thing which makes a difference between a successful and an unsuccessful leader?

My Answer:

Dear Sharat,

It seems you are looking for a one-word-answer. I'll not disappoint you.

The most important quality to be a successful leader is...

AUTHENTICITY

If one can be genuine and truthful...to oneself and to others...in good times and in bad times...always, s/he is bound to be a great leader.

Regards
Sudhir

Is Human Resource Department still perceived as a support department...?

LinkedIn Question by Mohammed Baseer:

Is Human Resource Department still perceived as a support department...?

My Answer:

Dear Mohammed,

There are two sides to your question. Human Resources Department as perceived by the management/employees AND as perceived by the HR team members. Let me talk about both.

The challenge at the management and employees' end is that most of the times they don't know what exactly to expect out of their HR department. Their expectations are muted due to lack of knowledge about the function and the kind of value it can add to them and their business. Most of them end up treating HR professionals as glorified clerks and accordingly expect them to do administrative and clerical chores. As long as the HR department is seen meeting such expectations they feel satisfied.

Let me now come to the more unfortunate part...the function as perceived by HR professionals. They seem to be happy falling in line with the expectations of the management and employees, as stated above. I have rarely seen them working towards educating their customers, the management and the employees, on the value that they can and should bring to the table. They don't strive to understand the business; they don't involve themselves in the business issues; they prefer to stay away from the core HR aspects; they are happy resolving employee grievances without trying to analyze and resolve the root causes; they hate to confront; they are mostly thinking of their own survival; they blindly tow the management's line.

The real value of HR function is yet to come to the fore. The responsibility of making this happen squarely lies on HR professionals. It's high time that they wake up and smell the coffee. Else HR Department shall always be seen as a support department and may never get its rightful position as a Core Business Function.

Regards
Sudhir

Can the Indian CEOs follow suit?

LinkedIn Question by Raghav Rao:

Can the Indian CEOs follow suit ?

True this is indeed a tough time and companies are finding it extremely difficult to optimize the costs. While the single digit hikes have become norm of the day for the engineering staff, can the senior management be left far behind. Is it not the time that the senior management voluntarily offered to surrender part of their earnings in these 'difficult times' ? Why not the India Inc - It software / product companies take a cue and go ahead with these kind of austerity measures to enhance the bottom line. Let us hope good sense will prevail and most of the companies follow suit. Please go through an interesting article on the subject www.hrinindia.blogspot.com which should be an eye opener for many of us who are contemplating similar steps.

My Answer:

Dear Raghav,

It's high time we changed our mindset. We need to move from being cost-focused to value-focused. The key question in front of us should be "How do we create more value for our customers and move up the value chain?" The US and Global economy slowdown can actually be beneficial to us if we start looking at it from a value perspective. We can have a lot more work offshored and let the enhanced economy of scale take care of the cost issues.

Let me not be misinterpreted. I am not suggesting that we don't need austerity measures. We do need to cut down all the flab and needless expenses but let it not be the end in itself.

Hope "good sense" will prevail.

Regards

Sudhir