As strategic companions and key enablers of business, HR forms the backbone of organisations across economies/industries, and continues to reinvent ways to serve a diverse workforce and its dynamic demands.

Human Resource functions across the globe integrate their people strategy with organisational strategy by ensuring the right blend of culture, talent, and competencies. They also focus on enabling sustained performance by ensuring high employee engagement levels, leadership development, collaboration, and alignment of organisational objectives with individual deliverables. As strategic companions and key enablers of business, HR forms the backbone of organisations across economies/industries and continues to reinvent ways to serve a diverse workforce and its dynamic demands.

The role of HR has assumed greater significance in the changing geopoliticocommercial scenario where technology is driving disruptions, and consumer demands seem to be ever evolving. The highly competitive business landscape and VUCA business world is unfolding a new set of challenges on organisations and their long-term and short-term strategies. The Vision, Understanding, Clarity, and Agility required to counter the trials of the VUCA business world, and dealing with the intriguing presence of multigenerational workforce under a single roof is necessitating active participation of HR in crafting and seamlessly executing the organisational strategy. The role of Human Resources is thus transitioning from being a passive contributor to implementation of business strategy and tactics to an active co-creator and change driver. It now finds representation on the strategic table, not only as a Strategic ‘Partner’ but as a Strategic ‘Player’, bestowed with a wide array of decision making and participative rights earned by adding value to the business. Such value additions go beyond the usual interventions, and involve shaping up new perspectives that lead to transforming mindsets and approaches. This functions to build a business case for change and drives subtle nudges that go a long way in shaping the destiny of organisations.

The role of Human Resources is transitioning from being a passive contributor to implementation of business strategy and tactics to an active co-creator and change driver.

In addition to being the custodian of the right Culture, Values and Behaviour (the intangible yet significant success factors), and best in class employee engagement practices, Human Resources acts as an active enabler of Organisational Performance delivery (the tangible aspect of business).

People practices that leverage discretionary efforts are taking priority, and practicing a fine balance between the ‘Performance’ and the ‘Performer’ is gaining prominence. The role of HR in shaping a performance culture intertwined with a suitable rewards and recognition model inspire confidence among employees, and help build focus on driving the organisation’s performance on a sustained basis. Some key aspects of such a performance culture include:

• Encouraging workforce to be innovative

• Letting them experiment in the right direction without the fear of failure looming large, acknowledging their best failures or efforts

• Offering optimum and timely gratification

• Enriching roles and career paths

• Ensuring different stokes for different folks

Significant business impact is also being generated by leveraging deeper people insights through the use of technology, constant pulse checks, and workforce analytics. Here, the focus lies is shifting from a reactive to a predictive and interventionist outlook that spans across various phases of employee life-cycle. Such insights coupled with enhanced focus in the Talent Acquisition, Talent Management and Talent Development space help organisations harness the right fit, focused capability building, and favourable business outcomes. On the one hand, the use of workforce analytics by HR is aiding to make the people systems more robust, consistent, and easy to use. On the other hand, it is helping in shifting focus from traditional retention led interventions to building commitment, contribution, and alignment with a sense of purpose between organisation and employees

HR’s impact and significance has come a long way from being a Pastor (keeping secrets) and a Parent (telling it straight). Sustainable performance and organisation building initiatives are taking place through a set of novel interventions at various levels- whether it amounts to involving the workforce in setting organisational agenda, building trust and ownership, co-creating culture/beliefs, emphasising on their personal work-life journeys and help build an ecosystem for and through them. The repertoire of such interventions encompasses across individuals as a unit, groups as a forum, and organisation as an entity. And in order to ensure that such a thing emerges as a reality, Human Resource functions are meaningfully building renowned focus on inspiring, sharing, listening as well as facilitating and developing, all along having a caring and fair outlook.