THE ROLE AND IMPORTANCE OF THE HR PERSONNEL IN AN ORGANISATION:

Unless, not fully sentient with the significant role of the HR; an organization cannot attain evolution through its human capital. It is important to understand the reason behind establishing HR unit in every organization.  

Human Resources is just what it says: “Resources for humans” (in workplace)

Its main objective is to meet the organizational needs of the company it represents and the needs of the people hired by that company.

In short, it is the hub of the organization serving as a liaison between all concerned.

Depending on the size of the company, the HR Department might be called Personnel with a manageable workforce that can be handled by a personnel manager and few staff. For larger, more complex organizations with multiple numbers of departments and divisions, the task is much more demanding, taking on a life of its own.

Some companies have more than one HR Department – Corporate and Union.

For example, a food service industry might have a Corporate HR Department that oversees “white collared” employees and an HR Department that oversees the “blue collared” workforce; with an emphasis on labor relations.

With such diverse needs, the organization will institute these two HR Departments to manage the unique needs of both union and non-union employees. 

 Some of the many core functions of the Human Resources function involve the Organizational Development. In order to ensure its success, a company must establish a hierarchal reporting system. Picture an organizational chart with boxes representing each position starting at the top with the first and single-most important being the highest-ranking role.

Following the lines, more boxes are branched off to define each department head and their direct reports. As the company expands, so will this chart.

The funnel of responsibility is critical to the efficiency of a smoothly operating business entity in which there is a clearly defined understanding of who is responsible for what.

Following is a brief of what HR does for a company:

They provide consultation to a company’s management team to identify what the company’s core business and culture is about, and proceeds to plan and map the company’s organizational infrastructure to support those needs.

Human-Resource Management performs 5 key functions

1) Hiring

2) Compensation & Benefits

3) Evaluation and Management (Appraisals / Trainings / Work enhancement methodologies)

4) Promotions

5) Managing Relations (Employee vs. Employers vs. Departments vs. Divisions)

The human resource managers are responsible to conduct these activities in an effective, legal, fair, and consistent manner.

The main objective of Human Resources is to maximize the return on investment from the organization’s human capital.

According to Schwind Das & Wagner, “Human resource management aims to improve the productive contribution of individuals while simultaneously attempting to attain other societal and individual employee objectives.”

Previous working experience is an asset for many specialized jobs in the human resources field. For more advanced positions, including those of managers as well as arbitrators and mediators, work experience is necessary requirement. Human resources administration and human resources development require the ability to work with individuals as well as a commitment to organizational goals.

This field also demands other skills that people may develop elsewhere,

Such as; using computers, selling, teaching, training, supervising, managing and volunteering, among others. The human resources field requires a range of personal qualities and skills. Human resources, training, and labor relations managers and specialists must speak and write effectively.

They must be able to cope with conflicting points of view, function under pressure, and demonstrate discretion, integrity, fair-mindedness, and a persuasive, congenial personality.

Coupled with all the above; an excellent HR is formed, which contributes in the growth, success and enhancements of the financial turnovers of any organization.  

 by Dr RazaHaider 

QUALITIES OF GREAT LEADERS!

QUALITIES OF GREAT LEADERS!

There are many qualities associated with Great men and Great leaders. Leaders are not born, but leaders are made and groomed. It is not a herculean task to be a leader. Below are some qualities of great leaders as captured by these great men. Enjoy and apply and become great!

1. Focus 

“It’s been said that leadership is making important but unpopular decisions. That’s certainly a partial truth, but I think it underscores the importance of focus. To be a good leader, you cannot major in minor things, and you must be less distracted than your competition. To get the few critical things done, you must develop incredible selective ignorance. Otherwise, the trivial will drown you.”—Tim Ferriss, bestselling author, host of The Tim Ferriss Show 

2. Confidence

“A leader instills confidence and ‘followership’ by having a clear vision, showing empathy and being a strong coach. As a female leader, to be recognized I feel I have to show up with swagger and assertiveness, yet always try to maintain my Southern upbringing, which underscores kindness and generosity. The two work well together in gaining respect.”—Barri Rafferty, CEO, Ketchum North America

3. Transparency

“I’ve never bought into the concept of ‘wearing the mask.’ As a leader, the only way I know how to engender trust and buy-in from my team and with my colleagues is to be 100 percent authentically me—open, sometimes flawed, but always passionate about our work. It has allowed me the freedom to be fully present and consistent. They know what they’re getting at all times. No surprises.”—Keri Potts, senior director of public relations, ESPN

4. Integrity

“Our employees are a direct reflection of the values we embody as leaders. If we’re playing from a reactive and obsolete playbook of needing to be right instead of doing what’s right, then we limit the full potential of our business and lose quality talent. If you focus on becoming authentic in all your interactions, that will rub off on your business and your culture, and the rest takes care of itself.”—Gunnar Lovelace, co-CEO and cofounder, Thrive Market

5. Inspiration

“People always say I’m a self-made man. But there is no such thing. Leaders aren’t self-made; they are driven. I arrived in America with no money or any belongings besides my gym bag, but I can’t say I came with nothing: Others gave me great inspiration and fantastic advice, and I was fueled by my beliefs and an internal drive and passion. That’s why I’m always willing to offer motivation—to friends or strangers on Reddit. I know the power of inspiration, and if someone can stand on my shoulders to achieve greatness, I’m more than willing to help them up.” —Arnold Schwarzenegger, former governor of California

6. Passion

“You must love what you do. In order to be truly successful at something, you must obsess over it and let it consume you. No matter how successful your business might become, you are never satisfied and constantly push to do something bigger, better and greater. You lead by example not because you feel like it’s what you should do, but because it is your way of life.”—Joe Perez, cofounder, Tastemade

7. Innovation

“In any system with finite resources and infinite expansion of population—like your business, or like all of humanity—innovation is essential for not only success  but also survival. The innovators are our leaders. You cannot separate the two. Whether it is by thought, technology or organization, innovation is our only hope to solve our challenges.”—Aubrey Marcus, founder, Onnit

8. Patience

“Patience is really courage that’s meant to test your commitment to your cause. The path to great things is always tough, but the best leaders understand when to abandon the cause and when to stay the course. If your vision is bold enough, there will be hundreds of reasons why it ‘can’t be done’ and plenty of doubters. A lot of things have to come together—external markets, competition, financing, consumer demand and always a little luck—to pull off something big.”—Dan Brian, COO, WhipClip

9. Stoicism

“It’s inevitable: We’re going to find ourselves in some real shit situations, whether they’re costly mistakes, unexpected failures or unscrupulous enemies. Stoicism is, at its core, accepting and anticipating this in advance, so that you don’t freak out, react emotionally and aggravate things further. Train our minds, consider the worst-case scenarios and regulate our unhelpful instinctual responses—that’s how we make sure shit situations don’t turn into fatal resolutions.” —Ryan Holiday, author of The Obstacle is the Way and former director of marketing, American Apparel

10. Wonkiness

“Understanding the underlying numbers is the best thing I’ve done for my business. As we have a subscription-based service, the biggest impact on our bottom line was to decrease our churn rate. Being able to nudge that number from 6 percent to 4 Percent meant a 50 percent increase in the average customer’s lifetime value.
We would not have known to focus on this metric without being able to accurately analyze our data.” —Sol Orwell, cofounder, Examine.com

11. Authenticity

“It’s true that imitation is one of the greatest forms of flattery, but not when it comes to leadership—and every great leader in my life, from Mike Tomlin to Olympic ski coach Scott Rawles, led from a place of authenticity. Learn from others, read autobiographies of your favorite leaders, pick up skills along the way... but never lose your authentic voice, opinions and, ultimately, how you make decisions.”—Jeremy Bloom, cofounder and CEO, Integrate

12. Open-mindedness

“One of the biggest myths is that good business leaders are great visionaries with dogged determination to stick to their goals no matter what. It’s nonsense. The truth is, leaders need to keep an open mind while being flexible, and adjust if necessary. When in the startup phase of a company, planning is highly overrated and goals are not static. Your commitment should be to invest, develop and maintain great relationships.”—Daymond John, CEO, Shark Branding and FUBU

13. Decisiveness

“In high school and college, to pick up extra cash I would often referee recreational basketball games. The mentor who taught me how to officiate gave his refs one important piece of advice that translates well into the professional world: ‘Make the call fast, make the call loud and don’t look back.’ In marginal situations, a decisively made wrong call will often lead to better long-term results and a stronger team than a wishy-washy decision that turns out to be right.”—Scott Hoffman, owner, Folio Literary Management

14. Personableness

“We all provide something unique to this world, and we can all smell when someone isn’t being real. The more you focus on genuine connections with people, and look for ways to help them—rather than just focus on what they can do for you—the more likable and personable you become. This isn’t required to be a great leader, but it is to be a respected leader, which can make all the difference in your business.”—Lewis Howes, New York Times bestselling author of The School of Greatness

15. Empowerment

“Many of my leadership philosophies were learned as an athlete. My most successful teams didn’t always have the most talent but did have teammates with the right combination of skills, strengths and a common trust in each other. To build an ‘overachieving’ team, you need to delegate responsibility and authority. Giving away responsibilities isn’t always easy. It can actually be harder to do than completing the task yourself, but with the right project selection and support, delegating can pay off in dividends. It is how you truly find people’s capabilities and get the most out of them.” —Shannon Pappas, senior vice president, Beachbody LIVE

16. Positivity 

“In order to achieve greatness, you must create a culture of optimism. There will be many ups and downs, but the prevalence of positivity will keep the company going. But be warned: This requires fearlessness. You have to truly believe in making the impossible possible.” —Jason Harris, CEO, Mekanism

17. Generosity

“My main goal has always been to offer the best of myself. We all grow—as a collective whole—when I’m able to build up others and help them grow as individuals.”—Christopher Perilli, CEO, Pixel Mobb

18. Persistence

“A great leader once told me, ‘persistence beats resistance.’ And after working at Facebook, Intel and Microsoft and starting my own company, I’ve learned two major lessons: All great things take time, and you must persist no matter what. That’s what it takes to be a leader: willingness to go beyond where others will stop.” —Noah Kagan, Chief Sumo, appsumo

19. Insightfulness

“It takes insight every day to be able to separate that which is really important from all the incoming fire. It’s like wisdom—it can be improved with time, if you’re paying attention, but it has to exist in your character. It’s inherent. When your insight is right, you look like a genius. And when your insight is wrong, you look like an idiot.”—Raj Bhakta, founder, WhistlePig Whiskey

20. Communication

“If people aren’t aware of your expectations, and they fall short, it’s really your fault for not expressing it to them. The people I work with are in constant communication, probably to a fault. But communication is a balancing act. You might have a specific want or need, but it’s super important to treat work as a collaboration. We always want people to tell us their thoughts and ideas—that’s why we have all these very talented people working with us.”—Kim Kurlanchik Russen, partner, TAO Group

21. Accountability 

“It’s a lot easier to assign blame than to hold yourself accountable. But if you want to know how to do it right, learn from financial expert Larry Robbins. He wrote a genuinely humble letter to his investors about his bad judgment that caused their investments to falter. He then opened up a new fund without management and performance fees—unheard of in the hedge fund world. This is character. This is accountability. It’s not only taking responsibility; it’s taking the next step to make it right.”—Sandra Carreon-John, senior vice president, M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment

22. Restlessness

“It takes real leadership to find the strengths within each person on your team and then be willing to look outside to plug the gaps. It’s best to believe that your team alone does not have all the answers— because if you believe that, it usually means you’re not asking all the right questions.”

WORK LIFE BALANCE:

Every human that is existing does not exist on his own. One has to balance his existence with all forces competing for his attention. You have yourself to satisfy, other individuals, your community, your work place, your friends etc.

What is work Life Balance?

It is the ability to effectively manage the juggling act between paid work and other activities that are important to people. For example Family/Friends, Recreation, Spiritual and Health/Wellness.

WORK LIFE BALANCE describes the balance between an individual's work and personal life. This is achieved when an individual’s right to a fulfilled life inside and outside paid work is accepted and as the norm, to the mutual benefit of the individual, business, and society. 

Let us deviate a little from the topics: Who is a good employee?

Is it the one that works 24 hours a day? Or the one that sleeps in the office every day to ensure that all tasks are accomplished? Better still, the one that leaves the office last every day? Or the one that uses his break time to work and never observes his break?  Of course No! 

Did you know that too Long hours of work can lead to the following?

—  Lower productivity

—  Increased workplace injuries and errors

—  Increased levels of ill health

—  Work-family conflict

So working long hours without break or sleeping in the office to  prove that you work hard or working 24 hours a day will only do you more harm than good and will definitely affect your productivity negatively.

Consequences of Work-Life Balance Struggles:

It is very important that one ensures that his work-life is in balance as anything less than this will affect him negatively. Work life balance struggles will lead to the following:

ž It diminishes your overall happiness and well-being and negatively impacts your life in far-reaching ways.

ž It has adverse health consequences, such as stress-related illnesses, can result when you are chronically tense or upset.

ž Overworked and overstressed employees are more likely to get sick and have high absentee rates.

ž A lack of work/life balance affects an employee’s attitude. Unhappy workers are typically less efficient and can destroy morale.

ž Burnout directly affects turnover rates. Employees get frustrated and leave a company.

ž Many people are caught in the middle of inner conflicts that make it hard for them to make changes to create the healthier and happier balance they would like.

WORK LIFE BALANCE ADVANTAGES TO THE COMPANY:

Work-life balance has many advantages which is why it is highly advised that one should ensure his work-life is always in a state of balance at all times. Some of the advantages of work-life balance to the company or employer are:

¢ Employee satisfaction

¢ Decrease in labour turnover

¢ Increases employee productivity

¢ Improved reputation of the firm

¢ Decrease in absenteeism

¢ Improved business results

¢ Higher quality work

¢ More loyalty to employer

¢ An overall more enjoyable workplace.

¢ More innovative ideas as employees care about their job.

EMPLOYEE BENEFITS FROM WORK LIFE BALANCE:

Just as the employer benefits immensely from work –life balance, employees too benefit as well from Work life balance. The following are the benefits from the employee aspect:

¢ Decrease in work pressure.

¢ Employees are able to better meet work, personal and society commitments.

¢ Employees have more time to do other things.

¢ Time is created for Travel/Education.

¢ There is enough recreation time.

FACTORS AFFECTING WORK-LIFE BALANCE:

¢ WORKING HOURS: Many employees who struggle with work life balance are mostly those who work extra house or long hours each day. This affects so much their personal life.

¢ WORK LOADS: Those who have high workloads also are much affected with work –life balance as the work load eats into the time for other personal engagements.

¢ MULTIPLE ROLES: Employees who have multiple roles in the work place are also affected as their work-life is never in balance.

¢ FAMILY REQUIREMENTS: Family requirements also affect work life balance as employees have existence with their families before becoming employees. This really affects their work.

¢ PHYSICAL DISCOMFORT: Any physical discomfort affects work –life balance.

Ways to tell that your work-life is not in balance:

When your work life is not in balance, it is easy to notice this. This is because, your work or your personal life will be directly affected. When you begin to notice the following, please check your work-life balance:

¢ You’re always tired, depressed, anxious, and tensed.

¢  Your work performance isn’t as good as it used to be.

¢  You’re missing work more often than you should.

¢ Your personal relationships are suffering.

¢  You feel like you’re running in circles and getting nowhere.

¢  You feel like you have no choices and no control.

¢ Your life is happening to you rather than you managing your life.

¢ You don’t feel in control of your own time.

¢  You can think of more things that aren’t getting done than the ones actually done.

¢  You feel like one part of your life is dominating your time and energy.

Steps To Maintain » WORK-LIFE « Balance:

When you notice that your work life is not in balance. You need to take the following steps to bring it back to balance:

ž Identify the priorities: You are not supposed to do everything. Find out only the things that are essential, important and necessary and concentrate on them.

ž Be sure to ask: Ask questions when you are confused. Do not allow your life to happen just like that. You need a guide.

ž Set a time frame: You need to plan your life. There should be a time frame to achieve anything you want to achieve.

ž Find a balance mentor: Many have passed through the road you are passing through now. Seek for a mentor who will guide you through the tide.

ž Share the Load—( At Home share tasks---In the Office Delegate)

ž Use technology to your advantage: Thank God for technology today, you can actually achieve more today via technology. So use it to your advantage.

ž Communicate: Yes communicate. Open up. Talk to people around you.

ž Understand your company policies: Having a good understanding of your company policy will help you plan your personal life to ensure it does not affect your work life.

ž Edit yourself personally and professionally: This is very important. Always edit your life, remove the excess loads that are not required and bring in the required things that you have ignored before now.

ž Separate work and leisure: Work and leisure are two different things. Do not mix leisure with work.

ž Take a holiday: At your spare time, take a holiday. Visit places you have never been. Make your life worthwhile.

ž Do not bring work home unless absolutely necessary: This is very important, if it is not important, why bring work home? Your family needs your attention when you return from work. After all you have been at work since morning!

ž Enjoy life: Make your life enjoyable. What you call your dog is what it will answer. So make your life an enjoyable one.

ž Take care of your Health: Always carry out check up on your body. Many always service their cars every two or three months. But ask them, when last did they go for medical checkup?

ž Don’t Postpone tasks—Never procrastinate do what can be done today and leave tomorrow with its own problems. Besides you don’t know what tomorrow holds!

ž Take Charge—Plan ahead.

The three O’s to Balance;

In summary it will be nice to mention the 3 “O” of Balance. These are “Ourselves”, “Others “and “Obligations” .If we must have a work-life balance, these 3 “O” must be considered and prioritized.

Ourselves: For your life to be in balance you need to ensure your physical life, emotions, mental state and spiritual life are planned in a way that they do not struggle against one another or interfere with your work.

OTHERS: For other people in your life, you owe them your time and attention. You Love/sex life must not be left unsatisfied. Your family, friends, pets, hobbies /fun must be considered as well.

OBLIGATIONS:  You owe obligation aside from to yourself, your work, your home/yard and your community. Aside from these, you have a civic and financial obligation to yourself and others as well.

Note that those who make the worst use of their time are the first to complain of its shortness. If you don’t take anything away from this write up, Note that Time Isn’t Money… It’s your LIFE!  SO STRIKE A BALANCE BETWEEN YOUR LIFE AND YOUR WORK!