In today’s ever-changing VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous) World, the strategic role of Human Capital has become key for every organization towards gaining a competitive business advantage. The current and future dynamics of the fast-changing Business World require clearly differentiated and exceptionally strong HR Professionals who can visibly demonstrate the courage, resilience and character, and not just the usual HR Skills and Competencies, in order to drive the business agenda forward, while keeping the right balance between ‘man’ and ‘machine’ in an AI-driven environment. Given this very different challenge, it is imperative to attract, retain and develop the right human capital within organizations, end to end HR Project Management has gained crucial importance. This entails embedding HR-oriented business solutions at the helm of the Clients’ Business, thereby effectively driving the required change from the top and taking it across all levels of the Organization. As a PM, this requires a unique, extensive and diverse portfolio of experience, which serves as a comprehensive HR tool-kit. This means providing tailor-made practical solutions in the form of a unique blend of needs identified from within the Clients’ Operations, coupled with global best practices. Based on the type of HR requirements identified by the Client, the PM accordingly initiates its customized HR solutions that could entail a detailed cross-sectional audit and critique of Organizational and Functional Structures, Business Dynamics, Service Delivery, Digitization, KPIs, Policies and Procedures, as well as other key parameters such as Customer Feedback, etc. This leads to integrated and synchronized solutions that are mutually beneficial to business, its employees and other stakeholders.
A good PM's competitive enablers are their personalized, customized and in-depth facilitation in equipping the Human Capital through effective Diagnosis, Automation of HR Processes, Lean and Simplified Policies and Procedures and a high level of Employee Engagement, thereby increasing Employee and Organizational Performance and Productivity. Based on the PM's differentiated experience and Global Best Practices, the creation of an enabling environment that fosters maximum Employee Performance and Engagement becomes imperative. These enablers can be verbal, non-verbal or both and / or infrastructure-based, depending on the unique needs of the Clients. Last but not the least, a good PM performs all the above by consciously developing the Courage, Character and Resilience of not only the HR Team of the Clients’ Organization but also of the general Employee Population, which is aligned to both the short-term and long-term Business and People Strategies.
Courageous HR Project Management: All of us know and believe in showing Courage, but we also know and observe that in real life, Courage is actually not very common… Courage is what people and organizations require to GROW. However, it is easier said than done, particularly when it comes to HR… Courage not only drives our aspirations and motivations but also leads to an organization's sustainable and profitable growth. This is what a good HR Project Manager's enduring commitment should be to their clients: Helping them drive sustainable growth that is steered by courage – not only to attract, retain and develop the right people, but also to create the right culture, establish the correct processes and provide the right working environment through collaboration and engagement. All of these will result in long-term and sustainable business growth for the organization. A good HR PM's unique set of knowledge, experience and expertise will help in leveraging the organization's true potential to consistently grow people and organization together, with courage (https://www.toptal.com/project-managers/pmi/indispensable-qualities-of-a-project-manager).
The Vision of a successful HR Project Manager is to always be the Leading and Trusted Partner in People Development and Business Growth, through courageous Organizational Transformation and consistent Change Management. Similarly their Mission is to always partner with Organizations and Clients to enable them to achieve differentiated and sustainable growth through Human Capital Development. A good HR PM should consistently demonstrate the Values of Courage, Character, Clarity of Purpose, Collaboration, Creativity, Consistency and Customer Focus.
In terms of end to end HR Project Management, good PMs look at the following aspects:
1. Talent Attraction and Retention
- Identifying the right Quantity and Quality of Talent based on the current and future Organizational Structures and Strategic Workforce Planning
- Identifying and customizing the Talent Attraction Strategy based on the Organization Vision, Mission, Values and Leadership Behaviours
- Identifying and customizing the right Talent Attraction Strategy, Tools and Processes based on the current and future business growth and external dynamics
2. People and Organizational Development
- Establishing the right tools, techniques and processes for People Development through fair, consistent and transparent Performance Management Systems
- Identifying the right cultural interventions and processes for Organizational Development aligned to Business Strategy
- Establishing and using Organizational Climate Surveys to regularly gauge Employee Engagement and Organizational Culture and Development
3. Leadership Development
- Identifying the Top Talent through the right Performance Differentiation Tools, Systems and Processes based on current and future needs and ensuring that the Key Roles are manned by Key People
- Designing and implementing Individual Holistic Development Plans to retain, stretch and develop the current and future Leaders
- Ensuring robust internal and external Succession Pipelines through systematic Career Planning Tools and Leadership Development Processes
4. Capability Building
- Identifying the current and future Capability Building thrusts based on Organizational Structure and Business Strategy
- Establishing the Key Pillars of Capability Building i.e. Talent, Skills, Systems and Processes
- Mapping the Maturity Profiles for Organizational and Functional Capability Building Areas and translating those to Individual Training and Capability Development Plans based on the latest 70:20:10 Principle
5. Creating a High Performance Culture
- Establishing a fair, transparent and consistent definition of High Performance
- Creating the right tools, systems and processes to differentiate High Performers
- Implementing an on-going system and culture of recognizing and rewarding High Performance
6. Delivering excellent HR Customer Service
- Using the right systems, tools and technology to quantify the key HR Service Deliverables and the right KPIs and SLAs
- Establishing a strong tracking, governance and feedback mechanism through automated Dashboards and HRIS to monitor, review and continuously improve the HR Service Delivery KPIs and SLAs based on emerging trends
- Use multiple channels to collect, collate and analyze Employee and Customer Experience Feedback to decide on areas of continuous improvement aligned to Business and People Strategies
7. Employee and Industrial Relations
- Identify the pain points and customize the remedial strategies to ensure a congenial and collaborative Employee Relations environment
- Ensure the Organization’s Industrial Relations Strategy and Operations are aligned to the applicable Labour Laws, so that current and future Business Continuity is not impacted
- Strike the right balance to manage the Trade Unions in a compliant and cost-effective manner in order to supplement the Business Growth strategy
As a result of the above end to end HR Project Management, the Clients are able to strengthen their Business bottom-line by inter-weaving productive and best HR practices for Human Capital Development. This brings them benefits that are two-folds i.e. the provision of best HR Tools, Systems and Processes / Practices to cater for their changing Business needs, but also value-addition and regular Business Partnering to prepare, guide and navigate their Organization towards the unique challenges of the future VUCA World as well. This is not just during the planning stage but also during implementation and post-implementation, in order to make it easier for the Clients to keep their focus on Business Growth while developing their Human Capital consistently.
Written by:
Mr. Ahmad Ali Zia