‘Dynamics of Change - Micro and

Macro Perspective’

IES International HR Conference

6th January 2010

Trends & Challenges in HR

Paper Presentation By-
Prof. Arjita Jain
NCRD’s Sterling Institute of Management Studies,
Navi Mumbai
 Introduction
• Around the world, political, economic and social
turmoil is taking their toll on organizations and their
HR professionals; challenges which are being faced
by today’s organizations are immense.

• As the economic downturn continues, uncertainty is

the new reality for employees & employers. The
organization's concept for HR has changed. The
demand is to do more with less and faster, for most of
the HR functions.
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 Objective

• My paper gives an insight into changing

trends and challenges in HR.

• The paper highlights the contribution of

HR in managing change, leadership
development and measuring organizational
effectiveness.

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 Role of HR
• Irrespective the type of industry the HR is playing a
more visible. HR has become a responsive
investment center.

• HR is no more an “Industrial Enterprise”; today it

has become a “Knowledge-Based Enterprise" by
providing value-added services to organizations,
adapting to changing demands of internal & external
customers, suppliers, vendors , consulting on
corporate performance issues, and managing core
competencies.
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• Protector
and
• Screener
Change Agent

Strategic Business
Partner

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 Changing Trends in HR

• Organization's Concept for HR has

changed.
• Rigid Tall Hierarchical Structures -Flat
Organizational Structures.
• Managers – Team Builders/Mentors/
Coach/Counselors
• Employee Friendly Organization
Structures and Policies.
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 Changing Trends in HR

• Organizations are helping employees to

place a work-life balance by providing
various in-house facilities like altering
work-schedule, yoga, meditation and health
club etc.
• Organizations are nurturing collectivism
culture instead of individualism. Team base
culture is being emphasized.
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 Changing Trends in HR

• Remarkable change in the communication Pattern.

Communication is much more faster , two way
communication is being encouraged more in the
organizations to make functioning more smooth and to
have grievance free, satisfied employees.
• The organizations competing with each other have
started clubbing together to form the network of
talents.

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 Changing Trends in HR
• More Emphasis on Right Kind of Training Programs
at Right Time.

• Organizations are trying to take the lead over other

organizations to make their employees multi-skilled.

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 Major Challenges for HR
Change Management
Leadership Development
The Measurement of HR Effectiveness
Teaming Across the Organizational

Boundaries
Cross- Cultural Adaptability

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Change Management

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 Change Management

• According to various researches done ,

the majority of change initiative fail to
achieve desired outcomes due to the poor
acceptability of employees and poor
implementation of change policies and
procedures.
• The success of any change program
depends upon how well HR executes the
change process. 12
 Common Organizational
Change Factors
 Mergers and Acquisitions
 Reorganization or Downsizing
 Culture Change
 Compensation and Benefits Changes
 Technology Systems Changes
 New Geographic Location
 Introduction of New Products and Services

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Common Obstacle to Change

 Employee Resistance
 Communication Breakdown
 Insufficient Time Devoted to Training
 Staff Turnover during Transition
 Costs Exceeded
 Budget

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Role of HR in Change Management
• HR plays a critical role in organization-wide by
empowering the line managers to carry out
change.

• HR should give proper training to managers and

other team players to manage change.

• HR should provide right learning and

development opportunities to engage and retain
the critical talent.
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 Change Management Competencies for Managers

Change Obstacles Corresponding Manager Role

Employee Resistance Leverage relationship with team to address
employee needs and concerns individually

Communicate key information to employees

Communication Breakdown
Share feedback from team with senior
management

Engage team and retain critical talent

Staff Turnover during Transition

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Managers’ Role in Addressing Change
Obstacles
• Communication
• Project Management
• Strategic Thinking
• Coaching
• Adaptability

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 Communication
● Key information should be shared with employees.
● HR Manager should clarify the responsibilities,
authority, and expectations linked with key players.
● He should communicate quickly and directly to provide
employees with accurate and timely information to
limit uncertainty and rumors.
● He should addresses employee concerns on a personal
level, including one-on-one conversations.
● HR manager should help employees to develop a clear
understanding of their roles following the change.

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 Project Management
● HR manager should facilitate the implementation
and acceptance of change within the workplace.
● HR manager should be able to anticipate
potential problems and should have contingency
plans to address and control them.
● HR manager should support the initiation of
change by removing obstacles and ensuring that
all necessary resources are available.

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 Strategic Thinking

● HR manager should encourage others

to translate organizational vision into
action.
● HR manager should encourage others
to question established work processes
or assumptions.

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 Coaching
● HR manager must be able to recognize
morale problems and should take steps to
improve them.
● HR manager should use enthusiasm and
appropriate techniques to motivate
employees to work towards new agreed
upon goals.

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 Adaptability
● HR manager must be able to adjust
himself to multiple demands, shifting
priorities, ambiguity, and rapid changes.
● HR manager must demonstrate the ability
to stretch beyond past or current
responsibilities as conditions change.

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Leadership Development

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 Leadership Development

• The leadership development for the global era is

holistic. It has shifted from individual-centered to
collective-centered.
• The new framework is the intersection among the
community development, organizational
development, and leadership development.
• Community development is the nurturing of a
group's spirit and willingness to work for a common
goal.

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 Leadership Development

• Organizational development is the increase of a group's

capacity to engage in concerted and effective action to
achieve individual & group goals.
• Leadership development is the growth of individuals'
capacities to facilitate community development and
organizational development. It aims to develop
individuals' abilities to build both a group's community
spirit and its capacity to engage in effective action.

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Community Organizational
Development Development

Leadership
Development

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Measurement of HR Effectiveness
• Organizational effectiveness is the measure of how successfully
organizations achieve their mission & vision through their core
strategies.

• How best the HR interacts with all the components of the

organization as a whole determines its effectiveness.

• To be effective HR professionals are required to use System

Thinking.

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 Cross-Cultural Adaptability
• Today the boundaries of geography,
language and culture are increasingly
become irrelevant and we are moving
towards the making of a globalised society .

• Getting employees ready for a global career

and cross-cultural adaptability is essential
for today's global professionals.

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 Conclusion
• The economic slowdown had an impact on all
the aspects of the business .The response of HR
to the economic slowdown is the key to
organizational success.
• The role of the HR manager is parallel to the
needs of the changing organization.
• Today successful organizations are those, which
are adaptable, resilient, quick to change
directions, and customer-centered.
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 Change is the necessary to survive.
Those who changes with the change
survive and those who do not tend to
get vanish. What is today may be
obsolete tomorrow. It is necessary to
upgrade and restructure every time to
withstand and face the situations.

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Thank You

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