The Hindu Business Line : Motivating the motivator

Despite everyone proclaiming that HR is the profession of the day and people problems keeping CEOs awake at night, despite HR professionals being paid extremely well and media paying significant attention to the people side of organisations, there is a fair degree of disenchantment among the HR folks. At the HR leadership level, it is the chemistry between the HR leader and the CEO that determines everything.

The song Chingaree koi bhadke sung by Kishore Kumar in Amar Prem raises some philosophical questions. I find two lines, in particular, very significant: "Duniya jo pyaasa rakhe to madiraa pyaas bujhaae" (If the world thirsts, then wine will quench it.) and "par madiraa jo pyaas lagaae use kaun bujhaae?" (but if the wine itself thirsts, who can satisfy its need?)

If human resource professionals are expected to secure the motivation of their workforce, it would be a matter of concern if they themselves are not motivated.

Am I implying that HR folks in India are not motivated, you might wonder? The picture is not entirely encouraging, I must confess.

Despite everyone proclaiming that HR is the profession of the day, despite people problems keeping CEOs awake at night, despite HR professionals being paid extremely well, despite media paying significant attention to the people side of organisations' stories, there is a fair degree of disenchantment among the HR folks.

High attrition and worryingly short tenures are clear indications of the problem. The greater worry is the negative spiral effect.

Less engaged HR folks are less effective and are under fire from their internal customers. The greater the fire, the greater the disengagement process.

While some HR professionals seem to be able to adapt to the needs of their organisation, accept the realities, carve an identity for themselves, enjoy their work and make a difference, many others do not seem to be so fortunate. What then are the reasons?

3 Cs of motivation

I see three factors influencing the motivation of HR professionals and arranged in a hierarchy — competence, culture and chemistry.

Competence

At the entry level, much of the demotivation is clearly a result of lack of competence. An HR professional without the competence to handle the demands of the job ends up either being ridiculed or ignored.

Lack of competence forces such professionals to lead a life of isolation, low connect with internal customers and a tendency, over time, to get engrossed in transaction.

I see many such young HR professionals, unable to see the truth, moving from one organisation to another, even managing a pay increase in the process!

HR leaders, who are supposed to develop organisational talent, quite often ignore the needs right under their nose. On the other hand, competent and passionate HR professionals know what they are supposed to do and how they are supposed to do it. They innovate, take ownership and influence the brief.

Their competence gives them the courage to deal with employees assertively but also empathetically. How I wish we had lots of them around!

Culture

At slightly higher levels, the culture of the organisation begins to act as a source of motivation or demotivation for the HR professional. While culture affects everyone, it affects HR work most directly.

Organisations that operate based on well-articulated values give the HR professional great clarity on the `hows' that govern people management. On the other hand, when an organisation adopts an exigency-based approach, changing its stance in response to market needs unmindful of the people impact, it ends up creating a bundle of contradictions that the best of HR professionals find hard to deal with.

Here are some typical value dilemmas and conflicts that HR professionals grapple with:

Do we want tenure, loyalty and long-term commitment?

Should our relationship be `care and concern-oriented' or `market place-oriented'?

Should we differentiate or maintain a more socialistic culture?

The fortunate ones find organisations that have a foundation of values and are willing to take a clear stance and therefore remain motivated.

Some quickly adapt to the exigency-based approach under the pretext of becoming a `business partner' and survive.

The more influential HR professionals are able to confront these contradictions, seek resolution and progress.

Unable to handle these contradictions, the rest leave.

Chemistry

At the HR leadership level, it is the chemistry between the HR leader and his function and the CEO that determines everything.

This is perhaps the most significant determinant of HR motivation since it has a spiralling effect on the other two determinants. This is also the area that needs most attention. If they are able to see eye-to-eye on key issues, influence each other, inspire each other, and respect each other, motivation is high. Where the CEO is unclear about his expectations from HR or, worse, has only transactional expectations, the HR leader feels stifled.

Many CEOs are unable to give their HR leaders a clear brief about their expectations because their own familiarity with HR is quite limited.

Some tend to be so transactional in their expectations that the HR leader's daily experience of the CEO is uninspiring and demotivating.

Driven by investor pressures, many others offer mere lip service and do not support the HR leader in forwarding the people agenda.

Worse still, some drive their personal agendas and short-term goals and compromise the interests of the organisation. In such cases, the HR leaders feel let down by the CEO.

The last verse of the same song best explains this:

"majhdhaar mein naiya dole to maanjhii paar lagaae" (If in midstream a boat rocks, then the sailor can cast it ashore.)

"par maanjhii jo naav dubaye to use kaun bachaae?" (But if the sailor sinks it midstream, who can save it?)

If HR is most central to the organisations of today, it is time we paid attention to the motivation of HR folks!

(The author is founder and CEO of totus consulting, a strategic HR consulting firm. He is also the co-founder of the Executive and Business Coaching Foundation India Limited. He can be reached at ganesh@totusconsulting.com)

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