Is Something Missing In Our HR Departments?

Dear Reader,

I am sure most of us on reading the title of the blog will be curious to find out as what is really missing in our HR departments…hold on for a while…as we proceed we will surely uncover what it is.

Change is inevitable! Every field, no matter which it is, undergoes a series of change as it evolves; it is this change which broadens the scope and applicability of the field. The same goes for the field of Human Resources as well.

If we trace its development, we can broadly see that the field emerged as the ‘welfare department’ within factories, which then transformed to the ‘personnel department’ and finally to the ‘Human Resource Department’. With every transition, the focus of the field has been redefined.

If we see HR departments today, there is a considerable shift, where employees are not merely employees; but more of a ‘Resource’ and their ‘Performance’ is not merely performance in quantitative or qualitative terms but ‘Something beyond that’.

So what is ‘something beyond that’, which organizations crucially consider along with an employee’s performance?

Give it a guess…it’s not that difficult.

OK here it goes; it’s an Employee’s Behavior!

Yes, it is!

Now if we relate back to the field of Human Resources, we can certainly identify that today, organizations are laying heavy emphasis on ‘Measuring Behavior’ along with one’s performance.

Organizations are recognizing the importance of mapping behavioral competencies across roles and levels and are also making competencies a part of their Performance Appraisal Systems.

Organizations are also relying on using ‘psychometric tools’ for ‘n’ number of reasons. Attitude Surveys, Climate Surveys, Engagement Surveys have become a common practice.

They are striving hard to identify why employees behave in a particular way; what are the factors that motivate positive behavior and so on. Along with that they are also tackling several behavioral as well as psychological concerns of their employees within the workplace, such as low level of satisfaction, motivation, low morale, boredom etc.

Keeping all this as a background, now the question arises that: Does an organization or the HR department have someone certified, qualified or trained in the Behavioral Sciences.

Someone who is trained to know, what to look for and how to look for it, within an organization? One who has studied human behavior and the psyche; hence is well equipped within the organizational context to deal with areas pertaining to Behavior.

May be a few organizations would state that they do have a behavioral specialist to cater to this need. However, I am sure there are many more who will acknowledge that, “This is what is missing in our HR departments.”

What do you feel?