Dr. T V Rao, Pioneer of HRD function India and one of the founders of NHRDN in a linkedin post expressed his concern over the growing practice of HR professionals consuming most of the time in peripheral activities reducing their roles only to managing events and not adopting a role of transformative leaders to transform and impact people lives.
Many professionals have also reacted to the post and shared views by supporting and agreeing with the views of Dr. Rao.
Dr. Rao wrote, “CHROs Or Event Managers? You are moving from one event to another. Appraisal decisions, promotion announcements, new recruiters onboarding, training calendar, budget approvals, CEO and CXO briefings for functions, town halls, meetings, celebrations, press meets, farewells, etc. Life goes on. Where do you get time to think about what is happening to people in your company except on occasions when some crisis strikes?
Reflections and lessons from crises while useful are not the best way to learn to transform and impact people’s practices and create a culture. To lead HR is to lead the entire company and its various stakeholders including CEOs and CXOs. It needs strong convictions, a purposeful mission, conceptual clarity, a good mind with strong values, humility to learn, and an ability to persist. I have seen some of the CHROs and their HR teams doing a great job and getting appreciation from their top leadership. They unfortunately have been great event managers and visible promoters of various activities.
If you are an event manager but not a mission-driven CHRO, the accolades you receive may have already fixed the direction of your life. By chance, if you volunteered to be a leader of a professional body (LMA, NIPM, ISTD, NHRDN, CII, or any local association) you will excel at event management and perhaps will shine and be rated as a successful leader. But I like to ask a question- have you missed an opportunity to make a dent in your profession or function (HR)?
I have seen some successful CHROs remain great Event Managers all through their lives. They are revered, bidible, and develop a high market capital and brand visibility but are not transformational leaders. They are great transactional leaders.
If you are not a CHRO already, you can’t choose your CHRO. But in your professional circles, you can choose your leader. Choose one who has the passion to be a transformational leader with a mission but not a great event maker or manager. Many can manage events including your full-time employees in administration!”
Reacting to the post, Anil Shrivastav, CHRO, Maruti Ispat and Pipes said, “I just loved your message. I think it’s more within and what and how much justice we are doing to our professional. Somehow, in today’s world, due to people personal commitments, people are taking and doing whatever is coming their way. Ultimately, we as CHROs need to give answer first to ourselves about the authenticity of our work and impact it is making.”
Naveen Kumar, Head HRBP, Bearings Division, Tata Steel commented, “Very aptly put sir. I often used to wonder how some HR leaders are able to make time for their original job…what the organisation expects from them…as they are always part of some outside events which just gives them some visibility and praise from the HR fraternity. But the broader question is – are HR leaders meant for attending or organising events ? Or contribute to the company’s growth and desired outcomes !”
Gajendra Chandel, Renowned HR professional, Former President – CHRO & Lead Organisation Effectiveness, Tata Motors now independent director on many Companies Boards“ Spot on Dr. TV Rao…. HR leaders seem to have mastered visibility but lost sight of value, unfortunately….. hosting events, networking, and seeking applause while real transformation takes a backseat.
The real question: As HR leader, are you driving business impact and shaping the future, or just curating the next big event?”
Divya Amarnath, Group HR digital transformation and Analytics Godrej Industries Group Commented, “I do think there are some CHROs who are silently driving a lot of impact in their organisations without much of a hue and cry.. But for the same reason be they are not known much. Like you mentioned, usually the people who are all over the events take the attention. Of late , I also see that there are many “paid” awards/publishing in HR and people are going for them as well. Makes me think if this is some sort of validation crisis that HR leaders are grappling with. Wouldn’t it be worthwhile to invest this energy in making some real shifts in the organisations without hiding behind the excuse of line managers /leaders not being supportive?
Dr. Soumya Sahadevan, Head of Human Resources, Defence Bakery, “Agree on this, I feel these leaders must be in a position to share their knowledge with the community.I met a few extremely good people who became my mentor and helped me a lot on HR front.I feel such kind of mentor men tees relationship is somewhere missing.During my MPhil and PhD, I approached many HR leaders but rarely few become part of knowledge-sharing journey. Nowadays it’s all event.
Alok Mehta, President, CBO – Talevate & CHEX | Group CHRO, CL Educate Ltd. said, “Event Managers!! Yes… sad & so true.”
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