A master of man-power

An Organisation is defined as "a formal group of people with one or more shared goals." From a business point-of-view, an organisation is a means to achieve business objectives. Since people form the core of any organisation, so arises the need to manage these human resources (HR) for the sustenance and growth of business. HR managers do just that.

It wouldn't be wrong to say that to understand how progressive an organisation is you should look at its HR policies. Terms like "equal opportunity employer" are highlighted by some companies to convey that they have healthy HR practices.

The Importance Of HR

In recent years, HR professionals have perhaps seen the maximum upheaval in the approach towards manpower or HR management (HRM) as our economy has turned from machine-driven to knowledge-driven. In a business scenario where people are perhaps the only inventory that businesses carry, knowledge-economy companies cannot survive without a pro-active human resource management department that is capable of attracting qualified employees, retaining good ones by limiting job turnover, and improving employee productivity by offering innovative support systems and incentives.

This includes the basket of software, BPO and ITeS companies as well as highly manpower-intensive businesses like banking and retail companies.

HRM has moved from its primarily back-office status of being just a staffing function to a position where it is expected to play a central role in building and shaping the organisation.

What Is HRM?

Formally defined, HRM is engaged in the process of identification and development of suitable manpower resources within the parameters of the socio-legal framework of the organisation. Broadly, the functions include recruitment, selection, training and development, handling of compensation issues, personnel performance appraisal, staff welfare, business law, industrial and labour relations. Formal training is available at the master's level in the form of core specialisations either as part of an MBA or by enrolling at specialist institutes like XLRI, Jamshedpur, or the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai.Roles And Path

Career opportunities for an HR professional are:

HR Development: You start off as a trainee or at an executive level with either a mid-sized or a large organisation and get involved with functions like recruitment, induction training and motivational issues. These activities are directed towards development of the people in the organisation. As you grow into the role of a departmental head, you handle recruitment, performance appraisals, compensation design and evaluation as well as training and development. There is a clear vertical path in a large organisation that takes you to positions of general manager, vice president and director of HR. Unfortunately, few HR professionals take on the role of a CEO unless they start their own human resource consulting business.

Industrial Relations Managers: As an IR manager, you are most likely to work in an old-economy company such as large manufacturing organisations like Maruti, Bajaj and Tata Steel. You will focus on labour management and will be expected to handle all staff union-related activities. To grow, you should consider acquiring a law degree along with your HRM qualification.

Training and Development: As businesses aspire to become 'learning organisations' where people at all levels, individually and collectively, are continually increasing their capacity to produce positive results, the role of training and development increases. You are expected to create courses and deliver them. You need to have a very high level of presentation and communication skills, team orientation, sense of humour and flexibility to adapt to different adult learning styles.

This is a stimulating function for people seeking a cerebral role. In at least one large bank, HRM executives are engaged in conversion of their paper-based content into e-learning courseware and are responsible for interfacing with external vendors that offer course conversion services.

HR Consulting: This is one growth area that provides entrepreneurial opportunities to experienced HR professionals. HR consulting has acquired the status of a mid-sized industry with specialist firms like Mafoi offering consulting in virtually every area of HR to large organisations. With an increase in the requirement of temp (temporary) workers, these firms take on the role of a complete HR department that operates externally to an organisation for a fee. While working with any of these firms, you can start off in any one area of HRM and go on to specialise in it as you grow. The scope for lateral movement also exists.

A FUTURE for the PAST

The headquarter of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) - on New Delhi's Janpath - is buzzing with activity. The organisation , which has the mandate of protecting the country's vast archaeological heritage, is preparing to celebrate 150 years of its existence. A string of events starting December 20 have been planned. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will inaugurate the celebrations that'll include international conferences, lectures by distinguished archaeologists and outreach programmes.

The man coordinating the celebrations, the agency's director general Gautam Sengupta , says he is excited at the prospect of taking the ASI to the next phase. But he's also aware of the monumental challenges he faces (see interview), which are many.

Even after a century-and-a-half of its existence, the ASI has struggled to live up to the premise on which it was started. Instead of emerging as an organisation of excellence that sets world standards in preserving and showcasing India's rich historical past, it has functioned as yet another sarkari department, caught in bureaucratic sluggishness and operating at an antiquated pace.

"ASI's biggest problem is bad management ," says OP Jain, convener of the Indian National Trust For Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) and founder of the Delhi-based Sanskriti Foundation. "It doesn't run like a professional organization , with clear goals and accountability. There's little initiative to get things done, since it would mean more work, which nobody wants to do."

It's not as if the ASI isn't aware of its problems. It admitted its shortcomings to a committee set up by the PM under the chairmanship of former Union law minister Veerappa Moily. The biggest issue, it claimed, was manpower, pointing out that its current staff strength does not permit deployment of even a single person on fulltime basis at more than two-thirds of its monuments. With 3,676 monuments under its care, this means that virtually 75% of its monuments are unguarded. In order to augment its manpower, the agency told the committee, it will need to create additional posts of 10,000 monument attendants.

Hiring this additional manpower would mean an expense of a few hundred crores. Then there's need for specialists- apart from the attendants -who can help in conservation.

But would merely getting in additional staff solve the agency's problems? Chances are that they might simply end up as a burden on the exchequer unless they are trained properly and develop a love for heritage . For instance, when Sunday Times visited the Rani Kamlapati Mahal in Bhopal recently, the scant disregard for the monument was evident even as there were plenty of workers and ASI staff. The top two floors of the 18th century palace was a makeshift home for the workers, while the rest of what was earlier a seven-storeyed structure was a bath and wash area.

Historian Nayanjot Lahiri, a member of the Moily committee, says the ASI's record in preservation and conservation is far from inspiring. She cites the instance of the Buddhist stupa site at Kanganahalli in Karnataka as a case in point. "The state of the conservation here makes one cry. This is a site where the sculptures of Ashoka are of the highest quality, but they have been kept in a pathetic state."

It's not as if the agency is not capable of doing good work in restoration. Heritage management consultant Amita Baig points out several cases where the ASI has done a world-class job. "One only has to look at archival pictures to see the apalling state of most of our heritage, when the ASI came into existence. They have done seminal work in bringing these back from the edge of extinction," she says.

But over the past few decades, battling its myriad problems seems to have taken its toll. According to the ASI's own submission last year, 249 of its protected monuments were encroached or physically occupied by squatters. At Chennai's Fort St George, for instance - the first British settlement in India - the agency has been struggling for years to secure the fortress and clear traders who have set up shops tucked into the inner walls.

Training and staff morale are other major issues. An archaeologist working with the agency says there aren't enough avenues for in-house training. Also, promotions are sporadic. "The career path within the ASI is not clearly defined, which often leads to loss of enthusiasm among promising archaeologists ," says KN Dikshit of the Indian Archaeological Society.

Morale is also low at the ASI's Institute of Archaeology, once considered a premier centre for learning the craft. "The quality of the faculty as well as students graduating from it have gone down considerably ," points out Jain.

Sengupta says he is aware the agency needs to invest in its manpower urgently and also reach out to people more in order to showcase their work - an area where they have been woefully inadequate . But many feel that good intentions should be followed up with a time-bound action plan. "Being the largest government organisation doing archaeology anywhere in the world, the ASI is an important part of the country," says Lahiri . "What it needs is less celebration and more introspection. It needs a route map to rejuvenate the legacy it seems largely to have abandoned."

HISTORY KEEPER

ASI is the world's biggest state-run archaeology body It functions under Ministry of Culture, Government of India It takes care of 3,676 monuments spread across 24 circles within the country 116 of its monuments are ticketed It earned Rs 87.8 crore in ticket sales last year

‘Traffic police need funds, manpower’

PUNE: Traffic management in the city can be done in a more effective way if the city traffic police gets the required funds and manpower, police commissioner Meeran Chadha Borwankar said here on Thursday.

Speaking at a programme to felicitate citizens who have been helping the traffic police in solving traffic problems in the city, Borwankar cited the examples of Bangalore and Delhi where the government is helping the departments with required funds and manpower. The programme was organised as part of the road safety fortnight which is being observed till January 15.

Borwankar said in Bangalore, the police have got nearly Rs 124 crore in the last six years for implementing works that help in improving the road traffic conditions. Senior police officials including deputy commissioner of police (traffic) Vishwas Pandhre had visited Bangalore to study the traffic problems and the help that the traffic department receives from the government, she said. "In Delhi, not only does the government provide all the necessary grants to the traffic department, but it also has a huge manpower."

"The entire strength of the traffic police in Delhi is nearly 6,000. In Pune, the strength of the entire city police including that of the traffic branch is 8,000. The city traffic police do not get any grants for traffic improvement. The traffic police come in for criticism, but one has to realise our constraints. Citizens should take up the issues of availability of funds and adequate manpower with all the decision makers such as MLAs, MPs and so on," Borwankar added.

Shortage of trained manpower

VARANASI: While lack of infrastructural facilities are taking a toll on fire fighting arrangements in the city, scarcity of trained manpower ( fire fighting staff) along with adequate protection suit is also raising eyebrows.

The recent reports of fire station office indicate that there are around 140 firemen along with 15 drivers for fire fighting operations in the city. Most of them work without protective gears (fire protection suit), putting their lives at risk in the absence of these suits.

As per Subhash Singh, fire station officer (Chetganj), due to a lack of basic fire fighting machines and equipment, most of the fire fighting staffers are not updated about new developments in the field. In addition, they have to work in extremely challenging situation, sometimes putting their life at risk due to lack of proper fire fighting gears.

Also, only limited number of drivers (15) sometimes causes strenuous working hours for the staff as one driver and two firemen are usually deployed on motor fire engines for fire fighting operation.