One of my favorite all time inspirational stories is "Acres of Diamonds". Now translated into a book written by Russell Herman Conwell the story can be summarized in two simple lines, that we don't need to look elsewhere for opportunity, achievement, or fortune-the resources to achieve all good things are present in our own community. Anyone can create wealth if we try hard enough as our own "Acre of Diamonds" is well within our grasp.
Last week I had a chance to meet Jason Averbook at SHRM Tech 16. As many of you would know Jason is a leading analyst, thought leader, consultant and keynote speaker in the area of human resources, the future of work and the impact of technology has on that future. Meeting Jason reminded me of the Acres of Diamonds. He said "We have reached a time when no longer it is about collection of data but using that data, to harness its power."
Now that's a million dollar statement. An organization can invest a chunk of their budget in technologies or software, but it's of little value if an organization doesn't know its own talent pool or the skillset requirement for the times to come. Or for that matter even the skill gap between what is available, what can be developed and what is required.
Simply an investment in technology just to avoid "am I falling behind?" can be trap without really knowing your own resources. Also any investment in technology really won't do much good if no one wants to adopt the system because it is too difficult or cumbersome to use.
As someone who works with the human resource, helping them bring out their talents and skills, it was heartening to see the change in workplace with Human Resource function change from that of just administration to strategic. Nishith Upadhaya, Head Advisory and Knowledge, SHRM India put it aptly "Earlier the Human Resource function was simply of a postman, getting the requirements and passing on the resumes. Now it's strategic. It is going beyond just transactions. It's now a partner in business to understand where the organization is headed and development of talent."
Companies like Telco and Google now have human resource as a strategic function assuming a leadership role in growth of the organization. In IBM and Infosys they are assumed as business partners. Take the case of Google using People Analytics to harness the potential and the power of its talent pool and make accurate people management decisions. Achal Khanna, CEO, SHRM India echoed Jason's sentiment. She said "It's now about using technology to use information to put it to use."
The India-based study, Workplace Stress: Impact and Outcomes 2016, which assesses the impact of stress on employee productivity from 10 crore to 100 crore in various sectors. The study says lack of clarity of goals or simply lack of flexibility, balancing between work and personal responsibilities, lead to stress, cutting into the growth of an organization. Using technology for instance People Analytics empowers better management, deployment and optimization of resources.
One of the best examples of this is Google's Retention Algorithm which proactively predicts and helps in successful retention solutions implementation. Now that was Google's specific need. For another organization it could be a different use of technology and data. For instance maybe a Happiness App which tells you on the emotional fitness and pressure on the employees.
From being a postman to partner in growth, that's quite a journey of growth in itself for the human resource. The human aspect is being recognised.
Guest Author
Puneet Mehrotra is an author and columnist who loves inspiring people and writes on business and technolog
