Robotic HR or Digital HR? (Part 2)

Passion alone does not bring success to the career of an HR practitioners whether we like it or not. It is the wisdom and intelligence packaged with commitment and hardworking in us that does wonders in our success journey. We have invested so much time trying to make our work better for the sake of the organisation and sometimes we get the desired outcome and sometimes we get disappointment but it is a journey we have to embark. Knowing the trend of technology in our environment and how it impacts our work, we have to do something in order to be the change driver, be part of the change or be irrelevant to the change. It is the matter of choice we make today that would lead to our future as an HR practitioner, if we would still be in the profession.

Be the Change Driver

This is one of the most important group of talents in any organisation. They are also the most sought after in the market simply because they know exactly what to do at the right time. No organisation can make them to do repetitive jobs that does not generate impactful results because they do not believe that they are robotic HR practitioners. This category of HR practitioners are the ones who can survive and excel in any kind of organisational change. They know what the upcoming and current trend in the industry is, be it economically, socially and politically. Then they will strategize the next plan of actions that would be beneficiary to the organisation and the workforce. These talented HR practitioners are rare to come by so if your organisation has such talents, you need to ensure they are well retained.

Be Part of the Change

The Change Drivers are usually good strategists and planners but not necessary good executioners of their plans. They work well with HR practitioners who are Part of the Change because they are the ones who knows there need to be change but does not necessary have the complete idea of what to do. So when the Change Drivers came out with the Change plans, the Be Part of the Change will usually get very excited and implement, execute the plans well. Organisations need many talents in this category in order to be successful in change management because they will be very supportive of all the new initiatives. 

On the other hand, changes made without process control is very risky. At any time, operations in the organisation could go wrong. No organisation would want such to happen especially when they just got in a very influential or profitable client or project. Therefore having a good, modifiable system with effective process control in the workforce is critical to the success of change implementations in an organisation to reduce if not avoid unnecessary loss. Sometimes there are organisations that have Change Driver and Be Part of the Change but their existing systems are not up-to-date and unable to jive well with their effective plans they have to implement. Are we in the trap of roboticing our daily operational works or are we digitizing our operational tasks with efficient process control at the point of time we need it? It is now time to re-evaluate all our existing system for better change sustainability in order to continue to be competent in the industry and business world.

Be Irrelevant to the Change

This is the easier choice to make but could be the most costly because change is constant and deciding not willing to change will only made us not able to fit well in the system, culture and society. Although the birds of the same feathers flock together that enable us to still be comfortable, there is no guarantee of success because change is a guarantee to happen. Change here does not mean when we are already doing things at our best and yet we have to now do it less. It simply means that when we have done our best at work, have we think out of the box to see what else we could do differently to create more positive impact to the organisation and its stakeholders. What if we could do the best with least efforts and time?

Doing things the same way over a period of time is only going to lead us to produce the same results at the end but it is only by doing things differently will give us a different outcome. Let us take water as an example. It is still the same water with 2 atoms of Hidrogen and 1 atom of Oxygen in whatever shape of container or place it fills. It does not change the core values it carries but it creates impactful ripple effect everywhere it fills because water can change into any shape of the container or place it fills while providing the benefits from its core values. The same principle applies to HR practitioners as well. 

The fact that an HR practitioner has been using the same approach to manage the employees for decades does not mean it is and will still be relevant today and tomorrow. The core functions of HR still remains but the approach needs to be different because of the current and future generation demands.

The same goes for rankings and positions we are in today. When we are sitting up there and do nothing new to keep upgrading ourselves, it is a matter of time, sadly, we may possibly be replaced wither by the organisation or people around us. Sometimes the worst that could happen is for our subordinate to be our new boss. Surely it will not be a pleasant experience to have. But we can still make a difference by rethinking our current practices.

Thank you for reading!