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HR contribution to competitivenes
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In spite of all the big talk about predicting and preparing for change, and leveraging upon the present competitiveness, unfortunately, the fact is that competitiveness is still a defensive mechanism in the corporate life.
Defensive mechanism, because competitiveness is still seen as a means for ensuring survival. We see companies and even countries talk of competitiveness to survive the onslaught of globalization, new entrants and shrinking margins. Competitiveness traditionally has been synonymous with survival or above average performance or at best leading the pack in the numbers game.
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Reactive and proactive competitiveness
When looked at competitiveness with this perspective, there is every possibility that companies may slide down to their comfort zones, if only somebody somehow could make the competitive compulsions disappear with a magic wand. Looked this way, competitiveness as a means to survival is a reactive response to the business environment. Competitiveness may increase or decrease based on the environment that a company finds itself in.
Competitiveness as a proactive measure entails looking beyond the obvious uncertainties and risks that business environment presents and unearthing hidden opportunities. Such a proactive approach requires the company to be agile and innovative. In the following section we describe how HR initiatives can help a company gain "proactive competitiveness".
Competitiveness – HR proposition
Businesses respond to the challenges and opportunities that environment throws up. The response of a company depends upon the perception, understanding and actions of its people at different levels. Company’s response to changing environment is visible through the decisions taken and emphasized priorities. These decisions create desired outcomes for the company.
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It is people with their experience, knowledge and commitment that provide a lasting advantage to a company through their decisions which have roots in their behaviours and attitudes. For instilling behaviours that make people competitive to the point where they take the company above the competition, HR must identify the required traits and formulate policies which would encourage the desired behaviours. It is clear that competitiveness then is our “mind set”, HR must develop desire and competence to innovate and collaborate. It must device policies that encourage empowerment, cost consciousness and provide role clarity. In other words the success of HR strategy of the company can be to a great extent measured by its contribution to enahance competitiveness of people at all levels.
People traits and competitiveness
Some of traits that reflect such high levels of competitiveness among people are:
- Entrepreneurship
- Innovativeness
- Self discipline
- Speed
HR policies must address the issue of enabling people to respond to environmental opportunities and challenges in the best interests of the company. Entrepreneurship and innovativeness in the people ensures that “out of the box thinking” is at work and value innovation is an ongoing exercise in the company. Self discipline is an essential element of entrepreneurship in the companies. It is the attribute which enables people to act responsibly and acts as a voluntary check over overzealousness of individuals. Speed is a critical factor today’s business environment. Any innovation if not capitalized in a short time is as good as a lost opportunity. Speed is not same as haste – again Self discipline helps in maintaining the divide between speed and haste.
If and only if HR managers think and find ways of how such traits which give ultimate competitiveness to a company can be defined and institutionalized through a framework of policies and systems that takes the company to the higher plane of competitiveness, can it be said that HR has contributed to the competitiveness of the company.
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