Strategies for Building the People Side of Great Business - Research Proposal Example

Review Essay of the 14 December HR From the Heart: Inspiring Stories and Strategies for Building the People Side of Great Business. By Libby Sartain, Martha I. Finney. New York: AMACON, 2003. Pp. 253. $24.95. ISBN- 0-8144-0756-0. ‘HR from the Heart’ is a wonderful collection of gems of experience that the author is sharing with her fellow professionals in the same field. The book urges the HR professional to have deep faith in their profession and build world-class organization with high HR value-system as they build their own career. The author is one of the top HR executives in US. She has had a brilliant career with world class organizations Mary Kay Cosmetics, Southwest Airlines, and now is working with Yahoo! Inc. In 25years of her career, she has displayed profound faith in her profession. She expresses the same gravity when she tells about the importance of the profession. She writes, “When you go into HR, you must realize that, first and foremost, you are responsible for people’s livelihood. Every day you make plans that affect individuals on the most intimate levels. Every time you choose between one candidate and another, the decision you make sets a chain of events that determines the rest of both their lives –even the candidate you never see again because they’re not right fit for your company. You decide on whether an employee stays or goes. You decide who gets promoted and who doesn’t. You decide who gets a raise and who doesn’t. By establishing the compensation guidelines or advertising management, you influence who gets a generous raise and who doesn’t. And you make all these decisions in a larger context of understanding the internal structures and secret plans of the company as a whole.” (Sartain 6) In this book the author is describing how an HR professional should make career choices and mold careers of others as well. She feels frustrated to see HR professionals as vulnerable as others in making career choices when they are capable of helping others mold careers. Sartain also shows how they can make a difference by relating passion with their career as she says, “If we, as HR professionals, can’t link career and passion for ourselves, how can we expect to be able to do it for the employees of our organization? One of the parts of HR that I get the most joy out of is helping people find the right environment in which to do the things that they enjoy doing.” (Sartain 20). In today’s business environment, HR plays a crucial role in hiring the right kind of talent and retaining them. HR professionals are supposed to power brokers who stamp ‘No’ to every new proposal and are ready to make yet another policy. However, HR is a dynamic and ever-changing profession which can make a difference in any business organization. Many HR professionals across the world are working to break this image as Sartain mentions, “There seems to be a universal agreement (which I don’t necessarily share, at least not all the time) that HR is suffering from low self-esteem as a result of years of criticism by certain business leaders who question the value of our profession. A few highly visible companies have taken to placing non-HR professionals in top HR leadership positions. Consultants around the world are intimidating perfectly well-grounded practitioners with fancy theories and jargon. In the meantime, there are thousands of HR practitioners who are looking for simple, no-pretense ways to bring the best of their own enthusiasm for the field and their professionalism to the corporate world, so that they can invest their own talents and drive to grow their companies, the careers of their co-workers, and their own careers as far as they want to go” (Sartain, XV). Though this book is targeted to HR professionals across the hierarchy and around the world, it also has some cross-functional lessons for professionals from marketing, finance, sales etc. Sartain explains that personal values and principles are extremely important in our lives and should not be done away with in our professional life. She writes, “There may come a day when you are face to face with your most closely held principles, and you must also represent the corporate consign to senior leadership that isn’t in the habit of thinking through the human ramifications of the decision.” (Sartain 7) She also adds, “If the company is providing a product or service you don’t believe in, if it has a business model you don’t believe in, if you can’t support what company stands for, if you don’t like the environment, if you are not motivated by the mission, you are always going to feel frustrated there.” (Sartain 63) The author has used easy to understand language that is free from management related jargons. Her conviction in her profession and clarity of thought, which reflects from her rich experience, has come out beautifully with the use of real-life anecdotes. Her advices seem to be coming from an elder sister. The coherence of thought is well expressed as she includes every function of HR right from hiring an employee to his parting with the organization. The informal style of writing goes well with what she is advocating in her book ‘being oneself at work’ and ‘working with head and heart’. She mentions, “Your ability to be yourself in the workplace environment is your most important resource for your personal excellence.” (Sartain 18) The writing has got enriched with the contribution of veteran HR journalist and consultant Martha I. Finney. My perception about HR was no different from the popular beliefs that HR professional do not smile and they smile only when they ask if an employee is happy at work. They overemphasize on policies. They are cold, cut and dried and black and white. They are neither able to nor allowed to play key role when major business decisions like M&A and business growth are taken. This book is creating an extremely positive image about the capabilities of the HR department and what I can do as an HR professional. The author shares her experience and writes, “Main causes of M&A failures - culture clash, lack of communication and honesty, poor integration plans- can be laid directly to the HR step.” (Sartain 204). She also adds, “As business climate continues to promote M&A as a way to acquire genius and innovation, this is a marvelous opportunity for HR to innovate new processes on its own and add value to the companies- both the buyer and the seller. If you step in and get involved with the acquisition team from the very beginning, the difference you make to the process would mean jobs saved, jobs created, money made, and ultimately a very positive outcome all around.” (Sartain 204) This book is well directed towards those who are in the HR profession or willing to take up this profession in life. It introduces them to what all they can achieve and what all the organization, in which they are working, can achieve if they follow their head and heart and do their best. Key learning from the book essentially includes- networking with other HR professionals even if they are from competitor companies, learning through continuous reading, creating an early positive image by taking up a doable task and completing it successfully, planning ahead of time and increasing pride within the HR department. She expresses her annoyance that HR is tolerant of aggressive business-experts who say that HR does not know anything and they should not be taken seriously. This book is unique and well-timed keeping in mind the business dynamics that the world is going through. It is highly recommended for HR professionals as it is a good mix of motivating words and real-life lessons. Read More