"COME MAKE IN INDIA" SLOGAN HAS TO BE LINKED TO POSITIVE HRM

What is meant by Presenting Officer? This question by an eight year experienced HR manager coupled with a chat show where the HR community prided on their skills to force an unwanted staff to quit made me feel aghast. But when aptitude and flair in a task were measured by a yardstick that has relevance to productivity, cost to company, yield and efficiency, right of employment and right of opportunity become optional offers from the employer.  

Cost over justice may be the compulsion of the era of competition as well as global marketing. Pollution through plastic and other chemicals may get ignored in the world of convenience, yet when it starts hurting in the form of disease and death the Government wakes up to ban or restrict pollutants. The comforts of profit and productivity would have similar impact on the society since the labor force as a group would again start reacting as they did when trade unions were formed due to continuous oppression by the employers. 

Deviations from established labor laws some of which may be truly outdated is understandable but mutilation of the rules and maiming of the fundamentals that are nucleus and heart of the system on which the industry and economy survive cannot be allowed to be tampered. Natural justice is the soul of Human resources management and whether unions exist or not or whether employees challenge decisions legally or not it is the bounden duty of the HR professional to ensure that the rule of law prevails.

As I pondered over the discussions in the chat show, I could realize that the HR profession right from the level of curricula has traversed, rather strayed far away from the Labor laws. "Audi Alterem Partem"  (meaning 'hear the other party before deciding')should have been a gospel like phrase to the HR as it originates from the basic tenets of natural justice.

Both social security and job security are guaranteed from the constitution and the plethora of labor laws were enacted to ensure that a job once obtained is not snatched without valid reason and the service and working conditions are humane. There are many subsystems of natural justice like departmental inquiry, defense representative, and above all opportunity of a hearing on the nature of punishment if found guilty in the inquiry etc. But like the backward integration that is followed in the IT segment, the decision on punishment is taken first based on business considerations and implementation is enforced leaving in the lurch the human/legal consideration.

The HR profession today is virtually tuned in favor of soft skills, networking, liaison and communication and above all conforming to the policies and decisions of the enterprise and the least towards genuine employee welfare especially justice. This happens as much out of necessity of survival in their job role as well as lack of concern and knowledge of an ideal work environment that is envisioned and granted by the statute. While intending to follow the law would jeopardize their own existence in the company the fact that the employer is not on the right side of law is not a matter of concern to all concerned including the affected party.

This happens since the reality is too far away from ideal and the employee is worried of being branded a litigant. Word of mouth as well as the various communication tools available today spreads image, particularly the negative branding very fast. The victim though right, prefers the favor of a job than proving others wrong and even goes to the extent of submitting resignation with profuse thanks when in reality he is eased out and in legal parlance simply "dismissed"!!! Thus he ensures a positive feedback.

Hence, while the individuals inevitably surrender to the system, the Government and HR have both moral and legal responsibility to ensure that the system gets shifted from productivity/profit orientation to justice orientation. Since HRM is the vehicle through which implementation of welfare measures happen, it is first their understanding and acceptance of priorities that matter. In the gamut of HRM comes employee productivity but beyond HRM also prevails justice. Measuring efficiency can be subjective, efficiency may also be optional to an individual at certain stages of his life but welfare and justice are perennial needs and the Government which is a welfare state is duty bound to extend that. How and through what medium it ensures welfare oriented "employer - employee relationship" in the "Come, Make in India" mission would also decide the success of this slogan/mission. 

             *********************************************