General Managers and Directors are typically focused on the daily priorities of running their organisation, ensuring that the supply chain functions smoothly, dealing with technical or quality issues, and responding to customer or sales inquiries, issues, opportunities, or complaints.
Unfortunately, too few managers recognise the importance of the Human Resource function, or simply choose to delegate all responsibility for HR to the HR manager.
Delegating or Disregarding
Leadership is a team sport. Of course, it is reasonable to expect the HR Manager to manage and lead the HR function. The same applies to quality, safety, supply chain, and operations.
However, there is a significant difference between delegating and disregarding. I find many managers delegate quality responsibility to the QC department, delegate procurement functions to the Purchasing Department, but completely disregard HR functions.
I frequently observe that the HR department rarely receives the same quality of engagement, oversight, and support from managers that other departments enjoy. Too many managers treat the HR function as little more than an unwelcome distraction from their priority tasks of running a successful business.
HR: Human Realities
HR should never be viewed as a distraction. The HR function is certainly not less important than quality, supply chain, accounting, or sales.
Your employees are truly vital company resources. You depend upon each individual, as well as each group, team, or function, to perform their responsibilities properly, professionally, reliably, and consistently. You expect, or at least strive for, loyalty, skill, and enthusiasm from your employees. As your business develops, you need each employee to improve, expand, and grow his or her skills and experience to best support the company to achieve its broadest organisational objectives.
The success of your team depends upon your guidance and leadership, just as a ship depends on its captain. If you fail to support and mentor your HR team, your vessel will most likely end up on the rocks or sunk far beneath the waves, with all hands lost.
No Second Chances
Being a business leader is a very serious business. Mistakes can have very severe consequences. Out on the factory floor, a single major mistake can result in serious disruption of your production process, damage to expensive equipment, massive warranty claims for defective products, and could even lead to the death or injury of facility employees, contractors or consumers of your defective product.
If we install a new motor on a production machine, and the motor vibrates, runs hot, makes too much noise, or otherwise fails to meet our expectations, we can replace it. The machine doesn't get angry that we installed a bad motor on it. The machine doesn't hold a grudge or tell other machines that we are thoughtless and incompetent. The machine doesn't organise a union or post on Facebook (at least, not yet!). The machine doesn't quit and go to work for a competitor.
Regretfully, most humans are far less tolerant when they are subject to mistakes, whether real or imagined. Is everyone or anyone going to understand and accept your solution to the problem? Will you or your management team ever be forgiven for making the mistake?
Most HR mistakes do not lead to loss of life, though workplace violence is a modern reality. Disgruntled employees can cause great trauma and disruption to a workplace. Nearly all HR mistakes carry serious consequences, and most mistakes can be very difficult to satisfactorily address and resolve.
HR issues involve real people, and mistakes or issues can directly and impact both the employee and the employee's family. Terminations are especially disruptive and damaging to an employee and family. Did they fail to perform adequately, or did you fail to recruit them responsibly?
If you are a leader who thinks you can delegate and disregard HR issues, secure in the knowledge that you are devoting your time to the more important priorities of your company, you are mistaken.
VR Department
Just because you are not an HR expert, do not make the mistake of failing to give equal attention to the HR department. I don't recommend that you rename your HR department, because it might cause confusion both internally and externally. However, I strongly recommend that you think of your HR function as being the Vital Resources Department.
You have a lot of diverse responsibilities. You have daily challenges that are competing for your time and attention. It is too easy to relegate HR issues to the bottom of your priority list, where they will languish until the issues grow into crises.
Manage your HR Department just as you do any other vital organisational function or department. You must accept and internalise the vital importance of the HR function.
You must carefully read and understand the employee manual and all other HR policies and procedures. You are the leader of the company; you have the big picture. You understand how all the pieces of your corporate puzzle fit together. Do your employee manual and HR policies and procedures integrate properly into your vision of your organisation?
I find that there are typically small issues, and sometimes major issues, where HR documentation is not properly optimised to achieve the best performance for the organisation. Does this mean the HR manager failed? Almost certainly not. What it does mean is that the HR manager doesn't have access to the same “big picture” or “helicopter view” that the managing director has. It is always the responsibility of the leader to ensure that each piece of the management puzzle fits properly and optimally into the overall organisational puzzle.
You must be a partner and mentor to the HR manager. Provide your best support and encouragement to the HR function. Ensure that the HR department has the resources they require to most effectively and efficiently discharge their responsibilities.
Seek every opportunity to improve your HR skills and competencies.
When you take care of your Vital Resources with the same diligence and intensity as you devote to your other business functions and departments, you will achieve the maximum performance and efficiency from each of your individual employees, groups, teams, and departments. Your organisation will never achieve its full potential unless your Vital Resources Department receives the support, supervision, and recognition that it deserves.
About the author: BS Aerospace Engineering from The Pennsylvania State University, EMBA from the Sasin Graduate Institute of Chulalongkorn University. Frank has more than 35 years of managerial, technical, and commercial leadership experience primarily serving manufacturing industries. Frank has lived in Thailand for 25 years and was granted Thai nationality in 2015.
About Boyden Thailand: Boyden Thailand was established as the first executive search firm in Thailand in 1983. Boyden has successfully placed senior-level executives to multinational and Thai businesses in all sectors including Manufacturing, Energy, Automotive, Petrochemical, Technology, Banking and Finance, Consumer, and Healthcare & Life Sciences.
Author: Frank Timmons, Partner, Boyden Thailand. For further information please contact ftimmons@boyden.com
Series Editor: Christopher F. Bruton, Executive Director, Dataconsult Ltd, chris@dataconsult.co.th. Dataconsult's Thailand Regional Forum provides seminars and extensive documentation to update business on future trends in Thailand and in the Mekong Region.