IN A PICKLE J. Chacko “He is very well placed now. He is in the Achar Department” my octogenarian neighbour was all toothless, ear-to-ear smiles when he told me this about his grandson. I had seen the boy when he used to come with his parents to visit the grand parents from Bangalore where his father was working. I had heard that he was doing his MBA in one of the good colleges. He was a bright chap and we all knew that he would get a reasonably good placement. I was therefore a bit shocked about his job in an achar unit. The old man may be right- the boy may be reasonably well paid but then to be in an achar unit after an MBA, somehow the thought bothered me. As days passed, the news about the very good job of the boy spread in our village neighbourhood as the old man was happily narrating the good luck of his grandson to everyone. I was very skeptical- these old men just get elated at the thought of getting some job without ever bothering about the type of job, the career prospects etc... Instead of being concerned about what has befallen his grand child, this fellow is going ga ga about his placement in some miserable achar unit, I thought. Then came the news that he was actually working for a premier software firm, setting in motion another round of speculation about his real job. Some were of the view that he was developing software for achar making. Some others surmised that it was computerised achar making that he was engaged in. Some cynics said that he must be looking after the achar requirements of their canteen. The firm in question also had a FMCG Division and hence I thought he may be working there. One morning the old man proudly announced the impending arrival of the boy on holiday. The whole village was excited at the prospects of seeing the well paid youngster soon. Some persons secretly requested the old man to give them also a bit of the computerised achar which the boy was definite to bring along. When the boy came he heaped all his family members with lavish gifts and had brought knick-knacks for all friends and acquaintances. There was, however, no trace of any achar anywhere which further raised the curiosity levels of all. The next day he met me. I was expecting an oil soaked, masala dusted fellow but here he was, quite smart and well-dressed in branded items from head to toe. I was very reluctant to put a straight question about the nature of his job and hence I went in a round-about way to know what exactly he was doing. His reply shocked me- he was working in the HR Department! I heaved a sigh of relief- this fellow is not slogging in any achar unit but he is an HR professional in one of our premier software company, as he richly deserved. What a mess his well-meaning grand father made of the job! This however, brought back memories of my own experiences in HR during my Public Sector days. Sometime in the early 90s HR mania got into Government and through it, to the Public Sector. We had only the Personnel Department those days to deal with all matters concerning the employees. Suddenly, under orders from above, a Human Resources Development department, better known by its acronym HRD came into existence. A senior executive was made in charge of it at the corporate level with paraphernalia befitting his seniority and HRD units were set up in lower level offices also. Unending Seminars, Work Shops, Group Discussions and what not, at expensive hotels, about the virtues and the needs of HRD became the order of the day. A team from the corporate office led by the HRD chief himself was going around the whole country extolling the merits of HRD in solving all problems with the organisation. Charlatans of all hues jumped into the bandwagon and HRD became an irritating humbug in the organisation. It was also the time of talks about opening up of the economy which all the people in the Company were opposed to. As a result the HRD initiative was viewed with a lot of suspicion as people thought that it was to hoodwink or to brain-wash them. They had therefore, contemptuously called HRD as Hotel and Restaurant Development as we were spending quite a lot on Seminars, Work Shops etc. held at various hotels. In New Delhi, they had another version “Hum Regad Denge” which probably meant “We will smash”. Among all the verbosity and high sounding jargon which were dished out in these meetings, only one encounter was worth remembering. Employee militancy was quite high those days to oppose opening up of the economy. Often we had to face very difficult situations in the office and the plight of the Officers was explained to the corporate HRD team and their help sought. The wily HRD Chief was well aware that they could not do anything about it but at the same time admitting it openly was also not possible. I still remember his reply. “All such problems should be brought to the notice of the local HRD Head who in turn, would study the matter in detail and send a report to the corporate office. In due course, we would decide whether an HR intervention is required, if need be after taking further clarifications from the local HRD Head and if thought fit, after consulting outside experts.” The long winding message was loud and clear- you guys face the fury of militancy. We would be by-standers and quietly vanish if things go out of control. At the same time, if there is any way of scoring points or of striking some opportunistic deal we would be in the forefront! HRD went on full blast for a few years and it dwarfed the good old Personnel Department. After some time all about HRD was forgotten and the Company is back with the old Personnel Department to deal with its employees. After the episode about the old man, I happened to run into a senior officer of the Personnel Department of the Company. Since the topic was fresh in my mind I asked him as to what happened to the HRD Department in the Company. “Oh! HR. HR ko achar bana diya” (HR has been put in a pickle) he coolly replied and it brought forth an eternal truth- both HR and Achar are inextricably inter-linked.
Posted on: Fri, 14 Jun 2013 05:47:02 +0000
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