He called up and desperately, requesting me to look for an immediate placement for him as he has already been serving the notice period. He is the same person whom I have been repeatedly calling up for past several months, but in vein. He never bothered to pick up my calls, neither called back. Simply put, he refused to maintain a decade old relationship while riding the success wave.
Another professional, who would always give me an appointment, but would refuse to meet at the last moment , not once but several times, demonstrates a weird behavior that needs detailed analysis to identify the root cause of such an irrational approach. Ideally, when you're not interested to meet someone, the best way is to let him know it outright instead of agreeing first and then aborting it at the last moment.
Both of them belong to HR fraternity! Well, I don't expect this type of behavior to be HR's exclusive rights, as you would find such personalities in all other functions and in all domains of life. However, being into the business relationship management, dealing with dozens of HR Heads, I'm slightly inclined towards watching their behavior more than I do with others.
Let's look at the other side of the coin now: A HR Head, much more prominent than the above ones, both in terms of reputation and level of operation, is completely opposite in his approach. Interaction with him, either on phone or across the table, is a delightful experience. And, it's not person-specific, as many others have confirmed the same. Fortunately, I'm associated with quite a few like him.
Now, coming back to the main theme, what amuses me, and confuses as well, is, why some of the most prominent HR professionals fail to understand the essence and usefulness of long term relationship in every domain of life. And this lack of realization, that HR is more about establishing an emotional connectivity with employees for taking them into confidence - which is essential to bring about the desired cultural change - is gradually eroding the credibility of HR as a function as such.
If HR Heads, like the ones I mentioned in the beginning, are so weak in managing long term relationship with external agencies, how can you expect them to deliver results while dealing with internal agencies/people in terms of effective talent management?
Why don't they realize that managing talent is more about mapping others' ego and synchronizing and aligning them towards achieving both micro and macro business goals of the organization than of inflating their own?
They should also understand that the ability to connect with people within their circle of influence - a decisive criteria for effective talent management in particular - is a matter of habit, and, it should be independent of the level or identity of the person on the other side of the table.
I have no personal grudge against any HR professional, for that matter against any body, but, as I always share my thoughts clearly on this blog -- doing the same, in this context as well.
