10 Real Roles That Are Played By HR: inspired by Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum

“Everybody starts small. We all begin life as a single cell. Every business starts as one person with an idea. How fast you go, how far you get, is in your hands. The bigger your vision, the bigger your achievement will be. Will you stumble on the way? Perhaps, but we cannot let fear keep us small. We have to be brave to be big.” ― Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Flashes of Thought

In UAE, HR departments are investing in employees and their well-being. This is for both government and private organisations. New strategic concepts such as ‘Happiness’ in the workplace has emerged in Dubai.  Between 2012 -2014, UAE was ranked 20th in the World Happiness Report. Since 2005, happiness in Dubai has increased by 2.5%.  Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s 2020 vision is to be in the top leading cities in the world to be happy. With Dubai as the city invested in multinational companies, it only makes sense to emphasise on HR.  The Alpha Training team have come up with 10 most common roles played by HR. And what better way to display this than sharing an inspiring quote from the visionary himself: Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum?

1. Employee Planning:

“Our vision is sharp, our goals are clear, our resources are huge, our will is strong and we stand tall, ready to face the challenges ahead.” ― Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum

Ever wonder what it would feel like if no one bothered to restock their products in shops? A nightmare, right? No milk, no eggs, no food. Which means, no breakfast, lunch or dinner. You can delve deeper into this and think about the impact it will have on families, and plans that people have made.  It’s the same for HR. Someone needs to be in charge of the employees. It’s a quantity and quality game. HR are expected to discuss with the company CEO or senior managers on the current status of employees.  Questions they tend to ask are:  Do we need to recruit again?  How many jobs are to be filled?  Do we need to make staff redundant?  Who needs to be sent on training? What’s the performance like for the new staff?

2. Analysis:

“Creativity should be integral to everything that we do. Creativity should also be intrinsic to our personality, if excellence is what we seek.” ― Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Flashes of Thought

Ever wondered who takes the time to write up your job responsibilities and processes? There’s a team in HR that are responsible for analysing every single job within the company. They write up new roles for recruitment advertising team. And they are always researching and on trend with the best competencies required for the role.  Job analysis is really important to figure out whether the job advertised will meet the demands of the company goals.

3. Recruitment:

“Human beings, their ideas, innovations, dreams and connections, are the capital of the future. Because where great minds go today, great things will happen tomorrow”― Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum

Someone’s got to be responsible for the high volume of applications for an advertised job role. The repercussions are actually bigger than one would think. Putting out a job advert for your company also means dealing with the public, which means maintaining a high level of customer service.  In HR, there’s normally a recruiter who will sift through CV’s, conduct interviews and recruit suitable candidates for the company. They always have their eye on the next biggest talent. These are the type of ‘HR’ staff that you want to impress!

4. On-boarding:

“Positivity is a way of thinking,and happiness is a lifestyle. In other words, it is not what you own or do that makes you happy; it is how you think about things.” ― Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Reflections on Happiness & Positivity

Once a new employee starts, there’s normally a process called ‘on-boarding’. It goes something like this. During the first week, they’ll be introduced to:

• the company
• the culture
• the team
• the working environments
• the mission statement and ethos
• And introduced to the rest of the organisation

The main aim of this department is to settle new staff in with ease and fairness. No one wants their first day at work to be daunting and awkward. Having someone responsible to look after the new employee creates a relaxing, friendly and no-stress environment!

5. Training:

“Without a vision to guide our path, and without ambition that knows no limits, we can never build a bright future for generations to come.” ― Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum

So there’s a new member to the team, they’ve been given their brief and had a successful on-boarding process. Now what’s next?  It’s the responsibility for HR to ensure that the employee is trained on the right skills so they can perform at their very best.  Henry Ford, the founder of Ford Motors, once said, “the only thing worse than training your employees and having them leave is not training them and having them stay”.  A lot of the times, there’ll be a mixture of activities happening to assess the employee on training needs. Such as:

• Informal observation
• Review of their CV and past experiences
• Shadowing a senior member to learn hard skills
• Regular conversations with HR e.g. professional development plan

Concerns they tend to have are: How good is the new employee in X, Y and Z skills?  What do they need training or guidance on? What hard skills do they need help with?

6. Communication:

“A true leader is one who creates a favourable environment to bring out the energy and ability of his team. A great leader creates more great leaders, and does not reduce the institution to a single person.” ― Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Flashes of Thought

Sharing information with the entire organisation prevents:

• Mistakes
• Failures
• Misunderstanding

So you can imagine why HR would invest in this area. After all, it’s the core responsibility of HR to make sure that relevant information is shared to all employees. Why? So that employees can increase their knowledge and awareness.

Tony Robbins once said, “to effectively communicate, we must realise that we are all different in the way we perceive the world and use this understanding as a guide to communicating with others”.

7. Appraisals:

“An easy life does not make men, nor does it build nations. Challenges make men, and it is these men who build nations.” – Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid, Flashes of Thought

It’s in the challenges, where there’s an opportunity for growth- right?  In HR, there is also an opportunity for money growth. For employees to gain recognition and ultimately, a pay rise. This is only possible by evaluating employee performance and results through various methodologies.  From appraisals, HR can determine whether an employee gets a promotion, pay rise or compensation.

8. Employee Motivation:

“Does running water stop when it reaches a rock? Of course not. It turns either left or right, and continues its way. Likewise, a positive person is confident that no challenge will stand in the way of achieving his or her goal.” ― Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Flashes of Thought

Employee motivation is a key topic in the HR world, and trends revolve around this. The success of a company relies on the people that run it. Just like a ship. Now let’s pause for a few minutes and go over this metaphor.  Let’s imagine that your company is a ship. Just like the ship, your company is a complex system that depends on every little detail to make it work. The ship is going on a journey, and has to be in motion constantly. To do this, it needs a captain to make decisions on the direction, i.e. manager. And the ship needs a crew who will work together to help it reach the final destination, i.e. employees. Now, just like the weather, the working environment can change rapidly. If the ship, i.e. company, stays put in the middle of the sea, it’ll get beaten by the storm.  So if the people are demotivated, this can cause detrimental effect on the business. If they feel fed up and don’t persevere, the company just like the ship will sink or get beaten.  This department shows a keen interest and investment in employees so they can deliver at their best.  Mutual goals and visions can be easily shared amongst managers and employees. How? By understanding that we all have different thinking and learning styles.

9. Employee Welfare:

“Our job is to provide an environment that unlocks women’s potential – one that protects their dignity and femininity, helps them create the necessary balance in their lives, and values their talents and potential. Given this environment, I am confident that women will perform nothing short of miracles.” ― Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Flashes of Thought

This stems from the history of HR, where it was emerged in the 1980’s. A slow and gradual time after World War 1, where industrial workers went on strikes to fight for workable conditions and fair treatments. Now, 30 years later, this notion still rings through.  HR is responsible for ensuring the company has good working conditions and facilities for employees. They are open to suggestions and take heed to any needs that may arise from employees.  The 202 vision by Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashed Al Maktoum proposes a great investment in this within his vision. You can read more about it here.

10. Employee Retention:

“Today’s Arab crisis is not one of money, men, morale, land or resources … The real crisis is rather one of leadership, management and perennial egotism.” ― Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, My Vision Challenges In The Race For Excellence

To hire someone and welcome them to the team can be an easy part of an employee’s journey. It’s always exciting at the start. Consider this like any relationship formed. First you have the honeymoon period, and then the storm comes, and then there’s a calm shortly after.  There’ll be a time when an employee will feel fed up, useless or doubtful. It could be because of many factors, such as:

• Receiving negative feedback
• Not getting along with colleagues
• Feeling overworked and underpaid, etc

So how does HR help prevent employees leaving? They build a solid labour relations strategy. This means they have a smooth functioning in the company to deal with any queries and problems from both management and employees. And act as the ‘peace makers’.

Disclaimer

All quotes taken from:

https://sheikhmohammed.ae/en-us/quotes

https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/3462191.Mohammed_bin_Rashid_Al_Maktoum