It is exciting to see many MBA students from top business schools of Nepal aspiring to make their career in human resource (HR). The change in mindset of students from finance and marketing is encouraging. While interacting with these ambitious students, they often ask the scope of HR in Nepal.
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The scope of HR in recent years has become noticeable. It is more valued and recognized by corporate houses in Kathmandu. However, organizations are yet to realize that HR personnel can have a position equivalent to that of Chief Finance Officer (CFO) or Chief Operation Officer (COO), and can even be the successor of Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
This new position of HR is known as Chief Human Resource Officer (CHRO). According to Harvard Business Review, CHRO is the second highest paid job in the US. The popularity and strategic role CHROs are playing in conglomerate companies such as Nestle and Philip Morris has also compelled other companies to hire CHROs. In Nepal, too, we have seen the close representation of CHRO as Chief Administrative Officer (CAO). With the scope of HR broadening globally and organizations in Nepal also creating this post, it should be an exciting news for those who want to build their career in HR.But, what does CHRO do or can do for organization? Like CFOs do financial forecasting, CHROs look for ways to meet those financial goals through people. CHROs can be people strategists who map the competency of its existing human resource and recommend if the gap widens. For example, if a company wants to increase its sales by 200%, then CHROs will first audit the skills of the existing human resource. If the gap widens, then they will recommend a development plan. If they realize that the development plan won't work, then only recommends hiring people with required skills from the market.
Moreover, analyzing the dynamic business environment, CHROs can also predict and forecast current and future competency requirement of the organization. For example, previously marketing jobs focused more on interpersonal skills, however, it's slowly shifting towards social media skills. Organizations such as Ncell are doing an excellent job appealing their customers through Facebook. Similarly, HR personnel also need to be active in social media as more and more people in Nepal are also being hired through networking sites, such as LinkedIn.
Having worked with different banks and financial institutions as a consultant for designing their human resource development plan, we have found that many competent employees at the topnotch positions in some of the best banks are leaving the country despite having all the facilities few can imagine. Most of them are settling in countries such as Canada and Australia as these two countries tend to allocate high points for skilled individuals. When talented people leave the organization, they often create huge vacuum as it is difficult to find a suitable replacement right away. This is also true when talented people retire or pass away.
However, to deal with such anomalies we can refer to the example of Sir Alex Ferguson of Manchester United. The popular football club at one time was earning more money from selling its own player to rival clubs. It is because of Sir Ferguson's continued commitment on young players, and his focus on transferring skills from experienced players to less experienced players.
Another classic example can be referred from Apple Inc and TATA Group. When Steve Jobs passed away, Apple struggled to pacify both investors and consumers. The stock price stumbled by more than a half and Samsung became the number one smartphone company in the world. However, when Ratan Tata, one of the most respected CEOs of one of the biggest business houses in India, retired, neither the stock price declined nor did the consumers' confidence. Why? Because, everyone knew well ahead that Tata had already created a competent successor who would handle TATA group in a much better way. We do not know if a CHRO was responsible for the smooth transition of TATA or if it was because of the absence of one why such a debacle bestowed on Apple Inc. However, the point is this is how far CHROs can play their part.
As famously stated by 'Good to Great' author Jim Collins, if a company doesn't have right people in the right place, right talent strategy, right team dynamics, right culture, the company prepares itself for serious disaster. Therefore, it is the job of a CHRO to help a company to paint a more successful future. Maybe our homegrown CHROs will be able to stop current and future brain drain in Nepal.
The writer is an associate with Jobs Dynamics Pvt Ltd, an organization driven towards providing the widest range of job solutions to people looking for work in Nepal. He can be reached at rajiv@jobsdynamics.com.
