Ethics is About Choices ...

The Dilemma of “Doing Things Right” OR “Doing the Right Thing”

7 years ago when I decided to pursue HR as a profession, I honestly had no clue about what I was getting into! Like every rookie, my cliché response for choosing HR was “I am a people’s person & I love working with people”. Today when I look back, I laugh at myself for being so naive. HR has definitely come a long way from the times when it actually originated during the Industrial Revolution. The foundation of large factories in the 18th century, increased a demand for the workforce significantly. The body of HR came into existence to take care of these people. It had the responsibility for the implementation of different social and workplace safety programs, because workers/employees were not treated well.

This is quite fascinating to me personally because no matter however we evolve in this journey & whatever new roles are created in the future; the foundation will always be the ‘well-being of employees’. I believe that we become passionate about something when it gives us a deeper meaning & when we genuinely feel happy doing it. HR for me turned into a passion from just being a profession at that very moment when I realized the possibilities of making a difference in another person’s life. There are times in everybody’s careers when you have to choose between just quietly doing your job or standing up for what is right. Being in HR I can tell you that these moments are a regular occurrence; but again it also depends from person to person based on what option they choose. However, I have always focused on doing the right thing & it has helped me grow both personally & professionally.

Some of the things which I have learnt from my experience are as follows:

• Business folks are left brain people – they understand only logic & data. HR folks are right brain people – they are intuitive & gut driven. We need to understand business language & produce proof of concepts in the language the business understands best.

• The true meaning of being STRATEGIC is “Helping business to be future ready” – Tell them now not later!

• Top down changes are easy i.e. if it flows from the leadership. Bottom up changes are tough & to convince the business, as HR we must run a pilot & show the success rates. If you believe something is right, then stick to it & don’t drop the ball. Automatically, business buys in will happen when they see positive changes on the ground.

• It’s easy to sit on the side-lines & comment on the game. But if you truly want to partner with the business – then get on the field & be a part of the game yourself. That is when you actually understand the pain of your people.

• Our true north should always be – ‘Happy People’. If your people are happy, your customers will automatically be happy. In other words, understand people experience to transform customer experience.

Anybody can just stick to doing their daily jobs but trust me ‘Doing the right thing’ is definitely a lot tougher. That path will never be easy because every human being has an opinion & Darwin’s law is all about survival of the fittest. But in the role of an HR we must ensure that everybody gets an equal shot at things & that we focus on being ‘FAIR’ rather than being NICE. True job satisfaction comes from the fact that we made an impact in another person’s life & in ensuring that we created an amazing work environment where they could reach their maximum potential. At the end of the day, we were & will always be the “Conscience Keepers" of the organization.