HR management throughout the supply-chain is vital for success

The region has been attempting to shake off the manacles of a tradition of hiring on the cheap. This has often translated to business inefficiency and loss of opportunity. Companies that treat the human side of business as nothing more than a commodity are committing a business sin, for they are creating weakness within the very fabric of the firm.

Weakness in times of increasing business opportunity and competitive threat is unhealthy. Businesses fail and career paths are cut-short.

The hiring process is a complex affair. Companies are under increasing financial pressure, for example through; increased rent on commercial premises, inflation, raw material costs and of note, a hike in transportation costs particularly in light of the present regional crisis.

Within the UAE several prominent organisations have been through the cycle of trial and error, having hired who they considered professionally capable at the time. A major factor was playing the price game and this has proven to be costly in terms of limited expansion and an inability to drive the business through market change.

There is always a temptation to strip out costs through the payroll, however this is often the wrong approach because hiring the wrong people can kill a business.

A hiring company needs to attract the right calibre talent and importantly, it must create a career environment for the individual. At the same time it must deliver a sound return on spend to the business.

The hiring process is often a complete hash. It is often a tripartite affair involving, the hiring company an external agency and the new incumbent. This means we have three unknown variables that must work together, to ensure an outcome that is favourable to the company and the individual. Remember, career success is contingent upon market conditions and that company success and career satisfaction are indivisible.

The objective is to attract and subsequently nurture talent and of heightened importance within this turbulent region, to retain good quality people. These people are the legacy infrastructure that will enable business successes tomorrow.

Human resource management is becoming an increasingly valuable part of any organization and it is a crying shame to see many companies treat this function as little more than personnel, administration and file keeping.

When a hiring company fails to recognise the attributes required in key managers necessary to drive forward, it is most likely because they do not understand where they are going; there is no workable business plan. Would you plan a trip through the Empty Quarter without a route map?

An organization that has a healthy working platform, a management team that comprises functional specialists that embrace a competent and workable HR policy, has a much better chance of taking on and growing with the right people.

When a company hires new staff it is putting its brand in the public domain. Its reputation however good will be tarnished if it mismanages the process. I have on more than one occasion met people who have been treated with complete indifference to their time and commitment to the interview process. Of concern is the fact that when an agency mishandles the process, both company and agency are associated through this bad experience.

The process for hiring staff should be treated with the same attention to detail as any other part of the planning process, there is an increasing need for minimum standards of corporate behaviour. Hiring the right people creates that vital platform for success.