Performance driven culture vital for corporate success

HR Leader:

Ramani Kangaraarachchi

Metropolitan HR Head Dulani Nissanka

The human resource is the most valuable asset of any company. It is crucial that human resource management is run efficiently and effectively, if employees are to work as a team and the organization is to benefit.

Human resource professionals may be responsible for identifying training needs, sourcing and selection and disciplinary procedures in the event that an employee is not meeting expectations.

Daily News Business interviews a HR Head in a company fortnightly where different aspects of HR is discussed for the benefit of readers and HR personnel.

Metropolitan Pvt Ltd HR Head Dulani Nissanka was interviewed this week. Excerpts of the interview.

Q: What is the nature of your company?

A: Metropolitan is a diversified business conglomerate engaged in different spheres of business activities. We are active in Sri Lanka for over five decades. Initially we started with office automation, communications and information technology sectors. Recently, the Group ventured into power and energy, furniture, air-conditioning and property development. We have set standards in the relevant industries and leading in many sectors. We always believed our strength lies in our people. And our mission statement is evidence for that which has never been limited to only a statement.

Q: What made you to select HR as your career path?

A: I started my career in finance since I pursued my higher studies and within a short period realized that I will get bored with number crunching. Then opted for the first degree specializing in HR and started my career at Metropolitan as a Personnel Executive upon completion of my degree. I think dealing with people is more colourful than dealing with numbers.

Q: What are your HR challenges?

A: Getting the right people on board and retaining them for a productive period of time is the biggest challenge. Any HR professional will agree with this. This is significant to any company because `A company will only be as good as its people’. Nowadays most of the youngsters are confused as to what they want to do. They can’t get their priorities right. One reason is that they have been influenced by many parties, their parents, teachers, friends and relations.

They can’t decide on what they really want to do and the other reason is they have many opportunities to choose from which confuses them even more. One should only select a career based on his capabilities and passion. You should like what you do and be capable enough to do it well. Because of this reason a great amount of money is being wasted by lot of corporate entities, especially if they recruit many school leavers or newly passed out graduates.

In a few months down the line when they are becoming productive they will shift to another company to do something totally different. I know some companies have given up management trainee programs as they can’t justify the investment to the Board.

Today’s generation the Gen E as one may refer to them are very tech savvy. My ten year old son would figure out all the features in a phone in a few hours before I discover the basic functionalities. They always want to explore new things for the simple reason that they are born into a high-tech world. It is a challenge for organizations to create a similar atmosphere in the workplace to retain young people. We at Metropolitan have automated all processes including HR in every possible way.

We find many candidates lack communication skills. We don’t deprive a candidate due to this factor unless it is vital for the job. But Metropolitan being a marketing company 70 percent of our recruitment is for marketing and technical jobs. They need to interact with our customers and English language capability is essential as it is the international language.

In all possible occasions we take people on board if we can see they have the potential even they lack communication skills and develop them while being on board. Metropolitan Academy is operating as the facilitating arm for this purpose. As a responsible corporate we also have do our bit in this aspect. It’s good to see that there is emphasis from the Government too with the launch of the ‘Speak English our way’ program.

Q: How can HR can support business challenges of the company?

A: Ensuring we have the required human resources on board is the biggest HR challenge as I mentioned before since it’s the people who drive the business. We have taken many efforts to build up our employer brand to strengthen our resource. Also from time to time the recruitment strategies needs to be realigned. We have shifted our sources of resourcing to online as web is the best place to capture the new generation.

Around 30 percent of our sourcing is done through online sourcing. Metropolitan must be the first company to do recruitment campaigns on facebook. The other good thing is 40 percent of our sourcing is through employee referral. Which is our strength. This reduces recruitment costs to a great extent.

We have a performance driven culture. We have aligned our performance management systems, compensation policies particularly the variable pay component, to facilitate and drive a high performing culture. Developing the capabilities of our people has been an on going process. Especially we being a company which markets tech savvy products and solutions it is essential that our team keep abreast with the latest technology. We believe in the concept of Learning Organization at Metropolitan.

We launched our own academy (Metropolitan Academy) to offer career related free educational opportunities to our team. Metro academy has the best resource personnel on board both internal and external. We have broader plans to expand the academy activities in future, not only to facilitate our own people but to join hands with other corporate to enhance the capabilities of their teams.

Another important factor is that the line has to work hand in hand with HR to ensure that the people we get on board are developed and retained to meet future business challenges.

I always believe it is every manager’s responsibility to ensure that when their team members walk out of the door each evening, that they’ll come back the next morning.

Q: Do you have any unique HR features in the company and what are they?

A: We believe in empowering people. Each person is unique. You will only get the best out of them, if you let them do things their way. Of course we have our processes and policies to guide them.

It is amazing to see how different people handle similar situations their own way which will bring about tremendous results to the organization. Our HR tag line is ‘The mpowered Team’ as they are empowered to do their role. Metropolitan is powered by the best global brands and best people on board.

We offer opportunities for self development and career growth. Without exaggeration, over 60 percent of our management team has been groomed up within the company, where a majority of them had joined our firm at the entry level. Metropolitan has a value driven environment and a very homely culture. This eliminates the TGIF syndrome where people look forward to be at the workplace and enjoy their work.

Q: How do you recognize talents of your work force?

A:Different companies have many formal and informal ways of recognizing talents. Some are commonly used by many corporates and some are unique to a particular company.

What is important from a HR point of view is its ability to capitalize on people’s strengths rather than trying to focus on their weaknesses. At Metropolitan we have some people who have joined us as office assistants and now generating millions of business for a month as we have identified their dynamism and aggressiveness required for a marketeer.

If we were not sharp enough to identify their capabilities they would have been a cost to the company, whereas now they directly contribute to the bottom line of the company.

Q : Do you see new opportunities in the field of HR in the country?

A: We have been lucky enough to witness the end of terrorism. There will be more investment opportunities, business expansions, as a result there will be a huge demand for competent people. As a country are we geared to meet this new demand created for human resources in terms of numbers and capabilities. All of us have to work together individually, at corporate level and national level in building the capabilities of our people. Our curriculums have to change.

Until such time companies will have to really compete with each other to get the right people on board, which is going to be a real challenge to HR.

But hopefully in time to come the ‘Brain drain’ will be less, might even reverse as some people who have migrated come back to our country. People from North and East will also join the talent pool as all of them are now focusing on leading a normal life. This will be a good sign for the HR people as it will enhance their potential resource pool.