interpersonal skills - HR Footprints

5 Myths of Communication

The ability to communicate effectively is perhaps the most important of all life skills. It is never too late to work on one’s communication skills and by doing so, one may find how the quality of life can improve tremendously! Just as we embark upon the journey of communication excellence, it is important that we do not fall into the traps by ignoring some of the common myths. Let us have a quick reminder of FIVE such myths. Myth-1 Communication is a natural ability: Some people assume that communication is something that comes naturally; either you have it or you don’t; they may believe that training and learning cannot improve your communication ability. Truth is that committed learning and structured training bring in significant improvement in your communication. One needs to invest in the process of development. Myth-2 More we communicate the better: Some speak a lot, demonstrate high energy, and talk loud with a belief that it can make their communication more effective. Truth is that is not necessarily the loudness and length of your communication that matters; it is the conciseness, clarity, and conviction that adds to your communication effectiveness. Myth-3 Once mastered, communication can be used everywhere: By learning some impressive language skills, and building internal confidence some may believe that they can handle any situation or any person. Truth is that apart from the language and confidence, one needs to be sensitive to the situation, emotions of the other person to communicate effectively. In other words, you need to tune in to the other person in a given context. Myth-4 Great vocabulary is a must for great communication: By using some complex vocabulary, some people think that they can impress people and emerge as great communicators. Truth is that communicating is about improving the understanding between people and it is not about impressing people. Right words at the right place are good enough and there is no need to use complex vocabulary for effective communication. Myth-5 Telling clearly and confidently is the secret of communication: By presenting their own ideas confidently to others, many believe that they can achieve the purpose of communication. Truth is that communication is as much about telling and speaking as it is about listening and encouraging others to speak. Unless you engage others in the communication process, you can never be an effective communicator. To conclude, we believe that communication is a conscious and mindfulness process that is beyond just language and personality….there are other important ingredients to attain excellence in communication! One must not cut corners in the hurry of sending across a message! Do write to us, what are some of the challenges that you have faced when communicating or any other myths you have come across.. we would love to hear your views.. write to info@hrfootprints.com Author Kalyani Barma, Head, L&D, HR Footprints More articles on Communication skills: https://hrfootprints.com/knowledge-vs-communication-skills/ https://hrfootprints.com/importance-of-communication-skills/ https://hrfootprints.com/four-communication-mistakes-to-avoid/ Don’t let myths hold your organization back—reach out now to start improving your communication practices!

How did the HR function evolve?

Leave a Comment / HR Views & News / HR Footprints / 18/12/2013

In an earlier article “What are the Career options in HR?” (Posted on December 11, 2013), we discussed on the fundamental nature of the HR function. We also addressed some important questions on the importance of the HR function as a support to business, pay and growth in HR careers. If the HR function is indeed looking attractive, what should an aspiring candidate do to prepare for a career in HR? A good understanding of the evolution and changing nature of the HR department is an apt starting point and that is the focus of this article! Core Business Processes: Any business has to have some product or service to offer and address a customer need. To deliver what the customer wants, one needs to have a facility to make the product (manufacturing), a channel to tell and sell to the potential customer (marketing/sales) and a process of managing the cash flows (finance). This is a very rudimentary view of core business process. With the increased complexity and to compete with the other players, organisations do add several functions like IT, supply chain, research and so on. Please note that we have not included HR function yet! How did the need for HR emerge? It is common sense to understand that all these departments perform their roles only through people and those people do have some needs. That is where the need for some essential services of administration and employee welfare started. Organisations felt that there must be some department that takes care of the work place administration like seating, transport, food and so on. In addition, there is a need for someone to attend to the personal aspects of the employee or their families. It includes essential services like salaries, health care, insurance, loans/advances, provident fund and so on. On the other hand, government agencies wanted to ensure that the organisations comply with certain norms and rules to prevent any exploitation of those people who work for the organisations. It called for someone to be responsible for all compliances. To address all these needs of the employees, organisations felt the need for a separate department. Consequently, the personnel and administration (P&A) department came into existence. P&A department essentially took care of facility administration, employee services and statutory compliance. Anyone who is good in excellent coordination, liaison, service orientation, interpersonal skills and with good understanding of labour laws fit this role. Of course, as one grows in these areas and becomes a manager of a team, other team management skills are also called for. By the way, in some places, the same P&A function is renamed as HR department (while the true meaning of HR function includes several other aspects beyond P&A). What is the present status? From the way the need emerged, it is an essential function and if we do not cater to any of these requirements, there is bound to be employee dissatisfaction and possibility of non-compliance to the laws of the land. Therefore, in most of the companies of decent size, these functions are usually performed at the required level. At the same time, the present outlook of the organisations is that P&A is necessary as an essential service, but not good enough to make a huge difference to the business. Consequently, companies do not want to spend too much of money on these functions. As the recent trends are emerging , organisations may opt for outsourcing. The expected benefit of outsourcing is greater efficiency, lower costs and better compliance. In light of these changes, aspiring candidates can opt for a job in P&A function of an organisation or in a company that offers outsourced services. A graduation with a diploma in labour laws and basic computer skills is essential for a career in these areas.However, due to the outlook of the organisations towards this function, salaries are usually not very high. Also, it may not offer too much scope for innovation except some ideas for process optimization. As the demands from employees kept increasing, organizations’ expectations kept changing from the P&A department, hitherto performing essential functions! That led to new age HR function! More on that next week! This article was published in: HR Mirror Hans India Follow us on Twitter @hrfootprints Follow Dr. Raj on Twitter @drraj29

How did the HR function evolve? Read More »