How HR leaders can become strategic business partners, HR News, ETHRWorld

One of the reasons Raj Tanwar has moved away from the core HR to strategy as a function, was because he realised there are certain things which are fundamentally missing in the HR function.

He felt that a big element of it is human-centric design thinking. “It means we are often thinking in a very linear way – we are taking transactions as a transaction and not looking at if we are value adding it,” he explains.

In an exclusive interaction with ETHRWorld at its Future Forward Conference, held recently in Mumbai, the Chief Strategy Officer and HR Head of Advantage Club gave an example: Suppose an employee has to take a leave, there is nothing more than applying via the process.

But imagine, while applying for the leave on a system, the person gets a prompt:

• Why are you applying for the leave?
• Can I book a doctor’s appointment for you?
• Can I book a movie ticket for you?
• Can I book a local cab or flight for you?

“I may not want to do anything, but at least somebody’s asking me,” Tanwar says, adding, “So, value-adding in every small transaction makes all the difference.”

He felt the role of strategy officer will allow him to bring these elements of “what we often call employee-centric experience to human design.”

“I’m blending both the HR tech and the fundamentals of human-centred design thinking. I’ve been able to blend both and offer it to the clients…