Organisations normally turn out as an insensitive soul less commercial entity with blinkers to see only accounting numbers. Few take pains to build an identity and consciousness to its policies based on values, beliefs, product or the service it extends to society.
The sensitivity of external policies; for its alignment to international covenants, trade protocols, competition laws, patent regulations, environment and sustainability standards are well known. However when it comes to internal practices values stated for the market get sidestepped. Practices comes from employee thoughts, their ego and behavior. It has no written policy basis for controls or documentation.; gets firmed up over period of time. The only witness to internal practices are its employees. It is a mark of leadership quality if an organisation pays attention to the practices in vogue. An ombudsman or an independent committee or external experts on Board helps. Unionised collective bodies also does this watchdog function to certain extent.
Recently Boards were pulled up for their failure to have women members on board, despite the label of equanimity they carried. Many still avoid to give even employees' a representative sitting member status in the Board room. Many muffle employee voices by keeping it subordinate to financial function inside the Board room.
HR representation on the Board is vital for any economic enterprise that capitalize human potential. Leadership thoughts is as critical as employee thoughts; in fact carries a greater influence on latter in turn employee behavior and practices ; hr leader being the conscious keeper he has a critical agenda inside Board room to influence leadership socially conscious. an eg: we see some generic drug companies taking pain in fighting patenting practices for upholding their conscious belief that health care for the larger poor is more vital to society than minority shareholder profits.
Social consciousness is an essential ingredient to any business service. People these days absolves that responsibility to CSR. There is a need to help employees make conscious of the social needs to ensure their support for business practices to connect with such social needs. We see leaders who have missed out doing that, when they were in the helm of their affairs later turn to set up charity foundations when they step down. Perhaps the hr leaders in those companies failed to connect business objectives with the inner consciousness of its employees; CEO included.
