The importance of a good HR manager

A good number of businesses and government organizations are doing exceedingly well today and always because the business owners and the heads of agencies have the common sense to, among others, retain the essential services of excellent people managers. They might have the best COO's and CFO's but if the head of personnel is bungling it up, then bad HR services, bad employee relations, bad personnel engagement, and bad HR systems will most likely push the organization to the verge of bankruptcy and irrelevance. Good hiring and talent acquisition, excellent training and development and a well- planned and executed compensation, benefits and rewards system can drive businesses and agencies to success.

The importance of excellence in people management, especially in the context of the ASEAN INTEGRATION, is the theme of this year's on-going convention of the two thousand strong  (People Management Association of the Philippines, of which this writer is the incumbent national president. Running with the business tigers of the ASEAN TEN, namely, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos PDR, Myanmar, Brunei, and the Philippines, the Filipino HR and people managers and leaders are gearing up their levels of preparedness for the 2015's start of the ASEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY, whereby the ten countries shall break barriers and become one community of human capital, to engage the global business environment as one.

The challenges of managing the ASEAN TEN's 650 million people and almost three trillion US dollars of combined GDP is both awesome and exciting. But the ten countries, sharing a common identity as Asians are bound together to face the challenges of their common destiny, a destiny of quantum development with the accompanying common purpose to make all economic progress inclusive. That means that there is a continuing need to address the sharp contrasts between the few rich and powerful, on the one hand, and the millions who are wallowing in poverty, social neglect and powerlessness. The importance of good people managers become even more pronounced when social injustice prevails in an existing milieu.

For three days starting September 17, despite the continuing threats of an inclement weather, the country's top HR and people managers are having a summit of great ideas in the Waterfront Hotel, Lahug. Various speakers coming from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam are here to share their country's best people leadership practices as well as their management approaches to HR functions of talent acquisition, rewards management, OD and training and development, as well as labor relations, employee relations and industrial relations as the country's best lawyers specializing in HR law come together with HR professionals and line managers to create new solutions to labor problems.

The time for CEO's, business owners and taipans is now to choose excellent people to head and manage their HR departments. A conglomerate may have the best business model being driven by an outstanding COO but if its HR unit is incompetent, such a business concern can not make it the ASEAN context of competition and survival. A government agency may have the best head but if its HR department is a mediocre, then that agency may soon find itself on the edge to impertinence. It is high time for business owners to realize and embrace the vital importance of a  great HR. That is the current discussion now on-going in our National Convention. Failing in which, our chances for the ASEAN INTEGRATION may just fade and fail. Pity.