Most organized streams of occupation have one thing in common. They have a singular body that controls, augments, approves, and accredits all aspects of the occupation and its practitioners. Some examples would be the Chartered Accountants of India, Bar associations for Lawyers, the Indian Medical Association for Doctors etc.

This kind of setup allows for the control of the body of knowledge and practices because of which people have a common expectation of the outcomes of the occupation.

As an HR professional, I often wonder about the way HR is viewed by other professionals and their varied expectations from HR. People expect HR to do a variety of things, which may or may not be the core requirement or outcome of HR practitioners. From admin issues of transport, Ac/s, Canteens to complex issues of retention, leadership development, HR is expected to resolve/support employees and the management end to end.

Though none of the work we do as HR is less/menial in any way, the essence/brand of HR does get diluted in the myriad ways in which people expect HR to contribute. While overall employee engagement and retention are key outcomes for HR practitioners, at what level they need to act and contribute is very vague. For example, even resolving someone’s issue with their A/c can be clubbed under an umbrella of employee engagement!

There are multiple networks and HR groups/associations that are there today. They are helpful and do serve the purpose of knowledge sharing and networking across the industry. But none of these are viewed as an authority in the area of defining the content and context of the occupation.  

Having a recognized authority that identifies and determines the outcomes of HR practitioners can not only help build clarity in the industry, it will help HR folks focus on the things that are important. As a central authority it could help build/certify content for the occupation, have common level of competence expectation from the practitioners and create clarity on the outcomes. Only when we are seen as making a difference, will we get viewed as the business partners we all aim to be.