Whether HR is a generalist
or specialist function,
it's a debate. One school of thought says
HR management is of generalist character, while
the other says it is of specialist character. Actually, none of them is
possible without each other. A specialist also has some generalist
characterization and a generalist is evolved out
of specialist. So there is no clear distinction between the two. Let
us see how we can characterize HR as per their proficiency,
position, nature of job and the size of the organization. There could be
many other factors deciding the characterization but the four
major dimensions are:
Proficiency refers to the area or the stream in which the HR is
specialized and the duration of working in the organization. The area could be
of recruitment, training and development, etc. all these
are specialist characterizations, i.e., they perform specific job as per
their proficiency. On the other hand, if the same HR has spent 6-8 years
in that proficiency, then he may be called as a generalist
because after such a long tenure in any organization the job doesn't
remain specific to one area. The responsibility and the job
also increases as well as broadens with the time spent in the
organization. So after a few years, the HR
recruiter would be doing the job of HR forecasting which is the job of
a generalist. Table 1 shows the jobs performed by a generalist and
a specialist.
Based on the position of the HR manager in the hierarchy of
the organization, the job differs from being a generalist to
specialist. Generally, at higher positions generalists are appointed while
at lower positions specialists are appointed. This holds true in big
as well as some small organizations. Let us understand this from
the hierarchy of ESSAR Group. |
