I was very much excited to get my first salary from the company Madura Coats in 1974. The employees would have to stand in the queue to get the salary cover from the IR (Industrial Relations) department. After my long-standing for getting the 18 days’ salary, I got the cover and I started counting the currency notes. My colleague with 30 yrs of experience in the mill cautioned me to put the cover in my pocket, it would be seized by some miscreants among the employees, otherwise. New to the organisational environment and unaware of the happenings, I was notably innocent of the ills of the set up. The seizure of the salary cover of certain workers by the money lenders (of whom some may be their co–workers as well) from whom they would have got loan. With the accumulated and frightening interest, they fall into a debt trap, from which they would never be able to come out. In fact that would be the curse of many lower class, who would be getting loan for their daily needs and unforeseen expenses, would never be able to repay the principal.

Another odds, noticed, was the fanning of lower level of workers by the union leaders for their selfish gains. The name of the IR manager would be caught between the devil and the deep sea-between the top management and the unionised categories of workers. He would never get the good name from both. It was something strange for me to hear the most abusing and unparliamentary words about the IR manager from the tongues of the workers. Incidents were there that the IR manager would be manhandled at the gate much to the eyes of many.

I was not knowing anything at that time, about the much hyped IR or HR from my mouth, now,as a HR faculty and consultant. I could learn later slowly that it is not the workers that are to be blamed but some IR Managers too who might go to the extreme of indulging the workers to resort to strike. The reason being that they have to show their presence in solving the problems, at least created. No problem-no need of IR manager, the very survival problem. I could slowly form a hypothesis that in India, either the exploitation of workers or the exploitation of the management exist in many organisations - real HR exist in very few.

The name only changed from IR thru Personnel to HR. The conditions are the same. Much is to be travelled on the real road to HR, in its truest sense. This is the conclusion I have drawn from my experience with many corporates.

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