Worst Mistakes HRs Should Avoid

As we delve into the world of human resources, we must acknowledge that it is a field requiring equal parts artistry and science. Managing people can be a delicate act, and HR professionals must navigate a complex landscape of policies, procedures, and personalities. However, even the most experienced HR professionals are not immune to the occasional misstep or blunder. Therefore, it's essential to identify and avoid common mistakes to ensure the smooth functioning of an organization and the well-being of its employees, because in the world of HR, the stakes are high and the margin for error is slim. So without further ado, let's embark on a journey of discovery, uncovering the quirky, fascinating, and sometimes amusing mistakes HRs should steer clear of.

Sanjeevani Saikia: Hello listeners, welcome to another episode of the Vantage Influencers Podcast, where we explore a wide range of HR topics designed to grab your attention and inspire you. I'm your host, Sanjeevani Saikia, and today we'll be having a conversation on the worst mistakes every HR should avoid. And for that, I have with me Joy George, Senior Director and Head HR at CDK Global India. Hi Joy.

Joy George: Hello, hi, good morning.

Sanjeevani Saikia: Good morning. First of all, I'd like to wholeheartedly thank you for giving your invaluable time and joining us in today's episode. Before we dive deeper into today's topic, worst mistakes HRs should avoid, could you kindly walk us through your corporate journey so far?

Joy George: Thank you so much for this opportunity. I've been a practicing HR professional for the last 25 years. Most of my early years I spent with the Tata Group, and that's where the best of my HR professional formation happened. After that, I moved to a product setup within the IT industry, which was eventually acquired by IBM, and subsequently moved to another IT conglomerate called Capita, where I spent a little over five years. I then joined my current setup, CDK Global, where I have overall responsibility for people processes for CDK in India, and I also take care of corporate communication and branding, along with facilities and real estate here in India.

Sanjeevani Saikia: Wonderful, Joy, thank you for sharing your remarkable journey with us. With that context in mind, we can dive straight into the topic. In this episode, we'll be discussing the worst mistakes HRs must avoid. But before I get into specific questions, could you share some of the most epic mistakes you've seen HR professionals make in your experience?

Joy George: Absolutely, and this is something I really like talking about with colleagues in the fraternity. First, I think a lot of HR professionals see this purely as a career choice they've made, which is of course true and valid — but I believe, like some other career choices, such as becoming a teacher or a doctor, choosing to become an HR professional is beyond just choosing a career. Teaching is formally recognized as a noble profession — in fact, under industrial dispute law, teachers aren't even classified as "workers." Similarly, while HR professionals are employees like anyone else, I'd say they're a little more than that, because they're pursuing a noble cause as part of their job. So I think every HR professional should have a purpose beyond their stated purpose — that's what makes this profession noble and unique, something a lot of people don't fully realize. I'd call that one thing people miss.

Second, HR professionals sometimes talk about employee fairness more than is balanced. I'm a passionate advocate for employee wellness, well-being, and welfare at all times — that's my priority. But I've started thinking we should equally talk about employer fairness. HR's job is to be the custodian of fairness on both sides — employers cannot be treated unfairly, and neither can employees, and the right function to balance that from a fairness perspective is HR. I'm not sure everyone in the HR fraternity has that distinction clear in their minds, and I think that's a potential area of oversight, or mistake.

Third, people talk about career growth and professional development, which are important — I'm not questioning that. But in my view, an HR career shouldn't be seen purely through a development or growth lens. It should be seen more like a realization in life — a calling, a vocation, an opportunity. It's not about developing it, it's about realizing, recognizing, and actualizing it. I'm not sure a lot of us in the HR industry think about our careers from that perspective. So those are two or three areas I think people in HR could pay a little more attention to.

Sanjeevani Saikia: That was very well said, Joy — I must agree. As an HR professional, hiring the right candidate is crucial for the success of any organization. However, with so many factors to consider, it can be easy to make mistakes in the hiring process. What are some common mistakes HR professionals make when hiring new employees, and how can we avoid these pitfalls to select the best candidates?

Joy George: Very pertinent question, and one that'll never lose its significance. The "war for talent" is something we've all talked about in the IT industry, but the fact of the matter is the war was won long ago — by talent. We keep waging a war that's already over, and that puts undue pressure on people in hiring positions to get talent on board somehow, and a lot of things get overlooked in the process, which isn't in the best interest of the candidate or the hiring organization. I'd call out two or three things that get overlooked.

First, HR often forgets to explain to the candidate why we're hiring in the first place. Just like every newborn brings a bundle of new hope, every new hire is expected to bring a bundle of new hope to the organization — nobody is hired into a role without a genuine need, and everyone is hired with an expectation that this person will turn things around. But I'm not sure we take the time to explain that real purpose during the hiring process. Second, it's important to explain, beyond the role itself, what actually creates success in it — not just the job description and expected competencies, but the specific things a person should stay focused on to succeed. I'm not sure we find the time, within that 45-minute to one-hour interview slot, to explain this. Third is talking about the next-level role — what comes after this one — because that creates a sense of ambition, excitement, and a forward-looking vision about joining the organization. So those are three things — why we're hiring, what to stay focused on, and what the next-level role looks like — that a lot of people overlook when it comes to hiring.

Sanjeevani Saikia: Interesting. Effective policy implementation is pivotal for the success of any organization, and HR professionals play a vital role in this process. However, implementing policies can be complex. From your experience, what are some common mistakes HR professionals make when implementing policies?

Joy George: Excellent question, especially because we're dealing with multi-generational workforces. Early in my career, I used to look at policy with a sense of near-sacred feeling — it clearly told you what to do, what not to do, what to expect and what not to. Not following policy was almost seen as a criminal offense. Things have changed a lot since then. People have started rewriting policies because nobody reads lengthy documents anymore, especially when they're written with a restrictive, oppressive tone.

So first, we need to avoid writing long, legal-sounding organizational diktats. Ideally, people want policies written almost like tweets — nobody has the patience to read more than two or three sentences, and workplaces are getting younger and younger, used to the shortest forms of communication. Second, our natural tendency to make policy sound like a set of "dos and don'ts," oppressive and restrictive, needs to be minimized through better word choice — it should sound more enabling, liberating, and supportive. Third, we should avoid calling it a "policy document" altogether where possible — calling it "policy guidelines" instead minimizes the aggressiveness of the whole thing. And fourth, a lot of people overlook making policy documents inclusive, not just in content but in the actual choice of words, and workplaces are becoming more and more diverse — being extremely conscious about inclusive language is more a necessity than a nice-to-have at this point, and I'm not sure everyone in the HR fraternity does that well yet.

Sanjeevani Saikia: True. Joy, it's my personal observation, and I don't know if you'll agree, but I've often seen HR implement a one-size-fits-all approach to employee benefits and recognition programs. How can HR professionals avoid that and instead tailor these programs to meet the diverse needs and preferences of their employees?

Joy George: Beautiful question, and far more pertinent today than ever, because we're dealing with a multi-generational workforce where each generation has different expectations from the workplace. One-size-fits-all approaches to recognition, benefits, or development programs simply don't work — some people join with only short-term plans, so talking to them about long-term plans can actually be a big turn-off; they might think "this isn't the right place, I've joined the wrong place." So I like to call it "different strokes for different folks" — once you know who your different folks are in the organization, you'll know what different strokes they need.

Starting with the youngest in the organization — people new in their careers — they're looking for three or four things: first, a pleasant working environment, because they're just out of college, and the transition shouldn't feel jarring or make them see work as a necessary evil. Second, some job security — it's not that they're okay being let go for any reason, since they're just beginning to assess what work even means to them over a 30-40 year span. Third, they want continued learning, and fourth, conversation and connection that gives them a sense of peer identity.

The second category — someone with, say, five to ten years of experience — is also looking for interesting job content, some group or team opportunity, continued learning, and of course competitive salary. The third category is people who've moved into leadership roles — they're looking for leadership exposure, understanding of longer-term prospects, clarity on business direction, and balancing work and life, since many now have families and the additional responsibility that comes with that. The fourth category, to keep it simple, is people in the last phase of their career — a phase of actualization and maximization. They're looking to actualize their potential and maximize the returns on everything they've built, so they want empowerment, the opportunity to contribute to the bottom line, involvement in business strategy and long-term initiatives, and genuine ownership and accountability. After 15-20 years in the industry, if they're still not given that opportunity to own something, they won't be very excited. So considering these four categories, it's important to bucket what HR is looking at to create that "different strokes for different folks" experience — something that can never be overlooked. We've successfully implemented some of this at CDK, and as a result, we've been recognized and certified as a great place to work in India.

Sanjeevani Saikia: Great. Joy, you've mentioned multi-generational gaps — would you be comfortable sharing one specific mistake HRs make while bridging the generation gap in the workplace?

Joy George: One thing is workplace flexibility, which is always a favorite topic of conversation. Most of us tend to think people who are relatively more experienced need workplace flexibility more than anyone else — I'm specifically referring to people with families, children in school, aging parents needing medical attention — because they need to plan around all of that, and we think they truly require flexibility. At the same time, we tend to assume the youngsters, people newer in their careers, don't need as much flexibility — and that's a false assumption. In my view, they probably need far more flexibility than anybody else. They want the flexibility to watch an IPL match end-to-end if their favorite team is playing, or to take a few days off if their friends are on an exploration trip somewhere, because for them, work isn't an end, it's only a means. Unlike, say, someone like me, with 25-plus years of industry experience, for whom work is very much an end — Monday to Friday, I exist to work. I don't think the newer generation looks at work that way at all — for them, the Monday-to-Friday exercise exists so they can have enough fun on Saturday and Sunday. A lot of us overlook the need for flexibility for them specifically, and that's a serious mistake, if you ask me.

Sanjeevani Saikia: Absolutely correct — Joy, you must be a wonderful HR leader, since you understand the generational perspective so well. We're arriving at the end of today's episode, but can you share your thoughts on the role technology should play in helping HR professionals avoid mistakes and streamline their work processes? Are there particular technologies you've found helpful?

Joy George: Absolutely. Given my long-standing industry experience, I wasn't always used to the best technology — in my early days, computer and email itself felt like the biggest revelation, and it changed my world at the time. Things have evolved faster than anyone could have imagined, and today, technology undeniably drives the world. But here's the mistake a lot of us make: tools and technology can only help you manage scale and analysis to the extent you already have clarity on what you actually need. Someone without that clarity won't be helped by any amount of tooling. Someone who does have that clarity has plenty of tools available to get the outcome they want — it's like not knowing where you want to go; it doesn't matter which path you take. But if you know clearly where you want to go, you need to choose the right one.

Generative AI is something the HR industry has started talking about a lot, and it's genuinely useful for surfacing insights about behavior patterns, what motivates people, common traits among high performers versus low performers, and traits common among people who are less disciplined about work. A lot of these insights are available through analytical tools now. In hiring specifically, there are smart tools that filter and analyze candidates for overall fit and career trajectory alignment with what you actually need. I don't think a lot of what HR does can be entirely replaced by tools, but it can absolutely be augmented, supported, and made more efficient with the right set of tools. To sum it up — HR has moved past the phase where we used to say what we do is intangible or immeasurable, even though it's invaluable. Today, if you believe what you do can't be measured, my honest advice is you might as well not do it — there are tools available to measure the effectiveness, impact, and efficiency of everything we do from a people-process perspective. So measure everything you do. In my team at CDK, under my leadership, I always say: in God we trust, everything else we measure.

Sanjeevani Saikia: Great. Joy, we've reached the end of today's episode — do you have any message for our listeners? And how can our audience stay in touch with you after this episode?

Joy George: Absolutely, thanks Sanjeevani, I really enjoyed this conversation, thank you for the opportunity. What I want to tell the HR fraternity, my young and experienced colleagues alike, is that what we've chosen is a fantastic thing to have done with our lives. What HR does as a function is the soul of the organization — we shape the quality, the pace, the tempo, the level of excitement in the organization. So please take immense pride in it. Don't walk into your workplace thinking you have a long day ahead — walk in thinking you have a fantastic day ahead, a fantastic day to do a lot of good for the people around you and create the right kind of experience for them. Stay at your best of motivation. Those of you who want to stay in touch with me can find me on LinkedIn — search Joy George, CDK Global, and you'll find me. I'll be happy to spend time and learn from you as well.

Sanjeevani Saikia: I'm sure our listeners have taken note of that. Joy, it's been a pleasure to have you as our guest today. Your insights and expertise have been invaluable, and we're grateful for the time you've taken to share your knowledge with our listeners. Thank you so much, thanks a lot.

Joy George: Thank you, Sanjeevani — you made me talk, you're a question expert! It was really interesting to get the opportunity to share some of these thoughts. Thank you very much.

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