Dear Management,
The HR team did more than save crores — they redefined capability, reduced vendor dependency, and accelerated culture-fit hiring.
Was it their job? Maybe.
Was it ordinary? Absolutely not.
If such outcomes don’t deserve a bonus, a thank you, what message are we sending?
Recognition isn’t just about money. It’s about fairness. About culture. About intent.
And yes, we’ll still handle the Women’s Day event.
But a box of sweets wouldn’t hurt and a little spotlight wouldn’t hurt.
Sincerely,
Head Human Resources
(A department that delivers — quietly)
In most organizations, we believe we are fair, performance-driven, and inclusive. We proudly paste these values on glass walls, onboarding decks, and annual reports.
But somewhere between the boardroom strategy and the backend spreadsheet, unintentional bias creeps in, often silently, but always with impact.
Let me take you through one such real story.
In an organization that traditionally outsourced hiring (From smallest to CXO-level mandates) to consultants, I took charge of HR and proposed a shift — let’s build our own internal recruitment capability.
With some courage, data, and team alignment, we stopped paying agencies and started delivering results internally. No fanfare. No retainer fee. Just sharp execution and as a result Cumulative savings of ₹3+ Crores in 2 years.
When it was projected in review meeting and proposed incentive to Team HR , the Management Response? “Well done. But after all, isn’t that HR’s job?”
Yes. And isn’t selling the Sales team’s job?
And budgeting Finance’s job?
And supporting systems IT’s job?
Yet only some departments get incentives, recognition, and rewards — while others are quietly applauded (if at all) in closed-door review meetings.
It’s not about comparison. It’s about consistency of recognition. Bias isn’t always loud, sometimes, it’s hidden in how we define “extraordinary” across teams.
