Finance or HR

I have heard of debates about what is more important for an organization - Finance or HR. I feel these topics don’t really get anywhere & at no point of time can somebody put their foot down & say its Finance that is important or HR.

As someone who has been closely associated with a HR company, I thought I should, well not defend my community or anything like that, but just drop a few thoughts of my own in this regard.

With respect to what is more important for an organization, Finance or HR, I wish to turn that around & ask Who is more important for the birth & growth of a child? Mother or the Father?

Can anybody answer this question? Is it easy enough to answer in the first place? If this question is put to a Mom & Dad who have a child, they’ll probably joke around & each will say “I’ am”, but later don’t you think they will conclude that it is both who are important?

Yes, we need a dad, who can contribute the sperms. But then you need a mom, to contribute the eggs as well. Can a Mom or a Dad by themselves get babies? We need to understand this funda.

Applying the same logic to the Finance or HR question, when an organization starts off, what they need first is the HR department. Ever heard of a finance department being in there first before the HR? It’s the HR who recruits the Finance guys.

But there is another side to it. Yes there may not be a Finance department as such but HR will require all the money the company can afford for the recruitment purpose. So that way Finance (somebody who gives the money & tracks it) is also very much there. And like during the birth of a child, other people also play a part. Remember the doctor, the nurse & so on. As the child grows, the teachers become the other set who start to play a role in the growth of a child. Can you guess the equivalent of a doctor or a teacher in a company? To me this role could be that of a consultant whose services are in demand by most of the companies today or in the absence of a consultant, the promoters themselves chip in here. Some hardcore HR guys will probably argue that the HR guys themselves play the teacher’s role, as they are the ones providing all the training & development.

The Finance or HR question is worth attempting, because it gives the individual answering it great insight. One of the insights could be that his department is the most critical. So that way it goes back to square one & we can start all over again.

Finance or HR? I say Finance & HR… & Admin & Operations & Technology… all one happy family. Too utopian isn’t it? So I say…. HR.