This document provides an excerpt from a book titled "HR TUNES - Touching Chords of Human Resource" by Dr. Jasmeen Pawar. It includes the copyright information, ordering details, and proofreading credits. The excerpt consists of 7 sections/articles on various human resource management topics such as employee retention, career planning, leadership during volatile times, team building, and workforce engagement. The document advocates for a proactive approach to HR to build a vibrant and high-performing workforce.
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1
Human resource is considered to be a centralized
part of any organization in the world and hence it
includes a lot of factors based on which the articles
given below have been written. These articles are
written based on experience, knowledge and
observation.
Shape up or Ship Out
"I will not do the work more than what is assigned
to me. Sorry! I am just paid peanuts". "Making you
multifaceted is merely a jargon used by private
sector employees to exploit us and our skills". I am
sure we hear this kind of conversation almost every
day .It may be from our peer group at work or from
our friends sitting with us in a group or even
sometimes at home from our elders. The mind sets,
the perspective or even the conviction in these
statements depend on situations or an experience
that employees carry with them in their day to day
lives.
In all this, there’s something that we all forget, that
an employee is not just doing for the organization
but also for his own motives to be accomplished.
We do expect to rise up the ladder of success and
we all want to be recognized at our workplace.
Where, in this game of growing and giving back to
the organization is evident ,there are numerous
hidden facts and fundas which needs to be clearly
understood by us if at all we seek RECOGNITION
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and GROWTH for our life.
In the current scenario, there is a notion embedded
in the minds of young management graduates or
even job seekers that they just have to sit in a cabin
and do some work which they later carry with them
if at all they get hired and become rigid enough to
shape themselves up. But, the real fact is, if an
individual holds a degree or is merely doing a job
for the heck of it then one can be called a FROG IN
A POND. Then, the statements stated above are
more evident with this group which I address as
FROG IN A POND.
It is always good to LEARN THE ROPES, i.e. get
an expertise in one’s profile and then make one
open to better opportunities. The more we open
ourselves to opportunities the more we get
prepared for challenges and this is the point where
real learning of life happens. One who is rigid and
desires to be multifaceted very easily faces the
situation where he needs to ship out from his
respective workplace and later POUND THE
PAVEMENT that leads to frustration at a time when
he gets completely saturated with this vicious circle
of leaving jobs and searching for a new one. While
the one who is open to shape out moves on a path
completely different that gives him every
opportunity to add new dimensions to his career
path ,the other gets entangled in shipping
themselves out. Every time he needs to prove his
capability in the new environment to stabilize
himself.
The choice is always ours either to be a CREAM
OF THE CROP or DEAD WOOD. If, we choose the
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former we shape up better else we ship out
frequently. We are all architects of our own fortune.
So, let us build the same by adopting SHAPE OUT
rather than SHIP OUT!!!!
2
Hopping is not always fruitful
"Had I planned a career in a systematic way I
would not have been hopping jobs like this." This is
a line which gets into my ears quite often and that
makes me wonder what may be the reason for
people to make such a statement. When people
step into Management studies they do have a lot of
absurd and incongruous reasons to back up their
reason behind choosing the same. That's the point
where the actual problem starts. It is quite easy to
say that I got a package of so and so on my first job
and it’s hard to some extent to sustain the same.
Getting a lucrative package, getting a job on the
campus …..Wow! This seems an amazing start of
career for a fresher. And the real story begins when
this same lucrative and remunerative package
becomes quite hard to sustain. Actually, the
problem starts when people step into careers they
never wanted to be into. This somehow relates to
poor focus or a lack of goal. The moment this lack
of goal comes in front this vicious circle of hopping
up jobs starts. Now lack of goal is one part of the
story but the other part reveals the truth i.e. lack of
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proper understanding and guidance too. This is
used as an excuse too.
Now when people keep hopping from one job to
another, somehow their own indecisiveness spoils
their CV or their profile. This happens merely
because the moment they appear for any interview
an HR gets mad on watching the CV of such
candidate who has changed 10 jobs in 5 years and
questions the credibility of such a candidate. It's not
about packages, designations, or even about the
brands you are working with, it is certainly about
the gratification level you have in your work that
matters the most. Until and unless an individual is
not sure about whether he loves his work it is
simply impossible to grow in his professional life.
The best solution for the same may vary from
person to person. But, one thing is for sure that it is
always good to run after what you really want
.Which stream attracts most of your attention?
What work gives you a sense of Gratification? Ask
yourself what your short term and long term goals
are and is it associated with the kind of profile you
have chosen for yourself. Ultimately it is not about
hopping 10 jobs and then getting satisfied. But, it is
about how well you grow in the profession you
choose for yourself.
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3
Withhold the top performers
In this market scenario, where dynamism persists
at every nook and corner, retention of the
employees still remains as one of the
biggest challenges posed on HR. Who says that
the notion “GRASS LOOKS GREENER ON THE
OTHER SIDE" is wrong? Well it is the same for the
employees who are eager to switch to the new
organizations with the ambiguity of attaining
packages and lots of benefits & compensations.
This concept of switching jobs is
well embedded among the top performers these
days and the moment January comes they start
eagerly waiting for April as it’s time for appraisals
and plans to move ahead. And this is exactly the
point where all the cost for training,
talent management and having performers within
the organization go in vain. This in turn increases
the level of stress and burden on the HR
department on a larger scale.
Problems persist in every organization and every
work. The need of the hour is not to sit back with
problems but in recognizing them and working out
solutions. One of the major problems is that the so
called top performers can always find jobs
elsewhere. These are the people who fall under
critical workforce segment showing consistent
performance and can simply succeed anywhere.
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This is another point which the HR needs to refocus
is letting employees work first in one sphere, get an
expertise rather than expect multitasking. Regular
training programs as per need should not be
ignored.
It is often good to retain your best talent rather than
working your way hard to find afresh. Right HR
planning at periodic intervals can work out the best
and get better outcomes. Also never be afraid of
transparent communication within the system
because if transparency does not persist disbelief
in the management rises among employees.HR
cannot deny the fact that top performers are
definitely assets which if lost, poses a great deal of
liability on the organization.
4
Go beyond saturation
Yes! Today no more is the task of HR limited to just
hiring, compensation and benefits, appraisals or let
us say firing. With dynamism everywhere, how
could HR roles stay saturated to the same limited
styles? The terminology of saturation is not
applicable anywhere now in the world of business
or the corporate scenario. We know that technology
brings breakthrough in some seconds and the
same happens in the case of HR where
management of diversified cultures is also a
challenge. Let me give you an example of Sam
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Walton who always worked hard on creating a
congenial corporate culture. Every employee was
equally important for him and he even established
certain sociological programs for getting insights
from employees which affect their working
behaviors.
Employees should be trained enough to contribute
towards a higher productive level. The teams need
to work in close association with each other and as
an HR manager, he or she should maintain a good
level of communication both with the senior
management and subordinates too. Understanding
the psychology of employees, working on regular
feedbacks, one to one interviews bring various
insights which work like a tool for designing &
implementing the new strategies.
Getting work done from employees needs a smart
approach and critical thinking along with problem
solving skills. The same stereo- type approaches of
just giving normal or standard appraisals after
particular tenure no more works as a motivation for
employees. Even this can no more be used to
retain the best talent within the organization which
indeed demands a movement beyond saturation.
This in turn demands reaching towards the heart of
employees and making them feel that they are a
part of the organization. Again coming up with the
example of Sam Walton, he had been one of the
first persons to bring in the approach of Profit
Sharing for employees. It makes them act as
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shareholders and keep in sync with the
organization. This creates a competitive edge for
employees both professionally and personally.
Poor people management leads to poor outcomes.
Employees who are being managed and trained
well think out of the box and come up with the
innovative solutions as and when required. In order
to build better teams engaged in reaching their
targets the concept of fun at work proves to be a
tonic to motivate as well as bring the employees
together .Working upon the areas which have
saturated can definitely help organizations in
setting higher benchmarks and GO BEYOND THE
SATURATION!!
5
Manipulating volatile situations
The hiring was so poor that the employees
were neither trainable nor were they are worth it!!!
Such employees have become more of a liability on
the organization rather than an asset. But if we go
back to the basics we must check out and look at
the core hiring that had been done by an HR
recruiter himself who claims to be the best person
for choosing talent. And this is where, when
economy becomes volatile, fluctuations rise at
levels beyond limitations and interruption in normal
business behavior occurs. The most important thing
for an organization is having a talent within it who
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can handle such situations and above all have
a leader who can transform the situation to a win-
win.
The leadership which we call transformational
leadership in such situations becomes the need of
the hour. Organizations such as IBM, Infosys, and
Wipro have time and again worked upon what we
call people management. The actual problem
arises when people are themselves not aware of
what exactly they are expected to deliver.
A higher sense of responsibility lies on the
shoulders of the HR manager as he has to first
understand the organizational structure and
accordingly organize the training sessions for
employees .The dynamics in market and its ever
changing scenario demands the building up of
strategies which can ultimately help flourish the
business houses. It becomes essential to keep
employees acquainted with overall enhancement of
their skills which may help them in reaching their
strategic goals. These trainings and thorough
knowledge help in dealing with volatile times of
market.
This further requires identification of the key
contributors within the organization and having a
good hold over retaining such employees. These
volatile situations are involuntary but sometimes
they even bring a positive change and the after
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effects of the same can be enjoyed for a long
period of time. HR plays a significant role in such
conditions. Defining competencies and working
upon them to achieve strategic goals is very
important. HR needs to be accountable for
promoting an environment conducive to positive
change and setting goal expectations. Yes! It is
important to work on value addition but it cannot
be achieved without value creation.
6
ADVOCATING TEAM: CAN DO IT
ATTITUDE!
Just imagine you have a team who is about to play
a cricket match representing your department, but
in the team of 11,only 2 of them are good at
bowling, while 3 at batting, 4 do not know how to
play the game while the remaining 2 are not loyal
enough and can do match fixing too. How does this
relate to a team as HR? Well yes! This is the
scenario in our current teams wherein some people
are confident about their roles and know what they
have to do. Few of them are not even aware of
what has to be done, while a few just spread bad
words. Having such a junk can never take you
anywhere or rather land you nowhere. Yes! It’s
important to realize that if cricket teams are made
based on competency, I relate it to cricket as its
one of the most favorite games of almost a
maximum number of people then why can’t we
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have the members in a team working on the same
strategic goals and working smart enough
to achieve them.
The responsibility of this falls on the shoulders of
HR because again it is all about hiring the right
employee for the right job and looking out for the
right competencies required for the said job. The
biggest mistake we people make is while recruiting
.It’s hard to say but I have seen people come for an
interview and they are unable to justify their
resumes. Such candidates even if hired can never
be assets to the organization but they become a
liability and the employer later starts finding the
best way to fire such an employee. Then why the
hell should we hire such a candidate without even
finding out whether he or she fits in for the vacant
job profile or not?
Now winning the game is not a child's play,
similarly being at an edge also needs a lot of hard
work, smart work and persistence. When your team
knows clearly where to go, what is to be done, how
a particular goal has to be achieved and how you
expect them to conduct themselves in the pursuit of
that vision and goal, there's a good chance that you
will reap rich dividends for yourself and your team.
Once you have spent good time with every member
of your team and know their pitfalls too, it always
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get easier to strategically assign the work to
respective employees based on their
competencies. Again multi-tasking cannot be
accomplished in a day or two. Careful observation
of team members is equally required before you
decide on this part whether to make your employee
multi- faceted or make him perfect in a single role.
The passion among team members need to be the
same just like players playing a match in which
every member should be alert and definitely be so
consistent that achieving heights should not be an
impossible task for managers but rather I’M
POSSIBLE(IT’S POSSIBLE) and we can do it
attitude!!!
7
ACTUALIZE VIBRANT WORKFORCE
“My team is no more working the way it should",
“my employees are not giving their best"....Often
we come across such statements from managers
but I wonder how they forget that such responses
are an outcome of the ignorance of the managers
themselves. Why should we always blame an
employee or a team be criticized when it is the
same workforce we created ourselves. How can we
forget that? Yes! Managers do wake up, open your
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eyes and analyze what were the discrepancies on
your own part? Where did you ignore your teams
when they needed you the most? And why are the
levels of frustration so high among the employees?
We need to reshape the HR schema if we really
want to talk about creating the best of teams to
meet the organizational goals. Extensive support
should be given to the employees. They are more
sensitive these days and it is not only getting work
done keeping a stick on their heads but also more
of understanding them, focusing on their career
development and a sincere guidance in periodic
intervals.
I would like to relate an instance in this regard-
There was an employee who always performed
well and gave his best. Every time he worked more
than expected and also better than the other
members of his team. But his reporting manager
never supported him and also guidance was
negligent in his case. Slowly the graph of his
performance started falling down. While the other
team mates no matter how they performed they
were always in the manager's good books. This
attitude demoralized the employee to such an
extent that he lost faith in himself, his work and was
on the verge of resigning. But the manager senior
to his reporting manager tried to sort out and
motivated him to work again as he used to earlier.
Now in this case the responsibility of creating a bad
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team and having lesser outcomes does not fall on
the employee alone but also on the manager who
created an atrocious team.
When we say that it’s time for a transformation or
an age of rapid development it becomes equally
essential to create more vivacious and energetic
teams which are unbiased and where team mates’
opinion is carefully observed and taken as and
when required. Such teams enable business
success through engendering, improving and
sustaining the organizations competence.
Employees should be made a part of the
organization rather than making them feel that they
are load bearing donkeys. Respecting employees
and creating a good team is the best solution to
creating an edge and be distinct in whatever you
do. That is why we say” Having a vibrant workforce”
is the need of the hour
8
TANTALIZING TO CONTROL
Managing talent and retaining the best of them is
not an easy task. Often when lured with an
opportunity of high packages and lucrative benefits,
there would hardly be an employee who won't
leave the organization and run for the better. And
again none other than an HR would be blamed for
the higher attrition rates and having employees with
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second thoughts on staying in their coveted jobs.
Why then should the HR alone be blamed? Why
should retaining talent be a problem for
organizations? Why then should recruitment by the
HR not be taken up as an urgent mission for getting
the right talent for the right job?
The stalwart behind having a good talent is:
working on” WE rather than I”. For this the most
accountable are the managers handling teams
wherein people need to work together rather than
for individual goals. This ultimately will help in
reaching the strategic goals of the organization in a
better way and engaging employees in the task at
hand rather than thinking about leaving jobs. It is
essential to strengthen the work culture and build a
talent powerhouse. Further the employees should
be encouraged towards contributing and supporting
Corporate Goals. Looking after employees’ career
interests is equally important in order to help them
succeed and grow in their current roles which may
help them in building a better future.
Ensuring that the right people are placed in right
positions for now and in future is equally important
to meet our corporate goals. The basic problem
comes when even the employees are not aware of
what is expected out of them and certain questions
that cloud the mind of an employee are:
- Do I have an opportunity to do what I am best at?
- Is my development relevant to my employer?
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- Will my good work ever be recognized?
- Do my opinions have any value here?
- Are there any opportunities to learn and grow?
When it comes to the question of an employee
belonging to the organization, probably a doubt
arises in terms of his retention. The cardinal fact
behind this doubt lies in the front of the employer to
hire an employee with the right set of skills for the
right job. This further has the following requisites:
- The selection should be for the right TALENT
rather than experience, determination and
intelligence.
- The Expectations from an employee should be
well set and guided, so that they may achieve the
same.
- It’s important to keep an Employee motivated by
focusing on his/ her strengths rather than
weakness.
- Look for the right FIT for the right profile rather
than just filling the organization with unskilled
people.
- Study your people well and spend time with them.
- Do your best to cultivate the talent of your
employee.
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Again if the bad happens it comes on the shoulder
of an HR but one must not forget that good is also
an HR's takeaway. So having the right talent and
temptation of controlling the same with an
organization made me work on a thought –
TANTALIZING TO CONTROL!!!
9
REPOSE YOURSELF
Working all time, being stressed with heavy
workload, deadlines, targets, performance...oh my
god!! There is so much I need to do. Suddenly a
voice came from my heart, Hold on...what are you
running for? You will end up losing all your
enthusiasm and energy. All you need to do now for
yourself and the people you are working with is
REPOSE yourself and stay calm. Yes! We often
forget this and keep ourselves all the time so much
hooked up with work, that we never relish the joys
of life.
Who says a person who works like a clock will
definitely be successful in all spheres. If you do not
relax how will you perform better? It is like this that
people rarely succeed if they do not have fun in
what they are doing. So, sometimes having fun in
what you do is more important than working 20 hrs.
a day. It’s better to work 5 hrs. And get high levels
of productivity rather than sitting 20 hrs. and getting
no output. Definitely this is an individual's
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responsibility to perform well and come up with
bright colors for his own growth. But since a team is
formed by the members of its group, it again is the
responsibility of the Manager or an employer to
have an overview of the changing patterns in his
team, the way the members in the team work and
how each of them works under different conditions
and situations.
Keeping the team together and understanding their
needs is the sole responsibility of an employer.
Therefore it is essential to create a team of
employees who are jovial, buoyant and happy at
heart. So having FUN AT WORK is what I mean.
Having some fun element often contributes to
giving good times and building good relations too.
It is often said and believed that HAPPY
EMPLOYEES = HAPPY CUSTOMERS. So having
happy employees is equally important as they are
the face of organization. It is important that we take
small breaks in between if we aspire to achieve our
dreams because the right way to reaching solutions
and finding a way to dreams comes from working
hard and efficiently. And this is not possible until
and unless we repose ourselves timely. The more
you stay happy the better are the results you come
out with. Finally, an HR is expected to create the
HPT's i.e. High performance Teams which
definitely needs employees who are motivated
themselves from within and working towards the
strategic goals of organization.
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REPOSE YOURSELF AND WORK TOWARDS
YOUR GOALS IN AN EFFICIENT MANNER!!
10
EVEN EMPLOYERS NEED TO LEARN
The employers expect to have a good team which
gives high performance, high revenue, very high
productivity, and competitive advantage.........it is a
never ending list which is expected from its
employees. But why do they forget the fact that it is
only the Employees who can either break or make
an organization. Often lectures are given on
motivation of employees but there lies a lot of
difference in speaking, delivering and
implementing. Employees are the face of an
organization or I must say the primary asset for
organization.
The employers sometimes fail to create an aura for
its team/ employees which in turn creates an
impact on their performance. This in some way
stops their personal and professional growth which
definitely becomes negative for the steps of
success which can be related well to a metaphor –
Using the right steps to the ladder we call staircase.
The wisdom, authenticity, creativity and factualness
gets missed which is expected from its employees.
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When all these facts are so important and
employers look out for these, how can they miss
something really important i.e. respecting its
employees and understanding their needs? The
most common error made by employers is when
their behavior is biased and they forget it is a team;
it is not one person who leads it. Self-development
for employees is equally important but in an
environment where intellect is hardly valued, how
will people grow? How will an employee be
competent enough to give his best? No matter what
we say, it may even come from within to succeed
but when the employers miss out on understanding
their employees and finding out what is hampering
their performance they can never create Top
Performing Teams which is often called- TPTs.
Employers must first educate themselves on how to
overcome their own shortcomings because
employees learn from their seniors as it is often
said- Kids learn from parents! Similarly even
employees learn from their reporting managers. But
if these reporting managers are themselves Lousy,
Procrastinators, Biased who don’t not recognize
and value their presence...probably they need to be
prepared enough to face the same. It’s often said-
GIVE AND TAKE RESPECT! So the moment an
employer forgets this, he himself loses his respect
in the eyes of the employees too.
The moment the employers learn some basic facts
which even include the basic courtesies, there
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won’t be an HR fighting for the basic problem of
Employee Attrition and searching the right talent &
a right candidate for creating high performance
teams. And no more will an employee cry out his
heart and say EVEN EMPLOYERS NEED TO
LEARN!!!!
11
HR - AN IMPULSIVE FIELD
It’s been said & I must say believed that if things
remain the same and don't change, then one day
we get bored of it or stagnancy levels raise.
Ultimately that particular thing loses its charm. The
same holds good in terms of Human Resource
Management or what we say personnel
management. The changing trends and dynamism
is a part of the word called "Globalization”. Not only
are the private organizations concerned about the
personnel management but the government firms
have also shifted their focus towards this field. This
remarkable change has been seen in the line of HR
managers with time. Recruitment which was prior to
1992 was not a very tough phase has now become
a prime responsibility of HR manager and an affair
that needs a lot of attention. If recruitment is not
done properly, it leads to various other problems in
an organization.
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The prime focus of HR management is no more just
the selection of an employee but their roles have
become far more vulnerable & flexible. HR
department is now considered to be an impulsive
area around which rotates almost every other
sector of an organization. The firms are now more
result oriented and performance based. An
employee is considered now to be an asset of an
organization. But there is one discrepancy which
needs a solution that people need to be more in
sync with each other within the organization. The
role clarity and a good relationship management
with senior personnel can help in achieving the
goals at a much faster pace.
The organizations still need to be more focused
and inclined towards the human resource
management. These days it is not only about hard
work but also a lot about being smart enough to do
the work and get efficient outcomes. Getting the
best of outcomes requires a proper understanding
of the employee’s psychology. It needs
understanding of the work culture, the gap among
employees in terms of competencies and efficiency
and how they contribute towards productivity. On
the basis of this understanding training needs to be
designed and timely implemented for the benefit of
the employees. Not only is the training important for
employees but also for the employers too.
Among other things in an organization proper
coordination is still lacking and it needs to be
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worked upon. To survive in the growing
competition the managers have to understand and
adopt the new trends. The responsibility of success
or failure of an organization depends a lot on how
well the HR managers take up the work and get the
work done by the employees of their organizations.
Since this field has shown a lot of changes with
time and is also stepping ahead with new trends
every now and then, henceforth it’s not wrong to
say that yes – HR IS AN IMPULSIVE FIELD....
12
MULTI ETHNIC WORKFORCE
It was considered traditional by the people to stay
confined to their hometowns and they hardly
preferred to move to other cities for work. Rather
the gratification among employees was quite high
in terms of work & the organization where
employees used to work. This aspect of being
satisfied is now getting lost somewhere and it is not
only employees’ own motivation level which is
coming down but a lot for this is organization
culture which is responsible. Post liberalization and
adoption of globalization by India has changed its
face to a great extent. Work patterns, job roles and
responsibilities, preferences have shown a
tremendous change.
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Post liberalization various international firms
stepped in and even the investment plan by FII has
shown a great deal of change. The scenario has
changed so much that now in 2011, hardly there is
any multinational which does not have its
operations in India. As a result of this one can find
people from diverse backgrounds and cultures
working together with each other in the same
organizations. And here the responsibility of having
a good organization culture within the system
among this multiethnic workforce lies on the
shoulders of the leader.
We are well aware of the fact that Indian
workplaces are one of the most ethnically diverse
places. Somehow there is a differentiation among
employees from different regions in terms of their
diverse expectations. It is the responsibility of the
manager to take care of the individual behaviors
and adjustment of employees in their particular
environment. No matter to which region they belong
to an employee who feels responsible to his work,
obviously contributes higher in terms of meeting the
organizations goals.
In such a case the leaders need to understand the
need of its employees. The needs of employees
differ at individual bases but some of them are
definitely generic and those needs move around -
Guidance & Support, which every employee
expects. Then comes favorable work environment
& this favorable environment is created by the
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workforce no matter to which ethnicity it belongs.
The important thing which leaders should take care
of is providing recognition & appreciation.
The diversity of the workforce or the region/culture
the employee comes from is immaterial. All that
matters the most is how cordial the workforce is
with each other. How well the business is
understood by them, how well they coordinate and
move towards their goal. The workforce is the
primary asset for an organization and must say it is
the best brand ambassador.
13
RETICULATED EMPLOYEE ATTITUDE
AND GRATIFICATION
The important parameters in the purview of an HR
professional are being concerned about an
employee’s attitude which is quite clearly depicted
by his behavior and the job satisfaction levels. Even
though job satisfaction levels vary for every
employee the organizational programs & the
management practices create a deep impact on the
productivity level of employees. The Management
schools give an impressive and good lecture on -
Organizational behaviors, attitude building & so on.
So, how much does each employee implement
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those lectures in their practical life? Hardly do we
find the employees interacting with each other.
The responsibility of choosing a right employee for
a right job i.e. the one who matches well with the
requirement of job lies completely on the shoulders
of the HR professional. Work situation matters a lot
in terms of job satisfaction and organizational
impact. Employee attitudes and outcomes are
directly related to each other. If somewhere the
employees are not motivated enough to give results
and doing work just for the sake of doing it, then an
HR professional is accountable for the same. HR
department is considered to be the center or rather
I must re name it as the Heart of any organization
from where the entire operation or business is
regulated. The callous attitude of the HR
professional paralyses the entire system such as
the employee’s attitudes and their job satisfaction
directly and smashes up the outcomes.
Some core factors which help in forming the
employee’s attitudes are-
- Career development.
- Relationship with management.
- Compensation and benefits.
- Work environment.
Lacking clear and defined roles make things worse
as an individual loses his focus on his core area
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and will be unable to deliver what is expected out of
him / her. The satisfaction of job revolves around
fulfillment, commitment and engagement put into
the assigned work. Recognition of an employee’s
efforts is equally important. One can get
satisfaction when there’s a - hike in salary, better
compensation, promotions to higher level and of
course more benefits. Such perks definitely act like
a value addition and encourages an employee to
work towards his goal. Insufficient knowledge,
inability to select qualified and good competent
workers for a particular job, lack of communication,
lack of job definitions are the factors which affect
job satisfaction negatively. The management
should keep a check on overcoming these
discrepancies so that the ultimate aim of achieving
goals and strategic requirements of the
organization are met timely and in an effective way.
Job satisfaction and sincerity to job affect each
other reciprocally and have an impact on
performance levels. Efforts to improve the
processes and practices within the organization are
essential in order to have a good healthy
environment. At last the most important factor is
that happy employees are more productive.
Creating happy employees and keeping them
engaged towards their work ultimately results in
having higher levels of job satisfaction. The attitude
of employees and their satisfaction is practically
relevant and henceforth organizations should focus
on the same.
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14
INTERLUDE IN PERFORMANCE LEVEL
Generating high revenues and high incomes are
the core aims of any business or an organization
because these organizations have this kind of
Business Model. Strategies and plans are made at
almost every quarter meetings & even reviews are
done, but still there exists a gap in terms of setting
up right strategies and further it even goes beyond
the setting up of those strategies is the right
implementation. YOUR PEOPLE ARE YOUR
BUSINESS. One cannot forget this fact that no
matter what your strategy, or your marketing plan,
IT system, finance department, management
information system all put together cannot make
that difference which even people in an
organization can make. People are considered to
be the key to success. So to transform business,
it’s essential to transform your people.
So the need of the hour is to take personal
responsibility for their performance, as well that of
the overall work. Once the people in the
organization engage in doing this, probably the
levels of performance can be much higher and
even productivity levels rise higher. This gap has
been found in organizations due to various
reasons. Having said this a few of them are as
follows-
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The organizations rarely track the performance
against the top priority goals which had been set.
No communication within the organization.
No follow ups.
Performance bottlenecks are not visible to top
management in various situations.
Strategy & top priority needs do not match the
same wavelength.
Issues like how well the team communicates
tackles difficult assignments as well as create short
& long term plans & hold themselves accountable
for results matters a lot. The biggest disparity lies in
delivering the right message to people. They are
hardly aware of what is expected out of them.
Moreover it’s really painful to see people who do
not have clarity in terms of the roles assigned to
them. Job responsibility comes later; people are not
even clear about their job roles. This discrepancy is
not because the middle management or lower
management people are not willing to work, but it is
probably because the higher management hardly
takes time out to discuss with its people about the
difficulties they are facing.
It’s essential to have clear & defined roles for each
employee in an organization & then we can expect
higher productivity. Problems are endless, but if we
carefully analyze this interlude & try to find out the
solutions then success may not be far and even
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organizations can reach their goals in a short span
of time. All that is needed is to keep a track of
things and have them moving right.
15
Employee training is a pronominal task
When it comes to the point of larger productivity
and better outcomes then one cannot ignore the
fact that the right kind of skill set is required at the
right place. The same holds good even when we
talk about the professional environment or even the
social segment wherein we all come across
different responsibilities and areas of work. No one
is born with technical or soft skills, these skills are
developed with time and henceforth the employees
in an organization must understand the value of the
same. Some of them even find training as a waste
of time and for them I must say" Knowledge never
goes Waste". Probably the new things that they can
acquire from training can help them in motivating
themselves and acquainted in facing new
challenges that comes across.
So in this competitive era where the level of
competition is high in every field then, how could
Training & Development stay behind? With the
need to maximize the individual and organizational
effectiveness, technical (hard) skills and soft skills
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both play an important role and require attention.
But generally it has been observed that the focus of
most of the organizations is more on Technical
skills rather than the soft skills. But the customer of
today or your audience is no more interested in
Gyan(Knowledge), everyone wants the speaker to
understand their psychology and their mindset. So
this definitely requires a lot of brainstorming on the
part of the trainer. To put it in a nutshell one cannot
ignore that training is a must for all, whether he or
she is a part of the senior, middle or lower
management.
Now that we know that training is important for all,
the structured training programs are a must for all
the employees. It’s to make them aware that they
are the organization's future and by giving their
best they can one day turn out to be leaders. The
ultimate aim here is to keep employees engaged in
the task assigned and also be accountable for their
work. Ideally organizations hire the people who
acquire the skills required for a particular job but as
it is said that with time, wear and tear occurs or can
say depreciation occurs, so having said that I would
say that everyone needs to brush up his skills. This
procedure of brushing up skills is giving training as
and when required.
Well it is said that training is expensive but if people
don't value training it becomes even more
expensive. Even in the training most important
thing is to understand the psychology and mindset
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of the target group because it helps in retaining
them. Training for employees is important because
it contributes to the organization’s competitiveness.
In other words it often helps in creating a
competitive advantage as for e.g. it helped in case
of - Rosewood Hotels, Hard rock café etc. Good
training offers good facilities to employees in terms
of their effectiveness and enhances their
performance levels.
Training creates a lot of difference and even helps
employees in getting to the heights which they are
craving for and looking forward to.
16
TRAINING AS A CARPENTER TOOL
Training & development has gained tremendous
recognition in the past 5 years and is widely
adopted. But there are instances when people run
away from training or they think it as a waste of
time. This has proved to be a curse for some
organizations that aim at bringing improvement
using this tool. This tool of training and
development is no more different from a carpenter’s
tool which he uses to pound and get a job in some
cases, while in some to sustain the job. No doubt it
is a widely accepted concept now and Human
Resource department is laying a great emphasis on
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the same but let me just ask a question from every
trainer – Are you targeting the right audience?
When a carpenter pounds a nail into the log of
wood he is aware if the wood is suitable for this
work or not. Similarly when I compare training to a
carpenter’s tool, I mean that training needs to be
given to the right people, at the right time and
where it is required. This in turn means that a good
analysis is mandatory before deciding what kind of
training has to be given. At last it’s important to
make trainings effective & productive. Now it’s not
predefined that training can always create effective
employees because it requires equal participation
from the participants too.
Evaluating the persisting problems within an
organization and then working on those is one way
to achieve a successful training. There are a lot of
expectations from an employee and a certain kind
of skill set is required for a certain job. So, in order
to achieve the same, training needs to be taken
seriously. For example- in an organization a trainer
might be hired for the purpose of providing training
to employees timely and in a systematic manner. If
the burden increases and more responsibility is
thrust, then a trainer may have to serve other roles
also. For instance he may have to even tackle
customer related problems who walk in to the
organization for their queries. So in that case it is
essential to make this employee acquainted with
the training on customer handling. Here training
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can help people accept the challenges of evolving
jobs.
If nothing changes in the world and everything is
stagnant or there is a lack of dynamics in the
organizations, then in that case no one needs to
emphasize on training. Training is insignificant if it
is done for an employee’s development and would
be less critical to an organization’s success. So this
follows the need to analyze not only the part of an
employee’s development but also keeping the
accomplishment of organization’s objectives clearly
in mind. A clear look on the significant changes that
have taken place in the organization is essential.
Training needs arise from various circumstances-
· The installation of new equipment or techniques
into the system.
· Change in the working methods or products.
· Labor shortage.
· A desire to improve quality.
· An increase in number of accidents.
· Promotion or transfer of employees.
There can be more reasons for having trainings but
yes the ultimate aim lies in having productive
outcomes from them. The carpenter spends hours
a day to cut wood and provide us with many
products similarly training creates a lot of difference
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if given at the right place at the right time and again
with the right kind of attitude. Keeping in mind the
beneficial reasons behind training it should be
made mandatory and be followed and taken
seriously.
17
MY FIRST EMPLOYEE HANDBOOK
I still remember the induction program of my First
job where in all the newly appointed candidates
were made to sit in front of a trainer. There were so
many questions in our minds like what were we
doing there? What we had to do? Are we going to
be paid on time or not? When would be getting our
salary hikes? How do they evaluate our
performances? What are the company’s rules and
regulations? What do they expect of us? All such
questions made me realize that there might be
some catch for sure else why did they hire us? And
then the trainer came up with some pages in his
hands and a small booklet. I was wondering if it is
again back to school days some test/ grilling or
what? And then I heard a voice which said – Hi
dear welcome to the organization and this is your
handbook. Then I realized it was an Employee
Handbook. Once I opened the same, many of my
unanswered queries got clear.
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So, as the organizations grow, it becomes
increasingly important to have a known or
structured set of rules and guidelines to address
everyday issues. The Employee hand books help in
explaining the employment policies and the
consequences for violating those policies. Yes, I
mean the handbook although small gives a clear
idea of what the policies of the organization are and
by not abiding by rules it can lead to negative
consequences. Moreover the good part is that
every employee has to follow the same rules and
regulations which have to be clearly understood.
So every employee handbook in general has some
features which are as follows-
- Introduction – which states a message from the
Managing Director, company Chairman. This later
gives an idea about what the organization is all
about, the culture and history of the organization.
- Pay & salaries – i.e. the salary which will be paid,
tax deductions and how they are calculated.
- Performance reviews- which covers the appraisal
programs and how often the appraisal would be
done. Also it mentions the evaluating criteria.
- Benefits- this includes the benefits which will be
given to employees.
- Discipline – the maintenance of decorum is
essential in every organization and doing anything
against it is not good for employees.
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- Employee safety- it includes the safety of its
employees in their organization.
- Complaints – how complaints have to be handled
is also included in this.
Any unconditional promises which the organization
will not fulfill should not be included in the
handbook. This handbook once reviewed
thoroughly is one way to get all the information in
just a few minutes about the organization. Most
importantly the right to change policies as and
when needed must be included in the hand book,
as the kind of dynamics which this market is going
through anything is possible. But sometimes
employees may argue later for things not included
in the handbook which must be made clear at their
induction period.
So this handbook, for many employees like me,
stays in the mind as a memory with which one can
carry a little knowledge about the organization to
which one is associated now or even after one
takes up another one.
18
PATH TOWARDS SUCCESS
Success stories in life do not happen in a day or
two. If that had been the case, every person on this
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earth would have carried the tag of being
successful in their resumes and lives. It is not fable,
when we state that only 5 % of the people are
successful in this world. A major chunk of the world
becomes a follower rather than being a leader and
hence 95 out of the 100 people in this world have
no clue to where success lies. As it is impossible to
live like everybody and hope for financial success
at the same time.
One of the most important elements for being
successful is passion and desire. Never mix the
words desire and wish as they both have different
meanings. Many a time it happens that an idea
comes to mind, but what would an idea alone do. It
requires an action too.
1- If you dream follow it and achieve it
For this it is extremely important to follow your
dream. Rather I would say before you follow it, be
clear in your mind what your dream is? What are
you striving to achieve in your life? This is later
carried forward by following your dream. So it’s
better to be calm, composed and give a though to
what you want to achieve. A better idea would be to
take a paper and jot down the list of your dreams
because we all have many of them. All it needs is
to go in a systematic manner and once you
complete this step it means your first step is done.
2- Once started – follow your dreams one by one
per day
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Don’t rush! Hold on. It is impossible to achieve your
dreams in a day. Certainly, now you are at a point
where you know what you want and so you can
plan systematically to achieve each of them.
It is a lot about one’s firm determination to achieve
something in life and be successful. Many a time
we come across situations where failures become
our day to day partners and one day that partner
bugs us so much that we feel frustrated and loose
hopes. But we ourselves have to fight those bugs
and come up again as each individual stands for
himself on this earth. No one comes at your rescue
when you face problems. So it is better to be a
fighter than a looser. Who says that you cannot rise
after a downfall! This is absolutely wrong. Having
the zeal to succeed can help in fighting against any
odds and make us shine. You are the maker of
your own destiny whether you are
married/unmarried/working in an office/having a
business one must have the right focus, direction
and above all the right intention to be successful.
IN THE JOB-
Often people in jobs come across numerous
problems, ranging from workloads to competition to
preference given to a non-deserving colleague. But
success is above all these excuses. The one who
aims to be successful in his job goes beyond all
these and comes up by creating an edge in his
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performance. For such an individual I agree that
climbing the ladder of success is not that difficult or
easy. So, one thing is clear that one needs to have
a strong passion in ones heart to reach that
particular point. You may face many hurdles as well
as setbacks but success comes when you go
beyond these hurdles. Look for what you desire
because desire comes from heart and not from
mind. Heart controls emotions and mind controls
magic. If there is a conflict between emotion & logic
then every time it is emotion that wins. So give your
best input to reach the point where you think
success lies for you. Now this never means that
you will reach that point in a day or two, it takes
time. Once you are well equipped with the
knowledge at core basic level then it becomes quite
smooth and easy to reach the upper levels in your
job.
IN THE BUSINESS –
One of the common mistakes which people make
while they venture into some business is that they
do not perceive if the idea with which they are
entering market will be accepted or not. It’s
essential to find out which area has potential for
your business. For eg- Buying property in a remote
area where no urban population or let’s say even
rural population stays around, and planning to have
a shop there means an absurd idea in itself. So it’s
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better to look out for a potential market where you
are planning to enter. In business again, the zeal
along with passion and above all experience
matters a lot. It is never wrong to take advice from
the learned men in fact it is rather fruitful. The
bigwigs in business started with a scratch and that
too at times when none had any awareness of what
markets were? What is IT? What is technology &
globalization? But now times have changed
Entrepreneurship is a widely accepted area and
many people are making good revenue out of it.
But this in itself needs a careful planning, right set
of strategies and mindset.
The most important point that I would like to add
here is that right and positive attitude is even more
essential than knowledge. Now in business it is
also essential to understand what is the statistics of
the market? Is the economy showing an upward
trend or not? Whether the business you want to
enter into is acceptable in the market or not? Who
are your competitors? What are they doing to reach
that particular point? How to create an edge and
capture the large part of the market? How to form a
customer base? Who are your potential
consumers? What is your target in the market?
Leaders are those who have a strong strategic
vision. It’s important to design an efficient business
plan and then train & motivate the workforce
towards it. For this one needs to have a capable
workforce, a good relationship management as
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good contact helps in its own way. Successful
companies have strong relationships with their
customers and this leads to rapid sales, higher
profit margins and lower customer acquisition
costs.
So for being successful it is always good to
remember this –
"The difference between a successful person and
others is not lack of strength, nor lack of
knowledge, but rather a lack of will." Vincent T.
Lombardi
19
COG IN THE WHEEL- HR
Human resource is just like a steward and an
enabler to the organization. Here managing talent
is just like the mainstream to the success of the
organization. Certain implementation of the
programs or the lack of doing something incorrect
creates a dissonance and here it is well compared
to the Cog in the wheel which if once it creates a
problem in rotation then it’s entire balance gets
disturbed. So, human resources department has to
shoulder the responsibilities carefully as it comes
across as the central point for the management.
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Their failure can distract the normal balance of
organizations and rather the organizations which
face a downturn are actually in that situation
somehow by the kind of problem created by the HR
department.
If the HR hasn’t understood or there’s no clarity
about its business focus then it means that it is the
starting point for some major problem yet to come.
One thing is clear; if business focus is unclear then
it is just like a disaster. In such a case, even if the
best practice is given by the HR personnel or the
best policy is implemented they won’t work. Trust
me all the hard work goes in vain when the
business focus is not clear. Moreover the senior
management sometimes behaves as if the HR is a
puppet who must dance to their tune. Now this is
wrong! An HR has all the rights to raise his voice
and clarify the employee’s doubts making them
sure of their defined roles.
Also it is important to have regular audits and HR
processes to be reviewed timely. Now as the
economic environment changes business requisites
also change. Proper assessment of the HR
personnel should be done. Also one must not forget
the kind of effort an HR has to put forward in all the
processes right from staffing solutions to training
employees. Regular feedback from the seniors is
essential. Some of the HR processes even lead to
failures if unchecked and the famous example for
this is the Toyota crash by HR people. The reason
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for failure in this case was not one but many. It
started with rewards and recognition that fueled
sales but safety based inputs were ignored. Even
the corporate culture was biased towards any
positive information. The leadership, retention and
risk assessment by the HR missed identifying the
revenue impact of human error. So in all it created
a kind of mess and led to crash for Toyota.
HR needs to understand the behavior. The
sentiments in banking and financial sector remain
volatile as talent behavior corresponds with the
market swings. The focus of the HR should be very
clear. While hiring decisions are made because an
employee hired has to be trained and training itself
demands lot of expenses. Sometimes the decision
to hire the wrong employee and later the attrition
rates in the organization actually mess up the
things.
So the reasons for shambles by the HR can be
many but the point lies in finding out solutions. It’s
very important to understand the maturity level of
the organization before deciding to take any
decision. Since HR is a part of the organization
where in major functions rotate so a HR personnel
needs to be clear, knowledgeable and strategic in
taking decisions for the organization because if this
cog in the wheel creates a problem then, an
imbalance can lead to major defaults.
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20
LATEST IN HR- COMPETENCY
MAPPING
Every one dreams to be a star performer in some
way or the other in the respective organizations.
But is it that easy to be a star performer? No! It
requires a lot of hard work and sincerity,
Knowledge and intelligence is what makes one
competent enough in the working environment.
Along with this some other features are also
required to excel in the job. Good managers often
look for traits which are essential to do the job
effectively and work to bring positive outcomes.
The psychologists in organizations have refined
their understanding and converted it into the
process which is known as competency mapping.
This is a tool used by HR professionals to find the
right person for the particular job requirement.
It has emerged to be a tool used by the HR
professionals to find out what set of skills is
required for a particular job and how to achieve the
same. So this is the process which assesses and
determines one's strength as an individual worker
and in some cases as a part of an organization. It is
essential to find out the areas where an employee
has a good hold because when the task assigned
to him is related to that area then he can
accomplish the same in a shorter span of time and
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get a better outcome. So basically this term
Competency Mapping rotates around two main
factors- Emotional intelligence and Strength of a
person in a particular area.
The right way of getting results from a team
requires one to be a good team manager or I can
say a good team leader. The one who understands
the team building process definitely has a good
team structure and hence can give effective results.
Taking the right decision at the right time is equally
important. This concept of Competency Mapping is
now widely accepted and large organizations are
using the same to understand effectively how
competent the strength of workers is. Even various
types of procedures are used for the same-
1- Employees are provided with a Questionnaire,
basically to ask them what they are engaged in,
what more skills are required in order to get a more
improvised performance.
2- Once the similarities in answers obtained
through the questionnaires are noted a competency
based job description is prepared and presented to
the personnel department for their feedback on it.
3- Final step involves mapping of ability to
benchmark and then decide the rest of the tasks to
be assigned accordingly.
This concept in India is a new one and has been
recently adopted by various. But still it is a question
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mark if it has been seriously adopted or not. This is
a kind of mapping that helps in defining some
success criteria in one's career and is beneficial
both at individual and organizational level. But yes
some organizations even face problem in adopting
it completely. They sometimes make the mistake of
having the right set of procedure for the same and
this leads to wastage of time. Moreover in some
cases the incorrect assessment itself leads to a lot
of problems being posed and faulty cases. All that
is required is to have the right understanding of
what is being adopted and how it has to be
implemented so that the latest trends and
outcomes in HR bring lucrative results rather than
drawback.
21
HR & SOCIAL MEDIA
Social media has emerged as a powerful tool in all
aspects of business and every field is engaged in
this area, so how can the HR stay away from the
same. It is also a notion that social media motivates
the employees. Moreover the branding and
promotions are best done and spread to wider
network by the use of social networking and media.
This discipline deals with selecting the appropriate
social media sites and formats from a myriad of
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options which are available and leveraging the
same in order to create value for an organization.
Engaging in HR and social media requires an in
depth understanding of the key benefits, the
drawbacks which are related to social media & also
managing the same in a proper way. It means that
now social media can be at best used for effective
Human resource management which includes
Recruitment, Collaboration and Engagement of
employees at all levels. Since there are a lot of
forums now where the discussions are related to
various HR topics so this keeps them more
engaged at all levels.
As such the social media has become a model for
Employee interaction. Sharing of information
through various HR portals and forums has now
made interaction and discussions easier. Now- a-
days even, the use of Face book, LinkedIn and
Twitter is not only limited to sharing videos and
photos but their use has also widened engulfing
into recruitment, branding and customer contract.
Even the same is used for capturing knowledge
and sharing the same. Formal and informal
learning, collaboration and communication &
engagement are some of the uses.
The business network allows an employee to post
professional and personal information. Various
other tools like micro blogging, blogging, instant
messaging are now in. All these tools are available
through various forums and have their own
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platforms which are used even by HR professionals
on a larger scale. So these things are used to
connect, communicate and collaborate
globally/nationally with other employees effectively.
The trend is now focused on these social business
networks which need to be distinguished from
social public networks. As the trends change, it is
essential to change with the same and adopt them.
Now HR & Social media are well connected with
each other.
22
3R & HR- INNOVATION IN ITS OWN WAY
Innovation is the word which is being heard almost
everywhere in the corporate from one wing to the
other. Every senior tells his sub-ordinate to come
forward with innovative ideas else the things won’t
work. Well some have a misconception that HR has
no role in this so called INNOVATION. But the truth
is that HR in any company contributes a major
share in the innovation of the Success formula.
This follows the fact that the functions of the HR
have an impact on the innovation capacity of an
organization. This impact needs to be a positive
one.
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HR reinforcement acts in terms of innovation and
here it is not required to move out of the world to do
something extra or strange. All that HR needs is to
focus on its 3R's i.e. -
- Recruitment in an effective way
- Rewards as per requirement.
- Retention of the talent.
Some way or the other, the most positive and
effective impact in the organizations is best created
by HR personnel, provided they give their best to
the task they hold on to. Thus HR plays an
essential role in contributing to the corporate
innovative agenda.
Recruitment: is one major thing which should
be done carefully. Effective recruitment is a tedious
task and one that requires a great deal of attention
at all times. So this begins with hiring the best
people to work for you in your Organization. So HR
must take care and work diligently to ensure that
the right systems are in place to attract, identify and
hire the best talent which becomes a driving force
for innovation. So contribution to innovation does
not mean going to the market and searching for any
innovation GURU. Here it means to have the top
talent, with good knowledge at all levels from junior
to the top management executives. This sounds
quite easy but it is actually a hard task to
accomplish. No one can be blamed for this, as it
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has been seen that even the HR managers
sometimes have made mistake over the years on
their patterns of recruitment and the kind of staff
they hire. The HR should take advice from the other
people in the organization too to hire the best
talent.HR should provide special interviewing
classes and skills to the managers who are
engaged in hiring.
Rewards: When we put in our best inputs to the
task assigned to us we often expect recognition.
Now this core area has also to be handled by the
HR as it holds a specific meaning in a working
environment. So having reward mechanisms at the
right place is essential and also requires innovation,
in terms of building and working upon
compensation strategies, performance
management tools and reward programs. So the
HR should work upon its resources timely and
come up with new ideas.
Retention: Now from the time an employee who
is hired is connected with the organization in one or
the other way, the HR plays an important role.
Retention of talent is equally essential. Here the
prime objective should be retaining the top
performers as they have a higher tendency to move
forward and switch when offered with more
lucrative packages. It is important to make these
people realize that they are the key people in the
organization. It is now the responsibility of the HR
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to hold onto the performer before he or she takes a
decision to leave.
All the terms and conditions of the HR and
innovations revolve in some or other way around
the 3R's.Tackling them effectively reduces half the
burden of the HR. Things can be worked out
effectively to make the HR an important contributor
towards what we say INNOVATION.
23
RECRUITMENT PRIORITIES KEEP
CHANGING
Gone are the days when parents used to insist that
a high score will take you high in life. The
recruitment pattern has changed a lot. In the past
few years where the academic records which if
definitely are excellent enough need to have a
background of practical skills too. These days
studying hard and having good marks on the report
cards is not considered to be a big thing. If you are
competent enough to survive and stand for yourself
in this tough practical world, then you will be shown
a path towards success and promotions, as the
marks in your report cards are not considered when
hiring a candidate or even when appraisals are
done.
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This is something logical and even practical. If we
read/hear the success stories of such individuals,
then we come to know that they never come up in a
day or two or with good academics rather they
come up with Good leadership skills, Effective
management, Teamwork and Hard work. So,
extracurricular activity is a good source which
creates a positive impact upon your personality
level too. This helps as these qualities speak about
the traits, strengths and overall personality of an
individual. The one interested in sports turn out to
be a good team player while the one in artistic
activities appear to be creative and have a lateral
thinking pattern. These qualities in some way or the
other are helpful for the organizations as strategic
thinking and planning are the two important aspects
of management. So these qualities can be of
invaluable functioning to the organizations. So in
one way or the other, these activities nourish and
enrich the careers of individuals.
There are various instances where some
individuals are not so good with their academics but
definitely turn out to be very good in the other
activities. These extra activities make their minds
more sharp and hence they are quick in their
responses. The tendency of action and reaction is
perfect in these individuals and their performance
levels are worth appreciating. So it is not
mandatory now days that the ladder of success is
only for people with good academic achievements.
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The recruitment process is a hard one where a lot
of time is invested in selecting an individual and
hence it has to be carefully done with a good
review and checking if the candidate actually fits for
the particular job description or not. Hiring a
candidate means the right assessment and
screening has been done. It has to be seen if the
candidate has specific skills or not. Academics and
also good practical knowledge help in
accomplishments at a much faster pace.
24
WOMEN IN MANAGEMENT ON THE TOP
There is no area where a woman has not
contributed and had been appreciated. It is an
understood fact that she can balance her
professional and personal life well. Traditionally
men preferred their women at home. But as times
have changed in terms of advancement and
adoption of technology how could women stay
away from working. Women these days are
contributing a lot in the field of management
irrespective of sector.
As per research studies it is observed that the
firms with women representation on the board have
attained sustainable profits as opposed to the
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board which had no women. But still in India gender
diversity ratio is being given so much emphasis that
at times it’s also irritating as many men hate to see
women ahead of them. Women prefer working now
and wish to contribute financially to support their
families, they also gel well with their spouses who
often face the same kind of pressures and stress at
work which women do.
We cannot forget the various personalities who
have shown tremendous growth in the past few
years and definitely are considered to be among
the great management leaders. Few of them are
Indira Nooyi who heads Pepsico, Kiran Majumdar
Shaw who heads Biocon, Chandakoachar a lady
whose contribution in the banking sector is
tremendous. We even cannot forget Shikha
Sharma and similarly many such examples before
us where women have contributed to the corporate
sector at best in their own ways.
Moving ahead when we talk of corporate sector the
best HR professionals turn out to be women who
are into Recruitment, staffing or into Training.
Anisha Motwani, chairman Max New York Life
insurance says that women have contributed their
best in the corporate sectors and are also engaged
in having consistency in terms of the service they
provide. No doubt there comes a gap in the
professional career of women due to personal and
family priorities but the ones who cover this gap
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and again come across with the same zeal turn out
to be the best managers.
So women in India continue to equip themselves
with academic credentials and experience thus
matching male leaders in functional expertise and
wisdom. The leadership levels of women have
shown an upward surge in a short duration of time.
What happens if the females on the board of
organizations are less? Of course it creates an
impact on the companies which have no women at
the top management levels. They are at higher risk
in terms of growth levels. It is seen that over 80% of
the companies which are showing the fastest
growth have more than two women on the board
and 35% of the others have at-least one.
Women leaders in organizations contribute their
best in their own way. All that we need to change is
the mindset and equally allow women to grow and
excel too. It is rightly said that ‘The hand that rocks
the cradle rules the world’. The female who is
considered to be the best house-manager can also
turn out to be a great leader in the organizations
which cannot be ignored as we have many such
women before us.
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25
KEEPING EMPLOYEES MORE UPDATED
The word called Human Resources, 10 years ago
was not that much focused upon as it was not
considered to be an essential component in
management. But now, one cannot imagine any
organization to run without this field of
management. Then came the time when corporate
training was considered to be a very essential part
of an organization wherein huge amount of money
was spent on this particular area. Moreover the
trends and patterns in training have shown
tremendous change since past few years.
These days competition worldwide has increased
so much that it is very hard to maintain the top
notch levels without some extra efforts by
organizations. Rather it can be said that the market
of today is transformed to a corporate race where
everyone is struggling hard to stay ahead in
competition. This naturally requires hard effort by
companies to maintain and increase the levels of
productivity each day.
So, to create a competitive edge and be ahead
fruitfully resulted in the shape of corporate training
which has truly revolutionized the way in which
companies educate and discipline their manpower.
Each day something new happens in an
organization. This may be in terms of some new
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policies or practices or it can be in the form of new
strategies for increasing productivity. It can also be
implementation of new software into the system. So
in some way or the other the need for training is
created and it becomes essential to keep the
employees updated and informed about the same.
Now the question arises as to who should be hired
for corporate training? This actually is a question of
serious concern. The people who are highly
experienced in their particular fields can turn out to
be the best corporate trainers. It is important to
move with changing trends in the market as
technological advancement and variations take
place at a very high pace. So no doubt a good
corporate trainer is required by the organizations.
So the responsibility of corporate trainers is high
and henceforth organizations need to have the best
of them. Some qualities which cannot be ignored in
a good trainer are-
- Business perspective and adequate knowledge of
their subject.
- Good interpersonal skills.
- Excellent communication skills.
- Quality to get along with anyone.
- Good observation skills.
- Training & Teaching skills.
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- Listening skills
Sometimes even the companies are in a dilemma
whether to hire a trainer full time or part time. But it
all depends upon the needs of a company and the
departments for which they require a trainer.
Sometimes temporary hiring works best while in
other cases it may not. So corporate training has
emerged as a powerful tool to keep the employees
updated and informed.
26
RETAINING EMPLOYEES - PRIORITY FOR
HR NOW
As there are several options before the employees,
companies these days are shifting their prime focus
on retaining their good employees and trying their
level best to reduce the attrition rates which are on
a much higher pace as compared to the new
entrants in the system. The idea behind increasing
the perks of employees and adding more benefits is
nothing more than stopping them from moving to a
new organization as it is not that easy to have a
good talent within the system.
The new form of Stock options as we know E
SOPS are again in and back to lure and retain the
best performers of organizations. The idea is to
provide an employee with many benefits so that
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they may not think of switching over and be loyal to
the organizations they are already working for.
Earlier employee stock options were offered only to
the top level people who were loyal to the
organization for a long period of time. Also
perks/benefits were given when employees
achieved a certain milestone in the same
organization.
This kind of lucrative option was withdrawn during
the time of economic downturn when there were no
rewards and downsizing departments took place in
almost every organization. This option was followed
in the US and now it has been adopted by domestic
companies in India too. So E SOPS and other stock
options were what every employee was almost
seeking to achieve. Then came the time when
IPO's were given more preference. Somehow
companies keep offering one of the two just to keep
a check on lowering its attrition rates. One good
example for this is Deloitte which has increased
40% of stock options for its employees.
Various other companies which have now
increased stock options for its employees are -
Essar, Appolo Hospitals, Thomas Cook, I Gate and
Info Edge. This follows that achieving some major
motives by the organizations is like a driving force,
creating competitive edge and inculcating an
ownership culture among employees. Retention of
employees is like a direct result that helps in
keeping employees engaged, focused and above
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all improving their performance levels. Also some
companies offer the option of sweat equity which
means the share offered to the people who are in
the business from its inception.
In a private sector it is very clear that if you
perform well you get a handful of rewards but if you
do not perform your job is on the line. Boosting
employee output and having good performers
within the system is always beneficial. So retention
of the best manpower is a great challenge and a
top priority for HR professionals. Employee
retention is one of the primary measures to the
health of an organization.
27
Transition into the field of HR
People from varied backgrounds want to make their
careers in HR. But it is not written anywhere that
HR professionals have an easy life, although HR is
considered as an easy profession by many people.
HR is considered to be the field which has a lot of
areas in its own self or I can say it is a one stop
shop for a lot of things. People often seek to make
their careers in HR, as it is a notion very common
among all - That HR means just to sit and work as
an administration officer. But let me make this
aspect more clear, that HR functions are not
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performed traditionally any more. A lot has changed
and similarly roles in HR are also not the same.
There is no doubt that HR offers a lot of lucrative
opportunities and is one of the fast growing
industries now. Even career analysts project that
the number of jobs in the future in this field are
definitely going to increase. But certainly, one must
not forget that to make a career in HR, one should
be very clear with the conceptual part. As we are
often taught and told to get back to basics. So once
you are clear with your basics and you have a good
knowledge of the subject, no can stop your career
growth.
It’s commonly seen that HR professionals are from
different educational backgrounds. However many
HR positions require at least a Bachelor’s degree.
Having a Bachelor’s degree often acts as a boost
for a HR career. Such a degree is often regarded
highly among HR managers. But it does not mean
that the people who don't have degrees cannot
make successful careers in this field.
The good news is that many B-Schools have
started offering specialized and even executive
level courses in HR that help in having a long term
career in this field. Even large companies offer the
certification courses for being a part of HR. The
most important point to remember is if one is
planning a HR career then plan your life, your
education and your experiences all together in a
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proper and systematic way.
Human Resource is a career which demands
integrity, confidentiality and a high level of
interpersonal interaction capability from the people
who already practice human resources. Being into
HR means you should have a good hold and
knowledge of almost every management aspect
and subject. Also one should not forget that HR
means a challenging career where in you are
expected to deliver more than being asked for.
If the organization is small then only one of the two
people wears the hat of an HR and he is expected
to carry out the entire work as an HR generalist.
Larger the organization, multiple are the tasks to be
done. Since trends have changed a lot now as
compared to traditional times, even the different
departments of HR in an organization can be seen
ranging from a separate hiring & staffing
department to a training department.
Labor relations are one separate subject in HR
now. To have a career in this one must hold good
knowledge of labor laws. Being knowledgeable and
delivering the same in practical aspect of life is
often a value addition and positive point for our
careers.
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1- HR AND ATTITUDE
It is rightly said that no one likes to stand by a
person who is pessimist and is negative in every
single thought. The HR personnel, is one such
personality around whom various or I must say a
major part of the organization revolves so a right,
optimistic and enthusiastic attitude is a must. This
positive attitude becomes a spark that sets the
vehicle of life moving in the right direction. The top
notch employers while hiring now look for the right
attitude first, then examine academically how
strong the candidate is.
While facing some interviews, I could clearly make
out that the HR person rarely looks at the degrees
you hold, but they try to find out what kind of
attitude you hold for being a part of the system and
whether you deserve to be given an offer letter or
not. Right vision, conviction and effort compile
towards achieving goals in life. Attitude is clearly
represented by your personality, the way you
communicate and what you represent. All this
somehow requires a passion to do something and a
burning desire to achieve the same.
There come certain situations in our lives, for which
one finds no solutions and that’s where a serene &
calm attitude plays the role rather than getting too
apprehensive and losing control on our own
emotions because ultimately it poses a negative
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impact on our professional and personal lives.
Having the right set of focus & clarity of goals can
be accomplished well if one holds the right attitude
for the same. The HR personnel has a great degree
of responsibility on his or her shoulders which
means that he or she needs to have a good attitude
to fulfill those responsibilities.
I would like to share an instance related to attitude.
When the numbers in sales profile are getting low
each day and one is unable to meet the revenue
targets, and then somehow the attitude of that
person starts getting pessimistic automatically. This
person would be unable to reach the target that
later 3-4 months also wouldn’t be sufficient to save
his job. Now the one who has become a pessimist
will never be able to recognize the flaws in his own
work but would rather blame others for being
unsuccessful. This in turn will de motivate him and
it will make him feel that life is worth for nothing.
But the person who has a bit of optimism will
definitely hold on and give a thought to what the
problem is and what alternate solution can be found
for the same. Also what can be done, so that he
does not lose his job and also be able to sustain is
what an optimist would think. This is how difference
in attitudes can either make or mar one’s life or
take it.
An employer often hunts for the candidate who
holds a very positive attitude towards work so that
he or she may spread a positive aura around. The
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positive attitude acts like a magnet that attracts
everyone towards him and being an HR person
such an individual would be of help to his
employees in keeping them engaged in their work.
So it is like a mantra for imbibing success and
attracting everyone to your charm of optimism. This
helps in making yourself employable throughout
and definitely helps in accomplishing goals.
2- BOOSTING UP YOUR OWN
MORALE
The level of work pressure is so much these days
that in some way or the other it starts hampering
our lives both personally and professionally. This
leads to an irritable behavior which in turn affects
our relationships with our peer groups and loss of
right focus for the job responsibility we hold on our
shoulders. In such a case, it is very essential to get
some positive vibes around yourself so that one
may not lose enthusiasm to move towards ones
goals. Some basic things which can be of help to
us are-
SETTING UP OWN BENCHMARKS-
It is always better to have own goals and mission in
mind rather than looking upon what others are
doing. Comparisons with others and just looking at
what others do sometimes make life dull. It seems
we are worthless when we keep looking at others
for our accomplishments in life. It better to
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understand that, what you expect in life and how
you can achieve the same. The focus should be
very clear regarding that and look at what you have
achieved and what more should be done to
improve performance and have a competitive edge
above others.
SURROUND YOURSELF WITH POSITIVE VIBES-
It is always good to stay away from people with
negative vibes. It is better to have friends who have
diversified backgrounds like achievers, business
owners, singers, authors. Interacting with each one
of them can help you in getting positive vibes even
if it is just a cup of coffee or a phone call. This
pumps up the level of motivation and inspiration,
that itself creates a positive impact on the
employee’s performance. Also its always good to
have a positive rapport with your seniors or bosses
or senior colleagues because they are the people
who have come across the same challenges which
you have faced and somehow their experience can
help you in learning something new every time.
LIVE IN PRESENT-
Stop bothering about what will happen tomorrow
and how things will be the next day? Stop thinking
about the past failures, as they just put us down.
Time once gone can never come back. All we all
can do is to learn from bad experiences and
mistakes rather than taking them on our heads.
Better to have a mentor who can guide and help in
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forming the right approach to problems. Life can
never be a bed of roses, therefore it is better to
learn from mistakes and gauge the present
situation that can allow us to take an informed step
in our future en devours.
DON'T DEVIATE FROM FOCUS-
Running towards something which is not required is
a mistake made by most of us. It’s always better to
give a thought to what we need and then focus on
how to achieve the same as this solves 50% of our
problems. Because once we achieve this level it
reduces the level of stress and helps in choosing
the right path. The presence of this thing can be felt
while achieving targets especially those which are
beyond expected goals. This fact during reviews
helps the people in the company to recognize your
worth and set up new standards and challenges for
you such that you learn something new every
second.
BE CURIOUS-
If one is curious enough to learn at every step and
take new challenges, definitely such an individual
moves faster ahead in his path as compared to the
one who doesn't want to learn and move ahead. So
if you are not tuned to new changes and
developments at work place it means you yourself
are losing opportunities. A change of role always
boosts up the morale and urges one to excel at the
task at hand. It’s important to have a balanced
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approach towards work and never let negative
thoughts come your way as they hamper the
chances of positive growth in life.
3- RESTRAIN THE HIGH ATTRITION
RATES
A very common trend which is seen these days is
that employees resign their jobs very soon and they
say switching in most of the cases is a greed for
higher package or job dissatisfaction which makes
them prone to this attitude of resigning jobs. But
many of us forget the fact that consistency is also
important to have a good career, rather than
jumping from one job to the other. Hence high
attrition rate among newly recruited employees is a
major concern today. It has a negative impact upon
the organization when there is an interface
especially between the employee and the
customers. So the resignation of an employee from
an organization at such a fast pace is definitely the
result of an ineffective selection process.
So the challenge that stands before the HR
employers is to hire competent candidates who can
benefit the organization. So the managers must
know how to recruit right and perhaps do away with
attrition. There can be no guarantee for a right
recruitment but it is possible to minimize the risk of
selection failure. This requires the right set of
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selection procedures and hence evaluation
methods like psychometric tests and assessments
can be helpful in selection as they help in giving
insights about the candidates. However these tools
are expensive and time consuming & are usually
not available with managers when required.
The selection of an employee in an appropriate
manner matters a lot and personal interviews are
the deciding factors for any selection procedure. So
to take good interviews the managers need to have
good interview skills in order to make the right
assessments. The biggest con in interviews is that
managers are unable to make out if the candidate's
profile matches the job requirement or not. So, just
to fill up the position/vacancy sometimes the wrong
candidate is recruited. Such a candidate becomes
unfit for the job and hence it results in his
resignation letter.
Job dissatisfaction levels are so high among
employees these days that even before joining an
organization some of them plan when to leave the
same. Now the main trouble is that no two
individuals are exactly alike and the recruiters are
hardly able to set some parameters for the
judgment of the candidate. This makes every
selection decision similar in kind and hence the lack
of the right candidate for the required position. For
success in any job right competencies are essential
which need to be looked upon while assessing an
individual. Now competencies are not just limited to
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the technical knowledge or knowledge about
subject but much more beyond this. Particularly
competencies could include areas of attitude and
culture fitness and recruiters would need to identify
these features in their candidates.
Proper planning of interview strategies is required.
In this some structured questions must be present
which may help to identify the required qualities for
job. For e.g. asking the candidate a question like -
why sales in some particular area is low or what
can be the potential areas for sale of one particular
product can help in giving insights into the
candidate's problem solving approach. Later
questions like- what steps are required to tap an
untapped market for sale of a newly launched
product can help in understanding the planning
skills of candidate. Such questions and their
respective responses become a guideline to
understand how the candidate reacts to different
situations.
Just like other management decisions this
judgment also plays a very important role in the
selection and the probability of the right and wrong
exists equally in this. The purpose should be to
conduct competency based interviews. The
decisions made on gut feeling kind of a thing
should definitely be ignored as it later leads to
negative consequences for organizations. So to
restrain these high attrition rates it’s essential to
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work upon interview skills and make decisions as
per requirement of job.
4- EMOTIONAL QUOTIENT AND
WORK
It sounds strange but yes in today's competitive
world it’s very important to have an emotional
intelligence that helps in professional and personal
growth of an individual. Now there’s something very
common and faced by all of us these days in the
corporate world and that is- BAD BOSS. This leads
to suffering, complaining and in some cases even
leaving jobs by people. But how many times can we
actually run from this bad boss as this is the same
story every door. So, just because of a bad boss
we cannot keep leaving the jobs. For a moment we
should not forget that the Boss is also a human like
us and also suffers from a mental pressure much
more than us. Now what holds importance here is
Emotional intelligence and how effectively we use
the same in our lives.
By being emotionally intelligent, it means to change
ourselves according to the situations and mold our
behaviors. It helps in dealing positively with any
kind of situation. Emotional quotient sets one apart
as a good leader whom people would love to follow
and learn from. So we being individuals differ from
each other in the ability to understand complex
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ideas, to adapt effectively to the environment, to
learn from experiences, to handle pressure and the
various obstacles that come our way. Here what
counts is how we organize this complex set of
phenomenon.
Success in career which plays an important role in
today’s world is not a child's play to be achieved. It
depends on-
- How much at ease do we feel while handling
frustration at work?
- Can we manage our own emotions well?
- Do we have the ability to manage our social
skills?
Emotions at work can vary ranging from chaotic,
haphazardness, superfluous, incompatible with
reasons, disorganized to the ones resulting from
lack of effective judgment. But then again handling
these emotions in a proper way is equally essential.
Emotional intelligence is not about being nice and
letting our feelings hang out without any purpose. It
is about recognizing our own feelings and those of
others working with us in order to manage and
motivate the emotions creating a positive aura in
the work environment. A good leader is one who
can use emotions to maximize intellectual
processing and decision making at work. It is just
like the art of managing social relationships at work.
Sometimes when we are unable to recognize our
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true feelings and our expectations, it leaves us in a
state of mercy, where in it becomes hard to be
good pilots of our own lives and this directly
impacts our work in terms of ineffective decision
making.
Many people due to work pressure become
Alexithymia which means they lose command of
their emotions and it hampers the entire work
environment. Rather they lose an expression for
emotions. So one cannot deny the fact that
emotional quotient is an extremely important
component of work these days. And moving up the
ladder of success in organizations demands on a
higher emotional intelligence because this is
directly related to social competence. This
influences the level of communication, leadership,
building bonds, collaboration and cooperation at
each level. It has become a prerequisite for work
satisfaction, that needs high levels of self-mastery
and understanding how well you put yourselves in
others shoes and find solutions to the problems.
PROMOTING EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE-
This can be done by numerous ways and some of
them are as follows-
1. Understanding the cause of feelings.
2. Recognizing and naming emotions.
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3. Managing anger through a learned behavior.
4. Understanding the situation clearly and finding
solutions.
5. Using gut feelings while making decisions.
6. Taking time and avoiding haphazardness.
7. Preventing depression with a lot of optimism.
8. Developing listening skills.
So it is always better to develop the learn-able skills
of emotional intelligence which are transformational
and can benefit everyone from tuning up this
intelligence. Adapting to the changing work
scenarios can be well achieved if one has a strong
emotional intelligence level.
5- INVOLUTION BY EMPLOYEES
We often come across the saying that employees
are the assets of an organization as they are the
one who represent the same to the world. But this
makes sense only if an employee understands the
same and engages himself in the work area
contributing to the success of business. So the
questions that come to our mind regarding
Employee Engagement are numerous beginning
with -
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1. What is it?
2. Why does it matter?
3. What drives it?
4. How can you measure it?
5. Is it significant?
This word Engaged Employee puts a great
emphasis on how much a person involves him/ her
into his job. As the person grows older in his
career, it is the level of performance and
understanding of the work which counts most and
becomes a ladder to move high. There are people
who start working from the small rungs of their
organizations but as they engage themselves and
understand each aspect of their work in a good
way, it definitely helps them in taking more
responsibilities and getting more involved in their
work.
The employees who are engaged are not just
committed or just passionate but have an insight on
their own future and on the organization’s missions
and goals. They are enthused enough to use their
talent and arbitrary effort in creating a difference for
their organization in terms of business success.
Such employees are aware of the business context
and gel well with the other people in the
organization to improve the performance and
increase the level of output delivered each time.
Rather, an important aspect to understand is that it
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is a two way relationship between the employee
and the employer.
Employee Engagement - is directly related to
affective commitment because an employee's
positive attachment and commitment to work
identifies with the goals of organization and attrition
rates from such employees are really less. In this
way such employees become assets for their
organization. So this term is like a broad agreement
which stands for some basics like-
- Positive attitude and pride towards organization.
- Belief in the organization’s products and services.
- wish to work collaboratively and be a good team
player.
- Willingness to give their best services.
- Understanding business clearly.
Higher the Employee Engagement better is its
contribution to business performance in terms of
high income growth, higher operating income and
more earnings per share. So, such employees are
obviously more innovative and committed to
customer satisfaction. Now for this kind of attitude,
some driving factors are there, which are as
follows-
Organizational commitment: The psychological
attachment of an employee to an organization.
80. P a g e | 80
Service commitment: The shared ethos of
understanding and meeting customer needs.
Work & career commitment: The kind of
importance an employee gives to work and
understanding in terms of how it will help in career
growth.
Job satisfaction: The impact work creates on the
mind of an employee and whether it gives him
satisfaction or not.
So, higher the engagement of employees in an
organization much higher would be the levels of
productivity and performance. The organizations
like TCS, DELL, IBM, etc have such high levels of
commitment and engagement towards work which
in itself contributes to the high turnover ratios. This
is just like a recipe for success which always works
on the principle of thinking fresh and delivering
more. For e.g. - Airtel always think fresh and use
innovative ways to meet their customer needs.
They deliver what they promise.
6- PAY FOR PERFORMANCE
When it comes to salaries and the various benefits
which are given to top employees, often we talk
about the payroll system of Organizations. Payroll