Virtual Workforce, the latest boon of the technology and globalization, has questioned the very nature of employer employee relationship structure across the world. The concept of virtual workforce is fast welcome by a section of employers and working people in many countries.
An organization’s workforce is said to be virtual when its employees are geographically dispersed, or operating through the differences of time, place and organisational boundaries. In simplified terms, the members of the virtual workforce work from places distant from their offices (their homes, office branches in different states or even different countries) and collaborate effectively even after not being in physical contact with each other.
The emergence of multinational companies, new and flat organisational structures have fuelled the growth of global and virtual workforce, and the changed the very nature of the employer-employee and business relationships. We attempt to look at all the issues related to the concept of virtual workforces in organisations.
Advantages of having virtual workforce;Virtual workforce is proving to be a blessing in disguise for the employees as well as the organisations.
Employees can work from anywhere. Anytime!Technology enabled virtual workforce has helped the organisations to resolve and reduce various HR problems by enabling the employees (especially the working women and the new mothers) to take benefit of the flexible working hours. Now the employees can work from their homes and other locations at their convenience.
Facilitates hiring the best talent irrespective of the location;
Virtual workforce has opened the doors of attracting best talent from anywhere in the world (i.e. eliminating the limitation of distance and the physical separation).
Time and cost savings;One of the most significant benefits to the organisations and the employees is the cost and the time savings resulting from less commutation. Many organisations have admitted of registering reduction in the employee absenteeism. Most importantly, virtual workforce in different countries or locations helps an organisation to compete in the global industry and strengthen its position.
The role of technology;It is only because of technology that the concept of virtual workforce came to existence and also became successful. Technology supports virtual workforce through the hardwares and softwares like mobile phones, laptops, modems, wireless communication links like LAN, WAN etc. the software include the e-mails, remote access softwares, video and tele-conferencing technologies etc.
Technology provides the connecting links to the virtual workforce. Technological tools like video-conferencing enable people to see and talk to each other being spread at different places around the world at a given point of time. It would be apt to say that technology provides and creates the virtual infrastructure and facilities for the virtual workforce.
Issues in virtual workforce;Where the virtual workforce is a blessing for all, the baggage also contains some serious issues to be dealt with, in order to successfully integrate and manage the concept with the organisation and achieve its objectives successfully. When the employees are not physically present at the office every day, one of the issues that crops up is of trust. Away from the management scrutiny and monitoring, and with the management having no control over the working hours and daily monitoring of employees, there is a need on the part of both the employer and the employee to have faith in and trust each other.
Miscommunication problems;In absence of the physical contact and face-to-face interaction, miscommunication is bound to occur. Due to people present in different parts of the world, bringing them together virtually at the same time and the difficulty in contacting each other due to any reason like technological faults, communication gap can creep in.
Managing virtual workforce;The virtual workforce can be dispersed across the country or even to the different continents. The biggest challenge of having virtual workforce is to engage, integrate and manage them in alignment to the organisational goals and objectives. Being away from the organisation, peers and the organisational environment can make the employees feel isolated or not –valued by the organisation. The employees miss the happenings or events in the organisation. Miscommunication problems also arise in the virtual workforce.
The organisation needs to have a complete system or structure in place to effectively manage the virtual workforce which should have the following components;
Training for the managers to mange the virtual workforce effectively and efficiently.
Technology should be put to its best possible use in managing the virtual workforce.
Incorporating trust in the employees and the organisation.
Ensuring proper communication between the organisation and the team.
Conclusion;Virtual workforce has become an integral and inseparable part of the corporate world today. It is a blessing for the organisation and the employees, but only if the organisation handles and manages the issue effectively and efficiently. Stating the expectations clearly to the employees, maintaining constant contact, proper communication channels, periodic meetings are few ways to handle the issue effectively and make it a success.
Thanks!
Showing posts with label HR. Show all posts
Showing posts with label HR. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
How To Building an Employer Brand
In today's present job markets, where companies compete for attracting the best of the talent, employer brand, sometimes, becomes more relevant when compared to various critical factors like job profile and the compensation package.
Employer brand is the image of an organization as a great place to work in the minds of its current employees and key stakeholders. It is the development of such an organizational culture which fosters a sense of belongingness with the company and encourages the employees to share organization's goals for success. In short, it is the value of the company in external marketplace. The goal of employer branding is to create loyal customers; the customers here being the employees.
An employer brand represents the core values of an organization. Companies that are considered good employers have a strong identity and an image in the marketplace. Building such a brand requires a lot of introspection by the company, and answering the questions, "what kind of company we are, and want to become?" and "how do we live up to the expectations of our stakeholders?".
What makes an employer a brand? Simon Barrow, who is president of a successful consulting firm in London that specializes in employer branding services describes four elements that work together to make an employer brand. The first element is the Employment Package which is the offer that an employee gets including job responsibilities, financial compensation, work/life balance, the employee's role in organization and professional development. Next comes the Culture and Environment which includes the physical working environment, the size of the organization, and the organization's approach to work. Then there is Integrity. Delivering what has been initially committed always counts. The consequence of a lack of integrity is seen in the form of high attrition rates. And finally Management Performance that plays as a vital role in the Employer Branding process.
Building a brand is typically a twofold process. One is for prospective employees and the other for the current set of employees. While building brand for prospective employees, initiatives are targeted at building a repute in potential recruits about the company as a preferred place to work. On the other hand, while building brand internally, the company has to live up to its standards and incorporate a culture of respect and trust for employees.
Growing Significance;It is said that an unsatisfied customer tells ten people about his experience while an unsatisfied employee tells a hundred. Employer branding reflects the work culture in an organization. It has become more critical in today's times, as most professionals are looking at a stable career and establishing a long-term relationship with the company. Research shows that employees of industrial brands feel a much greater sense of pride, attachment and trust towards their employer. They are also significantly more likely to recommend their company to others and claim it treats employees well. Through right branding, the company can recruit the best talent and reinforce its positioning amongst its employees. It helps build trust and reliability. A good employer brand makes it easy to attract good talent and curb attrition. The strength of an organization's brand has a significant impact on the performance of its employees. Working with one of the largest or most innovative companies in a specific industry acts as a motivator too.
But as one moves higher in his career, brand name becomes of little significance as job role takes over. Brand name is the most important factor but at entry level only. When one is a fresher and embarks on one's career, the brand of a company matters. It helps in reflecting a stronger resume. With career growth, one places importance on things that are more meaningful to one's sense of purpose. According to experts, for employees who have spent three-four years in the industry, brand is high on the list. It is easier to sell the company if it is a reputed brand. For those who have spent five years in any industry, it's the job role that's important and for those with 10 year behind them, the job role becomes the most critical factor.
It is also being argued that in most cases, companies treat employer branding as a mere short-cut for attracting the talent. Instead of self-analysis, the HR departments tie up with ad agencies to conjure up an image that may be attractive to their target market, even if not their own. While some argue that organizations like Google with strong employer brand hardly spend money in building the brand; instead they focus on living the brand. Shaken, for example, has a stated 'People First' policy to emphasize that employees are the focus. Fedex has a core philosophy of 'people - service - profit' to indicate what comes first. Some organisations does not get tired of repeating the founder's belief "Take care of the associates, and they'll take good care of the guests, and the guests will come back." These organizations reveal a high degree of trust in the management of the organization. Managements must understand that the core value offering of the organization is to engage employees towards being productive and responsive to customers. In the end, it is believed that if the company takes care of people, people will take care of the company.
Thanks!
Employer brand is the image of an organization as a great place to work in the minds of its current employees and key stakeholders. It is the development of such an organizational culture which fosters a sense of belongingness with the company and encourages the employees to share organization's goals for success. In short, it is the value of the company in external marketplace. The goal of employer branding is to create loyal customers; the customers here being the employees.
An employer brand represents the core values of an organization. Companies that are considered good employers have a strong identity and an image in the marketplace. Building such a brand requires a lot of introspection by the company, and answering the questions, "what kind of company we are, and want to become?" and "how do we live up to the expectations of our stakeholders?".
What makes an employer a brand? Simon Barrow, who is president of a successful consulting firm in London that specializes in employer branding services describes four elements that work together to make an employer brand. The first element is the Employment Package which is the offer that an employee gets including job responsibilities, financial compensation, work/life balance, the employee's role in organization and professional development. Next comes the Culture and Environment which includes the physical working environment, the size of the organization, and the organization's approach to work. Then there is Integrity. Delivering what has been initially committed always counts. The consequence of a lack of integrity is seen in the form of high attrition rates. And finally Management Performance that plays as a vital role in the Employer Branding process.
Building a brand is typically a twofold process. One is for prospective employees and the other for the current set of employees. While building brand for prospective employees, initiatives are targeted at building a repute in potential recruits about the company as a preferred place to work. On the other hand, while building brand internally, the company has to live up to its standards and incorporate a culture of respect and trust for employees.
Growing Significance;It is said that an unsatisfied customer tells ten people about his experience while an unsatisfied employee tells a hundred. Employer branding reflects the work culture in an organization. It has become more critical in today's times, as most professionals are looking at a stable career and establishing a long-term relationship with the company. Research shows that employees of industrial brands feel a much greater sense of pride, attachment and trust towards their employer. They are also significantly more likely to recommend their company to others and claim it treats employees well. Through right branding, the company can recruit the best talent and reinforce its positioning amongst its employees. It helps build trust and reliability. A good employer brand makes it easy to attract good talent and curb attrition. The strength of an organization's brand has a significant impact on the performance of its employees. Working with one of the largest or most innovative companies in a specific industry acts as a motivator too.
But as one moves higher in his career, brand name becomes of little significance as job role takes over. Brand name is the most important factor but at entry level only. When one is a fresher and embarks on one's career, the brand of a company matters. It helps in reflecting a stronger resume. With career growth, one places importance on things that are more meaningful to one's sense of purpose. According to experts, for employees who have spent three-four years in the industry, brand is high on the list. It is easier to sell the company if it is a reputed brand. For those who have spent five years in any industry, it's the job role that's important and for those with 10 year behind them, the job role becomes the most critical factor.
It is also being argued that in most cases, companies treat employer branding as a mere short-cut for attracting the talent. Instead of self-analysis, the HR departments tie up with ad agencies to conjure up an image that may be attractive to their target market, even if not their own. While some argue that organizations like Google with strong employer brand hardly spend money in building the brand; instead they focus on living the brand. Shaken, for example, has a stated 'People First' policy to emphasize that employees are the focus. Fedex has a core philosophy of 'people - service - profit' to indicate what comes first. Some organisations does not get tired of repeating the founder's belief "Take care of the associates, and they'll take good care of the guests, and the guests will come back." These organizations reveal a high degree of trust in the management of the organization. Managements must understand that the core value offering of the organization is to engage employees towards being productive and responsive to customers. In the end, it is believed that if the company takes care of people, people will take care of the company.
Thanks!
Monday, March 2, 2009
Is It Important To Counsel Employee At Workplace?
In these days of world economic meltdown,the latest trend catching up in the corporate Human Resource across the world is that how It's Important To Counsel Employee At Workplace rather is there any need to ?. In the world of ever increasing complexity and the stress in the lives, especially the workplaces of the employees, employee counselling has emerged as the latest HR tool to attract and retain its best employees and also to increase the quality of the workforce.
In today's fast-paced corporate world, there is virtually no organisation free of stress or stress-free employees. The employees can be stressed, depressed, suffering from too much anxiety arising out of various workplace related issues like managing deadlines, meeting targets, lack of time to fulfill personal and family commitments, or bereaved and disturbed due to some personal problem etc.
Organisations have realized the importance of having a stress-free yet motivated and capable workforce. Therefore, many companies have integrated the counseling services in their organisations and making it a part of their culture. Organisations are offering the service of employee counselling to its employees.
What is Employee Counselling?Employee counselling can be explained as providing help and support to the employees to face and sail through the difficult times in life. At many points of time in life or career people come across some problems either in their work or personal life when it starts influencing and affecting their performance and, increasing the stress levels of the individual. Counselling is guiding, consoling, advising and sharing and helping to resolve their problems whenever the need arises.
Technically, Psychological Counselling, a form of counselling is used by the experts to analyze the work related performance and behaviour of the employees to help them cope with it, resolve the conflicts and tribulations and re-enforce the desired results.
Ingredients of counselling:Counselling of staff is becoming an essential function of the managers. The organisation can either take the help of experienced employees or expert, professional counselor to take up the counselling activities. Increasing complexities in the lives of the employees need to address various aspects like:
a).Performance counselling: Ideally, the need for employee counselling arises when the employee shows signs of declining performance, being stressed in office-hours, bad decision-making etc. In such situations, counselling is one of the best ways to deal with them. It should cover all the aspects related to the employee performance like the targets, employee's responsibilities, problems faced, employee aspirations, inter-personal relationships at the workplace, e.t.c.
b).Personal and Family Wellbeing: Families and friends are an important and inseparable part of the employee's life. Many a times, employees carry the baggage of personal problems to their workplaces, which in turn affects their performance adversely. Therefore, the counselor needs to strike a comfort level with the employees and, counselling sessions involving their families can help to resolve their problems and getting them back to work- all fresh and enthusiastic.
c).Other Problems : Other problems can range from work-life balance to health problems. Counselling helps to identify the problem and help him / her to deal with the situation in a better way.
Need of counselling at workplace;Apart from their personal problems, there are various reasons which can create stress for the employees at the workplace like unrealistic targets or work-load, constant pressure to meet the deadlines, career problems, responsibility and accountability, conflicts or bad inter-personal relations with superiors and subordinates, problems in adjusting to the organizational culture. Counselling helps the employee to share and look at his problems from a new perspective, help himself and to face and deal with the problems in a better way. Counselling at workplace is a way of the organisation to care about its employees.
Hurdles faced for counseling at workplace;The biggest bottleneck in employee counselling at the workplace is the lack of trust on the employee's part to believe in the organisation or his superior to share and understand his problems. Also, the confidentiality that the counselor won't disclose his personal problems or issues to others in the organisation. Time, effort and resources required on the part of the organisation are a constraint.
Benefits of counselling
# Helping the individual to understand and help himself
# Understand the situations and look at them with a new perspective and positive outlook
# Helping in better decision making
# Alternate solutions to problems
# Coping with the situation and the stress
Basic requisites of employee counselling :
$ Employee Counselling needs to be tackled carefully, both on the part of the organisation and the counselor. The counselling can turn into a sensitive series of events for the employee and the organisation; therefore, the counselor should be either a professional or an experienced, mature employee.
$ The counselor should be flexible in his approach and a patient listener. He should have the warmth required to win the trust of the employee so that he can share his thoughts and problems with him without any inhibitions.
$ Active and effective listening is one of the most important aspects of the employee counselling.
$ Time should not be a constraint in the process.
$ The counselor should be able to identify the problem and offer concrete advice.
$ The counselor should be able to help the employee to boost the morale and spirit of the employee, create a positive outlook and help him take decisions to deal with the problem.
Conclusion:Counselling can go a long way in helping the employees to have better control over their lives, take their decisions wisely and better charge of their responsibilities, reduce the level of stress and anxiety. Counselling of employees can have desirable consequences for the organisation. It helps the organisation when the employees know that the organization cares for them, and build a sense of commitment with it. It can prove to be of significant help to modify the behaviour of the employees and more so to re-enforce the desired behaviour and improve and increase the employee productivity in any organisation.
Thanks!
In today's fast-paced corporate world, there is virtually no organisation free of stress or stress-free employees. The employees can be stressed, depressed, suffering from too much anxiety arising out of various workplace related issues like managing deadlines, meeting targets, lack of time to fulfill personal and family commitments, or bereaved and disturbed due to some personal problem etc.
Organisations have realized the importance of having a stress-free yet motivated and capable workforce. Therefore, many companies have integrated the counseling services in their organisations and making it a part of their culture. Organisations are offering the service of employee counselling to its employees.
What is Employee Counselling?Employee counselling can be explained as providing help and support to the employees to face and sail through the difficult times in life. At many points of time in life or career people come across some problems either in their work or personal life when it starts influencing and affecting their performance and, increasing the stress levels of the individual. Counselling is guiding, consoling, advising and sharing and helping to resolve their problems whenever the need arises.
Technically, Psychological Counselling, a form of counselling is used by the experts to analyze the work related performance and behaviour of the employees to help them cope with it, resolve the conflicts and tribulations and re-enforce the desired results.
Ingredients of counselling:Counselling of staff is becoming an essential function of the managers. The organisation can either take the help of experienced employees or expert, professional counselor to take up the counselling activities. Increasing complexities in the lives of the employees need to address various aspects like:
a).Performance counselling: Ideally, the need for employee counselling arises when the employee shows signs of declining performance, being stressed in office-hours, bad decision-making etc. In such situations, counselling is one of the best ways to deal with them. It should cover all the aspects related to the employee performance like the targets, employee's responsibilities, problems faced, employee aspirations, inter-personal relationships at the workplace, e.t.c.
b).Personal and Family Wellbeing: Families and friends are an important and inseparable part of the employee's life. Many a times, employees carry the baggage of personal problems to their workplaces, which in turn affects their performance adversely. Therefore, the counselor needs to strike a comfort level with the employees and, counselling sessions involving their families can help to resolve their problems and getting them back to work- all fresh and enthusiastic.
c).Other Problems : Other problems can range from work-life balance to health problems. Counselling helps to identify the problem and help him / her to deal with the situation in a better way.
Need of counselling at workplace;Apart from their personal problems, there are various reasons which can create stress for the employees at the workplace like unrealistic targets or work-load, constant pressure to meet the deadlines, career problems, responsibility and accountability, conflicts or bad inter-personal relations with superiors and subordinates, problems in adjusting to the organizational culture. Counselling helps the employee to share and look at his problems from a new perspective, help himself and to face and deal with the problems in a better way. Counselling at workplace is a way of the organisation to care about its employees.
Hurdles faced for counseling at workplace;The biggest bottleneck in employee counselling at the workplace is the lack of trust on the employee's part to believe in the organisation or his superior to share and understand his problems. Also, the confidentiality that the counselor won't disclose his personal problems or issues to others in the organisation. Time, effort and resources required on the part of the organisation are a constraint.
Benefits of counselling
# Helping the individual to understand and help himself
# Understand the situations and look at them with a new perspective and positive outlook
# Helping in better decision making
# Alternate solutions to problems
# Coping with the situation and the stress
Basic requisites of employee counselling :
$ Employee Counselling needs to be tackled carefully, both on the part of the organisation and the counselor. The counselling can turn into a sensitive series of events for the employee and the organisation; therefore, the counselor should be either a professional or an experienced, mature employee.
$ The counselor should be flexible in his approach and a patient listener. He should have the warmth required to win the trust of the employee so that he can share his thoughts and problems with him without any inhibitions.
$ Active and effective listening is one of the most important aspects of the employee counselling.
$ Time should not be a constraint in the process.
$ The counselor should be able to identify the problem and offer concrete advice.
$ The counselor should be able to help the employee to boost the morale and spirit of the employee, create a positive outlook and help him take decisions to deal with the problem.
Conclusion:Counselling can go a long way in helping the employees to have better control over their lives, take their decisions wisely and better charge of their responsibilities, reduce the level of stress and anxiety. Counselling of employees can have desirable consequences for the organisation. It helps the organisation when the employees know that the organization cares for them, and build a sense of commitment with it. It can prove to be of significant help to modify the behaviour of the employees and more so to re-enforce the desired behaviour and improve and increase the employee productivity in any organisation.
Thanks!
Thursday, February 26, 2009
The Cost Of Employee Fraud
Goldenberg scandal ,Anglo-Leasing scandal the name immediately brings back the memories of the most popular scam of Kenya. The fraud cost 5.5 billion to the 10 major commercial banks of Kenya. An employee fraud is not a new concept or term for Kenya. The annual survey by KPMG (a leading management consultant) has provided many interesting insights to the recent scenario concerning employee frauds. The sample of the survey covered more than 1000 public and private organisations in Kenya. According to the survey, 47 percent of the frauds in the organisations have been done by either the employees or the senior executives with a decision making authority.
Types of frauds:The most common fraud reported by the organisations is the magnified or the inflated expense account by the employees. In these types of fraud, the expenses incurred by the employees are exaggerated and false invoices are submitted to the organisation for re-imbursement. Such frauds account for almost 50 per cent of the total losses incurred by the organisations because of employee frauds.
Other types of frauds faced by the organisations are:
• Keeping a secret share of commissions from suppliers for self
• Counterfeiting or faking the company cheques
• Purchase of goods for personal use on company expense
• Manipulating customer’s accounts
• Using official information for personal benefits
• Forging financial statements
• Misappropriation of other company resources
• Corporate espionage
Frauds related to manipulating and misusing the power to access the confidential information about the customers and the organisation and theft of data were also found to be more common than the rest.
Dimensions of frauds;Any or every employee/ executive fraud, has the following magnitude or dimensions:
• The human dimension - There is always a human mind behind every executive fraud. It has been found to be of an internal employee or management in 90 per cent of the cases. Employees use their power and intelligence for corporate espionage.
• The technology dimension - Technology has emerged as a very important dimension to the employee frauds. New technologies have given way to unethical practices like hacking etc. On one hand, where the information technology can be effectively used to check frauds, it can and is giving opportunities and assistance to the people in planning and executing frauds.
• The legal dimension – The last dimension is the legal dimension that the legal framework and the institutional system regarding the frauds. It also includes organizational practices and policies regarding frauds.
Detection of frauds;According to the survey report of KPMG, a majority of the frauds were exposed by internal controls or check measures. Whistle-blowers or, many a times, anonymous notifications received also help to detect frauds. What follows the detection is the investigation by the management of the organisation , a review of the entire situation, followed by actions like firing the concerned employee, formal police investigation, and sometimes – letting the employee resign.
The study by KPMG also sights the fact that most of the Kenyan organisations are unprepared to detect, handle or deal with fraud. Also, shocking was the fact that as much as 77 per cent of the respondents do not even conduct or has fraud diagnostic review systems in their organisations; nor do 84 per cent of the respondents have a written fraud policy. Assured of their security and internal control systems, 52 percent of the respondents (corporate heads) did not consider frauds as a threat or major problem.
Scenario in Kenyan sectors;The percentage of risk from corporate espionage of the information communication and entertainment sectors, and financial sector of Kenya (including all the financial service providers) is as high as 84 and 81 per cent respectively. But the sector which is facing the frequent brunt of the problem is the emerging BPO sector in Kenya. Cases of frauds in BPO sector, employees using the customer’s confidential information, manipulation in accounts are getting common. The reasons being quoted for the increasing number of frauds are:
• Weakening of society's values,
• The growing economic pressures,
• More sophisticated technologies to assist criminals
• Urbane and intelligent criminals and
• Inadequate punishment for those who are caught
Solutions;The first and the foremost solution to the problem are the reference checks and affirming the employee details of the employees before their confirmation in an organisation. To reduce the possibilities of frauds, it is advisable to design and incorporate the fraud diagnostic systems in the organisations creating internal detection systems. Also, regular periodic rotation of the staff can help reduce the possibilities of the employee frauds.
It is also being planned to create a common database for an industry vertical by all organisations of all employees who have been identified and have been proved as fraudsters in the past. This would help the other companies to check for them before hiring them for their organisation.
Thanks!
Types of frauds:The most common fraud reported by the organisations is the magnified or the inflated expense account by the employees. In these types of fraud, the expenses incurred by the employees are exaggerated and false invoices are submitted to the organisation for re-imbursement. Such frauds account for almost 50 per cent of the total losses incurred by the organisations because of employee frauds.
Other types of frauds faced by the organisations are:
• Keeping a secret share of commissions from suppliers for self
• Counterfeiting or faking the company cheques
• Purchase of goods for personal use on company expense
• Manipulating customer’s accounts
• Using official information for personal benefits
• Forging financial statements
• Misappropriation of other company resources
• Corporate espionage
Frauds related to manipulating and misusing the power to access the confidential information about the customers and the organisation and theft of data were also found to be more common than the rest.
Dimensions of frauds;Any or every employee/ executive fraud, has the following magnitude or dimensions:
• The human dimension - There is always a human mind behind every executive fraud. It has been found to be of an internal employee or management in 90 per cent of the cases. Employees use their power and intelligence for corporate espionage.
• The technology dimension - Technology has emerged as a very important dimension to the employee frauds. New technologies have given way to unethical practices like hacking etc. On one hand, where the information technology can be effectively used to check frauds, it can and is giving opportunities and assistance to the people in planning and executing frauds.
• The legal dimension – The last dimension is the legal dimension that the legal framework and the institutional system regarding the frauds. It also includes organizational practices and policies regarding frauds.
Detection of frauds;According to the survey report of KPMG, a majority of the frauds were exposed by internal controls or check measures. Whistle-blowers or, many a times, anonymous notifications received also help to detect frauds. What follows the detection is the investigation by the management of the organisation , a review of the entire situation, followed by actions like firing the concerned employee, formal police investigation, and sometimes – letting the employee resign.
The study by KPMG also sights the fact that most of the Kenyan organisations are unprepared to detect, handle or deal with fraud. Also, shocking was the fact that as much as 77 per cent of the respondents do not even conduct or has fraud diagnostic review systems in their organisations; nor do 84 per cent of the respondents have a written fraud policy. Assured of their security and internal control systems, 52 percent of the respondents (corporate heads) did not consider frauds as a threat or major problem.
Scenario in Kenyan sectors;The percentage of risk from corporate espionage of the information communication and entertainment sectors, and financial sector of Kenya (including all the financial service providers) is as high as 84 and 81 per cent respectively. But the sector which is facing the frequent brunt of the problem is the emerging BPO sector in Kenya. Cases of frauds in BPO sector, employees using the customer’s confidential information, manipulation in accounts are getting common. The reasons being quoted for the increasing number of frauds are:
• Weakening of society's values,
• The growing economic pressures,
• More sophisticated technologies to assist criminals
• Urbane and intelligent criminals and
• Inadequate punishment for those who are caught
Solutions;The first and the foremost solution to the problem are the reference checks and affirming the employee details of the employees before their confirmation in an organisation. To reduce the possibilities of frauds, it is advisable to design and incorporate the fraud diagnostic systems in the organisations creating internal detection systems. Also, regular periodic rotation of the staff can help reduce the possibilities of the employee frauds.
It is also being planned to create a common database for an industry vertical by all organisations of all employees who have been identified and have been proved as fraudsters in the past. This would help the other companies to check for them before hiring them for their organisation.
Thanks!
How Work And Play Are Human Resources' Initiatives?
What does this worlds means to you?Work Hard, Play Harder!Imagine a workplace, an environment with no interaction or concern between the employees, no laughter, no jokes with only hectic monotonous work; and a workplace having friendly environment with an embedded tinge of fun and laughter. Which would you prefer and enjoy working in??
Just as the above mentioned environments, 'work' and 'play' are complete opposites. But when combined, they can be of crucial importance in the success of the organisation. The results of various researches conducted throughout the world have proved the fact that "Happy workers are productive workers". A strained, tedious and boring corporate culture and work environment is the common de-motivating factor for the employees in an organisation. Having fun while being at work enables an employee to enjoy his work and even make that extra effort or even stretch himself for his job. Working in a relaxed environment, adding the fun element to the work atmosphere helps makes the job a pleasure for the employees. A right corporate culture conduces the full potential of the employees. Initiatives like celebrating the success of the projects of teams (even on a small scale) can help improve team spirit and synergy in the organisation.
The dynamic and vibrant work environment helps create a feel-good factor within the organisation and a positive and cohesive attitude amongst the employees. It also acts as a great booster of employee morale, a stress buster, a change in the monotonous work schedule. Work & play organisation culture also plays an important role in the retention process of the organisations. In many cases it has been proved that the retention rates of the organisations with the same culture have better retention rates than other organisations. HR initiatives of creating such environment show the people that the organisation cares for them.
Realizing the value and advantages of fun at workplace, the HR professionals are taking special measures to incorporate the same in their organizational cultures. Some of such Hr initiatives are:
#.Arranging meetings over lunch & dinner which fosters the communication between the employees and the management.
#.Celebrating the major festivals
#.Arranging sports facilities within the organisation and sports events regularly.
#.Conducting events where the families of the employees can also participate.
#.Giving paid vacations to employees (yearly or on successful completion of projects)
Such initiatives provide a platform to understand, imbibe and integrate with the organisation and the organizational culture. Also, binding the employees to the core values and ethics of the organisation.
Such "Work and Play" organisational culture is also known as HEDONISM culture. It is the work culture marked by periodic celebrations, parties and fun being a part of the overall workplace culture. Hedonism emphasizes on enjoying the work and providing a relaxed environment to work.
Arguments against the work & play culture;Many researchers, professionals and employees oppose such culture at the workplace. They argue that such people lack the commitment and seriousness towards their work. Unfortunately, many see such fun to be a waste of time. Contrary to the belief that happy workers are productive workers, many people argue that fun leads to a decline in the productivity.
This argument has already been proved wrong by various researches conducted on the same subject. A humorless or an environment devoid of fun may build frustration and stress in the employees (also affecting their personal live in some cases). It can create communication gaps in the employees and the management, and making the change management difficult.
Many organisations are already reaping the benefits of this culture. For example: Southwest Airlines has the motto - "Take yourself lightly and take your job and your responsibilities seriously. By adopting this motto, you may soon discover that life's burdens and anxieties are lighter-sometimes even lighter than air.." and motivate the employees to .Think funny; $ Adopt a playful attitude;$ Be the first to laugh; $ Laugh with, not at;$ Laugh at yourself; $ Take work seriously, but not yourself
In the recent survey to find - Great Places to Work in Kenya - the opinion of employees regarding the work and play culture, the fun element in the atmosphere was a vital point under consideration in deciding the results. The only constraint to the whole situation is that it is not always appropriate to take everything lightly. There are times when fun is not appropriate.
As long as deadlines are met, targets are achieved, projects are successful and the results are leading to the achievement of the organizational goals, celebrating success and having fun at work is not wrong. Such culture promotes optimism, organizational values, team building and motivate employees to bring out the best in themselves. That is why, many organisations are taking fun seriously!
Thanks!
Just as the above mentioned environments, 'work' and 'play' are complete opposites. But when combined, they can be of crucial importance in the success of the organisation. The results of various researches conducted throughout the world have proved the fact that "Happy workers are productive workers". A strained, tedious and boring corporate culture and work environment is the common de-motivating factor for the employees in an organisation. Having fun while being at work enables an employee to enjoy his work and even make that extra effort or even stretch himself for his job. Working in a relaxed environment, adding the fun element to the work atmosphere helps makes the job a pleasure for the employees. A right corporate culture conduces the full potential of the employees. Initiatives like celebrating the success of the projects of teams (even on a small scale) can help improve team spirit and synergy in the organisation.
The dynamic and vibrant work environment helps create a feel-good factor within the organisation and a positive and cohesive attitude amongst the employees. It also acts as a great booster of employee morale, a stress buster, a change in the monotonous work schedule. Work & play organisation culture also plays an important role in the retention process of the organisations. In many cases it has been proved that the retention rates of the organisations with the same culture have better retention rates than other organisations. HR initiatives of creating such environment show the people that the organisation cares for them.
Realizing the value and advantages of fun at workplace, the HR professionals are taking special measures to incorporate the same in their organizational cultures. Some of such Hr initiatives are:
#.Arranging meetings over lunch & dinner which fosters the communication between the employees and the management.
#.Celebrating the major festivals
#.Arranging sports facilities within the organisation and sports events regularly.
#.Conducting events where the families of the employees can also participate.
#.Giving paid vacations to employees (yearly or on successful completion of projects)
Such initiatives provide a platform to understand, imbibe and integrate with the organisation and the organizational culture. Also, binding the employees to the core values and ethics of the organisation.
Such "Work and Play" organisational culture is also known as HEDONISM culture. It is the work culture marked by periodic celebrations, parties and fun being a part of the overall workplace culture. Hedonism emphasizes on enjoying the work and providing a relaxed environment to work.
Arguments against the work & play culture;Many researchers, professionals and employees oppose such culture at the workplace. They argue that such people lack the commitment and seriousness towards their work. Unfortunately, many see such fun to be a waste of time. Contrary to the belief that happy workers are productive workers, many people argue that fun leads to a decline in the productivity.
This argument has already been proved wrong by various researches conducted on the same subject. A humorless or an environment devoid of fun may build frustration and stress in the employees (also affecting their personal live in some cases). It can create communication gaps in the employees and the management, and making the change management difficult.
Many organisations are already reaping the benefits of this culture. For example: Southwest Airlines has the motto - "Take yourself lightly and take your job and your responsibilities seriously. By adopting this motto, you may soon discover that life's burdens and anxieties are lighter-sometimes even lighter than air.." and motivate the employees to .Think funny; $ Adopt a playful attitude;$ Be the first to laugh; $ Laugh with, not at;$ Laugh at yourself; $ Take work seriously, but not yourself
In the recent survey to find - Great Places to Work in Kenya - the opinion of employees regarding the work and play culture, the fun element in the atmosphere was a vital point under consideration in deciding the results. The only constraint to the whole situation is that it is not always appropriate to take everything lightly. There are times when fun is not appropriate.
As long as deadlines are met, targets are achieved, projects are successful and the results are leading to the achievement of the organizational goals, celebrating success and having fun at work is not wrong. Such culture promotes optimism, organizational values, team building and motivate employees to bring out the best in themselves. That is why, many organisations are taking fun seriously!
Thanks!
Why Cooporates Choose Temporary Staffing?
The face of HR fraternity in Kenya is undergoing sea level changes with upcoming trends like e-recruitments, outsourcing HR functions, and the like. Now the next big thing - Temporary Staffing is gaining acceptance across industries. Few months back the job market was overflowed with people who were labeled as leftover guys who could not find a permanent job for themselves. But that is passe now. Companies are recruiting employees on temporary basis mainly for a particular project, paying them off and then letting them go as soon as the project is over.
What is Temping? Temping is the process of hiring temporary workers or, as they are called - Temps, for a shorter duration of time for a particular project and remain in the company till the project lasts.
The temps work for one Client Company while being on rolls of a third party. A temp is contract worker who is being hired for a short time, typically till a project lasts. The contract ranges from a period of 2 months to 15 months. These temps are made available by the employee leasing firms like Team Lease. Such companies provide a wide range of temporary staffing solutions including temporary-to-permanent services where in the company hires an employee for trial basis and absorbs him within the company on the basis on his performance; and long-term contracts where temps are hired for a longer period of time which may last up to two years.
The non core functions like sales, front office, customer support, finance, back end operations and administration demand more temps. The reason seems to be quite obvious - companies focus on their core functions to sustain the cut throat competition, while they outsource their non core functions.
So how often do these temporary workers turn into permanent employees? Though, earlier, the chance of being absorbed by the company was almost negligible, the trend is gaining pace as the demand for skilled workforce is increasing. The conversion rate has grown up to 25 to 35 percent form four percent.
Why Temping;Temping started off with MNC's hiring contract workers. It comes with a packet of benefits for the organizations as well as for the employees. Organizations enjoy the benefit of workforce flexibility and ease of recruitments and quick replacements. Temping also saves training costs as leasing companies direct skilled and experienced workers to the companies. Moreover, non productive employees can be chucked out without many complications. By outsourcing non core functions, the company deeply focuses on its core functions only. The companies also get more work done from temporary workers and also escape for paying them perks and incentives.
From employee's point of view, temping helps an employee to acquire different skills and upgrade basic skills by working in different setups. Employees acquire multiple skills to remain employable is competitive job markets. Temping even offers tempting career opportunities to housewives, retired personnel, people with defense backgrounds, freelancers and freshers. Temps who work for big brands also boast about the same in their resumes, thus, giving them an advantage over others.
These are some flip sides of temping too. Job insecurity always acts as a demotivator for others candidates. The temps hardly get any perks and incentives like the permanent employees. The chances of becoming permanent with the client company are also less so possibility of achieving a stable career lacks. The under performers are always at risk as they can be sacked anytime and that too without a notice. Moreover, too much hopping act as red flags in one's resume.
Sustaining the trend;Though job security is still essential for many in Kenya, an increasing number of young people are opting for temporary jobs. The market for such jobs will grow exponentially in coming years. Almost every sector, be it capital intensive or labor intensive, is showing keen interest in temps. Moreover, those candidates who have a hunger for multiple skills, are increasingly taking up these jobs. Permanent job assurance is now passé as downsizing can happen any time. Temping will prove to be a viable option in such cases. The industry watchers believe that this new HR trend is here to stay.
Thanks
What is Temping? Temping is the process of hiring temporary workers or, as they are called - Temps, for a shorter duration of time for a particular project and remain in the company till the project lasts.
The temps work for one Client Company while being on rolls of a third party. A temp is contract worker who is being hired for a short time, typically till a project lasts. The contract ranges from a period of 2 months to 15 months. These temps are made available by the employee leasing firms like Team Lease. Such companies provide a wide range of temporary staffing solutions including temporary-to-permanent services where in the company hires an employee for trial basis and absorbs him within the company on the basis on his performance; and long-term contracts where temps are hired for a longer period of time which may last up to two years.
The non core functions like sales, front office, customer support, finance, back end operations and administration demand more temps. The reason seems to be quite obvious - companies focus on their core functions to sustain the cut throat competition, while they outsource their non core functions.
So how often do these temporary workers turn into permanent employees? Though, earlier, the chance of being absorbed by the company was almost negligible, the trend is gaining pace as the demand for skilled workforce is increasing. The conversion rate has grown up to 25 to 35 percent form four percent.
Why Temping;Temping started off with MNC's hiring contract workers. It comes with a packet of benefits for the organizations as well as for the employees. Organizations enjoy the benefit of workforce flexibility and ease of recruitments and quick replacements. Temping also saves training costs as leasing companies direct skilled and experienced workers to the companies. Moreover, non productive employees can be chucked out without many complications. By outsourcing non core functions, the company deeply focuses on its core functions only. The companies also get more work done from temporary workers and also escape for paying them perks and incentives.
From employee's point of view, temping helps an employee to acquire different skills and upgrade basic skills by working in different setups. Employees acquire multiple skills to remain employable is competitive job markets. Temping even offers tempting career opportunities to housewives, retired personnel, people with defense backgrounds, freelancers and freshers. Temps who work for big brands also boast about the same in their resumes, thus, giving them an advantage over others.
These are some flip sides of temping too. Job insecurity always acts as a demotivator for others candidates. The temps hardly get any perks and incentives like the permanent employees. The chances of becoming permanent with the client company are also less so possibility of achieving a stable career lacks. The under performers are always at risk as they can be sacked anytime and that too without a notice. Moreover, too much hopping act as red flags in one's resume.
Sustaining the trend;Though job security is still essential for many in Kenya, an increasing number of young people are opting for temporary jobs. The market for such jobs will grow exponentially in coming years. Almost every sector, be it capital intensive or labor intensive, is showing keen interest in temps. Moreover, those candidates who have a hunger for multiple skills, are increasingly taking up these jobs. Permanent job assurance is now passé as downsizing can happen any time. Temping will prove to be a viable option in such cases. The industry watchers believe that this new HR trend is here to stay.
Thanks
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Effect Of Emotions On Job Performance
There was a time when emotions in the workplace were considered important in relation to employee well being and job satisfaction only. In recent years, the organizations have realized that employee emotions are pervasive in the workplace. The emotions are not only a deep-seated part of work life but have an important role to play in one's job performance. An employee's emotions and overall temperament have a significant impact on his job performance, decision making skills, team spirit, leadership and turnover. Its is believed that employees bring their feelings of anger, fear, love and respect with them when they come to work. An employee's emotions are essential to what happens in an organization. Emotions matter because they drive one's performance.
Emotions at work place, generally, fall into the category of positive (good) and negative (bad) emotions. Positive emotions are those feelings of an individual that are favorable to the attainment of organizational goals while negative emotions are those that are perceived to be destructive for the organization. To classify them further, emotions can be categorized as discrete, dispositional and as moods. Discrete emotions reflect short lived emotions like joy, anger, fear and disgust which arise from the occurrence of a particular event; while dispositional define an employees overall approach towards life like cheerful, negative, etc. Moods, however, are long lasting as compared to discrete emotions.
The impact of emotions, whether positive or negative, is well researched on. Studies suggest that negative feelings have adverse effects on job performances. Anger often leads to aggressions towards colleagues while sadness leads to dissatisfaction with the job. Envy or conflict with peers also leads to frequent fights and in turn results absenteeism. It is not always that only bad emotions lead to bad results. Office romance, despite being a positive feeling, can have negative effect on others. However, emotions can have positive effects as well. Positive emotions increase creativity, encourage helping behavior and cooperation and reduce aggression both against the organization and against people. Research suggests that positive people have better cognitive abilities and tend to do better in the workplace and with accuracy.
Emotions influence the task on which an employee is working, the efforts he puts and how he influences other employees around him. In other words, what employees feel and how they express their emotions affects their performance.
Effect on decision making : Studies have shown that positive mood leads to better and efficient decision making. However, this doesn't mean that decisions taken in a bad mood are disruptive. Studies have also found that negative emotions can lead to more effective decision making. Negative emotions, sometimes, may lead to more concentrated, detailed, and analytic processing of the facts.
Emotions and absenteeism: Positive mood is associated with reduced absence and intention to quit the job while negative mood increase absenteeism, intention to turnover, and actual turnover.
Effects on creativity: Positive emotions influence creativity positively as it creates a content state of mind which is open to all ideas. It also leads to a more complex and flexible thinking.
Interpersonal relations: Positive feelings induce helping behaviors while feelings of jealousy of hatred lead to poor relations with colleagues.
Managing emotions
Emotions directly influence behavior, so one has to manage emotions while at work. Some jobs simply cannot be done, if emotions are not dealt with first. Imagine how employees whose jobs asks compulsion towards specific emotions, like the front desk people or customer care executives, manage their emotions. This is where the concept of emotional labor comes in to play. Emotional labour or emotion work is the effort, planning and control needed to express desired level of emotions while on work. Emotional labor is a form of regulation in which workers are expected to display certain emotions as part of their job and to promote organizational goals. When interacting with coworkers, customers, suppliers, and others, employees are expected to abide by such rules.
There are two main ways of managing emotions at work - surface acting and deep acting. In surface acting, employees are required to show emotions that they actually might not feel. For example an employee may fake a smile for his client even if in actual he is unhappy because of some personal reasons. This method of managing emotions may lead to discrepancy between what employee expresses and what he actually feels and result in job dissatisfaction. This leads to emotional dissonance, which refers to a state of disagreement between internal expression of emotions and publicly displayed emotions. Emotional dissonance is often accompanied by high emotional exhaustion, low organizational commitment, and low job satisfaction .
In deep acting, instead of expressing fake emotions, employees try to experience the emotions that they are supposed to express. This method of requires more effort but leads to greater job satisfaction. Thus, the containment of unpleasant emotions decreases job satisfaction and increases intentions of quitting the job.
Thanks.
Emotions at work place, generally, fall into the category of positive (good) and negative (bad) emotions. Positive emotions are those feelings of an individual that are favorable to the attainment of organizational goals while negative emotions are those that are perceived to be destructive for the organization. To classify them further, emotions can be categorized as discrete, dispositional and as moods. Discrete emotions reflect short lived emotions like joy, anger, fear and disgust which arise from the occurrence of a particular event; while dispositional define an employees overall approach towards life like cheerful, negative, etc. Moods, however, are long lasting as compared to discrete emotions.
The impact of emotions, whether positive or negative, is well researched on. Studies suggest that negative feelings have adverse effects on job performances. Anger often leads to aggressions towards colleagues while sadness leads to dissatisfaction with the job. Envy or conflict with peers also leads to frequent fights and in turn results absenteeism. It is not always that only bad emotions lead to bad results. Office romance, despite being a positive feeling, can have negative effect on others. However, emotions can have positive effects as well. Positive emotions increase creativity, encourage helping behavior and cooperation and reduce aggression both against the organization and against people. Research suggests that positive people have better cognitive abilities and tend to do better in the workplace and with accuracy.
Emotions influence the task on which an employee is working, the efforts he puts and how he influences other employees around him. In other words, what employees feel and how they express their emotions affects their performance.
Effect on decision making : Studies have shown that positive mood leads to better and efficient decision making. However, this doesn't mean that decisions taken in a bad mood are disruptive. Studies have also found that negative emotions can lead to more effective decision making. Negative emotions, sometimes, may lead to more concentrated, detailed, and analytic processing of the facts.
Emotions and absenteeism: Positive mood is associated with reduced absence and intention to quit the job while negative mood increase absenteeism, intention to turnover, and actual turnover.
Effects on creativity: Positive emotions influence creativity positively as it creates a content state of mind which is open to all ideas. It also leads to a more complex and flexible thinking.
Interpersonal relations: Positive feelings induce helping behaviors while feelings of jealousy of hatred lead to poor relations with colleagues.
Managing emotions
Emotions directly influence behavior, so one has to manage emotions while at work. Some jobs simply cannot be done, if emotions are not dealt with first. Imagine how employees whose jobs asks compulsion towards specific emotions, like the front desk people or customer care executives, manage their emotions. This is where the concept of emotional labor comes in to play. Emotional labour or emotion work is the effort, planning and control needed to express desired level of emotions while on work. Emotional labor is a form of regulation in which workers are expected to display certain emotions as part of their job and to promote organizational goals. When interacting with coworkers, customers, suppliers, and others, employees are expected to abide by such rules.
There are two main ways of managing emotions at work - surface acting and deep acting. In surface acting, employees are required to show emotions that they actually might not feel. For example an employee may fake a smile for his client even if in actual he is unhappy because of some personal reasons. This method of managing emotions may lead to discrepancy between what employee expresses and what he actually feels and result in job dissatisfaction. This leads to emotional dissonance, which refers to a state of disagreement between internal expression of emotions and publicly displayed emotions. Emotional dissonance is often accompanied by high emotional exhaustion, low organizational commitment, and low job satisfaction .
In deep acting, instead of expressing fake emotions, employees try to experience the emotions that they are supposed to express. This method of requires more effort but leads to greater job satisfaction. Thus, the containment of unpleasant emotions decreases job satisfaction and increases intentions of quitting the job.
Thanks.
Friday, February 13, 2009
How To Attract Talent Through Employee Referrals
At this time when the labor markets are facing severe shortage of skilled manpower and when companies experiment with wide range of recruitment models (job portals, newspaper ads, direct hiring, recruitment agencies) to fill their vacant positions with quality talent and combat attrition, ‘Employee Referrals’ is the new buzz that is catching up too fast. The concept is not novel though, however, of late it has increasingly become the favorite option for every other organization for hiring best talent. In most companies 30 to 40 per cent (or even more) of the new hires come through the channels of internal referrals, i.e., those candidates recommended by the company’s own employees. The HR managers assert that employee referrals give them the best results and are highly cost effective.
Why Referrals?
There are a number of reasons why employee referrals are becoming preferred model of hiring. Firstly, companies believe that their employee are more clear of what skills are required for a particular profile. Therefore, chances that the referral candidate belongs to the best-fit-lot are high and thus his chances of getting selected are also high.
Secondly, employee referrals help in cutting costs which are associated with hiring. Companies work on reducing the average cost per hire. Recruiting candidates through the referral system results in huge savings as large amounts on advertisements and placement agencies costs are saved. Companies reveal that the cost of hiring a referral candidate works out to be 60 percent to 70 percent cheaper than that of going through an external agency and recruitment advertisement. Recruiting through referral programs help in finding the right person with right skills and that too at a nominal cost. It is the most cheapest but effective mode of recruitment. It also help foster a stronger commitment with employees.
The referrers also supply quality candidates who are expected to perform better. This is because they want to make an impact on the organization by showing their commitment to the organization. Moreover, the candidates referred are well versed with information about the company’s culture and goals as provided by their friends. They are informed, well in advance, about the company’s work environment and expectations.
Also, the candidates hired through referrals are expected to stay for long with the company than those hired through recruitment agencies. Thus, infant mortality (that is the percentage of people who leave within one year) is low when employees come through internal referrals.
The referrals lead to shorter recruitment cycles as compared to those hired otherwise. Moreover, employee turnover is also lesser in case of referrals. This is because most referred candidates prefer to work in an organization where he is known to someone, where he has a buddy by his side to help him out or guide him through. It also helps them to settle down easily in case they are from different cities.
Employee Advantage
The referral programs are made tempting by the employers so that employees are motivated enough to refer their known ones to their organization. The companies, now-a-days, are giving up huge rewards to the employees who bring in candidates, specially for hard-to-fill positions, and award them when the candidate is inducted. The rewards range from cash bonuses to gift coupons and even luxury items. For instance, Adobe Kenya runs a referral scheme where all employees who have successfully referred a candidate are eligible for a lucky draw where they can win a luxury car.
Companies are encouraging their employees to refer candidates whom they know. It also helps in team-building, as it gives employees a reason to feel that they are contributing to the growth of the company.
What goes wrong
Hiring potential recruits through referrals seems to be most advantageous than other options, however, there are always flips sides to it. Hiring through referrals might encourage nepotism and other concerns.
Enticed by lucrative bonuses, employees may recommend candidates left, right and centre. It is also believed that this process has diminishing returns to scale for rather than referring quality candidates, employees refer tom, dick and harries. Tempted by the referring incentives, employee recommend candidates who even are unknown to them. Statistics also reveal that most of the employees refer candidates only to help the person instead of helping the company or to fetch themselves the incentives and cash bonuses.
One of the concerns that needs to be given a serious thought is where referrers are yet to realize that they are accountable for the quality of recommendations they make. A bad recommendation from them affects their goodwill and commitment towards the organization.
Some argue that referrals give encouragement to Groupism. Organizations should ensure that favoritism does not happen and it does not act as a roadblock in recruitment process. It is also seen that employees refer candidates with same backgrounds as theirs which results in building up of a uniform workforce and reduces diversity.
Conclusion
To ensure a successful referral system, it has to be designed and implemented well. it is important to suitably award those employees who are bringing suitable candidates to the organization. Apart from this, the recruiting firms are getting affected by this trend. For senior level positions, companies are relying on recruitment agencies-so that area remains unaffected. However, for junior and middle levels, companies are trying their luck with referrals, which is impacting agencies and consultants significantly.
Thanks.
Why Referrals?
There are a number of reasons why employee referrals are becoming preferred model of hiring. Firstly, companies believe that their employee are more clear of what skills are required for a particular profile. Therefore, chances that the referral candidate belongs to the best-fit-lot are high and thus his chances of getting selected are also high.
Secondly, employee referrals help in cutting costs which are associated with hiring. Companies work on reducing the average cost per hire. Recruiting candidates through the referral system results in huge savings as large amounts on advertisements and placement agencies costs are saved. Companies reveal that the cost of hiring a referral candidate works out to be 60 percent to 70 percent cheaper than that of going through an external agency and recruitment advertisement. Recruiting through referral programs help in finding the right person with right skills and that too at a nominal cost. It is the most cheapest but effective mode of recruitment. It also help foster a stronger commitment with employees.
The referrers also supply quality candidates who are expected to perform better. This is because they want to make an impact on the organization by showing their commitment to the organization. Moreover, the candidates referred are well versed with information about the company’s culture and goals as provided by their friends. They are informed, well in advance, about the company’s work environment and expectations.
Also, the candidates hired through referrals are expected to stay for long with the company than those hired through recruitment agencies. Thus, infant mortality (that is the percentage of people who leave within one year) is low when employees come through internal referrals.
The referrals lead to shorter recruitment cycles as compared to those hired otherwise. Moreover, employee turnover is also lesser in case of referrals. This is because most referred candidates prefer to work in an organization where he is known to someone, where he has a buddy by his side to help him out or guide him through. It also helps them to settle down easily in case they are from different cities.
Employee Advantage
The referral programs are made tempting by the employers so that employees are motivated enough to refer their known ones to their organization. The companies, now-a-days, are giving up huge rewards to the employees who bring in candidates, specially for hard-to-fill positions, and award them when the candidate is inducted. The rewards range from cash bonuses to gift coupons and even luxury items. For instance, Adobe Kenya runs a referral scheme where all employees who have successfully referred a candidate are eligible for a lucky draw where they can win a luxury car.
Companies are encouraging their employees to refer candidates whom they know. It also helps in team-building, as it gives employees a reason to feel that they are contributing to the growth of the company.
What goes wrong
Hiring potential recruits through referrals seems to be most advantageous than other options, however, there are always flips sides to it. Hiring through referrals might encourage nepotism and other concerns.
Enticed by lucrative bonuses, employees may recommend candidates left, right and centre. It is also believed that this process has diminishing returns to scale for rather than referring quality candidates, employees refer tom, dick and harries. Tempted by the referring incentives, employee recommend candidates who even are unknown to them. Statistics also reveal that most of the employees refer candidates only to help the person instead of helping the company or to fetch themselves the incentives and cash bonuses.
One of the concerns that needs to be given a serious thought is where referrers are yet to realize that they are accountable for the quality of recommendations they make. A bad recommendation from them affects their goodwill and commitment towards the organization.
Some argue that referrals give encouragement to Groupism. Organizations should ensure that favoritism does not happen and it does not act as a roadblock in recruitment process. It is also seen that employees refer candidates with same backgrounds as theirs which results in building up of a uniform workforce and reduces diversity.
Conclusion
To ensure a successful referral system, it has to be designed and implemented well. it is important to suitably award those employees who are bringing suitable candidates to the organization. Apart from this, the recruiting firms are getting affected by this trend. For senior level positions, companies are relying on recruitment agencies-so that area remains unaffected. However, for junior and middle levels, companies are trying their luck with referrals, which is impacting agencies and consultants significantly.
Thanks.
The Essence of Employee Communication
People with diverse backgrounds, different cultures, varied qualifications, contrasting experiences and unique skills – all, when taken together, form the greatest assets of an organization, or rather the organization itself. So what force holds them together? Well, the answer is Communication. It acts as a glue that binds every single employee with every other employee, every employee with his superiors and all the employees with the organization. Earlier being considered as a source of control and power, communication has now become liberal in organizations where every employee has now a right to access the information he needs. However, due to failures of mergers and acquisitions and huge layoffs, employees these days feel more disconnected from their employers.
This also puts a question on their loyalty for the company. Here comes the role of employee communication. Effective communication is thus, critical to the organization as it directly affects the organizational performance.
What to communicate?
Most corporate firms believe that employee communication is all about dispatching a weekly or monthly newsletter on everyone’s desk. For most companies communication means informing employees about the weekly or monthly happenings that occurred in the company during a specific time frame like the CEO inaugurating some internal function, or employee picnics and other miscellaneous events. What most of the companies miss out is the information which will help the employees in knowing the organization better like the new training systems being implemented, or the business models which the company follows. Such initiatives equip the employees to understand and adapt to the company’s strategic initiatives.
Before an employee is engaged and shows off his best performance, the Employee Communication Program in an organization should satisfy the following three key employee needs. The employee needs to:
•Know the organization, what businesses the company is in, who are the customers, specific details about the product or service, where forms are located, who to see when there is a problem and the like, the values and philosophy of the organization and the like.
•Know about his job profile, what purpose he is supposed to solve and what is expected out of him. He is also to be made aware of what practical skills will be required to do the job, the resources he will use, specification guidelines, etc.
•Know the teams with which he will interact, his supervisors, and his team leader and peers. The essence of this is to inculcate into him a sense of belonging with the company. Effective communication should make him realize his worth to the company and ensure him that he will be listened to, respected, trusted, and valued by the company.
It is being observed that even though a company is a brand in the market, however, it fails to be the same in eyes of its own employees. The employee communication, thus, should aim towards having a common consensus about the organization in the minds of its employees. It should promoting loyalty among employees, inspire quality work that satisfies the need of the customers, and encourage employees to represent the company in a manner consistent with the image defined in the market. Moreover, the company should work towards promoting transparency and openness in employee communication.
There are four fundamental levels of communication in an organization. The first level deals with organization wide communication involves communicating all employees about practices and policies being followed or to be followed at organization level. It will include communicating about recruitment practices, remuneration policy, or change in pay grades. Such information has an organization wide impact and thus is to be communicated throughout the company. The next is departmental communication which is specific to a particular department or unit. Then there are team communications which deal within one cohesive team and include communication about targets to be met, resources to be used, etc. finally there are individual communications which are specific to one employee at any one time or occurs between employees.
Impact on performance
Employee communication is directly linked with the success of an organization. Generally, effective employee communication is linked to productivity and morale of the employees. The effective the communication, the better is the performance. Employees, today, want to have access to more and better information. Researches have revealed that effective communication has a positive impact on employee satisfaction, productivity, turnover, and morale. Research show that employees are most highly motivated and make their best contribution to the business when there is full and open communication at work. It is also proved that where there is an adequate flow of information and ideas among employees, productivity is enhanced and confusion, duplication, and unproductive conflict are minimized. Moreover, employee communication should not be seen as impersonal and a formality of dissemination information among the employees. It should be considered to be an empathetic transfer of understanding and deeper feelings.
Conclusion
Does this mean we have become experts in the field and that howsoever we communicate, its effective? Well, there are always scopes for improvement. With every new day, corporates are facing new challenges and barriers to communications. Huge number of employees on rolls, workforce diversity, cultural shifts, easy access to large databases, and employee attrition being some of them. Apart from this, there is an increasing demand for monitoring the employee communications. Many employers fear that employees can pass on the confidential data out of the company through emails or other channels. Moreover these facilities can be used for non business activities or personal uses which only adds to the costs incurred. It is a dilemma for employers whether they should monitor their outgoing mail or not. To deal with such challenges the future HR departments will have to acquire special competencies in order make the communication more effective and transparent.
Thanks.
This also puts a question on their loyalty for the company. Here comes the role of employee communication. Effective communication is thus, critical to the organization as it directly affects the organizational performance.
What to communicate?
Most corporate firms believe that employee communication is all about dispatching a weekly or monthly newsletter on everyone’s desk. For most companies communication means informing employees about the weekly or monthly happenings that occurred in the company during a specific time frame like the CEO inaugurating some internal function, or employee picnics and other miscellaneous events. What most of the companies miss out is the information which will help the employees in knowing the organization better like the new training systems being implemented, or the business models which the company follows. Such initiatives equip the employees to understand and adapt to the company’s strategic initiatives.
Before an employee is engaged and shows off his best performance, the Employee Communication Program in an organization should satisfy the following three key employee needs. The employee needs to:
•Know the organization, what businesses the company is in, who are the customers, specific details about the product or service, where forms are located, who to see when there is a problem and the like, the values and philosophy of the organization and the like.
•Know about his job profile, what purpose he is supposed to solve and what is expected out of him. He is also to be made aware of what practical skills will be required to do the job, the resources he will use, specification guidelines, etc.
•Know the teams with which he will interact, his supervisors, and his team leader and peers. The essence of this is to inculcate into him a sense of belonging with the company. Effective communication should make him realize his worth to the company and ensure him that he will be listened to, respected, trusted, and valued by the company.
It is being observed that even though a company is a brand in the market, however, it fails to be the same in eyes of its own employees. The employee communication, thus, should aim towards having a common consensus about the organization in the minds of its employees. It should promoting loyalty among employees, inspire quality work that satisfies the need of the customers, and encourage employees to represent the company in a manner consistent with the image defined in the market. Moreover, the company should work towards promoting transparency and openness in employee communication.
There are four fundamental levels of communication in an organization. The first level deals with organization wide communication involves communicating all employees about practices and policies being followed or to be followed at organization level. It will include communicating about recruitment practices, remuneration policy, or change in pay grades. Such information has an organization wide impact and thus is to be communicated throughout the company. The next is departmental communication which is specific to a particular department or unit. Then there are team communications which deal within one cohesive team and include communication about targets to be met, resources to be used, etc. finally there are individual communications which are specific to one employee at any one time or occurs between employees.
Impact on performance
Employee communication is directly linked with the success of an organization. Generally, effective employee communication is linked to productivity and morale of the employees. The effective the communication, the better is the performance. Employees, today, want to have access to more and better information. Researches have revealed that effective communication has a positive impact on employee satisfaction, productivity, turnover, and morale. Research show that employees are most highly motivated and make their best contribution to the business when there is full and open communication at work. It is also proved that where there is an adequate flow of information and ideas among employees, productivity is enhanced and confusion, duplication, and unproductive conflict are minimized. Moreover, employee communication should not be seen as impersonal and a formality of dissemination information among the employees. It should be considered to be an empathetic transfer of understanding and deeper feelings.
Conclusion
Does this mean we have become experts in the field and that howsoever we communicate, its effective? Well, there are always scopes for improvement. With every new day, corporates are facing new challenges and barriers to communications. Huge number of employees on rolls, workforce diversity, cultural shifts, easy access to large databases, and employee attrition being some of them. Apart from this, there is an increasing demand for monitoring the employee communications. Many employers fear that employees can pass on the confidential data out of the company through emails or other channels. Moreover these facilities can be used for non business activities or personal uses which only adds to the costs incurred. It is a dilemma for employers whether they should monitor their outgoing mail or not. To deal with such challenges the future HR departments will have to acquire special competencies in order make the communication more effective and transparent.
Thanks.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
What Is The Role of HRD Professionals in Training
Today we are in the era of cut-throat competition and with this changing scenario of business; the role of HR professionals in training has been widened. HR role now is:
a. Active involvement in employee education
b. Rewards for improvement in performance
c. Rewards to be associated with self esteem and self worth
d. Providing pre-employment market oriented skill development education and post employment support for advanced education and training
e. Flexible access i.e. anytime, anywhere training.
Thanks
a. Active involvement in employee education
b. Rewards for improvement in performance
c. Rewards to be associated with self esteem and self worth
d. Providing pre-employment market oriented skill development education and post employment support for advanced education and training
e. Flexible access i.e. anytime, anywhere training.
Thanks
Training and Human Resource Management
The HR functioning is changing with time and with this change, the relationship between the training function and other management activity is also changing. The training and development activities are now equally important with that of other HR functions. Gone are the days, when training was considered to be futile, waste of time, resources, and money.
Now-a-days, training is an investment because the departments such as, marketing & sales, HR, production, finance, etc depends on training for its survival. If training is not considered as a priority or not seen as a vital part in the organization, then it is difficult to accept that such a company has effectively carried out HRM. Training actually provides the opportunity to raise the profile development activities in the organization.
To increase the commitment level of employees and growth in quality movement (concepts of HRM), senior management team is now increasing the role of training. Such concepts of HRM require careful planning as well as greater emphasis on employee development and long term education.
Training is now the important tool of Human Resource Management to control the attrition rate because it helps in motivating employees, achieving their professional and personal goals, increasing the level of job satisfaction, etc. As a result training is given on a variety of skill development and covers a multitude of courses.
Thanks.
Now-a-days, training is an investment because the departments such as, marketing & sales, HR, production, finance, etc depends on training for its survival. If training is not considered as a priority or not seen as a vital part in the organization, then it is difficult to accept that such a company has effectively carried out HRM. Training actually provides the opportunity to raise the profile development activities in the organization.
To increase the commitment level of employees and growth in quality movement (concepts of HRM), senior management team is now increasing the role of training. Such concepts of HRM require careful planning as well as greater emphasis on employee development and long term education.
Training is now the important tool of Human Resource Management to control the attrition rate because it helps in motivating employees, achieving their professional and personal goals, increasing the level of job satisfaction, etc. As a result training is given on a variety of skill development and covers a multitude of courses.
Thanks.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Why Discrimination at Workplace?
Have you ever been asked to stay out of a project because of your caste? Have you been paid less because of your gender? Or have you ever been denied of promotion because of your religion? These questions might sound strange in the first place, however, giving it a deeper though reveals that many people face this kind of discrimination at their workplaces.
Discrimination, going by Oxford Concise Dictionary, is nothing but unfair treatment against a person or a group of persons based on prejudice. Differentiating people on basis of certain characteristics like age and gender or on grounds such as race and religion is discrimination. Discrimination at work is a matter of serious concern for organizations all over the world
Forms of discrimination:
Discrimination at workplace can take place in any form. Be it on the basis of race, gender and religion. Newer forms of biases, which are more subtle and less visible, like age, disability, genetic disposition, migration, HIV/AIDS, sexual orientation and lifestyle are also emerging. Every professional, be it a sales person, a journalist, an executive or a software engineer, has faced discrimination and has a story to tell: stories of harassment and humiliation; stories of injustice and discrimination, tales of how male colleagues' attempt to limit professional success of their female counter parts, how one employee is being looked down upon by other employee only because he belongs to a lower caste, how one’s abilities are directly judged by one’s personality or color and what not.
The most common and prevalent form of discrimination is the one based on race and religion. Judging an individual by race and not by performance comes under discrimination. Such behavior of an employer can humiliate an individual and put him under stress and depression. Differences in compensation packages between employees on basis of color or race are also an unhealthy practice. In terms of age discrimination, younger workers are often being paid less for they are assumed to be inexperienced. Moreover, there is a negative attitude among employers for recruiting and retaining older workers. Talking about gender biases, women in Kenya still remain the largest group that faces discrimination. Women today comprise only 2 per cent of the total managerial strength in the Kenyan corporate sector. While more and more women are joining the corporates now with better salaries and even at senior levels, pay equity compared with their male counterparts is still a disappointing. Migrants in Asia are also facing discrimination with low wages, menial jobs, and exploitative jobs contracts.
Discrimination at work
Discrimination at work can come from either the employee of from the colleague side. Discrimination by colleagues can happen to new employees. They may face sarcastic stares or constant digs made at them by their colleagues during initial weeks. However, if it persists for a long time, it can affect not only the employee but also the employer. The effect on the employee can be huge or meager but the impact on organization remains for a longer time. An employee who is being discriminated witnesses non cooperation from peers and negative feedbacks form subordinates. Discrimination leads to psychological and emotional disturbance, resulting in demoralization and descend in performance standards. It brings down the overall performance, and fuels more discrimination, which in turn increases the number of gaps in one's work further. Discrimination at workplace also affects the society. The socio-economic inequalities get widened and social cohesion and solidarity are eroded. It results in wastage of human talent and resources.
Employer's role
Recognizing the fact that unwanted attention to any aspect of an employee demoralizes him, hits his performance level and ultimately results in loss to the employee in the short term and to the organization in the long run, employers should promote a discrimination free environment within the organization. The employer should try to be an equal employment opportunity provider and should take affirmative actions towards disables and other weaker sections of its workforce. To maintain bias free environment throughout the organization, employees at all levels should be provided periodic counseling to train them to bring out the best in their new colleagues. All employees should be made to understand that harassing their colleagues indirectly causes loss to the organization and its can have adverse effects on its repute.
Fighting back:
Be it a manager or clerk, a contract worker or the one who is on rolls, a person deserves all the respect and benefits that come with the post. Every employee has a right to a harassment and discrimination free workplace. As long as his performance is meeting the standards set by the employer, he has the right to excel and grow and decide his career path. If an employee feels discriminated on basis of physical appearance, religion, sex, caste or age, he has every right to raise his voice against discrimination and seek a remedy from his employer. In this context, employers need to ensure that they do not practice any form of discrimination or micro inequality. Similarly, organizations need to promote a harassment free culture.
Discrimination, going by Oxford Concise Dictionary, is nothing but unfair treatment against a person or a group of persons based on prejudice. Differentiating people on basis of certain characteristics like age and gender or on grounds such as race and religion is discrimination. Discrimination at work is a matter of serious concern for organizations all over the world
Forms of discrimination:
Discrimination at workplace can take place in any form. Be it on the basis of race, gender and religion. Newer forms of biases, which are more subtle and less visible, like age, disability, genetic disposition, migration, HIV/AIDS, sexual orientation and lifestyle are also emerging. Every professional, be it a sales person, a journalist, an executive or a software engineer, has faced discrimination and has a story to tell: stories of harassment and humiliation; stories of injustice and discrimination, tales of how male colleagues' attempt to limit professional success of their female counter parts, how one employee is being looked down upon by other employee only because he belongs to a lower caste, how one’s abilities are directly judged by one’s personality or color and what not.
The most common and prevalent form of discrimination is the one based on race and religion. Judging an individual by race and not by performance comes under discrimination. Such behavior of an employer can humiliate an individual and put him under stress and depression. Differences in compensation packages between employees on basis of color or race are also an unhealthy practice. In terms of age discrimination, younger workers are often being paid less for they are assumed to be inexperienced. Moreover, there is a negative attitude among employers for recruiting and retaining older workers. Talking about gender biases, women in Kenya still remain the largest group that faces discrimination. Women today comprise only 2 per cent of the total managerial strength in the Kenyan corporate sector. While more and more women are joining the corporates now with better salaries and even at senior levels, pay equity compared with their male counterparts is still a disappointing. Migrants in Asia are also facing discrimination with low wages, menial jobs, and exploitative jobs contracts.
Discrimination at work
Discrimination at work can come from either the employee of from the colleague side. Discrimination by colleagues can happen to new employees. They may face sarcastic stares or constant digs made at them by their colleagues during initial weeks. However, if it persists for a long time, it can affect not only the employee but also the employer. The effect on the employee can be huge or meager but the impact on organization remains for a longer time. An employee who is being discriminated witnesses non cooperation from peers and negative feedbacks form subordinates. Discrimination leads to psychological and emotional disturbance, resulting in demoralization and descend in performance standards. It brings down the overall performance, and fuels more discrimination, which in turn increases the number of gaps in one's work further. Discrimination at workplace also affects the society. The socio-economic inequalities get widened and social cohesion and solidarity are eroded. It results in wastage of human talent and resources.
Employer's role
Recognizing the fact that unwanted attention to any aspect of an employee demoralizes him, hits his performance level and ultimately results in loss to the employee in the short term and to the organization in the long run, employers should promote a discrimination free environment within the organization. The employer should try to be an equal employment opportunity provider and should take affirmative actions towards disables and other weaker sections of its workforce. To maintain bias free environment throughout the organization, employees at all levels should be provided periodic counseling to train them to bring out the best in their new colleagues. All employees should be made to understand that harassing their colleagues indirectly causes loss to the organization and its can have adverse effects on its repute.
Fighting back:
Be it a manager or clerk, a contract worker or the one who is on rolls, a person deserves all the respect and benefits that come with the post. Every employee has a right to a harassment and discrimination free workplace. As long as his performance is meeting the standards set by the employer, he has the right to excel and grow and decide his career path. If an employee feels discriminated on basis of physical appearance, religion, sex, caste or age, he has every right to raise his voice against discrimination and seek a remedy from his employer. In this context, employers need to ensure that they do not practice any form of discrimination or micro inequality. Similarly, organizations need to promote a harassment free culture.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Why Workplace Nepotism?
Nepotism in workplace is an inevitable situation and often results in demotivated workforce. Yet most employers deny it exists at all. In the corporate sector, favoritism, as it is commonly known, occurs when someone appears to be treated better than others not necessarily due to superior work performance. It amounts to a supervisor or manager favoring a particular employee thereby leaving the rest of the employees at an unfair disadvantage. This unfair disadvantage can lead to feelings of resentment and mistrust, resulting in decreased morale and productivity.
Peers often curry favor their bosses so as to become their eye candies. Favoritism may result in unfair promotion of less efficient people even before those who are more efficient. Not only this, they are paid more to do the same job as others, given more flexibility in working hours and what not. They appear to be treated better than others and for no valid reason. Instead of thinking that your hard work will help u in making to the top, nepotism says that it's all who you know, not what you do.
The favoritism is not confined to love relationships (office romance) only, but close friends and relatives often receive the same favoritism. Family relationships and office friendships, both, can upset co-workers. The sense of fairness also vanishes from the corporate culture. The instances of favoring a family member are widely seen in family-controlled businesses. When a founder chooses a successor, he faces the dilemma of choosing between his son and daughter or hiring some qualified managers from outside. When Vishal Kampani joined JM Morgan Stanley as executive director and head of corporate finance in 2003, his father Nimesh, the majority owner of the Kenyan securities joint venture with Morgan Stanley, said, "My son will inherit my wealth, but not necessarily my chair. He may, but only if he proves himself capable. The successor to my chair will be determined professionally."
Favoritism in certain forms can be considered as discrimination, yet most employers deny its existence. Favoring one employee over another reduces morale, increases turnover, and slows down career advancement. It inculcates the feeling that it doesn't matter how one performs on the job, what matters is the extent your superior favors you. And it is this favoritism that determines perks and promotions one will receive. Due to higher levels of favoritism, employees take on a "why bother" attitude. Even if favoritism resides only within a single person, or a small group of people, it has the same impact as if the company's entire human resources program was based on favoritism as a mission.
It is important for each of us to have a candid relationship with our supervisor or manager that is built on trust and fairness. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. Some supervisors compromise their authority and the respect they could command by allowing favoritism.
Perceived unfairness and envy often act as two primary ingredients of favoritism. They can also act as catalysts for a potential chain of behaviors that can negatively impact the company. Nepotism and supervisor-subordinate dating are particularly controversial issues in n organization. Shareholders, employees and other stakeholders increasingly expect organizations to base decisions on merit rather than relationships.
What can be done?
How can an organization keep these relationships under control? Well, there's no single solution to it! Family ties, romances and friendships have long been issues for organizations all over the world, and different cultures look at them differently. In many areas of the world like Asia, personal connections are taken positively to assure trust in an organization, and are accepted especially when a father passes a business on to his son. In certain cultures businesses are a family affair where everyone and anyone in the family finds a place in the top levels mainly because of the trust factor. But for a negotiating party that comes from a country like Germany this might come as a shock because nepotism is not welcomed in their businesses. They may also find it difficult to trust the opposite party when they have to deal with people occupying positions not on the basis of their abilities but because of their relationships.
It is natural for a supervisor or manager to trust, respect, and depend upon one employee more than another due to experience, common interests, goals or backgrounds, or simply the longevity of their successful relationship. However, each of us, regardless of our position is expected to work to create an environment where people are valued as individuals and treated with respect and dignity, fairness and equality. This leaves no room for favoritism. Favoritism creeps into the workplaces, destroys relationships and spreads a sense of distrust. It is often perceived by some and not others, even when it is not real. We must always be alert to its presence and suppress it.
Peers often curry favor their bosses so as to become their eye candies. Favoritism may result in unfair promotion of less efficient people even before those who are more efficient. Not only this, they are paid more to do the same job as others, given more flexibility in working hours and what not. They appear to be treated better than others and for no valid reason. Instead of thinking that your hard work will help u in making to the top, nepotism says that it's all who you know, not what you do.
The favoritism is not confined to love relationships (office romance) only, but close friends and relatives often receive the same favoritism. Family relationships and office friendships, both, can upset co-workers. The sense of fairness also vanishes from the corporate culture. The instances of favoring a family member are widely seen in family-controlled businesses. When a founder chooses a successor, he faces the dilemma of choosing between his son and daughter or hiring some qualified managers from outside. When Vishal Kampani joined JM Morgan Stanley as executive director and head of corporate finance in 2003, his father Nimesh, the majority owner of the Kenyan securities joint venture with Morgan Stanley, said, "My son will inherit my wealth, but not necessarily my chair. He may, but only if he proves himself capable. The successor to my chair will be determined professionally."
Favoritism in certain forms can be considered as discrimination, yet most employers deny its existence. Favoring one employee over another reduces morale, increases turnover, and slows down career advancement. It inculcates the feeling that it doesn't matter how one performs on the job, what matters is the extent your superior favors you. And it is this favoritism that determines perks and promotions one will receive. Due to higher levels of favoritism, employees take on a "why bother" attitude. Even if favoritism resides only within a single person, or a small group of people, it has the same impact as if the company's entire human resources program was based on favoritism as a mission.
It is important for each of us to have a candid relationship with our supervisor or manager that is built on trust and fairness. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. Some supervisors compromise their authority and the respect they could command by allowing favoritism.
Perceived unfairness and envy often act as two primary ingredients of favoritism. They can also act as catalysts for a potential chain of behaviors that can negatively impact the company. Nepotism and supervisor-subordinate dating are particularly controversial issues in n organization. Shareholders, employees and other stakeholders increasingly expect organizations to base decisions on merit rather than relationships.
What can be done?
How can an organization keep these relationships under control? Well, there's no single solution to it! Family ties, romances and friendships have long been issues for organizations all over the world, and different cultures look at them differently. In many areas of the world like Asia, personal connections are taken positively to assure trust in an organization, and are accepted especially when a father passes a business on to his son. In certain cultures businesses are a family affair where everyone and anyone in the family finds a place in the top levels mainly because of the trust factor. But for a negotiating party that comes from a country like Germany this might come as a shock because nepotism is not welcomed in their businesses. They may also find it difficult to trust the opposite party when they have to deal with people occupying positions not on the basis of their abilities but because of their relationships.
It is natural for a supervisor or manager to trust, respect, and depend upon one employee more than another due to experience, common interests, goals or backgrounds, or simply the longevity of their successful relationship. However, each of us, regardless of our position is expected to work to create an environment where people are valued as individuals and treated with respect and dignity, fairness and equality. This leaves no room for favoritism. Favoritism creeps into the workplaces, destroys relationships and spreads a sense of distrust. It is often perceived by some and not others, even when it is not real. We must always be alert to its presence and suppress it.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Why Employees Hate HR
Human resource department – commonly known as the HR in every organisation – is the vital link that connects the employees to the management, and is supposedly the most powerful and the authoritative department in an organisation. They represent the management to the employees and vice versa.
But the truth is that - “The employees hate it and the management considers it to be useless”. Considered closest to the top management and the gateway to all their communications and the front face in implementation of all their decisions, the HR faces the brunt of the hatred of the employees.
In recent times, when the credibility of the HR is under scrutiny and ways and means of finding the return on investment are being calculated, the HR has found itself to be at the receiving end of the employee’s hatred and the ever-growing anti HR feelings inside the organisation.
Why employees hate HR…
Now the main question that arises is – Why do the employees hate HR?
We hereby attempt to find answer to this intricate question, existing right from the time when the concept of HR came into existence in organisations. Employees hate HR because:
• HR is the mouthpiece of all the organisational decisions, whether good or bad, fair or unfair.
• HR is responsible for implementing and monitoring the corporate rules and align all functions according to the policies. Therefore, often portrays the image of the policemen to the employees.
• The employees hate HR when they face the lack of responsiveness and
o Fail to get the solutions to their problems
o Fail to get assistance on time to their problems
o Don’t get a fair (less than expected) appraisal and on time
o Fail to separate the HR functions from the strategical functions of the organisation
o Fail to get timely information and communicate with the management or higher authorities because of the delay caused by the HR.
• Sometimes the HR in the organisation starts considering itself superior and important than other employees, demand respect from other and even treating them badly or as inferior beings. According to various researches, this has emerged as the topmost reason for why the employees hate HR. as the horns on the hr employees heads get bigger and bigger everyday, the greater gets the disliking for them.
• Many HR professionals in organisations are still following the same traditional and bureaucratic rituals in all its functions and approaches. And they fail to incorporate employee friendly outlook and practices.
• Many a times, it has been noticed that apart from the hiring and the other minuscule HR functions like attendance, the HR often fails to provide career development opportunities, employee engagement and other strategic functions of the HR.
• Most importantly, and last but not the least, when the organisation or the HR fails to fulfill the promises made by the HR to the employees.
The Truth:
“Everything that shines is not gold” or “Looks can be deceptive!” These phrases are best suited to the position of HR professionals in every organisation.
To explain it better with a situation: HR is responsible for the talent management and employee engagement in an organisation. Both of them are directly linked to the performance and compensation reviews, appraisals. Now, the employees get in touch only which with the respective HR people for any final notification of the decisions taken regarding the same. But the irony is that the appraisal decision has in fact been taken by the management and the other concerned officials like the project manager etc.
But as the decision is conveyed by the HR people, the first axe of hatred always falls on the HR, which in every case is the mouthpiece of the management. Now if the HR advocates the case for reviewing the appraisal of an employee with the management, all it gets is the bashing that they are on the employee’s side, and, have been hired by the organisation and not by the employees. They have no power to take decisions on their own. While balancing the interests of the employees and the organisation, they often become the whipping boy, who is always punished for the wrong doings of others.
The Fact:
The fact is that all the human resource professionals have to deal with humans, their emotions, different attitudes, different behaviours, different levels of understanding, different perceptions etc. And what the employees and the organisations forget is the fact that all human resource professionals are human themselves, having the entire gamut of all the above mentioned traits. And the HR professionals are basically striving had to keep both the employees and the organisation happy.
Converting Hate into Love
Turning the hatred of the employees in love or even the mutual and neutral feelings of understanding would require a great effort on the part of the HR to change the basic perception of employees which is commonly found to be against HR. None the less, the HR can take the following steps to ensure a healthy start:
• The HR should emphasize on the communication. The communication should be clear, timely and proper i.e. explaining the rationale behind the decisions and the actions taken. Bridge the gap with the employees through communication.
• Properly and fairly executing the HR processes like the appraisals and training and development etc.
• Don’t be biased in its decisions. The HR should not be biased towards the management or personal bias towards some of the employees.
• Focus on all the aspects and functions of HR equally.
• The HR should not take the undue advantage of their position and authority.
HR is one of the most important pillars of an organisation. But it will not be able to survive for long without the support of the employees. The HR needs to create an identity of its own away from being on the organisation’s or the employee’s side.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Employee Aspirations
Today, the HR fraternity is facing new challenges everyday, finding new solutions and undergoing significant changes. The modern HR has revolutionized the employer-employee relationship. The organisations and HR experts have realized that no organisation can be successful without the success of its employees. According to various HR experts and professionals, one of the prime reasons of present high attrition rates in all the sectors is the rising and unsatisfied aspirations of the employees.
Employee's Aspirations
As an individual, every employee has a will to succeed, has some goals and needs in every aspect of his life. The majority of today's
workforce is young, savvy, knowledgeable, mobile and ready to cove the extra mile for their careers. High on aspirations, goals and ambitions, they know what exactly they want. Employees have also become conscious and demanding than ever before. Employees look for an opportunity where they can apply and also hone their skills over the time, want to feel needed, important, and contributing to the organisation, a challenge and opportunities to prove their credibility; and go back home with a sense of accomplishment.
Facing the brunt of the high attrition rates and instability of the workforce, HR fraternity has been forced to look beyond the traditional ways and tools of motivating employees and performance management. The modern HR management is making an effort to identify and manage the aspirations of the employees, so that performers don't move on to the greener pastures (other companies) at the other side of the fence. Managing employee aspirations has emerged as the latest retention tool for the organisations.
Different people, different aspirations:
Basically, an employee's aspirations can range from career aspirations i.e. the responsibilities, authority and position, to the economic aspirations in terms of the money or the compensation involved. But, an important issue or point which cannot be neglected in this regard is aspirations differ from person to person. Different people have different perspectives and different aspirations.
Today employees want to move up the ladder of success very fast. But where some people long for the vertical growth, some strive for the lateral growth. For example, an assistant manager can have entrepreneurial aspirations and might aspire to become the VP or head the department, whereas an employee engaged in some technical job might want to achieve mastery in his skill or craft.
The worst effected are the employees at the junior level, where the employee aspiration levels are at all-time high but the jobs have rather very low scope of growth.
Taking care of employee aspirations:
No employee wants to limit his/her growth and learning. Employee dissatisfaction leads to poor performance, low productivity and eventually high attrition rates. Therefore, the organisation should take care of the employee's aspirations to retain employees and making them with the organisation. People leave an organisation when there is a disparity between the employee's desired career path and the path provided by the organisation. There needs to be a match and alignment between them.
Complications involved:
"Employee aspirations and organisation" is a sensitive and complicated issue, and definitely not without the frills. One of the most practical problems faced by the organisation is the fact that many-a-times the employee aspirations fluctuate or increase at the most opportune or suitable time. Technically speaking, understanding employee aspirations is not an easy task. Employee satisfaction, employee engagement, employee expectations and employee aspirations are all inter-related. Therefore, it would be appropriate to say that this issue carries an excess baggage.
Solutions:
An organisation can take care of its employee's aspirations in various ways, and by doing so it tells it employees that it cares for them and is committed to their growth and welfare. A company can go a long way in understanding their aspirations, needs and requirements, and provide them opportunities within the organisation to grow. In organizational terms, it is known as "Aspiration Management".
It can provide the employees responsibility coupled with authority and accountability, transparent system and procedures, various resources and facilities, accommodating and motivating work culture etc. Most importantly, the organization should align the aspirations to its overall goals via their responsibilities.
The organisations need to identify the stabilizing factor of its employees. Identifying employee's core competencies and making them do what they actually want to and enjoy doing. The organisation can give the employees opportunities of growth in their same job through keeping them abreast with the developments and trainings on their latest technologies and methods. Job rotation can also help to cater to the issue.
Infact, the organisation can actually make the employee aware of his own aspirations and help them to shape their aspiration and walk on the right path and accomplish them.
Conclusion:
Employee aspirations can take them places and can is creating severe problems for the organisations. Therefore, organisations have the challenge of conjoining its goals with the employee aspirations, in order to successfully overcome the problems of high attritions and attracting and retaining the best performers.
Employee's Aspirations
As an individual, every employee has a will to succeed, has some goals and needs in every aspect of his life. The majority of today's
workforce is young, savvy, knowledgeable, mobile and ready to cove the extra mile for their careers. High on aspirations, goals and ambitions, they know what exactly they want. Employees have also become conscious and demanding than ever before. Employees look for an opportunity where they can apply and also hone their skills over the time, want to feel needed, important, and contributing to the organisation, a challenge and opportunities to prove their credibility; and go back home with a sense of accomplishment.
Facing the brunt of the high attrition rates and instability of the workforce, HR fraternity has been forced to look beyond the traditional ways and tools of motivating employees and performance management. The modern HR management is making an effort to identify and manage the aspirations of the employees, so that performers don't move on to the greener pastures (other companies) at the other side of the fence. Managing employee aspirations has emerged as the latest retention tool for the organisations.
Different people, different aspirations:
Basically, an employee's aspirations can range from career aspirations i.e. the responsibilities, authority and position, to the economic aspirations in terms of the money or the compensation involved. But, an important issue or point which cannot be neglected in this regard is aspirations differ from person to person. Different people have different perspectives and different aspirations.
Today employees want to move up the ladder of success very fast. But where some people long for the vertical growth, some strive for the lateral growth. For example, an assistant manager can have entrepreneurial aspirations and might aspire to become the VP or head the department, whereas an employee engaged in some technical job might want to achieve mastery in his skill or craft.
The worst effected are the employees at the junior level, where the employee aspiration levels are at all-time high but the jobs have rather very low scope of growth.
Taking care of employee aspirations:
No employee wants to limit his/her growth and learning. Employee dissatisfaction leads to poor performance, low productivity and eventually high attrition rates. Therefore, the organisation should take care of the employee's aspirations to retain employees and making them with the organisation. People leave an organisation when there is a disparity between the employee's desired career path and the path provided by the organisation. There needs to be a match and alignment between them.
Complications involved:
"Employee aspirations and organisation" is a sensitive and complicated issue, and definitely not without the frills. One of the most practical problems faced by the organisation is the fact that many-a-times the employee aspirations fluctuate or increase at the most opportune or suitable time. Technically speaking, understanding employee aspirations is not an easy task. Employee satisfaction, employee engagement, employee expectations and employee aspirations are all inter-related. Therefore, it would be appropriate to say that this issue carries an excess baggage.
Solutions:
An organisation can take care of its employee's aspirations in various ways, and by doing so it tells it employees that it cares for them and is committed to their growth and welfare. A company can go a long way in understanding their aspirations, needs and requirements, and provide them opportunities within the organisation to grow. In organizational terms, it is known as "Aspiration Management".
It can provide the employees responsibility coupled with authority and accountability, transparent system and procedures, various resources and facilities, accommodating and motivating work culture etc. Most importantly, the organization should align the aspirations to its overall goals via their responsibilities.
The organisations need to identify the stabilizing factor of its employees. Identifying employee's core competencies and making them do what they actually want to and enjoy doing. The organisation can give the employees opportunities of growth in their same job through keeping them abreast with the developments and trainings on their latest technologies and methods. Job rotation can also help to cater to the issue.
Infact, the organisation can actually make the employee aware of his own aspirations and help them to shape their aspiration and walk on the right path and accomplish them.
Conclusion:
Employee aspirations can take them places and can is creating severe problems for the organisations. Therefore, organisations have the challenge of conjoining its goals with the employee aspirations, in order to successfully overcome the problems of high attritions and attracting and retaining the best performers.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
What Is Attrition Rate?
The attrition rate has always been a sensitive issue for all organizations. Calculating employee turnover rate is not that simple as it seems to be. No common formula can be used by all the organizations. A formula had to be devised keeping in view the nature of the business and different job functions. Moreover, calculating attrition rate is not only about devising a mathematical formula. It also has to take into account the root of the problem by going back to the hiring stage.
Attrition rate: There is no standard formula to calculate the attrition rate of a company. This is because of certain factors as:
• The employee base changes each month. So if a company has 1,000 employees in April 2004 and 2,000 in March 2005, then they may take their base as 2,000 or as 1,500 (average for the year). If the number of employees who left is 300, then the attrition figure could be 15 percent or 20 percent depending on what base you take.
• Many firms may not include attrition of fresher who leave because of higher studies or within three months of joining.
• In some cases, attrition of poor performers may also not be treated as attrition. Calculating attrition rate:
Attrition rates can be calculated using a simple formula:
Attrition =(No. of employees who left in the year / average employees in the year) x 100
Thus, if the company had 1,000 employees in April 2004, 2,000 in March 2005, and 300 quit in the year, then the average employee strength is 1,500 and attrition is 100 x (300/1500) = 20 percent. Besides this, there are various other types of attrition that should be taken into account. These are:
• Fresher attrition that tells the number of fresher who left the organization within one year. It tells how many are using the company as a springboard or a launch pad.
• Infant mortality that is the percentage of people who left the organization within one year. This indicates the ease with which people adapt to the company.
• Critical resource attrition which tell the attrition in terms of key personnel like senior executives leaving the organization.
• Low performance attrition: It tells the attrition of those who left due to poor performance.
Attrition Costs
One of the best methods for calculating the cost of turnover takes into account expenses involved to replace an employee leaving an organization. These expenses are:
A. Recruitment cost
The cost to the business when hiring new employees includes the following six factors plus 10 percent for incidentals such as background screening:
• Time spent on sourcing replacement
• Time spent on recruitment and selection
• Travel expenses, if any
• Re-location costs, if any n Training/ramp-up time
• Background/reference screening
B. Training and development cost
To estimate the cost of training and developing new employees, cost of new hires must be taken into consideration. This will mean direct and indirect costs, and can be largely classified under the following heads:
• Training materials
• Technology
• Employee benefits
• Trainers’ Time
C. Administration cost
They include:
• Set up communication systems
• Add employees to the HR system
• Set up the new hire’s workspace
• Set up ID-cards, access cards, etc.
Attrition rate: There is no standard formula to calculate the attrition rate of a company. This is because of certain factors as:
• The employee base changes each month. So if a company has 1,000 employees in April 2004 and 2,000 in March 2005, then they may take their base as 2,000 or as 1,500 (average for the year). If the number of employees who left is 300, then the attrition figure could be 15 percent or 20 percent depending on what base you take.
• Many firms may not include attrition of fresher who leave because of higher studies or within three months of joining.
• In some cases, attrition of poor performers may also not be treated as attrition. Calculating attrition rate:
Attrition rates can be calculated using a simple formula:
Attrition =(No. of employees who left in the year / average employees in the year) x 100
Thus, if the company had 1,000 employees in April 2004, 2,000 in March 2005, and 300 quit in the year, then the average employee strength is 1,500 and attrition is 100 x (300/1500) = 20 percent. Besides this, there are various other types of attrition that should be taken into account. These are:
• Fresher attrition that tells the number of fresher who left the organization within one year. It tells how many are using the company as a springboard or a launch pad.
• Infant mortality that is the percentage of people who left the organization within one year. This indicates the ease with which people adapt to the company.
• Critical resource attrition which tell the attrition in terms of key personnel like senior executives leaving the organization.
• Low performance attrition: It tells the attrition of those who left due to poor performance.
Attrition Costs
One of the best methods for calculating the cost of turnover takes into account expenses involved to replace an employee leaving an organization. These expenses are:
A. Recruitment cost
The cost to the business when hiring new employees includes the following six factors plus 10 percent for incidentals such as background screening:
• Time spent on sourcing replacement
• Time spent on recruitment and selection
• Travel expenses, if any
• Re-location costs, if any n Training/ramp-up time
• Background/reference screening
B. Training and development cost
To estimate the cost of training and developing new employees, cost of new hires must be taken into consideration. This will mean direct and indirect costs, and can be largely classified under the following heads:
• Training materials
• Technology
• Employee benefits
• Trainers’ Time
C. Administration cost
They include:
• Set up communication systems
• Add employees to the HR system
• Set up the new hire’s workspace
• Set up ID-cards, access cards, etc.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
How Can HR Manage Difficult People at Work
Every organisation, every workplace has people with diverse backgrounds, religions, educational qualifications, experiences etc. Most importantly, they differ in their personalities and attitudes. Most people are polite, easily accessible and cooperate with others. But every organisation has a few people who are simply difficult to deal with or difficult to manage. "Difficult people" as they are generally referred, exists in every workplace. They can be in the form of a bad boss, a difficult co-worker or a non-corporative vendor or customer.
Difficult people become the problem employees for an organisation very soon. From the organisation's point of view, difficult people in a workplace is a problem because not only do they
themselves perform feebly, but also affect other employee's productivity, and often become a bottleneck for the people around them to perform efficiently on their jobs. A negative person can affect and hinder the organizational processes like change.
Types of difficult people in an organisation:
Difficult people in an organisation and be characterized and categorized into the following types or categories:
• Uncooperative - These are the people who are concerned only about their needs and work, often creating troubles and conflicts for others. They don't cooperate with others and have the tendency to create tension at workplace.
• Power Seekers - There are few people who can be categorized basically as power seekers. They always look for some chance or the other to seek more authority and power over others and show their superiority. To seek the spotlight (attention), or to be in the good books of the boss, they can even become the 'yes man' of their boss and go to the extent demoting or creating problems for others.
• Complainer - This category is for the people who keep complaining about the organisation and its systems, their co-workers etc. Although there are complainers who complain against the genuine issues and do good for the organisation. The most dangerous type of complainers is the "malcontent complainer" who offers no valid suggestions but problems, and they drain out the energy from the organisation and have a demotivating impact on others.
• Pessimists - Another category of difficult people in the organisation is of pessimists. They are the set of negative people in the organisation who can find fault in almost everything and everybody. With their negative mindsets, they can create negativity in their surroundings.
• The aggressive employee - Aggressive employees, especially an aggressive boss, is the most difficult set of people in an organisation to deal with. They are the people who refuse to accept their faults and flaws, and consider themselves to be always right. They are found to be dominating in nature and believe that they "know-it-all". Such people fail to mature and acknowledge other's valuable ideas and suggestions. Such employees are often referred as "The hyena" indicating rude, aggressive, authoritarian and negative people, always blaming others for their failures.
• The wild cat -is the category of people who are generally found very irregular at their work. Also, they are known to create and spread rumors in the workplace, always making excuses and blaming others for their inadequate performance. They have the tendency to create stress at their workplace.
MANAGING DIFFICULT PEOPLE AT WORK:
Difficult people can be irrational, abusive, creating problems persistently or simply difficult to get along with. Every organisation has to decide whether and how to deal with them without having an adverse effect on the organisation's environment, employee's productivity and their morale. A few ways of dealing with them are:
Talk to them: Be patient and polite, talk to them with a personalized touch explaining them the situation. Don't confront or blame them, and listen to them. Give them a piece of your own mind, understand if there is some problem they are facing. Reinforce the good part of their behaviour.
Don't be a difficult person for them! Don't rush things and explain your point of view with care. Don't point fingers or try to judge them as a person. Be unbiased and systematic I your approach.
Always agree to disagree: Talk to the person with an open mind and positivity. No two individual are alike and there can always be disagreements. Personally disliking towards a co-worker or boss should be dealt with care. Always try to find the positive way out.
And last but not the least
Take concrete action: Once you are completely aware of the problem, through with all the possible solutions and the situation doesn't get any better, don't shy away from taking any concrete action for the good of the organisation and to stop the problem from aggravating, even if it requires to confront the person directly.
Establish parameters and hire "right": One of the most important and effective solution is to frame and practice the recruitment policies and procedures to judge the attitude of the person at the time of the interview and hire only the right people.
CONCLUSION:
Dealing with difficult people is a challenge. However firing them or separating them from the organisation should be the last resort, as it is always possible to help them be more productive and effective in doing their job.
Difficult people become the problem employees for an organisation very soon. From the organisation's point of view, difficult people in a workplace is a problem because not only do they
themselves perform feebly, but also affect other employee's productivity, and often become a bottleneck for the people around them to perform efficiently on their jobs. A negative person can affect and hinder the organizational processes like change.
Types of difficult people in an organisation:
Difficult people in an organisation and be characterized and categorized into the following types or categories:
• Uncooperative - These are the people who are concerned only about their needs and work, often creating troubles and conflicts for others. They don't cooperate with others and have the tendency to create tension at workplace.
• Power Seekers - There are few people who can be categorized basically as power seekers. They always look for some chance or the other to seek more authority and power over others and show their superiority. To seek the spotlight (attention), or to be in the good books of the boss, they can even become the 'yes man' of their boss and go to the extent demoting or creating problems for others.
• Complainer - This category is for the people who keep complaining about the organisation and its systems, their co-workers etc. Although there are complainers who complain against the genuine issues and do good for the organisation. The most dangerous type of complainers is the "malcontent complainer" who offers no valid suggestions but problems, and they drain out the energy from the organisation and have a demotivating impact on others.
• Pessimists - Another category of difficult people in the organisation is of pessimists. They are the set of negative people in the organisation who can find fault in almost everything and everybody. With their negative mindsets, they can create negativity in their surroundings.
• The aggressive employee - Aggressive employees, especially an aggressive boss, is the most difficult set of people in an organisation to deal with. They are the people who refuse to accept their faults and flaws, and consider themselves to be always right. They are found to be dominating in nature and believe that they "know-it-all". Such people fail to mature and acknowledge other's valuable ideas and suggestions. Such employees are often referred as "The hyena" indicating rude, aggressive, authoritarian and negative people, always blaming others for their failures.
• The wild cat -is the category of people who are generally found very irregular at their work. Also, they are known to create and spread rumors in the workplace, always making excuses and blaming others for their inadequate performance. They have the tendency to create stress at their workplace.
MANAGING DIFFICULT PEOPLE AT WORK:
Difficult people can be irrational, abusive, creating problems persistently or simply difficult to get along with. Every organisation has to decide whether and how to deal with them without having an adverse effect on the organisation's environment, employee's productivity and their morale. A few ways of dealing with them are:
Talk to them: Be patient and polite, talk to them with a personalized touch explaining them the situation. Don't confront or blame them, and listen to them. Give them a piece of your own mind, understand if there is some problem they are facing. Reinforce the good part of their behaviour.
Don't be a difficult person for them! Don't rush things and explain your point of view with care. Don't point fingers or try to judge them as a person. Be unbiased and systematic I your approach.
Always agree to disagree: Talk to the person with an open mind and positivity. No two individual are alike and there can always be disagreements. Personally disliking towards a co-worker or boss should be dealt with care. Always try to find the positive way out.
And last but not the least
Take concrete action: Once you are completely aware of the problem, through with all the possible solutions and the situation doesn't get any better, don't shy away from taking any concrete action for the good of the organisation and to stop the problem from aggravating, even if it requires to confront the person directly.
Establish parameters and hire "right": One of the most important and effective solution is to frame and practice the recruitment policies and procedures to judge the attitude of the person at the time of the interview and hire only the right people.
CONCLUSION:
Dealing with difficult people is a challenge. However firing them or separating them from the organisation should be the last resort, as it is always possible to help them be more productive and effective in doing their job.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Benefits Of Employee Empowerment
"An empowered organization is one in which individuals have the knowledge, skill, desire, and opportunity to personally succeed in a way that leads to collective organizational success." - Stephen Covey
An organization’s human resource is its most valuable asset. The employees are the repository of knowledge, skills and abilities that can’t be imitated by the competitors. Technologies, products and processes are easily imitated by the competitors; however, at the end of the day, employees are the most strategic resource of the company.
Generally, people are a firm’s most underutilized resource. And that is why management tries to empower the employees. But employees often are afraid of taking this responsibility. They fear the additional work pressure that they will have to bear as a part of being empowered. Besides, they also fear being held accountable for the decisions they make.
But, what does employee empowerment actually mean? Does it mean absolute authority or absolute power? The answer is certainly NO. Empowerment refers to enlargement of an employee’s job responsibility by giving him the authority of decision making about his own job without approval of his immediate supervisor. Empowerment is the degree of responsibility and authority given to an employee. By empowerment, the employees are supported and encouraged to utilize their skills, abilities and creativity by accepting accountability for their work. Empowerment occurs when employees are adequately trained, provided with all the relevant information and the best possible tools, fully involved in key decisions, and are fairly rewarded.
Employee empowerment entails identifying how much responsibility and authority an individual can effectively handle without becoming over-burdened or distressed. Empowerment includes supervisors and employees working together to establish clear goals and expectations within agreed-upon boundaries.
An organization’s human resource is its most valuable asset. The employees are the repository of knowledge, skills and abilities that can’t be imitated by the competitors. Technologies, products and processes are easily imitated by the competitors; however, at the end of the day, employees are the most strategic resource of the company.
Generally, people are a firm’s most underutilized resource. And that is why management tries to empower the employees. But employees often are afraid of taking this responsibility. They fear the additional work pressure that they will have to bear as a part of being empowered. Besides, they also fear being held accountable for the decisions they make.
But, what does employee empowerment actually mean? Does it mean absolute authority or absolute power? The answer is certainly NO. Empowerment refers to enlargement of an employee’s job responsibility by giving him the authority of decision making about his own job without approval of his immediate supervisor. Empowerment is the degree of responsibility and authority given to an employee. By empowerment, the employees are supported and encouraged to utilize their skills, abilities and creativity by accepting accountability for their work. Empowerment occurs when employees are adequately trained, provided with all the relevant information and the best possible tools, fully involved in key decisions, and are fairly rewarded.
Employee empowerment entails identifying how much responsibility and authority an individual can effectively handle without becoming over-burdened or distressed. Empowerment includes supervisors and employees working together to establish clear goals and expectations within agreed-upon boundaries.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Why Employee Empowerment Fails?
Employee empowerment means that an employee has the power to take some decisions without consulting his boss or reporting manager. Employee empowerment is an essential part of employee retention. But due to many known or unknown reasons, it fails. Some of the reasons may be:
• Managers don’t take employee empowerment seriously in the first place. It becomes more of a prestige issue to give control to others.
• Even if managers take it seriously, they are unable to lay down proper boundaries for the empowerment.
• Managers sometimes fail to provide a strategic framework.
• Managers sometimes don’t provide the information, and growth & learning opportunities that are needed by the employ to empower himself and take good decisions.
• On the other hand, managers sometimes hand over all responsibilities to the employee. This may lead to misuse of powers given to the employee.
• Some managers act like a barrier and hamper the decision making practice of the empowered employee out of jealousy.
Monday, October 27, 2008
UNSHACKLE EDUCATION, MAKE IT INDUSTRY
Future of HR depends upon the present and the way we would go about shaping the human resource not after we have acquired these in our companies and institutions but while they are on the way of being made into a “resource” from being raw source. It is obvious that this means education and the societal outlook that shapes and streamlines our human resource for use in our industry. Kenya is on a fast clip of five percent plus growth adding millions of jobs.
These are not clerical or basic technical jobs mind your which could be picked up and handled by a mindless bunch of youth trained in a lackluster educational environment that teaches them rudiments of education but keeps them in their pens until they grow up adequately to be let out in the open. These range from high pressure front office to highly sophisticated exchange floor, from plumbing and sewage to highly evolved project management, from cab driver to captains of our fast going airline industry, from street corner grocery store to mega malls …. The byword is sophistication and quality.
It is not just desperate demand for human resource but poor HR supplies that is to blame, which itself is the result of insensitive and fragmented education system lacking leadership desperately for decades. Those who set shop earlier thanks to the largesse of the government and vision of some of its right thinking leaders continued in their glass houses of excellence not wanting to venture out to foster and groom capacities and talent in their sphere. The focused higher educational institutions remains islands of excellence while only the Universities that mass produce talent, by their mandate went ahead expanding capacities by setting up colleges resulting in mindless of mass of degree holders with no hope of landing any job.
Even the regulator (KNEC) exacerbated the situation by grossly misusing its role in permitting capacity without quality and in fits and starts wielding the axe, unfortunately to prune potential high quality schools set up by individuals who chose to rather bend the retrograde rules to expand capacities to make some economic sense to stay in business. Even the leadership among the higher educational institutions represented by a host of chambers and associations remained mute observers for decades by pontificating on things to do without getting down to the brass tacks of actually doing it. American Management Association, Singapore Management Institution are a case in point those that do rather than speak about it. The law of the land also treats education still as a charitable activity which would be fine while the government handles the bulk of the educational expenses leaving the rest to a few enlightened individuals.
So what is to be done? Education should be made an industry with unrestricted entry to corporate and professionals as a not for profit commercial enterprise that could continuously reinvest its resources in expanding capacities and qualities capacities and qualities with the shareholders. Capacity expansion and quality should be left to the market forces to decide which can happen by more vigilant industry watch through its associations and self regulation through independent accreditation programmes. The regulator can play a greater and more proactive role in mentoring the industry and guiding it through rules based on more thorough study of the ground realities through constant research and support rather than dictate terms.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)