Are you ignoring high performer?

 

'Low performers are more engaged than the high performers?'

Read one of the tweets recently…trust me I was more shocked than you though reading it further, only made me wonder about the gap in expectation and performance . Even more, the entire HR metrics around it.

However if I myself look back during peak attrition times, the entire bell curve goes for a toss when high performers leave voluntarily saving low performers as an option to be retained back. This is called need of hour or some are born lucky!!

Exit Interviews does give a feedback where high performers leave due to work load, managing high employer expectation, work life balance and above all working with a team members who without much efforts are paid at par with them. We can’t blame the system, for it’s human nature to look for the best resource while assigning any task and in most circumstances this become a repetition.Initally such delegations are appreciated but we tend to forget that an individual has a capability which would not withstand pressure beyond a certain elasticity .Once we cross the said threshold, frustration is inevitable. ? High performers are not easy to recruit but retaining and engaging them with the organization is a challenge for all. What fun would be to lose cash cows over a problem child?

It’s true every employee has different expectation but we should try to understand that such situations might solve problems in short run but going further will complicate issues. Many times high performers are unable to cope up with additional pressures and work load and overnight the category changes. What is expected other than an exit!!Timely cognizance will not just make the employee feel cared but also re affirm his/her trust in the HR processes and also help him/her stay engaged.

We would only flaunt those engagement rings when we are happily married!!

Work from home in 10

“ Yahoo Employees Can’t Work From Home Anymore”

When I read this tweet last week, was taken aback and yes not to miss thanked my stars for not being in Yahoo at least ;)

So the topic has been hot for a while now and it being very close to my heart and needless to say invariably my favorite pick I thought to pen down my thoughts as well. Again without taking any sides I quote, Sairee Chahal, Founder Fleximoms, ‘work from home is one of the many formats of work flex’ and honestly require lot of ‘MATURITY’ from both employees as well as employers. Only when both are in sync with the model will it work otherwise without arguments its failure is inevitable.

I have personally been practicing it for couple of months now but again my employer plugHR has been successfully doing it for many years. Still recall meeting Prashant Bhaskar, Founder plugHR saying he started on his own enterprise for wanted more flexibility and now loves the providing the same to others. Here both parties have a very clear picture of what’s happening around on the other side, the reason is ‘CONNECT’. We make sure the all work flex professional are connected on all possible ways. So my day starts with a ‘Sabse Bolo’ call meeting @ 9:15 am with all status update on the day and if I really need to speak to somebody I am rest assured that they are just a call/watsapp/BBM/gtalk away. Trust me sometimes these apps are more effective than face to face follow ups…try it to believe it!!

‘SOCIAL MEDIA’ definitely has been a boon for such set ups, it not just keeps me informed about latest happening but also is a good way for a team connect. I know my virtual colleagues as much as I knew mine with last employer. Also meeting physically once in a week helps a lot in rapport building, taking over gotomeeting or Skype with webcams on trust me works wonders. Why not... you can always show off your latest wardrobe addition!!

Having a ‘SCHEDULE’ and work space like the one you have in office would always help you focus on the job. Pursuing personal chores while at work should be avoided, though you can have breaks. Working from home need lot of ‘SELF DISCIPLINE’ and is mostly suited for people who are self motivated and for jobs which requires more concentrations.

Another approach which really helps is being PROACTIVE. In a physical office I could have explained about not meeting deadlines much more easily but when operating from home one has to very sure before giving up. Here only results a visible not efforts and to make it more transparent it’s the individual who has to be vocal enough to share concerns rather than waiting for the ugly turn.

A very important aspect of work from home is that many think it’s only boon for working moms, but in the changing dynamics men too prefer it. For now just it saves on ‘TRAVEL TIME’ but also ‘COST’ both for employee and employer. This work format also provide employers to target a potential latent talent which are otherwise females on sabbatical and for organizations which can’t afford to have a full fledged in-house crèche facility , this work as wonders.

But yes one size can’t fit to all!!

However in profiles where team work/brainstorming/product development is required one might to operate face to face then virtually .Again expecting fresher’s /junior members to be productive in this model can be a challenge. So as much as it can be a benefit of one, many might just be demotivated enough to give up.

Infact, many individuals find it difficult to operate remotely and are more comfortable in physical set up with people around. I remember we hired somebody recently and she quit because found it boring, working all by herself. We can’t blame anybody here, for humans are social and that’s the secret, why social networking is so useful in connecting virtual beings. Any achievements or failure which we would have shared with our team member otherwise are now shared with a larger audience. Trust me many people envy me for being on Face book and Twitter the whole day J

So guys to be honest this works for me, because I want it to work for me. At the end of the day I am ‘ACCOUNTABLE’ to perform and by virtue of my experience can be productive without much surveillance. If you are ready for such high ‘COMMITMENT’, you are in….

 

Is it a Disease?

Image: Flickr/Frank De Kleine Coloring (Creative Commons)

"Is it a disease?", she chatted on gTalk and I could imagine the look of disgust on her face. That wasn't the face I remembered, she had been my model once when I knew about cameras and did some shoots alongside my day jobs. And that was a pretty face and a good professional over that. "Call me now", I gTalked back. "At work, will call in evening", she typed back. "No, call me now", work wasn't more important.

Irene (name changed to protect identity) didn't mince her words, she had a question for me. "How come, till yesterday I was perfect for the job and suddenly my work has to be reallocated, delegated, just because the strip showed a red line?" "Does it make sense Prashant? Is pregnancy a disease?".  She had even been to two job interviews, one of which made an offer and then pulled back when she told them the good news. 

Irene didn't work for me and she spoke to me because she felt I had interest in Organization practices. But her agony was very real, very there and her question is one that stares Indian Entrepreneurs in their faces. What's so scary about a Woman employee turning pregnant that Entrepreneurs and Organizations go bonkers. Isn't it the simplest of human resource realities that an enterprise needs to provision for? How impossible is it to cover for 3 month leave followed by a few months of WorkFlex? 

While somewhere else in the World a pregnant Merrisa takes charge as CEO of global Internet giant Yahoo, closer home Entrepreneurs are playing "I need no pregnant" with the most potent workforce around and calling their ventures sick in the process. 

I offered Irene a job with WorkFlex option and assured of connecting her to more good ventures but I continue to think........ Are we building the Awesome Ventures that we had set out to build as Entrepreneurs?

Think before you look!

The guy seemed to have it all, pleasing personality, a good talker, had decent credentials, could answer all my questions and was asking for a reasonable raise. The problem was - I hadn’t thought through what I should be looking for.

Think about it, most job descriptions are poor copy paste jobs, done only when an agency asks for them! And what do they really describe? Most sound either like mundane lists of "to dos" or like glossed over hard sells that a candidate should be falling for! Oh yes and they do specify in some detail the skills required of the person - communication, selling, computers, blah, blah...

What they totally miss out is what you are really looking for -

A person who fits into your company culture

A person who you can talk to, who you can work with

A person who will not make excuses for why a job can't be done, but who will try and figure out ways to do it instead!

A person who may not have done the job before but will try like hell to make sure he gets it!

In short, a person who will share your passion to create / grow..

So now, let's go back to the drawing board, let's create new job descriptions with something that goes like this:

1. What's the type of person I am looking for?

2. What are things about work that I want him to be on top of?

3. How will he contribute to the company - what specific outcomes am I hoping for him to achieve?

4. What would he typically be currently doing and where?

5. What would be his typical hobbies/ interests?

6.  What would be the best way to get to this dream person?

Now start looking! You will be surprised at the results!

PS: I don’t mean “He” in a gender biased way!

A Facebook Status!!

It was usual working day when suddenly while waiting at my son’s day care I checked my Facebook wall…after all I was eager for the responses on my status update which said…

"what matters more in a job:content or environment?"

 

And amazingly enough this time there were more comments than just likes J and some came from long lost friends too. So this means content does matter!! Right or else why would you all take pains of writing comments rather than either ignoring or may be ‘like’ing as a social courtesy. But is it just that...I doubt if I would have got same response on Orkut scrap. Hmmmm…. so guess what?  Ignoring environment is ruled out too.

But going through all the comments you would notice not just variety but different permutations of two choices. And yes, Money I purposely didn’t mention as an option for in a way it is part of environment and one more addition in option probably would have not even allowed to capture  all the comments. So when I saw environment and first choice, could relate to my personal experience where as a recruiter many times I came across candidates ready to compromise on higher capacity positions just for a better brand name, which they felt would provide better environment and exposure. Not just that, need for better environment also makes people come on lower salary hence agreeing with those who voted for it was quite natural for me. But at the same time a recent discussion with a friend who actually opted for an environment which she was not very pleased with ,only for a job profile with a content of her choice. Infact she chose job profile against all the odds!! Not just her many people consider its only content which takes you up on the ladder but similarly there are people who imbibe positives for the environment and grow as a professional.

We definitely can’t ignore the fact that best is the blend of both but when it comes to make a choice it’s not just different for different people but it does change for any specific person with time. An individual’s choice would depend on his state of mind and vary with his priorities and preferences. But ultimately what’s important that whatsoever we might pursue but ultimately we all seek inner peace. Our choices are just a way to stabilize our urges which allows us to focus for our further overall development.

So next time when you choose something remember there is nothing wrong or right it’s just your outlook, so go for it!!

Boredom Kills

You think boring is good as dead? Think again! 

OR shall I say, look again. It's all there, and you arent seeing it! Cant see it still?

Then ask your team to make a list of things they hate at work & of things they like, you'd be able to see a common thread on the former list. Those would be all the boring things that you've stuffed out there and that's choking your enterprise motivation. 

Now start throwing them out one by one, boring can't be useful, and if its so useful, find an interesting way to accomplish it. Don't ask HR to do this, most of their stuff falls in that list, and yes no matter what they tell you, your Policy Manual don't make for interesting, neither do those Performance Management forms! In fact if you wish to enjoy true Bon-Fire & cheer, burn those forms first. So with most of your existing content burnt and thrown including your dress codes, wall paints, attendance register or even retina scanner!How do you run Business then?

Well ask your team again; out of fear of getting the PMS forms back, trust me they'll create Awesome stuff to manage it all. 

For an entrepreneur, driving exciting content and keeping boredom at bay is as critical to existence as is keeping away from Health food if you really want to live long. 

Unless of course you'd rather kill!

Love Letters

I was at my desk getting on with Monday routine when this arrived at my mail box. The sender of the mail had just proclaimed his love for me!!!

Well, when you are a mother of two and hitting mid-life pretty soon, such emails do "intrigue" but the sender of the message was a bigger shocker!

I opened the mail, unsure of what the contents could hold in store for me and how my love life was about to get exciting........ What I read thereafter brought smiles, warmth, pride all mixed up into one adrenaline rush. I have not stopped smiling since!

Now now, you might wonder what's this got to do with plugHR and why am I opening up my love life here. Humor me, I am making a point here!

The man who was proclaiming his unabashed love for me was none other than the Founder CEO of plugHR! Hangon… before you jump to conclusions about the impropriety of this, I want to quote from his love letter (strictly the uncensored bits ;) )

What had caused this you wonder? It was the plugHR bootcamp – a three day affair where the team lived together, played (games), fought (like kids at times) over points, ate, drank, danced, “karaoke-d”, introspected, shared, treasure hunted, then ate some more. In the bargain, came back invigorated, focused, sharpened, and of course…. Much in love!

If this isn’t magic, what is?!

When was the last time you wrote your team a love letter? Do it, ask us how.


Writer is Entrepreneur, running enthusiast, artist.

Do you Bake Cookies @ Work?

I am a “Workflex” mom and typically am running short on patience with kids getting extra enthusiastic about working around the house during my “working” hours.

Today was one such day. Early on in the day, my 10 year old decided that he needed to hone his baking skills, and TODAY was THE day he wanted to do it, and of course, now was the only time!

So we got into this argument about how it’s not such a great idea to do it at 9:30 in the morning on a working day and how it was wiser to wait until the maid got in and was around to assist, trouble shoot, clean up, etc.

Arnie (the aforementioned 10 year old), was of course having none of that and he resolved that he would brave on and do it all on his own…… So far so good! Promptly, out came the recipe book, pans, ingredients, weighing scale, spatulas, gloves, blender et al. I could feel my blood-pressure rise but decided, for the sake of my peace of mind, to allow this transgression!

And so it was that Arnie, who knew nothing about baking, had never baked alone ever in his 10 year life, had only rudimentary knowledge of kitchen implements, but who was never short on purpose, enthusiasm and chutzpah, baked the most delicious, gorgeous cookies I had ever eaten. And here I was, berating him for the mess he had made, the countless interruptions he had added to my work, the general chaos in the house with the dog getting frisky on all the food smells and a kitchen that was getting increasingly buttery and floury!

When I look back at this, what exactly did he learn?? Hopefully, he learnt that when you want to do something badly, just go ahead and do it, doesn’t matter if mom thinks of it as a good idea; And not – “Mom never appreciates that I am doing something Awesome!”

What did I learn? Well, there is short-term pain when there’s an enthusiastic hand around. But with some nurturing, how that hand can create AWESOMENESS!

Ok, now let’s extrapolate this to your organization… Do you have Arnies around? What do you do with them? Do you allow the overwhelming urge of playing it safe and keeping everything clean and perfect to dominate? OR Do you allow them to bake their cookies despite the mess they will surely make? In short, are you experiencing AWESOMENESS?

Would be keen to know!

Are you Hungry??

Hunger is to want more…to achieve more...to perform more...to explore more

Look around yourself and you might find people hungry for knowledge, right opportunity  and other such intangible and worthy experiences .No wonder why Rashmi Bansal  titled her book ,”Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish”!! Letting yourself want something will keep you hungry and realizing that you haven’t all that knowledge required will keep you foolish and this would end up in a success story…

When you find a profile updated on a portal, the first things which strikes you is a job seeker. But honestly it’s not always that though the idea of being successful is always at the back of one’s mind and we all in one way or the other are trying to settle our careers northwards. Looking for a job change is a career decision and many time job interviews however good, tricky or difficult they might be, is not right way to decide on this life changing event. I find many people changing jobs for reasons they themselves are not convinced and by the time they realize it’s too late even to run the ‘Rat Race’. For though we look forward for a bright career but wrong move makes us end up with a job. Now why do we attempt to jeopardize our future and just like me and you there are many others who would not like to re-invent the wheel

There is a section of our society who keeps itself updated with the general happenings in and around through different media and they are people who yet hungry but believe in ‘Better be safe than sorry ‘.And what they miss is the first hand experience on that risk. What would have happened if?? And this ‘if’ most of the times remains unanswered. Again the question is “What’s more important and is it worth it?”

So whether or not you a job hopper…

Whether or not you have an appetite for risk…

Whether or not your love your work…

You still are hungry!!

Interesting on an average we would agree that we not just crave for information but also self assessment and further the best option we find for the same is job interviews. Have come across people attending interviews in order to assess their knowledge though job change is not always the real reason. Frankly, what are the other options??But job interviews too cannot be an ideal way for such discussions. A typical interview will always revolve around the specific requirement and it hardly will let an attendee explore his/her grey areas. In such formal discussions we land up only to know what the other party requires and not what our capability is. So here the need was understand your strengths and analyse your past decisions but on the contrary you either land up with a job offer without still exploring those untouched areas or with an unsatisfied and confused feeling of what went wrong?.Ironically we never come to know the right answer.

You are always looking forward to conversation on similar frequencies as yours. There is always a need to let people know,”what you did last summer”. It’s always welcoming to know that there are people travelling in same boat and you are not a loner. Appreciation coming from your fraternity counts more that from unknown.

plugHR knows just how to do it. …

We brings ‘Career Café’ in different cities for the HR folks who believe they are hungry and what can satisfy it better than ‘good food of discussions’. Catching others for a casual coffee break will not just bring you out of your dilemmas and inhibitions but also a clearer picture of your inside, one you have been seeking and longing for.

So next time when you are hungry, let’s catch up for a coffee!!

My Tryst with Distance Running

It’s 5am on a Sunday morning, a God forsaken hour for most of Mumbai.. What am I doing? Donning my running gear to hit NCPA for a 15km run. Not a jog… a run.

Who am I? Entrepreneur, Head of User Experience at plugHR, mother of 2, artist.. What the hell am I doing, you wonder? I am training for the Mumbai Marathon, due in January 2013. And… I run with a 300+ strong group, all in their mid-40s (I am not necessarily talking about myself here!); all running enthusiasts, not sportspersons.

My initiation into distance running was a freak accident. However, I never, in my wildest dreams, thought of it as such a life changer.

Distance running, in as much as it's a physical sport, is also a mind game. It is a play of mind over body, a willing mind over an unwilling body if you will. The mind is setting a seemingly unrealistic goal for the body to deliver.

What does it take for the mind and body to deliver on this goal? To break it down simply, I will say:

BELIEVE – ACHIEVE – BELIEVE more

BELIEVE you are upto the task, believe in the training you are putting in.

Then ACHIEVE intermediate goals, win some mind battles,

Hence BELIEVE some more that you will achieve the bigger goal too.

So, when you smoothly run 5km without major heartburn, you convince yourself that another 3k is not such a big deal, so on and so forth.

Its not all smooth sailing mind you. There is the occasional calf pain, knee pain, twist in the ankle, there are bad running days, there is bad weather, there are shoe bites, there are late nights, and there are bad terrains.  At times, the body simply refuses to take direction. Be kind it says!

Therein lies another lesson… very early on, it is amply clear to any runner, that a good run is just that - ONE good run. You understand that “Past performance is no guarantee of future return”. If and when you begin to become smug in your achievements, nature very quickly deals a sobering effect. So, you learn to take each day as it comes. Each run is “the” run, each run has its own outcome. There is no time to celebrate one good run, and no time to gloat over a bad one. You just basically get on with it!

Of course, this also takes other kinds of preps:

1.    There are the groaning and back breaking stomach crunches, knee exercises,  pushups – yes, those too!
2.      .    Don’t forget, the carbohydrate loading, throwing all weight loss dietary habits to the winds
3.     And then, and this is the tough part, no partying late into the night, watching the booze intake, watching meal times (all the boring stuff)

The focus always being on conditioning the mind and body to endure the rigors of training and the mental and physical strain you are about to inflict on them.

Why endure all of this you ask? Well, the buzz and the adrenalin rush that you experience on crossing the finish line, with breaths to spare, are altogether something else!

So - and here is where I get philosophical - are there lessons here to use in a corporate setting? The lesson, to my mind, is in the area of performance management, goal setting, motivation.

·      How do we create an environment where people are able to experience and live out the cycle of BELIEVE – ACHIEVE – BELIEVE more?

·      How can rewards and recognition be fine-tuned to not only pat a good run on a bad day but also support a bad run of an otherwise smart runner?

·      How do we put enough stress on fortification while all the hype is on the run?

Would love to hear view on some of these.. 

Writer is Entrepreneur, running enthusiast, artist.

Employees on Social Media?? ....Are you losing sleep??

Social Media at the workplace HAS to be the biggest dilemma facing CEOs today. Are these to be viewed as a bane or should they be embraced as superb tools for collaboration.

There are too many questions and not many easy answers.

For one, what should the policy be on use of Facebook at the workplace? If permitted, should usage be monitored? If not, is this a policy that can be enforced? And do you risk alienating employees rather than boosting their productivity? 

What about Linked-in? How do you view employee profiles? Are these threats to the organisation or are they marketing tools that showcase your company and its talent?

The collaborative powers of social media in cultural and marketing contexts are well known and do not require reiterating here. That it can unleash the true potential of an organisation through seamless collaboration and sharing between employees is an idea that's biding its time. 

While companies are increasingly articulating their social media strategy for customers, not enough attention has yet been given to social media for employees. 

A Report by McKinsey Global Institute argues that companies could improve productivity of "interaction workers" by 20 - 25% through improved collaboration and communication using social technologies. To my mind, however, there are some basic building blocks in getting there:

1. Does the organisation have a truly open and trusting culture and does it have the bandwidth to engage with employees in a democratic setup?

2. Is social media an entrenched management and communication tool within the company or just another dashboard available on the company's intranet?

3.  Does the top management truly embrace social media or looks at it only as an internal "PR" tool?

So where are you on all of this? Do you have the stomach for it???

HR as a Scapegoat!

A scapegoat is defined as someone who is punished for the mistakes of others.

I thought of writing this, as one of the cases being discussed in the forum was about Operations people blaming HR department for some failures.

Amusing isn’t it? but still we have all faced it at some point of time in our organizations. We as HR professionals are punished or blamed for what some other department or may be the owner is doing.

Sometimes, people even forget that HR people are also employees and do not take all the decisions on their own, they also have a reporting structure and a decision making authority is above them, still the blame for anything goes to “yours truly” the HR department.

Be it delay in opening bank accounts, salary transfer delays, low ratings during appraisals, bad hire, policy implementation, less or more training, low hikes, less salary…and what not. You name it and our fraternity has taken the blame.

The case which is being discussed talks about whether the HR department can be made accountable for the failure of the operations team, what do you think?

If it is a case of Bad hire, then obviously single handedly one cannot blame the HR department as operations people must or should have taken part in the recruitment process.

If it is the case of Non performance, then what were the senior officials doing? Sleeping when the performance was going below par? What were they up to? What about the internal checks, KRAs and performance reviews? Do you really think only HR department needs to control all these things. The answer is- no.

Then why are we being treated like that, because when you are dealing with 100 different cultures, 100 different backgrounds, 100 different personalities and yes with different attitude these things are bound to happen.

Yes, this is the only department that takes the responsibility when they are not able to solve the problem of any employee, or to be honest we get the blame as we do not communicate properly or in abundance.

• It is our failure actually to not communicate properly, if it is about delay in opening of bank accounts, tell the employees clearly that you are just a mediator between a bank and the employee, the delays can come from the side of the Bank if the documentation or paper work is not complete.

• If it is about not giving enough hike in the salary, please communicate informally that HR department also works with budgets, there is a specific budget within which we have to finalize the salary hikes. So, how can we be held responsible for something like this?

• Open communication channel always work where you are dealing with such diverse backgrounds, and yes, do not take unnecessary responsibility of dealing with everything on your own, involve people from other departments especially during recruitment.

• Have SOPs, policies and procedures for everything, no matter how small the thing looks like make sure it is documented and clearly communicated.

• Create a culture where there is no blame game, people take responsibility of their own actions and make sure they are accountable for certain things related to their work areas. Companies with such cultures of strong leadership do not come across such scapegoat kind of problems.

• Process orientation is very important, for completely avoiding the passing of the ball in the organization. Process integration is one such solution where you have well defined process, where operations process ends, where Accounts department process starts everything should be clearly declared and decided. This reminds me of an example in one of the Textile Companies I worked for, if anything went wrong the scapegoat was the Administration department, if logistics department failed to transfer some goods from one place to another; it was Admin Dept.’s fault as they did not provide the driver on time. Bingo!! Does it solve the problem? No my dear it does not.

So just stop being a scapegoat, grow up and let the company grow with you. When the ball is in your court make sure you utilize it completely for the sole purpose of your's and your company’s growth. 

Let me hear from you, your side of Scapegoat Story...:) 

Keep it simple honey!!

Keep it simple honey…

My days are generally busy and though I start quite early still squeezing out time for my favorite section of News Daily becomes next to impossible, courtesy my adorable son. Today was no different just that I managed to catch a glimpse of Times Ascent and came across this great article on performance management system based on an interview of Mr. Thomas J DeLong, professor at Harvard Business School.

As per the Professor an organization has three types of workers. A, those who exceed expectations, B who meet expectations and C are ones who are below expectations. Now I wish most of the organizations could keep it that crisp rather than further dividing it into some five to six categories, all because the managers are either not equipped or are not aware how to measure the expectation. This does nothing but in turn complicates the entire appraisal system and leads to confused employees with respect to their performance and even more stressed supervisors who spend months convincing them regarding the ratings they themselves never understood.

All this reminds me of BCG Matrix where Business units are categorized into Stars, Cash Cows, Dogs and Question Marks. Though it refers to a marketing lesson but same can be applied on Human assets where Stars are ‘A’ performer, ones who are future leaders and viewed as critical mass in an organization. Cash Cows are however the ‘B’ performers ones who are not just competent but most steady and reliable ones, infact just like cash cows they are ones who run the show and Dog are definitely the ‘C’ performers who are below expectation and should be either pushed toward being more productive or asked to exit from the system. Any organization should not hire question marks at all!!

We all know this but what lacks here is that mostly the focus is on A performers who are self driven and high on aspirations which if not satisfied internally would move out of system voluntarily, no matter what. After which, mostly we are concerned about C category and how can they be pumped to perform better. Now what we mostly ignore is the B category that works the best, balances work life with personal fronts and is extremely engaged to the organization. But ignoring this category raises unnecessary concerns which if not handled maturely and timely leads to exits from the block and ultimately affecting the profitability of the system.

Cutting the long story short, lesser categories will make life easier for all and not to mention will have more happy faces around.

 

 

 

 

Additional Responsibilities- Are you game?

There have been discussions about what to do in the free time at office/work. If at all we all have any free time, do you think taking some extra responsibilities without giving any hints to the seniors or bosses about the free time is possible? Why not? Give it a try.... Recently while taking an interview of a senior HR professional, the similar discussion cropped up- The guy was just not ready to sit relaxed and hence he took up the additional responsibility of handling operations.... what's your take?  How can we do that...read on

Being handed new work duties is part and parcel of restructuring drive within an organization. Saying yes to new challenges at work is always an opportunity to learn new skills, contribute more towards the growth of the company and career building bridges. However, the load of new responsibility will require some extra input on your part. Here’s how you can make the role transition a smooth process:

Rendezvous with your peers Before you assume charge of some new work responsibility, it is important to gain insight into the role from the person who held the responsibility before you. Go beyond discussing the mere protocol involved; rather have a discussion over the nature and scope of the task you are about to take over.

If it is a newly proposed work, then discuss with the colleague who initiated the idea and/or gave you the responsibility for the same to develop an action plan in order to get started.

Amalgamate new work with existing one. Next, you will need to integrate the new tasks with your present work schedule. An addition to already existing responsibilities can leave you overwhelmed and mismanaged for both time and thought.

You can begin by grouping work that is similar to some existing work in adjacent slots as it gets done faster, with your thought process already aligned in the particular direction. Thus take stock of your daily schedule and create concrete work pockets for different tasks ensuring that the increase in duties does not hamper your original work arrangement.

Take on only as much as you can handle. As your work responsibilities expand, so will the need arise to create a work plan to judge how well you can manage your previous and newly added duties. Be clear on how much you can add to your plate without hampering your productivity and efficiency. There are times when we think our plate is not full and we just keep on filling it and then one day we realize that we are stuck. We have no idea how all this came to us and we cannot do it. So, just take it easy and go on slowly while asking for new tasks.

Initial regular assessment is important. As you assume the new responsibilities, take out time to gauge the progress and impact of your efforts. It’s best that you define the methodology and the projected outcome of the tasks in the beginning before they become accepted processes. Take the feedback from your seniors at various intervals, so that you know you are on the right track and taking a suggestion and advice from experts will surely add value in the long term prospects.

Take challenging tasks: Be open to work with new challenging assignments if you have any free time. Don’t jump over to any opportunity that comes your way, evaluate, introspect and work as per your areas of strength and where you can have some new opportunities of learning.

Learn new things for job enrichment: The same work, less work can add monotony and going to the office may start feeling like a burden. Yes, that’s what happens we all have seen such phases in our career. So what do we do? Start learning new things, look around and whenever an opportunity strikes at your door, just grasp and learn. 

For example if you are in HR role and just handle recruitment, start learning about other HR functions in spare time. Observe, understand and then learn best practices while still working your own thing. This way you can get better opportunities in the future.

HR Interview @ tweethon

I always wondered what did one bird say to another while enjoying their sun bath on a window… and then years later twitter said it all…though this time it was the humans tweeting just like birds!!

At plugHR every Thursday might not be new day but it’s a day where we have a new tweet – marathon fondly called ‘Tweethon’ . plugHR, a team which believes in matching pace with the latest happenings and loves to create an inertia of movement, is worth following on twitter @plughr. The topics range from Human behavior to HR trends and sometimes simple yet interesting as Social Media.

But the last tweethon was worth mentioning for the topic though generic was too intriguing and looking at all the tweets together I couldn’t stop myself from compiling this version for any such future reference. With no intention to take the credit from Ms Jharna Guleria, our Talent Acquisition Head who somehow not just manages to hire amazing HR folks but also brings up great topics for tweeting J

And  this time she started with a question which is a part and parcel of any HR professional’s life irrespective of the sides?? Here she tweets…

jharna guleria‏@jharnaguleria

wht r the interviewing questions u ask ur candidates nd skills u assess thru thm.Tweet ur thots @plugHR tweetthon 2day at 4:00PM

and here you go with the tweeting tweets @plughr…

Rohini‏@plughrRohini

Key to the best recruitment - right employee fit in organizations - is asking the right interview questions. - interviewing questions start with generic questions followed by competency based questions, which produce right results.

Clara Pinto‏@clarapintoo

How long would you expect to work for us if hired?......helps to understand the stability factor

Trusha‏@trusha16

We can ask candidate What did he/she initially found interesting about job

What is the most difficult or tricky situation you have faced in your career and what you did to solve that

what frustrate or demotivates you

Rakshita Dwivedi‏@Raks_d

Ask the candidate to tell about himself from his last memory helps judging his personality

asking fav family member and why? kind of people he prefers to work with

Hemant Nitsure @HemantNitsure

Q for ppl who say hobby=readin/ movies. Why U lik particular book/ movie? If u wer 2 make changes in it wht wil u change?

Shipra Kundu‏@KunduShipra

bluff cud also b checkd by askin which is ur fav book and who is the author? most of them get trapped by tis

Aafreen‏@aafreenkhan

If you could take back one career decision, what wld it be?If genuinely like their choice of career or wish something else

Its imp 2 define competences desired for the role and a question to figure out d same. And probing questions 2 find more

manoj shah‏@manojbshah

Kishore Biyani founder of Pantaloons would ask candidate to first ask all the Questions they had. one can gauge the IQ of that person with the questions he/she asks and also tells what they are looking for ?

Top 3 failures and your learning from them ? We know which mistake he won't make again

Ask their best TV serial or movie or Sports& why they like it. You would assess how passionate they are about their liking

If you step out of room & there's a gene asks ur 3 wishes, what it wud be ? Assess candidates priorities in Life,funny bt works

Shobha Bade‏@Sho_bade

asking recent most learning, & the source of learning

PrashantBhaskar‏@prashantbhaskar

I interviewed someone who gave all good answers but then lost fuse for she was made to meet us 4 times, failed in practise

kushang™‏@itskushathon

what benefits would the organization have by hiring you

Ask the candidate to tell about himself from his last memory helps judging his personality

jharna guleria‏@jharnaguleria

how wud u rate ur experience wit ur current organizatn frm 1 to 10? Ths wil shw attributes of being reasonable & practical

This was indeed an interesting tweety way of HR interview questions and I am sure ,just like me next time you would also ask couple of them while assessing a candidate. And for all those who want to be part of such interesting and tweeting topics feel free to join us in a tweetthon any Thursday at 4pm @plughr.