HR and Football!!

Author: Pranay Reddy, plugHR Pro

Remember Oliver Kahn, who stood like Colossus of Rhodes bestriding German goalpost during the FIFA ’02. Oliver single handedly enabled Germany’s progression into the finals against a star studded Brazil. His awesome goal keeping played an essential part in his team’s victory against much famed oppositions. He didn’t even concede a single goal in the seven games leading to the final, where his sole mistake in the entire tournament not only cost him the coveted “world Champ title” but his captaincy and eventually his place in the senior side. It was also for his pyro techniques Kahn was honored with the ‘Golden Ball’ a rare occurrence among the goalies.

In football, Pundits have often said and I’ll repeat, “The goalkeeping, no matter how good you are, you should must be aware that what you’re doing is a ‘Thankless’ job”. Try to recall your childhood football icons, and figure out how many were actually goal keepers? Shocked, the answer is a big fat ZERO. We are cult followers, and the goalkeepers on almost all occasions are the ones who’re unable to create any cult around; simply because they’re not involved in scoring any goals and thus are not the ones who’ve halo around their heads.

An HR manger is also not involved in creating any value in a business, directly. How many times, have you ever patted the back of your HR when your appraisals were done on time? On the other hand you’ve grumbled almost every week, as you were marked absent, just because the funny biometric was being too funny? Now I am just interested in asking some rhetorical, as all readers are well versed with answers. My purpose is to set in a though process, so that people start contemplating.

In football you cannot win a game if your Goalie is weak, because the opponent will score more goals than you, similarly if you’re HR is not strong in engaging and training, your workforce will find it difficult to stick to your organization, and you’ll see your folks entering the premises of your competitors. Bingo! Your opponent has scored a goal over you, by poaching your priceless talent. Contrary to that, if you’ve a strong and a competent HR, your people will not only stick but will create awesome values for your venture and you’ll score a goal over a goal over your competitor.    

In football, Goalkeeper is the only player well positioned, who can analyze the strategy of the opponents and hence play a key role in catalyzing positive outcomes. This is possible because atop a football pitch, he is the only person who can mark the movements of his teammates. Another question to tickle your brain; who is the only manager in your organization who alike a goalkeeper can chart the progress and trajectories of your employees. You need not think furiously as you already have your answer.

When pressure mounts on the captain, or when he feels there is a need to call in a substitution, skipper always look forward to a valuable advice from his goalkeeper, whenever he has to make a quick decision. Rhetoric again, in an organization, who is the go-to person for a CEO, when he is in a dilemma, whether he need to ask some people to leave or on occasions when he needs some new talent to be pumped in the ecosystem of the workplace full of vibrant energy.

Top four challenges in Talent Acquisition

Author: Rekha Nair

For all those who sit on the other side of the table other than HR, Talent acquisition is the most mundane, most easy and most taken for granted task.  No one spares a second thought to the Recruitment process in the Company, apart from HR and if you are lucky the Top management once in a while when the bottom line is affected and the Leaders point out to ‘manpower’ issues as the reason behind it. Yes, you heard it right, most of us in HR are aware of this and this is what we deal with every day, but we would rather sweep it under the carpet and not discuss about it, but problems has to be tackled and analyzed if not today then tomorrow , definitely.

As any HR professional who has handled or is handling ‘Talent acquisition’ shall tell you that  though it sounds to be the most simplest of and uncomplicated task, it is actually not so, it is a challenge every day, and the Company and the HR team along with the line managers has to be geared up to meet the challenges.  Some of the most common challenges which any HR manager who handles Talent acquisition shall enumerate are  as given below:-

1)      Quality Manpower : It is amazing, the number of Engineering and professional colleges that we have in our country are close to  6ooo when we put together both, but when we get down to the process of sourcing, screening, selecting, we are all the more amazed at the number of mismatch that we have to deal with.  If we specifically speak about the Campus recruitment, in order to overcome the mismatch, there has to be lot of industry and academia interaction and handholding to enable the colleges to come out with courses or course content which comes up to the needs and expectations of the organizations.

When we talk about lateral entries the biggest challenge is finding the right talent for the right job, your shortlisted, selected candidate might have cleared all the psychometric test, might have cleared all the rounds, all the technical questions must have been answered beautifully, however, when he gets down to working, within a month the Team manager and HR realizes that the whole exercise has been futile as he has everything going on paper but when it comes to delivering it is a big miss. The challenge is to find the right talent, the right attitude for the given job and for this HR fraternity has been struggling and experimenting, but to till date we are yet to come up with a fool proof method.

2)      Stability : This might sound old fashioned and out of league, but this is one of the biggest challenges  for every organization and for every HR Head , and  that is to retain the talent that you have brought in and who seems to be the right fit.  It is again not to be left to the HR department to make sure that once the candidate has joined he stays put for decent amount of time, apart from Induction, being your buddy and point of contact in the initial days.  HR needs all the efforts to be put in by the respective Departments also where he or she joins to make it comfortable and interesting and lucrative in terms of work for the employee to make him want to come back to the office every day.

3)      Transparency :  It is the prime responsibility and in fact should be driven by the Ethic code of every Company that the HR department shall be transparent about the salary, designation, role, responsibilities, rules , regulations, ethics, culture  etc. of the Company and every effort shall be made by the Company to cover all these aspects through the Induction program and the various training programs and sessions that the employee goes through upon his joining.  The HR department should take extra effort to gauge the understanding of the employees , it is a good idea to have ‘on board interview’, similar to the exit interview, after the Induction is over  so that HR is able to address the gaps in understanding of any issue by the employee.  

Transparency is applicable both ways as an employee is entitled to all the information about an organization and its systems and procedures whether it is with regard to compensation & benefits, Learning &Development, Rewards &Recognition similarly an organization is entitled to have correct information about the candidate with regard to his qualification, his past experience, his last salary drawn etc.  Most of the organizations have put checks and balances in place to be sure that the information provided to them is authentic, in spite of that the number of ‘discrepancies’ which are reported by verification consultants to the HR department is alarming, and it is a cause of concern as many candidates give incorrect information about their salaries and qualifications , more over they supplement it with fake certificates and references.

4)      Culture fit   :  Okay, let us assume that we have taken care of all the above, we have got a right fit candidate who has made up his mind to stay with us long term and is totally transparent about his credentials and all is well, but then comes the most important question, in spite of the knowledge and information passed on to him about the organization and his absorbing the same, there are many unwritten rules in the organization which he shall be able  to understand only in due course of time, which may confuse him or take him by surprise or might even make him highly uncomfortable, this usually happens when employees make a move across industries for example when a candidate who has throughout worked in Media industry changes over to the EPC sector , he sees a huge transformation staring at him.  Here HR has to play an important role , this has to be done proactively, taking into consideration this piece of information and then by way of assigning a buddy to him in the department, or putting him under a mentor for sometime or HR itself taking pains to continuously communicate with the employee with the intention of keeping him for good and let not all the efforts go in vain.  Of course, this needs equal cooperation and willingness and a genuine effort from the candidate as well to imbibe the changes and change to grow.

As detailed  above, the ‘Talent Acquisition’ team whom most of us hardly give a second look unless and until we have to forward a resume under the ‘referral scheme’, is actually strengthening the foundation of the organisation every day and making sure that while all the others concentrate aggressively on the bottom line and profit margin, they are giving their invaluable support in their own quiet and determined way

About Author

Rekha Nair

She holds over 16 years of experience,  primarily in Corporate HR and has handled the entire gamut of HR in a reputed IT company in the Corporate HR Division, for the last 7 plus years working as Chief Manager - HR  of Angelique International Ltd., a reputed EPC company from India. Posses a good experience in Talent Acquisition, Talent Management, R&R, Trainings, Employee Engagement, HR Audits  and HRIS. 

 

 

Probability, People and Profits

Author: Pranay Reddy

Some days ago I asked a friend, “What is your chance of becoming the next top shot entrepreneur running a billion dollar company”. He replied, “Its 1/2, either I’ll become one or else I won’t. Suffice it to say, either he has it in him to be the next Jobs or else he’s destined to bite dust. The point to be highlighted as per him is that, his chances of reaching those heights are as high as 50%, so are the chances to fall in glitch. If the aforesaid, dictum is true then what do you have to say for snowing in Delhi. Well, as expected we have an identical answer, probability of snowing are as likely as 50% i.e. either it snows or it doesn’t. Weird isn’t it? The explanation of the aforementioned paradox is the property of probability, known as chances of an event occurring should be equally likely. This explains for the reason why it doesn’t snow in Delhi, because the chances of such an occurrence are close to zero. Similarly, if we speak of chances of rain in Mumbai during monsoons; because the conditions are so favorable it is as high as 90%.

For the sake of argument, what are the chances, of an aspiring entrepreneur to achieve stardom, now that we know the property of probability of ‘Equally likeliness’?  Let’s apply some basics of mathematics: The chances of you attaining success in you entrepreneurial sojourn is say, m/n, where m is the no. of successful entrepreneurs and n is the total no. of entrepreneurs. But, as we know n>>m, i.e. n is a much larger no. then m the fraction m/n is close to ZERO. Does that mean that chances of your entrepreneurial journey ending up as a success is close to zero? The big and the obvious answer to this question is a big fat NO. But sane people have said and I quote, “Logic seldom lies, and math never”. So the only solution to this problem is to reduce the burgeoning no. n exponentially. 

This calls for some introspection and some sound strategizing. It is indispensable to have an idea, which is unique, robust, ingenious and off course scalable if you’ve to reach heights. If you have such an idea, next step is implementation, and that too you need an ecosystem for your idea to thrive and veritably hard work, will power and dedication as quoted by Legend himself, Milkha Singh. Inspite, of stuffed with truckloads of abovementioned attributes, the trick that entrepreneurs miss are there people.

Irrespective of the domain of your industry viz. services, manufacturing, etc., whatever you create, you do it for people. Gurucharan Das once spoke, the best form of R&D must involve taking in the opinion of your customers, and the best way to do that is to involve your own people. It is the people who create things not machines. Suffice, to say if your workforce is motivated, supported and happy, they are in amicable condition to spell a magic in your venture. Always remember, only humans can think of what humans want, not machines.

So, I cannot guarantee the causal of entrepreneurial Yahoo, but can promise lots of correlations. Apple Inc. who’re committed to their workforce recently overtook Coca Cola, as the most valuable brand, and they did that without incurring any cost in advertising!

Author
Pranay Reddy - PlugHR Pro

Top four outcomes of an Exit Interview!!

Author: Simran Oberoi

 

 

Exit Interviews are usually not perceived as pleasant interactions – some people view it as a venting exercise, some adopt an “advisory” approach of providing solutions to the issues they faced and a lot of people are usually indifferent!

So as an HR practitioner, it can be very frustrating to try and gather data or meaning from these discussions and try to link it to actual root causes for employee attrition. Have you ever thought of making a slightly different sort of list of what you want to achieve out of this discussion from an exiting employee? If yes, you are ahead of most others ! If not, here are some pointers which might help…and here I’d like to use my favorite sentence- this is an indicative list, not an exhaustive one !

 

1.  The most obvious - Reasons for leaving the firm. Of course, employees have a standard response to this that they come prepared with – but the onus is on you to make sure that you ask questions that make the employee give clear and specific answers instead of a whole lot of subjective information on what didn’t work well. Also, employees are hesitant to share negative feedback – whether it is due to the fear of confrontation or lack of belief that the feedback will have any  impact. You have a hugely challenging task of creating a sense of trust in an already-disillusioned employee !

 

2.  HR needs to find some answers, but it also needs to understand the thought process of an exiting employee…So probe sensitively about how the individual arrived at the decision to leave the firm. This will help you reach the core of the actual issue and manage attrition in a more focused manner.

 

3. Try to also collect the positives , the optimistic thoughts from such interviews even if those seem rare to come by – Perhaps names of supportive managers/peers, high potential team members and so on. Agreed that this could be very subjective and perception driven, but then so are a whole lot of other things related with people ! This information will come in handy to anticipate where your strength lies and how to anticipate any exits of key employees.

 

4.  Collect feedback for HR too – so the exit interview should allow the employee to share his or her thoughts on how and when the HR’s involvement could have helped prevent the exit. This also covers getting the employee’s thoughts on what interventions make sense to them and what didn’t have any impact on their motivation/engagement levels.

About Author
Simran Oberoi
Sr. Knowledge Partner - SHRM India

She has over a decade of experience primarily in HR advisory services in the areas of Rewards (Benchmarking, Strategy, Job Mapping, Measurement), covering APAC, South Asia and the US), Long Term Incentives engagements, Organization Restructuring, Capacity Building, Competency Frameworks and Talent Development.  

She has published several articles on different HR areas, with leading HR journals such as People Matters, Human Capital, Business Manager – HR magazine and industry magazines such as Oil Asia. She regularly contributes the SHRM perspective across print and electronic newspapers.

 

Performance Management process... is it so difficult?

Author: Samruddhi Mulye

I’d wonder why few things in HR are treated differently from the rest.... so like generating payroll or organising an event for HR is ‘by-the-way’... Performance #Appraisals become a very serious job. It draws complete focus and attention from all the employees and to a large extent the company’s management as well. We’d think why getting people perform is at times so difficult or also an employee to deliver set targets does not garner complete focus and determination.  After all appraisal in true sense is the result of all the hard-work...something that gets tabulated in a matrix... that brackets your performance into terms like – ‘outstanding’, ‘very good’, ‘average’ & ‘poor’. So what makes appraisals so important and special – it’s the money that gets tagged along with it that makes #appraisals so important. The struggle is to get highest hike. Why is an ‘MBA program’ into an elite or premier I institute or some training program for ‘technological advancement’ or a ‘holiday – with – family’ and may be an opportunity to work in ‘different geography or build an enterprise for the company in an unchartered territory’ not that important or does not seem to be a great reward for an employee! There is money involved in this as well. The organisation is investing in the employee, working towards building a leader in you.

There is only one answer to this – it is the ‘culture’ that we have shaped. It is extensively focused on direct monetary rewards because we have chosen to shape it that way. .. we have failed in making employees see the bigger picture and a better tomorrow.

So here’s something I went through. This is year 2003 [I was about four years in #HR career by then]... and not getting into specifics of company name, industry or employee details... but just the crux and my learnings from this incident. Typical ‘Open Performance Appraisal’ system. With KRA’s that were set last year... you guessed it right, not reviewed through the year!  So, here’s the outcome first... the #appraisal letters are handed over to a set of employees [there were unions prevalent that time].  The increments given to these people were less compared to some other employees, probably the lowest in the grid. So even if we’d say that compensation related information should not be shared [else management will take strict action...!] – the discussion is bound to happen. Some happy expression... some sad.

Therefore the obvious questions from these people were ‘why such a low increment?’  The management anticipated some questions but the force with which it came was not anticipated. The increments were decided with no definite data points and rationale so again the answers to ‘why’ weren’t readily available.  The responses from the management were vague. Event / circumstances specific answers were given. For which there were counter reactions from the employees. In all the entire exercise was unplanned and the process made its flaws and fissures visible to all. All the increment letters given were retracted. Fresh letters issued with obviously different figures and then much expected phenomenal attrition. The Management cuts a sorry figure.

So, in all a simple exercise turned out to be a night mare of sorts for the organisation. While, many years have gone by... things have changed and improved for better but some basic learnings.. we never seem to memorise and practice about Performance Management... though I carry them with me wherever I go and whoever I meet to explain... it isn’t a success always but it is my strong conviction that – Performance can be managed only through culture and only Culture can drive performance. You do not need an HRIS or process with a manual to achieve a flawless PMS [although must say technology does simply and organise life for everybody]. Only know and understand your objective, your goal on a broader and organisational level. The fractions to achieve the bigger picture will fall in to place steadily [which set targets right in beginning]. Secondly.... know your people; gauge their emotions... see their problems. Increments are obviously not based on these but it only helps you creating a different perspective of non-performance. Lastly, keep it simple... stay connected with your people, talk to them often. Communicate your vision, ideas. Let them respond. Keep talking to them about their performance. What you like about them and what you feel needs improvement. Let them know. 

Rest the mechanical steps will fall in place automatically...! Let the culture be performance driven and let performance talk about your organization's culture to the world outside.


Author

Samruddhi Mulye
PlugHR Pro


 

Would you like to be "Retained" by your company!!!

Author : Kunjal Kamdar

 

There have been numerous posts about how to "Retain" your talent. No doubt this topic might be debatable, and most of us might have extreme views on this topic. But just thought to take on this topic, and try to understand, explore and uncover some of the assumptions that are involved in it. This post would touch upon  the angle from the employees side as well as from the employer's side. So are you ready to get into this unique world of retaining and getting retained!!!

Well, getting retained is surely an important thing from both the parties i.e. employee and employers. So does it mean there are scenarios when the employee wants to get retained!!

 

Well, if this is true, it is surely a big risk. What does that mean!! Well, if an employee knows his/her own value in the company, they can take a chance to resign and then hope for the company to retain them. Or they have a great offer in hand and might want to negotiate. So what's wrong in it!! You might ask, right!! Well, there is nothing wrong in knowing your value in the system and no harm trying to negotiate with your current company. But what about the offer that you had accepted!! What about the time when you had decided to move out of your current company!!! Does the word "Ethics" come into picture!! Well, it will be interesting to know your thoughts on this.

 

Okay, let's take another scenario. You decide to move out of your company, and resign. And your company decides to retain you by offering a great role, some extra money, may be if you are lucky an Onsite opportunity too. Again there is nothing wrong in it. Who would say no to this!! Well, how about employees asking this question to themselves "Do you think your company realized your true value only after you resigning!! Food for thought!!! Often companies talk about parity issue!! Now where is the parity issue!! Well, you might say that this is a normal industry standard and happens in all companies. Well, point taken, let's move on :)

 

I guess by this time most of you might have already started pointing guns on me and all set to make strong objections to this post. Well, the idea is to know your views on this complicated topic. Okay, moving on to the next scenario. Well, there also are genuine cases where the employee might be a bit confused at times, and the employer might sit and counsel and then help him/her to take the right decision. In such cases, one needs to understand the mindset of the employee and make sure that you as an employer listen to them. Some might say why should we listen, they have resigned, they are disconnected with the company etc. Remember, they are still your employees, your brand ambassadors for years. So no point having an EGO, just listen to them and act, react accordingly.

 

So would you like to get retained!! Looking forward to your views on this topic. Feel free to express it, as some of you might not like to share it on open platform. I do understand it, so you can connect with me on Twitter  or connect on LinkedIn.

 

Author

 

Kunjal Kamdar

 

Kunjal Kamdar has been involved in sourcing for the last eight years, having worked in both recruitment and sourcing capacities. Kunjal enjoys sourcing and using Social Media to expand and innovate new channels in the recruitment process. Blogging is his real passion, and he in turn loves sharing his passion for sourcing and social media with others in the recruiting community. 

To Appraise Performance..don’t wait for year to get over!!!!

Whenever a manager over heard mere “Performance appraisal”,  you will be able to hear their groan out of stress. Many managers see Performance appraisal as nothing more than an empty, bureaucratic exercise  forced on them by HR. Even for appraisee (a subordinate) when he gets a meeting request from his boss for performance review discussion, he feels just yesterday he has written his goals which is promptly forgotten too and this discussion becomes more of a 'BAJATE RAHO' discussion for him.

 

More than 80% of staff feels that performance reviews are unnecessary and is a waste of time because of lack of efforts put in by managers in to the process. Lackadaisical attitude of management results in Employee apathy.

The sanctity of performance management system is to keep a tap on the achievement viz a viz goals set and to design competency development plan based on the performance review analysis. Regret to mention than this appraisal tool is just being used to identify A,B and C category and decide increment percentage which is too mostly influenced by key business drivers. The annual performance review discussions, if so happens, are not aligned with need assessments, thus barely adds value to them.

Here, we need to change the approach rather than the system. There are four ways I perceive, if adopted, the Trust in performance appraisal system will be restored and employees will find it more effective and generate the desired outcome.

 

 

First is to Keep it Simple, many managers dislike complexity of modus operandi of performance appraisal system and bureaucratic forms. Design a format which is simple to decipher & captures relevant data and focus on structural part of conducting review discussions with reduced stress element.

Second, Frequent Connect between Manager and his subordinate. It is no longer effective to meet your subordinate once or twice a year to discuss on performance appraisal. Frequent appraisal meetings will help to monitor on goals achievements and to keep check on relationship needs, growth needs, motivational needs & learning needs of your subordinate. Meeting once in a quarter or sometimes more frequent will save you from future peril of non achievements of targets and give a pat on a back for achievement & study the shortfalls when they are fresh in memory and  a employee can also express his feeling on his performance. Once or twice a year performance review meeting will force you to drop your criticism at him at once like a bomb, rather 'ZOR KA ZATKA DHERE SE' approach will be easier to swallow and leads to constructive conversation.

Third, Conversations focused on future. Annual appraisals often becomes ‘poker game’ where employees are being asked to lay their cards on the table first, so that managers can identify weaknesses and focus on actions require to improve those weaknesses. To conduct effective performance appraisal discussion, adopt ‘sandwich technique’ whereby, you open conversations highlighting notable achievements in recent times, followed by critical assessments and interactive discussion on areas of improvement and conclude the discussion with landing a hand to him to unleash hidden potentials and tips for learning and development.

Fourth, Self monitoring of performance & learning. Nowadays, modern Performance Appraisal tools track self performance ratings which has been perceived by most of the staff as a data gathering tool for counter arguments by managers. Hence they rate themselves high so that after negotiation they will be rated somewhere in mid range. Whereby, essence is to provide a honest rating for their own performance. By asking employees to keep a track on own performance and learning, write down their goals and keep a check on success and discoveries, the data generated out of it is not being used by managers to critically evaluate but to help each employees to take responsibility of their own performance.

In era of automation, we sometimes get caught in terminologies and having an online PMS module which runs once or twice a year is not at all an issue but this system will only help to capture data, it can not motivate, inspire and develop people. Hence, frequent feedback sessions on performance & creating self organized learning environment where people learn from this feedback meetings which takes place in corridor, lifts or across the coffee. 

Author

Paras Khatri

Paras, born & brought up in city of dreams. A human Resource pro and a believer that having an active presence on social media will not only align you with professionals across industry & domain experts but also a platform to share your thoughts with them, which influenced me to become a blogger. A traveler, who wants to explore world, meet people and walk over no mans land. You can follow him on twitter  @paraskhatri .

 

Learning the #Social Way

It would really be stating the obvious when we talk about how the rise of the “Social Media” phenomenon has implications for our professional lives , but a very visible area of impact for the same is how it impacts an individual’s learning process. It has literally turned the traditional classroom methods of learning on their heads ! Today, one can gain access to information faster AND also get viewpoints from other professionals, as quickly about its relevance – what does that mean? That the learning process has become truly collaborative and it has brought the experts and the knowledge seekers all within the same universe.

 

We learn through webinars, online discussion rooms, Twitter chats, Facebook updates, LinkedIn groups – you name it and there is a continual process of learning already in flow. However, what is strange is that organizations are yet to harness the potential power of this approach to develop the capability of its people, to create a business impact. Leveraging this power means that we as the HR community, must understand how the concept works and then what are its applications to the learning process. It is a paradigm shift in its true sense, since it requires the employees to understand that the onus of learning is on them rather than the organization and the HR department.  Creating that sense of self-drive and proactivity is the HR’s role now – how to encourage the employees to take online courses/e-learning modules, how to ensure smooth and seamless facilitation of the knowledge transfer process, how to create networks of expertise, how to design learning interventions that truly connect the social media’s strengths to the employee’s needs to the business impact ! Sounds like a challenging task? Well, it definitely is. But we have to move in that direction, since that is where the future is.  

Given that Social media is playing such an active role, SHRM India has recently released a report on Indian HR Influencers on Social media ( August 2013) – it is interesting to see how HR professionals across experience levels and what they share through an open channel, can have the power to influence thought processes and trends, as well as enable the overall HR community’s advancement. Another interesting concept that I’ve recently come across and wanted to share was the India HR Live Channel, which hosts live streams of panel discussions and interviews with HR experts.

The ramifications of such a trend are huge for the HR community – the organizations and HR professionals who are able to capitalize on this change, are the ones who will have great competitive advantage!

 

Author

Simran Oberoi

She is currently working as a Knowledge Advisor in SHRM India.  Has over a decade of experience primarily in HR advisory services in the areas of Rewards (Benchmarking, Strategy, Job Mapping, Measurement), covering APAC, South Asia and the US), Long Term Incentives engagements, Organization Restructuring, Capacity Building, Competency Frameworks and Talent Development. In consulting roles, she has significant experience in key global client accounts, project and people management.  She has an accreditation in Hay methodology and Job Mapping and as an APAC leader she has driven the Reward Information Global Sector Development strategy for 14 countries. In her current role she works in Knowledge Development which involves evaluation of key future areas, content creation as well as review for HR disciplines such as Executive Coaching & Leadership Development and Diversity, alongside Talent Development/Management and Rewards. It also involves research in key areas, the most recent ones being CXO/Leadership Development and Competencies.

She has published several articles on different HR areas, with leading HR journals such as People Matters, Human Capital, Business Manager – HR magazine and industry magazines such as Oil Asia. She regularly contributes the SHRM perspective across print and electronic newspapers.

 

Emotions at work place.. Needed ?

 

Attuned to a rare habit of feeling emotions running across any space I walk into. It infuses a certain energy , tremendous power of emotions... at times positive ...sometimes negative and destructive... and sometimes just nothing. So what and how important are these emotions... Emotions are nothing but a combination of behaviour and attitude, they indicate an existence of value and in my line and way of thoughts; extremely critical for any space home or office... so focusing on emotions at work place; it is the emotions that create an organizational culture...really?  So what happens to the Vision, Mission, Values, Rules & Regulations, Principles, ethics.... that organizations spend time on putting in place. Very important... but come to think of it, we’d realize that these would actually be empty phrases and statements without emotions in them. To believe that you can be the best in market for XYZ product or ABC service... this statement stays as a vision but will certainly not translate into performance or service excellence. So how are emotions going to change this ? Emotions create a culture and culture is the single biggest differentiator for a business in the space one is in.

 

Emotions help connecting with the world within the office space and reach out to the world outside. And that is effectively opening up the channels of communication. Ever realize, you walk across the office and you see your colleagues / team members gather in group, chit-chatting, talking – laughing and then suddenly someone notices one individual walking across / towards and the crowd softly but immediately disperses. That happens when there exists no emotions... emotions of being fearless, of being able to express freely! There is a dire need of being able to communicate fearlessly. For the new age leaders... CXO’s need to have an informal approach, collaborative and democratic way of working. A need to capitalize on the emotions people have and be a caring organization... there should be no space for anxiety, anger, confusion or unhappiness. One should be able to pick up the emotions of team members before taking decisions. So it is for the leaders of today to internalize these attributes and effectively creative an ideal leadership style that people would look up to. 

 

So how does this help create a culture? Culture cannot be imposed on people. It needs to be build in the system by these same set of people working in the office. Culture will get driven by those emotions that must co-exist in harmony. An organization has no existence unless the people in it bring it to life. Bring it to life with their emotions of loyalty, commitment and performance excellence, which in all are enough to drive the organization on the path of success. You may have detailed, sophisticated presentations made to new Joinees / employees on organization culture but it essentially understood by employees as they interact with others in the office space.

Culture essentially drives organizational performance and effectiveness, more than competence it is the emotions and adherence to culture that are even more important. Emotions help managers coach employees during low performance, the growth paths can be delineated and one can essentially optimize the diversity. Emotions create and form the biggest culture capital in any company.

So the choice lies with you whether you would want to be in space where you work with people who are disinterested in their jobs. Who walk in, do their work and simply leave for the day not knowing how effectively they have contributed at work or you would like to create an environment where every team member functions as a partner in accomplishing your vision. Your company will succeed because you have built a culture of openness, a culture that promotes productivity and cohesiveness.

Author

 

Samruddhi Mulye

Sr Project Manager - plugHR

Samruddhi comes with over 12 years of HR experience with expertise in Compensation and Benefits, Performance Management, OB and Learning & Leadership. Samruddhi, in her prior assignments has worked with Infovision Software, Carlson Wagonlit travels, ABN Amro and Spanco.

 

 

 

 

So why do you work in HR?

If you work in the field and have been interviewed by someone you probably would have come across this question- “Why did you choose to work in Human resources?”

Here are some responses which make me wonder

“I like to help people so I decided to work in HR”- well why don’t you do social service or work for a charity. HR is not about helping people; it is about getting the best outcomes for the business through people. It is about understanding the commercial aspects of the business and matching it up with the right talent.

“I like people” (as opposed to animals!!)- why HR then as most people you will come across while you are working in HR would be those who have been brought to your attention for untoward behavior, under performance, or those with a grievance. It may actually lead to an aversion to the human kind. You may start to prefer animals over us humans.

“I suck at numbers and I can’t sell so Finance or sales and marketing were not an option for me”- in that case you are not going too far in your HR career, any good HR professional understands that metrics and numbers are equally important in HR as in the other parts of the company.

“Oh I was into recruitment and I thought HR is similar”- you are right on one aspect that recruitment is an important aspect of HR, but HR has a much broader role and involves numerous other aspects. I personally believe that recruitment teaches you lots of skills that you can use as a HR professional namely asking probing questions, interpreting responses, reading body language, PATIENCE, handling vendors and reading through onerous documents (resumes, cover letters, agreements and contracts).

“I think that HR will be an office job I will not be required to travel or go in the field”- that I tell you my friend is a myth. While it is true that most HR roles will work out of an office. There are many times when a HR pro has to be on the go. If you work for a business with teams spread across different geographies then more than likely you would be required to travel for employee relations, performance management, recruitment, training etc. With the changing face of HR, the profession is becoming more dynamic, HR’s presence is required where the action is.

My story of working in HR is I fell in love with the field during my summer training, where I was working as a marketing intern in an IT services company. As an immensely curious intern I kept asking numerous questions to the HR manager sitting in the next cubicle. She was working on Talent development and mobility program. I got hooked to the idea of making change happen and promptly changed my majors to HR. And I have been in HR ever since.

So, I don’t know what floated your boat to HR land, but ask yourself this question and do share your responses with us.

Author

Garima Gupta

HR professional passionate about all things HR even after 13 years in the field. I have worked in different industries ranging from FMCG, retail, education and largely in financial services. I have been fortunate to get opportunity to work in India, China, Australia and USA. After various stints internationally, I have recently returned back home to US. I can be contacted for career advice and consulting.

 

Tricolor Thoughts

As a child Tricolor always fascinated me and I wondered what is so special about the colors its constituted of. Till I came to know the real meaning that Green is a symbol of hope, joy, fertility and love, whereas the white stands for peace and honesty. The blue is for vigilance, truth and loyalty, perseverance and justice with saffron as a symbol of Indian courage. As I read about our country’s historical background fascination for our bright & colorful and meaningful flag grew. Tricolor gives me a sense independence and feeling of existence in the vast globe. I feel blessed to breathe free air and choose to follow my heart and thank all those who have sacrificed their valuable lives just to make sure that we are safe.

Feeling so strong in itself that wish my words could capture the apt tone. However my personal view regarding freedom is more to do with my thoughts and actions and considering the same course here I proudly share what freedom means to people at plugHR. Hope you get to see flavors of Tricolors in each of them…

Coming straight from CEO’s Desk who runs ‘Awesome Ventures’

Freedom to me is about chasing dreams, no matter how crazy, no matter how far. To be able to push the limits of wackiness and experience the thrill of creation. Freedom is also choosing to live each day in a manner that fits in for me things that matter, my run, my Tennis, my kids, my reads, my work, food, ok more food, parties and guitar. Freedom to disagree, make mistakes, sleep through, skip bath, stop being vegetarian are some I really really love.

Wish all the freedom you want

Prashant Bhaskar

Our Advocacy team running next to CEO office…

Freedom is option of having a choice in everything I do. Respect for my accountability and ownership .Having a voice through all media which also gives a freedom of opinion.

I am glad to be a free being and love it that way

Padmini Bhonsale

Here comes one from a highly agile and sharp HR Head

Butterfly from the cocoon, flower from a bud, seeds from a fruit....the former cannot even be talk about without mentioning the later who has just now allowed them be free...with hopes of a better and brighter tomorrow.

The sense of freedom can only be expressed by the heart to the mind of the one who just witnessed freedom. Filled with outrageous courage, the 'free' is ready to take on to the world. Spreading the wings of new colour, fragrance and promises for new fruit, the 'free' is free to explore the new dimensions of the ever changing world. What is written for them on the horizon is 'I can, I will and I shall" rather than "What, Why and How" which they have been reading on the walls of the closed protection. They are determined for success rather than the doubtfulness of the world from where they just came out. 

Freedom at work invites that the same sense of 'being new'. A workforce filled with energy brings in new ideas and courage, new ways and means of success. They strive all to 'Think' and break the wall of monogamy to be what is has been. The glass is neither half-filled of half-empty for them, all they see is the opportunity of fill it further, an opportunity for success.

Navin Kumar 

This one from the lady whose passion for the subject shows in her writing too..

We all say and truly feel proud of our nation and the spirit of Independence day... but I doubt if any of us can honestly feel the essence of this day because we’d never really had to fight for our freedom. We appreciate the sacrifice people made of their lives and continue to do so to keep us free... but how best can we emulate the spirit of this day. ..few things, I felt were apt and worth practising...

 So here’s an opportunity to epitomize what Independence day truly means to us... Let us decide that – starting today, we will think differently, we will break free from the monotonous and negative thought processes and innovate and discover new dimensions to all aspects of life.. Be positive. Let us decide that – we take up new challenges, not getting bogged down with them and not allow the difficult situations to overpower us but instead let’s face them with a new zest and learn some wonderful lessons in life to treasure. Let us also decide that – We will now on only compete with ourselves and keep bettering at everything we did earlier. Not get into any competition that results into hatred, jealousy and creates greed that by large will only disturb the peace and harmony. Healthy competition is welcome! This in my way ... would probably be celebration of our Independence Day in truest sense...

Samruddhi Mulye

With this note I wish all of you HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY and may the spirit to remain free helps us to sustain our freedom. Let’s from today onwards shed all our inhibitions and together create a workplace where our independent thinking can take us to places.

Freedom : Walk where your heart leads you

“Walk where your heart leads you, there are no restrictions and no burdens.”

GAO XINGJIAN, Nocturnal Wanderer

This Quote is quite apt for the freedom that I feel should be there, how many of us really listen to heart and perform? The constant dilemmas between what our head states and our heart demands is a very regular rendezvous which keeps happening for even a smallest thing.

Freedom to some may be for speech, for innovation, from people, from various small things… But is it the real Freedom? I constantly ask this question to myself, and hence the weirdo in me is still very much alive..crazy…insomniac…and child like.

En route to freedom is achieved through various sacrifices, Sacrifices for the Country, people you love, for work that you do, sometimes even by surrendering yourself completely is also freedom which might philosophically be very different from slavery. Sacrifices for a larger motive, for a better life, for a better partner, for working in better company – Yes this is Freedom.

This is what I love about the quote mentioned above, let our heart leads us to freedom from every burden of judging people, making opinion without knowing their stories, passing unpleasing remarks and spreading negativity – In workplace, in personal lives, and everywhere else. Most of our problems revolves around these areas – and still we don’t change and create Freedom.

Why freedom should be more like how we have experienced it as a child, unaware about the fears, oblivious of what people will think about us, unmindful about eating the way we wanted to…laugh on even the smallest thing which looks silly now, wearing what is required and not what others will approve of….Innocent, fearless, Charming, without burdens – That’s Freedom.

How often we accept what people tell us about ourselves – without introspecting, isn’t that the constant burden of being alive but being controlled by someone else.

How often we put restrictions – rules, policies, processes, regulations, laws and what not – Is this how we were created? I seriously doubt that otherwise why we would love to Break rules and dream of living a break free kind of life but yes not without values and morals.

Alas! Many of us even put restrictions on eating on time…and not when we are hungry…think about it, is this freedom?

Bludgeoning ourselves with the thoughts full of unconstructiveness….envy, pride, jealousy, fear, revenge and what not? Yes some may argue that this is like living like a saint and not human…but here is the answer to it - when we were born, for some years we did not experience any of these – And yes this is how we are ‘CREATED’ to live freely – That is what FREEDOM is – and this is what FREEDOM means to me… J

 Author

Archana Sharma - AVP Operations @plugHR