Why HR should make Business Cases?

When you first read the topic , does it seems as though the profession is heading towards a paradoxical ( not paradigm) shift? In the past, there were hardly any instances of HR having to make a business case to the Board or CEO or senior management – which in essence means that today’s HR professional across levels has a clear understanding of the fact that each people related intervention also needs to have a cost-benefits analysis done, a feasibility or viability exercised conducted, senior management buy-in and clear linkages to business performance. Interesting as it sounds, it’s a challenging approach right ?  Well, it certainly will be - because making a business case is not just an additional responsibility, it is a change of mindset which the HR professional must be cognizant of in current times.
 

Does this need to make a business case mean that each initiative has to have a defined ROI or a clear monetary impact? Not really and not in entirety. What it does mean is that the HR person will need to think beyond – he or she will need to assess what happens after the initiative in a more structured manner and the resultant effect of the initiative on the business. What it also means is that HR should be able to speak the business’s language and explain this effect to the leaders. Finally what it also means is – an absolute end to working on silos! It means collaboration and buy-in, thinking through and coming together.

So in brief how is it that HR makes a business case for its initiatives? To keep it simple – here are some quick, generic steps that will apply across most initiatives - this is indicative, not exhaustive, so you could add more aspects that you find relevant: 

• Understand the organization’s vision and business objectives, its implications on people and particularly to the concerned initiative/intervention.

• Do a viability/feasibility study or a cost-benefit analysis – whatever you may choose to call the same, but basically a listing of the pros and cons ( should cover tangible and intangible impacts).

• Budgetary and resource support needed and for what duration.

• Market study of such initiatives ( if similar ones are run by competitor and your exit analysis shows that there has been attrition due to this being absent, as one of the study elements).

• Challenges/Roadblocks that you perceive and senior management’s involvement in the same.

• Project/Work plan with timelines and if this initiative has linkages to other future initiatives  

If you are able to work along the above steps, your business case will be as comprehensive as it can be. The rest depends on how clearly this case is communicated and shared with the senior management!

 
 

About the author 

Simran Oberoi is currently working as a Knowledge Advisor in 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. 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. She can be reached on Simran.Oberoi@shrm.org

 

 

 

 

 

Sorted in Life!

You measure intelligence through IQ tests; they show a general combination of a person's intelligence and have strong predictive power. But they alone cannot really predict real-world success. High IQ and immense amount of knowledge is a must but by no means is a guarantee to success in professional or personal life. In fact many careers of intelligent professionals are derailed because they lack practical and emotional stability and are unable to control their feelings and emotions

Being practically and emotionally intelligent is nothing but being street smart; people who are “sorted in life” so who are these so called sorted people in life. People with this type of intelligence are quick to adapt, they know how to contour and select new situations to meet their needs and accomplish their goals and objectives. They work on their relationships with the goal of making it stronger be it with a team member, a colleague or a freind. They are the ones who try and understand about the people around them and the dynamics of the team or the group. They ask for the feedback and improvise and take criticisms with a spirit of learning. They certainly listen more and lecture less, value opinions and ideas and manage situations without coming across as manipulative, political or self absorbed souls.

One striking sign of practically and emotionally intelligent people is they pick their battles wisely; they practice self control in their communications and interaction. They know what to say to whom, when to say it and how to say it for its maximum effect. They exhibit a transparent picture of their character without coming across as fake individuals. They function without creating too much drama around situations and are neither diabetic sweet nor are they overtly dominant. They learn from their past experiences which in turn increases their productivity to a large extent

General IQ is genetic and can be inherited which is proven but practical intelligence and emotional stability is a skill set which is learned throughout. Being observant, analytical and practice to adapt are the keys to develop and sharpen this intelligence. In order to be successful in personal and professional life it is not sufficient to simply possess high IQ. In any given situation, it’s necessary to question our assumptions, consider the risk reward ratios and take sensible risks. We should allow ourselves and others to make mistakes and recognize the problems before they are out of hand.

Unknowingly, all of us are seeking trouble and misery by expecting our professional and personal life to be in a particular way without altering ourselves a bit. We expect everything around us to change except changing ourselves. All of us want continuous happiness, satisfaction at work and in relationships, joy, lots of time, good health without applying any practical logic to it that do we behave, do we think in a manner that would give us all that we want. We try to manipulate life at all stages, manipulate others, and manipulate work situations, events and incidents without realizing that this often does not work, it’s better to manipulate ourselves, change our mindset and become more aware of our own self.

So be practical, be emotionally stable but never mistake it for being selfish, shrewd, self absorbed or use people for personal gains. Be calculative in life but never lose respect for your loved ones, colleagues, co workers and their identity.  

Five HR lessons from Steve Jobs!!

Steve Jobs has changed the way the world uses mobile phones, no more just an equipment to call on the go, but a device for all round communication and entertainment. Steve Jobs was not known to follow trends but he made the trends which people followed.

But what lessons can HR learn from Steve Jobs?  Steve’s leadership qualities and his ability to think outside the square was what made Apple into a force to reckon with. Here are five lessons HR can learn from Steve Jobs:

Innovation

“Innovation has nothing to do with how many R&D dollars you have. When Apple came up with the Mac, IBM was spending at least 100 times more on R&D. It’s not about money. It’s about the people you have, how you’re led, and how much you get it.” -Steve Jobs

Innovation requires passion and the right environment to fuel the passion. Hire for potential and not just for experience. When people are passionate they produce exceptional results. We have all heard of the 80/20 rule of Google where employees get 20% of their time to innovate. HR pros let’s give innovation a chance.

Think Different

“Because the people, who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do!”-Steve Jobs 

Innovation comes from ideas, and ideas from thinking. Don’t let ideas and creative thought process be drowned by red tape, legislation and procedures. Like Steve said, encourage crazy ideas which may seem preposterous because they may change the world.HR pros champion innovation and reward different thinking.

Continuous learning

“Getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life."-Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs continued to learn from his failures throughout his life. Encourage people to continue learning and not be afraid to fail. People should feel that trying something different is not taboo. Focus on how the individual can learn from the mistakes and how they will not repeat it in the future. Continuous learning is important even for the HR professionals. Continuous learning is not only in classrooms but opportunities to work on secondments in other departments, learning from each other - through lunch and learn sessions, master classes and cross-mentoring.HR pros don’t stop learning.

Marketing and promoting by unusual means

“Customers don't know what they want until we've shown them.”- Steve Jobs 

Steve did not wait for the customer to demand something instead he created products which the customer would desire and couldn’t do without.HR teams often fall apart when it comes to promoting their agenda whether it is related to Talent and succession or new social media policies or learning programs. Many HR teams make everything compulsory and get away from promoting and marketing to their customers, but they surely would not go a long way. If you have designed a great intervention or learning program find unique ways of promoting it.

User experience- creating experiences, customer comes first

“You've got to start with the customer experience and work back toward the technology - not the other way around."-Steve Jobs

While it is important to follow regulation and legislation, it is paramount to put yourselves in the user’s shoes before creating the next HR policy or procedure. No one is fond of filling long winded forms to get to a HR benefit. Just keep it simple silly!!

In conclusion, while there are several great lessons that Steve has taught us and will continue to inspire generations to come, here is a last one which applies to us all whether working in HR or not.

“Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn't matter to me ... Going to bed at night saying we've done something wonderful... that's what matters to me.”-Steve Jobs

About the Author

Garima Gupta is a global HR Professional with passionate about all HR things even after 13 years in the field. She holds a rich working experience in different industries ranging from FMCG, retail, education and largely in financial services and has been fortunate to get opportunity to work in India, China, Australia and USA. After various stints internationally, she has recently returned back home to US and can be contacted for career advice and consulting on garimagupta.usa@gmail.com

 

Positive Words- Shots of Motivation!

                                              

It’s one of those days of the week when there is stagnancy, inertia in the air. We are caught up in a state of limbo and unfortunately these days are repetitive; the mundane routine is bogging us down. We’re constantly waiting for something to happen, something to transform, something to shift us forward in our lives or relationships. Life seems to be happening around us, but we can’t seem to get on the track we’d like to be on. What keeps us motivated, inclined to carry on the daily monotonous repetition? It’s having things to look forward to like vacations, holidays, days off from work, weekends, promotions, a big event coming up, and lot more.

There is an additional aspect which keeps us motivated too in a very subtle way, it’s the words we hear and announce out loud. Words are potent! When ideas fail, words come in handy. They really have the ability to inspire, motivate, and persuade but at the same time they are entirely responsible to discourage, dismiss and dissuade. Whether it’s building a team, mending a relationship or launching a product the right words spoken at the right time can transform the absolute scenario. There are few sentences which motivate us at any point of time whether its nike saying  “Just do it” or loreal telling you “ you are worth it”, for a moment they give you that zing and sway you to get going.

“I trust you!”stands number one in my list, when you listen to your boss, your spouse, your friends, people around you say that, swiftly there is a sense of confidence in the self, there is a need to fulfill the expectation of all the people who trust you, It instantly creates a self belief and an urge to be trusted all the time.

“Never give up” you fail, you stumble, you make blunders in life, at that stage if there is someone to back you up with these words, what do you do, you instantaneously react to the situation. It works vice – versa, just tell this to someone with utmost conviction and they will thank you all their lives to be by their side.

You are stuck, you are anticipating, you are procrastinating, “Make it happen” “Just start” “you can do it” these are the words you want to hear to help you rise and take that leap. In the midst of striving to reach your goals, to achieve those difficult targets, time when you are telling your strained muscles to stop, it is lines like these which leave an impact.

Praises, acknowledgement, and appreciation of all manner forever makes a person feel superior. But there are definite sentences which create an aura of motivation around us; something as effortless as “you deserve it” “Keep it up” “you rock” just builds a sense of achievement and a willingness to work towards maintaining that achievement comes automatically. Incentive theory of motivation works for most of the people, people are motivated to work because of the pay cheque that they receive every month, but the idea is if words akin to that pay cheque are used to encourage the employees the drive to work harder increases drastically.

In every course of life, we got to find our own motivation, be it positive self talk, plain conversation of encouragement, music that races with your heartbeats, movie that makes you get on the track and run, a superman or batman that inspires you to be your own superhero. Ultimately, we got to be our own cheerleader, accept ourselves and expect more from ourselves. 

So, Stay motivated, Stay inspired and make a difference in the lives of people around you with your words and actions.  

Cheers!

Are you Human Oriented?

"JOIN OUR FAST-PACED COMPANY"
We have no time to train you.

"CASUAL WORK ATMOSPHERE"
You'll be here very late, very often -- might as well be comfortable.

"MUST BE DEADLINE-ORIENTED"
Your first four projects are already way overdue.

"SOME OVERTIME REQUIRED"
Did we mention that you'll be here very late, very often? And most weekends.

"DUTIES WILL VARY"
We might not check with you before adding more responsibilities

"CAREER-MINDED"
Female applicants must be childless, hope pregnancy is not on cards.

I came across these tweets which was shared with an intended pun but actually is a bitter reality check and an eye opener. These just reiterate that Human Resources has been more of treating Humans as resources. In the fast paced competitive work pace before we even realized Human got dropped somewhere midway and hence people became numeric assets good enough to be shown on dashboards. Numbers good enough to be deleted or added as per market climate.

Mostly organizations in urgency to increase the productivity try to optimize there bottom line which in turn results in aggressive target settings for the employees to produce desired results. As much as the top line is important ignoring employee wellness and a stress free environment is what should not be ignored either. These tweets portray the outcome based approach or behavior pertaining to most of the startup and SME where understanding human aspects still looks to be far cry.

My intension is not to counter the organization expectation but only if humans are treated as beings and not machines, as people and not just resources, as family not just assets, growth is inevitable.

So next time don’t look at your watch when somebody is late!!

 

 

First Day,First Show...Hit or Miss

Cab driver was racing his car when the passenger tapped his shoulder. He screamed out for his life and banged on the road divider. When asked for such a weird behavior, he said all his life he has been carrying dead bodies to the morgue so a sudden touch was too much to scare him for life.  

Though hilarious but this is an ideal scenario of a changed work place and challenges associated to the same. Probably that’s the reason why initial induction and orientation plays an important role in an employee’s life cycle. First day at a new office is as important as a new school and nobody wants to feel left out amongst strangers. While recruiting organization makes sure to show the best picture to the potential employee but mostly falter during the joining time. It’s human to take things granted and all those long follow up calls on joining confirmation loose the stand in front of ground reality.


So what exactly happens on a first day, first show?? 

Mostly the story begins with loads of manual data entry which consumes half of the day and the new employee keeps wondering when will he get a quick smoke break, though is little reluctant to ask the HR coordinator. However this generally proceeds with a quick lunch which he would have with the other New Joinees all equally confused what to do next. Well the induction presentation too was expected full on black n white content and hardly could manage them to keep away from yawning. Next day you would find the new resource deployed at the assignment hired for all set to take over.

Neither did ever the employee complain about it nor did the HR feel the need to change after all the New Joinee feedback rated the process ‘GOOD’. So why bother!!

But will you rate this as a Blockbuster or Flop is what will make to re think about the entire process. Is it all about showing an additional hire in the monthly HR dashboard or something beyond numbers. Where is the user experience which you get while watching your favorite film in gold class?
 
So the point is both content and environment play an important role when we are inducting or introducing a new employee. First day itself should create an impression to last long, something which can engage him from day one. Something he would love to take back home for he surely made a right choice. Active interactions will not just make one comfortable but also help to understand the system and thus settling down would be much easier. Paper work and initial formalities if done online can save the day for team bonding orientation may be outside office premises or other in-house activities which helps to connect at much faster speed. Likewise there is lot which can be done around this widely practiced process ,all one requires is a Director’s Hat.

Induction is film which if directed, executed and presented well , will surely have the audience cheering for more!!

 

 

plugHR Career Cafe, An experience!!

As I entered the building, my phone started off and I answered to Bulbul on the other side, “Hey, I have already reached, where are you? Are the others too coming?” She asked me.

“Ya, just reaching in 5”, I replied promptly.

While I met Bulbul at the Café on 3^rd floor , Nikhil  and Paras too joined us.

No, we were not long lost friends but total strangers and only thing in common was that we were all passionate HR professionals coming from different industries but similar frame of mind, to be part of plugHR career cafe. Initially there was a momentary silence and as a host I initiated with a small introduction which simply took us to next level. One thing is for sure you are not in HR if you can’t talk like old friends to new ones. Meanwhile some more like minded people joined in along with Manoj, plugHR COO, who brought lot of value and aggression to the discussions.

Honestly I have organized many career cafes PAN India but never had personally attended one, so this being my first one I was not sure how would the discussion turn around. While I kept wondering my talking friends made it very easy. We had people pouring in the challenges and industrial grievances. Some discussed how HR role have been diminished over a decade and mostly sums up to coordination. To this one commented that it’s important for HR to align itself with Business the make the role and job more respectable and important. Common issues were on why it is important for HR to take a stand and what stops them for taking that critical call. Incomplete and ineffective dashboards and why have they not been able to move beyond attrition numbers too was a point to ponder.

But it’s foolish to be part of such event and miss out on self learning. Latest feedback practices of ‘Sandwich’ discussions and unique way to control attrition though effective and intelligent hiring was indeed something to imbibe personally. One of them was frank to comment on PMS session as a “Bajate Raho” time and another one told us how they would have two chairs during review time and when a non performer would sit, it would fall and he would know that it’s not his day….inspired from Mogambao of M. India. So next time don’t question HR on their sense of humor for you might not know the implications of the last night movie.

Well observing all of them engrossed in a great discussion was an experience. We had people with varied age group talking candidly like old pals. Funny thing was they all had apprehensions to attend career café initially and I had countered questions like “How will we break the ice?” “Are there any charges?” “What is the agenda?” “Why should I attend?”And here without any charges we kept talking for good 2.5 hours without a single awkward moment and the agenda was nothing but ‘be yourself’ with a mutual learning exercise.

Such are plugHR Career Cafes, where we provide platform to HR professionals to share experiences and unlearn to relearn with plugHR!!

We will soon be there in the café next to your place, just join in by writing to rakshita.dwivedi@plughr.com

10 ways to measure employee enagagement...

With changing times as Personnel Management became Talent Management, employee wellness has becomes the focus for any HR Manager. Organizations too have realized that though employees are governed my labor laws but ultimately they are major stakeholders in its organic growth. This paradigm shift has brought a major challenge of keeping employee motivated and engaged within the organizations. More opportunities and technologies have resulted in competitive strategies to have more happy faces around.

However like physicists say ‘ No machine can have perfect efficiency’ likewise hitting a perfect 10/10 can be a  farfetched dream but still there are ways to measure your engagement quotient and timely action can make just turn around stuff.

Best and the most well known is to analyze your exit reports and keep a tab on that deadly attrition factor. Resignations not only adds to ones blood pressure but replacement too come with added cost .So why not channelize the energy and finances on more productive side which can help keep the      attrition counts stay low and engagement high.

Remember what made college better than school? Well college didn’t have any uniform. Truly burden of strict policies such as reporting time sometimes can be highly annoying. Employee are truly engaged if they come on time because they love being at office not because they have late marks counter on.

Do your employees doze off or try to bunk those open forums addressed by the CEO or founder? So next time make sure it’s more interactive. They deserve to know where the organization is heading and let them feel like a family only then they would give their best to you.

How about the last appraisal process? How many reminders did you send to the managers? Do they believe in the appraisal process or is it just another formality for them. Processes can give us some very critical information’s about the employee motivation.

Once somebody suggested about having a ‘Smilometer’ , which can help us tracks smiles in day. Indeed more laughter and friendly behavior on floor suggests that it a happy place to work and smiles are always infectious J

My personal experience says an engaged and motivated employee will always. The feeling of pride to be associated with one’s dream company is too good a motivator and also helps spreading the feeling around.A happy employee would love to refer more of his friends to join the gang.  So you know when employee referrals are low what needs to be done.

Mostly HR faces challenge of maintaining salary confidentiality and more employees are stressed and frustrated every discussion boils around their favorite topic. If they are monetarily satisfied and happily engaged there are no reasons for you to worry on your strict and confidential information to go public.

Have you noticed who all regularly miss annual day celebrations or office parties? It’s similar to avoiding a dinner because your don’t like the host. Do I need to say more?

Trust in management and feeling of belonginess plays a great role too. If an employees is participative and know that his ideas and efforts will be well appreciated and acknowledged, he would be well bounded with the organization values and philosophy .However this comes with due course and here timely and right communication channel is very important.

 Keep a tab on informal and ‘online and social media’ discussions. Technology has opened many avenues for official gossips. Understanding employee psychology and behavior helps to understand their needs and leads to timely actions and further improvements.

Employee Engagement is need of the hour. Today keeping talent motivated and happy is important so that focus on organizational growth is undeterred. Important is to understand that every organization and individual is unique. What works with one might not click with others .But the beauty is to manage complex human brains in the most simplified manner.
However we all know that nobody is married to an organization but being engaged is no less than that !!

Wish you Happy Engagement J

 

2 Years at plugHR!

It has been 2yrs ever since I became a part of plugHR family and the most startling part is without even meeting most of my family members in person. The affiliation with each one of them is simply precious not just because of my interpersonal skills but because I have such passionate leaders who inspire constantly through their conduct.

I had a very narrow view of recruitments before I joined plugHR. For me talent acquisition was limited to a few channels, namely staffing, consultants and job portals. It was only when I got into plugHR that I comprehended how vast a field was recruitments. Finding appropriate people in context to the organization is the fundamental puzzle in recruitments.

When I first understood the concept of plugHR, my reaction was that the concept is innovative and different, finding the right fitment would be a challenge because plugHR is unique in its own way and culture. It’s an organization where you need highly flexible people and experts who can multitask and acknowledge the simplicity and purity of the people working in this organization. In fact, there are very few who have all these qualities. So it seemed like a constant challenge back then but now I feel I know the art of cherry picking when I look at our awesome team.

At plugHR, ‘Hiring Process’ is not really a process. We are here to do our best to establish relationships with all who show interest in our company. We strive to treat them well. We consider this as a recruiting relationship, and give our interactions with candidates a personal touch and hope they gain out of the experience. However, the recruiting relationship is just the beginning. The interview is the day where we do a  fine job of keeping the relationship intact if we’ve managed to bring the prospective employee this far. Infact after we shortlist our prospective employee we invite the candidates to come and spend a week or two at work with us to get a feel of being a plugHR employee.  

Here recruitment drive is not limited from website experience to the onsite interview. It is a series of meaningful communications that begin when a prospective candidate first hears about our company or visits our website. It continues through the recruiting relationship and interviews, and becomes an employee relationship, a positive networking relationship or best of friendships because we treated our prospective candidates well. In a competitive recruitment environment, these relationships certainly matter.

Talent Acquisition for plugHR is more than just a process. It is personal, it is unique, and it is all about associations. After these 2yrs with all the online birthday celebrations, the bootcamps, the social networking fun, and the workflex working culture each day at plugHR has been one of a kind experience with awesome people working at plugHR. 

How to Recruit Right!!

Rushing for a Monday review when suddenly got a call from Mangesh who was supposed to join but turned down the offer just when we were all set to have him onboard.

All these years have faced many such Monday’s where excitement for closure was just missed by a call or sometimes no call. Recruitment has never been easy but it certainly beyond just scheduling interviews and offers.

All these years have worked with some real sharp recruiters whose Mantra when shared and practiced worked out well

 

 

Asking Questions might bother many but is a best way for an HR to understand the requirement before even saying yes to sourcing. It makes no sense to work on X when Y was required, so miscommunication will only lead to frustration and CV spamming. Having good understanding helps better filtration, lesser interviews and quicker closures. Keeping a sample question bank too is not a Bad Idea!!

Once through with inside knowledge having good sales pitch which is crisp but informative and has flow which can attract the candidate is a MUST. Downloading all the information at the first call might not be effective rather go slow and make the conversation interactive. Don’t push much, generate interest and move on. This helps to judge the candidate profile as well as his interest. Many time first call itself can sort out fitment issues and avoid facing such situation at the final stage. First call is most important!!

Try all means to nail the requirement but be judicious on the cost. If something can be closed through internal referral why outsource the same. But if it niche enough then why wait to do the same. The call is yours but wasting time to experiment will have additional cost.

Back outs can make you land in the most embarrassing situations so better be prepared. Having a backup plan just counts a lot. Remember a position is closed only after the candidate settles in the organization.

Judgment skill and perseverance play a major role too. Stay cool and let your mind speak for you. Many times our personal interests have to be forgone when picking the right candidate. Focus should be to hire a resource that is culturally and technically fit enough to sustain a long term association with the organization.

All this might help in improving recruitment as a process and a skill but still there are and will remain on going challenges which an HR/Recruiter has to go through. Whether it’s the pressure to fill the requirements or talent crunch in the market one needs to keep the communication channel active and need based try to get best possible to suit all ends.  

Recruitment too has its ups and downs and being updated with the latest Hiring Trends will only make one a better recruiter.

HAPPY RECRUITING!!

Job hunt #Twitter

Did you hear the latest ‘talk of the town’ ...140 character resume and you already started counting your words on your CV?

So twitter seems to be next recruiting tools but is it better? That time can only tell..

However considering the lengthy resumes which requires lots for effort from candidate for the best possible editing and hardly any from employer to leave it unread or simply move it to trash, 140 character is appealing. At least, scanning time will reduce and cracking the code of TAT would not be that far stretched dream.

But will 140 characters reveal all what is required for that ice breaker call? Or is it a start of new skill set development with some tweety vocab to describe ones career in an abbreviated manner.eg. 10 HR Head (R/EE/PMS/SC/TD) Mum MBA Org: ABC/DEF/GHI, wow and all this in just 57 characters. Not bad!! So now recruiters can expect some good filtering on comm. Skills J by default!!

Most interestingly twitter or social media scores on transparency and communication, which in portal is just one way. Here employer would be more conscious of the brand, when it comes to follow up tweets. Remember how many emails/calls it took you for you to onboard last job.

But how many are really twitter savvy or will this just cater to a niche segment or a social segment. Does that mean loosing on some good audience?  That’s a good discussion point too.

Nevertheless it’s a good connect and word on social media spreads more than any other channel and no harm in trying after all it has the best pricing. IT’S FREE

 

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!