Every one is talking about Working Late and Stuffs....
If one looks into the Root Cause,Its Competion amongst Peers which has been in our blood from the childhood days....
When they Get into work they do the same things..[Eyening PA].
Solutions
1)Tell The reporting managers to focus on "QUALITY OF WORK" NOT THE hours he spend as the sole criteria for Judging performance
2)Give all the managers Training [To Avoid the PA Errors]
3)Build a Employer BRAND IMAGE as a company that Encourages Work Life Balance...
4) Break down the projects so that 80-20% rule wont happen again n again.
Regards
Nidhin Jacob
From India
1If one looks into the Root Cause,Its Competion amongst Peers which has been in our blood from the childhood days....
When they Get into work they do the same things..[Eyening PA].
Solutions
1)Tell The reporting managers to focus on "QUALITY OF WORK" NOT THE hours he spend as the sole criteria for Judging performance
2)Give all the managers Training [To Avoid the PA Errors]
3)Build a Employer BRAND IMAGE as a company that Encourages Work Life Balance...
4) Break down the projects so that 80-20% rule wont happen again n again.
Regards
Nidhin Jacob
From India
Hi Peer,
You are lucky to get such a company,but isn't it increases the problem of overliberty to the employees..........means sometimes they try to take undue advantages of the lineancy shown to them.This is what happening in our company.
regards
Fauzia
From India, Kanpur
You are lucky to get such a company,but isn't it increases the problem of overliberty to the employees..........means sometimes they try to take undue advantages of the lineancy shown to them.This is what happening in our company.
regards
Fauzia
From India, Kanpur
I am taking the liberty of copying Shilpa.u's posting in this CiteHR to possibly answer your quesion on how best you can make your workplace a better place! Just go through it and think how you can take up as much as you can from her precepts!
Quote:
1: Master the art of Metrics: Metrics are a critical business component in many parts of a company.
2: Delight Employees with the Unexpected: When it comes to measuring employee satisfaction, statistics show (and you probably know) that happy employees stay longer and are more productive. So what makes employees happy? Benefits, compensation, and work/life balance are the most important factors in overall job satisfaction.
3 Keep the Lid on Healthcare Costs: You know what a challenge it can be to balance healthcare that both your company and employees can afford and appreciate.
Disease management is another area that engages employees and ultimately benefits the company by reducing costs and preventing catastrophic claims.
Prevent Healthcare Fraud and Related Costs
Dental benefits
Wellness programs
Audit Coverage: make sure the healthcare policy is only covering those who are eligible.
Talk to your Provider: Make sure you’re both aware of the warning signs of healthcare fraud
Reward Whistleblowers: Offer incentives to employees covered by your healthcare plan. It’s in their best interest to prevent fraud because it helps keep their healthcare costs down
4: Create a Safe Workplace
It sounds like a simple concept, but it may be more of a challenge than you think. Look at the potentials for danger to you and your employees, and you’ll see that safety has many meanings
Prevent Workplace Accidents
• Establish Management Leadership and Employee Involvement
• Create Safety Committees
• Conduct a Worksite Analysis
• Conduct Safety Training
Preventing Violence in the Workplace: This is a safety issue that many companies don’t really take into consideration, but violence in the workplace is a growing problem.
• Post a policy
• Form a dedicated management team
• Track incidents
• Act consistently
• Conduct Violence Prevention Training
• Plan your Response
Preventing Domestic Violence: Thousands of domestic violence incidents spill into the workplace each year and can affect employee morale, productivity, and performance — and can put other employees at risk as well. See how other companies are handling this issue. Techniques include:
• Educate employees about domestic violence and provide resources
• Train managers to recognize the warning signs of domestic abuse
• Implement security measures to protect employees
• Refer victims to your employee assistance program (EAP). If you don’t have one, consider developing one.
If an employee has been the target of domestic violence and their performance is suffering, consider alternatives to termination, such a flex time or a leave of absence.
5: Hire Right
You know that hiring the right person is essential to the success of your business.
Develop a Hiring Strategy: Don’t wait until the day an employee gives notice to decide what/how/who you need to fill that position. A tight labor market means you need to be ready.
Match your strategy to your company: Does your company have the time and money to train an employee from the entry level, or do you need a fully qualified person to jump in and hit the ground running?
Determine what you’re looking for in a candidate: What makes a person a good candidate for a job in your company? Go beyond the basic job description and make a list of the background and characteristics that would help a person best fit each job. Just be careful that you don't develop a profile that could be construed as discriminatory.
Develop a Budget: Work with management to set a budget for hiring. Take into consideration the hiring tools you will likely need, and the projected cost of each.
Choose your Hiring Tools: Which sources work best for you: newspapers? Web? Placement agencies? You’ll have to consider:
• Cost
• Time constraints
• Availability of qualified applicants
6: Create an Ethical Workplace:
It’s not just the right thing to do, it’s also the legal thing to do. You can help your company on both fronts by taking some key steps:
Establish a Code of Ethics: It sounds like a daunting task to some, but a code of ethics puts your company, your employees, and your clients on the same page so everyone knows what to expect.
Develop the Code: Look at who you are as a company, and how you approach your business. Write it down. Ask employees for their input. Look at what other companies have done. After you have a draft in place, print it up and have everyone look at it. Can everyone live up to the promise?
Promote the Code: Once you have the code in place, make an event of it. Unveil the final version at a staff meeting. Place the code prominently throughout the company. Ask employees to sign an agreement to follow the code. Make it part of your company’s culture.
Review the Code: Businesses change; and in time, so may your code. Review it annually to make sure it’s still a good fit.
7: Conquer Your Compliance Challenges
It’s a moving target: HR management laws are always changing — sometimes in small ways, sometimes in more complicated ways. You need to stay on top of those changes. Make sure you’re up to speed on:
• USERRA regulations regarding employment, reemployment, benefits, and more
• FLSA and new overtime regulations
• HIPAA guidelines for security
• FTC rules on disposing of confidential consumer report
8: Make Your Policies and Practices
“State of the Art”: Your company needs to keep pace with current technology, and decide how to address the use of different technologies on the job
Internet Use, Cell Phones, Camera Phones, Blogging, Identity Theft
9: Prepare for the Worst
It may be a local storm, or a nationwide emergency that affects the operation of your business. Whether the emergency is small or large, the key to keeping things running smoothly is planning. As an HR manager, you need to think about:
• Compensation: Will you pay staffers who can’t work because of the emergency? If so, will you modify their pay?
• Benefits: Do your vendors have disaster plans?
• Work/Life: Are your employees prepared for a disaster? Will you be able to reach everyone in an emergency?
10: Strive for the Best
HR managers are becoming key players in the success of their companies. You can play a valuable role in your company's future:
Align the HR Agenda with Your Company’s Needs: Listen to what your management is saying, and work together to make sure you're giving your company what it really needs.
Build Credibility and Influence: If you have a strong understanding of your company's culture, you can ask the challenging questions to help your company stay productive. And don't be afraid to suggest innovative solutions to longstanding problems. Your vision can lead the company forward.
Sell the HR function: Your company has customers, and so do you. Your customers are your company's leaders. Make sure they know what HR really does, what you have to offer, and how managers and employees can use HR resources to their best advantage.
Think like a Strategic Partner: The more you approach HR as an internal business, the more successful you are likely to be. And that success can only benefit your company.
Be a key Player
Unquote
Jeroo
From India, Mumbai
Quote:
1: Master the art of Metrics: Metrics are a critical business component in many parts of a company.
2: Delight Employees with the Unexpected: When it comes to measuring employee satisfaction, statistics show (and you probably know) that happy employees stay longer and are more productive. So what makes employees happy? Benefits, compensation, and work/life balance are the most important factors in overall job satisfaction.
3 Keep the Lid on Healthcare Costs: You know what a challenge it can be to balance healthcare that both your company and employees can afford and appreciate.
Disease management is another area that engages employees and ultimately benefits the company by reducing costs and preventing catastrophic claims.
Prevent Healthcare Fraud and Related Costs
Dental benefits
Wellness programs
Audit Coverage: make sure the healthcare policy is only covering those who are eligible.
Talk to your Provider: Make sure you’re both aware of the warning signs of healthcare fraud
Reward Whistleblowers: Offer incentives to employees covered by your healthcare plan. It’s in their best interest to prevent fraud because it helps keep their healthcare costs down
4: Create a Safe Workplace
It sounds like a simple concept, but it may be more of a challenge than you think. Look at the potentials for danger to you and your employees, and you’ll see that safety has many meanings
Prevent Workplace Accidents
• Establish Management Leadership and Employee Involvement
• Create Safety Committees
• Conduct a Worksite Analysis
• Conduct Safety Training
Preventing Violence in the Workplace: This is a safety issue that many companies don’t really take into consideration, but violence in the workplace is a growing problem.
• Post a policy
• Form a dedicated management team
• Track incidents
• Act consistently
• Conduct Violence Prevention Training
• Plan your Response
Preventing Domestic Violence: Thousands of domestic violence incidents spill into the workplace each year and can affect employee morale, productivity, and performance — and can put other employees at risk as well. See how other companies are handling this issue. Techniques include:
• Educate employees about domestic violence and provide resources
• Train managers to recognize the warning signs of domestic abuse
• Implement security measures to protect employees
• Refer victims to your employee assistance program (EAP). If you don’t have one, consider developing one.
If an employee has been the target of domestic violence and their performance is suffering, consider alternatives to termination, such a flex time or a leave of absence.
5: Hire Right
You know that hiring the right person is essential to the success of your business.
Develop a Hiring Strategy: Don’t wait until the day an employee gives notice to decide what/how/who you need to fill that position. A tight labor market means you need to be ready.
Match your strategy to your company: Does your company have the time and money to train an employee from the entry level, or do you need a fully qualified person to jump in and hit the ground running?
Determine what you’re looking for in a candidate: What makes a person a good candidate for a job in your company? Go beyond the basic job description and make a list of the background and characteristics that would help a person best fit each job. Just be careful that you don't develop a profile that could be construed as discriminatory.
Develop a Budget: Work with management to set a budget for hiring. Take into consideration the hiring tools you will likely need, and the projected cost of each.
Choose your Hiring Tools: Which sources work best for you: newspapers? Web? Placement agencies? You’ll have to consider:
• Cost
• Time constraints
• Availability of qualified applicants
6: Create an Ethical Workplace:
It’s not just the right thing to do, it’s also the legal thing to do. You can help your company on both fronts by taking some key steps:
Establish a Code of Ethics: It sounds like a daunting task to some, but a code of ethics puts your company, your employees, and your clients on the same page so everyone knows what to expect.
Develop the Code: Look at who you are as a company, and how you approach your business. Write it down. Ask employees for their input. Look at what other companies have done. After you have a draft in place, print it up and have everyone look at it. Can everyone live up to the promise?
Promote the Code: Once you have the code in place, make an event of it. Unveil the final version at a staff meeting. Place the code prominently throughout the company. Ask employees to sign an agreement to follow the code. Make it part of your company’s culture.
Review the Code: Businesses change; and in time, so may your code. Review it annually to make sure it’s still a good fit.
7: Conquer Your Compliance Challenges
It’s a moving target: HR management laws are always changing — sometimes in small ways, sometimes in more complicated ways. You need to stay on top of those changes. Make sure you’re up to speed on:
• USERRA regulations regarding employment, reemployment, benefits, and more
• FLSA and new overtime regulations
• HIPAA guidelines for security
• FTC rules on disposing of confidential consumer report
8: Make Your Policies and Practices
“State of the Art”: Your company needs to keep pace with current technology, and decide how to address the use of different technologies on the job
Internet Use, Cell Phones, Camera Phones, Blogging, Identity Theft
9: Prepare for the Worst
It may be a local storm, or a nationwide emergency that affects the operation of your business. Whether the emergency is small or large, the key to keeping things running smoothly is planning. As an HR manager, you need to think about:
• Compensation: Will you pay staffers who can’t work because of the emergency? If so, will you modify their pay?
• Benefits: Do your vendors have disaster plans?
• Work/Life: Are your employees prepared for a disaster? Will you be able to reach everyone in an emergency?
10: Strive for the Best
HR managers are becoming key players in the success of their companies. You can play a valuable role in your company's future:
Align the HR Agenda with Your Company’s Needs: Listen to what your management is saying, and work together to make sure you're giving your company what it really needs.
Build Credibility and Influence: If you have a strong understanding of your company's culture, you can ask the challenging questions to help your company stay productive. And don't be afraid to suggest innovative solutions to longstanding problems. Your vision can lead the company forward.
Sell the HR function: Your company has customers, and so do you. Your customers are your company's leaders. Make sure they know what HR really does, what you have to offer, and how managers and employees can use HR resources to their best advantage.
Think like a Strategic Partner: The more you approach HR as an internal business, the more successful you are likely to be. And that success can only benefit your company.
Be a key Player
Unquote
Jeroo
From India, Mumbai
Mostly management fails to know basic needs of employees and forgets the COMMON SENSE..
Employee does not need stress busting, stress management training, along with a bundle of jobs and 12-14 hour work.
They need an 8 hr job and liberty to go home an spend some time with family and friends.
Most employees are educated and smart and would not like the HR poking into personal matters, they are knowledgable and know what they want. Best training needs are analysed by employee themselves.
We indians are so greedy you may say we seek to grab more and more projects, and are literally extending our employees strength , skills, work pressures, to the extreme limit,, which may explode some time.
These subjection of employees limits of abilities, strengths are required only in certain professions like Doctors, Navy, Defence. And its not ethical to literally stress all your employees by calling names a challenging environment.
From India, Pune
Employee does not need stress busting, stress management training, along with a bundle of jobs and 12-14 hour work.
They need an 8 hr job and liberty to go home an spend some time with family and friends.
Most employees are educated and smart and would not like the HR poking into personal matters, they are knowledgable and know what they want. Best training needs are analysed by employee themselves.
We indians are so greedy you may say we seek to grab more and more projects, and are literally extending our employees strength , skills, work pressures, to the extreme limit,, which may explode some time.
These subjection of employees limits of abilities, strengths are required only in certain professions like Doctors, Navy, Defence. And its not ethical to literally stress all your employees by calling names a challenging environment.
From India, Pune
Hi,
after going thru all the comments,remarks,suggestions, just to share my experience with well known corporate, there is noting like professional hr existing, people just are saving their own head and following all thrash put forward to hr, No employee satisfaction is focussed on, its all on papers, regrets if I'm rude, but what we learn and believe in , to put things in practise you need the higher management who believes in the same values.
secondly, in some companies HR is just looked at someone who is there to distribute salaries and leaves.
Sorry again for being rude, but this is a fact and fact about some very well known corporates, SAD........
regards,
AB :(
From India, Delhi
after going thru all the comments,remarks,suggestions, just to share my experience with well known corporate, there is noting like professional hr existing, people just are saving their own head and following all thrash put forward to hr, No employee satisfaction is focussed on, its all on papers, regrets if I'm rude, but what we learn and believe in , to put things in practise you need the higher management who believes in the same values.
secondly, in some companies HR is just looked at someone who is there to distribute salaries and leaves.
Sorry again for being rude, but this is a fact and fact about some very well known corporates, SAD........
regards,
AB :(
From India, Delhi
Ayush ur 100% correct, its all in papers real no company cares for employee satisfaction, it just shows on paper 8) 8) 8)
From India, Pune
From India, Pune
Dear HR
What u have said is absolutely correct, but there are always some thing in professional life of HR which u could not avoid. If we want to meet Top Management for some important decisions we get time in late in evening because in normal hrs business is more important, if we want to recruit then candidates only want to appear for interview on Sunday.
In my present organization (an old economy company), owners know old employees by name, they call them directly, without knowing the bosses, and want that everybody should be loyal to them, these old loyalist shows their loyalty by working late, coming to office on the Saturday/Sundays. What a new Professional Manager would do in such conditions.
Best Wishes
Amit
From India, Delhi
What u have said is absolutely correct, but there are always some thing in professional life of HR which u could not avoid. If we want to meet Top Management for some important decisions we get time in late in evening because in normal hrs business is more important, if we want to recruit then candidates only want to appear for interview on Sunday.
In my present organization (an old economy company), owners know old employees by name, they call them directly, without knowing the bosses, and want that everybody should be loyal to them, these old loyalist shows their loyalty by working late, coming to office on the Saturday/Sundays. What a new Professional Manager would do in such conditions.
Best Wishes
Amit
From India, Delhi
Hello every one,
Firstly I would like to congratulate Pir for being so lucky to have an employer like his in his past company.
Secondly May I know are you still lucky in your present job.
Thirdly I would like to share my experiences.
I started my career in a Company who you can say are Pioneer in HR practices in India. I was with that company for about 9 years and learn all the funds and values of HR and even learned how to be Hypo carte but it was not major but minor.
After nine years of working one fine morning I decided to get married and relocate my self to magic city Mumbai. I was very excited we I got my first job in Mumbai and belief me I could not continue with the company for more than 3 months
Reason the work ethic was missing from the company. Than I joined the other company 'cause with myl previous employers stamp and experience it was easy I even could not continue with organization for more than 6 months because this company was worst than the previous they are only Hypo crate and nothing else.
They wanted to do all sort of activities which will not be acceptable to any normal human beings with values.
By doing this my biodata become ugly and where I am working I am working only to make my biodata look good and in this 1.5 years I have leant the truth i.e. first work to save your head and then comes very thing else.
Shakila
From India, Mumbai
Firstly I would like to congratulate Pir for being so lucky to have an employer like his in his past company.
Secondly May I know are you still lucky in your present job.
Thirdly I would like to share my experiences.
I started my career in a Company who you can say are Pioneer in HR practices in India. I was with that company for about 9 years and learn all the funds and values of HR and even learned how to be Hypo carte but it was not major but minor.
After nine years of working one fine morning I decided to get married and relocate my self to magic city Mumbai. I was very excited we I got my first job in Mumbai and belief me I could not continue with the company for more than 3 months
Reason the work ethic was missing from the company. Than I joined the other company 'cause with myl previous employers stamp and experience it was easy I even could not continue with organization for more than 6 months because this company was worst than the previous they are only Hypo crate and nothing else.
They wanted to do all sort of activities which will not be acceptable to any normal human beings with values.
By doing this my biodata become ugly and where I am working I am working only to make my biodata look good and in this 1.5 years I have leant the truth i.e. first work to save your head and then comes very thing else.
Shakila
From India, Mumbai
In continuation with this thread - HR managers are responsible to the extent of what happens in their dept, and ALSO the culture of the organization jointly with the top management.
The HR for HR said (By the way - you should really reveal your name. It would be a pleasure to know the first name and a few more details of the person who starts such interesting topics).
So we all need a way out of this and for some weird weird reason - the responsibility late sitting, no KRAs, poor policies, etc comes to the doorstep of HR. Bear in mind that the HR has a dual responsibility of keeping people engaged in their work as well as performing the tasks given by the top management. A tightrope walk across the Himalayan peaks is easy by comparison.
Last time I checked - HR people are employees too. Just as an employee in accounts or IT or sales or any other function does what his boss tells them to keep their jobs, so also does the HR and there is nothing wrong with this AT ALL.
The real problem is that business exists to make profits - not give people jobs. People exist to help earn revenue. The problem arises only when profits take the place of people. Thats when the management in its wisdom says "replace that person if he is not willing to do X task". Whether the task is within working hours or legal or ethical is of small consideration when the focus of the management is profit alone. People are viewed as things and not people.
How does an HR person function in this scenario? As long as your values don't eat you inside. Or as long as you can fool yourself that "this is the way things are" or "things will change soon" or "This never happened".
In one of my previous organizations, I told my superiors that if they wanted to reduce attrition (and subsequent recruitment and training costs), then the only thing the organization had to do was reduce the targets. Obviously, they did not do this and so continue to face the same issues.
This will be the same story with most other organizations despite the facilities which they provide for their employees. How many HR people are going to be willing to risk their jobs to tell the management that they have to change certain strategies? Managements always want to reduce cost so that profit is maximised - but fail to understand the indirect costs which arise when quality is sacrificed for low cost.
HR is possibly the most frustrating job in an organization. If an exit analysis is done only for HR folks, I am sure that job frustration would rank in the top 3 reasons for leaving!
More viewpoints please.
Regards
Ryan
From India, Mumbai
The HR for HR said (By the way - you should really reveal your name. It would be a pleasure to know the first name and a few more details of the person who starts such interesting topics).
So we all need a way out of this and for some weird weird reason - the responsibility late sitting, no KRAs, poor policies, etc comes to the doorstep of HR. Bear in mind that the HR has a dual responsibility of keeping people engaged in their work as well as performing the tasks given by the top management. A tightrope walk across the Himalayan peaks is easy by comparison.
Last time I checked - HR people are employees too. Just as an employee in accounts or IT or sales or any other function does what his boss tells them to keep their jobs, so also does the HR and there is nothing wrong with this AT ALL.
The real problem is that business exists to make profits - not give people jobs. People exist to help earn revenue. The problem arises only when profits take the place of people. Thats when the management in its wisdom says "replace that person if he is not willing to do X task". Whether the task is within working hours or legal or ethical is of small consideration when the focus of the management is profit alone. People are viewed as things and not people.
How does an HR person function in this scenario? As long as your values don't eat you inside. Or as long as you can fool yourself that "this is the way things are" or "things will change soon" or "This never happened".
In one of my previous organizations, I told my superiors that if they wanted to reduce attrition (and subsequent recruitment and training costs), then the only thing the organization had to do was reduce the targets. Obviously, they did not do this and so continue to face the same issues.
This will be the same story with most other organizations despite the facilities which they provide for their employees. How many HR people are going to be willing to risk their jobs to tell the management that they have to change certain strategies? Managements always want to reduce cost so that profit is maximised - but fail to understand the indirect costs which arise when quality is sacrificed for low cost.
HR is possibly the most frustrating job in an organization. If an exit analysis is done only for HR folks, I am sure that job frustration would rank in the top 3 reasons for leaving!
More viewpoints please.
Regards
Ryan
From India, Mumbai
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