Hi,
I joined a service provider company in May 2015 having around 20 employees. Its a 10 years old company and I am the only HR working here. With reference to hrtraining360 post, I am facing issues related to employee motivation. As an HR I wanted to introduce R & R and incentives for the employees performance and motivation, but my boss i.e. the Director of the company is not supporting me on this. He is only concerned about discipline, professionalism and punctuality in the office (wants pin drop silence in office). Whenever I discuss about any employee engagement activity, he says he can not help it as employees are not performing well but doesn't give any solution to it. Even we are not following the leave policy as per the Shop & Establishment Act inspite of my consistent efforts to make him understand about its importance.
Please help me out to overcome this situation.
Regards,
Pooja
From India, Gurgaon
3I joined a service provider company in May 2015 having around 20 employees. Its a 10 years old company and I am the only HR working here. With reference to hrtraining360 post, I am facing issues related to employee motivation. As an HR I wanted to introduce R & R and incentives for the employees performance and motivation, but my boss i.e. the Director of the company is not supporting me on this. He is only concerned about discipline, professionalism and punctuality in the office (wants pin drop silence in office). Whenever I discuss about any employee engagement activity, he says he can not help it as employees are not performing well but doesn't give any solution to it. Even we are not following the leave policy as per the Shop & Establishment Act inspite of my consistent efforts to make him understand about its importance.
Please help me out to overcome this situation.
Regards,
Pooja
From India, Gurgaon
Write a confidential letter to the Inspector Shop & Establishment Act for a inspection at your premises and just see the fun. I did it in my last assignment and then we started following the same.
From India, Mumbai
From India, Mumbai
Stress and work have become synonymous with each other these days. If you work in an organization that runs on the output generated by the employees (which most of the organizations are) you must have noticed that almost all employees show the signs of stress. These signs usually escalate when the employees have to achieve a target in the near future and when their performance has to be measured.
Now, if you are wondering what HR can do to reduce employee stress? Can the management help in reducing employee stress? Then you may find the answers to these questions in the simple steps mentioned over here:
Got more ideas of Stress Management? Do share them in the Comments Section.
Thanks & Regards,
Arbind Gaba,
9999491895
From India, Mumbai
Now, if you are wondering what HR can do to reduce employee stress? Can the management help in reducing employee stress? Then you may find the answers to these questions in the simple steps mentioned over here:
- Offering perfect Work Life Balance: The management or HR can pay a vital role in reducing employee stress by offering a perfect work life balance to the employees. Make sure that every employee leaves the organization at the same time everyday and keep the overtime to a minimum. You should also try to not make the employee work on weekends or holidays as most of the employees feel work stress when they don't have enough time to rejuvenate with their family or friends.
- Providing Basic Healthcare Solutions: You should provide basic healthcare packages to all employees as a part of their perks. This will ensure that the employees go through regular health check-ups and maintain basic health levels. Always remember that a healthy employee is a more productive one too. So, the health packages offered by the company should be considered as an employee investment.
- Encouraging Employees to Concentrate on Health: The HR can also encourage all the employees to maintain basic health standards by offering awards like "Fittest Employee of the Month" or "The Most Cheerful Employee of a Month". This will keep every employee to stay fit and motivated, not only physically but mentally as well. You may or may not add a gift with the award because the acknowledgement is sometimes more powerful than a monetary reward.
- Organizing Stress Management Sessions: If the stress level of the employees working for a company seems to be too much then the HR should organize stress management sessions for the employees. You can give some basic stress management advice in the sessions or you can call a stress management expert to tackle the situation. It totally depends on your HR budget and your connections in the industry.
- Calling up an expert in lieu of free promotion can be a smart idea. For example: You can call upon the author of a Stress Management book to give a free session at your office and compensate with promoting his or her book within the organization or on the company website.
- Conducting One on One Stress Interviews: If you are overly dedicated towards reducing the stress levels of the employees, you should seriously boost up your knowledge on the subject by using the internet sources or professional advice. This will enable you to conduct regular stress management sessions with the employees in which you can find the triggers of stress in each and every employee and find a way to reduce their impact. Be sure to be very open minded and honest during these sessions as it will help the employees to open up freely.
- Helping Employees to Delegate: The HR should also encourage the star performers or overachievers to delegate some tasks. This will help in reducing their stress levels. You should encourage the overachiever to mentor a new trainee and delegate tedious tasks to the trainee to reduce the stress level of the overachiever. This will ensure that the overachiever doesn't feels threatened of losing his or her job and you will have a new useful resource (the trainee) within the company.
- Maintaining Basic Hygiene: Stress levels can also increase if the overall ambiance of the office is not good. Even if you have a housekeeping or facility management team in the office, you should make sure that they work properly. The office should always be clean and basic hygiene issues like availability of tissues papers, availability of hand wash, availability of clean water, etc. should be catered to. If an employee falls ill due to unhygienic conditions and takes a few leaves, it may lead to situations like increased stress levels as he will be taking stress of the job targets and he will have less time to achieve the targets.
- Train Managers to recognize Signs of Stress: You should also make sure that the managers of every department are trained in recognizing the first signs of stress. If the managers see the signs of stress, they should give the employee some breathing room. Always remember that a stressed employee would never perform to his or her best so it's a good bet to give employee some breathing room to reduce his stress levels which will increase his productivity when he gets back to work after the breather.
- Creating Anonymous Communication Channels: If one or more of the employees seem to be in stress and they refuse to talk about it then the HR should create anonymous communication channels like putting up a complaint box or a complaint e-mail id where the employees can share their woes without revealing their identity. This will help the employees to speak their mind and you will get to the root cause of the stress problem. It may be the unachievable targets for a harassing manager.
- Monitor Progress: Last but not the least, you as the HR should remember that stress management in employees is not a one time deal. It is a continuous process that needs contact refining. You should also remember to map out the progress of your efforts by monitoring the stress levels of every employee by again taking one on one session with them. If the employees feel less burdened and their stressed eyes are shinning, it would mean that the HR has done a remarkable job.
Got more ideas of Stress Management? Do share them in the Comments Section.
Thanks & Regards,
Arbind Gaba,
9999491895
From India, Mumbai
Very useful input.I recall some one's quote that life is 10% of what happens to you and 90% of how you respond to it. Many people compound the feeling of stress by thinking that he is the only unlucky guy to go trough it and all others are happy.This feeling that 'I vs. them' accentuates stress. Stress is inevitable in life and every one goes through it at different stages of life. This awareness that he is one among others itself prepares him to respond to stress appropriately.They need to make paradigm shift in their perceptions by learning from others or even by reading stories with positive messages.One perception is about adversity in life.The normal perception about adversity is that it is not a teacher but a tormentor.The one with postie frame of mind perceives adversity as a teacher, imparting few lessons for life and serving few warnings and precautions for a trouble free future. Is it not true that it is only the rough sea that makes you a skillful mariner?
B.Saikumar
Navi mumbai
From India, Mumbai
B.Saikumar
Navi mumbai
From India, Mumbai
Dear Arbind,
You have given ten ways to reduce the stress. However, few important ones are still missed out. These are as below:
a) Departments work in silos. Lack of coordination amongst the departments.
b) Faulty systems and processes. No efforts are made to measure the turnaround time.
c) Workload analysis is not done. Distinguishing factors are missing as to who is efficient and who inefficient.
d) Unreasonable targets. By paying very high salary, it is considered that employers "own" a person.
e) Though company has provided good software to handle the work, people do not use it completely.
f) Culture of meetings. In few companies Managers spend 40% or more in meetings.
g) No efforts are made to reduce the repetition of mistakes.
And so on...
Thanks,
Dinesh Divekar
From India, Bangalore
You have given ten ways to reduce the stress. However, few important ones are still missed out. These are as below:
a) Departments work in silos. Lack of coordination amongst the departments.
b) Faulty systems and processes. No efforts are made to measure the turnaround time.
c) Workload analysis is not done. Distinguishing factors are missing as to who is efficient and who inefficient.
d) Unreasonable targets. By paying very high salary, it is considered that employers "own" a person.
e) Though company has provided good software to handle the work, people do not use it completely.
f) Culture of meetings. In few companies Managers spend 40% or more in meetings.
g) No efforts are made to reduce the repetition of mistakes.
And so on...
Thanks,
Dinesh Divekar
From India, Bangalore
Hi all,
Thanks for your useful shares. I'd like to add more ideas of stress management:
- Spare a space for mediation or quiet time
- Encourage team building
- Help your employees realize how meaningful their work is
And more tips to help employees manage stress in my article
However, at first you should identify types and levels of stress to find the most suitable solutions. You can get some ideas here
From Vietnam, Hanoi
Thanks for your useful shares. I'd like to add more ideas of stress management:
- Spare a space for mediation or quiet time
- Encourage team building
- Help your employees realize how meaningful their work is
And more tips to help employees manage stress in my article
However, at first you should identify types and levels of stress to find the most suitable solutions. You can get some ideas here
From Vietnam, Hanoi
With the changing of times, the companies are expecting the HR department to play a pivotal role in boosting employee productivity. If you have been asked to boost employee performance and you are not sure about how you can manage that then here's a list of things you can do. We request you to try them all as together they will help you make sure that the employees not only achieve their goals but overachieve them.
- Setting Realistic Goals: Your first step should be to talk to the management and employee representative to make sure that the goals set by the management are achievable or not. If the goals are not achievable, the employees may simply stop putting in efforts in doing the job because they will know that no matter how much effort they put in, the results would not be as per management expectations.
- Allowing Employees Some Breathing Room: Your next step should be to make sure that the employees are given a lot of breathing room. Many employees would not be able to perform nicely because their manager is breathing down their necks. If the managers are indeed doing so then you should have a one on one session with the manager and make him or her understand the value of employees' personal space.
- Dividing the Roles: The HR should also play a vital role in dividing the job role of every employee from the start. If an employee is working harder than his or her counterparts, he may stop being productive very soon. So, the HR should make sure everyone knows his or her job role so that no one feels undervalued.
- Measuring Performance Accurately: The performance management process of the organization should be crystal clear. No one should be overrated or underrated and all the employees should get appreciated for the work they have put in. If the performance management is biased or not clear, employees may feel that they are not valued and their productivity may lower further.
- Offering Rewards: After the shining stars of an organization are recognized via performance management, their efforts should be valued by offering monetary and non monetary rewards. The HR should judge what the rewards could be depending on the budget of the organization and employee expectations. Remember that some employees may only be interested in monetary incentives but for some a simple pat on the back would value more than money. Hence, know the employee before setting a reward for him or her.
- Provisioning Open Communication: The HR should make sure that every employee has a platform to raise his or her concerns. This platform would help the employee to speak their mind on what is wrong with their productivity and why they are unable to perform without disclosing their names. The employees should also have a direct route of communication to the senior management which will allow them to raise their concerns if their immediate manager is not cooperating with them to achieve desired productivity levels.
- Training Each Employee Perfectly: Training & employee development is one of the core duties expected from the HR of a company. If the HR is able to train the employees at regular time frames then the employee productivity will see a boost. If this is not the case despite the training sessions organized by the HR, the HR should seek training feedback and improve the training instruments and methodologies in order to increase employee productivity.
- Promoting innovation: The HR should also coordinate with the managers to boost employee innovation. New ideas should be praised even if they can't be accepted immediately. The employees who come up with innovative ideas should be appreciated wholeheartedly and contests to boost employee productivity should be initiated.
- Teaching Leadership: The HR should also try to teach leadership skills to all the managers. If the managers know how to make an employee increase productivity without pressurizing the employees then the organization would have a bright future. On the other hand if the management fails to motivate the employees due to poor leadership, the employees would feel pressurized and the employee attrition rate may rise.
- Seeking and Implementing Employee Feedback: Last but not the least; the HR should always seek feedback of employees on the equipment and ambiance of the office. If the employees have faulty laptops or the office stinks, the employee productivity would obviously suffer. So the HR should make sure the employee feedback regarding the productivity tools and overall atmosphere are always implemented as soon as possible.
You know of more ways of boosting employee productivity that you have already tried or wish to try? Do feel free to share them with us in the comments section below.
Thanks & Regards,
Arbind Gaba
9999491895
visit our official site at www.slaconsultantsindia.com
From India, Mumbai
Hi Arbin, Thank you for your valuable sharing! I would like to add 1 more ways:
11. Create the "economic incentives" for employees at all positions in the company can benefit.
Here is 7 great ways to improve employee productivity that you can find some other ideas.
From Vietnam, Hanoi
11. Create the "economic incentives" for employees at all positions in the company can benefit.
Here is 7 great ways to improve employee productivity that you can find some other ideas.
From Vietnam, Hanoi
Recruiting the right people is the key for building a great team and forming a successful company. So when you are hiring someone for a job, you must be extra cautious to ensure that the employee you are hiring is the perfect fit. Here's a list of some simple Do's and Don'ts of Recruitment that will enlighten you on common mistakes made by people while hiring and if you are smart, you will do well to remember them when you initiate your next recruitment spree.
Do -
Don't -
Do you have any ideas on more Do's and Don'ts of recruitment that we have missed out? Please participate in this discussion and let other people benefit from your knowledge and expertise.
From India, Mumbai
Do -
- Take a thorough interview: Your first step should be to make sure that you conduct a thorough interview of the candidate. You should trust the skills of the candidate in the interview and you should also get to know him or her better. You should be able to judge useful things like whether the person is a team player or not, whether the person has a stable personal life or not, etc. These things may impact the performance of the candidate so you must always test them.
- Focus on Skills: Your next step should be to focus on the skill level of the candidate rather than giving more importance to your personal relation with the candidate (he may be your nephew) or the looks of the candidate. In some jobs like Receptionist, looks do matter but you cannot hire a dumb beautiful girl can you? What if a client asks her something about the company and she gives a silly answer? Hence, be smart and rely on the skills of the candidate.
- Trust Fresher's: Some people place too much importance on the "experience factor." They think the number of years of experience under the belt is enough to hire a candidate. You should not make the same mistake. You should judge the skills, eagerness to learn and the sharpness of a candidate's mind first. If you think a fresher has more skills and eagerness to learn then you should give the job to the fresher as compared to an experienced candidate who is stubborn on what he or she knows and is not willing to learn.
- Hire from Within: You should also always try to hire a resource from within. Try promoting a junior person to a senior level after giving good training to him or her rather than bringing someone from out of the company. Hiring from within would keep the employees happy and save money for the organization (cost of recruitment from outside is very high as compared to cost of recruitment from within the company).
- Check Background: If you can't find a person from inside the company, you should hire from the outside. But you must remember to do a systematic and methodical background check of the candidate to avoid hiring the "wrong person". Make sure that all the education and experience credentials of the new recruit are verified before appointing him or her.
Don't -
- Make Fake promises: When you are recruiting a new employee, you should never ever make fake promises. Promises regarding growth, salary, job descriptions are the most common areas in which recruiters promise to give more but offers less to the new candidate. This practice is very foolish as the new employee may leave the organization within a few days if what's promised is not delivered by the HR or the Management. Be smart and avoid lies as much as you can.
- Expect Too Much: You should also try not to expect too much from a new recruit. Keep the targets of a new recruit easy and give him or her space to understand how things work with your company. Even an experienced employee would require some time to adjust and you should give it to him or her. You should also be prepared for some mistakes made by the new recruit and handle them with care because if an employee feels that he or she is not doing the job right, he or she may quit.
- Avoid Questions: You should never avoid the questions raised by the new employee. If an employee wants to know something regarding the process or how your company works, be patient and answer it. You may also have to explain the same things over and over again so you should not get irritated by it. Always remember an employee asking too many questions to avoid making mistakes is better than an employee not asking any questions and making mistakes.
- Forego Formalities: When you hire a new employee, make sure that the proper formalities are in order. You should complete all the paperwork regarding the recruitment before introducing the employee to his or her team. If all the paperwork is in order, it will ensure that employee knows about every policy or the company related to HR, confidentiality etc. and his or her chances of breaking the terms either accidentally or willingly would be very low.
- Forget to Train: Last but as usual not the least; you should make sure that the new recruit is properly trained by his or her immediate manager. You should seek constant feedback of the new recruit about how he or she is finding the organization. This will help you to know if the new recruit has any issues and you will be able to fix them before they force the new recruit to quit the job.
Do you have any ideas on more Do's and Don'ts of recruitment that we have missed out? Please participate in this discussion and let other people benefit from your knowledge and expertise.
From India, Mumbai
Community Support and Knowledge-base on business, career and organisational prospects and issues - Register and Log In to CiteHR and post your query, download formats and be part of a fostered community of professionals.
Consultants, auditors and trainers.jpg
Sla.doc-iii_201 .doc
SLA Template.xls