Brand Ambassador or Absconding Employee – Make a Choice

Alright,  given a choice which one will you pick out of these?

# An absconding employee

# A Brand Ambassador

Astounded!! What does an absconding employee have to do with a Brand Ambassador? What is the common platform here? Wait till you understand the entire thing, have you made your choice? I know most of us will select the second one…. and not because we want to be one too but then who would want to be an absconding employee? yet we end up doing the same… almost, narrating the story here of problems faced by both employers and employees. The newest being….

I got an experience letter from my ex-company mentioning my years of experience and designation and they have mentioned that as I was absconding hence was relieved from the services of the organization.

as per the company policy the employee has to serve a 30 days notice period in which I served zero days hence the short fall amount has been recovered.

…..right now am working in a different company on contract basis and they haven’t raised any issue about this certificate. Please let me know if this certificate is worth having and will it create serious issues in my career.

So here is another crisis one can face when you just scamper away without communicating to the employer, and in such cases what can be done? One cannot go back and discuss the matter, so you have a permanent fixture in your experience letter that you fled from your last employment.

We generally are of the view that only the employees suffer if they leave the company without any acquiescence or information, but we forget that the companies also have to deal with ‘waiting for them’ to close their accounts, no communication from employees keeps the organization in a stagger and so they are made to send legal notices and other similar stuff.

Absconding employees have to face the tyranny of not having an experience letter, relieving letter and also in some cases no salary or F&F. What benefit do you get by being absconding? Just one- that you did not serve the notice period... or you join the other company a little early...

Serving a notice period is not an intricate assignment chiefly when you have gained an experience of ‘n’ number of years in an organization. Even if you have dealt with some scuffles with your ex employer/boss, yet leaving them with a proper handshake is so much more beneficial, it not only provides for a positive reference but there are possibilities that you might meet your ex Boss/HR people somewhere else also. And once they know how professional you are it becomes all the more better for your career and progression.

But again is it necessary that all employees have to serve notice? can't we relieve them early knowing they are not interested to work anymore, making them stay creates more problem than resolve the handover issue.. think about it..

Brand Ambassador

What is a Brand Ambassador? Ranbir Kapoor, endorsing the John Player Brand or Amitabh Bachchan endorsing Reid and Taylor? We can all do something like that for the companies we have been associated with once, but no don’t worry you don’t have to wear/carry their products to be the One. We can simply endorse them by moving on without any anarchy and pandemonium!

Being an emissary is possible from both sides, employers and employees, its in the hands of an employer too; how they utilize their ex-employees, for instance, when I left one organization we made sure that we would remain in touch, and till date they have done so, calling me once in a while for my assistance and suggestion on various issues and giving me information on what new products and services they are launching, which in turn genuinely makes me endorse them amongst my friends and family…and why not?

Being a Brand Envoy on the other side is a win-win situation for both, but now the question is, how can we give our backing to the brand/company once we decide to part ways…and the answer to that is- let’s just do it for old times’ sake. When you leave a company on a good note, the prospects of going back to them is also open, the world is small you never know where you land up one of these days. Not only this, but benefits of being an Emissary to your ex-employers are plenty.

So make a choice today for a lot of respite tomorrow…

more at http://www.citeman.com/16186-brand-ambassador-or-absconding-employee-%e2%80%93-make-a-choice.html#ixzz2VnsCI4Y1

Employee Education Program (MDPs) – Opportunities and Hurdles

Training and development the least thought of area of Human resource Department, which makes me write experiences through this editorial. Investing in Employee education program would enrich and improve employee productivity and performance moreover directly affecting the company’s own efficiency and profitability. A coin has two sides- positive and negative, hence we will discuss the hurdles that come in the way of Employee education programs in organizations; what an employee perceives and what is the employer’s side of the story and then gradually we will share the opportunities that can be tapped through organizing such programs in firms. So here we go:

Flip side story- Employee opinion

# The absence will create a gap: many employees feel that once they are absent for a longer duration from day to day work, their absence will actually cause more gaps in terms of team building, office politics and sometimes it’s a belief that employers also do not support them.

# The acting team leader takes over the team and then the difference in personality type and techniques of team handling often causes a rift between two individuals. Sometimes to the extent that the person who has just returned is given an altogether new area and team to work on and someone else bears the fruits of their efforts.

# Without the management’s support the learning of many months or days goes waste if the employees are not given a chance to utilize these skills and knowledge in the organization as it may require changes in the system or offering of some new projects. Sometimes the management looks at this initiative as an expense without realizing that in the long run such investments can bring many benefits.

# Managing work and education side by side creates hurdles, there is less time for studies, no option for flexible timings, lack of support from the team leaders for studies, all this and more can create a mind block for the employees to opt for such benefits.

Miffed employer

# Many employers assume that once employees are trained they are more likely to leave the company for greener pastures, but actually, the opposite is true: trained staff are happier and more likely to stay put.

# The cost is high, and these expenses actually will bring in more complications, lets not waste our money on something like that, where there is no guarantee if the employee will stay with us or leave for better opportunities.

# Employers feel that absence from work for a long duration may result in less productivity, which indeed is the case in many companies where the employees have to go for full time courses or university/institute courses and their absence does cause less productivity – but isn’t that a short term drawback?

Opportunities:

# Team Work: Employees who take part in workplace education programs are better equipped and motivated to work successfully with others. They gain a clearer appreciation of how teamwork is essential for workplace success and how they can contribute to the performance of the team. At the same time, they gain skills that they feel would make them better team players who can perform at the same level as their colleagues.

# Latest development: Such programmes often enhance the knowledge in latest developments and technologies. It is a useful tool to keep employees up to date with what’s new and can benefit the organizations. Keeping abreast with new and improved techniques and technologies- is important to fight competition and overcome monotony.

# Succession Planning: This is one tool which can help you in succession planning, once you have identified the resources (human resources) who can take up a larger role with bigger teams then you can invest in them. Sending them for MDPs bridges the gaps that are currently there and equip them with the required skills and makes them capable of handling enhanced new roles.

# Individual development: Good way to enhance their capabilities. Not only is the company giving the employee added skills, attributes or a value addition to their resume, it is also investing in something that would reap a lot of benefits in the long run. Employees are able to train themselves and acquire new abilities for company expansion. It should be used as a tool to transform its human resources into agents of development.

# Retention: It is one way of retaining your employees, contrary to the common myth that people will leave once they are well equipped with such skills and knowledge; whereas the people becomes more loyal and would like to stay for longer durations to apply their newly learned skills.

# Less employee turnover: Once you sponsor their education, they are more likely to stay with your company. If their education is paid and they are learning while earning what better things they can ask for, especially for employees who have to leave their studies to take up family responsibility.

Cisco is one such company and surely the retention problems are fairly low apart from other benefits. Coca Cola is another example for initiating such programs. Punjab National Bank is another name.

Share with us for the benefit of other members; your story of such programs, their success ratio and benefits!

more at http://www.citeman.com/15321-employee-education-program-mdps-%e2%80%93-opportunities-and-hurdles.html#ixzz2c7uW5StN

Reference/Background – A Reality Check

A phone call comes and you are asked about an ex-employee who worked in the company; what would you do? In most cases we would talk positively about that person and use flowery and decorative language so that the next employer gets impressed and/or in reality would be eager to just get rid of the person ASAP and so the best way would be to talk very nicely.

On the other side, a similar phone call and the Manager responds negatively about the employee, he would say all that he could think of saying just to spoil his/her image and restrict the chances of that employee to be employed anywhere else. It is not necessary that an ex employee is always really bad; it could very well be the employer’s version of maligning him/her just to take revenge or show dislike.

How Hypocritical? Isn’t it? It’s a really debatable topic! Isn’t this a common situation in many organizations? I’m sure many of us must have behaved in one of the two manners while giving references, unless of course, if the employee is worthy of these kinds of feedback-positive or negative. It gets confusing many a times as to what to say and what not to say about an employee…

Miscellaneous examples tell different tales about reference check and their failure in various organizations,to quote one such example;

A Recruitment Manager hired a female employee in the HR department, the girl looked suitable for the specific role and after clearing all the rounds smoothly she joined as a Recruitment Executive. One error that was made was that there was no reference-check done, and few months down the line everyone could see behavioral problems coming up, sometimes to an extent that she would go in to depression for days and just refuse to open up to anyone. She would complain about her work environment, colleagues and even her Manager and surprisingly all of them were baseless complaints.

After 3 months we got to know that she even tried to commit suicide when she was in her previous organization. An error turned in to a blunder, which implies that due importance should be given to reference-check in every organization.

There are many myths attached to reference-checks that if we give negative remarks about employees their future will be in jeopardy, but think this way if you do not give the right feedback there are chances that you as an employer may not get the same and so, all this practice of reference-check loses its lustre. Why not use our own prudence and rationale prior to providing feed backs about the employees?

In fact, some employees do not hesitate to file defamation lawsuits even if they are just angry over missing out on a job and such inherent perils have effectively tied their hands and make them (employer) shy away from honest, insightful and detailed answers.

The Prevention:

• A reference check is not the time to give vent to your malice or get your own back against the former employee. Let’s be professional and not take revenge of any kind.
• One should stick to a factual, unbiased and accurate evaluation limited to the work-related aspects of the employee’s behavior.
• Never offer judgmental opinions, voice-subjective ideas or misleading/incomplete information.
• If required, hold the phone call, take out the file and then tell them about the ex- employee through it.
• If asked, try and disclose both negative and positive aspects of the ex-employee, and unless asked for do not speak about any other information on your own.
• If at all there is something that your employer needs to know, present your side of the story during the interview itself, especially in case an ex employer has not relieved you happily.
• In case of any serious offence, do let them know about it, but if the matter is sub-judice then seek out legal help before giving reference.

Each one of us have our own strengths and liabilities, and sometimes how differently people perceive them obstructs our path, so be very vigilant while providing feedback! And who knows you might also require some references in future….so think twice and be wise!

As it’s a complex, debatable topic I would invite insights from fellow HR professionals about the same, be it stories, examples, cases…which can be of use to all. So wear your thinking cap and put your thoughts in here…….;)

more at http://www.citeman.com/15415-references-%e2%80%93-a-reality-check.html#ixzz2c7tEz3dr

Motivate employees for motivators :)

We changed the entire area of our terrace in the company premises and converted it into a fully functional gymnasium, managing rights given to a branded company with personal trainers available for 18 hours (BPO). In the first month our HR Manager tried hard to get the registrations for the gymnasium, motivating employees to work out during their break time through posters, danglers & all sorts of promotional activities. However, there were just 7 registrations which included the MD and the VP.

The company decided to give it another shot and kept it functional for the next one month but there was no change, hence they decided to close the gymnasium.

What makes or breaks an initiative in an organization are people’s interests and preferences. Sometimes the HR department thinks that they are launching the best practices in their companies; however they get a major setback when the so called benchmarked best practice fails. And then they ask- “If it worked for the other company, then why not for us?”

The answer lies in the diversity of people and their choices, tastes and motivating  factors. Some will be happy with a sport/games facility in the workplace, but others who may be avid readers might want a library instead, health freaks would opt for a gymnasium.

A forum member also posted a similar story about how the HR department launches new activities and how the employees do not participate in it. Then the entire blame for its failure falls on the HR people and rightly so!

Here are some facts which will help you in introspect on the HR initiatives as you try to put yourself in their shoes and think from their perspectives before launching any new motivational/ recreational/employee engagement activity.

Employee participation: Employee turnover was becoming higher every month, and all other activities were not giving the expected results, so we implemented a system of suggestion boxes at all the floors and asked for agents/CCE opinion on what would they would want the company to do to retain them. We got almost 500 plus suggestions and out of that more than 300 employees asked for similar things- More monetary rewards or gifts. One can also demonstrate in a credible way that the program saves, the organization, money and gets all the senior management support that you need.

We started some new initiatives such as ‘Star performer’ of the week or month, punctuality award, attendance award, and many performance oriented awards and they were given ipods, LCD TV. Employees who won two consecutive awards were given pen drives, Nokia/Samsung/Sony handsets, cameras and anything else they asked for. The attrition in 2 months time came down from 17% to 6 %.

Study their behaviour: Every individual is unique, has a variety of behaviours, value system and that is why their motivational requirement also differs from each other. HR department needs to go down to their level sometimes- feel, think like employees and then start working on new initiatives. Studying the people and their interests and behavioural patterns is very important to get the profitability and performance in the long run.

Communication: To ensure employee participation, the message should be communicated to them properly. Employees are keen to know what is in store for them, so they need to be informed and showed what are the benefits of the program/activity that the company is introducing. Clear communication with well-articulated words can do wonders. Don’t let your employees feel that it is just a passing fad like many others, keep it running, teething troubles will be there but long term benefits will also keep flying. Try it. :)

Incentives: The primary approach to high work and home demands with limited discretionary time for fitness is to move to the “incentive solution”, give incentive to the people to participate on their own terms and in their own time.  Yes, some people would like to join an activity in the evening after office hours. If they want to play a game of Snooker after 7 pm to de-stress then why not, let them enjoy.

Focus Groups: Create some focus groups and re-frame the issue of participation, ask them for their opinions on relationships, connectivity, self-care, sleep, recreation, stress control, stress management, positive attitude, understanding others, communication skills, breaking monotony of work, engagement of employees and then let them decide what they feel is the best for their own teams. Composing focus groups can actually enhance the participation level for various activities which the HR alone may not be able to induce.

So, get going and increase the level of participation with small changes here and there and then measure the results, I’m sure if implemented properly these recommendations can go great guns, says an experienced HR professional.

Ciao till we meet again….. :)

more at http://www.citeman.com/14942-motivate-employees-for-motivators.html#ixzz2c83hQdd2

Performers are all rounder

Being good at one thing doesn't qualify us for HIPO, it’s a gradual process of being good at multiple things that matters for any organization.  The options of just being great at one’s area of work or getting expertise in that area and still be known as the performer are less.

Think about it, after years of experience in particular field we get knack of the things, but will it work if Integrity is missing…or we won’t respect our peers, subordinates…Yes that’s the point!! And how will we know how to find out the HIPOs , this is where HR can help.

Designing effective policies, creating efficient redressal systems, beginning with the steps for forming a culture, Setting values, Change agent..Give this any name or cal it any HRD, HRM or Human capital department, but facts remain its more to do with managing humans as rhythms. Every key making a different sound, yet have to perform similar function - Composition of great Music!

Evaluate a performer on the basis of what they are doing for organization over all, not just for one function/department…You would say how naive, we know all this..but where are we showing it in our Performance Management system? Are we? We conclude with appraisal letters being sent out…but what happened to the gaps that came out..Training calendar created? If someone lacks in discipline but shows results in say sales figures – did we make it a point to justify his/her ratings on these parameters where he/she lags behind…

Will leave you all thinking here…with an interesting example of what happened with Phaneesh Murthy during his Infosys days, a bright, apple of the eye, performer (in his own areas) got the company to shell out Huge amount for a scandal.. Is that a definition of HIPO? IGate gave another opportunity, but then again history repeated itself with him…and the end result, well you all know what happened there.

Living by values of organization/institution, Integrity, respect, implementation of policies and code of conduct may sound very Subjective – but are the true value generator! 

Practice it to believe it! Or keep calling your “Functional Heroes” as performers…

Kaizen Effect in Life- Grow with It

Change, improvement, achievement, goals, success all these words sound so good to the ears, but these are not mere words, behind each one of them stands the dream of millions of people, and some may even die before reaching their destination. Have you ever thought why it happens, why a dream remains a fiction and never becomes true? What is it that we lack to convert our dreams into reality?

James Freeman Clarke rightly said, that

“We are either progressing or retrograding all the while. There is no such thing as remaining stationary in this life”. 

We do not realize that in the due course of life we don’t remain stationary at all; there is either a process of advancement or regression. So how does it matter then? Most of the time we become so occupied in living life that we don’t even comprehend what our dreams are all about and just keep on hovering over the river of life. We go to the school which is selected by our parents (yes, there is a less chance of us making our own choice here), we opt a career of our parents’ choice, we work for a boss, where is our life then?

“When what you want doesn’t happen, learn to want what does.” (Arabic proverb) and here it goes, this is what we all do though we may think that there is nothing wrong in accepting the facts of life, but then one needs to ask- what about dreams?

So, what should we do for the continuous growth? Dream and then make sure that you fulfill all of them, without accepting defeat, be it professional dreams or personal, and ironically many of us do not even realize the difference between the two, for us becoming a doctor is a dream which is both personal and professional. Similarly, receiving a promotion is a dream and it becomes both personal and professional.

Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning. Benjamin Franklin

So my dear friends let us Progress, let’s look at the sky with open arms and just grab all the opportunities which come our way.

Here are the recommendations on how we can progress in Organizations:

Discover: What do you want to be? This much we all know, but how to reach there gets difficult as we join a company. Discover yourself, your strength, your key interests, your talents, weaknesses, limitations and everything that you can get to know about yourself. Just like a company has its own vision statement, why don’t you also envision one for yourself? An intelligent foresight will help you realize your vision and mission in life.

Affiliation: Discovery of inner self is done, though it is an ongoing process to discover oneself, the next step is to take affiliation wherever possible, acquire a skill set which you think is missing or lacking, network with people who can help you accomplish your goals, join some club, become a part of a project team. Get involved with people, groups, and communities, just open your wings and fly to connect with others. Continuous improvement can be acquired with addition to something new be it hobbies, interests or just adapting to changes.

Communication: Now comes the difficult part, communicate with people in the network so that you get the opportunity to grow and prosper in to what you want to be. The goals can be achieved if they are properly communicated to the Leader of the organization or vice versa. In fact, how you present your self is also part of communication and plays an important role in the path of progress. It has many facets such as seeking and giving feedback, listing, empathy and plan.

Conception: So you have a plan, now is the time to draft your actions accordingly. Take one step at a time, do no hurry and design your course of action. These actions are like foundation stones of a building, the strength of which carries the entire burden of a building and the people in it. :)

Execution: Not so difficult and not that easy too…if any problems comes in between the realization of dreams now, make sure you don’t change the desired goals, just change the action plan. It is always better to change a path than changing a destination altogether, which can not only be tiring but painful too. Especially in organizations the distress it causes affects the personal life too, and sometimes to such an extent that we may say “I QUIT.”

Measure: Yes, measuring the goals and actions are a necessary requirement, which keeps you under check all the time and ensures that you are on the right track and that there is no hindrance coming your way. Evaluation is also empirical for knowing what more needs to be done, as well as the areas we lack in and how to increase the efforts. We can also call this performance check but the only difference here is; that this is an internal performance evaluation.

So here is cheers to Kaizen, lets improve, lets progress and embrace changes with open arms and cultivate the same in our teams as well.

more at http://www.citeman.com/15219-kaizen-effect-in-life-grow-with-it.html#ixzz2c7vZ9bPA

Relationship Building with Teams

From sharing a common goal, common tasks to sharing a rapport of working together, a few jokes here and there, sometimes teasing a team member… all this and more goes on when teams are formed. Some members would like to keep the relationship very professional where as some others would like to meet after the office hours for a couple of drinks.

Managing the relationship sometimes gets tough for the managers, and they encounter various problems sometimes to such an extent that the coalition disrupts to the level of beyond revamp.

What can be done by Managers to create magical teams where the problems can be resolved before they erupt? How can it be handled in a way that the team does not plummet?

Emotional Intelligence-EQ: Yes, it has been a very popular topic of discussion in the recent years, but alas the patience level of our people in the organizations is taking a plunge and from destructive feedback, to hurling abuses, to less ratings we are doing all of it just to pull each other down. Where is the empathy factor? Bring it back, empathize with your team members and once the relationship starts to develop you will see the results.

Trust: Instill that confidence in them every time they are seeking any guidance on new projects, or experimenting with the ideas. As a manager your role is focused on the objectives of the team and how to accomplish them, for that building a sense of trust in each member is suggested. Give them constructive feedback, let them be involved in decision making and nurture them as family members at times. Investing time and effort to guide them will bring back desired results.

Recognition: Although recognition brings trust still we will discuss it as a separate point, make them feel good, praise them, review their performances, and say good things and the ball is in your court then. The team will reach the destination without many hurdles of relationship related issues. The confident team can bring better results than the stressed team; choice is yours! Which one would you want to choose?

Manager’s perception: Please understand this; your perception is not necessarily a reality, so do not bring in stereotypical thinking in between the relationship with your team. Do not perceive, as people may not like to be handled in a particular way. Individuals are unique and so are their problems and solutions.

Resolve their conflicts: Take them and their problems seriously, if some one comes with a conflict do not hesitate to ask questions, do not avoid thinking that it may get resolved on its own, sometimes smaller problems take time to get resolved as unique people carry different emotional baggages and their perceptions do not give them a chance to resolve those problems as they may have encountered a similar thing in the past and their beliefs are set. Identify the root of the issue without wasting any time and effort, just deal with the conflict with your maturity and experience.

Apart from these suggestions, managers can involve various team building and relationship building activities during work hours; it will not only help in creating a better team culture but also break the monotony of the work/project. The leader’s job is to bring creativity amongst the team members and make their relationship as healthy as possible to reach to the desired goals.

Some activities which can be used for relationship building are:

Trust walks: Make pairs in a team, and then one member can go blindfolded and the other partner can guide him/her without speaking, to the other end of the room with lots of hurdles(read objects like chair, dustbin etc). It makes it fun as well as creates a sense of trust amongst the team members.

Tell me a truth and a lie: Ask all the team members to write a truth and a lie about themselves on a piece of paper and ask others to guess which one is a lie and which one is a truth.

Jigsaw Puzzle: Divide the team in to two groups and give them a jigsaw puzzle to solve. The way they communicate, and work towards solving the given task, will reflect in their real life project.

more at http://www.citeman.com/14906-relationship-building-with-teams-image-added-please-publish.html#ixzz2c857AnWb