PERCEPTION OUT OF THE BOX…

In a metropolitan town retail store a man wearing a blazer, tie and sunglasses on carrying a laptop walks in. He gets all the attention of the salesmen thinking of a potential customer. Where as another man with a simple clothes also walks in who hardly gets any attention because of his overall projection. In reality the man with the blazer was killing his time by doing window-shopping because he was supposed to go for a movie after an hour with his friend. He was dressed such since he was coming directly from his office who had no intention of purchasing anything. Whereas the man with simple clothing had come with an intention to purchase for a wedding who unfortunately did not get any attention from the salesmen.

Often we come across such incidents knowingly or unknowingly. This is how we perceive or assume things. Perception is as simple or common as human thinking.

As human resource professionals we too come across such kind of perception many a times on a day-to-day basis.

Instance 1. An Employee who has changed their jobs frequently in the early stage.

Whenever we come across a resume where an employee has changed his jobs from several companies, we frame a picture of that person stating that he would do the same incase he is offered a job for the current position. It is rare that we take out some quality time & analyse the stage of the career at which the person has changed his/her jobs. When a person starts his career he wants to achieve his goal at the earliest. Hence in this rat race he gets misguided from different sources and jumps from one job to another. Generally this happens in the first three to fours years of an career. But at later stage after getting the experience, he faces the reality and develops the maturity to take his own decision firmly after which he tends to stabilize at the later companies where he has joins.

But the question arises that how many times do we meticulously understand the psychology behind such profiles we come across. We frame a perception in our mind.

Instance 2: An employee who has got a pink slip in his career.

An employee performing well in his division, but still getting a pink slip. Is it possible? We tend to draw our forehead lines giving a thought on this. There are many of them at the recession stage who had got the pink slips from their employers. When ever we come across any such candidature the first thing what strikes our mind is that the employee must be a poor performer. Have we ever thought to judge/test his capability from the interview, his past confirmation letters! He may be performing good in his division, but overall if the company performs poor and as a result manpower reduction had to be done which resulted his termination. For an instance even if we consider that he performance was bad in the previous company, then what about his performance in his earlier companies? Even Sachin Tendulkar had gone through a bad phase. Even he used to never score a century in all matches he played. Infact he can perform much better than an average employee. Then the question arises that why do we have a perception that employees who had got a pink slip must be a poor performer.

Instance 3: Employee Resigned from his job without another job in hand.

When we come across any candidate stating that he had resigned from his job due to some an avoidable situations without a job in hand, we generally perceive that he must have been terminated or he lacks in decision-making or he does not have a sense of responsibility. But the reality may be that due to unavoidable situations the employee had to take a decision at that stage of his career where he had to fulfill some responsibility on a priority. But we generally perceive in the different way. The person who had left the job might perform much better than the any other average current employee because he has gone through the pain of uncertainness. His condition is like a biker waiting for the green signal to go green whirling his accelerator to zoom. But the question arises why do we as HR Professional perceive in this way!!!

These were just few examples to mention. Similar to these we come across several instances on day-to-day basis where if we take a second and think out of the box we can give more productive talents to our organization.

Take it with a pinch of salt !!!

Things We'd Like To See On Company Motivational Posters.....

1) If you do a good job and work hard, you may get a job with a better company someday.

2) It's only unethical if you get caught.

3) The light at the end of the tunnel has been turned off due to budget cuts.

4) Doing a job RIGHT the first time gets the job done. Doing the job WRONG fourteen times gives you job security.

5) Sure, you may not like working here, but we pay your rent.

6) If you think we're a bad firm, you should see our rivals! (We suck less!)

7) Rome did not create a great empire by having meetings, they did it by killing all those who opposed them.

8) We put the 'k' in 'kwality'

9) If something doesn't feel right, you're not feeling the right thing.

10) Artificial Intelligence in no match for Natural Stupidity

11) A person who smiles in the face of adversity ... probably has a scapegoat.

12)If you can stay calm, while all around you is chaos...then you probably haven't completely understood the situation.

13) Abandon All Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here.....

14) We make great money! We have great benefits! We do no work! We are union members!

15) 2 days without a Human Rights Violation!

16) Your job is still better than asking 'You want fries with that?'

17) Plagiarism saves time.

18) If at first you don't succeed - try management.

19) Never put off until tomorrow what you can avoid altogether.

20) This can't go on for ever, even the Third Reich only lasted 12 years

21) Never quit until you have another job.

22) TEAMWORK ... means never having to take all the blame yourself

source: citehr

Top 5 Women-friendly companies in India

MINDTREE CONSULTING, IT SOLUTIONS

They have Toddlers Park, a day-care centre, and an infrastructural facility, called Baby's Day Out, from where mothers can work while taking care of their child. For cases of extended maternity, accompanying their spouse on travel, or caring for dependent family members, special leaves can be claimed.

SILVER SPARK APPARELS, CLOTHING MANUFACTURERS

Ninety per cent of their 2,000 employees are women, and all of them come from a rural district of Bangalore.They have women-friendly facilities: a creche, teachers to teach the children of women employees, social activities involving the parents and workshops on health and hygiene.

ACCENTURE, CONSULTANCY

They have a formal community of women employees, called Vahini, to bring about inclusiveness in the organisation, and make them good parents, empowered citizens and fine financial planners. Expecting mothers can enjoy regular visits by a gynaecologist and special cabs for their smooth travel. There is also a dedicated 24x7 emergency helpline for women.

ERNST AND YOUNG GLOBAL SHARED SERVICES (GSS), BUSINESS ADVISORY

A prominent feature is their creche, called Ashray. Employees can also choose to work from home on a full-time or part-time basis. A security guard escorts women employees who use late-evening transport. Half their employees are women.

INFOSYS, IT SOLUTIONS

It is the first Indian company to set up a dedicated office for gender sensitivity, called Infosys Women Inclusivity Initiative (IWIN). Women employees can avail 24x7 counselling facilities and nursing stations. For new mothers, there are satellite offices where they can stay close to home and work. They can take upto a year's leave for their family and continue to be on the rolls.

Source: The Great Place to Work Institute (2009).

Managing life at the new workplace

Here are some tips:

Let your smile work its magic: Be polite to everyone and smile when you come across colleagues, whether in the cafeteria or at the coffee machine. If you get positive vibes from any of them, start small conversations.

Lunch is the best time to socialize: Join your colleagues at the lunch table, of course only if they do not mind. This way you will get a chance to participate in conversation and let them know that you are good with your work and hence are now a part of their organization.

Don’t open your mouth too soon: For the initial couple of weeks, do not make the mistake of telling a colleague how to perform or handle a certain task. You will immediately get branded as Miss/Mr Perfect. Let your suggestions trickle in as the days move on. Be assertive so that your colleagues know that you are to stay and mean business.

Stay away from gossip: If it comes your way, just listen to gossip, but never indulge in it yourself. Remember, discussing your co-workers, boss or even the former organization can work against you. So, keep your conversations professional and light.

Be punctual: Since you are new and are easily noticed, make sure you reach office on time. Don’t come in late in the initial few weeks or take concession to leave early. Others will view this as favoritism and become more distant with you.

Don’t let others dominate you: Since you are new you will have to learn to compromise and adjust. But that doesn’t mean that you take crap from others. Your colleagues may try to push their work on to you to spite you. Be assertive in declining work, but make sure you pull your weight.

Finally, only having personal rapports may not help as it is only superior performance and productivity that matters in the long run. So, to conclude, instead of wasting time in developing personal equation, one should invest that time in doing the job efficiently which will benefit both the organization as well as the individual.

Boomerang Employees

Boomerangs - also commonly referred as “rehires,” and “retreads”- are all names given to the employees who are rehired by their ex-employers. They are the alumnae, the former employees, who return to an organisation. In the already saturated talent market, and the practices like poaching being followed to attract the best talent from the competitors, most of the sectors are facing high attrition rates. Keeping in view the prevalent scenario, organisations have opened doors to welcome the employees who have left them on a good note and had proved to be good performers for the organisation in the past. Employees leave organisations for various reasons. Most of them are tempted by the “greener pastures on the other side”.

Often, the employees realize that there previous organisation wasn’t that bad to work. And sometimes, even the organisation fails to find the suitable candidate with the required skill set, experience etc. Boomerang hiring has come across as an effective solution to the various HR problems for the organisations. The trend of boomerang hiring is catching up fast in the worldwide corporate world. But a few years back hiring the ex-employees of an organisation was not an acceptable practice. Organisations followed it as a policy of not taking back the employees who have left their organisation for a better opportunity. Leaving an organisation was taken as a perfidy. But today, where change is the only constant thing, boomerang hiring is the latest trend in hiring. Recruitment policies have been modified to incorporate the hiring of boomerangs in the organisation. The benefits of hiring boomerangs: Rehiring an employee is beneficial for the organisation because of the high costs involved in the recruiting a new employee. Also, investments have to be made in the training and development of the new employee. Retraining is much cheaper than training and development of a new employee. It takes time for the new employee to adapt and adjust to the organisational culture, understand work and start delivering results, whereas, the former employee is already familiar with the culture, procedures and practices and the people. Many a times coming after testing the bad water, boomerang employees are considered to be more loyal towards the organisation than before. By sharing their experiences and the difficulties faced outside the organisation, boomerangs can help tremendously in boosting the morale of other employees in the organisation and can raise the goodwill of the organisation as an employer. Boomerangs come with a renewed sense of commitment and loyalty and bring new experiences and perspective, sometime even better skills and knowledge. The former employees may not be in touch with the organisation, but they would definitely be maintaining contact with some of their former colleagues or friends in the organisation. Any mentioned instance of dissatisfaction at the new job can be a chance to get them back. It is always advisable to let your star employee know (when leaving the organsiation) that he would be welcomed if he ever wants to return. Organisations can also start alumni clubs for their ex-employees. This is being practiced by many organisations to stay in touch with their ex-employees. Informing and updating them about the major events, happenings and the requirements can play a crucial role in making the employees feel that they are valued. In India, the BPO industry, which is facing the hard truth of high attrition rates and retention problems, has adopted the policy of boomerang hiring. For instance: Integreon has also adopted the 'Boomerang' policy whereby it is hiring its former employees back in the organisation. Boomerangs constitute a large percentage of the current Integreon employees and they are the people who realize its worth as an employer and appreciate its policies and culture. The condition that Integreon has for accepting boomerangs is that the employees should have left at a cordial note and should have any performance issues associated in the past. Similarly, a leading name in BPO industry, 24/7 Customer also has a policy for boomerang hiring. And to beat the hesitation of approaching the former employer, the policy of hiring their ex-employees is communicated to its employees at the time of leaving the organisation or in their exit interviews. Dangers of Boomerang Hiring Despite the various benefits mentioned above, hiring the former employees does not come without some dangers or exceptions –as you may call it. In some cases, the job responsibilities and the required skill set itself changes over the course of time, making it difficult for the boomerang to adjust again in the organisation. Many employees tend to bring back the baggage of the bad experiences with them and can also exploit the advantage of their knowledge and experience of the organisation. Conclusion: Often, boomerangs are found to be the best fit for a job. And in today’ s dynamic workforce and workplace, where nor the employees are reluctant to welcome back their ex-employees and neither are employees embarrassed to go back to their ex-employers or organisations; hiring boomerangs can be the strategy for surviving in this competitive corporate world. Source:naukrihub.com

Job Hopping: Does It Really Pay?

We barely get to hear of a person who started his career with an organization many years back, dedicated his entire career growing with the organization and finally retired from the same organization. As it is said, nothing lasts forever; same is the case with jobs these days. Jobs today do not last unlike previous generations. In the past few years job-hopping has become so widespread across the industries that even a four year stretch in the same organization is considered to be a stable job. Three jobs in less than a year, no longer raise eyebrows and gaps mouths. Job hopping, in fact, has become the new mantra for success. People no longer believe in sticking to one job and waiting for that golden leap to come. But is job hopping for career advancement a mere illusion or does it really pay?

The trend of hopping jobs is prevalent in IT- ITeS sector most. However, other sectors like retail, banking and hospitality are also witnessing the same trend. Not only are freshers changing jobs frequently, but senior professionals are also increasingly falling in the trap of job hopping. Willingly, senior professionals with excellent credentials are changing jobs more frequently than ever before. Some of the common reasons for hoping jobs as quoted by job hoppers include dissatisfaction with the job, lack of challenging work, stagnation or less pay. A survey revealed that 24 per cent of the graduates from premier B-schools like IIMs, XLRI and Narsee Monjee quit their first jobs within 12 months of being hired. The eye-popping fat salaries appear to be one of the main reasons for their resignations. Job hopping also acts as a shortcut to success. Employees make their way to higher levels in the management hierarchy as each job change brings with it a hike in pay and position. Moreover, sticking to the same organization from which you started off your career is passé now. It is believed that those who hang on to the same job are taken for granted and declared not competent enough to move ahead in their career. The consequences of frequent job change are many, but the most affected area is loyalty with the organization. The word loyalty has become old fashioned and is no more considered a success mantra. Loyalty, which once has been considered a fundamental value in an Indian organization seems to be losing its relevance. People, especially younger generation, are highly career conscious. They don't mind changing jobs too often if it helps them earn more and grow faster. They are ready to shift their loyalties for an extra buck, an additional perk or any other monetary consideration. Grass is not always green on the other side. No doubt job hopping has become the latest trend today, or a shortcut to success; one can not jump from one job to another as and when it strikes one’s imagination. Moreover, though two or more jobs on a resume no longer are an employment risk, too many jobs in less than two years time portray one as a chronic job hopper. A series of rapid, random and pointless moves will show up as annoyances on the resume. Employers view such contenders as dysfunctional - lacking in loyalty, trust and self-motivation. Quick moves from one job to other raise big questions for prospective employers as to one's staying power and ability to withstand challenges, as well as accept accountability. Employer may feel that you are not committed to a particular organization. The future employers, who are probably looking for a long term employee, might not be impressed with the job hopping tendencies. They might perceive that one has become a job hopper may be because of inability to get along with colleagues or employers. It does not even leave substantial time to acquire sufficient experience and hands-on skills. What’s more is that after innumerable hops, one may find himself at the same place where he first started. Is it really that bad? As Dr. Gopalkrishnan, Chairman, TATA Sons., has said, after a long stint, there always comes a time for moving in most organizations, but it is important to move for the right reasons, rather than superficial ones, like money, designation or an overseas trip. Job hopping today is considered an important part of career development. But, there is a big dilemma about where to draw the line, i.e. how long is too long or how short is too short? Also, how long can the hop last? Career experts opine that staying around for 2-4 years is ideal. Also, every job move deserves careful consideration and planning. While monetary increase is often a valid reason to change jobs, one should realize that work environment, long term career prospects, colleagues and company culture are equally important factors in determining an ideal job. It should be a mature decision carefully charted out after properly weighing varied factors like current job satisfaction, challenges, career development, company image, benefits and growth prospects. One should consider the suitability of whole package rather than being blindfolded with short term benefits. Source:naukrihub.com

Politics at Workplace

Politics – the other face of the creative, innovative and manipulative and human mind, which always seeks power, recognition and authority. So how can there be no politics at the place where hundreds and thousands of human minds are spending most part of their day and there’s a constant struggle for power and recognition. Yes, double standards, secrecy, camps, demoting others and/or self promotion, in short – politics is all over the workplace. No organisation is and will be completely free from the politics. Office politics refers to the use and manipulation of situations, power and people to secure their position, gain from the situation, let others down or even increase their own power, image and

status within the organisation. The results or the benefits can be tangible or intangible, depending upon the situation. Politics at workplace is a game can be played equally well by a single player or teams together, can result in the interest and benefit of the organisation or go against it, can benefit those who don’t play or can throw them out of the organisation. It is a double edged sword which can either create a happy, dynamic and improved environment at the workplace or can destroy it. Politics at workplace is often hard to resist and be away from. It compels and makes you compete. Although a part of all the organisations across the world, the politics at workplace has taken the more advanced and dangerous form in India, where the people staying away from it are being seen as a threat. Office politics has made employees good actors, hiding the facts and even true self from their own colleagues and organisation and being hypocrites for their reasons. Grey side of the issue Every workplace has conflicts, but how the employees and the organisation tackle it goes a long way in ensuring the success of the employees as well as the organisation. Politics at workplace is complex, and can turn the organisation into an ugly and nasty battlefield. Most often, the power is the bone of contention. The powerful employee can take advantage of the situations and manipulate things. The employees can take the things to them at a personal level. This, in turn, can harm their personal and professional lives. Playing on other people’s emotions to make things work for them, people have stooped to such levels where they have put their own morals and conscious aside. But the organisation feels the brunt of the continuous politics at workplace when it starts effecting the overall performance, efficiency and productivity of the organisation. This is mainly due to the considerable amount of time spent on the politics and thinking about the strategies and the moves, rather than the job and the work. Ultimately, this can lead to losses for the organisation and even the loss of jobs for the employees. Workplace Politics: A necessary evil Again, the question arises about the employees who do not become a part to this politics at their workplace. Experts say that giving up to the politics without being a part of it and fighting it, especially when it is unfair, is not advisable either. Sometimes, the politics becomes the necessary evil simply for self defense. As often, the people staying away are taken as a threat and become the victim of the workplace politics and are eliminated. As it has become unavoidable to avoid the politics at today’s workplace, it has become necessary for every employee to: connect to people, try to identify the source of power, observe and be aware of the happenings around, people’s strengths and weaknesses and their emotional intelligence. Avoiding politics at workplace Although it is practically impossible to make your workplace free from the politics, but the organisation and the employees can follow certain ethics for themselves to make their workplace healthier: Avoid distorting or manipulating the truth and the facts. Be yourself. Don’t have different faces to suit different people and different situations. Be fair in your dealings. Take decisions based on other’s performance and not on the basis of your relations with them. Be flexible, approachable and accessible to others. Rigidity can isolate you. Communicate – Lack of proper communication is the root cause of most of the problems. Therefore, ensure a timely and open communication system. Hiding information, rumors or distorted information can aggravate the situation and problem. Proper communication will also help to combat the effect of gossip. Have a broader perspective. Don’t work to satisfy your ego every time. Give a fair chance to everyone to put forward their thoughts. Last but not the least; be clear in your conscious. Don’t compromise on your morals and ethics and, don’t hesitate to apologize if you realize that you are wrong. It would be right to conclude that being a part of the interpersonal relations, politics at workplace is prevalent everywhere, and is unavoidable in most cases. But it’s more important to play the game right. Know the rules, stay true to yourself, don’t harm someone personally or his/her career, don’t take grudges home. Try to create a win-win situation for yourself, others and the organisation. Politics at workplace – can be good or bad – depends on how people take it and make it! Source:naukrihub.com

Managing Difficult People at Work

Every organisation, every workplace has people with diverse backgrounds, religions, educational qualifications, experiences etc. Most importantly, they differ in their personalities and attitudes. Most people are polite, easily accessible and cooperate with others. But every organisation has a few people who are simply difficult to deal with or difficult to manage. "Difficult people" as they are generally referred, exists in every workplace. They can be in the form of a bad boss, a difficult co-worker or a non-corporative vendor or customer. Difficult people become the problem employees for an organisation very soon. From the organisation's point of view, difficult people in a workplace is a problem because not only do they

themselves perform feebly, but also affect other employee's productivity, and often become a bottleneck for the people around them to perform efficiently on their jobs. A negative person can affect and hinder the organizational processes like change. Types of difficult people in an organisation: Difficult people in an organisation and be characterized and categorized into the following types or categories: Uncooperative - These are the people who are concerned only about their needs and work, often creating troubles and conflicts for others. They don't cooperate with others and have the tendency to create tension at workplace. Power Seekers - There are few people who can be categorized basically as power seekers. They always look for some chance or the other to seek more authority and power over others and show their superiority. To seek the spotlight (attention), or to be in the good books of the boss, they can even become the 'yes man' of their boss and go to the extent demoting or creating problems for others. Complainer - This category is for the people who keep complaining about the organisation and its systems, their co-workers etc. Although there are complainers who complain against the genuine issues and do good for the organisation. The most dangerous type of complainers is the "malcontent complainer" who offers no valid suggestions but problems, and they drain out the energy from the organisation and have a demotivating impact on others. Pessimists - Another category of difficult people in the organisation is of pessimists. They are the set of negative people in the organisation who can find fault in almost everything and everybody. With their negative mindsets, they can create negativity in their surroundings. The aggressive employee - Aggressive employees, especially an aggressive boss, is the most difficult set of people in an organisation to deal with. They are the people who refuse to accept their faults and flaws, and consider themselves to be always right. They are found to be dominating in nature and believe that they "know-it-all". Such people fail to mature and acknowledge other's valuable ideas and suggestions. Such employees are often referred as "The hyena" indicating rude, aggressive, authoritarian and negative people, always blaming others for their failures. The wild cat -is the category of people who are generally found very irregular at their work. Also, they are known to create and spread rumors in the workplace, always making excuses and blaming others for their inadequate performance. They have the tendency to create stress at their workplace. MANAGING DIFFICULT PEOPLE AT WORK: Difficult people can be irrational, abusive, creating problems persistently or simply difficult to get along with. Every organisation has to decide whether and how to deal with them without having an adverse effect on the organisation's environment, employee's productivity and their morale. A few ways of dealing with them are: Talk to them: Be patient and polite, talk to them with a personalized touch explaining them the situation. Don't confront or blame them, and listen to them. Give them a piece of your own mind, understand if there is some problem they are facing. Reinforce the good part of their behaviour. Don't be a difficult person for them! Don't rush things and explain your point of view with care. Don't point fingers or try to judge them as a person. Be unbiased and systematic I your approach. Always agree to disagree: Talk to the person with an open mind and positivity. No two individual are alike and there can always be disagreements. Personally disliking towards a co-worker or boss should be dealt with care. Always try to find the positive way out. And last but not the least Take concrete action: Once you are completely aware of the problem, through with all the possible solutions and the situation doesn't get any better, don't shy away from taking any concrete action for the good of the organisation and to stop the problem from aggravating, even if it requires to confront the person directly. Establish parameters and hire "right": One of the most important and effective solution is to frame and practice the recruitment policies and procedures to judge the attitude of the person at the time of the interview and hire only the right people. CONCLUSION: Dealing with difficult people is a challenge. However firing them or separating them from the organisation should be the last resort, as it is always possible to help them be more productive and effective in doing their job. Source: naukrihub.com

Celebrations at Workplace

Gone are the days when celebrations used to be confined with in the boundaries of home. Employees, today, savor the festive time even at their workplaces. Making workplace more lively often involves celebrations at various occasions so that a joyous ambience is created. The fact that the workplace is as important as the work itself can't be ignored. Companies, nowadays, are finding festivals the best way to reach to their employees in that way creating a casual environment to make them feel at home even while working. Such a culture fosters an environment of love and trust and enhances the bonding as well as team spirit in the overall professional environment. It reflects how much an employer cares for his employees.

At what occasions to celebrate often is a difficult question to answer. Apart from the religious festivities like Holi, Eid, Diwali, Christmas, etc. companies also celebrate events like Independence day, New Year, or the organization's foundation day. Some organizations like Mafoi Management Consultants Ltd even go out of their way to keep a festive theme every month. Some even incorporate annual celebrations as part of their corporate culture. The tradition of annual celebrations in the company enhances employee motivation. Celebrations allow employees to relax and recharge. Such celebrations send a positive message that you value and respect your employees. Apart form organization wide celebrations, companies also indulge in department or team celebrations. Acknowledging the target achieved and sharing the moment together with the team improves team spirit. In some companies, even the birthdays are celebrated or an off is given on the day. Different firms have different methods of celebrating the occasions. Some do it through corporate gifts, some through special meals and feasts while some celebrate by throwing corporate parties on a particular day. Decorating cubicles, distributing gift vouchers and other coupons, organizing contests, lucky draws, fun games and other merry making events are a part of celebrations. The purpose behind all this is not just to create a great work culture but also to motivate the employees and inculcate a sense of belongingness among them. This will enhance loyalty and motivate employees for a longer stay with the company, thus in turn, reducing the attrition rates of the organization. These celebrations also pave the path for social interactions among employees with diverse backgrounds. Such interactions also break the barriers created by management hierarchies. Choosing a few appropriate festivals and celebrating them annually always turns out to be a good idea to bring together all the employees. It is important to find or develop celebrations that are meaningful to a particular work environment and best suits the organization. Just because other companies hold parties in a certain way, doesn't mean that your employees would respond to the same events. As the culture of an organization reflects its values, so should the celebrations do. What the company celebrates highlights the importance it places on the event. Therefore the celebrations should reflect the culture and values of the organization. However, employers often face situations where in it becomes difficult to decide at what occasions one should celebrate and up to what levels these should be celebrated. How diverse the organization's workforce is, also acts as an important factor while deciding for the appropriate celebrations. In an organization with diverse workforce it's very easy to make a lot of employees feel excluded. This happens mainly when the parity between the celebrations is not maintained. For example in USA, only Christmas is being celebrated at workplaces while festivals like Eid are partially ignored as majority of employees are Christians. In order to deal with it, companies are coming up with some innovative ideas like "holiday swapping". Here, a non Christian employee can work on Christmas and take an off on some other day as per his relevance. Other companies are polling workers to come up with a list of 21 holidays that are particularly meaningful to them. They can then choose to observe any 11 of those holidays. Relevance of the revel: Celebrations at workplace directly correlate to productivity, loyalty and job satisfaction. Workplace celebrations are an important component in keeping employees happy and focused. Moreover, in a diverse environment, such as that is seen in multinational companies, it helps in workforce integration and creating a congenial atmosphere in the workplace. Annual events reaffirm the company's belief that all employees are like one big family. It is worth making budget allocations for such celebrations. Motivated employees lead to greater productivity and organizational success. These social events enhance employee loyalty too. Source: naukrihub.com

Effect Of Emotions On Job Performance

There was a time when emotions in the workplace were considered important in relation to employee well being and job satisfaction only. In recent years, the organizations have realized that employee emotions are pervasive in the workplace. The emotions are not only a deep-seated part of work life but have an important role to play in one's job performance. An employee's emotions and overall temperament have a significant impact on his job performance, decision making skills, team spirit, leadership and turnover. Its is believed that employees bring their feelings of anger, fear, love and respect with them when they come to work. An employee's emotions are essential to what happens in an organization. Emotions matter because they drive one's performance.

Emotions at work place, generally, fall into the category of positive (good) and negative (bad) emotions. Positive emotions are those feelings of an individual that are favorable to the attainment of organizational goals while negative emotions are those that are perceived to be destructive for the organization. To classify them further, emotions can be categorized as discrete, dispositional and as moods. Discrete emotions reflect short lived emotions like joy, anger, fear and disgust which arise from the occurrence of a particular event; while dispositional define an employees overall approach towards life like cheerful, negative, etc. Moods, however, are long lasting as compared to discrete emotions. The impact of emotions, whether positive or negative, is well researched on. Studies suggest that negative feelings have adverse effects on job performances. Anger often leads to aggressions towards colleagues while sadness leads to dissatisfaction with the job. Envy or conflict with peers also leads to frequent fights and in turn results absenteeism. It is not always that only bad emotions lead to bad results. Office romance, despite being a positive feeling, can have negative effect on others. However, emotions can have positive effects as well. Positive emotions increase creativity, encourage helping behavior and cooperation and reduce aggression both against the organization and against people. Research suggests that positive people have better cognitive abilities and tend to do better in the workplace and with accuracy. Emotions influence the task on which an employee is working, the efforts he puts and how he influences other employees around him. In other words, what employees feel and how they express their emotions affects their performance. Effect on decision making : Studies have shown that positive mood leads to better and efficient decision making. However, this doesn't mean that decisions taken in a bad mood are disruptive. Studies have also found that negative emotions can lead to more effective decision making. Negative emotions, sometimes, may lead to more concentrated, detailed, and analytic processing of the facts. Emotions and absenteeism: Positive mood is associated with reduced absence and intention to quit the job while negative mood increase absenteeism, intention to turnover, and actual turnover. Effects on creativity: Positive emotions influence creativity positively as it creates a content state of mind which is open to all ideas. It also leads to a more complex and flexible thinking. Interpersonal relations: Positive feelings induce helping behaviors while feelings of jealousy of hatred lead to poor relations with colleagues. Managing emotions Emotions directly influence behavior, so one has to manage emotions while at work. Some jobs simply cannot be done, if emotions are not dealt with first. Imagine how employees whose jobs asks compulsion towards specific emotions, like the front desk people or customer care executives, manage their emotions. This is where the concept of emotional labor comes in to play. Emotional labour or emotion work is the effort, planning and control needed to express desired level of emotions while on work. Emotional labor is a form of regulation in which workers are expected to display certain emotions as part of their job and to promote organizational goals. When interacting with coworkers, customers, suppliers, and others, employees are expected to abide by such rules. There are two main ways of managing emotions at work - surface acting and deep acting. In surface acting, employees are required to show emotions that they actually might not feel. For example an employee may fake a smile for his client even if in actual he is unhappy because of some personal reasons. This method of managing emotions may lead to discrepancy between what employee expresses and what he actually feels and result in job dissatisfaction. This leads to emotional dissonance, which refers to a state of disagreement between internal expression of emotions and publicly displayed emotions. Emotional dissonance is often accompanied by high emotional exhaustion, low organizational commitment, and low job satisfaction . In deep acting, instead of expressing fake emotions, employees try to experience the emotions that they are supposed to express. This method of requires more effort but leads to greater job satisfaction. Thus, the containment of unpleasant emotions decreases job satisfaction and increases intentions of quitting the job. Source: naukrihub.com

Work / Life Balance

Work life and personal life are the two sides of the same coin. According to various work /life balance surveys, more than 60% of the respondent professionals surveyed said that are not able to find a balance between their personal and professional lives. They have to make tough choices even when their work and personal life is nowhere close to equilibrium. Traditionally creating and managing a balance between the work-life was considered to be a woman's issue. But increasing work pressures, globalization and technological advancement have made it an issue with both the sexes, all professionals working across all levels and all industries throughout the world. Achieving "work-life balance" is not as simple as it sounds.

Work life and personal life are inter-connected and interdependent. Spending more time in office, dealing with clients and the pressures of job can interfere and affect the personal life, sometimes making it impossible to even complete the household chores. On the other hand, personal life can also be demanding if you have a kid or aging parents, financial problems or even problems in the life of a dear relative. It can lead to absenteeism from work, creating stress and lack of concentration at work.

Work-personal life conflict occurs when the burden, obligations and responsibilities of work and family roles become incompatible. Obligation of one can force an individual to neglect the other.

Changing & increasing work pressures

A decade back, employees used to have fixed working hours or rather a 9 to 5 job from Monday to Friday. The boundary between the work and home has disappeared with time. But with globalization and people working across countries, the concept of fixed working hours is fading away. Instead of just 7 or 8 a day, people are spending as much as 12-16 hours every day in office.

The technological blessings like e-mail, text messaging and cell phones which were thought of as tools to connect them to their work being away from their workplace, have actually integrated their personal and professional lives. Now professionals find themselves working even when they are on vacations.

The ever-increasing working hours leave the individuals with less time for themselves and to pursue his hobbies or leisure activities. This hinders the growth of the person as an individual in terms of his personal and spiritual growth. Professionals working in the BPO industry, doctors and nurses and especially IT professionals are the few examples who are facing the brunt of the hazard constantly.

Reasons of imbalance:

There are various reasons for this imbalance and conflicts in the life of an employee. From individual career ambitions to pressure to cope up with family or work, the reasons can be situation and individual specific. The speed of advancement of information technology, the increasing competition in the talent supply market has led to a "performance-driven" culture creating pressures and expectations to performance more and better every time. Also, many a times, many people find it difficult to say "NO" to others especially their superiors. They usually end up over burdening themselves with work. The increasing responsibilities on the personal front with age can also create stress on personal and professional fronts.

Effects

Constant struggle and effort to maintain a balance between the work and personal life can have serious implications on the life of an individual. According to a survey, 81 per cent of the respondents have admitted that their jobs are affecting and creating stress in their personal lives. The pressures of the work or personal life can lead to stress. According to studies, it has been found to that such situation can take a toll on the person's health both physiologically and psychologically. Heart ailments, cardiovascular problems, sleep disorders, depression, irritability, jumpiness, insecurity, poor concentration and even nervous breakdowns are becoming common among the victims of such imbalance. Pressure, stress or tension in work life can lead to bad social life and vice versa.

Solutions:

Many experts have given different solutions to this problem.

• TIME MANAGEMENT is one of the best solutions which can help to reduce the imbalance between the personal and the work life of the employees. Prioritizing the tasks and planning the activities can help to take out some free time which can be utilized for other purposes.
• Taking some time out for hobbies and leisure activities, spending time with loved ones can help to beat the stress.
• Learn to say "no" if required.
• Sharing the responsibilities will help and don't commit for something which is practically impossible.
• Utilizing the flexible working hours option of the organisations to get some free time.

Conclusion:

Juggling between the obligations towards the families and expectations of the organisation and constant struggle to maintain a balance can work can have serious implications on the life of an individual. Therefore, it is important for employees to maintain a healthy balance between work and their private lives. This will help them achieve their personal and professional goals as well the organisation they are working for.

Source:naukrihub.com

Discrimination at Workplace

Have you ever been asked to stay out of a project because of your caste? Have you been paid less because of your gender? Or have you ever been denied of promotion because of your religion? These questions might sound strange in the first place, however, giving it a deeper though reveals that many people face this kind of discrimination at their workplaces.

Discrimination, going by Oxford Concise Dictionary, is nothing but unfair treatment against a person or a group of persons based on prejudice. Differentiating people on basis of certain characteristics like age and gender or on grounds such as race and religion is discrimination. Discrimination at work is a matter of serious concern for organizations all over the world.

Forms of discrimination:

Discrimination at workplace can take place in any form. Be it on the basis of race, gender and religion. Newer forms of biases, which are more subtle and less visible, like age, disability, genetic disposition, migration, HIV/AIDS, sexual orientation and lifestyle are also emerging. Every professional, be it a sales person, a journalist, an executive or a software engineer, has faced discrimination and has a story to tell: stories of harassment and humiliation; stories of injustice and discrimination, tales of how male colleagues' attempt to limit professional success of their female counter parts, how one employee is being looked down upon by other employee only because he belongs to a lower caste, how one’s abilities are directly judged by one’s personality or color and what not.

The most common and prevalent form of discrimination is the one based on race and religion. Judging an individual by race and not by performance comes under discrimination. Such behavior of an employer can humiliate an individual and put him under stress and depression. Differences in compensation packages between employees on basis of color or race are also an unhealthy practice. In terms of age discrimination, younger workers are often being paid less for they are assumed to be inexperienced. Moreover, there is a negative attitude among employers for recruiting and retaining older workers. Talking about gender biases, women in India still remain the largest group that faces discrimination. Women today comprise only 2 per cent of the total managerial strength in the Indian corporate sector. While more and more women are joining the corporates now with better salaries and even at senior levels, pay equity compared with their male counterparts is still a disappointing. Migrants in Asia are also facing discrimination with low wages, menial jobs, and exploitative jobs contracts.

Discrimination at work

Discrimination at work can come from either the employee of from the colleague side. Discrimination by colleagues can happen to new employees. They may face sarcastic stares or constant digs made at them by their colleagues during initial weeks. However, if it persists for a long time, it can affect not only the employee but also the employer. The effect on the employee can be huge or meager but the impact on organization remains for a longer time. An employee who is being discriminated witnesses non cooperation from peers and negative feedbacks form subordinates. Discrimination leads to psychological and emotional disturbance, resulting in demoralization and descend in performance standards. It brings down the overall performance, and fuels more discrimination, which in turn increases the number of gaps in one's work further. Discrimination at workplace also affects the society. The socio-economic inequalities get widened and social cohesion and solidarity are eroded. It results in wastage of human talent and resources.

Employer's role

Recognizing the fact that unwanted attention to any aspect of an employee demoralizes him, hits his performance level and ultimately results in loss to the employee in the short term and to the organization in the long run, employers should promote a discrimination free environment within the organization. The employer should try to be an equal employment opportunity provider and should take affirmative actions towards disables and other weaker sections of its workforce. To maintain bias free environment throughout the organization, employees at all levels should be provided periodic counseling to train them to bring out the best in their new colleagues. All employees should be made to understand that harassing their colleagues indirectly causes loss to the organization and its can have adverse effects on its repute.

Fighting back:

Be it a manager or clerk, a contract worker or the one who is on rolls, a person deserves all the respect and benefits that come with the post. Every employee has a right to a harassment and discrimination free workplace. As long as his performance is meeting the standards set by the employer, he has the right to excel and grow and decide his career path. If an employee feels discriminated on basis of physical appearance, religion, sex, caste or age, he has every right to raise his voice against discrimination and seek a remedy from his employer. In this context, employers need to ensure that they do not practice any form of discrimination or micro inequality. Similarly, organizations need to promote a harassment free culture.

Source: www.naukrihub.com

Why Employees Hate HR

Human resource department – commonly known as the HR in every organisation – is the vital link that connects the employees to the management, and is supposedly the most powerful and the authoritative department in an organisation. They represent the management to the employees and vice versa.

But the truth is that - “The employees hate it and the management considers it to be useless”. Considered closest to the top management and the gateway to all their communications and the front face in implementation of all their decisions, the HR faces the brunt of the hatred of the employees.

In recent times, when the credibility of the HR is under scrutiny and ways and means of finding the return on investment are being calculated, the HR has found itself to be at the receiving end of the employee’s hatred and the ever-growing anti HR feelings inside the organisation.

Why employees hate HR…
Now the main question that arises is – Why do the employees hate HR?
We hereby attempt to find answer to this intricate question, existing right from the time when the concept of HR came into existence in organisations. Employees hate HR because:

HR is the mouthpiece of all the organisational decisions, whether good or bad, fair or unfair.
HR is responsible for implementing and monitoring the corporate rules and align all functions according to the policies. Therefore, often portrays the image of the policemen to the employees.
The employees hate HR when they face the lack of responsiveness and Fail to get the solutions to their problems;
Fail to get assistance on time to their problems;
Don’t get a fair (less than expected) appraisal and on time
Fail to separate the HR functions from the strategical functions of the organisation
Fail to get timely information and communicate with the management or higher authorities because of the delay caused by the HR.

Sometimes the HR in the organisation starts considering itself superior and important than other employees, demand respect from other and even treating them badly or as inferior beings. According to various researches, this has emerged as the topmost reason for why the employees hate HR. as the horns on the hr employees heads get bigger and bigger everyday, the greater gets the disliking for them.
Many HR professionals in organisations are still following the same traditional and bureaucratic rituals in all its functions and approaches. And they fail to incorporate employee friendly outlook and practices.
Many a times, it has been noticed that apart from the hiring and the other minuscule HR functions like attendance, the HR often fails to provide career development opportunities, employee engagement and other strategic functions of the HR.
Most importantly, and last but not the least, when the organisation or the HR fails to fulfill the promises made by the HR to the employees.

The Truth:
“Everything that shines is not gold” or “Looks can be deceptive!” These phrases are best suited to the position of HR professionals in every organisation.

To explain it better with a situation: HR is responsible for the talent management and employee engagement in an organisation. Both of them are directly linked to the performance and compensation reviews, appraisals. Now, the employees get in touch only which with the respective HR people for any final notification of the decisions taken regarding the same. But the irony is that the appraisal decision has in fact been taken by the management and the other concerned officials like the project manager etc.

But as the decision is conveyed by the HR people, the first axe of hatred always falls on the HR, which in every case is the mouthpiece of the management. Now if the HR advocates the case for reviewing the appraisal of an employee with the management, all it gets is the bashing that they are on the employee’s side, and, have been hired by the organisation and not by the employees. They have no power to take decisions on their own. While balancing the interests of the employees and the organisation, they often become the whipping boy, who is always punished for the wrong doings of others.

The Fact:
The fact is that all the human resource professionals have to deal with humans, their emotions, different attitudes, different behaviours, different levels of understanding, different perceptions etc. And what the employees and the organisations forget is the fact that all human resource professionals are human themselves, having the entire gamut of all the above mentioned traits. And the HR professionals are basically striving had to keep both the employees and the organisation happy.

Converting Hate into Love
Turning the hatred of the employees in love or even the mutual and neutral feelings of understanding would require a great effort on the part of the HR to change the basic perception of employees which is commonly found to be against HR. None the less, the HR can take the following steps to ensure a healthy start:

The HR should emphasize on the communication. The communication should be clear, timely and proper i.e. explaining the rationale behind the decisions and the actions taken. Bridge the gap with the employees through communication.
Properly and fairly executing the HR processes like the appraisals and training and development etc.
Don’t be biased in its decisions. The HR should not be biased towards the management or personal bias towards some of the employees.
Focus on all the aspects and functions of HR equally.
The HR should not take the undue advantage of their position and authority.

HR is one of the most important pillars of an organisation. But it will not be able to survive for long without the support of the employees. The HR needs to create an identity of its own away from being on the organisation’s or the employee’s side.

Source: naukrihub.com/hr-today