Communication... and Employee Engagement...

I have been reading through a global study of Watson Wyatt Worldwide on the decisive impact communication strategies have in the overall performance of the organisation. The study reveals that the impact of a cohesive communication strategy is significant and impacts.... ............retaining talent and acquiring talent ............increasing employee engagement in a substantial way ............consistent and better performance of the employees, and in turn the organisation ............financial performance of the organisation This is just a part of the findings, and a read of the report throws light on how crucial managing communication in the organisation is to achieve its goals. It is all about creating the brand not only to the external world but to the members of the organisation. This means that the communications team - mostly christened 'corp comm and PR' in many organisations which is more corporate strategy centric needs to have a great degree of alignment with the human resources practice in the organistion. I have seen that, even in many of the midsized and large organisations, the communications team is primarly aligned with the corporate strategy wing, which owns the external branding and image management of the organisation. Sans an alignment and working closely with the HR team, the internal branding objective is hardly going to be served. And in the end, what reallly is most critical to the organisation is how it is seen by its own team and leadership...... they are the ones who are responsible for the performance of the organisation, and they are the ones who would be brand ambassadors to all the internal and the external stake holders....... branding the organisation as a great workplace with a great cause will make all the difference, and infact make the job of external PR much easier that it could ever be....... May all communication strategists please note and comment

Branding in recruitment services....

Branding in 'recruitment service delivery' is one area found wanting in theory to my little knowledge. This is moreso from a vendor perspective.... Here am not speaking of employer branding... this is about how much branding matters if you are a vendor trying to partner organisations in their permanent recruitment/temp staffing plans.... Does branding matter really? I would prefer to safely assume that more than branding, it is pedigree that matter... am looking at someone like ABC Consultants in India, who stand tall by their sheer chronological presence coupled with delivery in at the CXO level hiring. Then what is the value of brand ABC or like that, a brand Mafoi or a brand Manpower..... I would opine that given the structure of the recruitment industry in the country 'branding' would be more of a supplementary attribute second only to delivery and legacy relationships.... MNC's in this space have that edge compared to the smaller players to position their pan Indian footprint and ability to deliver for recruitment needs across every nook and corner of the country... but those would be the typical entry and middle level positions in large numbers which strong local players may not be able to do, not by virtue of competence or the lack of it, but by only lack of footprint..... And even in the temporary staffing space nationally, it is the local players who have the ability to customize services and work through the maze of local labor laws, who are beginning to make inroads, eating numbers away from national players.... So to conclude, a 'brand' in recruitment would only serve for better positioning.... beyond that it will be only delivery and relationships, with absolute and predictable consistency that would make recruitment companies win... I know there is going to be a huge debate on this subject... which will make all of us learn more about 'branding in recruitment'.....

Distinguish yourself......

Browsing through techtribe, i came across an interesting post by Seshu Karthik......who had come across a PDF titled "25 ways to distinguish yourself - by Rajesh Setty" on the web. I want to share Karthiks' notes with you...Why? Being part of the commodity crowd erodes your value. If you need to leapfrog and succeed beyond dreams, continuing to do whatever you have done in the past may not be the answer. You need to distinguish yourself!Not all will/can have the following qualities... So, you acquire them and differ from the rest! 1. Care as if its your ownYou may just be an employee, but you care no less than your boss! 2. Do your daily work with passionLove what you do, and Do what you love with extreme energy. 3. Build strong social relationshipsTrust is the key factor in a relationship. 4. Dream BigYour effort will follow your dreams 5. Set the right expectationsActions should outgrow the words (Under-promise and Over-deliver) 6. Ask for help. Throw away ego, and gain the freedom of the skies 7. Celebrate small victories.Each celebration induces a feel-good factor that is crucial for self-confidence 8. Set higher standards.Compete with your higher self, and challenge your limits. 9. Know your values.Prioritize your values, and live by it! Living life by principles is the only difference between a man and a beast 10. Pursue right memberships.Become a part of right social groups (Satsang), and they will payoff big time. 11. Help people help themselves.Tell your people how to do, rather than doing it for them. Teach entrepreneurship! 12. Be a Reader (Learner)Learning is a never ending journey that should never stop/slow-down with age. 13. Plan Have a Plan-B beside Plan-A for every crucial action/decision of yours. 14. Think Long-Term. Be aware of your destiny during your entire path. 15. Embrace uncertainty with ease. Keep moving on... Never get bogged down with surprises & failures. 16. Ask yourself the right questions (introspection). The answers you get on contemplation will set right the course of your action. 17. Engage with a coach. Sometimes we need a guru to show us the way for reaching the destiny. 18. Be relevant. Your comments, feedback, words & actions will be taken seriously only when others believe in your relevancy. 19. Get back on your feet fast(Similar to Pt.15) 20. Lead a volunteer effort. This brings out the leader in you, and for a good cause. Your service will be rewarded! 21. Balance Innovation & Continuous Improvement. Whenever an innovation project succeeds, the next immediate step would be to put that project on a 'continuous improvement' road -map. 22. Learn to sell. Let the world know about whatever good stuff you have. 23. Learn Systems thinking. Learn to work in teams 24. Walk away from free(Does not make sense) 25. Influence the influencer. Deal with the main person in charge, and do not get stuck with middle men. Good points that would help us win........

Be a great Boss.....

I read with interest this piece by Deeksha Singh, Head Business Development, WCH Training Solutions, Delhi deeksha@wchsolutions.com If you can't stand your boss and dislike your job because of it, you are just a small part of a large community who feels the same.But what if you have recently moved into the role of a teamleader, boss or people manager yourself? While the 'perfect boss' is a utopian concept, here is a quick checklist that will save you the heartburn of dealing with attrition and unhappy employees. Always meet your people with a great smile A smile can make a lot of difference. Always be cheerful and energetic and spread the attitude within your team or organisation. It drives great results. A smile and a warm handshake can wear off the stress that most employees go through, not to mention that it adds to your desirability factor at work. Also, smiling is contagious, and most people will find it easy to forgive you even if you happen to be a bit demanding on occasions. Catch people doing things right People make mistakes and sometimes they can repeat them, sometimes doing irreparable damage. But, have patience and let them grow. When they do things right, find them out and tell them it's a valuable contribution thay have made. Every interaction with your colleagues in the office is either a deposit or a withdrawal. As important as the Big Picture is, it will mean little if the boss shows little value for his team members' performance on a regular basis. Appreciate generously There is nothing more encouraging than appreciation for the smallest of difference one makes. For eg, when you enter the office after struggling hard with the traffic jam and the office looks clean or different, appreciate the person behind the effort� and make him/ her�"feel" how important the effort is to the organisation. Send your team emails, create a section where people can give compliments, etc. Positive feedback helps in building long-lasting habits. If you take certain positive behaviour for granted, you will be wasting time in reinforcing them later. Be ready to say "I am sorry'" If you erupt in a meeting, criticise a colleague's work or make ill-timed comments that you regret, how do you bounce back? Apologise immediately to the targeted person and to everyone around. Don't offer a long justification about the work pressure or a possible misunderstanding like most bosses do. Just say "I should not have reacted that way" and "I am sorry". This will show that you are professional and reflects positively on your character. It takes years to build up a reputation, and only seconds to destroy it. No matter what, don't snap or your people will think of you as a 'reactive boss'. Help people prepare their goals and create a checklist Be clear in communicating the desired goals from an individual in a team or the team as a whole. You should know your people, their strengths and opportunity areas. Team your people in a way where everyone learns and compliments each other's strengths. A good manager not only coaches an employee to develop a skill but also helps in conditioning it as a behavior. In simple words, become a mentor, ie, a wise and trusted counselor/ teacher/ trainer, who can act as a catalyst for growth and nurture potential and talent. Building teams is not a one-time effort but an everyday process. Good managers involve, engage and inspire their teams on a daily basis. Stay sharp Read industry publications, reports and magazines and be aware of market trends. Your knowledge will reflect when you communicate with your team and they will look to you for advice and information. They will also talk positively about you with other members of the team. There is nothing better than third party publicity as it establishes you as a thought leader within your team. Nice one... and most of it i guess is what i have stated in 'brand leader'

Great places to work...... some thoughts.....

Reading through a write up by Prasenjit Bhattacharya, CEO of The Great Place to Work@ Institute, India was quite interesting and enlightening..... The definitions of a 'great place to work' goes like this : Your workplace is great if you trust the people you work for, take pride in what you do @ work, and enjoy the company of people you work with. Sounds simple... i guess not really so. Another interesting observation by Prasenjit is that Great places to work@ companies, as a matter of policy, do not plan to be in the top quartile of compensations paid to its employee work force. Thats is very interestinga and calls for attention of the numerous large brands, who even now resort to luring and retaining talent only by that whopping hike over the current employers compensation. The widely foreseen slowdown in the US post the sub-prime crisis throws up a great opportunity to many organisations to innovate and do well in all the intangibles of talent engagement and acquisition. Key take aways: Never assume money to be the prime motivator, ensure that the organisation is percieved as a fair and equal opportunity employer in its truest sense, ensure a work-life balance for the team, communicate organisational goals clearly top down till the last and mosr recent joinee, keep the channels of communication open for questions and clarications, address all employee grievances and doubts with 'straight answers' rather than being hush-hush..... for all this it is critical and paramount to ensure that the leadership team and managers across all functions are sensitised... obviously a great place to work cannot be in isolation to the managers in the organisations... connecting the widespread reason for someone leaving the employment - a bad boss - only Great Bosses can create these Great Places to work@....... And the best thing that can happen is to see that surveys in this context are made to have TOP 250 or 500 Great Places to work@ in India.....

Being a leader – essential qualities that can make you a ‘brand’ in the organization.

Talent acquisition, however organizations view & strategize about it, is indeed the biggest challenge facing the industry in the country today. This is more relevant and has turned to be a critical factor that haunts the ITES/BPO industry. As large and branded players move ahead in the race for talent, by using compensation and benefits as a key acquisition tool, the challenge is indeed humongous for the midsized and smaller players in the sector. Whichever organization be it, good leadership - organizational/team - by itself could be a sub-brand within the employer brand (or even for a perceived unbranded employer too). A cursory look at any recent best employer survey will throw light to this fact – amongst the top names would be a few organizations, which are shining stars not owing to the salaries they pay, but leadership, across the hierarchy. This is to prove the fact that ‘good leadership’ is indeed a brand by itself, dwarfing the organizations’’ brand. Here are some very essential leadership qualities, not exhaustive, but critical and can go a long way in managers turning leaders, and facilitate in creation of the brand ‘leader’, for their employer. Be a leader, not a manager It is common belief that someone who is designated a manager, is a de-facto leader of the team or the organization. Or that is what at least most of us assume and tend to impose on teams and organizations. Such a belief is a sure shot to failure of the individual, and would have a cascading detrimental effect on the organization too! Whatever be the designation, authority and respect is always bottoms up, and comes in when the team perceives the manager to be a leader, formally and informally as well. The leaders positioning would need to be by virtue of his value add to the team, knowledge sharing, and a whole lot of intangibles. While HR or the organizations spare no efforts in hiring the appropriate candidate to be a manager/leader, and proffering whatever training and retraining is needed, it is left to the hands of the manager-designate to prove his leadership skills. Managers just manage, with the systems and processes that are in place. But leaders make the team realize their strengths and weaknesses, and move their performance one up the ladder. Whilst a manager is just another step in the organizational hierarchy, a leader is a morale-booster for the team, and shall be someone who galvanizes the team to do more than what they do, and to the best of their abilities. Leadership is all about a lot of effort in turning an ordinary team to one that can perform extra-ordinarily, by working on the strengths of the team/team members. To that effect, the leader possesses a quality to quickly identity and bring to the fore the strengths of the team. ‘Shower praises and maximize strengths and privately speak and work on overcoming weaknesses of team members’ is the best way to build and synergize the team. Communicate effectively, and constantly create opportunities for dialogue Thanks to the increasing proliferation of technology, the tendencies today are to send a formal mail to even someone in the next cubicle. And it is more in the case of managers’ - who are not leaders. While sending formal communiqué could be at times a procedural need, the leader communicates goals, issues, problems or anything of relevance to the team in groups and one on one, as he deems fit. This would help the leader get a quick pulse of the team-feel, and also help is creating plans and strategies that have their ear to the ground. Just forwarding a mail, or sending a communiqué smack of authority, that may not have a team buy-in. In a formal situation, only part of the team would get involved. Given the heterogeneity of today’s teams, informal modes make the team and organizational goals abundantly clear. Informal and individual approaches create and increases opportunities for divergent views and dialogues. Having a feel of the divergent views is quintessential to give clarity what the goals are and how they are going to be achieved by all in the team. Moreover, an informal style keeps the lines of communication open, making team members feel free to voice their opinions. In most cases, this leads to better translation of strategies into operation and immunes the leader and the organization from major operational goof-ups, which would prove dear from the cost and strategic perspective. Be a great mentor and be dependable In the times, when aspiration levels are high, a mentor is the most sought after person in any professional situation. This makes it a fundamental prerequisite for the manager, to be a mentor to the team, if he seeks to morph as a leader. In fact, now the trend in most companies is to facilitate the new employee with a mentor, to take care of the emotional needs during the vagaries of induction into the organization and post that. The leader becomes a mentor to every team member, and proactively advises the team mate on a host of professional and personal situations. That means, the leader should be the most approachable to all the team mates, and breaks the shackles of hierarchy with the team. Only this assures the comfort level, and makes each of the team member to open up. To be a mentor, it is also very crucial for the leader to be a great listener, to the stated, and someone who can see the obvious, even if not expressed by the team member. Once the leader perceives the obvious, he needs to initiate a dialogue and make the team member open up. It is also very important to position oneself as someone who is dependable – dependable in all situations. This calls for a great level of perceived level-headedness, and consistency in positive behavior. ‘Percieved’ is the key word, as perception is bigger than reality as far as the team members go. Effective mentoring is indeed a good way to control attrition, as in most cases employee exits are owing to reasons unstated and unseen – owing to a lack of opportunity to open up at the appropriate juncture. Be ready to give credit and also take the beating Most organizations today, are replete with stories of managers or bosses who take the heat on the team, at the slightest hint of trouble. And even worse, take all the credit for anything that happened good as a team. This is the last and most questionable behavior, that plummets the team morale. In some cases, attrition is due to this, with a well performing team member, leaving the organization, tired of this managerial quality. A leader should be readily willing to give credit and appreciation to anything good, that is a consequence of team performance. In most cases, a good leader is one who seldom speaks of what he did, and speaks more of what each team member, or the team as a whole contributed. This is seen to be the most powerful intangible motivator – each team member is constantly in a quest for a need to be seen achieving and contributing. And when this is commended, however insignificant be the contribution, the individual gets pushed to the next higher level of performance, with very little managerial intervention. Even more important is handling the issue of taking the beating in case of any problems. The leader should be the first to volunteer and own responsibility for whatever did not work for the team. This immunes the team from any de motivating reprimand. Once the heat of the situation is tided over, the leader should sit with the team/members of the team and work on course corrections and provoke them to introspect. This will propel the team to voluntary action, which needs to be catalyzed by the manager. Inspire and set an example Above all, the paramount quality of a leader is to inspire his team by the quality of work, towards organizational goals. The walk and talk of the leader, shall motivate, inspire, and move the team to a higher platform of performance. In most cases, and if the team feels the need, the leader works with individual team members to work on the performance gaps, and complement and supplement the efforts in accomplishing the work objectives. By doing this, the leader also provides critical on the job training to the team that scales up their performance when such situations recur. Leadership of teams is all about going an extra mile to galvanize the team to over-achieve the stated goals of the team/organization. All the best for each one of us to be a brand ‘LEADER’.

Attrition woes for Indian corporates.....

In the course of the day, two pieces of information I stumbled on set me thinking..... The 1st one was in Gautam's blog which dwelt upon a Yellojobs survey in the country... Read it at http://gauteg.blogspot.com/2008/01/another-survey-on-attrition-reasons-in.html The other was in Business Standard which spoke of the measures taken by a leading corporate in the manufacturing space in the country, including effective hiring and reskilling strategies for the employeess across the hierachy, which has resulted in almost no attrition in the huge work force of the organisation (its the Jindal group, if you would be keen to know.... ) I would imagine that the effective tool to manage attrition in todays scenario is to provide abundant clarity on the organisational growth as well as the individuals growth... it is my personal experience that even the best of workers and performers lose steam when they lack clarity on what the organisation is doing in the medium term or long term....... The other most common reason, stated sometimes in exit interviews, and more often not stated is 'a bad boss'...... I think most organisations either turn a blind eye to this factor fearing the 'how to sensitise the business leader' sans the risk of losing him/her... but i would opine that whichever organisation does this risks a whole 'performing lot' by sheer inability to skill the leader in the basics of people/performance management.... So, apart from the whole lot of 'well researched' reasons, two crucial issues that can influence attrition downwards are : Sensitise the business leaders, and reskill them too, and also plan/provide to reskill the majority of the organisational workforce.

Consolidation in the HR space - Signs of the time to come....

A report in the Business Line today states that three prominent HR players - Mafoi, Emmay HR and Team4u are likely to be integrated following the Vedior acquisition by Ranstad Holdings. The report goes on that the 'integrated entity' could be the largest player in India. The combined revenues of the entity would be in the range of Rs.550 crore INR approx, and would host about 50000 plus temporary employees on the combined enitities rolls working for various clients...... Now what does it mean and what would be the implications of this 'integration' for a TeamLease, the current largest temporary staffing company - with over 70000 temps on its rolls, and to the likes of Manpower Inc. Clearly, it appears to be a phase of consolidation in the Indian HR industry, with the combined entity getting into a No.2 slot nationally - and they would soon want to move up to be #1, by adding/acquiring roughly 15000 plus temps.... How soon would it happen....? Anybody's guess..... But the temporary staffing industry is a space to watch out in 2008.....