The 3Ps at Workplace

“And miles to go before I sleep…. And miles to go before I sleep”

We often wonder and struggle to catch up with miles we have defined for ourselves. Have we ever introspected or tried to find out what actually shapes these miles?

I firmly believe that Power, Positivity and Perseverance are the 3Ps which shape our life and career. Let’s figure out what and how these 3Ps affect our professional and to some extend personal life as well.

‘Power’ is a really strong word which impacts our life to a larger extent. Power as exhibited at workplace can be redefined and clubbed into the below types:

1. Social Power should be the typical characteristic feature of an established leader which I believe is all about leading from the front and giving individualistic authority to the team members. Working in a collaborated fashion will definitely achieve better results and in turn giving intrinsic motivation and recognition to the employee.

2.  Cloud Power is wherein the power and the authority rest at a particular level/person. It’s like clouds at different potentials if come together will end in thunder and lightning. In such type of work groups the decision is always in a top down approach and the team is not empowered which leads to lower motivation in the team.

‘Positivity’ in the ambience, culture and processes of an organization shape its goal and help achieve the targets. A positive workforce is more productive, efficient and innovative. Positivity cannot be inserted in an organization via an external force/method but it is largely governed by its internal practices.  Below are some examples which help reinforce positivity at the workplace:

• Recognition which can be external or internal by creating the relative worthiness of the job person is doing
• Effective Communication is another area which I have seen lacking in many leadership styles due to which there are corridor talks and ultimately leads to negativity around
• Leadership is very important because if as a leader you don’t see a problem at a nascent stage you won’t be able to provide a solution to it. Moving away from the problem is also not the correct leadership style to be exhibited which may send negative vibes in the team
• Listening to the personal and professional needs of the employee helps instill confidence in the leader and the organization
• Supporting your team when needed and helping them to achieve the targets/results create a sense of belonging in the team
• Mentoring is essential if you want to work along with the team to achieve the business outcomes and create an empowered positive workplace

‘Perseverance’ is an essential part which shapes your career. One has to be determined and not buckle down under pressure as it would not help in achieving long term career goals. The biggest obstacle in realizing your dreams is the person himself/herself. If you are confident about your decisions you would sail through even though people will debate, disagree and distract you from the path. Create a career path for yourself and even if you deter from the laid path learn from it and move on.  

  

I am sure the 3Ps will help us both as an organization and as a person to be introspective and create a balanced positive workplace.  

Feedback 2.0

Welcome aboard. We have on this flight to the new cultural shift Gen Y and Gen Z and we would be reaching our destination ‘Feedback 2.0’ in the short span of time than we may ever realise. In today’s context, organisations are frequently innovating in their performance management system so as to include the aspirations of the new and upcoming Millennial generation.

Gen Y (Loosely defined as generation born in early 1980’s) along with the Gen Z (Born in early or mid 1990’s) believe in a faster career progression and regular feedback. They don’t wanna waste their time sticking to one organisation just to wait for the next career ladder. They believe in fast recognition of their work and emphasise more on results rather on sticking to time like the Baby Boomers/Gen X. Organisations like Adobe have revamped their performance management and have made feedback an ongoing process throwing away the old annual system. Companies like Google have encapsulated the 360 degree feedback system while Microsoft believes more in employee behaviour as compared to the targets defined.

To keep our PMS updated with the ongoing cultural shifts due to the generation gap we have to evolve and introduce a new performance evaluation system, Feedback 2.0:

1.      Bake the cake and eat it too: If we have an ongoing regular feedback mechanism, we would be able to meet the aspirations of the Gen Y and Gen Z which will make them more comfortable in view of sense of recognition. If make feedback system to be robust that can accommodate changes after a quarter we would be able to recognise the talent and do away with the recency effect that but naturally comes in the annual appraisal system. Through this process, we would be able to incentivise Gen Y and Z to work more productively as after every three months we would be able to compensate or give a due promotion to the right talent which otherwise would have to wait for the annual cycle. Gen Y and Z being impatient in this context would never stay back for the entire year if something more valuable comes up in their kitty.

2.      Don’t talk, better connect: Through the revamped Feedback 2.0 we would be able to meet and talk to the Gen Y and Z on a regular basis which will make them more comfortable and engaged at the workplace. We should remember that an engaged employee is a more productive employee. In short, don’t discuss after a year, better give the right direction at the right time. Moreover, an engaged Gen Y/Z‘er would also resolve the retention problem.

3.      ‘FB’ the recognition: The word ‘FB’ has become synonymous to this generation who want to put up everything on the social media and are not hesitant to write to the executive level. Gen Y and Z don’t believe in waiting for the trophy or certificates. They want the rewards instantaneously which they can show it off to their friends over the social network within the organisation. We should build a power packed R&R system where client or manager appreciation could be shared over the network which gives them their moment of pride over the social media.

If we are able to connect with this Millennial generation, we would be able to build the employer brand and hence the right talent will automatically flow with the current and come to the right bucket. This new generation might be too demanding but I am sure if we ride with them will have a safe touch down!

High Performing Abundant Organisations

I woke up in the morning, dragging my feet, trying to settle things and making my way to office. My friend, however, is fresh and full of energy. He thinks of what change is he going to bring today and how many lives will he be impacting by his work. Which one are you? How do you relate yourself to the larger organisational goals?

Organisations these days have set up high performance work culture wherein, they have linked their performance management, compensation and people strategy to enhance the employee effectiveness. They are working for the development of their employees to survive the competition. However, if we look at the abundant organisations (Dave Ulrich – The why of work) they are adding value and meaning to the life of its employees and working for the customers and the society at large. With the diversity and community services paving its way in the corporate policy and organisational budget, organisations are trying to do their bit to benefit the society, however, somewhere they are missing the employee’s why of work.

They have made their corporate policies more employee friendly, investing more in learning and development of the employees but still the turnover remains the biggest concern, which is always remarkably high. Why is that citizens of the organisation (Henceforth referred to as Empizen) are still not empowered and they keep on looking out?

Our empizen keep on exploring better opportunities as is the case with GenMe and Gen Y looking for better roles and career development. The GenMe and Gen Y always look out for empowerment in the role and better and bigger decision making ability. They just don’t fall flat for a bigger pay package. Our empizens want the meaning of work in their lives. They want to know and understand the value they are giving to the organisation through their work, which is missing in our HR strategy. Many a times, it has been seen that as part of our HR strategy, flow of people and flow of information is missing.

There should be a proper and continuous flow of information from the top management till all the empizen at the grass root level are empowered. They should know what their small action will be converted into at the larger level.  Simply investing in L&D will not suffice, it should be properly synced with the career aspiration of the empizen and the organisational strategy. This can be achieved only when our leadership is aware of this and know how to tackle these challenges. The empizen look onto the leaders and want to be one of them. Our leaders should be able to coach and mentor our empizens so that they consider themselves as part of the family and come to work every day with full passion. When the employee feels he/she is the empizen of the organisation, he will be more engaged, productive and would serve our customers better. Hence, empizen would understand the value he/she brings to the organisation through the work and would result in better financial numbers. 

    

So, are you going to add value and meaning to your/someone’s work tomorrow?  

Motivating Gen Y

Are we following the right steps in motivating our Gen Y work force? This Gen Y workforce who is very high of himself/herself might be circling around you while listening to their ipods. They are always online, texting, tweeting and don’t ever block their path even while in office. This is the kind of workforce we are talking about. Though much has been written and said about these employees but still we have to catch up a lot in terms of our practices. 

Gen Y has no issues in voicing out their concerns so don’t ever think about trying to suppress their ideas.  Hearing out their concerns and working on their issues give them a lot of ego boost which is the base of their career development. They are constantly thinking of new and innovative ideas and have entrepreneurial mindset.

In order to keep this flock of employees motivated, we must check on following few things:

1. Always make sure that they are working in teams as these are the people who have grown up hanging around with friends
2. Give them regular feedbacks. Don’t ever wait only for annual appraisal/review
3. Don’t intimidate them by poking your nose in their work style
4. Give them enough flexibility in their work culture. Don’t try to bind them with forced time lines
5. Have proper communication channel. Don’t leave them working in silos
6. Reward them intelligently. Don’t just rely on appreciation mails
7. Recognize their work based on their performance and not on their tenure

These are the people who as per Dave Ulrich believe in Life/Work Balance and not Work/Life Balance as for them their work revolves around their lives. If we start working towards their recognition, development and growth, these Gen Y people will have no issues working for the same organisation.

Social Media and Employee Empowerment

After reading the amazing article “People are not your greatest assets”, I was wondering if we can ever think on this tagline because we have always widely accepted that the employees are the greatest assets of any business or organisation. For any organisation to grow its employees are at the core of any business strategy, however, now I am beginning to have inclination on the other side of the story. Do we really care about these employees who we always say that this is my strength?

I will go by the views of the authors of “People are not your greatest assets” that what really is important is how you ‘EMPOWER’ your employees rather than just saying these are my assets. It really matters how you treat them and give them the real freedom to innovate and express themselves inside the organisation. ‘Social Media’ is the best way of empowering our greatest assets.

What really is happening in the case of Facebook, Twitter and Youtube? It is bringing people on the same platform, making relationships and sharing knowledge. Same is the case with Social Network inside the organisation. It brings collaboration into the organisation and empowers the employee.

Some of the advantages that a social media gives to the organisation are:

Building Relationships: With the social media, employees from different geographies and different locations can network together for the same goal.

Collective Knowledge: Talent pool can work together for a common vision and accumulate a vast knowledge.

Real Time Solution: With different minds working for a common solution will help in faster resolution to a problem and help in finding the specific expertise.

Common Interest: People with the same passion and interest can work together and ultimately can leverage the network built through social media.

We should work towards the empowerment of our employees through this mass collaboration which will help us to achieve our strategic objectives. 

Employee Engagement - A Driver for Business Strategy

Employee Engagement is defined as “the extent to which an employee commits to work or something in the organisation, how hard he/she works and stays in the organisation out of that commitment” [SHRM] However, we often use the word Employee Engagement interchangeably with Job Satisfaction and measure the employee’s engagement level. Job Satisfaction is basically how the employee feels about the nature of work he/she is doing, work environment, pay or benefits.

Source: http://www.peopleinsight.co.uk/

There exists a relationship between organisational strategy and employee engagement. It has been researched and proved that employees who are engaged in an organisation perform better and as a result contribute more towards the business strategy. Engaged employees work harder, are more loyal and likely to go extra mile towards the organisational objectives. They believe in the vision and mission of the organisation. The engagement of an employee is ‘Emotional’ i.e. how they believe about the company or the leadership and ‘Behavioural’. This behavioural factor is shown as how much effort the employee is putting towards the organisation which can be in terms of energy or time.

Here, while talking about the Employee Engagement, we should start differentiating between Engaged Employee and Actively Disengaged Employee. Engaged employees work towards the goals of the company while actively disengaged employees just come to the company and are more busy on acting out their unhappiness.

As what SHRM describes, the levers of Engagement can be characterised by Vigour, Dedication and Absorption. Vigour means filled with high energy and passion, Dedication refers to a sense of pride and inspiration towards work and Absorption defines the feeling of happiness and engrossed in the work without being detached.  Employee Engagement is greatly influenced by the reputation of the organisation, its culture and also its internal communication. Internal communication is essential as the employees especially Gen Y believe in the values of trust and transparency as discussed in my earlier blog. It is often believed that ‘Culture’ is a soft lever. However, employees are far more engaged where there is a culture of innovation, job enrichment and safety. Culture is established through the organisation’s reward and recognition programs, its policies on work-life balance and the opportunities it provides for the career development and growth.  Engagement is heavily dependent on the Manager-Employee relationship as it is widely said “Employees don’t leave organisation, they leave managers.” The managers create the bridge between the employee and the organisation.

Now the question arises that how do we measure the employee engagement?

Organisations are widely using employee satisfaction surveys, focus group discussions and surveys. Out of these Gallup’s Q12 is the favourite and widely used employee engagement indicator tool. The common themes that are used for employee engagement measurement are: Job Satisfaction, Pride of working with the current employer, Learning and Development, Reward Programs, Relationship with the Manager, Understanding of the organisation’s Vision & Mission and Intention to Stay in the organisation.

As discussed in earlier blog Employer Branding plays a pivotal role in attracting the right talent. With the Gen Y workforce, organisations have to create more employee friendly and innovative workplace culture along with emphasising more on the so called softer elements of HR viz work life balance, job quality, flexibility, diversity, career pathing and freedom at workplace. These are the new factors which have to be accounted for getting the right talent and the engaged employees.

Like the Doctors, HR Managers should keep on checking the pulse of their employees so that they get to know the probable gaps which need to be filled before these gaps collapse and lead to attrition.   

Employer Branding: A Strategic HR Tool

Employer branding is a tool which is used by every organisation be it small, midsized or a transnational organisation. The organisations need to market themselves as the best place to work for if they want to get the right talent in this competitive market. Employer Branding is like Sales where you have to sell your practices, culture and your USP to the prospective candidates. You have to differentiate yourself form what the competitors are already offering.

The process of creating your brand in the talent market starts right from how you do the onboarding, what are your practices and procedures in the organisation till the employee exits from the organisation. The employer brand is not created in a single day or through a single advertisement. It’s a long process that is built step by step. Organisations often believe that by simply having the best entrance and stringent recruitment processes they will create their brand in the market. However, the employer brand is built on the basis of what you are going to offer him/her on a daily work day and through his/her career path.

Trust and Transparency in the organisation plays a vital role in creating a strong employer brand as the rewards and recognition does. The Gen Y specifically believes in this theory where they want that the organisation should have a total trust in them and in their work, a place where there is transparency in the system and processes. If the organisations can place themselves a transparent organisation Gen Y employees will flock that place. 

Many organisations design catchy slogans and advertisements to attract the right talent. But they forget that every organisation is doing the same in some other way. They have to search within themselves and analyse their own respective strengths and weaknesses. They have to identify their own distinguishing feature that separates them from the rest of the crowd. Based on that USP they can sell their brand to the prospective candidates.

Organisations have to constantly sell their brand to the candidates as it takes time to build brand as an employer. When the time comes for recruitment an organisation cannot build its brand in a week or two, they have to constantly keep on building it even though there have been instances where they have to give pink slips.

The best way to build the employer brand in today’s scenario is the social media where the organisations can post the testimonials from the employees on how their every day of work is which will help the candidates to understand better about the organisational culture and would make them a better fit.

By making a flashy recruitment process and showing candidates descriptive JD’s where there is every possible task to be performed for that role will not build the company’s brand. They can get the candidates for that opening but very soon such candidates after coming inside the organisation will start sending the resumes again !!!