Workplace Bullying!

Workplace bullying or exhibiting unreasonable behavior towards any one is something which is found at every workplace and could be subtle as well. It not only discriminates against the employees but also impacts physical and emotional well being. 

Here are some of signs that will help you understand if you are also one of the victims:

·        Your boss keeps a record of your negatives/mistakes rather than focusing on the positives
·         You don’t want to talk to certain people and avoid confrontation with them
·         You tend to show your frustration at some other place or person
·         Your boss/colleague takes all the credit of your work
·         There is a lot of yelling at workplace and you feel threatened, humiliated or insulted
·         You are not invited to meetings or lunch discussions
·         You feel you want to take a break for mental health

Every employee should be treated respectfully at work and with dignity. In case you have felt any of these signs you need to immediately contact your senior management/harassment committee for quick resolution to your problems. Corporates need to immediately address this issue and come up with anti-bullying policy which addresses the concerns and list the consequences.

HRnomics!

HRnomics or the economic principles of strategic human resources management are those basic rules of our business strategy, which align the people strategy with the business profitability. It is commonly seen that business houses and startups are focusing intensely on generating cash and reducing operational cost, however, what is seen missing in this roller-coaster ride are the people who are the fuel to drive these cash engines.

Though we have a huge supply of workforce in the market but still the demand across the industries is not being fulfilled and there is a supply gap of skilled resources. We should focus on the internal development and grooming of the current workforce to meet these demands.  It is required that the business houses need to frame career plans for the employees and put the employees in charge of their careers. Investments are much needed in the career development plan and learning/certifications rather than investing on a new hire. The new investment here is a sunk cost as the resource would take time to groom, be productive and adjust to the culture.  Vice versa if this cost was spent on existing resource it would have taken efficiency and productivity to a next level, which would have resulted in far better engagement levels and appreciated revenue.

Recognition in any form is that incentive, which is a differentiating factor in the employer brand. Rolling out bonuses is a one time key affair, however, regular social recognition of work, profit sharing and employee stock option would have a larger impact on the intrinsic motivational factors.

With the Gen Y/Z/Millennial workforce, there is a huge tradeoff between money and role. Today’s workforce demands more of quality work and enhanced job value rather than being stuck with same job routine. Data has shown that a substantial chunk of employees leave the organization for better defined entrepreneurial roles. Innovation is another factor, which is impacting the workforce market conditions as people nowadays have more exposure to new technologies and platforms to ideate.  Companies need to invest on R&D and create ideation labs and also protect the intellectual rights.

The overall company value depends on the worth of its employees which is directly related to the investments made by company in terms of money (Learning), material (Resources/Tools) and time (Innovation/R&D).

Creating an Inclusive Workplace

Little time ago organizations had started making huge investments to create a diversity department that looks after creating a diverse workforce. This being enabled through exclusive diversity recruitment drives or hiring more women in the workforce at all levels. However, this has started begun to fall flat on the face.  Though, it all started to integrate women into the workforce at multiple career levels however with no or weak implementable policies this is still lacking in the vision of the organizations and respective HR strategies.

Few thoughts which can certainly help to boost the cause:

Realigning Job Description: We should start re drafting the job roles that exist in the organizations to support employees from different races, ethnicities and gender. There are definitely multiple roles (viz back end roles which require minimalistic intervention) that can surely onboard the differently abled employees into the workforce.    

Reward Strategy: Inclusiveness comes from creating right rewarding opportunities for women and ethnic minorities to move up the ladder in key decision making roles without any discrimination.

Job Mentorship: Identifying mentors at job to identify these gender role bias issues and getting it resolved. These mentors should be able to guide the mentees for key decisions and help remove biases at workplace.

Life/Work Balance & Part Time Working:  Creating inclusive is through the work practices that exist at the workplace which includes part time working (And getting full salary) for the mothers who re join organization. This helps them to balance their personal life while taking care of the newly born along with the business. It does not necessary mean flexi policies exist only for women but for the male workforce also who take turns to help their family, be it children’s school or other family related issues that need to be catered to.

We need to be inclusive in our thoughts, decisions and policies to create such an environment rather than only talking about them in papers or business talks with no implementable practices. Once we are free from all these biases in our thoughts we would no longer need exclusive diversity departments to make it happen.

EEW!: Empowering Entrepreneurship at Work

Exhibiting entrepreneurship at work is an attitude. No matter where and which place you are in, the attitude will never die. It challenges your inner thoughts and never asks you to adapt rather it embraces critical thoughts, reasoning, innovation and continuous improvement.

How do you empower your employees to be innovative and act as entrepreneurs in your organization? An engaged and empowered entrepreneur will not only increase the company’s profitability but also be more productive and satisfied. As always, The Culture of the organization defines these values and nurtures innovation. If innovation , freedom and democracy is in the core DNA of the organization it would never fail.

Now, how do you define or propagate this unique culture-

Promote wacky ideas- In the team meeting, do not put your foot down on some bizarre idea, rather as a mentor see the dollar value and nurture it. This helps in identifying the entrepreneurs and also brings those ideas to see the light of the day.

Act like an owner- Employees should be empowered to take decisions as in a democratic setup and they should be regularly mentored to tackle the issues at the core. Hence, the decision making should be simple and de-centralized.

Socialize the ideas- The idea that you believe is crazy may be apt for another situation and in future you could use it too. It would be worthy to archive and socialize those ideas for others to dissect and tweak as per their requirements. You never know, it may be a golden boot for others.

Regular Recognition- It is always a wise idea to recognize the ideators of your organization. Go for a social recognition platform and give them their due even though it may be a small idea for you. It helps in employee satisfaction and acts as instigator to think on something new.

Show the mirror- Communicating the right business updates in a timely manner is the key to innovation. Employees would not be able to give you cost effective methods if you don’t show them the real picture or how the future looks like.

Above all this is the leader’s capability to lead by example. If the leader is not open to ‘Open Communication’ channel or receptive to new ideas, you cannot expect your employees to be innovative and exhibit entrepreneurship at work.

  “A loss of entrepreneurial spirit often results in a less fun, creative and passionate work environment”- Michael Kerr (Humor at Work)

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?