One of the major reasons why our companies face high level of attrition is because of the fact that their job profiles are not commensurate to their individual capabilities / qualifications they possess (This expression was made vocal by 994 respondents in a survey called ‘A Study On Engineering Students Expectations From Their Prospective Employers’, under the section ‘Top 5 Parameters Respondents Consider While Selecting Their Prospective Employers’). Either they join organizations at some point of time because they need a job in hand, to begin with something. Just like ‘A bird in hand is worth none’! Or they are qualified to do something else; however they are placed at completely unrelated departments with the bright promise that, one day they would surely be shifted there, under the mask of job rotation. Though one cannot fully discredit the job rotation process, since it’s a tried, tested and proved methodology of understanding each other’s business and deliverable schemes. However anything short of 2 weeks at a station spells disaster. Here comes the question in every new employee or existing employee’s mind – ‘Are we making a difference and doing meaningful roles for the organization?’ This dilemma was well defined in Gautam Ghosh’s ‘Recruit For a Cause Not a Role’.
Are recruiters just busy filling in the headcounts for a department and finishing their job, or do they bother to stop and think – does this guy belong in here? Problems are similar for both manufacturing and IT companies, each having a share of woes to such issues of an unsatisfied employer putting down the papers. People go for their 9 – 5 jobs, complete their responsibilities and by evening their CV’s are floating all over the Internet, from day 1.
There was this guy at a manufacturing organization, a fresher straight out of college whose flair for mechanics and machines made him an enthusiastic candidate. However 5 months down the line he put down his papers. The reason he cited was that he was very confident of opening a Xerox shop and handling prints, but for mechanical he would have to start all over again.
A similar example from an IT company, where one guy was particularly fond of .NET technology; however he was placed under the SAP wing. Three years down the line, he was an adept at SAP, and respected for his skills; and just then he was shifted under the .NET wing. He had to start all over and it seemed 3 years went a waste!
There are individuals waiting to master skills and contribute in the growth of an organization. They want to unleash their enthusiasm in belonging to a company and doing their bit. But are we recruiting to stagnate or do we have better career plans in our minds for our employees?
When the business today February 7, 2010 issue came out with the ninth ‘The Best Companies To Work For’ survey, amongst celebrated Déjà-vu’s, hushed tones and several internet jokes what followed was an overwhelming cheer for Infosys, denial and acceptance of the fact that from year 2006, it’s taken 3 years to get back on the top slot. It’s taken good amount of hard work for an Indian multinational to be at that coveted rank and Mr. Narayan Murthy is a very proud person today! This years BT survey underwent a vast shift in the methodology by bypassing the companies and going straight to the employees and ask them to rate their choice by certain factors. The resultant was a unanimous phenomenal outcome. [Rank 1 – Infosys Technologies, 2 - Google India, 3 – Tata Consultancy Services, 4 – IBM (incl. Daksh), 5 – Microsoft India]
One such survey was conducted in the year 2007, where the methodology adopted was beyond all existing techniques and which bypassed the companies, heading straight to the prospective employees – the engineering students awaiting placements. Here too Infosys Technologies emerged as one of the top 5 dream companies, anybody in India wanted to be in.
WHAT is the background:
The information technology industry has emerged as most promising business proposition in India among the new generation business ventures. The speed with which globalization of business and advancement of technology are moving is significant. India in general and Bangalore city in particular are emerging as the most sought after destination for information technology business not only in Asia but also in rest of the world. These projections create lot of positive expectations from business organizations in terms of availability of trained manpower to meet the needs. Therefore organizations are redefining their talent management strategies by hiring more and more of freshers to curtail the cost. But unfortunately most of these organizations do not have validated HR strategies to attract the freshers into the corporate world. Therefore any effort to build a consensus on strategies for hiring freshers from the campus should be based on the research conducted by collecting data from engineering college students rather than existing employees of the organization.
STARTLING facts:
As per studies - in India every third person is a Software Engineer no matter which branch he/she chooses in engineering
YET, only 30% of them are employable
The rest 70% have the following drawbacks which contributes in HIGH ATTRITION: -
- Lack of clarity about their future.
- Attraction towards salary
- Peer pressure
- Lack of soft skills
- Lack of domain knowledge
But students have more than 1 offer in hand - Where do they fail in choosing the right job?
WHY talk of it now:
Amidst the economic slow down that has had global effects of downturns and large scale layoff’s, now when the market seems to be growing again and altogether grappling to attain its previous positions and brand value; times ahead look challenging for the HR Department and the Company as a whole. They have vacant positions to be filled, pink slipped employees tugging at the elbow and an ocean of talent knocking their gates every hour. If at these times, caution is not exercised in getting the right person for the right job; losses seem imminent and just when the world around may be enjoying the bounce back, there may still be someone who missed the bus! Talent management is a process everybody has had turns of glorious days and burnt fingers. The swinging between states keeps happening, but these 1-2 years is just not the time, when companies may have to go through the bad days! A large chunk of new entrants have always been the graduating engineers from India’s brightest technical schools, but are we able to retain them for longer periods than a year or two? If not have we ever wondered, what makes them job hop so soon? Or how is it that from the top technical school we fail to attract the top most talented students?
WHO conducted the survey:
In this direction this was the first study of its kind perhaps in the entire country surveyed in the year March – May 2007 by a team of students pursuing their 1st year of MBA at PES Institute of Technology – MBA Dept., Bangalore. The survey was presented in the NHRD Event ‘Triads’ 2007, Bangalore too. The objectives of which were:
1.Finding the Dream Companies as perceived by engineering students
2.Identify the criteria that enables to exercise the decision of joining a Co. or not
3.Help IT Co.’s device appropriate strategies for attracting freshers
The members of the team constituted of Ms. Deepa S and Ms. Akanksha Yadav (Me). Also Ms. Sonam Chirania and Ms. Poornima Rajapur contributed to the survey in data collection and entry. Throughout the survey the team was guided by Dr. G. Pandu Naik, Head of Learning & Development, Karle Group of Companies, Bangalore (then a professor of Human Resource Management in PESIT, Bangalore).
The Approach:
Not having a benchmark to base the study upon, the questionnaire was such designed that it followed the descriptive research technique and contributed to being a census survey. This was done so that one could understand the entire demographics behind the choices an engineering student makes while selecting upon placements. To ensure data authenticity, the survey was conducted on 6th semester engineering students in the specializations: Computer Science, Information Science and Electronics & Communication; in all accounting to a total of 994 respondents. Participation was optional but most of the students who were present on the day of data collection participated in the survey, in the presence of the researchers. Five Engineering Colleges in Bangalore city (India) were selected for this study, out of which three were rated among the 100 best Engineering Colleges in the Dataquest survey 2006. (PES Institute of Technology, BMS College of Engineering, RV College of Engineering, Dayanand Sagar Institute of Technology & BNM Institute of Technology) The criteria for selecting the said colleges were geographical proximity to researchers and the willingness of the colleges to provide access for data collection.
Data Analysis:
The survey questionnaire had two parts, the main survey and the demographic part. Basic statistical tools like percentages and averages were used for analysis. The key analysis (that of importance of 10 parameters) involved converting importance rating to relative scales (using Likert 5 pointer).
WHAT We Asked:
Respondents were asked the following distinct set of questions:
Rate the parameters you would like to consider for selecting your prospective employer using a one to five point scale:
The 5 pointer Likert scale was classified as:
[1 – Not at all, 2 – To some extent, 3 – To a large extent, 4 – To a great extent, 5 – To a very great extent]
Company – Brand Value
Salary and allowances
Locational Preference
Nature of Work
Career Growth Opportunities
Learning & Development Opportunities
Opportunity to Work Abroad
Welfare Measures (canteen, compliments, etc)
Job Security
Transportation
Dream company:
Respondents were asked an open ended question to fill as per their choice.
Nature of company:
Respondents were provided with 3 categories of different sets of nature to select from, where they would prefer to work:
1.Indian/MNC/Joint Venture
2.Established/Newly Started
3.Product/Service
Initial Salary Expected:
Respondents were asked to mention their expected initial salary on a per month basis
Suggestions to prospective employer for attracting talented candidates:
Respondents were asked to list 3 suggestions they would want prospective employers to introduce in their policies.
WHAT We Got:
A total of 994 respondents participated from 5 top engineering colleges of Bangalore.
DEMOGRAPHIC COMPOSITION
32% from Computer Science & Information Science
71% Male
54% plan to Work, 38% want to pursue Higher Studies
60% hail from Urban areas, 19% from Rural
47% belong to Service class, 28% from Business class
26% 2 L < 4 L, 23% 1 L < 2 L,
22% parental income (p.a.) upto 1 L, 10% 4 L < 6 L, 8% parental income (p.a.) > 6 L
55.4% prefer to work with MNC’s, 21.33% Indian
55.23% prefer Established Organizations, 26% Newly Started
43.16% prefer a Product base Company, 22.54% Service
59% expected initial salary between 3 L – 6 L (p.a.), 18% upto 3 L (p.a.), 11% between 6 L – 12 L (p.a.)
INTERPRETATION:
TOP 5 DREAM COMPANIES RESPONDENTS PREFER TO WORK IN
Top Five Dream Companies
No. of Respondents
Microsoft
151
Google
117
IBM
91
Infosys
48
Intel
44
Not Responded
167
Others
376
Total
994
TOP 5 PARAMETERS RESPONDENTS CONSIDER WHILE SELECTING THEIR PROSPECTIVE EMPLOYERS
Top Five Parameters
% Of Respondents
Career Growth
52
Learning and Development
44
Nature of Work (Job Profile)
34
Job Security
32
Opportunities to go Abroad
28
TOP 5 SUGGESTIONS GIVEN TO EMPLOYER BY RESPONDENTS FOR ATTRACTING TALENTED CANDIDATES
Top Five Suggestions
Number Of Respondents
Good Salary
106
No Consideration of Marks
90
Good Working Environment
79
Planned Career Growth
65
Job Based on Talent
36
RECOMMENDATIONS & IMPLEMENTATION:
If we glance the Top 5 Dream Companies students aspired to work with, surprisingly Infosys was the only Indian multinational that figured there. From our database that Companies that made it among the Top 15, including Infosys, there were just Wipro and TCS to make it a count of 3. So how do we explain that aura foreign MNC’s have that keep attracting employees their end? How should a company survive the economic slowdown and even when not staggered by global environment, yet minimize their soaring attrition levels? As emphasized earlier large scale recruitments always deal with new entrants fresh from engineering colleges and retaining and engaging them is no child’s play. So some of the recommendations from our end that surely everybody is aware of, however a constant reminder is required every passing season to be mulled over and be implemented:
Existence of a structured induction policy is absolute essential. Further fool proofing the process by introducing psychometric tests
The recruitment panel / team that represents the company should be highly competent
Insist on an interactive pre placement talk and present a detailed power point on the company’s products, services, facilities, et al.
Introduce schemes for educational assistance and opportunities for enhancing qualification and skills
A structured induction programme for not less than 6 months
Introducing and following up the ‘Mentorship Programme’ with diligence
Evolving a high potential development programme
To possess a communication strategy nothing short of brilliance
Provide a job profile commensurate to individual capability, than trying and testing him/her on varied grounds before final allotment to an unrelated field of low interest
Plan the career map of a newly hired employee before going for selection rounds
Relax a bit on grades and scores, which doesn’t mean hire somebody not eligible by what the policy says. However give them a chance to sit for the placements by lowering the cut off bar. Who knows, there may be somebody really good in subject, but a bad writer. Or maybe somebody topped semesters, but last year fell ill or something quirky happened with him.
Transparency of something that is important for an individual or an organization’s growth up to a desired level indicates the credibility of the team and openness to consideration and negotiation if any. It is understandable that many organizations may defer to being transparent for all work processes, however there are certain areas one cannot be totally discreet, especially things related to capital and money matters. Yet we may still find some where compensation & benefits always seem to be that part of the asset which cannot bare transparency at any levels. So much so, even when new recruits join for a particular position all they are aware of is the job responsibility, designation and the CTC involved. It may make sense if during process of selection; one may not want to disclose the salary components; however once when somebody is sent an offer letter for acceptance, then the prospective employee has all rights to understand the break up of the salary assigned to him. It cannot be something that can be passed as ambiguity and the employee realises the components only when he receives the first pay slip.
This kind of an issue is dealt by and large by small size and mid size industries, where it is hard to tap upon good resource and retain them for a long time. Chanced upon prospective employee who may prove to be assets need to be pulled in and engaged so that he doesn’t get swayed by competitor industries. It may sound foolish not knowing one’s salary components before joining, yet there are people who do not inquire and yet there are some who wish to gain an understanding however organizations refuse to quote. For fresh graduates it may not be of much concern as then they are just beginning the process of finding a footboard to stand upon, however for somebody making a career change it can prove to be disastrous and could well be a plunge in the career graph if he decides to blindly hop into one. There was this one person I came across sometime back, who had good experience and understanding of the industry he belonged to. Naturally his talent got recognised in the Organization he thought could lift his career. In the interview rounds a CTC was discussed, negotiated and finalised upon. However due to internal constraints the finalised amount was not given and a lesser CTC was zeroed upon. An effective communication could have taken place, yet the prospective employee was kept in the dark. Nor did the employee consider inquiring about the components and discuss on the plans. When he went for accepting the offer and casually got to know of a lowered CTC, he was in a dilemma whether to accept or reject. He did reject, but at a personal loss. Before joining he resigned from his present workplace and that left him unemployed till he would be in a position to convert one. He wouldn’t be in a dearth of one for long for sure, however a mere communication and transparency could have saved a lot many hassles.
Compensation is always a sensitive issue and those who handle it know of its ups and downs. Those who plan to get into an organization too need to understand the importance of asking for one, before making a decision. Yet it still lies as a major responsibility for an organization and non disclosure or reluctance of sharing one shouldn’t deter anybody from asking what he is destined to be paid.
Recruitments round the year always end up being a pain for those that belong to that specialization. Screening and selecting among hordes of unwanted resumes is indeed a tumultuous task. To ease out the process somebody introduced the Referrals policy and it started bringing out good results. Suddenly employees all so satisfied with the Organization started recommending near and dear family and friends. Then there were some Companies who started acknowledging the brilliance at ease and rewarding employees, some didn’t believe in rewarding but found the referral policy the biggest source or databank available, and there were still some who didn’t believe in the policy.
The 2 extreme positions are the best that could be carved out of this policy; however the middle position is the one that creates major issues, especially in Companies that believe in having local candidates on their payrolls. Hardly a speck in the crowd would belong to far flung places settled at workplace location. Here the referral policy is so much into the system that it has actually entangled the recruitment process.
Suddenly everybody is on a referring spree, and if one tries finding out the history behind their acquaintances, one would be surprised to know that among all things the only common factor was a common surname. Thus it made enough ground to approach the right person in the Company and be rest assured that one would certainly be on the rolls within a couple of days. If this kind of a business can sprout annoyance from just a two or three, then to imagining every single referral belonging to the same genre, it can prove to be quite troublesome for the HR as well as the Organization. As merit of an individual cannot be stated by common surnames, or can one perform any psychometric tests to separate out the desired from the undesired. Whether one looks to the left or to the right, numbers keep percolating with individuals of common surnames. What in turn goes waste is the Company’s resources in paying them salaries for the work they do not do (though this isn’t a generalized sweeping statement, nor do all referrals end up being on the same side of the sinking boat). The resources utilized to train them for the job, paying of the salaries, and once when they quit (that too prematurely) no suitable replacement comes around, hence training the new guy all over again. Besides the references being not so credible, yet following suit since the person whose referring is a top shot in the Company. Little realizing that in this great movement of doing something worthwhile and good for their communities, people are actually gathering dust around! The whole game of reserving seats in political stunts across States being so similar to the Corporate story of referrals. Has anybody benefited by these mindless games at the State levels? So be the case at Corporate level. The policy may seem all so rosy from the distance, but is proving to be a brain chewer from close by.
Maybe we need an alteration in the Referral Policy and we need to limit how many people a year can current employees refer (at those companies that have an open agenda throughout the year). Maybe we can even put some constraints upon who can be referred and put more emphasis on the idea that the referrer’s PLI would somehow contain some value of the referrer’s performance. Otherwise were these trends to continue, one fine day we would have the Company plagued by similar community or surnamed people taking over charges
They say, “Birds of the same feather flock together” and that is just precisely the tool we use to judge a friends circle or an association of people coming together as entrepreneurs. And since the validity of this concept is so strong, it’s more or less implemented in analyzing teams in organizations too.
However there is always a flip side to each conjecture that can be drawn out of a situation. This specifically applies to all those employees who report to multiple bosses. Either the bosses may be at vertical designation to each other or at horizontal. Vertical ones do not pose a grave situation if a hierarchy is part of the organization structure. A flat organization has no fuss at all. But where the structure is hierarchical and the multiple reporting bosses are placed on the horizontal lane, there’s more to it than mere sharing a subordinate. Needless to say competition stays put at each level and each one is trying to either out do the other or proving his concept and strategies feasible and profitable than the other. It wouldn’t affect the managers much as they always have their ways with their work. But then there is that shared subordinate who has no clue as to whom should he follow, in those moments when he is looking for a mentor. Perplex moments are shared in each of the cabins trying to maintain confidentiality and at the same time being transparent and obedient. Hours spent in one cabin can always send a negative message across the rooms about affinity and affiliations. And either end it’s always the same, with the other wanting to know the MoM.
Caught between the thundering of bosses, what should the shared subordinate do? Resist compromise or be succumbed to becoming the eye candy by divulging serious information and high priority details? Managers are there on those seats because they have that capability to persuade and manage human resources in the right way. So they are very capable of extracting information that may not be meant to be floated at that moment. Apart from being a subject to cross fire from both ends, the subordinate always has the dilemma of whom to follow. Both make sense at many a times and both have experiences of their own, quotable and non-quotable. The subordinate like every other employee wants to learn lot many things, do substantial work and wants to derive a meaning out of whatever he has been allotted as job responsibility. However his progress or promotion in the organization is largely affected by the ‘Halo Effect’ that is generated by the number of hours spent in a certain cabin. Though there is every chance that the subordinate may not necessarily endorse the views of his boss, but has no option to beg himself pardon from his presence. Between the wars of the lords there is always a chance that he is just a spectator trying to move the papers and empty his incoming mail box. And when the war gets worse and the bosses cannot look eye to eye, there’s always a question posed before the subordinate – so which one of them would you like to align with? ‘Which party do you belong’ is the only sentence that is volleyed back at him!
But if it were to choosing a party, one might as well be running for the Parliament. Since one isn’t there, it’s obviously other way round – an organization needs people to work in teams! And all that the subordinate can do is being honest to the organization’s interests at every moment. When faced with trouble of deciding which work is priority, regardless to the worry of being reprimanded; the best say would be in the interest of the organization and the urgency of the task. And the one important thing that sandwiched subordinates should always bear in mind is that be ethical and do not loose your reputation as a sincere employee just for small gains and favours, as bosses keep changing and so do their notions and fancies. What remains is the reputation you build!
Working in an organization for 3 decades would make one more than a mere employee. The person would view themselves as one of the army of men who build the organization pillar by pillar and brick by brick. There would be no corner of the unit that the person wouldn’t be aware off. And there would be no policy that cannot be measured by the employees’ eyes. Devoting all his youth to the vision of making the unit into something big and known worldwide would be a dream not just the owners would sleep and rise with every new day. And when the day to his retirement seems to be approaching, what would be the ultimate reward he would be looking forward to expectantly?
No it’s not the compensation, nor the farewell gifts. It’s not about sitting in a cabin all to himself, nor having a chauffeur driven car. It’s neither about being a critical member of the team nor smiling with pride seeing the enormous numbers of turn key projects he’s handled, yielding huge profits. These are all secondary points which add on by the by in the experience of life.
One fine morning among these days prior to retirement, one of the top management guys who has been with the organization for equal periods of decades decides to take a walk around and visits this department as well. For some reasons the top guy cannot remember this persons name, and doesn’t give even a minute to his memory for a recollect. Instead tries drawing attention of that employee by making certain sounds and clapping his hand and knocking at the door with a ‘hhuussshhh’, ‘oye’ and a ‘psstttt’, where everybody is an audience.
How would that do the 3 decades of blood and sweat in the name of this organization? How about a lesson on ‘Dignity of Labour’?
Surfing the Internet, I came across several definitions/meanings and essays to these 3 words. The best of which I could choose was:
“Dignity of labour chiefly means respectability of all labour such that one is not viewed as superior to the other”. And we even have a Labour Day marked on the calendar!
However I come up with a very different definition of mine, which says:
Dignity of Labour chiefly means not just bringing equality in work, appreciation of a job well done, time and again; but when one retires after serving the organization the top management knows his name and each one’s who is currently associated with the organization and they are addressed by it, doesn’t matter a blue collar employee or white collared.
This is one feeling of being recognized, which can surpass all materialistic gifts and rewards ever received in the whole career life - cycle of an employee. It’s the sweetest sound to any person’s ear that he/she lives his /her entire life to hear!
So if we really appreciate work done by somebody, and are in all praise for the effort and knowledge, apart from a memento at the rewards & recognition event, the first thing we could do, is call him/her by their name and make them realise they are not a forgotten lot and they will be remembered each passing day for their contribution towards building the organization.
At one of the peak seasons of the recruitment drive, one fine morning the HR dept. gets a call from the Security guys’ stationed at the main gate. They pass on the information that a lady has come and is asking to meet the HR Manager. So they have let her in since she said she’s from a far off place, and she’s on the way to the HR Dept. Much to the departments’ surprise, there she is standing at the door; when half the folks are annoyed with the Security guys’ decision without being consulted. Yes a recruitment drive is in the process, but a walk-in wasn’t something that was welcome; after being overwhelmed with CV’s that kept pouring in every hour.
With the kind of atmosphere a manufacturing organization has, even one lady would raise enough eyebrows to be noticed. So while this lady walks into the room and is seated right across me, the next I expect is a CV laid out in front of me. But like it’s said, ‘Always expect the unexpected!’ she looks around painfully and giving uncomfortable glances, she places her purse on my table and walks out. And here I am looking at other colleagues who are equally quizzed with her behaviour. Twenty minutes and still no sign of her return, which triggers a sense of panic into us. I am contemplating of opening her purse and searching through her belongings and finding some identity of this mysterious prospective employee who wanted to so badly meet the Manager. A few hurried calls were made to the security guys and the reception, enquiring whether anybody has seen her roaming about the factory unit. And there the colleague at the reception confirmed, she saw her on the way back to the HR Dept., just 2 minutes back.
When finally she does enter the room, I start off my inquisitive notes directed at her. What we learn are astonishing facts of a person desperate to get employed in this downturn of economy! We get to know she’s originally from Kolkata, and has travelled all these distances to be in Bhilai just to chance upon getting herself employed someplace. She didn’t have any acquaintance or relative in and around Bhilai, and was put up in a Dharamshala. At a certain point of time a colleague asked her, whether her parents are aware of her ways of looking out for a job? Were they aware she was in Bhilai? She recently completed her MSW from LucknowUniversity and placements that didn’t happen, made her look over Internet for Companies across India, and she planned to visit every city of the country she could!
With the way she was dressed she looked from a good family, but the desperation that we saw in her eyes, were enough to shake each one of us. Maybe for quite few it was just another day, but for us as recruiters, turning her away became the most difficult task. At one point we got her talking to the HR Manager, coz he was good at mentoring and we felt she needed somebody old enough to tell her she get back home and quit roaming around like nomads. When she finally produced her CV, it became the most dismaying moment. It was just a plain sheet of paper, like the formats found in cyber café, which hardly bore some details of her. Being an HR and done a regular full time course in MSW, one would always expect a good CV if not a benchmark. And then we realised through her communication she was not just desperately waiting for employment to happen, she was mentally unsound as well. It started looking like a Herculean task to persuade her leaving the boundaries of the factory unit. And when she started begging to be allowed to do any kind of job, even as an attendant; it started feeling like loss of human dignity.
From Recruiters we were transformed at one instant into this other human being, who needed to show empathy. But that wasn’t enough, the Organizations interests were always primary to us, and no matter how much we tried being concerned of her well-being, it was always a deadlock situation for us. With more than 40 minutes spent in persuading her to leave, accepting her so called CV and agreeing to get back to get, when openings would come; finally the security guards were called to let her out. And with her being at the other side of the closed gates; within no time her CV was shred into pieces, yet the predicament of the recruiter remained!
It is said that to keep an employee happy, and to achieve long-term employee loyalty and retention; it is not the money or the perks that counts. Rather it’s about giving them “Meaningful Roles”, which acts as an intrinsic motivator.
The question that on a continuous pace keeps bogging a new employee is ‘whether he is contributing in the business of the organization?’ There are a number of times, when an organization is committed to recruiting a targeted number of people; however they do not have pre-defined profiles for the new employees. So imagining the extended honeymoon period, whereby a senior comes by and asks the new employee (specifically a fresher) to explore into doing some research work pertaining to XYZ topic; keeping the industrial sector as base; such that the ultimate tests of applicability do not involve employees of present employer. And in no way should the sample or population of the study involve interaction with the employees. And the outcome of the research will bear no change or implementation on the present employer.
Will the newly recruited individual be as enthusiastic to carry forward the research, compared to the time he thought some real work is coming his way – ending the long honeymoon period or the subject of study interested him always? And to add to the demeanour, if the reasoning supporting the initiation of the research comes as: An aid and reflection to his contribution in the previous organization; when fresh interviews are faced!
How long can we expect such an individual to stick on to the organization? Unless he has some compulsions in life or more or less is dead wood; he would wait for the right opportunity and a perfect employer who has pre-defined roles set for him; and who believe this individual can do wonders in helping the organization grow! Do we still require fulfilling targets or for a moment think about how we create first impressions about a work; that may mean passion to somebody; yet make them refuse to work on it?
An office set-up is considered, whereby some guests have come for liaison purpose. The cabin of the Head of the Department is where the guests are seated. Outside the cabin are seated 6 subordinates [ranking executives], 1 computer operator and 1 project trainee. There are 2 peons allotted to the dept. however both of them aren't available in the vicinity, as have been sent around for Xerox and dispatching mail.
Water bottles aren't kept in the cabins, but rather in a closet at the corner of the far end of the room; where the peon keeps all the material for serving purpose, and prepares tea etc. So the cutlery too is placed there, as well as jug of water and glasses. Anybody wants water, calls out to the peon who carries glasses in trays.
Now when no peon is around to serve anything, one of the guests gets thirsty. And the Head asks one of the subordinates to get water inside.
The structure and hierarchy of boss-subordinate and peons levels are so strong, that certain type of work is said to be allotted; and somebody else cannot do the job or is considered below dignity!
In this case what can be done? Let the subordinate executive bring water / or ask the computer operator [since he's in the lowest bracket of designations] / or wait for the peon to return and let the guest go thirsty till then?
Well say the computer operator is asked by a new executive who recently joined the organization, to take water for the guests. Surprisingly it creates quiet a furor, and invites wrath from the other executives stating that the Computer Operator shouldn't have gone. Rather we should have waited for the peon to arrive [that's another matter the peon came after 30 mins]!
The case-let is brought forth to analyze how should we deal with the set hierarchy in the organization. How do we instill a sense of ownership, which makes every employee contribute in the smallest of the ways to the organizations health and growth. About just not talking of Equity among employees, but about taking measures for employees to feel it in the air. About making the organization more flat; so that such trivial issues do not contribute in becoming a water cooler moment!
On querying several people about the case-let; they came up with various suggestions; some of which have been described below:
Ms. Shikha Singh: Just start keeping a tray with 3-4 glasses of water in the cabin. Much ado about nothing.
Mr. Simhan: This is the problem of hierarchical demarcation. I for one (having worked abroad for over 40 years) would not have bothered if my boss had requested me to serve the 'guests', that's what the visitors are. Soon people change their attitude the better. What would we do, if the house-help was not there and the guests had to be served a drink? Would we not serve it ourselves? If I were the boss and felt that there was a hierarchy, would have got up and gone and fetched the water myself and set an example for others.
Mr. Parthasarthi: Self service and vending machine will be the best option in this case. Serving guest is not matter of dignity is matter of courtesy. People must take this as humanitarian angle instead of formal approach. Not serving guest is bad etiquettes and people who are stubborn with hierarchy are not fit to become employee if they do not exhibit good etiquettes whatever position he may enjoy in the company.
Ms. Asha Mathew: I tried being in the scene and as a person who is asked to serve water. What I would do is, pull the tray, place a few drinking glasses on it. Keep the jug separate, and arrange all this on a tray and ask the guests to feel free to help themselves. On the whole - I would just pull a table in front of them, with all the things on top of it. If you are asking on how to make the Organization more flat with certain tasks - it must flow from the top! I may feel bad to serve water to the guests, but if I one day happen to see my boss doing it with no hesitation - then I might as well learn that from him.
Ms. Preeti: I suggest keeping water bottles for each and every one. This will help in avoiding future disputes. Secondly if the Head is really a gentleman he should have not minded to get up, to take glass of water for himself and as well as for guest. There is nothing bad in serving glass of water or cup of coffee to your colleague or visitors. Only thing is people working there should be mature enough to understand the things. Instead of saying it low level work you should be confident enough saying that you have done something nice. In most of the MNC companies nowadays there is no office boys they do there work by themselves. It depends how one takes the things, if you think in negative manner you will feel that you have done something that wasn’t your job.
Mr. K.M.P. Singh: The Head has to be rational and the executive has to think the way the boss is ordering. In my opinion, giving a glass of water to the guest is not an issue but most important the way he orders. It is just matter of delegating the duties to the peons and it must be kept in mind that at least one peon has to be available at all the time.
To summarize the whole of the case-let, indeed many of us would agree that it has nothing to do with making the organization flat, but more with how we decide to breed culture within the organization and setting an example by being one. Yes the Head of the Department could have himself gone and fetched water, infact he did have an extra glass in his cabin. But on benefit of doubt even if he forgets the same, and some third person brings it who's not the peon shouldn't really kick up much dust from other on-looking executives.
The best reason of looking at it is the employees/executives to a certain level do not feel the essence of ownership of the organization. For them it means the organization belongs to somebody else but themselves. Maybe if we could develop on this idea along with structuring a healthy culture; a flat organization won’t really be much of a dream.
To read the comprehensive details/responses of/to the case-let,visit here.
Moral Science classes were what we had back in school in primary wing. Interesting stories were told so that we could make an appropriate analogy of the deeper meaning. Morality in simplest of terms has no definition as there is no benchmark to measure the levels exhibited by an individual. But the closest we could get is by saying: “understanding one’s conscience and doing the right thing for the right cause”.
However like I said it has no benchmarks and industry specific behaviour, so each individual deciphers it as per his/her needs and desires. And there are many times when the line has been crossed. And what remains behind is for the HR folks to conduct an enquiry and question the acts. It would be appropriate to name it as ‘Acts of Morality’. If we look at Morality by Wikipedia definition we are presented by 4 kinds, further classified into different categories. Picking up the one that we could remotely relate to organizational needs for our sake of convenient understanding i.e. based on anthropological perspectives, the ‘Cultural Impact’ which constitutes the parameters vis-à-vis wisdom/knowledge/courage. Like in the cultures all across the globe each organization is distinct with the kind of culture it has inhabited within, since years of existence. But can the organizational culture be always blamed and accredited for the lapses that keep happening from employees’ ends. Is it that the flag bearers of the organizational culture feel the need to police around? Imagine if this seems the need of the hour, the organization would feel “Instead of the cross, the Albatross About my neck was hung.” [From the poem ‘Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ by Samuel Taylor Coleridge] meaning carrying a heavy burden across the lengths of the shoulder!
Presenting a small case-let which explores the ‘Acts of Morality’ which needed to be policed around and questioned about the intentions.
In a manufacturing organization, where deliverables are what the organization keep striving to achieve – meeting client requirements on projects on time. However it’s a well known and accepted fact that delays do occur – a month, here and there. Which eventually leads to extensive liaison with clients and this means special officers from the HR Dept. under Legal systems are designated such posts. This also means they would by in large take care of various tours and would be country trotting. Such officers when on tours carry an advance for the conveyance, as well as the period of stay that they need to be at the client side; all the bills that come out of local Travel Allowance (TA) and Daily Allowance (DA) as well as hotel (accommodation) / food bills are reimbursed by the organization when they get back. This also includes footing the phone bills.
The Issue: Begins when the officer cannot resist being human and getting submissive before personal needs and desires. Phone availability and cheap TRAI rates combined with convenient service providers in India has revolutionized the concept of being mobile and available always. The officer is on tour to a client site within same state boundaries, which means no roaming charges apply. Now who wouldn’t like to catch up with old friends and socialize at the cost of the organization, right? Wrong!! If the officer gets a Rs. 600 /- recharge done, for liaison and company requirements. This means on applying local charges Re. 1 /- per minute, he used the phone for 10 hours. The officer invited further anguish and wrath when not one day of his 10 days ‘on tour’ status, he reported to his boss or the HR Dept. head. Whenever the organization tried reaching him, his phone was switched off or out of coverage area! When he got back, he produced his bills and coupons for reimbursement. He claimed higher expenses than what it originally was on accommodation and food charges. All of which was monitored and cross-verified with the numbers of hotels/restaurants numbers on the bills.
Though the officer faced reprimand on his behaviour and received punishments the manufacturing organization typical ways – a transfer order; however would that curb the urge to utilize the resources at organizations’ expenses? Is our moral system so strong, that we wouldn’t get docile for availing just a mere benefit? What can we do about the situation and prevent it from happening in future? Can we give a fixed quantity of amount depending on the city that is being visited and based on the city’s standard of living! But how could it be guaranteed that the officer not fall short of money, and use personal means to pay up; when he is representing the organization!
Restricting the outflow of money is definitely not the answer, nor is a transfer order; coz what has not changed is the perspective of the employee and his intentions. Such intentions which are not healthy for any organization. Since quoting amount higher than the actual involves a case of ‘amassing wealth from the Co.’ which is equivalent to committing a fraud, be of whatever frequency! High time Moral Science classes are organized within organizations. Much integrated with the Learning & Development programmes, some small talk about human behaviour, importance of morals in life, awareness of how amassing is affecting the growth of the organization and how un-healthy practices would lead to distrust among fellow employees’ and the management. And strengthening the fact, that if employees default on morals, he/she be ready to be enquired upon and face severe reprimands! Based on continuous behavioural issues, one could lead to termination from services as well. The message be loud and clear, and the Learning & Development team needs to start surfing the internet; meanwhile the disgraced officer would now on have to look after Stores, something that he isn’t ready for; after loosing trust from management!
