Professionalism And Friendship

I know Bill Gates and so does he! We are the best of pals and spend each Christmas vacation together. So whenever I walk upto his cabin, he’d open his books of accounts, he’s been working upon and show me how much he’s pumping in to Microsoft. Where do the finances go and how he builds his empire!

I bet 90% of you are already scoffing at the lines written above. They sound so ridiculous and irrational by all means. Half of you at this moment are telling yourself – what a sham! Or perhaps what a jerk! Some of you may question, so what if you know him – the world knows somebody or the other; but sharing statements of profit and loss is like ‘making a mountain of a mole hill’.

Nevertheless, despite knowing the boundaries between professionalism and personal ties; how many of us do actually cross the lines? How many of us actually look out for a favour from somebody, coz we have excellent personal terms? How many of us take it for granted that coz so-and-so is a cab buddy of ours we can pry into his/her work space and hang around much to his/her discomfort? Yet behave as if it’s a Constitutional right to be cheesy!

At what cost – being labelled unprofessional by all means. Some people do not understand the seriousness of a document being marked ‘Confidential’ and take easy offense when a colleague/friend/superior/subordinate tries to elude. Imagine being briefed by your VP that this is just for your eyes and ears, and a week later the VP finds out; it has now become a muse for the entire organization. He definitely isn’t going to sound pleased about the situation. What may emerge next is fire fighting, all thanks to a friendship that led one thing to the other. A perfect grapevine doing the rounds.

Now it sounds pretty much something of common sense and one may suggest, of course one’s aware of such limitations. But again the human factor and psychology comes into play. We as humans love dodging the set norms and rules. Unless and until there’s no bent of protocols one may find it tough to survive the quick bites, facts and figures. After all, close proximity can always be flaunted among informed individuals.

If you talk of ethics, and standing at the line of fire with the CEO looking over; or the Project Manager as a matter of fact too, would you oblige or shrug away and politely ask the colleague/friend to mind their business. If you choose the former you make way to being the super star of the Organization passing vital information nobody else knows. If you chose the latter, you end up being declared a smug!

So with the ball in your court, next when someone decides to shrug away; wait for a moment and tell yourself – cricket matches and shopping spree together would sound such a brilliant idea off the office hours!

Remembering Employees - Small Gestures

A call to one of the employees over joys him beyond the callers’ imagination. The intention was to wish the employee on his birthday, after a new policy got introduced in the Organization which required the HR to make personal calls every morning. At times it would get awkward as the receiver found it hard to believe his Organization wishing him on his day or perhaps was never wished before this day by anybody. This particular receiver perhaps was so happy that as an extension to his happiness he wished the HR back on prosperity in life and growth in career. On another such occasion, the employee felt so thankful to be remembered by the Organization; to express gratitude he got a box of sweets for the HR & Admin Dept.

It is a very normal procedure in IT Companies, wherein somebody from the Admin team sends across birthday/anniversary wishes to the intended employee and the Organization provides some benefit or gift along with wishes. Plus the team/project the employee belongs to organize small parties. However in a manufacturing there are 2 kinds of employees: the workers and the managerial staff. The needs for both the kinds are entirely different. When one of the managers like cited above could get all so over board by a personal call, the worker may expect something more than just a call. An email will make no difference to him either! Budgets can vary among Organizations for extended benefits like gifting a pair of clothes/utensils/tiffin box as well. Monetary benefits is something workers are always looking for, but that isn’t a feasible answer. Also at times the budgets planned for the entire year may fall insufficient or be scrapped off altogether due to newer policies.

So among all this circumstances when newly introduced policies talking about the wellness and benefit of employees bring in lot of hope and enthusiasm one end and receive flak the other, reaching out to an employee is what he primarily appreciates. Of course that doesn’t mean accepting all that they say. However simplest of gestures like personally being wished from the HR team (that is the extended arm of the Management and BOD) feels comforting and reassures employees about being recognized and be noted.

Just Joined! Itchy Hands Looking To Change?

When Mr. X joined the mid size Company, within 2 weeks he felt everything needed a change and makeover. The first thing that required major modification was the Company Policies and immediately he got to work of designing new ones. At the end of 4 weeks from his joining date he had a new set of policies ready and looked forward to furnishing them before the Management, get an approval and be the proud creator of them.

A proud creator yes, but the policies never got approved! Several reasons could be possibly attributed to it like: how could it be that not one policy was perceived as a fit to the Organization Culture; what was the urgent need of modifying them, that too in such a short time of being on board; copied from internet resources. Plus rapport building became a huge task which couldn't be overcome with time!

A conversation with a friend led to the question: How long can an employee recruited for a crucial decision making position take, before he/she can start rolling out the decisions and the Organization would listen to him/her? The friend said ideally not more than 3 weeks and by then he/she should be well acquainted with the operations/systems flow and all that his responsibilities demand. However when it comes to introducing changes the 3 weeks is too short a time. That’s the easiest way that can lead to his being crucified before public eye. Neither would he be able to please the Management nor gain the confidence of his subordinates/colleagues or the employees.

Company policies are something that is based on the common vision and goals of the builders of the Organizations which are duly passed on down the level of hierarchy. Playing with them is a sure shot way of receiving heavy criticism and resistance. But this holds good only for Organizations that fall in the bucket of being Tier-1 and/or Tier-2. There are still quite many of those who form the bulk of mid size Organizations – for some of them their respective policies are nothing but copied material from Internet (CiteHR in fact is an excellent resource for anything that has to deal with HR) and they have always been mavericks in the way they operate and implement activities. Introducing a change out here would mean disturbing the fine balance between Management, employees and the new person hired from a corporate HR background. The others are those who are bound tight by their policies and find changes nothing less than unnecessary fingering just to prove the newly hired individual is a capable addition to the team. Both ways it’s too premature to believe that nothing is going right in the first place. No doubt the new addition may have been hired to well implement the necessary visions of the Management, however for being effective the right time would begin only after months of careful scrutiny of the culture and the way employees respond to it.

Can HR Act Beyond Company Policies?

An employee approaching the HR Dept. for clarifications on a query always leads to certain phenomenal answers that have become much of a part of rote every employee remembers – “It’s written in the Co. Policies that’s the reason why it needs to be done this way!”

Infact quite many times the employees seem to know the answer well in advance before they decide to give another shot in the HR Dept. But can the HR folks really go beyond what the HR policies say? Can there be exceptions? Can there be genuine reasons when the HR needs to leap beyond the Co. boundaries and oblige employees? What’s the guarantee the employee may not get deceitful next time to avail those privileges?

The strongest of policy implementations always take place w.r.t. leaves and mediclaim issues. I remember coming across this one instance, when while the employees’ were on way to the office, one of the employee met with an accident on a deserted road. He was found injured by another employee belonging to the same organization nearly 20 minutes later. As an impulse the injured employee was rushed to the nearest medical aid centre for treatment. This resulted to non-reporting to the office of those 2 men. Now the blue collar workers are not among those privileged lot who can avail CL (Casual Leave) at their disposal nor can their work be taken care by some replacement, coz in a manufacturing more or less everybody has fixed roles. Late coming to office would in turn mean loss of pay for loss of hours in productivity.

So out here basically while the employee is heading for work and chances upon somebody who’s met with an accident, should he pass the person and reach office at stated time as given in the policy? Or should he bring the injured employee first to the office, mark their attendance and first avail medical aid present in company premises, before going elsewhere? Or alike the above stated example, straightaway take the injured for treatment, resulting to late coming and loss of pay?

What can HR ensure in such situations for the benefit of the employees’ as well as not making ways for future deceits? For this case stated above, HR for once did grant leniency on attendance and late coming and provided relief to the injured employee too, but how long is the question? People take no time in analyzing how best they can get more out of the situation, how can things be manipulated to get more of the benefits, how to get everything fixed coz of some friend/colleague happening to be at critical positions of the hierarchy?

HR Touching Lives - Tale of Concern

Talking of anything that has to deal with Management, jargons for sure make way for all modes of communication and description. So be the case for Human Resources too, in fact I too have a quote at the top pf my page that reads: “Our progress as a Nation can be no swifter than our progress in education. The human mind is our fundamental resource.”

If we were to minus these fancy ways of using the language to talk about a profession perhaps there are other tell tale signs that speak in volumes about the effect and impression it creates over other people – primarily the customers/clients of the Company. For HR the best tell tale sign of its progress is how an individual’s life is touched or how the HR Dept. as a whole, all the while representing the Organization touch many lives and motivate people to put in their very best, irrespective of their designation.

This post onwards I would be sharing and talking about those innumerable HR people I’ve come across who at some point of their career have created values for their employees and help instill trust and faith in the system of the Organization. I would also be citing memorable occasions wherein the HR’s action and thoughts lead to a feeling of bonhomie among employees.

During my interns’ period in one of the CMM level 5 companies, I came across this HR who was effervescent in her ways. The day I happened to join in there was incidentally the very next day post New Year. All employees seemed to be preoccupied in their work and headed to their workstations the moment they stepped into the office premises. However, the HR who came smiling and greeting people went right upto the front desk executive (or receptionist as recognized by people) and greeted her with genuine concern and smile. Besides the HR, I never saw anybody else walk right upto that lady nor even glance towards that corner of the office building. The front desk lady was of course overjoyed when a Senior Executive HR cared enough to reach out to her. More of the days that I was there, I found her unique in many ways and the extraordinariness in her being a Human Resources person kept reflecting by her concern and spontaneous efficiency at work.

For many it may sound like ‘so what’ and ‘big deal’ however, small acts of appreciation of this kind only help the employee in believing that his/her future and career lie in the right hands that would help them grow individually and professionally. It doesn’t matter at the end of the day in such organizations, whether one’s a clerk, a class IV employee or a top management official. The culture is so strong that it reflects in the people who manage the systems and processes and without much deliberation the employee feels like giving back as much as they can.

Click Of An Idea And Get-Go Or Get-Set-Go?

For some people the mere task of coming out with ideas and getting the chance to implement them is a Eureka moment. The ideas are largely either pulled in from previous Organizations’ successful ventures addressing the same issue or something really out of the box that promises ease and convenience to anyone who happens to use it. Some of them plan it out really well, and follow all the protocols one ought to and design a step by step stage to go about the process. Whilst others may not follow the usual routes and create their own methods of doing things. However there is one step/protocol both kind of task doers should indulge in – Pilot Testing.

Pilot testing is a terminology primarily used by training specialists in Organizations where an entire cycle is followed before the Training & Development team decides to implement a newly designed programme upon employees. Besides developing theoretical documentation of the system, real time users / testers are allowed to use and abuse the programme stretching it to all limits of durability. If one tries searching over the Internet, in fact one may find a lot of articles and blogs addressing the available types of pilot testing and the ways of administering it all the while keeping in mind its pros and cons.

Before any of the models can be brought out into the market for the end users/customers use, a small section of testers should always see, work upon and critically analyse the intention of the model, its intended utility, the correctness in the functionality and most importantly – how is it helping the end users. However many innovators or idea generators take a leap over this step and decide to face the end users on their own. For the IT industry this terminology is equivalent to beta testing that we keep seeing on newly launched software’s and websites every other day.

The same holds good for the HR industry as well. We are in a constant race of coming up with new ideas on employee engagement as we keep observing no idea lasts for a cycle of more than 4 – 6 months. An employee outgrows himself/herself on every one of the employee welfare schemes, recreational events and activities and employee engagement. Especially when the three form the foundation for employee retention to stay! Suddenly the HR guys need to reinvent themselves as the brightest of the artists coming out with whims and fancies that seem to go well with the Management and of course doesn’t land the Organization in soup or bring them at loggerheads with their policies and employee reaction.

With the growing advent of the Internet resource available at a mouse click, today anybody from anywhere can keep a tab with what is happening at some Organization miles away and at times Continents away too. However what may work best with Organization X may go sour or in worst case, bitter too with Organization Y. Special care should be taken when people shift sectors as in different kind of industries and try to add a feather to heir cap – coming out with innovations! There’s no guarantee that if you were a star performer and the CEO of the Organization shook hands with you in great appreciation, you may end up receiving the same reception in the new Organization.

For people who have just job hopped from the IT sector to the Manufacturing sector, there’s always a challenge up the sleeve - the concept of replacing manual labour by machines often taking a back seat and receiving flak as it threatens the job security of individuals. Here one would always be sceptical to find fine exhibition of latest technologies and software’s in the market on the roll. If one man earns a living by manual entry of attendance and daily tabulation of it across the Organization’s extended units, software by the country’s most promising technology builder of HR systems may lead to snatching of his job. The helpless Manager would always try to bring about up-gradation in the department, and at times may borrow ideas by introducing a swift transition phase by first working on internally developed programmes or systems and then graduating to ERP’s. Or introducing new employee engagement schemes that worked out super duper well at an IT industry however fails to stir the curiosity and results to dropping morale and enthusiasm in employees.

Man is plagued by the need to do something challenging, however to capture the right attention at the right moment has always been a tumultuous task. It’ll be always wise for the HR conglomerate on the whole if before they decide to handle the end users face up, a small section of the employees known to be neutral and good feedback givers test the feasibility of the new system or scheme. It could save many an embarrassing moments and help better structure the implementation phases of the new idea.

Ownership Ensures A Good Night's Sleep

Ownership today has become the fad among young generation of employees. Before joining an Organization the first thing they would want to know is how much space is available for ownership to blossom. Gone are the days when employees would keep requiring running to their bosses and seniors for approval of every step they need to take, or every procedure they need to begin with. Gone are the days when there would be one man calling all the shots. For if somebody did that today, the employee would consume hardly any reaction time and next thing that would land up is a resignation and a brighter future elsewhere.

So why has ownership replaced all measures of motivating an employee to give in their best. Why it is today that money and incentives do not derive equal pleasure and ensure a good night’s sleep as much as ownership does?

Today every person is eyeing to be an entrepreneur by their own means in some way or the other. Every induction in an Organization when somebody from the top management ask, “How many of you see yourself as future CEO’s of an Organization” instantly 70% of the crowds have their hands shot out! Even if 20% of them do not really know what it may take to be there, 25% may halt their dreams out of securing job and realizing it’s not their cup of tea, 15% may begin with something but never finish it due to early setbacks and out of the rest 10%, hardly 3% end up as CEO’s! So why is there this horde of people wanting to be the man who has the power and influence to turn tables for an Organization?

It’s all about the ability to be given enough freedom to do what they love doing. It’s about getting that space of their own where they can invent, innovate, experience, jump in joy and lie low in setbacks. It’s about feeling these moments of life on a personal account basis. Why should they let somebody else rule their chances of growth and learning?

In times like this Organizations have evolved to be smarter species and many people have edged themselves one level up compared to the EQ status of their employees. Ownership yes is provided but a controlled one. Employees get their share of responsibilities and much beyond than the actual deal of Job Description for the profile. Of course enrichment of profile is something that makes an employee gloat in content, however a controlled ownership would mean: one being free to gather all resources on their own, work out measures and strategies of approaching the issue, study the repercussion of the procedure that would soon be implemented; but just before the employee can go ahead with the grand plans – he ought to tell his superior about it. Here is where all the clipping happens, strategies are realigned to the business goals and the grand plans are modified to the superiors’ line of thought. Plus a good enough reason/feedback is rarely or never given to the employee. Resultant – the very happy an employee some time back, is not so amused now. However convincing the clippings may sound, however at the end of the day one needs to keep getting back to the management / superior for approval on matters. We have an unhappy employee now, who feels his freedom of action is curbed and encroached upon. It won’t be long when he would be at loggerheads with his superior and the Organization as a whole. It won’t be long before he would begin detaching himself with the excitement about working on something. A slow deterioration in his efficiency and performance would be strong indicators of a likely hop.

So for all managers and superiors who have at certain times practiced controlled ownership, time to think whether they can trust the instincts of enthusiastic employees and believe in their capabilities? Of course clearly mentioning the goals of the Organization before hand and how they plan to achieve it, before all work is done and then people sit and decide whether the new model suits them. Or continue with the age old hierarchy system of reporting, process flow model and operations.