HUMANEDGE APRIL 2011

CONTENTS
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Human Resource the Pastor and the Parent EDITORIAL Creativity Management HR COLUMN Real time Leadership by Anna hazare GUEST COLUMN 360 Degree Appraisal - the way ahead HR PROCESS Implementing best practice management in SMEs HR COLUMN Career Wise Taking the first steps in becoming a HR professional COVER STORY Good Communication = S (U) Ccess HR COLUMN Employee wellness - Its fruits WELLNESS COLUMN Outsourcing your HR Projects Makes Good Business Sense HR PROCESS How to monitor training effectiveness? HR IMPLEMENTATION

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Mentors: Indranil Banerjee, Indrojit Choudary, Manish Sinha Editor-in-Chief: S A Uday Kailash Sub Editor: Shikha Nair Cover & Illustrations: Venki venkiart@gmail.com Design: Shaji Joseph Arakkal arakkalshaji@gmail.com
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HUMANEDGE APRIL 2011

EDITORIAL

Human Resourcethe Pastor and the Parent

The best HR people are a kind of hybrid: one part pastor, who hears all sins and complaints without recrimination, and one part parent, who loves and nurtures, but gives it to you fast and straight when youre off track. Jack Welch The field of human resource gives you a chance to explore your innate skills through engaging and exciting domains. The word career is a divisive word. Its a word that divides the normal life from business or professional life. In the times when new batch of professionals are all set to step into the corporate world, and the students are seeking admissions into management schools, the issue gives a clear picture of what a career in human resource offers to an individual. It paints a roadmap for the development of a human resource professional through years backing it up with a first hand experience of a human resource entrepreneur. While the world cup victory not only unified the nation in joy, it also took the engagement levels in the organizations to a new high with the management allowing flexibility for the interest of its employees. On the other hand, Anna Hazare gave the leadership principles a new meaning when generations came together to support this man in his fight against corruption. Its only the career decision will give a chance to choose your destination in the corporate world once it is taken the path is set before you to travel. So choose wisely according to your strengths. Shikha Nair Sub Editor

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Nidhi Gautam Management Consultant Bikanervala Foods Pvt. Ltd.

Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep. Scott Adams

reativity adds innovation and effectiveness to human resource management. Human resource is that branch of management where we can expect the maximum innovation. When we compare it with other different fields we find it has changed exponentially. There was a time when machines were paid more importance and humans were merely treated as laborers. But the time has reversed and managers too, have realized that human resource is the backbone of all departments and hence it needs to be tackled creatively.

The field of Creativity Management narrows down the gap between imagination and reality. Creativity accelerates the performance development of the organization as managers have the edge of exploring something new and novel. Creativity can be used as an effective tool to manage people smartly leading to better productivity. Hence, we can say that, creativity management is a new dimension in the field of human resource management. When we look upon the basic functions of human resource management they are:

HUMANEDGE APRIL 2011

Recruitment and selection of employees: The foremost function of HR is to filter the most appropriate candidate from the masses so that right person can be chosen for the right job. It is a test of the HR manager that the selection process should be reliable and valid otherwise the process will end up giving negative results. Earlier emphasis was laid mainly on the subject knowledge but with changing times HR managers have realized the need for new and creative selection methods such as psychological tests which give information about the personality as well as behaviour. Group exercises test the candidate on the aspect of teamwork which is important for organizational productivity. Similarly, work sample tests enable HR managers to know how effectively a candidate will be able to justify the work. Other innovative methods of recruitment are graphology and polygraph tests. Employee motivation: Creativity is again important for retaining the employees and keeping them motivated. Days have gone when mangers used to believe that money is the only motivator. Its a tough job for HR manager to keep employees happy and dedicated for job. When creative ideas and focused goal mingle together then it gives rise to some interesting schemes which not only attract employees but also create a sense of belongingness among the employees. Some of the earlier employee benefit schemes were insurance (Mediclaim Policy), employee pension scheme etc. These are the schemes, which were used to effectively manage employees and projected an image as a caring company. But as time passes, humans want novel and creative ideas hence, it was found that there was a need for more creative schemes or policies to retain employees. This is how companies started coming up with

offshore employee benefits, educational leaves; maternity and paternity leaves, giving loans on low rate of interest and distributing shares to some of the employees; these are some of the creative employee benefits schemes. These creative schemes are not only employee friendly but also earn lot of goodwill for the organization. Employee evaluation: Organizations shape the career graph of employees through employee evaluation and thereby it is of vital importance for employees. This core responsibility again falls in the jurisdiction of a HR manager. Earlier, there was only a set pattern of evaluation in which subordinate used to be assessed by her/his superior on the basis of the task outcome. Creativity had no role to play in the whole process in past but now it is necessary for every domain area of management. HR managers incorporated creativity with novel ideas to create some effectively used evaluation techniques. Some of the new techniques for evaluation are full circle appraisal, team appraisal, self appraisal, trait appraisal, peer ranking etc. If we notice, all these methods try to reveal at least one of the aspects of employees, which have some influence on the productivity of the organisation. These also highlight that in this competitive world organisations are eager to apprise an employee who has groomed personality, ability to work in team and creative skills. Hence, it is the need of the hour to design creative evaluation techniques rather than only rewarding task outcomes of the employees. Industrial relations: If an organisation wants to develop friendly relationship within the industry then it needs to design a creative and innovative policy for industrial relations. It follows a simple concept that if a farmer wants to harvest the crop then he has to cultivate it also.

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HR COLUMN


Similarly, to have a good image not only in front to customers but also in the eyes of fellow industries, HR managers need to enhance the image of the organization in a beautiful and creative manner. It involves the art of beautifully showcasing the positive attributes of the organization and tactfully overcoming the negatives. Nowadays, organizations have started recruiting personnel for this specific purpose. Industrial relations deals with effectively communicating with media and other stakeholders such as competitors, suppliers, customers etc. This is one of the most important areas for any organization as the goodwill of an organization is dependent on cordial relationships developed by HR personnel smartly and creatively. Employee education, training and development: Last, but not the least, HR managers have the core responsibility of development of acquired talent and converting them into assets for the organization, which can be further utilized for the benefit of the organization. This is done by conducting regular employee trainings and development activities. In past, trainings were more or less like classroom sessions but presently, HR managers are catering to the demand of time by designing and implementing creative and interactive trainings. This has helped in satisfying employees as this function of human resource develops the overall personality of em-

ployees and uplifts their career graph. Nowadays, creative training sessions involve delivering technical subject knowledge; video sessions; role plays; development of analytical and behavioral skillsets; problem solving and overall personality development activities. This function of human resource results in retaining talent and reducing turnover ratio thereby saving lot of time and resources of organization. Creativity and innovation are the tools to measure productivity. Therefore, there is a rise in the demand of creativity management for increased revenues, profits, jobs and a growing economy. The ultimate aim of creativity management is to bring a positive change by making someone or something better. It is one of the major drivers of the economy especially in case of developed economies where organizations are creating need for creative and improved products. In this era of cut throat competition organizations need to seed and feed new ideas so that a pipeline of creative ideas, products, services, processes, positions and paradigms can be exploited in the near future. Companies nowadays prefer to become pioneers in their fields and enjoy first mover advantage rather than struggling for their existence. It is safe to say that there is a necessity for organizations to handle their Human Resources creatively if they want to achieve success in the long run.

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GUEST COULMN

Real Time Leadership Anna Hazare

Nidhi Panwar First Source Solutions eadership is one of the most fascinating and yet equally elusive topics covered by management and spiritual gurus. True and courageous leaders are equally rare to find. One very courageous find is Anna Hazare. Most of us know that this humble leader went unto a fast on April 5th

for the implementation of Jan Lokpal Bill. This bill is one of the strongest and most constructive steps towards curbing corruption. Thousands of citizens across the nation showed their support and conviction in the bill. Mobile phones were buzzing with the sound of will you be there? messages.

Picture courtesy: Artist & Pencil Jammers

HUMANEDGE APRIL 2011

Incidents like these make us wonder what if leaders like Anna Hazare were not there. What if no one had thought about RTI? Thats like asking what if Martin Luther King was not there, Mahatma Gandhi was not there

Social networking sites were teeming with two words Anna Hazare. Under pressure, the government relented and Anna broke his fast. The output is that thousands of citizens are hopeful about the accountability and transparency of the national machinery. Incidents like these make us wonder what if leaders like Anna Hazare were not there. What if no one had thought about RTI? Thats like asking what if Martin Luther King was not there, Mahatma Gandhi was not there These What Ifs clearly lead to the question, What if all of us were followers and none of us were leaders. Would the world be a different place to live in? To really understand this, let us look at the people around us. With our families and friends we are able to follow a natural course of leadership. For instance, we accept the authority of the one who generally cooks, pays the bills, cleans the house, talks to the electrician, organizes outings, gets the movie tickets etc. and participate in case of changes and emergencies.

In office, we are quite clear about our expectations from each other. We know where we are supposed to follow instructions, where we are to lead and where we are to be just neutral and be a part of the team. This clarity is based on our role, the practices/culture within the team, individual instructions, leadership style of our supervisor, and to some extent on the projects we are working on. However, there are times when someone in the team suggests something new or even questions some existing practices. This person serves as a change agent and rises above the occasion to facilitate refining the existing team DNA. This person may feel very strongly about some issue and consistently makes efforts to bring a constructive change. For instance, at a smaller level, this person could introduce a robust Reward & Recognition mechanism in the team. This person will persistently follow the allocation of budgets and submit a CBA to his/her supervisor. At a larger level, there would be someone and may be someone at a senior level, who will question the existing focus of the company and try to make positive

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changes. Possible topics of change could be performance, customer service, company strategy etc. At a higher level, there would be someone like Anna Hazare, who would rise above the routine demands and aim to improve the moral fiber of the society. In the process, he would also create followers, for the followers would know that the drive is not about individual but collective benefit. These are direct examples of Transformational Leadership, as given by Burns, which in my analysis, leads us to the collective-emergent quadrant of the model as given by Rogers et.al in 2003. This model states that only about 5% of the leadership initiatives fall in this quadrant, while 80% of the leadership initiatives fall under the individual-prescribed quadrant.

be in. HR models would not focus on how to lead but how to follow. People would keep looking for opportunities to follow and books would talk about the levels of following. In fact, this system would lead to a lot of chaos, as no one would have a concept of self-leadership. The society would move from internal to external. The society would yearn for transformation and change, but would not know how to go about it. Leaders like Anna Hazare are the ones who fill this gap. These leaders with their determination become an enigma. These leaders in turn make more leaders, as they instill in others the voice of supporting a cause which benefits all. Moreover, these leaders question the existing system and challenge it at a much wider scale. These leaders make the unquestionable questionable. As Human Resource experts, we all should have a clear picture of what quadrant do our initiatives fall in. We should with our insight try to keep a balance between transactional and transformational leadership. This could be done by adding mock projects to BAU work. Such initiatives would, in the long term, increase the agility of the organization, which could be compared to developing new vaccinations to new forms of disease. It for sure would make the HR more business-aligned as change management would not remain as an OD initiative but an inbuilt habit.

GUEST COULMN

Looking at this model, it does seem that yes if we all were just followers the world would be a different place to

We should with our insight try to keep a balance between transactional and transformational leadership. This could be done by adding mock projects to BAU work.
HUMANEDGE APRIL 2011

By Indranil Banerjee Sr. Manager (HR & Admn.) WBSEDCL

he new business year has started and it is time for corporate HR to work upon performance of individuals during preceding year and start redesigning appraisal system for coming year. During last few years at every level of the corporate and irrespective of stream, age and other demographic heterogeneity, the buzzword has been Performance. And as individual performance gets increasingly aligned with the performance of the unit one is attached with, the age old issues like personal preference or bias of supervisor to subordinate are gathering voices. Industries need to find a solution in this age of Liberalization, Privatization and Globalization (LPG) to get a wholesome picture of employees performance, curbing out the much talked about menaces of conventional performance appraisal and feedback process between employee and supervisor/s. With the increased focus on teamwork, employee development, and customer service, the emphasis has shifted from individualistic supervisory feedback to the multiple-input approach to performance feedback, commonly described as 360-degree Assessment. The feedback source in this concept consists of supervisors, peers, subordinates, customers, and the employee himself. The system tends to

average out the possible biases of any one member of the group of raters. The various sources of 360 degree appraisal have their inherent pitfalls too, which need to be addressed creatively for successful implementation of the system. Here we have discussed the various sources of ratings. 1) SUPERIORS RATING The evolution of the system was on the belief that the first-line supervisor is often in the best position to effectively carry out the full cycle of performance management: planning, monitoring, developing, appraising, and rewarding. The supervisor may also have the broadest perspective on the work requirements and be able to take into account shifts in those requirements by redesign and reassign after periodical assessment of individual and team performance. Issues to be addressed In a 360-degree approach, for selfratings, structured forms and formal procedures must be developed with KRAs (Key Result Area) & KPIs (Key Performance Indicator) detailing for individual positions to make the process objective oriented.

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The capabilities of the supervisor must be built for reliable and valid evaluation and s/he must be equipped with the roadmap of organization objectives. Supervisors need training to develop soft skills and on behavioral issues to conduct performance appraisals. 2) SELF RATING The most significant contribution in selfrating is the improved communication between supervisors and subordinates, which in turn delivers better results and is particularly useful if the entire cycle of performance management involves the employee in a self-assessment ie, the employee preferably keep notes of task accomplishments and failures throughout the performance monitoring period. Self-appraisals are particularly valuable in situations where the supervisor cannot readily observe the work behaviors and task outcomes. Self-appraisals should not simply be viewed as a comparative or validation process, but as a critical source of performance information and as a tool to formulate development plan. Issues to be addressed The self-ratings tend to be consistently higher. This discrepancy can lead to defensiveness and alienation if supervisors do not use good feedback skills or devote enough time, which may lead to central tendency. Out of humble submission sometimes self-ratings can be lower than actual. In such situations, employees tend to be self-demeaning and may feel intimidated and put on the spot, thus the system should be designed focusing on the appraisal of performance indices only. 3) PEER RATING With continuous downsizing and reduced hierarchies in organizations, as

well as the increasing use of teams and group accountability, peers are often the most relevant evaluators of their colleagues performance. Peers have a unique perspective on a co-workers job performance and employees are generally very receptive to the concept of rating each other. Peer ratings can be used when the employees expertise is known or the performance and results can be observed. Issues to be addressed Attempting to emphasize peer evaluations for pay, promotion, or job retention purposes (i.e., the rating of record) may be counter-productive; thus it is prudent to use them for developmental issues like recognition and awards. Peer ratings are remarkably valid and reliable in rating behaviors, so these are means and not end oriented. To make these objective oriented it is essential that the peer evaluators be very familiar with the team members tasks and responsibilities. The use of peer evaluations can be very time consuming. When used in performance ratings, the data would have to be collected several times a year in order to include the results in progress reviews. Depending on the culture of the organization, employees and their representatives need to be involved in every aspect of the design of appraisal systems that involve peer ratings. 4) SUBORDINATE RATING The most significant and yet controversial features of the 360 degree performance assessment program is subordinate evaluation. The subordinate ratings provide particularly valuable data on performance elements concerning managerial and supervisory behaviors like interpersonal skills and could contribute as employee

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HR PROCESS
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empowerment tool. It speeds up the organizational decision making process and critically helps to inculcate business reengineering and change management issues. However, it may not be as appropriate or valid for evaluating task-oriented skills. Issues to be addressed Usually great reluctance, even fear, concerning implementation of this rating dimension. Subordinates simply will not participate, or they will give gratuitous, dishonest feedback if they fear reprisal from their supervisors; thus anonymity is essential when using subordinate ratings as a source of performance feedback data. If there are fewer than four subordinates in the rating pool for a particular manager, the ratings (even though they are averaged) should not be given to the supervisor. Supervisors may feel threatened and perceive that their authority has been undermined and preferably subordinates with a sufficient length of assignment under the manager should be included in the pool of assessors. Subordinates currently involved in a disciplinary action or a formal performance improvement period should be excluded from the rating group. Organizations currently undergoing downsizing and/or reorganization should carefully balance the benefits of subordinate appraisals against the likelihood of fueling an already tense situation with distrust and misinformation. 5) CUSTOMER RATING Internal customers are defined as users of products or services supplied by another employee or group within the agency or organization. External customers are outside the organization and include, but are not limited to, the

general public. Customer feedback should serve as an anchor for almost all other performance factors. Focusing attention beyond customer issues could be a somewhat self-serving hierarchy of feedback limited to the formal chain of command and might have nothing to do with organizations goal. Employees, typically, only concentrate on satisfying the standards and expectations of the person who has the most control over their work conditions and compensation. This person is generally their supervisor. Service to the broader range of customers often suffers if it is neglected in the feedback process. Issues to be addressed Normally, customers should not be asked to assess an individual employees performance. Customers generally do not see or care about the work processes, and often do not have knowledge of how the actions of employees are limited by regulations, policies, and resources. The value of customer service feedback is most appropriate for evaluating team or organizational output and outcomes. This feedback can then be related with the appraisal for each member of the team. Designing and validating customer surveys are an expensive and timeconsuming process. During designing preferably the process should be initiated for officials directly accountable for customer satisfaction and evaluations of individual employees in key front line jobs personally serving internal or external customers. At the time of selection of appraiser, preferably through random sampling basis, all issues should be handled cautiously and should be limited to a very short period. THE WAY AHEAD We often come across the question of duration of appraisal; ideally it is preferred every half year, which is why

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it is sometimes referred to in the HR circuit as 720 degree appraisal. But it depends on the level at which the appraisal is being carried out. Twice may be good for say Regional Manager (Sales) for a sales organization but will it fit for Sales Representative? The answer is no; rather this level should be rated more often. Similarly, for a job of dispatch clerk or say a machinist, utility value of appraisal twice a year is futile. We must keep in mind that too much of measurement may lead to shift of focus from performance to mere presentation. SCOPE OF IMPLEMENTATION - OLD ECONOMY SECTOR Over the years, other than self appraisal report system, two and three tier rating systems have also prevailed in the various verticals of the organizations in the old economy sector. However during recent past, due to rapid technological changes and ever rising expectations of the much informed customer as well as ingestion of mantras of Self Sustenance, organizations have become Customer Centric and management style has also shifted considerably. There may not be intra-industry competition on immediate basis as in the power sector, but service level expectations of the customer are now like those in the telecom, banking and other service sectors. Thus the biggest challenge is to match delivery level of new generation organization with aging workforce, slimmer in numbers. With such limitations, any management hardly has any alternative but to get best out of the available resources by developing a performance centric culture so that individual performance could be suitably aligned with that of the organization. Thus a system of appraisal which could be practiced in a telecom or insurance company can equally be exercised successfully in service industry of core sectors such as power. No doubt there must be some

improvisation considering the nature of business as well as the level; after all it is not necessary or always appropriate to include all of the feedback sources in a particular appraisal program. The organizational culture and mission must be considered, and the purpose of feedback will differ with each source. For example, subordinate assessments of a supervisors performance can provide valuable developmental guidance, peer feedback can be the heart of excellence in teamwork, while customer service feedback focuses on the quality of the teams or agencys results. The objectives of performance appraisal and particular aspects of

We must keep in mind that too much of measurement may lead to shift of focus from performance to mere presentation.
performance that are to be assessed must be established through meticulous thought process before determining which sources are appropriate. Institutionalization of such a system and running it successfully in not only a HR challenge but isthe responsibility of all stakeholders after all everybody benefits from it. Thus when we rate somebody, it is necessary to behave with maturity and keep the business matrices in mind and not the personal agenda.

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HR PROCESS
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Implementing best practice management in SMEs

Indrojit D Chaudary Co-Founder, Talent Equity.in n our last article we discussed the importance of implementing best practice management, so there should not be any uncomfortable scenarios when a performing employee quits or someone from senior management retires or when inter-departmental transfers, promotions etc happen in an organization. We also discussed why best practices should be tapped, restored and transferred to the right people to take the legacy forward. In this article we are going to discuss how to implement these best practice management in SMEs. To begin with we should be clear as to the factors which should be considered before the implementation, and how implementing these best practices is different in SMEs than in large organizations. The following factors should be considered: 1. Management: Usually the decision making in SMEs is centralized. The managers are, in most cases, the owner of the business function and are directly in contact with strategy makers/ higher management. This means that decision-making is shorter than in large organizations. The advantage for the owners in SMEs is that they become the key drivers for best practice implementations, assuming that they appreciate the importance of best practice management. 2. Structure: SMEs have an advantage over large organizations in respect to their structure, in implementing best practices. They have a simple, flatter and less complex structure, which will facilitate a change initiative across the organization since functional integration, both horizontally and vertically, is easier to achieve and fewer complications will be encountered. Whereas larger organizations have a bureaucratic structure, making them slower and less flexible in creating new schemes of best practice management. 3. Culture: Smaller numbers of people are usually united under common beliefs and values, which implies that it is easier for smaller organizations to formulate and embrace best practice management. In smaller organizations the cultural values and beliefs of the employees can be influenced by the owners. 4. Human Resource: Some SMEs have a problem in attracting and retaining high caliber, experienced employees. These experienced people, tend to go to larger organizations, where they will be paid higher salaries and bonuses. Furthermore it is also a problem for SMEs to retain specialized employees, because of limited opportunities for career progression, and the constant appeal of larger organizations, who can provide better prospects. SMEs are mostly seen by some employees

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as a stepping-stone to move to larger organizations. This is what makes SMEs developing and maintaining best practice system more important. So the departure of key employees is a major threat to SMEs, unless that best practice/knowledge is captured, codified, and transferred throughout the organization. How to implement best practices: Awareness: Awareness involves educating employees about the importance of developing and implementing best practices management. This requires defining and communicating best practice concepts, developing common terminology and creating a common understanding throughout the organization. Aligning with business strategy: Aligning best practice management with business strategy is the next important task. It involves determining an organizations position, considering its importance level for best practice management and determining expected out-comes and how to verify them. While organizations may have many different reasons/motives/approaches for starting best practice management initiatives, they can be grouped into three broad categories:

Right technology/tool: The amount of information and practices that needs to be captured, stored and shared makes the use of tools not an option, but a necessity. Software tools provide good support to practice management systems and, thus, a variety of tools are available today. Right development and implementation: Based on the functions, departments and the amount of practices to be covered, following four steps can be followed: Conceptualization and strategy: What are the areas to be covered, what processes to be tapped, what performers to include etc. are the questions that should be answered here? The deliverables are documents such as business needs analysis, knowledge analysis and a best practice strategy plan. Action: How to encourage employees to cooperate; what formats/tools to be used; what process to be followed etc. The deliverables are knowledge acquisition and relationship charts, and an initial best practice management system. Evaluation: Amount of practice documented; what worked and what did not; what is covered and what is left; how well it is fulfilling the purpose. The deliverables are a documented evaluation method and results, a revised best practice management system, and a user guide. Implementation: Using and practicing/ complying the best practice management system. The deliverables are a maintenance report, a full production best practice management system in place. Best practice management is too important to be ignored by any organization. Knowledge content, process and context all need to be carefully managed in order to preserve or create value for an organization.

HR COLUMN

Risk minimizers Efficiency seekers Innovators

The main difference between these three groups is in their focus on existing or new practices. In general, risk minimizers tend to implement best practice management initiatives around capturing and locating valuable company knowledge, efficiency-seekers tend to make maximum use of the existing practices, through transferring and sharing practices; while innovators focus on new knowledge and processes necessary for enabling creativity for successful innovations.

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Career Wise Taking the first steps in becoming a HR professional

Dr. Sandeep Krishnan xford English Dictionary defines career as an individuals course or progress through life (or a distinct portion of life). The origin of the word though comes from a negative connotation like Rat Race; these days career defines an individual. It is all about jobs, education, professional growth and learning, social status, and is related to ones existence in the social set up. I am writing this column on how one can manage a career in the field of Human Resource Management. From beginning of a career in this field to hanging up ones boots my understanding speaks of this as an interesting, engaging, and exciting profession to be in. In the course of this column I will try to take you through how can one develop and probably become a successful professional with comments and examples from industry experts, veterans, and role models. I had a discussion with the students at IMT Nagpur who were in their second year and planning to take up various professional streams as part of their career. Many of them had interest in HR and I asked them to share their thoughts on why they choose HR and some of their concerns. The class discussion on HR as a career option covered various areas such as, streams in which HR career can be developed, various competencies required for the same, what are the aspects of a HR job that students like, what are the negatives of HR as a career option. Some of the streams that they were aware of were Recruitment, Training and Development, Employee Relations and IR, Performance Management, Generalist HR, and HR consulting. As a HR professional, some of the behavioral aspects and competencies

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COVER STORY

they thought were critical are, understanding of human behavior, getting well along with the people, good communication skills, and empathy. Students wanted to go for a HR job due to the following characteristics of a HR job as it involves great deal of socializing, understanding people and their behaviors, helping in the growth and development of the human resources of the organization, and aiding the individuals in improving their performance through motivation. They also pointed out some very interesting drawbacks of HR job as per their understanding. They felt that HR jobs are paid low, in the initial years the individuals are offered functions wherein there is high level of monotony involved, and less autonomy in the initial years of the job.

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As a practicing HR professional myself, I feel it is a great field one can be in and if you are in the right direction gives you multitude of challenges, growth and of course good compensation. There have been a lot of thoughts about this field and discussions in research, conferences, and within practitioner communities how HR should evolve and how HR professionals should be. The first thing to note is HR is not a profession per se where the entry is restricted by a professional degree or institute which governs its work ethos or regulates. This by means does not give monopoly of practice to a few who have those affiliations like that of lawyers or chartered accountants. A variety of people have also come into this field and added to its complexity and beauty as well. We have psychologists, sociologists, training professionals from various fields, management experts who typically have an MBA or experts from various fields who are part of HR fraternity. In recent years MBAs from various institutes have started playing a major role in the field and have also brought more business alignment to the function. Nevertheless to get started in this field and grow to be a significant business contributor one needs to have certain competencies and formal training. Like in any function or job that one takes up, a good start and the first stint makes a lot difference. One thing that is mostly coming out from experience and experts is that HR as a choice of function to enter today is equally good or better than some other functions on certain occasions. Visty Banaji, who is the CEO of Banner Consulting, former Executive Director and President (Group Corporate Affairs) Godrej Industries where he was handling HR as well, puts it this way: Broadly yes (HR as a career has equal growth as in other functions)

, though there will always be on one or two functions in an organization which enjoy accelerated growth either because they (i) contain the core competencies essential for the companys strategic success, (ii) there is a high market demand for the professionals staffing it, (iii) they have a powerful leader or (iv) some other reason. For one of these reasons, growth in HR can also outstrip that in other functions. He also mentions from his experience and being a consultant to many organizations that to be a successful HR professional some of the competencies which emerge in most situations are: (i) The capacity to elicit trust from line managers, employees and HR colleagues, (ii) Frugal innovation and (iii) The ability to reason from behavioral science first principles.

Students at IMT Nagpur participating in a session on Career and Competency Management with Author

From the recent thought processes on HR, it is critical that HR professionals are able to connect with business and partner in its success. It requires considerable appreciation of business, align HR principles and processes for business growth, make sure talent is managed to deliver, and being a catalyst for change required on the people front to ensure business delivery.

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Founder Filament, Graduate of XLRI, and Ex Consultant, Ernst and Young.

Sebastian Chandy

Second aspect is being a source of support to employees and being an advocate of their requirements. Another critical aspect is being an administrative expert meaning to ensure processes are effective, maintain timelines, and are of high quality. Looking from this angle, a person taking up a job in HR essentially somebody starting with HR Training should be looking at getting exposure to the larger organization, having a nice mentor to support, and in couple of years developing hands on experience in as many areas in HR, and grooming oneself to be an effective influencer. The starting point should give as much broad exposure as possible for somebody to look at a long term career in HR and choose what best suits him/her. a) Can you briefly outline your career growth till now? I started my career with Ernst & Young Human Capital in 2007 in Bangalore. I was looking forward to the consulting role primarily because of the huge learning that role promised. The decision was justified after the first 18 months. The kind of experience that consulting provided across functional verticals in HR was tremendous. It gave me a great platform to launch Filament, serving the various needs in the space of Employer branding and communication. b) What were the main takeaways from your graduation from XLRI? The biggest take away from XLRI was the association and networking with really outstanding and diverse talent, both in academia and outside. Some of them still continue to be my biggest patrons and sources of support. c) Why did you choose a career in Human Resource Management? During my graduation as an engineer, I had a lot of exposure to industrial

relations in action on the shop floor of PSG industrial institute. It was a mandatory part of our training. The art of managing and engaging people to drive the business is according to me the most challenging part in any business role. Choosing a career in human resource management was a decision to step up to that challenge. It was eye opening to discover the scientific and systematic approach to this art of people management. d) What were the decision points in joining Ernst and Young, HR Consulting as your first job? Learning in a job was a top criterion for me in any career decision. If you are not learning, you are losing out! This has kept me on my toes in my career so far. I had met with multiple HR professionals in the industry and consulting seemed the best option for the steep learning curve I desired. On hindsight although, I would say regardless of the job, the mindset to seek out the learning is more important. e) Can you briefly explain experience in the first job? your

COVER STORY

My first job was a roller coaster ride in the HR world. The wide range of assignments across HR functional verticals gave me a thorough understanding of the science behind HR processes. At the same time, it also gave me a glimpse into the actual operational nuances which need to be taken care of while developing a system. The understanding of the cultural fiber of an organization is vital to designing systems and processes which are effective. On the whole, I feel really blessed to have worked at Ernst & Young. The rigorous work ethic and risk taking mentality provided a strong foundation to start Filament. f) What is exciting in your choice of becoming an entrepreneur in HR field? The HR domain in India is in a state of tremendous flux. We are living in

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exciting times here. Along with the ocean of young talent in the market, new processes and systems are being introduced every day. As an entrepreneur, it is both challenging and

relatively fresh concept in India and could require a lot of fresh thinking and approaches. So just keep an open mind and enjoy the challenge. Interestingly people who have deep understanding of the job market do agree that HR is a field that is becoming more critical in businesses and finding a good HR person is a difficult job. Srimanto Bhattacharya, Partner, Spearhead Intersearch, which is a global executive search firm, comments that nowadays HR is playing a role which is making business deliver. HR person on board is the strategist who puts forth the people angle of business and ensuring profitability and sustainability. Startups, mid size or large functions are always looking at good HR people. Functions like industrial relations are critical and lack of proper management of it can question business existence. Hands on implementation experiences of critical HR functions are what one should gain in the initial years. Interestingly Bhattacharya comments, Building your organization without proper HR inputs is like Indian traffic. We will have people coming for all sides and it would be just chaos. According to Anand Mutalik, Executive Vice President of Enterprise Solutions at Acropetal Technologies, a new HR professional should not leave out the Human Research aspect. He/She should understand what engages employees, use principles from his/her learning to devise mechanisms to drive it, and create processes and practices so that they become integral part of the organization. Many forward looking organizations have developed their own modules to prepare fresh talent coming from management institutes to be groomed as HR professionals. As a person getting started in the field, it is critical that academic knowledge is blended with practical exposure and a broad one will be more helpful. In their

rewarding to identify the next need and present a solution. It has provided me the freedom to think outside traditional solutions and approach HR challenges with a more open mind. At Filament, we support companies in building their employer brand through communications and support systems. While identifying the employer brand is a structured process and has been around for ages, there are few solutions for the process of communicating and enhancing the employee value proposition to enhance the brand. At Filament, the challenge is primarily paving the path in this relatively unknown territory. g) For somebody who is aspiring to start a career in HR, what will be your advice? What do you think are the competencies required for somebody to be successful? With just four years, I dont think I should be the one to advice. HR is a

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famous book on HR Scorecard: Linking People, Strategy and Performance, authors Becker, Huselid, and Ulrich speak about multiple competencies one needs to build up in the formative years as a HR professional. The five critical competencies are personal credibility, ability to manage change, ability to manage culture, delivery of HR practices, and understanding of the business. For a budding HR professional he/she needs to undergo practical exposure at different levels in recruitment, performance management, compensation, employee relations / IR, training and development, community and government relations. For example in the year one if someone is getting trained in basic interviewing, using recruitment software, preparing job descriptions to short listing and working with staffing consultants, by a fourth year he/she should be having to work in leadership hiring processes, hiring plan formulation, interviewing to closures, employer branding initiatives, and taking hiring decision including compensation. Similar trend will be in all functions which will bring a HR professional closer to understanding business. From a development perspective it is useful to have assignments that are special projects like setting up an SBU, solving an attrition issue, getting involved in consulting assignments, exposure to different cultural or national issues, and having mentors from specialization in HR or business. Appreciation across functions is also critical if one needs to support them efficiently. 7 Things to reason whether you are fit for being a HR professional Are you comfortable in getting results through influence rather than direct control? Are you comfortable measuring your success by success of others whom you support? Can you be in a profession that

requires you to interact with individuals at all levels? Are you ready to develop yourself to point out positives and negatives and ensuring development in weak areas? Are you an effective communicator? Are you strategic in nature making sure that you view the organization as a whole? Are you ready to build credibility that others will look up to in upholding values and culture? To sum up, HR is a field that is growing and has immense potential in building

COVER STORY

organizations and business. It is now an integral part of any business and interestingly for a newcomer it throws up a lot of new challenges. It is up to the individual to seize the opportunity and be proactive in the initial years in having multitude of exposure, right entry, and early success.

Dr. Sandeep K. Krishnan is the vice president, HR and corporate development, Acropetal Technologies, India where he heads the function.

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GOOD COMMUNICATION = S (U) CCESS

Prof. V. Raghu Raman Faculty, IBRA College of Technology, sultanate of Oman ommunication is the heart of every organization. Everything you do in the workplace results from communication. Therefore good reading, writing, speaking and listening skills are essential if you want to achieve the goal. As you develop your career you will find various reasons why successful communication skills are important to you, for example: 1. To secure an interview When you write a covering letter or resume there should not be any mistake and that makes the HR personnel call you for an interview. Even though you might have good grades and marks, mistakes in the letter cause for rejection to call for an interview. 2. To get the job You have to communicate well during your interview and sell yourself and get the job you want. 3. To do your job well You will need to request information, discuss problems, give instructions,

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understand that if they are to be successful in todays business world, good communication at all levels is essential. Here is a useful mnemonic to remember the benefits you and your organization can achieve from effective communication: S tronger decision-making and problemsolving

HR COLUMN

U pturn in productivity C onvincing and compelling corporate

materials

C learer, more streamlined work flow E nhanced professional image S ound business relationships S uccessful response ensured
Remember: Todays workplace is constantly changing, so learn more about effective communication that will help you adapt to your changing environment. work in teams, and interact with colleagues and clients. If you want to achieve your goal in the work place, get co-operation and effective teamwork, good human relations skills are essential. As the workplace is becoming more global, there are many factors to consider and communication is vital in such a diverse environment. 4. To advance in your career Employers want staff who can think for themselves, take initiatives and solve problems; staff who are interested in the long-term success of the company. If you are to be seen as a valued member of the organization, it is important not just to do your job well, but also to communicate your thoughts well on how the processes and products or services can be improved. Benefits of effective communication The most successful organizations Why Non verbal Communication is Important When most people go to a job interview, they are under the impression that their verbal communication is the most important factor for hiring. In reality, your verbal communication will only make up about 7% your body language makes up about 55% while nonverbal communication makes up about 38%. Based on these figures, it is easy to see that body language and nonverbal communication is much more important than verbal communication. Even if you are good at answering questions, you wont get the job if you fail to pay attention to these two factors. It will start the moment you walk into the room. If you smell like cigarette

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smoke, or your appearance is less than impressive, you will automatically have two strikes against you. If you have on too much perfume, this can also be a problem. If you are using your cell phone while you are waiting to start your interview, this will also hurt your chances of being hired. When you go to a job interview, you want to have a professional appearance, and your mind should be on the interview. While there are some items you will want to bring to a job interview, there are others that you should not bring.

if you spill soda on your clothes, you will make the employer think youre both incompetent and accident prone. Once the interview has started, make eye contact with the person who is interviewing you. This only has to be done every few seconds. You should smile, but only when it is appropriate. Never laugh unless the person interviewing you laughs first. You will want to make sure the tone of your voice is even at all times. If you are too loud, this may be annoying. If you are too quiet, the interviewer may have to ask you to speak up, and this will send a signal that you are not assertive. Always look forward to make sure they know that you are interested in what they have to say. Always listen to what is being said, and never interrupt the person interviewing you. When you speak to an employer, make sure your hands are resting in your lap. Waving your hands around while you speak is unprofessional. If you are talking about previous jobs youve had, refrain from frowning (displeased expression) even if talking about it makes you angry.

Having an MP3 player will make you look unprofessional, and if you spill soda on your clothes, you will make the employer think youre both incompetent and accident prone.
Some examples of things you should bring are notepads, a portfolio, and breath mints. Things you will not want to bring to an interview include cell phones, MP3 players, cigarettes, soda, or clothes which are dirty. It should be obvious why bringing a cell phone is a bad idea. If it rings during your interview, the chances of your getting a job are extremely low. Having an MP3 player will make you look unprofessional, and

12 ways to improve your Body Language

1. Dont cross your arms or legs You have probably already heard you shouldnt cross your arms as it might make you seem defensive or guarded. This goes for your legs too. Keep your arms and legs open. 2. Have eye contact, but dont stare If there are several people you are talking to, give them all some eye contact to create a better connection and see if they are listening. Keeping too much eye-contact might creep people out. Giving no eye-contact might make you seem insecure. If you are not used to keeping eye-contact it might feel a little hard or scary in the beginning but keep working on it and youll get used to it.

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3. Dont be afraid to take up some space Taking up space by for example sitting or standing with your legs apart a bit signals self-confidence and that you are comfortable in your own skin. 4. Relax your shoulders When you feel tense its easily winds up as tension in your shoulders. They might move up and forward a bit. Try to relax. Try to loosen up by shaking the shoulders a bit and move them back slightly. 5. Lean, but not too much If you want to show that you are interested in what someone is saying, lean toward the person talking. If you want to show that youre confident in yourself and relaxed lean back a bit. But dont lean in too much or you might seem needy and desperate for some approval; or lean back too much as you might seem arrogant and distant. 6. Smile and laugh lighten up, dont take yourself too seriously. Relax a bit, smile and laugh when someone says something funny. People will be a lot more inclined to listen to you if you seem to be a positive person. But dont be the first to laugh at your own jokes, it makes you seem nervous and needy. Smile when you are introduced to someone but dont keep a smile plastered on your face, youll seem insincere. 7. Keep you head up Dont keep your eyes on the ground, it might make you seem insecure and a bit lost. Keep your head up straight and your eyes towards the horizon. 8. Slow down a bit this goes for many things. Walking slower not only makes you seem more calm and confident, it will also make you feel less stressed. If someone addresses you, dont snap your neck in their direction, turn it a bit more slowly instead. 10. Dont fidget try to avoid, phase out or transform fidgety movement and nervous ticks such as shaking your

leg or tapping your fingers against the table rapidly. Youll seem nervous and fidgeting can be distracting when you try to get something across. De-clutter your movements if you are all over the place. Try to relax, slow down and focus your movements. 11. Lower your drink dont hold your drink in front of your chest. In fact, dont hold anything in front of your heart as it will make you seem guarded and distant. Lower it and hold it beside your leg instead. 12. Realise where you spine ends many people (including me until recently) might sit or stand with a straight back in a good posture. However, they might think that the spine ends where the neck begins and therefore crane the neck forward in a Montgomery Burns-pose. Your spine ends in the back of your head. Keep you whole spine straight and aligned for better posture. You can change your body language but as with all new habits it takes a while. Especially things like keeping you head up might take time to correct if you have spent thousands of days looking at your feet. And if you try and change too many things at once it might become confusing and feel overwhelming. Take a couple of these body language bits to work on every day for three to four weeks. By then they should have developed into new habits and something youll do without even thinking about it. If not, keep on until it sticks. Then take another couple of things youd like to change and work on them.

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HR COLUMN
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EMPLOYEE WELLNESS ITS FRUITS

he success of any company depends very heavily on the productivity and work performance of its human resources, as discussed in the last three articles. The ability to function and perform at a high level consistently is greatly aided by Employee Wellness Programs. The key being six pillars, which are leadership, alignment, quality, communication, accessibility and partnership; construct these pillars well and your company can see big returns and fruits coming out of these for both the employee and the company at large. To understand the hard returns of Employee Wellness, there have been a few studies, recent ones being the Harvard Business Review, Buck Consultants etc. Johnson & Johnsons leaders estimate that they have saved the company $250 million over healthcare costs over the past decade; from 2002 to 2008 the return on every dollar spent was $2.71. Recent incidents of loss of life at early age of some of the leading organizations executives is an eye opener; post the incident Economic Times carried an article focusing and questioning Indian CXOs lifestyle and stress levels. Most focus on wealth creation and not on health creation, the results are early stage burnout, lifestyle diseases and in some cases loss of life. If the focus from the organizations would also be on employees health creation, wealth creation is going to be a natural extension and an easy one. The benefits of wellness initiatives are many, most are intangible resulting in organizations wellness as a whole. Work place morale: Wellness Programs cover a broad range of healthcare initiatives. From nutritional advice to exercise programs and medical cover which look after diverse employee needs. The effectiveness of a Wellness Program

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in terms of the office environment is simple. Employees are healthy therefore on the whole a lot happier; this equates to maximized performance. They are also aware that the company is taking measures to ensure their health and well being; this breeds ownership towards organization. Reduced absenteeism: There are various reasons which can affect employees health, from cold, flu, and infection to larger ones like heart ailments, which naturally force the employees to take time off for treatments, recovery, rest etc. As a result of various wellness initiatives, this can definitely be reduced if not avoided totally. Even minor changes in lifestyle through wellness education programs, physical activities etc can bring tremendous positive changes, which result in reduced absenteeism, which in turn is reduced cost and even more importantly it has a positive effect on productivity due to a healthier and happy workforce. Lower costs: The implementation of Wellness Programs has proven effective in reducing company health care costs. With tax deductions and grants available in countries like US, companies can use this to save healthcare costs which are on the rise due to various factors. At SAS, the company has seen tremendous improvements in moving high risk and medium risk employees to low risk zones by introducing Wellness Programs; it estimates that such programs yield an ROI of 6 to 1. Increased productivity: Illness related absenteeism is an obvious factor of productivity. More significant here is presenteeism, more when people come to work and underperform due to ill health or stress. It is proven that a healthier employee is more productive since their concentration and energy

levels and output are higher. Increased productivity at workplace is a by-product of success of workplace wellness. Increased responsibility: An Employee Wellness Program indicates to employees that the company cares about their well being. While it is common knowledge that these programs benefit employers, the benefits are mutual. A well looked after employee feels an affiliation with the company; they develop a level of responsibility associated with their work. This type of attitude within the work place is invaluable. An employee that feels like the company takes interest in their well being and health will take an interest in performing to the best of their abilities. Loyalty towards organization: This is one more of the intangible benefits of the employee wellness initiative, which you cannot really measure but results are seen in the bottom line. Loyal workers are definitely going to be working for the organization for much longer, resulting in reduced turnover and cost of recruitment. Another byproduct of this is the harmonious work environment. Most analyses of wellness at workplace focus on hard returns, money invested versus money saved. Often over looked is the potential to strengthen the organizations culture, to build employee pride, trust and commitment. It is an inherent partnership between the employer and employee which requires mutual trust and can yield strong bond when designed well. It is hard to quantify what you gain via increased morale, productivity and work performance; however, the reduced sick leave, absenteeism and lower health costs contribute to a sizable reduction in overall costs.

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Outsourcing your HR Projects Makes Good Business Sense

tilizing a professional human resources expert during sluggish economic times can be a prudent business decision, says Jarine Dotson, owner and consultant of Keys to Understanding (a cutting edge HR training and organizational change firm located in Tampa Bay region of Florida). Dotson recently left her corporate HR position with Verizon and has taken her twenty plus years of HR knowledge to leverage a career as an independent HR consultant. She, like many other HR pros, is finding that she is in need of a creative outlet. The lure of independence, a hallmark of

the entrepreneur, has created a niche market for qualified HR folks. Its a win-win proposition, says Holly Wells, Manager of Human Resources for a government organization , and an excellent opportunity for small HR departments that want to implement Best Practices and cutting edge HR initiatives. Outsourcing allows companies to have an as needed, just in time HR Pro to help on these important yet project oriented initiatives. Wells firm, a small government funded organization, has a small staff in their HR department. This works well for

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the day-to-day HR routines but is very difficult to manage when the boss mandates a deadline project. There just arent enough hours in the day! How am I going to get this one done? When am I ever going to get home? Other sources say, the perfect solution is to outsource the time consuming projects to an expert: Keys to Understanding, HR Pro LLC (another service consulting business in the Tampa Bay market) or any number of other firms specializing in HR Services that are available to get the job done when needed. Many other cutting edge businesses utilize HR professionals when needed: Citibank, Coca Cola, Bright House, Home Depot and Blue Cross Blue Shield to name a few. They find that using contract help allows them to meet business objectives and pursue their strategic plans. Small, medium and large firms from a cross section of industries are using these multitalented and skilled professionals when they have projects, are short handed or just dont have the budget to get a FTE approved. How does one go about finding these HR Consulting firms? Well, there is of course the internet (Google), the yellow pages, and the local Chamber, but also many firms rely on the premier HR organization - The Society for Human Resource Management, or SHRM headquartered in Washington DC with sub chapter in cities all over the country. Examples of types of projects that can be outsourced include: Training (Team building), Compensation Design, Recruitment Projects, Transition & Outplacement, Succession Planning and Employee Policy Development (just to name a few). More information on these and other sources can be obtained at the following links: www.keystounderstanding.com www.shrm.org www.hrtampa.org hrprollc@gmail.com

HR PROCESS

Article written by: Deborah Sutton, M.S. SPHR, owner of HR Pro, LLC, an independent full service human resources consulting practice. Ms. Sutton has been practicing in human resources over the past 2 years and has owned HR Pro for 1 years in the Tampa Bay, Florida area.

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How to monitor training effectiveness?

raining Mmanagers do face lots of difficulty when they are asked to answer the question by their employers. Why we have to invest on training? What is the use of trainings and how you can correlate it with business results and improved employees performance? How you can measure the cost effectiveness of training initiatives? Why Ttraining and why not practical learning? What are the indicators, which shows roadmap for effective training process? To answer theise questions, take care of the following things while conducting and monitoring training programmes? Develop the system according to the below mentioned guidelines. REACTION: At this level, participants reactions to and satisfaction with the training program are measured. Some recommended data to capture on instruments are: - relevance of training to job - recommendation others of training to - intention to use skills/knowledge acquired Theose four items have predictive validity for projecting actual applications and should be compared from one program to another. LEARNING: Learning can be measured informally with self-assessments, team assessments, or facilitator assessments, or formally with objective tests, performance testing, or simulations. Learning self-assessments may ask participants to rate the following items: - understanding of the skills/knowledge acquired - ability to use the skills/knowledge acquired - confidence in the use of skills/ knowledge acquired BEHAVIOR APPLICATION: This level measures changes in on-the-job behavior while the training is applied or implemented. This information often is often collected through a follow-up survey or questionnaire. Key questions asked concern: - the importance of the skills/knowledge hack on the job - the frequency of use of the new skills/ knowledge

- importance of information received

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HR IMPLEMENTATION

- the effectiveness of the skills/ knowledge when applied on the job BUSINESS IMPACT: At this level the actual business results of the training program are identified. A paper-based or automated follow-up questionnaire can be used to gather this data. Depending on the training programs performance and business objectives, data may be gathered on the following: - productivity level - quality - cost control - sales revenue - customer satisfaction

RETURN ON INVESTMENT: At this level the monetary benefits of the program are compared with the cost of the program. The costs of the program must be fully loaded. The methods used to convert data should be reported. The ROI calculation for a training program is identical to the ROI ratio for any other business investment: ROI (%) = ((benefits - costs]/costs) x 100 A benefit-cost ratio may also be calculated by dividing costs into benefits. INTANGIBLE BENEFITS: Intangible

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benefits are measures that are intentionally not converted to monetary values because the conversion to monetary data would be too subjective. It is important to capture and report intangible benefits of the training program, such as: - increased job satisfaction - reduced conflicts - reduced stress - improved teamwork Founder Director of Siddhartha Consultancy Services: Mr Gajendras is a qualified and experienced professional of around 15 years with strong skills and professional acumen in Human Resource and Personnel Management, ISO 9001, TQM, MIS, Industrial Relations, Labor Laws and Business Process Improvement. Gajendras comes with diverse experience in Manufacturing, Processing industry, Electronics and IT, Medical Device, Retail, Education and consulting and business advisory. Gajendras professional career combines Functional/Business consulting experience with professional qualifications/certifications in the areas to include Human Resource Management / MIS and Business Analysis, Business process study and mapping, Business Process documenting. Gajendras specializes in guiding organizations in successfully responding to the challenges of continuous change. With a focus on Quality wWork lLife (QWL) surveys, Sstudy the Human Resource Systems, Iimplementing ERP systems, strategic thinking and acting, leading change, leadership performance coaching, Pperformance measurement and improvement, and team based decision making and problem solving, Gajendra has worked with various leading organizations as diverse and leading organizations in India and abroad (includes UAE, Bahrain).

Article written by: Gajendra Khare, Director, Siddhartha Consultancy Services Mobile : +9199710909 Web: scsuniversal.com Blog: scsuniversal.blogspot.com Email: gkhare@scsuniversal.com

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