Engaging the employee and optimizing HR practices

Introduction

HR practices of numerous organizations are focused towards attaining the objective of employee engagement. With a large workforce comprising thousands of employees, its imperative that the employee’s motivation levels keep driving the growth incessantly. Taking the case of IT Services Company particularly, some of the employees are on bench. Many are executing mundane tasks for months. They are bound to be unsatisfied, indifferent and in extreme cases, frustrated. At the time of recruitment, the HR tests the enthusiasm levels and learning abilities of the candidate. These features are rendered obsolete after initial training is imparted. The employees keep carrying the same schedule and routine tasks for years. They have a liability towards their family and themselves. But, there is a sense of discomfort within. A growing need to explore and re-invent themselves emerges. Consequently, they begin to search for other opportunities within the organization. If they realize the job constraints, they approach other companies.

The result of this dissatisfaction is indicated by the rising attrition rate in the organization. This can not be compensated by hiring new recruits as they need time to understand the job requirements and organization culture. Moreover, there is a potential risk of dissatisfied customers since efficient employees are leaving the company. So it could really lead to drastic effects. The top-line and the bottom-line can be affected if your customer is no more interested to do business with you.

HR’s role assumes important responsibility here. He has to identify the critical resource, interact with him and ascertain his job satisfaction levels. This is a hard task since employees work in teams in most organizations where the responsibilities are linked and divided. How can one pick one and neglect the rest? There must be an organization wide initiative to tackle this issue.

Employee First, Customer Second

This HR strategy was launched in an IT company to bring down the level of attrition. It propagated that delightful employees create delightful customers. So the focus shifted to improvise employee HR practices. The purpose was to engage the employee in co-curricular activities which provide him/her a sense of achievement. Even in a less significant job as perceived by the employee, he/she could achieve satisfaction levels through participation in different activities. Different employee councils were formed, namely in Sports, Talent, Community Service, Health and Fitness, Grey Cell areas. Members were selected through a poll conducted for candidates by all employees. They were accorded with the right to conduct programmes and events.

Employee Engagement

The cost incurred in organizing such events was minimal. The office infrastructure was utilized and the employees were asked to manage time from their work hours. Competitions were conducted in full spirit and provided opportunities for casual conversations between different hierarchies. This was helpful in breaking the ice. The employees were more straightforward in expressing themselves. They would de-stress and experience the joy of recognition and rewards.

A group mail would convey the notifications and results to all. Every Friday there was a ‘Fundoo Friday’ quiz based on a variety of topics. Participation reached better levels and fostered a sense of belonging to the organization. Initiatives for community services instilled meaning and self-satisfaction in employees’ lives. Health council arranged doctor’s visits for health check ups once a month. Employees started enjoying their stay at the office. Even if they weren’t always working, they had a vehicle to grow.

But the employee first councils didn’t solve the purpose of regularly updating the technical skills of employees. In adherence to this requirement, an e-learn portal was started. Based on the interest of an individual, one can learn new concepts and courses straight from the web. To facilitate interactive learning, knowledge sharing sessions were conducted. Still, it was observed that real time problems were not being solved. Communities for different computer languages, centers of excellence and centers of practices were created on the internet. People could collaborate and resolve issues instantly.

Addressing Employees Grievances

In a vast organization in terms of resources, HR practices need to be efficient and effective. There should be an effort to mitigate the time taken to hear, act and resolve human conflicts and distress. A new website was created to cater to this purpose. The website was Employee HR Services and had an animated mascot. The mascot communicated with employees in language they understand and in a format they can easily access. An online Service Desk served as an automated “trouble-ticketing” tool. For any issue and transaction, the employees don't have to run to HR or finance or call them up, they could simply open a ticket in the Service Desk and the process started on its own. Every week a service desk tracker was circulated to all employees showing the adherence or breaches. This transparency guaranteed assured and prompt HR services. The process served two objectives: it helped the company to tell its employees that the company listens to and solves their problems faster than anybody else. The system had other benefits too in terms of cost.

Resource tracking and deployment

There was a SAP record maintenance of each employee. The project assigned to the employee would cease to appear in the case of delimitation. Within 15 days, he must consult his reporting manager. The manager will search in his control area and possibly deploy him. If that does not materialize, the employee can himself search for different requirements on the company’s resource management portal. One can upload the CV and if the profile matches, will get a call.

Recruitment

A comprehensive list of idle resources together with their expertise areas will be available to the managers through the database. They can then judge whether to go for recruitment drive or not. They could ascertain the probable number of new recruits needed. Moreover, it helps to specifically define the skills required in new recruits.

Conclusion

The need for efficiency in all systems of the organization is desired to maximize growth. HR, being an important component in managing the most critical elements in the organization can not be left behind. These measures were instrumental in declining the attrition rate for years to come. Moreover, people began to notice the company and b-schools came with case studies. The cumulative effect was the ‘best employer in India’ award in the year 2009. The increasing role of Information Technology and employee engagement through various unprecedented measures are sustaining large workforce organization’s Human Resource practices today.

A FAMILY LONG LOST....(Another Of My Originals)

There was something about the morning sunshine that always made Ron cheerful. Agreed, that global warming had increased the temperature of the earth marginally but the morning sun always gave Ron a new hope and a new vigour. But today was somehow different. Ron did not feel like getting up from his bed. The fact that he had been using only one side of his double sized bed had never even bothered Ron till today. But, somehow he had been feeling very lonely since the dawn of the day. For may be the first time in his life, he desired to be loved. He somehow longed for a partner with whom he could share his joys and sorrows and this feeling was somehow new for him. Ron’s sexual escapades and one-night stands had been the popular talk of the grape vine in his office but he had never found out the right person with whom he could actually fall in love till date. After a few minutes of listlessness, he somehow dragged himself out of the bed. He felt drained, tired, lacking energy and above all bored to death. He simply could not explain what he felt although the day appeared bright, sunny and cheerful. He put his palm to his forehead and tried to check if he had a fever. He could not find any traces of it and satisfied that he would not have to waste another sick leave from his ever dwindling balance of leaves, he finally caught hold of his toothbrush. He searched for the missing tube of tooth paste cursing softly under his breath and finally found it under a pile of magazines propped against a rack near the wash basin and tried to feel cheerful but in vain. After around half an hour, he was finally done with his daily ablutions and one look at the clock confirmed that he was actually getting very late to work. All the while, he was trying to figure out the root cause of the weird feelings he was having today but he could not come across any concrete analysis about the same. Finally, with a spring in his step, he said aloud “Enough of this crap about feeling sad and lonely....Let me just go to work today....” Saying this he started searching for his car keys which were nowhere to be found as usual. Somehow he thought that these weird feelings would vanish once he goes to work. Just when he found his car keys under a pile of dirty laundry, he heard a soft knock on his door. Wondering who could be knocking when he had a melodious calling bell installed and whose switch was clearly visible on the wall near the door, Ron opened the door just enough to see who was looking for him. What he saw outside nearly made him drop his car keys in surprise. He saw Maureen. Maureen had been Ron’s best friend all the way from pre-school till high school. It had been 14 years since he had last seen her. Ron had turned 31 last summer and the last person he had expected to meet again ever in his life had been Maureen. Their friendship had broken under very tragic circumstances which Ron had tried to forget for a long time. And there was Maureen standing with a straight face near Ron’s door now. Maureen said “Hello Ron....Won’t you let me in?” Unable to say anything, Ron simply opened the door fully and let Maureen walk in. Maureen went and sat on the sofa set while Ron called in sick at work and closed the door behind him. No words had been exchanged between them after the first line. Finally Ron asked Maureen “Would you like some coffee?” Maureen nodded and Ron came back with two cups of coffee after a couple of moments. After a few silent moments, Maureen began “Remember the last time we met Ron?” Could Ron ever forget the last time they had seen each other? The bitter fight and the nasty words were etched in Ron’s memory for a long time and it was with a lot of difficulty that Ron had finally been able to recover from the incident. It was the last year at high school and both Ron and Maureen were casual 17 year olds. They had been to the class prom that night together. Although none of them had proposed to the other, they had a relationship that had somehow transcended the borders of friendship sometime during their early lives. That night, they had danced romantically and had finally left the party in Ron’s car for a long drive after which Ron planned to drop Maureen at her home and drive back. They had gone and stopped over a small hillock off the road and had started talking with a couple of beer cans in their hands. Slowly, one thing led to another and before they knew it they were making love in the back seat of the car. They had not even realised that they had used no protection. Everything was fine till the day Maureen had come to know that she was pregnant and that was when all hell had broken loose on Ron. Scared that he might have to sacrifice his career and start earning without completing his college degree made Ron very nervous. The day Maureen had told Ron that she was pregnant; Ron was simply out of control in shock and had simply declared “Maureen, I need to complete my graduation degree before I could think about marriage. Forget about the child. The pregnancy has to be aborted.” Maureen had simply flown into a rage accusing Ron of using her and playing with her emotions. Ron had simply walked out of her life after that and had never seen her again till today. Today Maureen sat in front of her ever so beautiful without a trace of any of that old anger towards Ron. He could make out that something was not right though. Somehow, Maureen looked pale and disconcerted. Ron asked her “What’s the matter Maureen? Why are you here?” Maureen replied with a soft voice “Remember our unborn child Ron?” Ron looked at her face bewildered unable to guess what the next words would be. Maureen continued “I had not aborted the pregnancy Ron. I had decided to keep the baby as a sign of the love we shared. I loved you a lot Ron and wanted you to father our child. But you turned your back towards me leaving me alone and never returning back my love. I was left alone Ron. You never took me back in your arms and you moved on in your life. My parents disowned me too but I raised Rick all on my own. I had no intention of meeting you again Ron. I had decided that I would not see you till you realised that you had a family who were waiting for you. The only reason I came here today was to inform you that Rick died last night hit by a car with a drunk driver behind wheels. He was 14, Ron, and he was transforming into a wonderful young man when God took him away from me rather, away from us. His funeral is to be held today and your presence will let his soul rest in peace. You may never see me again after today.” Ron was speechless. Now he realised why he was feeling so lonely, depressed and desperate for love since the morning. He had lost his son last night.

The Stalker....(Original Short Story by Soumya Darshan Mishra....that's me :-) :-) )

Lady Victoria stepped into the bathroom after a hard day's work for a refreshing shower. She had come home early that day unable to bear the merciless sun beating down upon the hot Kalahari desert. It had been 12 years since she had lost her husband after the uprising in Morocco in 1936 and it had been long since her tears had dried.

Her's had been a fairy-tale love story, with unprecedented twists and turns. She had come as a part of the American Red Cross team to help those who had been wounded in the uprising. She was then an exuberant teen, fresh out of a decent nursing school in the U.S. Trained, smart, beautiful and intelligent, she was just the type of lady every man dreamt of marrying. But then rebellious as she was, she had just broken up a loving boy friend just because she had found him too predictable and she wanted to explore what life had in store for her. The next thing she knew, she had volunteered for the relief camp at Morocco and she found herself on a small ship to Morocco amongst a hefty supply of medicines and gauge bandages. On the sultry soil of Morocco, she helped the doctors in changing bandages and doing other sundry tasks like satisfying their carnal desires. Then came Mohammed who had changed her life forever. He was a member of the Moroccan Army of Liberation who was brought to the camp wounded and barely living. Victoria nursed him as was required of her job. Somehow the person survived and stayed on in the camp for some days. Victoria sometimes caught him staring at her. Slowly Mohammed started searching for opportunities of talking to her. Victoria had initially avoided him at first but then one night under the cool Moroccan moon, they had started talking and they had slowly opened thei hearts to each other. They found they had quite a lot of things in common, their common dislike for Roosevelt's policies, their common love for tap-dancing and their common fear of rattle snakes. They even found that they had almost the same recurring nightmare of falling into a dry well although with a slight change in events! That night they felt connected and they became pretty sure that soul mates did exist on this planet. And when they kissed that night for the first time under the moon light with an owl hooting in the back ground, they knew that they were made for each other. After a few days of courtship, Mohammed proposed marriage. Although it caught Victoria by surprise or to be precise, by shock, she agreed just to give Mohammed's love a try. They hadnt divorced till the uprising was over and even after that, a fact that sometimes astonishes Victoria because when she had accepted Mohammed's proposal, she was just a casual teen with a non-chalant attitude towards life trying to experiment a marriage with a foreigner which she knew would be over before a wink. A part of her only wanted the marriage for the legitimate sex. But as she grew wiser, she had realised how mature, understanding and loving Mohammed had been. His performance on bed had definitely given a booster to their marriage though. But then Mohammed died years after their marriage on a chilly winter night, 13th of December to be precise and Victoria was heart-broken. She realised how much she missed him. They had decided not to have children, lest their love for each other was shared and the time and attention they gave each other was divided. It was then that she realised her truest love for him and she took a decision of staying on in Morocco alone in the memories of Mohammed and not marrying again. Mohammed had set up a small fruit shop with mediocre business and Victoria decided to sell fruits till she breathed her last.

But business today had not been good for her. With the competition growing and Morocco progressing, it had been getting harder for her to compete. And with a failing health, Victoria had been pressing herself to go on for some more days. She now regretted the decision of not having children. She was lonely and friendless and she sometimes felt the urge to go on waning.

That day when she was about to enter the bathroom, she immediately saw a thin, malnourished black boy staring at her from the window. Victoria was stunned. The first thought that struck her mind was that "How dare a boy hardly 12 or 13 years old do such a shameless act of peeping through the window of the bathroom of the lady around 45 years old?" He shouted at the boy but he seemed unperturbed. She quickly put on the bare necessities of clothing and immediately rushed out to confront the boy. The boy unashamed and undisturbed stood there simply staring at Victoria. On closer inspection, Victoria immediately recognised the boy. She had caught him staring at her on numerous occasions. She had seen him outside her shop, on the road, near her house and elsewhere. But they had not talked to each other.

Victoria's anger somehow dispersed and she was taken over by a sense of curiosity as to who the boy was. His eyes oddly resembled Mohammed's. Victoria called the boy inside and they got on talking. She could not still explain the dissapearance of her sudden burst of anger. As they got on talking, Victoria learnt that his name was Abubo. He was born in a small village nearby. He said he was 12 years old and was born on the 13th of December. He said he hated Roosevelt, he loved tap-dancing and he was very afraid of rattle-snakes. He also added that he had a recurring dream of falling into a dry well often. Then he said "Victoria, my love, I am here for you." Victoria fainted.

After 14 years

Have you ever met your friend after 14 years ? Think, its not commonplace.

It was 1995 when Bhola and Pooja were studying in the IVth class. Bhola had many friends with whom he used to enjoy playing cricket, share assignments and even do combined studies. When he had to interact with girls, he was quite shy which he used to hide in his aloofness. So the perception developed among girls and they began to dislike him. Bhola was unperturbed but who wanted such situation ?

Bhola was busy doing his Maths homework when the door bell rang. He used to attend people reluctantly. His mother asked him repeatedly and he went to the door. He saw and welcomed a lady. But, behind her he could see it was Pooja. Bhola's mom and Pooja's mom were childhood friends. Bhola didn't like this situation. He felt an obligation to befriend Pooja. Neither Pooja thought to make a dull friend like Bhola!

Soon, Bhola left the room and went for his study. There was a loud round of talks and laughter. He was hardly able to concentrate. His mother called him but he pretended to be busy. She told her friend(Pooja's mom) that Bhola is very shy. He's not comfortable talking to girls. Pooja and her mother went back to their home. Pooja got readied for her swimming class. The bus arrived and Bhola was there sitting at the back, away from girls. After some days, Bhola's birthday arrived. Due to his mother's insistence he had to call Pooja's family. His friends teased him and he was embarassed.

14 Years passed. Pooja graduated and presently is in the last year of her MBA. Bhola joined an IT firm after graduation. Soon, he left the job to study management at a reputed college. It was then that Bhola noticed Pooja in one of his friends' friends list in Orkut. She had her photo in the profile. He immediately recognized it and sent her the friend request.

Pooja was busy with wrapping up her studies at Mumbai. She got a notification mail regarding Bhola's request. She was so happy to see him after so many years. They had a chat today and both were sharing their experiences and memories way back in 1995. It was an amazing feeling where the mind was replenished with yesteryears' memories. Those silly mistakes like squeezing of ink on Bhola's face was compelling Pooja to apologise today. He didn't remember this incident. Though Bhola had a faint knowledge of his mental block that prevented him from interacting with Pooja. He too had a sense of guilt. Both wanted to make sure that they make up for the lost time. Lets see what happens!!

Loose Talk

15th August, 62nd aniversary of our nations tryst with destiny, has finally compelled me to write something after a long time . Gallons of water has flown under the bridge since the last time i had written something, and it was primarily due to my knack of sleeping at almost any opportunity. Also my laptop had deserted me for few days !!!!.


A wet, drizzling morning welcomed us on the independence day. Although waking at 9 am on a holiday is crime , but today it was for the nation. This is one day, when we show our gratitude, our solidarity and pay tribute to the martyrs who ensured that we are breathing in a free air today. The program organised by the college was sweet and simple following the principle of KISS ( Keep it Simple and short ). Dances were good and skit was awesome. The program aptly ended by distribution of clothes and books to the blue collared employees, which shows our committment towards the welfare of society in general.


I firmly believe that the ultimate purpose of the education is to uplift the society. Though the short term goals may be, creating a knowledge base and a skilled workforce , but education should fulfill the purpose of changing the face of the soceity by developing it. I was impressed by the book distribution as it would help them in long run. There is a famous adage " You give fish to man you feed him for a day, you teach him fishing you feed him for the life time "


Swine Flu after having its honeymoon in US and Europe finally travelled to India. Rather than being proactive we first waited for it to create some news and then act . There was a false belief that it would not affect the people of india, which was proven wrong by the rising cases and death tolls in the country. The peculiar thing about the disease is that it affects the young and schoolgoing children , which have more immunity than the compartively old people. Being a highly contagious disease , it has a potential of becoming a pandemic, and thus causing a lot of panic . Yesterday we saw people roaming with masks in a mall ( although they scared us) and also shows of movie " Kaminey" were postponed in Mumbai and Pune.


Coming to the movie, after reading good reviews we watched it yesterday. Well, this is not certainly for the mango people ( Aam Aadmi). Although a notch below Omkara, Vishal Bhardwaj Direction is wonderful on not so great a script. Shahid kapoor is improving as an actor and Priyanka's performance was really heart warming ( Now she can act Finally !! ) . But the real stars of the movie are the characters whom the director allowed to develop. Whether it is a flawless bhau !! , or corrupt cops supplying cocaine to the underworld, or a Lipsy protaganist , everybody had done justice to their roles. Watch it if you wanna see some artistic cinema , else take a stroll in mall, coz it could also be painful to watch .


Last but not the least, i am exploring the new ways of life in MBA. I was told before coming to IMT, that you have to study a lot in a MBA college. You have to live life on edge. He was partially true, life is certainly on edge here. within 24 hours i had played cicket , table tennis , counter strike and basket ball. The only thing missing is studies which i hope to do someday ( I promised to study regularly after the mid terms !!!!) . Now , the gravitational forces of my bed started to pull me towards itself and i am again retiring to the dreamworld, so till next time , bis bald , guten tag ( i also learning german too !!)