People Pulse

As I sit down to write the blog- I wonder is there even a need to write another blog on HR best practices. There is so much out there in the market yet there seems to be a void in understanding of what really works in the HR domain. As someone who has close to 12 years of total work experience in the corporate world, out of which seven have been as an HR professional. My approach to life and job has been pretty much the same. Keep it simple-which means while ambiguity in problem is acceptable the approach to the problem would be direct and while simplicity and directness are good starting points the solution has to be effective.

If a business has to truly succeed the need for the product/service that it creates, markets and sell has to be a competitive product which is a necessity (toothpaste, soap, food- veg-eatables , poultry, meat and grocery items ) or the need for the product has to be created and may become a necessity with changing times e.g. .smart phones J!

Any business entity/ organization no matter how large or small, to achieve all of their goals needs people- at this point I would recommend changing the term “Human resource” department to simply the “People understanding” team. As any organization/entity at this stage of human evolution would not address the human being as a “resource”. An employee chooses a role in an organization & is expected to execute all the roles and responsibilities assigned in the role. However, the human being is more important than any organization/ system as the organization is only the sum total of all its employees & can continue to grow and drive as long the people in the organization put in optimum efforts consistently.

What can organizations do to leverage on their employee so that they can have high performing individuals giving their best so organizations’ meet and exceed their expectations. While organizations can continue to conduct employee surveys and one on ones and townhalls’ and fireside chats to engage with its employees and continue to communicate with it-there are broadly few things an employee expects from the organization-

1. Meaningful work- The average employee in the workplace — millennial or otherwise J expects the organization to be intelligent enough to create KPIs that are aligned to the organizations’ growth and sustainability and is matching the employee’s skills, qualification and aspiration. This means managerial/ management subjectivity on “how” things ought to be done might be the reason for the employee’s discontent. As long as the employees are delivering “what” in the stipulated time the management need not fret about how and other specifics. Many organizations today are stuck with redundant -18th century “processes” which take the meaning out of the goals and frustrate employees.

2. Fun- While organizations would like to make this complex, add layers or some management experts might even hint that people are supposed to ”work” during office hours and not have fun. But great work can only be done when one is happy and upbeat and organizations need to deliberately, fanatically plan, factor fun into the work schedules. Dance parties, fancy dress theme based events based on regional festivals, lunch outs, brown bags sessions,early morning outdoor treks followed with brainstorming sessions need to be done daily, weekly and monthly and not once in a while. While organizations thrive on “critical feedback” and assessing “risks” I strongly recommend that managers and leaders need to celebrate victories more often with their teams. These could be individual successes or team victories- personal milestones or professional wins, but celebration should be a culture .Because the more people celebrate and rejoice the more reasons they will have in future. Remember when the “baby” learns to walk we rejoice and not critique the child for not having the right gait or the optimum pace but are happy. That mindset of gratitude and joy and can do wonders for the organization and can impact positively- people, productivity and profits

3. Reward & Recognize Capability- In today’s dynamic business world –nothing is actually same and peoples’ performances, abilities and results that they deliver are changing moment to moment. Management needs to have a keen eye and assess results + look at the individual /group who/which have delivered results in the “here and now’ and not be stuck with people’s images or past credibility. Nothing is more discouraging for an employee when he/she feels that whatever he/does the brickbats are for him /her and the rewards are for the “privileged”. The feudal system (zamindari) or the caste system (varna) is an evil of the past. We should not let it percolate into the modern work culture and impact results as the business world is fair and only rewards the real!