Author: Kartikay Kashyap | HRKatha

The concept of ERG, short for employee resource group, is a well-known one. These are groups of like-minded people who represent the under-represented and marginal communities of the society in an organisation. These are often employee-led initiatives, which work towards sensitising the work environment, ensuring more inclusivity and diversity at the workplace. The members of such groups lead activities and workshops to sensitise the workforce, including the leadership team and managers. What is not known to many is that such ERGs can also serve as great tools to build leadership skills and competencies in individuals! As a leader of such…

Companies often have to make difficult decisions. It’s not just announcing layoffs or salary cuts, but a policy change in the company related to performance management, promotions, evaluation process and the parameters. The reasons could be strategic, but employees often do not take such decisions in the right spirit. In manufacturing sectors, at the shopfloor, things can even turn violent with the workers prone to aggression. Now the responsibility to communicate these decisions to the workforce falls on the HR. It is the HR that is expected to step up and bear the brunt, and it’s HR’s job to take…

GlobalLogic, an American software engineering services firm, has launched an alumni comeback programme for India, which is called the ‘GLhomecoming’ initiative. Under this initiative launched just a week back, the Company is inviting all its former employees to re-join. The brainchild of the Indian talent acquisition and HR team, the initiative has kick started only in India as of now, but the firm has plans to release it globally. “Taking this initiative to the global level is on the cards,” confirms Rajesh Rai, VP – people & India head -HR, GlobalLogic, to HRKatha. The Company is inviting applications by reaching…

Many of us have not met our colleagues, subordinates and friends at work for a long time now. Yes, we are all interacting virtually, of course, but in-person and face-to-face interactions are limited. There is no denying the fact that virtual platforms have been very useful to keep us connected, and collaborative technologies have helped us in business continuity. While it is true that not all businesses have thrived, most have been able to sustain themselves. However, can the same be said about organisational culture? For the last 15 to 16 months, people have not seen their offices and have…

Talent acquisition and retention are both key elements of an HR strategy. Businesses strive to attract the best talent for key roles so that they can be trained and moulded into future leaders of the company. On the other hand, retention is also important because acquiring talent is not the end of the road. Giving them growth opportunities and engaging them so that it becomes a long-term investment is also important. So how does HR decide whether talent acquisition is more important or retention? For some businesses, acquiring big teams is not a priority. For instance, according to a white…

In India, people follow different religions, customs, belong to different sects, castes, and speak different languages. Every state is known for its own festivities, rituals, cuisine, colours and people. With so much of variation from one region to another, one state to another, there are bound to be differences of opinion in political, religious, moral and cultural matters. These differences are significant in the corporate world too. Managers learn to deal with a diverse set of consumers and workforce. This makes them a right fit for global roles where a major prerequisite is the ability to manage a diversity in…

In the cement industry, there are mixers that work at a very high temperature. It is difficult for human beings to be around that area. It is the job of certain people at the factory site to set the break-even point temperature reading of such machines. If that temperature crosses the break-even point, a siren goes off and the supervisors or engineers who are present at the site take necessary action to control the temperature and bring everything to normal. If the person who sets the break-even point temperature is not motivated enough or happy at work, he will end…

While hiring, it becomes important to gauge whether the candidate is honest or not. In many of his interviews, Warren Buffet has said that the integrity of an employee was always his topmost priority in the hiring process. He was willing to compromise on skills and knowledge, but never on honesty, while selecting a candidate for a job. Henry Ford, the founder of Ford Motors, used to send committees to workers’ homes to check their behaviour at home. This would allow him to gauge the integrity and honesty of his employees. The behaviour of the workers with their family members…

The importance of performance reviews for an organisation, and their purpose, cannot be stressed enough. They are indispensable when it comes to appraisals and promotions. They also help identify the high performers and reward them appropriately, thus helping retain the best talent. “We use this data to identify the counselling needs of our high performers if we find their performance dipping over time.” Kamlesh Dangi, group CHRO, Incred Financial Services The data collected for reviews is vital, and different organisations will have different ways to collect the same. A variety of methodologies and tools can be used to collect the…

Globally, many tech firms have allowed their employees to work from home permanently even after the pandemic ends. A recent example is of Facebook, which has allowed its employees to work from home permanently for the next five to ten years. In fact, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO, Facebook, will himself spend 50 per cent of his time working remotely for the next few years. Google has also allowed 20 per cent of its workforce to work entirely from home with 60 per cent of the workforce visiting the office three to four times a week. Similarly, Apple has given its workforce…

During the pandemic, some phrases gained prominence in the corporate world — employee health, employee wellness and mental wellbeing. Organisations started launching initiatives to get their employees and their immediate family members inoculated on priority. They designed activities that prioritised employees’ physical health as well as mental wellbeing. Businesses started to sit up and take notice of the harmful repercussions of work stress on their employees’ well-being. Many introduced one-off holidays mid-week or granted extra leaves to those dealing with mental-health issues. Of course, it all sounds good and beneficial for the employees, but will the trend continue even after…

With many organisations working remotely or adopting a hybrid working model, many of the HR functions and processes have also gone virtual. Leaning and development (L&D), which is one of the vital functions of them all, has also shifted online. Though most organisations have been able to smoothly transfer their L&D programmes to the virtual mode, there are still some benefits that a face-to-face classroom learning environment offers and which the online version lacks. Social interaction There are two major concerns that an online learning environment presents, the first one being lack of social interaction. One of the major benefits…

The role of an HR professional has traditionally been a supportive one, like that of a personnel officer, handling administrative and backend activities. In India, the manufacturing sector was the most prominent among sectors and most jobs were mainly about managing labour. However, over the years and especially post liberalisation policies, things started changing. New businesses started entering the economy and then the IT and services sector grew exponentially. In the HR domain as well, the focus shifted from industrial relations (IR) and administrative work to capability building, employee experience and enhancing the productivity of employees. Human resources was considered…

In the recent past, a few global HR services companies have aligned their brand with different celebrities as part of their marketing strategy. BetterUp, a mobile-based coaching platform startup, has hired Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex as its chief impact officer. Another company, The Mom Project, which supports mothers in their journey back to the active workforce, has added Serena Williams, the famous tennis player, as part of its board of directors. Workday, an HR services firm, has signed Naomi Osaka, the Japanese tennis player, as its brand ambassador. Now, if we talk about the consumer products market which…

In the pre-COVID era, the expectations from managers were very different. The organisations primarily expected them to deliver and meet the organisational goals, make every team member productive and keep them engaged. On the other hand, the employees expected their managers to be supportive, recognise good work, motivate them and act as guides. However, in the post pandemic era, especially during the second wave this year, employees needed someone who could understand them and help them survive the situation. That is where the role of managers also changed. Managers and team leaders were required to demonstrate a very different kind…

The need to reskill and upskill has assumed great significance in the new normal. Last year, with the pandemic sweeping across the globe, people had to urgently acquire certain skills, which were the need of the hour. “Are we racing towards reskilling? Which skills will be critical for future resilience?’ was the topic of the second session of The Great HR Debate – Talent Special, the virtual event held on June 11, 2021 “It is easy to inculcate technical skills, but the bigger part is played by behavioural skills. In my experience, when the behaviours are aligned and changed with…

Evaluation of trends and data show that India is on a recovery trajectory in terms of the number of new cases. An analysis of the last 28 days shows that the country is witnessing fewer cases now. Globally, while some countries are still struggling to control the spread of the coronavirus, many are on a recovery trajectory suggests last month’s data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention & Control and John Hopkins University. With this recovery in the number of cases, we are hoping that things may get better and things will start to open up. However, businesses are…

Misunderstanding at the workplace are rather common. With so many individuals from different backgrounds, bringing with them varied perspectives and ideas, there is bound to be some kind of conflict of ideologies and opinions. When one individual fails to understand what the other person is trying to convey, or takes it in the wrong spirit, the phenomenon called misunderstanding takes place. While speaking, people often fail to take note of the tone or words they are using. Very often, what the speaker means and what the listener interprets are way different. This happens due to lack of clarity in communication…

It is natural for organisations to want to monitor their employees in some way or the other irrespective of one is working from office or working from home. A global study by Gartner found that the use of digital monitoring tools has increased over the years. In fact, the study reveals that the use of such technology by employers has increased from 30 per cent in 2015 to 50 per cent in 2018. The report which was released in 2020 expected it would increase to 80 per cent, that year. However, in the post-covid scenario, when maximum employees have been…

A year ago, when people started working from home, there was a sigh of relief. People were happy that they wouldn’t have to travel to work every day. However this happiness didn’t last for long. Remote working turned out to be monotonous and people started missing their commute to office. For many, commute time was the ‘me’ time. There are several other reasons why people miss their commute time, or rather why it is important. Three very prominent benefits come to mind when we think of the commute time to office. “It was like a personal time for people to…

At Welspun, the conversation around employee wellbeing has really picked up. Bidisha Banerjee, chief – talent, culture & employer branding, Welspun, for the last one year, says that the Company’s focus has been to build a culture of employee wellbeing. As a result, the mental and physical health of the employees at the firm is at the core of the Company’s culture. It was last year that the conversation around employee wellbeing started to take some heat at Welspun, as the whole world was fighting against COVID-19. On June 2, 2021, Welspun has taken a healthy step towards building a…

When the pandemic struck last year, and people were forced to work remotely, most of us thought it would be a blessing in disguise. However, after having worked from home for over a year now, the belief has been slightly shaken. All those who rejoiced that the time spent on office commute could be saved and spent on family and hobbies are now realising how wrong they were. Worse still, their bedrooms and living rooms have been turned into permanent places of work! The office environment is meant for people to spend time working, on a set agenda. The workplace…

In the ever evolving and competitive business setup, it is important to stay relevant and keep evolving with time. Just as technology systems need frequent updates to fix minor bugs, similarly, organisational culture also requires regular updation in line with the changing business needs. Well, to make this happen, every process in the organisation needs a change and be aligned with the culture of the organisation. One way to do this, is to keep evolving the hiring strategy. Hiring talent which can influence cultural change within the organisation is one way to achieve a shift. One can follow a ‘culture…

At a time when many organisations are still struggling to manage collaboration at workplaces amidst the hybrid work model, YOHT has come up with four levers which can ensure collaboration, connectivity, wellbeing and engagement. These are, HR Connect, Managers Connect, Wellbeing Connect and Learning Connect. This will now restructure the connect between the employees and the HR. The Company has streamlined HR and managed to carve out a well-planned and structured way of communicating and engaging with its employees. HR Connect The Company has formulated a plan wherein the HRBPs will connect with their respective functional teams every fortnight, to…

The world of work has changed since March 2020, and in the last 14 months, people have adapted to remote working or hybrid working in their own way. The adaptability quotient has not been the same for all. Every generation of employees is facing their share of problems, each different from the other. These problems are difficult for other generations to understand or comprehend. “This generation has been used to sitting in their cabins and people coming and meeting them. They felt the power and control in their hands, but now with work from home, there is a feeling of…

There was a time when ‘burnout’ or ‘mental stress’ were the good-to-read topics in our country. While stress and burnout did exist even before the pandemic, the tendency was to ignore them as the impact wasn’t that noticeable or widespread. The current crisis, however, has made people realise and truly acknowledge the importance of mental wellness. Corporates have woken up to the fact that these are issues that cannot be ignored any more. The problem has only worsened with people having been forced to remain confined to their homes for over a year. The knowledge that ‘return to office’ is…