Are you Human Oriented?

"JOIN OUR FAST-PACED COMPANY"

We have no time to train you.

"CASUAL WORK ATMOSPHERE"

You'll be here very late, very often -- might as well be comfortable.

"MUST BE DEADLINE-ORIENTED"

Your first four projects are already way overdue.

"SOME OVERTIME REQUIRED"

Did we mention that you'll be here very late, very often? And most weekends.

"DUTIES WILL VARY"

We might not check with you before adding more responsibilities

"CAREER-MINDED"

Female applicants must be childless, hope pregnancy is not on cards.

I came across these tweets which were shared with an intended pun but actually is a bitter reality check and an eye opener. These just reiterate that Human Resources have been more of treating Humans as resources. In the fast paced competitive work place before we even realized Human got dropped somewhere midway and hence people became numeric assets good enough to be shown on dashboards. Numbers good enough to be deleted or added as per market climate.

Mostly organizations in urgency to increase the productivity try to optimize their bottom line which in turn results in aggressive target settings for the employees to produce desired results. As much as the top line is important ignoring employee wellness and a stress free environment is what should not be ignored either. These tweets portray the outcome based approach or behavior pertaining to most of the startup and SME where understanding human aspects still looks to be far cry.

My intention is not to counter the organization expectation but only if humans are treated as beings and not machines, as people and not just resources, as family not just assets, growth is inevitable.

So next time don’t look at your watch when somebody is late!!

Creating Social Media Identity @TechHR

It all started with some colorful bean bags and a cup of tea. A perfect setting for some interesting conversations. Isn’t  it?

I sipped that perfectly brewed cup of tea and was amazed to see some savvy product demos around me with a perfect blend of HR need and Technology support. This was the  ‘Unconference’ area at the Tech HR hosted by People Matters, where we were waiting for one  of the most awaited session with Social Media guru, Gautam Ghosh. Have been following Gautam Ghosh on twitter for long and this was my first experience to have live interaction with him. Unconference as the word suggests was an informal setting for some direct interactions with the speakers and that definitely made all the more interesting . What an apt place to learn from the experiences of some aspiring entrepreneurs and HR stalwarts.

Gautam opened his discussion with quizzing people a bit on social media and for once I had to stop tweeting and start being more attentive towards it. I of course didn’t wanted to be caught off guard and this is what I could capture from his thoughts on “How to make Social Media Identity”

“Twitter makes you celebrity” : Yes imagine the fun of having 1k+ followers and flaunting the same. Twitter not just made this possible but also allows reaching the unreachable. Where physical media would simply add to the odds this one made it quick and unbelievably smooth and much higher on connectivity.

“Social Media is the new customer care”: He shared an anecdote about how a popular telecom player sorted out a pending issue in record time with just a simple ‘tweety complain’. Social media accessibility has given an edge to customer and this for sure has been quite a trend setter. Thanks to the power of information speed that no one can be taken for granted. Not only does it affect the employer branding but also positions the organization differently. What probably couple of calls or an email could not do, now the solution is just a tweet away. Social Media is making organizations  walk on tight rope whether to lose one customer or stop many others from even trying their products.

“It’s a Personal learning Management system”: Social Media has an immense potential for self learning. It’s about learning from your own fraternity and imbibing knowledge for good. Learning can be through medium like webinars, twitter chats, Facebook groups, and subject matter blogs. Infact he mentioned how MOOCs have added a new dimension to social learning and now global learning is just part of daily dose.

“Use Google news for better”: Specific to twitter it’s all about give and take. Learning is incomplete without sharing and here is Gautam’s quick tip. Subscribe Google news and share the relevant topics with the followers. Though it can be very overwhelming but using hoot suite helps lots in managing time yet connecting with the best.

There was much more which he discussed like how blogging gives a voice and platform to an introvert personality and how everyone has his own choice towards different social media. I could have not agreed more on all what he said and coming from him made so much more sense. I am thankful to people matters to give me an opportunity to connect with some very interesting people and learn about how Technology has impacted the age old HR domain.

We all look forward to see a future where people management is more tech savvy without losing the real Human!!

 

 

4 Rules of Appreciation!!

 

High Five!!

Yes that’s the incentive my three year old loves the most whenever he does something good. What’s more amazing, how every time I give him a thumps up , he is excited to achieve more.

That somewhere reiterates Voltaire’s thought “Appreciation is a wonderful thing. It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.” It can make impossible turn feasible and dead man walk too. Yes, that the power of words!!Understanding this aspect of human behavior holds high importance at workplace. Mostly in heed of process orientation we at times lose some basic rules which we learnt as kids.

 

It's never too much: Many times we feel that too much appreciation might make one overconfident and hence can reduce the effectiveness. Well that could be one school of thought however personally I feel appreciation is highly addictive and one would strive to always achieve more of it. As long as it is genuine and the intention is motivate it will always go hand in hand with a feel good factor.

 

Don’t miss on the time: Appreciation which comes days after the job hardly helps. A pat on back might sound simple but one which comes on right time gives enough motivation. However most of the times Managers become highly competitive with expectation but equally conservative with appreciation. If what was promised, was delivered, then what could be harm in appreciating the attempt.

 

Don’t mix the two: Giving an appreciation with an extended ‘but’ can be really a spoil sport. Sometimes both positive and negative together can cause recency effect, where only negative is retained. If a feedback for improvement is required then give a time break. May be next day can be good at least till such time the one can bask in the glory of well deserved positive. Imagine you seeing a score card with a red line and A grades, what will impact you more?

 

Make it Public: Yes, that one thing I love and learned from my current organization, plugHR to appreciate in public. Not to tell you how that magnifies the effect of the entire process. It is only human to craves for social applause and no wonder why we all love being part of this online social world.

To sum up all let there be no regrets or explanations but simple yet timely appreciations which can motivate people to do more and ride more miles.

Check 3, if you are a Startup Talent!!

Startup journey is full of ups and down but depends if are you the roller coaster type, you would simple enjoy the fun. Ask any entrepreneur more than he wonders about VC funding hiring the Talent can be nightmarish. As obvious as it might sound but until one has the right people at the right time any good business plan will go for a toss and probably that’s why Startups never freeze hiring like the bigger counterparts.

 

What adds to the dynamics here is the genre of Talent which are required or fit to survive in this kind of environment. Today you would find many applicants trying to seek an opportunity to work for startup and equally similar number turning down startup offers for a well established organization. So let us get into the finer aspect for knowing whom to hire.

It’s not a 9 to 5 role: If you come with a mindset to managing work life balance with ‘log in’ and ‘log out’ time then you surely would find yourself in midst of strangers. Primarily if one asks you repetitive questions around holidays/ office time etc, might be coming from similar mindset by virtue of his/her past experiences. However for any organization these are important but probably a new organization which still has long way to break-even it becomes difficult to call it a day before milestones are won over. Surprisingly the one who love working for startups enjoys more without a clock monitoring them; they feel more relaxed with deadlines than swipe cards.

Don’t ask for a JD: Now being an HR professional it’s almost like murdering my conscious before writing that. But that’s the fact, you might share a JD at the start which would keep changing as time progresses and by the time you are due for a performance review you might wonder about the relevance of that JD. Working in a startup for sure makes you ‘Jack of All’ an exposure which is nearly impossible in larger organizations simply because of the size and the structure of the latter. A leaner organization allows you to see though all level and have a wider perspective. It’s like a mentoring program and no wonder lot many entrepreneurs shoot out of such enterprises. However this might seem overwhelming for the ones who love sticking for their majors and want to go deep down in one subject. Here boardrooms are full of strategist cum executioners and you got to be Hands on!!

Risk is part and parcel: Startups are intolerant!! Yes and that’s the beauty if you are top performer they would push you to be the best or else you might just give up. When every individual plays multiple role and together the organization is in hurry to achieve the goals mediocre has definitely not place. No wonder a startup always needs to hire ‘A’ performers. Ones who are confident and don’t need much handholding instead they can kick start from day one. Self motivated, eager to learn, explore and contribute to the success of the organization are the ones who can live up to this journey.

Apart from this there are many more traits required to win over an entrepreneur’s heart but these could be the top three which if you are ready then go ahead onboard the adventurous journey where your talent gets the upper hand always!!

Evaluate your #job change in five

Are you ready for a job change?

Surprised!!  Why did I not ask the question which frequently bothers as every year passes by in your current organization?

 

Job change is a career transition and should be handled with great care. Many people ignore this very important aspect of how every job change can give a different turn to ones career road map. Mostly I get call from friends who need advise on job hunt and then I ask them my favorite question, which mostly helps them explore the unrealized.

Trust me I will be the last person against a job change, after all I owe my job to this. But what’s important are you convinced for one. Many times encountered people who start a hunt and then back out in mid way leaving many questions unanswered. Taking some decisions in haste can let go great opportunities in future.

Feeling of job being mundane is nothing unusual and they might be haunting you every now and then. However what one need to decide whether the next opportunity guarantees you a relief for next five year. Could be possible that it’s a right time to expand your arms to some new responsibilities internally.

So do you think about a job change after every appraisal as your expectations were not met monetarily?  Well a new opportunity might give you hike but who know if you are back to square one again during next appraisal cycle. Better focus on the feedback and see if you hit the best paid band without changing a job.

Make sure to clarify the real meaning behind ‘better prospects’. It’s such a vague term to use however if this means about a level escalation have you really given your best shot for an internal promotion. If not then why not? A job change might give you a designation boost up but will take you more time to settle rather it would have done internally.

You boss is not less that ‘HARI SADU’ but who knows the next one might not be a ‘Dream Manager’ too. Talk out for an internal project transfer first before your decide to move out.

Honestly many of these reasons knock the HR department only during exit interviews and some lucky ones have it during retention talks. We might blame the HR department for not being proactive but if it’s about you then should you not take that extra effort for evaluating your decision before concluding for a job hunt route.

Think before you leap the next time!!

5 Reasons to be a #Social HR

So you mean you work hard and party harder?

But that’s not what I meant here for sure and neither am I anyone to comment on ‘What you did last Summer? ‘

However, as I am sure you must have understood that my reference point is your activity on much debatable social media platform. Being active and well connected with HR pros in this space, I personally wonder what keeps many of my #HR friends out of this awesome way to connect with the world without boundaries.

Yes, I know what’s going in your mind, that something which many organization still consider as time killer to an extend that its banned , can it really add any value. So my friend, honestly it’s up to the learner curve as to what, when, why and how will he imbibe the knowledge. My personal take with social media is that it works for those who know how it works and it definitely works wonders for me.

Human Resource is role which can easily become mundane in spite of having lot of challenges associated with it. Reason being we let go the transformational part for the regular transactional activities which for various reasons are important part of an HR life cycle. So keeping yourself in sync with the trending lines is the necessity and need of hour. Technology has changed the workplace dynamics and the largest contributor has been social media on this note. Here are some reasons what’s stored for you in between this hue and cry!!

Currently we are working with four generations and very soon we would have Gen Y dominating our workplace. In order to understand and engage this potential talent mass what could be a better than following their social footprints.

Another very interesting experience with social media is that helps you explore the creative side. Before you start wondering on how don’t you feel sharing your views in 140 characters is creativity or writing a blog is any less. How about those interesting tag lines on your Facebook page or the interesting your tube video your friend uploaded? All this is reflection of one’s creative instincts and these are just few. This not only helps you to innovate but also provokes your thought process, in turn makes you act differently.

Needless to say Social media is the best available market place for talent hunt and that too it’s FREE!! So if cost of hiring on your dashboard is bothering you this is for sure the solution.

#HR is said to be the face of an organization and who better can take the brand to next level. Your social media presence not just talks about you but about also the organization you are associated with. E.g. Twitter is more than enough to tell me happenings at Yahoo India or why does one of my twitter pal loves to work for TATA. Even better people know what I do with plugHR without me even telling then that J

#Social networking provides a platform to learn and relearn. Connecting with people, following twitter chats, following #LinkedIn group discussions, attending webinars and so much more only to add to your knowledge which would make you better and sharper.

Ideally problem is not of the platform instead how we use the same. Just by holding the book you can’t evaluate the content similarly creating an account on #Facebook /LinkedIn or #Twitter but not using it effectively will only make you wonder about Power of Socialmedia!!

To ERR is HUMAN...why blame HR

Last night I was on my usual social networking site reading interesting status messages when read somebody saying “HR professional, sounds like an oxymoron”.

So are the HR departments incompetent?

Absolutely not!! I have personally met some very fine people in the HR fraternity but probably such is  nature of the job which makes it very susceptible. At any given time Human Resource is dealing with two poles, employee and employer and come what may there is always an employee in the human resource whose heart is inclined to one but actions have to aligned with the more powerful entity. So this proves there is some human in human resource.

 

Now being in the industry for a while , sitting on the hot seat has never been easy. But I still have to find an organization where people love the HR department. It always makes me wonder that is the people functions really for the people  , by the people and of the people…Not sure!!

Mostly HR departments are cursed for salary payouts, delayed appraisals and many such transactional activities which keeps them occupied enough to get into other strategic or transformational aspects. However the buck doesn’t stop here whenever organization effectiveness comes in picture HR is first to be questioned. Though market trends lead to lot of internal changes but still this one department must have done something wrong to not predict and take corrective action at the right time.

Doesn’t this sound like a one sided story?

'Reminds me of a simple and hardworking boy who was trying to be good to everybody but his returns were always otherwise.'

But as soon as you turn the table reality will strike…Lets recall the last employee engagement activity which you bunked and also missed the realization of efforts put in to the arrange so many activities every month.

Blaming the HR is easiest when annual hikes are delayed but only if the forms are filled up on time HR too would be entitled for the revised salary.

Average hiring time must be showing in bold red but what about expecting to onboard a Rock-star.
Policies are mostly referred as HR weapons but aren’t they all employee facilitation tool in line with organizational benefits.

Mostly till the time operations run smoothly HR effectiveness is not measured but sadly weighted only at the time of mismatched expectations which just make the HR department a perfect scapegoat.

To sum it all , mistakes are part of learning and only when they are taken positively will it contribute to growing further of an organization. So lets stop the blame game and complement each other to reach next level!!

Changing Face of Recruitment...

 

Recruitment might look simple to many but in real it’s never been a cake walk and the requirement urgency with talent deficiency makes it worse. This overall make the job of recruiter tough who anyways is dependent on somebody else’s talent and mind set. Over a decade as the face of HR has changed from a support function to a more business oriented one, so has the job changed on various dimensions. Observed below are certain trends in the hiring which are worth mentioning.

Growing economy has made hiring healthier and thus increased employment avenues. The continuous external competition only made sure that no stones were left unturned while head hunting for those demanding skill sets. The Hiring managers utilize all possible tool and techniques to attract and recruit talent. Retaining although is a different challenge altogether. Policies and procedures too have been evolved and made more employee centric thus engaging the employee.

Gradually Talent Acquisition has turned into subject matter expertise with a focus on recruitment methodology , tools and techniques. Organizations have dedicated recruitment teams to handle the mass hiring process on continuous basis. In past recruitment was more of an entry point to HR function leading to generalist but with due course it has evolved both in terms of maturity and scope. Many organizations are now hiring certified recruiters for the job, skilled enough to understand the dynamics of the profile.

Difference in projected hiring numbers and actual hiring number has compelled the hiring experts to maintain a passive talent pipeline through various sources. Ongoing recruitment drives for vanilla skills and maintaining a talent pool has become part of the strategy. Organizations have started acquiring talent hence in a way treating it as an important intellectual asset which further contributes in the growth.

And the buck didn’t stop here even the employees were encouraged and incentivized through lucrative employee referral schemes. For what can be better than age old tried and tested ‘word of the mouth’ technique. This not only helped hiring teams and motivated employees but also contributed towards employer branding!!!

With time, various metrics evolved around the specialized function like cost per hire, TAT, recruitment ratios etc which further defined the analytics of the subject.

Social media too has contributed towards this new avatar. Networking platforms like facebook, LinkedIn and other such forums and blogs have provided new avenues for finding the right fit and thus decreasing the dependency on job portals. In fact they are more fondly referred as ‘talent network’ and is an ideal place to exchange views and ideas too.

Technology has increases the accessibility for both candidates and recruiters.eg: a smart phone as much allows a candidate to apply a job in a much shorter span it also helps a recruiter to connect faster. Now a prospective candidate might really be just a click away.

Recruitment is ever changing and every day brings new trends so it’s important not to miss the right bus for you never know in which one the right candidate is travelling!!