Making a difference through HR

An interesting article on "Making a difference through HR" is appended below. Highlights -

• The common thread running through all the winning ones is that of people enjoying the work, trusting the employer and colleagues, and appreciating the way one is treated at the workplace.
• The weight of the preference is well in favour of what would normally be considered the `soft' human resource variables: A good work culture, quality of supervision, climate, and styles of communication.
• Why people stay behind in one company rather than be tempted away is also to do with non-monetary factors — often the location, time spent at work, flexible schedules, friends at work and so on have far more to do put together.
• The task before the CEO and his team is to provide the challenging and stimulating work environment that enthuses the employees to want to come to work.
• Is this the sort of place where I would look forward to a Monday morning, or will I feel like saying, thank God it's Friday?

- Dilip.

Source: Business Line, Feb 13, 2006

Making a difference through HR

S. Ramachander

A RECENT survey by a business magazine lists the great places to work for in India as of 2005. There are many repeats and a few obvious ones but what amazes me is that the big names, the Sensex leaders, are nowhere in the top ten in the list. There is no sign of Tata Motors, ICICI, Reliance, Hindustan Lever, or ITC, for instance.

On the other hand, companies that make it to the top include mostly IT and service companies such as Federal Express and Sapient and just behind them is the public sector corporation NTPC! So much for the validity of perceived stereotypes of great companies. Just in case you think this was a flash in the pan, these three companies have figured near the top for the past three years.

It is interesting to look at what was meant by a great place to work for. Essentially the common thread running through all the winning ones is that of people enjoying the work, trusting the employer and colleagues, and appreciating the way one is treated at the workplace. The weight of the preference is well in favour of what would normally be considered the `soft' human resource variables: A good work culture, quality of supervision, climate, and styles of communication.

More detailed stories emerging from the descriptions clearly show that the differentiators are to do with the people factor almost to the exclusion of all others.

The more traditional, metal-bending companies will begin to realise that if they have to compete for the same pool of professional talent, then they can no longer distance themselves from the newer companies. They can ill afford to say "Oh, but we are engineering companies; we cannot be as attractive as the software companies and will never be". The generally shared perception among the HR manager community even now is that the information and telecommunications revolutions have together created a new genre of jobs and job-seekers, who switch jobs every two years and are set on going abroad to make money quickly, and can be tempted to switch easily by money alone.

Try as one might, it is difficult for all companies to offer exactly the same salary and perquisites to a set of graduating students. Differences are bound to exist, as cost structures vary widely from, say, engineering to hotels to software — and so do margins. Part of the difference is also what the jobs demand by way of personality, behaviour and competencies.

All pay is not a direct compensation for the applicant's qualifications; in fact it might have little to do with it. Why people stay behind in one company rather than be tempted away is also to do with non-monetary factors — often the location, time spent at work, flexible schedules, friends at work and so on have far more to do put together. Above all else however, the task before the CEO and his team is to provide the challenging and stimulating work environment that enthuses the employees to want to come to work.

My personal yardstick for judging the places I have worked in has always been — Is this the sort of place where I would look forward to a Monday morning, or will I feel like saying, thank God it's Friday? Someone who knew of my hobbies and other interests once told me the secret was to look at a day job as just a meal ticket, while deriving real joy out of what one did on weekends and evenings.

Increasingly, it seems to me the world of the market economics will not allow this kind of distinction. The younger employees, those simultaneously building their careers and their nests, have to get something substantial and reasonably satisfying out of their 60 or 70 hour working weeks. Managements must make it their target, if they wish to build institutions that last, to enable such an environment to happen.

(Feedback can be sent to srchander23@netscape.net)