The debate is still on whether organizations are back on the road to recovery or still beating the recession blues. Many organizations feel that the recession has bottomed out and are anticipating the recovery to start soon. They are upbeat about their business prospects and have already started recruiting. However others are still downsizing and are putting negative or reduced business growth forecasts, implying that it will take a while before they see any signs of economic recovery. I personally feel that the crisis will soon bottom out and with some rational fiscal measures that are already been taken by most governments around the world including India, it will be in a path to recovery within a year or two.
Impact on HR
The hiring choices are always limited during the times of economic boom; you hire the best from what you get through relative assessment. Candidates one would consider average at best also demand a high compensation package or a particular position/designation in the organization and it is always a struggle to recruit under tight business deadlines. However in times of recessions, like the present, there is a huge opportunity in finding the best among those who have been laid off or made redundant by the competitors and brining them into the organization at a relatively lower cost.
Many organisations are starting to take this opportunity to hire and upgrade the quality of their staff , instead of putting a freeze to hiring. They will definitely be in a better position when the economic recovery happens, as they will have more highly skilled and engaged workforce with lower labor costs than their competitors; a very critical competitive advantage.
Employment benefits and compensation structure are also going through a close scrutiny and possible restructuring. All benefits are now getting restricted to a level that an employee absolutely needs to perform his/her work effectively and efficiently. The compensation structure is also getting rationalized to ensure there is an ideal balance between the needs of the employee (cash-in-hand, direct benefits) and the needs of the organisation (quality of work, delivery timelines, revenues and profits). To achieve this, the need of the hour is to align the compensation and benefits to match the individual and organizational performance; schemes like stock options, incentives and bonus instead of being scrapped should be linked to the individual employee and the organizational performance collectively.
Some Positive Changes
The most positive changes that are currently being implemented for employees are those that address their work-life balance. To ensure that employees stay stress free, engaged at work and prevent possible attrition, we have implemented the following:
• Normal working hours to the maximum extent possible. Strongly regulating late stay and working on weekends.
• Proactive counseling, through formal one-to-one sessions, to identify and control employee stress
• Extra-curricular activities (Sports, recreation etc.) aimed at bringing a sense of ‘fun at work’ and improving the employees commitment to the organization; activities include yoga sessions for beginners and intermediate practitioners
• Workshops on work-life balance, spirituality, time management etc. to reduce stress
Dealing with attrition
Due to lack of many job opportunities outside, for the present attrition has gone down to very low levels. The issue however is about retaining our best employees with the most 'in demand' skills, knowledge and domain expertise. They are the ones most valued by our competitors and can readily find another job despite the economic recession. For the long term growth of the company these are the employees we definitely want to keep, especially when times are tough like the present. Retaining this talent stream is always the focus of HR and to ensure a low attrition level we are practicing the following:
• High levels of formal and informal communication to keep employee aware and aligned to the organizational objectives and goals.
• Portraying a calm, confident and transparent leadership style where the Management and HR focus on only the positive aspects of the business.
• Training managers and team-leaders on identifying and dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder and how to communicate with people who are under stress.
• Restricting any negative behavior to ensure that incidents arising due to emotions and actions like anger, harassment or actual abuse are kept under check.
I believe that if we provide the right working conditions and job security for employees during turbulent times like the present, it will go a long way in creating employees who are loyal, satisfied and engaged. This is the best way to prevent attrition and create a strong organizational brand.
New recruitment processes
Apart from the tried and tested recruitment processes like website, job-portals, paper advertisements and internal job postings (employee referrals) we have been using the following recruitment processes:
• Tying up with various training institutes and finishing schools and conducting technical tests to identify the best talent. Normally these candidates look at a long term career opportunity and have high commitments towards the organization they join.
• Recruiting graduates with good academic records from institute/college campuses having specialized courses in our domain or technology, especially during times like the present when it is relatively easy to sign up and train high-quality students anxious about finding employment after graduation.
• Doing professional aptitude and behavioral competency tests for highly skilled and experienced candidates to check the alignment of their personal goals with the orgnisational objectives and ensure that we lock top talent into long-term positions at bargain salaries.
Excerpts of this article has been published in Times Ascent - http://www.timesascent.in/article/1/2009090120090901103643890c3b42f1/IT-is-shaping-up.html
Impact on HR
The hiring choices are always limited during the times of economic boom; you hire the best from what you get through relative assessment. Candidates one would consider average at best also demand a high compensation package or a particular position/designation in the organization and it is always a struggle to recruit under tight business deadlines. However in times of recessions, like the present, there is a huge opportunity in finding the best among those who have been laid off or made redundant by the competitors and brining them into the organization at a relatively lower cost.
Many organisations are starting to take this opportunity to hire and upgrade the quality of their staff , instead of putting a freeze to hiring. They will definitely be in a better position when the economic recovery happens, as they will have more highly skilled and engaged workforce with lower labor costs than their competitors; a very critical competitive advantage.
Employment benefits and compensation structure are also going through a close scrutiny and possible restructuring. All benefits are now getting restricted to a level that an employee absolutely needs to perform his/her work effectively and efficiently. The compensation structure is also getting rationalized to ensure there is an ideal balance between the needs of the employee (cash-in-hand, direct benefits) and the needs of the organisation (quality of work, delivery timelines, revenues and profits). To achieve this, the need of the hour is to align the compensation and benefits to match the individual and organizational performance; schemes like stock options, incentives and bonus instead of being scrapped should be linked to the individual employee and the organizational performance collectively.
Some Positive Changes
The most positive changes that are currently being implemented for employees are those that address their work-life balance. To ensure that employees stay stress free, engaged at work and prevent possible attrition, we have implemented the following:
• Normal working hours to the maximum extent possible. Strongly regulating late stay and working on weekends.
• Proactive counseling, through formal one-to-one sessions, to identify and control employee stress
• Extra-curricular activities (Sports, recreation etc.) aimed at bringing a sense of ‘fun at work’ and improving the employees commitment to the organization; activities include yoga sessions for beginners and intermediate practitioners
• Workshops on work-life balance, spirituality, time management etc. to reduce stress
Dealing with attrition
Due to lack of many job opportunities outside, for the present attrition has gone down to very low levels. The issue however is about retaining our best employees with the most 'in demand' skills, knowledge and domain expertise. They are the ones most valued by our competitors and can readily find another job despite the economic recession. For the long term growth of the company these are the employees we definitely want to keep, especially when times are tough like the present. Retaining this talent stream is always the focus of HR and to ensure a low attrition level we are practicing the following:
• High levels of formal and informal communication to keep employee aware and aligned to the organizational objectives and goals.
• Portraying a calm, confident and transparent leadership style where the Management and HR focus on only the positive aspects of the business.
• Training managers and team-leaders on identifying and dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder and how to communicate with people who are under stress.
• Restricting any negative behavior to ensure that incidents arising due to emotions and actions like anger, harassment or actual abuse are kept under check.
I believe that if we provide the right working conditions and job security for employees during turbulent times like the present, it will go a long way in creating employees who are loyal, satisfied and engaged. This is the best way to prevent attrition and create a strong organizational brand.
New recruitment processes
Apart from the tried and tested recruitment processes like website, job-portals, paper advertisements and internal job postings (employee referrals) we have been using the following recruitment processes:
• Tying up with various training institutes and finishing schools and conducting technical tests to identify the best talent. Normally these candidates look at a long term career opportunity and have high commitments towards the organization they join.
• Recruiting graduates with good academic records from institute/college campuses having specialized courses in our domain or technology, especially during times like the present when it is relatively easy to sign up and train high-quality students anxious about finding employment after graduation.
• Doing professional aptitude and behavioral competency tests for highly skilled and experienced candidates to check the alignment of their personal goals with the orgnisational objectives and ensure that we lock top talent into long-term positions at bargain salaries.
Excerpts of this article has been published in Times Ascent - http://www.timesascent.in/article/1/2009090120090901103643890c3b42f1/IT-is-shaping-up.html
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