Partha's Blog

Diwali, the festival of lights, is a not only celebration of the triumph of good over evil, but is also a celebration of positive synergy, camaraderie, optimism and goodwill within the teams and across the organization. Set right at the onset of the mild and pleasant winters in the South, Diwali welcomes in the festive season which continues till the end of the year. At Four Soft we understand the significance of Diwali, as a time to celebrate our success and achievements, put all negative performance (if any) behind us and look with optimism to the year ahead. Right since the initial days, we understood that to be a successful organization we have to use occasions like Diwali to announce all important things to the staff so that they understand and continue their engagement with the organization having the right amount of faith, hope and belief in the future. The Diwali celebration is typically done a day before Diwali at Four Soft, a tradition which has been continuing right from t...

The often used term when benchmarking salaries are “market” or “industry” standard, however these terms are often vague and the salaries ranges (upper-lower limits) quoted are often huge to make any real sense either to a prospective candidate or to the organization in general. Though in essence it is a handy tool to have, it often loses significance when the job requires high levels of technical or functional skills and/or it is in a knowledge intensive industry like IT or Pharmaceutical. Even for a standard role like software engineer in the IT industry, the average or median salary can fluctuate hugely based on parameters like education (including graduating college), experience, technical skills (including certifications), city, organization worked (type, reputation, size etc.) etc. Moreover the demand and supply of qualified resources in the market based on the prevailing macro-economic conditions also impacts the market standard salary significantly, wherein in a recession marke...

When an employee decides to voluntarily separate from an organization, whether for personal (relocation, study etc.) or professional (better role, salary etc.) reasons, s/he need to be extremely careful on how they conduct themselves during their notice period. Most companies have a mutually agreed notice period, based on an employee’s seniority and/or role in the organization, which are often clearly stated in the appointment letter or in the employment handbook. The separating employee needs to be extremely careful on how s/he plan to serve their notice period – serve it in entirety or negotiate an early relieving – and avoid getting into any confrontational mode, which will help in averting any negative emotions with the Manager/team or possible legal issues with the organization in future. The right process to follow is to first have a one-on-one meeting with the reporting Manager and state the intent to separate and the cause behind that decision. It should be followed with an a...

The need to think beyond just compensation With the IT industry having an optimistic outlook for the year ahead, the competition between organizations for attracting and retaining talent is going to be high. Hence apart from just direct compensation, programs like work-life balance, career development and performance management are crucial business responses for the ever changing workplace. Organizations that are interested in maintaining a diverse workforce, retain experienced and knowledgeable employees and attract new talent cannot afford to overlook the value such programs bring to balance the concerns of today’s workforce. In fact many organizations have already started using initiatives like flexi-timings, extended maternity/paternity leaves, Management development programs, job enrichment etc. to help recruit and retain employees. Senior Management and HR practitioners can affect employee engagement and retention by first understanding the other things an employee values, apa...

In a highly competitive work environment where employees feel they are competing against each other for salary hikes, promotions, or better career opportunities, employee bonding can become a rare phenomena. This kind of hyper competitiveness, if allowed to remain uncontrolled, can lead to high levels of work related stress and/or dissatisfaction with work which is likely to adversely affect the output of the individual and team. Some amount of employee bonding becomes essential so that everyone relate to each other’s work and importance to the team and organization. To keep things in control, the right atmosphere has to be created so that employees feel they are not competing against each other but rather are collaborating to achieve a common organizational goal or objective. Some factors that enables employee bonding at work are as follows: 1. Specific Goals and Objectives – if each employee know what is expected out of him and against what measures s/he will be evaluated, it is eas...

It is important for an employee to take initiative because it demonstrates their level of engagement and commitment s/he has to their organization. Initiatives are often misunderstood as meeting one’s performance goals; instead it is about going the extra mile by identifying a need and championing a solution for the benefit of the company without being asked to do so. Some of the reasons why taking initiatives are important for an employee can be categorized as follows: 1. Motivation at work – by taking initiatives an employee can make his/her work life more exciting, rather than treating it as a daily monotonous routine aimed at task completion. 2. Personal Growth – based on the need or problem, the employee can directly plan and see the impact of their actions, which will likely result in more opportunities for growth as a professional. 3. Self Development - Will be able to take more control of his/her professional life by learning, growing and developing through application of th...

There is an old axiom on planning, which says ‘What gets planned gets done.’ Planning is highly essential to be organized and lay out the process and timelines for achieving the desired goals both individually and at an organization level. If we fail to plan our activities then it is likely that we will be reacting to situations as they arise rather than dealing with priorities in a controlled and systematic manner. Planning however does not imply rigidity; a balance is necessary between scheduled time and unscheduled time so that work can flow smoothly rather than firefighting from one pressing issue to another. Even a few minutes spent on planning the daily calendar ensures that tasks that are important and/or urgent get completed. Planning vs. Reacting Planning is the process of converting the present state of things into a desired future state (goals and objectives). There are many approaches to planning, some are structured and explicit, while others are more organic, unfoldin...