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Moving towards Inclusiveness at Workspaces

Moving towards Inclusiveness at Workspaces

by | Apr 4, 2018 | Leadership, World of Work

2nd of April is marked as World Autism Awareness week. In solidarity with the movement, this week, we want to speak about the value of workspaces practising the virtue of being inclusive. The only effective way to speak about this is by offering examples of workspaces which are making a difference through their inclusive approach. SAP Labs in India is one such place. Liffy Thomas wrote an article “A Red Carpet Welcome for the Autistic”, for The Hindu.

The article speaks about the processes companies follow in “integrating” those with autism into the workforce. While it is slightly challenging, it is by no means impossible. The process is simple enough to be followed by organizations who excuse themselves from having inclusive practices by giving the reason that they do not have the required capacity. Employment for persons with disability remains a crucial issue in India, and an area which needs our immediate attention – both at an individual level, and at a policy and governance level.

Below is the detailed article. The article was first posted here.

To integrate them into their workforces, an increasing number of companies are now following a series of processes

Around April 2, which is World Autism Awareness Day, employees of SAP Labs in India will gain fresh insights into the mind of people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). In fact, every year, around this time, the company relaunches this initiative.

This is absolutely necessary, for the company follows a policy of setting aside a small percentage of jobs for people with ASD.

Currently, across its India offices, SAP Labs employs 16 of them.

“This autism awareness week, we plan to hire more autistic adults. The process will run into weeks,” says Kiran Venkataramanappa, development manager and program me lead for Autism at Work at SAP Labs.

Work buddies

SAP Labs has placed them in jobs involving software testing, software development, quality assurance and documentation.

“We have a special on-boarding program me to help them settle down. Each of the autistic adults gets a ‘work buddy’,” says Venkataramanappa.

P. Rajasekharan, co-founder, V-Sesh, a company that provides employment for persons with disability, says the mainstream recruitment process should not be followed while hiring those with ASD into the workforce. Right at the outset, an effort has to be made to discover their hidden talent. There are multinational companies that collaborate with non-profit partners to tap hidden talent in autistic adults. Skills that can set the autistic above neurotypical employees are: attention to detail, logical skills and the ability to remember vast amounts of data.

Job coaches

“We work closely with companies to find ‘job coaches’. They have to be sourced from within. These job coaches have the task of helping those with ASD understand their work and get integrated into the workforce,” says Rajasekharan, adding that job coaches should be willing to commit themselves to this work for a period ranging from one week to one month.

To help these employee settle down in their roles, companies have to invest in visual aids. “Instead of saying it, the job coaches should help the autistic see it. This way, they will be able to retain information better. A work chart for such employees are a must,” he says. Akila Vaidyanathan, director, The Amaze Charitable Trust, an organisation that offers skill programmer for the autistic, says companies can help by offering flexible work hours, besides training and mentoring. JP Morgan, Lemon Tree Hotels, Barclays, Dell and ANZ Bank are among other big companies that keep their recruitment doors open for the autistic.

INTEGRATION MANUAL

* Offer flexible working hours and don’t set the rules in stone

* Initially, allow a parent to accompany the employee

* Assign a mentor to the employee

* Ensure these employees go on a team outing every month

* Train the managers to handle the tantrums these employees may throw

Change always begins at a micro-level. Is your organisation disability friendly, both in its recruitment process as well as its environment? We would love to feature your organization. Do write to us!

Key Employee Engagement Strategies for Talent Retention

Key Employee Engagement Strategies for Talent Retention

by | Mar 13, 2018 | Management, Performance

For any business to be successful, it must have three things: a robust overall strategy, exceptional leaders, and engaged employees. This society has moved from an economy driven by the agricultural and manufacturing industries to a service oriented, personally connected economy.

One hundred years ago, employees were tasked with manual labor and had no vested interest in the business that employed them.

Today, with the demand for highly skilled talent, it is essential for employers and leaders to engage their employees and make them feel as if they are an integral part of the business.

In the past we wrote a blog post on employee engagement which was received with a lot of positive response by our readers – Five Must-Dos to Improve Employee Engagement – Transform the Zombies into Humans. We follow-up, with this guest post which analyzes employee engagement in a more recent context, and does so quite effectively.  John Hawthorne backs his insights with research on the key employee engagement strategies that stay relevant today.

Employee Engagement Most Recent Data

In 2017, Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace report revealed that only 15% of employees worldwide are engaged in their jobs – meaning that they are emotionally invested in committing their time, talent, and energy to adding value to their team and advancing the organization’s initiatives.

This means that the majority of employees show low overall engagement. Workplace productivity was low and employees and organizations are not keeping up with workplace demands fast enough.

More Gallup research shows that employee disengagement costs the United States upwards of $550 billion a year in lost productivity. As employee engagement strategies become more commonplace, there is an amazing opportunity for companies that learn to master the art of engagement.

Jacob Shriar, in a piece on OfficeVibe, tells us that

  • Disengaged employees cost organizations between $450 and $550 billion annually.
  • Highly engaged business units result in 21% greater profitability.
  • Highly engaged business units realize a 41% reduction in absenteeism and a 17% increase in productivity.
  • Highly engaged business units achieve a 10% increase in customer ratings and a 20% increase in sales.
  •  Companies with engaged employees outperform those without by 202%.
  • Customer retention rates are 18% higher on average when employees are highly engaged.

These statistics are just the beginning of why employee engagement is so important.

Why Is Employee Engagement So Important?

The term “engagement” has been used so often and in so many different situations that it’s become hard to define. Many people think it means happiness or satisfaction, but it’s much more than that.

According to Gallup, who has been collecting and measuring employee engagement data for nearly 20 years: “Though there have been some slight ebbs and flows, less than one-third of U.S. employees have been engaged in their jobs and workplaces.”

Imagine if every employee was passionate about seeing the company and its customers succeed. The only true way to ensure that your customers are well taken care of is by taking care of your employees. This is known as the service-profit chain, a concept first introduced by Harvard Business Review in 1998. It’s still as relevant today as it was then.

Profit and growth are stimulated primarily by customer loyalty. Loyalty is a direct result of customer satisfaction. Satisfaction is largely influenced by the value of services provided to customers. Value is created by satisfied, loyal, and productive employees. Employee satisfaction, in turn, results primarily from high-quality support services and policies that enable employees to deliver results to customers.

The service-profit chain is the flow from the culture you create to the profits you generate and every step in between. The key is to start internally. When you create an environment where employees are happy, productive, autonomous, and passionate about what they do, they’ll provide better service to your customers.

That amazing service will create many loyal customers, leading to sustainable growth and profits. That’s why it’s important for every leader in an organization to understand the service-profit chain and how each step impacts the other.

Key Employee Engagement Strategies

Organizations need to pay attention to specific priorities to engage employees. Employees are more likely to become truly engaged and involved in their work if your workplace provides these factors.

Employee engagement must be a business strategy that focuses on finding engaged employees, then keeping the employee engaged throughout the whole employment relationship. Employee engagement must focus on business results. Employees are most engaged when they are accountable, and can see and measure the outcomes of their performance.

Employee engagement occurs when the goals of the business are aligned with the employee’s goals and how the employee spends his or her time.

The glue that holds the strategic objectives of the employee and the business together is frequent, effective communication that reaches and informs the employee at the level and practice of his or her job.

Engaged employees have the information that they need to understand exactly and precisely how what they do at work every day affects the company’s business goals and priorities. (These goals and measurements relate to the Human Resources department, but every department should have a set of metrics.)

Employee engagement exists when organizations are committed to management and leadership development in performance development plans that are performance-driven and provide clear succession plans.

When businesses actively pursue employee engagement through these factors, employee engagement soars to a ratio of 9:1 employees from 2:1 employees with concurrent improvements in the business success.

Employee Engagement Examples

There are of course many ways to show your employees they are valued, and to keep them focused and engaged on company success. According to Forbes, there are certain items in the benefit package that will help in creating employee engagement:

  • Health Insurance
  • Company Parties (social engagement)
  • Gifts (new babies, appreciation luncheons)

Employees go home to different roles–parent, caregiver to a loved one, a church or civic leader, spouse, bandmate, freelancer, artist, neighbor–and the people they are closest to impact their lives and perspectives about work in meaningful ways. Acknowledging those relationships and showing they are a priority will increase employee engagement.

How to Improve Employee Engagement

In a recent article in Forbes, Brent Gleeson, a former navy seal and successful businessman, gives solid advice on ways to improve employee engagement.

When managers are engaged, their team members can confidently state the following:

  • I know what is expected of me and my work quality.
  • I have the resources and training to thrive in my role.
  • I have the opportunity to do what I do best – every day.
  • I frequently receive recognition, praise and constructive criticism.
  • I trust my manager and believe they have my best interests in mind.
  • My voice is heard and valued.
  • I clearly understand the mission and purpose and how I contribute to each.
  • I have opportunities to learn and grow both personally and professionally.

The steps for improving engagement aren’t complex, they simply must be prioritized. This means engagement must be a core function of the manager’s role. The following steps can help the manager to accomplish this.

Step 1 – Put Everyone in the Right Role

Again, get the right people on the bus and make sure they are in the right roles. This means that all talent acquisition and retention strategies have to be aligned with meeting company goals.

Step 2 – Give Them the Training

No manager or leader can expect to build a culture of trust and accountability — and much less improve engagement —without setting the team up for success. This means providing the proper training and development while removing obstacles.

Step 3 – Task Meaningful Work

Engaged employees are doing meaningful work and have a clear understanding of how they contribute to the company’s mission, purpose and strategic objectives. Again, this is why they first have to be placed in the right role. I’ve made the mistake of hiring great talent just to get them in the door – but didn’t have a clear career path or role for them. If you don’t sort those details out quickly, they will leave.

Step 4 – Check in Often

The days of simply relying on mid-year reviews for providing feedback are long gone. Today’s workforce craves regular feedback — which of course leads to faster course correction and reduces waste. Use both formal and informal check-in strategies — and use them every week.

Step 5 – Frequently Discuss Engagement

Successful managers are transparent in their approach to improving engagement — they talk about it with their teams all the time. They hold “state of engagement” meetings and “engage” everyone in the discussion — and solutions.

Again, these principles are not complex, but must be prioritized. Companies that get this right will drive greater financial returns, surpass their competitors, and easily climb to the top of “the best places to work” lists.

Are Your Employees Engaged?

Employee engagement is critical to the success of any business. When a business has engaged and invested employees, it is in their best interest to protect the productivity and profitability of the business, and the image the business has in the community. Engagement also results in employee retention, which saves the business money in turnover and training. There is no downside to getting your employees engaged and invested in your business.

John Hawthorne is a health nut from Canada with a passion for travel and taking part in humanitarian efforts. His writing not only solves a creative need it has also lead to many new opportunities when traveling abroad. This article was originally published on Floship.com, you can read it here.

Giving Negative Feedback – 5 Methods that Will Help You

Giving Negative Feedback – 5 Methods that Will Help You

by | Jan 25, 2018 | Management, World of Work

It is always difficult to have a conversation about something someone is not doing well enough, at work. However, without these conversations, and appropriate avenues to facilitate these conversations, getting better would never be an option. Giving Negative Feedback is something that can get uncomfortable for either of the two reasons: 1. not being sensitive enough, 2. for being too sensitive and not putting across your point clearly. However, if you are in the shoes of someone who is expected to help your co-workers grow – by providing them with timely and accurate feedback, you will have to familiarize yourself with the process of delivering feedback. And it won’t always be positive feedback.

Here are 5 methods that will help you deliver negative feedback in a more structured, professional, and hopefully pleasant way:

  1. Take the help of self-assessments

    If you use self-assessments, your job is already half done. Using a pre-made self assessment checklist, and asking your team member to complete it before the feedback meeting helps both of you gain perspective about the current situation. In a lot of ways, it also helps both concerned get on the same page. By taking the help of a self-assessment you help prepare yourself for the meeting, and also give the concerned person an opportunity to rate himself/ herself honestly. During your meeting, this can be used as a yardstick to discuss the feedback you have.

  2. Use their job description as a basis

    Another “tool” apart from the self-assessment checklist that you can use to facilitate the feedback session is the job description of the team member. A job description is an outline of the expected roles and responsibilities of an employee. By using it as a basis of comparison to the actual tasks and objectives being met by the individual, you will have an idea about if he/she is aligned with the job description or has deviated from it. This will also help you point this out to your team member.

  3. Support your feedback with examples

    The basis for your negative feedback would be specific. And it is important to say out loud the specifics of the feedback. In other words, if your feedback comes with an example of a specific situation, bring it up. By doing so, you are able to be clear in your communication and this will also help you tackle the next steps of thinking about a solution to the problem. When you speak in vague terms, finding solutions to problems become difficult. As a result of which the problem may keep occurring.

  4. Speak about strengths

    It is important to support or balance your negative feedback with positive feedback. Remember that the objective of the feedback session is to bring to the notice of the team member what is not working, and to motivate him/ her to do better, and not the contrary. If it were the contrary then this would have been a meeting to discuss the individual’s termination from the organization. Therefore, it is important to also speak about the skills and the strengths of the individual. It is also important to be careful about how you speak. Adopting a tone that is firm, yet kind is the best bet. Do make sure that the session is a dialogue. Listening is as important as speaking!

  5. Remind yourself that this is your job

    No matter how hard it is to carry through this session, you need to because after all, it is your job. Before the session, it is important for you to orient yourself about it so you can be as professional as possible. Remember that it is not a personal reason being discussed, but a professional one. Hence, you must remain objective through out. It is also important to keep in mind that the team member concerned may not view the feedback as objectively as you provide it. In which case, you would have to remind yourself to hold your ground and tell yourself that you are doing your job.

Have you been in a position where you have had to discuss or provide negative feedback to a team member? What worked for you and what didn’t? Hearing from you always motivates us to write better, so do write back!

Measuring Loyalty: Is it Possible? A Guide to Modern Day Loyalty

Measuring Loyalty: Is it Possible? A Guide to Modern Day Loyalty

by | Jan 15, 2018 | World of Work

Do age old scruples such as loyalty to your employer at your workplace even make sense in the highly globalized and ever evolving world of work, today? To ask a much more basic question, what does loyalty even mean? In an age and world where growth is characterized by dynamism, is loyalty a virtue, or a hindrance to success? Most importantly though, can one measure loyalty?

There is no defined way of addressing these questions. Experiences are lived differently, and opinions are as diverse as experiences. In this post, we wish to explore the aspect of loyalty to an employer from a more ‘everyday’ perspective. Or, to put it in a better way – what would “loyalty” to your employer in the modern day comprise of? Loyalty needn’t necessarily mean an undying pledge to be forever rooted in the same organization, against your interests of growth because you believe in and respect your employer. What it comes real close to, in meaning though, is honesty. How you answer the following questions for yourself will help you understand what your feelings are, about loyalty towards your employer at your work place.

  1. Measuring Loyalty: How accountable to your employer do you feel, on an everyday basis?

    To understand this question we need to understand that accountability here does not mean the forced or imposed kind. One of the best examples to understand true accountability is when you have a role that enables you to work from home. True, even work from home roles have their own protocols of surveillance, but unarguably it does present more scope where you could “choose” to slack. But would you? Or would you feel a sense of accountability towards your employer and strive to put in an honest day’s work? You are accountable even if you may not feel particularly loyal towards your organisation/ employer. However, the purpose of juxtaposing these two aspects is to gain an insight about how one would personally analyze his/her reason for feeling accountable without being made to feel accountable.

  2. Measuring Loyalty: From the following words – fear, respect, indifference, – which would come close to describing how you feel towards your employer?

    Do you feel afraid of your employer? Is the driving motivation for your work fear?
    Do you respect your employer? Are you motivated to work hard, and give your job the best you can because your employer inspires you and commands respect?
    Or do you feel indifferent? You put in your 8 hours, and go home. Nothing more, nothing less.
    How you would define your opinion of your employer and your relationship with him/ her is an important factor in determining your loyalty towards your employer. One might stay loyal out of fear, but that counts as a toxic workplace attitude. One might be indifferent – in which case, you would indifferent to the aspect of loyalty. However, one might be motivated to do well because of love and respect for the employer – which is a true measure of loyalty.

  3. Measuring Loyalty: How prone would you be to getting poached?

    This would be the ultimate test for loyalty. One of the most important ways of measuring loyalty is to determine how susceptible the employee is, to believing that the grass is greener on the other side. When we talk about modern day loyalty, this becomes a huge factor because increase in attrition rates is a concern that many organisations are facing. Attrition rates are also reflective of how an organization treats its employees. Assuming that your workplace does not have a high attrition rate, and employees are taken care of, where would you place yourself? How prone would you be to getting carried away with a job offer that appears lucrative? Would you ditch your organisation which has invested in you, and an employer who trusts your skills, for some place where the grass seems greener?

Measuring Loyalty: From the Other End of the Spectrum

Now lets take a look at loyalty, from the other end of the spectrum. We put what we want to say in perspective by including excerpts from a superb article on Medium – On Loyalty by Stevie Buckley. You can read the full article here.

You are a transaction. Sure, your employer gives you the impression they care about you but as soon as you start costing the company money or pose a risk to the company’s image or breach any other element of your 300 page contract, then I can absolutely assure you that they will drop you in a heartbeat. You don’t even need to do anything wrong to be at risk. If the company is struggling financially, due to no fault of yours, you and all your colleagues are at risk. Suddenly the corporate line of “we’re all family here” sounds a bit ridiculous.

Your employer pays you to spend more time with them than you spend with your family and/or loved ones. Your employer is one of the biggest influencers on your mental well-being. Your employer can and will replace you in a heartbeat if absolutely necessary.

Let me be explicitly clear, your employer isn’t your family and they are not your friend. They pay you to do a job and your responsibility is to do that job well.

  • Do not sacrifice your relationship with family and friends to appease your employer.
  • Do not sacrifice your mental wellbeing to appease your employer.
  • Do not sacrifice your dignity, values and ethics to appease your employer.
  • Do not buy into the bullshit hype of “hustle” to appease your employer.

Mutual Respect

Get your head down and work hard. If your employer compensates you well, puts effort into ensuring you are healthy in every sense and invests in your personal and/or professional growth then by all means, tell the world how happy you are.

Focus on your own growth. Focus on helping the humans you work with. Focus on being efficient with your time and efforts so that you can spend even more time and effort on the things and people that truly matter.

And that’s the apt note to end this post at, with ample food for thought with what modern day loyalty comprises of, and if and how loyalty can be measured!

5 Tips For a Successful On-boarding Process

5 Tips For a Successful On-boarding Process

by | Dec 13, 2017 | Recruitment, World of Work

Most recruiters believe that the toughest part of the recruitment process are the steps leading up to finding and hiring an employee. That however, is as far away from truth as can be. The first week after hiring a new employee is the most crucial time for the recruitment process. It is the on-boarding process that helps the employee settle in to his/ her new role, and more importantly the culture of the organisation. While the ‘settling in’ definitely takes much longer than a week, the induction or on-boarding week is what makes all the difference to how comfortably, and effectively the new employee adapts to your organisation. Here are five ways you can make the On-boarding Process a success.

  1. Personalize the On-boarding Process

    The usual process of on-boarding to complete the process of recruitment, requires the new employee to go through and submit a pile of paper work and documents. That however, shouldn’t define the first day of a new employee. In the process of recruitment, on-boarding is not just about filling up a zillion forms to check off the recruitment checklist. It is also, and more so about showing the new team member that the organization is happy to have him/ her on board. Personalize the on-boarding process by introducing the new member to the rest of the team and by giving him/ her a tour of the work place. Having a small welcome process in place, could be a great way to make help build sensitivity about welcoming a new member into the culture of your workplace.

  2. Explaining the values and culture of the company

    Are the values and the culture of the company more than just a few words on your website? If they are truly what you believe as the foundation of your organization, you will agree to the importance of ensuring that the new employee understands them. Speaking about the organizational values and culture to a new employee, as a part of the on-boarding process is a very important step towards stressing on how important it is, for the new employee to adapt to the values and culture of the organization. And of course, letting them know that you believe they are a great match and that’s why they are here in the first place!

  3. Explaining responsibilities and setting goals

    While the role and responsibilities may already have been put down on the offer letter, this is another way of personalizing the on-boarding process. Having a conversation about the responsibilities attached to the role of the new recruit, and speaking about the expectations that come with it right at the outset is a good idea. This is also a great time to bring him/ her up to speed with the existing projects that they may be associated with and giving them a heads up about what to expect.

  4. Assigning them a mentor

    This is yet another great way of personalizing the on-boarding process. Being in a new work environment can be quite confusing, as many of us would have experienced. Assigning a mentor to a new employee is an effective way of helping the new employee understand the workplace, and also to have someone he/ she can go to with their questions. It is important to put some thought into who you choose to assign as the mentor, since the mentor needs to be equipped with the knowledge relevant to the new employee’s role, to be able to guide him/ her accordingly.

  5. Equipping the employee with all necessary resources

    To make the on-boarding process smooth, and successful, make sure that you have put together all the resources the new employee will require, a day prior to his/ her joining. Things like the HR policy, documents on the culture of the organization, any handbook your organization may be having for employees, the necessary software on his/her computer, and all other tools including stationary that might be required. Putting in some effort to get these things ready shows that you are excited to have the new team member on board, and want to make sure that they have everything they need!
    Also, a nice note saying welcome, on the desk is a very sweet way to say ‘welcome’!

Bringing a new team member on board isn’t just about the CV, the interviews and the negotiation processes. It is also about welcoming the team member in. That is what on-boarding is all about. Once you have successfully completed the process of on-boarding, you can be proud of yourself of having done a good job as a recruiter!

Post by Shreeradha Mishra
Shreeradha is a development professional who loves her work. She is an avid observer of life and enjoys penning down her experiences and learning from the world of work. You can get in touch with her at shreeradha@obolinx.com.