HR Trends - Global HR Practices

HR Trends - Global HR practices
A symbiotic relationship
An IT company spends a considerable amount of time and money on freshers so
that they can be integrated into a corporate work environment. In an attempt to
bridge the gap between educational curriculum and actual job requirements,
companies have collaborated with educational institutes. This is where the industry
provides training to the college faculty on current requisites in the industry, and
imparts new skills to them which could be of demand in the future.
The Need of the Hour…
Today, corporates face a huge challenge in recruiting the right talent. During a typical
campus connect program, an organisation manages to hire an average of ! people
out of every "!! interviewed. A mere two per cent# A deeper probe reveals that at
least half of the remaining $%! miss out on employment due to lack of behavioural
skills or domain specialisation. &The industry and academia need to embark on a fire'
fighting mission together. The need of the hour is to identify and map the right
requirement at the right place and at the right time,( says Deependra )humble, )hief
*eople *erson for +e,aware.
According to a recent consulting study conducted by -ercer, only ." per cent
graduates in India are employed. The figure indicates that there is a huge gap
between the pace of change of university curriculum and the technology needs of the
current industry. As a result, students have good theoretical knowledge but they lack
problem solving skills due to lack of e,posure to practical projects. &/iven the
situation, it is imperative that industry and academia collaborate to improve the
quality of students who are entering into the industry for various roles and positions,(
asserts 0achin Tikekar, chief of people operations, 1*IT )ummins Infosystems.
According to 2omit Dasgupta, director, /lobsyn, &3ne of the biggest indicators that
determine the need for a company to partner with an educational institute is the
shortage of relevant skills. The other indicators include research driven initiatives
where academic institutions can form the breeding grounds for development of
newer technologies.(
Joining Hands!
1eeping this in mind, many companies have tied up with some of the best institutes
in order to bridge the gap between industry and academia. +e,aware Technologies,
in an attempt to increase communication between academics and industry, has
started the &Train the Trainers *rogramme(. The programme conducted a workshop
on 42ecent Trends in Information Technology5, jointly organised by IIT -adras and
+e,aware Technologies. The workshop, meant for faculty members in the )omputer
0cience Department of various 6ngineering 7 )omputer Applications in Arts 7
0cience )olleges, is a part of the Industry'Academia interaction. &The purpose is to
give a better e,posure to the faculty on the latest trends in the IT industry. Training
teachers who in turn train students helps polish certain additional skills required by
the industry, and educating the students on the latest technologies,( notes )humble.
-ulti )ommodities 6,change 8-)9:, in collaboration with some of the top notch
institutes such as II- Indore, II- Ahmedabad and II- ;angalore, II<'=ew Delhi,
>elingkar Institute of -anagement Development and 2esearch, 0ymbiosis Institute
of International ;usiness, etc., provides general as well as customised training
programmes at various levels.
/lobsyn?s entire business model is based on bridging the gap between Industry and
Academia. &>e run a post'graduate program with the @niversity of )alcutta on
Applied 6conomics and Information -anagement, >e also run a post'graduate
program with Aadavpur @niversity on 0oftware 6ngineering and ;usiness
-anagement,( states Dasgupta.
=IIT Imperia offers long and short term management programs to individuals and
corporates, using its innovative synchronous learning technology. The institute has
created a special program for /enpact, to train its employees across multiple
locations.
There are various challenges of this system including sustaining such programmes
in campuses and encouraging the academic fraternity to attend them at regular
intervals. &>e need a dedicated workforce to deliver such special lectures, value'
added sessions etc.,( says )humble.
&3ne of the biggest challenges is that of mindset adjustment. *ure Academics has
always had an 4input driven5 mindset where as Industry initiatives are more 4output
driven5,( affirms Dasgupta.
A Successful ndea!our!
There is no doubt that Industry'Academia collaboration is one of the successful ways
to fight skill shortage. )andidates are now e,pected to demonstrate initiative and
confidence to take on business challenges, and to portray a positive brand image
that is necessary while facing a customer. >hatever the route, the onus of helping
students keep pace with the dynamic business environment lies with the academia.
-odification of academic curriculum and its implementation is traditionally a long
process involving careful research, curriculum design, customisation and delivery.
"olish s#ills to #eep pace
The skills you picked up in the last specialised workshop, which your company
commissioned you to attend, are not of much use for long. They become redundant
within a year, sometimes even sooner, only to get replaced with an entirely new set
of skills which need to be learned afresh.

&1nowledge has become so dynamic and in keeping with it, the skills required to
acquire or access that knowledge keep changing. It5s like using a computer to
access information online. ;esides the information itself changing, the ways to
access it are also very dynamic in nature,( says =erul'based career counsellor
0ucharita 0hetty.

In conjunction with academics and work e,perience is the procurement of skills that
go a long way in boosting productivity. It5s in keeping with this norm that companies
send their key personnel on specialised programmes that are aimed to enhance
skills B soft as well as technical in nature.

>hile most companies continue to dispatch teams of key personnel to attend special
workshops held to boost niche skills, a few of them hold training sessions within the
organisation itself. &A lot of companies are now beginning to realise that skills
imbibed through a workshop or briefing don5t hold good for long as the needs in most
industries continue to change, warranting completely new set of skills,( adds 0hetty.
Cook at A*C, a wholly'owned subsidiary of 0ingapore'based =eptune 3rient Cines, a
global transportation and logistics company engaged in shipping and related
businesses, which has registered an increase of about D! per cent in the number of
in'house programmes in India aimed to boost skills during the last one year itself.
&The skills learned here at A*C are either soft or specific system skills. The number
of programmes held to upgrade these skills has definitely registered an increase in
the last year,( says +2 Director 0anjay 0abnis.

Incidentally, soft skills include leadership management, communication, teamwork
and other programmes that last anywhere between one to three days at A*C. &0kills
used vary in groups and situations,( offers A*C5s Cearning -anager 0enthil 1umar.
&The skills used by the sales team will differ from those used by the customer service
team or for that matter, the operations team, which instead has to use reporting tools
that derive information from the system,( adds 1umar. &The programmes held to aid
upgradation of system skills take place from half a day to as long as a three'day'
session. There has been an overall increase of ." per cent to D! per cent in in'house
programmes in the last one year,( endorses 1umar.

)onsider 0talwart -achinery5s rapidly changing manpower requirement, for
instance. As personnel manager /ovind 1umar puts it, &The skills needed from a
manager a decade back, for e,ample, didn5t include computer know'how or
networking as much as is needed today. 0o much so, that there has been a marked
shift in the role of the manager itself.( 0o, today, there are two different kinds of
managers in the firm to do jobs that would B on the face of things B seem similar.
+owever, the role of a personnel manager is starkly different from that of an +2
manager who will do a much specialised job, armed with special skills too. -ore
importantly, these skills will continue to change and grow drastically B altering the
role and nature of an employee5s profile ' within months as opposed to years as was
the case earlier.
$ffice spaces
Eou needn5t be familiar with the Dilbert comic to imagine why the strip5s creator, 0cott
Adams, paints life inside a modern corporate office cubicle as bleak. Although things
rarely improve in Dilbert5s world, the situation inside real'world office cubicles is
improving. The stereotypical office is an orderly place where workers are seemingly
glued to their desks staring at computer screens or papers. That image, however,
may soon be a thing of the past, as more and more businesses, have been
transforming their offices.
%S THR A &%N'((
Is there a direct link between office interiors and productivity and can that be outlined
in tangible termsF 6laborating on the current scenario Ginod * Gijay, creative
director, *rime <ocus e,plains, (In the competitive landscape, interiors do tend to
become another intangible plus that an organisation has to have, in terms of
developing equity with employees or its visitors who might be customers, suppliers
and others. It provides an insight into the very culture of the workplace. Aust as they
say, where clothes reflect a man?s personality the interiors reflect an office?s
personality. 3rganisations are, therefore, becoming particularly careful in the way
they attire their offices. >ith well designed spaces and furniture the efficiency and
motivational levels of the people can be increased as it gives a good feeling.(
There has been a sea'change in the way offices operate and this is reflected in the
way offices look. The nine to five routine is almost non'e,istent with people spending
more hours at work. The working populace is also a young lot nowadays where the
bracket starts as early as . and who are in tune with the 4hip and happening5. The
office spaces and facilities must match the nature of their work. 3ver the past few
years, offices have changed into livelier, more upbeat environments, with the focus
being employee comfort and functionality. =ewer companies, especially in the IT
sector, are looking to woo and retain a younger, livewire'kind of crowd that wouldn?t
be too impressed with just a cubicle that makes you feel isolated from the world.
According to 1ishore *anikker, an architect with 6difice Architects, a -umbai'based
firm specialising in corporate interiors, there have been significant changes in work
culture and contemporary workplaces. +e says ( It is a known fact that even the
smallest thing in the office affects the performance of the people working there, even
if it is an inanimate object like office furniture. The general impression among people
is that the calibre and the skills of the people working in an office affect its growth
and productivity. They do play the most important role, undoubtedly, but believe it or
not, office furniture too plays an e,tremely major role in boosting the productivity of
an organisation.(
TH TRANS)$R*RS
3ffice interiors are changing today keeping in mind the changing trends in the office
space. )ompanies want to portray the image of their office as being in sync with the
new age office, with a modern look and feel. Interiors have helped in redefining the
new age offices. -ore and more companies are increasingly accepting the concept
of modernising the office interiors. An emerging trend vis'H'vis office interiors that is
fast catching up is the bend towards space management and strategic planning
keeping in mind the usage and workflow in conjunction with aesthetics. Apart from
taking care of aspects ranging from comfort to aesthetics to functionality and
ergonomics, new age offices are also laying emphasis on the psychological aspect
of team building within the organisation. ?3pen office? and ?no partition? concepts are
finding their way into the modern offices. *rinciples of vaasthu and feng'shui are also
popular in companies.
&Increasingly, architects, interior designers, facilities managers, and furniture
companies are assuming a new roleI strategic consultants familiar not only with
blueprints but also with human behaviour and organisation. )orporations are using
them to boost productivity which is one of the many ways it works on to gain the
competitive edge in this global market as more and more companies are talking
about going global,( adds *anicker. A good office definitely improves the general
positive factors affecting the work environment. The underlying perception here
being that any place done up tastefully will have good people reflecting the best of
their own selves.
ngaging employees through sur!eys
6mployee satisfaction is a critical element not only in providing high levels of
customer satisfaction, but also for providing higher productivity, turnover, and
reduced costs associated with recruiting. It is imperative to understand the attitudes,
behaviour, motivation and issues affecting the employees and their performance as
they play an important role in shaping and directing the organisation?s productivity
and overall success.
The Need $f The Hour…
Though communicating with each employee was considered the best way to
understand their level of satisfaction with the organisation, it may well be called a
primitive way in reading their minds. Cong taken for granted, communication can now
be related to job satisfaction, productivity, team'building, and the general
coordination within the organisation and this is where employee surveys play a
pivotal role.
&6mployee insights into the workplace can help organisations identify issues,
thereby, ensuring high productivity and loyalty. Analysing the data from the surveys
makes it easier for us to identify and address issues that are important to specific
groups of staff. >e can also gauge the attitudes of staff towards a particular issue,
such as pay, or the level of support they5re receiving from their managers. The
survey covers a wide range of issues from careers to facilities to transport,( says
0udheesh Genkatesh, head +2, Tesco +0).
A well'designed employee survey provides specific information, enabling companies
to develop meaningful action plans to address these issues. The cost of conducting
a survey can be minimal compared to its benefits, both in terms of employee morale
and increased performance. 0uch surveys provide valuable data which can be
analysed giving a huge sample of the overall employee engagement with the
company. The higher the employee satisfaction graph, the higher would be business
performance levels because of the pride and kudos that come from working for a
successful company.
The "itfalls
&Apart from being just a tool to gauge the satisfaction levels, this acts as a channel
for people to give feedback on the organisation on specific areas. It could serve as a
very good information tool for future decisions of the company. +owever, it depends
on what you normally do with the survey results. If it is just doing the survey as an
activity every year, it will never give any feedback from employees. They will
definitely want to know what happened to the points raised in the previous survey.
*ost survey, it is very important for you to tell the people what is really being done
with the survey results.
;ased on this past e,perience, people decide whether giving feedback is meaningful
or not,( says D.2ajkumar, senior manager, +2, -icroland. Another point which is
note worthy is the fact that the decision to allow employees to remain anonymous
may allow employees to be more candid, and thus, effective in identifying problem
areas, especially those hidden from senior management. If employee surveys are
poorly designed and implemented, they can do unintended damage. A failed survey
is more than a waste of organisational resources ' it can negatively impact employee
engagement, which defeats the very motive of the survey. +ence, it would be
necessary for an organisation to plan the survey, considering various parameters like
whether they are considering the entire workforce or just few project teams, timing of
the survey, and ensuring that the responses are valued by the organisation5s
management.
A +a#eup ,all
&)ompanies that do not invest in employee surveys will be shooting in the dark with
respect to measuresJinitiatives put in place to increase employee satisfactionJmorale.
>hen employees see value in the survey, the response rates will be e,ceptionally
high. +owever, regular communication forums like staff meetings, blogs, open'door
policies along with the surveys can add to the employee feeling satisfied,( adds
0ushil Tayal, director, +2, Cogica)-/.
)onsidering employees as key stakeholders in the success of the organisation,
valuing their opinions and working on them can brighten the future prospects of the
company. >e need to understand that such surveys show us that there is a direct
correlation between employee satisfaction and the quarter results of the company.
*indset- a po.erful booster of the performance of an organisation
Today5s economic and social environment is changing very rapidlyK markets are
increasingly global, deregulation is taking place everywhere, deflation 8e,cept for oil
and its derivatives: is common in many sectors. The war for talent once again is at
an all time high making it difficult to attract and even more difficult to retain talent.
The shelf life of any product has dramatically reduced, consumers are becoming
more discerning and their behaviour is increasingly unpredictable. 6vidence of these
changes are ever present in our daily life.
In such an environment, organisations are forced to continuously change by
rethinking their business models, redesigning their product lines and reformulating
their approach to markets and customers. The result is that very few of the
organisations that were lauded as the champions of performance

LM five or ten years
ago
.
L.M are still considered so today. The few champions that have remained at the
top are the likes of /eneral 6lectric, >all'-art and I;- which have been able to
constantly outperform their respective peers in the industry. The questions that
clearly arise areI what do these organisations have that others do not haveF >hat
are the underlying factors that allow these organisations to consistently lead the way
in their industry sectorsF

In the last few years an increasing number of business leaders and management
scholars have recognised that the collective attitudes and the mindset of a
corporation 8also referred to as 4corporate culture5: can have a significant impact on
the overall performance of an organisation
D
LDM. Aack >elch, the legendary )63 of
/eneral 6lectric has stated on numerous occasions that a company can boost
productivity by restructuring, removing bureaucracy and downsiNing, but it can not
sustain high performance without a strong culture. In fact, /eneral 6lectric under
>elch5s leadership has been able to transfer and apply their culture into all the
acquired companies raising their performance significantly within a short time,
allowing /6 to sustain continuous stocks with a value growth in double digits.
<urthermore, scholars such as 1otter and +eskett
$
L$M have brought additional
8empirical: evidence that a link e,ists between performance and culture. They
conducted a macro'level analysis on companies from .. different industries and
compared samples of 4strong culture companies5 with 4weak culture companies5 and
1
2
3
4
found out that companies with a strong culture have a much higher likelihood of
outperforming their peers in the industry.
The question is then, what are the characteristics of a 4strong corporate culture5.
Although corporate cultures are by definition all very different from each other, some
common cultural traits can be identified. In fact, high performing organisations seem
to share the following traitsI

,omplete alignment around the vision and the core values of the organisation,
meaning that most members of the organisation can articulate clearly where the
company is heading and the path to get there, as well as fostering a shared
understanding of core values. In these organisations, it is common to find at all levels
members who can clearly answer the question &what is the strategy of the company
and what is my contribution to itF(

)ocus on e/ecution which means that each member is focused on what heJshe is
supposed to do and is doing it to the best of hisJher knowledge and capabilities. In
practice, most members of such organisations are more focused on finding and
implementing solutions rather than pointing out barriers to e,ecution.

Strong accountability where both collectively and individually performance 8through
objective systems: is evaluated to ensure that people are accountable and take
responsibility for business results. Typically, organisations with this cultural trait will
have a few selected key performance indicators 81*I:, that everyone shares,
understands and are accountable for.

,apability of rene.al where everyone has the skill and the courage to propose and
change direction if there are ways of creating more value by doing new things. 3r
even new ways of doing the same things. In these organisations, simple processes
are clearly defined to allow anyone to propose and evaluate ideas either about
continuous improvement or radical change.

<inally, the question isK how do high performing organisations develop the above'
mentioned cultural traitsF In most cases these cultural traits are formed over a period
of time, mainly due to the presence of a strong leader 8e.g. Aack >elch, 0am >alton:
who through his actions and those of his immediate e,ecutives has shaped and
inspired the whole organisation to drive better performance. This generally takes
years and the challenge for the company is then to survive these e,ceptional
leaders. 0urprisingly, such a challenge is addressed almost naturally, since these
cultural characteristics have been so long nurtured and deeply entrenched that they
have become part of the company5s D=A. The Aack >elch way then simply becomes
the /6 way.


*ultitas# or "erish!
&<or years on end, I couldn5t fathom why on earth one would take on more work
than was needed,( claims $O'year'old insurance consultant =aina 2amalingam. &It
just seemed like such a waste of time. Instead of putting in that e,tra bit at work, I felt
learning a hobby or pooling in more at one5s home made more sense,( she says.
&That was only until I realised only of late that a lot of my colleagues earn three times
I do solely because their e,tra'curricular specialisations and skills are being sought
by the company for services which fetches them more money,( adds =aina. +er
colleague *halguni -ehta, for instance, doubles up as an online editor for an in'
house magaNine thanks to her browsing and networking skills she picked up along
the job.
Another friend -ansi =aidu, on the other hand, assists the personnel manager
whenever there5s a surge in interviews. &-ansi5s penchant for dealing with others is
put to use in arranging group discussions and playing moderator to the hilt,(
maintains =aina. If only =aina wasn5t hardnosed about multitasking, her colleagues
claim she would have earned a lot more than she does today.
&Today, after twelve years of pursuing a single'line of work activity, it5s difficult
attempting to multitask,( she says. ;ut then, =aina not one to give up easily, has
enrolled for an advanced DT* course to learn &production and designing( that will
help her do additional jobs that are in demand at her workplace.
-ultitasking holds the key to productivity B both professional and personal. &>hen an
employee multitasks, it isn5t just the e,tra skill that the organisation avails of, it5s
hisJher initiative which speaks volumes,( maintains Pokhraj Enterprises director 8+2:
=avin Aain. &The initiative displayed by an employee goes a long way into the credit
ratings of a worker and subsequently, affect hisJher work prospects,( says Aain.
&)oncurrently, any inept handling of e,traneous work or inability to multitask goes on
to affect an employee5s prospects adversely,( maintains Aain.
Today, as opposed to yesteryears, when one5s work profile was clearly demarcated
and employees did not quite need any kind of multitasking, things have changed.
&Today, you can5t really stick to a brief that has been assigned to you just because it5s
put down in black and white. Eou have to innovate and improvise given the situation
and not just because a senior tells you so,( maintains Alfa Communications’ .D'year'
old copywriter +anifa Pureshi.
&Adopting a rigid nationalised bank employee attitude doesn5t help,( says +anifa. &It5s
your innovation and initiative coupled with your ability to multitask that companies
are most interested in. Eou can5t quite keep running for help each time you encounter
a situation that requires a different skill. Eou need to roll up your sleeves and do it
yourself,( adds the copywriter.
+anifa had joined the organisation as a graphic designer but got down to writing a lot
more during times she was forced to multitask in view of a staff crunch. &It was
thanks to multitasking that I realised how much I preferred writing to designing and
asked for the switch,( she says.
0pecialisations are for a handful while multitasking holds the key to career growth. In
a cut'throat work atmosphere today, getting compartmentalised about one5s work is
counterproductive. Develop a range of skills, offer to tackle more tasks and watch it
work for you.
"erformance *anagement- The need of the hour today
+istorically speaking, organisations viewed performance appraisals as a process to
weed out non'performers and to some e,tent use this tool to reward performers.
Giewed in that limited way, performance appraisal system had its role. +owever, with
so much pressure on attracting, acquiring and retaining talent in today5s talent war, to
begin with, organiNations should do away with the usage of the term performance
appraisal system.
+hat is "erformance *anagement System(
>hat organisations should realiNe is that performance appraisal is only a small part
of an end to end performance management system which involves an integrated
approach such as planning performance, managing performance, developing
people, reviewing performance and rewarding performance towards building a high
performing organiNation. *erformance management system is based on three
important principlesI
• To let people know what needs to be achieved
• To support those goals through performance coaching, mentoring and
developing
• 2eward and recogniNe performers and manage poor performance
*lanning performance involves translating the corporate objectives into specific,
quantifiable goals for every employee, which will form the corner stone of the
evaluation processK leading to feedback on how close or how far from those goals
the employee is at the end of the appraisal period.

Ho. does an organisation do the transformation from a mere performance
system to a "erformance *anagement System(
In order to achieve this, it is imperative for an organisation to set its employee up for
success. Therefore, managing employees5 plays a key role. This should include,
ongoing dialogue between manager and employee to ensure that the individual
goals are aligned to his personal and organisational goals, he is equipped with the
necessary skill sets to perform his role and is provided regular feedback as to where
he is heading rather than throwing 4year end surprises5 in the form of annual
performance appraisal. Also, if used rightly, this process can significantly help in
employee involvement in organisational building. >hen we invite employees to
participate in goal setting as well as seek their feedback on their manager5s
performance through DO!'degree processes, it gives a very high sense of ownership
and is a good source of voice of the employee.
+hat are the challenges that organisations face .hile e/ecuting such a
detailed system( Ho. does one o!ercome these challenges(
3ne challenge organisations may pose is that how does one review performance
effectively and how can productivity be measuredF A well'defined objective setting
will help in this process. 0tarting from the macro business level objectives and then
breaking it down to departmental objectives and finally integrating it with individual
objectives. 3rganisations can set targets to review performance. ;ased on these
objectives, organisations can define the parameters to measure performance.
These parameters should also enable employees to set and meet their
developmental goals.
2eview must precede rewards. Therefore organisations should ensure that
employees are rewarded either through monetary or non'monetary forms.
+hat according to you is the best .ay to practice "erformance *anagement
System(
It is imperative that process owners of *erformance -anagement 0ystem 8typically it
is the +2 function: need to very clearly identify what are the needs and e,pectations
of all the stake holders such as employees, managers, organisation, +2 function, etc
and then address each of those needs with specific actionsJprocesses and
capabilities. Also, at the end of the day, the process has to be 4fair5 and perceived to
be fair. This is a tall order, but using 4dialoguing5 processes will help to establish
fairness and trust.
3rganisations cannot do away with *erformance -anagement and appraisal as
performance in the organisation is like any other resource management, which
needs to be managed well to create high performance organisations. <or that, a well'
defined end'to'end system is to be defined. Also, it is based on
contingencyJreinforcement theory, where positive behaviour when rewarded and
reinforced, gets repeated.
0ome of the best practices for appraising employees areI
• Gery clear definition of the end to end process with time lines and process
ownership
• @nderstanding the e,pectations of all stake holders and have responses to
each
• 6mpowering managers to take ownership and driving the process
• >ell aligned learning and development strategies to make people successful
• Develop dialoguing skills
• /ood management of poor performers and e,it process
• ;alanced score card for balanced goal setting
,aring for staff fetches di!idends
The fitness levels of a company or firm is directly proportional to the health of its
manpower. ;esides offering direct remedial solutions to niggling health issues, a
company5s attempts to offer aid to its staff5s medical issues are often perceived as
attempts to lend a humane look to the otherwise hard'core profit'driven organisation
and add value to the employment.
A lot of companies have been tending to the health of their employees through
workshops and events aimed at alleviating problems. /odfrey *hillips Ctd, for
instance, recently organised a one'day programme on 4+ealth and <itness from
Cifestyle -anagement5 wherein Dr =ipun )haudharie 8-D:, Apollo +ospital, Delhi
along with +23D 8+uman 2esources 3rganisational Development: specialist 2ahul
Agarwal trained .O senior management level personnel including G*s and managers
on stress, diet and lifestyle'linked diseases and ailments for top personnel.
Atul ;hole, +2 head, /odfrey *hillips Ctd said that another 4very relevant5 workshop
on Tibetan Eoga and -editation was held by 2aNia *atel for DO personnel that
included seniors as well as worker'level staff of /odfrey *hillips. &0uch workshops
and events are of pivotal importance to the staff today. 0tress and lifestyle linked
diseases are very much on the rise and need to be tackled with a sense of urgency,(
he says.
)onsidering that employees today spend a huge amount of their time working either
at their officeK while traveling to and fro or even at home, a lot of work'linked ailments
have been on the rise. &Take for instance, the number of nerve'compression
disorders such a carpal tunnel syndrome and cervical spondylysis that is caused
primarily by the odd bending of the wrist or neck that gets twisted during use at
awkward positions like while cocking one5s head to the side and speaking on the
phone, typing for hours on a wrongly'positioned keyboard or holding a steering
wheel in an odd position while driving,( says Dr 0unil -oreker , a senior
ophthalmologist associated with +induja +ospital.
A lot of these problems can be avoided or tackled, if detected early or rectified
through simple e,ercises or the plain avoidance of certain wrong postures.
&2ealising that there are a lot of work'linked diseases on the rise, a lot of employers
and firms have begun taking keen interest on preventive therapy such as lifestyle'
management workshops,( says -oreker.
&As opposed to the past when work would be a lot better streamlined and computer'
linked ailments were unheard off, today there are a lot of issues that arise out of the
change in infrastructure and use of technology in work,( says ;*3 employee Tamini
/upta. &6mployers have also learned the hard way that unless you treat your team
well and tackle any potential medical problem in time, you could easily land with a
staff crisis owing to health issues that could otherwise be easily avoided,( she says.
&That apart, a company5s policy to include workshops and events aimed at benefiting
an employee5s health needs gives a huge fillip to its employing prospects as workers
often see it as an inbuilt health insurance where the premium comes doesn5t have to
be paid,( maintains a ;*3 +2 e,ecutive +arish Aadhav. &<or an employee, the lure
is almost considered to be on par with the entertainmentJholiday packages offered by
the company. It surely helps sway a potential employee5s decision in favour of joining
andJor staying with the group,( he maintains.
,ommunicate +ell to /ercise ,ontrol
-ost issues tend to get comple, only in situations where communication is absent.
<or the smooth functioning of departments and work productivity, it5s important for
there to be proper communication between seniors and the greenhornsK within team
members themselves and between the management and the managed.
&)ommunication can5t always be vertical. It should be horiNontal also,( maintains @ni
Deritend Cimited5s *ersonnel, Admin 7 +2 manager Abhilashchandra Dube. &>hile
most of the time, downward communication gets stressed upon a lot more, leaving
upward communication completely neglected,( maintains Dube. &And then, more
often than not, what reaches upwards doesn5t travel in the proper format too.& The
top management needs to be properly briefed about facts which are usually
convoluted by the middle management which makes it convenient for itself,( adds
Dube. In any organisation, communication isn5t always as truthful as one may like to
believe.
&It5s far from an ideal situation where the truth gets transmitted always by default. In
most workplaces, the matter communicated is usually tempered down to suit the
transmitter, sometimes even warped in content so as to serve a hidden agenda,(
maintains senior graphic designer -ilind Aadhav.
The fact that most communications are either written andJor acknowledged as a rule
speaks volumes about the levels of trust that one places in communication. &Gery
often, it tends to change form B it either gets diluted or simply convoluted ' as it
travels either horiNontally or vertically,( maintains Aadhav. *ersonally a victim of
communication gone awry, the designer realised that an immediate senior had been
shamelessly bagging all the credit for 4his5 work.
&During our meetings with the editors, I would keep a low profile and let my senior do
all the talking. >hen it got to a point of e,asperation on finding that he was taking all
the credit for my work, I had a showdown with him,( maintains Aadhav. &>hile things
got quite ugly before the designer got his due, matters could have well been avoided
if there had been proper communication,( he adds.
&0ometimes the communication also tends to get diluted. +oriNontal communication
plays a very important role in organisations where the group dynamics can get
altered drastically,( adds Dube. &3nce the management understands a group5s
dynamics, it can e,ercise perfect coordination and control thereby helping in direct
growth of organisationK industrial relations and boosting satisfaction level of
employees,( maintains the manager. This would, inadvertently, affect retention and
employee turnover too.
In the absence of proper communication channels that need to be laid down by the
relevant +uman 2esources 8+2: personnel, attempts to dissolve work'related snags
may meet with hitches.
&-ore often than not, a lot of middle'level management tends to befuddle
communication channels for fear of having to shoulder blame. It5s a completely
wrong notion and counter'productive too,( says /hatkopar'based 1awatra
6nterprises5 personnel manager 0haheen Pureshi. &If there5s proper communication
in the first place, a lot of hitches wouldn5t occur at all,( she says.

&*roblems occur in situations where communication is either absent or warped. In
places, where there5s proper horiNontal and vertical communications, there5s little
reason to make errors,( adds Pureshi. &>hen there5s no fear of being found out or
blamed, nine times out of ten, you5d ask for help and save yourself and the company
the trouble of having to deal with an error, rightF( she concludes.