3 S's of identifying Engaged Employee

The 3 S’s of identifying an engaged employee:

SAY :Employees speaking positively about the organization

STAY :Employees’ intense need to be part of the organization

STRIVE :Employees exert extra effort and exhibit behaviors that contribute to business success

Employee Engagement Definitions

“The extent to which employees commit to something or someone in the organization, and how long they stay as a result of that commitment.”

“Loyal employees (versus satisfied employees) stay because they want to. They go above and beyond the call of duty to further their company’s interests.”

“Engagement is the state in which individuals are emotionally and intellectually committed to the organization as measured by three primary behaviors: Say, Stay and Strive.”

“The extent to which employees put discretionary effort into their work in the form of brainpower, extra time, and energy.”

How Developing a HRM strategy

Faced with rapid change organizations need to develop a more focused and coherent approach to managing people. In just the same way a business requires a marketing or information technology strategy it also requires a human resource or people strategy.

In developing such a strategy two critical questions must be addressed.
What kinds of people do you need to manage and run your business to meet your strategic business objectives?

What people programs and initiatives must be designed and implemented to attract, develop and retain staff to compete effectively?

In order to answer these questions four key dimensions of an organization must be addressed. These are:

Culture : The beliefs, values, norms and management style of the organization

Organization: The structure, job roles and reporting lines of the organization

People : The skill levels, staff potential and management capability

Human resources systems: the people focused mechanisms which deliver the strategy - employee selection, communications, training, rewards, career development, etc.

Frequently in managing the people element of their business senior managers will only focus on one or two dimensions and neglect to deal with the others. Typically, companies reorganize their structures to free managers from bureaucracy and drive for more entrepreneurial flair but then fail to adjust their training or reward systems.

When the desired entrepreneurial behavior does not emerge managers frequently look confused at the apparent failure of the changes to deliver results. The fact is that seldom can you focus on only one area. What is required is a strategic perspective aimed at identifying the relationship between all four dimensions.

If you require an organization which really values quality and service you not only have to retrain staff, you must also review the organization, reward, and appraisal and communications systems.

The pay and reward system is a classic problem in this area. Frequently organizations have payment systems which are designed around the volume of output produced. If you then seek to develop a company which emphasizes the product's quality you must change the pay systems. Otherwise you have a contradiction between what the chief executive is saying about quality and what your payment system is encouraging staff to do.

There are seven steps to developing a human resource strategy and the active involvement of senior line managers should be sought throughout the approach.
Steps in developing HRM strategy

Step 1: Get the 'big picture'
Understand your business strategy.

Highlight the key driving forces of your business. What are they? e.g. technology, distribution, competition, the markets.

What are the implications of the driving forces for the people side of your business?
What is the fundamental people contribution to bottom line business performance?

Step 2: Develop a Mission Statement or Statement of Intent
That relates to the people side of the business.

Do not be put off by negative reactions to the words or references to idealistic statements - it is the actual process of thinking through the issues in a formal and explicit manner that is important.

What do your people contribute?

Step 3: Conduct a SWOT analysis of the organization
Focus on the internal strengths and weaknesses of the people side of the business.
Consider the current skill and capability issues.

Vigorously research the external business and market environment. High light the opportunities and threats relating to the people side of the business.

What impact will/ might they have on business performance?
Consider skill shortages?
The impact of new technology on staffing levels?
From this analysis you then need to review the capability of your personnel department. Complete a SWOT analysis of the department - consider in detail the department's current areas of operation, the service levels and competences of your personnel staff.

Step 4: Conduct a detailed human resources analysis
Concentrate on the organization's COPS (culture, organization, people, HR systems)

Consider: Where you are now? Where do you want to be?

What gaps exists between the reality of where you are now and where you want to be?
Exhaust your analysis of the four dimensions.

Step 5: Determine critical people issues
Go back to the business strategy and examine it against your SWOT and COPS Analysis
Identify the critical people issues namely those people issues that you must address. Those which have a key impact on the delivery of your business strategy.
Prioritize the critical people issues.
What will happen if you fail to address them?
Remember you are trying to identify where you should be focusing your efforts and resources.

Step 6: Develop consequences and solutions

For each critical issue highlight the options for managerial action generate, elaborate and create - don't go for the obvious. This is an important step as frequently people jump for the known rather than challenge existing assumptions about the way things have been done in the past. Think about the consequences of taking various courses of action.

Consider the mix of HR systems needed to address the issues. Do you need to improve communications, training or pay?

What are the implications for the business and the personnel function?
Once you have worked through the process it should then be possible to translate the action plan into broad objectives. These will need to be broken down into the specialist HR Systems areas of:

Employee training and development
Management development
Organization development
Performance Appraisal
Employee reward
Employee Selection & Recruitment
Manpower Planning
Communication

Develop your action plan around the critical issues. Set targets and dates for the accomplishment of the key objectives.

Step 7: Implementation and evaluation of the action plans
The ultimate purpose of developing a human resource strategy is to ensure that the objectives set are mutually supportive so that the reward and payment systems are integrated with employee training and career development plans.
There is very little value or benefit in training people only to then frustrate them through a failure to provide ample career and development opportunities.

(Collected Articles from Internet)

Ideas to Use When Delegating

1. Pick people who accept responsibility.
2. Try to match the person to the task.
3. Remember that the person performing the task may not do it as well as you do it.
4. Build the person's confidence by assigning a low-risk project at first.
5. Let delegates put their own spin on the assignment.
6. When communicating the assignment, use vocabulary that's easily understood.
7. Keep tabs on what you delegate.
8. Give a due date for the assignment

If you have anything to add then do add.....

Challenges for HR Professionals in the Knowledge Industry

• Challenges for HR Professionals in the Knowledge Industry
  
  “Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success”
  Introduction:
  
  The new millennium is here & this is definitely not a bad time for professionals to gear themselves up and think about the future, their future! It is time to plan, envision, prioritize and set goals for the new millennium.
  
  But what is wrong even if we remain the way we are at present. Do we really need to change? If so, what is that which should change and to what extent? Are we referring to the entire reengineering of HR? These are a few questions, which we should pose to ourselves and attempt to answer.
  
  HR as a strategic partner
  HR strategy emanating from the Business strategy
  HR’s growing role in the competitive environment
  Impact of Information technology on HR
  
  S/W professionals compensation as the major challenge of future
  
  The manpower scarcity
  Training & Development
  Revamping and improvement of its major functions like Performance Appraisal, Training & Development etc.
  Emergence of predominantly knowledge workers
  The emerging picture:
  The result is a picture of HR and the work environment in the year 2000 that's decidedly upbeat and confident in the status and influence of HR professionals. Although we paint a picture of HR taking a tangential path, or rather an altogether U-turn, taking completely unexpected twists and turns, it has its roots in reality.

As mankind progressed and the standard of living improved, these traditional motivators changed. Employees were now considered as thinking and rational beings capable of making decisions. It was assumed that humans made decisions in a way so as to increase their state of general well being. Various behavioral scientists investigated the relationship between cause and effect, stimulus and response and came up with various motivational theories. The role of HR was to devise various schemes and policies so as to channelize the employees’ behavior along a desired path. The immediate response to this could be that there are some jobs, which are inherently boring, routine and uninspiring. This however is not true. It is the context in which one sees the job, which is more important than the content of the job itself. It is a matter of common experience that when we consider .
ourselves as working towards a significant goal, even the most dull tasks become meaningful and inspiring.
Today’s company should consist of fast, flexible and dynamic teams of enthusiastic, motivated, creative and fully self – expressed people. In such a context the team spirit amongst the members will greatly enhance satisfaction on the job.
A new Challenge for us
The challenge is not just in terms of updating technologies but also in terms of keeping young workforce motivated and challenged at all time. This breed of young and energetic individuals is challenging a lot of the time-tested theories of employee recruitment, staffing, motivation and general HR practices. There are lots of challenges while recruiting these young bloods. They are as under:
Attract people with multidimensional experiences and skills.
Infuse fresh blood in the organization.
Develop a culture that attracts people.
Design entry pay that competes on quality and not quantum.
Anticipate and find people for positions that do not exist yet
Hence it follows that the role of HR will be: -
· To develop fully "self–expressed" individuals.
· To enable and facilitate their effective participation in teams.
Emotional Intelligence
We are not able to harness the best from our employees because we are not able to care for their emotional needs. One of our key focus areas in the current year is to enhance the emotional intelligence of our people. Without it a person can have the best training in the world, an incisive, analytical mind and an endless supply of smart ideas, but he won’t make a leader. Smart people are no more the ones with high IQ; they are the ones with High EQ.
It has been noticed that there is high co-relation between Emotional Intelligence and effective performance. Persons who have high Emotional Intelligence has following characteristics:
Good Interpersonal Relations
Independence
Highly driven & Motivated
Emphatic
Self Driven & Managed
The survey conducted by Daniel Goleman of 188 companies of large and global sizes reveals the following: -
Emotional Intelligence proves to be twice as important as other job related factors.
Emotional Intelligence played increasingly important role at the highest level of the company.
Star performer has higher Emotional Intelligence capabilities.
90% of the performers attributed to Emotional Intelligence rather than cognitive factors.
Balancing work and personal life
Balancing work and personal life is a significant area of concern for us. We believe that achieving the right balance between the work place and home is crucial to the efficient running of our organization. Incidentally the findings of a recent survey done on 2500 highest-ranking MBA's from B-schools in Europe and USA, management graduates also identified balancing personal life and work life as their top most career objective.
Change Advocate
Now there is need for HR professionals to work as change advocate. Change advocates are those factors that are responsible for bringing the change in the individual behavior patterns. For being a better change advocate we have to be extrovert, possess considerable interpersonal skills, have to be creative and take risks and have to be good in organizing activities. The following are the characteristics that an HR professional should have in order to be

a better change advocate:
a)Homophily : Degree of closeness and similarity between the employee and us. The closer the relationship, the easier and more successful the change.
b)Empathy : We should be capable enough to understand feeling, emotions and thoughts of the employees. Sincere understanding leads to improved communication between the two, which will be helpful in bringing the change.
c)Proximity : Easy access to each other.
d)Structuring : We should have proper and clear planning of all activities that are related to change. If they are planned properly than the change is easier.
e)Openness: Degree of openness would considerably affect the outcome of the program.
f) Reward: Members expect that the change will bring potential benefits. These rewards should be for both in the short run as well as in the long run. It is up to us to inform the employees about the same.
Strategic Partner

Human resource will have to play a substantial role in the business. In order to perform this role HR professionals should have:


a) Thorough Knowledge of business as well as of Human resource functions.
b) The ability to lead any change process, innovation, problem solving etc.
c) The leadership ability to influence the organization.

Human Touch
To have better HRD practices into the organization, it is important to have a conductive atmosphere. Quality of work life is one of the most important factors that lead to such conductive factors. According to me this will lead to an atmosphere of good interpersonal relations and highly motivated employees who strive for their development. Though monetary benefits still occupy the first place in the list of motivational factors but others should not be ignored like: job restructuring and job redesign, career development, promotional opportunities etc.

In our industry Human resource is the vital resource as they are our raw material and it is our responsibility that we should take care of them. I think that whatever company does for the welfare of its people should have human touch in it. Gone are the days when candidates use to change jobs just for salary, now what they are looking for is what companies are offering beyond salary. This can be easily justified from the fact that most of the IT companies are concentrating more on the non-financial benefits.

We should plan to have get - together to celebrate achievements made by teams and individuals. B'day's gift to be given. dinner coupon on their marriage anniversary. Flexi time, paid vacation, cards/ mail to recognize personal achievement, appreciation letter, outing of project team at the end of the successful completion of the project, free health check-up, canteen facility, recreation room etc.. These activities will definitely motivate employees to work with full concentration which inturn will increase their efficiency. We need to increase the credibility of HR within the organization that can be done by:

a) Being accurate in all HR work
b) Being predictable and maintaining consistency
c) Meeting commitment to do what we say on time and within specified budget
d) Being personally comfortable with peers, subordinates and superiors.

I believe that the Human Being is the most underutilized resource and a large amount of human potential lies untapped. By understanding human beings and providing the appropriate environment it is possible to harness that latent power within the human being, which will make all the difference between success and failure in the time to come, the power of the human spirit.

The main objective of this article is to focus our attention on that primary aspect which is the very cause of the existence of HR --- The Human Being.

Employee Engagement

Employee Engagement



A positive attitude held by the employee towards the organisation and its values. An engaged employee works with colleagues to improve performance within the job for the benefit of the organisation. The organisation must work to develop and nurture engagement, which requires a two-way relationship between employer and employee.

Employee engagement is a partnership between a company and its employees

Most organizations today realize that a satisfied employee is not necessarily the best employee in terms of loyalty and productivity. It is only an ENGAGED EMPLOYEE who is intellectually and emotionally bound with the organization who feels passionate about its goals and is committed towards its values thus he goes the extra mile beyond the basic job. Employee engagement is a powerful retention strategy. An engaged employee gives his company his 100 percent. When employees are effectively and positively engaged with their organization, they form an emotional connection with the company. Employee engagement is a barometer that determines the association of a person with the organisation. It is about creating the passion among associates to do things beyond what is expected from him.

EMPLOYEE ENGEGEMENT starts right at the selection stage:



**Choosing the right fit, giving a realistic job preview
**Strong induction and orientation programme
**To keep up the morale of people and drive them towards excellent performance through recognition letters, profit sharing schemes, long performance awards etc. **Regular feedback to all people
**Communication forums like the in-house magazine, and regular surveys and conferences
**By helping to maintain the quality of work-life and a balance between personal/professional lives, there are recreational activities like festivities, get-togethers, sports etc.
**An open and transparent culture to empower its people.
**The result of these practices can be evident through the regular feedback from our employees collected through surveys,

Diagnostic tool for employee engagement include the following



- training - development - career - performance appraisals - performance management - communication - equal opportunity - fair treatment - pay - benefits - health - safety - cooperation - family orientation - friendliness - job satisfaction which helps to create - feeling valued and involved which is - ENGAGEMENT.

Factors for Higher Employee Engagement
Here is a list of some contributing factors:
Understanding of corporate goals/mission
Understanding of job and how it contributes to overall corporate goals
Clear communication of goals, expectations, directions
Job design
Job fit
Support and tools
Independence & innovation
Relationship with boss/direct reports
Clear feedback on performance
Recognition
Learning and development opportunities
Opportunities for advancement
Pride in organization
Employee input
Employee involvement in decision making
Work-life balance
Workplace culture/morale
Co-worker relationships/good team environment (enjoy colleagues)
Fair HR practices

Measuring the Impact of Employee Engagement






SOME USEFUL COMPANY ENGAGEMENT PROGRAMS COULD INCLUDE
A daily column, written by Directors, Chairman, on the intranet with company announcements / programs etc.
Online real-time tracking of progress. Employees can view company progress towards targets / goals.
Provide long term strategic vision for business growth.
Employee suggestion systems / quick responses.
Weekly blog related to serious business issues and staff to read / comments.


Questions to Measure Employee Engagement

· Do you know what is expected of you at work?
· Do you have the materials and equipment you need to do your work right?
· At work, do you have the opportunity to do what you do best every day?
· In the last seven days, have you received recognition or praise for doing good work?
· Does your supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about you as a person?
· Is there someone at work who encourages your development?
· At work, do your opinions seem to count?
· Does the mission/purpose of your company make you feel your job is important?
· Are your associates (fellow employees) committed to doing quality work?
· Do you have a best friend at work?
· In the last six months, has someone at work talked to you about your progress?
· In the last year, have you had opportunities at work to learn and grow?

We can also have a HR folder or an intranet for employees have you have sections like motivation stories, quotes, Support grievances jokes, etc... Some entertainment for employees

KEY EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT OUTCOME METRICS - EMPLOYEE RETENTION - COMPANY PERFORMANCE - CUSTOMER SATISFACTION - PROFITABILITY

collected Articles - Vinay Ravindran (9866254387)

Designing Lesson Plan

Designing the course involves actually deciding on a plan of action, i.e. a lesson or session plan. This provides you with the orderly procedures for conducting or facilitating a session efficiently. It should not be long (two pages at the most) but should be complete and practical. It should be written or sectioned in a format that is helpful and meaningful to you, the trainer, and it should give you confidence—not only is it proof that you have prepared adequately, but it is your 'prop' if you need it.

The main points of a session plan include:

• topic
• objectives—the key part
• time required and timings
• learning methods
• audio-visual aids required
• questions for checking and review
• assignment (s) and references

The importance of planning cannot be overemphasized, however experienced you are. Part of the planning process is mental and part is written. Generally, the more inexperienced we are, the more we tend to feel the need to develop written session plans, which give us confidence and serve as a guide to move the learning along in an orderly fashion.

A series of session plans will constitute your course and are useful because they:

• plan for a smooth transition from previous sessions to new material
• ensure sequential and adequate presentation of material
• offer time controls
• provide for proper use of methods, aids and equipment
• establish a record of material presented and training accomplished
• serve as a guide to the trainer so that important points are not omitted
• help to avoid attempted detours by students and keep you on schedule (if appropriate).

The session plan is your guide and script. It should be flexible to accommodate interruptions, questions and the lack of understanding on the part of the learners. Departures from the written plan can be expected as the learners fail to understand some aspect of the work, become interested in a particular part of the session, or contribute to the session from their own experiences. Sometimes a teaching plan may be used over and over again with the occasional minor revision to adjust to changing needs and situations.

There are numerous types of standardized lesson or session plans that can be used. Many trainers have adopted one to suit their own situations. Below is one session plan form that can be modified according to your own situation.

• Topic:
• Time and length:
• Learning objective (s):
• Group/Class/Target audience:
• Student preparation:
• Teaching aids required:
• Materials for student use:
• Handouts required:
• Evaluation:
• Lesson outline:

a) Timing
b) Key points
c) Delivery sequence
d) Briefing for following assignment

The key to any session plan is the listing of objectives. Always keep these in your mind and consider the behavior that your learners will be capable of at the end of the session which they were not capable of at the start. This will not only help you focus more clearly, but also help you recognize when the desired changes or results have been accomplished. If you are unsure of what to expect as a result of your session, you are less likely to know if it happened.

No session plan is perfect and so always consider ways to improve it. Always review it and do so soon after the event while it is still fresh in your mind. The session plan is your tool to help you—beforehand to prepare, during the lesson to help conduct a successful learning experience, and afterwards to evaluate whether you achieved your objectives.