HR Transformation Asia conference 10-11 march 2015 , Sentosa, Singapore
South East Asia HR Summit 2015, 7-8 may 2015, KL, Malaysia.
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
Monday, December 22, 2014
Asian HRM awards
HRM Asia has announced the finalists for the HRM awards 2015. You can see further information of this on the link given here.
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
More blogs on my LinkedIn
I have been trying to do justice to this blog as well as post articles on LinkedIn. It will be grateful if you can kindly visit my LinkedIn profile to check if I have posted any new blogs there.
Wednesday, August 13, 2014
CREATING A CREDIBLE HR ORGANISATION
pic from http://virtualmarketingofficer.com/ |
Very often we
have heard of why people hate HR. One of the recent ones which shocked me was an
article that appeared in HBR written by Ram Charan who is one of the leading
thinkers in the management space. His books which recently has been very focused
on people related issues ( The Execution
, Game Changers, Talent Masters etc)
have been a great value add for any people manager. However I would not be
surprised at why he or many others are frustrated with HR, although I felt that
a sweeping statement like “ Its time to say goodbye to the department of human
resources” may have been misread by many people.
As it is
often said in public policies that “ the people get the governments they desire”,
it is true about human resources and its leadership too. Most often the HR
departments that people get in many organisations is what the CEO’s , the
management and the employees really
desire to have. Once a very senior CHRO told a group of us that he wants to
bring in “GE practices at Wal-Mart budgets”. His intentions were absolutely
nobles, but guess what-it’s not possible. It’s not possible because GE and
Walmart are two different organisation having an entirely different
purpose. Wal-Mart’s mission statement is
"We save people money, so they can live
better". Now this means the HR department there will have to
function different from GE which works on four principle of Imagine, Build,
Solve and Lead. So in effect what you get from your HR department is what you
really want ,and in all honesty that is what every company should aim for. Getting
the right employees who finds a purpose to work for these companies is the value add that HR can bring , but it
should be noted that there cannot and may not be similar HR practices that will
be followed in these companies who serve different purposes.
Dave Ulrich has countered many people including Ram Charan when they say
it’s time to bid goodbye to HR using his 20-60-20 rule where he says one should
focus on “educating” the 60% of the HR
folks who needs to move up the scale. I fully agree with Dave on this as I believe
that it is this 60% of HR folks who needs to up skill and grow themselves to be
true champions of business. I have myself encountered situations where I have
at times doubted the value of HR , but then I guess rather than doubting the
value add of HR I should probably be doubting whether it’s just the case
of trying to fit a square peg in a round
hole.
There is always a huge proportion of so called HR folks who are doing administrative
services. Many business leaders may not
even be aware of the existence of these folks
who are actually the skeletal structure of the organisation but without them
the organisations cannot function. Then there is the middle managers who interact
on a day to day basis with business leaders and coordinate things between the administrative
part of HR and business folks. They are a highly visible role and this is where
I would put the 60% that Dave referred to who may create an “impression” of HR
and needs to up skill. These set of people along with the senior most HR
leaders in the organisation should have one main competency that is essential
for HR credibility and I would put that as “ entrepreneurial skills”. These
skills should make you fit in exactly into the purpose of an organisation and
if your entrepreneurial skills don’t fit into the company’s purpose of
existence then you would have to find one that fits you so that credibility is
not compromised.
It is important for business managers and HR professionals to have a
real understanding and dialogue of what HR “should” mean to them. This would
help the organisation have a right fit as I have seen often that there is a
disconnect between what you really want vs what you are willing to invest
especially when it comes to people. This
would help ensure that you can hire the right kind of HR leader and she/ he can can in turn design
an HR organisation which really is made of the kind of people who is inclined
to support the purpose and mission of your organisation.
Monday, May 19, 2014
IS YOUR MANUFACTURING UNIT A " COOL PLACE" TO WORK?
While having a recent
focus group discussion with some of our senior managers who manage the
operations, one of them told me how companies are getting too focused on
technology and process innovation that they forget about the key element of a
shop floor- "The People". I could not agree more to it as over and
over again we see instances of factories being classified as places which
require the lowest level of skills and hence needing the least attention as far
as people are concerned.
But is this true and even if it is true can you do away with having the least focus on them?
There was a time when labour force at factories were taken for granted and were treated as inventories which were easily replaceable. This was predominantly done for two reasons
1) Less turnover.
2) Industrial era mindset of managers.
3) Lack of knowledge on learning retention of employees.
All these 3 points are inter related. Anyone who has run manufacturing especially in most Asian countries would admit that attrition has now become a key concern on the shop floor. I am not even going into the percentage of attrition but the cost of attrition if calculated properly ( as i have done for one of my previous employers) could be as high as a million USD per month!!!. Also manufacturing jobs are no longer seen as being "cool" by the younger generation and hence finding the candidates itself is not easy. As per recent statistics 75% of your work force by 2025 would be gen Y, so you better make your workplace "cool" enough.
Most managers who used to dominate the shop floor till some time ago used to run factories like running a military camp. Though there was and in some cases still a need to have strict discipline in factories , the younger generation who has much awareness of the world around them would not like to be treated like in a camp. After all they are not fighting a war, they are merely working for their livelihood.
Also , there was a mindset about the employees on the production floor as easily replaceable and not considered part of knowledge retention and innovation. This is gradually shifting too as we see more push for reduction of total manufacturing cost ( TMC) and other elements for companies to compete. If given a chance the workorce @ the shop floor would play a significant role in these areas.
Contrary to popular belief , my experience is that the shop floor folks are the easiest to be satisfied and their needs are sometimes very basic. Here are a few things that you may find very simple but easy to implement irrespective of any culture.
But is this true and even if it is true can you do away with having the least focus on them?
There was a time when labour force at factories were taken for granted and were treated as inventories which were easily replaceable. This was predominantly done for two reasons
1) Less turnover.
2) Industrial era mindset of managers.
3) Lack of knowledge on learning retention of employees.
All these 3 points are inter related. Anyone who has run manufacturing especially in most Asian countries would admit that attrition has now become a key concern on the shop floor. I am not even going into the percentage of attrition but the cost of attrition if calculated properly ( as i have done for one of my previous employers) could be as high as a million USD per month!!!. Also manufacturing jobs are no longer seen as being "cool" by the younger generation and hence finding the candidates itself is not easy. As per recent statistics 75% of your work force by 2025 would be gen Y, so you better make your workplace "cool" enough.
Most managers who used to dominate the shop floor till some time ago used to run factories like running a military camp. Though there was and in some cases still a need to have strict discipline in factories , the younger generation who has much awareness of the world around them would not like to be treated like in a camp. After all they are not fighting a war, they are merely working for their livelihood.
Also , there was a mindset about the employees on the production floor as easily replaceable and not considered part of knowledge retention and innovation. This is gradually shifting too as we see more push for reduction of total manufacturing cost ( TMC) and other elements for companies to compete. If given a chance the workorce @ the shop floor would play a significant role in these areas.
Contrary to popular belief , my experience is that the shop floor folks are the easiest to be satisfied and their needs are sometimes very basic. Here are a few things that you may find very simple but easy to implement irrespective of any culture.
- · Walk through the shop floor and make your presence felt , not just for supervision but to be with them.
- · Pass on a genuine smile and greet your employees @ production floor. The higher you are at the organizational ladder the more impact it has. It doesn't cost you a dime too.
- · Make an effort to talk to at least one shop floor employee a day. Ask her/ him about his work ( not questioning please), his/her family or anything that has an emotional currency.
- · Celebrate small wins and make it part of your management system.
- · Find ways to involve and ask them for ideas. Though many factories have employee suggestion schemes, many dont get the desired results as it is often part of a large group brainstorming , lacks follow up or they are simply resistant /scared to express ideas. Break that shell and find creative ways to involve them.
- · Convert the work to passion. Work for most people get monotonous and boring when it is just done for the sake of earning a livelihood. Can you find ways to make these employees passionate about work?. It has been proven that when employees know what the end products are and how it is being used ( hopefully for something good) , they tend to get emotionally engaged rather than just getting rationally engaged with their work and the company.
- · Make your shop floors look attractive. I am sure we all have heard of sweatshops. Unfortunately many still do exists and even if they are not sweatshops they resemble a boring , disconnected and tired look. For example why do most factories need to be white in colour.
There
are many other variable factors involved in engaging your workforce @ shop
floor/manufacturing and there is no one size fits all solution. Taking personal
ownership, being creative etc in leading the engagement can make a huge
difference in making your manufacturing unit a " cool place" to work
at.
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Behind every successful leader is an even more successful team in the front
When i write this the first thought i have is of the humble experience
of having worked with some awesome people who have been in my team. As leaders
move ahead and grow in their careers there , amongst the many factors that made
them successful, the one that stands tall and in the forefront is
"THE TEAM" that they have been part of. As the saying goes " you
are only as good as you team", i would take it one step further and say
that you are " only good because of your team". A team can be a
combination of one or more people who have worked together with you as a leader
and it can be your direct reports and the people who have worked for them, your
peers , your bosses and everyone who were part of your work. One of my
former boss Ronald once told me that whenever i recruit i should aim for
someone better than me, which has always left a lasting impression in my mind
because it shows the determination of a leader who is fully secure about
himself and has the courage to build a team who can challenge him/her. Many a
times i have been asked in conferences and round table discussions of how you
can be certain that you have a good team. Here is a few quick checklist that
may give you an idea if your team is the one who is going to make you
successful.
·
Do you have a team which comprises of people who you
can be better than you one day if they are in your role?
·
Do you have a team which is ready to challenge you
privately and support you openly?
·
Do you have a team which is diverse enough?
·
Does your team feel that you stand up for them and
take care of them when they really need you?
·
Are you value adding to your team?
Though the above may not fully
describe a team which is going to make you, if you do well in most of these
areas you are surely on the right track to building a team which is going is
going to lead from the front for your success.
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
ARE YOU A RACE HORSE OR A WORK HORSE?
Have you
seen some of your staff or even yourself trying to keep busy all the day
@ work? . This typically is the behavior of a work horse who would give meaning
to the Parkinson's law which states that "work
expands so as to fill the time available for its completion". But is this a
productive behavior?. It certainly creates a perception of hard working
employee and in industrial era was appreciated and rewarded. This might have
got you or even now would bring you a job stability ( unless you don't end up
doing something really miserable) , but this is not what would be needed to for
you to grow to being a leader or taking on higher responsibilities.
For that what you need is a race
horse , someone who goes beyond the norms of a normal work, breaks the barriers
and doesn't count the time he/ she or their team spends in the office. For this
kind of a person it's all about performance and not about being afraid of
having too much time in hand( which anyways won't get wasted). This person may
make you feel that work is so simple and that things in office can be multitasked.
The problem is that these people are normally considered still as outcasts
or hackers of work as described by Bill and Josh in their book" Hacking
Work". Companies who don't allow internet access for
their employees, having strict uniform guidelines etc are the
ones who are afraid of these race horses.
Race horse at work are rare and as a
company you need to have exceptional skills to locate and nurture them or else
they would either become a workhorse or get poached by someone who values these
race horses. As you have more of the new gen making up your workforce, there is
a higher need for understanding the needs of these "faster"
generation and giving them the right opportunity to grow. The choice is also
for you as an individual to be a race horse and get taken care and rewarded( of
course in the right organisation) or be a workhorse and be treated just like
anyone else.
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