The fear of job loss has started affecting employees across all industries. With the Satyam fiasco, this fear has taken new dimensions. Employees are stressed out and this is bound to affect productivity.
The recent times have seen recession taking a toll on the Indian economy, especially for industries like IT and ITes whose work is directly affected by the US economic meltdown. Layoffs and the fear of job loss has started affecting employees across all industries. With the debacle of major IT firm Satyam, this fear has taken new dimensions. Employees are stressed out and this in the long run, is bound to affect their productivity, which may spell even more problems for the economy. Moreover, constant job-related stress can put people at risk for various emotional and physical disorders. Here are some tips that you may find handy in combating such job-related stress.
Set realistic goals and expectations at work: Take a stock of available resources such as time, manpower, infrastructure etc. to accomplish all necessary tasks. Also whenever and wherever possible, delegate, prioritize or schedule tasks in a manner that allows extra time for their completion.
Resolve conflicts: Conflict in work teams is not necessarily destructive, however it needs to be sorted out in a positive way, such as by talking in an objective, non-accusatory manner, calmly, politely and rationally. Focus on the situation and facts, avoiding gossip and personal attacks.
Balancing one’s personal and work time: All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Achieving this balance is very important because being constantly focused on work can end up lowering workplace productivity due to burnout from overwork. Take an occasional break, spend your weekends with your family to re-charge yourself.
Handling stress with right Attitude: “ To let stress dictate your life and chase out the enjoyment is like letting a foe dictate your schedule and forbid you to enjoy your work, family and friends.” Maintain a positive attitude. Read good books and be in the company of positive thinking friends, practice and enjoy good humour.
Maintain a healthy lifestyle: This includes eating a nutritious, well-balanced diet, getting proper sleep and engaging in exercise as recommended by a physician. Also, avoid too much caffeine or alcohol or smoking.
Practicing relaxation: Techniques, such as breathing exercises, meditation, yoga, massage therapy, reflexology or attending a lecture / satsang can help reduce stress and improve positive energy.
Look for an alternative: Finally, if things in the present work place can not be changed, know that it is the time to look for another job, especially if it can help in reducing job-related stress as well as increase personal happiness and satisfaction.
These tips work very well in mild stress cases. However, for extreme cases, it is recommended that individuals seek professional help such as consult a doctor, a psychiatrist or other mental health professionals.
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Managing job related stress
Performance development plan
A performance development plan focuses on enhancing the performance levels of the employees. It provides additional motivation to exceed the targets assigned. It assists in setting goals and provides the direction to attain them.
A performance development plan focuses on enhancing the performance levels of the employees. It provides additional motivation to exceed the targets assigned. It assists in setting goals and provides the direction to attain them. A well-defined Performance Development Plan is important from an organization’s point of view as the growth of the company depends highly on how the employees perform.
Certain factors that should be considered while defining performance development are: What is a good job? How long will it take to achieve it? What is the acceptable degree of accuracy required? What are the budget considerations? What results would be considered satisfactory? How is good performance differentiated from a poor one?
Performance Management is definitely a vital component in the manager – employee relationship. Successful system ensures open, honest and productive work environment. The key features of performance management system are:
It is a constant process that starts during the hiring process and continues for a year.
It includes strategy formulation, task allocation, review and evaluation of work and determining the potential.
It encourages employees to achieve assigned targets, It offers them a chance to take part in the performance development plan formulation and assists them in their development.
It gives a chance to managers and employees to openly discuss issue of performance expectations and evolve a plan for meeting the organizational expectations.
A performance development plan highlights areas requiring improvement; assesses the current performance and analyzes its impact on the organization; shows the way to enhance the performance and identifies the potential of the employees. In determining performance standards one should take the following process into consideration:
Define the short term goal: This is as per the department. For e.g., in a production department it would imply enhancing the production targets. It also takes into consideration improvement of skills and knowledge.
Define long term goal: This involves quarterly or annual goal setting. The process of reviewing these goals should also be chalked out.
Find out the requirement of resources and the need for training: This also involves budgetary concerns. Start by finding out the areas that require improvement. This can be done either by in-house trainers or external agencies.
It imperative to clearly highlight the incentives for achieving the process. It rewards and recognizes the employees.
Documentation is an important element: Every plan made should be recorded for future reference.
Thus, a performance development plan should be clearly developed taking all the above mentioned pointers into consideration and should aim at performance improvement in the pre-determined period.
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Preparing well for your maternity leave
Having a baby is a wonderful thing but if you are a working woman, you have to plan well in advance for a smooth return to work. What are the tips to aid you in this difficult phase of life? Have a look at these.
Confirmation of pregnancy is great news and as you start making plans for the new baby, make sure you have a plan ready for your office too.You will definitely have a lot of things to manage before you go on leave. Right from breaking the news to your boss to managing complete detachment from office, to informing the return date – there are many things that need to be tackled smartly and hence, the preparations should begin early. How does one handle this situation?
A mom-to-be: Obviously, you’ll be skeptical, it’s likely to ring in more worry than happiness at work. Here are some things that you need to manage, soon after you spell the news.
Decide on a time-line: Let the concerned people know the date till which you would like to continue working. Some women work right up to their delivery but some like to begin the leave a little early to prepare for the road ahead. Hence, spelling out the exact date is important unless some unforeseen event happens. Never be vague about the return date even if you aren’t sure about returning to work. Make that clear from the beginning, so that your employer is not left in the lurch.
Sort it all for colleagues: Your leave will certainly impact work and therefore also impact your colleagues who might need to handle it in your absence. So, figure out who will handle your work in your absence and sit with him/her for a thorough knowledge transfer. Share all the relevant details so that nothing obstructs the workflow in your absence. Always keep your boss in the loop.
Know your rights: Know your company policies and how you’ll be paid during the leave. Manage your leaves and finances accordingly. Also, have the information regarding emergency handling and medical insurance on your finger tips and do inform your spouse of the same.
A new mom: Setting aside the initial euphoria of holding the baby for the first time, it's time to take hard professional decisions.
Set limits of contact while on leave: By all means, keep in touch, but set limits to restore sanity with the tribulations of new motherhood. Make sure you attend to the queries of your colleagues either through e-mail or phone but only at a particular time of the day/week, as per your convenience.
Know the point of contact: If you have any problem, make sure you have a point of contact in office, who can give you clarity on all fronts.
Getting back to work: With too much to do, this is undoubtedly a difficult phase.
Coming back: During this transition period, decide how you'll like to get back to work. If the company permits, you may want to take a half day or avail of work from home option for some time. Though these days flexible work arrangements are encouraged, you should be ready to negotiate well in advance.
By planning better, you’ll be able to manage your priorities on the personal as well as professional life. Though a tough balancing act, learn to enjoy your new motherhood despite the work pressure. You shall soon be surprised at the new energy and enthusiasm in you.
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7 tips to make trainings work
Regular trainings are important for continuous employee development and improved productivity. More so, in these troubled times of recession. What can you do to make your trainings work for the organisation?
With recession impacting almost all the organisations, there is a focus on improving the effectiveness of the employees resulting in lower costs and higher productivity. When it comes to improving performance, nothing works like proper training. However, we have all known cases where trainings have failed to make the impact that they were expected to make. For a training to work, it is necessary to plan it properly and implement it well. Here are some tips that will help you plan and implement trainings in your organization in a better manner.
Assess needs carefully: Plan your trainings based on a careful needs analysis. Try to assess the kind of skills that the organisation will need for successful completion of its projects and see where the employees stand in terms of skills. Then, understand what kind of trainings the employees think will be required to take them to the required level.
Clearly define objectives: After analysing the needs carefully, design the objectives of the training. The objectives should try to take into consideration all the points derived from the needs analysis. They should define the starting point and the end objective of the training and everything in between. This helps in ensuring that the training in targeted and never loses focus.
Create context and set expectations: Inform the employees in advance about the training and why the company thinks it is important for them. Tell them the expected outcome of the trainings and what kind of performance improvement would be expected out of them after the training. Ensure that you let the employees know that the training is their own responsibility and the knowledge addition will help them in their career growth.
Provide pre-training material and be ready with post-training material: The pre-training material can act as a refresher on the current skills for the employees. It can also be used to transfer new knowledge so that the trainees know what to expect and be prepared with their queries and doubts. Moreover, you can also use pre-training questionnaires to gauge the current situation and plan the training accordingly. Also, create post-training reading material so that the trainees can refer to them, when required.
Assess the trainees and give feedback: Assess the trainees to know how effective the training has been. The assessment method could range from play-acting, multiple choice answers to case studies. Based on the assessment, give feedback to the trainees about improvement and focus areas. The assessment results would provide useful insights towards what was good and what needs improvement.
Take feedback: Take feedback from the attendees about the positives and negatives of the training. This will help you understand what went well and what did not, and based on the feedback, you can look at making the next training better.
Assess real life training effectiveness: Enable and entrust the supervisors the responsibility to check the difference the training has made on the employee performance. Check if the training has brought about any changes in the work behaviour and productivity. This will help you understand the effectiveness of the trainings in real life and make improvements, if required.
Improved productivity and work quality is the key to handling the current situation. Ensure that the employees are properly trained to handle crisis and come out of it smiling through improved skill sets and higher quality of work.
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Tips for being an inspirational leader
Confused about ways to keep the team motivated and inspired? Well, to be able to do so, you will have to imbibe the qualities of an inspirational leader and lead by example.
The methods and ways of providing effective leadership to team members have changed over a couple of years. Various leadership strategies and methods have evolved with time. However, one thing that has not changed and probably never will is the importance associated with the leader being able to provide effective and motivational leadership to the followers and inspire them to achieve goals.
So, what is it that makes an inspirational leader? Given here are some qualities of an inspirational leader that any professional will need to inculcate in himself/herself to be successful as a leader.
Passionate: An effective leader has to be passionate about work, team members, vision and mission of the organisation. Only a passionate leader can sprinkle and spread the passion to the team members and inspire them to perform better. The leader’s belief in the vision and mission of the company is critical for enabling others to understand what is expected of them and help them perform according to the goals set for them.
Visionary: All great leaders have been great visionaries. As a good leader, you must be able to see what the future holds for the organisation and the workers and work towards making life better for everyone around. He/she must be able to align his interests with the company’s interests and push people to deliver their best.
Patient listener: Another important thing that a good leader should have is patient listening. Your team members may be going through multiple problems ranging from issues at workplace to personal problems. As a patient listener, you will be able to understand what is affecting performance and then take steps to correct them, before things go out of hand. Moreover, the team members may have multiple ideas and suggestions and listening to them may give you a brilliant business idea and make the team members feel important.
Trustworthy: To be a successful leader whom people want to follow, it is important to be trustworthy. If a leader is not trustworthy, obviously the team members will not want to follow him/her. The followers must believe in their leader, his/her vision and mission to be able to follow and deliver results. As such, a leader needs to be a highly principled person, personally and professionally.
Understanding: To be successful as leader, it is important to understand your follower’s needs and provide them what they need. The needs can vary from growth path to training. A good leader is one who is able to extract these needs from the team member and make arrangements to fulfill them, as per the person’s capabilities. Even if the needs are such that cannot be met due to organisational limitations, you must be able to give them satisfactory answers. A leader who understands the followers’ needs is always a motivational factor for his/her followers.
A leader always takes care of his/her followers and makes them feel included and important. Also, it is imporatnt for a leader to be able to lead by examples and provide motivation to the followers by working hard to achieve goals. A leader is born only through hard work and knowledge and should be able to impart these values to the followers.
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4 simple personal development tips
Personal development is not just about attending trainings or going back to studies. It is about identifying the factors that can hamper growth and controlling them. It is also about developing your motivation and personality.
According to Oscar Wilde, “The aim of life is self-development. To realize one's nature perfectly - that is what each of us is here for.”
The same applies to your career also. You have to constantly try and upgrade yourself, your skill set, your motivation etc to keep going. People complain that with busy schedules, they find it difficult to work on self development. However, personal development is not only about attending trainings or going back to studies. We present a list of some easy tasks that can contribute a lot to your personal development.
Develop a healthy lifestyle and appearance: A healthy body and brain is the pre-requisite to personal development. So, eat, sleep and exercise well. Also, spend some time taking care of the way you look. Your appearance gives you confidence and motivation and helps develop your personality.
Eliminate time and energy wasters and clutter: All of us indulge in one or more activities at work that not only waste time but also drain energy, leaving us with less time and energy to do more meaningful things. These activities can include surfing the Internet aimlessly, gossiping etc. Take control of these activities before they become habits. Identify these time and energy wasters and avoid them as much as possible. You can start by clearing that clutter of papers and files on your desk and cleaning your computer and inbox.
De-stress your life: Work on removing strain and stress from your life. Resolve your conflicts, maintain a positive attitude, read motivational books and plan your work well. You may still find it difficult to avoid stress, given the current economic scenario. However, identify your stress factors and work towards rectifying them.
Enhance your skillset: Use whatever free time you have in hand to enhance your knowledge and skill set. Enroll for a distance learning course, study at home or when you get free time at work; and add extra degrees to your resume. You can also read books and surf the internet to keep yourself updated about the latest happenings in your field of work.
These simple tasks can go a long way in developing your personality. They not just help you control your work, your life and your surroundings but also pave way for your career growth and personal satisfaction.
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Workplace learning most valued by employers
Every workplace provides opportunities for learning if only one is willing to seek them. Read about some work experiences that employers look for in their workforce as well as future employees.
You will be far more useful in production than in human resources, I am issuing a transfer order,” said the General Manager of the plant where I was working 20 years back. I was an ‘HR specialist’ who had just joined this plant after completing my two year specialization in HR from a reputed institute. The transfer order to production department, at one stroke, threatened to wipe out whatever market value I had acquired after doing my specialized course. “If I wanted to be in production, I would not have joined human resources,” I said to myself. However, in those days, it took some time to get an alternate job and while waiting for the right opportunity outside the organization, I had no choice but to move to production. Very soon I was training workmen in the coil making section of high tension motors. In spite of myself, I got interested in the manufacturing process and before long we managed to double the output of coils being produced in this section.
I stayed on with the organization and eventually was moved back to HR, but in one of my next job interviews in a consulting firm, I was recruited, not because of my knowledge in human resources, but because of my cross-functional exposure, which I could leverage in business process re-engineering projects that they did for clients.
What I thought was a professional disaster (transfer to production) turned out to be the biggest investment in my development. If you have worked for some length of time, like me, you too will have many examples of valuable learning that come out of unanticipated and often unwelcome situations. The reality is that you may not be working in a great place to work, but you will still have great learning if you are willing to seek it.
What kind of learning is most valued by the best workplaces in their employees, particularly young employees? Here is what I learnt after speaking to some of them.
Domain Knowledge
On one hand, there is a feeling that industry continues to reward shallow performance in industries like IT and ITeS; while on the other hand, there is continued dependence on the west for cutting-edge scientific talent in industries like biopharmaceuticals. The Intel advertisement that says, “Our heroes are different from yours” is a case in point of an organization communicating the need and celebrating super experts in the domain.
Flexibility to cope with different business situations and adaptability
The nature of products and services keep changing all the time. An employee may join the financial services to sell simple products like savings account, but may have to shift to insurance products due to changes in regulations.
Result orientation and execution ability
A quarter is all that one has today to prove his abilities. Any amount of case study analysis in class does not guarantee actual execution skills. Some MBAs might look at job requirements as the ability to motivate a team and delegate work. Very soon, one realizes that you have to get your hands dirty and deliver.
Understand global business environment
What POSCO, the mining and metals multinational has to learn about local conditions in Orissa; Vedanta, an Indian company in the same industry, is learning in Zambia. This also assumes that tomorrow’s sought after employees will be adept at using technology to navigate the real and the virtual world.
Partners in co-creating future business
More organizations, particularly the best workplaces, will encourage employees to co-create new businesses. There will be many more examples like the Kaya Skin Clinic of Marico and Google products like gmail, which are all created as a result of employee entrepreneurship.
To really build your knowledge and skills in the above areas it is not good enough to be more savvy, and sharper in many ways from the preceding generations. It requires professionalism (keeping commitments) and high ethical standards. It also means more maturity and emotional intelligence. Indeed, if you look at any of the popular “reality shows” on television, you will be forgiven for jumping to the conclusion that the opposite is true!
And above all, it requires ability to manage your physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual health and balance.
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5 Must-have leadership traits
What does your CV say about you?
So what does your CV say about you?
Your CV is one of the most important documents that you will ever have to create in your life. And yet, many people spend no more than an hour creating their CV!
Perhaps their CVs are accurate then? Maybe their entire work history can be hastily written in an hour - all their skills, knowledge, qualifications, interests and experience! Or are they just underselling themselves?
Take a step back from your CV
Think about it for a minute. You are giving these few sheets of paper to a complete stranger and hope they will help you change your life! Sure, you know what you meant in that summary you wrote....but do they?
Often, people miss out certain important aspects of their capabilities because they assume that the person reading the CV will know what they meant. But is this the case? Not always.
Try to step back from your CV and think about what you have wrote. Pretend a complete stranger handed it to you and have a think about what your CV really says about you. Consider even passing it to a friend or relative and ask them to read over it.
This is particularly effective with people who don't know much about your profession - chances are the recruiter will know just as little! Well, that usually isn't true, but if you assume it is, then you cover yourself!
Split it up
Take each section of your CV and write in on a separate document and have a look at it on its own. Remember - recruiters will be focusing on individual parts of your CV more than the CV as a whole (it's all new to them - they are reading it and learning about you for the first time).
Another benefit of doing this is that it lets you refine areas of your CV one by one - I don't know about you, but my tendency used to be to jump from section to section, doing little bits here and there. This can lead to your CV having an inconsistent feel.
Do you like what you read?
Having read your CV as if it weren't your own, can you honestly say you liked what you read? Is the person you describe on your CV the kind of person you would hire for the job you are applying for?
What have you missed? What does the person lack that you have?
Summary
Don't just churn out a CV and send it out to apply for jobs. It's a very important part of your job search and if you don't get it right, you will get more practice because you will be applying for lots of jobs!
How to reduce stress at work
Imagine working only four hours a day, nine months a year and earning all the money you need to do exactly what you want with all your free time. Does that sound like your life?
That's the life a futurist of the early 20th Century predicted the average worker would be living by the 21st century.
Yet despite the introduction of many labour-saving devices in the workplace and home, Harvard University Economist Juliet Schor found by the 1990s people were working the equivalent of one month a year more than they did at the end of World War II.
As an example, Schor explained in her book Overworked American: The Unexpected Decline of Leisure how the introduction of automatic washers and dryers resulted in an increase in time spent doing laundry. Laundry that had previously been sent out now stayed home, and standards of cleanliness went up.
Laundry isn't the only task that has grown over the last century.
It seems that whenever a significant new "labour saving" product or service is developed we use it so much our workload actually increases.
After all, wasn't our work supposed to be made easier by voice mail, fax machines, cell phones and email? On the contrary, many of us find we are constantly on-call, frequently interrupted, and overwhelmed with communications that people expect to receive immediate responses to.
That's on top of the already heavy workload existing in most organizations. For an employee, the consequences of this overload can be stress, burnout, and illness. For an employer, it can result in high turnover and poor performance.
Addressing the problem of overwork can help companies keep good employees.
A recent study by AON Consulting found that management recognition of an employee's need to balance work with personal life is one of the top five drivers of employee commitment to a company.
To help overworked employees, managers should be trained to notice signs that employees are overburdened. Such signs include consistently working late, working through lunch, coming to work even when sick, taking work home, rushing to meet very tight deadlines, expressing frustration, and not taking vacations.
Employees who are overwhelmed with work may not always tell you how they feel so make the effort to ask how they are doing. For some employees, having the opportunity to express their concerns and hearing appreciation for their extra effort may help alleviate stress during a temporarily busy period.
If an employee's heavy workload is more than temporary, you can assist them in brainstorming solutions to relieve their situation. And if you are the one who is overworked, you can try some of these solutions yourself. Here are some steps you can take to get your workload under control:
Spend your time working on things that are important.
This may sound obvious, but many of us are tempted to work on easy tasks first so we can have a sense of accomplishment. Time spent on those "easy" tasks can quickly add up, creating even more stress when there does not appear to be enough time left for the important work.
To find out what your time is being spent on, start keeping an "activity log". Every time you start and end a new activity, including taking a break, make note of the time. Most workers who charge by the hour have learned to do this automatically.
If you are not used to tracking your time it may be a bit of an adjustment, but within a few days you should be able to notice any time-wasters you might not have been aware of.
Set daily goals.
When scheduling your time, assume that something unexpected will come up and build in a cushion of time to deal with it. To minimize the stress of meeting self-imposed deadlines, avoid making promises about when tasks will be completed. If you must commit to a date, be conservative. If you consistently under promise and over deliver you could earn a great reputation while reducing your stress.
Aim to meet or even exceed expectations, but don't try to achieve perfection. Wherever possible, delegate routine tasks even if you think you can do them better than someone else.
Unless you are expected to be on call, work on eliminating interruptions. Select a time of day when you will return phone calls and emails. During other times, let your voice mail take messages for you. You can also create an auto reply for your email to let people know their message has been received. If your email says you will respond within 24 hours if a reply is required, it may deter someone from repeatedly trying to contact you in the meantime.
Avoid letting other people's problems become yours.
As Richard Carlson, author of Don't Sweat the Small Stuff at Work, says "If someone throws you the ball you don't have to catch it." Some managers find themselves solving their employees' problems instead of empowering employees to find solutions themselves. When someone comes to you with a problem that isn't yours, try limiting your contribution to advice instead of taking on the task yourself.
When you are feeling overwhelmed, say so. Companies want to keep good employees so most bosses will want to know when you are having difficulty. However, instead of saying "I can't do it," offer some possible solutions.
For example, if you won't be able to get a major report completed by a particular deadline, perhaps you could tell the boss you can either complete a condensed version of the report by the deadline, complete the entire report by a later date, or meet the deadline if you get some help from co-workers or temporary staff.
These techniques probably won't help you enjoy the life of leisure envisioned by those early futurists. But they can cut down on your stress and may make your work both more manageable and more enjoyable.
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