No to Women Boss – ASSOCHAM

Its official now, we prefer male boss over a female boss. ASSOCHAM (The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry in India) recently concluded survey – “Preference of Bosses in Emerging Corporate Culture” which declares that more than 68% men and women prefer male bosses at their work.

The survey result which was based on the 2,500 executives feedback suggest that about 68 percent showed preference for male bosses saying male bosses give more operational freedom at work and are faster in decision-making, while the remaining 32 percent did not have any preference. More interestingly, of the 68 percent executives who voted for male bosses, two-thirds were female. The respondents argued that women approach work with more emotion than men. Also, motherhood and family responsibilities keep them from accomplishing assigned work leading to discontentment among the juniors.

The study also shows that women in the workplace do not just prefer male bosses over female bosses; they also feel more comfortable with male co-workers. Men choices were more evenly split, with 17 percent choosing male co-workers and 16 percent choosing female co-workers.

The survey, which comprised 67 per cent women and 33 per cent men, also found out :

Women have to work twice as hard to prove themselves.
Women picked a male boss rather than a female boss,
More men would rather work for men than women; 50 percent of men chose a male boss and 12 percent picked a female boss
Most women, 77 percent, agree that it is still difficult for women to get ahead in the workplace; only 43 percent of men feels that way.
A majority of women, 56 percent, feel that at one time or another they have been disadvantaged in the workplace because of their gender, while 25 percent of men feel the same way.
The better the bosses, the longer the stability factor is yet another key findings of the survey. On working with strict bosses, majority of the executives said they would opt for an early exist as today there are immense opportunities available

Reference: http://www.assocham.org, Male Bosses in Preference, Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Exit interview is important

In current business environment when attrition rate is high, in few cases like BPO it is as high as 30 percent, companies are curious to know why employees make that final decision.

Human resources departments, to understand the reasons behind attrition conduct exit interviews. These exits interviews help them gather data which are effectively used in improving working conditions and retaining employees. This is an effort to understand why employees leave an organization. Companies across globe are taking exit interviews seriously and making effective changes on the feedback. Some companies are even taking services of specialized HR companies to conduct exit interviews. Interestingly, the outgoing-employees tend to be more open and speak their mind when a third-party conducts exit interview.

Feedback from exit interviews is helping companies come up with systemic remedies. A few basic exit interview questions which are asked by human resources managers:
Why are you leaving?
What did you like least about your position?
What did you like most about your position?
How do you feel about the company operations?
How do you feel about the company management practice?
Under what conditions would you have stayed?
How did you feel about your pay and other benefits?
How did you feel you were managed during your length of employment?

Exit interviews reveal a lot about the culture of a company, the management style, the compensation and opportunities for growth. A hidden purpose is to help employers avoid costly litigation down the road, caused by “disgruntled” employees.

Salary Survey – 2008

The HR function is a critical element for growth of any company. It has become strategic, because capital is now an easily available commodity, but people are not. So, the only constraint to growth is people. And that is a not a new problem for the Indian Industry. Emmay HR and BW have conducted this year’s Salary Survey, comprehensively by covering costs, compensation and benefits across 12 sectors.

Though HR has moved up the value chain, there is still conflict with other functions such as finance and marketing on the importance given to it. The rising importance of HR was first noticed when key professionals were hired or shifted to the function. Many top companies today have HR heads that are top performers and are not necessarily from within the HR function. And it’s happening in the opposite direction as well, with HR heads also moving into business roles in progressive companies. S.V. Krishnan, who headed Satyam Computers’ largest business unit, was chosen to lead Satyam’s HR function in 2007. He replaced Hari T, who moved on to a strategic role as head of marketing.

This changing role of HR in Indian companies has led to a recalibration of budgetary planning.Planning an HR budget? It is a complex job, as there are several new components to it. That level of involvement has come about because an HR budget today has to factor in components such as recruitment costs, retention costs, alternative compensation plans, and employer branding initiatives.

Recruitment costs have gone up immensely. Today, it’s about hiring the right recruitment agency. The cost of hiring such agencies includes a retainer fee and 30 per cent of the new employee’s annual salary. A new component in HR budgets is training cost. Expanding companies are hiring entry-level employees from other sectors. These employees need training before they can be deployed.

The need for training has been driven upon companies due to soaring levels of attrition. Sectors such as IT and BPO have traditionally witnessed 25-35 per cent attrition rate. Nowadays companies also have to invest in employer branding to help attract and retain employees. Wooing employees through offline and mainline media advertising is a new challenge for HR heads in other sectors.

Conclusion

The job market has imposed discipline on companies in terms of planning HR budgets. It has forced them to plan long-term to reduce regular and rising training expenses. Most companies today have in in-house training facilities. The growing companies have realized that they not only need to attract and recruit good talent, but simultaneously build a social architecture that allows these employees to achieve their goals within the company. This seems impossible without a strong HR function and the top management’s involvement.

Source: Businessworld Issue 29 January – 04 February 2008

Employee Engagement – Excerpts from the Gallup Survey

Tim Rutledge, In his book, Getting Engaged: The New Workplace Loyalty, explains that truly engaged employees are attracted to, and inspired by, their work (“I want to do this”), committed (“I am dedicated to the success of what I am doing”), and fascinated (“I love what I am doing”). An engaged employee is a person who is fully involved in, and enthusiastic about, his or her work. Employee engagement is viewed as managing discretionary effort, that is, when employees have choices, they will act in a way that furthers their organization’s interests.

According to the Gallup Management Journal’s Employee Engagement Index 29% of employees are actively engaged in their jobs, 54% are not-engaged, and 17% are actively disengaged. The statistics on workforce engagement are surprising. Almost two third of the workers are either moderately engaged or not engaged, it is hard to ignore this wake up call.

Actively engaged employees: Today, employee engagement has become a growing management concern. Engaged workers make more money for the company. They contribute towards a healthy working environment. They stay with the organization longer and are more committed to quality and growth than are the other two groups of not-engaged and actively disengaged workers. Engaged employees usually need the least amount of attention from managers because they’re doing what they are needed to do. The challenge for managers comes when the signs of disengaging appear from an engaged worker. The symptoms need to be addressed immediately. Great managers spend most of their time with the most productive and talented people because they have the most potential.

Employees are usually hired to do three things:
1. Achieve the business outcomes of their roles
2. Contribute to creating a productive workplace
3. Drive customer engagement

A Manager should spend ample amount of time with his subordinates. He should get the individual to view his or her role from a broader perspective instead of from a narrow task-oriented point of view. They can help employees clarify how they can achieve their outcomes. Measurement of outcomes also becomes crucial. Good measurement includes regular feedback, aligns with outcomes and matches the expectations for the role. An effective leaders help the people to design and own their own goals, targets and milestones. Great managers provide coaching to facilitate progress of their subordinates.

Not-engaged employees: A special mention here is required of the Not-engaged employees. These employees tend to concentrate on tasks rather than the goals. They want to be told what to do. They have no real aspirations of their own. These employees tend to feel that their contributions are being overlooked. As a result they hang back and do the minimum because they don’t believe anyone cares. Effective managers take time out to have a dialogue about an employee’s strengths and how these can make a difference, leading to employee commitment.

Actively disengaged employees: They act out their discontent and sow seeds of negativity at every opportunity. They are indifferent to company goals and mission. The Gallup Organization estimates that there are 22 million actively disengaged employees that cost the American economy up to $350 billion per year in lost productivity, including absence, illness and other problems that result when workers are unhappy at work. Good managers will identify those who are disengaged and explore the reasons behind the disconnect to determine interventions can be made use of. Those who are actively disengaged may refuse to become part of any solution.

What employees want?

Here is a summary of what workers responding to the a Gallup survey said they what they want from their managers;
• Focus me
• Know me
• Care about me
• Hear me
• Help me feel proud
• Help me review my contributions
• Equip me
• Help me see my value
• Help me grow
• Help me see my importance
• Help me build mutual trust
• Challenge me

And how do you do that?

• Provide feedback and guidance
• Make real time to discuss problems
• Seek ideas and input from everyone
• Provide the resources to solve problems or to do a job well
• Give real recognition and/or reward
• Provide opportunities for people to develop their potential
• Keep the pressure to perform and achieve more with less realistic
• Provide opportunities for social interaction
• Train people how to resolve interpersonal conflicts
• Promote joy and appropriate humor within the office
• Be flexible; help people to actively balance work and home responsibilities