UN-FAIR “IT COMPANIES” IN MIDDLE EAST

I have worked with several multinational companies round the globe, in which I have found Middle East IT Companies doesn’t play a fair game always. Some of the key factors that makes employee life miserable

1.       Employers or HR Department bend the law and use, as they wish against the employees whenever they require.

2.       Most of the IT company behave like an “Man Power Controlling Company not consulting company”

3.       Most of the Positions starting from “Project Manager and above” are always occupied by “Theoretical (Arrogant-Egoistic-Idiotic) People”.

4.        You can find very little people who have practical field knowledge, who can understand “People Management” can never be learnt from any kind of “Books or Degree”. Most of the management Hitler thinks “learning some Project Management courses will give them the controlling knowledge to become a successful Project Manager.

5.       Most of the IT consulting companies operating in Middle East do not understand what “Over Time” is.

6.        Again they have never heard about “Personnel Time” (Only when it comes to employees)

7.       Most of the management people don’t think employees are “HUMANS” they see & treat them  as DOGS and PIGS most of the time but with the prefix “HABIBI”

8.       Most of the times I see employees working overtime “NO SORRY” – “EXTRA TIME WITH NIL BENEFIT” and being screwed for in-capable project management of their employer, the sad part is even they don’t realize they are treated badly because of what their in-capable management did.

YET WHY DO THEY PROSPER?

Yet still these companies prosper only because of “Closed Market” for international companies. It’s a golden rule through middle east where foreign companies are not allowed to establish their direct roots, only by having a tie up with an local company they can do business in Middle East. This is a good rule obviously to lead the country in the path of development, until the local companies understand they survive and multiply profits because of such generous rules of the government it’s “NOT AT ALL BECAUSE OF THEIR INDEPENDENT PERFORMANCE OF THEIR COMPANY” or “MANAGEMENT CAPABLITY” its common to see these management people praising them self that they were listed as the “TOP COMPANY by so and so survey taken in “MIDDLE EAST”  because of their performance or their companies arrogant rules they have achieved so much.

The bitter truth is, no exprieanced employee will like to work for an Middle East attitued company when they have option.

HERE COMES THE FACT:

Most of the time the Pay in Middle East is good when compared to only “Asia Pacific” market. Hence you can find many Asians coming to take up IT job’s in Middle East (especially Indians). Once you come here and move your family here on your own Risk. People fall in to commitment, this is the trap or called as “FQS – Family Quick Sand” once you get in, getting out is not as simple.  This is one of the key factors which drive the “Arrogant – Don’t Care Attitude towards employees”, the employers they do whatever they want against the employees and still find their employees working for them. They think they do their job in an excellent manner.

Here starts the “Root Cause” for the issue. Most of the management people think it’s only because of their “Arrogant-In-human “behavior their employees are performing well and they never know what’s the real reason behind employees dedicated work. “It’s the family commitments”” that’s prior to most of the Indians that they sacrifice anything in their life including their “SELF-RESPECT”.

The Real Truth is “just to manage and lead a decent life in India, built a house in India, Buy a Car in India, To meet any of the Dad, Mum, Brother, and Sister commitment they digest and subside and lose their self-respect, Ego, Desires and lot more things.

WHY DON’T YOU MOVE THEN?

This is a mysterious question which has some logical reasons

1.       Commitment towards family  (Too many attached strings)

2.       Getting used to on the go (Chopped Off)

3.       Not much better options within the area to switch over

4.       Government Rules are not favorable

These are some of the reasons why they don’t move to another job within the county or outside the country.  What I personally thought! When I was cornered with all the discussed factors was “I did not see one good company what was better than my present employer” to think about a jump. So I decided to be treated bad with few set of people whom I know how to tackle rather than to moving to a different company and starting everything from the scratch.

WHAT COMPANIES HAVE TO LEARN?

This is a golden time for you’re to compete and earn within your market as there are less competitors but more jobs to do. By the way you have an easy atmosphere to survive, at least try! to create the same for your employees, do be so dumb.  

Try to create management leaders form the pool of experienced people you have rather than to hire an arrogant idiotic educated in-human.

Educate your experienced employees and improve their standard in which your returns will be multiplied for sure.

At least once in a month go through different employees of different department to know what they feel about the company and management.

You cannot feed “SHIT” and expect your company grow, if you feed shit as management rules and policy you should expect worse than “Rotten Shit” as the result, not multiplied profits.

First of all, you should come to an attitude to know what you feed on.

Make sure any management policy that has something related to employees has got the approval from employees,  if there will be concerns on policy even from an employee try to address and understand the concern and make necessary changes to the policy if required without any ego.

UNDERSTAND THE BASICS

There can be no consulting company without “responsible and happy employees”. “What is the use of the Management Staff or HR Department” if there will be no employees to work with your company.  

Any IT consulting company that understands to treat their customer as “KINGS” and “EMPLOYEES” as “QUEEN’S” will prosper to great heights un-doubted, there are too many examples for this attitude. One who fails - will fail to proper by all means, if not now, for sure in the near future, by that time everything would have gone out of hands.  

Understand the fact that “It’s your employees who is going to have intimate relationship with your “KING” it’s not your Management Staff or HR Department” , So I believe now you should have a clear understanding over my reference as (KING & QUEEN) and the simple fact that “ Happy Queen will result in Happy King will result with (Good Brokerage) !

Try to treat your employees better, educate your management staff and HR department of the importance of employee happiness is the at most required essence for an “IT consulting” company.

Please understand the basics!

Thanks & Regards,

S.Grace Paul Regan

The three most damaging management behaviors that you probably don't know you're doing

If you want to pursue the management track, please know that leadership is a skill in its own right. You may be a great tech, but that doesn’t mean you’ll be a great manager.

Don't show that you are too busy always because there is nothing called as busy its all priority !

In that vein, here are some behaviors that I see most often in poor leaders:

#1 You don’t seek feedback, or if you do, it’s for the wrong reason.

I think everyone has had the experience of being asked for feedback, sometimes even in a formal program, and then have all that feedback subsequently ignored. Some managers like to say they welcome feedback just so they can look like the kind of person who, well, welcomes feedback. But, in reality, they have no intention of ever using it.


Don’t do that. Don’t ask for feedback unless you’re prepared to actually implement some of it. It’s a different story if all the feedback you receive sucks out loud and you can’t use it, but at least go in with the best intentions. There’s nothing worse for employee morale than to make them feel like they’re being condescended to.


#2 You never exhibit vulnerability.

You may be that person who knows everything about everything. If so, you should make plans to donate yourself to science, because that’s one heck of a claim.

Maybe you’re not perfect, but maybe you think you need to project that image to gain and retain the respect of your direct reports. Well, that’s just dumb, and here’s why: Your staff knows that you’re not supernatural, which is what you’d have to be to have all the answers all the time. By pretending like you do, you are only portraying yourself as someone who thinks he/she knows everything — in other words, a phony and/or an obnoxiously insecure person.


Also, acting like you know it all is bound to make your staff feel insecure. If you can’t admit to not knowing something, then they know that there will be quite a few times when you’re basically taking them down blind avenues.
 

Just remember: You hired your staff members for their expertise. Take advantage of that.


#3 You’re unavailable.

I had a boss once who boasted about his open door policy at every opportunity. The only problem was, the door might have been open but he was never in his office. That’s like saying someone can have the keys to your car any time but then hiding the car.


It is true that with a management role, there is a lot of liaising to do with upper management. You should never let that take over your availability for your team. I’m fairly sure upper management doesn’t need every second of your time.


If you’re chronically unavailable then it will be translated by your team that you just don’t care. And why should they care if you don’t


Some managers get so involved in the day-to-day that they don’t even realize they’re committing one or more of these leadership sins. Make sure you’re not one of them.

I very often find these kind of PM's in my company, no one could educate them unless they realise

Content from : Tech Republic.

Thanks & Regards,
S.Grace Paul Regan

Stop Working More Than 40 Hours a Week

You may think you're getting more accomplished by working longer hours. You're probably wrong.

There's been a flurry of recent coverage praising Sheryl Sandberg, the chief operating officer of Facebook, for leaving the office every day at 5:30 p.m. to be with her kids. Apparently she's been doing this for years, but only recently "came out of the closet," as it were.
What's insane is that Sandberg felt the need to hide the fact, since there's a century of research establishing the undeniable fact that working more than 40 hours per week actually decreases productivity.
In the early 1900s, Ford Motor ran dozens of tests to discover the optimum work hours for worker productivity. They discovered that the "sweet spot" is 40 hours a week–and that, while adding another 20 hours provides a minor increase in productivity, that increase only lasts for three to four weeks, and then turns negative.
Anyone who's spent time in a corporate environment knows that what was true of factory workers a hundred years ago is true of office workers today. People who put in a solid 40 hours a week get more done than those who regularly work 60 or more hours.
The workaholics (and their profoundly misguided management) may think they're accomplishing more than the less fanatical worker, but in every case that I've personally observed, the long hours result in work that must be scrapped or redone.

Accounting for Burnout

What's more, people who consistently work long work weeks get burned out and inevitably start having personal problems that get in the way of getting things done.
I remember a guy in one company I worked for who used the number of divorces in his group as a measure of its productivity. Believe it or not, his top management reportedly considered this a valid metric. What's ironic (but not surprising) is that the group itself accomplished next to nothing.
In fact, now that I think about it, that's probably why he had to trot out such an absurd (and, let's face it, evil) metric.
Proponents of long work weeks often point to the even longer average work weeks in countries like Thailand, Korea, and Pakistan–with the implication that the longer work weeks are creating a competitive advantage.

Europe's Ban on 50-Hour Weeks

However, the facts don't bear this out. In six of the top 10 most competitive countries in the world (Sweden, Finland, Germany, Netherlands, Denmark, and the United Kingdom), it's illegal to demand more than a 48-hour work week. You simply don't see the 50-, 60-, and 70-hour work weeks that have become de rigeur in some parts of the U.S. business world.
If U.S. managers were smart, they'd end this "if you don't come in on Saturday, don't bother coming to work on Sunday" idiocy. If you want employees (salaried or hourly) to get the most done–in the shortest amount of time and on a consistent basis–40 hours a week is just about right.
In other words, nobody should be apologizing for leaving at work at a reasonable hour like 5:30 p.m. In fact, people should be apologizing if they're working too long each week–because it's probably making the team less effective overall.

Content from: Linkedin
Thanks & Regards,
S.Grace Paul Regan

Is Your Boss a Control Freak?

Is your boss a micromanager?

These are managers who want to be involved in every step of each assignment they give to their employees. They ask for more frequent reports than are needed, and generally want to exercise as much control as possible over what their subordinates do. With few exceptions, micromanagement is terrible for the employees as well as the organization. By controlling everything that an employee does, these managers sap away the confidence of younger employees, who may end up feeling that nothing they can do is right. Older employees may get frustrated if they find their style of working and ideas are not welcome. While it’s important to guide your team, you should be wary of micromanagement. “Creativity and discretionary contribution…goes out the window,” says Anuraag Maini, head of human resources and training at Delhi-based DLF Pramerica Life Insurance Co. Ultimately, the output of the team suffers. Here are a few tips from human resources experts on how employees can deal with their micromanagers, and a few words of advice for micromanagers.

If you are being micromanaged: This is a frustrating place to be in, as micromanagers can stymie your growth. Address the reasons why your boss is micromanaging. Typically, it’s because the manager is insecure or anxious about whether you can do the job right. Of course, he may just be a control freak. To deal with this, you need to build confidence in your abilities. One approach is to initially give the manager what he or she wants – the control – but on your terms. “Offer to be micromanaged and then negotiate from a position (where you can) minimize that,” says Manish Sinha, director of human resources at Becton Dickinson India Pvt., a medical technology company in Gurgaon. For instance, when the manager assigns you a project, ask for a specific deadline and initiate a discussion about how the project will be monitored. Offer to update the manager at specific intervals, say once a week, or when specific milestones are reached. Give the manager an outline of how you will proceed on the project. Let the manger know that you will come to him or her in case you hit any roadblocks or major problem.

All this will let the manager feel that he or she is very much in control, and thus hopefully get the manager off your back on a day-to-day basis. Hopefully, over time, as you deliver good results on project after project, the manager will trust your ability to do a good job. “Once you build that confidence, then I think the micromanagement will come down,” says Mrityunjay Srivastava, head of management development group at Wipro Ltd. Some experts suggest a different approach: Have a frank discussion with the manager explaining that his or her day-to-day interference is hurting your ability to deliver performance.

This can be tricky, and may not work if your manager is not open to feedback or has a big ego. If you decide to try this approach, instead of being angry or aggressive, give the manager a solution. For instance, tell the manager that you need a certain period of time to complete a project, and if the result is not up to the manager’s standards, then you are willing to be reviewed more frequently. Also, prove to your manager that his or her growth is dependent on how well you do your job. If you are a micromanager: In general, you are hurting your team’s growth and ultimately your own career prospects. To be sure, there are some cases where micromanagement may be warranted. If it’s a high-impact project or an ambiguous situation like crisis-management where the situation changes often, then perhaps you need to be more hands on. Or, if you are dealing with very young or inexperienced employees, they may need a lot of handholding. Other than that, micromanaging can be suffocating for the employee. “Suffocation leads to an employee feeling that I’m not trusted or that the manager doesn’t see my capability or my manager is very insecure,” says Mr. Maini of DLF Pramerica. This affects team morale, output and innovation dries up. That’s a sure way to disaster. In addition, once you’ve built a reputation in the company of being a micromanager, smart employees will not want to work with you. As soon as you realize that you have been micromanaging, stop. Step back and assess whether everyone in your team needs to be micromanaged.

The answer is that they most likely don’t. If there are employees in whom you don’t have total confidence, start by setting up more frequent progress-review sessions with them for their first few assignments. Maybe team up the inexperienced employee with one that you trust. With more experienced employees who have done a good job in the past, it’s a good idea to let them know that you plan to be more hands-off. Ask them what resources and help they need from you. Set up a review mechanism, but at “a frequency which the employee is very comfortable with,” says Mr. Maini of DLF Pramerica. The review should be of the result or progress, not of each and every thing the employee did to get the results. Old habits die hard, so watch out for your tendency to check in every so often. If needed, stick a large piece of paper on your notice board as a reminder on this. Readers, share your stories and tips of how to deal with a micromanager in the Comments section.

Content From:blogs.wsj.com
Thanks & Regards,
S.Grace Paul Regan

Good Qualities of Remarkable Boss !

Remarkable bosses aren’t great on paper. Great bosses are remarkable based on their actions.

Results are everything—but not the results you might think.

Consistently do these five things and everything else follows. You and your business benefit greatly.

More importantly, so do your employees.

1. Develop every employee. Sure, you can put your primary focus on reaching targets, achieving results, and accomplishing concrete goals—but do that and you put your leadership cart before your achievement horse.

Without great employees, no amount of focus on goals and targets will ever pay off. Employees can only achieve what they are capable of achieving, so it’s your job to help all your employees be more capable so they—and your business—can achieve more.

It's your job to provide the training, mentoring, and opportunities your employees need and deserve. When you do, you transform the relatively boring process of reviewing results and tracking performance into something a lot more meaningful for your employees: Progress, improvement, and personal achievement.

So don’t worry about reaching performance goals. Spend the bulk of your time developing the skills of your employees and achieving goals will be a natural outcome.

Plus it’s a lot more fun.

2. Deal with problems immediately. Nothing kills team morale more quickly than problems that don't get addressed. Interpersonal squabbles, performance issues, feuds between departments... all negatively impact employee motivation and enthusiasm.

And they're distracting, because small problems never go away. Small problems always fester and grow into bigger problems. Plus, when you ignore a problem your employees immediately lose respect for you, and without respect, you can't lead.

Never hope a problem will magically go away, or that someone else will deal with it. Deal with every issue head-on, no matter how small.

3. Rescue your worst employee. Almost every business has at least one employee who has fallen out of grace: Publicly failed to complete a task, lost his cool in a meeting, or just can’t seem to keep up. Over time that employee comes to be seen by his peers—and by you—as a weak link.

While that employee may desperately want to “rehabilitate” himself, it's almost impossible. The weight of team disapproval is too heavy for one person to move.

But it’s not too heavy for you.

Before you remove your weak link from the chain, put your full effort into trying to rescue that person instead. Say, "John, I know you've been struggling but I also know you're trying. Let's find ways together that can get you where you need to be." Express confidence. Be reassuring. Most of all, tell him you'll be there every step of the way.

Don't relax your standards. Just step up the mentoring and coaching you provide.

If that seems like too much work for too little potential outcome, think of it this way. Your remarkable employees don’t need a lot of your time; they’re remarkable because they already have these qualities. If you’re lucky, you can get a few percentage points of extra performance from them. But a struggling employee has tons of upside; rescue him and you make a tremendous difference.

Granted, sometimes it won't work out. When it doesn't, don't worry about it. The effort is its own reward.

And occasionally an employee will succeed—and you will have made a tremendous difference in a person's professional and personal life.

Can’t beat that.

4. Serve others, not yourself. You can get away with being selfish or self-serving once or twice... but that's it.

Never say or do anything that in any way puts you in the spotlight, however briefly. Never congratulate employees and digress for a few moments to discuss what you did.

If it should go without saying, don't say it. Your glory should always be reflected, never direct.

When employees excel, you and your business excel. When your team succeeds, you and your business succeed. When you rescue a struggling employee and they become remarkable, remember they should be congratulated, not you.

You were just doing your job the way a remarkable boss should.

When you consistently act as if you are less important than your employees—and when you never ask employees to do something you don’t do—everyone knows how important you really are.

5. Always remember where you came from. See an autograph seeker blown off by a famous athlete and you might think, “If I was in a similar position I would never do that.”

Oops. Actually, you do. To some of your employees, especially new employees, you are at least slightly famous. You’re in charge. You’re the boss.

That's why an employee who wants to talk about something that seems inconsequential may just want to spend a few moments with you.

When that happens, you have a choice. You can blow the employee off... or you can see the moment for its true importance: A chance to inspire, reassure, motivate, and even give someone hope for greater things in their life. The higher you rise the greater the impact you can make—and the greater your responsibility to make that impact.

In the eyes of his or her employees, a remarkable boss is a star.

Remember where you came from, and be gracious with your stardom.

Post Shared from : Linked-in
Thanks & Regards,
S.Grace Paul Regan

Extraordinary Bosses

The best managers have a fundamentally different understanding of workplace, company, and team dynamics. what they get right ? "Best of the Best" bosses tend to share some common principles.

1. Business is an ecosystem, not a battlefield. Average bosses see business as a conflict between companies, departments and groups. They build huge armies of "troops" to order about, demonize competitors as "enemies," and treat customers as "territory" to be conquered. Extraordinary bosses see business as a symbiosis where the most diverse firm is most likely to survive and thrive. They naturally create teams that adapt easily to new markets and can quickly form partnerships with other companies, customers ... and even competitors.

2. A company is a community, not a machine. Average bosses consider their company to be a machine with employees as cogs. They create rigid structures with rigid rules and then try to maintain control by "pulling levers" and "steering the ship." Extraordinary bosses see their company as a collection of individual hopes and dreams, all connected to a higher purpose. They inspire employees to dedicate themselves to the success of their peers and therefore to the community–and company–at large.

3. Management is service, not control. Average bosses want employees to do exactly what they're told. They're hyper-aware of anything that smacks of insubordination and create environments where individual initiative is squelched by the "wait and see what the boss says" mentality. Extraordinary bosses set a general direction and then commit themselves to obtaining the resources that their employees need to get the job done. They push decision making downward, allowing teams form their own rules and intervening only in emergencies.

4. My employees are my peers, not my children. Average bosses see employees as inferior, immature beings who simply can't be trusted if not overseen by a patriarchal management. Employees take their cues from this attitude, expend energy on looking busy and covering their behinds. Extraordinary bosses treat every employee as if he or she were the most important person in the firm. Excellence is expected everywhere, from the loading dock to the boardroom. As a result, employees at all levels take charge of their own destinies.

5. Motivation comes from vision, not from fear. Average bosses see fear--of getting fired, of ridicule, of loss of privilege--as a crucial way to motivate people. As a result, employees and managers alike become paralyzed and unable to make risky decisions. Extraordinary bosses inspire people to see a better future and how they'll be a part of it. As a result, employees work harder because they believe in the organization's goals, truly enjoy what they're doing and (of course) know they'll share in the rewards.

6. Change equals growth, not pain. Average bosses see change as both complicated and threatening, something to be endured only when a firm is in desperate shape. They subconsciously torpedo change ... until it's too late. Extraordinary bosses see change as an inevitable part of life. While they don't value change for its own sake, they know that success is only possible if employees and organization embrace new ideas and new ways of doing business.

7. Technology offers empowerment, not automation. Average bosses adhere to the old IT-centric view that technology is primarily a way to strengthen management control and increase predictability. They install centralized computer systems that dehumanize and antagonize employees. Extraordinary bosses see technology as a way to free human beings to be creative and to build better relationships. They adapt their back-office systems to the tools, like smartphones and tablets, that people actually want to use.

8. Work should be fun, not mere toil. Average bosses buy into the notion that work is, at best, a necessary evil. They fully expect employees to resent having to work, and therefore tend to subconsciously define themselves as oppressors and their employees as victims. Everyone then behaves accordingly. Extraordinary bosses see work as something that should be inherently enjoyable–and believe therefore that the most important job of manager is, as far as possible, to put people in jobs that can and will make them truly happy.

Content From : Inc.com
Thanks & Regards,
S.Grace Paul Regan

Good Qualities of Remarkable Boss !

Remarkable bosses aren’t great on paper. Great bosses are remarkable based on their actions.

Results are everything—but not the results you might think.

Consistently do these five things and everything else follows. You and your business benefit greatly.

More importantly, so do your employees.

1. Develop every employee. Sure, you can put your primary focus on reaching targets, achieving results, and accomplishing concrete goals—but do that and you put your leadership cart before your achievement horse.

Without great employees, no amount of focus on goals and targets will ever pay off. Employees can only achieve what they are capable of achieving, so it’s your job to help all your employees be more capable so they—and your business—can achieve more.

It's your job to provide the training, mentoring, and opportunities your employees need and deserve. When you do, you transform the relatively boring process of reviewing results and tracking performance into something a lot more meaningful for your employees: Progress, improvement, and personal achievement.

So don’t worry about reaching performance goals. Spend the bulk of your time developing the skills of your employees and achieving goals will be a natural outcome.

Plus it’s a lot more fun.

2. Deal with problems immediately. Nothing kills team morale more quickly than problems that don't get addressed. Interpersonal squabbles, performance issues, feuds between departments... all negatively impact employee motivation and enthusiasm.

And they're distracting, because small problems never go away. Small problems always fester and grow into bigger problems. Plus, when you ignore a problem your employees immediately lose respect for you, and without respect, you can't lead.

Never hope a problem will magically go away, or that someone else will deal with it. Deal with every issue head-on, no matter how small.

3. Rescue your worst employee. Almost every business has at least one employee who has fallen out of grace: Publicly failed to complete a task, lost his cool in a meeting, or just can’t seem to keep up. Over time that employee comes to be seen by his peers—and by you—as a weak link.

While that employee may desperately want to “rehabilitate” himself, it's almost impossible. The weight of team disapproval is too heavy for one person to move.

But it’s not too heavy for you.

Before you remove your weak link from the chain, put your full effort into trying to rescue that person instead. Say, "John, I know you've been struggling but I also know you're trying. Let's find ways together that can get you where you need to be." Express confidence. Be reassuring. Most of all, tell him you'll be there every step of the way.

Don't relax your standards. Just step up the mentoring and coaching you provide.

If that seems like too much work for too little potential outcome, think of it this way. Your remarkable employees don’t need a lot of your time; they’re remarkable because they already have these qualities. If you’re lucky, you can get a few percentage points of extra performance from them. But a struggling employee has tons of upside; rescue him and you make a tremendous difference.

Granted, sometimes it won't work out. When it doesn't, don't worry about it. The effort is its own reward.

And occasionally an employee will succeed—and you will have made a tremendous difference in a person's professional and personal life.

Can’t beat that.

4. Serve others, not yourself. You can get away with being selfish or self-serving once or twice... but that's it.

Never say or do anything that in any way puts you in the spotlight, however briefly. Never congratulate employees and digress for a few moments to discuss what you did.

If it should go without saying, don't say it. Your glory should always be reflected, never direct.

When employees excel, you and your business excel. When your team succeeds, you and your business succeed. When you rescue a struggling employee and they become remarkable, remember they should be congratulated, not you.

You were just doing your job the way a remarkable boss should.

When you consistently act as if you are less important than your employees—and when you never ask employees to do something you don’t do—everyone knows how important you really are.

5. Always remember where you came from. See an autograph seeker blown off by a famous athlete and you might think, “If I was in a similar position I would never do that.”

Oops. Actually, you do. To some of your employees, especially new employees, you are at least slightly famous. You’re in charge. You’re the boss.

That's why an employee who wants to talk about something that seems inconsequential may just want to spend a few moments with you.

When that happens, you have a choice. You can blow the employee off... or you can see the moment for its true importance: A chance to inspire, reassure, motivate, and even give someone hope for greater things in their life. The higher you rise the greater the impact you can make—and the greater your responsibility to make that impact.

In the eyes of his or her employees, a remarkable boss is a star.

Remember where you came from, and be gracious with your stardom.

Post Shared from : Linked-in
Thanks & Regards,
S.Grace Paul Regan

Top Executive Recruiters Agree There Are Only Three True Job Interview Questions

The only three true job interview questions are:

1. Can you do the job?
2. Will you love the job?
3. Can we tolerate working with you?

That’s it. Those three. Think back, every question you’ve ever posed to others or had asked of you in a job interview is a subset of a deeper in-depth follow-up to one of these three key questions. Each question potentially may be asked using different words, but every question, however it is phrased, is just a variation on one of these topics: Strengths, Motivation, and Fit.

The Last Question has a great impact. Unless a person by himself realizes that he is an irritating idiot no one can save you when you recruit such kind of person.
He can do his job as well as he loves his job but at end of the day everyone in your Team are irritated by his mannerisms and the method of approach, now what’s the point of recruiting him.
I have personal experience recruiting such guys, Thy do their job but spoils everyone else.
These kinds of people should make a self-study of them self and see why do most of the employees in my new Organization hate me and if they have the attitude to adapt to the new surrounding it’s good. Every ones peace of mind is saved if not your project will become a hell and you will fine nice good old resources moving from your project or becoming less productive.
Why are these people intolerable? It’s simply because of their attitude. They think behaving and trying to act smart will help me win people. But the fact they forget is they are trying to act smart in front of people who have already seen real smart people and people who are trying to act smart and really most of the people hate people who try to act smart, when they are really a dumb ass, the main problem is when you will have to manage those people in your day to day job or maybe he becomes your associate.

Dear friends be cautious when you recruit a person who acts smart, it’s difficult to find at the time of interview if his is acting to be smart or really smart but at times people who act to be smart expose themselves at the time of interview, in such scenario be cautions to find those.

Thanks & Regards,
S.Grace Paul Regan

Is the office really neccessary?

Getting ready for the mobile office

Technology and increasing automation are changing the way we work, but it’s employees that are pushing for more mobile working.

The concept of the ‘workerless office’ has been moving into the mainstream for over a decade. But it’s only in the past few years that technological, social and economic forces have begun to converge to create what the London Business School’s Lynda Gratton calls ‘a perfect storm’ of organisational upheaval.

“Executives around the world are now facing a substantial schism with the past, which is so great that organisational architecture, people practices and skills and organisational culture will change – possibly unrecognisably over the next two decades,”

Technology is a major factor, with tablets and smartphones already overtaking PCs. Analysts at Gartner expects 70 million tablets to be sold this year and 108 million in 2012, compared with 17.6 million in 2010, according to CIO Zone.

Cloud computing is fast replacing office-based IT infrastructure, while the cost of broadband is dropping as speeds pick up -- 4G is expected to be 230 percent more efficient than existing 3G technologies, according to UK regulator Ofcom.

Global connectivity and collaborative media encourage us to collaborate over distance, while the lines between consumer and workplace technology grow increasingly blurred. The ‘app culture’ so widespread that 35 percent of US smartphone users log on before even getting out of bed, according to a survey by Ericsson.

In other words, we are already mobile. But the tipping point for the mobile office is more likely to come from employees than technology, according to ‘The future world of work,’ a presentation by CBRE Richard Ellis’s Lenny Beaudoin and Benn Munn.

It’s a desire for greater flexibility that’s behind the mobile push, led not just by working mothers but ‘millenials’ – 20somethings who expect flexibility and have been reared on digital technology. In “Is the Office Really Necessary?”, Cisco’s survey of 2,600 employees worldwide, 60 percent claimed they could be just as productive outside the office and 66 percent claimed they’d rather take a lower-paid, flexible job than a restrictive, higher-paid position.

Many work harder – ‘anytime, anywhere connectivity’ can add 11 hours to a mobile worker’s week, according to a Forrester report. It can do much to encourage employee loyalty and retention -- UK-based design firm Plinkfizz uses flexible working as a differentiator, a way of attracting high-caliber talent. Then there are the more prosaic benefits of a workerless office: lower property costs, utility bills and carbon emissions.

IT firms and the large consultancies – PWC, KPMG, Accenture – are early adopters, but predictions are that it will become commonplace. So what are some of the issues companies need to consider when preparing for the mobile office?

The management mindset
The emergence of a mobile workforce changes the workplace hierarchy and the role of managers – some argue that automation of work processes makes their jobs redundant.

Managing mobile workers requires a different mindset, one where trust and outcome-driven measures determine success. This changes the way people are managed – and may mean reviewing performance criteria, possibly shifting to a more continuous feedback tool such as Rypple.

Results only work environments offer a good model for mobile office management, balancing a flexible approach to individual work with a more formalised communications structure. Employees work at their own pace (with a clear deadline), but have regular, scheduled progress checks and virtual meetings to keep everyone motivated and encourage team bonding. Ideally, location becomes immaterial, as at teleworking pioneer 37Signals.

Managers can also teach by doing, particularly when it comes to the etiquette of virtual meetings. Any company without a social media policy should draw up a guide on language, tone and disclosure rules, particularly for corporate Facebook, YouTube and Twitter accounts.

The way employees work
Perhaps it is indicative of where we are in Maslow’s needs triangle, but most employees want flexibility. Not everyone wants to work from home all the time, however, and some people will be more naturally self-sufficient than others.

Overall, though, it’s overwork that employees and managers need to watch out for when going mobile. Nearly half of Cisco’s survey respondents claim regularly to work an extra few hours a day and another recent poll of managers found nearly 60 percent of managers visited work-related websites out of hours, and nearly half check work emails before going to bed. With work “only a smartphone away,” as one UK director puts it, the toughest challenge is switching off.

There are also little communication habits that may need to change: ensuring your IM status is up to date, for example, or shedding a lifelong paper Post-It habit in favor of virtual ones. Backing up and sharing work online should become second nature.

The right tools for the job
Accessing a company’s network remotely is increasingly straightforward while VoIP, IM and virtual meeting tools such as Microsoft Office Live Meeting and cloud-based DimDim are just a few options for distributed workforces to stay in touch.

Mobile workers tend to be more adept at ‘pulling’ information, so intranets and Wikis can replace town hall meetings or be used to share knowledge and self-train. But HR should ensure any important company information is delivered directly to individuals rather than relying on them to find it.

Given the plethora of tools available, it can be tough to settle upon one communication method and stick to it. Experienced remote workers tend to favor videoconferences, where it’s possible to read body language and get a sense of the mood and tone of your co-workers.

Establish clear support structures
Mobile offices rely heavily on technology so mobile workers should know who and how to contact the company’s helpdesk for IT support. Likewise, managers and HR should ensure employees know to whom they can turn in an emergency, while ensuring they are compliant with data protection regulations.

Rewrite the IT policy
Security concerns remain an obstacle to getting workforces mobilised: in a survey of small and medium-sized enterprises by consultancy PricewaterhouseCoopers, the vast majority (83 percent) claimed to have suffered a security breach in the past year. According to Cisco’s research, 66 percent of employees expected IT to allow them to use any device to access corporate networks – but nearly half of IT respondents felt the company wasn’t prepared to meet their expectations.

Yet many employees already sync their smartphones to workplace email -- and Jonathan Reichental, CIO of O’Reilly Media, predicts BYOC – bring your own computer – will become increasingly common. “Today we expect employees to provide and maintain their own cars, but we do provide mileage reimbursement when it's used for business purposes. Could there be a similar model for employees who use their own computers?”

Whether BYOC or company-provided, devices and data need to be insured and secured by the company. Devices and data should be password or code-protected, and restricted access applied where necessary. Experienced mobile workers also advise peers to keep a spare laptop battery and USB back-up drive handy.

IT policies will need updating to ensure clarity around issues such as who owns data on personal devices– and what happens when that employee leaves; whether -- and what -- employees are allowed to download onto portable devices, terms regarding who pays for broadband or smartphone tariffs.

Office space
If the office is no longer what Richard Ellis’s Beaudoin calls a “people warehouse”, it can become more of an idea factory or a space for teams to hold meetings, socialize and exchange ideas. Hosting company PEER1’s boss, Dominic Monkhouse, had a miniature putting green put into the company’s UK office to allow employees to relax at work.

Arguably, smaller companies could do without an office altogether, instead using serviced offices or the growing number of shared offices that have sprung up in major cities to cater for nomadic workers.

Do first-time managers ruin your career ?

Being a manager excites many - it gives the wings to dream big, but the language of responsibility and power injects nervousness to their nerves that might kill the careers of many subordinates. There are many reasons for the new managers failing to lead a team and the most important one is lack of training. It was revealed in a recent survey that more than 50 percent of managers received no training before starting the job. Most of the new managers get it wrong as they are not properly guided on their new roles and they recite the common myths and misperceptions that lead them to mistakes. Here are some of the most common mistakes by new managers that would ruin the career of many.

1. The Wrong Sense of Authority

Yes it's true that the chair of the manager is built of power and authority; however, many often forget that the chair is the citadel of respect to all - the subordinates, bosses, and friends. The other side of the coin is that many new managers feel very constrained in the new role as the load of responsibilities shrinks their freedom. Their expectation of wielding the designated power often vanishes once they climb into manager's chair. These wrong ideas of being a manager lead them to mistakes in dealing with the team members and the execution of plans often meets with troubles, which ultimately make the life of his subordinates miserable.

2. Never-Ending Changes

They say change is good, but their teammates say not the unnecessary ones. The lack of experience in leading a team makes them jitter at the execution phase.

It's when the new managers change their plans too often to meet the unexpected situations. Changing the routines and procedures without notification or adequate discussion lowers the employee morale. Sometimes the manager's excitement about a new change kills the interest of his subordinates as the change may not be needed or would invite unwanted results.

3. Hesitancy to Give and Receive Immediate Feedbacks

It takes one to be highly professional to give and received feedbacks on time. The failure of managers to give apt, timely feedbacks

to their team members closes the doors of growth before them. A harsh feedback can kill the employee morale too. Many develop an attitude of "I have all the answers" which makes it hard for them to solicit the feedbacks from subordinates. The stories of managers going after people who give feedback, that are meant to be positive, are often heard in the corporate world.

4. Focus Only on Tasks Not on People

New managers tend to live their previous routines where their sole focus was to accomplish the given tasks. However, they fail to realize that developing interpersonal relationship is an integral quality of leaders. The ideal motto of a manager is to help his subordinates to accomplish the tasks in an outstanding way and not just to focus on the budgets, reports or planning. The career of subordinates depends on the managers, and the inexperienced managers tend to make things very complex which will make life hard of the teammates. They fail to become the people managers, but rather become just task managers without realizing the needs of their subordinates.

Only few points are discussed above there are lot more reasons why first time managers ruin others career.

Thanks & Regards,
S.Grace Paul Regan

Why most Women Managers are Bossy?

How do you feel going to an office where your bossy woman manager is waiting for you? Do you search for excuses to get away from her?

Women are more independent now, but at times the feeling of independence and power portrays the darker side of a woman. Women give a stiff competition to men in all field of work, and they are not lagging behind in grabbing the chairs for top positions from men. The tug-of-war between men and women has changed the attitude of women in handling top notch positions and managing their subordinates.

A survey done by researchers from University of London revealed that bossy females are much less likely to shine in the boardroom, which means that women with bossy attitude can never be a good manager or they cannot lead a team.

Let's take a look at the behavior of bossy women,

Emulate aggressive male behavior

Women by default are inculcated with sensitiveness and they are generally not harsh. But women in top position tend to build the male aggressiveness in them they dominant their subordinates. But in many cases it turns in a different way. While trying to act like a man, they lose their sensitivity and they won't be able to handle their employees.

They annoy subordinates and colleagues

The primary motto of a bossy woman is to get power and get their work done. They leave less space for proper communication with their employees and create an unhealthy atmosphere. In these way women bosses lose the respect that they should get from their employee.

No healthy assertiveness

Women managers are usually have the credibility to get the work done neatly and correctly. But some women bosses are forcefully order their employees rather than having a healthy understanding. They lose the sensitive character in them and the proper communication skill.

No emotional intelligence

Some women cannot leave their personal life at home and end up showing their frustration at their subordinates. They assume that this way they can manage the team well. But in this way many employees quit jobs because they cannot tolerate inhuman behavior of their boss.

Power hungry

Running after the power, women manager creates different ways to throw their power and in this way they sometimes they even forget to value their employee. It actually leads an opposite effect and even the employees are not interested to cooperate with them.

These are some of the major aspects that makes the women “Bossy” there lot more reasons why most of them tend to be bossy…

Thanks & Regards,
S.Grace Paul Regan

Your boss could be a sociopath. No, really.

Sociopathy is one of the many personality disorders, also referred to as psychopathy or antisocial personality disorder (APD). The American Psychiatrics Association defines a sociopathy as 'A pervasive pattern of disregard for, and violation of, the rights of others that begins in childhood or early adolescence and continues into adulthood.' Sociopathic symptoms may exhibit from as early as the teenage years although a diagnosis can only be made after the age of 18, on presentation of documented evidence of misconduct before the individual is 15. Sociopathic symptoms can manifest in many ways, though there are certain personality traits that people with this mental disorder have a tendency to exhibit.

That’s why the premise of The Sociopath Next Door, a book by Martha Stout, gives me the major creeps. Stout claims that as many as 4% of the population are conscienceless sociopaths who have no empathy or affectionate feelings for humans or animals. Sociopaths (or the more politically correct term, someone with antisocial personality disorder) show a lack of regret in their actions, with a common trait being the violation of the rights of others.

This book was brought to my attention by a friend of mine in response to my telling her about one of my son’s friends being bullied at work by her boss. I don’t know if Stout’s 4% metric is accurate but I know that I hear an awful lot from readers of this blog who are dealing with bosses that I believe could be characterized as sociopaths.

Let’s take an absolutely unscientific poll and see how many sociopathic managers there are out there. (Note: If your boss tends to yell but then is sorry afterwards, he or she is probably not, technically, a sociopath.) I realize that I’m being very general here, but, to paraphrase Dave Barry, as is often the case when I do that, I don’t care.

Seriously, it might be interesting to get a grass-roots level view of how sociopaths are managing other people. Also, if you are yourself a sociopath (do sociopaths know they’re sociopaths?), please do chime in and make your case.

Posted By
S.Grace Paul Regan

Has our obsession with promotion and success led to high levels of incompetence?

You’ve seen it yourself. The brilliant editor who’s promoted to manage the department and never gets his hands on a manuscript again. The talented web designer whose new duties involve hiring, firing and team management; his web designing days are over. Are they good at their jobs? Are they happy?

The twisted logic of the workplace

Over 40 years ago, in January 1967, Dr Laurence J. Peter, a Canadian psychologist and professor of education, wrote an article which was to permanently change the way we look at the workplace. Later published as a book, “The Peter Principle: Why Things Always Go Wrong” was written in a humorous style, but the shocking central argument was deadly serious. Dr Peter stated, “"In a hierarchy, every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence."

What he was drawing attention to was simply the way in businesses and government bureaucracies function, by routinely rewarding excellence with promotion. Reasonable? Look a bit closer. You’re good at your job; in fact, you excel at it. Sometimes you get a small annual pay rise that’s in line with inflation but nothing significant. So when you’re offered a promotion which promises prestige and a higher salary, you take it.

Not necessarily a good decision

As you continue to be promoted, climbing higher and higher up the career ladder into the stratosphere of senior management, the Peter Principle shows that at some stage you will, inevitably, reach a point where you permanently leave your field of expertise, finding yourself in a job which demands responsibilities you can’t fulfil.

Safely perched on your level of incompetence, as long as you don’t make any truly disastrous decisions you probably won’t be fired: you’ll camouflage your mediocrity, relying on the creativity, talents and skills of the people you now manage – people who haven’t yet reached their own levels of incompetence. Left alone to enjoy the fruits of your promotion, you will probably sometimes wish you could still work at the things you used to love. But at least you’ll have an inflated job title, a large salary and maybe even a company car to keep you company.

Employees: look before you leap
So, what are the lessons for those of us who feel the pressure to be hungry and ambitious?

Know your talents and your limits

If you enjoy the “hands-on” elements of your job, a career shift to a management position may not be suitable for you. Recognise this as a fact. You know yourself better than anyone else knows you, so don’t be influenced by the current “lust for superhuman accomplishments”. [1] It’s simply not true that if you’re not a “rising star”, you’re a loser. Fulfillment at work means doing what you enjoy and what you excel at; be proud of what you achieve.

Ask your boss about expectation

When you’re offered a promotion, talk with your boss about what the new job would entail. Making a negative decision without any discussion might be a cause for misunderstanding and won’t help your standing in the company, particularly if this isn’t the first time the subject has arisen. Bear in mind that repeated refusals will impact your career, so perhaps you should ask yourself at some point what it is you are really avoiding: stress or new challenges. Are you avoiding promotion because you know you wouldn’t enjoy it, or because you’re afraid you wouldn’t be good at it?

Prepare for promotion before it grabs you

If you do decide you’re cut out for management, start preparing in advance. Remember that what most management positions really demand is solving problems and people management. Of course, you have to know your business; but the fact that you are brilliant at IT doesn’t automatically mean you’ll be brilliant at managing a team. Go on a course and learn communication skills. It will prove invaluable.

In other words, be honest, with yourself and with your boss. If you’re happy in your current job but don’t feel that promotion would be the right move for you at the moment, say so. Do your job well and enjoy doing it. However, you need to make sure that your boss knows you are entirely committed to the company and that even though you don’t seek promotion at the present time, you welcome the chance to take on new and interesting tasks in your present position.

Employers: respect and reward simple competence
As an employer, you must realise that when employees go for promotion, it is often not because they want a different workload but because they need more pay. This may force the wrong people to seek promotion.

Reward staff for the excellence they show in their job
Even if someone has been doing their job for years. excellence does not devalue. So don’t only give rewards and pay rises if they go with job title changes.
Offer proper management training
But only to those people who are genuinely cut out for management. How do you recognise them? Not just by the fact that they are good at their jobs! They need to demonstrate a desire to be involved in the larger business of the company; to have questions but also solutions; to want to lead projects and carry out high-level tasks. So carefully watch your employees and only select those who show these characteristics.

Remember: insecure, unhappy managers make bad managers. And they are destined for failure.

Thanks & Regards,
S.Grace Paul Regan.

Is HR the most hated department in your organization?

An enquiry made to the HR which you thought would be confidential ended up backfiring? Embarrassed every now and then with constant neglect for your queries? If you think you are the only one facing this problem, a whole lot of birds of the same feather can tell you more stories of issues faced while dealing with the dreaded group - Human Resource aka HR.

HR department, which has been an integral part of every firm, instituted with the intention of effective integration of all nuances of the firm has been no more 'HR' in the real sense as we run by the several bitter experiences of employees and other low level staff in organizations. It is more a 'Highly Reprimanded' group than a 'Human Resource' management group these days. Employees seem literally nailed when they hear those deadly quotes so politely and strategically framed like "we will get back to you" or "the position is on hold" or " we are waiting for the decision from the top" etc. HR segments which struggle to cater the rising woes of employees really seem to lack well defined principles of human resource management.

1. Transparency in communicating organization motives - Most companies have employees at any given point who whine about the ongoing HR practices and how they wish there complaints were solved as soon as they were posted. Many employees complain that they hate it when HR comes across just as a puppet of the top management hired to issue instructions which relates to a definitive lack of transparency in their actions. Most HR department and personnel seems like doing a formality and not really their jobs since they just follow processes where there's no personalization. They think that it is difficult to even share their views and thoughts with the HR department for the fear of bearing the consequences for being vocal about the visible issues around.

2. Handling exit interviews - Another concern raised by employees is that HR personnel have no idea about the wealth of valuable information that is available at their fingertips. As they assert, exit interview information is not about collecting sour grapes information but about collecting factual data which shapes the future HR strategy and policy.

3. Failing to understand the business challenges - This is another main criticism pointed against HR. HR professionals do not look at their purpose as being strategic, which in itself creates an aura that HR is driving administration, not the strategy of the organization. Other staffs feel that they bother more about hiring than internal employee development. On all occasions HR should keep in mind that it is the current employee's performance that actually reflects on organizations and their performance, which unfortunately is missed out many a time.

4. Lack of responsiveness - A concern raised against HR every now and then as they always ask for paper work whenever there is a concern and the turnaround time is so long that most employees get frustrated before any resolution is reached. Many people find themselves screwed as HR spills the beans on matters which they tell the HR taking them in confidence.

With scrutiny like Harassing Resources or Hardly Required, HR is an area which needs constant troubleshooting and a revival at the earliest. In case that HR is not knowledgeable enough to answer questions then they need to be truthful or to a level transparent, get the answers and revert back. The role of HR is to provide overall company assistance and guidance with the execution on a company's missions, values and ethics, while ensuring the right people in the right job at the right time. Unless and until, they change the view of HR as contributing to business results nothing will change. The HR systems utilized, are just some of the tools we can use to provide factual data to support our contributions. Last but not least, all HR personnel must consider the question 'What's in it for me?' and perhaps the quick and easy answer is 'I have a job, and that job is servicing the internal customer'.

Top 10 reasons why employees hate their boss !

Top 10 reasons why employees hate their boss most of the times that becomes the reason for them to hate their employer..

Bosses! Can't work with them, can't work without them. Everything seems to be fine when you join the job but if you are one of those fortunate ones, sooner or later your boss starts smirking in your nightmares.

A chat with employees working under tough projects and small teams who usually face tremendous work pressure will give us interesting insights about the bad bosses they have. Even in a company sans work pressure employees regularly bump into bad bosses. And their experiences are real bad [pardon me of your boss is really good] which they only share once they are in a new job. Good bosses are hard to find and employees hate their bad bosses for very many reasons.

Listing the Top 10 reasons below:

1) Incompetent and unacknowledging - Employees hate bosses who doesn't have the essential competitive skills but still scorns the work they do. Whether or not the boss is competitive, the employee really longs for his good work to be acknowledged and not to be treated as a 'piece of crap'.

2) Privacy Invasion - 'He always keep guard about what I do, constantly checks out on the office phone about what I am busy at (an indirect way to know whether I am on a call with any acquaintance) and one day even peeped through the door to see what I am doing. Now I even doubt whether he is watching me once I reach home' says Anamika (name changed to protect identity). Now that's a real bad boss.

3) The narcissist boss - Employees hate bosses who acts as the 'know it all', who thinks they are second to none, hears nothing until it directly benefits him and so self obsessed to be called in the informal way 'a narcissist glory monger'.

4) Personal Insults - Bosses who torture employees with personal insults rather than choosing to reproach on the basis of their work quickly gets in the hate list. Many employees have long stories to say about bosses who frequently torture them with comments about their attitude and discriminate them deliberately.

5) The angry 'yelling' boss - You are the boss, thumbs up. But how on earth could you yell at me like that. Employees at some point or other meet the unfortunate fate of being victim to their boss' wrath. Justifiable the reason may be, but you are in my hate list boss.

6) The 'opportunist' boss - Employees obviously develops a dislike to their boss who refuses to mind them. But one day the same boss who never acknowledged your presence comes to you, smiles at you and the next thing you know, you are on an extra shift with heavy workload. Dislikes turn to hate for such opportunist bosses.

7) The 'tensed' boss - Employees tend to hate bosses who are always tensed and want them to finish of the work in a hurry. "He is so tensed and rushes things as if his head is on fire. His tension is so contagious that even we get tensed in his presence" Rahul, a software employee.

8) Stealing credits - Employees feel cheated and hate their boss when he or she steals the credit of their work but never forgets to blame them if something goes wrong.

9) Lack of clarity and feedback - Employees hate bosses who don't brief them properly and keep the employees ignorant with any real feedback on their work. And worse, employees are blamed for something which in turn would be the result of void feedback.

10) Lack of rapport - Employees hate bosses who lacks mutual respect and always play bossy without any real interest in befriending the employees.

Thanks & Regards,
S.Grace Paul Regan

10 ways to retain your employees!

Info Tech companies are the ones that suffer from high attrition rates and the growing demand for trained professionals. During and after the global economic recession, enterprises find it difficult to effectively deploy their human resource and systematically plan a workforce infrastructure. This is where employee retention becomes instrumental to the firm.

Key employee retention is critical to the long term health and success of an enterprise. Apart from the usual ways employed by the firm to retain employees like increasing the organization's level of professionalism and transparency and conventional ways of measuring employee satisfaction, mentioned here are some 10 ways to effectively retain your employees:

1. Ensuring employee satisfaction - An unhappy and insecure employ is worse than your biggest competitor. In the long run for competition and meeting project deadlines, IT firms miss out on the comfort level of their employees. A comfortable employee knows clearly what is expected from him every day at work. The firm should provide an ambience where the employee can voice his opinion freely and appreciate their efforts, thereby making them comfortable.

2. Ensuring proper feedback - Clarity and feedback is an important area where executives go wrong. Hence employees complaint about lack of clarity of expectations and earning potential, lack of feedback about performance and failure to provide a framework within which the employee perceives he can succeed. These flaws should be handled effectively.

3. Promoting employees from within - A company that constantly fills vacancies by hiring from outside is certain to face retention problems. Employees who realize that they are unlikely to be promoted to fill the vacancies will leave the organization. Promoting employees from within is a sound retention strategy.

4. Balancing Individual and organizational goals - Many companies fall into the trap of expecting their employees to subsume their individual objectives before the organizational one which forces employees to leave. This should be balanced by offering them acquire new skills and providing comprehensive knowledge on projects which at least promotes a feeling that their objectives are satisfied to an extent.

5. Acknowledging your employees - A common place grievance during an exit interview is that the employee never felt senior executives knew he existed. Its challenging since IT is a highly structured hierarchy. But senior officials should see to it that employees are met with and briefed periodically.

6. Fresh Workplace ambience - Employees are as much family people as they are workers. A firm sans fun environment may lead to attrition. Also a thickly packed project, a cubicle or office space may add to their woes. A fresh office space will in turn make the workplace more fun.

7. Ensuring a match between authority and accountability - Decentralization of task is synonymous to an IT project. Most companies fall into the trap of holding a project leader accountable for a specific activity without empowering them with the authority to perform it well. Even worse, another employee assigned the same task may be left unaccountable which will add only to the attrition rate.

8. Involving employees in the decision-making process - People like to work in organizations where their opinions count. Employee's involvement in decision-making is directly proportional to the organization's retention-level. A participative decision-making process is good and total empowerment, better.

9. Making performance appraisals objective - Employees like to know how, when, and by whom their performance is going to be measured. An appraisal process that lists objective and measurable criteria for performance appraisal removes the uncertainty in the minds of employees that their superiors can rate their performance any which way they please

10. Competitive pay package - Pay hike comes last in the list for me let alone ESOPs. Money isn't a motivator, but it is an effective de-motivator. While organizations that pay best-in-industry salaries may find themselves unable to use that fact to motivate their employees, those that do not could find their best employees leaving.

Edited from : SiliconIndia
Posted By : Grace Paul Regan