Saturday, December 29, 2012

Employee Engagement- II

Indicators of Employee Engagement…


Employee Engagement is directly related to company's
financial performance..
Employee Engagement is crucial. But first we should understand what employee engagement means:
Engagement is more on how he enjoys his job and organization and how he contributes to the organization. Employee Engagement is nothing but employee’s psychological connection with his job, superior and organization. Most of the people misunderstood employee satisfaction with employee engagement; however these are two different terms. The normal response to employee engagement issues has been to focus on increased job satisfaction. The rationale was that a satisfied employee is a productive employee. Research indicates that in actuality, a productive employee is a satisfied employee.
Thirty years of industry research and my own personal experience indicate that employees, who apply their talents and abilities to enhance the organization, make a significant impact on key business results. The outcome is a more engaged employee, which results in a higher contributing and more satisfied employee. It also means that organization which invests in developing their employees has more engaged employees.   
Employee Engagement is the level that an employee believes in the mission, purpose and values of an organization and demonstrates that commitment through their actions as an employee and their attitude towards the employer and customers
In short employees are engaged when they bring all their talent, energy and discretionary effort to bear to their everyday decisions and actions. They have a clear line of sight so that they understand how their work contributes to the direction and goals of their organization.
Sometimes Commitment is also view as an Engagement. At the same time as commitment and engagement are used interchangeably, the general consensus seems to be that commitment is not enough – the real differences are seen when employees are fully engaged.
Committed employees are positive, want to do the right things, display high levels of energy and initiative, but commitment becomes engagement when it is fully harnessed and aligned with the overall goals and direction of the organization.
Research also shows that engagement is a leading indicator of financial performance. Companies that increase their engagement levels can expect to significantly improve their subsequent financial performance.
(Continued…)

Wish you all a Happy New Year! http://vinodtbidwaik.blogspot.in/2012/01/happy-new-year.html

Saturday, December 22, 2012

Employee Engagement- I

Employee Engagement and Elephant…


Employee Engagement is viewed always an isolated activity.

Different people have different perception about Employee Engagement. To elaborate this I would like to refer the six blind men and elephant story..
There were six blind men in a village. One day the villagers told them, "Hey, there is an elephant in the village today."
They had no idea what an elephant is. They decided, "Even though we would not be able to see it, let us go and feel it anyway." All of them went where the elephant was. Every one of them touched the elephant.
"Oh, how big elephant is? The elephant is a pillar," said the first man who touched his leg.
"Oh, no! it is like a rope," said the second man who touched the tail.
"Oh, no! it is like a thick branch of a tree," said the third man who touched the trunk of the elephant.
"It is like a big hand fan" said the fourth man who touched the ear of the elephant.
"It is like a huge wall," said the fifth man who touched the belly of the elephant.
"It is like a solid pipe," Said the sixth man who touched the tusk of the elephant.
They began to argue about the elephant and every one of them insisted that he was right. It looked like they were getting agitated. One wise man saw their argument.
He asked them, "What is the matter?"
They said, "We cannot agree to what the elephant is like." Each one of them told what he thought the elephant was like. The wise man calmly explained to them, "All of you are right. The reason every one of you is telling it differently because each one of you touched the different part of the elephant. So, actually the elephant has all those features what you all said."
"Oh!" everyone said. There was no more fight. They felt happy that they were all right.
Employee Engagement is viewed like the Elephant described in the story.
How they view Employee Engagement?
Employee Engagement is keeping employees engaged by fun activities and some companies have “Chief Fun Officer.” They do all fun activities in the organization and try to engage employees(?). They celebrate birthdays, fun activities, different days and so on. Still these companies have attrition.
Employee Engagement means organizing events for employees.
Somebody view Employee Engagement means introducing some rewards schemes and giving certificates and cards.
Some organizations go at home of employees on certain occasions. Some organizations try to get the involvement of families in certain activities.   
And still, employees are not engaged….
Companies celebrate birthdays, but ignore how the manager is treating to employees. They organize fun activities, but ignore the feedback on the performance of an employee. Managers view it as HR job and HR just see towards it as one of the KPI. The problem is all these activities are viewed as events and not the process. We forget that these are lag activities. HR professionals themselves view Employee Engagement as just organizing some activities and events for employees.  
Time has come to change our views and view Employee Engagement as whole package for employees. Let’s see it differently…
If you have something to share please write your views in comment box…
(Continued to next week….)

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Self Motivation

Nobody can motivate you, yes it comes internal
There is a long debate on motivation. Managers, leaders are expected to motivate their employees. Companies introduce Rewards and Recognization schemes to motivate their employees. People are definitely motivated and such schemes also shows good results for time being. But still most of the times people are not enough motivated, they further expect something different.
Motivation is an urge to do soemthing. Self-Motivation is an urge to drive oneself, which pushes him up towards his needs, wants and desires. Nobody can’t motivate you, you yourself has to motivate you. There are lot of theories on motivation. Lot of reaserch on motivation is avaliable on google, but still people are not motivated. People are still not 100% happy. Orgnizations will ensure the motivation of people, but why people expect extranal motivation. I do agree that people should be motivated, but where their self motivation goes?
The main problem is they are not aware what they want in their life. So eveybody should ask the question, why I need to be motivated..
Why Self Motivation?
Self- Motivation is needed for following purpose in life.
 We need to be self-Motivated because
a)    We have our goals in life and our goals have to be achieved by ourselves only.
b)   We have our dreams in life and our dreams have to be fulfilled by ourselves only.
c)     We have to make things happen and we ourselves has to do something to make it happened.
d)     To do all in life, we should know how our life going? Nobody will keep a track of our life; we ourselves have to keep the right track of our goals dreams and efforts.
If we are responsible for our actions and our life, the question is how external factors will keep us motivated?

Friday, December 07, 2012

The promise of an Ox

Motivation can do wonders..

There lived a very poor Brahmin. He got one calf in gift. After few years it grew up to in a strong ox. The Brahmin had no family. He was also very old now and he use to think that he will die in this poor state only. One day this ox said to his owner, “Master! You have brought me up like your own son. I have not done anything for you. Now, I would like to do something for you that bring you some money.
The Brahmin wondered, still he asked, “ How it is possible?” The ox said, “ Master! You tell all the villagers that I can drag a Bullock Cart loaded with 100 bags of 40 Kgs each.  You bet with them. Put a bet of Rs 10 against Rs1. Tell them that they if get 10 rupees against each one rupees if I could not drag the bullock cart. Nobody will believe you. But I promise that you will win the bet and become rich”. Brahmin became very happy and he announced at all places. The villagers could not believe that an ox can pull such a weight. So, the villagers agreed to bet immediately.
The day of bet arrived. 100 bags of loaded rice were stocked in the Bullock Cart. The poor ox kept trying and trying but the bullock cart did not move an inch. The Brahmin started to curse and abuse the ox. The ox became sad. Brahmin lost the bet and he has to give away all possessions he had. Looking at the condition of his master ox had tears in his eyes. The Brahmin shouted at ox, “Why are you crying now. Its me who should cry.”
The ox said, “Master! You did not behave well with me. You shouted at me. I was about to pull the bullock cart but you started to abuse me. That’s why I am crying. After listening to your harsh words I lost my courage and we lost the bet.” Brahmin immediately realized his mistake. Then the ox said, “Believe me sir. This time I will pull the Bullock Cart loaded with 200 bags of 40 Kgs each.  You bet with the villagers. Put a bet of Rs 20 against Rs1. After lots of thought, the Brahmin agreed to take the biggest risk in his life to bet. Villagers thought that this Brahmin has gone mad and yet they agreed to bet again.
Next Sunday the crowd gathered. 200 bags of loaded rice were stocked in the Bullock Cart. The ox tried hard to pull the bullock cart. Even after 5 minutes of try he could not move the bullock cart. Villagers thought that again this Brahmin would loose the bet. Now the Brahmin went near to his ox and said, “ Son! This is a tuff job, but I have full faith on you that you can do it. Try once more.”
After listening to such words of praise and faith the ox tried once more with all his energy and the much-awaited amazement happened, the bullock cart started to move. Everybody was surprised. Brahmin won the bet and became very rich in few moments.
Morale:
If you trust people, people will keep your trust. Motivation can do wonders.

Sunday, December 02, 2012

Self Instructions

Instruct your mind positively...

“Keshava, what are you doing? Please check first and then enter into the system…” one of the accounts officer in my organization was speaking with himself (or computer?) while making some entries in the system. I was behind him. I asked, “What is this Keshav? To whom you are speaking with.” He laughed. His colleague seating next to him told me that it is his regular practices. Sometimes they get confused by his self –talking.
Our mind is powerful and believes on what we do, what we say. Self-instruction is a very powerful but simple tool to make your life happy.
Normally self-instruction is used in education systems considering the students’ ability of one to cognitively plan, organize, direct, reinforce, and evaluate one’s own independent learning without a teacher's prompting. In our day to day job, we need to work without the support of seniors or peers and not necessary they have the time to teach you everything what’s happening in the organization.
However Self instructions here I mean to say is to instruct positively to the mind. Our mind is powerful in bring the positivity in our life.
If you are driving towards the office and you see the traffic on the road is moving fast. You have two options, either to curse the situation or keep the mind cool and wait. You have meeting and you need to go at office on time. How to keep the mind cool? Here just instruct your mind by speaking with yourself. “Oh, the road is jam, but what I can do now? Send the message to boss first and keep your mind cool dear. It is not your fault XXX (you name). The road is with full of idiots.” and laugh. Make the situation funny. You will see the difference. It is the choice of yours’ and you need to choose positive option.    
How to do that?
1.      Identify the situation: Situation can be anything. From you day to day issues to professional ideas. E.g. traffic is jam; you need to prepare the report for the boss; or you have to give the presentation to the critical customer.   
2.      See the positive side: Check the positive side of the situation. Traffic is jam but traffic police is already there. Or can I come out and do something? Or Oh I am ready for the presentation and boss is with me in case of any problem.
3.      Instruct your mind: This is a self-instruction phase. Make the positive statement and alternate plan in case of failure. Instruct yourself what actually you need to do and tell yourself everything good about the situation. Just start the conversation with yourself with positive affirmations. Have a good talk. You are instructing your inner, (subconscious) mind.
4.      Enjoy the event: Life has its own destiny. It will not work always as per your expectation. One think in your hand is to enjoy every moment in life. See around and enjoy the faces of people. Relate them to some analogy, animal or birds. Comment on such situation and people involved there. Make a next plan. Tell your mind what is your next plan and how are you going to implement that.
Life and time are the two best teachers. Life teaches us to make good use of time and time teaches us the value of life.

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