IIM ROHTAK H U M A N E - R CLUB P re s e n t s
H R B U LL E T I N VOLUME 106
humane.r@iimrohtak.ac.in
H U M A N E - R | V O L U M E106
HR BULLETIN
What is leadership? It is not about power or authority, having subordinates, or even personality qualities or styles. It's about setting a goal, or an intended outcome, and garnering support for doing so. Leadership has become one of those HR terms that are extensively used, defined differently by many, but misunderstood by most. So, what is Leadership? One of the best definitions I have seen was authored by Kevin Kruse, CEO, LEADx, in a Forbes article. He defined Leadership as, “A process of social influence, which maximises the efforts of others, towards the achievement of a goal.” In that article, he explained that it is not about authority or power, not about having direct reports, and not even about traits or styles. But, it is about having a goal; an intended outcome, and garnering support for achieving it. In a similar vein, I have often differentiated Leadership from Management in the following way: •Leadership: Creating a vision of the future, bringing it alive, and securing the resources and commitment to deliver it. •Management: Optimising the use of resources to deliver the vision in line with the mission, strategy, and values; making things happen.
2
1.A dramatic increase in the number of whole team meetings. With virtual platforms they are just easier. Some studies put the increase since the start of the pandemic above 150%. The upside is that teams are getting together more often. Potential downsides include more groupthink; longer decision-making timelines; and a reduction in the number of more effective one-to-one meetings. 2.Various studies have also shown that around 75% of meetings now fail to achieve their objectives, if indeed they had any! 3.Relationships are weakening due to virtual emotional distance - lower empathic responses during virtual meetings. 4.Informal information flow is decreasing due to the lack of ad hoc face to face interactions and the cognitive disconnect this creates. 5.Reduced decision-making efficiency and less radical decisions as consensus is used more widely for decisions that could have been handled by individuals. 6.Weaker information flow due to lower levels of conscious attention during virtual meetings - we are more easily distracted when in a virtual meeting than in a face-to-face one, and even more so if our own webcam is off. What are organisations doing? Despite, or perhaps ignoring, all of those concerns, organisations have been forced to embrace hybrid working. The general consensus on how to do it appears to include these four themes: •Compromise – allow individuals to choose 2 to 3 days of remote working per week unless that clearly cannot work for their specific role e.g., receptionist, security guard, machine operator, teller, driver, …. •Implement a one-size fits all collaboration platform and use it for as many forms of interaction as possible e.g., messaging, virtual meetings, document sharing, training, …. •Manage performance by focusing on goals, objectives, measurable outputs. •Encourage use of whole-team meetings for general communication and decision making. These have little if anything to do with leadership. They are over-simplified, sub-optimal, generic attempts at addressing the symptoms. They come nowhere near to satisfying Kevin Kruse’s definition, “A process of social influence, which maximises the efforts of others, towards the achievement of a goal.” They similarly fail to match my own definition. “Creating a vision of the future, bringing it alive, and securing the resources and commitment to deliver it. And, as explained above, they come with very substantial medium to long-term consequences. Seven Keys to Success If you really want to demonstrate leadership in a hybrid world, try these keys: Key 1 – Create a clear vision of the future “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there,” Lewis Carroll. As leaders, we need to define precisely why we are asking for things to be done; what the purpose of all our efforts is; what success will look like. Without that purpose, all our staff have is chores to do! With a clear purpose, they understand why they are asked to do things. Then, they can make better choices about how to use their time. Key 2 – Bring your vision of the future alive Those working remotely need to be embraced. They need to feel that they are an important part of something bigger. They need to feel that their efforts are contributing to some greater good. This has always been true of all employees but remoteness heightens the need. As leaders, we need to articulate our vision clearly, frequently, and with passion. We need to bring it alive. If we don’t actively demonstrate our commitment to it, why should they?...
Read more at: https://www.peoplematters.in/article/leadership/what-isleadership-34597
3
H U M A N E - R | V O L U M E106
Managing employee experience in a postpandemic world Organisations need to transform the employee experience to be more relevant and engaging for a digital workforce that is working in virtual or remote environments. The pandemic experience has changed people and their behaviours in profound ways. Faced with deep economic uncertainty, a growing climate crisis, rising geopolitical tensions, and a heightened sense of risk, people have a very different set of priorities in work and life. These priorities influence how work has changed to become more virtual and flexible. Flexible and virtual work has now become an expectation rather than a nice-to-have for most workers. According to the EY Work Reimagined Survey 2022 (WR survey), which surveyed employees and employers globally, less employees (20%) were reluctant toward fully remote working, compared to 34% in 2021. Employers are responding by changing their HR policies and benefits to align with these new expectations. In spite of these changes, some are finding it challenging to engage or retain employees. The reason: they may have overlooked the employees’ experience of these changes. The importance of employee experience (EX) is well-established. 78% of HR leaders agreed that EX will be one of the most important factors affecting their organisation’s ability to deliver on key business objectives within the next two years, according to another study commissioned by EY, SAP SuccessFactors and Qualtrics and undertaken by Forrester. Based on EY client interviews and experiences, organisations need a new strategy and approach to deliver effective change management experiences for the employee in a post-pandemic environment…
Read more at: https://www.peoplematters.in/article/employeeengagement/how-to-manage-your-employees-experience-of-change-in-a-postpandemic-world-34588
4
H U M A N E - R | V O L U M E106
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) in the Indian manufacturing industry There is a dire need of building a DEI culture that goes deeper than just implementing some standalone initiatives that do not weave into the organisational strategy. According to McKinsey & Company research from 2015 and 2018, DEI has been proven to improve organisational performance and build competitive advantage by fostering productivity, innovation and loyalty at the workplace. Big brands like Microsoft, Google, Unilever or Tata Steel have moved from just being equal opportunity employers to hiring specifically LGBTQ+ citizens for certain positions. But at a time when organisations are getting more inclusive, the Indian manufacturing industry is struggling with the basic gender diversity issue. Despite popular initiatives like Women of Mettle or Women at Hindalco, women representation in manufacturing has just moved up from 8% to 12% in the period of 2019 to 2021 as per the GE and Avatar 2021 survey. While the Indian manufacturing sector acknowledges the problem, it is rarely attended to enough by the leaders in the industry. In this article, we highlight the present DEI issues in the Indian manufacturing industry and the dire need of building a DEI culture that goes deeper than just implementing some standalone initiatives that do not weave into the organisational strategy. The harsh reality Physical safety in and around manufacturing locations, infrastructural gaps, shift working, working hours (usually 6 days a week), wage and incentive criteria, and conscious or unconscious biases in promotion or recruitment of women pose major impediments to improving gender diversity in the sector. The GE BELONG 2021 research clearly surfaces the hindrances to female career growth in the manufacturing sector. 69% women blamed stereotypical perceptions about women’s abilities and 59% blamed it on biassed appraisal processes. More than 50% of men, though, perceived lack of support from government and supervisors as the main reason for sluggish career growth of women in manufacturing organisations…
Read more at: https://www.peoplematters.in/article/strategic-hr/diversityequity-and-inclusion-dei-in-the-indian-manufacturing-industry34589?media_type=article&subcat=diversity&title=diversity-equity-andinclusion-dei-in-the-indian-manufacturing-industry&id=34589 5
H U M A N E - R | V O L U M E106
Treating your employees like adults When leaders do not treat their employees as competent, independent adults, they create some of the greatest obstacles to an organisation’s success. How can leaders break free from that need for control and instead create a win-win situation? The idea of treating employees like adults should hardly be a novel one, even less so a topic that garners extensive articles. And yet. You hear this everywhere, in every corner of the world, in every industry. A tale as old as time: the overbearing boss. The condescending project leader. The patronising micromanager. Adlerian psychology calls this a vertical relationship, in which one person has power over another. A horizontal relationship, adversely, is where both are treated as equals. It is important to note that it does not mean equality of abilities or knowledge, but equality in power dynamics. One can have a horizontal relationship with someone much older or younger, in various stages of their lives. So why is it that leaders refuse to treat their employees like adults, and instead, choose to breathe down their necks? Why is it that almost all employer-employee dynamics are of a vertical nature? Untrust begets untrust The fact is that employees are adults, and should be treated with trust and respect. Ranking and rating systems, for instance, say that at best, employees need juvenile encouragement and at worst, should be pit against one another. Same as attendance policies or strict dress codes, all of which displays a leader’s lack of trust in their employees. Rather than allowing employees the autonomy to be accountable for their own time and decisions, many organisations still practice top-down, sometimes military-esque management styles where employees are constantly monitored, berated or given patronising criticism. The problem with treating adults like children is that they are, in fact, adults, and will know they are being treated like children. This leads to poor performance, lowers engagement and weakens retention…
Read more at: https://www.peoplematters.in/article/leadership/treating-youremployees-like-adults-34636
6
H U M A N E - R | V O L U M E106
upGrad elevate: Your answer to finding future-ready talent and building winning workplaces Trapped by the limitations of traditional recruitment pathways, upGrad elevate presents a unique opportunity for growing enterprises to access hybrid talent pools and bridge the growing skill gap. Business recruitments of today are no longer about meeting the current skill demand but rather cultivating a set of highly skilled professionals ready to take on the future of work. What we cannot deny is that this is found in a talent pool of dedicated learners. When faced with an unpredictable and increasingly automated business landscape, those who polish their skillsets time and again, in line with changing industry expectations, win. As companies across industries embrace innovative recruitment formats, expansion of talent pools is the dominant trend in the talent marketplace. One exciting way this has been carried out is at upGrad elevate, a quarterly event that connects companies open to hiring with industry-ready, agile, and upskilled candidates. The day-long affair encompasses several events along with hiring, including pre-placement talks, alumni fireside chats, leadership chats, and even hackathons and competitions to find the right skill match for businesses amid a teeming pool of highly skilled learners and professionals. If this isn’t enough to pique your interest, here are three more reasons why upGrad elevate is the answer to building a winning workforce to spearhead your company’s vision for the future: Multi-Domain Hiring Breaking out of age-old trajectories of hiring, where the focus is on a limited number of skill-sets that the recruiter or institution specializes…
Read more at: https://www.peoplematters.in/article/talent-acquisition/upgradelevate-your-answer-to-finding-future-ready-talent-and-building-winningworkplaces-34600
7