HR Bulletin Volume 147

Imagined corporate communities

but by common constructs in the minds of people Are we in danger of wrecking the shared imagination that made the modern corporation so easy to manage?

Corporations are not held together by legal contracts

While allocating the forty-eighth rank to 'Imagined Communities' 1 in 'The All-TIME 100 Nonfiction Books' written in English since 1923, Ishaan Tharoor wrote: "Benedict Anderson details the means by which we come to think of the modern nation-state as 'a deep [egalitarian] comradeship' despite the fact that social and economic inequalities remain, often as bad as in earlier ages of sovereign kings and monarchies Imagined Communities remains the most clear-eyed tract on how people came to see themselves as 'national' beings, an identity that Anderson and scholars since have shown relies on far greater fictions than truths." I am not aware of a similar analysis of the fictions that make up corporate communities and would like to attempt one.

As Jan Lucassen explains: "From prehistory until today, a number of solutions have been devised for organizing work. Until some 12,000 years ago … work [and its fruits were] divided among small communities … based on reciprocity. [Around 5,000 years ago, after agrarian societies led to the formation of cities and then states,

other forms of labour relations emerged] alongside reciprocal labour relations These can be broken down into self-employment and tributary labour – complemented later, after the emergence of markets, by free wage labour, slavery and employership "I cannot pretend to even an approximation of Lucassen’s sweep and depth here For our purpose, the camera needs to start rolling in the centuries just preceding the Industrial Revolution. " …[L]abour intensified after 1500 with a simultaneous and serious expansion of the market economy. Apart from all sorts of hybrid forms … market economies [were] based, on the one hand, on the predominantly free labour of the selfemployed and wage workers … and, on the other hand, on the almost exclusively unfree labour of slaves." 3Each of these labour sources relied predominantly (though not exclusively) on one of three incentives. The classification enunciated by the Tillys is both simple and intuitively appealing in this regard. "[T]ransactions vary in the relative weights and asymmetries of three classes of incentives: coercion, compensation, and commitment. Coercion consists of threats to inflict harm, compensation the offer of contingent rewards, commitment the invocation of solidarity Coercion, compensation, and commitment have distinctive heartlands but fuzzy boundaries [and] thread through every aspect of the world of work " 4 Very obviously, coercion was the prime driver of slave labour and compensation was the mainspring of free wage labour

"In the last two centuries, labour relations – now primarily market oriented – shifted radically. The share of unfree labour fell sharply… [T]o work in an industry that was increasingly concentrated in factories … [t]he crucial question was how to motivate people who were not used to being under the direct supervision of a boss to carry out productive labour under entirely new circumstances. This is the issue of work incentives." 5 For a long time after the commencement of the Industrial Revolution, factory work was incentivized almost entirely through compensation, though the threat of coercion did loom in the background. Soon after the turn of the last century, Taylorism stamped out any remaining vestiges of initiative and innovation on the part of workmen as well as the commitment that came from craftsmanship and creativity "Frederick Winslow Taylor did not intend to create a movement that would be inimical to questioning and grass-root innovation but the way his 'scientific design of tasks' was taken forward in industry after industry and country after country, it clearly had a chilling effect on workmen thinking for themselves and expressing disagreement when they wanted to '[T]he right person for most of the non-managerial jobs Taylor designed was someone with limited imagination, boundless patience and a willingness to do the same repetitive tasks day in and day out.' 6 A perfect descriptor of Chaplin’s 'Modern Times'!" 7

Commitment through imagined corporate communities

Clearly the state to which Taylorism brought industry was hugely sub-optimal. The ratios of the supervisory effort to output, the cost of inspection to quality achieved as well as the individual ingenuity available to those deployed at work were all extremely adverse. Almost a century ago, a micro-current of opposition to the Taylorean wave that engulfed the world commenced Elton Mayo and the Western Electric Company are etched in the college memory of every HR practitioner and industrial psychologist Were they driven by the purely altruistic desire to improve the lot of the automaton worker created by Taylorism? Very likely not 8 That, however, only strengthens our argument that the movement they heralded found favour with smart managements worldwide because it became possible to manage far greater numbers with much less force and intimidation which, in turn, also meant releasing bubbles of commitment to waft corporate performance yet higher.

The Mayo movement continued to gain converts in the Western world based on the cost-effectiveness of the supervisor-substituting commitment it propagated. Far higher gains were awaiting discovery in the domains of quality and incremental grass-root innovation and these were unleashed by the Japanese machine that changed the world. 9 It is not surprising that the ultimate in productivity gain could only come in an…

Expats find settling in India easier but Indians find it tough to belong abroad

Relocation has a strange correlation in the context of India and Indians While it takes about an year for 80% of expats to settle down and feel at home in India, 33% of Indians who relocated abroad feel they don't belong in their new communities

International citizens relocating to India experience a higher level of ease when it comes to settling in and feeling a sense of belonging, HSBC's latest research has found.

Of the surveyed expats who moved to India, 80 per cent felt at home in less than a year, with an average settling-in period of 7 4 months - shorter than the global average of 8 3 months Thirty-six per cent felt at home almost instantly, 23 per cent in less than 6 months, and 21 per cent in six months to a year However, the study also highlights the difficulties that a number of Indians (i e those born in India) face when moving abroad, with 33 per cent of Indians who relocated abroad feeling like they don't belong in their new communities

According to HSBC's research on international citizens, although the primary motivation for relocating abroad is the prospect of a better lifestyle for nearly one-third of global respondents (29 per cent), the road to feeling settled with a genuine sense of belonging is not always easy. The study, which surveyed over 7,000 individuals who have moved or are planning to move abroad for work, study, or living purposes, found that the average time it takes for international citizens to feel at home in a new country is approximately eight months. However, for almost a quarter (23 per cent) of those surveyed, it takes more than a year to feel settled….

Read more at: https://www.peoplematters.in/article/life-at-work/expats-findsettling-in-india-easier-but-indians-find-it-tough-to-belong-abroad-37777

Top 3 mistakes global companies make when onboarding employees

Safeguard Global Chief People Officer Katherine Loranger highlights the crucial role of consistent onboarding processes and shares three common mistakes that companies should avoid to ensure a seamless integration of new hires into their organisations.

A successful onboarding process is vital for organisations to foster a sense of connection and engagement among new hires Recent research suggests that companies may face a significant turnover rate up to 80 per cent of their staff if their onboarding process leaves new hires feeling disconnected from their role and the company's overall mission.

Having a consistent onboarding process ensures all new hires have a similar experience, regardless of their location or role, which is especially critical for multinational companies, says Katherine Loranger, Chief People Officer of Safeguard Global, a global workforce management company. Loranger has observed that many companies continue to rely on outdated processes that result in a fragmented culture, such as not setting clear expectations or ignoring cultural adaptation during training

“Outdated onboarding processes can hinder the success of remote and hybrid workforces, especially during the critical first few weeks on the job Employees who feel unsupported or undervalued during their first few months are more likely to leave their job, leading to increased turnover rates,” she adds In an interaction with People Matters, Loranger emphasises the importance of avoiding three common mistakes to ensure a seamless integration of new hires into their organisations Absence of a clear and consistent onboarding planto be shared and for experiences to be more welcoming …

Read more at: https://www.peoplematters.in/article/employeeengagement/top-3-mistakes-global-companies-make-when-onboardingemployees-37986