IIM ROHTAK H U M A N E - R CLUB P re s e n ts
H R BULLETIN VOLUME 79
humane.r@iimrohtak.ac.in
H U M A N E - R | V O L U M E 79
HR BULLETIN
Big Data: Bigger performance – biggest delight Technology allows us to recommend the right mix of work, development and compensation choices for each individual employee. How can we use this micro-targeting to raise people’s performance and happiness? On the dashboard of every HR professional there should be at least three dials. The largest one should indicate the results achieved by HR for the people of the organisation. Then there should be a measure of the creativity and pathbreaking programmes used for getting those outcomes. The third dial should show how far fast-progressing information technology has been harnessed by HR so that the innovations are realized in the service of the results. What is it that impedes the average HR department form substantially improving its dashboard readings?
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We can safely assume readers of this column are (or, at least, should be) committed to raising Aggregate Longterm People Happiness (ALPH). But how? Grandiose goals always carry the sobering fear that there is no practical way to attain them. In the case of the first dial, when the aggregate is made up of both Socrates’ and pigs, the possibility of figuring out what will maximise utility for each individual and then actually delivering it seems to be well beyond HR (Human Reckoning). Perhaps there is no other glamour-domain than innovation that HR not only talks about but stakes a claim to own within the corporate landscape. While we cannot own Big Data so exclusively, we are not behind any other function in describing it as the next big opportunity. The small inconvenient fact, which keeps the second and third dials low, is that HR is rarely seen as particularly innovative by employees and the little it uses Big Data is imitative of other functions rather than original. HR, of course, is not the only late adopter in the behavioural sciences. "The capacity to collect and analyze massive amounts of data has transformed such fields as biology and physics. But the emergence of a data-driven 'computational social science' has been much slower." Social scientists have begun to catch up fast. HR practitioners need to do the same. This column seeks to nudge the needles on each of our three dashboard dials. To maximize the ALPH bang for the resource buck we need to tailor our opportunity and benefit delivery to each person’s personality and preferences. For the first time, data analytic tools have made it possible to permit substantive, individualized need choices with a virtually unlimited flexibility palette. We have to realize, though, that we shall no longer remain in the realm of the anodyne technologies that we have been used to but are on the verge of acquiring lethally abusable capabilities. Hence the checks governing them must be an integral part of their deployment. We shall examine the use of big data to determine individual inclinations, the infinitely flexible choices employees can exercise and the safeguards that must accompany this radical programme. Taming the Genie to Tell Me What I Need Data analytics and individually targeted communication caught public attention when it was used to influence the outcome of critical elections. That doesn’t mean, however, that responsible wizards can’t put the genie back in the bottle and channel it to work its magic only for the benefit of people. Several of the technologies most beneficial to mankind emerged from the desire to gain an edge in situations of competition and conflict. Data analytics directed towards understanding and satisfying people could prove no less useful. How could we enlist the big data Goliath in the service of ALPH and better people performance? Very simply put, we need to extract individual personality and preference markers from the waves of data swirling around us and use those to construct work and benefit choices that will prove to be the most satisfying in each case. All of us leave digital footprints when we access the internet depending on the searches we make, the websites we visit, the profiles we create, the comments we share and the 'likes' we click on. Every one of our cyber steps is grist to the big data mill and can be used to create a passable personality profile. 'Passable' is something of an understatement since "a user’s personality can be accurately predicted through the publicly available information on their Facebook profile." And that’s before we account for the bias and faking that go into the self-report personality inventory that is usually used for personality assessment. As Seth Stephens-Davidowitz puts in the title of his bestseller: Everybody Lies. Tracking internet use and analysing the language used on the cloud permits us to circumvent the myriad deceptions we use to veil our true selves. Best of all, the big data method will go on improving in accuracy – limited only by the robustness of the personality models themselves. The additional information available (with agreement and safeguards) from e-communications and other traces created by employees within the corporation can enable us to be far more accurate in understanding their needs than simply accessing their non-work social media presence would. What’ll Make Me Happiest: Unlimited Choices There is no doubt, then, that we can build extremely effortless, insignificantly intrusive (see next section) and adequately accurate personality profiles for employees. Where does that take us? Why could it revolutionise the way we manage people for their own and their organisations’ greatest benefit? To unravel the possibilities, I find it useful to use the 5G framework for transactions between employees and the organization…
Read more at: https://www.peoplematters.in/article/strategic-hr/big-databigger-performance-biggest-delight-32248
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A purpose-driven workplace is of utmost priority for employees in a post pandemic world The COVID-19 pandemic has encouraged businesses to re-evaluate their employee policies and move towards a more purpose led culture. Millions of workforces have adapted to working from home and some have taken up new and unfamiliar roles to support the vulnerable and local communities. William Clement Stone, an author, a successful businessman and philanthropist once said, “Definiteness of purpose is the starting point of all achievement.” Without a sense of purpose, it’s difficult for any individual to add meaning to their life- be it professional or personal. Purpose and meaning in the workplace have increasingly become a demand among modern employees in recent years. Ask yourself this question. How would you describe a company which makes you feel more like an admirer and less like only an employee? What sets apart a firm that has less of a “workforce,” and more of a community working mutually towards something greater? A definite answer to these questions, across various industries all around the globe, is “purpose.” There are several factors that contribute to this surge in demand for a purpose driven work life. One of the main reasons is that a huge part of our identity is our work identity. Another important aspect is that many people are experiencing less meaning in the work they do, even though they are in positions they always wanted. It is crucial that employers listen to their employees to manage their expectations. Purpose at work is beyond just regular engagement…
Read more at: https://www.peoplematters.in/article/strategic-hr/a-purposedriven-workplace-is-of-utmost-priority-for-employees-in-a-post-pandemic-world32193
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Global Capability Centres – The mind of the future-ready enterprise The winning combination of a clear, well-executed strategy and a thriving ecosystem in India offers the right support towards this expansion and accelerating transformation. The Global Capability Centre (GCC) landscape has evolved significantly in the last decade, making the country home to 1,300+ GCCs and employing over 1.3 million talented individuals. According to a joint report by Deloitte and NASSCOM, these centres contribute towards 1% of India’s GDP. They also facilitate revenues to potentially scale up to $60–$85 billion by 2022 from its $33.80 billion figure in 2019–20. In the last decade, GCCs have evolved from back-office operations into value-added, business-critical operations that drive global functions. Where they previously concerned themselves with overseeing support functions’ operations and IT support, now many GCCs have matured into owning these processes for parent organisations, running their R&D centres, driving product innovation and building e-commerce capabilities. A study by Deloitte summarises this transition – GCCs have matured along two axes, bringing in more business-critical scope of services and taking more end-to-end ownership of these services. Expansion and growth are critical in this space. The winning combination of a clear, well-executed strategy and a thriving ecosystem in India offers the right support towards this expansion and accelerating transformation. GCCs should focus on enabling purpose-driven growth by building a meaningful network in the industry, developing programmes that summarise learnings and best practices, and forming an internal pool of Business Service leaders and experts. Here are my thoughts on enabling success in the GCC space: Firstly, work towards building a culture of ownership to drive operational excellence and automation…
Read more at: https://www.peoplematters.in/blog/skilling/global-capabilitycentres-the-mind-of-the-future-ready-enterprise-32229
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5 most in-demand Skills for 2022 that you cannot miss While requirements for job-specific skills will remain at the core of talent search, interpersonal, cognitive and digital skills are crucial to give an individual the upper hand in tech-driven sectors. The year 2022 is expected to breathe new life into ambitions and growth prospects, with it predicted to be the harbinger of hope for individuals, job seekers, organisations and industries alike. The goal of an efficient digital economy depends on a business's ability to thrive, and meet the re-defined potential of technology, arising from the limitless pace of digitisation. Enterprises are experiencing a welcome surge in business, and the need to service digital-first clients with new-age operations is ramping up steadily. To ensure that businesses fulfill this need, they must bridge critical skills gaps by hiring and upskilling resources, effectively adapting to business scaling requirements while adding value to end customers. The right talent pool brings diverse cultures and enriching perspectives together and acts as a critical resource of technical and leadership skills that empowers a company and grows. Today, a renewed skill-dynamics beckons job seekers, as advanced cloud automation, the rollout of 5G, digital computing, IoT, AI and robotics competitively upgrade the job skills landscape. Some job roles will merge with others, making way for new roles as high-level technological, cognitive and emotional skills take over basic problem-solving and manual skills. Along with the right tools and data structures, companies also need a strong and holistic talent pipeline for responding to business needs and managing expansion effectively…
Read more at: https://www.peoplematters.in/article/skilling/5-most-in-demandskills-for-2022-that-you-cannot-miss-32225
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4 key tactics to address skill gaps among MSMEs The demand from the industry is on par with the rapid digital growth; however, there is a considerable skill gap between the requirements of the industry and the qualification and training that these employees receive. India is home to 6.3 crore MSMEs and employs nearly 110 million ; yet they face the challenge of addressing skills gaps that appear due to disrupted market, technology trends, and poor infrastructure. In 2020, workforce shortage became acute when the labour force returned to their hometown and villages due to the pandemic. This nonlinear change is still affecting a wide range of MSMEs. At the same time, they are attempting to digitize so they can make use of the latest advances in technology to grow. Here too they struggle to find the right talent at the right time. Key Barrier: Growing unemployment rate and expectations As per the CMIE (Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy) reports, the unemployment rate in the country is constantly growing and is at 8.32% (August). In 2018, about 468 million Indians were part of the workforce and 92% of them were in the informal sector - today it is down to 80%. Researchers suggest that greater workforce informality leads to lower incentives to acquire new skills. Businesses often choose to replace labor with machinery as inadequately skilled workers are a bane to the company. It leads to fewer formal jobs and hence further increases the skill gap. We do not have a dearth of workers. However, a significant percentage of India’s workforce aren’t skilled enough for the job at hand...
Read more at: https://www.peoplematters.in/article/skilling/4-key-tactics-toaddress-skill-gaps-among-msmes-32173
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