HR CENTER OF EXCELLENCE
HR MESH SEPTEMB ER 2011
Editor’s Note INSIDE ISSUE:
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Greetings from the HR Forum! Welcome to the September issue!
Physical
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Appearance vs. Recruitment
Another month at the SCMHRD campus has passed and the clouds of new ideas have gathered once again to pour rain. Our effort to deliver valuable insights of the HR world to our readers is only getting stronger.
Breaking through the Glass Ceiling
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This edition of the HR Mesh throws light on topics like Employee appearance and its impact upon recruitment, the importance of mentorship and issue of glass ceiling. Our ‗Personality of the Month‘ is SY Siddiqui.
On a lighter note
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The journey of the HR Mesh, with the readers as our fellow travelers, has always been a rewarding one . So it is always a pleasure hearing from you. Please write to us about your views, opinions and suggestions at:
Personality of the Month
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Mentoring
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Matters
hrforum@scmhrd.edu As we always say, until the next edition, Happy Reading!!
Attractiveness enhances your chances of being recruited Is there a link between physical attractiveness of people and their chances of getting hired or promoted? Sure, by appearance, if we are talking about being well groomed and looking presentable, then I guess the link is pretty straightforward. At this level, where we are all gearing up to take on the corporates, we are all expected to show the necessary amount of professionalism by looking presentable for job interviews and in the workplace. But no, here the article focuses more on the growing tendency (sometimes not consciously) of employers to have a bias towards physically attractive people, or plainly put, favor the beautiful women, and the handsome men.
HR MESH
“Companies would like to associate themselves with pleasant looking workforce, since a lot of the business involves dealing with people or clients.”
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Attractiveness biases have always prevailed in many aspects of our life, like voter preferences, attention span to teachers, jury judgments, selection of peer groups etc. Although not many admit to this, for the fear of being perceived as ―shallow‖, sometimes we just tend to associate attractive people as more sociable, happy and successful. And generally, one would assume that these kinds of biases could be associated with direct customer contact businesses or positions with higher degree of public exposure like retailing, sales, restaurants, news anchoring and relationship marketing. But lately there seems to be image or appearance preferences in hiring and promotion, just subtle enough to not provoke many discussions on the topic.
It seems pretty obvious that, in a retail outlet when a customer is greeted by a really attractive salesperson, he may be more inclined to buy the stuff offered. Similarly in other professions like news channels, restaurants and direct sales, having presentable and attractive employees may directly affect the bottom line. It would be quite interesting to know if such a pattern does really exist. But as MBA students, we would be more interested if such patterns follow in our line or area of interest. And yes, they do. Now why would such patterns exist? On the one hand, extreme disregard for looks, like sporting an outrageous Mohawk or tattoos and wearing bleached out jeans to the workplace talks a lot about your character. But on the other hand, attractive people tend to get a slight subconscious advantage in recruitment, as characterized by Professor of psychology, Dr Comila Shahani Denning (Hofstra University) where she summarizes all the research conducted on this subject and terms a stereotype called the ―Beauty is good‖ stereotype. Companies would like to associate themselves with pleasant looking workforce, since in managerial positions; a lot of the business involves dealing with people or clients. And according to social psychologists, you only get 30 seconds before which people have already formed impressions about you. In a marketing or sales meeting 30 seconds is not even enough to open your briefcase, let alone put forth a presentation. By this time, people have already measured you in terms of your attire, mannerisms, smile and other non-verbal communication. Studies show that about 65 percent of the conveyed message is nonverbal. This could be a classic case of the halo effect. When your visual message is positive, the person you have just met will tend to assume that other aspects about you are equally positive. But if your visual message is negative, he may not spend the time and effort to discover the talented person inside you. Yes, in a perfect world this is not fair or just. What‘s inside you should count. Well, eventually it does, no doubt. But by that time, a lot of opportunities could be lost.
Other reasons for existence of such biases could be that in general, a person who takes care of his/her looks or in general looks ―good‖, brings forward the image that he/she is inherently confident and sure of him/herself. Also logic follows that when you are more attractive, unconsciously or consciously, more people want to be associated with you. This in turn results in your learning to be more affable even if that was not your character. Hence over the long run, you tend to become more sociable, and this trait just makes its way into your system without your realizing it. Also the confidence that arises, when an individual perceives himself as healthy, fit and generally attractive, shows on others and can result in others letting their guard down.
“a person who looks “good”, brings forward the image that he/she is inherently confident and sure of him/ herself“
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SEPTEMB ER
But, contrary to what has been discussed so far, research has shown that attractiveness is not always a boon. Evidence shows that while on most cases, attractiveness and recruitment have positive correlation for males, the same case is not always true for females. In jobs with high degree of public exposure, surely there is a bias favoring attractive women, but in positions involving lot of intellectual potential, or in traditionally male dominated jobs, the very attractive females do not tend to be taken very seriously. But these cases are very subjective, and hence cannot be generalized as the research (Musumeci & Shahani, 1996) examining the ―beauty is bad‖ vs ―beauty is good‖ effect shows. In this study, 207 professionals (96 marketing professionals from a consumer products company and 111 secondary school teachers) examined applicant suitability for an entry-level marketing position. Applicant attractiveness and gender were manipulated. Attractiveness was found to impact evaluations of applicant suitability for hire, promotability and starting salary. The ―beautiful is good‖ effect for physically attractive applicants was supported. There was no support for the ―beauty is bad‖ effect. Male and female entry level marketing professionals benefited equally from attractiveness. (References: Musumeci & Shahani, 1996; Hofstra University)
(Contributed by Prabhu Veneugopalan, Student SCMHRD, 2011-2013)
Mentoring Matters Mentoring is a formal or informal relationship established between an experienced, knowledgeable employee and an inexperienced or new employee. The main purpose of mentoring is to share the knowledge about organization, work processes as well as the experience of the senior employee with the mentee to help the employee gel well with the organization‘s culture as well as to help him/her develop the skills required to succeed in the job. This is an essential element for passing information from experienced employees to newer employees so the knowledge is not lost when the mentor eventually moves on to another organization or retires. Mentoring process can be formal or informal. Formal mentoring takes place by scheduling mentoring into the workers' day-to-day activities. In a formal mentoring program, mentors often undergo specific training to develop an understanding of their role in the development process. These mentors have assessment responsibilities as well apart from ensuring knowledge transfer, that is, the mentor must also know whether the employee is learning the required information to succeed in his or her new job. However, an experienced employee can informally become a mentor simply because his desk is situated in proximity to that of a new employee who asks a lot of questions. The person in this mentor role is purely a coach and a teacher with no assessment responsibilities. Both formal mentoring and informal mentoring help in the overall development of the employee.
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About 70% of Fortune 500 companies offer mentoring programs. Many organizations assign a mentor as part of their formal employee on boarding process. Other mentoring relationships develop spontaneously and over time. At International Business Machine, every employee is assigned a ‗Connection Coach‘ before the first day and a formal mentor is assigned after the employee joins the company. At HUL, mentors are assigned to the Top performers, the low performers and Management Trainees. The purpose is same: To help each one perform better. It has been observed that employees who are mentored are fast learners, assimilate well into the company culture and perform better. Employees and their collective knowledge capital is the greatest asset to any organization and strategically enhancing the organization's talent translates into real bottom line results. Unlike traditional training programs, which are often expensive and time consuming, mentoring programs provide a cost-efficient alternative for getting the employees up to speed. They can enhance the effectiveness of any talent management strategy.
“Mentoring is a brain to pick, an ear to listen, and a push in the right direction”
Talent Development: Mentoring promotes the employees‘ professional and personal development and makes the employees work at their full potential, leading to enhanced ROI per individual. Recruitment and on boarding: Once new hires are determined, a mentoring program enables them to get to understand the organization faster and adapt to its culture, making the on boarding process more efficient and effective. A structured mentoring program will also attract the most capable and motivated employees to the organization. Diversity Enhancement: Mentoring plays a major role in employee retention; it contributes more notably to the retention of women and minority employees. Mentoring helps keep the talented employees of all backgrounds, adding a creative knowledge-base and establishing diversity in the organization. Employee Retention: Mentoring is one of the best practices for employee development. The top performers prefer to stay in organizations where they see themselves achieving career goals and being nurtured through the guidance they receive from their mentors.
In the words of John Crosby, ―Mentoring is a brain to pick, an ear to listen, and a push in the right direction‖. It is a win-win for all parties: the employee who seeks a mentor, the mentor, and organizations that employ the mentoring pair. (Submitted by Isha Chandra, Student SCMHRD, 2010-2012)
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SEPTEMB ER
Breaking Through the Glass Ceiling ―We still think of a powerful man as a born leader and a powerful woman as an anomaly‖ - Margaret Atwood This quote has expressed been a long time ago but it may hold true even today. The issue of Glass Ceiling in the corporate world is a prominent one. The term glass ceiling refers to "the unseen, yet unbreachable barrier that keeps minorities and women from rising to the upper rungs of the corporate ladder, regardless of their qualifications or achievements.‖ (Federal Glass Ceiling Commission. Solid Investments: Making Full Use of the Nation's Human Capital). Earlier in this edition of the Mesh, we focused upon factors that influence recruitment based on candidates‘ appearance however this article will focus on the barriers that obstruct women from being in a senior management position. The question arises, why should women even be at the top? What can contribute at the top? Women offer diversity in thoughts, ideas, perspectives, practices, management styles and this diversity can be beneficial to the organization. They can bring something new and creative in the organization which can bring a competitive edge for the organization. What is happening currently in the corporate world is lack of gender diversity at the top. In the US, a typical leader is a while middle-aged man who is a citizen of the US. There are glass ceilings for race, gender and citizenship status. Therefore diversity at the top is required in today‘s age in order to foster creativity in ideas and practices for the organization. Generally, women are underrepresented at the top of the corporate hierarchy. Among the BSE 100 companies, of the 1,112 directors, only 48 of them are women, (Community Business, Hong Kong). That constitutes only 5.3 per cent of such positions. What is more critical is that in the western countries, the percentage is not much higher. In the US, only 15% of the directorship positions are held by women. Furthermore, in the Public Relations Industry, women account for approximately 70 percent of the staff. Yet, men dominate the leadership positions; women hold only about 15 % of senior management ranks. Why is it that women end up not climbing to the top of the ladder in their respective fields? What makes their presence dwindle as their career progresses? There are many reasons for this phenomenon. Firstly, in India, a lot of women are committed to their respective families. Even while their career progresses well, if their husbands receive a job transfer to another city, these women are more likely to give up the potential for senior management positions and travel with their husbands. Another reason is the work-life balance factor. Women require maternity leave when they are expecting children and when they have to take care of the infants. There are organizations that do provide these leaves and benefits to these women. However, it may not be that the women may have the same competency, commitment or potential once they return to work from their maternity leave. They are now juggling with other major commitments such as family, children and housekeeping. These work-life balance pressures take immense toll upon their well being. There are supportive flexible working practices and work timings such as work from home, shortened hours and part-time work; however, the women still find it a hard task to manage their personal and professional life. About 53% of the Indian women feel that the work-life pressures are too much to take. Therefore, many women opt out of their careers to prioritize upon their respective families.
HR MESH
“Society has conditioned us to expect only certain positions suitable for women.”
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But then are women who are willing to go the extra mile; who are strong-headed and capable of balancing their work-family issues and are ambitious enough to reach the top. Why is it that there are still only a negligent proportion of female leaders in the top? A more fundamental explanation for this could be the subconscious gender bias that is prevalent within society. The bias may be adverse towards the women. This unintentional bias is determined by society and culture. Society has conditioned us to expect only certain positions suitable for women. The unintentional and subconscious gender biases arise from this very conditioning.
These biases subtlety influence the hiring and promotion process. For example, when selecting between two equally qualified candidates, recruiters often will select the candidate who complement their stereotypical picture of the right fit for the position. They will decide on the candidate by focusing on the positive characteristics of the male candidate as well as the negative attributes of the female candidate. In addition, they may use the characteristics of the female candidates on as elimination basis. For example, they may question the loyalty of the female candidate because she is also a parent or of child bearing age. There are many other instances where subconscious biases cloud judgment of the managers and this severely diminishes the chances of females to progress in their careers to the top. There are exceptions to this Glass Ceiling. For example – Mrs. Indra Nooyi, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of PepsiCo, is married and has two children. She had to not just deal with the Glass Ceiling in terms of gender but also in terms of race and citizenship status. In the banking sector in India, the country‘s second largest commercial lending institution, ICICI Bank, is headed by a married woman, Chanda Kochhar. These examples reflect the determination and drive by these women to break the glass ceiling by overcoming the obstacle of work-life pressures. The fundamental bias must be eliminated in order to enable the competent females to reach the top. The following six steps may provide a framework to tackle gender bias. 1. Accept the fact that biases may exist in the organization. 2. Implement a periodic data collection process (e.g., annual employee opinion survey, audit) to identify bias. 3. Take corrective action based on the results of the data gathered. 4. Establish an accountability system. 5. Periodically monitor the identified issues. 6. Provide feedback to the organization. (Sources — Economic Times, Human Imprint, Times of India, Glass Hammer, Rediff) (Contributed by—Varun Chandar, Student SCMHRD, 2011-2013)
ON A LIGHTER NOTE
HR MESH
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PERSONALITY OF THE MONTH Having done his Post graduation in HRM from Jamia Millia University, New Delhi and then worked in with companies like Escorts Ltd., DCM Group and New Holland Tractors India Mr. S.Y. Siddiqui has surely come a long way to where he is now, the Managing Executive Officer and Administration of Maruti where he currently heads the HR, Finance and IT departments.
S.Y. Siddiqui Managing Executive Officer, Maruti– HR
His extensive travel abroad has broadened his horizons as well as helped him handle various multi cultural HR issues. In Maruti he has contributed in areas such as Developing & Maintaining Positive Work Culture at Work Place, Innovative & Business linked Strategic HR perspective, Policies, Organization Redesign & Restructuring ,Competency Model & Link to Compensation Design & Labour Cost Management, Leadership Training Initiatives, People development & Retention Strategy & Initiatives and Positive Industrial Relations.
Maruti has also made use of different work groups like HR Think Tank, Project Teams, CFT on Sports or Family Day Team which offer non threatening informal or semi formal opportunities for learning. This he believes has helped in retaining the employees and also brought about a significant growth in the organization. His multi-cultural exposure as well as determination and hard work have earned him the position of National President of NHRDN in July 2011. His main objective is to bring in the concept of ‗Shared Leadership‘ into the system by
Creating alliances based on the principles of collaboration and co-existence Building relationship with policy makers Strengthening self sufficient financial model infrastructure Multiplying membership Engaging Gen Y Operationalising HR Compass Conducting HR Research
(Source — NHRD, MBA Universe) (Contributed by—Rosanne Mathias, Student SCMHRD, 2011-2013)
THE EDITORIAL TEAM
Varun Chandar Rosanne Mathias