Category Archives: employer

How to Write Resignation Acceptance Letter with Format & Samples

Posted on by Aashritha Ramesh
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Working for a company is similar to that of a roller coaster ride. This is so because the ride may give a different experience to different people and add to that there exist various ups and downs. Moreover, according to the law of nature, which states that there is an end to every ride, so does our work in a company.

There may be various reasons for one to quit/ resign a job, the causes may include the following:

  • Health issues
  • Financial problems
  • Availability of a better paying job
  • Family-related issues

So, we might know the steps involved in the effective communication process, i.e., for every message, there should be feedback as this would ensure the effectiveness of the communication. As a result, to every resignation letter submitted there should be some acknowledgment from the management side, this is called the resignation acceptance letter. Moreover, this will also help in ensuring a smooth transition from one job to another one.

Also Read: How to Write Resignation Letter Due to Health Issues with Formats

Different companies have adopted various methods of addressing this issue, and some companies might also have a separate cell to address the problems related to resignation. In contrast, in other companies, this issue might be addressed by the higher-level authority/head. The work of this officer/ the cell would include investigating the reason for the resignation of their employee. Given that an employee is one of the best performers of the organization and resigns due to less pay, in this case, the management might request the concerned to stay back by quoting a revised high pay. But, if an employee resigns due to other reasons which might be beyond the management’s consideration, then it solely depends on the employer to accept the resignation.

The resignation acceptance letter is a way of formal acknowledgment of the employees’ experience and contributions to the organization and henceforth relieving him/her from the organisation’s services (once after serving the notice period).

Steps to Write a Resignation Acceptance Letter

  1. Adopt right structure and format: Includes usage of correct font style, size, and spacing between the margins.
  2. Include Date, Name of the employee, Designation, Contact information.
  3. Subject: Resignation acceptance letter
  4. Include a salutation: such as Dear(name)
  5. Mention the final date of employment
  6. Add other necessary details
  7. Express a few words of appreciation: it’s always better to acknowledge their effort during work with the organization and wish them luck for their future goals.
  8. Add a complimentary close: use of wordings like “Sincerely” / “Best wishes”/ “Regards”
  9. Signature
  10. Designation of the person accepting the resignation

Points to Remember

  • Keep the letter short
  • Make use of the right subject line
  • Proofreading
  • Adopt the usage of a professional language

Resignation Acceptance Letter Format

Here is the format of the letter:

Name

Designation

Company

Company address

Date

Employee name

Employee ID

Address

Subject: Resignation Acceptance letter

Salutation

It is with regret that I acknowledge your resignation letter dated [date] from your position as [title]. Your resignation has been approved, and according to the norms of the company your final day of work will be [date].

It was an absolute pleasure to work with you, and on behalf of our entire team, I would like to wish you the best for achieving your future goals. [include other information here about the resignation process of the company.] The accounting department will clear your pay on or before(date).

Please feel free to contact about any queries and you can contact us for any future references.

Thank you again for your hard work and loyalty.

Sincerely,

( Signature  )

Resignation Acceptance Letter Samples

Here come some sample letters, which can be modified according to the situation:

Sample 1:

Christopher

Director of IT

TIDEL Park

Rajiv Gandhi Road,

Chennai 600113

July 30, 2020

Arun

18, Anna Salai

Chennai,

Subject: Resignation Acceptance letter

Dear Arun

It is with regret that I acknowledge your resignation letter dated July 30, 2020, from your position as Network Administrator with TIDEL park. Your resignation has been approved, and according to the norms of the company your final day of work will be August 15, 2020.

It was an absolute pleasure to work with you, and on behalf of our entire team, I would like to wish you the best for achieving your future goals. The accounting department has been notified to pay you till August 15.

Thank you for your hard work and loyalty.

Sincerely,

Christopher

Sample 2:

Alvaro Morte

Director of E&T

Heist University

La casa Road,

France 600113

July 30, 2020

Rio

18, De papel

Paris,

Subject: Resignation Acceptance letter

Dear Rio

It is a matter of regret we had to acknowledge your resignation letter dated July 30,2020 from your Associate Professor position. The management has accepted your resignation letter and as per the employment norms you will have to serve the notice period of 20 days. You will be relieved on August 19,2020.

We request you to collect your experience certificate and clear all your dues and payments from the accounts department on or before August 18.

We are thankful for your exceptional attendance record, excellent work ethics and we wish you all the best for your future goals.

Warm Wishes,

Director E&T

( Signature ) 

Sample 3:

Peter Mills

Project head

L&T

Navi Mumbai,

Maharashtra.

July 30, 2020

Rocky

(LT6789776)

19, AW road

Pune.

Subject: Resignation Acceptance letter

Dear Rocky

This letter is in reference to your resignation letter submitted on date July 29, 2020. Thereby, I wish to inform you that your resignation has been accepted by the organization and hence you will be relieved from the services on Aug 10,2020.

Your resignation letter has been forwarded to the accounts department for clearance the of your dues. You are asked to collect your experience certificates for the HR department.

It was a great pleasure to have you on board for our projects. We wish you all the best for your future works.

 

With warm regards,

(Signature)

I hope this guide will help you to draft a perfect Resignation Acceptance Letter. Comment down below if you have any queries.

8 Best Farewell Quotes for Boss – Thank You Quotes for Boss

Posted on by Saumya Khatri
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The kind of relationship that you share with different people at different positions in the work environment is crucial for you as an employee. It not only keeps you on good terms with everybody but also keeps your working surrounding positive. One cannot bloom professionally if the relationships at work are sour or bitter. To be welcoming, positive, and vocal about how you feel and cherish the bond that you share with people is, therefore, very much important. 

One of the most important people with whom it is essential to have a good bond is your boss. You may be supervised by more than a boss, and it is crucial to share a good professional bond with those. Maintaining good bonds, however, need to be considered for personal and professional boundaries. There are many ways to embrace professional relationships, such as celebrating each other’s successes, being there for each other’s failures, and sharing warm smiles and hand-shakes.

When you share a perfect bond with someone, you are not only creating a positive space for two people but the entire environment. Your strong bond with one person also somehow determines how people perceive you. To embrace somebody’s important juncture such as promotion, farewell, or retirement is thus very important. This article is written for you to showcase how strong and positive a bond you share with one of the very important people in your professional life, your boss, on his farewell.

Best Farewell Quotes for Boss

1. We all have gathered here to celebrate our boss, Mr. ……..’s going away or rather his journey with our organization. I remember joining his team as a young lad, full of questions, and passion. Often I used to doubt whether I have taken the right decision or not, but there was one person who immensely trusted me and my talents as he did his entire team. You might not be with us after today, but whatever you have given to the organization will stay. Whatever you have made your co-workers and juniors learn through dedication, trust, and compassion will remain with all of us forever. Thank you for your amazing and enriching service to our organization ………….. .

2. Putting my feelings into words for our beloved Mr…………..’s farewell was no easy task. AS much as I am happy for him that he is going to take a step further in what we call ‘employee life cycle’, it pains me that we no longer can be work associates. I can no longer pop into his office with a random doubt, and he can no longer give me probable solutions for it. There is no other way I could have learned so much personally, this organization would have gained so much professionally, and there is no way I can, or we can think of right now of thanking him, except for wishing well of his health and prosperity in the coming years.

3. I tried to list everything that Mr ………… has contributed to this organization, mind my words, ‘tried’ and found the task excruciatingly daunting because he has done so much in such a small tenure that none of us can possibly think. I am making this speech on behalf of the entire team, but I am seriously running short of words. There was still so much to learn and assimilate from Mr…………… . But, nonetheless we feel happy that he is going to embark on a journey so much closer to his heart if not with us. To his success and prosperity in his new job and new role, three cheers.

4. It is a kind of mixed feeling seeing Mr. ………… retiring. It is nearly impossible to imagine walking into the office early in the morning and not seeing old Mr……….. Already sitting at his desk at work, passing on a warm smile. It is impossible to imagine a birthday, an anniversary, a success being celebration inside this office ending without Mr. ………….. hilariously witty yet enriching speech. I don’t know how we will proceed, but as the saying goes, ‘The show must go on’. The show must go on with Mr ……… retired from his job, relaxing in his house with his family and us working towards taking this place to newer heights than what Mr. …….. is leaving us at. All the love and gratitude in my heart, I wish Mr………… a happy retirement.

5. If there is anyone who has dedicated his entire life to make what our organization is today, it is none other than Ms. ………….. . I have seen her work the hardest, go through the toughest and yet be the kindest of all. I fondly remember her teaching many lessons to this branch and especially our team. Bidding her farewell with the kindest regards, Thank you. 

6. I cannot think of anyone as dedicated, as passionate, and as enthusiastic about learning and contributing as much as Ms. …………. . She has been with our organization since the beginning and has been the very reason we can reach many milestones. It is sad for us that we can no longer cherish her presence but indeed joyous for her as she is stepping a step ahead with a new role that was much desired and deserved by her. Wishing her all the very best for the coming years! Thank You.

7. If there is a single feeling that I would like to associate with Ms………… is its admiration. I have admired her ability to do everything and excel in them. I have admired her ability to take up, try out new things, and continue them with passion and grace. I have admired her compassion, kindness, and empathy, I hope after years of working under her, I have assimilated a few of these qualities into myself. After many relentless years of struggle and success, she deserves a happy and quaint retirement. Thank you for everything you have done!

8. Keeping it short and happy, just the way Ms. …….. like I would like to wish her adieu and all the very best for the career and life she wishes to lead ahead of this. Achieving so much at a young comes with a lot of learnings and experience, and personal input. I hope she carries forwards her very much passionate self into the roles she is aspiring to in the near future and nourishes young minds like me with all her good qualities. Thank you!

Don’t forget to modify these statements according to your peculiarities and circumstances, and you are good to bid farewell to your beloved boss!

Absenteeism in the Workplace – Effects, Causes and Ways to Tackle It

Posted on by Zainab Sutarwala
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Employee absenteeism can be defined as frequent absence from their work. Such kind of absence can be categorized as the habitual absence that excludes paid time off or authorized leaves. In this post, we will look in detail the effects and causes of absenteeism and how an employer needs to tackle it. Without wasting any time, let us start:

Effects of Absenteeism

Workplace absenteeism affects both the employees and employers alike.

Some of the consequences for employers are:

  • Huge administration costs.
  • Lesser productivity levels.
  • Lesser staff means poor customer service.
  • High labor costs, especially if you hire a replacement or temporary workers.

Some of the consequences faced by employees:

  • Loss of pay when absent.
  • Decreased productivity after returning to work.
  • If absenteeism is unexplained and frequent, members of staff can face dismissal.

Absenteeism can be costly for the workforce, and it is very important you know the strategies and causes to decrease it, for the benefit of everyone.

Causes of Absenteeism

There is not any one particular reason for absenteeism in the workplace, it is down for various reasons. Most of the reasons are legitimate, and some aren’t. Let us check out some of the common causes of absenteeism:

Common causes include:

  • Stress, depression, and burnout: Developing mental health problems, stress, anxiety, and depression will cause the employees to miss their work. Higher pressures at work, relationship issues, and financial worries are some primary causes of burnout, depression, and stress.
  • Harassment & bullying: Whereas many cities are now taking proper steps to address such issues in the workplace, it is still common for the people getting harassed or bullied and makes them avoid that place if it happens. So, it is one case when an employee is getting harassed or bullied by the employer or co-worker, they call in sick and avoid that situation altogether.
  • Lack of involvement: Disengaged staff are the ones that are not committed to the job, colleagues, or company. Such workers are likely to miss their work just because they are not much motivated to move in.
  • Child care or other family responsibilities: Whenever some employees might have to take the unscheduled absence from their work to take care after an elder or any dependent family member. It can be down to the arrangements falling through and a family member being sick.

Ways to Tackle It Rightly

Investing in the workplace wellness initiatives will help to reduce absenteeism just by creating a healthy workplace culture, which offers employers with the proper tools that will help to improve their health at the workplace.

Behavioral Changes

Health and wellness solutions will help the employees to make some healthy behavioral changes, which might affect their health and making them stay absent from their work. Providing your worker’s lifestyle assessment days offer to give an overview of their health & provides a clear picture of where they are or what lifestyle changes have to be made to become healthier. 

So, educating your employees about some health topics will make them aware and conscious about the health issues, it will be done through the health calendar that offers the bespoke program of the monthly wellness campaign, workshops, and events.

Offer Employee Support

For the employers to better support their employees, there has to be proper training on the management level, and managers have to become confident, compliant, and competent to deal with any issues that might be affecting their work attendance. This type of support will make a massive difference to the employees who are going through a tough time & make them feel highly valued. 

The company must provide management training days that includes topic like mental health awareness, knowing the relationship between the performance and pressure, dealing and managing with the stress in the workplace, managing the change and developing the resilient teams & developing personal flexibility for the leaders.

Right Remuneration

Many times workers take up the side hustles and compensate for the poor remuneration. When they’re engaged in such kind of activities, they do not tend to care a lot about their work presence. And with time this turns in absenteeism. Thus, providing your employees with the right proper remuneration for work in an essential factor to keep them hooked to the workplace.

Decrease Stress

The workplace is one big source of depression and stress, and 15 million workdays get lost every year because of anxiety, stress, and depression. Stress will cause unplanned absences, thus trying to create a workplace environment where the employees feel relaxed and comfortable talking to the line managers who try to eliminate tension and stress. Certain solutions like office Pilates, office yoga, office tai chi, office massage, reflexology, aromatherapy, and beauty will help the employees to relax.

Rewards & Incentivization

Giving regular rewards and incentives to the employee with the best attendance record and work is an important step to motivate the rest of your workforce. It will help to boost employee morale whenever they come to know that their presence is highly appreciated in their workplace. You may opt for rewarding the employees with the best attendance each month. This can further motivate your employees to come to work & stay engaged.

Wrapping Up

Here we end our guide on absenteeism in the workplace. We have covered all areas from causes and other consequences of the absence behavior. The main point to know is that the high absence never happens in isolation. Many times, there are several other contributing factors, such as perception among the workers of getting ignored by the management, mismanagement, unpleasant organizational culture, and many other factors.

It is just not possible to design the workplace where all your employees work at 100% at all times. It is important to understand your employees are humans and not machines. So, by instituting the given practices, you may create the work environment that offers your employees more control and freedom over the schedules when addressing some highly common causes for unscheduled absences.

5 Stages of Employee Life Cycle

Posted on by Saumya Khatri
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Like everything else, the employment of a person also has a life cycle. It has its ups and downs and consistencies. There is a time when your career peaks and then follows years of recession, not in the bad terms. But before it lies a few years of constant struggle. You have to give your best to the organization you are working for. Throughout your employment period, the level and nature of your engagement with the organization vary in many ways. This pattern of varied engagement with the organization is understood through a framework called the employee life cycle.

Right from the start, i.e., the recruitment till the end, i.e., the retirement, the employee life cycle covers all stages. Although the basic framework involves five stages of the life cycle, different organizations and experts can manipulate it a bit and make it six or four depending upon their needs and other peculiarities. This article will expand with the five steps of the employee life cycle and everything you need to know about it.

Also Read: Recruitment Life Cycle – Different Stages of Recruitment

What is the Employee Life Cycle?

The employee life cycle is a pattern of engagement that the employee follows during their employment tenure with an organization. It is a framework carefully utilized by organizations and companies to keep their output optimal. It usually has five stages, tracked from recruitment till retirement covering all the adventure that occurs in between.

5 Stages of Employee Life Cycle

1. Recruitment

Recruitment is the very first step of the employee life cycle, crucial for the employee as well as the employer organization. It holds importance due to the gravity of this step. The employee needs to find a job which is best suitable for him, according to him. His skill- set, expertise, and interest should align with the company. Moreover, the perks and privileges offered instead of the services rendered should seem satisfactory to the candidate. Their entire career depends upon this significant step that they are about to initiate; therefore, it becomes crucial.

On the other hand, the employer needs a perfect fit for the opening since it will be an investment. The kind of services they receive should be worth the money they are investing in. Moreover, employees can prove to be real assets and sometimes catalysts for developmental change. Therefore, the first step of the employee life cycle becomes essential.

2. Onboarding

Onboarding is the very next step that occurs post recruitment. Your baby steps with which you start your professional career is called onboarding. Often, employees witness a humble beginning. The privilege, recognition, and responsibilities are not huge contrary to the learning that takes place. Since it is the new time in the professional workspace, it teaches the newcomer new etiquettes, on-ground realities, and new interpersonal skills required in the workspace and can be taught only through a trial and error method.

It becomes essential not only for the employee because it lays the stepping stone to further advancement but also for the employer since new employees can harbor recent changes with their passion and innovative solutions.

3. Career Development

Although career development in the employee life cycle occurs after onboarding, there not a discernable distinction between them. But career development as a step involves career advancement at a much higher pace. The rewards, responsibilities, and recognition drastically increase as compared to the previous stage.

When the employee can make their career path a distinguished one by taking the right baits and delivering the best they can. One needs to be very mindful of the amount of time and resources one is ending at this stage. Even the slightest miscalculation can cause a considerable fall out considering the roles and responsibilities associated with one particular employee at this stage. This is the time where an employee becomes a real asset to the organization.

4. Employee Recognition

Having delivered their best and optimum output at the employee deserves concerning recognition and respect that comes with consistency. The employee earns rewards according to the reward system adopted by the organization. At this stage, the amount of output contributed to the organization doesn’t matter, but their involvement is respected and deemed necessary in the organization.

5. Off-boarding

Off-boarding is the last step in the framework of the employee life cycle. It merely refers to retirement or the process through which the employee breaks off the tie with the organization. It marks the end of employment tenure, and the employee is no longer obliged to render their service(s) instead of salary. However, few organizations may choose to provide a few of the benefits.

It is an essential step for both parties, i.e., the employee and the employers, just because the investments done by both the parties seem to wane off with time. With recruits, innovation, and technology, new changes are welcomed, and the workspace is changed over time gradually. To keep up with the pace, the off-boarding is required by the employers to be initiated on time with due credit, respect, and recognition.

The name and number of these steps might be slightly different for different organizations, but their meaning more or less remains the same and their importance too. These steps each depict a particular challenge thrown at the employee and employer throughout the engagement period to keep the organization going and growing. A separate case and trajectory need to be made of different candidates, maintaining their strengths and weaknesses in mind, which can benefit both employers and employees all at once and at its optimum.

image source: https://www.digitalhrtech.com/employee-life-cycle/

How to Make Salary Slip with Sample Formats

Posted on by Aanchal Lohia
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The salary slip. The payment proof of your hard work. It is a document given by the employer to the employee. It is generally issued monthly after the salary is credited to the employee’s bank account. It can either be provided as a physical piece of paper, or its e-version can be mailed to the employee’s account. The company is under the legal obligation to issue a salary slip to the employee to have a record of the salary payments and deductions.

Components Of Salary Slip

Most of the employees do not pay much attention to this document as many are majorly concerned only with the salary credited into their respective accounts. A salary slip shows the salary of the employee broken down into various components like the basic salary, deductions, allowances and many more. A salary slip can have various formats, but some of the most important headings of a salary slip are:

  • Basic salary: The essential component of salary that constitutes the largest part of about 40%-50% of the total salary. It varies according to your position in the company. This forms the basis for all the other components of the salary.
  • Dearness Allowance: This is paid on top of the basic salary, and this component varies according to the prevailing inflation rate. It is generally 30%-40% of the basic pay, and for income tax, both the basic and the dearness allowance is taken together.
  • House Rent Allowance (HRA): All the companies must pay some amount under this heading which varies between 10%-35% of the basic and depends upon the position of the employee in the company. This is tax-free up to a certain limit provided the house rent proofs are furnished.
  • Conveyance Allowance: The amount that the company pays to cover the work-related travel expenses. This is also free of tax up to a certain limit.
  • Medical allowance: Many companies also provide a medical allowance which can be availed at the time of an accident or some major mishap. This amount will be disbursed only if a proof is provided and is limited up to the amount of INR 15000. 
  • Target linked pay: This is a performance-based component, provided as a lump sum amount quarter wise or semi-annually. This component is also tax-deductible.
  • Income tax or Tax deducted at source (TDS): This is a deduction that the company does according to the tax slabs as specified by the government of India. This is called tax deducted at source, and the final income that the employee receives is after the tax deduction.
  • Professional Tax: Levied by the state government, every working professional must pay this.
  • Provident Fund: As mandated by the government, the employer deducts 12% of the basic salary every month and makes a similar contribution to the employee’s provident fund account which is tax-free and is kept as a means for the employee’s retirement, so it is part of the employee’s investment portfolio.

The basic components of a salary slip are described above. There can be some other headings also, which varies from company to company. 

Importance Of Salary Slip

A salary slip is not only provided just because it is a legal requirement of the company to do so. But a salary slip has it’s own importance and uses. Some of the importance of a salary sip are:

  • Planning of income tax: Different components of the salary has different tax treatments as authorized by the law. So, having a clear idea about different components can help the employee to maximize the tax savings for the given financial year.
  • Employment proof: Apart from the offer letter, this salary slip is something that forms the proof of an employee’s employment for a particular company. It can also be submitted as proof of the last salary drawn when applying for a visa to a foreign place or for various programs at various universities.
  • Loans/ Credit Cards: This salary slip can also help in availing loans where it can be submitted as proof and can also help the institution to gauge the employee’s ability of debt repayment. It also serves as proof when applying for any borrowings, mortgage or credit cards.
  • Retirement Savings: Having an idea about the provident fund, gives a clear indication regarding the retirement savings that the company will provide the employee.
  • Helps in further employment: Knowing the various components of the salary slip can help in assessing various job offers and can also help the employee to negotiate salaries while switching jobs.

Sample Format For Salary Slip

Apart from the components of a salary slip, some of the other mandatory things that need to be there in a salary slip are Date, Name of the company, Logo, Address, Month, Year, Employee Code, Employee Name, Designation, Bank account number and many more. Let us look at some of the sample formats of a salary slip.

Sample 1:

Download Sample

Sample 2:

Download Sample

Sample 3:

Download Sample

Here are some samples for a salary slip. The basic details remain the same, only the kind of allowances and the deductions change. Providing the employee with a payment slip is mandatory for every employer. A salary slip, as discussed above, has its importance to play and must be saved carefully. Thus, salary slips are important for any employee to avail of various long-term benefits.

10 Best CRM Software in India 2024

Posted on by Zainab Sutarwala
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Customer Relationship Management or CRM is a buzzword nowadays. This software is highly talked about software in the technical world. Dynamics of marketing and sales are continuously changing, bringing along a wide need for CRM software. There is a huge change in the past some years. The methods and tactics used for marketing and sales have changed too.

The advanced and modern technologies like CRM, marketing automation, AI, and sales automation have transformed to get the leads, convert them, and nurture them into prospects. Looking at the growing needs, we have come up with the list of top 10 CRM software firms in India that are changing their way of marketing and selling. So, without wasting our time, let us start.

Also Read: 10 Best HRMS Software in India 2020

10 Best CRM Software in India

1. SalezShark

SalezShark tops the list of the best CRM software companies in India; SalezShark is the fastest-growing company in the Customer Relationship Management world. This is one best option for small & medium enterprises. SalezShark software is designed exclusively for managing all types of business manual tasks, sales automation, activity updates, daily timesheet, marketing, invoicing, support system, marketing automation, task management, sales track and forecast, and more at one platform.

SalezShark CRM offers limitless possibilities. They offer the ultimate toolset for building strong relationships, improve engagement, as well as drive your business growth. SalezShark provides the most unified marketing and sales platform made for helping you & your team to run and build your business. 

2. Zoho CRM 

Zoho CRM software is another top rating CRM tool in India, mainly for small businesses to track the leads, optimize the sales activities, and close your deals much faster. The tool comes included with some rich features like sales performance, multi channel communication, productivity, automation, extensive customization, and enterprise readiness. Zoho helps you to sell faster, smarter, and better.

3. Hubspot

Hubspot is a prominent CRM software firm in India. Their software can easily be used by the small and medium businesses to push their business transactions just by increasing their total number of sales possible when curbing down on the excessive workload. It is used by everybody, installed on handheld devices too so that users will have access to CRM anytime and anywhere. The feature of sales automation is one amazing benefit of the CRM as users will focus on various other features of driving the business as well as staying in touch with their partners when any sales take place.

4. Agile CRM 

Agile combines marketing and sales features to offer smarter selling as well as complete customer involvement. Agile CRM software provides some exciting features like project management, lead scoring, telephony, marketing automation, appointment scheduling, email tracking, mobile marketing, and many more, etc. to their customers.

5. Bitrix24

Bitrix24’s CRM software offers the best portal where the businesses may streamline and track down the interactions with the potential leads and current partners and customers. This is one of the best CRM software that allows the users to manage and log client interactions, store and capture the lead data, produce sales reports, and perform the segregation of the target audience.

This has got some amazing features to feed the leads from the user’s site straight in the CRM software. The users then will create the email templates, send the group or individual emails to the sales qualified leads, to capture notes on the client interactions, fix down meetings, as well as assign some of the activities.

6. SplendidCRM

SplendidCRM is top CRM software in India developed mainly for system integrators & administrators. Some of the features allow the administrators to add user-customizable functions like .NET 2.0’s Themes, AJAX, and Web Parts. Analysts have awarded SplendidCRM as the top rivals for the Zoho CRM as they both have the same features and expertise spans throughout their same fields.

This software is made in C# for the ASP.NET framework. At present, this product is accessible in 2 editions- Open-source & professional edition. The only difference for professional edition from open source is an inclusion of the stored procedures & source code for the MS Outlook 2003 and 2007 plug-in.

7. Nextsky Sales CRM Software

This CRM is for the high-speed sales teams of the small business and helps you to track the user behavior, optimize the sales operations, and score leads. NextSky CRM Software provides some amazing features like contact management, alerts and lead tracking, deal management, invoice generation, and sales management.

8. Freshsales CRM System

Freshsales CRM tool offers you the option of customizing the presence and reflect your business policy. Users will be able to switch between the multiple currencies & language when dealing with foreign clients. The Freshsales CRM software enables simple import of data, tools, and live chat to get real-time insights. Freshsales is CRM software made in India and helps to manage the leads to tracking the phone & email coordination with the customers, managing their workflows as well as generating the reports.  

9. SAP CRM

SAP CRM software is the popular Customer Relation platforms, which supports improved working abilities and offers you good customer interaction for the better growth of the business. SAP CRM software allows using the application in a cloud and on-premise that depends on customer requirements. This plays an important role in boosting customer engagement, marketing, and sales. This integrates and automates all customer-facing activities.

10. Sage CRM

Sage Group is the biggest business software vendor across the world. This company boasts over 6.1 million customers & 25 years of working experience with small & medium-sized firms. Sage CRM Software in India is the subsidiary of the Sage Group & has more than 1000 customers across India for CRM, ERP, and Payroll products. This company provides expertise across various platforms like Trading & Distribution, Services, Manufacturing, IT or ITES, Media, Financial Services, Travel, and Hospitality or Professional Services.

Wrap Up

These are some of the top CRM Software’s used aggressively among the companies to maintain the organization workflows and a strong and healthy relationship with their customers.

Groupism in Office – Causes, Effects & Remedies

Posted on by Shaivee Kumawat
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We, humans, tend to settle with the same frequency people, and when these similar set of interest drives these people, it gives birth to a concept called group or a Community( in social scenarios). Yes being in groups and supporting each other, taking care, understanding, tuning well with each other is a good thing, but if done in access then leads to destruction. One should not sell their grandmother for petty things. It means one should not convert that friendliness to bad habits of staying in the same belief, being inflexible, or having false feelings for others. This kind of groupism is seen in almost every sector of society.

Groupism in Office

It is about favouring the closed ones, buttering the powerful, or fulfilling one’s mean for influencing people. This is often used as a strategy to discriminate against people for their own personal, professional, or social welfare. In the long run, this practice undervalues real talent, being pessimistic, and demotivates hardworking fellas.

Moreover, this adds depression, mental stress, doomed feeling, and a lack of charm in a person. It is often seen that at workplaces, these kinds of practices are prevalent either to flatter higher position holders or to satisfy personal needs or motives. That is why it should be regulated by the HRs of the firm, to manage these malpractices, to save the reputation and fuel growth of the company. 

For example, nepotism in Bollywood, a community in social gatherings, corporate groupism, ethnicity belief, etc. Today we will be discussing Groupism from a certain depth. 

Office Politics

It is as simple as messing around, gossiping, or spreading rumours. According to an Accountemps survey – it says, 46% of employees voted that office politics behaviour is seen most often in their companies. The reason behind these practices is found to be gaining favour by flattering the boss, snatching others’ credit, wrecking co-workers’ projects, or demotivating a person. When this drama takes root in any organization, eventually a decline in firms’ productivity is seen, less engagement of workers, halfhearted participation, and uneasy feeling to share ideas. This creates a lot of problems for the company CEOs, business owners, or the management department. So it is a heartfelt request to the employees for not creating this, and if felt at any corner of the company, then they should stay away from it and if needed or desired should be reported to an appropriate authority.

Causes of Groupism

To detect the origin of any cause is very important, to treat it effectively and quickly. Some of the causes are-

  • Showing superiority– Many a time, out of habit or to get a feeling of very acknowledged and reputed person, a person ends up bragging about his/ her qualities or deeds and tends to create a particular group. And not to forget, that person feels very safe and comfortable in that group.
  • Intending on someone to quit their job– This kind of groupism is practised out of ill feelings and disrespect for someone. Here a certain set of people/a person is intentionally hurt out of no unforeseen reasons. 
  • Buttering of a senior– To be ‘an eye candy’ of a boss’/senior someone overdoes, shows up frequently, or brags about his/her work to be in good books of a senior, to quickly gain a promotion, good appraisal or some other incentives. 
  • Lack of mutual communication– This is a hidden devil, which needs proper care, and the only remedy for it seen so far is – Employee Engagement. To avoid misconceptions, misunderstandings, and false feelings in the team, a good channel of communication should be built.
  • Inflexible to modify a good build notion– There are always a few people present everywhere who belongs to the category of – “What I have said is correct !”, “No! Sorry I do not want to listen to you and understand your point.” or “I’ll strongly stick to my point, no matter whatsoever happens.” Beware of these people as there is no found solution to these kinds of mentalities yet. 

Effects of Groupism

Groupism adversely affects organisations in various ways like

  • A loss of talent
  • A gradual increase in Lawsuit risk
  • A demotivated and negative environment
  • A big unhealthy challenge for the newbies
  • A downfall in the firm’s productivity
  • Degraded Employee morale
  • Unwanted and unknown conflicts 

Remedies to Groupism

As this activity can not be seen clearly but can be predicted only through actions and the company’s result. So this must be dealt with mutual coordination of a company and employee both.

  • For an Employee– To be an asset to a society or a firm, follow certain rules in life-
    • Behave with strict Professionalism. Please!
    • Avoid your emotions to control you at the workplace.
    • Distance yourself from unhealthy discussions, gossips, or a rumour spreading channel.
    • Avoid misconceptions, but being in regular touch with a trusted senior.
    • Your end goal should be quality performance and productive team spirit. 
  • For Company Heads– Wanting better results from the workforce they may practice-
    • Make Strict laws, rules, and regulations
    • Strict professional environment
    • Offering equal and appropriate opportunities to each individual
    • Trying to keep as many things as possible in the documented format.
    • Organizing certain informal meetups or parties

Conclusion

See there is a very clear understanding of it because one might lie to an individual, but not to thyself. One would have a clear understanding and feeling that they are on the wrong path or doing wrong. So kindly undo all the previous tasks done and do not repeat them in the future. It will be good for an individual and a company or a society as a whole. Before groupism takes up its strong roots alike caste and creed or gender inequality as in India, it is high time for us to understand its drawbacks and uproot it immediately from our surrounding environment.

 

How to Write Congratulation Mail to Selected Candidates with Samples

Posted on by Aanchal Lohia
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Getting a job is probably one of the happiest moments of someone’s life. Being employed, the ability to fulfil the responsibility on one’s shoulder, the sense of accomplishment is something unparalleled for. In a country like India, the competition is extremely high. Here we have so many candidates competing against one another for the same job and with almost the same set of qualifications that it makes the selection process quite a challenging task for the recruiters. Everyone puts in their best to convert the opportunity, and when that mail finally arrives, stating SELECTED or HIRED, that moment is nothing but pure bliss.

Most of the companies follow a standard format for the congratulations mail when delivering the great news that lightens up the life of the candidate. The hired candidate is called and is given the news of his selection first through call or in person. It is not considered a good industry norm to inform the selected candidate only through the email.

Most of the candidates are looking at various job alternatives, so informing them beforehand through call is considered a better option. Then, the terms of employment, which include the salary, the duration of employment (if applicable), location, and others, are negotiated in person. Then the final congratulation mail is sent to the candidate. The email serves as the verbal agreement for all the negotiations held earlier.

Why Send a Congratulation Mail to Selected Candidates?

Congratulations! You are hired! Email is sent by the HR of the company to the selected candidate after the candidate is successful in securing the job. The reasons for sending the email are:

  • It is the most commonly practiced industry standard.
  • The candidate may forget the terms of employment if they are just discussed verbally, so to state the terms of employment clearly, the congratulations email is sent.
  • To make a formal documented proof of the negotiated and then agreed-upon terms of employment so that no discrepancy arises in the future, and there is no case of cheating.
  • To extend a formal welcome invitation to the candidate in the organization.
  • To get the candidate excited for the new stint at a new company and also covey the information required by the candidate for the first day at the company.

So, sending out a congratulations email does serve various purposes.

What to Include in Congratulations Email?

There is no perfect way to write a congratulations email. Still, some details have to be included in every Congratulations email that the organisation sends to the candidate. So, the most important aspects that have to be included in every congratulations email are as follows:

  • A catchy subject line that conveys the good news to the selected candidate. Examples of a catchy subject line are:
    • Job offer from [company name]
    • Your job offer from [company name]
    • Your offer from [company name]
    • Hired at [company name]
  • A vivid description of all the duties that the selected candidate is expected to perform.
  • The date from which the job commences, i.e., the starting date. This also included the job location where the candidate is supposed to be working.
  • Details of the immediate supervisor, the person to whom the selected person will be reporting to directly.
  • First-day reporting details.
  • Details of the salary, i.e., how much to be paid and when to be paid.
  • Detailed information regarding leaves, vacations, and personal leaves, how many are allowed, how many are paid leaves, and when they can be taken.
  • The benefits, pension scheme provided by the organization. 
  • Working hours that the candidate is required to put in. 
  • A deadline for the candidate to revert in case of any queries or when they accept the job offer.
  • Name and the contact information of the recruiter in charge.
  • The organisation’s stamp.

These are the mandatory details that need to be included in the congratulations email. Now, let us look at some sample congratulation emails so that the format becomes even more clear.

Congratulation Mail to Selected Candidates Samples

SAMPLE 1:

Subject Line: Job offer from [company name]

Email:

Dear [candidate name],

Congratulations! This email is to formally offer you the job of [job title] for [company name]. We strongly believe that your skills and expertise will help our company to reach great heights.

As discussed with you previously, you must start on [start date], and the salary stands at [salary figure] per annum. We have the policy to disburse the salary by every 10th of every month, and it will be credited directly to your bank account. You are supposed to report to [reporting manager] on [day] at sharp [time].

The pension scheme offered by the organization covers your entire family, and it will begin one month from your first working day. You may sign up for additional benefits that the company provides [can include other benefits as negotiated with the candidate].

A copy of the offer letter is enclosed as an attachment. You are required to sign the document by [deadline] and return it to the below-mentioned communication address in case you accept the offer. After receiving the signed copy, I can further communicate the details of the benefits and the leaves that you are entitled for. 

We are looking forward to working with you.

Please contact me in case of any queries.

Yours’ sincerely,

[Signature of the employer]

[Position of the employer]

[Company name]

Sample 2:

Subject line: Offer from [company name]

Email:

Dear [Candidate name],

Congratulations. We are so happy to inform you that [name of the company] you like to extend the offer to you for the position of [job position]. After interviewing all the candidates, we found you the most suitable person for the job. You will be working directly under [supervisor name], and we believe that your addition to the team will add great value to the company.

According to the laws, we would require to check your employment eligibility. I have enclosed a form, which you need to fill in and report to the office on [start date] at [time]. You can report directly to [reporting officer], who will guide you through the training procedure.

On your first day, the HR team will brief you about the benefits and the insurance claims you can choose from. They will also explain the leave policy, profit-sharing plans, and the norms followed in the office.

Your salary will be [salary figure] per annum, which will be paid monthly and credited to your account by the 7th of every month. I have enclosed the offer letter and the document stating the terms and the conditions. If you accept the offer, you are required to send back the signed copy of the offer letter by [deadline]. The other steps in the hiring procedure will be communicated by me after receiving the signed acceptance letter.

Please feel free to reach out to me in case you have any other doubts. We look forward to you joining us and making us bigger and better than ever.

Yours’ sincerely,

[HR’s signature]

[HR’s name]

[HR’s contact details]

Sample 3:

Subject line: Job offer from the [company name]

Email:

Dear [name of the candidate],

We are excited to inform you that you have been hired as the [position name] for [company name]. You will work closely with [person’s name], and we believe that your combined excellence will help bring great laurels to the company.

Based on our conversation, your annual starting salary is [salary figure] payable monthly via direct deposit. You are required to report on [date] at [time]. Your job duties and responsibilities are explained in the document attached below. Please go through it and familiarize yourself with it. 

The rules and regulations of the company, terms and conditions of your employment, and the details of the benefits and insurances offered by the company are enclosed below. Please have a look. 

In case you accept the offer, kindly send the signed offer letter to [company’s address]. We are looking forward to having a great fruitful future with you.

Regards,

[Name]

[Signature]

[Contact details]

These were some of the sample congratulations emails. Every email contains the same basic information. The congratulations email serves as a ray of hope and happiness to the selected one. Everyone loves receiving good news, and a good email with a positive tone can do wonders. So, it is a great way to welcome the new addition to your work family and make them feel that they belong there.

EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION – Meaning, factors and surveys

Posted on by Ankita Sanyal
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Employee satisfaction is a term that is used to measure the happiness of an employee in an organisation. It shows how content the employee is with the job. The level of happiness or satisfaction depends upon the type of working condition prevailing in the organisation, the reward system, working hours, the nature of the job, and the working experience in the organisation. Employee satisfaction is very important because it helps in measuring the overall health of an organisation. The higher the level of employee satisfaction higher is the rate of employee retention, which is very necessary for the efficient working of an organisation. A higher Employer Satisfaction might lead to Employer Engagement that boosts employee morale and increase productivity

Employee satisfaction is from the viewpoint of the employer or the organisation, whereas job satisfaction is from the viewpoint of the individual employee. Both the terms employee satisfaction and job satisfaction are interrelated, and it can be said that job satisfaction is complementary to employee satisfaction.

To have a healthy employee retention rate, it is very important that the employees are satisfied with their job. A person who is satisfied with his job holds a positive feeling about the work while the person with low satisfaction for the job holds a negative feeling. Along with this, job involvement also plays a very important role where people identify psychologically with their jobs and consider their perceived performance level important to their self-worth. Employees with a high level of job involvement strongly establish a connection and are concerned about the kind of work they are doing. Another important factor is the organisational commitment. An employee with strong organisational commitment identifies with the organisation and its goals and wishes to remain a member of the organisation. Employees who are loyal to their organisation, are less likely to leave, even if they are dissatisfied because they feel that they should work harder out of a sense of commitment or attachment to the organisation.

Since employee satisfaction is from the viewpoint of the employer perceived organisational support plays a very important role because employees perceive the organisation as supportive when rewards are deemed fair, employees have a voice in the decision-making process, and they see their supervisor as a supportive figure rather than an authoritative one. Employees are more likely to work as an exchange than as a moral obligation, so employees look for reasons to feel supported by the employer, which in turn makes the employee satisfied.

VARIABLES FOR EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION

  • ORGANISATIONAL VARIABLES: This variable plays a very important role in employee satisfaction because an employee spends most of his time in the organisation and there are certain factors present in the organisation which has an impact on the employee’s satisfaction.
    • ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT: It is an ongoing structured process to bring about changes in the organisation. It is done keeping in mind the changes happening in the outside world so that the organisation is efficient enough to cope up with the future challenges and potential requirements of the organisation.
    • COMPENSATION AND BENEFIT POLICY: This variable plays a very important role in employee satisfaction. It includes rewards and incentives given to the employees based on their performance. Employees have a sense of satisfaction when they are rewarded for their job well done.
    • PROMOTION AND CAREER DEVELOPMENT: Promotion may be reciprocated as a big accomplishment within the life of an employee. It guarantees and delivers extra pay, responsibility, authority, independence, and status. So, the chance for promotion determines the degree of satisfaction to the worker.
    • JOB SATISFACTION: It is a feeling reflected from the perception that one’s job fulfils or allows for the fulfilment of their job values. Jobs that are wealthy in positive activity elements like autonomy, task identity, task significance, and feedback contribute to employee satisfaction.
    • JOB SECURITY: It is a term associated with employee’s assurance or confidence that they’re going to keep their current job. Staff with a high level of job security have an occasional likelihood of losing their job in the future. Some professions or employment opportunities inherently have higher job security than others; a worker’s performance additionally strikes job security, the success of the business, and also the current economic setting.
    • WORKING ENVIRONMENT: Employees’ motivation depends on smart operating conditions as they sense a feeling of safety, comfort, and motivation. On the contrary, poor operating conditions bring out concern about the danger and bad health of workers. The more well-off the operating surroundings are, the more productive the workers are going to be.
  • PERSONAL VARIABLE: The personal determinants conjointly facilitate in maintaining the motivation and personal factors of the staff to figure out how to work effectively and efficiently. Employee satisfaction is often associated with psychological factors, so a large number of personal variables play an important role in the satisfaction level of the employee.
    • PERSONALITY: The character of an individual may be determined by carefully understanding his psychological condition. The factors that confirm the satisfaction of an individual and his psychological conditions are perception, point of view, and learning.
    • EXPECTATION: The expectation level of workers affects their satisfaction level. If one receives different outcomes than expected, then the individual is extremely happy and vice-versa.
    • AGE: Age can often be delineated as important determinants of worker satisfaction. It is as a result of younger age workers possessing higher energy levels are capable of having a lot of worker satisfaction than older age workers.
    • EDUCATION: Education is a major determinant of employee satisfaction because it provides a chance for developing one’s temperament. Education develops and improvises individual knowledge and analysis methods. The extremely educated workers will perceive the situation and assess it as they possess persistence, rationality, and thinking power.

MEASURING EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION

Businesses that would like to enhance satisfaction need to establish metrics to grasp where they presently stand. There would be an expansive range of approaches that may be applied to assess satisfaction; however, analysis usually shows that surveys are extremely effective. With a survey, you’ll get a glimpse of how the workers feel regarding your company. Giving out surveys consistently over time will allow you to watch the performance, whereas testing the effectiveness of the latest management methods.

USING EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION SURVEYS

Before giving out surveys, you need to recognise what areas you would like to evaluate. In general, you need to concentrate on factors that you believe you will be able to manage. Some topics that can be included in an employee satisfaction survey are:

  • management expectations
  • coworker relations
  • perceptions of authorisation
  • communication quality
  • level of stress

CREATING AN EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION SURVEY

Once you have organised a list of things, you must compose a survey that’s acceptable for your organisation. It would be best if you took some time for creating a survey since you may need to use an equivalent survey over several years to profile your performance. You’ll be able to print out copies of your survey; however, digital channels are typically the best in today’s world. There is an expansive range of cheap tools that you can use to email surveys to any or all of your workers simultaneously.

IMPROVING EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION OVERTIME

The enhancements that you implement can be monitored over-time to make sure that they had been effective. Additionally, you need to sporadically review the satisfaction of your personnel to get new pain points that turn up. In several cases, you will need to schedule a quarterly or annual meeting along with your workers to debate problems associated with job satisfaction.

Most significantly, workers need to realise that satisfaction could be the responsibility of all the members of your company. Once workers feel empowered to boost their satisfaction and therefore the satisfaction of other people in your company, They’ll naturally feel a lot more motivated and happier regarding their jobs.

Difference between Recruitment and Selection

Posted on by Aanchal Lohia
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“Recruitment” and “Selection”. These two words sound almost the same right? The words that have been used interchangeably for god knows how long, looks like synonyms at first glance, but they bear a slight difference from one other. Though the differences are quite subtle, it will be really helpful to understand the differences, especially for the budding managers. As we know that employees are the building block of any organization. It is the employees’ contribution that plays a huge role in making or breaking the organization. So, careful recruitment and selection procedure must be carried out to reduce the amount of loss caused to the organization.

The entire recruitment and the selection procedure comes under the job scope of the Human Resource department. The HR team is the one responsible for bringing in the fresh selects, training them and making them comfortable with the culture of the organization. Every company needs to expand its workforce, maybe to cater to growth or because of a vacancy in a job position. So, the way to extend the workforce is nothing but “hiring”. Hiring is the gateway for bringing in the best talents from among the lot so that they can add value to the company in the best possible way and recruitment and selection forms a part of the hiring process. 

What is Recruitment?

As Edwin B. Flippo said, Recruitment is the process of searching for the potential candidates for employment and stimulating them to apply for job vacancies in the organisation.

It is defined as the act of searching for potential candidates for the company. The procedure involves looking out for potential candidates, searching about their educational backgrounds and finally motivating them to apply for the job profiles for which the company is hiring. A huge process spanning out for weeks, recruitment is a process which is the summation of many different activities. It involves searching and finally hiring the most eligible candidates for the job by scrutiny and examination. 

For the hiring process, recruitment is the first step. As, the market place is extremely competitive, so every company must keep itself updating with more effective human resources (manpower) that can be of a great addition to the company. So, recruitment is not just a necessity but also is of strategic importance to the company. Recruitment serves as the link between the people for jobs and the companies that require them. So, following the correct recruitment process yields in fruitful results.

Why Recruitment?

The recruitment process is carried out to increase the workforce of an organisation. Broadly, recruitment can be carried out for 3 reasons. They are:

  • PLANNED: This kind of recruitment activities are already planned and happens because of known changes in the organisation like the retirement of a certain percentage of the workforce.
  • ANTICIPATED: This type of recruitment occurs when there has been some indication to the HR about the movement of the employees, by analysing the recent trend that has been going on in the organisation. 
  • UNEXPECTED: This recruitment process cannot be planned as it happens without any prior notice. This includes reasons like sudden resignations, deaths and accidents.

How to Do Recruitment?

As said above, recruitment is the culmination of various activities. The activities are listed below:

  • Assess the needs of the organisation and analyse the kind of resource requirement of the company.
  • Advertising the vacancy in the organisation through various means like print media, social media, to make the job seekers aware of the recent opening.
  • Generate interest in the minds of the candidates and encourage them to fill the application form.
  • Manage the responses from a massive pile of interested candidates.
  • Careful analysis and scrutiny of all the applications.
  • Shortlisting of the candidates for the following process, that is most suitable for the job profile offered.

Types of Recruitments

Though all the steps are followed in any recruitment process, 2 types of recruitments can take place.

  • Internal recruitment: This process does not involve any fresh hiring, it implies the transfer of the employees within the organisation to new positions. Examples include:
    • Promotions
    • Transfers
    • Contact or references
    • Ex-employees
  • External recruitment: This process involves fresh hiring of new talent from outside resources. Examples are:
    • Advertisement
    • Poaching
    • Campus recruitments
    • Recruitment agencies

What is Selection?

As Stone defines, Selection is the process of differentiating between applicants to identify (and hire) those with a greater likelihood of success in a job. 

Choosing the most suitable candidate from the pool of candidates provided by the recruitment process is called as the process of selection. It is generally an elimination process where the unsuitable candidates are removed, and the most worthy candidates are hired by the organisation. It is the job of HR to differentiate between the qualified and the unqualified applicants. The goal is to find the perfect candidate for the job, just like the correct piece fits the jigsaw puzzle.

How to Carry Out the Selection Procedure?

There is a certain overlap between the recruitment and the selection process. Just like the recruitment procedure, there are many steps involved in the selection process too. They are: 

  • Screening process: This involves reviewing the candidate’s applications to eliminate unsuitable applications.
  • Elimination of some candidates: After the screening process is over, the unsuitable candidates are removed from the process of further hiring steps.
  • Conducting selection tasks: There have to be specific criteria based on which the most eligible candidate is selected. So, this can include an aptitude test, performance test, behaviour test, psychological test and many more.
  • Interview: One of the most important steps in choosing the candidate. Here, the candidate can be tested on multiple fronts by asking behavioural questions, situation-based questions and can gauge the candidate’s thought process.
  • Checking references: This is generally done to cross-check the information as furnished by the candidate. Usually, a company asks for a minimum of two references, from where the candidate’s authenticity can be verified.
  • Medical check-ups: The candidate must be strong, fit and of sound mind, to be considered eligible for the job. So, this is a mandatory step that must be completed before selecting a candidate for the job.

These are the steps that are involved in a selection procedure. As can be seen, a selection process is a long and time-consuming process. It is carried out after the recruitment process is done. The selection process brings the entire hiring process to its completion. 

Difference between Recruitment and Selection

So, the key differences between recruitment and selection can be summarised precisely as follows:

CHARACTERISTIC RECRUITMENT SELECTION
Meaning Searching and encouraging potential candidates to fill in the application. Selecting the best fit for the job.
Objective To have a large pool of applicants. To eliminate and select the perfect candidate.
Nature It is a positive process as it encourages maximum participation. It is a negative process as it involves the rejection of the majority of candidates.
Process It is a fairly simple process. It is a complex one.
Sequence It comes before the selection process. It follows the recruitment process.
Function Its main aim is to provide the candidates for the selection process. It results in making an offer to the most suitable candidate by providing the appointment letter.
Process It involves the advertising of vacancies through various methods. It involves the evaluation of the candidates on various parameters.
Method It is an economical method. It is a fairly expensive method.
Time required It is a quicker method. It requires much more time.

Thus, recruitment and selection though seeming quite similar, have a large number of differences between them. A clear understanding of both the processes is a must, as it will ensure that the organisation has a strong and effective workforce. It will help in proper scouting, shortlisting and selection of the perfect candidate for the job. Great hiring, followed by proper training can do wonders for the organisation.

What is Employee Retention, Why is it important & how to retain employees

Posted on by Shaivee Kumawat
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Employee Retention Meaning

Let us break apart the term Employee Retention and understand the concept of Employee Retention. We all know that RETENTION refers to the ability to uphold, keeping, maintaining, or surviving through something or specific phase. Moreover, Employee Retention concerns the ideology of keeping the employees in an organization happy and content in the long run. Employee Retention can be done by laying various policies and practices, a work-friendly environment, healthy culture, rules, and regulations, which let the employees stick to an organization for a longer time. It undergoes various steps and sacrifices to achieve employee retention for the maximum time.

Employee Retention Importance

Now we have heard a lot about the importance of Employee Retention by various phrases, but its time to understand its importance from a depth in different ways-

  • Hiring requires a lot of resources: Following the entire journey from drawing job descriptions, selecting universities for pool drives, inviting and managing candidates there, going through the resumes, taking interviews, undergoing the differential screening procedure, shortlisting, grilling the candidates to get a refined version of them, and then finally followed by training. This entire journey is crucial and requires patience, skills, time, capital, and utmost management.
  • Grooming a candidate: A new fresher is like a clay molded and baked at regular intervals to extract maximum outputs. If the employee leaves the firm, the company would lose dearly. How much loss a company will undergo? Moreover, a redundant and frustrating effort of HR will be costed in this entire cycle. 
  • Market competition: Today, everyone is smart, intelligent, and selfish of their own’s gain and pain, and when coming to leaving a job, there is a high risk of joining the market rival by that employee. It may result in disclosing confidential company data, company policies, or strategies. However, to avoid these circumstances, an undertaking document is made signed by the candidate, and also strict laws are laid out.
  • Quality time spent in an Organization: As someone has stayed for a longer period knows the exact requirement, working culture, and ideologies of a company, and tunes well with others, also become a mentor for others. They perform better than individuals who change jobs frequently. Spending more time with an organization is also a trait of loyalty and trustworthiness of a person.
  • Time taken for adjustment: One needs time to know the team members, working culture, improving performance, befriending fellow mates, and trusting them. The team bonding is built through team activities: a lot of team collaborations, discussions, solving challenges and working together. All of these processes cost time, which is costly. So why to waste the company’s time on such irregular adjusting intervals. 
  • Important for a company to retain value: Every organization runs on its talented and hardworking smart people. These people are very creative and stand unique by their values. Losing a chance to retain employees equals losing a performing talent. 

How to retain employees

There is always a right way and an appropriate methodology to solve a problem efficiently and effectively. Although the term EMPLOYEE RETENTION was pretty easy to understand, even if someone has not got the exact essence, I assure you you will get to know a lot about it after reading these strategies. So without wasting much of the time, let’s take a glance at the various methods to improve or establish employee retention in an organization

  1. It all starts with the recruitment– “Retention starts right from the beginning, from the application process to screening applicants to choosing who to interview,” says Dan Pickett, CEO of Nfrastructure. Remember to build that trust and outstanding quality of yours to the candidate. Be sure that you pick the right candidate, give appropriate training and resources to them, and maintains a personnel touch with them. It is similar to investment; the longer hold it, the better would be the returning goods. 
  2. Benefitting the employees– You are running a company to fulfill your wishes and our paying a person to do some random tasks so that you make money out of it. Fine! Not to forget you are paying them( fair enough). But they are human beings too, isn’t it somewhere your responsibility to keep them happy? Yes? So try to invest a little amount on their health benefits, working location choices, personal grooming, paying good money, or simply providing them with transportation facilities.
  3. Flexible working schedule or working hours– Time is changing, so does the working culture. Don’t you think one must instead focus on the result rather than the working style? Everyone is unique; some might like working in the daytime; some may be a night geek. You should set them flexible on working hours, productivity, and working schedule. Just assign them the task and headlines, be there as a mentor, but don’t sit over their heads like bosses and rule them after each second. Instead, be a leader, understand them, and spend the journey with them. 
  4. Appreciating open and comfortable communications– Do not create an overrated strict environment, that people tend to think thrice before speaking and keep their mouths shut. NO! Treat them as your friend, welcome their suggestions, understand their grievances, and mentor them. If questions are raised, do not turn up your ego or anger. Employees ask questions only at workplaces where people feel a belongingness and want things to improve. An open-door policy is an effective way to establish a culture of open communication. Give them a feeling of a valued employee, by simply listening to them.  
  5. Concern on personal growth – Everyone strives for personal development and aspires to work at a place where they can bloom and enhance themselves. So being an employer, you should create opportunities, augment the working experience, regular promotions, or learning culture for the employees. Provide them with the latest skill training, regular sessions, or collaborative workshops. 
  6. Assure the quality of the entire working chain– Often, we miss checking on the seniors mentoring the freshers or the junior employees. Sometimes the quality inconsistency creates & causes a void whenever tried to detect a loophole. To avoid this practice, top-to-bottom and the reverse way anonymous surveys to detect the actual pain point. This is particularly important for average performers, as they often lack the quality of self-motivation that characterizes high-performing employees. 
  7. Immediate action on the loopholes– Don’t procrastinate the decisions of firm welfare. When you are sure about something, practice it, if not search about it, until you conclude. You must find the wrong patterns and address them before it is too late, and you end up losing value. Measure productivity at regular intervals and deploy an employee engagement survey. 
  8. Building future-ready and resistant to unfit conditions workforce– Were you aware of the COVID19 pandemic arrival a couple of years back? No right? Economic downswing, or a dramatic dip in profitability, is a significant cause of turnover. Employees want to harbor on a safer side, and they leave that company immediately. Such phenomena pull out talent from your company. But if you prepare the workforce beforehand, offer financial support, and instill confidence in the company’s future, you can prevent significant turnover. 
  9. Time for a reward– Out of human tendency, everyone wants to feel appreciated for their work. As soon as you like or value any a of an individual, make a habit of thanking them, a written gift card, an incentive pay, a day off, a dine away, or giving them the honor of badge to them. This will keep them motivated, enthusiastic, and a craving to perform better.

To conclude, I would like to say that it is time for you to understand your working force, converse with them, and then decide which strategy to use to fix the organization’s retention leak.

Employee Attrition – Types & meaning

Posted on by Ankita Sanyal
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Meaning of Employee Attrition

Employee attrition is a situation that occurs when an employee leaves the organization. Why does employee attrition occur? Reasons for employee attrition may be voluntary or involuntary. In the former, initiation for attrition is taken place by the employee himself or herself. The latter is the situation where the employer initiates to separate an employee. Namely, that can be positive employee attrition or negative employee attrition. Employee attrition has got both positive and negative impact on the company as well.

Positive Attrition

Positive attrition refers to staff turnover that actually benefits the organization. Whereas negative employee attrition Is when employees are laid off because they are being productive or the organization is developing a poor company culture. Positive attrition has proven useful for organizations because the company can save the extra cost by cutting out the poor performers. It is also a positive attrition when a non-performing employee separates the organization on his or her own will due retirement or getting a better opportunity

Negative Attrition

Negative attrition refers to the loss of an employee the organization would like to keep. For negative attrition, the business loses productivity and involves high cost for the company to sustain the existing employees. Negative employee attrition is one of the top Challenges for HR. HR Managers should proactively engage its Top Performers with Employee Engagement Activities to reduce Negative Employee Attrition

Irrespective of whether an attrition is positive OR negative, attrition should be done on a good note that maintains a cordial relationship between the the organization. Employee Separation should always be an amicable. A non friendly employee separation can not only create chaos, but also effect the morale of the existing employees

TYPES OF EMPLOYEE ATTRITION:

 VOLUNTARY Attrition:

Voluntary employee attrition occurs when the employee decides to terminate his or her relationship with the organization on his or her own will. Quits and retirement are the most manifestations of voluntary employee attrition.

  • Employee QUITS:

An employee decides to quit or resign when their level of dissatisfaction with the present job is high, or a more attractive alternative job is awaiting the individual. One of the major reasons for dissatisfaction among employees is the job itself or the extrinsic factors involved in a job, such as company policy, lack of compensation, health, spouse relocation, and the like.

During the economic boom, jobs are available in plenty. Competent people get multiple offers at any given time. Some of the employees who are incredibly loyal and committed to the organization stay with the organization. But the majority of employees on getting more attractive offers accept it and prefer to leave the company. Organizations often encourage or initiate quits through cash incentives. Also, called the voluntary retirement scheme (VRS), these employee separations are resorted to when organizations are experiencing losses, not strictly voluntary.

  • Employee RETIREMENTS:

Retirements generally occur when employees reach the end of their careers. The age for an employee superannuation difference. In states, it is 58 years, and in the central government, it is 60. Many governments have reasonable limits to 60 and 62, respectively, as there is no shortage of skilled people to fill up the vacant jobs. Retirement differs from quits. When the employee superannuates and it’s time for them to leave the organization, several benefits are offered to the employee. But an employee who quits is denied such privileges. Second, retirement occurs at the end of an employee’s career, but the quit is not time-specific. Third, retirement is not likely to leave any corporate bad blood behind the retiree, but a quit might result in hurt feelings with the employer.

INVOLUNTARY Attrition:

Employee Termination Reasons: Employees Resort to terminate the employment contract with employees for at least three reasons

  1. The organization is unable to maintain the existing labor because of going through a lean period 
  2. Initial faulty hiring results in a mismatch between job and employs fit 
  3. Employee exhibits deviant behavior by vitiating the environment around 

Discharges, layoffs, retrenchment, or rightsizing could be the standard methods of involuntary employee attrition initiated by the employer.

  • Employee DISCHARGES

Discharge occurs when the employer discovers that the employee is no more productively serving the organization. Discharge is also widely referred to as termination, should be aimed to be avoided as far as possible. Any termination is a reflection of the company’s HR system. Also, termination is an expensive affair because the firm has to seek a replacement, hire, and train the new candidate. Finally, a discharged individual is likely to fowl mouth the company. Discharge should be one’s last resort. 

  • Employee LAYOFFS 

A layoff is a temporary separation of the employee at the instance of the employer section 2 (KKK) of the industrial disputes act 1947 denies the officer failure refusal or inability of an employee to give employment to a worker whose name is present on the roles but who has not been retrenched. A layoff may be for a definite period on the expiry of which the employer will recall the employer for duty. It may extend to any length of time; with the result, the employer is not able to estimate anymore to recall his or her employees.

A layoff may be occasioned by one of the following reasons:

    1. Shortage of coal power or raw material
    2. Accumulation of stocks
    3. Breakdown of machinery
    4. Economic recession
    5. For any other reason

  • Employee DISMISSAL/Employee DISCHARGE

Whether termination of employment is initiated by the manager, it’s called dismissal or discharge, which may be a forceful step and may be taken once careful thought is given. A dismissal has to be supported by fair and sufficient reasons.

The following reasons cause the dismissal of an employee:

    1. Excessive absence
    2. Serious misconduct
    3. Inaccurate statement of qualification at the time of employment
    4. Theft of the company’s property.

Dismissal shall be the last step and may be resorted to after all the efforts in celebrating the employees have failed.

  • Employee RETRENCHMENT

Retrenchment, too, results in the separation of an associate worker from his or her employer. It refers to the termination of employees’ service because of the replacement of labor by machines or the closure of a department due to the continuing lack of demand for the products manufactured in the particular department of the organization. Retrenchment like layoff entitles the employee to section 25f of the industrial disputes act 1947, is equivalent to 15 days average reimbursement for every completed year of continuous service. However, retrenchment differs from sacking in this that in the latter, the employee continues to be within the employment of the organization and is sure to be recalled post the period of layoff. Entertainment employee sent home for good, and his or her connection with the company are severed immediately.

Retrenchment differs from dismissal as well. A worker is discharged as a result of his or her fault. Retrenchment, on the other hand, is forced on both the employer and its employees. Moreover, a retrenchment involves the termination of the service of many staff however, dismissal typically involves the termination of the service of 1 or 2 staff.

  • Employee VOLUNTARY RETIREMENT SCHEME

Voluntary retirement scheme VRS is yet one more type of separation. In the early 1980, companies both in the public and private sectors, they have been sending home surplus labor for good, not strictly by retrenchment, but by a noble scheme called the VRS. Euphemistically all the golden handshake plans—handsome compensation of pay to those workers to leave.

Top 10 Recruitment Challenges in 2024

Posted on by Meghna Ghosh
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The first step in the life cycle of HR is recruitment. When a baby takes the first step in life, it seems fascinating, and it becomes the never-ending process. Same is with recruitment; this first step in the dynamics of HR is though fascinating but becomes a never-ending process. As said life is struggle and challenges are waiting at every step, similarly with recruitment. This exciting process has several hurdles in its way, but if there is no struggle, there is no progress.

Hence below listed are some major recruiting challenges.

Top 10 Recruitment Challenges

1. Reluctant to Relocate

The most common challenge while recruiting is “Homesickness” which is quite obvious as nobody wants to leave their family, friends and hometown unless they prioritize career above all or have some serious obligations. Therefore in most of the cases, it becomes almost impossible to convince the right candidates to relocate to other cities for the job opportunity recruiter is hiring for.

2. The Desire for Remote Work

This is the new talk of the town in current pandemic situation, where unemployment has reached its pinnacle, and people are exploring for a better opportunity but not willing for the in-house job due to fear factor of this contagious disease and concept of social distancing, but yet many companies are only up for the candidates who can work from the office due to need of their job type as every job can’t be done from remote. This difference of opinion between employer, recruiter and candidate has become a great struggle nowadays in the scope of recruitment.

Also Read: Work from Home Challenges and Solutions

3. High Salary Expectations

It is a general saying if you dream big you will achieve big. So this big dream of getting the most handsome pay package is the ultimate desire for all the job doers and seekers which troubles the recruiters a lot because to fulfill this dream many times candidates place the expectation way beyond his/her worth and what the market price of their job is.

It is not problematic until the candidate is found to be intelligent and understand its worth or many times compels with a certain situation. Still, things get entangled when candidates become adamant and irrelevant in their demands and unwillingly the recruiter needs to shift their focus from one potential candidate to searching the next one.

4. Competitive Market

With every passing day market is getting more volatile and competitive. This competition and advancement are leading to improvement. Hence a good learner, trained and developed resource is high in demand within the job market. At one particular point, candidates, themselves start realising the same and understand the markets so well that his/her constant desire to prosper becomes vivid and they always try to capture the best in their sector. Hence this urge in this competitive market makes recruitment even more challenging as multiple doors are open for the best man to fit in.

5. Brand Value of the Company

Whether small or big, need of human asset is must for all so as the recruitment but general human tendency is always reluctant to associate with start-ups or small company even with those companies who are doing well but don’t have much fame in the market or also may defame due to poor work culture or less profitability, which creates insecurity in the mind of the candidate before applying and makes a vital hindrance in the recruitment.

6. Low HR Budget of the Company

It is not always the candidate or job seekers creating trouble while recruiting many times the company itself becomes its enemy in recruitment due to very poor or less HR budget. Not all the companies are open-handed to pay well to their resources or do not acknowledge the factor of the sustainable standard of living but do not compromise in the requirement of manpower too, such dualistic strategies of the company not only annoys recruitment cycle but defame themselves paying market as well.

7. Unorganized and Insufficient Recruiting Tool and Data

Recruitment then and recruitment now has sky gap difference as it has drastically changed. Modes of recruitment approach everything has undergone a complete makeover, but still many companies found using those old tools have not upgraded themselves. Their hiring is completely yet based on some existing unorganized data and has not intended to accept new digital changes like recruitment softwares, top consultancies and paid portals. Those orthodox data and methods due to non-acceptance of companies in the digital era is a considerable challenge while recruiting.

8. The difference of Opinion Between Hiring Manager and Recruiter

Generally people misconceptualized between recruiter and hiring manager. Recruiters are those who recruit as per the need of the hiring manager but hiring managers are those who need the resources to get the job done. But many times what is found is the difference of opinion in between the ideology and demand of hiring managers and recruiters as the hiring manager is only confined within his job requirement and duties and does not wish to become flexible enough as per the need of the market. Hence any such expectations and rigidness irrespective to the current market trends make recruitment even more challenging.

9. Target based Recruiting

Though being focussed and having targets are the essence of every job, but many employers don’t understand the concept that HR dynamics have to be more liberal with multiple options and they keep vague expectations and gives neck to neck targets of recruiters, such target based recruitment may help companies in fulfilling the vacant position fast but as said quick work of the devil is never a sound deal to crack which ends in the faulty selection, higher attrition and more absenteeism.

10. Existing Team/Work Culture

The last but not the least thing in the challenges of recruitment is that whatsoever efforts a recruiter may put in fulfilling the position, but things come back to square one if the existing work culture in not friendly and teammates instead nurturing or helping each other believes in pulling the new guy down and inculcates more work politics. Such negative ambiance leads to early resignation and increases the number of absconders which fails the entire recruitment process and becomes snake within the sleeves for the recruiter and team.

So are you also facing any of such challenges while recruiting, approach Zigsaw for the most hassle free recruitment for your company. Register here on our platform to start.

Cost Per Hire – Calculating Hiring Cost in Recruitment

Posted on by Ankita Sanyal
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Cost per Hire meaning

The Recruitment process costs organizations dearly. The cost per hire means the total cost incurred for hiring purposes for each hire. This includes among other things, the following costs

  • Time Cost of the HR Managers & the technical managers involved in the Recruitment Process
  • Payments made to placement Consultants
  • Payment made to buy Resumes online
  • Cost any on-campus institution drives
  • Cost of joining bonus and relocation allowances
  • Expenses incurred on conducting recruitment tests and interviews
  • Cost of overtime or temporary staff retraining during the period when jobs remain vacant
  • Any other incidental cause availed by the selection  team,  we can / overtime lunch/dinner transport claims and the like

To these may be added cost and expenses related and involved in the recruitment process.

The cost to hire or cost per hire is obtained by dividing the total cost by the number of hires.  Organizations closely watched the cost per hire to monitor the effectiveness of the hiring function.  Efforts are always made to keep the cost per hire within acceptable limits.  Cost per hire varies from organization to organization, deciding factors being skill level of hires,  demand and supply of such skills, number of fires, sourcing strategy,  and compensation levels.  Change of Sourcing strategy and withdrawing joining bonuses are common strategies used by organizations to keep the cost per hire within desired norms.

COST TO HIRE OR COST PER HIRE = TOTAL RECRUITMENT COST/TOTAL NUMBER OF HIRES

TOTAL RECRUITMENT COST = TOTAL INTERNAL RECRUITMENT COST + TOTAL EXTERNAL RECRUITMENT COST

INTERNAL SOURCES OF RECRUITMENT

  • Present employees – One of the most sought after internal source of recruitment methods are present employees, which has proven to be beneficial in various ways.  In this type of recruitment, the cost of training might be less,  but there is an added cost of providing the promoted employee with a higher pay scale. This is the most common internal source of recruitment,  wherein the organization need not look for new employees,  the organization can appoint one of their efficient employees to a higher position or a different department where they can work efficiently and get the system running smoother. For an existing employee, he/she is acquainted with the organizational culture and systems which cuts down the retraining cost. But in cases of promotions,  when an existing employee is getting promoted to the next level in the hierarchy, he/she is to be paid a higher salary which is the cost the organization needs to bear for this kind of recruitment.
  • Employee referrals –  Over the years with strong networking being built, this source of internal recruitment has proven to be very effective, where employees can encourage their families and friends by familiarizing them with the advantages of a job with the company, furnishing cards of introduction and even encouraging them to apply. Some companies even offer “finders fees”  in the form of monetary incentives for successful referrals. For example, companies like Microsoft offers referral incentives to its employees for internet experts. Infosys in Bangalore also has a practice of coming up with vacancies on its website, inviting referrals from employees. Employees are paid Rs.10000 to Rs.15000 charges for every successful hire. Finder’s fees could be referred to as the cost related to this sort of internal hiring. If used wisely, employee referrals could prove to be an effective way of recruiting. The prospective reach is wider at a very low cost and in an organization with a large number of employees, this approach can provide quite a large pool of potential organizational members.
  • Former employees – Another internal source of applicants are former employees. Increasingly more and more employers are reaching out to ex-employees and sharing information on job openings organizations. They maintain close contact with ex-employees with proven good performance records.  The advantage of recruiting former employees is that they are quick to hire. These hires are quick to work as they are familiar with the company’s policies and procedures and will connect soon with peers and customers. MNCs purchase IBM and Microsoft are active in re-hiring. The problem with this internal source of recruitment is their placements and compensation. Often, we have seen that former employees re-joining ask for a higher pay scale which gets added as an internal cost to hire.

EXTERNAL SOURCES OF RECRUITMENT

  • Temporary/Contract workers–  contract workers by then a number are almost working the small number of regular employees.  For employers, contract workers are less expensive. Wages paid to these employees constitute only half of what is paid to regular employees with minimal demands for better wages and benefits and no need to implement mandatory welfare measurements. During times of sudden rise in demand or uncertainty, organizations rely on temporary workers instead of hiring regulars. Temporary or contract workers insulate permanent employees from downturns in a business cycle, thereby improving job stability. This is one of the most affordable external sources of recruitment with minimal costs related to it.
  • Campus recruitment – Placement programs in Colleges, Universities and Research Laboratories, sports fields, and institutes are a great opportunity for recruiters to hire budding talents with young perspective, particularly the institutes for top campus recruitment is going Global with companies like Hindustan Unilever, Citibank, HCL HP,  Facebook and Reliance looking for in global market campus recruitment is so much sought after by the recruiters that each College University Department or Institute will have to have a placement of a to handle recruitment functions. This type of external recruitment is often an expensive process, even if the recruiting process eventually produces job offers and acceptances. For conducting on-campus recruitment programs, there needs to be a contract between the university/institute and the company/organization.  There are cases where colleges charge a lot of money for the companies to arrange employment fares or get a seat in the placement cell for external recruiting purposes. This could be considered as the cost related to campus recruitment.
  • Advertisements – This is the most popular method of seeking recruits, as many recruiters prefer advertisements because of their wide reach. Want as described the job and the benefits, identify the employer and tell those who are interested and how to apply. A number of factors influence the response rate of an advertisement. Three important variables to be kept in mind are – identification of the company, labour market conditions, and the degree to which specific requirements are included in the advertisement. Moreover, we can say that an organization can customize the advertisement as per their requirement, which demands some investment. This is one of the major elements in the cost of recruiting not only because it is the most common method of the external source of recruitment irrespective of a paper print advertisement or advertisement on an e-recruitment website, but also it opens up a wider pool of potential candidates who would prove to be an asset of the company.
  • Job Boards: Job portals allow access to their database on payment of a Fixed Fee. Companies can also post their Job openings on Top Job Posting Sites in India.
  • Recruitment Companies: Unlike Job-boards that mostly ask for a prepaid fee, Recruitment Consultants usually work on a success fee model. This means that you only need to pay to Recruitment Firms once you have made a successful hire via them. Here’s a list of Top Recruitment Companies in India you can engage with for your next hire. Their Fee varies from 5%-25% of annual CTC of the selected candidate.

The above were a few of the elements in the recruitment cost Inclusive of both internal sources of recruitment as well as a cost related to the external source of recruitment.  Now to find out the cost to hire or the cost per hire, the total recruitment cost is to be divided by the total number of actual hires, which roundabout gives an idea of the cost involved in hiring from a financial perspective.

Employee Background Verification Process in MNCs

Posted on by Aashritha Ramesh
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In recent times, we have witnessed the rapid rate of globalization and its effects on mankind. The advent of new technologies, such as the Internet and other networks has its pros and cons. The pros of the evolving technologies include speed, efficiency, better time management, access to an ocean of information, mobility, agility, automation, connectivity, remote sharing, better management of resources, and the list could go on.

The drawbacks include higher levels of dependencies, data security concerns, and manipulation of information. Out of enlisted cons, one of the major downsides is that the new technologies have resulted in an increased rate of fraud in most sectors, and education is not an exception. Fraud and corruption in education may exist in various forms beyond contract-cheating. Its global manifestations include diploma mills and the counterfeiting of academic documents, bribery to ensure the licensing of educational institutions, the hiring of academic staff, the passing of examinations, admission into education programs, and the award of degrees.

Moreover, the increase in population has resulted in increased needs, but the employment opportunities are still way less than required. This has paved the way for many miscreants to set up agencies that provide fake mark sheets, degree certificates, and experience certificates. The funniest part is that there also exist fake universities, advertisements in the name of these fake universities have been flooding the World Wide Web platform in recent times. 

This has indeed resulted in added pressure to companies, i.e., checking the authenticity of the documents presented by the job seeker.

So, there came the need for a background verification process. In general, it refers to any official process carried out by an organization to validate the documents submitted by the candidate’s post getting shortlisted in an interview. 

Background verification process or Background Checker or Background screening is a major weapon of the MNCs for the risk mitigation and checking the authenticity of the candidates. Moreover, it acts as a major tool that gives an impression of the candidate to the HR.

The important point is that the company can perform these background verification checks only after informing the candidate and getting their signature in the consent form.

Background screening involves the verification of the following:

Employee Background Verification Process in MNCs

1. Candidate’s criminal history: To check if the candidates have any record of criminal behavior or related tendencies. This check is usually done to ensure the safety of the customers and the work environment. Moreover, the process followed to check criminal history differs from state to state.

2. Identity: The candidate’s name, place, and date of birth are referenced to verify the candidate’s credentials.

3. References: These are to check how many people and exactly who in their previous workplace would confirm the candidates’ skills and work ethic.

4. Work experience: Companies, organizations, and institutes the candidate claim to have worked with, and their credibility is cross-checked. Also, their reasons for leaving these organizations are reviewed. This check bears information about the candidates’ quality, work stability, and loyalty.

5. Address verification 

6. Personal finances and credit: To check the credit score and loan details.

7. Sexual offender registry: This will reduce the risk of the company’s workplace sex offense.

8. Drug Screening Test: This test is a prerequisite in specific industries like aviation and driving.

The government also plays a vital role in this process. The tools used by the government to stop frauds are enlisted below:

1. Aadhaar verification: It consists of an individuals’ biometrics and consists of every other necessary information about the residence, D.O.B, and bank accounts. 

2. National Skills Registry (NSR): NSR is the largest database consisting of nearly 255 companies with 18,84,380 biometrics submitted. That helps companies counter-check employees’ information (if they are registered). 

3. National Academics Depository (NAD): Government launched NAD to store your education records digitally. NAD can also issue reliable certificates to verified users.

4. Permanent Account Number (PAN) card: It helps in keeping track of an individual’s transaction and tax liability.

The social media used by nearly 376.1 million Indian users has its role to play. It serves as a gateway that showcases the activities, interests, and affiliations of the candidates. Hence it serves as the best platform for the recruiter to know about the candidate without the latter’s presence.

Now, turning the focus onto how this screening is being carried out by the MNCs, one would witness the flurry of background organizations working solely on this process. 

Recent studies have found that an MNC can carry out this screening process in the following ways:

1. Uses the platform WELCOME TO NATIONAL SKILLs REGISTRY

2. Reference from a connected network of people and organizations 

3. Social media platforms 

4. Hire third parties like HireRight, IDfy, SecUR credentials limited, etc.

5. Public sector undertakings (PSUs)

Moreover, one cannot deny the challenges faced by the organization in the process of background screening. One of the major problems faced is the time delay of the screening process, which affects both the employer and the candidate. Add to this, the other challenges would include the absence of updated records and the lack of open information.

After going through the above-stated points on the background verification process, one would have realized the need to countercheck every step taken in life. This is so because even a tiny mistake committed today can have its adverse effects on the things that will happen in the future. The takeaway from this is that never resort to the mindset of, “Why should I care about this mistake now?” Instead, solve them at the very moment and try to avoid mistakes and the activities which might backfire. Moreover, be cautious while entering personnel information on any social media platforms. Also, do present genuine documentation while seeking for a job, as this would give the best impression.

Recruitment Life Cycle – Different Stages of Recruitment

Posted on by Sinibali Jana
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The recruitment life cycle refers to the complete process of recruitment from start to end. Hence it is also known as a 360-degree recruitment process or end-to-end recruitment process. From scratch till the end, that is the final recruitment, the process of requirement employs several stages. This entire cycle is known as a recruitment life-cycle.

Recruitment is an integral part of Human Resource Management. Recruitment is a hiring process where firstly the staffing and organizational needs of the company are identified. After that, a potential pool of candidates for the required staffing is attracted. The pool of candidates is generated by firstly identifying these candidates. These can be done by both internal and external sources. Next, the recruiter should attract these candidates to apply for the job. This can be done by extensive advertising in job sites, campus drives, reaching out to potential candidates from the company database, etc.

Recruitment is such an important process because it serves as a pre-math for selection. Recruitment is a deciding factor on the correct candidates being chosen in the selection process. Hence, attracting a better pool of candidates in the recruitment process proves to be extremely beneficial.

The process of recruitment largely varies due to the size of the organization. A small or medium-sized firm may have only one person as a recruiter or a hiring manager. However, a larger company is most likely to have a whole dedicated team of recruiters to carry on the process effectively. A well-framed recruitment process helps both the company and the applicants. The company gets to generate a potential pool of candidates, whereas the candidates get potential employment opportunities.

However, in every organizational setting and every differential organizational need, the recruitment life-cycle large remains the same. There are namely 6 major steps in the recruitment life cycle:

  1. Preparing
  2. Sourcing
  3. Screening
  4. Selecting
  5. Hiring
  6. Onboarding

Recruitment Life Cycle Stages

Image Source

1. Preparing

Preparation is an essential component for the success of any process. The recruitment process also has a comprehensive preparation process which serves as a foundation for the proper functioning of the later stages in the life-cycle. 

The first step to preparation is creating a candidate persona. This means that the recruiter has to define the traits or skills or experience that a candidate has to have to be eligible for the recruitment process. Drafting an appropriate candidate persona increases the possibility of an appropriate hire.

The second step to preparation is drafting a job description. The job description is responsible for attracting potential candidates in the recruitment process. Hence, an unattractive job description will be a thumbs-down to the process. However, an employer cannot publish wrong or misleading information. The job description has to be accurate and state the responsibilities that it entails. It should most importantly include the salary, perks, and other benefits provided by the company.

2. Sourcing

The second stage is establishing the sourcing for the candidates. This means creating awareness about the job in various sources and hence generating potential candidates from those sources. Professional recruiters choose to do the recruitment on multiple sources to achieve maximum results. The different sources of recruitment are listed below:

Internal Source: Internal sources of recruitment can be not only effective but also economical. It is cost-effective for the company, and an ad also economizes on a lot of time. Internal sources of recruitment mainly include promotions and transfers of employees intra-organization. In addition to that, intra-organization employee referrals also largely contribute to the internal sources of recruitment. Utilizing the company’s database to recruit former employees and candidates can also be a good choice.

External Source: A company can recruit through external sources via employment agencies. This is the common and surest source of recruiting eligible pool of candidates. The company can also conduct campus drives in various schools, colleges, and universities, thereby facilitating recruitment. Apart from that, the recruitment procedure can be advertised in multiple media sources to have a greater reach and therefore attract a greater pool. Utilizing various labor unions in the recruitment process is also something that the company can do.

E-sources: The e-sources of recruitment are gaining quick popularity in today’s times. Recruitment ads can be posted on agency websites. Also, online job boards can be used for the recruitment process. However, the chance of attracting a large number of unqualified candidates works as the biggest disadvantage in this case. Its easy availability and much higher reach still make it a popular option. 

3. Screening

The third step is screening all the applications that have been generated from all the sources. Sourcing attracts a large number of candidates, and not all of them have the required skills and traits needed for the vacant job. Hence screening is important to list out the ineligible candidates based on their resumes, portfolios, etc., and take the eligible candidates to the next round of screening which is generally a telephonic interview process. Candidates who pass the telephonic interview round are chosen for the face-to-face interview.

4. Selection

This is the most critical stage of recruitment life-cycle. This is because, in this stage, the final selection of the candidates is made for the said job. The resumes and cover letters, in most cases, seem a lot more eligible than the candidate himself/herself. Hence face to face interviews or tests should be well-drafted to test the candidate on all aspects and then make an informed and educated decision.

Even though in most cases, the stage of selection is defined by an interview process, in some instances, different forms of test can also be employed. These can be personality assessments and written ability tests, to name a few. These can also go hand-in-hand with the interview process to finally select the candidate or candidates for the job.

Interviews can also be of various types depending upon the discretion of the employer/recruiter. These can be unstructured interviews where different candidates are asked different questions and judged. These can also be structured interviews where a standardized set of questions is asked to every candidate, and then they are judged. Interviews can also be behavioral interviews or stress interviews to test how a candidate reacts or behaves under stress.

Under any circumstance, before the final selection is made, a background or reference check must be done on the candidate.

5. Hiring

After the selection is made, it is time to hire the candidate, that notifies him/her about his/her selection. The hiring stage of the recruitment life-cycle generally consists of two parts.

The first part is notifying the candidate about the job that is making the final job offer. An offer letter must be sent to the candidate. An offer letter must be accurate and consist of all the necessary information regarding the job. It should contain the working hours, the benefits, the compensation as well as the starting date of the job. If the job is contractual, the details of the contract must be mentioned. 

The second part of the hiring process is negotiation. After a candidate receives an offer letter, he/she has to accept it. However, not all selected candidates will select the offer letter right away. They might want to negotiate with the HR on various terms. The most common terms of negotiation are the working hours and salary. Negotiation is important so that a mutually acceptable employment contract can be reached between the candidate and the employer.

6. Onboarding

The recruitment process does not end with hiring the candidate. Onboarding is an important part of the recruitment life-cycle because it plays a great role to determine if the candidate can fit in the company culture and hence work productively. A proper onboarding procedure includes steps like introduction, orientation, and training of the employee. Henceforth the recruitment life-cycle ends, and the employment starts.

From layman’s eyes, recruitment might seem like a very simple process of just hiring candidates. But in reality, it is complex and comprehensive and is very much responsible for the productivity and success of the company. Hence trained professionals carry out the process with a minute focus on each stage so that the most eligible candidates are finally onboarded for the job.

How to Make Interview Evaluation Form with Sample Templates

Posted on by Aanchal Lohia
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Interviews are one of the most challenging tasks that many people face in their lives. That stressful time, with the interview panel sitting in front, sweaty palms, nervous thoughts, and the added pressure of delivering an excellent performance. An experience that everyone must go through to make it to their dream companies. An interview is just the place for you to showcase your skills and talents and project yourself as the ideal candidate for the company. The better you pitch, the more likely it is for you to get your dream. So, leave the nervousness aside and bring out her A-game!

Though the candidates have their struggles, on the flip side, so does the interviewer. Any recruitment process is a cumbersome process with various rounds attached to it. The steps involved in the process may vary from company to company, but roughly they are:

  • A screening process where candidates are generally shortlisted based on their resume.
  • A selection task can include a group discussion procedure, some submission, depending upon the profile offered.
  • A telephonic interview, which is just a mini-interview conducted, for the selection of candidates for the final round.
  • The final interview, which is the final step, where the conversation that you have in the interview hall, decides your fate!

The entire recruitment process is tiring for the interviewer as well. The responsibility of selecting the perfect candidate for the job that serves as the right fit for the company, the person that can add value to the company in the long run, the requirements are enormous. So, there are specific tips for the interviews for the interviewers on how to gauge a candidate. Some of these are:

  • Do a background check of the candidate before taking the interview.
  • Read the resume before diving into the question-answer mode.
  • List down the questions that you want to ask the candidate.
  • Make a structured plan for the interview process.
  • Ask situation-based, out-of-the-box questions, and gauge the answers accordingly.
  • Give the candidate the chance to speak more.
  • Along with verbal communication, observe clues from non-verbal communication as well.

Interview Evaluation Form – What Is It And Why Is It Used?

An interview evaluation form will aid immensely in carrying out a fruitful interview. An interview evaluation form is a document where the interviewer can evaluate the candidate’s performance in various areas and even comparing it with other candidate’s performance. So, this document comes handy when hiring someone for the job. An interview evaluation form is useful for the following reasons:

  • This form also helps in interviewing in a structured manner as it allows the interviewer to have an organized interview framework ready before-hand. 
  • As all the candidates are interviewed according to a pre-defined format, it also promotes fairness in the evaluation pattern. 
  • It also offers more precise and more in-depth insights regarding the candidate. 
  • Having data on the candidate, it also helps in the future training of the candidate.
  • Evaluation biases are reduced because every candidate goes through the same evaluation process. So, having an exact interview evaluation form makes the interview process a little smoother. 

How to Make Interview Evaluation Form?

An interview evaluation form is one of the essential HR tools used during the recruitment process. Different job profiles would evoke various evaluation forms depending upon the type of characteristics required by the company. But any evaluation form will roughly contain the following fields:

Basic Candidate Details: Some basic but mandatory details that include: 

  • Name of the candidate 
  • Position applied for
  • Name of the interviewer 
  • The date of the interview was conducted.
  • Contact details (may or may not be included) to have a clear record of the candidates interviewed.

Past relevant details: This includes the education details of the candidate, which can be relevant to the job profile applied for. It may consist of college degrees and any certification if done that enhances the chances of obtaining the job. This tab also includes the previous job experiences that may aid in the current job profile.

Candidate Evaluation Criteria: Now, this is the section that will be included in the form, but the parameters may vary depending upon the company, it’s requirements, the job profile, and many more. The main section of the form is used for evaluating the candidate’s performance based on interview performance, overall experience, and knowledge. 

This part generally has a pre-defined grading system, where the candidates are given grades in various fields. The most commonly used grading pattern is a range of 1-5, where 1 generally indicates the “non-possession of the skill” and 5 indicates “extremely proficient in the skill.” Some of the evaluation criteria can include: 

  • General personality skills like working in teams, the ability to adapt to various situations, verbal ability skills.
  • It is differentiating skills that answer the classic question of “what makes you different?”. Skills like leadership, time management, creative thinker, and many more. The skills that can put you one step ahead of your peers in the interview round.
  • Skills that the job profile demands, like for a marketing job profile, communication skills, customer management skills, technical skills, etc., are mandatory. So different job profiles command different kinds of skills.
  • Whether the employee is a fit to the organisation’s culture, the most important criteria as an organization fit are something that matters the most. 

Overall review and comments:  After evaluating the candidate on various skills, the decision of the interviewer is supreme. Here the interviewer writes about the impression formed of the candidate. Comments relating to whether the company should hire the candidate, reject or put the candidate on hold, comprise this section. 

Sample Interview Evaluation Forms

These are some of the basic criteria each evaluation form should have. Some of the sample interview evaluation forms are provided below:

Sample 1:

Basic details:

Name of the candidate: Mr ABC
Profile applied for: ABCDE
Date of the interview: DD/MM/YYYY
Interviewer name: Mr XYZ

Evaluation criteria (Tick as per requirements):

Criteria Excellent Strong Average Weak
Relevant education background *
Relevant work experience *
Communication skills *
Leadership skills *
Job-specific skills *
Match to company’s values *

Review and comments:

(Give the comments according to the interview process and evaluating criteria).

Sample 2:

Basic details:

Name of the candidate: Mr ABC
Profile applied for: ABCDE
Date of the interview: DD/MM/YYYY
Interviewer name: Mr XYZ

Evaluation criteria (Scoring as per interview):

Here a rating scale of 1-5 is used for the evaluation of criteria.

Where, 1= Poor, 2=Below Average, 3=Average, 4=Good, 5=Excellent.

Skills Rating Comments
Is the candidate’s educational qualification suitable for the job? 12345 ……..
Can the candidate highlight their strengths? 12345 ……..
Prior work experience 12345 ……..
Situational questions 12345 ……..
Aspirations of the candidate 12345 ……..
The motivation for the job? 12345 ……..
Prioritization 12345 ……..
Interest in the company 12345 ……..

Sample 3:

Basic details:

Name of the candidate: Mr ABC
Profile applied for: ABCDE
Date of the interview: DD/MM/YYYY
Interviewer name: Mr XYZ

Evaluation criteria (Scoring as per interview):

Here a rating scale of 1-5 is used for the evaluation of criteria.

Where, 1= Poor, 2=Below Average, 3=Average, 4=Good, 5=Excellent.

Educational background: Does the candidate have the relevant educational knowledge required for this post?

Rating:

Comments:

Prior Work experience: Is the prior work experience of the candidate suitable for the current position?

Rating:

Comments:

Technical Qualifications: Does the candidate have the necessary technical skills required for the job?

Rating:

Comments:

Leadership ability: Does the candidate have the necessary leadership skills required for the job?

Rating:

Comments:

Communication skills: Does the candidate have good communication skills?

Rating:

Comments:

Candidate enthusiasm level: Interest level of the candidate for the job?

Rating:

Comments:

Overall comments and feedback:

……………………………………………………………………………………………….

These are some of the samples of the interview evaluation form. An interview evaluation form is a great tool to conduct the interview process seamlessly. Making the process less tiresome and easy. Interviews were and always will be an indispensable part of the entire hiring process, but tools like these help to lessen the burden. Make your customized evaluation process and ace this process!

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How Can organizational Culture Attract and Retain Talented Employees?

Posted on by Ankita Sanyal
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The constant focus for corporate companies lately has been paying attention to creating, fostering, and sustaining organisational culture, also called corporate culture. It is not P&G alone – all successful companies like IBM, HP, Apple, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, L&T, Tata’s, Wipro, Cognizant, or Infosys – have one underlying factor behind the success, and that is maintaining a workplace culture. Culture is like the DNA of the organisation, unique to itself. Culture has a direct proportional impact on employee attention, retention, performance and satisfaction. The value system of the workplace culture manifests itself through the language they speak, murals on the wall, their building aesthetics and a host of other artefacts. Companies with a strong workplace culture rightly consider it to be very precious. Sometimes more important than a trade secret and in some sense, unique. Organisational members begin to feel a strong bond with the company they are working for. The strong bond transcends material returns given by the organisation, and the employees begin to identify with it. The entire organisation turns into some clan. 

MEANING OF ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE

`From a wider perspective, the word ‘culture’ linguistically translates to the universal set which includes knowledge, principles, beliefs, morals, law, custom and other capabilities and habits acquired by particular individuals in a society. Two important aspects of culture are cultural history and mutual phenomenon. Cultural History is the cultural mores of a society that are transgenerational. The second term points towards the cultural ethos and the principles that are shared among the members of society. In other words, unlike one-person specific, culture is a group-specific concept. Organisational culture or company culture is a reflection of the ideologies, values, assumptions, beliefs, expectations, attitudes and norms that weave an organisation together and are shared by its employees. Organisational members tend to internalise cultural policies and practices and like to indoctrinate newcomers into such moves. Some of these practices are thoroughly internalised that no one can question them – they are taken for granted; in other words, they get institutionalised.

UNDERSTANDING ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE:

Corporate culture mainly consists of three distinct levels, namely, common assumptions, shared values and observable values.

  1. OBSERVABLE CULTURE:

    At the surface is the observable culture, it could be considered as the first layer which manifests through symbols such as physical design, dress code, logos, gadget, and murals. It broadly includes unique office stories, traditions and rituals that add up to the history of the success of the organisation.

  2. SHARED VALUES:

    The second level includes shared values. Shared values apply to all organisational members, and no deviation is tolerated. Common uniformity and shared beliefs or mutual values represent a shared culture. Corporate Vision and Mission must be shared by all and must be binding all.

  3. COMMON ASSUMPTIONS:

    The third level is of Common assumptions, the deeper or hidden aspect of organisational culture. These are the taken for granted truths that every organisational member shares as a result of their collective experience. As difficult as it may be to isolate these patterns but doing so helps give a valid explanation of culture invading every aspect of organisational life. The common assumption may surface in an organisational crisis, like for example, the way a senior executive guilty of sexual harassment, is handled or an employee caught indulging in an ethical act is dealt with. How employees stand united to thwart hostile takeover bid and the way employees volunteer for pay cuts to steer the organisation from the financial crisis are also instances of the common assumptions.

ATTRACTION, SUSTENENCE AND RETENTION OF TALENT:

Few strategies that support the cause :

  • SELECTING AND SOCIALISING EMPLOYEES:

The main purpose of the hiring process to hire the right people for the right job. When for a given job, two or more candidates with identical skills and abilities are available final selection is influenced by how well a candidate fits into the organisation. By identifying candidates who can help with the organisational culture selection help sustain culture considerably. Job applicants to look at an organisation from its cultural perspective before seeking entry into it. More than pay and perquisites in an organisation offers, it is the cultural artefacts that often attract or detract job seekers. Along with selecting people with compatible values, companies maintain strong cultural aspects through the effective socialisation of new employees. 

The socialisation of employees is the learning process of every individual to acquire values, expected behaviour, and social knowledge necessary to assume their roles in the organisation.

Pre-arrival, encounter and metamorphosis are the three central stages of employee Socialisation. Pre-arrival is the initial stage that encircles the learning aspect that occurs before a new member joins the organisation. Encounter, the next stage, where the new employee sees what the organisation is and confronts where his/her expectations diverge reality. The last stage is related to lasting changes that take place. The new employee masters and adjusts the skills required for his or her new roles in accordance with his or her work group’s values and norms.

  • PERFORMANCE AND SATISFACTION:

Company culture has a significant impact on performance. Culture has an innate quality of performance enhancement for at least four reasons.

    1. Culture makes strategy implementation
    2.  Organisational wide common goals as employees share common goals
    3. a strong culture creates a high level of motivation because of the mutual values shared by the members
    4. strong culture provides a control mechanism without the prospect of bureaucracy

There is a correlation between organisational culture and employee satisfaction. But individual needs of employees main monetary the relationship between culture and satisfaction. In general, satisfaction will be the highest when there is congruence between individual needs and organisational culture. For instance, an organisation whose culture would be characterised is low in structure, having loose supervision and rewarding employees for higher achievement is more likely to have more satisfied employees if those employees have a higher achievement need and prefer autonomy. Thus, job satisfaction often varies according to employees’ perception of the culture.

  • STRONG COMMITMENT FROM EMPLOYEES:

Culture not only increases their commitment to the organisation but also creates a sense of identity in them. When employees in the values of the company define their work intrinsically rewarding and identified with their fellow workers, motivation is enhanced, and their morale has an automatic boost. The commitment of employees could be picturised as a three phases plan :

    1. Compliance – people confirm to obtain some material benefit.
    2. Identification – the demands of culture are accepted to maintain good relationships with colleagues.
    3. Internalisation – People find that the adoption of cultural values of the organisation produces intrinsic satisfaction because these values are in line with their personal values. In many ways, This is an ideal status as far as the acceptance of organisational values are concerned and if widespread, is indicative of a strong culture.

  • MAINTAINING A STABLE WORKFORCE:

An organisation’s culture is embedded and projected through the minds of its employees. Organisational stories are rarely written down; rituals and celebration do not usually exist in manual, and organisation metaphors are not found in corporate directories. Thus, a stable workforce that communicates and reinforces the dominant beliefs and values is what an organisation seeks. High turnover and downsizing can demolish the organisational culture because the ‘corporate memory’ leaves along with those employees. Organisational culture also weakens during periods of rapid expansion or mergers because it takes time for incoming employees to learn about and accept the dominant corporate values and beliefs. For this reason, some organisations keep their culture intact by keeping a mindful check on their employee growth and turnover ratios.

  • CULTURALLY CONSISTENT REWARDS:

Reward systems strengthen corporate culture when they are consistent and with cultural values. Aggressive cultures might offer more performance-based individual incentives, whereas Paternalistic cultures would more likely offer employee assistance programs, medical insurance, and other fringe benefits that support employees’ well being.

How important is organization culture for any organisation? Is it more important than the monetary aspects? Let is know in the comments below

Employee Training – Meaning, Benefits, Types, Process, Facilitation & Measurement

Posted on by Ankita Sanyal
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MEANING OF EMPLOYEE TRAINING

Employee training refers to the process of imparting specific skills to the employees via classroom OR practical training programs. The training programs make the workforce more efficient and has numerous other benefits. Let us look at some of these benefits below

BENEFITS OF EMPLOYEE TRAINING

Employee training ensures employee retention and prevents burnouts by removing performance deficiencies, drive employee engagement making employees stay long, minimizing accidents, scraps, damage and meeting future employee needs. Strong training programs ensure greater stability, flexibility and capacity for growth in an organization. Training contributes to employees in many ways, efficiency heading the chart. Efficient employees contribute to the growth of the firm. Growth renders stability to the workforce for the trained employees who tend to stay with the company. They seldom leave the company. Training makes the employee versatile in all operations giving increased flexibility to the organisation. Leading to growth and prosperity which is reflected in increased profits from year to year.

Employee training is not only advantageous for individual employees but also gives an added advantage to the firm/company. If we look into these two broad categories closely we would see how individual employee training has an overall impact on the entire organization.

  1. Profitability:

    Beginning with how training benefits the organization,  leading with improved profitability for the company because of efficient employees, building a positive attitude towards profit orientation.

  2. Job knowledge:

    Employee training enhances job knowledge and skill at all levels of the organization which helps to create a better corporate image. Proficient job knowledge through training boosts employee confidence leading to improved morale of the workplace.

  3. Avoids confusion:

    Elaborate employee training ensures clarity of mind among the employees which helps to foster authenticity, openness and trust. Not just clarity of mind, it also helps an individual in making better decisions and effective problem-solving skills. Employee training also provides information for improving leadership knowledge, communication skill and attitude of the employee. Confusion among employees reduces, therefore a healthy relationship is maintained between the employer and employee.

  4. Boosts Confidence:

    Once an employee is confident about the job that they are doing and is well acquainted with the job knowledge he or she can handle stress, tension, frustration and conflict in a smoother manner. employee training also provides information for improving leadership knowledge, communication skill and attitude of the employee.

  5. Motivation:

    It motivates an employee towards his or her personal goals while improving interactive skills. Training not only aids in development for promotion from within but also helps in developing leadership skills, motivation, loyalty and other aspects that successful workers and managers usually display. Increased motivation leads to an increase in productivity and quality of work which insures growth in the organization leading to more profits. When an employee is well aware of the job and has enough knowledge about the job that they are performing it negates the element of fear in attempting new tasks. Here are Top 50 Motivational quotes for Employees & Workplace to further aid an HR

TYPES OF EMPLOYEE TRAININGS

Throughout the years we have seen a lot of employee training methods and types such as instructor-led training, eLearning, simulation employee training,  hands-on training, coaching or mentoring,  lectures, group discussion and activities, role-playing, management-specific activities, case studies or other required reading. Training for every sector is different as per their  requirements and is supported with a specified description about the training. Trainings are broadly categorised in 2 heads

  1. Functional Trainings:

    Functional Trainings are usually given to increase the functional competency of the Employee. These trainings are usually given by domain experts aimed to make people better at their Jobs.

  2. Behavioural Trainings:

    These training programs are usually focussed around interpersonal skills of employees. Behavioural training improves communication between individuals, also among employees at every level of the organization, maintaining a healthy communicative relationship between individuals and groups. Not just communicative clarity, it also ensures cohesiveness in groups which makes the organization a better place to work in. From a wider perspective employee training also provides information on equal opportunities in affirmative action.

    Now that we have a basic idea about how employee training programs are beneficial to individual employees belonging to every level of the organisation impact on the overall growth of the organisation, let’s put some light on the benefits of employee training in personnel and human relations, intragroup and intergroup relations and policy implementation.

EMPLOYEE TRAINING PROCESS

A training program is tailored through a well-defined process. Starting with need assessment and various issues in need assessment the plan leads to deriving instructional objectives which gives a blueprint about the training and development design and the various types of training. On having a satisfactory training design, the appropriate one is selected with instructional programs which is further implemented as the final employment training program.

Trainings are necessary, not just for new joinees but also for professionals & the leadership team 

  • Training Programs for Freshers: New joinees have a prior formal education and it is recommended to give them specific training programs to make them industry ready. Classroom training and On-Job training are complementary in nature and are a part of the entire training program for Freshers. These trainings are mostly functional in nature
  • Training for Professionals: Professionals are required to regularly undergo training programs to keep their knowledge updated & stay abreast of the best industry practices. Trainings at this end are a mix of functional & behavioural trainings.  
  • Training for Organizational Leaders: Mostly behavioural in nature, these trainings are usually around team building, decision making, motivating team members and improving cross functional communication. Since the stakes are highest at Leadership positions, it is all the more necessary for organisations to invest more time & resources in employee training. 

TRAINING NEED ASSESSMENT

The most crucial element in a training plan is the need assessment. The need assessment is the diagnosis that presents all the problems and the future challenges to be met through training. The issues to be addressed in need assessment generally comprises organizational support, organization analysis, task and KSA analysis, and lastly person analysis. After need assessment, comes deriving instructional objectives which is the next phase in the training process which is to be identified. The instructional objectives help in preparing a blueprint that describes the objectives to be achieved by the trainee upon completion of the training program. Next, comes the designing phase which mainly includes

  • Who are the trainers?
  • Who are the trainees?
  • What methods and techniques are being used for the training?
  • What are the principles of training?
  • Where is the program being conducted?
  • What should be the level of training?

EMPLOYEE TRAINING TEMPLATE

A well proof training plan ensures optimum utilization of every human resource that is available at hand and ensures that no talent is being wasted . Hence comes the main role of an employee training plan template, which schedules the training program for every employee in a customized manner so that the employee and employer get most out of it. Similar to an itinerary, a training plan template includes the name of the employee the group that the employee belongs to, the number of hours that the employee is training for and the tasks involved in the training plan. Employee training plan template is used extensively in the Army or Airforce services where every cadet is assigned a task and a log/record is kept which acts as their personal training plan template. A general plan template looks like the following:

COMPANY NAME:

PROJECT OVERVIEW:

NAME OF CANDIDATE :

POSITION OF CANDIDATE :

DATE

TIME

TASK

PURPOSE

NUMBER OF HOURS

Feedback from the reporting manager of the employee is also recorded while developing an employees’s training plan. The final employee training plan is approved by the HR manager of the company. The HR manager is required to look after the needs of the employees and how the betterment of the employees is going to have a positive impact on the organisation as a whole and accordingly make changes to the training plan as & when required. A general training plan mainly includes the following :

Example,

For any company a general employee training plan looks something like the chart/table given below.

Employee Training Template Example

DATE

TEAM

AREA

DESCRIPTION

TRAINER

STATUS

01/09/2020

SALES AND MARKETING

TARGETS AND GOALS

Training on how to reach the goal and acquire the required sales target.

MR. XYZ

COMPLETED

02/09/2020

SALES AND MARKETING

COMMUNICATION SKILLS

Soft-skills, interpersonal skills, negotiation skills.

MR. ABC

IN-PROGRESS

03/09/2020

HUMAN RESOURCE

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT REVIEW

Advanced training on how to review employee performance and manage employee performance on certain scales.

MR. MNO

COMPLETED

04/09/2020

HUMAN RESOURCE

PAYROLL AND INCENTIVES

Effective use of software for payroll management.

MR. RST

COMPLETED

05/09/2020

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

SOFTWARE

Introduction to new software and enhanced new technology.

MISS. J

IN-PROGRESS

06/09/2020

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

SOFT SKILLS

Training on communication skills.

MRS. T

IN-PROGRESS

07/09/2020

ACCOUNTING

SOFTWARE

Introduction to new accounting software and it’s working.

MISS. FGH

IN-PROGRESS

Be it and an on-the job training and off-the job training, the HR manager needs to look out for the fulfillment of the needs assessed in the first stages of the training process. Scheduling an employee training plan is not  just enough,  an HR manager needs to keep a track of the training program and how effectively it is working.

MEASURING TRAINING EFFECTIVENESS

Finally once the training process is reeling we cannot put a full stop to it without a measurement of how effectively the training process has been going. There are a lot of ways to check the level of usefulness of the training process by measuring the efficiency and effectiveness of employees individually and whether it’s having a greater impact on the organisation as a whole or not. One may resort to checking the level of productivity of the employees which could be a yardstick of measurement of the training procedure or a log record could be kept where the employees have to register about their work change and the level of their individual output after the training. As much as feedback from the HR manager is required for approval of an employee training plan,  feedback from the employees also prove to be essential.

Conclusively, an employee training plan has to strike a balance between the management, administration and the employees of the organisation and how the needs of individual employees and of the organisation could be put down on paper as a directive plan for training the employees of the organisation, for them to prove to be a strong asset. To sum up, we can say

TRAINING NEED =  STANDARD PERFORMANCE-ACTUAL PERFORMANCE

and to fulfill the deducted performance amount,here comes in the need for training  which can lead to further development of the organisation providing them with a competitive advantage.

Recruitment – Meaning, Process, Best Practices, Types, Trends & Future

Posted on by Sinibali Jana
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Recruitment is an ever-necessary and extremely important process in an organisation. It serves as a pre-math for selection. Recruitment is a deciding factor on the correct candidates being actually chosen in the selection process. Hence, attracting a better pool of candidates in the recruitment process proves to be extremely beneficial.

The process of recruitment largely varies due to the size of the organisation. A small or medium-sized firm may have only one person as a recruiter or a hiring manager. However, a larger company is most likely to have a whole dedicated team of recruiters to carry on the process effectively. A well-framed recruitment process helps both the company and the applicants. The company gets to generate a potential pool of candidates whereas the candidates get potential employment opportunities.

MEANING OF RECRUITMENT

Recruitment is an integral part of Human Resource Management. Recruitment is a hiring process where firstly the staffing and organizational needs of the company are identified. After that, a potential pool of candidates for the required staffing is attracted. The pool of candidates is generated by firstly identifying these candidates. These can be done by both internal and external sources. Next, the recruiter should attract these candidates to apply for the job. This can be done by extensive advertising in job sites, campus drives, reaching out to potential candidates from company database etc.

Know more about Sources, Purpose & Importance of Recruitment here.

TYPES OF INTERVIEWS

The recruitment process is followed by the selection process which is then followed by an employment interview. An interview is a formal meeting with potential candidates which involves an in-depth conversation conducted to evaluate acceptability. Its popularity stems from its flexibility. Discussions are adapted to consider unskilled, skilled managerial, and operational employees.

Based on interaction with candidates interviews may be classified into three categories :

1. One-to-one interview :

In this type of Interview, there are only two participants- the interviewer and interviewee.

2. Sequential interview :

This type of interview is a higher version of the one to one interview process and involves a series of interviews, usually utilizing the strength and knowledge base of each interviewer and they can ask questions in relation to his or her subject area to each candidate, or he/ she moves from room to room.

3. Panel interview :

This type of interview consists of two or more interviewers and the number may go up to as many as 15. Panel interviews are not very personal similar to one to one interviews, but if handled and organized well, it can provide a wealth of information. If not handled carefully, the panel interview can make the candidate feel ill at ease and confused about whose question to answer and who to address. Interviewers themselves are likely to experience nightmares, not knowing who will ask which question and in what order.

4. Phone interview :

Many organizations use this type of interview and it is considered more useful than one-to-one or panel interviews to ascertain the candidate’s sustainability. For these types of interviews unintentionally the main focus of the interviewer gets derailed from one’s appearance or handshake, the interviewer and interviewee focus on asking and answering questions. Phone interviews save time and are economical. It is widely used in IT companies while hiring technical employees.

5. Online interview :

Most of the organizations are dependent on computers and the internet to conduct interviews. A typical computer interview requires the candidate to answer a series of multiple-choice questions custom made for the job. These answers are compared with a benchmark score to determine the sustainability and suitability of a candidate. The computer interview can also be used to filter undesirable applicants who have applied online.

HOW TO SET UP AN INTERVIEW :

The selection process follows recruitment which starts with an interview. All kinds of interviews, whether structured, unstructured, mixed, behavioral, or stressful, every interview type goes through a process before implementation. From a general perspective, after the recruitment process, once a compact pool of candidates is selected, they have to go through the interview process to choose the candidate. 

Best practices to be taken care of before setting up an interview are:-

  1. An Official Communication:

After the recruitment process, an official formal mail is sent to the candidate for the next round for which he or she is selected.

The mail should contain details like the candidate’s essential requirements such as their identity proof and resume. 

The mail should clearly state the location of the interview process with an attached Google Map

       2. E-Recruitment:

In this day and age where the pandemic has taken over the world and physical workspace has its own constraints, organizations mainly bank on the Internet and online work mode. Though e-recruitment has been a concept for years now, selecting the electronic interview is relatively a newer concept. For an electronic interview process, after the recruitment process, the organization is to send the candidate a mail about the electronic interview to be held and the email must contain the following specification:-

a. The online platform at which the interview is to be held be it Google meets or zoom

b. The duration of the online interview

c. Specifying to have a steady internet connection so that there is no lag in connectivity

d. The link for the meeting

       3. An Acknowledgment Mail:

Be it an online interview or a physical interview, after screening candidates via interview, the organization must send a thank you letter thank you mail to the candidate for attending the interview and acknowledging it. If the candidate has been able to impress the panel members or the interviewer, they would be informed about whether they need to appear for the background check and the other selection processes.

BEST PRACTICES IN RECRUITMENT

Needless to say, the job market is competitive. This does not only mean that the candidates find it difficult to look for their dream job. This also means that the organizations also have to put their best foot forward in order to attract and finally recruit the best possible candidate. An ill-framed recruitment policy will mean that the organizations miss out on the best fit for their current job role.

The followings are the best practices in the recruitment procedure to ensure its success.

  1. Customized process:

    The recruitment process should be customized according to the size, structure and need of the organization. The process should be well-defined and executable. A planned process without the potential for execution will act as a barrier to the success of recruitment.

  2. Right recruiter:

    Recruitment is not just screening a resume and taking an interview. The recruitment process is detrimental to the success of the organization. Hence, having the right and a well-trained recruiter is important for the success of the process.

  3. Sales function:

    On an overall basis, the process of recruitment should be treated as a process of sales. This means that the goal of the recruitment process would be to sell the idea of the job and the current position to prospective candidates. The successful selling of the idea of the job to the right candidate will result in successful recruitment.

  4. Relationship between hiring managers and recruiters:

    The goal of the hiring managers is to fill a vacant job position with a candidate. On that account, they are likely to set very unrealistic time-frames for recruiters. This severely hampers the quality of the process. A good professional relational between the managers and the recruiters will ensure transparency. This will build a level of trust and reliance between them thereby leading to high-quality recruitment.

  5. Use social-media:

    The huge network of social media is one of the biggest opportunities that present-day recruiters should leverage. Creating a candidate pool by a social-media search, not only provides a wide array of options but also cost-effective. The online job portals and platforms like LinkedIn are filled with prospective professionals and can hugely facilitate the recruitment process. Know more about Social Media Recruiting here

  6. Candidate experience:

    Recruitment is a step-by-step process and each step is vital to the process. The candidate experience throughout each step is highly important in the recruitment process. If the candidates have a negative experience, it very likely that they will probably leave the process mid-way or spread negative word-of-mouth about the organization. Hence a positive candidate experience will make sure the organization does not let go of potential candidates, and thereby pave a way for employee referrals.

  7. Applicant tracking system (ATS):

    Finding the right candidate for the right job is the sole purpose of recruitment. Maintaining a large pool of candidates that the organization has acquired over the years is a complex and difficult task to manage. Hence employing an ATS in the recruitment process will ensure that it will match the job with the candidates registered in that system. Also, the large pool acquired over the years ensures that there is already a huge pool of potential candidates to choose from.

TRENDS IN RECRUITMENT

Needless to say, technology has changed the way the world is perceived. In fact, it has created an entirely new world of its own. It has made its way into various types, sizes and levels of an organisation. The recruitment industry has also seen a sweeping change due to the implementation of technology. A lot of old-school methods have been substituted and newer recruitment trends have made their way in the industry.

The most important recruitment trends in the present are described below:

  1. Recruitment Marketing:

    This means undertaking marketing strategies but in the field of recruitment. This is done to attract the best candidates for the existing job positions as well as to build the brand image of the company.

  2. Mobile technology:

    According to a recent study, more than 60% of the candidate hunt for jobs through their phones. More than 20 percent of candidates submit their applications from their home. Hence to amplify the recruitment process, the recruiters should adapt to this change and switch to mobile communication with the candidates.

  3. Inbound recruiting:

    Inbound recruiting means the implementation of various digital marketing strategies to build strong relationships with potential candidates over time. This means attracting various active and passive candidates and thereby completing the recruitment process.

  4. E-resumes:

    Gradually as more candidates are choosing the online medium for their job applications, the recruiters should also evaluate the e-resumes. Paper resumes are an old-school method and they are now substituted by digital resumes. These include video resumes, social media profiles, digital portfolios, etc. These give a more comprehensive idea to the recruiters about the traits they are searching for and the right fit.

  5. Artificial Intelligence:

    Artificial Intelligence is responsible for automating a huge number of jobs. Even though it is not the perfect substitute for HR, but its implementation is inevitable. There are AI softwares that are used in interviews. These judge traits like nervousness and truthfulness of the employees. Know more about the AI in Recruitment here

  6. Gamification:

    Gamification is a brand new and emerging trend in the recruitment process. Here an interactive game is introduced to the candidates. These games are then plugged in with various corporate and business situations. This shows how a candidate will react under a specific situation and hence it increases the efficiency of the hiring process to a great degree.

FUTURE OF RECRUITMENT

The future of recruitment is now and it is here to stay. The current trends in the recruitment industry will get amplified and turn into a foundation upon which the future of recruitment rests. With the pandemic, each company is trying to manage costs as well as keep their operation intact. In a scenario like that the recruitment process has also undergone sweeping changes.

The use of Virtual reality, video interviews, artificial intelligence are not mere try-outs. They are the necessity of every organization. These will revolutionize the recruitment industry in the next couple of years and these will become the new normal.

Hence the current recruitment trends are extremely vital to the sustenance and success of this industry. In a situation far worse, we will find ourselves falling back on these trends and abiding by them.

Recruitment is up for a complete revolution.

Digital Transformation in HR & Recruitment

Posted on by Aashritha Ramesh
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We live in the 21st century which is fondly dubbed as the era of technology and digitization. In the corporate world, companies are equipping themselves with the latest analysis models and the systems that make the workflow easier. But it is coming as a major revelation to many organizations that any corporation thrives only with a capable and quality assured workforce!

So how to coalesce a potent workforce with digitization?

Take for instance, the COVID-19 pandemic that the globe has been suffering through. This global chokehold has brought down business and economy for many companies across the world. They have faced recession and lack of functioning in all these months of lockdown.

Digital Transformation in HR

During such uncertain times, organizations have to be agile. Now more than ever, business owners need to think on their feet and change their priorities fast should the need arise. When the lockdown started, many companies had to switch to remote work overnight. And a lot of them were unprepared.

This has accelerated the need for digital transformation.

  1. Remote Working:

    Cloud computing aggressively pushes software ‘off-premises’, and digital age also causes employees to work remotely. Mobility and partial remote work are becoming the norm for many companies around the world given the current circumstances. Employees can use various digital tools for operating and reporting. Managers no longer focus on finding an employee near the office but instead choose an employee with the necessary skills for the role.

    Internal communication has never been so fluid. Employees have many options for communication – social networks, intranets, emails, instant messaging applications, forums, VoIP and much more. Communication becomes fluid and gaps between business and clients are shortening.

  2. Performance Tracking and Analysis:

    While employees have more freedom than ever, some criticize the need for an administrator when it comes to reporting.

    For example, most HR managers will experience a digital transformation of HR and be equipped with digital tools and dashboards that measure and predict personnel activities that were previously difficult to capture. Analysis and reporting on the performance of individual employees at any level of the corporate hierarchy and their impact on the company are now undeniable. As a result, it improves interaction and relationships with human resources and management.

    There’s no doubt that digital tools have a positive impact on the optimisation of work and communication. The results include operational objectives achieved faster.

Digital Transformation in Recruitment

With unexpectedly shifting recruitment efforts, the talent acquisition department also increasingly feel the need for effective digital solutions to navigate their hiring in this ever-changing labor market. Organizations with advanced digital recruitment strategies have a significant advantage right now. And those without have to act fast.

Digital transformation simplifies or eliminates administration tasks while increasing operational efficiency through the application of tech and data solutions across company departments, including hiring teams.

Essentially, digital transformation in recruitment comprises using dedicated technology to solve diverse recruitment challenges, including fluctuating and changing hiring needs, increased volumes of candidates, inability to conduct in-person meetings and interviews, and budget cutbacks.

Here’s how digital transformation can have a positive impact in the field of recruitment

  1. Reshuffling Workforce:

    By using digital technology, you can redeploy employees within and across your organization. The workforce could be a healthy mix of permanent & temporary staff working from across the globe. The needs of your business may have spiraled as a result of an emergency like the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, you may need more staff working in your customer service team and fewer inside your physical stores. Having the right tech enables you to boost your internal mobility capabilities and move your workforce to where it’s needed most. Also, digital recruitment tools allow organizations to hire displaced employees. For example, a company needs to hire 50,000 extra workers amid the pandemic. On the other hand, hospitality businesses had to lay off some of their employees. So, the above company decided to build dedicated landing pages for former employees of large hospitality businesses them get a job at their organization faster.

    This kind of program usually gets candidates to join an online portal where they’ll undergo questionnaires and tests that measure their skills and competencies. This is then assessed, and applicants receive a breakdown of their skills, including any gaps in their knowledge and expertise that need working on. They’re then matched to any opportunities you have open that are likely to be a good fit. And the best part is, all of the test are automatically analysed to maximum precision digitally.

  2. Multiperson Collaboration:

    Hiring teams need to be able to collaborate remotely. This means having tools that enable you to assign projects and tasks to people and provide real-time updates on recruitment activities. This is where a cloud-based recruitment solution accessible to everyone on the hiring team is worth its weight in gold! Remember to consider who in your team will be using this technology. Ensure it meets everyone’s needs for a truly collaborative experience. Choose software with a straightforward layout, that’s well-reviewed, and easy for new users to pick up and run with.

  3. Using digital tools for recruitment:

    Recruiters can take full advantage of their existing recruitment tech stack.

    By exploring the functionalities of your recruitment software and putting them to good use, you’ll become a more effective and efficient recruiter. This may also give you the tools you need to cut back on agency spending and more extensive job advertising.

  4. Improving the recruiting experience for potential candidates:

    Despite having to do the majority of the recruitment process remotely, ensure that it’s still a pleasant experience. Candidates need to feel safe and have all the information available, so think of ways to improve your candidate communication plan.

    A great example of providing a decent candidate experience is if you’re conducting interviews remotely, be efficient. Keep the length of your ‘meetings’ shorter and update your interview guidelines. You can also set text reminders to send candidates the day before their interview. You could even upload company videos and virtual office tours because candidates can’t visit your site. This works wonders for helping candidates get a taste of your company culture without stepping through the office doors!

Digital transformation does have a downside like weak networking, time zone problems for multinational companies and team collaboration and the risk of cybersecurity.

But even these problems hold digital solutions! Nothing that can’t be sorted out by well-deployed cost-effective software.

So what are you waiting for! Let the digital transformation revolutionize the recruitment industry!

Constructive Feedback – Meaning and Guide to offer

Posted on by Sinibali Jana
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Constructive feedback is one of the most important aspects of success in an organisation. No employee in an organisation is perfect and hence is subject to criticism. The nature of criticism is the deciding factor for improvement and continued success. Destructive feedback will most likely be unproductive as it does not focus on room for improvement as much as it focuses on complaining about the present mishap. Constructive feedback, on the other hand, acknowledges the problem, analyzes it, points the positives and figures out the room for improvement.

Every manager in an organization should practise providing constructive criticism to its employees. It is as much a sign of good managerial qualities as it is of emotional intelligence. Feedback, dealt with inert and overt emotional intelligence will ensure that there is a continued success. This will also ensure that the morale of the employees is not crushed and they find a healthier and productive approach of correcting their errors and improving themselves.

 

MEANING OF CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK

However, it is clearly not as easy as it sounds. Constructive feedback literally means providing both positive and negative feedback for improvement. Feedback should always be constructive as it clubs both the positive and the negative aspects and channelises them into progress.

As mentioned earlier, it might be a slightly complex job for managers as there is always an element of human emotions that creates a barrier. Having said that, consistent practise, experience and innate skills enable a manager to grasp the concept of constructive feedback at best and therefore execute it in the workplace.

 

Benefits of Constructive Feedback in the workplace

If it already isn’t obvious, constructive feedback is not only a healthy workplace practice but also extremely advantageous for productivity and overall growth. Below discussed are the most notable advantages of providing constructive feedback to the employees :

In a study by Harvard Business School, 57 percent of employees prefer constructive feedback overpraise or criticism. This means that most employees prefer to know both their strong points as well as the points of improvement.

  1. Improves employee performance:

    As already mentioned and known, no employee is perfect. Hence they are prone to making mistakes. Constructive feedback will allow them to know their mistakes and will also provide enough motivation to act on them. Hence, this will significantly impact their performance and also help in their professional growth.

  2. Two-way benefits:

    Constructive feedback does not only help employees’ growth and performance. It, in turn, improves the productivity and work culture of the organisation. Upon helping to attain the growth to the employees, constructive criticism attains the consequent result that the organisation as a whole performs well.

  3. Ensures transparency:

    Constructive feedback ensures transparency amongst all employees as well as between all hierarchies. Feedback includes prior analysis of performance. This ensures that the top-management knows the shortcomings of its employees, the places for improvement, and also the current areas of high productivity. On the other hand, the employees also know what the management expects of them and the places where they are expected to bring change.

  4. Better team and intra-organisational performance:

    Transparency and clearly addressing the issues maintain a strong organisational fabric. This ensures that healthy interpersonal relationships exist within the organisation and its various hierarchies.

     

How to offer Constructive Feedback?

Constructive feedback, from its idea conception, execution and deliverance should follow a path that ensures its success. It should not only be well designed but also well-researched since it has its specific impacts that follow. Ill-designed feedback can have the possibility of demoralising the employees which may result in worsening of team relations within the organisation.

Below discussed are some of the quintessential steps to be followed in the process:

Preparation for giving Constructive feedback

A manager cannot possibly show up one fine morning and decide to give constructive feedback to its employees. There has to be a preparation that leads to actual feedback.

    • Identify specific goals and objectives that the manager decides to talk about.
    • Notify the employees about a meeting on the same. This ensures less anxiety on the part of the employees. Try to have a one-on-one feedback meeting with the employees. Otherwise, some employees might feel embarrassed when their shortcomings are discussed in front of others. This will lead to a diverted focus on the embarrassment instead of the potential to improve.
    • A surprise meeting of feedback may lead to a negative element of surprise and result in a communication that is ineffective. 

Communication guidelines

When the preparation is done and it is time for the feedback, the managers must keep the communication sincere, clear and transparent to ensure successful constructive feedback. The following are some of the guidelines of communication that should be followed during the feedback meeting.

  • Try to have a one-on-one feedback meeting with the employees. Otherwise, some employees might feel embarrassed when their shortcomings are discussed in front of others. This will lead to a diverted focus on the embarrassment instead of the potential to improve.
  • Be direct in the conversation to make sure that the message is clear and straightforward.
  • Do not employ anger as one of the expressions while providing constructive feedback. The communication should, at all times, be calm, composed and professional.
  • Listen. Constructive feedback should also employ active listening on the part of the manager.
  • Be appreciative. Providing constructive feedback is all about pointing out the shortcomings and motivating the employee that he/she can do better and improve his/her performance. Hence, the communication should be appreciative.

 

Feedback content

The communication guidelines are the driving force of the actual feedback content that will be put forward in front of the employee. Having said that, it is also important to note that the content should also follow a structure as discussed below.

  1. Observations: The person giving feedback should ALWAYS communicate his observations. This can include facts, statistics, performance reviews, client reviews. But at no point should the feedback include judgemental expressions. This vilifies the entire concept of “constructive feedback”. The observations should include both positive and negative feedback. The positive ones should be about appreciation and the negative ones should be about improvement. Blatant criticism should be avoided during the feedback deliverance process.
  2. Balance: There should be a balance between both negative and positive feedback to concentrate the effects of both empty praises and severe criticisms. That is the most important element of constructive feedback.
  3. Provide examples: An important element of providing constructive criticism is to effectively communicate to the employee to facilitate positive change. For that to happen, generalisations should be avoided. The manager should provide context and examples to the employees.

Listen

Once you are done providing the feedback, it is extremely important to listen. Feedback without active listening is not constructive in any way. Listen and understand your employees’ take on the problem. Take notes as this will give them a feeling that their words are given importance too. Ask constructive questions like what does the employee think about the current situation, or how does he plan to change it. In short, invite discussion and make sure the employee feels a part of the discussion as much as the manager.

Provide suggestions

After the manager is effectively done listening to the employee, it’s time to put forward his/her suggestions. However, this is a tricky part. The suggestion that the manager makes should be devoid of any bias. Also, it should be in good accordance with what the employee has said in the last step. If the employee has mentioned any struggles, the suggestion should be in alignment with that. Otherwise, the employee is most likely to feel invalidated. Besides the suggestion should be strictly in terms of the problem that is being currently addressed. Any past issues or personal traits of the employee should not be a part of the discussion.

Follow-up

The last part of the constructive feedback process is taking a comprehensive follow-up after a period of time. If you see significant changes in employee behaviour and performance, it is very important to show him/her gratitude and congratulate him for the positive change. This will help boost employee morale. In case, the situation is still at a point of stagnancy, schedule another feedback session to communicate the same, with the provided guidelines.

 

CONCLUSION

Providing constructive feedback is one of those essential skills that every HR personnel should be welladept with. A wrong feedback model will not only affect short-term targets but also delay long-term organisation goals. In addition to that, constructive feedback followed in an organisation increases the employer brand and hence and has various positive impacts in terms of talent acquisition.

Leave Policy – Guide for Creation and Implementation

Posted on by Sinibali Jana
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Employees are the most important asset of any organization To make sure that the employees are productive and do not show high levels of absenteeism, the HR personnel has to undertake several policies. These policies are to ensure that the interests of the employees or the human capital are protected. Leave policy is 1 such important policy that has a high bearing on employee engagement and attracting talent

The leave policy of an organization is laying down a proper guideline as to how many leaves the employees can take in a year and on what grounds. The absence of a proper leave policy only means incompetent management. This can potentially lead to the sudden absence of employees, lower productivity, and less productive hours. This can impact the overall productivity of the organization and lead to missing targets and deadlines.

LEAVE POLICY MEANING

Leave policy in an organization is the total number of leaves that an employee can take in a year. This also includes the types of leaves, their nature, whether they are paid or unpaid, what is the maximum duration for those leaves, etc. A leave policy includes the paid leaves, the unpaid leaves as well as the national holidays that an employee is granted. They should also include the process to be followed for taking a leave.

The leave policy is an annual policy statement that is provided to every employee of the organization mentioning all the above-mentioned details.

Types of leaves

  • Casual leave OR Sick Leave

    Maximum 12 casual leaves can be availed by an employee in a given year. Casual leaves are paid in nature. They cannot be clubbed with any other leave and cannot be carried forwarded to the next year. Casual leave for 1 day should be applied for a day in advance. For more than 2 days, it should be applied a week prior.

  • Earned leave OR Privelege Leave

    The application for earned leaves should be put 15 days prior. Earned leaves can be carried forwarded to the next year. However, for employees who have been in service for more than 5 years, only 45 earned leaves can be carried forwarded. To maintain the LTA, compulsory 6 earned leaves have to be taken by the employees.

  • Maternity leave

    A woman employee can take maternity leave for a paid period of 26 months. Leave during the first 7 months of pregnancy will be considered as normal leave. The employee can take maternity leave 8 weeks before the due date of delivery.

  • Paternity leave

    Every regular male employee is applicable for availing a paternity leave. The paternity leave must be taken within 15 days of childbirth. The leave has to be availed on a stretch. The leave must be applied for 15 days before the due date of delivery.

  • Unpaid leave

    Once an employee has used up his current allotted leaves, he/she can apply for leave without pay. If an unpaid leave is availed without proper permission, it will be subject to disciplinary action by the management. Three months of unpaid leave can be availed at the most.

  • Compensatory leave

    When an employee has finished a specific task of importance or has worked on a national holiday or any declared holiday, he/she will be eligible for compensatory leave. However, this leave must be availed within a month otherwise it would not be applicable anymore.

CREATING A LEAVE POLICY

Creating a leave policy is not only an extremely vital task in terms of the organization as well as the employees it is also complicated. An organization cannot frame an ill-designed leave policy and impose that on the employees. The policy needs to comply with all legal requirements, employee acts, and also follow best practices for employee welfare. The leave policy should be created keeping in mind diverse aspects concerning both the organization as well as its employees.

Purpose

While creating a leave policy, the purpose and the conditions under which leave can be taken by an employee must be mentioned. It is to be noted that an employee cannot take leave daily and whenever he/she wishes. Hence the purposes like casual leave, maternity leave, military leave, et cetera should be mentioned in the leave policy.

Compliance

The compliance of taking the leaves should also be mentioned. This means the duration for which a particular leave can be taken, who is the reporting authority, the process of applying for the leave, whether it is paid or unpaid should be stated in the leave policy.

Legal guidelines

The legal guidelines and acts should be double-checked and it should be made sure that the policy is strictly following all the legal guidelines concerning the case. It is highly suggested to employ an attorney for framing an organization’s leave policy.

Insurance

The employee insurance factor should also be considered to ensure that the company does not run into any trouble during the employee leaves.

Final framing

After all of these factors are considered and double-checked the leave policy should be finally made in writing and produced as an official statement for the employees to go over.

As already mentioned, leave policy is an extremely vital part of any organization and hence before it is officially framed the above-mentioned factors should be

NEED FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF A LEAVE POLICY

The fact that a company will spend so many resources on creating and implementing a leave policy poses a very important question – WHY IS IT SO IMPORTANT?

From a layman’s perspective, a leave policy is just a rule book of when and how can a person skip work. However, from an organizational and HR perspective, it has a great significance. The policy protects an organization legally. Besides, it also makes sure that an organization is never under-staffed and is ready for contingencies.

A leave policy and its compliance makes sure that an organization at all times has a transparent of its needs and its present resources.

  1. Without a structured policy, an employee will most likely take an uninformed leave. This will impact the entire organization as there is no clear guideline about how to substitute the absent employee’s work.
  2. Leave policy improves the communication between the employer and the employee regarding the functioning of the organization and individual responsibilities.
  3. Needless to say, it fulfills the legal obligation of any organization.
  4. A proper policy prepares the organization for any kind of contingency. Also, it avoids ambiguity regarding the operations inside an organization in case any employee is absent.
  5. It provides higher flexibility in terms of the employee in case of time-off.

COMMON GUIDELINES REGARDING A LEAVE POLICY

Some common guidelines apply to every leave policy irrespective of the type, size, and nature of the organization. It is as described below:

  1. The annual calendar of leave starts from January and ends in December.
  2. An employee would not be applicable for an earned leave unless he/she has finished the probationary period.
  3. An employee must utilize 18 leaves in a year to maintain a work-life balance.
  4. Not more than 9 earned leaves can be carried forwarded to the next year.
  5. A leave without proper approval will be counted as unpaid leave.

CONCLUSION

Leave policies are not an organizational luxury, it is a necessity. For every budding as well as established HR personnel knowing the nitty-gritty of a leave-policy is a must.

It has multi-dimensional benefits and its significance is huge.

Employee Induction – An HR’s Guide to Successful Employee Onboarding

Posted on by Shaivee Kumawat
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Do you remember the day, when you toddled to the doorstep of the kindergarten and was endorsed in complete vacuousness?  You feel how awkward, insecure, and bland one can experience. The same sort of feeling is felt at every new stage, new place, or with a new relationship of life. That is why a friendly and relaxing introduction or say a quick warm-up is essential. In this article, we would be discussing Employee Induction or Employee Orientation.

Employee Induction is the initial step of anyone’s corporate life which involves a warm welcome, introduction of employees among themselves, organizing savoring food, and preparing them for their respective roles. The company’s culture, important personalities like the HR team, VPs, Directing Head, etc are introduced, along with the pathways and of the company building.

A prosperous Employee Induction process provides a chance for the organizations to easily sell themselves to the new employees or can say a quick show-off( sometimes), and if went smooth, then can significantly increase the retention of staff, become the WOW brand, and reduces the time for a new employee to settle and feel cozy into the new working environment.

Employee Induction is similar to an event, so simply figure out all the requirements and necessities of it, in an Employee Induction checklist

As it would be someone’s most awaited day with spice and salt of excitement and clumsiness both, so through every way it has to be made perfect and a memorable one. So here is a list of certain points to retain while organizing one good induction program

What to include in an Employee Induction

  1. The company ethics, culture, history, products and services, and the working culture’s essence should be themed on the first day.
  2. The significance of the job role along with the candidate’s potential should be well explained.
  3. The infrastructure of the company, a guiding map, its departments, and the other utility corners should be guided.
  4. The Employee’s future department along with his or her desk must be introduced with a broad welcoming smile.
  5. The rules and regulations, objectives, practices along with the Personnel policy should be mentioned.
  6. Working hours, vacation policies, overtime, safety measures, leisure hours, reporting format, etc should be well- explained.
  7. Social benefits, other brand associations, recreation services, and the quality and quantity of clients the company hold.
  8. Opportunities, salary hikes, promotions, transfers, suggestion schemes, and job satisfaction should be channeled there itself, with the introduction of all the major senior bosses of the company.

Who hosts Employee Induction?

Generally, it is done by the senior post holders of a firm, especially the HRM department, if someday they feel that it has to be done by some other team then the best responsibility taken will be the new employees superior. For example, the technical department may inform them about their desks and cabins, the operational team of the employment contracts, etc. This way can relax the new employee because they will be making a new friend, getting indulged ion the company along with participating in social connections. The hosting of the induction should not be restricted by certain parameters or a department, whomsoever wants to participate should be involved and make it a better one. They will then perhaps make it their responsibility for ensuring that the new employee integrates into the company with the best balance of everything+.

Objectives of an Employee Induction

See if something has to be done, then let us do it in a better way, do get associated with some of the objectives, to maintain the consistency of efforts. Some of the possible objectives might be –

    • Creating a positive atmosphere and spreading good vibes to give a comfortable environment to the newbies.
    • Addressing the entire team and giving them space to interact with their fellow mates too.
    • Increasing comfort and the feeling of belongingness, by sharing their experience of their first day.
    • Imparting vital information with them to befriend them with the corporate culture, firm’s policies and procedures, and the infrastructure.
    • Sharing the ethics and values of the organization with furthermore job-specific information.

I do not see any harm in creating a congenial and happy environment for the future team. The freshers are onboarded and from tomorrow would be called today’s fellow team. For that, they need to undergo all the internal details of the company, its procedure, the training, seniors with a relaxed mindset. Any negligence with the thought of a denial of induction or orientation might land the company with high labor turnover, misconceptions & confusion, and costing their pockets and clock both.

Employee Onboarding Best practices

The below examples are some of the tried and passed tips for you to implement in your cases.

  1. Welcome them with some gifts, followed with a social gathering, and then closed with a brisk high tea or something.
  2. After the entire content delivery is over, give them a space to raise their questions and hence a chance to come in the notice.
  3. Indulge them in certain activities, so that there are certain chances for interaction among them.
  4. Being more precise about corporate planning, one might even plan a schedule for the upcoming week or the first 15 days or so.
  5. Never ever try to exaggerate anything. It will create a bad impression.

To conclude I would like to say that, celebrating certain days is considered to be good, and starting an important phase of life with positivity will yield higher benefits. On keeping the employees happy, it will create homely behavior welcoming threaded benefits.

Skip-level Meetings and Why They are Important

Posted on by Sinibali Jana
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An organisation runs on its human resource. With high upgrades in the technological constraint and the progress of Artificial Intelligence, a large number of jobs are automated and rightly so. As per future trends, AI is likely to take over 37 per cent of the total jobs in an organisation in the next six years. In Spite of that, it’s debatable as to how effective that is and if it can completely surpass the need of the human capital. 

Employees keep the social and the operational structure of an organisation impact and each employee has a specific role to play. Irrespective of the fact that which level of the organisational hierarchy an employee belongs to, the work and presence of every employee is detrimental to the success of the organisation.

Now, keeping a large group of employees can never achieve organisational goals. The employees have to be met with consistent appraisals, feedback, raises, etc. This is to say that the employee has to be provided with positive reinforcements in order to boost his/her morale which in turn would lead to increased productivity and long-term retention.

There are a number of ways by which employee morale can be boosted and not all of them are monetary measures. This is where skip-level meetings find their significance. In these kinds of meetings, employees from even the lower levels of the organisation are duly given the significance and hence inculcates a sense of importance in them. This boosts employee morale and also has a different edged advantage. Skip-level meetings also allow the upper-level management to gain information from the grass-root level of employees without any filtration from their immediate subordinates.

Read on to find out the know-hows of Skip-level meetings.

What does a skip-level meeting mean? 

Skip-level meetings are meetings where the flow of information in an organisation is bypassed along the traditional hierarchy that an organisation follows. This means the top-level management, say the Vice President does not conduct a meeting with his/her immediate subordinate. Instead, the VP skips two or more levels of the hierarchy and holds a meeting with a relatively lower-level of an employee. 

This means that upper-level management has a better and clearer insight into employee perceptions as well as the employee attitudes at the grass-root level. On an overall dimension, it increases the transparency of the entire organisation. On addition to that, it also improves effective communication between all levels which is one of the most detrimental factors to the success and productivity of an organisation.

Why conduct skip-level meetings?

Skip-level meetings have multi-dimensional uses and all of them advantage both the employees as well as the organisation as a whole. It is a sure-shot way to gather authentic information, boost employee morale, improve the organisational fabric as well as ensuring transparency at all levels. There are a number of reasons why HR personnel should include skip-level meetings as an important aspect of the functioning of the organisation. It is a great way to bring individual goals and organisational goals under the same roof to make sure they coexist and evoke mutual success.

Advantages of skip-level meetings

  • Skip-level meetings ensure a high degree of transparency of information in the organisation.
  • It creates a healthier and more open environment at the workplace where even lower-level employees feel included in the operations.
  • Increased employee engagement ensures that they feel important thereby leading to a boosted morale and better productivity.
  • A universal understanding of the company’s vision, mission and priorities, both short-term and long-term.
  • Getting a clear and detailed picture of the organisation from the ground up.

Things to keep in mind while conducting a skip-level meeting

The primary objective of a skip-level meeting is to improve communication within the organisation, improve employee engagement as well as boost employee morale. Whereas in some cases skip-level meetings are used for different purposes like collecting information about subordinate managers, gathering their work review etc. Also, the success of a skip-level meeting is a planned procedure that should take place months before the skip-level meeting is to be held.

Skip-level meetings are not a procedure to fish and snitch about your direct reporters. Hence the purpose, procedure and agenda of the meeting should not only be fixed but also extremely professional.


How to conduct a skip-level meeting

  1. Proper communication should be made to the manager whose level is being skipped. The reason for the skip-level meeting, the objective, the goals and the procedure should be duly communicated. Otherwise, it might cause misperception and the subordinate manager may feel that the meeting is being held as a fishing expedition to collect his/her work review from the lower-level employees.
  2. The purpose of the skip-level meeting should be clear and distinct. The purpose should not be diluted and in no case should it be used to extract information about subordinate managers or other employees to give them reviews.
  3. Due to the gap in the hierarchy, it is highly likely that the lower-level employees would not immediately open up to the managers. Hence the extensive planning is important. 
  4. Months before the skip-level planning is going to be conducted the managers should try to gel their bonds with these employees. This can be done by striking up casual conversations in coffee breaks or talking about something trending. The primary purpose is to get the employee comfortable to speak to you and give the employee a feeling of inclusivity.
  5. It is highly recommended to inform the employees before-hand about the meeting by letting them know the details. This will give the employees some time to prepare and would also eliminate the nervousness that might otherwise have been caused by an immediate summon. 

What you can ask in a skip-level meeting?

To ensure the success of a skip-level meeting, the right kind of questions should be asked in order to have effective communication. The wrong questions with the wrong-follow ups may lead to a wrong impression on the employee and act as a barrier to communication. 

Questions that can be asked during a skip-level meeting.

  1. What would help you to work better?
  2. What do you think are the current drawbacks?
  3. Who do you admire the most and love to learn from?
  4. What are your insights about the new initiative?
  5. What would you like to change about the company?
  6. Which aspects do you think are being neglected by the management?

Try to ask questions like “why” and “how” after their answers to get a deeper and better understanding of what the employees mean. Also, make it a point to take notes while the employees are answering. This will give the employee a feeling that their words are being considered and given importance to.

Summing it up

Do skip-level meetings take a lot of time?
Yes.
Does it require extensive planning?

Yes.
Does it help the organisation in all dimensions?

Also yes.

It may seem like a time-consuming affair to conduct skip-level meetings but in reality, it does the organisation more good than harm. The results it yields come in handy for any modern organisation to properly function.

Hence, skip-level meetings should be conducted on a consistent basis to harness its full potential for organisational growth. 

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