Are you benefiting of internal labor market or are you suffering due to external recruitment?

Are you Experiencing the Internal Labor Market of your Organization?

Internal labor market is where an organization selects suitable employees to fill up vacancies arising within the organization through a promotion process. Whereas external labor market is the process of recruiting external candidates to fill up vacant positions within the organization.

An organization focused on promoting internal labor market will be considering candidates which makes a fit with the organization or are engaged with the organization on its initial recruitment process at the lower level of the organizational hierarchy. Personality tests such as Myers- Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) etc. would be used to identify the suitability of the candidate with the organization. This goes far beyond the traditional HRM approaches where a candidate is matched up mainly against the job description, and then the person selected or rejected. In SHRM (SHRM defined as "an approach to the development and implementation of HR strategies that are integrated with business strategies and supports their achievement" (Armstrong, 2014)) the candidates would be matched up against the strategy of the company, and recruited only if the candidate's personal needs and aspirations align with the company. The candidate may not be the best fit for the open vacancy but would be useful for the organization in the future to fill up a key role in the organization. This is a long term approach.

Some Examples

We see many Japanese organizations promoting the internal labor market, where we see a high level of employee engagement with the organizations. In contrast, United States is believed to have a shorter employee life cycle within the organization, thus promoting external labor market. Thus, we can see that the culture also does have a say in organizations selecting their job placements to be of internal labor market or external labor market. (Modo Labs, nd)

Benefits of Internal Labor market in an Organization

1) Employees within the organization experience Job Security
2) Reduced Turnover
3) Increased Employee Engagement
4) Results in a Specialized Workforce
5) Increased Productivity 

Drawbacks of Internal Labor market in an Organization

1) Should focus and put in more effort in the recruitment of bottom level employees to select the right candidates
2) Barriers to obtain the services of possibly more skilled professionals since the high level career opportunities are not provided for the external market.
3) Should contain strong and transparent policies on appraisals, promotions etc.
4) IN internal labor market where many job ladders are available, the individual would have opportunities limited to the particular job ladder.
5) Highly skilled employees may be demanding since they cannot be replaced easily.

It is essential for organizations o examine both job placement options, and adapt the most suitable method into their organization. However, from the internal employee's point of view, the internal labor market would be a great relief, and a huge motivation factor to provide a great employee experience to them.

References

Imaze (no date) The Great Pacific Garbage Patch [online] Available from https://www.emaze.com/@AZIOQRQC/The-Great-Pacific-Garbage-Patch [Accessed 18 December 2017]

Modo Labs( no date) Internal Labor Markets [online] Available from http://career.iresearchnet.com/career-development/internal-labor-markets/ [Accessed 18 December 2017]

What is your Experience on JDs? Do you have a JD?

What is a JD?

"The outcome of job design may be a job description." (Armstrong, 2006). Preparing a job description is performed at the first stage of the recruitment process where requirements are defined. The JD plays a vital role in employee engagement and setting things right on the first instance.

Components of a JD

Heading information. 

  Job title

  Pay grade or range

  Reporting relationship (by position, not individual)

  Hours or shifts

  Overtime or weekend work.

Summary objective of the job. 

  List the general responsibilities and descriptions of key               tasks and their purpose

  Relationships with customers, coworkers, and others

  Results expected of incumbent employees.

Qualifications

  State the education
  Experience
  Training, and technical skills necessary for entry into this job.

Special demands.

  Any extraordinary conditions applicable to the job (for example, heavy lifting, exposure to           temperature extremes, prolonged standing, or travel).

Job duties and responsibilities. 
  Identifying tasks 

  Listing tasks in order of the time consumed (or, sometimes, in order of importance).

(Bruce,S. 2012)

Importance of a JD

1) Lists main tasks to be carried out by the job holder.

2) Reduce mismatches when selecting a candidate as the successful candidate for the job, by allowing to match between the candidate's personality and the job role personality.

3) Allows employees to focus on organizational goals. This becomes a starting point of employee engagement.

4) Helps compare industry job salaries, incentives and benefits.

5) Works as a frame on building KPIs and assists in Performance Management.

Why some Employers do not promote JDs

Despite all the above mentioned advantages of maintaining a job description, some organizations tend to avoid creating  job descriptions by purpose. This is sometimes due to the disadvantage of employees being engaged only to the job role and not to the organization. Since sometimes employees tend to create a boundary with regard to the tasks stated in the job description, which could sometimes be an obstacle in achieving organizational goals.

However employers should be mindful to overcome the obstacles of creating  job descriptions and reap the benefits of creating a job description for each job role.  

References

Armstrong, M.(2006) Human Resource Management Practice.10th edition. London:Kogan Page Limited.

Bruce, S. (2012) 5 Critical Components Every Job Description Must Contain [online]

Accessed From, http://hrdailyadvisor.blr.com/2012/02/15/5-critical-components-every-job-description-must-contain/

Accessed on [14th December 2017]

Heywood, N.(no date) Do you Have a Job Description [online] Accessed From, https://www.in-source.org/do-you-have-a-job-description/

Accessed on [14th December 2017]

Do you have the Experience of Facing a 360 Degree Feedback at your Organization?

What is 360 Degree Feedback ?

This is a performance appraisal method falling under performance management. "360-degree feedback is also referred to as multi-source assessment or multi-rater feedback." (Armstrong, 2006). Here the performance of the employee under review is been reviewed not only on his or her performance or achievement of tasks and KPIs, but in other aspects as well. Other qualities such as interaction, leadership, teamwork, management, work habits, working relationships etc. are also reviewed along with the performance of the employee.

The review is conducted by Line Managers, Peers, Customers(if applicable) and Subordinates. Thus as the name implies, it is a 360 degree or an all round feedback on the employee under review.

The appraisal will usually consist of 8-10 persons providing feedback. It could be a questionnaire to provide rating on a given statement and/ or with open ended questions. 

How is it different from a Normal Appraisal Process ?

This is different from the traditional approach, where the manager provides his/her feedback on the employee based on their target achievements and performance on job goals. The 360 degree view provides the employee under review a more balanced image of how his/her contribution to the organization by others in different levels of association with him/her.

Strengths of  360 Degree Feedback

• Provide the employee under review a balanced feedback on his/her contribution to the organization
• More reliable feedback to management
• Allows to identify the areas to be developed both on individual and organizational basis
• Impacts positively on Team Development
• Results in improved Customer Service

Drawbacks of 360 Degree Feedback

• Process is lengthy and time consuming
• Additional workload for employees
• Feedback could be based on personal grudges etc.
• Lack of action of received feedback
• Sense of insecurity on receiving negative feedback from peers and subordinates

An organization should attempt to reap the benefits this new feature in performance management  which in turn would be a great tool in proving a great employee experience in the organization.

References

Armstrong, M.(2006) Human Resource Management Practice.10th edition. London:Kogan Page Limited.

CPID (2017) 360 Degree Feedback. Available from  https://www.cipd.co.uk/knowledge/fundamentals/people/performance/feedback-factsheet [Accessed 12th December 2017]

Heathfeild, S. (2017) [online] 360 Degree Feedback: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Available from https://www.thebalance.com/360-degree-feedback-information-1917537 [Accessed 12th December 2017]

Heathfeild, S. (2016) What Is a 360 Review in the Workplace? [online] Available from https://www.thebalance.com/what-is-a-360-review-1917541 [Accessed 12th December 2017]

Have you been provided clear KPIs ? What is your Experience?

What is KPI

Key Performance Indicator is a value which demonstrates how effectively a company, division or individual is achieving its set targets and objectives.

SMART KPIs

Why you need KPIs

KPIs are necessary in order to; 
1) Manage Performance
2) Reward exceptional employees for achievements
3) Motivate Employees
4) Increase individual, team and organizational performance

How should these KPIs be implemented?

These could be defined in common for each division in an organization. However these common KPI values should then be set on an individual basis with discussion with each employee. This is an essential point on which organizations sometimes do not focus. Since the capacity of each individual employee is different, it is vital to set goals on an individual basis and also to provide rewards on an individual basis. However the rewarding process should be clear and transparent. This approach would also help in engaging the employee with the organization.

Do you know your KPIs

The KPIs would differ according to the nature of the products and services offered by an organization. Here are some sample KPIs of some departments in an organization;

        1. Frequency of sales transactions 

        2. Number of Deals per Partner

        3. Average Revenue per Product

        4. Sales Cycle Time

        5. Closed Sales

        1. Average response rates of campaigns

        2. Number of Client Visits

        3. Cost per converted lead

        4. Staying in budget

        5. Website Hits

        1. Average Customer Receivable 

        2. Budgeted Expenses

        3. Cycle time to process payroll

        4. Percentage of Invoices being queried

        5. Employee available time

        1. Average Interview Costs

        2. Percentage of HR Budget spent on Training

        3. Average Number of Vacation days per Employee

        4. Percentage of employees receiving regular performance reviews

        5. Percentage of New Hire Retention

        1. Lead Time

        2. Cycle Time

        3. Estimation Accuracy

        4. Endpoint Incidents

        5. Service Desk time to Resolve

Example of a Smart KPI

Sales Growth KPI

What is your desired outcome? 

To increase sales revenue by 20% this year

Why does this outcome matter? 

Achieving this target will allow the business to become profitable

How are you going to measure progress? 

Progress will be measured as an increase in revenue measured in dollars spent

How can you influence the outcome? 

By hiring additional sales staff, by promoting existing customers to buy more product

Who is responsible for the business outcome? 

The Chief Sales Officer is responsible for this metric

How will you know you’ve achieved your outcome? 

Revenue will have increased by 20% this year

How often will you review progress towards the outcome? 
The KPI will be reviewed on a monthly basis
(Next Gear Solutions 2016)

References

Karlson, K. (2016)16 Sales KPIs that Every Team Should Measure [online] Available at https://www.scoro.com/blog/sales-kpis-for-executive-dashboard/ Accessed 28^th November 2017

Klipfolio (2017) What is a KPI [online] Available at https://www.klipfolio.com/resources/articles/what-is-a-key-performance-indicator Accessed 28^th November 2017

Micro Focus (2017) 9 metrics that can make a difference to today’s software development teams. Tech Beacon [online] Available at https://kpidashboards.com/kpi/department/human-resources/ Accessed on 11^th December 2017

Next Gear Solutions (2016) Are you KPI Compliant. Restoration Business Tips [online] Available at http://www.nextgearsolutions.com/blog/restoration-business-tips/are-you-kpi-compliant/ Accessed on 28^th November 2017

Is your Grievance been Handled by your Organization Confidentially and Positively ?

The business dictionary defines grievance as "Specific complaint or formal notice of employee dissatisfaction related to adequacy of pay, job requirements, work conditions, other aspects of employment, or an alleged violation of a collective bargaining agreement."

In simple, Employee Grievance is a real or imagined form of dissatisfaction or complaint an employee experiences in the work place. If such grievances cannot be resolved in an informal manner such would be brought to the notice of the management in a formal manner of a grievance complaint. It is mandatory for all organizations to have a written grievance procedure which should be informative for the employees to know what they should do in order to make a grievance complaint. 

Reasons for Employee Grievances:

Employee Expectations not been met

Employees expect that employers will treat them reasonably, fairly and consistently. In the event that any of these expectations are not met employees may grieve. 

Eg- If the management does not act fairly towards all employees and does not maintain transparency in their decisions.

Poor Communication resulting in lack of Employee Engagement

Due to not communicating the employer expectations and creating the psychological contract with the employee initially, grievances tend to arise later on in the employment relationship.

Personality Traits

This is another main reason for grievances, since the workforce of an organization will consist of combination of people with different personality traits. Thus there could be personalities which tend to create grievances for the minor points (Eg- If their proposals on a certain project are not executed) which in turn would also create grievances for the rest of the workforce dealing with him/her.

Weak Leadership

Leadership plays a key role in employee engagement. If this responsibility is not been shouldered by ones immediate supervisor/team leader/manager, the employee would be demoralized and one may tend to lose interest and grieve.

Unsafe Workplace

According to Abraham Maslow on his Hierarchy of Needs which identifies the needs of humans, which are drivers of motivation for humans, Safety is the second most searched need by humans. Thus the workplace should offer all forms of safety starting from security of body, employment etc. And if an employer fails to meet this need of employees they would tend to be grievant.

Discrimination

This could be in the form of Direct Discrimination or Indirect Discrimination.

"Direct discrimination takes place when a person is treated less favourably than others are, or would be, treated in similar circumstances."(Armstrong, 2006) 

"Indirect discrimination takes place when, whether intentionally or not, a condition is applied that adversely affects a considerable proportion of people of one race, nationality, sex, sexual orientation, religion or marital status, those with disabilities, or older employees." (Armstrong, 2006). 

Discrimination is a major cause in creating grievances.

Bulling and Harassment

This is also identified as a reason for turnover by Armstrong in his book of Human Resource Management Practice. Policies should be brought up by employers in order to eliminate harassment of all kinds from the work environment by promoting ethical practices within the organization.

Structural/Organizational Change

Changes of organization structure may result in employees having to change the reporting structure, organizational policies and procedures etc, thus disrupting the traditional work flow of employees. This is also identified as a cause of grievances.

Unattended grievances result in employee demotivation, dissatisfaction, low productivity, absenteeism etc. and on the long run collective disputes. Thus managing employee grievances it is a crucial point and should be handled carefully and in accordance to a company policy and procedure. Mainly there are two methods for grievance handling procedures;

1) Open Door

This method is used in small organizations where the managers know all employees and their context of work and environment of work. Here any employee has the ability to bring their grievances forward to managers directly. However this approach is not suitable for large organizations.

2) Step Ladder

In this method the grievance originator reaches the highest level management in a step- wise procedure and grievances does not meet the top level at once.

General Grievance Handling Procedure;

(Howell,2014)

In conclusion, there are many factors for employee grievances, out of which action could be taken by employers to eliminate some factors, while others are based on the employee, again where employers could attempt to minimize the impact from such factors. Taking quick action in Accepting Grievance, Investigation and Decision making will provide a great employee experience, and build a strong employment relationship. 

References

Armstrong, M.(2006) Human Resource Management Practice.10th edition.

London:Kogan Page Limited.

Business Dictionary. Grievance[online] Available from:http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/grievance.html [Accessed 9 November 2017]

Chimoria, B.(2016) Employees Grievances: Reasons/Causes, Forms, Handling Procedure[online] Available from:http://www.wisenepali.com/2016/02/employees-grievances-reasonscauses.html [Accessed 12 November 2017]

GOV.UK. Handling an employee's grievance [online]Available from:https://www.gov.uk/handling-employee-grievance[Accessed 9 November 2017]

Howell, J. (2014) Disciplinary & Grievance Handling [online] Available from:https://www.slideshare.net/PublicSpeakingMojo/ss-disciplinary-presentation-030714 [Accessed 13 November 2017]

Management Study Guide. Employee Grievance - Effective Ways of Handling Grievance

[online] Available from:http://www.managementstudyguide.com/employee-grievance.htm[Accessed 8 November 2017]

Storify.com Maslows Hierarchy of Needs [online] Available from:https://storify.com/CLAU88HOTMAIL/maslow-s-hierarchy-of-needs [Accessed 13 November 2017]

Does your Organization Assist your Learning and Development Aspirations and Goals? Any Experience of Studding in a Corporate University?

The Corporate University concept came into picture in the late 1980s and has been evolving ever since. This has been the advancement of creating a learning organization, in line with company vision, mission and strategy. It is very useful in creating a workforce equipped with skills and competencies necessary for their job roles in the organization. This provides a great employee experience since the organization is providing opportunities for career growth for the employees which inline gains trust and enthusiasm of employees, while achieving the organization's objectives.

Advantages of this approach include:

• Provides learning opportunities across the hierarchy
• Strategically align employees with company goals
• Decreases turnover since employees tend to be motivated for long term commitments with the organization
• Creates an adaptable workforce to meet up with the rapid environmental and technological changes
• Creates brand enhancement

The inevitable Disadvantages include:

• Is an added expense and can be facilitated only by large scale organizations
• May not always include "Real World" scenarios thus the quality may be questionable
• Solely based on the parent company procedures, thus the learning outcome may not create employability in other organizations

Some Examples of the World Re-known Corporate Universities

In a nutshell Corporate Universities are a great approach in creating a learning organization resulting in employee motivation and retention. But it also contains the inevitable drawbacks which should be very carefully avoided where possible in order to achieve the expected benefits.

References:

Jonah(2010) Corporate Universities [online] Available from http://maytheforcebewithu.blogspot.com/2010/09/corporate-universities.html[Accessed 4 November 2017]

Staff, S(2002) Cooperate Universities: A Powerful model for Learning[online] Available from http://www.clomedia.com/2002/11/01/corporate-universities-a-powerful-model-for-learning/[Accessed 4 November 2017]

Tyler, K(2012) Advantages of Cooperate Universities [online] Available from https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/news/hr-magazine/pages/0412tyler3.aspx [Accessed 4 November 2017]

Does your Organization consider Employee Wok Life Balance as Unimportant and Irrelevant?

Balancing work-life and personal- life has become a huge challenge in the world today, with employers expecting employees to be available 24/7 for work related activities. However it is essential for any and every employee to have a balance in their work and person lives. If they fail to maintain such balance between the two, it could lead to stress, unhappiness and reduced productivity. Thus it is the duty of all employers to see to it that all employees in their organization are able to achieve their work life balance by setting up company strategies, mission and vision in achievable heights. This would in turn lead to a positive employee experience at the organization.

 

Are you in this situation?

       Immediately follow the listed steps!!!

1. Put yourself first before anything else
2. Prioritize your time and track your time
3. Unplug and ask for support if necessary
4. Leave your work where it belongs; at work, and establish boundaries and stick to them
5. Get moving and plenty of exercise
6. Spend quality time with your family

Achieving balance in your work and personal life helps you perform optimally and you will be amazed to see the impact it has on you as well as your family, friends and even colleagues.

References

Diana 5 Tips to Achieve more Balance in your DBA Life[online] http://dbaparadise.com/2016/11/5-tips-to-achieve-more-balance-in-your-dba-life/

[Accessed 3 November 2017]

Dugan,D 14 Steps to Achieving Work Life Balance [online]https://www.salary.com/14-steps-to-achieving-work-life-balance/[Accessed 3 November 2017]


Parallelcoaching (2015)The Ugly Truth About the Work Life Balance[online] https://parallelcoaching.co.uk/the-ugly-truth-about-the-work-life-balance[Accessed 3 November 2017]

Stahl,A(2017) 5 Secrets to Achieving Work Life Balance[online] https://www.forbes.com/sites/ashleystahl/2017/03/30/5-secrets-to-achieving-work-life-balance/#293e4f6a3bba[Accessed 3 November 2017]