HR SPECIAL.......... MOTIVATE YOUR WORKFORCE

MOTIVATE YOUR WORKFORCE

ENHANCING EMPLOYEE MORALE IS CRUCIAL FOR ORGANISATIONS TO CURB ATTRITION RATES AND INCREASE PRODUCTIVITY

Google offers free food for employees, allows dogs into their premises, and believe it or not, they even have goats at their headquarters to mow the lawn! While not every company does it like Google, the key point is having happy and motivated people who are more productive.
    Today, motivation is not restricted to monetary compensations alone. It has become an everyday function that needs organisations to be on their feet. It may be as trivial as providing green tea on the house along with regular coffee or identifying why a seemingly good employee is working overtime.
    Here's a look into how employee sentiments are being peppered from time to time with initiatives that maintain morale and enthusiasm. 

IT STARTS WITH
ACTIVE LISTENING...
"Listening is the first step towards gauging employee sentiment so appropriate actions can take place," says Sunita Gyanchandani, assistant manager-HR, Vodafone India. But 'listening' is not restricted to hearing and responding to issues when they are spoken of. It extends to keeping one's eyes open as well. Often there are unvoiced concerns, silently reflected in employee action and behaviour, which need to be effectively pinned and addressed. "Listening is about investing time to garner data both for responsive as well as proactive actions. It allows efforts to be directed in bringing teams together and ensuring that they feel respected, valued and more importantly, heard," explains Gyanchandani.
    Padma Venkatram, an employee at a leading investment bank in Mumbai says, "Good policies and good governance stem from the fact that the management listens. A place like mine, where every single thing an employee says or does is valued, keeps me going." 

EAT, PLAY AND WORK!
'Eat, play and work!' seems to be the mantra across the board that's driving productivity. Apeksha Chaudhary, senior marketing manager, DY Works, agrees, "In addition to good salaries and monetary perks, stress-busters like inhouse games and activities, foosball tables and a
well-stocked pantry helps. We also get to interact with colleagues and know them better. This brings about a significant transformation during serious work." 

BUILDING TRUST
Trust is to ensure that the company remains one of the best places to start and build a career in the marketplace. Often, reasons for quitting or dissatisfaction at work can be linked to deficit of trust and lack of cordial relations among peers as well as seniors and subordinates.
    Interestingly, many employees also do not know 'Why am I doing what I am doing?' A critical goal is to get employees in tune with the company's vision statement and assist them in envisioning their growth.
    With a view to create a culture of trust, friendship and also inject company values into employees, initiatives like offsite meets, pushing for employee participation in CSR initiatives or sports events in teams, engagement events like outings and dinners, internal interactions, etc are commonplace. To boot, appreciation helps as well. "I am a new employee. Yet, appreciation for my work flows freely. I can see that it is not to make me comfortable as a new entrant but is a part of the culture," shares Aabeer Choudhury, a radio channel employee. 

CONTROL
SENTIMENTS
Today, money or related incentives are a given. In fact, most organisations consider it an investment, especially in troubled times. Gyanchandani says, "We believe that difficult times are best times to nurture loyalty, be more benign and generate more productivity." This has been reflected by the fact that various industry sectors have doled out festive and performance bonuses without significant cuts despite the southward spiral in revenues.
    Another instance of strategic sentiment control is that of the on-site rotation policies adopted by companies in the IT sector, which set an upper limit on duration that employees can stay in foreign sites for client-specific work. Employees have always regarded overseas on-site opportunities as a huge perk. But with shrinking economies and fewer on-site calls, rotation policy fulfills desires of more employees despite attached administrative costs.
    Quite simply, the number of 'motivated faces' is directly proportional to the output of a company. Needless to say, any organisation worth its salt knows this well!

MAULIK CHANDARANA MM 131111