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  Guest Post by Patrick Del Rosario It can be tempting to turn a blind eye to pesky employee squabbles and hope they simply work themselves out. Unfortunately, though, workplace disputes rarely work themselves out on their own, and even the smallest disagreements can escalate into more serious problems if left to fester for too long. According to recent research, between 24 and 60% of management time is spent on dealing with conflicts and anger in the work place. While it may seem like all this time would be better spent on some other aspect of running a business, it is important to keep in mind that employees are the very thing that keep a company going, and in order to keep your workforce productive, happy and stress-free, interventions are often necessary. Here are a few tips to keep in mind when settling conflicts in the workplace. 1. Stay neutral and listen to both sides of the story When dealing with conflicts amongst your employees, it is important that you stay neutral an...

Changing times needs different strategies to engage and retain key employees. Organizations adopt different approach towards managing talent and working towards improving deliverables for business profitability.  Mckinsey study shows that too many companies approach the retention of key employees during disruptive periods of organizational change by throwing financial incentives at senior executives, star performers, or other “rainmakers.”The money is rarely well spent. Many of the recipients would have stayed put anyway; others have concerns that money alone can’t address. Moreover, by focusing exclusively on high fliers, companies often overlook those “normal” performers who are nonetheless critical for the success of any change effort. Some of the key observations are: Find the “hidden gems” Once HR and line managers have generated a thoughtful and more inclusive list of key players (usually 30 to 45 percent of all employees), they can begin to prioritize groups and individuals ...

Strategic planning becomes a daunting nightmare in challenging economic times. Anticipating change and creating framework for future growth needs in depth understanding of trends which can indicate future changes with fair degree of certainty. Mckinsey article has few tips on planning during these transitioning times. Be realistic about scenario planning In a highly uncertain environment, the advantages of scenario planning are clear: since no one base case can be regarded as probable, it’s necessary to develop plans on the assumption that several different futures are possible and to focus attention on the underlying drivers of uncertainty. Senior executives outside the strategic-planning group—even those accustomed to developing scenarios—may find the diversity and complexity of this year’s scenarios bewildering. It’s critical to bring such executives into the process early: for example, by kicking off the planning process with a scenario-development exercise involving the full sen...

If there's one thing that's tipping the scales for fresh employees and leaving the veterans out in the cold, it's salary compression. There's no room for loyalty to the company when market conditions have to be taken into consideration and new hires have to be paid according to industry standards. With the internal annual rate of increase between 4 and 7 percent and the industry annual rate of increase touching 10 to 15 percent, there's a huge disparity between what more experienced workers earn and what their fresh-faced counterparts just setting foot in the company make. The situation is compounded year after year, as those with the company for a longer period of time continue to earn comparatively less than those who've come after them. HR professionals and managers have been put in a bind by salary compression – they're forced to pay the going rate for the best of the new talent to hit the market even as they risk the ire and resentment of individuals wh...

ROI on Training and Leadership programs Training evaluation usually takes into account the following factors. • Reaction-How the participants reacts to the program • Learning-Depending upon the nature of the program ways to measure the learning has to be worked out. • On Job behavior -To access the effective changes for the desired result on the team and the individual. • Business result-how the change in behavior has positively impacted business result. • Calculating the return on investment (ROI). Most of the organizations focus only till stage 4 of the evaluation process. Typically there are 3 aspects which are considered to be looked at under ROI. • Desired Impact - has the training program been effective it facilitating change as it was desired. Training is one of the many tools available; it must justify its effectiveness as a viable business solution to remain relevant and viable. • Cost –to substantiate that the cost incurred leads to positive impact of profitability. • Improv...

Inflation is a cyclical economic phenomena, in a globalised world inflation in not just driven by internal economic variables but also get influenced by common economic concerns like global oil prices, entry and exit barriers to economies, food grain production etc. The current inflation trend is cost push inflation which is more driven by the rise in the cost of essentials goods and services. It even leads to rise in wages in excess of any gains in labor productivity, this leads to increase in unit costs of production and thus further spiraling prices. Generally when Inflation is more demand driven (total demand for goods and services in an economy exceeds the available supply) it leads to increase in the production of goods and services. This means more employment opportunities and higher demand for skilled labour and if supply fails to match the demand for skilled and highly skilled labour, wages move northward and it also leads to higher attrition in organizations where even demand...

Talent management is one of the most critical and ever challenging activities for any HR team. Sound performance management system is quintessential for the success of any talent management strategy for any organizations. While lot of organizations have automated their Performance evaluation and rating processes a large number of small and medium enterprises continues to struggle between legacy systems and new age Human capital management systems which integrates different aspects of performance measurement and also integrates it with other ERP and HRIS (human resource information system) .Some of the key factors which needs to be considered while adopting automated IT system based performance evaluation model are: • A well defined performance management tool should focus on arriving at role based assessment and evaluation matrix which is duly aligned with the competencies defined for each role. • Ratings must translate into performance index scores and should follow the philosophy ...

A major complaint among HR professionals these days is a severe lack of time. This is a common concern across the professional landscape and something that we all combat every day. You probably find yourself hoping for more hours to get more done. This isn’t going to happen but there are ways you can make more productive use of your time to make sure that your “to-do” lists are completed by the day’s end. Here are five ways you can create this needed time: 1. Switch your hours. If the 9-5 shift isn’t providing you enough time to get everything done that you need to then consider working longer. Wake up an hour earlier and get to work that much earlier. The earlier you get to work the less interruptions you’ll encounter. While your free time will be cut into you’ll feel more satisfied that you got more done. 2. Multitask. This is the catchword of the day and it’s here to stay. If you’re trying to further your career then listen to audio textbooks while in the car. Waiting for a doctor...

Prioritizing key activities and focusing on strategic areas of concern continues to be a challenge for majority of HR professionals. Most of the studies which focus on challenges faced by HR professional continues to highlight the ever increasing pressure of attracting, engaging in retaining talent. In a recent study by i4cp when respondents were asked about the main barriers facing HR in 2008, 44% of the 355 responding companies rated lack of time as having a high or very high impact on HR’s ability to achieve its goals. “HR professionals are singing a familiar refrain,” said Donna J. Bear, senior research analyst at i4cp. “They’re citing not enough time, talent or money and too many conflicting priorities as top impediments to accomplishing their employers’ goals.” Besides not having enough time, nearly four in 10 respondents cited “conflicting organizational priorities, ” “scarcity of workforce talent” and “financial resources” as having a high or very high impact on achieving thei...