You can lighten up a dreadful working day

Published on Wednesday, Nov 14, 2007

How many of us can honestly vouch that we really enjoy what we do!
Unfortunately, most of us operate on certain preconceived notions like –

‘Work is serious business.’
‘There is no place for fun in work whatsoever.’

One might ask why do work and fun always have to be mutually exclusive. Why can’t work be fun too?
Sorry to say, but the universally prevalent stance is that having fun in the workplace reduces productivity. If an employee has a playful attitude and jokes or is jocular, he is branded as frivolous, incompetent and even unprofessional.
Does that imply that we really have to go about our work with frowning, worried or drawn faces?
Well, contrary to popular opinion, work and fun share a symbiotic relationship. People who have fun at work actually enjoy what they do and so work much better. Moreover, an amalgam of work and fun breaks the tedium and employees don’t feel like they are working at all.
They actually look forward to going to work, something that is otherwise quite unimaginable. Imagine getting paid to do something that you enjoy doing!
Experts uphold that a good dose of humour is the best stress buster as it makes the work place more pleasant. This translates into increased productivity, confidence, morale and job satisfaction. As, Dr. David Abramis who studied the impact of fun at work for years reveals, “People who have fun on the job are more creative, more productive, better decision-makers and get along better with co-workers. They also have fewer absentee, late and sick days than people who aren’t having fun.”
Considering all these benefits infusing fun in the workplace is fast becoming an occupational necessity. The GenY workforce puts a premium on work/life balance and seeks jobs that have an inherent element of fun permeating the workplace. This does not make them take their work any less seriously, but makes them passionate to succeed. Therefore, companies that figure out this delicate equation alone can attract and retain the top talent.
Build a culture of fun
Creating a work/fun fusion injects vigour into the job and creates tolerance for the most repetitive tasks. All it takes is a few minutes of doing some boredom-breaking activities that people enjoy - like listening to music, working on a crossword puzzle or reading a short story. All this to relieve the stress and reinvigorate the employees’ thought processes. Laughing while working can lighten up a dreadful day and inject enthusiasm into even the most unpleasant of tasks.
In a similar vein, holding light-hearted contests, impromptu celebrations and other creative fun makes the office an exciting place to work in. Add to these soliciting employees’ ideas on more ways to increase fun to the workplace. It’s all about adding a dimension of playfulness to mould people to believe that combining fun with work is a way of life in your company.
Managers should set an example by adopting a cheerful deportment that reflects humour in negative situations and make them joke over their own mistakes to defuse the tension and stress. They should encourage everyone to loosen up a bit, crack a smile and not take things too seriously.
It’s high time merriment moves from the confines of locker rooms, cafeterias and water coolers to become an intrinsic part of the daily routine. Yet, it is essential to clearly explain to employees what fun is in the workplace. Only tasteful and contextual humour that does not mock or offend anyone can build healthy bonhomie and camaraderie.

What does fun on the job really mean? It is not only about guffawing or playing the fool all the time, but also making work challenging and meaningful. Employees feel their work is more lively and fun when they are given the freedom to be innovative, compete healthily, take risks, solve problems and learn new skills by working with brilliant people. Therefore, management should endeavour to provide a dynamic, fast-paced and flexible work environment. Work would then be more enjoyable, rewarding and FUN!

PAYAL CHANANIA

Temporary ‘connections’ aid career growth

Published on Wednesday, Nov 07, 2007

Like any other working individual, Mr. Jatin Parikh wants to advance his career and move up the ladder. The difference however is that he picks a novel way to go about it!
Mr. Parikh, a networking engineer, shrewdly participates in a new database management project as a temporary team member. The assignment is beyond his current responsibilities and presents a valuable opportunity to learn new skills.
By leveraging a series of such ‘temporary jobs’, soon he earns a seat at a higher table.
Temporary assignments are opening a new and wide vista for everything from breaking into a new field to advancing in the same one. The stigma long attached to this option has been wiped clean, as no longer is it just the last resort for struggling novices.
Provisional employment has moved from back-end administrative and clerical jobs to encompass HR, IT and even management in varied fields like retail, banking, advertising and programming.
A growing number of professionals at different levels of their careers are going the ‘temping’ route to move ahead in their professions. This new approach is not only an ideal way to step up in the career but also works as a comprehensive career strategy.

Here’s how:
• Gaining experience in a new career through a temporary stint is a viable option to achieve a successful career change. Mid-level professionals can explore other specialities, industries or companies and sample the options without the allied threat of job hopping
• They can try a job for size while checking out the responsibilities and challenges involved or use it as a stopgap arrangement for earning a living even as they look for better full-time employment
• This eye-opening insight into new areas helps them develop new skills, hone existing ones, even while unearthing hidden talent
• The diversified experience coupled with the challenge of new situations lends a broad perspective that can brighten up the most insipid resume
• Also, temporary jobs help people get a foot in the door of top organisations where they want to work. ‘Temp-to-hire’ is increasingly becoming quite a common phenomenon as more companies are offering excellent full-time positions to their ‘contract’ staff
People can now opt for ‘serial temping’ even after gaining two-three years experience or more in a particular career. A succession of temporary jobs will prove valuable in future career moves and can help them achieve their new career goals.

Captaining your ‘temp’ ship
Whether you are looking to rediscover career choices, gain hands-on experience or just test the job waters, there is no dearth of choices. The range of contract jobs available is near unlimited.
As a job seeker, you can subtly propose during a job interview to take the position on a trial basis by insinuating that the management can evaluate your suitability for permanent employment! Or, you can enrol with a good temporary staffing agency based on your specialised needs.
You can join a new task force or chip in when the management is reviving an old division or expanding in your own organisation.
Carefully select contract assignments that will complement your future career direction and also look good on the resume.
Look for project work outside your department or job description where you can contribute your functional expertise whilst developing new skills and experience.
Whichever temporary work you choose, perform to your highest abilities to so that you add value to the job. Also, concentrate on observing everything carefully to learn the work style and soak up the professional environment.
Prepare yourself for the trade-offs of temporary jobs before opting for one.
You will have to compromise on things like higher salary, bonus, raise, benefits, paid leave and insurance, generally associated with permanent employment.
Though more people are turning to contract employment as a career and lifestyle choice, do not be blindly swayed by the allure of flexibility alone.
Can you really function well in a work environment that is neither stable nor structured?
Only if you can endure the volatile challenges on the road to gaining new skills, experiences, career insights and contacts, will serial temping prove to be a good occupational fit!

Payal Chanania

Get back your old job with new skills

Published on Wednesday, Oct 24, 2007

Changing careers midway is all the rage now. People ditch their established careers and set out on a new path with stars in their eyes.
Yet, dreams often turn to dust as some career changers do not like the new job as much as their old one. Call it a classic case of ‘the grass being greener on the other side’ or whatever, but the new career fails to be as satisfying or rew arding as expected.
Crestfallen with the wrong turn of events, they crave to revisit the ‘good old days’! But with more and more people being bitten by the career-changing bug only to lament the decision, returning to an old occupation is no longer considered taboo.
So, instead of rueing over the situation and hating the new job, you can and should admit your mistake and try to return to your previous career. The return journey
As it is generally not considered wise to return to an old employer, it is advisable to exercise your options and try getting a job at other companies in the same field. Yet, before considering a comeback, honestly ask yourself why you want to return. Is it because you don’t have another choice?
Again, remember that your recent experience may no longer relate to your new (read: older) goals. Are you willing to be weighed down by this liability?
However, experts advise that you can twist the seeming millstone to your advantage by playing up the knowledge and additional insight gained from the multi-faceted experience.
Market your new strengths, capabilities and broad perspective that will improve your contributions and effectiveness in the old profession.

Back to square one
At worst, you can even find your way back to your old job. It’s hard saying, “Can I have my old job back?” but you have to eat humble pie and admit your mistake.
So, first assess whether the conditions that made you leave have really changed. Most often, fond memories impart a rosy hue and make an old job seem more satisfying than it really was. It pays to research the corporate scenario and talk to erstwhile colleagues about the internal environment to apprise yourself of changes, if any, in your absence.
Again, the job may not be yours for the asking. The previous employer may smirk at your over-confidence and refuse to take a once-errant employee back into the fold.
You have to argue that your new skills will make you bring more value to the old job. Also, highlight that you already know the ropes and can hit the ground running, eliminating the mandatory break-in time a new employee would take, not to mention the inherent recruitment and training costs.
Managers may even worry that the ‘refugee’ will jump ship again at the first sign of a more lucrative career opportunity. Job consultant Robert Gerberg advices, “You can make the point that, after being away from the field for a while, you realised how much you enjoyed it, and how right your talents were for it, so that the employer is not likely to find a more enthusiastic and motivated candidate for the job.
You can reassure them that you will never be looking over your shoulder, wondering whether you might be happier doing something else!”
Also, be prepared for the fact that the manager may reinstate you, but in a different position.

Is the door really wide open?
Going in expecting a red-carpet welcome is downright foolish. Do not delude yourself that things will be easy. It takes great courage and determination to ride out the derisive ‘I told you so’ and sniggering antagonism.
Try to reconnect with your old colleagues and earn their trust. Rebuilding relationships with managers and co-workers by supporting their efforts will help make the transition much smoother.
You cannot ever glide back into the job as if you were never away. Re-adjusting back takes time as the set up from working practices to organisational culture to office politics may have changed dramatically.
Try to adapt yourself to the changed scenario. All said and done, irrespective of whether you were away for six months or 60, only a well-executed job change can spell success in returning to an old occupation.

PAYAL CHANANIA

Broadband pay structure is truly skill based

Published on Wednesday, Oct 31, 2007

The corporate world is witnessing a surge of flatter organisational structures. Traditionally large and hierarchical organisations are moving away from their inherent rigidity and are seeking to flatten themselves. The multi-tier pyramidal framework gives way to a more horizontal set up by eliminating the myriad management levels.
Consequently, a flexible compensation concept called ’Broadbanding’ has also come into vogue. This salary structure strategy takes the flat organisation model a step further by consolidating a large number of pay grades into fewer ‘broadbands’. Therefore, there is a wider salary range for each band or level.
For instance, if an organisation earlier had a graded pay structure with 50 narrow ranges, now they are clubbed together into say, 10 broad ones.
For such broadband classifications, diverse jobs with similar responsibilities, accountability, knowledge and skill requirements are grouped together after a thorough job analysis.
The bands of job families carry generic job titles describing the general body of work, and not pertain to the specific duties of all the jobs included under a classification.
By reducing the job taxonomy into fewer categories with a broader scope, there are less chances of overlap with other pay ranges.

Development-‘wise’
Broadbanding brings into play a performance-based salary structure wherein compensation is based on job complexity, responsibilities and skills. This approach values the role of employees and lays emphasis on skill enhancement to perform the job successfully.
Employees are paid on the basis of the skills they develop rather than just the individual work they perform. Management rewards employees for substantial capability improvement with salary increases, thus encouraging them to broaden their skills and abilities
By focussing on performance and rewarding employees for their competencies, the accent shifts to individual career growth as opposed to mere promotional advancement.

Employee-‘wise’
The grouping of numerous jobs in a single salary range with large mid-point differentials creates more income opportunities for employees. Managers get the latitude to determine pay raises within salary bands with or without the ‘vital’ promotion.
Whilst employees get pay raises even while moving within the same salary band, there is still scope for staggered promotions. But the advancement criteria are based on attainment of a broad set of skills.

Employer-‘wise’
Broadbanding is a panacea for companies as it simplifies the compensation structure and facilitates organisational flexibility. Managers can make compensation decisions faster and better administer team rewards.
Not only does the streamlined mechanism result in lower salary administrative costs, but management can also control the salary growth of individual employees. Then again, employers can cash in on the benefits of flexibility in fixing salary levels for new hires.

Market-‘wise’
Collapsing group work and pay also establishes a consistent and common pay standard that is closely aligned with the market conditions.
Management can easily capture appropriate market pay differentials and become nimbly responsive to the dynamic business environment. Such a compensation system can be easily maintained and flexibly adapts to the competitive pressures of a changing marketplace.
According to compensation specialists, Keith Fortier and Christopher, in their Salary Structures white paper on www.salary.com, “Whereas the design characteristics of traditional structures emphasise internal equity and focus the employee’s attention on the world inside the firm, broadbanding focuses employees on the changing needs of the organisation and helps them experience an internal culture that more closely reflects the external business environment and the competitive recruiting market.”
With these advantages, broadbanding has become a recognised practice for corporate compensation. A top salary consultant encapsulates it as, “Broadbanding broadens the focus from job content and scope to include the knowledge, skills and abilities of the individual doing the work, thus enhancing the pay for performance system; better maintains a competitive job and compensation structure to aid in recruitment and retention; and, streamlines administrative processes.”
Yet, the inherent difficulties like widespread allegations of pay discrimination within the same band and fewer promotion opportunities will rear their head sooner or later. If unchecked, they can even translate into morale and productivity issues.
Therefore, management should step up to the plate and try to absorb the benefits of traditional salary structures into a predominantly broadbanding framework.

PAYAL CHANANIA