Regain a job after being rejected

Published on Wednesday, Sep 19, 2007

In your endless job search, you finally stumble on the perfect job. You dash off a resume immediately and maybe even land an interview. Sadly, no job offer follows
You get either a standard rejection letter, a cautiously worded elimination call or even worse, are left hanging never to hear from the organisation again.
Well, nobody likes rejection, especially when it comes to being passed over for a dream job. This loaded feeling leads to unprecedented frustration, anger and bitterness. But do not dejectedly cross off the job just yet. The initial rebuff does not necessarily draw a permanent curtain on the job. Why not fight tooth and nail for the ‘much wanted’ job rather than letting the opportunity sink without a trace?
As Shelia Gray, a leading director of global talent acquisition advises, “If there’s an organisation you really want to work for, don’t let your first rejection be your defining moment. Continue to pursue the organisation.”

A good dose of logic
Always keep in mind that a job worth having will attract umpteen candidates, that too mostly well-qualified ones. You are just one among the crowd that was eliminated. This does not necessarily reflect on your abilities or achievements in any way. Someone may just be better qualified, more suitable or having something else going for him.
If you overcome the disappointment and respond professionally in the face of the rejection, you may actually get the company to retract the rejection and offer you a job! After all, you never know - the chosen candidate may fall through, not turn up or even decline the job. Even so, a positive reaction will keep you on the recruiters’ radar for when the position falls vacant again or a different one becomes available.

Keep a cool head
A rejection will hurt terribly, but never make the mistake of expressing your anger or resentment at the hiring managers. Candidates who fling abuses, accusations or argue vociferously squander their possible chance of being reconsidered for the job. To stand out from the crowd, it’s important to accept the rejection gracefully.

Go ahead and ‘thank’
Ironically, the first thing to do after being denied the job is to say ‘thank you’. Writing, emailing or calling to extend this simple courtesy will effectively distinguish you from other rejected contenders. Express your sincere gratitude for having been considered for the position even while reinforcing your strong desire to work for the company.
Carefully word a polite and professional appreciation to reiterate your continuing interest in the opportunity and the value you can bring to the job. This thoughtful communiqué will spotlight your initiative, enthusiasm, grit and sincerity.
A top HR director recalls inviting a rejected candidate for another interview and subsequently hiring him, “He acknowledged that it would have been a great company to work for, but that he understood he was not the right person for the particular opportunity. Most recruiters remember great candidates, and this letter kept him top of mind!”

Keep in touch
Continue to send friendly reminders about your job status and interest level in the organisation. Demonstrate an easy familiarity with the company and encourage them to keep you in mind for future positions. In the follow-up, tailor your approach to the job and company; at times, you can even go as far as subtly requesting reconsideration.
For instance, a recently rejected soul urged the organisation to label him a backup candidate and relating what he did says, “I said that I was really disappointed because the company was my No. 1 choice and asked them to reconsider me if somebody backs out or if another position opens up. A week later, the company retracted its rejection and offered me the job, which I accepted!” But, the trick is to soft sell yourself without overdoing it and infuriating them unnecessarily.

Pick their brains
A charming way out is to call the hiring manager and ask him/her for feedback. Pose questions like where you went wrong, why you were not a good fit for the position and what you lack. Soliciting suggestions and advice for subsequent interviews will demonstrate your sincere interest in personal development and career progression.
All said and done, tackling a rejection with maturity, objectivity and persistence will keep your name in front of the recruiters and can turn the defeat into ultimate victory!
Last but not the least; remember that a rejection is not the end of the world. Learn to take the disappointment in your stride and you will benefit in the future.

PAYAL CHANANIA

Lack of attrition indicates stagnant skill levels

It’s the biggest paradox of the corporate world! Even while companies pull out all the stops in reducing attrition to the bare minimum, some management gurus are actually propagating increasing ‘wanted turnover’!
Whoa! In the unbridled war for talent when high turnover is considered absolutely detrimental, whoever heard of actually trying to boost turnover levels?
Well, the truth is that blindly attempting to avoid attrition can be quite damaging.
Jamie Hale, a senior consultant and leader of workforce management practice says: “Optimal turnover is not the lowest turnover you can achieve. Optimal turnover produces the highest long-term levels of productivity and business improvement.” Recent studies corroborate that functional turnover is good as it stimulates a competitive advantage. Therefore, it is essential to actively manage turnover to create a performance culture. That is, even while concentrating on reducing the attrition numbers, organisations can and should try to manoeuvre turnover for positive business and financial results.

Some turnover is actually good
Nil attrition levels stand testimony to the jolting reality that an organisation is laden with old skills, stale managers and a somnambulist workforce. Valuable retention efforts are actually being spent on preserving poor performers who do not meet efficiency expectations, but also essentially reduce productivity, drive away customers and breed low morale.
Heaving under the weight of such undesirable elements, how can the organisation build a high-performing workforce needed to face global competition?
Its turnover to the rescue as this helps the management drive out misfits and weak performers. Showing unacceptable employees the door is essential for replacing old skill sets and upgrading talent. This will stimulate the organisation to push and prepare for an inflow of fresh ideas, new blood, vantage perspectives and external knowledge.
This also helps in reshaping the workforce for a better distribution of age groups and filtering out top pay packages and costly benefits. Moving out high-end and overpaid salary earners tenders the opportunity to hire new employees at relatively lower salary levels.
Therefore, instead of exclusively preventing departures and retaining all employees, the focus should shift to keeping a selective group of talented employees only. As acclaimed writer, Fay Hansen expounds in The Turnover Myth, “The pressing issue at many companies is not whether voluntary turnover is too high, but whether it is too low to provide opportunities for introducing new talent and resetting salaries!”
So much so that, the current trend is not only to retain highly skilled contributors but at the same time, have an attrition of at least 8-10 percent of poor performers.

Driving turnover
There is nothing to beat bottom performers resigning voluntarily. Unfortunately, this rarely happens. Therefore:
• Terminations are necessary – The onus is on workforce management executives to prise slackers from their comfort zones or hiding places and train/coach/mentor them to step up to meet new needs. If they still fail to correct the problem or improve performance, managers should take steps to terminate poor-performing and disruptive employees. This calls for decisive action after overcoming the overriding managerial reluctance to fire anyone per se.
In the words of a top global consultant, ‘Healthy turnover benefits a firm. It means that the firm is actively evaluating employees and making decisions. Low turnover means that the firm is working around existing people instead of constantly pulling in new people with new ideas to build the organisation. At successful firms, turnover becomes a business advantage!’
• Explore other avenues – If outright dismissal does not seem prudent, HR executives can subtly force the employees’ departure by instigating (older) employees to retire or by offering buyouts.
Some consultants recommend counselling out redundant or low potential workers. Else, they can utilise retrenchment options to cut back on the unsuitable workforce.
The bottom line is to manage and encourage good turnover in the interests of the company.
With these measures, companies can master turnover and thus achieve a maximum return on their human capital investment.

Watch out
Where companies go wrong is that they attempt to drive out older, long-term employees in an attempt to infuse new (read young) talent and hack salaries. What they fail to realise is that not only does this invite age discrimination liabilities but also begets a huge loss of commitment, skills and experience. Indiscriminate firings stack up separation costs, performance costs, vacancy costs and last, but not the least, replacement costs.
Excessive recruitment and training costs can damage a company as much as retention of weak employees. Not to mention the risk of being saddled with wrongful termination lawsuits.
Therefore, the key to avoiding organisational stagnation is to institute a sound selection process that ensnares top performers alone.
If some unsatisfactory elements slip in, management should make efforts to revitalise them with proper training.
This will slowly transform the organisation into a structure with no bad employees and zero turnover too!

PAYAL CHANANIA

When it's time to move on

WHAT IS your typical day like? Do you start your morning with a spring in your step and a song in your head? Or do you drag your feet to the kitchen and curse your pet cat for coming in your way? At work do you hum a little tune while your fingers feverishly pull away at the keyboard? Or do you find yourself making little origami figures with the hard copy of your project proposal?
The objective here as always is to pick and prod. To reflect, contemplate and analyse. To understand. Are you happy with your job or is it time to moved on? If it is then you have to do something about it. Move on. Switch. Find a new job. You may have liked it when you first started, but now the time is ripe for a change. A job is more than just money. It should ideally provide satisfaction, support, hope and fulfillment. Take it away and it is no surprise that people feel like they are sinking.
Agreed, changing jobs is no laughing matter. In fact there are few things scarier than being in the job market again. However, it is not as hard as you think. The job market today is a basketful of opportunities. Statistics show that young people entering the workforce today are likely to change jobs 7-10 times in their careers!
But beware, before you proceed any further, be sure that you really want a change. You cannot afford to dump your job at the smallest sign of trouble. If you leave for the wrong reasons, you will just find yourself wishing to have the old job back. So how do you understand when the time is right? Try this:
Read the signs
There is nothing like a perfect job. Every job will come with its fair share of bad days. A minor annoyance can be set right or even ignored. But closing your eyes to a profound problem is asking for trouble. Here's a checklist of warning signs:
The job has lost its initial thrill and challenge, now you are bored with the work and do your best to avoid it. That vital `something' is sorely missing.
Life has become routine and you are weary of performing the same old tasks day in and day out. The work content offers nothing new to do and leaves you going around in circles.
The job schedule keeps you too busy with barely anytime left for family and friends. Or, you desire a job closer to home because of the rising petrol costs!
The company culture is not your cup of tea because of the prevailing dog-eat-dog atmosphere, absence of team spirit or unending office politics.
There is no potential for growth as you have exhausted all the advancement possibilities be it in terms of promotion, rewards, learning new skills or getting a raise. You have nowhere to go in the job now.
The work does not even use your talent to the maximum and job satisfaction level touches rock bottom. All in all, your career is stagnating and you are hungry for more.
As Jim Hayhurst, author and career coach says, `If you have to contort who you are to do the job then it's time to leave because not only are you being unfair to yourself, you will never be delivering as much as you could.' Whatever be the reason, you have to indulge in some soul-searching and become aware of your values, interests and skills. Try to view the job from a new perspective. It just might be what you always wanted and you may have failed to appreciate its true potential. Is it the job that needs changing or is it your attitude? Consider all your options and make sure that it is not merely a case of the grass being greener on the other side of the fence. If, after weighing all your possibilities, you still feel that enough is enough, and talking over your problems with your manager cannot resolve them, go for it.

PAYAL AGARWAL

When an employee's performance falls short... ...

EMPLOYEES have always been and will always be an organisation's greatest asset. However, this vital asset is also the most volatile and unreliable. At times, it also turns into a paramount drawback when job performance is not up to scratch.
As such, performance problems rear their ugly head in varying forms. Work turned in by an employee may be of unacceptable quality or error-laden.
He may either be late with an assignment or fail to complete it at all. Or, it may even be categorised by an unwillingness to learn new tasks, adapt to changes or work with other people.
All said and done, a problem is a problem - be it big or small. One person's shortcomings can put a damper on the overall organisational morale and productivity.
However, sacking the problem employee will not improve matters. Beware, an indiscriminate `firing' policy may even leave you with no workers since almost every person faces some performance issues at some point.
So, why not first try to turn around the employee's performance instead of doling out arbitrary punishment? Here's a five-pronged approach for every manager to address and resolve the issue:
First things first
Employees often do not even know what is to be done. This is because their job is not clearly designed and/or misunderstandings about goals abound.
To give them a clear picture of what is expected from them, establish a `performance plan' as a generic standard for performance requirements. Make sure that it is positive, practicable and also tailored to match the position and work assigned.
Also, maintain regular communication to achieve clear understanding of expected work standards.
Where is it going wrong?
Do you wake up to the fact that something is amiss only when it is too late? Maintain a system of regular checks to detect a performance issue as soon as it occurs and, if possible, nip it in the bud.
Make an attempt to identify patterns of unsatisfactory performance and provide appropriate feedback to the employee. Else, the guilty person may carry on blissfully unaware of the fact that he is going wrong.
Maintain ongoing records of individual performance to establish a well-documented case.
This will help in assessing whether the problem existed from the beginning of the employee's tenure or a previously efficient employee has deteriorated. Also, double check to make sure that you have a fair and accurate assessment in hand.
Constructive counselling
Most problems can be resolved with appropriate counselling. So, arrange a private, uninterrupted meeting with the concerned employee.
Adopt a calm, sensitive and professional stance avoiding judgmental or threatening overtones. Concentrate on the performance and not the person.
Gently inform him that his performance is not upto the mark with specific examples to support your assessment. Try to ascertain the root cause of the problem - whether it is stress, burnout, co-worker conflict, low morale, lack of training or a personal problem or tragedy.
Then discuss ways in which the employee can improve his performance; ask for suggestions from the employee himself.
Opportunity to improve
Organise a remedial plan targeted to the successful attainment of goals. Establish an `opportunity period' as grace time within which his performance should show improvement and inform him of the same.
Provide necessary support through additional training, mentoring, supervisory assistance or pairing him with another employee along with an ample spur of motivation. However, do make sure that you adhere to company policy in such matters.
Follow up
At the end of the period, assess his performance again to determine whether his performance has reached expected benchmarks. If all else fails and his performance problems persist despite sincere and repeated efforts, you have no other option but to administer disciplinary procedure.
As such, the guilty person may be reassigned, demoted or out placed.
After all, you win some; lose some. It's all part of the game!

Payal Agarwal

When a senior employee passes away. . . . . . .

MR. BHATT was a charismatic, top figure in a small company dealing in insurance. He was well liked, respected and a role model to many. Work seemed to revolve around him and employees were actually delighted to work under him. However, in a cruel turn of fate, he suffered a heart attack and passed away.
What then? This catastrophe had a devastating effect as the entire organisation became rudderless from the top down. Work came to a standstill. It was as if a tornado had struck and left uncontrollable pandemonium, dismay and grief in its wake.
Often, small organisations have a few chief employees who shoulder the major portion of the responsibility and workload. When such key people pass on, the pathos and confusion is bound to be greater than that would be accorded a normal colleague. It creates a huge void both personally and professionally for the misty-eyed survivors. In such a situation, the management should handle the anguish and chaos with kid gloves. Here's how to ride out the wave of pain and sorrow.
Grief unlimited
There is bound to be an outpouring of grief in the rank-and-file right down to those who only merited a brief nod or hello from the great man. Do not try to suppress their grief; allow them to let it out and say a proper goodbye.
Organise a memorial service and get-togethers to discuss feelings for and memories of the deceased person. You can even memorialise him by dedicating an award, an event or a location in the office in his remembrance. The employees may find it difficult to face the empty desk or cabin earlier occupied by the deceased person. In such situations removing the work station entirely is a strongly recommended strategy. Even re-organising furniture too can help ease the pain of the loss.
Business not as usual
The void will have a profound effect on the office atmosphere with severe disruption of normal operations. Be patient and let time heal the wounds. Do not expect immediate restoration of standard productivity levels. If managers show that they are grieving but still functioning effectively, other employees may realise that they can also mourn and yet perform their duties rationally.
Highlight that `returning to the work routine' can assist in the healing process. As George Henry Lewes said, `The only cure for grief is action'.
Make an effort to uphold values and strive toward goals that the deceased person particularly cherished. You can also encourage the staff to remember his positive contributions and try to follow his footsteps. For example, `show the customers that you care' because Mr. Bhatt was such a caring person.
The show must go on
The loss is irreplaceable but you have to keep the ball rolling.
The job must still get done. The management must re-look at employee workload to determine what needs to be completed and who might best be assigned those tasks. Include all the workers in the decision to redistribute the work, or it could create resentment. Also, thank the employees and acknowledge the strain on those who are taking on additional workloads while coping with their own feelings of loss and grief.
Change of guard
There is the unenviable task of locating a substitute to fill in the departed person's shoes. Getting hold of a doppelganger is next to impossible; but do try to find the best possible replacement at the earliest.
It is important that the new employee is not made to feel like a `replacement' for the one who has died. However, the mourning employees may be driven by grief and obstinately refuse to accept him. Having somebody new in `Mr. Bhatt's job' may seem like a desecration of the sacred memory. The onus lies on the management to make him feel welcome and help him learn the ropes. Try to garner support from the staff but never assay it as an attempt to fill the void.
One can never completely stop grieving the loss. However, the painful experience will definitely soften with time. Life must go on!

PAYAL AGARWAL

When a know-it-all says it all

EVERY organisation has its share of smart alec employees. The kind who say, act and believe that they know it all. They have IQs in 160s and have on five different occasions come up with brilliant plans that could or have changed the world. They are walking encyclopaedias of information, they have answers to everything - from where you can get Gucci shoes at throwaway prices to how the shifting geotectonic plates in the Pacific have created havoc in Nicaragua's mining industry. In short, they are people who know it all. They are always right, and not surprisingly, they know that as well.
The problem with a know-it-all is that he dominates conversations with endless sermons on any topic under the sun. He condescendingly disputes every opinion just to prove that he knows more than anybody else. No one can dare to disagree with him.
If you are an eternal optimist, you could say that he liberally shares all he knows. But he shares it too liberally for comfort. What is more, he is not even above butting into discussions with his own opinion whether you ask for it or not, let alone whether you like it or not.
Such foisting of views down others' throats bogs down the entire team. The know-it-all either builds a little clan of zombie-like followers who do his bidding or he alienates himself from everybody.
Often, this dogmatically sure, `I am always right' attitude rubs everybody the wrong way. People do not like being told they are wrong and especially by somebody who is right. Everyone around is dying to bring him down a peg or two, but to no avail. Well, before you hang up your boots in defeat, here are a few tips that can help:
Do not turn a deaf ear
Remember that he is not a know-it-all for no reason. Respect his knowledge even if you cannot respect the person. Do not discount his erudite views hastily as he may just be shedding light on the information that you are seeking or the solution that is eluding you. Their protracted arguments may discredit others but somewhere, within that vast labyrinth of superfluity, there will be a grain - a shred of utility that you could use.
Pick the brains
You can exploit his extensive knowledge and expertise to your advantage too. Ask careful and intelligent questions to borrow from his cache without making your intentions too obvious. Also, keep your queries specific; else, you may just be in for a prolonged monologue of totally unrelated tangents.
Take the wind out of the sails
Accept that you cannot hold a candle to his vast knowledge. But, merely ignoring his remarks or vaguely replying with an `I guess so' will make him falter in his footsteps. Also, bringing your sense of humour into play and laughing off his juvenile idiosyncrasies will leave him floundering too. On a lighter note, you can even give him a taste of his own medicine by duplicating his supercilious attitude.
Stock up on ammunition
If you wish to confront the know-it-all on his own turf, you have your work cut out for you. You will have to do some serious reading, build up your knowledge quotient, and make sure you are abreast of the facts. Operating on mere guesswork, assumptions and hunches will only cause you to lose face, as he will catch you out within no time. So, do your homework.
Fire the salvo
A know-it-all will go out of his way to correct others but cannot stand to be contradicted. So, arm yourself with sufficient proof before challenging his statements or credentials. And, be ready to stand your ground, as he will try his best to cow you down with his incessant testimonials.
Belling the cat
You cannot change his overbearing and arrogant ways overnight. But, with time and perseverance, you can bear witness to that miracle. Try to gain a private audience where you can candidly but kindly talk to him about his attitude. Request him to use some discretion and cut back on the sassy remarks and callous dismissals. And just grin and bear it while you cross your fingers hoping for the best. If nothing works, take heart in French author, Andre Gide's cheeky aside in his book, `The Immortalist' - `One must allow others to be right... it consoles them for not being anything else!'

PAYAL AGARWAL

What do employees really want?

MUCH HAS been written about how employees are an organisation's most valued assets. A company's progress is no longer about corporate goals and profits but is all about what employees want.
To keep employees motivated, employers have to rise above the usual retention tools like open communication, performance evaluation, feedback, recognition, work-life balance and so on. Modern management is about managing the `insides' - the aspirations - of employees, rather than their behaviour directly. HR managers have to identify what employees aspire for, enjoy doing and want to learn more about.
The motivation for employees depends on how far the company goes to fulfil their key hopes and ambitions. This calls for the management being able to adopt policies that will `enable individuals to convert their dreams into achievable reality by aligning aspirations to inherent capabilities and achievable responsibilities'.
The way to do this is for the employer to make sure employees are doing what they really want to do, which in turn, throws up three possible scenarios:
The `pushed into it' employee
Some people select a field not of their own volition but are into a career due to external influences like parental coercion, peer pressure or just to follow a current trend. This creates a gross mismatch between the employee's job and his aspiration, which makes him do his job devoid of any inspiration or innovation.
Antidote: Right at the interview stage the employer should seek information about the individual's wants, dreams, strengths and successes to put him in the right direction. They should collaborate with the employee and work out a customised development plan by identifying key talent, competencies and weaknesses. Also make sure that promotions are in line with their key aims. For example, Sasken Communication Technologies, Bangalore, boasts of drawing a clear line for candidates regarding their role and growth possibilities within their strength areas, right during the selection process.
Some companies even appoint a peer advisor or counsellor manager responsible for individual assessment of talent and capabilities and also for working out a career growth plan for the candidate. In short, companies should get to know those they hire and then develop them for what they want to do.
The `in the dark' employee
Some employees may not even be aware of their true forte and skill areas thereby creating a discrepancy between what they say they want and their actual aspirations. Or, they may have great aspirations, but lack the talent and skills to achieve them.
Antidote: The management has to observe closely employee performance and behaviour to discover their strengths and make them aware of their real aspirations. Engaging employees in a wide range of work functions through job enhancement, lateral movements and cross-functional assignments will not only train them to achieve their aspirations, but may also reveal new talents they did not even suspect of possessing. The Senior VP-HR at Symphony Services says, `We identify employee aspirations, help them choose a career path within their strength, and add finesse by competency building'.
The `on a sidetrack' employee
Others may choose the right career, but the job demands and circumstances may push them away from their core interest area, thereby creating a disparity between their work and career aspirations. For example, a person would be inclined to work on cutting-edge technology while the company assigns him a customer-requirement project.
Antidote: Pushing employees onto a pre-defined path without acknowledging their aspirations will reduce them to mere puppets. This will make them lose sight of personal goals as they work according to what others expect of them. Companies should not randomly dole out assignments to employees just to offload the work. Work profiles should help employees grow within their chosen roles. Companies should enhance their abilities with a variety of challenges that test their latent versatility.
They should try to fill the gaps between where their employees are now and where they want to be. As one HR expert outlines, `Closing those gaps is the real motivation for people to learn'. Employees should be given the space to grow in line with evolving and rising career aspirations.
Balancing the organisational needs and employee goals will lead to a stabilised, committed and highly-retentive workforce that is continually willing to go the extra mile. Such a nurturing environment brings out the individual identity of people as they work out of `will' and not out of `compulsion'. As HS Amar, Project Co-ordinator, IT Professional Forum, India, says, `As a result of clear and pragmatic aspirations, employees can make a contribution to the industry and in turn be a valuable asset for the industry'.

PAYAL CHANANIA

Want to break free?

WORK HAS this strange habit of taking over. It takes over your time, it takes over your space and before you know it, it takes over your life. You are covered up to your eyeballs in it - breakfast meetings, client calls, all-nighters fuelled by fifteen cups of coffee - there is no end in sight. Add to that work pressure, office politics, competitive colleagues, and needless to say, you are treading a thin line between overwork and insanity.
Leisure time is almost a thing of the past - an archaic relic left over from an age that died wearing bell-bottoms and disco shirts. Today, there is no such thing. Or rather, there is, but nobody has the time for it. With Internet and laptops and USB drives, the boundaries between home and work have begun to blur, taking an expected but sometimes unbearable toll on that sacred thing called space. There is never enough time for anything - never enough time to attend school recitals, children's football matches, never enough time to add to your music collection, to paint, to draw, or to do anything for that matter. And, the less time we give to our personal life, the more domestic problems set in, leading to stress at home, on top of stress at work.
Just the facts
Latest employment statistics show that 81 per cent of employees work over 40 hours a week and 29 per cent put in more than 50 hours a week. Apart from damaging physical and mental health, long hours bite into personal relationships too. Moreover, long hours do not automatically translate into productivity. In fact, 68 per cent of people say that their productivity levels have actually decreased. Also, and this is interesting to note, 55 percent say that work-related stress makes them bad-tempered at home too.
Priority - life!
Hit the pause button for a bit. Ask yourself - is work the be-all and end-all of our lives? It is high time we took a long, hard look at what can now only euphemistically be referred to as our `life'. Is work really worth so much trouble? Can we go on living like this? Can we let our home bear the brunt of our work? As professionals, most of us take the utmost care not to carry our personal burdens into office. If so, the vice-versa must hold true too. Professional worries must not be brought home. Tuning out work thoughts is the only way we can cope with pressure and keep our sanity intact.
Deal yourself life's best cards
Most people react with horror at the very thought of such detachment. In effect, switching off in order to unplug our personal thoughts and emotions from our day-to-day dealings at the workplace is a tall order indeed. But, make a practice of it and one day, it will become second nature. Try it like this:
1. Set a limit to the hours that you will work. Make sure that you stop and go home at the appointed hour unless there is an emergency.
2. Adopt a professional outlook and demeanour. Try to delegate routine tasks and prioritise the remaining ones.
3. Schedule your work so that you can complete everything possible within the appointed time. Once you have done all you can, put off the rest for the next day.
4. Learn to say no to extra tasks and shy away from taking responsibility for other people's workload.
5. Once you have stepped out of the office, perish any work thoughts that show up on the radar. As a wise hermit on the mountain said, `let not the laptop be an extension of your body.'
6. Do not let your life be a by-product of your work; spoil yourself for a change. Take out the time to indulge in your hobbies and work out regularly to keep yourself fit and fresh.
7. Build a life for yourself outside of work. Spend time with family and friends and get adequate sleep and rest.
Follow this to a tee and see what a difference it can make. It will get your mind off the little irritants that inevitably crop up in life and help you focus on the big picture. So, no matter what kind of position you hold - whether you are a sales representative or the chief executive officer of an MNC, try and disconnect yourself from the office whenever you can. Not only will it give you freedom from work, it will make you better at it as well.

PAYAL AGARWAL

First spell out the first name policy

Shakespeare’s immortal view in ‘Romeo and Juliet’ goes, ‘What’s in a name…’
Well, by the looks of it, a name does matter, especially when it comes to addressing each other in the workplace.
In keeping with the global and contemporary (read American) corporate settings, there is a move to efface formal titles in favour of more relaxed salutations. As such, progressive-thinking and decentralised organisations across the world are doing away with the traditional use of ‘Mr.’, ‘Ms.’ and other professional designations, irrespective of job status, age and longevity. ‘Call me…. (Insert given name)’ is the buzzword, particularly in multi-national organisations as they bend over backwards in promoting the use of first names across hierarchical levels.
A breezy informality is setting in as employees address not only their colleagues and superiors by their first names, but at times extend the privilege to executives, vice-presidents and CEOs too! Thereby, Mr. Sharma now becomes an easy Ritesh and a casual Ritu takes the place of ‘Ms. Bhatia’!

The personal touch
The betoken familiarity breeds a relaxed and open work atmosphere, strengthens interpersonal relationships and helps employees to bond with each other. The feeling of casual equality overrides any reverential diffidence and makes workers comfortable with their managers and bosses.
The resultant bonhomie encourages cohesive collaboration and free flow of ideas cutting across hierarchical lines. With a collegial rapport and easy frankness, subordinates are emboldened to give honest feedback and critique the management too.
As a top consultant points out, “This unique open work culture, where everyone is treated equally propels you to speak freely knowing well that your suggestion would be evaluated on its merit rather than your designation or number of years you have put-in’.
And, needless to say, the freedom to approach the top-tier folks and address them sans any ceremony is the greatest status leveller. The democratic overtones define a friendly organisational culture thus fostering open communication, innovation, trust and employee morale.

A quandary
Honorific may by and large be deemed unnecessary, but in strict social strata cultures like India, people still prefer traditional titles and find the ‘forced friendliness’ quite offensive.
Employees do not even dream of calling their boss by his first name and find it extremely awkward to address superiors in an informal manner.
The presumption of familiarity makes many people resort to ‘name avoidance’ and clam up completely when they run into their boss, the boss’ boss or the CEO. David Morand, professor of business management at Penn State, USA, reveals in his Black Holes in Social Space study, “When workers were unsure of the norm for addressing superiors, they were likely to avoid calling superiors anything at all. The higher the rank, the less likely people were to address a boss by name!’ This ‘conversational hole’ where nothing is said creates unnecessary tensions in the workplace.
Not only are employees uncomfortable being on a first-name basis with ‘more powerful people’, but it does not go well with many bosses and supervisors too. They want the ego boost of being addressed by a reverential title and actually bristle at the casual use of their forename, deeming it as an ‘insult’ to their position.

The game
If companies really want to bridge the status barriers, they should clear the uncertainty with an explicit policy that spells out the appropriate situations for using first names. It is imperative to reinforce in writing that every person in the chain of command right from the lowest ranked, blue-collar worker to the CEO at the top can and should exchange first names with everyone else.
For instance, a top company issued a formal statement of corporate naming practices as, ‘We avoid the use of titles. Though titles may sometimes be necessary when identifying ourselves to people outside the company, within our offices we address each other by our first names. This policy helps us maintain our small company approach with our people and promotes a spirit of teamwork.’
This further encourages hesitant employees to muster courage to address their superiors by first names. Yet, if someone still cannot bring himself to adopt the pronouncement, the preference for formality (use of last name or title) should be acceptable.
However, this behavioural norm should not be construed as an excuse for displaying disrespect or undermining authority; an element of good manners and basic courtesy is always needed.
Also, managements should remember that merely enforcing a ‘universal first-naming’ rule is not the be-all and end-all for achieving effective communication!

PAYAL CHANANIA

HR dept role acquires bigger dimension

Since the dawn of the corporate era, HR departments have been relegated to the background with no say whatsoever in the boardroom. They were merely passive administrators charged with tactical transactions and implementation of policy decisions.
All of a sudden, though, everyone is talking about ‘Strategic HR’. The routine activities of recruitment, compensation, benefits, rewards and training are acquiring a bigger dimension.
The question is whether it is just another buzzword on the HR block, or is there something momentous beyond the hype? Will the HR function live up to the hoopla and turn into a source of competitive advantage, or will it collapse under its own weight as more and more responsibilities are piled on to it?

The paradigm shift
Today’s global economy is slowly waking up to the fact that harnessing human assets is critical for organisations striving to function at a higher level and achieve perpetual success. This calls for integrating human capital considerations into daily decision-making and planning. Consequently, HR strategy right from benefits to training to retention needs to be in sync with overall business objectives.
By virtue of its unique position to the workforce, HR has earned a prominent seat at the executive table. The HR fraternity is gaining importance and moving to a wider role as a ‘strategic business partner’ in line with other core functions. It is no longer a mere reactive implementer, but plays a more proactive role participating in the strategy formulation process.
Strategic Human Resource Management has been defined as, “The linking of human resources with strategic goals and objectives in order to improve business performance and develop an organisational culture that fosters innovation and flexibility”.

HR repositioning
Whilst organisations are accepting (albeit grudgingly) the HR function as a partner in business operations, HR managers can no longer afford to be in the middle of the road. They have to rise to the bait and contribute to business improvement helping organisations achieve their goals.
Leading consultant, Sidharth Chaturvedi exhorts the new leadership role as, “A strategic perspective of HRM requires simultaneous consideration of both external (business strategy) and internal (consistency) requirement leading to superior performance of the firm”.
To become a true business differentiator, HR should not only be involved in policy-making and implementation responsibilities, but also translate them into HR priorities. They should design HR initiatives and practices that synergise business strategies with employment planning. They should realise that they are well placed to recognise and exploit external opportunities.
HR departments also have to add value to the business by mobilising and managing the most important resource – its people. They should work towards effectively utilising the full potential of their human capital to gain a performance advantage. They should shape critical HR interventions for tapping the organisation’s core competencies, maximising current capabilities, identifying future staffing needs and creating organisational abilities.

Being a winner
In essence, strategic HR is all about facilitating and enhancing organisational goals. Towards this end, HR should:
• Harness its knowledge of the company’s internal strengths and weaknesses to supply competitive intelligence for planning purposes.
• Identify business needs and step up to the strategy table with new ideas
• Apply cutting-edge thinking to engage company executives in thought-provoking questions.
• Activate resources that support the chosen business strategy and implement iteffectively.
• Ensure that the workforce is engaged, excited, energised as well as capable of responding to organisational objectives in an efficient manner.
• Stir people to action and develop the next-generation leaders from the rank-and-file.
• Leverage individual talent and collective competencies to invent sustainable and distinct competitive advantages.
As Good to Great author Jim Collins says, “It’s all about putting the right people on the right bus in the right seats at the right time”.
To wind up, top HR director, Dana Jervis highlights, “This powerful tool leverages significant opportunities for HR departments to get the job done in not only an acceptable way, but an exceptional way thus positioning them for…” you guessed it right, ‘strategic success!’

PAYAL CHANANIA