Behaviour Designer-a new role for HR

Behaviour  Designer- a new role for HR.

Years ago, I was lucky to be assigned the task of getting the entire staff floor ( 5000 sq.ft) designed by a reputed interior designer. My Boss was clear that the HR team must get closely involved in all staff matters including their work station set up. Done the standard way, we did learn a little about the ideal workstation space per employee, sitting posture using ergonomics etc.

I was pleasantly surprised to read recently about   interior designing going the behavioural way. This is a new buzzword that has been prevalent for the last two years with a Behavioural Architects pioneering work on designing homes more efficiently, keeping in mind, behavioural patterns of the inmates. The major objective seems to influence human behaviour at home, workplace as well as public areas. Some of the interesting points that arise are worth noting:

1. Humans take to simplicity of use and look for design features that make life easier. This is also due to the fact that most of us are lazy to put in that extra effort.

2. Daily habits are important indicators of behaviour. Most new gadgets have affected our life styles but rarely helped change a well worn habit.

3. The goal of most behavioural designers is to understand and explain regular patterns in human behaviour and map those insights into possible new products, aided by technology.

4. Applications that stem out of this new approach include a healthier and energy conserving office design, more controlled behaviour at social dos and even monitoring and restricting the use of social networks, to induce youngsters to  be less narcissistic  and spend more time with family or in outdoor activities.

5. Behavioural design is not just to do with interior designs in offices but goes far beyond to breaking the familiar mould, be it among families, communities or individuals at work or home, using slow but radically different design principles. It makes ideas tangible through practical application, and by focusing on real needs of people, creates positive and sustainable impact on these behaviours.-a role assigned to every HR professional.

6.Behavioural Design approach, correctly designed and applied regularly, is capable of physically changing the  way people think, feel and behave for the better.

Surely a challenging task, but desirable for a number of reasons. Some suggestions and ideal steps for HR professionals on introducing this concept at our workplaces:

a.       Build on common grounds- identify behaviours at specific locations or intervals ( lunch room, first  hours of work, evening hours etc.) and   design features that need to be incorporated .

b.      Predict ideal  and desired behavioural patterns and design steps to change behaviour

c.       Success even in isolated instances can be studied and replicated across bigger groups.

d.      Collect feedback from interested parties on some real changes that are happening

e.      Evaluate and redesign entire environment  ( office, home, public places) to induce and encourage the behavioural change.( an example cited is of the VOLVO bus  which has changed the  way people travel by road)

Where is the HR role?

Just as the marketing team comes up with ideas for influencing buying patterns, the HR function must become the depository for ideas that help transform behaviour, be it the way the appraisal format is designed, the wording of the appointment letter, the office layout and any opportunity that enhances efficiency through more productive bahaviour patterns.

The design and content of any communication that goes out from the HR department must influence change in behaviour. Persuasive ability, one of the primary influencers of human behaviour, must be a predominant quality developed in all HR  professionals.

A clearly laid out policy with maximum objectivity and rigidity where needed will win credibility for the HR function and make it easier to influence change.

The HR professionals must become organisational architects, capable of  designing a structure, that provides for certain core competencies, values and above all a development oriented infrastructure that translates into business processes which help maintain that competitive edge.

And may be a new thought like this could help reduce boredom some feel with repetitive activities. They can then grab an opportunity to be different.

Comments and suggestions most welcome.

Warm Regards;

Job Xavier- Mumbai

98923 29188

Rainfall and Ancient Wisdom

Rainfall and ancient wisdom

I hail from Kerala but have spent most of my life in Mumbai. Both Kerala and Mumbai have a lot in common, a long coastline, plenty of fish, a large number of malayalees and above all, the monsoon, belting its fury for days on end from June to September every year.

As a child in Kerala, I used to often hear the elders predict rain, just by an event occurring the next day, be it the 15 day cycle of the moon, certain festivals or even the good old smell in the air.

As I grew older and moved to Mumbai, leading a reasonably professional routine, I noticed something very similar, the close proximity of rains to certain festivals.

Seasons do change and festivals, especially those falling during the monsoon season, have different dates, but the linkage of these festivals to rain is uncanny.

Thus the Coconut day festival, Janmashtami, Ganesh Chaturthi, all have some very predictable showers waiting in the wings. Locals are able to predict the heavy showers that accompany the Janmashtami celebrations or the day including and preceding the Ganesh immersion, whether these dates fall in August or September. A little closer look at the traditional calendars and one understands the scientific depth behind these dates.

From my limited exposure to a few calendars, both traditional as well as Roman, what emerges is the regularity with which festivals change dates every year. And certain years, festivals go on for 10 days, some years, it is 11. While the Hindu almanac is precise on these aspects, very little correlation between nature / weather and festivals is seen in the Gregorian calendar the world swears by. The closest one gets to see in the Christian calendar is the changing dates of Easter, which is reportedly set around the March equinox, as per a decision taken by the Council of Nicaea in A.D.325.

The study of calendars and how they evolved is fascinating, but the common thread among all those who drew up such calendars is a lot of scientific assumptions based on empirical data either visual or projected,  again, subject to astronomical observations.

And like all grandmother remedies, rains also seem to be steeped heavily in tradition and science.

Just in case the reader is wondering why I wrote this piece, it is the sheer curiosity that drove me to explore a phenomenon that I have been tracking for years. And the trigger?. This year, after a huge down pour in June and July, Mumbai saw a dry August. Tomorrow, 18^th September is Ganpati Visargan and we have been having torrential downpours for the past few days with an hour’s heavy showers this morning with more expected for tomorrow.

Most years, devotees who accompany huge Ganesh idols get drenched and this year promises to be no different.

In Kerala I hear, most places had a very wet Onam this year.I do not recall too many wet Onams in my childhood. May be the times have changed or my memory fails me.And could also be the topic for some more research.

Job Xavier

Mumbai-91 98923 29188

The Food Bill and the Common man

The Food Bill and the Common man- reduced to a lower class.

I am a common man, a middle class one all my life, happy with simple pleasures of life, leading the life millions in this country live every day.

I got married , had children a few years later and continued with my job. As I had a good job with a steady income, careful planning and saving helped me buy a flat, a car and give my wife and children all basic necessities. We used to have our weekly dinner outside, a movie if the kids insisted and the occasional holiday to our native place and once even abroad.

Life was good and uneventful. The children grew up, went to college and are getting ready to settle down. The wife and I have normal health issues, common among those in their fifties. Then over the last few years life got tougher.

It started with the rise in sugar prices, followed by that of onions, vegetables. In the absence of any valid reasons for such high prices, someone suggested that a big politician and his cronies were making money. Then came the steady increase in petrol prices, leaving us with fewer trips by car even though the auto rickshaw fares had also gone by steeply.

Soon came news of the telecom scam, the coal scam and what not. The thousands of crores mentioned did not make sense to us as we had no hopes of seeing such money. My son who was planning to get married, was on the lookout for a decent flat but in Mumbai, the cheapest flat even in a far away suburb  was quoting over 1 crore. The value of money, especially of one crore was being made clearer for us. We also realised that our flat had appreciated by over 20 times but then could not convert the same to liquid cash as we would then not be able to afford a flat anywhere else.

Over these years, our worthy Finance Minister had been slowly bringing in less noticed taxes that would strangulate us later. Thus there was the service tax on everything possible; some VAT, luxury tax etc. A simple calculation made indicated that we are paying almost 70 per cent of our income to the govt.  by way of some tax. This I realised was the reason why money was running out faster than before, upsetting all our plans to save.

The result? We stopped going out for meals, less of shopping for clothes; no holidays and even the children’s’ pocket money was getting rationed. It was unbelievable that we who had such a comfortable life till a few years ago, now had to struggle through simple everyday existence.

The last straw was the rupee devaluation which we are told could affect our pockets even more adversely. The cost of everything will go up; there will be very little scope for things to improve. And just forget about the good old days, they will never come back. There is of course talk that with elections due next year, there will be a steady increase in prices ; all to  help fund election expenses.

My son who has landed a good job now keeps asking me how I managed to run our household on an unimaginably small sum in the earlier days. I told him to ask his mother who has of late been experimenting with a number of internet aided shortcuts in cooking to reduce onions, oil and other costly ingredients.

The middle class in India never had to worry about hunger as they were able to manage comfortably with the limited income they had. With higher incomes but nothing else under their control, most middle class ones are getting reduced to a lower class in terms of the cost of living index. The recently passed Food Bill which guarantees food to all is welcome gesture but again at what cost?.  The added expenses could be passed onto the poor middle class by way of more taxes, most of them indirect.

Could we also then get covered under the provisions of the Food Bill so that we can get back to the comfort level at least where food for the family is concerned?

Job Xavier

Mumbai

31st August 2013 

Working on a Holiday

Working on a Holiday

I once worked with an expat boss who would come to office by 7 a.m and work through the day till 7 p.m. Why so early to work we used to ask and his stock reply was:

“as the Boss around here, I have to be available to all, and also be up-to-date with work. What better than the 2 to 3 hours I get all to myself when I can finish work ahead of others.”

Many of us who worked with him, imbibed the habit of coming at least an hour before others, to have a peaceful, one hour to complete most work that need concentration.

Today, I love to go to office on a holiday, with hardly anyone in office. Having chosen such a day to catch up on some pending work, this is what I succeeded in doing;

1. Went through all the mails of the last 10 days official as well as personal and responded or deleted as the case may be. All my in boxes look neat and clean now.

2. Read through a dozen notes and proposals put up to me which needed attention and clear instructions.

3. Made a number of phone calls, catching most recipients at home; the discussions were short and decisions taken faster, obviously with pressure from kids and other family members on why they should discuss office matters on a holiday. ‘That boss of yours is crazy’ I overheard a wife telling one colleague as he hastily concluded our conversation with a series of yes sir, will do tomorrow etc. All these from one who has never been in a hurry to complete any task in time.

4. The word having spread that the boss is in office, some of the younger, single staff troop in slowly by around noon. The ever reliable Aswin is always in office on a holiday. “Where else do you get to sit in AC comfort, have the net to yourself and a good lunch if the Boss is also around” he would say..

5. The only luxury I allow is a good lunch ordered for all those present in the office. Our common lunch, a sort of mini office meet also gives me a lot of inputs into recent office gossip, some new affairs and market news which the marketing guys had probably forgotten to inform me.

“Our goods in the eastern market are getting rejected because of some manufacturing defect; especially those produced at the Vizag plant where workers are agitating due to the Telengana issue. Only around 30 per cent of workers are present and quality checks are totally absent.” Mentioned one of the guys from accounts. I was shocked as the last week’s reports from the eastern zone had not mentioned any such developments.

7. The 7 guys (no females come on a holiday unless specifically asked) who reported actually got back to work after lunch and were in office till late evening. All of them had a satisfied look as having completed a lot of backlog in their work area. I used two of the smarter ones to do some analysis for me using data received over the last 6 months. They were happy to be given the special task and finished in much less time than my secretary or the marketing analysts we have. I made a mental note of where I could turn to when I needed quick analysis.

8. Unlike most others who go to office on a holiday and who get pestered with constant calls from home, my family is understanding and let me work in peace. The catch? I always take them out for a sumptuous dinner in the evening. I have learned that good food, whether in the office or late in the evening, is always positively received.

Working on a holiday is not workaholism, nor is it a show off. It is a very practical way of using idle time effectively when one is not burdened by demands at home or the continuous phone calls and interruptions in a regular office. The multicultural environment in our country is most suited for such enterprises as we are assured of at least one holiday per month.

Job Xavier- Mumbai

30^th August 2013.

HR and Doomsday

HR and Doomsday ( circulated a week before 21st December 2012.)

Overheard my teenage son last year talking to his friend "just 17 years and we have to die next year on 21^st December” and they discussed various possibilities including asking their respective dads to allow them to go on a world cruise where they could try their luck with the Chinese Ark (all  points of discussion,  based on  the movie 2012)

While most of us have dismissed these prophesies the very same way we dismiss ‘this week’s luck’ in the Sunday papers, I was little surprised when a neighbour who is an HR Manager came rushing home, asking me for advice (free of course) on how to tackle a possible employee disturbance on that day both in their factory as well as the head office in Mumbai.

“I am not the only one” he added while we were travelling to town a few days later.” It seems the CEOs of a number of establishments especially in Nariman Point, with offices near the sea are genuinely worried about a possible panic situation and failing to find any viable solution from their most strategic teams have now approached the HR Managers to find an answer. I have come across at least 7 such hapless Managers” he completed as if in one breath.

“What they are looking for from us” he added, “is complete crowd management and least hysterical outbursts so that work goes on smoothly”

“If they are so confident that work must go on, there is no issue as they themselves do not fear a catastrophe or end of the world” I retorted.

“None of them are coming to office that day, as they all have planned for some meeting or other- in fact everyone knows they will be staying at home with their family”.

“Which means,” I said, “they want you to be the one to manage any problems in the company while they are safe indoors”

“We are lost sir” he entreated as he normally does when anything a little complicated is presented to him. "We need some advice from you, more experienced ones sir”

“As I recall, I have not had any such end of the world experience. The closest I came to was watching TV when the Tsunami hit coastal India in 2005” I added, hoping he would take the hint.

As he and later on a few more others like him made a fervent plea that I should help, I have the following proposal for all our HR colleagues who may face a similar dilemma:

1. Quickly design a Standard Operating Procedure ( SOP) that will be approved by the Board and communicated to all as acceptable mode of behaviour for the day.( Not to worry if the Board or the CEO does not approve the proposal. You did your duty.)

2.  Delegate tasks to all in the HR team, asking each one of your team to be available at strategic positions within the company premises, ready to help the human capital that will be lost for directions during the day.

3. Advise all HoDs in the company asking them to attend a drill one day prior to the event. Those who cannot make it the day before should necessarily be present from 7 a.m. on the day to mentor and guide staff as per the approved SOPs.

3. The Maintenance team must keep all equipments including common vehicles in complete readiness, to ride across fast sinking roads. Plants must run at full mast as a recent study has indicated that the forward motion of the motors will act as a deterrent to heavily approaching flood waters.

4. All pets and animals including those at home must be fully secured not to repeat incidents similar to those that happened in the Life of Pi.

5. The HR Managers may have to withstand heavy family pressures if they need to spend the night at the factory premises, checking on all safety precautions.

6. The HR team must check on the utilization of Medical budget to see how much saving the department will make in case there are no survivors and hence no further need for medical aid. Similar calculations may be made on the salary, training as well as welfare budgets to show how much saving  is possible by the HR department, always considered as a cost centre.

7. When all arrangements are made and  rest of  the team assigned specific tasks, tell your Boss that you will be at the highest possible point in the city to watch out for disturbing signals so that you can warn everyone well in advance.

8. Once he agrees to your suggestion, go home, have a great dinner, share some stories with the kids and sleep late, ready to face everyone in the office on days that follow and take life as it comes.

All the best.

Job Xavier- Mumbai

98923 29188

P.S. just in case the event actually occurs, it has really been a pleasure knowing you.

Infected with Life- a new novel by Job Xavier

Anjan, the successful heir to a large real estate empire is the typical do- gooder, sacrificing his love, his ambitions, to lead an upright life. Ever ready to help, he even turns a villain to protect those whom he cares for.

Arjun, the ambitious youngster who develops a new exchange that revolutionizes trading; but in his greed to grow, steps on too many benefactors till the Law catches up with him.

Aisha, the pretty woman, content to be a long time companion to Gautam, another dashing youngster, who blazes a new trail in real estate for the young. Somewhere along the line, Aisha is compelled to turn a Lady Killer.

Annie and Pedro, the genial couple from Mexico, deeply attached to Anjan and his Indian friends. Luckose, the wise old advisor to Anjan and everyone who needs help. Mehrnissa, the Matriarch from Kazakhstan who treats Aisha as her daughter.

Into this group of highly energetic crowd comes in sweet youngsters Ricardo, Susan and Adrian, taking forward the combined wealth and aspirations of a large community.

 No one is really safe from the tentacles of the Company from USA which is determined to make profits at any cost; and Pedro and anyone else who dares them have to face grave danger while the Lady Killer turns a new leaf as an Educationist of repute.

A tale of unrequited love, sacrifice beyond the call of duty and above all, a journey into an idealistic world where everyone wants to be happy.

A novel by A.J. Job Xavier- to be published soon

April 2013

Corporate Psychopaths

All of us in corporate life would have come across the suave, suited, smiling charmer who over a period of time leaves a number of people and processes gasping, leading to considerable loss of face, financial losses and many a time, downright frauds.

They are the ones who impresses everyone during the selection process, impeccably dressed, have answers  to all questions, promises to turn around the fortunes of the company in a short while and when on board is all charms with everyone, including the canteen boys. Their immediate bosses get a complex, his fame spreads through the organisation and he involves a number of colleagues in his quest to transform the organisation.

Very soon, he would have recruited a few trusted lieutenants from his earlier organisations, alienated few long serving loyalists terming them as incompetent and would stop at nothing in his pursuit of power and control.  He will find out soon the people who matter and in no time would try to influence them with his way of thinking. Very often, he would become pally with the Top man bypassing all layers in between and convince the Top man that he has all the answers to long pending issues that the current bunch could not tackle. He soon becomes the Boss’s blue eyed boy.

They  are most at home  in new, fast paced organisations looking for the highly effective change managers and thrive  in high risk, high profit environments. When they start to work on their schemes, senior, long serving  and more balanced employees find their authority and security severely compromised by this “high potential” management candidate quickly moving up the ranks. These corporate cons then start a methodical attack on the existing systems, people and values of the organisation, all the time maintaining a façade of efficiency and long term commitment. They appear to be successful by most measures of corporate evaluation, while their destructive personality characteristics are invisible to most of the people they interact with. They are able to circumvent well laid out succession plans, and even performance measures, to give legitimacy to their behaviours. They abuse co workers, getting away by their perceived closeness to the Top man, and do everything possible to lower morale and stir trouble especially for those well established and respected in the organisation. Some of them stir up conflicts among critical work groups, some steal and commit frauds.

A recent book titled “Snakes in Suits- When Psychopaths go to Work” by Paul Babiak and Robert D. Hare illustrate these traits masterfully with real life examples that we are all too familiar with. I have come across a number of such brilliant cons, even as late as  during the latter part of the recession. Many others when told of the contents of this book also recollect a number of such high fliers who have always landed them in trouble.

The reason why I thought of bringing this phenomenon to the notice of my HR colleagues is to make them aware of such dangers lurking in the form of that very impressive candidate almost everyone is impressed with and feel is the answer to all their problems. While all such candidates are definitely not the destructive type, it is important to identify and understand what makes such Corporate Psychopaths tick, probe some bahaviours through a well conducted behavioural event interview that might provide clues to their true nature so as to see through their web of deceit. If left undetected, they not only flourish all across the organisation as the rising star and corporate savior, but slowly start alienating the workforce and colleagues by abusing them, misleading the decision makers and eventually bring down the organisation; some even going to the extent of joining hands with a rival to effect a takeover.

I have through the book and other research, come across a number of traits and characteristics portrayed by these demons in suits. While I am ever ready to share them in these forums, I would still like to hear from our learned colleagues on these forums as to their own experiences with this type of individuals so that we get wiser to a phenomenon that could play havoc again now that most corporates are once again on the lookout for that “fix it all” candidate.

Warm Regards

Job Xavier- Mumbai

98923 29188

  

Competency Profile for the US President

Competency profile for the US President.

I watched Lincoln the other day and was impressed both  with the film as well as Daniel Day Lewis’s acting which has been giving him awards at all the major events. As I watched  the film  progress on the main theme of the 13^th Amendment, what struck me was the sheer determination shown by Abraham Lincoln who managed to win an incredible victory using means fair or foul as one of the characters put it” by the purest man in America”. Watching the entire drama unfold, the HR professional in me asked the question ’ what are the competencies required to be a successful President’ and  by implication, to assess the competencies required by anyone to succeed , be it in corporate or personal environment or even in government.

As if on cue, also happened to read an interview with David McClelland, often referred to as the Father of Competency Profiling where he suggested that while designing the Competency matrix, care must be taken to study the best, the average as well as the most representative sample, to get a realistic picture of what should work best for a company. While a typical Behavioural Event Interview is suggested when meeting representative job holders, functional analysis for various activities is equally critical to understand the process as well as the people, managing various functions.

A look at the practices followed by companies trying to arrive at the Competency Matrix indicates that due to time as well as fee constraints, most companies using Consultants for this activity, restrict the BEI as well as profiling to cover only a few of the senior levels, thus leaving a vast majority of the working population uncovered. A Competency matrix, based on such data will obviously miss out on some important functions and activities and be rather ineffective. Thus in a manufacturing plant , if only the Managers and above are involved in formulating the Matrix, we lose out on  work related ( technical and behavioural) competencies of those on the shop floor (night shift, supervisors, packing line etc.) whose entire work and life cycles have an impact on the way the work is done at the plant.

My own view is that a driver needs a competency matrix just as much as the Vice President or Plant Head though the level of the skills and knowledge may be rudimentary for the driver, while behavioural demonstration need to be in line with the Company culture. (think of the driver fetching an important visitor from the airport where a lot of critical first impressions are being made).

Another interesting aspect of the Competency aspect is how little of the information gathered, generally from seniors who are men, helps in developing a matrix where women may come to occupy very senior positions. A mention made by some practitioners is to note how aggressiveness is a competency associated with men while women managers can be equally assertive in a more balanced manner. Some of the most successful Women CEOs in India probably owe a lot to their mentors ( a leading Bank, large MNCs come to mind) who in turn could also contribute to developing a distinctly gender neutral Competency matrix for the future where a number of able lady managers of today could take charge.

A third category is the unorganized sector where the term Competency is almost unheard of but where a large number of companies have grown to attract attention. Here again a study into the reasons for their success and healthy margins would throw up some basic truths of entrepreneurship, ability to overcome hurdles using native ingenuity and the art of achieving a lot with limited resources. While the search for identifying Core Competencies seems to be on the wane, a lot could be learned of the competencies required for managing multiple tasks in the unorganized sector.

Another interesting feature I noticed is the Competency of Customer Service Orientation, considered essential for the service sector. But then do we not need it for the manufacturing sector where a major setback by way of rejection of finished goods can be avoided if the same competency of customer orientation is inculcated among the production staff? Or again, the competency termed as Leveraging Relationships, so necessary in the service sector can also be very effective in other sectors both for internal as well as external customers.

In short, when we talk of developing a Competency matrix for any organisation, what is critical is not just what is gathered from the Top Management  but also how successful we are in capturing the Culture Competencies which can broadly be identified under Relationship,  Achievement as well as Personal attributes of getting work done and celebrating success. A combination of Functional and Behavioural Competencies therefore will help in arriving at a reasonably balanced Competency Matrix for an organisation. It will then be easy to define a matrix with different degrees of competencies applicable to those in functions at all levels. More and more youngsters joining the workforce today are keen to develop their competencies just as the older workforce struggle to catch up with them on technical competency.

While on competency needed for various positions, it may do good for all of us if someone can actually define the Competency profile needed for our Politicians and Ministers as the fortunes of an entire nation and over a billion people are dependent on them.

Feedback from readers is most welcome.

Job Xavier- Mumbai

98923 29188

Catch Employees Doing Right

On going through the list of best Companies to work for 2013(Fortune survey), came across one of the winners (in first 10) having a practice of “Catching Someone doing something Right” and I thought this is the ultimate in employee engagement.

Most of our policies in companies talk about what should or should not be done and HR managers are always called on to discipline employees, be it for late coming, incomplete work or as done at annual appraisals, identifying the bottom 10 per cent. Such appraisals also throw up the stars but then a whole lot of small acts which may have contributed  in their own small way to help  growth, processes or just to bring a smile on some one’s face, often go unnoticed.

Instances of an employee who helped a colleague with a tie when called for an urgent meeting, help a lady recover when she slipped, someone offering to help a colleague carrying a laptop and files to a meeting or even a canteen boy making sure that the tables in the cafeteria are always kept neat and clean; innumerable instances which if noticed and appreciated, could actually boost the ego of the employee performing them and bring a new perspective to timely and meaningful recognition.Rather than the yearly appraisal, periodic reviews and even substantial increments (whose value gets discounted in two months), Catching Employees doing Right is the best and cheapest way to maintain continuous employee engagement

.

In the award winning Company mentioned earlier, the top man asks Functional heads to keep him informed whenever they “Catch” employees doing something positive, something appreciable even though trivial, and then makes it a point to call and thank around 10 such employees every day. I salute such a practice because the entire exercise brims with positive vibes, done only to tell the employee that someone has noticed the good deed she did.

These practices can contribute significantly to Continuous Employee Engagement, something that every organisation wants to do, given the high rate of attrition and not so positive feedback from official, periodic reviews. The merit of such appreciation will be experienced almost immediately and it is not only cost effective but can generate high levels of enthusiasm, with considerable positive impact on the entire organisation. .

If some of us can make it a point to Catch at least one person Doing Right and acknowledge the event, we would have made her and of course our own day.

Warm regards

Job Xavier- Mumbai

98923 29188

Using Actual Working Time Well

During my research to understand the evolution of the Performance Appraisal System in  India, starting from the well documented  MBO efforts of T.V Rao and late Udai  Pareekh at L&T, to more advanced practices suggested by leading consultants from the world over, I came across  a simple, one page appraisal format used in an old PSU undertaking. Besides the typical parameters on performance, attitude etc, was a simple parameter, ”uses actual working time well”

Fascinated by this little gem that captured almost everything that a corporate should look for in an employee, I tried to get to the source of this information. I learned that this  format originally came from a PSU bank, designed by a very senior and highly respected banker, who was particular that the appraisal report captured what was most essential for the job  besides  performance, skills needed and areas for improvement. And for all these, he made the effective use of actual working time as the common measurement parameter.

I liked this concept and started a little informal survey, all on my own, among friends and working colleagues including a very busy CEO, on the meaning of actual working time. It turned out that most of us work real hard and conscientiously for around 4 to 5 hours in a working day. My actual average from the responses of over 100 participants was around 4.47 hrs. the lower end had the typical loafers who would be at their desks all through but actually worked for around 2 hours with the CEO and some in a call center, working more than 6 hours.

We all know how, even the busiest of employees actually spend a lot of time on unnecessary add ons which could be delegated, postponed or simply shortened. Think of the times when we have wasted  10 minutes or more in a meeting  only because the coffee ordered comes late or the time  wasted when we have to wait all afternoon for a boss who finds time for us only after 6,with an effective 5 minute meeting spread over half an hour due to frequent phone calls.

The end result of all our working efforts indicates our contribution and gives legitimacy to our position in the organization. And for this, the effective use of available working hours matters more than anything else for maximum efficiency. A lot of people nowadays, with flexi time and work from home facility, do have different types of work schedules though even here it is doubtful if they put in a lot of time at real work.

The immediate application I see of this concept of actual working time is in manpower planning. Most organizations do have well laid out processes such as workload identification, KRA/KPI as well as business targets for the year based on which the required manpower is estimated. What if we became a little more numerical, just identify the actual time required to complete  a task, assume an average of  5 actual working hours available per day and then simply divide the task hours by work hours and then see if the number that results is sufficient. My own premise is that if we make sure the required staff actually works effectively, the given task can be accomplished in less time with a lesser number.

These assumptions by no means are intended to belittle the number of hours a large number of staff in the unorganized sector put in. But then they are paid by the hour; many more have fixed hours such as in a retail store, in facilities management, in the broking/ banking sectors which have defined customer hours. My focus here is the general office work which is not necessarily regulated by just the quantum of work, but the eventual outcome.

Circulating this information to my HR colleagues, some of whom may find merit in the concept and use it as a parameter in the upcoming appraisals. Your feedback as always is most welcome.

 Job Xavier

jobxavier@gmail.com

Complete the Case Study

Hi,

I will start a series of  anecdotes which will only have the first  few paras  from me, leaving the rest to be filled by any one interested, on the same theme as in the title.After some good responses have been recd., I will gather all the additions and make out a good case study on the topic and repost here.

Like? Let me start with the first one.

1. The Imperial Joker

The boss was annoyed that in spite of reminders over an entire week, his team had not only failed to deliver a big order, but no one communicated with the client on the status of the order.Early on Monday after another round of complaints from the Client who met him at a party the previous night, the Boss called for a meeting of 3 key  team members from Production, marketing and Quality.
All 3 had valid excuses, the production guy was waiting for the Quality Team to pass the first sample; the Q.C Manager was awaiting feedback from the marketing on the specs used  to justify the price offerred. In short, the product was nowhere near ready as per the ordered numbers.The Company could lose the oeder, return the advance, suffer a loss and also lose face in the market as also for the Boss, with a good friend.

All this while, the Boss' executive Assistant, a sharp guy but with a tremendous sense of humour ( all referred to him as the Court Jester/ Imperial Joker) came up with this brilliant idea
"Boss", he said----------