The HR Digest Magazine Q2 2015

w w w. t h e h r d i g e s t . c o m

Hr THE

Digest

Inspiring Human Resources Leadership Worldwide April 2015 Issue

a peek inside twitter’s

Joyously Chirping Nest

Workplace Culture

Legal Hub

HR Bulletin

Nullify Unrestrained Emotions at Work?

You’re not the only one

Ellen Pao v. Kleiner Perkins | Lessons from the courtroom

Federal workers, think twice before you blaze that joint

2

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

editor’s note Some believe that Silicon Valley is heartsmitten by male chauvinistic thinking. Gender and ethnic diversity are vehemently controversial topics for the technology cluster in which top companies including Google, Facebook and Apple have shown a lack of diversity. The Ellen Pao v. Kleiner Perkins gender bias and retaliation trial, transfixed nations business community for its slanderous allegations and bigshots. Even though, the most high-profile case in Silicon Valley reached an end following weeks of testimony and days of colloquium, it has left a menacing note showing that much work remains on social policy, law, and gender and sexuality in the Bay Area.

In this issue, we looked the legal repercussions of not addressing such unsavory and misogynist issues to promulgate what can be done to decrassify it in Legal Hub (p86).

Every entrepreneur wants to create an ideal organizational culture where

people work happier, grow and find success. Twitter CEO Dick Costolo, a former improv comedian, has fashioned Twitter’s culture with transparency, diverse social interactions and fortuitous collisions to boost happiness and success. Our Cover Story, ‘ A Peek inside Twitter’s Joyously Chirping Nest’ runs from pages 68-85. Leadership (p28) highlights the impact of delivering pink slips on corporate culture and what can be possibly done to reduce its negative effects on employees.

Among other things, we have, Costco the warehouse discounter that transformed itself into a cultural icon (p44), kissing goodbye to unrestrained emotions (p116) and the hiccups of a faulty onboarding process (p102). Happy Reading!

Like always, we welcome your comments. You may reach us at editor@thehrdigest.com or Editor - The HR Digest, The Fastest Media, 3651 Lindell Road, Suite 320D, Las Vegas, NV 89103.

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

3

The Team Editorial Anna Domanska, Editor-in-Chief

Christy Gren, Sub-Editor

Priyansha Mistry, Sub-Editor

Aubrey Chang, Associate Editor

Riana Petanjek, Sub-Editor

Design Kevin Paul Sr. Grahpic Designer

Project Management Tony Raval Project Director

Marketing Jason Miller Sr. Project Director

Jay Raol Project Director

Advertising Richard Dean, Advertising Manager

Technology John Hancock Head-Web Department

Le Manh Coung, Sr Sofrware Coordinator

Finance Control R R Baratiya

4

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

Julia Hunt, Magazine Production

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

5

Content Features

28 LEADERSHIP

12 HR Bulletin

Hundreds of pink slips? How to minimize the impact of mass layoffs

Federal workers, think twice before you blaze that joint

6

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

32 HR HELP DESK

A reader writes: Recently, I had to terminate one of my employees, and now I am lamenting for her. How long will this feeling of grieving last?

44

68

EMPLOYEE BENEFITS

When Costco stuck to the idea of rejecting the demands of Wall Street for higher profits

COVER STORY

52 TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT

A Peek inside Twitter’s Joyously Chirping Nest

The art of effective feedback

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

7

90 HR TOOLS & TECHNOLOGY

86 LEGAL HUB

Human Resource can now go as far as calling itself a digitally influenced management

The Ellen Pao v.

Kleiner Perkins lawsuit beguiled Silicon Valley with its prurient details while at the same time aggrandize concerns about workforce diversity 8

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

102 RECRUITMENT POINT

A faulty onboarding process is why most employees quit early

106

122

SUCCESS STORY

A key element in IBM’s workforce diversity settings is its long-standing dedication to equal opportunity

EVENTS & CONFERENCES

116 WORKPLACE CULTURE

Top picks of conferences and professional events around the world.

Nullify Unrestrained Emotions at Work?

You’re not the only one

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

9

10

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

11

HR

Bulletin

A roundup of the latest news and insights on the State and Federal employment laws and human resources to keep you informed on issues at the forefront of the industry

12

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

13

HR

Bulletin

14

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

Federal workers, think twice before you blaze that joint

W

ith the successful legalization of pot for recreational purposes, all sorts of stoners, elitists, philosophers, hippies and athletes are now bouncing off the walls, copping dank nugs – all but the federal workers, thanks to the federal executive law dating back to the Reagan administration.

We are all aware of Obama’s current presidency being liberal and not trying to intervene in the state legalization of marijuana. However federal employees will still be prohibited from using illegal drugs. Why? Because the federal law is adamant on not giving a thumbs up to the use of weed.

And though recreational marijuana usage is now legal in the District — as well as in Washington State, Colorado, Oregon and Alaska— it is still illegal for the ranks of federal workers who live in these places.

Workers could be called in for a random screening depending upon what level of security clearance they have. However this would mostly be faced by DOD and military employees, holding classified information at sensitive positions in the federal system.

What’s next? Federal employees seeking advice after testing positive for marijuana, perhaps because there isn’t another concern for national security and performance.

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

15

HR

Bulletin

16

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

Crying shame upon Binghamton Police Department

B

inghamton police Department is undergoing an internal investigation for sexual harassment and has even contacted an outside group to build an independent report of the department for an issue that affects millions of people every year.

A case of sexual harassment, registered on March 19 this year by a female officer, Kristi Sager, accuses Binghamton Police Chief, Joseph Zikuski of sexually harassing her, in a complaint with the New York State Division of Human Rights. The corporation advocate for the city denied all allegations, claiming that these charges were placed by Sager after she was fired by the department for irresponsibly leaving an accident scene.

Fear of retaliation among employees is often greater than the crime itself which is why so many employees prefer to keep still about being sexually harassed, even though federal and state laws exist to protect them.

Such kind of cases arise especially when the harasser is a supervisor rather than a co-worker.

Whether a victim chooses the state or federal course of action, depends on the kind of harassment they have been subjected to. The state route, relies on the state authority which is responsible for handling cases of harassment and discrimination from backlash in the workplace. In the aforementioned case, it is the state Division of Human Rights that deals with such cases.

Employees can also undergo federal jurisdiction, typically the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, or EEOC, that prohibits discrimination based on sex.

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

17

HR

Bulletin

Culture and Employee Engagement No.1 HR Challenge

01

02

03

04

05

06

“Softer� areas such as culture and engagement, leadership, and development have become urgent priorities.

Leadership and learning have dramatically increased in importance, but the capability gap is widening.

HR organizations and HR skills are not keeping up with business needs.

HR technology systems are a growing market, but their promises may be largely unfulfilled.

Talent and people analytics are a high priority and a tremendous opportunity, but the progress is slow.

Simplification is an emerging theme; HR is part of the problem.

18

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

Culture and Employee Engagement No.1 HR Challenge According to Global Human Capital Trends, a recent Deloitte longitudinal study of talent, leadership, HR challenges and readiness around the world, culture and engagement issues continue to worry businesses, rising to become the No.1 challengers globally. While culture and engagement play a very significant role in business performance, most organizations do a poor job of measuring their achievements or shortcomings.

Leadership

Culture & engagement

HR & people analytics

Reinventing HR

Performance management

Learning & development

Workforce capability

0 -5 -10

-9

-15 -16

-20 -25

-23

-24

-30

-27 -31

-35 -40

-34

-30

-31

-30

-29

-28

-27

-36

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

19

HR

Bulletin

20

Thehrdigest The hr digestMagazine Magazine[APRIL [APRIL2015] 2015]

Seattle waiters grinning like Cheshire cats

F

or the record, Washington State has the country’s highest minimum pay system, presently at $9.47 with Seattle on its way to having the minimum base wage raised to $11.

Seattle waiters, which already belong to the country’s second highest paid working class, are about to get lucky.

In 2014, President Barak Obama called on Congress to raise the minimum wage from the current hourly rate of $7.25 to a $10.10 federal minimum wage. However some States are reluctantly increasing this figure set under the federal law, with twenty-nine states and the District of Columbia already having a minimum wage above the presidential proposal.

Among the most influential hikes is the one that took place in Seattle last year, where fast food workers staged walkouts to promote the idea of a higher legally-mandated base wage which came into effect on Wednesday April 1. However, this increase will be phased in only by 2017 after which Seattle workers at large companies will earn $15 an hour.

Seattle will be the first city to hit the $15 mark -this advancement in the minimum wage system is supposedly higher than the legally-mandated base wage that exists in New York, Chicago and the District of Columbia.

There has been a widespread speculation about restaurants shutting down, however Seattle Times announced in an ironclad piece of reporting explaining that recent restaurant closures are not linked to the change in the minimum wage law.

Most of the business experts are now focusing on when the Seattle Minimum will rise again. Well, January 1. Mark your calendars!

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

21

HR

Bulletin

22

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

Virginia coming in line with social media protection for its employees

I

n the name of Virginia’s reputation as an “employee-friendly” state, it is now the nineteenth state to provide increased social media protections to its prospective and current employees. Public employers in Virginia should bear in mind the fact that the new law pertains to them as well as to private employers.

The law, beginning on July 1, 2015, prohibits employers in Virginia from requiring that applicants and employees disclose their username and/or password to their personal media accounts, substantially limiting employer access to the social media accounts of job applicants and employees.

Even though employers will now be barred from disciplining, penalizing or rejecting job applicants for choosing not to disclose information related to their personal media accounts, Virginia’s law, however is noticeably button mouthed on prohibitions against other methods, for example, employers bearing a beady eye on their employees’ restricted online content, shoulder surfing or even asking applicants or employees to change their privacy settings in a way that allows them to have access to their personal online accounts. Moreover the law does not apply to accounts opened at the request of the employer, set up by the employee on behalf of the employer, or provided by the employer to the employee. This statute only applies to the employee’s personal social media accounts.

Nevertheless, the law is drawing towards us the idea of how employees can now act against employers who resort to taking adverse actions against prospective or current employees for exercising their rights under the law.

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

23

HR

Bulletin

24

Thehrdigest The hr digestMagazine Magazine[APRIL [APRIL2015] 2015]

Same sex couples will be eligible to take FMLA leave to care for a spouse

O

n February 23, 2015, the United States Department of Labor announced a cutting edge change to its rules, effective March 27, 2015, which sanctions same-sex marriages to equal protection under The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, 29 U.S.C. § 2601, et seq. (“FMLA”).

What does this mean? Under this rule shift, which safeguards the rights of employers with 50 or more employees, allows employees in legal, same-sex marriages, regardless of where they live, to quality for FMLA job-protected, unpaid leaves for up to a total of 12 workweeks in a 12-month period to care for a spouse with a serious health condition.

This new change, however, stretches out the protections of the FMLA to same-sex marriages and common law marriages so long as the marriage is under the legal establishment of the law and legitimate in the place where it was celebrated.

Once the leave period finishes, the employer is required to reinstate the employee to the same or an equivalent job rank with the same employment benefits, pay and other terms and conditions of employment as earlier.

Federal law has failed to maintain its course with the New Jersey law in giving same-sex couples an equal right to care for their loved ones with serious health conditions. Earlier, the regulatory meaning of “spouse” under the FMLA did not comprise of same-sex spouses.

In New Jersey, however, the rule change took effect March 27, 2015 without many people singing the blues or creating controversies. The change is important, for the FMLA effectively compliments the existing protections afforded to employees in New Jersey.

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

25

HR

Bulletin

26

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

Wall Street’s Pay Gap Shrivels

T

he once unbridgeable pay gap between Wall Street CEOs and their employees has substantially narrowed since the banking collapse of 2008. According to a Wall Street Journal review of bank regulatory filings, the pay gap is smaller than in other industries, and is driven predominantly by a crumble in compensation for the leaders of the five biggest Wall Street firms.

Albeit, Wall Street CEOs still made 124 times what the average rank-and-file worker at their banks earned in 2014, down by 55% from 273 times in 2006. What’s worth looking into is that, the compensation for top banking CEOs at Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, J.P. Morgan Chase and Morgan Stanley plunged down by 47 percent over the same period. On the other hand, the average salary of the group was still a stupendous $18.5 million. The average paycheck at these banks leaped by 17 percent to $148,740.

The pay gap between leaders and workers is ought to get unwavering attention once the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission hammers out a regulation mandating all public companies to report how much more the CEO made than a typical employee. Nowadays, the pay gap between the CEO and their employees in the banking industry unambiguously looks ridiculously modest compared with some other industries in the U.S. According to the Wall Street Journal, in the year of 2013, the leaders of the top 350 publicly traded companies made 296 times what the average worker did.

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

27

Leadership

28

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

“

Being terminated is not the same as being fired.

Minimizing the Impact of Mass Layoffs Sometimes in life we have to do things that we don’t want to do - such as, conducting a layoff and letting go off longtime employees. It’s a pretty gutwrenching decision that no company owner ever wants to take, and an awkward, distasteful duty that no HR personnel ever wants to be consigned with.

The year 2008, when the Bear Stearns collapsed, was shadowed by a dark period of corporate layoffs where you could see men coming out of buildings with tears in their eyes, head in their hands. It was a mourning period for everyone – friendships were severed, everybody’s morale had hit rock-bottom, and there was a tinge of uncertainty about the future.

Mass layoffs are often a result of an unforeseen financial pickle. Unfortunately, in this day and age, layoffs have become an everyday occurrence. Call it organizational reengineering, restructuring or reduction in force, it is all still the same. A lot of companies use silken terms such as restructuring or transformation when terminating employees. Being terminated is not the same as being fired. People get terminated as a result of a certain reconstruction in the company. While being fired, implies that the employee has failed the company, or was sliding down the slope of unethical conduct.

When we lay off people, we’re taking away their job and their livelihood. Sadly, The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

29

human resources department is the first one to see them coming, and the only ones who see them on their way out.

Removing layers of workforce is a process that requires a highly orchestrated implementation. It should be swiftly executed and tightly managed that aligns with the urgency of change as well as the vision and focus of the company.

Managers should be prepared with the key message and important questions that should be addressed.

There is no easy way to drop the axe, whether it is one single employee, or the whole department, however, there can certainly be a highly-orchestrated way to do it than via mass emails or conference calls. Below are a few key rules that will help you conduct layoffs with dignity and compassion.

LAY OFF SIZE When conducting mass layoffs, like the one that Microsoft recently lead (fourth biggest layoff in tech’s modern history), it is best that employees are categorizes by job titles, salary and time spent with the company. This will dictate the type of severance package the company would offer, as well as help determinate what each employee will receive as a part of the layoff.

THE BIG BANG MOMENT! Timing is essential in layoffs. A lot of companies carry out layoffs on a Friday, late in the day or before a holiday, believing that the staff will be in good spirits, and hence, less anger. But by doing so, the company is only feeding the perception that its leaders are cowardly, and it unquestionably does not care about its people.

It is better that everyone knows what is going on. Delivering the pink slip should rather be done with one-on-one meetings on a mid-day morning, followed by a group meeting with the staff at the end of the same day. Affected employees should not find through an email, press release, or a social media post that they have lost their job. Tell your employees first, about the changes the organization is undergoing, and then you can start with a more general announcement on social media channels where your customers can learn about the changes.

Secondly, carrying layoffs no later than mid-week will help employees look for potential opportunities, rather than going home, miserably waiting for the weekend to get over and re-engage. By making the announcement on a Friday evening, you’re only going to leave all your remaining employees hanging all weekend.

A well drafted letter should state why their position has been eliminated and outline important information. This could include the date of their last day, details of the severance package, what kind of job-transition assistance will be provided, and information on unused vacation that will be compensated as well as health insurance.

30

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

OFF LIKE A BAND-AID? It is critical to address the rest of the staff about layoff. Doing it on a Friday is only going to create a doomsday scenario over the weekend for the retained employees. It’s a good idea to offer the following information to the remaining employees: When will their (laid off people) last day be? What will happen to their work?

How are the terminated employees doing? On what grounds, was it decided that layoffs are absolutely necessary? Lastly, share a little bit of information on the layoff package.

The HR managers, supervisors and executives should always know what their rapport with the employees it, since this will significantly help in matching the person who will have to give out the bad news to the employee.

SHOW COMPASSION & DIGNITY Your company must shower departing employees with the same respect and dignity that they received upon getting hired. Layoffs are when the human resources department get to demonstrate whether the company truly cared for its people. Complimenting on the good work they did on the job, can help terminated employees go through the ordeal a little more smoothly and with respect.

Similarly, calling unsolicited outplacement consultant reps as a therapeutic measure is something that can be best avoided, especially if your firm doesn’t have that kind of money to blow. Your employees need friends and family to make sure that they’re alright, and not some consultant they’ve just met a few seconds ago.

Another way of softening the blow of a layoff is by doing everything you can to find them a new job. It could mean providing a prodigious job recommendation or even calling around within the network to see if anyone’s hiring. Additionally, career counseling to terminated employees is one of the most humane and sincere ways of conducting a layoff.

Make arrangements for the terminated person to clear out their desk while their co-workers are away. Give the person the opportunity to say good-bye to co-workers at some other time when they would like to. Duck the possibility of using security guards for escorting employees to their desk, and then out to the door unless you have to (under extreme cases). The people who remain are going to judge how you handled the whole process.

Be clear and concise in telling terminated people why this is happening. The line management must accept full responsibility off the layoff.

Lastly, employees must leave the office with all the necessary documentation.

In reality, nothing can make layoffs an easy process. It’s not something that was ever meant to be easy. Although, it is something that makes us care and ponder over our responsibility, accountability in handling the situation with integrity and professionalism.

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

31

Hdesk

r help

The official canon for brutally honest, straightforward answers to HR related queries, and concerns.

A reader writes: Recently, I got feedback from my manager (from an unknown source, as per her) that I ought not to be putting my feet up in the cubicle. I do this commonly amid long telephone calls, on the grounds that it is agreeable and assuages pressure from my back. I was informed that it demonstrated an absence of “executive presence.� Executives sometimes, yet not regularly, do visit our floor. Is this really inappropriate?

32

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

In some places, this would be totally fine, whereas at others something like this would be considered as deeply unprofessional. In this case, with your boss telling you not to do it, you shouldn’t do it. It is also possible that she’s just passing along feedback that she doesn’t herself quite agree with.

Moreover, the absence of executive presence isn’t about whether they see you doing it or not. It implies that you’re not behaving in a way where people would take you seriously. That can affect what sort of appreciation you and your thoughts get around your office, what opportunities you’re given, how determined (or sluggish) individuals think you are, and much whether you’re seen as professional.

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

33

Hdesk

r help

A reader writes: I was underpaid at my last job. Subsequently, I was laid off. My first employment offer eventually came as the unemployment was running out, and amid the interview, when asked about the salary. I knew the range, keeping in mind it would be a pay cut even at the top end, it was still a job, and one that looked fascinating, so I brought up that it was a buyer’s market.

I got the initial offer in a telephone call, and what he offered was at the highest point of their extent. I verbally acknowledged. The following day I got the offer by email, and realized that while I had heard $85K, he had said $75K. That was the base of their reach, and for somebody with numerous years of experience.

However, since I had verbally acknowledged, I didn’t think it was fitting to attempt to negotiate. I am going to stay and do a good job, for at least two or three years. Other than being underpaid, everything else about the job appears to be okay, both for me and the organization. I know I’m underpaid because I let it happen, I don’t push as hard as I likely could. Yet, was this a situation where pushing harder would have been an awful thought at any rate?

34

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

I would have said something when I got the email and acknowledged there had been a miscommunication. In a perfect world, you would have called him and said something like you thought he said $85,000 and that you must have misheard.In case that he said that no, $75,000 was the offer, then you could have endeavored to negotiate, taking into account your experience.

He could possibly have been willing to give in, yet it’s unquestionably not improper to attempt to negotiate in this kind of circumstances, especially when you know their range and know where you ought to fall inside it. You can simply still acknowledge the first offer at least if the head honcho won’t increase it.

It’s past the point of no return now, however, in the future don’t be timid about speaking up in the event that you realize there’s been a miscommunication, particularly on something as critical as salary.

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

35

Hdesk

r help

A reader writes: Recently, I emailed my resume and cover letter to an organization that had a job posting on Career Builders. About after a week I got a call from a man in HR asking that I give back him call. I returned home about a few hours later and gave back the call and got his voicemail. I left a brief, respectful message.

Three days passed and the HR person did not return my call. I got back to on the fourth day and left another message expressing who I was and that I had called him three days ago and asked that he get back to me, and said that I wanted to get notification from him soon since I was eager to discuss about the position. One more week went with no call from him. I emailed my cover letter and resume to him again with a brief message that I was keen on knowing whether the position was still available. I never got a word from him.

What was the reason he called in first place and is this simply a missed open door on the grounds that I missed his first call by a few hours?

36

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

You’re entitled to feel frustrated. There are quite a few possible explanations why this must have happened, despite the fact that I think the one below is more likely: After calling you, he discovered a stronger applicant who knocked you out of the running. Then again, he figured out that the hiring manager has settled on a better candidate. Then again changed the set of expectations. Or canceled the job altogether.

In any of those cases, he should have called you up to let you know, keeping in mind that you weren’t left hanging — regardless, particularly seeing you catch up more than once. Not doing as such is disrespectful and rude. It’s unfortunately common of amongst an increasing number of executives who feel no commitment to treat candidates with civility once they choose they have no further use for them.

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

37

Hdesk

r help

A reader writes: I’m a new manager and attempting to try my hardest to tailor my style for each of my subordinates. Not long from now I asked my colleagues what they’d like to me to accomplish in our discussion. I got some unbelievable feedback from the majority of my people, yet one has me marginally confused.

The issue is that one of subordinate’s feedback was for me to quit discussing about them. In particular, she doesn’t want to talk about expectations or feedback. I attempted to try to figure out why she doesn’t care for the discussions and clarified that we do this so she’ll know how she’s doing, how raises are chosen and how/why different discussions happen, however, she says she simply doesn’t care for discussing it. I inquired as to whether there’s another strategy she’d incline toward – writing versus talking, separate meetings for expectations outside of our office, and so forth however she simply doesn’t care for any of it. I said I’d conceptualize and requested that she think of approaches to get the information too. Clearly I’ll be giving criticism whether she loves it and I’m interested in different discussions, however I would prefer not to completely ignore the appeal.

Do you have any other thoughts of how I can verify she comprehends her expectations and work progress without unmistakably conveying about it?

38

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

The request is pretty much off-base, and shouldn’t be entertained.Tell her that you’ve thought about to her request not to keep on having feedback discussions with her. Explain how feedback is an inherent part of how workplaces usually work. It helps managers know how well the employees are doing, and show how the company would like them to focus on doing something differently or better.

To be honest, I would likewise include, “I’m amazed that you would prefer not to get criticism. To exceed expectations in this part, we have to have really coordinate discussions about your performance. I’m really frightened that you don’t need that, in light of the fact that it indicates a crucial disengage about how we work here.”

Don’t let your longing to be obliging make you dismiss what’s sensible, and don’t give it a chance to lead you to attempt to please anybody and everything.

You can be decent without being an easy game.

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

39

Hdesk

r help

A reader writes: I just finished an internship a week ago and sent my last task to my boss.

My director messaged me requesting that I add data to the project that he hadn’t mentioned I needed to include before. It’d most likely take me no less than five hours to do it. The internship was unpaid, swung out to not be great experience/learning-wise, and I did all the hours I consented to do, so I don’t think I “owe” them additional time. I’m additionally beginning another internship not long from now, so I don’t precisely have a group of additional extra time to be as yet doing work for them. They have 20 interns every semester, so it’d be simple for him to hand the work off to another person in the spring following the work isn’t time sensitive.

Is it absurd for me to not do the extra work? Could I simply remind my boss that I’ve completed my hours and say I’m beginning another internship and don’t have room schedule-wise to do extra work? I would prefer not to “cut off ties”.

40

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

Simply email him back and let him know that now that your temporary job is over and you’re beginning another position, you don’t have room schedulewise to keep on doing work for him. Express gratitude towards him again for the experience, however no, you don’t have to keep on doing work now that the position is over.

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

41

Hdesk

r help

A reader writes: Recently, I had to terminate one of my employees. There was a history marked by lateness, no-call/no-show conduct, and absence of performance at work.

The greater part of this conduct was documented, and the worker was put on no less than two action plans. I truly wanted my employee to succeed.

I feel that the terminating was just, and truth be told, the correct thing to do.

Her performance was beginning to influence her colleagues. My co-supervisors and I did all that we could to alter the employee’s conduct before it came an issue. At last, be that as it may, the worker choose not to change her conduct.

I am lamenting for her. I’m simply considering to what extent this feeling of lamenting will last. This is the first occasion when I’ve needed to terminate an employee.

42

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

Terminating somebody is a terrible-terrible feeling, regardless of the fact that the individual had been cautioned over and again and had multiple opportunity to improve. It simply sucks to be the individual who takes someone’s job away from them.

As a manager, it is a fundamental responsibility to hold the high bar and expect employees to meet it, to warn them when they’re missing the mark and take action when that doesn’t change anything. You’ve got to remember that you didn’t terminate this employee spontaneously or without notice or for a low reason. It seems like you clearly advised her on what she would need to change in order to keep her job, yet she chose not to make those changes.

It would have sucked to fire someone, when you knew that the individual is making a decent attempt and just can’t meet the bar you require. Hence, you need to learn that you settled on the right decision for your team. Moreover, she made a very obvious choice of not appearing to work, not trying to call, despite previous warnings.

That being said, it’s normal to feel solicitude. However, please make sure that you’re also feeling good about looking out for the well-being of your team members, and enforcing fair and reasonable consequences. As hard as this might have been for you, you’re a better manager for doing it.

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

43

Employee benefits Employee

become

yourb

of 44

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

well-being could

the new backbone

business The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

45

Employee benefits COSTCO Everyone has had the experience of shopping in a big-box store such as Wal-Mart or a fast-food chain like McDonald’s and seeing them staffed with many unhappy and unhelpful people. Costco, a competitor of Walmart, however, is a living example of how the largest employers in front-line services can afford to pay their workers good living wages.

In 2004, Costco’s co-founder and recently retired CEO, James Sinegal envisioned a strategy that depended on his progressive vision of paying its workers $17 an hour. Albeit, being heavily criticized by Wall Street analysts for zeroing in on customers and workers rather than shareholders, Costco stuck to the idea of rejecting the demands of Wall Street for higher profits.

The greatest employers such as Walmart, Target McDonalds, Yum! Brands (owner of Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut), etc. in the front-line service industries sector employ 4.3 million people, just 14% of the 29.9 million workers in this sector.

With its market influence and the relentless power to squeeze suppliers, Walmart continues to create low profits and low wages for Costco within the global supply chain. Underneath Walmart is a vast number of small suppliers, whose razor slim profit margins are the basis of the fatter margins enjoyed by the giants.

The question now is whether this approach will be able to survive the change of leadership and whether the company will become the target of a hostile takeover.

No bitterness intended but at a place like Wall Street where people strategize on making money between now and Thursday, Costco believes in making a company that stays in the global view 50 and 60 years from now.

46

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

Why investing in workers makes a company richer

Founded with a single store in Seattle in 1983, Costco now has over 457 stores, most of them operating in the United States, but also in Canada, Britain, South Korea, Taiwan and Japan.

In contrast, Wal-Mart had 642 Sam’s Clubs in the United States and abroad as of Jan. 31. Costco’s profit mounted 22 percent last year, to $882 million, with the sales figure reaching $47.1 billion. In the United States, its stores average $121 million in sales annually, far more than the $70 million for Sam’s Clubs. And the average household income of Costco customers is $74,000 - with 31 percent earning over $100,000.

Costco relies on the formula of selling limited number of items, keeping costs down, depending on high volume, paying workers well, having customers buy memberships and aiming for upscale shoppers, especially small-business owners. In addition to the aforementioned strategies, it doesn’t advertise - that saves 2 percent a year in costs.

Costco has some of the most thoughtful schemes for all its employees- schemes like employee stock purchase plan where new employees are eligible to enroll in the plan, allowing them to purchase Costco stock by payroll deduction. This plan does not include any commissions and fees that is normally associated with the purchase of stock.

Employees rave about the benefits, which include paid holidays, great health and dental insurance plan, paid vacation, and paid sick time for both part time and full time employees. Moreover, pays are competitive, raises depend on hours worked, and workers obtain twice a year bonuses after they have hit the top pay mark.

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

47

Employee benefits JIM SINEGAL’s Vision

JIM SINEGAL, the chief executive of Costco Wholesale, the nation’s fifthlargest retailer, had all the craze of an 8-year-old in a candy store as he ripped open the container of one of his favorite items: granola snack mix. “You got to try this; it’s delicious,” he said. “And just $9.99 for 38 ounces.”

Costco’s senior vice president for human resources, John Matthews said that whenever they brainstorm about setting wages and benefits, he doesn’t want Costco to be greater than everyone else, he wants it to be demonstrably better.

With his intense attention to detail and price, Mr. Sinegal has successfully built Costco as one of the nation’s chief warehouse retailer, with about half of the market, leaving behind Sam’s Club with 40 percent. But Sam’s is not a usual runner-up: it is part of the Wal-Mart Empire, which, with $288 billion in sales last year, has a lot of potential to dwarf Costco.

Despite Costco’s remarkable record and visible success, Mr. Sinegal’s salary is just $350,000, excluding the whopping $200,000 bonus that he received last year. That places Jim at less than 10 percent of other renowned chief executives, albeit Costco ranks 29th in revenue among all the American companies.

“I’ve been very well rewarded,” said Mr. Sinegal, who is today significantly worth more than $150 million thanks to his Costco stock funds.

Jim believes that if someone is going to try their hands at running a firm that’s extremely cost-conscious, then they can’t have those tiny inconsistencies and lack correspondence. Having a person who is making 100 or 200 or 300 times more than the average person working on the floor is wrong.

He is forced to be flinty at times, due to the amount of competition that is so fierce that it requires Costco to be competitive in the toughest marketplace in the world against the biggest competitor in the world because this is not a scenario from ‘The Little Sisters of the Poor’. Jim asserts further that Costco cannot afford to be timid at this stage of its growth.

48

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

Jim Sinegal was only 18, a student at San Diego Community College, when a pal asked him to help unload and drop off mattresses for a month-old discount store called Fed-Mart.

What he thought would be a limited time period job has become his career today. He has risen to the position of an executive vice president for merchandising and has even become a protégé of Fed-Mart’s chairman, Sol Price that is accredited with formulating the idea of high-volume warehouse stores that sells products from a limited number of brands.

Mr. Price sold off Fed-Mart to a German retailer in 1975 and was fired soon after. Mr. Sinegal left thereafter and assisted Mr. Price in starting a fresh warehouse company, Price Club. Its huge recognition led others to invade in this sort of a market: Wal-Mart that came up with Sam’s Club, Zayre’s started BJ’s Wholesale Club and interestingly a Seattle entrepreneur knocked on Mr. Sinegal’s door to dream up on building Costco.

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

49

Employee benefits COMPARISION WITH WAL-MART

There is a little love lost between WalMart and Costco ever since Wal-Mart boasted that its Sam’s Club division has the lowest prices of any retailer. Mr. Sinegal emphatically dismissed the assertion made

by Wal-Mart and maintained with a oneword barnyard epithet.

The average Costco employee makes nearly triple the revenue in contrast to the average Wal-Mart and Target employee.

Its machine-oriented warehouses require far fewer employees to run compared to a big-box store. What keeps customers coming back, and what makes members renewing their memberships is Costco’s unique business model - the well-paid and happy employees. With strategies like these, Costco is able to better deliver to the market than traditional retailers like WalMart.

Nailing in the business of discount retailing is not everyone’s cup of tea. Companies must pay poorly and skimp on profits, or must notch up prices to meet minimum profit demands. However, Costco does not find this idea very ethical.

Good wages and benefits are why Costco has tremendously low proportions of turnover and theft by employees. Costco’s affluent customers, who are more advanced than most other warehouse store shoppers choose to stay loyal as

50

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

they like how Costco does not bring low prices at the workers’ expense. This is certainly not altruism, only a good business strategy.

Mr. Sinegal’s fundamental rule is that no branded item can be marked up by more than 14 percent, and no private-label piece by more than 15 percent.

Other supermarkets generally mark-up merchandise by 25 percent, and department stores by 50 percent or more.

Costco better understands that their members don’t come to shop from their stores because of the fancy window displays, the Santa Clause or the piano player. They come and shop with them because they offer really great values.

Interestingly, one more exciting fact is that in the US, eighty-five percent of Costco’s workers have health insurance, compared with less than fifty percent at Walmart and Target.

A Deli clerk (former employee) of Costco from Oakland, CA- April 9, 2015 saidWhen working at Costco as a deli clerk, every time I came to work I felt good vibes about the place plus everyone was respectful and polite.

The management of this company is under control and well organized.

I learned a lot about the skills required in food inventory. My coworkers were fantastic and customers never had an altercation with them. In the lunch breaks we would always make jokes on each other. The stores are really big and I loved coming early and checking the food inventory preparing the food for display and also keeping the customers satisfied.

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

51

Training & Development

52

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

The Art of Effective Feedback One of the key qualities a good leaders must have is the art of giving and receiving feedback. All other leadership tools combined won’t be completely successful if feedback is lacking. Vision, talents and competencies of an organization won’t blend in synergism with feedback. Open and legitimate feedback is best when conveyed in a positive and gainful way to boost performance. Absence of valuable feedback can do next to nothing in helping the individual know whether his or her performance is up to the standards and what can further be done to enhance it. It is imperative when offering feedback to tell the person where he or she stands as far as established goal or standard of acceptable conduct. Giving and accepting feedback has never been a simple task for anybody, notwithstanding, it is remarkably essential for successful leadership to thrive.

For a feedback to be effective, it needs to function as a two-way flow of information. The sole motivation behind feedback from a manager to an employee is to inform him or her and to motivate the employee. Secondly, timing is important for a feedback to be effective. We have explored the key elements of an effective feedback – whether informational or motivation, or a mix of both.

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

53

Training & Development

54

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

Frequent Feedback Many times managers are under the impression that all feedback sessions need to be formal, official and undeniably an event for an intensive evaluation of the employee’s work performance.

While such macro-feedback sessions are critical, tailored and informal micro-feedback sessions are also important for successful day-to-day operations in the workplace. Not every session need be lengthy and widely inclusive. When feedback mechanisms become systematized and routine, they fall prey to the same bureaucratic diseases that burden everything an organization endeavors to mandate.

Frequent feedback sessions can hinder the need to address various points at any one time.

Employees can only absorb a finite amount of material in any given session. If points for a feedback sessions are accumulated for one extended yearly or semiannual meeting, the employee will presumably be overwhelmed by the sheer amount of points to take care of. However by giving frequent feedback, leaders can cover less issues and in this way enhance the chances that the worker will take in something valuable from the experience.

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

55

Training & Development

56

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

Early Feedback Early interactions between any two individuals are critical in setting the tone for the relationship. The earlier the feedback begins in the employeeboss relationship, the better the chances are for a fruitful association. Furthermore, earlier the feedback is given after an example of desirable or undesirable conduct, the more probable the feedback will succeed either in fortifying or discouraging such conduct.

The worker will know what is expected and why it is important to perform well, and will feel like a valued part of a worthwhile enterprise. It is aphoristic that reinforcement, both positive and

negative, is destined to work when it instantly takes after the conduct in question. The ideal time to give feedback is very soon after the behavior takes place. A quick, early response has the best chance of ensuring that desirable conduct continue and undesirable conduct stops. This is a corollary to the principle that feedback should be frequent; by not waiting until official evaluation time to provide feedback, a leader can influence his or her people with maximum efficacy.

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

57

58

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

Evidence-Based Feedback

Training & Development

An employee who receives feedback without any evident or example of behavior in questions has no establishment for further development. He or she may question the truthfulness of the unsupported statements thus dismiss any proposals for change.

However, when managers incorporate evidence in their feedback sessions, it gets to be both a teaching experience as well as a learning outcome.

Even where the feedback is positive, if it lacks evidence, its valuable impact will be significantly reduced. If the employee is lauded just with undefined sweeping statements, for example, “You are doing an extraordinary job,” he or she will have no chance to know precisely what justified the acknowledgment, and will be uncertain which practices to proceed with or stop. Also, if the employee feels the praise is undeserved or unjustifiable, he or she may dislike it and feel disparaged. Particular cases of the great work, and evidence of why it is importance, will dodge both the appearance and the reality of a disparaging state of mind on the manager’s part.

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

59

Training & Development

Dialogue-Oriented Feedback One of the reasons of a feedback session is for the manager to realize what the subordinate thinks and feels. The manager may be uninformed of variables that are influencing the employee’s productivity or attitude. Assuming this is the case, the most ideal approach to find out about them is from the individual who knows best. A key component of feedback is a positive regards for others; that is, drawing out the best in other individuals.

If the managers use the entire session singularly as a chance to pontificate, the worker will gain nothing from the experience. Additionally, this individual will likely feel abused and controlled. The process will be more profitable for everybody if there is a dialogue between the manager and the employee.

60

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

The Thehrdigest hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

61

Training & Development

62

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

Beneficial Feedback It ought to be evident that any feedback should be useful to the individual getting it; otherwise, it fills no valuable need. Although, every manager must remember this larger objective at all times in the feedback process; the objective is to enhance the worker and to improve mission accomplishment.

Everything must be inspected and assessed to guarantee that it will further as opposed to deter the proposed motivation behind an effective feedback.

Managers should strive to set a positive tone to the feedback session.

A standout amongst the most beneficial aspects of feedback is actually a participative dialogue in which manager and worker cooperate to conceptualize methods for managing any current challenges that may exist.

Such a synergistic, related and helpful process allows both to develop and learn through the process.

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

63

Training & Development

64

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

Clear Feedback Feedback should always be clear. If the message is distorted or sugar-covered, the worker may not be able to translate the message, and therefore infer no benefit. The message may be misjudged and misconstrued, and cause outcomes altogether different from those the manager intended. The manager should decide how he or she can best phrase key components of the criticism, particularly where an intense or emotional subject matter is involved.

The second basic trap is the temptation to sugar-coat feedback. Uncomfortable with immediate, direct, useful feedback, they enliven the disagreeable substances by removing the bad parts. Shockingly, this can weaken the message and reduce its import to the employee. While it is critical to be delicate to the worker’s emotions, it is just as fundamental that the message not be sacrificed. The whole point here is that feedback must be brought beyond any confining influence, with clarity, or else the whole practice may be futile.

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

65

Training & Development

66

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

Kind Feedback A few managers have a stark, no-nonsense way to deal with their job and may appear to be cowardly spooks. A dictator administration style can incorporate a wall-to-wall strategy for giving criticism, in which the employee feels assaulted, debilitated and offended. Moreover, the need to provide feedback in a kind, nonthreatening manner many times prompts the sugar-coating that rob the message of its intended purpose. A manager can convey doubtlessly and obviously, in a composed, centered way, yet still be valuable, useful, and chivalrous of the worker’s feelings.

It is in the employee’s best interest to be aware of any insufficiencies distinguished by the manager. If the employee is not performing acceptably, there will inevitably be negative results. This is the idea of helpful feedback; it does individuals no favors to cover or soft-pedal information that would help them to amend something they are doing incorrectly.

A key skill for leadership is that leaders simply give more.

If people have appropriate desire, qualities, and skills, they can possibly lead. Feedback as exhibited here, is a form of giving. Good leaders understand that feedback is a gift they give others. An effective feedback can open the way to boosting the effectiveness of the most valuable asset an organization has – its people.

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

67

cov

y or

s r e t

A Peek inside Twitter’s Joyously Chirping Nest 68

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

69

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

cov

y or

s r e t

Twitter has a oneof-a-kind workplace culture brimming with joy and inspiration, driven by some of the most state-of-the-art employee engagement practices.

W

orkplace culture is not something that can be easily measured. For any company to become felicitously successful, it is indispensably necessary to breed a flaky, libertine culture. An ideal workplace culture fosters innovation, harbors collaboration, inspires pliancy, and evolves from a winning mentality.

Workplace culture is often dismissed as a luxury, than something that can quantify drive, excitement and intensity of a company’s success.

Every year, Glassdoor.com reveals its inaugural list of Top 25 Companies for Culture & Values, which captures a genuine and authentic look inside some of the best companies that stand out for their efforts to provide an enjoyable work

70

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

71

cov

y or

s r e t

environment and culture. Glassdoor.com crowned Twitter No.1 on the Top 25 Companies for Culture & Values list for three straight years (2011, 2012, and 2013) for its corporate culture and values. The San Francisco-based microblogging company secured an average score of 4.5 on a scale of 1 to 5 through the years. Twitter topping the survey is not surprising.

Years before becoming Twitter’s CEO, Dick Costolo was a stand-up comedian at Chicago’s Annoyance Theatre.

He is, although not an original founder of the company, yet one of the most influential leaders who has a reputation for being a continual source of amazement – to him as well as those around him. Twitter has a one-of-a-kind workplace culture brimming with joy and inspiration, driven by some of the most state-of-the-art employee engagement practices.

The banner year of IPOs, 2014, was hugely successful for Twitter, which launched a successful IPO that proved to be an eventful one that sensationally turned 1,600 of its employees into instant millionaires. Today, Twitter is known for far-reaching, tweetworthy perks common to other tech companies, including free food, sumptuous IPO compensation, great amenities including in-office yoga classes and unlimited vacations for exempt employees, and exclusive promotions to employee. A look inside some of these trailblazing practices and you’ll see why Twitter makes up to be one of the best tech companies to work for.

72

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

73

cov

y or

s r e t

Hipster stationery to liven up working day

A

s the microblogging company began to grow devoutly, Elizabeth Bailey Weil, 33, Twitter’s Head of Culture wondered if it would disinherit the effervescent atmosphere that had excited employees around the time of its founding. In 2010, one of the tools she invented to make employee feel a greater connection with the company and bolster employee morale, was her handmade cards, featuring a lightly debossed little blue bird, Larry the birdie.

Weil mirthfully penned sublime, illustrative welcome notes on rich, thick 100 percent cotton paper, for all newbies at Twitter from an obsolescent, 1923 Chandler & Price letterpress she ran out of her garage. By her account, she’s done about 600. For anybody, it would be more economical to send a welcoming email to new employees, or print out a welcome aboard letter on the office printer. But, the former Twitter Head of Culture thinks differently for the thick, soft, buttery feel of the 600 gsm cotton paper.

As technology leads a successful coup to govern nearly every aspect of our lives, people are starting to appreciate the time and care that goes into making something handcrafted. Paper tends to manifest a meticulous appeal for those who spend hours in front of the digital screen.

“You can pet it,” says Weil. At Twitter, Weil was fortunate enough to focus on employee experience, and the little ways in which hipster stationery would charm and delight people.

Another great example of Twitter’s pretty-relaxed internal, “hipster” culture,

74

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

75

cov

y or

s r e t

comes out of collective employee behavior. At Twitter, employees exhibit a non-overly geeky attitude, unlike over-the-top arrogance seen in most Silicon Valley engineers. Today, happy engineers commend some of the many Charlie and the Chocolate factory-like, cushy-comforts of working at Twitter: Team meetings on the roof Visits from a steady stream of A-listers Free beer Internal transparency Mac Pros for everyone Competitive salary Great teamwork Friendly colleagues Work autonomy Flat organizational structure Great work-life balance During her tenure at Twitter, Weil did not want the company to end up like a child star turned adult blackhole. She believed that just because the microblogging company found success early and got lucky doesn’t mean that the company is decked with a bunch of geniuses, and thus needs to build a thriving culture that proves that success is spelled as collaborative. This comes from Twitter founders’ idea of keeping things humble at Twitter HQ, as the company turns from a start-up into one large corporation.

76

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

77

cov

y or

s r e t

Working at Twitter

A

ccording to an anonymous post on Quora, written by someone claiming to be an engineer at Twitter, lately the company culture is starting to turn chaotic. The microblogging company is on a hiring spree, and is slowly reaching a number where communication is difficult, and duplication of work starts taking place. No matter how slick a company culture looks or how meteoric its rise is, there are always a few downsides. This is one of the biggest downsides of working in a growing internet company.

Claire Diaz-Ortiz, an early Twitter employee, has seen much from the inside, the explosive growth, post IPO pressures, Ellen’s star-studded selfie and everything in between during those dog years.

The day Twitter hit the IPO was an exciting time. People were super early on that day. Although it was treated like any other low-key affair. Katie Jacobs Stanton, VP of Global Media at Twitter tweeted that said something like “Back to work” after the opening bell. Cupcakes weren’t missed, talk about sweet, sweet sugar splurge!

If you’d ask what is the biggest misconception about working at Twitter, Diaz-Ortiz is quick to say that its employees are spending a lot of time thinking “How do we compete with Facebook?”

It was suggested in a series of reports by various media outlets that Twitter is bleeding talent. The year of 2014 not only helped the company grow, but also led to a series of high-profile departures. TechCrunch, came up with the best possible explanation: employees were leaving so they could sell their Twitter shares.

78

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

79

cov

y or

s r e t

Wonder what is like when you first start working at Twitter? Twitter offices are brimming with wondrous energy, besmirched with beautiful character.

Before they start, Twitter makes sure that newbies have the email address they want, a t-shirt and a bottle of wine ready at their desk. The desk is assigned strategically based on what the employee is working on and with whom. They email colorful PDFs to explain what to expect on the first day.

In order to make the Monday feel personable and welcoming, CEO Dick Costolo has breakfast with new hires. Followed by logistical HR/Facilities/IT morning. Tables are reserved in the lunch area and each new hire has lunch with their new team.

Afternoons are spent in a “ramp up” session run by the head of business operations, where hours are spent to speed on team, projects, inside jokes, Gmail filters, internal tools, company history etc.

Twitter has a monthly new hire Happy Hour for newbies to get acquainted with the Senior Team. Then there’s also a rotating 5 week schedule of 30 minute presentation on Friday afternoon, where employees can learn more about what is happening in other parts of the company. The most popular is the “Twitter Story”, which is funny, powerful and inspirational.

Twitter has a special engineering focused onboarding session on the second Tuesday of every month, which is significantly more detailed and lengthy to get people up to speed on its codebase.

80

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

81

cov

y or

s r e t

Employee Engagement at Twitter

I

n the past few years, Twitter’s success has simply exploded, going from no obvious revenue with an unclear business model to a successful company that is attracting Wall Street’s attention. In 2014, Twitter generated more than $1 billion in mobile advertising revenue.

With rapid growth in such a short time, how does the microblogging company make sure they are building a robust company, infused with value-based culture, and keeping employees happy, inspired and engaged?

Twitter Head of Organizational Effectiveness and Learning, Melissa Daimler shares key factors that triumphantly continue to boost their high levels of engagement.

CEO-led Management Session Dick Costolo, who took over as Twitter CEO in October 2010, ardently believes that a pre-eminent part of building a strong business starts with building strong managers. Costolo leads a “Managing at Twitter” session at least once a quarter, where he uses stories, milks on some of his own best practices, and integrates role-playing exercises to engage the managers in the class. It helps managers understand Costolo’s pointof-view, and set a great example of great management throughout the company.

82

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

83

cov

y or

s r e t

Measure Employee Satisfaction A lot of companies conduct employee satisfaction survey occasionally or once a year as a PR exercise.

Twitter conducts their “pulse” survey biannually.

The survey, consisting of approximately 15 questions calibrates current engagement levels and encircles open ended questions to mitt employee’s ideas for improvement. A monthly people dashboard is another thing at Twitter that stays on top of attrition levels, learning impact, and organizational span of control.

Focus on the bottom line Innately traditional employee engagement efforts tend of fail, since they are ominously complicated and tactical. Twitter eulogizes simplicity, which is one of the core reasons why it has developed five significant skills that helps every employee move towards a future where they are recognized and rewarded.

They are: Collaboration, Development, Change, Direction and Communication. Twitter wants its employees to learn every day.

Authentic and Fearless Feedback Although Twitter has a biannual official performance review process, it still greatly emphasizes on giving continuous feedback. Quarterly learning labs take place to support employees in both receiving and giving feedback, thus enabling managers and employees knit a futureoriented success story.

It doesn’t matter if your company is a smart startup or an established Fortune 500 company. Twitter’s approach towards driving employee engagement can be mirrored to boost high levels of emotional commitment and engagement.

84

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

85

Legal Hub

Lessons from the

Ellen Pao v.

Kleiner Perkins Trial

86

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

The closely watched Pao v. Kleiner Perkins five-week-long retaliation lawsuit, transfixed business communities for its slanderous allegations and big-shots, reached an end following weeks of testimony and several days of colloquium. The jury ruled “no� on all four claims Pao pressed against Kleiner Perkins.

The unambiguous finding in favor of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers spared the quintessential venture capital firm a colossal sum of as much as $140 million in punitive damages.

The lawsuit beguiled Silicon Valley with its prurient details while at the same time aggrandize concerns about the freewheeling ways of the maledominated technology industry in Silicon Valley.

Pao sued Kleiner Perkins for gender discrimination, retaliation and failure to protect women at the firm from discrimination.

It is important for employers to ruminate how this situation arose, as similar lawsuits have already been filed by two female tech workers against Twitter and Facebook. Below are some lessons to take from the Pao case.

Pao chose to strengthen her case by offering evidence that one of her coworkers, with whom she had an intra-office romance, was promoted in spite of the senior partners having received reports that the individual had sexually harassed a female colleague.

Ellen Pao When an outside investigator asked Kleiner Perkins for its equalopportunity-employment policies, the firm’s COO at that time, Eric Keller, couldn’t locate any. Kleiner drafted policies only after Pao complained.

Pao’s attorney pointed to a lack of clear guidelines around the improper conduct of male employee and argued that it contributed to a delay in firing him. The case presented by Pao’s attorney describes Kleiner’s workplace culture as something deeply embedded with sexism.

The firm, with around 40 partners, has luxuriant parties, a company Porsche, and lavish lunches served every day at workplace.

Yet, Kleiner was too lax when it came to having an internal human resources department or handbook, discrimination policies, or complaint procedures. Partners at Kleiner leaned towards the idea that it was a family that sorted out its business informally.

Kleiner Perkins did little to stop the accused from continuing such lascivious behavior. When a senior

John Doerr partner was enquired regarding the delay in the immediate action on the harassment complaint, he explained by saying that he was trying to respect privacy of the female employee who was harassed as she was married. Conducting a close and instant, effective internal investigation could have helped strengthen Kleiner’s defense or at least rein in the liability in the lawsuit.

Gender discrimination claims against companies over the past several decades has helped American employers develop a set of updated anti-discrimination policies. There are human resources confidentiality policies, anti-harassment training programs that are readily available to employees so that they are aware of their rights and the right channels for reporting ill-conduct. A few companies have clear disciplinary measures to address allegations related to employee evaluation and gender discrimination. Such policies are based on the notion that people are going to act ignominiously at The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

87

Legal Hub work, and thus businesses should set up proper systems so that such delinquencies do not occur again.

As per Pao’s lawsuit claims, Kleiner Perkins top management retaliated against her the harassment complaint against her coworkers and a senior partner, Randy Komisar who had previously behaved “inappropriately” with her. She was asked to move her office to a back annex, which apparently she refused to do. She was asked to move to the China office, which again, she refused. Her performance review in 2008 was withheld. Moreover, when she was on a maternity leave, Komisar was named to the board of a risk management company, one of the startups that Pao had been nurturing.

Kleiner Perkins testified that Pao’s lack of promotion to top-investment level positions had much to do with her not having the interpersonal skills to succeed as a venture capitalist. Instead, it should have documented her performance issues. Interpersonal skill is a licit, unprejudiced performance issue. However, analytical skills is something that is much easier to document and defend as nondiscriminatory. Kleiner attributed Pao’s arrogance in her dealings with her colleagues to her lack of promotion. Concurrently, it pointed out in her reviews that she was too 88

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

Al Gore

Randy Komisar

quiet, resentful and territorial.

In 2010-2011, the venture firm could have seized the opportunity to be more transparent and given detailed examples of when Ellen Pao didn’t exhibit teamwork. They could have differentiated her actions from that of others and used those examples to demonstrate that their critique was legitimate and that they were not trying to apply double-standards.

Women in Silicon Valley are still woefully underrepresented. Pao’s recollections of a bro-tastic culture in sexist workplace will leave you repugnanced. Pao was excluded from all-male trips on numerous occasions, male coworkers at Kleiner would engage in obscene talk about porn stars during business trips in-spite of her being around, a male colleague’s explanation to why women weren’t invited to a dinner with partner Al Gore was because they would kill the buzz. On one occasion, Pao was invited to a partner’s home for dinner when his wife was out of town, and given a copy of Book of Longing, which contained steamy poetry and sketches. For almost every occurrence that Pao described, Kleiner called witnesses to testify that the events did not occur or were simply taken out of context.

At the time of the alleged conducts, operating committee at Kleiner was mostly men over the age of 60, a fact that spurs conversation and elicits change. Although, Kleiner Perkins won in court, it lost in the world outside it due to the embarrassing diversity

disclosure. The Pao v. Kleiner Perkins case highlights a bigger challenge – working harder on the diversity problem. The challenge is concrete, especially in historically homogenous STEM sectors, which have been dominated by men for decades. Only 6 percent of partners in venture capital firms are women, and 77 percent of firms never had a female investor.

As per a study by Paul Gompers, a professor at Harvard Business School, female venture capitalists’ financial performance is about 15 percent lower compared to their male colleagues. It’s mainly because male colleagues help one another, while women do not benefit from their male colleagues. The performance gap disappears in larger firms, where they conduct formal mentoring, frequent performance reviews and have explicit processes for making investment decisions. Companies should no longer turn a deaf ear to that idea that by excluding a female employee or discussions of strip joints and pornography taking at workplace can derail a women’s ability to do her job efficiently.

Leaders should think beyond stereotypes about what it takes to cultivate a thriving workplace where men and women are valued for their contributions and not discriminated or felt as they are.

Kleiner Perkins could have saved itself millions of dollars in legal fees and the horrific PR nightmare had their senior partners been a little more experienced and savvy when it comes to workplace skills.

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

89

HR Tools And Technology

HR TECHNOLOGIESCORNERSTONE OF CHANGE?

90

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

F

or those passionate about the impact of technology in organizations, it is indeed the season of interesting product developments from the digital HR industry. Bringing you the latest technological spirit of the HR vanguard and our favorite picks from the outspread of automation in the HR industry. An insight on leading-edge HR technology that facilitates employers in the process of incorporating innovation in order to look for ideas outside of their corporate realms. So get ready to embark on the journey of the HR revolution and get dazzled by the glare of your future digital natives embedding innovation and tools that provide realtime feedback on performance and goals within their corporate culture.

Human Resource can now go as far as calling itself a digitally influenced management.

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

91

HR Tools And Technology

1. Our take on Newton’s applicant tracking system

E

mployers know how they can raise the recruiting bar without really breaking the bank by choosing Newton’s applicant tracking system; the most efficient among the existing array of applicant tracking systems. This interesting tracking system allows employers to choose hiring platform, streamline the entire recruitment process in one go and doing so in the most efficient and ethical fashion ever.

92

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

Be it small or medium-size employers, everyone can benefit from the perks of this simple, smart and safe mobile applicant tracking system, that is fullyfeatured will tools helping employers meet every user involved in the hiring process.

Interestingly, Newton doesn’t require its users to login and yet registers requests and captures decisions and analytics from day one.

Imagine how maddening it must get for employers to have to revert back to a huge chunk of candidates, on who have been chosen and who have lost their opportunities. However, with the Newton’s applicant tracking system, forget about those tedious ordeals and welcome yourself to a form of technology that is nimble, efficient and can be easily customized.

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

93

HR Tools And Technology

2. Enterprise resource planning software

O

racle’s JD Edwards EnterpriseOne is a cohesive business solution with a relatively low total cost of ownership, comprising of essential business values, deep industry experiences and performance-based technology. This unique application suite is an enterprise resource planning software that is replete with integrated applications that allows a company’s HR to collect, store, manage and interpret data from its many business activities. This is the first ever ERP solution that runs all applications on Apple iPad. JD Edwards EnterpriseOne also provides mobile applications.

94

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

Only JD Edwards EnterpriseOne presents more choice of operating systems, hardware and databases so you can develop and expand your company’s HR solution to meet various business requirements.

With its huge collection of 80 application modules that support a diverse set of business processes and key industry solutions, JD Edwards is the very product for the proper functioning of your company’s HR management.

Human resource can specially make use of this software for purposes such as recruiting, rostering, training, payroll, 401K, benefits, diversity management, retirement and separation thanks to its unique package of human resource components.

It enables you to quickly determine the information you need to gain understanding on to better manage your workforce. This software helps you analyze a multitude of workforce information including, salary and performance rankings, workforce demographics, compensation and benefits.

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

95

HR Tools And Technology

3. Cornerstone Recruiting, Onboarding and Performance

I

mprove the talent procurement process with modern & well-organized recruiting. Cornerstone Recruiting allows organizations approach better candidates in less time with applicant management, public sourcing, employee referrals and collaborative hiring capabilities without ever having to swap between systems. Moreover, the data gathered from recruiting can be retrieved in other talent management tools such as learning, onboarding, performance, and more.

Now you can easily connect, train, and engage new hires into the organization with Cornerstone Onboarding technology that helps organizations keep new hires involved with public tools and training and target setting opportunities.

96

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

Because Onboarding is a process combined with learning and connecting, large organizations can seamlessly detail their learning and facilitate networking for new hires.

With Cornerstone Performance you can now Inspire passion, performance and productivity because performance operation is unified with learning, succession and compensation in one hefty system.

Organizations can better deliver ongoing responses, streamline employee goals with organizational strategies and address skill and gaps in expertise.

Lastly they can use performance data to report developments, merit initiatives, and planning leadership goals.

Cornerstone Succession further enables businesses to proactively tackle workforce problems and boost organizational longevity using information about performance, and succession registered in a single system without having to cobble together training records, reviews, and compensation data from separate platforms.

All the data and figures associated with training, performance, and merit can be accessed on one platform, making it simpler to identify, develop, and success top talent.

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

97

HR Tools And Technology

4. Workday Human Resource Management

C

onnecting the dots between the employee performance and compensation has just gotten easier. Now there’s a quicker, more smarter way to handle all of your people-related activities. Workday Human Resource Management offers spontaneous, self-service features that are intuitive in effectively organizing, staffing, and paying your global workforce. Now you can effortlessly manage the full hire-to-retire lifecycle in one easy-to-run system. Getting a precise headcount should not be one of your most daunting tasks. Workday Organization Management helps you accurately sculpt and analyze your workforce by multiple techniques and business dimensions.

98

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

This unique management system will help businesses to creatively design, effectively manage, and properly adjust compensation programs to meet their ever-existing complex global rewards requirements.

Manage staffing of both employees and contingent labor in one place and make better compensation choices with the contextual decision support feature that lets you define and manage global compensation components, including allowances, base pay, equity, variable pay. Paying employees for performance based on multiple aspects, including organization, individual performance as well as team performance can be easily tracked by reporting time-off requests, accruals and balances in real time with seamless unification to Workday Time Tracking. This also provides a selfservice interface for employees to actively ensure and request time off, empower managers and supervisors with delivered reports and easily track their worker population across various leave types.

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

99

HR Tools And Technology

5. Halogen software

H

alogen Talent Space is far more than just a software. It provides a complete suite of talent management solutions, alongside a complete service set of best-practice resources and a vibrant user community brought comprehensively to help the HR department build a workforce that’s better streamlined, inspired and delivers effectively on your business strategy.

Align and set goals, give meaningful feedback and acknowledgement on employee performance appraisals in merely a fraction of the time. Arrange and understand valuable 360-degree feedback effectively and quickly — without paper or processing headaches and easily establish and manage job descriptions to link them to your business’ performance and talent management processes.

100

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

You can also manage and track learning and development trends and easily measure their effectiveness in terms of enhanced employee performance.

Implement best-performance talent pool-based planning and ensure that you have a pool of candidates ready to fill new roles.

Establish pay-for-performance schemes and assign pay increases across the whole organization with unmatched ease. Incorporate recruiting with new talent management strategies, making it faster, easier, and more effective to filter and hire candidates. With the Halogen software you can also transform one-on-one meetings into a strong tool for enhancing communication, collaboration and development across your organization.

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

101

Recruitment Point

102

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

A Faulty Onboarding Process is Why Most Employees Quit Early

We all know how difficult it is holding onto a new employee. For those who don’t, it’s far worse than feeling ticklish but being unable to flop around like Kermit the Frog in constant giggles.

In a 2014 research by BambooHR, a software company it was found that 31 percent of people simply quit their job within the first six months. The figure certainly doesn’t speak well of employer’s onboarding process.

In order to find out what exactly is wrong with the onboarding process of US employers; BambooHR surveyed more than 1000 U.S. employees over the age of 24 to find out what pressed them into quitting their jobs and what can be done to improve employers’ onboarding process.

Top Three Reasons They Quit (In a box)

It was found that new hires prefer direct managers showing them the ropes and not a coworker or the HR. Around 33 percent of respondents said they wanted their own managers who could help them get started, while 29 percent preferred the HR. As a matter of fact, one should continue recruiting in the first three months, since people (around 17 percent of respondents) tend to leave in a steady flow in the first three months.

Below are the three top reasons why U.S. employees quit their jobs shortly after getting hired: 28 percent - Change of mind on work type 26 percent - Work is quite different that what they had initially expected 23 percent - The boss is a jerk

What employees want from company onboarding programs?

When developing a proper onboarding process, one must always create it with the view to help the new hires stay for a much longer period than just six months. Below are the top four most common advice respondents have for company who are looking forward to doing things differently with their onboarding programs: 23 percent – Receive clear guidelines on company policies and what their responsibilities are.

21 percent – More effective training 17 percent – A friendly smile or a helpful coworker can sometimes help a lot during the initial weeks of getting hired

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

103

Want to Revamp Your Onboarding Process?

Only 9 percent of HR professionals believe that their current onboarding process doesn’t need any more tinkering around to do.

43 percent of HR professionals think that an ineffective onboarding process can result into waste of time and money. More than $10,000 a year is wasted on deficient onboarding practices.

Here’s how HR professionals believe their onboarding process can improve: 41 percent – incorporating job training 37 percent – a mentor/buddy program 28 percent – an updated employee handbook How about we update the employee e-handbook will glossy new pictures and more CSR information? After all, employees tend to take pride in who they work for.

52 percent of respondent view getting an organized, relevant and timely content as the most important element of a successful onboarding process.

37 percent of respondents want a little help getting to understand the workplace culture a little better, by getting help with new projects and getting a chance to ask important questions.

A lot of leaders believe that onboarding process is the HR’s responsibility and that it only involves paperwork and benefit forms. Onboarding is a comprehensive process, through which an individual moves from being just an outsider to an employee of the company. Companies need to do a stellar job at getting the particular employee mingle into the company culture. Moreover, it helps the new hire get accustomed to specific job tasks and performance goals, vision and values. It is the perfect opportunity to make a lasting impression on the new employee, and the easiest way to turn transition for the new hire into a smooth process.

Onboarding is a consistent process that occurs on a daily basis and continues for up to six months.

A faulty onboarding process can leave an astronomical dent in an organization. A well-designed onboarding process can save the cost of replacing an entry-level employee, which is usually as high as 30-50 percent of the person’s annual salary. The same goes for mid and seniorlevel employees it can reach 150-400 percent respectively.

It’s important that companies create a well-designed onboarding process that assures in tangible ways that the new hire is valued and has all the necessary factors to succeed. Perhaps, it’s time to revamp your onboarding process?

104

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

Success Story

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) is a multinational 窶田ompany, specializing in building various kinds of computer software and hardware. It provides consulting services and internet hosting services from mainframe computers to nanotechnology.

What started off as the Computing-Tabulating-Recording (CTR) Company in 1911, is one of the largest companies today in terms of its profit margins, number of employees and market capitalization. Back in 1911, IBM employed only 1300 employees.

In 2012, Fortune ranked IBM as the second largest U.S. firm in terms of the number of employees (431,212).

106

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

107

S

uccess tory

History I

BM’s founder, Thomas J Watson has always regarded its company’s employees as its top priority.

From the early 1900 itself, Watson was clear that no employee should be discriminated on the basis of their race, ethnic origin, or gender.

He thought every employee in the company should be entitled to their basic rights and dignity.

By adopting this idea of a

108

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

nondiscrimination policy, the company was able to hire the most talented people, keeping their competitors at a loss for not being able to extract talent out of the discriminated lot. In 1984, IBM even added sexual orientation to its nondiscrimination policy, at a time when Thomas Watson, Jr. was the company’s president.

What’s so special about IBM’s HR policies?

O

ver the years, IBM has developed various kinds of Employee Clubs, launched a number of training programs, and created many employee magazines.

One such magazine called “Think” was created in 1935. In the same year, IBM also launched a new program to train its female systems service professionals. The company employed its first black worker in 1946, eighteen years before the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

IBM has thoughtfully designed a number of training and mentoring programs for all its employees that allows them to propel further in the path of their career and become successful leaders of the company. The company is committed towards fostering employee talent by providing its employees with professional training and help.

IBM understands how important skill development and motivation can be to any employee and has therefore formulated strategies and policies that specially look after its employee’s needs.

IBM provides an excellent work environment with the best amenities.

It has a wide array of HR policies and programs to get the best out of its employees and allow them to

work flexibly with maximum amount of autonomy. It also lets people work from their home in case of personal emergencies. Apart from this, IBM strives to be inclusive regardless of factors unrelated to job performance and welcomes people from all backgrounds.

This has helped IBM create diversity at workplace and advance its continued growth. By developing sites that help new hires in their onboarding, IBM has been able to provide helpful tools and resources to get people connected. This has enabled IBM in becoming the Employer of Choice for new hires.

IBM operates in more than 170 countries, out of which 77 countries do not have an anti-discrimination legislation, and 10 may even regard homosexual acts punishable by death. Despite these barriers, IBM has been able to come up as an influential yet lucrative corporation, without really infringing on the laws of any of the countries it operates in. The organization’s dedication to encourage a comprehensive workplace over all its branches proves that it has been able to promote diversity in the face of antigay legislation.

The h rdigest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

109

S

110

uccess tory

The h rdigest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

Workforce diversity

T

he employees of IBM characterize a brilliant and diverse workforce. Attaining the full capacity of this diversity is one of IBM’s main priorities that is fundamental to their competitive triumphs. A key element in IBM’s workforce diversity settings is IBM’s long-standing dedication to equal opportunity.

Business behaviors such as promotion, hiring and compensation for employees, are conducted without regard to color, race, gender, religion, gender identity or gender expression, national origin, disability, age or genetics. These

business activities and the planning and administration of IBM benefit schemes act in accordance with all the laws applicable, including those concerning with equal opportunity.

For disabled but qualified people, IBM creates excellent workplace accommodations which it determines as reasonable and needed for effective job performance of such kind of people. In respecting and appreciating the diversity among its employees, and all those with whom IBM does business, supervisors are expected to maintain a working environment that is free of all forms of harassment.

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

111

S

uccess tory

Employee wellbeing & safety

I

BM has a long-standing tradition of maintaining and taking care of employee well-being and safety. The importance IBM places in such endeavors demonstrates its commitment to employees, business partners and customers.

Corporate policies, procedures and instructions must support their duty to employee well-being and safety. Each of them, manager or employee alike, share the same corporate responsibility for providing a safe and healthy workplace environment, incorporating employee welfare in business strategies, reviews, plans and product offerings and implementing, measuring and continually striving to improve well-being processes to prevent work-related accidents, illnesses and injuries.

IBM provides products that are not only safe for customers to use but also safe for its employees, fostering employee involvement in terms of product usage and enhancing their ability to work safely and productively. On a time to time basis, it investigates and addresses work-related issues and incidents and provides appropriate advices and counselling to help employees fulfil their corporate objectives.

112

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

113

S

uccess tory

Corporate Responsibility Working Group and Executive Steering Committee

I

BM’s Corporate Responsibility Working Group comprises of managers from functional areas (including global representation) and regularly meets to handle IBM’s human rights and corporate responsibility activities and stakeholder commitments.

IBM’s Corporate Responsibility Executive Steering Committee consists of senior executives from

114

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

functional fields across the business.

The committee periodically conducts meetings to provide leadership and a sense of direction on corporate responsibility and key human rights issues. Each functional area is responsible for the development of its own goals and strategies, with larger goals pertaining to the organization, approved by the steering committee.

Channels of communication for reporting concerns and appeal mechanisms

I

BM provides all its employees open communication channels for recommendations and complaints to higher management executives; it also maintains a working channel of contact with the management for employee complaints, including harassment complaints like sexual harassment, and a channel to put forward concerns anonymously.

IBM does not encourage and tolerate threats or shows of retaliation against any employee for reporting a complaint. Additionally, communication channels are also available for business partners and suppliers to report concerns to the company, through anonymous channels of reporting.

Throughout its history, IBM has taken a considerate approach to corporate responsibility, based on the values that IBM holds. It takes into account the efforts that its employees put in to have an impact on the particular interests of its shareholders. IBM understands that its vast network of employees spread over countries, cities, governments and communities,

can not only impact their business success, but also their efficiency and innovation.

IBM takes major strides towards maximizing the positive impact as a global enterprise in a number of ways: they identify and develop new prospects, by applying their technology and expertise to societal problems; they scale their existing corporate responsibility settings and programs to help achieve overall benefit; they empower their employees and others to assist them in serving their communities: and lastly, they integrate corporate citizenship and their respect for human rights throughout the company.

IBM focuses on engagement in specific societal issues, including community economic development, literacy, health, education, culture and language, the matters of basic societal needs of every human being, where IBM can apply its technology and genius to help solve problems and to contribute to the advancement of human rights

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

115

Workp ace Cu ture

Nullify Unrestrained Emotions at Work?

You’re not the only one Have you cried in the restroom or during a meeting with your boss? How about clumsily trying to comfort a weeping coworker? Or maybe, you’ve been the hapless victim or a wretched culprit of eruptive, sullenly anger? If you’re nodding yes, it’s not surprising.

Despite the corporate expectation to leave behind all earthly emotions at the door, temper flares and tears continue to simmer everywhere in the workplace.

Emotions are capable of exerting an amazingly powerful force on human behavior. Yet, humans are capable of transcending them to live in a natural, calm and relaxed state at all times.

116

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

When we’re calm and relaxed, we’re more willing to be flexible, collaborative, and open to new challenges at workplace. Negative thoughts and feelings that can get in the way of productivity, become easier to overcome. While depression, contempt, or stress can affect the quality of work and how we interact with coworkers.

Lack of positive thoughts and feelings affect the emotional well-being of an employee, thus increasing the predictability of workplace deviance, thereby, impeding productivity and the company’s success. It could be due to work overload, lack of rewards or

support, disputes with coworkers or even domestic problems and money issues, leaving them feeling anxious or depressed or sometimes even cynical.

Whether we want to admit it or not, emotions impact our behavior.

Positive or negative emotions have the power to influence our • Cognitive performance • Behavior • Affective response • Satisfaction, and • Relationships As per a Steelcase study of wellbeing in workplace, it was found that to cultivate a workforce of creative, collaborative and productive employees, organizations should take a more holistic approach towards well-being, by understanding their cognitive and emotional needs too. It’s when people who live in environments where positive emotions are promoted that they’re able to give their best.

Below are a few common negative emotions that people feel at work, along with a plan on how to overcome such obstructive feelings to become happier, successful and contented at workplace.

ANXIOUS: Anxiety, a natural alarm system can turn into a chronic mindset in no time. It can deaden joy and choke creativity. Internal factors such as self-doubts, high self-expectations, fear of failure and wanting control of the future can alleviate unskillful emotions such as anxiety, anger or fear at workplace.

Simplify your work schedule.

Break down tasks into shorter time increments, and re-evaluate on an hourly basis on the progress made.

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

117

Workp ace Cu ture

“

Anxiety can deaden joy and choke creativity.

”

It won’t help axe anxiety, but can definitely decrease it in the long run. If you have too many ideas, schedules, dates and plans, causing a commotion in your head, record all of them in a notebook or your smartphone, so that you don’t panic every time you need to recall a certain meeting time or idea.

Learn to relax. Practice deep breathing until the chest feels tight and the mind has stopped racing. Brisk 10-15 min walks can also help. Find a quiet, secluded spot and do several sets of jumping jacks. This will help release endorphins which will calm the body and mind.

Practice meditation. It can be a little intimidating to learn to meditate. But you can do it for five minutes or less.

Learn the Three-Breaths meditation that will help you achieve a relaxed and calm state of mind.

ANGRY: Anger is simply a surface emotion, which usually covers complicated feelings like frustration or fear. In today’s corporate culture, a number of organizational dynamics such as customer interaction, deadline and negative peer relationship trigger stress in employees. High levels of 118

The h rdigest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

stress perpetuate anger. It’s important to manage anger at workplace.

Distance yourself from primary sources of anger that set your emotional trigger on. It could be a nutty colleague that drives you crazy or a tricky situation that compels you to react impulsively. Get up and go for a walk or, do something that will distract you for a moment.

Take some deep breaths and identify what is really going on. Once you’ve calmed yourself down, you’ll be in a much better position to fix the delicate situation.

If it’s a dispute with a colleague, make it a goal to articulate your reasoning over it, and not the win.

Keep the conversation positive on a collaborative path by diffusing your inner hulk.

Get sufficient sleep. Sleep deprivation can cause negative moods, including depression and anxiety. It can become impossible to take calm, measured, and responsible choices when you don’t get sufficient sleep.

ENVY: Envy is a wasted emotion.

It can have a detrimental effect. It

is a powerful combination of feeling deprived of something that we want and the powerlessness to change the situation. Moreover, it can be result into a toxic work environment. It is impossible to stay focused on work, with such strong emotions churning inside, unless they are dealt with.

Be Grateful. We begin to envy others when we start taking our blessing for granted. Nobody has it all. Stop comparing the worst of what you have with the best of others. Start spending time with grateful people who find contentment in every bit of their lives.

Remember, gratitude is a highly contagious feeling. Soon, others will desire what you have.

Avoid people who value wrong things in life. If you spend time with people who value extravagant cars, salaries and vacations, you’re naturally going to fall into the inevitable trap of desiring more and wanting what they have and living a frustrated life. There are far more important things in life to pursue such as, joy, fulfillments and happiness.

You can also consider their success in life as a motivation for yourself.

Be gracious and celebrate The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

119

Workp ace Cu ture

“

Anger is simply a surface emotion, which usually covers complicated feelings like frustration or fear.

everyone’s success. Be gracious and rejoice in the fortune of others. Once you learn to experience happiness in others’ joy and success, you’ll notice how easy it is to overcome envy.

FRUSTRATED: Frustration can easily emerge from unfulfilling work. Reassess your Plan and start exercising patience. Stop worrying about the amount of work and efforts you’re investing. Let go of what you’re expecting, and start working on a better plan that will help you achieve your goal in the best possible way.

Learn what triggers frustration and avoid it for some time until it stops bothering you. Take some deep breath until you feel calmer and in control of your frustration or anger.

Stop victimizing yourself. By perceiving yourself as a victim, you’re only preventing yourself from responding more reasonably to the situation. If you’re feeling worthless, you need to change your perspective and behavior and start appreciating what the world has to offer.

”

someone other than your friends and family, then it’s not worth clouding your emotions and judgment for.

Move on. Learn to acknowledge your feelings such as sadness, frustration and betrayal, yet till remain approachable and friendly at the same time.

Be more objective about it. What did you do that caused the situation? Did it ostensibly come out of nowhere? Or, is it because the person who rejected you, has a completely different perspective on the ongoing issue? If it’s a mentor or a close friend whose opinion you truly value, find out by asking them what just happened.

STRESS: Stress is one of the biggest causes of health problems in our lives. It can cause heart diseases, anxiety attacks, depression, weight problems, immune diseases and more. For a working person, weeklong meditation retreats, counselling sessions and mini-vacations can be a little difficult. Most of the stress in our lives is unnecessary and can be cut out before it starts taking a toll on a REJECTED: Rejection is an beautiful day. unfortunate part of life – personal and Workout. A good bout of exertion can professional. Once we feel rejected, be the perfect anti-dote to a stressful we can easily fall into the habit of day filled with demanding deadlines. blaming and behaving in a hostile Run for 40 minutes, lift a few weights. manner towards others to avoid further You’ll instantly feel better. rejection.

Make a list of top stressors. Take Learn to let go. If it’s coming from some time out and make a list of what 120

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

stresses you while you’re at work. Is it people, that certain tasks or things that cause stress? See which of these from the list can be eliminated, and just weed them out.

Don’t procrastinate. Don’t allow yourself to pile up stuff that will eventually stress you out. We all have commitments, starting with work, family, civic, hobbies and more adding to the visual clutter of what we call a disorganized life. Similarly, don’t rush yourself through life. Learn to take things slow. You can only do this by simplifying your to-do list down to a few essential tasks, so that you can enjoy work and life without getting stressed.

Mediate for a while. Learn to let go. Don’t try to control situations and people around you. The only thing that we can control is ourselves. Why not just learn to let go, and not increase anxiety in life?

Have some green tea. Zen Buddhist monks drink green tea to remain calm and alert during long hours of meditation. A few cups of green tea, made with a blend of herbs, throughout the day can help relieve stress naturally from the body and the mind.

It is very important to drift away from negative emotions that can cause stress and absenteeism at workplace.

By kissing goodbye to negative emotions, like anger, anxiety and stress, one can embrace amiability and cheerfulness in a wonderful way, and bring even more happiness at workplace. A calm, contented and relaxed workforce can have profound organizational and social repercussions. Positive emotions are contagious and can help spiral towards optimal functioning.

The h rdigest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

121

Human resources Events & Conferences 05-06 May 2015 Executive Compensation Conference The Executive Compensation Conference, organized by the The Conference Board, Inc. will take place from 5th May to the 6th May 2015 at the The Westin New York at Times Square in New York, United States Of America.

Venue: The Westin New York at Times Square | New York, USA

06 May 2015 Hiring and Terminating: The Ins and Outs of Employment Law The Hiring and Terminating: The Ins and Outs of Employment Law, organized by the Sterling Education Services will take place on 6th May 2015 at the Hilton Minneapolis in Minneapolis, United States Of America. The conference will cover areas like Establish job criteria before seeking to hire, Establish effective personnel policies and handbooks.

Venue: Hilton Minneapolis | Minneapolis, USA 18-20 May 2015 HR Strategies In Energy

The HR Strategies In Energy, organized by the Fleming Gulf will take place from 18th May to the 20th May 2015 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The conference will cover areas like HR strategies in Oil & Gas and Petrochemical sectors. With its 10th Annual, this forum will now also include HR strategies in Power & Utilities Sector.

Venue: TBA | Dubai, UAE

122

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

28-31 May 2015 The Economics, Finance, Accounting & Management Research Conference The Economics, Finance, Accounting and Management Research Conference is going to be held in Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort & Spa, Waikiki Beach, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA for three consecutive days. Some of the major topics that will be discussed in the conference are Business Communications and Education, Organizational Communication, Human Resource Management, International Areas of Accounting, Business, Economics, Health and Hospital Administration.

Venue: Hilton Waikoloa Village Resort | Hawaii, USA 04 Jun 2015 Minneapolis HR Leadership Summit

The Minneapolis HR Leadership Summit, organized by the Evanta will take place on 4th June 2015 at the Hyatt Regency Minneapolis in Minneapolis, USA. The conference will cover areas like collaborate with peers on the critical talent strategies needed to help our organizations achieve sustainable growth and tangible results. Some prominent speakers include Jaynie Atanasoff, Jeffrey Bolton, Rich Horwath, Corrine D. Ricard, Scott Wine.

Venue: Omni Barton Creek Conference Center | Austin, USA 16 Jun 2015 HR Leaders Summit

The Minneapolis HR Leadership Summit, organized by the Evanta will take place on 4th June 2015 at the Hyatt Regency Minneapolis in Minneapolis, USA. The conference will cover areas like collaborate with peers on the critical talent strategies needed to help our organizations achieve sustainable growth and tangible results. Some prominent speakers include Jaynie Atanasoff, Jeffrey Bolton, Rich Horwath, Corrine D. Ricard, Scott Wine.

Venue: SKYCITY Convention Centre | Auckland, New Zealand The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

123

Human resources Events & Conferences 17-18 Jun 2015 The Leadership Summit on Workforce Well-being: The Changing Landscape of Employee Health The The Leadership Summit on Workforce Well-being: The Changing Landscape of Employee Health, organized by the National Business Group on Health will take place from 17th June to the 18th June 2015 at the Washington Marriott Marquis in Washington, USA. The conference will cover areas like solely internal facing corporate HR, benefits, wellness or corporate medical roles for their companies’ employees and dependents.

Venue: Washington Marriott Marquis | Washington, USA 15 Jul 2015 HR Star Conference & Expo San Francisco

HR Star Conference & Expo San Francisco is a 1 day event being held on 15th July 2015 at the South San Francisco Conference Center in San Francisco, USA. This event showcases products like Wage-Hour-Low, Sexual Harassment, Career Development, Healthcare Reform, Bulletproof Documentation, Workplace Conflict and more etc. in the HR Consultants industry.

Venue: South San Francisco Conference Center | San Francisco, USA 23-26 Jul 2015

The Global Business, Mis, Economics and Finance Research Conference The Global Business, Mis, Economics and Finance Research Conference is going to take place at Tokyo Hotel, Japan for a period of four days. This conference will be attended by academicians, professionals of related business field. The Global Business, Mis, Economics and Finance Research Conference will include a special session that will emphasize on management of human resource, laws and ethics related with the business, educational administration, Decision Sciences, finance management, business engineering. Some important related topics and legal issues will also be raised in the conference.

Venue: Conrad Hotel | Tokyo, Japan 124

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]

125

126

The hr digest Magazine [APRIL 2015]