Importance of communication and feedback

The organisation’s willingness, desire and ability to implement change are the key to its success. During times of change, employees at various levels are exposed to the vagaries of rumours and incorrect representation of the information, etc. These have a debilitating effect on the employees, and the organisation, at large. The effects include low motivation, a demoralised team and drop in productivity levels. Our experience shows, communication should be a mix of top-down and bottom-up approach.

Owing to its closeness with employees, HR understands the impact of change on them, and hence can bring in suitable framework and initiatives. At Virtusa, there is a communication framework ‘VIRCOMM’ which is a structured, calendarised and theme based two-way communication flow. This approach helps in getting a real time feedback from the employees and to clarify any ambiguity in their minds.

Like communication, timely feedback from employees and its resolutions play an important role. Staff feedback needs to be put to action and well communicated for employees to sense the organisation’s responsibility. At Virtusa, Global Team Member Survey (GTMS) is an initiative where feedback is collected in a structured manner and action plans are drawn collaboratively by employee volunteers and leadership sponsors. This ensures transparent approach to handling change.

Change is the only constant and every organisation, at some point, will be impacted by it. Anticipation and overcoming the effects of change through a planned approach can ensure people’s involvement, motivation and focus in supporting growth and success.Read more...

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Reputation is a critical factor

Q. What are the focus areas for a CEO to help HR develop an effective business-oriented plan?
Timothy: The CEO must involve HR early in discussions regarding the strategy. HR needs to understand requirements and advise on any people/organisational issue which may impact the delivery of the strategy. These include a number of factors relating to resourcing, employee engagement, employment legislation, development, etc.

Q. How do you see HR contributing to the shareholder value?
Timothy: The key influence HR has in this area is strategic resourcing – ensuring the right people are in the right roles at the right time. The CEO needs to ensure that HR and the hiring community are aware of the critical targets so that HR and the hiring managers can work together to either recruit or develop the workforce to the required level. This includes immediate resourcing but also encompasses the broader areas of talent management and succession planning.

Q. Please share an instance when HR understood the requirements of a crisis and delivered.
Timothy: When a customer raised the level of work required and the resources were not in place to meet the request, HR was able to partner the business managers and engage the additional resource to the client’s satisfaction without compromising on the delivery.

Q. What restricts companies from having an outstanding employer brand? How can the leadership and HR work towards it?
Timothy: Reputation is a critical factor in establishing an outstanding employer brand. While many factors such as remuneration package, culture, training and development contribute to it, they fall away if the reputation perceived by employees, customers and suppliers is different. The basic role of leadership and HR demands that a competitive package is in place and leverage on any advantage other organisations might not have. HR should also check and report to the leadership the status of employee satisfaction. It can do this through employee surveys and exit interviews. HR should also make recommendations on improvements to enhance employer brand. Read more..

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The HR department has always played a vital role in an organisation, but how effective is its role as a strategic business partner, asks Sanghamitra Khan

A CEO wants the HR to be its strategic business partner. But, it has been indicated in several studies that there is a gap between the CEO’s expectations and what the HR department delivers. According to a US-based study, between 1998 and 2007, the HR’s impact on company strategy has not increased. After talks about the HR being strategic partner for nearly two decades, it is yet to get a seat at the ‘table’ where important business decisions are made. HR has a long way to go before it contributes to the corporate discussion about products, strategy and customers.

What could have been the probable reasons for such a condition? As per Geoffrey Matthews, VP – HR Strategy & Organisational Development, Merck Serono, the HR is not in the same frame of reference of executives. It has been found that the executives and the HR do not speak the same language and thus fail to be on the same page. The HR waits to be asked to contribute, making it difficult to demonstrate its effective contribution to the business. Here lies its failure to register as a key partner. Such a scenario calls for fast and effective action from the HR.

First, the HR needs to allot its time in understanding the business along with its investment in HR administrative tasks. The department also needs to understand what is on his CEO’s mind and whether it is performing to match his standard. The main areas of concern for CEOs in the current scheme of things have to be understood and the HR has to successfully contribute to those areas. HR has to inculcate the skills that can help it understand the roles its management has in the business. Ability to understand business needs is the basic requirement for developing any strong and flourishing business. So, the HR needs to understand this from the beginning.

Second, HR needs to effectively communicate its contributions, and for that it has to make its argument in business terms – not in human resources terms. HR needs to recognise the difference between the language used by it and that of business executives. Some executives say HR language consists of soft terminology and irrelevant wording which lacks measurement. Click here to read more...

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