The Official Blog of Benifys HR Solutions

In the toil of everyday working and just staying abreast with the needs of a business, it is easy to lose track of the constantly evolving organism that an organization is. If you don’t stop to check what state your organization is in and where it is headed, the shape it takes on it’s own might surprise you, to say the least. Here are some thoughts for you to chew on.

First, some clear signs that your organization has lost it.

1. Lunch breaks keep getting longer, 5 minutes at a day.
2. Your company is in a race to make YouTube the most popular website with employees viewing and sharing links everywhere.
3. Your organization drifts from one idea to another instead of finding it’s small niche.
4. Team meetings are infrequent and anything but invigorating. All conversations end in a either a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’.
5. Keeping up with current affairs has become an activity in reading Page 3 news.
6. Performance appraisal is an almost alien term, or worse, there is no performance to appraise.

Here’s a clear test – Mission Statement – Who knows it?

Ask your team in the next meeting whether they know what the mission of the organization is, they don’t have to spell it out verbatim; look for signs where people feel it is absurd and irrelevant for you to ask such a question. If everyone answers satisfactorily – congratulations, people are in sync what the organization wishes to achieve. If not, well, it’s time you either re-think your mission (Is it too abstract? Something straight out of a book?), or get down to finding out why your people are not motivated by it. What does an organization do when it doesn’t know what it does?

OK, it’s broken! What now? Take your client’s help.

Setup an online feedback form and request your clients to fill it out for you. Bad feedback never killed anyone, but it does give you the knowledge of what you are doing wrong. Form questions that help you understand the gap in promised service to actual delivery, like:

1. Is there a gap in the service we promised to the one that is now being delivered? If yes, please elaborate.
2. If you could change three things at <name of the organization>, what would they be?
3. Is the representative appointed by our organization knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the work they do at <name of client organization>?

Avoid questions that might induce bias or negative action – for example if you know that things have not been going too well off late, it would be stupid to ask a question like “Would you recommend us?” The purpose is to get feedback that you can use to improve the level of service and find out hidden gremlins in operations, a copy-paste job will only serve to make things worse.

Lastly, and most importantly, involve the people.

A majority of organizational problems both begin and end with people. If people do not volunteer information, have a round of team building activities in order to set the tone for it. The information gathered from client feedback can be discussed as a team and further used to make an action plan with timelines.

If people seem to be losing steam and you sense a growing disinterest amongst them, conduct an engagement survey with targeted questions to find out what precisely is not working for them.

May 2009 – quite an eventful month ­ at the national level, in the sporting world, and for Benifys.


The UPA emerged as a clear winner, pushing all its baiters to the background for good (at least for the time being), the last two teams in the 2008 version of the IPL vied for the top spot, and quite fittingly, the one that finished last in the previous edition came out the winner, and we at Benifys added another client to our portfolio for our flagship product ­ complete outsourcing of the HR function.


And while we have no political (or sporting) leanings, don´t get us wrong ­ here´s the common thread ­ you can´t keep a good team down for long. The UPA was made to run from pillar to post by all and sundry in the last run of the government, and in the pre­poll hustling, the third and fourth fronts and their ilk have nowhere to hide. The way that they shamefacedly offered ´unconditional´ support to the new boss was both hilarious pitiable, depending on how you view it. In the end, it was performance. Similarly, the team that looked best on paper last year in the IPL finished at the bottom of the heap. The team didn´t change this year, but their performance did, their determination did ­ and yes, some of their top performers didn´t have to go back to their national duties. Yes, okay ­ things have to turn in your favour too. At Benifys, it´s the same story ­ dogged determination coupled with execution finesse means that the tide had to turn our way. Well folks, it just did!


So, we have two parallels already ­ what´s the third? We´ll tell you ­ new kids on the block matter, and they can change the course of events on their own. Whether it was the youngest Gandhi or his brigade of young turks, or the Manish Pandeys and Rohit Sharmas in the IPL ­ there is a lot to be said about what vibrancy, transparency and the zeal to achieve can do. Magic, to say the least!


Here´s the second edition of our in-house Newsletter. We´re quite pleased with the reaction that our maiden edition invoked, and hope to better ourselves edition after edition ­ till our dream of making this the prime vehicle for the HR community (and its users) is realised.


Hope u had a great month of May and June is even better. Cheers.

The concept of outsourcing the Human Resources function, whether partially or completely, has been doing the rounds of corporate circles for long, or at least a reasonably long time now. Given the obvious advantages that it brings, what prevents it from becoming a rage? Why are organisations not pursuing this option with any kind of aggressiveness? Why would they continue to look the other way when something as clear as this stares them in the face every single day of their working lives?

The reason for HR Outsourcing not catching the fancy of organisations is one, or more, of these three:

• Mindset issues: There are perceived problems related to individual insecurity, control, data security, sensitive information that others are privy to, hesitation in adopting change, and so on and so forth,

• Ignorance: Organisations have not heard of HR Outsourcing and/or are not clear how it will work. This is an education issue, and can be handled through relentless campaigns in various media and reach-out programmes, and

• Wrong implementation: Many organisations stop short of deriving the maximum benefits out of outsourcing, for want of a true understanding of what HR Outsourcing can truly accomplish. Like the erstwhile IT Outsourcing models, organisations are confused as to what is the finish line, often considering the race to be over half way through the track. This, to our mind, is the most serious issue plaguing the world of HR Outsourcing. We’ll take a little time to dwell on this aspect.

A report called "Getting Full Business Value from HR Outsourcing With Strategies for Retained HR and Change" was published by Buck Consultants. This report was a result of a multi organisation survey and an accompanying case study and was recently featured on the HROA (HRO Association) website. The report intended to distinguish between organisations achieving "HR efficiency" as opposed to "True HR transformation." While attaining HR efficiency means the careful optimization of HR systems and processes from a perfect combination of both in-house resources and outsourced services, HR transformation is the next step wherein the HR organisation is geared up to drive business performance.

The case study demonstrated how probable it is to be working to achieve transformation but falling short on target to ’settle’ for efficiency instead. The concept of outsourcing the HR function (single or multi process) has been around for some time now and this is now resulting in a clear track record of what does and does not work. What is surprising is that some organisations have been able to achieve far better business impact as compared to others while implementing HR transformation measures.

Going through the survey findings, one thing that stands out is that high performance organisations take a distinctly different approach towards handling change in the retained HR organisation and do not shy away from investing more in change management and communication practices. Needless to say, the overall perceived effectiveness of the program was far higher in high performance organisations as compared to their counterparts. Another aspect in which the change process in the high performance organisations differs is the way they planned and executed the retained HR changes itself. While for the high performance organisations the retained HR changes were part of the overall HR strategy and drove the scope and scale of outsourcing, this wasn’t the case for other organisations. The latter saw the two steps, i.e., outsourcing and managing change, as separate activities not to be mixed with each other, and as a result outsourced first and managed change later. Even in instances where both the activities ran parallel to each other, there was little inter-relation between the two.

Another thing to consider here is how the retained generalist HR organisation is utilized post HRO implementation. Demand dictates the output here; some could be moved under the shared services umbrella while others could be used to form centers of excellence to support the core business with consulting and/or business research services. The final shape of the HR organisation will ultimately depend on the specific needs of the business with a focus on providing HR a strategic involvement rather than appointing it as a ‘maintenance’ function, which is only a short term solution at best.

In order to be successful, the HR transformation process must necessarily cover the following process steps:

1. Selecting an HRO vendor and finalizing which functions of HR to outsource
2. Identifying gaps in the projected HR organisation
3. Determining scope for new roles like business research/consulting for the retained HR organisation
4. Assigning new and modified roles to the retained HR organisation
5. Managing the retained HR organisation by means of orientation, communication and training
6. Preparing retained HR organisation for their new roles, processes, tools and relationships
7. Managing change through extensive communication exercises
8. Supporting the outsourced processes till the time that they "run on their own" so that the employees do not feel disruption in HR services
9. Preparing and following exhaustive SLAs for the outsourcing partner
10. Providing every possible data and information source to the outsourcing partner for effective and seamless transition of processes
11. Maintaining audit points for both the retained and the outsourced HR processes
12. Maintaining a close eye on the market and competitive landscape to evolve further outsourcing strategies and practices
13. Engaging the outsourcing partner in frequent dialogue to unearth further areas of possible partnership
14. Above all, trusting the HRO partner and enabling the model to success, rather than setting it up for failure

In the final analysis, every step that the organisation takes towards gaining a competitive advantage will empower the people within the organisation. The organisation gains through a variety of routes, the cost advantage being amongst one of the many benefits that accrue to the organisation. If an organisation is looking at being perceived in a better light than the others in its space, HR outsourcing is an option that must be explored.

360° – An Overview:

360 degree feedback is arguably the most comprehensive feedback process involving an all-round assessment of performance of an individual by people at all levels. It is not just an appraisal method, but also a very powerful development tool. It can be instrumental in not just measuring the current performance, but also identifying the gaps in the knowledge/skills/abilities/attitudes/behaviours required for the job and those held by the incumbent. It not only reflects the judgment/opinion of those up the line, but also the opinions/perspective of those down the line. Professionally managed, 360 degree feedback increases individual self-awareness, and as part of a strategic organisational process can promote:

• Increased understanding of the behaviours required to improve both individual and organisational effectiveness.
• More focused development activities, built around the skills and competencies required for successful organisational performance.
• Increased involvement of people at all levels of the organization.
• Increased individual ownership for self-development and learning.
• Increased familiarity with the implications of cultural or strategic change.

360° as an Appraisal Tool:

360 degree feedback is a process whereby an individual (the recipient) is rated on their performance by people who know something about their work (the raters). This can include direct reports, peers and managers and in some cases customers or clients, in fact anybody who is credible to the individual and is familiar with their work can be included in the feedback process. This is usually in addition to completing a self-assessment on performance. The resulting information is presented to the individual with the aim of helping them to gain a better understanding of their skills and development areas. Each source can provide a different perspective on the individual’s skills, attributes and other job relevant characteristics and thus help to build up a richer, more complete and accurate picture than could be obtained from any one source. 360 degree appraisals involve the appraisee receiving feedback from people (named or anonymous) whose views are considered helpful and relevant. The feedback is typically provided on a form showing job skills/abilities/attitudinal/behavioural criteria and some sort of scoring or value judgment system. The appraisee should also assess themselves using the same feedback instrument or form.

As an appraisal tool, 360 degree feedback ensures more participation and involvement on the part of employees at all levels. It also gives a more balanced view of the individual’s performance as it eliminates some defects like halo effect, fear of persecution, political manipulation etc. inherent in traditional appraisal methods.

360° as a Development Tool:

360 degree feedback is also a powerful tool for training and development. Evaluation on the 360 degree model helps identify the gaps in not just the qualifications and technical aspects of the job requirement, but also in the behavioural and attitudinal aspects. This provides a basis for planning training and orientation activity. 360 degree is also useful in succession planning, career planning and leadership development. Giving an all-round assessment of the skills, abilities and attitudes of an individual, it helps in identifying his/her strong and weak traits. This, in turn, helps chalk out a person’s career path and also find out the likeliest successors for all positions. Also, taking the same test at different stages in one’s career helps to evaluate the training and coaching initiatives.

The benefit of 360 degree employee feedback is the identification of strengths, weaknesses, mentoring insights, and areas needing professional development

360° – Process:

1. Planning

Planning involves establishing the purpose and the process for the 360 degree feedback to be put into place. This means finding out whether the organization is culturally ready for 360 degree feedback to be implemented or not, whether the objectives are clear, the management is committed to the process and those who are going to take part are involved at the planning stage. Also, there has to be a clear process to identify the raters, the questionnaire has to be reviewed to ensure it is relevant, the structure of the feedback has to be decided and, where computers are being used, system security has to be ensured.

2. Piloting

Running a pilot is of vital importance to the process as it will help iron out any difficulties related to the relevance of the questionnaire, the effectiveness of the feedback survey, the efficiency and security of the systems as well as the responsiveness of the employees to the survey.

3. Implementation

Once a pilot run is done, the implementation becomes much smoother as the snags are ironed out in the pilot stage itself. For the process to be a success, it has to be ensured that clear and positive communication is open and everyone is made aware of the role that he/she is to play. It is beneficial to have a team constituted to administer the process. Also, a contact point, or ‘helpline’, should be established to whom queries can be addressed. Deadlines should be clearly and firmly communicated and the confidentiality of the process should be stressed.

4. Feedback

Feedback can be communicated to the individual in two ways i.e. in a face-to-face interview with a facilitator or as a report without any person-to-person interaction. The best practice, however, would be to take the help of a facilitator so that the feedback can be interpreted in the correct light and in a positive manner. The facilitator in question should be someone who is conversant with the process, the criteria and the policies. The facilitator can help focus the discussion on the future development planning.

5. Review

Reviewing the success of the 360 degree feedback is of vital importance as it will help to further smoothen and refine the process.

360° – Advantages and Disadvantages:

Advantages

As a tool for performance management and training and development, 360 degree feed back has the following advantages:

• It enhances performance quality
• Provides specific, itemized performance feedback.
• Identifies the target development areas.
• It can be a strong motivational tool.
• Facilitates performance improvement be pinpointing the areas that need improvement.
• Is useful in measuring the effectiveness of training programs.
• It enhances self-knowledge.
• It is supportive to continuous learning.
• It improves the reliability and validity of performance information.

Disadvantages

360 degree feedback is not, however, without drawbacks; some of which may be:

• It might result in the undermining of authority of managers due to the pressure of upward appraisal.
• Low evaluation might result in loss of credibility among subordinates.
• Managers may focus on trying to please subordinates in order to get higher appraisals.
• It cannot be used as an absolute measure of job-specific skills.
• Managers may be at a loss on how to interpret ratings from subordinates relative to those from superiors and peers.

Things to Be Aware Of

Given the nature of the 360 degree feedback and the level of participation required, certain things have to be borne in mind before the system is put into implementation:

• It is imperative to gain organization-wide acceptance of the system to ensure the fair and smooth functioning of the process.
• Prior information be given to all those involved and communication channels kept open so that all queries can be cleared.
• Ensure that the instrument in use is valid, clear, relevant and reliable.
• Selection of raters should be made carefully keeping in mind that they have to be familiar with the appraisee’s work and give them the opportunity of opting out if they are not.
• Proper training and guidance be provided to the raters to help them understand their role.
• Promote participation at all levels.
• Administer the process consistently and regularly.
• Be sensitive and respectful towards the employees.
• Ensure that offensive feedback by coworkers is not communicated to the employee.