Management Posts

Being an HR professional it's too critical to engage each person in the organization. To engage employee HR need to transform the relationship (from arrange marriage to Love marriage)

Now the question is

How it would be possible as each and everyone has a different mindset in the organization?'

The obvious answer is

HR needs to understand the Employee's Value circle and use the factor to motivate and engage employees with the organization.

Again the new question born in the mind

What is the Employee Value circle?

The employee value circle is the combination of various employee's values which they want from the organization. After identifying the value we can easily decide the category of the value circle. The value category gives us the way to motivate and engage the employee and we can form a long-lasting relationship between organization and employee.

let's understand what is Employee Value circle is

Category-1

3RPM

1st R- Recognition 2nd R- Reward 3rd R Respect P- Promotion M- Motivation

We need to find out what is the thing from category 1 that works better for the particular employee.

Category-2

Money

If the person works for money then prepare the monetary plan to motivate the employee. you can use the bonus, incentives, vouchers, commission, cash card, etc. Sometimes you purchase something for them which they can consider monetary reward and gain income out of them. For instance shares.

Category- 3

Learning Opportunity

Many people in the organization are willing to learn and explore new things, to engage their organization can provide the learning platform for them.

Category- 4

Flexibility

If the person wants the flexibility to figure out the possibility and provide them, believe me, they will be happy and become more productive

At the first glance, it looks easy to do the Employee Value Circle survey but it's not Easy as ABC. HR professionals need to keep patience, keep an active approach all the time and observe everything about a particular person otherwise it will become a worthless, waste of time, and a waste of resources as well.

In the last blog we have discussed two perspectives namely Financial Perspective and Internal Process perspective out of four perspectives of BSC. Let's look at the remaining two perspectives.

Customer Perspective

We all know that the 'Customer is the king of the market' and that's why we need to ensure that we have a satisfied customer group in the market.

Each organization serves a specific need in the market and this is done with a target group in mind. There are many points to focus like the Quality, Price, Service, and acceptable Margins on the products and/or services.

The organization always tries to meet customers' expectations in the market and that's why any organization needs to keep its eyes on the market and be ready to adapt to changes quickly.

The existence of alternatives( competitors ) has a huge influence on customers' expectations and we need to focus on overall market trends to build satisfied buyers in the market.

This perspective answer the question: "How attractive should we appear to our customers?"

In short, we need to focus on three points-

1. Target Group in Market
2. The expectation of the Customers
3. Our Competitors

After focusing on these points definitely, we will be able to lure maximum potential customers in the market.

Learning and Growth Perspective

In today's competitive era, if we are not ready/capable of learning something new then it's next to impossible to survive in the market as 'nothing is constant only the change is constant.

Here knowledge is not important but advancing knowledge plays a vital role.

The organization's learning ability and innovation indicate whether an organization is capable of continuous improvement and growth in a dynamic environment or not. The dynamic environment is subject to change on a daily basis due to new laws, economical changes, technological changes, or even increasing competition.

This perspective answer the questions:

"How can we sustain our ability to achieve our chosen strategy ?"

To know more about the BSC please read my upcoming weekly Blog.

In the last Blog we have discussed the basics of BSC, let's start a discussion about four perspectives of BSC.

A Balanced Scorecard looks at an organization from four different perspectives to measure its health, each of these perspectives focuses on various sides of the company and creates a balanced view of the organization.

And yes all four areas of BSC are interrelated; we cannot ignore any out of four to the success of the organization.

Financial Perspective:

This perspective views organizational financial performance and the uses of financial resources.

We need to focus on two points:

• Is the company achieving its financial goals?
• How well do the strategies and operations contribute to improving financial health?

Well, now the question is how we can measure the output from a financial perspective?

These data are always past-focused, we need to gather two types of data.

1. Historical Data: How did we do last month, last week, last year, and so on.
2. Current Data: How are we doing right now, Today?

For instance,

1. Our net profit for the year versus last year
2. Our sales revenue this year versus last year

These measures of corporate performance are based on history and also vary from organization to organization.

As the BSC is a holistic approach, any key objectives that are related to the company's financial health and performance may include in this perspective as given below:

1. Cost Saving and Efficiencies: Specified Goals: Reduced production cost 10% by 2021
2. Profit Margins: increase operational profit Margins
3. Revenue Sources: adding new revenue channels/department/products

In the end,

• Are you making money?
• Are your investors happy?

If yes then be happy...

The financial health of your organization may be an indicator of your past decisions but still incredibly important.

Money keeps the company alive and the financial perspective focuses solely on this.

Internal Process Perspective:

This perspective views various organizational processes and the efficiency of the particular process.

1. From this view, the question should be asked what internal processes have added values within the organization and what activities need to carry in the organization (In all three perspectives).
2. The internal Process perspective looks at how smoothly your business is running (Here, Efficiency is important )
3. It's all about,
   • Reducing waste,
   • Speeding process/ production
   • Doing more with less

We need to focus on three points:

• Is the company improving the critical process?
• Are there any obstacles standing between ideas and execution?
• How quickly can you adapt to changing business conditions?

This perspective answer the question :

"what process we must excel at to satisfy our shareholders/financial Backers and customers?"

To know more about BSC please read my weekly Blog.

Development:

The Balanced Scorecard (BSC) was originally developed by Robert Kaplan of Harvard University and Dr. David Northon as a framework for measuring organizational performance using the more " BALANCED " set of performance measures.

Traditionally companies used only short-term financial performance as a measure of success but now non-financial strategic measures are also added in order to focus on long-term success.

The BSC system evolved over the years and is now considered a fully integrated "Strategic Management System".

What is a Balanced Scorecard (BSC)?

• A Balanced Scorecard is a performance metric used to identify, improve, and control a business's various internal processes and resulting outcomes.
• Balance Scorecard is a framework to implement and manage strategies.
• The Balanced scorecard is derived from the idea of looking at strategic measures to get a more balanced view of performance. The concept of a Balanced Scorecard evolved beyond the simple use of perspectives, every business can implement it according to the requirements and therefore it is a holistic system for managing strategy.

Why do we need to implement it?

• The key benefit of using a BSC framework is that it gives way to the organization to "Connect the Dots" between various components of strategic planning and management and it means there will be a visible connection between Projects and Programs that people are working on it.
• BSC framework also helps management to meet pre-decided targets.

Perspectives of Balanced Scorecard:

Indeed a balanced scorecard plays a significant role to aid management to keep updated internal processes and the external Business world as well.

The framework Balanced Scorecard is divided into four areas (perspectives) that are critical to business success as given below.

1. Financial
2. Internal process
3. Learning and Growth
4. Customer

The BSC suggests that we view the Organization from four Perspectives to develop Objectives, Measures, Targets, and Initiatives (relative to each of these points of view).

To know more details about all four perspectives, read my upcoming weekly Blogs.

• Observation 
• Survey 
• Periodic Interview
• Attitude Measurement  
• Opinion Analysis
• Morale Indicators
  • Productivity
  • Absenteeism
  • Turnover
  • No. of accident
• Use suggestion Box 

After doing all the right things to boost productivity and still employees' productivity plunging or not increasing, we need to look at the Employee Morale. Employee Morale is a decisive factor in an Organisation whether it is the Service sector or Manufacturing unit. It is one of the cornerstones of the business, only a few organizations pay attention to morale among employees in their organization and this is the major mistake from their side as it affects productivity which ultimately reflects in Organizational Growth & Productivity.

Let’s Discuss:

• What’s Employee Morale?
• Characteristics of Employee Morale.
• Relation between Morale & Productivity.

What is Employee Morale?

In simple terms employee morale is the standard of behavior of an employee which directly affects the productivity of the organization but it is a complex concept as there are ample factors that affect employee morale.

Definition:

Edwin Flippo: “ Morale is a mental condition or attitude of individual and groups which determines their willingness to cooperate”

Characteristics:

• Psychological concept
• Dynamic Nature
• Group phenomenon
• Reflect others

Psychological Concept:

Morale is a psychological phenomenon, it is the internal feeling of confidence, attitude, Zest, enthusiasm, satisfaction, etc. Moreover, it is the state of mind and emotions affecting the attitude and willingness to work that affect individual and organizational objectives.

Dynamic Nature:

Morale is Dynamic in nature; we cannot develop it overnight. Management has to make continuous efforts to build and maintain high morale among employees in the organization. It is a long-term concept.

Group Phenomenon:

Morale is not an individual phenomenon but it's the sum of the total employee’s attitude, feelings, and sentiments.

Reflect others:

We cannot measure morale directly but it is reflected in productivity, discipline, turnover, etc. To measure morale we need to look at other factors.

Relations between Morale and Productivity:

Davis Designed that there is not always a positive link between Productivity and Employee morale. There can be four combinations of Morale and Productivity

1. High morale-High productivity

This situation is likely to occur when the employees are fully motivated to achieve high performance not only this but satisfied with all financial & nonfinancial rewards & highly satisfied with their job role. Feeling proud to be part of the organization/team.

2. High morale-low productivity

This situation occurs when the employees waste their time in the workplace or use the time to satisfy their personal goals. They don't care about organizational goals. There are many factors responsible for this kind of Employee Attitude in the workplace such as

1. Lack of proper training,
2. Lack of support by co-workers or leaders,
3. Leaders/Superior behavior with him,
4. Irresponsible Management (If we talk about It or another small service sector Irresponsible HR )
5. Ineffective Supervision
6. Restrictive norms of the informal group
7. Outdated Technology & Methods

3.Low morale-High productivity

In a short period, it may be possible that with low morale Employee's productivity seems high but it is for a temporary or short span of time. Low Morale can not result in high productivity for a long time. this situation occurs when

1. Fear of losing a job,
2. Less availability of alternatives
3. Strict Supervision, Rules & Regulations
4. Punishment
5. Policies and strategies focus on high productivity only.

4. Low morale-Low productivity

This situation occurs when the organizational & individual goals are not satisfied & other factors like

1. Lack of motivation
2. Unclear Job role
3. Lack of harmonious Superior-Subordinate relationship

These all factors result in frustration, tension and grievances develop against managers which reflect low productivity. To pen down, morale is the paramount factor that gives a direct impact on productivity, Productivity impact on profitability, profitability impact on organizational growth. If the Morale is high then it will be possible to gain more fruits in the future but if it's low then it's Red Signal for any organization even the productivity is high but it will be for a short period of time only

I am not going to end the topic of Morale but will continue in the next blog with

1. Factor determining morale
2. Significance of high morale
3. Impact of low morale
4. Measurement of morale

To know about these please read my upcoming blogs of Human Resource…..

• Freedom to communicate.
• It signifies the transparency of the environment in the organization.

• It helps to improve the implementation of any system & bring innovation by free interaction among team members, clarity in setting objects, and common Goals.

• Facing problems and challenges.
• The person is facing it boldly and not shying.

• Improve Problem Solving.
• Clarity in work.
• Group discussion to resolve particular problems.

• Maintaining confidentiality.
• Building trust in each other.
• Do not share anything to others or outside of the organization.

• Higher Empathy.
• Timely Support.
• Reduce Stress.

• No or narrowest gap between said value & Actual behaviour.
• Person’s commitment to work/Assigned tasks & Actual performance should be the same.
• Everyone has attitude “Jo me bolta hu wo me karta hu”

• Develop mutuality culture.
• Sharing of feeling freely.
• Improve interpersonal communication.
• Reduce the distortion in Communication.

• Taking Initiative.
• Pre- Planning.
• It prepared everyone for upcoming challenges.

• Reduce uncertainty.
• One step ahead (advance team)
• Prepare everyone to accept changes with time.

• Freedom to plan & act at one’s own level.
• Organisation must avoid an Autocratic type of environment and give chance to all members to use their power in a positive way.

• Develop mutual relationship.
• Feeling of Pride.
• Self Motivation
• work satisfaction.

• Involves working together for common cause.
• individuales share their concerns and prepare strategies for working out plans, actions & implementing them together.

• Timely work.
• Resource sharing.
• Improve Communication.

• Trying out new ways to deal with problems/Tasks.
• Organisation should allow all to experiment new ways and encourage them to find the best ways.

• Accurate problem solutions.
• Development of new products.
• Development of New methods.