Ria Dua's Blog

HR Generalist to Specialist - Division of Labor

2010-06-19T08:13:00.000-07:00

It's just two weeks that i joined my work place. Have not started working full fledged as yet since we have been assigned projects which are to be completed within one month. Well will just pen down a few recent observations.

What I have observed is a recent shift in the trend of the profiles being offered to HR graduates .Initially freshers were easily given HR Generalists role. However, lately there has been a shift from Generalist roles to Specialist Roles.

Most companies of late have been in an expanding spree. As the no. of employees were increasing, the need for a proper HR dept was being felt. The Generalists were doing a good job but suddenly to get things done in a better way, a need for proper division of labor was felt. it was at this point that the specialists came into the picture. These days most new HR hires are assigned one special HR vertical (if I may call it).Be it recruitment, T&D or Comp & Ben. After getting proper exposure and experience in one vertical in 2 to 3 years, these specialist make a shift to another vertical.Job Rotation you see... Observing the trend it seems that these specialists will now take up a generalist role once they are exposed to all the verticals. This will happen mostly aft 8 to 10 yrs of work ex. If given an option, I would also want my career to follow the same path.

Sounds lucrative enough and also the need of the hour. Thus we realize that division of labor is not restricted to the manufacturing sector. Its all prevailing.

CHRYSALIS 2010 presents "Business In Technicolor"

2010-03-10T12:50:00.000-08:00

Last week LIBA got over with its annual B School Fest CHRYSALIS, and the theme this year was "Business in Technicolor". It was the time of Lights... Camera..... and Action...... in the campus. We decided to go beyond the texts and classrooms.It is here that the learning from movies begins......

Its a classic example of management being fun and management leading to fun!

A brief on the HR Game will help you understand how we went about it. We required teams of 3. There were 3 main rounds in the game.

Round 1: The 1st round was a quiz round to test the intelligence of the participants and to churn out the cream from the lot. Quiz had 30 questions which were to be answered in 20 minutes. 6 teams qualified for the 2nd round.

Round 2: It is here that the actual test began. Its quite easy to use HR jargon like downsizing, benchmarking etc but the test begins when one has to communicate these terms not in words but in actions. Yes! this round was DUMB CHARADES. It tested how well the participants understood, communicated and interpreted. One participant from each team was given 1 min to enact and communicate the term he/she got.

Round 3: The 3rd round was the icing on the cake. We chose 8 movies ranging from Inglorious Bastards to My Fair Lady and selected particular scenes from the movies. Every team was supposed t choose a movie for a team sitting on its right. The answering team had 3 tasks to do:

Identify the theme in the scene
Speak on the theme for a minute. The judges mark them on communication, understanding of concept and clarity.
Answer a question linked to the same theme.

Eg: The theme for the scene from the movie 'Facing the Giant' was Motivation.The teams had to identify the theme, speak on it for a minute and answer the linked question "What does VIE stand for in Victor Vroom's Theory of Motivation?"

Organizing this event was a learning and fun filled experience. Special thanks to Thejas, Juliat, Deepthi and Justin. The efforts put in by the 360 Degrees team and the various game owners was commendable and helped in making CHRYSALIS 2010 a Success.

P.S : Suggest all of you watch the movie "Up in the air". An awesomely amazing movie! If you want a list of the names of movies , the scenes of which were show, mail at riadua@gmail.com .

QBQ- The Question Behind the Question

2010-01-27T22:27:00.000-08:00

An interesting book authored by John Miller which discusses the questions people ask and how it effects their mood and attitudes towards certain situations. The book QBQ urges individuals to practice Personal Accountability in work and life by asking better questions.

Questions to be avoided:

All questions which begin with "who, when and why" should be avoided and have been categorized as lousy or incorrect questions.

- A who questions usually leads to a blame game. This is a very common problem seen in organizations where departments and individuals keep passing the ball to the other.

- A when question leads to procrastination and lack of efforts from individuals.

- A why questions encourages victim thinking thus affecting the employee's morale and performance.

How to frame the right questions:

- Begin your questions by "What or How".This helps you to look out for the solutions available.

- The question should always contain an "I". This encourages your personal involvement. Brings out the essence of personal accountability.

- The focus should always be on the action

Miller says that each one of us is a leader in his or her position and thus should practice personal accountability and contribute to the prevailing situations in our own ways.

The book is just a 2 hours read but the ideas are thought provoking so even the busiest of people can afford to read it. It The principles are easy to grasp and the short anecdotes add a personal touch and also make it an interesting read.The book is actively being used during training to encourage team work. All in a all a good, short, interesting and a meaningful read.

Never Stop LEARNING!!!!!!!!!!

2009-12-20T05:45:00.000-08:00

Well, the past 3 months have been a roller coaster ride and have yet another lap to go in January. But the best part is that in every high and every low that i went through, I learnt something. Something about everything.

The "10 -20 minute conversations" which I have had recently with some of the experienced people from varied industries, made me learn certain things about myself. The questions that they put forth made me delve into myself to find the answers. Not that I have all the answers now but I am sure sooner or later I will find them.

Their questions dint just help me know myself better but also increased my knowledge about various indutries. Also had to refer to some HR related books to increase my HR knowldege and I also got to learn quite a few interesting tricks of my trade ;). Quite a lot of knowledge enrichment!!!!! It's the flip side u see :).

Starting from April, this year, my life took a complete new turn. A special thanks to all the "friends" I made during that period. Their support meant a lot for me. At the same time got an opportunity to learn from them as well. I have been on the path of constant self discovery. Right now I am in a transition phase and am facing all the troubles that any company faces (all that we have been taught in Change Management). It is tough indeed but I am sure very soon I will find a way out.

Well not all has been gloomy. Miracles do happpen and a sudden change has made life better :). Touch wood.... things should be fine. This is something which helps me pull myself together.

Tomorrow is my last paper and I leave for home the next day. Somethings interesting things await me there as well. Certain wishes yet unfulfilled. But hope that the New Year brings good news and happiness in not just mine but in the lives of all.

Closing remarks:
Life is a journey that brings a new day, a new experience every moment. Keep your spirits high and learn from every new experience you have. You will always find a hidden message or sign that shows you the way ahead. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Just like that ...

2009-11-10T23:40:00.000-08:00

Huh.. finally me back to blogging but this time its not on any particular topic. Its just a sneak peek into my life. With the outset of Novemeber, Life bacame all busy. Mid terms , INSIGHT 09 , projects, Mid terms and now placements. Crazy life!

Too much happening all at the same time.. Guess this is the best part of being a Management student. You have too much of workload ,too many activities and the worst part being you cant ignore any of it . One has to handle all of it smartly. The key being time management. Once you master that, life becomes simple and easy. But mastering that in itself is a big deal my dear friend.

Anyway I am in no mood of gyan talk now. The mood in college for a change is pretty sober. The 2nd years are gearing up for the placements. The library is more or less full most of the time with people flipping through various magazines and news papers. Guess the fact has started sinking in. Placements is not far n all of us have to give in our best shot. At times you can see the afterthought dat follows any plans made for movies and outings. Ya this phase is a little scary no doubt. Everyone has got a question mark on their faces wondering whats gonna happen. There is a strange silent that prevails...

Wish this phase gets over soon and leaves all of us with happy faces. Hoping and praying for the best of all.
The ultimate solace can be felt only once we surrender everything to God since no consolations help. Keep your faith in yourself and God alive.

Jai Mata Di!

The Firewalk!!!!

2009-10-29T01:21:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday I attended a conferance organised by SHRM and MTHR Global where i got an opprtunity to walk on fire. Surprised???? i really did.

The speaker was PRIYA KUMAR, one of the most impressive motivational speaker I have ever come across. Before we went 4 the firewalk, she laid some basic rules:
1) Everyone has to walk. No one could chicken out.
1) There is no coming back once you place your foot on the walk
2)Do not try to jump out of the path since both the sides would be set ablaze. ;)

Interesting, Isn't it?
This was enough to raise our pulse rate. There was fear as well anxiety.Finally it was my turn to walk. With a lot of courage I took a deep breath and put my 1st foot forward and quickly walked across. It got over too soon I guess as it dint hurt much. But still I failed to understand the motive behind it.Once we went back to the hall, Priya cleared all doubts.

MORAL:
- In life we do not try a number of things because we have this fear of failing. At times we are faced with problems but we leave them unsloved thinking there is no way out. But in the end, it is all about courage, COURAGE TO TAKE THE FIRST STEP!Once that is done, half the problem is already solved.

- Even if you get stuck somewhere, going back is impossible. Dont think of leaving the path mid way by taking another path (this was the reason the sides were set ablaze). Be a fighter and if the problem is unbearable, walk even faster but KEEP WALKING, till you recah the end.

This was a lesson well learnt. Thanks to Priya.:)

A different aspect to Appraisals- AMBITION

2009-10-28T23:32:00.000-07:00

Recently I attended the NHRD, Chennai, October meet.The guest speaker was Priya Gopalakrishnan, Director- HR, ING Vysya.She spoke on Talent Management where she covered all topics from acquisition to retention. When she touched upon Appraisals, she mentioned something very ineteresting. She said like all other companies we measure the Performance, Leadership etc but she added a new parameter which was AMBITION.

They adjudged the AMBITION of the employees which helped them to undertsand the willingness of the worker to stick to the company and sacrifice for the company. They have a signalling process called RAG( red, amber, green)which tells them which employees are planning to stay and which are set to leave.Some advantages are:

-Companies facing high attrition problems can be prepered with fresh talent when required.

-It will also aid their Succession Planning especially for the business critical roles.

- There will be no need to maintain a bench for evry function. This will also reduce their unnecessary expenses.

-The signalling process is done by the line managers thus by putting in efforts they can turn the amber to green instead of red.

Humour Resources :)

2009-10-22T00:09:00.000-07:00

Some "REAL RESUME QUOTES" I found while going through the magazine Human Factor.

"I have an excellent track record, although I am not a horse" ;)

"I am LOYAL to my employer at all costs. Please feel free to respond to my resume on my office voice mail" ;D

Courtesy: Human Factor, October issue.

Punjabi Culture and Management

2009-10-21T23:51:00.000-07:00

Had a test on Cross Cultural Management recently where Father Joe Arun gave us the following question:
"Discuss 10 variables of your cultural ethinicity and their impact on managing people."

This is what i wrote:

Here we are not discussing Sikhs but arya Punjabis/ Hindu Punjabis. They are the descendants of the Indo- Aryans who settled around the Punjab and Sind area and belonged to the Kshatria(warriors) Clan. However, the political and economic stbility forced them to look for different avenues. Thus they took to merchantalism (merchants) and became very successful in this field.

10 variables of the Punjabi Culture and their impact on Managing People:

1)Brave and Risk Taking: Yes, Punjabis are very brave as they were fighters once upon a time. They do not mind taking risks and like experimenting. They have the ability to face loss which is not easy for everyone. They also love challenges. If u wanna get them to work, challenge them!

2)Good Business Intellect: Yes they do have good business intellect. Most of them are successful entrepreneurs. They have creative ideas and very successful in the Hospitality Industry. Since they are so experimantative, you will find them in every industry. They are good at selling. So take the best advantage if their talent.They are also very practical and rational in their approach.

3)Respect for elders: They have great respect for their elders. It is dificult for them to show disregard to their elders even if they have clashes. Thus if you have to tackle bosses who are old, they might be of help. It does have a downside too that they might not be very rebellious.

4) Amiable: They are the most simple and amiable people you might find around.They can befriend any stranger and can make them feel comforatble.The language they understand is that of love and expect the same from others.Use it to communicate with them.

5) Survivors: No matter how bad situations become, they will be the last ones to lose hope and will keep on trying. They know how to fight it out in times of crisis. Thus you can be rest assured that they will never show their back and leave you alone.They are good motivators.

6) Full of life: They are always full of life. They will keep you entertained and always keep the spirits of the team high.

7)Academically Disoriented: Academics does not interest them much. They are simple people and like stuff that is simple, short and easy to understand. Thus if you want to show them somethings, do not take lenghty reports. They do not have the patience to read through. Be to the point.

8) Gender Biasness: No generalisation but they may be biased when it comes to gender. Theirs is a male dominated society. Thus in the work place they might fail to acknowldge the opinions of the women but will treat them with all due respect. To correct them, you just have to tell them once.

9)Pomp and Show: They believe in a lot of pomp show. They feel it gives them an edge over the others. It is here that all practicality and rationality goes for a toss when they suddenly become extravagant. So keep a check and stop them when you think that they are crossing limits. If working in a team, peers might get jealous but they should try and ignore.

10) Indulgent: They are quite indulgent when it comes to food and drinks. The best part is that they dont do it alone but welcome others as well. Quite hospitable people you see ;). they pamper people a lot but as the same time end up affecting their health.Try and correct them. It is gonna be a mammoth task but if you dont want any lazy, overweight people in your team, then you better take some measures.

Guess these 10 points will help everyone when dealing with a Punjabi boss or peer as they will have better understanding of them and their culture. I never understood my culture better until I wrote this paper.
Ria- Punjabi by birth, culture and nature :)

2 States by Chetan Bhagat

2009-10-18T02:20:00.000-07:00

It is interesting to see how Chetan Bhagat’s fourth book is selling copies after copies. It is hard to believe that the copies of the book are stacked in Landmark near the billing counter with the Impulse products and people are buying it as if it was just another chocolate. Two reasons why readers are getting attracted are:

 It is priced as low as Rs. 95
 People look forward to the humour in Bhagats writings which is usually a light read.
 Catchy for the youth like always

Chetan Bhagat draws the story line from his own life but prefers to call his work fiction. The tale is about the two States of Delhi and Chennai coming together. The connecting link is love between two IIM A graduates who want to get married. The catch is that the guy is Punjabi from Delhi and the girl is a Brahmin Tamil from Chennai. An interesting match I must say.

Chetan with a hint of sarcasm explains how the conventional love marriages take place in India. It is indeed a long process. First the guy falls in love with the girl and the girl with the guy. Then the girl has to fall in love with the guy’s family and the guy with the girl’s family. And then the two families have to fall in love with each other. In this long process if the guy and the girl are able to keep the love alive, they get married. Huh…… long and tedious indeed.

Chetan has lived up to the expectations by keeping the humour alive throughout the story. I love the way he has described the clashes between the two cultures. On certain aspects we are at two extremes but this story shows that it is not impossible to come together. As the story reaches an end, Chetan triggers the Indian in us that lies dormant and allows the cultural differences to supersede.

All in all a good read. A must read for those who have experienced both the places. The story has humour that will keep you rolling with laughter and situations that will leave your eyes moistened. Some contrasts brought to light in the books:
 Tams prefer to be silent and you will never find that kind of silence prevail in the house of Punjabi even if every one is asleep.
 “Marble flooring is to Punjabi what foreign degree is to Tamilian” quite true.
One of the most interesting lines was " A North Indian placed in Chennai was called an 'HR Error'".

ENJOY READING!!!!!

HR lessons from daily life

2009-10-17T04:01:00.000-07:00

It is funny how your daily life makes you face certain situations that teach you a lesson for life. This was an experience I had at the beginning of my 2nd year.

The Beyond Management team of our college has taken the responsibility of organising guest lectures for the students every Thursday. They invite industry experts who share their experiences with us and also help us keep up to date with the happenings in various industries.

As a custom, the juniors always occupied the first half of the audi and the seniors the second half. It was assumed that as we are in 2nd year now, we would be at the receiving end and would have the privilege of occupying the last few rows (it gave us a chance to fool around a little if we dint find the lecturer interesting without offending anyone). But things did not turn out that way. The same rules were not applied this year. Everyone had the liberty to occupy which ever seat they wanted and the last rows were always the first to be occupied. Don’t take this wrong but come on, this is the normal student tendency. Unfortunately we were usually the last ones to enter and ended up seating ourselves in the first few rows. Some how I was unable to accept this fact that the juniors were not forced to take the first rows anymore. I started developing distaste for the guest lecture because every time I attended one, I felt that we were wronged. I expressed my concern with a friend heading BM. It was of no use since he was stuck up with his own managing and leadership principles.

This incident got me pondering…. I asked myself if I really had a problem with guest lectures and realised that the problem was not that at all. The problem was a little deeper. It had more to do with the psychology of the concerned person. Since I had taken things for granted, I guess I could not digest the new facts and ended up protesting which was rather silly of me.

Lesson Learnt: Well the HR lesson learnt from this entire experience was that how a change in management or leadership can and does affect the employees of an organisation. Different leaders have their own management styles which actually decide the culture and value system of the organisation. It is very important that the leaders and the employees share a common value system and culture otherwise it leads to clashes. If it is not that way then the new leader has to take the onus to make the employees believe in his values. However, there is some responsibility on the part of the employees as well. They should be flexible and should be ready to accept and adapt themselves to changes the moment there is a change in leadership because in the end it is the coordinated efforts of the two that will bring results.

In this case,management style of the earlier leader(our senior) differed from that of the present one. However,the moment I came out of denial mode, I could see and perceive things in a better and different way.

Kudos to the BM team for the good job they do round the year.

Leading in times of Crisis

2009-10-13T09:14:00.000-07:00

The trial of Kasab, the lone terrorist survivor of the “The Mumbai Terror Attack”, keeps reminding us of the disastrous day when 179 people including 22 foreigners lost their lives. It fills our hearts with horror, anger and anguish at the same time. Being a management student, I would like to bring your attention towards the role of the management (especially HR) in this entire catharsis with special reference to The Taj Palace and Hotels.

Mr. H.N Srinivasan, Vice- President HR, Taj, who reported to the venue on 27th November enlightened us with the role and duties of an HR head at times of crisis during the monthly meet of NHRD, Chennai. He mentioned that the most important thing is to be in complete self control with a calm mind in order to act in the right direction.

Companies need to devise effective measures to handle the situation. Some measures like Safety and security of the guests as well as the employees go unsaid. Besides that the victims go through a lot of stress. Thus what we need is good counsellors and psychiatric help to get people out of the traumatic experience. This should be extended not just to the victims but also to their families as the concern for the well being of their loved ones causes a lot of anxiety and stress.

The families of the deceased and injured are the ones that need the most attention during such catastrophes. The management can provide its support not only by empathizing but also by designing a compensation structure that is all encompassing. The compensation structure designed by Mr. Srinavasan took care of the children’s education, the monthly expenses of the families, loans, medical insurance etc.

One of the major concerns of the employees is their job security. Taj management responded to this by declaring that all the employees who were on pay roll during the incident will not lose their jobs and that they would be paid their monthly salaries as well. The second announcement made was about the hotel reopening date. These measures were taken to make the employees feel that they have something to look forward to and to keep them motivated.

Some minor issues which we tend to ignore play a very important role. For example: Some families are not comfortable with their dear ones working in that company again. Thus we need to provide them with counselling that ensures the security and safety of their family members; some of the night shift workers might be scared to work as so many people had lost their lives in the premises. We need to take measures to free them of their fears and mitigate the impacts of such events.

A lot many changes took place in the hotel industry to recover from the incident. It completely changed the definition of security in the hotel industry. The various HR operations of recruiting, background check and training were improvised and more strictly followed. New training modules relating to security were included.

Our professor Mrs Susan Thomas mentioned this that at times of crisis we are forced to undertake responsibilities and perform tasks which do not fall in the widest purview of our job description. On the same lines, Mr. Srinivasan flagged the interaction by saying that Leadership in times of crisis questions ones own work ethics and values and how deeply they are rooted. It is not just about Human Resources Management but how humane an approach we take to maintain the morale in the face of crisis.

A ria-lization ...

2009-10-13T02:47:00.000-07:00

Hi all, The first post in my blog has to have the mention of two important people who motivated me enough to start blogging.

One is my dear friend Saikat Saha who is a regualr blogger since 2007. We share the same interests and HR is our primary connect. Thanks a lot buddy. I hope i continue with it.

The second person is Mr. Kiruba Shankar, Director, Wikimedia (India). He came to our college to give a lecture on social networking and motivated us enough to act on the same lines. Thanks a lot Sir. The blog will be centric to what I ria-lize in this journey called life...