Are not employees in India engaged enough?
Is Employee Turnover a direct result of lack of Engagement?
This was my quick response (in the form of a comment) to the Forbes.com article titled "How to Stop Employee Turnover in India" by Sylvia Vorhauser-Smith.
Not just because they can
They wouldn't leave just because they can! It’s true that people are ambitious over here specifically in terms of looking to fast-track their learning experiences and their seniority. That’s very specific to our subcontinent and that’s the way it has been. But, this tendency is not going to stay really long as the industries over here mature. It’s just a matter of time.
They wouldn't leave just because they can! It’s true that people are ambitious over here specifically in terms of looking to fast-track their learning experiences and their seniority. That’s very specific to our subcontinent and that’s the way it has been. But, this tendency is not going to stay really long as the industries over here mature. It’s just a matter of time.
Success is a shared responsibility
This is an age old adage that people leave their supervisor, and not the organization. And, there is no specific India factor to it. It is a universal truth. Yes, if the men in the middle think they are just the middlemen, the game is over, the connection is lost; lost are trust, compassion and much more; and the people, in question, find a greener pasture somewhere else! And, the cycle repeats. I believe, and very strongly, that the success of an organization is a responsibility shared between the managers and the managed. Success and sustainability of an organization is not the responsibility of the managers only.
People own their careers
OK! Talent and people are not exactly interchangeable terms. Precious things are, in general, in short supply. And, may be, that is the very reason why those are precious! Apparently, we get that part right. There are so many organizations that have made the career-paths very clear (to the employees) and, kind of, handed over the control to the people (employees) in question. Also, there are so many organizations that have consciously tried, with a genuine interest, to breed LEADERS. The effort has paid back in many pockets, but not everywhere.
OK! Talent and people are not exactly interchangeable terms. Precious things are, in general, in short supply. And, may be, that is the very reason why those are precious! Apparently, we get that part right. There are so many organizations that have made the career-paths very clear (to the employees) and, kind of, handed over the control to the people (employees) in question. Also, there are so many organizations that have consciously tried, with a genuine interest, to breed LEADERS. The effort has paid back in many pockets, but not everywhere.
It is not about the amount of money spent on it
Training and Development, whether or not the former leads ‘really’ to the latter in all cases, are being looked at very seriously by organizations here. I see organizations spraying so many kinds of, supposedly developmental, training courses over their employees. The impact has been great in many cases, but superficial in some cases. Failures are those cases, where there is no absolute connection between training-needs and training courses, and between training courses and the context of the people being trained. In some cases, training courses are looked at as an Employee Benefit by organizations, whether or not those courses are need-based or really required! In some other cases, employees look at training as a break from the routine and a source of amusement. That does not sound good, or right, at the least.
Training and Development, whether or not the former leads ‘really’ to the latter in all cases, are being looked at very seriously by organizations here. I see organizations spraying so many kinds of, supposedly developmental, training courses over their employees. The impact has been great in many cases, but superficial in some cases. Failures are those cases, where there is no absolute connection between training-needs and training courses, and between training courses and the context of the people being trained. In some cases, training courses are looked at as an Employee Benefit by organizations, whether or not those courses are need-based or really required! In some other cases, employees look at training as a break from the routine and a source of amusement. That does not sound good, or right, at the least.
Flexibility galore for responsible use
Provision of flexibility (Flexible Working) has happened in a really big way here (in India)- starting from Flexible-timing to Work-From-Home and many more. So, that’s not a big problem area, either. It is delightful and a matter of great satisfaction to notice that many people use the flexibility available so responsibly. At the end of the day, I believe, and agree with you, that there is a problem on the engagement front in same cases. However, that is not an isolated organizational problem. The real problem is, in most of the cases, rooted in the organizational culture that impacts all these above said organizational behavioral aspects.
Provision of flexibility (Flexible Working) has happened in a really big way here (in India)- starting from Flexible-timing to Work-From-Home and many more. So, that’s not a big problem area, either. It is delightful and a matter of great satisfaction to notice that many people use the flexibility available so responsibly. At the end of the day, I believe, and agree with you, that there is a problem on the engagement front in same cases. However, that is not an isolated organizational problem. The real problem is, in most of the cases, rooted in the organizational culture that impacts all these above said organizational behavioral aspects.
Culture is the culprit, culture is the key
A transformation has happened in the world outside the organizations. The transformation inside is yet to commensurate, in some cases. It is an era of knowledge-driven organizations and a knowledge-based economy, here in India. Many organizations have done their best to re-engineer their organizational culture to address engagement and many other important topics. Let me share a tiny example on similar lines. To cope up with the need for the right kind of transformation the SHOD Framework has been created and utilized.
The SHOD Framework looks promising based on the early results derived from wherever it has been deployed in small and not-so-small ways. We hope for a better future in which people feel really good about their jobs and organizations. Let’s see how far the SHOD Framework takes us!
Are not Employees in India Engaged Enough? by Debi Prasad Mahapatra is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Comments
Post a Comment