srusti management review

EditorProf. Gyanendra K. Sharma

Assistant EditorDr. Sandip Ghosh Hazra

Editorial Board Dr. U. K. Dash G. D. Mishra

Rakesh Tripathi Rakhi DuttaS.Kanungo M.R.Palai

Consulting Editor

Prof. S. C. Sahoo

Editorial Advisory Board

Email: [email protected]

Srusti Management ReviewSrusti Management ReviewSrusti Management ReviewSrusti Management ReviewSrusti Management ReviewA Bi-Annual Journal of Management & IT

Prof. Navin MathurVice-Chancellor,JNV University, JodhpurProf. B. P. SinghTM Bhagalpur University

Prof. K.B.L. SrivastavaIIT, Kharagpur

Prof. Rajendra Prasad DasPRS University, Raipur

Prof. Satya Bhusan DashIIM, Lucknow

Prof. Bidhu Bhusan MishraUtkal University, Bhubaneswar

Prof. Twinkle PrustyBHU, Varanasi

Prof. Bhaba Krishna MohantyIIM, Lucknow

Prof. K. S. ChandrasekharUniversity of Kerala

Prof. S. C. BardiaUniversity of Rajasthan, Jaipur

Prof. Shyam ChandraBHU, Varanasi

Prof. Nirmal C. KarUtkal University, Bhubaneswar

Prof. Chandan Ku. SahooNIT, Rourkela

Prof. Subhasis RoyXIMB, Bhubaneswar

A Thothathri RamanConsulting Editor, Business India

Prof. N. PanchanathamAnnamalai University

Prof. G. Tulasi RaoAndhra University

Prof. Navin MathurUniversity of Rajasthan, Jaipur

Prof. P.K.MohantyUtkal University, Bhubaneswar

Prof. Sharmila SubramanianIMIS, Bhubaneswar

Prof. Alok Kumar JagadevSOA University, Bhubaneswar

... from the desk of Editor from the desk of Editor from the desk of Editor from the desk of Editor from the desk of Editor

HRM activities like recruitment, selection, reward practices and developmentactivities among others are impacted by contemporary issues, challenges andopportunities for the field of HRM, particularly HRM functions and professionals asthey are increasingly expected to play a role in enabling organizational manages andother employees to achieve desired organizational results. The essence of this issueof journal is that the collective chapters reflect both a functional orientation built ontheory and models and provide insights in to how to translate theory in to practice viathe establishment of increasingly critical role of HRM procedures, practices andprocesses play in accomplishing the goals & objectives in contemporary organizations.

The issue of employee acquisition and retention is once again becoming amajor issue for many businesses. Employee retention is a core element of talentmanagement strategy and organizational development process. Those that fail to makeretention a priority are at a risk of losing their top talented people to the competition.

Employee empowerment is a strategy and philosophy that enables employeesto make decisions about their jobs. This process enables an individual to think, behave,take action and control work and decision making in autonomous ways. The practiceof employee empowerment flows from the general principles of participativemanagement. The logic behind employee empowerment is to increase the employeesresponsibility, to build his morale and to improve the quality of work life. Whenempowered, the employee becomes more productive, loyal and confident. This oftenleads to inverted employee manager relationship. Instead of employees working forthe manager, the manager is essentially catering to the needs of employees.

The quality of work life in an organization is essential to the smooth runningand success of its employees. The work-life balance must be maintained effectively toensure that all employees are running at their peak potential and free from stress andstrain. Quality of work life helps employees to feel secure and cared by the organizationin which they work. A new psychometric tool called work related quality of life has beendeveloped by psychologists that enables companies to gain a recruitment and retainedge over their rivals.

Hope this special issue will help the academicians and professionals in building& reshaping their HR strategies.

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Work-Life Balance in Modern Era

Dr. Nafees A. KhanAssociate Professor

Department of CommerceAMU Aligarh

Nusrat KhanResearch Scholar

Department of CommerceAligarh Muslim University Aligarh

Bidya DashAssistant Professor HR

Srusti Academy of ManagementBhubaneswar

Introduction

In today’s organized sector, work- life balance assumes a criticalimportance as this facilitates the development of a productive workculture and minimization of tensions between work and other aspects

of people’s lives. There are three key components that are needed toachieve a healthy lifestyle, namely paid work, unpaid work and personaltime. Bringing a balance between all these there is the optimum onecan accomplish. The ideal work-life balance varies from individual toindividual with respect to changes in a period of time. One shouldregularly find out the responsibilities and chalk out a plan of action inmeeting both the professional and the personal expectations.

Many a time, we do not enjoy routine official work. Our mind getsengrossed in one or other issues that mayor may not be relatedto our work or workplace. Sometimes, excessive partying the nightbefore or worrying about repayment of the next installment of ahouse or car loan can affect our work productivity. It can also bethat one is in a foul mood because of a disagreement with familyor friends before leaving for work. If answer to any of thesequestions is yes, it is highlighted that many times the work of anindividual is affected because of personal reasons. No individualexists in a cocoon. He affects and gets affected by the surrounding

AbstractIn today’s business environment, the work pressure is growing quiterapidly among the corporate employees. They spent a major part ofday’s productive time at work-place and this is an important facet of hislife. His productivity depends, not only on factors related to his work, butalso on the other factors related to his personal life. Work-life balanceaims to attain equilibrium between professional work and other activitiesso that it reduces friction between official and domestic or personal life.Moreover, work-life balance enhances efficiency and as a result theproductivity of an employee increases. It helps in enhancing satisfaction,in both the professional and personal lives. An effective work-life balanceis essential for ensuring high productivity in the corporate world:Companies need to focus on well- organized programs so as to bring abalance in the work and individual life. To cope with the coming changes,an organization should adopt a strategic approach.

Srusti Management ReviewVol.- IV, Issue-IV, April-2011

pp. 1-10ISSN 0974 - 4274

2 Srusti Management Review, Vol-IV,Issue-IV, April-2011

environment. If personal factors affect the work life of any individual or the workload impingesupon his personal life, then there is surely an imbalance in his working and domestic life.In order to achieve success on both fronts, it is necessary to maintain a balance betweenprofessional and personal life, which is called Work-Life balance.ssss

Importance of the Work-Life Balance

We come across individuals who leave their frustration at work, either by criticizing theirfriends, colleagues or family members. This kind of behavior, not only waste valuable time,but also our energy. Balancing work with life will help in enhancing focus on positive sideof all things. It tries to avoid criticism. It concentrates on the simple principle of doing whatshould be done. Maintaining such a balance we can improve the overall performance of anindividual.

Work is one dimension of life and should not distort our personal life. The vice-versa is alsotrue as work is a means of livelihood. The concept of balancing work and life is importantin more than one way. The concept is gaining prominence since it helps in leading abalanced life, at the work place as well as at home. Maintaining balance encouragesoptimum working hours that ultimately enhances overall efficiency. It is a common factthat an increase in quantity tends to deteriorate quality. If the employee is not over loadedwith work, he is motivated to shoulder responsibilities. He does not feel exhausted and isready to perform every day. Workload does not kill his working spirit and he is eager towork. When someone works willingly, he attains satisfaction and a contented person: isbound to succeed, not only at work, but also in life. Thus, with a perfect balance betweenwork and life, the individual is motivated to perform better and achieve more. The onus ofstriking the right balance is more on the individual himself, though organization also hasa role to play. An individual has to demarcate between his official and personal matters,such that these do not affect each other. Both aspects of any individual’s life should runparallel like railway tracks and should not mingle in order to avoid failure in performance.The organization can help employees to j achieve the balance by framing effective policiesand following ethical practices. The image of the organization also depends on theachievements of its members. Thus, the organizational environment should be conducivefor this purpose.

Literature Review

The successive paragraphs present a comprehensive review of literature on the subject.Purohit, in his paper entitled “Organisational Effectiveness : An HRD Way” InternationalJournal of Management and Tourism, Vol. 1, No. 3, January-March, 1993, pp. 397-400,has made an attempt to understand the possible relationships and interlinkages amongsub-systems falling within the realm of tourism. He has also studied how theserelationships help in achieving the organizational effectiveness. However, the contentsmentioned in the Paper, do not give specifically deal with HRD and productivity in theIndia’s tourism industry.

Mathur, Navin in his Paper entitled “Manpower Management for Improving Productivityin Public Enterprises”, International Journal of Management and Tourism, Vol. 1, No. 3,January-March, 1993, pp. 373-381, has suggested measures to improve Manpower

3Work-Life Balance in Modern Era

Management which is one of the ways to increase productivity and efficiency of IndianPublic Enterprises. However, the Paper does not base its study on survey and primarydata.

Rao, P. Punna and Reddy M. Sudarshan in their compiled and edited book entitled“Human Resources Development : Mechanisms for Extension Organisations” (2001)have mentioned the importance of Human Resource Development for AgricultureExtension. They realised that there is a need for fresh look at efforts to build the capacityand capability for HRD in the emerging areas.

Agarwal, Nair Banerjee in his book entitled “Human Resource Management” (2004) hasmentioned that the purpose of this book is to assimitate new insights from humanresource management and behavioural sciences into established concepts. In order tomake this more interesting, the authors have utilized the ocncept of formulating theplan to divide the book concerts into small units. Attempts have been made to stressempirically to the practical problems of human resource management.

Prasad, L.M. in his book entitled “Human Resource Management” (2003) has tried toplace proper emphasis on the human resources of the organization. It presents themost recent developments in the field and tries to relate how these developments arerelevant to Indian Companies. It incorporates the human resource management practicesbeing followed by the leading Indian Companies in their respective fields. It has failedto focus on HRD and tourism.

Tripathi, P.C. in his book entitled “Personnel Management and Industrial Relations”(2005) has stated only that there has been an increase in prestige and power ofPersonnel Manager in India comparison which recently used their personnel departmentsas a sort of dumping ground for executive misfits, have now started putting theirpersonnel management in the hands of powerful senior executives.

Kaushal, H. in his book entitled “Human Resource Development” (2004) has made anattempt at making good this vital deficiency of workable case studies in management.A serious attempt has been made to cover all aspects of HRD theory through the casestudies and has not included tourism industry.

Reddy, Sumati in her edited book entit led “E-Learning and Technology: NewOpportunities in Training and Development” (2003) has highlighted how distance trainingand education helps organizations to meet the challenge of organizational change reachcompetitive standards and achieve organizational goals. Distance and online trainingis considered as an investment n people which helps in meeting pre-determinedobjectives.

“Managerial Effectiveness”, vol. II Concepts and Cases edited by Prasad, V.R.K. (2004)states that effective management is right thinking and right acting and the effectivemanager has to be a competent theorist and practitioner. Managerial effectiveness isbeyond enhancing managerial skills and behavioural competencies.


Nickson Dennis (2007) in his book entitled “ Human Resource Management for the hospitalityand tourism industries” cover eleven chapters covering the nature of HRM in hospitalityand tourism, organizational culture and the search for service quality, labor markets,recruitment and selection, equal opportunities, training and development, staff health andwelfare, employee relations, involvement and participation, performance management,remuneration strategies in hospitality and tourism, disciplinary and grievance procedures,review of HRM in tourism and hospitality and areas for future research which are illustratedthroughout with both examples of best practices for perspective teaching and discussion,and international case studies to exercise problem solving techniques and contextualizelearning. It incorporates a user friendly layout and includes pedagogic features such as:chapter outline and objectives, HRM in practices boxed examples reflective review questions,web links discussion question and further reading.

Chandrasekar S (2009) in his article” The changing trends of HRM” has emphasizes theconcept of innovation and scope of applicability. It is mandatory that innovation have tosupport the long term vision of the organization that would effectively contribute to itsgrowth, when innovation happens, HR has to be a change agent to motivate employees toadapt to the new system of technology. For HR people innovation means more on recruitingpeople with innovative and creative skills. This article also touches upon the research tobe carried out regulatory methods to be followed, readiness for change management, marketanalysis, return on investment and monitoring the achievability through optimization, apartfrom adding a note of caution on applicability and adaptability of innovation.

Srinu Chikati and Rajkumar Chiluveru (2009) in their paper entitled” Challenges andopportunities of hospitality industry- a study of Indian tourism industry” deals with theoverview of hospitality and discusses the problems in hospitality sector and top issueswhich poses a biggest challenges for hospitality industry. It can be concluded that owingto growth of tourism sector, infrastructure will improve, competition will increase, newproducts will come into markets and better services will be provided. Due to rapid growth intourism hotel industry is also booming. With government’s full support open sky policiesand increased competition, the hospitality industry is getting consolidated and has manymore opportunities to grow further.

Srivastava Kailash B L (2000) in his article entitle “Rethinking HR: Role of HR professionalsin a changing business environment” has examined the issues that will be to the forefrontfor HR professionals into 21st century HR managers have to understand the challenges andrealities of the business, so that they can facilitate a smooth transition of organization andwork force in the next millennium. The major concern of the HR managers will be to figureout haw to build organizational capacity to maximize the potential of the business in themarket place, first a brief history of HR is being presented to explain the role of HRprofessionals that have moved from being administrative affairs to a strategic businesspartner, then issue related to a diverse work force and changes in the work environmentare being presented and finally the role of HR professionals in a changing businessenvironment would be discussed.

Kang Lakhwinder Singh and Singh Raghbir (oct2006) in their article entitled “Stress atwork: An assessment of the magnitude of various organizational stressors identifies

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frequently reported stress symptoms and assesses the magnitude of various organizationalstressors producing stress. The study was carried out in six organizations dealing withelectronics equipment and services “ poor interpersonal relations” has been identified asthe biggest sources of stress followed by poor organizational structure and climate “workinhibitors” and “inconsiderate superior” the nature of organizational stressor identifiedsuggests that organizations should develop an environment of trust, respect, cooperation,effective communication, rational allocation of resources and rewards making superiorsensitive to the needs of employees.

Balancing Work and Life

The ultimate performance of any organization depends on the performance of its employees,which, in turn, depends on numerous factors~ These factors can be related to work or canbe familial or personal matters. How an individual manages various aspects of his lifehelps achieving in balance at work and in private life. Work-life balance can be understoodas the balancing point on the seesaw, one side of which is work, while the other side isdomestic and personal life. A major portion of any employee’s productive time is spent atthe work place. Any problem, either at the work place or in the family, will definitely disturbthe balance and, thus, it is necessary to address the various factors related to work andfamily that can directly or indirectly affect the overall performance. Maintaining balancealso requires emotional intelligence. Better emotion management is necessary in order toaccomplish day-to-day objectives of life. Nowadays, more emphasis is laid on efficientemotion management, as it is the key to achieve the desired balance between work andlife, which ultimately leads to success in the professional as well as personal.

During the course of this study a number of books, journals, research papers, periodicals,annual reports and articles have also been consulted and review. The fore goingcomprehensive review of literature on work-life balance, it peters out that very few researchesare found to be relevant. However, there is a dearth of research studies on work-life balance.The present study is an endeavor of the authors to present the various dimensions of work-life balance presicely.ss

Impacts of Work-Life Balance

Work-life balance in real life generally has two types of impacts: Those outside the workplaceand those at work. Most participants tend to focus on impacts outside the workplace. Theseseem to be the areas where most participants feel they were missing out and were imminentunder significant pressure from others. Impacts of work-life imbalance on: Their lives outsidework are as follows:

Relationships

In almost all groups there were a few people who claimed to have .problems with their relationshipwith their partners due to work encroaching into personal life.

Health



This is considered one of the areas affected by poor work-life balance. The drawback behind thisseems to be the death of a colleague or a family member that leads to work pressure or to havehealth problems.

Pressure and Stress

The maximum impact on work-life balance tends to be pressure and stress. As the majority ofthe participants in this situation felt that they don’t have enough time to do the things theywanted to do and certainly no time to just reflect on life and take stock because they feel theyare always under substantial pressure and stress.

Social Networks

Day-to-day life becomes busier, it has been noticed that social networks became less significant.Turning away social allegiances was seen as a comparatively easy way to free up time for otheractivities which results that social networks often decreased or were lost.

Voluntary Work

So as to make up some time for other commitments, a few players have given up voluntary workthat they enjoyed.

Let’s look at the other end of impacts of work-life imbalance at workplace. Participants raised a numberof professed impacts of work-life imbalance on the workplace which are discussed as follows :

Relationships

Relationship with colleagues in workplace were also seen to be affected by poor work-life balance,this may result in getting into disputes with colleagues when under pressure.

Mistakes

It has been seen that mistakes are likely to take place in jobs because of a person’s poor work-life balance. It has also been noticed that many employees claimed either personally experiencedor witnessed incidents where accidents had occurred due to work pressure.

Quality

The work quality also decreased if an employee’s work and life were out of balance with increasedmistakes.

Job Satisfaction

Employees feel that overwork will impact on the level of job satisfaction, while some were satisfiedworking hard.

For example, Work-Life programs in IBM have been established to help employees better managetheir work and personal lives to cut down the imbalances at workplace. These programs accomplishthis by creating a flexible work environment which is sensitive to an individual’s needs and

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responsibilities. According to IBM, it is in its best interest to help its employees balance thepressures of work with the demands of home. Through work-life balance programs, employeeshave greater access to the workplace and are more productive because their personal issuescan be easily addressed.

Objectives of the Study

1. To plan and implement a work life balance plan.

2. To evaluate the effectiveness of work life balance initiatives.

3. To review work-life balance needs and strategic approach.

4. To undertake work-life balance assessment and needs analysis.

5. To develop a strategic approach to work-life balance.

Framework of the Study

Research Design and Methodology

It would be an Endeavour of the researcher to make an empirical study by analyzing and criticallyexamining the relevant statistics collected from secondary sources. Secondary sources includepublished and unpublished sources, journal, books, periodicals, research paper and magazines.

Factors Influencing the Balance

There can be many factors that affect the balance of work and life. The first such factor is theattitude of an employee. Attitude defines one’s likes and dislikes. Attitude is a way of thinking orfeeling about something. Balance is substantially affected by various psychological factors. Howone reacts to a particular situation, how he manages work and peer pressures are some aspectsof psychological behavior. Emotions management also plays an important role in achieving andmaintaining such balance. Another factor is the environment in which the individual stays. Workingenvironment should be comfortable or it can negatively affect efficiency. Similarly, the environmentat home should also be calm and congenial. The type of job can also influence balance. A job,which is monotonous and not challenging, can make a worker lethargic. The job profile shouldmatch the employee’s profile, in order to enhance his work efficiency and give him job satisfaction.Since the balance is related to both the professional and personal life, factors, like familybackground, financial and social status of the family, life-stage of the employee, financial standing,family structure, daily routine, friends circle and social life, would also affect his work life. Anemployee, who is struggling financially or who has a large family to support or other familyproblems may spend more time in taking care ) of those issues. To focus on his work, it isnecessary that an employee’s mind is free from domestic encumbrances. It is equally importantto create a healthy working environment at the work place. The comfort and ease of workingenhances efficiency, as well as effectiveness of performance. Achieving the balance integratesdevelopment and establishment of effectual procedures while performing day to day functions.

Implementation Programs of Work- Life Balance

Work-life balance programs should :



Be flexible, so that they can be changed to meet the needs of employees and theorganization as they change.

Draw attention to the need for management, unions and employees to work in partnershipto make out issues and discuss relevant and viable solutions.

Be broadly communicated, so that employees are attentive of what is available.

Be easy to get into, i.e., employees know what is available and feel they can use therequirements without being penalized.

Integrate with human resource and people management policies and practices.

Carefully plan and be practical, so that they can work.

Set aside for tailoring to meet individual employee needs wherever possible.

Incorporate a monitoring and appraisal mechanism, to study if they are succeeding intheir aims and are being applied without fail.

Work-Life Balance Program in Infosys: A Case Study

Infosys, one of the top companies to work with. Infosys has a physical infrastructure benchmarkedto a global workplace that supports fun and relaxation. The campus provides Infssoscions withfacilities that help them stay fit as well as have fun. It has health clubs, which include gymnasiums,yoga classes, aerobic classes, basketball courts, swimming pools, etc. Some other initiativestaken by the company exclusively for Infoscions and their family members are:

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1. Unmeelan: Art and culture night.

2. Samavesh: A talent night for Infoscions from various development centers to compete.

3. Petit Infoscion Day: A talent day for children of all infoscions.

4. HALE: “Health Assessment and Lifestyle Enrichment”, a program to improve the physicaland psychological well-being of the employees.

Guideline for Developing a Work-Life Balance -Work Plan

In the present scenario, to work out a better work-life balance one should have a proper plan toattain a task by incorporating the necessary guidelines in a desired project.

The elements of work-life balance-f1extime, compressed work week, job-sharing, annualizedhours and so on-are important, but need to be agreed upon both by the employees and theorganizations. Work-life balance programs can provide substantial benefits to the employees aswell as organizations.

Conclusions

An effective work-life balance is essential for ensuring high productivity in the corporate world:Companies need to focus on well- organized programs so as to bring a balance in the work andindividual life. To cope with the coming changes, an organization should adopt a strategic approach.Proper planning is to be made to identify the tasks and the risk involved in achieving the desiredgoals. Further, programs are to be implemented as per the plans adopted. One should have theknowledge of basic elements which leads to better work-life balance. An organization shouldfollow systematic process keeping in view the vision and mission for smooth flow of work lifebalance. On the whole, work-life balance is a tool that companies need to use for increasingproductivity and bringing out a balance in the work and individual life.

In spite of higher salaries and other monetary and non-monetary benefits, a comfortable workingenvironment, less workload and organizations taking care of employees, it is observed thatsometimes employees fail to deliver expected results. Though, there can be numerous factorsthat affect the performance of an employee, achieving balance in work and familial life is consideredimportant in order to perform par excellence. Balance between professional and personal lifeimproves performance at work and also helps in gaining job satisfaction. It gives a feeling ofcontentment and motivates the individual to shoulder responsibilities with greater accountability.It helps in creating a congenial environment at the work place and also strengthens family bondsof the employee. When the employee is free from his domestic and personal worries, he isexpected to perform better. Balancing between professional and personal life is bound to enhanceefficiency of the individual and increase his contentment and commitment levels. It would go along way in achieving success on both fronts professional and personal.



References

Panduggla Anuradha and Panduglala, Narendra, HRM Review, The ICFAI University Press, July2008 pp. 49-53.

Shortriya, Vikas ‘Balancing the See-Saw of work and life, HRM Review, The ICFAI UniversityPress, July 2009, pp. 42-45.

George CT, ‘Be Vifilant and Avoid Frauds’, HRM Review, the ICFAI University Press, January2009, pp. 55-58.

Raghavan, K.R., ‘Work Life balance for Wholosome Living’, South Asia Journal of Socio PoliticalStudies, Vol. 8, No. 2, January-June 2008, pp. 29-30.

McShane Steven L, G Linow, Mary Ann Von and Sharma Radha R(2008), Organizational Behavior,Tata Mc Graw Hill Publishing Company Limited, New Delhi.

Sheikh A.M (2009), Human Resource Development and management, S.Chand & CompanyLTD Ram Nagar, New Delhi.

Mishra M N (2001), Organizational Behaviou, Vikas Publishing house PVT Ltd, New Delhi.s

www.iupindia.org

www.google.ch/support/jobs/answer

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A Future of Human Resources Social Mediaand its Strategies

Dr. Chitra CProfessor

Indus Business AcademyBangalore

Introduction(A) Executive Summary

Social networking once meant going to a social function such asa cocktail party, conference, or business luncheon. Today, muchsocial networking is achieved through Web sites such as

MySpace, FaceBook, or LinkedIn. Many individuals use these sites tomeet new friends, make connections, and upload personal information.On social networking Web sites (SNWs) that focus more on businessconnections, such as LinkedIn, individuals upload job qualificationsand application information. These SNWs are now being used asreference checks by human resource (HR) personnel. For this reason,SNW users, particularly university students and other soon-to-be jobapplicants, should ask the following questions: Am I loading informationthat I want the world to see? Is this really a picture that shows me inthe best light? What impression would another person have of me if heor she went through my site? Although SNWs are a great way to beconnected with friends, family, and friends-to-be, they can presentproblems when potential employers begin to search through them forinformation concerning job applicants. Many potential employees wouldbe mortified to learn that employers could potentially read the personalinformation posted on MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, or other SNWs.

AbstractThe growth of social networking platforms has been phenomenal.Millions of people around the world with access to the Internet aremembers of one or more social networks. The time spent usingsocial networking applications is one reason why many businessesare reluctant to allow employees to use sites like Facebook,MySpace and LinkedIn during office hours. Add the time spent onnon work related browsing, and employers have a point. At thesame time, however, businesses are starting to appreciate that socialnetworking has its advantages, and there are many companies thathave adopted social networking as another vehicle to gain a betterpresence online and a wider audience. This research mainly focuson socializes online duration, a digital divide has been createdbetween a generation of young and generation of managers andexecutives for work, and the benefits.


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Searches on SNWs allow employers to look into what is done ‘after hours,’ socially or privately,by the applicant. A resume may be just a snapshot of a job applicant, while other personalinformation may be found online. Many job applicants have learned the hard way that what theypost may come back to haunt them (Rodriquez, 2006). Human Resources and SNWs Manycompanies that recruit on college campuses look up applicants on MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn,and other SNWs. What they find on these sites presents a dilemma for the recruiters. Studentspost comments that they may think are private but can be read by many. These posts can beprovocative comments on any subject from drinking to recreational drugs to sexual exploits.Although they may seem innocent enough to the students who have posted them, college recruitersor graduate admission officers may look at these postings as immature and unprofessional.Recruiters are warning universities’ career resource centers that they are looking at SNWs andthat it would be best to work with students about how they are presenting themselves on thesesites. The lifestyle the students are presenting online may not be what corporate recruiters orgraduate school admission officers want in potential applicants.

(B) Methodology

Research into the perceptions of risk associated with online social network (OSNs) began in2010.The researcher used the information gained from these groups to develop and refine aquantitative instrument. The resulting 122 item, self-complete questionnaire contained a seriesof mainly closed ended questions relating to demographics, attitudes, beliefs and behaviorsaround online socializing and the perceptions of risk associated with this activity.

(i) Respondent Age

CHART – I

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(ii) The Sample

A total of 230 questionnaires were distributed during the research resulting in a total 206questionnaires that were used for the final analysis.As chart 1 shows respondents ranged in age from 17 to 39 with over 94% falling into the 18 to 24category. The researcher used a quota sampling framework to reflect actual enrolment proportionsacross the entire respondents. Furthermore, as shown, in Chart II, the majority of respondents(70%) work in paid employment on average for at least a few hours per week while going to work.

(iii) Respondent Weekly Work HoursCHART - II

( C) Research Objectives

(i) To determine the forms of online social networking currently in use by the targets.

(ii) To review the nature of risk associated with the use of the internet for online socialnetworking

(iii) To determine the levels of awareness to various risks associated with the availabilityof personal information online among respondents

(iv) To explore whether the concept of privacy is understood by online socializes asprotecting dignity or expressing personal control.

A Future of Human Resources Social Media and its Strategies


( iv) Use of the Internet and Online Tools

CHART – III (usage of online tools)

Results of Quantitative Survey:The quantitative phase of the research provides critical insights into the use of OSNs byrespondents and their perceptions of risks and privacy. Usage patterns of technology toolscontinue to evolve. As chart III shows the respondents report using e-mail, instant messagingand online social networks most frequently. E-mail has the highest usage rate, with 97% loggingto e-mail at least once per week. Instant messaging sites are second in popularity; followedclosely by OSN sites (81% and 74% respectively use these at least weekly). Other technologies,such as chat rooms, listservs and bulletin boards are used much less often. Despite muchmedia attention to blogs, they are not currently used much by respondents.(v) Online Social Networks

CHART – IV

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As chart IV suggests, Facebook is the most popular social network among the respondents.Ninety eight percent of respondents have heard of it; 92% are members of Facebook; and 89%report it as their most preferred network. As a result, most of the subsequent questions in thissection have been answered in the context of Facebook.

(vi) Usage of Online Social NetworksCHART – V

As chart V indicates, over 70% of respondents log onto Facebook at least once a day, and foralmost half of respondents, there are multiple logins on a daily basis. Such use of Facebookamong respondents appears similar to the use of e-mail. The level of activity reported specificallyfor Facebook use appears higher than that reported in chart III for OSN use in general. It appearsthat the term “online social network” may be somewhat unfamiliar to some respondents, until itis connected with concrete examples such as MySpace or Facebook. The reported usage levelssuggest OSNs have become firmly integrated into the communication preferences of therespondents. As a result, the respondents face challenges with respect to managing the use ofOSNs among this new generation of employees. As well, opportunities exist to leverage this newcapacity to reach large numbers of individuals (employees, customers, general public).



(vii) Extent of Information Included on OSNsCHART - VI

As chart VI indicates, the respondents appear very comfortable posting a large amount of whatothers might view as personal and private information on their OSN. For example, about 7 out of10 respondents post their full real name on their home page. In addition, the majority of respondentshave posted a portrait of themselves (76%) and/or a group photo that includes their picture(67%). There is also no hesitancy in providing information about their interests or hobbies (61%),favorite music, books, and movies (59%), and their relationship status (60%). While only a fewinclude traditional contact information (7% provide a full address and 15% list a telephone number),indirect information that could allow others to trace someone’s whereabouts is common. Forexample, social networks such as Facebook encourage members to identify their home town(74%) high school (69%) or even their employer (31%)

(D) Key Findings

Nine out of ten respondents socializes online regularly and frequently

The respondents are largely aware of the risks of online socializing, and have attemptedto control the release of their personal information online

A new digital divide has been created between a generation of young and a generation ofmanagers and executives for which they work

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The respondents have a unique perception of network privacy, according to which personalinformation is considered private as long as it is limited to their social network

Organizations reject and do not recognize the notion of network privacy. Instead, theysubscribe to the view that information posted online is public and deserves no protection

Organizations do not have policies, practices or guidelines in place that explicitly governthe use of online social networks by their employees, or by the organizations themselvesfor marketing and for human resources purposes

Online social networks, while benefiting greatly from the advertising revenue generatedby their users’ personal information, have successfully created a public image of theirbusiness as a passive conduit, pipeline or wall, on which personal information can bedisplayed, and have avoided responsibility in the public mind for any harm caused to theprivacy or reputation of their users.

(E) Recommendations to Organizations

Develop an understanding of online social networks and their role in the culture andcommunication behavior of the respondents – your customers and your employees.

Develop clear rules and guidelines about the use of online social networks at work and athome based on principles that employees will accept

Support these policies with appropriate tools and enforcement

Do not actively seek information from online social networks for recruitment and selectionprocesses, and if access to such information is obtained, refrain from using it

Ensure that uses of online social networks or the information obtained from them to fulfillmarketing goals and objectives are in compliance with PIPEDA (Personal informationprotection and Electronics documents act).

(F) Work Life / Personal Life Boundaries

The researcher asked respondents their view on the line between personal and work life andthe impact of OSNs on this boundary. There is general agreement that “there is a fine linebetween the two”. Respondents are also in general agreement that there is a generationalaspect in that younger people “have different views about personal versus private life”; andthat using Facebook “is part of the youth culture”. For the under 30 group, “there is anunderlying expectation…that what happens on Facebook stays on Facebook. People aren’tposting things on there and expecting you to run back to their manager”. Likewise, “peopledo things away from work that doesn’t reflect on their personality at work, so if they createsomething with the expectation that it’s not going to be viewed in the work context, then theresearcher think it’s difficult to put them in a place where we are going to say; now we aregoing to review it”. Others see it as a “freedom of speech issue…If somebody wants to postsomething on a group or on their wall, the researcher don’t think [the company] has a rightto step in and say you can’t say anything negative about us” .



(G) Recruitment and Selection: Human Resources Use of Online Social Networks

Respondents were asked to describe the current and proposed use of OSNs to assist with thehuman resources functions of recruitment and selection of candidates for positions. None of therespondents reports a strategic and targeted use of OSNs for recruitment. However, there arecertainly isolated instances of its being used both for certain positions and for informal recruitingby those already on Facebook. For example, one technique is to set up a Facebook space andprovide information to prospective applicants on “what it would be like to work at the companyand an opportunity to ask questions of recruiters”

In general, OSNs may have potential for recruitment, but at this time probably only for theyounger demographic and for entry level positions. In terms of using the information postedto gain insight into the character of the potential hire, there is no agreement amongrespondents about whether that is an ethical and appropriate use of technology as well aswhether the information would ultimately provide any insight into job performance. Onceagain, the comments of respondents indicate that they see OSN as something very significantwith the potential to impact how they do business, but at the moment they cannot articulatewhat form those impacts will take.

References

Computer Weekly-July 2010

Entrepreneur November 2010 volume 2; issue 3

Ezine article on Social networking-July 11 2007

The Pros and Cons and Safety Aspects of Social Networking ... ICT in education-2010. TheState of Higher Education: Social Networking’s Pros and Cons-9 Jan 2007

http://www.articlesbase.com/human-resources-articles/social-networking-at-work-place- pros-cons-and-solutions-3830109.html.

19

An Empirical Analysis on Employees’Empowerment through Training System inBanking Sector in Odisha

Dr. B.C.M.PatnaikAssociate Professor

School of ManagementKIIT UniversityBhubaneswar

Dr. Ipseeta SatpathyAssociate Professor


Prakash Kumar PradhanResearch Scholar


Introduction

Training aims to change behavior at the work place in order tostimulate efficiency and higher performance standards. It isconcerned with work-based learning. In turn, learning is seen as

a form of behavioral change (Alan and Chloe 1990). Training has beenusefully defined as “the systematic development of the attitude,knowledge and skill and behavior pattern required by an individual inorder to perform adequately a given task or job (Glossary of trainingterms, 1971). Participative Management is one of the most popularand most commonly practiced management styles in modernorganizations. Employee empowerment is one of the reflections ofthis modern approach to man management. It invariably leads to apositive change within organisation. Empowered employees are moremotivated as compared to those who just follow the given lines.Employee empowerment creates sense of belongingness andownership toward the parent organisation. Empowered employee feelmore confident and try to give their best to the institution. It generallyresults into higher level of customer satisfaction. Higher level ofcustomer satisfaction results into a bigger sales volume resulting intoimproved profitability. Every business aims at earning profits. Profitsand customer value go hand in hand. In order to give maximum valueto a customer, the service provider is required to develop a soundunderstanding of the customer expectations. Once the customerexpectations are known, legitimate freedom of action along with input

AbstractIn the last two decades, employee relations in bank have marked byfrequent branch level work stoppages, adoption of restrictive practices,union supremacy. Employee’s empathy, alienation and distrust betweenmanagement and unions, employees’ indiscipline, chaotic environment,archaic, unfriendliness and in some cases hostility at the counters. Banksrequire a process of transformation by bringing in transformation shifts inthe mind set, outlook and perspective of their employees with visionaryappeal. Employees require flexibility, horizontal networks, high trustrelationship, adaptability to change and uncertainty, innovation andempowerment. In the present paper an attempt is made to understand theperception level of employees toward training system in banks. For thispurpose various hypotheses considered and scores assigned dependingupon the perception level. In the field experience whatever we come acrosstried to present here. For the purpose of confidentiality we are not mentioningthe names of the bank and branches visited during our study.


pp. 19-26ISSN 0974 - 4274


of employee in the service or product creates a more favourable environment for the success ofa business venture. Banks are no exceptions to it.

Objective of the StudyTo examine the existing system of training.To know the trainees perception.

Limitations of the StudyThe study is restricted to the selected urban & semi-urban branches of various banks.The sample is limited; it may not represent scenario of all employees.The period of study conducted for the period of 3 months i.e. Dec 2010-Feb 2011.

Sampling planIn support to the objective of the research there is a primary research through questionnaire administrationmethod in the field through stratified random sampling method and to analyze the data.

Category Questionnaire served

Response received

% of response

Semi-urban Male respondents Semi-urban Female respondents Urban Male respondents Urban Fem ale respondents

30 30

30 30

19 13

25 16 73

46.84

53.16 100

Respondents’ perception with regard to employees’ empowerment through trainingsystem/ Hypotheses

To measure the perception level of the participants with regard to employees’ empowerment throughtraining system the various variables identified are training programme gives positive impact on thegrowth of the bank, there is no is no significant difference between training programmes indifferent banks, training programme increases the attrition rate of the employees, quality trainingcan improve by providing state of art infrastructure facilities and knowledgeable resource persons,training program provides value addition to the career and personal life of the employees, trainingprogrammes have immense role to play in increasing the productivity and efficiency of the employee,higher level of employee empowerment leads to higher level of customer satisfaction and increasedprofits, there is direct relationship between training and employee empowerment, revamping thetraining system will lead to more growth and social economic development of the region in particularand bank in general, outsourcing of training increases costs and reduces effectiveness, trainingneeds are identified by continuous communication with employees, feedback constitutes essentialpart of training programme, up gradation of training skills is necessary for relevant output, trainer’straining is necessary for a result oriented approach and training motto should be inventing methodsfor igniting minds. In this regard we have taken five point scale and assigned as +3,+2,+1,0 and -1 for the responses of the respondents “ Completely agree”, “ Agree”, “ Neutral, “ Disagree” and “Completely disagree” respectively. Final scores for each feature are calculated by multiplying thenumber of response by the weights of the corresponding response.

Calculation of respondents’ perception: Ideal and Least scores

Ideal scores are calculated by multiplying the number of respondents in each category with (+3)and product with total number of attributes. Least scores calculated by multiplying the numberof respondents in each category with (-1) and the product with number of attributes in thequestionnaires.

21

C ateg o ry E q u ation Id ea l sco re E q u ation L east sco re

S em i-u rb an M ale em plo yee 19 x 3 x 15 855 19 x -1 x 15 -285

S em i-u rb an F em ale em plo yee 13 x3x 15 585 13 x -1 x 15 -195

U rb an M ale em plo yee 25x 3x 15 1125 25 x -1 x 15 -375

U rb an F em ale em plo yee 16 x3x 15 720 16 x -1 x 15 -240

Findings of the studyFindings of the study are as under. The tables are formed on the basis of questions contained inthe questionnaires.

A g g re g a te S c o re S e m i-u rb a n e m p lo y e e s U rb a n e m p lo y e e s

V a r io u s a ttr ib u te s

M ale F e m a le M a le F e m a le D o y o u a g r e e th a t t ra in in g p ro g ra m m e g iv e s im p a c t o n th e g ro w th o f th e b a n k s?

3 8 3 0 5 7 3 8

D o y o u a g re e th a t th e re is n o s ig n if ic a n t d if fe re n c e b e tw e e n tra in in g p ro g ram m e in d if fe re n t b a n k s?

3 9 2 9 5 7 3 2

D o y o u a g re e th a t tra in in g p ro g ra m m e s in c re a se s th e a ttr it io n ra te o f th e em p lo y e e s?

4 3 3 1 6 2 3 7

D o y o u a g re e th a t q u a l ity t ra in in g c a n im p rov e b y p rov id in g s ta te o f a r t in f ra s t ru c tu re fa c il it ie s a n d k n o w le d g e a b le re so u rc e p e rso n ?

4 7 3 8 6 1 3 8

D o y o u a g re e th a t t ra in in g p ro g ra m m e p rov id e s v a lu e a d d itio n to th e c a re e r a n d p e rso n a l lif e o f th e em p lo y e e s?

4 2 3 6 6 9 3 2

D o y o u a g re e th a t t ra in in g p ro g ra m m e s h av e im m e n se ro le to p la y in in c re a s in g th e p ro d u c tiv ity a n d e ff ic ie n c y o f th e em p lo y e e ?

4 5 3 2 6 1 3 7

D o y o u a g re e th a t h ig h e r lev e l o f em p lo y e e e m p o w e rm e n t le a d s to h ig h e r lev e l o f c u s to m e r sa tisfa c tio n a n d in c re a se d p ro f i ts?

5 0 2 4 5 7 3 2

D o y o u a g re e th a t th e re is d ire c t re la t io n sh ip b e tw e e n t ra in in g a n d e m p lo y e e e m p o w e rm e n t?

4 2 3 1 4 8 3 4

D o y o u a g re e th a t th e t ra in in g sy s te m w ill le a d to m o re g ro w th a n d so c io e c o n o m ic d ev e lo p m e n t o f th e re g io n ?

4 3 2 9 5 2 3 8

D o y o u a g re e th a t o u tso u rc in g o f tra in in g in c re a se s c o s ts a n d re d u c e s e ffe c t iv e n e ss?

5 1 2 8 5 6 4 0

D o y o u a g re e th a t t ra in in g n e e d s a r e id e n t if ie d b y c o n tin u o u s c o m m u n ic a tio n w ith th e em p lo y e e s?

3 7 2 6 6 1 4 5

D o y o u a g re e th a t fe e d b a c k c o n st itu te s e s se n tia l p a r t o f t ra in in g p ro g ram m e ?

3 8 2 8 6 4 3 4

D o y o u a g re e th a t u p g ra d a tio n o f tra in in g sk il ls is n e c e ss a ry fo r re lev a n t o u tp u t?

4 4 3 1 5 7 4 0

D o y o u a g r e e th a t tra in e rs ’ tra in in g is n e c e s sa ry f o r re su lt o rie n te d a p p ro a c h ?

5 1 2 8 7 1 4 5

D o y o u a g re e th a t tra in in g m o t to sh o u ld b e inv e n tin g m e th o d s fo r ig n it in g m in d s?

4 8 3 3 6 5 4 2

T o ta l sc o re 6 5 8 (7 6 .9 6 )

4 5 4 (7 7 .6 1 )

8 9 8 (7 9 .8 2 )

5 6 4 (7 8 .3 3 )

Id e a l sc o re 8 5 5 5 8 5 1 1 2 5 7 2 0 L e a st sc o re -2 8 5 -1 9 5 -3 7 5 -2 4 0 N o . o f re sp o n d e n ts 1 9 1 3 2 5 1 6

Ideal score and least scores of respondents

Source : Annexure A, B,C& D

An Empirical Analysis on Employees’ Empowerment through Training System in Banking Sector in Odisha


Interpretation

In the present case the total score for the male and female of rural, semi-urban and urban areasbank employees of the various banks who participated in the survey are 766, 548, 658, 454, 898and 564 respectively against which the ideal score for the same are 990, 720,855,585,1125 and720. The percentage of total score to the ideal score is more in case of male and femalerespondents of urban areas as compared to others. However, in no case the total score comesnear to the least score. Hence the hypotheses considered for this survey seems to be holdgood.

Conclusions

Human Resource Management is meant to integrate all personal activities with each other andstrategically with organizational objectives. Essentially, it first serves the organizational interestand in that context, it is an investment rather than a cost to the organization. The utilization of allother resources directly depends on efficient utilization of human resources. Every organizationneeds to have well-trained and experienced people to perform the activities that have to be done.In the banking sector jobs have become more complex now a day especially in rural area. Theimportance of employee training has increased many folds. In a rapidly changing society employeetraining is the most important factor for survival and the growth of the organizations. In a quicklychanging banking environment knowledgeable and viable workforce is pre requisite for growthand survival of the banks. In the banking sector, employee’s behavior plays a vital role in improvingthe productivity of an organisation. By incorporating personality development programmes suchas role play, group discussion and business games the superior and subordinate relationshipcan be strengthened. Banks should take necessary steps in such a way that employees shouldfeel training is essential to enhance the productivity and customer satisfaction to meet thepresent business challenges in India.

References

Gresley K (2005). Employees Perception of Empowerment. J.Empl Relat., 27(4): 354-368.

Hoare RJ, Butcher K (2008), Chinese Cultural Values Affect Customer Satisfaction/ Loyalty,.International Journal of Contemporary Hospital Management 20(2): 156-171.

Morrison RS, Jones L, Fuller B (1997). The relationship between leadership styles andempowerment on job satisfaction, Journal of Nursing Administration 27(5): 27-34.

B.R.Virmani and Premila Selh(1985): Evaluation Management, Training and Development, VisionBooks Pvt. Ltd.

Bajpai, Naval & Srivastava Deepak(2004), Sectoral Comparison of factors influencing jobsatisfaction in Indian Banking Sector. Singapore Management Review, Vol7, No.6.pp118-122.

23

Annexure –A (19) Respondents of Semi-urban male bank employees

Completely agree

Agree Neutral Disagree Completely disagree

Score Attributes

+3 +2 +1 0 -1 Do you agree that training programme givesimpact on the growth of the banks?

9 5 2 2 1 38

Do you agree that there is no significantdifference between training programme indifferent banks?

10 3 4 1 1 39

Do you agree that training programmesincreases the attrition rate of the employees?

11 4 2 2 0 43

Do you agree that quality training can improveby providing state of art infrastructure facilitiesand knowledgeable resource person?

12 5 1 1 0 47

Do you agree that training programmeprovides value addition to the career andpersonal life of the employees?

13 2 1 1 2 42

Do you agree that training programmes haveimmense role to play in increasing theproductivity and efficiency of the employee?

14 1 2 1 1 45

Do you agree that higher level of employeeempowerment leads to higher level ofcustomer satisfaction and increased profits?

15 2 1 1 0 50

Do you agree that there is direct relationshipbetween training and employeeempowerment?

13 1 2 2 1 42

Do you agree that the training system will leadto more growth and socio economicdevelopment of the region?

11 5 1 1 1 43

Do you agree that outsourcing of trainingincreases costs and reduces effectiveness?

16 1 1 1 0 51

Do you agree that training needs are identifiedby continuous communication with theemployees?

10 2 3 4 0 37

Do you agree that feedback constitutesessential part of training programme?

12 1 2 2 2 38

Do you agree that up gradation of trainingskills is necessary for relevant output?

13 2 2 1 1 44

Do you agree that trainers’ training isnecessary for result oriented approach?

16 1 1 1 0 51

Do you agree that training motto should beinventing methods for igniting minds?

14 3 1 0 1 48

Source: Compiled from field survey



Annexure –B (13) Respondents of Semi-urban female bank em ployees

Com pletely agree

Agree Neutral Disagree Com pletely disagree

Score Attributes

+3 +2 +1 0 -1 Do you agree that training programm e gives

impact on the growth of the banks?

8 2 2 1 0 30

Do you agree that there is no significant

difference between training programm e in

different banks?

7 3 2 1 0 29

Do you agree that training programmes

increases the attrition rate of the employees?

9 2 1 0 1 31

Do you agree that quality training can im prove

by prov iding state of art infrastructure facilities

and knowledgeable resource person?

12 1 0 0 0 38

Do you agree that training programme provides

value addition to the career and personal life of

the employees?

11 1 1 0 0 36

Do you agree that training programmes have

immense role to play in increasing the

productivity and efficiency of the employee?

8 4 0 1 0 32

Do you agree that higher level of employee

empowerment leads to higher level of customer

satisfaction and increased profits?

7 2 1 1 2 24

Do you agree that there is direct relationship

between training and employee em powerment?

8 3 1 1 0 31

Do you agree that the training system will lead to

more growth and socio econom ic development

of the region?

9 1 1 1 1 29

Do you agree that outsourcing of training

increases costs and reduces effectiveness?

10 0 0 1 2 28

Do you agree that training needs are identified

by continuous communication with the

employees?

8 1 2 0 2 26

Do you agree that feedback constitutes essential

part of training programme?

7 2 3 1 0 28

Do you agree that up gradation of training skills

is necessary for relevant output?

6 6 1 0 0 31

Do you agree that trainers’ training is necessary

for result oriented approach?

8 2 1 1 1 28

Do you agree that training motto should be

inventing methods for igniting minds?

10 1 1 1 0 33


25

Annexure –C (25) Respondents of Urban m ale bank employees

Com pletely agree

Agree Neutral Disagree Com pletely disagree

Score Attributes

+3 +2 +1 0 -1 Do you agree that training programm e gives

im pact on the growth of the banks?

16 3 4 1 1 57


difference between training programm e in

different banks?

18 2 1 2 2 57

Do you agree that training programm es

increases the attrition rate of the em ployees?

19 2 2 1 1 62

Do you agree that quality training can im prove

by prov iding state of art infrastructure facilities


20 1 1 1 2 61

Do you agree that training programm e provides


the em ployees?

22 2 0 0 1 69

Do you agree that training programm es have

imm ense role to play in increasing the

productivity and efficiency of the em ployee?

15 6 4 0 0 61

Do you agree that higher level of em ployee

em powerm ent leads to higher level of custom er


13 8 2 2 0 57


between training and em ployee em powerm ent?

14 3 3 2 3 48

Do you agree that the training system will lead to

m ore growth and socio econom ic developm ent

of the region?

16 2 2 3 2 52



17 1 3 4 0 56


by continuous comm unication with the

em ployees?

18 2 3 2 0 61

Do you agree that feedback constitutes essential

part of training programm e?

19 2 3 1 0 64



17 3 2 1 2 57

Do you agree that trainers’ training is necessary

for result oriented approach?

22 2 1 0 0 71

Do you agree that training m otto should be

inventing m ethods for igniting minds?

18 5 1 1 0 65




Annexure –D (16) Respondents of Urban female bank employees

Completely agree

Agree Neutral Disagree Completely disagree

Score Attributes

+3 +2 +1 0 -1 Do you agree that training programme gives

impact on the growth of the banks?

10 3 2 1 0 38


difference between training programme in

different banks?

8 4 1 2 1 32

Do you agree that training programmes

increases the attrition rate of the employees?

9 4 2 1 0 37

Do you agree that quality training can improve

by providing state of art infrastructure facilities


11 2 2 0 1 38

Do you agree that training programme provides


the employees?

10 1 1 3 1 32

Do you agree that training programmes have

immense role to play in increasing the

productivity and efficiency of the employee?

9 5 1 0 1 37

Do you agree that higher level of employee

empowerment leads to higher level of customer


8 3 3 1 1 32


between training and employee empowerment?

10 2 1 2 1 34

Do you agree that the training system will lead

to more growth and socio economic

development of the region?

11 2 1 2 0 38



13 1 0 1 1 40


by continuous communication with the

employees?

14 1 1 0 0 45

Do you agree that feedback constitutes

essential part of training programme?

11 0 2 2 1 34



12 2 1 0 1 40

Do you agree that trainers’ training is

necessary for result oriented approach?

14 1 1 0 0 45

Do you agree that training motto should be

inventing methods for igniting minds?

12 3 0 1 0 42


27

Assuring Job Satisfaction PreventsAssuring Job Satisfaction PreventsAssuring Job Satisfaction PreventsAssuring Job Satisfaction PreventsAssuring Job Satisfaction PreventsEmployee Mobility or TurnoverEmployee Mobility or TurnoverEmployee Mobility or TurnoverEmployee Mobility or TurnoverEmployee Mobility or Turnover

P. BaskaranSenior Lecturer

IFET College of EngineeringGanagarapalayam

Introduction

Job satisfaction remains the most widely used indicator byorganizational researchers of a person’s quality of work life. Andwhile the relationship between new forms of work organization

and a firm’s performance has received increasing attention fromresearchers, worker outcomes have received far less attention and sorequire closer examination. This paper tries to explore the ways ofretaining the employee with due consideration towards the motivatorsthat are feasible for the employers to ensure employee retentionsuccessfully.Objectives

To identify and explore the intrinsic and extrinsic parametersof Job satisfaction that influences employees of any kind.

To draw absolute clarity about job satisfaction to facilitateCompanies in adopting absolute employee retention measures.

To guide companies in probing employee intentions andinterests towards job.

To identify and relate certain qualitative attributes and jobvariables with the job satisfaction to avoid job mobility.

AbstractThe paper gives the details about the job satisfaction parameters thatinduce the employee involvement and interest towards the job, whichin turn avoids the employee mobility. This involves the critical factorslike hygiene factors and motivating factors of individuals. It briefs thedrivers of employees irrespective of their professional cadre towardsthe job. Job satisfaction is one of the critical factors which determinethe employers influence upon the employees. Job satisfaction remains the most widely used indicator byorganizational researchers of a person’s quality of work life. And whilethe relationship between new forms of work organization and a firm’sperformance has received increasing attention from researchers,worker outcomes have received far less attention and so require closerexamination. This paper tries to explore the ways of retaining theemployee with due consideration towards the motivators that arefeasible for the employers to ensure employee retention successfully.


pp.27-36ISSN 0974 - 4274


Limitations

This paper solely relies upon secondary data that includes research papers and articles publishedin Books, Journals and Magazines.

Proposed Users

1. Human Resource professionals.

2. Researchers.

3. HR Consultancies.

Meaning of Job Satisfaction

Job satisfaction refers to a person’s feeling of satisfaction on the job, which acts as a motivationto work. It is not the self satisfaction, happiness or self contentment but the satisfaction on thejob.

Definition

“Any combination of psychological, physiological and environmental circumstances that causea and person truthfully to say I am satisfied with my job.” -Hoppock

Job satisfaction has been defined as a positive emotional state resulting from the pleasure aworker derives from the job (Locke, 1976; Spector, 1997) and as the affective and cognitiveattitudes held by an employee about various aspects of their work (Kalleberg, 1977; Mercer,1997; Wright and Cropanzano, 1997; Wong et al., 1998); the later implying that satisfaction isrelated to the component facets rather than the whole job, which is consistent with Spector’s(1997) view.

Experts / Theoretical Connotations about Job Satisfaction

Daniel Goleman (1997, 2002) and motivational psychologists promoting the concept ofemotional intelligence have hypothesized that an individual’s behavior is largely a product of eithernegative or positive emotions. In the past, psychologists have treated emotions as distinct frommotivation, but the contemporary perception was that emotions play a fundamental role in motivation.Goleman and these psychologists believe that job satisfaction is a result of a position in which anindividual experiences positive emotions through his/her work. Application of this theory to retentionof tenured faculty at MSU Bozeman indicated that professors who choose to remain in their positionsexperience positive emotions as a result of their work (Goleman, 1997, 2002).

Classical Organizational Theory. Frederick Taylor is commonly known as the father of scientificmanagement. The efficient effective management of an organization was achieved through rulesof conduct and prescribed punishments. Workers were recruited according to skills and abilities,and all jobs and procedures were standardized. Taylor’s paradigm of management was theproduct of an industrial era in which factories were the scene of mass production and embracedan assembly line approach to manufacturing (Chance & Chance, 2002).

Social Sciences Period. The social sciences theorists humanized management in that they wereconscious of the goals, needs, and desires of the workers. This period found its inception in the1920s and was characterized by the consideration of human dynamics, and the psychological andsocial factors impacting the work place. The Hawthorne Studies, investigations framed in classicalorganizational thought and scientific management, were conducted in the 1920s by Elton Mayo, aHarvard University professor of industrial research. The Hawthorne Works of the Western Electric

29

Company in Chicago were studied to observe the effect of lighting on worker Productivity. Theincreased recognition given to the workers and their supervisors enhanced self-esteem andinterpersonal relationships. It was concluded that social and psychological variables were greaterdeterminants of productivity and more important to effective management than were manipulationof economic and/or physical conditions (Pugh & Hickson, 1989).

Open Systems Theory. Although the transition of theory from classical organizational thought tothe social sciences introduced the human factor into the management of organizations, it wasnot until the inception of open systems theory in the body of organizational theory, that, pressuresand influences from the external environment were considered as significant factors to be consideredin proper management of an organization.

Maslow’s organizational theory was similar to his motivational theory. The essential differencebetween Maslow’s motivational theory and his organizational theory was the presence of theorganization, rather than society, as the vehicle through which the hierarchical needs of theindividual were to be gratified. He applied his need hierarchy to individuals within the context ofan industrial organization and posited that different principles of management would apply to thedifferent motivational levels. He saw no need to construct management principles for the lowerlevels in the motivational hierarchy. He observed that a high level of personal development wasunconsciously assumed within the confines of the organizational paradigm (Maslow, 1998).

Maslow criticized Peter Drucker’s organizational theory in two ways. He felt that Drucker minimizedthe necessity of selecting uniquely evolved individuals, according to the needs hierarchy, tofacilitate the successful use of his management principles; and that Drucker neglected thepresence “of evil, of psychopathology, of general nastiness” (Maslow, 1998, p. 44) in someindividuals which would render Drucker’s theories ineffective (Maslow, 1998).

In Herzberg’s paradigm, job satisfaction and dissatisfaction were the products of two separatesets of factors. Those sets were comprised of motivating factors or satisfiers versus hygiene(environmental) factors or dissatisfies. Table 3. Herzberg’s Satisfiers/Dissatisfiers

Satisfiers 1.Achievement 2.Recognition 3.Work itself 4.Responsibility 5.Advancement 6.Growth

Dissatisfiers

1.Company policy 2.Supervision 3.Working conditions 4.Interpersonal relations 5.Salary 6.Status

7.Job security 8.Personal life

The term hygiene was used as it is in the medical field. It described a phenomenon that operatedto remove hazards from the environment (Duttweiler, 1986). Following are the properties of hygieneand motivation as defined and contrasted by Herzberg.

Worker satisfaction was most commonly altered by the following three psychological states:

1) experienced meaningfulness of the work itself;

2) experienced responsibility for the work and its outcomes; and

3) knowledge of results, or performance feedback.

Job dissatisfaction was psychologically different than job satisfaction. It was associated with anescalation process sometimes referred to as the principle of rising expectations. The principle ofrising expectations contended that the more a worker received, the more a worker wanted (Burke,

Assuring Job Satisfaction prevents Employee Mobility or Turnover


1987). This principle served to elucidate Herzberg’s escalating zero point statement. Mathisdescribed the phenomenon as follows, “Hygiene factors provide a base which must be carefullyconsidered if dissatisfaction is to be avoided. But, even if all of the maintenance needs are takencare of, the people will still not necessarily be motivated to work harder” (Mathis, 1979).

Seven Commandments to Arrest Employee Turnover

Employee recognition and appreciation are the key elements in motivating and also retaining thebest employees. Communication and interacting frequently with the employees engaging themwith interesting and challenging jobs will certainly increases the satisfaction level of theemployees. (Raghuram Kodari, 2006)

Self Analysis

Be Committed

Be an Employer of Choice

Hire right person for the right place

Financial rewards and benefits

Career development for employees

Managers be friendly

Employee can be retained by (Naga Ratna)

Providing them opportunities to learn

Recognizing the talent and rewarding them

Creating a motivating work environment.

Hiring right person for the right job.

Proper Communication.

Job Mobility

A job characteristic that has been the focus of private-sector research but has yet to be the focusof any educational research is job mobility. The term mobility, as used in the private-sectorresearch, refers to whether or not a job applicant is willing to pursue a position that requires theapplicant to relocate. For a move to a similar community, distance from career goals had apositive effect on willingness to accept relocation, whereas number of relatives nearby, age,satisfaction with leisure activities, and certainty of geographic preference had a negative influenceon willingness to accept relocation ( Paul A. Winter Chad L. Kjorlien)

Measures Of Job Satisfaction – (Good Job and Bad Job)

Most taxonomy of “good jobs” and “bad jobs” are centered on pay and hours of work. Thiscontext uses the information on 7 000 workers in OECD countries (emanating from the 1989wave of the International Social Survey Programme) to complement traditional measures of jobquality with worker-supplied information regarding a wide variety of characteristics of the currentjob. The responses to twenty different questions are collapsed into six summary variablesmeasuring workers’ evaluations of :

31

Pay;

Hours of work;

Future Prospects (promotion and job security);

How hard or difficult the job is;

Job content: interest, prestige and independence; and

Interpersonal relationships (with co-workers and with management).

There are more aspects of a good or satisfying job than just pay and hours. Concentration ononly one or two of these aspects is likely to give a misleading picture both of where the good jobsare2 and of workers’ behavior (Andrew E. Clark 1989).

The Distribution of Good jobs

Having the above information on many different job characteristics available simultaneously for alarge number of individuals allows us to say something about different types of dissatisfyingjobs.

1) Pay

Scale of pay. Statements about the respondent’s job: My income is high – highly satisfied andsatisfied

2) Hours of work

Expected working Time in Job. Suppose you could change the way you spend your time,spending more time on some things and less time on others. Which of the things on the followinglist would you like to spend more time on, which would you like to spend less time on and whichwould you like to spend the same amount of time on as now?Q.1a Change the way to spend the time: Time in a paid job?

- A bit less time or Much less time

3) Future prospects- promotion and job security

Opportunities for Advancement are High: Statements about the respondent’s job: My opportunitiesfor advancement are high - strongly agree or agree.

Job Secure. My job is secure – highly satisfied and satisfied.

4) How difficult is the job?

Hard Work. Based on answers to the six following questions.

How often do you come home from work exhausted?

How often do you have to do hard physical work?

How often do you find your work stressful?



How often do you work in dangerous conditions?

How often do you work in unhealthy conditions?

How often do you work in physically unpleasant conditions?

All of these are coded as:

Always Often Sometimes Hardly ever Never

5) Job content: Interest, Prestige and Independence

Good Job Content. Based on answers to the six following questions.

How often are you bored at work? This variable has been recoded as follows:

Never Hardly ever Sometimes Often Always

Statements about the respondent’s job: My job is interesting

Statements about the respondent’s job: In my job I can help other people

Statements about the respondent’s job: My job is useful to society

Statements about the respondent’s job: I can work independently

All coded as:

Strongly agree Agree Neither agree nor disagree Disagree Strongly disagree

And which of the following statements about your work is most true?

My job allows me to design or plan most of my daily work

My job allows me to design or plan parts of my daily work

My job does not really allow me to design or plan my daily work

Almost thirty per cent of workers have jobs which are satisfying on all six content measures; onthe other hand a quarter have jobs which are satisfying on three or less measures.

A dummy variable was created from this summary measure for those workers reporting morethan four positive personal control, interest and usefulness aspects of their job. This dummy hasa value of one for 55 per cent of the sample.

6) Interpersonal Relationships

Good Relations at Work. The sum of two dichotomous variables based on answers to the followingtwo questions:

Relations at the respondent’s workplace: Between management and employees

Relations at the respondent’s workplace: Between workmates / colleagues

33

Both of these are coded as:

Very good Quite good Neither good nor bad Quite bad Very bad

A dummy variable was created for those reporting Very Good or Quite Good relations with bothmanagement and with colleagues (68 per cent of the sample). Nine per cent of the samplereported worse than quite good relations with both management and with colleagues, and 23 percent reported worse than quite good relations with either management or with colleagues but notwith both.

We focus on the performance impact of increased retention. In doing so, we focus on only partof the story: When considering the many costs of employee turnover, it is natural to classify thecosts, dividing them into two types: (i) transition costs, and (ii) productivity costs. Transitioncosts account for the per-agent cost of terminating the departing agent, recruiting and training anew agent, and disruption costs associated with the change, such as the cost of hiring a temporaryemployee, and the cost of managers coping with the change, such as the cost of performing exitinterviews, the administrative costs of stopping benefit deductions and performing benefitenrollments (Ward Whitt)

Alf Crossman, Bassem Abou-Zaki in their paper investigates the relationships between jobsatisfaction, individual job facets, socio-demographic variables and job performance in the Lebanesecommercial banking sector. The sample consists of 202 employees from nine commercial banks.The results indicate that job satisfaction is not independent in all job facets and that satisfactionwith one facet might lead to satisfaction with another. Female employees were found to be lesssatisfied with all facets except pay. Those with lower educational qualifications were least satisfied.Self-reported job performance was found to increase with tenure.

1. Study and measure the process

2. Honor thy user

3. Consider the strategic level

4. Understand leadership

5. Use well-developed team skills

6. Use function allocation techniques

8. Interface design

9. Maximise operator well-being

As can be seen, ergonomics and quality have enough points of similarity to ensure that they canwork together successfully. Additionally, the strengths of each tend to compensate for specificweaknesses of the other. A joint approach should be, and has been measured to be, beneficial tothe organisation, its workforce and its customers. We need to select from this combined list ofhuman factors/quality techniques those items most appropriate to the service quality domain(discussed next).



Job Satisfaction Vs Educational Attainment, Occupational Status

Lesley Andres, J. Paul Grayson In their study states that, consistent with status attainment andcultural reproduction theory, it is expected that via the route of educational and occupationalattainment, individuals from relatively advantaged families will report higher job satisfaction thanothers.

Job satisfaction Vs Friendships (Dorothy Markiewicz, Irene Devine, Dana Kausilas)

Friendships Outside the Workplace

While the importance of family and primary relationships in women’s development has beenstressed for some time (e.g. Baruch et al., 1983; Gilligan, 1982; Miller, 1976; Neugarten, 1975),more recently theorists and researchers have explored the role of non-familial friendshiprelationships.

Organizational Context and Work Relationships

Consideration of both instrumental and expressive dimensions of relationships is also reflectedin research on informal and formal work networks. Krackhardt (1990) describes an advice networkwhich is the instrumental, workflow-based network, and a friendship network, which is the affective,social bond-based network delineating trust relations.

Close Relationships at Work

Some studies examined a particular type of work relationship, mentoring, and career-enhancingfunctions provided by mentors (e.g. Kram, 1985; Levinson et al., 1978; Noe, 1988). This set ofstudies clarified the contribution of mentors to personal and professional growth of persons inearly and middle career stages. In general, employees who experienced intense mentoringrelationships received more promotions and had higher incomes than those who had not (Ragins,1997; Chao et al., 1992; Dreher and Ash, 1990; Fagenson, 1989; Ragins and Sundstrom, 1989).

Overview of Present Study and Hypotheses

The present study examines interpersonal networks and friendship quality of men and women’sclosest same-sex and opposite-sex colleagues at work. Women and men in three different worksettings (information technologists, lawyers, and middle managers) completed questionnairesabout their best male and female friends at work, information about their workflow and friendshipnetworks, salary and job satisfaction.

Job Satisfaction Vs Job Variables

Variables and Measures (Ellen R. Auster, Karen L. Ekstein )

Individual characteristics: For the purposes of this study, individual characteristics focused onparenting responsibilities[1]. In their study of 975 managers from various industries and companies,Martins et al. (2002, p. 406), “after empirically demonstrating that work-family conflict is negativelyrelated to career satisfaction in general”, found that factors including gender, age and parentalstatus moderate work-life conflict and career satisfaction.

35

Career characteristics: In this study, as per Auster (2001), career characteristics were separatedfrom job and organizational characteristics. Career characteristics that are noted as beingparticularly critical for women include career interruptions, work flexibility, and professional support.

Organizational characteristics: Although not focusing exclusively on women at mid-career,numerous studies have indicated that the persistence of glass ceilings and lack of opportunitiesfor advancement strongly impact women’s career experiences (Stroh et al., 1992; Bennett, 2002;Cooper Jackson, 2001; Metz and Tharenou, 2001; Auster, 2001).

Job characteristics: Factors influencing the job satisfaction of both men and women in theliterature include opportunities for job mobility, job autonomy, creativity and ability to apply one’sskills and knowledge within one’s job, and availability of supervisory and co-worker support andguidance. , key job characteristics explored in this study were:

Opportunities for growth and advancement;

Job autonomy;

Job creativity;

Job security; and

Relationships with co-workers.

Each variable was assessed by asking both the degree to which the respondent felt theyexperienced that job attribute, and the level of satisfaction with that aspect of their job.

Stress factors: A number of studies underscore that stress dramatically impacts the careersatisfaction of men and women (Burke, 2000; Phillips-Miller et al., 2000). Particularly relevantkey stress factors include time pressures, work relationships and the balance of work and non-work relationships, organizational politics and support from colleagues (Auster, 2001; Dormannand Zapf, 2001; Harrell-Cook et al., 1999; Martins et al., 2002; Mikkelsen et al., 2000; Gilmore etal., 1996). Thus, in this study, stress factors are measured with four variables that tap into thesefactors. These are whether respondents felt:

1. They were under time pressure;

2. Their job and life outside of work was balanced;

3. They were tired of office politics; and valued, listened to and supported by their colleagues.

Dependent variable: Mid-career satisfaction, the dependent variable, was measured by askinghow often respondents seriously think about moving into a career outside of engineering. Thismeasure was apt because it captured and isolated career attitudes.

Conclusions

Job satisfaction is an attribute which inherent with the psychological notion and presumption ofthe employees. And so this needs to be observed with utmost care by the companies in assuringthe same to the employees through tangible means. Once the company is able to bring thefeeling of job satisfaction in the minds of its employees, it will certainly serve as better alternateamidst various monetary motivators which plays the initial lead before it.

The employers need to consider some other parameters like job environment, absolute jobdescription and job specifications, which alone may act as satisfiers, when ensured with utmostperfection without deviations and induces employees’ to stay in an organization for the longerperiod of time.



References

MBA Review – The Acheiver’s Magazine – October 2006 P-41-42Http://Www.Oecd.Org Oecd Publications Service Article: Labour Market And Social Policy -

Occasional Papers No. 34 - Copyright Oecd 1998 Measures Of Job Satisfaction WhatMakes A Good Job? - Andrew E. Clark

Research And Practice In Human Resource Management, 9(2), 109-118. Occupational Stress: AStudy Of The New Zealand Reserve Bank - Karen Keeley & Mark Harcourt

The Impact Of Increased Employee Retention Upon Performance In A Customer Contact Center- Ward Whitt. Department Of Industrial Engineering And Operations Research, ColumbiaUniversity, New York, Ny 10027. December 1, 2004

Journal Of Occupational And Organizational Psychology (2001), 74, 29–46 Printed In GreatBritain Ó 2001 - The British Psychological Society

Journal Of Managerial Psychology Volume 18 Number 4 2003 Pp. 368-376 Copyright © McbUp Ltd Issn 0268-3946 Job Satisfaction And Employee Performance Of LebaneseBanking Staff - Research Paper - Alf Crossman, Bassem Abou-Zaki

Ai & Society - The Journal Of Human-Centred Systems And Machine Intelligence © Springer-Verlag London Limited 2003. Department Of Industrial Engineering, University AtBuffalo, State University Of New York, 342 Bell Hall, Buffalo , NY, 14260, USA.

Information Systems Journal Volume 10 Issue 4 Page 323 - October 2000Applied Psychology Volume 55 Issue 1 Page 27 - January 2006Journal Of Personality Volume 74 Issue 5 Page 1421 - October 2006Journal Of Managerial Psychology Volume 15 Number 2 2000 Pp. 161-184 Copyright © Mcb

Up Ltd Issn 0268-3946Paper Presented At The Annual Meeting Of The American Educational Research Association,

New Orleans, April 1-5, 2002. Educational Attainment, Occupational Status and JobSatisfaction: A Ten Year Portrait Of Canadian Young Women And Men - Lesley AndresJ. Paul Grayson Department Of Educational Studies, School Of Health Policy AndManagement, University Of British Columbia.

Journal Of Managerial Psychology Volume 15 Number 2 2000 Pp. 161-184 Copyright © McbUp Ltd Issn 0268-3946

Women In Management Review Volume 20 Number 4 2005 Pp. 279-288 Copyright © EmeraldGroup Publishing Limited Issn 0964-9425

Women In Management Review Volume 20 Number 1 2005 Pp. 4-23 Copyright © EmeraldGroup Publishing Limited Issn 0964-9425

Job Satisfaction Of The Highly Educated: The Role Of Gender, Academic Tenure and ComparisonIncome.

- Keith A. Bender* John S. Heywood** Department of Economics And Graduate Program In Human Resources And Labor Relations, University Of Wisconsin-MilwaukeeFaculty Job Satisfaction: Retaining Faculty In The New Millennium - Dulce Scott Drysdale Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana, April 2005

37

Valuation and Reporting Practices ofHuman Resource Assets at INFOSYS

Sweta MishraLecturer


P.K SahooAssistant Professor


Introduction

Human resource accounting is of recent origin and is strugglingfor acceptance. It is clearly said that, Human resourcesaccounting is an accounting measurement system and a large

body of literature has been published in the last decade setting for thevarious procedures for measurement. At the same time the theoryand underlying concepts of accounting measurement have receivedsizeable attention from academics and a substantial body of literaturehas developed. The conventional accountings of human resources arenot recognized as physical or financial assets.

Though Human Resources Accounting was introduced way back inthe 1980s, it started gaining popularity in India after it was adoptedand popularized by NLC. Human Resources accounting, also knownas Human Asset Accounting, involved identifying, measuring, capturing,tracking and analyzing the potential of the human resources of acompany and communicating the resultant information to thestakeholders of the company. It was a method by which a cost was

AbstractAlthough Human Resource Accounting (HRA) is a relatively new field,its development has already passed through several discernible stages.The first stage of development, from 1960-1966, was marked by interestin HRA and the derivation of basic HRA came from a variety of sources,including the economic theory of human capital, organizationalpsychologists’ concern for leadership effectiveness, the new HumanResource (HR) perspective, and a concern for human assets ascomponents of corporate goodwill. This article attempts to evaluate andreport the present scenario of HR concerns. This article covers fourdifferent aspects on which proper attention is to be paid by the peopleinterested in HR reporting. Success of corporate undertakings purelydepends upon the quality of human resources. it examine HumanResource accounting practices in corporate sector in India.The articlediscusses HRA practices in Infosys Technologies Limited .


pp.37-46ISSN 0974 - 4274


assigned to every employee when recruited, and the value that the employee would generate inthe future. Human Resource accounting reflected the potential of the human resources of anorganization in monetary terms, in its financial statements.

HRA Practices in India: An Overview

The requirements of Schedule VI as per Section 211 of the Companies Act, 1956, relating to thebalance sheet and profit & loss account, provide for disclosure of all physical assets and creationof depreciation provision thereon but they have not mentioned any single word regarding thedisclosure of HR value in the balance sheet. Section 217(2A) of the Companies Act, 1956, readwith Particulars of Employees (Amendment Rules), 1998, requires the companies to give astatement showing the particulars of employees who are employed throughout the financial yearand are in receipt of remuneration aggregating Rs. 24,00,000 or more per annum and also theparticulars of employees who are employed for a part of the financial year and are in receipt ofremuneration aggregating Rs. 2,00,000 or more per month. As a part of the Report of the Directors,this statement includes name of the employee, designation, gross and net remuneration received,age, qualifications, experience of the employee, date of joining and particulars of last employmentheld by the employee. As far as HRA is concerned, the disclosure of particulars of employees bycompanies, in fulfillment of statutory requirement of Section 217(2A), is not sufficient to drawany conclusion because only the details of gross emoluments drawn by the employees arefurnished. Thus, the Companies Act, 1956, has not framed any rule regarding valuation of HRand presentation of significant information about human resources in the financial statements ofcompanies.

The Accounting Standards Board of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) have sofar issued 32 accounting standards on most of the important areas in accounting but have notformulated any specific accounting standard on measurement and reporting of cost and value ofHR. In spite of there being an absolutely unfavorable environment in India regarding the methodof introducing the reporting on HRA, Bharat Heavy Electrical Ltd., a Navratna Public Enterprise(PE) started the valuation of its HR by following the ‘present value of future earnings’ model of Levand Schwartz in the financial year 1974-75. As revealed by the existing literature and on thebasis of the information obtained from the annual reports of various companies, it is found that 15organizations belonging to the public sector and eight belonging to the private sector, i.e., 23companies, had adopted such a practice. The list of Indian companies having HRA practice isprovided in Table 1.

39

Most of these enterprises have adopted Lev and Schwartz model for valuing their human resources.However, SAIL, CFSL and CCI have valued their human resources by applying this model afterincorporating certain modifications as proposed by Eric G Flamholtz and Jaggi and Lau, whereasEIL, HMTL and ONGC have not disclosed the models employed by them. The discount ratesused by the enterprises have fluctuated between 10 and 15%. Such different rates of discountconsidered are treated as debatable issues. Even the logic behind the rates adopted by thesehas not been mentioned. Valuation of human resources cannot be compared due to such differentrates for which inter-firm comparison of HR value cannot be done. Almost all the enterprises,except HMTL, have reported category-wise distribution of human resources and their value butonly five companies, namely, BHEL, SAIL, MMTC, HMTL, and NTPC, have shown age-wisedistribution of human resources. Productivity and performance statistics of human resourceshave been presented by nine companies, such as BHEL, MMTC, NTPC, PEC, MECON, CRL,MRL, OTL, and ITL, in their annual reports. However, all the enterprises under consideration havereported the information relating to salary with sub-breaks in their annual reports as a part ofschedule of accounts, whereas segment-wise distribution of salaries has not been mentioned by

Valuation and Reporting Practices of Human Resource Assets at INFOSYS


any one. Almost all the companies, except SAIL, CCI, MMTC and NTPC, have been silent abouttheir objectives of reporting HRA information in the annual reports (Mallik & Sur, 2003, p.22).Thus, it can be said that the practice relating to the disclosure of HRA information is not uniformamong different Indian enterprises. In the absence of any legal requirement, almost all theenterprises, except a very few, have now discontinued their HRA practices. At present, onlyMMTC, MRL, ONGC, ITL, SCS and KPIT have HRA system. However, these companies havebeen reporting the HRA information as supplementary information in their annual reports. Theseaccounts are, therefore, unaudited

For valuing human resources, different models have been developed. Some of them are opportunitycost Approach, standard cost approach, current purchasing power Approach, Lev and Schwartzpresent value of future earnings Model Flam holtz’s stochastic rewards valuation Models etc. Ofthese, the model suggested by Lev and Schwartz has become popular. Under this method, thefuture earnings of the human resources of the organization until their retirement is aggregatedand discounted at the cost of capital to arrive at the present value.

Human resources accounting system consists of two aspects namely:

a) The investment made in human resources

b) The value human resource

Measurement of the investments in human resources will help to evaluate the charges in humanresource investment over a period of time. The information generated by the analysis of investmentin human resources has many applications for managerial purposes. The organizational humanperformance can be evaluated with the help of such an analysis. It also helps in guiding themanagement to frame policies for human resource management. The present performanceresult will act as input for future planning and the present planning will have its impact on futureresult. The same relationship is also applicable to the areas of managerial applications inrelation to the human resource planning and control .Investment in human resources can behighlighted under two heads, namely,

Investment Pattern:

The human resource investment usually consists of the following items:-

1 Expenditure on advertisement for recruitment

2 Cost of selection

3 Training cost

4 On the job training cost

5 Subsistence allowance

6 Contribution to provident Fund

7 Educational tour expenses

8 Medical expenses

9 Ex-gratia payments

10 Employee’s Welfare Fund

41

All these items influence directly or indirectly the human resources and the productivity of theorganization.

Investment in Current Costs

After analyzing the investment pattern in the human resources of an organization the currentcost of human resources can be ascertained. For this purpose, current cost is defined as thecost incurred with which derives benefit of current nature. These are the costs, which have littlebearing on future cost. Thus, the expenses incurred for the maintenance of human resourcesare termed as current costs. Current cost consists of salary and wages, Dearness allowance,overtime wages, bonus, house rent allowance, special pay and personal pay.

Amidst this background, it is significant to mention that the importance and value of humanassets were recognized in the early 1990s when there was a major increase in employment infirms in service, technology and other knowledge-based sectors. In the firms in these sectors,the intangible assets, especially human resources, contributed significantly to the building ofshareholder value. The critical success factor for any knowledge-based company was its highlyskilled and intellectual workforce.Soon after, the manufacturing industry also seemed to realizethe importance of people and started perceiving its employees as strategic assets. For instance,if two manufacturing companies had similar capital and used similar technology, then it was onlytheir employees who were the major differentiating factor. Due to the above development, theneed for valuing human assets besides traditional accounting of tangible assets was increasinglyexperienced.

From the above discussions, it is felt that, Human resource accounting provides quantitativeinformation about the value of human asset, which helps the top management to take decisionsregarding the adequacy of human resources. Hence, It is Concluded that, the Human Resourcesare an indispensable but often neglected element is thus to be fore grounded into the industrialarea for the betterment of the economy.

Valuation adopts the guidelines advocated by the Lev and Schwartz Model and also by EricFlamholtz and Jaggi. Accordingly, the Present Value (PV) of future wages payable to employees,as adjusted for efficiency factor, is considered as HR value. In this process, factors such as thenumber of employees are likely to move upwards and provision for likely future wage revision,retirement and promotion and performance rating are considered. In short, the value of HR is saidto comprise the following:

HRV = Ó PV OF WC × EF

The model requires more reliable estimates of future wages payable. Moreover, assumption ofefficiency factor creates computational problems in practice.

Basically, HRA can be tracked through two methods: Cost-based analysis and value-basedanalysis. The cost-based approach focuses on the cost parameters, which may relate to historical,replacement or opportunity costs. The value-based approach suggests that the value of humanresources depends on their capacity to generate revenue. This approach can be further subdividedinto two broad categories: non-monetary and monetary.

HRA also helps in examining expenditure on personnel and reappraisal of expenditure on servicesand training. In case of mergers and takeover decisions, where human asset value becomes arelevant factor, it can also serve as a key factor.



HRA helps create goodwill for a company. The company can project a positive image by havingthe best practices, with superior policies in place. Experts believe that adopting this may helpthe organization attract more investments.

As the implementation of HRA requires extensive research, many companies do not want to gointo the intricacies of finding the value of their human resources. While most of the big companies(with a large manpower) can afford to venture into such best practices, it may not be economically-viable option for small and medium companies.

Naresh Taneja, head of human resources of HCL Technologies (Mumbai formerly Gulf Computers),believes that one cannot totally rely on this concept. He says, “Considering the dynamism ofthis industry, it is very difficult to predict as to what is going to be your future requirements andhow technology is going to shape in the near future. As HRA is not directly related to Return onInvestment (ROI), many companies do not take it very seriously. However, in the past few years,organizations have been investing a lot on improving their systems and infrastructure. And thenext obvious step would be measurement of human assets.” However, it’s ultimately the peoplewho deliver results. Realizing the benefits, which can be provided, the responsibility lies on thecompanies, as to how much importance they can or do they give to their HR.

Requirements under the Companies Act

At present, companies in India are expected to furnish information relating to their employeessuch as name, age, qualification, designation and nature of duties, remuneration, data ofcommencement of employment, experience, etc., as per Section 217 (2A) of the Indian CompaniesAct, 1956, read with the Companies (particulars of Employees) Amendment Rules, 1988 formingpart of the Director’s Report.

The particulars provided by companies relating to their employees are only specific in nature. Inother words, details of remuneration drawn by the managerial employees alone are shown in theannual reports and the details of remuneration of non-managerial personnel are not shown.According to the above provisions, these are the particulars of managerial personnel who drawabove Rs. 72,000/- p.a. w.e.f. 15-6-88, Rs. 1,44,000/- p.a. w.e.f. 18-9-90 and Rs. 3,00,000/- p.a.w.e.f. 17-10-94, if employed throughout the financial year, or Rs. 6,000/- p.m. w.e.f. 15-6-88, Rs.12,000/- p.m. w.e.f. 18-9-90 and Rs. 25,000/- p.m. w.e.f. 17-10-94, if employed for a part of thefinancial year.

The above provision, therefore, includes only those employees whose remuneration falls withincertain specified limits. Moreover, only those companies which have their employees drawingremuneration in excess of the above specified limits had to give an account of such details, asrequired under Section 217 (2A) of the Companies Act, 1956.

William Pyle, together with the management of R G Barry Corporation, initiated a pioneeringeffort to develop a system of accounting for the firm’s investment in its human assets on acurrent cost basis. Under Pyle’s direction, the firm formulated a set of concepts and proceduresfor measuring recruitment, acquisition, training, development and other costs incurred asinvestments in human assets. This Section describes the R G Barry system in order to exemplifythe concepts and methods of accounting for investments in people.

Human Resource Accounting vis- a- vis Social Accounting

As a result of a changing social ethos, business organizations are increasingly expected tomeet culturally and governmentally defined standards of corporate responsibility, with respect to

43

the environment, consumerism, minority employment, women’s rights and employee satisfaction.If current trends persist, it is likely that business corporations increasingly will be held accountablefor social contribution. They may also come under the scrutiny of a social audit to assess thecosts as well as the benefits of corporate activities.

The measurement methods of HRA can facilitate corporate social accountability for employees.The techniques for measuring investments in HR might be used to assess a corporation’scontribution to socially valuable human capital. Many firms engage in hiring and developing thehard-core unemployed, for example, and one measure of a firm’s social contribution might be itsinvestment in building human resources among this group.

HRA measurement techniques may also be used to help control the liquidation and depletion ofthe economy’s human capital. For example, there is a high risk of technological obsolescencein the aerospace industry. Engineers may become specialists on a single wing for a number ofyears, but once that wing is phased out, the engineers may be obsolete. The firm may find it lesscostly to recruit and hire recent college graduates than to invest in retraining its current engineers.As a result, highly trained and experienced people may find themselves unemployed. To meetits social responsibilities towards its current employees, an aerospace company might invest indeveloping the general skills of the engineers in addition to investing in training for specific skillsthat are likely to become obsolete.

HRA measurements can also be used to assess the quality of the working life of employees. Itspresent trends continue, the “Lordstown Syndrome” of rebellion against hard, monotonous,dehumanized work. As a result of our changing social ethos, the ethic that hard work is a virtueand a duty is being abandoned. There is increasing concern for work to provide on-the-jobsatisfaction as well as a means to off-the-job satisfaction. Management, therefore, needs a wayof measuring employees’ satisfaction with aspects of work. The issue seems to be appearingincreasingly in labor/management relations.

Human Resource Reporting - Practices

We have discussed how the emerging economy relies largely on the effective management anddeployment of intellectual capital, specifically human capital. The growing importance of humanassets in terms of their direct financial impact to an organization has consequently translatedinto an increasing emphasis of human assets in corporate annual reports, public disclosure ofinternal HR information and related effects on an organization’s internal culture. Numerouscompanies have succeeded in integrating the values and practices associated with HRA intotheir existing standards. We will now highlight several of these pioneering companies individually.For each company, we will discuss four main issues:

The nature of their services,The degree to which the company has integrated human and intellectual capital positionsinto its managerial system,The extent to which the company has publicized human assets in its annual report orother such information sources, andThe role of these efforts in the broader picture of the company’s culture and values.

The reporting of HR, it appears, is being done on a selective basis at the option of companies inIndia. This has resulted in only a few companies coming forward to give importance to thevaluation and reporting of human resources. Even among the reporting companies, no uniformmodel is followed for valuation of human assets of their companies. Hence, considering the great



value attached to HR, necessary and adequate provisions shall be made in the Companies Act,1956, in order to make it obligatory for companies to evaluate and report the HR. The task offinding out an appropriate method of valuation of HR, to be uniformly followed by all companies inIndia, may be entrusted to an expert committee solely formed for this purpose. This will enablemore and more companies to come forward to account and report the value of HR in theirfinancial statements.

Human Resource Accounting in Infosys Technologies Limited

Infosys Technologies Limited is one of the largest Indian IT companies, with nine developmentcenters and over 30 offices worldwide. Infosys employs over 1,04,850 employees (2009). It wasformed on July 2, 1981 by NR Narayana Murthy and six other software professionals. It is thefirst Indian IT company to be listed in NASDAQ. At Infosys, employees are considered as themost important assets. The company strongly believes that the quality and level of service thatits professionals deliver are among the highest in the global technology services industry. Ittakes genuine efforts to minimize the information asymmetry between management andshareholders. The company has always been at the forefront in practicing progressive andtransparent disclosure. The US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) was firstadopted in India by Infosys. Additional disclosures are provided in the annual reports of Infosysso that the stakeholders can have deeper insights to the way the company is running its business.In addition to the mandated Indian and US GAAP financial statements and supplementary dataas required by the relevant statutes, the disclosures which are provided in the Annual Reports ofInfosys include: Brand Valuation, Balance Sheet (including Intangible Assets), Economic Value-added Statement, Current-cost Adjusted Financial Statements, Intangible Scorecard, RiskManagement Report, Human Resource Accounting and Value-added Statement (Annual Report,Infosys, 2006-07).

45Valuation and Reporting Practices of Human Resource Assets at INFOSYS


Conclusion

As we begin the new millennium, it becomes evident that the core strategic asset of enterprisesas well as the new foundation of the wealth of nations is human capital. Without the ability tomeasure these assets, their management is unlikely to be either rational or optimal. Althoughthe development of HRA is not complete, some progress has been made.

One can hope for a day when human capital will receive the same degree of recognition as otherassets in accounting practices as well as in the overall management paradigm.

A proper reporting of HR in the financial statements of a company will go a long way in giving afair and complete view of the accounting information, infuse confidence in the people working inthe organization, boost their morale and help the management in fulfilling their socialresponsibilities.

References

Blau, Gary E. Human Resource Accounting, 1st ed. Scarsdale, N.Y.: Work in America Institute,1978.

Caplan, Edwin H. and Landekich, Stephen. Human Resource Accounting: Past, Present andFuture. New York: National Association of Accountants, 1974.

Cascio, Wayne F. Costing Human Resources: The Financial Impact of Behavior in Organizations,3rd ed. Boston: PWS-Kent Pub. Co., 1991.

Flamholtz, Eric. Human resource accounting : [advances in concepts, methods, andapplications]. 2nd edition San Francisco : Jossey-Bass, 1985.

Monti–Belkaoui Janice and Riahi–Belkaoui Ahmed. Human Resource Valuation: A Guide toStrategies and Techniques. Quorum Books: Westport, Connecticut–London, 1995.

Ulf Johanson, Gunilla Eklöv, Mikael Holmgren, Maria Mårtensson School of Business StockholmUniversity, Human Resource Costing and Accounting versus The Balanced Scorecard: Aliterature survey of experience with the concepts 1998 (PDF)

Management accounting: Ravi.M.Kishore- taxmann allied publications.

47

Attrition leads to Employee Turnover Costs-A Study of Indian Software Industry

Introduction

The attrition rate has always been a sensitive issue for allorganizations. Calculating employee turnover rate is not thatsimple as it seems to be. No common formula can be used by

all the organizations. A formula had to be devised keeping in view thenature of the business and different job functions. Moreover, calculatingattrition rate is not only about devising a mathematical formula. It alsohas to take into account the root of the problem by going back to thehiring stage.

Attrition rate: There is no standard formula to calculate the attritionrate of a company. This is because of certain factors as:

· The employee base changes each month. So if a company has 1,000employees in April 2009 and 2,000 in March 2010, then they maytake their base as 2,000 or as 1,500 (average for the year). If thenumber of employees who left is 300, then the attrition figure couldbe 15 percent or 20 percent depending on what base you take.

· Many firms may not include attrition of freshers who leave because ofhigher studies or within three months of joining.

· In some cases, attrition of poor performers may also not be treatedas attrition. Calculating attrition rate:

AbstractCompanies who believe in zero attrition rates only fool themselves. Itis difficult to accept when organizations say they have zero attritionrates. Companies may have healthier turnover rates, however, thereis no such thing as zero attrition. There are other such facts aboutturnover, about which most of us are not aware. Zero attrition is notdesirable mainly because of two reasons. Firstly, if all employeescontinue to stay in the same organization, most of them will be at thetop of their pay scale which will result in excessive manpower costs.Secondly, new employees bring new ideas, approaches, abilities &attitudes which can keep the organization from becoming stagnant. Inthis paper we are trying to study different causes of Attrition in theorganizations and its impact on the turnover costs of the employee inparticular to the Software Industry. We have uses some of the Employeeturnover cost models for calculating the costs associated to it.


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H.B.GochhayatAssistant Professor


N.S.NandaAssistant Professor



Attrition Rate in Different Sectors in India

Attrition rates can be calculated using a simple formula:

Attrition =(No. of employees who left in the year / average employees in the year) x 100

Thus, if the company had 1,000 employees in April 2009, 2,000 in March 2010, and 300 quit in theyear, then the average employee strength is 1,500 and attrition is 100 x (300/1500) = 20 percent.Besides this, there are various other types of attrition that should be taken into account. These are:

· Fresher attrition that tells the number of freshers who left the organization within oneyear. It tells how many are using the company as a springboard or a launch pad.

· Infant mortality that is the percentage of people who left the organization within oneyear. This indicates the ease with which people adapt to the company.

· Critical resource attrition which tell the attrition in terms of key personnel like seniorexecutives leaving the organization.

· Low performance attrition: It tells the attrition of those who left due to poor performance.

Cost Associated with Attrition

We need to understand the different costs associated to the Attrition of any organization whichcan be described as given below.

Recruitment Cost Training and development cost

Administration Cost

• Time spent on sourcing replacement • Time spent on recruitment and

selection • Travel expenses, if any • Re-location costs, if any n Training /

ramp-up time • Background/reference screening

• Training materials • Technology • Employee benefits • Trainers’ Time

• Set up communication systems • Add employees to the HR system • Set up the new hire’s workspace • Set up ID-cards, access cards, etc.

49Attrition leads to Employee Turnover Costs-A Study of Indian Software Industry

Comparative study on Indian Software Industry

Inspite of being IT giants, these 4 companies are facing high attrition rates. They are facing problems inretaining their employees irrespective of the fact that they are providing an attractive compensationpackages to their employees. TCS, Infosys and Wipro faced high attrition rate as compared to Satyam.

The attrition rate of Wipro is 16.2% during the last quarter of 2006-07. On annual basis, theattrition rate of Wipro BPO was 48 %. The main reasons being told are the odd working hoursand the higher studies. Wipro’s attrition rate is the highest in the industry.

Inspite of being IT giants, these 4 companies are facing high attrition rates. They are facing problemsin retaining their employees irrespective of the fact that they are providing an attractive compensationpackages to their employees. TCS, infosys and wipro faced high attrition rate as compared to satyam.

Attrition rate for Satyam for the period January-March 2007 was 15.7%. It has declined to 14.9%

Models of Employee Turnover

Over the years there have been thousands of research articles exploring the various aspects ofturnover, and in due course several models of employee turnover have been promulgated. Thefirst model and by far the one attaining most attention from researcher, was put forward in 1958by March & Simon. After this model there have been several efforts to extend the concept. Since1958 the following models of employee turnover have been published.

March and Simon (1958) Process Model of Turnover

Porter & Steers (1973) Met Expectations Model

Price (1977) Causal Model of Turnover

Mobley (1977) Intermediate Linkages Model

Hom and Griffeth (1991) Alternative Linkages Model of Turnover

Whitmore (1979) Inverse Gaussian Model for Labour Turnover

Steers and Mowday (1981) Turnover Model

Sheridan & Abelson (1983) Cusp Catastrophe Model of Employee Turnover

Jackofsky (1984) Integrated Process Model

Lee et al. (1991) Unfolding Model of Voluntary Employee Turnover

Aquino et al. (1997) Referent Cognitions Model

Mitchell & Lee (2001) Job Embeddedness Model


Average No. of Employee 28,000 Total no.of Employee leaving the organization in the last 12 months (2009-10) 800 Annual salary(average) 5,50,000/pBenefit Percentage 35% Expected length of vacancy 10 days Expected Separation Costs Per Employee 10,476 Expected Net Vacancy Costs/Savings Per Employee 3,051 Estimated Replacement Costs Per Employee 51,975

Estimated Turnover Cost Per Employee 65,502Estimated Annual Turnover Cost 52,401,600Employee turnover cost for Satyam with the following Information

Estimated Turnover Cost Per Employee 59,480Estimated Annual Turnover Cost 71,376,000Employee turnover cost for TCS with the following Information

Average No. of Employee 35,000 Total no.of Employee leaving the organization in the last 12 months(2009-10) 1200 Annual salary(average) 5,00,000/p.aBenefit Percentage 30% Expected length of vacancy 14 days Expected Separation Costs Per Employee 10,240 Expected Net Vacancy Costs/Savings Per Employee 3,740 Estimated Replacement Costs Per Employee 45,400

Average No. of Employee 1,50,000 Total no.of Employee leaving the organization in the last 12 months(2009-10) 5,000 Annual salary(average) 4,00,000/p.a Benefit Percentage 25% Expected length of vacancy 15 days Expected Separation Costs Per Employee 8,082 Expected Net Vacancy Costs/Savings Per Employee 3,082 Estimated Replacement Costs Per Employee 35,000

Estimated Turnover Cost Per Employee 46,164Estimated Annual Turnover Cost 230,820,000Employee turnover cost for Infosys with the following Information

After analyzing all of these models we have come a basic model for calculating the Employeeturnover cost any organization, which is mentioned below:

Employee turnover cost for Overall Software Industry with the following Information

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Average No. of Employee 40,000 Total no.of Employee leaving the organization in the last 12 months(2009-10) 9000 Annual salary(average) 3,75,000/p.a Benefit Percentage 24% Expected length of vacancy 30 days Expected Separation Costs Per Employee 10,383 Expected Net Vacancy Costs/Savings Per Employee 5,733 Estimated Replacement Costs Per Employee 32,550

Estimated Turnover Cost Per Employee 48,666Estimated Annual Turnover Cost 437,994,000Calculation of Employee Turnover by MonthTo calculate monthly employee turnover rates, divide the number of employee separations inone month by the average number of active employees at the worksite during the same period.We’ll say we have one site of operations.

For example, let’s say we lose four employees out of 200.

That gives us an employee turnover rate of two percent. What if we repeated this employeeturnover calculation to highlight the turnover rate just in the new hires, not in the whole company,over the course of a year?What Can Employee Turnover Calculations Tell You About Your Organization?For instance, what questions were asked when the employee was hired? Did the questionsrelate to the job? If not, they may have set up the application for the job to be quite different thanthe job really is. If so, why was that done?

Did those who sorted applicants by their responses understand what skills the jobrequired? Did they end up looking for or finding the wrong things?

Did the employee get an orientation? Was the employee made to feel comfortable in theorganization after the orientation? Why or why not?

How did the employee’s supervisor interact with the employee?

How did the existing workforce interact with the new employee? With acceptance andassistance, or with a cold shoulder? How did the supervisor react to that? Did thesupervisor take any steps in response to the workforce interaction with the new employee?

Some ways may be explored to reduce the employee turnover in the software industry which aregiven below:

Hire the best candidate.

Welcome new employees. Customize your induction program for new employeesaccording to the requirements. Same induction program can not be applied to all thecandidates. Make them feel welcomed.

Attrition leads to Employee Turnover Costs-A Study of Indian Software Industry


Produce quality managers who can really manage employees well.

Provide employees with work schedules that are flexible enough to suit their needs.

Don’t be too demanding. You re hiring human beings who have their own life and familycommitments. Respect them.

Provide career counseling and development.

Discuss your future plans regarding the candidate with the candidate. Let them knowthat the management is interested in retaining them and cares for them.

Take proper feedback from employees regarding their grievances.

Remember your ex-employees. They can be of help in future. It is also a part of employeeretention.

ConclusionContinual training and reinforcement develops a work force that is competent, consistent,competitive, effective and efficient. Beginning on the first day of work, providing the individual withthe necessary skills to perform their job is important. Before the first day, it is important theinterview and hiring process expose new hires to an explanation of the company, so individualsknow whether the job is their best choice. Networking and strategizing within the companyprovides ongoing performance management and helps build relationships among co-workers. Itis also important to motivate employees to focus on customer success, profitable growth andthe company well-being . Employers can keep their employees informed and involved by includingthem in future plans, new purchases, policy changes, as well as introducing new employees tothe employees who have gone above and beyond in meetings. Early engagement and engagementalong the way, shows employees they are valuable through information or recognition rewards,making them feel included.When companies hire the best people, new talent hired and veterans are enabled to reachcompany goals, maximizing the investment of each employee. Taking the time to listen toemployees and making them feel involved will create loyalty, in turn reducing turnover allowing forgrowth.

References

”How do we calculate turnover costs?” March 2004; Society for Human Resources Management

”Turnover Rate- SHRM Human Capital Measure of the Month”, November 2005; Society for HumanResources Management

”First Year Turnover Rate- SHRM Metric of the Month”, October 2006; Society for Human ResourceManagement

53

Knowledge Management & E-HRM

Dr. A.Chandra MohanProfessor

SRM School of ManagementSRM University

Chennai

N.Santhosh RanganathFaculty

Commerce & Management StudiesDr.BR AMBEDKAR University

Srikakulam

YaminikrishnaFaculty

Godavari College ofManagementRajahmundry

Introduction

The importance of ‘knowledge’ for the economy and businesshas been discussed since at least 1945, if only sporadically,and received growing attention from the 1960s. The idea that

knowledge could and should be managed, however, seems not to havebeen seriously considered until a decade or so later. Knowledgemanagement is a business activity with two primary aspects:

Treating the knowledge component of business activities asan explicit concern of business reflected in strategy, policy,and practice at all levels of the organization.

Making a direct connection between an organization’sintellectual assets — both explicit [recorded] and tacit[personal know-how] — and positive business results.

In practice, knowledge management often encompasses identifyingand mapping intellectual assets within the organization, generatingnew knowledge for competitive advantage within the organization,making vast amounts of corporate information accessible, sharing ofbest practices, and technology that enables all of the above — includinggroupware and intranets which shown in figure 1. Knowledge

AbstractKnowledge management often encompasses identifying and mappingintellectual assets within the organization, generating new knowledgefor competitive advantage within the organization, making vastamounts of corporate information accessible, sharing of best practices,and technology that enables all of the above - including groupwareand intranets. Globally, knowledge has become the most importantfactor in economic development and knowledge assets are consideredessential for economic growth, competitive advantage, humandevelopment and quality of human life. Knowledge managementpresents HRM with the opportunity to become pivotal to the strategicmanagement of the organization and a catalyst for knowledge creationand building value. This involves more than just re-labeling HumanResources - it is a fundamental paradigmatic shift for HRM and seniormanagement. Thus this paper is to promote the ideas of applyingKnowledge Management to EHRM solutions.


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management shares with education and artificial intelligence the need for a practical workingdefinition or conceptualization of ‘knowledge’.

Figure -1

Yet if managers are not clear about what they are trying to manage, we cannot evaluate knowledgemanagement practices, understand the effects of actions taken in the name of knowledgemanagement, assess the relationship of knowledge management to other management activities,or evaluate the claim that knowledge management is just another fad of consultants andacademics. Equating knowledge with information does not get us very far. Nothing is said inthese accounts about how ‘processing’ or ‘combination’ transforms ‘information’ into ‘knowledge’,or how information acquires ‘meaning’ or becomes ‘constituted’ as a belief.

Need for Knowledge Management

Why do we need to manage knowledge? Ann Macintosh of the Artificial Intelligence ApplicationsInstitute has identifies some of the specific business factors, including:

Marketplaces are increasingly competitive and the rate of innovation is rising.

Reductions in staffing create a need to replace informal knowledge with formal methods.

Competitive pressures reduce the size of the work force that holds valuable businessknowledge.

The amount of time available to experience and acquire knowledge has diminished.

Early retirements and increasing mobility of the work force lead to loss of knowledge.

There is a need to manage increasing complexity as small operating companies aretrans-national sourcing operations.

Changes in strategic direction may result in the loss of knowledge in a specific area.

In brief, knowledge and information have become the medium in which business problems occur.As a result, managing knowledge represents the primary opportunity for achieving substantial

55

savings, significant improvements in human performance, and competitive advantage. It’s notjust a Fortune 500 business problem. Small companies need formal approaches to knowledgemanagement even more, because they don’t have the market leverage, inertia, and resourcesthat big companies do. They have to be much more flexible, more responsive, and more “right”(make better decisions) — because even small mistakes can be fatal to them.

Approaches to Knowledge Management

The term “knowledge management” is now in widespread use, having appeared in the titles ofmany new books about knowledge management as a business strategy, as well as in articles inmany business publications, including The Wall Street Journal. There are, of course, manyways to slice up the multi-faceted world of knowledge management.

Figure – 2, Model of Knowledge Management

In this model, the KM system is intended to provide infrastructure support for knowledge intensiveprocesses of the organization shown in figure -2. The emphasis here is on knowledge performanceand getting results rather than the more traditional emphasis on contents management, knowledgesharing or information access.

Mechanistic Approaches to Knowledge Management

Mechanistic approaches to knowledge management are characterized by the application oftechnology and resources to do more of the same better. The main assumptions of the mechanisticapproach include:

Better accessibility to information is a key, including enhanced methods of access andreuse of documents (hypertext linking, databases, full-text search, etc.)

Networking technology in general (especially intranets), and groupware in particular,will be key solutions.

In general, technology and sheer volume of information will make it work.



Cultural / behavioristic approaches to knowledge management

Cultural/behavioristic approaches, with substantial roots in process re-engineering and changemanagement, tend to view the “knowledge problem” as a management issue. Technology thoughultimately essential for managing explicit knowledge resources — is not the solution. Theseapproaches tend to focus more on innovation and creativity (the “learning organization”) than onleveraging existing explicit resources or making working knowledge explicit. Assumptions ofcultural/behavioristic approaches often include:

Organizational behaviors and culture need to be changed … dramatically. In ourinformation-intensive environments, organizations become dysfunctional relative tobusiness objectives.

Organizational behaviors and culture can be changed, but traditional technology andmethods of attempting to solve the “knowledge problem” have reached their limits ofeffectiveness. A “holistic” view is required. Theories of behavior of large-scale systemsare often invoked.

It’s the processes that matter, not the technology.

Nothing happens or changes unless a manager makes it happen.

Systematic approaches to knowledge management

Systematic approaches to knowledge management retain the traditional faith in rational analysisof the knowledge problem: the problem can be solved, but new thinking of many kinds isrequired. Some basic assumptions:

It’s sustainable results that matter, not the processes or technology … or your definitionof “knowledge.”

A resource cannot be managed unless it is modeled, and many aspects of theorganization’s knowledge can be modeled as an explicit resource.

Solutions can be found in a variety of disciplines and technologies, and traditional methodsof analysis can be used to re-examine the nature of knowledge work and to solve theknowledge problem.

Cultural issues are important, but they too must be evaluated systematically. Employeesmay or may not have to be “changed,” but policies and work practices must certainly bechanged, and technology can be applied successfully to business knowledge problemsthemselves.

Knowledge management has an important management component, but it is not anactivity or discipline that belongs exclusively to managers.

Business Activities related to Knowledge Management

Management of Information Systems (MIS) or Information Technology and InformationManagement (IT/IM) — Knowledge management emerged in part out of IT managementas it became clear that access to information and data was insufficient to provide enough

57

insight to support decision-making. Recently, major software companies (e.g., Microsoft)have also decided to offer KM services to help integrate technology into the workplace.

Human Resource Management — It is said that the 1980s fixation with “business processre-engineering” had emphasized cost-cutting without appreciating the value of people. Itbecame clear that people were not costs, they were in fact assets because of theirknowledge and experience. Within human resource management circles, knowledgemanagement grew as a way of demonstrating, in a more systematic way, the value ofpeople to business processes.

Change Management — As regular or continuous change became a feature oforganizational life, it was recognized that successful change needed to be managed.Since organizational change tends to involve the orchestration of people, technologyand resources, knowledge management was considered a key method of tying thesethreads together.

Project and Team Management — As organizations began to rely on short-term projects,serial short-term contracts, and use of teams, it became necessary to provide appropriatesupport — and capture the resulting knowledge.

Corporate Intelligence and Research & Development — In an organization there are alsoseveral areas specifically devoted to acquiring and creating useful knowledge, such astechnology research centres, intelligence gathering operations, corporate research andtraining facilities, and libraries.

Knowledge Management in the Technological Era

The traditional paradigm of information systems is based on seeking a consensual interpretationof information based on socially dictated norms or the mandate of the company bosses. Thishas resulted in the confusion between ‘knowledge’ and ‘information’. However, knowledge andinformation are distinct entities!! While information generated by the computer systems is not avery rich carrier of human interpretation for potential action, ‘knowledge’ resides in the user’ssubjective context of action based on that information. Hence, it may not be incorrect to statethat knowledge resides in the user and not in the collection of information, a point made twodecades ago by West Churchman, the leading thinker on information systems.

Karl Erik Sveiby, the author of The New Organizational Wealth: Managing and MeasuringKnowledge-Based Assets, contends that the confusion between ‘knowledge’ and ‘information’has caused managers to sink billions of dollars in technology ventures that have yielded marginalresults. He asserts that the business managers need to realize that unlike information, knowledgeis embedded in people... and knowledge creation occurs in the process of social interaction. Ona similar note, Ikujiro Nonaka, the renowned Professor of Knowledge, has emphasized that onlyhuman beings can take the central role in knowledge creation. He argues that computers aremerely tools, however great their information-processing capabilities may be. A very recent HarvardBusiness Review special issue on Knowledge Management seems to lend credence to thispoint of view. This issue highlighted the need for constructive conflict in organizations that aspireto be leaders in innovation and creation of new knowledge.

The ‘wicked environment’ of the new world of business imposes the need for variety and complexityof interpretations of information outputs generated by computer systems. Such variety is necessary



for deciphering the multiple world views of the uncertain and unpredictable future. As underscoredby the strategy guru Gary Hamel at the recent Academy of Management meeting address, non-linear change imposes upon organizations the need for devising non-linear strategies. Suchstrategies cannot be ‘predicted’ based on a static picture of information residing in the company’sdatabases. Rather, such strategies will depend upon developing interpretive flexibility byunderstanding multiple views of the future. In this perspective, the objective of business strategyis not to indulge in long-term planning of the future. Rather, the emphasis is on understanding thevarious world views of future using techniques such as scenario-planning.

Knowledge management draws from a wide range of disciplines and technologies. Expert systems,artificial intelligence and knowledge base management systems (KBMS) related technologieshave acquired an undeserved reputation of having failed to meet their own — and the marketplace’s— high expectations. In fact, these technologies continue to be applied widely, and the lessonspractitioners have learned are directly applicable to knowledge management. Computer-supportedcollaborative work (groupware) in Europe, knowledge management is almost synonymous withgroupware … and therefore with Lotus Notes. Sharing and collaboration are clearly vital toorganizational knowledge management — with or without supporting technology.

HRM in the Knowledge Economy

The nature and characteristics of work in the knowledge economy herald new opportunities forHRM. To maximize benefit from knowledge assets, a fourfold contribution from HRM is proposed.In the knowledge economy, HRM must Provide expertise in understanding and defining firm-levelstrategic knowledge capabilities. And it develops and manages knowledge workers by leveragingthe knowing-learning-doing nexus. Also build knowledge value as an organizational as well as anindividual asset; and Minimize the organization’s knowledge risk associated with loss of requisitecapability and knowledge.

Knowledge creation, use, sharing and retention have always been important. What is new is thesignificant shift towards a systematic and strategic approach to managing the primary assets ofthe knowledge economy: people, knowledge processes, and knowledge products. Globally,knowledge has become the most important factor in economic development and knowledgeassets are considered essential for economic growth, competitive advantage, human developmentand quality of human life. The idea that people and the knowledge they possess is the organization’smost valuable asset is not new. The shift in the terminology from over 20 years ago from ‘PersonnelManagement’ to ‘Human Resources Management’ signaled what some claimed was ametamorphosis for the profession.

Today, the central role of individual and organizational capabilities is significantly amplified withthe advent of the knowledge economy. Commanding a central role in realizing value from knowledgeassets is proposed as the new strategic role for HRM. What is the nature of the transitionproposed for HRM? How does this translate to the functional areas of HRM? Table 1 presents asummary of the traditional approaches to HRM and the shift required in the knowledge economy.The areas represent the elements of HRM that offer the greatest opportunity to acquire, build andretain organizational capability.

59

Figure -3

Knowledge management presents HRM with the opportunity to become pivotal to the strategicmanagement of the organization and a catalyst for knowledge creation and building value. Thisinvolves more than just relabeling Human Resources - it is a fundamental paradigmatic shift forHRM and senior management. The transformation begins with viewing HRM through a ‘knowledgelens’ and repositioning the functions in relation to strategic knowledge capabilities. Managingknowledge workers, building value from knowledge, and assessing knowledge risk are also newrequirements of HRM in the knowledge economy. We propose that HRM must respond to thekey challenges presented by the knowledge economy and command a central position in realizingvalue from knowledge assets as a strategic role for HRM.

Knowledge Management & e-HRM

In the course of prevailing trends like globalization, customer orientation and specialization,most of the companies place emphasis on recruitment, sustainment and evolution of qualifiedemployees. The companies are aware of the fact that human resources have changed more andmore from a cost factor to success factor.

Electronic Human Resource Management (eHRM) is a web based tool to automate and supportHR process. The implementation of eHRM is n opportunity to delegate the data entry to theemployees. eHRM facilitates the usage of HR marketplaces and offers more self service to theemployees. eHRM is a collection of many different technologies. At first the growing attention ofcompanies on the factor knowledge is mainly driven by the evolution of information technology.Information systems like eHRM solutions -that network information enable companies to get aconsistent concept for their knowledge management. In this sense Knowledge Management isalways a collection of different techniques. A variety of these techniques is used in companies toacquire knowledge, to organize knowledge and to make knowledge transparent. One of these



mentioned techniques is knowledge Discovery in Databases (KDD) respective Data Mining as astep of the KDD-process.

eHRM offers the opportunity to automate administrative HR-work and to optimize value creatingHR-activities. Three levels of development can be distinguished:

1. Web-presence HR,

2. Web-enabled HR, and

3. Web-energized HR.

The first level means that parts of the eHRM-solution are present. Web-enabled meansthat all parts of the eHRM-solution are present and can be accessed online. The third leveldescribes the eHRM-solution that is fully implemented, can be accessed online and is usedintensively by the employees. The desired level and the pace of implementation for HR-solutionsare specific for each company. At DaimlerChrysler AG, Plant Worth the eHRM-solution is onlevel two at the moment and is to reach level three where it is intensively used by the HR-workersand the employees.

As weak definition eHRM shall be known in the following as an integrated optimization ofHR-prices consequently using web-based technology for all facets of HR-work. Amongst otherfacets e-learning in the field of continuing education, employee-self-service (ESS) in the field ofHR-administration and the utilization of the intra and extranet in the field of recruitment belong tothe main fields of eHRM that are supported by the eHRM system.

The main benefits of eHRM are an increase of quality and pace, because the existingadministrative processes were slow and inefficient conditional upon mainly paper based processes,e.g. the tendency of standing data and the payroll. The direct access of the network enabledemployee avoids double entries for example at the tendency of standing data, travel expenseaccounting and applications for leave. With e-recruitment the company gets an additional possibilitybesides the normal application by paper to recruit people over the web in an online applicationprocess.

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It is common for large companies to install eHRM. Not only can the processing time beshortened but also manpower can be saved. So far eHRM reaches the prime objective of costeffectiveness. Besides the positive aspects of eHRM there are different negative impacts. Thetraditional social task of the HR department suffers under the increasing aril distance that eHRMcauses with its virtual online processes. The partial loss of face to face communication is ratednegative by the employees. Finally the HR worker is affected by the changes in the HR processes.The ongoing automation of formerly time consuming tasks leads to long term staff cuts in the HRdepartment. Thus the HR worker is central component of the implementation of eHRM becausehe is the key factor to realize the newly installed processes. With a demotivated HR worker dueto the anxiety to loose his own job an implementation of eHRM is futile. A main task musttherefore be the reorientation of the HR workers to a new scope of duties, especially in the areaof strategic Human Resource Management that is recruitment, personnel evolution and continuingeducation.

Conclusions

Knowledge management has emerged as a growing field of practice and research inresponse to the recognition that knowledge is a potent force in the economy, and for competitiveadvantage. The concept of knowledge itself, however, remains vague and unsatisfactory, a situationthat may well hinder the development of knowledge management theory and practice. Knowledgeitself cannot be managed, only the conditions of its use-in-action, which necessarily centers onpeople. Knowledge management practice, if it is to remain distinct from information management,which also focused on knowledge representations, must give pride of place to the managementof people.

Knowledge Management (KM) is typically define to be the holistic combination of measuresfor managing people, processes, and technology, the explicit integration of Human ResourceManagement into KM initiatives is seldom examined. In the course of prevailing trends likeglobalization, customer orientation and specialization, most of the companies place emphasison recruitment, sustainment and evolution of qualified employees. Electronic Human ResourceManagement (eHRM) is a web based tool to automate and support HR process. Theimplementation of eHRM is n opportunity to delegate the data entry to the employees. eHRMfacilitates the usage of HR marketplaces and offers more self service to the employees.

References

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Malhotra, Y. and Galletta, D.F. (2003). “Role of Commitment and Motivation in KnowledgeManagement Systems Implementation: Theory, Conceptualization, and Measurementof Antecedents of Success”. 36th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences.p. 10.

Milne, P. (2007), Motivation, incentives and organisational culture. Journal of KnowledgeManagement, Vol. 11, pp. 28-38.

Morello, D. and Caldwell, F. (2001). What Are Knowledge Workers? What Makes Them Tick?Stamford : Gartner, Research. SPA-12-7780.

Osterloh, M. and Frey, B.S. (2000), “Motivation, Knowledge Transfer, and Organizational Form”.Organization Science. Septembre-octobre, Vol. 11, 5, pp. 538-550.

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Roberts J., (2008), “From Know-how to Show-how? Questioning the Role of Information andCommunication Technologies in Knowledge Transfer”, Technology Analysis & StrategicManagement; Vol. 12, No. 4, pp..72-79.

Semar, W. (2004). “Incentive systems in knowledge management to support cooperativedistributed forms of creating and acquiring knowledge.”, International Conference onInformation and Knowledge Engineering. pp. 406-411.

Sveiby, K.E. and R. Simons. (2009). Collaborative climate and the effectiveness of knowledgework. Journal of Knowledge Management, 6 (5): pp.420-433.

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Analyzing the Impact Of EmployeeEmpowerment is a Task Consolidation forEffective Organisation Development

Dr. Ajoy MathewAssociate ProfessorBharathiar School of

Managementand

Entrepreneur DevelopmentBharathiar University

Coimbatore

Oyyappan, D.Research Scholar

Bharathiar School ofManagement

andEntrepreneur Development

Bharathiar UniversityCoimbatore

Introduction

Empowerment is the process of enabling or authorizing anindividual to think, behaves, take action, and control work anddecision making in autonomous ways. It is the state of feeling

self-empowered to take control of one’s own destiny. It is not somethingthat can be delegated or somebody can bestow because it comesfrom Individual and self-direction The basic purpose of empowermentis lost in majority of organization because employees expect it as adelegation process instead of a initiating and ongoing process in whichan individual enabling himself to take action and control work anddecision making in autonomous ways which comes from the individual.

The organization has the responsibility to create a work environmentwhich helps foster the ability and desire of employees to act inempowered ways. The work organization has the responsibility toremove barriers that limit the ability of staff to act in empowered ways.

Differentiating empowerment with employee involvement andparticipativemanagement. These terms are sometimes usedinterchangeably but they differ a lot and connote different meaning.Since empowerment in itself is a macro approach and participativemanagement and employee’s involvement are a part of this approach.

AbstractThis article examines the Impact of Employee empowerment as aTask consolidation for Effective Organisation Development throughthe relationship between managerial trust and employeeempowerment. As a result, many top management leadership andemployee empowerment strategies and practices have beensuggested in the management literature. However, EmployeeEmpowerment not only creates an impact in (TQM), This paperexamines Employee empowerment trends and developments in IndianOrganisations and how much is essential for modern organisationaldevelopment. Organisational change can substantially impact on teammembers’ sense of freedom and ability to contribute. It is important formanagers to be aware of the ways of promoting empowerment andhow these can be integrated into the change process; the organizationhas the responsibility to create a work environment which helps fosterthe ability and desire of employees to act in empowered ways.


pp.63-76ISSN 0974 - 4274


Empowerment refers to a state of mind as well as a result of position, policies, and practices oras defined by Bowan and Lawler it is a process of sharing with front-line employees fourorganizational ingredients knowledge, information, power and reward which makes the completeprocess of empowerment a success or as defined by Menon it was defined as a cognitive stateof perceived control, perceived competence and goal internalization.

In the, mechanistic approach managers and researchers believed that empowerment was aboutdelegating decision making within a set of clear boundaries. Delegate responsibility and Holdpeople accountable for results. In the, organic approach to empowerment researchers andmanagers believed that it empowerment was about risk taking, growth, and change understandingthe needs of the employees model empowered behavior for the employees build teams toencourage cooperative behavior; encourage intelligent risk taking; and trust people to perform.

Empowered employees are, after all, more innovative, creative, and resourceful. They are freefrom the shackles of management, so they are happy and motivated at work and willing to takeon new responsibilities.

Employee involvement means that every employee in an organization is valuable and is havingworth and is having involvement in running the business empowerment means that managementrecognizes his ability and provide employees with authority and tools required to continuouslyimprove the process.

Definition: Employee Empowerment

Empowerment is the process of enabling or authorizing an individual to think, behaves, takeaction, and control work and decision making in autonomous ways. It is the state of feeling self-empowered to take control of one’s own destiny.

When thinking about empowerment in human relations terms, try to avoid thinking of it assomething that one individual does for another. This is one of the problems organizations haveexperienced with the concept of empowerment. People think that “someone,” usually the manager,has to bestow empowerment on the people who report to him.

Consequently, the reporting staff members “wait” for the bestowing of empowerment, and themanager asks why people won’t act in empowered ways. This led to a general unhappiness,mostly undeserved, with the concept of empowerment in many organizations.

Think of empowerment, instead, as the process of an individual enabling himself to take actionand control work and decision making in autonomous ways. Empowerment comes from theindividual.

The organization has the responsibility to create a work environment which helps foster theability and desire of employees to act in empowered ways. The work organization has theresponsibility to remove barriers that limit the ability of staff to act in empowered ways.

Employee involvement and participative management are often used to mean empowerment.They are not really interchangeable.

The term empowerment is used to denote the enhanced involvement of employees in organisationalprocesses and decision-making. Though some proponents of empowerment see it as amanifestation of democratic ideals, most support the idea as a means of promoting employeewell-being, and more especially as a way of harnessing the knowledge and abilities of employeesas a whole to promote performance.

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Some have argued that we are now in the ‘empowerment era’, and that “No vision, no strategy,can be achieved without able and empowered employees”. Nonetheless, the evidence is thatempowerment is pursued seriously by only a minority of enterprises, and is less common thanother modern management initiatives such as inventory control, quality management, team work,and supply chain partnering.

What are the Main Types and Forms of Empowerment?

Empowerment as a management practice is of two main types. Direct forms involve the delegationof added responsibility to individuals or teams for the execution and management of their tasks.Indirect forms of empowerment encompass participation in decision-making bodies.

Examples of direct forms of empowerment thus include job enrichment and self-managing workteams (see ‘What is Work Design’), and many aspects of total quality management or continuousimprovement. Instances of indirect forms include representation on bodies ranging from qualitycircles to management boards. Most empowerment initiatives are direct rather than indirect.Direct forms of empowerment are also an integral part of many current approaches to humanresource management (see ‘What is a High Performance Work System?’)

Does Empowerment Affect Well-being?

Interest in empowerment first arose soon after the turn of the 20th Century, largely in response tothe development of Tayloristic approaches to work design which promoted job simplification.That involved breaking more complex work down into a sequence of simpler tasks to be conductedby different employees, resulting in narrowly defined jobs characterised by limited skill requirementsand little autonomy or responsibility. In other words, job simplification is a form of disempowerment.

Early research confirmed that such simplified jobs led to boring and repetitive work which wasnot only dissatisfying but was also associated with poor employee well-being more generally. Italso fostered poor industrial relations. Studies since have shown consistently that enhancingempowerment, through job enrichment, the implementation or self-managing work teams or inother ways, improves job attitudes and employee wellbeing. Nonetheless, simplified jobs remaincommon in the contemporary work place.

Does Empowerment Affect Performance?

A major reason why empowerment has not become more popular is that its effect on performanceis not simple or clear cut. Indeed, the move to simplified jobs in the first instance, as exemplifiedby the development of the production line in the motor industry, brought substantial economicbenefits. Thus moves in the opposite direction, giving employees broader and more responsiblejobs and work roles, needs at least to be at no cost to performance and preferably to improve it.

Recent studies suggest that the economic benefits of empowerment can be as good, if notbetter, than those typically achieved through other common initiatives, such as total qualitymanagement, just-in-time or teamwork. Benefits occur for several reasons. In many cases thereis a productivity benefit because empowerment means employees taking responsibility for supporttasks such as administration and equipment management, thus reducing indirect costs. Moreimportantly, it has been found that empowerment can improve employees’ knowledge, competenceand initiative, making them more effective in their work. Nevertheless, such benefits are notuniversal.

Analyzing the Impact Of Employee Empowerment is a Task Consolidation for Effective Organisation Development


When is Empowerment Appropriate?

The variable relationship of empowerment with performance indicates that it is more appropriateunder some circumstances than others. Available evidence suggests that when work requirementsare predictable, systematic and regular, empowerment will be of limited value. However, wherethere is greater variability in work requirements - as a result, for example, of variations in materials,frequent changes in product or service design, the need to tailor work to individual customers, orunreliability in the supporting technology - empowerment can yield substantial gains.Empowerment leads to better responses to the unexpected.

It should also be recognised that following the empowerment route involves investing in thetraining and support of employees, so that they have the information and self-confidence to showinitiative and make decisions about how best to complete their work. This means thatempowerment is a more viable strategy for a stable workforce, where there is time for the returnsin the investment in employees to materialise. For enterprises with high labour turnoverempowerment may not be appropriate.

Designing and Implementing an Empowerment Initiative

Enterprises planning to empower their employees would be well advised to involve them in thedesign of new work practices and roles from the start. It is important to recognise that empowermentis more than expanded responsibility; it is a way of working that depends on mutual trustbetween those carrying out the work and those to whom they report. Involvement from the outsetsignals that trust.

Similarly, support from management is especially important in the early stages of an empowermentinitiative. Newly empowered employees will make mistakes in meeting their new responsibilities.These need to we dealt with as learning opportunities rather than culpable errors.

Essentials before Implementing Empowerment Process

1) A company culture which would support a participative approach2) Employee relations must be reasonably healthy3) Acceptance of long term commitment4) Willingness to provide sufficient company resources5) Availability of Management attention6) Voluntary Participation7) Top management support8) Facilitator guidance9) Operational Support10) TrainingTechniques / Process for Employee’s Empowerment

Certain questions for the management to understand are –How to involve the people? How canwe use teams to improve? How to involve employees in quality improvement process?

Different techniques for employee’s involvement include suggestion systems, team, focus groups,surveys, self – directed work groups, incentive program. Other methods involve –

a) Giving responsibility to employees

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b) Training employees to accept responsibilityc) Communicating and giving feedbackd) Giving reward and recognitione) Process reengineeringf) Employees involvementg) Total quality managementSteps in Employee’s Empowerment1) Clarity of the purpose, goals and objectives of empowerment2) Willingness by employees and supervisors to accept responsibility3) Communication and feedback to supervisors4) Reward and recognitionFor example CMD won Baldridge award in 1994 as ATR&T consumer communication services.They do it through 6 interconnect approachesa) Common bondb) Ask questionc) Process management teamd) Quality improvement teame) Corrective and preventive action systemf) CommunicationBasic Essential Ingredientsa) Respect for individualsb) Dedication for customersc) Highest standards for integrityd) Innovation teamworkAnother successful strategy as used by Oral-B laboratories which follow this cycle Looking> Seeing> Caring> Doing

Management Perspective: The Employer’s Angle

Since empowerment is a two way process and involves equal involvement of both employersperspective is very important .Since it is a development strategy following principles are necessaryto be essential –

a) Determine people valueb) Share Leadership Visionc) Share Goals and Directiond) Trust Peoplee) Provide Information for Decision Makingf) Delegate Authority and Impact Opportunities, Not Just More Workg) Provide Frequent Feedbackh) Solve Problems: Don’t Pinpoint Problem Peoplei) Help Employees Feel Rewarded and Recognized for Empowered Behavior to Learn and

Ask Questions to Provide Guidance



• Select the right managers. • Share authority instead of giving it up. • Choose the right employees • Encourage dissent. • Provide training. • Give it time. • Offer guidance. • Accept increased turnover. • Hold everyone accountable. • Share information. • Build trust. • Realize that empowerment has its limitations. • Focus on relationships. • Watch for mixed messages. • Stress organizational values. • Face your own ambivalence • Transform mistakes into opportunities. • Involve employees in decision-making. • Reward and recognize. • Be prepared for increased variation.

j) Building team work –It should be result oriented, customer focus, partnershipdevelopment, continuous innovation, commitment

Benefits of Employee’s Empowerment

Development of interpersonal, analytical, and leadership skillsInstilling a quality consciousness among all employeesHigher quality productMore effective use of resourcesMore individual job satisfactionImproved two-way communications between employees and their management

Management should understand primary aim for the company, obstacles for employee’sproductivity, sources of employee’s motivation and knowing the empowerment level of theemployees.

Obstacle in Implementing Empowerment

A) Negativism in reviewing employee’s recommendationB) Fear is another negative emotionC) Failure to respond employee recommendationD) Unclarity of the concept of empowermentE) Failure to provide strategic frameworkF) Clear understanding of training and feedbackRe fair and consistent helps to provide a level playing field for staff, promoting a healthyworking environment in which empowerment can thrive.

Almost by default, we seem to operate in hierarchies: people above you make decisions;people below you carry them out. As this model works against initiative and empowerment,you may want to consider a flatter and less hierarchical structure.

What are some Guidelines for Effective Employee Empowerment?

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Principles of Employee Empowerment1. Demonstrate That You Value PeopleYour regard for people shines through in all of your actions and words. Your facial expression,your body language, and your words express what you are thinking about the people who reportto you. Your goal is to demonstrate your appreciation for each person’s unique value. No matterhow an employee is performing on his or her current task, your value for the employee as ahuman being should never falter and always be visible.2. Share Leadership VisionHelp people feel that they are part of something bigger than themselves and their individual job.Do this by making sure they know and have access to the organization’s overall mission, vision,and strategic plans.3. Share Goals and Directionthe most important goals and direction for your group. Where possible, either make progress ongoals measurable and observable, or ascertain that you have shared your picture of a positiveoutcome with the people responsible for accomplishing the results. If you share a picture andshare meaning, you have agreed upon what constitutes a successful and acceptable deliverable.Empowered employees can then chart their course without close supervision.4. Trust PeopleTrust the intentions of people to do the right thing, make the right decision, and make choicesthat, while maybe not exactly what you would decide, still work. When employees receive clearexpectations from their manager, they relax and trust you. They focus their energy onaccomplishing, not on wondering, worrying, and second-guessing.5. Provide Information for Decision MakingMake certain that you have given people, or made sure that they have access to, all of theinformation they need to make thoughtful decisions.6. Delegate Authority and Impact Opportunities, Not Just More WorkDon’t just delegates the drudge work; delegate some of the fun stuff, too. You know, delegatethe important meetings, the committee memberships that influence product development anddecision making, and the projects that people and customers notice. The employee will growand develop new skills. Your plate will be less full so you can concentrate on contribution. Yourreporting staff will gratefully shine - and so will you.7. Provide Frequent FeedbackProvide frequent feedback so that people know how they are doing. Sometimes, the purpose offeedback is reward and recognition as well as improvement coaching. People deserve yourconstructive feedback, too, so they can continue to develop their knowledge and skills.8. Solve Problems: Don’t Pinpoint Problem PeopleWhen a problem occurs, ask what is wrong with the work system that caused the people to fail,not what is wrong with the people. Worst case response to problems? Seek to identify andpunish the guilty.9. Listen to Learn and Ask Questions to Provide GuidanceProvide a space in which people will communicate by listening to them and asking them questions.Guide by asking questions, not by telling grown up people what to do. People generally knowthe right answers if they have the opportunity to produce them. When an employee brings you aproblem to solve, ask, “what do you think you should do to solve this problem?” Or, ask, “Whataction steps do you recommend?” Employees can demonstrate what they know and grow in the



process. Eventually, you will feel comfortable telling the employee that he or she need not askyou about similar situations. You trust their judgment10. Help Employees Feel Rewarded and Recognized for Empowered BehaviorWhen employees feel under-compensated, under-titled for the responsibilities they take on,under-noticed, under-praised, and under-appreciated, don’t expect results from employeeempowerment. The basic needs of employees must feel met for employees to give you theirdiscretionary energy, that extra effort that people voluntarily invest in work. For successful employeeempowerment, recognition plays a significant role.AdvantagesThe principle of employee empowerment pertains to management allowing employees to makedecisions that affect their jobs rather than having to clear everything with managers, according tothe article “Employee Empowerment: Eliminate ‘Us Versus Them’” published on the ThomasNet News Industry Market Trends website. Two of the key elements of employee empowermentare an efficient hiring system and constant training. There are several advantages to employeeempowerment, ranging from monetary savings to better work relationships.Cost SavingsEmployees who perform their tasks on a daily basis have an intimate understanding of how theirjobs are done. According to Chapter 18 of “The Reinventor’s Field book” titled “EmployeeEmpowerment,” by empowering employees to determine their own work methods, companiescan benefit from the years of experience each employee has. By allowing employees to suggestand make procedural changes that make their jobs more efficient, companies benefit by savingmoney.MoraleEmployees who are empowered in their jobs feel a stronger sense of responsibility concerningproductivity. Putting employees in charge of their own results has a positive effect on morale.Empowered employees know that their ideas matter to the success of the company, so theytend to take a greater interest in creating a more efficient and profitable company. Higher moralemeans that employees take less scheduled time off and productivity increases. This all has apositive effect on the company bottom line.Management-Employee RelationshipEmployee empowerment can help strengthen the relationships between managers and employees,according to the article titled “Employee Empowerment: Management Giving Power to the People”published on the Thinking Managers website. Managers are seen as coaches and professionalswith a direct interest in the success of their employees as opposed to those that dictate policyand give commands. Managers learn to rely on empowered employees, and employees learn touse their managers as resources for getting jobs done.Direct AccountabilityEmpowering employees to make their own decisions means that employees have directaccountability for their jobs. This is advantageous for companies, because instead of harnessingmanagers with the responsibility for all decisions, employees pick up some of the decision-making slack. Thus, it is easier to pinpoint the exact sources of issues. Companies can offerspecific employees training and any other information needed to correct errors as opposed tospending time and money training entire departments.Gain Competitive AdvantageIn a research journal published by Indiana University South Bend, Heloisa Fragosa discussesemployee empowerment dos and don’ts, but also documents how many of the world’s well-

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known companies have incorporated employee empowerment programs. A short list of suchcorporations include: Sears, Roebuck and Co., Eastman Kodak, General Electric, Intel, Ford,Saturn, Harley-Davidson and Goodyear.Having an employee empowerment program enables companies to keep up with a competitor orgain a competitive advantage. A census of manufacturers conducted in 2000 by the magazineIndustry Week along with the PricewaterhouseCoopers consulting firm, found that internationalmanufacturers were twice as likely to have at least 50 percent of its workforce participating inself-directed or empowered teams.Respond Quickly to Business ProblemsA 1998 study by international management consultant, trainer and author Dr. Connie Sitterlyfound that employees who are empowered make decisions that save companies money, timeand, in some cases, prevent potential disputes. Decentralizing the decision-making processcan improve the performance of support and service departments by giving customers moreconfidence in the process of being helped, especially since the empowered employee does nothave to check with her supervisor to make minor decisions.Better Job Satisfaction, Retention and MotivationA resource for human resource professionals, describes employee empowerment as one of thefactors behind increased employee education and training; lower absenteeism, and less conflictwith administration and managers related to change because employees are able to participatein decision making. The Society of Human Resource Management found in a 2007 study ofemployee empowerment trends that there is a link between engagement and organizationalperformance, saying that “employees with the highest levels of commitment perform 20 percentbetter and are 87 percent less likely to leave the organization.”Increased Productivity, Efficiency and EffectivenessWhen managers are freed up to be coaches, mentors and advisers instead of managementfiremen who have to put out mini-situational fires, the company or organization benefits. “TeamsWork,” a case study about the success of workplace teams in Sparks, Nevada, showed how theuse of teams increased annual productivity by 55 percent and reduced costs by 5 percent eachyear during the 1990s. “Introducing teaming was vital in the conversion of the plant from a pet-food processing facility to a cereal-making plant,” the report said.Empowering Employees

Making employees feel like they have the power to make decisions is important toemployee morale. Giving them good tools to work with to make those decisions will saveyou phone calls in the middle of the night.

Every good employee wants to feel like he is responsible enough to make the rightdecisions to benefit the company. However, as a manager you must maintain focus onthe primary goals of the company.

Good clear work instructions, practices and procedures go a long way toward givingemployees the guide lines they need to feel empowered in the workplace.

Developing these policies and procedures is an integral part of any employee empowermentprocess. It is also very important as a manger that you maintain your authority whileempowering your employees. Because, your empowerment efforts will be wasted if youlose your personal authority and the respect of your employees.



Quotations about Empowerment and DelegationNEW: “Today many American corporations spend a great deal of money and time trying toincrease the originality of their employees, hoping thereby to get a competitive edge in themarketplace. But such programs make no difference unless management also learns to recognizethe valuable ideas among the many novel ones, and then finds ways of implementing them.” —Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi“The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wantsdone, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it.” —TheodoreRoosevelt“The great leaders are like the best conductors - they reach beyond the notes to reach the magicin the players.” —Blaine Lee“If there is any one axiom that I have tried to live up to in trying to become successful in business, itis the fact that I have tried to surround myself with associates that know more about business thanI do. This policy has always been very successful and is still working for me.” —Monte L. Bean“Virtually every company will be going out and empowering their workers with a certain set oftools, and the big difference in how much value is received from that will be how much thecompany steps back and really thinks through their business processes, thinking through howtheir business can change, how their project management, their customer feedback, their planningcycles can be quite different than they ever were before.” —Bill Gates“Not many of us will be leaders; and even those who are leaders must also be followers much ofthe time. This is the crucial role. Followers judge leaders. Only if the leaders pass that test dothey have any impact. The potential followers, if their judgment is poor, have judged themselves.If the leader takes his or her followers to the goal, to great achievements, it is because thefollowers were capable of that kind of response.” —Garry Wills inCertain Trumpets: The Natureof Leadership“Power can be taken, but not given. The process of the taking is empowerment in itself.” —GloriaSteinem“Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with theiringenuity.” —General George Smith Patton, Jr.“An empowered organization is one in which individuals have the knowledge, skill, desire, andopportunity to personally succeed in a way that leads to collective organizational success.” —Stephen CoveyHow to Develop an Employee Empowerment PlanEmployee empowerment adds value to not only the individual employee, but to your business aswell. Employees who feel empowered to make the right decisions on their own will offer increasedproductivity and a high quality of work, according to ASQ.org.

Prepare the employee’s current performance metrics and compare their actualperformance to the desired results. Identify the employee’s strengths and weaknesses, andprepare a plan to help the employee improve upon his weaknesses. The plan needs to consist ofactionable and measurable tasks.

Schedule an appointment time with your employee and make sure the time allows fullfocus without interruptions for both of you. Have the employee give you a few meetingtimes that would be ideal for her, and schedule the meeting with one of those times.Meet with the employee during the set time. Go over employee results and talk aboutareas that need improvement. Ask the employee how he will achieve the said tasks.

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This step is crucial. Employees will take ownership and feel empowered when they havecreated their own action plan. Ask open-ended questions that require thought and responsefrom your employee. Offer suggestions to enhance the employee’s plan. A good exampleof an open-ended question might be “How would you feel if you were able to make criticaldecisions on your own?” Or, “What impact would doing task ABC have on our team andthe company?” Questions like these allow an open dialogue and foster a team environment.Build on the answers the employee provides and ask how he feels about your suggestions.Reiterate the employee’s plan and ask if it sounds workable, or if anything needs to beadded or omitted. This allows you get her commitment a second time, with heracknowledging her plan out loud. Also, set a time frame for the completion of the plan; orif the plan is an ongoing change such as the empowerment of decision-making, set afollow up meeting time. Ask the employee when she feels the follow up meeting shouldtake place and set the time accordingly, for example two weeks from the initial planningsession. The follow up meeting should entail coaching the employee through motivationand feedback.Monitor the employee’s progress and offer encouragement and recognition along theway. Employees feel empowered when they are given room to correct their own deficienciesbut still need to be monitored and mentored. Offer weekly progress sessions; this sessionshould be short and informal. Your employee will respect you knowing you are investedin his success.Meet with the employee to review the outcome of her plan at the time designated in thefirst meeting. This time should include recognition of the employee’s plan success,along with constructive suggestions for improvement. All meeting sessions need to remainpositive to foster a friendly and empowering culture.

Employee Empowerment ChallengesToday’s newsletter prompted my thoughts about employee empowerment, a strategy and valuethat I support. I’ve sought ideas for effective implementation my entire consulting career. In mycore beliefs, when managers and employees experience the power of employee empowerment,they want to live that way, too. The challenge is in the details.Many companies talk about employee empowerment as their desired relationship with theiremployees. But employee empowerment is much harder to carry out in the daily work environment.Not every employee can contribute to every decision and there is always a manager or directoryou report to who may have a different vision for a program or project.Overall company decisions may influence your work area and even your daily tasks. The currenteconomic situation may also infringe upon your feelings of empowerment as company leadersmake decisions with which you disagree - or worse, without you - for the good of the overallcompany. It’s a wonder to me sometimes, how any company gets empowerment right. Theseare some of the factors that make empowerment difficult:

Managers need to release power to employees. This is hard when you’re still responsiblefor the results - or maybe you just like being in charge and making all of the decisions.Some managers feel safer in charge.Employees miss deadlines, plan and work on pet projects and neglect the contributionyou most need from them. Excuses and “not my faults” can drive you crazy.Boundaries of decision making are the biggest challenge. Where does my decision makingleave off and yours begin? Unfortunately, rather than addressing this persistent issue inempowerment, most organizations navigate this problem hit-or-miss. This leaves employees



unwilling to make decisions, unempowered when their decisions are over-ridden, andmanagers who ask, “Why won’t the people who report to me act empowered?” Right.

Why Employee Empowerment is not just a fadThe “push” of increased competition and the “pull” of new opportunities, both very much drivenby advanced technology, make full utilization of human resources necessary. Employees mustbe encouraged to take the initiative to decide, act and learn in “real time”. This means embracingshared values as a guide to behaviour. “As speed, quality, and productivity become ever moreimportant, corporations need people who can instinctively act the right way, without instructions,and who feel inspired to share their best ideas with their employers” (Tichy and Sherman, 1993,p. 195). This means letting go of some supervisory control to obtain a focus on results.Why Employee Empowerment Fails

Managers pay lip service to employee empowerment, but do not really believe in itspowerAs with all management and business buzz words, employee empowerment can seem like a“good” thing to do. After all, well-respected management books recommend that you empoweremployees.When you empower employees, they grow their skills and your organization benefits from theirempowerment. Right. Employees know when you are serious about employee empowermentand when you understand and walk your talk. Half-hearted or unbelievable employee empowermentefforts will fail.

Managers don’t really understand what employee empowerment meansThey have a vague notion that employee empowerment means you start a few teams that addressworkplace employee morale or safety issues. You ask people what they think about somethingat a meeting. You allow employees to help plan the company picnic. Wrong. Employeeempowerment is a philosophy or strategy that enables people to make decisions about their job.

Managers fail to establish boundaries for employee empowermentIn your absence, what decisions can be made by staff members? What decisions can employeesmake day-by-day that they do not need to have permission or oversight to make? These boundariesmust be defined or employee empowerment efforts fail.

Managers have defined the decision making authority and boundaries with staff, butthen micromanage the work of employeesThis is usually because managers don’t trust staff to make good decisions. Staff members knowthis and either craftily makes decisions on their own and hides their results or they come to youfor everything because they don’t know what they really can control.One HR manager added ten days to the company hiring process because he required his signatureat certain milestones in the process. The paperwork was buried on his desk for days, but staffdid not proceed without his signature. His lack of trust made employee empowerment a joke. Doemployees make mistakes? Certainly, but fooling them about their boundaries is worse.

Second guess the decisions of employees you have given the authority to make adecisionYou can help staff make good decisions by coaching, training, and providing necessary information.You can even model good decision making, But, what you cannot do, unless a seriouscomplication will result, is undermine or change the decision you had empowered a staff personto make. Teach the employee to make a better decision next time. But don’t undermine theirfaith in their personal competence and in your trust, support, and approbation. You discourageemployee empowerment for the future.

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Why Is Employee Empowerment a Common Cornerstone of OrganizationalDevelopment & Change Programs?While employee empowerment has come to be a somewhat overused term, it is critical to anyorganization committed to organizational development and change. Empowering employees leadsto positive results for employees, their managers, and their organizations. Business leaders andhuman resources professionals generally agree that empowered employees exhibit a higherdegree of loyalty, commitment, and productivity.Empowered employees generate good ideasEmployees interacting with customers can provide important insight into management decisionsand product and service innovations on a regular basis—if they’re empowered to share thoseinsights. Organizations interested in effective organizational development and change managementprograms regularly seek, acknowledge, and reward employee feedback.Empowered employees provide better products and serviceEmpowered employees feel a strong sense of ownership for their companies. This ownershiptranslates into a concern for providing better products and service. Organizational developmentand change programs that consider employee empowerment improve outcomes and service byempowering employees to take ownership of their jobs, and in the delivery of products andservices to their customers.Empowered employees are committed and loyalEven in a tight economy, employers do not like high employee turnover; recruitment and trainingare expensive. During an organizational change, especially if stress and uncertainty are high,incorporating employee empowerment as a foundation of organizational development activitiescan help ensure employees remain committed and loyal.Empowered employees are productiveWhen employees feel that they have a say in decisions that affect them and know that managementis listening to their ideas and concerns, they work harder. Implementing organizationaldevelopment and change management programs calls for incorporating ways to help employeesfeel empowered. This goes a long way toward increasing productivity.Empowered employees spread the wordWord-of-mouth information raises awareness among potential employees. Incorporating employeeempowerment in an organizational development and change program boosts employee pride inthe company. The more empowered employees are, the more satisfied they are—and the morelikely they will spread the word to others about how great the company is and why they likeworking there.ConclusionsPaving a Better Path to GrowthIn many organizations, it is the task of the CEO and other members of the senior managementteam to find the next big business opportunity, or even the next business process improvement.But in today’s rapidly changing environment, ideas that “bubble up” are often more frequent andmore impacting than those that come from the “top down.” “You need to blend a thousand pointsof small improve-ments with the strategic changes. It’s the power of employee empowerment, asa manager want to improve organisation development he must know how to implement employeeempowerment in an effective manner, Organisation development consist various activities thatmay be helpful to organisation development but employee empowerment is a key intrinsic tomotivate the employees while the motivation process is good simultaneously other development



activities like performance employee, employee involvement, quality output etc.., automaticallyincreased so employee empowerment is important process of every organisation.Here my opinion is employee empowerment having so many advantages as well as it’s havingsome disadvantage also it will be dependence upon the nature of the business, work culture,organisation culture so as a manager manger should realize these all those things whileimplementing this process, employee empowerment is play vital role in organisation development,In other words it’s a tool for effective organisation development. When the employee empowermentprocess is done effectively by management organisation should achieve their task bothorganisation and Individual goals.

ReferencesAchieve Business Results with Business Execution Software Read the Whitepaper,

www.SuccessFactors.com/Execution

Empowerment some practical questions and answers A presentation for Hempstead manor,April 2002, www.somec.org

Franki Colbert (2002) the article of focusing primarily on technical and corporate issues. Herwork regularly appears on Break, www.eHow.com and other websites.

How to Develop an Employee Empowerment Plan | eHow.comhttp://www.ehow.com/how todevelop-employee-empowerment-plan.html#ixzz1ILdRoGtN

Periodicapolytechnica social and management sciences http://www.pp.bme.hu/so

The Advantages of Employee Empowerment | eHow.comhttp://www.ehow.com/list_7219406_advantages-employee-empowerment.html#ixzz1ILmwOSpE

What Does Employee Empowerment Mean & How Is It Productive? | eHow.com

What is empowerment, prof.Toby.D wall, institute of work Psychology, University of Sheffield s102tn England http://www.ehow.com/info_8001351_employee-empowerment-mean-productive.html#ixzz1ILehuVb8

http://www.livestrong.com/article/234111-the-advantages-disadvantages-of-employee-empowerment/#ixzz1ILm0a1C4

http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=mes.

http://www.pottytrainingsite.co./cocount/click.php?id=3

http://www.about.com

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Employer Branding as an Intervention forRetaining Talent: A study in Google

LopamudraAssistant Professor

Academy of Management StudiesKrupajal Groups of

InstitutionsBhubaneswar

Sasmita NayakAssistant Professor

Academy of Management StudiesKrupajal Groups of

InstitutionsBhubaneswar

Introduction

Today’s world is brand conscious and creating brand awarenessis vital for organisation’s survival. Brand delivers the promise tothe customer. Similarly a company tag is essential to attract

and retain its human resources. There are many current pressurestoday which encourage employees to treat their people with the samecare and coherence as they would value customers. 1 Therefore employerbranding became one of the most significant development in today’scontext. Employees look for organisations characterised as leadership,achievement, people development and overall a happy-go type culture.

Organisations compete aggressively to attract and retain best talent.In these connection organisations understood that employer has tobrand themselves to retain talents. Libby Sartain and Mark Schumannsaid the commitment o a longer term relationship with a brand filledwith loyalty and trust. 2

HR plays a strategic role in bringing in the right people into the rightorganisation. Although employer branding has been around since theearly 1990s, it finally seems that its time has come as more and moreorganisations begin to recognize its importance. Strong employerbrands have employer value propositions (EVP’s) which are

AbstractToday organisation is working under a high competitive andunpredictable environment. Day by day job market became moreand more competitive. The concept of employment has been changedto employability. Today employees are eager to go up the ladder fasterwhich may be one of the reasons that the rate of attrition is high. Thisattrition became a threat and challenge for the organisations.Organisations understood that in order to survive they need to have agood market value. A good brand image will help the organisation toattract and retain its talent. As brand makes the product unique,employer branding represents the personality of the organisation. Thisarticle is a descriptive study to understand employer branding as thecorporate strategy of in order to attract and retain the talent. The articlediscussed various interventions of Google India to be a brand for itsemployee. The findings will be arrived at analyzing the data collectedfro the secondary sources.


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communicated in company actions and behaviours and evoke both emotive and tangible benefitsfor current and prospective employees. Importance of employer branding is widely felt inorganisations.

Functional benefit, psychological and economical benefit are identified as the aspects of EmployerBranding. The labour market and the employees judge the organisations based on their image.

Causes for Employees Leaving Organization

Employee attrition is a big problem not only in India but outside India too. From the employees’point of view career development initiatives gives them a clear focus about their career track, theblind spots that they have to overcome and the final goal to be reached. Azim H. Premji, ChairmanWipro Limited. said “If you’re losing good people, look to their immediate boss.” People leavethe managers or supervisor more often they leave the company or job. Any disturbances in thesuperior – subordinate relationship may hamper the harmony of the workplace which ultimatelymay result employee attrition. There are many causes for which employees change the job.Career planning has been seen as a boost to employee motivation and employee engagement.From the employees’ point of view career development initiatives gives them a clear focus abouttheir career track, the blind spots that they have to overcome and the final goal to be reached. Ifcareer development is not managed well then it may affect the employee performance for whichemployee may leave the organisation. Employee in search of better career growth, change tonew company. Employee also leaves the organisation due to poor compensation and workcondition.

People have many reasons to leave the job. It should be the responsibility of the management toidentify those reasons so that they can work on those to cease employees exit.

Importance of Employer Branding

The expectation of the potential candidates today is that employer branding has become more ofneed, as most professionals are looking at relatively friendly organisations where they can havemeaningful employment. To retain, attract and motivate and engage the employer in anyorganization, it is very necessary to make feel the employer how important they are in theorganization and also show care and concern for them and hence for all these employer brandingis very necessary. Some more benefits of employer branding is as follows:-

Significant decreases in cost per hire

Reduced cost of recruitment - efficiencies maximised throughout the recruitment process

Reduction in recruitment marketing costs over time

Greater numbers of higher quality applicants

Higher performing employees

Increased retention rates

Stronger reputation in the marketplace

Increased ability to attract specialist talent in a difficult market

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In one survey it is revealed that more companies are now focusing on employer branding to“attract employees” and keep them engaged. There is a direct correlation between an effectiveemployer brand and achieving business success. It helps in retaining current employees, increasingemployee satisfaction, attracting job candidates, and motivating employees in their work, whichleads to excellent business gains. The purpose is to use the internal brand as the seedbed foraligning their people programmes to deliver significantly improved business results. This isevident from some of the recent initiatives taken by organisations to make the workplace moreemployer-friendly and implement development concepts like “spiritual quotient” and “value-building”.Some companies have gone even further and appointed “internal branding consultants”, targetedto have a better relationship with their employees.

Corporate Identity Corporate Identity

Insider

Identification with

Employer Brand

Employer Brand Attractiveness to Outsiders

Employer brand

reputation Instrument

al Symbolic

Employer

Brand Image

Organizational

Identity

Quality and numbers of

potential recruits

Organizational performance

Organizational Culture

Most companies are in the early stages of developing an employer brand strategy that buildscompetitive advantage (globally only 16% have a clearly defined strategy), so the survey resultsprovide some important guidance for leaders to ensure their investments are focused on priorityareas.

Figure 1: How important are the following to you in achieving your employer branding objectives?(rank in order from 1 to 7 (1=least important, 7 equals most important)

Employer Branding as an Intervention for retaining talent: A study in Google


Figure 1:

4Ps of Employer Branding.

Product, price, promotion and place are the four Ps of marketing. In the same way the Ps of HRor specifically of employer branding can be categorised as people, pay, performance andprospects.

People

People are the most valuable asset of any organisation. The biggest benefit of this aspect isunlike other asset do not depreciate over a period of time, but appreciates with better training.The concept of people in HR includes both internal and external customers. A link should bemaintained with the internal and external customer. HR department should make decision thatwould not discourage employees from being aligned to the brand behaviour. To build a brandhigh participation of internal customer is essential. To make the brand more valuable companyneed to focus on what its internal and external customers expect from it. This cannot be achievedby fancy packages, catchy slogans and name changes either. This can be achieved by thinkingbusiness with a product to be developed.

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Today it’s the era of employer of choice. Employment contact includes all those tangible itemswhich are extrinsic. On the other hand every employee establish an unwritten contract calledpsychological contract which includes working condition, superior – subordinate relationship.

Package and Pay

Competitive package is also very important to maintain the brand of the employer. To establishequity in the organisation compensation should be taken care of. A branded employer maintainsboth internal and external equity. The internal equity method undertakes the job position in theorganizational hierarchy. The process aims at balancing the compensation provided to a jobprofile in comparison to the compensation provided to its senior and junior level in the hierarchy.The fairness is ensured using job ranking, job classification, level of management, level of statusand factor comparison. Whereas external equity refers when organisation pay wages that arerelatively equal to what other employers are paying for similar type of work. Pay for performanceis also extensively used in organisations. Pay for performance is generally given for specificperformance results rather than simply for time worked which includes merit pay, bonuses,perks and group incentives.

Performance

To synchronise the contribution of the employees towards the organisation goal organisationsgive importance to performance management. Performance management creates a workenvironment where people can perform to the best of their ability. Actual performance of theorganisation is the extrinsic variable and performance management is the intrinsic variable. Boththese variables is essential in creating brand of the organisation.

Prospects

The nature of work, organizations, and careers has evolved significantly in the past decade.Career development is now primary responsible of every individual in the organisation. Everyemployee when enters the organisation should have a clarity of the career progression availablefor his her growth. Most organisations develop interesting and attractive career paths for itsemployees. Providing promising career development initiatives will help organisation build a goodbrand.

Google’s Branding

Multiple times Google has been voted as best place to work by Fortune magazine’s #1. Again in2010 Google leads as India’s Best Company to Work for. The survey was conducted by GreatPlace to Work Institute among 3800 companies and 44 countries. In India there were 395participants this year. Google also ranked 3rd as best place to work for in the survey made bybusiness today in 2011.

Google has emerged as a brand for its employee. Its various HR interventions made its employeeengaged in their job. Various efforts of Google which made it a brand are :

Work force diversity: Google is the real example of Workforce Diversity. Google family includespeople from various backgrounds. The workforce includes ex army men to former school teachers.The India office is a great place to see Google’s “Forty Language Initiative” at work which is aboutthe internet company’s ability to deliver its products in forty languages.

Employer Branding as an Intervention for retaining talent: A study in Google


Recruitment

Google have an aggressively non discriminatory hiring policy where they focus ability overexperience. At Google they look for Googliness of the candidate. In recruitment they focus oncomfort with technology, optimistic about the future, driven to make an impact, bringing leadership,creativity and passion to everything a candidate will do. In Google one has to go through a seriesof written tests and the interviews are also rigorous so that the interviewer can go deep into thecandidate. The company’s recruitment process ensures that it gets the people edge it needs.There is a battery of writing tests, interviews are rigorous, not in the sense of being a stressinterview, but interviewers try and go deep into what makes the candidate tick. Then a detailedfeedback on the candidate is given to an independent team in charge of hiring.

Orientation

New Googlers are termed as Nooglers in Google. These new entrants are introduced to otherGooglers at a local Thank Google It’s Friday (TGF) restaurant at an employee all hands meetingheld every Friday afternoon. Heads of various businesses welcome the newbies.

Career Development

In Google there is scope for professional growth, learning and development for the all theemployees. Number of recognition progamme has been implemented in Google such asmanager’s awards, peer bonuses and founder’s awards.

Work Environment

Google have a lively working environment. In one interview Mr Manoj Verghesse, Director HR,Google India told, they believe in fun at work. In order to keep the employees enthusiastic all thetime in Google they celebrate many activities and events such as Pyjama Day, quaterly andannual off-sites, winter holiday party, summer picnic, “Google Idol” competition, Diwali andChristmas celebration etc.

Conclusions

Intellectual stimulating thought provoking and a relaxed environment is conducive for creativethinking and encourages innovation. Google is the place which stimulates creativity and innovationamong its employees. Google employees spend 20% time in something they are passionateabout. All these HR interventions made Google a brand. As employer branding is closely associatedwith organisational culture, Google has already developed a favourable culture. Hence throughits branding Google promote and reinforce the corporate positioning amongst its employees.

ReferencesBarrow Simon and Mosley Richard, The Employer Brand, Bringing the best of brand management

to people at work, John Willey and Sons Ltd, England, pp: 13.

Sartain Libby and Schumann Mark, Brand form the Inside, Jossey Bass, San Francisco, pp: 5.

Sachitanand Rahul, Mitra Kushan and Mahalingam T.V. , The Toppers, Business Today, February 2011.

http://www.businessworld.in/index.php/That-Monday-Feeling.html

http://www.moneymint.in/business/best-companies-to-work-for-in-india-top-10

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Democratization of Corporate WorldThrough Employee Empowerment

Trilok Nath ShuklaSenior Faculty

Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan’sCentre for Communication

& ManagementBhubaneswar

Chumki ChatterjeeFaculty

Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan’scentre for Communication

& ManagementBhubaneswar

Introduction

Employee empowerment is a two sided coin. For employees tobe empowered the management leadership must want andbelieve that employee empowerment makes good business

sense and employees must act. Let us be clear about one thingimmediately, employee empowerment does not mean that managementno longer has the responsibility to lead the organization and is notresponsible for performance. If anything the opposite is true. Strongerleadership and accountability is demanded in an organization that seeksto empower employees. This starts with the executive leadership, throughall management levels and includes front line supervisors. It is onlywhen the entire organization is willing to work as a team that the realbenefits of employee empowerment are realized.

It is a general perception that most of the big corporations areManaged as Top-Down Dictatorships that exploit their workers,misinform their customer, produce shoddy products, and ignore thedamage they do to the environment. Management is based uponSeparation, Competition, Deception, Invasion , Exploitation, Usury,and Short-Term Profits at Any Price. Moreover these corporationsare filled with ethically questionable management practices, riddledwith conflicts of interest, controlled by the super-wealthy men addicted

Abstract An organization’s human resource is its most valuable asset. Theemployees are the repository of knowledge, skills and abilities that can’tbe imitated by the competitors. Technologies, products and processesare easily imitated by the competitors; however, at the end of the day,employees are the most strategic resource of the company. Generally,people are a firm’s most underutilized resource. And that is whymanagement tries to empower the employees. But employees often areafraid of taking this responsibility. They fear the additional work pressurethat they will have to bear as a part of being empowered. Besides, theyalso fear being held accountable for the decisions they make. Employeeempowerment entails identifying how much responsibility and authorityan individual can effectively handle without becoming over-burdened ordistressed. Empowerment includes supervisors and employees workingtogether to establish clear goals and expectations within agreed-uponboundaries. In this paper all the aspects of employee empowermentwhich leads to democratic decision making is discussed.


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to Money& Profits at any Price, run for the The Powers That Be, and managed by The Warlordsof Business who are excessively self-centered and arrogant multi-millionaires who don’t give adamn about the people, their plight, their rights, the truth, or the environment.For an incredibly-easy-to-see-example, we can refer the Enron Scandal. The two-hour documentary, producedby HDNET Films, titled: Enron - The Smartest Guys in the Room will clearly show that howdrug addicted corporate mismanagement is at its worse. The above described corporatemanagement practices are the same style of gross, corporate mismanagement that producedthe 2009 financial crisis.

In sharp contrast the corporate management practices, True-Corporate-Democracy BusinessStructure is vastly different. It’s based upon choice. Management is answerable to the will ofthe employees and to it’s partnering foundation. It’s focus is long-term. All major activities arelong-term sustainable and environmentally sound.Caring, sharing, mutual support, creatingcommunity, and environmental protection are its core values. The democratization of thecorporate world is surprisingly simple to implement and incredibly profound. The resultanttransformations will dramatically change the world.

Employee empowerment is a term used to express the ways in which non-managerial staff canmake autonomous decisions without consulting a boss. When employees feel as though theyhave choice and can make direct decisions, this does often lead to a greater feeling of self-worth.In a model where power is closely tied to sense of self, having some power is a valuable thing. Anemployee who does not feel constantly watched and criticized is more likely to consider work asa positive environment, rather than a negative one.

In the new knowledge economy, independent entrepreneurship and initiative is needed throughoutthe ranks of the organization. Involvement in an organization is no longer a one-way street. Intoday’s corporate environment a manager must work towards engaging organization forcefullyenough to achieve its objectives. New knowledge-based enterprises are characterized by flathierarchical structures and multi-skilled workforce. Managers assume more leadership andcoaching tasks and work hard to provide employees with resources and working conditions theyneed to accomplish the goals they’ve agreed to. In brief, managers work for their staff, and notthe reverse. Empowerment is the oil that lubricates the exercise of learning. Talented andempowered human capital is becoming the prime ingredient of organizational success. A criticalfeature of successful teams, especially in knowledge-based enterprises, is that they are investedwith a significant degree of empowerment, or decision-making authority. Equally important,employee empowerment changes the managers’ mind-set and leaves them with more time toengage in broad-based thinking, visioning, and nurturing. This intelligent and productive divisionof duties between visionary leaders, focusing on emerging opportunities, and empoweredemployees, running the business unit day to day (with oversight on the leader’s part) provides fora well-managed enterprise with strong growth potential.

Background

Employee empowerment went from being a buzzword among managers during the 1990s to asought-after part of quality management among service industries by the early 21st century.Such professional organizations as the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) citeemployee empowerment as one of the “critical drivers of business success in the globalmarketplace.” Commonly defined as giving employees the power and authority to take control ofworkplace situations that would normally be handled by line managers, research published in

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such trade journals as IndustryWeek as well as from professional organizations like SHRMshow there are several advantages for implementing employee empowerment as a practice inhuman resources management.

Stages of Employee Empowerment

1. Encouragement

In the first stage, management should make every effort to help the workers provide suggestions,no matter how primitive, for the betterment of the worker’s job and the workshop. This will helpthe workers look at the way they are doing their jobs.

2. Education

In the second stage, management should stress employee education so that employees canprovide better suggestions. In order for the workers to provide better suggestions, they should beequipped to analyze problems and the environment. This requires education.

3. Efficiency

Only in the third stage, after the workers are both interested and educated, should managementbe concerned with the economic impact of the suggestions.The three levels of employeeempowerment is shown below :

Democratization of Corporate World Through Employee Empowerment


Advantages and Disadvantages of Employee Empowerment

The principle of employee empowerment pertains to management allowing employees to makedecisions that affect their jobs rather than having to clear everything with managers, according tothe article “Employee Empowerment: Eliminate ‘Us Versus Them’” published on the ThomasNetNews Industry Market Trends website. Two of the key elements of employee empowerment arean efficient hiring system and constant training. There are several advantages to employeeempowerment, ranging from monetary savings to better work relationships.

A 1998 study by international management consultant, trainer and author Dr. Connie Sitterlyfound that employees who are empowered make decisions that save companies money, timeand, in some cases, prevent potential disputes. Decentralizing the decision-making processcan improve the performance of support and service departments by giving customers moreconfidence in the process of being helped, especially since the empowered employee does nothave to check with her supervisor to make minor decisions. Employees who perform their taskson a daily basis have an intimate understanding of how their jobs are done. Empowering employeescan also decrease the need for middle management positions, which conserves labor costs.Employees who take ownership of their work can also yield major savings in the form of workplacesafety. A report by the Society of Human Resource Management cited a beverage company thatfound that engaged employees were “five times less likely than non-engaged employees to havea safety incident and seven times less likely to have a lost-time safety incident.”By allowingemployees to suggest and make procedural changes that make their jobs more efficient,companies benefit by saving money.

CiteHr.com, a resource for human resource professionals, describes employee empowermentas one of the factors behind increased employee education and training; lower absenteeism,and less conflict with administration and managers related to change because employees areable to participate in decision making. The Society of Human Resource Management found in a2007 study of employee empowerment trends that there is a link between engagement andorganizational performance, saying that “employees with the highest levels of commitment perform20 percent better and are 87 percent less likely to leave the organization.”

Employees who are empowered in their jobs feel a stronger sense of responsibility concerningproductivity. Putting employees in charge of their own results has a positive effect on morale.Higher morale means that employees take less scheduled time off and productivity increases.

4. Employee empowerment can help strengthen the relationships between managers andemployees, according to the article titled “Employee Empowerment: Management Giving Powerto the People” published on the Thinking Managers website. Managers are seen as coaches andprofessionals with a direct interest in the success of their employees as opposed to those thatdictate policy and give commands. Managers learn to rely on empowered employees, andemployees learn to use their managers as resources for getting jobs done.

Empowering employees to make their own decisions means that employees have directaccountability for their jobs. This is advantageous for companies, because instead of harnessingmanagers with the responsibility for all decisions, employees pick up some of the decision-making slack. Companies can offer specific employees training and any other information neededto correct errors as opposed to spending time and money training entire departments.

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When managers are freed up to be coaches, mentors and advisers instead of managementfiremen who have to put out mini-situational fires, the company or organization benefits. “TeamsWork,” a case study about the success of workplace teams in Sparks, Nevada, showed how theuse of teams increased annual productivity by 55 percent and reduced costs by 5 percent eachyear during the 1990s. “Introducing teaming was vital in the conversion of the plant from a pet-food processing facility to a cereal-making plant,” the report said.

Some of the disadvantage of employee empowerment include: employees can abuse theincreased power given to them; it is too much responsibility for some employees; employeeswho focus on their own success rather than group’s may leave; managers must be better trainedto facilitate through sharing of information, cooperation, and referrals to appropriate resources;all employees must “buy in” to the concept for it to be effective; there is an increased cost to theorganization for training and education; there is increased time in groups or committees whichtakes away from regular jobs; there may be increased conflict or power struggle betweeenemployees due to group work; some employees may not be knowledgeable enough to makegood business decisions; decisions made on the basis of personality versus logical reasoning.

Principles of Employee Empowerment

There are some important principles for managing people in a way that reinforces employeeempowerment, accomplishment, and contribution.

1. Regard for people should shine through in all actions and words of the seniors. Their facialexpression, body language, and words express what they are thinking about the peoplewho report to them. Their goal should be to demonstrate their appreciation for eachperson’s unique value. No matter how an employee is performing on his or her currenttask, their value for the employee as a human being should never falter and always bevisible.

2. People should be made to feel that they are part of something bigger than themselves andtheir individual job.

3. The most important goals and direction should be shared with the juniors. Empoweredemployees can then chart their course without close supervision.

4. The intentions of people to do the right thing, make the right decision, and make choicesthat, maybe not exactly what the seniors decides should be trusted . When employeesreceive clear expectations from their manager, they relax and focus their energy onaccomplishing, not on wondering, worrying, and second-guessing.

5. People should have access to, all of the information they need to make thoughtful decisions.- “Go with your gut.” “Follow your intuition.” “Trust your feelings.” The sayings arecommonplace, but do our instincts make good decisions? For some, responsibility issimply bestowed: a princess is handed the kingdom upon the passing of the monarch; afavorite son inherits the family business. For most, however, the authority to make decisionsmust be actively sought. In embracing new responsibilities, past decisions can serve asa natural curriculum for avoiding future mistakes. In fact, blind instinct cannot be trusted,but it can be educated. The main purpose of flight simulators, for example, is to allow



pilots to experience unlikely surprises so many times that, should one actually occur,their response will be reflexive. “Train like you fly and fly like you train” is how they put itat NASA’s astronaut training program at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Consistent with that dictum, astronauts undergo an exhaustive curriculum that includessome five hundred simulated landings of the shuttle before flying it. No wonder so many ofthe space travelers are apt to say upon returning to Earth, “When something went wrong,I went into my training mode.”

6. Seniors should not just delegate the drudge work they should also delegate some of thefun stuff, too Seniors should. delegate the important meetings, the committee membershipsthat influence product development and decision making, and the projects that peopleand customers notice. The employee will grow and develop new skills. Employee involvementis creating an environment in which people have an impact on decisions and actions thataffect their jobs. Employee involvement is not the goal nor is it a tool, as practiced inmany organizations. Rather, it is a management and leadership philosophy about howpeople are most enabled to contribute to continuous improvement and the ongoing successof their work organization. How to involve employees in decisionmaking and continuousimprovement activities is the strategic aspect of involvement and can include such methodsas suggestion systems, manufacturing cells, work teams, continuous improvementmeetings, Kaizen (continuous improvement) events, corrective action processes andperiodic discussions with the supervisor.

Tannenbaum and Schmidt (1958) and Sadler (1970) provided a continuum for leadership andinvolvement that includes an increasing role for employees and a decreasing role for supervisorsin the decision process. The continuum includes this progression.

Tell : the supervisor makes the decision and announces it to staff. The supervisor providescomplete direction. Tell is useful when communicating about safety issues, government regulationsand for decisions that neither require nor ask for employee input.

Sell: the supervisor makes the decision and then attempts to gain commitment from staff by“selling” the positive aspects of the decision. Sell is useful when employee commitment isneeded, but the decision is not open to employee influence.

Consult: the supervisor invites input into a decision while retaining authority to make the finaldecision herself. The key to a successful consultation is to inform employees, on the front endof the discussion, that their input is needed, but that the supervisor is retaining the authority tomake the final decision. This is the level of involvement that can create employee dissatisfactionmost readily when this is not clear to the people providing input.

Join: the supervisor invites employees to make the decision with the supervisor. The supervisorconsiders his voice equal in the decision process. The key to a successful join is when thesupervisor truly builds consensus around a decision and is willing to keep her influence equal tothat of the others providing input.

Delegate: the supervisor turns the decision over to another party. The key to successful delegationis to always build a feedback loop and a timeline into the process. The supervisor must alsoshare any “preconceived picture” he has of the anticipated outcome of the process.

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7. Frequent feedback should be provided so that people should know how they are doing.Sometimes, the purpose of feedback is reward and recognition as well as improvementcoaching. People deserve your constructive feedback, too, so they can continue to developtheir knowledge and skills.

8. When a problem occurs, employees should be asked what is wrong with the work systemthat caused the people to fail, not what is wrong with the people.

9. Employees should be guided by asking questions, not by telling grown up people what todo. People generally know the right answers if they have the opportunity to produce them.When an employee brings a problem to solve, they should be asked, “what they think todo to solve that problem?” Or, , “what action steps they recommend?” Employees candemonstrate what they know and grow in the process.

10. When employees feel under-compensated, under-titled for the responsibilities they takeon, under-noticed, under-praised, and under-appreciated, results should not be expectedfrom employee empowerment. For successful employee empowerment, recognition playsa significant role.

Employee Empowerment in Practice

For an organization to practice and foster employee empowerment the management must trustand communicate with employees. Employee communication is one of the strongest signs ofemployee empowerment. Honest and repeated communication from elements of the strategicplan, key performance indicators, financial performance, down to daily decision making. Oftenthe first efforts and communications are met with employee derision and mockery. Those whoare only interested in trying the latest management fad will give up when met with this response.A good rule of thumb for communications to employees is to enumerate what managementconsiders adequate and then multiple by a factor of ten. When considering employeeunderstanding and acceptance of decisions consider how long it takes for the managementteam to discuss and then make a decision. For management wanting employee empowermentthe evidence will not come across the board with wide spread acceptance. A small number willaccept the invitation to become more involved, say 3-5 per cent. The rest will be watching everymove to see what happens. Every communication, decision and action by management will beviewed as either supporting a move to employee empowerment or not. For an organization toenjoy the returns from employee empowerment the leadership must diligently work to create thework environment where it is obvious to all that employee empowerment is desired, wanted andcultivated. Management’s responsibility is to create the environment for employee empowerment.

When organizational leadership has started to take actions to encourage employee empowermentit is then up to the employees to decided if they wish to take advantage of the opportunity or not.It is not unusual for only a small minority to accept the challenge initially. Also it is very likelythat some fraction will never respond. It is the large middle group that must be convinced topractice employee empowerment. Normally associated with Total Quality Management (TQM)or Quality of Working Life (QWL) innovators, employee empowerment has been an importantpart of creative manager’s tool-kit for about two decades. Organizational entrepreneur Jhon Olssonput the process succinctly on his website. In his view, employee empowerment involves simplebut important changes in managerial attitudes.



“Ask and listen”, he says. “Instead of providing your thoughts, ask the employee four businessaltering words: ‘What would you do?’ When you do ask this question, the employee has theopportunity to openly express ideas, dreams and passions. You may already have an answer,but if the answer comes from the employee you now have :

Delegated this opportunity to someone passionate about the issue;

A champion within the business to lead the implementation and change;

An employee who is making a difference to the business.”

When Six Sigma is deployed in an organization employees have numerous opportunities todemonstrate that they are empowered. Unless there is employee motivation to accept and acton the opportunities little will change.Employee empowerment is evidenced by working with asix sigma project team to understand the changes coming out of the project. Being a participantusing improvements found by others is a form of empowerment.Employee can demonstrateempowerment by suggesting areas or processes that might be candidates for a six sigma project.Part of employee empowerment is the recognition by management that often people who mostknow of pressing needs for improvement are those who have to work in the process.Employeeempowerment can take the form of being asked to bring expert knowledge to six sigma projects.Even if not a full time member of the project team the fact that competence and first handexperience are valued and an employee is willing to help demonstrates a level of empowerment.

The employee can volunteer to serve on a project team as a Green Belt. This usually means thatthe employee has some subject matter expertise in the process scoped for a project. Bycompleting the Green Belt training the employees will learn the Fundamental Improvement toolsand will learn how to use the Define Measure Analyze Improve and Control steps as part ofproblem solving. With this additional skill sets the empowerment of the employee is increased,they are able to work more effectively and efficiently in solving problems and providing potentialsolutions.Employees can make it know that they would like to become Black Belts. This formof employee empowerment assumes that the employee has the necessary skills and ability tocomplete the Black Belt training. Usually this means a college level education with comfort inmathematics and if not some statistical understanding a willingness to learn.

Conclusions

If an organization has not be actively cultivating employee empowerment, it may take considerabletime and effort before employees start to respond. Probably nothing demonstrates the commitmentor lack of commitment to employee empowerment more than promotions and selection forleadership positions. Employees know those that attempt to “shine up while dumping down”. Itis our conviction that most organizations have exactly the level of employee empowerment themanagement wants. This is demonstrated by the amount of communications, level of trainingprovided employees, opportunities for personal growth, the solicitation and implementation ofideas, the recognition and reward system, promotion and advancement criteria, and uncountablelittle signals from management that demonstrate whether employees are valued or not.

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For Olsson, the result is “a win-win situation….. You win by delegating, the business wins byimproving process and, most importantly, the employee feels like the primary winner becausethey have the opportunity to implement their own ideas to an issue and bring about resolution.”Plainly, a Christmas goose and a dusty suggestion Box nailed near the foreman’s door were nolonger adequate. The time of change champions and exemplary followers had arrived. Amid all ofthis enthusiasm, however, it is important to recognize two enduring themes: in this approach: (1)empowerment is not about power; (2) empowerment is about productivity.

First, the sharing of responsibility for decision making within a less hierarchical structure thanwas traditionally to be found in organized work situations is largely a matter of perception (or“optics”). While it is true that employees are now frequently consulted, that their suggestionsmay be taken seriously, and that their contributions might be implemented in policy and practice,the choice of whether or not to follow employees’ recommendation remains an exclusivemanagement right. Consultation and participation are not the same as ownership and control.When, therefore, rhetoricians of reform speak of employees “owning” some part of the productiveprocess or even their own jobs, the word is being used metaphorically. It implies responsibility oreven stewardship, but it does not imply final authority.

Second, the criteria according to which newly empowered employees will have theirrecommendations adopted all come down to the ubiquitous “bottom line.” Improvements in workingconditions, for example, will be embraced if they can be increase profits for a private sectorcompany or increase efficiency in the public service. This does not mean, of course, that mutuallybeneficial innovations cannot or donot exist. It only suggests that the overriding purpose ofempowering employees is to encourage them to become self-strters, self-managers and self-disciplinarians in the ultimate interest of management. If, in the process, workers become happierand healthier.

One of the strongest signs from employees is when they take the lead to advance their skills andknowledge with education and training either provided by the organization or out side theorganization.Management has the obligation to create the environment that fosters employeeempowerment, employees have the duty to accept the opportunity and demonstrate they arewilling and capable.

References

Blanchard, Kenneth H., John P. Carlos, and Alan Randolph. Empowerment Takes More than aMinute. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler, 1996. Print.

“Business Press”; Empowering Others Improves Workplace Quality; Connie Sitterly; 1998

CiteHr.com: Advantages and Disadvantages of Empowerment

Deneulin, Séverine, with Lila Shahani. 2009. An Introduction to the Human Development andCapability Approach: Freedom and Agency. Sterling, VA: Earthscan

Deneulin, Séverine, with Lila Shahani. 2009. An Introduction to the Human Development andCapability Approach: Freedom and Agency. Sterling, VA: Earthscan.



IndustryWeek.com: Viewpoint—Don’t Skimp On Employee Empowerment

Indiana University South Bend: An Overview of Employee Empowerment: Do’s And Don’ts

“SHRM Research Quarterly”; Leveraging Employee Engagement for Competitive Advantage: HR’sStrategic Role; Nancy R. Lockwood; 2007

Stewart, Aileen Mitchell. Empowering People (Institute of Management). London: Financial TimesManagement, 1994. Print.

Sur la route image by David Monjou from Fotolia.com

Thomas, K. W. and Velthouse, B. A. (1990) Cognitive Elements of Empowerment: An ‘Interpretive’Model of Intrinsic Task Motivation. Academy of Management Review, Vol 15, No. 4, 666-681.

Tannenbaum, R. and Schmidt, W. How to Choose a Leadership Pattern. Harvard Business Review,1958, 36, 95-101.

United Nations Research Institute for Social Development. 2010. Combating Poverty and Inequality:Structural Change, Social Policy and Politics. Geneva: UNRISD “Gender Inequalities atHome and in the Market.” Chapter 4, pp. 5–33

Wilkinson, A. 1998. Empowerment: theory and practice. Personnel Review. [online]. Vol. 27, No.1, 40-56. Available from: Emerald on the World Wide Web: http://hermia.emeraldinsight.com/vl=2601464/cl=84/nw=1/fm=docpdf/rpsv/cw/mcb/00483486/v27n1/s3/p40. Accessed February 16, 2004.

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Team Empowerment

Snigdha MohapatraAssistant Professor

Srusti Academy of ManagementBhubneswar

Introduction

The classical tall work structures well known during the 1960sand 1970s ceased being competitive during the 1980s and1990s. Global competition, growing information availability,

technological innovations, and shifts in the demographic make-up ofthe workforce has brought “permanent white water” (Vaill, 1989) to themarketplace. These changes have led most organizations to rethinktheir fundamental structures and processes. The resultantreengineering, downsizing, delayering, networking, teaming, andempowerment strategies have found mixed results as organizationsstruggle with transforming themselves into systems that are moreflexible, informed, responsive, and adaptive (Drucker, 1995; Mintzberg,1993; Strebel, 1996).

A means of coping with this turbulence for many organizations is theimplementation of self-directed teams in which employees are givenmore responsibility over their work. Team empowerment is a functionof having the authority, resources, information, and accountability tocarry out a job (Fisher, 1993). It also refers to the ability of teams to

AbstractMacro change drivers like global competition, information and technologyinnovations, and demographic shifts have required organizations torethink their structures and processes. In particular, the flattening anddownsizing of organizations has led to the empowerment of teams in anattempt to increase flexibility, adaptability, customer responsiveness, andproductiveness. The formation of teams requires the presence of certainexternal and internal conditions. The external requisites include supportand direction, such as congruence with strategy, top management support,clear goals and parameters, and effective selection of employees. Theinternal requisites include an emphasis on preparation and training ofemployees through initial team building and ongoing team development,and encouragement of a continual reflective learning cycle. Without theinternal processes for team learning, even an initially successful teammay defeat itself and become unproductive, thereby discouraging furthersupport for team empowerment initiatives.


pp. 93-101ISSN 0974 - 4274


monitor and modify their own processes and procedures. The concept of empowered teams hasgrown, with the percentage of organizations using self-directed teams having increased from26% to 35%, and penetration of teams in the organization from 10% of employees to 35% from1990 to 1992 (Wellins, Byham, and Wilson, 1991). More recent estimates indicate that half of allmajor corporations are exploring the use of team-based systems (Osterman, 1994).

The reasons given for moving toward self-directed teams include improved quality and productivity/service, reduced operating costs, greater flexibility, simpler job classifications, faster responsetime, increased job satisfaction and commitment (Nahavandi and Aranda, 1994; Wellins, Byham,and Wilson, 1991). The renewed emphasis on worker involvement has been prompted by therecognition that our competitors have already involved employees and obtained significant inputs.For example, a typical American worker submits an average of one formal suggestion every 37years, while a Japanese counterpart submits an average of 27 formal suggestions per year(Orsburn, et al., 1990).

Team empowerment embraces a rather wide range of responsibilities on a continuum rather thanan all-or-none set of tasks. Wellins, Byham, and Wilson (1991) describe four stages of increasingempowerment in which teams move from simple housekeeping, to quality control and hiring, tobudgeting and purchasing, and finally to discipline and compensation decisions. Theirresponsibilities for self-management increase from about 20% to as much as 80% at the completionof these stages.

Successes and Failures

To many organizations, team empowerment has brought the hope for improvements. For example:

A GE plant in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, was able to switch product models a dozentimes daily by using a team-based system to produce lighting board panels. Comparedwith other GE plants producing the same products but not using teams, this plant hasincreased productivity by a stunning 250%, and employee-to-supervisor ratios have beenreduced from 7:1 to about 37:1 (Sherwood, 1988).

With teams, Federal Express reduced service errors (e.g., incorrect bills, lost or misroutedpackages) by 13%.

General Mills’ team operated plants were up to 40% more productive than non-team runplants (Dumaine, 1990).

Proctor & Gamble gets 30% to 40% higher productivity at its 18 team-based plants, andconsidered teams so vital to its success that it avoided giving them much publicity(Hoerr, Pollock, and Whiteside, 1986).

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The presence of self-directed teams has also been found to be correlated highly with financialand behavioral outcomes including reduced work defects, increased productivity, and overallorganizational effectiveness (Macy, et al., 1990).

Some work situations are resistant to teamwork, although their effective functioning may rely onit. For example, airline cockpit crews typically are very individualistic in culture and difficult tosequence through team building: pilots bid for flights, positions, and aircraft based on seniority;crew composition changes constantly as training, vacation, and bidding for new flight schedulesbegin. The result of this rigid chain of command and frequent change is that the pilot usually hasprimary authority, each person has designated tasks, and the officers are reluctant to disagreewith pilots. This hesitancy to ask for or offer information has been linked to nearly two-thirds ofplane accidents (Foushee, 1984). In spite of the culture misfit, crews have successfully undergonetraining to develop a team that can enhance airplane safety (Tjosvold, 1991).

However, not all reengineering and empowerment initiatives have been so favourable in outcome.The success rate for Fortune 1000 corporate reengineering efforts has been reported at wellbelow 50% (Strebel, 1996), and participatory management was assessed by more than 250managers as having “generally not accomplished much” (Heckscher, 1995). The failure rate ofteams is reported to be as high as 55% in some cases (Mention and Jolly, 1996). In the hardpressed mining industry, for example, attempts to empower teams have been met with mistrustfulworkers who refuse the new decision making role “because we aren’t getting paid as managersand that’s what managers are paid to do.” Our naiveté in using teams as a quick fix has also ledsome experienced Japanese business leaders to smile and say, “you think you can becomecompetitive just by forming teams but you still do not know how to use them!”

External Conditions for Empowered Teams

There are multiple external barriers to the successful implementation of teams. Culturally,Americans are known for their rugged independence and individuality (Hofstede, 1984). It isdifficult for many American workers to give up personal recognition for shared accomplishments,yield personal preferences to team consensus, and shift from self-control to managing multiplerelationships and shared responsibilities. In addition, Wall Street’s emphasis on short-term results,lack of union understanding and support (Hoerr, 1989), and recent NLRB legal restrictions onemployer dominated teams (Hanson, Porterfield, and Ames, 1995) make the shift to teams adifficult decision for many executives. Previous attempts at quick fixes using management fadshave also predisposed some employees to mistrust both team and empowerment initiatives.

As organizations change from hierarchical and authoritarian to more networked and egalitarianforms, teams may become caught in the confusion of transition. The development of empoweredteams requires support from the top. Although bottom-up approaches are touted as organic andnatural, there are many examples of less than successful efforts without management support(Wysocki, 1990). Teams are not often integrated into the organizational hierarchy as reflected ina study of 4,500 teams across 50 organizations. The study found that there was inappropriate

Team Empowerment


compensation and reward systems, and high competition between teams and departments(O’Conner, 1990). Many workers are initially enthused by the opportunity to work in self-directedteams, only to become discouraged and demoralized when they realize their decisions areoverlooked or overridden by top management; expected autonomy is compromised by having toseek management approval. For example, the American Quality Foundation found that 70% ofAmerican workers were afraid to speak up or ask for clarification of a communication (Hammonds,1991). The degree of organizational commitment to teams is pivotal in their introduction, and isdemonstrated by the degree of support the teams receive (Pence, 1996).

Managers themselves can become a source of resistance to teamwork. The downsizing anddelayering of organizations has often made middle managers, perhaps more than other segments,vulnerable. For example, a Canadian aerospace company reduced its middle managers by 50%.Although many displaced managers are often reassigned as trainers, coaches, team leaders, ortechnical experts, such changes are perceived as striking at the heart of one’s security, identity,and power (Bridges, 1993; Wellins, Byham, and Wilson, 1991). Without training and changingmanagement philosophy, these reassigned managers may continue their directive styles asteam leaders, thereby vitiating team spirit and confusing members with another inconsistency.Paradoxically, even favorable management expectations and enthusiasm can become a barrierto successful teamwork. High expectations that teams will increase productivity by 100% andchange the culture overnight have been marked with equally high disappointment. The expectationthat teams will yield higher profits has moderated, as managers first deal with associated costssuch as team training, lag time during transition, and temporarily lower productivity. For example,Coca Cola’s move to self-directed teams led them to estimate that the shift would require aboutthree months of classroom and on the job training over a period of 18-24 months before they wereready, and cost a 16.6% loss in productivity during training (Mention and Jolly, 1996). As Lee(1990) cautions: “The road to self directed teams is littered with landmines....Even the wary areliable to find the process uncomfortable, confusing, and excruciatingly slow” (p. 31).

Team success or failure also appears to be a function of the tenure of team membership anddegree of team building that occurs. For example, in a study by Katz (1997), peak performancewas rapidly reached during the first year to two years of team development, maintained for aboutfour years, then fell off rapidly from the seventh to tenth year of long tenure members. He concludedthat poor performance teams either worked together for less than a year or for more than fouryears. This suggests the need for initial teambuilding as well as membership renewal.

Although the labour pool shortage that was predicted for the 1980s and 1990s did not occur,there is a shortage of skilled workers (Carnevale, Gaimer, and Meltzer, 1988). Perhaps this iseven more true for team members who are poorly prepared to engage in productive team interaction.While teams can be formed, there is no assurance that members have the requisite skills toassertively and cooperatively interact, deal effectively with conflict, or monitor and change restrictivenorms. Moreover, the knowledge, skills and abilities required for teams and which form the basisfor appraisal, compensation, and promotion have only been recently formulated (Stevens and

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Campion, 1994). When teams are not effectively built, the result can be low productivity, poordecision making, low worker satisfaction, and dysfunctional conflict (Bassin, 1996; Campionand Higgs, 1995).

For empowered teams to be successfully introduced into an organization, these external barriersshould be reduced or removed by the following:

Teams should be a valued part of the strategic plan and receive support from topmanagement.

The use of teams should be congruent with the larger organizational culture.

Management should provide clear goals, parameters, and resources to the teams.

Care should be taken in the composition of teams to include interpersonally competent,motivated and complementary diverse members whenever possible.

A cooperative relationship should be formed with unions and workers by emphasizingcommon goals and the benefits of teams to all stakeholders.

Expectations for improvement should be realistic and based on time needed for trainingand transition.

Employees should receive training in leadership and team skills and build an organizationalculture that fosters reflective learning and continuous improvement.

Employees should be involved in formulating performance appraisals and recognitionand reward structures for teamwork.

The Internal Conditions for Empowered Teams

While the external conditions are necessary to provide a context for teams to be introduced, it isthe internal conditions that often determine whether the formed teams will maintain highperformance. Two components are particularly important: the stages of team building and thereflective learning processes.

Stages of Team Development

Like most other human systems, teams progress through relatively clear stages of developmentand have a life cycle (Marshak, 1993; Mention and Jolly, 1996; Orsburn, et al., 1990; Tuckman,1965). Each stage appears to have tasks that require some degree of mastery and provide afoundation for later challenges. This is not always a linear process, however, and teams may

Team Empowerment


return to previous levels due to the addition of new members, critical events, or insufficientsupport (Bettenhausen and Murnighan, 1985; Wellins, Byham, and Wilson, 1991). In this writer’sconsulting experience, the teams that have the most difficulties are those who have moved tooquickly from the initial stage of forming to immediate tasking, thereby truncating the intermediatedevelopmental stages and depriving them of essential skills of conflict management and normassessment.

Tuckman’s (1965) stages of team development, and their modification by Maples (1988) arewidely used and are representative of other team models.

Similar to Argyris’ (1957) concept of worker maturity, as the team moves through these stages,members acquire increasing levels of skill and mastery of group processes. The stages arecharacterized as forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning:

Forming is the initial stage and is comprised of high task orientation and concernsabout structure and direction. It is during this stage that information is provided aboutgoals and direction, timetable, resources and support. The acquaintance process isinitiated as members share their backgrounds, interests and competencies. Without aclear formation stage, teams flounder and diffuse their efforts, members are uncertain oftheir peers, and enthusiasm wanes.

Storming characterizes the second stage as members juggle for position and influencein the team, and differences in style become more apparent. It is at this stage thatcriticism, confrontation, and conflict emerge. Teams that avoid managing conflictconstructively may drive it underground to affect later decisions and problem solving;those that successfully resolve it enhance interpersonal trust and increase teamresiliency. Mild to moderate conflict needs to become viewed as productive controversyand critical thinking that contributes to better solutions (Aaron, 1992).

Norming refers to the third stage in which team cohesion, cooperation, collaboration,and commitment occur. By this time, team norms have developed to regulate memberbehavior and may be functional or dysfunctional. The key skill for effective teams is tomake norms explicit and intentional so they can be reviewed and renewed as needed;failure to do so may result in restrictive norms (e.g., groupthink, risky shift) that constrainthe team, promote poor decisions, and are resistant to change.

Performing is the stage at which many managers would like teams to begin: Highlymotivated and task efficient. They have a clear understanding of the task and teamresources, complement differences and use conflict constructively, and reflect on andrevise operating norms as needed. The risk to teams that have formed too quickly withoutexperiencing the intermediate stages noted above is that they will engage in problemsolving without being able to sufficiently challenge individual behaviors or team norms.

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Adjourning is often overlooked as a formal stage in team development.

Teams are quietly disbanded or sometimes linger seeking enthusiasm and cohesion that wasleft behind with task completion. The finishing of a task should be met with celebration andpublication of accomplishments, acceptance of recognitions and rewards, and reflection of whatthe team has learned. In temporary teams, this is also a time of letting go, even grieving the lossof the cohesion and esprit that the team experienced, and moving on to the next team and nexttask.

While it has been questioned whether all teams move through these stages (Bettenhausen,1991), it is the position of this writer that teams should do so in order to build the requisite skillsand team processes. Once a team has started its development and a negative cycle or experienceshave been generated, it is much harder to correct than doing it correctly at the beginning (Hackman,1990). While managers are concerned about team start-up costs, as employees become morefamiliar with team processes and skilled in their use, team building subsequently takes muchless time and teams are able to engage in performing more rapidly. For example, team failurerates as high as 60% are common in new teams, but once through the stages, initial productivitygains of 40-100% and sustained productivity increases of 15-30% are not uncommon (Mentionand Jolly, 1996). Even when teams briefly move back to forming when accepting a new member,they can more quickly enculturate a new member and return to performing. Instrumental in thesuccessful completion of all stages is the ability to learn through reflecting on experience.

Conclusion

The turbulence of the current business environment requires innovative responses but is alsotempting for quick fixes. Empowered teams can be highly effective, but they are often at oddswith an organizational culture in transition or are poorly prepared for the new work structure. Inorder for empowered teams to deliver the improvements to organization that are expected, theremust be supportive external conditions in both the external business environment and organizationmanagement. Even more importantly, teams themselves must ensure adequate skill acquisitionby thorough team building and reflective learning. These stages of team development and reflectionprovide landmarks for empowerment. Without these, the team development and learning processesare truncated, team effectiveness suffers, and the responsibilities of empowerment break down.¥

References

Aaron, H (1992). Something Wrong with American Business. Business Marketing, 77(1),38-39.

Bassin, M (1996). From Teams to Partnerships. HR Magazine, 41(1), 84-86.

Bettenhausen, KL (1991). Five Years of Group Research: What we have Learned and WhatNeeds to be Addressed. Journal of Management, 17(2), 345-381.

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Bettenhausem, KL, and Murnighan, JK (1985). The Emergence of Norms in CompetitiveDecision-making Groups. Administrative Science Quarterly, 30, 350-372.

Campion, MA, and Higgs, AC (October, 1995). Design Work Teams to Increase Productivityand Satisfaction. HR Magazine, 40(10), 101-107.

Daudelin, MW (1996), Learning from Experience Through Reflection. Organizational Dynamics36-48.

Foushee, HC (1984). Dyads and Triads at 35,000 Feet: Factors Affecting Group Processand Aircrew Performance. American Psychologist, 39, 885-893.

Hammonds, KH (October 25, 1991). Where did they Go Wrong? Business Week, 26-28.

Hanson, R, Porterfield, RI, and Ames, K (1995). Employee Empowerment at Risk: Effectsof Recent NLRB Rulings. Academy of Management Executive, 9(2), 45-56.

Heckscher, C (November/December, 1995). The Failure of Participatory Management Acrossthe Board, 16-21.

Hoerr, J (November 28, 1988). Work Teams can rev up Paper Pushers Too. Business Week,68-69.

Hoerr, J (July 10, 1989). The Payoff from Teamwork. Business Week, 56-62.

Lee, C (June, 1990). Beyond Teamwork. Training, 25-32.

Maples, MF (1988). Group Development: Extending Tuckman’s Theory. Journal for Specialistsin Group Work, 13, 17-23.

Marshak, RJ (1993). Lewin Meets Confucius: A Re-view of the OD Model of Change. Journalof Applied Behavioral Sciences, 29(4), 393-415.

Nahavandi, A, and Aranda, E (1994). Restructuring Teams for the Reengineered Organization.Academy of Management Executive, 8(4), 58-68.

O’Conner, DD (1990). Trouble in the American Workplace: The Team Player Concept StrikesOut. ARMA Record Management Quarterly, 24(2), 12-15.

Pence, P (1996). Is Your Organization Really Committed to Teams? A Self-test for Measuringyour Organization’s Commitment. Empowerment in Organizations, 4(2), 22-28.

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Sheridan, JH (October, 1990). America’s Best Plants. Industry Week, 27-64.

Sherwood, JJ (1988). Creating Work Cultures with Competitive Advantage. OrganizationalDynamics, 5-27.

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Team Empowerment

IMPRINT LINE1. Title of the Publicaiton : Srusti Management Review

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Srusti Academy of Management38/1, Chandaka Industrial Estate,Near Infocity, P.O. : PatiaBhubaneswar – 751 031Dist. Khurda, Odisha.

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Printed and Published by Er.Saroj Kumar Sahoo, Chairman on behalf of Srusti Academy ofManagement, 38/1, Chandaka Industrial Estate, Near Infocity, Po: Patia, Bhubaneswar-751031,Dist.- Khurda, Odisha, Phone No.- 0674-2725011/88, Printed at Nabagouranga Press, Plot no:B/48, Chandaka Ind. Estate, Po:KIIT Campus, Bhubaneswar - 751031, Dist.- Khurda, Odisha &Published from Srusti Academy of Management, 38/1, Chandaka Industrial Estate, Near Infocity,Po: Patia, Bhubaneswar - 751031, Dist.- Khurda, Odisha, Phone No.- 0674- 2725011/88, Editedby Prof.Gyanendra K. Sharma.

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