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  • Editorial Board

    2014 @ Ekakshaara Editorial BoardDisclaimer: All the views expressed by the writers are their personal perspectives.Reprint of any content from this publication requires prior permission from the Editorial Board.

    www.learning-development.com

    https://www.facebook.com/groups/cop.learning.development

    Twitter @ekaakshara

    Valued Readers, The industry is at an inflection point today. Businesses are going through rapid changes. Business Models and organization structures are going through an overhaul as disruptive changes happening all around. New players in the market are changing the rules of the game. Older ones are being forced to rethink their strategies. Technology has been impacting businesses, social and personal lives in an unprecedented manner. World is becoming smaller, workplaces are becoming virtual and large part of work is getting automated. All these rapid and disruptive changes are impacting the workforce. While many old jobs are getting obsolete, many new jobs requiring different skill-sets are emerging. Business leaders and employees are under huge pressure to reinvent and reskill. Human Resources and L&D practitioners are struggling to figure out how to deal with shifting the workforce landscape. Adding to this complexity is the fact that todays workforce is a multi-generational workforce. At least four generations are going to work together in 2015 and beyond. This is precisely the reason why we chose to have workforce trends 2015 as our theme for this edition of Ekaakshara. In this edition, we have featured eighteen eminent writers who have shared their valuable perspectives on this theme. We hope you would find this issue worth preserving for a long time. In this edition you would also see the introduction of two new sections, viz, Book Review Series and Whats New Video Series. I am sure you would love these new sections that we have just introduced. You would also be happy to learn that the Learning and Development Group has started its first local chapter in Bangalore. Members in Bangalore come together on the 4th Saturday of every month to share best practices and network. In the coming days, we plan to start L&D chapters in other cities as well to spread our mission of collaboration, co-creation and contribution. Do let us know if you are interested in being part of this mission. Happy Reading ! ! Surya Prakash MohapatraChief Editor, EkaaksharaFounder, Learning and Development Group

    [email protected]

    EDITORIAL

  • TALENT PREDICTIONS FOR 2015Abhijit BhaduriAbhijit is the Chief Learning Officer at the Wipro group. Prior to this he led HR teams at Microsoft, PepsiCo, Colgate and Tata Steel and worked in India, SE Asia and US. He is among the top HR Influencers on Social Media in India today.

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    2015 will be the year of agile innovation, agile learning and agile careers. Speed will be the single largest determinant of success in 2015. Whatever you do, do it fast seems to be the mantra in an impatient world. Agility in responding to customer needs. Speed to market will matter more than ever. Businesses will have to deal with increasing levels of complexity in the race to grab market share. Such business environments demand people who have deep expertise and who can continue to learn by listening to early signals. Agile innovators will demolish the slow and unsure to grab their market share. Here are three predictions in the talent landscape that 2015 will see.

    1. Rise of the specialists:

    As markets get more fragmented, the need for creating niche products and services will raise the demand for specialists. This will mean creating more specialist career tracks. Millennials like to experiment. They are bored with routine. Providing global careers will be a great way to attract and retain talent. With millennials as a growing percentage of the workforce, expect to see specialists in managing millennial careers.

    2. Grow your own talent:

    When firms operate in a volatile and ambiguous environment, they cannot rely on buying out talent. No matter who is hired, the person will need to learn and reinvent himself or herself continuously. Many millennials are products of an education system that is lagging behind the pace of the real world. The need to make them employable will increase. Firms will need to develop a culture of mentoring as the ever changing business environment renders many experienced employees unable to rely on the past for guidance. The learning & development department will be a major source of competitive advantage.

    3. Sunrise sectors:

    The early days of the IT & ITES industry saw many innovations in talent management. They were forced to take bets on people who were not a hundred percent ready. They hired people with unconventional backgrounds. This led to the development of untried career paths that traditional employers hesitated to craft. History repeats itself. In B Schools and engineering colleges, the buzzword this year is eCommerce. As the impatient millennials join this sector in droves, they will force employers to create agile careers that look more like a series of projects.

    The rising eCommerce sector now has enough critical mass to experiment with new talent management practices. They have the advantage that only a novice can have. They are not burdened by convention. 2015 will be their year to chart new practices of talent management.

    What is your prediction for this year in the talent management arena?

  • Dr.(Maj.)Rupinder Kaur ia an

    alumunus of IIM Indore and

    ISTD. In the past, she served

    in the Indian Armed Forces as

    an SSC officer. Previously she

    has worked with International

    Trainnig Organisations including

    ASTD and Goodwill of North

    Georgia. She is currently a

    consultant in the leadership and

    professional development space.

    Rupinder Kaur

    It is not the same world where we once lived, where people used to spend their entire lives at one place, believed in fixed deposits, retired from the place where they started working and their biggest achievement in life was having built their own home or married their kids well.

    This seems like a fairy tale. An Angel from the Heavens came with her magic wand and transformed the world to a point of no return. And here we are only 15 years in the 21st century talking of Artificial Intelligence and robots taking over the world.

    Technology has transformed the landscape of the Corporate World and thus the workplace of 2015 is no longer the office that you have to drag yourself into, every morning you wake up. It is omnipresent: there are no restrictions. Your home could be your office. The office is no more where you dread going. In fact it has that fun element that you actually look forward to. Your boss is not that typical idiot pounding abuses but your fellow mate, a friend and guide easily approachable and the notorious APR (annual performance review) if not already obsolete, is going to be shoved out of the door soon.

    To that extent Workplace HR trends are no different; there is a revolution in the way HR is conducting business today. It will not be an understatement if I say that HR in its truest sense has come of age and is a true business partner today. However technology is not the only causative factor.

    Since we started back in time, let us first take a look at the different generations that are co surviving in this era, their belief systems and what it means for the Corporate Office today.

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    1. Generational Bandwagon:

    This is the first time in the history of Work that five different generations will work side by side: Baby Boomers, Generation X, Generation Y, Millennial and Generation Z. This has a multiplier effect on the way business is conducted.

    Some of the obvious spills that I can foresee are:

    a) Retiring of Baby boomers and massive hiring Of Generation Z

    Gen Zs, born between 1994 and 2010, will become a major target for companies looking to recruit interns next year and this trend is simply because of the fact that companies want to generate brand awareness early on while trying to fill the skill gap. There is no doubt that succession planning is going to be a major concern for companies starting next year as more boomers start to retire. You will start to see companies hold onto their older workers in order to transfer their knowledge to younger ones.

    b) More millennials are taking leadership roles.

    Ernst & Young reviewed their workforce composition and found that 59% of their managers are already millennials and 18% are senior managers. 90% of all millennials who are managers took their role in the past five years and this has already caused a few problems including favoritism towards other millennials and them thinking they know more than older workers. Catering to the diverse needs and career expectations of five distinctly different cohorts is proving to be problematic.

    At the Centre for Workplace Leaderships 2014 Future of Work conference, Gratton pointed out this emerging trend. Were already seeing at work quite a lot of friction between these generations, particularly because they like to use technology differently. Looking into the future, the multigenerational workforce could be a goldmine of opportunity for companies, or a landmine of friction and conflict.

    2. The skills gap continues to widen Critical shortages in talent in specific markets and disciplines have continued to create hiring challenges worldwide. According to Manpower Groups 2013 Talent Shortage Survey, one in three employers (33%) name a lack of technical/hard skills as the key reason for their difficulties. The hard skills shortage is most commonly explained as a lack of industry-specific professional qualifications or a lack of industry-specific skilled trades certifications. To fill positions with skilled workers, HR leaders are turning to new talent pools by looking outside the region and even outside the country.

    a) Opening of Industry Specific Universities Finding the right people for these jobs requires a global HR system that is capable of delivering prescriptive advice on the best candidates within an organization, regardless of location. This issue will progress until the college curriculum aligns with the current job marketplace. Companies need to start working with colleges so that students get the necessary skills to fill the gap. Another trend that has picked up and is expected to continue is Corporates opening up their own universities for training the candidates for example: Wipro, Infosys, and also Capgemini.

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    3. Retention and Job Hopping The continuous job search picks up. Companies are going to have to deal with even more retention issues next year as job hopping picks up. This is happening because technology has enabled people to easily find new jobs and for recruiters to steal talent

    in numbers. 86% of employees are already looking for work outside their current occupations. Average employee turnover rates over the next five years are predicted to rise to 23.4% from 20.6%. In 2018, 49 million more employees will be heading out the door compared to 2012 a total of 192 million employees worldwide. (Hay Group)

    Another factor helping this trend is Mobile hiring and the mobile job search. Next year there will be an even greater emphasis on mobile recruiting. 83% of job seekers currently use smartphones to search for job openings yet only 20% of the Fortune 500 companies have a mobile friendly career site. 45% of active candidates have applied to a job on their mobile device. Companies are going to have to start optimizing their websites and even creating mobile applications in order to appeal to the on the go job seeker.

    a) Social Media for Engagement The only thing that companies can do to increase retention rates is by creating a superior work culture where employees have friends, are engaged in their work and get perks. Social media posts are being used to attract and retain talent. In order to stand out as an employer, companies will need to start posting more work culture related posts and leveraging their employees to share them. 58% of people are more likely to want to work at a company if they are using social media and over 20% are more likely to stay at their companies if they are using social media. People want to work for interesting companies and when they see social media posts, it gives them a better sense of what they are about

    b) L and D as a tool for engagement: Glassdoor data shows a split in companies. There are huge segment of companies who are highly engaged and a similarly large number of companies whose employees are actively disengaged. This focus on engagement has impacted everything we do, because ultimately employee engagement is all a business has. Companies have to rethink their coaching and development strategies, their career mobility strategies, and how they develop and select leaders. Unfortunately our research shows that the gaps in corporate leadership are wider than ever. Research by Deloitte concludes that leadership development, assessment, and coaching has to be a top focus for 2015.From both an individual and organizational standpoint, technical and professional capabilities are now the currency of success. If you can attract or develop better scientists, engineers, sales people, or functional experts you will beat your competition. And once you attract these people you must give them a compelling learning environment to stay current, as technology advances at an accelerating rate.

    4. Freelancing and Virtual Work. 53 million freelancers and 34 million remote workers have been reported in 2014. We are working all the time, emails and messages are streaming in 24/7, and information, conversations, and content is literally streaming at us wherever we go. The work environment we live in today is radically different: people work wherever they want, leading to a huge wave of open offices; over-work is a tremendous challenge, and people are not sure how to deal with the overwhelming amount of information they receive each day.

    In the Safeguarding the Future of Digital Australia in 2025 report, Chief Privacy Officer of McAfee, Michelle Dennedy, says: Employers have tried to judge performance on now meaningless correlations of check in and check out times in the office. But the most productive work may take place anywhere and anytime. In future, well be more results-based, not showing up-based.

    This means more freedom and flexibility for workers whatever that may mean for your individual circumstances. As Gandel points out, flexibility is no longer a favor to be handed out like candy at a childrens birthday party; its a compelling business strategy. And heres the kicker.

    Freedom is accompanied by accountability and freedom also makes the employees happier and the productivity skyrockets. And thats the magic word: Productivity

    Experts are already pointing to the myriad of ways companies can increase productivity and foster a more cohesive and collaborative work environment. Future trends include implementing a work culture that encourages more social engagement and designing office spaces that support teamwork. Creating office spaces like Pixars and Googles ones that foster play will soon become the norm, as employers increasingly realize the benefits of a cohesive office.

    Annual Performance Reviews if not already out will soon be shoved out of the window. Use weekly reviews and give timely feedback. Google uses the management technique Objectives and KRAs. LinkedIn has profitably utilized this technique to become a $20 billion company. What employees want and appreciate today is timely feedback, which can even amount to giving weekly feedbacks so that improvements can happen in real time.

    5. Analytics Managing a dynamic workforce that is constantly changing is difficult, and the future workforce will be far more diverse (with millennial and aging workers). Business leaders (not just HR) will need to gain a better understanding of their employees to know who may be a flight risk. 2015 will see a major shift from predictive to prescriptive analytics thanks to smarter systems with science-based technology such as advanced analytics and machine learning (artificial intelligence). These systems will be able to analyze historical workforce data in context with outside data (job market data open positions, etc.) to determine trends that will give a true, accurate snapshot of employee retention risk and deliver data-driven recommendations on what to do in order to retain top talent. Finally, we are entering a talent world where people data is now central to every decision we make. Organizations that are investing in analytics teams, analytics tools, and analytics expertise are going to far outperform their peers. Who to hire, who to promote, how much to pay, how to develop, what next job to take - all these decisions are now data enabled and we expect HR technology, which is becoming more integrated every day, to become more and more like instrumentation of your organization- giving you data to improve organizational performance every day. So, let us embrace this new ever evolving technology based cohesive world for Change is the only constant.

  • Workforce Trends 2015: a vieW from ouTside

    Workforce Trends 2015: a vieW from ouTside

    Papiya is the CEO of The Blue Chakra Talent Studio. She is a certified coach and a MBTI, NLP and extended DiSC practitioner. Blue Chakra offers intervention in the areas of communication, col-laboration, coaching and creative enquiry.

    PAPIYA SARKAR

    Papiya Sarkar

    bio-chem inventor, 3D printing, robotics, product engineering and design etc. What made us chose this summer camp? Well, most jobs listed on todays job sites belong to one or the other of the above category. E.g. Big and small companies, from the likes of Microsoft to Facebook is aggressively making coding a basic skill like reading or writing. Well, will these skills still be relevant when my nephew enters a job-searching age? That is anybodys guess but as they say, its wise to start early.

    A close friend of mine who specialises in hospitality sales and real estate land acquisition, has taken a sabbatical after 17 years to pursue courses in digital marketing. Why digital marketing, I asked? Well, digital is the big thing impacting across industries from banking to manufacturing. And no matter what your functional skill is, if you havent added digital in your resume, you have already lost the game. You cannot reach your stakeholder and customers if you are not digital. So if you are looking for a mid-career transition, skilling yourself in Digital, Internet of things, Design etc. is critical.

    That brings us to Design. Focus has shifted to customer experience and individualization. Design is not about only product anymore. Design is also about business models, workspaces, organizations. Whether we are shopping, using a device, going to a restaurant, visiting a hospital, using various apps and platforms, we are looking for user experience. There is not only a surging demand for logical skills like data scientists and data analysts who can predict new users, or create new demands but also for those who can create experience like UI specialists, IOT designers etc.

    Lastly, with e-tailing and online transactions exploding, Information security and risk management is another big focus area for organizations. There is a huge chunk of our own data out there data that we have shared voluntarily or has been captured and stored without our knowledge. Ensuring that such data is safe from malicious use and identifying newer threats have opened up a huge career opportunity.

    It quite clear though that many employees will find it difficult to adapt and reskill in the new technology areas leading to disengagement or attrition. On the other hand, the tech possibilities will give rise to a huge crop of intra-prenuers. The next decade will also see a tremendous rise in part-time, flexi-time and specialist contract employees.

    Finally, What does this mean for those entering the workforce or employees who have to ensure that they keep their jobs? Apart from making sure you are skilling yourself constantly on what is trendy, develop the following

    1. Merge process and technology for better outcomes.2. Develop an entrepreneurial mindset identify gaps, create new demand with managed costs whatever be your functional area.3. Hone your ability to communicate, influence and sell your ideas4. Be prepared to work in areas that are outside your boundary. So learn skills like collaboration and networking. 5. Leverage social learning. Organizations will expect and reward proactive self -advancement.

    One way to capture how workforce trends are changing is by looking at what people are learning and doing in everyday life. Here I present some perspectives from outside the world of organizations.

    Impending summer holidays is usually a worry time for parents.They are under tremendous stress to protect their children from becoming a couch potato. There is a mad search for activities which are interesting, relevant and engaging. I joined my sister in her quest to find the perfect summer camp for her 10 year old. It didnt take us long to cut the clutter and find a summer camp that establishes itself as an incubation platform that builds inventors and architects of the future. The courses on the platter junior engineer, junior scientist, coder,

    7 8

  • 9 10

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    Chetnaa Mehrotra

    EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT IN FUTUREAs the 21st century unfolds, our work places have witnessed some major overhauls in terms of work culture, productivity, flexibility and more importantly employee engagement. Employee engagement is rated higher because it defines the vision and the commitment of the organization towards building a favorable environment within which would eventually lead to higher productivity.

    Gone are the days when there would an annual engagement survey at the end of the financial year where the employees will check boxes in a form and write their views in a Yes or a No. With the advent of modern mechanisms, the employee engagement has become more holistic, involves real time measures to drive passion and commitment among the employees to deliver their best. Till a decade and a half ago, employee engagement was limited to once in a while lunches or picnics for the employees and their wards. Employees had fixed profiles with almost no scope of imagination or creativity and had to follow stringent methods at work. But the processes have seen a tectonic shift in the past one decade.

    What has changed?The new age business leaders value employee interaction and retention much more than their counterparts from the yesteryears and keep it high on the radar. This notion is backed by the research conducted by Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends in 2014. The HR departments which were earlier limited to keeping records of attendance, and salaries of the employees are now focused on developing new ways of widening the engagement between the employees and the organization. With the advent of technology, we are now blessed with the information from all over the world. Companies have a dedicated research team which keeps churning out various methods to engage with their employees on the regular basis. There are more trainings being imparted to the employees on issues relating to life style, stress, depression other than performance enhancement, personality development, etc.

  • 11

    EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT IN FUTUREChetnaa Mehrotra

    Why did it change?When we see the current employee engagement trends, it is imperative to notice that these trends compliment the current life style of the majority of the work force. Whether it is positive or not, there is extra pressure to perform and survive, there is a lack of patience among people (both employees and employers), excessive boredom with little scope of respite due to excessive work load and the perils of higher expectations. With all that in the mix, it is only fair that employees are engaged through conventional and non-conventional measures so that the zeal to work must remain. The corporates seem to have understood that their employees are humans and they run on emotions apart from financial fuel. One bad treatment at work and you might see a viral post running on social media which can end up tarnishing the image of a company. And you wont probably be able to track the anonymous posts. Also, you cant keep your staff engaged by giving them extra perks everytime they become disgruntled as this will result in a culture of entitlement where every other person would expect freebies against tantrums. Keeping your wards happier and content is equal to running a country with a higher happiness index. But how do companies achieve it?

    New ApproachesMany organizations have preferred to toy with the idea of outdoor training camps and adventure trips. Some hold fashion shows within the organization, while some companies opt for various types of trainings such as dance, drama and movement therapy, gender recognition workshops where the employees can be given a direction through various ways and give them a thing or two to ponder upon. Many organizations even hold cultural nights, night parties, etc. While these things are on, Japanese companies are using NikoNiko calendar which gives daily information on how happy people are at work. As per the calendar tool, green face denotes a happy person, yellow denotes average and red denotes unhappy. If the tool ends up showing frequent red faces then the entire production staff sits to recall what happened throughout the day to have affected so many unhappy people. Many companies hire consultants to take one on one session with their staff so ascertain their perception towards the treatment being given by the organization and whether they are satisfied working there. Based on the sessions, the consultants give a collective feedback to the HR without taking or giving out the names of the employees. For a profession as mundane as medicine, pharmaceutical companies are doing a fair bit of a good job by sending doctors for therapy training sessions with their spouses where they engage in activities which help them in bringing their non-medical thoughts out. I feel this seems to be a breath of fresh air especially as we live through a hostile life style which doesnt allow more than a short breather each day.

    People are the productThis signifies a rapid change in the way employees are now being engaged in comparison to the yesteryears. It has become a major area of concern as they all are working overtime to know more about their work force. Employees are now being considered to be worth engaging rather than just being the hired hands to achieve the objective. However, the whole objective to employee engagement should rather be to enable the people to learn and give them an opportunity to develop. The corporations have a lot to lose as everybody now realizes that people are their best products who sell 24/7 throughout the year.

    Khalid Raza

    HR TRansfoRmaTion is noT a cHoicE

    Human Resources (HR) is not a business unit! Yes, quote me - it is not. It is business nervous system which cannot afford to stay nervous in times where being agile is new normal. When skills become your currency, HR is the only banker!

    For organizations to become essential, HRs transformation has to lead the organization. Leaders across the globe are realizing the critical impact of HR transformation and are re-imagining the workplace for the future workforce. Large companies have used personality tests for decades, usually under the guidance of expensive psychologists. But real game theory based employee screening and selection assessments, which cost about $400 or less per test, are an increasingly popular option for most companies. In November 2014, about 65 recent college graduates received a text message from IBMs Watson Group informing them that they had been selected at the companys new Astor Place facility. As the final step of a gamified interview process which was a scavenger hunt, there was a team-building exercise and an exhibition designed to drive home the point that IBM is a great place to work. Graduates from schools including MIT, Columbia, NYU and Carnegie Mellon took part in the process and seem to have come away believing that what is happening at a 104-year old company is engaging and futuristic.

    Khalid Raza works with IBM as Talent Development Leader in HR. He leads and consults on all things talent and social and is ever willing to help people work smarter. Featured in 100 Most Influential People in HR on Twitter, is IBM Accredited Associate Project Manager, Learning Professional and a Certified IBM Recruiter.

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  • HR TRANSFORMATION IS NOT A CHOICEKhalid Raza

    Quantified self is a term coined by Gary Wolf and Kevin Kelly, Wired magazines editors, referring to the collaboration of users and tool makers to advance self-knowledge through self-tracking. Tracking calories, steps, moods, runs and more. A simpler definition? Gal Rimon writes about the rise of activity trackers such as Fitbit, Nike fuel and jawbone, wireless-enabled wearable products, meditation, food consumption and self-discovery apps and their astounding ability to impact our behavior in his blog. The potential behind the concept of tracking peoples activities has caught the attention of HR software innovators too.

    When I started playing around with IBM Connections at work, my colleagues thought I was wasting time on this new webpage while they were happy with emails and ST. Then I moved to Center for Advanced Learning (CAL), four years ago, and started to see the lack of understanding was not limited to my small team in India. The allergy for technology is deep rooted in the psyche, making the transformation painful and long.

    HRs inability to adapt has resulted in devalued participation, inability to become essential and lack of strategic leadership. For HR professionals to HR students Id offer a simple 4C advice:

    Creative, Collaborative, Competentand Compassionate.

    In IBM, HR is leading the social transformation for the organization, paving way for IBMers to become more productive in their daily work. We have re-imagined our workplace and we like it. #SocialHRSuccess is a global culture change initiative for more than 8,000 HR professionals in IBM HR. Led by a diverse team of 80+ volunteer Social HR Advocates, #SocialHRSuccess has been transformational. IBM is a world leader in enterprise social collaboration, and IBM HR is broadly seen as leading the change. Stated simply, Social is who we are and how we work. Communication, organization announcements, onboarding, recruiting, dashboarding, idea generation, project and initiative management have all moved to Connections, IBMs enterprise collaboration platform. In 2014, #SocialHRSuccess led multiple projects -- executive reverse mentoring, social learning roadmap, social design award, social tip campaign, and a namesake weekly blog sharing use cases and success stories, all done via an open, social community. During the year, community membership grew more than 1,000%, giving IBMers a window into how our team operates socially. Among IBMers around the world, three hashtags created by #SocialHRSuccess (including the namesake) were among the top ten most utilized hashtags inside IBM in 2014.

    And thats not all, our internal communication, dashboards, collaboration hubs with clients, recruitment, on-boarding, etc. are utilizing social capabilities as a new way to work. In addition to annual engagement

    HR TRANSFORMATION IS NOT A CHOICE

    surveys, we use every days open collaboration amongst IBMers across the globe and weekly pulse question as a way to understand our employees better.

    Aon Hewitts 2014 study suggests that employee engagement is at an all-time low with only 16% of employees worldwide engaged at work. The study also highlights that the work experience is improving more than it is deteriorating, but not necessarily in the most important areas. Millennials are setting the tone for employee engagement and the evolving employment contract.

    Bersin predicts that 2015 will be a tumultuous and transformational year in many areas of corporate talent. The global economic recovery, changing demographics, and rapid changes in the technology landscape have come together to redefine the entire nature of work. While many talk about the new world of work, in reality we now have a new world of life one in which work, home, family, and personal lives are completely interconnected in a real-time way. Find the complete report here.

    Ten Key Trends for 2015 1. Engagement, Retention, Culture, and Inclusion Have Become Front Burner Issues 2. The Redesign of Performance Management Will Likely Continue 3. Time to Address the Overwhelmed Employee: How Do We Redesign and Simplify the Workplace? 4. Skills Are Now Currency; Corporate Learning Takes on Increasing Importance 5. Invest, Refocus, and Redesign Talent AcquisitionLeveraging Network Recruiting, Brand Reach, and New Technologies 6. Talent Mobility, Career Management, and the Leadership Pipeline Become a Top Priority 7. Accelerate and Globalize the Leadership Pipeline 8. Take the Plunge and Invest in Talent Analytics and Workforce PlanningThis Area Is Now an Imperative for Competitive Advantage 9. Revisit Your HR Technology Plan, Reduce Core Vendors, and Look for Innovative New Solutions That Drive High Levels of Value 10. Review and Redesign the Roles and Structure of Your HR Team and Invest in HR Professional Development

    So the choice you have is to transform or stay behind. What are your HR teams doing?

    Khalid Raza

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    The author is a passionate

    self-taught specialist in the

    field of learning and self-de-

    velopment. Having attended

    and organized tons of train-

    ing sessions over the last

    decade, she has developed a

    vast, comprehensive knowl-

    edge in this domain, leading

    to what she calls Training

    Intelligence.

    Priti Gupta

    Emperors new clothes story resonates in the business world time and again. Trends are changing and how! The rate at which Change is picking up pace is indeed a wakeup call to all of us who are busy plumping up our cushions to settle in our comfort zone. Perception of security is all about own house, good job and savings in bank. These have been replaced mercilessly by insecurity and bloodbath.

    Learning is the need of the hour. It is more about necessity than quenching the thirst of knowledge. We are all aware that reinventing ourselves is of prime importance. Why is it then, that so many people resist constant learning?

    As futurists raise alarm, few people listen and fewer act. It is such a no-brainer that successful Visionaries like Bill Gates pay attention to forward thinkers like Ray Kurzweil. The day is not far when computer will get consciousness and pass the Turing test; industries after industries will get wiped out. If we combine this eventuality with the possibility of advancements in medical sciences and increase of lifespan of the people, we have nothing short of economic disasters looming largely over our heads.

    Soon millions of families will be displaced as their only source of income, their job, will cease to exist. That is not the sad part; the sad part is that they are not equipped to do anything else. They have resisted growth by refusing to learn. As Alvin Toffler surmises beautifully The illiterate of the 21st century are not those who cannot read or write but those who cannot learn, unlearn and re-learn

    Lets start reading trends. TCS, IBM announce major layoffs while huge investments pour into e-commerce start-ups. All the top leaders of the country, even safe investors like Ratan Tata are pumping funds into new age businesses. Where does that put our average security seeking middle age middle income group of employees?

    The solution is that we prepare for unseen and unknown; that we relearn and reinvent. Micromax beats Samsungit seems like only yesterday that Samsung beat Apple. Being on top of the game today is no measure of who will top it tomorrow. To stand still is to go backwards. Let get out and invest in ourselves, our employees and our future. Lets spend a little more effort on opening up our horizons.

    Investing time and energy in upskilling is a luxury at we can ill afford to ignore. Organizations spend on employee welfare is a sham and of miniscule consequence. It is merely a mandate rather than genuine need. Lets wake up at personal levels to upskill and upgrade. Make it a habit. Invest routinely on it and allow our panorama to broaden. Our employees are resources that are more important than our customers. They are our internal customers. The companies that invest in their internal customers build a strong bond and develop a loyal culture that can navigate smoothly through difficult periods and we do know that times are certainly going to get tougher.

    Many a times employees of organizations complain that their organizations do not fund good training programs or their managers did not nominate them for a particular program. My only question to such individuals is Would you stop eating if your corporation did not pay for your meal? The L&D personnel that I interact with regularly have a different sob story. Either their management does not consider learning important or the employees do not take it seriously. Lots of programs organized are shoddy do not really add value or understand the needs. They are done just to tick off an item on the to-do list. Half-hearted attempt is perhaps one reason for this kind of apathy among employees and management.

    In my line of work it is not unusual to come across learned academicians who feel they have so much knowledge and are so far ahead in their journey that they need not learn more. One is learned only if highly educated, in other words, more the number of alphabets after a name, smarter the individual - is a myth. Education is the process of imparting knowledge, value, skills and attitudes, which can be beneficial to an individual. On the contrary learning is the process of adopting the knowledge, values and skills. Learning is an ongoing process. Terms education and learning are usually referred in an inexact way interchangeably and often perplexes the learner.

    HAvE YOU LEARNEd ANYTHING NEW TOdAY?Priti Gupta

    HAve You leARned AnYtHIng new todAY?

  • 17 18

    In simple terms, education provides a knowledge base that supports any other activities the individual may engage in at a later stage. Training is not as general and tends to concentrate on skills development. Development allows both activities to be integrated. It has been described as the general enhancement and growth of an individuals skills and abilities through conscious and unconscious learning.

    Development, therefore, includes education and training. Learning is the outcome of both training-led and education-led approaches to development, yet learning itself is complex. It is far more than the shifting of knowledge or information from educator/trainer to the learner.

    Training can be specific to your need, your vocation or your skills-gap. It is there for people who want to implement a new system, improve a specific ability or further their ability in something. Thats not to say education has no place - lawyers must understand the principles of law before they learn to deploy it and a surgeon must have a detailed knowledge of anatomy before they pick up the scalpel. But what is it youre looking for - that foundation upon which to build or the skills you want to develop

    There is no dearth of top quality talent in the training industry today. Whether it is training for sales or finance, creativity or emotional fitness, communication or leadership; programs that understand the need of individuals and organizations alike are being offered by key players. Whether you are Start-up, SME or a corporation, invest in your internal customer, your employees and above all, invest in yourself. Have you learned anything new today?

    THE fuTuRE is alREady HERE

    Abhipsa Mishra

    Abhipsa works as Asst. Professor- HR and IT at IBS Pune. She is also an author, coach and leadership development consultant.

    HAvE YOU LEARNEd ANYTHING NEW TOdAY?

    Simplifying CoMpliC@tIoNs

    Priti Gupta

  • 91%ofIndianmillennialsbelievetechinnovationsmakelifesimpler.

    35%ofIndianmillennialsthinktechnologyshouldlearnabouttheirbehaviorandpreferences when they use it.

    THE FUTURE IS ALREAdY HERE THE FUTURE IS ALREAdY HEREabhipsa mishra abhipsa mishra

    19 20

    When we talk about the workforce trends in 2015 and beyond the first thing that strikes the mind is who all are involved in this time period. The generation born between 1980 and 1995 has entered the workforce in a big way. The major percentage of workforce in 2015 and beyond would be the Generation Y, the Millennials. Enhanced workplace flexibility, work-life balance may act as career anchors for the Millennials. While younger workers are more techies, globally focused, informal, and willing to share information, they do not feel more empowered or less loyal than their non-Millennial counterparts, and are willing to work just as hard.

    Organizations should concentrate on measuring factors relating to retention, loyalty, and job satisfaction and compare responses among Millennials to non-Millennials at the same stage of their careers.

    What essentially organizations should look upon?

    It is crucial for organizations to listen to their people and carry out profound research and analyze what drives them. This will help the corporate czars to tailor their talent strategies in order to address these needs, and best position themselves for the future. Few of such strategies can be summed up as follows:

    Create a flexible work culture. A survey I did online revealed that almost 17% of male employees and 23% of female employees are ready to give up some of their CTC and slow the pace of promotion in their careers in exchange for less number of working hours. These needs can be addressed by executing policies that endorse greater work-life balance, such as providing employees greater flexibility in their work location or schedule without having to execute a more formal flexible work arrangement.

    Fully leverage technology. Accelerate the integration of technology into the workplace, enabling workers to harness technology in ways that give them more flexibility and increase efficiency. To Millennials this is an absolute mustthey expect to have access to the best tools for collaboration and execution

    Increase Transparency around compensation, rewards and career decisions. The mystery on compensation decisions should be taken out, and dialogues on career growth should be made more transparent. Creating a consequential rewards structure that regularly acknowledges both large and small contributions made by employees will add cherry to the cake.

    Organization cant work on a one rule for all philosophy. There can be a debate on maintaining equity when it comes to policies but generation-gaps bring in differences among Millennials and non-Millennials, and should be taken into account by organizations that include employees from both the age groups. For example, Millennials see if their needs for support, appreciation and flexibility are met, while non-Millennials look for being paid competitively, or to get developmental opportunities. Understanding these and other differences will help tailor solutions that will promote retention and an engaged workforce across generations.

    Growing gap between expectations and offerings. Unfortunately, there is also a growing gap between Millennial expectations and what their employers are actually offering. This gap is having a negative impact on the engagement and retention of this generation, and is likely one of the primary reasons why Millennials will be looking for new opportunities in 2015.

    How will/should the next generation offices look like?

    1. Emphasis on future: Shifts in demographics have resulted in a scarcity of ready-on-board successors. To address this issue organizations are trying to frame career paths and are identifying Millennials who could make it to the executive level positions.

    2. Providing mentors: The immense number of options has lead to job hopping. Employees switch job for a meager hike, a better work environment, a better position; generally for many just and unjust reasons. Mentors, help them show a right direction as they are usually the ones who have given their time and patience to the organization.

    3. Employees will be wearing more technology: As discussed in the previous edition of Ekaksharaa (http://learning-development.com/ekaakshara-vol-8-october-2014/); wearable technology is the new choice of new age organizations. Implementation of wearable tech for office automation, give employees context specific, pertinent information will facilitate them to do their jobs more proficiently.

    4. You can bring your pets to work: In a recent Supreme Court decision it was legally accepted that in a divorce the parties can claim their pets as they claim their children. The workforce today needs more than a paycheque. When organizations are striving to provide employees with 100% work-from-home schedules, they are trying to make the work place feel more like home. Providing food, fruits, gym, pool, recreation rooms, crche etc. interestingly; now they will also provide the facility to take care of your pets!

    5. You dont need to keep the same schedule throughout the week: Flexible work hours and work-from-home are very common offering by many organizations, but now companies may become more flexible while allowing people to choose/change schedules throughout the week and allow completing the required number of hours.

  • THE FUTURE IS ALREAdY HEREabhipsa mishra

    Generation ZThis is the generation born between 1994 and 2010. They top the list when it comes to companies looking for interns. Deloitte and Microsoft are recruiting even the high school students for their internship programs. Facebook and LinkedIn are paying high school student interns. This increased interest and investment in Generation Z is occurring for two major reasons:Companies are trying to To close the skills gap, and To compete for the very best talent by building brand awareness and loyalty early in their career stages.

    21

    ViRTual WoRKfoRcE: aRE you a TEcHnoPHilE oR a luddiTE?

    Roopa adyasha

    The Bangalore based author is an Assistant

    Professor at Welingkar Institute of Manage-

    ment, Development and Research. Her role in-

    volves understanding employee training needs

    and developing and delivering customized

    programs for corporate clients and executive

    education client development and acquisition.

    22

  • vIRTUAL WORkFORCE : ARE YOU A TECHNOPHILE OR A LUddITE? vIRTUAL WORkFORCE : ARE YOU A TECHNOPHILE OR A LUddITE?

    Roopa Adyasha Roopa Adyasha

    2423

    Diversified and culturally disperse workforce, flattened management hierarchies, virtual teams and team-based projects and emergence of a technology driven and knowledge based economy: there has been a paradigm shift in the ways organizations communicate internally and externally.

    In an age where cell phones have become the control center of life with apps replacing the functional operations of a service provider, there is a growing demand for unusually skilled workforce versed in managing the new digital and virtual world of work. The iPhones many people carry in their pockets nowadays are more powerful computers than those that helped NASA first put a man on the moon. In todays world of nanotubes and internet of things, the concept of being at work has been redefined with the use of robotics and artificial intelligence.

    Virtual co-working, online news groups, discussion forums, and social networks expand through the use of technology, so does the ability to affect others. We live in an increasingly threaded environment and it is these threads of network that connect each other. It is the human expressions and connections that matter in business says a faculty from Carnegie Mellon.

    In such a threaded environment gaining new information and sharing of knowledge will challenge the new workforce. The discipline of knowledge management has been around for some time. Global corporations such as Northrop Grumman, Capital One, and The World Bank have been using technology backed by incentives to encourage employees to catalog and share what they know.

    While the concept of e-learning has been around for quite some time, blended learning approaches and MOOCS have changed the very dimensions of knowledge management. With new technology and learning management systems (LMS) adopting info graphics and multimedia tools the new virtual workforce is more acclimatized to learn and the transfer of training is more enhanced.

    In addition, the explosion of social media and interactive technologies - such as Twitter, Ning, and blogs - present enormous opportunities to invest in centralized conferencing and web broadcast facilities to emphasize the opportunities to stay home to learn. Slack application is a team communication tool founded by Stewart Butterfield which is used by many MNCs via their intranet.

    It is understandable that in the new, knowledge-based economy IT-driven cycle of job creation and job destruction can be seen in almost every sector, thus the rise of the luddites. For example, assembly line automation has reduced jobs in manufacturing, but it has created new jobs in robotics technology and computer engineering. The advent of computers has reduced the need for many kinds of clerical work in offices, but it has also created a new environment for computer designers, software writers, computer system managers, service personnel, and data entry workers.

    By 2020, as the war for talent intensifies, over 80% of companies will rely on temporary or contingent workers to fill skills gaps. The two careers expected to experience the most growth by 2020 are systems software developers and applications software developers, according to a recent study published by the University of California at San Diego.

    The new workforce should be trained effectively utilize new technologies to foster learning. While we may wonder why these sorts of capabilities should be integrated into the work environment of people whose roles do not require them, the inquisitive culture of the virtual workforce will eventually force us in the coming decade. The geographically disperse workforce seeks instant feedback and prefer to understand management decisions affecting their work. They want to know why they do, what they do

    Podcasts can reach different segments of the workforce and provide timely knowledge about individual and group activities Really Simple Syndication(RSS) feeds can provide regular short reports on key aspects of the business or new practices eg, to report on sales results Viral marketing techniques to distribute communications internally. Performance measuring systems and reputation systems allow users to gauge the quality of service or other performance metrics Enterprise systems give real-time performance data metrics to users who can validate how their efforts contribute to the team and organisational goals.

    Research analysts at Gartner identify ten technologies they believe will be of strategic importance.

    Virtualization Cloud Computing Servers - Beyond Blades Web-Oriented Architectures Enterprise Mashups Specialized Systems Social Software and Social Networking Unified Communications Business Intelligence Green IT

    Source http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=777212

    The Society for Human Resource Management, in its 2015 Scenarios for the Future of Human Resource Management publication, suggests that managerial jobs will become project management-based, with one manager juggling dozens of projects that are being completed by talented, external providers.

    The workforce of the future will look for flexible working contracts to enable a better work life balance and

  • 2625

    vIRTUAL WORkFORCE : ARE YOU A TECHNOPHILE OR A LUddITE?

    Roopa Adyasha

    reconcile family life with working life, and minimise constraint to work. Access to flex time, ad hoc working hours and green travel schemes must be considered and widely accessible to all employees.

    So as a way forward, do we see any business advantage in being a technophile workforce? Unprecedented levels of changes are being seen in businesses today: reduce cost and increasing revenues, customer satisfaction, improving productivity, etc. Leading responsibly and managing complexity is the key for organisational effectiveness for the new age workforce. Domain technologies show who the high-performers are, where value is created, who creates it, and the roles key people play in sourcing and acting on new, value-creating knowledge. Social technologies reveal who is connected to whom and amplify collective intelligence within and across enterprise boundaries. And whether we like it or not, we should be able to reinvent ourselves in this global interconnected ever-changing world.

    Buck Consulting, Prescription Drug Benefit Survey, http://moss07.shrm.org/ hrdisciplines/benefits/Articles/Pages/ DrugCostSharing.aspx

    Employee Evolution, www.employeeevolution.com

    Intellectual Property Johnson Controls, Haworth and iDEA.

    Government Technology, www.govtech.com

    Green, Mamie E. Beware and Prepare: The Government Workforce of the Future, Public Personnel Management!^ (2000): 435-444.

    Society for Human Resource Management, 2015 Scenarios for the Future of Human Resource Management. SHRM: 2005.

    Government Workforce of the Future: Four Key Trends,Green, Marnie E, Public Manager 39.2 (Summer 2010): 13-16.

    http://www.workforce.com/articles/20129-forward-to-the-future-how-workforce-tech-promises-to-change-the-way-we-do-business

    http://www.computerweekly.com/news/2240233165/Firms-lack-technology-for-workforce-of-the-future

    REfEREncEs

    Vivek slaria

    maximizinG Human PuRPosE

    The Mumbai based author is a habits and

    willpower coach with Greenlatte. Vivek has

    worked in Infosys, General Electric and Proctor

    & Gamble. Vivek contributes articles to Busi-

    ness World. His work was also mentioned in

    Forbes India for creating habits and strength-

    ening willpower.

  • 2827

    MAxIMIzING HUMAN PURPOSE MAxIMIzING HUMAN PURPOSEVivek Slaria Vivek Slaria

    Once upon a time in Rome

    In 434 century AD, the roman empire was split into two and ruled independently, the eastern roman empire and the western roman empire. Both the empires were plagued by a single nomadic invader Atilla the hun. He would lead his soldiers into some of the most impossible battles and emerge victorious. How was he able to unite his people and keep them winning despite the heavy odds, by connecting them to a common purpose.

    Cortes was the infamous Spanish conquer who won the King of Spain an entire continent with just three hundred Spanish men, thirteen horses and a few canons. How was he able to make his people win against such heavy odds, by uniting them with the purpose of Christianity and gold.

    History is full of examples where people have achieved the impossible (notorious or otherwise) by connecting their people to their purpose and uniting them for that common cause.

    With this let us now come back to a modern day battlefield, the corporate office.

    Under the humming of the Air ConditionerIt was ten am of a Tuesday morning, Shyam worked in a high end software development company and the morning onsite call had just got over. Yesterdays delivery had reported a bug and the task today was to fix it and re deliver the software. The defect shouldnt be that difficult to address thought Shyam as he stepped out of the conference room. He saw his other friends also step out from their respective telephone conferences and they went together to the cafeteria. This was the usual routine, the morning onsite call and then breakfast. Shyam came back to his desk and started looking at the code, very soon his attention was lost and he went to a social media site. Soon it was lunch time and then back on the desk. Let me clear the eMails while I am at it Shyam thought. By the time he got over it, it was already four PM and he had only two more hours to fix the code. And then the rush started.

    This is the usual story of every office. You can replace the software with any other company. Majority of our work force not engaged at work. Gallup carried a survey which indicated that ninety percent of the Indian work force is not engaged at their work. Only ten percent is actively engaged at work which means they contribute ideas and show leadership at work.

    This does not mean that there is something wrong with our office. The infrastructure and policies today actively support employee well-being. There is a fair amount of autonomy at work to allow an employee to work at his pace. Micro managing the daily deliverables and acting bossy are not as prevalent as they once were. The work space maintains a social environment to allow employees to have fun together and feel like a part of the family. Despite all of this, employees are not engaged at work.

    Welcome to the world of intrinsic motivationThe answer may lie in a trend that is re defining the way we are doing our work today. The Henry Ford look of the world where an employee was supposed to come to work and be paid for tasks performed is turning around completely. It is instead being replaced by an inherent joy of working with money being just enough to not be a topic of discussion.

    Drivers of Intrinsic motivationDaniel Pink in his wonderful book, Drive, the surprising truth about what motivates us (RHC, Jan, 2011) outlines the three drivers of intrinsic motivation. The first of these is autonomy, the power to choose what I want to do when I want to do it and with who I want to do it. The second driver he highlights is mastery, the desire to keep improving skills in a particular area and be recognized for it as well. The third is Purpose, connect to the higher self.

    Let us pick Purpose and understand its role Purpose is important. It helps us define who we are and from there inspires our actions. At a fundamental level, the purpose of every individual is to help others live a better life and in so doing raise the consciousness of the world.

    However due to years of social conditioning, this purpose is lost and instead gives way to a more self-centred materialistic purpose of maximizing individual worth. This social conditioning cannot be removed overnight. Organizations that lead themselves to the future will be Purpose Maximers, i.e. they will help their customers and their employees connect to a higher purpose and remain with it. Organizations can help individuals maximize their purpose and help them see how they can achieve the same by helping the organization achieve theirs. This is called purpose maximization. Once I see that I can achieve what ever I want to achieve if I help the organization achieve their purpose then a intrinsic inspiration awakens that leads to a higher engagement.

    Individual purpose may also be maximized by connecting directly with the end customer. As every employee of the organization, including support functions become focussed on a single individual and helping that individual live a better life, purpose of working is inherently ingrained and people become connected back to their work.

    Connecting people to a single purpose of maximizing value to the end customer is a key in creating an intrinsically motivated employee and will therefore be a defining trend of the work force in the future. This will be the defining trend of the way work force will be transformed in the future. This by the way is not that new, a barbaric hunter, long back in ancient Rome also knew this.

  • 3029

    WORKFORCE TRENDS 2015 AND BEYOND

    Pooja swami

    The author is an HR

    consultant. She is also

    the Managing Director

    at Leo Institute Pvt Ltd.

    Workforce is a gamut of generations and the people born and living about the same time have their own work styles and habit .They view the world differently and have redefined the meaning of success, personally and professionally driven by a unique set of values motivations and strengths

    We are living in a time of exponential change. The workplace is changing at an unprecedented rate. In the coming years the workforce will look significantly different than today. There will be five generations and much greater cultural diversity in the workplace than ever before, leading to a broader set of values and beliefs than today.Internal and external labor becomes more mobile but today most of the organization address engagement and talent retention under one policy, without any differentiation for the generations of employees. Baby Boomers the largest generation to ever hit the workforce will begin retiring in droves and the millennial generation (also commonly known as Gen-Y and includes births from 1982 2000) grows whose workplace values and expectations are very different from what weve traditionally known (baby boomers ) in the organizations and its time to develop new workforce trends take into account the generational differences for the year 2015 and beyond.

    Not surprisingly , Millennials are the most ethnically diverse and educated generation. Millennials are active learners , talented achievers, multi-taskers, socially minded ,structured, self Technologically savvy , team-oriented ,conventionally motivated, pragmatic but optimistic and natural collaborators seeking for attention and constant feedback who need supervisionor support to thrive. Millennials clearly favor high growth over predictability and distinctly prefer creativity over daily direction .They clearly tend to believe job security is an employees responsibility to earn rather than a companys obligation to provide .

    In order to tackle the millennial generation in the workplace the workforce trends should meet the characteristics of this generation. Understanding these characteristics and preferences is prime important to the successful integration of millennials into an organization. Millennial generations operate differently than previous generations but their actions are linked to the fulfillment or accomplishment of well-known characteristics and values of the generation

    Although millennials desire structure, variety and flexibility are important workplace preferences of the generation (Beekman, 2011; Conner, 2010; Sujanksy, 2009). Acting as a change agent is one of the most often discussed millennial workplace desires is that of found in The National MBA Survey, which surveys more than 5,600 MBA students annually, that only 33% of Generation Xers (those born between 1965-1980) agreed with the statement, I prefer a structured environment with clear rules, whereas 72% of millennials agreed with the same statement (Beekman, 2011). A clearly defined structure helps millennials to thoroughly evaluate potential improvements, and implications of such improvements, on the organization as a whole before recommending change. Variety and flexibility are synthesized characteristics of the millennial generation for multi tasking .Variety in the form of special projects or job responsibilities fulfills both millennial needs of attention and multi-tasking (Sujansky, 2009). Flexibility in any form, but especially work schedule, can create a sense of autonomy and empowerment in those of the millennial generation (Beekman, 2011).

  • 3231

    WORkFORCE TRENdS 2015 ANd BEYONd WORkFORCE TRENdS 2015 ANd BEYONd

    Pooja swami Pooja swami

    Millennials desire fulfillment, achievement, and happiness through work -life balance or other off-the-job activities. Millennials do not necessarily believe that they must come to work with every necessary skill to be successful on the job. Though they are natural collaborators and view work as a continual learning experience in which people collaborate to reach desired results. This heavy desire for feedback and attention has led many organizations to create mentor/mentee relationships that enable new employees to receive the feedback and attention desired, learn from those more knowledgeable, and assist mentors in technology-related tasks that may be less than intuitive.

    Due to the need to be connected with the world, mobile apps are a great way to keep an eye on your workforce wherever you are. Whether standing in a queue at the public place or moving from one meeting to another. An ever increasing number of people will get work done on smartphones today often across geographical boundaries.There will be greater emphasis on mobile recruiting. 83% of job seekers currently use smartphones to search for job openings yet only 20% of the Fortune 500 companies have a mobile friendly career site. 45% of active candidates have applied to a job on their mobile device. and even creating mobile applications in order to appeal to the on the go job seeker. Most of the organizations will develop apps that aid employee engagement; create digital to-do lists and productivity trackers; and complete a range of other tasks. These apps will have the ability to access stored data and be accessible from multiple devices.

    Millennials are sick of seeing press releases and corporate websites and want something more real like social media updates, and blog posts .Platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter are able to make connections in a candidates natural habitat and the connections made between employee and candidate on these networks have high relevance. In order to stand out as an employer, organizations will need to start posting more work culture related posts and leveraging their employees to share them. People want to work for interesting companies and when they see social media posts, it gives them a better sense of what they are about.. 58% of people are more likely to want to work at a company if they are using social media and over 20% are more likely to stay at their companies if they are using social media .Social recruiting and the referral method is the only way recruiters can hire better people faster who will stay longer and, ultimately, be better cultural fits. Organizations needs to expand the digital footprint and harness new social technology. With remote teams the proportion of people working from out of office will increase and flexible work places will become pervasive.

    Other workforce trends like succession planning , honesty , periodic feedback and visual dashboard are going to be major soncern for organization .One of the ways that companies are handling succession planning is to keep some workers on the payroll. Gen Ys state that its time to polish skills of honesty and transparency, which will be most valued leadership traits in 2015. Honesty is the most important quality for being a good leader. People would want to work under leaders who are open about what the organization is doing, where its heading in the future and give honest feedback regularly. Social media is also continuing to push corganizations to be more open and for leaders to share more of their activities . Whole Foods and Buffer are great examples of a transparent company culture and theyve implemented an open salary system. With a clear positive correlation between higher level of motivation and periodic feedback, more

    managers will seek ways to give effective continuous feedback. Its an efficient way to provide timely feedback right on your employees weekly reports .In 2015 its hello to dashboards. Dashboards turn big data into smart data. So, its time to put more emphasize on information visualizations.

    By the 2020 there will be much greater cultural diversity in the workplace than ever before and the workforce will be increasingly flexible and cabn be the most prosperous if the organizations understand what the next generation wants . One size doesnt fit all individuals . Employers should look at potential new hires in holistic terms, not just in terms of their job experience, skill level, professional contacts, and formal education. Forward-thinking organizations are investing in the upcoming generation born between 1994 and 2010 . In addition, more organizations are going to be recruiting high school students for their internship programs like Microsoft . Companies like You tube ,Facebook and LinkedIn recruiting high school students for closing skills gap (STEM) and to compete for best talent and to build brand awareness early . Personal networking offer role models and mentoring opportunities to younger employees, and also provide a sense of belonging for employees who may be working outside their native countries and cultures, or who want to connect with like-minded cohorts by forming global communities of interest. Self-reliance and self-actualization will be watchwords for Workforce 2020. Workforce should be seen as an asset not as a cost and organizations have understand that no financial returns will come at employee expense . With the tighten competition sucessful organizations will invest more in employee retention ad engagement.Objectives and Key Results is a great technique where people are putting more emphasis on linking personal plans and growth with group goals, the organization Many of the brightest youngsters looking for opportunities to practice their entrepreneurial skills in start-up organizations and the best way to capture the enthusiasm of them is to give them considerable autonomy in what they work on and whom.

    Formal and informal mentoring programs will proliferate in the organization of the future. Mentors can be recruited both inside and outside the organization. Employers will also need to look at providing younger workerforce some of the same one-on-one coaching benefits they now provide managers and executives. Last but not the least performance assessment will not only be used by management to evaluate performance for purposes of pay increases and promotions, but also to suggest new assignments that can make the best use of the employees demonstrated talents. The personal goals set during a performance review may undergo constant reassessment to keep pace with fast-changing business environments.

  • TLet me begin by sharing some interesting facts. In 1915 A young lad in a village in Tamilnadu showed his mother an appointment letter from railways. He had just received the letter and was absolutely excited about it. After all it was going to be his maiden job. His mother looked at the appointment letter and threw it into fire by saying she did not want her son to go away from their village to an another part of country. In 2001 Two girls from the same family in the same village got jobs in the United States of America and their parents sent them with their blessings.

    Technological Development and Increased level of literacy have brought revolutionary changes in the social, cultural and economic life of people across the world. People are willing to move from their place of birth, state, country and continent for securing better life opportunities.

    Old practices like, joining, serving, retiring and getting some years of extension in one company are slowly disappearing. Arranging the long service award functions are not seen in the HR initiatives list any more. If today any youngster stays for more than three years in an organization, it is seen as a rare event. People want to grow in their career, learn new things, perform multiple tasks, move from one company to another company which provides them better opportunities. The workforce today is becoming more mobile in comparison to their previous generations. Workforce mobility is one of the major challenges Human Resource community is going to face in the days to come. Keeping the workforce engaged with the organizations, where they are working is to going to top the priority list for business leaders. The younger generation wants spot recognition and instant recognition. For talented workforce, opportunities are available plenty across the globe. Hence leaving one organization and joining another organization has become the order of the day. Social media and networking portals are helping and expediting the mobility of workforce.

    Nowadays, organizations are employing workforce from different age, language, ethnicity, gender, and cultural backgrounds. Differently abled workforce, social and community responsibilities, caring and family responsibilities are also factors HR leaders are considering while preparing their workforce strategy. The writing on the wall is very clear. Only the organizations which embrace the workforce diversity as a key people strategy can get the required and right talent for keeping competitive edge in the business. One major challenge for the organization engages diverse workforce will be dealing with the question of discrimination.

    What was the workforce trend yesterday, what is it today and what will be the trend tomorrow?Every business leader dwell upon these questions as employee engagement is the biggest dilemma and many lost their sleep over this issue. And most of them fail to engage todays workforce as very few companies may be an over all of 15% to 20% of them actively engage where as the rest of the companies rather disengage its employees in such a way that they are likely to spread negativity. Therefore the changed ethos should be to relook at employee engagement with an holistic approach. That makes employees overwhelmed because the concepts of work-life balance have been lost, thanks to a proliferation of technology and the breakdown in barriers between work and life.

    No doubt, People are working too hard and with that they are too distracted because of mobile device users check their phones all most more than 100 times and they are flooded with too many emails, conference calls, meetings, and other distractions that the average office worker can only focus for seven minutes at a time before they either switch windows or check Facebook. As a recent Mckinsey research shows.

    Many Business & HR leaders rate this an important or urgent challenge, yet fewer than 10% of organizations know what to do about it. And this problem impacts our personal lives, our children, and our family. Anxiety is now the top issue facing children driven largely by our always on lifestyle.

    So isnt time to Redefine What the future workforce trend will be in 21st century

    Lets get rid of the old fashioned word engagement is mostly used by Human Resources managers. While a feedback from employee give us an annual view, they do not help organizations understand the passion, soul, and real issues going on day to day.

    WoRKfoRcE TREnds in 2015 and BEyond challenges of the 21st centurys

    Work forcevasanthakumar P venkataraman

    Rasmita Jena

    The Chennai based author is a senior HR leader. He is currently the Chief Human Resource Officer at A.V.Thomas Group Companies.

    This Bangalore based writer is an IP Attorney and a Talent Management Specialist with focus on Legal, HR Consulting and Training.

    33 34

  • CHALLENGES OF THE 21ST CENTURYS WORk FORCE

    Rasmita Jena

    We have to change that very mindset and redefine what engagement means which can bring back enthusiasm and impact their mind which then can drive a highly engaged workforce:1. The work itself,2. The management environment,3. The flexibility and inclusion of the workplace,4. Peoples ability to learn and grow, and5. Trust and meaning from leadership.

    So its a whole set of issues to take care rather than companies dont just have ping pong tables and free lunch, they have a soul which makes work exciting and energizing. They invest in great management and leadership. The train and develop people so they can grow. And they define their business in a way that brings meaning and purpose to the organization.

    Here is the time to engage employees in a mindfulness revolution to get the maximum for their employees as well as organization to lead a happy balanced life. Interestingly, the UN World Happiness Report, shows that the happiest countries (Denmark, Norway, Switzerland, Netherlands, and Sweden) are those with some of the best reputations for work-life balance. Businesses in these countries are quite successful and they have learned to build work environments which are humanistic and let people think.

    Therefore think about how we engage with our employees much more holistically and we all have to face it. This is not one of the things to worry about, this is the thing to worry about. It is time to think more holistically about your own team (or organization) and what you can do to improve work, provide more coaching, improve flexibility, become more inclusive, and drive meaning into the workplace. Of course we have to hold people accountable for results but work is far more than producing output for a dollar it is an integral part of our lives.

    Now is the time to think holistically about your companys work environment and consider what you can do to create passion, engagement, and commitment. Here are the three mantras:1. Consider employees are assets2. Drive Company Culture Through Employee Engagement3. Teach the employees how to learn with L & D

    So the time is now for the HR departments to affirm their ability to deliver essential knowledge and services to keep their organizations ahead of competitors and set a new trend in workforce management holistically.

    35 36

    HR TRANSFORMATION IS NOT A CHOICEsachin dabhade

    Objectives:

    1. Matching supply to current demand for skills;2. Helping workers and enterprises adjust to change; 3. Building and sustaining competencies for future labor market needs.

    Education and training systems that are responsive to structural changes in economy and society; and recognition of skills and competencies, and their greater utilization in the workplace.

    Reference :

    According to United Nation, Word population prospects: 2008 (New York, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2008)

  • HR TRANSFORMATION IS NOT A CHOICEsachin dabhade

    Taken as whole, the world population is marked by declining productiveness and raising life hope. The primary consequence of both trend is population ageing. The proportion of the population of the aged 60 years and over will rise in the more develop countries from 22 per cent in 2010 to 33 percent in 2050 and in less developed countries from 9 per cent to 20 per cent. the population of working age will decline in the more developed regions between 2010 to 2050 failing from 49 to 41 per cent of the total population, in contrast, the working age population in the less developed regions will grow slowly as a proportion of the whole, from 43 per cent in 2010 to 46 per cent in 2050.

    These trends have some major implications for educations, skills and training.First, economic growth will depend even more heavily than today on the productivity of the workforce, complemented by rising labor force participation rates, especially among the women and older workers, the challenge the lifelong learning, particularly among ageing but economically active persons will increase in salience correspondingly.

    Second, in several regions the growing size of the youth cohort will continue to challenge both education and training capacities and job creation rates as more young people enter the word of work, everywhere, young people with low skill levels are finding too hard to secure jobs.

    Third, flows of migrant workers will continue to grow, raising challenges

    Concerning fair access to training and how to fill skill gaps in some regions without creating them in others.If we look at the primary education unesco has started education for all program and we also applied it in India to train all primary schooling student but question remains same about secondary education.

    In India more than 90 per cent of workers are employed at low levels of productivity and income. Half of the countrys population over the age of 25 has had no education and an additional third have the best primary schooling. Four out of 5 entrants to new workforce have never had any opportunity for skill development training. While enrollment in technical educational institutions has increased also there is very high drop out in these institutions. There is huge shortage of teaching faculty in engineering & management colleges. Equivalently skill shortage at different level took place.

    In order to address these challenges, India adopted an ambitious national skill development policy in 2009, to empower all individuals through improved skillKnowledge and internationally recognized qualifications to give them access to decent employment.

    If we succeeded in linking skills development to gains in productivity, employment and development needs to target, skills development policy towards three main

    3837

    Thinking about the training is thinking towards bringing uncounted opportunity in training and development field. Suggestion for the skill development is the crucial. Many of the jobs that will be generated over the next two decades do not exist today; yet most of the workforce of those years is already in education and training, even so, the need to upgrade skill applies not only to young people in schools, universities and training institutions, but also to the current generation of workers.

    If we look at this part at broader level, some major foundational approaches came onto horizon, how we can get prepare ourselves for meeting horizontal and vertical growth of industry in India and their requirements of educated and skilled labor in upcoming 2 decades, According to United Nation, Word population prospects: 2008, Worldwide, the rate of population growth is declining however it is high in some countries and regions; India is part of that segment where it is high.

    HR TRansfoRmaTion is noT a cHoicE

    sachin dabhade

    The aurangabad based author is a leadership development consultant

  • 40

    WORkFORCE TRENdS IN 2k15 ANd BEYONdsaunak Rajguru

    39

    WORKFORCE TRENDS IN 2K15

    AND BEYOND

    saunak Rajguru

    The Bhubaneswar based author is the youngest writer of Ekaaksharas 8th edition. He is currently pursuing his Bachelors of Law in kIIT School of Law.

    2015 promises to be an exciting year for HR professionals, especially while finding the most effective ways to engage and communicate with employees. Yes, the process of optimizing your internal communications is exciting theres always something new to try, even if its a fresh take on an old best practice. And when it leads to better benefits program participation, increased employee satisfaction and a thriving corporate culture, you can feel great about HRs role in boosting the bottom line. Let me first discuss the essence of the workforce analytics and then will have you take a look at some of the trends were seeing in the universe of workforce communications that are shaping the future of the workplace

    The need for workforce analyticsOverall, there is growing recognition that some business problems simply require a people solution and a number of organizations are already actively embracing the potential power of workforce analytics. Beyond these organizations at the forefront of analytics adoption, it appears the HR function is not universally so advanced in its analytics journey. The IBM workforce analytics study revealed wide variation across organizations. While many seem reasonably comfortable with basic reporting and benchmarking (data challenges not withstanding), many organizations appear to be at an early stage in their workforce analytics journey. The good news is, HR professionals starting out along the analytics journey can learn from their peers who are further along. Several capabilities were identified as necessary for success, including building analytics roles and skills, having the right tools and technologies, and maintaining focus on data security and privacy. This is critical when dealing with people data, as it is essential for maintaining employee trust in the organization. with people data, as it is essential for maintaining employee trust in the organization.

    HR Workforce Management Trends When it comes to managing todays workforce, HR teams have their work cut out for them. A diverse employee base, new technologies, a competitive employment marketplace, and the pressure to always do more with less are just a few of the challenges you face. Here are some communication trends youll see this year to help you make the best of your efforts:.

    1. Engaging a Multi-Generational Workforce With Individualized Communications. Today, there are four generations of people hard at work, side-by-side. This makes both creating and delivering important messages a daunting job for even the most savvy communicator, whos learning that individualizing communications is the best way to reach employees and keep their attention. By catering to peoples various communications preferences, from formats to channels, HR leaders move away from one-size-fits-all messaging to bring enhanced relevancy and engage-ability to everyone.

    2. Integrating Employees Work and Non-Work Life. This trend comes from the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, whose research findings put a new spin on the HR goal of helping employees achieve a work/life balance. They expect employers to find innovative ways to use technology (i.e. wearables and smartphones) to help maintain and improve it. This may further blur the boundary

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    WORkFORCE TRENdS IN 2k15 ANd BEYONd WORkFORCE TRENdS IN 2k15 ANd BEYONd

    Finally, it is of utmost importance not to lose sight of the human in Human Resources data analytics. Workforce data is fundamentally about people and decisions informed by data analytics will affect people as much as processes. Organizational leaders will be well served to keep that in mind. As people data become increasingly available and accessible, and as the analysis of those data becomes easier and easier, it is important to recognize the value as well as the limitations of analytics. The true value of workforce analytics lies in its ability to better inform decision makers, it is not about removing the human from the decision making.

    3. Making Messages More Human. Tech Cocktail notes the trend of humanizing employee messaging an their article rather than centering messages around the companys long-terms strategy, communicators are beginning to focus on the people theyre talking to: the people doing the work. One of the advantages to giving employees a voice, they say, is its positive impact on the company culture.

    4- Employees Are Viewed as an Asset, not a Cost CenterDespite increasing healthcare and labor costs expected through 2015 and beyond, profitable organizations have learned that excellent financial returns do not have to come at the expense of the employee. Research shows that employees - especially the front-line, lower wage, hourly workforce -- should be seen as an asset, not as a cost center. As competition tightens, successful organizations will invest more in their workforces to increase employee engagement and create a virtuous cycle that leads to happy customers.

    5- Seismic Shift in Generationa