Training and Development

HR Talk

Train to get out the best

Training is preliminarily bringing a change. Even development is also bringing the change. So what will happen when an employee is changed but the atmosphere is still idle without any change? Here is where, we should examine the money we spend on and the effort our department put towards individual development.   

Some of the Organisations have created a scenario in Oman and in some other GCC countries, which is not that much suitable to the working environment. In this practice, training for employees is a token given to them to fly to New York, Malaysia or outside the country and enjoy the star hotel stay as well as good food and be away from work atmosphere for two three days.  

This approach is somehow OK, if the organization is considering it is thus and rewarding employee through that way. But this approach is not fulfilling the actual aim behind the training and development activities. Training and Development activities are core for an organization as it plays a vital role in the progress of the company and increasing turn over.

Most of the organizations take training as a section in HR and some organization as independent. But almost all organization, especially in Oman, doesn’t have an idea on how training and development is related to the sales turn over. That is why some think that training is an expense, and not as an investment. We can trace it like this.

We identify one position in the plan as this position is very much important and eventually we make a Job Descriptions for the post which will include the experience and qualifications required for the position. As we feel difficulty to hire a person with 100% specification mentioned in Job Description, we try to adjust and satisfy with a 70% candidate. Here, the full fledged performance of this candidate will only produce 70% of the required performance. So in performance appraisal, we understand that this employee is having difficulty to perform his duties because of his available qualifications and experience. As part of Training Need Analysis (TNA) we identify, in what are all the areas, this employee needed to be improved. These areas are identified and his acquired caliber in that specific area is measured and further training is suggested and implemented for this employee.

Now come to the result. This employee has undergone a training programme and it has given him a wider understanding on the subject and he began to implement in his daily work. This has resulted in an increasing the performance from 70 % to 85 percent. So thus training brings good results. Once his performance is up to the expectation, the company will have the desired result. The desired result will definitely be seen in the turnover.

We will further explain this with an example. A young marketing salesman is working with a computer supply company. His target is RO.1 Million sale per month. He is very good in writing and talking Arabic. But week in English both written and spoken. This created a big issue for him to go and visit the non Arab purchase managers of different companies. He is sure, once he master English, he can bring another 50% business thus he can meet or cover his target. While analyzing the manager has to understand his difficulty and plan for his English Training. The company spent RO.250 and sent the salesman for one month long English course. After the evaluation, once again he sent to the next level of English course until he started talking English fluently.

Here the evaluation comes. To understand whether training was useful or not, just to check his business. By this he was able to penetrate the Non Arab market and thus sales increased by 50%. So the result is obvious. Company had an expense of only 500 RO to increase a sale of .5 million RO. So the Return on Investment (ROI) is very high in this area.

While we take marketing salesman it is easy as the result is before us. But it is not related to marketing field only. It can be for any department and any section in the company though it is not as visible as a front end salesman.

Servant Leadership

HR Talk

Leadership: ‘Be a servant of your Subordinate’

It was a Friday and I was in my holiday mood enjoying a sleep after early Morning Prayer. Around 8 am my mobile rang. It shows that Managing Director of the company calling me. Surprisingly I myself adjusted my throat, not to feel him any uncomfortable while talking, and attended the call. He was just asking me whether I am at home, and if I am free whether I could come to the office as he needs my service at office. It was a little bit annoying that I couldn’t complete my sleep as my target was up to 9. But feeling his own commitment to be present at office 8 am on Friday, I agreed to reach 9 am after refreshing myself.

He came to my cabin and sat before me explaining the work I should do for him. I started working in my computer and he became busy with emergency works. In between he was coming to me asking about the progress in work. I continued working as there was lot of reference needed to complete the report he asked to do. And I was convinced about the emergency of the document; otherwise he would never disturb anybody on holidays.

The he disappeared for some time. I thought he might be gone out for any urgent matter and I continued working on the document. Suddenly he appeared before me with two cups of tea. He offered one to me. Alas! He has made himself a tea for me. I asked him like that. “Why you did like this, if you have told me I would have made it for you”.  His reply was like this. “It is common; I wish to have a tea. So I thought to make one myself. As you are working here, I thought I will make one for you as well, I don’t want to you to break your work, because the work is important”.

We may get into these kinds of leaders very rarely. They might have making tea themselves, but will not make one for their subordinate. Most of them think that if they do like this, it is a shameful action. So they prefer not to do this. Also think about managers coming to the cabin of the employee and discussing with them the issues. It is advisable as employees feel more comfortable in their seats than being in Manager’s room.

What was the output of this incident? It really helped to increase my respect towards my Managing Director and I became more committed to him and his organization in total. The more the managers are simple the more the respect they will gain. If they are arrogant and questioning always, the respect the manager getting may probably be a physical one, not mental. The employee will respect you and will show respect towards you by keeping hatred upon you deep inside his heart.

I don’t know, Mohammed, the owner and Managing Director of a well known Department stores and hypermarket chain across UAE and Oman, did attend the workshop on ‘Servant Leadership’ an idea put forward by Robert K Greenleaf in Seventies and recently gained momentum. But whenever I read about Greenleaf’s servant leadership theory I remember Mohammed, the true leader.

I have heard from other staff, when they ask one day off because of sickness, he used to ask about the details of the sickness and suggest the best doctor to be consulted. For most of the staff, he was a solace before whom they can tell their grievances, personal issues and seek remedies. Besides, some of the staff told me that he used to invite them to have dinner with him and he was the person who serves them, though there were a lot of servants and housemaids.

May be the history will go back, when I read about prophet Mohammed, peace be upon him, quoted telling that ‘ the leader of the people should be their servant’ and he used to walk at the end side of the caravan while travelling in order to attend and serve the weak person and encourage them.

The following were the specifications of the servant leader put forward by Greenleaf:  Listening, motivation, empathy, healing, awareness, persuasion, conceptualization, foresight, stewardship and commitment towards the development of the subordinate both professional and spiritual way.

Study shows that ‘servant leadership’ can produce better result than conventional autocratic leadership.  Are we really ready for challenge?

Flexible Working Hours

HR Talk

All about Flexible working hours

Salman was speeding the car. The speed of the car has crossed 120 and has reached around 140 as he is eagerly looking upwards to nearby radar cameras to apply brake so that to escape from catching by camera and thus fined by the traffic police.  

Why Salman driving fast like this? For he was late to office and his office timing starts by 8.00am and he will be reaching the office only by 8.15. That means he is late by 15 minutes. As per the policy of the company if somebody is late by 15 minutes for three days, it will lead to a salary cut of half day. Salman is not much bothered about the salary deduction, but he rather fear his managers blaming on him for not becoming punctual. And he will start advising him right and left by bla bla bla…..He will take minutes and hours to advise him for being late by 15 minutes.

For Salman, it was not intentional. He was on his time table as usual. Wake up the same time. When he finished his bath and came out of the bathroom and was wearing the dress, suddenly he felt a small pain on his abdomen as outcome of a stomach upset. He had to go to the bathroom again and it took around 15-20 minutes to come out of the bathroom. Now he understood that he has become late and his manager will not be sparing him.

The moment tension starts. He was not able to enjoy the breakfast prepared by his beloved wife for him. At once he took it and his mood was not good. When he entered the car, he was tensed and was thinking about the office and manager’s approach of that day, about the lecture on punctuality and the spoilt day.  Not wishing to hear his manager’s lecture, he started speeding the car to cover up 15 minutes that lost in the bathroom.

On the road, he just narrowly escaped from two three accidents as he was not concentrated in driving because of the tension he is having as he is late. His heart was pumping and his pressure was rising to further extend and he himself was feeling uncomfortable. Finally he reached 13 minutes late, but he saved 2 minutes because of the fasting and the journey was full of tensions. For his best luck, his manager was also late by 20 minutes that day.

Why we should be that strict on timing? Is punctuality is that much an appreciated quality these time? What is the actual meaning of punctuality? Is it being on time? Can it be before the time as well? If it is before the time, how much before?  If you reach for an appointment 15 or 20 minutes before is it appreciable? Or if you are late by 15 minutes is it admirable? So punctuality means, not much before, not much after it should be on time.

Do this concept is still much valid? Because, you anticipate traffic block in your way and start half an hour earlier. But fortunately there is no traffic block and you reach well before the time.  You cannot meet somebody half hour before the appointment.

Now a days, where unpredictable blocks can hinder our journey or block us from reaching the office on time, it should be treated in a fair way. For this purpose Flexible working hours is a good option to adopt by companies.

I was not aware even about this concept until I heard in 2007 when Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), appointed a new HR head who brought this flexible working hours concept there in the company. As an HR professional, who is keen to know the changes in the areas, I was really attracted to this concept.

It operates like this. The office time will start by 8.00am and will end by 4.00pm. But employees can utilize flexible hours as they can come and swipe their card in between 8.00am-9.00am any time and they can leave any time in between 4.00pm-5.00pm once they complete 8 hours at the office. This was well accepted and admired by the HR professionals around the region as it brought big easiness to the employees.

Now, think about Salman’s company implemented flexible working hours. Salman is only 15 minutes late because of the unexpected stomach ache. He can come to the company and can report 8.15 or even 8.20 without any tensions. No salary deduction will happen; no manager will blame him or lecture on him. He need not to be tensed or no need to speed that may cause dangerous mishaps in his life.

Now why don’t we think about flexible working hours????

Mould your website

HR Talk

Mould your website

‘What is the purpose of having a website for a company’?

One of the senior executive of a company asked me. 

‘To propagate your company and to let people know about your product and services, so that attracts them to your company’. Immediately I replied with a questioning eye sensing the strangeness in the question.

‘Then they will contact you either by email, telephone and any other mode, right?’

‘Yes, that is the idea behind the website, it is an additional advertisement and comparatively cheaper’ I replied.

‘Then, whey these people are not providing their contact details on their websites?’

I further astonished.

This is a real case scenario that I have faced a lot of times before in my professional life. I used to search for some companies, when I was able to find out their websites, some of them didn’t have the contact details on the website. So what happened? I couldn’t contact them. They lost the business. I was able to find somebody else as there were enough competitors in the market. Let me say still competitor as we are waiting the wonders of ‘blue ocean strategies’.

When designing your website there should be some simple and important things to be noticed.

·         It should give overall picture of your company: The website is a prime source for many people to know about your company, its who is who, it nature of business, the mode of venture, the people behind it, the products, the services etc

·         It should provide all the updates about your company: The website, if possible to be updated daily. If no, at least monthly. Keeping a website without updating for months and years is not at all good as it will spread a lot of wrong information about your company

·         It is prestigious: The website is a hint to know that how professional your company is. The design, the spreading, the details, the language, the updates all give the on looker a clear message about your company

·         Website is a detailed advertisement: There are time limitations in TV and radio advertisements. TV and radio will tell you the amount you should spend for seconds. Newspaper will tell you the amount you should spend for the space. Website is a detailed advertisement, where you can tell all what you want to tell the public in which you detail each and every aspect of your company.

·         Those who need looks into it: unlike TV, Radio and newspaper advertisement, all will not look into the advertisements. The audience of a TV or reader of a newspaper may skip your advertisement as they are not the target audience of your product. But those who are looking into the website are really your target audience who really wish to know about your company and its products and services. So we should spend something better on the websites to keep it updated and detailed

·         Don’t ever do a website for name sake: I have seen some website address on some FMCG products and when entered to the website, it shown, ‘under construction’ for many years. So if you want put a www.xyz.com  a mere web address in your address part, to show that you have a website, or you misunderstand that it is inevitable in modern signature part, it is wrong. Website is an indication that you have a website and you will get further information about us from website. So when somebody enter to your site and he is not having anything from there means, you deprive yourself before the public.

·         Don’t ever miss ‘About us’ and ‘Contact us’. These two parts are very important in your website as it gives the user a clear picture about those who endeavored the company and a notion that somebody can contact you. If you are not providing these details mean that you don’t want customers to contact you.

·         It should be easy to open: I have seen many companies having wonderful and colorful websites. But some of them have used a lot of flash player and music to keep their standards up. Flash players normally slow the operation which will result testing the patience of the onlooker until he close it down. Also adding music to a website is not at all advisable. Because, people may be peeping to your website from offices or from anywhere and the music from your site is an unwanted guest. I have closed a lot of sites only because they have music while opening it.

·         Have an attractive but simple design: The design should be attractive, no doubt. But business entities and user-friendly websites should not use dark colors as it will affect the stay online. Dark colors will probably have more effects on your eyes and you wish to close the window down.

·         New windows and pop ups: I have seen a lot of websites, when we click to further service, it will go to another window or pop ups. The best way to keep the customer in place is provide maximum on the same page and it is not a difficulty for the visitor to go back and front as far as the buttons available for that purpose. I have stopped looking into many sites, only because they do have a lot of pop ups and new pages.

At the end, let me conclude like this. If you have a website, treat it well. Or better close it down. Nobody will blame you for not having a website.

HR Talk- Manage the Talent

HR Talk

Retaining the talent

Recently one of my friends forwarded to me a mail. It was a small story that portrays the conversation of a camel to its kid.  The kid is asking to the camel: Mom, why we do have this much strong eyelids? The Camel replies: It is to protect our eyes from sand storms. Kid: Why we do have our teeth like this? Mom: Because we eat the thorny bushes of desert and we are desert ships. Kid: Why we do have a back where a lot of water can be stored? Mom: because we are living in deserts and it is difficult to find out water sources in desert, so by this storage humps on our back, we manage our food needs. Kid: then, for what we do have this much big foot? Mom: Because we are walking through the sands, and we need to strengthen our steps in order to move. Finally the kid is asking like this: “what is the use of all this as we are in the zoo?

Yes, it is a good question. What is the use of its super eyelashes, stretched feet, strong teeth and sturdy mouth and storage humps, while it is kept in the cage in a zoo, where it will get food and water whenever needed and no threat of storm or sands while walking. Likewise what is the use of your skills and capabilities when you are in a company where you are spoon-fed and no one caring about your talents?

The prime reason for not able to retain the employees is absence of “family feeling” in the company. Most of the companies don’t engage employees with extracurricular activities and to opportunities to mingle with. Thus employees working in the companies will have ‘colleagues’, but no ‘friends’. Because, they are not getting time to understand each other and to understand the situation what his colleague faces. In the team building activities, and grouping activities, companies should involve employees in these kinds of activities and should encourage casual visits to others home during weekends. During the celebrations and occasions like marriage and joy of employees, top position holders should attend it and make the employee feel that he is important to the company.

The compensation and benefits are the best way to retain employees without any doubts. But I have seen a lot of employees are not thinking about changing their company as they are happy with the atmosphere and the workers in the company are as their relatives those who are caring each other. While the other side, if they were thinking to move, they could have been paid better.

What is your policy behind attracting and keeping the talented people motivated with your company? If we ask this question to many a companies of the region, the answer is a big silence. Most of the region’s top most companies have no policy in employee retention as well as they lack most of the modern best HR practices.

At least some of them think that, paying money right and left is the best way to hold employees. Perhaps, it may not. Because, if an employee feel restlessness at his work place, that will be the first hint that he is not happy with his work even though he is paid a high salary.

Above the compensation and benefits, employee should have a ‘family feeling’ when he enter to the country. When an employee feels that I am inevitable part of the company and contributing for the benefit of the company, he feels satisfaction. So companies should ensure that all employees are contributing to the company in one way or another, and this idea should be cascaded to all the employees that their service has brought drastic changes in the performance of the company. This feeling will force employee to stick with the company further and to think about how much more he can contribute to the company. Loyalty will increase when people get recognized their effort and get respected by the company or its high authorities.

A study brought forward that most of the employees using their only 30-40 percentage of caliber for the sake of the company. The rest either is idle or utilising for extracurricular activities. A company through their vigilant managers should be able to identify these calibers and take appropriate measures, to utilize the caliber of the employees in a manner that will benefit the company in total. A recent study of exit interviews found that money was not the reason good talent was leaving. They wanted to be part of a worthwhile enterprise, be influential in decision-making, and create and contribute to mutually agree upon objectives.

Health is a gift

Health is a gift from the God. The slight changes in our health condition will decide whether we are healthy or unhealthy. Physical health is very much needed for your mental health as well. With a weak body you cannot be productive either by wisdom or by physically.  So what is health?

Health is the level of functional and metabolic efficiency of a living being. In humans, it is the general condition of a person in mind, body and spirit, to be free from illness, injury or pain. The World Health Organization (WHO) defined health in its broader sense in 1946 as "a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity."

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I have prepared a small book on this subject with the following content. Those who interested to read please email me at rmagribi@gmail.com, will be sending to you a pdf copy of the same.

Content

1.       Health is a gift by God (1)

2.       Needed healthy equations in one body (2)

a)       Body Pulse

b)       Body Temperature

c)       Respiratory Ratio

d)       Blood Pressure

e)       Cholesterol

f)        Sugar

3.       Human Body Specifications (7)

4.       Look before  you leap (11)

a)       Neat & Cleanliness

b)       Food preparation

c)       Expired foods

d)       Precautions regarding diseases

e)       Healthy way for kids

5.       Healthy Life (16)

a)       Wight & Height comparison

b)       Table comparison

c)       Less weight problems

d)       How to increase weight

e)       Over weight problems

f)        How to lose weight

6.       Daily food needed (20)

a)       The calories

b)       Needed calories for daily life

c)       Needed water as per body weight

d)       Table of calories in fruits

7.       Healthy life and Healthy food habits (24)

a)       Food habits

b)       Different foods

c)       Junk foods

d)       Timing of the food- how many times

e)       Fruits and vegetables

f)        White and red meats

g)       Tin and canned foods

8.       Exercise and be healthy (30)

a)       Yoga

b)       Swimming

c)       Jogging

d)       Martial arts