After months of waiting for an interview call, my laid off friend finally landed up for one, with a reputed IT Services company in India - for a position and job profile that seemed to be an exact match for his credentials.
Post an hours discussion with the interviewer which apparently went extremely well they duo also talked about the compensation and the new job profile. The session concluded with the interviewer assuring him that he would receive a final call within the next two days.
Promptly my friendly mailed a Thank You letter within hours of the interview. After waiting for the 2 longest days of his life, he had not heard from the company yet. Worried over the sudden silence, he posted another e mailer to the HR early next day - only get a one line response
"Will let you know"
While one can argue that this might just be a one off response from aninsensitive HRguy or more seriously a reflection of the attitude that certain HR folks carry against those laid off . Whatever the case, it is indeed a sad state of affairs considering the great bloodshed that's taking place in the job market today.
It might be apt for HR folks fortunate to be on duty to observe that research studies ( by DDI) have clearly shown that candidates who have had a bad ( or cold) interview experience could easily put off other potentials and impact your company image as a preferred employer. Its a typical case when the interviewer fails the interview!
In a recent conference call with HR Folks in a company - a unanimous decision was taken not to hire Laid Off Employees from the market - The general opinion being that the profiles available today lack in "quality" and hence hiring laid off candidates would be really risky.
Would this be the right way to brand Laid Off workers? Would that also mean that those laid off are not worthy of a consideration?
Are there any laws that can protect these workers in the event of such a bias?
It would be interesting to know if any of you too have specific policies for hiring laid off employees?
I also posted the same question on Linkedin and got some really interesting( and emotional) responses! Check out the Linkedin post here....
The long-term success of any company depends heavily upon the quality and loyalty of its people. Few corporate executives would disagree with this idea conceptually.
More often than not, we have seen companies (especially the traditional ones) stress on Loyalty as an important value that employees need to imbibe. We have seen people spend a major part of their work life for a sole employer spanning over 3 to 4 decades. We have seen firms rewarding these employees through Lifetime achievement and Longest Player awards. We have seen them take up mentorship roles and act as the ones who will help in the inheritance of culture to the next generation of workers. They are the ones who have been with the company during the good and the bad times. They are the true loyalists – to be revered for their wisdom and the labour that they put in helping their company grow.
Ironically we have also seen that when bad times set in, these loyalists are the first in line to be shown the door! Firms that had been basking in the glory of the good times suddenly start talking about enhancing ‘productivity’ and reducing ‘unnecessary expenses’ (cost optimization) which had till recently been a mandate only on paper.
And it is also true that most employers treat the economic value of employees in enhancing customer relationships and company profits as "soft" numbers, unlike the "hard" numbers they use to manage their operations, such as the cost of labor.
So, Does Loyalty really matter these days?
Perhaps not if Loyalty is defined in its traditional sense.Times have changed dramatically and so has the relationship between employers and employees. Mostly these relationships remain transactional – “I would do this for you and you would reward me for what I do – nothing more nothing less”.
Perhaps this sort of an agreement is reached upon the very first day of appointment – when the candidate (or prospective employee) has already decided that he/she plans to stay with the organization for X years only – and the employer too who is well aware of this – plans and schemes things only for this X years that would be available to squeeze the maximum out of the employee. The burgeoning Job market has also meant that Loyalty derived from years of toil is today being transformed into mere commitment of a few years.
In light of such a transactional agreement, there are no chances of breeding loyalty. With the umpteen number of employment opportunities available these days, loyalty is not a necessary value that employees need to have – just minimum compliance to the rules and do what is required to gain the maximum out of the employer!( in terms of compensation, benefits and rewards).Moreover we are seeing the end of the lifetime contract with employers and the emergence of a generation who are more loyal to their careers than to their employers.
Hence there is fairness in the view of employers taking such a stand.
Loyalty, Performance and Profitability
Though Loyalty as a value is to be cherished – in a world riddled with competition – Loyalty without performance can do more harm than good. That would mean harboring those who refuse to leave their employer but at the same time are not being significant contributors to the growth of the organization. Loyalty then becomes a double-edged sword for employers! Some studies have shown that Loyalties' link to profitability, but most of these theories remain inconclusive and difficult to measure. More often these loyalists are the first causalities of a layoff.
It is essential to know that Loyalty is not a Either/Or proposition. Loyalty has to be mutual and not one way.
"Employees can give their employers 100 percent and provide great performance while furthering their own careers," says Joyce Gioia of The Herman Group, a consultancy based in Greensboro, North Carolina "The two aren't mutually exclusive," especially when the skills that a person masters to further her own career are also what the company needs.
Matching Employee Aspirations to Company Goals
A key action would be strike a balance between the aspirations of employees and the needs of the organization. Most often employees feel that they have been betrayed by their employers by being refused a desired position or role. Whereas the employers are themselves constrained by the fact that they cannot satisfy every employee aspiration without significantly compromising on its own objectives.Its also vital that employees are communicated on why certain of their aspirations cant be met. This would bring a lot of things to the right perspective of those who are discontented. And every measure must be taken to ensure that such discontent is nipped at its bud. Remember these words of wisdom....
The best kind of loyalty is when both parties are benefiting.
— Scott Brooks, Gantz Wiley Research
Build Relationships not Contracts
The world today is filled with contracts and agreements. Even personal relationships are based on Contracts with several strings attached. Though these contracts are good in the short run to achieve certain objectives, they rarely materialize into meaningful lifelong relationships.
Employers would have to go out of the way to gain employees' trust which will ultimately breed Loyalty - just as they would do with their own customers. Treating them as reliable, trustworthy and responsive individuals- who spend a good amount of their "awake" time working for mutual benefit (of himself and the organisation )- would do a lot in building employee loyalty.
Remember, healthy relationships last longer and don't carry an expiry date!
Reward Loyalty - Show You Care
Rewarding Loyalty is one of the easiest ways to reinforce desirable values in the organization. Such recognition should be made in public. Apart from the generic rewards that get doled out as " Longest Player Award" or "Lifetime Achievement Award", it would also be desirable to praise them for their specific performances and achievements over the years.As an employer, one should place "Loyalty with Performance" as the most rewarded value of the organization.
One Final Word:
There's no doubt that for employers, committed, loyal and hardworking employees are their best asset. By learning how to retain high-value employees, you and your entire workforce can focus more on the overall success of your business.
In spite of the adverse market conditions in the last couple of quarters ( Lay offs, retrenchments, cuts on salaries and incentives, compulsory unpaid leave doing their rounds etc.) India Inc, seems to have fared better than most other countries; as per the study done by Kenexa Consulting. Read more here.....
Finally, the austirity drive of the Government has reached where everyone expected it to reach. India Inc.
Mr. Salman Khurshid, the Minister for Corporate Affairs has advised India Inc. to refrain from doling out "vulgar" salaries to CEOs.
Sadly, the ministers' lack of understanding and appreciation of the market forces was clear when he said, "Remuneration should commensurate with the qualifications of the individuals (CEOs i.e) and the time they spent". Ironically, the minister seems to allot the same eligibility criterion as he would do for a government servant. ( where performance and value additions do not have any say on their salaries).
The view refers to the Employee First initiative by Indian Software giant HCL Technologies which according to Vineet Nayar ( CEO & President - HCL Technologies) is "empowering and pointing the way to the future of Business".
We have heard almost all business leaders at some point say "Employees are our greatest asset" which is often not backed by sufficient action. More often Customer Satisfaction takes priority over Employee Satisfaction. And more so that there have been very few research studies ( at least in India) which have focused on the link between the two.
Though the link between Employee Satisfaction and Productivity/ Profits seems like common sense, some Research have also shown contradictory results leading us to believe that though satisfied employees can lead to better financial health; good financial results may NOT necessarily mean satisfied employees. Hence the corollary of " Satisfaction leading to Productivity" may not always be true.
A study by Gallup( with a Retail Store Chain) has made some interesting revelations on the link between Employee Engagement and Profits. The study statistically proves that engaged employees are key to greater productivity and customer engagement, and, by extension, higher profits.The Gallup Organisation states that companies with engaged staff have 38% higher customer satisfaction, 22% higher productivity and up to 27% higher profits.
"The dual focus on employees and customers was generally accepted as correct. All of the strategies had their conceptual foundation in the "employee-customer profit chain," a business model popularized in the early 1990s that maintains that better employees make for happier customers, both of which drive profits.
Ongoing customer research shows that stores with engaged employees also earn consistently higher scores for customer satisfaction and loyalty than their lesser engaged counterparts. A positive customer experience, in turn, drives sales and profits. In 2001, for example, stores in the top half of customer loyalty generated ₤3.4 million more in sales each year, and ₤1 million more in profits than stores in the bottom half. "
Hence the argument that Employee Satisfaction ( or more recently Engagement) does affect the bottom line has to be largely accepted to be true and companies may need to take extra efforts to keep their workforce highly engaged with the larger picture (of Profits) in mind.
In recent times there have been two notable publications about employee engagement, which prove beyond all doubt the economic case for creating engaged employees. These two reports are included here for you to download.
