Sunday, August 24, 2008

ATTRITION


A reduction in the number of employees through retirement, resignation or death is called attrition.
Annual attrition rate in India (2008) is 20-30%. High as 44% in BFSI ( Banking, Financial services and Insurance) and 35% in BPO Industry.
----------- HINDU
Attrition rate – The rate of shrinkage in the size or number in the human resource in a company or in an organization.

Is Attrition always bad?
No, Its benefits an organization when certain employees leave, whose continuation of service would have negatively impacted productivity and profitability of the company. There are also some people who have negative and demoralizing influence on the work culture and team spirit.
The term ‘healthy attrition’ is used to signify the importance of less productive employees voluntarily leaving the organization.
Good attrition minimizes the adverse impact on the business while bad attrition accentuates the loss.
Attrition and women
The high percentage of the females in the workforce (constituting 30-35% of the total), adds to the high attrition rate. Most women leave their jobs either after marriage or social pressure caused by the irregular working hours of the industry.
In trainee batches, when you have 30-40% young women coming together with young men, they get to know each other and get married.
Reasons of Attrition
1. Non-flexible schedules.
2. Non- progressive career path.
3. Aspirations to join more stable company.
4. Social and biological causes.
5. Grown to age and medical problems.
6. Fail to perform the given responsibilities.
7. Love and affection, results to marriage.
How to fight Attrition
1. Use of technology in finding the cause of attrition:- Early Warning System(EWS), utilizes proprietary software that tracks agent behavior and indicates evens such as declining or fluctuating productivity, increased rate of absenteeism, rejection for internal job postings, drop in call quality etc( Attrition Forecasting).
2. Three million students graduate every year out of which only 10% are employable by the BPO Industry. If this number could increased, attrition in BPO would come down.
3. Homemakers to fight attrition: BPO players now switching to non- conventional talent pool to meet its work force expansion needs. These include housewives, retired personnel and physically challenged persons.
4. Campus Ambassador Program: Helps not only in talent sourcing but also in increasing the talent pool.Creating brand equity in the eyes of potential employees and hiring for retaining purpose.
5. Attrition can be reduced by finding ‘right candidate' and building a conductive work environment which will be beneficial.
6. Internally most HR managers are busy putting in efforts on the development of their employees building innovative retention and motivational schemes (which was money oriented so far) and making the environment livelier.
7. Externally the focus is on creating awareness through seminars & going to campus for recruitment.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

RATAN TATA


Ratan Tata
Born: - December 28, 1937
Occupation: - Chairmen of Tata group.
Marital Status: - Never Married.
Parents: - naval and Soonoo Tata.
Dates:-
1971:- Appointed as the Director In charge of the National Radio Electronics Company limited (Nelco).
At that time Nelco had 2% market share and a loss margin of 40%.
1972-75:- Nelco grow eventually to have a market share of 20% and recovered its losses. But
Declaration of emergency by Prime Minister Indra Gandhi and union problems in 1997,
did not let venture to survive.
1977:- Ratan was entrusted with Empress Mills , a textile mill controlled by Tatas. At that time it was one
of the few sick units of Tata group. But competition from less labour- intensive enterprises and
Modern mills made number of companies, including empress mill unviable. So some directors,
Chiefly Nami Palkhivala, took the line that Tatas should liquidate the mill, which was finally closed
in 1986.
1981:- Ratan was named as Chairman of Tata Industries, the groups other holding company.
1991:- He took over as group chairman from JRD Tata. Since then he has been instrumental in reshaping the fortunes of Tata group.
• Today Tata group has the largest market capitalization of any business house on the Indian stock market.
• On Jan 31, 2007, Tata sons acquired Corus group an Anglo-Dutch steel and aluminum producer. The merger created the fifth largest producer of steel in the world.
• Ratan Tata’s dream of manufacturing a car worth Rs 1000000 was launched in New Delhi Auto Expo on Jan 10,2008
• Tata Motors under Ratan Tata bought over Jaguar & Land Rover from Ford Motor Company for $ 1.5 billion ($2.3billion).

Awards
1. On the Occasion of 26th Jan 2000, Ratan Tata was honored with the Padma Bhushan, the third highest decoration that may be awarded to a civilian.
2. On 26th Jan 2008, he was awarded the Padma Vibhusan, the 2nd highest civilian decoration.

Saturday, August 16, 2008

WORK-LIFE IMBALANCE

Work-life balance is a person’s control over the conditions in their workplace. It is accomplished when an individual feels dually satisfied about their personal life and their paid occupation. It mutually benefits the individual, business and society when a person’s personal life is balanced with his or her own job.
And when the situation get reversed, i.e one has no control on his/her life, driven by other forces, get workaholic etc, then one’s life get imbalanced, affecting personal and social life as well as working capacity, what is termed as work-life imbalance.
Imbalance in life and work may occur due to many reasons. It’s not always the employer who makes the life of employee, a hell.
REASONS:
1. The main culprit for the growing gap between work and life is globalization and the "productivity" pressures it's causing that are undermining progressive policies and a focus on equity in the workplace. The meaning of efficiency in present global-economic climate is that involve fewer people doing more work as well as myths and assumptions that characterize 'ideal' workers as those who can work as though they have few or no outside responsibilities outside of paid work.

2. Connectivity technology—e-mails, cell phones, PDA’s and other gadgets— make it easier than ever to keep in touch with goings-on in the office, allowing today’s workforce to save time and be more accessible. However, experts say they have the potential to do more harm than good. These lovely things really make our life hell. These let us attached to our paid work 24x7.

3. Ambitions and Prestige- are the reasons that are created from the employee side itself. It makes an employee workaholic and cut him from the rest of the world. One thinks that he/ she can balance or manage his/ her life after achieving dreams and ambitions but is should not be forgotten that ‘making life balance’ is a slow and continuous process.

4. Money is honey-Last but not the least, employee get paid extra for the extra effort as well as employer get more profits because of extra efforts and sincerity.

7 WAYS TO FIND WORK LIFE BALANCE:

1. ONE LIFE ONE DAY BOOK: Keeping separate calendars can easily lead to conflicts between work tasks and home-life commitments. By scheduling everything in the same place, you're less likely to get confused between your cell calls and sweet song of your daughter or beloved.
2. CAN’T SPARE A WEEK? TAKE AN HOUR: You don't always need an extended vacation to unwind. Instead, set aside an hour each day to enjoy something completely unrelated to work -- a short walk, a workout, or a chapter or two in a book. Quality, not quantity.
3. AUDIT YOUR WEEKLY SCHEDULE: Keep a log of everything you do during the week, from meetings to commuting to watching TV. With a sense of how the scales tip to one side or the other, you'll be better able to re-balance them.
4. PLAN AND PROTECT DOWNTIME: Don't take leisure time for granted. A day in front of the TV is no substitute for a round of golf, a trip to the beach, or a BBQ with friends.
5. KNOW YOUR OPTION: More than ever, new technology is offering employers and employees alike greater flexibility with work schedules. This includes everything from a compressed workweek, to flex hours, job-sharing, and telecommuting.
6. GET YOUR PRIORITIES STRAIGHT: Take the time to decide what's important for you. Then, try devoting your full attention to one thing at a time -- concentrate on work at work and family at home.
7. STOP BEING BOSS EVERYWERE: Entrepreneurs tend to be control freaks. That can be good for business, but bad for downtime. Whether it's paying the bills or organizing a trip, why not let family and friends run the business of your life every now and then?


CONCLUSION:
Seals don't balance balls on their noses for fun; they do it for fish. People don't try to achieve work/life balance for fun; they do it to survive. This means that balancing life with our paid work is not a fun or makes our life easier but it creates a path for us on whom we can schedule our whole responsibilities, likes, dislikes, hobbies etc on the same way. In fact balancing a life with work is itself a tough job.