Very important to motivate workforce
rates and increase productivity. Maulik Chandarana tells you how
companies can achieve this.
Google offers free food for employees, allows dogs into their premises,
and believe it or not, they even have goats at their headquarters to mow
the lawn! While not every company does it like Google, the key point is
having happy and motivated people who are more productive.
Today, motivation is not restricted to monetary compensations alone.
It has become an everyday function that needs organisations to be on
their feet. It may be as trivial as providing green tea on the house along
with regular coffee or identifying why a seemingly good employee is
working overtime.
Here's a look into how employee sentiments are being peppered from
time to time with initiatives that maintain morale and enthusiasm.
It starts with active listening...
"Listening is the first step towards gauging employee sentiment so
appropriate actions can take place," says Sunita Gyanchandani, assistant
manager-HR, Vodafone India. But 'listening' is not restricted to hearing
and responding to issues when they are spoken of. It extends to keeping
one's eyes open as well. Often there are unvoiced concerns, silently
reflected in employee action and behaviour, which need to be effectively
pinned and addressed. "Listening is about investing time to garner data both
for responsive as well as proactive actions. It allows efforts to be directed in
bringing teams together and ensuring that they feel respected, valued and
more importantly, heard," explains Gyanchandani.
Padma Venkatram, an employee at a leading investment bank in Mumbai
says, "Good policies and good governance stem from the fact that the
management listens. A place like mine, where every single thing an
employee says or does is valued, keeps me going."
Eat, play and work!
'Eat, play and work!' seems to be the mantra across the board that's driving
productivity. Apeksha Chaudhary, senior marketing manager, DY Works,
agrees, "In addition to good salaries and monetary perks, stress-busters like
inhouse games and activities, foosball tables and a well-stocked pantry helps.
We also get to interact with colleagues and know them better. This brings
about a significant transformation during serious work."
Building trust
Trust is to ensure that the company remains one of the best places to start
and build a career in the marketplace. Often, reasons for quitting or
dissatisfaction at work can be linked to deficit of trust and lack of cordial
relations among peers as well as seniors and subordinates.
Interestingly, many employees also do not know 'Why am I doing what I
am doing?' A critical goal is to get employees in tune with the company's
vision statement and assist them in envisioning their growth.
With a view to create a culture of trust, friendship and also inject company
values into employees, initiatives like offsite meets, pushing for employee
participation in CSR initiatives or sports events in teams, engagement events
like outings and dinners, internal interactions, etc are commonplace. To boot,
appreciation helps as well. "I am a new employee. Yet, appreciation for my
work flows freely. I can see that it is not to make me comfortable as a new
entrant but is a part of the culture," shares Aabeer Choudhury, a radio
channel employee.
Quite simply, the number of 'motivated faces' is directly proportional to the
output of a company. Needless to say, any organisation worth its salt
knows this well.
