Listening to India’s HR Professionals
Human resource professionals in India are pretty similar to their American counterparts and HR professionals around the globe. They care very much about the ability of the workforce to be successful. And they struggle to get senior leaders to prioritize specific strategies that need to be addressed.
I have spent the last week in India, meeting with HR professionals with titles such as Manager- Employee Relations; Inclusion Lead; Chief Strategic HR, and HR Director. They shared stories about how the fast evolving economy is creating a very competitive landscape to retain top talent. The Mercer study highlighted that finding the skills and expertise in developing countries was a CEO imperative to meet the growing opportunities for multinational organizations. The HR folks agree, and would add retention as equally as important.
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Mindfulness: A Competitive Strategy at Work
I have recently become familiar with the practice of “mindfulness.” Now before you tune out (or skip to the next post) because this sounds too new age-ish (well I did live 10 years in Boulder), consider the potential mindfulness holds for the workplace. According to Workforce.com, employers are losing billions of dollars a year to lost productivity caused by multitasking. That’s billions. With a “B.”
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“Home for the Holidays” or Skype?
It is that time of the year when your employees can be expected to spend time (virtually or in-person) with family such as older loved ones. Employers that provide company-sponsored adult/elder care and caregiving resources to their employees should not miss this window of time to communicate. From now through the first quarter on 2013, employees are getting an up close (for many, annual) look at how well older loved ones are faring.
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Shubh Diwali or Happy Diwali
Those of you with employees and business associates in India should be mindful that this week is Diwali. Also known as Deepavali in South- India, it celebrates the victory of Good over Evil and Light over Darkness. Diwali lasts over five days and generally falls sometime around October and November. The actual dates get calculated annually using the Hindu Luni-Solar calendar. Make no mistake, it is a big deal!
Diwali stands for “row of lights” and is referred to as the Festival of Lights. It is marked by family activities together and public display of lights and fireworks. Many companies in India start a new accounting year or launch new business ventures to coincide with these date as it marks the beginning of the Hindu New Year.
So take a moment and wish your Indian based employees “Happy Diwali” or “Shubh Diwali”. We plan to recognize the week and thank our employees there for making a difference in the lives of children and families in child care we operate on behalf of our clients. With literally millions of people celebrating this holiday, it is essential that organization recognizes its importance in the lives of our increasingly global workforces. So check out Diwali, and reach out this week.
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Work and Family – October a Month to Acknowledge
This month, organizations are pausing to acknowledge the incredible contribution families make to support the economy by enabling individuals to show up to work- every day. And it is officially an act of congress that we acknowledge this contribution.
The National Work and Family Month kicked off on October first, with a lot of chatter in the blogosphere. The Alliance for Work Life Progress AWLP created a blogfest by partnering with The Huffington Post to provide a platform for digital conversation and to raise awareness of work-life challenges and encourage employers to get involced in National Work & Family Month.
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How to Build a Child Care Center: The Weill Cornell Story
If you’re a highly skilled researcher or scientist and thinking about an exciting job, raising a family, and working in New York City, Weill Cornell is the place to be. The renowned medical college has recently announced the development of a full-service child care center for its employees that will be located near its Manhattan campus, providing high-quality child care for the growing number of professionals who work there.
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Generational Differences in What We Want from Work…
Recently I had the opportunity to be on a college campus consulting with a client in the northeast. The campus was full of incoming freshman having orientation while sitting on the grass in small groups in the bright sunshine. My first thought was, “Wow, they are so young.” And my second thought (after listening in on some of the conversations led by equally young “upper classmen”) was, “Boy- they sure are smart.”
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Global Work/Life Efforts: A Benefits Strategy
How do companies support employees, who live and work outside of the US, to manage their work/life responsibilities? Many HR leaders are beginning to hear from senior leaders about this question and some organizations have taken very interesting steps to seek answers. But how to begin?
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Well-Being: The Same in Any Language
Congratulations to Workplace Options, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary contributing to the work/life industry.
So How Are We Doing With This Work/Life Idea?
As a part of this celebration, they commissioned a poll to take a pulse on how employees feel about the progress of and access to work/life supports. The findings show a mixed bag: 45% reported increased access to flexibility, 43% noted that their employer offers more health and wellness resources compared to the start of their career. And 28% said employer-sponsored work-life benefits have increased over the past five years despite a faltering economy.
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It’s Time to Broaden Our Approach to Employee Engagement
Bravo Dr. Juniper! You are so right about how much employers lose when they focus on engagement and not employee well-being.
Engagement surveys (like employee opinion surveys) give organizations valuable insights on how the employee feels about their work and their employer. But that is just one part of an individual, and typically organizations want the whole person to show up to work.
So what else is there?
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