Recently the HBR referred to “the organization of your dreams.” It talked of a company where individual differences are nurtured; information is not suppressed or spun; the company adds value to employees, rather than merely extracting it from them.

Simple enough to articulate but seemingly difficult to execute! Today’s companies are so focused on their quarterly bottom lines and valuations that long term employee relationships seem to be a glaring casualty. 

It is time for HR to stand up and be counted.  To have a permanent seat at the CXO table.  This will happen when they can demonstrate the long term effects of creating an organization culture where people see that their personal growth is aligned to the company’s vision.  When they feel that what they do is worthwhile not just for the company top and bottom lines but because of the socio-economic impact that their company’s business has. 

A number of short and long term metrics need to be monitored for this to happen.  We need to examine our methodology for measuring employee satisfaction.  Are we asking the right questions?  Questions that can sensitively measure people’s attitudes to their work and their company’s impact?  We then need to study the correlation between company performance and the newly defined employee satisfaction to gain insight into the inter-dependence of these two variables. 

So how do we arrive at sensitive measures of employee satisfaction that are data driven?  The starting point is employee transactional data and the insight that they afford us.  In terms of attrition, reasons for separation, growth trends in compensation relative to economic indicators and performance trends.  Maintaining dashboards and correlating these to periodic, well-designed employee sat surveys is the cornerstone of understanding how people can become the bridge between an organization’s ambition and its performance.  It has the added benefit of bringing your company closer to being the organization of its employees’ dreams.

Well, whatever your reason from steering clear of interns, you ought to rethink. Interns can do more good, than bad. They bring in fresh perspective at low costs. Besides, it’s a great chance to help someone be an efficient employee.

So, how to go about it?

• Definite Job Description: This is especially critical for interns as it provides a legal frame work, & if you are looking at unpaid internship, apart from the mandate that your company cannot benefit from the intern, there’re other strict guidelines to qualify. The best is a paid internship which is flexible and offers a wide range of candidates while they add value to your business.

• Begin from the Beginning: Clearly define the work, address dress codes, iPod Volume, start times, TMI conversation etc. to maintain a healthy working relationship. Remember your time as a novice? Now, Empathize!

• Assign Real Projects: The purpose of an internship is to provide the candidate a working-knowledge of business. Involve them positively in the on-going projects. Take them on a sales call or assign them tasks they can independently handle. Introduce them to clients, so your clients won’t anticipate perfection every time.

• Do Not Guarantee Only Interesting Work: Every work encompasses an interesting aspects and non-interesting “chores”. So, mix it with filing and other boring yet necessary stuff to give them a hang of it. They need to get used to it too, if they are getting paid!

• Give Feedback: It is important to tell the interns precisely what is good & what wasn’t. Be constructive so as to help them improve & avoid being finicky. Remember, they are new and here to learn.

• Best Grades Do Not Matter: What you really want is someone who’s interested. Grades do not guarantee that. So, look for enthusiastic and proactive students. If they have good grades, it is a bonus!

• Reference: For an intern his or her direct manager would be the best reference they could get. So, you would have to be honest and tell them whether they are good or bad. However, do not “grade” them on par with your experienced employees. Do give them the benefit of doubt.

Exit interviews are common in every organization. The minute an employee puts up his or her papers, an exit interview is scheduled. This is essential, as the outgoing employees, who stand the least chance of losing, give an honest and clear opinion of the organization. It would range from infrastructure to work ethos, compensation and job responsibilities. An HR asks open questions, with the intention of better understanding what is good or bad with the organization and to improvise the process on the whole and try to curtail future attrition rates.

Experts are of the opinion that such interviews should aim at acquiring a comprehensive impression of the organization ethos, Managerial deficiencies, HR policies etc. besides discovering the overall experience of the employee: from induction to exit. It will do well, to understand the impact of the organization on the employees’ learning curves while they share their change in their perception of the organization from entrance to exit.

However, the question remains; “Does an employee truly give an honest feedback? It is true that an employee ought to furnish the true reason of exit, but most important avoid disclosing the truth. This behavior revolves around many reasons, and one of them being “future chances of return to the organization”. Employees also need to understand that their information is being sought with the sole purpose of improvisation.

How it needs to be done?

For the Interviewer:

• Put the person at ease by building a rapport and assure absolute confidentiality.
• You are treading on egg shells, do not rush into it. 30-45mins is essential time, empathize with the employee who is severing emotional connects with the organization and is difficult too.

For Employees:

• Provide truthful and unbiased answers.
• Be open about your reason and do not keep the organization in the dark: understand, it is willing to improve and needs your honesty.
• You may help not just the organization but also the other employees.

Expected Questions:

• Why are you leaving?
• What was most satisfying gratifying about work?
• Any restraints through company procedures/policies to your performance?
• Detail the level of support from the company towards your duties

Exit Interviews if taken in the right spirit can be valuable retention tools. They are definitely a win-win for employee and company, if two-way.

Employee motivation is a tricky subject for most managers and organization heads. Yet it is imperative for them to handle employee motivation diligently since it forms the core for organizational success.

Employee Motivation essentially means developing effective ways to recognize and applaud the contributions of your employees whereby they are encouraged to perform better and contribute more productively to their organization. According to entrepreneur.com, employee motivation is “using both tangible and intangible rewards to keep employees enthusiastic, loyal and interested in continued improvement”.

One way organizational heads can improve the level of employee motivation in their organization is by first ensuring that there is a definite structure or setup that is well implemented within their organization for understanding, assessing, measuring and rewarding employee activities and achievements.

J P Maroney, the founder of People Builders has listed down five success keys to effective employee motivation. According to him, the key factors for employee motivation are satisfaction, appreciation, recognition, inspiration and compensation.

1. Satisfaction

When employees are happy at work, they are always motivated and productive than those employees who are unhappy with their work. Therefore, organizations must increase and innovate ways to keep their employees happy. There are different ways to improve satisfaction at work. Organizations must understand what the workforce needs – may be flexible hours, rewards and recognition scheme, opportunities for career growth, open-door policy or anything else – and “satisfy” these needs.

This way, when you have satisfied employees, you are also likely to have satisfied customers.

2. Appreciation

Employees like to be recognized for their efforts and their contributions to the organization. Therefore, managers and organization heads must make honest attempts and take every opportunity to openly praise and appreciate their employees.

Appreciation is an effective morale booster. The more frequent it is, the better it motivates employees. A pat on the back, a few encouraging words, a thank you note, a mention in a meeting, a write up in a weekly newsletter are all simple ways to convey to your employees that you care for them and hold high their services to your organization.

3. Recognition

Employees like to learn that their work in the organization is taken note of, and that they are considered as assets of the organization.

Managers and organization heads must honor this innate employee attribute and have a sound rewards and recognition system in place. They must find ways interesting ways to motivate their employees to perform a task and when the said task has been accomplished successfully, it must also be rewarded appropriately.

Work and non-work related contests, in-house rewards for various contributions and even recognizing their contributions outside of work will increase employee motivation by leaps and bounds.

4. Inspiration

Employees always look up to their seniors and the organization head for inspiration. But more importantly they also look for inspiration in their organizations and the values it stands for. Keeping this in mind, organizations looking for improved employee motivation must have a strong mission statement and the heads of the organization must sincerely abide by these values and missions.

When leaders lead form the front, employees will be inspired to follow them. Employees will be happy to work for an organization that is true to its beliefs and works towards realizing its dreams. Since every employee aspires the same, he will take inspiration from the organization itself.
Inspired employees are also motivated and loyal.

5. Compensation

Monetary rewards or tangible rewards are one of the important factors of employee motivation. Therefore, organizations can use this means well to their benefit. Performance bonuses, promotional raises, salary hike, enabling profit sharing, giving gifts and distributing reward coupons are some of the effective means of compensation.