Can you 'bank' upon this Bank?

Spanish bank Santander was recently voted as the worst bank for customer satisfaction in a survey carried-out by J.D. Power & Associates. The JD Power study measures customer satisfaction based on six factors (problem resolution; account activities; fees; product offerings; account information; and facility). In a unforgivable blunder, the bank sent up to 35000 UK customers' bank statements to wrong addresses. The statements inlcuded customers' names, account numbers and details of transactions that they had carried-out. The basic issue of 'trust' that customers' expect from a bank was destroyed.
But what angers more the experts about Santander is its faliure to carry-out basic banking operations like opening new accounts, honouring terms and conditions etc. The breakdown of online banking facility compounded the problem.
Ridiculously though, the bank continues to put a weak defence that these problems are of a very small percentage of customers.
Experts are of an opinion that it represents a total administrative failure on part of the bank and also its approach of paying more attention to new cusotmers then caring for old customers.
But administrative processes are no rocket-science in a bank especially when it comes to attending cusotmer grievances. There is definetly a human faliure - an excellent example of a bunch of people working dispassionately and in a disengaged manner.
In an organization where people are engaged and committed, such problems can always be avoided or checked before they become enormous.
I repeat, customer satisfaction and a direct function of employee experiences. Quality of organization-employee relationships translate into quality of relationship between organization and customers.

Retention War is ON again

With hiring taking the fast lane in most sectors, poaching is back with a bang. Airline is one such sector; demand is picking-up and need for more staff is imminent. Jet has recently not only restored the salares of pilots and cabin crew staff cut in 2008 and 2009 but also recalled the staff it retrenched during the same period. Around 250 old staff members re-joined Jet, some of them leaving their jobs in other airlines. IT is also on the same track. The job market is buzzing with IT requiring more than 4 lakh engineers every year. Every IT professional is today having more than one job offer in his/her mail box.
Such a scenario will definetly put stress on retention of employees especially that of key talent. HR professionals beware, the challenge is not only to get right (number and type) of hires but also to prevent organization from becoming a 'leaking-bucket'. Engagement of employees will be key  not only to keep people in fold but also to create and strong advocacy of the company by employees themselves and thereby boost referrals for getting quality and compatible people. Anyone listening???

The Employee Engagement Report 2011 by Blessing White

The Employee Engagement Report 2011 by Blessing White is out. The research reflects interviews with HR and line leaders as well as online survey responses of nearly 11,000 individuals from North America, India, Europe, Southeast, Asia, Australia/New Zealand, and China.

Key findings


 Fewer than 1 in 3 employees worldwide (31%) are Engaged. Nearly 1 in 5 (17%) are actually Disengaged. Engagement levels vary by region from 37% in India to 17% in China.

 Despite the rough and tumble of the economic recession, engagement levels around the world remained roughly stable when comparing early 2008 and mid-2010.

 Yet more employees are looking for new opportunities outside their organization than they were in 2008, suggesting that 2011 will be a challenging year for retention (and a hot market for firms looking to attract top talent).

 Consistent with the 2008 findings, there is a strong correlation between engagement levels and age, role/level, and tenure in the organization. Older employees and people in positions of power and authority are most likely to be Engaged. So are long-term employees (7+ years with an organization). Employees who work in departments closest to strategy decisions and customer relationships tend to be more Engaged as well.

 Engaged employees plan to stay for what they give; the Disengaged stay for what they get, suggesting that organizations can benefit from a targeted retention strategy.

 Employees worldwide view opportunities to apply their talents, career development, and training as top drivers of job satisfaction. When it comes to contribution, their needs vary considerably, reflecting their circumstances (e.g., region, age, function, engagement level).

 Trust in executives can have more than twice the impact on engagement levels than trust in immediate managers does. However, consistent with past studies, employees are more likely to trust their immediate managers than the executives in their organization.

 Managers are not necessarily doing the things that matter most. The actions that corrrelate the most with high engagement are not always the ones that receive the most favorable ratings. And in some regions relationships trump skills, that is, employees’ knowledge of their managers as “people” behind their titles appears to impact engagement levels more than manager actions.

 Executives appear to struggle with key leadership behaviors correlated to engagement, yet the findings suggest executive behaviors can have a greater potential impact on engagement than manager actions.

 Most alarming: Executives aren’t getting the basics of performance right. Creating an environment that supports high performance is the item that received the least favorable response in the entire survey; it also has among the strongest correlations with engagement levels.

And hence, despite an overall increase in engagement, more employees are headed for the door-

 Engagement surveys without visible follow-up action may actually decrease engagement levels, suggesting that organizations think twice before flipping the switch on measurement without 100% commitment for action planning based on the results.

Implications and recommendations

Three major implications have been articulated by Blessing White based on the survey findings:
1. Need for Individuals to have ownership, clarity, and action.
2. Role of Managers in coaching, relationships, and dialogue
3. Role of Executives in creating trust, communication, and culture among people.

The survey very clearly has the following crux:
1. Engagement is key.
2. Responsive and progressive organizations fare better on engagement scores.
3. Engagement is everyone's job that includes HR, line managers, executives and the employee himself/herself
4. Engaging workforce is key to building and sustaining great organizations.

Working Mothers

Few days back, on one of the episodes of the quiz show Kaun Banega Crorepati a contestant was a lady constable working for one of the state police force. Like many contestants who bare their personal lives in the show, she also narrated her story. She had married a boy of her choice much against the wishes of her family members, since the social affiliation of the boy was different. Since then the girl's family had not kept any contact with them. She has a small kid whom she leaves behind home for attending to the calls of her duty, which at many times are at odd times and odd places. During such times her insecurity about her baby is very high. On the show she even pleaded to her family to forgive them and accept their relationship, now that much water had flown under the bridge. Imagine in our country sometimes people have to apologise for choosing their life partner! What a pity!!!Having said this, her present difficulties also indicate the predicament of the young working couples with very young kids.

Human resource departments should understand such realities and attempt to create facilities and benefits which take care of such women workers. That would be the biggest engagement that they would be able to create for such employees. Mind Tree Consulting, for instance, has a on-site day care centre known as 'baby's day out' and women counselling network known as 'Dhrtiti'. Such benefits not only allay the worries of young working mothers but also help them reduce their anxieties and stress.

Customer Experience = f (employee experiences)

Washwell a dry cleaning chain in Bangalore gave me one of my most irritating experiences as a customer. An outlet of this dry-cleaning chain opened recently in my neighbourhood and I checked-in my family clothes a couple of times. On third or fourth visit I gave some clothes including stuff like shirts, trousers, sari etc. for dry-cleaning. When I went to collect them back on the 'delivery date', I found the sari missing. On enquiry, the executive at the counter admitted the missing piece of cloth but seemed equally clueless about its whereabouts. He made some unyielding call to their washing factory etc but to no avail. He asked me to check for the sari the next day. Next day however nothing changed and still no information. A couple of days passed like this and finally when I showed my signs of irritation, he acknowledged that they had actually missed the tag (that they put on every cloth that comes to them) on the sari and hence it has become really difficult to locate the same. However he assured me that he would get in 2-3 days. After nearly two weeks had passed, still the dry cleaning fellow told me the same story on my nth visit (by the time, I would have burnt fuel thrice that of the dry cleaning bill). This irritated me and I expressed my anger. Then he put me on to his supervisor who was there in the store on that day. I told him my plight and told him that this was not at all acceptable. He instead of being empathetic to my cause said that this was a pretty normal thing and I should not worry too much and should wait patiently. On receiving such a disgusting response, I asked him that how many tags did they missed on a particular day. To this he said missing 10-15 tags was pretty normal. By this time my simmering anger came to the surface and I threatened him to disclose the same to consumer court and local media. He was pretty cool about the same and asked me to go ahead. In the argument that followed, I used all the management lexicons such as unprofessional, Customer service etc. but he seemed to be least bothered by anything even remotely close to the same. Leave alone being sympathetic or apologetic about their service his behaviour seemed to be a graver concern. Finally after much hassle I got that sari back after 3 weeks.

Quite contrary to Washwell, another dry cleaning chain Fabric Spa in Bangalore gave me a delightful experience. One of the clothes whose stains they were unable to remove on the first wash was not only automatically sent for a re-wash but also I was not charged till they could give me the piece of cloth back to me with the cleaning done. Their executives at store were very courteous and despite their gesture apologized for being unable to deliver the cloth in time.

Which drycleaner do you think I would visit again? Do I need to tell you that? Of course on the surface it appears the difference between the two is customer service. But how does that difference occur in the first place is a bigger question. And that is what the former dry cleaning chain needed to learn.

Training and engaging front-office customer facing executives is so important. Their engagement to their organizations, where they may not get paid very highly, has to be more than the job that they do. The HR (or is there an HR in such organizations in India) or anybody in charge of managing people must understand that their chances of creating pleasurable customer experiences stand very little chance if they cannot create the same first for their employees. Most of the times such employees are poorly paid and put on demanding schedules with little concern for their work-life balance and their family security. Then why be surprised if they go back and treat your customers the same way. No customers, no money, no business. Think and choose...

Skillful Engagement

Customer experiences are directly proportional to employee experiences, especially in service and retail industry.
How many times have you visited a retail outlet and found an executive who is to eager to help (when you want to be left alone) or you don't find 'one' when you want some assistance? How many times have you visited a gaming-joint or a family entertainment centre and found floor executives either not too helping or with inadequate knowledge? I am sure it has happened to you more than once.
In one of the recent MDPs on Talent Management, where I was one of the resource persons, a DGM -HR of a retail giant expressed that two of his most serious problems were retaining and training sales guys in the outlets. They would jump jobs even for a petty-raise of Rs. 500-1000. And their ability to deal with customers is not too high - more specifically they do not know when to help and when to leave the customer alone. Additionally, when it comes to groceries or vegetable/fruits, female customers come armed with lots of information about prices prevailing in mom'n'pop stores or street-side vegetable vendors. Their executives do not seems to have the same proficiency in managing such an 'informed' customer and explaining about best-offers or prices offered by the retail store.
All this brings to the point that 'Training for Skills' is such an important intervention to engage both the internal and external customer.

The Spaceport ( American family entertainment centres) employee training video should be an eye-opener for many on how even less skilled and literate employees, in direct customer-facing roles can be made more efficient through training. And how such initiative has helped Spaceport to serve its customers better.

Note Worthy!

Mobile Tracker

'Indian employees are most eager in the world to change jobs in the next six months, a survey by global HR service provider Ma Foi Randstad said.


The 'work monitor' survey shows the extent to which employees are thinking of changing their jobs in the short-term compared with other countries in the world.


"India's mobility index is 140-- the highest in the world-- followed by Mexico, China and Turkey. This index shows that Indians are most open about shifting their jobs in the next six months," the survey said. The lowest employee mobility is seen in Luxembourg, Italy and Hungary.


"We hope the report contributes to enhance understanding of employee sentiments for organisations in India. In addition, this survey over a period of time will guide employers to direct their efforts to align workforce and raise engagement levels to optimise profitability," Ma Foi Randstad managing director K Pandiarajan said. The survey revealed that 80 per cent of the employees in India are open for a different job.


Moreover, employees in the salary bracket of Rs 5-10 lakh are the least mobile in India, while in the US the professionals in junior to mid career (USD 45,000-50,000 salary brackets) levels are the most mobile.' 'Indian workforce most mobile in world: Survey

India today represents the epi-centre of opportunities primarily beacuse of the growing markets and largely un-tapped consumer base. At the same time availability of comparitively cheaper but skilled labour acts as a force-multiplier. But as much this workforce is a potential, it is also a threat because of its enormous mobility. The key is not only to tap into this workforce but to understand them and engage them strongly with the organization. The challenge is same for all the HR leaders and managers in similar emerging markets, which have traditionally equated managing human resource to maintainence functions. Remember, Engagement is key!

The Social Media Engagement

‘The CEO of a Mumbai-based pharma company — let’s call him A — was recently in a fix. For some weeks now, a few of his younger colleagues have been urging him to open a Facebook account. The problem is, the only brush with social networking that A, who is in his late 40s, has had is what he reads in the newspapers. Faced with the prospect of some of the younger members on his team wanting to see him better networked, A did the next best thing: He got his young personal assistant to open a Facebook and Twitter account…



Bosses who previously banned or blocked social networking sites in office, are now realising that getting onto FB, Orkut, Twitter or even YouTube is actually a great way to connect with their younger, more wired colleagues. Not only is it helping them to ‘learn’ the language of the youth much faster, but the sites are also giving them a platform to get their ideas across to their teams — in a less formal way.


While some senior managers are using the sites to pass on better-management nuggets or give mini pep-talks to staff, others are broadcasting their business plans and goals, and seeking mass feedback from employees.


For some companies, social networking by the head honchos has become a full-fledged HR strategy to make the company Gen Next ready, at a time when the average working age in India Inc is falling rapidly…


"Empowerment is the new engagement. People want to stay connected with their friends and colleagues through their networks,” says Future Group business head (Private Brands), Devendra Chawla. “They want their voices to be heard, and ideas to play around with. Technology and social media have come together to give one various ways to express oneself.”…’ - Writankar Mukherjee- Head honchos get trained in using social networking sites

Social Media is in big way, no questions asked. Trying to keep employees away from the same or trying to 'police' the same was never a smart idea. Social Media which is seen as a threat by some companies can be converted to their advantage. Social Media can be used for  networking, communicating and engaging people better. Overall companies must realize that social media presents an excellent opportunity to build and strengthen their employer brands.

Customized Leadership

'As a leader, you have the potential to improve—but you have to work at it. You have to want to get better if you’re going to become an effective leader. Why is this important? Because as a leader, you have an opportunity to help your people grow. But to positively impact others, you have to be willing to keep learning and growing yourself. You have to work on your own development.



Fortunately, it is possible to get a little better each day as a leader. If you’re willing to put in the time, you can learn and apply new skills on a consistent basis. And, given today’s pace of change, you can’t wait for the organisation to bring leadership training to you; you have to work on your own game...In the end, leadership is about the people you lead… not about you. Which begs the question: Is this how you’re looking at leadership? Are you spending your time on the right big things, and is one of those things people development? Are you going out of your way to raise the profile of your employees? What if you volunteered your leadership skills for a nonprofit organisation?


How about teaching a class at the corporate university? Finally, what is your plan for succession? These are the questions that will help you make the transition from ‘it’s about me’ to ‘it’s about others.’


If you manage other people, you’ve been given a great gift—the opportunity to change people’s lives. If you’re going to make that kind of a difference, you need to take your leadership skills to a new level. That means taking control of your own learning agenda. Start by creating a customized leadership development plan—one that says: “I care about becoming a better leader.” Steve Arneson - Work On Your Game

Commonwealth to Common Wealth

The government on Tuesday said the ongoing Commonwealth Games may add about $5 billion to the Indian economy and create about 2.5 million jobs in the next few years. Undoubtedly huge events like sporting extragravanzas can be used to induce and initiate human resource planning and can be converted into economic and social opportunities. But it requires sound planning and clinical execution.




Recently Winter Olympics 2010 was hosted at Vancouver. The games were used to maximize economic and social opportunities in the entire British Columbia region. The planning for the same began in Dec. 2002, when representatives of the federal department of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, the provincial Olympic Secretariat, and the provincial Ministry of Skills Development and Labour formed a multi-stakeholder committee under the auspices of an Industrial Adjustment Agreement. The 2010 Human Resources Planning (HRP) Committee included representatives of Aboriginal people, Downtown Eastside Vancouver, the Vancouver Agreement, the tourism industry, the Vancouver 2010 Bid Corporation, and provincial Ministries of Advanced Education and Human Resources. The committee came-out with the final report called ‘Planning for Gold’ - maximizing 2010-related employment & skills opportunities in British Columbia: connecting labour market supply & demand on Dec. 15, 2003 which was made public.



The report planning premise was between 2003 and 2015, and very much became a starting point in the planning and development of human resources required to maximize business, employment, and skills development opportunities throughout BC. The four key, recurring themes throughout this report were maximizing economic and social opportunities, addressing potential skills gaps, tapping the potential of under-utilized human resources and, connecting labour force supply and demand.



Can we replicate the same?? Can Commonwealth games 2010 be used as a platform to engage human resource and maximize the opportunities not only for India but for the entire South Asian region??Time will tell.

Constructive Dismissal

Recently Kevin Keegan, a former top international football player, former manager of English Football team won a £ 2 million ‘constructive dismissal’ claim against Newcastle United on grounds of breach of contract of employment. Keegan resigned just eight months after his return to Newcastle United, claiming that he was forced to sign players he had not even seen. Removal of his right on player transfers amounted to breach of employment contract or a constructive dismissal case.


Constructive dismissal cases may be uncommon in countries like India but in countries like the UK, Germany where special laws like ‘Employment Rights Act, 1996’ safeguard employees against such unfair actions of employer, the awareness levels are pretty high. Although in India there are employment laws to protect employees but the tricky part comes where employee has to prove that the dismissal was unfair. The fundamental breach of contract may be due to unilateral contract alteration by employer, forcing employees to do something originally not a part of the terms of employment, unsupportive attitude, false accusations, and harassments or bullying by employer etc.

The issue of ‘constructive dismissal’ gathers significance in India particularly due to three phenomena’s. One, social media revolution is sweeping India rapidly and any action of company could immediately come in public glare and scrutiny. This became evident when Infosys’s ‘iRACE’ (Infosys Role and Career Enhancement) rolled-out last year came under heavy attack from employees on internet and even the official blog was inundated with hundreds of articles. Infosys, a much revered company in India, has long been known for its best HR practices and has been one of the most sought after employer among the Indian students. Some of its initiatives like employee learning initiatives have been path-breaking and a role-model for others to emulate and it has been continuously on the list of best employers nationally and globally. Despite all these laurels, the company came under a volley of criticism for ‘iRace’, which was supposed to be a career architecture that aligns talent management activities with client priorities, business focus and employee aspirations, that outpoured very quickly in public. Secondly, in age of RTI, employers need to be more transparent & accountable for their actions, as awareness levels are rising and public scrutiny has much more teeth than before. And thirdly, when managing human resources is undergoing transition in India, more than anything else ‘constructive dismissal’ issue emphasizes on the importance of treating employees fairly, with respect and in good faith.