#OddEven Rule – How does HR make the most of it?

New Delhi has woken up to the new year with much lesser traffic, thanks to the new #oddeven rule put in place by the Delhi government. I found a very interesting gif image on ibnlive depicting the traffic situation in Delhi today.

Let’s hope that this translates into a noticeable impact on the pollution levels as well. While the authorities are doing what they can, what can we, as HR professionals, do to make this initiative successful?

• Carpooling – The first thing that comes to mind is to encourage carpooling. What the HR team can do is program manage the car pooling initiative in office. This would require a certain amount of discipline and getting used to. However, positioning it as a win-win situation (a chance to develop new friendships, network, and even gossip :P) can go a long way towards employee engagement.

• Office Buses – For organizations that do not already have this option, give the employees the luxury of relaxing in a comfortable ride home which is managed by the office. Believe me, this will take away a lot of stress for them in terms of thinking everyday about their commute hassles. Plus it’s a much safer option as well.

• Healthy options – This can be used as an opportunity to drive health initiatives. Try and get a place where employees can park their bicycles if they use those to come to office. A further step would even be incentivizing this behavior to encourage employees to start using this mode of transport.

• Workplace Flexibility – Employees will love this. Try and institute a policy of working from home once a week. Ok, I know I’m pushing my luck here but at least some flexibility in working hours would go a long way in soothing the frayed nerves of employees every morning. 

While we all are working towards a less polluted city, let’s try and make the most of it and have some fun as well.

Do write in with your suggestions as well to make this a hassle-free transition for everyone.

How the Work Ethic has evolved!

The concepts of ‘work’ and ‘job’ have undergone a sea change over the past few years. Our parents’ generation believed in the ‘One life one job’ concept and we see numerous cases from that generation where they have spent their entire lives in one organization.

The work ethic has evolved over the years and the concepts at the workplace have also changed. The ‘Pentium’ kids (those born with a computer at hand all the time) are most comfortable with communication and digitized mediums and have very different concepts relating to the age-old definitions:

Loyalty – While our Parents generation believed in spending one life in one job, the Millennials are most comfortable with their own development and look at constant and accelerated growth for themselves. This is the reason we see a lot of resumes these days with an average of 1.5-2 yrs per job. Organizations are also waking up to this fact and are realizing the value of employees who can contribute well over a period of 2-3 years.

Respect – Our Parents grew up with the concept of respecting seniors at the workplace because of their age and the fact that a senior might have a spent a decade more than them working in the organization. Gen Y, on the other hand, has a practical approach towards the concept of respect, They respect you if they feel the need to. Respect at the workplace is earned by your actions rather than the number of grey hair that you have.

Communication – Our parents grew up in the age where there was no Internet, no mobile phones, no ‘Google’, etc. The Pentium kids take all these things for granted and resources such as Google, Facebook, Twitter, and other networking mediums are available 24X7.

Work Timings – The conventional work timings of 9 to 6 which existed a few years back have also seen major changes. There has been a blurring of lines between working at office, working from home, working on the move, and so on.

Networking – With resources like Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, etc, gaining momentum, the way we network has also revolutionalized. While networking was restricted to office parties for the previous generation, this has turned into a 24X7 activity with ‘always available’ tools gaining ground.

The greatest challenge for the HR department lies in the fact that the expectations of these two sets of employees have to be brought together. The top management team has typically been brought up on the previous generation values but they. in turn, have to manage the millennial employees with a different set of expectations. The HR team has to ensure that both sets of employees are educated about this. It has to be clearly communicated to both sets that different people may have different styles of working. No one style is really wrong. One has to maximize productivity by trying to make the best out of both and breed creativity rather than contempt.