Pink slip party back again !!

With pink slips starting to fly, it’s time to yodel the blues at Big Blue.

As many as 165 ‘resources’ — euphemism for employees on contract — have been shown the door by IBM Global Technology Services, the consulting and outsourcing firm that’s part of the US hardware giant, two sources familiar with the development said.

And another 1,000 are expected to be given the marching orders soon.

The sackings are believed to be part of a first round of downsizing, likely on account of IBM losing or ramping down some projects.

“The company has not cited any reason. In fact, no one barring the top management had any inkling of the move,” one person said, requesting he be not identified.

Typically, contract employees or consultants are hired just for specific project requirements.

The action comes even as the US and Europe grapple with recession, which is expected to have a significant impact on outsourcing firms.

When asked to confirm the job cuts, a spokesperson for the company said, “IBM continuously transforms its business, rebalancing skills and capabilities in order to meet the changing needs of clients and our business as a whole.”

Dataquest, a journal that tracks the industry, estimates IBM in India had revenues of Rs14,132 crore in the year to March 2011, clocking a growth of 14% over the previous year. Nearly 52%
of the revenues came services delivered to clients outside India.

“The move to lay off people depends on how specific projects shape up. This is normal practice in the US,” said Shamanuja Das, editor of Dataquest.

“In fact, in the US, most companies follow this practice. Unlike India, where management usually thinks twice before asking its employees to leave, US has a different culture,” Das said. “So, in case a project is not giving expected returns, people involved in it get fired.”

Also, new hires at IBM Global Technology Services have either not received their offer letters or are yet to be given a date of joining, a source said.

IBM has fired staff in the past too. In 2008, it reportedly dismissed around 700 freshers with the onset of the financial crisis.
Interestingly, last month IBM had increased the notice period to be served by its employees from 30 days to 90 days, in an apparent bid to reduce attrition.

With the slowdown in US imminent and fast approaching Oct-Dec time frame companies will be cautious in hiring work force and will take this opportunity to get rid of non performers. Expect more and more firings happening in the upcoming months !

Sowmya
Manager

HRI Foundation
303 Motherland Building
3rd Main 3rd Cross
Kamanahalli
BANGALORE 560084

www.hrinindia.blogspot.com
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HR Help - Call +91.8105737966

Organizational Culture Change

Mohit Kishore

The changing culture is a complex problem faced by many organisations. It's a lot like repairing the engine of a moving vehicle. While new firms have the luxury of gradually building the culture that best serves their interest, larger organisations tend to find themselves ‘stuck' with cultures that may be completely at odds with their stated vision or strategy. The big question then is whether it is possible to change culture mid-course. The answer may lie in understanding how culture is created in the first place.

individual & organisational values

The crux of culture is values — in simple terms values expressed in the form of behaviours is what is perceived as culture. Values themselves may be of two kinds — individual and organisational.

The source of organisational values is usually the values of the founders. However, with time, as the firm transitions the values could change. This could be due to a lack of attention paid to the developing culture, particularly when meeting the demands of rapid growth. This takes the form of indiscriminate addition of individuals whose values may be at odds with the founding values. While organisational values may be documented formally, the ‘real' organisational values are informally “stored” in the minds of members of the organisation.

Individual values may be of two kinds — expressed, and suppressed. Expressed values are those that members of an organisation choose to express in their behaviour based on their assessment of what is required in the organisation or ‘what works'. The other values possessed by an individual member may be suppressed, at least in the organisational context. It is this interplay between “stored” organisational values and individual values that develops into “culture” in the manifested form. The metaphor of an iceberg could represent this interplay. What is seen above the surface is culture, but what lies beneath is the cause — the complex, ever-evolving dynamic of organisational and individual values.

The right culture

The next question that arises is — what is the right kind of culture for a particular organisation. The simple answer to this would be — the culture in which there is no conflict between organisational and individual values, and where organisational values themselves are aligned to what the organisation seeks to achieve. It is important to recognise that the culture manifested at any time is indeed already the most appropriate culture for the current interplay between organisational and individual member values.

However, this culture may happen to be completely counter-productive to the organisational goals, owing to degraded organisational values or high conflict between individual and organisational values. Any attempt to transform culture by simply manipulating the manifest dimension of culture will not succeed unless the underlying interplay of values is not addressed.

Thus, culture transformation must address both organisational and individual values. On the organisational values front, one may first need to begin with an assessment of what the organisation's values really are. If the current state of values is a diluted version of the original intent, a fresh rediscovery or redefinition of values may need to take place in order to define an ideal state.

On the individual values front, the first intervention should be at the ‘input' stage, where new members are inducted. If a well-defined organisational identity or value is in place, it is not difficult to identify and add individuals who are in alignment. The bigger challenge is for existing members. Here, the solution is likely to be a more gradual one. It may involve a reassessment of all levels in the hierarchy to determine the “culture” icons best suited for leadership roles in the “new world” as it were. Leadership roles are the key fulcrums upon which culture is reinforced. This is because leadership behaviours typically tend to activate the relevant values in followers (provided the followers subscribe to those values at least partially).

Over time, a culture transformation process would start to work on the organisation's memory, replacing negative versions of the organisation's values that are “stored” in the minds of members with fresh versions, till the new version becomes the new normal.

Setting right a malfunctioning or poorly aligned organisational culture is undoubtedly a complex process and may require an intuitive, right-brained mindset on the part of the designers, as well as multiple iterations to arrive at the right solution.

Finally, culture needs to be an integral component of organisational strategy, as it is the foundational building block upon which the organisation's purpose can be manifested into reality.

(The writer is a management professional. He can be contacted at mohit.kishore@gmail.com)

Source : Businessline

Sowmya

Manager

HRI Foundation

303 Motherland Building

3rd Main 3rd Cross

Kamanahalli

BANGALORE 560084

www.hrinindia.blogspot.com

www.twitter.com/Raghav_HRGuru

HR Help - Call +91.8105737966

hrinindia@gmail.com

Are Women employees most mobile ??

Employees in the country in general, and women in particular, are the most mobile and are expected to take the lead in finding new jobs in the New Year, with Delhi women being in the top-seekers, says a survey.

"We see a clear upswing in the domestic job market. Employees across various sections - age groups, cities, income, education etc - are showing an increasing trend in mobility. With both employment and employee preference on an upward curve, 2011 is expected to see a strong positive development in the organised employment sector," Ma Foi Randstad Managing Director K Pandia Rajan said today.

Ma Foi Randstad is the largest integrated HR services company and part of the 12.4-billion euro Randstad Group, which the world's second-largest HR services company, based in Diemen, the Netherlands.

While women are the top job-seekers, according to the Ma Foi Randstad Workmonitor Wave 4 study that is an indicator of employee mobility, Delhi has the highest mobility index among the major metros. The national capital also has the highest factual job change and the highest job-loss fear figures.

As per the survey, amongst all countries surveyed, India has the highest index of 153 indicating that employees here show the greatest intent to change jobs in the next six months. This is as against 141 recorded in last quarter. India is followed at a relatively large distance of 29 (or more) points by China, Mexico and Chile reflecting a relatively high mobility index in these nations too.

The mobility index is least in the Luxembourg, Germany, Hungary and the Netherlands indicating least employee churn, says the survey.

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Sowmya

Manager

HRI Foundation

303 Motherland Building

3rd Main 3rd Cross

Kamanahalli

BANGALORE 560084

www.hrinindia.blogspot.com

www.twitter.com/Raghav_HRGuru

HR Help - Call +91.8105737966