Hiring of Right Person ...

Last week I was a Guest Speaker at a renowned university and during the session one student asked me what is one main trait that you usually explore, is in the right candidate while interviewing?  

And we usually hear that right person on the right job but who is the right person? At that time I could not answer her satisfactorily because there are so many factors which influence the decision for right person while on interview. So I started to research on that & figured out the following traits of the right person. 

Integrity

It is the core strength of any right person, it comes before anything like education, Personality, soft skills etc. Well to judge integrity of a person, it’s easy if you are going to hire employee internally as you must have his/ her employment records with you .But if you are going to hire a person from outside then you have to conduct his reference check , Social media checks & his views about his previous employers in personal interview. 

Trust worthiness

Trust worthiness is encompassing on competence & responsibility, if any one factor will be missing then person will not remain trust worthy. For instance someone is very competent & knowledgeable in his domain but s/he is irregular so such person can’t be a trustworthy because s/he is not responsible .It is the trustworthiness which make you inimitable from others .So while hiring a person one should focus on trustworthiness of candidate & judge from both scenarios s  i.e. Competence & responsibility .

Intelligence

Intelligence does not mean to solve some mathematical problems or high marks in IQ test. Here we relate intelligence with quality of questions asked by the candidate. In other words how much interview was interactive with candidate or it were only a straight interview in which interviewer asks questions & candidate only answer to these questions. If a candidate is showing interest in your organization & asking that what sort of challenges are prevailing for the position?  What is your expectation form the new incumbent?  What are future plans of organization for further growth? etc.

Maturity & resilience

Maturity can be attained, by the way, in any age. An 18 year old person can be immature and a seven year child can be matured. It is the circumstances, decisions and hardships which make a person matured & develop the quality of resilience against odds. Maturity will be showing from one’s sense of humor & family back ground. So must asked about one’s life hardships of life & how one overcomes against these odds.

Positive Energy & Enthusiasm

Again the most crucial thing which should be taken into account while hiring; it is positive energy & enthusiasm shown by the candidate. It is the positive energy & one’s enthusiasm which boosts the whole team energy into positivity. 

Gut Feeling

We can’t take it for granted, may be all of the above mentioned points  have been fulfilling the requirements but if you have any unusual or unrest feeling deep down then don’t hire the person. If you have “something still missing feeling” about any candidate then don’t hire the person.  And it should be clear to you that your decision is not based on any biases. Because if you were to hire a person against your feeling, your future working relationship may not be healthy and the decision making in any sense will get affected.

By : Syed Shahzad Ali 

HR Expert

Gleaming Facts About 5 Day Working In A Week

Yesterday I received a personal query from my one group member on HR Professional’s Network that how five day working can be beneficial for any organization specially for manufacturing / production concern ? and what are the ways to implement 5 days working in the organization while they are working 6 days a week ? Well more than a decade back into economic reforms, China used to have a standard 6-day work week. Then the entire country switched to a 5-day work week in 1995. It does not seem to have had a negative effect on the economy but China has achieved non-stop growth of 10% annually and still so forth . Plummeting the number of working hours does not entail that less work will be get done, or that output will be declined . It depends upon quality of work & level of commitment furnished by workers in 5 day working . 

But before getting such corner stone specially in manufacturing concern , HR has to figure out the current efficiency level of the organization & after getting an agreement on certain raise in an efficiency of organization by Operation Head , Production , supply chain and other stake holders on the less working hours it can be done easily. Everyone has to take his responsibility to make sure the promised output.

For Manufacturing or Production concern we can have rotating off days during the week for the production people or can have 1 or 2 mandatory days off which can be taken by mutual understanding of the employee and his/her supervisor. Another option that is to have alternate weekends off, this is implemented commonly in several companies in the manufacturing / production sector. To accommodate production needs, we may still need to operate the factory on the 6th day, but we can arrange shifts. Or save more money by operating 5 days for longer hours, with 2 shifts.

Following are the some benefits and advantages which can be derived by five day working in a week .

• Work Stress will be diminished on employees.

• More pressure they will be taken for maximum output because they will be enjoying 2 off in a week .

• While the obvious impact of 5 day week is the reduction in overhead costs(transportation, utilities, meal ,tea etc),

• It also reduces the number of off days taken by the employees, turn over and absenteeism ultimately increase the attendance ratio

• Certainly an unique attraction for right candidates as well as the a great retention tool for current employees

• Employees will be Saving the transportation and clothing cost

• Employees will be feel valued then it will bring employee engagement in return.

• It will flourish the positivity in the environment of organization

• Work life balance will emerge.

• It will give an edge to organization on competitors.

Without any doubt, I do affirm that if employees do work for 54 hours, then they will be tired, they will be less productive, they will be more likely to have accidents, socially distressed, and to get sick and take time off. So by strenuous and not engage workers one can have waning returns only.We should provide emplyees such environment that every day employees should not push themselves to go on work rather they estatic to get on work on time every sweetand shiny  morning.

By: Syed Shahzad Ali
HR Expert

Don't Try To Defeat ... Try to Win!!!

Why do we think to cut down our expenses rather think about increasing our income? Similarly 80 % of the people always think about the minor or negative perspective first .Before starting anything people usually think about the failure or the negative perspective rather than thinking how can they avoid failure? And because of the fear of failure they never start a new project or business with the thought of success or win and somebody else does the same thing as they thought and win the reward. And this happens for so small things in life; For e.g. when we do receive a call at mid-night, why we start getting negative thoughts first. It is maybe naturally we are prone to go negative at first and maybe positive later.

Why do we try to defeat people and not win or rather think to win them? We have a supersonic computer given by God which is swiftest than an any other machine or computer in the universe, it is our brain. The belief or the invincible affirmation that you will give to your brain, your brain will derive your attitude, actions & behaviors derive accordingly. We should expect the best and we should keep practicing this habit. Because repetition is the mother of skill. We have to plug our brain with positivity and invincible affirmations so that positive vibes can be generated through it, for that reason there is a need to align our eyes & brain, so that synchronization can be created. It is limited to us that what we observe, I am not talking about see the things as they are because seeing the things is not deliberate part but what we observe through our eyes is a deliberate part and it stores in our brain . Our eyes & brain is like an empty box; we can make it dustbin by accumulating garbage and can make it a vase by accumulating flowers .So we should always try to win people by our actions, thoughts, gesture & posture. When we will always think about winning them, then our brain will derive our actions as a winner. We should not think about others defeat or to defeat someone but we should omit the word defeat from our life’s dictionary. One can sum up his life way out by just applying a simple formula that is “Never Try to Defeat, Try to Win” and you may see miracles happening.

By : Syed Shahzad Ali
HR Expert

8 Invincible Factors Of Winning Team

Following are the eighths points which found in all winning teams and these are the characteristics of any winning team .

1)  Bring Forth Unpleasant and Repulsive Information:

In the winning teams , every team member never hesitate or rickety to bring forth any unpleasant information & evidence on the table about the organisation & share the same with leader . Winning teams figure out the shared way out against every unpleasant information and confront the brutal facts . Leader appreciate all those members who bring such repulsive piece of information where as teams to way down usually remain bit scary and reluctant to bring forth any such information which make the team unrest and everybody would have been waiting for other team member to reveal unpleasant information. In teams to way down, members usually consider culprit to all those who bring forth the repulsive information within the team.

2)  Arguments Persist with Evidence & Facts

In the teams way up arguments persist with evidence and facts . Discussions impetus in concrete way towards its logical way out with define time lines where as on the other hand in the teams way down strong opinions has been furnished by the team members without considering and understanding facts and figures.

3)  Unification Behind The Decision

Team is unify behind the every decision taken with mutual consent , once it’s been taken collectively then every team members accept it and work for it success. On the contrary team to way down not unified behind the taken decisions mostly they show their agreement on the decision taken but not faithfully accept it so they don’t work for its success.

4)  Don’t Argument To Be Super Star

In team meetings team members don’t make arguments to prove own self a super star , they don’t put upfront their personal interest rather promote the organisational interest at large

5)  Question To Statement Ratio :

During discussion leader raise lot of question-to-statements to put the team in brain storming & penetrate to the insights of discussions where as the leader of team way down don’t ask much question-to-statements , don’t take interest in discussion.

6)  Give Credit To Other

The winning team members give credit to other team members for the their success , team success is more crucial than personal success.

7)  Autopsies Without Blaming

Winning teams do autopsies without blaming external factors , other team mates or anything rather they learn lessons from their mistakes and pain areas.

8)  Exceptional Performers

One of the crucial part of winning team is that they have exceptional performer all the time , even in the case of setback they focus on experience rather failure , they rate performance against satisfactory & unsatisfactory rather good Or bad .This is one thing which make the difference between winning team & others .

By: Syed Shahzad Ali 

HR Expert In Pakistan

First Week Of Most Wanted Manager

One of my friend is going to join new organization. He met me last Saturday and we discussed ,what should one manger do while joining at a new organization? I have summarized the whole discussion in points below which might be of interest to you.

Team Meet Up

On first day , call the meeting with team, introduce yourself & then ask them to introduce themselves in front of all team members. By doing this, you will be able to gauge the confidence level of every team member & public speaking skills .Then call them individually and ask them to bring their current JD i.e. What are they doing and what they want to do . Assign the task as per their willingness with agreed Plans & KPIs for at least the running quarter. Have a meeting on weekly basis against assigned KPIs to conduct a Gap analysis. Give them confidence & Trust your team that they will deliver as expected.

HOD Meet Up

Have a meeting with all HODs & take a brief over view about their department, last year performance of the department and future challenges. Ensure them of your support, where you can contribute & assist the HOD’s to achieve the organizational vision & objective. Read in between the lines and note their concerns.

Get maximum Information about the Organization & Other Departments.

Get information about the organization from where ever you can get even from receptionist or peon. Sketch your own orientation plan where you will spent your some assigned time for 10-15 days in every department on floor, so that you can experience real time issues & working environment while working at floor.

Listen Rather Speak

In the initial phase, we should give more emphasis on listening and observing rather than speaking because if you want to bring change then first you have to observe and understand the processes & procedures then conduct gap analysis & give your recommendations rather imposing your decisions. Identify the improving areas.

Don’t initiate The New Projects

It is not deem necessary, that if you have joined new place then you have to start new projects to show your potential. For sure you can start new projects but after having a deep thorough analysis about the ongoing projects. First list down the all projects which are currently in process then check their feasibility and if you find that any project is not feasible then wind up that project with complete reasoning.

Give Respect to Every One.

Give respect to everyone whether its peon, office boy or HOD. Show your grace & earn respect in return this will not only create acceptance for you but also it will help organization in developing a good organizational culture.

Strengthen the Current Weak Practices

Rather initiation of new practices or projects, we should strengthen the current weak practices or processes because usually people remain disinclined to change but we should bring change in bits gradually.

Pin Point the Top performers

Pin point the top performers all around the organization from every department & keep them in emerald light, keep them in close contact. Devise an Informal committee in which all top performers should participate against any issue or to bring any new innovation in organization. 

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By : Syed Shahzad Ali 

HR Expert in Pakistan

Serve The Notice Period Like A Champion.....

One of my blog follower ask me about how one can serve notice period ?  He was looking bit de-motivated about his current role & organization . He was doing bad mouthing about the practices following  by  his current organization. He had already palnned a Holiday trip while on notice period . He was asking me about did he does right thing ? So I have given him some tips that Serve Your Notice Period Like Champions , while on notice period, show your grace to the current employer and they must have a feeling that they are going to lose a great asset.

Following are the key attributes which one should depict while serving notice period in a convincing manner.

Be Thankful & Stay Motivated

During your notice period stay motivated & enthusiastic with your current tasks, role, and responsibilities rather start showing lack of interest or no interest in current job or assignments. Give the gift of notice period with immense energy, dedication and motivation to your organization where you have been groomed & served as a platform for other employer offer you got on the basis of experience what you have attained from current employer. So be thankful to your current employer & stay motivated.

Be Positive About Your Current Employer

Mostly people start bad-mouthing or defaming their current employer as they go on to the notice period. The organization which has been the nourishing their families and dependents abruptly becomes the worst company to work on. We should not let negativity prevail among the rest; rather we should portray the positive image of current employer.

Serve The Whole Notice Period

Don’t try to avoid or request to waive off the notice period from your side. Neither commit the date of joining with your next employer without getting the permission from your current employer but in case of urgency you can offer your after working to your next employer or current employer. We should show responsible attitude with our current employer rather rush to the new employer without proper handing & taking over.

Dress for your next Job

During notice special care should be given to your professional attire or dressing, there is one very famous phrase that “Dress for your next job”; Proper Corporate dressing shows your maturity & passion for your job. Looking professional is in your best interests and it will boost yourself image & self confidence as well. When you have left, people must remember you for your excellent dressing.

Wind up The Projects

Don’t linger on your projects which have been assigned to you. Wind up all the projects as soon as possible as this will not only give the true professional feeling to your colleagues but also sense of achievement will emerge as well.

Delegate The Task

Delegate your task among the staff with full concentration & don’t try to hide anything. It is not a good practice to limit the things with yourself and that after your exit people are searching for the things what you have been doing. It is recommended that things are clearly written down for future reference and clarity as well.

Put Extra Efforts

During your notice period put extra efforts & time. Complete your notice period with full grace & authority rather just counting the days.

Have Some Time With Family Before Joining The New Company

Before joining the next employer, spend two or three days at least with your family, so that when you go to the new assignment at a new place , you should be feeling fresh and have sharpened your saw . While you will be at home, the lust for the new assignment will become greater & ultimately it will boost your performance when you finally land at the new job.

Never Negotiate After Furnishing A Resignation

Mostly people started negotiations, after tendering their resignation. This is not only a miss commitment with your next employer but also it will hurt your reputation in your current organization as well. It may leave the impact that you are selfish and greedy person. And the worst is that you indirectly hurt your current employer’s image as well as a chance for others in your organization that may have applied or are looking forward to apply to the same organization.

By : Syed Shahzad Ali 

HR Expert In Pakistan

5 Blazing Reasons For Unproductive Perforrmers

There are segregation between the performers & unproductive performers , I am not talking about not non- performers. It is a unique kind of category, which is willing to perform even they perform hard but nobody recognize them as performer neither they got high pay raise in their appraisals on the other hand  organizations don’t kick them off ,but by the passage of time they become non performers . My research shown mostly have a following five blazing reasons for their unproductiveness;

1) I  Don’t Have Good Ideas 

Usually people say that “ I don’t have any Good/ creative  idea to work on” . in return  I ask them do u have any BAD idea … Idea is idea there is no any bad or good idea but it relates with situation and execution of idea where it will be reckoned as good or bad. One should gather all bad ideas or casual ideas  because  creative or genius people does not have creative or good ideas with them all the time. Even good performers in the organization only deliver few hours as a good performers or take few good decisions in whole day , otherwise  they act as other average performers, these few moments or decisions make them  different as High performer to average performers or as Extra Ordinary to Ordinary. It is like that Leonardo de Vinci would have been created a hundreds of painting But people mostly admired him for his work on paintings of Helicopter , Mona Lisa & Vitruva .  Stephen Covey has written lot of books but he is famous for “Seven habits of highly effective people”. Idea generation is  the main key to move ahead, if you are not thinking or not generating ideas, due to fear, it’s not taking you anywhere for positive, be it creative or good.

2) I Don’t Know What To Do?

No one knows that  what to do initially before start thinking or having a plan  , we don’t know what to do because we don’t think to do something but the moment when we certain or decide to do something then we do it . So make sure you START THINKING about doing something. Get familiar with your thoughts & keep exploring on your thoughts then you must have a way to do something in fact something GREAT .

3) I Didn't Get Degree From XYZ ( Top Rated )College / University .

Degree from XYZ ( Top rated ) college/ university might paid for you once or maximum twice but not more than that like MBA degree from #1 college can make the difference to get one on job once or Twice but after that he has to grasp every opportunity at his own. Like vice degree from mediocre college or university might restricted you once or maximum twice but soon after when you will be on job then both people will have a same ground to LEARN, DEVELOP and exhibit their EXPERTISE. Now performance & knowledge make the difference not degree from top rated institute. Strive hard for knowledge & learning to be a true successful professional rather regretting on your college / university name .

4 )  My Boss Won’t Let Me Do

My boss always ignore my ideas …. He gives my ideas value but never make it happen ……Why your boss become responsible for your risks , when you will not be assuring your boss that 100% chances are there to get succeed. Don’t put your garbage on your Boss shoulders . why you don’t take INITIATIVE and hold COURAGE  at your own , SELF Believe. Until & unless you will not have a self Or track record of success behind you how one can trust on you , so you have to prove yourself at your own & make things happen rather always looking for approval from your boss.

5)  I Can’t Do It Because I Don’t Belong To....... RACE, Religion , Gender, DNA etc.

Never under estimate yourself on the ground of race , religion , gender , DNA etc. People does not get supremacy on these grounds rather through professional knowledge & will and their on ground performances . God created every human being equivalent and given a bombastic gift of brain now it’s up to us how we can use it where as other all factors will remain same. This is not deem necessary that a sports men son will be born with the same talent as his father had or only black people can ran fast than anybody else etc. 

This is not limited to above mentioned points only, there must be for sure  many more other untouched issues & points as well which differentiate the performer from unproductive performers . 

By :Syed Shahzad Ali 

HR Expert in Pakistan

Become Inimitable- Perform Beyond The Expectations & Cover The Extra Mile

If we look around our environment everybody is looking  to avoid mistakes rather to bring perfection in his work  because since our childhood from Primary Standard to  Secondary that thing have been to be told  to us. we always strive hard for getting higher marks in tests  or get 100 % but we never strive for knowledge  or think out of box or indifferent. If somebody does not comply that then he has to face annoyance of his teacher or Boss , so mark your self  D for them  and A++ for  youself . Our schools are the factories where obedient & educated workers would have been produced and trained not Leader and change agents.Following are the extreme examples ;

•  workers who always waiting for instruction just like their previous experiences that can’t read the next chapter of the book until unless will not ask to do so. 

•  In the name of discipline they taught us always show up on time & look your watch that how many hours left behind

• Follow that instructions carefully don’t take any creative initiative .

• Should comply what to be told rather make any argument against what to be told.

• If you will perform well then you will be awarded next standard and here in corporate environment you will get raise in pay or rarely sometimes next promotion.

• Always waiting for recess , holidays & picnics , Now waiting for public holiday, political strikes & off days.   

We should not be a replaceable part of machine rather become a machine itself. Until & unless we will remain a part of machine then we will be replacing. We have to outperform and cover an extra mile because there is always been a very thin difference in becoming good to great because one extra degree make the difference . And one extra degree effort in business & life separates the good from the great.

•  In golf, for last 25 years margin of victory in all major tournaments has been less than 3 strokes.

• The margin for victory between Gold Medal & No Medal in 400m race of men has been .71 seconds only.

• For last ten years in formula one race the difference of $ 6millions  is merely 1.25 seconds , winner got $ 12million & second prize $  6million.       

It is our life and we  are responsible for  our Own  results  & consequences. We should perform Responsibilities rather Jobs and always strive forward for covering that extra mile which will take us on top & make us inimitable. We should be act as artist who always more than vigilant about his performance in every role, who does not care about  the stage , place or role but he would there to give his best performance.

I went  to restaurant last Saturday I saw a waiter having a big smile on his face , having blasting energy  & positive body language ,he was not only managing his orders but also providing the great customer services to other customers. He was enjoying his role &  performing more than his role , every customer were looking for him that he would take their order. On the contrary there were some other waiter with no energy & enthusiasm in them and they were trying to hide their faces in their caps .So  we should enjoy our role or job  and should  perform beyond the expectations & demand of role to restore that place in the organization or business where your existence become inimitable. 

By : Syed Shahzad Ali 

HR Expert in Pakistan

 

Supremacy Of Words - The Use Transformational Vocabulary

What happens if a hockey player scores a  goal & Coach didn’t praise him on the ground by saying “Shabash Bachay” or “Great Goal“ or “Superb” but later on he would do it  in the locker room ? For sure it would not have that much impact as it would have been, if done on the ground  at time he scored a goal . What if he express his feeling with low energy & fragile vocabulary on the ground? So timing & selection of words derive our actions. Sometimes we do not give much importance to our vocabulary much and it is our words which change our action in enthusiasm or passion.

We have to transform our vocabulary in order to be motivated our selves like we have to commit ourselves that we will not use word PROBLEM anymore in our entire life instead of challenge or confront because when we use word PROBLEM then our brain creates a Metaphor of “pitiable or perplexed person asking for help” and when we use word CHALLENGE, the metaphor of fighter  would be created by our brain. Our actions & behaviors have been derived by the metaphors created by our brains, so we have got to change our daily use of vocabulary and relate the positive metaphor with it.

Would you like to see any film again and again which you have rated flop earlier? For sure “Big NO”, in the same way we should replace our all metaphors & vocabulary which will turn around our disempowerment into empowerment. “I am getting tensed” can be changed to “I am concerned or little bit peeved”. Anxiety can be treated as a state where we are getting ready to energize to prove ourselves. We should take anxiety – restless feelings, of Interviews, Exams or Office Presentations as opportunity to prove ourselves. In anxiety we would be restless internally because we would be getting energizing inside out.

There are so many impressive words which we can use in our daily routine, if we’re[a1]  having a great time (at a party or working on your business) and you just say, “It’s okay, Fine” you’ll be robbing yourself of some of the juice that you could be getting.  Instead say, “This is fantastic.”  perfect… extraordinary… phenomenal… energized… brilliant… ecstatic…  incredible…awesome…fabulous……..Top of the world because when we say “ its fine or Okay “ then our brain create a metaphor of “deprived person” but when we use lively words as I mentioned above then it shows your over all personality that how much contented you are ? You can send enormous messages to other person through your right transformational vocabulary.

You can use modifiers too for irritation , tension , deprived, dejected moments etc:

• a little bit peeved                    
• somewhat concerned              
• kind of unfortunate
• that’s rather inconvenient

 & for joyful & ecstatic moments

• absolutely wonderful
• totally awesome
• Top of the world
• Perfectly Stunning
• deeply satisfying
• exquisitely delicious

And yes finally do note that when you are sending written messages these matters a lot more because the person with whom you are communicating with is visualizing you metaphorically. And when communicating on one to one basis your gestures must compliment the words you say otherwise this may not create the impression you wanted to make.

By : Syed Shahzad Ali 

HR Expert in Pakistan