This is because Mondays and Fridays,when combined with the weekend,is an extended time off from office.Fridays have work to be finished and Mondays are always busy.So,an employees reluctance to come to office on these days does not bode well for the employer.The symptoms of burnout are rarely overt,and the leave calendar is a great indicator for managers, says Deepak Shetty,HR head for Philips.Under the programme,about 50 middle managers have also been trained to develop motivational skills and hone their leadership capabilities;their management skills are assessed through employee engagement surveys every November.In advertising,a sector known for its odd working hours and intense demands on creativity,managers are now caught up in trying to ward off burnout.Last year,advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather (O&M ) started training its younger employees on boss management.Employees were taught not to take either criticism,or praise,to heart since both were likely to build unrealistic expectations.If your boss praises you,it does not make you a prima donna, says Prateek Srivastava,group president for O&M (south).And if he criticises you,it does not mean you are worthless. The agency found many of its young employees spending more and more time,including weekends,in office,and decided this needed to be monitored.If they were there because they wanted to watch a match with colleagues,that was alright.But if they were in practically every weekend because they had to complete a project,and couldnt manage to do so through the week,senior managers were urged to gently tell them to distribute the workload with others.As a quick-fix,O&M also allows employees to do things like play music while at work to relax them.Employee surveys have shown that this has helped many of the younger lot to handle work pressure.And if anyone complains about the music or the loud volume its played at,its their problem, says a determined Srivastava.The HR head of an agency remembers how an advertising professional felt completely wiped out by the time he was 30 because his company had identified him as a rising star,and made constant demands on his time and creativity.He quit the agency and tried opening his own firm, says the HR head.But he soon found that he had no clients because,after word about his breakdown got out,no one wanted to work with him anymore. The burnout not only cost the man his job,but also his career.If advertising professionals need to pace their creativity,youngsters in IT -- particularly in the call centres and BPOs -- need their time managed better.That is why companies like Sabre Holdings and Google are now allowing more freedom to their employees to adjust their timelines and work schedules with their global clients.Earlier,employees had to tune into calls at odd hours in keeping with the work day of their American and European counterparts.But noting the rise in grievances,Sabre and Google now lets employees to fix call timings that suit their schedule as well.In addition to this,Sabre Holdings also makes sure to play down things that may promote fierce competition among its younger employees,like identifying star performers.Unlike other companies,Sabre does not have the concept of selecting top performers who would have access to special meetings with senior managers and get global exposure all the time.It is important to be subtle about performance so that the pressure to be the best does not build up all the time, says HR head Savitha Prasad,who speaks from experience.In a previous job,Prasad says the employer was so fixated on top performers that one of their best managers,who was in her early-30 s,suffered a burnout when she found out she was pregnant and could not manage to juggle both work and family responsibilities.As an added safeguard,Sabre does not allow employees to carry forward their holidays to the next year and insists they take enough leave every year.Some companies feel that if they help out with employees out-of-office responsibilities,it takes a load off their staff.While some organisations offer services like grocery shopping or laundry on campus,HCL has introduced the concept of a genie or personal helper for employees.
Source : Economic Times. Thank You.
No comments:
Post a Comment