Two New Reads !

1. At work, Indians fifth most vacation-deprived: India is the fifth most vacation-deprived nation in the world as the average Indian employee does not use a fifth of the total number of paid days leave allocated in a year. The reasons vary from disapproving bosses to affordability, lack of planning and the outlook that vacations are a luxury and not a necessity.

2. Holiday? Not if you work in Mumbai: Work ethos is not for the faint-hearted and the results of a recent survey show that when it comes to taking days off from work to go on a holiday, Mumbaikars rank the lowest among other metro cities. Only 32% of employees in Mumbai surveyed said that they took 21-to 30 days off in a year. In comparison, Delhi employees have a more relaxed attitude: 37% of Delhiites said they take 21-30 days off a year. Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai stood at 34%. And even applying for leave is no guarantee that employees actually get to enjoy their planned vacation.

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Source : Epaper.timesofindia.com, Dec 01, 2011

The 10 Commandments !

No matter the size of your company, having a team of motivated employees is critical to your business success. There are 10 simple ways to ensure your team is enthused, productive and ready to give their all.

Build a foundation: It’s important to build a rock-solid foundation for your employees so they feel invested in the company. Tell them about the history of the business and your vision for the future. Ask them about their expectations and career goals, as well as how you can help them feel like a part of the team. Create a positive environment: Promote an office atmosphere that makes all employees feel worthwhile and important. Keep office doors open, and let folks know they can always approach you with questions or concerns. After all, a happy office is a productive office. Put people on the right path: Most employees are looking for advancement opportunities within their own company. Work with each of them to develop a career growth plan that takes into consideration both their current skills and their future goals. Educate the masses: Help employees improve their professional skills by providing on-the-job training or in-house career development. Allow them to attend workshops and seminars related to the industry. Encourage them to attend adult education classes paid for by the company. Employees will feel you are investing in them, and this will translate into improved job performance. Fun factor: Once in a while, put your work aside and do something nice for the people who work for you. Treat the office to a pizza lunch or take everyone to the movies. These little diversions can go a long way toward improving productivity. Acknowledgement matters: You can make a huge difference in employee morale by simply taking the time to recognize each employee’s contributions and accomplishments, large or small. Be generous with praise. Give out incentives: Offer incentives, either with something small like a gift certificate or something more substantial such as a performance based bonus or salary increase. Also, give out awards such as “Employee of the Month”. Such tokens of appreciation will go far in motivating employees. Deliver what you promise: Getting people to give their all requires following through on promises. If you tell an employee that they will be considered for a bonus if numbers improve or productivity increases, you’d better put your money where your mouth is. Failure to follow through on promises will result in a loss of trust. Helping hand: Help employees reach the next level professionally by providing on-site coaching. Bring in professionals to provide one-on-one counselling, which can help people learn how to overcome personal or professional obstacles on their career paths. Make the right match: You can improve employee motivation by improving employee confidence. Assign individuals with tasks you know they will enjoy or will be particularly good at. An employee who is successful at one thing will have the self-confidence to tackle other projects with renewed energy and excitement.

Source: Allbusiness.com , Expresscomputeronline.com , ET Special Issue, Nov 2011.

' Screw Dheela Hai ' Season 2

Its Back ! The legendary Screw Dheela Hai Contest is back with Season 2. A fun and kick a## contest with 3 simple steps and a chance to win loads of prizes!!!

1. Remember the day you were doing something looney, with a funny expression on your face and a friend or colleague was quick to catch u in the act? Or the day you had fun with your team @ work. (The stuff you laugh about now and say Screw dheela hai mera! (As in that was one whacked out – not in my character moment). Yes! Pick those photos. 

2. Send us these photos (jpeg/png) at info@willnevergrowup.com with your full name & city. And your pet name (if you have one). Also send us a small note on the incident in question!

3. Get Rewarded: Top three entries win some super cool prizes (priceless!). One of them is an IPod Shuffle while others include cool merchandise and gift vouchers. 

Contest Rules:

a. You can send in a maximum of 5 photos per person. These can be photos and images right from childhood to your perceived adult stage. Remember... being crazy and out of the box is the key. You can also create these moments now that you know there is a prize.

b. Last date for submission is 8^th December 2011 by 4:00 pm IST

c. Contest is open to people across the universe :) So don’t forget to tell your friends!

If u want to know what you are up against, check out the SDH Video from Season I. Remember though, this is just the tip of the iceberg :)