May 21, 2020 | consultant, consulting, hr, wfh, workingfromhome
Are You Working from Home – Let’s make it fun and productive
Congratulations on your new gained freedom, the WFH Freedom, which was rare until the last year. But with freedom comes responsibility. Yes, the responsibility to remain extremely productive and creative to deliver and take the utmost care of your mind, body, and energy to achieve a better work-life balance. When your personal and professional life is under a single roof it becomes difficult to draw a line of demarcation between the two. Where WFH on one side, can be a boon it can be troublesome if not managed properly. It’s therefore important to make it rewarding by keeping high productivity, maintaining a healthy work-life balance, and keeping intact with our relations. We all are working remotely now and would be facing a lot of challenges; however the same keep on varying because of the nature of work and lifestyle we follow. Still we keep on grappling with issues common and usual for all of us. Based on my experience of remote working during the lock down I suggest the following tips and best practices for working from Home
- Follow a Morning routine – Set a wake-up alarm and start your day with meditation, yoga, or a little body exercise. This increases happiness, enjoyment, interest, and confidence levels and helps you coming as a more productive version of yourself
- Make a To-Do-List – Take a pen and notebook and write out the task you need to accomplish the next day. I prefer to make the next list before going to bed. It helps you in saving the morning time and makes you leave the bed with a goal and excitement to complete it
- Set weekly goals – In addition to To-Do-List it’s good to have an activity for the entire week. I usually chalk out a plan of all weekly goals on a weekend and align all workday activities by keeping track of deadlines and targets
- Choose an appropriate working space – This seems to be an important step in the journey of WFH as it is prudent to focus on the task, which could only happen when your working area is free from distractions. If you are not able to assign a proper area at least assign a desk with required peripherals to work with full concentration
- Set your working hours – The best part of WFH is flexibility concerning working hours. Try to identify the time when you are more productive and build the work schedule around that peak productivity periods. I have assigned a time slot from 10 A.M to 1 P.M and 3 P.M to 5 P.M where I find myself more productive and focused
- Avoid working in PJs – People usually prefer to be in their PJs while WFH; I was going through an article wherein the home lady talked about having less laundry work because of WFH. I believe The mental association you build between your work makes you more productive. It is so advisable to do all preparation of setting alarm, making breakfast, wearing nice clothes because it will help you remain in the right work mind-set. Also it keeps you ready to take any video chat or meeting with colleagues
- Use quality technology – Learn to get the best technology for WFH. Proper devices, internet, tools for messaging, calls and videoconferencing can help you do your job comfortably and efficiently. It also keeps you connected with your co-workers and monitors your contribution to the team efforts
Oh my! Tired of work and related efforts to make it productive, it’s obvious. As the famous proverb says, “All work and no play make Jack a dull boy”, said indeed. People may get bored if they don’t get time off from work, so you need to have some fun and gamify your WFH experience. Below activities can make the remote work experience fun and enrich –
- Take short breaks – Too much of work and over-commitment to it dwindles the productivity of a person. Breaking the continuity and rhythm with short breaks for taking coffee, snacks, enjoying nature from balcony or terrace, lighter chat with spouse or kids can help you regain and maintain your productivity levels
- Reward Yourself – Linking your work with rewards like finishing a no. of projects before lunch, treating yourself with ice cream, or your favorite snack after you finish answering emails can help you stay motivated and keeps you feel fulfilled
- Stay Socialized – Disconnect and Isolation are common problems in the WFH environment especially for extroverts. It’s therefore important to stay connected with friends, colleagues, neighbors through common chat platforms, meetups, play an online game, group singing. I see one of my LinkedIn connections enjoying dual singing with one of his colleagues and sharing his experience to stay elated during your daily work schedule
- Work on your hobby or learn a new skill – With no commute on weekdays and having little space for an outing on weekends allows you ample amount time to concentrate on your hobby and learning a new skill like a new language, culinary skills, painting. This will help you cure potential boredom during and enjoy your stay at home
- Listen to music – Listening to music throughout the day or during work helps you keep relaxed and lively. Spotify is an audio streaming platform that lets you pick and listen to millions of songs and podcasts in multiple languages
We can also opt for other activities like taking a stroll on a call, taking sound sleeps by setting a bedtime alarm/, and staying connected with family and friends.
The above is based on my personal experience and the strategy I opted for WFH. You can figure out what works best for you if you don’t agree with the above. Sometimes the answer is available or you might need some inspiration from other people in the same boat. Working from home is awesome so whatever you do make sure that your day ends with smile and relaxation on the face so that you remain charged up to take up the next day of WFH
Stay Safe, Stay Home, A Happy WFH
May 21, 2020 | consultant, consulting, hr
FROM SIMPLY HR TO BEING AN HR CONSULTANT
Over the years HR has tremendously evolved from being a record-keeping department to more strategic in driving employee engagement, company culture, and major changes. From a mere corner in the organization HR has moved to the Boardroom making it to be a valuable member of the executive team. Automation has been a boon in evolution by completing all mundane tasks more efficiently without any human intervention allowing the human effort to be saved. However there are many strategic HRM areas where automation has no role to play enabling the HR involvement into decision making roles impacting the organization and its functioning. This demands HR to come up with new skill sets adding value to the highest levels of the organization. It is so imperative for HR to equip themselves with Business acumen, Financial Intelligence, Analytics, Change Management, and a hybrid Leadership role. This will transform HR into more specialist HR professionals catering to the business needs of future organizations. To behave and act as a trusted advisor to business, HR should portray them as more specialized HR Consultants helping to build the future HR organization
WHO AN HR CONSULTANT IS
An HR Consultant is a Management Professional who specializes in addressing human resource management tasks and decisions. They work with the motive of enhancing the efficiency of HR operations by devising and implementing appropriate policies and procedures highly compatible with the organization. Viewing the organization through Eagle’s Eye approach they can work to completely overhaul the organization’s human capital ensuring it serves the best interest of the company. An HR Consultant also performs the role of Organizational Development and Change Consulting thereby establishing a tested control system compliant with business processes and HR strategy
WHAT IT TAKES TO BE AN HR CONSULTANT
To be able to succeed in an HR consulting role, individuals must be armed with a solid HR education (A Bachelor or Master’s degree in Human Resource field) and plenty of experience. To deliver a successful holistic HR model an HR Consultant should have a clear understanding of all organizational functions and its alignment with HRM to easily identify related issues and inefficiencies and offer advice to remedy them. Apart from education and experience, one should have
- Organizational and People Skills
- Active Listening and Speaking
- Critical Thinking
- Negotiation
- System Analysis & Evaluation
- Time Management
- Problem Solving
- Service Orientation Approach
As a Senior Certified HR Professional from The Society of Human Resource Management I endorse the SHRM’s HR Competency Model because it portrays a comprehensive approach of both behavioral and technical competencies required for HR professionals
DELIVERIES OF AN HR CONSULTANT
An HR Consultant addresses the actual HR issues with strategic thinking by analyzing a company’s current HR programs and recommending solutions. HR Consultant leads many diverse HR projects and provides effective human capital advice. They help the companies optimize almost every HR process as well as implement strategic HR plans and technology. According to the SHRM an HR consultant will “Perform advanced, specialized and administrative duties in a designated human resource program or section area” and is responsible for providing high-level support in the administration of a human resources program.” Human resource consultants thus shoulder the responsibility of creating and developing a robust HR Model, advise on its implementation and act as a custodian to it. From addressing questions on policy to conducting training sessions on complex HR procedures, HR consultants are largely responsible for setting up a highly compliant HR system concerning business requirements
BENEFITS FOR CORPORATE HIRING AN HR CONSULTANT
Automation is one of the important forces which is transforming the nature of work in current organizations. Companies are now looking for new workforce strategies to maintain productivity with reduced costs. I was talking to an HR Lead of an organization a few days back, She shared her organization strategy of reducing the Recruiter job and hiring of Freelance HR Recruiter on lower cost as compared to existing staff. Often such decisions are painful and disruptive but this could be beneficial for the organization as it increases the cost and time efficiencies of the organization. Additionally it also helps the company to hire on-demand expertise even if they don’t have the budget to hire them full time, access global talent, and get the work delivered round the clock. This has given rise to a new business model called the Freelance / Consulting model which is extremely growing fast. More and more companies are now relying on this model to save on hiring expenses, reduce benefit-cost, and expedite their operations with quality deliveries throughout the day. This leaves a great opportunity for HR Consultants to emerge as a great talent pool with their knowledge and expertise as Specialists to different domains of HR
ALIGNMENT WITH NEW EMERGING ECONOMY MODEL
The beginning of this new decade is witnessed with the advent of start-ups and the emergence of an independent and agile workforce, with a shift from a full time 9-5 job to remote and project-based work, done by mobile and independent workers. This gave rise to a Gig Economy which consists of a large segment of self-employed, freelancers, independent contributors, and part-time workers. Where the Gig economy allows the companies to hire better talent off the balance sheet, on one side, it also helps the workers get more convenience, flexibility, and additional income. Consequently the Gig economy is becoming a norm with more countries as they start relying on more mobile workers considering it to be the most practical based solution. At the same time this has become a sweet spot for all those freelance professionals who are ready to sacrifice the corporate job and opt for the work they love and improve on their skill set. This could help them customize their services as per the needs of the organization. Companies are now counting on this Freelancer Tribe to get an immediate workforce, reduce cost, and innovate faster. The advent of this Gig economy is pervasive as it is also shaping the future of HR.
READINESS OF CURRENT HR TO EMBRACE THE CHANGE
The “Gig Economy” has become a new world of employment dictionary stretching from Uber Drivers to freelance professionals. Organizations globally are reaping the benefits by offering their client a strong bench of Consultants with diverse talent and expertise. A recent study carried by Flexing It, as ‘Professional Gig Economy 2018-19 Report Card, highlights the Gig economy as a prime feature of India Inc’s strategy. Large Indian corporates and professional services firms emerge as the largest user of flexible talent accounting for 72% of projects in 2018- 19. The top three skills in demand which account for 50% of the projects were Strategy, Technology, and Marketing followed by Finance and Human Resource. This shows that a lot of people in India also are joining the movement of the Gig workforce and are adding to the pool of talent accessible with flexibility. But the question is what does this highly flexible working culture offer to HR?? Although this possesses numerous organizational challenges it provides HR an opportunity to add value to the organization by taking on a new role as a Specialist or Consultant. The HR professionals have a great opportunity to take on a more strategic role by embracing the model first to themselves with specialist skills to serve the future organization. HR professionals have had a lot on their plates. But is the HR fraternity ready to adapt to this Gig workforce model as compared to 9 to 5 jobs? Are HR professionals ready to render their services as specialized HR Consultant?
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