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COVER STORY
Whistleblowing: An Ethical Dilemma in Human Resource Management
-- Elizabeth George
Whistleblowing is the decision taken by an employee to report illegal or immoral practices
of higher authorities or even peers, to the police or media, or persons, or to the organizations
that may be able to effect appropriate corrective action. Whistleblowing is important as it
often contributes to improvement in internal control systems and is a solution to
organizational problems. This article examines the concept, the do's and don'ts, and the prospects
and consequences of whistleblowing. Some individual cases both, from within the country
and abroad, have been studied to support and substantiate the need for legal protection
to whistleblowers.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT
Storytelling : A New Tool for Employee Engagement
-- NR Aravamudhan
Storytelling is a very powerful tool for business leaders to get across their business
messages and engage their employees deeply. Storytelling was always cloaked in skepticism
and cynicism. Of late, business leaders seem to have discovered the virtues of storytelling and
its power to engage employees. This article details why a company uses storytelling, the
process involved in storytelling, and the vehicles of communication available in a company to
tell stories, so much so that employee engagement can be realized.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
WOMEN EMPOWERMENT
Women Empowerment in the Corporate World
-- N Sudheer Kumar and G Susmitha
Today's corporate world is facing a challenge of managing its human capital which has
become a critical and significant issue. The demand for talent is enormously growing across all
sectors in the world. Today, women are competing at par with their male counterparts and
organizations are also recognizing their talent and providing equal opportunities to them. Organizations
are trying to hire the best talent, irrespective of the gender. Women have made their presence
felt in every area. Moreover, they are front-runners for change and are emerging as leaders in
their respective fields.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
FLEXIBLE WORK ARRANGEMENTS
Flexible Work Arrangements : HR Solution to Recession
-- Manisha Sharma
The world has been facing recession, which has resulted in the shutting down of
several organizations and loss of jobs for several people working in them. Several big
organizations, including Infosys, Wipro, Sun Microsystems, Lend Lease, etc., have cut short their size
by retrenchment and have paved the way for several HR related problems. Such decisions
have not only put financial burden on the recession struck organizations but have also put
great economic pressure on the countries they are in. In such a tough time, flexible
work arrangements could be used as a face-saving option for all involved. This article throws light
on the various kinds of flexible work arrangements and the benefits associated with them
from both the employer's and the employee's points of view.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
HRM STRATEGY
Why Retention Strategies Fail?
-- Abhishek Roy Chowdhury
Attrition is a challenge for almost every industry in India and across the world. Employers
are facing high employee turnover rate in spite of all the efforts to retain top performers. A
careful observation will reveal that the retention strategies fail mostly due to lack of understanding
of what people want in an organization and the inability to address their concerns. Also,
an organization cannot retain people who have demands that are not feasible and do not match
the core business of the company. Therefore, instead of spending time and money in an effort
to satisfy those people, they should learn to let them go, in order to make space for the
right people.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
VALUATION OF HR
Valuation of Human Resources in Indian Corporates : A Review
-- RC Gupta and Garima Sengar
For a long time, the valuation of physical assets like material, machinery, money, etc., has
been of utmost importance and was being shown in the balance sheets but no significance was
being given to human resources on which the success and failure of business
organizations depends. In order to estimate and project the worth of human capital, the need of some sort
of methodology for computation and record keeping was felt and Human Resource
Accounting (HRA) was found to serve the purpose. This article aims to highlight the issues regarding
the significance and valuation of human resources in Indian corporates and the practices, they
are adopting to measure them.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
JOB MARKET
Employee Downsizing : Indian Jobs from Boom to Gloom?
-- Anila Chandran V and Seema S
The year 2009 is witnessing a reversal in the fortune of the job market from boom to
gloom. Organizations are under pressure to cut cost, lower volume growth and lessen the demand
for people. From Reliance to tea units, all are feeling the heat wave of the global business
slowing down. Generally, when there is a fall in the demand of products, organizations first axe
their employees because they are the source of expenditure for them. Job insecurity has
adversely affected the Indian middle class. Non-performers are no longer required in any
organization. HR is now formulating innovative ways on how to layoff employees with less trauma. This
article looks into employee downsizing and its consequences on organizational functioning.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
CASE STUDY
Employees as Brands: The Case of Google
-- Priti Krishnan and Deepti Srikanth
This case study is written primarily to raise an interesting argument over a simple,
yet, thought-provoking concept _ how can human resources be leveraged as a source
of competitive advantage? Illustrated through the example of Google, this case study
raises many intriguing issues. In a span of a decade, Google has emerged as a
technological powerhouse with two extraordinary innovations, `search' and `adwords', to its credit.
The company attributes this enviable rise to glory to its most valued assets _ the
Google employees. These efforts paid off and Google emerged as the most sought after place
to work for two consecutive years (2007 and 2008). The appreciation of
Google's achievements has been accompanied by increasing apprehensions about the
long-term sustainability of Google's informal and fun-filled culture.
© 2008 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
PERFORMANCE METRICS
360-Degree Feedback : Appraisal or Development?
-- Sameer Sudhakar Pingle
360-degree feedback, also known as "multi-rater feedback," or "multisource feedback," is
the feedback that comes from all around an employee. The results from 360-degree feedback
are often used by the people receiving it to plan their training and development, career goals of
the employees, and to prepare a performance development plan. Results are also used by
some organizations in making administrative decisions, such as pay or promotion. However, there
is a great deal of controversy as to whether 360-degree feedback should be used exclusively
for development purposes, or should be used for appraisal as well. This article focuses on
varied applications of 360-degree feedback from appraisal to development.
© 2009 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
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