“THE MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION – Which Organisation to Join?”

I received a comment on my previous post, “Tangible Visibility of Success – The Biggest Motivator”, where a point was mentioned about everyone getting opportunities but not knowing which is the right one. Grabbing an opportunity is a significant decision as doing so means leaving others & that decision shouldn’t be regretted. This decision can be pertaining to buying just one pair of shoes within Rs.500 or choosing an outfit to wear to an all important date. Then there are more serious decisions like, “Which Stream of Education to Choose”, “Which college to join” & then the BIG ONE….”Which company / organisation to join”.
Thanks to my profession again, I get to meet a lot of individuals seeking inputs for this BIG QUESTION. Thus thought of sharing my views on the aspects to be considered, thought of, deliberated upon, while making this BIG DECISION. So friends lets get to the drawing board & add some colours to the quest of finding a fitting answer to make the RIGHT CHOICE.
At a Macro Level, there are 4 factors which should be deliberated upon :
- Work (Kind of work, Learning etc) & Scalability
- Money
- Brand ( Stability, Market share, Infrastructure etc)
- Convenience (work Location, extended Timings, shifts, travel duration etc)

You need to find out the details about every factor mentioned above, evaluate what is most important for you & then make a choice accordingly, depending upon “Where your level is on the “Need Hieracrchy” and “Your Appetite for Risk”.

Some points are illustrated in detail as under :

A. Nature Of Job : Seek answers to “What would you be doing” rather than the Job Title or Designation. What skills sets that you possess would be put to use
B. Introspect : Ask yourself whether you would LIKE doing the activities involved consistently. Also seek an answer to How & whether would you be able to deliver & add value to the organisation as that is a key to getting more exposure & extracting learning.
C. Research / Deliberate Upon :

C.1. Career Succession Prospect : Research / connect with existing employees who have had extensive Career Growth, Job Enrichment, internally. Check on both Vertical & Horizontal growth prospects.

C.2. Financial & Strategic impetus : Research on the Funding, last 3 years financial record & Track record of Promotors / board members.

C.3. CAGR of the organisation as compared to its industry peers.

C.4. Attitude towards Out of Box thinking, Innovation & Novel Ideas.

C.5. Customer Service Quality, Track Record & Attitude - If you are able to get a feel of an organisation as a customer, then you would be able to figure out what the people perceive. This would enable you to ascertain the REPUTATION QUOTIENT of the organisation comprehensively.

C.6. Resource longevity and Quality – Its important to find out whether the existing employees have found reasons to stick to the company. It’s also important to know what kind of people you would work with.

C.7. Total Annual Compensation – All components / factors should be taken into account – Medical Support, Pension Policy, Stock Options (If Any), Education funding, Holiday Allowance, Flexible working, Maternity Benefits, Child Care Support etc.

Apart from all these take into consideration your Gut Feel, Your Instinct as well and Go On…Make Your Choice…Take the Plunge…your Decision would be the Right One..if not then work towards making it right.

TANGIBLE VISIBILITY OF SUCCESS - The Biggest Motivator

Being Motivated as well as Motivating individuals consistently, is a key attribute in achieving effectiveness in your business. Consistent Motivation is a very difficult thing to achieve. There's a plethora of techniques, programs, methods, views, opinions on this subject which is indeed very useful. You must be wondering then why am I touching upon this subject?

A small incident at my office a couple of days back propelled me to put forth my view in this regard. We were working as usual & all of a sudden an assignment came up which gave a concrete promise of an immediate positive result, thus giving a Tangible Visibility of Success. Sharing this assignment was like fuelling the ambers, that soon began the fire and in no time it had spread across, the adrenalin rush was starkly visible. The assignment wasn't easy by any means, yet the delivery was par excellence with a record Turn-Around-Time.

This story explains it all.....if we are able to SEE THE POSSIBILITY OF ACHIEVING SUCCESS in something, no matter how small it is, we would be motivated to work towards the same. Hope is the biggest catalyst, all we need to do is give this hope a TANGIBLE FORM & make ourselves & our people FEEL & SEE the realization and that’s about it, you would have a bunch of professionals working towards completing the task in hand with an eagerness of a 5 years old opening a fully wrapped Christmas present.

Recruitment Process – An Important Employer Branding Tool

The creation of a "Brand Image" depends on the following aspects:

A - Attention
R - Retention
E- Education
S- Suggestion
C- Conviction

We should treat our Recruitment Process as a key ingredient of our Employer Branding function as it is an excellent platform to make an impact in line with these aspects. This is the time when an external resource comes in a “Direct Contact” with an organisation & gets a first hand feel. Irrespective of whether they get hired or not, if they leave with a positive experience, it goes a long way in creating a Brand Image. It is important that people talk with respect, even with awe, of their contact with our company and our employees. A positive "ARESC" impact on the candidates gets cascaded to many.

The steps which can be followed are:

- Gaining attention through good & well placed & appropriately designed advertisements / blogs etc.
- Giving proper inputs on the organisation, its culture, the position details, etc. through a presentation or a talk in a common forum which is interactive. This eases nerves & creates a Feel Good Factor.
- Have a Consulting / Counseling Approach while interviewing them rather than being purely judgmental, as it is not always about Selection v/s Rejection but the Right Fitment of an individual which makes him / her get a job.
- Encourage them to be in touch through various networking sites etc.
- And of course when they are at our premises, their comfort should be taken care of & they should never be left unattended.

Education, Experience or Luck ???

Owing to my profession, I get to have a Rendezvous with a lot of individuals, looking for a Job. A common question or Topic which surfaces in many a tête-à-tête is, “What is the most significant aspect enabling one to grab a job, Education, Experience or Luck?” This is a kind of question for which there would be a different perspective that all of us would have, pertaining to the degree of significance or magnitude of these aspects. I just happened to have an opinion of my own which I thought of sharing.
This question is similar to asking, “What makes a Footballer excellent, Speed, Skill or Stamina?”
It actually depends on how these attributes are USED in COMBINATION in an effective manner.

Similarly, when it comes to Education, Experience & Luck, in my opinion what is more important is:

1. What Conceptual & Practical knowledge you have achieved from your Education.
2. Whether you have made the most of the Exposure you have got at your work place & have gained experience in IMPLEMENTING your education.
3. Whether you have grabbed the opportunity coming your way by being at the Right Place at the Right Time, rather whether you have made the Place & Time, Right with your grit.