Author: GreyBians

Why do you need a feedback system?

● Do you tell your team where it is going wrong?
● Does your senior member know he/she will not get promoted for
another year?
● Are you able to pass the same vision to your team members?
● Ever wondered why a particular member is not able to learn as fast
as others?

If the answer to any of the above questions is NO, read this chapter twice.

We had a vision – to deliver a 7-star experience to the client. For that, it was very important to be aligned towards this common goal. But it’s obvious that not everyone will give the same results.

There came an offset between the mentor and the team. It was not worked upon and later it resulted in expectation mismatch. So, before the team started falling like dominos, we introduced a feedback system.

Dispelling Misconceptions for Better Outcomes…

● Monthly feedbacks

We set a few work-specific parameters and started evaluating every team member on those. The percentages reflected monthly performance and progress w.r.t. last month. The detailed feedback helped an individual to understand what was not going in the right direction and where to work upon more.

But this system had its own challenges.

– We got so invested in highlighting the errors (improvement pointers as we called it), that we forgot to mark the good points as well. The team started dreading feedback, worrying about how their performance will be perceived by others, they started becoming
vulnerable to criticism.
– Every mentor had their own perspective of judging the performance. As a consequence, two analysts with the same job role were being evaluated on different parameters, or were being evaluated on the same parameters differently.

Quantifying Feedbacks

Once we got to know the shortcomings, the percentage system seemed obsolete. We introduced a new system – Feedback Rating System.

The ratings range from 1 to 5, with common definition, i.e.

To make this system work, we made few tweaks:

-Introduction of Quarterly feedback, but with monthly one-on-one discussions. This gave a fair chance to team members to work on their weaknesses in the same evaluation time frame (in a quarter). This helped the team members to improvise in the same quarter
itself so that their quarterly rating comes out to be good.
-Addition of positive pointers and appreciations in the feedback
-Streamlining the same parameters across different teams to maintain standardization

Contd……

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But how do you retain them?

Money is enough, or is it?

You give time/effort to train people. And they started leaving after 1-2 years.

To make sure you do not have to repeat the hard work, you try to retain the good candidates – offering promotions/higher packages/good incentives, right?

But is that the right or only solution? Is money the only reason employees leave?

You see, loyalty can’t be bought, it needs to be earned. The ones looking for money will ultimately go, but the ones who want to be around, need the right reason.

Uncover the Surprising Secrets for Success:

Shifting from Bond to Bonus – Candidates were leaving us either after training (6 months) or after completing a bond of 2 years. The trainees didn’t want to get stuck in a job for 2 years that they might not like – sounds fair. And employees leaving after 2 years might have left early but couldn’t due to bond.

Now, note that they were being offered good packages, but they still wanted to go. Meanwhile, we kept on training them.

Once we figured out what was happening, we didn’t go for the obvious solution – increasing packages. We nullified the bond contract and gave everyone a fair chance. Trainees had an option to explore the kind of job we’re offering and depending on their likability, they could make a choice. People leaving didn’t matter now, we were now familiar with the next course of action.

Appreciating Loyalty – We wanted to appreciate the people working with us for a longer time. So, we started giving loyalty bonuses to those who continued with us for 2 years. The former ‘compulsion’ changed to ‘a perk’.

Ever wondered if you are asking for more?

Another reason people leave is because the job is demanding. You might not accept it or try to compensate for it with money. And we know from the above chapter – that’ll not work every time.

It could be the late sittings, or night shifts, or late night calls, or working over weekends, etc. that can trigger frustration and detachment.

But well, of course – the type of industry you are in, these commitments are needed. Even if you want to, you can’t avoid occasional pressure from clients, projects that need extra attention, or working nights. Are you failing in making your team understand your situation? We did too.

Contd….

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Do you also think training is not needed, OR
Do you also wish to get candidates already trained? OR
Do you also think you will train people as they work on projects? Why bother with a training program?
Do you also think you can outsource this?
Well, are you ready to hear what we have to say here?

The Untold Secrets They Never Shared – Until Now!

3.1 Training should be like a magic wand. You swivel it, and in a fraction of a second, the person starts producing high quality output!

What if I tell you training does not require longer time and the magic can happen?

Well, generally an employee undergoes a structured learning process to acquire the necessary knowledge and skills for their role.

This involves orientation programmes, on-boarding, job-specific training, etc.

This requires a dedicated training team having experienced members and their precious time. In some companies this process even takes 6 months.

But remember, we were a start-up. We did not have time and resources to train the people, fresher as well as experienced employees.

Here is how we trained people –

Personal mentoring from day 1
At first, we would assign personal mentors to the new hires after orientation and on-boarding which used to be completed within a week.

Basically, as soon as people join, they used to get associated with mentors, working on a live project from day 1. Each mentor would teach the required skills.

Common training module

The previous model had a few flaws we wanted to improve. Each mentor cannot teach all the things. At times, mentees used to be devoid of one of the other essential skills because the mentor went on leave and it never came into discussion again.

On top of that, a common rating system couldn’t be implemented. To sort this, we planned to build a dedicated training team that conducts a 6 week program. We designed the complete program with all the minute details precisely captured. If the trainer wants to know what needs to be taught on the 4th day, at 4:30 pm, you will find that detail in the program schedule prepared.

This was an overhead for the company, but in the long run, we could see its benefits.

Contd…..

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Culture is not something that you need to do separately. It is not merely the reviews written on Glassdoor.

Or superficial gestures like singing Happy Birthday for colleagues.

So what is it?

The Truths That Can Transform Your Culture!..

Culture is an intangible yet powerful aspect of an organization that goes beyond mere surface-level practices. Instead, culture is an intrinsic part of how a company operates, shaped by the collective mindset and values of its employees.

Culture is how you think.
Culture is who you are.
Culture is how you behave in front of your people and how you tell
your people to think.
Culture is whether you choose to lash out on somebody OR whether
you listen to them calmly.
Culture is whether you share feedback publicly or privately or can
do both, thinking about it first.
Culture is whether you cry about policies or you take charge to
highlight it, do something about changing it.

In essence, culture is about fostering an environment where employees are empowered to take ownership and contribute their ideas freely.

The achievements mentioned in this book are not the outcomes of assigned tasks; they are the results of employees’ own ideas and initiatives.

Whether it’s winning prestigious awards like the CODiE and Edison awards, or securing patents, or developing internal tools, these accomplishments were all born from the creativity and enthusiasm of team members who voiced their thoughts and had the determination to see them through.

The crux of this culture lies in the willingness of individuals to embrace their role as proactive contributors, not just passive workers completing assigned tasks.

Such a culture is not something that can be enforced; it must be nurtured and embraced by everyone within the organization.

When employees feel inspired and supported to explore their own initiatives, they become motivated to excel and go beyond the ‘Call Of Duty’!

I can recall a powerful story from my childhood related to this:

When I hit my first six in ‘gully cricket’, nobody applauded me, except my younger brother and that one friend who had also just recently hit the first six of his life! 🙂

It was a big ground for us. We were like 6th-7th graders, playing with the neighborhood guys studying in college. We had been fielding for a long time, sometimes getting an over to bowl, getting caught at the boundary at times.

Clearing the boundary the first time certainly felt special. We were grown-ups now.

Afterwards, we three cheered a lot whenever it happened for anyone else. We thought the celebration would be special for them as well. But while we realized not everyone thinks/feels like us (it ain’t an achievement for all), we could still see the little joy in them as they celebrated.

Now as well I think encouraging people like this and celebrating the little wins is really important. If I’m mentoring someone, I try to relive my journey through them. And what I like is – not everyone thinks alike, so their journey is going to be unique – but there are a few milestones I can make sure they don’t miss celebrating.

Contd…….

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An intrapreneur is an employee which is usually assigned to innovative projects that can impact the company’s future success. As such, the intrapreneur is an employee that acts like an entrepreneur within the organization. While the intrapreneur has access to the resources of the organization, he/she does not bear the risks connected to it.
Now, let’s go through a few thoughts to ponder upon before you delve deeper into the thoughts we have shared in the different chapters of this book. Our discussions, suggestions, recommendations will be focused around the thought process reflected in these situations.

If you can relate to these pointers, this book is for you. If you cannot, this is definitely for you.

An intrapreneur is an employee which is usually assigned to innovative projects that can impact the company’s future success. As such, the intrapreneur is an employee that acts like an entrepreneur within the organization. While the intrapreneur has access to the resources of the organization, he/she does not bear the risks connected to it.
Now, let’s go through a few thoughts to ponder upon before you delve deeper into the thoughts we have shared in the different chapters of this book. Our discussions, suggestions, recommendations will be focused around the thought process reflected in these situations.

If you can relate to these pointers, this book is for you. If you cannot, this is definitely for you.

It’s YOU who needs to learn and adapt, not your team members
Let’s say – you are a team lead on paper, but are not able to grow your team. It’s been 5 years, but you still have 4 people, none of them more than a year experienced. What will you say about this situation?

What are the next steps?

Usually the first response people have is – this is not my fault. I have been trying new things each and every time. What can I do if people don’t like the work or the company?

Have you considered the possibility that they are leaving your team and not the company?

Is it possible that they just want to leave you?

What we want to convey is that it is imperative to self-introspect.

The first and foremost step should be to recognize that – could this be your fault? It is very much possible that your team isn’t growing because they are not getting enough opportunities (you are not doing enough!).

OR

Another possibility is that everyone does like you – but not the workplace in general and in this case, they might believe that you are also just stuck here.

What to do in this situation?

‘’Take charge’’.

Talk to your team to know the truth. Talk to other teams that have been able to grow in numbers. Read about how to quickly grow your team.

All these pointers come from what we have understood falls under the “FIRST PRINCIPLE THINKING”. Now – what is first principle thinking? A 2-liner meaning to help you be on the same page: Getting to the root cause of the problem, rather than solving it at a surface level. Once you have got to the root cause, again try to find its root cause. If you are not able to actually get to the depth of it, you can try solving all the challenges you have figured out.

So,

Your people are ‘your team’, not you.

You don’t define your team, ‘your people’ do. Team is what it is,

WHEN YOU ARE NOT THERE.

You are conducting placement drives, taking interviews, but not getting enough participation/ joinings. 

You might be thinking that there is a huge talent pool waiting to get jobs. So offering high salary packages, or a cool office, or Diwali incentives will get you all the good candidates you need. This is not what our experience has been.

We have seen people complaining about only two coffee machines being there, or working on weekends (even if it’s a one off instance in a month).

Do you also feel that

• You cannot offer higher packages in the initial days of your company – so are facing challenges in attracting good candidates?
• There ain’t “good candidates” out there?
• Students are not much aware about our industry.

If it helps to know – we were in the same boat. Let us list down a few ways how we tried to approach these challenges related to hiring:

1. Introducing stipends: We rolled out a perk – giving out stipends during the training period. This prompted candidates to join the company at least for the training period. While we got candidates, the trainees got a benefit. This increased our hiring rate – as the trainees started learning about the work, the exposure, the culture, the growth; they started to stick to the team.
2. Improvement in interview process: We were experimenting a lot but still were not very happy with the success of the hiring program. Rather than blaming the candidate pool, we started to look within to see if there’s something we can improve on.
   • We figured: We had a high rejection ratio in interviews. When we calculated it, it came out to be 19/20 on average.
   • We accepted this ratio and started planning more interviews in order to ensure that we take a sufficient number of people.
   • We streamlined our interview process. We re-evaluated the basic parameters we ought to look for, in the candidates and finalized five parameters – two of them being Creativity and Curiosity
   • …