A Study on Contemporary HR Issues (Managing Emotional Labor in the Workplace from Assent)

Submitted To: Prof. Swati Shome

Submitted By: Rashika Gupta

Table of content
Article on Sexual Harassment: 3 1.1 Harassment work 3 1.2 Speak against sexual harassment 4 1.3 Protect, prevent and act! 6 1.4 A supportive environment 7 Article on Workplace Discord, Issues and Empowering Employees Fair Processes 9 2.1 Humour at work (good or bad) (29/01/2013): 9 2.2 Tips to build a cohesive workforce 10 2.3 The Empowering Agenda:12

Article on Sexual Harassment: 1.1 Harassment work:

Arpinder Singh and Kanika Bhutani,

India on dealing with harassment at the workplace Corporate dynamics have transformed significantly over the last decade. There have been an increased number of women stepping out of their homes and joining the workplace. Organisations are also focusing on fostering a holistic and gender neutral environment through flexible policies conducive for them. This multicultural environment and intense media scrutiny has brought about issues related to sexual harassment at the workplace under the spotlight. Therefore, companies need to address this growing challenge and take suitable measures to protect the interests of women employees across the board. A 2013 survey by the Centre for Transforming India, a non-profit organisation, revealed low awareness levels of issues around sexual harassment at the workplace among women employees. The survey also stated that many were afraid to speak up about it, fearing professional victimisation. To add to that, the cultural stigma in India associated with sexual harassment is immense, and often leads to no action situations with most cases going unreported. But heres the catch 22 situation. Organisations are looking to recruit more women executives based on meritocracy to enhance gender diversity. But they are ill-equipped to deal with situations related to harassment at the workplace minor or critical. So while the establishment of a robust sexual harassment framework is seemingly a natural extension to sound gender diverse policies, the actual leaves a lot to be desired. Moreover, organisations have policies covering complaints but not many have hands-on experience to deal with such sensitive situations and comply with the new Act on sexual harassment. The law of the land The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressed) Act 2013 that received the Presidents assent in April 2013 and was further notified in December 2013 was a landmark move by the Indian Parliament to safeguard the interests of working women. It states that organisations with more than ten employees are mandated to comply with the Act and establish an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) to investigate all complaints related to sexual harassment.( Most IT Company have that Committee) The Act also deems the employer responsible to provide a safe working environment for women in office and while travelling for work. Failure to perform these duties would result in heavy penalties

Agents of change The new Act will be a key enabler for organisations to implement proactive measures to address cases of workplace harassment. It will also drive them to redefine their work policies and inculcate a sense of ethics among all employees. India Inc needs to adopt a zero tolerance policy toward sexual harassment. The establishment of an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC), awareness programmes, internal workshops and a whistle-blowing framework will be critical in protecting women in a hostile work environment. Organisations are also required to conduct orientation training for the ICC, engage in course correction exercises and manage investigations diligently as per the rules notified under the Act. In recent cases reported by the media, it is apparent that many organisations are not ready to manage such delicate situations. Therefore, the establishment of a sexual harassment framework will be a catalyst in dealing with such cases, and also safeguard the reputation of the company. But the organisations primary focus needs to be instilling a sense of confidence among its women employees so they can report an incident to the ICC without hesitation. They also need to explain what constitutes harassment to all employees. However, this can be misused if relationships turn sour. HR professionals have opined that frivolous or malicious complaints have witnessed an increase and its imperative to create awareness about the repercussions and penalties involved. For instance, the number of cases are filed post appraisal have seen a rise. Looking ahead Today, many companies are unprepared to deal with actual cases of sexual harassment and undertake adequate and fair investigations around any allegations. They are also faced with the challenge to answer questions such as - do organisations need to constitute an ICC at each office, does the committee need to be trained, what to do if a woman does not report an incident and many others. With women-centric policies already in place, the next step for organisations is to ensure they are equally ready to tackle such complex situations as and when they arise. Needless to say, proactive preventive measures and policies will be vital to help create a holistic environment which is safe for the women in corporate India.

1.2 Speak against sexual harassment

Sandeep Gupta, director & CFO, IRIS Corporate Solutions Private Limited; Sanjiv Dagar, managing counsel of Leg joist - Advocates & Solicitors; Dr S Kumar, corporate lawyer, former principal director, ICSI; G P Madaan - founder & CEO of Corporate Knowledge Foundation A new Act encourages women to speak against sexual harassment at workplace IRIS Corp, a specialised integrated HR Solutions company, and Corporate Knowledge Foundation (CKF), a primary source of research-oriented knowledge enhancer for professionals and corporate entities, came together to organise a day-long conference on 'Sexual harassment of women at workplace - prevention & redressal'. The conference brought together 80 professionals from corporates, financial firms, law firms, CAs & CS.

The agenda of the conference was to create awareness about the various sections and facets of The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, and associated areas including criminal proceedings, disciplinary action, etc. The primary objective of the Act is to safeguard the interest of female employees at the workplace on the one hand and on the other provide for punishment in case of false and malicious representation. Through this conference, IRIS and CKF aimed to enlighten not only female employees about their rights covered under the law but also business owners, management, law professionals, and HR managers about the various provisions of the Act. Cases of sexual harassment at the workplace have been the dark underbelly of professional life for a long time but provisions of the new Act, strict enforcement and prompt action are now encouraging women to be more candid and complain about such incidents. At the same time, managers at the workplace need to be ensuring that the law is not misused as the loss of reputation for a person, who is falsely implicated, could be irreparable. The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 came into force from 9 December 2013. Guidelines issued by Supreme Court of India in case of Vishakha vs. State of Rajasthan are the basis of the Act. Speaking at the conference, Sandeep Gupta, director and CFO, IRIS Corporate Solutions Private Limited said, "Sexual harassment is the ugly and uncomfortable truth of today's professional life. The objective of the conference is to make the workforce - both men and women - aware about the issues emanating out of such instances and ways to address them to comply with the law."G P Madaan - founder and CEO of Corporate Knowledge Foundation, said, "The idea behind today's conference is to sensitise the issues, law and the prevention and redressal mechanism amongst employees and workforce." Some of the other eminent speakers who contributed were Dr S Kumar, corporate lawyer, former principal director, ICSI; Ashok Arora, criminal lawyer / former secretary, Supreme Court Bar Association; Sanjiv Dagar, managing counsel of Leg joist - Advocates & Solicitors, Shalini Khanna, honorary secretary, NAB-India Centre for Blind Women and Disability Studies.

1.3 Protect, prevent and act!

Shraddha Pradhan, Bristol-Myers Squibb India on sexual harassment guidelines.

It has become essential for every organisation to focus on sexual harassment guidelines at the workplace in light of recent incidents and an evolving legal framework. The Supreme Court of India set out formal guidelines for dealing with sexual harassment at the workplace in 1997 following the gang rape of social worker, Bhanwari Devi from Rajasthan. In spite of a long legal battle, Bhanwari Devi did not get justice. In response, a womens rights group known as Vishakha filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court. This petition filed by Vishakha and four other women organisations in Rajasthan against the State of Rajasthan and the Union of India has resulted in what is popularly known as the Vishakha Guidelines. The Vishakha Guidelines define sexual harassment including unwelcome sexually determined behaviour (whether directly or by implication) as: a) b) c) d) e) Physical contact and advances; A demand or request for sexual favours; Sexually coloured remarks; Showing pornography, and Any other unwelcome physical, verbal or non-verbal conduct of sexual nature.

The Vishakha guidelines, as laid down by the Supreme Court put the onus of a safe working environment on the employer. Some of the guidelines to keep in mind while dealing with a sensitive issue like sexual harassment are as follows. In a legal context it is critical to formulate a sexual harassment policy based on local and company guidelines with disciplinary measures. All employees should be trained on this policy. The work place culture, which is shaped by the core beliefs and values of an organisation, can be made more inclusive. Values of non-discrimination, respect and dignity emphasised during employee induction and celebrated in diversity initiatives can create a culture that reduces the instances of sexual harassment. Innovations such as open cubicles and glass cabins also act as effective deterrents.

Expert training and creating awareness are key aspects of a sexual harassment policy. Key communication points include reporting structure within the company, reporting process, key responsibilities, confidentiality, committee members, representation by an NGO on the committee, education on handling complaints, and investigation plans as appropriate. It is the responsibility of the company and the committee to be and act fair walk the talk; when a complaint is received, do not ignore, hide or handle it. Report it to the appropriate authorities. Do not cover it up as it may escalate, increase workplace hostility or affect organisation reputation externally. Ensure fairness to both the complainant as well as the accused. Take firm, unbiased, fair and precise action as per the policy. The goal of an effective policy is to not only protect and prevent but also to act on complaints. It is very imperative that we as HR, Line Leaders create this environment and have the courage to act. Normally inaction can lead to greater damage externally. An internal mechanism which ensures fairness and leads to decisive action is beneficial to the complainant and accused preventing humiliation and issue escalation outside the organisation. Sexual harassment at work can have very serious consequences both for the harassed individual as well as for other witnesses. It can have a serious effect on the morale of all employees. Both men and women in a workplace can find their work disrupted by sexual harassment even if they are not directly involved. Sexual harassment can have a demoralising effect on everyone within range of it, and it often negatively impacts company productivity as a whole. The author is director HR, Bristol-Myers Squibb India

1.4 A supportive environment

Vibha Padalkar, ED and CFO, HDFC Life emphasises that support from companies and male colleagues can make all the difference By Viren Naidu

27 per cent of companies reported not offering any support programmes for women returning from leave. Why are companies still averse or indifferent towards this? Companies are still perhaps taking a short-term view that as long as there are male candidates being more than available to fill up vacant positions, they need not have to devote too much mindspace to encourage women to return to work. However, this is a myopic view as generally female employees who are extended a supportive welcome to rejoin work tend to be loyal to the organisation.

What role can a male colleague play towards helping his female colleagues transition smoother? Playing down stereotypical behaviour is a starting point! For e.g. a female colleague who leaves work on time: instead of appearing to work for extended hours should not be subjected to snide remarks as long as she delivers what is expected of her. There might also be a transition time, that is but natural, for her to come up to speed on new technology, regulations, new products and so on. If given an opportunity, which are a few female-friendly policies that you would like to introduce? Flexi-timing only for women ought to stop as it does not take into consideration that a man too might have pressing needs to cater to on the home front such as caring for an aged/ailing parent. One of the main reasons that working women throw in the towel is because they a re overwhelmed by the enormity of their multiple responsibilities and their need to do justice to all of them. Usually, this crisis period passes, with children no longer needing constant attention or an ailing parent recovering. A mentorship programme by senior women employees who have been there and done that could help provide a support system to help her hang in there. Another policy that enables women to ease into work just post childbirth would be to allow half-day work for the first six months after resuming work.

Article on Workplace Discord, Issues and Empowering Employees Fair Processes 2.1 Humour at work (good or bad) (29/01/2013):
Laughter is the best medicine, right? Corporate humorists and experts discuss the drama surrounding office humour By Viren Naidu At Beryl Call Centers, in Bedford Texas, the CEO once rode through the office on rollerblades dressed as a matador. Sounds crazy? Michael Kerr, an international Hall of Fame business speaker and president of Humour at Work shares more insights: Humour, take it seriously Studies find that people tend to respect people more who laugh at themselves. It also helps leaders come across as more authentic and real, and therefore, helps build trust at work. One simple activity to do is to have a ?bonehead award' or ?blooper award' as a prize once a month for whoever committed the biggest ?oops'. Another key is to practice what I'd call ? Relevant humour' (humour that is linked to your company's brand and style and tied to your particular profession or trade). Celebrating an offbeat, fun theme day once a month is a simple, fun way to keep humour alive. For example? High-Five Day' where everyone high-fives each other; ?Monochromatic Day' when everyone dresses up in black and/or white, or ?Third Person Thursdays' where everyone talks about themselves in the third person are workable plans. That's not funny? People need to be encouraged to practice ?safe humour': humour that breaks barriers rather than builds them; humour that helps spark ideas rather than laughs at them; humour that builds rather than discourages trust are good examples. Humour can be sometimes misused when dealing with international customers. Also, it's very difficult to communicate humour over e-mail, and often messages can be misinterpreted because people cannot see the sender's smiling face to indicate they were saying something in light jest. Andrew Tarvin, a corporate humourist, CEO of Humour That Works discusses why humour at the office doesn't mean making a joke at every chance you get - it is about causing amusement and making people smile:

Serious talk India Inc executives discuss their interpretation of office humour: Ratish Jha, Head HR, Raychem RPG: Some form of mild humour in meetings can keep people attentive and reduce boredom, but too much of it can take the seriousness off the agenda. At any time, humour cannot be directed to ridicule, intimidate, alienate, patronise, degrade, belittle, embarrass or offend a person or organisation. The safest is to humour oneself. It helps reduce stress, cope with failures and offer a chance to step back/step out of a situation. Offensive jokes should be treated with zero tolerance. In some countries, they can attract legal suits. Mark Driscoll, Leader Human Capital, PwC India: Places of work are now marked by a significant presence of Gen Y characterised by a good deal of non-formal modes of communication and humour. Organisations need to be receptive to this more than ever before. There is a fine line between humour and offensive behaviour and one needs to be mindful of not crossing these lines at work. Veena Kotian Danny, deputy GM - HR, R K SWAMY Hansa Group: Once, while doing exit interviews, we realised that one of the reasons for the exits was a supervisor who would crack personal jokes or be very sarcastic under the pretext of being funny. A sarcastic manager who tries to cover up sarcasm as humour can actually trigger attrition in the team. A person who is forever joking and wants to be the centre of attention all the time can be a deterrent.

2.2Tips to build a cohesive workforce

Can an engaged workforce take the organisation to great heights "Employee engagement is the most critical metric for organisations as it reflects and drives organisational performance. Customer satisfaction, innovation, profitability, productivity and employee loyalty are the results of having an engaged, committed workforce. In times of uncertainty, organisations typically focus more on trimming operating expenses and not so much on managing their talent and engaging with their employees. However, smart leadership realises the need to identify long-term talent management strategies to remain viable, without losing sight of the fact that engaged employees make all the difference between surviving and thriving," says Sriram Rajagopal, vice president- HR, Cognizant.

In today's highly uncertain market environment, what distinguishes winning organisations is not much to do with their assets but their human capital. "'Doing more with less' does not mean conjuring higher levels of motivation out of thin air; it is about motivating employees to perform at their best by providing necessary resources and support. Managers must combine engagement (the use of motivational tools), with enablement (the act of providing employees with effective resources), in order to reach optimal levels of employee satisfaction and productivity. They must provide adequate training, support, and discretion to grow, and not hold employees back with excessive procedures, decision processes, lack of resources and overly narrow roles," says Mark Royal and Tom Agnew, authors of Enemy of Engagement. According to a survey by HR Anexi, more than 32 per cent of the employees leave in the first 9-12 months as they feel a misfit in the organisation. Therefore, there is a need for employee engagement and its significance in the organisation. Employees feel engaged when the organisation enables them to achieve high levels of productivity. How then can employees contribute towards keeping themselves engaged? "The value of an organisation is its ability to harness the energies and talents of individuals and convert the collective effort into an exponential performance and the organisation as a best employer. At Standard Charted Bank, every individual is accountable for his or her own engagement; anyone with teams is expected to coach team members to higher levels of engagement and manage his or her own engagement," "Engagement and productivity go hand in hand. While organisations definitely need to work upon creating conditions that enhance employee engagement, since employee engagement. Take charge of your own career and then seek support from other (managers, HR etc.)? You are primarily responsible for shaping your own career, others can only facilitate. Hence, you should be clear on what are your career goals and how do you want to achieve them; So what is the route to building a cohesive workforce? "There are several basic building blocks that create an environment for engagement? Communication, career development, non-financial levers of engagement and motivation, and performance management. Focusing on these basics can have a profound impact on positive employee engagement and company performance, (Sunil Pathak, director? HR, Cadence Design Systems (India). Getting an engaged workforce is not just about investing financially in employees through perks or pay hikes. It is about striking a new contract in which the organisation invests emotionally in its workforce. In exchange, employees make a similar emotional investment, pouring their? Discretionary effort' into their work and delivering superior performance. The new contract says, "We'll make your job (and life) more meaningful. You give us your hearts and minds."

2.3 Empowering the Agenda

By Rekha M Menon Different people define success differently. For some people, money or job title means success in their career, whereas for others, it could just be independence. In the pursuit of success, women in the corporate world have been faced by a constant dilemma - professional achievement vs. personal relationships. To achieve success on their own terms, women are increasingly acknowledging the need for balance to manage their personal and professional lives. In the past, marriage or motherhood often resulted in a hiatus in a woman's career. However, today an increasing number of women are continuing to pursue their career objectives by leveraging flexible work-options. Needless to say that technology is playing a significant role in enabling work-life balance for employees, especially women. Laptops, tablets, smartphones, home broadband and Wi-Fi on the move have liberated employees physically from their desks and have enabled them to take work with them wherever they go. Another important development that is shaping women's careers today is their sense of selfawareness and self-worth. Traditionally, women in the workplace were reluctant to ask for a raise, a promotion or family time for fear of jeopardizing their career prospects. However, findings from a recent survey of 3,900 business executives conducted in 31 countries, including India revealed that 52 per cent of female respondents had asked for a raise with 69 per cent of them reporting the outcome had been favourable. A further 42 per cent of women had asked for a promotion, with 62 per cent reporting they had received a new role, and 33 per cent additional responsibilities. It is also important to acknowledge that today the corporate ecosystem in India is embracing and championing women's empowerment at the workplace at an unprecedented pace. Consequently, companies in India no longer exude only straitjacketed attributes that conform to the male psyche. Instead, progressive organisations today are resonating distinctly feminine attributes of flexibility and empathy in equal measure. This is translating to a scenario at work where women feel increasingly empowered to base their work-related decisions on their own unique strengths and asserting themselves from a position of self-belief. Clearly as a nation, we have started the two-fold journey of strengthening gender ratios across all levels and integrating gender diversity agendas with business strategies. In times to come, we will continue to witness more empowered women touching new heights of success. The writer is Executive Director, Geographic Services, and Accenture.