2011

Impact of Quality Circle

  1. Improvement of human relations and workplace morale
  2. Promotion of work culture
  3. Enhancement of job interest
  4. Effective team work
  5. Reducing defects and improving quality
  6. Improvement of productivity
  7. Enhancing problem solving capacity
  8. Improving communication & interaction
  9. Catalyzing attitude change
  10. Promotion of personal & leadership development

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Introduction to Knowledge Management

Knowledge Management is the explicit and systematic management of vital knowledge – and its associated processes of creation, organization, diffusion, use and exploitation.

There are many definitions of knowledge management. We have developed this one since it identifies some critical aspects of any successful knowledge management programme:

  1. Explicit – Surfacing assumptions; codifying that which is known.

  2. Systematic – Leaving things to serendipity will not achieve the benefits.

  3. Vital Knowledge – You need to focus; you don’t have unlimited resources.

  4. Processes – Knowledge management is a set of activities with its own tools and techniques.

It is important to note that knowledge encompasses both tacit knowledge (in people’s heads) and explicit knowledge (codified and expressed as information in databases, documents etc.). A good knowledge programme will address the processes of knowledge development and transfer for both these basic forms.

Many programmes start by focusing on the thrust of better sharing of existing knowledge e.g. sharing best practices. However, our research indicates that it is the second thrust – the creation and conversion of new knowledge through the processes of innovation that gives the best long-term pay-off.
Knowledge Management comprises a range of practices used by organizations to identify, create, represent, and distribute knowledge. Most large companies have resources dedicated to Knowledge Management, often as a part of ‘Information Technology’ or ‘Human Resource Management’ departments, and sometimes reporting directly to the head of the organization. As effectively managing information is a must in any business, and knowledge and information are intertwined, Knowledge Management is a multi-billion dollar world wide market.

Knowledge Management programs are typically tied to organizational objectives and are intended to achieve specific outcomes; these can include improved performance, competitive advantage innovation, lessons learnt transfer and the general development of collaborative practices.

One aspect of Knowledge Management, knowledge transfer, has always existed in one form or another. Examples include on-the-job peer discussions, formal apprenticeship, discussion forums, corporate libraries, professional training and mentoring programs. However, with computers becoming more widespread in the second half of the 20th century, specific adaptations of technology such as knowledge bases, expert systems, and knowledge repositories have been introduced to further simplify the process.

Knowledge Management programs attempt to manage the process of creation (or identification), accumulation and application of knowledge across an organisation. As such Knowledge Management is frequently linked to the idea of the learning organisation although neither practice encompasses the other. Knowledge Management may be distinguished from Organizational Learning by a greater focus on specific knowledge assets and the development and cultivation of the channels through which knowledge flows.

Frequent Knowledge Management practices include:

  1. enabling organizational practices, such as Communities of Practice and corporate Yellow Page directories for accessing key personnel and expertise.

  2. enabling technologies such as knowledge bases and expert systems, help desks, corporate intranets and extranets, Content Management, wikis and Document Management.

  3. The emergence of Knowledge Management has also generated new roles and responsibilities in organizations, an early example of which was the Chief Knowledge Officer. In recent years, Personal knowledge management (PKM) practice has arisen in which individuals apply KM practice to themselves, their roles and their career development.

Most programmes will leverage value through knowledge by concentrating on just a few of these seven levers:

  • Customer Knowledge – the most vital knowledge in most organizations.

  • Knowledge in Processes – applying the best know-how while performing core tasks.

  • Knowledge in Products (and Services) – smarter solutions, customized to users’ needs.

  • Knowledge in People – nurturing and harnessing brainpower, your most precious asset.

  • Organizational Memory – drawing on lessons from the past or elsewhere in the organization.

  • Knowledge in Relationships – deep personal knowledge that underpins successful collaboration.

  • Knowledge Assets – measuring and managing your intellectual capital.

  • KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT ROLES AND ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

    Knowledge management activities may be centralized in a Knowledge Management Office, or responsibility for knowledge management may be located in existing departmental functions, such as the Human Resource (to manage intellectual capital) or IT departments (for content management, social computing etc.). Different departments and functions may have a knowledge management function and those functions may not be connected other than informally.

    KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT REASONS OF FAILURE OR SUCCESS

    There is no established evidence as to the reasons behind failure and success of Knowledge Management initiatives in organizations. Some argue that a failure to sustain investment is one factor, but it can equally be argued that if knowledge management delivered on its promises investment would continue. As with many management initiatives, particularly those with a heavy IT basis (as is the case in Knowledge Management), frequent questions are raised about the level of consultation necessary before a program is started; these questions are linked to issues of cultural change and a willingness to share and collaborate with colleagues. There is no evidence that Knowledge Management, in all these respects, is any different from other management initiatives.

    Introduction to Knowledge Management Read More »

    Approaches to Knowledge Management

    There is a broad range of thought on Knowledge Management with no unanimous definition. Knowledge Management may be viewed from each of the following perspectives:

    1. Techno-centric: A focus on technology, ideally those that enhance knowledge sharing/growth.

    2. Organizational: How does the organization need to be designed to facilitate knowledge processes? Which organizations work best with what processes?

    3. Ecological: Seeing the interaction of people, identity, knowledge and environmental factors as a complex adaptive system.

    In addition, as the discipline is maturing, there is an increasing presence of academic debates within epistemology emerging in both the theory and practice of knowledge management. British and Australian standards bodies both have produced documents that attempt to bound and scope the field, but these have received limited acceptance or awareness.

    Approaches to Knowledge Management Read More »

    Employee Relationship Management (ERM)

    “Employee relationship management” is a term that refers to relationship development and management between employers and their employees. There are a lot of different issues that can affect employee satisfaction, which has a direct result on employee productivity and overall corporate culture. Employee relationship management can be driven by using employee surveys to directly engage your employees in the issues that are most important to them.

    People in organisations interact with each other during work, formally and officially as well as socially and informally. During the course of interaction, relationships develop, which are invisible connecting links, coloured by emotions of love, hate, repulsion, respect, fear, anxiety and so on. These are usually mutual but not necessarily reciprocal. If A hates B, it does not follow that B hates A. It is possible that B loves A and even sympathizes with his thoughts.

    Relationships imply feelings for each other. They may be positive (friendly, wanting to be close) or negative (unfriendly, wanting to be distant). Relationships always exist between interacting persons. There is no neutral point. Indifference is not neutral. Indifference tends to be negative.
    Relationships influence behaviours at work. Expectations of each other, perceptions of the intentions of either, distributions of assignments, readiness to conform or to rebel, enthusiasm to contribute, etc., are to some extent outcomes of these relationships. Attitudes and motivations influence, and are influenced by, the nature of these relationships.

    Employees are among an organization’s most important audiences with the potential to be its most effective ambassadors.

    Employee Relations are practices or initiatives for ensuring that Employees are happy and are productive. Employee Relations offers assistance in a variety of ways including employee recognition, policy development and interpretation, and all types of problem solving and dispute resolution.

    Once there was a time when “Employee Relations” meant labor relations everywhere around the world. Negotiate. Orchestrate. Dictate. HR professionals helped negotiate collective bargaining agreements. The provisions of that contract defined the relationship between management, unions, and workers.

    Today, Employee Relations is a much broader concept. It involves maintaining a work environment that satisfies the needs of individual employees and management. Improving employee morale, building company culture, conveying expectations.

    An effective employee relation involves creating and cultivating a motivated and productive workforce. People are generally motivated from within, but what can you do to help foster the type of environment where employees thrive, enabling your company to outperform the competition

    “Employee Relations” starts with determining the type of workplace the company wants. It starts by considering what the company wants its employees to say about working for the company. In a competitive market, it is important to that employees don’t feel that they might be treated more fairly elsewhere. After all retention is one of the major functions of HRM.

    By considering what the company wants employees to say about working for it gives shape to the company’s culture. The company culture conveys organization’s core values to its employees, customers, vendors, and community.

    In addition to the workplace climate, the company also considers the types of processes or systems it wants to employ within the workplace to support the company culture and enhance the working relationship that exists between the company and its workforce. Such systems could include communications, policies, training, and development.

    Also, an essential step in building effective Employee Relations is to evaluate the human, financial and other resources available that reinforce the values and guiding principles the company wants echoed throughout the organization. For example, what type of supervisors and managers does it believe can bring out the best in people and projects?

    The company should also make certain from the start that employees are not in counter productive work environments where work is more arduous than it needs to be. Is the workplace compliant with employment law? A major source of frustration for employees is the feeling that they were treated unfairly. Good liability management tools are necessary to ensure that the company avoids unnecessary confrontations, time wasters and costly legal battles

    Traditionally Employee Relations programs were centered around labor union relations. Today, Employee Relations does not necessarily involve unions. However, it does involve cultivating the leadership style and workplace practices that help make union organizing activities a less attractive option for employees.

    Establishing workplace and management principles set the stage for fostering a successful work climate and establishing your company’s culture. Effective Employee Relations is about establishing processes that address and nurture that culture.

    Employees in such organisations develop attitudes very different from those in another organisation that does not make any such distinction and is more secular in its policies. These different attitudes will be reflected in their behaviours outside the organisation and will either strengthen or weaken the social fabric. An organisation in which authority is highly centralised and does not allow its people enough discretion, will develop among its people tendencies for dependency and inability to take responsibility. These tendencies are handicaps in their roles as parents or citizens. The extent of concern shown for the effect of working conditions on employees’ health has an impact on the society, not merely in terms of general health and costs on medical care, but also in terms of the kind of activities that the members of the society participate in.

    When an organisation is sensitive to its impact on society, and responds to the society’s concerns, it is said to be socially responsive. On the contrary, if it is concerned only with its own purposes and ignores the impact that it has on society, it is said to be socially not responsive
    Relationships also contribute to stress and conflicts at work, which in turn, affect quality of work life of individuals as well as the quality of organizational outputs, measured in terms of customer satisfaction, competitive advantage, innovation, and so on.

    Some of the core issues that can be controlled with effective employee relationship management are:

    1. Communication – Open communication both amongst your employees and between the employees and the management team is imperative. When employees feel that they can’t be heard, they may become frustrated, leading to lowered employee morale. Lowered morale can result in lowered productivity and an uncomfortable, or even hostile, work environment. Employee surveys can give you a thorough understanding of how your employees feel about communication in your work environment.

    2. Conflict management – When problems arise, it is important to understand how to handle them. This is a fundamental aspect of employee relationship management. Sometimes those conflicts occur between employees and employers. EmployeeSurveys.com can provide you the necessary tools to help you negotiate and manage conflicts in your business.

    3. Employee growth – Employees that feel they are only required to put in their hours and go home will do just that. Employees that feel they can become a valuable asset based on their work, as well as their ability to provide important ideas, offer input, and perhaps pursue growth opportunities within the company, will create a positive atmosphere within the corporate culture.

    4. Focusing on employee relationship management can have profound effects on how your business operates. Conducting employee surveys is a useful tool towards reaching a beneficial level of employee relationship management because they provide an opportunity for candid feedback and analysis that isn’t achievable in typical business communication.

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    Employee Relationship Management (ERM) Read More »

    Important Issues in Employee Relationship Management

    Employee Relation is a much broad concept. It is one of the most important function of the management that is take care by HR department. ER department takes care of employee grievances, employee recognition, and boosting the morale of employees to make the working environment more healthy, live and at the same time fulfills the management’s expectations and maintain the work culture and ethics.

    Employee has many issues within the organization that contributes below given conflicts so organization needs to focus on Employee Relations :-

    1. Hinders work productivity and quality.

    2. Frequent absenteeism.

    3. Unhealthy relationship with the employer or immediate boss and colleagues.

    4. Lack of concentration on work.

    5. Frequent breaks, or long break hours.

    6. Coming frequently late to office.

    7. High attrition rate.

    8. Hostile environment on floor.

    9. Not meeting deadlines

    10. Poor target achievement.

    11. Disinterest in the job profile.

    12. Need’s promotion.

    13. Need’s Salary hikes, bonus and other incentives.

    14. Discrimination and Favoritism among employees.

    15. Dissatisfaction with the work and organization.

    Thus due to above given issues the work suffers a lot, company has to bear loss and it creates unhealthy work environment which is neither beneficial to management nor the employees.

    Important Issues in Employee Relationship Management Read More »

    Types of Relationship within the Organization

    Type of relationship within the organization
    type of relationship within the organization

    Relationship influences behavior at work place. People interact with each other formally, informally, officially and socially that may leads to love, hate, respect, disrespect, fear, insecurity, anxiety among each other. Attitude and perception differs from person to person and it leaves impact on the relationship if the message is miss communicated.

    An effective Employee Relation involves making work culture, employer & employee relationship, employee & employer relationship an employee & employee relationship more healthy by motivating and raising their morale by giving positive feedback, monetary benefits, challenging work environment, gift vouchers, holidays trips, education concession, and recognition in front of all the staff members. The employee should feel their importance in the organization and not be treated as machine. Employees Idea’s, suggestion, feedback and they should also be included in decision making which can help the management to have varied opinions.

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    Types of Relationship within the Organization Read More »

    Functions of Employee Relationship Management

    Following are the Important Functions of Employee Relationship Management

    1. Promoting a living, demanding, and diverse working community.
    2. To attempt to improve faith and values, employees are motivated to give 100%.
    3. Bringing out internal talent, ingenuity, and fresh creative ideas and thoughts from employees.
    4. To handle all workers equally without prejudice or preferentiality.
    5. Build better teamwork and collaboration in order to prevent organizational disputes.
    6. Promoting the involvement of the workforce in decision making, workshops, learning, and community programs.
    7. Keep employees accountable and concentrate on their job and make them know their interests and commitment to the company.
    8. To increase the efficiency, effectiveness, and competence of employees.
    9. To increase the versatility of workers so that they can assume additional responsibilities when appropriate.
    10. The company will be there second home that is stress-free with improved amenities and other additional facilities including a gym, food courts, and music while getting coffee in a rack room helps to sustain a work atmosphere in which workers feel they ‘re thriving.
    11. Health checks are carried out routinely so that employers know they have been given extra consideration and care to improve their wellbeing by the provision of free medical facilities.

     

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    Advantages of Good Employee Relationship Management

    This article is on the Advantages of Good Employee Relationship Management.

    1. ERM helps the organization to maintain harmony and a good working environment at the Workplace.

    2. Good Employee Relationship Management helps to maintain healthy relationships among staff, coworkers, supervisors, and boss.

    3. Good Employee Relationship Management helps to reduce absenteeism.

    4. Attrition rates are reduced due to Good Employee Relationship Management.

    5. Good Employee Relationship Management helps to retain talented employees.

    6. Reduction in Attrition Rate results in a reduction in the Cost of training because of Good Employee Relationship Management.

    7. The Moral Level of the employees and workers will boost due to ERM Initiatives.

    8. ERM Initiatives helps to increase productivity and quality of work.
    9. ERM develops an environment in which employees are free to give suggestions. Since employees are free to give suggestions they can give suggestions which are helpful for the organization. Results in innovative ideas and Techniques of production.

    10. Employee relationship management helps the organization to achieve the targets on time.
    11. Employee relationship management creates an environment in which both employees and management are satisfied.
    12. Employee relationship management helps to enhance the optimum utilization of resources.
    13. Employee relationship management helps to enhance and Manage Time Management Strategies in the organization.

    14. Employee relationship management creates a stress-free, focused, and enthusiastic, satisfying work, and management’s expectations.

    Thus we can say ERM helps to create good work culture, employees are satisfied, work quality is outstanding and all this results in attracting more customers, achieving success, complete challenging projects and earn more profits for the organization.

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