Initially, providing various helpdesk facilities like concierge, bank helpdesks
etc. for employees was considered important for Employee Engagement. It
then took the shape of making office a fun place. That changed the role of HR
which saw itself becoming ‘Talent Manager’ from ‘Personnel’ over just a
matter of one decade. The role of line managers in engaging his/her team
became critical. The adage – people don’t leave companies, they leave their
managers – became important feedback to managers to deepen their
relationships with teams beyond work. In the Balanced Score Card era,
employee retention emerged as an important KRA for the managers.
Some of the engagement activities I have
seen causing a huge impact on work culture
is higher education & upskilling. They played
a critical role in the Y2K era which saw the
need for new skills emerging to handle new
responsibilities. IT & ITeS sector boom made
the employable youth realise they need to
upskill to remain relevant. If that was made
possible by the employer itself while the
employee was still gainfully employed, made
the proposition even more attractive.
Upskilling in hot IT technologies,
management programmes, Banking and
Financial sectors, ERPs etc were some of the
most sought after.
n:gage | August 2017