Working from home more stressful for some


It May Save You The Commute, But Blurs Boundaries Of Work And Personal Life: UN Study

Using smartphones, laptops and other technology to work from home may help you do away with rush hour traffic, but also lead to longer working hours, higher stress and sleeping problems, according to a new UN study in 15 countries including India.

“This report shows that the use of modern communication technologies facilitates a better overall work-life balance,“ said Jon Messenger, co-author of the joint report by the UN International Labour Organisation (ILO) and Eurofund. The study is based on interviews with workers and experts in 10 European Union member states, Argentina, Brazil, India, Japan and the US.

The study identified several types of employees using new technologies to work outside the employer's premises, including regular home-based teleworkers, workers performing occasional telework and information and communication technologies mobile work (TICTM). It highlights positive effects of teleworking, such as greater autonomy on working time and better work-day organisation, and reduced commuting time resulting in a better overall work-life balance and higher productivity .

On the down side, teleworking "blurs the boundaries between work and personal life, depending on the place of work and the characteristics of different occupations," Messenger said.

People teleworking tend to work longer hours, and have higher levels of stress as a result of overlapping paid work and personal life.

The analysis also shows that regular home-based teleworkers tend to be more likely to report sleeping problems in general, when compared to those always work at the employer's premises,.

“In India, survey results indicate that a higher proportion of TICTM workers work long hours (defined as more than 48 hours per week) than office-based workers (66% compared to 59%),“ it said.

As telework becomes more prominent so too has the need to disconnect, with France and Germany beginning to look at arrangements at the company level, and at existing and new legislation, such as the “right to be disconnected“ in the most recent revision of the French Labour Code, the report said.

There are distinctions between home-based teleworkers who seem to enjoy better work-life balance and `highmobile' workers who are more at risk of negative health and well-being outcomes, it said.

The report recommends promoting formal part-time teleworking so that people working from home can maintain ties with co-workers and improve well-being.

(Source: PTI, Geneva)

Parimal Merchant spoke on Family Managed Business at EDI Kolkata on 2017-02-13

Challenges and Opportunities in Family Managed Business - a talk by Prof. Parimal Merchant, Director, Asian Institute of Family Managed Business, Mumbai at Enterprise Development Institute, Salt Lake, Kolkata on 2017-02-13 afternoon.

IIM-A first-cluster final placements held

The first cluster of the final placement process for the postgraduate programme (PGP) class of 2017 was held on 2017-02-13 at the campus of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A).
The firms that participated in Cluster 1 comprised of three cohorts ­ investment banking and markets; management consulting and private equity, venture capital and hedge funds.

"The list of Cluster 1 recruiters included regular partners such as Accenture Strategy, A.T. Kearney, Bain & Co., Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, McKinsey & Company, Oliver Wyman and others," said a statement from the placement cell of IIM-A.

"This reinforces the strength of the general management programme at IIM-A. McKinsey & Company made the highest number of offers, 15, in Cluster 1. Finance companies offered roles in investment banking, private equity, venture capital and capital markets across functions and geographies," added the statement.

IIM-A has always had an extremely rich mix of firms from diverse sectors. Consulting firms, offering management consulting roles across geographies, continued to hire in large numbers, it said.

The second cluster will be held on February 16, 2017. Last year, more than 110 companies participated in the IIM-A placement process. Around 100 students had then opted for their dream applications, which gave them the flexibility to build careers in sectors of their preference.

Infosys extends helping hand to IIT-Kgp

Infosys Foundation, the philanthropic arm of IT giant, has signed an MoU with IIT-Kharagpur to fund travel (preferably for women) to 'Top International Conferences' and the research on the antiquity of Indus Valley, which is being carried out by the premier institute in association with the Archaeological Survey of India.

The initiative has been jointly undertaken under the leadership of Infosys Foundation chairperson Sudha Murty and IIT-Kgp director Partha Pratim Chakrabarti. "While advanced education helps us leap forward, studying ancient civilizations enables us to reflect on the culture of bygone societies. Infosys Foundation recognizes the importance of both and is committed to supporting pro grammes in both these areas," Sudha Murthy said. Murthy, one of the members of the board of governors at IIT-Kharagpur, had earlier donated Rs 5 crore to Presidency University . "It will be a great initiative as the decision will inspire many more women research scholars and students to come up with some very innovative work, publish journals or papers and take part in internationally acclaimed global conferences," added Chakraborti.

Every year, over 250 students participate in international conferences. Murthy has proposed to provide Rs 20 lakh from her own resources to support women students for such conferences. "Such conferences have been beneficial to students in networking for their doctoral and postdoctoral programmes. With support from Infosys Founda tion, eight to 10 meritorious girl students will be selected by a committee at IIT-Kgp to be sent to top conferences. These students will have Infosys Foundation mentioned in their presentation," added S K Ray, dean (postgraduate studies research).

Anindya Sarkar, lead investigator of the Indus Valley project, felt the funding had come at a right time when "we just unearthed some old Indus valley settlements in India. We are seeking permission from ASI for excavating a specific site and the grant will be used for studying the causes of climate change using latest techniques of isotope and faunal analysis."

(Source: The Times of India, Kolkata dated 2016-10-23)

AICTE Chairman laments falling standards in engineering colleges

Most engineering institutes fail to offer quality education and produce efficient engineers, Anil D. Sahashrabudhe, the AICTE chairman, said on 2016-12-24.

The reason: these institutes do not follow the basic norms on student- teacher ratio and infrastructure, he said.

Of the around 3,200 engineering institutes in the country, nearly 80 per cent are private, he said. "This is one of the reasons for the decline in the overall standard of engineering education," Sahashrabudhe said at the 61st annual convocation of Jadavpur University, where he was the chief guest.

"There are definitely some very good institutes that maintain high academic standards. But barring these exceptions, most fail to produce good engineers as they don't comply with AICTE norms." The AICTE is the apex body that regulates engineering education in the country.

Its approval is must to set up an engineering institute or introduce new courses or increase student intake in a particular course.

Asked if there was any flaw in the AICTE's monitoring system that could be responsible for the falling standards, Sahashrabudhe said: " It is difficult to maintain a close watch on each and every institution. The AICTE gives its clearance based on a rigorous screening process." During the initial screening, institutes often show all requirements have been met.
In some cases they promise to fulfill gaps, if any, he said. "But most do not do so once the permission is given." The AICTE will inspect institutes, selected by drawing lots, at random on short notice, he said. Permission will be withdrawn if they are found flouting the norms, he said.

In his convocation speech, the AICTE chairman said: "The quality level of education has unfortunately not seen the degree of growth it should have. Industry bodies such as Nasscom, CII, Ficci keep lamenting about employability of graduates. This has been often led to under-employment of graduates." He, however, bracketed Jadavpur University among the exceptions "as it has been successful in maintaining high academic standards and producing efficient engineers".

Staying put in the same company for years doesn't mean you are a "squatter"

Staying put in the same organisation for years doesn't mean you are a 'squatter'. It is more about feeling comfortable and being appreciated
Swati has been working in the same organisation since the last ten years. She was taken aback when one of her friends asked her why she was staying put in the same place for so long. What made her stay put? A good boss? A great package? Flexible working hours? Or was it something else? In fact, she has never devoted much thought to it. Although a rarity , there are people who are proud to retire at the same place that they started their career from.

Working in the same place may not result in a fat salary hike, but it does make you feel at home at work.Like Swati, many others enjoy working in the same place for longer periods. Once you join a new company, it takes time to familiarize yourself with the new atmosphere and get friendly with the new staff.

The HR department is always happy to retain the cream of the crop and leaves no stone unturned to provide incentives to long-term employees. Chandan Chattaraj, president human resources (India & Global), Uflex Limited, agrees, "Employee retention is a very complex phenomenon and is impacted by many diverse factors. There are five important factors which by and large decide whether a high potential or high performance employee is going to stay or not, they are: business strategy, plan and model of organisation; leadership of the organisation; focus of the organisation on employee engagement and development; communication flow within the organisation; and overall working environment of the organisation.These five are also the factors which together create the culture of the organisation which further ignites an atmosphere where any employee will work with passion and will have a strong intent to stay."

A great culture and attractive incentives are necessary if you wish to retain employees over the span of decades. Quazi Mohammad Shahed, chief human resource officer (CHRO), Telenor India, is of the view that transparency is the hallmark of any organisation and the openness of the leadership helps in providing direction to the employees. He feels that interpersonal connect rather than bureaucratic hierarchy should be the ideal policy for any company. "It should follow a flat structure and irrespective of levels, employees should be heard across the organisation by the leaders. A company should also focus on rewarding its staff and a comprehensive and encouraging pay process should be followed to ensure that all employees have a stake in the company's performance," he adds.

Initiatives such as flexi hours, four days in a month work-from home policy, flexible leave policy etc, are a few interventions to ensure work-life balance for the employees.

Ranabir Chakraborty, GM-HR and administration, Fortum India, says, "Though career anchors vary with employee, gender, ethnicity, age and level, three commonly accepted foundations of retentions are meaningful work, equity and voice.

Chakraborty adds, "A company should endeavour constantly to allow employees to express their life interests in the job. When we saw a newcomer having his heart and soul in technology, we sculpted a role that is married to disruptive technology and innovation a rarity in our industry . Matching employees to jobs that allow intensely-rooted life interests to be expressed is tough."

On what should be the policy of an HR department vis-à-vis the employees to retain them, Chakraborty says, "Employees should be allowed to choose their own development path and to get trained in firm-specific skills, managerial capabilities as well as functional expertise. The policy should be on developing oneself at one's own will and leisure."

He further says, "Containing inequality, being non discriminatory and being inclusive are the most important dimensions of distributive justice. Work-related and administrative entitlements are same for all employees. An employee's voice and participation in organisational matters are brand promises for any company."

(Source: Toi Kolkata dated 2016-12-21)

CBSE Class X board exam to be back from March 2018

The governing body of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), the highest decision making body of the board, on 2016-12-20 approved the restoring of the Class X board exams, paving the way for the return of the public exam after seven years. The first board exam will be resumed in March 2018. It has been decided that the weightage division will be 80% to the board-based exam and 20% to internal assessment.

Since 2011, after the introduction of continuous and comprehensive evaluation in 2009, the CBSE made the Class X board exam optional, which meant students studying in senior secondary schools had the option to sit for the schoolbased exams. The board conducted a survey among various stakeholders and the majority was in favour of the Class X board exams. Thereafter, the HRD ministry announced the rollback of the optional scheme of the present Class X exam system.

"It was a unanimous decision of the members of the governing board. The matter was discussed threadbare and in principle it was decided to restore the exams scheme of the pre-CCE period. A circular to the effect on exam details, which will commence from 2018, will be shared with schools soon. It will be 80% weightage to the board-based exam and 20% to internal assessment," said R K Chaturvedi, CBSE chairperson.

"Members welcomed the decision and it was unanimous," said Jyoti Arora, member of the GB, CBSE and principal of Mount Abu Public School.

The present batch of Class X students will continue to study as per the current format where both the school-based and boardbased options will be open.

(Source: Toi Kolkata dated 2016-12-21)