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I have been reflecting about compensation practices in the West and how they have evolved. A very long time ago, people paid for output: bartering in kind or services. For example, a farmer used his crop as “currency” and might exchange a bushel of grain for some service he wished performed by someone. The practice of bartering continued for a long time, even after the advent of money. The Industrial Revolution saw the rise of the manufacturing era, and people began doing a specific job for a specific period of time every day. Large manufacturing facilities initially paid for piece work. Slowly, as the service industry gained prominence and manufacture became more complicated, it...

One thing that has struck me about Gen X and the 20-30 year olds is their expectations around decision making. As students graduate from school and start work in the “real” world, they find themselves working in teams. And in those teams, very often, particularly in the corporate world, confusion reigns around decision making.  In places like the US, people assume that since they live in a democracy, each person needs to have one vote even at their place of work. The reality of the situation is that commercial organizations are not democratic in nature—they are entities that have shareholders and officers who make the decisions. So if I was in my twenties or thirties I...

Although attrition is generally viewed as negative, sometimes it can be good for the organization. Here are some reasons why: It helps streamline the organization. When you ask an employee to leave, this also sends a necessary message to the other employees that there is no place for incompetence, which will help improve productivity of those who remain. When less productive employees (or those that are not a good fit) leave voluntarily, this can be beneficial in various ways. For example, this opens up space for entry of new employees, who bring fresh skills, talent and new ideas with them, helping the organization remain vibrant and grow. It is better to rid the ...

Most organizations offer expatriate roles to people who are perceived to be high-talent and to have high value for the organization. Corporations end up spending a lot on expatriates, often to the tune of up to twice their base salaries; therefore any individual who is offered such a role is, in a sense, being rewarded for high performance. Besides the obvious recognition of your talent and achievements, the work experience that this role gives you is a great addition to your resume. Your leadership and communication skills will increase dramatically; working in a different culture will give your thought processes a certain flexibility that will stand you in good stead wherever you work. Oth...

Many moons ago, I worked as a recruiter. In that role, the question that I was never able to answer satisfactorily was: Why would individuals be much more amenable to moving to a new location when the company they were employed by wanted them to relocate, but be less open to doing so as part of a new job? It occurs to me that the primary reason for the latter might be because it would involve two separations—one from the current employer and the other from the town and home they were living in. In the US, especially, employers often announce relocation and expect the employees to take a decision within days or at most a couple of weeks. But relocation is a relatively difficult decisio...

When you reflect on your own life and the especially strong relationships that you have had, you will find that these are primarily driven by one of two things: either you enjoy the company of these people, or you learn from them. Other than close family, most friends and acquaintances or people that you are close to will meet one or the other of these two criteria—it is unusual to have friends who do not. Relationships you have that do not meet these criteria are usually ephemeral—for example, you might meet someone while playing a sport. If the only thing you have in common is that sport, then the relationship will not last if one of you gives up playing for some reason—t...

In my last post, I discussed the Kenexa Relationship Rubric. Here’s a simple exercise you can perform to test it and gauge some of your relationships. Make a list of at least five current business relationships that you have. First rank them based on what you think is your strongest to your weakest relationship. Then fill out the answers for each of the questions on the Rubric and score and rank them. Chances are your No. 1 and 2 will be in Tier 1 or 2, and your No. 4 and 5 relationship will be in Tier 3 or 4. If you find that you have a low score, you can always improve the relationship by checking up which question you did not score well and trying to rectify that score by, for exa...

As you look to develop your business relationships through your career, there is a tool that you can use to judge the level of closeness that your relationship is at, and what you can do to enhance it. We call this the Kenexa Relationship Rubric, and this consists of the following set of questions that you can ask yourself with respect to any business relationship. This individual returns my calls within 24 hours. In the last 24 months one of us has granted the other a personal favor. In the last 12 months we have spent one continuous hour talking about non-business related items. In the last 24 months we have spent four hours in the continuous presence ...

When an organization consistently implements high standards and its leaders personify these, it will leave no room for mediocrity or casualness on the part of employees. And if someone constantly displays a casual attitude, settling for adequate rather than excellent performance in every sphere of work, then they do not belong in your organization. On an individual basis, workers should try and overcome sloth and the "if it’s adequate then I don’t need to do more", or satisfactory underperformance approach to work. If they are unaware of what exactly is expected of them, they have only to ask, without feeling intimidated or embarrassed about their lack of knowledge. Th...

Many new recruits may not even realize the ways in which their individual work patterns can affect the organization as a whole, and will benefit from getting this knowledge. Leaders should not just make their expectations known, but should lead by example and instill in everyone the habit of producing error-free quality work. Meritocracy should become the theme that drives the organization. Accountability and insistence on the highest and most exacting standards will ensure that only the best individuals, those who are capable of living up to these standards will endure—the rest will fall by the wayside. Training and coaching employees to self-introspect, try and develop certain standa...