How Do Indian Companies Foster Unique Employee Relations? Share Your Stories!

Hi, could you help me with this? I need some examples of maintaining good employee relations, like something special a company does. One example is Parle. They have a ritual of giving a birthday card to the employee. Hero Honda cycles' owner (I forgot his name) knows the name of all his employees, and all of them call him Bauji with respect. I'm sure you too know at least one such special thing that I could use.

Hi Sunayna,

In GATI Ltd., the chairman, Mr. M.K. Agrawal, sends a personally signed letter and a gift cheque to any employee who is:

1. Getting married
2. Whose family members are getting married, and an invitation card is sent directly to him.

At times, he has also attended these kinds of ceremonies if he was in town and if the employee had been with the company for over 10 years, regardless of the employee's rank. This gesture gives the employees a special feeling of being part of the company.

Ajmal Mirza

Thank you so much, Mr. Ajmal. Can I know a little about GATI? If you could give me its site address, thanks again. Any more?

gati.com

By the way, they are very customer-focused. Their tagline reads: "We Deliver Anything, Anywhere, On time, Else your money back..." The money-back guarantee was actually implemented. That's how it succeeded from a two-branch operation in 1989 to one of the biggest logistics companies.

Ajmal Mirza

The "Golden Rule" - "Do unto others" - is a basic staple of good employee/labor relations.

In addition, concern, compassion, and a concerted effort to resolve problems that employees bring to you will not only improve employee/labor relations but also increase your credibility and stature in the organization.

Too often, HR people feel that employee problems (at work or at home) are not worthy of much consideration. However, to the employee, that problem is the most serious item on his/her agenda. His/her work performance will be inhibited until a resolution is found.

Hey, thank you, Mr. Ajmal. Do you know more such examples?

Hi, Paladin. I'm changing those words and including it in my intro 😉. Could you give me some examples of a company too, like someone you know who is using it?

Hi Paladin,

Thanks for your interest. I'll upload it here around the end of July so everyone can give me their feedback. Until then, could I get 3-4 examples of maintaining good employee relations from the rest? Is there a site that I could use for this?

Dear Sunayna,
There can be varied examples to make a good employee relations
1. Letters of appreciation can be given on Monthly basis depending on Criterion decided by HR.
2. Gift vouchers can be given to outstanding employees.
3. In certain organizations Couple tickets for Play's are also given to good performers.
4. Occasionally there can be inter departments Get to gathers on weekends.
5. Memento's can be given to those who have been associated with the organizations for more than certain period.
6.Marriage Allowances can be given as company's Gift.

All these not only make an employee feel that the organizations do care but also creates motivational atmosphere...
Rgds
Shubhda

I agree on this point! :)

What about an organization having 2000+ employees? Can HR take care of every employee? (This is not related to Paladin's post but I was thinking about some other cases like this one)

I was going through the case study of the Best Company to Work For, and I came across this:

W L GORE & ASSOCIATES (UK) LTD

There is free private healthcare and a heavily subsidized canteen. Most impressive, though, is 26 weeks' fully paid maternity leave, with a further six months off unpaid, throughout which holiday accrues. Clare McNab, responsible for the inside sales of seals and fibers, recently had a year's maternity leave. "I came back and had to take 30 days' holiday between August and December, which is really good when you're a new mum," she says. She now works four days a week, but her salary has not altered. "I do the same amount of work in four days."

I agree with Manu that trying to solve the problem of each of the employees, especially if the number of employees is more, is not practically possible. However, we can try to solve common problems, such as:

1. Maternity Leave: Don't just follow the law, make it extended [Example given above]

2. Childcare: A company can have an in-house facility, can recommend a babysitting service, and can do quality control so that staff is assured of the service.

3. Pick-up Drop: Even if the staff has his/her own vehicle, he would like to take a service, especially on the days he/she has to send his vehicle for service.

4. Canteen Facility: A subsidized / non-profit canteen can actually save time for employees as they won't have to prepare lunch before coming to the office nor waste time going out for lunch.

5. Local Phones: Give free Local Phone Facility, employees may like to inform their family if they are going to come in late.

6. ATM inside/near office: As bank time is the same as office time, an employee may have to go to the bank during banking time, but if there is an ATM within the campus, it would definitely help.

7. Cheque Drop Boxes: Don't keep the generic ones. Allow the employees to drop all the cheques [including credit card, mobile, water, electricity, installments, etc., payments]. Get it sorted by an office boy and have it delivered to the correct office so that employees don't have to use office time to deliver these cheques.

Manu wrote:

What about an organization having 2000+ employees? Can HR take care of every employee?

I worked with a client company with an employee population in excess of 2000. A small percentage (1-3%) came forward realizing that they had a need for professional counseling and guidance.

Can HR address the needs of 2000+? Obviously not. However, HR should be the final resource, after all others - supervisors, managers, Department Heads - have been exhausted. In some companies, HR acts as a "gatekeeper", referring employees to local agencies/groups.

In others, an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) has been established.

The EAP is administered by an outside agency. Employees are referred by anyone in the "chain of command", or HR. The employee can self-refer.

Confidentiality is assured.

The only report HR receives (since they have responsibility for the internal management of the program) is a summary of problems encountered. (i.e. - marital problems (2); financial problems (3); depression (1), etc.). Specific information relating to a specific employee is on a "need-to-know" basis.