Hello,
Your reply tells a fair lot about the situation. If you have this strength of workmen, I am certain functions like "Time Office, Pay Roll, Leave management and Statutory Compliances" are organized and in place even before you joined.
Does your company comply with requirement of paying "Statutory Minimum Wage" applicable to your indistry and revise the same every six months as required by the the asame law?
If the answers to both above are in affermative, then your organization has happily achieved the first benchmark in employer-employer relations and that means that your workmen and employees are not justified in nursing any grouse against the employer (except of course for more and more wages and benefits!).
If labour turnover and attrition is an important problem being faced by your organization, what are the reasons your workmen go away? If the remuneration, working conditions and treatment are perceived by them as irritants or unfair, workmen would always be on the look out for alternate employment and that causes LOW committment to the present job!! This is rather tricky. Even if your organization has achieved this basic benchmark, the workers all over will always clamour for higher wages and better benefits. This situation is complicated further if the organization is making good profits, the business is growing but the employee costs (wages and benefits) are or are perceived by the recepients as LOW!
Greater committment, improved performance revolve around how emoluments are structured, at what level are they set and how do the supervisors and managers treat with workmen. If the organization culture is harsh, authoritarian, undermining human dignity and such areas are ignored for any reason, then aside of attrition, the employees many organize themselves into a Trade Union (internal or external, is an issue apart!) unless your organization already has a Union of workmen!
To earn better efforts, the work atmosphere, culture and working conditions must be supportive, inclusive and non-threatening! If you put in place first the compliances and coverages under various applicable legislations, establish work norms, treat workmen as important constituents of the organization, establish training inputs, recognize and reward contributions from workmen then you are well on the way to have EARNED essence of the principle "Extra efforts, committment, and sustained contributions to production and productivity have to be EARNED by the employers."
In terms of routine activities for you just remember that there is always a "sophistication gap" between the Management and the Workmen which makes workers insecure and this insecurity manifests either as extremly defensive or even offensive behaviour! Collectively they will even suspect your perfectly normal interventions.
I would advice as under:
- Communicate, preferably in their native language or at least in HINDI, FREELY but so as not to please or pamper to establish a dialogue!
- Be proactive in receiving their grievances, complaints, problems and respond as fast as as you and your organizational system permits but please do remember that you are an aid to those who are responsible to extract work performance and you shall NEVER undermine them.
- Workers, organized or otherwise expect from employers:
- Uniformity,
- Consistency,
- Fairness
- Firmness
- Some amount of generosity and above all
- RECOGNITION.
- If you follow these simple rules, you will gain fairly easily for yourself and for the organization the all important CREDIBILITY!
But always be upright (not be an egoist), protect your own self concept and dignity and at the same time grant them theirs!
Your wormen/Employees are your partners in progress and prosperity and NOT your slave!!
Kindly do not get tired or exasperated by this rather long reply. But you have an open invitation to raise more questions. I will be glad to assits always but within my capabilities!
Cheers
samvedan
November 14, 2010
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