How Can I Address Staff Frustration Over Salary Delays and Workload in My New Role?

Hello seniors, Recently, I joined an IT company. I need to handle 8 staff members, all of whom are already frustrated with the management due to the salary reduction (hourly calculation of salary). All of them have completed the probation period (3 months), with some reaching almost 1 year. However, the salary hasn't been credited on time, and they are also under pressure due to heavy workloads.

The company has announced a confirmation with a salary increment from 1 April 2015, but one of the key staff members has submitted a resignation letter. I need to address this situation. What should I do? Should I report this to the MD? If so, how should I report it and what details should I include?

Thank you.

Dear Shiraz, It appears that your company belongs to the SMEs category. What is your designation? Are you from HR, Team Lead, or Project Lead?

If the salaries are not credited timely, then this obviously will cause frustration. Going further, if the salaries are reduced, then it must have added fuel to the fire. Nevertheless, you have not clearly mentioned why and how the salaries have been reduced.

Secondly, if one of the staff has tendered resignation, then forward the resignation to HR or MD of your company. Let them arrange the replacement within the notice period of the exiting staff.

Lastly, when you discuss the resignation of the employee, take the analysis of the workload of each member. If excess workload is the reason for the employee's exit, then it needs to be fixed.

Final Comments: Frustration with management is one part of the story. How are the relations among the members of your team? How many times do team members volunteer to help others? What efforts have you put up to simplify your systems and processes? What efforts have you put up to reduce the future workload? What you could do on your own, have you done that?

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar

You are in an IT company. I assume it's a software development company. They were paid higher earlier because of longer work hours and reduced as overtime has come down? Or in what other mode was the salary reduced?

Facts of Life in Software Development

1. People will learn and leave. Live with it.
2. It is a high-demand industry where good talent is in short supply. If you have not paid salaries on time, and people have not left, it would only be because they do not have experience yet or they are not worth much. So I don't think you can do much to retain this person. You must inform your MD immediately.
3. In small or large software development companies, workload and long hours are a part of life. If your employees are crying about it, then either they do not know the scenario in the industry...

For the rest of the things, correct information can be provided on leave after you answer the questions raised by Mr. Divekar.

Understanding the Company Structure

It seems more like a development back-office with a kind of proprietorship under the Managing Director (MD). In many cases, the proprietor acts as a dictator, even though he is the MD reporting to some management abroad.

Here, the health of the organization solely depends on the directorship of the MD. Until he is educated about the proper HR ways of working, the scenario might not change.

Challenges for HR Professionals

If you have joined as an HR person in this organization, then this would be a big challenge to bring change. Are you up to taking it?

The only way to bring this change would be through setting up or correcting the processes.

Example 1: Salary Credit Process

Who credits the salaries? It must not be the MD himself. What are his review and reporting processes to the MD? As HR, establish these processes so that he would have to credit the salaries by strict deadlines without delays.

Example 2: Employee Contracts

If employees have finished the probation period but haven't received confirmation, then under what contract are they working? They can actually leave any day without a notice period. Work to provide them some kind of contract without any delay, so they feel a binding with the organization.

Such small changes would bring back the loyalty of employees in the organization.

Though this does not guarantee retention, you will still face attrition in the company, but at least the guilt that they are leaving due to bad management won’t be there.

Remember, engineers never leave organizations because the company policies are not good. They adapt. They only leave for better opportunities or exterior preferences. In the case of IT, both possibilities are abundant.

Best Regards,

Amod.

Understanding Salary Deductions Under Labor Laws

Under the Shops and Establishment Acts of the States, there cannot be a deduction or reduction of an employee's salary. For those employees to whom the Payment of Wages Act applies, deductions or reductions cannot be made unless authorized by law. Even for workmen, there cannot be a change in conditions of service under Section 9A of the ID Act by reducing wages. A reduction in salary may also attract penal provisions in some labor laws. The reduced wages can be recovered under respective labor laws. It is the duty of HR to advise management accordingly.

Thanks,

Sushil