Surveys, Salary revision, job cuts, happy employees!

Come April : it is salary review time in India. And prediction time for surveys.

During the last few years we had gotten used to the tempo being set by January itself with the media tom tom about the campus hires being made obscene salaries to the IIM/IIT graduates-and the number of offers an average pass out got. Companies, in a bid to quell the dissatisfaction among the more experienced, scampered around to announce salary reviews -at times even 2-3 times a year!!

This year the mood has been really sombre especially due to the build up of a long drawn out recession and the uncertainty related to the immediate future. In fact most job seekers are quite content to hold on to their jobs - and mentally prepared to accept a downward revision, if that can help!!

So, it was interesting to note India is among the top three countries as a survey on Salary rise rankings for 2009 for 53 countries suggests, even as a quarter of the world's companies, and 40 percent in the United States, plan to freeze salaries this year.

Another article debating salary cuts vs job cuts, draws us to the conclusion that there are no right answers in talent management and it depends on how an organisation is positioned in the turnaround cycle.

Stage 1: Sector and company not doing well; it’s time to cut corners. Ergo, salary freeze

Stage 2:Business in the red. As a first step, organisations look at reduction in salary selectively and then across the board.

Stage 3:Business in the red for a prolonged time. Job cuts are imminent.

And even as one digests the theory, one is enlightened to know 25 Outlook Business-Hewitt Associates Best Employers are finding smart ways to keep employees smiling. Some of the mantras adopted:

-Axe Costs First, Employees Later.

-Redeploy Before You Fire, Communicate to all anyway.

-Keep Investing In Training

-Don’t Rule Out Bonuses Or Raises

Well, what do we do at Options? We get inspired by some of the best practices indicated by the top performers above and follow the dictum “If you take care of your associates/ employees, they will take care of customers, and the customers will come back, and business will take care of itself.” We are pretty bullish -and are giving ourselves a double digit increment across the board:-)!

Cheers!! Here's the popular Bob Marley's soothing "Don't worry-be happy"