The employees have to be compensated for what they do for an organization – hold on folks, besides the salary prerequisites, there are many other things which help in retaining them in the company and sustain their motivation. Monetary benefits alone do not satisfy employees. You have to think about other ways to pay back your employees through non cash benefits to make them feel they belong. Motivation is a big factor for consideration when it comes to retaining your employees. Direct Compensation Employees expect fair wages commensurate with their skills, experience and job content. Wages should be ascertained keeping in mind the cost of living in the particular locality. These should be revised periodically to account for inflation so that the real wages do not go down over the time. Wages must have a system of yearly increments, which should be flexible enough to reward good performance. Legal Perspective In India, the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 provides for fixation and enforcement of minimum wages in respect of scheduled employments. A tripartite Committee Viz., “The Committee on Fair Wage” was set up in 1948 to provide guidelines for wage structures in the country. Article 39 states that the State shall, in particular, direct its policy towards securing (a) that the citizen, men and women equally shall have the right to an adequate livelihood and (b) that there is equal pay for equal work for both men and women.  Fringe Benefits These are also termed as indirect compensation that an organization provides to its employees which may include – insurance against accident, travel concessions, medical facilities, subsidized meals, uniforms, housing etc. The Finance Act, 2005 has introduced a new chapter VII-H, ‘Income-tax on Fringe Benefits’. The Chapter now brings to tax the fringe benefits collectively enjoyed by the employees and which cannot be attributed to individual employees. The Fringe Benefit Tax is to be borne by the Employer. Different methods of employee compensation! Promotion Employees expect to improve their position in the hierarchy over the time. This improvement in position is called promotion. 1. It immensely helps an employee to feel important and useful to the firm. 2. It enhances his/her status within and outside the organization. 3. Through promotion, he/she looks forward to accomplishing more challenging tasks, including participation in the decision making process. Payday Meme! Out of 440 million workers in India, 93% of the workers are in the unorganized sector. The contributions made by the unorganized sector to the national income, is very substantial as compared to that of the organized sector. It adds more than 60% to the national income while the contribution of the organized sector is almost half of that depending on the industry. In India, only about 8% of workers actually get the benefits available under various labor Acts. The rest 92% work in the unorganized sector, and either are not eligible for coverage. Types of Compensation! Job Security One main reason why people are reluctant to join small enterprises even at higher salaries is their ‘apprehension’ about ‘job security’. An enterprise that is able to dispel such apprehension benefits substantially in the long run. Working Conditions One primary cause of dissatisfaction of workers is ‘the quality of their working life’ which includes Reasonable hours of workA work placeTea breaksProvisions for a room for recreation, lunch etc.Availability of safety equipment and first aid facilities, andWater cooler, lavatory etc. These things may not improve productivity, but will help in preventing job dissatisfaction among workers. The management must also ensure that cordiality and friendliness is maintained between the workers. An environment should be created in which the superiors and senior employees and workers develop mutual...

Motivation is one area where periodical updates are necessary for an organisation to gauge the morale and mood of their employees. Companies sometimes act very smart in that they break their hands by patting their own back. If you wish to propel your organisation forward, you need to satisfy your work force first. The million dollar question is a big “HOW?” Well, a problem properly diagnosed is half done. And this motivation thingy is not a problem at all. Keen observation and understanding is what is needed on a manager’s part to steer things in the right direction, that is good for the company. Man, even your kid will turn his back if you want to take control by unleashing your power. The right thing to do is to find out exactly how motivated they are. There are several things that come into the purview of motivation.Let us do this in a questionnaire format so that things might fall in place. Question No 1: What is that, that motivates an employee, to be more precise your employee? (This turns out to be the hot dissertation topic for many young MBA’s) Is it any one of the following? Financial rewards Clear Goals Connecting with others Rank Appreciation and Recognition Throat neck competition Job security Fear Results Excitement Variation or Diversity Principle of Motivation: Well, the principle of motivation is pretty much the  same for all individuals. I 100 % go with Maslow’s hierarchial needs theory which travels right from physical needs at the base of the pyramid upto self realisation at the top. If this is the case,how come there is a disparity when everybody is subjected to the same kind of influence at the work place? For some it stops somewhere in the middle who are very much satisfied with the pay check figure and the perks that go with it. For some there is an inner drive that makes them unstoppable until they reach the pinnacle. This is the very thing that differentiates a manager from a subordinate. This is the very thing that distinguishes a CEO from a manager. This is the same thing that generates top business guns and management gurus who fall a genre apart form the rest of the crowd. Well, there are other factors such as the family background and the environmental influence that shaped up your personality all through. Motivation Surveys: Motivation surveys are not only important in getting to know your employees but also it showers a immaculate image on the company. It feels good for your workforce when they are involved and consulted with, on issues related to themselves. A recent Harvard review has stated that most of the managers feel that they really get motivated when there is : “Recognition for Good Work.” But folks, you will be surprised to know that the same review reveals another side of the coin, the top motivation for workers is when they make “Progress.” Again, call it the inner drive, impulse, motive, ambition, fire in belly, vigor, vitality…Getting to know your work force makes you “BOND WITH THEM” and it aids you in plugging the holes at the right place and at the right time. See, there is no bench mark for motivation, you respect your work force, treat them with dignity, communicate well and give them what they want and that’s it, you are defintely a winner. If you are a person capable of motivating your work force, you automatically become a source of inspiration. My humble suggestions to managers goes thus: 1. Make your employees understand what motivates them.( Kindly find what flares your temper before venturing into this exercise.!) 2....

People Management and Trade Unions Need for Trade Unions Why do employees join trade unions is an important question. Most of the workers are members of any one of the trade unions. One of the major objectives of trade unionism is to promote industrial democracy. This objective is achieved when trade union is an organization of the workers, for the workers and by the workers”. In practice this rarely happens and instead unions become an oligarchy. Union leaders by and large, show authoritative  behavior with less participation, openness and transparency. Decision-making is centralized, elections are often postponed and positions are filled repeatedly by nominations. Rank and file is pampered with promises and seldom gets near to decision-making process. Positions get worse when unions are guided by outside leaders and regulated by the policies of political parties.   Ideology of Trade Unions Absence of democratic leadership reduces the effectiveness of trade unions and prevents the development of trade union leadership from among the workers within the industries. In due course, trade unions become obsessed with political ideology or personal interest ousting the welfare of the workers. Before we move on to the functions of trade unions, let us understand the reasons for the existence of such organizations. To get a common platform to air ones views, aims, ideas and feelings and obtain recognition and status among fellow workers. Make use of the principle of unity for the purpose of securing good working conditions, higher economic compensations, better career prospects and welfare needs. Security of employment and protection against calamity of accident, death and social security after retirement. Restrict management action which is against the interest of the workers. Functions of a Trade Union The internal functions of a labor union includes better wage claim, to ensure better working conditions, reasonable work etc.,The external functions include conducting night school, games, sports and other recreational activities. These two functions may be grouped as economic and social functions. Many unions try to capture political power through election, so that they can influence upon the programmes and policies of government in favor of labor. This function is known as political function. Under the legal functions, the interpretation of law takes the major share. A jist of the main purpose of trade organizations: To improve the standard of living and working condition of the workers. To protect the security of workers’ employment. To ensure better health, reasonable working hours and welfare measures. To improve the political status. To raise the vocational status. To bring better participation in the management. To inculcate the feeling of self respect and confidence among worker force. To bring industrial peace and harmony. As long as unionism is considered as an anathema by the management, there will be lack of harmony and mutual trust between the management and labor force. Management must not consider labor unions as a legal obligation as it does not develop faith and goodwill. Instead the union has to be viewed as a partner in trade to live with and work with. Union must also recognize that work is worship and the survival and success of organization depends on the very survival and success of the workforce. Once the team spirit is built up no unreasonable demands will be raised and union leaders must view strikes and lock outs as last resorts to put pressure on management. The Trade Unions Act, 1926– An act to provide for the registration of Trade Unions and in certain respects to define the law relating to registered Trade...