USA vs. India Work place design and clear measurement for rewards in the U.S.A.

The importance of good design for a workplace has become very important in the world of today, and this has been highlighted by the American Society of Interior Designers, or ASID. They had released their research findings under the title of 'Recruiting and Retaining Qualified employees by Design' in 1999. This states clearly that the design of the workplace has an important role to play in retention of employees to take up a job, or continue in it. The results of these findings are the four elementary methods through which interior design increases office productivity. (Workplace values: How employees want to Work)

The important aspects are the improvement of access, increasing the comfort of the employees, increase in their privacy combined with a reduction of noise and disruptions, providing of flexibility and increase in personalization. There is also another study by the same organization with the title 'Workplace Values: How Employees Want to Work' and that also confirms the points already made in the earlier report. Regarding the issue of comfort levels of employees, communication, availability and efficiency relating to functionality are of imminent importance about the workplace. (Workplace values: How employees want to Work)

The important issues that have been highlighted by the recent study have concentrated on four issues which are of importance to the employees in the workplace. The first of these is the comfort of the workplace and that has to start from the physical comfort and continue on to the atmosphere or the surroundings. The other issues are regarding open and efficient communication, getting to interact with the people, and the places and other concerned matters have to be helpful - in short a functionally effective environment. For this purpose the companies have to look into five main areas while they are redesigning their offices to improve productivity. These are the mission and core values, involvement of the employees, performance of the people, improvement in the design of the environment or ergonomics and finally, technology. Improving the workplace design means providing better comfort through the provision of ergonomically designed chairs as also desks that can be adjusted. (Workplace values: How employees want to Work)

These are just better amenities and they help in improving efficiency in the organization and also improve the morale of the staff. This is also the removal of certain characteristics of the office that stops people from working fully, and have to be removed. The disturbances are due to noise, lack of area, or bad arrangements in seating. These have to be attended to while one is designing the workplace. The view has to be taken that the workplace is an instrument of production and not a source of expenditure. This makes it essential that when redesigning one has to provide sufficient resources including team members and equipment, and meet needs of comfortable seating. The office atmosphere has to be pleasant. The work procedures and physical positions must permit proper flow of work all over the office. This also makes it essential to improve efficiencies and reduce distractions in the flow of work. Simple things like giving correct tools, computers, software, etc. have to be attended to. (Workplace values: How employees want to Work)

In the present day situation, employers are finding that locating and recruiting good employees are not easy, and nor is the stopping of departure of skilled workers. Thus the Federal employers are also making efforts to get and retain professionals. For this, good and vital rewards are on offer. This makes it clear that it is important to give the talented and highly skilled employees enough rewards for them to be engaged in their work and concentrate on meeting the targets. The required rewards may contain all possible items that the employee thinks is important, and contains all items that are a part of their rewards. It is important the employers have to take care to meet these designs and effects with desire. (Strategic Rewards: It's not just about money any more) One particular system of strategic rewards is described below.

Compensation: This includes the minimum salary, variable pay; evaluation of the job, management of performance made and paid off time.

Benefits: They relate to provision for health facilities, retirement pensions, savings and different insurance facilities.

Development and Learning: Through training, career development programs, experiences through learning, planning for succeeding in the work.

Work Environment: A fine balance between work and life, leadership...

(Strategic Rewards: It's not just about money any more)
In these points, the first two deal with areas that are generally seen as rewards that are given by the employer to the employees. Their usual description is as transactional rewards as these are part of the agreement that is first made between the employers and the employee. Through this agreement, the employee had agreed to provide time, labor and aptitude in exchange of the employer giving him financial compensation through a basic salary in money terms and benefits like the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. This sort of reward is very important for the employee to decide where to work and also on staying on in the organization. The other points of development and learning and the environment of work are instrumental in the satisfaction levels of the employees.

These rewards are also called as the relational rewards as they provide a picture of the existing relationship of the employee and the employer. These are additional rewards to the first set, and they provide the motivation for the employees to continue to stay with an organization. They play a vital role in: emphasizing the invaluable position of the employee in the organization, influence the sense of loyalty of the employees, They are not seen in terms of cash value but are very important when the employee is deciding on employment in other organizations or continuing with the previous employer, These represent areas in the program where organizations have high flexibility to design the programs suited to the needs of the employees. (Strategic Rewards: It's not just about money any more)

For many different types of employees, one has to conduct a work atmosphere with an appeal, and that is as important as health care benefits and salary. This generally include support of dependent care, adjustment of schedules of work, opportunities for telecommunication, flexible leave programs, clear involvement of employees and good training through supervisors which makes the differences. These only permit the consideration of job offers or form the basis of understanding of a different rival office. (Strategic Rewards: It's not just about money any more)

Work place design and clear measurement for rewards in India

The general picture of conventional management in India can be summed up in the three words of paternalism, personality, and factionalism. The Indian organizations are generally considered to be more managed through the temperament of the big brass than through any standards of practices. The presence of a personality who is seen like a father in the organization is paternalism, and he is generally the chief of the owning family. This also builds up an organizational culture helping the extension of loyalty and rewards. Combined with this is the loyalty for the patriarch, and that gains rewards in different means. Combined with this is presence of groups which are in turn supported by different patrons, and these individuals continue competition against each other. (Outlook for Professional Management in India)

The style of paternalism and strong personality often come together. When there is a weak person on top, there may be a lot of new and different factions that come up and they all are led by different patrons. When the organization has a strong leader, then it is likely to show initiative and decisiveness, but this may lead to the loss of professionalism. Certain types of family culture are cultivated by paternalism, and that reduces rivalry, but also stops the growth of professionalism. Factionalism is pessimistic so far as professionalism and also hurts the inner cohesion of the organization. Like all other images that are typecast, there are all some elements of truth in this picture. At the same time, this cannot be considered to be an image of the entire truth. (Outlook for Professional Management in India)

The next judgment is of any characteristic style for Indian management. This cannot be solved in any manner directly. During the present period, different sets of practices being followed in different companies run by different members of a large family. In certain cases, the family is even about to collapse as the unit of ownership and this leads to division of assets in the family owned businesses. This is rather complex, but still is affected by the divergence of generations, and that will continue. Here the concept of the patriarch of the family is not generally accepted today, as was accepted in the earlier period when joint family was a stronger institution. Considering the past practice also, there have been changes in…