Tips and Tricks

These days one can come across many mails and articles promoting consultancy business related to various areas of people management. Many areas within HR, as we learnt in school, have outgrown into separate industry by themselves. It started with training and research areas which later spread to recruitment, compensation and now even to areas like pay roll management, employee relations via call centers, automated systems. This trend came from the changed outlook of leadership to outsource these functions and their whims by keep the noise and cost outside the corridors of Board. One leading consultant in one such industry has written an article "Tips and Tricks to negotiate for salary rise ". In the comments, many have responded with their successes and failures after following those tips and tricks while seeking salary raise for themselves in their workplaces. What such consultants obliquely aim is to sell their salary surveys to both parties on the table, highlighting how useful it is for both to have benchmarks , numbers on top of their head for a 'smart' negotiation ! Employers miss out to see long term value in demonstrating to employees the need to have transparent systems that are aligned to paying capacities within the business cycle. Instead both come prepared for that one to one closed door meeting with 'tips and tricks' of the external expert or some survey report ! Surely the meeting will throw out only one beaming face; as if he has won yet another battle. For that both will spend valuable time prior to meeting without realizing the damage it does in the working environment and value systems. Not just in C&B, but such high costs you end up in paying in other outsourced areas as well, if you see 'managing your employees' as a 'cost' and not as an 'asset' that has invaluable potential. These days you 'hire' heads believing the headhunter, delegate orientation , training and even development to 'external experts', salary management based on 'valuations' done by a non-industry player and even maintain relations via a call center guy located miles away. Wonder who is actually dis-engaged , employee or employer ..! The enlightened one may say, as Eckhart says, detached attachment ! and that's not bad.