MIS SELLING - CTC ( A BIG MYTH)

It's always a fashion to quote our remuneration packages in 'CTC' i.e the Mighty Cost to Company , gone are the days when people use to tell thier salary what they use to get . Now we tell our salaries as " CTC" , which is no way close to what we get , at times it's not even real cost to the company .

Indian Government is coming up with a law for builders so that they quote thier apartment's area as real carpet , not as builtup or super built up , don't you think our organisations should also learn from this .

Recent article in the ET , endorses my views.
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LIFE may not be all that rosy for you as promised by an impressive "CTC" of the new company you would have joined after passing out of B-school . Well, the "cost to company" on offer for you is actually a way too high than the actual salary that you may take home, or for that matter, in some cases, even the gross package , on offer.

ET got an access to pay-slips of some young executives working in blue chip multinationals and domestic corporates and tried to demystify the jargons that go on in defining the cost to the company. Our conclusion: CTCs are misleading more often than not.

For instance, meet Saurav (name changed), who passed out of MDI Gurgaon to take up a lucrative job in a well-known Gurgaon-based FMCG multinational. Saurav was then promised an annual CTC of Rs 12 lakh. "It's been more than six months that I have been working here, but there's hardly been a month when I have pocketed more than Rs 60,000," he says.

While making salary offers, companies are increasingly harping on components that may not be of any use to an individual in the short run. Infact, some of these components, such as the super annuity scheme, are virtually impossible to leverage. Under this scheme, a professional is entitled to a one-time bulk amount, but only after he has completed 10 full years of service with the company. A slightly easier version is gratuity, that can be leveraged after a service of five years.

"Insurance policies like mediclaim are other vague terms that's counted a part of the CTC," an executive in a MNC financial institution says.

Interestingly, some companies are even counting EMIs for laptops given to executives as part of the CTC. "I happily felt that laptop was a goodwill gesture from my employer welcoming me into the company's workforce. But when I saw my first salary slip, it came as a shock of a lifetime. There was a head saying deduction as EMI for laptop," says Saurav. Add to it, club memberships offered to new recruits may appear attractive incentives, but at the end of the day, you are the one who pay every penny of it, via, of course the CTC promised to you.

Of late, deferred salary plan has also been forming part of CTC. Though companies say it's just another retention tool, according to this practice, incentives are not cleared along with monthly salaries and rather accumulate and are paid on half-yearly or annual basis.

At times, even the house rent allowance component can get a way too misleading. Some young engineers passing out of IIT Delhi were hired by a leading infrastructure company and posted in a small town in western UP. They were promised an HRA of Rs 10,000 at the time of recruitment, which was only reimbursable against actual costs incurred. However, during their posting in UP, they were provided company accommodation, where four young engineers were made to stay in one apartment, which obviously meant they had no claim to their HRA.

Experts say students expecting placement need to read between the lines. According to Sanjay Jog, VP(HR), Pantaloons, there are two things students should look out for in their CTC. Firstly, they should look out for discounts that companies can include in the package. These may not necessarily be used by the students. Secondly, at times companies may include a loan amount to the total salary stating that this loan can be availed at a lower rate of interest compared to the market.
Source - The Economic Times - Dec 20 , 2006
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/860933.cms?epaperTweet

DO YOU HAVE A BEST FRIEND AT WORK?

http://justforchange.blogspot.com/2006/03/working-with-friends-friends-turn.html

I remember having written this post and was quite excited about this , today even an expert from Gallup endorsed this . Tom Rath , from Gallup who has authored " Vital Freinds" mentions about :

Eight vital roles that frinds play -

Builders - Those who motivate you to achieve more

Champions - Loyalists who stand up for you

Collaborators - with similar interests

Companion - classic frinds who you call first with your news

Coonnectors - who introduce you to others

Energisers - who give you a boost when you're down

Mind openers - who expand your horizons

Navigators - who you go for advice

One friend might not be able to play all roles , but they all are needed . Remember , in spite of resistance from CEO's , Gallup insisted on having this question in thier famous Q12 surveys.
" Do i have a best friend at work ?"

Inspired from : the Corporate dossier - December 22 , 2006

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WHY EMPLOYEES LEAVE ORGANISATIONS ?

WHY EMPLOYEES LEAVE ORGANISATIONS ? - Azim Premji, CEO- Wipro
Every company faces the problem of people leaving the company for better pay or profile. Early this year, Mark, a senior software designer, got an offer from a prestigious international firm to work in its India operations developing specialized software. He was thrilled by the offer. He had heard a lot about the CEO. The salary was great. The company had all the right systems in place employee-friendly human resources (HR) policies, a spanking new office,and the very best technology,even a canteen that served superb food. Twice Mark was sent abroad for training. "My learning curve is the sharpest it's ever been," he said soon after he joined.

Last week, less than eight months after he joined, Mark walked out of the job.
Why did this talented employee leave ?

Arun quit for the same reason that drives many good people away.

The answer lies in one of the largest studies undertaken by the Gallup Organization. The study surveyed over a million employees and 80,000 managers and was published in a book called "First Break All The Rules". It came up with this surprising finding:
If you're losing good people, look to their immediate boss ..Immediate boss is the reason people stay and thrive in an organization. And he 's the reason why people leave. When people leave they take knowledge,experience and contacts with them, straight to the competition.

"People leave managers not companies," write the authors Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman.
Mostly manager drives people away?

HR experts say that of all the abuses, employees find humiliation the most intolerable. The first time, an employee may not leave,but a thought has been planted. The second time, that thought gets strengthened. The third time, he looks for another job.

When people cannot retort openly in anger, they do so by passive aggression. By digging their heels in and slowing down. By doing only what they are told to do and no more. By omitting to give the boss crucial information. Dev says: "If you work for a jerk, you basically want to get him into trouble. You don 't have your heart and soul in the job."

Different managers can stress out employees in different ways - by being too controlling, too suspicious,too pushy, too critical, but they forget that workers are not fixed assets, they are free agents. When this goes on too long, an employee will quit - often over a trivial issue.

Talented men leave. Dead wood doesn't.
"Jack Welch of GE once said. A company's value lies "between the ears of its employees".Tweet

MIS SELLING - Continued

Hi , I was surprised by this one. I got 7 mails on the subject from different parts of the country and 1 from London as well . I never though this to be common phenomenon . For the un initiated , we are talking about MIS SELLING by organisations / employers to thier prospective / current employees . I identified 2 very common areas :

Job Content
Perks

But getting mails that this is only tip of the iceberg , keep sending your thoughts / post comments about other common / un common areas of MIS SELLING to employees .

PS. have removed the restriction on posting comment , you may comment anonymously .Tweet

MIS SELLING

Hope you all are familiar with this word " Mis selling" , in banking parlance it's mis communication about your product. Very often the over enthusiastic sales men would tell you much more than the product actually offers. Well unfortunately it's not limited to products , rather more often it happens in job offerings . It happens every where but few of the common mis sellings are :

Job Content/Job description :
The most common and most painful one , typically you'll get "JD" , job description from your consultant , it will look very glamourous as if after CEO you would be the most powerful person in the organisation . When you actually join you end up doing some thing else .
So watch out for those fancy JDs.

Perks
Loan component , you are told you are elligible for 2000K of loan at 2% rate of interest , sound good . You readily join. ALAS , after joinig you realise you are only elligible after one year. Even that's OK then you decide to quit after 2 years 8 months . Your accounts department hands you over a letter asking for dues . Well you get a shock of your life when you are told that this " interest subsidy " is reversed if you leave with in 3 years of joining.
Check out the finer prints of "Subsidised Loans".

Is there any regulator to check this " MIS SELLING" ?Tweet