SHANGRILA MAY DIMOL-BERGONIO, MD

SECTION 8

Occupational Health
Occupational health is an area of work in public health to promote and maintain highest
degree of physical, mental and social well-being of workers in all occupations.
Occupational Stress is a term commonly used in the professional business industry,
occupational stress refers to the ongoing or progressing stress an employee experiences due to
the responsibilities, conditions, environment, or other pressures of the workplace.
There are several types of occupational stress, depending on the individual employee,
their job role, the company culture, and more.While the sources of occupational stress can vary
from person to person, it’s important to know that employees of all organizations—regardless of
how big or how small they may be—can be affected by occupational stress. Some major
examples of occupational stressors include:
• Strict policies and protocols implemented by the organization
• Restricted possibilities for professional and personal self-growth
• Conflicts among individuals in a department or between organizational groups
• Workforce micromanagement and mismanagement
• Lack of support from human resource departments
• Personal, situational, or professional issues
• Bullying, belittling, and discriminating
• Poor time management
• Little to no occupational guidance or direction
• Being overworked
• Performance expectations that far surpass an employee’s training and abilities
• Regular threats of termination

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• Loss of wages, pay cuts, and benefits
No matter what the cause may be, the effects of occupational stress can be monumentally
damaging to the overall well-being and productivity of the employee. Not only can occupational
stress cause accelerated aging and other personal issues, but it can also greatly hamper an
employee’s motivation, inspiration, and dedication to their work.
Bristol Stress and Health at Work conducted a thorough study that helped determine the
scale and severity of occupational stress across a broad and random population of employees.
This study also highlighted what occupational stress is and how it affects individuals more than
general life stress, and how occupational stress affected performance and efficiency. In addition
to finding that 20% of participants suffer from high or extremely high levels of occupational
stress due to stressful working conditions, the study also emphasized that this excessive stress
had a negative effect on physical and mental health, as well as physiology and mental
performance.As exemplified by this occupational stress scale, workplace conditions can have a
great impact on the overall well-being and productivity of employees. HR departments can
develop their own occupational stress scale to survey the effects of these pressures in their own
organizations. By determining if, when, and how employees are being affected by workplace
stressors, HR departments can take the necessary steps and changes to improve occupational
stress management tactics, workplace conditions, and employee wellbeing.
There are several ways employees can treat, cope with, and ward off occupational
success. By maintaining a diligent, reasonable work pace, employees can prevent procrastination
and consistently finish the tasks they begin. Additionally, employees should place importance on
things like punctuality, regularity, time management, honesty, diligence, and discipline, as these
characteristics help promote a positive, professional attitude that’s often recognized and
rewarded by upper management personnel.
HR departments, on the other hand, can do their part in preventing occupational stress
among staff members by encouraging a positive, proactive workplace environment. Quickly
extinguishing bullying, discrimination, and harassing behaviors is vital, as is promoting an open-
door policy in which individuals feel safe and comfortable reporting such behavior. More than
anything, however, by implementing activities, initiatives, and tactics that keep employees
feeling supported, motivated, and comfortable, HR departments can play a major role in keeping
occupational stress levels to a minimum.

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 Occupational Health and stress among Filipino worker is part of the job, it goes
without saying. But another cause of friction at work, often unarticulated, comes when
employees' expectations aren't aligned with the company’s. This often leads to mismatched
policies, and a general employer-employee distance and disconnect that can be detrimental to
morale and productivity. 
Aside from stress, the study also mentions workforce issues that adversely impact
employee health and well-being. In Southeast Asia, stress (56%) was the #1 answer when
employers were asked, "To what extent are each of the following an issue for your
workforce?"Lack of physical activity followed (52%), along with being overweight/obese (40%),
tobacco use (33%), and lack of sleep (33%).
The Willis Towers Watson study does highlight the importance of having health and
well-being programs that are relevant to the employees, but it also lists several reasons why this
has not yet been achieved at optimal levels. In Southeast Asia, the top reasons include lack of
evidence on returns (36%), lack of budget/staff (28%), lack of engagement (27%), lack of
manager support (25%), and lack of actionable data (25%). 
So as an individual contributor, what can be done to improve this for yourself?
Communication with a manager is key, as is being self-aware about the potential areas for
miscommunication when it comes to the topic. The table above might work as a jump-off point
to pinpoint which among the array of factors most contributes to your own causes of stress at
work.Making sure that you and your boss are on the same page on this paves the way for better
discussions when it comes time to talking about performance. 

Work Life Balance

Work life and balance means dealing with my daily life situation in balance which I can
split my time and energy between work and other important aspects of my life. Achieving work-
life balance is a daily challenge. It is tough to make time for family, friends, community
participation, spirituality, personal growth, self-care, and other personal activities, in addition to
the demands of the workplace.

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 Work-life balance is an important aspect of a healthy work environment. Maintaining
work-life balance helps reduce stress and helps prevent burnout in the workplace. Chronic stress
is one of the most common health issues in the workplace. It can lead to physical consequences
such as hypertension, digestive troubles, chronic aches and pains and heart problems. Chronic
stress can also negatively impact mental health because it’s linked to a higher risk of depression,
anxiety and insomnia.Too much stress over a long period of time leads to workplace burnout.
Employees who work tons of overtime hours are at a high risk of burnout. Burnout can cause
fatigue, mood swings, irritability and a decrease in work performance.
For an employer, promoting work-life balance can seem a daunting challenge.
How can a company promote a healthy lifestyle, both physically and emotionally, without
sacrificing employee productivity?While employers can look to studies about what work-life
balance means to millennials to gain some insight, it’s important to remember that work-life
balance will always mean something a little different to everyone. Just because an employee fits
into a specific generation, this doesn’t always mean that they will want the same things as
another employee of the same generation. This is where flexibility and workplace happiness
comes into play.
Creating a flexible work environment is one of the best ways to satisfy the work-life
balance needs of most employees – no matter which generation they belong to. A flexible work
environment has been shown to decrease stress, boost levels of job satisfaction and help
employees maintain healthier habits.
Besides promoting flexibility, employers should also strive to improve the overall
workplace experience for their employees. Prioritizing a healthy culture and cultivating a happy
workplace environment promotes work-life balance. When employees are happy in their roles,
work will feel more like a second home, and less like working for a paycheck. Employers should
prioritize competitive compensation, comfortable office conditions, opportunities for
professional growth and opportunities for social connections.
Attitudes on work-life balance will continue to evolve with cultural, generational
and economic changes. Flexible leaders can update or reinvent their workplace culture to try
something new if employees report poor work-life balance. While maximizing employee
productivity will always remain a constant goal, ensuring employees have the time they desire

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away from the office and enjoy their time spent in the office is the best way to retain talented
employees and make them lifers, regardless of perceived generational differences.

Promoting and Ensuring Occupational Health

Health and safety promotion in the workplace is vital to the functioning and overall
satisfaction of staff. When employees are sick or injured and cannot work, other employees need
to take on the extra work. This can cause stress, which slows down productivity and hurts
morale. Safety and health should be primary concerns in any workplace. The viability of an
economy rests on the productivity of its workers. Productivity entails an environment that
nurtures workers and ensures their safety. Poor conditions can result to illness, injury, and death.

Occupational accidents and diseases cause human suffering and loss. Their economic cost
is high, with some 2 million workers dying each year from work-related accidents and diseases.
The Philippine Government estimates that 2.2 million Filipino workers in medium and
large enterprises enjoy effective occupational safety and health (OSH) protection and services. In
other words, 17 of 18 persons in the nation’s workforce of 38.8 million do not benefit from
acceptable working conditions. Studies substantiate that OSH conditions in micro-firms and the
informal sector pose risks and hazards.
The government supports programs to promote a culture of safety and health that bring
OSH services to those that need them the most. A range of government and non-government
agencies are partners, with beneficiaries that include agrarian reform farmers, informal workers
and trade unions and their members.
A national occupational safety and health culture is one in which the right to a safe and
healthy working environment is respected at all levels, where governments, employers and
workers actively participate in securing a safe and healthy working environment through a
system of defined rights, responsibilities and duties, and where the highest priority is accorded to
the principle of prevention.The Labor Code has a provision on research and training to promote
OSH. In this regard, Executive Order No. 37 was issued in 1987, creating the Occupational
Safety and Health Center as a research and training unit to develop OSH policies that are
effective, responsive, and sustainable.The OSH provisions of the Labor Code can be seen as

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tilted in favor of defining the different work-related injuries or casualties and assigning
corresponding benefits for workers and responsibilities for employers. The institutionalization of
an OSH program appears to be in need of details. Thus, to effectively promote the welfare of
workers, a comprehensive OSH policy is needed. This would minimize work-related casualties
and develop a safety- and health-oriented workplace for the benefit of both employers and
workers.

With the RA 11058, employers are now required to comply with occupational safety and
health standards including informing workers on all types of hazards in the workplace and
having the right to refuse unsafe work, as well as providing facilities and personal protective
equipment for the workers, among others.With this law, the Philippines comes closer to
achieving the Sustainable Development Goal 8.8 to protect the labour rights and promote safe
and secure working environments for all workers. It also boosts the implementation of the WHO-
supported Occupational Health and Safety Sector Plan under the National Environmental Health
Action Plan (2017-2022).

Stress Management
Stress management is a wide spectrum of techniques and psychotherapies aimed at
controlling a person's level of stress, especially chronic stress, usually for the purpose of and for
the motive of improving everyday functioning. Stress produces numerous physical and mental
symptoms which vary according to each individual's situational factors. These can include a
decline in physical health as well as depression.
The process of stress management is named as one of the keys to a happy and successful
life in modern society. Life often delivers numerous demands that can be difficult to handle, but

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stress management provides a number of ways to manage anxiety and maintain overall well-
being.Despite stress often being thought of as a subjective experience, levels of stress are readily
measurable; using various physiological tests, similar to those used in polygraphs.Evaluating the
effectiveness of various stress management techniques can be difficult, as limited research
currently exists. Consequently, the amount and quality of evidence for the various techniques
varies widely. Some are accepted as effective treatments for use in psychotherapy, while others
with less evidence favoring them are considered alternative therapies. Many professional
organizations exist to promote and provide training in conventional or alternative therapies.

Stress Management at work

Everyone who has ever held a job has, at some point, felt the pressure of work-related
stress. Any job can have stressful elements, even if you love what you do. In the short-term, you
may experience pressure to meet a deadline or to fulfill a challenging obligation. But when work
stress becomes chronic, it can be overwhelming—and harmful to both physical and emotional
health.
Certain factors tend to go hand-in-hand with work-related stress. Some common
workplace stressors are:
• Low salaries
• Excessive workloads
• Few opportunities for growth or advancement
• Work that isn’t engaging or challenging
• Lack of social support
• Not having enough control over job-related decisions
• Conflicting demands or unclear performance expectations
Work-related stress doesn’t just disappear when you head home for the day. When stress persists,
it can take a toll on your health and well-being.
A stressful work environment can contribute to problems such as headache, stomachache,
sleep disturbances, short temper, and difficulty concentrating. Chronic stress can result in
anxiety, insomnia, high blood pressure, and a weakened immune system. It can also contribute to
health conditions such as depression, obesity, and heart disease. Compounding the problem,

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people who experience excessive stress often deal with it in unhealthy ways, such as overeating,
eating unhealthy foods, smoking cigarettes, or abusing drugs and alcohol.

Taking steps to manage your stress

1. Track your stressors. Keep a journal for a week or two to identify which situations create the
most stress and how you respond to them. Record your thoughts, feelings, and information about
the environment, including the people and circumstances involved, the physical setting, and how
you reacted. Did you raise your voice? Get a snack from the vending machine? Go for a walk?
Taking notes can help you find patterns among your stressors and your reactions to them.
2. Develop healthy responses. Instead of attempting to fight stress with fast food or alcohol, do
your best to make healthy choices when you feel the tension rise. Exercise is a great stress-
buster. Yoga can be an excellent choice, but any form of physical activity is beneficial. Also
make time for hobbies and favorite activities. Whether it’s reading a novel, going to concerts, or
playing games with your family, make sure to set aside time for the things that bring you
pleasure. Getting enough good-quality sleep is also important for effective stress management.
Build healthy sleep habits by limiting your caffeine intake late in the day and minimizing
stimulating activities, such as computer and television use, at night.
3. Establish boundaries. In today’s digital world, it’s easy to feel pressure to be available 24
hours a day. Establish some work-life boundaries for yourself. That might mean making a rule
not to check email from home in the evening, or not answering the phone during dinner.
Although people have different preferences when it comes to how much they blend their work
and home life, creating some clear boundaries between these realms can reduce the potential for
work-life conflict and the stress that goes with it.
4. Take time to recharge. To avoid the negative effects of chronic stress and burnout, we need
time to replenish and return to our pre-stress level of functioning. This recovery process requires
“switching off” from work by having periods of time when you are neither engaging in work-
related activities, nor thinking about work. That’s why it’s critical that you disconnect from time
to time, in a way that fits your needs and preferences. Don’t let your vacation days go to waste.
When possible, take time off to relax and unwind, so you come back to work feeling
reinvigorated and ready to perform at your best. When you’re not able to take time off, get a

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quick boost by turning off your smartphone and focusing your attention on non-work activities
for a while.
5. Learn how to relax. Techniques such as meditation, deep breathing exercises, and mindfulness
(a state in which you actively observe present experiences and thoughts without judging them)
can help melt away stress. Start by taking a few minutes each day to focus on a simple activity
like breathing, walking, or enjoying a meal. The skill of being able to focus purposefully on a
single activity without distraction will get stronger with practice and you’ll find that you can
apply it to many different aspects of your life.
6. Talk to your supervisor. Employee health has been linked to productivity at work, so your
boss has an incentive to create a work environment that promotes employee well-being. Start by
having an open conversation with your supervisor. The purpose of this isn’t to lay out a list of
complaints, but rather to come up with an effective plan for managing the stressors you’ve
identified, so you can perform at your best on the job. While some parts of the plan may be
designed to help you improve your skills in areas such as time management, other elements
might include identifying employer-sponsored wellness resources you can tap into, clarifying
what’s expected of you, getting necessary resources or support from colleagues, enriching your
job to include more challenging or meaningful tasks, or making changes to your physical
workspace to make it more comfortable and reduce strain.
7. Get some support. Accepting help from trusted friends and family members can improve your
ability to manage stress. Your employer may also have stress management resources available
through an employee assistance program, including online information, available counseling, and
referral to mental health professionals, if needed. If you continue to feel overwhelmed by work
stress, you may want to talk to a psychologist, who can help you better manage stress and change
unhealthy behavior.

Time Management
Time management is the process of planning and exercising conscious control of time spent on
specific activities, especially to increase effectiveness, efficiency, and productivity. It involves a
juggling act of various demands upon a person relating to work, social life, family, hobbies,
personal interests, and commitments with the finiteness of time. Using time effectively gives the
person "choice" on spending or managing activities at their own time and expediency. Time

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management may be aided by a range of skills, tools, and techniques used to manage time when
accomplishing specific tasks, projects, and goals complying with a due date.
Initially, time management referred to just business or work activities, but eventually, the
term broadened to include personal activities as well. A time management system is a designed
combination of processes, tools, techniques, and methods. Time management is usually a
necessity in any project management as it determines the project completion time and scope. It is
also important to understand that both technical and structural differences in time management
exist due to variations in cultural concepts of time. The major themes arising from the literature
on time management include the following:
• Creating an environment conducive to effectiveness (in terms of cost-benefit, quality of
results, and time to complete tasks or project),
• Setting of priorities,
• The related process of reduction of time spent on non-priorities,
• Implementation of goals.
Time management is related to the following concepts.
• Project management: Time management can be considered to be a project management
subset and is more commonly known as project planning and project scheduling. Time
management has also been identified as one of the core functions identified in project
management.
• Attention management relates to the management of cognitive resources, and in particular
the time that humans allocate their mind (and organize the minds of their employees) to
conduct some activities.
• Timeblocking is a time management strategy that specifically advocates for allocating
chunks of time to dedicated tasks in order to promote deeper focus and productivity.
Creating an effective environment for time-management literature stresses tasks related to the
creation of an environment conducive to "real" effectiveness. These strategies include principles
such as:
• "get organized" - the triage of paperwork and of tasks,
• "protecting one's time" by insulation, isolation, and delegation,
• "achievement through goal-management and through goal-focus" - motivational
emphasis,

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 • "recovering from bad time-habits" - recovery from underlying psychological problems,
e.g. procrastination.
Also, the timing of tackling tasks is important, as tasks requiring high levels of concentration and
mental energy are often done at the beginning of the day when a person is more refreshed.
Time management strategies are often associated with the recommendation to set personal goals.
The literature stresses themes such as:
• "Work in Priority Order" – set goals and prioritize,
• "Set gravitational goals" – that attract actions automatically.
These goals are recorded and may be broken down into a project, an action plan, or a simple task
list. For individual tasks or for goals, an importance rating may be established, deadlines may be
set, and priorities assigned. This process results in a plan with a task list, schedule, or calendar of
activities. Authors may recommend a daily, weekly, monthly, or other planning periods,
associated with different scope of planning or review. One way to do this is using ABCD
Analysis.

ABCD analysis
A technique that has been used in business management for a long time is the
categorization of large data into groups. These groups are often marked A, B, C and D—hence
the name. Activities are ranked by these general criteria:
• A – Tasks that are perceived as being urgent and important,
• B – Tasks that are important but not urgent,
• C – Tasks that are unimportant but urgent,
• D – Tasks that are unimportant and not urgent.
Each group is then rank-ordered by priority. To further refine the prioritization, some individuals
choose to then force-rank all "B" items as either "A" or "C". ABC analysis can incorporate more
than three groups.

POSEC is an acronym for "Prioritize by Organizing, Streamlining, Economizing and

Contributing". The method dictates a template which emphasizes an average individual's
immediate sense of emotional and monetary security. It suggests that by attending to one's

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personal responsibilities first, an individual is better positioned to shoulder collective
responsibilities.
Part of setting priorities and goals is the emotion "worry," and its function is to ignore the
present to fixate on a future that never arrives, which leads to the fruitless expense of one's time
and energy. It is an unnecessary cost or a false aspect that can interfere with plans due to human
factors. The Eisenhower Method is a strategy used to compete with worry and dull-imperative
tasks. Worry as stress is a reaction to a set of environmental factors; understanding this is not a
part of the person gives the person possibilities to manage them. Athletes under a coach call this
management as "putting on the game face."
Change is hard, and daily life patterns are the most deeply ingrained habits of all. To eliminate
non-priorities in study time, it is suggested to divide the tasks, capture the moments, review task
handling method, postpone unimportant tasks (understanding that a task's current relevancy and
sense of urgency reflect the wants of the person rather than the task's importance), manage life
balance (rest, sleep, leisure), and cheat leisure and nonproductive time (hearing audio taping of
lectures, going through presentations of lectures when in a queue, etc.).
Task lists are used in self-management, business management, project
management, and software development. It may involve more than one list.
When one of the items on a task list is accomplished, the task is checked or crossed off.
The traditional method is to write these on a piece of paper with a pen or pencil, usually
on a note pad or clip-board. Task lists can also have the form of paper or software
checklists.
Time management systems often include a time clock or web-based application
used to track an employee's work hours. Time management systems give employers
insights into their workforce, allowing them to see, plan and manage employees' time.
Doing so allows employers to manage labor costs and increase productivity. A time
management system automates processes, which eliminates paperwork and tedious
tasks.

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Performance Management
Performance management is a partnership between an employee and his supervisor to
optimize performance, build effective feedback and communication, enhance employee growth
and development and develops goals that are consistent with the organization strategic plans.
Performance management is a whole work system that begins when a job is defined as needed. It
ends when an employee leaves your organization by way of finding a new job or retiring.
Performance management cycle is a model that allows management and employees to
better achieve organizational goals through a structured process of employee development. It is
about managing a subordinate’s performance in relation with the organization performance
objectives by means of planning, monitoring, reviewing and rewarding. It’s a strategic and
integrated approach to delivering results by improving the performance and capability of the
teams and individuals and it establishes a platform for rewarding excellence.
Planning means setting performance expectations and goals for groups and individuals to
channel their efforts toward achieving organizational objectives. It also includes the measures
that will be used to determine whether expectations and goals are being met. Involving
employees in the planning process helps them understand the goals of the organization, what
needs to be done, why it needs to be done, and how well it should be done. Setting SMART
goals is important because through the power of goal setting, managers can set objectives for
their teams to accomplish. Use the prompts below to ensure you set SMART performance goals
with your employees.
"Monitoring" means consistently measuring performance and providing ongoing
feedback to employees and work groups on their progress toward reaching their goals. Ongoing
monitoring provides the opportunity to check how employees are doing and to identify and
resolve any problems early.

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 "Developing" means increasing the capacity to perform through training, giving
assignments that introduce new skills or higher level of responsibility, improving work
processes, or other methods. Development efforts can encourage and strengthen good
performance and help employees keep up with changes in the workplace. Managers are required
to provide coaching to staff members that are not performing at required levels. If done correctly
it can assists in developing the people’s skills and abilities and enhance their performance.
Coaching is a method of strengthening communication between you and the employee, it helps
to shape performance and increase likelihood that the employee’s result will meet your
expectations. Managers are also required to provide proper training to managers enable them to
adequately fulfill their roles as managers and coach
"Rating" means evaluating employee or group performance against the elements and
standards in an employee's performance plan, summarizing that performance, and assigning a
rating of record.
"Rewarding" means providing incentives to and recognition of employees, individually
and as members of groups, for their performance and acknowledging their contributions to the
agency's mission. There are many ways to acknowledge good performance, from a sincere
"Thank You!" for a specific job well done to granting the highest level, agency-specific honors
and establishing formal cash incentive and recognition award programs. The role of HR within
an organization is paramount importance as they will develop a fair rewards and recognition
programs that is linked to the performance management initiatives. Effective reward
management is critical to organizational performance. Being rewarded and recognized for their
contribution is what keeps an employee motivated towards achieving organizational and personal
goals. When an employee is motivated by rewards, they will have job satisfaction consequently
increasing the productivity.

Promotion
Employee Promotion means the ascension of an employee to higher ranks. It involves an
increase in salary, position, responsibilities, status, and benefits. This aspect of the job drives
employees the most—the ultimate reward for dedication and loyalty towards an organization.
Horizontal Promotion rewards an employee with a pay increase but little to no change in
responsibilities. It is also regarded as an up-gradation of an employee. In the educational sector,

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an example of this is the move from lecturer to senior lecturer. In Government Sector is step
increase increment in salary.
Vertical Promotion refers to an upward movement of employees with a change in skills
and experience. It brings a change in salary, responsibility, status, benefits, etc. In the marketing
industry, this can be the promotion of a marketing supervisor to the marketing manager.
A Dry Promotion that employees aren’t particularly fond of. This promotion refers to an
increase in responsibilities and status without the benefits. It means no increase in pay or any
financial benefits for that matter.
Employee Promotion is one of the main goals of employees working hard. Thus, it turns
into their expectation. When employers don’t fulfill these expectations, they end up losing
employees. It also often includes a pay raise which acts as a huge motivation. This, in return,
further reduces attrition. As stated above, employee promotion is a big tool for career
advancement and employee retention. It is because when employees get a chance to grow, they
stick with a company. This motivation ultimately correlates to higher productivity. Internal
employee promotion involves less cost than hiring new ones. This harms the desired cost-cutting
measures of a company. Employee promotion facilitates the critical career path and growth of an
individual. Employee Promotion often brings new responsibilities that initiate a sense of
management. This sense of management is a key factor in employee satisfaction as it helps them
grow. Employee promotion is a crucial element of an organization’s rewards and recognition
program. This is because a study shows more than a quarter of employees leave the organization
for lack of rewards recognition.

Workforce Discipline

Discipline means a prescribed conduct or pattern of behavior. Employee Discipline at

workplace can be defined as adherence to the company policies, rules, regulations and processes
laid down by the management.Non disciplinary behavior by employees can disturb the decorum
of the entire workplace. It can damage the reputation of the organization and adversely affect its
profitability and growth. Compliance and behavioral issues are the most common problem in an
organization.

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 An effective disciplinary policy ensures proper order at the workplace through corrective
behavior. Discipline management is intended to promote a minimum acceptable behavior by
employees. With organizational discipline, the employees learn to behave in a controlled and
responsible way and start abiding by the guidelines laid down by the organization.It is part of the
human resource teams responsibility to look into the employee disciplinary issues.
Policy Formulation, It is essential to have a properly laid down and unambiguous
company policy that defines the code of conduct expected from employees in various contexts
(attendance, leave, employee interactions, customer interactions, sexual harassment, dress code,
submission of expenses etc.) The policy should be regularly updated, reviewed and shared with
all employees in an easily accessible employee handbook format. Be fair while drafting
employment policy.
A disciplinary committee should be formed where employees can report issues pertaining
to discipline. This committee should take care of discipline management and document all
disciplinary actions taken against the defaulters. Follow the technique of Progressive Discipline.
This type of disciplinary approach follows progression of disciplinary actions. Start from verbal
counseling to written warning to monetary deductions. And if needed, you can opt for suspension
of the concerned employee. Termination of employee services should be a last resort. Process of
Redressal of Complaints should be fair, confidential and transparent. Create an online Helpdesk
to address employee complaints & grievances. Employees should not feel victimized while
reporting any disciplinary issue against any co-worker or a senior.
Discipline is important to business success and each employer wants to maintain
discipline at workplace. To enable this, having a line of open communication to all your
employees and listen to their needs and concerns. Treat your employees with dignity and respect
and try to sort out issues and challenges faced by them. Maintaining a pleasant work
environment with proper observance of organization rules, will encourage employee discipline
and create a happy, aligned and productive workforce.

Demotion and Separation

Demotion is the reverse of promotion. It is the downward movement of an employee in

hierarchy with lower status, salary and decreased responsibilities. It is generally used as a

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punitive measure for incompetence or a preliminary step to dismissal. It is a downgrading
process where the employees suffer considerable emotional and financial loss. Causes for
demotion, could be incompetence to work and challenges related to it. the employee may have
low administrative skills or sometimes used as a disciplinary tool against offending employees.
Economic crisis, due to poor business conditions and continuous losses, a organization may
decide to lay off some employee or to downgrade others.
Employee separation occurs when employees cease to be a member of an organization.
Agreement between employer & employee comes to an end. Employees decide to leave the
organization or organization ask employee to leave. Reasons for employee separations are
voluntary or involuntary. In the former initiation for separation is taken by employee himself or
herself. Where the employer initiates to separate an employee it becomes involuntary separation.
An employee decides to quit when his or her level of dissatisfaction with the present job
is high or a more alternative job is awaiting the individual. Organizations often encourage quits
through cash incentives. Popularly known as voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) these schemes
are offered by the organizations when they are experiencing losses.
Retirements occur when employees reach the end of their careers. The age for an
employee’s superannuation differs. Retirement differs from quits. When the employee
superannuates and leaves the organization, he or she carries several benefits with himself or
herself. Such a privilege is denied to the employee who quits.
Involuntary Separations, a discharge takes place when the employer discovers that it is no
more desirable to keep an employee any longer. Discharge, also called termination, should be
avoided as far as possible. Termination is expensive as the firm must seek replacement, hire and
train the nee employee. A discharged individual is likely to badmouth about the company.
Dismissal is the last step and may be resorted to when all the efforts in salvaging the employee
have failed.
A layoff is a temporary separation of the employee at the instance of the employer.
Section 2 of The Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, defines layoff as “the failure, refusal or inability
of an employer to give employment to a worker whose name is present on the rolls but who has
not been retrenched”. A layoff may be for a definite period on the expiry of which the employee
will be recalled by the employer for the duty.

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 Retrenchment, it refers to the termination of the employee because of the replacement of
labour by machines or the closure of a department due to continuing lack of demand of the
products manufactured in that particular department of the organization. If the plant is itself
closed then the management and the employees have to leave for good.
A resignation refers to the termination of employment at the instance of the employee in
that case it is voluntary but if forced by the employer for not putting his duty well ,or for some
serious charge against him then it becomes involuntary.

Strategic Talent Acquisition

Recruitment vs Talent acquisition

The terms “talent acquisition” and “recruitment” are often confused as meaning the same thing,
but this is not the case. There are key differences between the two, differences with which you should
familiarize yourself if you’re looking to hire the most qualified candidates for specific positions within
your company. For starters, recruitment means that you’re looking to hire someone, dare I say anyone, in
order to fill a vacancy. Talent acquisition, on the other hand, is the process of strategically looking for
specialists, leaders, future executives, or other qualified professionals for a specific position within the
company.
Again, recruitment is the process by which you look to fill vacant positions quickly and without
much regard for the candidate’s’ particular specialties, if defined. Recruiting may be seen as reactive,
meaning that a position recently opened up and it must be filled.
As previously stated, talent acquisition is all about actively searching for the most qualified
candidate to hire for a specific position. This strategy is common among niche industries such as,
medical, technology, legal, and even translation services. Typically, if you’re looking to hire people for a
long-term position, you should aim for talent acquisition, so as to lower a potentially high turnover rate,
which is a possible effect of recruiting less-qualified candidates.

When to Engage to Talent Acquisition and Recruitment

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 As mentioned earlier, recruitment is a rather reactive process. You recruit in reaction to an
existing vacancy. Talent acquisition, on the other hand, is proactive. You prepare to recruit even when
you have a fully optimized workforce because you are predicting the future needs of an organization.
Hiring for the future involves hiring for new positions, new skills, and new technologies. So,
when an organization starts a new business segment and you need to find people to run that segment, you
must have a Talent acquisition strategy in place. Similar is the case with a new business altogether. The
workforce must be built from the ground up. This means working to attract the right talent that will stay.
Keep in mind that building a talent pipeline based on skills can help you tremendously when
hiring for your organization. It may not be necessary to know exactly which role a certain candidate may
fill. But having a set of skills that can be matched with a role that may arise in the future is one and a
highly valuable way to go about it. When you have performed a skills gap analysis and know exactly
which skills you need to hire for, you need a strategy that will help you find these professionals and close
those gaps.
Diversity is a compliance regulation you must meet, but it is also a way to get the most innovative
minds working for you. Short-term recruitment alone cannot meet your diversity hiring goals. This
requires a well-planned strategy to hire diverse professionals in various roles across the organization.
Recruitment and talent acquisition are not separate from each other. And they both serve very
specific purposes at different times. A talent acquisition strategy considers recruitment technologies in
place to enable efficient recruitment. Recruitment involves using this technology to then go ahead and
hire.

Talent Acquisition Effort

What defines the talent acquisition process is assessing the current workforce and the business
needs. To do this, they must identify key metrics or parameters they need to assess for example, skills gap
and culture fit. Then, they can use analytics to identify where the skills gap lies and whether hiring
externally or training internally may be a better option for workforce optimization and talent
management.
The importance of having a positive employer brand in an era when practically all information is
transparent cannot be stressed enough. Candidates may need jobs, but they are also aware of how they
want their experience at work to be.

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Nurturing relationships with active and passive candidates is essential to build a talent pipeline. TA
specialists must forecast the needs of the organization and use succession planning to determine which
leadership gaps can be filled internally and which gaps need external hiring.

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