non-financial motivation of employees from y...
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CHALLENGES OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 2011
BUSINESS PROJECT
Non-financial motivation of employees
from Y Generation
authors:
Olena Baltina Anna Gust
Marta Kobyłecka Aleksandra Sztobryn
Lodz 2011
2
Table of contents:
Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………….3
CHAPTER I Background information…………………………………………………………4
1. Facts about Infosys……………………………………………………………………..4
2. Human capital investment at Infosys BPO Poland…………………………………….5
CHAPTER II Description of Challenges ………………………………………………………6
1. Presentation of the problem……………………………………………………………6
2. Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………..8
CHAPTER III Innovations…………………………………………………………………...10
1. Social innovations…………………………………………………………………….10
2. Socio-environmental innovations……………………………………………………..15
Conclusions……………………………………………………………………………………..20
APPENDIX No 1 THEORY U..…..…………………………………………………………....21
APPENDIX No 2 SHADOWING…………………………..…………………………………23
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Introduction
This report is the result of the project "Non-financial motivation of employees from Y
generation" realized by the participants of the XIV Summer Academy “Challenges of
Sustainable Development” organized by the Sendzimir Foundation. Three-week Summer
Academy is one of the most important educational events connected to sustainability in
Poland. More than 350 people took part in it since 1998. The main objectives of the Academy
are to promote sustainable development, to teach through practice and to facilitate use of
innovations both in governance and research.
Motivated and satisfied staff is the key element which helps enterprises become more
successful. Voluntary investments in human capital can have a positive impact on staff
retention.
There is increasing number of ways of financial and non-financial motivation of employees
which can be used in order to improve company’s performance and make employees more
satisfied with their work.
The main aim of the report is to propose efficient solutions which can improve the motivation
of young workers, people of the Y generation, and reduce fluctuations of staff of Infosys BPO
Poland, situated in Lodz, Poland.
In the CHAPTER I we introduce Infosys BPO Poland, and the company’s current CSR
strategy in the field of employees’ motivation. The company plans and organizes a wide range
of motivational activities. Still there are potential improvements which can be made in
relation to motivation CSR strategies and their implementation. The description of challenges
is given in CHAPTER II. However, the main focus of this report, which is presented in
CHAPTER III, will be our proposal of innovative solutions, with the objective of reinforcing
a new mentality amongst employees’ of Infosys BPO Poland of being a satisfied employee:
motivated, personally involved and integrated with the company’s most important values.
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CHAPTER I
Background information
1. Facts about Infosys1
Infosys Ltd. was established in 1981 by seven people with US$ 250 (N R Narayana Murthy,
Nandan Nilekani, N. S. Raghavan, Kris Gopalakrishnan, S. D. Shibulal, K Dinesh, Ashok
Arora). Now the key people are: N R Narayana Murthy (Chairman), Kris Gopalakrishnan
(Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director), S. D. Shibulal (Chief Operating Officer).
Infosys has 64 offices and 63 development centers in US, India, Asia and Europe2. The
company and its subsidiaries have 130.820 employees (as on March 2011). Infosys has
received a lot of awards and high ratings, which also highlights its leading position. Infosys
revenue was US$ 6.041 billion in 2011. According to the 2011 financial report Infosys
operating income is 1.779 US$ billion, their profit ranked at a level of 1.499 US$ billion, total
assets reached 7.010 US$ billion and total equity placed at the level of 6.122 US$ billion.
Infosys Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) Ltd. was set up in April 2002 as a subsidiary of
Infosys Technologies, a NASDAQ listed global leader of IT solutions. Today Infosys BPO
Ltd. is one of the leading BPO companies
In Europe Infosys BPO has two centers - in Brno (the Czech Republic) and Lodz (Poland).
Infosys BPO Poland Sp. z.o.o. has been operating in Lodz since October 2007. The company
provides outsourcing service to its customers in 25 countries worldwide. The company is one
of the largest foreign BPO investors in Lodz and one of the biggest employers in the region.
Infosys offering includes:
• Finance and Accounting, • Procurement, • Logistic Claim Handling • Master Data Management (MDM) • High End Services • Knowledge Services • IT Infrastructure Services and IT Application Development and Support.
1 Official webpage of Infosys BPO Poland www.infosysbpo.com, www.infosysbpoeurope.eu 2 In October 2007, Infosys BPO Poland purchased European Service Centre in Lodz, previously belonging to Philips. Currently, the center of Lodz employs over 1000 professionals in the field of finance and accounting, auditing, business improvement and analysis.
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Infosys' main goal is to be a globally respected corporation that provides best-of-breed
business solutions, leveraging technology, delivered by best-in-class people. Accordingly to
their mission the company tries to achieve objectives in an environment of fairness, honesty,
and courtesy towards clients, employees, vendors and society.
2. Human capital investment at Infosys BPO Poland
Infosys BPO Poland is employee-centric, with its employees being the company’s most important assets. The company employs over 1000 highly-qualified professionals:
• 76 % university degree
• 10% ACCA, professional post-graduate studies, doctorate, executive MBA’s
• 50% of leaders certified by Ministry of Finance on professional skills to perform
accounting advisory services – “Certified Accountants”
• employees speak the language of company’s customers providing services in 9
different foreign languages3.
The company uses a wide range of motivational activities, both financial and non-financial.
The average age of workers in the company is 27 years. The employees mostly belong to the
age group called Y generation, which makes the choice of motivational tools in the company
more specific. The Y generation grew up in the Internet culture and mobile phone, which
results in the fact that they are more efficient, while doing many things simultaneously. It is
difficult to hold Y employee in one place for a longer period of time; a lot of effort is needed.
For the Y generation individual approach is very important – they like working in groups, but
on the other hand they don't want to be treated as part of bigger group, they want to
emphasize their uniqueness4. It is said that they need non-financial motivation, which is more
important for them than salary graduation.
Infosys BPO Poland also offers numerous additional benefits to its employees like sports
facilities, entrance card or numerous family and sport events.
Tab.1. Existing forms of motivation in the Infosys BPO Poland in Lodz
3 Infosys BPO In Lodz, website http://www.infosys.com/BPO-SERVICES 4 Smyrgała E., „Generacja Y a rynek pracy” in: eGospodarka.pl- http://www.egospodarka.pl/45990,Generacja-Y-a-rynek-pracy,2,20,2.html
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Existing forms of motivation in the company
Fina
ncia
l mot
ivat
ion
Salary
Salary + bonus
Bonus for good performance
Special programs
Bonus for work experience
Bonus for low indicator of absence
Bonus for special events
Non
-fin
anci
al m
otiv
atio
n
Horizontal promotion
Creation of multifunctional positions
Vertical promotion
Career opportunities
Giving titles
Inner recruitment
Education opportunities
Funding of qualification improvement (e.g. MBA studies)
Language courses
Courses for specific purposes
Financial rewarding of postgraduate studies
Training
Prestige
Special name for your position
Company cell phones, company car, laptop (for some functions)
Convenient workplace in the office
Parking place
Private insurance
Open days for employees and their families
Travel opportunities
Ranking for the employee of the month/year
Motivation through engagement
Voluntary involvement of employees into different projects (Green Team, Social Team, Media Team)
Involvement of employees into internal recruitment process
Involvement of employees into tutoring at the courses (internal trainers program)
“buddy” programs
Involvement in the internal audits
Members of the newsletter committee
Participatory teamwork and leadership
Good atmosphere at work Special budget for organizing integrating events
Picnics, contests, open days for the employees
CHAPTER II
Challenges Description
1. Presentation of the problem
Fig. 1. Map of the main problem
One of the characteristic features of the companies from the BPO/SSC sector is a constant
fluctuation of employees. The average age of Infosys BPO Poland’s workers is 27 years.
University graduates are usually very demanding and ambitious and they get demotivated by
the monotonous work. Some of them leave the company in search of a better workplace, but
then they want to return to the company. In other words, lack of experience and repetitive
character of work contribute to the problem. Other causes of the problem include: the level
of participation of employees, the atmosphere inside the company, the level of identification
of employees with the company’s values, the level of motivation and the level of recognition.
existing solutions causes proposed solutions
FLUCTUATIONSOF EMPLOYEES
level of recognition
level of personalparticipation of
employees
atmospherelevel of experience of
employees repetitive work
level of admistration'sawareness aboutemployees needs
level of identification ofemployees with company
values
level of motivation
promotion possibilities
buddy program
internal voluntaryteams
open family days
internal partiescourses
flying teamsjob rotation
motivation survey:external, internal
own, nice offices parking placestravels
greening together We can makeLodz better
bank of ideas
participatorymanagement
shadowing
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The level of personal participation of employees is being constantly improved by such
activities as “buddy programs”, internal voluntary teams, open family days and internal
parties. They are also aimed at making the atmosphere of the company better. However, there
are still some improvements which could be taken into account.
The level of the employees’ experience can be improved through a number of courses,
educational programs, workshops, etc. The “Buddy program” also helps young people
without experience to adapt and gain knowledge about their responsibilities and work. The
suggestion in this field is to initiate the “bank of ideas”, by which we understand encouraging
ordinary workers to contribute their ideas, pieces of advice or comments on different relevant
topics. In such a way the necessary feeling of participation and recognition could be achieved.
Repetitive work is avoided by job rotation and flying teams. Employees have also the
possibility to enrich their work experience by participating in different projects, and getting
more responsibilities.
The level of administration’s awareness about employees needs is based on employees’
satisfaction survey, which is carried out twice a year. One of the suggestions of how to
improve the level of awareness is to “follow the shadow” and participatory management,
which will be described in more details later.
The level of identification of employees with the company’s values could be improved.
Two suggestions have been proposed in order to support environmental values in the
company, which could be the integration factors for all employees, giving them sense of
participation and purpose. The first innovation is “Greening together” and “We can make
Lodz greener”.
The level of motivation is highly influenced by the quality of offices, travels, parking places
and a number of other financial and non-financial motivational activities.
The level of recognition means the level of positive input the employees receive, which can
be compensated by promotion possibilities. Thanks to this employees have chance to change
their position and develop their qualifications. Our proposed innovation is to implement
participatory management. That will be described in details in Chapter II.
2. Conclusion
The problem map shows some areas which, in our opinion, could be improved. We identified
some gaps in the level of employees’ experience, the level of identification of employees with
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the company’s values, the level of recognition and the level of the administration’s awareness
about employees needs. It is important for the company to make input into these areas. The
proposed solutions refer to environmental and social spheres, covering two very important
sustainability issues. They are tools for non-financial motivation of the employees.
The solutions will be further presented in the next chapters.
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CHAPTER III
Innovations
1. Social innovations
Gaps in the system
In 1968, Frederic Herzberg, a known psychologist, developed the theory of motivation. In one
of his articles he claimed that the working conditions and salaries are indeed important, but
sincere commitment of the employees’ and their efficiency are mostly the result of the level
of involvement and passion about the project that is being carried out. Self-realization,
success and level of independence are also crucially important for the motivation of
employees.5
As it was stated in the Infosys presentation for the project participants that in addition to the
salary, employees receive various types of additional non-financial bonuses and can take
advantage of a highly developed system of motivation. Each of the motivation system
components has its own objective. The bonus is aimed at motivating workers’ for more
productive work and non-financial allowances have a purpose of strengthening ties between
the company and the employees (commitment, loyalty). However, despite the diversity of the
motivational tools, the lack of commitment and loyalty to the company of some young
employees still exist and are reflected in the level of the staff fluctuations. The number of
people who leave Infosys are around an average compared to the BPO market, however there
is a need to reduce the staff fluctuations in the company. Mainly due to financial reasons this
situation is unfortunate, because each new employee requires investment of time and
resources.
However, modern systems of motivating employees have some hidden traps. The seemingly
perfect solution often proves positive for one party and negative for the other. For instance, in
some company the employer gave the very high extra bonus to the commercial department
5 F. Herzberg, One more time: how do you motivate employees?, Harvard Business Review Classic, January-‐February 1968, s. 4
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that had attracted a lot of new customers. This resulted in a wave of discontent and in a
number of resignation letters from employees of the other departments. The reason for this
was that they received a lot of extra work for the same money as before. The incoherent
system did not take into the account the demotivation factors for another department. What
motivated one department, intensified the problem in another one. Similar pitfalls also exist
for example in the concept of the award for employee of the month/year. Such awards instead
of uniting may disintegrate the team. Due to the high demands, so-called "stars" take it all,
while ordinary workers feel frustrated - they lose self-confidence as the aim is inaccessible for
them. There are still some pitfalls associated with the motivation systems and sometimes
conflicts may arise with connection to them. To avoid such a situation the employee should
feel that he/she is important, that he/she has space for self-realization in order to encourage
their potential for a voluntary work. This is possible under several conditions: when he/she is
well-paid, sees general sense in what he/she does, has a real impact on the company's affairs,
especially those of his/her area of responsibility. Therefore one of the solutions is the
implementation of the idea of the participatory management.
1. The participatory management is open to both the complexity and diversity of
knowledge, skills and attitudes and ideas of individual employees. Participation is intended to
provide a multiplicity of perspectives, with a wide "network"6 in the search for creative
solutions. The basis of the model is an individual approach to employees at all levels who
should be involved in managing and building the company's strategy. Therefore, they feel
responsible for it, personally connected and what’s more important equal with each other.
They build the common well-being as everyone is equally important and necessary. Then the
feelings of frustration, boredom and demotivation can disappear. It should also be noted that it
is necessary to clarify the leadership responsibilities of the president/owner who determines
the "rules of the game" in the enterprise and gives the direction of development and consistent
implementation of the objectives. The leadership provides balance and protection from chaos,
which may be the result of the plurality of opinions. Thus, the one of the conditions of success
is the simultaneous application of participatory management model and distinctive element of
leadership. The lack of common purpose leads to dispersion of resources and inconsistency of
actions.
Main advantages of the participatory model are:
6 G. Hamel: Strategy as Revolution. Harvard Business Review, July-August, 1996, s.74-81
12
• increased employees commitment
• increased productivity7
• positive impact on the willingness to implement the jointly planned strategy8- increasing the
chances of success of any actions (usually, just at the stage of implementation, most plans
ends their life. Employees who perceive a particular strategy as a result of their work, are
more willing to engage in the process).
• better use of the diversity of knowledge, experience, information by the workers at various
levels9.
Gary Hamel points out that innovation and creativity are often hidden in the "depths of the
company." He claims that the company board members usually do not exchange new ideas or
views, because they know each other for years and are rather reluctant to change.10 True
reformers and activists in the companies, as in social life, will never come "from above", but
their voices come from the depths of the organization and hence the need to search them and
give them opportunities to influence the fate of the company.
An example of a company that has successfully implemented a model of participatory
management is the German network of drugstores Markt Drugstores, which has 1,000 stores
and employs 27 thousand people. Its founder Götz W. Werner enjoys a reputation as one of
Germany's top managers (just won the German title of Entrepreneur of the Year at the
prestigious Ernst & Young). His business is growing much faster than the competition mainly
because the company's stores have full independence. Their staff doesn’t only select the
assortment, store layout, but even retail prices. Everyone makes an effort, because they know
that part of the profit earned by them stays in the shop and it is divided according to the rules
laid down by the crew so that nobody feels unfairly treated. Participatory management model
is also used by a Brazilian manufacturer Semco Marine Engines and motorcycle manufacturer
Harley Davidson.
2. Bank of ideas - is another proposed innovation aimed at improving motivation of Infosys
employees. The aim of this project is to create some space (e.g. can, box, etc.), in which
employees could anonymously submit their proposals to resolve the problems (both 7 J.C. Worthy: Factors Influencing Employee Morale. Harvard Business Review, January 1950, s. 61-73 8 D. Faulkner, C. Bosman: Strategie konkurencji. Wydawnictwo Gebethner & Ska, Warszawa, 1996, s. 5
9 G. Hamel, Strategy…, op.cit., s. 74-81 10 G. Hamel, Strategy…, op.cit., s. 74-‐81
13
individually and in groups), report about their real needs, or propose their own innovations,
etc. Once a month at the department the ideas and the possibility of introducing them are to be
discussed. Therefore, this process is also based on the principle of employee participation, not
only top-down imposition of rules and projects from the managers and administration. As an
example of such a good practice we could mention Swarovski. This famous top-market
manufacturer of luxury products gives prizes for best ideas.
3. Employees' shadowing
In order to introduce our next innovation we would like to present the theory which it’s based
on first. The most pressing challenges leaders and teams require today innovative thinking
and collaboration across traditional boundaries – departments, organizations, sectors, and
cultures. Yet we are entrenched in rigid patterns of behavior that limit our ability to transcend
these boundaries and work together which can effect a deep change (?). To bring about the
level of the transformation needed in our organizations and our world right now, we need a
way of learning and leading – one not limited to reflecting the patterns of the past but one that
tunes into the possibilities of the future. Theory U developed by Dr. C. Otto Scharmer is a
social technology of transformational change, which will help leaders meet the challenges
they will be facing in an increasingly complex and unpredictable future. (see APPENDIX No
1).
Theory U is in essence a problem-solving (or a problem-addressing) process. Scharmer
proposes this process to optimize both collaboration and innovation, and as a guide for
coaches to use to enable collaborative and innovative capacity in individuals and teams
working on (especially intractable) problems.
Fig.2 Theory U process
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Source:http://blogs.salon.com/0002007/2008/08/15.html
• The co-initiating step includes self-organizing the team, studying patterns and paying
attention - being aware. Its principal 'product' is an engaged and informed team.
• The co-sensing step entails making sense of what you are now aware of. Its principal
product is understanding.
• The presencing step might be the most challenging for traditional organizations to
accept. It is what Scharmer calls letting go and letting come, being open to possibility,
using imagination, critical and creative thinking. Its principal products are emerging
approaches.
• The co-creating step is one of iteratively exploring and experimenting with these
possible approaches. Its principal products are working models.
• The co-evolving step is the continuous and improvisational study, improvement and
innovation of these models, collaboratively in peer production with the community of
users of these models (the models 'continuously becoming' better and better products
and services in practice). Its principal products are sustained innovation, relationships
and resilience.11
Basing upon theory U our proposed innovation is to implement “employees' shadowing”
strategy which could cover the problematic issues, such as raising administration’s awareness
about employees’ needs, improving level of recognition of employees at work and in such a
way make the company more flexible and resilient. Employees' shadowing is a process of
observing, collecting and analyzing the information about the personal and professional
challenges of workers during some period of time. Employees' shadowing can be
accompanied with the yearly employees' performance appraisal so that employers have an
opportunity to verify the collected data with employees and on the basis of the conversations
to collect some more ideas and comments from employees. During the year the managers can
also collect ideas about the improvement of working conditions and company work process
from the workers, for example with the help of the “bank of ideas” – the already described
innovative strategy. The employees' shadowing will help to increase employees' participation, 11 Dave Pollard: More Than Just a Friday Flashback: Presencing and Theory U, 2008, website: http://blogs.salon.com/0002007/2008/08/15.html
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improve their perception of the company and bring them closer to integration with the
company’s values. This strategy is based on the idea of individual approach, improving each
worker's level of satisfaction and interest rather than emphasizing leadership skills. Workers
who are not leadership-driven benefit a lot from receiving additional attention and respect for
their work. Basing upon the knowledge collected from “employees' shadowing” different
actions and new strategies can be adopted and this can be an additional non-financial
motivation element for employees.12 The shadowing can be carried out in several stages
(Fig.1) For more detailed information see APPENDIX No 2.
Fig.3. Stages of “shadowing” process
The principles of Theory U are suggested to help political leaders, civil servants, and
managers break through past unproductive patterns of behavior that prevent them from
empathizing with their clients' perspectives and often lock them into ineffective patterns of
decision making. A model to show how the theory U initiatives work can be
Dr. C. Otto Scharmer, who is a Senior Lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(MIT) and the founding chair of the Presencing Institute. With the help of his innovative
approach he has co-designed and delivered award-winning leadership programs for clients
including Daimler, Pricewaterhouse, Fujitsu, and Eileen Fisher. Scharmer is a core faculty
member of the UN Leaders Program (at the UN Staff College) and chairs the MIT IDEAS
program, which brings together key leaders from business, government, and civil society to
co-create profound innovation and systems change.
12 Otto Scharmer official website http://www.presencing.com/tools/shadowing.shtml
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2. Socio-environmental innovations
In accordance with the main problem – prevention of the employees fluctuation, two
solutions are proposed. Both are connected with sustainable development in terms of social
responsibility and environmental excellence. Proposed innovations combine two areas:
environmental protection and social participation. Taking part in such initiatives enables
employees to be engaged in creating their own surrounding. They also become “sustainable
agents” - they have possibility to partake in environmental and social actions. Additional
effect is integration, cooperation, strengthening of connections between employees, which
also create stronger bounds with the company. Two actions called “Greening together” and
“We can make Lodz a better place” are to strengthen the employees’ identification with the
company. According to the proposed actions employees will start to perceive their company
less as a standard workplace, but more as an interesting place to work at. By working in a
company with such programs, employees have the possibility of self-realization combined
with environmental and social engagement. These solutions emphasize the importance of
employees' personal integration with the company's values, feeling of purpose and pride of
the company they work for. In one of the most elaborate studies on employee motivation,
involving 31,000 men and 13,000 women, the Minneapolis Gas Company sought to
determine what their potential employees’ desire most from a job. This study was carried out
during a 20 year period from 1945 to 1965. The ratings for the various factors differed only
slightly between men and women, but both groups considered security as the highest rated
factor, the next three factors were:13
ñ advancement;
ñ type of work;
ñ company - proud to work for.
Further on we describe the innovations in more detail.
Green projects – Greening together
The main goal of the action is to make the area next to the main building greener. As
the first step employees will voluntarily create a plan of a garden near the location of the
company: how to organize it, which species of plants should be used. Consultation and 13 Business Performance Improvement Resource, website: http://www.bpir.com/employee-motivation/menu-id-71/research-data.html
17
supervision of a landscape designer will be provided when it is necessary to assist with the
aesthetic value of the garden. Employees will have a chance to contribute to the final project
of the garden by taking part in planting and contributing in other way. Secondly, after the
creation of the plan, employees will plant trees, flowers together during their work time.
“Planting” days will be considered as usual working days. What is more, people from
different departments and positions will cooperate during the project, which is crucial for
integration. Physical activity has its own very important benefits for the health of employees
on the whole as well as breaking everyday routine and reducing stress levels. The garden
could be adapted for employees’ recreation during lunch break or at another time of the day,
which raises attractiveness of the area for the workers. After the garden has been created yet
another possibility for the company will be to create green roofs with employees’ cooperation
and to further use them with recreational and environmental benefits (absorbing rainwater,
providing insulation, creating a habitat for wildlife, and helping to lower urban air
temperatures and combat the heat island effect).
Next part of this project is “greening the work place”. The main objective is to create a nice
and eco-friendly environment to work in. Employees will have a chance to rearrange their
offices and put flowers or other plants inside. Workers will receive a guide with eco-tips: how
to create an eco-friendly office and workplace. Group work is an essential and important part
of this project. The action will result in the higher number of plants inside the building, the
positive effects of which will be a better atmosphere and the lower stress levels. According to
this new situation it will be possible to make the competition between offices for the best
flower, which could be carried out by the manager of the department and shouldn't be official
but rather an informal appraisal. What is more, each office has to take responsibility for their
plants, which also influences the level of integration.
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greeningtogether
green values
contribution
identification
integration
participation
Fig. 4. Results of the “Greening together” project
Both activities will improve the work quality. Group work influences relationships between
employees – they are more integrated, have one common goal. Moreover, they feel that they
personally contribute to the final shape of the project, their opinions really matter and are
taken into account. Every employee, despite of the position has the same chance to participate
in the greening projects. Positive side effects of the project are significant: employees see the
importance of green areas in the cities, their awareness improves, their feeling of integration
increases. The main reason for choosing green solutions is strategic as the “green values” can
contribute to the city image as well. In 2010 Lodz took part in the European Green Capital
Award Contest and received a wide support. The "European Green Capital Award" was
launched by the European Commission on 22 May 2008 and is a highly prestigious award.
There are aspirations for the city to receive this title by 2020, which are supported by
Fundacja Sendzimira, the University of Lodz, city’s NGOs, local authorities and other
stakeholders. The company’s employees will be inspired by the company if the attractiveness
of the city and the area of the company increase. The environmental focus also makes the
employees a part of something bigger than just a work process, their contribution helps the
city, it helps the nature that surrounds them, and it gives place for personal inspiration and
passion about what they do.
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The local project- Let’s make Lodz a better place
The most important aim is to strengthen the connections between the company and the city of
Lodz. The following solutions are proposed: the cooperation with the local government,
active participation in projects for the city of Lodz, connected both with the environmental
and social challenges. Owing to the local engagement, Infosys will be considered as a
company strongly connected with Lodz. Additionally it will be an active local member, which
creates positive image not only among inhabitants, but also within employees. They can be
proud of a company, in which they work, as a result of their deeper understanding of its
values. Employees will start to identify Infosys not only as a place of work, but also as a
partner in improving situation for Lodz. What is more, employees will have a chance to
participate in voluntary actions for Lodz. For this voluntary work they will have a day off that
could be an additional non-financial motivation.
Fig.5. Results of project Let’s make
Lodz better place
identification
voluntarywork for Lodz
image
integration
participation education
green values
social values
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Conclusions
Infosys BPO Poland is one of the largest foreign investors and one of the biggest employers in
the region with its 1000 highly professional employees who use multiple languages providing
services to the customers worldwide. A lot of financial and non-financial means of motivation
existing in the company are aimed at raising staff performance and increasing efficiency of
the company. However, as the company is employee-centric and interested in improvement of
non-financial motivation of young workers and reduction of the level of staff fluctuations,
some elements require constant improvements.
Despite the fact that Infosys BPO in Lodz has developed an extensive motivation system, the
company could consider some innovations in order to improve it. Some gaps in the solution of
the problem have been identified. Bonus awarding system can be sometimes considered as
positive motivation for some people but unfortunately simultaneously as negative for the
others (examples were provided in CH III). After the analysis of current motivation trends in
the company the following innovations were distinguished:
• Participatory management
• Bank of ideas
• Shadowing
• Greening together
• Let’s make Lodz a better place
The proposed innovations can fill in the gap in the already existing motivation tools.
Although the implementation of the innovations presented in this report can be time
consuming, will need additional resourses they could serve as a starting point of successful
transformational change of the company’s strategy. making it more flexible, resilient and
capable of tuning into the possibilities of the future.
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APPENDIX No 1
THEORY U
Definition
The Theory U (also called "U" methodology) is a change management method targeting
leadership as process of inner knowing and social innovation developed by Otto Scharmer
and originally based on a process known as the U-process or U-procedure (also called 'bath
tub' and 'U Way') developed by Dr Friedrich Glasl and Dirk Lemson of the NPI (Netherlands
Pedagogical Institute) in 1968 (Bos, 1974 and Friedrich Glasl & Leo de la Houssaye, 1975)
and presented systematically from the 1980s. It has been a valuable tool in organization
development and social development since that time14. Recently it has been elaborated as
Theory U by Otto Scharmer.
U-procedure or U-process
The initial method developed by Glasl and Lemson involved a social process involving a few
or many co-workers, managers and/or policymakers proceeding from diagnosis of the present
state of the organisation plans for the future. They described a process in a U formation
consisting of three levels (technical and instrumental subsystem, social subsystem and cultural
subsystem) and seven stages beginning with the observation of organisational phenomena,
workflows, resources etc., and concluding with specific decisions about desired future
processes and phenomena. The method draws on the Goethean techniques described by Dr.
Rudolf Steiner, transforming observations into intuitions and judgements about the present
state of the organisation and decisions about the future15.
The seven stages consist of:
1. (Factual/phenomenal level, technical and instrumental subsystem) Observation of
phenomena. How do processes and workflows function? Instruments, resources.
2. (Imaginative level, social subsystem) Forming a picture of how the organisation works.
Understanding the social subsystem and how functions, roles and management are distributed.
14 Allison, 2008, GOSH Trust, Büchele, U. 15 Edutech Wiki Website: http://edutechwiki.unige.ch/en/Theory_U
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3. ("Inspirational" level; cultural subsystem) Idea. Understanding the implicit/actual values,
rules and policies that shape the organisation. How and why things happen.
4. Is this what we want?
5. (This maps onto 3.) What values and guidelines do we want for the future?
6. (This maps onto 2.) What does that mean for new functions and roles? How should the
organisation of the future be visioned?
7. (This maps onto 1.) How can processes be developed in future? What phenomena and facts
will characterize the organization of the future?
Otto Scharmer took the basic principles of this process and extended and enriched it into a
significant theory of learning and management, which he calls Theory U (2007). The
principles of Theory U can help political leaders, civil servants, and managers break through
past unproductive patterns of behavior that prevent them from empathizing with their clients'
perspectives and often lock them into ineffective patterns of decision making16.
Fig.6 Presencing and Theory U process
Source: http://ottoscharmer.com/programs/foundations.shtml
16 U-procedure and Theory U, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U-procedure_and_Theory_U
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APPENDIX No 2
SHADOWING
PURPOSE
Shadowing means to accompany a person for a period of time for example 1/2 day to observe
him/her during work, and learn from this observation. The purpose of the shadowing exercise
is to observe and absorb practical and intuitive knowledge from a colleague, customer, or an
otherwise interesting person.
LOGISTICS
People & Place - Participants identify a possible shadowee.
Time - Minimum of half a day; a full work day is preferred.
Materials - n/a
PROCESS
Step 1
Define the objective of the process and identify an appropriate target person to shadow. The
target person and its context should be both interesting (from the viewpoint of the shadower)
and unfamiliar.
Step 2
Make an appointment with your shadowee. Let the person you wish to shadow know that you
are interested in just following his daily practice and routines and that there is no need for any
special program or treatment. There is no need for him/her to set aside extra time for you
except at the end of the day for the closing/debriefing interview (about 30 minutes – 1 hr). But
this could also be done during lunch or dinner. Let the shadowee know what you are
particularly interested in learning about. Then the shadowee can select the best day for your
shadowing experience. Confidentiality: clarify that anything you observe or hear will be
handled confidentially.
Step 3
On the morning of the shadowing day, prepare and take 10-20 minutes prior to the exercise to
focus on the purpose of the shadowing: what do you want to learn?
Step 4
Debriefing Interview: at the end of the day or during lunch conduct a brief interview with the
person you shadowed. Bring up any questions that the observations throughout the day
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sparked in your mind. Here are a few questions that you might consider. Sample questions for
re-briefing:
1. What journey brought you to your current position?
2. What good and bad examples of leadership have you experienced?
3. What key challenges are you currently dealing with?
After all interviews have been completed, review the interview data, and summarize results.
Step 5
“Debrief” and crystallize right away; capture observations and insights in your journal; don’t
make phone calls or have conversations between your shadowing experience and recording
your thoughts and impressions; use a structured debriefing process as suggested below, if
possible.
1. What are your 2-3 key observations from today?
2. What are their implications for your own work?
3. What were 2–3 important leadership challenges your shadowee was facing today?
Step 6
Send a thank-you note: close the feedback loop by dropping your shadowee a brief email or
voice mail to say thank you for the day (within 24 hours).
PRINCIPLES
- Shadowing is not an interview or a visit with an old buddy. It does not follow a structured
program.
- Intention setting: Take 10-20 minutes prior to the shadowing to:
• focus on the purpose of the shadowing: what do you want to learn?
• imagine the best possible outcome of the day for you and for your shadowee;
• connect to the future that you want to create—and think about how your shadowing
might be a small first step in that direction.
- Suspend your voice of judgment (VOJ) to see the situation with fresh eyes. Observe.
- Try to look at the situation from the perspective of a video camera, or a first day at work, or
that of a researcher. You can assess that at a later point. You are there to observe and become
immersed in how the day is evolving.
- Access your ignorance: As the day unfolds, pay attention to and trust the questions and
observations that occur to you; record questions and important observations.
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-Be empathic with the person you shadow and his/her environment: try to observe from the
other person’s perspective17.
17 C. Otto Scharmer, Theory U: Leading from the future as it emerges. Website: http://ottoscharmer.com/tools/toolbook.shtml