1. 1
Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore
Presents
International Conference
On
“BUSINESS ANALYTICS AND INTELLIGENCE”
11th – 13th December, 2013
Sub theme: RETAIL ANALYTICS

2. 2
Paper title:
Challenges of Employee Delight & Retention in the Retail
Industry (Multi and Single Brand Electronics Stores in
Bengaluru) India – An Empirical Study
Author Note:
Mr. Namish Gupta [8197849060]
namishgupta1992@gmail.com
Student, Bachelors of Commerce
School of Commerce and Management Studies
JAIN University, Bangalore
Ms. Madhavi R [99865 93254]
madhu4ratna@gmail.com
Ph. D Scholar
JAIN University, Bangalore
Key words: Employee engagement, delight, turnover, challenges, opportunities
ABSTRACT
The retail industry in the electronic segment in India has seen substantial boost with the
growth in technology on various counts. Retailing in India is one of the pillar of it’s economy
and account for 14 to 15 percentage of GDP. Most new graduates and job seekers enter
electronic stores – branded ones – not out of choice but compulsion. While this is one of the
key factors for high turn-over of employees or brand representatives in stores and retail
outlets, are stores working on the idea of employee delight as much as they do on customer
delight?

3. 3
Research has shown that happy employees create happy customers. The immense pressure
derived through target achievements, unfriendly and excessive working hours are some of
the important ones which add on to hurdles.
There are various psychological reasons too, which have been analysed in this research
paper, taking the perspectives of both the parties (employee and employer) into
consideration. Enhanced pay packets with big incentives are some of the factors where
people just like to stick to it. But if we try to see the positive side there are few brands which
provide a very efficient & nice work culture; for example ‘Apple’ where Apple sales co-ordinators
are found to be really satisfied with their duty. Thus, the challenges are:
 Lack of Employee engagement
 Poor Job connection
 Difficulty in appreciating what they are doing
 Low perception of value through lack of clarity in growth options
The level of growth in retail segment – electronics – is huge but all restricted to a shell. In
this research it was also found out that while selecting a candidate, qualification was not a
key criterion. Due to lack of proper training and low importance in terms of qualification the
association became a vague set of connected dots for the candidate. Level of appreciation
what they receive depends on their performance and respect is seldom included.
This research has brought out various aspects in retail industry to show that employees are
one’s internal customers and working on their welfare is equally essential as that of
customers. Here, responses are collected through a structured interview schedule at the
grass root level.
INTRODUCTION
The concept of employee delight says that when an employee is ‘happy’ at his/her workplace
and feels the same about this work, he is delighted to go to work every day. Such an
employee is able to connect to his work, speak favourably about the work, the organisation
elsewhere and take ownership of their work at various levels. So, delighted is something
more than happy!
How does an organisation achieve that? One concept that has the potential to show
effective results is HR analytics under the retail sector. Human resource analytics is an area
in the field of analytics that refers to applying analytic processes to the human resource
department of an organization to improve employee performance, bring down employee
turnover, etc. and thereby earn a better return on investment.
It works on establishing a cause-and-effect relationship between what HR does and business
outcomes - and then creating strategies based on that information. The performance
delivered should be correlated with its cost, in such a manner that the ROI or rather in this

4. 4
case, the ROHRI – Return on human Resource Investment is quantified and analysed to
explain whether it happened or not and why if it did or did not!
If the role of analytics is to convert data into intelligence; it can be applied to every
functional area of management. In the retail Industry – Multi and Single brand electronic
stores – the role of HR is redefined in the face of the typical challenges encountered. Key
challenges include unfriendly work hours, lack of clarity in growth options, poor
pay/incentives, low priority on employee welfare and support, inconsistent grooming and
training, etc.
Past data can show the attrition pattern, reasons and increased cost to the company. From
this, one can work on the present and future HR strategies. This paper focusses on employee
delight taking the route of data analytics for HR in the retail industry.
Some critical questions can be constructed in this regard. For example:
Which 5 employees are we going to lose next and why?
Which 5 employees will show a drastic improvement in their performance and why?
In 2010, CAHRS, the Center for Advanced Human Resource Studies at Cornell University,
launched a series of working groups to gauge how partner companies are using HR analytics
and what challenges remain. (Ref. 6) They discovered that HR analytics are useful in the
following ways:
 Identifying and managing leaders to drive performance
 Better risk management
 Peeling the onion on front-line supervisor traits linked to performance
 Dissecting differences to uncover key success factors
In 1990, William Kahn, a researcher and professor at the Boston University School of
Management, defined the concept of work engagement as “the harnessing of organizational
members’ selves to their work roles”.
Effective work engagement leads to work satisfaction and growth for the individual.
Engaged workers—those who approach their work with energy, dedication, and focus—are
more open to new information, more productive and more willing to go the extra mile.
Moreover, engaged workers take the initiative to change their work environments in order
to stay engaged (Ref. 8).
According to Bakker, a psychologist at Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Netherlands,
Work engagement depends on two kinds of resources - Job resources and Employees’ own
personal resources.
a. Job resources include social support, feedback, and opportunities for autonomy, variety,
and growth. Such resources are good for the worker—they satisfy basic human needs—and
good for the workplace, because when job resources are rich, work gets done more quickly

5. and with better results. The process, moreover, is cyclical. Working better is more rewarding
for the worker, which in turn increases his/her, engagement and effectiveness.
b. Employees’ own personal resources—such as self-esteem and optimism—also contribute
to work engagement. They tend as well to create more of all these goodies for themselves
through “job-crafting,” seeking ways to make their responsibilities “fit” their talents and
interests and to increase challenge. (Ref. 9)
5
Retaining an employee is cost-effective as compared finding new ones and training them.
Although the challenge is addressed primarily from the employer’s point of view, the
employees’ are integral part of this study as they are the segment that is being researched
upon.
RESEARCH DESIGN
1. Purpose of research:
a. To explore the challenges of ‘on job engagement’ for employee delight
b. To explore the variables that govern job retention in the chosen retail sector
c. To explore unseen/hidden opportunities contributing towards retention of
employees
2. Sources of Data:
Both, field research and library research are undertaken. The objectives were first analysed
through field research and then elaborated through library research.
Primary sources of data are employed to study the objectives of the study. Such sources
include store managers, etc. of multi and single brand electronic stores in Bengaluru and the
employees from the same segment.
Secondary sources are obtained from the various articles and journals.
3. Review of Literature:
HR analytics have received a lot of research attention. Following are some such accessible
studies which have contributed to the discipline.
1. In 2010, CAHRS, the Center for Advanced Human Resource Studies at Cornell University,
launched a series of working groups to gauge how partner companies are using HR analytics
and what challenges remain.
2. In September, 2011; a study titled “HR Analytics: Driving Return on Human Capital” – An
Oracle White Paper came out explaining why and how HR analytics can add value to
businesses. This paper spoke about how organisational performance can be improved.

6. 6
4. Need for the study:
While a lot of important aspects have been uncovered through past research, the need for
further research is renewed with changing variables acting on the industry. In the city of
Bengaluru, with its rapid growth, retention of employees in the retail segment has shown up
to be a challenge repeatedly. The concept to employee delight and its facets add much value
to such a scenario.
Yet are organisations making use of such input? If yes, then why do we have the same
challenges showing up again and again? Such questions showcase enough research gaps.
Hence the need for the study is felt.
5. Methodology:
(a) Tool: Questionnaire – a structured interview schedule was drafted, keeping in mind the
objectives of the study as listed above.
Two data collection tools were drafted.
a. From the employer’s point of view
b. From the Employee’s point of view
(b) Sample Design:
 Random sampling method is adopted for the study. Here, the sample units are chosen
randomly by the investigators and willingness of the respondents to participate in the
study undertaken.
 The study is relevant to employees and employers in the retail sector. Such people are
spread across the length and breadth of the country. As the population size is huge and
has heterogeneous features, random sampling method had to be resorted to.
(c) Profiles of the respondents:
 A sample size of fifty was chosen to conduct the survey.
 The age group of the respondents is 18 years and above.
 Questions were framed to understand their awareness level etc. as listed in the
objectives.
 Men and women were included randomly without preference to either one of them.
 The personal background, belief system of the respondents and IQ levels were not taken
as a criteria in this study
(d) Collecting data:
 Each respondent was asked to answer the questions in the same order as in the
questionnaire. Initially, rapport was established with the respondent and he/she was

7. made aware that they were part of research work and his/her co-operation to the fullest
extent would make the research meaningful.
 The respondent was asked to give his/her opinion freely. Any doubts raised by the
7
respondents were clarified so as to gain honest answers.
 In certain cases, the questionnaire was translated into the vernacular languages so as to
facilitate right understanding of the concept.
 Apart from the interview method; observation methods and experiences have been
employed to collect and analyse data.
(e) Method of analysis:
 Statistical methods are used and the data is presented in the form of charts and tables.
 MS word, Excel and Power point applications have been used to tabulate and present the
data.
 Mean percentages, ranking, classification, data visualization and multivariate analysis
have been employed to analyse the tabulated data.
Analysis:
The primary data reveals the following:
Since the study aimed to uncover answers both from the employer and employee’s point of
view, the analysis is first focussed from the employer’s point of view:
1. The concept of customer delight is a popular one in the retail segment as it
represents the B2C segment where the business is directly in touch with the final
customer. The researchers started the journey in first identifying the awareness of
the employers’ about ‘customer delight’. Quite expectedly, all the 12 managers
interviewed readily accepted their awareness and explained what it meant in their
own words. The same may be explained as follows:
- When a customer goes smiling out of the store
- When a customer refers the store personnel or the store to his/her peers and get
them to the store
- Offer customers the unbeatable price with a good discount and unexpected gift
- To exceed expectations and become a one-stop shop-service provider – for
example – if one goes to deliver a TV to the customer’s house, the person should
also give a demo, ask for queries, if any explain accordingly, leave a contact
number for future assistance and thank the customer before leaving.
2. When asked if happy employees can create happy customers, all the employer
respondents immediately asserted and agreed to the same.

8. Yes
No
Sometimes
8
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
11
1
Implement
Employee
delight
12 12 12
0
Aware of
employee
delight
0
Happy
employees
create
happy
customers
0
Tech based
data
tracking
9
3
Got
desired
results
Bar Graph: Employer responses towards various nuances of employee delight
3. Being aware of the importance of the concept, when asked if they have implemented
the concept of ‘employee delight’, 11 out of 12 employer respondents said yes.
4. When asked how they are able to implement the concept of employee delight, the
employer respondents explained it in many different ways, such as:
- I try to be happy and when I am happy everyone is happy
- Give motivational session in monthly meetings
- See and address all their needs
- Involve them into the work and shift their focus towards career, not money
- Use simple approaches like greeting them, being friendly, thanksgiving, and let
them be comfortable in their space.
- By giving good training and creating friendly atmosphere
- staff welfare implementation, celebrations of important occasions
- Increase the knowledge of new products by sharing knowledge
- Give them the time off if they have personal work
- Asking them when they want week holidays, go to dinners, arrange periodical get
together, making them feel like we are equal.
- By making sure they have work-life balance and not making them work more than
9 hours even on festivals and special occasions.; give them a friendly and liberal
atmosphere to question me for anything.
- Arrange Birthday celebrations, give appreciation on achievements and bonus
annually
The one employer respondent who said ‘no’ justified it as: “It’s not there in my hand;
everything is handled by the boss above me who is not in the store”.

9. 9
5. When asked how data is tracked, the results were:
Particulars Actual responses Ranking
a. Biometrics 6 1
b. Card swiping 3 2
c. Sales records 0 -
d. Supervisor notes 3 2
e. employee logs 0 -
f. Departmental reports 1 -
g. Any other 1 -
Total 14 -
When the top three ranks were identified, biometrics took the first rank, followed by
card swiping and supervisor notes. Such data is usually used for attendance analysis,
salary calculation, etc. Apart from such regular analysis, such data can be charted
periodically and data visualization can be made use of to identify what more can be
found out.
6. Keeping the above in mind, when asked if technology was used to track different
aspects of employee functioning, all the 12 manager respondents said yes. This
shows that employers are utilising opportunities to collect valuable data to aid
managerial decision making.
7. By using such data, the employers were able to track some important aspects as
follows:
Particulars Actual responses Ranking
a. Employee engagement 4 -
B. Employee satisfaction 7 1
c. Performance analysis 5 2
d. Salary and incentives 3 -
e. Employee delight 5 2

10. 10
f. Training needs 5 2
g. Employee turnover 4 -
h. Retention strategies 2 -
i. any other 0 -
Total 35 -
This study shows that employee satisfaction is the most often tracked detail, followed
by performance analysis, employee delight and training needs. The major problem
faced by this segment of retail, namely ‘employee turnover’ is a result of lack of
employee satisfaction.
8. 9 out of 12 managers say such analysis has given them the desired results, while the
remaining 3 said no.
9. The ones who said they are not implementing technology said the device
implemented is not efficient enough. The economic and implementation barriers are
surfaced even in the retail sector.
10. Only 4 out of 12 had taken professional assistance in such data collection and
analysis.
11. Only 8 out of 12 manager respondents said they were able to track the challenges in
achieving employee delight by using technology/data analysis to track employees’
work.
12. The challenges were listed as follows:
- Employee attrition impacts customer delight when a particular guy of store make
good CR and moves out of the organisation, it’s difficult to retain such customers
and data.
- Communication challenges in sharing of details, Ideas and knowledge. Eg: If a
manager goes to help a weak guy, it may be misinterpreted as fault finding etc.
- No product challenge
- Can’t control feelings
- Challenges of building loyalty towards the brand, store and motivation
- Lack of knowledge on how competitors are doing it.
13. When asked what factors act as barriers in implementing effective workforce
analysis/analytics, the managers said the following:

11. 11
Particulars Actual no. of
responses
Ranking
a. Cost 5 1
b. Ability to implement technology
1 -
c. Track all vital data 3 2
d. Synergize such data 2 -
e. Finding professional services to
analyze and interpret
0 -
f. Any other 1 -
Total 12 -
The answers indicate that cost and tracking vital data are the factors acting as
barriers.
The objectives of interviewing employees include understanding their perspective of
employee delight regarding job satisfaction, can they maintain work-life balance, earn well,
have clarity in their growth options, what holds them to this job, etc.
When the study was conducted from the employees’ point of view, the following was
revealed:
1. The study began by asking the employee respondents as to why they joined this job
and department. Each employee brought in their personal perspective and they may
be explained as follows:
- Constant financial crunch compelled some of them to earn money and sector
offered an opportunity. In fact, one of the employees emphasized that the money
is good in retail electronic stores in Bangalore. Another chose this for the better
salary than other alternatives in hand.
- Low qualification, lack of other options, bad financial background, not able to find
a job in any other department/places, lack of interest to stay home on a Sunday
and ‘no reason’ were also mentioned.
- Due to one’s interest in gadgets and electronics, liking the department, sales,
learning and using one’s communication skills, hoping to get better position in
short time based on performance, learning received in the job and learning

12. 12
customer management were reasons quoted favouring the job and its
importance.
2. When the employees were asked if they are aware of the concept of customer
delight, only 12 out of 38 employee respondents were aware. The remaining
accepted ‘no’ as the answer. Many initially said yes in the enthusiasm of sounding
positive, but later realized they didn’t know, or in other cases many knew it but were
not familiar with term.
When asked to explain the following was revealed: Customer delight is something
about giving more than best, in other words supreme, ask him about what his
requirements are or what he came for, the time the customer enters the store he
must feel like a celebrity, his whole experience should be so special that he never
forgets it or probably he might be shocked from that.
As part of the same question, respondents who were not aware showed enthusiasm
to understand what the concept of ‘customer delight’ meant and stood for, when
given an opportunity for the same.
3. 37 out of the 38 employees accepted that happy employees can create happy
customers. This brings out the fact that employees really think that being happy is
important to deliver the best service and salesmanship experience to their
customers.
4. When asked what retail meant to employees, it was explained as follows:
- It is a place to build a career, learn sales, marketing, customer interaction,
customer satisfaction; witness entertainment, get better pay packages, learn
leadership skills, manpower handling, sales skill, receive higher learning than
other departments, stay in a fast growing field, opportunity to aim at status and
position
- It’s about achieving targets set by the team leader.
- Investment is less, margin is more, so one can earn a lot as compared to other
work
- It is a field where customer is always right, we must treat him like a guest, get
knowledge about product
A lot of these thoughts were given in an undetermined order and most
employees quoted more than one reason to explain their perspective.
5. When asked if they received training for this job, the employees said the following:
Particulars No. of employees Percentage values

13. 13
At the beginning
27 64.29%
Periodical refresher training 08 19.04%
Any other 07 16.67%
Total 42 100%
As this was a question with more than one option valid to the respondent, the results
show that few got training more than once. While it is necessary to have training for
the job, it was discovered in the interview method, that on job training and periodical
training was also important, but the management emphasized training at the
beginning of the job.
6. When asked how often do they have a meeting by company to update you on your
job and tell you the current status of the operation and the company, the employees
stated:
Particulars
No. of employees Percentage values
a. Once a week 11
28.95%
b. Once a month 18 47.36%
c. Once in 3 months 2 5.26%
d. Once in 6 months 0 -
e. Once a year 0 -
f. Never 4 10.53%
g. Any other 3 7.90%
Total 38 100%

14. Company meetings
11
18
Pie Chart: Employees experiencing periodical company meetings for the benefit of their
14
knowledge and update on job and current status of operations of the company
Once in a month and once in a week are the top scorers indicating that about 47.37%
respondents receive such input on a monthly basis while 29% receive it once a week.
7. When asked about the usefulness of such meetings and interactions, the answers
were as follows:
Particulars
No. of employees Percentage values
Yes
28 73.68%
No 06 15.79%
Sometimes 04 10.53%
Total 38 100%
2
0
0
4
3
Once in a week
Once in a month
once in 3 months
Once in 6 months
Once in a year
Never
Any other

15. 15
Usefulness of meetings
15.79
10.53
73.68
Pie chart: Usefulness of meetings conducted by the company
People who said ‘no’ account for about 16%. This deserves further exploration to find
out why one is not finding them useful. Some acceptable thoughts are lack of
interest, not able to understand, poor connectivity to job, etc.
8. Job satisfaction is a product of various factors to each employee. The popular ones
were listed and the employee respondents said the following:
Particulars
No. of employees Rank
a. Salary 15 2
b. Incentives 30 1
c. Ability to sell 08 6
d. Learning from job 19 3
e. Recognition 11 4
f. Opportunities available 05 7
g. Customer interaction 10 5
h. Any other 11 4
Total 109 -
No
Yes
Sometimes

16. 16
Due to multiplicity of factors influencing one’s job satisfaction, employees chose
more than one in most cases. The top scorers are salary and incentives, followed by
learning from one’s job and recognition.
This brings out the fact that when employees are served with such factors on their
job, it will positively impact job satisfaction levels.
9. When asked how often do they have to work overtime, the results were:
Particulars
No. of employees Rank Percentage
Values
a. Never 06 2 15.79%
b. Everyday 21 1 55.26%
c. 1-2 days in a week 00 - -
d. 1-2 weeks in a month 01 - -
e. Few months in a year 02 - -
f. Special occasions 03 - -
g. Any other 05 - -
Total 38 - -
The revelations show that over 55% of respondents work overtime every day and the
rest also did overtime with less frequency! However, about 16% said they never work
overtime. This shows that there are companies which are concerned about
employee’s job satisfaction w r t overtime. Only the top two ranks are taken as the
rest were too small comparatively and between the first and second rank, there is a
huge difference calling in for scrutiny. Interestingly these two choices are
diametrically opposite to each other.
10. Only 6 out of 38 respondents said they are paid for overtime, 30 said no while 2 said
sometimes they do get paid for overtime.
11. 7 out of 38 employees said that overtime hampers job satisfaction negatively, 20 said
no and 11 said ‘sometimes’ it does impact negatively.
When the researchers spoke informally beyond the needs of data collection, over
90% employees said they dislike overtime, yet did not record so in the data collection
tool as it was done in their office premises where they were observed.

17. Strongly disagree
Strongly Agree
17
12. The above observation was confirmed by the responses received w r t if the
employees are able to give satisfactory amount of time to your personal or family life;
24 respondents chose ‘no’ as the answer, while 14 said ‘yes’.
13. The challenges involved w r t employee delight and retention are multi-fold.
Uncovering them is important to find a workable solution. In an attempt to do so, the
researcher built questions to be answered on a rating scale of 1 – 5 (1 being the least
and 5 being the highest) and the results can be presented as follows:
14. When asked to rate few aspects of their jobs, on a scale of 1 – 5, (1 being the least
and 5 being the highest)
2
0
3
3
0
2
1
0
1
7
4
3
3
3
8
8
10
14
15
8
6
11
16
9
19
17
18
15
13
9
0 10 20 30 40
I am a Happy employee
Concerns addressed
Co. works on employee delight
Continue working
Passionate about work
Interesting job
Disagree
Nuetral
Agree
As no. of employees marking ‘agree’ and ‘strongly disagree’ are visibly high, the data shows
that achieving employee delight is a possibility and is a continuous journey.
Theory application:
Maslow’s theory of motivation titled as the Need hierarchy theory has a significant role to
play in analyzing human behaviour. This behavioural analyst clearly explained that every
unsatisfied need acts as a motivator, while every satisfied need ceases to be a motivator.
The primary data revelations immediately show effective connection to this theory to
contribute towards achieving employee engagement and thereby employees delight
contributing positively towards retention.

18. About 50% of employees have repeatedly spoken about the financial crunch they are
enduring and have joined retail with a hope of solving the same. Another 30% say they can
learn concepts of marketing and selling. This can be identified as the employees’ basic need
on job in retail. While Maslow explained the need hierarchy at a generic level, adapting the
same towards analysing the concepts of employee engagement and employee delight seem
valuable from time to time. As long as the need for earning well is unsatisfied, it acts as a
motivator and the employer needs to work on identifying where a particular employee is in
the need hierarchy and how he can benefit the organisation and the employee on parallel
lines.
In terms of job scenarios, the second level of needs can be analysed as job security and safe
working environment, free of hazards. Offering such aspects at the grass root level
commands tremendous observation and effort on the part of the employer. While policies
are in book, practical application is a challenge.
The third set of needs speak about sense of belongingness. This can be explained as efficient
team work, ability to communicate to the various official groups relevant to one’s role and
job.
18
The fourth set of needs comprise of esteem needs. Rewards, recognition, promotion,
growth, etc. occupy this space.
MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS THEORY
The fifth set is about self-actualization where an employee becomes self-less and works
towards the greater good of the entire team and the organisation without keeping a mental
scorecards of expected benefits. If an employee reaches this stage, there won’t be any need

19. 19
to be satisfied or taken care by the employer as none of the lower level needs can serve at
this level.
Often employees switch from one level to another without a pattern and keeping such
changes in one’s observation is the challenge an employer endures. The qualitative aspects
of job engagement, employee delight and retention call for analysis beyond the numerical
aspects.
Suggestions:
1. Since this paper is primarily qualitative in nature, the researchers recommend that
the employer create a qualitative score card system to periodically evaluate the
employee’s work engagement quotient. This can be done as follows:
Name of
the
employee
Experience Identified
needs
Performance
Weekly/Monthly
evaluation (on a
scale of 1 is to 5,
5 being highest)
Did
performance
help to satisfy
the identified
needs?
Remarks
(by
employer)
1. ABC 1 year Financial
crunch
Yes/No
Effective
communication
Mark for
training
2. LMN 6 months On job learning 4 stars on a
scale of 5 stars
Reflected in
performance
Can work on
it for
consistent
performance
In the current scenario, the challenge of employee delight sounds huge as data tracked is
primarily sales-based and does not indicate the efforts of the employee. Efforts translated to
sales alone are rewarded as such efforts are quantified, while the rest are ignored for any
benefits. Tracking data periodically gives reliable input for analysis at the micro and macro
level.
This model of employee’s qualitative score card can go a long way for the personal benefit of
the employee showcasing their professional growth curve. The concept of time-series
analysis can be employed to build a graph highlighting the performance periodically.
2. On parallel lines, the researchers recommend ‘Self-Appraisal Tools’ designed
specifically to accomplish the needs outlined by the employee, in consultation with
the employer to have clarity on various aspects of the job and how it can benefit the
employee. In this study, when an employee said he joined the job for no particular
reason he was being honest and observation and experience in the field for the
researchers has indicated that many answers are given only to ‘not lose face’ in any
interaction. By giving an acceptable answer, often people feel they have done a good

20. 20
job, while the objective of this research is to also focus on ‘hidden aspects’ of the
subject.
SAMPLE OF A SELF-APPRAISAL TOOL
Name: Date of joining:
Age: Total Experience:
Questions related to self:
What motivates me the most on job?
What aspects am I good at?
What are my strengths and weaknesses?
Do I communicate clearly on the various tasks and roles that I fill?
Questions related to job:
Which is the most challenging aspect of this job?
Which is the easy part of the job?
What have I done to work towards tackling the challenges listed above?
How have I used the ‘easy part of the job’ to better my performance?
Questions related to co-workers:
Am I able to get-along with my co-workers?
What is the best skill I have learnt by working in this team?
Questions related to employer:
Am I able to adhere to what is expected by my manager?
Where do I lack?
How can it be rectified?
Am I able to communicate my concerns to my manager/superior/boss?
Questions related to company:
What is the vision of this company?
Do I understand the same?
Is that translated into the tasks my job holds?
Any other:
While many research studies have identified standard set of questions for self-appraisal, the
researchers recommend the employer can suggest questions and allow the employee to add
on according their perspective.

21. 21
Since it is a self-appraisal form, it is recommended to keep it employee-centric.
3. PARETO Analysis can be adapted to showcase multi-fold benefits – both to the
employee and the employer. The 80/20 rule can be first analysed in retail HR as
follows:
- 80% of the sales are generated by 20% of the employees. (So, the remaining 20%
sales are generated by 80% of the employees)
- 80% of the sales are generated in 20% of the work time. (So, 20% sales are
generated in the remaining 80% of the time)
- 80% of the employee concerns come from 20% of the employees (So, 20% of the
employee concerns come from remaining 80% of the employees)
This analysis brings out the hidden opportunities for analysing aspects related to
employees.
- If only 20% employees contribute towards 80% of sales, how can one train the
remaining 805 of the employees to better their selling skills?
- If only 20% time is utilised effectively, what can be done to in the remaining time
to work on those aspects which the employees look forward to from the job.
- If only 20% of employees present 80% of the concerns, what can be done to
reduce such situations? Here, the employer has to work only on that 20%.
4.
REFERENCES:
1. Retrieved from:
http://www.deloitte.com/view/en_us/us/dfd22bdb9e6f5310VgnVCM3000001c56f00
aRCRD.htm
2. Retrieved from:
http://www.cipd.co.uk/pm/peoplemanagement/b/weblog/archive/2013/09/09/harv
ard-business-review-research-on-effective-workforce-analytics-use.aspx
3. Techopedia.com
4. Retrieved from: http://hr.toolbox.com/blogs/360-degree-feedback/5-ways-managers-
can-build-trust-57260
5. Retrieved from: http://hr.toolbox.com/blogs/managing-employee-performance/4-
ways-to-delight-your-employees-45581
6. Retrieved from:
http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/cahrs/research/upload/CAHRS_HRanalytics_WEBFILEs.pdf

22. 22
7. December 12, 2012; Retrieved from: http://www.oracle.com/us/solutions/ent-performance-
bi/045039.pdf
8. Divya Menon. July 19, 2011. Retrieved from:
http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/news/releases/work-engagement-job-
satisfaction-and-productivitytheyre-a-virtuous-cycle.html
9. Retrieved from: http://www.workplacementalhealth.org/publications-surveys/
research-works/employee-engagement-best-practices-for-employers.
aspx?ft=.pdf