Whether on laptops, tablets or smartphones, more employees are taking confidential business information with them nearly everywhere they go—and they may be leaving company data exposed to external threats. Here are some of the associated risks and tips on how companies can protect their data.
To ensure that company, consumer and employee information is protected, employers should understand the data-security laws that cover their workplace and train employees to know their role in minimizing the risk of a data breach.
Protecting company information and devices may seem like a task best fit for the IT department, but an effective data-security program includes collaboration with human resources and leaders across the organization.
Each month Workforce looks at important statistics in the human resources sector. In this month’s edition, we explore performance reviews. The effectiveness of reviews has been been questioned before, and recent stats show that many organizations and employees are ambivalent of how accurately these reviews define employees performance.
Check out previous By the Numbers for statistics on retirement, flexible work arrangements, demographics within HR, and more.
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Millennials in such major Indian business hubs as Mumbai, Bangaluru and New Delhi likely can relate to a recent survey conducted by Cigna TTK Health Insurance Co. that states 95 percent of Indian millennials admit to being stressed — more millennials than any other nation in the world.
It’s an alarming statistic, especially for a nation that thrives on relaxation techniques like mindfulness, meditation and yoga. The global average for millennials, who now range in age from 18 and 34 years old, by comparison is 86 percent, according to the study.
The survey was initially launched in 2014 to understand how employees perceived their well-being and personal health on the basis of five key factors — physical, family, social, finances and work. This year, the survey involved developed and emerging countries including Great Britain, the United States, Germany, France, China, Brazil and Indonesia where employees feel less stressed as compared to India.
Stress can have grave implications on the health and well-being of an individual.
Over a long period of time, stress can result in depression and also increase the risk of suicide. According to Bengaluru, India-based counseling and wellness company 1to1help.net, millennial professionals face the highest risk of suicide with women at greater risk than men.
Archana Bisht, 1to1help.net founder and director, said, “In the workplace, stress affects an employee’s performance, which has a direct impact on their productivity and efficiency.
The Catalysts
Work has been cited by millennials as the main trigger causing their stress. After logging long working hours, they find it hard to juggle work and personal life. Millennials prefer jobs that helps boost their personal as well as professional skills. But when their work doesn’t allow that, it makes them dissatisfied and can lead to stress.
Another major factor that’s adding fuel to the fire is financial worries. Some 60 percent of millennials in India feel that they are bearing the consequences of decisions taken by their previous generations, like the global financial crisis that began in 2008, and rising national debt in India. And 65 percent feel they’ll run out of money before they retire. Saving for retirement, paying off student loans and low income are some reasons wearing this generation out.
The reason this stress level is increasing at such an alarming rate is also that 75 percent of Indian millennials have said they don’t feel comfortable talking to medical professionals about mental illness largely because of the stigma associated with having mental health problems and the fear of discrimination in the workplace. Respondents have also cited consultation costs as an obstacle to seeking professional help.
Chaitanya N. Sreenivas, vice president and human resources head at IBM India in Bengaluru, said urbanization is a major contributor to the problem.
“People are coming into big cities,” he said. “There’s less family support, more distances being traveled, less work-life balance.”
There also is the impact of social media on the millennial generation. With highly engaging platforms like Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook, the need to live up to a certain perceived social media lifestyle is high. And the inability to match these standards leads to stress and anxiety.
Employee Assistance Programs
More Indian employers are becoming aware of the dangers regarding mental health problems and lending support to their employees.
Mumbai-based Indian multinational car manufacturer Mahindra & Mahindra has implemented stress management and stress inhibiting systems. They have a compulsory 14-day annual leave policy so that employees can de-stress and spend the two weeks away from work, which makes employees more refreshed and energetic when they return, and they are found to be more focused and engaged.
Mumbai-based industrial conglomerate RPG Group is planning to have an in-house counselor, said HR head Pratima Salunkhe.
“We are planning to have one in every location so people can just walk in. We are also sensitizing people including managers about mental health issues — anxiety, depression. We invited a counselor from outside who talked about mental health. People have been opening up.”
Recognized as one of the best companies to work for in India in 2009, Noida-based RMSI Pvt. Ltd. provides a lot of options under its health and wellness program. They help employees de-stress through yoga, meditation, pranic healing, physiotherapy and regular check-ups.
Arianna Huffington’s U.S.-based wellness company Thrive Global aims to “end the stress and burnout epidemic by offering companies and individuals sustainable, science-based solutions to enhance well-being, performance and purpose, and create a healthier relationship with technology.”
Thrive Global is expanding to India — its first foreign expansion — because Huffington believes India’s ancient wisdom and spiritual techniques are the answer to end the stress epidemic. The culture of meditation, yoga, contemplation and compassion has the power to “change our lives and our world,” Huffington said.
Whether India’s millennial stress level will decrease from such alarmingly high totals could depend on their willingness to seek help. Wellness programs that include caring for an employee’s mental well-being can help break the stigma attached with mental health. Because, as the popular hashtag among millennials goes nowadays, #mentalhealthmatters.
The post Millennials in India Lead as the Most Stressed in the World appeared first on Workforce.
Despite years of high-profile diversity initiatives at corporations across the world, a recent study by consulting giant McKinsey & Co. paints a sobering picture of stalled progress.
According to McKinsey data gathered over four years, women’s representation steadily declines at every level up the ladder. This happens despite more women than men earning college degrees each year, actively pursuing raises and promotions and staying on the job just as long as men.
At the critical first step up the corporate ladder, when workers transition to management positions for the first time, women immediately lose ground compared to their male peers, dropping from 48% of entry-level workers to 38% of managerial staff. And that trend is even more stark for women of color.
By the time someone works their way up the ranks to take on senior executive responsibilities, women make up just 22% of the total, and women of color hold less than 5% of C-level jobs. And at each stage of the pipeline, women’s representation has barely budged over the last four years.
This is more than a legal or social justice issue. Other McKinsey data indicates that increased diversity gives employers a competitive edge and correlates to above-average financial results.
McKinsey makes six key recommendations that’ll help companies improve diversity and tap into this under-appreciated source of business-performance fuel:
McKinsey’s research and other large-scale studies make clear that it’s past time for companies to make hiring and promoting a diverse workforce a top priority. HR pros should work with leaders in all departments to set meaningful targets and make sure management is accountable for making progress, not just for saying the right things.
Gender equality is an important issue of fairness in the workplace, and there’s still a massive amount of work that remains to acheive it. But by taking the right steps, not only do employers help out their employees, they help their own bottom line.
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