HR GURU: 'I work hard but don't get positive feedback'

HR Guru Mayank Rautela offers practical advice.

Dear Reader, are you just starting out in your career and want to know the right steps you need to take?

Not sure how to prepare for your first interview? Or your first online interview?

Struggling with office politics? Or with working from home?

Have a bad boss? Or a colleague who is undermining you?

Nobody seems to listen to you at meetings?

Have you hit a dead-end at work and see no way out?

Please send in your concerns to our HR guru Mayank Rautela at getahead@rediff.co.in. (Subject: Mayank, can you help?).

I'm a new mom, who quit my job to take care of my baby. 
As the baby is a year old, I have started looking out for opportunities now. 
I want to know is there something I should consider before applying for jobs? 
What are the kind of questions that the HR will most likely ask me? 
What if I am offered a salary lesser than my previous job? 
Will I be made to sign a contract saying that I can't get pregnant in the next year?
Sveta

Hi Sveta.

Many women actively come re-enter the job market and most progressive companies welcome them back.

At this stage, focus on the company and not the salary, although there is no reason why you will get a lesser salary than before.

Legally, no company can ask you to sign any bond that you cannot have another kid in a given time period.

Hi Mayank.
I work in IT. My boss was my mentor and he left. There is no one else who guides me in my work like he did. I would like to point this out to HR. What do I say?
Ravi

Hi Ravi.

Please have a candid discussion with your HR department. I am sure they will be able to assign you another equally competent manager and mentor.

Dear Mayank,
I work really hard -- I am a copywriter.
The pandemic and work-from-home situation has made my hours longer. But I don't get much positive feedback and I feel more exhausted.
I don't know how to recharge myself and continue to feel inspired.
Please keep my question anonymous.

Hi.

To be frank, you need to love your job and that should be your motivation.

Having said that, have a candid discussion with your management and raise your concerns. They will surely support you.

Dear Mayank Sir,
I’ve noticed in my present company and where I worked last job too, the HR seems to see only the bigg bosses side of things.
They don’t support the small staff against the big guys.
Now, when anyone has a problem, they don’t go to HR because they feel life will become even worse.
So how does the small guys problems, like work overload and working on holidays without compensation or comp off, be solved.
K

Hi.

There are various forums through which you can raise your concerns:

1. Senior management

2. Board of the company

3. Labour department

4. Social media platforms

Dear Mayank,
If you are injured in the office, is the management liable for compensation?
I walked into a glass door. Some of my other colleagues have done it too.
I have five stitches on my face and will have a scar.
I have asked for compensation for hurt caused and to cover my medical costs including cosmetic surgery to remove the scar.
The company says they are not liable in this case and whatever medical cost is there should be claimed via the company medical insurance.
Please guide me.
Trishal

Hi Trishal.

Proving a safe work environment is the basic responsibility of any company and your company needs to do that.

Raise a mass complaint via a group of employees so that the company takes corrective action against these safety issues.

• You can read all of Mayank Rautela's columns here. 

Mayank Rautela is the chief human resources officer at Care Hospitals.

He is a management graduate from the Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies and holds a master's degree in labour laws from Pune University.

He has over two decades of experience in the field of general management, strategic human resources, global mergers and integrations and change management.

He has held various leadership positions across marquee companies, including the Piramal Group, the Tata Group and multinational healthcare organisations like CR Bard and Becton & Dickinson.

Please send in your workplace concerns to Mayank Rautela at getahead@rediff.co.in. (Subject: Mayank, can you help?), along with your name, age, where you work (eg, Mumbai, Lucknow, Agartala) and job profile. Do let us know if you wish to keep your question anonymous.

Please Note: The questions and answers in this advisory are published to help the individual asking the question as well the large number of readers who read the same.

While we value our readers' requests for privacy and avoid using their actual names along with the question whenever a request is made, we regret that no question will be answered personally on e-mail.

This column is an advisory and not a recruitment service.

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