Nandigram: The Land Bleeds - Documentary

Movie: Nandigram: The Land Bleeds
Duration: 18 min 01 sec
Director: Mohuya Chaudhuri
Genre: Documentary
Produced In: 2008
Video

Synopsis:

This special report investigated the violence that broke out in a small cluster of villages in West Bengal over the acquisition of land for setting up a special economic zone. It explored the relationship that villagers in this region shared with their land and also looked at the current economic policies of the government which was not inclusive.

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Tamilnadu Kidney Research (TANKER) Foundation

The TANKER (an acronym for Tamilnadu Kidney Research)Foundation is a registered, non - profit charitable trust, founded on 30th June 1993. TANKER aims to provide health care and financial assistance to those who have kidney problems and do not have the wherewithal to seek medical attention.

TANKER cares for those, the underprivileged, who suffer kidney problems of any kind, reversible or terminal, regardless of caste, creed, sex or religion.

The Foundation helps poor patients from all over India by offering them one-time contributions ranging from Rs.1,500/- to Rs.20,000/- towards dialysis, transplantation, investigation and post-transplantation medication costs. Upto March 2009 financial help for dialysis, transplantation, medication and investigation costs has been given to the tune of Rs. 49.20 lakhs helping 762 patients.

To know more about this Foundation, visit this link

Blood Bank support in India

Blood bank initiative is being carried out by various groups as a public service without any profit motive. Below given are some of the organizations which carry out these kind of services:

1. Bharat Blood Bank
2. Indian blood donors
3. Blood givers
4. Jeevan
5. Blood Donations
6. AABB
7. Red Cross
8. Blood Bank Online
9. India Blood Bank
10. Rotary Blood Bank
11. Pooja Blood Bank
12. Blood Bank Delhi
13. Blood Bank
14. Lion's Blood Bank

NGO partnership initiative by the Government of India

The Planning Commission of India invites all Voluntary Organizations (VOs)/ Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) to Sign Up on this system,which has been developed in consultation with the below mentioned Ministries/Departments/Government Bodies to facilitate VOs / NGOs during their interaction with the Government in connection with requests for Government Grants under various schemes of the below mentioned Ministries/ Departments/ Government Bodies, in the first phase.

All VOs / NGOs, are requested to Sign Up (one time) with the Portal to help create a data base of existing VOs / NGOs and to access information on various schemes of the participating Ministries/ Departments/ Government Bodies open for grants. Later the registered NGOs/VOs also be able to apply online for government grants to the participating Ministries/Departments/Government Bodies and track the status of the applications through this system.

To register your NGOs/VOs with this government initiative, visit this link

Health for all? - Documentary

Movie: Health for All?
Duration: 1 min 15 sec
Director: Parvez Imam
Genre: Documentary
Produced In: 2004

Video

Synopsis:

Once upon a time, the World Health Organization created a slogan - 'Health for all by 2000 AD'. India was one of the signatories to this historic slogan at the Alma Ata conference in 1978. More than 25 years later, one wonders if it ever meant anything. Poverty still remains the most important cause for ill health.

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Don't leave me now - Documentary

Movie: Don't Leave Me Now
Duration: 15 min 52 sec
Director: Girish Menon
Genre: Documentary
Produced In: 2009

Video

Synposis:

The Slum Sanitation Program or SSP is the initiative of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai. The program aims at building sustainable toilet blocks in the slums of Mumbai and training slum dwellers to operate and maintain them. Phase I of the SSP was initiated with financial aid from the World Bank. SSP toilets are built on the demands of slum dwellers. The toilets are clean and well maintained and this responsibility lies with Community Based Organisations or CBO. The CBO consists of enterprising slum dwellers who live at close proximity to a toilet block. Every CBO hires a resident caretaker who lives at the uppermost level of the toilet block along with his or her family. "..don't leave me now." is a film that takes a look at the concept, implementation and success of the Slum Sanitation Program.

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Being a Valuable Team Member

Introduction

"Take responsibility." Although the team leader is held accountable for establishing and monitoring team performance measurements, all team members are responsible for their team's success. If your prior experience was as a member of a work group, your contribution was to get your work done. Your contribution as a team member goes far beyond the work itself. The notes in this reading provide you with advice about how you can interact with the people on your team more productively and offer you tips on how you, as an individual team member, can facilitate constructive team dynamics.

Team Meetings

Your team meeting is your meeting and therefore it is your responsibility to do whatever is called for to make it effective. Team meetings are not something that happen to you; they are something that you make happen. Your team leader, as a participating member, has a piece of the action but he is not solely responsible. And if your team has established a role called "meeting facilitator", that person might take the lead in reserving the meeting room, distributing the advance agenda, or similar tasks, but he is not totally responsible. Every single team member is responsible.

This is a drastic change in role definition for most team members and for team leaders as well. As a team member you can no longer afford to sit back and be an attendee, spectator, or complainer. You must be a full participant/observer, actively contributing to the content of the meeting and at the same time observing team dynamics and intervening when team members are behaving in dysfunctional ways. It's not an easy job but it most definitely is part of your responsibility as a team member.

If you view meetings as an event that someone else plans and leads and that you attend, this will not be an easy adjustment to make. And if your team leader is accustomed to being in charge of the meeting, the adjustment will be even more difficult. The first step in making the transition to this new role of participant/observer requires a major shift in mind-set by all. To behave responsibly, you must feel responsible. And your team leader must also be willing to share the responsibility.

Talk about how your meetings are structured, who decides what the agenda will be, what behaviors are inhibiting the team from accomplishing its intended tasks, and how the team feels at the end of the meeting and why. Then make some decisions collectively about what you can do to improve it.

Don't expect to feel comfortable right away with this added responsibility. It's like becoming a parent for the first time. There's so much to pay attention to. You can't sit back and expect others to make it happen. It's a hard job and it takes an incredible amount of energy.

Every Player Contributes to the Process

Your team meeting has two major focal points that require your attention: content and process.

Content

Content is what your team is working on; process is how your team members are working together. If I asked you to tell me how your last meeting went and you said, "We discussed the consolidation project, put together a plan for year-end closing, and decided to set up a meeting with Quality Team to discuss error rates," you would have reported on the content of your meeting. Content sounds like those items you would summarize in your meeting minutes.

Process

If your response was, "Discussion became very heated and members stopped listening to one another; the energy level was very low, and a lot of time was wasted talking about unrelated topics," you would have described your team's process. In other words, process is a description of how members behaved during the meeting. Another work used interchangeably with process is dynamics.

There may be times during a team meeting when you feel you can't participate because you're not conversant with the topic being discussed. Just because you can't contribute to the content doesn't mean you can't contribute at all. You are in a perfect position to observe and facilitate the team's process -- and that's where teams need the most help. Teams generally do fine with content; they usually have the right items on the agenda and enough contributing experts. Ineffective meetings are usually the result of dysfunctional teams dynamics or process. The entire team is responsible for the success of your meeting so all members should play an active role in facilitating healthy dynamics. When you are not engrossed in the meeting content, you have an advantage of perspective; you can concentrate solely on process.

How do you know whether a team's process is functional or dysfunctional? If the team strikes a balance between satisfying both its task and relationship needs, it has a healthy, functional process going. Members behave in ways that facilitate getting the job done and at the same time make members feel valued, respected, included, and energized. Members leave the meeting saying, "We were very productive and I sure do like being a member of this team." When there is an imbalance between task and relationship need satisfaction, or not enough attention paid to either, the team's process is dysfunctional. If you hear members saying, "We got a lot of things accomplished, but I can't stand the way members treat each other," it's a sure sign that the team hasn't paid enough attention to its relationship needs. And if you hear, "We are so cohesive; just like a family. But we sure didn't get much done," the team has slipped on the task side. And if ever you should hear, "Another waste of two hours--nothing accomplished. Why can't people at least be civil to each other?" you know there is much work to be done on both the task and relationship sides of the equation.

Learning how to observe your team's process and intervene appropriately takes time and practice. If you randomly try to watch everything, you'll see nothing. The key is to train your eyes and ears so that you can focus your observations. A good way to start focusing is to become acquainted with a few specific team facilitation roles, also known as intervention behaviors. Then look for the appropriate situations during your meeting to apply them. In other words, first learn what the helping behaviors are, and why and how they help. Then you will more easily see places where you can be helpful, as explained in Summarizer, Orienter, Harmonizer, and Other Helpful Roles.

Summarizer – Orienteer – Harmonizer - and Other Helpful Roles

"Don't forget to take SOFI HAGE to your meeting. Put her to work I guarantee she will make a significant contribution to your team's progress and success." “SOFI HAGE” The name comes from the first letter of each of the task and relationship roles.

Team Facilitation Roles

Task	Relationship
Summarizer Orienter Gatekeeper Encourager	Harmonizer Analyzer Fact Seeker Initiator

It's important that all team members understand and employ each of the four task and relationship roles listed in the exhibit.

Summarizer

The Summarizer urges the group to acknowledge consensus and reach a decision. When team members are wound up like the Energizer Bunny, the Summarizer breaks in with, "It seems like we're all in agreement with the parts of the program that need to be changes; can we move off that topic and discuss specific changes to be proposed?" By asking for verbal agreement with the summary, the Summarizer helps the team get past one decision and onto the next decision point.

Orienter

The Orienter prevents the team from wandering too far from the topic at hand; he or she brings them back and focuses them again when they do stray. This redirecting should not be done abruptly as in, "Hey, we're way off here; let's get back on track," or "David, you just took us off topic again," because you don't want to introduce a negative effect into the relationship side of the equation. A useful and neutral way to intervene is with the question, "Are we off topic right now?"

Fact Seeker

The Fact Seeker tests reality to make sure the decision the team is about to make is doable. This team member always wants more information and is quick to point out the difference between a fact and an opinion. The Fact Seeker is also very helpful in pointing out when a team does not have all the information it needs to make a good decision. The Fact Seeker will suggest that the team get more data before proceeding. He or she is also good at checking the decision-making boundaries of the team, asking "Do we have the authority to make this decision?"

Initiator

The Initiator gets the team started on the right foot by always beginning discussions with the question, "How should we approach this task?" Getting agreement on a game plan before starting to work on the task itself is crucial to team effectiveness and is the distinguishing characteristic of the Initiator.

When you plan the Summarizer, Orienteer, Fact Seeker and Initiator roles, you contribute to your team's productivity by moving the task along to completion. Play the following relationship roles to ensure that team members feel valued and respected and you will make a major contribution to your team's cohesiveness.

Harmonizer

The Harmonizer realizes that conflicts is inevitable and that if left unresolved, it is the biggest barrier to a team's achieving health and success. The Harmonizer called the team's attention to a conflict (especially if team members haven't wanted to acknowledge it), by saying something like, "Let's be honest: we've got some strong conflicting feelings about this issue. What steps can we take to resolve our differences?" The Harmonizer is also able to focus discussion on meeting specific needs as a way of mediating conflict. More help on mediation is given in some of the sections which follow: When You Reach an Impasse, Talk About Needs and `Hey, No Problem'.

Analyzer

The Analyzer watches for changes in the vital signs of the team and brings these changes to the attention of the team. The Analyzer is the team member most likely to ask, "How is everyone feeling about how we're working together?" or "It seems we've lost our energy; what is happening?"

Gatekeeper

The Gatekeeper is concerned primarily with team communication and participation. This member makes sure all team members are actively listening to each other and understanding each other's messages. The Gatekeeper paraphrases messages to make sure that everyone is on the same wavelength and that every idea is understood by the group before being discredited or discarded. The Gatekeeper invites quieter members to participate and makes sure that more active members don't dominate.

Encourager

The Encourager builds and sustains team energy by showing support for people's efforts, ideas, and achievements. If the Gatekeeper focuses on making sure the content of team members' ideas is clearly understood by all, the Encourager emphasizes members' participation by giving verbal approval: "Good point--that's a great idea." This is another role that prevents Whack-a-mos and in general helps people to feel valued.

It is extremely important that every member be ready and able to intervene as a facilitator. If you were an eight-member team and each person had a delegated responsibility to wear one of the SOFI HAGE hats and intervene appropriately, you would see a significant increase in your effectiveness. But you can do better than that by having each member wear all the hats and thus provide maximum facilitation coverage.

Learning the eight different roles may seem at first like an overwhelming challenge to you and your teammates, but you'll probably be surprised to find that some team members are natural at orienting or encouraging, or that some easily assume the role of summarizers and gatekeepers. To have all eight roles covered may just be a matter of learning a few more facilitation behaviors. I know you can do it and as a team you'll be glad you did.

Recognize Your MVP

When a sports team wins a championship, they follow a time-honored tradition of recognizing their most valuable player. This is the player who, for that game or series of games, gave a stellar performance. It's a nice touch. The team is also generous in lavishing public praise on their MVP during the post-game interview. In my own experience, no praise pleased me so much as when a fellow teammate would say, "We couldn't have done it without you." Apply this practice to your work teams--it's an important investment in team building.

From time to time, you will have a member (perhaps it will be you!) who puts in extra hours or who applies his or her particular talent to a project to make it a winner.

In a team-based environment, it's management's responsibility to reward team performance. It's the team's responsibility to recognize and acknowledge its stars. Be generous with your praise; it's a powerful motivator and it costs nothing to give.

Essential Characteristics of an Effective Appraisal System

Performance appraisal system should be effective as a number of crucial decisions are made on the basis of score or rating given by the appraiser, which in turn, is heavily based on the appraisal system. Appraisal system, to be effective, should possess the following essential characteristics:

Reliability and validity

Appraisal system should provide consistent, reliable and valid information and data, which can be used to defend the organization – even in legal challenges. If two appraisers are equally qualified and competent to appraise an employee with the help of same appraisal technique, their ratings should agree with each other. Then the technique satisfies the conditions of inter-rater reliability. Appraisals must also satisfy the condition of validity by measuring what they are supposed to measure. For example, if appraisal is made for potential of an employee for promotion, it should supply the information and data relating to potentialities of the employee to take up higher responsibilities and carry on activities at higher level.

Job relatedness

The appraisal technique should measure the performance and provide information in job related activities/areas.

Standardization

Appraisal forms, procedures, administration of techniques, ratings, etc., should be standardized as appraisal decisions affect all employees of the group.

Practical viability

The techniques should be practically viable to administer, possible to implement and economical to undertake continuously.

Legal sanction

Appraisals must meet the laws of the land. They must comply with provisions of various acts relating to labor.

Training to appraisers

Because appraisal is important and sometimes difficult, it would be useful to provide training to appraisers viz., some insights and ideas on rating, documenting appraisals and conducting appraisal interviews. Familiarity with rating errors can improve rater’s performance and this may inject the needed confidence in appraisers to look into performance ratings more objectively.

Open communication

Most employees want to know how well they are performing the job. A good appraisal system provides the needed feedback on a continuing basis. The appraisal interviews should permit both parties to learn about the gaps and prepare themselves for future. To this end, managers should clearly explain their performance expectations to their subordinates in advance of the appraisals period. Once this is known, it becomes easy for employees to learn about the yardsticks and, if possible, try to improve their performance in future.

Employee access to results

Employees should know the rules of the game. They should receive adequate feedback on their performance. If performance appraisals are meant for improving employee performance, then withholding appraisal result would not serve any purpose. Employees simply cannot perform better without having access to this information. Permitting employees to review the results of their appraisal allows them to detect any errors that may have been made. If they disagree with the evaluation, they can even challenge the same through formal channels.

Due process

It follows then that formal procedures should be developed to enable employees who disagree with appraisal results (which are considered to be inaccurate or unfair). They must have the means for pursuing their grievances and having them addressed objectively.

Performance appraisal should be used primarily to develop employees as valuable resources. Only then it would show promising results. When management uses it as a whip or fails to understand its limitations, it fails. The key is not which form or which method is used (Mathis and Jackson).

Employees Performance Appraisal - Introduction

Introduction

After an employee has been selected for a job, has been trained to do it and has worked on it for a period of time, his performance should be evaluated. Performance Evaluation or Appraisal is the process of deciding how employees do their jobs. Performance here refers to the degree of accomplishment of the tasks that make up an individual’s job. It indicates how well an individual is fulfilling the job requirements. Often the term is confused with efforts, which means energy expended and used in a wrong sense. Performance is always measured in terms of results. A bank employee, for example, may exert a great deal of effort while preparing for the CAIIB examination but manages to get a poor grade. In this case the effort expended is high but performance is low.

Definition

Performance appraisal is method of evaluating the behavior of employees in the work spot, normally including both the quantitative and qualitative aspects of job performance. It is a systematic and objective way of evaluating both work-related behavior and potential of employees. It is a process that involves determining and communicating to an employee how he or she is performing the job and ideally, establishing a plan of improvement.

Performance appraisal is broader term than Merit Rating. In the past managers used to focus on the traits of an employee while ranking people for promotions and salary increases. Employee’s traits such as honesty, dependability, drive, personality, etc., were compared with others and ranked or rated. The attempt was to find what the person has (traits) rather than what he does (performance); the focus was on the input and not on the output. This kind of evaluation was open to criticism because of the doubtful relationship between performance and mere possession of certain traits.

Features

The main characteristics of performance appraisal may be listed thus:

• The appraisal is a systematic process. It tries to evaluate performance in the same manner using the same approach. A number of steps are followed to evaluate an employee’s strength and weaknesses.
• It provides an objective description of an employee’s job’s relevant strengths and weaknesses.
• It tries to find out how well the employee is performing the job and tries to establish a plan for further improvement.
• The appraisal is carried out periodically, according to a definite plan. It is certainly not a one-shot deal.
• Performance evaluation is not job evaluation. Performance appraisal refers to how well someone is doing an assigned job. Job evaluation, on the other hand, determines how much a job is worth to the organization, and therefore, what range of pay should be assigned to the job.
• Performance appraisal may be formal or informal. The informal evaluation is more likely to be subjective and influenced by personal factors. Some employees are liked better than others and have, for that reason only, better chances of receiving various kinds of rewards than others. The formal system is likely to be more fair and objective, since it is carried out in a systematic manner, using printed appraisal forms

Objectives

Performance appraisal could be taken either for evaluating the performance of employees or for developing them. The evaluation is of two types: telling the employee where he stands and using the data for personnel decisions concerning pay, promotions, etc. The developmental objectives focus on finding individual and organizational strengths and weaknesses; developing healthy superior-subordinate relations; and offering appropriate counseling/coaching to the employee with a view to develop his potential in future.

Appraisal of employees serves several useful purposes:

(a) Compensation decisions: It can serve as a basis for pay raises. Managers need performance appraisal to identify employees who are performing at or above expected levels. This approach to compensation is at the heart of the idea that raises should be given for merit rather than for seniority. Under merit systems, employee receives raises based on performance.

(b) Promotion decisions: It can serve as a useful basis for job change or promotion. When merit is the basis for reward, the person doing the best job receives the promotion. If relevant work aspects are measured properly, it helps in minimizing feelings of frustration of those who are not promoted.

(c)Training and development programs: It can serve as a guide for formulating a suitable training and development program. Performance appraisal can inform employees about their progress and tell them what skills they need to develop to become eligible for pay raises or promotions or both.

(d)Feedback: Performance appraisal enables the employee to know how well he is doing on the job. It tells him what he can do to improve his present performance and go up the ‘organizational ladder’.

(e)Personal development: Performance appraisal can help reveal the causes of good and poor employee performance. Through discussions with individual employees, a line manager can find out why they perform as they do and what steps can be initiated to improve their performance.

What is to be appraised?

Every organization has to decide upon the content to be appraised before the programme is approved. Generally, the content to be appraised is determined on the basis of job analysis. The content to be appraised may be in the form of contribution to organizational objectives (measures) like production, savings in terms of cost, return on capital, etc. Other measures are based on: (1) behaviors which measure observable physical actions, movements, (2) objectives which measure job related results like amount of deposits mobilized, and (3) traits which are measured in terms of personal characteristics observable in employee’s job activities. The content to be appraised may vary with the purpose of appraisal and type and level of employees.

Who will appraise?

The appraiser may be any person who has thorough knowledge about the job content, contents to be appraised, standards of contents and who observes the employee while performing a job. The appraiser should be capable of determining what is more important and what is relatively less important. He should prepare reports and make judgments without bias. Typical appraisers are: supervisors, peers, subordinates, employees themselves and users of services and consultants.

Supervisors

Supervisors include superiors of the employee, other superiors having knowledge about the work of the employee and departmental head or manager. The general practice is that immediate superiors appraise the performance, which in turn, is reviewed by the departmental head/manager. This is because supervisors are responsible for managing their subordinates and they have the opportunity to observe, direct and control the subordinates continuously. Moreover, they are accountable for the successful performance of their subordinates. Sometimes other supervisors, who have close contact with employee work also appraise with a view to provide additional information.

On the negative side, immediate supervisors may emphasize certain aspects of employee performance to the neglect of others. Also, managers have been known to manipulate evaluations to justify their decisions on pay increases and promotions. However, the immediate supervisor will continue to evaluate employee performance till a better alternative is available. Organizations, no doubt, will seek alternatives because of the weaknesses mentioned above and a desire to broaden the perspective of the appraisal.

Peers

Peer appraisal may be reliable if the work group is stable over a reasonably long period of time and performs tasks that require interaction. However, little research has been conducted to determine how peers establish standards for evaluating others or the overall effect of peer appraisal on the group’s attitude. Whatever research was done on this topic was mostly done on military personnel at the management or pre-management level (officers or officer candidates) rather than on employees in business organizations. More often than not in business organizations if employees were to be evaluated by their peers, the whole exercise may degenerate into a popularity contest, paving the way for the impairment of work relationships.

Subordinates

The concept of having superiors rated by subordinates is being used in most organizations today, especially in developed countries. For instance in most US universities students evaluate a professor’s performance in the classroom. Such a novel method can be useful in other organizational settings too provided the relationships between superiors and subordinates are cordial. Subordinates’ ratings in such cases can be quite useful in identifying competent superiors. The rating of leaders by combat soldiers is an example. However, the fear of reprisal often compels a subordinate to be dishonest in his ratings. Though useful in universities and research institutions, this approach may not gain acceptance in traditional organizations where subordinates practically do not enjoy much discretion.

Self-appraisal

If individuals understand the objectives they are expected to achieve and the standards by which they are to be evaluated, they are to a great extent, in the best position to appraise their own performance. Also, since employee development means self-development, employees who appraise their own performance may become highly motivated.

Users of services

Employees’ performance in service organizations relating to behaviors, promptness, speed in doing the job and accuracy can be better judged by the customers or users of services. For example, a teacher’s performance is better judged by students and the performance of a conductor a bus is better judged by passengers.

Consultants

Sometimes consultants may be engaged for appraisal when employees or employers do not trust the supervisory appraisal and management does not trust the self-appraisal or peer appraisal or subordinate appraisal. In this situation, consultants are trained and they observe the employee at work for sufficiently long periods for the purpose of appraisal.

In view of the limitations associated with each and every method discussed above, several organizations follow a multiple rating system wherein several superiors separately fill out rating forms on the same subordinate. The results are then tabulated.

360 Degree performance appraisal

What is 360 Degree?

360-Degree Appraisal is basically a Multi-Rater Appraisal and Feedback System. Almost every Fortune 500 Company is using this in some form or the other. In this system:

• The candidate is assessed periodically (once in a year and some times even half yearly) by a number of assessors including his boss, immediate subordinates, colleagues, internal customers and external customers.
• The assessment is made on a questionnaire specially designed to measure behaviors considered as critical for performance.
• Others do the appraisal anonymously and the assessment is collected by an external agent (consultant) or specially designated internal agent.
• The Assessment is consolidated; feedback profiles are prepared and given to the participant after a workshop or directly by his boss or the HRD department in a performance review discussion session.

T.V Rao and team as Top Management Styles And organization Effectiveness program started 360-degree feedback in mid-eighties at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad; it was not branded till 1998 as 360-degree appraisal. Once it was branded in the US as 360-degree appraisal, it caught the attention of many corporations and today a large percentage of Fortune 500 companies use it in some form or the other. Experiences with it as a development tool have been good, though experiences as an appraisal tool are mixed.

Objectives of 360 Degree Feedback

It is possible to aim at the following through 360-degree or MAFS:

• Insights into the strong and weak areas of the candidate in terms of the effective performance of roles, activities, styles, traits, qualities, competencies (knowledge, attitudes and skills), impact on others and the like.
• Identification of developmental needs and preparing development plans more objectively in relation to current or future roles and performance improvements for an individual or a group of individuals.
• Data generation to serve as a more objective basis for rewards and other personnel decisions.
• Reinforcement of other change management efforts and organization effectiveness directed interventions. These may include: TQM efforts, customer focused or internal customer satisfaction enhancing interventions, flat structures, quality enhancing and cost reducing interventions, decision process changes etc.
• Basis for performance linked pay or performance rewards.
• Alignment of individual and group goals with organizational vision, values and goals.

Aid in:

• Culture building.
• Leadership Development.
• Potential Appraisal and Development.
• Career Planning and Development.
• Succession Planning and Development.
• Team building.
• Planning Internal customer satisfaction improvement measures.
• Role clarity and increased accountabilities.
  

Advantages of the 360 Degree or MAFS

360-Degree appraisal systems have certain advantages. These advantages are not substitutes for those of traditional appraisals but in addition to them. Normally MAFS should be viewed as supplements to the regular KPA or KRA based appraisal systems rather than as replacements of the same.

Additional advantages offered by MAFS are:

• It is more objective than a one-person assessment of traits and qualities.
• It adds objectivity and supplements the traditional appraisal system.
• It provides normally more acceptable feedback to employee.
• It can serve all the purposes served by the traditional appraisal system like identifying the developmental needs, reward management, performance development etc.
• It helps focus on internal customer satisfaction.
• It has the potential of pointing out the supervisory biases in the traditional appraisal systems.
• It is a good tool for enhancing customer service and quality of inputs and service to internal customers.
• It provides scope for the candidate to get multiple inputs to improve his role, performance, styles and ideas and enhances the acceptability of the individual.
• It is more participative and enhances the quality of HR decisions
• It is suitable for new organizational cultures being promoted by most world-class organizations (participative culture, learning culture, quality culture, competency based performance culture, team work, empowering culture, leadership culture, etc.)

Vacancy announcement: Programme Manager in Silver Innings

POSITION TITLE: Social Worker/ Programme Manager
REPORTING TO: President / Director
LOCATION: Mumbai, India


Silver Innings is a Social Entrepreneur organization dedicated for the cause of elderly and their family members. We are committed in ensuring that ageing becomes a positive, rewarding experience for all. On 10th April 2008 Silver Innings (SI) started off with a website www.silverinnings. com which contains comprehensive information for elderly and issues related to them. After the success of the website, Silver Inning Foundation an NGO was started initially to provide non-institutional services for the elderly.

Silver Inning Foundation (SIF) requires a full time Social Worker for managing services and projects that we are currently running and also planning to start. Trained Social Worker or person with experience in the social sector with passion to work for Senior Citizens need only apply. The person concerned should be interested and willing to work for the cause of the elderly. He or she should be Passionate, Progressive, Non materialistic, Self Starter, open to new ideas and Technology friendly.

The roles and responsibilities would include the following:

• Initiation and co-ordination of projects
• Conducting surveys
• Writing reports/proposals
• Conducting volunteers meetings
• Managing and coordinating with volunteers
• Representing SIF at various forums
• Handling dementia cases and other case work
• Handling Elder Abuse
• Counseling
• Attending conference/seminar
• Organizing/Conducti ng Workshop, Lecture, Talks
• Coordination with government authorities
• Handling CSR projects
• Networking with NGO’s and organizations
• Advocacy
• Fund Raising
• Events and activities

Must Have/Be:

• Operations and management skill
• Leadership skills and ability to manage and motivate team/teams
• Skills in Networking and Advocacy
• Good communication & representational skills.
• The incumbent must be able to commit to a minimum of 3 year full time stint.
• Patience and good listeners
• Entrepreneurial skills
• Willing to learn
• Open mind and progressive thinker
• Must be willing to travel any where in India

Preference:

• Mumbai based candidates only
• Fluent in English, Marathi and Hindi Necessary
• Proposal and project report writing skill
• Ready to join immediately/ 15 days
• Fresh / 1 years experience

Qualification:

• BSW /MSW
• BA/MA Sociology / Psychology

Please note as SIF is startup organisation Salary will not be in five digits (will be from Rs.5,000/- to Rs.9,000/- p.m. depending on education,skill and experience) for at least one year and later it will be decided as per appraisal report and performance.

Interested individuals may please submit their CV, with a passport size photo ,Salary expectation and 3 references by only email to silverinnings@ gmail.com with the subject line indicating SW/PM-SIF. No phone calls in this regards will be accepted and application by post/courier will not be entertained. Please note that only short listed candidates will be contacted.

The last date of receiving applications is 15th July 2009. Appointment will be preferably from 1st August 2009.

Writing a Concept note

by Marian Fuchs-Carsch

Definition: Concept Note

A concept note is a BRIEF summary of a project. A concept note (or a concept paper, as some people call it) is a short version of a project proposal. A concept note for submission to a donor is ideally between 3 to 7 pages long.

Definition: Project

A project is a combination of inputs managed in a certain way to achieve one or more desired outputs, and ultimately one or more desired impact. Here is a nice metaphor to illustrate the definition of a project and its components as described in a concept note:

Cooks are constantly designing and implementing projects. Ingredients (inputs) are cooked (managed) according to a recipe (work plan) to achieve a warm, balanced meal (output), and a happy feeling or fullness and wellbeing (impact).

How to Prepare a Concept Note

A concept note has a specific format. The final version of the concept note has the following headings:

1. Title
2. Background
3. Objectives
4. Outputs
5. Activities and duration
6. Beneficiaries and impacts
7. Project management (includes monitoring and evaluation)
8. Budget

However, the concept note should be prepared in the final format order. Instead prepare the concept note in the following order:

1. Objectives
2. Inputs
3. Activities and duration
4. Outputs
5. Beneficiaries and impacts
6. Project management
7. Draft budget
8. Background
9. The problem and why it is urgent (for the background section)
10. What has already been done (for the background section)
11. Title

Step 1. Objectives (what do you want to do?)

The objectives are the single most important part of your project design. They tell the reader what it is you want to do. They are one of the first parts of the concept note that your reader will look at. You need to think very carefully about your objectives before you start to write.

An ideal way to start is to get a small group of colleagues together to brainstorm with you. Try to get colleagues from different disciplines to enrich your discussions. Say what it is you have in mind, and then take an hour or more to throw out ideas and write them all on a flipchart. From these ideas you should be able to select those that really express what it is you want to do in your project.

Project objectives should a) correspond to a core problem, b) define the strategy to overcome the problem, and c) contribute to the achievement of higher-level development goals.

Before brainstorming the project objectives, reflect on the underlying problems and areas of work which the project is trying to resolve. The problems should be clear. To explain the objective, the core problem is re-formulated from a negative statement into a positive statement, e.g., if the problem is "low maize yield," the objective will be positively re-formulated as "increased maize yields."

Then the objective will be detailed further. Often a problem may be overcome by using various strategies to find a solution. For example, the objective "Increased maize yields in drought-prone areas" may be achieved by a) adopting drought-tolerant maize varieties, or by b) improving agronomic or farming practices. The choice of strategy has to be made according to the constraints underlying the core problem, which have been assessed in the field. Considering criteria like: resource availability, time needed, likelihood of success to carry out the work. The project objectives should clearly show which strategy the project will pursue.

A donor may not fund the project unless the project contributes to a development goal. Therefore the statement of the objective has to indicate in what way the project will contribute to development (e.g. food security in the area; improved health).

The full hierarchy of objectives, including the contribution to a development goal for the example we used above, may read like this:

• National Development Goal: Increase nutritional health of the population
• Program Objective: Increase average maize yields per hectare
• Project Objective: Drought-tolerant maize varieties adopted

When formulating objectives, keep in mind that objectives should be SMART!!

S Specific
M Measurable
A Achievable
R Realistic
T Timebound

Each objective should specify the QUANTITY of achievements (e.g., numbers of beneficiaries, area covered by project), and the QUALITY (e.g., poor farmers, marginal lands, drought-tolerant varieties). Objectives should also include an indication of TIME when the objective will be achieved (e.g., in January 2008, three years after the start of the project). Remember objectives are more achievable if quality, quantity and time are clarified.

Step 2. Inputs (What do you need to achieve the objectives?)

The inputs you will need to implement your project (i.e. achieve your objectives) may include:

• people (researchers, broadcasters, and other partners’ staff-time)
• travel costs (bus tickets, meals allowance)
• vehicles (rental, petrol, driver’s time)
• equipment (tools, office)
• supplies (paper, seed, fertilizer, etc.)
• services (phone, fax, e-mail, etc.)
• facilities (radio station, offices, demonstration sites)

Some inputs may come from many different partners, e.g. farmer groups, individual farm families, other NGOs, international organizations, donor groups, government agencies, etc. Remember that all partners will also have travel, supplies, services and other input requirements.

You will only need a list of inputs to prepare your budget. It does not appear in a section of the concept note UNLESS you have substantial inputs from another donor or the community. But you will need to brainstorm all costs and inputs to arrive at a realistic set of activities and budget.

Step 3. Activities and Duration (What will you do? How long will it take?)

Describe (in summary only for a concept note) what you and your partners plan to do to achieve the project objectives. Remember that donors are mostly geared up to supporting projects of three years.

Tips:

• Be brief and clear
• Be positive – use the future tense and the active voice
• Do not use "we" (use "the project")

Important note: in the full proposal each activities section sentence should explain who will do what, when, and how.

Step 4. Outputs (What will have been achieved at the end of the project?)

The outputs of the project should be directly related to the project objectives. Outputs may include:

• events, such as workshops or harvests
• intangible things, like decisions
• tangible things, like new buildings
• information, perhaps in the form of publications or videos

It is worth spending time with colleagues, partners, and friends brainstorming all the possible outputs, as well as those directly related to the objectives.

Key outputs that are achieved during the life of the project may be useful milestones that you can refer to when writing the full proposal.

Step 5. Beneficiaries and Impacts (Who will benefit from the project and how?)

Brainstorm this section with the design team or other colleagues. Think of all the possible groups who may benefit from project activities and as many different benefits as may occur.

Impact is what the donor is "buying." In making promises about the impact of a project, you need to:

• describe the benefits you expect, how many of them can be expected, and when and where they will occur.
• present your reasoning for why you expect the benefits to accrue to a given group – if necessary, state the assumptions you are making.
• consider whether to suggest that the project will have either an impact assessment component or will be assessed by a separate impact measurement project.

Possible beneficiary groups

• Poor individuals (age? sex? location?)
• Farm families (including dependents)
• Refugees
• Poor urban consumers
• Other population groups

Benefits also accrue to radio stations, NGOs, and other organizations, but you should play down these (although not omit them altogether) and play up the benefits to partners such as farmers and their organizations who are the poorest and the target of the donor’s development aims.

Show impact in terms of the Development Goals, such as:

• poverty alleviation
• food security
• preserving the environment
• improved nutrition and health

Develop your own impact checklist

Will your project result in:

• more education for the poor?
• higher family incomes?
• better health for poor families?
• gender-specific or age-specific impact?
• enhanced community participation?
• new use of indigenous knowledge?
• more public sector accountability?
• inputs for improved decision-making?
• new food source for the urban poor?
• new jobs created?
• import substitution?
• other economic benefits? Which sectors?
• improved child nutrition?
• other human benefits?

Important note: Explain how you will measure the above. Impacts that can be quantified are the most impressive, and are more likely to sell your project to the donor.

Step 6. Project Management (How will you achieve the objectives? How will the project be managed and evaluated?)

The best objectives in the world can only achieve the desired outputs and impacts if the project can be effectively managed. Your design needs to include a plan covering the roles and responsibilities of the various people who will manage the project. In a concept note you need only to briefly describe who will lead the project and who will be responsible (and when) for the main project tasks including financial management, monitoring and evaluation.

Step 7. Budget

Unwillingness to prepare project budgets is one of the two most common failings of inexperienced project designers. Even top-quality projects will not get funded if their cost estimates are unrealistic, overly greedy, or full of gaps that will cause future delays and frustrations.

Budget preparation skills are an essential tool for all who seek funds to implement good science projects.

Go back to your list of inputs. Remember to make an allowance (as generous as you have been to yourself) for the budget of possible partners, and to include indirect costs for both you and your partners. If your project will receive funds from other sources (in kind from beneficiaries and partners, contributions from the radio station’s core program, etc.), be sure to highlight these contributions in the concept note and perhaps mention them in the covering letter.

Depending on its size, your project may be approved by a donor in the field or at its headquarters. Field approval is usually much quicker and easier to obtain. As a rough guide, you may consider:

small: <$100k for 3 years – usually approved at the donor’s country field office medium: $100k - $300k for 3 years – may be approved at donor’s headquarters large: >$300k for 3 years – approved at donor’s headquarters

Be sure to include and label all projects costs, even if you are not asking for money for them in your concept note. It is very important for all parties to understand the true and full project costs, and to avoid hidden expenses.

Important note: Remember that nothing is so frustrating as an under-funded project due to a poorly designed budget. For this reason you should develop a budget which is as accurate as possible to include in your concept note.

Step 8. Background Material

In the concept note, organize background material in two sections.

1. Under "The Problem and Why It is Urgent", discuss the project in terms of Development Goals of poverty alleviation, food security, preservation of the environment, and nutrition and health. In this section provide background statistics if available, citing sources, writing in a general sort of style.
2. Under "What Has Already Been Done", be sure not to focus only on only one organization’s activities. Donors will want you to acknowledge the contributions others have made and are still making – some may be organizations that they are supporting; some may be your proposed partners. (If this is a follow-on project or second phase, describe the outcomes of the earlier work in detail.)

Step 9. Selecting a Good Title

Titles need to be catchy, informative, and distinctive. Try using a two-part title. The first part should be short, snappy, catchy; the second part can be more serious and informative. Test your title out with a few colleagues.

Examples:

• Fishers for the Future: radio listening groups for fishermen and fishermongers in Ghana
• Mothers of Invention: sharing ideas for business women in Malawi
• Why do the Chickens Die? – Communicating low-cost and simple techniques for improved poultry raising
• Did We Make a Difference? – Assessment of past and expected impact of FM Radio 91.1’s work (1999-2005)

Special Thanks to: http://www.farmradio.org/english/partners/archives/bdg/bdg5b.asp

EEJP: Small Grants and Fellowships Available for Work on Toxicity, Waste and Pollution in India

Environmental Equity and Justice Partnership (EEJP) announces the launch of second phase of its grant program.

EEJP strives to catalyse grassroots initiatives, trigger new imagination and perspectives, encourage crossover linkages, and provide greater opportunities to connect to environmental thinking. This it seeks to accomplish through its two components -- Environmental Small Grants (for organisations) and Environmental Fellowship (for individuals)

The focus of the current program is on cross cutting environmental issues around Toxicity, Waste and Pollution in India. Any activity that falls within the program focus and is strategic; action-oriented; builds public involvement and support; focuses on root causes of the issue; and most important, has a clear sustainability plan; is eligible for support under EEJP.

EEJP is currently inviting applications. For more details on eligibility, application process, time line, and other important aspects under each of the components are available on EEJP website, visit this link

The deadline for submitting Concept Note (in prescribed) format) is 31 July 2009.

European Commission grant - “Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan” (SSA II) for Universalizing Elementary Education, INDIA

The European Commission is seeking proposals for Exchange of International Best Practices in Education in India and abroad with financial assistance from the Sector Policy Support Programme for Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan – Universalizing Elementary Education in India. The planned duration of an action may not be lower than 24 nor exceed 36 months. In any case, all actions must be within the overall duration of the SSA Financing Agreement which ends in December 2013. The total amount allocated for the program by the EC is around 3,000,000 Euros.

Applications must be submitted in one original and two copies in A4 size, each bound. The complete application form (part A: concept note and part B: full application form), budget and logical framework must also be supplied in electronic format (CD-Rom) in a separate and unique file (e.g. the application form must not be split into several different files). The electronic format must contain exactly the same application as the paper version enclosed.

The Checklist (Section V of part B the grant application form) and the Declaration by the applicant (Section VI of part B of the grant application form) must be stapled separately and enclosed in the envelope

The outer envelope must bear the reference number and the title of the call for proposals, the full name and address of the applicant, and the words "Not to be opened before the opening session".

Applications must be submitted in a sealed envelope by registered mail, private courier service or by hand-delivery (a signed and dated certificate of receipt will be given to the deliverer) at the address below:

Postal address
Head of Finance, Contracts and Audits Section
Delegation of the European Commission to India, Bhutan and Nepal
65 Golf Links, New Delhi – 110 003

Applications sent by any other means (e.g. by fax or by e-mail) or delivered to other addresses will be rejected. The deadline for submission of proposals is 25th September, 17:00 Hours (Indian time).

For complete information regarding the grant, visit this link