Are your employees feeling secure at work?

"Job insecurity", this is one factor that can have a serious impact on an employee's morale. The current market situations have left most of the employees confused and anxious about their present jobs. Everyone has either seen or has been a victim of salary cuts or corporate layoffs. And as a result, they can't run away from the feeling of job insecurity.

The notion that job insecurity may produce negative individual-level effects is well established. The feeling of insecurity in job often leads to lower productivity, coupled with absenteeism and low motivation levels in the workplace. Therefore for the bosses or for the managers, it is very crucial to ensure that their employees are in a good state of mind and they feel secure at work. How to do that? There may be various ways to turn the negative factors around. Here are a few.

Create good communication channels

It's very important to establish effective communication channels within an organization. It may be employee to employee or boss to employee, but what it can do is taking away the "gossip" and "rumors", resulting from a poor communication in a workplace. Utilizing the communication channels employees will be able to put forward the issues they are facing. It can also prove effective in eradicating misconceptions as well.

Tell what your expectations are

If the job is not described to an employee properly and high expectations are made from him, chances are there that the employee will soon become a victim of job insecurity. A constant fear that he is not fulfilling the company's expectations and can be terminated at any point of time will haunt his mind. So, clearly defining your expectations and creating a fair method of evaluating these expectations are very crucial.

Give a pat on their back

Appreciation always leads to better productivity and productivity reflects the morale of the employees. Too often managers miss the opportunity to recognize their employees for the work that they do and the contributions they make to the company. Unintentionally, managers assume that the paycheck received by their employees is recognition enough, which is not usually the case. They should appreciate the employees when they deserve and make them feel wanted.

Be a decisive leader

Generally, employees are unable to make decisions themselves and may look to their leader or manager, expecting a decisive action when needed. Being a leader, if you are unable to make decisive actions, it can lead to negative performances and absenteeism.

A feedback can serve better

It may not be a positive one, but a genuine and timely feedback can be a real booster in employees' morale. Don't make needless praise or rebuke, but ponder over how the feedback can be beneficial for the employees and then write a formal feedback letter. It will help them graph their future actions accordingly.

Ways to quit your job without offending your boss

Do you want to quit your job? Are you afraid that your resignation will be declined? Are you afraid that you will lose your friends at job and some of the people you really had thought as your mentor?

Resigning from your job sometime seems easy for some people but at the same time resigning without offending boss is not as easy as you think. Though we don't like our job and want to quit, it is very difficult to resign tactfully without offending the boss. Your present boss who has given some responsibilities will feel disappointed or rather offended with the decision of quitting the company . When an employee quits, there are many problems or rather losses that the company incurs. For example financial loss, training a new guy will incur time loss and instability (for whatever time frame that new guy will need to actually fill that space). This eventually, and to be more apt, brings frustration within the boss. Whatever the causes are, we should make it clear that when we are leaving we should leave on good terms because we never know when we will need that employer in future or his reference.

So here are certain tips on how to quit job without offending the boss:

Give sensible reason:

"I want to quit the job because my wife does not like the weather of this city" said an employee to his employer. So what will be the reaction of your boss when somebody tells the same thing and leaves the job? The boss will feel angry or rather disgusted. Whenever we quit job, it is very important to give a logical and sensible reason to our boss. The boss should feel that your reason for quitting the job is sensible enough and in that way you might get a "Best of luck" from your boss also!

Train your juniors:

While serving your resignation period or your notice period, you can actually train your juniors whom you think can take over the job responsibility after you. This will not only bring confidence in your juniors but also your boss will have choices before he decides the person who can replace you.

Find your replacement:

It sounds very difficult to find your own replacement, but believe me; it will be very helpful for your boss to relieve you if he finds a person before thinking who's next! It will also show that you are responsible and committed to the company and to your boss. After all, whatever the reasons are, he was the person who had hired you!

Avoid abrupt resignation:

Serve your notice period! This may sound very lengthy however this is a term that now most of the companies have made compulsory. Buying your notice period is something you can discuss however put across the same to your boss politely as this may sound rude.

Complete your task or project:

It is very important that you finish your job or task before you finally say adieu to your employer as the next person who will replace might find himself/herself in a soup when he joins the post. This will not only affect the future transactions but also will decide your relationship status with your previous company or boss.


Amar Paul, a senior analyst of OPI, believes that he would think some points before he quit the job, managing relationship is one of the most important qualities of any professional, and moreover many of the companies give more weightage to the recommendations from the ex boss, so it's very important to maintain a good relationship with boss after you quit the job.


So are you ready to quit your job while your boss is smiling?

Startups, tips to hold on your employees who are running away

"Do you work in Infosys or Wipro? No? Ohh!" says Neel's 56 year old disappointed neighbour, for whom the entire IT world just revolves around the big names. Neel is not the only case, rather every startup employee has faced the same expressions sometimes from their elderly relatives or some nosy neighbours and at times even from peers, who are employed with the biggies. These taunts may lead to frustrations or inferiority complex and the employee may end up jumping ships to a bigger organization. "Some of the male employees in startups, quit their jobs as many of the brides' parents reject them as grooms since they don't work in big companies," says Amitabh Das, CEO of Vati Consulting. Quite a threat for the startups and adding on to the social stigma are the lucrative packages that the established firms offer. So, can this be avoided? Following are certain tips that employers may keep in mind to ensure they don't lose out the people they want to retain.

Create mini-leaders: At the outset, one may think a startup is already a small group, hence a mini group is quite ambiguous. Herein comes the glitch. Name each responsibility, for instance, if you have assigned someone, apart from yourself, with dealing with the clients - designate the person as 'Client Relationship Head" or if there's someone who comes up with decent ideas - term him the 'Innovation Head'. And these heads can gradually form teams of three-four people under them.

Ownership & Emotional Involvement: Clearly put forth your expectations from them and set the milestones. There should be a sense of ownership built within the core people as you make them responsible for their own departments. The person should be made owner of the tasks which are assigned to him i.e. he have to finish it however, if he needs involvement/help from anyone (including founder etc.), he is the boss on that specific task and can make anyone involve if required. If they're asking for added responsibilities, more flexible hours or on-the-job training, be amenable. Also, try asking them for help, this would get them emotionally involved.

Meet Expectations: A person who is serious about a career in a startup is ambitious and hence, the founders should make it a point to meet the employees' expectations. For instance, they need to highlight the progress of the firm and also the future plans for the company growth. This transparency will help them to form a closer bond with the company.

Incentivise: Being recognized gives anyone a boost. So, dole out incentives based on performance, may be less in cash and more in kind. "If the employee is a long-term bet, the management can introduce a profit-sharing 'clause', whereby they have a percentage of the profit earned by the company," says Das. Afterall, the sense of achievement is what most employees look out in their career life.

ESOPs: ESOPs is another lucrative option to keep your employees intact, though employees are still to realize its value. You can introduce shares of your company and distribute certain numbers within the company. Esops make start-ups competitive as against bigger companies who are paying 20-30 percent higher salaries as you make your employees a part of the company.

Working at a startup is interesting and fulfilling, yet, with pressures all around it becomes difficult for any employee to continue. These few tricks may help them create a bond with the startup and stay loyal. Next time an employee turns up with a weird excuse to run away from the company, run a check if all of these methods were tried on him or her. If you have some other tricks up your sleeve to keep your employees hale and hearty within a startup environment do share with us.

Android Application to run on non-android phones

Myriad, a mobile technology company, announced new software Alien Dalvik that will allow Android applications to run on non-Android platforms.

With this, a much wider range of devices and platforms will be able to host Android applications, making it available for new audiences. The software can be installed without any user disruption. The users won't have to restrict to the applications, OS of their device can hosts, and instead they will have the options of android applications on their devices as well.

Alien Dalvik is also likely to open up new revenue opportunities for mobile operators, OEMs and app store owners. They will have easy access to the Android applications and will be able to install them in varied range of device operating systems. It will allow android applications to run on platforms like MeeGo.

The software lets the application run unmodified and hence letting the app store owners and mobile operators to start their services just by repackaging Android Package (APK) files.

The software will be unveiled for the first time at Mobile World Congress 2011 in Barcelona.

About Myriad

Myriad Group AG is a global leader in mobile technology and has shipped over 3.7 billion software applications in more than 2.2 billion mobile phones. Its comprehensive portfolio includes browsers, messaging, Java, social networking, user interfaces and middleware for all types of mobile phones, from ultra-low cost handsets to advanced smartphones.

The company provides both individual components and complete solutions, which enable handset manufacturers and operators to deliver amazing experiences on mobile phones. Myriad also develops USSD-based customer self-care platforms that deliver over 10 billion messages a year to 220 million mobile users across more than 35 mobile operators worldwide.

Myriad was created from the combination of industry leading companies, Esmertec and Purple Labs. It operates worldwide, with offices in Switzerland, France, UK, USA, Mexico, China, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan and Australia. Headquartered in Duebendorf-Zurich, Switzerland, Myriad is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (SIX Symbol: MYRN).

Top 5 Android phones below Rs.10,000

The recent surveys done by top research firms like Gartner point to the growing popularity of the Android operating system (OS). Worldwide, the shares of Android OS have jumped and it is now the second most popular OS after Symbian, as per Gartner's third quarter smartphone data released in November 2010.

The reason for the immense adoption of Android can be attributed to it being an open source operating system that is preferred by handset manufacturers. Plus there is the Android market that houses more than 200,000 apps. Indian manufacturers are cashing on big time in the Android platform and are coming up with new and cheap handsets to cater to the Indian user's taste and sensibility.

We picked top five phones running on the Android platform and are priced below 10,000 that give value for money.

1. Samsung Galaxy 5

Running on Android 2.1, the Samsung Galaxy 5 features a 2.8 inch display touchscreen with 240x320 pixel resolution. The phone is powered by a 600MHz processor. It has Samsung's proprietary TouchWIZ UI. The phone has access to the Android market, thus you can download huge number of apps through this. Connectivity wise, the phone scores with packing in 3G, Wi-Fi, GPS support. With an internal memory of 170MB, the phone comes with a 2GB microSD card. The memory can be further expanded to 16GB. It packs in a 2MP camera and its powerful battery gives a long talk time of 9.5 hours.
Price: 8,869

2. Spice Mi-300

Having got itself the update from Android 1.6 to 2.1, the Spice Mi-300 has brought itself out of the initial criticism that it faced without the OS update. Sporting a 3.2 inch capacitive display screen, and supports 3G, Wi-Fi, GPS and Bluetooth for connectivity, it has a 5MP camera with LED flash option. It comes with 150MB internal memory that can be extended up to 32GB with a microSD card. The battery supports a talk time of five hours.
Price: 9,000

3. Dell XCD28

The Dell XCD28 features a 2.8 inch resistive touchscreen and runs on the Android 2.1 operating system. Powered by a 600MHz processor, the device has a 3.2MP camera. The phone weighs just 100 gram and has 256MB of RAM and ROM each. Connectivity wise, the phone has 3G, Wi-Fi, GPS and Bluetooth. It ships with an internal memory of 200MB that can be extended up to 16GB.
Price: 7,999

4. Huawei Ideos U8150

The Android 2.2 run phone from Huawei has just been released in India in partnership with Aircel. Ideos has a 2.8 inch capacitive touchscreen with screen resolution of 320X240. A 3.2 MP camera is present at the rear of the phone. Connectivity options include Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, 3G and GPS. Powered by a 528MHz processor, the phone can function as a Wi-Fi router for eight devices. The memory of the phone can be increased up to 32GB using a microSD card. With the Aircel tie-up, a postpaid subscriber of Aircel is granted 2GB of free mobile data every month.
Price: 8,499

5. Micromax Andro

The first Android phone launched by Micromax, the Andro A60 is a full touchscreen smartphone that runs on the Android 2.1 Eclair OS. The phone has a 2.8 inch resistive screen with an auto focused 3.2 MP camera. Powered by a 600MHz microprocessor, the phone comes with an internal memory of 150MB and can be expanded up to 32GB using a micro SD card. Connectivity features of the phone include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS. The Andro A60 also packs in an Accelerometer and Gravity sensor for playing the Android-platform based games. The device includes FM radio and is powered by a 1280 mAh Li-ion battery.
Price: 6,699

Videocon's Android laden V7400 to sell at Rs.12,995

Videocon is all set to launch its second Android based smartphone called the V7400. The phone has been listed in the Videocon website and will sell at a price of 12,995.

The V7400 runs on Android 2.1 Eclair (the dated Android version on that price tag!) and has a 2.8 inch touchscreen display with a pixel resolution of 320 X 240. The phone has a 3.2MP camera, a dedicated camera key and records video at 20fps.

It comes pre-loaded with social networking apps like Facebook, YouTube, G-Talk etc. Available in black and silver colors, the connectivity options of the V7400 include Bluetooth, GPRS, WAP, 3G. The phone comes with pre-installed Wireless Tether turning it into a wireless, portable hotspot.

The device packs in a 1150mAh Li-ion battery that supports a talk time of 4.5 hours and 11 days standby time. The memory of the phone can be expanded up to 16GB using an external T-Flash memory card. It also has access to the Android Market place.

The selling price of the Videocon V7400 seems like quite an issue as there are other Android phones in the market that offer similar features at a lesser price tag.

Android Market poses security threats to customers

The newly opened online store of Google, the Android Market could pose serious security threats to its users and open a world of opportunities to the hackers. As per security firm Sophos, the instant download feature of the apps in the Android Market is vulnerable to malicious attacks from hackers.

The problem cited by Vanja Svajcer, Virus Researcher, Sophos in a blog post elaborates that as customers purchase apps, they get downloaded directly to their Android devices. So when this happens without the need of any customer approval for the software installation, it opens the device to anyone who can manage to steal the Google password of the customer.

This would lead to hackers duping you into installing software on your Android device without the need of your permission. The blog also added that as the apps are downloaded, these events happen in the background and customers won't be aware of the same.

As a measure to this, Sophos suggests Google to alter the procedure of instant app download and give customers the choice of approving the downloads. For the customers, the security firm recommends to have strong passwords which cannot be guessed easily.

Smartphones exploding thanks to Android: IDC

Smartphone growth is exploding around the world, as Google's open-source Android operating system drives prices down, according to a study released by market research firm IDC.

The study found that smartphone sales reached 101 million in the fourth quarter, up 87 percent from a year earlier. Smartphones sales for 2010 were 302 million, up 75 percent on the year.

"Android continues to gain by leaps and bounds, helping to drive the smartphone market," said Ramon Llamas, an IDC analyst.

He called the Android operating system the "cornerstone" of the smartphone strategy for many vendors and the biggest challenger to Nokia's Symbian OS, the market leader.

Nokia was still the market leader with 33.1 percent, down from 39 percent the year earlier. Research in Motion, the maker of the Blackberry, also saw its share decline from 19.9 percent to 16.1 percent. Apple's share rose from 14.5 percent to 15.7 percent.

The most impressive gains were made by Samsung, whose Android-powered phones sold 23 million units compared to 5.5 million in 2009, more than doubling its market share to 7.6 percent. HTC also saw impressive gains, selling 21.5 million smartphones, up from 8.1 million in 2009, to increase its market share to 7.1 percent from 4.7 percent.