The High Performing Employee & The Halo Effect

It would have been so wonderful if man had learnt how to keep his personal and professional life poles apart. And what if there ever was a switch to turn oneself off out of workplace into a different mode? Living a split personality life, would feel all so fresh and rejuvenated for a new day. Sadly the complexities of leading multiple lives is straightened out by a simple fact that however hard we try we end up intertwining our personal and professional lives, be it even by 2%. We tend up being so professional and efficient at one place that we end up messing the other largely coz of the halo effect of the supremely larger part of us. I once read a statement that goes something like ‘People who are professionally very rich, are on a personal front very poor!’

To better understand how this halo effect affects the lives of people, I borrow this piece from Gautam Ghosh’s recent post on ‘Tiger Woods and the Halo Effect’. True to Gautam’s observations many of us are enveloped by the greatness of a person’s effectiveness at something he’s meant to do, such that this high performing one may personally not be even close to being effective. Something which Gautam has defined as - a psychological shortcut that causes human beings to infer good things about a person based on a single area of achievement. How does this matter to us as organization? Nope it doesn’t to a large extent as long as we stop thinking an organization as a family setup. But the moment the mere thought of a one big happy family emerges, we tend to go beyond project deadlines, deliverables, client handling and inch closer every minute to exploring the human interactions with one another.

There may be this very generous manager who can at the drop of the hat shell out resources and capital wherever he sees a need felt. But the very next moment this unhappy and disillusioned manager may leave the organization in pretty much a mess and creating troubles for the others. Would we say we never saw this coming our way? Or maybe we never thought he could stoop so low? Or was it a simple fact that he always protected the other side with a screen of generosity and empathy for others?

These screens are so thin and transparent however we are trained to not look beyond perfection! For what may seem like a mirage may have an ugly face behind the illusion.

Coming to the point how the halo effect can create problems for us and how to deal with it. Many a times when professionally rich employees decide to job hop due to unhappy decisions, chances are certain one may expect a rebuke in hand. Whereas dealing with the issue is not an easy task, as we never know what the mind behind the smiling face is thinking. But we can walk on the lines which says ‘When everything is going all so very right, stop yourself, think, and think over again. Everything may not be that right to pursue!’

So the next time if we see a highly efficient executive working with perfection and tending to be reliable on all accounts, and one has no reason to be alarmed by her. Maybe one should check her drawers and desk to see if there lies an underneath behaviour that she is hiding. Or one can explore her speediness on the job, or the way she interacts with people who aren’t her peers.

Being a Techno Geek

The routine of a mid twenty / thirty year old at workplace is sit for those blissful 8 hours of work in front of a desktop. Not even for a minute flinch away from that insane stare and the lunch hour seems like we are missing a lot of things. 7 pm back home and after another hour we have our home desktops switched on, either for work from home purposes or merely for the fact that some of us are computoddicted!

We can imagine no task complete without a few clicks here and there and rap tap goes the keyboard. We form the brigades of employees who are completely paralysed when power failures occur.

But to imagine a whole large chunk of those employees, who have taken onto manual working all their lives. So much so even today with the advent of this revolutionary technology they still find themselves among piles of papers, innumerable files and cupboards full of 3 decades old stock of data maintenance that nobody ever would give a glance to! Layers of dust gathering on those historical data that form the base of the Organization’s inception and the well laid out building plans.

A manufacturing sector somehow tends to a clear demarcation of two genres of employees. One being the old horses that grow along with the aging organization and the other being the newbies. It’s said that it’s hard to get in-depth technical competence from the newbies when compared to the golden period of engineers of the 1970’s, 80’s and early 90’s era. Similarly it’s like taking the horse to the river but unable to force it to drink water, when the old horses suddenly find a rectangular inanimate object on their tables with a mouse. From right away dismissing the idea to initial hiccups and slow motion clicks around in vain; many ultimately end up resorting to following their old ways. Along with an explanation that 5 years more and retirement knocking their doors, these rectangular objects best lay assured at newbie desks. The hindrance seems to be pushing limits when critical data needs to be retrieved and the concerned person wishes how lucky would he be if they were a click away, rather than flipping pages amidst a land full of dust. Compiling information also feels like a Herculean task, as years need to be matched and the corresponding data needs to be fed and worked upon. Lot many things have no information, as back then nobody thought it could lead to a link in the new strategy background work or maybe the CEO wanted to see the attrition levels of the last 10 years.

What’s a predominant feature of not being techno geek for some is that their great ideas face premature death, because of the inability to present them in the sweetest and shortest way. How would a VP of the organization devote some 30 minutes to listen to a new thought if the same idea can be caught within a span of 2 minutes via a presentation? Afterall things seen visually are recalled stronger than pages of thesis work on the matter which ultimately land up in some corner of the office. Similarly being techno geek can save a lot of time in hand to do more work that could help clear out backlogs if any and give in more space to think of the innovative and untried. By and large the whole of 8 hours is consumed in doing the routine task and when does one have the time to think something new and fresh? What may form to be 6 points of a job description when examined closely may turn out to be just 2 points when computerization of the same collective is implemented! What management may think is eating up their financial resources and adding onto the weight of employees may be eventually sorted out such that the manpower count is reduced, kind courtesy disinterest in learning the technology!

So if the fear of getting redundant by introduction of technology is of prime concern, then how about the fear of getting redundant by not knowing the ways of the techno world? Why when one doesn’t shy from acquiring new machines for increase in production, is there a hesitating human in front of a rectangular inanimate object?

How Not To Be A Strategic HR

An HR’s job has always been under a magnifying glass of a microscope. People have always wondered why there is a need of such a department in any organization. The work that is done in routine can always be done by somebody as a part time apart from handling other meaningful tasks. And what has remained in position ever since is the HR sample on the slide and the microscope. All that have come and left are the looking through set of eyes of scrutinizers. Nothing conducive has said to evolve in the species of HR until now that is over the past decade. A new stream of science has intertwined and has been showing a prosperous seat by the business class window of the management aircraft. Suddenly there’s a buzz called Strategic HR and everybody wants to be in the hot seat. Or they don’t?

Aspirations are many yet inputs and the processing levels are varied. For how many HR’s would go beyond the routine administrative work? Understanding business is not an easy task and certainly not a day’s job. There are always people with super smart rationale on all matters and though HR folks are said to be the ones who start the ball rolling for a change, yet the 8 hours job of rolling appointment letters, transfer orders seem to be the most lucrative task in hand. There still exist 70% of individuals for whom an HR’s job is said to be something that has nothing to do with what others do! Some of the best reasons why these certain 70% classify under the category ‘How Not to Be a Strategic HR’ is:

1. They say it’s not my job to keep a tab on other departments proceedings. For all that they may do throughout is be given a vacancy count from respective departments and an incessant search for the most suitable profile. This recruitment life cycle never ceases and as demands raise so do the supply without the blink of an eye.
2. For these certain people recruitments are the only domain that they associate with their inclination towards HR, so it’s all about playing this game of collecting the data bank, screening, short listing, and handing them over for final interviews. And it stops there to begin with the data bank stage all over again. It’s immaterial whether there was a final fit between the employers and the employee. Which many times lead to immediate exiting due to unstructured policies.
3. Unconcern to understand the nature of the industry they work with. Many a time’s saturation in one industry makes an individual drift towards the opposite. Say from an IT industry to a Manufacturing, where the cultures are juxtaposed. So policies that worked out previously in an excellent way in the IT industry may not move pillars in the Manufacturing. Or the inability to fit oneself in the climate of the organization posing severe threats to the future of the organization, if one occupies a decision making position.
4. The same genre of people who know the in and out of Human Resource yet fail to interlink the Marketing decision to theirs and their resourcefulness to the Finance folks.
5. They land up in sticky situations by not knowing the main product or service of their organization but relentlessly ramble underneath the PMS cloud and 360 degree appraisals. So much so they start viewing training and development needs and the budget for the organization as different articles. As long as HR is able to carry out it’s functions it’s immaterial to them whether recruiting costs are tipping the iceberg or unnecessary expenditure on whitewashing department are overbearing to the projects in hand.
6. When these folks are unable to comprehend the operation flow and cycle of product so much so they cannot make out the differences between two stages of completely different processes and do not leave a moment to smirk and flaunt their ignorance. With the added attitude that says “I’m an HR, why should I bother whether department X comes in process before department Y or not. It is for them to see the quality management. My work ends in satisfying their manpower needs.”
7. When policies aren’t structured to the organizations needs and are air lifted from elsewhere. Or best when the organization is said to be under the Zoo culture, where everybody is monkeying around and there is too much interference from everywhere such that the HR department loses its essence and authority over things.
8. When aptitude is marked by the ignorance of the obvious and one believes on running on the single track to achievement, where targets mean monthly realization of supply and demand and fear of the unknown makes them explore less on the shady sides of the organizations fumbles.
9. When routine work seems to be the best task that involves growing people within the organization by implying on the fact that HR folks are contributing in making work easier and serving the employees at their best in their smallest of the needs.

The list can get endless but the crux of the theme is, do we consider HR as a never changing sample, or a slowly evolving one which may take another decade to grow out of its skin or a new species very much modified and innovated in a new package of intellectuals who not just own the reins of the industry but know how to dig the underground lines at the right depths.

Defining Right Consciousness

To be right conscious is an easy task, for no boundaries or lines are defined that would differentiate what could be a right conscious decision, action, thought or what could form the basis of being unethical at the workplace. To pick up one and place him under the white cloud of appreciation is difficult as much as it is to place one under the black cloud of reprimand. These issues arise because an individual seems to show streaks of all personalities and behaviour, so much so that they can be physically viewed simultaneously in minutes of separation.

One such conflicting behaviour is exhibited by many individuals who realise the problems of the organization from an eagle’s point of view. Not only are they sharp eyed, they can also critically examine all the dimensions leading to the growth and failure of the organization’s strategies and policies. If given a chance they have scores of opinions and suggestions to sound to a willing ear. They even have self made strategies in place which if given a direction may result to better outcomes. They are those individuals who are high performers in the jobs bestowed upon them and have earned quite a reputation for being blatant. And the top management likes them too.

However they sport a bad body language when it comes to interacting with new people, specially the one’s appointed in powerful positions. The new head honchos bring new policies that are framed within a matter of time, where a feedback is necessary to begin with. Here is the place where these high performers start behaving unexpectedly in a split second. They may give go ahead nods to the directives or plans, and tow in to the idea but frequently disregarding the hierarchy of the opponent and challenging the effects of the implementation do not go unnoticed. They even indulge in ganging up for soft mockery of ideas and brushing off new methodologies from the ones long established by numerous trial and error techniques. For once that can be counted as defensive mechanism to the already existing policies; however in the long run they show high levels of instability and insecurity. They may be once ruling the roost but a change brings about a reshuffle in the structure and the processes. So despite being a high performer the constant fear of being redundant aligns them towards a behaviour that is counted negative. Upon being questioned as to why they have ideas that do not reach day light, they believe in blaming the system for the inefficiency all over. And the dullness and lackadaisical environment that doesn’t provide opportunities for initiatives. Any new thought is welcomed by a ‘not possible’ or ‘cannot be done’ or ‘you’ll have to do it all by yourself’ attitude. These people on the other hand do not stop being ethical at their work, however end up being the cribbing geese of the coop, who believe in preaching every moment; yet shift no bones to develop a dying idea or improve a situation that has no direct dealing with them.

Are organizations to be blamed for such people being bred within themselves? Is the top management brass to be blamed for not being able to reach out to those at the lowest or middle level branches of the tree? Is change the root cause of all insecurity developing of getting redundant? Or is it human nature not to welcome great ideas from relatively new people who’ve just taken baby steps and not grown along with the organization? Or is it just about being vocally right conscious?

I Delegated Authorities, But Oh I'm Ignorant

Delegation of authority is said to be a growth path for all those subordinates whose shoulders bear the files and notes of work. For the person delegating his authority and responsibility on others, the process is a clear sign of not holding all important work to himself, and believing in his team and entrusting upon them important work and the power to make decisions.

However after so much of delegation of responsibilities there are certain times and moments of oh-ah when the person himself ends being ignorant of many of the processes that were passed down the line of hierarchy. He may have been the source at one point of time, but now that he has made his subordinate the SPOC of the entire process, little comes his way but a mere feedback once a fortnight or maybe never as long as the flow is there. Along come sticky situations at times, when the super-boss decides to query on matters or clients (employees for the HR) want some information, and the beholder of the post has no answers to the queries. He requires some moments to himself and some minutes from the subordinate to receive a briefing. All this while he was comfortable being ignorant, or had other pressing issues under his consideration.

However the responsibilities if delegated to such minutest of the levels, many a times cause more of a problem than just being helpful where follow-up is not considered as necessary as getting things just done. So it’s not just about getting efficient, reducing one’s work load and channelizing it to proper direction; it's about following it up and digging deeper in times of movement of information; than just wait for the river to take its course and when rains come lashing  down, a desperate look to find the basin.

HR For The Elite

The great divide that exists in a manufacturing sector is of the two categories: the worker level and the staff/managerial level. When it comes to the functionality of Human Resources in this sector, there is a modified version that has been into existence since long, better known as the Personnel Department. They look into each micro level of the organization ranging from dealing with Trade Unions, to handling contractors, to being the caretakers of housekeeping and safety propositions. They even have employee grievances both from the worker and managerial level in their kitty, et al. They go around getting water source tanks cleaned too with disinfectants and sometimes have worked in those roles that were very technical, yet the organization needed the shift. It surely amounts to enormous tasks under their paper weights.

But on an hypothetical comparison with the IT industry, where Personnel is non-existent the functionality talks about words like Employee Engagement, Succession Planning, Competency based Development, and the likes in this genre. When we try importing these concepts into the manufacturing sector, and in particular the mid sized organizations, what happens is initial resistance and severe criticism that follows. One of the contributing reasons that I can think of is that these terminologies sound like fancy words picked up from an American dictionary. And it’s like an uphill task to convince people that HR is here for good and means good intention.

Analysing on the criticality of one of these aspects namely Succession Planning, for one it’s the workers who are into the jobbing process in the industry. Be it the welding, or soldering, or working on auto parts or with the arc furnace there are skilled and un-skilled workers for each category of work. Whereas the staff/managerial employees are into supervisory work and their main competency involves around understanding the drawings and technology behind a process. The technicalities are what staff/managerial employees possess; however working on site with tools, cranes, lathe machines etc is the workers job. And if these workers go on strikes, the organization suffers in productivity. When we talk of Succession Planning, we may have our slots filled in for staff/managerial level folks by the next competent fellow fished from the market. Yes without him any breakdown in a machine cannot get proper directions to be fixed, or the strategies and shortest path solutions cannot be brought about. But it’s equally necessary to fill in the slot of a worker, who after 3 decades of service in the organization leaves a post vacant minus the skill too. Though it’s well known that doing a certain task for n number of years makes the person able and capable in it; however when we talk about using shorter path means to achieve quicker cycle times of the products life cycle and achieving delivery time; won’t it be quintessential to have a similar competency chart available for workers too. What if worker x is on leave for 2 days, there should be a worker z to quickly fill the spot! We as HR involve ourselves into designing On-the-Job-Training (OJT) schedules of numerous training sessions for the staff/managerial; however how many OJT schedules for workers are made? What if an organization has a worker’s average age of 40-45? The next decade would see the organization exhaust it’s value in the market as the core skill workers would be due retirement. Succession Planning isn’t just about queuing up the next man hour resource, it is about a competent workforce that needs less of coercing into doing the job and an equal opportunity of availing training and upgrading themselves in courses that are relevant. It’s a part of an HR’s responsibility to aide everybody in the organization. But if the HR and the Top Management feels that the organization would be wasting resources on unnecessary development of a task that requires no prior knowledge, but just common sense and the knowledge of the right way of doing a certain thing, which is more or less monotonous in nature; we are indicating that after all HR policies are for the betterment of the Elite a.k.a. staff/managerial.

Along with grooming the next level of employees, we also indulge in activities that would make our employees happier in the long run. We come out with this message that says “Look we are not just aiding you in your career growth; but we are taking care of you as well in the best of the ways. It’s because you mean as much to us, as we do to you!” We’ve come up with various policies indicating the benefits that they would be entitled to receive because they lay in the band level. Surely it does make them happy, and yes it has been a practice being followed all over the globe. Benefits like purse allowance, magazine allowances, etc, all tagged under the Fringe Benefits kitty, of which am so thankful to the Government for abolishing it from the Budget 2009. We do try our every bit of taking care of our employees; however why just restrict such benefits to staff/managerial levels? Human Resource is about taking care of the entire employee base of the organization and inching towards development of every individual. Would HR always cater to the needs of the Elite or are there chances of broadening the span to the less blessed? Would introduction of HR in an atmosphere that existed as a conglomerate of functions – Personnel Department survive the tests of meaning good intention? Would Succession Planning stand good for workers? Would mid sized manufacturing organizations grow with the process or end up being tangled in a mess of understood and not much understood methodologies? All of it depending upon the culture of the organization and the openness to accept HR with arms wide open, minus the nitpicking of associating it with American mumbo-jumbo as well as broadening the expanse and the reach of the HR Department in the lines of hereditary Personnel bloodline.

The Sweetest Sound

I remember coming across one statement which I felt is so true. It said “Remember that a man’s Name is to him the sweetest and most important sound in any language”.

Yet there are many of us who within minutes of introduction to a person forget their names, worse despite being embarrassed in all such situations, try little to possessing an elephant’s memory. And when it comes to HR folks, this is one tool that is supposed to be congenital.

I have known this very efficient a HR Manager, but he was bad at names, which was his biggest flaw. At the organization where he worked, his department had just one lady owing to the fact of being a manufacturing industry. There were days when she would be called by altogether different names, and everyday a new name would crop. But since she was the only lady, she would figure out it was her who was being summoned. Other colleagues faced the same fate; however they got used to it, since he would signal which subordinate he wanted in his cabin.

However this is one habit that refused to leave his premises even when he interacted with people from the other departments. He would end up coming confused, thinking hard recollecting names and attaching them to faces. It was always like an uphill task against earth’s gravity. There would be moments when large number of workers would turn up to his cabin in the count of 10-15 and every few minutes he would ask their names. And after giving up, one of the subordinates would help prompting the names, or go ahead with the session without mention of names. This adversely affected his reputation, who otherwise meant good work and intention, yet his forgetfulness indicated less attention in the interests of the employee.

Though his forgetfulness dodged areas that required strategic thinking and prompt recollection of information that meant crucial to the Co.’s working. His observations were always very thorough and scientific in approach. Nobody could question his calculations, since they were just very accurately made. However the name recollection wasn’t his cup of tea. He was in fact suggested of trying ways to learn and remember names; however despite accepting the lacuna he worked less in that direction.

The consequence being, his subordinates started resisting from being addressed as somebody they weren’t. As a crude joke the workers would pop their names between conversations and the whole organization knew that this HR Manager could recognize nobody from their names. The general perception grew by manifold that he wasn’t interested in the welfare of the employees, as he paid less attention towards their minutest details. And if he couldn’t remember a name, how could he remember the grievances they faced. How could he stand against the Management for those rights, each person had a different one and each had a name to it?

Dignity of Labour

Working in an organization for 3 decades would make one more than a mere employee. The person would view themselves as one of the army of men who build the organization pillar by pillar and brick by brick. There would be no corner of the unit that the person wouldn’t be aware off. And there would be no policy that cannot be measured by the employees’ eyes. Devoting all his youth to the vision of making the unit into something big and known worldwide would be a dream not just the owners would sleep and rise with every new day. And when the day to his retirement seems to be approaching, what would be the ultimate reward he would be looking forward to expectantly?

No it’s not the compensation, nor the farewell gifts. It’s not about sitting in a cabin all to himself, nor having a chauffeur driven car. It’s neither about being a critical member of the team nor smiling with pride seeing the enormous numbers of turn key projects he’s handled, yielding huge profits. These are all secondary points which add on by the by in the experience of life.

One fine morning among these days prior to retirement, one of the top management guys who has been with the organization for equal periods of decades decides to take a walk around and visits this department as well. For some reasons the top guy cannot remember this persons name, and doesn’t give even a minute to his memory for a recollect. Instead tries drawing attention of that employee by making certain sounds and clapping his hand and knocking at the door with a ‘hhuussshhh’, ‘oye’ and a ‘psstttt’, where everybody is an audience.

How would that do the 3 decades of blood and sweat in the name of this organization? How about a lesson on ‘Dignity of Labour’?

Surfing the Internet, I came across several definitions/meanings and essays to these 3 words. The best of which I could choose was:

“Dignity of labour chiefly means respectability of all labour such that one is not viewed as superior to the other”. And we even have a Labour Day marked on the calendar!

However I come up with a very different definition of mine, which says:

Dignity of Labour chiefly means not just bringing equality in work, appreciation of a job well done, time and again; but when one retires after serving the organization the top management knows his name and each one’s who is currently associated with the organization and they are addressed by it, doesn’t matter a blue collar employee or white collared.

This is one feeling of being recognized, which can surpass all materialistic gifts and rewards ever received in the whole career life - cycle of an employee. It’s the sweetest sound to any person’s ear that he/she lives his /her entire life to hear!

So if we really appreciate work done by somebody, and are in all praise for the effort and knowledge, apart from a memento at the rewards & recognition event, the first thing we could do, is call him/her by their name and make them realise they are not a forgotten lot and they will be remembered each passing day for their contribution towards building the organization.

A Recruiters Enhanced Skill Set

Dear Mr. Kapil Sibal, I extend my greetings and welcome your 3 language scheme to some extent. I have a suggestion, since schools all over India are resisting to the concept. How about making it a 5 language scheme, and imposing it on a certain section of the Professional Society in B-Schools or Company’s/Firms. The HR Recruiters! We are in dire need of enhancing our skills and need to imbibe the linguistic edge, because there arise too many a circumstances when the only language of communication between 2 people is the sign language.

It is now that I can appreciate my non-selection in a MNC manufacturing concern at Bangalore. I knew just a few words of direction to the auto guys. And the employees’ and workers in that industry were certainly not auto guys.

Sometime last week handling a recruitment case involved communicating to a certain person. The call was in process when the realization hit hard, that the only language he spoke fluently and was comfortable in was Tamil. This lead to a severe problem as a colleague had to be summoned for rescue work. However it was my job to communicate with the candidate and when we did meet face to face, that was the toughest time not just for the candidate, but for us the recruiters too. Narrating a particular excerpt where in we asked the candidate ‘Where he sees himself in the next 5 years?’ after a deep thought he answered ‘Provident Fund’! That made us realize we our terribly failing to put forward our point and lots of communication barriers developed. Sign language also couldn’t come to rescue when it came to technical domain expertise being tested. Though the candidate turned out to be good on the machine he handled, yet communication signals were completely distorted and meant much of noise in Engineering language.

Each passing day we as individuals keep trying to better ourselves and learning new things that could highlight our CV’s and such that it stands out among scores of others. Yet majority of us as recruiters who interact most with people, are restrained to basic 2-3 languages, relying heavily on English and Hindi. A day is yet to come when the Government of India could state Hindi is not just the National Language for the saying but impose it on all parts of the country as well without rubbing the wrong ends. So till then we need to get polishing our linguistic skills and maybe if we desire to attract talent from far and wide, we get ready to switch languages at the drop of the hat. A minimum of 5 to extend till down South, and if covering East and West is on our agenda, 5 more could add on to the list!

Predicament of a Recruiter

At one of the peak seasons of the recruitment drive, one fine morning the HR dept. gets a call from the Security guys’ stationed at the main gate. They pass on the information that a lady has come and is asking to meet the HR Manager. So they have let her in since she said she’s from a far off place, and she’s on the way to the HR Dept. Much to the departments’ surprise, there she is standing at the door; when half the folks are annoyed with the Security guys’ decision without being consulted. Yes a recruitment drive is in the process, but a walk-in wasn’t something that was welcome; after being overwhelmed with CV’s that kept pouring in every hour.

With the kind of atmosphere a manufacturing organization has, even one lady would raise enough eyebrows to be noticed. So while this lady walks into the room and is seated right across me, the next I expect is a CV laid out in front of me. But like it’s said, ‘Always expect the unexpected!’ she looks around painfully and giving uncomfortable glances, she places her purse on my table and walks out. And here I am looking at other colleagues who are equally quizzed with her behaviour. Twenty minutes and still no sign of her return, which triggers a sense of panic into us. I am contemplating of opening her purse and searching through her belongings and finding some identity of this mysterious prospective employee who wanted to so badly meet the Manager. A few hurried calls were made to the security guys and the reception, enquiring whether anybody has seen her roaming about the factory unit. And there the colleague at the reception confirmed, she saw her on the way back to the HR Dept., just 2 minutes back.

When finally she does enter the room, I start off my inquisitive notes directed at her. What we learn are astonishing facts of a person desperate to get employed in this downturn of economy! We get to know she’s originally from Kolkata, and has travelled all these distances to be in Bhilai just to chance upon getting herself employed someplace. She didn’t have any acquaintance or relative in and around Bhilai, and was put up in a Dharamshala. At a certain point of time a colleague asked her, whether her parents are aware of her ways of looking out for a job? Were they aware she was in Bhilai? She recently completed her MSW from Lucknow University and placements that didn’t happen, made her look over Internet for Companies across India, and she planned to visit every city of the country she could!

With the way she was dressed she looked from a good family, but the desperation that we saw in her eyes, were enough to shake each one of us. Maybe for quite few it was just another day, but for us as recruiters, turning her away became the most difficult task. At one point we got her talking to the HR Manager, coz he was good at mentoring and we felt she needed somebody old enough to tell her she get back home and quit roaming around like nomads. When she finally produced her CV, it became the most dismaying moment. It was just a plain sheet of paper, like the formats found in cyber café, which hardly bore some details of her. Being an HR and done a regular full time course in MSW, one would always expect a good CV if not a benchmark. And then we realised through her communication she was not just desperately waiting for employment to happen, she was mentally unsound as well. It started looking like a Herculean task to persuade her leaving the boundaries of the factory unit. And when she started begging to be allowed to do any kind of job, even as an attendant; it started feeling like loss of human dignity.

From Recruiters we were transformed at one instant into this other human being, who needed to show empathy. But that wasn’t enough, the Organizations interests were always primary to us, and no matter how much we tried being concerned of her well-being, it was always a deadlock situation for us. With more than 40 minutes spent in persuading her to leave, accepting her so called CV and agreeing to get back to get, when openings would come; finally the security guards were called to let her out. And with her being at the other side of the closed gates; within no time her CV was shred into pieces, yet the predicament of the recruiter remained!

Do Intrinsic Motivators Ensure Retention?

It is said that to keep an employee happy, and to achieve long-term employee loyalty and retention; it is not the money or the perks that counts. Rather it’s about giving them “Meaningful Roles”, which acts as an intrinsic motivator. 

The question that on a continuous pace keeps bogging a new employee is ‘whether he is contributing in the business of the organization?’ There are a number of times, when an organization is committed to recruiting a targeted number of people; however they do not have pre-defined profiles for the new employees. So imagining the extended honeymoon period, whereby a senior comes by and asks the new employee (specifically a fresher) to explore into doing some research work pertaining to XYZ topic; keeping the industrial sector as base; such that the ultimate tests of applicability do not involve employees of present employer. And in no way should the sample or population of the study involve interaction with the employees. And the outcome of the research will bear no change or implementation on the present employer.

Will the newly recruited individual be as enthusiastic to carry forward the research, compared to the time he thought some real work is coming his way – ending the long honeymoon period or the subject of study interested him always? And to add to the demeanour, if the reasoning supporting the initiation of the research comes as: An aid and reflection to his contribution in the previous organization; when fresh interviews are faced!

How long can we expect such an individual to stick on to the organization? Unless he has some compulsions in life or more or less is dead wood; he would wait for the right opportunity and a perfect employer who has pre-defined roles set for him; and who believe this individual can do wonders in helping the organization grow! Do we still require fulfilling targets or for a moment think about how we create first impressions about a work; that may mean passion to somebody; yet make them refuse to work on it?

Flexi - Timing: Bane or Boon

After a late rising, good breakfast, and last minute touches to last night’s presentation; am on the way to office, swiping my card at sharp 9:00 A.M. For the whole department strength to grow full in size it would take another 1 hour. So it’s 10:00 A.M. and the department begins to start its operations, gradually picking on speed. But then an interruption comes in the form of a lunch hour at 12:30 P.M. For some the lunch hour begins at 1:00 P.M. Eventually after the break, work begins around 1:30 P.M. and now it starts growing in pace and by the time it’s 5:00 P.M. when work is at its peak of functionality; its time to head home. Some people stay back till 6:30 P.M. when the cabins are empty and the process to complete would require waiting for Mr. X, whose availability at the earliest would be the next morning at 8:30 A.M.

‘Flexi Timing is said to be the Future’, but does it fit well on all kinds of sectors and industries. For example a start-up IT Company cannot afford to get the concept of flexi-timing into its routine. It would be wasting a lot of its resources with the eventuality of staying up late and utilizing electricity, systems and supervisory issues.

Implementing Flexi Timing at manufacturing companies is another example of a misfit. By in large all manufacturing companies work in 3 shifts: Morning [6:00 A.M. – 2:00 P.M.], Evening [2:00 P.M. – 10:00 P.M.] and Night [10:00 P.M. – 6:00 A.M.]. There’s a General Shift normally between 8:30 / 9:00 A.M. – 5:00/5:30 P.M. depending upon individual Company timings, where all the support functions and the Managerial level employees fit in.

Now majority of manufacturing companies are held by strong hierarchical ties, and not even a single paper can pass to a third level without bypassing the second level; whereby it’s scrutinized and only when satisfactory is approved for further flow of command/operations. Under such circumstances when Flexi Timing is implemented, there are some people who still prefer being at their seats sharp when the siren goes, and would look forward to getting home when the siren goes off again in the evening. Yet there is a large chunk that would prefer to avail such benefits, or to say the Managerial level would definitely pool in a ‘Yes’ for the concept. Such is the time variation that the Manager may end up swiping his card around 10:00 A.M., but that whole time between 8:30 – 10:00 A.M. would go waste, as it’s impossible to move any papers ahead or commit over any task. Just because the issuing authority isn’t present! And when the work does begin for the day; its time for lunch. Again the variation of flexi-timing and normal routine affects the lunch hour. There may be people who are done with their meals by 1:00 P.M. as per Company timings; however the Managers are entitled to have their timings extended by another half an hour. So in no case work begins before 1:45 P.M. after more than an hours break. Now the flow is catching grounds and moving at a fast pace; but it’s 5:00 P.M. and most of the clerical office bearers leave for the day, and other Executive band level employees and still other Managers who were among the ones that didn’t avail the concept. Left behind are hardly 30-40 of the employees all by themselves, who have the issuing authority in their hands; yet cannot, pass the paper to the next level as it needs some modification by some Executive or no peon is around to take the document across the building.

Now quite a few questions arise here:

• Does Flexi – Timing prove to be helpful in managing the tasks well?
• Does Flexi-Timing ensure output/production to full capacity?
• Is it cost-effective to let employees continue deciding their in and out timings?
• What about the man hours lost? How will it be recovered?
• How to minimize the authorizing gap between band levels if not altogether negate it; if such benefits do keep continuing?
• How to motivate employees who are demoralized with the pace of work and not getting rewarded for following discipline?
• How to engage employees who turn up early at their offices?
  

Yes indeed employee engagement has become crucial in these hours when bosses aren’t around, and employees are left to do anything but work. Many end up wasting time on unnecessary usage of internet, or in forming groups around the water cooler and chatting away. Spending time in canteens or roaming around shop areas becomes a routine.

The final question is “Does Flexi-Timing ensure work getting completed by the end of the day, or is it simply convenience at its best?” Work which cannot be completed within 8 hours of designated timing would not finish in another 1 hour without the proper team of employees. What fun in sitting alone in the cubicle and segregating tasks that cannot be completed before the next day and complying by the 8 hours shift of the flexi-timing accepted??

Sick Human Unit

A ‘Sick Industrial Unit’ as defined in the ‘Sick Industrial Companies Act, 1985’ is said to be a unit or a Company (having been in existence for not less than five years) which is found at the end of any financial year to have incurred accumulated losses equal to or exceeding its entire net worth. There are 2 basic factors which may result in the sickness of an industrial unit, which are:

a). Internal Factors,

b). External Factors.

And there is a 3rd factor that attributes differently to a unit being ‘Sick’ which is the “Human Factor”.

It is then maybe even Government bailing out aids cannot help. And what becomes more irreversible a process is when the whole of the unit’s resources is plagued by the sickness effect. Then what ceases to matter is whether the unit is churning huge profits or taking a huge shelf space in the markets. All that happens thereafter is it being fed to a slow death, of the operations within the unit / Company.

Taking a closer look of how such sickness spreads, at times we cannot consider ourselves to be distanced from its roots. Looking around we can observe much exhibited a behavioural change in our colleagues, subordinates, superiors who begin to breed the notion that for all Gains they belong to the Company; but for all Losses it’s the CEO’s shoulder that takes the blow. And with this thought in mind, they start caring a less where matters require immediate attention and correction. The most unfortunate part shows up when they berate at those who think they are very much part of the Company’s shareholder policy without physically being one. And one thing leading to another, when the employees of the unit/Company start taking things at a pace slower than the need of the hour, delaying the process, the delivery of the services, and a number of back-logs within the system of outflow of materials/services.

The ‘Human’ approach to releasing past grudges and grievances at the wrong cause, making the working environment lose the balance is every Company’s’ Management’s nightmare. Coz they realise once started, this cycle is unstoppable without a few blows here and there. A good work culture is something every individual joining a Company yearns for, something they can relate to, the whole of their lives. But at times the unit/Company gets indefinitely ‘Sick’, because of the culture that is being built within a group of people; who start acting tangentially to the requirements of the unit/Company.

The top 10 ways to identify the behaviour/attitude of a colleague/subordinate/superior around you contributing to the ‘Sick Human Unit’:

1. It’s not my job.
2. The 5 minute paperwork shoved beneath piles of other files.
3. What’s there in for me? Do I get my margin?
4. It’s the owners’ headache; he needs to deal with the growing protests.
5. Why would I job rotate, I’m happy here since past 2 decades!
6. What’s the point in learning new things; I have just 5 years to retirement!
7. It’s not my responsibility either; I know nothing of it; despite the previous documentation bearing my signature.
8. Marking the paperwork to somebody else and the marking continues endlessly.
9. Changing decisions/stands when caught off-guard.
10. Will do it tomorrow or maybe next week.

Would I like to work in such a unit/Company? Definitely not! Neither would you! Least one could do, is take medication with the slightest of the symptoms.

But Precaution has been stated to be always better than Cure!

Breaking The Hierarchy - Serving Water To Guests

An office set-up is considered, whereby some guests have come for liaison purpose. The cabin of the Head of the Department is where the guests are seated. Outside the cabin are seated 6 subordinates [ranking executives], 1 computer operator and 1 project trainee. There are 2 peons allotted to the dept. however both of them aren't available in the vicinity, as have been sent around for Xerox and dispatching mail.

Water bottles aren't kept in the cabins, but rather in a closet at the corner of the far end of the room; where the peon keeps all the material for serving purpose, and prepares tea etc. So the cutlery too is placed there, as well as jug of water and glasses. Anybody wants water, calls out to the peon who carries glasses in trays.

Now when no peon is around to serve anything, one of the guests gets thirsty. And the Head asks one of the subordinates to get water inside.

The structure and hierarchy of boss-subordinate and peons levels are so strong, that certain type of work is said to be allotted; and somebody else cannot do the job or is considered below dignity!

In this case what can be done? Let the subordinate executive bring water / or ask the computer operator [since he's in the lowest bracket of designations] / or wait for the peon to return and let the guest go thirsty till then?

Well say the computer operator is asked by a new executive who recently joined the organization, to take water for the guests. Surprisingly it creates quiet a furor, and invites wrath from the other executives stating that the Computer Operator shouldn't have gone. Rather we should have waited for the peon to arrive [that's another matter the peon came after 30 mins]!

The case-let is brought forth to analyze how should we deal with the set hierarchy in the organization. How do we instill a sense of ownership, which makes every employee contribute in the smallest of the ways to the organizations health and growth. About just not talking of Equity among employees, but about taking measures for employees to feel it in the air. About making the organization more flat; so that such trivial issues do not contribute in becoming a water cooler moment!

On querying several people about the case-let; they came up with various suggestions; some of which have been described below:

Ms. Shikha Singh: Just start keeping a tray with 3-4 glasses of water in the cabin. Much ado about nothing.

Mr. Simhan: This is the problem of hierarchical demarcation. I for one (having worked abroad for over 40 years) would not have bothered if my boss had requested me to serve the 'guests', that's what the visitors are. Soon people change their attitude the better. What would we do, if the house-help was not there and the guests had to be served a drink? Would we not serve it ourselves? If I were the boss and felt that there was a hierarchy, would have got up and gone and fetched the water myself and set an example for others.

Mr. Parthasarthi: Self service and vending machine will be the best option in this case. Serving guest is not matter of dignity is matter of courtesy. People must take this as humanitarian angle instead of formal approach. Not serving guest is bad etiquettes and people who are stubborn with hierarchy are not fit to become employee if they do not exhibit good etiquettes whatever position he may enjoy in the company.

Ms. Asha Mathew: I tried being in the scene and as a person who is asked to serve water. What I would do is, pull the tray, place a few drinking glasses on it. Keep the jug separate, and arrange all this on a tray and ask the guests to feel free to help themselves. On the whole - I would just pull a table in front of them, with all the things on top of it. If you are asking on how to make the Organization more flat with certain tasks - it must flow from the top! I may feel bad to serve water to the guests, but if I one day happen to see my boss doing it with no hesitation - then I might as well learn that from him.

Ms. Preeti: I suggest keeping water bottles for each and every one. This will help in avoiding future disputes. Secondly if the Head is really a gentleman he should have not minded to get up, to take glass of water for himself and as well as for guest. There is nothing bad in serving glass of water or cup of coffee to your colleague or visitors. Only thing is people working there should be mature enough to understand the things. Instead of saying it low level work you should be confident enough saying that you have done something nice. In most of the MNC companies nowadays there is no office boys they do there work by themselves. It depends how one takes the things, if you think in negative manner you will feel that you have done something that wasn’t your job.

Mr. K.M.P. Singh: The Head has to be rational and the executive has to think the way the boss is ordering. In my opinion, giving a glass of water to the guest is not an issue but most important the way he orders. It is just matter of delegating the duties to the peons and it must be kept in mind that at least one peon has to be available at all the time.

To summarize the whole of the case-let, indeed many of us would agree that it has nothing to do with making the organization flat, but more with how we decide to breed culture within the organization and setting an example by being one. Yes the Head of the Department could have himself gone and fetched water, infact he did have an extra glass in his cabin. But on benefit of doubt even if he forgets the same, and some third person brings it who's not the peon shouldn't really kick up much dust from other on-looking executives.

The best reason of looking at it is the employees/executives to a certain level do not feel the essence of ownership of the organization. For them it means the organization belongs to somebody else but themselves. Maybe if we could develop on this idea along with structuring a healthy culture; a flat organization won’t really be much of a dream.

To read the comprehensive details/responses of/to the case-let, visit here.

Stiffening the Loosened Handshake

Early morning when I cross you, I acknowledge your presence with a smile, and an extended hand indicating a ‘Good Morning’ handshake. Pleased you offer your hand, and we retract our hands at the end of the 3^rd shake. We move ahead to our respective ways, with a warm feeling conveying trust, balance and equality among us. Probably this being the most apt defined purpose of a handshake at the end of the day.

Handshakes are an important introductory ritual in all manner of social contacts, and the research shows that the quality of the handshake makes a real difference, as quoted in “Journal of Personality and Social Psychology” by William F. Chaplin et al., 2000. In fact the ‘Handshake Psychology’ has been an interesting phenomenon that has been several times under the scanner of research and easy ways of deciphering about people.

Our corporate houses are the places closest to observing the Handshake Psychology, as and when we come across several people/employees. And we cannot help but form an opinion about an individual and make judgments with the kind of grip, vigour, texture, strength and eye contact that follow.

Maybe one fine day we would find an altogether strong and enthusiastic handshake, and we would smile back at the new intern, or the employee who just received an incentive, or the employee who began his day wonderfully. Other days we came across a grip very much dead and wet conveying a nervous person, or an employee who just received some reprimand. All said and done, everyday we come across several hands that indicate the kind of mood and atmosphere the employee is going through.

Nevertheless a parallel interpretation exists as well, which talks about the spirit of togetherness – an enhanced version of equality, specially at places or offices whereby each morning the very first thing an employee entering his department does is, shake hands with all those already present in the department. More or less it becomes a ritual every morning, and more than a hand extended in pleasure, it becomes something out of mechanical habits. The employee entering the door, goes around each table/cubicle calling names of the concerned people, shaking hands; and before somebody decides to respond vocally the employee is already at the next cubicle. In the days that come, the employee merely goes and stands at the table/cubicle, pushing his hand across the others ' personal space; and quietly moving to the next. The routine gets so much in the system, that with a few more days that progress, the handshakes now resemble a three-finger grip, no eye contact, and worse a mere touch of the fingers. Plummeting goes their self-esteem and confidence, each passing day. Lack of trust heightens in the months and years that follow. Employees of the same department have very less to share and talk about, and they are busy suspecting the intentions of their colleagues. They despise each other and office politics is raking high in demand. But what doesn’t change is the mechanical handshake every morning, to mark the camaraderie and the culture that began with the vision of the top management. But what really makes the difference is now all the human touch is diminished, and the employees see each other as competition. Or maybe not, instead just robots working endlessly trying to achieve the set outputs and production levels. Missing the human feel and missing out calling on assistance to act on synergy at departmental and organizational levels.

Charging Up People

Remembering the lives and times of the 2006 Cricket World Cup, and when the Indian team cracking their first wicket all huddled together, to mark the sense of joy. They stood together for a minute or two and dispersed. And then when another wicket fell, the great Indian huddle was back! It was happening all so frequently, every match that it became a symbol for the men in blue. Whatever talks and emotions flew behind those armed walls, one thing that emerged certain was that the men were doing well.

Perhaps a new meaning it gave to fellowship, team building, morale and a lot more synonyms that could be associated with Camaraderie and Esprit de Corps. Thinking about the team huddle, and transporting it as a direct application into the corporate world; a hip-hip hurray situation together would need a lot of crushing of ego and spectacular moments to celebrate. But for industries at large, the “Eureka” moments come as strategic plans ranging from 6 months to 1 year to 5 years by the product or service launch. Waiting for so long for those moments of togetherness would seem like eternity. Rather having little moments to appreciate each other would definitely do wonders in organizations. Celebrating birthday’s, quarterly results, achievement awards and festivals is something that bridges the gap. But are our employees content enough with the kind of motivation this brings in them? Is the materialistic enhancement the only way to get them moving to new grounds? Are our Managers and Executives happy at the end of the day, or they are thinking of ways that can bring on more enthusiasm in work and some energy build up?

Enthusiasm is something I will take up in a later post, but for the moment covering the lifting of energy is what I have on my mind. I know of a certain organization which has found out unique ways to improve the feeling of belongingness and nurturing fellowship. Every morning before work begins, an odd 50 of them gather together for conducting morning prayers. The best part of the gathering is that the composition of the group ranges from the lowest person in the hierarchy to the top most person. They all stand together, much alike the great huddle formation; and follow the prayer session. What lies behind this act is the feeling of easy access with the management; and dealing with the fact that the employers are there to hear out their employees. It’s the feeling of standing at almost the same platform and being treated as equals. What does this do to the psychology of a worker/employee? It definitely makes him proud of his organization! It brings a zing of energy, ironically at the beginning of every new day. Imagining how his happiness would affect his productivity, he would certainly work an extra 30 minutes to his normal 4-5 hours of work capacity. Enriching the lives of employees by small steps and measures, that adds on to the productive work hours; is something all employers keep looking for! Material benefits feel like teasers to many who eventually get bored getting receiving tips for every new positive outcome at work. Addressing the ego of the person, and molding it inwards away from Reinforcement Theory of Motivation¹, sometimes works wonders with people.

What I suggest is not necessarily a group huddle as a pray, but any other form; say every week gathering in departments or shop areas and appreciating the little acts by people. Pertaining to work improvement isn’t just the basis, but even acts that constitute basic humanitarian grounds towards each other. Something like family time we have at our homes; even if for 5 minutes. Every day / week as per convenience looking out and welcoming those hands that work hard for us. Maybe one could even start the day with the National Anthem of the respective country. I fondly recollect how at school everybody felt so charged up after “National Anthems”. Or maybe come up with the company song, and I believe, something like this would definitely add feathers of pride to one’s cap.

[Reinforcement Theory of Motivation¹: [Proposed by B.F. Skinner’s] Reinforcement occurs when an event following a response causes an increase in the probability of that response occurring in the future. For more please visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinforcement ]