Preparation and Compassion

An audio clip went viral
in social media the other day
of an interaction between
HR and employee of a tech company
the employee asked to put in papers
and go at less than 24 hours' notice....

One can hear the employee plead
that his performance being consistently good
and notice being too short
" It is not fair to ask me to go
just like that.... overnight...."

HR just repeats over and over
that it is nothing to do with performance
but everything to do with dip in business
" I'm helpless, no one else can help either
it is a corporate decision"

Questions arise as to whether
this way was the best way
or how could it
be handled better?

Regular communication by company
in both good times and bad times
engaging employees with details
of the milestones, challenges & problems
will go a long way in preparing the receiver

More compassion while giving bad news
spending time with him/her
on " what next" and possible alternatives
and a minimum breathing time
of atleast a month would soften
the blow of a job loss crisis.

Positive, corrective steps
for future more important
than apologies, empty assurances
after the event, even if
tendered by chairman of company!

Office Politics

Office working
can be tough
it always was
yet, pressure these days
has increased manifold
even taking away precious lives...

Employees struggle to handle
ever increasing target levels
pressure from competing peers
non cooperative work groups
demanding, berating bosses
who want today's work done 'yesterday'

Add to it, deadly politics
practiced by the insecure
whether peer, boss or junior
and it can become overwhelming...
for the weak, it could mean NBD
while others live to fight another day...

There must be a better way
than this sheer madness...
where colleagues and team members
are not seen as enemies
who need to be beaten
to stay ahead in the race

Ah, what wishful thinking
in the times that we live
when politics is second nature
to some who are labeled 'savvy'
as for others, they are helpless
drawn to the office politics
like moths to the candle...


PS:  NBD refers to Nervous break down.

Secret of Managing Performance

Listening to theories
is one thing
believing in it, applying it
in day to day work & life
is another matter
altogether!

So while Mcgregor's 'X' and 'Y' theories
are lauded, given a big hand
in meetings, forums and seminars
not many are convinced
of its efficacy real time
against the stark realities
of corporate world!

Simply put, it says
that we have X and Y managers
the X ones believe
that workmen basically are lazy
tend to avoid work

They prefer to work this much & no more
meaning coercion, threats
and punishments are the only ways
to get them to work...

The Y managers on the other hand
believe, people value work
for its own sake
and that it gives them pride,
accomplishment & motivation
to do the best they can!

Based on their beliefs
the X and Y managers
treat their people differently
the former gives orders
are always suspicious and
closely monitor their every action.

The latter on the other hand
encourages, supports and interacts
eliciting the best
from their people!

while both get the work done
the crew of  X managers
does just enough, to avoid punishment
while team of the Y managers
go much  beyond the call of duty!

Yet, as many managements,
 believe and think X
in the heart of hearts
not many takers are there
for the Y philosophy...

No wonder then, that the secret
of great performance remains a secret
with impatient managements
brushing aside the 'unknown' benefits,
"synergy efforts' of Y managers
its a lot more easier for them, to rely
on the trigger happy X managers!

Gardening Leadership

The gardener knows
each of his flowers
knows how much water
sunlight,manure each requires,
some flowers wither away
if too much sunlight
while others cannot survive
without the sunlight....

As leader of a work team
do you know each team member?
what makes each one tick?
whether they work best in the morning
or in the late afternoon?
or do you insist that they work
by your time preferences instead?

Do you give them space
to work at their pace
to do things differently
if goals met effectively?
or do you insist they always work
the way you think is best?

Oh how boring team gardens can be
when they are mere clones
of the leader himself
its only when there's variety in the garden
it is appealing to the eye, fragrant to the nose
such teams emit an energy, enthusiasm
that propels other teams in vicinity as well!

Being a Role Model

What are you telling young boys & girls
during induction, in the initial days
expectations on integrity?
that customer is king?

Are you telling them to be polite always
to be passionate about goals
and do what it takes, no matter what?
to focus on quality each time, every time?
to teamwork, see the big picture always?

Beware! tell them the bare minimum
that you yourself believe and  abide by
as they are watching you 24x7
to check whether you practice what you preach....

Consistently meeting and surpassing own standards
can enthuse juniors to follow leader with passion
conversely,  if huge deviance between talk and action
it is  disillusionment. and a big
erosion of credibility ....

Instead of adulation towards a  role model
it is just contempt- higher
the hype and falsehood
higher the level of contempt!
and you end up leaving in your trail
a bunch of cynics, cynics
in the garb of employees for life!

Credit

Leaders who are reluctant
to share credit for success,
or assignments well done
will be resented by team & peers...
and in the long run they lose
all support and cooperation

Such leaders behave the way they do
more out of a poor self esteem
 they compensate for the
"I am not good enough" feeling
with  projection of self as a 'star'
around whom everything revolves!

The better way for long term gains
for both leader and organization
is to share credit with all contributors
real achievement after all
is when many own, give a hand
celebrate success together!

HR Analytics and the Four Abilities

HR and data analytics today, is hot

HR had been one of the pioneers

anyway of the analytic path

having had at its disposal

Plenty of employee life cycle data

The challenge is to make sense

of humongous data, by thinking, asking

probing multiple aspects

having an eye for details

having an open mind…

With persistence, patience, deeper probing

some HR goals would be within reach

that of work force planning

comp & benefits, succession planning

learning & leadership, engagement & assessment....

Analytics for sales revenue, productivity

Arresting accident errors, fraud

down time losses…

for customer retention, product mix

for quality, IT and business consulting expertise….

Real success of the analytic journey

is in moving from the level 1 reactive,

 operational reporting to

 level 4, predictive analytics -

development of predictive models…

It’s here that the 4 abilities matter

Ability to collect high quality data

Ability to analyse, make sense of

the data and relationships

Ability to connect to IT, sales,

Operation and finance…

Ability to consult, visualise,

tell stories and drive change!

Note: This poem was inspired by an evening meeting that I attended on the subject organised by NIPM, Karnataka Chapter.The speaker Mr Neeraj Kumar, VP (HR) Wipro spoke exhaustively. This is just a tip of the iceberg....