It has been an interesting journey of learning and discovery. From early childhood I have been constantly on the move. My father was from the defence services and every now and then was getting transferred and consequently we also moved along with him.
I must have studied in at least 13 different schools and 6 colleges, the final being AMP 175 from Harvard Business School in 2008. While many may find this disconcerting to me this provided the opportunity to learn to adjust to new places and make new friends quickly. This quest for new experiences continued in my career as well .So far I have worked for 10 companies in different capacities, locations and industries.
At XISS Ranchi we used to call ourselves bare feet managers for two reasons. The first being obvious, we had hardly any money, but the other more compelling reason was that large part of our program was in social work and it ingrained in us the real meaning of empathy and humility. This has stood strong with me throughout my career 0f over 35 years- whether I was dealing with unions or senior management.
All through my career from Bowreah Cotton Mills to Rohtas Industries to BILT to Eicher, (where I learned the real meaning of HR) to HLL via Gillet and then to JCT to Usha Martin to JCB and finally to GPI where I worked the longest(a bit over 14 years) this one word empathy has helped me develop deep relationships. It is for the sake of relationships that people go out of their way to deliver extraordinary results. When you invest in them through your time and genuine interest I have experienced extraordinary commitment in return. It is said that a rolling stone gathers no moss, but I gathered a number of great friends.I have recently begun my second innings as an HR consultant with Intex Technologies (India) Ltd., with a single point brief of transforming it into a Great Place to Work.
To my mind this whole hoopla about managing the new millennials has been blown out of proportions. There is nothing new about them or managing them. Every new generation feels they are different and smarter than their parents. We felt the same when we were growing and we had the same discussions. Some consultants were making money on this subject then and some are making now – teaching you the same old stuff packaged differently.
Having said that I am not alluding for a moment that things have not changed or that the work place is what it used to be say even 10 years back. As it has been said that the only constant is change. May be the rate has accelerated a bit. The point I am making is that all it requires to deal with the new age whether digital or now the imagination age is empathy from both generations may be a bit more from older folks like me. The problem happens when we except them to respect hierarchy (because we did so), positional power, rules and regulations without questions. Instead we should hold them accountable for outcomes, give them respect and listen to them and accept them for their differences and you will be surprised by their drive and energy.
We are moving towards virtual offices, virtual meetings and information available to all (which used to be the source of power earlier) the very concept of positional authority is becoming irrelevant. The advancements in science and technology are bringing rapid changes to the way we work and will only become more and more challenging to the old school of thought who are still stuck in the command and control era. If you approach these changes with a strong core grounded on the foundation of strong beliefs and values you will not be blown away by these changes and on the contrary will be able to harness them to yours and your organization’s advantage.
In my view rewards and recognitions are hygiene factors for employee engagement and retention. You have to engage their hearts and mind for that. This can happen only through involving employees in decision making and letting them learn by making a few mistakes. Recently I heard on the FM radio the RJ quote a research which found that stress at work with empowerment to take appropriate decisions is actually good for the health of employees. The problem occurs when companies blindly copy paste best engagement practices from others and then wonder why they don’t work for them. Every company needs to find out what will work for them and the best way to find this is to ask your employees and then involve them in proposing improvements to your HR systems and processes. This process itself will aid and improve employee engagement if done in the right spirit.
