THE HR PUZZLE:EMPLOYABILITY

India today is buzzing and teeming with hitherto unheard of talentand industry.We boast of superior quality tech grads,management grads and professionals.But incresaingly this is leading to what I'd like to term as India's HR puzzle.

Unlike the West,where a fitment policy is adopted by organisations in letter and spirit while recruiting candidates,here the mantra is 'Buy cheap and best'.Managements in India are yet to wake up to the hard reality that Indians are incresaingly feeling stressed out and a deeply disgruntled.And the prime reason for this is the mismatch between the aptitude and the kind of job a person undertakes.This is essentially the root of the problem.And the reason for this is not far to seek...

This is why...The staffing procedure in India is mostly a negotiation game,the relative stakes being high for either parties: the employer and the potential employee.Managements in India traditionally lay emphasis on the academic credentials a person carries and then reckon the value that can be placed on the same. This then follows a negotiated settlement process whereby a final compensation package is arrived at.In the process, either party tries to capitalise on the relative insecurities that confront them;viz. the dire need for money from a job for the Potential Employee and time for the Employer! What's the end result of this game? Its a Lose-Lose situation for both.Why? Becoz the employee here seeks an entry that would enable him to see money in the future by virtue of the current employment and the Employer feels that the employee is a good buy at current levels.You see,both parties are playing a game of deception and the loser is the Organisation!

This predicament is surfacing as a major issue today,given that IT sector is hotting up and attrition rates have hit alarming highs! Even the non-IT space is losing quality performers in this race.Because all the employee class guys seeek to cash in on the Employment boom that the country's witessing.And organisations are increasingly realising that the learning/training costs could burn a big hole in their budgets.This is only to be naturally expected. So what should Organisations do to curtail this menace? This is the HR puzzle that India,and probably a lot of the capitalist / semi-capitalist economies face.

It is an accepted fact that talent follows money.And since money is the primary driver for these job hoppers,it is important to understand the needs of the employees and heed their aspirations.A right fitment policy is essential to induce a substitute for money in the form of passion as a driver /motivating factor.Some insights provided by Maslow's theory are useful.But I personally feel that instead of compartmentalising the traits of people into varied tiers,Organisations should undertake a sustained campaign to induce a passion for work and performance right from the level of the floor cleaner to the CEO!That would be my ideal organisation.The HR puzzle requires a great effort on the part of the organisations to break from the mould and reinvent themselves.This would call for a paradigm shift.

And how do we do that? First,organisations should be willing to shell out the extra buck when initially recruiting freshsers.It shows that you value someone and not price him.Secondly, emphasis should be on the employability of the prospect on hand,rather than academic credentials.One would do well to appreciate the fact that people with passion deliver better than people with I.Q. alone.Thirdly,organisations need to wake up to the fact that cutting flab on one end means overloading on the other,and accordingly need to take the employees into confidence when such exercises are undertaken.Typically the attrition rates shoot up when an Organisation undertakes a restructuring exercise to cut the extra flab,in the process loosing on the essential flab too!Fourth,a realistic and periodic Employee satisafaction survery needs to be undertaken to ensure that it serves as a pulse check and a measure of potential disasters.This,one must note, should be undertaken in both letter and spirit! Fifth, and this is important,Organisations need to understand clearly the aspirations of the employee.This is not as simple as it may seem.It is a complex process starting from the very point of Interview of the prospect on hand to the time he/she moves out of the organisation(ideally on superannuation).The prospect should be tested for the passion and aptitude for the job and promised a career growth in the organisation.On a regluar basis, the organisation should endeavour to ensure that the employee's aspiration goals are met. Sixth,and this is something that is ultra-vires the organisation, the education system in India needs to be revamped to ensure that we have a really talented pool of professionals and not grads and degree holders by the dozen.This means an emphasis needs to be on the quality of education that is imparted at all levels rather than the volume/quantitative achievements professed by the Govt. bodies.Now how do we do that is another puzzle which needs to be solved!

LIFE IN A CUBICLE

'I was up at 4:00.Running around till 5:00. Finished my chores & breakfast by 7:00 and headed for my Rover !Off, I zipped to the East End & drove down at a whirlwind speed!

I reached office just in time to be early by an hour! It had become a daily routine to hit office an hour early to do a short review of the day's work.Given that the first thing that my boss would do upon entering office is call me and check as to what's wrong with my list,the least I could do to safeguard my interest was to check if I atleast was aware of what's on the agenda today.I guess every boss's job is to prepare a list of 'Impossible Doables' for his subordinates which is reveiwed on an hourly, daily or weekly basis based on the whims & fancies of the chief!

So the day starts at a hectic pace, the moment I come out of my Boss's room.I have a beautiful cubicle that's made up of all the charts,lists and templates.That's the scene at every cubicle!
The phone starts to ring! Life's good & so I greet the caller warmly with a "Very good morning,what can I do for you?".After attending to the same I am off to checking my mailbox . This was a discipline I had developed over years and it always seemed to work.I always made it a point to check the mailbox at 9:30.You see there would invariably a mail from James that would make my day!He had an amazing sense of humour and would send off a joke each morning at 9:15 to everyone in our office!I made it a point to start the day with that.

However, today it was not to be so.

I had a heavy outpour of profanity from my boss.Yesterday, there was an report that was to be confirmed by night before I left for home.As luck would have it, I was tied down till 23:30 and the report just got buried beneath the layers of tasks that my mind had piled up.So, today was a day to make amends and submit that report in an hour's time!I sat in my cubicle completely focussed and working on the same. No answering any phone calls, no e-mails, no coffee...

This was the first time that such a thing had happened.Usually my day ended by 21:00 and I would review my tasklist before I headed home.However yesterday was different.We had a surprise presentation to be done before the SMP(Senior Management Panel).My boss told me the same by 13:00 ...the presentation was slated for 17:00.It wasn't an easy task to finish what's usually done over weeks, in a few hours.However, I did manage to save my boss's face.We were on schedule for the presentation and my Boss gave me a pat on the back at 19:00."Good job, boy!".However that meant that the other critical activities had taken a backseat and a backlog got built.

After finishing the 80% on the tasklist,I decided to call it a day(isn't that a bit out of time?) and headed for home by 23:30. I picked up a burger and a Coke can on the way. By the time I crashed into bed it was 1:30.

Thus, today had to be different because yesterday was not the same, usual stuff.However, I wondered as to whether it was only my boss who suffered from 'Short term memory loss syndrome'. How could he not comprehend the situation that I was into.I wonder how, I wonder why?

I did manage to submit the report by the hour.Then, it was the regular calls that kept coming in.I did check my e-mail.However ,the standard James mail was missing.I didn't quite bother since i had all the phones on my desk ringing.

You see, being the EA to the CEO is a bit of a exacting task,a la juggling too many balls with only two hands!The response now was taut & terse. By the time it was 19:00, I was into "Who's it, what do you want now?" mode.So it did give me a bit of respite when James sent his evening mail signalling he was about to pack!
However, even that didn't happen today.

Now, I was worrying about it! The report that I'd sent to the SMP did not contain a crucial point that I'd added in the final report submitted to my boss!I had infact,sent the draft of the report to them.This was it! I was sure to get the boot! Years of hard work down the drain...

I thought,pondered,contemplated, delibrated and did all that was possible under the sun!But all that was to no good!It was 21:00 and I was about to pack my bag bearing a forlorn countenance.I reached home and was shocked by what followed!

It was James' B'day that day and every year we used to celebrate the same at his house(he's my neighbour) with a dinner party thrown in ,courtsey our CEO.I realised that only when I saw the CEO's Porsche 911 parked outside James' house.And as if out from ambush, came my CEO from behind and took me along to James' place. We celebrated his B'day in style and over a glass of wine the CEO told me that he'd sent James with the Final Report to the SMP's office, and that was why James was missing the whole day in office.The draft report had been retrieved by the CEO. He told me "Being EA to the CEO is not easy ,boy.But you must do that with utmost care when your future hinges on the same. So here's to your promotion as Head of the Strategy Committee! "Everyone raised a toast, and I was speechless for a few minutes,till I realised what was going on.

There are times when we are so engrossed in our cubicles that we miss out the obvious things, the Woods for the trees. Here I was, utterly oblivious to the fact that i was promoted based on the presentation and the Report that followed whereas the entire office was celebrating the same.Not all CEO's are same.Not all scenarios are same.Not all colleagues are same.Sometimes the very people you abhor are your only well-wishers in an organisation!James explained that he couldn't send the mail since he sat in the SMP's office till 19:00 trying to find out about the selection of the SC-Head.And then once it was confirmed, the CEO and the entire office made a quiet exit from the office!He said he even called me to convey the good news but hung up when I responded with a "Who's it now?".The rest as you know is ....

That day I resolved that come what may, I'd daily spend a few hours out of my cubicle and connect with the world around;the real world of people,of friends, well wishers and thinkers and not stay conected through the machines that have come to dominate our lives!Today as I stand before you delivering this memorial lecture, there's one thing that I want to communicate to all of you. Technology may change the way we do things, but it shouldn't change our intrinsic traits and we must all remain social beings and not turn into androids.Don't lead your lives in a cubicle!Thank you.'

Knowledge is not Power

Hello Folks!Here's how the dynamics of knowledge has changed & using knowledge the right way will be the sine qua non of future leaders!

A few years ago,I recollect a teacher of mine had refused to lend me a textbook.Now, this textbook contained a few questions that were tough nuts! And hence,the moment I knew that we had a test happening the next day ,I dashed to be the first in the list of contenders for the same. You see, while in school,these tests always meant a battleground for each wisecrack to prove his point!

However,that was not to be. Thomas,who happened to be the teacher's 'Blue Eyed Boy' beat me to it!So off I was to Thomas' house that evening.It was a different issue that I had to commute 40 kms for the same!And yes,I did manage topping the class!

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Cut to 2006.Same School,same teacherr(hmmm...),different bunch of kids!And guess what ...the same test ...And what do kids do today....Chill as soon as a test is announced!Why?You can always refer to resources that the Web provides(without doubt u'll find whatever u're looking for) and this conviction lets the kids do all other things that one couldn’t even imagine a decade ago!Provided of course, that the kids are smart enough to track data down about whatever they are looking for before they fall asleep!

Application in Businesses:

The context of competition in Economies,Markets,Corporates,Industries and businesses has undergone a paradigm shift.The rules of the game have changed!Leaders are not people who possess access to resources but those who can reach goldmines before others do( the economic cost of resources becomes zero)!

In a lot of cases the businesses today are faced with a plethora of resources but they don’t have “Dr. Jones” to get them to the Goldmine! Therefore what is of essence is that businesses must evolve with times and ensure that they possess the right team that’s motivated to reach the Goldmine before the others do!

And how can businesses do this? By ensuring that the team is made up of the bunch of Smart Kids referred to above. It is these smart kids that are really relevant in today’s context. And that’s where the Leader’s insight comes in. He has to have the astuteness to ensure that he doesn’t loose the Golden Boys and keeps them motivated till the end. It is also important for him to realize that the key to success in businesses today is not the possession of power(the book) ,rather it is the ability to keep the guardian angels(the Golden Boys)who will pilot your organization to hit the goldmine, before your competitors do!

Thus it can be safely concluded that the future management focus has to be on "developing and retaining the Golden Knowldge Workers"!