I had the good fortune of meeting a senior HR professional the other day who has moved from a global IT major to a Family run 50000+ crore Indian MNC. I will leave the other stuff out and focus on the most striking aspect.
It seems there were a few employees who were neither working nor letting others work. Truly in the IT fashion, the HR head suggested "sack them". The Chairman (one from the family) flatly refused - instead SHOUTED for an hour at the guys who werent working and sent them back to work! Later in the day, he had lunch with them!
Look at the stark contrast. We seem to be forgetting the inclusivity found in Indian values and culture - instead trying to ape the "performance driven" culture pontified by the west.
This is much like a story I read when I was in school. A gentleman once consulted his neighbour on the rolls of wall paper needed for his home (both their houses were of the same dimensions and architecture). The neighbour most gladly prescribed 16 rolls of wallpaper since he had bought 16 rolls while papering his house.
Once the gentleman completed papering his house, he found to his dismay that 4 rolls were left unused. He rushed to his neighbour's house to 'investigate' this issue. The neighbour's eyes brightened up when he learnt of the 4 unused rolls and said "Oh! This is uncanny! Even I have 4 unused rolls fromt eh 16 rolls that I bought"!!
All I am trying to say is that in our eagerness to bring in business, we seem ready to forget our own wisdom and reasoning. And then we conduct concalls to discus worklife balance issues...
Happy Independance day!!
-Sid
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Recording behaviours in a LGD
Have BIs along columns and record behaviours in rows. Tick each relevant Matrixed cell.
Easier during final evaluation!!
Easier during final evaluation!!
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
Have you visioned today?
Sorry if I make it sound frivolous like "have you brushed today?" Couple of thoughts in this article..
First things first. Do any bit of measurement in the behavioural domain, and you will want to look at validity and reliability - prominent among them being Construct validity - have you defined what you want to measure and are you measuring that very same thing. Simple naa!
Now apply this to a real life situation. Have you defined what you want to do and are you doing what is needed to reach your goals?
Now you must have linked it all up with Visioning I guess. This is the very line of thinking. Think of HR. I learn from my colleagues in the industry that they have, BU HR, SBU HR, LOB HR, CORPORATE HR (and probably a Inter galactic HR as well in the near future that is) in most companies.
But, have the HR departments crafted a vision for themselves? Have they gone back to the business and asked "what do you want from HR" and then used the same for crafting a vision for themselves? Unfortunately, the answer is often NO.
Possible fallouts are feelings of Role erosion, role ambiguity and an overall feeling of learned helplessness from the lowest rung of HR folks. Next "milestone" - massive HR attrition!
Think about it, let me know!
-Sid
First things first. Do any bit of measurement in the behavioural domain, and you will want to look at validity and reliability - prominent among them being Construct validity - have you defined what you want to measure and are you measuring that very same thing. Simple naa!
Now apply this to a real life situation. Have you defined what you want to do and are you doing what is needed to reach your goals?
Now you must have linked it all up with Visioning I guess. This is the very line of thinking. Think of HR. I learn from my colleagues in the industry that they have, BU HR, SBU HR, LOB HR, CORPORATE HR (and probably a Inter galactic HR as well in the near future that is) in most companies.
But, have the HR departments crafted a vision for themselves? Have they gone back to the business and asked "what do you want from HR" and then used the same for crafting a vision for themselves? Unfortunately, the answer is often NO.
Possible fallouts are feelings of Role erosion, role ambiguity and an overall feeling of learned helplessness from the lowest rung of HR folks. Next "milestone" - massive HR attrition!
Think about it, let me know!
-Sid
Monday, July 30, 2007
Touching up scratches
Was thinking about the numerous scratches that vehicles in Bangalore have everyday.. I myself went in for a non-metallic white for my car thanks to this aspect.
How about we have "tattoo"-like metallic paint that can be peeled away and stuck on the scratches? Buy into the idea?
How about we have "tattoo"-like metallic paint that can be peeled away and stuck on the scratches? Buy into the idea?
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Agnostic designations
Considering the fact that promotions are often based on "perform the next role and u will move" maxim, competency mapping for designations from an "adopt an existing model" approach is all set to run into rough weather.
Career planning in terms of a designation framework might lead to three dimensional complexities in terms of domain, designation and roles being performed.
Much like in algebraic equations, what is required is to reduce the number of dimensions. So which one of them would you reduce? Designations! Make designations agnostic to roles and you will find people wanting to MAKE roles rather than TAKE roles. You will also have lesser number of people wanting designation-promotions as well as a reduction in social promotions. People would start running after meatier roles - 'coz what will matter will be the "kind of work" I do, rather than, "what I am called".
How will you handle those with a higher designation centered work value? Ensure that the role-agnostic designations are flashy! Simple na? (Remember Uncle Appu Kuttan on Radio city? :-) )
Cheers!
Siddhu
Career planning in terms of a designation framework might lead to three dimensional complexities in terms of domain, designation and roles being performed.
Much like in algebraic equations, what is required is to reduce the number of dimensions. So which one of them would you reduce? Designations! Make designations agnostic to roles and you will find people wanting to MAKE roles rather than TAKE roles. You will also have lesser number of people wanting designation-promotions as well as a reduction in social promotions. People would start running after meatier roles - 'coz what will matter will be the "kind of work" I do, rather than, "what I am called".
How will you handle those with a higher designation centered work value? Ensure that the role-agnostic designations are flashy! Simple na? (Remember Uncle Appu Kuttan on Radio city? :-) )
Cheers!
Siddhu
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Getting to the roots
"I am a researcher" said a researcher... "am a better one at that" said a cook.
Both were correct. May be the socially recognised vectors may differ for both, but, think about it! The cook tends to find out what the family wants before proceeding to soot the kitchen...
Often, we seem to forget to to the requirements gathering in our ever ready enthusiasm to deliver results. How often do we go to the stakeholders and ask them "what do you want from HR this month/ quarter"... probably the first two times, they would jump on us and give us a list of unactioned transactions... the third time onwards, they would have to start thinking... A great opportunity for us!
Think about it, let me know..
Sid
Both were correct. May be the socially recognised vectors may differ for both, but, think about it! The cook tends to find out what the family wants before proceeding to soot the kitchen...
Often, we seem to forget to to the requirements gathering in our ever ready enthusiasm to deliver results. How often do we go to the stakeholders and ask them "what do you want from HR this month/ quarter"... probably the first two times, they would jump on us and give us a list of unactioned transactions... the third time onwards, they would have to start thinking... A great opportunity for us!
Think about it, let me know..
Sid
Motivation??
Yeah.. am back
Was conducting a workshop for senior managers on managing performance, when I was explaining the Vroom's expectancy model... awesome piece of thought actually.. clearly helps put down motivation in an equation!!
What caught my attention was that it spoke about E, V and I in a positive context... Never spoke about the situation like "if u dont do ur work, u will lose ur job", or, "if you want to retain ur job, do this bit of work"...
Think about it! Let me know...
Sid
Was conducting a workshop for senior managers on managing performance, when I was explaining the Vroom's expectancy model... awesome piece of thought actually.. clearly helps put down motivation in an equation!!
What caught my attention was that it spoke about E, V and I in a positive context... Never spoke about the situation like "if u dont do ur work, u will lose ur job", or, "if you want to retain ur job, do this bit of work"...
Think about it! Let me know...
Sid
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Extended childhood
A few months ago, a 40+ years old guy in a company was a little jumpy 'coz his revised salary hadn't been updated in the payroll and his monthly requirement was 50K to payoff his EMIs! After the regular ego massage, he cooled down and said that he did not depend on his salary! His father paid all his bills.........
Considering a generation that has spent 30+ years in PSUs, the next generation(growing at a healthy rate) seems to be quite comfortably into an extended childhood! This very segment seems to contribute generously to the mall culture.
One other interesting possible offshoot is in the area of multiple careers in a lifetime. The driver seems to be a certain self propelling mode in the west, while it is one of comfort zone and economic extended childhood in India.
Could lead to issues for retention. Hikes may not be simple hikes. They would transalate into a "how much does my company want me" factor. If there is enough work on changing this mindset, apart from the hygiene factor salary increase, a paradigm shift in the way of running the business is in the offing.....
- Siddharth
PS: Thanks to a new found Gem of a friend for powerful insights (and a nice place for ice cream)
Considering a generation that has spent 30+ years in PSUs, the next generation(growing at a healthy rate) seems to be quite comfortably into an extended childhood! This very segment seems to contribute generously to the mall culture.
One other interesting possible offshoot is in the area of multiple careers in a lifetime. The driver seems to be a certain self propelling mode in the west, while it is one of comfort zone and economic extended childhood in India.
Could lead to issues for retention. Hikes may not be simple hikes. They would transalate into a "how much does my company want me" factor. If there is enough work on changing this mindset, apart from the hygiene factor salary increase, a paradigm shift in the way of running the business is in the offing.....
- Siddharth
PS: Thanks to a new found Gem of a friend for powerful insights (and a nice place for ice cream)
Sunday, February 18, 2007
The lungi dance!
A good friend of mine and I were discussing cats and their interesting personality traits when I remembered a few incidents that happened or used to happen with regular frequency...
A momma cat had once decided to place a kitten of hers in my house. Yeah, unilaterally decided to increase the headcount at my place (forgive the HR terminology). This was when I was in second standard. A few impassioned pleas from me ensured that the kitten got it's appointment letter and confirmation immediately. So began the story.
The cat wasn't allowed into the house those days and was given it's own quarters in a wooden box mounted atop a cement stand in the garden, but, nevertheless enjoyed the warmer precincts found under the then newly purchased Premier Padmini at home.
An uncle of mine had come down on deputation for shortwhile and being the proactive kind offered to lock the gate every night. It would be useful to point out that this gentleman wasn't too pet friendly, he used to maintain a stoic indifference at best that he thought hid the underlying apathy (more antipathy than apathy). Every night would see a certain (what I thought was hillarious) performance with a few variations thrown in for variety.
He would descend down the steps into the garden, bedecked in a lungi, gingerly holding a Navtal lock and a key. He would very discretely (or so he thought) look around for the fur-red fiend and start off towards the gate. His fiend had in it's mind decided that the lungi was it's plaything. So began the performance (with me peering out of the window and giggling as silently as possible).
It would begin with a soft 'mew' from the cat who would be seated strategically under the car. This would trigger a reflex 'look all around' response from unc. Sensing a passing of danger, he would gleefully rush towards the gate and lock it, returning slowly between the car and the compund wall.
The meow would be repeated at this point and would be followed by a meow meow alongwith a sincere "I am a friend not a fiend" look on the face while trying to play with the lungi. The poor chap (unc) used to be terrified and reply with a shoo shoo. The script would go like this:
Wraaoooum
Ay hrmmggmm (done with a closed mouth)
Meow?
Shoo shoo
Mew mew (tempo picked up)
Go, go away
The cat used to make strategic intrusions near the 'lungi territory' which left the poor guy totally go bonkers with terror writ all over his face.
By the time unc reached the door, the cat had had its exercise for the day and the grr grr s were louder from unc than all the tom cats in the neighbourhood algebraically summed.
Post script:
Uncle's family landed up in Bangalore the next year and aunt adopted a cat who had unrestricted entry to all areas of his house. Poor guy!
Continuing ta(i)les:
The following incident happened with the same cat, and included my cousin as a stakeholder.
The guy (a few months older than me) was 'instructed' by his mom - "no touching the cat with hands". Displaying a rare legal competency at that age of 8, he probably read the instruction carefully and decided to touch the cat anyways, but with a newspaper covering his hands.
Off he went with the day's newspaper, at top speed, trying to befriend the cat making all kinds of "I have some food for you" noises. Information overload and dissonance was writ large on the cat's physiognomy since the poor thing only saw a nut rushing towards it with a huuuuuge newspaper in both hands and yet making friendly noises!
The chase continued for a few minutes all over the garden, under the coffee shrub, across the hibiscus plant (where the editorial came to rest) until the guy spotted a rather large spider. That was enough for his to land up on his mom's lap, a whimpering poor kid!!
The cat was quite relieved as well.
The newspaper was then retrived from the garden and the editorial columns had a generous coating of the 'friendly neighborhood' bandicoot's intestinal ourpourings.
~ Siddhu
A momma cat had once decided to place a kitten of hers in my house. Yeah, unilaterally decided to increase the headcount at my place (forgive the HR terminology). This was when I was in second standard. A few impassioned pleas from me ensured that the kitten got it's appointment letter and confirmation immediately. So began the story.
The cat wasn't allowed into the house those days and was given it's own quarters in a wooden box mounted atop a cement stand in the garden, but, nevertheless enjoyed the warmer precincts found under the then newly purchased Premier Padmini at home.
An uncle of mine had come down on deputation for shortwhile and being the proactive kind offered to lock the gate every night. It would be useful to point out that this gentleman wasn't too pet friendly, he used to maintain a stoic indifference at best that he thought hid the underlying apathy (more antipathy than apathy). Every night would see a certain (what I thought was hillarious) performance with a few variations thrown in for variety.
He would descend down the steps into the garden, bedecked in a lungi, gingerly holding a Navtal lock and a key. He would very discretely (or so he thought) look around for the fur-red fiend and start off towards the gate. His fiend had in it's mind decided that the lungi was it's plaything. So began the performance (with me peering out of the window and giggling as silently as possible).
It would begin with a soft 'mew' from the cat who would be seated strategically under the car. This would trigger a reflex 'look all around' response from unc. Sensing a passing of danger, he would gleefully rush towards the gate and lock it, returning slowly between the car and the compund wall.
The meow would be repeated at this point and would be followed by a meow meow alongwith a sincere "I am a friend not a fiend" look on the face while trying to play with the lungi. The poor chap (unc) used to be terrified and reply with a shoo shoo. The script would go like this:
Wraaoooum
Ay hrmmggmm (done with a closed mouth)
Meow?
Shoo shoo
Mew mew (tempo picked up)
Go, go away
The cat used to make strategic intrusions near the 'lungi territory' which left the poor guy totally go bonkers with terror writ all over his face.
By the time unc reached the door, the cat had had its exercise for the day and the grr grr s were louder from unc than all the tom cats in the neighbourhood algebraically summed.
Post script:
Uncle's family landed up in Bangalore the next year and aunt adopted a cat who had unrestricted entry to all areas of his house. Poor guy!
Continuing ta(i)les:
The following incident happened with the same cat, and included my cousin as a stakeholder.
The guy (a few months older than me) was 'instructed' by his mom - "no touching the cat with hands". Displaying a rare legal competency at that age of 8, he probably read the instruction carefully and decided to touch the cat anyways, but with a newspaper covering his hands.
Off he went with the day's newspaper, at top speed, trying to befriend the cat making all kinds of "I have some food for you" noises. Information overload and dissonance was writ large on the cat's physiognomy since the poor thing only saw a nut rushing towards it with a huuuuuge newspaper in both hands and yet making friendly noises!
The chase continued for a few minutes all over the garden, under the coffee shrub, across the hibiscus plant (where the editorial came to rest) until the guy spotted a rather large spider. That was enough for his to land up on his mom's lap, a whimpering poor kid!!
The cat was quite relieved as well.
The newspaper was then retrived from the garden and the editorial columns had a generous coating of the 'friendly neighborhood' bandicoot's intestinal ourpourings.
~ Siddhu
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
What is it?
What is it...
with HR professionals and Cats?
The wicked VP - HR in Dilbert is a cat.
I am a HR guy, I love cats.
This is much like the conversation I had the other day with a researcher. Helped me get my frame in place.
My thought was a corollary of an article in TOI. The article spoke about employees with a 'bad' attitude. Out of my experience, I knew that more often than not, this titled is splotched on employees who seem to have a low tolerance to show of authority. Sounds familiar? You bet!!
Read up on Hofstede's 5 dimensions and one finds that he defines power-distance bottom up not top down. That is, the tolerance that a person / society has towards others exhibiting power-distance. I have put it very loosely described. Read up more on what he has written when you have time.
Coming back, I proposed a hypothesis on my thought - employees branded as having 'bad attitude' more often than not seem to have a low power distance. The researcher's perspective on this disproved it in a minute. How? Think about it and leave a comment. Will tell you if you are on track.
Siddhu
with HR professionals and Cats?
The wicked VP - HR in Dilbert is a cat.
I am a HR guy, I love cats.
This is much like the conversation I had the other day with a researcher. Helped me get my frame in place.
My thought was a corollary of an article in TOI. The article spoke about employees with a 'bad' attitude. Out of my experience, I knew that more often than not, this titled is splotched on employees who seem to have a low tolerance to show of authority. Sounds familiar? You bet!!
Read up on Hofstede's 5 dimensions and one finds that he defines power-distance bottom up not top down. That is, the tolerance that a person / society has towards others exhibiting power-distance. I have put it very loosely described. Read up more on what he has written when you have time.
Coming back, I proposed a hypothesis on my thought - employees branded as having 'bad attitude' more often than not seem to have a low power distance. The researcher's perspective on this disproved it in a minute. How? Think about it and leave a comment. Will tell you if you are on track.
Siddhu
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