In the eastern tradition it is always the collective that comes first.Individualism on the other hand is paramount in the western culture.As all the countries of the world are now increasingly influenced by the west, individualism has begun to dominate all aspects of life.
The joint family system with its merits & demerits have given way for nuclear families.The schools focus on competition & becoming toppers with little or very little focus on winning as a team and supporting each other.No wonder then, that in corporates the buzz word is talent management.The belief is that if we have counterparts of a Sachin Tendulkar or Virat kohli in our team,we cannot but succeed and that the other guys don't matter..In cricket matches it is quite obvious and we have seen it many times , that all matches in which Sachin hit a century India did not win.It is only when other members also perform that a team wins.As results are not immediately known as in a cricket match, corporates continue to function with this myth in place.All policies are accordingly formulated to develop and nurture'individuals".
In fact performance appraisals are now being done on the percentile system, initially developed by an American university for assessing students and later replicated in corporates. This system compare employees with each other & assesses as to who among them are outstanding,good and who are average and below average.In a previous company which had this system in place, I have seen employees working with lot of expectations prior to the annual appraisals.Once the results are out, if they got a high rating or promotion they smile.If not,the chest caves in and for the next three months they just go through the motions unable to concentrate on the job.It takes a while for them to pick up the pieces and slowly move towards performing normally or enthusiastically.Towards the end of the year, it is once again frenzied activities and high expectations.Then the appraisal results are out and the cycle continues depending on what rating a person got.
Similar responses from employees are observed in other companies following the percentile and the bell curve in their appraisal system under which no matter how well they perform, team members are essentially to be placed in a curve with some rated average or below average. While lip sympathy is extensively given to the word "team work" employees know that in the real world out there one has to be constantly be in competition to get ahead.Today, the right thinking people in the west have begun to question the efficacy of the system for getting the best results.But it is the converts in the east who are die hard fans of the concept and feel that "everyone"including non performers would be rated as "Outstanding" by the assessor in the absence of safeguard provided by the percentile system. When a GM(HR) told me this, I was wondering as to whether this situation did not reflect more on our own competence as HR professionals.We are admitting here that we had recruited average or below average employees to start with.If this is not true and we had recruited an outstanding employee and he has now developed into an average employee,does it not tell more about us and the culture of our organization that turns gold into bronze?.
In the competitive mode team members tend to over estimate their contributions.Marshall goldsmith in his book"What got you here won't get you there" states "All of us in the work place delude ourselves about our achievements,our status & our achievements. We overestimate our contributions to a project, take credit for others work,have an elevated opinion of our professional skills and our standing among peers." People will exhibit that behaviour that is encouraged & recognized and not what we just talk about as important''. If we want our people to exhibit team behaviour, those who exhibit this behaviour needs to be honoured and a teams'contribution assessed and awarded rather than an individual's. Training needs to focus on building skills of teams rather than as individuals.
It is high time that we stopped aping the west blindly but understand our own motivations and drives.This would mean looking out for and developing our own case studies instead of looking towards Harvard university for them. We may find then that contrary to the diet we have been fed for some time now, that we work best when winning as a team,when we are not rushing in a mad frenzy, looking over our shoulder all the time to ensure that no one overtakes us. We may find that our calmness, clarity of purpose and collective desire to win is much more powerful than individual brilliance that does not have the support and cooperation of other team members.
The joint family system with its merits & demerits have given way for nuclear families.The schools focus on competition & becoming toppers with little or very little focus on winning as a team and supporting each other.No wonder then, that in corporates the buzz word is talent management.The belief is that if we have counterparts of a Sachin Tendulkar or Virat kohli in our team,we cannot but succeed and that the other guys don't matter..In cricket matches it is quite obvious and we have seen it many times , that all matches in which Sachin hit a century India did not win.It is only when other members also perform that a team wins.As results are not immediately known as in a cricket match, corporates continue to function with this myth in place.All policies are accordingly formulated to develop and nurture'individuals".
In fact performance appraisals are now being done on the percentile system, initially developed by an American university for assessing students and later replicated in corporates. This system compare employees with each other & assesses as to who among them are outstanding,good and who are average and below average.In a previous company which had this system in place, I have seen employees working with lot of expectations prior to the annual appraisals.Once the results are out, if they got a high rating or promotion they smile.If not,the chest caves in and for the next three months they just go through the motions unable to concentrate on the job.It takes a while for them to pick up the pieces and slowly move towards performing normally or enthusiastically.Towards the end of the year, it is once again frenzied activities and high expectations.Then the appraisal results are out and the cycle continues depending on what rating a person got.
Similar responses from employees are observed in other companies following the percentile and the bell curve in their appraisal system under which no matter how well they perform, team members are essentially to be placed in a curve with some rated average or below average. While lip sympathy is extensively given to the word "team work" employees know that in the real world out there one has to be constantly be in competition to get ahead.Today, the right thinking people in the west have begun to question the efficacy of the system for getting the best results.But it is the converts in the east who are die hard fans of the concept and feel that "everyone"including non performers would be rated as "Outstanding" by the assessor in the absence of safeguard provided by the percentile system. When a GM(HR) told me this, I was wondering as to whether this situation did not reflect more on our own competence as HR professionals.We are admitting here that we had recruited average or below average employees to start with.If this is not true and we had recruited an outstanding employee and he has now developed into an average employee,does it not tell more about us and the culture of our organization that turns gold into bronze?.
In the competitive mode team members tend to over estimate their contributions.Marshall goldsmith in his book"What got you here won't get you there" states "All of us in the work place delude ourselves about our achievements,our status & our achievements. We overestimate our contributions to a project, take credit for others work,have an elevated opinion of our professional skills and our standing among peers." People will exhibit that behaviour that is encouraged & recognized and not what we just talk about as important''. If we want our people to exhibit team behaviour, those who exhibit this behaviour needs to be honoured and a teams'contribution assessed and awarded rather than an individual's. Training needs to focus on building skills of teams rather than as individuals.
It is high time that we stopped aping the west blindly but understand our own motivations and drives.This would mean looking out for and developing our own case studies instead of looking towards Harvard university for them. We may find then that contrary to the diet we have been fed for some time now, that we work best when winning as a team,when we are not rushing in a mad frenzy, looking over our shoulder all the time to ensure that no one overtakes us. We may find that our calmness, clarity of purpose and collective desire to win is much more powerful than individual brilliance that does not have the support and cooperation of other team members.
