Interview-Author's Lounge

Dear Readers

I have been sharing the posts of all my three blogs ( www.hrdian.blogspot.in, www.corporatepoem.blogspot.in and www.rajeevianlinesandverses.blogspot.in) in "rate my literature.com"(RML) , a site devoted to featuring the writing of amateurs.

Ms Padmaja Iyengar (who along with her son Etentacles administers the site), interviewed me for her monthly feature"Author's Lounge which traces the writing journey of various writers who regularly contribute to RML.With her permission, I am sharing the link for your perusal..

http://www.ratemyliterature.com/magazine/read/authors-lounge--in-conversation-with-paddy--mn-rajeev-aka-rajeev_5586.html  (This site is presently down for maintenance)

Authors’ Lounge – In conversation with Paddy – M.N. Rajeev a.k.a. Rajeev Moothedath

 M.N. Rajeev (a.k.a. Rajeev Moothedath) is one of those rare persons who straddles a high profile corporate career and his passion for writing with equal ease. It is not every day that you see a busy corporate professional making time to read and appreciate amateur writers. Well, Rajeev does that and how well too! He reads all the blogs on RML and posts his well-considered feedback.

Rajeev deftly manages to write sensitive poetry and interesting HR-based articles with equal dexterity. His presentation of highly complex HR issues in simple terms that is understood even by a layman, speaks volumes of his writing and presentation skills. While in corporate parlance HRM refers to Human Resource Management, according to me, Rajeev is a double HRM specialist – Human Resource Management and Human Relations Management, concepts of which come across so well in his writes. Rajeev’s documentation skills too are noteworthy. He has shared on RML the details of many a corporate program that he has attended, of which he had apparently maintained meticulous notes to be recalled and presented as articles of great value to the reader.

                                                                                               

It would interest you all to know that he holds a key position in a leading automobile MNC in Chennai and is also a member of the Chennai Poets’ Circle.

Come, let’s discover together other facets of Rajeev’s career and personality!

1.  1  Hi Rajeev! Greetings from RML! And a warm welcome to the Authors’ Lounge! Please share something of your background and early life with us.

 Greetings to you Paddy and the RML fraternity .It is indeed a pleasure and privilege to be interviewed by you and to be featured in Authors’ Lounge.

 I was born in Ernakulam, Kerala and had my schooling in Kendriya vidyalaya Ernakulam. I feel it is my school that shaped my personality to a great extent as there was a lot of focus on co-curricular activities and not just on studies. This gave me the opportunity to participate in essay writing, debates, singing and acting in dramas. We were encouraged to read news during the morning assembly. We also had a good library from where we could borrow books and read magazines & journals.

Those days we were required to choose electives of study right from high school. I chose Economics, history & English Literature. This meant being exposed to Shakespeare’s Julius Ceaser, Thomas Hardy’s novel “Far from the madding crowd” and also to poetry of poets like Shelley, Keats, Thomas Gray, Alfred Lord Tennyson and others.

After schooling, I did graduation in economics and post-graduation in social work with specialization in personnel management (as HR was then called) from the reputed Madras School of social work. This opened the door to the corporate world and I joined as a management trainee in Visvesvaraya Iron & steel Ltd Bhadravati, Karnataka.  Later, I got LLB degree from Mysore University. Since then I have been working in the HR function in both the public & private sector companies. Presently I am the HOD of learning & development (training) department in an auto major MNC operating out of Chennai.

2.  2  Wow! a great start in life and an upwardly mobile professional career! Amidst all this, when and how did the writing bug bite you?

It is an interesting question. In view of the creative climate at school, I started writing when I was around twelve years. The first poem was shown to the class teacher who had edited it so much that it only vaguely resembled what I had originally written! Later when I was in class X, I send a poem to Indian Express. Those days we did not have separate children’s corner in newspapers. I received a regret reply stating that my writing showed promise but that I need to keep on writing to improve. Although, no publishing happened, I continued to write in a note book which I called “A book of hobby” that now included short stories as well .Our school had a competition for bringing out manuscript class magazines every year to which I regularly contributed. Later I contributed to the college magazines.

After starting work, the “Book of hobby had less and less entries. A poem would come on first wedding anniversary and another at the time of the birth of first child. The priorities had shifted unconsciously. During this period all writing skills were limited to office correspondence for which there was fair scope as I was then working in public sector.

Sometime around the year 2000, I developed an interest in writing articles on the corporate life, its priorities and challenges. Some of them were published in the management section- Avenues’ of the Deccan Herald,    leading newspaper from Bangalore. National Institute of Personnel Management, Mysore Chapter also published my articles in their annual magazines.

It was in September 2012 that I decided to write a blog on HR matters. After I had written a few posts, someone suggested that I make it available on Indi blogger for better readership. This proved true But more importantly, it exposed me to creative writing in the form of poetry, short stories etc which prompted me to resume poetry writing and start a separate blog for nonprofessional writing, touching on  general subjects. I also started a blog exclusively for corporate poems. Later another noble soul introduced me to RML and the warmth I received here was an inspiration to keep writing. Today, if I have been able to post more than 90 blogs it is on account of encouraging readers.

  

3.  3  That’s interesting! What is the difference you find when you write a profession-related piece and a literary piece like poetry? And which according to you is more difficult?

The spark is the same whether I am writing a professional article or creative poetry. It is just that a lot more time needs to be spent on the article as it tends to be longer. For me, a quicker output is possible when writing poetry. But the satisfaction one derives on completing either of the forms is the same.

4.    4 Here on RML, we have had the privilege of reading a good number of your professional HR based articles. Do you believe that the principles you speak of, can be applied to our day to day life too? If so how?

You may have noticed that most of my articles are related to the basic human nature like practicing core values, power of appreciation, civility in behaviour and power of storytelling to drive home a point. These can be applied with benefit as much in our personal lives as in a professional environment. As for example expressing appreciation & thanks to your wife for her wonderful cooking would make her happy as would an appreciated employee for work well done.

Disclosing more about yourself & seeking feedback from others (Johari window) will enhance trust whether at home or at work.

5   5  I for one know that you are a very committed and passionate corporate trainer. What motivated you to take up training? And how did you hone your training skills?

In the initial stage of my career I had the good fortune of being selected for a “Train the trainer” program. 21 of us got trained and were expected to train the remaining 520 executives of the company. This assignment was in addition to our regular work. I found myself enjoying this activity. Later, I volunteered for similar OD initiatives. One’s skill, confidence and comfort levels tend to go up over a period of time. I also got the opportunity to see many trainers at close quarters and appreciate the varying styles & its impact on the participants

6   6 How do you manage to divide time between your family, profession and writing? How do you prioritize?

Today, the children having grown up (both sons are working), do not demand much time. On the contrary, we have to demand time from them which they may prefer to spend with peers & friends!

Writing is mostly done in a few lines or para when I get the time & inspiration. When it adds up to a whole article, I publish in the blog/RML.

As ideas come to mind, I note them down in a small book to be developed later.

7   7  Do you read a lot? What kind of writing appeals to you? Who are your favourite writers?

I used to read a lot more than what I am doing presently. The interest & taste in the nature of books have also changed over the years. Enid Blyton books as a child, then P.G.Wodehouse, James Hadley Chase Erle Stanley Gardner (Perry Mason), Agatha Christie and Harold Robins. Over a period, the interest in fiction dwindled and I got drawn to books of Dale Carnegie, Norman Vincent Peale, Deepak Chopra, Wayne  Dyer, Brian Weiss(Many Lives, many masters), Louise Hay(You can heal your life),Dr Bernie Siegel(Love, Medicine, Miracles), Anita Moorjani(Dying to be me)  and James Redfield (Celestine Prophesy).

Simultaneously the books of management authors like Moid Siddiqui, Edward de Bono, Spencer Johnson, Dr Marshall Goldsmith. Kennath.H.Blanchard and others also interested me. I also read books on spirituality (Eckhart Tolle- Power of Now, Publications of Osho / Ramakrishna mission/ Ramana Maharshi/Brahmakumaris)

  8. What is your message to all the young writers out there, who are passionate about writing, but are caught up in their professional preoccupations and family pressures and commitments?

I only have a simple message for all the bright, talented youngsters who have an interest & flair for writing and are also working. Do not let what happened to me, happen to you.The profession should not put a break to your creative pursuits. Keep writing a few lines every day and before you know it, you would have a substantial body of work in writing over the years. The wonderful internet is today available to you. Therefore publishing & readership is not a problem. So make the most of it!

L & D Leadership League

I had the privilege of attending the L & D leadership league for learning & development professionals organized by 'People matters' at Chennai in hotel ITC Chola  on 16th September 2014 . The half day conclave was  attended by around 150 professionals representing various industries and service sectors.

Normally, in HR conclaves the focus gets diluted as L&D is seen only as a segment of the big umbrella of HR.One may  also  not get the opportunity to meet so many L&D professionals under one roof. These two aspects by themselves can be described as a major achievement of the conclave.


In the first session  Mr Muthu Kumar Thanu, CHRO of Tractors & farm equipment ( TAFE ), set the tone for the proceedings in his plain speaking unambiguous language as to what is expected from L&D professionals. He pointed out that learning by itself would not be meaningful unless it is applied on the job. Similarly learning is not just for one level of employees but should include all levels of employees. when we look at best practices for replicating, we need to keep in mind that the same is contextual. Hence the need to pick up those practices that are relevant & practical in your context or to modify it suitably to make it relevant.


Mr Thanu also spoke about the distinction between leadership learning & behavioural learning. In respect of  the former, the participant after training. should exhibit business attributes such as achievement orientation, be thorough with the business process and have exposure/ experience of what actually happens at the shop floor. The latter should result in a change in behaviour while interacting with  customers & colleagues  at the work place. Behavioural learning should contribute to building the desired culture by reiterating the values expected from employees.


Mr Thanu stated that it is a myth to assume that learning is a solution for all ills. You need to first find out the actual problem & examine whether learning is the solution & then provide it. As for example a disciplinary problem cannot be solved by a training intervention. There is a need to measure the impact of training. Today, learning is an important means of engaging employees. He signed off with the observation that the challenge is for learning to happen at a faster rate than change.


The next session was what the organizers called 'Table host discussions' which was planned for about an hour. As per this format, in a span of one hour, five topics would be discussed led by a distinguished HR practitioner at 5 points/tables in the conference hall.Every 15 minutes, participants will move from one point to the other to listen to the discussion on a new topic. Finally, the leaders who led the discussions would give a summary of the topic based on the results of discussions.
The five subjects for the table host discussion were the following:-
1) What are the design interventions required to build a learning culture?
2)  What are the ways of developing leadership attributes in an organization to foster a learning  culture?
3) How can culture encourage innovation in an organization?
4) What is the ROI of training and what does it mean in terms of a learning organization?
5)  How can organization leverage technology to inbibe pervasive learning in an organization?

Although the table host discussion appeared to be an interesting & novel cocept, during execution, it was found that people spend a lot more time at the first table they went to, meaning sufficient time was not available for the other tables.I myself managed to attend only two and half  of the five topics for the discussion.A stricter implimentation limiting the topics to only two or three would have been more effective, given the fact that only an hour was alloted for the exercise.
When the leaders of the five groups presnted the summary, I found the one on designing interventions for building learning culture (Sl no 1) made by Ms Smitha Murthy, AVP & head OD,Infosys BPO, most   impressive for its clarity & innovative suggestions. The suggestions included the following:-

a) L&D needs to do its own marketing and convince participants as to what is in it for them.
b) Reach out to the influencing  20% key people for spreading the advantages of learning resulting in reaching out to 80% of the population (on the lines of the Pareto principle).
c) Form a learning council having representatives of various levels of employees.Individual development plans for each employee can be implimented imediately  with the clearance of the council
d) Let learning be linked to the personal vision of employees

The next session was facilitated by Ms Meena Surie Wilson,Senior enterprize associate of the centre for creative leadership during which  she underscored the role of experiential games & experiences for driving home leadership lessons to participants.The experiential exercise involved cards being distributed to participants with various scenrio from the work life out of  which they were required to select 3  in an order of priority, based on which their leadership style & inclination was predicted.This was refered to as a 3D approach for balanced leadership development.

The half a day league had two more sessions before we wound up for lunch.This included a session on "Critical thinking capabilities" by Shashir Shetty,national sales manager of Pearson talent lens and another on "Gamified engagement" by Mr K.Ganesan,VP-HR of Tata consultancy services.Of the two, the presentation by the latter was very impressive.Mr Ganesan, at the outset outlined the challenges faced by TCS, an organization employing 3,50000 employees, in attracting talent and retaining their interest.It involves letting prospective employees know how the company is different from others.

One of the most important initiatives in this regard is engaging with students long before they have become employees of the organization.In a software company like TCS, recruitments are made in large numbers but the actual placement on the job could take much longer time.Even after physically reporting  for the job, they could be on the bench for long periods before being assigned a project.It is here that TCS has developed the concept of 'Campus commune', the largest campus portel in the world. Through the portel, the company keeps in touch with students right from their first year of engineering.The portal provides opportunities to participate in technical  quizes, gaming, certifications in terms of technology. The preference, likes,dislikes  & inclination of students are known right from the first year and it is like obtaining their digital footprints for a period of five years.

As for example the company found that students from a textile background are very good in computer designing.In the education-exposure-experience model, participation index in the various activities and the scores is a criteria for success. A person's batching will be delayed if he doesn't get a minimum acceptable score & mileage points in the moving speedometer.Engaging students & employees yet to be posted to assignments and retaining their interest in the company and  & in maintaining technical sharpness are all achieved through this initative which has proved to be very effective & fruitful.

Overall for me, the L&D leadership league was a good opportunity to stimulate the brain, gain some new knowledge and exchange notes with fellow L&D  professionals.Perhaps, a whole day program or less sessions with more focus in a half day program could have made it even more effective. The organizors, however deserve all appeciation for a wonderful initiative that is certainly different from the usual conferences.