Managers who make a Difference

I attended a  webinar 26/8/2020 organized by NHRD Hosur chapter featuring founding father of HRD practices in India Dr TV Rao who along with  Dr Udai Pareek mooted for the first time  the replacing of  personnel department with HRD department.  As a result the focus changed from traditional maintenance activities of personnel departments  to developmental activities..  The topic for the day was " Managers who make a difference" which is also the title of one of Dr Rao's books . 

 During discussion, the speaker  also referred to ideas discussed in his book "HRD Missionary" that talks about four levels in which a person may operate (1) Performer (2) Achiever (3) Visionary and (4) Missionary. Most people are content with  being performers. Organizations also prefer having on their rolls performers with a few achievers. They don't promote visionaries and missionaries, busy as they are with the bottom and top lines. 

Dr Rao said that one should aspire to be in higher levels than that of a performer. Not everyone would like to be missionaries like Mother Teresa or Dr Verghese Kurian Founder of Amul. But one could and should aspire to reach the level of a visionary. Dr Rao said that a person does not have to be senior in age or an IIM graduate to become a visionary. It is sufficient if you have a different way of thinking. He cited the example of Narayanan Krishnan, Indian chef turned social worker who preferred to feed the homeless and mentally disabled  in the city of Madurai Tamilnadu  rather than take up an an elite job in Switzerland. The speaker asked the participants to assess where they are at the moment in terms of the four levels and where they would like to be.   

Dr Rao said that the HR people are favourably placed to slip into roles of visionaries as they have the advantage of constantly dealing with people, be it the employees, customers or other persons related   to the organization. Today, with covid 19 staring at our face we become more conscious of the role of a doctor in saving human lives. HR is a profession that takes care of both lives and livelihoods of people. The challenging times are to seen as opportunities to experiment and come out with solutions for sustained employment and livelihood. HR should go beyond the rule book  and seek to explore and engage in building culture. 

 People working in organizations have the opportunity to use time beyond their 9 to 5 jobs for activities that would fortify them to become visionaries and later missionaries if they wish. For becoming an achiever from a performer ask questions, get feedback and do more and different things. As our actions are influenced by thoughts it is important that they are focused on matters  like life stories of achievers and being in the company of people with aspiration. It is when you aspire to be higher and better instead of being content and comparing with those who are doing less than you that you become an achiever. 

Visionaries exhibit a novel kind of thinking, always looking for opportunities in problems. As for example the covid 19 challenges, the migrant worker issues etc.  are all looked at from a problem solving mindset. Visionaries are always on the lookout for long term benefit of society in any area. Senior managers can look at providing opportunities to juniors for playing role of achievers and  visionaries.

There was a question from the audience as to what one should do if the bosses do not allow you to take up activities of an achiever/ visionary. The speaker said beyond your eight hours of duty, the time is your own, to be used as you wish for your development. If the boss does not agree even to this it is  advisable to quit the boss and the company.   The concept of 360 degree feedback  was evolved specifically for this reason to promote upward feedback and letting bosses know what their people are thinking about them.    

What I particularly liked about this session was that Dr Rao was very relaxed and candid while sharing his thoughts.  He encouraged participants to raise queries on the matters discussed. I would like to conclude by stating that this was a very rewarding session that gave interesting  insights as to how to  become effective managers "who make a difference".  After all, the talk was given by none other than the father of HRD practices in our country!