In between the Conference

I had discussed in a  detailed post the impact of incivility under the title"Lost Customers, Lost employees & Lost productivity"   and how it can prove to be very expensive for the company in the long run.What is true of corporates could become true for professional bodies.

Here I wish to share an ugly incident I myself experienced recently. I had attended the Southern Regional conference of NIPM organized by the Chennai chapter at hotel accord Metropolitan ( Details of the learning from the conference have been posted by me separately in the last post ).At the conference, the first few rows were occupied by seniors-stalwarts some of whom have retired 15-20 years ago.I noticed that after each session, mike was  passed on only to the first few rows for asking questions.Most of the time they were not asking clarifications on the presentation made but giving their own  views on HR in general..when a moderator feebly protested & requested  to ask questions relevant to the topic, he was told that it was a senior member's right to express his views,which need not necessarily be on the topic presented.

 Seated in the middle rows,I had a question I wanted to ask.The person compeering had announced that written questions also could be sent across for answering by the panel although no one passed out slips or came to collect slips from the participants.However I took a sheet from my note pad, wrote the question and moved to the front to pass on my question. I had gone a little distance when  the compeer told me that time was up & that I can talk to the speaker during tea time. I told him that this is not fair & that equal opportunities was not being given to everyone. He was very annoyed at this but took my slip to the panel.It is another matter that it could not be read as tea was announced. I thought the matter was over.But little did I know that a great surprise was in store for me!

At tea break I chatted up with some delegates after which I was quietly sipping my tea when the compeer appeared from nowhere.He asked me angrily  "What is your problem?" I was just trying to figure out what he was speaking about when he started literally shouting at me as to how dare I insult him. He said that that I had actually  insulted not just him but the entire NIPM organizing team.I was taken aback by this accusation & by the disproportionate nature of his anger. I asked him quietly "Why are you shouting?" He continued to shout & said his voice is like that,on the higher side.I told him that by shouting at me before so many people, it is he who is insulting & humiliating me and not vice versa.At this time two gentlemen, senior in age came running & took me aside. I asked them as to "why they are are  concentrating on me when all the shouting & violence was being exhibited by the other guy" .In a way I could understand their plight, they dare not confront him when he is in such ferocious mood. Later they told me not to take it to heart & that the said person is known to be short tempered.

 Actually, I maintained my peace for three reasons. If two persons instead of one behaved in the same fashion, it could  result in a brawl with  HR professionals becoming  the laughing stock of society,the least you want to see in a professional conference. The second reason is that I was representing my company & needed to maintain the necessary discipline & dignity. The third reason was that quite a few of the present team organizing this conference was personally known to me and I did not want to embarrass them in any manner.

The compeer  was very competent in his role.In fact on the previous night he exhibited his prowess as a singer as well. I understand that he retired in a very senior position in HR from the industry. But does all this give him the right to behave in this manner to fellow professionals.Perhaps ,having worked in a very senior position he is not used to others even suggesting to him that "something is not fair"  which he deems as an "insult".

It is my humble opinion that professional bodies like that of NIPM need to introspect as to the kind of people they would like to project as their  face. All the qualifications in the world or all the brilliance in the world pale in to insignificance without emotional intelligence.If a HR person cannot manage his own emotions what can he tell or expect from others? I bring  this incident to the notice of HRDians only for the purpose that we need to remind ourselves that we may have to go that extra mile,difficult as it may be,  to practice what we preach.  

A participant’s account of the NIPM Southern Regional Conference-“The New HR agenda-Respond, Realign & Re position”

The conference started in the evening of 15^th November at the Accord Metropolitan hotel in Chennai and concluded the next day after a lot of interesting deliberations. As it often happens in conferences, you like parts of it, and it is for you take away what you find relevant & suitable. I am therefore in this post going to focus on what appealed to me instead of a giving a running commentary of everything that transpired.

In the welcome address the chairman of the Chennai chapter, Mr K.Manickam explained  the background for choosing the conference theme and its relevance, given the tough economic scenario that has impacted many industries.

It was the session on “Perceptions & expectations of CEO & stake holders” that I found the views of the entire panel insightful. Interesting & illuminating, right from that of  the moderator Mr Srivatsram, MD of Wheels India to the speakers Mr Prafulla Agnihotri, Director (HR) IIM Trichy,Mr J.N.Amrolia CEO, Chennai business school and Mr Deepak Kumar Hota, Director HR, BEML Limited.

Mr Srivtasram stated that he expected HR  to play a big role in the big challenge of communicating to employees correctly & frequently, the perspective of the management. In order to contribute appropriately & be effective, HR needs to understand the business part of the company. As CEO he continues to have the traditional expectation of HR being able to resolve conflicts. However, this needs to be done by taking steps proactively. Another important expectation from HR is that the function evaluates the skill level of employees after which in case the skills are less vis-à-vis the job requirements and the payment made to the employee, HR needs to take steps to ensure that the skills  are upgraded. He stressed on not only improving the skills but imparting changed /new skill sets as per changing requirements. The speaker wanted HR to become the ‘barometer’ for the management which is able to gauge the passion level of employees so that action can be taken to increase the percentage of passionate employees.

Mr Agnihothri pointed out the fact that the younger employees of today (Gen Y) have a mind-set that is very different from that of the older generation. They expect to be in senior positions at a young age, want more flexibility & autonomy. They seem to say “I am like this. Take me as I am” meaning they are  not prepared to dance to your tunes. They are also short term oriented & less judgmental and want a work-life balance. What a CEO expects is that the HR person is able to appreciate these changes & respond appropriately to retain and develop employees. Rather than merely playing the role of a recruitment agency, what is expected is that HR spots talent, lures talent and develops them. Mr Agnihothri said that quite a few HR persons are offering to come and give a guest lecture in his institution. The real purpose, he realized was to assess the quality of the students during these interactions. Past students are sent to take the selected candidates out for dinner and give them a pep talk on how their company is a very good employer. Another expectation from HR is that they maintain a healthy work culture and be known as a friend and mentor and not as a watchdog.  A CEO is seeking to have the best quality employees at all levels in terms of efficiency, knowledge, skills & attitude. He is looking to HR to make this possible- attracting the best, creating trust & respect in the organization.

Mr Amrolia opined that the expectations from the HR is in a way contextual. As for example , the expectation from the CEO of  a software company could be different from that of a manufacturing company. In general however the HR person needs to be the CEO’s sounding board- give the correct picture of what is happening in the company after accessing & filtering the information. He would expect that the HR person does not play politics- Tell the information “like it is” and not what people would like to hear.He shared incidents from his career when he had the courage of conviction to hold on to his position when he knew it was right. As for example, when 360 degree appraisals were introduced, it was agreed that initially for two years it would be used only for developmental purposes & that the results would not be shared with anyone. It would be known only to  one person in the company identified as champion for the purpose & the outside consultant. The CEO however could not contain his curiosity and asked to see them.Mr Amrolia stood his ground and the CEO though initially upset was able to see his point of view. This experience sharing reminds us that in order to be respected we, HRDians need to at least articulate clearly  our professional views.

 Mr DK Hotha, as was done by most speakers  throughout the conference underlined the need for HR to understand business. He said most HRDians do not make efforts in this area  and that they need to 'dirty their hands' and work hard to make an impact. He also drew attention of the delegates to the fact that it is CEO's with good HR orientation who are the most successful.He talked of the need to meet aspirations of people. In this regard he shared a story of an OD intervention in a previous company where a team went & met truck drivers in their own work situations, collected data on their needs & aspirations which were presented   before a management audience  that  paved the way for arriving at strategic decisions.  

In the session on HR business & strategy, Mr R Venkatnarayanan,Executive VP(HR) Rane group drew attention to the changing business realities & how HR needs to respond appropriately in the changing times.There is a need to approach Gen Y employees with realistic expectations-commitment to the organization during the period of their working with the company instead of expecting them to put in long years of service.Ms Parvathi Karthik,head talent management of TCS discussed the changing role of HR from that of responding to enabling and now advising. She explained in detail as to how in TCS,HR metrics have been aligned to the business metrics.This has changed the image of HR from being just a service provider to that of a key business driver.The HR strategy & plans are aligned to the HR processes, leading to HR outcomes that impact the business outcomes.The HR metrics are measured against the outcomes and also serve as inputs for changing or modifying the HR strategies and plans The metrics help in letting us understand whether we are on the right track in terms of recruitment for example.The head count ratio lets us know the actual intake versus the attrition which gives you a better picture about the success of the  recruitment effort.The metrics help in developing the next workforce plan, fulfillment of demands & addressing unorganic growth.Learning & development plan will emerge from the information as to how many of our team members are upskilling their competencies from level-1 to expert level.

Another area you can measure is the effectiveness of your employee connect or communication exercises  (As for example in my company Hyundai,  the effectiveness of  events  "Coffee with CEO" for executives & supervisors .and lunch box meeting in which shop floor employees meet the VP production and HR can be assessed).Are they improving quantitatively & qualitatively? You can find out the relationship between the employee connects & attrition.Ms Parvathi stated that research has shown that "people who are connected do not leave the company." In TCS,all the metrics are reported to the business heads along with the comparative average of the various businesses. This also enables sharing of best practices.

Mr N.V. Balachandar ED(HR) Ashok Leyland underlined the importance of dovetailing HR strategy to business.As for example training calendar needs to be realigned each year in accordance with the changing needs. He said that the long time vision of HR is to be articulated & made known to everyone in the organization.HR ought to be contemplating "How can I excite people to join me and remain with me?"He also spoke about the need to provide the necessary resources & tools for employees to enable them to perform effectively.For example your  traveling salesman may be denied or given restricted access to 3 G card   which is most essential for his effectiveness while  a CEO or director may be given the card  which  they may  hardly use .With regard to rewarding good work, he felt that HR need to constantly look for innovative  ways  to recognize & reward, as studies in India  show money  alone does not motivate employees to give their best.

In the session on  Talent management & employee engagement the moderator Mr Prasanth Khullar,Director (HR) Luxury hotels, pointed out that customer engagement is not possible without employee engagement.He said that the staff of the Taj hotel Mumbai selflessly saved many lives of their guests during the terrorist attack.The question was asked as to "How do you train people to sacrifice one's own life  & save other's lives?" Care is taken to select caring people right from the time of selection.Importance is not given to marks scored by candidates but on their behaviour towards seniors, teachers & parents.The engagement activities for creating a sense of belonging include  inviting an employee to visit the hotel along with his family to dine in the hotel's restaurant as against the normal norm of the hotel industry which is- " where you work you should nor dine" The new joiners on getting married is granted free stay at the Taj for their honey moon.

Mr Issac Arunkumar Head (HR)Telecon ISU TCS, stated that the engagement model needs to create a sense of purpose & a sense of belonging.It is high engagement that leads to a better retention.He also explained how employees are encouraged to participate in CSR activities  and stated that their experience was that "Those engaged in CSR activities tend to be more engaged".

In the session on "New age workforce Dynamics"  Mr Venkateswaran, Dy MD(IR) sanmar group who was the moderator felt that situations tend to change rapidly & hence we need to understand the the live situation on the ground and respond which could mean a change in approach.Mr A.S. Girish Head HR Appolo tyres brought in the much appreciated humour in an afternoon session. He pointed out that the British institute of personnel Management had stated decades ago that "The business of personnel management is business." As early as in 1954 Peter Drucker had asked the question "is personnel management bankrupt?"  Yet not much has happened over the years in terms of the HR practitioners  becoming business savvy.He used a cartoon to indicate that the present status dealing with workforce is one of 'subsidized conflict & confrontation.A customer focus , becoming a strategic partner & HR getting to the center stage is the need of the hour.Towards this end we need to have strong HR policies, become the employee champion( so that employees don't run to the union for everything) and elicit partnership attitude from trade unions.The success of a IR or HR person lies in his ability to have insight in to the mood of men and his tact in dealing with them.

Overall I felt that the conference threw up some thoughts for us  HR professionals to introspect- Approach to business, approach in dealing with the younger employees whose number is going to increase day by day, adopting of HR metrics to make a mark and the challenge of  engaging & developing employees among other things. Responding to these challenges positively would enable us to realign and re position ourselves for success .

Visit of Brand Ambassador to Factory

A few days preceding the visit of the brand ambassador to our Chennai factory,the reactions were mixed. While it was excitement for the average employee, it was  "what is the big deal ?"He is anyway past his prime." kind of responses from the so called intellectual representatives of the population. It was surprising in a way that Shahrukh Khan who  had been the brand ambassador for Hyundai Motor India Ltd since the initial stages of production from 1998 was visiting the factory for the first time on 17th October 2013.

As for me I knew from experience that it is those who put on an air of not being impressed who tend to be overwhelmed by the occasion. My memories transported me back  to 1976 when the then matinee idol of Tamil cinema, MGR  was to visit & interact with the hostelers of  our AM Jain college, Meenambakkam, Chennai.Before the D day, some were critical of the invitee while others appreciated him openly or silently in their hearts  . What was interesting was that one person who was extremely vociferous in his   criticism was caught on camera on the day of the visit, his eyes unable to conceal the pleasure of standing near the celebrity  while all the thirty two teeth were visible in his smile.

As for our brand ambassador, as expected he not only floored the employees but also the press & the senior executives who were present during  interactive session..He spoke of how in 1998 both him and the company were in the initial stages of their journey and today both have come a long way. He shared his excitement at that time of bagging the assignment with a reputed auto major and how he had proudly announced this to his family members.

Shahrukh confessed about his soft corner for the santro, the first car he had promoted - how he was sentimental when newer cars like the I10 came from the Hyundai stable & was apprehensive as to whether the production of the Santro would be stopped.He expressed his happiness in  going round the world class facility and of being overwhelmed by the love & affection showered on him by Hyundai management & employees in general and the shop floor employees in particular.

The press also seemed to be in a holiday mood and when given the opportunity to shoot questions to the brand ambassador or to the top management of Hyundai chose inane questions to ask.As for example the first question to Sharukh was as to which of the Hyundai cars was his favorite? His answer of course was obvious. In fact a later question the reporter stated was being  addressed to Santrowala Sharukh Khan!

Another question asked was "With the general elections around the corner and the fever increasing by the day, whether you have any plans of joining a political party?" Sharukh replied that the only party he has intention of joining is his son's birthday party! Shahrukh went out of his way to graciously shake hands with a  number of employees. with a little more drive & gumption I also could have got to shake hands with him. Yet,it does not matter;even with a physical distance as between  the stage & the audience he had found a place in my heart by his sheer humbleness, wit & quick repartee. In her books"The Secret"and "The Power" Rhonda bryne advises us to look for things we appreciate  in other people.As we do this more often we are opening the window & the possibility of  attracting these qualities to ourselves.

I had devoted an entire post in this blog on the power of appreciation and the appreciative inquiry concept developed by David Cooper rider under the guidance of Suresh Srivastava. The key to its application is to focus on what we want rather than on what we don't want.This would mean that we focus on  enhancing the respect & regards for the gentler sex instead of on her harassment. During recession, instead of focusing & fretting  on the grim aspects, the focus can shift to enhancing the delight experience of customers.It is said that while most companies cut their training budgets at the first sign of difficult times, the Japanese increase their focus & expenditure on training & developing their employees. They use the opportunity to develop the skills of their employees who would have been in normal times very busy with their target achievement.

The present time of economic slowdown can be used by us to sharpen the saw so that many more trees can be cut effectively when the climate shifts to a more favourable  weather.We can attract better things in to our lives by shifting the thoughts & feelings from pessimism.doubts & apprehensions to optimism and positivism with the confidence that we are effectively  equipping  ourselves for the future.

The Right Man for the Right Job

The other day I was  traveling with our GM(HR) when the subject came up regarding appropriate posting of employees to get the best out of them in the best interests of the organization. I told him that I had written an article on the topic years back for the magazine published by the Mysore chapter of NIPM. He expressed an interest  to see it. So I fished for it among old documents at home and managed to trace it. When I read through the article, I felt that it was as  relevant today as it was when I first wrote it.

Therefore I am sharing the same with readers in this blog without any changes, meaning you may come across the flavor of 2002 here & there -

" Continuous learning,unlearning and relearning has been advocated in a fast changing world.Yesterday's solutions we are told, are no longer valid today.so much so new concepts are emerging by the day to be discarded or replaced by new ones.Thus we have had techniques such as management by objectives ,managing by wandering around, kaizan,empowerment, emotional intelligence  and so on  enjoying patronage at various points of time.But one thing we have all agreed on since the early days of professional management is the need for placing "the right man for the right job"

"Matching the two, the job and the man is the key" is what we were told in 1980 when I passed out. In 2002, it cannot be said differently.Yet experience tells us that that this is a tough ask.There is a gap between text books and the nitty gritty realities of the industry.There are too   many compulsions particularly in a country with a huge population meaning pressure to accommodate those who are less than a perfect match
.
Even after providing employment,not much effort is made to ascertain & analyse the natural aptitude of the candidate while placing him or her.There are even instances of employees sent  abroad for intensive technical training at a considerable expense to the organization, being posted to unrelated areas on their return from training.These things happen because in our country many of us still believe that what actually matters is the production volumes and that appropriate placements and other such exercises merely distract attention from the core purpose of achieving targets. yet it is only the employees with correct fit who can meet the requirements of the demanding customers of today.In the words of  an  eminent management thinker"Most people in large organizations are so preoccupied with the "urgent matters that there is very little time for the "important"matters That is the reason why that so very little time is spent on deliberate thinking or conceptual thinking."

This article seeks to emphasize that matching the man /woman with the job is one such 'important'matter that demands deliberate thinking and action.Carol Coleman in her book "Late bloomers"writes that "in an ideal world we would all be free to choose careers that we find exciting & interesting.We would not be pushed in to jobs on the basis of sex stereotyping,economic need or any consideration apart from desire & aptitude." Often times in our real world however many considerations other than desire and aptitude influence our decision while  choosing our own calling and the posting we give to those working with us.With a little more care and deliberation we can more optimally utilize our human resources.
Every human being has his strength areas in which he can naturally excel.If the person is provided an encouraging environment in which his natural instincts and abilities can blossom,excellence is assured.However signals given to a young person starting on a career is to choose a profession that is very lucrative or held in high esteem in terms of status rather than one's natural aptitude.

Now let us look at the situation after an engineer has secured employment.In a government department, he   is given designations of junior engineer,senior engineer, superintending engineer etc .All the while he is reminded of the fact that he is an engineer. In an industry,however the engineer is designated as junior manager, assistant manager,manager and so on .He is constantly reminded that whatever might be  his core calling;his contribution would be measured against managerial competencies. Little wonder then that after the initial anxiety and  interest to understand the basic technical process of the industry,the focus of the engineer shifts to planning,organizing,directing & controlling.

If the employee has the full freedom to devote his time & energy to what he has the natural aptitude and training, without the fear that his future prospects in terms of status or monetary benefits would be adversely affected,best results can be assured.In the instant case an engineer can concentrate on continuous improvement of technical processes,quality issues,avoiding rejections etc without being burdened with the problems of man management. Another person having a natural flair and training for administration can take care of the planning,organizing,directing & controlling activities. Both can work shoulder to shoulder solving the problems of the shop floor together without feeling threatened by the other,their roles being clear cut.They feel safe with  the knowledge that at a particular level in the organizational hierarchy both enjoy the same facilities whether monetary, or other office privileges like person transport.

By insisting on the engineer playing the role of an administrator, the damage can be twofold.The time that can be utilized for becoming a more effective employee technically is lost. Secondly the work team may be saddled with a manager who is not only ineffective but goes through the motions of his role with dread and discomfort. Of course all rounders as in a one day cricket team are undoubtedly great assets. But it would be fatal to the Indian team to declare that a specialist bowler like Srinath or Harbhajan will have no role in the team because they are not equally adept at batting. It would be equally absurd to suggest that Brian Lara does not have a place in the side for want of bowling prowess.

While summarizing, it is to be reiterated that the 'right man for the right job' is a valid mantra that cannot go out of fashion.It needs our due attention. While people who have natural flair and competency in diverse skill sets can be encouraged to move to roles of their choice, it need not and should not be a norm especially if the shift is not what comes naturally to the individual.According to Jane Roberts,social scientist "Nature and your own nature works best when left all alone. You will find that you excel in those areas that you let yourself alone and do what comes naturally because you are inclined in that direction." What we need to do is to work as a team in harmony while each one is doing what comes naturally to him/her.It is better to be a first rate carpenter than a third rate doctor,engineer or HR person. It is better to be a wonderful 'you'than a lesser 'some one else.'In other words,for best results you need the"Right people in the right jobs"

All ideas in one place

 Dear fellow HRD ians

I started  this blog with the following post in September 2012.

"HR at crossroads- A new path, a new way is the need of the hour"

Recently the Nehru Group of Institutions invited me to speak  in their 24 hour HR conclave on "HR practices for the next generation"which gave me the platform to tell the management  students everything I have been discussing in the blog .
I have provided the link so that readers can get in one place  everything I wanted to say.
Rest in my next

Lost Employees,Lost Customers & Lost Productivity

A young friend from the education industry brought to my attention  an interesting article "The price of Incivility" published in the Jan-Feb issue of the Harvard Business Review. The article discusses the losses caused by incivility in business or work place that can actually be converted in terms of money. We generally know that incivility is not good and that it does adversely affect work. In the article however, the authors point out that the losses can in fact be arrived in terms of hard cash. The article mentions that even in a "exemplary work place" like that of CISCO, incivility cost was estimated at $12 million a year.

The article goes on to discuss methods of how we can improve civility in the work place which include hiring for civility and making civility an important element of performance appraisal. I felt an uncanny similarity between some of the things discussed in this article and the subject matter of my post "Back to the Basics" in this very blog. Uncivil behaviour mentioned in the article include  door slamming, side conversations/ exclusions and blatant disregard for people's time. It can take subtle forms such as sending Emails during a presentation or boss who "teases" direct reports in ways that sting.

 These days uncivil behaviour seems to have become a way of life. I was recently attending a national conference of the prestigious Madras Management Association in Chennai. The conference had just begun with the key note address in progress and I was seated in one of  the front rows. A gentleman seated next to me  opened his I pad and was absorbed  in it. To me this was clearly unacceptable as this not only meant disrespecting the speaker but also disturbing me the neighbour. "This could as well have been done at home, why drive this far to work on it? "I muttered under my breath. To this the gentleman responded Ï beg your pardon!" So this time I repeated my thoughts clearly. In all fairness to the gentleman he immediately closed the I pad and focused on the deliberations of the conference. In the times we are presently living in, it is possible that people do not even realize that they are exhibiting uncivil behaviour.

The HBR article goes on to say that in the face of incivility creativity suffers, performance & team spirit suffers  and customers turn away.Uncivil behaviour in public, in  the presence of customers puts them off  and they are not likely to buy from that organization even if the bad behaviour is not aimed at them  directly but is  an altercation  between two employees. If employees are targets of incivility they could knowingly or unknowingly  take revenge by  coming  through negatively before the customer ,thus adversely affecting business.

 I recently visited a multi product show room of a well known distributer who has  branches in various parts of Chennai city. My aim in entering the Puraswalkam branch was to buy a suitable suit case for travel. On the way up to the 4th floor I asked for directions and also observed the employees. I had feeling that the whole place was overstaffed and employees more busy chatting up amongst themselves rather than paying attention to the customers. When I reached the suitcase section, the sales person who attended to me was cordial enough but there was a general feeling of discomfort in my body  and finally I ended up leaving without making the purchase from that place.

The costs of incivility  mentioned  in the HBR  article which is based on a poll involving 800 persons in 17 industries reveals that among employees who have been at the receiving end of incivility

• 48% intentionally decreased their work effort
• 47% intentionally decreased the time spent at work
• 38% intentionally decreased the quality of their work
• 80% lost work time worrying about the incident
• 63% lost work time avoiding the offender
• 66% said that their performance declined
• 78% said that their commitment to the organization declined
• 12%said that they left their job because of the uncivil treatment
• 25% admitted to taking their frustrations out on customers

The article has suggested that employees/ leaders  look at themselves to see where they stand in terms of appropriate behaviour  and keep tabs on progress. At the organizational level hiring for civility, teaching civility, creating group norms, rewarding good behaviour and penalizing bad behaviour will go a long way in creating the appropriate climate.

In my "Back to the Basics" post quite a bit of what is mentioned above was discussed. It did not however have the backing of solid data based on research. Now with the availability of  the above facts, it is all the more reason for us to acknowledge the basics. the bedrock of which is respect for every one around you , whether colleagues or customers. When basics are in place we do not have to fear loss of employees, customers or productivity. On the other hand. complacency and a disinclination to act could make the title of this post a distinct possibility.
 Good Luck! 

contributing to Service Excellence

Employees working in the service domain whether in the hospitaliy industry or the manufacturing  face a lot of challenges.One such challenge is to maintain the same motivation  to serve day after day even when the activities have begun to feel repetitive and  hardly any compliment is forthcoming  from the customer (particularly internal) who on the contrary seem to be easily critical.

In such a scenario, over a period of time the personnel working in the canteen, transport, medical & other areas tend to slip and complaints come in regarding rude or inconsiderate behaviour.As a response to this situation, the VP(HR) wanted me to design and roll out a training program for employees in  HR, particularly General Administration.

To me this was an opportunity to include all the  concepts that I hold dear and have discussed in this blog.It was decided to link the content to the core values of the company- customer, collaboration ,people & challenge(Globality being the fifth value). Under 'people' aspects of developing rapport (using NLP as a tool ) and building trust was discussed. The content under ' customer' included identifying all your customers, their needs & expectations and coming out with ideas for providing a 'Aha moment. Under collaboration similar execise was done to identify the peer departments & their needs/expectations and how they can be met to enhance rapport was discussed.
A session discussed the challenges & difficulties faced by the participants in their own individual areas of work followed by a session on handling stress and remaining calm & composed  under pressure using  the Emotional Freedom Technique  (EFT).The tapping  tecnique was practically taught to the participants.They were also drawn attention to the need to keep their self esteem levels very high in order to work effectively in this role.

Towards the end, appreciative Inquiry (AI) exercise was done wherein the participants shared before the whole class, stories of the time when they felt on top of the world while at work or while  engaged in an  intense activity. (see the post on "On the Appreciative journey"  for the methodology adopted) . Key qualities were picked up from these stories by the participants  which they said they would like to emulate/replicate  in the course of  their present work.

Finally, we made positive affirmations based on the high points identified and a mind programming exercise was done (see the post on Mind Reprogramming)  to install these in the minds of participants in an alpha or meditative state.Studies have shown that any activity we do continously for 21 days becomes a habit & part of our system.Thus whether we smoke for 21 days or exercise for 21 days it becomes natural to us. I advised the participants to do the mind programming exercise for 21 days . I also offered to handhold & take them through the exercise everyday for fifteen minutes  for the next 21 days which they accepted.

At the beginning of this post we discussed as to how maintaining excellence in service is a big challenge with a number of constraints that need to be overcome by an employee  every inch of the way.Any contribution however small from us  Learning and Development could tilt the balance between  success and giving up. In the great  Indian epic Ramayana, there is the instance of everyone contributing to the big task of building a bridge for Rama to cross over to Lanka to save Sita. A squirrel was found weting itself, rolling on the sand and then taking it the point of the planned  bridge to add the sand that had stuck to its little body-. Even the squirrel according to its ability!
In the same manner, we should all endaevour to contribute our mite to this wonderful cause of excellence in service for when it happens consistently, brings cheer to many and benefits the organization in more ways than we can understand or imagine..