Collective Desire to Win

 In 1983. when one day cricket was still in its infancy the third ICC Cricket  world cup tournament was played in England and a dark horse India made it to the finals and it's young captain laid his hands on the trophy.This was a match  billed as between David and Goliath and little David managed to win.The mighty West Indies which had won both the the first two world cups, boasted of all time greats such as Vivian Richards,Clive Loyd, Gordon Greenidge,Andy Roberts,Malcom Marshall and Michael Holding in their team.India on the other hand had more of inexperienced youngsters.

The winning captain attributed  the success to 'team spirit'. He then described team spirit as "nothing but a collective desire to win." This is an interesting definition and can find relevance in any field including corporates.In 1983, the collective desire to win kept on increasing for the Indian team, with each unexpected success and the team motivated each other to perform at their best.The problem arises when the 'collective desire' is replaced by 'individual desire' to win.; whether it is a football team or a music composing duo. doubles tennis pair or a script writing team of two or more members. When thoughts like "whether I contributed more than you" in the success begins to enter the mind the roots of the 'collective desire' tree begin to get cut.

The challenge for HR in the corporate situation is to keep reiterating and highlighting the importance of the collective desire for success which should take precedence over individual brilliance. In a play, no matter how great an individual actor may be, his dominance should not affect adversely  the overall effectiveness of the script.We are told of an incident on the sets of  the acclaimed film director Gulzar's 'Koshish' in which both the male and female lead were deaf and dumb.While filming  two scenes the hardened, experienced crew who have been part of filming all types of scenes over the years in the film industry, were found weeping uncontrollably.The first thing Gulzar, who is a brillant editor as well, did at the editing table was to delete these two scenes.The reason given was that the  impact of the rest of the movie and its totality would have been wiped out by these two scenes.

I would like to conclude by underscoring the importance of the "collective desire" It's impact is not for a particular assignment at work but has far reaching relevance for future successes as well.Let us as HRDians  accept this challenge of keeping the flag of "collective desire to win" flying  high in our organizations.

From the Notes of Yesteryears- 3 Effective E Learning

This post is  based on the gist of notes I had taken from an article written by John.W.Cone and Diana.G.Robinson in the August  2001 edition of the Training and Development magazine.To my mind, the significance of E learning and its possibilities are all the more today than it was in 2001.Further, some of the ideas suggested for ensuring performance change post the  E learning exercise  can be gainfully applied to the regular class room training as well.

According to the authors,  the two problems that have been noticed with increasing frequency in respect of structured learning through technology are

1) Poorly designed E learning experiences: It is the same old stuff from the instructors and guides; the change being only in the medium.
2) Insufficiant focus on the work environment system after the learning experience (for ensuring change in performance)

The following action points  have been recommended to ensure performance enhancement post training:-

(a) Even prior to designing and implementing E learning solution, ensure that the learning design supports the results. At the stage of  'need assessment', the readiness of the work environment to support the new or improved skills be considered.
(b) Assess the need for the training intervention through conversations with client managers and program participants.
(c) Meet the client manager to agree on actions that management must take to address identified barriers to skills transfers.
(d) Resist and oppose the client manager's request to provide an e learning solution when the work environment won't support skills transfer and consequently the desired results.


While preparing the E learning solution, the following need to be kept in mind:-

• The E learning solution design is equiped to  remove or minimise the effect of work environment barriers.
• The solution connects to existing job processes and systems, especially those, that are also E systems.
• The system anticipates and tweaks the design to  the actual conditions of use of the learners.

• The design provides for enabling managers to give coaching. 

Finally, some tips for follow up to ensure effectiveness of the E learning after implementation:-

1.  Stay connected with client managers to ensure that they are taking the agreed upon actions pertaining to the work environment.
2. Make provision for  prerequisites   and requirements for attending the course that are comparable to those for tradional programs.
3. If the E learning solution is stand alone, develop a method to indicate to the managers that their staff has has completed the program or module. This will enable managers to meet up with their employees and discuss how to apply the learning.
4. Monitor participants after training to determine whether they are applying what they have learnt.
5. In case of a lack of transfer, determine the primary causes and meet with the client manager to decide on actions.

The matters discussed in the article  are  relevant for any training intervention and not necessarily only  for E learning.To that extent, an L&D manager can profit from  these ideas for effectively contributing in his role. The article  provides inputs  for applying at  various stages of the training process, with the focus being on improved performance on the job after the training.  

Momentary Unpleasantness Vs Bigger heartbreaks....

This happened around the year 1999- 2000. I was working in the corporate office of a PSU in Bangalore.A young man had come to meet me from KGF (Kolar Gold Fields) along with his uncle and a local political lightweight.Initially, there was some belligerence in their approach. However, from the moment of greeting them, I put the visitors  at ease, smiling and encouraging them to speak.The youngster was mostly silent and a major part of the talking was done by the politician.

They  related the purpose of their visit thus:-  The youngster's father was an employee of the company's KGF unit.He expired while in service a few years back. The boy had requested for employment under the scheme for 'compassionate employment' which is extended  to any one of the family members of an employee dying while in service.It appears that the HR at the KGF unit had  told the candidate that there were some  pending cases which needed to be attended to  first and that his case would be considered on  a later date.Quite a few years had lapsed since then and nothing had happened, in spite of the family frequently following up the matter. Now, they were fed up and had come to the corporate office for resolving the matter.

After listening to them patiently, I told the visitors that the department of public enterprises, Government of India had issued guidelines withdrawing the scheme of employment on 'compassionate grounds' and that the scheme was presently not in vogue.I checked the date of the death of the employee to find that the death had occured after the discontinuation of the said scheme. When I explained the position to them, initially they were very  upset, considering the number of wasted years during which period  they were waiting in anticipation and had  put in a lot of efforts on follow up.

I empathised with the candidate and enquired about his qualification.On learning that it was certification from  ITI ( Industrial training institute), I asked him as to why he did not try for a job all this while when job opportunities were available in the  nearby city of Bangalore.Even if he was waiting for the PSU job, experience in the intervening period would have been very valuable for molding him as a confident employee.After a fairly long conversation, the visitors appreciated my frankness and said that "atleast now we know the actual position and can move on in life and look out for other job opportunities."They further said  "Had this been told to us earlier,we could have avoided so many years of anxiety and  heart burn" and left for  KGF.

The incident was indeed sad and painful.There are occasions when those of us working in administrative positions put off unpleasant actions or decisions in order to avoid momentary discomfort but this actually leads to more complicated situations and heartburns on a later date.

Some managers also have the habit of evasiveness and avoid meeting people who come to them with grievances.When I was transferred as Head- HR of the company's Mysore unit, my personal secretary initially used to ask me "Sir, there is this employee who says he wants to meet you on some issue, shall I tell him you are busy and send him away? ". Later however, when he understood that  my style of working was to invariably meet the employee, he began to only ask "Sir, would you like to meet him now or what other time or day would be convenient? "

Evasiveness does not solve problems.On the other hand, open and free communication clears the air and misunderstanding; even if we cannot meet all the expectations of the employee.

From the Notes of Yesteryears- 2 Human Asset: The Key Differentiator in Service Industry

This is the gist of a talk I listened to some time back of Mr Jagadish Kini, then Executive Director of Airtel. The speaker started out by reminding the significance of the service industry that contributes to 40% of the GDP of the country.He said that in the service industry, more than in any other industry 'customer delight' is paramount.In this connection 'IDEA'  and constant ideation of the employees to make the customer experience better and better is the key.The idea ( I do every action)  also needs to be translated into action to be of value. Any small idea is a big idea if implemented!

Building up on the concept of IDEA , the speaker suggested providing opportunities to ideate, away from the mobile, laptop and the 'madding crowd'-  A think tank room to dream, to ideate and to wait...There is a need for all of us  to take time out to dream; for it is dreams that generate passion. Mr Kini recommended dreaming in colour;when you dream in colour you look for details.He said that in Airtel, they are seeking to develop a culture of dreaming.


As the human assets are the key differentiators, we need to ensure their motivation and energy levels.After they have gone home in the evening after work, the next morning should seem exciting and motivating with  employees happy to remain with the organization.Do we respect our employees? We do pooja to the machines on Ayudha pooja day; similar pooja and devotion needs to be shown to employees. These people who make 'customer delight' possible should be given customized attention to ensure high motivation levels.

Towards the above intention there is a need for honest, forward looking, inspiring and competent leadership  at the top with clarity of  goal and a vision. The key to success is value added competence or in other words having a new way or outlook for looking at anything.Another important requirement in this connection is 'Fun at work' with people really enjoying their work.Performance management that includes talent management  and crossfunctional exposure is also important.

Today aspirational management is a big challenge with attrition levels ranging from 25-30 % in the service industry.It is here that the concepts discussed in the earlier paragraphs would help considerably.Customizing development plans for each employee and working on their strengths rather than the weaknesses would yield good results.

Live IR Experiences and Insights

In the industrial relations summit organized  jointly  by  NIPM and the Karnataka employers's association in 2015 and also during the talk of Mr K. Ramkumar, National President NHRD in a Hosur meeting on the subject "Future of HR", it was opined that IR will come back in a big way.I have been of the opinion that although in India we have had a wealth of experience in IR matters, there is hardly any documentation of the same for the benefit of students specializing in HR or for the fellow practitioners.In this connection i felt that it would be worthwhile to contact those who have had IR exposure and elicit from them details of how they handled various situations.

In this connection I requested a former colleague,Mr  N.Srinivasan , presently working as Manager (HR) to share his experiences.He readily agreed to share his experience and insights on the subject.  The account of Srinivasan as related by him is given below:-

“I joined a manufacturing MNC in 1998 as HR Coordinator whose work was mainly maintaining time office / leave mgmt. of the workers and also taking care of employee’s welfare.

 I then moved to Industrial Relation Department in the year 2008 and worked there for 5 years. I believed that I had a good rapport with all workers and a natural flair to easily move with the workers at all levels. Hence I opted for a department that had many IR issues and where many senior workers were working. I strongly believed that such a department would give me a lot of opportunities to learn in the field of IR.

After taking up the new assignment, I began one to one discussion with all workers. During the discussion I first told them about my family, native place, my career so far in the company. It was a surprise to me that some of the workers were very open and shared intimate details of their personal life such as father has two wives and hence “I have additional responsibilities and personal commitments in my life”. These discussions enabled me to get to know the employees better.

The period 2007-2010 saw a tough time in IR, since a rival group a CITU based Union was fighting for their recognition. A good number of workers were members of this union and started creating problems. I was able to assertively state the management position without fear in spite of the reluctance of employees to accept the management stand. A group of workmen even submitted a complaint letter against my behaviour. However, I was able to function without much difficulty in a hostile situation mainly on account of the rapport build up earlier due to frequent interactions. Frequent interaction with workmen on the shop floor is a must for maintaining good IR. It is my submission that an IR or HR representative should listen to the views and grievances of employees and respond suitably. If there are shortcomings from the admin side, it should be accepted and corrected.

Case study

I had taken action against one of the workers who was addicted to alcohol and frequently absent from work. I thought that taking disciplinary action will improve his attendance. But this did not happen in spite of his being warned and suspended many times. One day he reported for duty after a long period of absence. He stated that he had been ill and I asked him to get fitness from company Chief Medical Officer. Simultaneously I explained to the Medical officer that he was alcoholic and a case of frequent absenteeism. Doctor asked him to undergo a liver function test to get fitness. After two days he came and met the doctor with the report. Doctor immediately called me and before me informed him that his liver is severely affected and his life is under risk.

The employee was scared on hearing this and did not reply for a moment. Doctor enquired about his family, children and other details. He was touched by the personal concern exhibited by us. Subsequently, with his voluntary consent we moved him to a de-addiction center. There, he cooperated well and underwent the treatment wholeheartedly. Separate counselling was provided to his wife. After a month he recovered and reported to work as normal person. Presently his attendance has improved considerably and he makes it a point to often thank the Management. When I visited shop floor, he tells me that he now has more time to spend with his daughter and wife and has been able to begin life afresh.

Interestingly, the employee  started counselling his friends working on the shop floor and they also moved away from alcoholism. He also visits the de-addiction center and explains about life before and after stopping alcohol. There are similar success stories of employees who had become slaves to alcohol. In such cases getting the employee to accept the grim situation and creating in them  a desire to come out of it is very important. Counselling of the spouse in order to get her support to the deaddiction process is equally important.”

It is worthwhile to note that the examples and experiences shared by Mr Srinivasan is related to aspects that straight away impacts the production.Solving the live issues on the shopfloor which are connected to the day to day concerns of your customer  is a  sure way  to get his appreciation and he will look up to HR to solve more issues and contribute more to his success and success of the organization.I hope to bring more of such live experience sharing in future posts.

From the Notes of Yesteryears- Power of Ethics in HR Management

Ms Padmaja Iyengar or Paddy as she is known in poetic and literary circles, had written on the blurb to my book "Straight from the Heart- thoughts and Experiences of an HR Professional" as also in a comprehensive review on the book later appreciating my 'documenting and knowledge sharing skills'.I have been sharing the information gained from attending a seminar or conference from the time I started writing  my blog in september 2012. It suddenly struck me that during earlier periods also I had taken notes from live seminars as also from books that I had read.It would be worthwhile to share these with readers and  it would help me also to go back and read them easily.

I start this  series with an interesting and enthusing subject "Power of Ethics in HR management". The speaker was Anil Sachdeva, CEO, Grow Talent and the period was around 2000- 2001 The speaker  stated that there is great strength in the (1) Power of unconditional love (2) Power of appreciation  and (3) Power of inspiration which need to be leveraged.. The biggest strength of India is its population.If the people of India are inspired, it could shake the world.Character is bigger than all the material wealth.The biggest role of HR is in creating character- remind people of the goodness within them.Every person is u nique and  has a role to play;every human being who works for you has a unique quality.HR's  focus should be on "How do you get ordinary people to recognize their greatness and the purpose of their taking human birth.

A person's real wealth are his values.The stakeholders look at the reputation of a company which in turn is dependant on organisational  values and values of its people.In a corporate scenario,  we should keep in mind that producing more with less is the  ultimate knowledge and ethics involves 'giving more than what you take.'  Businesses are places in which you discover who you are.Good ethics is living by your values; corporates with vision and values ensure sustainable development.

'Talent' which includes unrealised (potential) and realised ( competency) talent,  can be described as as a sum of capacities and values and.ethics is the key to make full use of talent. It is imporatnt to listen to stakeholders and act on them as "action speaks louder than words." Practising ethics requires the appropriate architecture with the work place being in harmony with values.This enables building of trust and HR has an important role in building  this environment.

We need to ask the question "What legacy are we leaving behind? Practising ethics is smart business and in giving, you always get more.HR should focus on weeding out inappropriate and unethical  behaviour.While hiring, developing,rewarding and recognizing people,  HR should keep in mind that they have the right values.Sharing the right stories and instaling the appropriate symbols is an important role of HR.

Addressing Real Needs of Customers

In My book "Straight from the Heart-Thoughts and Experiences of an HR professional" and also in my
blogs in general, I have been calling attention to the fact that our internal customers do not perceive HR as meeting their "Real needs". In stead of  facilitating and making their jobs more comfortable, line managers  see HR personnel as those who  wake up now and then to implement another bright idea or the latest fad  that will reinforce the relevance of their existence.

In this connection even the routine activities pursued and followed up by HR, as for example the performance appraisal process,  is seen by the line as a  pain in the neck. Its completion is achieved within  the deadline through arm twisting  and  threats of denying  annual raise  in salary in case of  failure to do so. No effort is made during downtime to explain to the internal customers the significance of the process and how atleast in the long run, it would enable line managers to have competent people in their team.

Many years ago in 1996, I joined a central PSU as HOD of training department. Couple of months in to the role, I suggested to the GM at corporate office, my reporting officer, that we organize a Line-HR workshop which could throw up the real needs and issues of the production departments.Addressing these needs would earn respect for HR.It would also be an opportunity to clarify and correct any misconceptions or  unrealstic expectations that they may have from HR.As for example, many line managers, even today do not want to know and understand at a personal level about employees working in their department.The moment an IR or HR issue comes up, the tendency is to refer it to the HR department and wash one's hand off. It is similar to referring to the maintenance department, the moment a maintainance issue crops up.

Yet, the fact remains that involvement of the production staff before and during a machine breakdown by providing inputs to the maintenance engineer makes a big difference.Information as to when the problem was first noticed, the symptoms observed  about the problem etc goes a long way in helping the maintenance engineer to set right the problem faster and more efficiently. Similarly, many HR/IR related issues can be known sufficiently in advance, and nipped in the bud if the production  managers and supervisory staff are actively involved.Infact, to my mind, in view of the  line managers and supervisory staff being the first contact of employees, it is most essential that they are  equipped with the minimum human relation skills.Engineering colleges would do well to include this as one of the subjects in the curriculum.


Coming back to my offer to organize the HR-Line Workshop, the GM was aghast that I even  thought it fit  to make such a suggestion- "What is the problem now? Are there any issues between HR and line? Are you trying to create problems between the two functions?." Thus my proposal got a silent burial even before it was born. I exhort youngsters of  today to take up such an   initiative and those in leadership positions to support them  as this  could show HR in a proactive light instead of being seen as  'reactive' most of the time to the 'Real needs' of customers.

I would like to end with the submission that HR needs to continually engage and dialogue with its internal customers to find out their real needs on the ground and offer home grown creative solutions to them.Nothing much will happen if new ideas are introduced because someone somewhere has done it or because it sounds good to claim to the world that the latest fad has been implemented in one's company.It is high time that HR seeks inputs from production / line departments as to how an issue can be addressed, instead of insisting on playing the role of the expert, providing readymade solutions every time.