Spring edition 2012 Unplugged Revival of industrial relations in India Kaleidoscope Practices of Andragogy in the Workplace Experts Speak Challenges to Change Agents
Mar 23, 2016
Spring edition 2012
Unplugged Revival of industrial relations
in India
Kaleidoscope Practices of Andragogy in the
Workplace
Experts Speak Challenges to Change
Agents
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Volume 1, Issue 1
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Page 2 Contents
Foreword Message from the HOD 3
From the Tree's Roots 4
Unplugged Bonding over Unions: A case for the revival of 5
harmonious Industrial Relations
How politicians are creating Industrial Relations
uncertainty 8
Role Of Women In Trade Unions 10
Experts Challenges to Change Agents- Identifying
Speak Human Perspectives 13
Graphology a tool for Human Resource
Manager 21
Coffee with Interview With Mr. Anshuman Kumar 29
Corporate
Kaleidoscope Positive Writing and Well Being 32
Practices of Andragogy in the Workplace 33
What is Leadership? – Mystery resolved 36
Get Inspired Passion, Perseverance and Performance 39
Page 3 Message from the HOD
Dear All,
I am pleased to state that the team members of “The People Tree” have
continued their sincere efforts in bringing out the second edition of this magazine.
The previous issue had a number of insightful articles from our students as well as
the students of other management institutes in the country. This student magazine
has been well received by our alumni and also by industry and business readers. I
hope that their support will continue. I take this opportunity to congratulate once
again all those who have contributed to this edition.
With Best Wishes,
Dr.K.B.L Srivastava
Head, Department Of Humanities And Social Sciences
IIT Kharagpur
Dr. K.B.L Srivatsava Head, Department Of Humanities and Social Sciences IIT Kharagpur
Page 4 From The Tree’s Roots Dear Readers,
Industrial Relations (IR) is one of the most important aspects of Human Resource
Management. However, it is a well known fact that IR profiles are least sought
after by HR students. The recent happenings in our country such as the strike at
Maruti‟s Manesar plant have made us rethink IR and its importance. In this edition
we have tried bring out some of the prominent issues related to IR specifically in
the Indian context. Along with this we have other interesting articles as well that
will certainly strike a chord with you.
We express our heartfelt gratitude to Ms. Shruti Singh, expert graphologist,
Mr.Akshaya Kashyap,Manager HR,Coromandel International Ltd. and Mr.
P.Murali Krishna, Senior Officer HR,Coromandel International Ltd. for their
valuable contributions.
This edition also features the interview with Mr.Anshuman Kumar, Associate
Director, Employee Engagement and Internal Communication,HCL
Technologies.
We are thankful to all the students from various colleges for the effort and time
they put in towards “The People Tree Article Writing Competition” and we take
this opportunity to congratulate all the winners.
Happy Reading!!!
Team ‘The People Tree’
Arunv Sahay Neha Agarwal Prashasti Shankar
Supraja Rajagopalan Ashish Kumar Dilip Jha
Page 5
Unplugged
Bonding over Unions: A case for the revival of harmonious
Non-recognition of a new trade union
One of the burning issues discussed in 2011 was the strike at Maruti Suzuki's plant
at Manesar, Haryana. The strike began on 4th June, 2011 with the striking workers,
estimated to be around 2000, demanding the recognition of a labour union at the
site, a demand not accepted by the company‟s management. Maruti's management
had not provided recognition to the labour union at Manesar as it had already
given recognition to another workers‟ union under the name „Maruti Suzuki
Kamgar Union‟ (MSKU) at Gurgaon.
The company didn‟t see the need for another union. Hence, as certain workers
stated, the company wanted the Manesar staff to sign documents agreeing to
affiliate themselves with the union at the Gurgaon plant (BHATTACHARYA,
2011).
The workers weren‟t ready to do this and refused to go back on their demand.
Their resolve only grew stronger when support poured in from various quarters.
Workers in up to 65 factories at the Gurgaon-Manesar industrial belt held a two-
hour tool-down strike along with the outside support of the All-India Trade Union
Congress in coordination with unions such as the Centre of Indian Trade Unions,
Hind Mazdoor Sabha, Indian National Trade Union Congress and United Trade
Union Congress.
With the movement against the company having gathered momentum, tripartite
negotiations between the Haryana Government, MSI management and the workers
began. The negotiations ended successfully and the strike was eventually called off
on 17th June after the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr. Bhupinder Singh Hooda,
mediated between the workers and the management of Maruti Suzuki India's
Manesar plant (Business line bureau, 2011).
An agreement was signed with the management agreeing to re-instate all the
sacked 11 employees who took part in the agitation, with no mention of
the demand for formation of the new union. But Mr. Sonu Kumar, President of the
proposed union, claimed that the application, which was submitted on 3rd June for
the formation of the new union, to the Haryana Labour Department will get the
necessary approval (Business line bureau, 2011). But this application was later
rejected by the Haryana Government, a sign of victory for the company .
Sheldon Carvalho
XIMR, Mumbai
Page 6
Unplugged
Source: Business Line
‘Good-conduct bond’- the entry barrier
On 29th August, production at the Manesar plant of Maruti Suzuki India
Limited (MSIL) came to a halt as workers refused to sign a „good-conduct bond‟.
The bond sought an assurance from workers that they will not resort to go-slow,
sabotage production or indulge in any activities that hampers normal production at
the plant. The company observed serious quality problems to have arisen during
quality checks at the company, something the company believed to have come out
due to the „deliberate negligence on part of the workers‟ (Dhawan, 2011). The
company terminated the services of certain workers and also suspended certain
others on charges of indiscipline and deliberate sabotage of the quality of its cars.
The workers, however, said the management was taking these steps in “revenge”
for their 13-day strike in June. Rather than resolving the issue with the striking
workers, Maruti defiantly planned to recruit new permanent employees to replace
the existing ones who refused to sign the bond (PTI, 2011).
The Haryana Labor Commission stood behind the company insisting that the good
-conduct bond is as per the rules and termed it a „certified code of conduct‟ of the
company. Later, workers of Suzuki Powertrain India Ltd. and Suzuki Motorcycle
India Pvt. Ltd. went on an indefinite strike to express solidarity with their
protesting colleagues at Maruti Suzuki India's (MSI) Manesar plant (Bureau,
2011). The strike ended on 1st October with an agreement brokered by the Haryana
Government in which MSIL agreed conditionally to take back suspended trainees,
while the workers agreed to sign the „good- conduct bond' as desired by the
management (PTI, 2011).
Page 7
Unplugged
Later, workers of Suzuki Powertrain India Ltd. and Suzuki Motorcycle India Pvt.
Ltd. went on an indefinite strike to express solidarity with their protesting
colleagues at Maruti Suzuki India's (MSI) Manesar plant (Bureau, 2011). The
strike ended on 1st October with an agreement brokered by the Haryana
Government in which MSIL agreed conditionally to take back suspended trainees,
while the workers agreed to sign the „good- conduct bond' as desired by the
management (PTI, 2011).
IR- An escape route for avoiding Manesar 2.0
There were losses for all parties involved in the two issues. The company
suffered losses due to loss of production. The employees lost wages for striking
work. The Haryana government could see future investments directed outside the
state. The united trade union movement lost its relevance when the workers argued
for a non-political interference in the stand-off. In fact these losses could have
been avoided or at best reduced, if the parties collaborated to resolve the two
issues.
It was the responsibility of the management to understand why the
employees wanted a new union. Usually a conflict arises when employees perceive
(correctly or incorrectly) they‟re getting a raw deal. Once this is perceived, it
should be promptly dealt with. In this case, probably the employees wanted a
separate union as they felt that the existing machinery was inadequate in handling
their grievances. So one of the steps the management could have taken was to call
for a joint consultation immediately after the employees raised the issue of the new
union. This meeting would have brought out the hidden issues. Each issue could
then have been discussed and then resolved amicably, without the need of an
external party or a new trade union.
Companies should create a systematic database of all aspects concerning
quality to ensure transparency when arriving at certain important policy decisions.
Such information should be shared on a monthly basis with the employees to
ensure that smooth production goes unabated. Education and training on the
quality tools and techniques is a must for proper interpretation of the information.
The Personnel department has a huge stake in creating and maintaining a
harmonious Industrial Relations environment. Personnel activities such as
recruitment, wage revision, humane work conditions and welfare activities
concern the worker directly and hence a well-defined, precise personnel policy
goes a long way in maintaining a positive work environment.
Finally we need to recognise that an agreement doesn‟t end at the negotiation stage
with the signing of the agreement. Companies should ensure that it is implemented
in true spirit and revised at various stages to see if expectations and aspirations of
all the parties are being fulfilled. The importance of harmonious IR to avoid
another Manesar cannot be emphasized enough.
Page 8
Unplugged How politicians are creating IR uncertainty
Since the evolution of Industrial Relations, there have been several issues
associated with it. Be it union bargaining power, problems related to recognition
and rights or political influence. But the political influence on Industrial Relations
and labor unions has put forth a number of examples before us to understand how
political parties play a crucial role -as influencer, supporter or a destroyer!
The ideal reason why political parties should support the unions is to
facilitate the unions to voice their concerns and participate in collective bargaining
and negotiation with management. But, seeing many of the cases, it looks like the
interference of political parties extends much beyond this.
The recent issue was the Union Railway budget. Mr. Dinesh Trivedi
wanted to increase the ticket fares to make the railways profitable and to increase
the standard of living of its employees. But, his party chief was completely against
the proposed price rise. Now, against this political backdrop, everyone would think
that if there was no price rise, people would be in favor of that political party! So,
any politician would try to maintain the low rates of fare. But, the leaders of
railway employees union argued that if the prices were not increased, then it would
be bad for the employees. This is why they threatened to go on a strike. Here, the
problem seems to be of IR, but the real picture gets clearer when we look at the
political aspect.
Another issue is the Manesar plant of Maruti Suzuki. The real issue lost
focus once the political parties came into picture. Maruti wanted to implement a
code of conduct as per the guidance of Suzuki (Japan), but the cultural differences,
lack of infrastructure and the lack of facilities to the employees made it highly
difficult to have any additional code of conduct. Haryana‟s politicians came into
picture. They decided to support union so that they can have political gains out of
the whole scenario. Now, the reason for strike was no more important. Conflicts
between the politicians with the management increased rather than that between
the unions and management. Thus, certain political factors work for selfish
motives rather than supportive intentions.
The TATA plant (Singur to Sanand case) is probably the best example of how
politicians can engineer labour problems in order to further their political
ambitions.
IR is an inevitable part of HRM, and if practiced properly, can create a
competitive edge with harmonious relationship. As we are focusing on the Indian
context here, the best example of IR practices in 2010-2011 would be Coal India.
Coal India Limited received the “Best Practices in Industrial Relations Award
(IR)” for 2010-11 in an Annual Awards function organized recently by Hooghly
Chamber of Commerce & Industry. CIL bagged the award in recognition of its
commendable efforts in managing its IR functions.
Vidhi Parmar HL Centre for
Professional Education,
Ahmadabad
Page 9
Unplugged
Talking about the political affiliation and recognition of labor unions of any
organization, it depends on the culture and employment conditions of the country.
For example, Indian labor, at many parts, are not much educated or literate. Thus,
it is comparatively easier to influence and direct them as they do not know about
their rights. Many times political parties take advantage of such situations. They
try to gain votes and become popular in the name of supporting and giving
recognition to the union.
When we talk about sound relationship and labour relations, it does not
depend only on the management system and the workers‟ attitude. It also depends
on the extent of political influence and the intention of political parties in
supporting the labour unions.
Some of the organizational leaders argue that the political support and
recognition of the unions should not be there, as it acts as a hindrance to the
peaceful relations between the management and workers. But it depends on the
other factors like, the culture, mindset and intentions. All these things having been
said, we can‟t deny the fact that we will never be able to do away with political
interference and an IR manager has to always walk on a very tight rope and deal
with all issues with utmost caution.
Page 10
Unplugged
ROLE OF WOMEN IN TRADE UNIONS
Clare Boothe Luce once said, „Because I am a woman, I must make unusual
efforts to succeed. If I fail, no one will say, "She doesn't have what it takes."
They will say, "Women don't have what it takes." „
However unfortunate this might sound, this is one of the hardest realities our
society is still living with.
Despite the progress we have made in each and every facet of life, certain things,
like our attitude towards working women have not changed much. And this harsh
fact stares us in the face especially in occupational segregation suffered by women
in union structures. The situation is grimmer in India. Statistics show that less than
8 percent of the 380 million workforce in India are unionized and women account
for a very small fraction of trade union membership.
Taking a sneak peek into the history of the world, we can see that in improving the
condition of the proletariat, the women have made almost equal contributions as
the male workers, be it the great sacrifices and struggles of the working class of
Chicago or the magnificent revolution of 1905, the Bolshevik revolution of 1917
or any other political upheavals.
There is no denying the fact that a number of women, particularly after the Second
World War, have been employed for various jobs and are made to work in
unfavorable environment at shamefully low wages. They are employed on contract
basis and are made to work for longer durations. The situation is even worse for
those women who have to take care of their family as well as kids. If we take a
bird's eye view of trade union movements, not many women can be seen in the
important decision making positions. In the past it might have been because of
their being fewer in number as workers, but now the situation is quite different.
Some of the main causes of women not being involved in trade unions have been
the improper attitude of trade union leaders, social and economic strangulation and
the general profligacy of the trade union movement.
We can enunciate some of the reasons which exist for the extremely low
participation of women in trade unions in India.
(1) In our patriarchal society family responsibilities such as child care and all
household duties are left mainly to women. Involvement in trade union activities
after this implies triple burden: family responsibilities, her job, and innumerable
trade union activities which are definitely time and energy consuming.
(2) Unfortunately most of the women, even today, lack confidence when it comes
to assuming public and leadership roles.
Shubhra Singh Student
MHRM, IIT Kharagpur
Page 11
Unplugged
The traditional roles which they are expected to play and stereotypes with respect
to religion, taboos and cultural inhibitions act as hindrances to women for entering
the male dominated environments.
(3) In most of the workplaces there is job segregation where women are mostly
employed in subordinate positions under the supervision of men. The Trade
union structures can also create barriers to the entry and advancement of
women.
(4) Trade unions have become primarily male dominated because of a number of
reasons. Some of them are:
The false notion that working in the union is a 24x7 job.
Conducting meetings at odd hours of the day, generally late at night which is
not suitable for women.
The union jargon and sexist language which makes the presence of women
tough in such environment.
Very little encouragement for women, rather non-acceptance of women in the
strategic positions in the union.
Improper working conditions for women which make their working as well as
involvement in the union almost impossible.
Very little or no scope for women to improve their knowledge or skills due to
lack of education and training for women.
The women who take up this extra responsibility of working in union need some
basic incentives or supporting conditions so that they can work efficiently. Lack of
basic infrastructure where their kids can be taken care of, health and hygiene
facilities and safe, convenient and affordable transportation facilities at union
offices are some of the major discouraging factors.
International Initiatives:
A number of steps and initiatives have been taken at the international level to
reduce the disparity in the male-female representation ratio:
1. The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU)
adopted at Amsterdam Congress in 1965 and revised in 1975 and 1985
the ICFTU Charter of Rights of Working Women as following:
Equal rights and opportunities at work.
Maternity protection for all working women.
Page 12
Unplugged
A place for women in grass roots and at the top of the union.
Actions wider in the world to respond to women‟s needs.
2. The Asian Pacific Regional Organization of ICFTU (ICFTU-APRO, 2000)
adopted a Social Charter for Democratic Development at its 64th Executive Board
Meeting held in Seoul, Korea. It called upon the unions to work for ensuring:
Positive action of empowerment of women.
Gender perspective in all union work
Equality in law and practice.
3. The Beijing Platform for Action (1995) identified 12 common areas of concern
for particular attention: poverty, education and training, health, violence against
women, armed conflict, economy, power and decision-making, institutional
mechanisms for gender equality, human rights, media, environment, and the girl
child. It invited trade unions as one of the key social partners in achieving gender
equality.
Involving women in trade unions not only improves the situation of the working
women but also helps the trade unions in gaining recognition at the international
platform. Unfortunately not many women join or participate actively in trade
union matters. In programmes organized by the ILO and international trade union
organizations (like ICFTU, WFTU, ITSs), usually the sponsors ask for proper
gender representation in the nominations. But, very rarely, if ever, Indian trade
unions are known to have sent women members/leaders for participation.
The situation of trade unions is in a great need of improvement. The faith which
they need to garner not just from the workers but also from the management can
easily be achieved by giving a better representation to women. And even when
they have to make their voices heard, it‟ll be best to send a woman representative
to the management. After all, who can bargain better than an Indian woman!!
Page 13
Experts Speak
Challenges to Change Agents- Identifying Human Perspectives By Akshaya Kashyap and P Murali Krishna
What ever businesses we are into, we need to know that the only inevitable change
is change as we need to change to grow, face competition, adapt to new strategies
and the list goes on and on. But to manage change is a very challenging process as
we will face a huge number of problems while trying to implement it.
The most famous scientist in the area of study of stimulus response was Pavlov.
He noticed the association that his dogs made between the ringing of the bell and
their arrival of their food. He realized that the dogs would continue to respond
with salivating even if the food is not offered. In human beings, we also are
exposed to stimulus. In some cases we also have a knee-jerk, automatic reaction,
such as we link when something is thrown near our eyes. However in most cases
we have the ability to choose our response to stimuli.
This is true for change as well. We don‟t have to allow change to happen to us and
let the results to just fall where they may Instead we can recognize the stimuli for
change and then choose our response to it by determining what the change means
to us and our business.
Know that all significant change throughout history
has occurred not because of nations, armies, govern-
ments and certainly not committees. They happened
as a result of the courage and commitment of indi-
viduals. People like Joan of Ark, Albert Einstein,
Clara Barton, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Edison and
Rosa Parks might not have done it alone, without
courage & commitment.
- Mahatma Gandhi
The various reasons why
organizations go for change
could be: Restructuring,
Mergers and Acquisitions,
Integration to achieve eco-
nomic gains, downsizing or
rightsizing, Rationalization
or cost cutting, Efficiency or effectives, Decentralization or centralization,
Flattening of the hierarchy, Change in strategy, New product or service, Internal
market re-alignment, Change of a senior manager, Internal or external crisis etc.
Some of the main problems we will face from the Human Resources when try to
change trying to change are Anxiety, Happiness, Fear, Threat, Guilt, Depression,
Denial, Disillusionment and Hostility. Refer to Fig 1 which is from Fisher‟s
To be the change you want to see in the world,
you don‟t have to be loud. You don‟t have to
be eloquent. You don‟t have to be elected. You
don‟t even have to be particularly smart or well
educated. You do, however, have to be com-
mitted
- Mahatma Gandhi
Akshaya Kashyap
HR Manager
Coromandel Interna
tional Ltd.
P.Murali Krishna
HR Sr.Officer
Coromandel Inter
national Ltd. process of transition.
Page 14
Fig 1: The transition to change
The above figure is a general view of how the process of change could be in the
human resources. But in an organization we cannot take it for granted that all the
employees are of the same mentality which is an obvious behaviour of mankind.
Based on the different kinds of behaviours employees in an organization can be
categorized generally into 4 types, viz, confrontive (C), adaptive (A), follower (F)
and sullen (S). However, there is a new category of people, known as Hideous (H)
as shown in fig 2.
The general characteristics of the 5 types of people are tabulated as below:
Experts Speak
Page 15
For a change agent, it is easiest to identify employees who are expressive, i.e. type
C & type A. The employees who are of type F or type S are relatively difficult to
identify. However, the Hideous are the most difficult to be tracked (refer fig 2).
The focus of the change agent has to hence focus on type A or type F employees.
Now, if we look into this situation in simile to the Johari‟s window, we would
have the perspective of the Change Agent on the Y axis and the individual self on
the Y axis. This leads to a 4 X 4 matrix as shown in figure below (fig 3):
Experts Speak
Page 16
Hideous type of people have to be identified as these people show positive signs of
accepting the change process but it is only an outward nod. However, in the real
scenario they actually show resistance and negativity which cannot be seen. Hence
this is one of the toughest parts as identifying such people is a challenge due to the
camouflage they adapt to. We need to keep a continuous watch out for these kinds
of employees by monitoring their Daily performance records and look into the one
cheating on the work. They are generally good in communication or generation of
reports and win the sympathy of people which is their biggest strength. nce such
people are identified the management can avoid them from being in the dark by
reducing the belief and dependence on such hideous natured people.
Organizations need to realize that the employees that work together are influenced
by many factors like their family, teachers, friends, experience, their surrounding
environment & society. This is how the people are formed into different types as
the factors that influence them (refer fig 4)
So an individual is a representative of all the above factors of influence dealt in
totality. In order to influence type F (high pot) employees, the change agent has to
move beyond just probing into his/ her self but has to extend further to his family/
friends and society. The easiest target amongst all could be the family (as injecting
from within). By taking corporate level initiatives for benefit of the society,
through CSR, individuals could be influenced by society to accept to change
(failing which the society itself may look at him/ her with dishonor). Hence, an
organizations‟ responsibility extends beyond Its employees too.
Experts Speak
Page 17
Involving employees‟ families is not only welfare means, but by openly inviting
ideas and feedback from family and society on company policies, change
processes and initiatives would ensure a smoother transition path for change agent
to effect in change.
Employees are to be counseled, the individuals‟ families need to be met and
neighbors influenced.
· Through neighbor counseling & CSR initiatives, the external societal influencing
was done.
· Through family interactions and counseling, the internal influence was generated.
Thus, Change management lets you communicate fully to your employees why the
change is necessary, what the benefits will be, and how it will impact the
organization as a whole. Sharing this information with employees can help them
buy-in to the change and support the leadership in taking the actions that are
necessary to achieve the milestone goals of the change. It can help limit resistance,
and help manage any resistance that does occur. This is even more the case when
employees are given a role in determining the solutions to problems, the change
poses and are given reason and opportunity to personally commit to the change
process.
Change management also allows those in leadership positions to lead by example.
The leadership can model the change and communicate their commitment to the
„new vision‟ that the change represents. Using audience-focused communication
styles, the leadership can target their communications so that they are addressing
what each group of employees or stakeholders cares about. This will lead to
increased momentum across the organization in moving towards the result that the
change is intended to create.
Calculation of Break even of Change Agent (CA)
A typical organizational has 4 stages in its life cycle, viz. initial (I), developmental
(D), maturity (M) and decline (A) stage (Ref. fig 5). Many organizations do not
realize when they reach the maturity stage and hence lead to decline (A). Some
organizations remain stable (B) in their maturity level for some extended period of
time by taking corrective actions and strategic decisions in favor of their existence.
Few organizations, however, realize the alarm and take small incremental
initiatives like product diversification, new product launch, etc. or take leap
strategic initiatives like disinvestment, collaborations or M&A etc. Any such
initiative is supplemented with change in existing methodologies, systems and
working culture. The role of change agent becomes extremely crucial then.
The curve MC is the path that an organization would generally go in case an
organization undergoes large organizational changes due to M&A, divestment,
disinvestment etc.
Experts Speak
Page 18
R e c o r d i n g t h a t t h e
productivity per unit time at
the time of initiation of
change begins, it may be
assumed that it is from point
M (Ref fig 6).
Hence,
dp/dT=Constant
(before inceptionof change
agent) Sometimes, P stabilizes
or falls with the inception of
change agent because of
churn-around of business
processes and scenarios or
because of type C, S & M
people. This is depicted as
dp/dT in fig.7
Slowly, there is an increase in
productivity with time which
is further depicted as d‟p/d‟t
and d‟‟p /d‟pin fig. 7
After some time, d‟‟t, when
situation stabilizes, there is a
phenomenal increase in
productivity (d‟‟p) against
time d‟‟t.
Therefore,
d‟‟p /dP>>d‟‟t /dT
Experts Speak
Page 19
After some time, d‟‟t, when situation stabilizes, there is a phenomenal increase in
productivity (d‟‟p) against
time d‟‟t.
Therefore,
In general, if investment over the change agent is „xn‟ (annually), the time when
the breakeven on investment on change agent and ROI on the change agent is
arrived is when,
then it can be said as the breakeven period of change agent and hence ROI
achieved.
Hence, Break even for change agent =
When dT = d‟t = d‟‟t, i.e., if the change in productivity is recorded over a constant
time, this can be referred as n (i.e. difference in time of new productivity and
productivity at the time of initiation of change process, which is also equal to no.
of years of investment on change agent), then,
Experts Speak
Page 20
where,
n = no. of years or Break even time
xn = investment made on change agent in the xn th year
dP = productivity before inception of change agent
d‟‟p = productivity after inception of change agent
In general, as a normal process is driven by some responsible agent, so does
Change a process need a Change Agent to drive the process to success. Driving
conclusion as a result of change management is not an easy task. There are a lot of
things to take into consideration that will lead to the eventual creation of
conclusions that transpired during the change process. There are 3 Ps to take into
account. These are the people, policies and processes. These key ingredients
determine how change management can directly impact the organization.
(a) People
It is indeed given that this is the most important aspect of the change process. It is
because people working on a certain project are considered the front liners,
making decisions and plans to ensure success on every phase of the change
process. Though it is hard at times to unlearn old behaviors and techniques, it is
still a must to embrace changes happening in the organization to focus more on
what can be contributed rather than resisting team efforts on what needs to be
done.
(b) Policies
If we are talking about changes in an organization, this means that there are certain
policies that need to be revisited to determine if these still apply to the new goals
and objectives of the company. Though policies are governed by company rules
and regulations, there are still some exceptions that should be taken into
consideration to decide if these hinder the change process from successfully
implemented.
(c) Processes
As mentioned, old habits are hard to break and so are old processes. But then
again, with the introduction of a vance tools and equipment, new processes can
easily be carried out. Though there are some previous processes that should be
kept, change is still inevitable as finding simpler means of doing work is still a top
priority.
Experts Speak
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Experts Speak
Graphology - a tool for Humane Resource Manager Shruti Singh is an expert graphologist with over 14 years of experience in this
field.She has been mentored by some of the world’s best graphologists. Today she
is one of the very few Indians to be a certified Handwriting Analysts from USA. To
date she has successfully executed many corporate and individual consulting
projects in her ever growing list.
Using her analysis, several corporate houses have hired the best, built winning
teams and also resolved conflicts.
Shruti is one of the first Indians to give an academic dimension to Graphology in
India. For the same she has also started a library & research centre “The
Handwriting Research Library of India” based in Banglaore, making available
books and other rare manuscripts pertaining to Graphology to interested masses.
She co-owns a global information site on the subject known as “Graphology
Information Center”.
She has done her management course from IIM- Bangalore and is an active
alumni. She was also covered by IIM-B Women Entrepreneur’s book on women
who have started their own set-up and are doing things differently.
My article is intended to share how a small skill of Graphology can help you as a
person to gain relationships in life and it is a little more for HRs -upcoming and
seasoned.
As a person I am sure you are well aware of the importance of relationships in
your life and in fact if not wrong we may correctly say that Human life is all about
being humane while dealing with all the relationships it has in its life! We
understand our value by the number of relationships we have in our lives good or
bad, they all come with a name and some experiences. But what is the first thing
that a relationship gives you or takes from you? Ever thought?
Answer- Expectation; you expect some things when you have a relation, and you
have to share or deliver some things when you have or when you share a relation.
For example- you are a brother to two sisters younger to you. You have to protect
your sisters from bad boys at school and you expect your sisters to be respectful to
you when they are fighting with you!
Shuruti Singh
Graphology Expert
Page 22
Experts Speak I may be working as Corporate Trainer but to me in my life I am nothing but a
relationship manager. Nothing beyond that, and I am happy!
When you grow up to be an Human Resource Manager or you are a seasoned
Human Resource Manager you know your major role/ department includes –
Setting up the organization, define rules and regulations or say policies;
abiding by government standards etc- PUBLIC & GOVERNMENT
RELATIONS SECTION
Defining an organization culture- EMPLOYEE RELATION & WELFARE
SECTION
Hiring right fit for the organization both skill wise and type wise-
RECRUITMENT SECTION
And then ensure that the entire system works with harmony ( employee
engagement programs, performance appraisal system, promotions etc)-
WORKFORCE MANAGEMENT
Under workforce management we may include- PAYROLL, BENEFITS
etc.
All these need to be in synchronization with company profitability, goals and
vision. In business language we may say that HUMAN RESOURCE TEAM deals
with the management and organization of employees, in an organization.
We all know to make it all happen within the organization we all work towards
maintaining a good relationship with all the resources within our organization. So
again the key is relationship with people.
At a seminar to HR students in Bangalore someone had asked me this question:
But this „relationship management‟ what you are talking about is true for all
human beings, so why US?
Answer: Within an organization you do not go to finance department for your
miscalculated payroll issues, you go to HR and they are suppose to be taking care
of the miscalculation and roll-out.
And to me what I have understood after working for close to a decade in industry
is that the moment you join Human Resource Department of an organization, no
matter even if you are into process management or just the number management,
you are expected to be „humane‟ first. Often you would have seen employees
coming to you sharing their unhappiness over performance system, biased
appraisals, underpaid increments, some policy issues etc. What do you do?
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Experts Speak
We have had these questions in and out, daily within any organization, in most of
the meetings over these issues do we hear
“We can‟t keep everyone happy.”
“As per the policy guidelines, the best we could do is …., so we cannot help you
with ….”
“As per the system we are not allowed to make such changes, so……”
“I am sorry for these issues we may not be able to extend our support as an
organization”
And many more such answers. We all know that it is an expectation mismatch, but
a not so humane approach results in unhappy employee, disgruntled or I may
humbly say we just scarred our face with one more excuse, in the name of either
policy, or limitation or something else.
Whenever being part of such discussions I always feel or ask myself and at times
to my managers- where is the humanity ground? Where is our own sense of right
or wrong? Where are our senses of responsibility as a human being? These
questions are left unanswered most of the time, stating- we can‟t do it for all, there
are so many!
To that unhappy employee- we are a face of regret; they often say these HRs are
plastic face, plastic heart people.
But I have a different approach; often I ask such employees to write their problem
over a piece of paper and share it with me. I often sit with that paper and discuss
things. I also do a small homework, if the discussion is for a problem involving
another person, I try and grab a meeting with those before this meeting and always
try to grab their handwriting too. It has helped me many times and I have received
feedback “Thanks your approach is different. You give us time and the issue is
now clearer to me. It‟s now making sense to me” and I keep my records open with
a smile.
What did I do? I tried to understand the problem differently. I try and understand
the person first and then the issue so that while taking I am not carrying only the
company‟s logo on my face and voice but also my name with it! I am a task
focused person and I am very particular about it. We know very often the issues
are not just about the processes but about people. We know an employee does not
leave an organization but he leaves his „Boss‟.
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Experts Speak
Let me share what I do with people‟s handwriting. I read people through their
handwriting, not their horoscope or something but their personality through their
handwriting- which is their mirror to their personality. This is known as
Graphology or Handwriting Analysis; I often say handwriting assessment for an
analysis.
A little more about Graphology for you and then I shall share how it can help
being better „us‟ at our jobs.
By Definition: Graphology is the study and analysis of handwriting especially in
relation to human psychology. In the medical field, it is used to refer to the study
of handwriting as an aid in diagnosis and tracking of diseases of the brain and
nervous system. It is based on following basic assertions:
1. When we write, the ego is active but it is not always active to the same degree.
Its activity waxes and wanes; being at its highest level when an effort has to be
made by the writer and at its lowest level when the motion of the writing organ has
gained momentum and is driven by it.
2. When the action of writing is comparatively difficult, the writer uses those
forms of letters which are simpler or more familiar.
3. The muscular movements involved in writing are controlled by the central
nervous system. The form of the resultant writing movement is modified further
by the flexibly assembled coordinative structures in the hand, arm, and shoulder;
which follow the principles of dynamical systems. The specific writing organ
(mouth, foot, hand, crook of elbow) is irrelevant if it functions normally and is
sufficiently adapted to its function.
4. The neurophysiologic mechanisms which contribute to the written movement
are related to conditions within the central nervous system and vary in accordance
with them. The written strokes, therefore, reflect both transitory and long term
changes in the central nervous system such as Parkinson's disease, or alcohol
usage.
5. The movements and corresponding levels of muscular tension in writing are
mostly outside of conscious control and subject to the ideomotor effect. Emotion,
mental state, and biomechanical factors such as muscle stiffness and elasticity are
reflected in a person's handwriting.
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Experts Speak
6. One must examine the handwriting or drawing movements by considering them
as movements organized by the central nervous system and produced under
biomechanical and dynamical constraints. Given these considerations,
graphologists proceed to evaluate the pattern, form, movement, rhythm, quality,
and consistency of the graphic stroke in terms of psychological interpretations.
Such interpretations vary according to the graphological theory applied by the
analyst.
7. Most schools of thought in graphology concur that a single graphological
element can be a component of many different clusters, with each cluster having a
different psychological interpretation. The significance of the cluster can be
assessed accurately by tracing each component of the cluster back to their origins
and adapting the meaning of the latter to the conditions of the milieu in which the
form appears.
The major areas where this science is making its mark are:
Education - The system we follow in India is not up to the date, it‟s been seen that
our current educational system does not promote thinking patterns that can give
potential gurus and leaders to the world. Graphology has that potential to make
this happen if used in the correct way. It can help cure stress and also help the
special children in a great way.
Forensic document examination- Handwriting analysis helps the examiner to
find forgeries, diplomatic, psychological problems a culprit may be facing.
Crime & Investigation – It‟s a popular science among these departments globally
to investigate upon criminal‟s mind and in detection of forgeries.
Marital compatibility – Graphology can help understand a person better and
hence look for better relationship.
Knowing self: I bid on this nothing better can tell you your current state of mind
and what potential you have and what success factors you can have!
What would interest us would be:
Employment profiling & Business relationship compatibility:
A company takes a writing sample provided by an applicant, and proceeds to do a
personality profile, matching the congruency of the applicant with the ideal
psychological profile of employees in the position. Graphology supporters state
that it can complement but not replace traditional hiring tools.
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Experts Speak
There are various tools and techniques that are used in the selection procedure in
any organization. The most famous being the interview, which is extensively used
while selecting prospective employees by the employers. Various other tools like
psychological tests etc are also used. No doubt these tools are effective and have
been in constant use.
When used separately, each of these tools yields only a portion of information
necessary to your decision. In combination, employers may find out important
information about applicants. However, unless each process is carried out in such a
way to totally eliminate bias on the part of the employer and the applicant, then it
is impossible to ascertain the most important factor in hiring correctly i.e is the
personality traits of the applicant.
In the following points, light is thrown on the drawbacks of the various tools of
selection.
1. Resume / Self-report or Questionnaire:
Can be faked by job candidates.
Designed to evaluate only a portion of one‟s personality.
May ask invasive questions ( insulting or illegal)
Does not evaluate one‟s behavior, just their reactions to questions.
Requires their co-operation, honesty, and self-awareness.
Most resumes are falsified, particularly previous earnings,education etc.
Often not prepared by applicant; therefore, quality is not reflective of
applicant. Doesn‟t demonstrate performance or personality of applicant.
In the recent past, Bangalore based IT companies have faced an exponential
increase in the rotation of fake resumes. In many companies there is a preventive
measure as to not to process of the CV belonging to certain geography or from a
few mentioned colleges. Let's see where we can add value.
2. Background Check:
Employers are reluctant to disclose information for fear of lawsuit.
Unknown credibility of person disclosing information.
Nothing found (maybe applicant‟s first employment or new to the industry). 3. Interviewing:
Subjective interpretations by interviewer, low validity.
Applicant may not perform well in the interview. ( anxiety, modesty)
Applicant‟s appearance affects interviewer, discrimination inevitable.
Overburdens interviewer, time consuming. You interview poor applicants as well as good.
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Experts Speak
4. Skill Check:
Nothing is learned of personality of applicant.
Requires appointment time to “test” applicants.
Handwriting as a Hiring / Assessment Tool:
Immense information can be gathered about the person through his handwriting
sample. This information about the person can be used to determine the right
person for the right job, answering such questions as:
What‟s this applicant‟s intelligence level?
Is he honest?
Is he hard working?
Should he work alone or with others?
Should he be in sales, or is he better suited to working with small details over long
periods of time?
The data overwhelmingly support graphology‟s usefulness on the front end; it
saves dollars for everybody. You can tell more about an applicant in a few minutes
of looking at his handwriting than you can after administering a psychology test,
running a credit check, giving a medical examination, giving a battery of aptitude
tests, and interviewing him for an hour in person.
Assessment:
People are fired from their jobs for many reasons, including incompetence,
frequent tardiness, insubordination, lack of productivity, and difficulty in getting
along with others. A graphologist can often be instrumental in pointing out the
guilty party when a crime has been committed within the company. This often
leads to the firing of the “bad guy.” This use of graphology overlaps the area of
criminology, or investigative work, in several instances. Many companies sustain
substantial losses due to employee theft. Actually, employee theft is one of the
leading reasons for companies going out of business. The U.S. Department of
Commerce estimates that in 1988 $182 billion was lost by U.S. businesses due to
crimes committed by their employees. Nearly $100 billion is spent annually on
security measures designed to prevent these internal crimes. Obviously, the thieves
are being hired in first place ( the companies didn‟t use graphology to start!), so
the problem is that someone in the department is stealing, or embezzling, or
coming in late at night and emptying out the warehouse. Who‟s doing it? A skilled
graphologist can take statements written by the suspects and know when they‟re
lying, when they‟re feeling stressed or anxious. Very often, without costly
investigation, a quick screening of the suspect‟s handwriting will alert the
investigators to the probable suspects in the case. The investigators can then
narrow their focus and zero in on the people most likely to have perpetrated the
crime.
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Experts Speak
Let me share some more business data which will help us understand a little more
on why graphology-
In Europe, up to 93% of companies screen job applicants based on handwriting
traits. (CNN.com)
Four out of 5 people are wrong for the job, and 85% of sales people are wrong for
the job. Handwriting analysis is helping! (Princeton study)
In the U.K and U.S. about 5-10% of companies screen job applicants based on
handwriting traits and that percentage is rising steadily. (CNN.com)
CNN.com, 12/21/2005: “And one major international company, which prefers not
to be named, routinely uses handwriting analysis .”
Statistics and anecdotal evidence and various conservative estimates put the
number of U.S. companies using graphology somewhere between 5,000-10,000.
Experts agree the number is probably higher but explain that many companies do
not want it to be publicly known that they use graphology as a screening tool.
Graphology has a huge potential to be explored and a lot is happening all over the
world. No great promises but if used genuinely it has contributed to the success of
many and with many I may say HRs as well. I know some of these many who
have used this as tool to climb their success ladder. In fact my first project much
before my first certification was for analysis of 200 employees of an IT company.
In a meeting with the HR over coffee, he said he has been using graphology since
7 years and it does work, and I got my work! My friends running HR firms are my
full time, long term, permanent clients.
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Coffee with Corporate
Interview With Mr. Anshuman Kumar -By Neha Agarwal , Supraja Rajagopalan And Arunav Sahay
Mr. Anshuman Kumar is a marketing, communications and human resource
professional with over 12 years of industry experience. He has handled leadership
roles for some of the most visible organizations and brands including The Times
of India, Infosys Technologies and HCL Technologies.
Through his various generalist and specialist roles, his key focus area has been
Employee / Internal Communication for the last few years. At present he heads
both the internal communication and employee engagement functions at HCL
Technologies where he is responsible for augmenting the HCL brand with a
global, internal audience. Here are the excerpts from the interview with
Mr.Anshuman Kumar
Q1. What according to you is Internal Communication?
AK: Internal Communication is the process by which employees are
communicated the happenings in the organization. As organizations grow and
expand their operations in various parts of the globe, it is important that they
invest in developing communication strategies for the employees who are their
greatest asset. The Internal Communications team acts as a medium between the
management and the employees to enable a two-way communication. It is an
important function in any organization because its role is to engage employees. Its
significance is even more in organizations that are spread across the globe and
have a diverse workforce.
HCL is considered to be a great place to work at, because here we encourage clear
and open communication between the management and employees. It leads to less
hierarchy and establishes trust and transparency. Our employees are not simply
content absorbers but also content creators because we encourage feedback from
them on various communication initiatives.
Q2.Could you tell us more about Employee Engagement at HCL?
AK: Employee engagement is crucial in any organization to make employees feel
committed towards the organization. Engaged employees feel that they are an
integral part of the organization and believe that they can make a meaningful
contribution to the organization‟s success. An organization therefore must ensure
that employees are engaged and feel passionate about coming to work. At HCL,
we ensure that our employees have avenues to excel at work and beyond. We have
the “Employee First Council (EFC)” which is a platform that encourages every
employee to pursue his/her passion. EFC focuses on collaborative leadership
where the onus lies on the members of a particular council to take up an initiative
and make it a success across the organization.
Mr.Anshuman Kumar Associate Director - Employee Engagement & internal communication HCL,Technologies
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Coffee with Corporate
We have various such councils which have grown into powerful and participative
forums where employees develop their talents, lead from the front, make
meaningful contributions to causes close to their hearts, and connect with
likeminded individuals in the HCL family. These councils give an opportunity to
employees to contribute in areas such as sports, community service, talent
enhancement and lots more. Thus, through this forum, we provide an enriching
experience to employees and help them develop their leadership and team building
skills.
Q3. What is your philosophy about HR?
AK: It is very important for a HR professional to understand the business and
align all HR activities and initiatives with organizational strategies and objectives.
An organization must always be prepared to respond quickly to the changing
market needs in order to maintain its position. There are times when an
organization is required to undergo a total change in order to keep up with the
changing business scenario. HR has to ensure that such changes in trends are
accepted by the employees in a positive way.
Q4. According to you, which is a better way of communication at workplace,
informal or formal?
AK: The type of communication depends on the situation, the message and the
audience. Informal interaction is usually the best way for HR Managers to interact
with the employees as it encourages them to share their thoughts, views and
opinions freely. It helps to get a closer insight into an employee‟s perspective on
organizational practices and culture. For instance, an informal interaction could be
in the form of a one-to-one conversation with an employee or even with a group
sitting in a cafeteria. People tend to be more comfortable and candid in an informal
setting. However, any policy rollout or important announcements have to be made
only through formal channels so that there is clarity and transparency. The
message needs to reach all the employees and hence a formal medium such as
mailer, works the best for such communication. Whether formal or informal – the
important thing is that communication should be transparent.
Q5. What is your take on Social Media and Human Resource?
AK:As companies grow and expand their footprints across geographies, it
becomes imperative for them to maintain and evolve new channels of
communication to engage with employees, especially the Gen Y workforce.
Social media, these days is practically a way of life with the youngsters brought up
in the age of Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. And so it is vital to leverage these
tools internally so that they can connect with their universe at work. Social media
not only helps connect with the Gen Y, but also makes dissemination of
information quicker and more informal; even receiving feedback is instantaneous
through this medium.
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Coffee with Corporate
Social media has also lent a helping hand in reaching out to some of the talented
prospective employees.
More and more companies are realizing this and are beginning to channelize social
media platforms for internal communication and employee engagement.
Q6. What is your message for the younger generation or your expectation
from young HR professionals?
AK: Like every other aspect or field of business, HR too demands continuous
innovation and improvements. An employee working in a company for an
extended period of time develops a mindset or culture which is prevalent in the
organization and thus finds it difficult to provide a fresh perspective that would
help bring about change or innovation. HR representatives must view the
organization from an outsider‟s perspective to bring about real and needed changes
in the organization. I feel that Generation Y employees are the ones with the most
dynamic, versatile and flexible personalities and thus their participation and
contribution is signification for an organization seeking innovation.
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Kaleidoscope
Positive Writing and Well Being
Since long, writing about negative experiences has been considered as having
healing effects. Simply writing about negative experiences helps to express out all
the negative emotions repressed inside resulting in emotional catharsis. But
recently a number of findings have contradicted this catharsis view. This new view
talks about positive growth or well being (King, 2001). In this direction Penne
baker and Sea gal (1999) findings are important. They suggested that the pattern of
writing they found most effective included relatively high levels of positive
emotion words (happy, laugh), a moderate level of negative emotion words (angry,
sad), and increasing insight words over the course of writing.
The potential role of positive writing is also reflected in the famous study on
catholic nuns. Their autobiographies written during young age demonstrated that
more positive emotional content in writing was more likely to relate with
longevity (Danner, Snowdon, & Friesen, 2001). King (2001) found that
individuals‟ who wrote about their best possible future selves showed physical
health benefits as well as enhanced psychological well-being after writing. So in
line with these evidences we can say that positive and negative writing have their
own distinct functions and effects.
On one side negative writings undo the negative effects whereas positive writing
results in long term growth and well being. Now the question might arise that how
does positive writing leads to well being? Few studies have discovered that writing
about positive life experiences provides a platform to relive the pleasant moments
and generates positive emotions. These positive emotions contrary to negative
emotions broaden one‟s thinking ability (Fredrickson, 1998) and make it flexible
(Baumann & Kuhl, 2005; Biss, Hasher & Thomas, 2010). Such broad and flexible
thinking ability facilitates an individual to see both positive and negative aspects
of an adverse life situation and thus, find positive meaning out of it.
The ability to find positive meaning helps to appraise a situation in a balanced
way and deal with it effectively, resulting in greater amount of positive emotional
experience. With this, an upward spiral of positive emotions is formed and with
every spiral, the amount of positive emotions is greater than the initial levels.
Such an upward spiral of positive emotions results in psychological and emotional
well being (Fredrickson & Joiner, 2002). Therefore, a regular habit of systematic
writing is expected to generate more positive emotions in our life which enhances
our ability of positive meaning finding and increases the probability to be happy in
future and ultimately leads towards well being in long run.
Papri Nath
Senior Research Fellow
Department of Humanities
and Social Sciences, IIT
Kharagpur
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Kaleidoscope
Practices of Andragogy in the Workplace
As nations face a dramatic shortage in the number of skilled workers,
organizations are spending billions of dollars to secure a competitive advantage
through training and development programs. Creating a learning culture is
imperative in today‟s economy; however, organizations continuously struggle
with achieving such a culture. As organizational structures become flatter,
individuals must become more self-sufficient in solving problems on their own
and taking the initiative to acquire skills and knowledge to perform effectively
Adult learning theory provides the basis for understanding the way adults learn
and the factors influencing the learning process. The basic assumption of adult
learning theory is that adults engage in learning for personal reasons and that
learning adds value to their life in some way. Malcolm Knowles‟ use of the term
andragogy, meaning to teach adults, was the genesis for contemporary research in
adult learning. Adult learning in the workplace is far different from children
learning in a classroom and therefore, requires a more in depth understanding of
both adult learning motivators and the learning process in the context of
organizations.
A closer look!
Introduction
What’s Andragogy all about?
Sourabh Sahu
PGPM,2011-13
Indian Institute of
Management, Indore
The premise of Knowles‟ learning
theory centered originally on four
principles or assumptions and later
expanded to six. The learning
assumptions include the concepts of
self, experience, readiness and
orientation.
The concept of self defines the adult by roles or identities taken on
throughout life. Experience defines one‟s history, which forms the foundation for
self, and accumulates over time. Readiness derives from the need to acquire new
knowledge based on changes in or the variety of adult roles one must assume.
Orientation centers on performance and problem solving with immediate
application to real life situations
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Kaleidoscope
In 1984 Knowles expanded the theory with two additional assumptions regarding:
Adults engage in learning when they can
define the reason for learning and
motivation drives adults to learn. The
added assumptions are the basis for
research surrounding the notion of individual contextual factors such as learning
motivations and goal orientation. In the years that followed Knowles‟ adult
learning assumptions, numerous researchers expanded on and challenged the
assumptions regarding adult learning.
Contemporary adult learning research in the context of the workplace puts the
learner center stage and recognizes people as the primary agent for change and
organizational performance outcomes. The adult experience creates the backdrop
for learning and the learning process becomes one of inquiry rather than a set of
known truths. Workplace learning must involve learning from experience and
engagement in a group form of learning. Sharing knowledge and solving complex
problems requires personal interaction and application of new information
What does all this theory and research mean for organizations investing in
training and development?
We know that changes in the modern workplace pose challenges for all workers.
The knowledge-based economy creates the need for continuous learning and
updating of competencies and skills. As the requirement for worker competence
and expertise changes, the need for organizations to establish an environment of
continuous professional growth and for the individual to assume a larger role in
their own learning process becomes paramount to leveraging a competitive
advantage. Therefore, there appears to be a need for organizations to expand from
traditional approaches to learning such as formal, classroom, and off the job, to
approaches that use technology, communities of learning, and continuous on-the-
job learning challenges. Organizations must also create a workplace environment
that offers and encourages engagement in varied learning opportunities on a
continuous and long-term basis. As a point of departure, seven suggestions are
offered as critical factors for organizations to consider when creating a positive
learning climate.
1. Make time for workplace learning and celebrate time spent on learning.
2. Make learning personal by tying it to performance, career advancement,
and recognition.
3. Develop a work environment that facilitates challenging and meaningful
experiences in order to facilitate positive effects on competence development
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Kaleidoscope
1. Make learning available to all employees
2. Make learning challenging and applicable. Challenging the learner to solve
real organizational problems makes learning relevant to both the employee and
the organization
3. Create opportunities for group forms of learning
4. Learning is a continuous process, not a single event. Learning over time
requires a long-term commitment by both the organization and the employee.
As organizations continue to seek new methods and approaches to learning in the
workplace, the employee as an adult learner must not be overlooked. Adult
learners need a reason for engaging in learning and motivation to learn.
Organizations need to define the reasons and provide the appropriate motivation.
The final words!
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Kaleidoscope
What is Leadership? – Mystery resolved (Partly)
Arun Taneja Student MHRM, IIT Kharagpur
I first came across this word called „Leadership‟ when I was in class five. My class
teacher remarked in a parent teacher meeting that I lacked leadership skill. Starting
that day I was in search of the meaning of leadership and guess what my search
still goes on. Having said that, I have a few insights on what leadership is how to
be a leader and the things you can do to be a leader. Believe me, all those who say,
“Leaders are born not made” are bummers. They do not realise the fact that learn-
ing is possible and human mind is capable of achieving everything.
TRUST YOURSELF, HAVE FAITH IN YOUR ABILITIES
Leadership is a state of the mind. First and foremost thing one needs to believe is
he/she is a leader. It all starts here my friend that is in the mind. You also need to
understand that mistakes do happen. Failure is definite on the path to success. As
Swami Vivekananda said, (and I‟ll quote) “If you are walking on the path
and not facing any troubles, you are certainly travelling on wrong path”. The
idea is to learn and learn as quickly as possible. A leader is the one who learns
from his mistakes and makes sure the same does not occur again. Ask Sourav
Ganguly (one of the great Indian captains), how many mistakes has he done and
how quickly he learnt and corrected.
Page 37
Kaleidoscope
ACCEPT YOUR MISTAKES
One very important trait of a leader is that he/she accepts his/her mistakes. Yes, for
starter, such as in early part of your career or in school you may lose ground on
other people but in the long run accepting your mistakes will enable you to
improve considerably. Accepting your mistakes portrays the fact that you
understand where you went wrong and how you will overcome the problem now.
One very important trait of a leader is that he/she accepts his/her mistakes. Yes, for
starter, such as in early part of your career or in school you may lose ground on
other people but in the long run accepting your mistakes will enable you to
improve considerably. Accepting your mistakes portrays the fact that you
understand where you went wrong and how you will overcome the problem now.
LEADERSHIP = SHARING
In management parlance, this type of leadership is called leadership by delegation.
It is quintessential for a leader to share his/her responsibilities. One cannot do
everything alone. Mr Murthy (founder of Infosys) could not have made Infosys a
huge success all alone. He had Mr Nilekani, Mr. Shibulal, Mr. Gopalakrishnan and
others to start the venture. Later, he had many more exceptional people on board
who took the company to greater heights. In early days at school, a person who is a
monitor is considered to be a leader but he is not because at such an early age one
is only learning. Yes, it is true that few people learn quickly and few take time. At
the end of the term a monitor may or may not be successful but he sure is
successful in learning.
Page 38 Kaleidoscope
This is a cliché. Most if not all of you would have heard of the above statement.
What we do not understand is leader may also be required to get to the bottom and
clean the system. Mahatma Gandhi literally cleaned toilets. He showed people that
he is not only there to talk and advice but also there to do it. So get dirty and get
down to business and start to lead as early as possible.
LEADERS ARE NOT ALWAYS ON THE FOREFRONT
One may not be the face of everything be it running a political party, leading a
cricket team, CEO of a fortune 500 etc. All of you must have seen the movie
called „Rajneeti‟ and I will give no prizes for guessing who the real leader. Yes, it
correct, Nana Patekar was running the show and everyone else was just a puppet in
his hand. The point I want to make is, do not strive to be the face of the task just
put your brains into completing the same to best of your abilities. Eventually you
will be recognised.
Before I end this article, I would like to tell you about a few characteristics (you
all must have heard these, but just to corroborate) of a leader via a leadership
model.
L - Loyal; Learned; Logical;
E – Energetic, Eloquent; Enthusiastic
A – Ambitious; Articulate; Accessible
D – Determined; Dependable; Decisive
E – Earnest; Eternal;
R – Responsible, Reliable; Righteous
S – Skill full; Savant; Spiritual
H – Honest; Humane; Humble
I - Intelligent; Inspiring; Imaginative
P – Patient; Persuasive; Powerful
AS WE KNOW, LEADERSHIP IS A TERM WHICH STILL NEEDS TO BE EXPLORED COMPLETELY.
HENCE, I URGE ALL OF YOU TO THINK AND TO PROGRESS.
Page 39 Get Inspired! Passion, Perseverance and Performance
“If u have to survive, you have to establish your own identity “
And Sonu Nigam has proved the above written words in entirety!!
A singer whose voice can energize a million souls….
A performer who can make audience of any age group dance to his tunes...
A person who can motivate various people….
Above all a genuine artist and a self made man who craves for learning
from all walks of life….
But is there any success story of such magnitude without its share of
hardships and effort? Certainly not!! The beauty lies in not to be affected by
hardships and taking them in your stride while establishing an identity of your
own.
Let us get to know Sonu Nigam a little better and a few lessons of life
which we can learn from his success story.
He lives by the motto “Your tomorrow has no right to complain about your
today, as long as your today gives you bliss, unknown and incomprehensible to
your yesterday, and tomorrow.”
He has tried to complete the unfulfilled dream of his father who could not
be a successful artist like his son, nevertheless a stage artiste who entertained
people. It was during one of his performances, Sonu got a chance to sing at the age
of three, one of Mohammad Rafi‟s hit song “Kya Hua tera vaada”. Sonu
recognizes Rafi as his musical father and his style of singing was compared time
and again to that of “Rafi Saab‟s” in his initial days. Later he realized that it is
quite important to build an identity of one‟s own or be out of the race. And that is
when he changed his way of practicing, started listening to a different genres of
music and performers, trying to imbibe whatever best possible he could from all of
them. He came back with a bang with the song “Ye Dil Deewana” in the movie
Pardes which he considers to be a turning point of his career.
With International collaborations, he has converted himself from an Indian
artiste to a true global icon. He admires Michael Jackson to a great extent and
along with Jermaine Jackson, he paid a tribute to Michael through the song “This
is it “which he composed himself. This does not mean that he left his roots; he is
known for perfect singing be it rock, pop, Hindustani, sad, patriotic, classical – he
has always done full justice with every song he sings. He has sung not only in
Hindi or English but also in Kannada, Tamil, Bengali, Marathi and Telegu as well.
Divya Chaddha
Student
MHRM, IIT Kharagpur
Page 40 Get Inspired!
An important learning from this is “Change is the only thing constant in life”
and if one cannot adapt to the changes, then survival becomes near to impossible
in this competitive world. He had his share of hardships before reaching the stage
where he is today – dialing phone numbers of every possible person in the
industry who can give a break, riding a two wheeler and waiting in queues outside
their offices only to be rejected, recording songs with full vigor and then seeing
them being dubbed by someone else or the songs never being released!!! But
determination and belief in himself was what that kept him going as it is rightly
said “when the going gets tough, the tough gets going“
His voice first became public with the help of Gulshan Kumar of the T-
Series fame through the song “Acha Sila Diya”. Even that was not a hallmark in
his career but yes definitely something through which people started knowing him.
He hosted a show “Sa re Ga Ma “on Zee TV , has been a RJ for “Life ki Dhun
with Sonu Nigam” on Radio City , has been the judge for reality shows like Indian
Idol and X-Factor. He has also acted in a few movies but his first love always
remains music. He is a great mimicker which he has showcased at various events
and interviews. He has been the composer of many of his albums. Today, every
coveted award lies with him. Every bit of it is hard earned and the amount of effort
and perseverance which has gone into it is an inspiration in itself
A very important aspect of his career is the live performances he has been
giving all round the globe, through which he has enthralled audience and still
continues to do so, I myself being a witness to one of them. The kind of effort he
puts in while performing cannot be expressed in words. He plays almost all the
instruments and the energy and vigor in his live performances are infectious. He
considers live performances to be the litmus test for any artist. You can fake in the
studio room while recording, record in tits and bits, but when you perform live,
that is when the true test happens. And such is the voice quality that it becomes
difficult to differentiate that whether he is performing live or recording in a studio.
He plays around with his own songs while performing. He often says that he
always knew that he was made for the stage. With live performances of such
cadre, he has definitely changed the face of a playback singer in India. This can
only be expected when one understands the nuances of the job and is
completely dedicated to work.
He cites that it is important to stay humble and remember that fame isn‟t
everything. Family and friends need to be kept close to help you through the
difficult times. Enjoy every moment that you sing, and sing from the heart – that is
what will make you successful. The learning from this is to stay focused, pay
attention to detail putting one‟s heart and soul into whatever one does. Passion is
what drives the world!!!
Learning is a continual process. One is taught in different ways and modes
– it can be from experiences of life, from the experiences of other people. One
meets a variety of people in the daily life.
Page 41 Get Inspired! With some we get personally related, with some we share a professional
relationship; with some we have quite a casual relationship and there are some
whom we have not even met once but their acts and deeds inspire us. But out of all
of them, we tend to identify a few whom we admire or look up to. Some whom we
start treating as our role models and crave to be like them in some respect or other.
It is important to identify what can be imbibed from any such person in one‟s own
life. My attempt has been to introduce one such person who had a similar effect on
my life. Sonu is a genuine artist and a student of life! With his velvety and
mellifluous voice he has established a connection with people of different genres.
A performer par excellence and a multi-talented personality!!
And as he says “Success is not having money and fame; it is doing what
you love and being happy with who you are and how your life is going”.
Master of Human Resource Management Department of Humanities & Social Science , IIT Kharagpur Email:[email protected] Follow us :