A Hard Bargain

“Auto, Auto” flew the cries across the street as commuters scurried around for an empty vehicle. The ones which did come by never stopped, simply slowed down enough to hear the name of the place one wanted to go to. If it was to their liking then it would speed to a halt around 20 feet away from the passenger, who would clutch at his or her bags, and run before anyone else offered a more lucrative ride. Else, there wasn’t even the courtesy of refusal, the auto simply accelerated and zoomed out of view.

 

There was an inching line of commuters proceeding ahead to ensure that ambushing the first empty auto would be a successful attempt. The line had already moved long beyond Kurla station and was threatening to enter the bylanes of a crowded bazaar. She had been waiting for 20 minutes now, with the laptop bag weighing against her drenched kurta. Why does every morning have to be a lesson in street-smartness, she wondered in vain. Can’t a citizen simply have other worries on their minds and not be at one’s auto catching best to get to office for a day’s work?

300 more seconds buzzed by, each longer than the earlier one, and she realized that this was not getting anywhere. She brazenly pushed towards the beginning of the competition line, and waited for the appearance of the next empty auto.  Soon enough an auto inched its way into the lane, but instead of stopping at the beginning of the line flocked by the gang of passengers, it pushed its way ahead. Determinedly, she followed and asked if Vakola was on his mind of destinations today. An indifferent silence, the kind perfected by auto drivers who couldn’t be less bothered with getting the next ride. Not to be deterred, she waited till the passenger stepped out, and immediately plonked herself in the vehicle. “Where do you want to go” asked the flustered driver, as if affronted by a deep invasion of privacy. “Santa cruz” like I have been telling you for the last 2 minutes, she retorted. There was a second of pregnant uncertainty, with thoughts ranging in the two extremes – should I kick this insolent girl out and am I going to be kicked out back into the begging zone??? “You have to give me 50 rupees” – came the retort. Bargaining when one is desperate is never a wise tactic, but nevertheless there was no way she could simply give into paying more than what was fair. “But why? I will give you Rs. 20 more than the meter, lets see what the fare comes up to” was offered as a fair response. A second foreboding pause followed, but then there a gradual whirl of the auto’s gear and the ride was on.

The delights of being aboard a moving vehicle can be a powerful incentive. All the feelings of rage, helplessness and irritation washed away as the buildings and commuters sped past her auto. Feeling chatty, she struck a conversation with the auto wala. “So is the auto strike over finally, or will there be more strikes?” For the past couple of days, there had been adhoc strikes across the city at the government’s attempt to improve transparency through random meter checks. What seemed like a revolutionary brilliant step in accountability had been rejected by civil society themselves, the auto-walas were outraged and voluntarily opting to strike even without any union leadership.  

“Yesterday we have presented our charter of demands to the government, and they will reply to us soon. If we do not hear a favourable response, we will need to go on strike again”; the auto wala seemed clear and confident in his support of the strike. “But don’t you that random checks are not a bad idea at all, why should any auto meter be tampered in the first place,” she asked indignantly? “It is not about the meters any more maam, we have asked for the minimum fare to be raised.” And then the story came gushing out. “We do not like asking for more fare from the passengers any more than you, but we are compelled to. Things are just getting too expensive for us to survive in this business”. “But you are indeed in a business, you do agree” she exclaimed, “then why are you asking for the status of public servants from the government? That is only for salaried employees working in the government services”.

“Maam, without autos, how will people go to work in a big city like Mumbai? Can everyone afford a car? The trains do help, but after that how can one reach office or home without auto services? The buses are too crowded and too few in number. Aren’t we too providing an essential service?

“Business is very uncertain for us, maam. We do get a lot of passengers in the morning during office hours, but after 12 there are barely any rides to be taken. I take out this auto at 8 in the morning, and have to return it to the owner at 3pm for another auto wala. For this, I have to pay him rent of Rs. 170 every day, no matter how much I earn.” This was a revelation, for she had always known that these auto-drivers owned their vehicles. “So the second driver also pays a similar rent”, she asked, now intrigued? “Yes, the owner earns Rs. 340 per day just by giving these vehicles on rent. Nowadays, the vehicle license for running the auto requires one to pay Rs. 90,000. To top that, it has to be renewed every 3 years, and there is no guarantee that it will get renewed or not. The auto in itself costs around 3-4 lakhs. We cannot afford so much.”

The numbers were rather steep, she thought. How can an annual license cost Rs.30000? It basically meant that every day, someone was paying Rs. 100 just for the vehicle to be on the road, even if it was non-functional for around 65 days. “Why is the license so expensive” she asked naively. “The license does not cost anything, it just involves some paperwork. But the bribe rates have gone up” explained the auto wala. “Even the bribe rates for renewing our drivers’ licences have gone up to 20,000 which too have to be renewed every 3 years. Take a look.” He passed his drivers’ license and true enough there was a stamp for every 3 years, 2002, 2005, 2008, and now 2011. “But that doesn’t make any sense,” she mused, “I have a driver’s license which is valid for 20 years. Why should yours be any different”. “We have to get ours renewed every 3 years, that’s all I know” replied the auto wala, “you saw the stamp right?” perhaps wondering if she was as literate as she looked.

“I pay Rs. 3500 for a tiny room, which is shared by 10 of us, in a slum near Bandra. 5 of us sleep when the others are on duty and when they return in the morning, we are off! I also have to send money to my family in a village in Bihar. But it was not always this bad. I used to once be a driver with a company. I had a salary of Rs. 10, 000 per month and our work was not so hectic too.” “Then why did you leave that job”, she asked piqued at the obvious degradation of his employment status.

“I lost everything in the attempt to go abroad. I had once made arrangements to go to Dubai to make my some money. There was a driver’s job and I had done all the processing. Even the passport and the visa had come,” he said wistfully. “And then”, she nudged. “At the airport, we had reached with all our bags packed. The agent had come with us, and he asked us to wait outside, as he went in and got the tickets. He went, but never came back. He had Rs.80,000 from each one of us for the tickets.”

Even for a salaried professional, Rs.80,000 is a huge sum of money, she pondered. If she herself would have been deeply affected at the loss of such a sum of money, it must be a nigh impossible task for this man to reclaim the amount and restart his life. It would set him back by at least 10 years, if not more. Such a hefty price for a dream which had been crushed by fate. She looked closely at the auto driver; he did not look more than 28 years of age, but the face was lined and hardened as only poverty could.

“After that we went back so many times to the agent’s house in search of getting our money back. He was from our slum only. His wife and children are still there, but they keep saying that the husband is absconding and they don’t have any news”. By this time, the destination had arrived. She passed on Rs. 50 to pay him as promised, without even glancing at the meter. He returned a 10 rupee note and said, “Aap se thoda kam hi le raha hun – I am taking a bit less from you.” She could think of nothing to say, no smart retorts or even words of solace. She looked at him in the eye, smiled and said, thank you.

Call for the Mature Managers of the World...

Human Resources as a strategic business arm is rather unfairly and steeply dependant on good managers. While finance can proudly display the spic-n-span balance sheet, or the marketing team can boast of hoardings and advertisements or the quality team march with the six-sigma mantle, HR unfortunately has to contend with the messy task of managers.

Almost all aspects of the employee experience are strongly influenced by the shadow of a mature and fair manager. The work he does, and how he does it – the freedom he has to do it, and how he overcomes the challenges in his way are all determined by the all-mighty manager. So does the experience of the organization – right from exposure to various activities beyond everyday work, or engaging with senior leadership, which can be hugely facilitated by a thoughtful and networked manager. So many aspects of personal development – be it timely feedback on performance, nominations to training programs, meets and sessions, exploring newer areas of work can also be transformed with a helpful manager.

Given this bias, a sensible and effective manager is the dream of every HR manager, with whose help he or she can lead a relaxed life of reflection merely (as the popular perception of the profession goes). Unfortunately such managers are few and far between. Organisations which do a fantastic job of creating managers often reap hefty benefits in the savings of lessened turnover and enhanced productivity. Alas, there is no magic wand to creating and replicating effective managerial skills. Like Henry Mintzberg put it, management is a combination of science and art, of knowledge, attitude and skills. Typically these features are difficult to find in conjunction and need to be cultivated.

In the absence of good managers, so many unforeseen mishaps can occur that business delivery may become an exception rather than the norm. The team would be too busy complaining about their work, their responsibilities, the lack of growth, respect and also comparing their plight with those better and worse off. More often than not, the much advertised outcome of attrition is the last resort that people resort to. The trail of unproductivity is often far more lethal.

A major challenge of not having good managers is that the remaining teams are often more engaged in “managing their managers”. Admittedly, this is also an inherent characteristic of all organizations, whether good or bad, the challenge of poor managers exacerbates this to a very high level. For example people may spend time being like the leader to get into his books, and earning undeserved brownie points to further career growth. Or one may simply choose to withdraw critical information to facilitate the convenience of personal work, instead of organizational good. Employees may be too involved in providing excessive reports and trackers for a manager who seeks control, or ignoring customer requests to create the image of flawless execution for a manager who does not appreciate business realities.

So for all those managers who have found that perfect balance between your bosses, teams and customer, hats off. Please remember that you are a rare species, and not one which is proliferating in required numbers. So many sunrise sectors have borrowed managerial talent from the old boys of manufacturing or banking, but the process is a lengthy one. If you ever feel unappreciated, please remember that you are coveted by the business fraternity and give yourself that extra pat on the back. HR managers, do join in this movement!

Sense and Sensibility at Work

Karl Marx had once said – “Work is the tool which enables us to influence the world around us, and seek meaning.” Profound words and I have always believed them to be absolutely true. No wonder in the ancient days, that one of the forms of punishment was to assign a meaningless task (say cleaning of 1 flagstone in the Roman empire) to a person for the duration of his punishment. In today’s era however, the financial gains derived from work tend to outshadow all the other benefits it provides such as a chance to engage with other human beings, to derive self-esteem and respect and most importantly to influence the world around.

A lot of work today in the corporate sector is monotonous and repetitive. This in itself is not really too bad a fact, after all our ancestors did get along cultivating a single piece of land through the same tools for their entire lives. However, what gave meaning to their work was the context which was stark and real – till the land or starve to death! It also helped that the fruits of their labours could be immediately enjoyed by them. In office cubicles however, the exact fruit of the efforts of hitting keys with fingers all day long is often unclear in the bigger scheme of things.

Leaders are increasingly realising that the key to successful engagement is to create meaning for all employees towards their work, to enable them to understand why their efforts matter. The only glitch, this creation of meaning is best communicated face to face. Now the last time we checked, the most important goal for any organisation was to have ever multiplying growth numbers. With a growing economy, this also translates into exponential attrition numbers. Combine these two factors, and the chances of having any meaning being communicated either directly by the leader or through the managers are less than a blue moon shining in the sky.

Begin to reflect on your office conversations and you will realise how frequent are the use of sentences starting with – “I simply don’t get why blah blah needs to be done”, “What on earth is the point of having bluh bluh bluh”, or “Does anyone around here know why blim blim is happening now”. Between the parent country and the satellite countries, between the headquarters and the region, between the layers of the grade structure in each organisation, meaning gets lost. Or to be more accurate, the meaning of most things to be done loses context and thus becomes meaningless!

One of the deadliest tools all working professionals possess is a strong tendency for rationalisation and blatant denial of any cognitive dissonance. Seemingly idiotic statements and actions get explained away through the use of language and power. However, this is more dangerous than it appears. Any distortion of reality is one of the potent weapons we can conjure to inflict self-harm with severe duress to our mental health. After a lifetime of inflicting such harm, can it really be intelligent to seek more fulfilling opportunities and plan your early retirement with hobbies at 40?

The moral of the story is simple – self disillusion is dangerous and to be avoided at any cost. If things do not make sense pointing it out is important, not for reasons of altruism but simply because it restores our sense of reality, and gives back meaning to what we do at work all day, all year round.

The Unspoken Contract

As I spend more time settling into the corporate sector, I get amazed by a number of happenings which seem so unnatural when transposed into the otherwise stable ecosystem of life. For instance there are many favours and expectations between a manager and a reportee which may be unarticulated in the conversations with other knobs of the organisational system. Often it is an unspoken contract, of favours bestowed and favours received, which may or may not necessarily be in line with existing policies.

I have always believed that it is foolhardy to expect words on a page to effectively drive human conduct. Human nature will invariably devise methods of thwarting the written guidelines, and the mechanisms of enforcing such dictates is often time and resource consuming. A much more effective way of guiding behaviour is through culture, by setting examples, and sharing stories. The tragedy of such a system is that it is most effective with a stable group, when members are familiar with each other and have personal stakes in belonging to the group.

One might argue that yes indeed, the organisation is indeed such a group, where people are bound by a common objective. Thus the unwritten rules are applicable and depict a workable method of enforcing behaviour. The clinch is this – with too much mobility, comes the heavy price of not belonging to any one group or organisation for any medium term period. When the stakes to belong are so low, unwritten rules simply go for a toss.

I am sure that there are umpteen tales where the reportee has slogged day and night and yet the organisation has never really reciprocated through timely promotions or handsome hikes. In few cases, the employee might be pushed to his tolerance and simply move on, or she may bite the bullet and continue. But there are an equal number of unspoken tales, where the manager may have stretched beyond his limit to secure a favour for an employee. It may be a transfer that he or she was looking for, an extended period of leave to mitigate a crisis, approvals and sponsorships into meaty roles and trainings. And yet, no sooner is the favour bestowed that the employee chooses to move on to another company! There is little that the manager can do, be it legally, be it through company policy to redeem his misplaced efforts.

If work was merely a mercenary contract between the organisation and the employee, then the feelings of hurt, betrayal and anger at such a situation would be displaced. But alas, we humans may try all we might, but never really shake off our human need to connect with others, to be of use, to help and be helped. In today world of short term memory this incident may be quickly forgotten, or washed away with subsequent movements of the manager and his team. But I have seen that such incidents do leave a deep dent in people’s minds, where the unwritten word met the written code and lost. It is a fine balancing act, all my dear fellow colleagues and one which has the power to make or break one’s sense of justice and communion.

Inspired not motivated

Isn’t every management student and every manager is perpetually studying and worrying respectively about motivating teams? Who hasn’t gone through a series of motivational theories, each attempting to capture motivation in a scientific and precise manner. Unfortunately management sciences is yet to fully comprehend the difference between social sciences and physical ones, otherwise they would long have given up!
Truth be told, most activities can be successfully completed with minimal motivation (read complete disinterest). After all, organizations today are convinced that most of their employees are completely brainless and thus attempt to dissect work in a minimalistic fashion, step by step almost as if we were all kindergarten going toddlers. Is it an attempt to make work motivation proof, where the maximum can be accomplished with the least of discretionary effort, I wonder.

I have been working for around 2 years now, and I do realize that there are some things I am capable of doing and certain things that I am motivated to. Both might not be present with the same intensity in each activity I have to perform at the workplace. Sometimes I feel completely motivated and interested in my work, while on other days, I run through the usual motion of tasks to be performed, making quite a few mistakes in turn. When I feel interested, there is faster processing of information, faster responses and more activities done!

While there are so many motivators around, I think that I work best with context and novelty. I doubt whether it is very different for many others. Who would not want to work in an environment where one really finds meaning in their work, understand how it impacts at a broader level and has the experience of learning continuously by exploring newer stuff. What does vary across people is the level to which these things bring an enthralled smile to their faces. For some, it might be a very distant reality, and one is content to settle for the occasional hiccup rather than the everyday mountain. For others monotony is another word for death.

What I really feel convinced about is the fact that motivating anyone is not really possible. People are self- motivated, or not motivated at all. There is a bit of philosophy that I really won’t bore my readers with, but not everyone believes in the infallibility of cause and effect. There is also an equally strong belief, unpleasant to some that we are actually capable of manipulating (read effecting) very little. This is not to give up hope by proclaiming kay sera sera (what will be, will be). We are actually strongly capable of influencing and nurturing, but not really directly. The best part is that one never really knows what effect one will have. One can work towards an ideal, or a belief and structure tasks towards it bit by bit, conversation by conversation. It can so happen that people get motivated (read influenced) to converge to a similar idea. But the distinct difference is that it is never the focus of your efforts, just a by-product. When this happens, you inspire.

Think of all those people who you listen to. Did they ever coax with higher pocket money or gifts or treats, for you to be moved by what they said. It was simply this – something was shared which you intuitively knew to be true, not construed for any end, and it resonated. That is what managers need to aim for. Does it sound difficult? It can only be so, if the underlying belief is missing and then everything else is mere hocus focus. Of course this is not to say that if the belief is there, then everything else miraculously falls into place. Technique is still important, and that’s why we are constantly training our managers! Some fun and games, dinner and drinks always yield wonders.

So here are the simple steps to motivate: never motivate, introspect, check for your own beliefs, start living them, and lo – people are inspired. If there is no congruence, change your job / company! 

Ode to the Working Mom

Motherhood holds an immutable sanctity in the life of any woman. The whole process of bearing a child and nurturing him or her through childhood is fraught with challenges for working women. Being an HR professional, one often comes across myriad stories of women as they strive to balance societal expectations and their professional responsibilities. Below are a few such anecdotes –

A senior woman recently noted –“Nowadays women treat pregnancy as an illness! After all it is a beautiful period in your life and should be enjoyed to the fullest, not submerged in panic and medication.” With increasing stress, erratic food habits, long hours of travel, pollution and late pregnancies, there are often complications, which are difficult to manage with a grueling work schedule. However, as the medical leaves increase, so does the perception of work being less important, percolate among the colleagues. Even months before a lady proceeds on her maternity leave, often there are less important tasks assigned to her.

When the time comes to apply leave, extended maternity leave policies are definitely a boon. After all, the discretion of the most supportive manager in granting leave is subject to business conditions which may be non-conducive to an extended duration of absence. In a fast changing context, a period of 9 months is like an indeterminate stretch, during which the working environment is liable to drastically change. When a new mother returns, the previous manager or HR team allocates a suitable role based on her prior experience. While today’s market conditions generally warrant a constant requirement of people, many roles may be out of bounds because of the nature of work, travel and so on.

In my interactions, the predominant reason for a working mother to resume work and then resign emerges as the child’s health. Many new parents find themselves struggling between the hospital and the workplace, with medical bills competing with their salaries! I knew a lady who had scouted all the hospitals in the city for her child, but after 3 months of recurring illnesses, decided to leave her child with her parents in another city. Many working couples with hitherto similar career graphs face a perceived choice – continuing the mother’s immediate career over their baby’s health.

Quality day care continues to be a challenge in many large cities even today, despite a significant population of women working. Without a significant employee base, an in-house company crèche is not viable. Tie-ups with existing day care centres are thus common, but many new parents find the cost of quality day care prohibitive. Those who can and would like to afford it may not find a day-care near their homes or en-route office! In many metropolitan cities be in Mumbai, Bangalore or Chennai, trustworthy maids are an expensive rarity too, which leaves one with few options if grandparents are not around. Last (or perhaps first) is the challenge of the mindset to overcome apprehensions like – “My child is too young to put into a crèche or daycare, maybe when he / she is older and more independent”.

Once the choice is made, many women complain that getting back on the roadmap is difficult. There is a sense of having missed the bus as male peers may have moved ahead into bigger roles. In middle management, a critical mass of women managers is still lacking, and the norms of networking and growing into the next role, like evening parties, directly conflict with the time for home. Many senior leaders may perceive women managers as being less ambitious and aggressive, imperative qualities for moving into the next league. Women too introspect with thoughts like – “What are my priorities? Do I really want to make certain choices at this stage of my career? What gives me greatest satisfaction?” and the answers may be counter-intuitive!

Given these odds, here’s kudos to all the working mothers who continue to balance their careers with their personal priorities. It is a challenging experience and one can but hope that many more women join into this league of extraordinary women, which will enable organization cultures to transform into a gender neutral experience!

Romance at Work

It is said that love knows no context, and Cupid can strike one just about anywhere. So, in today era, where a large population of our youth is working long hours, the office is indeed transforming into a hub for romance. This phenomenon is particularly prevalent in IT organizations, where the majority of the workforce has just stepped out of college. Hence visit any IT campus, and there are definitely some dating pairs which can be spotted, exchanging shy glances, or holding hands, or simply sitting at the cafeteria to spend time with their loved ones.

There are 2 aspects which pose as a breeding ground for romance – having a lot of free time, or having a lot of working time with the same close group. Both these instances are found in plentiful measure with many employees deployed in trainings for skill building or be on bench without deployment, and find themselves with a bundle of time on their hands. On the other hand, those working long hours with only their own team to meet a tight project deadline, colleagues may indeed slowly transform into friends, close friends, and perhaps even more.

There is mixed opinion about the benefits of workplace romance. On one hand, it indeed improves morale and retention of the individuals concerned, since they get to spend a large portion of the day together. Even if they belong to different projects or functions, nothing beats sneaking out at 3pm for a quick coffee with your beloved. One can also assume that since both partners belong to the same context, they would be more understanding and appreciative of each other’s professional commitments.

The flip side of office romance is when the relationship doesn’t work out. While there are those rare mature individuals who strictly demarcate their professional conduct and personal affairs, there are also many heartbroken lovers who may choose to continue bestowing their affections even when not reciprocated, much to the chagrin of their manager. If such behavior continues, a harried HR manager does step into the picture to reinforce behavorial norms.

On the other hand, any office couple who are completely engrossed with each other, sitting too close, taking too many breaks together can often create a detrimental environment for other co-workers making them uncomfortable. When such behavior is also observed by the senior management or customer it reflects poorly on the manager, as it indicates a loss of productivity, and thus, such situations are best when nipped in the bud.

In an age when mobility of employees is a fantastic strategic advantage, if one of the partners is transferred to another location, it is often expected that the other partner too would be transferred. Woe if the location is in an onsite geography, for matching the role in one single location with the skills of a particular individual can indeed be a nightmarish challenge.

Last but not the least, there is the convoluted question of morality. If one knows that a married colleague is having an affair at office, what should one do? The office is a forum for employees to use their knowledge and abilities to further organizational goals, and ideally, it is irrelevant what sort of societal or ethical role the person assumes. However reality is often more complicated, and the tendency to pass judgement onto one’s colleague is often found. Handling such situations can indeed be tricky.

So go ahead and romance away at the workplace, but without forgetting that work comes first at the office, and love can only finish second place.

Gratitude

Why are some people more grateful than others? Why are some companies more grateful than others? Most people don’t feel indebted for the salary they earn, but for the small things they don’t expect. Therefore one way to generate more gratitude is to give more positive surprises to employees. Many companies plan and do things exactly to ‘avoid’ surprises! Probably that is what is creating a deficit in gratitude. Of course, planned communication is essential for any large organization to sustain, and essential for many organizational programs to be successful. However, such programs never make a person feel indebted towards the organization.

When you think about it, gratitude often follows a spontaneous gesture. This naturally means that organizations can do little to institutionalize it, no process can possibly work. But by unobtrusive and diligent efforts, it is indeed possible to develop a culture of gratitude. Take the example of a “thank you” card, which can be distributed among employees who can appreciate and say ‘thanks’ to anyone at the workplace - their colleagues, bosses and subordinates. The person receiving a “thank you” card is always pleasantly surprised and displays it proudly at his workplace for everyone to appreciate! It often brings out many unspoken words of appreciation from random people, which the recipient was completely unaware of.

Do you remember the day when you first joined your organization? Chances are that you do, but often it is an unimportant date for your family. How would you feel if a bouquet of flowers arrives at your doorstep the morning you exactly complete five or ten years with the organization? Your wife may discover the bouquet and read out the card congratulating you on the long tenure. It is a moment of unexpected joy, which lingers long after the promotion and hike cycles are gone.

Most employees at the workplace know what to expect every day as they go to work. They are aware of all the policies, how the business is doing, and the everyday issues with the customer. But what if there was a trek to look forward to over the weekend, or a cricket match with colleagues? Or they had been teaching at a local municipal school over the last few months, and the results of their exams were out? When there are different options for one to feel involved, one begins to look forward to work, and there is a sense of balance and well-being.

One is always grateful when treated with empathy and consideration. Once, an employee within 1 month of joining a company was diagnosed with cancer. The conventional medical insurance would not cover the cost of treatment. The easiest decision for this organization would have been to let him go. But this organization extended full support taking up all the medical expenses over ten lakhs as well as gave him leave till he recovered for over one year. He continues working there till date, a staunch advocate of the company with all colleagues and friends!

The magic of gratitude lies in how it can spring from the simplest of events and yet leave a lasting impression. Hence hefty budgets or elaborate plans might fail, but spontaneity, empathy and fairness in everyday activities that touch our lives can make a huge difference. When employees are grateful towards the organization, they reciprocate the same emotion in their work, and everyone benefits! As Cicero wisely put it- “Gratitude is not only the greatest of all virtues, but the parent of all the others!”