the people tree spring 2012

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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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

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

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

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

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).

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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!!

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

http://www.thrli.com

http://www.thrli.com

http://graphologyinformationcenter.com

http://graphologyinformationcenter.com

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?

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‟.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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


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.


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.

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

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

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

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!

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.

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.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kris_Gopalakrishnan

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.

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

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.

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 :

the people tree spring 2012

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