Happy Holidays – Back in 2008

People at Work & Play, including A Step A Day, will not have any new content from December 24 through December 31.

Any new comments will be replied to in a week.

Thanks for your patience, and happy holidays.

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Filed under: A Step A Day , A Step A Day

Improving Performance

There are many objectives of having a performance appraisal system. However, every performance appraisal system will have these two objectives:

1. Improving individual performance
2. Personal development of individuals

It is obvious that team, department and organization performance improve with improvements in individual performances. There are higher expectations each year, from our clients, from our vendors, from our business affiliates, from our business partners and standards of performance have to reflect these expectations.

Organizations that have got the best out of appraisal system have given strategic importance to personal development. You, me and every team member must see benefits in their quest to grow as professionals and as people. Personal development works best when it is tied in with organizational goals.

In my experience, there are 3 categories of employees:

1. The Self-Starters: Sadly not more than 10 % (if you are lucky) fall into this category. They have high initiative, know what they want to achieve and work relentlessly to improve- all on their own steam. They are treasures to be nurtured.
2. The Happy Many: Ranging from the contented to the mediocre drifter, about 70-80 % of employees fall under this category. they look to the organization- and more specifically their boss- to nudge them to action. They need support. They need direction.
3. The Stubborn Few: These are the die-hards. They respond only when compelled to do so. They need close supervision and lots of chasing even to get themselves to develop.

You may recognize some of your team members- or indeed yourself- as being in one of these categories. Cater to them differently. Recognize them based on their level of response. You have a responsibility to see that every team member experiences personal development.

However, since resources, including time and effort are limited, focus more on those who show greater interest in taking charge of their own development. Focus more on those whose performance and contributions have greater impact for your organization.

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Filed under: A Step A Day , A Step A Day, personal development

Do Innovative Titles Work?

Interesting article in the Economic Times about designations/titles. Do they keep employees in good humour? The article says that while the debate on monetary versus job satisfaction as an engagement tool rages on, India Inc, has discovered a novel way not just to keep its flock together, but happy too.

We have had titles as diverse as Chief Evangelist or Chief Fun Officer in corporations. Cisco has a Chief Globalisation Officer and a Senior Manager, Diversity & Inclusion. IBM has a work-life integration leader. Sapient a Director of People Success. Other titles mentioned include Chief Brand Architect, Chief Privacy Officer, Chief Competitive Officer etc. At a senior level, I feel, these titles reflect the job holder’s role more clearly. But should this trend go down to all levels?

A senior executive is quoted as saying that titles gain more relevance, especially at the lower levels within organizations. “Designations like chief impression officer (for a receptionist) or a car manager (instead of a driver), are ways of showing respect to the positions and functions,” he says .“Such designations also act as motivators as roles like that of a receptionist are the ones that create the first and lasting impression for a company.

Two years ago, Chennai-based GRT hotel chain introduced the designation loss-prevention manager to lend more respectability and accountability to the security function.

I, for one, believe that treating people with professional respect counts for far more than the title especially at lower levels. In our country at least, leave alone the public at large, I am somewhat skeptical about their own family and friends – their immediate society- referring to receptionists as chief impression officers, security personnel as loss prevention managers or to drivers as car managers.

Are we putting creativity ahead of prudence? With tongue firmly in cheek, I ask, should we revamp all titles? Would we see the following changes?

• Lead Global Warming Arrester for Head Gardener
• Nutrition Provider in Chief for Head Cook
• Guide To The Top Level for Elevator Operator
• Chief Recycler for Janitor

Will some one in the People function responsible for churning out new titles be called a Positive Image Capturer?

Have fun. Make up your own list!

More seriously, I believe the way you treat people is far more important than what you call them. Titles sit lightly on the shoulders of senior executives who are extremely well compensated. For example, calling a retired Brigadier as Chief Loss Prevention Manager is fine by me. But calling a security guard Loss Prevention Executive when they are mostly on contract and likely to lose their own job at the drop of a hat?

I feel giving a seemingly glamorous title to some one whose challenge is to keep body and soul together is misplaced magnanimity.

What are your views?

Filed under: Trends , , designations, Titles

Efficiency vs. Effectiveness

We managers should be both efficient and effective. We must know when to be efficient and when to be effective. An old story called “The Unproductive Symphony” speaks of this.

The Efficiency Expert was given tickets by his boss to attend a performance of Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony.

He handed in his report to the boss the next morning:

” Thanks for the tickets. Here is my opinion.

1. For considerable periods the 4 oboe players had nothing to do.Their number should be reduced and their work spread over the whole orchestra, thus eliminating peaks of activity.
2. All 12 violins were playing identical notes. This seems unnecessary duplication and the staff of this section should be drastically cut. If a large volume of sound  is required, this could be obtained through an electronic amplifier.
3. Much effort was absorbed in the playing of demi semiquavers. This seems an excessive refinement. It is recommended that all notes should be rounded up to the nearest semiquaver. If this was done, it should be possible to use trainees and lower grade operators.
4. No useful purpose is served by repeating with horns the passage already played by strings.
5. If all such redundant passages were eliminated, the work could be reduced to 20 minutes. If Schubert had attended to these matters, he would probably have been able to finish his symphony after all”.

Moral of the Story: Increased efficiency is not necessarily synonymous with increased effectiveness.

The famous management guru, Peter Drucker summed it up best by saying :

Efficiency is doing things right

Effectiveness is doing the right things !

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Filed under: A Step A Day , A Step A Day, Efficiency & Effectivenes

Taking Charge of your Career

A Step A Day was initiated to help people take charge of their careers. It contemplates sharing thoughts, insight and information on a variety of skills necessary to be an effective executive.

Is there a particular kind of mindset required to chart one’s career? Here are 7 Principles which I have found to be useful to achieve this goal:-

1. Know yourself well and love what you do: You know yourself better than anyone else in the world. Take stock of yourself. Be aware. Knowing what you are good at and what you dislike helps fashion a career path. As the old sage said: ” Do what you love to do and you won’t have to work a day in your life”
2. Seize every opportunity to learn: Two “enemies” which can block your progress in your career if you aren’t careful. Complacency and obsolescence. Learn from everybody in sight. Learn things that make you more effective in your job.
3. Look for international exposure: In a rapidly changing world, your ability to relate to people, products and services from countries other than your own gives you an edge. Make the best of opportunities- even short term assignments.
4. Seek newer businesses and new opportunities: Sooner or later you will outgrow your current role. Exposure to and developing skills in what is current helps you to gear up to face new challenges and gets you out of the rut.
5. Determine what success means to you: Linking back to knowing your self best, understand what you seek from a career. What are those things that excite you? What would you like as rewards for your success? What is your aim in life?
6. Be responsible for your actions: No one will be as interested in your future as you. Don’t blame others for what went wrong. Don’t make excuses. Take full responsibility for your actions. Earn success through your achievements. For what you have done- not for who you are.
7. Be the best in your job: Professional respect comes through on- going demonstration of your competence: not your experience, your age or your title. Work towards being the best and it will be well worth the effort.

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Filed under: A Step A Day , A Step A Day, Career Building

World’s Best Companies for Leaders

The annual survey from the global management consulting firm, the Hay Group and the Chief Executive magazine has General Electric as the world’s best company for leaders for the second successive year.

Procter and Gamble has retained its second position this year. Johnson & Johnson moves up to the third spot followed by Unilever ( not in the top 20 in 2006)  and Coca -Cola.

At ranks 6 to 10 are Siemens, PepsiCo, L’Oreal, Toyota, and Hewlett Packard. See the entire lists for 2007 and 2006 here.

The maximum number of companies are from the US (11), while 8 are from Europe and 1 is from Asia. The annual survey considered a total 790 companies around the world.

 In the study, 86.1% of respondents feel that, compared to a few years ago, the urgency to develop leaders in their organization has increased.

The survey identifies 7 best practices that are most effective for leadership development. However, it is the top three practices in this list that drive the rest. If companies are willing to do the ‘heavy lifting’ in these three practices, they will greatly increase their chances of keeping their leadership pipeline full.

The top three of the 7 best practices identified in 2007 account for 68% of the variance in leadership development outcomes. The best organizations for leaders have firmly established the conditions necessary for sustainable leadership.

This includes three key elements

• Leadership development of all kinds is occurring at all levels in the organization
• Managers are held accountable for their leadership behavior and the work climates they create
• Development of teams is just as critical as development of individuals

Filed under: Executive Effectiveness , best companies, leadership, World's Best for Leaders

You Determine Culture

Ask an employee to define his organizational culture and you get a variety of responses. For most employees, organizational culture may be difficult to define but it is easily experienced. Culture is a collection of behaviours. It is determined by people like you and me.

According to Terry Deal & Allan Kennedy in Corporate Cultures
“A strong culture is a system of informal rules that spells out how people are to behave most of the time. A strong culture helps people to feel better about what they do, so they are more likely to work harder”

You as the manager largely determine the culture in your team. Your team members watch you like hawks. They observe what you say and what you don’t say. What you do and what you don’t do. This is observed on an on-going basis. They pick up their perception of your team’s culture from your behaviours. They get their cues on what is acceptable, what is desirable and what is unacceptable in the team based on your reactions.

I once saw a manager sitting in his office. There were several plaques and posters around him extolling the virtues of quality. When one of his team members gave him a report on the last week’s quality matrices, he tossed it aside and talked about why higher output was required from the team. You can well imagine the message the young team member got about the importance of quality!

Another manager was lecturing his team about why they must be punctual and start work on time. Their expressions, when they heard this ranged from disbelief to quiet sniggering. The reason was not far to find. That manager came late more often than not.
What the team members privately thought of the manager can well be imagined. In a later conversation, he said they had never mentioned anything about his late coming. I told him the reason perhaps was that they had no choice. Let them get a better job offer and he would then know the difference. When they walked out on him.

As a manager, you influence the behaviours of your team much more than you might imagine. How you conduct yourself is the best determinant of your team’s culture.

You determine culture. Be a good role model and the rewards will follow.

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Filed under: A Step A Day , A Step A Day, culture

Was Wright Wrong?

Enjoyed “John Wright’ s Indian Summers” written by John Wright with Sharda Ugra & Paul Thomas. Wright was the first foreign coach of India’s cricket team. His appointment set to rest, although temporarily, the Indian vs. foreign coach issue.

I was impressed by Wright’s professionalism. He brought a lot of passion to his role as India’s cricket coach. A job, he quickly found out, which was more in the limelight than he would ever have imagined.

At the end of the day, the team did prosper under his regime. With Ganguly as the aggressive captain and Wright as the sobering influence, India did much better than in past years. Amongst other achievements, they reached the final of the 2003 World Cup.

Here is BBC Sports assessment of his tenure as coach. India left on the Wright track.

I believe Wright did a lot of good for Indian cricket. If he is to be believed, before he took charge, “nets” was a leisurely affair where porters brought out the kits of the players and they condescended to bat after having pots of tea and sandwiches.

The book has some interesting stories: How communication is vital in the game. How Rahul Dravid declared when Tendulkar was on 194 in a Test against Pakistan. How Wright himself lost his temper and caught Sehwag by the collar when he had once again thrown away his wicket, the machinations behind the selection process, the heyday of Jagmohan Dalmia, the changing complexion of the game and status of the players thanks to television and big time sponsors. The game – and the new found stars- changed for ever.

All in all a good read, if you -like me-enjoy cricket and follow the fortunes of the Indian cricket team.

John Wright is right in all his observations on Indian cricket. In attempting to change the mind set of our players, and in getting higher leverage for the coach, was Wright wrong?

Filed under: Books and Authors , Indian cricket team, John Wright

Selling to your Boss

“ I submitted a detailed report to my boss” said the young manager “ He didn’t seem to care. It had so much data. I spent days preparing it. My boss told me to brief him in 2 minutes about this project. Is it fair?” he moaned.

It may not appear fair to the young man but the mistake he had made was in not understanding his boss well enough. As you know, people are different.

While some prefer to talk things over in person, others may like information sent to them in the form of a email or report. While some may prefer short summaries, others may want detailed explanations.

You may have many ideas but are you able to sell them effectively to your boss?

Karl J. Ahlrichs, SPHR a Human Resources Consultant with Professional Staff Management, a Human Resources solutions company headquartered in Indiana, makes these important points:

• It is getting tougher to sell ideas. All audiences have higher standards and shorter attention spans, and are becoming very selective about the messages they will “hear:”
• Who are your clients? Recognize that individual departments have differing styles and cultures, and therefore will better respond to different messages.
• Define their style. Based on their need for information and desire for a personal relationship, a four quadrant model is built that explains the best way to sell an idea to the different groups.
• Adjust your message to their style. Learn concise, practical skills that work with each population.

Ahlrichs says there are 4 types of bosses with varying needs for information and relationship. The strategy for selling to each one varies:
1.Transaction oriented: Wants small amount of information, low degree of relationship

Be brief and to the point, preferably on paper or email. Use only 1 page with a brief summary. Use bullets for benefits, costs, deadlines and any corroborating opinions. If there is a deadline for response, be sure to include that information up front. Keep chitchat to the minimum.

2. Information Oriented: Wants large amount of information, low degree of relationship

Be brief and to the point, plus add an appendix with supporting material. Include trends, reference information, resources for more information etc. Make a great deal of information available. Keep conversation on tasks.

3. Relationship oriented: Wants small amount of information, high degree of relationship

Face to face meetings are needed. Provide several examples of why this idea will work. Ask questions to involve the manager in the planning. Follow up with a written document that is tailored to your dept. Use specific references. Talk about non-work topics which interest him/her.

4. Partnership oriented: Wants large amount of information and high degree of relationship

Meetings should be accompanied with full documentation as described earlier. Regular face to face meetings should be augmented with content-rich interactions via email and phone.
Talk about non-work topics which interest him/her. Ask about family, hobbies, vacation etc.

Observe your boss and peers. Understand what works best for them. Use these techniques as selling your ideas to your boss is crucial for success

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Filed under: A Step A Day , , A Step A Day, Karl J. Ahlrichs, selling ideas

Benefits of Carpooling

If you are going nuts navigating the city traffic, here’s a solution you might like to try. Car pooling or ride sharing. It reduces your stress of driving as also has other benefits for you and your society at large. Car pooling benefits its members in many ways including saving money, saving fuel, reducing global warming and easing traffic.

The Indian Carpool Survey conducted by Indimoto gives interesting details about the demographic, social and economic profile of commuters who have adopted carpooling as a mode of commuting. Over 500 commuters who have used the internet (carpool listing/classified sites including Indimoto.com) to enter into carpool/rideshare arrangements across India since 2006 were surveyed.

The findings indicate that carpool as a concept has been embraced primarily by educated commuters from major metros with well paying jobs. This trend can be attributed to high internet penetration in the metros and greater awareness of carpools and its benefits amongst such individuals. Not surprisingly, it is more popular in cities where the traffic situation is the worst like Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.

The maximum car-poolers belong to New Delhi (57 %) followed by Mumbai (23 %) and Bangalore (8 %).  Only 16 per cent of the car-poolers are female who however believe the concept to be relatively safe.  70 % of car-poolers are in the age group of 25-40 years (70 per cent). They form the most active working population and commute to work daily.

57 % of car-poolers are highly educated with most holding a post graduate qualification. 99 % of respondents carpool for an income generating activity and majority (84 per cent) are salaried employees.

It’s not that the car poolers surveyed were short of funds. 57 % earned over  Rs. 50,000 per month and 10 % upwards of Rs.100,000 per month. These are well paid private sector employees, car-pooling to their offices in various metros. Only 6 % of the car-poolers do not posses a private vehicle while 86 per cent own one or more cars and share driving responsibilities with fellow car-poolers.

As expected, majority of car-poolers commute over long distances each day, 84 % commute over 26 kilometres everyday with 17 % travelling over 76 kilometres on a daily commute. Despite this, 38 % car-poolers are able to keep their commuting costs below Rs. 3000 per month by carpooling.

Car-poolers say the primary accrued benefit is the reduction in CO2 emissions which helps them reduce their carbon footprint in the race to save the planet from global warming. 67 % cited this as the main benefit of carpools. Indeed highly environmentally conscious.

62 % appreciated the money saving opportunity through carpooling while 53 % were glad that they were reducing traffic on choked city streets. Saving of precious fuel was cited as another benefit by 41% of the car-poolers.

Contrary to popular belief that carpools are a social challenge, 38 % opted for it to increase social interaction with like minded commuters working or living in their vicinity. Reduction of stress due to driving/commuting alone encouraged 31 % cent of the respondents to carpool.

The benefits of car pooling are many. As far as I can see the biggest drawback is it cuts flexibility. You are on your own if you miss the bus…er, in this case the car !

Filed under: Trends , Car pooling, daily commute