H R Era,     Issue # 13A,       Jul 11th, 2002

1. Moderator's Space

2. Why Young Executives are Chronically Unhappy? - by Tarkesh Gupta

3. Tomato Soup for the Soul - by Sonia K Nair

4. An Article Summary - by Pankaj Gurumukhi

Motivation vs Volition - by Sumantra Ghoshal & Heike Bruch

5. Quotation Corner

I Have Learned ...... - by Sushanta Ganguly

6. You Know ANGER is one short of DANGER - by M Thomas Prabhu

7. Points to Ponder - by Ranjith Menon

8. Recommended Website on HR - by R Narayanan

9. Aims of HR Era, How to Contribute Articles, Legal Stuff.

How can we write articles?

One style is Pankaj's. He read an article by Sumantra Ghosal & Heike Bruch. He liked it very much, so made a summary of it to share with others. Read it in this issue.

Another style is Prabhu's. He liked the story on "Nail in Fence" on anger. The subject interested him, so he read a few things on it. Adding some thoughts to what he read, he wrote an article. You will find it in this issue.

Third style is Tarkesh's. He shifted from college to office a few years back and found a drastic change. Being in HR, he observed that others too find the change tedious. Tarkesh had some ideas about what organisations can do to ease the change. He has put his experience & ideas on paper. Read his article in this issue.

Fourth is Ranjith's. I can't fathom now.

These are the different ways you can also write for HR Era. It is not as difficult as it may appear. Each author gained - knowedge of the subject & confidence. WANAA TRY OUT!

Regards.

Rajeev B Bhatnagar

WHY YOUNG EXECUTIVES ARE CHRONICALLY UNHAPPY? - by Tarkesh Gupta

The Typical conclusion

It is impossible to please new generation.

I believe, this is harsh conclusion. I agree, young people have lot of expectations and high ambitions and often find difficult to fulfill them because of organization’s certain policies. It is really difficult for them to make the transition from schools to office as campus life is entirely different from work life. If we compare campus Vs office life, we may come to know the reasons of their discontentment even company treating them so well.

Let’s examine and try to do an exercise to make this transition comfortable and let’s see how we can keep our young managers / executive happy for better productivity :

Here is a comparision between what students live with in campus life and what they find on entering a work place. Also here are suggestions on what organizations can do:

Campus versus Work Place

1. Place of work: In campus class rooms change frequently. In work place, place of work remains the same for long.

Good organizations organize the works in projects and change the locations.

2. Campus is lots of fun - canteen, break after every hour. In office we have long day work with no time for fun or break.

Provide opportunities for break and out location training, recreational activities.

3. Subjects, teachers and even colleagues change every year in college. Job, supervisor, colleagues remain same for a longer period in work place.

Train people to make change in nature of work. Have college like training. Remove monotony.

4. In campus, work means periods (There is no link between two periods contents). Structured day. You can bunk one period if you do not enjoy. In work place one has to structure her day. Need to do all the task whether you enjoy it or not.

Help people by minimizing the subjects to begin with.

5. In campus students work in small teams (2-3 people) & work for short period. In work place, teams are typically much larger and stay for long.

Assign work in small teams initially as some may feel lost in large team. Rotate roles continuously.

6. Interaction level in college is much higher within colleagues (classmates) even after work (class room) as usually all are available in hostel. Typically, in work place, staff do not meet outside the work place.

Create opportunities for socializing to bring the openness.

7. Student gets frequent feedback from the professors in quantifiable terms. Supervisor’s feedback usually has subjective elements and is done once in a year.

Should have multiple appraisal meeting, provide support.

8. Reporting relationship - student reports to faculty member. In work place you are responsible to more than one person including customers.

Delay the exposure of multiple reporting. Provide clarity about each role.

9. Performance in one subject does not affect in other subjects. Since the supervisor is same in work place, performance in one subject affects other subjects also.

Train supervisors, provide objectivity in goal setting.

10. One know in campus when she will complete Ist, IInd…….semester and when she will complete her graduation. In work place, one may have vague idea of where they will be after one / two years.

Have formal career planning, Supervisor also should make parallel plan.

All good organizations do all these things to make this transition from college to office smooth.

With best of learning.

Contributed by Tarkesh Gupta,
Executive -HR, Dabur India Limited, Delhi
Email: tarkeshg@DABUR.com

  

Hi Folks,

I would like to share a few jokes that i recently read somewhere. Enjoy Reading.......

Tough Hiring

At the end of a job interview, the HR Person asked the young programmer, "What kind of salary were you looking for?"
The programmer said, "Oh, something in the neighborhood of $75,000 a year, depending on the benefit's package."

The HR Person said, "Well, what would you say to a package of 5-weeks vacation, 14 paid holidays, full medical and dental, company matching retirement fund to 50% of salary, and a company car leased every 2 years. Say, a red Corvette?"

The programmer sat up straight and said, "Wow!!! Are you kidding?"
And the HR Person said, "Certainly, but you started it."

The Microsoft Engineer

There are three engineers in a car; an electrical engineer, a chemical engineer and a Microsoft engineer. Suddenly the car just stops by the side of the road, and the three engineers look at each other wondering what could be wrong.

The electrical engineer suggests stripping down the electronics of the car and trying to trace where a fault might have occurred. The chemical engineeer, not knowing much about cars, suggests that maybe the fuel is becoming emulsified and getting blocked somewhere.

Then, the Microsoft engineer, not knowing much about anything, comes up with a suggestion, "Why don`t we close all the windows, get out, get back in, open the windows again, and maybe it`ll work!?"

Printer Problem

A woman called the HP help desk with a problem with her printer. The tech asked her if she was "running it under Windows."

The woman then responded, "No, my desk is next to the door. But that is a good point. The man sitting in the cubicle next to me is under a window, and his is working fine."

Sent by Sonia K. Nair
Sr. Manager - P&A, Gujarat Water Infrastructure Limited, Gandhinagar
sonianair@rediffmail.com

Main Article:

Motivation vs Volition - by Sumantra Ghoshal and Heike Bruch. Everyone knows Sumantra Ghoshal. Heike Bruch is Professor of Leadership at the University of Saint Gällen in Switzerland. Published in the Harvard Business Review.

Pankaj's Note:

Dear Rajeev,

(Further to my summary) of article "Beware The Busy Manager," I was able to get the next part of this article by the name "Motivation v/s Volition"...

I am just here to forward the thoughts made by Sumantra Ghoshal & Heikh Bruch. Pls find the article summary ....

Thanks & Take care,
Pankaj

Article Summary

SOMETHING very interesting happened to Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, then a fashionable, London-trained barrister in South Africa, in the small train station at Maritzburg, capital of the Natal Province - something that fundamentally changed his life, and the course of world history.

Conscious of his status as a barrister and armed with a first-class ticket, Gandhiji had boarded the first-class compartment of the train at Durban, on his way to Pretoria. At Maritzburg, a fellow passenger complained about the presence of a ‘coloured’ man in a first-class compartment. Asked by a railway official to move to the van compartment, he protested and was promptly thrown out of the train.

That winter night, the frail and slender man sat shivering in the waiting room - unable to get his coat which was in his luggage that had been ‘taken charge’ of by the railway officials. As he described in his autobiography: “I began to think of my duty… The hardship to which I was subjected was superficial, only a symptom of the deep disease of colour prejudice.”

He had confronted this prejudice earlier, both in India and in South Africa, and had been angered by it. That night, that anger transformed into will - a firm personal commitment “to root out the disease and suffer hardship in the process.” That night Gandhiji crossed over from the domain of motivation to the domain of volition.

Throughout history, it is the power of the human will - volition - that has achieved the impossible. Gandhiji changed the world by exercising his volition, as did Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela. Volition has its downside too, as any reader of ‘Mein Kampf’ knows. But while much of the evil in the world has been caused by volition, almost all the significant progress has also come from the same source.

What is true of societies is also true of companies. As observers and students of business, we have studied a variety of companies all over the world, including companies that have made significant breakthroughs - whether in turning around declining fortunes or in creating stunning new products - and in each case, the success, we have found, could not ultimately be explained except as a product of the human will. In companies, as in societies, real changes do not just happen. They happen when someone uses the power of personal volition to make something happen, no matter what it takes.

Jack Welch wrote: “I learned the most important principle in life from my mother: you just have to want it.” It is volition that enables managers to fight the headwind that comes with change. It is volition that gives them the energy to overcome barriers, to deal with setbacks and to persevere through the demanding and often long journey from a vision to its realisation.


A Different Model of People

Most managers recognise that it is people who drive action and, therefore, the performance of their companies. Typically, the question they ask themselves is “what can I do to motivate people to take the required actions?” The model of ‘people’ they have in their heads is that of rational human beings who pursue their self-interest.

As philosopher and psychologist Peter Köstenbaum has argued, much of management practice is based on a theory that reduces the individual to the level of most primitive instincts and needs. The job of the managers is seen as one of motivating people by meeting as many of these needs as possible. With this model of people, managers focus on creating the policies, strategies and incentives that would best align people’s self-interests with the company’s - that is, their own - vision and goals.

This is absolutely right - much of individual behaviour in organisations indeed follow the theories of motivation managers have and practice. Much, but not all. What these theories of motivation exclude is the concept of volition, which lies at the heart of the human will.

Motivation is a wish or a desire to do something. It is triggered by external stimuli or the expectation of some reward. Yes, the concepts of motivation in theory as well as in management practice acknowledge the role of intrinsic motivation - the desire to do something that is driven by an internal need.

But, ultimately, motivation remains in the volatile state of wishing to engage, feeling attracted by certain opportunities or being tempted to act out certain behaviours. There’s always the danger that a more attractive opportunity will emerge, or that obstacles will come in the way or that the desire will just fade away. Motivation is susceptible to changes in both the environment and inner preferences.

Volition goes a decisive step further. It implies the commitment that only comes from a deep personal attachment to a certain intention - Gandhi’s commitment to root out colour prejudice, for example. Volition is a robust force that is based on conscious choice to make a concrete thing happen. It is this commitment to a certain end state - not to doing something but to achieving something - that leads to the engagement of the human will.

Motivation works outside-in. Outside is the environment that surrounds the individual - company policies, bosses’ preferences, bonus plans and so on. It is the outside that defines what is possible, what is desirable, and the constraints and opportunities offered by the world determine what an individual can and will do.

Volition, in contrast, works inside-out. Inside is the will that defines the goal, the mission, the purpose. People with volition decide what they want to accomplish, and then work to modify the outside world, as needed, to achieve their goal. And this distinction between motivation and volition manifests itself in many different ways.

With volition, people face less difficulty in getting started or in taking actions. They know what they want and do no wait for further information or external stimuli to help them take action.

Volitional people have biased perceptions. Their attention, energy and preferences become so focused on their intention, they look out for information that confirm their intention and block out all contradictory data. They are not tempted by alternative opportunities and they do not get distracted by routine disruptions.

Finally, with volition, people respond very differently to obstacles or problems. Faced with negative feedback, lack of management interest, resistance by others, conflicts with colleagues or any of the other impediments to purposive action-taking, motivation often dissipates. Volition leads to precisely the opposite effect. Barriers only lead to an increase in commitment and effort. Abandoning or rethinking the task is simply not seen as an option.

This difference between motivation and volition becomes critical for really difficult and demanding challenges. Easy and familiar tasks do not engage the human will. Ambitious goals, long-term projects, high uncertainty, extreme opposition - these are the circumstances that both need and stimulate the forces of volition.

People have always recognised this power of the human will, but have been very uncomfortable about it. After all, primacy of the will was the central doctrine of Nazi philosophy. Who can forget Hitler’s chilling words: “We stand at the end of the era of reason. A new magical time of world interpretation has emerged - of the interpretation out of the will, not reason.” In the last six decades, since World War II, the language of will and volition has largely been abandoned, as the discredited doctrine of a fallen and evil regime, and the language of motivation has been embraced as a part of the triumph of reason.

Yes, the concept of volition comes with some dangers. But it is volition that also lies behind most of the really significant and difficult changes that companies achieve. Policies and actions that engage peoples’ motivation typically kill their volition; actions to stimulate volition need an entirely different approach.

If corporate leaders wish to harness the incredible power of the human will in their organisations, they will have to begin thinking about their policies and practices and about their own roles and tasks in a fundamentally different way. What these different ways might be will be the topic of a forthcoming article in this series.

Heike Bruch is Professor of Leadership at the University of Saint Gällen in Switzerland.

Summary contributed by Pankaj Gurumukhi
Senior Software Engineer, Satyam Computer Services Ltd.
Email: pgurumukhi@yahoo.com

I've learned....
That the best classroom in the world is at the feet of an elderly person.

I've learned....
That when you're in love, it shows.

I've learned....
That just one person saying to me, "You've made my day!" makes my day.

I've learned....
That having a child fall asleep in your arms is one of the most peaceful feelings in the world.

I've learned....
That being kind is more important than being right.

I've learned....
That you should never say "no" to a gift from a child.

I've learned....
That I can always pray for someone when I don't have the strength to help him in some other way.

I've learned....
That no matter how serious your life requires you to be, everyone needs a friend to act goofy with.

I've learned....
That sometimes all a person needs is a hand to hold and a heart to understand.

I've learned....
That simple walks with my father around the block on summer nights when I was a child did wonders for me as an adult.

I've learned....
That life is like a roll of toilet paper. The closer it gets to the end, the faster it goes.

I've learned....
That we should be glad God doesn't give us everything we ask for.

I've learned....
That money doesn't buy class.

I've learned....
That it's those small daily happenings that make life so spectacular.

I've learned...
That under everyone's hard shell is someone who wants to be appreciated and loved.

I've learned....
That the Lord didn't do it all in one day. What makes me think I can?

I've learned....
That to ignore the facts does not change the facts.

I've learned....
That when you plan to get even with someone, you are only letting that person continue to hurt you.

I've learned....
That love, not time, heals all wounds.

I've learned....
That the easiest way for me to grow as a person is to surround myself with people smarter than I am.

I've learned....
That everyone you meet deserves to be greeted with a smile.

I've learned....
That there's nothing sweeter than sleeping with your babies and feeling their breath on your cheeks.

I've learned....
That no one is perfect until you fall in love with them.

I've learned....
That life is tough, but I'm tougher.

I've learned....
That opportunities are never lost; someone will take the ones you miss.

I've learned....
That when you harbor bitterness, happiness will dock elsewhere.

I've learned....
That I wish I could have told my Dad that I love him one more time before he passed away.

I've learned....
That one should keep his words both soft and tender, because tomorrow he may have to eat them.

I've learned....
That a smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks.

I've learned....
That I can't choose how I feel, but I can choose what I do about it.

I've learned....
That when your newly born child holds your little finger in his little fist, that you're hooked for life.

I've learned....
That everyone wants to live on top of the mountain, but all the happiness and growth occurs while you're climbing it.

I've learned ..
That it is best to give advice in only two circumstances; when it is requested and when it is a life threatening situation.

I've learned....
That the less time I have to work with, the more things I get done.

Send this to everyone you consider a FRIEND!

Contributed by Sushanta Ganguly,
Head - Personnel & HRD, ECC Division, Larsen & Toubro Limited, Chennai.
Email: sg@lntecc.com

Prabhu's Message: Inspirational Story, "Nail in the Fence," was really very inspirational thanks to Ambar Nanavati. I came across some thing on Anger and i added few of my thoughts and wanted to share with you all . Regards, M.Thomas Prabu.

Of all internal and external enemies of human being , anger is the deadliest. It is capable of completely destroying our intelligence, power of discrimination and the very peace of life. Anger is like a ire that gradually spreads and assumes a gigantic form finally burning the angry person to ashes. Swami Shivananda calls it the shortest route to hell and spiritual suicide.

Control it or . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

In fact, anger is the route cause of all evils, jealousies, hatred, revenge, anxiety impatience, irritation, dislike and intolerance; originate from anger through in a disguised form. Freedom from anger therefore implies freedom from these negative feelings responsible for causing many problems on physical and mental levels. Hence, controlling, in fact annihilating anger from one’s life should be the matter of top priority in everybody’s life without which one can't achieve “happiness and peace” the twin essential ingredients of life.

What causes anger?

When someone does not behave according to our expectation, does not agree with us, opposes us or misbehaves with us we are angry. When people don't fulfill the commitments made to us, when our subordinates fail to give us results or when some obstacles come our way, anger creeps in and assumes ferocity.

If we ponder over this matter, it will reveal to us that “lack of mental strength” is the root of anger. People with mental weakness easily fall prey to any such situation on slightest provocation. On the other hand, a mentally strong person remains unruffled and undisturbed in similar circumstances. Keeping mind constantly under control is therefore necessary to prevent oneself from excitement or provocation likely to cause anger.

It Leads to . . . . . . . . . . .

Anger breeds revenge and hatred. We blame others for the bad that has been fallen us. As per the Chinese saying the man who all the time harbors revenge against anybody digs two graves. Never, therefore, allow anger to foster in your mind. The mental thought patterns that cause most diseases in the body are criticism, anger, resentment and guilt. Out of these anger is most dangerous. Anger turns into things that boil and burn and infects the body. Resentment long held eats and festers away and ultimately can lead to tumors and cancer. Irate, angry and despondent emotional states cause harmful and poisonous products in the organism, while the good feeling, jollity love mobilize the healing power of the organism.

It harms . . . . . . . . . . .

Anger activates stress mechanism that leads to many biological changes in the body. Breathing becomes faster, heartbeats increase, blood pressure enhances, gestation is shut down, due to excessive sweating skin resistance decreases and mouth dries up. All these changes happen to provide increased energy to the body to face the impending threat. So a lot of energy is produced in the body when you are angry. Due to mobilization of this energy person can do anything. He can even commit murder in a fit of anger.

By an outburst of anger the whole nervous system is shattered. Various poisons are thrown into the blood. Anger disturbs the normal working of the body. It repeatedly activates stress mechanism. That further stimulates heart and endocrine glands. All this brings about diseases like migraine, gastritis, hypertension, diabetes, arthritis, and spondylitis. It creates nervous weakness and the immune system of the body becomes weak. So far effects on behavior are concerned, anger completely demolishes the reasoning capacity and intellect for the time being. Under the impulsive and emotional fit the angry man can do anything. Every episode of anger leaves a deep impact on our subconscious mind. Repeated fits of anger make these impressions grave, increasing further susceptibility to anger. Thus anger leads to increased anger.

Prescription for Anger

Since the anger has such a tremendous damaging capacity, ways and means must be found out for its control. The first and foremost way is to stop all conversation whenever there is slightest irritation leave the place immediately.

When anger is round the corner, drink a glass of cold water, concentrate on your breathing or just count 1 to 100. All these measures will for the time being subside your anger and save you from ugly situation likely to arise out of sudden outburst of your anger.

The best way to control your anger is to adopt calm and quiet attitude of mind and develop beaming countenance. For this purpose Vipashyana meditation or Yogasanas can play an important role. In “Vipashyana” you are taught to immediately divert your mind from its agitating or disturbed condition and think of happy or gay situation to overcome the gravity of the exasperation of the negative feelings occurring at the particular time. There are some asanas like Shashankasana , Sarvangasana, Shavasana or Vajrasana that greatly calm the mind and nervous system; and thereby reduce your anger arousal level. Pranayama or abdominal breathing may also help in this regard.

In daily routine, constant observance of humility and humbleness will definitely help. “Forget and forgive” policy is perhaps more beneficial in the mitigation of anger. It is the ego, which must be crushed if you really want victory over anger. Similarly power of patient and tolerance and sense of accommodation should also be developed.

Forgive others heart to heart , you need not let him know, if you let him know he will feel ashamed, and all your negative feelings will go and you will be at peace within and you will never be disturbed.

You know ANGER IS ONE SHORT OF DANGER

The greatest benefit one achieves by control of anger is that you gain immense mental strength and will power. Loss of energy is saved and you are at peace. In this regard it is better to listen to Mahatma Gandhi’s advice, “If you are angry, take meals and go to sleep”.

Contributed by M.Thomas Prabhu
Manager - HR, S.R.Nova Private Limited, hrd@srnova.com
Address: No. 40, Krishna Rajendra Road; ( Near Bangalore Medical College); Lakshmi Complex, 3rd Floor, Fort; Bangalore - 560 002. Phone - 670 7112 ( 7 Lines), Fax - 670 5971. http://www.srnova.com

Three Cheers for Ranjith

Ranjith recently secured 6th Rank in MBA and his photograph appeared in Times of India. Here are some extracts from his book (still unfinished) called "Dateless Diary" that he plans to publish. You will find it deep and philosophical, like I did. Yes, that is one aspect of Ranjith.

LOVE

Falling in love is just like getting hit by a large truck, and yet not being mortally wounded. Just sick to your stomach, high one minute, low the next minute. Starving hungry, but unable to eat. Hot, cold, forever horny, full of hope and enthusiasm, with momentary depressions that wipe you out. It is also not being able to remove the smile from your face, loving life with mad passionate intensity, and feeling years younger. Love doesn’t appear with any warning signs. You fall into it as if pushed from a high diving board. Not time to think about what is happening. It’s inevitable. An event you cannot control. A real crazy heart-stopping roller coaster ride that just has to take its course. It just one of those mysteries of creation-some thing you feel but cant explain.

CRITICISM

What is your reaction towards criticism? Before that, what is criticism? A sort of mirror showed quite unexpectedly before your eyes? Or is it a projection of someone’s fragmented, egoistic psyche? Whatsoever it is, it doesn’t matter… For, it is the way you take criticism that matters. You may shy away or react fiercely to it… but better still, act ACCORDING to it… Action alone counts, not the reaction… Reaction is a waste of time and energy. And, a Leader never reacts… he only Acts. So thank the criticizer for having shown you the mirror. If you see your face in it change accordingly if you have to; if not, forgive him for his ignorance, by this act you are free. And perhaps, it is he who sees his face in the mirror, now, against his face…

TRUE MOTIVATION

The real key to motivation is to look at how far we have come rather than how far we have to go… true motivation is self-motivation... All others are transient… I call this “ Motivation by Introspection”. The best motivation is achieved from within… why? Because, YOU are the key focal point in the whole process- you are INVOLVED in it… this gives more sense of IMPORTANCE, GROWTH & IDENTITY. That’s why I prefer an egg being broken from “inside” rather than “outside”. The former process gives me a chicken that will produce many more eggs and chicks also. By the latter process, I can at best get a single omelette! MBI concept also gives a sense of RESPONSIBILTY to the individual. And once that sense of responsibility comes, the real motivation sets in and the individual charges ahead…

Contributed by Ranjith Menon,
Executive - HR, Global Edge Software Ltd, Bangalore. Tel:91-80-3467944 Extn: 478. Fax:91-80-3467948.
Email: ranjith@globaledgesoft.com

Dear Friends,

I would like to refer a website to our group members: http://www.hr.com

Most of us would know this website, but i think many are not aware of the real usefulness of this website. This is a one-stop place for all information regarding HR practices, skills reqiurement, process & procedures for the US market. Anyone interested, can register here for free and get to know quality information about the HR strategy in the US market

Regards
R. Narayanan
narayan@globalsoftesm.com

Aims of HR Era:
It aims to enhance CAREER GROWTH of its readers by bringing to them practices & ideas they can apply in their work, opportunities to network with other Professionals, training opportunities, jobs available, and techniques for self-management.

Contribute Articles & Other Contents:
Contributions from readers are wholeheartedly solicited. Contributions are the things that enable sharing of learnings. Lead Article should be about 800 words, others 400 words. Please send details about yourself also as we would like to post them along with the article. Kindly note, no honorarium is paid now! Please email contributions to HREra@rediffmail.com

Legal Stuff!
All information in HR Era is presented in good faith. However, before using, please consult relevant experts. We do not accept any financial responsibility for accuracy.

Visit our Website at http://hrera.tripod.com 

Copyright (C) 2002 by Rajeev B. Bhatnagar