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Writing down what we have learned from experience or reading sharpens our own understanding & thinking on the subject. Publishing it (in HR Era) adds value because we gain from critical as well as appreciative comments of readers. Publishing also makes us well-known amongst fellow professionals & makes our contribution permanent.

We invite you to use HR Era as your medium of self-expression, sharing, and growth.
Email your contributions to Rajeev@HREra.com  

Contents

1. Moderator's Space

2. Are You Picking the Right Leaders – by Sorcher & Brant” –  summary by RBB

3. Tomato Soup for the Soul - sent by S Sowrirajan

Why Men LIE

4. HR in News – by V.S.Sathiyamoorthy

LG Tunes In To Family Ambassadors

5. New Members

Abdulhadi Mahdi Abusulaiman, HR Analyst. King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Center., Riyadh, SA  

6. Attitudes and their Importance in Life – by G Uppiliappan

7. Readers' Forum

Query on HR Accounting from Bharati Raja
Appreciations

8. Links to articles on HR

9. Best HR Jobs (India)

10. Training Programs
 

HR Era is a Free fortnightly for HR Professionals with 2500 subscribers. To subscribe, simply send an email to HREra-subscribe@yahoogroups.com  . Visit our website at http://hrera.com
 

1. Moderator's Space

Dear Friends,

Sorry for delay in the issue. This is also the reason we have not been able to publish the contributions from members.

Will try to be more regular. Can anyone offer suggestion or give help in this???

warm regards

Rajeev B Bhatnagar

Rajeev@HREra.com
 

2. Are You Picking the Right Leaders : by Sorcher & Brant - summary by RBB

Here is a summary of above article, which appeared in Harvard Business Review of February 2002. The authors - Sorcher & Brant - have worked with several Fortune 500 companies for the last 20 years on the issues of CEO selection, assessment of senior executives and early identification of leadership talent. In this article they share the learnings.

Leaders are Available

S&B believe that leadership talent is more available that people think. The fact is that at many organizations leadership talent goes un-tapped, even though available. The top management is unable to tap an available leadership potential because of inadequate process for identifying the talent. This is a cause of the felt scarcity of leadership in many organizations.

 Pitfalls while identifying Leadership Potential

 The commonly followed practices for identifying leadership potential go wrong due to different pitfalls. Most of the pitfalls can be classified as “Halo Effect.”

 Halo Effect is defined as the tendency to emphasize one good or bad quality of the person and ignore the other bad / good qualities in her or him. Here is a list of such things from their experience for selections of leaders at very senior level.

 i] Dynamic Presentation / Public speaking skills

Senior executives tend to over-value how people carry themselves in front of others specially their stand-up presentation skills. These skills are important but they can be developed and the deficiency here is rarely the reason for an executive’s failure. The more difficult shortcoming to correct is lack of one-on-one social skills. Without the ability to engage, convince and inspire others in private settings, leaders will find it difficult to inspire the people they need to support their cause.

 ii] Being a Team Player

Managers who manage by consensus often climb the corporate ladder quickly and are viewed positively by their bosses because they make the boss’s life easier. S&B have found that such individual do not make exceptional leaders at top positions. In fact, the best leaders may not a team player.

 iii] Fire in the Belly

 A perceived a lack of ambition scuttles the career of many high potential leaders. When rejecting a manager for a a leadership position, a common criticism is “He seems to lack that fire in the belly”. S&B have found that many exceptional leaders are modest and display little ambition even though in the inside they are fiercely competitive. In fact a high degree of personal humility is far more evident among exceptional leaders than is raw ambition.

 iv] Being Operationally Proficient

CEOs and other senior executives often over-value people who are good implementers and problem solvers because they make the life of their boss easier and are good soldiers. However, superior problem solving capabilities can also mask its deficiency in long range, conceptual or strategic thinking.

Secondly, result oriented individuals can easily fail in top executive position if they have major character flaws like not sharing information, being manipulative, being overly competitive.

In the experience of S&B, strong operational skills are invaluable. Managers low on these skills can be better leaders if they excel at envisioning the future, taking prudent risks, and exploring ambiguity.  Specially if such leaders give the right support / sub-ordinates who have high operational skills.

 v]  Other pitfalls

 Other pitfalls in selecting high potential leaders include over-emphasizing similarity in background with self, rejecting because of poor dress sense.

 The right process for identifying high potential leaders:

 S&B have found that Group evaluation approach for identifying high potential leaders is effective.

The group which evaluates managers should consist of individual’s immediate boss, boss’s boss and others who have dealt with the individual. In this group every individual’s leadership potential must be discussed including his soft-skills.

The group leader who is leading the discussion in the group should be highly skilled in asking right questions and proactively bringing out every group member’s views / perception about the manager being evaluated.

Some of the issues to be discussed & evaluated in the group about individual manager are

 ü      the manager’s integrity
ü      how she / he conveys information & expectations to those working with her / him
ü      how effective are the manager’s reasoning and analysis abilities
ü      what are the probable chances of success in new role & probable causes of failure.

Leadership potential is “hard wired”

Based on their experience, S&B believe that leadership talent is hard wired in people before they reach their mid 20s. In other words, as far as leadership is concerned, managers are reasonably complete packages by the time they arrive at the corporate door-step. Hence corporates should focus their energies on accurately identifying the leadership potential.

For full article please read Feb 2002 issue of Harvard Business Review.
 

3. Tomato Soup for the Soul - sent by S Sowrirajan

Why Men Lie

One day, while a woodcutter was cutting a branch of a tree above a river, his axe fell into the river. When he cried out, the Lord appeared and asked, "Why are you crying?"

The woodcutter replied that his axe has fallen into water. The Lord went down into the water and reappeared with a golden axe. "Is this your axe?" the Lord asked. The woodcutter replied, "No." 

The Lord again went down and came up with a silver axe. "Is this your axe?" the Lord asked. Again, the woodcutter replied, "No.

"The Lord went down again and came up with an iron axe. "Is this your axe?" the Lord asked.  The woodcutter replied, "Yes."

The Lord was pleased with the man's honesty and gave him all three axes To  keep, and the woodcutter went home happily.

One day while he was walking with his wife along the riverbank, the woodcutter's wife fell into the river. When he cried out, the Lord again appeared and asked him, "Why are you crying?"

"Oh Lord, my wife has fallen into the water!" The Lord went down into the water and came up with Jennifer Lopez. "Is this  your wife?" the Lord asked. "Yes," cried the woodcutter.

The Lord was furious. "You cheat! That is a lie!!" The woodcutter replied, "Oh, forgive me, my Lord.! It is a misunderstanding. You see, if I had said 'no' to Jennifer Lopez, You would come up with Catherine Zeta-Jones. Then if I also say 'no' to her, You would thirdly come up with my wife, And I would say 'yes,' and then all three will be given to  me. But Lord, I am a poor man and I will not be able to take care of all three wives, so that's why I said yes the first time."

The moral of the story is whenever a man lies it is for an honorable reason.

Sent by S Sowrirajan,

Audco India Limited, Chennai. Email: ssr@audcoindia.com
 

4. HR in News – by V.S.Sathiyamoorthy

LG Tunes In To Family Ambassadors ( September '17,2003, FE)

Here’s the latest from LG Electronics: Family Ambassador programme. The company has come up with the human resource initiative to understand how family members of employees perceive LG as an employer. In this novel approach, HR managers visit family members to take suggestions on improving the organisational environment. 

Says YV Verma, vice-president, HR and management support, “this is being implemented to create a sense of bonding in employees towards the organisation.” This may turn out additional dividends for the company in the form of increased emotional commitment of the staff.

Although the initiative touched on factory workers initially, the company also has a similar programme for managerial staff. There are open house sessions where family members are invited to the workplace.

There is a free communication between employees and the top management. “Even here the emphasis is on trying to win the normative (emotional) commitment of employees,” says Ms Suman Parashar, head corporate HR.

There may be tricky situations in such open house sessions. This can happen when families compare benefits received by employees and jealousies come to the fore. “But we have not confronted such a scenario till now because as an employer we believe in providing better prospects and opportunities within the organisation for every individual who has the potential to enhance our business,” says Ms Parashar.

Consultants affirm that the initiative concentrates on the emotional quotient of employees instead of uni-dimensionally focusing on rational aspects. Says Mr Gautam Nath, director, corporate services, NFO MBL, a market research firm, “the Family Ambassador programme is actually one of the first ice breakers in a series of possibilities which the HR team can consider in emotional bonding. Mainly because it brings a humane touch to otherwise seemingly large and faceless organisations.”

In order to avoid monotony, Mr Nath adds, organisations can discover innovative ways to be in touch with families and receive feedback on a regular basis. Here, social gatherings, annual day celebrations, sports events, spend-a-day-with-dad programmes, factory visits come in handy.

Not all consultants agree on this practice. Says Mr Ravi Machiraju, chief executive officer and managing director, RMA Vector International, “family members in India can get quite specific, intrusive and direct in their probing questions and demands. They can certainly not be under-estimated as ‘pressure group’ on employees. Also, the native intelligence of folks who ‘stay at home’ is not an insignificant factor and they know how to get a good deal for themselves. I see this as an initiative that will work at some levels and at other levels this may end up putting pressure on LG.”

There is also a possibility that the organisation and its employees may not have the same level of enthusiasm to participate in such an exercise in the long run. “This intervention like several other HR practices can suffer from repetitive fatigue as days pass by,” says Mr Yogesh Misra, brand manager, Thomas International.

Further, HR professionals concerned who have met family members have to give presentations to the top management in LG on perspectives and opinions gathered from such interactions.

Based on these presentations, a set of solutions is planned out. But there is a possibility that family members may not open up to company professionals in initial meetings. Says Mr Sunil Kalra, head, factory HR, LG Electronics, “since we are not very familiar with the relatives, there are possibilities that they may not speak up, at least during the initial interactions. And to prevent this, we approach them in a completely informal environment so that any such hesitations are warded off.”

The company is not bound to implement all suggestions. “We tell the families that some of their suggestions cannot be implemented. We also provide them with the relevant explanations,” adds Mr Kalra.

Sent by by V.S.Sathiyamoorthy

Larsen & Toubro Limited, Mumbai. Email: vssm@lntecc.com
 

5. New Members

Abdulhadi Mahdi Abusulaiman, HR Analyst. King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Center. Riyadh, SA

Abdulhadi was elected as Ideal student in college (1994) and won several other awards. He has done Master of Hospital Administration in 2000 from King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

He has over 8 years' all round work experience in HR Field. In addition he has undergone more than 20 training programs on HR subjects like HayGroup® Job Evaluation System and Steven Covey's Leadership Training. He has received many certificates of merit from his employers.

Abdulhadi is married and is blessed with two daughters and one son. His hobbies are Reading, Learning, Traveling, Diving, Desert Adventure, Squash, Swimming, Bicycling, & Playing Frisbee.

Email: abdulhadi2000@hotmail.com
 

6. Attitudes and their Importance in Life – by G Uppiliappan

The WHY of your Actions

What is it that causes you to move into action? What are the drivers of your behavior? What activities, careers and conversations inspire a “passion” within you, causing you to want to become involved?

The Personal Interests, Attitudes and Values Assessment measures the WHY of your actions, leading to an understanding of what drives your behavior and the attitudes that move you into action.

What is an Attitude?

In 1928, Eduard Spranger wrote a book entitled “Types of Men.” He identified six attitudes or world-views. These attitudes are a type of window through which we view the world and seek fulfillment in our lives.

 If we are participating in a discussion, activity or career that is in line with our attitudes, we will value the experience. Conversely, if we are in a conversation, activity or career that is against our dominant attitudes, we will be indifferent or even negative toward the experience, possibly causing stress.

 The Six Attitudes

ü      Theoretical: A passion to  discover, systematize and analyze; a search for   knowledge.

ü      Utilitarian: A passion to gain return on investment of time, resources and money.

ü      Aesthetic: A passion to  experience the impressions of the world and achieve form and harmony in life; self actualization.

ü      Social: A passion to eliminate hate and conflict in the world and to assist others in becoming all they can be.

ü      Individualistic: A passion to achieve position and to use that position to affect and influence  others.

ü      Traditional: A passion to seek out and pursue the higher meaning in life and achieve a system for living.

 The Assessment

 The Personal Interests, Attitudes and Values Assessment measures your responses in each of the six attitudes. The computerized report shows each of the six attitudes compared to a National Average.  You are provided with information on the WHY of your actions which, with application, can tremendously impact your valuing of life.

A New “Valuing” of Life

Once you know the attitudes that drive your actions, you will immediately be able to understand the causes of conflict. If you are in a career you are enjoying, or if you are finding little satisfaction in your career, you will understand why. You will understand and appreciate your relationships as you recognize the attitudes of other people. You will see how their attitudes might interact with your own.

 Results/Benefits

The Personal Interests, Attitudes and Values Assessment allows you to take control of your decisions, your life and your valuing of life.  You will :

Know the WHY of your actions.
Make career choices that will increase your job satisfaction.
Understand the causes of conflict.
Develop an increased  appreciation for the uniqueness of  others.
Appreciate the viewpoint of others who see life differently.
Increase your “valuing” of life.
Increase your satisfaction and fulfillment in life.

Contributed by G. Uppiliappan

Senior Exective-HRD, Thirumalai Chemicals, SIPCOT, Ranipet.
Email: hrd@thirumalaichemicals.com
 

7. Readers’ Forum

Help on HR Accounting

hello,

iam a student of MHRM in the  Andhra University i would like to know more about hr accounting as i would like to do my projectwork on this subject sir could you please suggest me any website where i could get this information   waiting for your reply,

yours sincerely

bharathi raja

raja_pb29@yahoo.com

Appreciations on HR Era, Issue 41, Love Your Job But ...

Thanks a lot. Good articles for reading and implementing.

Regards,
Puthran L.G.

puthran@hpfl-india.com

Thanks for bringing out Issue No.41  which contains some interesting articles like the one based on Dr Narayanamurthy's address and 3 mistakes in interviews.

Regards,
C.S.Sundaram

css@lntecc.com

8. Links to articles on HR

Hi all,

Three great articles for HRD/HRM people …..

One: Evaluation: Who Needs It? by Ruth Belling

 Two: Overcoming the Fear of Learning by Jarrett D. Ragan Jr.

 Three: Be An Effective HR General (Part I) -- Learning From Ancient Chinese Generals
by Dr. Sunny T.H. Goh

can be found in

http://www.hrdgateway.org/hub5/hrdgateway/10-2003/index.htm

Cheers!

G K Lim

Editor, HRD Gateway newsletter, VP of Publications, HRD Gateway,
vp-gkl@hrdgateway.org
 

9. Best HR Jobs

Manager – HR, Bangalore

hi,

 we are one of the leading H R Consultants from Hyderabad. One of our clients needs "Manager - HR" . position located in Bangalore.

Exposure on Training and  Core H R. Performance Appraisals, able to attend  Corporate H R activities, organisation having multi-location set up.

Qualifications: Post Graduate  Degree  in HR
Experience: 5  to 8 years of experience.

Interested and qualified candidates may mail their resume to

polyglot@consultant.com

contact person:

ramaprasad, polyglot consultancy services, hyderabad.
 

10. Training Programs

ISABs Winter Events, Nov 30 to Dec 13^th, 2003, Agra

 Dear Friend,

Greetings from ISABS !

We would like to inform you that our Winter Event 2003 at Hotel Mughal Sheraton, Agra is scheduled from Nov.30-Dec.13, 2003 (1st week Nov.30-Dec.5 and 2nd week Dec.08-13).    The following regular/special programme/lab shall be offered:

Week 1 Nov. 30 to Dec.5, 2003 :

1. Basic Lab on Human Process (BLHP)    
2. Advance Lab on Human Process (ALHP)

Week 2 Dec.08 to 13, 2003 :

1. Basic Lab on Human Process (BLHP)    
2. Advance Lab on Human Process (ALHP)
3. Enhancing Leadership Competencies through Management of Motivation
4. Personal Effectiveness Laboratory

Two-Week Lab, Nov. 30 to Dec.13, 2003

Professional Development Programme (PDP)

-Phase-A
-Phase-B

A copy of the detailed brochure in pdf format is attach herewith, which can be downloaded by using Acrobat Reader.  If you are unable to open, please confirm, we shall arrange to send in a word format. A hard copy of the brochure has already been sent, if you have not received  the same, please confirm your correct address. We request  your whole hearted support in the form of sponsorship of  participants for this Event.  Please share this information/brochure with your  department colleagues and  all interested friends.    The detailed brochure is also available at our website: www.isabs.org in pdf/word format

We look forward to your support.

 Regards,

 Anthony T. D'Souza

Dean (Programmes),
Indian Society for Applied Behavioural Science (ISABS)
B-1/33 A, Mezzanine Floor
Hauz Khas, New Delhi - 110 016
Phone: (011) 26850956; 26964710, (M) 9810728033  Fax: 26964710

email: isabs@ndf.vsnl.net.in ; isabs@vsnl.com

Website: www.isabs.org
 

BANGALORE HR SUMMIT 2003
On 28-29 Nov. 2003, At The Leela Palace, Airport Road, Banglaore-8

Theme: HRM to Strategic HRM : Paradigm Shift in HR

Institute of HRD in association with naukri.com will be hosting  Bangalore HR Summit 2003 a   two day HR convention on 28-29 November 2003 at The Leela Palace, Airport Road, Bangalore- 560 008. The theme of   the Summit  will be HRM to Strategic HRM: The Paradigm shift in HR. The summit will have a number of presentations by   eminent HR professionals, CEO's, Eminent Academicians, paper presentations by Experienced HR Professional, and a paper   presentation  competition for MBA-HR Students.

Inauguration By:
Shri. Subir Raha
Chairman & Managing Director, ONGC

Speakers Invited:
Mr. C. Mahalingam, Vice President- Human Resources, IBM India Ltd.
Mr.Sudheesh Venkatesh, Head-HR, Planetasia & Microland.
Mr.Sanjeev Bikhchandani, CEO, Naukri.com
Mr.Narayanan Nair, Head-HR, Global Exchange Services Ltd.
Mr.Raymond Saldanha, Head-HR, siemens Public Communications Network Ltd.
Mr.P.Dwarakanath*, Director-HR, Glaxo Smithkline Consumer Healthcare Ltd.
Mr. Pramod Fernandes,* Head-HR, Digital India.
Mr.Ranjan Acharya, *, VP Corporate HR, Wipro Ltd.
Mr.Anant Koppar*, CEO, Kshema Technologies Ltd.
Mr. Rajiv Mody, CEO, Sasken Communications Ltd.
* Cinfirmation Awaited

Call for Papers
The summit will provide a platform for discussions  and deliberations on a number of issues related to the theme " HRM to Strategic HRM: The Paradigm Shift in HR". Papers are invited from experienced HR Professionals on various sub themes of the Summit, which are as mentioned below:

 Sub themes:
  * Winning the Talent war.
  * New Competencies for HR Professionals.
  * Proactive HR for the Next Decade.
  * Quantum Innovation in HR Practices.
  * Role of HR in Value creation for Business.
  * Leveraging HR to build World Class organizations.
  * HR in the Digital Era.- Leveraging Technology for HR Effectiveness.
  * Outsourcing HR- Myths & Realities.
  * Business partnering -Role of HR.

Rules for Submission of Papers:
1. The papers will have to be original and being presented for the first time.
2. The papers should be neatly typed in double spacing, with 12 font size and should not exceed 3000 words.
3. The papers will be evaluated by a committee of eminent specialists in the subject
4. The Institute reserves the right to accept or reject any papers.
5. The paper presenters will be given 20-25 minutes time for presenting their papers in the summit if selected.
6. Papers can be submitted for more than one sub theme.
7. The accepted paper presenters will be offered concession in delegate fee for attending the summit.
8. The papers should be enclosed with an overview of the paper in 75 Words, self introduction in 50 words, and accompanied a covering letter.

Paper Presentation Competition for MBA Students.
A paper presentation competition has been organized for the benefit of MBA students specializing in HR. The topic of the presentations will be the theme of the HR summit i.e. HRM to Strategic HRM: The paradigm Shift in HR.

Rules for Paper presentations by Students
1. The length of the paper should be around 2000 words typed in 1.5 spacing.
2. The last date for the submission of papers  is 15-10- 2003.
3. The preliminary and the qualifying rounds will be held on 31-10-2003 at Bangalore.
3. The final competition will be held on 29-11-2003 at The Leela Place during the HR Summit.
4. The winning candidates will be give special prizes.

Submission Papers:
All papers must be sent on or before 15th Oct. 2003 to the Following address:

Chairman- Evaluation Committee.
INSTITUTE OF HRD
#12, I Floor, 80 Ft Road,
R.T.Nagar
Bangalore-560 032
Phone: 3436406, 3549645
E-mail: ihrd@vsnl.net

Copyright (C) 2003 by HREra.com