Excellence is essential

Published: The Hindu
On: October 03, 2012
At: Hyderabad, Chennai

To read it online, click here.

Today, excellence is a virtue that is considered an essential ingredient at work. What is excellence? Why is it so important? Are some people born with special gifts and talents that lead to excellence? Can it be inspired? Experts from industry share their insights about excellence in this two-part article.

Mr. Rohit Gadia, CEO, CapitalVia Global Research Limited says, “When a person delivers a result, which is more than expected, it leads to excellence. To deliver excellence, a strong determination must be generated in one’s mind to perform a task, since there is no substitute for hard work with smart efforts.” He further adds, “Time is changing extremely fast, technology is developing rapidly and generation is becoming advanced. Hence, there is no place for average, good and better. Everyone needs excellence since the best outcomes can be drawn with best made efforts.”

Tony Mira, Group CEO and founder Ajuba Solutions says, “In business, excellence means being conscious of your business surroundings and having the readiness to change accordingly. Change is needed to improvise on services and provide the best to customers. Any business that does not focus on excellence will find itself obsolete.” Emphasising on excellence, he says, “In today's business environment, competition is fearless. The rules have changed; organisations are not competing with competitors in their own country, but the world. Unless they demonstrate to customers that they can be faster, better and cheaper than their competition, organisations cannot survive. Excellence is the only way to achieve such results. Only through an emphasis on excellence, businesses can have more efficient operations while providing better services and results to their clients.”

Subhro Bhaduri, Executive Vice President and Head – Human Resources, Kotak Mahindra Bank says, “Excellence is the inherent desire and endeavour of an individual or a team to be aware of opportunities to improve and constantly learn and stretch to make things fundamentally better keeping in mind the impact in the short and long term. Hence, excellence is not an end goal but an ongoing opportunity to do things in a better and more efficient and inclusive manner. We are moving towards an environment of knowledge super specialisation. To achieve excellence, individuals need to be knowledgeable about the job they do and also endeavour to keep themselves updated of the latest in their fields.”

Are there any inherent skills and traits to attain excellence? K.K. Rajesh Director – Sales and Marketing, Decorative Paints, Akzo Nobel India explains, “The starting point to achieving excellence is to breed a great sense of desire to excel in oneself. This desire should then be followed up with focused actions, complete commitment and a total conviction that the path chosen is the right one. Having become proficient in the area to excel, the gap between excelling and achieving excellence is about the ability to do the same thing at the same level over and over again so that it becomes a habit.”

Subhro Bhaduri considers three primary skills that every individual should exhibit to attain excellence; building in-depth working knowledge about the job and always looking at doing an end-to-end job, holding a belief that he or she can make a difference and constantly being aware of opportunities to make things better.

Excellence can set yourself and your organisation apart from the mediocre. It can lead to higher profits and higher employee morale. Are there any factors that inspire excellence? Tony Mira says, “An individual in any business, first and foremost needs to have a fire in the belly that constantly wants to excel. To continue to survive in business, individuals must compete against themselves. Unless you compete against yourself you cannot compete against your competition.”

Subhro Bhaduri, says, “The rapidly changing environment and the availability of copious information all around us makes it imperative for us to chase excellence. So, I don’t think that in the new information age, there is a requirement of any external or internal stimulus to inspire an individual to chase for excellence, but excellence is the new norm of this age. It should become a part of life for everyone if they don’t want to be left behind.”

As K.K. Rajesh sums it up, “Excellence is about the highest quality of proficiency in a chosen field, and requires a combination of will power, smart planning, ruthless execution and the humility to make it a habit. While the reason chosen to achieve excellence may be external (competition, winning in sports, and so on), a big driver for excellence comes from within. While excellence may manifest itself physically, it originates from the heart and the mind, always!”

Let us see how to recognise people with eagerness to excel and gather some tips on achieving excellence, in the concluding part of this article.

Recognising a job well done

Published: The Hindu
On: September 26,2012
At: Hyderabad, Chennai

To read it online, click here.

The first part of this article discussed the benefits of recognising the achievements of employees. In this concluding part, the top minds of various industry sectors share the initiatives taken by their organisations and the role of social media in recognising employees.

So, how do organisations make employees feel appreciated? Sonia Kutty, General Manager, Human Resources, QuEST Global says, “One of the key initiatives is recognition from the customer, which we consider as the ultimate, as no one better than the customer can give a better testimonial. This is one of the key indicators of appreciating an employee’s contribution.” Several awards - CSAT Champions Award, Service Anniversary Awards, Employee of the Month, and Strong Contender for Employee of the Month Award, Team of the Year and Strong Contenders and Knowledge Management Champions Award are given throughout the year based on set parameters and votes of a team of judges. ‘The CEO Club Dinner’ is a quarterly event where the best employee of the quarter gets the opportunity to join for an informal dinner with QuEST CEO, Mr. Ajit Prabhu. ‘Conveyor’ – the company’s newsletter makes special mention of employee’s key achievements”, she adds.

Tejas Pandit, Business Operations and Strategy Lead, EMC India Centre of Excellence says that EMC has designed a customised platform to recognise employee achievements. This platform not only recognises individual employee’s achievements but also enhances collaboration. It also induces motivation for right behaviours and actions to be exhibited while working at EMC India.

Naveen Narayanan - Global Head, Talent Acquisition, HCL Technologies says that while there are cash rewards, the primary focus is always on recognition and appreciation. He says, “Awards such as Long Service Awards and Delivery Rewards and Recognition Awards Programmes bring to life HCL’s Employees First philosophy. O2 League of Extraordinary is an annual gala event to celebrate the high performance and achievements in the presence of family and colleagues. Xtra Miles is an online platform through which employees can appreciate the extraordinary efforts of peers. Recognition comes in the form of ‘miles’ or points earned, and gives them an opportunity to be a part of a select club of achievers.”

As Nagarajan Balanaga, Vice President – Human Resource, Cummins Group in India elucidates, “All major achievers are personally recognised by the Group Managing Director at the all-employee communication forum held quarterly. Individual and team efforts are recognised at this forum in the presence of the leadership team.” Additionally, key achievers are also recognised by presenting the CMD (Chairman and Managing Director) Awards for demonstrating allegiance to Cummins’ six core values.”

Rajesh Ramanathan, Director, HR, Cadbury Kraft Foods says, “Internally, we highlight and recognise achievements through mailers, newsletters and announcements on the intranet along with announcements in town halls and key forums.” Among their initiatives, ‘Managing Director Club’ is a concept wherein the best performing sales and customer business development colleagues are nominated to the exclusive Managing Director Privilege Club – ‘The Heroes’ and are flown to an international location for fun-filled 4 days.

Additionally, they have a regional award system where key achievements from teams of different countries are recognised across functions. Recently, 11 top performers were selected from across Cadbury Kraft offices in India and were awarded the opportunity to witness the London Olympics 2012.

Tapping the power of social media

The emergence of social media – like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter is a great benefit for organisations with branches worldwide. A bit of fun is added while ensuring the organisation’s visibility and employee engagement.

As Sreehari S, Managing Director, India Development Centre, The Attachmate Group (TAG) says, “Social media plays a vital role in the company’s reward and recognition process, especially in geographically distributed teams. Most of our recognition programmes are structured around peer recognition, and the company supports this with enabling tools and processes. This allows employees to express appreciation, gratitude and recognition for each other’s contributions across locations. The employees and their significant contributions are posted on the collaboration sites within the company’s intranet and are also displayed at various points at the workplace.”

Rajesh Padmanabhan, HR Head, Capgemini India says, “The public recognition that follows infuses a sense of accountability in the winners as they are regarded highly by others. Such announcements leave strong impressions on the external viewer about the company’s values and culture. As for the employees, it reinforces them to align themselves with the company’s ethos.

Today, we see that many companies are active on Facebook, Yammer, Twitter and they have strong alumni networks. In this age of netizens, such initiatives will be very successful.”

Meena Wilson, Senior Faculty, Centre for Creative Leadership – Asia Pacific says, “The role of social media is expanding. At this point, social media recognition seems to be driven by employees as individuals, not by their organisation. Individuals recognise each other via comments on Facebook, Yammer, and other networks. This may change. With organisations creating their own ‘pages’ on social media sites, savvy employees step forward to blog, twitter, youtube or post. In effect, social media enables employees to step out and directly win accolades from internal and external audiences in ways that were not possible earlier.”

It is easy to be carried away with all the praise about social media. However, it is critical to ensure privacy concerns are addressed in line with the organisation policies and culture. Otherwise, companies will flounder and make mistakes resulting in loss of reputation, customers and employees.

As Rajesh Padmanabhan cautions, “We need to be careful with the context and messaging to ensure the spirit of recognition and appreciation is not lost.”

With an effective recognition strategy and judicious use of social media, companies can enable employees to give the best they can at work.

Recognise employees’ achievements to improve engagement

Published: The Hindu
On: September17, 2012
At: Hyderabad, Chennai

To read The Hindu's online version, click here. 

Research has proven that lack of praise and recognition is the main reason for employees leaving an organisation. While salary raises and bonuses are important motivational factors, companies must recognise the achievements of employees more than once a year in different ways. Do today’s companies believe in announcing and celebrating the achievement of employees or teams across the organisation? What are the benefits of recognising and rewarding employee achievements in the presence of peers and senior managers? Leading thinkers and experts from industry share their insights about the connection between visibility of appreciation of achievements and employee engagement in this two-part article.

As Meena Wilson, Senior Faculty Centre for Creative Leadership, Asia Pacific substantiates, “People work in organisations not just to make a living, but to make a life. Tangible benefits – salary, bonuses, club and car allowances and other perks – are necessary. But so are intangible benefits – recognition of the expertise, skill and talents employees bring to work. This is what engages employees, motivating them to do their personal best.”

Sonia Kutty, General Manager, Human Resources, QuEST Global says that recognising and rewarding exemplary performers is a key ingredient of QuEST’s core values, which encourages the employees to set new standards.

S. Chandrashekhar, Director Human Resources, Juniper Networks India Pvt. Ltd. opines, “At Juniper, we have multiple modes of recognising and celebrating contributions of our colleagues. These include individual as well as team recognitions. These programmes enable us to set the bar for others as well as highlight the role models that may be emulated.”

Naveen Narayan, Global Head, Talent Acquisition, HCL Technologies while speaking on the merits of recognising an individual and its influence on the organisation says, “While Gen Y today expects immediate gratification by supervisors for the effort of walking that extra-mile, acknowledgement by peers, colleagues also goes a long way in motivating them. A motivated and dedicated employee is an asset for any organisation and proves instrumental in building a high performance culture that drives organisational growth. In other words, happy employees perform better and their loyalty towards the employer also increases.”

As Rajesh Ramanathan, Director, HR, Cadbury Kraft Foods concurs, “Recognition has multiple advantages. It builds a culture of appreciation, belonging and reinforcing the right kind of values and behaviours we’d like to encourage as an organisation. For employees, it is also an opportunity to showcase their achievements with pride. It encourages heightened ownership at work.

Rajesh Padmanabhan, HR Head, Capgemini India, feels that acknowledging contributions on a larger platform sends out two key messages to the employee community, “ We acknowledge that the contributions are creating a difference and we are counting on you to continue adding value to the company with such accomplishments.” He says, “The key here is involvement. Employees feel extremely connected when companies reach out to them for seeking their opinions and suggestions, acknowledge these, incorporate them in action and award such employees. That’s what makes the employee feel as a valued stakeholder in the company’s performance and makes the entire company, a collaborative workplace.”

Recognition must inspire others to take positive, transformational action. However, does this generate competition among colleagues? Does it lead to dissatisfaction and jealousy? Sonia Kutty explains, “This is not used as a system of benchmarking one employee against another but more so to do with the fact that the company is grateful for the dedication each employee puts forward every time the need arises.”

Rajesh Padmanabhan opines, “Every single contribution matters. It encourages others to explore opportunities that allow them to bring this zeal on to the table and give their bit in making the company a better workplace.”

However, it is important to be fair and consistent. One way is to develop criteria for what makes an employee eligible for the recognition. Anyone who meets these criteria is then recognised. It is very important for companies to have the right parameters for recognition. As Meena Wilson questions, “What achievements deserve public recognition and what form must that recognition take? Does the number of years in the company call for congratulatory handshakes and applause at annual functions? Should the sales revenues generated by teams in different regions of the country be published weekly? When a manager successfully slashes operational costs, should he/she be promoted as a reward? If an executive effectively handles a lock-out or merger, does he/she merit company-wide acclaim at a public function?”

Meena Wilson further makes a point, “The need for celebrations and recognition is a given. What has to be taken into account is what the company values most. This can be high sales volume, innovative ideas, loyalty and service, community service, cost-cutting, success in steering the company through labour problems, and so forth. What top level leaders and HR identify and celebrate will determine the culture of the organisation. This in turn will determine whether employees give more than 100 percent when they come to work.”

To sum it up, Sreehari S., Managing Director, India Development Centre, Attachmate Group rationalises, “Conventional wisdom of ‘appreciate in public, and criticise in private’ very much holds ground in today’s environment. An environment of open celebration of individual and team achievements, not only provides motivation to the achievers, but also serves as a mechanism for the organisation to convey to its employees as to what it expects of them and what will be appreciated.”

Let us look at the initiatives taken by organisations in this regard and the role of social media in the next part of this article. 

Self-discovery and leadership

Published: The Hindu
On: August 22, 2012
At: Hyderabad, Chennai

To read The Hindu's online version, click here.

 

Being an effective leader is challenging and honest self-reflection is the key to creating a successful organisation. What is self-reflection? It means that you regularly examine the decisions that worked and those that didn’t in your organisation. It means your day-to-day experiences are drawn on as learning opportunities, and options are explored or the choices identified. You look at your weaknesses, strengths, and your interactions within your team with a critical eye. This results in a higher level of self-awareness and a realistic view of oneself. It can be agonising, yet essential to look in the mirror and face the demon.
Then turn your answers into positive, firm statements that will give you tangible goals you can work on immediately.
As you develop new leadership skills and insights, it leads to inspired and empowered employees, projects instilled with organisation’s mission, vision and values, and a big picture vision that is linked to positive results.
Today, the focus is on your ability to react to crises and make quick decisions. However, it is also important that you make it a habit to step aside and look back. Harry Kraemer, in his book From Values to Action says, “The journey to becoming a values-based leader starts with self-reflection.” He further asks, “If you are not self-reflective, how can you know yourself? If you do not know yourself, how can you lead yourself? If you cannot lead yourself, how can you lead others?”
So, how does one get self-reflective? Pause for a while and answer a few hard questions – be honest!

• Where did I fail as a leader in the past? What could I do that would have made it better?
• Where did I succeed? What qualities or values did I show of which I am proud?
• Am I a cooperative leader? When did I last provide support and encouragement to my team or organisation?
• Do I enjoy being a leader? If not, what can I do to increase my joy of being a leader?
• Are there some aspects I am ignoring for fear of change or lack of knowledge?
• What can I do to become a proactive leader?
• What are my goals for my team or organisation?
• What are the new skills I have learnt in the last one year?

Write down the answers and analyse them. Develop a greater awareness of your strengths and explore challenging areas. Develop sound, positive leadership thoughts and skills.

Another way of looking back is careful observation. Analyse your own verbal and non-verbal communication. Note your tone and style used during meetings. How do you react when you face change, controversy, or crisis? Decipher the meaning of what you see and what you hear.
Being open to suggestions also helps build insights. Suspend your assumptions and look at things from a different perspective. Be prepared to listen with minimum defensiveness. Be open and curious even with people who disagree with you. Project yourself as a real person. Share your feelings that are believable. Otherwise, you may send mixed signals and come across as a manipulative leader.
It is important to respond in a flexible way. Responding with empathy and taking active interest in others is vital to managing relationships.
Meditation, reading and maintaining a journal are some other ways that can help you in your journey of self-discovery and leadership.
Finally, be prepared to do a reality check consistently and support your inner growth if you truly want to commit to becoming an effective leader. It requires personal discipline, hard work and continuous practice. Good luck!

Use humour to increase productivity

Published: The Hindu
On: August 08, 2012
At: Hyderabad, Chennai

To read The Hindu's online version, click here.
Research has proved that fun and humour at the workplace is essential to balance the mind, body, and spirit. From a company’s perspective, an employee’s wellbeing plays an important role in his performance, quality, and productivity, which in turn affects business success and profits. Factors such as a good working environment and employee engagement are crucial to improve employees’ wellbeing. When an employee’s wellbeing reduces, so does his or her performance. By adding humour in your workplace, you are making people happier and happier people produce more work and are loyal to their companies. They are motivated to work and grow to be innovative in their thinking. Importantly, it releases tension and manages disturbing negative emotions.
Laughter creates a positive energy that is contagious and everyone bounces back with enthusiasm. While doing mundane, repetitive jobs, having some boredom-breaking activities leads to greater tolerance levels. Even the most challenging work can be fun and less stressful. Besides, humour reduces job stress and burnout, lowers blood pressure levels, and releases the feel-good hormones known as endorphins that work as natural pain killers.
The communication channels open up between co-workers and soon they find themselves solving problems together, celebrating together, and assuming combined responsibility for the organisation’s success. There is a strong culture of trust and collaboration with enhanced task performance and decrease in turnover. All these are significant features required in the operation of a strong and successful company.
The following are some ideas that you as a human resources representative or a manager can use or customise your own:
1. Ask employees to volunteer and form a social committee group to organise fun activities appropriate for your company. It could be as simple as sending Su-do-ku puzzles, joke of the day, or an engaging event like bringing in board games and having a competition.
2. Organise a bake sale (treats made by employees) and the proceeds could go to a charity institute.
3. Add up the fun factor by having a ‘lunch and learn’ programme with a personal focus every month where employees have an opportunity to learn something new. For example, ergonomics, nutrition, healthy cooking, time management, and so on. If your budget allows, provide food. Otherwise, employees can organise a potluck or carry their own lunch.
4. In meetings, set aside some time for fun.
5. Encourage employees to create a bulletin board where fun quotes, fun facts, and so on are posted.
However, here is a word of warning. Defining what is acceptable as fun and humour and what is not acceptable is essential. For instance, indulging in crude or violent jokes or pranks is a strict no-no at any workplace.
Humour does not mean that all employees should have the ability to tell jokes or fire off clever remarks. It simply means that employees should not take themselves too seriously while keeping a positive attitude.
The workplace need not be a carnival. It should be courteous, happy and a positive place to work. It is important that we honour work ethics and not be distracted from work. We need to continue being professional and competent while embracing humour and laughter with gusto. This is not difficult to achieve. It requires trust and commitment from management along with the right attitude among employees.
It’s all about de-stressing and having fun while being productive. When the atmosphere is relaxing, fun and humour happens naturally.
To sum it up in the words of John Ruskin, art critic of the Victorian era, “In order that people may be happy in their work, these three things are needed: They must be fit for it. They must not do too much of it. And they must have a sense of success in it.”

Timeless tips to be competitive

Published: The Hindu
On: July 04, 2012
At: Hyderabad, Chennai
To read The Hindu's online version, click here.


Today, a cutting-edge workforce is seen in every organisation. There are the advantages of being in a competitive environment which include greater productivity and higher profits coupled with work-oriented employees and deadline driven atmosphere. However, this may not necessarily be the work atmosphere in all organisations.
Too much of competitiveness has its disadvantages. Not all can thrive in a competitive environment. While some do, there are others who are productive in an easygoing approach to getting things done. When employees are busy pulling each other down so they can move up, it brings in a toxic environment. It may cause employees unnecessary stress and grief leading to physical ailments. Team spirit may get affected, trust may dive down and malpractices could be a common occurrence. This leads to performances going bland and profits plummeting. Let's look at some tips to stay afloat in a competitive workplace and enhance productivity.
Compete with yourself: It is easy to be consumed by an overwhelming urge to compete and run for the glittering prize at the end of the race. However, it takes courage to take away the need to feel that you always must ‘keep up' with others. Simply emulating what your co-worker does leaves no room for pondering about what it is that truly drives you. As a healthy competitive person, spend your energy on competing with yourself. Have a specific goal to work so you can measure it and see the progress for yourself. As Michelangelo said, “Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it.” Continue to challenge yourself and avoid getting complacent.
Update your boss frequently: Make sure you are periodically updating your boss about the round of applauses that you are receiving. This isn't the time to shrink back and allow others to take over your accolades. Always be prepared. Have information ready to update your boss on any new developments. Keep a detailed record of your achievements and communicate their overall value addition to the department or organisation.
Advocate cooperation: Be the change you want to see in others. Instead of seething silently about your competitive colleague, advocate teamwork. Maintain a friendly relationship with team members through open communication and dollops of trust. Provide support and recognise others' interests and achievements. Suggest ways to collaborate on projects or tasks. For example, creating a database of templates for a project, or online tools and reference documents that are stored in your shared drive can help the entire team.
Focus on the big picture: The ability to think big is necessary to foster a culture of innovation and leadership. Look at what is good for the entire team. Avoid running after pointless competition and losing on the big game. Work on common goals. Learn and grow with each other. Remember, it takes lots of effort of all employees to make a company successful. Find ways to reach full potential, instead of focusing on meeting your targets and deadlines. In the end, you will be amply rewarded.
Better yourself: Consider competition in a healthy way. Be motivated and inspired by others' success. For example, if you are in the sales department, and your colleague is winning accolades by the dozen, instead of making him your foe, use it to your advantage. Try asking for his or her advice regarding your sales pitch. Be curious. Ask questions about how he or she reached the solution. Be a good listener. Take the time to note down the specific areas where you can improve. Think that this as an opportunity to learn. Surrounding yourself with positive, talented, and supportive people is a guaranteed way to success. So be competitive, just differently!

Getting ideas across

Published: The Hindu
On: June 06, 2012
At: Hyderabad, Chennai

To read The Hindu's online version, click here.

Do you like to know the ‘why' of everything? Do you challenge the conventional wisdom that says innovation isn't vital to your company? Do you wish to introduce small doses of unconventional strategy or present ways to look at your business differently? If so, are hurdles and bureaucracy blocking new ideas from coming to fruition? If you have been nodding your head all along, consider these possibilities to navigate around the blocks and accelerate your career quickly.

Learn to sell: Make the word ‘sales' an invaluable part of your skill set. Why? To introduce a new idea or process in your organisation, you need to sell it to your colleagues and superiors.

After all, this change costs money and it isn't absolutely guaranteed to work. If you want to instantly stand out, win the top executives' trust and get things done, then you are chiefly dependent on your sales skills. 

So, be ready to sell. Ensure that you are adjusting your communication style, attitude and approach as preferred by your manager.

Strategise: Make sure your organisation is ready for the kind of expansion or change you are looking at. Be deliberate, plan and practice your pitch and make sure your timing is right.

Anticipate and prepare for the most probable objections. Build support for your ideas. You may also turn towards your colleagues who can offer constructive feedback and make sure that you are effectively addressing each issue.

Try reaching the top decision makers and get their approval. Perhaps, you can enlist the support of colleagues who are in your manager's good graces.

Or, even package your idea to make it look less innovative. Maria Paul, Data Analyst at Data Monitor says, “Don't overwhelm your manager with information. However, be prepared to elaborate further. Ensure you have done your research and are backed with facts and statistics.”

Specify outcome: Clearly and concisely articulate the benefits of using your idea. Explain how your idea can support the company's objectives.

For this, walk awhile in your manager's shoes - yes, you have heard this one before - see his or her problems, needs, goals, budget, timelines, returns on investments, and so on. Take the time to learn what is going on and understand what you are up against. Be sensitive to his or her needs.

Focus on the outcome rather than you or your idea. In your pitch, address the specific concerns confirming that your manager and organisation's issues are also priorities for you. This way, you will receive fewer objections and be commended for thinking of the big picture.

Persevere: Perseverance is important if you want your ideas to be executed. Now, optimism goes hand in glove with perseverance as well. So, get used to the idea of occasional failures and move past the unfounded fear of rejection. Everyone fails.

Accept it. Look at it as part of your learning curve. At times, we have to try, and fail, until we discover what works. Stay focused even though the temptation is high to give up. As Maria suggests, “Be positive and buy your time. Maybe the situation will change, your boss may change jobs, and you will then be able to sell your idea.”

Move on: When all else fails, it is time to pick up your bags – literally and figuratively - and look for organisations that support creativity and innovation.

Making a move might be a distressing prospect, but if staying in a toxic environment is killing you, listen to your intuition and make the leap. Maybe, even start your own entrepreneurial venture. There is no dearth of possibilities when you choose to persist. Good luck!