This morning a senior colleague wrote me a good-natured line: “It takes a village to keep employees happy, focused, and engaged”. It triggered a cascade of realizations transporting me back briefly to a small dose of my village life in Southern India as a young child, that I felt compelled to share.
Though I was brought up in India’s premier City, Mumbai I used to love my family trips to Trivandrum, in ‘God’s own country’, the state of kerala in India.
Here’s what I remember of things that went on there that may have some ideas for how we work in the corporate world.
Takeaway #1 : Everyone treated everyone else well. Everyone was greeted, was smiling and cheerful, there was some happy gossips and above all there was great mutual respect. The word that is closest to respect is ‘admiration’.
Takeaway #2 : There were two families who were cantankerous. One of them was borderline criminal. The strategy adopted by the villagers was patience, tolerance and willingness to seek external help, if situations got out of hand. You could not take the easy way out and evict these people. The villagers did not.
Takeaway #3 : There was division of functions. There was a spiritual leader who’d take care of the spiritual wellness needs. There was cousin brother, the doctor, who the people could go to for medical consultations. My dad’s brother was a much respected individual who worked in the King’s palace as the palace accountant. So he was the accountant for the village investors, etc.
Takeaway #4: People lived holistically well day in and day out with a strict adherence to a personalized set of rituals. Optimizing their environmental, social, physical, financial, mental and spiritual wellness. For example, every morning people’s entrances were swept and decorated with floor frescos- a sign that guests were welcome. Think about you as a leader, creating such a team in your workspace and see what it does for your brand.
Takeaway #5: there was cultural homogeneity. Outsiders stayed out. Translate this to Talent acquisition and as how important new employee orientation is in ensuring everyone understands the operating culture of the place. Let this not confuse you. Cultural homogeneity did not exclude diversity.
Takeaway #6: When adversity struck any family, there would be a spontaneous outpouring of help. No one waited to be asked to help.
Takeaway #7: Everyone lived together for the joy of it. Not for money. They had their jobs for achieving it. Just as we have our roles in the corporate world for achieving it. Yes we need to deliver results and we can do it like the way the village did it. For the joy of it.
Takeaway #8: Yes there was politics but nowhere close to the likes of the US primaries (apologies my respected American friends and you know what I am talking about). People intervened constructively to help resolve conflicts.
Translating all this to apply to a corporate setting is what this HRM article attempts to do.
In 2014 Microsoft took over Nokia and the Nokia name was removed from its devices altogether. Things changed with the rise of the smartphone, and in particular the launch of Apple’s iPhone in 2007. The disruptor had got disrupted.
Mika Grundstrom, a former senior manager at Nokia’s R&D site in Tampere is quoted as stating, “Things became much more complex. We were not so sure anymore what we should actually target. Is it ease of use, is it battery life, is it size?”.
The answer for future Nokia’s in the making is here. Customers look for value.
Value = Benefit – Cost
The mistake that Nokia made may have been, looking at isolated features and trying to beat the daylights out of each of them. Every device making company’s bane. More of a good thing can only take you to some length. Beyond that you’d have to proactively disrupt your own product lines or uncover a new need segment, if you have to stay in business. This is mainly true for device manufacturers.
“If you think about the battery life – we had devices that could last for a week. Then you have this new device, it’s excellent but you need to charge it every day. Ok so how do you actually sell that to the customer?” Sounds like one clueless state.
Value = Benefit – Cost
Here’s what was happening, that had Nokia played its game to win, they could well have continued to be in market as a leader and not yielded to Samsung:
On November 5, 2007, the Open Handset Alliance, a consortium of technology companies including Google, device manufacturers such as HTC, Sony and Samsung, wireless carriers such as Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile, and chipset makers such as Qualcomm and Texas Instruments, unveiled itself, with a goal to develop open standards for mobile devices.[17] That day, Android was unveiled as its first product, a mobile device platform built on the Linux kernel.[17][41] The first commercially available smartphone running Android was theHTC Dream, released on October 22, 2008.[42]
Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_(operating_system)
Nokia was nowhere in the picture. What rice bowl were they to trying to protect? Symbian? That 2008 smartphone could have had a Nokia brand.
Lessons learnt:
Why could Nokia not have evolved into an Android based market leader, a status that Samsung seems to be achieving from a non-existent player.
What foresight was missing
What strategy went wrong (not to use open source OS?)
What prevented Nokia from joining the consortium
Nokia played catch-up in the smartphone market until 2014 and never recovered. Thank you Nokia. It was good at your time. RIP.
On 2 MAY 2016, Leicester City won the Premiership of the English Premier league( EPL) 2016. It was most unlikely title triumphs in football history. They had a 5000:1 chance. They had never won an EPL since the earliest recorded games in 1889! That’s in a 127 years.
Here’re some standout things that happened:
1. Buy the best players money can buy. And Leicester’s funding for all the player put together costed less than one player on some other team. In fact the cost of the most used starting XI players was GBP23M while the same for last years winner (Chelsea) was GBP 200M. So they really had to buy the best player for the limited budget. – Talent Acquisition is a big responsibility.
2. Imagine the finish line is beyond where it really is. This helps you over-prepare and finish strong.
3. Unyielding commitment. Winning players visualize the spectacle that they want the spectators to see of them winning-its very powerful. Coach Claudio Ranieri stated. “I told my players: ‘When you go on the pitch and you hear the song ‘Fire’ from Kasabian, that means they want warriors.’ I want to see them as warriors for the fans.”
4. The coach is a forward thinker and multiplier. “I don’t like to speak about what happened..lets focus on tomorrow” when being questioned about an adverse decision.
5. The coach as a multiplier (as opposed to a diminisher) acknowledges that the players are maxed out yet says “we’ll give each other a little more”.
6. Ranieri himself played to his strengths. At 64 he is a father figure and refers to all his players as his own sons. As a leader how does your team perceive your strengths to help them succeed? It’s about what’s in it for them.
7. Holistic wellness is more important then superiority in any one of 6 dimensions. Leicester even had a Thai Monk come bless them, thus boosting their self-confidence and spiritual well-being.
If you study other teams that did not make it to the premiership, the story would not look very different. That’s when you begin to realize that little things matter. Look to do it.
Gurunath Hari is the author of “The 6 Dimensions, Overcome Presenteeism: Excel in work and Life”. He has over 25 years of corporate experience, including leadership and management roles. His working life started at the end of the pre-computer era and continues to the present ‘everything-mobile’ era.
The kindle and hardcopy version of 6 Dimensions book is now available at Amazon!!
(Disclaimer: The views expressed here are the author’s own)
The Singapore National Library recently invited me to deliver a talk on the subject with relatively short notice. It was a great privilege to deliver this talk at the Central Public library here in Singapore. A greater privilege to be speaking to an audience of professionals taken from a wide range of domains and industry from academia to real estate to IT management and sales. I am both grateful and deeply honored by their attendance.
In an earlier post there was a quote from Gallup stating ‘Mere transactions between managers and employees are not enough to maximize engagement. Employees value communication from their manager not just about their roles and responsibilities but also about what happens in their lives outside of work. The Gallup study reveals that employees who feel as though their manager is invested in them as people are more likely to be engaged.
My answer as a people manager and a managed employee is – most managers don’t have the social skills, training or tools to do justice to this important communication opportunity. i.e. curiosity about what you do outside of work. All the more reason i applaud the folks which by the way included a bright young student studying to be a radiographer and her professionally engaged parents. One of the reasons i agreed to speak at this venue was to because it was Friday evening and i could get people to attend it right after work with no incentives to attend besides a genuine curiosity. Below are a sample of the feedback and Learnings some of them got. The two numbers in the end are ‘Overall score’ and ‘How likely are you to recommend’
I learnt from this seminar to balance life in 6 dimension. . Its utmost important. 10 10
The ways to overcome prevent adversity. It is within our control. Constant Reframe 8 8
It has widened our hoizon and the scientific way of measuring ourselves 9 9
More structured way to address each of the 6 dimensons . May not be known to me 9 10
I’ve learnt what are the 6 dimensions in life that can affect and influence me. Throught this I managed to realize where my areas of strengths and weaness lies, and I believe this will help me improve my life greatly 9 9
Giving us a clarity on the breakdown of the dimensions and allow us to measure 9 10
Entire concept and exercises were very valuable 10 10
Knowing what are my strengths and weakness 8 8
INTERESTING APPROACH- emphasises holistic wellness. Made me realize that in the long term should look at all dimensions always 10 9
Understand adversity. Well prepared presentation
Hence i am both grateful and deeply honored by their attendance.
Message me if you’d like to run a workshop for you and your staff on this topic in your organization.
Best wishes in your pursuit towards resilience and happy engagement at work and play!
Gurunath Hari is the author of “The 6 Dimensions, Overcome Presenteeism: Excel in work and Life”. He has over 25 years of corporate experience, including leadership and management roles. His working life started at the end of the pre-computer era and continues to the present ‘everything-mobile’ era.
I hope you are enjoying a great day! As many of you know I worked very hard to publish my book, and launched it through Amazon as a Kindle product as well. I appreciate all the help and support you have all shown me along this journey.
I have just one more goal I would ask you to help me achieve…A Bestseller’s Distinction!
My book went on sale 20 July, 2016. Please take a minute out of your day, and for the price of a coffee, pick up the Kindle version of my book “The 6 Dimensions: Overcome Presenteeism: Excel In Work And Life – Powerful New Ways To Know What’s Stopping You And Do What It Takes To Get Ahead” by clicking any one of these 5 countries’ Amazon links that’s most convenient to you for an instant download.
US : https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00SCRMWCC
UK : http://tinyurl.com/T6DUK
Japan : http://tinyurl.com/T6DJP
India : http://tinyurl.com/T6DIN
Canada : http://tiny.cc/T6D
With a little help from you I hope to make the bestsellers list.
I appreciate your help and support, and want to thank you sincerely from the bottom of my heart!
Warmest regards,
Gurunath Hari
Review
“This book very effectively uses presenteeism as a springboard to confront corporate wellness in a sophisticated yet practical manner” Gary Johns (PhD, Wayne State) Professor, Department of Management, Concordia UniversityResearch Chair in ManagementAuthor of Presenteeism in the Workplace: A Review and Research
“Presenteeism is even a more costly problem for business than absenteeism, and this book helps to understand what an individual can do to overcome it and get better work-life balance” Prof. Sir Cary L. Cooper, CBE Distinguished Professor of Organizational Psychology and Health Manchster University Management School, England, and Co author of Wellbeing: Productivity and Happiness at Work.
“Hari offers a practical and meaningful solution that is applicable to everyone in today’s challenging workplace. By addressing the growing problem of Presenteeism, companies can use Hari’s insights to make a positive change and gain the benefits of fully engaged employees”. John R. Myers, President and CEO of the TRACOM Groupco-author of SOCIAL STYLE:The Ah Ha’s of Effective Relationships
