Attitude / Gratitude – An HR’s Wishlist for Santa Claus

Dear Santa Claus,

Please be assured, that I have been a good HR all this year. I remain unaffected by the attrition and reviews. My chief aim was to increase the employee engagement score as declared by Hewitt. I screened every area and thought process within my reach, to click that path-breaking program, that will keep my employees happy. The distribution of benefits and career growth opportunities went to the deserving, to the best of my knowledge.

Industry in general was bright. when the year started. Hence, we were hiring in full swing. Towards the mid-year, the conservative out-look shadowed every talent management plan. Apart from certain roles, we remained disciplined towards new-hires. Considering this good behaviour, please include the following gifts for me :

• A training budget for the HR Team
• Performance reviews beyond the recency
• Greater focus on Social Learning without speculations for the ROI through a near term window, but a long term benefit.
• Life is ‘Wow’ attitude in our employees
• Business leader’s inclusions and not intrusions in HR functions.
• A think-through attitude and not a think-without, during the brainstorming sessions
• Agreed, accepted and an ‘owned’ goal path, not just a pre-destined one.
• Grant us a brain-gain , even through an attrition. When we build an alumni, we mean them.
• An honest salary-survey
• An Efficiency Dashboard that focusses on not just the task completed or even allocated, measure the incremental increase in performance and acknowledge the supporting features
• An implementation after a training program, including the behavioral ones.
• As we design the objectives for the next year, please let it be, unanimously echoed, from both the managers and reportees.
• Wishes can not be all expressed and contained in a list. So please allow us to follow up. We mean no harm, when we ask for an update or an upgrade.

Our wishes are few, so are our needs. God bless you, your elves and reindeer, for we acknowledge not just the leader but empathize the team contributing towards the success. Please let the world know, we remain your humble HRs

With best regards

Humble HR

P.S.: A request to the readers of this open letter, please add on to what has been missed. Remember, Santa is listening!

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Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up

One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway; it just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey.     He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone's amazement he quieted down.     A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well. He was astonished at what he saw. With each shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up.   As the farmer's neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and happily trotted off!    
MORAL :   Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a steppingstone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping, never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up.  
Remember the five simple rules to be happy:   1. Free your heart from hatred - Forgive.   2. Free your mind from worries - Most never happens.   3. Live simply and appreciate what you have.   4. Give more.   5. Expect less from people but  more from God.  
God never fails............   ‘WHEN YOU TRUST SOMEONE TRUST HIM COMPLETELY WITHOUT ANY DOUBT....... AT THE END YOU WOULD GET ONE OF THE TWO : EITHER A LESSON FOR YOUR LIFE OR A VERY GOOD PERSON’  

Training Managers at the Top Level

We talk of training at positions ranging from upper, middle to junior but not the top. Training is also a must at the top level. They must know from organization development to winning in competitive markets to administration of man power resources through HR. Usually the training is outside the organization so that they can also interact with their counter parts. The topics they deliberate is not the strategic matters of their organization but topics of win-win situations and useful to both organizations.

The organizational ladder of positions and designations is a tricky affair. At the bottom, the urge to climb up is so strong that the lessons of the journey are often hurriedly missed. Once up there, the senior managers at their wits’ end realize that a lot of these missed lessons could actually solve at least some of their issues. A paradox arises because these are the same lessons that become outdated at the blink of an eye these days.

The world is changing rapidly to such an extent that it is becoming crucial for the top level managers to constantly upgrade their skills.

The top management provides direction to the entire organization, ensuring smooth sailing through stormy business conditions. Training senior managers in innovation can be the key drive to face challenges of any degree. In the global knowledge economy; a CEO should strive to create a culture of innovation for the company and ensure that it trickles down to the bottom. Whereas the lower level managers can contribute through incremental innovation in terms of better products and processes, the top management should gear itself up for radical transformations having important consequences for the industry as a whole. Suppose you gain an edge in floppy technology and the next day the pen drive hits the market. Tackling such business uncertainty requires a CEO to develop an entrepreneurial approach.

Someone at the top should also know how to build up a flow of creativity without demanding immediate results.

It is one thing to teach a beginner and another to teach an achiever already at a certain platform. Challenges of training the higher management differ enormously in terms of content and methods, from those adopted for lower levels. As people grow up the ladder, they need to hone strategic skills such as decision making, influential leadership, working in a global culture and driving change. On the other hand lead run managers need to be trained in tactical aspects like the process of becoming a manager, handling change, allocating resources or resolving conflicts. Difficulty arises at the top where the managers need to develop holistically; for instance skills such as the art of delegation. They ultimately propel company.

Senior managers especially in the IT sector to avoid getting caught up in the daily grind of technical tasks require a unique three layer approach combining the self, the peers and the subordinates. At the first layer, the manager requires training in looking inward and developing emotional capabilities. The manager must also gauge what others think and expect of him. At the second stage the senior managers should develop affinity for cross location, cross cultural and cross team collaboration. For the company’s growth the CEO must be a sharer, not a hoarder. While managing downward today’s young top managers should have an objective view yet not become harsh.

As compared to the past years when the top management would undergo training for one month at a stretch in a B-school, today the CEOs have become busier. At the same time, shelf life of information has come down drastically.

The skills are all linked to the five pillars of inspired leaders. These are: ability to reflect and introspect and become more mindful the competence to make the right choices while making decisions, compassionate behavior based on emotional intelligence, innovative thinking and action to adopt eco-friendly methods and technologies and the capability of working with all types of people and under all circumstances adverse and positive.

Clearly the lessons of sound management are like the lessons of life. What you learn or what you miss is only a matter of time, till something more complex and consequential shocks you out of your safety net. After all there is no safety net.