Journey towards Organisational Excellence

Excellence means what ? The book that made the word “excellence” famous (if at all it required fame ?!) was Waterman and Peters’ book of the mid – 1980s “In Search of Excellence” That would be a good starting point as any to understand the meaning of Excellence.

According to the Authors, their qualifier for “excellence;’ was the following : “…. We reasoned that no matter what prestige these companies had in the eyes of the rest of the business world, the companies were not truly excellent unless their financial performance supported their halo of esteem (emphasis mine). Consequently, we chose and imposed six measures of long-term superiority. The six are : (1) Compound asset growth from 1961 to 1980, (2) Compound equity growth from 1961 to 1980, (3) Average ratio of market value to book as on Dec 31, 1961 to 1980, (4) Average return on total capital from 1960 to 1980 (5) Average return on equity from 1960 to 1980 and (6) Average return on sales from 1960 to 1980

Let us also look at a more recent book “Good to Great” by Jim Collins published in 2001. Here too, as part of identifying the “great companies” Collins applied the following criteria : “We launched a six-month “death march of financial analysis (emphasis mine),” looking for companies that showed the following basic pattern : fifteen-year cumulative stock returns at or below the general stock market, punctuated by a transition point, then cumulative returns at least three times the market over the next fifteen years.

As you can see, the focus is primarily financial or “result – oriented”. What is wrong with being result – oriented, one may well ask. After all this is not a charitable organisation ? (It is a separate matter of course that every business and industrial establishment begs for charity from the government, be it in land rates, tax and duty exemptions, tax rate reduction, non-application of prescribed penalties for non-fulfillment of statutory obligations, write-offs on unpaid loans and dues (now given a respectable cloak and called innovative financial re-structuring !!).

The objection is not to being result – oriented. The greater question, in my view, is “what do you call results ?” Is the financial result of the organisation the only result to be reckoned, measured and evaluated ?

Suppose, as a result of the company’s operations, the sub-soil water gets contaminated as was alleged to have happened with Coca Cola in Kerala, is this a result not to be considered in evaluating the organisation’s performance and/or its excellence ?

Suppose as a result of the organisation’s employment policy, many children take to work, as has happened in so many of our quarries and garment manufacturing units, which is a violation of the child labour act, is that not a result to be considered ?

Suppose as result of the business usurping, at throw-away prices, huge tracts of land to build SEZs, a large part of the indigenous population has lost its traditional and life-long means of livelihood, is it not a result to be considered ?

Suppose the installation of an industrial unit caused tremendous air and water pollution as has been caused by tanneries, breweries, cement and power generating units, is it not a result to be considered ?

The point being made is that unless we clarify and determine what is the parameter for judging excellence, we may well label something excellent on a narrow yardstick but which is criminal on another wider framework.

A classic example is Enron which won accolades for its financial performance as typified by its share prices and ROI but, subsequently, almost the entire management was labelled and eventually determined to be guilty of criminal infractions. There are many such examples in our country but I am afraid to name them for being the small person I am. May I submit, therefore that the “confinement” of excellence to figures and numbers is the first step towards its abandonment.

Organisations today are only focusing on their body - viz., financial health ; as a result, they have lost their soul ; it is the latter that I wish to focus on as an important objective in the journey towards organisational excellence.

Looking after your body can only bring about sustenance ; it is only the nurturing of the soul that can bring about excellence.

Some will argue that without financial health one cannot do anything else ; hence “financial health” or, very simply, profits or ROI can and must be the first, if not the sole objective of any organisation.

I hold that there is some confusion here as to which comes first. Proponents of the above view treat financial health as an a priori requirement for any organisation to survive and grow - I beg to differ because, in my view, financial health is not a “causal factor” but rather a resultant factor or an effect of the “other things that you do”. As somebody put it very succinctly, “The objective of business is not profits ; the objective of business is customer satisfaction, profit is a result.”

So if we are talking of the soul of the organisation, how does the soul of an organisation manifest itself ? According to me, it is reflected in the following :


• Fairness
• Politeness
• Responsiveness
• Respect for Laws
• Care for the Environment
• Contribution to Society



Fairness

What does fairness mean and fairness about what and to whom ?

I understand fairness as

• doing what you are supposed to do,
• not doing what you are not supposed to and
• making full disclosures about both so that the other side can take an informed decision about going along with you or not.




I will discuss this in respect of three major partners or associates of any organisational unit viz., employees, vendors/suppliers and customers.

Let us take the case of employees first. They are the most exploited lot today, particularly the managerial or the non-unionized category.

Employees are routinely made to work 12 to 16 hours a day, days on end ? Is this fair ? When a person is selected, it is for an “unstated” but legally and traditionally understood engagement of 8 hours of working (this is what was supposed to be contribution of enlightened management that hours of work should be shortened and regulated). How can the organisation then make him work longer than 8 hours every day or almost every day ? Once in a while a crunch situation demands working long or odd hours ; nobody can or does object to that ? But making it a regular routine - can that be called fair ? Not only he/she is not paid for that extra work, organisations do not even have the courtesy or the heart to offer tea/coffee or dinner for these long hours ; as a result the employees eat very late, or do not eat at all, resulting in complete breakdown of their digestive system and health. Is this fair ? The banking, finance, advertising, entertainment and, in a number of cases, even the manufacturing industries are the biggest culprits in such “unfair practices”

When I posed these questions to some such employers, their response has been --- we pay them well, in fact we overpay them so there is no reason for them to crib if they have to work extra hours ? The question is certainly not how much they are paid -- the “fairness” question is were they told that they are being paid more because they are expected to work ‘unreasonably” long hours ?


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Next, what is this style of working resulting into ? Distraught and overworked employees with their work-life balance totally skewed, their health shattered (acidity is rampant), a disconnect with family members who rarely see him/her during waking hours. Is this the hallmark of an excellent organisation which may be showing excellent working results because of this blatant exploitation of its employees ?

Making false promises to employees at the time of selection and recruitment is another common practice amongst ‘aggressive and dynamic” companies. This was brought home to me years ago when we were doing an organisation climate survey for a company. One of the employees had written in his response sheet that he didn’t trust the company. When I quizzed him during the personal discussion he explained that at the time of the interview, after the salary matter was discussed and agreed, he enquire about other facilities and benefits. He was told they are all standard as in other companies.

“On joining,” he said, “I found that this company had a six day week whereas I was coming from a 5 day working week organisation ; if I had known this I would either not have joined or asked for a proportionately higher salary. I also learnt that PF paid here was at 8. 33 % whereas I was getting at 10 %. This also they did not disclose to me. The super-annuation here is payable only if you complete 5 years of service whereas there was no such restrictive rule in my previous organization.”

His main grouse was not they had different or more stringent rules ; his point was why did they not tell him clearly and completely so that he could have taken a decision yes or no, taking all these factors into account.



Let us now turn to Vendors/suppliers.

This area hardly needs much elaboration as most readers will be familiar with how their company exploits and squeezes this class of business associates, common amongst which is delaying payments (to show improved cash flow or manage your own cash crunches), squeezing for un-remunerative prices to show your own purchasing efficiency, making the vendor make ten visits and go-around various departments to get a payment that is legitimately due to him, making arbitrary deductions on his bill just because you have the size and power to do so. The organization must ask itself the question, is it fair ?

Let us now turn to the holy of the holies, the customer in whose name all swearing is done, all visions envisioned and all missions undertaken !

Cheat the customer through the fine print is an old and well-honed technique mastered by various companies paying fat fees to lawyers to protect them on this front.

Suspend service to the customer for minor or alleged infractions so that he comes running back to you for restoration of service at which time you can extract your pound of flesh e.g. mobile phone companies, TV cable connection, electricity companies, equipment manufacturing companies for spares or service etc.

Cheat by doing creative billing. I have a mobile internet connection. Whenever they send a bill which has paise in the amount, they round it off – perfectly understandable. What is not understandable nor acceptable is that they round it off to the next higher rupee,; so whether the bill is for Rs. 810.37 or Rs. 810.76 paise, both are rounded off to Rs. 812/- ? Is this fair ? Is this right ? Is this legal ?

Any child who has done elementary mathematics knows that rounding off is done to the nearest Rupee and not the next higher rupee. Now, where the customer base runs into lakhs, such “unfair” rounding off means wrongful extortion of huge sums of monies from the customer ? Is this what you call a customer – focussed organisation ? The same technique is used by telecom companies and credit card companies in the “extra charges” they levy.

And if the above examples smack of unfairness then can an organization that indulges in them be called “excellent” even if it meets the “excellence” standards of the financial analysts ?



Politeness

What does politeness in an “organisational context” mean ? Exactly what it means in any other context. The major elements to keep in mind are welcome, greeting, courtesy and care.

Do you welcome them ? Do you greet your visitors ? The test of organisational excellence or maturity (if I may call it that) in this context is evident from the way the Security watchman or the receptionist treats you when you enter the office or the way the telephone operator talks to you when you call up the company.

Unfortunately, these are simply not factors that occupy the minds of the “dynamic, MBA mangers” who staff all companies and work 16 hours a day to change and conquer the world. None of them, may I repeat, not one of them, consider it necessary or even relevant to train their watchmen of receptionist or telephone operators on the elementary aspects of greeting and welcoming a visitor or a caller.

The result is every visitor is a victim of the company’s first line staff’s mood of the day !!

The managers of the company never know anything about it because the staff dare not treat them casually and the victimized visitor more often than not never complains about it. But an organisation that is striving to be excellent must necessarily be pro-active on this front and take its own initiative to train its people, to test how they actually behave with “outsiders” and counsel them wherever and whenever necessary.

What about courtesy ? An absolutely non-existent feature of any conventionally denoted “excellent” organisation. Such organisations are proud of their excellent performance, so there is no need to be a courteous, they feel. Indeed “arrogance” is what suits their personality better and they display it with a vengeance.

Call up any manager in such a company ; it will take you several attempts and many days to be able to speak to him, if you are lucky. Else, you will have to settle for getting an appointment only through his secretary or assistant. Once you arrive on the appointed day for the meeting, you are kept waiting, without any explanation, or told after a long interval that it is no longer possible to meet today because “the concerned manager” is going off to another meeting or as it also happens, you are told on arrival that the concerned manager is out of station !

If a person can’t keep his appointment, he probably cannot keep his word. Surely such a person, or an organisation where such people work, cannot claim the crown of “excellence”



Responsiveness

What does responsiveness mean ? It means Acknowledging, Listening, Replying, Resolving. It means acknowledging the presence of the “other person”, listening to what he/she has to say or show, replying to his/her queries doubts and most importantly resolving – to his satisfaction -- the problem that he has come to you with.

Most organizations fail the test in the first stage itself. Telephone any organisation -- they simply do not acknowledge your presence on the line. Almost 60 to 70 % have a machine answering you, guiding you through complicated buttons on your instrument, exhorting you to stay on the line because you are important to them but doing nothing to connect you to the person you wish to speak to.

Those that do employ human beings to answer your telephone calls behave in the most inhuman manner -- they will transfer you to an instrument that keeps on ringing ; when you are brought back to the operator and you mention that nobody is picking up the telephone they inform you with great perspicacity and insight that it means that the person is not on his seat and before you can say Hey presto, they will disconnect. You try again and repeat your problem and ask the person to locate the person you are looking for, they refuse to do so or put you on hold till you lose your patience and disconnect.

In the course of our work, we deal a lot with the HR function ; almost none -- of course there are some honourable exceptions -- of such worthies can be ever accused of replying to a letter, e-mail or telephone call that we make !! HR people never return a call, they never answer an e-mail. Which dimension of excellence does this behaviour demonstrate ?

Finally, we come to the issue of resolving the problem that the customer has brought to you. Whether it is the salesman in a retail shop or the Manager in a Hotel or an official in the Purchase or QC or Accounts Department, they are least bothered or concerned about satisfactorily resolving your problem. All that they will stubbornly quote is company policy that does not allow them to do what you are asking for, or simply express their inability to help you ; some are even more helpful -- they simply walk away or put down the telephone.



Respect for Laws


Laws are made by governments to codify “sanctioned behaviour” identify “unacceptable behaviour” and clarify the “grey areas”. They are made by our elected representatives and therefore need to be scrupulously respected, and adhered to. Every dynamic manager’s constant refrain is that but for these laws, and the restrictions they place on us, we would be doing so much better. What kind of thinking is this ?

Are you above the law or outside it ?

No, what I mean is, laws are good but they should not apply to me – I am so dynamic and after all I am not doing this for myself, I am doing this for my company so that it can become excellent by breaking the laws !

If you want to be termed excellent you must show your prowess in the “given circumstances” that apply to all players and not attempt to win by tilting the table. That is not excellence, it is pure and simple cheating.

Organisations that want to achieve excellence must have it as part of their explicitly declared mandate and equally scrupulously observed behavior that they will follow the law of the land or attempt to change it if they feel it is a millstone, but they must never circumvent it or try to violate it with the help of “excellent” lawyers gifted with devilish articulation.



Care for Environment

With the scientists warning us every day about the impending environmental crises be it the melting of Himalayan glaciers or the rise in sea level or the looming ware shortage leading eventually food shortage or the carbon dioxide emissions, it will be a tragedy if it has to be argued and proved that organisations owe it to the entire community as well as to themselves to “take care of the environment” ; unfortunately intransigent and powerful companies like soft drink manufacturers, various petroleum companies, breweries, tanneries, chemical plants etc just do not accept their responsibilities in this regard and once again make the time-worn clichéd arguments about how “their profits will be affected” if they were to adhere to all the laws regulating pollution and environmental hazards !

Organisations that aim for excellence must necessarily acknowledge their duty to preserve, protect and improve the environment in the areas of their operation. This means, essentially,

•controlling all “eco-damaging” discharge emanating from their production process, and adhering to all laws laid down in this regard

•avoiding excess or overdrawing of natural resources, particularly water,

•stopping manufacture of all petrol/diesel guzzling vehicles (even if it means stopping the offering of large and fashionable cars, just because somebody is willing to pay for it)

•Reducing noise in their operations,

•Removing debris and cleaning up the neighboring areas whenever they complete their construction/building work

•Ensuring that their is no choking or drains, nullahs and rivers because of their dumping garbage/rubbish etc. in the same



Contribution to Society


It is not the business of business to “contribute to society” or do any social work ; these are the duties of the government. We are in business to make profits ; what is wrong with that ?

This is what is wrong with this unabashed assertion of “profit being the only sensible, valid and acceptable” objective of any business. Let us start from the basics. How, and why, does any business start ? It starts with the identification of a need in the society/geographical area the business intends to serve. Thereupon a search ensues for a suitable location, keeping in mind RM proximity and Customer (market) proximity or access.

Thereafter people are sourced to “run the business” be it at the level of operatives or senior managers --- thus the entire business owes its genesis and existence to the society -- be it in terms of land, raw material, employees or customers. To then argue that we have no duty to society or the welfare of well-being of the society in which we are located, our only motive and “rational objective” is and can be to plunder society so tat the company makes profits is puerile, to say the least.

The issue is -- is an organisation bigger than the society which nurtures it (through RM supplies, people supply, commercial facilities and finally consumption of its products and services) ?

To argue that “company interest” comes above society interest is not only incorrect and laughable but also, to put it mildly, plain stupid.

Contributing to society, (beyond the employment you generate and the taxes you pay) should be seen as a Duty, and not the first “quid” of any quid – pro – quid arrangement with the government and authorities.

Hence, clearly one dimension of organisational excellence is, or should be, according to this author, the organisation’s planned and conscious contribution to society in which it is located, as well as those physical areas and communities from which it draws sustenance, by way of raw material supplies, workforce, vendors/suppliers and customers.

What can be this contribution ? It could be in various areas like, maintenance of and improvement in the environmental climate -- cleaner roads and drains, observation of pollution related laws and restrictions, school facilities for the community, parks and recreation grounds, support to community activities (sports, drama, music, health-care).

Wherever the local government or municipality is unable to (for any reason whatsoever) take care of the infrastructure, organisations in those areas must come together to do so -- particularly for things like, drainage cleaning or repair (to avoid flooding or spread of water-borne diseases and contaminated water flow), widening of roads (for which they should readily draw-back their boundary walls, instead of employing highly-paid lawyers to assert why their land cannot be taken up for road widening !).

In fact, one simple way, we propose, of doing this is for organisations to draw a circle of 100m radius around their location and then strive to make that circle “the best” on all infrastructure parameters like roads, drains, trees, gardens, parks, maintenance of public monuments & tourist interest areas, provision of public Amenities etc.

If this is widely adopted then there will be a visible upliftment of local area’s standards which benefit will rub off on the industries themselves by way of faster vehicular movement, less accidents, a more sophisticated workforce as also appreciation in value of the land and buildings in that area.

I know that many readers who have come up this point of this article will be still arguing – this is not our job, this is the government’s. Let us concede for a moment that your above formulation is correct. So what ? The government which is supposed to do all that is not doing it or is unable to do it. Mostly governments plead lack of funds for doing so. How do you think the government is going to solve this problem ? Simple, by way of levying taxes to collect funds to be able to do the above. These taxes will then be a permanent liability for you.

Is it not better that you do some (certainly not all) of these things yourself, using the obviously talented people you employ, who can do these tasks far more efficiently and cheaply and thus pre-empt the government’s tendency to increase taxes ?

However, there is a rider to all this ? What is the rider ? The important and non-negotiable rider is that you should do it without claiming any banner or acknowledgement hoarding ?

How will people know we have done it and why shouldn’t we get mileage for the community work we do ? The answer is simple. Once banners and hoardings declaring who has done what are permitted, not only will they make the entire project ugly, it will set off competing claims amongst organisations for size of acknowledgement etc.

This may ultimately result in many organisations trying to even grab that physical area as their own (as has so wantonly happened in case of public parks and open spaces taken up by Private clubs for maintenance in Mumbai ) and then treated as their personal fiefdom, denying access to the very public for whose benefit they were allotted such public place to maintain.

What about the question of getting mileage for our work ? How will the community know how much sacrifice we have made for them ? Of course they will know. Proclaim it though your media Ads ; announce it in your AGMs. Send mailers to your customers and shareholders. But do not plant boards. In any case, when you do projects of the above nature, everybody knows who is doing it and you will get the benefits of community appreciation, if the job is well done.

To summarise, the Journey towards excellence must take a broader view of “excellence” than mere financial performance – be it profit % age, dividend rate or number of bonus share issues. The “ignored dimensions” that should form the hallmark of any excellence journey, are the following :

I would like to term this as the “Excellence Star”. It is my postulate that if the above “excellence dimensions” are consciously striven to be achieved, (financial) performance will axiomatically result ; however, the reverse is not necessarily true. You can be a profit-making company using “unfair means”, violating various laws, destroying the environment and contributing nothing to the society.

It is for the managers to decide which dimension or dimensions of excellence they wish to focus on and attempt to achieve. Today it is a choice – tomorrow there will be none and those that miss out on their responsibilities,  will not only go missing, they will not even be missed.



Mumbai
June 10, 2008

Building Competency and Capability

Building anything requires us to follow the rules of building a building. No building can be built without a plan and no plan can be made without knowing the purpose.

Similarly, organisations that seek to build competency and capability must first seek, clarify and affirm their purpose. It is only when the goal is clear that a plan can be made to reach it; else which direction will you take if you don’t know your destination ? Once the road to be taken is decided, a study of the distance and the terrain is to be made to ascertain the kind of “competencies” and “capabilities” required to successfully complete the journey.

Organisations must begin the “competency/capability building journey” with first defining what they wish to do, where they aim to reach in the next decade or so. Often such advice is met with a blank stare, “How can I say anything about the next ten years when I do not even know what will happen next year?”

This is a twisted response. Nobody can say what will happen next day, much less next year or the next 10 years. But one can certainly say where “one wishes to be or reach” in the next 10 years. This distinction needs to be clearly understood – organisations have to articulate where they want to be, which is different from predicting what the future is going to be – an almost impossible task.

For example a drug company may say that it wishes to discover at least one new drug every three years and have one of its drugs amongst the top 3 drugs in the cardio care area or a petroleum company may say that it wishes to have one petrol pump every 50 Km along all national highways or a consumer durable company may decide that it wishes to offer a full range of both white and brown goods by such and such time.

This kind of “desire” needs to be clearly and specifically articulated, for it is only in this “ambition context” can one define and assess the kinds of competencies that are required. And it can be asserted that such ‘desire-stipulation’ can be – and is – certainly made.

The next refinement that will come is in the choice of the means to be adopted to reach the desired goal. For example, is growth going to be organic or through acquisitions; both require different competencies. Is the market going to be regional or national or global – once again, as can be readily appreciated, different competencies and capabilities are called for.

This longish preliminary discussion was essential to underscore the need for spending sufficient time organizationally to define or identify one’s goals, and the planned means of reaching them. Very often, we have found that companies plan for and work towards acquiring competencies that only serve short-term and very focused sectoral requirements. As a result, they almost always find themselves inadequately positioned and prepared for the long haul, and yet shift the blame to inadequacy of “good” people rather than recognize that it is more a case of not having the “right” people because one did not care to figure out in advance what kind of people were required in the first place.

Assuming that the goals are clear and the direction more or less agreed upon now, and, as a result, the desired competencies/capabilities are identified, the next step would be to estimate the gap between what is needed and what is available.

This gap should not be seen only in the context of quantity (i.e. number of persons required possessing a particular competency) or quality (i.e. the degree of competency in a particular area) but also a third dimension viz., time i.e. when will that competency be available in the quantity and of the quality desired.

Very often, this last factor is lost sight of during the planning process and therefore, despite having the right people or right kind of people, organisations still suffer because they are not all available at the time that they are required to be operational.

You can see that we are slowly veering round to the old and classical function of manpower planning. With due respect to all the dynamism that today’s managers possess (or claim to possess) and the even more aggressively asserted market orientation of HR that whatever talent you need is available in the “market-place” if you are prepared to pay the right price, may I submit that mere procurement of the right or best talent from the market place does not work in automatically imbuing the organisations with those competencies that the newcomer is purported to possess?

In fact, it may be worthwhile considering as to what we mean when we say “building competency and capabilities”. Does it mean an assemblage of people possessing the specified competencies? I feel it goes behind that. What is unstated in the phrase “building competencies and capabilities” is that it should read as “building organisational capabilities and competencies”. If you accept this formulation then a mere assemblage of right talent is not enough; it also requires a follow-through process which transfers such capabilities, in as complete a manner as possible, to various other people in the organisation so that it becomes a property of the whole organisation and is no longer dependent on the presence of one or two individuals having that particular competency.

Let us for a moment consider the case of an organisation that wishes to develop competency in the area of “customer–orientation” or “customer-sensitivity”. Assume you hire two extremely talented people who have this particular trait or competency. Can we then say that because of these two “customer-oriented” experts, the organisation itself has become “customer-oriented”? If that were so, what would be the fate of the organization if these two experts were to walk away? Can an organization afford to risk such an abject dependence on some individuals?

Hence what needs to be understood is that mere procurement of the required competency is not enough; it requires to be processed so that it gets ingrained in the rest of the organisations and becomes an organisational trait rather than only an individual one.

If this aspect of “processing” is accepted then we are now talking of a different journey viz, building the organisation. This is what building an organisation is all about – building systems and values that survive time and people, and tying every existing and future member to a certain chosen “way of working”. That, in essence, provides a unique signature to that organisation. It also means that people who come fresh into the organisation acquire certain capabilities that tie in with the organisation’s value systems as well as support its business objectives.

What does this orientation on building capabilities and competencies mean? It means that this is a long journey and not a “fast food order” that can be picked off a standard menu. It means that the organisation must be prepared to teach/train its employees to acquire the desired competencies, and the employees should be willing and eager to learn. This was the genesis of the “old trainee” system in the organisations of the old -- be it the Tata group or Hindustan Lever or ITC or ICI or GKW (in their heydays) or DCM where many of its highly successful and high-profile CEOs had joined the organisations fresh from college as Management or Engineer Trainees, and worked their way up, building up competencies – their and the organisation’s -- along their way up.

Unfortunately, this seems to have gone out of fashion in today’s “dynamic world” where everything is available by purchase and seemingly, money is the only determinant for acquiring talent. Perhaps, one may concede that money is the only determinant to acquire talent but it isn’t easy to agree that such acquisition embeds such talent in the organisation automatically. Look at what is happening in Reliance Retail. The country’s best retail talent has been purchased by Reliance at salary of Rs. Crores upwards -- an extremely fast and sure-shot way of building competencies and capabilities in retail area. Or so one would think. Yet, what happens on the ground? Rajeev Karwal, the king of Consumer Durable retail (with major success in LG and not such great success in Philips and Electrolux) wooed by Mukesh Ambanii leaves within 5/6 months of his joining.

Just as a theoretical extrapolation, imagine for a moment that all the high profile Retail champs recruited by Reliance, be it from RPG or Pantaloon or Shopper’s Stop leave Reliance today, will we find Reliance having the capabilities or competence for Retail?

On the other hand, if 5 senior mangers of HLL leave today, will HLL collapse or be bereft of competency or capability in the FMCG business? Of course, not. Clearly, therefore, building is something different from acquiring and this is the major point that this article wishes to make.

Every building requires a plan, a foundation, a bonding of bricks and mortar, a casting of slabs that requires its natural time for curing and setting so that the shelter it provides is of a permanent nature or certainly of a significantly long-term nature.

Hence the first acceptance about building competency and capability is that is not a “press button” affair. It takes time, which the organisation must be prepared to invest. Secondly, it needs to be done continuously just as a tree needs constant care and tending till it strikes firm roots. Thirdly, it needs to be constantly upgraded and modified to suit changing circumstance and demands of the business, as the latter evolves.

Finally, it calls for a teaching/training role for every manager. This is a major premise. If this is accepted, it means the selection of managers must take this “personality trait” into account and not merely the qualifications and the applicant’s ability to get things done as the only criterion for selection. I would even go so far as to say that between an excellent performer and an average performer I would bend towards the latter applicant if he/she is a better teacher.

What are the tools for building such competencies.

• Clearly teaching/training, as an integral part of the organisation’s functioning, is the first requirement.

This is best exemplified by the armed forces where every recruit is an absolute fresher (who knows nothing about the army or fighting or defending even though he possesses the minimal qualifications of physique and literacy). All of what he knows is taught to him by his employer and the army is no poorer in its capabilities and competencies when it comes to defending the country.

• Next, performance appraisal systems are required that reward both good teaching/training as well as good learning. Most performance appraisal forms or KRA listings do not touch upon this aspect at all.

• A working atmosphere that permits and, to some extent, even encourages mistakes so that the spirit of experimentation (which, many social scientists believe, lies at the foundation of all learning and innovation) is kindled and supported. A favorite “management guru advice” today is “innovation”; it needs to be understood that behind all innovation lies experimentation, the errors and failures that any experimentation entails and the re-experimentation that follows. It is only this iterative experimentation that can result in positive outcomes and breakthroughs. True, all experimentation does not lead to innovation but there cannot be any innovation without experimentation.

• A fair degree of “functional autonomy” which is not diluted by “administrative authority”, while ensuring that the minimum requirements of decorum and organisational discipline are adhered to by all, no matter how brilliant or valuable the individual is.

The best way to understand this is to consider a parallel from Hindustani Classical music. Every “raga” has a rigid discipline about the “sargam” used and the “beat” to be employed; yet within the confines of this “basic discipline”, every singer has full freedom to interpret, innovate and experiment with his “version” of that “raga”. This is what creates brilliant music.

Can organisations achieve this ambience -- maintaining basic discipline and yet allowing full freedom to experiment and interpret as per the individual genius of the employee? If they can do it, I have no doubt that the only result will be “world-beating performances”.


So how is this to be done in practice? Start from the beginning:

• Spend time and effort on recruitment and selection.

• Clarify your requirements so that you get the right recruits.

• Develop the right filters so that you select the right candidates from amongst the recruits you have attracted. Interview seriously and only after due preparation. Have multiple interviews to enable different aspects to come out and get assessed. Don’t act busy and don’t play smart – “I can assess any person in ten minutes time” !!

• Nurture them well through their early years in the organisation through well-conceived and continuously updated, induction programmes, periodic training and challenging assignments.

• Allow them the freedom to experiment and make mistakes; only this will enable them to learn from their [and others’] mistakes and thus bring out their best.

• Reward the performers generously; guide and counsel the laggards sincerely.

• If some of the latter do not respond to these inputs or simply cannot fit in despite your best efforts, do not hesitate to pluck out the weeds and cast them aside.

• Finally, ensure that every rising star -- indeed, every employee --has a mentor to whom he or she can turn to in times of confusion, successive failures or career disappointments so that they get the necessary emotional support to shrug off the past and get back to the work in hand with renewed energy and enthusiasm.


If the above is accepted, then recruitment and selection, training and teaching, nurturing and mentoring become the key competencies/ capabilities that an organisation must possess to “build competency and capability”.

This is my prescription for building competency and capability. It may appear that this is a rather passive prescription which is not action-oriented. If you think so, you are absolutely right.

I do not subscribe to the view that to build, you must build. Rather, my view is that to build, you must allow.

Your only task, as an organization i.e the top management, in this case, is to specify, as clearly as you can and as many times as necessary, the grand plan, the vision, the destination that you wish to reach. Then allow the employees to fashion the route map, decide the means they will employ and the technology they will use. Competency and capability required for such execution will get built alongside without any intervention from you.

Building organisational capability is not the role of the organization per se; allowing it to be built and providing the ambience to do so is their real responsibility and challenge. They need only define the goal and employees will build the competency and the capability themselves.

Organisations have to act as the enabler and resource provider for the employees to build competency and capability and the results achieved will be more organic, long-lasting and uniquely suited to the organisation than any overt intervention or action by the top management.


mumbai
December 15, 2006

Retirement Planning or Planning for Retirement ?

What is the difference, you might well ask. There is one.

When one talks of “Retirement Planning” the focus is invariably on “retirement” --i.e. when am I going to retire, how much time left till I am due for retirement, will I get extension, How long will the extension be for, will they give me last pay or something less (and how much less), will the perquisites be extended, at least some or will it all be withdrawn. Under these barrage of questions and speculation, the associate intent of “planning” gets submerged and moves into the background - till one day, lo and behold, retirement day arrives and I have not yet planned for tit.

On the other hand if one rephrases this activity as “Planning for Retirement” it is my submission that “Planning” will take centre – stage and one’s retirement will just be one phase that one will factor in, in the much broader canvas of “planning for the rest of one’s life”.

So what does Planning for Retirement mean ? Like all other planning activities, Planning for Retirement must also proceed on some assumptions. The first assumption must be that I will retire one day (rather obvious you might say) and that day will be my official retirement date as per my employment terms (not so obvious). In other words, our planning must consciously exclude any possibility of extension, even if past precedents and subtle hints suggest that you are likely to get it. If you cannot steel yourself to the fact that you are not going to get extension, there is little chance of your planning for retirement.





Having got over this hump, the next step is to spend considerable time with yourself and subsequently with your spouse to determine two major issues that are the bedrock of retired life: one, where do you want to retire to, i.e. do you wish to continue to stay in the same city where you were working or do you wish to settle in any other place, be it your hometown or some other place that both of you have fallen in love with.

The second is to discuss and determine what both of you wish to do after retirement, where “do not wish to do anything” is as legitimate a choice as any other. What you wish to do can often influence the answer to the first question i.e. where do you want to spend your retired life. Of course, it is also true, vice versa.

One of the constraints that most people experience in choosing what they want to do is the “trappings and status of their past job”. Hence they rule out many things which are both paying and enjoyable simply because “what will people think about such a senior executive running a shop or an STD booth or giving tuitions or teaching in a school ?” It is important and necessary to get out of such thinking, though, admittedly it is not easy. However, the way to handle this is to apply the following criteria: Am I doing something illegal ? Am I doing something that amounts to begging ? Am I doing something which borders on swindling / cheating ? If the answer to all such questions is no, then unhesitatingly do whichever gives you most satisfaction, not necessarily money or status.

Remember, the chase, after retirement should not be for money or status. Rather it should be for satisfaction and happiness, and whatever money or status you get should be the result of what you do, not the purpose. The simple reason for saying this is that one has to take into account one’s age and health. If one is going to relentlessly chase money and status post-retirement age, then one will only be shortening one’s remaining life and also making the years lived most stressful and, therefore, hardly enjoyable.








If this physical fact can be grasped and intellectually accepted, it will help make decisions much easier. Post - retirement, health is primary, and you should only do things which are comfortable and enjoyable so that you can avoid the physical health getting affected by your emotional and intellectual stresses. Besides, carrying on with your yoga and exercise regime is as important now as it was before, with the only change that the time for your exercise/yoga will now be more important than any other occupation. This is only possible if the chase for money and status is subjugated to the goal of satisfaction and happiness.

Where and when to start “Planning for Retirement ?” It is best to start at least 10 years before your retirement is due. – i.e. late forties is the latest you should start. The earlier you do the better. The following are some of the steps one might consider.

1. Start by opening separate bank accounts for yourself and your spouse in the place where you wish to retire. If it is the same city / town where you are currently working, then do so in another bank. If it is some other place where you wish to go to retire after retirement, then open the accounts there. Next, start depositing some regular amount, every month in these retirement accounts rather like an EMI on your “Retirement Comfort Purchase”.

This is the only way you will build up a corpus for retirement. Further, instruct your bank that amounts above a small minimum, say Rs. 10,000/- should be put in FDs, for durations that offer the best interest rate at that time, in lots of Rs. 25,000/- each. (Figures are only illustrative – you should choose what you think is right). Thus, if you mange to put away Rs. 10,000/- every month, you will be saving a principal amount of over Rs. 12 lakhs at the time of retirement and with compounded interest it can reach anything between Rs. 16 to Rs. 22 lakhs, which is a decent amount.








2. Anytime after 40, invest in a LIC Policy of 20 years duration. A good policy to consider is Jeevan Anand with profits and with accident benefits. A policy for maturity amount of Rs. 10 lakhs and for a 15 year-period will require an annual premium of only Rs. 80,000/- But, if you survive, the estimated (not guaranteed) sum when you are 60 years is likely to be Rs. 26.00 lakhs. In addition, your next-of-kin will also get the sum assured of Rs. 10 lakhs on your death, and if the death is caused by accident (up to the age of 70), then your next-of-kin will get Rs. 20 lakhs instead of Rs, 10 lakhs. It is possible to pay this kind of premium amount (approx Rs. 7000/- per month) while one is working and earning a regular salary and is an option that must be seriously explored.


3. An excellent idea suggested to me by my good friend Shri Anil Bijlani, CEO of Applicomp India, Bangalore, was that one should put at least 25 % of one’s annual increment amount in savings. This is not difficult to do as one has been living on the previous income, anyway. However, silently, this will build up a very tidy corpus over the years. Yet another suggestion he made was that in view of the highly flexible and easy “home loans” available, every young manager should try to acquire a house for himself while he is working. This will take care of one of the major worries and expenses after retirement.


4. Make a list of what regular expenses currently are “show expenses” or “non – essentials” and which you would like to eliminate so that cash flow becomes and remains positive. For example, you may be currently entertaining twice a month. This may partly be because you enjoy it, partly because your job demands it and partly because you can afford it. After retirement, the latter two reasons disappear; even if the first remains, i.e. “You enjoy it” you need to actively consider dropping it or reducing the frequency and the scale.







Some of the other things to consider in such a category are a) going to movies, b) subscribing to a large number of magazines, c) attending expensive music concerts and plays, d) smoking, pan paraag and alcohol, e) expensive cosmetics, f) frequent purchase of clothes etc.

In other, words, try to simplify your life, as much as possible from the “needs” point of view. If you can start doing this from your early fifties, the transition to retirement will be that much easier and the strain on your finances will be substantially reduced. In fact you will be pleasantly surprised with “how little one actually requires to live comfortably:” And then only the realization dawns, that many things we acquired or regularly “used / consumed” was simply because we could afford to and not necessarily because we needed to.


5. Now look at avenues for engagement and income. While this is essentially a personal choice, depending on one’s interest and competencies, some general ideas to explore are : tuitions in subjects that you have mastery, hobby classes in areas where you have special talent (e.g. painting, music, gardening, yoga etc.), interview guidance for job aspirants (if you have been actively engaged in taking interviews in your job), insurance policy selling, making cartoons, sculpture, opening a library at home if you have large a collection of good books (minimum 1000 would be required to attract sufficient members), providing training in computer and internet usage, if you have a computer and are well versed in internet browsing, MS Office or Star Office or in some special applications like MS Project (or equivalent), any Statistical Package, or some Graphics package like CorelDraw, Macromedia, Scala etc..


6. If you wish to take up another job or some regular assignment, one of the talents you must equip yourself with is fluency with computer usage, particularly Word Processing, Spreadsheet and Presentation package. In addition you should develop good familiarity with Internet browsing and e-mailing. It is a good idea to consciously learn this in the job that you are currently in.



Most organisations are highly computerized today and each organisation has one or two experts in the various packages mentioned above. Even if the expert happens to be younger than, or junior to you, ask for his / her help in learning this package. This talent will give you a great advantage in getting post – retirement jobs.


7. Start developing business and social contacts from now on in the intended place of your retirement. This will make your transition in that place smooth and as painless as possible. Collect visiting cards and send greeting cards.


8. If you have the talent and can find the time, consider writing, be it books or articles, as an engagement. While this may not be necessarily a money-earning option, it will give you great satisfaction to see your name in print and will help make up the “recognition vacuum” that one invariably faces after retirement when suddenly those who knew you forget you (because you don’t hold any official position” and those who don’t know you are not particularly interested in doing so.

Similarly, if you have a talent for public speaking, start addressing gatherings in professional organisations like AIMA, HRD Network, NIPM, IEI, IIMM, IPE, IIIE etc. Alternatively, and additionally, take part in activities of Social Clubs and associations. This greatly helps in widening the circle of your contacts and each of such contact can come in handy some time or the other.


9. Learn cooking, so that either spouse can handle the absence of the other when he or she is away; else, food, which is a daily necessity becomes a big drag on the freedom of travel and work for either spouse.


10. Make your will -- however tentative it might be and make sure that each time you make changes you have the will ratified by witnesses and registered.


This is so far as the individual is concerned. What about the organisation ? What could be the role of the HR Department in helping an employee plan for retirement ?

The very first argument against doing is this is : it is not our job, we are responsible for the employee only till the time he works with us. So actually the work begins here. It is submitted that CEOs and HR Heads must consider responsibility towards an employee, post-retirement, as a part of their job and re-interpret the HR function to that extent.



What is it that an organisation can do ? Once again, here is a tentative list, offered for consideration :


1. Have a structured briefing session for all employees who are around 6 to 7 years away from retirement, asking them to articulate the following :

1.1 Where do they wish to re-locate to after retirement ?

1.2 What do they wish to do on retirement ?

1.3 What do they estimate is their cash flow requirements after retirement and what do they estimate they are firmly tied up for ? The gap, if any will be the target amount that needs to be generated through additional sources of income.

1.4 What is the state of their health, when was the last thorough check – up they have had, what is the fixed expense (on some regular medicines or treatment) they are already incurring ?

1.5 Have they drawn up their will and do they need help in doing so ?





The above will not only serve as a good starting point for the organisation as to the areas in which it can offer help, but more importantly, bring a much sharper sense of realization in the employee as to the areas in which he needs to get himself ready.


2. Hold a session with a finance planning expert (the company’s personal taxation expert will do for a start) to advise them on juggling their savings portfolio to be able to get as close as they can to the target amount of cash inflow required every month or every year.

The organisation can even arrange for investment agents to come over and help the employees make their investments or change their investment portfolios in the office itself. This will be a great help because, as an individual, one is not really aware of all the options, one doesn’t know where the forms are available, most of the time one finds it difficult to properly fill the forms and finally the hassle of going to different banks or offices to submit the forms is really time-consuming.


3. Ask employees what assistance, if any they need at their intended post – retirement city / town and provide whatever the company can without incurring a huge expenditure. Some nominal budgetary limit can be defined and established for this purpose.


4. Offer company equipment, if they are likely to be disposed anyway, like cars (most companies already have schemes), computers, Xerox machines, air-conditioners, file storage cabinets, office furniture etc. This is a ticklish area but can be worked out -- in any case it can start with one or two goods and later extended as the company deems fit.


5. Introduce employees (due to retire) to company contacts like local government officials, dealers, possible customers for employees intended post-retirement work etc.



6. Offer company infrastructure for fixed period (say 1 year) to enable employee start work if he wishes to be self – employed e.g. office or godown space. Alternatively, help him secure such space through company contacts in that place.


7. Offer to provide training to retiring employees in specific skills which will be of use to them in their post-retirement work e.g. computer / software usage.


8. Consider a post –retirement medical insurance support for medical reimbursement scheme, especially for major diseases and hospitalisation.


9. Consider using the retiring employees as mentors / coaches for senior staff who are being groomed for higher positions and similarly consider them as trainers for new employees.

10. Use employees for project – assignments. In this context, ask them if they would like to identify anything that needs to be done in the organisation which has long been contemplated but never actually been done e.g. a) cataloguing all the technical literature in the company, or b) creating / updating manuals for different products of the company or c) creating a vendor database or d) creating a customer database classified by region, products, purchase size etc.


11. Help them buy Office Equipment at Company rates when they wish to acquire new equipment.









12. Offer them use of company’s expert services on commercial matters related to taxation, return filling and filing and other such statutory obligations. This can be done in a systematic and cost – effective way by having one day fixed in the moth for such queries and clarifications wherein a group of experts in these matters, who are company employees or company advisors on retainer come together in a kind of “mela set – up” to offer advice and solutions to the ex – employees on all such matters.




The basic premise in the above suggestion is that the company acknowledges a continuing sense of responsibility to employees that retire from the company. These will typically be people who have put in long years of service, and hence, it is postulated, need and deserve this special treatment.

This is a more encompassing view than today’s which is purely transactional and official. This calls for a cultural change and intellectual change which are not easy to bring about. Nevertheless it is offered for the reader’s consideration and debate.

The combination of HR assistance to retired employees and the employees own preparation for it can truly assist in converting “retirement planning” to a more purposeful “planning for retirement”.


June 14, 2006
Mumbai






Author : Shri Hemendra K. Varma is the Managing Director of “pratik management productivity systems pvt ltd” a management consultancy organisation headquartered in Mumbai and can be contacted at hemenvarma@pratikmps.com.

FACING THE AXE - facing up to it

“I have lost my job” is still not a frequently heard phrase and yet, it is no longer as rare as it used to be. In earlier times, losing one’s job usually had a performance connotation -- I was not found good enough, my boss does not like me, I have been framed in some defalcation matter etc. In such cases, in most cases people were given several hints or warnings and therefore were mentally prepared for it if and when some drastic action was taken.

Today the qualitative difference is that “losing my job” has often nothing to do with an employee's performance. Rather it may have to do with the various external factors like, a) company deciding to close down this activity, b) selling off the activity to another company which stipulates that all old employees or many of them must first be asked to go of c) new technology rendering current business unviable or d) new pollution norms force company to shut down activities etc.

In the latter case, particularly in case of business exit, or sale to a new company, employees get very little notice and coping with the pressures of this major change of losing one’s job becomes traumatic.

How should one handle this ? There are no easy answers for each person’s experience is unique. Nonetheless there are some preparatory and defensive steps that one can take in today’s fast changing times so that one is not caught flat – footed and can face the “uncertain future” with greater confidence.

The first step is mental ; this is, to understand and accept that “it can also happen to me”. Most employees who come to us for jobs when they have faced such “sudden ??”(is it really sudden or was I oblivious to the many signals that were coming out) forced exits lament that I had no idea that this was going to happen to me !!

This is simply not correct. One must understand, as Alvin Toffler has so convincingly shown in his book “Future Shock” that not only is there an increase in the speed of change but that the rate of change itself is faster, indeed, the acceleration itself is accelerating !!

If one therefore accepts that “anything can happen tomorrow” it is only prudent to prepare as best as one can for the unpredictable tomorrow . How does one do that ?

For simplicity of understanding we are listing below a series of steps – but we hasten to clarify and emphasise that it is neither as simple as “a listing of steps” might suggest nor is it necessarily going to happen in the sequence suggested.

1. Keep your eyes and ears open in regard to what is happening in and to your company – not merely confine your interest to your own department or section.


2. Go a step further ; track what is happening to your industry. This will give you early warning signals if there are any major upheavals likely, if any new mergers or acquisitions are being planned, if any new legislation will impact your industry and/or your company etc.


3. How can you do the above ; essentially by reading -- business newspapers, business news magazines, watching business news, interacting with other industry players either in meetings or seminars or exhibitions, reading journals pertaining to your industry, scanning the internet for new developments etc.


4. Closely monitor the performance of your company – not merely that of your department. This will again give you early signals if anything major is likely to come up.


5. Develop contacts in the industry with fellow professionals even if they work for competitors, with dealers and suppliers and also with research institutions if there are any in your field. The connection with dealers and suppliers is particularly useful as they are the first to get a whiff of any closure, slow-down, “business changing hands” etc as companies take pre-emptive action in stopping supplies to the market or cancelling / postponing orders from vendors if any change of plan is on the anvil.

Similarly, become member of a few professional associations like AIMA, HRD Network, NIPM, ISTD, CSI, IIIE, IE, IIMM, etc. which will not only widen your circle of contacts but also keep you professionally up-to-date.


6. If you have some understanding of the share market, watch the “industry – specific” indices like steel, pharma, IT etc which are also sensitive to what is happening in the industry , though they tend to be short-term reactions and therefore should not be the sole criterion for taking any major decision.


7. As can be readily understood, the above are all measures to help one know reasonably early if there is going to be a major upheaval which may even lead to loss of one’s job.. This will help one better prepare for the eventuality As the saying goes, fore-warned is fore-armed.


8. Coming now to the financial aspect of coping with sudden job loss there are some useful, essentially common-sense measures that one can and should take. These are :


8.1 No matter at what level you are, you must save regularly for a rainy day. While this advice is never disputed the problem arises in its implementation. The chief barrier we find is in the way people approach “savings”. Some put aside money in savings, no matter what. Most plan for savings as the “sum left over” after we have met our essential needs. The latter are the ones that regularly fail to save because their essential needs never leave any money for savings.

8.2 Hence it is essential to reverse the approach by first putting the target amount in savings and then “meeting your so-called essential needs with whatever is left-over”. This actually requires a major change of attitude and is not so easy to do. Nonetheless, this is the only way.

8.3 Where should you save : we recommend small savings as the best bet. This includes, Post Office Recurring Deposit, Bank FDs, Ness, and PUFF. In case of PO Recurring Deposit, even a small sum of Rs. 500/- per month accumulates to over Rs. 40,000/- in 5 years. Most people will not find difficult to put aside Rs. 1000/- every month which translates to over Rs. 80,000/- at the end of 5 years.

8.4 If you prefer a longer term horizon, go for NSCs ; we recommend buying NSC of the target amount every quarter or even every month. Thus at the end of 6 years, you will be assured of getting a tidy sum every quarter or every month depending on how you invested.

8.5 Finally, PPF is another very good option even though some of us are put off because of the 15-yer period. However, while that is the Account holding period, money can be withdrawn from the Account, every year from the 4th year onwards and hence, in times of need, one has access to some amount of money from a PPF account also, without having to break or scrap the account.

8.6 The same thing applies for Bank FDs where, you we recommend investing for a 24 month period, a fixed sum every month say Rs. 2000/- every month. At the end of 24 months, the first investment will mature and that can simply be reinvested for another 24 months. Thus after 24 months you do not have to put in fresh money and are assured of getting every month, for the next 24 months a regular sum of money which you can encash whenever such a need arises. The figure of 24 months is, of course arbitrary ; one can choose 12 months or 36 months or any other time horizon one likes.

8.7 We do not recommend putting any money in equities, in this context, because the money being set aside is for meeting the contingency of suddenly finding oneself without a job. Hence we feel it is best to stick to safe and risk-free investments that allow easy withdrawal of money instead of high gain but high risk investments which in bad times can get wiped out to very low amounts.

8.8 Having done this essential saving, if you still have money left over and have access to good advice or yourself have good knowledge then by all means you can go in for equity portfolios.


9. How to actually cope with the loss of a job ? How to find one’s bearings and start productive life again ? It is not easy, but nor is it impossible and we give below some suggestions that may be found useful :


9.1 Get in touch with the contacts you have built up during your employment days ; 90 % will be just sympathetic but not of substantial help, simply because many are simply not in positions of authority while many have other problems of their own. But the remaining 10 % can turn out to be very helpful.

9.2 However, this is essentially a game of numbers ; if you have only 10 contacts then 10 % of that is just one person and if he cannot help then you are left nowhere to go. Hence it is important to build as large a circle of contact and acquaintances as possible - please refer to para 5 above.

9.3 For this it is important that right from today (when the going is good) you must build your own little diary of “important contacts” listing their names, addresses, telephone numbers and, wherever possible try to keep in touch whether through a telephone call or a greeting card or an occasional meeting especially with those who live in the same town/city as you. This is to ensure that when you need to contact them, you do not have to spend two days tracking them down ; secondly your regular touch will ensure that they recognise you the moment you call them instead of your having to go through the embarrassing rigmarole of introducing yourself all, over again.

9.4 Make sure that while you are at a job you not only become computer-literate but, also, computer-conversant if not a computer expert -- this is said only in the context of being able to use the computer and many of the popular applications. You are NOT required to be a computer programming expert. Today, nobody considering you for employment, especially of a temporary or limited tenure period, will even look at you if you do not know how to use computers.

9.5 In this context, it is equally important to be able to surf the internet, search for data using various search engines, send e-mail etc.

Similarly if by virtue of your earlier job you had an opportunity to learn some special application software then please definitely try to become an expert, be it in something simple like PowerPoint Application or Excel Calculations and Projections (Pivot Table, regression Analysis, macros etc) or some special software like AutoCAD, MS Project, Prima Vera, Director, MACROMEDIA, or even DTP Software like Adobe PageMaker or Corel Ventura. Skill in using such specialised software will definitely ensure that you can get paid assignments if not a regular job.

9.6 The real battle is however mental and in this you will have to overcome or tackle the following issues :


9.6.1 You must not feel shy or defensive about informing your close acquaintance about your loss of job. It is not a social stigma as many of feel in the reaction to this event ; most people understand that this has happened owing to circumstances beyond your control and hence it is not your fault. What this implies is that you must be ready to adjust your “spending style and standard of living” to the new reality. Hence, do not feel shy to use a bus or train instead of the taxi and car that you were used to for all these years. Go easy on dining out and expensive clothes. If you smoke and drink, consider a cut in the intake.  

9.6.2 Many of us fall in the trap of trying to keep up the pretence that nothing has happened by living “just as we used to, to prevent others from knowing that we are passing through some bad times ; this is immature behaviour for the fact is not concealed or hidden. The only thing is that we run out of our limited funds much faster, bringing more misery and often larger debts.

9.6.3 The second most important aspect to be borne in mind is that your wife or husband and your children have to equally share these difficult times with you and all the cutbacks it entails ; even at the risk of displeasing them the cut on “standard of living factors” must apply to all ; do not try to be an indulgent father or mother by “protecting” your children by letting them spend in the same manner as they earlier did or serving them food or spending on their fun and entertainment as before ; in fact you are preventing them from learning some of the harsh lessons of life which will make them weak if, they have to ever face this problem in their life.

9.6.4 Do not feel embarrassed or worked up because you are spending more time at home or are having to work from home. This can only depress you. Of course, in this matter you need strong support and understanding of your spouse.  

9.6.5 Nothing happens without trying ; hence make as many approaches as you can. Respond to every advertisement that you feel has some possibilities. Meet every consultant you know and don’t feel shy to remind them of your need. Most consultants are deluged by applicants and, it is not really possible for them to search out your application from the large heap that they have and match it with a job that matches your profile.

In practice, what happens is that the consultant recommends the 5 most “easily found” resume from his data bank that are a reasonably good match with the job profile. To make sure that your resume is one of them, you need to ensure that your resume is always on the top of his heap and that your name is always his “top-of the –mind recall” This can only happen through repeated and regular contacts and meetings with him.

9.6.6 Next, don’t be too choosy or fussy about the peripherals issues ; for example, you will often get a job offer saying you work with us for 6 months and then we will see. If otherwise the job, pay and company are good and acceptable to you, don’t get rigid about getting a permanent offer ; accept what is coming and then do your best.

9.6.7 You need to now mentally accept that the days of “permanent employment” as an automatic offer are over and many offers will come for shorter tenures or be open-ended offers to be reviewed at the end of a period. Also the social stigma attached to a temporary job and/or many job changes is much less now. Hence, please be flexible on this point.

9.6.8 Similarly don’t make a big issue about work location. We often get people (in Mumbai) in similar situations who don’t take up jobs (when they are in crying need of it) because they are looking for a job on the “Western line” and therefore will not take up an offer on the “Central line”. This is a luxury you can ill afford.

9.6.9 Keep up your spirits by dong some regular exercise - yoga or aerobics or walk or swimming. Don’t stop socializing – that is one sure way of going into depression, though of course you must eschew expensive parties and outings.

9.6.10 Teaching / Tuitions is another good option to explore. Take up the subject you know best and enjoy and offer your services ; once again, the important barrier to overcome is your own hesitation in taking up the lowly perceived “tuition” activity ; in fact, it is one of the noblest professions considering that you are passing on knowledge to young minds. Besides, it is good to remember that some of the Tuition Institutes today are having turnovers running into hundreds of crores. Indeed, many of these institutions are always on the lookout for good teachers and if you enjoy teaching in a classroom setting, this is one of the very good options to explore.

9.6.11 Finally, if nothing works out, what should you do. Use the time that you have , while you are waiting to get a new job or some temporary assignment, to upgrade your knowledge and skills. Do not sit idle. That is fatal. Keep yourself busy by revising your knowledge in your area of expertise. Read magazines and journals and wherever it is affordable, even attend training programmes to hone your skills with the latest developments in the filed. This will not only keep you gainfully employed but will be of great help when a suitable opportunity presents itself, because you will be up-to-date with the latest developments in your field.

9.6.12 In this context, it is often worth considering teaming up with some known acquaintance “for free” ; offer to him that you would like to help him out in his work at no charge since you basically want to keep yourself occupied and keep in touch with your work. This will be a well appreciated gesture but more important will help you keep gainfully occupied and prevent depressing thoughts ruining your day.

9.6.13 If, for some reason, you are having to spend time at home, with nothing to do, then do something. Essentially this means that even if you are at home, set yourself a routine and follow it. For example, get ready for “work” every day by 0900 or 0930 hours and then retire to one corner of your house where you can either work on the computer or do some reading or do some writing till lunch time. Have your lunch, take a small nap if you like and then again come back to your “office corner” at home and continue with your Knowledge enhancement programme.


This is a very good coping strategy and helps tremendously in keeping up you morale. Besides it also helps you avoid getting in the way of your wife, who has developed her own routine of running the house when you are normally away at work.

To conclude, coping with a sudden job loss is a traumatic experience but it is possible to handle it without too much damage.

The most important part is to make sure it is not “sudden” by always remaining alert and alive to the developments in your company and industry.

Secondly, one must always be ready with one or two options even when the going is good. This means constantly exploring opportunities even if you are very happy and well placed in your current job.

Third, remember that there will always be a rainy day, and hence save up for it when you can afford to and not only when you need to, by which time it may be too late. The trick to making savings is to save first and then spend on the “essentials” rather than spend on what we consider essential and then “save if something is left over”. The latter never happens.

Finally, if the job loss has arrived, your foremost task is to keep your morale high (and by extension, keep the morale of the family high) by making vigorous efforts to gain another job or temporary assignment, making a planned and conscious effort to keep yourself updated with developments in your filed, ensuring that you remain in touch with your basic knowledge and skills and adhering to a “routine” which will help you mentally cope with this situation.


Mumbai
March 23, 2006