How does an Organisation become Professional ?

An Organisation becomes Professional by

Ÿ  having Objectives that are

• clear
• durable
• communicated (throughout the organisation)
• adhered to
• modified and updated (whenever changing circumstances so dictate)

• having a  Structured Planning Process for achieving the Objectives (just achieving good results,  without a structured planning process,  is a matter of luck and can neither be counted upon nor any credit claimed for it, nor is it self-sustaining in the long run).

• having defined processes for executing the Plan with full and enthusiastic participation of the entire team.

• achieving its planned objectives regularly.

• having a  clear and sincere customer – focus.

•  treating all its employees fairly and with genuine care and compassion.

• treating all its suppliers fairly and respectfully (particularly in matters of timely and full due payment) and according them the status of business partners.

• treating all its shareholders (irrespective of size of holding) with equal care, attention & respect and disclosing fully, fairly and transparently, all information about the company’s activities, future prospects and risks,  to enable them take an informed judgement on their investment.

• being compliant with all laws, rules and regulations,  of the government and statutory bodies,  that are in force and apply to it.

• going beyond just compliance to being ethical in all its inter-actions with all its stake-holders

•  being sensitive to & respectful of Environmental, Safety, Statutory and Social  concerns & obligations.

• being conscious of and discharging, on its own initiative, obligations to the people living in proximity to its geographical locations, over and above what is called for by law,  in terms of providing or maintaining facilities that are of common and general public benefit – e.g. roads, schools, gardens/parks, rain water harvesting, public health/hygiene  and similar.

• continually benchmarking itself against best performance parameters,  internationally,  and striving to attain & surpass them.

     

     Mumbai

    June 10,  2004

What is Professionalism in an Employee ?

Professionalism in an employee means

Knowing one’s job and responsibility, fully and completely.   If not clear,  then seeking clarification from one’s superiors.

Learning, developing and practicing,  the best way of carrying out the assigned tasks - keeping in mind the quality, cost, delivery, legal, ethical,  environmental, and social  impact aspects and costs. 

How is this to be done ? 

·  Learning from books, manuals, training programmes,  other experienced people and from one’s own mistakes.

·        Making realistic but challenging commitments, particularly on time aspect.

·        Once a commitment is made,  moving heaven and earth to meet the same.  The 9 to 5 concept is no longer valid.  It has been replaced by the  A to Z  work style i.e. complete the entire job from A to Z before you leave.  Today’s work has to be done today  --  not carried forward to tomorrow.

·        Keeping your boss/superior fully and regularly informed of the progress you are making,  from time to time.  In case there is likely to be any delay from the  previous commitment or any shortfall from the committed quantity,  immediately informing your superior.  This will give him time to take any corrective action or get the job done by bringing in additional resources or from some alternative source. 

·    Nobody likes surprises,  especially surprises about slippages or failures. Hence always communicate,  regularly about your work with the concerned departments /sections  as well as your boss.

·    Treating your internal customer with the same respect and care as for an external customer  --  this will bring dramatic results and greatly improve team-work.

The above, in turn,  requires that the employee :

a)   reports in time for work.

b)   follows the discipline of the organisation.

c) behaves / inter-acts politely and pleasantly  with his/her colleagues, superiors, customers and all other persons that he/she comes in contact with,  in the course of his/her work.

d)   does not idle his/her time during working hours.

e)   keeps his/her workplace neat , clean and well-organised,  such that even in his/her absence,  colleagues can locate and access official working papers/documents/files without any difficulty.

f)     fills all forms and makes all reports, as required, regularly and in time.

g)   respects and adheres to all company and (geographic) location protocol and culture

h) respects and follows, diligently,  all safety and security practices and protocol.

 

Who is a Professional ?

A Professional is one who

Has Knowledge about his profession or responsibility   i.e. he has specific and specialist knowledge about his job which comes from specific training and experience in that field,  e.g.  engineer, doctor, chartered accountant,  tailor,  sculptor  etc.

Has a definite and standard method of carrying out his work ;  in cases of deviation, has, again a set of standard responses for meeting the deviations or unexpected changes.  e.g.  doctor,  car mechanic,  electrician

But, in today’s  competitive world,  the word professional or professionalism has acquired a much bigger meaning.  It includes

·        Following a code of conduct appropriate to the profession you are practising  e.g.  doctor – patient relationship,  lawyer – patient relationship,   tailor,  actor.

·        Acting on a set of codified rules,  practices,  behaviours that have evolved through specialist knowledge and years of experience,  as opposed to an amateur or fresher.

·  Working in a planned manner,  taking into account various likely difficulties, obstacles and being prepared for the same.

·     Adhering to commitments – quality,  cost and time e.g. courier service,  laundry,  management report etc.

·    Keeping the customer or  “other person” regularly informed of progress in your work, delays if any, changes in milestones & corrective actions being taken

·        Accepting responsibility for commitments made and bearing loss,  if any,  resulting to you for extra work done to meet commitment.

·        Respect for the customer and/or the person you are dealing with.

 

HR Professionals - are they ?

May  1, 2003


After a chase of almost 5 years (!), I was finally able to deliver an Introductory Talk on 5S for HR at the NIPM, Mumbai Chapter Premises at Prabhadevi, Mumbai  on April 30, 2013.

It was sometime in December 2008 that we had proposed to the then Hony Secretary, NIPM, Mumbai Chapter that I would like to deliver a talk to their members on 5S and how HR can use it as a powerful intervention tool for changing Organisational Culture and building teamwork within the organisation.

The idea was greeted warmly, but nothing happened. We followed up in January 2009 but there was simply no response to our e-mail reminder  My colleague, Mr. Subroto Mukherjee also made some telephonic reminders but it was to no avail.  We finally gave up -- naturally, status quo won.

Last year in November I attended an evening lecture at NIPM.  I came across Mr. Ulhas Deshpande who struck me as  an interested and devoted member, open to some new ideas and thoughts.  I broached the topic with him and finally my talk materialsed yesterday.

I simply fail to understand the  attitude of HR Professionals in refusing to show or have any interest in acquiring new knowledge or learning new ideas. How can they ever grow ?  In this case, though  5S   originated from the shop floor,  it is also a  powerful HR intervention tool which is what I had wanted to show them. It would help HR managers show a direct contribution to the bottom line and improvement in the working environment and earn plaudits for them from their organisation.  But they appeared to be least interested in any such new learning.  How can they call themselves professional, if they are just not interested in increasing or enriching their knowledge ?

And this is not the end of the story.  Ulhas wrote to me a few days before my talk that I should feel free to invite my friends and colleagues.  

Accordingly I wrote to some 110 HR Heads in various organisations.  Of these, about 20-25  were personally known to me while the rest were contacts / connections  on LinkedIn (the Web Platform for Professionals).  Not a single person turned up  !

Of the NIPM Members in Mumbai,  who were all invited by NIPM through their Mailer,   a grand total of 9 persons turned up, none of whom were HR functionaries (barring two young girls who were junior HR executives from a company where they had joined less than 2 years back). I was saved the  blushes because one of the NIPM Office Assistants also joined the audience,  making it a respectable double-digit attendance of 10 persons !!!

No office bearer of NIPM Mumbai turned up except for the The President  who  came 1 1/2 hours after starting time and just 15 minutes before the whole session ended.

I felt very unhappy, not only because my whole preparation and effort could only reach this sparse audience,  but much more because it reflected the sad and ugly truth of HR managers being the least interested in updating their knowledge with anything new.  

How can they make any contribution to their organisations if they have such closed minds,  or worse still,   such a supercilious attitude that "they already know everything"  and therefore there is nothing new to learn.

And guess who really appreciated and applauded my talk ?  Of course, there was the customary applause and Vote of Thanks ; however,  it was when I was leaving the premises that one person rushed to me, stopped me and said "Sir,  I really liked your talk ; I am a very small person, I work here at the NIPM Office (yes, it was the NIPM Office Assistant) and my head is spinning as your talk made me realise in what a shabby condition our office is and how badly organised we are at the workplace.  I promise you,  the next time you come,  you will find a much better workplace."

This man, Gopal,  made my day and restored my faith that, perhaps,  all is not yet lost.