Author: S Ramesh Shankar

Born in Trichy, Tamil Nadu, India, I have been brought up in different parts of India. Graduate in chemistry and post graduate in personnel management and industrial relations. Have been a HR practitioner for 38 years in the industry and have experience in working in steel , automobiles, FMCG and engineering industry. Was head of HR for Siemens in South Asia based out of Mumbai till March 2019. Currently founded hrishti - joy forever, a social enterprise to give back to society and work as Chief Joy Officer.

Politics at the workplace

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“Politics” could be defined as the art of weaving your way in the organisational context.  Does politics exist in organizations ?  The answer is a resounding “yes”.  Do you need to indulge in politics to be successful in your career ?  My answer would be a resounding “no” from my life experiences.  While behavioural scientists may say that “politics” is not a dirty word and they may be right.  According to them, politics is the art of using the ogranization’s human networks to your advantage.  

I am not against “networking” and using your networks to get your things done as suggested by the social scientists.  What I am against is to indulge in “political behaviour” in your day to day work.  This means simply that you are indulging in “behind the back” gossip.  This results in lack of trust in your team members and saps away the energy of the team.  A lot of organisational energy is used in resolving conflicts and misunderstandings rather than building bonds.

How can one avoid politics as a leader ?  This is a question many people leaders have asked me during the course of my career.   My answer is simple.  As a leader, one needs to clarify the “Dos & Don’ts” of behaviour expected in your team.  Further, one needs to lead by example what you expect from others.  For eg. I clearly encourage my team to raise any issue with anyone and sort it out face to face rather than talk behind the back.  Gossip or talking behind one’s back may be the fountain head of organisational politics.  This needs to be actively discouraged and even punished, if necessary.

On the other hand, if someone wants to build relationships so as to get things done, it is not politics in my definition.  After all organizations are nothing but a network of relationships between people working in different functions.  It is essential to build networks and relationships to get things done effectively.  We need to do everything to enable our team members to network across the organisation and build these relationships.

It is only when a team member ends up misusing a relationship or a network to gossip, politics sets in.  Politics in my view is like a wild fire in a dry summer forest. If not nipped in the bud, it can spread across the organisation and will be very difficult to put off.  I have been asked many a time as to how one can avoid these webs of organisational politics.  It is up to us.  If we want to stay clear of it, we can clearly and unambiguously communicate the same to our team members and colleagues and it works.

I have also been asked if one can be successful in one’s career without being political.  I believe so and have practised it all through my career.  Being a HR professional, I have seen most successful people do not indulge in politics, as I have defined it.  Further, this also ensures that your energy is chanelized to do more creative work in your domain.  Teams work with high energy and enjoy their work without any fear or barriers.

In my view, “politics” in the organisational context is counter productive if not channelised to build networks and relationships.  As a leader, it is up to us to define the rules of the game for our team and ensure nobody crosses the line.  If many of our team members play foul, we not only lose the game but also create poor team spirit and negative energy within the team.

Let us define the rules of our game today and lead by example to ensure others follow it.

S Ramesh Shankar

Simplicity

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I have always been impressed by the simplicity of the villagers.  I recently had the opportunity to visit a village on the outskirts of Dhaka and the experience was the same.  We were on a boat with our team on a team building exercise.  The organisers informed us that there was a village on our route along the shores of the river and if we were interested we could stop by.

This was a village of potters.  We stopped by and some of us ventured into the village.  As we landed, we were welcomed by a group of old villagers sitting on the bank.  They were clothed in simple muslin and were just relaxing on the shores.  They welcomed us with warm smiles and made us feel special even as we landed.  Then we went to the first hutment.  They were a group of artisans who were making a idol for worship for a religious festival in the ensuing months.  They not explained how they go about it but also were willing to share their idols for photographs.

Then we met a group of goldsmiths.  They were hand crafting silver and gold jewels.  They were happy to share their products and explain the process to us.  There was absolutely no attempt to hard sell anything to us.  They did not take undue advantage of a group of tourists to sell their produce taking advantage of our visit.  They were not at all disappointed when we did not end up buying anything from them.

The third hutment was a potter making pots for making yoghurt.  He explained how it was made and then fired in the kiln.  He further explained how it is marketed in the city. He also did not try to sell his pots to us but was more keen to explain the process of pot making.  This is unlike the city folk, who do not lose an opportunity to sell their produce even when we do not need them.

The last hutment was that of a lady potter who was actually making pots from mud through a manual process(as in the photo above).  When asked if a motorised process would have been more helpful and productive to her, she replied that she could not afford it and she was happy to do it the manual way.  She happily displayed how effortlessly she converted raw wet mud into a beautiful pot .  She then explained how it is dried and then heated in a kiln before is it cooled in sand and then goes for sale.

The best part of the trip was when this lady had kept some mango fruit dried up in a open mud plate.  When some of us enquired as to what was this used for ? , she explained the process of making dried mango papad.  She further added that it was taken by the villagers as a side dish and also helped in neutralising the summer heat.  She requested us to wait and offered us a sample of this tasty mango papad.  She did not accept any money from us as she said that it was just a small sample for us to taste it.

Such is the simplicity displayed by the villagers.  I am not sure if we get corrupted by materialism in life.  As we live in cities with all comforts of life, we forget the basic human values of life.  We are not interested in welcoming our guests.  We are not keen to share our knowledge or skills.  We guard our physical territories as if someone is always looking to invade us and attack us.  We are commercial in all our dealings and look for economic again in all human transactions.

It is time to wake up and go back to our roots.

It is time to learn “simplicity” from our village folks ?

S Ramesh Shankar

Facing an”Interview”


One of life’s toughest examination is facing a job interview.  Of course, our life is submerged in a competitive landscape and we have to qualify at each stage of our life.  Today the competition begins even when a child enters a school for the first time.  More than the child the parents face the challenges of admission.  Imagine parents being interviewed for admitting a child in first standard of a school.  It is no longer a joke but the reality of today.

This journey continues through school and college.  In the Indian context, getting admission to your preferred school is only the first step.  Then it is middle school, high school and finally the hurdle of a college admission.  Many parents decide what their child should be studying and this makes the admission process more complex.  Apart from admission tests and capitation fees, which are indeed a nightmare, the interview process is itself a life time test.

Now, if we believe that the hurdles are over and life is going to be a smooth sail thereafter, we are in for a shock.  Graduating from an educational institute is only a pre-qualifier.  Now, you have to plunge into the world of the job market.  If you have managed to secure admission in a prestigious educational institution, you may be lucky as employers may queue in to offer you a job based on your merit.  But the majority of students pass out from colleges, where there are many more students than job opportunities.

You may have to go through a series of written tests followed by psychometric examinations and then finally may be lucky to be short listed for a face to face or video job interview.  Many students find it easier to clear the written tests and psychometric ones but find it challenging to face an interview.  Hence, I thought it may be worthwhile to write about it.  This may be helpful to calm your nerves.  My five commandments for a impactful interview would be :

A. Be authentic :  All of us have gone through ups and downs in our academic career.  It is best to be truthful and share your crests and troughs without camoflaging it. You can highlight your areas of interest and your passions in academics, sports or culture.  You should be thorough in whatever you want to share and in depth. Be honest in all your answers and do not try to impress anyone.  Kindly remember the interviewers are smarter than you.

B. Be passionate :  It may be a good idea to share your passions.  You could talk about how deeply you got into a particular subject and got great insights much beyond your syllabus.  You could talk about a sport you are passionate about and life lessons you learnt from it.  It is worthwhile to remember that you cannot fake your passion.

C. Share your experiences :  It is important to share your knowledge, skills or attitude through actual experiences you have had in your life.  If asked about your leadership, it is not expected to be hypothetical but relate it to your personal leadership experience in sports or cultural festival you have actually led.  What went right and how you could have done better ?  Competencies are best assessed by displayed behaviour and not theoretical constructs.

D. Lead the interview process :  While the interview is generally opened by the interviewer, you could take the first opportunity to lead the course of the interview.  This could be best done by sharing your story in an authentic and convincing way and leading the interview process to your strengths.

E. Live your values :  It is very important to display your core values right through the interview process.  This could be fundamental values like truthfulness, listening, ethics, respect and so on. You need to display your values in your behaviour in whatever you strongly believe in.  E.g. If you do not know an answer, it is best to accept it rather than mislead the interviewers. This will be living your value of “truthfulness”.

The nervousness of an interviewee may be symptomatically seen from the empty seats in front of the interviewer as in the photo above.

In my view, if you are well prepared, passionate and honest, you could relax and face the interview with determination.  I am sure you will come out with flying colours.

Wishing you all the best,

S Ramesh Shankar