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.

Crafting your career

One of the questions I have been asked multiple times in my career from campus to the corporate world is – “How do I plan my career?” In the campus, when someone asked me about “What his career plan was in our organisation ?” – I would say, join us and we can evolve it together.

After joining the organisation, at every step of the corporate ladder, employees have this ubiquitous question – “How do I plan my career ?. The answer has been mostly similar – You can evolve it with your manager.

So, the first question to ask is – “ Who is responsible for my career planning ? “ We may sometimes think it is our manager, HR or someone else. The reality is that each one of us are responsible for our own careers. If we succeed, we can take the credit but if we fail we have nobody to blame.

Just as in life, career planning is no different. In life, we have to steer our own destiny. Similarly in organisations, we are singularly responsible for crafting our own career. Now, the question may arise as to when do I start and what is the role other stakeholders may play in this entire journey.

I had read a beautiful article in Harvard Business Review long time back entitled “ Career Sculpting”. In this article, the author explains as to how we can sculpt our career over a period of time. There is no right time to make a change nor a wrong time to end a wrong step.

Each of us begin with our dreams. I remember growing up in a Army campus since my father was a government servant. I dreamt of becoming an Army officer. Then we moved to an Air Force campus during my senior school and my dreams moved to become a pilot. So, it is natural for us to have shifting dreams and aspirations and this is ok.

We never know when we realise what is the right vocation for us. I realised that HR was my calling only after I had finished my graduation in Chemistry. It can happen to anyone anytime. One need not worry that it has not yet happened to you.

If you are lucky, you realise what gives you joy, early in your career. If what you enjoy becomes your career then it is like a dream come true. But many of us are driven to take up jobs because of economic necessity or lack of opportunities. We may realise that we are at the wrong place after having spent many years in that profession.

There is no right time or wrong time to feel happy in life. Similarly, there is no right or wrong time to make a career shift. I know of people who spent long years as a HR professional until they realised that teaching was their calling and went back to school to fulfil their dreams.

Similarly, I know of people who went on a holiday and realised that photography was their passion along with travel and decided to take a career break and pursue professional photography as an option. In both cases, one realises that nobody is sure when they have arrived in life and so it is with our careers.

Whatever happens to us and whenever it happens is the best thing to happen.. However, it is important to keep asking ourselves – “ What gives us joy in life ?”. If we keep selling something and regret it every day, we can have the choice of doing it till we retire. But, if we realise at some stage that we do not enjoy selling, then it is time to change.

Today with virtual learning and multiple platforms to learn, there is no limit in terms of time and space to anyone’s career. If at all there is a limitation, it is in our minds and we need to look at the mirror and realise that only “me” is responsible for the same.

We need to dream and then put our actions together to make that dream a reality. Just dreaming is not good enough. It is like a sportsperson does not give up after one loss but learns from it and excels in the next game. So is career and life for us.

It is time to realise that we can begin with dreams and try to experiment as to what we like to do. We may succeed or we may fail. It is never too late to change. The only person responsible for my career is “myself”. All others including my manager, mentors, colleagues , parents and siblings can be partners to this process but the buck stops with me.

Let us reset and begin our career journey today.

S Ramesh Shankar

20th March 2022

In search of peace !

I have seen people spending their lifetime in search of peace and happiness. The interesting aspect is that the more they search – both peace and happiness is elusive to them.

The questions before us – Where do we search for peace ? How do we search for peace ? How can we be sure that we have accomplished it ? When will we be happy that we are at peace ?

The answers to these questions may help us understand this basic tenet of life. I know of people going around the world searching for peace and happiness. If they stay in a city and lead an urban life full of stress, they assume visiting a hill and listening to the sounds of nature may help them get peace and happiness.

Each of us have our own way of exploring our journey. Some of us want to run away from our problems. While others think that we are the only ones beseeched with all problems in the world. Some others think they are cursed in life and hence peace and happiness will always elude them in this birth.

In my definition, both peace and happiness is absolute and personal to each one of us. We can spend our life time searching around the world or blaming others for our state of affairs but we may never attain peace or happiness.

The day we realise that peace and happiness is within us and also within our own control, we may be in a position to pursue this journey. It is like , advising everyone in the world is the easiest thing to do but advising self may be the most difficult.

If we live our lives comparing ourselves to everyone around us and blaming the world and everyone for our state of affairs we may be in a state of denial. On the other hand, if we realise that our destiny is in our own hands, we may be able to begin our journey of self exploration.

The journey of self exploration is like the path of excellence. It is a continual journey of self discovery. If we believe we have reached our destination, we may be fooling our selves. On the other hand, if we continue to look within and pursue this journey, we may be on the right track.

What gives us happiness and peace is unique to each one of us ? If we compare ourselves with others, we may never be able to achieve our goal. We need to be clear as to what will give us peace and happiness in life and pursue our goals zealously.

Each of us will have a different take or definition of peace and happiness and that is fine. The day we worry about the definition of others , our trouble may begin. As long as we are content with our own concepts, our journey will always be enriching.

The path to peace is perseverance. If we are able to look within and reflect, we may be able to rediscover ourselves every day. This journey could be insightful if we are willing to learn and grow with every learning in life.

Let our journey begin today.

S Ramesh Shankar

22nd March 2022

Back to school

The other day I was returning from the market and I was pleasantly surprised to see groups of kids returning from school. There was a spark in their eyes and they were playing around and fooling with each other.

The pandemic paralysed life in different ways. One of the worst affected were the kids in school and college. They lost two years of real life learning in their lives. No class can teach you what life can teach you when you interact with others. The best lessons I have learnt in life is the interaction I have had with other students and teachers in my school and college life.

It could be attending a class and learning from one another by asking questions or answering them. It could be doing a project together. It could be just playing on field and fighting with each other but at the end , learning lessons on conflict resolution.

While I am a great believer in technology and use it to the hilt both in my personal and professional life, I do believe that there can be no better way to learn than experiencing life lessons every day in the real world.

The fate of employees in organisations is no different. The virtual office, video meetings and all that ensured that , life goes on and we earn our wages and serve our customers to the best of our ability. But real lessons at work are learnt when you meet one another, work along side in a project and celebrate deadlines together.

We may have attended multiple programs on conflict resolution and team work over the last two years and even got certified. However, we may find it difficult to resolve a real conflict on the shop floor ,when a section of the union , strikes work.

It is like all of us would have attended live fire fighting sessions but find it difficult to put on a fire extinguisher when a real fire hits us. Imagine the fate of the employees who have attended fire fighting course online and have never seen a fire extinguisher in real and do not even know where they are placed.

Hence, I was pleasantly surprised when I saw children returning from school after attending physical classes the other day. I hope employees are also able to get back to work and interact with one another and learn from real life experiences every day.

It is time to realise that the virtual world is not necessarily replicated in the real world. It is like the postings on social media which may not reflect the true feelings or actions of a person. It is what we see in real, which is real, the rest is illusory.

The pandemic has made life difficult for all of us. But it has also enabled us to adapt and learn. A good example is that of digital payments. We see the road side vendors, the small grocery stores or even the milkman or maids being comfortable to deal with digital payments. We possibly are the country with highest digital payment density in the world.

We need to find the gap between the virtual and the real world and learn from real life experiences every day.

Lets make life real every day

S Ramesh Shankar

8th March 2022