I was born in the so called baby boomers era. We then have had Gen X, Gen Y, Gen Z, millennials and so on. Each generation brings some unique characteristics along with them. In every phase of life, we live with multiple generations and hence we need to learn to live and thrive, in a multi-generational society.

A lot of talk is there at present ,as to how do we deal with millennials and so on. However, the reality is that many generations co-existed from time immemorial. So, it is not something new ,we are discovering today.

Every generation thought the next generation was not as good as they were. They felt the values had degenerated and the seniors were not respected, as much as in the past. Each generation tries to live in the past rather than foresee the future, which is evolving in front of them.

It is true that each generation will be different and their behaviour, norms and social ethos ,will be different. We can neither live in the past nor discard the developments in the present and the likely scenario in the future.

In my view, the behaviour and ethos of every generation is possibly determined by the environment around them. For eg. the baby boomers may have lived through multiple challenges, lived and worked for their survival ,on a day to day basis. The Gen X comparatively had a comfortable place to stay and got educated ,as per their needs.

Gen Y had more comforts from a physical sense ,as the Gen X could afford more material luxuries than the previous generation. Gen Y had more risk taking ability and hence ventured outside their comfort zones and moved across the country. Gen Z have become truly global and live more in the present than all the previous generations.

Each generation has the opportunity to learn from the other generations and build on their strengths. For eg, Gen X could learn from the sacrifices of the baby boomers. Gen Y could appreciate the comforts provided by Gen X to them. Gen Z can appreciate the risk taking abilities of Gen Y ,so as to enable them move across the globe and find their passions.

It is fashionable in organisations today to talk of multi generational workforce and how they have challenges in managing them. It is a reality that multiple generations, have been part of history in organisations ,always. May be the challenges were different and our ability to manage them ,were different.

Having said all that, it may be helpful to understand the strengths of each generation in the organisation and build on them so that the subsequent generations ,benefit from their deeds.

Yes, each generation will face a set of challenges and it is upto us to adapt to this shift and learn from the changes happening around us. We need to learn from both the generations, senior and junior to us.

Let us learn the generational shift and thrive in this change.

S Ramesh Shankar

10th Jan 2025

One of the questions many employees generally ask is to understand the difference between career and succession planning in organisations. Career planning is for individuals whereas succession planning is for key positions in the organisation.

Let us look at career planning first. Every individual, who joins an organisation wants to climb the corporate ladder. Everyone aspires to reach the highest level possible in the organisation in the shortest possible time.

How do we do career planning ? Career planning is to be done by individuals, managers for their team members and HR for key people in the organisation. Who is ultimately responsible for career planning ? In my view, the individual employee has to take the ultimate responsibility of planning their own careers.

It is like an aspiring sportsperson. We recently saw the world chess champion emerge from India. This young boy at the age of 7 dreamt of becoming the world champion and worked towards it by dedication, commitment and a lot of hard work. He was ably supported by mentors and coaches to realise his dream goal.

Similarly, in the organisational context, every individual needs to have a dream. An aspirational goal to achieve in their own careers. This could be long term, medium term and short term. Once the goal emerges, the individual needs to plan their steps to achieve that goal. The individual’s manager and HR partner could support them in identifying the steps and developing the capabilities to achieve that goal.

The manager has the responsibility to enable career planning of her team members. While the individual should be made ultimately responsible to steer their careers, the manager can be an invaluable mentor or guide in this process.

Human Resources partner can be the facilitator of the process. HR can help the individual and the manager to identify the steps to the goal and also the capabilities required at different stages of the individual’s career.

On the other hand, Succession planning is for key positions in the organisation. This is primarily the role of HR and senior leadership in the organisation. HR needs to identify what could be the key positions in the organisation which are critical. A simple method is to start with the top two levels in the organisational hierarchy and then look at other key positions.

Once positions are identified, HR along with leadership needs to define what are the key capabilities to effectively play those roles. Then identify whether we have suitable people within the organisation, who can be groomed to play those roles. If not, identify people outside the organisation, who could be inducted so that they can be developed as successors for key positions.

To summarise, career planning is for individuals and every employee has to take responsibility for their own careers. They need to be supported by their managers and HR to evolve the steps, develop the capabilities and move towards their career goals.

On the other hand, succession planning is for key positions. HR & leadership have to identify the key positions, the capabilities required for those positions and also the people who can be groomed to take over those positions in the future. This could be from within or outside the organisation. Further their development to make them ready to take over these roles in the future needs to be planned and executed.

Career planning is for individuals and succession planning is for key positions.

S Ramesh Shankar

23rd Dec 2024

One of the vital questions I have been asked multiple times in my career as a HR professional by employees at all levels is -“Who will plan my career ? As we get into life, we tend to believe that our parents determine what we want to do in life. They we depend on teachers to guide us through what we want to do in life.

As we get into the professional world, we again imagine that our managers or leaders ,are responsible for evolving our career. In the beginning of our career, we depend on our seniors and our manager to tell us what is best for us.

Even when I visited a campus, I used to be asked by freshers, as to what their career will look like, in the organisation they were joining. I would ask them in return, if they could tell me as to how long they would stay in the organisation, ..they would respond saying they were not sure. I would then state ,that the day they were sure of their longevity in the organisation they are going to work for, we could discuss about their career.

Life and career are no different. We can always imagine ,that there is someone else in our lives and organisations, who will enable us shape our careers. Imagine an entrepreneur thinking ,that someone else is going to build and grow their company. It is neither the financier nor other investors, who are responsible for the growth and sustainability of their enterprise.

Similarly, an individual’s career is the prime and sole responsibility of the individual employee and nobody else. While everyone else can help us clarify what could be best for us, it is for us to determine ,what we want to do in life and how we do it.

A sportsperson cannot depend on the coach ,to determine how they want to excel in their sports. If they want to be the best in the world, they have to set their own goals and evolve the path to achieve it ,with the help and support of parents, teachers, coaches and friends and not the other way around.

Similarly, in any organisation, if an employee aspires to become the CEO of the organisation, where she is working, she has to set that goal and work on the knowledge, skills and road map ,to realise that goal, in a defined time frame.

I have seen children ,defining their goals in life and achieving them through hard work, determination and purposeful actions. The same is true for employees. I remember ,once an interviewee ,when asked where he would see himself in his career in 5 years ,replied that I would like to replace you as the head of the function.

The day we understand ,that I determine my destiny ,by my own actions, we will achieve whatever we dream in life. We need to steer our own life and career, thinking we are the CEO of our life and everything ,is in our own hands.

It is time to realise that ,only we ,can build our career and life ,the way we want it.

S Ramesh Shankar

30th Sep 2024