I was attending a coaching conclave and one of the panelist’s who is an expert on predicting the future talked about “ Re-humanising the workforce” as the fifth industrial revolution. It kindled my conscience and I thought I could share what organisations can do in the future to bring back “humanness at the workplace”.

Although I am not an expert on predicting the next industrial revolution or in generally predicting the future, I still believe that we could take the following actions to bring back “humanness” in organisations.

1. Focus on the individual : Today employees are not treated like human beings who are unique and talented in their own way. Most employees are considered a cog in the wheel and treated like commodities. They are further branded as bad, good or great and then their treatment in the organisation is linked to the type of categorisation. Organisations can bring back focus on every individual as a resource and build the organisation processes around her or him.

2. Family as a social institution : Organisations no longer value family as a social institution. The employee is considered as a unit of purchase to meet the goals of the organisation. Her/his value is determined by the market and is negotiable. An employee is no longer valued as a member of a family, which is part of the larger community around the organisation. Organisations need to connect with families and communities and involve them in development of the individual.

3. Equity & fairness : The principle of equity and fairness is no longer considered an essential norm in organisations. We tend to treat employees as units of consumption and individually negotiable in the market place. The need to be fair and equitable and perceived to be that way, is no longer valued by organisations. It is high time equity and fairness is not only a value within organisations but permeates across the society at large. This will reduce social tensions and crimes in society.

4. Team work : The focus on individual talent and the need to retain her or him has gone to the extent that team work is not considered an important glue in organisations. It is increasingly believed that excellent individuals can take care of lack of teams by bringing value to organisations. Organisations have to believe that team work is critical for organisational success in the market place. The best individual is as good as the team she or he works with. No individual is bigger or better than the team.

5. Purpose : Organisations no longer have a compelling purpose which is beyond product, service and profits and impacting the society at large. This results in employees’ inability to identify with the purpose and thereby employees leave organisations when their purpose in life does not match with organisational goals. It is high time , organisations rise beyond narrow boundaries of profit and work for societal well being.

6. Community connect : The fact that organisations exist to add value to communities around them is no longer valued. With increasing globalisation, the connect with communities around organisations is almost defunct. Today corporate social responsibility is more of a statutory obligation rather than a sacred duty of organisations. It may be time for organisations to remember that their growth and success in the market place is linked to the prosperity of the communities around them.

7. Valuation vs Value creation : Today most organisations are keen on working towards valuation of their brand and shares. They seem to look short term and not necessarily keen on value creation. Value creation could mean adding value to all stakeholders like employees, shareholders, customers, suppliers, communities around them and the government at large. It is time to wake up and realise this responsibility.

8. Technology & human connections: I am a great fan of technology and have always tried to use all forms of technology including social media to connect with employees and other stakeholders. However, today technology has made relationships impersonal. We do not know the birthday of our own team members and do not wish them in person. We are not aware of our neighbours and think that technology can bridge this gap. Organisations need to promote human interconnectedness through human relations and not only be dependant on technology.

9. AI & emotions : While artificial intelligence and machine learning may be able to do most of the jobs which humans are doing today, they may never be able to express emotions like humans do. We need to keep in mind that human beings are born emotional and hence organisations need to be more sensitive to human emotions in the future than they have been in the past.

10 Employee wellness & health : The focus on employee wellness much beyond employee health and safety is going to be critical for organisations in the future. We need to care for physical, social and mental health of employees. WHO has said “wellness is optimum state of health of individuals and groups and positive approach to living”. The pandemic has made organisations realise the importance of wellness. It is critical for organisations to proactively promote wellness in the future.

It is time for organisations to bring back humanness in all their dealings. They need to realise that employees like suppliers, customers, shareholders and governments are partners to their progress. If they do not deal with them with humane approach, their extinction will be sooner than later. However organisations which are humane will continue to thrive and grow in the future.

S Ramesh Shankar

29th August 2022

 

 

We wonder many a time what makes relationship work and partnerships click !. There may not be a magic wand with anyone to make this happen. So I decided to reflect on this subject based on my personal experiences of great relationships and partnerships in my career and life.

I have introspected my life long partnership with my spouse. I have also thought about great colleagues at work and also suppliers and customers with whom I have partnered and delivered great results. To my surprise, I found that the basis of all relationships whether personal or official were similar.

I have distilled five critical conditions to make a relationship/partnership work. They are “Unconditionality”, “Mutual-respect”, “Give & take”, “Let go” and “Open & flexible”. While they may not be listed in any order of preference, each of them are critical for the success of a partnership and building of a relationship.

I will dwell on each of the conditions and try to illustrate with an example of how to apply it and make it work. All my examples are based on my personal life experiences although I do not mention names of people involved to protect their privacy.

The first condition of “Unconditionality” can best be explained by explaining the relationship with your spouse. I have been married for 38 years and still counting. Although we have had our own share of joy, sorrow and tiffs, our relationship has grown and matured over the years. This is primarily due to this condition of “Unconditionality”. We do not live or relate based on any terms and conditions. Our reactions are spontaneous and straight from the heart. We enjoy together and fight easily but have the resolve to mutually resolve all differences by ourselves.

The second factor is of “Mutual respect”. I worked with a consultant two decades back on a project. Although we met for the first time as a supplier and a customer this relationship has evolved and grown into a life long friendship due to immense mutual respect we have for each other. I have not yet met a person, who is more knowledgable than him on his subject and still he deals with me with utmost respect and dignity.

The next factor is “Give & take”. When I joined a particular organisation in my career, I realised that our relationship with the unions was not very cordial. Both the union and management filed atleast one case against each other every month. I wanted to transform this relationship and volunteered not only to stop filing cased against the unions but also volunteered to withdraw all pending cases and sit across the table and resolve it cordially through discussions except for violence or unethical conducts by employees. The union reciprocated willingly and till the end of my tenure in this organisation we did not have a single case filed against each other.

The fourth factor is to “Let go”. Most of us carry our grudge for years, if not decades and this prevents us from “letting go” or forgiving someone. The art of forgiving can heal a relationship and build foundations for a great rebuilding of a broken partnership or a relationship. I have experienced this in many personal relationships, which would have ruined , if not for my or someone else’s magnanimity to “let go”.

The last factor is being “Open & flexible”. We drive ourselves to a dead end in most relationships or partnership , as we refuse to be flexible and adaptive and open to feedback and change. If we can build this into our day to day life , relationships would be enriched and partnerships sustainable. The best example I can think of is when teams start fighting on the playground over a silly fowl. It could sometimes even lead to physical tiff and violence. Just being open and flexible to accept a genuine mistake by the players or the referee , could build great relationships.

It may be worthwhile to try these five mantras to build great relationship/partnerships in our lives.

S Ramesh Shankar

4th Feb 2023

In my long corporate career, one question I have not yet found an answer to is when people ask me – “Do you need to continue to be good to people, even if they take your goodness for granted “. Honestly, I have not yet found the response but I would still take the risk of saying – please continue to be good to people since if they do not reciprocate it is their problem, not yours.

I recall once a CEO told me that he was very kind and affectionate to his staff. However, he finds that his driver and some other staff take him for granted. He noticed that both his predecessor and successor did not treat their staff with respect but they were never taken for granted. This may be true in many instances in life – both within family circles, with friends and in society at large. But I would still recommend, let us be good to others the way we want others to be good to us.

I should confess that I cannot claim that I have the virtues of Mahatma Gandhi, who could forgive even his worst enemies. Gandhi believed forgiveness is Godliness. I am less human than Gandhi but I can profess that being good to others ultimately brings you good things in life.

I can share at least two real life experiences, which have reinforced my belief that being good to others irrespective of their being not considerate to you, could be difficult but worth trying. I recall once one of my senior colleagues did something unpardonable to me. I was hurt and distraught but realised that I had done no wrong. So I decided to forgive him and move on in my career and continued to be good to him. He faced one of the most difficult situations in his personal life after this incident. God has his own way of dealing with people who treat you unfairly. This senior came back to me after this incident and sought my help for some issue to which I responded positively.

In the second instance, another senior colleague almost misbehaved with me for no fault of mine in front of my boss. I was deeply hurt but decided to forget the incident and move on in life and my career. This person met with a serious road accident and was bed ridden for almost a year. So God finds his own way to give feedback to people, who treat others with disdain. Inspite of the unpardonable behaviour of my senior colleague, I called the person concerned and enquired about his health.

Incidences like these may happen both in personal and professional life. We all feel hurt and annoyed as well and it is human to feel that way. However, if we are honest and believe we had not made any mistake, we need to learn to forgive such indecent human beings and move on in life. God takes care of them in his own way and teaches them life lessons.

Our ability to believe in ourselves and being honest to ourself and people around us is important. This gives us the moral courage and authority to move on and forgive the unforgivable. Some things in life are challenging although can be dealt with in a human way. Our ability to forgive and forget helps us get back on track.

One of the best quotes I have heard is -“To err is human, to forgive divine”.

Lets keep trying

S Ramesh Shankar