Loss of Emotion

Some wandering thoughts on Lazy afternoon of Gurupurab.., sitting at home@Ascona

Often I feel that some of our losses in today’s lifestyle tend to outweigh the gains when we look at the larger picture. That, to me, puts a whole new spin on the perception of success.

In our day to day work in the organisation where we spend 70% of our time, our team members are not individuals any more, they are Just Resources, Managers, Team Leaders, Head Count, FTEs (Full Time Equivalents), SMEs (Subject Matter Experts). ...

Their time is measured in man-hours quantified as being worth so many rupees or dollar or Euros or their CTCs (cost to company) . Life within the organisation is defined by deliverables or results for the individual; within or outside SLAs (Service Level Agreements).

While current meltdown is forcing organisation look ways and means to reduce cost, reduce expenditure. Typically in most of the organisations, first ones to get hit of the recession are the people in the lower end of organisation, as there is an organisational belief that if leaders are there in difficult times they can recreate the teams when things improve.

Slow down is also the time when organisation become more vigilant towards employee frauds or attrition of good or high performing managers instead of attrition of good, average, and bad in the growth phase...this the time where committement levels are the lowest, loyalties are at the lowest degree..Managers either act is haste, or just mindlessly

We can not blame anyone but ourselves, as there is an absence or very weak emotional relationship or bonding between organisation, its managers and its employee, everything is the with in CTC. or an attitude chuck people when you don't need them, for the sake of survival of organisation which is bigger than survival of an individual.

When this kind of commoditization happens in our society which was culturally very rich, and where relationships and commitments, promises were of paramount importance since ages, such practices are bound to affect moral fabric of people working for organisations.

And in the current orbit of performance driven, hire and fire life, we are creating an culture where individuals operate like robots, mindlessly executing whatever instructions are given to them, with indifferent attitude towards collegues, customers and organisation.

In this difficult times, we need an environment which can nurture, encourage and challenge the individual to achieve higher goals rather than just a doing the routine, work towards bringing back efficiencies, achieving higher productivities, better quality products and services, more agile, more responsive organisation where teams responds to change with sense of urgency.

To create such environment, i don't think incentive or money will ever work..but a emotional bonding , open and honest communication, involvement and inclusion of each individual may work.

As a Managers we need to check out beyond customary how are you ? Whats happening ? Or how was the weekend? Stuff…need to get more close, more inside the skin of their people...to have one to one emotional bond...understand their prespective, reactions, and emotions..Remember that a man is a collection of many emotions gathered over the years.

So this the time, where we "need to get emotional"…for sake of humanity and our organisations, and shed the attitude of " I am like that Only"..

With best wishes of Gurupurab.

Ravi