Work with Pride! Feel dignified at home!
Talk with swollen chest in the Society
Abraham and John (names changed) applied for a job of lower
grades in a different department within the same organisation. Lower grade
meant lower salary by a few hundred bucks. That meant reduction in their take
home salary by about five percent. During the interview, they both said that money
does not matter, they wanted to work where they got respect, dignity and hope.
Respect and dignity will manifest from working in the
organisation/company with pride. How do a manager or leader develop sense of pride,
firstly in themselves and secondly in their employees?
One cannot separate home (family) from work environment.
These two are the two sides of a coin totally dependent upon each other. These
two influence each other. When he or she is at home, should be able to tell
family members that “look; I work for an organisation/company and I feel
blessed that I belong to such an organisation”. How can a manager or leader
inculcate this dignity in themselves and amongst his/her employees?
We all live in a society. All of us want to have a status
in the society. There are several factors that contribute to the status, but
one of the most important factors is the sense of belonging to an organisation
and proudly talk in the society that he/she belongs to a particular
organisation/company. How to develop this feeling?
Yes, the responsibilities to develop RESPECT, DIGNITY and
HOPE in an employee, has to be shouldered by the leadership, managers and team
leaders. How can they achieve these?
There are numerous factors contributing to it. After
meeting the basic needs; leaders, managers and team leaders have to work on
developing genuine respect, dignity and hope.
Respect is earned and it flows both ways. If one gives
respect then only he or she will get respect. Most important factor is as to
how the manager/leader communicates. The communication has to be followed by
appropriate actions, self-example and achievements. Mere hollow communication,
irrespective of the method followed, will fall flat. Here, deeds become one of
the best communicator. Respect will automatically permeates (pour) as the
organisational objectives are achieved in a dignified manner. How can these
objectives be achieved in the most dignified and economical way?
It can only be achieved if all employees including leaders,
managers and team leaders work from their strengths zone. If employees work
from their respective strengths zone, they will be able to consistently provide
near – perfect or perfect performance. They will be able to consistently
produce a positive outcome through near perfect or perfect performance in a specific
task. They will always meet the targets because everyone is working with pride
in their strengths zone. People working in their strengths zone: (a) Look
forward to going to work;(b) have more positive than negative interactions with
co-workers; (c) treat customers better (d) achieve more on a daily basis (e)
have more positive, creative and innovative moments (adapted from Gallup
Strengths Finder work Book).
In order to ensure every one works in their respective strengths
zones, the actions have to be taken at each stage ie recruitment/talent
selection, employees engagement, performance management and development. The recommended
steps to be taken are:
(a) Determination
of strengths zones of the managers/leaders, so that they know their strengths
and leverage these strengths to provide dignity, respect and hope to themselves
and their employees.
(b) Determination
of strengths zones of employees at the time of recruitment and assigning
responsibilities as per the strengths zones, eg if a person is required for the
research and development then the mere qualification of the individual would
not be sufficient to recruit but he/she has to have the aptitude and attitude
for the research and development. He /she should have talent to think and
accept new ideas.
(c) In the
case of existing employees, determination of the strengths zone will help in appropriate
delegation and if required re- assignment to the appropriate department.
(d) Once
these strengths zones are determined, deliberate efforts have to be made to
develop on these to ensure achievements of the par excellence results. The
training programmes of the employees have to be based on such development,
taking into account unique talents of individual, life ambition of individual
and organisational objectives.
(e) Each
individual is born with unique talents that can be developed into strengths, so
understanding of these unique talents of each employee is sine qua non for the
getting the best out of each employee.
After working continuously in the same job, even though in
their respective strengths zone, will usher in boredom and work fatigue. This
can only be overcome by giving hope for future to employees at all levels. Hope
has got two facets. Firstly, the scope of the organisation in future. Where
will the organisation be after five/ten years? What will be its shape and size?
The second is the scope of the employees to reach his or her life goals in the
existing organisation. If these two are in affirmative, then the employees will
have hope in the existing organisation and may continue working for the
organisation.
