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Negative behaviours that indicate absence of Human Values:
- Ignoring people when you meet them in corridors,
not acknowledging greetings.
- Giving importance to ‘who says it’ (position
in the hierarchy) rather than
‘what is said’ (idea).
- Not actively listening to the stated and unstated
needs of people.
- Being insensitive to people around, eg., speaking
loudly on the phone.
- Being impolite and rude while interacting with
others.
- Not building a bond / trust with team members.
- Individual needs given more importance than team
needs.
- Outright rejection of expressed needs rather than
exploring them further.
- Making people wait inordinately after giving them
specific time / appointment.
- Not showing concern for candidates called for
interviews; whether
they’ve had difficulty reaching the place,
or whether they had something
to eat / drink, etc., after they have reached the
office.
Paradoxes:
- “Does being sensitive mean that we must soften
the bad news we have to give?”
asked David. “Should we sugar-coat the news
a bit, to mask the bitter pill inside?”
Naren shook his head. “Quite the reverse. Negative
feedback, which is not
sugar-coated, sends a clear message. Soften the
language, but do not dilute the
message. If the message is clear, the person can
do something about improving
himself / herself before it is too late. I have
known a manager who said so many
nice things before and after the message to his
team member that the team
member paid no attention to the negative feedback
slipped in between. He went
away thinking he had been complimented instead of
learning what to change!
In fact, if feedback is given simply, clearly and
regularly, it may sometimes prevent
a decision like separation. At least, it will prepare
the person to accept harsher
decisions if there is no improvement.”
- Iqbal asked. “If we believe in Human Values,
why should we ask people to leave?”
“There are two reasons why people are asked
to leave,” Naren replied.
“One is for breach of integrity. Keeping people
with poor integrity destroys the
morale of other people in the group. This itself
is against Human Values.
Sometimes people are unable to perform. All efforts
must be made to help them
improve. But if they cannot, it means something
fundamental is not jelling
between them and the organisation. If they separate,
they may get an opportunity
to work elsewhere where they may do better. In fact,
the earlier this feedback
is given, the greater the person’s chances
of building a career elsewhere.”
- Geeta asked. “But what about people with
personal problems? If we are sensitive
and thoughtful, how can we be rigid in insisting
on deadlines for such people?”
Naren replied. “If the personal problems are
of an acute nature which will last
for a short time, then the organisation should stand
by its employees and help
them in whatever way it can, to work towards resolving
the problem quickly.
During this time the organisation may have to turn
to peers to help support the
employee by pitching in for him / her. However,
if the personal problem is of a
chronic, long-term nature, the organisation can
explore whether any action
from its side, like a transfer, could mitigate the
problem. Otherwise it cannot
forget that finally everyone in the organisation
is committed to the end results
that the Customer needs. Therefore Customer needs
must take the priority over
personal problems.
- Naren said, with a twinkle in his eye. “Let
me ask you a question for a change.
We know that teaming is an important Human Value.
Should we concentrate more
on individual performance, or on team performance?”
David replied. “Of course, you must look at
the individual performance.
After all, a team is made up of individuals.”
Iqbal chipped in, “I think we need to concentrate
more on team performance. Otherwise,
one may not feel like helping another person. And
I believe, when we are talking about
the team, we need to look at cooperation in the
team.”
“Looks like both are important,” wondered
Geeta. “So what do we do?” She asked.
Naren nodded understandingly. “The biggest
advantage of an effective team is that
it can have ‘synergy’,” he said.
“That means its output can be more than the
sum
of the individual outputs. However, one cannot afford
to lose track of individual
performance within a team. If there are a few individuals
who are a drag on the
others, over a period of time, the morale and performance
of the team will suffer.
Similarly, if there are some exceptional individuals
they should not feel that their
contribution is not recognised just because it is
a part of the team effort. That would
bring down the individual’s and eventually
the team’s performance. A person should
be rewarded and recognised for both individual as
well as team performance.”
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