Book Chapter on Empowering Women by MGR University HR Management and Humanities Department -ISBN: 978-93-5593-750-6- Released on 8 Mar 2022

 

Can you see a relation between Mob Killing of Rape Accused in Nagaland and 'Nirbaya' documentary? If no, time to see!

As the whole of India was debating whether it is right or wrong to ban or not to ban the 'India's daughter' documentary....another girl got victimized by a sadist rapist in Nagaland.   This time, the girl came out boldly stating that she was given Rs 5000 to keep quite by the rapist.....Sadist!  Yes, this is exactly a group of student thought and took onto the streets in silent protest.

The same day,  all the prime news channels were only debating full time on the intentions and thoughts of another sadist who is the death row and two other WELL_EDUCATED lawyers who were again and again telling that it was the fault of Jyothi to be on the streets of Delhi, going out to a movie with a boy friend and spoiling our culture!?!??!???

The young peaceful protest slowly became frenzy..the thoughts of letting another rapist lager in our jails for next several years and then giving a chance to give interview to another foreigner and making him a negative-hero was not letting our youth tolerate.  The students were joined by several of the public, protesting and more than thousand people mobbed on the jail and pulled out the rapist and took the law in their hands....lynched him, made him walk naked and finally killed him.   Is justice done to the girl?  Confusion....Interstate dispute, a collector's suspension and series of arrests followed.   

The orthodox way of punishment to an accused again took to the headlines.    When hundreds of rapes happen and accused rapists continue to survive, why did the mob go frenzy this time and took justice in their hands?  Where did the tolerance and time for justice gone this time?   Was the repeate telecast of Mukesh Singh's interview and the debates triggered this reaction of the people in Nagaland

As a woman, I thought if few more such mob justice instances happen this will make the rapists definitely scared for what happened in Nagaland and keep their zips zipped up in care!   But as a sensitive citizen, I was not comfortable to the thought of the way mob took law in their hands.   This was the way accused used to be punished in several parts of India  during 'Kata Panchayat days'  ; but are we not today going by the rotten legal system...We still will dust our old legal books and wait for justice.  Somehow, both are two extremes.    

Yes, taking law in hands is not the right thing.  We should let the law deal with these rapists.  Same time, feeding them and making them comfortably stay in jails ( Notice Mukesh, and other two accused clean shaved, wearing ironed clothes and looking very healthy  - is there no jail uniforms,  and these guys fed well and sheltered for rest of their lives as their mercy petitions will wait another decade....) is not going to be giving justice to the victims.  Justice delayed is Justice denied.

It is time for us to have a balanced thinking.   It is time to make our men promise of respect, care and equality to women around them.  It is time for women to make their families take up this promise for men's enlightenment than just focus on Women Empowerment

The real happiness of celebrating women's day is only when we see the crimes on women coming down not just in India but across the world.   The real pride of being a woman is when we help the fellow women to empower, enrich and earn their self-respect and self- esteem.   What may come, we women should remain strong and focused.  Stay strong and courageous.  Stay firm to ground and reach skies in our achievements.   Stay Blessed!

Happy Women's Day

Coping with Performance Review Anxiety

This is again the time of the year for Annual Performance reviews that usually act as the career-building exercise in Organizations. This is one of the times of the year, when there is lot of activity on both sides- for managers and employees.

During this time frame, employees try to be pleasing the managers keeping their ‘I’ factor aside so that what is fresh do not stay in the Manager’s mind during the D-Day that they wait all year long. Managers having the burden and anxiety to complete the process, hear to end less emotional outburst and keeping in pace with the facts/ details struggling to do justice to both their employees and other factors including Organizational Performance, account related budgetary constraints, identifying right talents and skills sets, giving due recognition amidst their own anxiety of this process with their managers. This struggle and anxiety is like in the food chain. Being in the top of food chain like said in the “Lion King’ movie gives managers an advantage of having the end word and keeps employees either motivated or otherwise depending on how they handle this whole process. Ultimately this is the time the either strengthen or damage the ‘Manager-Employee’ relationship in the organization and caution have to be adhered to for the benefit of the Organization.

Good preparation is the key for Performance Review discussions and they help the team performance taking it to the next level of growth for the projects and improve the relationship within the team members and those between the employee and the managers as well.

This whole exercise is highly stressful especially for the managers who have multiple reports and every member of the team have to be reviewed separately. Not carefully planned process can result in burnout for managers and displeasing results for employees. One year when I had close to 10+ direct reports to review, I ended up with weeks of planning, paper work, thinking and rethinking and in an ardent quest to strike a right balance. So can imagine the stress for managers having a bigger number.

Advice for Managers

What manages should remember is that though the process is stressful, with each of the employee, the process is critical and sensitive for them and it is one time exercise in a year that we all have to go through. Having multiple reviews to do, and having back to back sessions do not only result in a burn out for the manager, but also would lose the required energy and attention that is required to be given. Careful planning and giving time to think between meetings on the person on focus is very important not to give biased opinions that may ruin the whole process. The awareness that this is a nervous time for the employee who slog all through the year for some betterment in life and in career have to be heard genuinely.

It is very easy to keep a set of perceptions, organizational objectives, corporate strategy and self- advancement career path and go by those perceptions in your discussion. It is required to keep a caution on these factors and focus on the goals that have been set for the employee and review based on those goals and not just towards the events that happened at the end of the year. Any statistical data like the number of tasks completed, managed and efficiently done, appreciation or escalations received by the employee, financial impact of the performance in the organizational/project/program objectives become very key and important yardstick to measure performance.

There can be non-subjective factors like team work, attitude, client relationship etc. which can be considered. Non-objective yardsticks like how close you are to the employee outside office, how many times we had coffee together, family friendships, will the employee listen to whatever I say, and other actual factors that today hinder genuine discussions in the organizations have to be curtailed and purely controlled for the benefit of all. Evaluation employees based on the needs as a manager in the process of sharing the pie share that you have is a very common process in the corporates today. At the same time evaluation based on full year’s performance and based on their strengths, weaknesses and improvement areas will benefit the organizations in the long run.

Discussions often circle around the most recent past and it makes the key factor in decision making which is actually tough to stop but that should be made only one area of discussion and this should be the time to show appreciation on the good things done in the past and also provide guidance on the areas of improvement.

The important last word would be, Performance review is to be based only on employee performance and as one time measurement of what is achieved and what is not. Also important to plan the next year, discussion compensation and growth of the employee without any false promises or fake discussions that would surely motivate employees and would let them appreciate the management for their sensibility, professionalism and sensitivity in dealing with People…..After all, what you are working with are human beings…and not machines! Proudly called ‘Human Potential’!

Advice for Employees

The very important thing for the employees is to focus on the purpose of the review that includes goals review and performance objectives. Having details is important but getting too much into it would be a draining situation for both you and your manager, especially when you don’t arrive in consensus and end up in arguments. Having facts and entering into a healthy discussion is important for it is only between YOU and YOUR Manager. There should be no third party in this relationship. It is all about how you performed, where you failed and where you need to contribute and what you need to do to grow in the organization. It is like talking to a priest for god’s blessings???? Is it not??? Ending up in courter and useless arguments and debating with manager really will lead nowhere.

It is important to do your homework and be prepared to back up your proposal for your growth and good performance rating. Instead of giving a general note, it is important to have track of the specific details. And above all having clarity in your career goals is important and having achieved them gives you confidence to this whole process. To understand what was expected, what was performed and what is not achieved gives you a clear conscience of what you could be rated as. Anything away from your own assessment, is a probable result of other factors not within your line of control, probably within or without your Manager’s line of control of things as well. This means, fretting about the results that happened for what you are not responsible is being foolish. You would have given 100% but the project could have failed for so many other reasons.

Self-confidence, integrity and honest approach, on either side give a true meaning to this whole process. Any deliberate flaws will only result in employee attrition and dissatisfied managers resulting in draining away Organization’s best talents and causing unwanted financial impact and growth. So coping up with this anxious period with due caution is very important for the benefit of all concerned.

Four Things to Avoid in a Resume

A good resume is always a gateway to a good opportunity in the market. 

But why is it that some of the resume really don't impress the recruiters and companies and get rejected most of the time.   Lot of surveys pointed to 4 major points that kill a resume from reaching the right opening. 

As the IT recruitment have speedened in 2010 and lot of people are awakened from the recession slumber, I hope these tips would help people looking out for new jobs.

Pictures or Photos:   Though I would always love to know how you look, as a recruiter it doesn't worry me any longer.  Pictures are a sure no-no in resumes, and good to get a good impression in the first personal interview... Look doesn't matter, but how you carry yourself, your overall personality and your confidence is what would impress recruiters.

Personal Objectives:    Corporates are no longer interested to see what your personal ambition or goal in life is.  You may want to become the CEO of the company in 10 years, but that is not the recruiter's goal.  The corporate goal is important and the skill sets have to match with the recruiter's requirement than your own dreams, aims and vision of the future. 

References :    References often proved to be planned, informed and organized.  So it is not important any longer to add references in the resumes or provided the line "Will be provided on request", for this is no longer a need.  Corporates have their own way of doing background checks and go a way beyond to understand you than what you put in the CV, for  IT security has become an watchword and integrity the biggest essential character in a person to be recruited.

Hobbies and Interests:   Companies having their own fun clubs, sports clubs and corporate community service teams, are no longer interested to see your hobbies or personal interest in the resume, unless they are directly related to the work.   You having 10 different accounts on social media is irrelevant unless you are applying for a post in the team of social innovation or content management of a social media site or a corporate blog.   It is better to avoid this list, as may provide a mis-guided perception that you have many interests that actually divert your focus from the mainstream work :-)

Above all, clear and precise business scenarios that you are capable to handle will add weight age to the resume, than giving a long list of tasks you did. 

Too much or  too little of information do not make any sense. 

Adding significant achievements will make the recruiter know how much you are capable of.  But remember, past glory or history is never taken as a best way to analyze you and recruit you.  So handle it with care.  After all it is your future.....