Category: COLUMNS

By Sanjeev Kotnala

 

Life has always been demanding. The demands increase with time. You have been misguided if you believe that finally there will be a day when you will have more time at hand.

 

It is tough to find a balance, and it is very easy to let life get out of control. Chaos, anxiety, stress are the unwelcome guests ever willing to visit your life. Nevertheless, you always have the choice to lead a life of balance. You can do so, only if bringing balance to life is a priority with you.

 

If you cannot find balance in your life within the current ecosystem and environment then there is no surety if your attempts to do so will succeed in the future.

 

It is not a exempalary talent to lose the whole day trying to chase your targets and objectives. We all are good at it. At the end, many a time, we feel that we have achieved nothing. The balance slips away, and you lose the control.

 

It is only for you to decide if you really want balance in your life. If you do, you may want to try following strategies to make your busy life a lot more meaningful, interesting, and invigorating.

 

While I share the strategies for a balanced life, I presume that you have taken time to define what “balanced life” means to you.How much of your waking hours will you willingly spend at work? How much of your time would you spend at home? How many leisure hours do you need each week? How would you spend those hours?

 

Be Patient:

If you are impatient, then it is always tough for you to analyze your life. In truth, your life is a lot more balanced than you think, and your impatience is tinting the observations. Being impatient is a sure way to agitate you. It leads to you being incapable of any action in that agitated state. Being patient helps in better managing challenging situations.

 

Simplify:

Only we are to blame for the way we have given a new meaning and definition to progress. You have been in a race to buy more things than you need and take on more responsibilities than you can manage. Remember every single little unnecessary item in life is creating imbalance. It is for you to take charge, eliminate the superfluous and bring more harmony into your life.

 

Make Health a Priority: 

Stop sacrificing for everyone and everything in your hectic life. This is one mistake that you must avoid. Without good health, there is no balance possible in life. If for any reason, you fail to give health the priority, it deserves, sooner or later bad health will make you focus on it. At that stage, it will be more complicated and create more imbalance.

 

Stop Attempting to Multitask: 

Hope you understand what is real multitasking. It is not about doing too many things simultaneously. It means in doing the right thing at the right moment, doing one thing at a time and moving to another task. When you work in such a way, you finish many things rather than leaving things partially completed. Try out.

 

Plan Slot Downtime:

‘Saving’ is not what is left but what you take out of available funds at the start, ‘Downtime’ is not the time that is left over after responsibilities are completed? Downtime must be planned and slotted on purpose. You must plan for it. It also becomes a motivator when you know there is a planned break ahead. It funnily ends up enhancing the efficiency of your actions.

 

Start Early:

Procrastination is easier than going through the day’s work and taking decisions. Time is a valuable resource that you cannot create. You too have the same 24 hours. Once you fall behind, the entire day is out of balance. Starting your day with a clear purpose makes it easy. Once you take this step. The rest falls in place.

 

Focus on what means most to You: 

Oh, yes, your family and job are priority for you. Then what comes next? What is that is meaningful? Is it adventure sport, trekking, movies, painting, writing? Remember working never should be the ONLY priority in your life. If you are able to devote and focus on activities, you enjoy and, which mean a lot to you, you will enjoy life to its fullest.

 

Give relationships the time they demand:

When I say this, I am not necessarily and definitely not just referring to the romantic relationships. You must add friends, family and extended family to it. These relationships demand time that you must find. Analyse, if you are not wasting time on something less meaningful, for example, watching television. Hopefully, that is not your way of spending quality time with someone dear to you.

 

Get enough Sleep:

Proper sleep of minimum seven hours can help you do better. There is enough research to show that performance improves in the both physical and mental spaces when one gets seven-hour sleep. If not, it is time for you to re-examine your life and priorities.

 

Be Selfish. Prioritise yourself over Everything:

You can take better care of other, only if you have taken good care of yourself. When you are at your best; you perform at your peak. Being selfish in this case is a positive as everyone in your life benefit’s from it.

 

Not everything will work for you. You will have to find the strategy that works for you. You will still have to find a balance in above strategies before you find balabce in your life. Hence here is a hort cut, the final advice and it is simple. Create a well-balanced life by choosing your priorities wisely. Please prioritize yourself over everything else.

 

Sanjeev Kotnala with 28 years of corporate experience is the founder of Intradia World; a Brand, Marketing & Management Advisory. His focus area includes Ideation and Innovation; he also conducts specialized workshops like IDEAHarvest, Liberate and InNoWait. For soft skill training, he follows SHIFT (Specific High-Intensity Frequent training), a process of continuous training with frequent shorter sessions. Email sanjeev@intradia.in tweet @s_kotnala web: www.intradia.in, www.sanjeevkotnala.com.

 

By Sanjeev Kotnala

 

Finally, the day has come. After the organisation has gone through the time-consuming process of identifying need gap and desired competencies, filtered shortlisted candidates through references and backchecks, the selected candidate is joining to take charge of assigned responsibilities.

 

The new bride walks in the family. The candidate (bride) and the organisation (family), both are unsure about many things. New equations are being redrawn in the early days. Is there something we can learn from the family structure that will help us create the best possible induction?

 

Now that the bride is in, the organisation expects her to settle down, take her role within the family and start delivering results. There is the ritualistic induction, designed to ensure a smooth transition and immediate impact. In most places, it is a simple act of filling personal records and showing the candidates office building and facilities.

 

Introduction to many overtly smiling faces and warm handshakes is part of the process, the productionwala chachajee (uncle), the admin dadajee (grandfather), the marketing devar (young brother-in-law), the sales jhet (groom’s elder brother), the departmental bhabhi, other surrounding family and the Patriarch (top Management) – all introduced in a speed-dating format. No one expects the bride to remember them.

 

However, the candidate is left to take care of his life, find new support system, create allies and understand the omnipotent political undercurrents. From a purely male-dominated, gender distanced society. This was enough.  What else was there to do? Times have changed. There are newer expectations.  The bride is no longer just to deliver in the role of mother, wife and daughter-in-law.

 

There is a demand of equality in treatment, and ambitions are being newly redefined.  For organisational growth, impact and solidarity, a lot more than fake introductions is needed. A ritualised induction process helps the bride to better grasp family values, culture, operating processes, decision making systems, and Do’s & Don’ts. It places in right perspective who’s who in the family. Net benefit: the bride finds her place and settles faster.  A happier bride leads to a happier family. It is as simple as that.

 

To revamp or redesign the induction process, you need to wear two three hats. See it from the point-of-view and experience of the new bride (Candidate) , her expectations and apprehensions, demands and desire of the patriarch (management) and her husband ( HOD). Do not forget, how the rest of the support system within the family will see it.

 

It is true that the family is never completely new to the bride. She has been introduced to it during the match making process. She has made her own enquiries and have accepted the alliance. Maybe some family members are known to her. Nevertheless, she brings with her a certain style of working, and upbringing. She comes with unfathomed passion, ambition, dreams and excitement. And, hopefully, she is willing to adopt a bit. The marriage most likely is a result of a long courtship. A period when the candidate and the organisation have been at their best behaviour. Once the bride joins the family, all systems become transparently naked and the reality strikes.

 

If induction is to be the process that ensures homogenisation and mutual acceptance of the bride and the family, then you must answer some questions.

 

What all the bride needs to know?

What will make her comfortable and settle fast?
What are the first impressions you want to create? Is it a warm working environment, result-oriented place or a process oriented regime?
Who are the family members the candidate must be introduced to?
When, where and how long the interactions will be?
Is there a family member ( mentor, buddy) assigned to help her see through the initial period?
How will you make her feel secure and welcomed?
Having the direct senior (husband) available for interaction and answering her questions on the first day, give enough importance, time and attention could help the new member settle down fast.
What are the policies and practices that must be explained in the initial months?

 

Hopefully in the existing organisation, talking to the candidates who have been through the process could help redesign the rituals. Maybe some of the rituals practised when the organisation was small or in a fast-growth process or really struggling are no longer required.

 

Settling in a new family is neither easy and nor a day’s work. Hence, it is better for induction to be more than a day’s process. The excitement and public rituals could be a day or a week long but the internal supervision, processes and support should be designed for a much longer period. So a clear role expectation, do’s and don’ts along with a well-designed welcome kit is helpful.

 

When the candidate joins, ensure that the  designed seating place is available. It does not have the tell-tale signs and memories of past occupants. The items of daily need ( computer, visiting cards, identity card) are ready to be handed over.

 

It helps when the family members are aware of the scheduled arrival. They can then instead of waiting for the ritualised introdcutions come and meet the candidate at their own pace. A person of equal status grounded in the organisation culture should be assigned as a buddy or guide. It is he who will answer the candidates FAQs.

 

Like the mehndi (henna patterns) and the Chooda (thick white bangles) identifies a bride, it may be worthwhile to create a system to identify the new member. The system could be extra courteous and helpful to the candidate in the initial period.

 

An effective induction programme requires deep planning and a smooth execution to ensures the new member starts taking pride in being a part of the family.

 

Note: There is no gender sterotypes used in naming and assigning roles as Husband and bride –  its used in the current social norms as a point of reference.

 

Sanjeev Kotnala with 28 years of corporate experience is the founder of Intradia World; a Brand, Marketing & Management Advisory. His focus area includes Ideation and Innovation; he also conducts specialized workshops like IDEAHarvest, Liberate and InNoWait. For soft skill training, he follows SHIFT (Specific High-Intensity Frequent training), a process of continuous training with frequent shorter sessions. Email sanjeev@intradia.in tweet @s_kotnala web: www.intradia.in, www.sanjeevkotnala.com. The views expressed here are personal.

 

By Sanjeev Kotnala

 

Like everything else in life there is no certainty on how things will shape up. However, it is for you to try reducing the uncertainties associated with it. Searching for the right candidate or searching for the right job needs a similar set of precautions. The organisation and candidate do not short-term affairs and definitely not a relationship that goes sour.

 

Great family legacy, education, thinking compatibility, matching of all qualities, hobbies and interest is no guarantee of a successful happy married life. It is true for jobs too. A good resume, reference, past performance and interview are not enough. Like in case of marriage, there is a money, time and effort cost because of failed marriage, there is a huge cost of attrition that is more than money.

 

People are chasing dreams fueled by their passion. Hence, they are looking at more than a list of duties. They are seeking a purpose that may come because of love or key areas of responsibility. Oversell in every sphere always leads to disaster. Over expectation and under delivery is the most common mistake. It is better to be honest and avoid any kind of misrepresentation and misinterpretation.

 

Though not necessarily true for marriage, promoting candidates within the organisation instead of scouting outside should be preferred. They know the organisational culture. If the growth is within the same role expertise definition, they are faster to slip into new role and make an impact. Moreover, it gives other employees something to look forward to and acts as a motivation push.

 

Many marriages in Indian context have been lost due to the magic of the 15-minute ‘love over first tea’ syndrome. It is true for jobs too. Many candidates and interviewers put a high degree of faith on these short interactions. Seriously, there are very few-trained interviewers who are probing to understand the candidates, most of them are busy validating impressions created by the resume and their initial meeting. Unfortunately, the gap is too tough to be bridged.

 

However, it is wrong to consider an interview a waste. For a candidate, meeting the prospective direct senior (spouse) is important enough. Meanwhile, the interested candidate is busy saying and behaving in a manner that will help him pass the test and get the job.

 

This is the reason that many recruiters are moving from interviews to skill testing. Many place candidates are asked to present their solution to existing business solutions, something like dating and a live-in relationship.

 

We carry stereotypes and are biased because of our own unsaid rules and understanding. People at times treat beauty as the first filter for marriage. An arranged marriage gets biased towards known families, shared background, social class and ethnicity. Recruiters and candidates are no different and find it tough not to be influenced by such biases.

 

One of the biggest common mistakes in both marriage and recruitment is hiring and marrying a person less qualified than you. It starts with protecting your own turf and the level of confidence. Marrying or hiring more qualified should work. Unfortunately, the societal structure has always pushed people to hire lessor qualified candidates. In effect, most end up rejecting an overqualified candidate.

 

Many single men and women are results of their hyped expectations and waiting for the perfect match. Many candidates have wasted themselves waiting for the perfect job to maximise their potential. Positions remain vacant affecting organisational efficiencies and result, because of wait for the perfect candidate. You rarely get it. Perfection is always work in progress.

 

I am in no way suggesting that one could marry or hire a wrong candidate till the right match is found. Neither am I asking to wait forever, nor am I asking you to rush. However, making an open-eyed conscious decision, altering expectation, redesigning dreams and passions, leveraging newfound qualities may be the best way forward. In job, it is possible to use a freelance, consultant or interims until you do get a candidate who satisfies your revised benchmarks. Unfortunately, marriage does not give you such an option.

 

In marriage, families are known to make elaborate background checks than they do in case of jobs. References alone are not enough. In both cases, it is your life and hence, your being selfish and wanting to do more than superficial reference checks is desirable. This is true for hiring a candidate too.

 

Your being cautious on these elementary issues will go a long way in finding the right candidate, the right job and maybe even the best spouse for you.

 

Sanjeev Kotnala with 28 years of corporate experience is the founder of Intradia World; a Brand, Marketing & Management Advisory. His focus area includes Ideation and Innovation; he also conducts specialized workshops like IDEAHarvest, Liberate and InNoWait. For soft skill training, he follows SHIFT (Specific High-Intensity Frequent training), a process of continuous training with frequent shorter sessions. Email sanjeev@intradia.in tweet @s_kotnala web: www.intradia.inwww.sanjeevkotnala.com.