Monday, April 30, 2012
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
CLASS(ICK)
Recently while travelling back from Guwahati to Bangalore via Kolkata in a JetLite flight S24364, I had an experience worth sharing with all of you. I with my wife and six-year old kid were having seats that were very close to the front exit. The first two rows or so had been reserved as ‘premier’ class. Premier class on a Jetlite plane, I wondered. Except for four seats per row, instead of the usual six there was nothing premier about those seats. Anyways there was one toilet near the front exit and two toilets near the far rear exit. Enough for the details.
We flew from Guwahati, there were 3-4 passengers in the premier class, however rest of the economy class was packed with close to 130 passengers. There was a curtain separating the premier and the economy class. However the use of the toilet near the front exit was open to all passengers. After about 50 minutes we touched-down at Kolkata. When the flight took-off again, this time for Bangalore, my son wanted to use the toilet and I guided him to the nearest toilet near the front exit, when my way was blocked just outside the toilet by the cabin crew, in full view of the premier class passengers. The regular passengers had de-boarded at Kolkata and only two pilots were seated in the premier class. The cabin crew members told me to use the rear toilet. When I asked them the reason why my son (who was obviously in little emergency to use the toilet) couldn’t use the front toilet, the cabin crew told me that the front toilet was only for the exclusive use of the premier class passengers. I protested and told him that it would be difficult for my small son to trudge the entire plane and use the rear toilet. Besides such rules were not applied in the first-half of the flight and neither we were told about such procedures when we booked the ticket. But the cabin crew could only managed to tell me that it was a procedure and they have been told to follow the same. Nothing, but Shashi Tharoor’s controversial remark ‘Cattle Class’ came to my mind. I lodged my protest and retreated. By that measure one toilet was available for the use of two pilots sitting as passengers in the premier class i.e. 0.5 toilet per passenger and 2 rear toilets were available for the rest 130 odd i.e. 0.0153 toilet per passenger. Wow! Ever thought that these airlines are flying because of the volumes in the economy class.
However soon, better sense prevailed over the crew and they removed the front toilet blockade. Such privileges are not uncommon for business class passengers but few questions remained unanswered - I wondered if it was a procedure then how could they relax and tighten during the same flight intermittently. And if it was not a procedure, then why did they block my son’s entry to the front toilet? Why despite the fact that no regular passengers were flying in the premier class, such procedures were suddenly adopted? Does the staff of Jetlite get precedence in services than the customers?
Class system is however not new to us, right? Class-system is embedded and legitimized in our country. Take the way certain employees are treated or the kind of facilities that they are provided. In Jalandhar the roof collapse of a blanket manufacturing unit killed more than 23 labourers (mostly migrants from U.P. and Bihar) and injured several dozens. The factory building had been constructed only four-five years ago. It is alleged that the safety certification of the collapsed factory had expired over a year ago and had not been renewed. Who cares anyways? Some arrests will happen and then case would drag for years and finally nothing would happen.
Most of the unorganized labour in our country works as shabbily and have horrible working conditions, often highly unsafe & unhygienic. The death of labours in Delhi Metro Construction projects, or the DLF site accident last year and many such incidents are stark reminders to the way unorganized labours are treated in India.
Anyone listening?
We flew from Guwahati, there were 3-4 passengers in the premier class, however rest of the economy class was packed with close to 130 passengers. There was a curtain separating the premier and the economy class. However the use of the toilet near the front exit was open to all passengers. After about 50 minutes we touched-down at Kolkata. When the flight took-off again, this time for Bangalore, my son wanted to use the toilet and I guided him to the nearest toilet near the front exit, when my way was blocked just outside the toilet by the cabin crew, in full view of the premier class passengers. The regular passengers had de-boarded at Kolkata and only two pilots were seated in the premier class. The cabin crew members told me to use the rear toilet. When I asked them the reason why my son (who was obviously in little emergency to use the toilet) couldn’t use the front toilet, the cabin crew told me that the front toilet was only for the exclusive use of the premier class passengers. I protested and told him that it would be difficult for my small son to trudge the entire plane and use the rear toilet. Besides such rules were not applied in the first-half of the flight and neither we were told about such procedures when we booked the ticket. But the cabin crew could only managed to tell me that it was a procedure and they have been told to follow the same. Nothing, but Shashi Tharoor’s controversial remark ‘Cattle Class’ came to my mind. I lodged my protest and retreated. By that measure one toilet was available for the use of two pilots sitting as passengers in the premier class i.e. 0.5 toilet per passenger and 2 rear toilets were available for the rest 130 odd i.e. 0.0153 toilet per passenger. Wow! Ever thought that these airlines are flying because of the volumes in the economy class.
However soon, better sense prevailed over the crew and they removed the front toilet blockade. Such privileges are not uncommon for business class passengers but few questions remained unanswered - I wondered if it was a procedure then how could they relax and tighten during the same flight intermittently. And if it was not a procedure, then why did they block my son’s entry to the front toilet? Why despite the fact that no regular passengers were flying in the premier class, such procedures were suddenly adopted? Does the staff of Jetlite get precedence in services than the customers?
Class system is however not new to us, right? Class-system is embedded and legitimized in our country. Take the way certain employees are treated or the kind of facilities that they are provided. In Jalandhar the roof collapse of a blanket manufacturing unit killed more than 23 labourers (mostly migrants from U.P. and Bihar) and injured several dozens. The factory building had been constructed only four-five years ago. It is alleged that the safety certification of the collapsed factory had expired over a year ago and had not been renewed. Who cares anyways? Some arrests will happen and then case would drag for years and finally nothing would happen.
Most of the unorganized labour in our country works as shabbily and have horrible working conditions, often highly unsafe & unhygienic. The death of labours in Delhi Metro Construction projects, or the DLF site accident last year and many such incidents are stark reminders to the way unorganized labours are treated in India.
Anyone listening?
Monday, April 23, 2012
City City Bang Bang!
I am leaving Guwahati tomorrow and I am so glad! My recent two visits to Indore & Guwahati, one for business, the other for personal duty, have been utterly disappointing. All the more because of the hoopla around these cities. Indore touted as 'mini-Mumbai' turned-out to be a 'major let-down'. Broken roads, chaotic traffic, filthy roadsides, ugly buildings, all these and many more such adorations made it feel that in Indore, I better stay indoor! Guwahati was not better. Mosquitoes of Guwhati seemed to violently suggest that we had encroached their space. We ended-up with redder and thicker hide. My first visits to these cities concluded with resolution of not visiting them again, atleast voluntarily. Although most Indian cities characterize such chaos and unclean environs but the way bigger centers turned-out was disappointing.
For organizations, however, there is a message and an opportunity. Their employees have to negotiate all of these for coming to office and then for going back home. This is the message. Creating tidy work ambience and comfortable, ergonomic work ecospace is not only a need but also an opportunity, because even small efforts shall magnify.
Bangalore, my place and thankfully so, is calling and I am so happy that I am leaving for my city tomorrow. The city with all its imperfections is still much more livable.
For organizations, however, there is a message and an opportunity. Their employees have to negotiate all of these for coming to office and then for going back home. This is the message. Creating tidy work ambience and comfortable, ergonomic work ecospace is not only a need but also an opportunity, because even small efforts shall magnify.
Bangalore, my place and thankfully so, is calling and I am so happy that I am leaving for my city tomorrow. The city with all its imperfections is still much more livable.
(This post was written on 21st April at Guwahati)
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Hitler Didi
First Trivedi got the boot for spoiling Didi's agenda. His only fault was that he tried to infuse fresh lease of life in railways but an imminent fare increase was seen and his refusal to budge under Didi's dictat was seen as blasphemous. The next casualty was the media. English dailies were banned in the govt. libraries in bengal because didi feels they corrupt minds of people. Really? And when didi was asked would she even tell people of her state what to read and what not to in future, her response reportedly was she would not hesitate to do so if she felt that was necessary. The latest casulty is a poor professor who was arrested and beaten -up by police for circulating a cartoon strip of Didi. Poor soul is terrified and now feels threatened for his and his family's life. And we thought in this country we have freedom of speech! Transfer of tigress cop etc. are all icing on the cake. The writing on the wall is very clear anyone who goes against didi would face the music. The classic dilemma of how much control is good perhaps confronts Didi. Organizations too that over-control face risk of alienating and disengaging people. Unfortunately there are many likes of Didi in many organizations too. anyways, the last I heard was a new soap starting on television titled 'Hitler Didi'. Nice title...what say?
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Do Things in the 'Right Way' than the 'Right Things' Always!
For years, advertising agencies have flogged the concept of 360 degree communications - of tracking consumers wherever they are and inundating them with (hopefully relevant) messages. One ad chief who has stopped drinking the 360 degree Kool-Aid is Chuck Brymer of DDB. As president and CEO of one of the world's most consistently awarded creative agencies, Brymer is in the process of moving his agency away from the carpet bombing of consumers with ad messages via a thousand different media… In the words of Brymer – “I want to get to your connections. I want to engage you in a way that inspires you to communicate with your 6 degree (friends of friends, family and acquaintances)."
For instance Volkswagen's multiple award winning Fun Theory campaign saw DDB work at extracting fun from mundane activities like taking the stairs instead of an escalator or recycling. This was done by transforming the stairs into a gigantic playable piano, and the act of recycling bottles being turned into a game with points. He says, "Back then it was about sending a message and that was the end of it. Now the message not only connects you to the brand but to your friends. If I can create a message you can pass on, participate in and play with, I've got a deeper engagement opportunity."
Similarly engagement of employees is not about carpet-bombing them with loads of events and information. Instead, it is about planning specific interventions that may ask for their contributions and involving them, so as to not only create an engagement with the event or the initiative but also with their families & friends. It must be something that they would like to tell their families and friends; about something that really excites them in their place of work. Also, it must not attempt generalization. Specific interventions for different sets of employees should be designed.That creates deeper engagement.
Engagement is neither entertainment nor incessant events that keep on happening in the organization. And, if so, it may only succeed in providing a satisfaction to the perpetrator that lots is being done for engagement (as in the case of the 360 degree advertiser) but in effect the returns would be very low. Instead engagement should be specific, innovative, sensitive and exciting, like the 6 degree principle of DDB.
Like in DDB they say – ‘At DDB we are guided by playbooks, not rule books. Rigid methodologies minimize creativity. Paint-by-numbers gets you the same painting every time.’
For real engagement it is important to do things in the 'right way' than to do the ‘right things’always.
For instance Volkswagen's multiple award winning Fun Theory campaign saw DDB work at extracting fun from mundane activities like taking the stairs instead of an escalator or recycling. This was done by transforming the stairs into a gigantic playable piano, and the act of recycling bottles being turned into a game with points. He says, "Back then it was about sending a message and that was the end of it. Now the message not only connects you to the brand but to your friends. If I can create a message you can pass on, participate in and play with, I've got a deeper engagement opportunity."
Similarly engagement of employees is not about carpet-bombing them with loads of events and information. Instead, it is about planning specific interventions that may ask for their contributions and involving them, so as to not only create an engagement with the event or the initiative but also with their families & friends. It must be something that they would like to tell their families and friends; about something that really excites them in their place of work. Also, it must not attempt generalization. Specific interventions for different sets of employees should be designed.That creates deeper engagement.
Engagement is neither entertainment nor incessant events that keep on happening in the organization. And, if so, it may only succeed in providing a satisfaction to the perpetrator that lots is being done for engagement (as in the case of the 360 degree advertiser) but in effect the returns would be very low. Instead engagement should be specific, innovative, sensitive and exciting, like the 6 degree principle of DDB.
Like in DDB they say – ‘At DDB we are guided by playbooks, not rule books. Rigid methodologies minimize creativity. Paint-by-numbers gets you the same painting every time.’
For real engagement it is important to do things in the 'right way' than to do the ‘right things’always.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Not so 'Good Times'
Bump has come-out with a new app called the bump pay for person-to-person mobile payments. So now if you want to split the restaurant bill with your friend or pay him some money that you owe & vice-versa you don’t have to write a cheque or withdraw cash from ATM. All you have to do is to type the amount you want to send, bump your phones together (physical contact of phones) and do the PayPal confirmation. And voila! the money is transferred. That easy!
Wish it was that easy for Kingfisher employees to get their salaries. The airline hit by turbulence and in the midst of a financial crisis had not paid their employee salaries for the last four months. The employees had threatened to shut down work if not paid immediately. After marathon parleys between the employees and the management, the company agreed that the salaries were ‘seriously overdue’ and the Chairman of the crisis-hit airline Vijay Mallya had last Tuesday assured his employees that their salaries would be disbursed in a staggered manner from April 4 to 10. The payment comes as a relief to the employees and their families.
One can never fail to empathize with a company and its chairman that is in the midst of a crisis, much of which it has to do with the way the airline industry is structured in India. However one can never justify non-payment of salaries to employees, because it directly affects not only them but also their families. The monthly expenses, groceries, school fees of kids, rent charges, EMIs for loans taken by employees, and much of such critical expenditure does not stop because a company is not doing well.
In Kingfisher case what looked even odder was that it continues to own an IPL team, pay through their noses to the players, own a formula one team but delays employee salaries by four months, all in the same period.
Wish it was that easy for Kingfisher employees to get their salaries. The airline hit by turbulence and in the midst of a financial crisis had not paid their employee salaries for the last four months. The employees had threatened to shut down work if not paid immediately. After marathon parleys between the employees and the management, the company agreed that the salaries were ‘seriously overdue’ and the Chairman of the crisis-hit airline Vijay Mallya had last Tuesday assured his employees that their salaries would be disbursed in a staggered manner from April 4 to 10. The payment comes as a relief to the employees and their families.
One can never fail to empathize with a company and its chairman that is in the midst of a crisis, much of which it has to do with the way the airline industry is structured in India. However one can never justify non-payment of salaries to employees, because it directly affects not only them but also their families. The monthly expenses, groceries, school fees of kids, rent charges, EMIs for loans taken by employees, and much of such critical expenditure does not stop because a company is not doing well.
In Kingfisher case what looked even odder was that it continues to own an IPL team, pay through their noses to the players, own a formula one team but delays employee salaries by four months, all in the same period.
Monday, April 2, 2012
Take Care before You Close the Door!
A young lady was going to meet a boy whose family had approached the girl’s family for marriage-alliance. She had no idea as to how to come-up with an opinion about the boy. Although she had given-in to the pressures of her parents and agreed to go for a typical Indian arranged marriage, however the last thing she wanted was to enter into a nuptial alliance with a wrong person. She did not know whom to turn-to for some right piece of advice. Finally she spoke to her father, the one man she had looked up to, her role model. He told her that the best way to judge a man is to see how he speaks to those who are not as privileged as he is, and accordingly advised her to meet the boy in a restaurant. He told her that if the boy politely calls for the waiter then in all probability he is a decent person; however if he whistles or sibilates while calling the waiter then probably she should quietly slip-out of the date. The young lady found five sibilating match-seekers before finding her knight in shining armor. She was lucky that her father had told her the magic formula and she knew that her right man would treat everyone with respect and dignity, even the ones who do match his status or wisdom.
Similarly the litmus test for any company’s culture is how it treats those employees, whom they ask to leave. Most of the times a typical transactional approach stops them from caring for people whom they ask to leave. The kind of impact that such an approach has on the laid-off employees and perhaps more on the ones who have been retained is disastrous. If you work with such a firm then you know that your company cares for you till you are on the rolls and live with a fear that it could be your turn someday. Some of the worst mistakes that companies commit when laying-off people are: a) laying-off people on Friday (Monday becomes an uncertainty for even those who have not been pink-slipped); b) Laying-off in lots (kills morale and creates fear psychosis – ‘is it my turn next?’), and c) Dilly-dallying documents or payments of the laid-off employees (employees know that they will be in trouble the moment they are out of favour).
Should a company treat its laid-off staff more decently? The answer is of course Yes! But why? Forget all the responsibility part (although not inconsequential); it makes a huge business sense. Imagine you are the one (god forbid but for sake of empathy) who is pink-slipped. But your company offers you an outplacement service and helps you finding another ob. Not only will it boost your morale but also relive you from the stress of joblessness & the fear of compromising with family responsibilities. Besides, if this company calls you back in the future, won’t you come-back immediately? Would you not recommend this company to your friends?
Rahul Bajaj in an interview many years back had said that when Bajaj needed to lay-off employees when the company was transitioning into a bike company, some of those people who had been with the company for more than 2 decades, came and asked him that how would they go and face their family? Their families had been proud of them because they had served a company like Bajaj for such a longtime. Now what would they go and tell their families, that the same company wants them no more! Rahul Bajaj had confessed in the interview that he had tears in his eyes when his employees asked him such questions.
Parting many times may be necessary but is nevertheless painful.Many times companies hide behind the fact that they are faceless. An employee of the company tells another that it is the company’s or management’s decision. The damage that such approaches cause to engagement of employees and consequently the employer brands is immense.
Nothing stops a company from treating its employees decently even when it lets them go! Companies like Citigroup, Bharti, DLF etc. seems to be among the select-few who care! They have been known for providing global outplacements services, counselling and career guidance to laid-off employees, search for possibilties of redeployment within the group umbrella and even hiring outplacement agencies to help such employees.
Care a little beyond the door too and do not shut-it on the faces of those who are shown the same.
Similarly the litmus test for any company’s culture is how it treats those employees, whom they ask to leave. Most of the times a typical transactional approach stops them from caring for people whom they ask to leave. The kind of impact that such an approach has on the laid-off employees and perhaps more on the ones who have been retained is disastrous. If you work with such a firm then you know that your company cares for you till you are on the rolls and live with a fear that it could be your turn someday. Some of the worst mistakes that companies commit when laying-off people are: a) laying-off people on Friday (Monday becomes an uncertainty for even those who have not been pink-slipped); b) Laying-off in lots (kills morale and creates fear psychosis – ‘is it my turn next?’), and c) Dilly-dallying documents or payments of the laid-off employees (employees know that they will be in trouble the moment they are out of favour).
Should a company treat its laid-off staff more decently? The answer is of course Yes! But why? Forget all the responsibility part (although not inconsequential); it makes a huge business sense. Imagine you are the one (god forbid but for sake of empathy) who is pink-slipped. But your company offers you an outplacement service and helps you finding another ob. Not only will it boost your morale but also relive you from the stress of joblessness & the fear of compromising with family responsibilities. Besides, if this company calls you back in the future, won’t you come-back immediately? Would you not recommend this company to your friends?
Rahul Bajaj in an interview many years back had said that when Bajaj needed to lay-off employees when the company was transitioning into a bike company, some of those people who had been with the company for more than 2 decades, came and asked him that how would they go and face their family? Their families had been proud of them because they had served a company like Bajaj for such a longtime. Now what would they go and tell their families, that the same company wants them no more! Rahul Bajaj had confessed in the interview that he had tears in his eyes when his employees asked him such questions.
Parting many times may be necessary but is nevertheless painful.Many times companies hide behind the fact that they are faceless. An employee of the company tells another that it is the company’s or management’s decision. The damage that such approaches cause to engagement of employees and consequently the employer brands is immense.
Nothing stops a company from treating its employees decently even when it lets them go! Companies like Citigroup, Bharti, DLF etc. seems to be among the select-few who care! They have been known for providing global outplacements services, counselling and career guidance to laid-off employees, search for possibilties of redeployment within the group umbrella and even hiring outplacement agencies to help such employees.
Care a little beyond the door too and do not shut-it on the faces of those who are shown the same.
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