The world of work is entering unprecedented times. By many measures, unemployment is as low as it has been in a decade. Yet the percentage of employees who are engaged in their work is frighteningly low. In fact, according to Gallup research, more than 65% of U.S. employees are not engaged or actively disengaged. Behind this statistic are real people just trudging through their workday. It seems a lot of workers are uninspired, deflated and not fulfilling their human potential.
The human cost of disengagement should be enough for executives to investigate and take action. We all spend a lot of time at work and with our colleagues. While competitive salary is important, research indicates that it’s not enough to get employees engaged. As the Harvard Business Review observed, “The association between salary and job satisfaction is very weak.” Yes, inadequate pay can make employees unhappy. But adequate pay doesn’t directly correspond with happiness and engagement.
Aside from the human cost, there are real business consequences to a lack of employee engagement. In fact, unhappy employees cost American businesses over $300 billion each year. High attrition, for one, can drain a company’s human capital and profits. But there is also a clear connection between employee engagement and customer satisfaction.
In your own life as a consumer, when was the last time you had a good experience with a company that had disengaged employees? When most companies try to solve customer satisfaction issues and low net promoter scores, they first think of customer experience (CX) processes and technology. But the best CX programs in the world are useless without an engaged workforce.
So, what can organizations do to improve employee engagement?
Invest in New Technologies
Of course, technology is important. Employees expect consumer-grade technology in the workplace. Disconnected systems force employees to spend time hunting for answers instead of servicing customers. Enterprise social networks can also help employees connect. Clearly, good technology and data management is a big factor in employee engagement.
Educate Managers on Smart Leadership
But good technology is not enough. The key to employee engagement is leadership. As Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic writes, “The biggest organizational cause of disengagement is incompetent leadership. Thus, as a manager, it’s your personality that will have a significant impact on whether your employees are engaged at work, or not.”
Encourage Free-Thinking
To truly increase employee engagement, it is important to inspire free-thinking across your organization. A company culture based on free-thinking allows employees to speak their minds, and it encourages the C-Suite to match individual worker values to organizational goals. Employees in this atmosphere know that their minds are respected. Employees feel heard, needed and appreciated.
A free-thinking culture inspires leaders to practice honesty, transparency and a “no bullsh*t” communication style. Even if employees don’t always like what you have to say, they’ll trust and respect you for giving it to them straight. I’ve found that direct reports welcome this approach. However, it’s not just on the shoulders of executive management to lead with transparency; to achieve a company culture connected to high performance, all people managers must be on the same page.
Photo: Creative Commons
There is no magic potion to get employees engaged. Building a free-thinking culture arises from every interaction: from interviewing job candidates to counseling employees who are burned out. It is the job of leadership to model this behavior and address situations that damage the culture. So when executives think about employee engagement, the first place they should look is in the mirror.
The world of work is entering unprecedented times. By many measures, unemployment is as low as it has been in a decade. Yet the percentage of employees who are engaged in their work is frighteningly low. In fact, according to Gallup research, more than 65% of U.S. employees are not engaged or actively disengaged. Behind this statistic are real people just trudging through their workday. It seems a lot of workers are uninspired, deflated and not fulfilling their human potential.
The human cost of disengagement should be enough for executives to investigate and take action. We all spend a lot of time at work and with our colleagues. While competitive salary is important, research indicates that it\’s not enough to get employees engaged. As the Harvard Business Review observed, “The association between salary and job satisfaction is very weak.\” Yes, inadequate pay can make employees unhappy. But adequate pay doesn\’t directly correspond with happiness and engagement.
Aside from the human cost, there are real business consequences to a lack of employee engagement. In fact, unhappy employees cost American businesses over $300 billion each year. High attrition, for one, can drain a company\’s human capital and profits. But there is also a clear connection between employee engagement and customer satisfaction.
In your own life as a consumer, when was the last time you had a good experience with a company that had disengaged employees? When most companies try to solve customer satisfaction issues and low net promoter scores, they first think of customer experience (CX) processes and technology. But the best CX programs in the world are useless without an engaged workforce.
So, what can organizations do to improve employee engagement?
Invest in New Technologies
Of course, technology is important. Employees expect consumer-grade technology in the workplace. Disconnected systems force employees to spend time hunting for answers instead of servicing customers. Enterprise social networks can also help employees connect. Clearly, good technology and data management is a big factor in employee engagement.
Educate Managers on Smart Leadership
But good technology is not enough. The key to employee engagement is leadership. As Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic writes, “The biggest organizational cause of disengagement is incompetent leadership. Thus, as a manager, it\’s your personality that will have a significant impact on whether your employees are engaged at work, or not.\”
Encourage Free-Thinking
To truly increase employee engagement, it is important to inspire free-thinking across your organization. A company culture based on free-thinking allows employees to speak their minds, and it encourages the C-Suite to match individual worker values to organizational goals. Employees in this atmosphere know that their minds are respected. Employees feel heard, needed and appreciated.
A free-thinking culture inspires leaders to practice honesty, transparency and a “no bullsh*t\” communication style. Even if employees don\’t always like what you have to say, they\’ll trust and respect you for giving it to them straight. I\’ve found that direct reports welcome this approach. However, it\’s not just on the shoulders of executive management to lead with transparency; to achieve a company culture connected to high performance, all people managers must be on the same page.
Photo: Creative Commons
There is no magic potion to get employees engaged. Building a free-thinking culture arises from every interaction: from interviewing job candidates to counseling employees who are burned out. It is the job of leadership to model this behavior and address situations that damage the culture. So when executives think about employee engagement, the first place they should look is in the mirror.
In continuation of the convincing, courageous and commendable judgment delivered by the same Division Bench of Apex Court comprising of Justice Dr DF Chandrachud and Justice Ajay Rastogi on February 17, 2020 that favoured the extension of permanent commission for women in the armed forces so that gender equality is implemented in reality in the case titled The Secretary, Ministry of Defence vs Babita Puniya and others in Civil Appeal Nos 9367-9369 of 2011 with Civil Appeal Nos 1127-1128 of 2013 and with Civil Appeal No 1210 of 2020, we see once again that these same Judges have now in yet another case titled Union of India & Ors vs Lt Cdr Annie Nagaraja & Ors in Civil Appeal Nos 2182-87 of 2020 @ SLP (C) Nos. 30791-96 of 2015 along with others very clearly, convincingly and commendably held that serving women Short Service Commission Officers in Indian Navy were entitled to Permanent Commission at par with their male counterparts. We thus see that the Apex Court Bench thus upheld the 2015 Delhi High Court verdict which had upheld women officer’s claim in this regard! Very rightly so!
To be sure, women were not commissioned in the Navy till the issuance of notification dated 9th October 1991, whereby for the first time, the power under the enabling provision under Section 9(2) of the Navy Act was exercised to lay down that women would also be eligible for appointment as officers in the Indian Navy. But the induction of women was confined to four branches namely Logistics, Law, ATC and Education. It was also stated by the Ministry then that policy guidelines regarding permanent commission for women will be laid down in 1997. But such guidelines were not laid down until 2008. On 26th September 2008, the Ministry for the first time took a decision to grant permanent commission to SSC women officers in all the three forces. Regulation 203 of Chapter IX of the Indian Navy Act, 1957 puts no restriction to the grant of permanent commission either gender wise or category wise. But this offer was restricted to certain categories and was also to operate prospectively. As per this policy, only women officers inducted after January 2009 were eligible for permanent commission, that too only in the branches of education, law and naval architecture. The cadre of logistics and ATC which were opened to women for SSC in 1991 were excluded.
Before proceeding ahead, it would be instructive to now mention that the Delhi High Court Division Bench comprising of Justice Kailash Gambhir and Justice Najmi Wazri in Annie Nagaraja and others vs Union of India and others in W.P. (C) 7336/2010, CM Nos. 9348/2012 & 6859/2014 along with others have held the denial of permanent commission to women Short Service Commission (SSC) officers in the Indian Navy in different branches which includes the cadres of Education, ATC and logistics to be discriminatory. It is very rightly held in para 32 of this notable judgment while ordering that permanent commission should be offered to the petitioners that, “We fail to comprehend that when these petitioners along with the male officers had undertaken the same kind of training but nevertheless were denied permanent commission although the men were granted the permanent commission with no special merit except for the fact that they belong to the male sex. If this does not tantamount to gender discrimination then what else does?”
Needless to say, in this present case we see that the Apex Court was considering the appeals filed by the Union Ministry against a judgment delivered by the Delhi High Court on September 4, 2015 allowing the claim of women officers for permanent commission. While rejecting the appeals of the Union Government and upholding the Delhi High Court judgment, the Apex Court held that both male and female officers are to be treated equally in granting permanent commission in Indian Navy, once the statutory bar for inducting women in Navy was lifted. Discrimination on the ground of sex as we see here or on the ground of religion or on the ground of region or on any other ground can never be justified under any circumstances!
For the sake of brevity, let us now deal starightaway with the directions passed by the Apex Court in this landmark, latest and extremely laudable judgment. It is held in para 96 that, “We hold and direct that:
(i) The statutory bar on the engagement or enrolment of women in the Indian Navy has been lifted to the extent envisaged in the notifications issued by the Union Government on 9 October 1991 and 6 November 1998 under Section 9(2) of the 1957 Act;
(ii) By and as a result of the policy decision of the Union Government in the Ministry of Defence dated 25 February 1999, the terms and conditions of service of SSC officers, including women in regard to the grant of PCs are governed by Regulation 203, Chapter IX, Part III of the 1963 Regulations;
(iii) The stipulation in the policy letter dated 26 September 2008 making it prospective and restricting its application to specified cadres/branches of the Indian Navy shall not be enforced;
(iv) The provisions of the implementation guidelines dated 3 December 2008, to the extent that they are made prospective and restricted to specified cadres are quashed and set aside;
(v) All SSC officers in the Education, Law and Logistics cadres who are presently in service shall be considered for the grant of PCs. The right to be considered for the grant of PCs arises from the policy letter dated 25 February 1999 read with Regulation 203 of Chapter IX Part III of the 1963 Regulations. SSC women officers in the batch of cases before the High Court and the AFT, who are presently in service shall be considered for the grant of PCs on the basis of the vacancy position as on the date of judgments of the Delhi High Court and the AFT or as it presently stands, whichever is higher;
(vi) The period of service after which women SSC officers shall be entitled to submit applications for the grant of PCs shall be the same as their male counterparts;
(vii) The applications of the serving officers for the grant of PCs shall be considered on the basis of the norms contained in Regulation 203 namely: (i) availability of vacancies in the stabilised cadre at the material time; (ii) determination of suitability; and (iii) recommendation of the Chief of the Naval Staff. Their empanelment shall be based on inter se merit evaluated on the ACRs of the officers under consideration, subject to the availability of vacancies;
(viii) SSC officers who are found suitable for the grant of PC shall be entitled to all consequential benefits including arrears of pay, promotions and retiral benefits as and when due;
(ix) Women SSC officers of the ATC cadre in Annie Nagaraja’s case are not entitled to consideration for the grant of PCs since neither men nor women SSC officers are considered for the grant of PCs and there is no direct induction of men officers to PCs. In exercise of the power conferred by Article 142 of the Constitution, we direct that as a one-time measure, SSC officers in the ATC cadre in Annie Nagaraja’s case shall be entitled to pensionary benefits. SSC officers in the ATC cadre in Priya Khurana’s case, being inducted in pursuance of the specific representation contained in the advertisements pursuant to which they were inducted, shall be considered for the grant of PCs in accordance with directions (v) and (vi) above;
(x) All SSC women officers who were denied consideration for the grant of PCs on the ground that they were inducted prior to the issuance of the letter dated 26 September 2008 and who are not presently in service shall be deemed, as a one-time measure, to have completed substantive pensionable service. Their pensionary benefits shall be computed and released on this basis. No arrears of salary shall be payable for the period after release from service;
(xi) As a one-time measure, all SSC women officers who were before the High Court and the AFT who are not granted PCs shall be deemed to have completed substantive qualifying service for the grant of pension and shall be entitled to all consequential benefits; and
(xii) Respondents two to six in the Civil Appeals arising out of Special Leave Petition (C) Nos 30791-96 of 2015, namely Commander R Prasanna, Commander Puja Chhabra, Commander Saroj Kumar, Commander Sumita Balooni and Commander E Prasanna shall be entitled. In addition to the grant of pensionary benefits, as a one-time measure, to compensation quantified at Rs 25 lakhs each.”
Going forward, it is then held in para 97 that, “We affirm the clarification which has been issued in sub-para (a) of paragraph 50 of the impugned judgment and order of the Delhi High Court.”
Furthermore, it is then held in para 98 that, “Compliance with the above directions shall be effected within three months from the date of this judgment. We accordingly dispose of the appeals.”
Most significantly, it is very rightly and remarkably held in para 91 that, “Once the policy decision of the Union Government was communicated on 25 February 1999, the authorities were bound to consider the claims of the SSC officers for the grant of PC in terms of Regulation 203. The naval authorities and the Union Government failed to do so, depriving them of the entitlement to be considered for the grant of PC. By the failure of the authorities to consider the SSC officers for PCs in terms of the policy communication of 25 February 1999, SSC officers lost out on the opportunity to be granted PCs and all the responsibilities and benefits attached to the grant of PC, including promotions and pensionable service. The situation which has come to pass is due to the failure of the authorities to implement statutory notifications issued under Section 9(2) the policy statement of 25 February 1999 by which they were bound and as the decisions of the Delhi High Court and the AFT.”
Most remarkably, it is then further commendably held in this same para 91 ahead that, “These SSC officers cannot be left in the lurch and the injustice meted to them by lost years of service and the deprivation of retiral entitlements must be rectified. The injustice is a direct consequence of the authorities having breached their duties under law, as explained above. To deny substantive relief to the SSC officers would result in a situation where a breach of duty on the part of the authorities to comply with binding legal norms would go unattended. This would result in a serious miscarriage of justice to the SSC officers who have served the nation and is unsustainable in law.”
Equally heartening to note is that the Apex Court rejected the Centre’s objections based on physiological features of women as “gender stereotypes”! Justice Dr DY Chandrachud while reading the operative part of the judgment minced no words to state commendably that, “Performance at work and dedication to the cause of the nation are the surest answers to prevailing gender stereotypes. To deprive serving women officers of the opportunity to work as equals with men on PCs in the Indian Navy is plainly discriminatory. Furthermore, to contend that women officers are ill-suited to certain avocations which involve them being aboard ships is contrary to the equal worth of the women officers who dedicate their lives to serving in the cause of the nation.”
Words are short to commend these two Judges of the Apex Court – Justice Dr DY Chandrachud and Justice Ajay Rastogi who have delivered this extremely commendable judgment which has opened the door for permanent commission of women in the Navy just like earlier they by their order had similarly opened the doors of permanent commission of women in the Army! They rightly rejected the specious submission that women are not suited for sea sailing duties. It was laudably observed that, “It is impossible to countenance a submission that women cannot sail alongside men sailors.”
Without mincing any words and without pulling back any punches, a three Judge Bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) SA Bobde and comprising also of Justice BR Gavai and Justice Surya Kant most recently on March 18, 2020 in a notable judgment titled Bhagwan Singh vs State of Uttarakhand in Criminal Appeal No. 407 of 2020 [Arising out of Special Leave Petition (Crl.) No. 656 of 2018 have sought to send a firm and final message to all the people in our country that guns licensed for self protection cannot be used for celebratory firings and those who still dare to do it would have to pay a heavy cost for doing so! It also expressed its serious concerns on the increasing number of such incidents in our country. There has to be zero tolerance for all such incidents of celebratory firings in which all rules are broken with impunity and the lives of innocents are endangered most shamelessly and most carelessly!
To start with, the ball is set rolling in para 2 of this noteworthy judgment wherein it is observed that, “This Criminal Appeal is directed against the judgment dated 26th July, 2017 passed by the High Court of Uttarakhand whereby the appellant’s criminal appeal against the judgment and order dated 11th/12th July, 2013 rendered by Learned Sessions Judge, Bageshwar convicting the appellant under Sections 302 and 307 of Indian Penal Code (for short, ‘IPC’) and sentencing him to undergo life imprisonment (under Section 302, IPC) and 5 years’ rigorous imprisonment (under Section 307, IPC) along with a fine of Rs. 20,000/- in default whereof he was directed to undergo 6 months additional rigorous imprisonment was dismissed. The appellant was, however, acquitted for offence punishable under Section 25 of the Arms Act for want of the requisite sanction.”
Needless to say, it is then stated in para 3 that, “It may be mentioned at the outset that notice of the special leave petition was issued on the limited question to determine the nature of offence committed by the appellant i.e. whether it falls under the ambit of Section 302 or 304 of IPC. To determine this question the facts may be briefly noted.”
To recapitulate, while narrating the facts it is then observed in para 4 that, “On 21st April, 2007, the marriage ceremony of the Appellant’s son was taking place at village Dafaut, Uttarakhand, when around 5:30 pm as soon as the marriage procession reached the Appellant’s courtyard – he suddenly fired celebratory gunshots. The pellets struck 5 persons standing in the courtyard namely, Smt. Anita W/o Chanchal Singh, Khushal Singh @ Sonu, Ummed Singh (P.W.6), Smt. Vimla W/o Devendra Singh (P.W.5) and Smt. Vimla W/o Bhupal Singh (P.W.7). The injured were taken to the hospital where two of them – Anita and Khushal Singh @ Sonu succumbed to their injuries. Later at about 8:40 pm, Dharam Singh (P.W.3) filed an FIR at PS Kothwali, Bageshwar, narrating in full detail the incident of which he himself was a witness.”
Be it noted, it is then noted in para 5 that, “After the conclusion of investigation, initially a charge sheet under Section 304, IPC was filed but later on the appellant was charged under Sections 302 and 307, IPC along with Section 25 of the Arms Act.”
Celebratory Firing
Of course, it is then brought out in para 6 that, “The Ld. Sessions Judge held the appellant guilty of offences under Sections 302 and 307, IPC based on testimonies of eye witnesses and injured witnesses. It was noted that Appellant fired shots from his son’s licensed gun causing fatal injuries to Smt. Anita and Khushal Singh and injuring three others. He was consequently sentenced in the manner as briefly noticed in the opening paragraph of the order.”
What follows next is then stated in para 7 that, “The appellant went in appeal before the High Court. His primary contention was that he had no intention to cause anyone’s death. He stated that the firing was by a ball with which some children were playing. The ball struck against the gun in his hand and led to the firing of shots. The occurrence was an admitted fact and the only plea taken was that it being a case of accidental firing, Section 300 punishable under Section 302, IPC was not attracted.” But the High Court rejected his plea as pointed out in para 8.
As it turned out, the Bench then points out in para 15 that, “The trial court as well as the High Court have proceeded on the premise that the appellant’s act by firing from the gun which was pointed towards the roof was as bad as firing into a crowd of persons so he ought to have known that his act of gun-shot firing was so imminently dangerous that it would, in all probability, cause death or such bodily injury as was likely to cause death.”
More significantly, it is then held in para 16 that, “The facts and circumstances of the instant case, however, do not permit to draw such a conclusion. We have already rejected the prosecution version to the extent that the appellant aimed at Smt. Anita and then fired the shot(s). The evidence on record contrarily shows that the appellant aimed the gun towards the roof and then fired. It was an unfortunate case of mis-firing. The appellant of course cannot absolve himself of the conclusion that he carried a loaded gun at a crowded place where his own guests had gathered to attend the marriage ceremony. He did not take any reasonable safety measure like to fire the shot in the air or towards the sky, rather he invited full risk and aimed the gun towards the roof and fired the shot. He was expected to know that pellets could cause multiple gun-shot injuries to the nearby persons even if a single shot was fired. The appellant is, thus, guilty of an act, the likely consequences of which including causing fatal injuries to the persons being in a close circuit, are attributable to him. The offence committed by the appellant, thus, would amount to ‘culpable homicide’ within the meaning of Section 299, though punishable under Section 304 Part 2 of the IPC.”
Most significantly, it is then underscored in para 17 that, “Incidents of celebratory firing are regretfully rising, for they are seen as a status symbol. A gun licensed for self-protection or safety and security of crops and cattle cannot be fired in celebratory events, it being a potential cause of fatal accidents. Such like misuse of fire arms convert a happy event to a pall of gloom. Appellant cannot escape the consequences of carrying the gun with live cartridges with the knowledge that firing at a marriage ceremony with people present there was imminently dangerous and was likely to cause death.”
To buttress its point further, we then see that the Bench observes in para 18 that, “A somewhat, similar situation arose in Kunwar Pal (Supra) wherein this Court held as under:
“12. We find that the intention of the appellant to kill the deceased, if any, has not been proved beyond a reasonable doubt and in any case the appellant is entitled to the benefit of doubt which is prominent in this case. It is not possible therefore to sustain the sentence under Section 304 Part I IPC, which requires that the act by which death is caused, must be done with the intention of causing death or with the intention of causing such bodily injury as is likely to cause death. Though it is not possible to attribute intention it is equally not possible to hold that the act was done without the knowledge that it is likely to cause death. Everybody, who carries a gun with live cartridges and even others know that firing a gun and that too in the presence of several people is an act, is likely to cause death, as indeed it did. Guns must be carried with a sense of responsibility and caution and are not meant to be used in such places like marriage ceremonies.”
On balance, it is then held by the Bench in para 19 that, “Resultantly, we hold that the appellant had the requisite knowledge essential for constituting the offence of ‘culpable homicide’ under Section 299 and punishable under Section 304 Part-2 of IPC. He is thus held guilty under Section 304 Part-2 and not under Section 302 of IPC. On the same analogy, the appellant is liable to be punished for ‘attempt to commit culpable homicide’ not amounting to murder under Section 308, in place of Section 307 of IPC for the injuries caused to the other three victims. To this extent, the appellant’s contentions merit acceptance.”
Last but not the least, it is then held in para 20 that, “For the above-stated reasons, the appeal is allowed in part. The conviction of the appellant under Section 302, IPC is modified to Section 304 Part-2, IPC and that under Section 307, IPC is altered to Section 308, IPC. As a necessary corollary, the sentence of life imprisonment awarded to the appellant for committing the offence under Section 302 IPC, is reduced to 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment and the sentence awarded to him under Section 307, IPC is substituted with Section 308 IPC, without any alteration in the fine imposed by the trial court.”
No doubt, the time is ripe now to enact the strictest law which completely prohibits celebratory firing and the jail term for it must be increased from 10 to 30 or at least 20 years and in addition a heavy fine should also be imposed on those indulging in the same! The Apex Court Bench headed by CJI Sharad A Bobde have sent the simple and straight message to one and all that if you indulge in celebratory firing and break the law then you are bound to face the punishment as envisaged right now under our penal laws and be behind bars for 10 years! Very rightly so!
To sum up, one hopes earnestly that now strictest law is enacted by Parliament on this at the earliest so that innocent and invaluable lives are saved from being lost forever! It brooks no more delay anymore now! All that is required is just adequate political will! Nothing else is required. We have lost many invaluable lives for no fault of theirs on account of this celebratory firing which deserves zero tolerance yet we see that the punishment level is still the same! It goes without saying that more than the fine it is the increase in jail term that will deter people from indulging in the same!
As academician, I had the opportunity and still get opportunity to visit many places of our country (although I am senior citizen and retired on superannuation) and whenever I get an opportunity, I inspire to visit Temple, Church, Mosque or Gurudwara. On 7 March 2020, I had the scope to visit Sri Hazur Sahib Gurudwara at Nanded, Maharashtra, India, a wonderful and holy place where I was enthused for doing meditation, in addition to prayer as in this place (Nanded) Sri Guru Gobind ji left for heavenly abode on 7 October, 1708. Also, I am pleased to mention that I could visit Sri Patna Sahib also known as Harmandir Sahib, Gurudwara, the birthplace of Guru Gobind Singh ji, (born in 1666). The Patna Sahib Gurudwara is considered to be one of the holiest of the five ‘Takths’ or ‘Seats’ of the Sikhs, located in old city of Patna, Bihar. Thus, his Birth place and ‘Paralok Prapti’ place (heavenly abode) i.e. both the divine places I could visit for which I am feeling lucky.
Holy Sri Hazur Sahib Gurudwara at Nanded, Maharashtra
Before penning down few lines about my experience in Sri Hazur Sahib Gurudwara, Nanded, I extend my Pronam to Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji, the 10th Sikh Guru, Poet, Philosopher and Spiritual Master also as he was the pioneer to establish this Gurudwara. This holy place has greatly attracted me because of its pristine beauty including its surroundings. The campus is neat and clean and is difficult to find a piece of paper anywhere.
Guru Gobind Singh, while conferring Guruship of the Holy Book, Guru Granth Sahib, had named Nanded region as Abchalnagar (steadfast city), located on the bank of the River Godavari. In addition, other major Gurudwaras in Nanded and its vicinity are Nagina Ghat, Banda Ghat, Sangat Sahib, Baoli Sahib, Mal Tekdi, Shikar Ghat, Hira Ghat and Mata Sahib, etc. As already mentioned, Sri Guru Gobind ji left for heavenly abode on 7 October, 1708 at Nanded and before return to his heavenly abode (Paralok Prapti’) he uttered, “The Eternal Father willed and I raised the Panth. All my Sikhs are hereby ordered to accept the Granth (Holy Book of the Sikhs) as their Preceptor. Have faith in the Holy Granth, as your master and consider it the visible manifestation of the Gurus. He who had a pure heart will seek guidance from its holy words”. His sole mission was to restore mankind to brotherhood. He institutionalized the Khalsa by baptizing five persons in Sikhism (literally, Pure Ones), who played the key role in protecting the Sikhs after his death. He fully realized human beings are perishable, but noble ideas sustain forever – they are eternal. The five persons who were baptized in Sikhism, on the day of ‘Vaishakhi’ by Guru Gobind ji in 1699 were Daya Ram (Bhai Daya Singh), Dharam Das (Bhai Dharam Singh), Himmat Rai (Bhai Himmat Singh), Mohkam Chand (Bhai Mohkam Singh), and Sahib Chand (Bhai Sahib Singh). According to Guru Gobind ji, “He who keeps alight the unquenchable torch of truth, and never swerves from the thought of One God; he who has full love and confidence in God and does not put his faith, even by mistake, in fasting or the graves of Muslim saints, Hindu crematoriums, or Jogis places of sepulchre; he who recognises the One God and no pilgrimages, alms-giving, non-destruction of life, penances, or austerities; and in whose heart the light of the Perfect One shines, – he is to be recognised as a pure member of the Khalsa” (Guru Gobind Singh, 33 Swaiyyas)
Holy Sri Hazur Sahib Gurudwara at Nanded, Maharashtra
The 300 Gurudomship ceremony of Guru Granth Sahib and 300 Joti Jot anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh were celebrated in a massive way at Hazur Sahib, Nanded in 2008. The then Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh ji addressed to the Sath-Sangat on the main function. For creating awareness among common people, ‘Jagriti Yatra’ was arranged which journeyed through different places across the country and also many places in abroad.
However, in the context of Hazur Sahib Gurudwara, it is pertinent to mention that, the most important aspect is that there are two number of sanctum sanctorum. While all the functions are carried out by the priests in the outer room, the inner room is a vault which houses priceless objects, weapons and other personal belongings of the Guru. No one except the head priest can enter this holy vault.
Before winding up, seven teachings of Guru Gobind Singh ji that can guide us throughout life are presented below:
Do not gossip, nor slander, or be spiteful to anyone.
Do not be proud of riches, youthfulness or lineage. (Regardless of maternal and paternal caste or heritage, all of the Guru’s Sikhs are siblings of one family.)
When dealing with enemies, practice diplomacy, employ a variety of tactics, and exhaust all techniques before engaging in warfare.
Do as much possible to serve and aid foreigners, those in need, or in trouble.
Realise that considering a daughter as property is poison.
Donate a tenth of your earnings.
Do not ruin anyone’s work by gossiping.
(The relevant information and particulars have been collected from
The U.S. has always been known as a melting pot; diversity is its strong suit. However, when it comes to corporate America, diversity has historically been lacking. Although 92 percent of U.S. population growth is attributed to ethnic groups and 36 percent of the workforce is comprised of people of color, only 21 minorities (that’s right—21, not 21 percent) are Fortune 500 CEOs.
Fortunately, this norm is changing as more minorities are becoming key consumers, clients and leaders in the workforce. In the next 10 to 30 years, census data says that there will be no racial or ethnic majority in the United States. Projections also say that by 2020, minorities will make up 40 percent of the civilian labor force.
It’s time for HR leaders to embrace the changing demographics—and thus, usher in a new era of innovation.
The Business Case for Diversity
Plain and simple, a diverse talent pool leads to diverse ideas. There are multiple studies showing that diversity improves organizational bottom lines: McKinsey quarterly reported that between 2008 and 2010, companies with more diverse teams were top financial performers, and according to a study by Lu Hong and Scott E. Page, groups of diverse problem solvers outperform groups of high-ability problem solvers.
However, after years of trying to promote diversity by eliminating bias and discrimination in the workplace by legal means, it still exists. So, what can HR leaders do to combat ongoing bias?
Eliminating Workforce Discrimination with Big Data
Using big data for HR (predictive analytics, talent analytics, HR analytics and human capital analytics) may be the solution to cutting out discrimination and bias while fully embracing the demographic shift.
HR analytics is not simply about raw data; it’s about what insights that raw data can provide to answer questions relevant to your staff. While HR analytics may look to the past for information, its main function is to shine a light on current behavior and predict future behavior.
Here are four questions HR analytics can potentially answer to help organizations move past discrimination and bias:
1) What variables influence our compensation structure?
Without in-memory technology, all HR data—turnover rates, salaries, employee demographics, lists of available positions, etc.—was stored on different disks in a database. If you wanted to compare salaries to turnover rates and gender, you’d need to first locate the data, then retrieve the data from different disks before you even begin analyzing; the whole process could take weeks.
In-memory analytics speeds up the process with faster, cheaper and more powerful memory chips that can be put in the server’s memory rather than the database. That means complex data can be controlled and manipulated almost in real-time. For example, when deciding on performance bonuses, HR can quickly run a report detailing the twenty-year history of performance bonuses compared to years worked, department revenue, revenue by location, gender and male:female ratio. Patterns of bias in the past can be easily identified, prompting bonus structures based on solid data.
2) Who’s likely to resign?
Organizations can use predictive analytics to determine future behavior as well, such as identifying employees at risk for resigning. Recruiting diverse talent is one thing, but if your minority talent has a high voluntary turnover rate, you haven’t done much to improve the diversity of your workforce. Predictive analytics can look at specific populations to determine who is likely to resign, and HR can use that information to create initiatives to improve the work experience of those populations.
3) Will a candidate feel welcome at your company?
Using data can also help companies identify the core values and behavioral traits of candidates—and vice versa. For example, survey company Saberr uses algorithms to compile, process and compare fundamental values, behavioral compatibility and diversity to predict the potential strength of interpersonal relationships between certain applicants and potential employers. They do this with a survey for both the applicant and the employer that moves past skills and credentials, thereby bypassing initial bias in the hiring process.
4) Do we really need to address this issue?
Perhaps the most impactful use of HR analytics is presenting data visually to easily demonstrate an issue and influence decision-makers. Data can be presented in graphic and statistical reports that are easy for leaders to understand—and take action on. For example, let’s say 45 percent of your job candidates are people of color, yet only 3 percent of the hires are minorities. If leadership just isn’t seeing the big picture when you explain it verbally, presenting the hard facts in a way that is straightforward, easy to understand and irrefutable may be the only way to enact change.
Examples like these give us just a glimpse at the potential of big data to enhance the effectiveness of HR leaders. However, data is not the solution in and of itself—you need to ask the right questions. Minority candidates have been employed within a culture of systemic discrimination from the start, which often influences their work history. Simply taking names off of a resume and evaluating candidates by job title and education will only perpetuate the problem.
HR professionals need to be careful to keep the human in human resources. If the right questions are asked, data-driven decision-making will prove to be a powerful ally to HR professionals working to reflect our country’s rich culture diversity in the U.S. workforce.
There are big changes coming to American companies. While many business leaders look to the economy for trends and forecasts — closely following any promising signs as we recover from the 2008 crisis — there’s another change brewing right under their noses. And it doesn’t take knowledge of the stock market to understand.
The change is a massive shift in workplace demographics. Four shifts, in fact: Women are leaving the corporate world; nearly half of Americans will be retiring from the workforce in the next decade; minorities are now the majority; and freelancing is the new 9-to-5.
Is your organization prepared for the shifts to come? Developing successful organizational strategies is hard enough, but if you develop a strategy without understanding workforce demographics, you’re shooting in the dark. This is the first post in a series exploring each demographic trend. Here, a closer look into the first of four: How will the changing gender dynamics of corporate America impact the workforce, and what can you do to prepare?
Women Are Becoming Your Competition
After years of bumping their heads on glass ceilings, women have had enough of the corporate world. In fact, studies show that more than half of women who start out in Fortune 500s leave before they reach the executive level.
Women who leave large companies often join upstart competitors or become new competitors by launching their own businesses. As of 2010, there were more than 8 million women-owned businesses in the U.S, and women-owned firms were growing at twice the rate of all other groups.
Why are women leaving? In 2012, women held 14.3 percent of executive positions at Fortune 500 companies, yet were paid only three-quarters of what their male colleagues earned. The wage gap does not reflect a skills or needs gap: Today, young women are just as likely as men to hold a bachelor’s degree, 50 percent more likely to have a graduate degree and more than 40 percent are their families’ main breadwinners.
So, why does this matter?
Gender Diversity Improves Performance
One reason your organization should pay attention to gender demographics at work is purely economical. Two recent high-profile studies have found that having even just one woman on a company’s board correlates with significantly better performance.
Credit Suisse evaluated more than 2,400 global corporations over eight years and found that large-cap companies with at least one woman on their boards outperformed comparable companies with all-male boards by 26 percent. Catalyst found that Fortune 500 companies with women on their boards had significantly higher returns on equity (53 percent), better sales (42 percent), and a two-thirds greater ROI than companies with all-male boards.
Female leadership is not a “nice-to-have.” It’s a must-have for companies to survive and thrive.
Organizations that understand the value of diversity need to step up to the plate if they want to attract and retain women. Here, three tips for creating a structure for gender parity success at your company:
How to Retain Female Talent
1. Start a formal mentoring program. People tend to network and develop mentorships with people of their own gender. If men have more opportunity for leadership roles and they network with other men, men will continue to dominate leadership roles. Women, who have mentors with less clout and are sponsored significantly less than men, need access to mentors and sponsors of both genders.
2. Institute flexible work arrangements. Fear of negative career consequences, manager skepticism, excessive workload and a “face time” culture are among the barriers that prevent employees from adopting flexible work arrangements.
Set standards for both genders and give managers the training they need to be comfortable managing flextime workers. This removes the barrier for women who are the primary caretakers in their family of children or elderly relatives, which is a significant amount, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It reports women do 54 percent more of childcare than men, and 50 percent of elder-care.
3. Function as a results-only work environment (ROWE), and create formal compensation policies with clear criteria. ROWE-type policies can help with turnover caused by work-life conflict, one of which is family burdens. The traditional solution to work-life challenges is the decision to have women stay home. This reinforces gender inequality, and subtly disadvantages women, particularly mothers. Judging women by the quality of their work rather than whether or not they are physically present can increase retention.
When it comes to attracting and retaining women, good intentions aren’t enough. You need an action plan to prepare for the future of work, and you need one now.
Stay tuned for the next post in this series about how to thrive amid shifting workplace demographics.
The United States workforce is being shaken up. Within the next decade, as key office demographics change, corporate America will look and function very differently than it does today.
Last month, I explored how women are leaving the corporate world and starting their own businesses — finding more career opportunity and fulfillment in the process. Today, I’ll explore a topic leaders have been hearing for a while, but not yet heeded: Baby boomers are reaching retirement age. And just like women, retirees are primed to become competition for the very organizations they decide to leave.
Companies need to do some major prep work to get ready for the huge demographic shifts headed their way. At the same time, there’s a lot of uncertainty around when — and how quickly — boomers will leave the workforce.
The Silver Tsunami — or a Light Drizzle
Baby boomer retirement means over 40 percent of the 9-to-5 corporate workforce will be gone in the next decade.
However, the “Silver Tsunami” many economists predicted has not come to total fruition — boomers may or may not retire on time, due to the economy and their pension funds. If they do retire, organizations will lose a lot of talent. Retiring baby boomers are going to be hard to replace, because Generation X is relatively small and millennials have a different concept of how they want to work.
If the baby boomers don’t retire? Organizations are still not in the clear. Healthcare and pension costs are going to skyrocket and organizations will have personnel challenges that range from keeping an older workforce up-to-date to figuring out protocol when a boomer reports to someone who’s young enough to be his granddaughter.
Goodbye — or See You Later
Some retirees will say sayonara to the workforce for good. One of my manufacturing clients is facing the traditional retirement challenge: The company has plants where more than half of its workers are at least 58 years old. If it doesn’t replace the work pool very soon, it risks having to shut down the plants.
But other clients are facing a more modern challenge of the retirement boom: For white-collar companies, the likely risk is that “retiring” boomers will walk out, start their own companies or consulting projects and come back as competition. Recent studies show nearly two-thirds of workers ages 16 to 64 prefer a gradual transition to retirement, and a report from the Kauffman Foundation found that baby boomers are twice as likely to launch a new business this year as millennials.
Whether boomers retire full-time or continue their career as their own boss, companies need to prepare for how departing talent will impact their workforce
So, how can a company prepare for the loss of baby boomers? Start with these three tips.
How to Prepare for the Retirement Boom
1) Start an intergenerational mentoring program, often called reverse mentoring. Match a baby boomer employee to a millennial or Generation X employee, and set aside time for the pair to teach one another new skills. Baby boomers are extremely skilled at in-person relationships and office politics. They’ve learned how to navigate a huge number of personalities in school, on teams and at work.
Gen X can teach something that both the boomers and millennials often lack: focus. This comes from their ability to look at things unsentimentally. Additionally, Generation X’s perceived cynicism makes them great Devil’s Advocates — a skill that can be very helpful for the other generations to master.
So what can millennials teach boomers and Gen X? You guessed it: technology. They are the digital natives. If you’re Gen X, you’re a digital immigrant. If you’re a boomer, you’re the parent of the digital immigrant, still living in the old country. But that’s not all millennials have to offer — they can also teach how to improve innovation, and give a global perspective to solving problems.
2) To bridge the knowledge gap, institute flexible work options for baby boomers, making it possible for them to continue to work part-time or part-year on their own schedule. An AARP study found that what baby boomers wanted most at age 65 was financial security, better health, travel, and time with family and friends.
A flexible work arrangement can help baby boomer employees reach their goals, while also helping your organization with efficient and progressive knowledge transferring. For instance, you can institute a job-sharing program where a baby boomer shares his or her job with a member of a different generation to mentor throughout the process.
3) Invest in education and training programs for younger employees or prospective talent. From internships to shadow days for local high school students, you can initiate training programs to prepare younger people with the skills they need to enter the workforce, potentially in your industry and organization.
The mass departure of the baby boomer generation is certainly a shake-up that requires strategic preparation, but the changes won’t end there. Preparing for the loss of the boomers also means preparing for the entrance of their replacements — younger generations and minorities — including their skills, their workstyles and their career expectations.
The U.S. freelance workforce is currently 53 million strong and growing fast, according to a recent report from the Freelancers Union and Elance-oDesk. In fact, freelancers make up 34 percent of our national workforce. As Sara Horowitz, executive director of the Freelancers Union, writes, “This is an economic shift on par with the industrial revolution.”
Some managers will groan at the thought of the increasing freelance population. They may think of freelance employees as difficult employees. But in fact, the growth of freelancing opens up just as many new opportunities for employers as it does for workers: The so-called “gig economy” can expand your talent pool, empower a mobile workforce and allow your company to finish projects faster.
That’s not to say managing freelancers is the same as managing full-time employees. Yet, effective HR teams and managers already have the skills to integrate freelance employees effectively; they just need to understand the common problems that occur when working with freelancers. Then your organization can put helpful protocols in place before things get tricky (and know how to handle the situation if things do go awry).
Here, three common challenges companies face when working with freelancers and how to address them effectively.
Challenge 1: Communication
When it comes to freelancers, you are managing people who could be working at a desk, poolside or on an airplane. Clear and consistent communication between the freelancer and his or her manager is needed for this arrangement to work. If not, both parties will become frustrated and tasks that can be done quickly will end up being delayed.
Follow the four tips below to avoid communication mishaps.
Set email protocol in advance
Schedule all checks-ins in advance
Establish a system to recap meetings
Track projects in an easy way for both you and your freelancer
Challenge 2: Collaboration
When bringing a freelancer onto a collaborative project with full-time employees, it’s important to identify everyone’s role on the team. If no one knows who is in charge, or who is handling the operational aspects, you’ll not only have work fall through the cracks, but work being done twice — a waste of everyone’s time. In addition, the entire team dynamic will crumble and the project will suffer.
One of the most effective ways to ensure positive collaborative environments between freelance and full-time employees is by using a “GRPI” model, an approach to team development created by the Systemic Excellence Group:
Goals: Managers need to make sure that all members of the team, whether working in-house or freelance, know the end goal for their work.
Roles: All workers need to know the role they play on the team, as well as the role their team members play.
Processes: Managers should be open to shifting the plan when needed — an effective process for completing all projects takes time and flexibility.
Interactions: Managers should maintain organizational culture when interacting with employees who do not work in-house. We’ll take a closer look at how to do this below.
Challenge 3: Culture
Organizational culture is dynamic. With a team that is split between the office and elsewhere, culture can easily begin to take its own form, whether you like it or not. As the centerpiece of culture among your organization’s workforce, managers and HR can make a tremendous impact. These three tips will help maintain organizational culture with freelance workers:
Keep culture in mind during the hiring process. Don’t just hire freelancers for their skills or portfolio, but make sure to ask questions that measure their cultural fit as well.
Model the desired culture through your own actions, behavior and communication style with freelancers.
Integrate freelancers into the organization: virtually pair them with a seasoned employee, add them to company-wide meetings or newsletters and, if possible, invite them to work at the office during the project.
The freelance workforce isn’t going anywhere. It’s one of the four major workplace trends organizations are currently facing, in addition to Baby Boomers retiring, women leaving the workforce in droves and minorities becoming the majority of the workforce. Managers and HR teams that take time to work with freelancers will benefit from collaborating with diverse employees, and help the organization as a whole as it enters the future of work.
Stay tuned for another post in this series on changing workplace demographics next month!
When looking at the statistics presented by some of the most innovative companies in the world, the picture is painfully clear. Google reports that 3 percent of its employees are Hispanic and just 2 percent are black (compared to 17.4 percent Hispanic and 13.2 percent black in the general population). Apple’s employees are 55 percent white and only 2 percent black, not to mention 70 percent male. LinkedIn’s employee base is only 3 percent Hispanic and 1 percent black.
That’s all in spite of the fact that the U.S. population will soon be more diverse than ever: Census data suggests there will be no ethnic majority in the next 10 to 30 years.
So, how can HR leaders address this problem? As Joan C. Williams writes, “When an organization lacks diversity, it’s not the employees who need fixing. It’s the business systems.”
There are many emerging strategies to increase diversity and eliminate bias in organizations — including several focused on using big data to tackle the problem. Let’s take a look at one such data-based method: the “Interruption Strategy.”
The Interruption Strategy
In her Harvard Business Review article, “Hacking Tech’s Diversity Problem,” Williams introduces a new metric-based approach to increasing and retaining diverse employees in organizations. “The Interruption Strategy” aims to break what she calls the “diversity industrial complex” — the common approach of making a few token hires, implementing sensitivity training, creating mentoring programs and other similar vague changes. Rather than relying on conversations and extensive training, the Interruption Strategy is based on implementing “bias interrupters.”
Bias interrupters are things that change basic business systems in a way that stops a pattern of bias where it begins. Here, three steps your organization can take to implement the Interruption Strategy:
Step 1: Determine Whether There’s a Problem
Using a focus group, determine if minorities in your organization are facing common discrimination and biases. Are minorities hired at the same rate? Do they have equal pay to their majority counterparts? You should also run a data report on the state of diversity in your workforce: If, like LinkedIn, you run a data report showing that only 1 percent of your global workforce is black, then you have a diversity problem.
Step 2: Identify Key Metrics
Once you’ve identified a problem, you must identify your metrics. If you’re not sure where to start, take a look at these four things: how people are hired, how work is assigned, what happens during performance evaluations and how compensation is determined.
For example, you may look at your hiring practices and find that your minority applicant pool is significantly smaller than your competitor’s. Your key metric is now your minority applicant pool, and your next step is to experiment with different ways to interrupt the process leading to such a small applicant pool: How can you expand your recruiting reach? Is something preventing minorities from considering your organization a desired place to work?
Step 3: Experiment, Measure Success and Keep Trying
Once you have determined a point of bias and related key metrics, it’s time to experiment. Come up with a bias interrupter, try it out and measure the results. If it wasn’t successful, try something else. If it was moderately successful, look at what led to its success and optimize your strategy.
To continue with the applicant pool example above, what basic business system can you change in an attempt to attract more minority applicants? Look at how job postings are written. Is it possible that changing the tone or language could remove a barrier for minority applicants? For example, when giving an overview of the organizational culture, do you mention a commitment to creating a work environment that reflects the community in which it is located? Is your organization committed to celebrating the uniqueness of each employee?
Long term, the Interruption Strategy can be used on a continuous basis to ferret out instances of bias that are preventing organizations from reflecting the diverse U.S. population. With a creative and focused team, various metrics can be tested, and the blockades of bias that minorities face in the workplace will begin to crumble
Employee engagement may be the latest HR buzzword, but that doesn’t mean you should ignore it as a fad. With only 13 percent of employees engaged at work around the world, the majority of employers have a lot of room to improve — and positively impact the bottom line while they’re at it.
A recent report from Dale Carnegie found that companies in the United States with engaged employees outperform those without by up to 202 percent. Similarly, according to Gallup, organizations with high engagement levels also report 22 percent higher productivity.
Of course, there’s no lack of advice on how to join this club of highly engaged and high performing organizations, but I think any engagement effort comes down to a crucial foundation: your values.
As a company leader, in HR or at the executive level, strong personal values allow you to guide the organization in a positive and genuine direction. And when your organization demonstrates strong values, then you will begin to naturally attract and hire employees who share and aspire to the same values. Building a culture of purpose and engaging employees still takes significant time and strategy, but finding the right kind of people to work at your organization is a crucial part of starting this journey.
How to Define Your Values
If “values” seem like a vague concept to you, let me put it this way: What defines you at your core? It’s not an easy question to answer — and it shouldn’t be. Over the years, I’ve found that this five-step exercise can provide an inspirational start:
1) Identify a peak moment in your life
Can you recall a moment where your life couldn’t get any better? When everything felt aligned? It may have even felt like the best day of your life. Now, describe this peak moment in detail. If you are working on this exercise alone, write the description. If you are doing this with someone, talk about this moment for 2-3 minutes while the other person takes notes.
For example, one of my peak moments was taking leaders on Safaris for the Soul in Africa. I loved watching the leaders grow during the two-week program and hearing the wildlife sounds.
2) Discuss the values exemplified in this moment
Why do you remember this moment so clearly and fondly? Think about why it stands out to you as a defining experience in your life: Was it the place? People? Activity?
There were three things that contributed most profoundly to my peak moment: being outdoors, working with people to develop their potential and being adventurous.
3) Pick the most important value out of your list
Remember that your values apply to both your personal and professional worlds — pick one value from your list that you think is particularly important to you in any context.
For example, I would choose “adventurous.”
4) Define what the chosen value or values mean to you
Why did you choose this value out of all of the ones you listed? In what other ways have you displayed or followed this value in your life? This should be a personal description — so don’t worry about creating a “dictionary” definition that could work for everyone.
In my mind, for example, “adventurous” means choosing an unconventional path, trying lots of new things, going to new places, exploring options and tinkering with ideas to find solutions.
5) Choose a value name that resonates with YOU
Your value doesn’t necessarily have to be one word — it could be two words, or a short phrase. Think of what name exemplifies your value. It could be the original word you wrote on the list, or a brand new one.
Most people would simply call the value I identified “adventurous.” However, the word adventurous doesn’t resonate with me — instead, the name “wind in your face” is much more memorable.
After walking through these five steps and coming to a clear value, go back to step one using the same or different peak moments until you’ve identified five or so core values.
Putting Your Values to Practice
As a leader, it’s especially important that you exemplify these values in the workplace and use them to guide your business decisions. You need to walk the talk.
Before you make an important decision, review your list of values and consider how your potential courses of action align with each of your values on a scale of 1-10 (1 being not aligned at all). When you’re done, you want at least an average of 7 — less than that likely means the course you’re considering will not only lead you astray, but your company as well.
By integrating your personal values into all aspects of business, you will begin to direct the company in a more thoughtful manner and encourage your colleagues to do the same. I also highly recommend working through the values exercise with your leadership team, even if you’ve already done it alone. By helping each member of the team find his or her individual values, you will move toward remedying the colossal lack of engagement in today’s workforce.
Organizational culture can be seen as a “personality” created by the organization’s values, attitudes and behaviors. This “personality” attracts and keeps great talent, creates a positive public image and helps build long-lasting relationships with stakeholders, vendors and customers.
But a good organizational culture doesn’t spring up out of serendipity. It requires intentional and thoughtful identification of the core values the organization is built upon. Last month, I discussed how strong personal values can direct your organization in a positive direction, but it’s also important to identify values for the whole team .
Here, six steps to identifying those organizational values and building a strong company culture:
1) Assess Your Current Organizational Culture
First, take a benchmark of your current culture. To do this, you need to truly assess where your company stands—not what you think it represents or what you want it to represent, but what impression the current brand truly gives off. What do people say about your organization, both externally and internally?
To figure out your organizational identity, interview vendors, clients, employees and your leadership team—either in focus groups or via an online survey. Ask them what words they would use to describe what’s important to the organization and how effective the organization is at putting those values into action.
2) Review Your Strategic Business Plan
Next, think about your company’s future. Where does your organization want to be in one, three or five years?
Since your corporate culture is closely tied to your business strategy, it’s important to define where you’re headed early on the values process . Meet with your executive team to figure out a plan for revenue, growth, staff, productions and expansion.
3) Determine the Culture Needed to Achieve Your Plan
Now that you have a clear picture of what your organizational culture is today, and where you want your organization to be in the next one to five years, it’s time to look at your organizational values in this context.
Review your strategic plan and answer this question: “In order for us to get from point A to point B, what organizational culture do we need to achieve?” Consider the variety of personalities, backgrounds, skills and education you want to have on your team.
For example, some of Starbucks’ core values are diversity, customer service and quality products. When you walk into a Starbucks store, you know you can expect a diverse staff, happy clientele and delicious drinks.
4) Decide If Your Values Need to Shift
Now that you know the culture and the talent you need, you can start to finalize your new—or revised—set of values. Take a look at your initial survey or focus group results, and decide if those are the values needed to reach your strategic goals. One tool that can be tremendously helpful is a pack of Values Cards.
You can put them on a conference table, and let the executive team start picking the ones they identify with the company. Or you can pick a few values, and explain why you think they are the most relevant to your organization’s mission.
5) Define What Your Chosen Values Really Mean
An organizational value is not just a word painted on the wall. It must be clear what specific behaviors and processes the employee is supposed to do at work to honor this value.
For example, if your organization values loyalty, who does this loyalty refer to? Does “loyalty” mean the client comes first? Does it mean your team comes first? What about loyalty to your boss? Members of the organization should have a clear understanding of how to put each value into action.
6) Incorporate These Values into Organizational Processes
Finally, your newly defined values will need to be integrated in all operational areas, including the talent lifecycle. During recruiting and hiring, ask candidates about their own values and reiterate values in employee contracts. Within on-boarding and employee development, align your values with performance reviews and compensation.
A solid foundation of values for your organization will not only help you hire the right people, but also build an organization culture that’s engaging, genuine and most of all, impactful.
It started with persistent fevers. Then there was night after night of insomnia. On top of that, I was completely unable to focus on my work. I went to see my doctor expecting to walk out of the office with some antibiotics, or at the least, a reassurance that I’d feel better soon.
Instead, my doctor said matter-of-factly, “It’s menopause.”
I was confused, as it was the last thing I expected to hear. But I was also angry. Why? My symptoms made it extremely difficult to work—and, according to my doctor, I was experiencing light symptoms. I wondered, how are millions of women in the workforce dealing with symptoms worse than these on a daily basis? Why isn’t this issue addressed in HR policy? Why aren’t leaders talking about this regularly?
The Facts
First, let’s take a quick look at the sheer magnitude of the workforce impacted by menopause. More than 27 million women between the ages of 45 and 64—which comprises 20 percent of the American workforce—experience menopause each year. By 2018, this number is predicted to rise to 31 million. Symptoms can last between two and ten years, and it’s possible for symptoms to start as early as 35 years of age, before officially reaching menopause.
When going through menopause, women experience hot flashes, headaches, insomnia, loss of energy, anxiety attacks, brain fog, aches and pains, and dry skin and eyes. This translates to 20 percent of the workforce potentially coming to work with little sleep, intermittent headaches, and an achy body.
Yet, somehow, discussing policies around menopause—or even mentioning it—is taboo in the workplace. The British Occupational Health Research Foundation found that 20 percent of women believe menopause has had a negative impact on their managers’ and colleagues’ perceptions of their competence. The University of Nottingham found that many women don’t even want to disclose the issue to their manager, particularly if the manager is younger (male or female).
It’s time to bring menopause to the table, in order to benefit both those experiencing menopause and the organizations that employ them.
Five Menopause Policies Every Employer Should Have
1. Educate Management
This is a no-brainer that often goes overlooked. Managers should know the symptoms and challenges women face during menopause, so employees feel comfortable disclosing their experiences and managers can approach the situation knowledgeably.
2. Offer Support
Appoint a person (or a few) to act as advocates for women in the workplace going through menopause. This person should know about any special absence allowances, related wellness programs and flex policies. They should also speak to leadership or management on behalf of women if needed/requested.
Alternatively or in conjunction with an internal advocate, you can offer a wellness hotline which provides access to coaches, dietitians, and other advisors for women experiencing menopause.
3. Expand Benefit Programs
Many women are looking to alternative therapies for managing menopausal symptoms such as acupuncture, Chinese medicine and bio-identical hormone replacement. Though women often see significant improvements from these treatments, paying out of pocket for integrative health treatments can be cost prohibitive. Including these options as part of a benefits package would enable more women to seek treatments.
Organizations can also add sick day policies that cater to menopause-related sickness or absence. Women should experience no disadvantage if they need time off during this time.
4. Include Menopause Activities or Speakers in Wellness Weeks
When organization host a “wellness week”, they often bring in yoga instructors, massage therapists, nutritionists, chefs specializing in healthy meals and more. Why not add a component to the wellness week that addresses menopause? Some possibilities are a yoga instructor who can offer poses and breathing exercises particularly for women in this group, a dietician to recommend the best diet for symptoms or a funny speaker to “break the ice” on the topic while educating the team.
5. Allow Flexible Schedules When Needed
If a woman is struggling to sleep or feels nauseous at work, a flexible schedule or work from home policies can help tremendously by letting her work and manage her symptoms. As long as she is still being productive and delivering results, it shouldn’t matter if she’s not in the office at 8am or needs to take a work from home day once in a while.
I hope leaders will take a serious look at the reality women face in the workplace when experiencing menopausal symptoms, and truly consider how they can mitigate the inherent challenges. By implementing these tips, leaders have a real opportunity to make a positive impact on how we provide for women’s health and productivity.
“Okay you guys; it’s time to get down to work,” Jordan says to her team. “Man, this is really going to be a challenge,” Luke replies, exasperated. “Oh brother, here we go, another late night at the office,” Sarah sighs loudly.
This conversation seems like a typical team exchange about a big project, right? Well, it is—and it drives me crazy. Why? Because of the language used: “you guys,” “man,” “oh brother.” This is a mixed gender team, yet the pronouns and expressions are entirely male.
It’s true that male pronouns are traditionally used to represent all members of a group regardless of gender. However, defaulting to what’s “traditional” is very tricky. One could argue that traditionally, women didn’t really have a voice in business anyway, or that traditionally, women were not leaders. The problem with “traditions” is they can be safe-havens for unconscious bias.
The Problem with Unconscious Bias
When language promotes bias, the impact is bigger than you might expect: it expresses an inherent belief that male teams are better. Or worse, that women don’t even belong on a team at all. The language may appear neutral or non-sexist, in that it applies to everyone, but it discriminates against women because it reflects the values of the men who created or developed the workplace. Another poignant example is the expression, “Are you man enough for the job?” Even if sayings like this are meant to be harmless, they contribute to many of the challenges women face in the workplace. For example, consider this: How often do you assume the CEO of a company is male?
It’s not only men and women that are guilty of this, the Oxford Dictionary is also an offender. Anthropologist and Ph.D. student Michael Oman-Reagan identified the following biased definitions (and more) in the Oxford Dictionary:
However, gender-biased language isn’t all we’re guilty of. I hear age-biased language about millennials all the time. For example, “I just hired a new kid.” The hire is most likely a “recent graduate” or “young person” which are better terms to use than kid.
I even saw generational bias in a recent article: “…many kids admitted into top schools are emotional wrecks.” If this is the language we use to describe young people, then our words subconsciously allow us to treat them like children, which partly explains why Gen Y feels like no one takes them seriously. Is this really how we want to treat the second biggest generation, who happens to have the most educated people in its cohort?
When to Watch Your Words
That brings me to an important question: Are leaders giving enough thought to the language they use daily? I’m not talking about overtly offensive language or ethnic slurs. I’m talking about the subtle language we say on autopilot, the type of language that comes from—and worse, reinforces—unconscious, biased behavior.
My challenge for all of you is to eliminate these biased words from your vocabulary and try these alternatives instead:
“You guys”: Instead use “everyone,” “all of you,” “team”
“The kid”: Instead use “the young person,” “young lady,” “young man”
“Oh man” or “Oh brother”:Instead use “wow,” “ugh,” “yikes
“Attendees and their wives are invited”: Instead use, “Attendees and their guests…”
“Congressman”: Instead use “Member of Congress,” “legislator,” “representative”
“Mankind”:Instead use “humankind,” “humans,” “people”
“Manpower”: Instead use “personnel,” “staff”
“Salesman”: Instead use “salesperson”
Seems simple enough, doesn’t it? After you start with the eight words above, you’ll begin to notice how much this language is used on a daily basis. All it takes is practice and awareness to help lower the burden of bias on the women and young people around you. Remember: language creates action and action becomes accepted behavior which informs organizational culture. Your language, and your actions, matter.
Bias—a tendency to believe that some people and ideas are better than others—wreaks havoc in the workplace. It keeps women and people of color out of the boardroom, limits job opportunities, prevents organizations from the true monetary and cultural benefits of a diverse workforce, makes it difficult for Baby Boomers to get jobs and more. While it’s easy to identify and limit bias when it’s overt, that’s not always the case—in fact, bias can often be completely unconscious.
Even those with the best intentions behave in biased ways, and simply have no idea they’re doing it. Most of us use biased language without giving it a second thought.
Companies like Google, whose employees are 70 percent male, 3 percent Hispanic and only 2 percent Black look to unconscious bias, or hidden bias, as a way to explain their inequitable diversity statistics. How else could such a well-educated, well-intentioned company account for hiring mostly young white and Asian men?
The good news is that unconscious bias hiding in plain sight works in management’s favor, because the concept is relatively blameless. If we all have hidden biases, then working to eliminate them won’t single us out—hopefully increasing employees’ and leadership’s willingness to learn.
Here are seven tips for managing unconscious bias that you can use for yourself, your team and your company’s leadership. Remember: No one is immune to unconscious bias and all initiatives should be company-wide.
1) Take an Implicit Associations Test
A good place to start is with an Implicit Associations Test (IAT), developed by Tony Greenwald, a University of Washington professor who started researching unconscious bias in 1994. The test takes five minutes and cuts through the perceptions of our own biases on gender, religion, race, sexuality and more. Prepare test takers for the fact that about 75 percent of people who have taken the race IAT show biases.
2) Watch Your Language
Avoid words or phrases like: “the kid,” “oh man” or “oh brother,” “manpower,” “you guys,” “attendees and their wives,” etc. These phrases are biased and feed the subconscious biases of those around you. Here is more information about biased language, including a table of alternative words to add to your vocabulary.
3) Identify Entry Points for Bias
Start by taking a look at these four things:
How people are hired
How work is assigned
What happens during performance evaluations
How compensation is determined
Where does bias have the opportunity to influence each process? For example, when looking at how people are hired, you may notice that 70 percent of people interviewed are men. You could then strip names and other identifying aspects from resumes before review to see if those statistics improve. This tactic is referred to as the interruption strategy. In addition, you could ensure the interview panels are more diverse—for example, when one gender has more decision making power than another, it perpetuates gender bias . People tend to hire and promote people who look like them.
4) Visualize a Positive Interaction
Psychological research shows that visualizing a particular situation can create the same effects behaviorally and psychologically as actually experiencing the situation. In addition, brain studies reveal that mental imagery impacts several cognitive processes in the brain, including attention, perceptions, planning and memory. This means you can train your brain for action through visualization.
What should you visualize? You can imagine yourself in a positive and productive meeting with team members who are of a different ethnicity, generation or gender from you.
5) Encourage Workers to Hold Each Other Accountable
Part of making a concerted effort to eliminate prevailing bias is working together. This is especially key when it comes to hidden bias. Awareness is the first step to enacting any sort of change, so help those on your team be more aware of their behaviors so they are able to self-correct. This goes for management and leadership, too. All major organizational changes need to have complete buy-in and support from leaders.
Biases come in all forms. There are biases against each generation, people with disabilities, LGBTQ people, working parents—even a person’s height can cause bias! It’s important to realize that all biases hurt the success of organizations. By creating an environment for open dialogue, you can make a strong effort to address this issue.
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