A UNIQUE PROCESS OF PERFORMANCE REVIEW 

DR. PRAKASH V. BHIDE

Performance Reviews are dreaded by Employees and hated by Bosses. Many organizations and HR Heads are not very happy with the review process and the outcomes. The Employee Engagement Surveys also consistently show low scores on this process.

“Is there a way to make the process more effective and where both the Employee and the Boss feel motivated at the end of the process and feel it was worthwhile?” This was the question which bothered me. We surveyed several best companies and best practices. We also saw Dr T V Rao’s film “Dream or Nightmare” on the topic.

I am happy to share with you the unique process which we developed with my HR Team. We have been successfully implementing it in JK Group (Delhi) for more than 10 years (2002 onwards) and must have covered more than 25000 Performance Reviews across 9 Businesses both in Manufacturing & Service sectors. We call it “Performance Review with HR Facilitation”. We find that it is highly effective, especially at Middle and Junior levels of Management Cadres – DGM, Managers and frontline executives.

BACKGROUND

In JK Group, we have introduced “SIX MONTHLY” and “YEARLY” PERFORMANCE REVIEWS from 2002. The goal setting is done separately using ‘Balance Scorecard Methodology’ and ‘Strategy Maps’ with CEO and Top Management team(about 25 participants) at the beginning of the year in a  two day “Goal Setting Workshop” facilitated by CHRO (More on this in future blog). The goals are signed off and the end of the workshop. The goals are then cascaded down up to the frontline level in one day workshops. The “Goal Setting” process is robust and each employee up to the frontline level has clearly defined KRA’s & targets for the year.

The ‘SIX MONTHLY’ Performance Reviews focus more on Learning and Development’ & ‘Career Planning’. We find that both, Boss and Appraisee, are more at ease, as there is no Year End time pressure, Normal Distribution Forced Ranking or Increment & Promotion Decision pressures.

The HR Head of each Business with the help of Unit HR Heads conduct a two hour workshop (25 to 40 people) to cover all Management Cadre Employees at each location just before the 6 Monthly and Yearly Performance Review process begins. The workshop is attended by Unit Head & at least one/two VP or GM’s by rotation. Coverage of all APPRAISERS & HR Facilitators is ensured. Unit Head (facilitated by Unit HR) puts up a 6 weeks “Performance Review” schedule for each Department/Boss with details of Dates & Review session timing of 90 minutes for each employee.  The schedule is very essential so that Unit HR can streamline the process and both Boss/Appraiser & Appraisee knows their schedule and timings.

PERFORMANCE REVIEW PROCESS WITH HR FACILITATION

Corporate HR at Group Level discussed in detail with all Business HR Heads and Unit HR Heads the concept. All HR Facilitators were trained in one day workshops. Unit HR Facilitator attends the Performance Review Session with the Appraiser & Appraisee. Initially it took a long time and detailed dialogues to convince and create a “Buy In” on why & how HR Facilitation will help. Lots of doubts & misgivings were expressed, including confidentiality issues. Initial pilot reviews convinced Bosses and Appraisers the usefulness and effectiveness.

The process was refined and fine tuned over next two years with feedback sessions with Appraisers and Unit HR Facilitators. The process starts with Unit HR contacting both Appraiser & Appraisee requesting them to prepare themselves & bring along any documents to the session if they so desire.

The session lasts for 90 minutes. The HR Facilitator initially was chosen to be at a level higher than the Appraisee. (In the later years even junior level HR Facilitators were accepted.) The Facilitator ensures that the review session starts on time and in a conference room away from the Appraisers cabin. This is essential to bring in complete focus without any interruption or disturbance. No calls are allowed. The HR Facilitator welcomes both Appraises & Appraisee and informs them about the 90 minute session schedule. HR Facilitator also ensures before starting that both Appraiser & Appraisee are well prepared for the session and in rare cases reschedules the session.

THE 90 MINUTES SESSION IS AS FOLLOWS:

1. FIRST TWO MINUTES:

 HR Facilitator welcomes Appraiser & Appraisee, sets the mood and broadly describes the objectives of the session. (HR Facilitator’s role after this is to be a silent observer and make notes in a separate one page form, unless a crisis develops). No phone calls & interruptions are entertained.

2.)  5 to 7 MINUTES:

> Appraiser welcomes the Appraisee with a smile. Appraiser asks Appraisee’s view on how their department/section is performing against their department goals. This shifts the focus to the department/Bosses’ goals rather than individual appraisee’s. It also emphasizes that the appraisee is a part of the team.

> At senior levels, we encourage a dialogue on company’s performance against budgets, competitors and external factors including customer feedback & perceptions.

3.)  20 MINUTES:

> The Appraisee to recount and talk on his/her own achievements during the last six months. The Appraiser is advised not to counter or argue about any of Appraisee’s achievements. Appraiser can only take down notes, very silently and with full attention, even if he/she does not agree and the Appraisee’s performance is very poor

> Our experience shows that this is the most motivating and satisfying part of the session for Appraisee. They feel that the Appraiser/Boss has heard them fully and they were given full time and attention. Boss has heard their side for once.

4.)  5 MINUTES:

> Appraiser asks Appraisee to say on areas he/she could have done better or where they have not met targets.

> After the last 20 minutes session, the Appraisee is found to be more open to talk on his/her failures & shortcomings.

5.) 30 MINUTES: PERFORMANCE REVIEW AGAINST TARGETS

> Now the Appraiser goes through each of KRA’s & targets. The actual performance as supported by data and also filed in ‘Self Appraisal’ section by Appraisee.

> Appraiser is guided to have main focus on how the performance can be improved in future. Past is past and beyond some analysis and discussions nothing much can be done. The forward focus is useful and at least 50% time is invested in this.

> Appraiser acts a coach and asks lot of questions to get commitment and initiative from Appraisee. The action planning and Appraiser’s guidance is helpful.

>Appraiser gives the rating against each target and overall rating confidentially.  At a later date after Normal Distribution and Forced Ranking, the boss shares the Cluster rating with the appraiser at the time of giving out the increment/ promotion letter.

6.) 10 – 15 MINUTES:

> Active participation of HR Facilitator during discussions on “Learning & Development” plan for the next year (during 6 monthly reviews) and Boss’s rating on the Leadership Competencies displayed at work – Strength & Areas of improvement etc.

> Only for Hi Pots and High Performers (Top 10 to 15 %)  Career Aspirations of Appraisee and Career Growth opportunities, Job rotation and Job Scope improvement, Development, Assignments etc are discussed.

> What “Training & Development” has been completed? How was it useful? Has it been put in actual use at work? Has the Appraisee improved on the soft skills of the training? etc. This is a great way to get feedback on “Training & Development Programme

” from Boss/Appraiser & Appraisee. Both, Appraiser & Appraisee are candid and at times it is “Deflating” experience for HR Facilitator and brings him/her to ground level reality. My experience shows HR always feels the Training was great as per the “SMILE SHEETS” filled at the end of the programme.

7.)  5 MINUTES:

> The Appraisee is to make 3 statements as to how he/she plans to improve the performance in future/next six months and meet the targets starting with:

i.) I will ……

ii.) I will ……

iii.) I will ……

These are recorded by Appraiser & HR Facilitator and discussed in the next review meeting.

8.)  3 MINUTES:

Appraisee is seen off by HR Facilitator and escorted outside the conference room. HR Facilitator briefly asks the Appraisee how he/she feels to gauge the motivation and satisfaction level.  Also asks Their happiness and if they found the session useful. (Anonymous feedback for Appraisers show they are much more happy and find the sessions useful. In fact many of them look forward for HR facilitation for the session.)

9.) Last 10 MINUTES: Feedback to Appraiser

> HR Facilitator gives feedback to Appraiser about the session. This is based on a structured form filled by HR Facilitator during the session.

> We have found that appraising & reviewing skills have improved significantly over years for all Appraisers. They are very confident, prepare well, and give both positive & negative feedback upfront.

CONCLUSION:

Yes, HR needs to invest lot of time during the SIX MONTHLY and YEARLY reviews, but it is worth it. HR Facilitators are trained and monitored to ensure that they are very very mature, keep the review session discussion completely confidential, and be very respectful, helpful and understanding. Our experience over last more than ten years shows the results are excellent. The Training and Development has improved with the feedback received during reviews. The Self – Worth and Self – Esteem of HR Facilitators has gone up significantly. The Business Understanding of HR Facilitators has also gone up significantly.  Most importantly the performance of many more individuals & departments has improved leading to better business performance. The Business Heads are really happy and appreciate the HR contribution to business.

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BACK TO BASICS BUSINESS LEADERSHIP EXCELLENCE MANTRAS IN UNCERTAIN WORLD

BACK TO BASICS

BUSINESS LEADERSHIP EXCELLENCE MANTRAS IN UNCERTAIN WORLD

BY DR. PRAKASH.V.BHIDE

Business world is facing tectonic upheavals in unpredictable, complex & uncertain world. Competition is coming from unrelated sectors and unexpected new competitors. The only constant is ‘Continuous Uncertain Major Changes’. Shareholders, customers, employees and society are holding the CEO’s accountable for quantum growth and accelerated profitability. In this scenario, CEO’s need to stand on firm rock like foundations and principles to guide them. Back to basics can help leaders in sound decision making in this uncertain world.

India used to be the envy of the world. We were Number One in every aspect of development. Pupils across the world turned up at our door for seeking knowledge at our temples of education such as Nalanda and Taxila (Like Harvard, Wharton and London Business School today). The rich insights of our epics, such as Vedas, Upanishads, Ramayana, Mahabharata and Bhagwadgita, have stood the best test of times for guiding our lives over centuries. Back to basics stresses simplicity and adherence to fundamental principles and values for excellence. Our gurus & role models have always shown us that Back to Basics is the best way to deal with crisis and uncertain times. Principles and teachings of our epics are the gems and jewellary in the history of mankind. They can act as ‘Amrit’ (nectar) which can be a Sanjeevani (life giving) to all business enterprises. We are proud of Panini (originator of grammar), Aryabhatta (great mathematician and astronomer) and Bhaskaracharya (originator of concept of zero). India is the birthplace of three of the world’s major religions – Hinduism (7000 BC), Buddhism (487 BC) and Sikhism (1699 AD).

Recently, Business Leaders have been lured by western management theories and best practices. We need to go back to our basics & roots of Indian Cultural Ethos & Values. Building on the solid foundations of character and Indian values, we can customize western technologies & skills with discretion for modern times. We can thus move from BEST PRACTICES to NEXT PRACTICES, which will come from India. Mahatma Gandhi relied on the teachings of Bhagwadgita, Mahabharata, Ramayana, Upanishads, Bible and Koran and scriptures for decision making in crisis situations.

The Indian concept of Leadership is the TRIMURTI – of Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva. The leader has the role of creator of new enterprises and things (Brahma), maintainer of business prosperity and sustainability (Vishnu) and destroyer of all that is non-value adding and evil (Shiva). The leader has to play all these three roles simultaneously.

There are many nuggets of gold, and I have selected a few to illustrate the ‘Back to Basics’ principles:

1.Golden nuggets from Ramayana for Business Leaders: 

A.Teaching the value of commitment to our words (Vachan):

Many leaders are found to go back on their commitments for short-term gains.

रघुकुल रिती सदा चली आई

प्राण जाये पर वचन न जये

Lord Rama went for fourteen years of Vanvaas for the ‘Vachana’ given by his father, King Dasharatha, to queen Kaikai and that too many years ago.

B.Ideal brother Bharata – Role model of trusteeship

Business Leaders and CEO’s are the trustees of shareholders for managing the business on behalf of them. When Lord Rama went for fourteen years of Vanvaas, his younger brother Bharata did not crown himself as the king. He ruled on behalf of Lord Rama and put his Padukas (wooden shoes) on the throne as a symbol of lord Rama. Bharata handed over the kingdom to Lord Rama after his victorious return after defeating Ravana.

C.Followership:

Lord Rama’s younger brother Laxman, is  a great example of followership. He sacrificed and voluntarily went for fourteen years Vanvaas with Lord Rama in the crisis situation of Vanvaas. Similarly, Lord Hanuman is a role model of followership to Lord Rama. To become a great leader, you have to also be a great follower.

2.Golden nuggets from Bhagwdgita for Business Leaders:

A.Philosophy of action without attachment (Karma Yoga):

Business Leaders are many times attached to material greeds, short-term gains and selfishness. The ENRON, Satyam and 2008 global meltdown was due to excessive and unbridled greed. Business Leaders need to act to achieve super-ordinate goal for humanity and not get attached or affected by outcome.

कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्तेमा फलेषु कदाचन

B.The essence of ‘Action’ in ‘Karma yoga’ in times of crisis:

मयीसर्वाणि कर्माणि

संयस्त अध्यात्म चेतसा

निरशी निर्ममो भूत्वा

युध्यस्व विगतः ज्वर:

Act in the present and leave the outcomes of all actions to me. Do not worry about the fuure or be tied to the past. Do not be excited and lose self control even by the thrill of present action.

C.Leaders as role models (Walk the Talk)

यद् यद् आचरती श्रेष्ठः

तद् तद् एवो इतरो जनः

सः यत् प्रमाणं कुरुते

लोकः तत् अनुवर्तते

As the leader behaves, so do the followers. Leader sets standards by actions and deeds, for followers to learn and act.

D.Leader as a Mentor and Coach:

Lord Krishna was the epitome of ‘Guru-Shishya Parampara’, and was the Mentor, Coach and Guru of Arjun. Business Leaders have to play the role of a Mentor, Coach and Guru, to nurture and groom emerging leaders for future.

E.Importance of controlling anger by Business Leaders:

क्रोधात् भवति संमोह:

संमोहात् smRssmrutiस्मृति विभ्रमः

स्मृतिभ्रंशात् बुद्धिनाशः

बुद्धिनाशात्प्रणश्यति

When Business Leaders cannot control their anger, they are likely to take decisions which are detrimental to business and regretted by them later. Controlling anger is necessary for Effective Business Leadership.

3.Golden nuggets from Vedas for Business Leaders:

‘Yagna’ in Vedas , is a symbol of sacrifice of wealth, ego and worldly attachment of material things, desires and ‘Vasanas’. Business Leaders need to be servant leaders, and sacrifice for good of humanity and followers. Mahatma Gandhi, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King and Mother Teresa are revered for their sacrifice.

4.Golden nuggets from Arthashastra and Chanakya (3^rd century BC) for Business Leaders:

In face of competition (winning the war), Chanakya, in ‘Arthashastra’, (Book 13 Chapter 1 Verse 1) says:

“The Conqueror desirous of capturing the enemy’s fortified town, should fill his own army with enthusiasm. Leader has to:

1.Think positively even during uncertainty.

2.Communicate and inspire his followers.

3.Go for the kill (action)

It is reported that Ratan Tata & Kumar Mangalam Birla were with their teams, in the ‘War Rom’, 24X7 for the last few days during their major global acquisitions of Corus and Novalis respectively

5. Golden nuggets from Mahatma Gandhi’s Life:

Mahatma Gandhiji relied heavily on the scriptures & basics from Ramayana,Mahabharata,Upanishadas,Bhagwadgita,Bible and Koran for guiding his actions without fear.

A.In todays business management, “Customer is the King” is the mantra for success .  Gandhiji’s thoughts on customer care:

“A customer is the most important visitor to our premises. He is not dependant on us, we are dependent on him. He is not an interruption in our work. He is the purpose of it. We are not doing a favour by serving him. He is doing a favour on us by giving an opportunity to do so.”

B.Leadership and change:

Change has to start from the leader himself, so that the followers are motivated by his role modeling to do the same.

There is an interesting story in the life of Mahatma Gandhiji:

One day  a village woman came to the ashram with her young son to pay respect to Mahatma Gandhi. She touched his feet, took his blessings and requested Bapuji to tell her son not to eat too many sweets, and that in spite of her telling him , he was not listening to her. Bapuji smiled and asked the woman to come back after a week. After one week when the woman returned, Bapuji again asked her to come back after one more week. When she returned after a week, Bapuji smiled and told the young son not to eat too many sweets, as it was not good for his health. The woman was surprised and asked Bapuji why he had not told the same, the first time when she came with her son? Bapuji replied that he himself liked sweets and ate lots of them. He said that he decided to change himself first. The change had to start from him, so that he had the moral right to advise her son. He said that he could change with lots of efforts, during the last several weeks , and could control his urge to eat sweets. Hence it took some time to advise her son. A simple but powerful story that the change has to start with the leader himself.

6.Golden nuggets from Vedas:

अमंत्रो अक्षरो नास्ति

नास्ति मुलंश औषधीम्

अयोग्यः पुरुषः नास्ति

योजकः तत्र दुर्लभः

There is no syllable which cannot be turned into a mantra. There is no root of any tree which cannot be turned into a medicine. There is no person in the world who does not have a unique potential and capabilities. The leaders are rare who can spot such unique potential.

Modern management thinkers such as Markus Buckingham, have recently written several books such as ‘Discover Your Strengths’ and advise everyone to leverage their inherent strengths & potential and sculpt their jobs & careers around their strengths to be successful and enjoy their life.

7.Golden Nuggets from Kabir:

Value of critics & feedback:

निंदक नियरे राखिये

आंगन कुटीर सहाय

बिन पानी साबुन बिना

निर्मल करे सुभाय

The critics give us, at times, feedback which we do not like, but is true. Kabir advises us, that we should have some critics around us who can give authentic feedback for our improvement. The modern 360 degree feedback methodology for leaders uses the same principles and philosophy.

8.Golden nuggets from Rahim on building long-term relationships:

रहिमन धाग प्रेम का

मत तोडे छिटकाय

टूटे से फिर ना जुडे

जुडे गांठ पड जाये

Relationships are built over trust and love. Make sure that they are not broken. Because even if the relationship is re-established, the string can be joined only with a knot, which will remain, and the relationship will not be as smooth as before.

In modern business, relationships and networking make a huge difference and are crucial for the leaders’ success.

Difference between Indian culture and ethos from Western culture:

Many modern management theories & practices come from western world, based on their culture. Many times they are not found to be effective in India. Hence, we have to go back to our own scriptures & basics.

Indians are dependent, accept authority and comfortable with hierarchy & power distance. Even gods and goddesses, in Hindu mythology, have hierarchy with Lord Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh to be the supreme. Hence, when Lord Indra is on the verge of defeat by asuras, he goes to Lord Brahma, Vishnu & Mahesh, for guidance, help and blessings. Most of Indians respect their parents, elders and gurus, by touching their feet. On the other hand, westerners are found to treat even their elders as equal, and call their bosses & superiors by their first names.

Westerners want YES or NO answers, and are digital in their thinking(0 or 1), (White or Black) etc. On the other hand, Indians are comfortable with analog thinking and all shades of Grey between White and Black. They are also found to be comfortable with many questions which have no clear-cut answers.

While westerners are individualistic & masculine in their behaviours, Indians are more comfortable with collectivism, joint family and relatives, and hence, we have a unique SIVA’s manifestation of ‘Ardhanareshwara’ which is symbolized as a half man and half woman idol.

Indians believe in fate, accept uncertainty and ambiguity. Indians have lived and accepted diverse cultures, views, values and societal norms, to live with harmony with many religions & cultures. The ideal Indian king & leader  is Prabhu Ramachandra. Indians rever leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Narayan Murty of Infosys, who lived like fakirs with simplicity, and worked for super-ordinate goals for humanity, with not an iota of personal gains. They practiced Karma Yoga in their daily lives.

Conclusion:

The business world is in a crisis. For choosing the right business model for future, we need to go Back to Basics of our scriptures & History, to find the golden nuggets & principles for guiding us in these times of crisis and uncertainty.

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BE AN EFFECTIVE LEADER WITH 360 DEGREE FEEDBACK

BE AN EFFECTIVE LEADER WITH 360 DEGREE FEEDBACK

1. Introduction

It is rare to get authentic feedback on individual leadership style, particularly at senior levels. It is seen that in Indian culture and ethos, neither subordinates nor peers or even bosses give negative feedback as they are afraid that it may upset the individual and they may spoil the interpersonal relationship. Subordinates have a dependency proneness and normally praise the BOSS or keep quiet on the negative aspects of leadership behaviors. Bosses also do not seek feedback as they feel that asking feedback is a sign of weakness. 360 degrees multi rater feedback is a powerful tool to give authentic and anonymous feedback to LEADERS.

2. 360 Degree Feedback

In 360 Degree feedback the individual leader is given feedback by people working closely with him/her – such as BOSS, PEERS and SUBORDINATES and sometimes significant customers. The 360 SURVEY has to be designed to have questions or statements to get focused feedback on specific aspects as per the survey objectives. Many times open-ended feedback on WHAT TO STOP DOING? WHAT TO CONTINUE DOING? WHAT TO START DOING? can provide rich insights for leaders. The survey is ONLINE and anonymous to get authentic feedback. Many companies initially use external consulting agencies to ensure and effectively manage the respondent’s perception that the feedback is really anonymous. Normally boss, 3 or 4 peers and 3 or 4 subordinates (total 8 to 9 respondents) are invited to give the feedback. It is a good practice to let the leader choose the respondents. This ensures that leader accepts the feedback more readily – both the positive and negative aspects.

The survey should be initiated after proper discussions with the leadership team and having a consensus. The CEO must also participate in the survey and get the feedback. This breaks down the resistance if any of the team members. It is reported that Kumar Mangalam Birla got his own 360 degree feedback from his subordinates before it was rolled out to his senior team members. In an organization, it is best to start with CEO and top management levels. This is then accepted more readily at lower levels. The survey and leader development is more effective if the leaders participate voluntarily rather than being forced into action. As they say, “YOU CAN TAKE A HORSE TO WATER BUT YOU CAN’T MAKE HIM DRINK.” Hence it is important for HR to convince and build consensus.

3. Leadership Development

The 360 degree feedback is used for development. It should not be used for performance appraisal. Companies using it for performance appraisal quickly find that it loses value as employees manage the feedback. “You scratch my back and I will scratch yours” starts killing the authenticity & hence the value.

As per my experience the leaders participating in 360⁰ survey go through a shock as they normally expect a much more positive and favourable response. All leaders believe that they are GREAT in their leadership style. The crucial point is the PERCEPTION of others, which is a REALITY for them. e.g. a leader may believe that he/she is a good listener, but others may experience him/her as a poor listener. The next stage is DENIAL that this is not correct feedback and respondents have not understood the questions in the survey. The next stage is JUSTIFICATION when the leader rationalizes that he/she needs to be so to be effective. e.g. “If I keep on listening to all these people, it will be a waste of my precious time. I am effective because I don’t waste time in useless discussions.”

A leader has to realize that “What got you here won’t get you there.” He has to change. The perception of his/her chosen respondents is their reality and to be more he effective he/she has to change.

Unless the leader reaches the stage of acceptance and then WILLINGNESS TO CHANGE, the results and effectiveness of 360⁰ survey are minimal. For leadership development, the survey then at best can give rich data for the organization for selection and promotions.

 4. JK Organisation Experience

JK Organisation (EZ) is a Rs 13,000 crore group with companies like JK Tyre, JK Paper, JK Laxmi Cement, Fenner (India) etc. From early 2008 up to 2012, we have conducted 360⁰ surveys starting with Owner Directors, Business Heads, VP’s and GM’s, a group of more than 160 senior leaders. The survey results are confidential and given to the individual leader and shared with his boss and Group President – HR. The feedback is used only for leadership development. Using Marshall Goldsmith methodology of stakeholders, feedforward suggestions and an external executive coach, each leader undertakes to improve on 2 High Impact Behaviors for leadership effectiveness. The executive coaching is for 9 months to 12 months period. We have seen remarkable improvements in leaders which have sustained over years, made them more effective leaders and achieved better business results.

More on Executive Coaching and Marshall Goldsmith methodology in the next blog.

REFLECTIONS ON EXECUTIVE TALENT AND POTENTIAL

REFLECTIONS ON EXECUTIVE TALENT AND POTENTIAL

DR. PRAKASH.V.BHIDE

“In future TALENT will be a big differentiator between companies that succeed and those that don’t. One organizational competency lasts. The ability to create a steady, self-renewing stream of leaders. Talent is the edge.” (Ram Charan – Talent Masters)

I find that there is a lot of confusion on the meaning of TALENT and POTENTIAL in organizations and even among many HR professionals. The meaning also changes with context.

It is surprising that the definition & concept of TALENT eludes description. Different thought leaders view talent in entirely different ways. Many organizations do not define what they mean by talent and use it rather loosely.  Economist (2006) reports “Companies do not even know how to define talent, let alone manage it.” Some use it to mean people like Aldous Huxleys ALPHAS in the “Brave New World”- those at the top of the ‘Bell Curve.’

 Talent as a noun – is a natural aptitude, skills, a marked innate ability for a natural endowment or ability of superior quality. Other synonymous words are gifted, aptitude, ability, faculty, genius and capability leading to a consistent and far superior performance. Names of Lata Mangeshkar (singing), Sachin Tendulkar (cricket), Tiger Woods (Golf), Michael Jordan (Basket Ball) and Amitabh Bacchan (Acting) immediately come to mind.

The word ‘Talent’, in Latin, means ‘a variable unit of weight/money used in ancient Greece, Rome and Midde- East. Indian Vedas say that every person has some unique talent and potential. 

अमंत्रो अक्षरो नास्ति

नास्ति मुलंश औषधीम्

अयोग्यः पुरुषः नास्ति

योजकः तत्र दुर्लभः

There is no syllable which cannot be turned into a mantra. There is no root of any tree which cannot be turned into a medicine. There is no person in the world who does not have a unique potential and capabilities. The leaders are rare who can spot such unique potential.

 Marcus Buckingham defines talent as “Talent is the naturally recurring patterns of thoughts, feelings and behavior that can be productively applied in practice. Talents, knowledge and skills combine to create strengths”. He recommends that each person should discover his own talents and strengths, develop them and sculpt his/her career and vocation around these strengths. This will bring the greatest success, happiness and enjoyment. They will be enjoying the work so much that they will really never have to work any day in life.

Many organizations define talent as ‘a person with superior performance in the current job and having potential to grow into more senior roles, usually at least two levels above.

David Clutterbuck recommends to delete the requirement of  ‘Upward Progression’ in the definition of talent. He defines talent as “A superior performing employee who has the potential to contribute significantly more, by developing his/her skills, knowledge & experience and who is motivated to do so’. He recommends organizations to be open to the possibility that lateral movement & job rotations can be as important and valuable to the organization as the upward movement and promotions.

I strongly recommend that each organization should define talent in alignment to its Business Strategy & Industry Context. The definition should not be very narrow as it will be less flexible to accommodate changes in the leadership requirements in future. On the other hand, it should not be so broad that almost every employee in the organization is considered as talent. Differentiation is the mother’s milk for Business Excellence. And we need to define “Talent” in this context.

 In IT, BPO/KPO/ITES sectors, talent is viewed as all employees who have the right skills and can perform the job adequately. Their business strategy requires a large number of client facing and backroom service associates. These are not easily available in the market due to large gap in demand & supply, huge attritions of more than 100% per year and hence significant challenges of retention. These companies call all of them as ‘Talent’ as each headcount generates revenues & profits for the company. The more the number of headcount, greater the profit and greater the strength & ability of these companies to undertake outsourcing work from developed countries like USA, Europe etc. Many companies in this sector have grown by 30 % year on year and made huge profits over the last fifteen years in India. We hence find specialized positions with fancy designations such as ‘Head of Talent Acquisition’, ‘Head of Talent Retention & Engagement’ in companies like Wipro, Infosys, TCS, Accenture and many other ITES & BPO companies.

Many companies define talent as the employees who are high on both performance & potential on the 3X3 matrix of performance and potential. Some other consultants recommend that only 5% of top High Potential employees should be considered as’ Super Keepers’ as they contribute substantially to the company profits. Authors such as Richard Beatty have researched and recommended that “Strategic Talent” should be differentiated and determined starting with finding the ‘A’ positions which contribute to the business “Competitive Advantage” in line with Business Strategy to create Customer & Economic Value. ‘A’ players occupying such ‘A’ positions and servicing ‘A’ customers are called Strategic Talent. The identified successors for such positions are also included in the Strategic Talent Pool. Interestingly, these strategic positions are only 5 to 7% of the total positions in the company and are located at all levels including frontline levels. (AAA concept – ‘A’ positions, ‘A’ players for ‘A’ customers.)

Many companies regard talent as ‘RIGHT STUFF’ i.e. they consider the end state CEO/CXO leadership qualities to be present in a primitive or disguised form in the young talent. Because it is already present inside, they put these identified talent in challenging assignments and situations. If the young talent does well and survives, they put them in more and bigger challenging assignments to prove themselves. ‘The survival of the fittest’ is the methodology to find the ‘RIGHT STUFF LEADER’ to rise to senior levels and top of the organization. (Morgan McCall – High Fliers)

A simpler way of identifying talent as per David Clutterbuck is people who demonstrate:

1. Significant continued investment in their own development.

2. A track record of assisting the development of others. E.g. through coaching and mentoring.

3. Ambition to achieve greater responsibilities.

4. A high motivation and ability to learn.

POTENTIAL

Potential is defined as “Latent; capable of coming into being” (Oxford English Dictionary). Potential derives from the word POTENT or STRENGTH. One way of defining potential is ‘The ability to achieve or contribute more by building upon personal strengths or aptitudes, while managing relevant weaknesses’.

A practical definition of potential from Talent Management perspective is ‘The capability of an individual to build upon existing strengths, knowledge & experience and improving on major weaknesses, so that they do not become derailers, to perform effectively at higher levels of responsibility within an appropriate environment’

Potential is the latent future capability of the work one can do in future. Ram Charan recommends three categories of potential for succession planning:

1. TURN POTENTIAL – able to do the work at the next level of leadership pipeline in three to five years or sooner.

2. GROWTH POTENTIAL – able to do the work of bigger jobs at the same level in the near term.

3. MASTERY POTENTIAL – able to do the same kind of work currently being done, only better.

Corporate Leadership Council defines HIGH POTENTIAL in terms of three major components which need to be simultaneously present – 

1.) Aspiration 

2.) Engagement 

3.)Ability

David Clutterbuck has another pragmatic way of looking at potential as an equation given below:

Potential = Ambition + Learning Orientation/Maturity + Self Awareness – Fatal Flaws.

Ability to realize potential heavily depends on the context and the environment. Potential as an Olympic Swimmer is unlikely to be realized if they live in a desert. Malcolm Gladwell, in his book ‘Outliers’ says that as per his research, OUTLIERS such as Bill Gates, The Beatles and many top Ice Hockey sportsmen of Canada (were found to be born in a particular month of the year)or in fortunate environment and fortunate time. The Outliers also put in practice of more than 10000 hours in the particular field to hone their natural talent in the particular field.

Morgan McCall in his book ‘HIGH FLIERS’ is of the view that many of us make a serious mistake of trying to find the END STATE capabilities and behaviors(RIGHT STUFF) of a successful CEO, in a budding young High Potential Talent. As per him many of the qualities and abilities cannot be observed in the young talent as these are not present but can be developed by experience, reflection, grooming & nurturing. He is of the view that the focal point in early identification of potential is the assessment of LEARNING ABILITY. Several thought leaders have added dimensions of learning agility, learning orientation, proactively seeking feedback, learning from criticism etc.

My own experience & research shows that high Fluid Intelligence/IQ is an excellent indicator of Learning Ability and hence potential in the front line and middle management levels. At senior levels, this has to be supplemented by Emotional Intelligence – particularly Self Awareness and Self Management. At very senior levels and for successful life, Spiritual Intelligence becomes important.

TALENT AND POTENTIAL:

Many people use Talent and Potential interchangeably. This confusion is also enhanced as organizations do not clearly define Talent & Potential. In fact some definitions of Talent include the word ‘Potential’ adding to further confusion.

As per me, we say someone has TALENT, when we see the person in action and observe outstanding performance and results on a consistent basis. POTENTIAL, on the other hand, is latent, virtual and implies the possibility of being developed and expressed in future .All will agree that much of the latent potential in ourselves as well as all human beings, does not flower due to various reasons.

My experience of assessing potential of more than 2000 High Performers in organizations at various levels, collaborates with the latest research, that only about 30 % of High Performers are found to have High Potential to excel at two levels above. High potential individuals need to be groomed and nurtured as per the 70:20:10  formula. 70% of the development and learning takes place through structures and planned job rotations/developmental experiences helped through reflection, executive coaching and mentoring. Humility to accept and learn from others, own mistakes and setbacks, is critical for flowering the potential.

In future blogs, I plan to explore how to identify potential and develop future leaders.

                                                                     THE END

EXECUTIVE BURNOUT AND PREVENTIVE ACTIONS

BY DR. PRAKASH.V.BHIDE

Kiran was a Hi Potential STAR in a financial company. He was an Engineer from IIT and MBA from IIM. He had a dream successful career and was promoted as Vice President at the age of 32. His boss and company had very high expectations from Kiran. Unfortunately even with long hours of work, within a year after promotion, Kiran is a wreck and facing burnout. Why? How can he be helped?

Even though executive burnout is reported to be growing at an alarming rate, it is not talked about much. The cost of burnout both for individuals as well as organization is very large. In a survey, it is reported that the cost is $200 billion per year for Australia as a country.

The term burnout was coined by Freudenberg (1974). The term burnout is described as “It is a state of physical, mental and emotional exhaustion that often result from a combination of very high expectations and persistent situational stress. It describes a state of depletion of person’s resources, particularly energy due to excessive demands made on the person as a result of which the individual becomes apathetic and impassive towards work and other aspects of life.”

Radha Sharma (2005): “Executive burnout is marked by persistent feeling of inadequacy, ambiguity, dissatisfaction and powerlessness accompanied by behavioral manifestations of apathy, indifference and physical and emotional exhaustion.”

My experience shows that high potential talent and high performers with very high ambition and expectations are more prone to executive burnout. Many times ‘A’ players are found to be insecure overachievers. Even though they show external self-satisfaction, a large number of them lack self-confidence. They need constant appreciation and kudos much more than other ‘A’ players around them. They are never satisfied with anything. The best results, grades or promotion, are just ok for them. They work very long hours and can’t say ‘NO’ to unreasonable demands and expectations from superiors and other significant stakeholders because of inner insecurity that they will be left behind.

These high potential and high performer ‘A’ players, to meet their own and organizational expectations, work for very long hours under unremitting pressure of walking tight rope amongst conflicting interests of work, family, children and others. Over a period, they become lonely, harassed, burdened and go beyond a tipping point into psychological quicksand leading to physical, mental, emotional and psychological exhaustion. They become angry, go into self-criticism, cynicism, irritability, negativity, mood swings, powerlessness, overwhelmed, depressed, lack of motivation, self-control and sort of hit the wall. This leads them to absenteeism, alcohol, drug abuse etc. Many burnout cases report that they can’t sleep well, can’t eat well and are under chronic stress. There is a total loss of energy and interest and long-term psychological exhaustion and detachment. People report that they are empty, helpless and hopeless.

The major factors of burnout are:

1.) Type ‘A’ personality/stress personality.

2.) Very high ambition to meet own and other significant stakeholder’s unreasonable and changing expectations.

3.) Role-expectation conflicts

4.) Role stagnation/Role erosion

5.) Personal inadequacy

6.) Low Emotional Intelligence (Self Awareness, Self Control)

Preventive Actions:

Individuals and organizations can do a lot to prevent burnout. Individuals should set reasonable expectations and say ‘No’ to things beyond their capacity. They must pay attention to work-life balance and periodically go on vacations with family and friends for socialization. Sharing with close friends is an effective way to come out of the burnout process. They must keep a positive attitude towards their life and rein their expectations. They must avoid long hours of work on a continuous basis and keep away from competing with others for promotions and more financial rewards. They should take help of executive coaches or, if necessary, therapists to come out of burnout. Meditation, spirituality, physical exercise, sports, pranayaam, self awareness and self control are very helpful.

Organizations should carefully watch the high potentials and high performers with Type ‘A’ personality who are obsessed with very high expectations and ambitions. With annual mental checkup, Maslach Burnout Inventory Test, initial symptoms of burnout can be detected. Counseling, feedback, executive coaching and therapy can be provided by the organization. Superiors should avoid pushing High Pots beyond their limits and expect long hours of work.

Even though stress is closely related to burnout, and many people use it synonymously, the concepts are slightly different. 

S.N	STRESS	BURNOUT
1.	Over engagement	Disengagement
2.	Emotions are over-active	Emotions are blunted
3.	Produces urgency and hyperactivity	Produces hopelessness and Helplessness
4.	Leads to anxiety disorders	Leads to disenchantment and depression
5.	Loss of physical energy	Loss of psychological motivation, ideals and hope
6.	Primary damage is physical	Primary damage is emotional and psychological
7.	Can occur at short intervals	Occurs slowly but creeps upon the person and goes from bad to worse as time goes on.
8.	It is like a frog dropped in boiling water jumps out	It is like frog slowly boiled in water does not jump out but adjusts to higher temperatures and ultimately dies.

As per me, I visualize EXECUTIVE BURNOUT as “A highly energetic bird trapped inside the golden cage of his own unreasonable ambition and expectations from self and significant others. Over a period of time it is exhausted, lonely unable to break through the psychological cage of expectations, feeling trapped mentally and emotionally exhausted and ultimately collapsing in the cage.”