The Official Blog of Benifys HR Solutions

Why do we think of energy in conventional terms? With right approach and motivation, humans can be as charged.

At the ripe old age of 81, Lal Krishna Advani of the Bharatiya Janata Party had to travel to several places by air in the summer heat in the previous two months, as he was projected as the prime ministerial candidate by his party. When the Hindustan Times tried to probe the secret of Advani’s energy, he replied, “Food and sleep are two things I need very little of.” Advani’s frugal diet of curd and fruits would perhaps make him feel more energetic, since he has to travel a lot.

One often comes across the expression “saving time, money and energy” quite often. However, though it is possible to bump across articles and power point presentations on time and money management, energy management from an individual’s perspective are relatively rare to come by. When it comes to energy, we generally think of thermal energy, solar energy and nuclear energy etc.


Energy From Passion

One’s chances of success improve with the degree of high energy levels that one is able to generate and sustain throughout the day. Apart from one’s energy level, this would also depend on one’s interest in one’s work. The more passionate one is about one’s work, the more energetic one is likely to feel throughout the day. The grand old man from Bollywood, Dev Anand, who at the age of 85 is contemplating a new film called Chargesheet, has this to say in this context; “No drug can turn you high as your own work. I am always on the high. You cannot enjoy your life unless you enjoy your work.” Perhaps this is why the word “ever ebullient” is used for Anand since he epitomises the expression”zest for life”. One certainly needs to be charged up to make Chargesheet at 85. UK-based website http://www.careerenergy.co.uk/index.shtml states, “The key to a successful career lies in understanding four things: What we are good at, what we enjoy, what matters to us in life and what motivates us at work.” In the book Lead to Succeed, the authors states, “Each of us is pure energy and it is our personal responsibility as to how we direct that energy. When we involve ourselves in something that is not of interest to us, we are not channeling our energy effectively. Entrepreneurial leaders naturally raise the energy levels of people within an organisation because they ensure people are able to focus on what they are best at. Energy is always higher when what you have to do is what you want to do.”

Right Approach

In a more practical context, it may not be possible for everybody to be in the work that he enjoys doing, is good at, is motivated by or is in congruence with what one believes in. If this is the case, then drive and energy become two different factors unlike what is mentioned above. If you are not driven by your work, energy management becomes a top priority as it is bound to mitigate suffering. The choice of work may not be within one’s control but how one approaches one work is definitely within one’s control and one can try and generate and sustain high energy levels.

People like Advani or filmstar Shah Rukh Khan may need very little sleep but for an average person, getting a good night’s sleep is the first step towards high energy levels. One gets to read off and on how Yoga is very good for depression as well because of the secretions of the endocrine glands that are caused by the various Asanas. The problem is that unless one is really passionate about Yoga, it can be quite boring.

It is better to play one sport, in which one is interested in, regularly and with intensely but if that is not possible, one can combine different forms of exercises than merely depend on Yoga. We are witness to the fact how our sportspersons in many categories have the talent but do not have the endurance to give good performance consistently. Talking of sports reminds me of a lady with whom I play Tennis on the weekends. I have seen her play non-stop for four hours in peak Summers several times which is surprising, since she must be somewhere in her mid-fifties. She also claims to do Yoga or cycling for one and a half hours on occasions, going on marathon runs, doing all the housework by herself (including washing cars) when the servant is not around etc. I found that her knowledge of exercise and nutrition was quite exceptional. Eventually it all boils down to good energy management.

Energy Drainers

There is a saying in management that arriving is more difficult than striving. Similarly, generating high energy levels in one thing, sustaining them is another. Energy drainers apart from the work itself are work relationships and bad office habits.

One is lucky if one is able to consistently work, with those people with whom one is able to bond better, but that is not often the case. Arguments are major energy drainers and one can try and avoid them to the extent possible but many times, one has to take a stand and one is perhaps better off with learning argumentation techniques or how to be assertive without being aggressive. This is normally done for good inter-personal relations but also helps prevents energy for being drained in futile verbal battles.

Right Questions

In February, I attended a three day seminar of Results coaching system, from where I learnt that coaching is about asking questions to a person about his own thinking about a particular dilemma in a manner that the solution comes from him rather than telling him or advising him what to do. Their book called Quiet leadership says, “The more successful a person is, the less you can tell him what to do and the more you can help them think better for themselves.” It reminded me of one quote from Sir Winston Churchill, “Personally I’m always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught.” This is a common day-to-day situation which causes friction.

I realise that asking questions even in general and not just coaching situations causes less friction than going around advising or telling people.

On listening to one of the recordings on coaching, I heard someone say that in their view, coaching was one of the ways to move towards silence. That reminded me of meditation.

According to an article Energy is the real healer in The Times of India, Paramhamsa Yogananda described the body as a battery. He taught that we need to learn to recharge the battery by drawing more on the divine source of energy. By consciously attuning with the healing forces of the universe, one could feel a dynamo of power flowing through one’s body. Prayer and meditation are a means to draw energy from that divine source.

In addition, silence and fasting can also help in quieting the mind.

Ayurveda speaks of Vata, Pitta and Kapha tendencies and having a pacing and restless mind is indicative of the Vata mind which should be avoided. One has to be careful currently because the pace at which change is taking place, are arousing Vata tendencies in even people with other dispositions. In negative moods, they can prove to be disastrous, apart from being harmful in positive phases, as well when they go out of control. Lifestyle also plays a major role in keeping oneself calm.

Back to Basics

In his wonderful book Success v/s Joy, seven-time world billiards Champion Geet Sethi describes how the standard of his game fell after his lifestyle had become dissipated and fragmented when he was overcome with materialism and acquisitiveness. He went back to the basics and his performance peaked when his mind became calm. He describes how a disciplined lifestyle helps in developing will power and concentration, which for all practical purposes is mental strength. Apart from that, what one eats, as also chewing food properly, has a significant effect on the mind, which reminds of the famous saying “Avoid hurry, worry and curry.”

The medical profession has begun to realise that energy is the real healer. The old approach is to kill the disease by attacking it, using medicines, radiation, surgery etc. The new approach strengthens the organism so that it won’t be vulnerable to disease, using herbs, diet, exercise etc. In order to make ourselves immune to disease, we must learn to strengthen the flow of energy in us and remove obstacles to its flow. The basic thing is to remove energy blockages — trains in Japan and Germany move at 500 miles an hour because of the concentrated force of superconductivity or electrons moving in one direction without any resistance. Reiki and Pranic healing are highly specialised energy healing systems and would probably justify a separate article devoted to them.

The Tight Spots

Coaching is one strategy but how one reacts to situations during the day is the most important factor in conserving energy. An acquaintance in the US told me, “People in India are so emotional that when we come on vacation, everybody in me and my wife’s extended family expects us to visit them, which is not practically possible. Therefore, I myself throw a party to gather everybody at one place, which saves time and energy considerably. I am not bothered about people who do not agree with this.” Though this indicates emotional fortitude, it is practical emotional intelligence in action.

I have often heard people say that one can’t change people but can only change one’s responses to them. That may be true for certain situations but one should effect change in others whenever possible. This is true both in personal and professional life. I read in a Harvard Business Review book how the management should try and modify the behavior of six personality types when excess of the behavior pertaining to each type starts to prove counterproductive. The book Power of Now says it very well, “If you find the current situation intolerable, you have three choices — remove yourself from the situation, change it or accept it totally.” In my view if there is a mistake in reading the situation and responding to it correctly, there is considerable waste of energy. Acceptance of severe tragedies is never easy and in absence of a sufficient level of acceptance, Yoga and meditation remain mere tools and techniques. The better the acceptance, the sooner one can get to normal energy levels and is able to sustain them.

This article is written by Hiren Shah and was published in the October issue of Management Compass.

Be in the know of things
Be aware of what is happening around you, your college professor had his advice right in place! Keep your eyes and ears open and receptive and you will see a whole new world of information flow in which you never knew existed. Now do we need to say why you need information, well besides the usual ‘knowledge being power’ thing, if gives you a keener understanding of people – their motivations, intentions, thought process.


Be organized
Learn to carry your toys well; you know the ‘Manager Paraphernalia’ – the UMPC (s), the Blackberry (s), that cool organizer you just bought? Now, listen close – we’re about to drop some knowledge:

a) Meet people in their offices, not yours (translation: you control the time of discussion).
b) Always be pleasant, but be firm in protecting your time from time thieves.
c) Try standing instead of sitting during meeting, your legs will make sure you and all the others stick to the point and not butterfly around it.
d) The phone and the e-mail system are there for your convenience, not anyone else’s – pick it up when you want to.


Have an internal locus of control
First, we urge you to first take this short quiz to find what your locus of control is.

Got you result? Good! Locus of control determines the way people perceive the outcomes they get from situations; it could be the extent of success at work or the achievements in their personal lives. People with a strong locus of control are usually more proactive and in control of their lives. They work hard to develop their knowledge, skills and abilities and at work, they have a more participative management style as compared to people with strong external locus of control who believe in concepts like luck, destiny and fate and that most things are beyond their control. Most people fall somewhere in between, it has been confirmed by many experts that having a tilt toward internal locus of control is an important determinant of success.


Create ‘quality’ moments
This is a concept introduced by executive coach Jason Seiden, who is also the Author of “Super Staying Power: What You Need to Become Valuable and Resilient at Work”. As he puts it –

You were having a Quality Event… a moment of intense personal satisfaction that was caused by the excellence of the experience”.

“Think of an experience you have had, either at work or at home, where the moment was so perfect, so easy, and so all-encompassing that the moment itself still lives within you—it feels like it happened yesterday. Maybe you were laughing, maybe you were doing something mindless, perhaps you were feeling proud—whatever it was, you were in the flow. Time stopped and the moment stretched. You could anticipate what would happen next as sure as if everyone were playing from a script. You had no doubt.

To continue reading about this concept and how you can apply it to your work and life, read it here.

When one starts thinking of outsourcing the HR function, whether partially or totally, there are a lot of questions that crop up in the mind. We’ve attempted to put together some of them and tried to present potential solutions so that these questions do not act as roadblocks in the journey towards greater efficiency and professionalism in the HR function.


Outsourcing is now a norm, people have realised that they should concentrate on their organisation’s core competencies and not share limited bandwidth in trying to run functions that can be run by someone else better, either because that someone else is better trained to carry out these functions, or because it does not make commercial sense to have an in-house function that would probably not have its hands full all the while.


Q. I have an Admin / HR team and they are doing okay. Why do I need to outsource?

A. True, the existing team might be working out fine, but there are no comparators to their performance, they operate on benchmarks that have been internally set, based on the limited knowledge of the HR function that most line managers possess. To enable dramatic growth for any organisation, and to have access to specialized expertise in each of the HR domains, a much larger team is required. This larger team could be a virtual team, working for your organisation on a need basis, rather than add to the salary bill that’s probably already a large part of your total expenses. Through outsourcing, you have access to quality HR services, thought leadership, and specialized support for different HR processes.


Q. How secure is my data? How will the Outsourcing partner ensure confidentiality at my site or their back-end operations?

A. Quality outsourcing organizations are committed to data security for all their client organisations. While most sign an NDA and related legal documents, they also ensure that your data resides on an IT platform that has restricted access. The data that needs to remain secure resides in exclusive servers with every possible care taken through technological barriers (firewalls, anti-hacking tools, etc.) to human interventions (strict control over number of people with rights to access your data). All physical data pertaining to your employees normally rests in your premises, they do not take it away to store it elsewhere. End of the day, you have to trust your data with someone, and in these times, the care that good outsourcing providers take of your data is probably better than what your internal team would be doing.


Q. If I outsource HR it will affect the morale of my employees. What message will this send to rest of the functions?

A. Outsourcing of a function is a common practice nowadays. This is done not with a view to shed workforce, but to equip the function with a competitive edge and improve its efficiency and effectiveness. When people see the difference that outsourcing has made to the organisation, they will realize the benefits of outsourcing themselves. At the same time, outsourcing decisions always have a strategy for the existing HR team, based on the company’s needs they can groomed into a consulting or business partner role. This is what is known as “Retained HR”. Some HR outsourcing firms go to the extent of taking on the existing HR teams onto their rolls, where they work under the shared services model, while providing continuity to the existing HR function.


Q. If I outsource, will I have the same control as compared to an in-house HR team?

A. You do not lose control over the HR function. Instead, you free your bandwidth from carrying out, or overseeing, HR related tasks, and you equip your HR function with expert knowledge and professionalism. While legally they may reside on some other organisation’s rolls, they still function as an in-house team, providing you with as much face-time and interaction as required. Every activity that the existing team was carrying out will be replicated by the outsourcing organization, only with greater cost-effectiveness and better quality.


Q. Will there be cultural issues between the outsourced services provider’s team and the outsourcing organisation’s employees/other functions?

A. HR outsourcing has evolved to a level where HRO firms are now committed to a seamless transition. They function as an internal department. Your employees and your management team will not even notice the cultural differences. If at all, they will be happier with the greater professionalism and expertise that the HRO firm brings.


Q. What can an HRO firm do differently to cut down my recruitment cost?

A. Two things – first, they will be able to manage your existing vendors better, because they have specific expertise in the recruitment space. This will help them negotiate better rates, and put in place a vendor management practice that you might otherwise not have access to. They also have a pool of recruitment partners, and will be able to obtain better terms for your recruitment requirements. Second, even if they utilise their own recruitment engine to service your needs and fill a position for you using their own resources, their charges will be highly competitive because they are now your partners.


Q. If my employee base increases by X % how will HRO firms deal with it and will there be any change in costing?

A. Work with the outsourcing partner to arrive at a per employee costing model rather than a lump sum. This benefits both parties. For you, your costs are linked to your capability to pay (if you’re growing, the probability is that you’re now able to allocate a larger portion to support services like HR – if you’re shrinking, you’d like your support services costs to some down as well). For the outsourcing services provider, he becomes a partner in your growth, always on the look-out to add value to your business so that both the organisations grow together. In such models, there is no redundancy built into the pricing mechanism, and you don’t end up paying extra for people who are not on your rolls.


Q. I want the core HR activities to be handled by my team; I can probably outsource just my recruitment function.

A. Then what you probably need is an RPO (recruitment process outsourcing) instead of an HRO. The strength of HRO firms is in demonstrating the value that HR can bring to an organisation through an end-to-end offering, and not in piecemeal services like recruitment.


Q. My organisations training needs are very specific. How will you design training programs for me?

A. Besides other verticals, most HRO firms nowadays have a dedicated Learning and Development team. Although they don’t usually cater to functional or technical training because we such training programs are best handled by subject matter experts, and not training experts. The basic behavioural tenets in employees in any industry vertical are similar to a large extent, and differ in degrees between industries. Even so, the expert trainers and content developers in an HRO will understand the particular need for your organisation and design customized training programs to address the training requirements of your organisation.


Q. How much do I gain from outsourcing HR in terms of money? Is it worth the effort?

Depending on the vendor the pricing is very competitive and sometimes even lower than what your organisation should be incurring as the total cost of running the HR department as an in-house function. This figure is derived from industry benchmarks. While this gives you an immediate reason to outsource, the true value add that you will experience will be in terms of the drastic improvement in quality and accuracy of the HR services from the very beginning of the engagement.