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.

The concept of outsourcing the Human Resources function, whether partially or completely, has been doing the rounds of corporate circles for long, or at least a reasonably long time now. Given the obvious advantages that it brings, what prevents it from becoming a rage? Why are organisations not pursuing this option with any kind of aggressiveness? Why would they continue to look the other way when something as clear as this stares them in the face every single day of their working lives?

The reason for HR Outsourcing not catching the fancy of organisations is one, or more, of these three:

• Mindset issues: There are perceived problems related to individual insecurity, control, data security, sensitive information that others are privy to, hesitation in adopting change, and so on and so forth,

• Ignorance: Organisations have not heard of HR Outsourcing and/or are not clear how it will work. This is an education issue, and can be handled through relentless campaigns in various media and reach-out programmes, and

• Wrong implementation: Many organisations stop short of deriving the maximum benefits out of outsourcing, for want of a true understanding of what HR Outsourcing can truly accomplish. Like the erstwhile IT Outsourcing models, organisations are confused as to what is the finish line, often considering the race to be over half way through the track. This, to our mind, is the most serious issue plaguing the world of HR Outsourcing. We’ll take a little time to dwell on this aspect.

A report called "Getting Full Business Value from HR Outsourcing With Strategies for Retained HR and Change" was published by Buck Consultants. This report was a result of a multi organisation survey and an accompanying case study and was recently featured on the HROA (HRO Association) website. The report intended to distinguish between organisations achieving "HR efficiency" as opposed to "True HR transformation." While attaining HR efficiency means the careful optimization of HR systems and processes from a perfect combination of both in-house resources and outsourced services, HR transformation is the next step wherein the HR organisation is geared up to drive business performance.

The case study demonstrated how probable it is to be working to achieve transformation but falling short on target to ’settle’ for efficiency instead. The concept of outsourcing the HR function (single or multi process) has been around for some time now and this is now resulting in a clear track record of what does and does not work. What is surprising is that some organisations have been able to achieve far better business impact as compared to others while implementing HR transformation measures.

Going through the survey findings, one thing that stands out is that high performance organisations take a distinctly different approach towards handling change in the retained HR organisation and do not shy away from investing more in change management and communication practices. Needless to say, the overall perceived effectiveness of the program was far higher in high performance organisations as compared to their counterparts. Another aspect in which the change process in the high performance organisations differs is the way they planned and executed the retained HR changes itself. While for the high performance organisations the retained HR changes were part of the overall HR strategy and drove the scope and scale of outsourcing, this wasn’t the case for other organisations. The latter saw the two steps, i.e., outsourcing and managing change, as separate activities not to be mixed with each other, and as a result outsourced first and managed change later. Even in instances where both the activities ran parallel to each other, there was little inter-relation between the two.

Another thing to consider here is how the retained generalist HR organisation is utilized post HRO implementation. Demand dictates the output here; some could be moved under the shared services umbrella while others could be used to form centers of excellence to support the core business with consulting and/or business research services. The final shape of the HR organisation will ultimately depend on the specific needs of the business with a focus on providing HR a strategic involvement rather than appointing it as a ‘maintenance’ function, which is only a short term solution at best.

In order to be successful, the HR transformation process must necessarily cover the following process steps:

1. Selecting an HRO vendor and finalizing which functions of HR to outsource
2. Identifying gaps in the projected HR organisation
3. Determining scope for new roles like business research/consulting for the retained HR organisation
4. Assigning new and modified roles to the retained HR organisation
5. Managing the retained HR organisation by means of orientation, communication and training
6. Preparing retained HR organisation for their new roles, processes, tools and relationships
7. Managing change through extensive communication exercises
8. Supporting the outsourced processes till the time that they "run on their own" so that the employees do not feel disruption in HR services
9. Preparing and following exhaustive SLAs for the outsourcing partner
10. Providing every possible data and information source to the outsourcing partner for effective and seamless transition of processes
11. Maintaining audit points for both the retained and the outsourced HR processes
12. Maintaining a close eye on the market and competitive landscape to evolve further outsourcing strategies and practices
13. Engaging the outsourcing partner in frequent dialogue to unearth further areas of possible partnership
14. Above all, trusting the HRO partner and enabling the model to success, rather than setting it up for failure

In the final analysis, every step that the organisation takes towards gaining a competitive advantage will empower the people within the organisation. The organisation gains through a variety of routes, the cost advantage being amongst one of the many benefits that accrue to the organisation. If an organisation is looking at being perceived in a better light than the others in its space, HR outsourcing is an option that must be explored.