Manpower Doesn’t Matter

By Madan Lamsal

We have odd peoples in all professions. We have students who do not like to study and teachers who do not like to teach. Our operators refuse to operate. Our salesmen don’t like to sell. Our servicemen do not give service. If they have to, the customer may have to pay high service charge. Our managers are not willing to manage. Our law and order men create disorder. Lets not talk about politicians as politics is not our cup of tea.

Rather, we can think about our economists. They are closer to our statistics though the statistics may vary from one economist to another in the same subject. For example, if you ask one economist what is the growth in the GDP in the coming fiscal year would be, he or she (if there is she-economist in Nepal) will give you the figure according to party or group he or she represents. Because poor figure has to depend on the economists' inclination to this or that party. You can call him the economist ‘branded’ one. You know that it is not bad to be branded if you are for sale.

Anyway, coming to the crux of the matter, it is not the economist alone who has contributed to the mess in our society. Different professionals from different walks of life have deliberately helped it. Therefore, recognizing their contribution, some of them have been rewarded. I strongly feel that rest of the contributors should also be rewarded. Because, this disorder and mess called for much effort and pain and was not made overnight. You know that Rome was not built in a single day. It was not the creation of any single party, group or individual. It took a long period of time and mighty teamwork. In fact, every citizen had done his bit.

Our politicians worked hard to instill political sense in every sector including army, police and public sector. Our officials in the government also helped in this largely by avoiding making decisions and spreading the Yogic-philosophy of "work less, lessen your tension and be happy". Our businessmen did not fall behind in creating enough confusions in their ledgers so as to evade tax and add fuel to corruption.

And of-course, our managers did their bit by giving less importance to an important resource of an enterprise, i.e. personnel. Therefore, they acknowledge the fact that personnel is their most valuable asset to neglect. If you don’t believe me, take the back issues of Business Age and check the "Corporate Movement" column. You will find business houses and companies from where the employees move out within a month of joining. Every next month you find at least one or two managers leaving or joining the organization respecting the democratic norms that the political parties are promoting by encouraging defectors.

In most cases, when a project is planned, companies spend appreciable resources to plan sales, production, maintenance and so on but personnel is the last thing anybody worries about. They know and firmly believe that like other resources men are also assets, but easily dispensable. In Nepal you can find them dime a dozen as they wander around the city knocking on doors of politicians and business enterprises. Today, the ambition of a dashing young man and a few women (as after-marriage girls don’t know whether they will continue their profession or not) in Nepal is to acquire a ‘Jagir’.

Therefore, our planners, in government and corporate sectors alike, are fully aware of the fact that manpower is the thing to be least bothered about. I also hope that you will agree with them.

When a project is planned, companies spend appreciable resources to plan sales, production, maintenance and so on but personnel is the last thing anybody worries about.

HR Alliance with IT

By Shiva Khera

I have asked this one question to a number of decision makers all over the world – " If there is one thing you would like to see changed, that would make your organization more productive, what would it be?" They all said that if our people had a better attitude, quality, teamwork and the bottom line would improve. Today the most important word in the English language is "Attitude". Experience has shown that human resource is the most valuable asset of any organization, more than capital or equipment.

Attitude is perhaps one of the most important characteristic which determines, the key to getting ahead both personally and professionally. It is not our position but our disposition that determines success. There are only three kinds of people in this world:

People who make things happen.
People who watch things happen.
People who wonder what happened.

The speed of change in IT has put many people in the third category. The biggest challenge today is not change but the speed of change. IT has made global boundaries disappear bringing people closer. One computer can do the job of fifty ordinary people but can 50 computers do the job of one extra ordinary person?

IT remains a powerful tool and is here to stay. Its use or abuse is both a self-esteem and Values Issue. Educating the mind without morals and ethics creates a maniac in society. A change of attitude is required. The focus should be to stop hackers and negative people from misusing technical sophistications of IT, while at the same time having value based benchmarks to further a powerful tool in the right hands.

Technology is only a skill. Skill is ability. People are looking for ability all the time. Ability is important, but dependability is crucial. The question is, if you had people with all the ability but no dependability, would you want them in your organization? Obviously not. Ability without dependability is a liability. We all want to be dependable, don’t we? Should technology be any different? IT has revolutionized the world. Technology has changed from designer jeans to designer Genes. Today there is more information in a single edition of New York Times than was available during the whole of the seventeenth century! IT has become a common factor for most progressive organizations. The winning edge comes from Total Quality People (TQP). Thus technology alone has ceased to be the winning edge in competition. The concentration is on the one constant. Total Quality People — who are a combination of attitude, values, character and integrity.

People can be our biggest asset and they can also be our biggest liability. One needs to distinguish between skill and competence. Skill is ability whereas competence is skill along with a will. There are many skilful people who are totally incompetent. IT may give skills but need not necessarily bring competence.

We need to ask ourselves – Is IT a problem solver? IT is only a tool in the hands of people. HR can ensure proper and effective use as well as stopping abuse. Technology provides speed but not the touch and the feel.

If people do not know how, what and when to communicate, they would only mis-communicate faster. Today’s interactive technology is producing loners. The answer is in developing TQP—Total Quality People for maximum effectiveness, IT remains only as a buzzword without it. Values are eternal and universal; TQP establishes universal benchmarks for Values and Ethics. Thus the role of HR has become more crucial today as a strategic partner to IT.

SUCCESS—-Everybody wants to climb up the ladder of success only to find the ladder is leaning against the wrong building. Success is important, but without fulfilment it is empty. We need to ask ourselves? Are we playing to win or playing not to lose? Playing to win comes from inspiration, whereas playing not to lose comes out of Desperation. The answer again is —TQP.

MOTIVATION—Most people know what to do. The question is are they doing it? Probably not. What is missing? The spark—motivation. Can we motivate people? Absolutely not! What we can do is to inspire people to motivate themselves. Inspiration is thinking but motivation brings action. When thinking changes, it is reflected in behaviour.

SELF ESTEEM—No matter what technology in use, if organizations are run by egos, nothing works. There are two kinds of negative Egos. One—"I Know It All" and the other —Fragile Ego. People with the "I know it all" ego put other people down. Every decision they make is more to satisfy their ego, than what makes sense. Fragile Egos are reflected by touchy behaviour. Imagine what these two egos do to Team Work! THEY DESTROY IT. How can IT work without teamwork? Using IT in a constructive or destructive manner is a self-esteem issue. The potential of misuse of technology by people is phenomenal.

Take the various bugs and viruses that float on the Internet, and what about hacking? All these ills are a result of the anonymity the medium provides and a lack of moral values and self-esteem.

GOALS—When we address issues on goal setting, we take the "wholistic" approach which means people take family problems to work and they also take work problems to the family. We are talking in terms of personal, professional and social responsibility. The biggest challenge facing the corporate executive today is "How do I balance my work and home life?" Our goals are directed, by a purpose in life, because the purpose is a lifetime goal. Goals can take the direction of a Vision. What is vision? Vision is the ability to see the invisible. It is not problem solving. It is pre-empting and preventing.

VALUES—Our credibility determines our profitability. IT is only a tool in the hands of a conscious keeper. Life is full of choices and compromises and our decisions determine our destinations. This is not a contradiction. Have you ever wondered why some individuals and some organizations are more successful than others? It is no a secret, they simply think and act more effectively —in a series of consistent value based decisions. Who do we owe loyalties to – individuals or organizations? To neither. We owe loyalties to Universal Values.

The progress and role of IT is directly dependent on the human mind behind the computer. The requirement besides skill, should be for a person to have all the values of a good human being, which when defined would translate to courage, commitment, integrity, loyalty, honesty, dependability, sensitivity, humility, open mindedness and flexibility (in so far as making changes and being open to changes). All progress is change but not all change is progress. Growth for growths sake could be cancerous.

Today’s technology has spread its influence globally, and this is a time of reckoning for HR. Work has to be performed with more responsibility and sensitivity. HR has to assume the role, being challenged but not aggressive, innovative but not reckless, caring but not stagnant.

OUR CONVICTION : Abstain and sustain. Abstain from what does not work. Sustain what does.

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