A few years ago, when I had to decide on whether and how much health insurance should we get for our employees, I asked a colleague whether she prefers health insurance or a hundred dollars in cash, her reply was CASH !
When I told her that her opinion may change if God forbid she is hospitalized or some illness strikes her, she said she didn’t expect something like that to happen to her. (Frankly, in my younger days, I also thought that all these things happen only to others and I am going to live healthy and happy forever).
I immediately remembered a lesson we learned while doing a course in management. There are some forms of compensation or employee gratifications that are satisfiers and there are some that are dissatisfiers. Satisfiers are literally those forms of remuneration that satisfy an employee. Dissatisfiers are those which fail to satisfy, no matter what the quantum. However, without dissatisfiers, no one will work with you or for you.
Respect from the boss and colleagues, a good working place and environment, the pride of working for a reputable firm and therefore a sparkling resume are great satisfiers.
Bonus, salary increases, incentives and perks like cars, children’s education etc. are all dissatisfiers. No matter how much you have, you will never be satisfied and always expect more.
Not surprisingly, all dissatisfiers are directly related to CASH.
How then does a senior manager or employer strike a balance between satisfier and dissatisfiers so that one can retain talent ?
My solution lies in COMMUNICATION. Simple transparent, logical and straightforward communication. Tell your people what they are getting and for what. Show them their cost to the company and relate that to their productivity. Inform that the two are directly related and if productivity is down, so will be their remunertation.
In addition, do be humane, generous and think about the long term potential of your colleague.
There are no sure shot solutions to management issues and problems. Nothing totally black and nothing totally white. A few grey areas will be there.
That is why the world needs managers !
Friday, March 27, 2009
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Relationships.....
I quote a Hindi song which haunts me many a times:
"Humne dekhi hai in aakhonh ki mehekti khushboo, haaht se choo ke ise rishte ka ilzaam na do, Sirf ehsaah hai yeh rooh seh mehsoos karo, pyaar ko pyar hee rehne do koi naam na do"
Translation to the best of my knowledge :
"I have seen the fragrance of love in these eyes,
please don't touch by hand and give it an insult of a relationship,
It's only a feeling,
feel it with your soul,
Let Love remain just love,
Don't give it a name. "
How difficult can this be to understand ? Let Love be just Love....
I wonder if and when we will (ever) understand that love and friendship has to be unconditional, undefined, unrelated to our silly aspirations of what we want (selfishly) of others.
As blessed as we are , of good people around us, do we really, really, try our best to be good, honest and loving to them (unconditionally)? If you are honest, God bless you !
There is so much wisdom in simple things said by simple people.
"Humne dekhi hai in aakhonh ki mehekti khushboo, haaht se choo ke ise rishte ka ilzaam na do, Sirf ehsaah hai yeh rooh seh mehsoos karo, pyaar ko pyar hee rehne do koi naam na do"
Translation to the best of my knowledge :
"I have seen the fragrance of love in these eyes,
please don't touch by hand and give it an insult of a relationship,
It's only a feeling,
feel it with your soul,
Let Love remain just love,
Don't give it a name. "
How difficult can this be to understand ? Let Love be just Love....
I wonder if and when we will (ever) understand that love and friendship has to be unconditional, undefined, unrelated to our silly aspirations of what we want (selfishly) of others.
As blessed as we are , of good people around us, do we really, really, try our best to be good, honest and loving to them (unconditionally)? If you are honest, God bless you !
There is so much wisdom in simple things said by simple people.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Looting a house on fire
I quote from "36 Strategies of The Chinese", Accepting Ancient Wisdom To The Business World by Wee Chow Hou and Lan Luh Luh:
' LOOTING A HOUSE ON FIRE'
"When the enemy is in big crisis, that is the time to destroy him. This will enable the strong to conquer the weak as mentioned in Yi Jang's chapter on "Jue".
Wow! What words of wisdom ! The strong destroying the weak at their time of crisis. A zero sum game. Only one will stand when the war is over. And according to most Chinese philosophers, there are only losers and winners in business, No middle ground here. Sun Tzu et al.
My last posting was about happiness, which cannot be achieved if you are alone.
Really, what would life be if everyone else was dead ? Would you like to build a palace in the middle of burial grounds ?
No competition, no one to benchmark against, no one to look up to and emulate, no one to beat or better and therefore no happiness ?
Shoot, I would rather have competition and try to better them than to destroy them altogether.
Which brings me to the issue of Ji Yang and Sun Tzu and other so called ancient gurus of war who are now sold as gurus of management.
SUN TZU IS DEAD. and so is that style/brand of management. Business is not a zero sum game, neither is it a war. Only one man standing makes one man standing alone. One single man is not a civilization. People can co-operate and profit together. In fact, there is no other choice but to act, grow and prosper together. Competition is good, destruction of competitors is bad. Sounds contradictory eh ?
Ask the Americans. They tried being the ONLY power in the world. Now they have self desctructed themselves. A hard lesson is to be learned, at great pain I am sure.
' LOOTING A HOUSE ON FIRE'
"When the enemy is in big crisis, that is the time to destroy him. This will enable the strong to conquer the weak as mentioned in Yi Jang's chapter on "Jue".
Wow! What words of wisdom ! The strong destroying the weak at their time of crisis. A zero sum game. Only one will stand when the war is over. And according to most Chinese philosophers, there are only losers and winners in business, No middle ground here. Sun Tzu et al.
My last posting was about happiness, which cannot be achieved if you are alone.
Really, what would life be if everyone else was dead ? Would you like to build a palace in the middle of burial grounds ?
No competition, no one to benchmark against, no one to look up to and emulate, no one to beat or better and therefore no happiness ?
Shoot, I would rather have competition and try to better them than to destroy them altogether.
Which brings me to the issue of Ji Yang and Sun Tzu and other so called ancient gurus of war who are now sold as gurus of management.
SUN TZU IS DEAD. and so is that style/brand of management. Business is not a zero sum game, neither is it a war. Only one man standing makes one man standing alone. One single man is not a civilization. People can co-operate and profit together. In fact, there is no other choice but to act, grow and prosper together. Competition is good, destruction of competitors is bad. Sounds contradictory eh ?
Ask the Americans. They tried being the ONLY power in the world. Now they have self desctructed themselves. A hard lesson is to be learned, at great pain I am sure.
Friday, March 20, 2009
There is a truth deeper than experience
So 
much to learn
I quote from SHANTARAM, a book written by Gregory David Roberts, a convicted felon, drug addict, prison escapee who finally paid his dues to the society with a long incarceration. Take this friends:
"There is a truth deeper than experience. It's beyond what we see, or even what we feel. It's an order of truth that seperates the profound from the merely clever, and the reality from the perception.
We are helpless, usually, in the face of it; and the cost of knowing it, like the cost of knowing love, is sometimes greater than any heart would willingly pay.
It doesn't always help us to love the world, but it does help us from hating the world.
And the only way to to know that truth is to share it, from heart to heart."
Gosh, all this from a convicted felon !
We live in a world where we try so hard to hide the truth, let alone share it with others. Sharing the truth is sign of weakness. We feel vulnerable, sure to be taken advantage of, exposed, exploited, insulted, even violated.
Sharing anything? That's not on anymore ! Every man for himself is the norm of the day.
So, let me ask you, can you be happy without sharing ?
If you were to enjoy music alone, well someone is singing , so you are not alone. If you are eating food, someone must have grown the vegetables. If you are having a steak, the cow has died for you and an omlette involves the chicken. You live in a house, well, someone has built it and you wear clothes that someone has stiched. Pray to God and God gets involved !
Fact of the matter : Happiness cannot be achieved alone. Tell me if I'm wrong. Give me one example where happiness can be achieved without sharing with atleast one other and I shall buy you a good meal, PROMISE.
Yet, in our hearts, we all know that sharing never hurt anyone. A song, a dance, a moment of joy, a discreet but heartfelt handshake with my son, a kiss on my daughter's cheek, a hug to my wife, a pat on my sisters' back (even a big slap for that matter), an evening with my friends. God, I love it all !!!
" The Truth Will Set You Free" . Share Share and Share.
Amen
much to learnI quote from SHANTARAM, a book written by Gregory David Roberts, a convicted felon, drug addict, prison escapee who finally paid his dues to the society with a long incarceration. Take this friends:
"There is a truth deeper than experience. It's beyond what we see, or even what we feel. It's an order of truth that seperates the profound from the merely clever, and the reality from the perception.
We are helpless, usually, in the face of it; and the cost of knowing it, like the cost of knowing love, is sometimes greater than any heart would willingly pay.
It doesn't always help us to love the world, but it does help us from hating the world.
And the only way to to know that truth is to share it, from heart to heart."
Gosh, all this from a convicted felon !
We live in a world where we try so hard to hide the truth, let alone share it with others. Sharing the truth is sign of weakness. We feel vulnerable, sure to be taken advantage of, exposed, exploited, insulted, even violated.
Sharing anything? That's not on anymore ! Every man for himself is the norm of the day.
So, let me ask you, can you be happy without sharing ?
If you were to enjoy music alone, well someone is singing , so you are not alone. If you are eating food, someone must have grown the vegetables. If you are having a steak, the cow has died for you and an omlette involves the chicken. You live in a house, well, someone has built it and you wear clothes that someone has stiched. Pray to God and God gets involved !
Fact of the matter : Happiness cannot be achieved alone. Tell me if I'm wrong. Give me one example where happiness can be achieved without sharing with atleast one other and I shall buy you a good meal, PROMISE.
Yet, in our hearts, we all know that sharing never hurt anyone. A song, a dance, a moment of joy, a discreet but heartfelt handshake with my son, a kiss on my daughter's cheek, a hug to my wife, a pat on my sisters' back (even a big slap for that matter), an evening with my friends. God, I love it all !!!
" The Truth Will Set You Free" . Share Share and Share.
Amen
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Onions and Strokes
What happens when you shift focus in crisis
A man condemned to punishment was given a choice between eating a hundred onions or receiving a hundred strokes on his back. He settled for the onions, taking this to be the easier option. But when he could no longer stand the onions he shouted for the slippers. When he could stand the slippers no more, he once again wanted the onions. He ended by eating all the onions and receiving all the strokes.
Management lesson : Don't shift focus when in the middle of a crisis. You will end up making things worse.
In these times, being single mindedly focused is better than being scatter brained. Panic results in confusion, and finally one loses control of the desired outcome.
Elementry my dear Watson !
A man condemned to punishment was given a choice between eating a hundred onions or receiving a hundred strokes on his back. He settled for the onions, taking this to be the easier option. But when he could no longer stand the onions he shouted for the slippers. When he could stand the slippers no more, he once again wanted the onions. He ended by eating all the onions and receiving all the strokes.
Management lesson : Don't shift focus when in the middle of a crisis. You will end up making things worse.
In these times, being single mindedly focused is better than being scatter brained. Panic results in confusion, and finally one loses control of the desired outcome.
Elementry my dear Watson !
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Punga
Management lesson for the week:
Punga is a difficult Punjabi word to define. Roughly, it means asking for trouble when you don't need to. The following story will illustrate what I mean.
A Sikh was on a flight, with a parrot on the other side of the aisle. He noticed that every time a certain pretty hostess walked past, the bird would whistle appreciatively. The girl would give the parrot a dirty look, but nothing else happened. The last straw was when she was nipped by the bird while passing by. She stormed into the cockpit and complained loudly about the lewd passenger. The captain said there was little he could do, and asked her to put up with the bird’s behaviour until they had landed.
The next time she walked past, the Sikh got into the act, and pinched her. This time, she blew up and threatened to resign if the captain took no action. “OK,” he replied. “Throw them both out of the plane.” As the two fell from 30,000 feet, the parrot asked the Sikh: “Sardar Ji, can you fly?” When the panic-stricken man said no, the bird unfurled his wings and asked: “Then why did you take a punga with the hostess?
Moral of the story : Dont take punga if you dont know how to fly from 30,000 feet above the ground.We are living in turbulent times. Stick to well known Management Principles. No punga allowed.
Punga is a difficult Punjabi word to define. Roughly, it means asking for trouble when you don't need to. The following story will illustrate what I mean.
A Sikh was on a flight, with a parrot on the other side of the aisle. He noticed that every time a certain pretty hostess walked past, the bird would whistle appreciatively. The girl would give the parrot a dirty look, but nothing else happened. The last straw was when she was nipped by the bird while passing by. She stormed into the cockpit and complained loudly about the lewd passenger. The captain said there was little he could do, and asked her to put up with the bird’s behaviour until they had landed.
The next time she walked past, the Sikh got into the act, and pinched her. This time, she blew up and threatened to resign if the captain took no action. “OK,” he replied. “Throw them both out of the plane.” As the two fell from 30,000 feet, the parrot asked the Sikh: “Sardar Ji, can you fly?” When the panic-stricken man said no, the bird unfurled his wings and asked: “Then why did you take a punga with the hostess?
Moral of the story : Dont take punga if you dont know how to fly from 30,000 feet above the ground.We are living in turbulent times. Stick to well known Management Principles. No punga allowed.
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