Stress - A call for Awakening

This is a Guest Post by Jagjit Singh of Samatvam Academy. The Samatvam Academy seeks to develop the ‘value-creation capabilities’ of organizations by helping foster individual excellence, group synergy and collective transformation. The mission is to deliver learning solutions for people who wish to become simultaneously effective and fulfilled in their respective organizational roles.

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How effective would be the outcome of the crusade of Anna Hazare against Corruption in the long run?

I was also the one who was following the crusade of Anna Hazare very emotionally and had planned to visit Jantar Mantar, the Gandhian’s campaigning site on Saturday but it ended the same morning. I was also the one who shared numerous links on Facebook and supported this crusade quite aggressively. 

But when the emotional high has subsided and things are cruising along in a normal way and nobody’s life is staked due to fast, I gave it a thought, a deep thought. I don’t know whether I am wrong, fishing out negative things, or trying to emerge different from others but on the grounds that I consider myself a responsible citizen of my country and love my nation the same way my neighbor loves, reacted the same way all of us reacted when India won the World Cup, I should give a due consideration to all the agendas that are there to effect my country. 

I was overwhelmed by the news of normal citizens joining the crusade, children and old alike. The emotional statements of people joining the crusade choked my throat. I was wholeheartedly supporting Anna for what he was doing and feeling my chest swelled on the unity shown by the whole nation, in spite of my personal problems that I was going through.

But, I would like to post some questions to my fellow citizens including myself. They are:-

1.      First and foremost, have we gone through the actual Lokpal Bill and the one proposed by Anna Hazare?
2.    Why only two low rung politicians, Uma Bharti and O P Chawtala came forward to meet Anna when we all know that opposition never leaves such opportunity to pull down the Govt.?
3.   How Anna Hazare did became such a big celebrity overnight when we hardly noticed his meeting with the PM in March?
4.    Why do we treat the politicians and bureaucrats as outcasts or Asuras(devil)?

I will try to answer the above questions according to my understanding of the issue. 

1.  Yes, I have gone through both the documents briefly as it was available on the internet and frankly speaking I am not a lawyer or know Law in detail to understand it accurately but it was good that the people with Anna were taking this effort to make the people understand what they are fighting for. There are some clauses in the proposed Lokpal Bill which I found to be very difficult to implement practically but I would not like to comment on those citing my limited knowledge on the subject.
2.  The answer to the second question is that no doubt politicians are the most opportunist lot but they will never like to play a second fiddle in any agitation which could have been the case here and they also refrained themselves from giving any kind of strong statement because of the high emotional outburst of the people of India.
3.  This question came into my mind when I learnt about another crusader in Manipur, Irom Chano Sharmila who has been on fast unto death demanding the Government of India to withdraw the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958, also otherwise known as AFSPA, from Manipur and other areas of India's north east. It was astonishing to learn that she is on fast since Nov 4, 2000 and is under arrest and forcibly kept alive by police through nasogastric intubation. What happened? Nobody marketed her, and is her agitation wrong? Perhaps we don’t consider the problem of Manipur as our own problem. Read the full history here Irom Chanu Sharmila. It means that India Against Corruption crusade has wittingly played with the emotions of the people of India. The PR of this agitation was impeccable.  
4.  The last question that I have put across comes with the tradition that we follow in India where Ajmal Kasab is also given a chance to prove his innocence, so why not our politicians and bureaucrats. Someone or the other hails from our own family or near relation. Do we ever outcast them even when it comes to our knowledge that the money he/she brings is through some unfair means? We all advise and encourage any newly selected IAS from our family to opt for a region with scope for making money, not with the scope of doing some outstanding work. These days nobody joins politics or opts for civil services to serve the nation and society but to taste - power and money. So before taking to streets against the corrupt politicians we should look into our own home and vicinity and outcast those who are corrupt. 

Hope my answers will satisfy the readers but then also I am open for comments and fresh view points. Now I will share with you all the general doubts that have crept up in my mind regarding the effectiveness of the Lokpal Bill when passed. It is quite early to say anything because a lot has to be discussed and it’s far away from being finalized yet, seeing the way Govt of India functions.

The base of the Lokpal Bill as Anna Hazare has been quoting since the beginning is to make it as a deterrent for the corrupt. 

Most of us would agree to the fact that our constitution is one of the best in the world as it was the amalgamation of the best existing at that time by the wisest of people around. We have laws for everything in the book and quite elaborately illustrated but then also law breakers and corruption are at a rampage. There are so many different bodies, agencies, levels with vested powers to check all the wrong doings that are likely to happen in the normal running of a country but then also it has hardly made any difference but instead I would say, it has brought more corruption in the pool which was already murky.

So in that case will one more Law under the exercise of one more body with immense powers make the difference that all the other efforts in this direction could not do? Nobody is born corrupt. It’s under certain conditions that one turns corrupt. What are those conditions? It’s the power that gives a human being a feeling of being invincible and that in turn makes him corrupt. 

 

One fine day I was moving through the bureaucratic area of Central Delhi when suddenly barricades were drawn by the police and the traffic was stopped where it was from all the sides and a convoy passed as we waited impatiently to start again for our respective destinations. I didn’t know whose convoy was that but just a thought came to my mind it is this man for which thousands of people are made stranded on the road and there was a man lying by the side of the road at the last traffic signal I crossed. What was the difference between the two? The power was the difference. 

Power of any magnitude can bring the feeling of self importance as compared to others. A peon at the door of an IAS officer also uses his power to allow only the chosen ones to enter the chamber. This is the intoxication of power. It is very overwhelming. A police constable stops any vehicle on Indian roads and asks for papers and we all with due respect draw out all the papers to show them without knowing the fact that a constable doesn’t have this power without a sub-inspector present at the scene. This is the effect of power. 

So, my dear countrymen will the Jan Lokpal Bill check all these with some extra ordinary powers to some chosen ones further who would not be elected but appointed?

Today we all have faith on Anna Hazare like we had faith on Mahatma Gandhi at the time of our independence. But people who will come after him would not be Mahatmas. Will they not take advantage of these immense powers to their own benefit? 

I am no lawyer or lawmaker but I have a sense of right and wrong, cause and effect and I dearly believe that prevention is better than cure or in other words it’s easier to cut the tree from its root rather than trimming its branches to check its growth. Again, it is the common mistake that we all do without realizing about running after the effects rather than controlling the cause.

I don’t have any concrete suggestions that I can make to add or subtract from the clauses of the Jan Lokpal Bill but evoke a thought among my fellow citizens about the things we can do. 

1.  We should always cast our vote no matter what and don’t see politics as untouchable.
2.  We should check and try to be at least corruption free in our field of play.
3.  We should all come up together against any wrong doings around us.
4. We should strictly stand against any corruption no matter how close is the person involved.

And, I hope like all my countrymen that this Jan Lokpal Bill will bring some miraculous transformation of our country.

The Art of Interviewing IV

Previous post for reference : The Art of Interviewing III

I am back with the ways to overcome the difficulties that we fished out from the process of interviewing. Just to remind you that we had gone through all the stages of interviewing meticulously but even then found out that the main motive of the whole purpose was not solved just because of the lack of certain important things that needed a proper knowledge of methodology and in turn realized that it cannot be overlooked.

So let us first jot down the points that had emerged which needed a thorough processing before coming up with a perfect recipe of the art of interviewing. They were:-  

1.       Is the Job Description thoroughly prepared to give clear picture as to what is expected from the JOB?

2.       Is the Feedback form clear and understandable to the interviewer and does comply with the Job Description?

3.       Are the questions relevant enough to judge the candidate or rate the candidate confidently on the criteria’s mention in the feedback form as well as the Job Description?

4.       Last but not the least give a clear picture of what you have understood about the candidate which is generally known as the feedback or rating which you can justify confidently. HOW TO RATE?

1.            Job Description We generally ask for this document when we receive a call for some open position and the recruiter fails to explain about the open position or when we are not convinced about the organizations reputation in question. The recruiters ask for this document so as to explain or in other words save their ass when the applicant asks too many questions about the job profile. 

Have we ever given a damn thought about this documentation above the stated reasons? NO, I don’t think so. What do you think? 

There has been volumes written on the importance of this document but I will try to be brief and to the point here and will touch upon this topic sometime later.

Here, giving emphasis on the Job Description will have the following benefits:-

• ·         Give time and provoke a thought process on the visualization of the personality best suited for the given position.
• ·         It will provide greater possibility for the recruiter to entice the best suited applicants for the position in turn lessen the burden of all involved in the process.
• ·         It will give a clear picture to the interviewer at different stages of interview about the kind of skill and personality best suited for the position.
• ·         It will also help the interviewer immensely in preparing the questions to be asked during the interview and give a proper feedback on the performance of the interviewee.
•  

However, I would like to pose a question to you all. How many of the interviewers actually get to see the Job Description?

Over and above this I would like to emphasize on a proper meeting and brainstorming of the stakeholders before finalizing on the Job Description of the open position and it should include all the expectations from the job. I am not convinced with the above statement myself so let’s discuss it elaborately and then we may get a better picture of what I am trying to emphasize. 

Different parts of the JD are:-

Position/Designation – I think we should be a little bit open on this but depends on the organization in question as many applicants decipher the whole Job through the advertised designation.

Skills – This is the most important aspect of the Job description while looking out for a prospective candidate. It has been seen that in practice only the technical skills are emphasized upon and the personality traits are overlooked or just gets a vague mention as the last point with the following sentences “Good personality with exceptional communication skill” or “Good presentation skill”. Here there is need to visualize the prospective candidate and the traits should be written down in explanatory language so that the visualization is clear to all the stakeholders. For example in case of the open position the personality can be explained like:-

• ·         Attractive personality
• ·         Proper dressing sense
• ·         Proper body language and social etiquettes
• ·         Able to explain and put forth his or her points with a decent communication skill.

Why can’t we explain these traits in simple language for everybody to understand?

The above personality trait at least finds a place in form of a single sentence but what about the more important aspect – Behavioural Attributes. Why it is left to the interviewers to judge according to their own understanding without even giving a hint as to what is required or expected in terms of behavioural attributes?

Job Profile – Many a times I have seen a copy and paste of the above section in this section. Here, as the heading suggests, all the details of the tasks and responsibilities that is involved in this position should be jotted down. This should be through and detailed one and again in a clear explanatory language so that interviewer gets to interview the best suited candidates.

Other attributes which includes experience, education, salary, location can be well taken care by the organisation concerned.

2.            The next is Feedback Form. I have seen very few people carrying a feedback form or even a notepad to the interview. What does this signify? This signifies that the decision of taking the candidate in or out is taken in the first 10 minutes of conversation and latter the feedback form if any is filled which evolves round the decision already made. This is a very sorry state of our corporate culture and HR fraternity.  

Even if there is a feedback form, it is the same for all the positions and openings.

The Feedback form should be made in accordance with the Job Description with an easy format so that all can fill it with least assistance. It should contain all the attributes that the candidate needs to be judged upon. This will also assist the interviewer to set questions accordingly. The feedback form is as important as the Job Description in the sense that this creates the elaborate record of the performance of the said candidate in the interview. 

The format should be such that against each attribute, space should also be provided for comments other than the numerical ratings. The feedback form should also contain the information regarding the minimum rating needed against any rating for selection. I think this is new to everybody. Let’s take for example the communication attribute for a software engg. post. Do we need a person having a rating of 5/5 for this position to be selected? May be a 3 or 2.5 will do. Accordingly, against each attribute the minimum cut off rating should be mentioned for a given open position. This will also give clarity to the interviewer on the attributes to be emphasized on.

The basis is that we don’t need an Einstein for every position. 

3.            Now the next is the Set of Questions to be set for the interviews. It is wise to prepare a set of questions to be asked from the prospective candidates during the interview. This is the integral part of the structured way of interview and it has been seen that structured way of interviewing has many benefits above the unstructured way of interviewing. 

It keeps the uniformity of the basis on which each and every candidate is judged upon. Each candidate can be further probed on any specific question depending on their answers.

4.            Now last but the most important aspect; How to Rate? Have ever answered this question? Where do you rate yourself on a scale of 10? How do you answer? How do you actually rate yourself? Where do you stand on a rate of certain scale? Do you have any answer to the above questions? NO, let us find out together.

First, we will understand a scale. What is a scale? A scale is a system of ordered marks at fixed intervals used as a reference standard in measurement: a ruler with scales in inches and centimetres. Or a progressive classification, as of size, amount, importance, or rank: judging divers' performances on a scale of 1 to 10. 

Now we have the definition of scale for us to refer. We all have used a calibrated scale called ruler in our childhood to measure the length. Now let us say we are asked to measure the length of a stick without the ruler then what do we generally do? We find out another thing that has already been measured and keep the stick in front of it and give an approximately right measurement. Some of us are sharp enough to give this approx measurement because we have a fair idea of the length of the scale in our mind. But have you realized that even in the later case we are using ourselves and our vision to refer as a ruler? 

I will make you understand with one more example. What if you are asked to measure the height of a person on a TV screen with a blank background? Now here we don’t even have ourselves and our naked vision to refer to? Now you got the point.

Now from the above discussion the following inferences can be drawn:-

1.       If we have a scientifically calibrated scale, we can measure any length accurately.

2.       If we don’t have a scale handy then also we can give an approximately right measurement but on the condition that we have something to refer to whose measurement is known to us.

3.       If we don’t have a scale and not even anything to refer to then it is only an guess work which ourselves are not confident of.

Generally, the third instance is what happens with all the ratings that are done around us, be it our performance appraisals or interviews. 

I think now we can start to understand the process of rating on a given scale.

Let us take the scale of 1 to 10 for discussion where 1 being the least and 10 being the maximum.

First we need to calibrate each point on the scale. Which means that for each point we need to clarify what should a person posses to be rated on that point starting from Einstein i.e. 10. This can be done according to our own understanding because there is no universal scientific scale being used for such measurement. I think it is simple enough to understand.

Second we need to design the questions in a way that the answers and further probing on those answers will give us enough confidence to rate the person on the given scale judiciously.

I think this is workable without any extra load. Is it not?

I will suggest you one more methodology of rating which is a bit complicated than the above stated one.

Allotment of points for each of the Attribute indicators

	-ve indicators	+ve indicators	+ve results	Competency Awareness	% points
1	Strong	Nil			0%
2	Light	Light			40%
3	No –ve or +ve evidence for an attribute				50%
4	Nil	Light			50%
5	Nil	Strong			70%
6	Nil	Strong	Strong		80%
7	Nil	Strong	Strong		90%
8	Nil	Strong	Strong	yes	100%

Interpretation of the points

%Range	Level	Interpretation
0-36	1	Below Avg (without potential to improve)
37-50	2	Below Avg (with potential to improve)
51-63	3	Average (Generally delivers satisfactory results)
64-74	4	Proficient (Always delivers satisfactory results)
75-84	5	Highly Proficient (Generally delivers more than satisfactory results)
85-92	6	Expert (Delivers Reliably good results)
93-100	7	Master (Can deliver precise results)

The above two tables illustrates the way to rating or grading the interviewees and even your current employees.

I think I have put my best to help you to triumph over the difficulties that one faces in interviewing. I would like to hear your queries if you find any difficulty understanding the ways that I have suggested and also would like to hear your feedback on the same if you bring it to practice.

I would like to strictly advise my friends not to rely on your gut feeling and be unbiased while taking an interview as one prepares and is full of hopes while entering the interview room and should be given ample opportunity to prove oneself.  

HAPPY INTERVIEWING

The Art of Interviewing III (contd....)

Last two posts for reference : The Art of Interviewing II

The Art of Interviewing I

I thoroughly apologize for not coming up with the post lately. Actually this post required an extensive research with my thought process to be in sync with it to come up with a really intriguing article of everybody’s interest.

My last two posts on the Art of Interviewing gave you an insight as to what all general and very common mistakes that are being committed in our interview processes at large. My last post also gave a brief description of the types and methods of interviews that are prevalent in the industry. It has been seriously affecting our recruitment cost and overall the operation cost but sadly even companies of very large stature also seem to be oblivious of the importance of the art and science of interviewing. 

It has been seen that the Europe based organizations have a more structured way of interviewing than the US based organizations. Sadly, the Indian companies don’t even exist in this comparison. Hope, people will agree with the above statement. I have found that the overall selection process of Govt. sector in India is far superior to the Private sector sparing the corruption. The inference that I have drawn is the availability of huge number of applicants for a given post has given birth to the lackadaisical approach in the Indian context.

Lets us thoroughly discuss the various stages of the interview process to give us a thorough understanding of the implications, the difficulties, triumph over them, the problems and the solutions.

Let us discuss, or in fact see the stages in a unique way where it will appear as a journey in our own self from our own eyes. I think this will really make all the readers recognize it as their own experience. 

Let us start then................

I am informed one fine day that I have been chosen to be in the interview panel  Oh what should I do? Let’s ask for the details like 

-          Position to be interviewed for (may be a copy of the Job Description)

-        What level of interview would I be taking and what will be the mode of interview(Telephonic/Face to Face)

-          The Team and Manager for whom the incumbent is proposed to work.

-          Get the expectation of the Manager from the prospective applicants.

-          Get a copy of the Feedback form and probe on the criteria given.

-          When would the interviews be starting and how early would I be informed about the same?

Now I have all the details that I can think of to prepare myself So what should I do next?

Let’s take a mock interview in my mind and see what preparation do I need?

-          I need to have a set of relevant questions to ask from each and every candidate to be fair with all.

-          How far should I probe on a specific question? (Untill I get satisfied to come to a conclusion)

-          What is the minimum time that I will be give to a candidate before concluding the interview

-          Should I be rating the candidate there and then during the interview? No that will be hasty and bias; instead I will take notes at that time.

-          I should be prepared with the probable questions that can be thrown upon me by the candidates.

-          I should be mentally and physically sound and neutral at the time of interview.

I think I have done my preparation but something is still missing What is it?

It is my mental preparation; like

-          I should be unbiased and emotionally neutral throughout the interview.

-          I will be thoroughly attentive to the candidate keeping aside all the distractions before entering the interview room.

-          Should not disrespect or criticize the candidate at any point of time during and after the interview.

-          I should be in a positive frame of mind to extract the best out of each candidate so that my sole purpose of activity i.e. the selection of right candidate is nourished.

-          I should refrain myself on concluding about the candidate mentally during the course of interview.

-          Once before starting and after ending the interview I will try to imagine myself in place of the candidate.

-          I will try not to keep the candidate waiting.

Now I feel I am ready and confident that I will be able to choose the right person for the job The day comes and I go as prepared and the interview went well with the candidate and I both satisfied with the whole performance.  What is the next step?

-          To rate the candidate on the different aspects given in the feedback form

-          How to rate the outcome on a numerical scale?

-          How can I rate the candidate on the Feedback form on the basis of the questions that I asked during the interview?

-          Let me rate according to my gut feeling.

-          It is difficult as this is the first candidate that I have met and I can’t even do the comparative analysis.

-          Let me write a note also on the candidates’ performance in the remarks section to support my ratings.

Now what is the next step Final conclusion or feedback

-          The candidate is a select or not?

-          Let us keep him and look out more candidates in the offering

So what is the final or outcome of the whole process? The statement: “The candidate is good but not fully convincing  so we can keep him on hold and look out at other candidates also”

Now here in the above illustration I have tried to be as good an interviewer can be keeping in mind all the preparations an interviewer can do before an interview given the limited time. But what is the outcome? NOTHING

I have refrained myself deliberately from discussing minutely the interviewers behaviour in the interview room as to how to start the conversation, how to ask questions, how to make the candidate relaxed. According to me all these things comes under the individual’s conduct or behaviour in a given situation which is more often spontaneous and it’s up to the interviewer how to take forward the whole interview keeping in mind the preparation and the motive of the process.

 

We cannot blame the interviewer over here or even the interviewee for not performing up to the mark. You all can see that in the above illustration the preparation for interviewing a candidate for a position is good but not complete. So what does it lack? 

1.       Is the Job Description thoroughly prepared to give clear picture as to what is expected from the JOB?

2.       Is the Feedback form clear and understandable to the interviewer and does comply with the Job Description?

3.       Are the questions relevant enough to judge the candidate or rate the candidate confidently on the criteria mention in the feedback form as well as the Job Description?

4.       Last but not the least give a clear picture of what you have understood about the candidate which is generally known as the feedback or rating which you can justify confidently. HOW TO RATE?

Now are the above mentioned aspects not important and affect the overall process of recruitment?

Yes, they certainly do and this is the reason we go on interviewing candidates after candidates before finally selecting one and even then whimper about performance, attrition, recruitment cost etc. This also gives rise to finding irrelevant faults in the candidates to hide or justify our failure in confident judgment of the candidate.

Therefore, the outcome of interviews depend more on the luck of the candidate rather than his/her competency. 

In the next post I will discuss on the above mentioned 4 difficulties and how to triumph over them. If you have any suggestion for me to include any aspect that I would have overlooked than you are most welcome.

Happy Reading