Executive coaching, a strategic imperative

A well thought-out coaching programme could be the answer to an organisation's talent retention woes.

Given the economic realities, competitive pressures and employee egress, executives and those who look to them for counsel would be delighted to see a steadier business cycle if such a thing exists.

The opportunity to retain employees will bring optimism. It will be possible to make commitments. We would embrace the possibility of stable employee retention, strong growth and sustainable profits.

This may not be possible in the context of the larger economy. However, it is entirely possible for the few strong-willed business leaders who are serious about growth.

For others who doubt this opportunity, it is true some businesses do succeed despite complete inefficiencies. Dynamic economies bear proof of such bizarre success. The same economic dynamism destroys a lot more companies.

Though rocky economic conditions test the determination of businesses, many companies simply neglect the investment needed to shape executives.

Let there be no doubt that the senior executive's primary role is to motivate and develop capable employees who, in turn, generate revenue and profitability. However, many struggle to keep their people motivated on a daily basis.

WINNING THEM OVER

Today, coaching employees to drive business functions is routinely disregarded by most organisations. Why is this so?

Senior executives still operate with the old mind-set. Business functions are not task-driven, repetitive functions any more. These functions have become automated, while other functions needed to ‘get things done' have become complex. Senior executives need to re-design these functions to develop capabilities for growing tomorrow's business.

Some senior managers disregard the need to coach employees because they lack realistic management experience. Coaching is an integral part of core management skills — as every business school would teach.

Another section of managers have adequate management exposure, yet they do not want to take on the burden. Instead, they shift blame on the industry, location, customers or employees. “For a long time in my career I was led to believe the customer was the problem in sales. If he was not the issue, then we would blame the salesperson,” said Mr Raghuram, CEO of a leading business intelligence and data mining company.

How do some companies seem to motivate employees better than others? And these are invariably the same companies that perform consistently well in good times and bad. So what unexplained magical force wakes up their spirit every morning?

The answer turns out to be the way in which senior executives shape the work environment — a joint morning coffee break, the first 30-minute ritual, or something else. Here again, oddly enough, some CEOs unintentionally persuade unhealthy behaviour — gamesmanship. Others push the workforce to accept meaningless goals. Most expect outcomes that employees hardly understand, let alone know how to complete such tasks.

Crafted coaching drives motivation and long-term executive retention. Why is executive coaching important for talent retention? The end-result of focused handholding tells the whole story.

Raghuram's old-style leadership approach had to undergo a complete change when he moved to a high-tech industry. A 15-month transformation process improved his attitude towards the employee's short and long-term welfare, the root-cause of employee motivation. With employee morale rising, it boosted Raghuram's confidence in achieving greater things for the company.

RESPONSIBLE MENTORING

“You should constantly develop employees at every level. When employees scrutinise every move, you have the opportunity to create followers and also help them grow along with you,” Raghuram recommends. This approach has paid off for the company — it has achieved 81 per cent employee retention over a seven-year period compared with 62 per cent across industry over the same period.

By virtue of his title, position, and compensation, an executive takes up the implicit responsibility to coach others. Executives need to be present when their employees need direction, demonstrate commitment, formulate a growth path for each of the team members, and help the member reach his or her full potential.

Every executive has the opportunity to make a difference in another's life. The question is executive action. It is a disservice when executives do not help others. Are these executives good for the company?

A BOOST FROM AN UNLIKELY SOURCE

With 20-something employees, direct C-suite mentoring proved beneficial to one mid-sized real estate company in Mumbai. Last year, this company had its employees select 10 junior executives to be directly coached by the company's C-suite as a part of a three-year programme.

From the outside, the programme sounded familiar, but the inner workings and commitment demonstrated a completely different picture. Junior executives led meetings and stepped up to negotiate sensitive aspects of the business performance.

“We evaluate burning issues and present the management with our strategies. Without fear or intimidation, we debate and seek cross-department support. From there on, we roll-up our sleeves and get things done,” says Sukumar Ramanath, a young executive, one of the latest recruits.

“The process is self-rewarding,” says Mukund Sachdev, the company's human resources director. Recognition of one's abilities to manoeuvre difficult subjects is a shot in the arm for achieving career aspirations,” he said, summarising the first year's outcome.

This confidence-boosting approach is something every company must aspire to, opening its doors to taking on newer projects without worrying about the availability of talent. Companies such as Tata Steel and Infosys have mandatory management training programmes for incoming engineers. And once they return to their routine, these employees are tapped for special projects to help shape the company's growth.

Knowledge and understanding of how to navigate effectively in the corporate world are invaluable lessons that formal training does not provide. Without prior ‘hands-on' experience, a favourable result is much harder to reach. Quite a few Indian executives who have risen quickly to the top, lack in hands-on management skills.

TACTICAL COACHING FOR STRATEGIC RESULTS

The ability to lead high-stakes projects shape individuals' ability to become CEOs later on in their careers. Their risk-taking abilities come from their constant exposure to varied projects.

“I was repeatedly asked to do the dirty jobs — take on assignments to manage hostile and sensitive situations. Over time, these opportunities defined my career as a turnaround leader. When the founder suddenly passed away, my name was the first choice to run the company. I owe a lot to my mentor,” says Kripanand Menon looking back on his 33-year-long professional career in the auto parts manufacturing industry. Today, Kripanand mentors five senior executives and encourages other CEOs to do the same.

Tough assignments extend executives' abilities and push their scientific and managerial skills to the next level. CEOs have to take ownership for justifying such projects, just as an elder owner in a family-run company accommodates younger stakeholders, counselling them to accept challenging ventures.

Aditya Reddy, one such executive mentored by Kripanand responded thus, “Challenging projects motivate us to perform at the next level. In turn, we help line managers develop specific competencies to develop a sense of accomplishment in their professional role in a short time.”

There was a time when leaders grew through titles, tenure, and even mere educational qualifications. Leadership is no more a proclaimed title or bestowed on promotion. It is not determined by ownership or years of service.

Leadership is defined by the people who are asked to follow. A company's future is dependent on this delicate yet rich balance of principled and profit-driven leaders. Executive retention is the key to future success. Throwing money at it will not solve the problem.

(The writer is Managing Director, The Business Labs. He can be reached atrajganesan@thebusinesslabs.com) Thank You.

Long-term career planning is like managing investments

Four principles to guide those all-important career decisions.

It is interesting to observe how certain areas of life lend themselves to repeated errors in judgment on the part of the smartest people. Investing in the capital markets is one such example where all proven principles are disregarded by the savviest of investors in favour of irrational sentiment. The few who manage to stay rational and remember the elementary lessons emerge winners in the long term.

Managing a career for the long term is similar in that proven wisdom is often ignored.

The reasons are not hard to understand:

It is not easy to go against a popular view, however, unfounded and stupid that view might be, especially if it is being peddled by “experts.”

A long-term, correct approach calls for patience as results are not discernable in the short term; most often results are actually negative in the short term.

In this article I attempt to identify some principles that I believe will be helpful in taking a more long-term view of a career.

SELF-AWARENESS IS THE STARTING POINT

No career planning is possible without a degree of self-awareness. It is not unusual to see young people, early in their career, underestimate the importance of self-awareness only to discover its value a decade or two later into their careers.

When I first heard the term “burnout,” I tried to understand what causes it. I gradually discovered that burnout is really the result of two things:

Doing something that you do not enjoy, day in and day out

Doing something that you are not good at, day in and day out

Even one of these two factors can cause burnout in the medium term; the combined effect then, is lethal.

Certain roles call for implementing unpopular decisions and resolving conflict constantly, while others may call for pursuing million-dollar enterprise deals. Some individuals are inherently adept at performing either of these two roles, but others would simply not enjoy either in the long run, even if they are able to handle such situations successfully once in a while.

The question then arises as to why people aspire to roles that do not play to their strengths. Usually, it is the power and prestige associated with some of these roles. There are many roles that are rewarding, especially if they play to our strengths, but our criteria are often defined too narrowly by what others perceive as rewarding or successful.

Invariably, in the long term, one recognises the futility and short-sightedness of this approach, but it is often too late.

CONTINUOUS LEARNING IS AT THE CORE

Everyone who views a career as a marathon would appreciate the importance of continuous learning. In fact, when you interview such a person, he/she can very neatly summarise the learning gleaned in each of his/her previous roles, however small and insignificant the learning may appear to others.

For example, in one role, this person may have understood the prudence of consultation before implementing a policy; in another role, he/she may have distinguished a key soft skill in managing a globally distributed team; and in a different role, mastered the art of story-telling.

It is important to recognise, therefore, not only that no learning is too small, but also that while in the quest for the big strategic lesson, we often miss out on the small lessons that really matter and give meaning to our careers and lives. It is, thus, not surprising that “learning” is more of an attitude and less of a capability.

STABILITY HAS VALUE

Stability, or the lack of it, is one of the most visible indicators of how a person views a career. But what is stability? What constitutes a good tenure in a role or in a firm? And, most importantly, why is stability important?

The analogy of making an investment will again assist us here. Stability in this scenario would be reflected in a person's being willing to take the right bets based on certain principles and wait it out for the time required for such principles to play out and show results. A stable investor is also one who can recognise an error in judgment and can take decisive actions that minimise losses.

Similarly, an individual who takes a long-term view of a career is able to measure a role against more “fundamental principles” and recognise the timeframe for measuring results.

Consider the following questions. If the answer to one or more of them is “yes,” the principle against which you are evaluating a role can be considered a “fundamental” one:

Will this role help me learn new things, build new skills, or develop new competencies?

Does this role play to my strengths?

Can I leverage my strengths in this role to attempt something that can give me great satisfaction?

Does this role help me fill a strategic gap in my repertoire of skills that, if fulfilled, can put my career on a different trajectory?

… AND FINALLY, CHARACTER BUILDING IS A CRITICAL COMPONENT IN THE LONG RUN

As we progress in our careers, we are often faced with the temptation to do things that we would otherwise not do if we knew that others would find out. Most of us take chances assuming that others would not find out. I believe, however, that such temptations do not necessarily test our moral uprightness or lack of it, but that it is about being aware that eventually a transgression does not pay. It is about realising that character is tangible, and that it is valued in the marketplace — valued more than any skill or capability at a senior level. Therefore, the more you progress in your career, the more it pays to be upright and honest.

In summary, managing a career with a long-term goal in mind is less about the specific principles behind the process in that a different person could come up with a different set of principles that may be more appealing. Managing a career for the long term, then, is about internalising any set of meaningful principles and living by them.

(The writer is Managing Director and Global Head of Human Resources at Amba Research.)

Source : Business Line. Thank you.

Signs of Burnout Mirrored in Leave Calendar

This is because Mondays and Fridays,when combined with the weekend,is an extended time off from office.Fridays have work to be finished and Mondays are always busy.So,an employees reluctance to come to office on these days does not bode well for the employer.The symptoms of burnout are rarely overt,and the leave calendar is a great indicator for managers, says Deepak Shetty,HR head for Philips.Under the programme,about 50 middle managers have also been trained to develop motivational skills and hone their leadership capabilities;their management skills are assessed through employee engagement surveys every November.In advertising,a sector known for its odd working hours and intense demands on creativity,managers are now caught up in trying to ward off burnout.Last year,advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather (O&M ) started training its younger employees on boss management.Employees were taught not to take either criticism,or praise,to heart since both were likely to build unrealistic expectations.If your boss praises you,it does not make you a prima donna, says Prateek Srivastava,group president for O&M (south).And if he criticises you,it does not mean you are worthless. The agency found many of its young employees spending more and more time,including weekends,in office,and decided this needed to be monitored.If they were there because they wanted to watch a match with colleagues,that was alright.But if they were in practically every weekend because they had to complete a project,and couldnt manage to do so through the week,senior managers were urged to gently tell them to distribute the workload with others.As a quick-fix,O&M also allows employees to do things like play music while at work to relax them.Employee surveys have shown that this has helped many of the younger lot to handle work pressure.And if anyone complains about the music or the loud volume its played at,its their problem, says a determined Srivastava.The HR head of an agency remembers how an advertising professional felt completely wiped out by the time he was 30 because his company had identified him as a rising star,and made constant demands on his time and creativity.He quit the agency and tried opening his own firm, says the HR head.But he soon found that he had no clients because,after word about his breakdown got out,no one wanted to work with him anymore. The burnout not only cost the man his job,but also his career.If advertising professionals need to pace their creativity,youngsters in IT -- particularly in the call centres and BPOs -- need their time managed better.That is why companies like Sabre Holdings and Google are now allowing more freedom to their employees to adjust their timelines and work schedules with their global clients.Earlier,employees had to tune into calls at odd hours in keeping with the work day of their American and European counterparts.But noting the rise in grievances,Sabre and Google now lets employees to fix call timings that suit their schedule as well.In addition to this,Sabre Holdings also makes sure to play down things that may promote fierce competition among its younger employees,like identifying star performers.Unlike other companies,Sabre does not have the concept of selecting top performers who would have access to special meetings with senior managers and get global exposure all the time.It is important to be subtle about performance so that the pressure to be the best does not build up all the time, says HR head Savitha Prasad,who speaks from experience.In a previous job,Prasad says the employer was so fixated on top performers that one of their best managers,who was in her early-30 s,suffered a burnout when she found out she was pregnant and could not manage to juggle both work and family responsibilities.As an added safeguard,Sabre does not allow employees to carry forward their holidays to the next year and insists they take enough leave every year.Some companies feel that if they help out with employees out-of-office responsibilities,it takes a load off their staff.While some organisations offer services like grocery shopping or laundry on campus,HCL has introduced the concept of a genie or personal helper for employees.

Source : Economic Times. Thank You.

India Inc Building Safeguards to Avoid Employee Burnout

DEVINA SENGUPTA BANGALORE 

Clinical psychologists like Sugami Ramesh,who is attached to Bangalores Apollo Clinic,attest to an increase in executive burnout cases in recent years.Every Saturday,my chambers are filled with IT professionals trying to cope, she says.Not many want their companies to know that they are visiting me. But given the magnitude of the problem,companies have a fair idea.Concerned about their employees' well-being,many are trying to put in safeguards,and antistress measures in place.Besides hiring in-house counsellors,they are promoting flexible work schedules,paid sabbaticals and recreation time,and they are allowing employees to say no to stretched targets and training managers to look out for (and report ) signs of burnout.So,in the last 18 months,managers at Wipro have been urged to make one thing clear to their US clients: every six months,about one-third of the employees on a project,who would be working on their time,would be replaced with a different set.The idea,Wipros senior executives say,is to give staff a breather from working on night shifts.Clients have been warned that there will be a churn every few months.That we would rather have our employees change projects than change companies, says Samir Gadgil,general manager for Wipros talent engagement and development initiative.Most employees on night shifts are youngsters and distress attrition due to burnout is the last thing the company needs,he adds.Many companies have anti-stress programmes.Philips adopted a programme called bullet-proof management,where managers are trained to watch for signs of burnout among staff.They have to keep track of the number of Mondays and Fridays staff take leave.

Source : EconomicTimes. Thank You.