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Management Association Dept. of Management, BITS Pilani

Keeping the Humane in you alive

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Contents
HR for Neophytes How Should Your Leaders Behave Connect, Then Lead M.S Dhonis Leadership Style

HR for Neophytes
Its a worldwide trend that has been under way for nearly a decade: Responsibility for talent management is shifting from HR to frontline executives. The transition is driven partly by cost cuttinghead counts in HR departments fell sharply during the Great Recession, but it is also fueled by the recognition that many aspects of talent management are best handled by day-today managers. In a 2005 Australian study, 70% of respondents said that line managers had taken over many HR tasks in their firms during the previous five years. In a 2013 survey of UK companies, senior executives reported playing a much bigger role than HR departments in setting employees development goals. In the United States, 45% of the HR departments surveyed plan to restructure before the end of 2013, in part to reflect this trend. And research by CEB shows that when line managers, rather than HR, are responsible for recruiting, perforInvestments in human capital are highly uncertain; the returns are less predictable than those from, say, new machinery. Some talent management activities that worked well for decades no longer pay off. And acquiring skills in this area can be difficult: Research suggests that some of the most widely held beliefs about managing people are misguided. Executives newly responsible for talent managementand employers in generalmay benefit from thinking about the questions below. The emerging best practices described will be familiar to most experienced HR professionals, but surprisingly few companies actually follow them .

CLUB MEMBERS Suhas John Umang Ugra Debasis Rath Suvigya Raj Kaushik Niharika Singh

mance management, and retention, companies are 29% more successful at those tasks. For many line managers, the shift presents challenges.

How Should Your Leaders Behave ?

Anyone with responsibility for the performance of a large organization knows the value of effective leaders. Most of us are more than happy to invest in developing them. But even a cursory review of the management literature shows that theres no consensus on how to do that. When fast growth pressured us at Amgen to bring along the talent in our leadership pipeline, we had to figure it out for ourselves. Heres what I learned: We had to put the focus on the behaviors we expected leaders to display, and those had to be spelled out by a top team that was highly engaged, intellectually and emotionally, in the process. First we discussed at a headline level what a leader in our organization should do. Even at that stage, our debate was impassioned, but we arrived at a list: Consciously act as a role model; deliver strong results in the right way; build, develop, and lead

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, but we arrived at a list: Consciously act as a role model; deliver strong results in the right way; build, develop, and lead empowered and diverse teams; and motivate others with a vision for the future that can be implemented. The discussions got livelier when we sought to describe each behavior with enough specificity to inform selection, training,

and evaluation. Take, for example, acting as a role model, which challenges leaders to bring their best selves to the job day after day. We came to agree that leaders should work to gain self-awareness, seek and accept feedback, grow and improve continually, and embrace Amgens cultural values (which, by the way, we defined through a separate, similar process). Descriptors under every heading had to

be precise, real, and actionoriented. The words mattered. We could have styled these must-haves as character traits or attributes. By casting them instead as behaviors, we underscored two messages: It isnt worth much to have an attribute that you dont display; and if you fall short of what the best leaders do, you can close that gap.

Connect, Then Lead

Is it better to be loved or feared? Niccol Machiavelli pondered that timeless conundrum 500 years ago and hedged his bets. It may be he answered that one but Why are these traits so important? Because they answer two critical questions: What are this persons Now behavioral science is weighing in with research showing that Machiavelli had it partly right: When we judge others especially our leaderswe look first at two characteristics: how lovable they are (their warmth, communion, or trustworthiness) and how fearsome intentions toward me? and Is he or she capable of acting on those intentions? Together, these assessments underlie our emotional and behavioral reactions to other people, groups, and even b r a nd s a nd co m p anies. Research by one of us, Amy Cuddy, and colleagues Susan Fiske, of should wish to be both, acknowledged, because it is difficult to unite them in one person, it is much safer to be feared than loved. they are (their strength, agency, or competence). Although there is some disagreement proper labels about for the the Princeton, and Peter Glick, of Lawrence University, shows that people judged to be competent but lacking in warmth often elicit envy in others, an emotion involving both respect and resentment that cuts both ways. When we respect someone, we want to cooperate or affiliate ourselves with him or her, but resentment can make that person vulnerable to harsh reprisal (think of disgraced Tyco CEO Dennis Kozlowski, whose extravagance made him an unsympathetic public figure). On the other hand, people judged as warm but incompetent tend to elicit pity, which also involves a mix of emotions: Compassion moves us to help those we pity, but our lack of respect leads us ultimately to neglect them. traits, researchers agree that they are the two primary dimensions of social judgment.

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M.S Dhonis Leadership Style

India Inc., which has its own share of controversies to cope with, can learn how to deal with high stress from the Indian captain. MS Dhoni, India's most successful cricket captain, is well on his way to be regarded as one of the greatest leaders the game has seen. In the past, people have attributed his success to luck, timing, good fortune and the like. But on closer analysis of his success, we see a clear pattern emerging. Dhoni's leadership style offers invaluable lessons to managers at all levels. Managing Ego In a hierarchy led environment, Dhoni was catapulted to captaincy ahead of several established players in a team laden with stars and former captains. He took his time and didn't interfere in their proven methods and managed to extract the best out of these stars at most times without ruffling feathers. Many young managers who inherit legacy organizations face this challenge at the workplace. Change Management Dhoni did not rush through with change in personnel and team culture. He first established his credibility and over time dealt with these issues and managed the transition through the process of natural attrition and performance management. Most CEOs confronted with change management issues at the workplace will do well to take a leaf out of MSD's book and not take the "bull in a china shop" approach while dealing with change. Managing success Dhoni dealt with his early success with a lot of maturity with his feet firmly on the ground, which eventually led to his elevation. It requires a great degree of levelheadedness and humility to handle fame and money at an early age. In a corporate context, early success need not lead to brash behavior towards colleagues and customers. We have seen that, at times, young managers who see success early lose their balance and face early career burnouts. Managing pressure Ability to stay calm and keep his cool with a seemingly uncluttered mind is Dhonis greatest gift as a leader. This soothes t he nerves of the rest of the team and ensures that they stay focused and continue to believe in themselves. Dhoni is a lesson for all leaders in terms of their ability to manage extremely stressful Managing failure After the heady success of the World Cup 2011, it was just downhill for Dhoni and his team. After a string of embarrasswork environments. Managing periods of high stress without losing your composure is the key to long-term success and good health.

ing losses, it required great character and attitude to bounce back. He did this in style and answered all his critics with the sheer weight of his performance once again. At the workplace, failure has to be dealt with the same fashion as success and one has to continue to be focused on the job at hand. Backs his people He places immense trust on his people and backs them to deliver. This allows them to express themselves freely without the fear of failure. At the workplace, team members reciprocate and feel a sense of responsibility based on the trust shown by their leaders on them

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