Author: Nevoxel

Author: Vineet Dev Giri, DGM Operations & Trade, Global Feeder Shipping, Dubai.

There are several reasons seafarers quit a promising and well-rewarding life at sea. Leaving an active sea career is not an easy decision, yet hundreds of merchant navy officers have dared to trespass this unforgiving territory of shore jobs and have not only conquered them but also remained undefeated in their new endeavors.

Only those who lack the courage and conviction attribute others’ success to luck or fate, but those mariners who did not wait to be Masters or Chief engineers and had full faith in them have hung their sea boots early and secured a long-lasting shore career for themselves.

Usually, there are two types of seafarers at the sea. There is one group of seafarers who is happy to continue at sea and in fact enjoy sailing, and then there is another group of seafarers who want to leave but are scared to choose the option of settling ashore due to a lot of uncertainties associated with this decision. If you belong to the latter group, let me assure you that once you decide to step out of this comfort zone (your sea career), hard work, dedication, and a belief in yourself can take you on a path of unprecedented success. Leaving the sea life and settling ashore might be difficult but it’s not impossible for sure!

First, let’s cover some practical aspects of moving ashore which have served me well, and definitely, those contemplating a move ashore can draw some inspiration from.

1. The earlier you move ashore the better.

Why I say this as my very first point is because when you move ashore young –i.e. as a junior officer – your financial obligations are less, probably don’t have a family to worry about, the multitude of options to begin with ashore (you just start somewhere) –enter the pipeline and work your way through various departments.

2. What will be a good age to consider moving ashore –

I believe anywhere between 24-28 is a good time when you are either an experienced second officer /third engineer or a young fresh second engineer/chief officer. The reason why I emphasize this is – inshore there is a stigma /apprehensions of hiring master mariner/chief engineers especially in departments other than ship management of being pricey (Salary wise), attitude issues ( considering coming as senior ranks ) , and then malleability ( to learn and adapt ) .

3. What departments within the shipping industry can one consider –

One of the common misunderstandings amongst seafarers is trying to aim to be either a marine superintendent or a technical superintendent within ship management but there are a whole plethora of departments where one can work –namely – Chartering, Operations, Commercial, Marketing, Sales each of which have people working within and being seafarer will only make you a candidate with an edge as compared to other candidates who are civilian’s.

4. Will I need to take a salary dump?

The big answer to it is yes – in the short sight might not seem like a bright idea but in the long run, the returns will get compounded and you will probably make more than the last captain you sailed with. Time is important and you need to take calculated risks which are needed. Seafarers need to realize that given a chance to move ashore – they should be grateful and at the same time make the most of the opportunity given.

5. How transferrable/valued are my skills/experience as a seafarer?

Your skills and experience as a seafarer are probably only valued so far as if working in ship management as a Technical or marine Superintendent. The moment you move into any other department – your skills/experience are good enough to ask the right questions and support where other team members are lacking from a shipboard experience point of view. Yes it does add a star to your CV once ashore but it’s only enough to get you through the door – what you do with the opportunity plus your experience is a combination of your skills, people management, recognizing the opportunities’.

6. Eye-Opener – Who are the top bosses sitting ashore?

Some of you must have wondered who these guys are sitting ashore heading the departments. Are they seafarers? In commercial, operations, trade? Seldom they are sea-farers – most of the time these are civilian’s –graduates who entered young and have grown through the ranks – so if they can? What’s stopping us as seafarers? The only difference between them and us is time – they had a head start.

Personally having worked across three continents in the shipping industry across departments – Operations, commercial and trade – I feel seafarers make the best candidates for shore positions as well –so go find yourself your first role ashore plus find a mentor with whom you would want to exchange places if you could – talk to people – network. The most important thing is – change roles/positions/responsibilities within 1-2 years while you are young and have a young family – don’t get complacent –accumulate enough experience to let your late 30’s run on autopilot professionally and financially.

I was lucky enough to be given a chance at a young age to enter ashore and to date – I am in touch with my first boss ashore who also happens to be a good friend, mentor, and colleague – remember your network is your net worth.

With numerous shipping hubs all around the world, you have your pick of where you wish to begin your shore-based life. London, Singapore, Dubai, Houston, Hamburg, Athens and Limassol are just a few options.

It is a big decision to leave your seafaring ways behind so if you are considering moving ashore, make sure you do enough research before making the commitment. My advice to others thinking of making the move ashore is to do so with an open mind, bearing in mind that the initial role you take is just a gateway to your career ashore. Do your research on house prices, cost of living and commuting options so you know exactly what to expect before you make the move.”

If you want to find out more about opportunities ashore, get in touch with our Shipping team of specialist consultants Nevoxel, who can advise you on roles that might be suited to your skills, experience, and ambitions.

 

 

AGILE HR: FUTURE OF HR

In common parlance or layman’s terms “continuous innovation with a flexible approach” can be used to describe agile closer to the actual meaning.  The agility element in thinking and executing with the final objective in mind, without creating complexities around the ways of doing things is agile. In other words, an agile methodology is an iterative approach to developing initiatives and solutions, structured around experimentation, integration, and review, and supported by a trusting and collaborative culture.

Why Agile now?

In the VUCA world, (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous) Organisations are required to quickly change business models, practices, processes, offerings, etc which is what agile principles are harping on, and hence the time to imbibe agile practices in organizations are more relevant in the current context than any preceding times.  

Agile in HR: Mindset and Principles

Agile as a methodology is based on certain values/principles from where narratives for adaptation for people management practices can be drawn. Implementation of agile requires an understanding of agile manifesto and translating them into how in HR, the adoption can be made possible.

Challenges in the adoption of agile methodology in HR can be daunting as it is needed to be clearly understood that more than the adoption of any principles or practices, it is more of a shift in mindset requiring wholehearted support and conviction from employees of all levels especially the leadership.

The biggest and foremost battle to be won in implementing agile practices in an organization commences from the mindset change, gearing to shift to an agile mindset.

Agile Mindset

Agile mindset is essentially the drift in the values/belief systems with a specific focus on specific attributes reflected in the organizational ways of working, The attributes or behavioral tenets which indicate the agile mindset are depicted in the below picture.

 

The mindset shift though appears easier requires a tremendous amount of energy in practice. The willingness to give and receive feedback frequently, without considering one’s position in the hierarchy is not easily accepted and acclimatized in an organization. The mindset of continuous improvement which calls for open and frequent communication to make iterative attempts to bring changes does necessitate a shift from the initially agreed plans that are normally considered sacrosanct.

How does Agile HR is different from traditional HR?

Traditionally HR is likely to focus on standardization and or uniformity in processes and operations with limited or very limited flexibility. The traditional approach of HR has a more strong focus on the role and hierarchy with a definitive career path, competencies, and alignment thereof with the performance management.

Agile, on the other hand, bolsters flexibility in operations with more focus on collaboration than the individual. The freedom to operate in career pathing, learning, goals, etc as per the agile principles enables HR to function differently from the traditional ways of operations.

Implementing Agile in HR: Agile HR practices in real life

Agile HR has the capability to ensure a higher degree of employee centricity in people management operations for being adaptable and simple compared to traditional people operations.

The agile HR practices would majorly focus on two dimensions to ensure the people management operations are reflecting the agile principles viz;

Embracing agile practices in HR would necessitate reasonable translation of agile principles in HR practices without compromising dilution of the agile principles. Though, below depiction may not necessarily be used as “one size fits all”, the exhibit certainly indicates possibilities of integration of agile principles in people management operations.

Challenges in the adoption of agile methodology in HR can be daunting as it is needed to be clearly understood that more than the adoption of any principles or practices, This is more of a shift in mindset requiring wholehearted support and conviction from employees of all levels especially the leadership.

 

 Author: Rajesh Balasubramanian, Managing Partner & Lead – HR Advisory, Nevoxel

Senior HR professional and enterprising leader with over 20+ years of experience in designing and executing interventions aligned to organizational priorities delivering consistent results as an external consultant and functional head in the people management domain.

A change catalyst, advocating HR transformation with people and technology as the enablers while developing interventions, with employee experience and capability development of individual and organization as outcomes with a focus on data-driven decisions. He is highly experienced in working with CXO, Board of Directors, and external consultants with adequate expertise in understanding business imperatives and plans while formulating appropriate interventions. He has a strong track record of managing projects successfully across India and the Middle East region.

 

 

Switching ashore after a sea career-Have it in you?

The day we have to leave our family behind, to join the ship, we are come over with an odd feeling and ask ourselves, why can’t I just stay home and do something ashore.

This is one of the main reasons, after few years of sailing, seafarers contemplate switching ashore. However, this is easier said than done.

In this article, we try to enumerate few considerations where seafarers falter when making the transition. We are sure this would give you an insight into the transition and better preparation for the switch.

The thought process-How badly do you want to shift ashore?Is the question one needs to ask themselves, when the thought of shifting ashore crosses his/her mind. Every year there are many seafarers who quit sailing and join a shore organization; however, some part of the lot always moves back to see after a year two. The most important milestone is the DECISION to switch ashore come what may. The shore organizations are very skeptical in taking seafarers for the 1^st job ashore as they feel seafarers are the “most confused lot” not knowing whether they really want to shift ashore.

Family angle: Family is the biggest PAP (project affect party) in the process of your switch ashore. The decision to switch has to be run through the family and the family has to be convinced that the switch is for the general good in the long run. Families usually always are very happy to learn of the switch; however, they also need to brace for the changes which would be part of the switch. The changes could be a) managing household expenses, b) change of schools for kids c) moving to a different city for the shore profession etc.

The Run-up: Once you have taken the decision to shift ashore, you need to have a decent length of run-up for mental preparation, which could be up to a couple of contracts. You could read as much literature on switching ashore as available, talk to superintendents, pilots, surveyors, cargo supervisors, coming on board and also friends, batchmates etc. who have already made the switch to better understand the process which will also assist in firming up your decision.

What do you want to do? By the time you have completed the above point, you should be having a fairly good idea of what you plan to do once you switch ashore.it is true that seafarers have a plethora of options available to shift ashore however choosing the one thing which you are interested in doing OR more importantly suited to, will go a long way in you not being in the lot who go back to sea after a couple of years.

Finances-in control? Once you have decided on what you would be doing ashore, you would need to plan your finances accordingly. Meaning-you would need a buffer to see you and your family through the year or two while you are settling in. By this time, you would have a fairly good idea of what would be your remuneration once you shift ashore based on the line of shore profession you have chosen. This usually will end up in a shock in the system if not planned well and also will be the waypoint for altering course back to sea.

Timeline: All the above points are all-time bound. If you do not have the timeline factored in each of the above points, it will be very difficult to assess the time when you would be ready to call it quits. For e.g. You will need to have a firm timeline to have the finances in place, which will help in disciplining your expenditures.

Courses/training to switch ashore: This would be part of your point 4 above and would depend on the shore job chosen. Without completing point 4, doing some course which is available, will be only a waste of your time and money.80% of shore jobs available do not require any training other than the vast experience one has gained at sea.

Action plan: Once you have covered up to point 7, you now need to have a firm WRITTEN down an action plan based on the timeline in point 6. Writing the plan down with the associated timeline is very important as it may bring out some missed tasks and also sharing the same with the family will help them understand your actions better. Preparing a concise CV portraying why the employer has to employ you over other similarly qualified seafarer should also be an important part of the action plan

The approach: Having said that there is no special training required for the majority of jobs ashore, it is because you would be joining ashore as a trainee (even though your designation may be fascinating) to learn, on the job. Shore job brings a very different perspective on the industry which you felt “you knew it all”. Hence one should approach the shore job as a new beginning with a lot of learning opportunities along the way.

Hang up your boots for good: Last but not the least, once you have shifted ashore and started working, you have already crossed the PONR (point of no return) unless you have a force majeure situation, where you may have to divert to a port of refuge.  If you have followed the above steps diligently, we do not see any reason you would need to go back to sea.

Summary:

Switching ashore for seafarers has always been the toughest decisions of their life however if due diligence is done, the decision could be very enriching and fulfilling for the seafarer and his family in the long run.

Note: This article in no way undermines the wonderful career at sea, which in itself is so rewarding. As the saying goes, once a seafarer is always a seafarer and this article is trying to portray only a different facet of the exceptional profession.

Author: Capt. Vijayraghavan, Manning Manager, Nippon India Ship Management Pvt Ltd.

Everyone needs to use a calendar of some sort to schedule meetings and appointments and to prevent over-commitment of valuable time. Your own specific work governs your choice of the best type of calendar for your situation.

Anything from a mobile device, to a letter-sized three-ring binder, or even a compact pocket-sized booklet, as simple as it seems, can serve the purpose of keeping your daily priorities intact. If you choose to use an electronic device, search out an “app” that will best suit your needs. In addition, many apps can be customized to set up and track your daily important/imperative activities. Smartphones are another savvy choice, serving as sophisticated multi-tasking tools. If you use a desk-sized calendar, your important/imperative list can easily be incorporated into it.

Regardless of the format, consider your calendar as a commitment book rather than merely a record of what you have done or plan to do. This attitude makes it easier to control how you use your time. If, for example, you have marked a block of time for planning, and someone calls and requests an appointment, it is easy to refer to your calendar and say, “I’m sorry, I’m already committed for that time. Would 2 p.m. Thursday be convenient for you?” Keeping commitments to yourself to accomplish the work you want to do is just as important as keeping commitments you make to other people.

When you use a daily planner to identify an important/imperative list, you avoid using precious mental energy for remembering lists. That capacity is released for creative, productive work and planning. The study of how you now use your time and the type of investments you make with your time capital helps you set goals for improved time use and for gaining control of your own life and your own time.

Author: Capt. Sachin Kamble (LMI Partner,India)

Leadership & Transformational Development Coach at Nevoxel

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At the heart of a positive motivational climate is open, constructive communication. To maximize its effectiveness, remember that communication is always a two-way street. Listen to your people. Listen with your ears, your eyes, and your emotions. Not only do you discover the personal needs that motivate people, but you also benefit from hearing their valuable ideas. When you listen to people, they feel comfortable about sharing ideas and information.

Another important factor in establishing a motivational climate lies in your attitude toward mistakes and failures. When you constantly encourage your people to accept new responsibilities, risk personal growth and increase their productivity, it is inevitable that they will make some mistakes, miss some goals, or make an occasional bad decision. If they never make mistakes, they are not trying anything new; they are merely going around and around in the same old rut. When mistakes occur or obstacles arise, choose to coach—not punish—the person involved. Use setbacks or missed goals as opportunities to teach better methods, improve thinking, and form more effective procedures. Then allow time and opportunity for the team member to adjust and make the work current.

Establishing and maintaining a motivational climate in the workplace requires a great deal of sensitivity to individual differences and a great deal of creativity in structuring work assignments to maximize overall productivity. Because individual needs differ, how you lead people must differ. At the same time, the necessary procedures connected with the organization’s needs must be met, and the difference in the way you lead people must avoid any appearance of preferential treatment.

Some of your people are highly structured. They want to do things “by the book.” They want an explicit process to follow in every situation because this helps them feel safe. Give them training that makes it possible to do their jobs accurately and promptly, but do not burden them with the responsibility for making decisions in unusual situations. They will follow your instructions to the letter with a minimum of supervision. Others, however, like more freedom to devise their own work plan; they want to feel that their judgment is trusted and that they are free to exercise initiative.

It is to your advantage to encourage team members to use as much of their creativity as possible as long as it is focused narrowly on productivity. Your responsibility is to direct creativity toward appropriate targets and demand conformity in the type of situations where no deviation can be tolerated. The ethical policies of the organization, for example, are so vital to its existence that conformity must be maintained. No “creative” deviations can be allowed.

Encourage your people to grow and to develop. When one person in the organization grows, the whole organization benefits.

Author: Capt. Sachin kamble – LMI Licensee 

Leadership and Transformational Development Coach at Nevoxel

Who sees you as their mentor, as their inspiration, as memorable in their life? This may be difficult at first since people seldom see themselves as making a significant impact on others.

Ask yourself how many people in your life want to help you? How many people have you dedicated your time and energy to help this year? If the answer to both questions is “a handful,” you may lead a comfortable life, but you will not develop significance in your relationships.

To create significance, you must develop the attitude of the “servant’s heart”. You must ask yourself how you can help other people. This requires you to shift your focus. You develop a servant’s heart by dedicating yourself to the success of those who help you achieve your success.

People walk around with the letters MMFA – Make Me Feel Appreciated – as a figurative imprint on their foreheads. You, as a leader with a servant’s heart, must ask how you can help these people become more effective and feel more important. You must make your colleagues, customers and stakeholders understand that you have their best interests at heart and that your commitment is unconditional

All of us aspire to reach our dreams and goals. The leader with a “servant’s heart” inspires others to succeed at a personal level. When people realize that they can reach their personal goals through helping the organization reach its goals, they make impressive results possible.

Author: Capt. Sachin kamble – LMI Licensee 

Leadership and Transformational Development Coach at Nevoxel

We are born to lead, but in the process of adjusting to the complexities of the world, we are sometimes so occupied with satisfying basic needs that you can give little thought, time or attention to self-fulfillment and development of your personal leadership skills. Habits developed in this context become demotivators. The most common demotivator is fear.

Overcome Your Fears
If your needs are not being satisfied – or if you think they may not be satisfied – fear takes over and blots out creativity. You react to your perception of a situation, rather than to the actual situation. Fear is a natural and constructive mechanism that calls for personal leadership.

Any physical or psychological threat sets off a system that is called “fear.” When the alarm goes off, your body undergoes instant change. Fear jerks both mind and body awake so that your body is prepared and ready to act! Fear is a natural and constructive force in self-preservation. Courage is one response to fear. So is caution, aggression, or retreat. Although fear is a positive and constructive way of meeting threats to both physical and psychological dangers, it can become a demotivator.

• Fear is exhausting – The adrenaline, the muscle tension and concentrated mental energy required to overcome fear and take action are demanding. You may lose your sense of goal direction because your mental and physical resources must be diverted to deal with fear itself. If it prevents you from being yourself for extended periods of time, fear is destructive.

• Fear can become a conditioned response – Fear is negative when it becomes a conditioned response unrelated to a real threat. If you experience fear based only on what other people might say, think or do, your fears are artificially created and destructive. Although they may have no basis in fact, such fears cause anxiety, distrust, concern or even panic.

• Fear can become generalized – Fear becomes a deadly demotivator when it becomes a general method of responding to life regardless of whether a threat exists in the environment. It saps your strength and your potential for growth is neglected. Fear, when it becomes habitual, is overcome in the same manner as other habits. You learn to recognize it, find a more satisfying response, and replace the fear by substitution. Recognizing and facing your fears head-on is important. Do not let fear keep you from becoming the great leader you are meant to be.

Author: Capt. Sachin Kamble, LMI Partner India  

 

A learning culture is a collection of organizational conventions, values, practices, and processes. It requires continually increasing one’s knowledge, skills, and competencies as well as developing the flexibility to thrive in an array of unpredictable circumstances.

Due to recent upheavals in the operating environment of business, most of the company’s business model was forced to transform to be able to sustain itself. However, the role of HR not to be negated for the transformational change that most of the industry went through! They took a centre stage and played a prominent role to balance the emotional doldrums that the organization’s Human capital went through. For any progressive organization, HR plays a key role to develop and maintain its Human Capital.

Now the question is, how can HR enable employees to succeed in their job?

Facilitating learning is perhaps one of the most important roles for HR to focus on. It has become imperative for them to take some important steps towards creating a culture of learning.

On one hand, 2020 has shaken many of us badly and on the other hand, it has given us an opportunity to undo, redo and transform. For a thriving organization, investing in resilience and agility will be the most important investment, to ensure their success and survival. One of the investments’, organizations should consider is to develop a culture of learning, for agility and resilience. 

There are many benefits of a cultivated learning culture in an organization. A few of them are listed as below:

• Increased efficiency, productivity, and profit
• A culture of knowledge inquiry and sharing
• An enhanced ability for workers to adapt to change.
• Increased employee satisfaction and decreased turnover
• An improved mindset among employees
• A developed sense of ownership and accountability
• Ease in succession/transition

How to Create a Learning Culture in an Organization
A few of the ways an organization can foster a learning culture are outlined below:

 Be empathetic towards your people and see them as learners and not just treat them only as your employee.
 Set clear and measurable learning objectives and learning paths for all employees
 Foster a culture that could encourage and motivate them enough
 Reward sharing of learning and enable a culture of learning from failure
 Set clear and measurable learning objectives for all the employees
 Promote from within, it encourages them to stay for a longer tenure
 Formalize Training & Development and make it mandatory for all individuals in the organization

Let’s agree, that “Leaders are the trendsetters” So let it begin with them as a first step. Leaders should be agile and supportive of a learning environment.

Learning creates a path for innovation which ultimately leads to progress. Growth mindset people are eager to learn and if they feel they are not getting ample scope of learning, they disengage and look for employers more attituned to their needs.

Author: Neetu Jaiswal

Human being feels a large number of emotions every day. However, being emotional does not necessarily mean being emotionally intelligent.

What is Emotional Intelligence?

It is the quality to acknowledge and accept the emotions of self and others around us. The concept of EI was introduced by Daniel Goleman in 1990, in which he strongly emphasized regulating one’s own emotions for the personal and common good. One of the most reliable forums, The World Economic Forum in its survey, declared that Emotional Intelligence is one of the most sought-after skills in the present era. Employees with higher EQ can easily adapt to the fast-paced working environment and are making their way in almost every industry and every department.

Today, organizations are looking through the lens of EI in hiring, promoting, and developing their employees. The four components of EI, Self-awareness, Self-management, Social Awareness, and Relationship Management are so relevant today and can be combined with Human Resources for the enhancement of productivity and a harmonious work environment. Personal Competence focuses mainly on individual aspects and is more about staying aware of one’s own emotions and behaviours. Social Competence is about understanding other people’s moods, motives, and behaviors to improve the quality of relationships. A sound understanding of these concepts and their application help in achieving desired results, thus creating a happy work environment.

Why emotional intelligence is crucial now?

Fast-paced work cultures demand skills that are much more than technical. Since technology is taking over and many tasks are getting automated, employees need to showcase those skills that can never be replaced. Social skills such as EQ, persuasion, negotiation, mentoring are higher in demand now. Companies are looking for talents who are agile and can easily adapt to the need of the hour.

In the present scenario, where the entire economy is impacted by COVID-19, the significance of Emotional Intelligence is much more where employees need to manage their personal and professional lives simultaneously due to the new norm of work from home. While the IT sector employees were familiar with work from home setup, it is a new experience for other sectors employees. Resistance to change with the sudden shift of working is adding negative emotions such as anxiety, stress, fear, and hugely impacting the mental conditions of people. Therefore, in a situation like this, having control over emotions is important. Measures such as prioritizing work, maintaining discipline, sticking to a routine, would come in handy.

Google’s famous project Aristotle initiative states that high performing teams need three things:
1) Social Sensitivity

2) an environment where every person gets the chance to speak and express
themselves

3) psychological safety without the fear of negative consequences.

We see that managers who understand the emotions of their subordinates are more approachable, hence more popular
compared to those who are not sociable. Today employees are expected to be both individual contributors as well as team players. Only those employees can handle the group dynamics well who understand the emotions.

Emotional Intelligence matters more now because the workplace has changed. Today, work is being done in teams, not in isolation. Organizations have realized that recognizing emotions can lead to a healthier environment. People with higher EI are also more adaptable to change, which is a must in this fast-changed digital age.

Here are some tips from the experts to develop Emotional Intelligence:
• Practice empathy
• Take critique well
• Prioritize work
• Observing your reactions in tough situations and analyze them
• Be approachable and sociable

Seeing the importance of EI growing, we can see that the parameters for hiring Managers and Leaders have changed. For instance, there are five candidates A, B, C, D, and X for a Managerial position. B represents the ideal candidate as per the graph. Everybody wants them. C and D are less desirable. The real dilemma would be whether to hire A, who has the highest skill sets but low EI, or X, who is of slightly lower skill level than A but has high Emotional Intelligence. These days hiring managers are preferring candidate X over A.

Application of EI in Human Resources

The best way to hire good candidates is to make EI a part of the hiring process. Conducting interviews by asking thoughtful and open-ended questions would give the candidates the space to speak more, letting the interviewer judge their thought process and behavior. Creating a Job description that defines the personality traits of the desired candidates would help in screening. Other methods like Checking references, conducting group interviews, etc would give better results. Negative behaviors like avoiding the bosses, stress leading to emotional outbursts, lack of flexibility, conflicts, etc hold the organizations back. Coaching on Emotional Intelligence can cater to this need. It can improve communication skills, improve work relationships, improve decision-making, reduce stress, and increase motivation among employees.

Studies show that high-performing leaders have higher emotional intelligence. EI tools such as leadership assessments, feedback, quizzes, help in improving the performance of leaders, and also create Success profiles to select recruits.

Author: Deeksha Srivastava MBA-HR (SCMHRD)
Intern at Nevoxel

 

“At present, the world’s largest and experienced country with plateau and mountain troops is
neither the US, Russia, nor any European powerhouse, but India,”

Huang Guozhi, senior editor
of Modern Weaponry magazine, wrote in an article published by China’s thepaper.cn on
Tuesday, June 09, 2020.

The rare praise from the Chinese side came amidst the border standoff of India with the Chinese. Now, we have a fair idea of the skirmishes along the LoAC, but this statement by the Chinese side again highlights a very crucial and critical aspect of a country and an organization- HUMAN RESOURCE.

Today, the Chinese military is considerably mightier than that of India. The Chinese military is also better equipped than their Indian counterpart. Also, over a course of time, China has developed the infrastructure (including roads, bridges, etc.) along the LoaC on their side. Given these factors, it is astonishing that the Indian military is able to push back the Chinese, from Indian territory. What was that magical ingredient that worked for the Indian side? The answer lies in the first line of the article itself. This whole episode highlights the importance of a smart, well-trained employee.

Today’s environment is experiencing heavy competition and the emergence of using technology to aid innovation and agility in operations to grow and sustain the growth. In this scenario, well trained and competent workforce are the key differentiating factors for an organization for sustained growth which is reflected by the war for talent among organizations across the world. However, it also pertinent that the talented employees consistently upskill and reskilling themselves to raise their competence as the new currency of the world could well be the “competent talent”.

Progressive organizations are constantly evolving new means and measures for selecting the best available talent from all parts of the world as organizations are becoming boundaryless in the global village concept. In recent times, the organizational focus is getting tilted to emotional intelligence and learning orientation of employees while selecting the candidates who display a definitive amount of domain expertise. It is no longer the knowledge the only scenario that prevails for candidate selection or growth in the organization. So, what is expected from future employers? The ability of the potential candidate to unambiguously exhibit characteristics of a collaborative working individual having a high degree of learning capability.

Getting an entry into progressive and organizations which are privy to investing in people hence require “right aptitude to learn and the right attitude to work”. This new norm leaves organizations and employees to plan and engage in defining and executing a learning journey for an employee once one moves in. While honing the skills are required for the beneficial continuance of the employee-employer relationship, the onus lies very much with the employee as providing a conducive environment is what an organization can dream and provide.

Specialists can partner with organizations to design and manage the learning journey from a transformation perspective enabling organizations to become talent differentiators. As the adage goes, “we can take the horse to the water, but cannot make it drink”. If you need to have an edge over other potential candidates in a job search, you need to act not once but consistently.