THOUGHTS ON HRM

I was just wondering what the driving force is for a man. I understand this is a very abstract as well as a very subjective question. But seeing Chak De India for the 10th time made me ask that.
But to break down this question and to give a bit of a direction to this article, let us take into consideration all the organizations that we see around us and how in particular an organization can develop from various aspects to this question. The first and the foremost kind of organization that we see around us all is the one which is in us , ourselves. As we move to the higher layers of the hierarchy that is the society, the next layer is the institution of family. With the trend of nuclear family coming in, the extended family layer has somehow disappeared. The next sense of belonging comes from the schools that one goes to. May be the reason that the schools find a place therein is because the time that one spends there and in due course the friends that one makes and the learning that one imbibes in in there. Analogically, it should be the corporation that one works for which should come in the next layer of ones social hierarchy. Unfortunately, for many organizations, that is simply not the case. Why, let us think on that front.
What I like about Chak De is the temperament that the coach shows towards building a team. Before the players actually starts playing, what the coach indulges the individuals to do is to build the team. Having seen the IT industry for the past few months, the time that the organization has to build the team is quite less, and moreover unfocussed, with the individual being in as many as 5 teams. In this globalized world where every organization is short on time to roll its products, alternatives need to be found to build this organization.
Below I would be discussing about methods on how to build such an atmosphere for the junior employees, who mostly work for only 1 team and who have the luxury of time at their hand. The same may be from my 3 months of experience or just a result of my imagination.
I believe the lunch table is the most important place where such a thing can be done. It is extremely important that each of the players (yes that is what I consider each employee to be) share a common interest, so that there is no barrier in the flow of information. I believe that in addition to the responsibilities of the team manager to give direction to the product that his team is developing, the soft skills of giving direction on the discussions on the lunch table are as integral to his job. Software in many aspects is a projection of the real world in the digital format. Imagine the efficiency that an organization would achieve when the philosophy of software or the design aspects of their product and a debate on the type of pattern a product is based on gets discussed at the lunch table. Also, due consideration, time and attention should be given to each member of the team, surveillance by the team manager, giving everyone a sense of belongingness and appreciation for them pitching in their ideas. Is there wastage of time in arranging the whole team to go for lunch and making the others sit while a slow eating person finishes his food? The trade-off would always be there, but well, it would be better than them browsing social networking websites individually.
This brings me to the second method on how to make the team gel. Allow employees to share social information as well. With the kind of job that they do and the kind of hours that they put in working in IT, it would be impossible for them to perform at their best without some break. Let that be done in the form of discussion on an article or a video session or a tutorial or a really funny joke that they would have read in a magazine or heard on the radio. Let them be a bit informal amongst themselves. The team manager should facilitate the same, but not become a part of it, lest he is started to be taken for granted. In addition to the same, have a methodology of monitoring the time that an employee spends to browse such websites, and let them be aware of it.

In my observation, employees in a rung of the corporate ladder learn and would try to ape either the ones who are immediately above them (in a vertical organization) or the senior most (team manager in a horizontal organization) in their corporate reach. Both of the classes should be made aware of this special responsibility. The loyalties and the sense of belonging that an individual develops for an organization are set in the first 100 days of his work there. It is this sense of belonging ultimately that drives an employee. In addition to inculcating this feeling , it would also give this employee that his team members and in a broader sense the organization cares for him , his efficiency, his knowledge enhancement or simply wants to know him better. An informal relationship between the employees does not really hurt, till the time it is not competing with the employee’s service time.
To top this whole up, a team outing or just eating outside on the weekends would be a great idea, and better with some of the members being topsy-turvy with the team member. Or a game of Werewolf or T.T during their breaks.
I know ‘Chak De!’ is a bollywood flick and the chances of something happening like that in reality are very slim, but getting inspired and giving such things a thought never hurt anyone.