You have a PROBLEM if your employees are always BUSY !!

If you are a Boss or a Manager or an Entrepreneur, this could be an alarming sign for your organization. When you go for a round of your organization or a property walk to have quick glance of what all happening in your organization and you witness your employees are busy with their works every moment.

You might think that they are doing their work; of course they are being well paid off for their respective jobs, but it could be a sign of 'theatre' moment.  If everyone is always flurry when you are around that's likely to be a show they are putting in for you.

As once the great scientist Albert Einstein said, "Our brain needs a period of incubation to be creative". So if you never see your employees are slacking, it might be an warning sign that they are wasting their energy at work or they are not putting enough efforts to be creative.

As Jessica Stillman mentioned in her article in June'2020 that "Visible busyness is often productivity-theatre, not the productivity". 

Well then how to rectify it? Very simple !! Change your leadership style and you must follow these points:

➥ Connect with your team more often. Understand their work habits.

➥ Don't be too bossy, yet get the things done.

➥ Tickle the creative minds of your employees.

➥ Expose them to new dimension of tools and techniques.

➥ Make them part of your strategic discussions.

➥ Show your values. It says, "you can expect the same how you show to them".

➥ Be with your team. No matter what the circumstances are.

➥ Do ice-breakers with them to break their monotonous work if it is genuine.

➥ Encourage them to follow structural methods (e.g. - using post its).

➥ Don't let your authority dilutes among human connections.

➥ Keep the gossips and bad-mouth people away from your organization.

I am sure that if you follow the above listings you will not find your employees showing off as 'BUSY' always.

Let me give you an example how the culture travels from top to bottom.

Few months ago, while at work we got a summon form our General Manager (GM) mentioning in official whatsapp group as our corporate team would be visiting hence all the departments must be on their toes - no off's or leaves to be entertained on that particular day. 

As usual all HODs had to follow the order from top boss and it was a great show. Corporate Head went very happy, seeing every employee was at their best performing the duties. 

Eventually thereafter, to gain unseen brawny points, few HODs instructed their subordinates to be on shift and work rigorously whenever the GM is in rounds. On his daily walk-around, GM found the department to be very hard working and he praised as well. However, in few guest comments there were poor ranking about that department. But how? 

Very simple, it is just to show GM that the HOD's team was always on top of their duties, hence no slackyness at work. 

But, think from your heart for once ! If you are the owner of this organization, would you want to have such culture among your team?

I am sure that your answer will be 'No'. And here is my point, just rectify the 'problem'.

**********

Leave your thoughts in 'Comment' section below...

FEVICOL Story - From being peon to a successful businessman

This story is about a person who used to work as a peon and later he became a successful entrepreneur to build a company with more than Rs 6,000 Crores revenue!

The person is Mr. Balvant Parekh who was born in Mahuva, a small town in Gujarat in the year 1924.

One day, he decided to start his own business with the help of an investor and started importing cycle, areca nut, paper dyes from western countries. He observed that the Indian Adhesives Market was dominated by glues made from animal fat which were clumsy and cumbersome.

The adhesive market in India was unorganized and had very few branded products.

Seeing this as an opportunity, his company started manufacturing white synthetic resin adhesive (white glue) called Fevicol which made the lives of carpenters easier.

Fevicol was initially used only for industrial or commercial purpose (like in furniture making industry).

Fevicol frequently sponsored activities for carpenters and their families like free dental checkups, celebration of festivals, scholarships for children, blood donation camps etc.

Fevicol Champions Club (FCC) was another innovative initiative which built a platform for carpenters to increase their social contacts.

🐘 Today, the word Fevicol has become synonymous with glue in India and the brand has close to 70% market share!

Logo courtesy to google.com

New Online Fraud - OLX Scam

 There is this new online fraud emerging now a days - The OLX Scam. 

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation, many have lost their jobs so they tried to leave the city and go back to their hometown. For which, many such people sold their house hold items, furniture, vehicle, etc. on olx (a popularly known website to sell out or buy the second hand products in much considerable rates).

Now here comes the trap. While many sellers try to sell out their house items in olx, they put the pictures of item with required rate in the website. Few scammers here pose themselves as genuine buyer and tries to connect with the seller.

The buyer almost agrees to buy the item from seller with or without much negotiation and without seeing the product (for sure). He then gives his identity as an Army officer on duty, who requires the items for his family, he himself couldn't come to collect however his family member would come and pick the item. However he would do the payment online in advance.

Here comes the real twist.

He asks the seller whether the seller has paytm or phone pay or google pay account! If no, he insists that he can only transfer the amount through these online platforms, as his office restricted him to do internet banking transactions. 

Somehow he buys the trust of the seller and convinces him to have transactions through the above accounts. 

The buyer then plays the trick. He asks the seller that he is ready to send the amount and guides the seller to put the amount (which was agreed for selling the goods) in G-pay/Paytm/Phone-pay from his bank account and the double amount will be transferred from buyer's account. He would also convince the seller that it is the army card transaction rules. 

If any doubt arises, the buyer would send an aadhaar card posing an army person, which is purely a scam as the aadhaar card was scanned from someone else (of army professional). This would certainly make the seller believe to be true. 

The buyer would ask the seller to do the transaction same way how he explained earlier, and the seller would do so. For more trust, the buyer would ask for a small transaction as testing, first (e.g. - he would ask to do a transaction of Rs. 100/- , once you do so you would receive Rs. 200/- from other side). Once the seller is convinced, the man amount will be transacted. 

And the seller's money is gone by now. The buyer would say that the transaction is on hold, please do the same amount again, and he would pay back the double amount. 

And it goes on.....

Now, what should you do if in case you encounter such situation?

1. Verify the product physically before purchasing, if you are a buyer. In case of seller, get the person physically verify the product.

2. Better to encourage cash payment, if it is small amount.

3. Verify the identity card sent by army personnel, as it turn out to be fraud.

4. Do not get trapped with any special rules for Army Cards as they mention.

5. Do not scan any QR codes sent by them

6. If in doubt, lodge a police complaint.

Read this article posted by TIMES OF INDIA on OLX Fraud in Hyderabad.

I was eventually trapped while selling out my house-hold goods on olx, but fortunately I have a friend who works in defense, I checked with him about such army cards and he advised me to be careful. Which saved me from becoming the victim of a large amount.

Stay alert always !! 

Handling Situations in Better Way | A Motivational Story

Life puts us in situation every day - be it a good one or a bad one. We have the choices to handle it in our own way. If we choose to react more, it shows different result than reacting the situation in a simple way.

Life has put in into several situations till date and I had reacted various ways based on the density of the situation. In this context I remember a STORY, which was shared by my teacher once. It is very relevant to my today's thoughts.

The story is of 'Handling Situations in Better Way'. And here it goes....

A young woman struggling with life, went to her mother and told her how her life was miserable and hard for her.  She was tired of fighting and struggling with her problems and wanted to give up.

Her mother, without saying much, took the young lady to the kitchen.  She filled three pots with water.  In the first pot, she placed carrots, in the second one she placed eggs, and the last she placed some ground coffee beans.

She let them sit and boil without saying a word to her daughter. The daughter wondered what her mother was trying to do while she was complaining about her life. After some time the mother turned down the burner, fished the carrots and the eggs out and placed them in a bowl.  Then she ladled the coffee out into a cup.  Turning to her daughter, she asked, “Dear, Tell me what do you see?”. 

“A Carrot, egg and coffee.” she replied.

“Look closer and feel the carrots” said the mother.  The daughter noted that they were soft.  The mother then asked her to take an egg and break it. The interior of the egg was hard boiled. Finally, she asked her to sip the coffee. Its rich aroma brought a smile to her face.

The daughter then asked, “What does this mean, mother?”

All the three items, carrot, egg, and coffee went through the same situation , the boiling water . However, each reacted differently. The carrot was strong, hard, and unrelenting.  However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak.  The egg was fragile with the thin outer shell and its liquid interior.  But after being in the boiling water, it hardened its interior.  The ground coffee beans were unique, as it came to the boiling water, it changed the water and gave its incredible aroma.

“What are you?” she asked the daughter.  “How do you respond in difficult situations?  Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean? ”

Are you a carrot that seems strong at first, but becomes soft and loses strength in adversity?

Are you an egg that starts with a malleable heart, but hardens with the heat?  Did you have a fluid spirit, but as you struggled with problems, have you become hardened and stiff? Did the problem hardened your free spirit?

Or are you like coffee beans? The beans that change the hot water, the adversity, into an  aromatic drink. If you are like the coffee beans, when things are at their worst, you will get better and change the situation around you.

When the hours are the darkest and trials are the greatest do you elevate to the next level?

➥ Moral of the Story: 

Life is full of ups and down, but the only thing that truly matters is how we choose to react to situations around us and what we make out of it. 

Life is all about learning, adapting and converting all the struggles into something positive.

Love Your Parents | Story with Heartbeats

Today, I am going to share something which I felt from my heart, very recently and it is about loving our parents. The ongoing pandemic situation is teaching us many lessons in life - from good to ugly. One such lesson I felt strongly is loving our parents. 

From the day one of our study followed by getting into the job phase in life we constantly become busy. Eventually we go away from our own parents (in most cases) physically although we are connected through mobile phone or video calls, etc. We should understand that our parents need us all the time. They have given their life to us, they nurtured us to be educated, they hand-holded us to be an adult to take the self responsibilities. So, they deserve the same reciprocal behaviours from us by taking care of them now.

This pandemic situation forced many of us to be at home, mostly being with our family and parents. It goes same for me as well. I could see the hidden happiness on their face. They feel more secured and charmed. 

I used to be very busy at work; in the beginning and at the end of the day I used to catch-up with my parents over telephone. But now, today I have the opportunity to spend quality time with them which I missed for several years. I realized the value of being with our parents and having their blessings all the time.

With this, I remember an amazing story which relates my though today. 

The story is about a TREE.

Once upon a time, there lived a big mango tree. A little boy loved to come and play around it everyday. He climbed to the tree top, ate the mangoes, took a nap under the shadow… He loved the tree and the tree loved to play with him.

Time went by… The little boy grew, and he no longer played around the tree.

One day, the boy came back to the tree with a sad look on his face.

“Come and play with me,” the tree asked the boy.

“I am no longer a kid, I don’t play around trees anymore.” The boy replied, “I want toys. I need money to buy them.”

“Sorry, I don’t have money… but you can pick all my mangoes and sell them so you will have money.”

The boy was so excited. He picked all the mangoes on the tree and left happily. The boy didn’t come back. The tree was sad.

One day, the boy grown into a man returned. The tree was so excited.

“Come and play with me,” the tree said.

“I don’t have time to play. I have to work for my family. We need a house for shelter. Can you help me?”

“Sorry, I don’t have a house, but you can chop off my branches to build your house.”

So the man cut all the branches off the tree and left happily. The tree was glad to see him happy but the boy didn’t come back afterward. The tree was again lonely and sad.

One hot summer day, the man returned and the tree was delighted.

“Come and play with me!” The tree said.

“I am sad and getting old. I want to go sailing to relax myself. Can you give me a boat?” the main said.

“Use my trunk to build your boat. You can sail far away and be happy.” The tree said.

So the man cut the tree trunk to make a boat. He went sailing and didn’t come back for a long time.

Finally, the man returned after he had been gone for so many years.

“Sorry, my boy, but I don’t have anything for you anymore. No more mangoes to give you.” The tree said.

“I don’t have teeth to bite,” the man replied.

“No more trunk for you to climb on.”

“I am too old for that now,” the man said.

“I really can’t give you anything… the only thing left is my dying roots,” the tree said with sadness.

“I don’t need much now, just a place to rest. I am tired after all these years,” the man replied.

“Good! Old tree roots are the best place to lean on and rest. Come sit down with me and rest.”

The man sat down and the tree was glad and smiled.

***********

Now if you are a working professional, you are staying away from your parents, probably for quiet long time, can you relate the above story of tree to you. 

I am sure you will realize that how much you love your parents and what you parents would want from you.

 

How Loyalty was paid with a great Reward | Amazing Story

Sharing with you an amazing story of an Employee - Loyalty - Reward. This story will certainly inspire you to be more loyal to the organization you are working for. The story is about a car brand named, TATA SUMO and how it got it's name. The story will portray a great leader in TATA who lived the principles of “Servant Leadership.” 

Tata Sumo. The car which left behind a legacy for not just TataMotors, but for the entire Indian SUV car segment. When one used to get behind that steering wheel, it did really felt like ‘ruling the roads.’ The car was discontinued after rigorously serving for 25 long years.

The was an employee named Sumant Moolgaonkar, who used to be the MD of the Tata Motors. He is considered to be the architect of Tata Motors.

It is said that every day top executives of TataMotors used to take lunch together but from some days, Sumant Moolgaokar used to take his car and go out during lunch and come back as soon as the break was over. There was a grapevine that he is offered lunch at a five-star hotel by some dealers.

One day when some executives followed him at lunch, they were surprised to see that he stopped his car at a highway dhaba, ordered food for him and sat with the drivers of trucks who were eating food at that dhaba. He discussed with them what was good and what was bad in a Tata Truck, jotted down and came back to his office. He used to improve upon the experiences of drivers.

Such was Sumant Moolgaokar's zeal for improving the Tata Vehicles. TataSumo is the biggest corporate tribute paid by any company to its executive. 'Su' stands for Sumant and 'Mo' stands for Moolgaokar in this brand name. It was a great tribute to a loyal servant for his loyalty, Responsibility and humbleness.

Reference Links...

Certification on 'HR Management & Analytics'

 This pandemic situation (COVID-19) has taught us many aspects in life, both in positive and negative way. However one good aspects of this situation is upgrading skills through online courses. 

There are plenty websites available to undertake the online courses on various subjects. One among them I found was AMITY FUTURE ACADEMY. Recently I had completed an administration course from the academy and found very useful.

It was "HR Management and Analytics". 

The best parts of this course are:

➥ Crisp and precise content

➥ An experienced facilitator and his training techniques

➥ Course is divided into structured modules (with not so long duration)

➥ Each subject matter was well explained with suitable examples

➥ The great looking certificate

➥ It's not so cheap (I mean to say it is a paid course)

I have several key take-aways as I always wanted to upgrade my skill sin Human Resource Management and Analytics. I am sure I shall cherish and apply the learnings at work getting an opportunity.

You can learn many courses from the same weblink, based on your choice of content. 

MDH Masala | An Entrepreneurial Story !!

I was reading an interesting biopic of MDH inform of article. Thought to share it in my blog as well as it is very inspiring.

It is the story of Mahashian Di Hatti (MDH) !

The man is Mahashay Dharampal Gulati, a successful businessman from India, popularly known as the 'Masala King'. He was born on 27-March- 1923 in Sialkot (now in Pakistan). He along with his family moved as a refugee to Delhi during 1947 partition time.

His father’s business was grinding and selling spices. His father gave him some money and this young man decided to buy a Tonga to support his family. He sold his tonga and bought a small space to start a business in his own domain of spices, in Karol Bagh.

He named it Mahashian Di Hatti.

He kept selling and the word kept spreading around Delhi, and in 1953, he rented the second shop in Chandni Chawk. 

In 1959, he purchased a plot of land in Kirti Nagar, New Delhi to set up manufacturing unit of Mahashian Di Hatti. 

The rest is history….

Today, MDH (Mahashian Di Hatti) is the popular Indian Brand when we speak of spices.

Mahashay Dharampal Gulati is the face and brand of MDH seen in every MDH product.

Some fascinating facts about Mahashay Dharampal Gulati and his MHD brand are,

➥ He donates 90% of his salary to the charity under the banner 'Mahashay Chunnilal Charitable Trust'

➥ It is a 90 years old sustained brand and found in every Indian Kitchen

➥ It provides an employment opportunity for 2500 employees.

➥ Estimated revenue worth 50 Million

➥ The trust operates 250-bed hospital in Delhi, and more than 20 schools

➥ 62 different products available in more than 150 packages.

➥ 5 state of the art factories

➥ Export spices across the world

At the age of 94, Dharam Pal was the highest-paid FMCG, CEO in India in 2017. In 2019, he was honored with 'Padma Bhusan' award by Government of India. 

 

Image courtesy to google

Stop wasting your time on others !! A Short Story..

Two day's back I was chatting with one of my former colleague 'RAJAN' (name changed); we were speaking about the present job scenario and how the organization's so called bosses are influencing others in order to get their things done. 

The conversation went on for good half an hour. When we were about to bid farewell form each other, Rajan expressed his grief about his boss in office as how his boss always triggers him to make mistakes and puts him in unnecessary trouble. Even in this pandemic situation, his boss literally forced him to extend his working hours - not for a day, instead for months long. 

I know that Rajan is very hard working, honest and dedicated professional who selflessly devote himself all the times. 

I counselled him by citing a story. I knew that he would calm down and would realize his potential even today, and more over he will not carry away by other's influence.

Let me share the story !! It is about an EAGLE and a CROW.  

The only bird that will peck at a Eagle is the crow. He sits on his back and bites his neck. The eagle does not respond or fight with the crow it doesn't waste time or energy on the crow.

It simply opens its wings and begins to rise higher in the sky. It knows that the higher the flight the harder it will be for the crow to breathe. The eagle flies higher and higher and then the crow falls due to lack of oxygen.

That's it ! The irritation is over, without even a fight.

➽ Moral of the story - Stop wasting your time with the crows, the people who unnecessarily bothers you for no good. Just take them to your heights and they'll fade...

No Response is a Response too !!

"No Response is a Response too"..... 

An amazing quote, which can have a strong impact, whether the response you expect from other end or you suppose to lead so!! 

It is a powerful Communication in both the ways. 

It affects the relationship - personal as well as professional, both. 

Most of the times, it leads to a deciding factor. 

It also reflects Value Propositions

One of my former colleague was sharing a fact with me a month back. He apparently was interacting with one of the powerful HR Manager in our Industry and he expressed his griefs about the current ongoing COVID-19 pandemic situation and how he was being laid of from his off last month. 

The HR Manager listened to him very carefully and also added few unknown facts about the job market to cheer my colleague up. My colleague felt bit relieved and had trusted him strongly as the HR promised to share few leads for jobs, soon after the call. 

Well! having high hope my colleague was awaiting for his response in terms of job opportunities (as promised), but didn't get one.

A day passed by, a week passed by, even a month passed by but the HR manager didn't respond to my colleague till date.

Of course my colleague would not go and argue with him for not keeping his words however he went calm on his thoughts and expressed to me that 'It is now normal'. 'No response is also a response'.

Well, i got that! But what is going to be after that? I could see through his eyes!!

➥ He will never believe that HR in his lifetime for sure.

➥ A big trust deficit factor comes here

➥ Probably he will compare all HR into same category

➥ He will not in future share his griefs to anyone

...............................................and many more

A Spectacular Team Performance | Video

 "When a TEAM outgrows individual performance and learns TEAM confidence, excellence becomes a REALITY"............ Joe Paterno  

There is this small video clip being circulated across internet users, where we can see a group of energetic young individuals dribbling two basket balls at one go and changing their positions but not the basket balls; very pleasing to see their performance.

The fact remains here how are they able to do it? And what learning we can draw from it? 

Well, you can keep on listing based on your perspective, however the most visible ones are...

➥ Team Coordination

➥ Focus on the task

➥ Communication 

➥ Diversity in the team

➥ Energy among the team members

➥ Time and motion relativity

➥ Trust factor

➥ A continuous training (Must have gone by before the performance)

➥ Synchronization 

➥ Happy / positive vibes among the team

➥ And finally, concludes as a 'Successful Performance'

The video courtesy to youtube.com

Positive Vibe matters | Quote

"Good thoughts and actions can never produce bad results and bad thoughts; actions can never produce good results"........... 

For everyone there must be something good happening every day, one just need to have the self-realization moment to identify them and be thankful for the moment. Positive vibes matter.

In this context I admire a beautiful quote,

"EVERY DAY MAY NOT BE GOOD,

BUT THERE IS SOMETHING GOOD IN EVERYDAY".

 

Story on Team's Success | Inspiring

As a hospitality professional, everyday we talk about the 'Team Work' and 'Success' to our team members with various examples. We do want to inspire our team towards efficiency and thereby achieve success from it. 

We share many stories to boost their morale; one such brilliant story of team work lesson from our own nature, I am going to share today. 

This story is about the winter birds, how they fly together to one destination, flying in 'V' formation to increase the speed by 71% than flying alone, encouraging each other to travel smoother.

I am sharing a video, which is from Youtube.com (the link is given below).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqMl3m6Q5PY

Video courtesy to youtube.com