Manager today 4th Issue

WOMAN OF SUBSTANCE

INTERVIEW

INTERVIEW ACADEMIA

RIZVANA IKRAM

DR. FAISAL SULTAN

DR. IRFAN AMIR

DIRECTOR HR, PC, LAHORE

CEO SKMCH

DEAN FMS (UCP)

EDITOR’S NOTE

MAKING THE DIFFERENCE

Ijaz Nisar Editor-in-Chief

I am grateful to Almighty Allah who enabled me to bring the fourth issue of manager today to your tables. The main focus of our team for content development of the magazine is related to corporate issues. We try to address corporate problems and their solutions so that our readers may fit themselves more efficiently to their work requirements. Present day dilemma of work place harassment is a big deterrent to progress. The cover story of this magazine comprises a detailed introduction to the causes, forms, and solutions of this problem. Incidences of work place harassment not only hurt but also discourage women a great deal and they feel highly dispirited to work with males.

This notion mars the productive contribution of a huge talent pool. To end injustices with women the United Nations observes international day for the elimination of violence against women on November 25 every year. I hope for a sincere contribution of our society men toward this cause and the removal of this blight from our society as well.The secrets of building outclass teams are also revealed in this issue.

While as per our policy you would get to read interviews including Dr. Faisal Sultan, CEO Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital, Rizvana Ikram, Director HR Pearl Continental hotel Lahore; from academia Dr. Irfan Amir, Dean FMS, University of Central Punjab.

Stay subscribed to Manager Today contributing your valued suggestions, recommendations and enjoy a must read cover story on “Job creation through developing entrepreneurship” in the upcoming fifth issue.

Mail Box Dear Ijaz Nisar I appreciate your effort that you made in realizing the dream of publishing Manager Today. Its quality of content and lay out is so impressive.

I wish you good luck and success in the project.

Prof. Khawaja Amjad Saeed Principal Hailey College of Banking & Finance ________________________ I am glad to see that the magazine is doing well. I have been very impressed by the quality and the overall presentation of the magazine. Please accept my warmest congratulations.

Best regards Roshaneh Zafar President kashf Microfinance Foundation ________________________ I am in receipt of the latest issue of the magazine. It is a wonderful and commendable effort on part of the entire team. I congratulate Mr. Ijaz Nisar as he has really made the difference.

Dr Abdul Qaddus COO Ittefaq Hospital, Lahore ________________________ Salam and hope you are well. I read the third issue of your magazine and I think it is a very comprehensive and structured approach towards effective management skills. I'd like to congratulate you on your enterprising efforts and hope that they bear the desired results.

Regards Hassan A Sheikh

I would like to express gratitude over receiving Manager Today.

The content is rich in information.

It’s appreciable.

Ahmed Muneeb ________________________ A few days back I visited a friend of mine at his office. While we were chatting about weekend plans I got a glance at Manager Today along with some files on the table. The title on Emotional Intelligence appealed me a lot, holding it I identified the pictures of Ramzan Sheikh and Arshad B. Anjum thus it was irresistible to leave the magazine there anymore. Till the next evening I had read almost half of the magazine.

On Monday morning I called Manager Today office and ordered its annual subscription.

In nutshell I loved the concept behind this publication on personal & professional development, its content selection and also the visual effects. I congratulate the whole team of the magazine because such visionary publications are the need of our time.

Keep it up !

Saeed sarwar Operations Manager Delta Fibers Pvt Ltd. ________________________ The zeal for improving existing situations plays a vital role in any success story.

Same is true with the team of Manager Today. A gradual improvement in the quality of this publication is remarkable.

Keep it up to shine with distinction.

Aftab Hadeed

INSPIRED? MOTIVATED? DID YOU LIKE WHAT YOU READ? If you find ManagerToday inspirational for the personal and professional development, do inform us. You can also contribute with your articles, suggestions and recommendations at: Email: editor@themanagertoday.com, managertoday@hotmail.com Website: www.themanagertoday.com Ph: 042 5792066, 042 5817048, 0323 4443482 Don’t forget to mention your full name, postal address and phone number on your letters.

PCPB # 303-M

MANAGER TODAY Editor-in-Chief IJAZ NISAR Editorial Advisor SHAKEEL AHMED Editor NABEELA MALIK Art Director FAIZ-UR-REHMAN Designer SHAH JAHAN (SHANI) Corporate Manager SONIA UROOJ Operations Manager MUHAMMAD YASIR Business Development Manager NASIR MAHMOOD Sales Manager HASEEB NISAR Photographer KAMRAN Contributors MASOOD ALI KHAN BAKHTIAR KHAWAJA IDREES QAMAR SHAUKAT BRAH WALI MUHAMMAD SHAHID NAFEES BILAL ILAHI DR. NOOR-UL-AIN FATIMA BILAL QUTB QAISER ABBAS SUMAIR ABRO ATIF TUFAIL Legal Advisor MUHAMMAD ZULFIQAR ALI BUTTAR Publisher LEADING EDGE Printer QASIM & NAEEM ART PRESS HEAD OFFICE MANAGERTODAY PL-20 SIDDIQUE TRADE CENTRE MAIN BOULEVARD, GULBERG III LAHORE Tel: 042-5792066, 5817048 Cell: 0300 4521298 email: info@themanagertoday.com www.themanagertoday.com www.leadingedge.com.pk

COVER STORY

Workplace Harassment a deterrent to progress Workplace harassment can have a significant negative impact on both people and businesses.

Breaking the silence The types of behavior constituting sexual harassment may vary in degree or severity. Its definition has one key element – the behavior is uninvited, unwanted and un-welcomed. ‘

MANAGEMENT

Problem solving: a leadership difference The inability of leadership to perform its managerial responsibilities is the single most important problem facing Pakistan

MARKETING

To brand or not to brand?

10 14 16 18

The key towards building a robust and clear personal brand lies in consciously working at it

WOMAN OF SUBSTANCE

A very hospitable Rizvana Ikram GOAL SETTING

Escape from abstract goals

20 24

If our goals, our vision are important to achieve, them it is essential that we do more than just talking about then in abstract terms.

LEADERSHIP

Servant Leadership Cash money is not the only thing that matters in life.

Respect, recognition and satisfaction associated with one’s job is more important than tangible benefits

HR FOCUS

10 Commandments in Islam: HR Implications All religions have put forth basic guiding principles or tenets for mankind to follow.

These commandments have influence on the outlook and behavior of individuals and groups

20

32 35

28 32

52

14 18 36 48 42

36 40 41 42 46

INTERVIEW

48 52 54 56

INTERVIEW ACADEMIA

Dr. Faisal Sultan CEO Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital

ECONOMY

Pakistan: a knowledge economy Building a knowledge economy is indeed a long process

How to deal with getting laid off If you are a victim of your company’s layoff scheme just remember that perseverance is better than losing heart and giving it all up

STRESS MANAGEMENT

Stressed? try this ‘Desi’ prescription!

Stress inherently is not bad. It is in fact one of the requirements that stretches our

TRAINING

Mentoring Practices Mentoring offers valuable benefits to organization when implemented with a clear policy and practice framework.

Developing entrepreneurs is the need of the hour – Dr. Ifran INTROSPECTION

Visualization We can use visualization as method for directly communicating with our mind.

TEAM BUILDING

Secrets of building outclass teams Individual champions are less required in business today.

HEALTH & WELLNESS

Migraine a sign of stress Migraine is common complaint of people working in high stress environment.

08 WISDOM CORNER

quotable quotes They intoxicate themselves with work so they won't see how they really are.

— Aldous Huxley

WORSHIP

VISION

No worship or prayers are more sacred than fulfillment of obligations and duties.

— Hazrat Ali (A.S)

One who takes lessons from happenings of life gets vision, one who acquires vision becomes wise, and one who attains wisdom achieves knowledge.

— Hazrat Ali (A.S)

Worship without knowledge and without abstinence merely exhausts the body.

— Hazrat Ali (A.S)

SUCCESS WORD

When words come from the heart of anyone they find a place in the heart of another, but when they come merely from the tongue they do not go any further than the ears.

— Hazrat Ali (A.S) THE WORLD Surely whatever you possess in this world used to belong to someone else before you, and it is destined for someone else who will have it after you.

— Hazrat Ali (A.S)

Time has two days: one is for you: the other against. Be not puffed up by success, and be patient in adversity.

— Hazrat Ali (A.S) To be successful you have to be lucky, or a little mad, or very talented, or to find yourself in a rapid-growth field.

— Edward de Bono PRAISING

One who praises you for qualities you lack, will next be found blaming you for faults not yours.

— Hazrat Ali (A.S)

WISDOM

A wise man needs every day an hour set apart in which to examine his conscience, and measure what he has gained or lost.

— Hazrat Ali (A.S) It is a wise man’s part to obey his superiors, to respect his equal, and to be just to his inferior.

— Hazrat Ali (A.S) Wherever there is wisdom, there is fear of Allah and wherever there is fear of Him, there also is his mercy.

— Hazrat Ali (A.S) MANAGER TODAY | October - November 2009

Don't work for recognition, but do work worthy of recognition.

— H. Jackson Brown, Jr. WAR

Be so subtle that you are invisible. Be so mysterious that you are intangible. Then you will control your rival’s fate.

— Sun Tzu, (The Art of War)

10 COVER STORY

IJAZ NISAR

W

orkplace harassment has been considered as a regular phenomenon in every part of the world but in Pakistan it’s severer than other countries because of many reasons: poor law-enforcement, low employment opportunities and a culture of non-acceptance of females in the workplace. The situation seems to becoming better with advent of equal opportunity employers in 10 MANAGER TODAY | October - November 2009

the country like multinational companies and their relatively better rules & regulations. Fortunately on February 4, 2009, the Federal Cabinet also approved Protection Against Harassment at Workplace Bill 2008 which is a major step towards legislation related to protection of workers against violation of the fundamental human rights to live with dignity The cabinet approved two bills making sexual harassment at the workplace a

punishable offence. The first bill mandates every public, private or semi-private organization to have a code of conduct against sexual harassment at the workplace and to constitute a three-member committee to handle individual complaints. It establishes the authority of the said committee and related major and minor penalties.

The second bill is an amendment to the Pakistan Penal Code through Section

509A which defines sexual harassment and makes it a punishable offence. Although the bill awaits parliamentary approval, women in the country are hopeful regarding an improvement in their status.

However, there’s still a long way to go to minimize workplace harassment to the employees be they men or women as workplace harassment can have a significant negative impact on both people and businesses, as outlined in the following sections.

Meaning of 'workplace harassment' 1. A person is subjected to 'workplace harassment' if the person is subjected to repeated behavior, other than behavior amounting to sexual harassment, by a person, including the person's employer or a co-worker or group of co-workers of the person that a. is unwelcome and unsolicited; and b. the person considers to be offensive, intimidating, humiliating or threatening; and c. a reasonable person would consider to be offensive, humiliating, intimidating or threatening.

2. 'Workplace harassment' does not include reasonable management action taken in a reasonable way by the person's employer in connection with the person's employment.

This definition is intended to cover a

wide range of behaviors that can have an adverse impact on the workplace health and safety of workers, other persons and thus the organizational as whole. Harassing behaviors can range from subtle intimidation to more obvious aggressive tactics.

Detailed below are examples of behaviors that may be regarded as some of the more common types of workplace harassment. Examples include: l abusing a person loudly, usually when others are present; l repeated threats of dismissal or other severe punishment for no reason; l constant ridicule and being put down; l leaving offensive messages on email or the telephone; l sabotaging a person's work, for example, by deliberately withholding or supplying incorrect information, hiding documents or equipment, not passing on messages and getting a person into trouble in other ways; l maliciously excluding and isolating a person from workplace activities; l persistent and unjustified criticisms, often about petty, irrelevant or insignificant matters; l humiliating a person through gestures, sarcasm, criticism and insults, often in front of customers, management or other workers; l spreading gossip or false, October - November 2009 | MANAGER TODAY 11

workplace harassment has been identified and assessed to be a risk, employers must decide on and put in place control measures to prevent or control this risk.

malicious rumors about a person with an intent to cause the person harm.

There are bound to be occasional differences of opinion, conflicts and problems in working relationships - these are part of working life. However, if the workplace behavior is repeated, unwelcomed and unsolicited, and offends, intimidates, humiliates or threatens a person, then workplace harassment exists and action must be taken to stop the behavior.

HOW WORKPLACE HARASSMENT CAN AFFECT A PERSON?

There are a range of psychological and physical illnesses and injuries that an individual who continues to be exposed to workplace harassment may experience.

The effects of workplace harassment on a person may include: l high levels of distress, impaired ability to make decisions and poor concentration; l loss of self-confidence and self-esteem and feelings of social isolation at work; l panic attacks, anxiety disorders, depression, social phobia (withdrawal from usual social interaction) and deteriorating relationships with family and friends; l reduced output and performance, incapacity to work, loss of employment; l sleep disturbances, such as, insomnia or severe tiredness.

HOW WORKPLACE HARASSMENT CAN AFFECT A BUSINESS?

It makes good business sense to ensure workplace harassment is prevented or controlled. Workplace harassment can have significant human and financial costs for a business and can lead to: l the breakdown of teams and individual relationships; l poor worker health; 12 MANAGER TODAY | October - November 2009

l reduced efficiency, productivity and profitability; l bad publicity, poor public image - becoming 'known' as a difficult workplace environment; l increased absenteeism and staff turnover; l poor morale and erosion of worker loyalty and commitment; l increased costs associated with: counselling, employee assistance, mediation, recruitment and training of new workers; l increased legal costs and workers' compensation claims.

Where workplace harassment has been identified and assessed to be a risk, employers must decide on and put in place control measures to prevent or control this risk.

Preventative measures should be aimed at the source of the risk, and may include a broad organizational response, as well as more targeted initiatives that address symptoms in a specific area.

A strategy aimed at preventing or controlling exposure to the risk of workplace harassment should include: 1. a workplace harassment prevention policy; 2. a complaint handling system; 3. a review of human resource systems; 4. training and education.

No single control measure will effectively prevent or control workplace harassment from occurring. It is important these control measures are used together, as part of a broader strategy to prevent or control exposure to the risk of workplace harassment.

HUMAN RESOURCE SYSTEMS

Effective human resource systems can help prevent or control workplace

harassment from occurring. Ensuring the workplace has effective and reasonable performance management processes and open communication systems are two ways you can achieve this.

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT PROCESSES

Performance management processes are generally used to: l provide timely and accurate feedback about job performance in a reasonable way; l identify a person's strengths, and training and development needs for current and future positions; l set mutually agreed goals and competencies.

Because of the often sensitive nature of the feedback, performance management should only be conducted by persons who have the knowledge, skills and abilities to conduct them in a reasonable way. Issues to consider when providing feedback include: l encouraging open communication, allowing the receiver to also voice their opinions and concerns; l ensuring the person conducting the performance management process is supportive, delivers constructive feedback, and provides justification of observations and decisions made.

ESTABLISH OPEN COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS

Workplace harassment is more likely to occur in conditions of secrecy and poor communication. Many forms of workplace harassment, such as spreading false, malicious rumours, or withholding important information from a worker to their disadvantage, prosper in poorly communicating workplaces.

You can prevent or control exposure to these forms of workplace harass-

ment by: l encouraging good channels of communication, for example, through regular staff meetings; l consulting and discussing with workers issues that may affect them, particularly during periods of organisational change or restructure; l encouraging 'open door' management styles; l implementing transparent decision making processes.

TRAINING AND EDUCATION

Employers have an obligation to ensure workplace health and safety. This may include making sure that workers are provided with the appropriate information, instruction, training and supervision to ensure health and safety.

Training and educating workers on issues of workplace harassment is important for the following reasons: l workers including supervisors, managers, WHSRs, WHSOs and WHS committees become more aware of their roles and responsibilities; l offenders will become more conscious of their behavior, how it may be perceived and the possible consequences of their actions. This may deter workplace harassing behaviours; l workers will have a more accurate knowledge of what does and does not constitute workplace harassment; l workers will become aware of the consequences of making malicious, frivolous or vexatious workplace harassment complaints; l it can promote cultural change and a healthy and safe workplace; l people who work at the workplace are informed and encouraged to take action against harassing behaviours.

CREATE AWARENESS OF WORKPLACE HARASSMENT

Creating awareness of workplace harassment helps to reinforce management's commitment to ensuring a healthy and safe working environment, even in workplaces with good practices

and no record of problems.

To create awareness of workplace harassment, employers should provide training to all workers on general workplace harassment issues, including the prevention policy and procedures for making complaints.

The most appropriate combination of information, instruction, training and supervision will depend on the needs of workers and the workplace.

through the performance management process.

Workers with supervisory responsibilities should also be provided with training that focuses on developing a greater understanding of human behavior, communication and people management. Assessment should also be conducted to ensure that supervisory staff is able to apply their newly acquired knowledge, skills and abilities in the workplace.

EFFECTIVE PEOPLE MANAGEMENT TRAINING FOR SUPERVISORS

KEEP TRAINING RECORDS

Workers will generally work more efficiently and productively if they are treated fairly and respectfully, and given an opportunity to use their initiative and judgment.

People with supervisory responsibilities need to demonstrate their understanding and acceptance of this through their management behaviors.

It is important that employers identify any workers with ineffective managerial styles as these behaviors may contribute to workplace harassment. Employers should address any concerns they have with particular management behaviors, in a reasonable manner,

Keep records of any training conducted on workplace harassment.

Training records should include: l the date of the training session/s; l the topics addressed at the training; l whether knowledge, skills and abilities were attained; l the name/s of the person/s who conducted the training; l the name/s of the worker/s who attended the training.

Training should be updated following any significant changes to a workplace harassment prevention policy, complaint handling system, or amendments to relevant legislation. n

October - November 2009 | MANAGER TODAY 13

14 COVER STORY LUBNA KHAN

MANAGER TODAY | October - November 2009

is the most active and forthright organization addressing sexual harassment in Pakistan today. It aims to publicize the issue and assist the government and private sectors to find ways to deal with it. A nationwide study conducted by AASHA to analyze sexual harassment in the Pakistani workplace reveals the problem knows no boundaries and no profession is immune.

For example, 58 percent of nurses and doctors interviewed admitted being sexually harassed, usually at the hands of other doctors, nurses, attendants, patients and visitors. Domestic servants suffer even more, 91 percent disclosing they’d been victims of some sexual abuse. Life is tough for these women, who have to deal with harassment on their own. There are endless stories of domestic servants being fondled, beaten and raped by men in the houses where they work. In some cases they are even sold to strangers for the night. For women working in fields and brick kilns the problem is even more acute, with a staggering 95 percent having faced sexual harassment of some form (including rape and torture), many facing it on a regular basis. The harassers are usually landlords, munshies, contractors and co-workers.

“Face or beauty does not matter,” says one field worker resignedly, “It is enough that you are a woman”.

The situation is no better for families forced to work in bonded labour. The owners and contractors openly tease and intimidate the women.

CEDAW, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1979 and often described as an international bill of rights for women, states: “the full and complete development of a country, the welfare of the world and the cause of peace require the participation of women on equal terms with men in all fields”. Article 3 of the convention clearly requires states to take “all appropriate measures, including legislation, to ensure the full development and advancement of women, for the purpose of guaranteeing them the exercise and enjoyment of human rights and funda-

ASHA

mental freedoms on a basis of equality with men”.

Yet sexual harassment is viewed, if at all, more as a personal problem than an issue demanding a societal response, and many deny the problem even exists, partly due to the discomfort of facing the reality and partly because of our society’s taboo of all things sexual. We have been conditioned to view male domination and sexism as ‘normal’. Behavior such as touching, suggestive language or gestures, and subtle advances, no matter how unwelcome, are often accepted as part of male human nature and ignored, encouraging offenders to continue, confident there is no threat of the woman reacting openly.

In their quest for such a change, AASHA’s efforts are directed towards influencing policy makers to provide protection to women in the workplace and to ensure a safe and healthy working environment. Sexual harassment in the workplace is now at least recognized as a labor and management issue. It is prohibited by law in many countries, including some in Asia like Sri Lanka, India and Malaysia. Having ratified CEDAW in addition to signing ILO Conventions and other international and national laws dealing with this issue, the Pakistani legislators have no choice but to take measures. Although the Constitution and the Criminal Penal Code do address women’s equality and therefore sexual harassment to some extent. Responding to the situation, AASHA has drafted a Code for Gender Justice in the Workplace. The objective of this code of conduct is to improve labour conditions and enable a working environment free of sexual harassment, abuse and intimidation by presenting a comprehensive strategy to employers. AASHA is presently introducing the code in the private sector. As Dr Fouzia Saeed puts it, “Hiding behind any denial will not work any more. It’s time that we face our own value system and question the basic concept of woman that we have in our heads, which we have unconsciously inherited, and which we do not want to let go of.” n

We have been conditioned to view male domination and sexism as ‘normal’.

Behavior such as touching, suggestive language or gestures, and subtle advances, no matter how unwelcome, are often accepted as part of male human nature and ignored, encouraging offenders to continue, confident there is no threat of the woman reacting openly.

October - November 2009 | MANAGER TODAY 15

16 MANAGEMENT

T

he issue is not whether we have resources to solve our socioeconomic problems - of course we do. The issue is whether we have a leadership willing to mobilize resources to solve problems facing the nation. This is not to suggest we have means to become an overnight economic or political power. Nonetheless, we earnestly believe, there are enough means to foster a respectable national living standard if we were to develop and promote "A Leadership Difference."

In order to bring about a true leadership, the sheep herder mode of operation, which pro-

vides direction without appropriate motivation and guidance, must forego from the management objectives of our leaders. Further, the shop floor foreman or Station House Officer (SHO) mentality must change in managerial practices. As a result of such management tactics, most of our leaders spend a substantial portion of their time and resources fighting the brush fires.

The inability of leadership to perform its managerial responsibilities is the single most important problem facing Pakistan. This is happening by virtue of a lack of foresightedness in leadership, such a mentality is growing on

SHAUKAT ALI BRAH The writer is Dean & Prof. Suleman Dawood business School LUMS shaukatb@lums.edu.pk

MANAGER TODAY | October - November 2009

account of two basic factors. First, as pointed out by Peters and Druckers in their book, "In Search of Excellence," it is because "Everybody rises to their level of incompetence." The solution to this aspect is fairly straightforward, that is, train people to bring forward competence in their leadership and remove the ones who are unable to make the grade from their positions of influence. Clarity, merit, integrity, effectiveness, appropriateness are some of the common attributes for selection and promotion of leadership.

Second, and most importantly, the leaders are insecure or immature in their current positions of influence. In most likelihood, they are uncomfortable, or feel threatened, in their positions as leaders and subsequently resort to lower level functions. The solution to this factor requires an understanding of the circumstances leading to these conditions. Basically, training and organizational development can solve the problem of immaturity. The dilemma of insecurity is resolved exclusively with a genuine commitment from the top down, in addition to providing appropriate education and training. Perhaps, a proper understanding of

The key to success of any problem solving situation is in establishing the credibility of purpose. It is unlikely to achieve the intended purpose without credibility. the two factors will make the leadership difference. The purpose of this article is not to examine the characteristics of a true leader.

Rather, in the following sections, it will develop on suggesting the areas of interest for achieving the leadership difference.

"The bigger is not necessarily better."

Quite often, the notion of adding more people compounds the problem instead of solving it.

For example, adding more quality control inspectors does not always solve the quality control problems; rather, finding and correcting the causes of poor quality often resolves the problem. Similarly, the way to solve inefficiency and corruption problems is perhaps through developing a system of control and accountability.

"Innovation is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration."

Solving the real life problems require a lot of hard work. For example, let us consider initiating a system of social democracy. Quite often, we hear some of our political leaders talk about transforming this country into a welfare state. In making this proposition perhaps they realize that planning for even a modest welfare system would require the services of many experts and several years of lead time, that is assuming there are no constraints on the available resources. Realizing a plan would most likely take decades.

Similarly, the aspiration of creating a true socioeconomic Islamic order would take a long time to mature. Without a doubt, any or all of this requires sheer hard work. Enthusiasm is

fine for generating interest, but slogans alone will only create more problems.

"Automation creates jobs."

In general, the automation creates jobs unless the new equipment is under or improperly utilized. Besides, if only creating jobs was the idea, perhaps we can create a lot more jobs in earth digging by replacing shovels with spoons.

Furthermore, at times, the use of automation is unavoidable. Occasionally, on account of the service time requirements, precision needs, or complexity of the problem, automation is all but inevitable.

"Establish the credibility of purpose."

There is a popular saying that you can fool some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time. The key to success of any problem solving situation is in establishing the credibility of purpose. A basic factor for establishing trust is to allow an easy access to and assurance of credible information. Perhaps, providing credible information and developing a system of accountability is the only way we can keep honorable people honest. Furthermore, keeping the leadership honest is a basic requirement of achieving the leadership difference.

"The problems are solved by exposing them."

Quite frequently we hear stories of common knowledge documents marked as classified information in government and private agencies.

Interestingly, if we glance around we would recognize that the people who strive to conceal common knowledge are the ones who are extremely insecure and perhaps incompetent. A

problem in hiding is unlikely to go away or get resolved, whereas an exposed problem has at least some chance of obtaining a solution.

Also, it is very amusing to hear the claims of actions in the so called "national interests." It is astonishing to think that only people in power seems to be overwhelmed with this sacred responsibility of looking after the national interests. Except in the case of few basic laws of physics, there are more than one ways of doing things. Listening and accommodating other point of views can extend an alternate optimum or close to optimum solution which may be acceptable to a larger number of people.

Last, but not the least, as one would say, "Be human."

One cannot bring about a lasting change in a civilized society unless the change is through mutual respect. A leader must remember to earn respect as opposed to command the same. A program based on a principle of mutual respect, has a much higher probability of success and one without it is doomed for failure.Before we end this discussion, let’s make one final observation. Apparently, we always seem to be waiting for a perfect time when everything will be in the right place. That time will never come; therefore, we should make the best use of what we have while working towards our goals. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr once said, "The time is always right to do what is right." We must not postpone for tomorrow the things that we can start today. With these words we would like to urge the leaders of the country and organizations to come forward and make a leadership difference. n

October - November 2009 | MANAGER TODAY 17

18 MARKETING THE KEY TOWARDS BUILDING A ROBUST AND CLEAR PERSONAL BRAND LIES IN CONSCIOUSLY WORKING AT IT

SUMAIR ABRO The writer is a lead trainer/motivational speaker at Navitus.

TOBRAND ORNOTTOBRAND? MANAGER TODAY | October - November 2009

I

t’s a Monday morning. Shayan Agha, a good friend and colleague at Navitus walks into the office. He is part of ‘Generation Y’; a concept beautifully explained by Penelope Trunk in Time magazine’s July issue. For these kinds of employees, the line between work and home does not really exist.

They just want to spend their time in meaningful and useful ways, no matter where they are.

Another key feature about ‘Generation Y’ is their ability to influence their perceived image with their physical appearance and belongings. For example, observing Shayan for not more then 30 seconds one can easily see his affiliations with various brands. A celebrity like haircut (David Beckham), washed down pair of jeans (Diesel), bright red sneakers bearing a big logo (Puma) & a striking red bag pack with a prancing horse symbol (Ferrari).

Let’s face it. Like Shayan, we have been branded as well. You probably own a pair of trainers with a unique symbol or a t-shirt which has a distinctive logo.

Maybe you have a preference for a particular fountain pen that has the maker's emblem crafted into the end or your notebook bag tells everyone that you are a Toshiba person.

This phenomenon called ‘Branding’, quite literally began many centuries ago as a method to distinguish & identify livestock.

Domestic animals were burned with symbols to claim the right to ownership in case they wandered off or were stolen by competitors. Similarly, over a period of time organizations have been able to do the same with us; however the method is slightly more sophisticated & time consuming, where brands appeal to us via an emotional process.

Today we are told that it’s time for us to take a lesson from the big brands, a lesson that's true for anyone who's interested in what it takes to stand out and prosper in a brand new world. In other words, you and I are a brand just like Nike, Pepsi, BMW, Levi’s and Mi-

crosoft. When I first came across this idea a few years ago, it confused me. It was also repulsive, because to me it was merely stamping people like animals. Then I did some research and came across writings of Peter Montoya who is an international authority on personal branding. In his book ‘The brand called you’, he defines personal branding as: Your personal brand is the powerful, clear, positive idea that comes to mind whenever other people think of you. It’s what you stand for – the values, abilities and actions that others associate with you. It’s a professional alter ego de-

The most common names I hear are Abdul Sattar Edhi, Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, Asma Jahangir, Imran Khan, Amitabh Bachan, Michael Jordon, Waseem Akram, Musarat Misbah, Tom Peters, Junaid Jamshed, Jahangir Khan, Lady Diana, Mother Teresa and Jack Welch. With each of these names people associate different words & expressions such as; dedication, charismatic leadership, caring, committed, open minded, determined etc.

Lesley Everett, a branding consultant & author of the book "Walking Tall: Key Steps to Total Image Impact" spoke recently with CNN. She emphasized the

Your personal brand is the powerful, clear, positive idea that comes to mind whenever other people think of you. It’s what you stand for – the values, abilities and actions that others associate with you.

signed for the purpose of influencing, how others perceive you, and turning that perception into opportunity. It does this by telling audience three things: who you are, what you do & what makes you different or how you create value.’

I was finally convinced. We are all aware of the above at some level. Also, from time to time we have successfully created lasting impressions on many of our colleagues, friends and key opinion leaders.

However, the key towards building a robust and clear personal brand lies in consciously working at it. In other words, orchestrating perfect harmony between how we perceive ourselves & how others see us.

I have been conducting workshops on ‘Personal Branding’ for some time now.

To help participants understand personal branding I often ask them to think of a famous person who they look up to as a role model & explain why?

need to focus on personal branding now more than ever; to differentiate ourselves and stand out from the crowd.

Whenever we are with clients or making presentations, we are always projecting a personal brand – a perceived image.

Hence, like famous brands you are also responsible for your perceived image. Therefore, to start thinking like a brand, ask yourself the same question the brand managers at Nike, Pepsi, BMW, or Gucci ask themselves; how is our brand different, unique and authentic? When we will consciously make an effort, our perceived image will be clear and consistent with our values. There will be less ambiguity and we will be able to influence and inspire like never before.

Lastly, ask yourself this. In today’s fast moving, ever changing and competitive environment, can you afford not to brand yourself!? n October - November 2009 | MANAGER TODAY 19

WOMAN OF 20 SUBSTANCE

IJAZ NISAR

PROFILE: Rizvana Ikram is a veteran HR professional, having specialization in HRM & HRD from Pakistan and the universities of the USA and Japan.She is working at the Pearl Continental Hotel Lahore as the Director HR. The time span of more than 17 years of work in industry has equipped her with a hands-on experience in all areas of Human Resource. Rizvana started her career with a scholarship from USAID. She was certified Human Systems Development Trainer by AED, a USAID She enjoyed a diversified exposure while working with huge multinationals including Mobilink as the HR manager; Coopers & Lybrand Consulting Pakistan as assistant vice president HR; Touchstone Communications Islamabad, at the capacity of training consultant.

Presently she is undergoing one year HR specialization program from Champaign, Illinois, USA, a Fulbright Scholarship. Imparting her knowledge to the young generation, Rizvana has conducted workshops on ‘Business Mannerism’ and ‘Team Building’ for the students of IBA at Punjab University. She delivers lectures as the visiting faculty member of Superior University, MBA also.

October - November 2009 | MANAGER TODAY 21

We firmly believe in serving our employees, we also celebrate their birthdays every month and in the same ceremony we confer awards to succeeding employees like honesty award etc.

We hold an annual dinner for our employees’ families.

22 MANAGER TODAY | October - November 2009

Please share with us the mission statement of your organization?

Our mission is to be the hotel recognized as the leader in the industry in any aspect. We are committed to train and develop all our staff members allowing them to grow in their careers and provide services and standards which exceed guest expectations.

Where does HR stand in today’s scenario?

Human resource is undoubtedly the most important asset of any organization and the presence of a HR department advocates it. Developing employees’ skills and retaining them for longer period is one of the core responsibilities of HR departments. Developed countries have integrated it in their systems in a true sense. Take a look at Japan; the laid off ratio and job switch-over are very low there as they believe in advocacy and implementation of HR management and development in all fields of life.

How do you see the HRM practices in Pakistan?

Human Resource Management is a recent phenomenon in Pakistan. Since the advent of multinational companies, its importance has got recognition here. Earlier, there was a culture of personnel management that was less popular among the employees. The introduction of HR concept has shown a gradual shift in the mindsets of the top management towards the acknowledgement of HR management and development in Pakistan’s corporate sector. When I went to Japan on scholarship to study this field, people back here used to ask me about it in wonderment. I used to answer them: just let 10 years pass by and you would see its significance in Pakistan’s corporate sector. The current HRM practices in Pakistan vary from one organization to another according to their modes of utilization of human resource.

How do you see the future of fresh HR graduates in Pakistan?

There’s always room for talented people in every field but here is a problem with our education system that’s not in line with the requirements of the practi-

cal field. There are countless educational institutions imparting HR studies. Hundreds of HR graduates are being passed out every year from these institutions but there is not enough space in market to engage them. Here we need to understand that a HR department can be run efficiently with a few employees. For instance, to manage the workforce of about 1500 employees, five to six member HR staff is sufficient for an organization. So the number of HR graduates being produced should be in line with the capacity of the workforce. I also foresee outsourcing of HR function within next five to six years in Pakistan.

What is the role of top management in reshaping an organizational culture?

Culture always drives from top to bottom. So if one wants change in her/his organization, top management will have to apply it first thus it’ll create a trickle down effect. It’s just like sweeping of stairs which always starts from the top Could you please tell us about HR practices in Pearl Continental?

As we belong to hotel industry, here the role of HRM, HRD becomes very challenging and it requires diligent trainings, check and balance and wellbeing of the employees. I make it sure that our staff and services remain on top so for that reason, we keep holding various training sessions every other day in the hotel’s premises. There is an English language learning class for those who are poor in spoken English, training on how to receive the guest, how to handle the luggage at the security check point etc. We also hold a monthly campaign in accordance with the hottest issue of the month. For instance, the very next day after attacks on Taj hotel in Mumbai, I arranged a training session for our employees on how to handle such situations.

As we firmly believe in serving our employees, we also celebrate their birthdays every month and in the same ceremony we confer awards to succeeding employees like honesty award etc. We hold an annual dinner for our employees’ families.

We encourage them to grow and excel in their relevant area of service.

We also have a deep-rooted mentoring system embedded in our culture; we call it ‘Buddy System’. This system helps our employees not to feel lost and to fall back in hour of need to each other.

What is your employee annual turnover ratio and how do you plan succession?

Our employee annual turnover is only 2 per cent. Though it’s a low-paying industry but our overhead expenditures are huge.

The people who work with us become so well-trained that wherever they go, they appear as masters in their fields. We are very focused on effective succession planning. No one is indispensable but once this fact is negated, the growth of an organization becomes stagnant. We make sure that every person has one or two persons under his supervision who can succeed her/him in time.

What are the initiatives you’ve taken regarding training and development in your organization?

I hold the privilege of being the first female HR director in PC. Earlier, this position was always be held by some retired army man. First thing which I introduced here was the culture of trust thus eliminating the culture of fear between the HR department and the employees. Since I’ve joined this group, I’ve made sure that each and every employee takes at least eight hours training every year in her/his relevant area.

How is employees’ feedback taken to the top management?

We believe in sharing everything with our employees and taking their feedback for maintaining an environment of thorough understanding within the organization. We have outsourced this task to a company to maintain impartiality which takes our employees feedback through an employee opinion survey. This survey helps us a lot getting to know our employees requirements, expectations and also gauging the image of the group in minds of our employees. Another effective communication channel is bulletin boards and intranet. We post every information, news and activity on our intranet site. You’ll be amazed to know that there’s also an ac-

Culture always drives from top to bottom. So if one wants change in her/his organization, top management will have to apply it first thus it’ll create a trickle down effect.

tive employees’ union in our group. I maintain an open door policy, thus making myself accessible to every employee for immediate solution of the problems.

Kindly tell us about the imperative role of training and development in an organization’s setup.

Talking in broader perspective, let’s take a look at China what they’ve focused upon is solely their human resource and now they have taken over the world markets with their products. Japanese have trained and developed their people as a multitasking human resource. Even Indians are being outsourced by companies of the other countries because of their developed human resource. Training and development of employees is imperative to excel. In near future, you’ll see how human resource would take a shift to multitasking functioning in Pakistan as well.

What do you think are the core competencies of a trainer?

A trainer must be a master of extraordinary communication skills. Besides, being an expert of the relevant field, she/he must be an extrovert by nature.

Good sense of humor shows how down to earth she/he is, plus the trainer should be accessible to all otherwise a trainer who keeps sitting on a pedestal cannot impart anything to the trainees.

What are the challenges our hospitality industry is facing these days?

Our first challenge is to tackle the situation raised by political issues and security concerns in Pakistan and secure our business in these tough times while the second challenge is of getting trained human resource. Hospitality industry is very small in our country. Trained staff is hard to find and that’s why we hire and give extensive training to our staff to stay

on the top in market.

How does your group respond to Corporate Social Responsibility?

As a reputable and value-driven organization, Hashoo Group of Companies adheres to the highest level of ethical behaviours and principled economic conduct. The Hashoo Group applies a ‘big picture’ approach by providing heath care, infrastructure, education and training facilities to the local communities improving upon the capacity building. In hospitality industry, Ms Sarah Hashwani is taking into consideration the opening of a hotel training school in Lahore to provide the industry with qualified trained staff. We are also helping the internally displaced people (IDPs) of Swat valley by donating our one-day salaries and the stuff required by them. We give special attention to the environment and often campaign for its conservation.

How do you keep work-life balance?

I believe in giving quality time to both my office and my family. When I’m at work, I concentrate on it, while at home I give maximum attention to my family. In fact, it’s all about efficient time management.

What would you like to advise the young HR professionals?

My advice to the young HR professionals is that there’s no shortcut to success.

Keep believing in yourself and continue working as hard work always pay in the long run.

Please share with us your recipe of success?

I always keep myself prepared for the challenges ahead in time. I believe in proactive approach which if combined with good luck, ultimately leads to success. As I believe that thorough preparation naturally yields good luck to one’s efforts. n October - November | MANAGER TODAY 23

24 GOAL SETTING ATIF TUFAIL The writer is serving as head of human recources at eWorx International

T

here is no dearth of ‘Abstract Goals’ in organizations. At workplaces, we hear frequently things like “They need to have a better attitude”, “We’ve got to teach them to be properly motivated” etc. However, achievements of these ambiguous goals remain a distant dream because people associate subjective meanings to such statements. Consequently, utter confusion prevails in organizations owing to abstract goals.

MANAGER TODAY | October - November 2009

The first step in transforming abstract goals into concrete performances is to get them down, and then attempt to remove the fluff. Here is an example of abstract goal that initially proved harder to define. The Human Resources department of a company decided that a very important goal for their employees to achieve was “pride in work”. After writing down the goal “Have pride in work,” the HR team began to think of the things employees might say or do to make the management willing to pin this label on them.

We can see that for the management the essence of “pride in work” had mainly to do with how tasks are carried out. What started as an ‘abstract goal’ gradually turned into measurable performances by adopting analytical approach towards the determined goal. This leads us to step two of ‘Concretization of Goals’. In this step, we write down the performances that would cause us to agree the goal had been achieved, without regard for redundancy or abstraction.

Here’s an example of how it goes. While working toward analysis of a goal described as “demonstrates initiative,” a group of human resource managers listed the following items during step two for the line managers l Enjoys responsibility l Makes good decisions l Uses good judgment l Is on time After completing the list, they went through the items for sorting. The first item is a double abstraction. Both words ‘enjoy’ and ‘responsibility’ describe general states. Both are inferred from the things we might see someone do or say. Since the Human Resource Managers agreed that this was an important item for further consideration, they labeled it a goal and went to the next item Finally, they thought about the last item.

“Yes,” they said, “we can tell directly if a person is on time. One is either there at the appointed hour or one isn’t. All we have to do is say what we mean by “on time”, so that a criterion of acceptable performance will be available.” That was easier said than done, however, for there was quite a discussion about just what the limits of “on-timeness” should be. But that was real progress, since they were now discussing the desired shape of a performance rather than arguing about the abstractions.

The first two items were put on separate

pieces of paper; new analyses began for each. The third item, already qualifying as a performance, was shelved until the performances defining the first two goals were identified. Once that was done, the HR managers were ready for the final steps in the dissection of goals.

The list for “enjoys responsibility look like this: l Accepts new assignments without complaint l Appears in time for management meetings l Keeps subordinates informed l Meets deadlines l Spends time managing instead of operation An explanation of the last item is in order.

The rule of thumb in industry seems to be: Promote the best operators to managerial level, but don’t teach them how to manage.

As a result, there are thousands of managers who are good at their old jobs, whatever the jobs were, but who are totally ignorant about managing. The end result is that they tend to spend time doing what they did before they were promoted because it’s what they know how to do. Therefore, it is imperative that all ways and means should be employed to develop managerial skills in the star performers before promoting them as managers.

The list for “makes good decisions” look like this: l Identifies company goals supported by decisions l Always inform subordinates of decisions, and the reasons for making them l Makes decisions in time to be useful l Keeps well-informed about company goals and plans After discussion the last item was removed because it looked like a process than a goal with a definite outcome.

The two lists were then combined, and further discussion was focused on clarifying the performances. In a large company that employs a substantial number of maintenance people; management observed that the information flowing from the field to the company was often erroneous or non-existent.

The reports filled after machine repair were used as the basics for several important decisions; but, it was said, those reports were completed in a shabby fashion.

“We need more honest reporting,” said

management. Human Resource Managers were assigned the task of increasing the honesty of the reporting. They designed training programs to hammer the importance of professional ethics. They reminded the workforce about the company policy about “honest reporting” and made them aware of the dire consequences of “dishonest reporting”. However, all these measures made no difference and the management kept on receiving the reports not meeting their expectations. This made HR team to step back from their good for nothing ‘Activity Trap”.

They realized that it is impossible to know what action to take until they knew the results they wanted to achieve. In a pensive mood, they decided to figure out THE meaning of honesty was, that is, to describe the ultimate definition of honest reporting.

What began as an alleged problem with morals or ethics was seen, through goal analysis, to be a simple problem of communication. Once the problem description was turned into a checklist and distributed to the maintenance staff, the quality of the report improved. Once the performances representing the essence of the goal are identified, the final steps in the analysis are to draft statements describing each desired outcome to test those statements with the question, “If these performances are achieved, will we be willing to say the goal is achieved?” when the answer is yes the analysis is complete. The complete goal analysis procedure, then, is summarized as follows: STEP ONE:: Write down the goals in outcome terms.

STEP TWO: Jot down, in words and phrases, the performances that, if observed, would cause us to agree the goal was achieved.

STEP THREE:: Sort out the jottings. Delete duplications and unwanted items. Repeat Steps One and Two for any remaining abstractions (fuzzies) considered important.

STEP FOUR: Write a complete statement for each performance, describing the nature, quality, or amount you will consider acceptable.

STEP FIVE: Test the statements with the question, “If someone achieved or demonstrated each of these performances, would we be willing to say he or she had achieved the goal?” When we can answer “yes,” the journey of turning abstract goals into measurable performances culminates. n October - November 2009 | MANAGER TODAY 25

28 CAREER SAGHIR AHMED The writer is a seasoned sales trainer saghirahmad@hotmail.com

Career mapping How to discover what you’re best at Much bigger than Unemployment is the problem of Under-Employment in Pakistan where the blind leads another blind, and people become blind followers of the blind follower.

‘Journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step‘, when the Chinese Philosopher, Lou Tzu, uttered these words for his disciples, he intended to guide them to a meaningful and result-oriented journey. He meant that people traveling a thousand miles, or even just a few miles, should have a clear idea of where they’re going when they take their first step; otherwise, they’ll reach nowhere and, ultimately, end up in frustration and failure.

There are incalculable so-called executives who now live depressed and frustrated lives, working in a wrong occupation, simply because they took a defensive attitude toward their education and career path. People with a wrong career planning become a magnet for the life-long unpleasant situations.

Students’ expectations for a bright future don’t last long, and even after holding a Master Degree they soon find themselves surrounded by the same old enervating question: what to do and how to do ? They want to move ahead in life, but they just don’t know how and where to start. They MANAGER TODAY | October - November 2009

don’t have a clear career plan, and they don’t know how to design it. And unfortunately none is there to guide and lead them in designing a proper plan for a successful career. Blind leads another blind, and students easily become the blind follower of the blind follower. Consequently, students find themselves confused, aimless and lost, thus becoming a stone that rolls in different directions but gathers no mass at all.

A meaningful education and successful career path calls for a sound future planning that enables students to turn their academic opportunities into achievable goal and thus control their career and, ultimately, life.

Educational planning is subject to the following two inter-linked and correlative factors: 1. Planning is Crucial to Your Career: proper planning can shape and refine the career and, ultimately, life. It can help students set and achieve their life vision, and is capable of bringing happiness, satisfaction and prosperity in career. It is a way to manage your life on a daily basis; focusing

on the desired objectives and achieving them on time.

2. Systematic Thinking: this approach is the underlying factor of the whole planning process. It starts with defining your ideal future vision, and leads and guides students step-by-step throughout the process until they achieve their desired objectives. It doesn’t focus on daily activities; it takes into account the overall grand purposes in personal and career life.

Career planning process comprises of the following four inter-dependent steps, each of which leads to the next one in order to complete the cycle:

WHAT IS CAREER MAPPING?

STEP 1: SELF-ASSESSMENT

Career Planning is deciding today what you have to do tomorrow.

Students can definitely attain all of their career and life goals if they only know the right tools and skills. All it takes is the proper planning. Once students decide what to achieve in their career lives, they can then design a ‘how to’ action plan. But equally important is knowing ‘why ’. This ‘why’ brings the required motivation and prompts them to an action.

According to the renowned Career Counselor, Dr. James Sherman, career planning is the design of a hoped-for future and the development of effective steps for bringing it about ’.

In simpler words, career planning is a rational and systematic method of decision making for a career; it gives you the reason and power that you need to control your future career path. It helps you cross all the critical milestones on the road to educational and career success.

It is a system of gathering information about a student in order to make a sound decision about the choice of subjects leading to the right educational degree and a bright career path. The teacher, based on his one-on-one discussions with the student, takes an inventory of the student’s values, likes and dislikes, interests, abilities, skills, job preference and personality characteristics.

Values: they’re the students’ life-governing principles and core beliefs of their personality; they include the virtues that are the most important to students. Some of these career-related virtues are: status, job security, prestige, high salary with fringe benefits, autonomy and achievement.

Interests: they’re the students’ preference of one subject to another one; for example, arts or science subjects. Students always enjoy subjects more if their personal interests are related to the characteristics of the career they like most.

Abilities & Skills: they’re the activities you are best at. For instance, abilities may include the artistic, scientific, mechanical, physical and manual abilities. Skills may involve linguistic writing, programming, teaching, selling, painting skills etc.

Preference: this is the student’s desire or liking for one subject over another one; for example, physics over chemistry; technical over non-technical discipline. A student may express his/her liking in these words: I would rather work in the office than in the field.

WHY CAREER PLANNING?

Career planning can benefit students in so many ways that it is hard to mention all of them, but the following advantages stand out prominently: l Career planning prompts you to resultoriented activities, and saves you from confusion and stress that an aimless person always undergoes. l Planning helps you know your performance, measure progress and evaluate your career achievements. l Sound planning saves students from becoming a ‘wandering generality ’, and makes them a ‘meaningful person’ heading towards a well-defined aim and life. l It helps you live properly, utilize your talents and reach your full potential for a meaningful career and a purposeful life.

In short, career planning is a powerful process of harnessing your mental and

physical energies, putting them behind life goals; it excites for a challenge to succeed in job, helps you climb the success ladder; inspires your imagination, stimulates your creativity and fill you with enthusiasm for a bright career and successful life.

CAREER PLANNING PROCESS

STEP 2: OPTIONS

This stage involves the search of those potential careers that are compatible with your interests and personality type. This step comprises of two correlative aspects: a. Exploring the Occupation b. Occupational Information

Much bigger than Unemployment is the problem of UnderEmployment in Pakistan where the blind leads another blind, and people become blind followers of the blind follower.

This data includes details about the relevant industry, job outlook, salary, fringe benefits, future prospects, allied occupations, education and training opportunities, job duties, authorities and responsibilities.

STEP 3: MATCH

During this phase of the planning process, you’ll: l Identify possible occupations l Evaluate these occupations l Explore alternatives The purpose of an informational interview is to get information about a field of work from someone who has some firsthand knowledge. When you’re on an informational interview, you should not ask for a job. This is not to say that an informational interview can’t lead to a job. In addition to helping you learn about a particular career, the informational interview is a way to start building a network.

There is another way an informational interview can benefit you. For those who are a little shy about going on a job interview, the informational interview provides a nonthreatening situation in which to get some practice.

STEP 4 : ACTION

You’ll develop the steps you need to take in order to reach your goal, for example: l Investigating sources of additional training and education, if needed l Developing a job search strategy l Writing your resume l Job Interview and Career Start In short, career planning means knowing where you are going, and how and when you’ll reach there. n

October - November 2009 | MANAGER TODAY 29

30 EVENTS GLIMPSES OF LEADING EDGE TRAININGS eading Edge is a higly proactive and client focued Training & Development Consultancy. As an energetic company, it is infused with a desire to provide value added services. The core phillosophy of Leading Edge is “Learning with fun�. To demonstrate this philosophy ,below are the glimpses in which participants from different organisations like, Federal Board of Revenue, Allied Bank Ltd., PEL, Ufone, A.F. Ferguson, Bank Al-Habib, Royal Palm Golf & Country Club, are learning and having fun together.

L

Venerated guests in a memorable group photo

Participants listening to the trainer

Noting down the lecture

Bilal Illahi giving presentation during the training session

All attentive to the speaker MANAGER TODAY | October - November 2009

Moment of concentration

Thought provoking moment in the learning

Ijaz Nisar imparting training Relaxed and penetrating

In a jovial, pleasant mood Mr. Afzal Hassan presenting a shield to Mr. Saad Amanullah, CEO Gillette Pakistan Ltd.

Solving the quiz A quick brain storming exercise

Trainees over the activity table

Group activity to enhance team building capacity of participants October - November 2009 | MANAGER TODAY 31

32 LEADERSHIP

A

MUNIR AHMAD The writer is chief manager at Sialkot State Bank of Pakistan

Servant Leadership Cash money is not the only thing that matters in life.

Respect, recognition and satisfaction associated with one’s job is more important than tangible benefits MANAGER TODAY | October - November 2009

ll of a sudden, I noticed a change in the concentration level of those who were attending the meeting, generally, whenever a senior official presides over a meeting in an office, all the participants of the meeting listen to him with full attention. But here, the situation was totally different; all the participants seemed quite indifferent to the proceedings of the meeting. It appeared as if they had received some blissful news that had gripped their attention. At last, in response to my queries, one of the persons attending the meeting mustered up some courage and told me that Sheeda the tea seller had returned.

He further explained that sheeda used to prepare highly delicious tea.

However, compelled by the circumstances of his life, he had to go to his village for a year; and during his absence, people could not enjoy the relish of his tea.

Another man present at the meeting revealed that people used to come to the State Bank Office only to enjoy his tea. This huge popularity of Sheeda an ordinary tea seller astonished me, so I put up the typical authoritative garb of a chief manager that instantly restored the concentration of my listeners.

For several reasons, the Chief Manager enjoys a highly significant and unique position. In a local area, where the State Bank is regarded as a ‘distributing hand’ his post becomes all the more prestigious.

A few days later, Sheeda resumed his tea business, but I deliberately refrained from ordering his tea for myself.

One morning, after three or four days, I was informed by my peon that Sheeda had come with his tea and wished to greet me.

I was actually gripped by a strange curiosity to see him so I permitted him to come in. A few moments later, he en-

We find many people reciting holy words or supplications in order to remember Allah in their routine. However, whenever a small unpleasant event takes place, people immediately become forgetful of Allah's remembrance and start quarrelling and using abusive language. In this way, they remain deprived of much wanted peace and tranquility of the mind and the soul.

tered my room with a cup of tea in his hand. He had a perfectly rural appearance and was full of simplicity and courtesy. With the second sip of the tea, I realized that it was astonishingly tasty, it gave me a captivating freshness, the outcome of a rare blend of high quality tea leaves and pure milk. Instead of giving a free vent to my feelings of joy, I only remarked that the tea was fine and asked him where he got the milk from.

In reply, he informed me that he had two buffaloes and lived in a village at a distance of fifteen miles from the city.

"In the lust for more milk, I do not give injections to my buffaloes," remarked Sheeda. Then, he began to talk more fluently and said, "Sir, as long as I use good tea leaves and pure milk, my money would remain Halal (Fair and lawful), I wish to earn Halal living for my children."

Such sentences are frequently spoken by businessmen and shopkeepers to promote their business, therefore, I did not. attach any importance to his words.

A few days later, daily, at ten in the morning, he started sending me an excellent cup of tea, whose taste was so relishing and durable that gradually I began regarding the eleven o'clock tea as unnecessary. Sheeda's strategy worked and in a few days time and under my orders, he began supplying tea to the Chief Manager's section. One day, on my way back from the office, I happened to meet Sheeda who respectfully greeted me. The smile on his face clearly indicated that he was jubilant at the fact that at last, I too had been ensnared and trapped by his tea.

One day; I mentioned the delightful flavor of Sheeda's tea to some of my friends who had come to see me and ordered my peon to bring tea for us.

For a long time, the tea did not come,

but finally, when it came, it was as usual fresh and tasty and was highly appreciated by my friends. After their departure, the innate egotism within me rose up and urged me to summon the tea maker. In a somewhat timid and terrified tone, Sheeda began to speak ‘Sir, the fact is that some people had already ordered tea. I prepare tea in line with the orders. No doubt, the bank has senior as well as junior officers, but I make tea only on the turn of order. I am sorry for the delay but this is how I work and while I'm working, I make no distinctions. If only one cup of tea is ordered, I prepare only one cup. If during this process, two more cups of tea are ordered, I don't add more water to the water which is already being boiled for the first cup of tea (Although, it is much easier for me to do so). But I regard such a thing as adulteration in the tea, which spoils the taste and thus God's blessings. I hardly prepare sixty or seventy cups of tea in a day and receive only about two and a half rupees as profit from each cup.

After the payment of the fare, I am left with about a hundred and fifty rupees which I take back to my village in the evening being completely satisfied. It is the only secret of my success.’ I realized that quite unknowingly, he had delivered a comprehensive lecture on Change Management. Each and every word of his lecture was full of truth and instead of scolding him for delaying the tea, I was overwhelmed with the feelings of respect and honor for him.

In this managerial job, I had to remain in contact and interact actively with all the internal and external stake holders.

For a proper understanding of my job, when I started studying relevant books on management, I appreciated the concept of servant leadership, vigorously advocated by the leading twenty-first

century scholars such as Robert Green Leaf, Stephen Covey and Jim Collins.

Robert Greenleaf propounded this concept after getting inspiration from a man named Leo who was a servant in a caravan but became a guide for the whole caravan by virtue of his excellent services.

While analyzing Sheeda's character, I could see in him the qualities of Rober Greenleaf's Leo. Sheeda used to come to the office at ten and nobody in the office liked to have tea before ten. In the same way, the office employees used to have another cup of tea before 4’0 clock, because, it was the time for Sheeda to wind up his day's work and go home. In this way, Sheeda had bound all the people in a fixed routine and discipline.

The City of Daska is situated at a distance of ten miles from Gujranwala, Sialkot and Sambarial.

There is a beautiful house in Daska, having a board on which the following words are written: "Peace exists nowhere." Besides this, there is another house and following words are written on it in bold letters: "Peace lies in the remembrance of Allah." Those who visit this city often read both these sentences and discuss them in accordance with their own vision and understanding.

They try to assure one another that they enjoy peace and tranquility, but in reality, it is not true.

We find many people reciting holy words or supplications in order to remember Allah in their routine. However, whenever a small unpleasant event takes place, people immediately become forgetful of Allah's remembrance and start quarrelling and using abusive language. In this way, they remain deprived of much wanted peace and tranquility of the mind and the soul.

October - November 2009 | MANAGER TODAY 33

When prices of things increased considerably in the country, Sheeda also said in implicit terms that he wanted to increase the price of his tea. He used to charge six rupees for one cup of tea though, such excellent quality of tea was not available in the market even at the rate of ten rupees per cup.

But Sheeda happily agreed to sell his tea at rupees eight per cup and he was fully satisfied.

However, it seemed very strange to me that an honest laborer coming to city from a distance of 15 km to work for the whole day with full dedication would return to his village in the evening with only 150 rupees in his pocket.

I tried my best to make him understand the economic principle of demand and supply emphasizing that increase in demand inevitably leads to the increase in price. When something becomes Popular in the market, its price is increased and people readily buy it. I emphasized that in this age of soaring inflation everyone should earn at least three or four hundred rupees per month to raise his family and children.

For a while Sheeda remained silent.

Then he lifted his eyes just once, looked towards me and returned home.

The next day, I again summoned him and resumed my earlier lecture. In the hope of making my arguments more forceful, I said that the field which fails to 34 MANAGER TODAY | October - November 2009

People in the city have great respect for me and I have an access to the country's biggest bank whose officials hold me in high esteem and eagerly wait for my tea. Am I inferior to anyone? This fame and respect is a part of my livelihood and this fair livelihood is the cause of peace and tranquility on my face. provide livelihood to the farmer, should be burnt to ashes. The idea of burning the fields came as a shock for him and signs of anger and anxiety appeared on his face. Perhaps, he did not like what I had spoken. But he silently left the room.

After some time, I received the KSTICS news that in a fit of anger, Sheeda had refused to make tea and was loudly talking to himself. His soliloquy was something like this: "I also live in the same world and am fully aware of all these things. People don't wait for me. Instead, they wait for

the taste that I provide them in the form of my tea. They know that my tea is pure and has been prepared with full sincerity I can not shatter their trust and confidence in me. I am not a State Bank employee but enjoy a special relationship with the State Bank employees and on account of this relationship, I am respected in the village. After getting up early in the morning, I milk my cows, and go from door to door to distribute the milk.

When I set out from my village to the State Bank people request me to do small chores for them and on my way back to home I find them waiting for me.

Cash money is not the only thing that matters in life. Respect, recognition and satisfaction associated with one’s job is more important than tangible benefits. I get the flour from the wheat grown on my own land. I am able to earn about 150 rupees from my tea business in the city.

People in the city have great respect for me and I have an access to the country's biggest bank whose officials hold me in high esteem and eagerly wait for my tea.

Am I inferior to anyone? This fame and respect is a part of my livelihood and this fair livelihood is the cause of peace and tranquility on my face."

The debate about "Peace exists nowhere" and "Peace lies in the remembrance of Allah once again became fresh in my mind. Surely, peace lies in the remembrance of Allah and when this remembrance becomes a source of the service and welfare of humanity all the sorrows and worries of life vanish. Such servant and well-wisher of humanity becomes popular with the people. I could suddenly see before my eyes, the calm, peaceful and smiling face of Sheeda who appeared to be saying that he had revealed the secret of real success and popularity.

Robert Green Leaf's Leo and my Sheeda are symbolic characters who are present around us, but we fail to notice that they are the guiding characters and servant leaders. The management service of the twenty-first century is in search of them, because only they can ensure the real welfare of the depressed and distressed humanity. n

HR FOCUS

35

SYED ALI RAZA The writer is head of HR in a multinational company

10 Commandments in Islam:

HR Implications All religions have put forth basic guiding principles or tenets for mankind to follow.

These commandments have influence on the outlook and behavior of individuals and groups

I

t is widely acknowledged that religion has powerful influence over the human behavior.

Human beings carry these learnings to organizations, may be, in a dormant fashion. An interesting perspective is that we don’t integrate these learnings with a firm’s human resource strategy. All religions have put forth basic guiding

principles or tenets for mankind to follow. Christians, Jews and Muslims each have their respective commandments. These commandments have influence on the outlook and behavior of individuals and groups. These academicians namely Abbas Ali, Manton Gibbs and Robert Camp of University of Pennsylvania have given a shape in the form of reli-

TEN COMMANDMENTS

gious foundations to human resource strategy in their paper titled ‘Human Resource Strategy: they say the HR aspects of Ten Commandments in the three religions, centre on loyalty, networking and minimization of the conflict to ensure survival and continuity.

HR IMPLICATIONS

1. Do not consider anything equal to God.

Respect for competent leadership; priority in hiring should be given to qualified individuals.

2. Be kind to your parents.

Disagreement with superiors should be voiced politely; employees should follow the instructions of their superiors.

3. Do not murder your children out of fear of poverty.

Management should consider employee layoffs and downsizing as a last resort to maintain business survival.

4. Do not even approach indecency either in public or in private.

Employees should be honest in dealing with management and should not sabotage property; management should show the utmost consideration for social norms, values and the rights of employees.

5. Do not murder for no reason anyone whom God has considered respectable. Thus, your Lord guides so that you may think.

Management should establish a due process for dealing with employee grievances and . should show justice and equity; performance should be the main criteria for evaluation.

6. Do not handle the property of the orphans except with a good reason until they become mature and strong.

Management should not abuse the rights of employees. Employee pension fund should be . handled with utmost care.

7. Maintain equality in your dealings by the means of measurement and balance.

Management should be fair and just in recruiting, in giving compensation and in treatment of employees. Management should maintain a balanced programme to motivate and retain employees; employees should do their best to meet their commitments to their organizations.

8. Be just in your words even if the party nvolves is one of your relatives.

Management should avoid favoritism and nepotism; there should be no discrimination in the work place; supervisor should avoid misleading their subordinate; maintaining the dignity of employees in a virtue; diversity is essential for organizational growth.

9. Keep your promise with God. Does your Lord guide you so that you may take heed.

Employees should observe both the letter and spirit of their agreement with their organizations, and should not violate any terms of agreement that would harm the organization.

10. This is my path and it is straight. Follow it and not other paths which will lead you far away from God

Management should device plans that motivate employees to be productive and loyal to their organizations; frankness in dealing with their subordinates is a virtue.

October - November 2009 | MANAGER TODAY 35

36 INTERVIEW

MANAGER TODAY | October - November 2009

NABEELA MALIK

W

ould you like to articulate the mission and vision of the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer hospital?

Mission is very clear, it is to establish a place where you can provide high quality cancer care to people irrespective of their paying ability. It means giving the same standard of care and attention to all cancer patients >>>

October - November 2009 | MANAGER TODAY 37

whether they are paying for the expenses or not. Sadly, we cannot admit each and every patient from all over the province or the country due to our limited capacity; however, once we admit a patient we do offer our best services in terms of care and equal treatment. This is actually the core mission of the hospital.

Is there any expansion plan in sight to increase the capacity of SKMH and cure more patients?

The main hurdle in the way of expansion is lack of trained human resource, whether it is trained paramedics, doctors or nurses or the other administrative staff. And if you have one institute in Lahore that takes care of five to six thousand new cancer patients every year, whereas there are 150,000 patients in the country, you can imagine how badly we require more of such institutes and qualified people to serve the humanity.

At present we are planning to expand this building to create a hundred bed capacity. Perhaps two years down the road we will have another separate building as well, which is the part of the master plan.

However, the more important thing is that we need to reach other places too. For that we have built a fence around the plot for SKMCH in Karachi and a diagnostic research center in Karachi is almost complete by now.

Along with expansion plans, how do you intend to work on capacity enhancement of the hospital?

We are working on capacity enhancement through two ways, first prevention and early detection strategy and secondly through training and education.

In our society there is a rapid increase in cancer patients. For which precautionery measures are very essential to be taken.

We are working at increasing the noise level against different cancers and media is also supporting us in this cause.

Secondly we are also enhancing capacity through a number of training programmes in Oncology including radiation oncology, lab and supportive care, nursing trainings etc.

So, we are constantly working on capacity enhancement but as you know institutions lose their manpower once they train 38 MANAGER TODAY | October - November 2009

At this hospital I always inquire out loud that please tell me if anybody see my poor patients being mistreated because this is what I will never tolerate being the chief executive of the hospital.

them. After getting training, people become internationally marketable and they shift further for higher benefits. And in this regard nursing and trained staff are more portable as they meet a huge difference in earnings and benefits outside the country.

Thus, it is a serious issue to cope with.

What cancer actually is? And what

types of cancer are common in our country?

Cancer is in fact an uncontrolled growth of a body part that starts eating up the resources of the body.

And this abnormal uncontrolled growth can start in any part of the body, affecting other systems as well.

The most common cancers in Pakistan are breast cancer among women. Our statistics show may be we have the highest breast cancer incidents in the entire Asian population. The reasons are yet to be identified but it is on a rapid increase in our country.

Among our men there is not any single kind of cancer predominantly. It ranges from lung cancer to Lithoma and four to five other types.

But we have found in the data collected by ‘Karachi Tumor Registry’ that four to five types of cancer in men are tobacco related.

So, our researches suggest that if we control tobacco usage in men, a greater risk of cancer can be minimized.

What is the estimated number of cancer patients in our country?

There are nearly 150,000 cancer patients that show up annually. Out of which there are 50% women, and 50% of these women are victims of breast cancer. I would like to throw light on this grave situation that there are at least 25,000 new breast cancer patients are found in our country each year. This is a dangerous indicator.

What other institutes working against cancer?

Of course, many other institutes are also working to prevent cancer. Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission has established around 12 to 14 centers in the country and then there are Oncology departments in government medical colleges; we have oncology departments in Mayo Hospital Lahore, Jinnah Hospital and in Agha Khan Hospital etc.

How are cancer patients attended at SKMH? The unique thing about our hospital is that it provides all the facilities under one single roof. In cancer diagnosis the most

important thing is to get feedback from the radiologist directly.

There are written reports that doctors do read but I am always concerned with the direct interaction with radiology department and I myself look at the scans determining the results by observing the scans.

So, this direct monitoring and feedback is a unique quality about SKMH that is unavailable at other places.

How the finances are generated for the hospital? Is the financial mechanism working smoothly?

Finance generation and management is a continuous challenge at the hospital.

We could manage 50% of hospital expenses from the hospital sources and 50% are met through donations.

This year we have a budget of Rs. 2.6 billion, the half of which will be generated from hospital revenue and half will be collected through zakat and donations. So we are always able to meet our expenses well.

Would you like to tell us how you determine the paying ability of the patients to provide them free of cost treatment or charge them for all the expenses?

Well, this is the most common query about the hospital. I can simplify the mechanism and tell you that there is a walk in clinic where anybody can come for the initial test. No monetary question is asked at this stage. It’s a free clinic and a walk in clinic that works on Saturdays too, so you need not to get time prior to your visit.

At this place we test and decide if you are non-cancer, treatable patient or non-treatable.

We decline non cancer patients and non treatable cancer patients but we accept the treatable patients.

Accepted patients visit the doctor in a week's time where their paying ability is determined. Those who can pay for the treatment they bear expenses while those who cannot pay; are interviewed by our financial support service. There is a set questionnaire to adjudicate that patient can pay full, partial or the patient can pay nothing.

There are nearly 65% of patients who can pay nothing, around 10% fall in the cat-

egory of paying partially and 25% are those who can afford to pay the whole expenses on their own.

Well, I must say in this regard that it is nearly an unimaginable thing that happens here. I have seen the most generous people in our country. Such a huge money around two to three billion is raised every year and people never let me worry about monetary issues of the hospital. And I am truly proud of this generous contribution of our people to cure out cancer.

Could you please mention the key success factors in your mission?

The greatest key success factor is the commitment to our ambition. Next to it is to get right people, remain transparent, worship quality and treat the poor ones with equal care. At this hospital, I always inquire out loud that please tell me if anybody sees poor patients being mistreated because this is what I will never tolerate being the chief executive of the hospital.

You need to have a vision; ability to communicate directly to the heart of your needy listener and you need to be passionate about whatever you are doing.

Being a manager at the top, when you practice these things, your followers will automatically nurture these qualities.

I believe an organizational culture has to be settled from the top. It can not be reformed or corrected from middle or the bottom.

Top management must set goals and become honest and passionate to achieve them.

Would you like to tell about your pass time activities and interests?

I have got a very curious nature.

I am very keenly interested in computing and latest technology. I read science with a lot of interest.

I like politics and debates on political circumstances. I have made GPS maps of Lahore and they are freely available on the

Such a huge money around two to three billion is raised every year and people never let me worry about monetary issues of the hospital. I am truly proud of this generous contribution of our people to cure out cancer.

My real VIPs are my poor patients. I always keep an eye on the complaints and I personally address most of them.

So this abidance by our mission is our key to performance. And I reckon when anyone sticks to one's mission and its fundamentals, all challenges are met and success comes the way.

Would you like to highlight the role of top management in an institute's overall performance?

Well, it’s a crucial role!

I personally count on the characteristics of a leader the way Iqbal elaborates Nigah buland sukhan dilnawaz, jan pursoz Ye hi hay rakht-e- safar mir-e-karwan kay liye

internet. I am passionately interested in getting to know the WHY's and HOW's of the universe, got a thinking and philosophical mind as well.

Will you consider yourself successful at managing an ideal work-life balance?

Well, I think I could probably do better.

Perhaps I cannot manage it that well as I should have. But I think I should manage it more according to the needs of my parents, my family, friends and loved ones.

And I also think I need some more people in my institute to help me maintain my work life balance more efficiently. More delegation on the part of my staff will also help in this regard. n

October - November 2009 | MANAGER TODAY 39

40 ECONOMY BILAL ILLAHI The writer is a corporate trainer b_illahi@yahoo.com

Pakistan: a knowledge economy Building a knowledge economy is indeed a long process ome of the contents of the Approach Paper for Pakistan’s Tenth 5-Year Plan were recently published by a Lahore based newspaper. The Approach Paper recognizes the key role of “knowledge” in economic growth and prosperity of Pakistan. It emphasizes on building a “knowledge economy” by investing in education, vocational, technical and scientific training. It also emphasizes on the need of investments in R&D and communication infrastructure in Pakistan.

The aforementioned, indisputably, are some of the essential elements towards building a Knowledge Economy. But this list is by means complete. A host of economists have come out with their views on how such an economy can come about. According toThe World Bank, the four pillars of a Knowledge Economy are as follows: 1. Education and Training. That may produce a steady flow of skilled workers, capable of creating, using and sharing knowledge.

2. Information Infrastructure. Communication is the life blood of a knowledge economy.

A well developed information infrastructure makes it possible for innovation to spread rapidly.

3. Economic incentive and instututional regime. Presence of commercial law, patents, and a fair judiciary give entrepreneurs the incentive to create innovative technologies.

4. Innovative systems. Knowledge is a public good because the whole of society benefits from it.

However the economic theory holds that societies tend to underinvest in public goods.

S

MANAGER TODAY | October - November 2009

Therefore an innovative system is required to direct society’s resources to the creation and sharing of knowledge. A network of universities and research centers is a pre-requisite.

Private enterprise is encouraged to invest in R&D. It is clear that building a knowledge economy is indeed a long process. Pakistan’s economic problems are serious and our resources scarce. Our priorities have to be somewhat different. Our level of poverty is over 40%; direct economic intervention is required to subsidise food for the very poor.

Secondly, our budgetary allocation for health and education is 3 % of the GDP. These ratios have to be brought up to a respectable level to provide the basic neccassities to the people. The other expenditures of the government have to be rationalised. PSDP’s alllocation of Rs. 680 billion in the current budget is a big improvemtent over last year.

What remains to be seen is if this ammount actually gets spent in the appropriate and fair way. Usually as the budgetary deficit increases, the development budget becomes one of the first casualities.

For some strange reason, Pakistan’s population of 160 million is projected as an asset by our leaders and policy-makers.Half of our population is under the age of 25 years and our literacy rate, according to international standards is not even 60%. We have to improve our literacy rate on a war like strategy.

If we are not able to train our workforce and provide them employment oppurtunities, our 160 million people will become a liability. It can lead to severe political and socio-economic problems. This issue needs a lot of planning and a lot of time before we see any progress.

Only when these very serious issues relating to poverty have been addressed, we can start talking about making Pakistan a Knowledge-based economy. At that point we will have to give priority to developing our communication infrastructure and increasing our R&D spending. n

ZARA MAQBOOL

Howtodealwithgetting

laidoff If you are a victim of your company’s layoff scheme just remember that perseverance is better than losing heart and giving it all up

S

hahab Ali had been working for a multi national for four years. Just two months back he was awarded as the best employee for over achieving his targets. “I had worked 14 straight days when I walked in that morning and found out I was laid off,” he said.

Saima Shah, who had worked for an id firm for ten years, says, “After my manager told me that the company was terminating my job, I was surprised, demoralized, and depressed.

I had thought I was safe because my sales numbers were above quota. It was a huge blow to find out that my excellent performance had not paid off.”

Getting laid off is one of the worst experiences of a professional individual especially when one is performing well. “Why me?” is the question that plagues the mind. It’s a life changing experience for most people. Omar who was laid off just six months after joining a company abroad says, “It was so emotionally devastating because even though I had savings and my expenses were low, I worried that I would never find another job. I blamed myself even though I hadn’t done anything wrong. And I felt so rejected.” Tariq Ahmed, a senior official at a multinational gives the management’s perspective on what are the reasons for lying off people. “I think it is a combination of multiple things. The recent wave of layoff is not just performance based but more of a number game if a company as a whole is not doing well, sot cutting meas-

ures have to be taken. It’s a tough decision as a lot of good talent unwillingly is let go. It’s important that every employee gives its level best because during critical times tolerance for substandard performance goes down.”

So the critical questions how to deal with getting laid of and get a new job? Here are a few steps to help individuals and their families during this critical time: • Manage your stress by immediately involving yourself in activities that relax you. Exercises, listening to music, long drives are some ways that can provide an outlet to process your feelings of anger and grief and it can shorten the time it takes to find new employment.

• Get emotional support by sending quality time with close family and friends. Interacting with people who can provide you positive emotional support can make you feel less alone and helpless. But avoid anyone who has tendency to be tactless or shaming when interacting with you.

• Evaluate your financial situation. Make sure you are fairly paid your severance package. Don’t freak out if you have no savings. Try to take a small loan if you are totally dry with the faith that once reemployed you can pay it back. Remember that this loan is just for sustenance.

• Assess you interests, values, and strengths. Career transitions offer you the opportunity to re-evaluate what you have accomplished in your career to date and to

identify where you want to go next. Make a “Wish List” about what you would like to have in your next job. Define your career focus.

• Implement a job search campaign. Despite the proliferation of online job search tools, the old-fashioned method of meeting hiring managers and professionals is still the most successful way of landing a new job.

Some of the new networking tools can be helpful in facilitating introductions, but the primary process of finding employers that need your skills is the same no matter how long it has been since you last looked for work. Limit your online job search to 10 hrs per week since too much web surfing is not only unproductive but is a risk factor of depression.

Plan to spend about 25 hours per week engaged in your job search and spend the rest of your time doing something else as there is a hug e potential for burnout if you try to job hunt all day every day.

• Try to identify what is working and what isn’t. If your resume doesn’t result in invitations to interview, ask professional colleagues to take a look at your resume compared to the jobs you are pursuing and to give you advice about whether you resume or your job goal needs to be fine-tuned. No matter what your real feelings are for the position where you were laid off from. Try not to be so angry or upset that you are unable to move on.

If you are having a difficult time summoning enthusiasm about any of the jobs you find, it may be because you really don’t want to continue the same type of work you had before.

Many people in this situation have realized that they really don’t want to work for someone else ever again and they have launched businesses that they otherwise would not have started if they were not pushed into it by a change of circumstances. As trite as this sounds, being laid off really can be a blessing in disguise.

• Persevere! Regardless of how awful you feel as you scramble to find a new career or job after a layoff, you can survive and then thrive. Whether you think you will succeed or not, take the first and second and this steps.

Even if you can’t see where you are going, start doing something.

Remember the best revenge following a layoff is to move forward to live well! n October - November 2009 | MANAGER TODAY 41

42

STRESS MANAGEMENT

SHAHID NAFEES The writer is a senior training manager at Bank Alfalah Shahid.nafees@gmail.com

B

alance or equilibrium is the essential formula on which the very existence and survival of each and everything depends in this universe.

“The whole universe is designed in balance” Quran declares. Take an atom or neuron, the smallest models in the universe or take the largest model, the universe itself or for the sake of broadening the sample take a medium size model, the human being.

‘Stress’ is an end result of interplay between some negative and harmful elements known as stressors and the resources that you have at your disposal. Balancing these factors is the answer to the problem of stress. Stress inherently is not bad. It is in fact one of the requirements that stretches our abilities and strengths. That makes us strong and enhances our capabilities. Eustress, the good type of stress, is rather invited and liked. One example of this is daily jogging or playing a match after which although you may feel exhausted yet it gives a great sense of pleasure and well being.

Out of many types of ‘stresses’ the most harmful type is chronic stress.

There can be a long list of stressors and their categories. Similarly there are numerous resources available to counter or fight with stressors (let me call these ‘resources’ as ‘comforters’). A brief, but inconclusive list is however given below to elaborate my point.

For those who perceive that they are suf-

MANAGER TODAY | October - November 2009

Stressed? trythis ‘Desi ’ prescription!

Stress inherently is not bad. It is in fact one of the requirements that stretches our abilities and strengths. That makes us strong and enhances our capabilities.

STRESSORS Regular overwork; exertion Failures in life Bad boss; bad policies Family or financial problems

COMFORTERS Relaxation ; sleep Genetic, neuronal & physical health Social & organizational support Right thinking & attitudes

Interplay between these will determine the level of comfort or stress.

fering from stress the good news is that there are many prescriptions available for getting rid of stress. You can get it from a doctor, from a psychologist or a psychiatrist, may be from a hakeem or even from a cleric. All of them can be useful but I personally believe in a prescription that is likely to cure many stress related problems and yet is very simple.

Like many others I have also learnt from the company of the wise. Many people call them ‘Babas’. Not withstanding the valuable contributions of the thinkers and writers and speakers from around the world, we must expose the good work done by our good old oriental wisdom. My approach once again, therefore, will be a very indigenous and an experiential one. Make use of all good things from all around the world but just try some of these tips which were usefully experienced by a modern time ‘Baba’ From now onwards the whole narrative is in the words of that Baba. I did use this prescription and greatly benefited.

“I was a student of 11th class and the year was 1960. Even at that age I had some sort of book craze. Once when I had 50 rupees in my pocket I took my father’s Lambretta scooter and went to Urdu Bazar. From Ilmi Kitab Khana I bought one of my favourite books ‘Kashf-ul-Mahjoob’ of Ali Hajvery Hazrat Data Ganj Baksh as he is commonly known. I bought the book; put it in my scooter’s basket. There were some stops

on my way back for some small things and I came back home only to find that my favourite book was not in the basket. I went back searching and asking for the book everywhere but alas, till today I could not know how and where that book did disappear. In my depression I did not take supper, skipped walk and went straight up my bed but could not sleep until 2:30am. Suddenly somebody from inside me started scorning me. ‘Idiot, Ahmaq, what do you think you are doing? Don’t eat for one full week. Don’t sleep either. But will you bring the book back that way’?

The moment gave me a life-long lesson: There is no use of grieving yourself for the things that are gone. I found one permanent principle of my life. Never cry over the spilt milk.

Things once gone are gone but life remains worthwhile and beautiful. We are advised to recite ‘Inna-lillah-ewa-inna-ilaiheraje’oon over the loss of any kind.

It is a perfect message to relieve us from saddening feelings because things (and people) are from Allah and they return to Allah.

Thus we should stay contented upon Allah’s will.

Allah tells His beloved prophets that the end-result of your deeds is not in your control. It has never been. Your task is to endeavour (and say) “Wama alaina illal balagh.” Mine is to convey the message.

October - November 2009 | MANAGER TODAY 43

‘Stress’ is an end result of interplay between some negative and harmful elements known as stressors and the resources that you have at your disposal.

Balancing these factors is the answer to the problem of stress

Mine is to make efforts. And after that I should not even think of the results. Allah asks in Sura Al-Waqe’a “Who germinates the seed that you put in the soil, who converts its tender sapling into a strong tree?” Not human being of course. Mian Muhammad Bakhsh said “Mali da kam pani dena bhar bhar mashkan pawey…….

Malik da kam phal phul lana , lawey ya na lawey.”

That is the second ‘de-stressor’ or ‘com44 MANAGER TODAY | October - November 2009

forter’ in my life. Do your best and then leave everything to Allah without any kind of worries or fears.

Then this modern day Baba cited to me the example from Sura-e-Kahf. In that Sura besides other stories there is the story of Hazrat Musa and Hazrat Khizr.

Musa (AS) accompanies Khizr alaihissalam to learn wisdom but fails to understand the logic and rationale of his actions. Musa is greatly disturbed; he is sceptic about actions of Khizr (A.S). He questions the rationale and

at the end Khizr (A.S) explains to Musa that whatever he did was ordained by Allah and then he explains the rationale of doing what apparently were unusual things. Baba asks me a question. “Would it be justified to question the planning and wisdom of Almighty?

Don’t we see that one of greatest prophets is unable to understand why things were happening so weirdly? Why then we should question about the planning and acts of God? We must have complete faith in His deeds. Yes we should pray for everything that we want and try to achieve it through just means but after that we must believe in His actions.

That is then destiny.”

Third big stressor is the behaviour of others. We are good; we do good to others but others hardly reciprocate in the same manner.

Baba has a panacea for this too.

“Look what happened to prophets when they did immensely good to others. Look how Allah advises Muhammad (PBUH) not to lose his cool and his faith in the face of frustrating response from masses. Your task is to endeavour; it is upto Allah to decide their destiny.”

And then see what last Ayah of Sura-eAlkafiroon has for us. In this type of situations say ‘Lakum deenukum Walaiya deen’.

Your ways are for you and mine are for me.

I am not going to change my (right) ways only because your ways are different. I am not quitting the right attitudes even if yours are wrong.

My ‘Baba’ is a strong believer in the power of forgiveness.

At the end Baba concluded that nothing can possibly frustrate, depress or stress you if you are equipped with (right) thinking like: 1. We must plan and strategize to prevent ‘loss’ but should be able to start a new positive thought process once the loss is inflicted.

2. Yours is to work hard and then be content with Allah’s wisdom and planning, which cannot be wrong.

3. Yours is to do good to everyone notwithstanding the others’ behaviour.

4. We should learn to accept and live with imperfections around us and forgive others’ shortcomings. n

46 TRAINING

WALI MUHAMMAD The writer is an Islamabad-based corporate trainer waliproxemic@yahoo.com

Mentoring is an age-old practice that could offer significant benefits to both employees and organization. Despite its value the practice is restricted to a few companies. This is mainly due to the perception among some manager that implementation of mentoring program is cumbersome and the benefits that accrue are not proportionate to the resources invested. Many studies and experience of organizations have proved this perception as misplaced. For examples, Monica Forret of Long Island University and Daniel Turban and Thomas Dougherty of University of Missouri, based on their study of mentoring practices in a number of fortune 500 companies reported that mentoring contributes for the following benefits: • Enhance employees’ performance • A better understanding of corporate culture and organizational structure • Increases feelings of support and friendship • Better awareness of what new employees experience • The acquisition of new skills • An improved network of contacts • A better understanding of others’ work styles • Improvement in intra company communication • Emergence of unified work culture However, mentoring programs implemented without adequate preparation, participants placing managers as mentors without adequate training tend to provide no benefits. Further, both mentors and mentees may treat it as a burMANAGER TODAY | October - November 2009

W

den. Therefore, managers must be trained before asking them to be mentors. Companies such as Hallmark Cards, Texaco Trading and Transportations Imperial Oil Limited, Shell Oil Company and the like, are using the following training methods to train mentors: • Role play to train mentors in coaching providing effective feedback, and to train protégés how to receive feedback • Videos which illustrate effective mentoring relationships • Handbooks which discuss issues such as understanding the mentor’s role, confronting others’ productively and checking expectations • Lectures to describe what mentoring is, and some of the benefits and pitfalls.

In addition, these companies have a clearly defined mentoring policies clarifying (1) how mentors and mentees select each other, (2) how profile sheets of potential mentors and mentees are to be compiled in a book, (3) how mentor profile sheets are to be prepared collecting detail such as why someone want to be mentor, what he/she hopes to gain from the experience, what is the mentor’s position in the company, what type of experience he/she have had and what his/her hobbies and interests are.

MANAGERIAL IMPLICATION

The experiences of companies show that mentoring offers valuable benefits to organization when implemented with a clear policy and practice framework.

The experiences also illustrate that simply telling employees that they are now a mentor or protégé can never be enough.

Like in the case of many HR functions, here also there is no short cut for success. Therefore, companies which decided to pursue a mentoring strategy must do so with a clearly constructed plan. Mentoring can be a potential strategy to overcome many maladies that include weak organizational citizenship behaviour, weak organizational commitment, poor interpersonal relationships and poor integration of employees with organization apart from performance related issues. n

EIGHT PRACTICES OF QUALITY OF WORK LIFE (QWL) This is one comprehensive strategy available in HR management to achieve many things on employer as well as employees side The concept of quality of working life though came into circulation in 1970s, it became popular only in 90s and organizations realized its potential to enhance the productivity in the new century. This works as a comprehensive model to those employers who want to ensure quality in working life of their employees. An ideal quality of work life program will encompass practices in eight major areas as discussed below: 1. Adequate and fair compensation.

This is fundamental to QWL. Human beings work for livelihood. Therefore success of rest of the initiatives depends upon fulfilment of this. However, important here is that compensation offered must be adequate implying it must be proportionate to labour and there should be internal consistency among salaries of employees.

2. Safe and healthy working conditions.

Unsafe and hazardous working conditions cause problems to both employers and employees. There may be little benefit to the employers in short-term but in medium- and long-terms, it adversely affects the productivity. Therefore, adequate investment must be made to ensure safe and healthy working conditions.

3. Immediate opportunity to use and develop human capacities.

The jobs have become routine, meaningless and too specialized, depriving the employees of fulfilment satisfaction. Therefore, efforts should be made to increase the autonomy, perspective and exposure to multiple skills.

4. Future opportunity for continued growth and security. T his is related to career aspects of employees. Meaningful career paths must be laid down and career mapping of employees is to be followed. The provision of advancement opportunities play a central role in QWL.

5. Social integration in the work organization.

Relationships between and among the employees is an indicator of healthy work organization. Therefore, opportunities must be provided for formal and informal interactions. All kind of classes, religions, races, crafts, and designations must be treated equally on a social platform. In other words, it creates egalitarian environment.

6. Constitutionalism in the work organization.

This is related to organizational norms that affect the freedom of an individual employee.

Efforts must be made to see right norms are formed in the organization. It means norms that accommodate the privacy of an individual employee, freedom of speech, equity and freedom to dissent on some aspects.

7. Work and the total life space.

Employees should not be allowed to continuously exert themselves. The continuous hard work causes psychological and physical strains. Therefore, there has to be a balance between personal and professional life. Organization must create proper work offs to enrich the life of employees.

8. The social relevance of work life.

Employees must be given the perspective of how his/her work in the organization helps the society. This is essential to build relevance of the employee’s existence to the society he/she lives in.

MANAGERIAL IMPLICATION QWL is more relevant now than in the past because of two prime reasons. Firstly, it is well established that QWL leads to enhanced productivity. Secondly, QWL helps organization in many ways like building image of the company as best in recruitment, retention, and in general motivation of employees. This is one comprehensive strategy available in HR management to achieve many things on employer as well as employees side. n October - November 2009 | MANAGER TODAY 47

ACADEMIA 48 INTERVIEW

NABEELA MALIK

PROFILE Dr Amir joined the Faculty of Management Studies (FMS), University of Central Punjab (UCP) in July 2008 as Head of Marketing Faculty. He was promoted to the position of the Dean FMS on March 17, 2009. Dr Amir is a highly proficient and internationally traveled Marketing Academic equipped with a doctorate degree in Marketing from Manchester Business School, U.K. He has a demonstrated ability in Marketing Research, Marketing Management, Customer Service and Marketing Communication. Exceptionally well organized with a record of accomplishments within the marketing sector that demonstrate self-motivation, hard work, innovation and initiative. He has proven organizational, administrative and interpersonal skills in an academic environment. As a result-driven expert, encompassing over 18 years of experience in Marketing teaching, research, and consulting, he now aspires to be a distinguished leader with a single-minded focus on taking the Faculty of Management Studies and UCP to ever greater heights.

MANAGER TODAY | October - November 2009

October - November 2009 | MANAGER TODAY 49

I strongly recommend adopting English as the only medium of instruction for the entire education system. Only that way we can ensure a harmonious standard of education in our country.

Let’s start with an introduction to the establishment of UCP. The Islamic Commerce Educational Society established its first institution in Lahore, the Punjab College of Commerce in 1985.

This was followed three years later by Punjab Law College. In 1991, the Punjab College of Business Administration (PCBA) was established in Lahore, followed by the Punjab Institute of Computer Sciences (PICS) in 1993.

By 1996, twelve campuses had been established with more than 18,000 students enrolled at that time across Punjab, and these collectively became known as ‘The Punjab Group of Colleges’. With this rapid expansion and growing reputation for delivering quality education, The Punjab Group of Colleges emerged as the largest higher educational network in the private sector in Pakistan. During this period The Group also founded Muhammad Ali Jinnah University in Karachi, which was granted degree awarding status by the Government of Sindh in July, 1998. MAJU now maintains twin campuses in Karachi and Islamabad, both of which are recognized by the HEC Pakistan.

In October 1999, when the Government of the Punjab initially issued a No Objection Certificate, and upon fulfilling the prescribed criteria, the charter was awarded in April, 2002, and the University of Central Punjab proudly became the first university in the private sector in Punjab.

Are there any more expansion plans in 50 MANAGER TODAY | October - November 2009

the pipeline at UCP? Yes, in the expansion category two initiatives are in the pipeline, one at college level and the other at the university level. This development will be focusing on enhancing the capacity at both levels by introducing new disciplines for masters and specialization. We are planning to introduce electrical and mechanical engineering also.

Getting to other cities, we are working on establishing franchised colleges under the umbrella of PGC for which we are actually looking for experienced teachers who might be interested in the project.

Please tell us about the serving teaching faculty members and the criterion of selection?

At the Faculty of Management Sciences we have nearly 33 members at UCP pay role attached with the university on permanent basis. While we have well established BBA, MBA programs on regular basis and in different shifts as MBA executive etc.

So, during a semester we involve nearly 130 faculty members. Out of these 130 we have only 33 members as our permanent teaching members which mean there is a heavy reliance on visiting faculty.

We are seriously looking into this matter to reduce reliance on visiting faculty and hire a good number of teachers as university’s permanent faculty staff.

The criterion of selection is a simple three steps procedure, we collect resumes first, assess them and short list to interview potential applicants. Such applicants get interviewed by a panel of faculty members of the concerned department. After the interview if panel feels needed, that applicant is asked for a brief presentation and he/she gets selected accordingly.

Does UCP study the demand of job market before producing business graduates because there are not many jobs and MBA’s market has reached its saturation point?

Yes, job market for business graduates is

not healthy at present; the government and business schools should consider this issue seriously making a practical policy about producing business graduates.

Another factor that bothers me more is the deep rooted culture of ‘Favoritism’ in our society that actually kills merit in all fields.

There is also lack of investment on improving job opportunities in the country due to which all of our graduates meet difficulties finding jobs. So, I agree that a serious consideration should be paid to this issue.

Does this mean we are in a crucial need to produce entrepreneurs?

May be business schools should work on developing entrepreneurs so that people may work for themselves because there are not many jobs in the market. But it will once again depend upon how much it is supported by micro finance, an easy access to the market needs and accurate business knowledge.

Establishing a favorable infrastructure that can facilitate investors is also a key factor. I think the government and well established business institutions like that of ours should collaborate to enhance entrepreneurial activities in the country. Making sure that creating jobs through self employment and running ones’ own business can be a very practical solution at the present job deficient scenario.

Should we introduce other disciplines at our universities to shift the paradigm from business education to humanities and other social sciences?

Introducing new subjects and promoting social sciences along with pure sciences is already in practice at our universities. But you see; emphasizing on such subjects might not be able to increase job opportunities very soon. Such subjects can be opted if one is not dragged into the responsibilities to earn livelihood very soon. But it is actually very difficult in a suffering economy like that of ours.

Almost all of our students are in a hurry to complete their education and set a career as soon as possible.

Thus, improving job opportunities and supporting entrepreneurial thrust can be a better solution to the issue.

How can we uniform the educational standard in our country imparting equal education to all?

We should understand that there is nothing wrong in adopting English as the lingua franca to uniform the medium of communication in the whole of our country.

Sir Syed Ahmed had understood this need long ago. Even if we observe the key to Indian development, we will find that India adopted English as the main stream of communication that not only ensured uniformity of education but also enabled the whole nation to stay on almost equal basis. While in our society the situation is far worse; our people have developed complexes related to ability to speak English. I reckon there might be a difference between people’s efficient skills and command of language but they all must be able to communicate with one another without any kind of poor complexes that we are facing at present.

So, I strongly recommend adopting English as the only medium of instruction in the whole of our education system. Only that way we can ensure a harmonious standard of education in our society.

How does UCP meet its Corporate Social Responsibilities?

This university is financially doing very well with the large number of students here. A few years ago we also entered in the school level set up with the name ‘Resource Academia’

where we are offering O level. So we are operating at all educational levels now from school level to post graduate level.

In regard to the contribution this institution is making by supporting students through ‘Merit Scholarship’. There is also a very kind hearing to the concession requests from deserving students.

The other tremendous support includes that all alumni (the students who have done their graduation from the PGC) are offered a special discount of fifty per cent expenditures at the UCP or the Muhammad Ali Jinnah University.

Is maintaining work life balance a big issue in your routine?

Well, it’s not really a big deal if one understands the duties and responsibilities carefully. In my case, I do try to prioritize my duties and perform them accordingly which really helps finding balance between work and life. I never jumble up official and domestic works and accomplish them on the indigenous premises without taking official stuff to home or doing family networking being at the office.

Which key you recommend to unlock the door of success in life?

According to my life experiences I gauge the more you prove yourself benefiting to others, the more you meet a contented and successful living for yourself.

Helping others means strengthening humane values in society that brings peace in return. So I would recommend my readers to become as much beneficial to others as they can. n

I think the government and well established business institutions like that of ours should collaborate to enhance entrepreneurial activities in the country. Making sure that creating jobs through self employment and running ones’ own business can be a very practical solution at the present job deficient scenario.

October - November 2009 | MANAGER TODAY 51

52 INTROSPECTION

SHAKEEL AHMED The writer is a motivational trainer kamyabzindagi@gmail.com

We can use visualization as method for directly communicating with our mind.

WHAT IS VISUALIZATION? Visualization is quite simply using your imagination. You create a scenario in your mind, just like a day dream and imagine yourself as part of it. It's important to know that people visualize differently. Some peoples' visual clarity is vibrant, full of color and as real as everyday life.

For many others, when they close their eyes, they see darkness. This is completely normal, there isn't anything wrong with these people, and it certainly does not mean that they can't visualize. It's just that they visualize at a deeper MANAGER TODAY | October - November 2009

part of the mind, a part that they can't mentally 'see' when they are awake. But pretty much everyone has woken up after having a dream and can recall pictures of what they were dreaming about. This proves that everyone certainly has the ability to visualize, just like everyone else. Again, it's just that it happens on a different level of consciousness that isn't normally seen while you are awake. Even though the pictures may not be seen, they are still there, and most people can "feel" that the picture is there and at some level are aware

of it. The good news is that the more you practise, the more likely you are to start seeing those pictures with greater clarity and awareness. The key thing to realize about your mind is that it doesn't think in words. You mind actually uses visual imagery to communicate or think. We can use visualization as method for directly communicating with our mind. By imagining something as vividly as possible it's sends a clear message to your mind, directing it's inner resources to make your dreams a reality.

Why does Visualization work?

Visualization works because the mind doesn't really know the difference between regular waking reality, dreams or consciously directed visualization. The mind understands all of these experiences as if it were a true waking experience. We use our conscious selves to determine the difference between normal waking reality and the dream world, but to the subconscious mind, they are one and the same. Think of visualizing as a mental practice that over time will enable you to perform the vi-

sualized acts in real everyday life. So if we use this powerful visualizing ability that we all possess, we are utilizing all of our inner resources to help us succeed. At the very least, no one can claim that visualizing hinders a performance, so there certainly isn't any harm in it.

Please keep an open mind and give it a try as we go through the exercises.

How to make Visualization extremely effective?

There are some things to be aware of about visualizing that will improve it's overall effec-

tiveness. To make sure that your visualization is as effective as possible, we have to make it as sensory intensive as possible. This means that visualizing should include much more than just visual stimulation. We also want to imagine our other senses; touch, smell, hearing and taste. The more senses included in the experience, the more believable the experience will appear to your mind, improving it's effectiveness. Think of it as if we are trying to recreate reality within our minds, in a way fooling ourselves into thinking that we truly had the experience. The advantage in working with visualization reality over normal reality is that we get to write the script ourselves, allowing us to create a senario precisely the way we want it to be.

Include yourself in the visualization So what is the one thing that is always present in all of your waking life experiences? It's you! You are always there, always present during any of your experiences. So this means that we also want to include ourselves in the visualization process. Sometimes we can get caught up in visualizing a goal, we create a visual movie complete with smells, audio etc. but we forget to include ourselves in the picture. So remember to also include yourself when you are doing your visualizations. It makes it more like a real experience that has happened to you in the past.

Now consider if you just visualize yourself in the movie as a passive character. Just there sensing what is going on around you. That really doesn't include everything that you normally experience is it? Normally, while you are experiencing things in life, you are thinking about what it happening, reacting and feeling emotions. n October - November 2009 | MANAGER TODAY 53

BUILDING 54 TEAM QAISER ABBAS The writer is chief inspiring officer at possibilities (Pvt) Limited. www.possibilities.net.pk

D

on’t you want increased productivity, improved customer service, more flexible systems and employee empowerment? Can you do it alone? Of course, you need an outclass team to complete this mission. We all have seen high-performing teams. We appreciate them, admire them, and get inspiration from them. But we really don’t know the secret behind.

After having worked with teams of various backgrounds, team Possibilities has identified seven key secrets of outstanding teams.

MANAGER TODAY | October - November 2009

1. Focus on the big picture: We have seen outclass teams totally dedicated to the purpose and values of the organization. Team members understand how their work fits into corporate objectives and they agree that their team's goals are achievable and aligned with corporate mission and values. This commitment provides team the foundation for synergy.

Members of the team are ready to put aside personal needs for the benefit of the company. All team members can not only see the picture but this agreement on the big picture provides a backdrop against which all

team decisions can be viewed. It doesn’t mean that outclass teams don’t face any conflicts. However, when conflict arises, the team uses alignment with the big picture (comprising organizational purpose, vision and values) important criteria for acceptable solutions.

2. Caring communication Outclass teams constantly strive to reach their full potential. The members of the team feel comfortable in saying what they think, they ask for help, share new or unpopular ideas, and risk making mistakes. These teams create an atmosphere where team

members show concern, trust one another, and focus on solutions, not problems. We have noticed that these teams create an environment where communication is friendly, open, and positive. Friendly communications are more likely when individuals know and respect one another. Team members show care by asking about each other's lives outside of work, respecting individual differences, joking, and generally making all feel welcome.

Open communication is equally important to a team's success. To assess work performance, members must provide honest feedback, accept constructive criticism, and address issues head-on. To do so requires a trust level supported by direct, honest communication. When members communicate with each other positively it impacts the energy of the work team. When members talk about what they like, need, or want, it is quite different from wailing about what annoys or frustrates them. The former energizes; the latter demoralizes.

3. Sense of connection An outclass team constantly find creative ways to meaningfully connect with larger work organization, to team members, and to other work teams.

When a work team is connected to the organization, members discuss team performance in relationship to corporate priorities, customer feedback, and quality measures.

They consider team needs in light of what's good for the whole organization and what will best serve joint objectives. We suggest companies encourage such connection by keeping communication lines open. Management priorities, successes, and headaches should flow one way; team needs, successes, and questions should flow in the other direction.

When a work team has developed strong connections among its own members, peer support manifests itself in many ways. Colleagues volunteer to help without being asked, cover for each other in a pinch, congratulate each other publicly, share resources, offer suggestions for improvement, and find ways to celebrate together. For developing and maintaining such connections we recommend companies to allow time before and after meetings for brief socialization, schedule team lunches, create occasional team projects outside work premises, circulate member profiles, take training together, and provide feedback to one another on development.

4. Staying together in tough moments Individual champions are less required in business today. Outclass teams have members who help others achieve success for the team. Team success depends upon the degree of interdependence recognized within a team. Members are keenly aware that as part of a team, everything that they do or don't do, impacts someone else. In outclass team, accuracy is considered as a reflection of personal pride. It also demonstrates a commitment to uphold the standards of the team, thus generating team pride.

Turning team priorities into personal priorities is the hallmark of a winning team. Because of the mutual support and cooperation, they respect the time of others by arriving for meetings on time, sharing information promptly, clustering questions for people and communicating concisely.

5. Handling disagreement positively The problem is not that differences exist, but in how they are managed. It is inevitable that teams of bright, diverse thinkers will experience conflict from time to time. If people believe that conflict never occurs in "good" groups, they may sweep conflict under the carpet. Of course, no carpet is large enough to cover misperception, ill feelings, old hurts, and misunderstandings for very long. Soon the differences reappear. They take on the form of tension, hidden agendas, and stubborn positions.

When we teach teams to manage conflict effectively, the team feels empowered to maintain trust and tap the collective power of the team. Work teams manage conflict better when members learn to shift their paradigms (mindsets) about conflict in general, about other parties involved, and about their own ability to manage conflict.

Dr. Suzanne Willis Zoglio, Ph.D. shares three techniques to help members shift blocking paradigms though reframing, shifting shoes, and affirmations.

Reframing is looking at the glass half-full, instead of half-empty. Instead of thinking "If I address this issue, it'll slow down the meeting," consider this thought: "If we negotiate this difference, trust and creativity will all increase."

Shifting Shoes is a technique used to practice empathy by mentally "walking in the shoes" of another person. You answer questions such as "How would I feel if I were that person being criticized in front of the group?"

"What would motivate me to say what that

person just said?"

Affirmations are positive statements about something you want to be true. For example, instead of saying to you right before a negotiating session, "I know I'm going to blow up", force yourself to say, "I am calm, comfortable, and prepared." We teach team members to shift any negative mental tapes to more positive ones and shift obstructing paradigms and manage conflict more effectively.

6. Everybody contributes An outclass team has members who are skilled and ready to take initiatives. Members have strong technical and interpersonal skills and are willing to learn.

To enhance balanced participation on a work team, we consider three factors that affect the level of individual contribution: inclusion, confidence, and empowerment. The more individuals feel like part of a team, the more they contribute; and, the more members contribute, the more they feel like part of the team. To enhance feelings of inclusion, we suggest that you keep work team members informed, ask for their input, and support an atmosphere of cohesion. Confidence in self and team affects the amount of energy a team member invests in an endeavor. If it appears that the investment of hard work is likely to end in success employees are more likely to contribute. If, on the other hand, success seems unlikely, investment of energy will wane. The confidence of team members can be bolstered by providing feedback, coaching, assessment and professional development opportunities. It is also important to have team members evaluate how well they support the contribution of others.

7. No fear of change Teams must not only respond to change, but actually initiate it. It is no longer a luxury to have work teams that can perform effectively within a turbulent environment. It is a necessity. High performing teams acknowledge any perceive danger in the change and then help members appreciate opportunities hidden in change.

An outclass team doesn’t need security. It embraces unexpected challenges and situations. Team knows how to take and manage risks as they have necessary tools to innovate. Leaders in outclass teams also help reduce resistance to change by providing vision and information, and by modeling a positive attitude themselves. n

October - November 2009 | MANAGER TODAY 55

56 HEALTH & WELLNESS

DR. NOOR-UL-AIN FATIMA The writer is an MBBS doctor

Migraine is common complaint of people working in high stress environment. This child of stress is not just another headache; when it strikes life becomes a living nightmare.

However, it could be managed as well as prevented.

HISTORY OF MIGRAINE The word migraine is taken from old French migraine which means half skill. It has been documented in the medical documents of ancient Egyptians as early as 1200 BC. FAMOUS MIGRAINEURS A person suffering from migraine is called a migraineur.

Some famous migraineurs were Julius Caesar Napoleon Thomas Jefferson (US President) Claude Monet (Famous Painter) Lewis Carroll (Writer of Alice in Wonderland) Elizabeth Taylor Elvis Presley CAUSES OF MIGRAINE ARE: l Stress l Eating certain kind of food for example cheese, chocolate etc. l In some people especially businessmen traveling from one time zone to the other can trigger migraine l Skipping Meals l Lack of sleep l Bright light, loud noise, strong odors. l Hormonal fluctuations especially in women during menstrual cycle. l Alcohol MANAGER TODAY | October - November 2009

l Caffeine (too much) l Foods that contain MSG (Monosodium Glutamate) or Chinese salt.

SYMPTOMS Migraine in preceded by a sense of malaise and blurred vision. It is known as Aura.

Symptoms of the attack of migraine include: Intense throbbing headache mostly on one side of head and sometimes on both sides of head.

Nausea which sometimes leads to vomiting.

Increased sensitivity to light.

Increased sensitivity to sound.

Increased sensitivity to smell.

Sometimes there is associated weakness

in limbs.

Note: Headache along with weakness in limbs could be a sign of stroke. So consult your doctor in such case. in hands and feet.

Restlessness and anxiety.

MANAGEMENT OF MIGRAINE 1. Take analgesic (pain killer) at the onset of migraine attack Panadol Extra (Aceta minophen with caffeine is ideal.)

NSAIDS like Brufin and Aspirin suit some people. However dont take NSAIDS without consulting your doctor as many people are allergic to them.

2. Topical analgesic like Wintogeno can also be used.

3. For nausea, you can take antiemetic drugs like Motilium. Take it only under doctor’s supervision.

4. Homeopathy has some excellent remedies for migraine e.g Sanginuaria Acid Phos etc.

PREVENTION OF MIGRAINE Try to eliminate stress from your life. Zikar of Allah alleviates all kind of stress.

Exercise regularly at least for 15-20 min.

Take adequate sleep.

Taking vitamin B12 in diet in some studies has proven to reduce the risk of migraine.

Don’t skip meals. n

VOCAB BANK

57

MANAGEMENT VOCABULARY FOR EXECUTIVES NICHE MARKET

A small, narrowly defined market that can be carefully targeted by a company, particularly one whose products have a limited appeal, such as stamp albums.

NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

A director of a company who does not work in an executive capacity. Good non-executive directors combine general business knowledge and experience with objectivity.

Many companies use HEADHUNTERS to find non-executive directors instead of the more traditional method of trawling among the chairman’s friends.

KENICHI OHMAE

Japan`s only world-famous management guru Ohmae is an un-Japanese individualist who acts as a sophisticated interpreter of corporate Japan to the west.

OLIGOPOLY

The control of an industry by a small num-

bers of producers. Oligopolies are found in many industries and they can behave much like monopolies.

OPPORTUNITY COST

The cost of not doing something: a key concept in business economics but not the sort of cost recognised by accountants.

OUTSOURCE

To hand over to other outside the organisation and responsibility for providing it with materials, components or services. A company that outsource almost everything becomes a VIRTUAL ORGANISTATION, leaving itself free to focus on a very narrow range of activities.

OVERTRADING

ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURE

The practice of manufacturing unbranded consumer goods for supplier who put their name on them and sell them as their own.

Original equipment manufacture (OEM) is one manifestation of a battle between retailers and manufacturers for people position in the heart and minds of consumers.

OUTPLACEMENT

Assistance given by employer to an employee who is being laid off. The service is often provided by specialist outplacement agencies whose main task is to help the employee a new job or career.

The practice of increasing turnover to a level where it is too large to be supported by the other aspects of the business, particularly by its WORKING CAPITAL. PARKINSON`S LAW

The title of a book, first published in 1958 and written by a history professor called Cyril Northcote Parkinson. The book was one of the first about management to be written in a humorous style and it made a satirical stab at thyself-satisfied behaviour of managers within large organisation. It had a wide influence and was translated into many languages. n

VOCABULARY ESOTERIC l likely to be understood or enjoyed by a particular group too difficult for most people to understand l Beyond grappling with fairly esoteric arguments about the Second Amendment, the justices need to responsibly confront modern-day reality.

—The New York Times ETHOS characteristic spirit, moral values, ideas or beliefs of a group, community or culture l How would you explain the Pakistani national ethos to a foreigner?

Empty nester (1971): FEISTY active, forceful and full of determination; quicktempered and a bit aggressive l The youngest of four children, Chris was feisty and tough....The once feisty boy became subdued and afraid.

—Reader’s Digest

FENDER BENDER a minor automobile accident FREE-FOR-ALL: a noisy quarrel or fight that a lot of people join GRAVY TRAIN an organization, activity, or business from which many people can make money without much effort l He is riding a gravy train.

HATCHET JOB a biases or malicious attack on the character or activities of a person or institution l Do you agree with those who argue that Kitty Kelly’s biography of Nancy Reagan was a hatchet job?

PONTIFICATE to speak pompously about something in a knowing and self-important way, especially when not qualified to do l He is a nice guy but he pontificates a lot.

SANITIZE (DISAPPROVING) remove the parts of something that could be considered unpleasant l This sanitized account of his life does not mention his time in prison.

—Oxford TUNNEL VISION a narrow outlook; specifically the focus on a particular problem without proper regard for possible consequences or alternative approach VANDAL someone who deliberately damages public or private property.

VEGAN someone who does not eat meat, fish, eggs, cheese or drink milk n

October - November 2009 | MANAGER TODAY

REVIEW 58 BOOK

GOODTOGREAT

THE8THHABIT: FROM EFFECTIVENESS TO GREATNESS

JIM COLLINS WHY SOME COMPANIES MAKE THE LEAP AND OTHERS DON’T

STEPHEN R. COVEY STEPHEN COVEY CHALLENGES EACH OF US TO BECOME LEADERS

n Jim Collins’ second business bestseller, he identifies and characterizes eleven firms that showed fifteen years of producing returns that exceeded the market, preceded by fifteen years of only moderate market returns.

“The surprising list—a dowdier group would be hard to find—taught us a key lesson up front,” remarks Collins. “It is possible to turn good into great in the most improbable of situations.” Pairing each firm with a similar firm that didn’t measure up to these returns criteria provides the book’s subject matter. This comparative view shows how some of these good-to-great firms were able to excel during periods of wrenching change for their industries.

“Technology Accelerators,” is a chapter of interest to engineers.

Technology by itself, according to Collins, is never a principle cause of either greatness or decline. None on Collins’ list of great companies began their transformation with pioneering technologies. Some firms that couldn’t excel in their historical core business were successful in the end by selling off founding plants and divisions. “Mediocrity results from management failure, not technological failure.” The first trait on Collins’ list is leadership with ferocious resolve, fanatically driven to produce results, coupled with humility and modesty. Leaders were never hired from outside. High-profile leadership styles marked only those firms characterized as simply good and were completely absent from any of the great firms. However, Collins admits he hasn’t figured out how to teach leaders to be humble and subjugate egotistical ambitions to build something greater than oneself.

Of another key factor, hiring the right people, Collins says, “When in doubt, don’t hire. Keep looking. When you know you need to make a people change, act. Put your best people on your biggest opportunities, not your biggest problems.”

To become great means that mere competency is your enemy. Discipline and momentum carry more force than radical restructurings.

Simplicity and focus win out over complexity. Firms that become great understand what they do best, what drives their economic engine, and what they are deeply passionate about.

he 8th Habit" is the product of years of research about society, progressing eras advanced by science and technology and the individual whose needs have remained the same throughout history’s progression.

Covey has defined a new era, the Knowledge Worker Age. The fulfillment of the 8th habit takes the individual to greatness. He defines his audience as the individual and the organization, from families to corporations. His new theory is called the whole-person paradigm. Covey takes us through five ages of civilization: the Hunter and Gatherer Age, the Agricultural Age, the Industrial Age, the Information/Knowledge Worker Age and an emerging Age of Wisdom.

He moves us from the “thing” mind-set of the Industrial Age to the “people” mind-set of the Knowledge Worker Age. He discusses the problem of managing people like things. This puts all the pressure at the top of any organization - leadership has to come from the apex and everyone else follows. Covey asserts that when people are the focus, each of us has the ability to become leaders by acting independently, making decisions and effecting change. He charges us with looking inside ourselves rather than outside to provide solutions and improvements.

He bases our ability to grow on the four dimensions of a person - body, mind, heart and spirit. These dimensions lead to the four basic needs or motivations of a person, to: (1) live; (2) love; (3) learn; and, (4) leave a legacy.

Covey takes us through our ability to make choices to our need for finding our unique voices. His solution for today’s problems involve two challenges: (1) find your voice; and, (2) inspire others to find their voice. With his outline, we can each move to a higher level of greatness and leadership. He writes for everyone; from the CEO to the factory worker; from the stay-at-home parent to the teacher in the classroom; from the young to the old; and, from the rich to the poor.

I

MANAGER TODAY | October - November 2009

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