36 minute read
Reimagining skilling through the metaverse
A step up to more intensive and effective forms of learning through emergent technology – the metaverse may be a game-changer for skilling in many industries by neeti sharma
Over the years, technology-driven environments including social networks, video conferencing, 3D, AR/VR, and virtual games have enabled digital transformation for educators, businesses, and Individuals. Now the latest term “Metaverse” has been coined to represent the further facilitation of digital transformation in every aspect of our lives.
Gartner defines a “Metaverse” as a collective virtual shared space created by converging virtually enhanced physical and digital reality. It is persistent, providing enhanced immersive experiences, as well as device-independent, and accessible through any type of device, from tablets to head-mounted displays. The metaverse comprises various building blocks such as augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), mixed reality (MR), artificial intelligence (AI), non-fungible tokens (NFT), blockchain services, 3D modelling, game design and development, and more, with multiple service layers under each of these blocks.
The metaverse offers endless possibilities to reimagine skilling in India. Poor infrastructure has always been a roadblock to the implementation of skilling programmes in the country. But a virtual space provides a solution with endless potential to scale. For example, the adoption of technology and especially the combined power of AI, AR and VR has enabled many edtech companies to shift from traditional learning to leveraging technology, for either conventional education, upskilling, reskilling or new skilling.
By eliminating the need for physical spaces, skilling programmes can be conducted from anywhere and for anyone. In theory, this means that the metaverse provides greater access to Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities. By eliminating the need for travel, prospective students can be skilled through AR and VR, thereby creating a larger pool of resources across the country.
India is expected to have 1 billion smartphone users by the end of 2026, and the metaverse skilling revolution will go hand in hand with this growth.
Many industries are exploring substituting conventional in-person learning with digital, VR-based learning alternatives. Instead of getting employees to travel to offices/ learning centres, metaverselike spaces can be used to skill virtually. Retail industries are mulling the possibility of using metaverse to upskill and reskill their distributed workforce, through real-time, virtual store walkthroughs that are also interactive.
Similarly, engineering companies can use the metaverse to skill employees in trades such as plumbing, electrical, machine operations or other desirable fields, using AR to create virtual, life-like and simulation-based learning experiences, even real-time case studies to test how employees might respond on the ground. And of course the metaverse can also be used in the healthcare industry, especially training in fields that support high-risk surgeries, nursing and many more types of hands-on work with high stakes.
The great resignation trend of 2021 has shown that people are now looking for flexible work and learning options. Traditional workspaces are slowly becoming obsolete as we enter into this unprecedented era of the knowledge economy. However, the shift from a labour-intensive economy to a knowledge economy requires upskilling, unlike anything we have seen in the past. The metaverse offers a unique opportunity for gig workers to transform themselves by picking and choosing the particular skill set they are interested in. Moreover, the metaverse offers on-the-go skilling options that gig workers require. Studies have shown the current and next generation of workers are likely to prefer working from home and the metaverse is the perfect solution for L&D teams. Concepts such as virtual and augmented reality are known in the gaming industry. However, these concepts have also become common in the skilling space.
L&D teams are increasingly using game-based learning to provide immersive and engaging experiences to learners and AR and VR have become the crux. Knowledge retention through practical learning becomes a reality through the metaverse. For example, learners can now look at a 3D map of a machine and understand the concepts that are applied to the machine in real life.
The future of learning is likely to look very different from what the industry had expected two years ago. The pandemic caused a sea change in the workplace and skilling is no exception. While we may not know exactly what the future holds, the prospect of the metaverse is exciting.
about the author
nEEti sHarMa is the Co-Founder & President at TeamLease EdTech.
Y ShekAr
The employee unboxed: Moonlighting isn’t a bad idea!
In these times, knowledge workers are much in demand; can we blame professionals, who seem to be least bothered about employer loyalty, for scouting out multiple work avenues to earn some extra income?
In an age when technological advancement has been unboxing layer after layer of change — either transformational or disruptive— the scope of employment generation has increased.
This period has seen humans adjusting by shedding old ways, adapting and realigning to the new forms and needs of the moment to stay afloat.
For example, we are at present in the process of integrating the idea of mobile phones as the ubiquitous medium for personal and professional interactions. Within that, we are adapting to the frequent updates and changes in the devices, software and apps. Such adjustment journeys have been challenging at times when we lack full understanding of technology's applications and importance.
One such ongoing journey of adjustment is that of the information explosion. Thanks to the Internet boom, information has become democratised. Citadels of power, enshrined in corporate offices, which safeguarded various kinds of information as ‘business secrets’, came crumbling down when large scale automation forced that information to be shared.
Information relating to employees, customers, suppliers, and in some cases about competition, regulation, policy, etc. that were hitherto known only to a handful of people, now became part of a common pool of information, accessible to all. Pricing methods, sourcing partners, new product launches, distribution channels deployed, quality norms implemented, and many such initiatives became transparent in a process-oriented organisation.
The rise of knowledge and collaboration
To keep up with this transformation, organisations
desperately need ‘knowledge-workers’. Knowledge roles call for skills that were deep in a particular area or in a given domain. General skills that could be trained over time are often overlooked in favour of someone who can be hired from outside with the requisite skill set.
Meanwhile at the global level, ‘collaboration’ has become the new mantra. The concepts of the value chain, understanding the shifts in bargaining power (supplier, customer), and openness to collaborating with erstwhile competitors became part of successful business practices. An example of this revolutionary change can be found in the auto industry. Nobody ever imagined that three major auto rivals would collaborate for common information – but then General Motors, Ford and Chrysler co-founded Covisint in 2000 to share various kinds of information about global suppliers to the auto sector! Although each company was a giant brand, highly resourceful, financially profitable and fiercely independent in decision-making, the speed of change in information necessitated them to collaborate. Soon, Nissan, Peugeot, Renault also joined, making Covisint a pan-American IT firm. Covisint currently exists as part of Open Text, a Canadian software company.
In today’s context, even a start-up looks at outsourcing and globalisation as integral elements to their business models. Keeping information under the hood or holding back something as a ‘trade secret’ is not only a business deterrent but also highly challenging.
The speed and scale of information being shared has made several existing laws irrelevant or draconian – unviable for implementing them in the context of the society or business. There are frameworks for ethics and morals, which again are getting transformed in the context of rapid changes. One such striking example is from the sports industry – the IPL!
ethics, Morals and IP … IPL!
When the IPL (Indian Premier League) happened in 2008 in India, ardent Cricket fans were in denial. There were many deeprooted questions about morals, ethics and team spirit.
How can rival team members play together? It is unethical!
How can team morale and spirit of the game be upheld where personal rivalry, difference in ethnicity, culture, habits and behaviour exist?
What happens to the game-strategies and ploys to outsmart the opposition’s key player who is now your team-mate? It is immoral to discuss the weakness of your national team’s mate with your traditional rival, now in your team, to win an IPL game! What happens to the closely guarded secrets of the national team members? Will there not be a breach in code of conduct?
What happens to the national spirit when players’ focus shifts to IPL, which is less sport and more entertainment?
IPL is therefore doomed for disaster, was the forecast. Fifteen years hence… every IPL season is a muchawaited event in the calendar. So much so that ICC, which is the regulator and governing body for global cricket, adjusts its own calendar of events to accommodate international players’ schedules to participate in IPL. IPL is not an official game under ICC. In its own way, IPL portrays an official status especially when it comes to selection of players.
With the use of technology, there’s transparency not just about the players but also about the umpire’s decision and third umpire’s explanation to a referral case. The public sees everything – nothing that’s happening on-the-ground is hidden. With innovation, IPL has transformed cricket and also made itself into a formidable industry that guzzles data with the use of latest technologies and provides employment opportunities to those adept with technological skills. IPL coexists with the traditional form of Cricket – Test Match, ODI and T20! Unboxing the employee
Next, we see that in the disruption that COVID-19 caused, the unboxing of employees became a new phenomenon.
Hitherto, employees came under the umbrella of ‘the company’. The company provided its employees a safety net, called career. It offered the employees comforts or perquisites, normally of the soft type – accommodation, transportation, healthcare insurance, education loans, etc. It also invested in the employee’s relationship in terms of providing training, emotional support when unexpected events occurred, and so on and so forth. These instilled a sense of loyalty and ownership in the employee who became faithful to her employers. There was an era when employees aspired to retire from the company they joined!
With changing times and changing perspectives, the employer-employee relation-
ship has been reduced to a contract – commercial terms and cold clauses. Organisations have also become highly process-led in their operations and result-oriented in their expectations. These make employees work in an objective manner. To that extent, the employee of today is a self-aware achiever, who is ambitious and understands the opportunities, risks, and challenges of charting a career. She expects the best from her organisation for her to give her best. insofar as the employee is concerned. One, the employee had to find solutions to her specific problems of managing WFH despite her organisation supporting her financially. But a home cannot ever become an office-like place, which meant the additional workload of those problems had to be managed on a day-to-day basis by the employee. In the process, she discovered her problem-solving capabilities, determination, resilience, etc.
Two, she became directly with immense opportunities to seek her specific capabilities, which hadn't been the case until now. She multitasked, but also for herself this time.
At workplaces, employees are encouraged/expected to think-out-of-the-box, show creativity and work like an entrepreneur. They are also evaluated on such parameters. When COVID19 disrupted work schedules and companies also decided to defer annual increments and promotions, employees brought these same parameters into the online world. The capable ones discovered opportunities that not only provided additional income but also tasks and technologies of their liking to work on. It was a matter of ‘choice’ in the online world!
Everyone acknowledges the fact that the desire for income drives people to work for an organisation. Neither party – the employer or employee – is over-invested in the relationship. When new opportunities appear, existing contracts get re-negotiated, which also determines which party has the better bargaining power.
The disruption that the pandemic brought to this equation is the unboxing of the employee, giving the employee the right to negotiate. Capable employees are in demand in the global market because the pandemic made work go to
During pandemic times, the disruption meant different things to different people. Some saw advantages in the work-fromhome (now anywhere), while others experienced challenges in not being part of the traditional ‘office set-up’. Either way, technology revealed to the world the power of work-fromanywhere and provided the opportunity to connect the customer directly with the employee (doer) during their online meetings.
Two factors worked in tandem during that period, connected to the client during their online meetings. Until now, she interacted with her manager and business leader. But during the online meetings, there was no hierarchy, and the ‘doer’ became visible to the client (market). She now became aware of her professional capabilities and self-confidence, and understood the value such exposure unlocked within her. The employee was unboxed from the organisation – she became the organisation in the onlookers’ eyes. The online world presented her
the individual rather than the individual finding work. In the current scenario, the best resource in the world will get the job – either on contract basis or they will get poached. Either way, the existing employer is likely to feel the impact.
What are employers to do now?
Traditional wisdom states that employers should apply ‘force’ – referring to contractual terms, bringpart ways with the employer anyway. Whether terminated or resigned, neither makes a difference to the next company. There’s no stigma associated with being ‘laid-off’ since it's well known that employees are laid off for the benefit of the company.
Hence, new wisdom is required.
Earlier examples are good cases to learn from. Applying force through rules, laws, regulations etc. will
ing up confidentiality or conflict-of-interest clauses, upping ethical or moral values. But these aren’t going to stop the employee from doing what she wishes to do. Market forces are stronger. If such employees are terminated to make an example, other knowledge workers will hesitate to join such an employer. Further, if this is practiced for long, the good ones will act as deterrents but only in the short run. Eventually, the dam will burst, and the water will overflow. The opportunity lies in the examples of Covisint (for collaboration) and IPL (for innovation).
We are moving into times where the employee (knowledge worker) will be the king. Organisations will need to demonstrate sensitivity to their employees' desires. It is a matter of practicality – retaining the talent pool will have the same effect and should receive the same investment of effort as holding onto your customers in a free market! Implementing terms rigidly from the contract will be detrimental – it will appear draconian to the market. In any case, new recruits will bargain and will have negotiating power.
One way around this is to ‘lend’ employees to a multi-company project team, which is formed through a collaboration of companies - a consortium. The consortium takes on complex projects and puts in the best talents to deliver outstanding results. The commercials are worked out in such a way that the company and the employee are both rewarded. In the case of IPL, for example, the player shares his earnings with his country’s cricket board! The employee also returns to the original company at end of the project.
The other form is to accept the gig model and become a platform for services.
Either way, it seems that moonlighting will have to be accepted as a new model of work!
about the author
y sHEKar is a Management research scholar (Ph.D.) from University of Mysore. He is an executive coach and co-founder of a start-up.
ViStY BAnAJi
The G-men of HR
G-men? That’s not God-men in our midst. Nor is it FBI agents embedded within HR. Then what?
The G-men of HR are those who do G-jobs in HR. What are G-jobs? Peep at the title of the book referenced in the first note. Why not go with the B-job nomenclature? Because we wouldn’t like to settle for the alimentation of an alien animal when we can access a solid, indigenous and familiar ingredient from our own country.
A wizened ex-CEO of my acquaintance once teased me. "We never had so many people floating around in the Personnel Department in my time, Banaji". With a malicious gleam in his eye, he continued: "It’s no wonder employees, in general, consider HR lazy. I think that’s unfair. In the whole company, HR people work the hardest – at doing nothing!" Irritated as I was, I began to see how HR could be bringing such ridicule on itself: we do have more than our fair share of G-jobs and we seem intent on widening our lead. This column will look at the causes, consequences and cures for G-jobs in HR. Graeber’s G-rant
David Graeber wrote the book (literally) on 'Bullshit Jobs'.1 Our base premise for G-jobs in HR will not depend on the broad socio-economic trends and the state of capitalism that Graeber uses but there are several valuable pointers we can gain from his seminal work.
Let’s start with a Working Definition: "A [G-job] is a form of paid employment that is so completely pointless, unnecessary, or pernicious that even the employee cannot justify its existence even though … the employee feels obliged to pretend that this is not the case." All quotes in this section (unless separately referenced) are from Graeber’s book mentioned in the previous paragraph.
Graeber’s focus, of course, is not limited to HR but some of his observations could’ve been tailored for us. Take, for, example HR’s perceived immunity from downsizing. "When managers began trying to come up with scientific studies of the most time-
and energy-efficient ways to deploy human labour, they never applied those same techniques to themselves – or if they did, the effect appears to have been the opposite of what they intended. As a result, the same period that saw the most ruthless application of speed-ups and downsizing in the blue-collar sector also brought a rapid multiplication of meaningless managerial and administrative posts in almost all large firms."
The book contains an amusing, though no less telling for that, typology of G-jobs: • Flunky jobs or 'feudal retainers' exist only or primarily to make someone else look or feel important. • Goon jobs are G-jobs with an aggressive or threatening element to them.
They come closest to the characters of a Kafka-
esque bureaucracy, with its attendant dystopian consequences.2 • Duct tape jobs are there to patch up a glitch or fault in the system or organisation that ought not to have existed in the first place. • Box-ticking jobs exist to allow an organisation to be able to claim it is doing something that, in fact, it is not doing. • Taskmaster jobs fall into two subcategories. Type 1 consists of unnecessary supervisors who only assign work to others that people could otherwise have allocated between themselves. While Type 1 taskmasters are merely useless, Type 2 taskmasters do actual harm.
These are taskmasters whose primary role is to create G-tasks for others to do or even to create entirely new G-jobs. • Imaginary friend jobs are
intended "ostensibly to humanise an inhuman corporate environment but who, in fact, mainly force people to go through elaborate games of make-believe… in office environments where everyone would probably be happier just being left alone." • Flak-catching jobs are created to be "at the receiving end of often legitimate complaints but who are given that role precisely because they have absolutely no authority to do anything about them." • Second-order bullshit jobs are not pointless "in and of themselves, but which are ultimately pointless because they are performed in support of a pointless enterprise."
A taxonomy worth remembering as we look more closely at G-jobs in HR.
Causes and costs of G-job concentrations in HR
Why does HR possess the lion’s (or at least cattle’s) share of G-jobs in most organisations? The root cause enabling G-men to flourish in HR is the impossibility (or cost-ineffectiveness) of non-vicarious measures of the core results expected from the function. Additionally, there are some other ways the G-concoction gets concentrated to make HR go from Good to G-rate.
Several HR leaders have high power needs that make them inveterate empire builders. These empires have to be evidenced by a growing number of HR factotums floating around and fattening their teams. Only Parkinsonian work can be created to fill that excess capacity – which is a more elegant, if somewhat antiquated, way of saying G-work rushes in where R-work (Real work) is too scarce to tread.
All G-work that fills vacuums is, of course, not time-passingly harmless. A contra instance is when a CEO expects HR to play the role of the 'heavy'. Several CHROs don’t rise to the bait but, those that do, pair with the CEO to carry two out of Greene’s '48 Laws of Power'.3 The CEO can keep his hands clean (Law 26) while his HR collaborator poses as a friend to peers while acting as a spy (Law 14). Another column has dealt in some detail with a few less obvious facets of office politics.4 For our present purpose, it only suffices to note that gangsterism added to a G-job makes it poisonous without reducing its essential uselessness.
Less lethal G-jobs multiply when HR becomes the locus of stone age systems trying to cajole patchwork processes to work. Huge amounts of G-work plaster are needed to keep such Rube Goldberg HR systems from falling apart. A particularly pointless G-activity is the attempt to inspect the quality of HR work instead of designing a self-correcting system from the ground up using the latest technology and methods. Then there are the ethically questionable G-roles for 'managing' the authorities because non-compliances and safety hazards haven’t been eliminated. IR jobs are notorious for getting filled with G-work arising from handling chronic grievances because others (e.g. timekeeping and payroll) give the lowest priority to automating or replacing systems that cause employee unhappiness.
One of the reasons even negligible investment needed for HR systems gets shoved into the postponable category, year after year, is that it’s not exciting to talk about at the convention, conference or cocktail circuit. On the other hand, creating a dedicated diversity or ethics position literally overflows with conversation potential. In some organisations, such roles are truly valued and valuable. On the other hand, if they sprout up just to match with the Jainses company next door, they are likely to be G-manured and G-filled G-generators.
Trophy (and other) G-jobs create ripples of G-activity in all directions. Possibly the most lethal of these are unending swarms of 'spartoi'5 demanded by CEO / CHRO pet projects that become talent graveyards (see below). A less egregious, though equally wasteful, the ripple effect is G-training (whether manned in-house or outsourced) that incurs huge costs for ephemeral benefits. An earlier column details some of the more glaring G-training practices.6
Pride of G-sweepstakes place must surely go to the HR G-roles who organize outings and entertainment (replete with sports celebrities or movie stars) under the fond hope that a year full of employee mistreatment 'paap' can be washed clean by the annual award-night 'hajj'. These are the equivalent of the spectacles staged by shaky Roman emperors to keep the population of the city content.7
Far greater in proportion and much less pleasant in execution are those HR G-jobs that have to face unfriendly employee fire on a day-to-day basis. Whether the policy causing fury was taken past them or whether it was implemented despite their objections makes no difference. HR Business Partners facing irate managers and employees over policies they had no hand in crafting become G-fodder. There is no extra charge for the ulcers they acquire along the way.
Some of the best HR talents are spared the withering fire that meets G-roles on the front lines. However, they don’t get off entirely G-free. If they are spotted as prize HR talent, they may get allocated to special initiatives the CEO and CHRO are pushing at the time. Such high-stake work
has been the making of many an HR leader. However, should the project turn out to be ill-conceived fluff, regardless of the potential of the persons allotted and the high profile of the task, in the ultimate analysis, it will just add G-work? High-quality people cannot save strategically flawed or badly planned missions from failing or themselves from becoming G-men in the process. A more frequent and insidious way in which entire G-sections are created in HR departments is through the over-engineering of the function.
As Clayton Christensen pointed out, the temptation to offer more and more sophisticated products for which the customer no longer sees the utility at the price that complexity costs, spells doom.8 A previous column provided one way in which frugal HR can mitigate this problem.9 Till an organisation takes such ice-cold shrinkage baths, however, the ranks of its HR are likely to continue bursting with G-men of high competence and sincerity, delivering G-products that are of little interest to their internal customers.
The perceptive reader will have noticed that, though Graeber’s treatise was written without HR specifically in focus, every one of his B-job classifications finds a parallel G-job type in HR. The correspondence goes a long way to explaining why HR tends to be the G-job torchbearer in many organisations.
Making HR G-free
Attractive as I find Graeber’s UBI-linked global solutions, they are neither possible nor necessary for cleaning the G-ills of HR. The ideas given below may also not benefit all HR departments. The best CHROs never permit G-jobs to be created or continued. On the other hand, there are those who positively revel in imagining and installing more and more G-jobs. This section is useless for both of these categories. Perhaps those who want to launch a G-cleanup (after succeeding as a G-creator) will benefit the most from these suggestions.
A fresh incumbent CHRO (whether internally chosen or an external recruit) usually gets an opportunity to review and recast the results and resources of the entire HR organisation only once in her or his tenure and that can’t be too long after assuming charge. To get into the right frame of mind for this task it would be useful to re-read the Hammer blow delivered decades back in 'Reengineering Work: Don’t Automate, Obliterate.'10 As Hammer puts it: "It is time to stop paving the cow paths. Instead of embedding outdated processes in silicon and software, we should obliterate them and start over." This is the time to identify (even if elimination takes place in a phased manner) HR initiatives, activities and roles that are to be consigned to Davy Jones' Locker (DJL).
One simple way to find G-jobs is to look for sections and roles that are not making a direct contribution to enhancing aggregate employee happiness11 either through the Design of
jobs,12 their Durability or the Development of people in present/future job competencies. The further jobs get from this reliable foundation, the likelier they are to be G-fluffed and become candidates for elimination. In addition, a minimal number of jobs contributing to governance and control may also need to be retained.
An even simpler G-task sniffer is to ask the HR staff themselves after briefing them about the characteristics of G-jobs. Apart from the direct contribution HR people make to the business (e.g. recruitment), they should have at least half their KRAs dedicated to Championing, Contacting / Communicating with employees and Creating innovative solutions to benefit employees or the business. The rest are likely to be GRAs and should be given one-way DJL tickets. People can be surprisingly frank about the G-work in their portfolios if they are assured they will be retained and given alternative work that utilises their talents.
A far more radical way to conduct a G-elimination exercise would be to subject major HR initiatives and activities to the 'agnipariksha' of an employee referendum. In its full form, this would require a level of corporate democracy that few organisations have attained. For the time being, a few supplementary questions in the periodic engagement survey should raise sufficient danger signals for a perceptive CHRO to action.
Can individuals escape From Their G-aram hell?
Unfortunately, the G-problem does not give much scope for non-systemic solutions. If the CHRO is a G-creating type, the chances of avoiding a GRA-filled department are limited. A watchful CEO and a vigilant, HR-involved Board can contain the Samson weapon wielded by such CHROs. Beyond a point, however, only by putting the CHRO to pasture can more G-waste be prevented. In the meantime, prudent G-mired individuals can only request transfers to happiness creating jobs of the kind mentioned in the previous section. Bolder spirits, who demand an end to all G-waste in HR are likely to meet the fate Cohen sings about:
They sentenced me to 20 years of boredom
For trying to change the system from within.13
Perhaps the brave will have better luck in Manhattan or Berlin.
Notes:
1. David Graeber, Bullshit Jobs: The Rise of
Pointless Work, and What We Can Do About It,
Penguin; 2019. 2. Randy Hodson, Vincent J Roscigno, Andrew
Martin and Steven H Lopez, The ascension of
Kafkaesque bureaucracy in private sector organizations, Human Relations, September 2013. 3. Robert Greene, The 48 Laws Of Power (The Modern Machiavellian), Profile Books, 2000. 4. Visty Banaji, The Dogs of (Office) War, People
Matters, People Matters, 25 February 2022. 5. Stephen Fry, Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold,
Penguin, 2018. 6. Visty Banaji, Draining the (training) swamp,
People Matters, 24 August 2020. 7. Juvenal (Trans A S Kline), Satires, X, 81, Poetry in
Translation, 2011. 8. Clayton Christensen, The Innovator's Dilemma:
When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to
Fail, Harvard Business Review Press; 1997. 9. Visty Banaji, Minimal HR for maximal effect,
People Matters, 12 January 2017. 10. Michael Hammer, Reengineering Work: Don’t
Automate, Obliterate, Harvard Business Review,
July-August, 1990. 11. Visty Banaji, HR’s business should be happiness raising, People Matters, 24 September 2019. 12. Visty Banaji, ‘If you want people to do a good job, give them a good job to do’, People Matters, 24
June 2021. 13. Leonard Cohen, First We Take Manhattan,
Famous Blue Raincoat: The Songs of Leonard
Cohen, 1988.
Visty BanaJi is the Founder and CEO of Banner Global Consulting (BGC)
Past Month's events
Ongoing Programmes
Physical Event: People Matters L&D Conference India Online Programme: Women in Leadership: Lead, Influence & Transform
People Matters 12 October 2022 India’s largest learning and development conference, People Matters L&D has highlighted the pivotal changes set to transform every industry in the years to come! CHROs, CLOs, Senior HRs, L&D CEOs, L&D Functional Leaders, L&D Professionals, Learning Leaders, and more gathered to find out how they can acquire new capabilities and adapt to the rapidly evolving business landscape, and together explored how capability building will and should help organisations be built for disruption. It was our pleasure to host you all and we hope to see you again next year! People Matters
BeNext 19 September – 21 October 2022
The latest edition of this programme was conducted for women leaders interested in accelerating their career growth within their organisation and learning critical skills for women heading a team. Watch this space to find out when this BeNext course specially to help women overcome obstacles in the leadership journey will return. People Matters
BeNext 26 September – 28 October 2022
The latest edition of this programme was held for leaders eager to gain practical, hands-on approaches to organisational L&D strategies, connecting policies and practices to business performance. Watch this space to find out when this BeNext course will return – prior knowledge of capabilities-building, and L&D strategizing will be useful but not indispensable.
Online Programme: Strategizing Organizational L&D: Performance, Productivity & Impact
Online Programme: Design Thinking and Agile for HR Online Programme: DEI: Implementing Unbiased Strategies in the New World of Work
People Matters
BeNext 10 October – 11 November 2022
This programme is for HR leaders committed to finding creative solutions to complex problems facing their teams, moving from an understanding of Agile processes to a whole new mindset of creativity, innovation and people-centred progress. People Matters
BeNext 31 October – 02 December 2022
This programme is for leaders invested in creating lasting mindset shifts and developing a more inclusive employee experience through the implementation of impactful DE&I initiatives and strategies. Develop a more diverse, inclusive and equitable workplace through practices and strategies that uncover and overcome biases.
Upcoming events
Physical Event: People Matters EX Conference Indonesia
Online Programme: HR Business Partner in the New World of Work Physical Event: People Matters Total Rewards & Wellbeing Conference
People Matters 03 November 2022 The world of work is changing and so are the expectations of people involved. Workplaces are not the same anymore. This shift in employee perspectives and expectations needs to be acknowledged and accepted. Join us at People Matters EX Indonesia for a riveting, insightful clash of cutting-edge ideas aimed at EXponentially furthering employee value proposition, and advancing a corporate agenda of business needs, yet being people-centric and ecologically sustainable.
People Matters
BeNext 21 November – 23 December 2022
This programme is for leaders and practitioners interested in how the HRBP drives cultural shifts that align with the changing needs of teams and organisations. Learn how the HRBP can create greater impact and value with a peoplebased approach to leading the transition to the new world of work. Early Bird Registration now available. People Matters 09 November 2022 Join us to Re:Frame – Be Ready To Break The Mould! As we enter a new era of employee engagement, people and culture leaders and rewards professionals need to work together as a leadership team to build a stronger and meaningful company culture to make attraction, retention and engagement more ‘sticky’. This 9th of November, leaders willl come together at Leela Ambience, Gurugram to Re:frame – The Opportunity Within. Online Programme: Reframing Your C&B Strategy: Agility, Equity and Sustainability
People Matters
BeNext 07 November – 09 December 2022 This programme is designed for organisations with existing rewards programs interested in reframing their compensation and benefits strategy to create a more agile, equitable and sustainable strategy that drives business-wide change. This program would also be suitable for start-ups looking to move beyond the founding stage and gain a better understanding of how to craft a comprehensive rewards program. Early Bird Registration now available.
Blogosphere >> ruBi KHan
What needs to be done before building an inclusive workplace
blogosphere Diversity and inclusivity are the most talked about topics these days. Some organisations have built a diverse and inclusive workplace; while others aspire to create their identity. Yet, at the same time, few organisations are already thriving as diverse and inclusive workplaces.
As rightly said, diversity is a fact, whereas inclusion is a choice. Diversity varies from demography to age, gender, religion, caste, and community.
Inclusion is welcoming, sustaining and strengthening diversity by embracing and respecting differences in the workplace.
A McKinsey report of August 2022 states that an inclusive organisation is two times as likely to exceed financial targets, three times as likely to be high performing, six times more likely to be agile and innovative and eight times more likely to achieve better business outcomes.
However, many organisations with aspirations to become inclusive begin with initiatives, programs and standalone interventions. Consequently, the impact of such interventions is not sustainable. The core to building an inclusive workplace is to identify, create and strengthen PALS:
P-Progressive culture
A-Allyship
L-Leaders’ sponsorship
S-Sustainable practices
Progressive culture
An organisation can be inclusive through its forward-thinking
and progressive approach toward people and diversity.
Before building an inclusive organisation, it is essential to identify and define the purpose of being inclusive. An organisation needs to have a vital purpose behind being inclusive, and employees should be aware of the intent of being inclusive, keeping the organisation's context in mind.
The purpose of an inclusive workplace is to create a safe and respected workplace. A workplace where an employee feels psychological safety to bring their their authentic self to work. They are open to sharing their point of view without fearing being judged, in an environment where ideas cultivate innovation, and honest disagreements are welcome. As a result, people feel empowered and enabled.
Progressive culture fosters a progressive mindset contributing to building an inclusive workplace. Organisational policies are essential enablers to embedding inclusion in the workplace. For example, policies related to LGBTQ, maternity and paternity leave, recruitment policies, pay parity, promotion and performance evaluations, sabbatical and returning mothers, people with disability etc.
These policies strengthen the organisation's core and bring a framework for everyone. Progressive culture fosters a progressive mindset that helps to build and reinforce employee connections and social capital within the organisation.
Allyship
Institutions can only be inclusive if they can build strong allies within and outside the organisation. Allyships is a structured, systematic way of driving and embedding inclusion through employees. Allyship allows employees to become contributors, collaborators, accomplices and advocates. These allies not only guide and lead inclusion but can give insights from representing various cohorts and can influence policies, practices and initiatives within the organisation. Allyships bring us closer to the business, field, and reality, as well as helps in seeking the commitment of various
stakeholders in embedding inclusion as a fabric of the organisation. Companies can also look at collaborating with diverse external communities representing different cohorts and standing for them in society. Henceforth, allies can catalyse, drive, and create an inclusive workplace. Leaders' sponsorship and support
As per the McKinsey report, 82% of the CEOs from some of the world's largest organisations have prioritised culture in the past three years, increasing employee engagement and improving diversity and inclusion. However, a previous Heidrick and Struggles study showed that only 27% of leaders reported that their company was broadly inclusive. As a result, the onus of building a diverse and inclusive organisation is often human resources or the diversity and inclusion head/lead.
Inclusion has to be driven from the top. Leaders and people managers are the most prominent anchor and sponsors of inclusion in the workplace. Leaders and people managers first need to identify the stage of inclusion in their enterprise to understand the differences experienced by the employees. Apart from gaining understanding through various surveys and audit data, they are stepping up and getting engaged with people, listening to them, and doing open houses and town halls, where people can discuss, voice out and feel heard. Organisations are also leveraging AI to connect with a more extensive base of employees through closed-loop feedback.
Once the leaders understand the gap, they can create a firm purpose of what being inclusive means to their organisation— bringing solid context to their people. Hence, every employee finds meaning in the inclusive workplace.
Leaders should go through sensitisation and awareness interventions where they learn about inclusive behaviour and unconscious biases. They are very much involved from the beginning. They drive the agenda of inclusion in the workplace. Leaders demonstrate behaviour like authentic listening, open communication, empathy and running inclusive meetings, delegating with an intent to give opportunities and creating empowerment. They provide honest feedback, develop talent through coaching, resolve conflict fairly, and create an inclusive environment.
Sustainable interventions
As inclusion has become a global plan for organisations, we want to put our best foot forward. We want to deploy the best practices. However, it is significant for us to step back and see what will be sustainable in our ecosystem. There are various touch points within an employee life cycle which can strengthen one's sense of belongingness and commitment if the ecosystem is inclusive.
Every employee represents a different age and gender and goes through different life stages. Hence, an organisation can create interventions around the same.
A new employee joining the organisation is looking forward to a welcoming environment and approachable leadership and support system.
An employee returning from maternity leave would need an assurance of protection of her role, performance ratings etc.
Instead of solving a glass ceiling, let us solve for the broken rung – the career stage where women aspire to be promoted to a first-level manager, which if they don't make it hits them badly.
One shoe doesn't fit all. Hence developmental interventions should be based on the principle of equity and not equality. Moreover, the needs of different generations and employees as per their career ladder are different. Therefore, equity and not equality should be the principle while offering developmental interventions like mentoring, reverse mentoring, coaching, shadowing and capability journey. A Deloitte
survey cited those participants who shared their experience of an inclusive culture: 47% of the employees surveyed said it is where they feel comfortable being themselves. 39% said it is an environment that provides a sense of purpose where they feel like they make an impact. 36% said it is a place where work flexibility (parental leave, ability to work remotely, flexible scheduling etc.) is a top priority.
Building an inclusive workplace is a movement to be sustained at your workplace consciously. Leaders and employees need to demonstrate tenacity, openness and a high sense of awareness to embed inclusion as a core of the organisation.
about the author
ruBi KHan is the Assistant Vice President –People Initiatives,Talent Management and OD at Max Life Insurance Company Limited.
