An Act of good deed…

While recruiting for a position a couple days ago, came across a strange candidate. I discussed about the profile and his interest level with the candidate (whom I’ll name Mr. X here) and got a positive response from him. So next day, I tried calling him again to communicate his interview schedule to him. Well, the number on which I had contacted him very strangely was answered by some another guy and he got harassed with me and repeatedly screamed wrong number. But I being an aggressive recruiter would not want to lose him. So I decided to try the 2 alternate numbers written on his CV (Thank God for that!)

So now, while the other mobile number temporarily did not exist, the landline number was finally answered. Seeing some hope of getting a number to reach Mr. X, I started conversation with the lady on the other side, who I found was the aunt of Mr. X. The lady learnt that I had spoken to Mr. X just a day before. And then came the twist in the story; instead of providing a number to reach him (which she did not have) she requested Mr. X’s number from me. Well she sounded quite distressed, so I asked her what was the issue. Had a selfish interest too of knowing where exactly Mr. X was. So I understood from her that Mr. X lived with this aunt in Pune and was absconding since the last 15-20 days!! And the poor aunt did not know where to get a clue of his whereabouts from. After consoling her that I would definitely tell her if I got in touch with him, I cursed Mr. X and disconnected the call.

However, believe me I’m really aggressive when it comes to recruiting. With a little amusement and curiosity about what I had just witnessed about an absconding candidate, I was reflecting on this; when it struck to me that I must check his contact details on the portal too. And what my experience has taught me, I was right. The number on his CV and number on the portal were altogether different. So hoping to get in touch with him I dialed, and YES! I got him. Well this guy seemed to have settled in Thane (Mumbai) and was working there. (this critical information was hidden from me, when I spoke the earlier day). Well, all my efforts to reach him were now in vain, as I wanted someone from Pune.

But this did not end for me here….. I was disturbed yet with the worried aunt of Mr. X and thought of doing a good deed. So I called this aunt of Mr. X and shared the contact details of the latter. Obviously conniving that she does not reveal the identity of who has given her the number. Now I definitely did not want to get into their personal matters. And the point of writing this ‘No Big Deal’ story is that…………… ‘HOW GOOD DID I FEEL DOING THIS!!!’ I was delighted that I had done a tiny-bit act of goodness. I was happy that I helped someone in whatever small way I could. Getting a little filmy here, I would say I was happy that I played a small role in reuniting the aunt with her relative!

And when you come to think of it….. ‘How many such instances does one remember, where one has tried going out of the way to help someone?’ In my entire life till date, I think I can really count such instances on my fingers. Not many….ya!

I remember once helping a blind man (who had by mistake entered into a ladies compartment of a local train in Mumbai), and was really helpless and dint know what to do. While many fellow ladies just stared at him with pity, no one stepped further to help him. He was pushed and dodged from this side to that, and finally when I couldn’t bear to see his plight, I asked him which station he would get off at, managed to create a seat for him so that he was no longer tortured, and got him off at his destination. And I felt the same like I had now felt helping this aunt of Mr. X.

Coming to talk of trains….how many times have we sacrificed and offered our seat to old men and women? How many times have we helped ease the burden of a lady in our neighborhood, who with great difficulty is carrying heavy bags of groceries for her family? I am sure we all feel empathy for the one who is in need of help, but we all hesitate to come forward and do an act of good deed. We hesitate, because we think we are busy in our lives and do not have time. We hesitate because we think, we ourselves are too troubled to offer any help to others. We empathize, but…….. we ‘think’! And when we think, we rationalize. And good deeds do not happen after rationalization. It should just come straight from the heart, impromptu… without speculating about the consequences. Compassion …. That’s the key!

Let’s all strive to make each day a “Good Deeds Day” and touch the lives of others to spread smiles and joy!!

HR . . . A Friend in Need OR A Friend Indeed ! ?

Where employees see HR personnel as a devil’s advocate (devil refers to management here), and management presumes HR to serve them as an advisory, HR is always expected to play with this double – edged sword effectively. And here comes the most difficult role of walking along the tight rope of managing expectations. This funambulism does not come easy to all, and needs to be acquired/developed. However amidst all this, HR feels trapped in a dilemma whether to be sociable with the employees, or to always keep the ‘professional’ approach in dealing with the staff.

There are 2 perspectives to this theory: (a) The HR Angle (b) The Employee Angle. We shall look at both from the HR point of view here.

Let’s first take the HR personnel’s angle. First and foremost argument I would like to make here is that “HR Personnel are people too.” They too are individuals who seek a confidante amongst people with whom they spend 8-9 hours in a day. HR people too are individuals who walk in with emotions much alike any other employee.

But again, they have a job to do, of ensuring discipline and managing conflicting-interest situations. They have no option but to fear such predicament, because a true HR professional should not be affected by personal biases and prejudices. Better safe than sorry! You undertake a risk of being misquoted, as what you have said or done in personal capacity or as a joke might be perceived as an act by an “HR” of the organisation.

However, it is also necessary to keep yourself approachable, since employees need to feel free to talk about their issues to the HR. Most of the times, what they just require is a good listener. Also, it helps HR understand the culture and systems prevalent in the organisation. It thus becomes imperative for an HR professional to be able to clearly distinguish between personal and professional effects in a relationship. If one cannot do so, he/she must refrain from friendships on a personal level with the colleagues. It is essential to understand that organisational commitments have precedence over personal bias.

Looking at this from an Employee’s Perspective, where some people fear coming in close quarters with HR, some employees purposefully connect with you. Very starkly, we can see employees being very conscious of what they say/do when HR is around. You find them abruptly changing the topic of conversations, or hush when HR unexpectedly appears in the scene; may be because they feel that HR is always judgemental.

Often, ‘being friends’ with the HR is seen as an option by the employees, not by choice but by compulsion. They do take extra efforts to ‘update’ / ‘inform’ HR occasionally about their achievements, especially when it’s something beyond the demands of their role. Well, some employees see to it that they make the so-called ‘true’ friendships with HR, with the sole anticipation of extracting confidential information that HR is expected to have. These are the testing times for HR. For a mature HR professional, difficult here is not that he/she needs to choose the organisation over friendship; but to not choose friendship over job commitments. It requires strong will, risk-bearing ability and clear professional & personal goals, making emotional stress a part of routine.

All said and done, it is absolutely indispensable for HR to be friendly with the employees. Being social with colleagues outside office might be a riskier option, nonetheless they always need to be aware that every move they make or every word they say, must be well-thought upon to measure the consequences. Performing a balancing act during the working hours also becomes elemental. While keeping the ‘human element’ in our profession alive, we sometimes need to forget that we too are human beings with emotional needs, we too have issues that we need to share with ‘friends’, we too need to enjoy and spend some casual moments with colleagues without calculating costs and risks that we might have to bear. May be we need to change the very definition of “FRIENDSHIP” that otherwise applies to us in the outside world. . .

- VAISHALI PARGAONKAR