People Types & HRD…
Breaking the chain of opinionated and evangelistic posts, here is a more neutral article that seeks to describe the different kinds of people that form a part of most groups. And since organizations are also after all, a collection of people (or a group) with clear role relationships, this subject becomes extremely interesting & important for HR professionals dealing with people engagement studies.
This article is based on an anecdote as narrated by none other than G. P. Rao, Management Advisor & CEO of GPR HR Consulting in one of his meetings on types of people and the role of HR.
An organization is analogous to a gathering at a religious discourse or a Pravachan as it is commonly known. The different kinds of people & the behaviors that they display at such a congregation are extrapolations of common organizational behaviors (including people dynamics at the highly irritating weekly status & business meetings).
The different types of people are as follows –
- Shrota {श्रोता} – Attentive & keen listeners who seek to learn and absorb as much of valuable content as possible.
- Sarota {सरोता} – In literary context, sarota refers to a scissor/tool used for cutting betel nut and metaphorically used to indicate a behavior where an individual is physically present but mentally lost in his/her mind-space.
- Sarakta {सरक} – Restless people who always find ways to be away or disappear when their presence is most required. Typically, the lot who are present at the beginning & the end, but nowhere to be found in between.
- Sushupta {सुशुप्त} – Individuals who remain dormant for a large part of the session (by equating silence to attention) & demonstrate great subject interest (a manipulated one of course) by asking smart questions, thanks to their presence of mind & knack with words.
- Sota {सोता} – The clearly uninterested & passive junta who pass the entire time giving their systems the much needed physical rest.
All 5 types of people form a part of any collective in varying proportions, basis the level of engagement generated by the stimulus to this collective.
In an organizational context this represents a classical HR problem – the engagement problem !! The objective is very clear, as always is the case with the engagement problem – to motivate the workforce. In our example too, the objective is to have a room full of Shrotas – truly engrossed lot who are highly receptive to the auditory input, thereby rendering the stimulus-response chain effective. It is quintessential for the HR function to not only map employees into these categories but also devise mechanisms to push as many employees as possible into the category of Shrotas.
The most powerful question is simply “WHY?“. Answer to this fundamental question can solve biggest of employee productivity & engagement dilemmas.
Directly or indirectly, one simply has got to ASK !!
Are all the non-Shrotas nothing more than liabilities and root cause of productivity issues? Oh, NO. The root cause lies in the answer to the question ‘Why?‘.
- Why is Absenteeism (Sarakta) rate so high?
– Maybe your workplace is so terrible or perhaps it is the nature of work - Why are employees gaming the system & evading work (Sushupta)?
– Maybe your processes are too rigid & the PMS a little too biased - Why is productivity low & ETAs always off-target (Sota)?
– Maybe MBO & Gaant charts could work; or perhaps a robust R&R program - Why is Defect rate or Accident rate (Sarota) so high?
– Maybe your employee is busy applying for jobs elsewhere; perhaps it’s time for some career planning and strategic L&D programs
As HR Professionals, we must continuously try to be sensitive to reasons why employees become disengaged – absent due to a genuine personal problem OR demotivated due to shoddy person-job mapping OR low morale due to unfair appraisals OR harassment by difficult bosses & the list is never-ending.
After all, the ideal scenario as proposed by seasoned HR leaders themselves, is for organizations to become so mature and self-sustaining that the HR function becomes redundant – a truly engaged workforce powered by Shrotas. But then again, that would mean termination of so many HR professionals, climate of fear, cultural issues…well, and thus HR lives !!!
AKK learns HR 