Today, some work from the office, some in a hybrid model, and some continue to work from home. Yet to figure out the best mode of working, we can still deliver business results. We are like a music band. The music and the rhythm are a symphony.
In line with the requirements of a new-age work environment, the recently-concluded conference, ‘The Power of I’ discussed the topic ‘A Rhythm of Inclusion: Creating an Inclusion cadence by building connectedness’, in a panel discussion moderated by Kannan Hariharan – Chief Strategist, Belongingness – Avtar.
The panel comprised Deepa Narayan – Vice President, Employee Success at Salesforce, Tarun Sareen – Managing Director, ASC, Sun Life Financial, and Vanitha Datla – Vice Chairperson and Managing Director, Elico Ltd.
When asked how the leaders bring together the employees to work towards the organization’s vision and how they stay connected, Vanitha said, “Everyone has their intricacies, their requirements, and their personal needs. But there needs to be an alignment between individual goals and organizational goals. And if that aligns it will be a smooth sailing ride. We convey a lot through our actions; hence as leaders, we need to walk that talk as not doing so will cause the disengagement of the team members sooner or later.” Agreeing with Vanitha, Deepa added, “Recently I had a chat over a cup of coffee with a group of new joiners who are largely millennials. On asked what brings them here, they said that they were inspired by the possibility of having a larger impact on the community. That just stuck with me. A study that I was going through says that the millennials believe that they can bring a lot of positive impact in the community that they live in.”
Tarun elaborated on the benefits of being connected. “One of the fundamental jobs of leaders is to connect people (with their calling and values) to the organizational mission and values. It is a constant practice to be able to do that. And the benefits are immense. You will be able to harness a level of passion that you cannot harness when a scientific way of leadership is followed. Bring your full self to work. Many organizations are purpose-oriented. If you can co-create the value system it will be a very powerful thing. There will be challenges and conflicts but as a leader, you should be vulnerable, have empathy, and have a big heart to listen and convert these conversations to build better relations,” he said.
He also pointed out that creating a feedback system and making it a part of the performance appraisal (as an approach of inspiration and not to bring one’s morale down) will go a long way.
A few major and noteworthy points in this discussion were as follows:
- Apart from taking care of the physical safety of the employees, taking care of their psychological safety is very important. This will give them a platform to share their innovative ideas and also offer validation to their ideas and thoughts and help the organizations build processes, policies, and practices.
- The starting point of leadership is to begin with the heart and create intent because people understand authenticity.
- Flexible work arrangements, different resource groups, etc. will encourage people to be more connected even in a hybrid environment. While relooking at the policies, the organizations should have an open mind to reconfigure the policies.
- Human beings are judgmental, and it is difficult to change this overnight. One cannot expect the set of employees to start to align with the leader’s way of thinking. As leaders, one needs to exhibit empathy.
- The corporates have a role to play. The biggest challenge is leadership persistence and collaboration. The world is getting complex, and one needs to be relevant to their clients, society, environment, and employees in a meaningful way. Leaders in today’s world are to be known as the most progressive people.
- We are in a multi-format world, which is diverse. We have to help each other and hold each other’s hands. Our unity will come from diversity.
