I happened to attend a one day conference yesterday hosted by Great Places to Work Institute. It was an interesting experience for me being a line manager. Most of the participants are from HR function and I am probably representing a minority population from ‘business function’. I would like to mention few key takeaways from that conference for me.
1. This one hit me instantly. Most of the time we (leaders or managers) assess people (read it as our direct reports) based on their actions, but we assess ourselves based on our intentions. I feel its true to large extent. When I reflected my behavior and observed few at work, I realized then how important it is for managers to be very explicit about their intentions to their people.
2. The importance of branding can not be undermined at all. I observed many initiatives that Google has are already present in our company in some form or the other. However the way Google presented and the pride that carries in saying that a “Googler does it in Google way” is what is creating the “Wow” factor. Its so important to brand the initiatives so that the perception formed in the minds of internal and external audience remains high and positive.
3. Putting people first. Vineet Nayyar said it, Vijay Thadani did not say it but has been practicing it ever since he founded NIIT. When he started NIIT with his friend Rajendra Pawar, they decided to create an organization where people are respected, treated fair and committed to their success. NIITians say “our [organization’s] growth is a derivative of growth of each one of us”. That’s a powerful collaborative statement.
