At the same time, the managerial and supervisory personnel at all levels also need to pay constant attention to two special aspects of HR which are essential for a healthy environment in an organisation. These are - team building and motivating the juniors for better performance. Here, I shall dwell on these matters.

Team Building

"Coming together is a beginning.
Keeping together is progress.
Working together is success".

What is team building? Team building is a process that develops co-operation and teamwork within a work unit. To constitute an effective team, its members must share a common goal, have respect for each other, and be motivated to use the strengths of each member in achieving the common objective. For an effective team, time should be catered for getting acquainted to each other and exchange of ideas. From the employee’s point of view, being part of a team usually provides a sense of loyalty and ownership.

Not all of us have the same abilities. Yet every employee has a unique talent. The most important role of every manager and leader is to identify the innate talent of his/her team members and provide adequate opportunities to maximise their potential and contribute to the organisation. Taare Zameen Par was primarily about dyslexia. But, it was also about recognising the innate talent of an individual condemned to deprivation, building his self-esteem and inculcating a desire in him to succeed in personal and professional life.

Successful organisations across the world are all about teamwork. From the boardroom to the shop floor, it is all about working in teams.

Motivation

Motivation is present in every aspect of life. Simple acts such as eating are motivated by hunger. Education is motivated by the desire for knowledge.

There are two main kinds of motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic motivation is internal. It occurs when people are compelled to do something out of pleasure, importance or desire. Extrinsic motivation occurs when external factors compel the person to do something.

There is an old saying – you can take a horse to the water but cannot force it to drink. It makes the point that it will drink if it is thirsty. So is the case with people. They will do what they want to or otherwise are motivated to do. Else, even if the work is done it will lack quality.

Let me share a true story on motivation. ‘The Whale Story’ is cited by Charles and Carla Coonradt as a case of ‘management by motivation’.

Have you ever wondered how whale and dolphin trainers get the 19,000-pound whale to jump 22 feet out of the water and perform tricks?

The trainers get the trainee whale to go over a rope higher than most of us can imagine. This is a great challenge - as great as those which we will face in the next few years as we manage teams of people who report to us. However, their approach is almost opposite of what is taught by most leading business schools and corporate houses.

So how do the trainers at Sea World do it? Their number one priority is to reinforce the behaviour that they want repeated – in this case, to get the whale or dolphin to go over the rope. They influence the environment in every possible way they can so that it supports the principle of making sure that ‘the whale just can’t fail’.

They start with the rope kept well below the surface of the water, in a position where the whale can’t help but do what’s expected of it. Every time the whale goes over the rope (which is below the water), it gets positive reinforcement. It is fed fish, patted, and played with.

But what happens when the whale goes under the rope?

Nothing! No failure notices, no constructive criticism, no developmental feedback, no warnings in the personnel file. Whales are taught that their negative behaviour will simply not be acknowledged. Positive reinforcement is the cornerstone of that simple principle that produces such spectacular results. And as the whale begins to go over the rope more often than under, the trainers begin to raise the rope slowly. Each time the whale goes over the rope it receives pats and fish; in other words – encouraging reinforcements. However, each time it fails, it is ignored but not punished.

Slowly the rope is raised over the water level until finally it is raised 20 feet above water. However it must be raised slowly enough so that the whale doesn’t fail. The process ensures success, but at a pace that makes it possible for the whale to do so out of a positive strength that makes it strong and more confident of its attempts physically and emotionally.

What do B-schools and the corporate world teach us?

As naive managers, the first thing we do would be to get that rope right up there at 22 feet. We call that goal-setting or strategic planning or even benchmarking. Most B-schools would tell us - stretch your potential and set high goals from day One.

With the goal clearly defined, we now have to figure out a way to motivate the whale. So we take a bucket of fish and put it right above that 22-foot rope - don’t pay the whale unless it performs. Make a big deal out of the good and little stuff that we want consistently.

Another significant factor in motivation is to under-criticise a mistake/failure. Most people know and realise when they do not perform well. What they need is help. If we criticise, punish and discipline less than what is expected, people will remember the event, learn self- responsibility and usually not repeat mistakes.

Some motivational words that cost us nothing, but pay huge dividends:

We need to set up the circumstances so that people can’t fail.
Over-celebrate, under-criticise . . . and know how far to raise the rope and at what speed. q