Organizations across the world today realize that a ‘satisfied’ employee is not necessarily their ‘best’ employee in terms of loyalty, commitment and productivity. Only an effectively ‘engaged employee’ who is intellectually and emotionally connected with the organization, feels passionate about organizations Mission, Vision and Values. He/she goes above and beyond the call of duty to achieve the organizational goals.
In times of diminishing loyalty, high employee turnover and changing market scenario, employee engagement is taking centre stage in the HR fraternity as it can become a powerful retention strategy. Needless to say that Employee engagement has a strong impact on the bottom-line of every organization.
Employee Engagement is about motivating employees to perform to the best of their potential. An engaged employee gives 100 percent to his company and becomes a trusted ambassador of the organisation. Employee Engagement is the means or strategy, by which an organization seeks to build a long lasting partnership between the organisation and its employees. Organizational dynamics are changing too fast where employees have become the nucleus of the organization around which all activities are planned. Every individual is keen on building a competitive advantage for himself/herself; to create competitiveness in oneself, people are always on look out for challenges to sharpen their axe all the time. In order to achieve their aspirations, they are always expecting an active engagement with organizations. Engagement is all about creating a sense of inclusivity among employees with the organizations, to create inclusivity one need to understand the stated & unstated expectations of employees.
At MindTree Human Resources Function is an integral partner in organization growth strategy. Thus we created a charter to work on a unique employee engagement model with 1000 odd campus Minds who were in the process of transitioning from Campus to corporate.
After the mind blowing Engagement activities for July & Oct’07 batches, I had become younger by atleast 5 years and had made 1000 news friends within no time. Our team did not realize how we were able to break the ice & create a participatory culture with people from all over India. All our plans yielded great results and we witnessed some great events by all campus minds. PALs (Parent, Anchor & a Leader) and many People Function (Human Resources) team members kept calling all campus minds as KIDS and actually they all were MindTree Kids. We had to take care of all their unstated requirements.
We were very curious to know their feedback on how did they feel with our People Engagement initiatives. We conducted a survey and we got very good feedback along with few areas of improvement. I was extremely happy that I was leading this new and innovative initiative for MindTree. I can confidently say that year 2007-08 was a very special year for me in many ways.
As we were planning for new strategic initiatives for the year 2008-09 my boss broke the news during early Jan’08 that I am slated to travel to Europe to manage People Function operations based out of London. I was excited and thrilled and was looking forward to this great challenge. The news spread like a wild fire and it was open secret by Feb’08. I received 1000’s of best wishes and felt really loved and cared for the first time in a corporate world. Unknowingly I had got many fan followers and it was a very special time.
One fine day Kalyan, Suresh, Aditi, Lakshman and few others called me to be part of a program to thank PALs for their contribution to Campus Engagement program. I thought it was a fantastic idea and readily agreed and blocked my calendar for 21-Mar-08 as I was too busy with many loose ends to be closed before I board the flight to London. In fact few days later Kalyan & Lakshman came to while I was busy collecting helpful tips about London life from Anand Sampath. They wanted me to speak to them live on video about my experience with campus Minds. I thought this is the normal gimmick that these kids adopt to make a program and agreed to speak soon after the meeting. Anand looked as if he knew about this and pushed me to complete this. I spoke something and went home without realizing that I was trapped by campus kids.
Without my knowledge they had made all the arrangements including a lovely trophy, snacks and cake, inviting seniors and shooting Jani, Ranjitha, Vidya and many campus minds.
On 20-Mar-08 we had a scheduled meeting with all PF team on planning for 2008-09. During the meeting everyone knew about the program on 21st and I had no clue about this and I must say that the whole team maintained a good secrecy till Puneet mentioned about the same. I thought it will be a small part of the PALs program and did not think much about it.
I must say that 21-Mar-08 will be one of the most memorable days in my life. I had series of planned meetings with Europe offshore team, Supriya and few others to understand the issues & expectations of my job in Europe. Aditi kept calling me saying that I need to attend the whole program and I need to speak about all the 3 PALs and I will be called 3 times on the stage. Accordingly I gathered points about Dr.Sudha, Krishnan & Naveen and was kind of ready to deliver speech on all these 3 extraordinary people for their commitment to campus engagement. It was 4:30 pm when I got a call from Aditi, Kalyan and few others to come to Kalpavriksha as program is about to begin. I hurried up and packed my bags and rushed to Kalpavriksha. program.
When I reached the venue I realized something is fishy as they told me to wait for some time. Mean time I met Sudha, Mukesh and Sripad and was wondering what was happening. Within few minutes I entered the room and they gave me a cheering welcome I did not know how to respond as I was completely taken by a surprise and whatever followed was a history. All campus minds had prepared a full length movie on Nagan (Pet name given by campus kids). I was stunned by the video & the responses people had spoken about me. I used to see all these in Television programs but it was hard to believe that I was actually the recipient of such love and affection by all people with whom I worked. What was very special was Jani (CEO of R&D Services) speaking very passionately about me and so as Ranjitha, Vidya and I do not know whether I deserve those great accolades?. The video went for 20+ minutes and it was like as if I am in could 9 and I had to pinch myself many times to believe that it was for me. Then came another surprise Dr.Sudha, Mukesh Mathad, Sripad, actually Chandru, Neha, Lala, Shabhabrat Padhi and many more people. It was very kind gesture by all Minds that made me feel really special.
Puneet entered the hall and I could not believe as he had to travel all the way from Banashankari Office only for this program and he spoke his heart and took all people to 1999 days. It was actually like rewinding my life in MindTree.
I am very grateful to him for those kind words. I do not think any supervisor will speak so much about his/her colleague. I can only quote some of the words that I heard from people..
“Nagan is a 7 year old boy in a 40 year old body (Actually I am not that Old)”
“Commitment, passion, great motivator, leader, friend, guide etc….. “
“Nagan is a mentor, charming person, dynamic, friendly, Big Daddy, very caring, loving......” “You are our shining Star…, He is adorable, admirable.. “
All these words will be remembered for a long time in my life.
I know there are many unseen minds/hands that supported me all through this unusual role and make a great impact on all minds. After the program I realized that what impact we have created on these young minds and how they have shaped up within a short span of time. I must admit that these people are very special and they have found a very special place in my heart. Infact I have made some great friends in life and I am grateful to all of them. They do not know the word impossible. They can create wonders within no time, I have seen many examples of their power of bonding among each other and they can do anything for you.
By now it was 6:10 pm and Lakshman & Aditi wanted all people to move outside the Kalpavriksha for another surprise event. It was another shocker for me… I could see a huge cake and did not know how to respond to the unexpected affection & love from so many people. During snacks time Kavitha wanted to ensure that I knew who Rekha & Kavitha is …. At last I passed her exam, which I had failed many times.
My colleagues congratulated me and kept telling me that I deserve all this as I have made a difference to their life. Heart in heart I knew that these people have made a difference to my life. Year 2007-08 was a very eventful year in many ways. I had gone through the worst times of my life due to my father/Mother in law’s illness and needed all energy and motivation to bounce back to life. I got re-energized working with these campus kids. To be frank I was feeling very low and completely stressed in life and these people actually were the source of inspiration for me to win over all hurdles and still be cheerful all the time.
I do not know how to thank them for all they did to me on that day!!! I went home with a very heavy heart without knowing how to live upto there love and affection which they had bestowed on me. I can only wish and pray to god that they may be blessed with a greatest career and good health. May god help them to realized their dreams and aspirations. I wish & hope to make a difference to their life in whatever little way possible. I prey to god to give me another opportunity to serve these special friends.
I have learnt some important lessons working with these campus Minds;
1. Nothing happens unless you Innovate, Dream, Explore & Apply (IDEA)
2. Be willing to champion unusual assignments, every opportunity has a challenge to offer
3. People are most important element of any transformation
4. Learn to live with ambiguity. Things will not always be clear, find new ways as you travel along the journey
5. There is no substitute to TEAM WORK & HARD WORK
6. Small ideas can change many lives & nurture ideas, thoughts
7. Be willing to explore & encourage innovation… experiments leads to astonishing results
8. Never under estimate the power of youth, their imagination & creativity. Challenge them and they will deliver miracles
9. You are not alone in trouble, there are many, embrace life and win over hurdles
10. Invest in relationship and nurture emotional engagement
As I drove back home I realized that it was an engagement of a different kind, winning 1000 hearts in a span of 6 months, it meant a lot and it took a lot from you to be able to relate, live and think very differently to get connected with young Minds. What I had experienced was the power of volunteerism, collective team work and sheer love & affection of true MindTree Minds. It was an unbelievable act of strength, unity in diversity and a true reflection of MindTree's young brigade which is ready to conquer the world.......Three Cheers to Young Brigade'2007-08………
