Moving out of comfort Zone is must for Performance

Once there was a king who received a gift of two magnificent falcons. They were peregrine falcons, the most beautiful birds he had ever seen. He gave the precious birds to his head falconer to be trained.

 Months passed, and one day the head falconer informed the king that though one of the falcons was flying majestically, soaring high in the sky, the other bird had not moved from its branch since the day it had arrived.
The king summoned healers and sorcerers from all the land to tend to the falcon, but no one could make the bird fly.

He presented the task to the member of his court, but the next day, the king saw through the palace window that the bird had still not moved from its perch.

Having tried everything else, the king thought to
himself, “May be I need someone more familiar with the countryside to understand the nature of this problem.” So he cried out to his court, “Go and get a farmer.”
In the morning, the king was thrilled to see the falcon soaring high above the palace gardens. He said to his
court, “Bring me the doer of this miracle.”

The court quickly located the farmer, who came and stood before the king. The king asked him, “How did you make the falcon fly?” With his head bowed, the farmer said to the king, “It was very easy, your highness. I simply cut the branch where the bird was sitting.”

We are all made to fly — to realize our incredible potential as human beings. But at times we sit on our branches, clinging to the things that are familiar to us. The possibilities are endless, but for most of us, they remain undiscovered. We conform to the familiar, the comfortable,
and the mundane. So for the most part, our lives are mediocre instead of exciting, thrilling and fulfilling. Let us learn to destroy the branch of fear we cling to and free ourselves to the glory of flight!

Professor and Students

http://www.slideshare.net/rooprajinder5ingh/berni-13500496

THE SPLIT MILK

This is  a story about a famous research scientist who had made several very important medical breakthroughs. He was being interviewed by a newspaper reporter who asked him why he thought he was able to be so much more creative than the average person. What set him so far apart from others?

He responded that, in his opinion, it all came from an experience with his mother that occurred when he was about two years old. He had been trying to remove a bottle of milk from the refrigerator when he lost his grip on the slippery bottle and it fell, spilling its contents all over the kitchen floor  a veritable sea of milk!


When his mother came into the kitchen, instead of yelling at him, giving him a lecture, or punishing him, she said, 'Robert, what a great and wonderful mess you have made! I have rarely seen such a huge puddle of milk. Well, the damage has already been done.

Would you like to get down and play in the milk for a few minutes before we clean it up?'
Indeed, he did. After a few minutes, his mother said, 'You know, Robert, whenever you make a mess like this, eventually you have to clean it up and restore everything to its proper order. So, how would you like to do that? We could use a sponge, a towel, or a mop. Which do you prefer?' He chose the sponge and together they cleaned up the spilled milk.

His mother then said, 'You know, what we have here is a failed experiment in how to effectively carry a big milk bottle with two tiny hands. Let's go out in the back yard and fill the bottle with water and see if you can discover a way to carry it without dropping it.' The little boy learned that if he grasped the bottle at the top near the lip with both hands, he could carry it without dropping it. What a wonderful lesson!

This renowned scientist then remarked that it was at that moment that he knew he didn't need to be afraid to make mistakes. Instead, he learned that mistakes were just opportunities for learning something new, which is, after all, what scientific experiments are all about. Even if the experiment 'doesn't work,' we usually learn something valuable from it.

GOD’S COFFEE

A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, visited their old university professor. Conversation soon turned on the stress in work and life. Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups – porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite – telling them to help themselves to the coffee.



When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said : “ If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. You want to have only the best things for yourselves. That is the source of your problems and stress.


Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups … and then you began eyeing each other’s cups.


Now consider this : Life is the coffee; the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life, and the type of cup we have neither define, nor change the quality of life we live.


Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee God had provided us.”


God brews the coffee, not the cups…… Enjoy your coffee !


“The happiest people don’t have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything.”


Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God.

Not to Worry

I used to worry. A lot. The more I fretted, the more proficient I became at it. Anxiety begets anxiety. I even worried that I worried too much! Ulcers might develop. My health could fail. My finances could deplete to pay the hospital bills.

A comedian once said, "I tried to drown my worries with gin, but my worries are equipped with flotation devices." While not a drinker, I certainly could identify! My worries could swim, jump and pole vault! To get some perspective, I visited a well known, Dallas businessman, Fred Smith. Fred mentored such luminaries as motivational whiz Zig Ziglar, business guru Ken Blanchard and leadership expert John Maxwell.

Fred listened as I poured out my concerns and then said, "Vicki, you need to learn to wait to worry."

As the words sank in, I asked Fred if he ever spent time fretting. (I was quite certain he wouldn't admit it if he did. He was pretty full of testosterone-even at age 90.) To my surprise, he confessed that in years gone by he had been a top-notch worrier!

"I decided that I would wait to worry!" he explained. "I decided that I'd wait until I actually had a reason to worry-something that was happening, not just something that might happen-before I worried. "When I'm tempted to get alarmed," he confided, "I tell myself, 'Fred, you've got to wait to worry! Until you know differently, don't worry.' And I don't. Waiting to worry helps me develop the habit of not worrying  and that helps me not be tempted to worry."

Fred possessed a quick mind and a gift for gab. As such, he became a captivating public speaker. "I frequently ask audiences what they were worried about this time last year. I get a lot of laughs," he said, "because most people can't remember. Then I ask if they have a current worry - you see nods from everybody. Then I remind them that the average worrier is 92% inefficient - only 8% of what we worry about ever comes true."

Charles Spurgeon said it best. "Anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, but only empties today of its strength."

A TEACHER AND A STUDENT

A teacher teaching Maths to seven-year-old Arnav asked him. “If I give you one apple and one apple and one apple, how many apples will you have?” Within a few seconds Arnav replied confidently, “Four!”

The dismayed teacher was expecting an effortless correct answer (three). She was disappointed. Maybe the child did not listen properly, she thought. She repeated, Arnav, listen carefully. “If I give you one apple and one apple and one apple, how many apples will you have?”

Arnav had seen the disappointment on his teacher’s face. He calculated again on his fingers. But within him he was also searching for the answer that will make the teacher happy. His search for the answer was not for the correct one, but the one that will make his teacher happy. This time hesitatingly he replied, “Four¦”

The disappointment stayed on the teacher’s face. She remembered that Arnav liked strawberries. She thought maybe he doesn’t like apples and that is making him loose focus. This time with an exaggerated excitement and twinkling in her eyes she asked, “If I give you one strawberry and one strawberry and one strawberry, then how many you will have?”

Seeing the teacher happy, young Arnav calculated on his fingers again. There was no pressure on him, but a little on the teacher. She wanted her new approach to succeed. With a hesitating smile young Arnav enquired, “Three?”

The teacher now had a victorious smile. Her approach had succeeded. She wanted to congratulate herself. But one last thing remained. Once again she asked him, “Now if I give you one apple and one apple and one more apple how many will you have?”

Promptly Arnav answered, ”Four!”

The teacher was aghast. “How Arnav, how?”, she demanded in a little stern and irritated voice.
In a voice that was low and hesitating young Arnav replied, “Because I already have one apple in my bag.”

When someone gives you an answer that is different from what you expect don't think they are wrong. There maybe an angle that you have not understood at all. You will have to listen and understand, but never listen with a predetermined notion.

All you need is a positive attitude.

Let me start with this quote " People are just about as happy as they make up their minds to be" Abraham Lincoln.

I am convinced that ATTITUDE is everything! It is your choice either to be negative OR positive- it is as simple as that. We all have this power to control our happiness in life because happiness is NOT determined by situations but by attitude. Our attitude about a situation not the actual situation itself, determines whether we view state of affairs as good, bad or ugly.

Let me very candid when I give currency that there is tremendous power in positive attitude. Let us not get into doom or despair in a situation. The formula is to have Faith, Hope, Courage, and Strength. And these components add to the positive attitude. What hinders is the emotion of Fear, Self doubt, Bitterness, and Defeat.

Even if there is lot of temptation to think negative, look it more deeply, you can always find "gains" of positive things in and around your thinking! The best cure for unhappiness is to really start to Count your blessings! Yes, now this will start the reverse gear technique and feelings of frustration and despair will vanish and a positive "thinking:" will start emerging. Now is the time to say "I had the "blues" (note the past tense!) We all have within us, the power to convert any negative thoughts into a positive one with joy and satisfaction.

We have to; transform our thinking set some realistic goals. Here the "Yes I Can" attitude has to be cultivated. ( 24 x 7 ) Let us say that you want to lose 30 kgs just believe that you can do it! May be some of you wants to win a marathon- start dreaming that you have WON it!!! Yes, in the beginning there could be some pain, sweat and endless runs, but that is only in the beginning- but at the end of it, you have reached your mark!!
We all know that "as the day unfolds" it brings its own agenda, however why not get up in the morning with a determination that you are going to have a great day! It is a magic- sure enough you are going to have a productive meaningful efficient day. But if your morning wake up yawn is going to echo " hey! Looks like it is going to be another awful day" mate sure enough you are going to end up the way you have "thought" in a negative way.
This is one of the quotes I always remember when I take a self audit every week! Charles R Swindoll, American philosopher, author, educator, pastor once said, " Attitude keeps me going or cripples my progress. It alone fuels my fire or assaults my hope. When my attitudes are right, there is no barrier too high, no valley too deep, no dream too extreme, and no challenge too great for me"

So dream big!

All you need is a positive attitude.

DEATH - WHAT A WONDERFUL WAY TO EXPLAIN IT

A sick man turned to his doctor, as he was preparing to leave the examination room and said, “Doctor, I am afraid to die. Tell me what lies on the other side.” Very quietly, the doctor said, “I don’t know.” “You don’t know? You, a Christian man, do not know what is on the other side?”

The doctor was holding the handle of the door; on the other side came a sound of scratching and whining, and as he opened the door, a dog sprang into the room and leaped on him with an eager show of gladness.
Turning to the patient, the doctor said, “Did you notice my dog? He’s never been in this room before. He didn’t know what was inside. He knew nothing except that his master was here, and when the door opened, he sprang in without fear. I know little of what is on the other side of death, but I do know one thing… I know my Master is there and that is enough.”

Leader Should Know How to Manage Failure

“ Leader Should Know How to Manage Failure ”

(Former President of India APJ Abdul Kalam at Wharton India Economic Forum, Philadelphia, March 22,2008)

Question: Could you give an example, from your own experience, of how leaders should manage failure?

Kalam: Let me tell you about my experience. In 1973 I became the project director of India's satellite launch vehicle program, commonly called the SLV-3. Our goal was to put India's 'Rohini' satellite into orbit by 1980. I was given funds and human resources -- but was told clearly that by 1980 we had to launch the satellite into space. Thousands of people worked together in scientific and technical teams towards that goal. By 1979 -- I think the month was August -- we thought we were ready. As the project director, I went to the control center for the launch. At four minutes before the satellite launch, the computer began to go through the checklist of items that needed to be checked. One minute later, the computer program put the launch on hold; the display showed that some control components were not in order. My experts -- I had four or five of them with me -- told me not to worry; they had done their calculations and there was enough reserve fuel. So I bypassed the computer, switched to manual mode, and launched the rocket. In the first stage, everything worked fine. In the second stage, a problem developed. Instead of the satellite going into orbit, the whole rocket system plunged into the Bay of Bengal. It was a big failure

That day, the chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization, Prof. Satish Dhawan, had called a press conference. The launch was at 7:00 am, and the press conference -- where journalists from around the world were present -- was at 7:45 am at ISRO's satellite launch range in Sriharikota [in Andhra Pradesh in southern India]. Prof. Dhawan, the leader of the organization, conducted the press conference himself. He took responsibility for the failure -- he said that the team had worked very hard, but that it needed more technological support. He assured the media that in another year, the team would definitely succeed. Now, I was the project director, and it was my failure, but instead, he took responsibility for the failure as chairman of the organization.

The next year, in July 1980, we tried again to launch the satellite -- and this time we succeeded. The whole nation was jubilant. Again, there was a press conference. Prof. Dhawan called me aside and told me, 'You conduct the press conference today.'

Abdul Kalam said, I learned a very important lesson that day. When failure occurred, the leader of the organization owned that failure. When success came, he gave it to his team. The best management lesson I have learned did not come to me from reading a book; it came from that experience.

React Vs. Respond

Suddenly, a cockroach flew from somewhere and sat on a lady. I wondered if this was the cockroach’s response to all the glory that was spoken about it!

She started screaming out of fear. With panic stricken face and trembling voice, she started jumping, with both her hands desperately trying to get rid of the cockroach.Her reaction was contagious, as everyone in her group got cranky to what was happening.

The lady finally managed to push the cockroach to another lady in the group. Now, it was the turn of the other lady in the group to continue the drama.

The waiter rushed forward to their rescue.

In the relay of throwing, the cockroach next fell upon the waiter. The waiter stood firm, composed himself and observed the behavior of the cockroach on his shirt. When he was confident enough, he grabbed and threw it out with his fingers.

Sipping my coffee and watching the amusement, the antenna of my mind picked up a few thoughts and started wondering, was the cockroach responsible for their histrionic behaviour? If so, then why was the waiter not disturbed?He handled it near to perfection, without any chaos.

It is not the cockroach, but the inability of the ladies to handle the disturbance caused by the cockroach that disturbed the ladies.

I realized even in my case then , it is not the shouting of my father or my boss that disturbs me, but it’s my inability to handle the disturbances caused by their shouting that disturbs me. It’s not the traffic jams on the road that disturbs me, but my inability to handle the disturbance caused by the traffic jam that disturbs me.

More than the problem, it’s my reaction to the

problem that hurts me...

The Take-Away

The women reacted, whereas the waiter responded.

We should not react in life, we should always respond. Reactions are always instinctive whereas responses are always intellectual....

Learning by Doing

A PRIEST AND A DRIVER

A priest dies and is waiting in line at the Pearly Gates. Ahead of him is a guy who's dressed in sunglasses, a loud shirt, leather jacket and jeans. Saint Peter addresses him, "Who are you, so that I may know whether or not to admit you into the Kingdom of Heaven?" The guy replies, "I'm Joe Cohen, taxi driver, from New York “ Saint Peter consults his list. He smiles and says to the taxi driver, "Take this silken robe and golden staff and enter the Kingdom of Heaven." Now it's the priest's turn. He stands erect and booms out, "I am the Right Reverend Joseph Snow, pastor of Saint Mary's for the last forty-three years." Saint Peter consults his list. He says to the priest, "Take this cotton robe and wooden staff and enter the Kingdom of Heaven ." "Just a minute," says the priest. "That man was a taxi driver. Why does he get a silken robe and golden staff?" "Results," shrugged Saint Peter. "While you preached, people slept. When he drove, people prayed."

Moral of the story: It's Performance and Not the Position that Counts.

The Easier Way

Once there was a lark singing in the forest. The lark stopped him and asked, "What do you have in the box and where are you going?" The farmer replied that he had worms and that he was going to the market to trade them for some feathers.

The lark said, "I have many feathers. I will pluck one and give it to you and that will save me looking for worms."

The farmer gave the worms to the lark and the lark plucked a feather and gave it in return.

The next day the same thing happened and the day after and on and on until a day came that the lark had no more feathers.

Now it couldn't fly and hunt for worms. It started looking ugly and stopped singing and very soon it died.

What is the moral of the story?

The moral is quite clear what the lark thought was an easy way to get food turned out to be the tougher way after all. Isn't the same thing true in our lives?

Many times we look for the easier way, which really ends up being the tougher way..

WASDE RAHO te UJJAD JAO !!

Once, during the course of his travels, Guru Nanak arrived at a village where the people were a quarrelsome lot. He blessed them and asked them to prosper and live in that village forever. In the next village, where the people were peace-loving, Guru Nanak blessed them too but asked them to abandon the village and disperse. Mardana, his close disciple, puzzled by the guru’s strange blessings, asked him why he blessed the first village with prosperity though its people were unworthy of it and asked the good people of the second village to disperse. Guru Nanak smiled and answered: “The quarrelsome will only spread unrest and friction wherever they go. So I asked them to remain where they were. But it is better for the peace-loving to disperse and take their good qualities with them so that all those who know them can learn the art of peaceful coexistence.”

Positive Attitude

Thomas Edison was 67 years of age when his lab caught fire and everything was in flames. He was laughing aloud and his son thought he had a nervous breakdown because his lifelong work was destroyed. Then Edison told his son “ Charles, there is a great value in disaster; thank God, all are mistakes are burnt and we can start afresh.” Within a week, he invented the phonograph successfully. This is the winner’s attitude.

THE ROPE .........

The night fell heavy in the heights of the mountains and the man could not
see anything. All was black. Zero visibility, and the moon and the stars were
covered by the clouds.
As he was climbing only a few feet away from the top of the mountain, he
slipped and fell in to the air, falling at great speed. He could only see black
spots as he went down, and the terrible sensation of being sucked by gravity.
He kept falling. and in the moments of great fear, it came to his mind all the
good and bad episodes of his life. He was thinking now about how close
death was getting, when all of a sudden he felt the rope tied to his waist pull
him very hard. His body was hanging in the air !
Only the rope was holding him and in that moment of stillness he had no
other choice other to scream:
"Help me God".
All of a sudden a deep voice coming from the sky answered :
"What do you want me to do?"
"Save me God".
“ Do you really think I can save you?"
"Of course I believe You can."
"Then cut the rope tied to your waist."…….
There was a moment of stunned silence and the man decided to hold on to
the rope with all his strength.
The rescue team tells that the next day a climber was found dead and frozen.
his body hanging from a rope. His hands holding tight to it

………………………….
………………………….
………………………….

.................................

................................
Only 1 foot away from the ground !!

Do you believe enough to let go of the Rope ?

How to Stay Positive...when the boss isn’t

A very good article telling the importance of staying positive.....

“Never wrestle with a pig because you’ll both get dirty and the pig likes it.”

How to Stay Positive...when the boss isn’t
I speak to a lot of organizations on the importance of positive leadership and the benefits of building a positive culture that fuels performance. Yet, the most common question I receive after my talk is: “Jon, this makes so much sense but my boss isn’t that kind of leader/manager. So how do I stay positive when my boss isn’t?” It’s a question I know well. I remember when I worked in business development during the dot.com boom and bust. I had a very negative boss and one day I made a few decisions that changed everything. The Energy Bus wasn’t even a thought in my mind yet, but looking back I was already putting the principles into action.
Here are few suggestions that I hope will help you, your team and maybe even your boss.
1. Make Your Bus Great - You may not be the leader of your organization. You may not be driving the "big bus." But you can decide to make your bus great. Every day just focus on being the best you can be and bring out the best in others, tuning out everything else. Tune out the negativity. Tune out the comments. Tune out anything you can’t control. You can’t drive anyone else’s bus. Just drive your bus and make it a great ride.
2. Your Positive Energy Must be Greater than All of the Negativity - In the book Power vs Force, author David Hawkins, MD shares research that 80 percent of the population vibrates to a negative frequency. The fact is negativity is all around us. It’s not just your boss . It’s everywhere. You must remember that your positive energy must be greater than all the negativity. As country wisdom suggests, “Never wrestle with a pig because you’ll both get dirty and the pig likes it.” Instead stay above the fray. Positive energy is much more powerful than negative energy. If you stay positive, the negativity can’t touch you.
3. Live it, Breathe it, Share it - Walt Whitman said we convince by our presence. If you truly focus on being positive and sharing it in an authentic and sincere way then you will do a lot of convincing. Your boss will sense something different in you and they will change the way they behave towards you. They may even ask what’s changed in your life.
4. Invite Your Boss on Your Bus - Give your boss The Energy Bus or another book on positive leadership. I’ve received countless emails from leaders who received The Energy Bus from their employees and it changed the way they lead. Best of all, the leader then invited the rest of the company on the bus. So don’t think you can’t change your situation or organization. You can. I’m convinced that very few people want to be negative. Most people are negative because of stress, busyness, and fear. Most people just need a wake-up call to break out of their rut. Decide to be a beacon of light that shines on others. You’ll be amazed at what happens.
5. If Your Boss Doesn’t Change, You Can - If all else fails then you have a choice. You can decide to stay positive and outlast your boss knowing that truth shines through and eventually a negative boss won’t last - ultimately their team will fall apart, results will suffer and they will be asked off the bus. Or you can decide to change your job. A lot of people do this and that’s why the best cultures that focus on positive leadership attract the best employees. Whatever you do, however, don’t allow a negative boss or colleague to get you down. With 80% of the population being negative, we need positive powerful people like you to offset the negativity.

SECRET OF SUCCESS

A young man asked Socrates the secret of success. Socrates told the young man to meet him near the river the next morning. They met. Socrates asked the young man to walk with him into the river. When the water got up to their neck, Socrates took the young man by surprise and swiftly ducked him into the water.
The boy struggled to get out but Socrates was strong and kept him there until the boy started turning blue. Socrates pulled the boy’s head out of the water and the first thing the young man did was to gasp and take a deep breath of air.
Socrates asked him, "what did you want the most when you were there?" The boy replied, "Air". Socrates said, "That is the secret of success! When you want success as badly as you wanted the air, then you will get it!" There is no other secret.

The Obstacles Of Life

In ancient times, a king had a stone placed on a roadway. Then he hides himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the king's wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the king for not keeping the roads clear, but none did anything about getting the big stone out of the way. Then a peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables. On approaching the rock, the rural person laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded. As the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the rock had been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the king indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the rock from the roadway. The peasant learned what many others never understand.
Moral of the Story: Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve one's condition.

"STAYING ON"

WORRIED A KEY MEMBER OF YOUR TEAM COULD LEAVE ?
THE SOLUTION:
DO A `STAY INTERVIEW' AND HOPEFULLY, YOU MAY NEVER HAVE TO DO AN EXIT INTERVIEW.
Yasmin Taj finds more about this new trend


What do you like about your work? What would keep you here? What makes for a great day at work? Is there anything you would like to change about your job? Do you feel supported in your career goals? Do you feel we recognize you? What kind of recognition do you like? Never heard these questions before? Well, then you might get to hear such kind of questions very soon as a new concept is catching up in HR - `stay interviews'.
According to S Y Siddiqui, Managing Executive Officer, Administration (HR, Finance and IT), Maruti Suzuki India Limited, "Stay interviews are becoming a trend and they are now used to reinforce good HR practices within the company. The concept is based on the `Hawthorne Effect', which states that people who are given attention are a ''motivated lot. The employee needs to be heard since they feel good about being heard." "When job-hopping is the rule rather than an exception and when employee retention has become a critical issue, every company wants to know about those factors that can keep an employee engaged and committed, and stay interviews help the organisations in gathering these hard facts," opines Siddiqui.
Employers are now running from pillar to post in order to do all they can to retain their employees.Though traditionally, organisations used to hold exit interviews with employees who were resigning in order to get their perspective on the organisation and the work culture, it was of not much help to both the employee and the employer.


LENDING AN EAR
"Asking employees at the time of quitting why they are leaving is like asking your spouse how to improve a marriage on the day before the divorce is final. By that time it's just too late," states Hari Nair, Vice President - Human Resources, Sona Koyo Steering Systems Limited. "Stay interviews have been used all along but under different nomenclature - in the form of appraisals and consulting sessions. It is an employee sensing exercise, to detect early warning signals, to know about compensatory expectations so that the company can make a proactive correction at the right time before the employee announces that he/she is leaving. So, it's almost like preventive health care," adds Nair. "Stay interviews are actually an outcome of Harvard Business School's research and recommendation three decades ago, although it has caught up only in recent times. Exit interviews find out why employees leave, while stay interviews focus on what makes employees stay with the company, and thereby an opportunity for the company to do more of those things employees like most," says C Mahalingam, Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer, Symphony Services Corporation.
At a time when attrition is considered the biggest problem across industries and organisations are trying out all options to make their employees stick around, stay interviews might just be the right step. "The objective and purpose of conducting stay interview is primarily to listen to the employees' views, aspirations and comfort levels, to identify the areas of improvement and read the pulse that is to map the expectations of employees. HR is now looking at the `pull' rather than the `push' factor among employees," states Siddiqui.
NEED OF THE HOUR
A stay interview should aim at sensitivity listening, collecting feedback from employees, identifying the strengths as well as areas of improvements, developing trust and confidence with the employees and ensuring freedom of expression and problem sharing. "We, at Maruti, conduct this process through various forums, such as meeting with department/division al heads, coffee with HR, tea group with Head HR and tea group with MD – Maruti," informs Siddiqui.
At Sona Koyo Steering Systems Ltd, the concept of stay interviews is considered positive and has an empowering approach. "Stay interviews focus on what is going right, rather than what went wrong.This is highly relevant in the Indian context where every industry is making a hue and cry about the challenge they face in attracting and retaining the right talent," suggests Nair.
For Nair,"The need of such an interview was felt when the corrective action taken after exit interview was not able to contribute much on identifying the real cause of attrition. In some of the cases when the decision was deferred by addressing the significant few reasons of quitting the job, the insignificant many tends to pile up to backfire. Companies these days understand the need for constant engagement with employees. Stay interviews for them have become an indispensable tool to retain their workforce by making employees feel appreciated and motivated."
But then, don't exit interviews do the same? "Contrary to exit interviews, stay interviews are conducted to understand the reasons why the employees wish to continue working for the organisation. Stay interviews should be conducted once in six months. However, this depends on the size of the organisation, " explains Nair. "Similarly stay interviews are more proactive, focus on the positive emotions of people who are enjoying their stay in their company and are able to point to things that the company is doing and should do more of because they are very appy about those things," adds Mahalingam. The huge challenge of retaining talent can be solved to a large extent by adopting the concept of stay interviews and understanding the psyche and needs of the employees. This breakthrough is certainly going to be big in the future.

Publication:Times of India Mumbai; Section:Times Ascent;
Date: Mar 19, 2008; Page Number: 44