HR Philosophy - 2: Understanding Life

In my last article http://kisholoygupta.blogspot.com/2009/02/h-r-philsophy.html I had discussed about the employees being central to the prosperity of business, not withstanding the fact that customers remain the kings. While concluding the article I had mentioned that in my next article I would explain the 'Human' aspect of business.

Before we delve into the human aspect of business, it would be pertinent to understand the perspective of human life, as explained in the following story:

There lived in the olden days a wise old man who was a potter. He was renowned for his wisdom and people from all over would flock to him for advice.

One day, his son came to him and asked, “Father, can you tell me what the real meaning of life is? Is it only the physical comfort and the food we eat? Or is it something much more than that?”

His father replied, “Go and learn the ways of the world. Go, seek deep within yourself, meditate and seek for the answer”.

The son meditated, learnt the ways of the world and when he thought that he was close to a solution, he went back to his father.

“Father”, he said, “Life is all about “life energy”. Life is Vitality. If a person does not have the vitality, the enthusiasm, the zest, the zeal, the will to do, he would be like a worm; a being without a spinal chord. Life would be meaningless without the life energy.

So, Father, life is all about vitality.”

The son continued.

“However, Father, I am not sure if I have the complete answer. I think life is much more than that”.

“Go, meditate and you will have your answer, my son”, were his father’s words.

The son goes and meditates, seeking the answer to life. Something stirs within him. A thought strikes him and then he goes back to his father.

“Father, I have observed that you have the knowledge about almost everything. When any ailing person comes to you, you remember the right herbs and with all empathy treat him to wellness. When the chief of army comes for a strategy, you have the imagination for the right moves. And then when he leaves, he is fully charged; ready to fight. You have the right advice for the husband and the wife, when they come to you with problems of relationship. Your advice is like a soothing balm."

"You seem to have all the knowledge by heart, about almost everything. Not only that, you use it to arouse the right kind of emotions uniquely for everyone. Therefore, to my mind, if I have the intelligence, the power of memory and the right emotional balance, I would have understood life.”

His father smiled at him.

The son was however restless, for something inside him told him that his answer was yet incomplete.

The father again counseled him. "Meditate, my son, you yourself will receive your answer."

After a while he, came back and said, “Father, I think I have the answer. The people call you 'the wise man', because you have that 'wisdom'. Beyond information is wisdom. A person should have the wisdom to know the right from the wrong, the truth from the evil and the good from the bad. If I have the wisdom that you have, father, I think I would have understood life.

The father smiled at his son, understandingly.

But, Father, the son continued, “I am not satisfied. I know whatever I have said is not wrong, but at the same time, something within tells me I have more to learn, to understand life.”

“Then meditate even more intensely, son.”

He mediated more intensely and this time came back with a expression which was almost divine. You could almost see an aura around him.

With folded hands, in reverence, he stood in front of his father and said, “I have the answer now, Father. When I transcended my mind and dived deep within myself, I touched a divine spirit. A spark of divine consciousness aroused me. Oh, father it was a heavenly experience, but so difficult to explain. You would have to experience it yourself, to understand what I am saying. But, I knew for sure, that this is what I was seeking. This realisation was what I was aspiring for, all my life.”

“Life to me is the awakening to the inner reality of my being, realising a spirit which is divine."

Then, the father, with tears of affection in his eyes, embraced his son and said“, Yes son, this is life”.

If you have noticed, not once had the wise father disagreed with his son.

For he knew, Life was,
Not only about being physically comfortable
but also about having vitality.
Life was not only being intelligent,
having the power of memory
and having the right emotional balance,
but was also about having wisdom.
Lastly, life was not only seeking
the spark of divine consciousness within,
but also realising it.

Taking a cue from this story the philosophy of HR policies in organizations would be discussed in my next article:

HR Philosophy - A Perspective

“As long as the human animal is lord
And a dense nether screens the soul…
An incurable littleness pursues his days” *

Governments have gotten together trying formulating strategies; each with their very own political interest.

Financial Institutions are crashing like nine pins. Today, even if they have the funds, they are not lending money to corporations. There is lack of trust and faith in the business plans presented to them. The money market has just gone crazy! The domino effect is disastrous. Patients are avoiding hospitals. Drop-outs from schools are rising. The social service organizations are cash strapped.

Political parties have their own agenda, trying to focus on popular sentiments. The cacophony of the leaders’ speeches does not make sense to the man on the streets.

The common man is looking woefully in desperation to tide over these hard times. Each family has their own tale to tell. As pockets go empty and savings dwindle, the hearts bleeds as unemployment rises.

It was as if:
“An act was passed to chastise happiness;
Laughter and pleasure were banned as deadly sins:
…Death came but neither respite gave nor end;” *

Is this an economic crisis?
Or is this a case of governance in nescience?
Is this an issue of war?
Or, have we got our ideologies all mixed up?

Theories are being written, workshops conducted and debates held. The knives are out and the blame game is at its best. Wise words are heard:
“Innovate and install efficient processes.”
“Be more vigilant”.
“Let us put our heads together and think.”
“Let more heads be rolled”

These may be the right moves and one can only hope that things take a turn for the better.

Irrespective of the various efforts, at the heart of all this is ‘people’. Be it any organization: a government enterprise, a financial institute, a manufacturing unit an outsourced IT firm, a hospital or even an NGO, at the core is people. This is where the HR perspective comes and the role of HR becomes compelling as never before.

HR philosophy is to be based on the idea that every single employee is a ‘sacred being’, central to the prosperity of its business. If this were the philosophy, then the chief aim of Human Resources Development would be to inculcate holistically, the spirit of humanness in the organization and align it to the business objective.

Some might say that such statements are ‘politically’ right; it is like playing to the galleries. However they would add that these thoughts are utopian. Ultimately, the business of business is business and top lines and the bottom lines should be the objectives.

Let us agree for a while, that these arguments have substance. The revenues or the profits are like the air we breathe. Without breathing we would die. But, is the aim of our life, only breathing? It is with this perspective, it is reiterated that every employee is central to the prosperity or the success of the organization. At the same time, it is to be remembered, that the customers continue to be the king.

There has to be a grand balance between the employees and the customer; or let us say people and business.

To begin; let us first look within
And dream along the highway of stars.
The answers are bound to come,
So that we could walk the sunlit path.

The next few articles in this series would delve on the human aspect of the business which would be followed by ‘the focus on customers’ from an HR angle.
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*Sri Aurobindo, Savitri