The three pillars of a work environment.
Human beings yearn for three things in life. The Hindu scriptures prescribe that these are manifested in the forms of Goddess Lakshmi (the Goddess of wealth & prosperity), Goddess Saraswati (the Goddess of knowledge), and Goddess Parvati (the Goddess of pride/power). Thus, the three pillars of a work environment should present an opportunity to earn, learn and employees should take pride because of their association.
Depending on the stage of one’s life and the personal situation one of the above takes priority over the other. At a more generic level, every human wants all of them in some dosage.
Wealth
There are many factors that influence compensation and wealth creation. But, the most disruptive influence in today’s world is the phenomenon of instant gratification. Likewise, subjectivity is another factor that any manager has to deal with. As the head, there should be a sincere & honest attempt to be fair to all. One may not meet everyone’s aspirations and one might go wrong a few times. But, so long as you correct for the deserving and there is a sincerity of purpose, it is fine.
Learning or Knowledge
This varies on the industry and segment within that industry. Within the ERP vertical, we have an in-house Learning & Development team. The goal here is to provide a continuous learning environment. Non-performers also get an opportunity to reskill, upskill, etc. as per the need.
Pride or Prestige
The ERP vertical has an Employee Engagement team. This team aims to engage the 320+ colleagues, globally with several initiatives. Some of these include Meet your global team member, a quarterly magazine informing the activities & highlights of individual departments within the BU, organizing events to engage, etc.
The attempt here is to provide a learning and enjoyable environment and make the environment de-stressed in the highly competitive industry. And, the focus is on though not always, the qualitative performance. Regular sharing of performance, sharing recognition and accolades for BU assets including the flagship product, ORION ERP; recognizing individuals and groups who have excelled in their work, etc. are a few examples. The key is to be transparent.
Personally, for me, the journey is more important than the final outcome.
A consistently strong performance has a direct correlation with our ability to meet all the three human needs; wealth, knowledge and pride. And, this plays a significant & contributing role in our personal and social life.
This post is an edited version of my principles and philosophy of a good work environment mentioned in my address to 3i Infotech’s ERP global team.