Tag: Giving. Taking. Which is better?

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Green HR

HRAI (HR Association of India) recently asked me to be in a panel discussion on Green HR. HRAI is led by some enthusiastic, young HR professionals. So when they reach out, I always agree. But one peculiar characteristic of HRAI is that they first sign you up for a talk/panel discussion & only much later, after you have accepted, they inform you the topic. Sometimes this can be disconcerting, as it was this time. On my own, I would never have said yes, to such a topic. Green HR?? What is that? Have I done anything in this area in my 40+ years of experience? Will I be able to add value to the listeners? Will my co panelists take me for a fool? ( which I am of course: but why make it public?)

Total self doubt clouded my mind. ( Sotto Voce: those who know me will tell you that is my तकले आम…. my signature tune… faced with anything new. I am a follower of Napoleon in that regard who advised : Train Hard, Fight Easy!!) so then I thought, I can prepare myself for the topic & that is what I did. With homework done, on that fateful day, I was confident & prepared. Though I am saying it myself, I think I was the best speaker on the topic that day. This was validated by many who attended the Panel Discussion & spoke to me after the event. Having done all the prep, I thought why let it go waste? Why not capture my thoughts in a blog, so that I can reach a wider audience? so here goes…hope this adds value to you, my readers.

So what is Green HR? The simple way to understand this is to ensure that every HR touchpoint must promote sustainable practices and increase the employee awareness on issues of sustainability. There is no gainsaying the importance of sustainability in today’s world. So this is HR taking an evangelist role for making sustainability top of the mind, through spreading awareness & engaging all employees in this important task. De facto, HR has to expand its traditional role to emerge as the chief supporter for the organization’s pursuit of sustainability. The first step in this journey is for HR to ensure that “environmental responsibility” becomes an integral part of the corporate mission statement. This will ensure that 1) it remains top-of-the-mind in all organizational initiatives & 2) it gets tracked regularly by the management for fulfilment. HR plays a key role by working towards participation of all organization members to create & keep the organization green.

In a way this is not a new concept. Green HR is not New Wine in Old Bottle; it is a NEW WINE in NEW BOTTLE. For long, organizations have been socially responsible to reduce the environmental impact of it’s operations. A path-breaking example would be Tushar Tanti building a totally Green Corporate HQ way back in 2009. A million square-feet of ground plus two levels in a 10.4 acre urban setting achieved a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum & Teri Griha 5 Star certification, with its annual energy generated on-site through photovoltaic panels and windmills. No other buildings have achieved this kind of cost efficiency. 92 % (4 MW) being consumed by the project is ‘sustainable energy’ making this a Zero Energy Project!

The refrain ,” Do not print this mail, unless absolutely necessary” was a green initiative ages ago. Relocation of factories from cities to remote locations were the sustainability governmental regulations willingly followed by companies like Asian Paints, Cadbury & J&J. The focus on energy usage & efforts to drive down consumption was not only economic need but also a green initiative. Alternate sources of energy championed by Thermax helped corporates to walk this path. Recycling and Waste Disposal in an environmental sensitive way, reducing water consumption and ensuring zero discharge plants achieved by Mahindra & Mahindra in their plants all show us the way. All such initiatives help achieve the Triple P objective: People; Profit & Planet!!! Following such Green HR practices, organizations can save money and at the same time reduce the carbon footprint to further sustainability goals.

The word Green HR also has long legacy. It was way back in 1996, Walter Wehrmeyer in his book aptly entitled “Greening People” first talked of Green HR viz. joint focus of sustainable use of resources and preserving the natural resources.

A host of practices have steadily grown up under this head of Green HR: Going Paperless; Energy Audits & action plans; Using Recycled Materials in offices and shopfloors; Walking, Cycling, Car Pools to reach workplace; Bring your Own Mug for coffee at office reducing plastic/paper/washing requirements; Flexible Work arrangements as we all experienced during Covid; Reducing Travel; Recruitment & Selection online; On Boarding, L&D and PMS online, Procurement only from Vendors who are into recycling… these are just a few examples which people are experimenting with. Setting up Employee Committees to generate more such ideas helps new thinking and also ensures involvement & buy-in of employees.

Such greening of policies & practices has significant benefits. To name a few obvious ones: Improved Communication & Collaboration; Increased Employee Engagement; Reduced Costs; Reduction in Carbon Footprint; & Reduced Costs of Operations. In India many organizations already have enacted such policies and are following such practices to reap business benefits. Notable amongst the early movers are: HCL Tech.; Idea Cellular; ITC; IndusInd Bank; Tamil Nadu Newsprint & Paper; Wipro; Suzlon; ONGC; & TCS , to name a few

Clearly this is an idea whose time has come. So implement for your organization & start reaping the benefits. And to my younger HR brethren: you are always looking for ways in which to move closer to the line of business in your company & to add value & make an impact:- Green HR is the way to go. You will become an important driver of business , cost and sustainability agenda creating a niche for yourself and ensuring a place on the strategy table.

Travel this interesting path to a greener future for yourself and your organization: vikas

PS: Remembering the song penned by the Bard (As You Like It):

Under the greenwood tree

Who loves to lie with me,

And turn his merry note

Unto the sweet bird’s throat,

Come hither, come hither, come hither:

            Here shall he see

            No enemy

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Give or Take?

All of us have met both types of people in our lives. Some are givers, some are takers. What is better? To Give? or to Take? Come, let us explore this.

Early in life I realized that giving is noble. It make you feel better. Your hands are on top. You are the benefactor. You feel proud. And then came along a story of a Zen Buddhist master who was gathering contributions to erect a new Monastery. The Master would go around with a sack slung over his shoulder and whatever he recd, he happily put in the sack and moved forward, to ask further. On his travels, he reached an Emperor’s palace and made his request. Convinced of the cause, the Emperor ordered 100 Gold Coins be given to the Master for the new Monastery. When the coins were proferred, the Master put them in his sack; slung it on his shoulder and started moving out of the Palace. The Emperor accosted him “Master, even for a King, 100 Gold coins is a lot. I have given such a large gift. Will you not say anything? Are you not grateful?” Pat came the Zen Master’s reply ” It is Giver who should be grateful” and he walked on…

Like all Zen stories, this gives a strong message subtly: indeed the Giver should be grateful: he should understand that his better position, that enables him to give. Do we understand this? or do we want the receiver to kow-tow before us and feed our ego? Yet when we expect gratitude/thanks/”receipt” for our giving: are we not cheapening our gift? Are we not making it totally transactional? Putting a value/price to our act?

And yet, that is how most of us are. As soon as we receive a bequest, we are already calculating how can I return the favor? We have already put a value to our gift, and are wondering what must I do in return? In my opinion, by this very thinking we bring down the Giver and his Gift to a lower, pedestrian level The nobler thought of gratitude is exchanged for the banal “how do I return this?” thought: making the whole thing  transactional, a daily matter of give and take.

On the other hand, if we remain grateful and feel obligated, we elevate the Giver to a nobler level.We recognize his pre-eminence and acknowledge his superiority. We make him richer and more important. Thereby priming the pump for him to do more good, help others, give more… acting on the principle of “Feed Forward” whereby more good radiates all across: you “return” the favor you received by doing good for others in your life, rather than “closing the account” with one person. Your becoming a Giver radiates the feed forward idea and overall there is more positive valence and joy in the relationships you touch.

We were in Atul, where hundreds of families showered love and affection on us. Still do. Could we “return” all that we got, to the people who gave? No. But we could carry the positivity forward, in ensuring we give to others more, if not in equal measure, to all that we receive. We just returned from a vacation abroad where families we had not met for years played perfect hosts and made our stay in a foreign country totally enjoyable and fun. Can we return their “good”? Yes, by being good to others. This is what gets the world to go around.

I recently came across a story of a teacher and his pupil who were walking in the woods. They found abandoned clothes in the wilderness, obviously left there by the farmer who was working the fields. The child said to his teacher: ” Shall we hide the clothes and then see the discomfiture of the farmer when he returns?” The teacher made a counter suggestion “Shall we instead put some coins in the pockets and hide and see the farmer’s reaction when he returns?”. They played out the teachers suggestion and put some coins and hid to see the farmer’s reaction. When the farmer came back, and while wearing his clothes, discovered the coins, he broke down and said  “God I thank whoever did this kind deed. This will enable me to buy some extra bread to feed my sick wife and hungry children.” The pupil had learnt his lesson : how it is far better to give than to take away.

Recollect the times when you were going through a difficult time in your career and others came forward to lend a hand? You were hard pressed for time to complete an activity with a strict time line, and a colleague offered to share the load with you? You were unsure which road to take and miraculously people appeared who guided you on the right path? Solutions often come forth from unforeseen quarters and people because when you are positive in your approach,  you do attract positivity around you.

An award winning corn farmer understood that he must share his prize-winning corn seeds with  neighboring farmers: since winds that blow, carry corn seeds  across farms. So if my neighbors’ fields have poor quality corn: those seeds will get mixed with mine and reduce the quality of my output. If my farm must produce good quality corn: then my neighbors’ farms must also have good quality corn. The positive I do will come back to me: that is the principle of the feed forward. To get I must give.

To end, let me quote another favorite Zen story :  a man was unhappy as his wife was very tight-fisted, never helped others and never shared openly within the family & friends. The man invited an enlightened Zen Master to guide and educate his wife. The Master came and saw the wife was unhappy with even the additional mouth to feed but did not say anything. He observed her stinginess and narrow mindedness and still said nothing. All slept, and  next morning, before he was to leave, he called the wife and showed her an open palm with his fingers stretched out. He asked the wife: “If my hand always remained like this and I could close it, what would you say?”  “It is deformed and bad” was the wife’s reply. “Yes” said the Master; & ” if my hand was closed tightly in a fist and always remained like this and I could not open my palm: what would you say?”    ” It is deformed and bad” was the wife’s reply. “Great” said the Master ” if you understand this I have nothing more to say to you.” The Master left. The wife learnt her lesson, mended her ways.

Hope we all understand this lesson and learn to give so that we get:  vikas