‘Employees, key contributors to Indian growth story’

Taken from Business Line, Monday, Jan 28, 2008


David Evans would like to call himself a ‘motivational evangelist’. The founder-chairman of the $460-million performance improvement solution company Grass Roots, and an associate of the WPP group, Evans says the Indian growth story has been contributed not just by companies but its key stakeholders – the employees.

The company, which set up operations in India this month, finds that the country offers immense scope for ‘Performance Improvement tools’. In a freewheeling interview with The New Manager, Evans (60), reiterated that investments — the trendiest word globally — should be applied to employees and not to projects.

You have always said that unappreciated workers vote with their feet and one in four quits if the trend continues?

For any organisation, the biggest investment is not on projects but on its people. Disgruntled employees are like stretched out elastic bands. They lose their elasticity and hit back. The essence of investment is retaining, acquiring or improving assets — items that have a place and a value on the balance sheet. So if a company has lost an employee, effectively it has lost an investment.

Indian companies are going global. What global best practices should be followed to survive the attrition crisis?

Companies, like human beings, are also creatures of habit. If an organisation has built bad habits into itself and doesn’t change them, these habits could accumulate to become life-threatening. Employee retention training in the workplace is the buzzword. Motivation, both of the employees and the company, is essential. Companies do very little to motivate their employees. This is where Performance Management tools come in handy.

How does Performance Management differ from training?

Training has completely eclipsed learning. Performance Management is all about learning newer values for achieving long-term goals. While training has always been judged quantitatively, learning without measurement is like a ship without a sail. When companies are becoming ‘glocal’, it is imperative to measure it qualitatively. The budget was spent, the courses took place, the trainers imparted their skills, the trainees returned to their offices — but what was the net outcome? Performance Management, on the other hand, is like a good butler. If a company has a problem, like a good butler we listen and serve to fix it up. It is more like coaching a company for bigger responsibilities.

Is there a way to measure Performance Management?

Besides statistical analysis, the best way to measure performance management is through mystery shopping, a tool to measure how well new knowledge is being applied in practice. The only difference between mystery shoppers and real client customers is that the mystery shoppers record and reveal what happened to them. In all other respects they are the genuine article, meeting the demographic profile and living locally. They can find out exactly what it feels like to be a customer, and how staff reacts to a given scenario that they convincingly enact.

Indian companies are going global. Does culture diversity come in the way of the employee-employer relationship?

Culture diversity has to be kept in mind especially following any M&A deals. However, constant dialogue can be cathartic. It breaks barriers and helps in establishing a foothold in the global arena.

How important are coaching and mentoring to the managerial cadre?

Coaching can unleash the potential on a one-to-one or person-to-person basis in a non-threatening manner. It is personal therapeutic counselling. Managers are expected to wear the coaching hat more often than their managerial hats.

Likewise, CEOs are desperately seeking a sounding board and want to partner with someone, who can help them navigate their business challenges and realise their full potential. Organisations need to be hand-held and they must provide platforms for engagements.

David Evans, founder-chairman of Grass Roots, believes that people are the biggest investments of organisations.