Well, there is so much that I want to do. And so little
time. So much has happened in the past 12hours. And for whatever reason, there
has been this chain of events that are so isolated; but yet, at some level seem
to stand out as being part of a common thread of experience.
Last evening, I visited an aunt of mine; an individual who
is so exceptional in more ways than one. Clarity of thought, expression, and
clearly someone who I have seen literally ‘walk the talk’ in the field of
education. My visit to her place
yesterday, was like walking into a jewelry store and being asked to pick the
diamond of your choice and at no cost!!! I walked out with a pile of books,
documents and articles -all hand written. Tons of materials on education. I
haven’t been able to get my eyes off all that I see so proficiently written. It was like walking back in time and hitting
the virtual Google. And then, I wake up
today morning to a call from an ex-colleague of mine who was desperately trying
to reach me for the last couple of weeks.
A fairly senior person in age (58, I guess) currently with a large MNC. He
has been on the lookout of a change of job and was requesting for help. I
recall the hiring drive many years back, when we hired Ramesh. It was part of
the ‘diversity’ initiative in our organisation then. This was an attempt to hire ‘baby boomers’ and
‘women candidates’. This was the ‘in thing’!!! And over the years, that I have
participated in these ‘drives’, haven’t for once seen the relevance of the
entire act.
We hired a total of 25 ( 5 ex-service men, 10 in the age of 50+
and ~ 10 women). They all went through the same Induction program –
an attempt to induct the group to the corporate world. They all met with the
leadership team – individuals who waxed eloquent the ‘’gyan” on how to make it
big in the organisation… etc etc etc. And then on day 3, all 25 of them
disappeared into the ocean of 80,000+ employees in the organisation. I didn’t
hear from them and neither they from me. So, what was the point? Why did we
hire them as part of a specific initiative, if we did not want to spend time
with them? All that we did was to work out a plan on inducting the group to ‘our
way of thinking’! And I could see George Orwell smile back at me… with a twinkle
in his eyes that said ‘I told you so’!
The intent of a diversity initiative is clearly to get diverse
perspectives – viewpoints that will challenge, and thereby help the
organisation grow / develop. And I am not sure if we did get their perspectives
at all. I recall going back to my computer and resolving people issues in a
manner quite similar to the way I did the day before and before…
Ramesh was part of that group. We have spoken a couple of
times at work, have had coffee conversations on specific issues and have seen
him struggle through some of the challenges that the corporate world can pose
to many. And there was nothing that we did, I did, to help him through that.
The expectation was for him to blend in. Well, if that was the expectation, then why
indulge in a specific diversity hiring drive at all?
“Education is meant for development, whether it is meant for
the individual or the nation, thus implying the importance of the development
of Education”… and this is the conceptual framework and rationale for anyone in the field of learning and development. It came back to me while ruffling through the files
that I gained from my aunt yesterday. THERE IS VERY LITTLE (in fact NOTHING) THAT I HAD DONE TO INDUCT THE ORGANISATION AND THE LEADERSHIP TO THE PEOPLE WE HAD HIRED. We had failed as a learning organisation.
Google doesn't have ALL the answers. Most of the times, the solutions are right there in front of us.
I need to raise my head from the keyboard, look at the person sitting next to
me, and irrespective of the age, gender, race… he /she had the potential to set
me in the right direction. Therein lies
the power of diversity. And articulates
for me, of all that I want to do!!!!
Guess I have connected the dots after all… my aunt, an ex-colleague,
a handful of manuscripts and my dream !
