Stop trying to find needle in haystack, use a magnet instead!

Let’s start with a question, what is the most important asset of an organization? Which one is the master key that can unlock the tremendous potential of a company? Your business idea maybe very unique, you may have great investors lined up, you have state of the art technology BUT to manage all these you also need the best employees. This is what makes human capital the epitome of business success. Once the right set of self driven employees are on board, all other pieces of puzzle like infrastructure, financial capital, technology etc. will fit together perfectly. Recruitment efforts will become conspicuous for CEOs who have understood this aspect. Rather than just filling the position, they will be ready to spend weeks and months to make sure that they have selected the right candidate.

The beginning of a new life - Baby as a metaphor

The growth of the company can be compared to growth stages of a baby. Once an organisation is ‘born’, first few years will be a struggle phase but in retrospect, it is also a stage where immense learning happens. During this time, you need strong people around you. It is important to have employees who love challenging work, have a thirst for knowledge and are self motivated. Such employees should also realize that work can be unstructured and many of the functions, processes, structures, chain of command etc. are still evolving. This is like how an infant needs to be surrounded by parents and family members who are strong and wouldn't give up no matter how hard things are.

The visionaries of the company would want to instill certain values and norms across the organization, much like how parents teach their kids about morals. As company is growing, you would also want like minded people with shared qualities of compassion, fairness, equality etc. to associate with you. This gives birth to “Corporate Culture”. Parents want their kids to play with other kids who have similar values. Similarly, the only way to retain company’s culture is to hire people who have similar drive when it comes to innovation, learning, digital transformation, risk taking and growth orientation.

The challenges faced by an organization are never ending exactly like the parenting conundrums. Even when the baby is self sufficient there will come challenges during the teenage years (aka change management and resistance), then college years (continuous learning/change in technology), finding job (expansions/opportunities), relationship mistakes (with partners, vendors suppliers, agencies),  parenting (mentoring/coaching), wrong investments etc. During these challenging situations, it is imperative to have the right set of employees in the organization. Now the question is how to hire such folks?

Conscious HiringⓇ

Hiring the best talent is easier said than done. Few decades ago, most people were satisfied with a decent salary and some savings kept aside in form of pension and retirement benefits. The need of today's workforce is so different from each other that you cannot take a one size fits all approach. Every aspects like compensation, benefits, job responsibility, working hours etc. has to be tailor made to the extent that each employee would feel that he/ she is special. In spite of all these efforts, attraction and retention of talent is still one of the main challenges faced by companies. This is where value based employee selection system like Conscious HiringⓇ* comes in handy. According to Magi Graziano, CEO, KeenAlignment the cost of hire and even the cost of mis-hire and unexpected employee turnover can be calculated in advance. She will be talking more about this system in the concurrent session on Consicious Hiring at the SHRM 2019 Annual conference.

How to hire GenY workforce

A much asked question by young professionals is “What do I get in return?”. 30 years ago finding a job that pays well used to be a nightmare even for talented people. But now even the final semester college students have multiple job offers in hand with high compensation. When it comes to experienced professionals, one click on Linkedin and their inbox will be flooded with job ads and messages from recruiters. Out of all messages and chaos, how do you get the right candidate to apply for the position in your company? Take a walk along the exhibitor hall at SHRM 2019 Annual Conference and Exposition to find the answer to this question. You can discuss your hiring challenges with representatives from companies like:-

Lucas Group - Executive recruitment search firm (Booth #2408)

Appleone -Hiring made Human (Booth #2306)

TextRecruit - Candidate engagement by recruiting through text message (Booth #1928)

Hiring a wrong person can lead to loss of time and money. When a wrong person is hired, precious time will be wasted for conflict resolution, delay in projects, policy formulation, clarifications, finding replacement etc. The challenge doesn't stop once the right candidate has joined the company, it continues throughout the life-cycle of the employee. Finding the right candidate from the millions of job applicants is like trying to find needle in a haystack. Companies such as Lucas Group, Appleone and Textrecruit can help you to become the magnet that attracts the right talent.

Alone in a crowd - The workplace loneliness and its impacts

I remember the first time I met her. She started off as an intern and within 3 months she was hired to join our team full time. That's how good she was! Over a period of 4 years we became best friends. She was my ride to office, my coffee break buddy, lunch partner, after office snack pal...the list goes on. She was my pillar of support and we would talk to each other about our personal life,work frustrations, incidents with colleagues/managers, suggestions/advice for work issues...there isn't anything that we haven't talked about I guess. Year 2016 changed everything, I was pregnant with my daughter and she had to move to Dubai to join her husband. It was time to say goodbye with hope that our paths would cross again. We were happy for each other as both of us were entering new phases of life. But the days after she left is when I truly felt the workplace loneliness. I felt so alone, suddenly I don't have a coffee break buddy and I started drinking coffee at my desk. Work became dull all of a sudden, people became uninteresting, jokes were not funny without having someone else to laugh with you. Fortunately, I started my maternity leave within a month. But those 30 days were really difficult. 

A recent study has shown that 40% of adults in America report feeling lonely. The term called 'Workplace loneliness' has become a topic of discussion in the corporate world. In fact there is a session on 'Workplace Loneliness is Killing Us' by Stuart Chittenden - Founder and Principal of Squish Talks at upcoming SHRM Annual Conference and Exposition 2019.

Workplace loneliness is not something that has occurred in a fortnight. This epidemic has been slowly rising and following factors have contributed to its growth :-

• Technology : With advancement of technology, it is easy to connect with anyone, anytime, anywhere. The advent of Social Media has changed the game of social interactions, networking and even dating. Atop of all this, people tend to forget that in real life they are not meeting any of their friends. Its all messages, emails, chats and hours of browsing. The actual human touch is missing and loneliness slowly creeps in.
• Change in jobs : Years ago, there lived a generation who used to work for the same employer till their retirement. Coworkers were closer than family relatives and deep friendships flourished at the office. People were teary eyed at retirement /farewell parties. And today, the average time an employee would stay at same company is less than two years. It becomes extremely difficult to have a meaningful relation in such a fast paced life. 
• Flexible work options : With changes in technology and digital transformation, employees are given flexibility to choose work hours. Work from home option is a life saver when commutation takes hours. For added flexibility, there is always option to work as a freelancer and choose projects based on preference. Even at office or during commutation, people normally wear headphones which gives a feeling that the person doesn't want to be disturbed and hence not approachable.

How to overcome workplace loneliness?

There is a reason why Employee Engagement is considered a crucial indicator in workplace surveys. It gives tons of insights into Emotional Intelligence and emotional well-being of the employees. More and more companies are coming with focused efforts like mentioned below to engage employees and to mitigate workplace loneliness.

• Interest clubs : One of the most effective way to battle loneliness is to be part of an interest club. It gives a sense of belonging and it also helps to nurture the passion/hobbies of employees. Various clubs for Sports, dance, music, fitness, photography, literature, travel etc can be formed within the company to bring together like-minded people.

• Manager's role : Manager has a huge influence and plays an important role in the emotional well-being of an employee. Occasional team lunch/outing, an outdoor activity or even travelling together for business trips can make lots of difference. Also, extra effort must be taken to connect with employees working remotely. Make sure to have non work related conversation with team members. 

• Working in silos : Collaborative work is a key to business success. Even though open office lay out and open door policy exists, employees still work in invisible silos with less interactions with others. By promoting collaboration, better business outcome can be achieved and workplace loneliness can be reduced. it is a win-win for all.

We are underestimating the power of human emotions when the social contact part is neglected. An article in CNN Business summarizes that lonely employees have

• lower job performances,

• be less committed to the company,

• seem less approachable by coworkers 

We need human connections more than we think and it holds true irrespective of gender, religion, culture, ethnicity and designation (yes, CEOs feel lonely too). Building meaningful human relations helps to nurture Emotional Intelligence (EQ) which in turn influences your relationship with others.

Writing this blog made me think about the episode from the famous TV show Friends where Phoebe talks to Earl the supply manager who wants to kill himself because of workplace loneliness (S07 EP13). We all laughed about Phoebe's predicament but on a serious note Earl in that episode is the epitome of what workplace loneliness can do to a person.

P.S : Nivi Mariam Oommen (my friend I mentioned in the beginning of this blog) is presently working with Danzas at Dubai. We still have contacts with each other and I have a feeling that this is one of the friendships which is gonna last a life time.                                            

Employee separation - The postmortem and what it teaches us

"Of all talent-management processes, a strategic exit interview program—one that is designed to yield ongoing, long-term benefits—may be one of the most powerful yet least understood" - Harvard Business Review

As a HR specialist, one of the role assigned to me was Employee Separation. This is a process which gave me a completely different perspective on talent management. My colleagues used to say it is ironic that employee separation process is conducted by the same person who takes care of employee on-boarding. To me it felt like a responsible thing to do to say goodbye in the right way since I was the first to welcome them to the company, like completion of a cycle.

My Boss was very particular about separation process and would dedicate time to meticulously go through the notes on exit interview, in fact we used to have meeting scheduled exclusively to discuss the exit interview of each of the employee. It was like a postmortem process. Most of the cases, the treating doctors would know what had happened to the patient. But in some cases, there can be underlying and unexplained reasons which will be revealed only by careful dissection and deeper analysis.The immediate manager (i.e treating doctor) can provide meaningful insight into the employee's life at work. Combine this with the data from exit procedures and you will get a clearer picture on what exactly has happened. Needless to say, this information is a powerful retention weapon in your arsenal. Here is how you can wield this weapon :-

• Feedback source : It can be guaranteed that the feedback provided by the employee on notice period will be honest. They will be frank and bold. They will have a clear idea on what is going on internally since they have been with the company for some time. Care must be taken to ensure that the feedback is shared with the right person and meaningful action is taken to prevent resignations due to similar reasons.

• Evaluation of company policies and procedures : Do you want to know what the employees actually think about the new Work from home policy or dress-code policy? Best option is to ask the employee in notice period. You will be surprised to find that the answer could be different from the anonymous internal survey you conducted. Handled well, employee off-boarding can be an excellent resource to understand how employees feel about the company culture, policies and procedures. It can also throw insight into how your competition is faring on various aspects including compensation, leave/vacation policy and other benefits.

• Management style: A very common answer for the reason for exit is "got better offer". But if you dig deeper, it will be clear that money alone is not the reason why one choose to leave the company. Employees leave their bosses, not the company. Most of the times, the precise reason can be identified from an exit interview. Following questions can be pointers for the separation discussion :-
• Was the employee given opportunities for learning? Was necessary training given to perform the job?
• Was the job challenging ?
• Were there any conflicts and how it was handled?
• Did the employee feel recognized and rewarded at work?
• Was timely performance feedback given?
• Did the company meet employee's expectation?
• Did he/she feel overly stressed at work?
• Was there micromanagement?
• Was there a lack of guidance?

• Invite suggestions and ideas: An employee once told me that he would have considered staying back if the exit interview was conducted earlier and not on the last week of his notice period. It was such eye opening remark which led us to set an internal timeline to conduct the exit interview within 7 working days of resignation date (notice period was 60 days). This is just one example. Employees have given suggestions on how to improve the training session, how to engage employees more effectively and even project ideas for training fresh graduates. Exiting employees can give awesome suggestions if asked nicely. Its all about how you treat them. Treat them respect and dignity, show that their opinions matter even if they are leaving. Keep in mind that they have been with the company for a while and has a better idea of what is happening on the floor than you. 

Ex-employees are your brand ambassadors. Their separation process should be so smooth that they cannot stop talking positively about your company where ever they go. In fact they should feel like coming back to the company sooner than later (if rehire is an option). Remember, your future candidate might be the new colleague of your ex-employee. 

2000 miles, 35 hours and a lifetime of adventure!

The first time I saw Grand Canyon was on a calendar page. This was way back in the late 90s, and I never forgot that image of the canyon. Couple of weeks ago we took a trip to visit the Grand Canyon which is one of the natural wonders of the world. This was the longest road trip we have ever taken and we knew we were pushing the limits. Its not the distance or the drive that was challenging. It was Elisha, my 2 years old daughter, but then again with her even a trip to Walmart is a challenge. She is a very active kid and she loves to run around all the time. She doesn't like being restrained to a car seat. She has grown up eating home made Indian food which means I have to either rely on Indian restaurants or I have to cook meals for her everywhere I go. Among the packing list, pressure cooker is now added by default.

On day one of our journey Elisha was very cranky because she woke up earlier than usual and she cried a lot. To top that, we almost ran out gas because we were distracted and was trying to keep her calm that we missed to re-fuel. Luckily there was a gas station some 25 miles down the road and we headed there immediately. Last thing I wanted was to be stranded on the freeway with a screaming child in the middle of the night. 

We were on the way after refueling when Justin got an text message that $150 was spent on his credit card which he had not. His credit card got hacked maybe because of some foul play at gas station. We contacted the Bank and they deactivated the credit card. For a moment we heaved a sigh of relief. That's when the realization hit us, what if our second card is also hacked, we did not have much cash with us as well. We took a detour to the nearest ATM, by then it was already close to midnight. The ATM was located in the middle of what can be described as a ghost town. There were lots of abandoned old buildings, graffiti and no vehicles on the road. It took us a while to figure out that we were on the historic Route 66, and we ended up driving around the route for couple of miles just to satisfy the curiosity. The place reminded of the movie Cars and it was sad to see the state of a town which has lost all its glory.

Day two : After a night long drive and quick nap for couple of hours, we reached the Grand Canyon south rim trail. Me and Justin were frantically looking around to see the canyon but all we could see where the trees on side of the roads for a while. One quick turn and there it was!! It was breath taking. Nothing had prepared us to see the grandeur of the Grand canyon. And believe me when I say the place is heavenly. The pictures you have seen as screensavers is for real, its not Photoshop or camera trick. Grand canyon is as majestic as it is in the pictures. We spent a day there visiting all the view points each one more beautiful than the other. The Sunset at the Hopi Point was one of the magical experiences of my life. The Canyon changes its color along with the setting sun. The photos taken minutes apart looks completely different from each other. You can also see the Colorado river snaking through the canyon. And in the brief moments when Elisha is quiet, you can also hear the sound of the river and the sound of wind blowing in the background. It was amazing. 

My dear friend Jennifer Kumar had mentioned that we might get to see the milky-way if the sky is clear. We went to the Grand view point in the South rim crossing our fingers that we will catch a glimpse of the milky-way. The viewpoint looked completely different in the dark. the sound of wind was almost deafening and it was cold. We stepped out of the car and looked up at the sky and there it was, the band of the Milky Way......I swear to God it was the most amazing thing I have ever seen. I actually said 'Praise the Lord' for he is a true artist. Never have I seen so many stars, there really are billions of them, words cannot describe that feeling. I couldn't stop myself from thinking how majestic the universe is and how small we really are. Watching the milky-way, planets and shooting stars snuggled together with Justin was one of the most romantic thing I have ever done and to me that was the highlight of the entire trip. 

Day 3: To visit the Antelope Canyon and horseshoe bend in Page was the agenda for day 3. It was hot and sunny and we had to walk couple of miles to see the horseshoe bend. Elisha is daddy's girl which loosely translates that Justin had to carry her around most of the time. It was tiring to walk in the sun and sand carrying a toddler.  But the effort was totally worth it because the view was to kill for. The canyons have never stopped surprising me. Horseshoe bend is like a lone canyon and the river has made way around it. It stood strong and proud almost as if greeting all its visitors. Needless to say we clicked several pics in an attempt to capture its beauty before heading to Antelope canyon. 

Our reservation to the Lower Antelope Canyon tour was for 1:45 pm with Dixie Ellis'. We were so fortunate considering we made the booking only on the previous day. The tours are usually sold out weeks in advance. The view from lower antelope canyon was gorgeous. We were around 20-30 feet down and no one would guess that such a beauty is hidden underneath. We started at 2pm and the timing was perfect, the sun was bright and it cast shadows which enhanced the beauty of the canyon.  Our tour guide said even if it rains 100 miles away, the canyon will get flooded which means the Canyon is somehow connected to places that are really far away. All those rocks in the canyon are a billion years old and some of it is petrified sand compressed and baked in the sun for over a period of time. We also saw footprint of a dinosaur. Just imagine a creature that has lived billion years ago has left its mark on earth and it is still visible. There was also a Native American dance in the resting area which was quite entertaining. We spent rest of the day wandering around Page seeing the buttes before heading to Las Vegas. 

After seeing the nature's wonders, Las Vegas and the Freemont Street experience was not as appealing as I thought it would be. Maybe its also because this was the second time we were in that city. The Hoover dam was a good experience especially when I poured water into the dam and it just flew up defying the laws of gravity. On our way back home we were tempted to take another detour to Death Valley, but we decided to see it another time. We got to see the Joshua Tree National park and several other parts of the Mojave desert.

The whole trip took close to 35 hours of drive and we covered approximately 2000 miles in 3 days. My husband and I have always been fond of travelling. It helps us to connect with each other and we always come back rejuvenated. All the struggles and uncertainties during the travel helps us to redefine our relationship. All the trips we have taken together has again and again proved our friendship and teamwork. It has become our routine to plan for the next trip when we are travelling back from another one. It is so fortunate that I found my partner with whom I can share this mutual passion for travelling. Like I mentioned in my first blog, its all serendipity of life.....

Wanderlust!

“Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.” -Gustav Flaubert

My dad used to take our family for vacation when we were kids. I would have been just 3 or 4 years old but I clearly remember our family trip to Kapad beach in Calicut. This beach is a few kilometers away from our house. We all went to the beach on dad's scooter (four of us on a Kinetic Honda scooter!), I remember my mom made noodles that day and she added prawns to it. This was done only on special occasions. There was an orange colored picnic basket, a beach towel and I remember Dad taking a snooze lying down on the rocks as well. I think this is the first memory I have of travelling. We have traveled to several cities in India. Summer vacations also meant a trip to my grandparents' place. The fact that I remember all this even now shows how much travelling can influence a child. The prospect of going for a vacation always make me very excited, the anticipation of uncertainty combined with the prospect of seeing new places and meeting new people are some of the reasons why I love travelling.

Growing up, I never stopped my love for travelling and would never miss an opportunity to hit the road. I was very happy when I realized that my life partner also shares the same if not a higher level of passion for travelling. My first trip with my husband was when we went for our honeymoon to Malaysia. I was nervous back then... Completely unsure of what an international travel would be and how to adjust with my husband. It's honeymoon, my thought was I should be perfect and look my best all the time.... Our first stop was at Langkawi. Such a beautiful and romantic place and for a minute I forgot about the need to be perfect. We checked in to the resort and minutes later we were out for sight seeing. Before the day ended I realized one thing - Justin doesn't care about how I look, he cares more about how I feel. Like all newlyweds, we also fought on our honeymoon, he said something silly and I got offended. I went out for a walk at the private beach close to the resort where we were staying. It was a beautiful night and sky was full of stars. Romance was back on! I have seen in the movies where the hero and heroine running on the beach and I thought that would be romantic. I insisted that we do the same. Justin was hesitant and I forced him saying its gonna be fun. So I started running and he was chasing me. Next thing I know, there was salt water and sand on my face. It took me a while to figure out that I had fallen flat on my face. I panicked and was struggling to get up. I thought my beloved husband would be freaking out thinking I might have got hurt. Again all the romantic scenes from movies where hero would take the heroine into his arms came rushing to my mind. I turned around and looked for Justin. There he was laughing his heart out, he actually was holding on to his tummy while laughing, it must have hurt laughing that much. I have never seen him laughing that much till date. Lo and behold....my new husband. I was infuriated but only for a minute, because it was hard not to laugh. I really did make a fool of myself. And that night became a landmark in our marriage, it was the day we became best friends and that incident was also the ice breaker of our honeymoon. It is the story we would remind each other every now then and we still laugh thinking about it. 

We had two more days at Langkawi and we went for island hopping tour, cable car ride, underwater world, mangrove tour before we headed out to Kuala Lumpur. It was Valentines's day then and it was also our first valentine's day as married couple. We spent the day in the city seeing various attractions including the Petronas tower, Central Market, China Town and Bukit Bintang. It was also the Chinese new year that day at Malaysia and we had a magical time celebrating it along with folks over there. There were fireworks, dragon dances, games and lots of merriment. 

Needless to say, we thoroughly enjoyed our trip and we managed to see most of Langakwi and Kuala Lampur in one week's time. Our trip helped to strengthen the bond we have as a couple and the foundation of our marriage was stronger than ever. We still have the same passion for travelling and by the looks of it, our little one is also following in our footsteps. Travelling can bring out the best and worst in a person and this happens because you are outside your comfort zone, you have to adjust with what you have and always be prepared to face unforeseen situations. And with our small road trips, we are trying to mold Elisha to this as well.   

You is kind, you is smart, you is IMPORTANT!

This happened few years ago. I was working with an IT company as business unit HR. I got a call on my cell, I sensed that something was wrong because normally I don't get calls after office hours. When I answered the phone, never did I expect that it would be such a horrible news. One of my associate who was working in Sydney committed suicide, he jumped off from the harbor and drowned to death. I could not move for next few minutes and was very shocked to hear the news. He was just 25-26 years old and he decided to take his own life at a very depressing time of his life. The reason for his suicide is unknown, there was no note or letter written. And it confounds me every time I think how it could have been prevented. 

Emotional well being is very important and is directly related to the overall health of a person. The residual effect of one's personal problems will crawl its way into the employee who is at work as well.  An average employee spends around 9 hours of his quality time in office. This is apart from the time spend for commutation, work done from home, discussing office matters with spouse or friends etc. That is more than 80% of your time. Now imagine if you are going through personal problems like:-

- Relationship issues - break up, divorce and legal battles related to it, parenting struggles

- Financial struggles like mortgage, huge loan, struggle to maintain a certain lifestyle

- Health related issues to self or near and dear ones

- Other problems which includes but not limited to sense of loneliness, depression, addictions, emotional baggage, substance abuse etc.

How does one person deal with such problems in life especially when you are spending majority of your time at office? You will never know what your colleague is going through unless you pay close attention to them. Nature has provided us with fight or flight response as a self defense mechanism. Some people hide away their problem and pretend to be jolly good even when they are crying for help inside. That is a flight response. Others may withdraw from everything trying to fight the battle on their own and they seldom win. Sometimes all one need is little bit of your time. Active listening, recognition and appreciation can be considered as the CPR which can literally resuscitate a person who has hit rock bottom. 

Ted Bauer is a blogger and a well known twitter figure especially in the HR circle. Below is his one of his tweet which caught my attention:-

A kind word or a gesture can really make a difference no matter how irrelevant you might think it is.The single word 'Matters' at the end of the above tweet proves it. I know this because I have been there myself. A kind housekeeping staff in my previous office said "ellaam sheriyakum madam" (everything will be alright) when I was on verge of bursting into tears inside the restroom. It meant a lot to me because at that point I felt that no one appreciates what I do and I felt invisible. But this lady who was part of my Spoken English training class (a CSR initiative) noticed me and she said "excuse me ,good morning madam, elaam sheriyakum" we were teaching to exchange pleasantries and she was using the words she learned in the class. She told me that her kids and husband were so surprised that she has started using English words in their daily conversation. I made a difference, the whole volunteers of that CSR initiative has made a difference in that woman's life. That was all the motivation I needed that day.

It also make me wonder if somebody had said this same sentence to the 25 year old boy who committed suicide maybe he would be alive today. All he needed was someone to tell him like Aibileen said to Mae Mobly in the book The Help by Kathryn Stockett,

"You is kind, you is smart, you is IMPORTANT" 

Serendipity of life

Serendipity of Life 

Fate has always worked against me and my wishes, maybe because it knew what I want is not what I need. When I was a teenager all I ever wanted to do was move out of my parents' house and live in a city far away from home. I don't know why I felt that way. I have great parents and two loving sisters, my mom is still my best friend and dad is the one who shaped me to be bold and strong. I guess its because I always wanted to be independent and for a teenager, the ultimate independence is living on your own. I swore to myself that I will go to college in a big city. But because of numerous reasons, I couldn't. I ended up studying in the same city where I grew up. 

Then I thought maybe when I start working, I will move out. This was easily achievable because most of the companies that visited my campus were offering jobs in big cities. I was so sure that I would also be placed in one of the metro cities. There was a company that I was following since the first semester of my college, and I so badly wanted a job there. But on the previous day of the interview I found out that I am not qualified because I did not have engineering or science background. Note that this was an HR position in one of the leading IT companies in India. I was heartbroken, never did I imagine that my degree would stop me from joining HR position in an IT company. And then came Arbitron, a media measurement company all the way from the US of A. I instantly fell in love with them, loved the culture, job profile and they offered me a nice package. It was a steal, I prepared for the interview and it went smoothly. I was confident but competition was fierce so I dint keep my hopes high. Long story short, they offered only one student from my college and that was me. That was one of the happiest days of my life. My parents were so proud. The only problem was my dream of living alone in a big city was shattered as the position offered was guess where ...MY HOMETOWN again. I had to stack away that little dream to a corner of my heart.

Joining Arbitron was one of best decisions I had ever taken in my life. I learned so much from there and some of those lessons will be with me forever. This is also where I met Anish Aravind who was my Boss and Mentor (he still is). I can only describe him as a driven yet weird guy. Anish is weird because I am yet to meet another person who has so many hobbies and is doing extremely well in all of those. He is good at badminton, bird watching, umpiring, fishing, networking events and heaven knows what else. He can quickly identify patterns and future trends in HR. Using social media for HR purposes was unheard of in a small town like Kochi during that time, yet he directed me to explore it further. This led me to experience the true power of social media. I could not believe that top HR professionals with decades of experience would read my tweet and respond to it. 

I wonder what kind of HR would I have been if my first boss was someone who micromanages, or someone who doesn't like changes or questioning the relevance of a strategy or policy. I would not have been my true self and soon I would have started hating my job. But nature has created wonderful serendipity, my team was great. My mentor taught me the true meaning of empowerment and accountability. I presented a case study of our company at a HR conference hosted by National HRD Network at Hyderabad when I had just 2 years of experience. There were at least 300+ HR professionals from across India as audience and the panel had some of the top notch HR VPs and Directors of big MNCs. I was nervous but Anish motivated me to go for it. We were shortlisted for the next round which in itself was a big deal for me. I cannot imagine getting such level of national exposure if I was working somewhere else. "What's in it for me" was a phrase that is often used in our office meetings.  He would make me think about "What's in it for me" from the viewpoint of all stakeholders involved while creating HR strategies or launching a new initiative. This helped me to be more prepared and execution of strategies were much easier. 

Arbitron was special to me because of another super important reason. This is where I met my soul mate, my husband and my best friend in the entire universe. Justin and I are happily married for more than 4 years now and we have a beautiful daughter named Elizabeth (Elisha). These two are my brats and they both drive me crazy, I wouldn't trade them for the world. Who would have thought I would meet my future husband at my first job, a guy who casually came to ask if he could borrow the newspaper would become the father of my child?? If I was in some other city or in some other company like the IT giant I mentioned earlier I would have never met him. I got a great head start on my career and I also found the love of my life. Like I said serendipity....now you know the reason behind my blog's name.