Understanding and Maximizing Diversity at Work

In the business world, where managers are expected to find ways to improve productivity of a diverse set of employees, it is extremely important to find ways to identify the right FIT for each person in the organization based on their skills and values. Especially, in a global age where almost every large organization is spread worldwide, finding the perfect FIT by understanding the effect of local cultures on skills and values of every employee is critical.

Over these last 17+ years in the U.S and most of that in the Silicon Valley, I have realized the power of diversity at workplace. Silicon Valley work place is truly a melting pot of talented folks from every corner of the world with their unique culture. Each culture brings out certain unique work styles, skill sets and values to accomplish tasks. This uniqueness is pronounced in the first 5-10 years away from the home country and softens over time. As expected, these traits continue to morph generation after generation and reach the steady state 'American' values over time. However, it is important to realize that each of us bring a unique set of strengths which when utilized appropriately improves productivity and therefore success of the organization. Let us take a few examples of some of the popular immigrant groups in the tech world that I am familiar with from the Silicon Valley. Although, my intent is not to generalize, it provides a good baseline to start understanding of how people from different cultures contribute to their organizations.

The Chinese from mainland China are 'group-workers' and tend to accomplish the best when tasked with a group project. They prefer to work in a group with other Chinese friends and are open to seek help from other members of the team. Individualists, they are not, for they do not seek limelight on their own. People from mainland are truly hardworking, pay attention to details and do what it takes to get the job done. I guess these traits may be a result of the years of Maoism which promoted hardwork, basic living and the essence of community. Therefore, tasks that require execution as a team are best suited for the Chinese. On the other hand, Chinese from HongKong and Taiwan are entrepreneurial, seek lime light and are quite individualistic. You can guess why. Albeit being from mainland, they had to develop skills and values to survive and grow.

Indians are primarily individualists and tend to compete for limelight in the success of the organization. Due to an enormous push by the families to succeed, they are quite competitive and seek ways to achieve success quickly. Also, due to the very conforming educational system, Indians in general, tend to be 'followers' than 'creators'. With the focus more on completion of the task and not on the quality and timeliness of the job, Indians tend to work well in assignments that are not under extreme time constraint. If you are tasked to manage a project or a team in India, it is imperative to set the expectations on the quality of the deliverable and also maintain a continuous check on the timeline for delivery. With a competitive spirit, command of English and an ability to work with people from diverse backgrounds, Indians are positioned well to manage and execute on global tasks.

Americans are the thinkers/creators. The educational system and the culture within the country promotes thinking outside the box and being entrepreneurial. Taking risk is acceptable and failure is accepted as a stepping stone to success. There are tons of examples within the society where individuals who have followed their passion have succeeded to build the best products and the most successful organizations. With the emphasis on 'speaking out', the communication skills are developed and are most suited for jobs in marketing or sales.

With the uniqueness that different cultures bring to the table and the necessity to use maximize productivity to execute a program, it is essential that managers/leaders understand the nuances to best utilize the right personnel for the right job. This knowledge is also extremely beneficial to manage talent worldwide in a multinational company. Fundamentally, in a society where hardwork, attention to details and entrepreneurialism is nourished, businesses tend to succeed in the long term.

Do what you want to do

Most of us spend an enormous amount of time at work, sometimes wondering if we work to live or live to work. There should be no confusion on why we live on this planet. Definitely, not to work 80 hr weeks in a job that one does not have a passion for. How does one realize own passion to make a living? A job where you are eager to jump out of the bed most mornings, get to work and kick some butt.

How and when does one realize ones own passion to make a living? When does one make the switch risking your boring but safe-bet life? There is no right answer. It can happen anytime in your life. When you are no longer having 'fun' most of the time(remember, no job is fun all the time), it is time to try something new. The 'something new' could be what you have been wanting to pursue for a while or a job or an organization that fits your values.

In my case, I took my first job in the USA about 15 years ago as a failure analysis engineer to work on identifying the root cause of failed semiconductor chips and finding a solution. I definitely loved solving problems. However, I missed interacting with people. I, then moved to roles in marketing, general management and even founded a couple of companies. During those times, I realized that one can have fun at work only when there is a match in values between yours and your bosses and the organization's. Leaders2020 and the concept of the Facebook application 'OfficeBook' was born as a result of those years of experience to help job seekers find the right place to work.

However, I have started to realize lately that I truly loved 'helping people' in all those interactions and in all those years. Being an advisor to many friends find their next fun job was something that I really loved. Working with them to understand their requirements, interest and passion and helping colleagues find the right fit interested me. Is human resources (HR) the right place for me? Is it time for another change this late? I am just 40 years young and have over half my life left to enjoy working.

It's never too late for a change. Do what you really want to do. Go for it. Follow your passion.

21st Century Leader; Values based Leadership

In our lifetimes, many of us have had the opportunity to work with leaders who displayed great leadership values every day. These true leaders were interested in our personal growth, showed compassion to every team member and cared for the success of the entire organization. I am sure a few of us have had the unfortunate times of working with managers who we want to stay away from for ever. How do we identify the creme de la creme among the leaders that we want to work for? What do we look for in a leader or a budding leader?

If you would like to understand how well a business is doing, you would check the pulse on the financial health of the company. Revenue and profit growth, earnings per share, growth of share value are some of the financial metrics that are considered. Similarly, cholesterol level, blood pressure and pulse rate are measured to check the health of any individual. What metrics would you use to check the capability of a leader? A true leader must possess great business acumen and a strong set of leadership values.

Ah hah! Leadership values! I think there is a simple set of TEN values that is a base line for any leader of any organization in any part of the world. This base line set of leadership values consists of a set of ‘core values’ and a set of ‘performance values’.

Core Values: Integrity, Trust, Selflessness, Passion, Respect

Performance Values: Vision, Innovation, Empowerment, Coach, Results

I would imagine this Leadership Value System like our Earth. The ‘core values’ form the nucleus and the ‘performance values’ the outer shell of the leadership value system. The core values are an essential set of human values that builds a sustainable bond between the leader and the followers. The performance values support the core values and help in maximizing the productivity of the entire organization. A leader may possess different levels of these values at various stages of their life time. However, a complete lack of these core values (a collapse of core) will deter in building a solid foundation of leadership.

Look for these values in your leader. If you find that you are working for someone that lacks all of the core values, move on. Find another manager or find another company. If you are a manager and you see these values in one of your employees, help them grow. You could be looking at the next 21st Century Leader!

Feeling Valued at Work; a passionate rambling

Feeling valued? What does that mean to you? To me, it means that my opinions are respected and my judgment is trusted for its worth. It is well known that the best teams or the best companies to work for in any corner of the world are most productive and creative when its team members are valued for who they are and what they believe in. That should be of no surprise to any of us. However, some companies do not seem to recognize and strive to develop a culture that embodies trust and respect.

To my disgust, I happened to land in a job as an executive where there was nothing but politics. Some of the executives came to work just to scheme and some of them came just to utilize company's resources to their benefits. Where did the concept of placing companies interest ahead of your own go? My skills and values were not valued one bit. Could I have avoided this situation if I knew the culture of this company and values of the leaders prior to joining?. Yes. However, there was not one place to check community's opinion on the culture of a company. Now there is. OfficeBook is an application on Facebook that has been designed to harness the power of the community to find the right fit for each one of us.

Let us help job seekers find the right job by contributing on OfficeBook.

http://apps.facebook.com/office-book