Why is cross-functional exposure so important?

When I landed my first job, on the first day itself I was handed a piece of paper that outlined my activities for the next three months. In included a month on the production floor interacting with workmen and understanding the intricacies of manufacturing in a rubber industry. 

The smell of chemicals was nauseating, and the powder dust covered me from head to toe and all other body parts by the end of the day. Also, at the end of my stint at each department – material procurement, production planning and scheduling, manufacturing, quality control, packing and dispatch – I had to pass a stringent test and get an approval from the concerned departmental boss that I had a basic understanding of the functioning of the department. 

By the end of that month, I had a fairly good idea of the entire product process that helped me immensely during the thirteen years that I spent in the Marketing & Sales department of the organization. Besides, I built up a strong bond with a whole lot of people that I could call on for help when I needed to.

My training continued in the same rigorous manner in all the other departments and the insights helped me in developing and implementing new products & processes not only in that organization, but during the rest of my carrier.

I have carried forward this process in my consulting practice too. I spend time at the ground level trying to understand the processes and procedures that gives me a ring side view of the problems bothering management. The insight is invaluable while developing solutions for problems that currently ail the organization. A fresh pair of eyes reviewing the operations of an organization / department can help spot red flags that would be otherwise missed because of Weber’s Law.

For anyone who wants to grow into any leadership position, it is extremely important to understand the workings of each functional area – people, process, product, procurement, marketing and sales, customers, finance et al. Without this it is next to impossible to rise to the top. In case someone does manage to jump the ladder and reach the top, his stay there is probably going to be short one.

One might say I will hire the best for these other areas where I am not an expert. And you must do that. But when your team makes suggestions or plans, how do you decide which one is the best feasible plan and good for your organization? How do you provide directions to every departmental employee? And what do you talk to a banker about, assuming your area of competence is not finance?

Whether you are a one-man enterprise or running the corporate race, your goal is to be at the top. I hope. Assuming that this is what you want to do, you need to pick up new skills from an early stage for your roles later. This not only gives you a different perspective but can be a great motivator too.

From an organization perspective, it builds a flexible work force; allows them re-allocate work at the time of a crisis and get inhouse support at not much of an additional cost should the business situation so require. An employee with cross functional skills will probably survive many rounds of job cuts during a downturn. In short, he / she becomes a prized employee that many employers are reluctant to let go.

Cross Functional Training not only improves workforce efficiency, but it also fosters a collaborative culture and creates an agile organization. An organization with large number of cross-trained employee pool can easily cope when a key employee in functional area becomes unavailable for whatever reasons.

The benefits of Cross Functional exposure are many. But even then, practicing managers resent when employees are pulled out for such trainings. Primarily because it generally is the top performing employee who is offered these trainings. And pulling out a top performer even for a short period always creates a trough no matter how shallow.

Cross functional knowledge and skills are a great advantage for placements to happen easily. A fresh graduate who has a good understanding of not only the industry, but intricacies and functioning of the organizations and can demonstrate this at a placement interview, has a better chance at landing the job, all other things being equal.

So how does a student develop these skills? Internships (paid or otherwise) is a great way to expose oneself to the nuances of the real world of business. Never mind if the offered role does not match your primary job goal. The opportunity itself is of immense value.

Volunteering for charitable work or projects is another way to build skills. Remember to collect a letter of recommendation or a certificate of work done form the concerned organization. But don’t let that piece of paper be your end goal.

Another option is temp jobs. Be it a call center or selling door to door, it builds up not only your confidence and dignity, it allows you a rare insight to people behavior that allows you to develop the most important skill of all – ‘people skills’.

Understand that the future of work will rely big time on technology. So whether your career plan is in areas of medicine, engineering, finance, literature, hospitality or wherever, do embrace technology value creator and differentiator.

I for one, will always root for cross functional training and skill development both for the sake of the employee and ultimately the organization. Because it is the employee who builds the organization. 

I don't like selling !

This is a common refrain often heard at group discussions be it in the office, during career counselling and sometimes in social get together.

Refer to any literature on sales, and it will define dales as any transaction in which money is exchanged for a good or service. It will go on to explain about the seller’s effort to offer benefits that his product or service will offer to the customer. It will also talk about how a seasoned buyer will try and negotiate a great bargain for himself and if all goes well at both ends, a sale is made and there is a set of two happy people.

Agreed, that is how the commercial understanding of what a sale is all about and that’s how companies make money to pay all the stakeholders including paying the salesman either his salary or commission and may be both.

To me all of us are in the game of selling no matter how vociferously one decries it. May be we are not doing it for money or as a career. For a moment, think of the time you had to cajole your mother to let you watch TV or play a game with your friends or give you permission for that overnight trip that your college was organizing. What did you do? Just walk up to her and say you are doing whatever it is that you wanted to do and just did it? Maybe a handful of you did just that and got away with it. But for most, you found ingenious ways and spun a story round why you should be allowed to do whatever it s that you wanted to.

People who spin the right stories generally get what they want, be it the window seat or to date that coveted person. And they seem to enjoy doing it. It is also a pleasure watching them as they let their creative juices flow and walk the path so confidently to get what they want.

Professional salespeople have the same approach to selling. To them it is a problem that needs to be solved. They challenge themselves to prove successfully to the buyer that theirs is the best solution to the buyer’s problem. They create value for the buyer and build long lasting mutually beneficial relationships.  

I have had the privilege of meeting as well s working with some great salespeople. It is fascinating to watch them plan and strategize before each meeting. You can feel their adrenaline flow. They seem to thrive in the most difficult and complex sales situation. In fact, if company policies allowed, they would volunteer to take on the most complex client. For them it is a game of chess with multiple players (if that is possible) and the one with the best move wins.

In my opinion, sales is one the most process driven function in an organization. Those who understand and relish it, enjoy a great career. The trouble is, most sales people are either not aware, not trained or maybe or try to short circuit the process and end up saying – ‘I hate sales’. 

Thinker Trainer Mentor Partner

The training industry in India has grown in the past couple of decades to a multi billion dollar industry today.

If there is one company that is responsible for creating structured skill based organised training industry in India, it has to be NIIT. The founders of NIIT had the foresight to understand that if they did not develop a well trained and knowledgeable bunch of people on the user side of their fledgling business, the business itself may not take off.

In their venture of IT training, NIIT struck a gold mine which also led to the growth of copy cat companies as is always the case. But that is how the pie size grows and product / service penetration happens.

The fact that India today is known for its IT capabilities is largely due to companies like NIIT, APTECH and a handful of others like them who have literally trained and inculcated IT skills among the young aspirants who later on either migrated to other countries or stayed here and built great careers or companies.

NIIT was also able to identify another skill gap area – selling skills. Thus they founded another training business under the banner of National Institute of Sales which taught selling skills in the class rooms as well as to corporate.

In the mid 90s, India was opening up and the need to actually sell was being felt. Unfortunately for the organisations, but fortunately for companies like NIIT, the so called sales force which were actually in the business of distribution and in many cases rationing their products, desperately needed to be re-skilled to be able to survive in the changing economic environment.

Companies like NIIT, NIS, APTECH and a host of others not only started the skill development movement in India, they also created a huge number of trainers who expanded the training business pie by venturing out and setting up their own training academy. In all probability, many of the senior trainers in India today may have had their initial breaks as trainers in these organisations.

Training today is becoming a key differentiator for companies who care to retain their competitive advantage. Most organisations are finally realizing the strategic advantage their workforce provides them and that their skills and knowledge need to be constantly sharpened so that they can see around the corners.

Having said that, I must also admit that not all organisations give training the importance it deserves. For some, it is a bucket list that needs to be ticked. Managers must realize that all behavioral training loose their impact within a few days of the training unless employees are helped and handheld to cross over the difficult path of forgetting the old and adapting the new. Few manages have the time and the resources or even the willingness to do this. It becomes convenient to shift the blame on to the trainer or the training organisation when no measurable change is observed in the learner’s behavior.

Trainers, L&D professionals, HR and the business manager in reality should work as a team. The actual implementation of the training starts after the trainer leaves. If the rest of the team members, supervisors and support departments don’t actively engage the employee in adopting new skills and new behaviors, the ROI of training would be dismal.

India, where there is a huge gap between skill requirements by the industry and those taught in the school and college classrooms, skill training has a crucial role to play. The need for acquiring new skills to tackle new jobs of the future is reason enough to treat training as a key function in all organisations. Many new age training & education companies are already in India, excited by the huge opportunity India provides. Agreed, the training pedagogy has gone through huge change and it will change even further and adapt itself to learning preferences of the individuals. That is the natural process of evolution.

In spite of the advent of technology based training, the trainer /mentor / facilitator still plays an important role that other members of the organisation can’t execute for various reasons. It is therefor important to choose your training partner carefully and engage him / her in the role of a mentor rather than an occasional visitor.

Life Lessons

There are more things in heaven and earth Horacio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy – Hamlet (1.5.167-8)

Life’s lessons are incomparable to anything you can find in books or what the algorithms can throw up. The earlier the situations are experienced, and lessons learned, the more equipped one is in handling the vagaries that life throws at us.

This is not a wish list. It doesn’t happen automatically. The more sheltered life one has, less are the chances of encountering the ‘aha!’ moment. So, go out and experience life as it is happening. Get to know people. Talk to them. Volunteer for tasks no one is willing to undertake. More difficult and complex the task, stronger is the learning experience. If you are still pursuing your academic career, volunteer for managing various student activities that happen in your institution. Join internship programs whenever & wherever possible.

Travel if you can. There is no activity that is more pleasurable to me than travel despite the unpleasantness that are sometimes inevitable. It is character building and at the same time gives an insight in people’s lives and thoughts. Different philosophies, varied perspectives and learning.

If we are open to such divergent views and do not reject them since they seem to contradict whatever we have been exposed to so far, it has the potential to make us much better human beings as well as a better adapted global manager.

Success at a young age without the benefits of life’s lessons can be very dangerous and at the same time detrimental for the individual.  

I remember, as a rookie manager heading one of the most profitable regions of the business, I mistook the relationships that I had with channel partners to be life long and true. Not realizing that the for many, their investment in the relationship was a convenient way of maximizing mileage only to relegate it to indifference moment the occupant of the ‘chair’ moved.

Before you make any hasty conclusion, let me assure you that in the course of business, I did form some very strong relationships that have lasted even today. They have moved from the business domain to that of personal. I am grateful to the various people and organizations that I keep coming across for helping me become a better human being; for being able to develop a better understanding of people and situations and for helping me become more empathetic.

I hope I was able to give as much I took from each of them.

Of Nationalism and being Nationalistic

The concept of nationalism is a haunting topic for both governments as well as citizens of every country on earth. For obvious reasons, the views are as diverse and extreme as they come – sometimes leading to xenophobia.  

Very often, nationalism is freely equated with the leading religion of the region or community involved. Many in power intentionally and surreptitiously encourage this merger for their group’s benefit. In the recent past we have witnessed political leaders across the world, either through commission or omission, indulge in such behavior that is leading to mass shootings, hate crimes and lynching mobs. Every accused group or instigator believes they are acting in the best interest of their community, society, religious belief and the country in general.  

The key word here is ‘belief’. Where does this belief come from. A cursory glance at history of anywhere indicates that such beliefs are a manifestation of an interested few who in order to preserve their power and position in the hierarchy of things, propagate their own narrative of how things should be. The masses of people who execute this version of nationalism is rarely well read, informed or with a higher perspective. They trust the powers to be and therefore believe every word said or unsaid. They are given to understand that their deliverance from all their problems in life lies in executing whatever has been said or unsaid by their leaders.  

The leadership amplify this as the ‘people’s will’ and continue their play with people’s mind.  

One example of achieving this mind bending exercise in the long term, is through the process of formal education. Successive governments of different political hues try to rewrite and insert their own version of history through NCERT. Life of most text books can now be measured by the tenure of the current government.  

I would like to believe that I am as nationalistic as they come. But I have a different opinion. Individuals can contribute by trying to be as law compliant as is possible - be it traffic rules or tax rules. I am not saying that I like all the rules, but as long as they are in place, I believe they need to be followed. I also believe that there are many facets of life for which there are no statues in existence but need to be practiced for the greater good of society. In my personal as well as professional life, I try to be as inclusive as possible and practice sustainability at every option. Be as much concerned about others’ needs as I am of my own needs.That, I believe, is one of the ways we build a strong country. 

Nationalism to me is not only about participating in protest marches and candle light vigils, though sometimes that is necessary. Thankfully such issues are few and far between. It is more about how we live our lives everyday. How we ‘behave’. How we act. What we do that should be done and don’t do what is not to be done. I believe every citizen can and should embrace the concept of nationalism. My only fear is that each one has their own view of what nationalism is. And that is where the danger lies. 

The Perfect Coffee Shop 

Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

My love affair with coffee started in the ‘dosa’ joints of Calcutta during my college days. The hot sugary liquid, served in a steel cup placed in a matching steel tumbler, was the best coffee that a college allowance could buy. The ‘filter coffee’ that they served was way better than any instant coffee that was available then or even now.  

I had the real taste of coffee much later on my business trips to Europe and the US. The coffee shops attracted me more for their ambiance rather than the coffee. They were places where one could just sit and watch the world go by.  As the years passed, I realized that I savored the coffee aroma more that the coffee taste. The smell of freshly brewed coffee is stimulating as well as refreshing. I made it a point to visit a coffee shop at every opportunity. I would choose small family run coffee shops because I thought the coffee and the food was authentic and so was the conversation. 

Those were times when the electronic appendages that are a dominant part of our life today were still in their infancy. Coffee shops were a great place to catch up with my reading, a habit which I sorely miss today.  

The coffee chains like the CCD and Barista started proliferating the metros in India right about the time I decided to give up my full-time job and set up a consulting practice of my own. Coffee shops offered the anonymity to work uninterrupted as well as set up meetings with clients. The added bonus was the constant wafting coffee smell. 

The ambiance in the coffee shops in India ten years back were a lot different than today. There were distinct categories of people for each of these chains. Barista and Costa had a more Business clientele whereas CCD catered to a younger crowd.  

The coffee joints, at least in Delhi, have changed a lot in the past ten years. Highs real estate costs have forced many of them to shut shop. The clientele too has changed over the years. And the coffee has got more expensive. 

Unlike their European counterparts, the Indian coffee shops do not offer an opportunity to ‘observe’ life as you sip coffee and catch up with whatever it is that you want to do. Umair Haque in his article ‘The Bistro and the Promenade - What We Can Learn from the French Way of Life’, has some very interesting observations gleaned from his own life in Paris and Montreal. A point in case is his observations about the way the chairs in the bistros are usually placed not across each other but side by side allowing conversations, laughter even falling in love. People gossip, share grief or in silence watch the world go by.  

Watching the world go by is therapeutic! It is fascinating to observe people. With my keen interest in marketing and therefore consumer behavior, I game the process challenging myself to predict the next move of the young couple or the old matriarch, with equal fervor.  

For me the Perfect Coffee shop allows me to work on my device if I need to. Read. Plug in my device to recharge if I need to (yes, I have been refused at a few places in Delhi). Watch life go by when I want to.  

There were a few places that matched my expectations. But all of them are gone. Or their coffee has become too esoteric for my liking. My need to ‘smell the coffee’ urges me stay in the hunt for that elusive Perfect Coffee Shop. Every day I keep looking.