Job Sculpting - The Michaelangelo Method

FOR RETAINING YOUR staff, correlate the heart and mind of your employee. Help him identify his life interest. Undertake the rewarding task of job sculpting Mr. Verma, ``I quit,'' Susheel Desai, a star performer at Pentaplus Software in Noida, announced as he handed over his resignation. Prahlad Verma, General Manager, HR, is flabbergasted. This is something he never foresaw.

Verma had no clue why Susheel seemed dissatisfied. His rise in the firm was meteoric. Having joined as a junior administrative officer six years ago, he is now the administration manager, with enviable stock options. During the conversation that followed, Verma discovered that Susheel enjoyed selling ideas and products to people, and had innovative plans in this area. Verma asked Susheel to devise a marketing strategy and implement it. He also made it clear that Susheel still needed to shoulder certain administrative responsibilities.

Susheel is not the only person afflicted with such migration syndrome. Verma was subjected to the pain of losing valuable personnel for similar reasons. With the successful retention of Susheel, Verma evolved a new method for retaining star staff. A method, which he tested on many who had decided to follow Susheel and quit. He found that the scheme succeeded admirably.

The question here is how many bosses would like to make an extra effort to retain their star performer? Do HR managers, whose primary function is to manage people, really understand them? Why is there dissatisfaction after the cumbersome procedure of selecting the near perfect match for the post? When does the disillusionment set in? Verma points out: ``The trouble starts when an employee realises that he is not enjoying what he does.''

What are life interests?

``Enjoying an assignment happens only when the job matches one's life interests,'' says Verma. He explains further that life interests are not hobbies or enthusiasms. They are passion for a certain kind of activity or work and are linked with one's personality. They do not determine what one is good at but tells one what kind of work one loves. Identifying one's life interest and choosing a career accordingly is crucial for job satisfaction.

What and why of job sculpting?

This is where Verma differs from the other HR men. He became adept at identifying his employees life interests and sculpting a job accordingly. Like sculpting, job sculpting is also an art. An art of matching people to jobs that allows their life interest to be expressed. He calls it The Michaelangelo Method, named after the famous Florentine sculptor. Often employees lose awareness of their life interest while fulfilling other people's expectations or picking up an easy career. Verma feels this innovative technique need not be restricted to the HR department. Any manager who has a keen interest in his fellow employees can become a master craftsman. The criterion is, he should be able to drag that `life interest' from its hibernation and increase an employee's awareness to it.

The Michaelangelo Method enshrines the following points:

Observe and probe: Make yourself like a private eye. Lucky for Verma, Susheel was able to discuss lucidly his reason for dissatisfaction at work. Things will not always be as simple! Far from discussing life interests, many people are not even aware of them. This is what he suggests in such eventuality:

You need to ask probing questions. Watch for signs of excitement while the employee does a particular assignment. Throw away the conventional yardstick, `He excels at what he does, so this job is for him.' Excelling at one's work does not mean, he is enjoying it.

Get to know: ``Make yourself a Freud. Play the psychologist,'' says Verma. In fact, people with the aptitude for job sculpting are born psychologists. Susheel instinctively knew that Verma was willing to solve his dilemma. How could Verma achieve this? Declare your willingness to help them in identifying their life interests, he lets out his little secret. Get inside your employee's mind and see what makes him tick? What motivates him to volunteer for certain kinds of jobs? Which are the jobs he does half-heartedly and considers them drudgery?

Make a point: Whiz like Ford. Being employee- oriented is the new mantra. Verma insists on employee job satisfaction. He realised that if he had accepted Susheel's resignation, the company would be losing on an invaluable resource. He was quick to reassure Susheel that the organisation was as keen on his career as Susheel himself was. While hiring new personnel, emphasise career development.

Consider likes and dislikes: Be a Dutch Uncle. Time and again, while undertaking a performance review, ask the employee about his likes and dislikes. Verma listened to Desai and considered his proposal. A task most managers find taxing and time- consuming! For employees who are uncomfortable with oral communication, here is a suggestion from Verma. Encourage them to write a few paragraphs on career satisfaction. Ask them to describe their favourite activities on the job. This would help the employees who are not comfortable in oral communication, Verma suggests.

Tailormake the next assignment: Become a fashion freak! Design a job that correlates with your employees life interests. Try and allocate them the job they enjoy and excel at. Verma feels that this is the most crucial area of job sculpting. For instance, when he asked Susheel to implement his marketing strategy, he was tailoring Susheel's next assignment. He converted a win-lose situation into a win-win one. By offering Susheel a chance to see whether his ideas worked, Verma retained him. He also made sure the administration work did not get affected, giving himself the time to find an administrator as accomplished as Susheel. At times, you may find that there are no jobs available that would satisfy your employees life interests. Even though it could be a painful decision, counsel your employee to find a job elsewhere that would satisfy him.The final piece of advice from Verma is Job sculpting is a worthwhile method for retaining a talented employee. A company's reputation is built not just by its product and output. It is also based on the energy and loyalty of its people. A satisfied employee is an unadvertised asset.

Nayana Chekka

nayana-chekka@yahoo.com