Always keep communication channels open and positive in a work environment, says Dr D J E Ravithilagan

I began my journey as a management trainee with Transport Corporation of India Ltd (TCI) Hyderabad soon after completing my MBA at the age of 21. That was quite a fast run. Ambitious and restless, I worked hard being there at Hyderabad for about 10 months completing my training in the transportation business.

I was posted as the Regional HR Officer at their Madras Office – covering Tamil Nadu and Kerala. That was a big job at such a young age. There were about 300 employees in some 80 branches and it required travel.

But there was a catch. That was a one-man department job. I had to do all the work myself, end to end, initiating, planning, executing, and documenting etc. I found very quickly, that I was terrible in the documenting part of it and it was over 70 per cent of the job – the pre-computer era. I struggled and made a lot of mistakes. Especially in payroll processing.

I knew I can not survive this and made a decision. I carefully charmed the ladies working there. They were office superintend, secretaries of Marketing Manager, Operations Manager and the Regional Manager himself. They were much elder to me (by about 10-15 years) and perhaps took pity on me and wanted to help a struggling (slightly incompetent) young man. They did most of the work and I got to sign. However, my manager came to know about this unauthorised assistance. One day, he called all of us to his cabin and told in no unclear terms that they were not supposed to help Ravi and he has to do all his work himself. My face was crestfallen and started wondering. There was a strange silence in the room and the boss dismissed us from his room.

Just as we exited the room, the beautiful ladies winked at me, reassuring me not to worry. But that day I understood the power of Leadership.

As I saw it and moved up the ladder, the content of the work was never a challenge. It came naturally to me. Also, everything was process-driven. Once the process was set, it was to comply by it. Later, the challenge was peer-relationship. Sometimes there were conflicts, differences in perspectives that were to be handled and accommodated, negotiate, find solutions and constantly keep the communication channels open and positive. These factors ultimately became the focus areas and the keys to success.

Talking of my transition from industry to academia, it was a long term plan. My father was a teacher and always felt that’s homecoming. I did my PhD in 2008, which was in line with the plan. Reading, writing and teaching gave me joy. Worked on metaphors – as a hobby and have made presentations on them in over 100 universities in India. But, when I left the leadership role (with all the power to go with) it was a shock to absorb. I did go through a period of adjustment and rediscovered myself in this role and now being integrated into my skin.

The experience has its own instances, stories, pains and memorable moments. When I go through the subject for preparations, those stories come into the mind and make me appreciate the theories better. Many times, I feel I get a better perspective of those experiences and the struggles, while I apply my mind to the theories. Sometimes, I feel, if I had understood my theories better, I could have performed in the industry still better. Overall it is a self-helping and humbling experience.

About the author

Dr D J E Ravithilagan is a professor at Crescent School of Business (CSB). He is a PhD degree holder in Human Resource and Management. His area of expertise is Organization Behaviour and Human Resource Management.

Note: The views expressed in this article are solely author’s own and do not reflect/represent those of Shiksha