‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ If you engage in a conversation with me, a version of this question will inevitably surface. And I am willing to bet that you will have an answer – one that will likely not match your current career. The good news is that you aren’t … Continue reading Boring Businesses: Trading Ping Pong Tables for Laundromats
Mid way through this year, my manager sat us (the team) down to share a bunch of documents and lessons he’d picked up from a recent leadership offsite. As I was cleaning out my office desk last week, I found the documents and scribbled in corners were my top takeaways from the day. I sat … Continue reading Five things; from one professional to another
Lately I’ve noticed an uptick in conversations on second careers and side gigs. Many elements have led to the fueling of this fire. It began with the pandemic encouraging people to seek meaning in life; be it through the soul-searching activities of baking banana bread, whipping Dalgona coffees and origami or by quitting their day … Continue reading Bring on the side gig
This is going to be a short one. When I first started my corporate career, I’d take extreme pains to ensure that my emails were their best possible version before I hit send. I would add the courteous ‘I hope this email finds you well’, ‘hope you had a good weekend’ and ‘happy Monday’ at … Continue reading Tiny curt emails
If you’ve been around a while, you’ve probably noticed that the posts are getting fewer, Twitter more neglected and that the March (and now April) edition of the podcast never emerged despite me promising that it’ll all pick up pace. If there was ever a time to blame languishing, it would be now. But that … Continue reading Activating Purpose
The world changed in 2020. I am not a prophet and cannot determine whether the changes are for better or worse. What I do know is that the change is irreversible and we will never go back to exactly where we came from. With all the events that took place over the last 12 months, … Continue reading Events that changed the world of work in 2020
Last week I sent the closing email for one of the projects I run. The email subject line said – ‘Chennai Technophiles signing off for 2019.’ What the subject line should have said is ‘I am signing off for 2019.’ For over a week now I have been literally dragging myself out of bed and … Continue reading End of the year slump
February has been crazy busy and that is an understatement. I keep thinking that the next day will be better and it ends up being just as busy. Now I have just pinned my hope on March. Almost everyone who has crossed paths with me this month, has heard me say – “March will be … Continue reading Day in the life of an HRBP #1
It isn’t that hard to turn work into fun & fun doesn’t come in just one variety. According to Nicole Lazzaro, there are four kinds of fun: Easy fun – This is casual, nice, light and takes minimal effort. Think of it as the fun you have when you’re relaxing by the ocean or hanging … Continue reading Making work fun
You get the culture you build! Been driving people through incentives? You’ve done the job right, here – take some cash. Project under compliance? Here’s an award. Whoops, missed a few deadlines. That’s OK. We’ll skip over your incentive for this half month, your appraisal will be just fine. What happens when you then realize … Continue reading Working for incentives?
The HR Business Partner Story 