Life-cycle of a Resignation

When someone asked me the meaning of resignation? The simplest form of answer was leaving a workplace. However, when one thinks about it as a terminology and the overall chain of events, it definitely cannot be termed in a single word ‘Leave’.

The lifecycle of a resignation runs upto 1-3 months from pulling down the curtains perspective, however in reality it’s a longer process for the employee as well as the employer. This doesn’t happen in one day and can be sensed as coming. The way this resignation process evolves, in my opinion the industry (especially the Knowledge One) need to understand and come out with a robust model to sustain the retention, individual growth as well as work extensively towards mutual returns with the employee.

Few terms form an important phase of the process and need to be closely studied and mitigated ensuring the churn is at minimum. I have tried to look at the resignation from employee and organization perspective:

Resignation - By the meaning of it, is a withdrawal from any role , position and organization. But in reality, it’s a thin line between the past and the future.

For the employee, the past gives him the glory, satisfaction, sense of failures or incompleteness and accomplishments whereas the future imply new horizons, new dreams, new identity and to an extent new anxiety. Looking at the human nature, around 80% of the people would not want to invoke this without fully exhausting their thought process.

This is where the role of middle and top management is crucial and it needs to play its cards craftily. It needs to act before the employee completes his/hers thought process. The organization has to know its own people, the overall trend, competitor’s vision and also retention of right talent for today and future which forms the key to make any organization a stable one. Keeping the vision of organization and ensuring the alignment of the employees with its goals is predominantly required to have the resignation number under control.

The Middle and Top Management has a huge role to play in controlling this volatile phase or situation.

Opportunity – Opportunities are the gateway to growth. Employee or Organization both would be the ultimate beneficiary if this is managed in a well-thought-out manner.

The organization needs to generate more opportunities. The avenues need to be evolved and created and not awaited. Making use of exuberance and experience is the key for bolstering the organization tree, a success. Acting smart and not late is fundamental to growth of any organization. The move to right technology, right domain, the customer needs and do it right the first time is the real Mantra. If this is not supported by the right mix of people , invoking resignation lifecycle is unavoidable. The diversification and initiation as part of the progression of a career is a must for any organization.

With the ever evolving technology and trend to grasp and grab more , the employees are always on a lookout for that ‘X’ Factor and opportunity is vital to make a success out of employee and employer. By providing the right opportunity at right time would add to the sustainability of the organization.

Someone has famously said ‘Love Your Job and Not The Company’ and mind well, today’s generation has taken this meaning to a literal level.

Roadmap – For any employee or an organization, roadmap is the key to future.

Everyone in this competitive world wants to see himself/herself grown and deems a future for oneself and the best way to nurture these inner thoughts is an organization’s ability to align with its employees. Identifying the right talent, continuous communication with the employee and coming out with a roadmap for them as well as for itself is the need of the day for any organisation. The organization which can envisage this today for a better tomorrow is the one which will not be required to go through the talent crunch very often. The ability to judge a talent and resource lies with the management and more proactively it acts , it improves the longevity of the resource. The resource has to have a clarity where he stands today and tomorrow.

The biggest takeaway from any roadmap is assurance of the future to the organization and makes it ready to take up any challenge, sustain the growth. No organization can survive without clarity of its own as well as its employee's roadmap for the future.

Attrition – It’s a number game overall. Lesser is the number, more is the stability.

As someone rightly said, no one can stop anyone from leaving then on the other side of it , the most important part to control this number is to be a proactive organization. If one organization doesn’t understand the need of the employee (and it may not be monetary only), the other ones are ready to grab these loopholes and bridge the gaps. It’s said take in your plate what you want but ensure what you take is what you need, applies for the companies as well. I have seen organizations act in haphazard manner and increasing the headcount without proper data and analysis. Such organizations would always feel the heat of cost , talent , revenues and ultimately losing it big on attrition and most importantly the organizations need to fledge as per the need and not per the trend.

The key is proactive retention of rightful talent, grooming the employee to ensure right skills and be Future Ready.

Relieved and Reliever – It’s always a unique phase , considering the fact that 2 people /parties are involved for completion of handover and takeover without impacting the organization’s integrity.

One, who is relieved, is relieved from all the glories, passion, stress or ownership and the one who is relieving has to re-live the complete role, a sort of getting into someone’s shoes and start afresh. The organization needs to ensure both the parties feel a mutual trust when this inevitable happens. The feeling of relieved should be earnestly felt by the departing one and the new owner needs to be rightfully placed and empowered. The key to right transition is the trust of the involved management in this tedious task and only it can get this seamlessly delivered.

The goodwill built through this difficult phase shall nurture the culture of the organization as well as improve the trend of belongingness towards the organization.

All in All ,though the nitty-gritty or the philosophy of resignation process would always have above phases which would remain crucial and interdependent, the missing of a proactive control would cost a talent , goodwill as well as the strength of any organization .

The above article is published on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/life-cycle-resignation-jayawant-gokhale-pmp-itil/

- Jayawant

Edens Glory - A reality or the past !

Is it rains or the fading of interest of the game in Kolkatans or is it something to do with the opposition?

Never seen Edens with no crowd over the years . Edens was always India’s answer to MCG and Lords.Disappointed with the crowd turnout.

Kolkata has always been a special and cricket frantic crowd . The emotions displayed by them are  unparalleled and they have always been one of the most vociferous and enthusiastic crowd all these years.

The crowd was always famous for showing their true emotions on and off the field. Sometimes  going overboard but always being  a true supporter and highly passionate of the game.

The players took it as a pride to represent India at this ground knowing fully well how it matters to perform in front of almost 1 lakh people , who understand the game so well, are excellent critic and most emotional of the lot.

Few of the instances which are still the very vivid memories and made Kolkata a real sports city and I remember :

1) Azharuddin’s memorable Test Debut against England scoring an improbable century setting up of a fantastic (& controversial) career and crowd dancing to the tunes of exquisite timing by unexplored Azhha !!

2) The crowds cheering up and reaching the ground to support Dravid and Laxman in the historic victory after following on against Steve Waugh’s army which till date marks India’s biggest victory and I presume it was the turning point of India’s progression to the top as ICC stalwarts .

3) Historical 6/12 by Kumble in Hero Cup finals , single handedly winning the trophy for his team and the dream semi final last over by the master clinching birth in the finals in an absolute electrifying atmosphere at the gardens.

4) 1996 World Cup semi finals could not be completed as India was at the loosing end and Kambli walking back with tears in his eyes against Lankans after a dramatic Indian collapse. Such was the emotion of the crowd that match referee Lloyd had to give default victory to Sri Lanka .

5) Gavaskar dropped (Still controversial who took that historic decision ? ) Kapil in 1984 Test match against England resulting in hoardings of ‘No Kapil No Match’ at this very famous ground.

6) With the controversy of Kapil and spat with the crowd , Gavaskar decided and vowed not to play at Kolkata again and the promise to himself he kept and pulled himself out from a test match  against Pakistan putting  a break to the then world record of consecutive 106 test matches for him.
The same crowd came forward in support of the master and wanted him to forget the past and regretted their actions .

It’s only Kolkatans who could accept their mistakes and being passionate about the game were so vocal when they got angry or when they apologised.

( Happy to note , Gavaskar , Kapil and Kolkata have moved from the past and all that ends well is always well ).

However !!

The entire fervour is missing in the current test against Lanka. The crowd is quiet, seemingly detached from the game ,players sedate and match moving at its own pace.

Is it something like Bengal is moving to their real passion football or it’s time the Test matches move to small cricket centres considering the fact that cricket is no more an urban game . Infact most of the new generation of cricketers belong to small cities , so such centers could be a long term realistic option to spread the clutches of the game .

Nonetheless it’s a sorry faced Test Match at the Edens ( Hope to see a change in last 2 days of the game)

- Jayawant

http://jay1tedensglory.blogspot.in/2017/11/is-it-rains-or-fading-of-interest-of.html

GR Vishwanath !! Epitome of Sqaure Cuts and special number 4

As the first little master GR Vishwanath or our great Vishy completes 50 years of first class cricket , I am tempted to revisit my choice of top 5 number 4 batsmen , however with huge respect keeping old stalwarts  out of the list and keeping the choice bit contemporary.
(The guys below played at other batting slots as well , but major contribution was at number 4 , hence enlisted).

5) Martin Crowe : A New Zealand great , tremendous cricketing brain , innovative captain and a great human being. The saddest day for any cricket fan was the day it was known , he was terminally ill due to cancer, ultimately cutting his life short. Happy for him that he could travel all the way to Melbourne for the only cricket World Cup finals New Zealand ever featured in . I assume the world lost a potential great coach because of untimely death of the great Martin .

He brought a sea change in NZ batting lineup and made the world change its outlook towards NZ. Few of the classics I remember from him was his 299 against the Lankans. He got out when none in the game believed he could get out. His partnership with Andrew Jones (186) in this match of 467 was a world record.
Martin’s exquisite timing , cool approach and ready to play in any condition brought a huge stability to the team. He singlehandedly brought Kiwis to World Cup semis in 92 World Cup . RIP Martin , we miss you !!

4) Javed Miandad : For all those controversies off the field and on the field , Mum-n-Dad was one of the finest number 4 batsman.
So composed and fiery on the pitch.Dominated the bowlers all over the world and giving a feel of not getting out ever. His 280* against India in Pakistan was a gem of innings to watch though bit controversial as in those days he was never given LBW at home. 99 against India in 83-84 series making crowd erupt and His last ball Chetan Sharma Six took away Australiasia cup from India.

His controversies like almost hitting Lillee
or jumping on the pitch to mimic Kiran More ,surely not matched his real worth as he was great anytime , nonetheless his mark on the game remains forever.

3) Brian Lara : One and only Brian Charles LARA. The name itself brings cheer to the game . Only batsman to score 501* in a first class game . Only player in the history to get back the coveted record of  most number of runs in test innings and scoring 400* against England.
Superlative footwork, play shots at will and all of them qualifying for classics was the epitome of his innings.
Windies was always great but LARA made it to top when the decline of the great nation was obvious . He single handedly kept the name of the team atop.

Leaving the battle of supremacy with Sachin when he was on top of his game marks Lara’s attitude and approach towards the game.

He did it in his own way and walked away as a king.

2) Sachin Tendulkar : The only GOD made out of human beings in the modern era is Sachin. A superhuman and super batsman.
All records galore and at the pick all through his career. His 241* against Australia when completely out of form remains the most memorable innings for me.He restrained himself from playing any out of the offstump ball all through that inning.

Guess the name is enough here 🙂

1) GR Vishwanath: For me he is one of the best , India ever produced.

He is the one who made people like me understand the meaning of century on debut. I recollect sticking to my radio with my father in the hope he would surpass Vinod Mankad’s 231 in an epic innings ultimately failing at 222 in Chennai against England.
His sqaurecuts are still unmatched . His ethics of the game are still remembered. A brilliant slips fielder and a complete team man he made a great combination with his brother in law Sunil Gavaskar on and off the field. Dip in the form and pressure from media , ended his career after mediocre Pakistan series in 1983. His Midas Touch is still missed in the game.

I was tempted to  name Greg Chappel , Graeme Pollock and Virat Kohli in the above list but choice became tough and chose to restrict the count to 5 .

However being biased Gavaskar fan , remember his score of 236* against WI at Chennai batting at number 4 again proving the best batsman of any team normally bats at 4 🙂

Each player added immense contribution to the game but Vishy being Vishy would always remain special. He taught Indians how not to budge under pressure, play the game honestly , made a generation to follow the game of the cricket , took a back seat when the tide was against and created the most memorable square cut (almost patented) of his own and gifted this role model shot to the world of cricket .

Vishy’s contribution to the game of cricket would remain and recalled forever !!

- Jayawant

http://jay1t.blogspot.in/2017/11/as-first-little-master-gr-vishwanath-or.html

ASHES 2017 : Carnival of cricket

As England begins its quest for the coveted URN at the fag end of November’17 (23rd) , I get back to this most intriguing bilateral cricket series on the planet earth.

I still recollect those childhood memories when there was no Television , the only medium for me to have the updates on the ‘ASHES’ was Newspaper and I had all those goosebumps while opening the last page of the daily early morning to get the latest of the game. ASHES has been the BAAP of any cricket carnival and the winner takes it all kind of limelight for any cricket fan and to add to it  the Boxing Day Match has always been the icing of the game.

I guess these ‘ASHES’ in the urn are the most exceptional ones considering the fact that no other ASH would get love from so many people and for that matter any individual. Such is the ferocity with which ENGLAND and AUSTRALIA come against each other for a full 5 Test Match series every 2 years and try to prove their supremacy in one of the most hostile conditions. The name itself is born out of the rivalry between these 2 cricketing nations and coming out of colonial failure of the British against the Kangaroos in 1882 Test Match and the English Media declaring the obituary of Cricket for the Lords of the game. The bails of the match were burnt by the fans and presented in URN as ASHES to set this more than a century old  tradition of the cricket supremacy.

I have been fortunate to read or hear so many Ashes stories from my cricket bible (my father)  and few of them still fascinate me when I try to correlate modern day cricket with the old stalwarts. Don Bradman , Len Hutton, Neil Harvey who can forget their contributions to the game . A cricketer of caliber of Sir jack Hobbs with 197 First Class Centuries, Jim Laker’s 19 Test wickets in a Test Match , Truman, Lindwall , the list is endless. Bodyline series especially targeted for the DON by Jardine ( Kids must watch the Television Series Bodyline) , guess these were the absolute miracles of the game. These stalwarts had to travel through ships and stay away from the world and make the use of the deck to be in touch with the game , only geniuses would do that. And who knows if the world wars were not there , Bradman would have taken away all the honors of game from the rest of the generations to come.

Not only did ASHES give legends , it also produced the wonders of Benaud, Lawry who showed the world how to make a 5 day match interesting through their unequivocal  observation of the game. These commentators  in fact taught how the game should be seen , described and played too. Watching and listening to ASHES is a treat to eyes and ears with the tradition still being followed by modern game.

Coming back to Modern day ASHES , it always meant to be Lilee or Botham /Willis , Boycott, Gower , Gatting ,Lamb , Gooch , Underwood , Kim Hughes, Yallop and Borders, Lees, Mcgraths, Pontings, Haydens  and the magician Warenys of the game.. OOPS , I still feel I have left out so many names though.. Howsoever, the entire generation of English Cricketers could not beat the might of the Kangaroos in 90s. The Newspapers ( and the Television by now J) repeated the old story for a long time . I recollect the change in fortunes brought to England by Flintoff in the 2005 series. They have been in quite consistent since then and been a force in the world cricket primarily due to ASHES success. Watching these masters of the game has been an absolute privilege ( though not all in real and some for sure on the green platter). They were once in a lifetime kind of a lot. So focused and so adamant to prove a point.

The 2017 ASHES are going to be special one and in my opinion will settle so  many future landmarks of this wonderful game of cricket. Cooksey on a lifetime trail of the GOD for most number of runs in the history of the game. This series could well be the decider whether he remains in the contention or would wind up early. The baby faced Stuart Broad might get the coveted 400 number. Smith or Warner, either of them would carry the Australian torch in the future. England ROOTS or Aussie SMITHS.

Whosoever is the winner , being a true fan of the game , A BIG cricket bonanza on the cards and let the URN go to the earnest team !!

ASHES !! Make it a point !! Prove the battle !! Enjoy the carnival !!

- Jayawant

https://jay1ntsashes.blogspot.in/2017/11/ashes-2017-carnival-of-cricket.html?m=1

Nehra ji : Indian Fans would miss him

One of the unsung heroes and never to be a legend who made his presence felt for almost 2 decades calls it a day today. As Ashish Nehra hangs his boots , citizens of Cricket bid adieu to this wonderful selfless sportsman.

One of the most could have been flourishing careers, Nehra always found himself either outside the boundary rope or outside the dressing room due to his fitness issues. But whenever , he had the opportunity to make use of those 22 yards , he was a wizard .

Still remember few of his magical spells which defined the course of the game .2003 World Cup match against England being the most notable one .His 6/23 was a dream spell putting the breaks on England dreams and he almost single handedly ousted them of the World Cup .Ultimately though Australia made a mockery of Indian juggernaut in the finals of the game. Moment of glory came again in the 2011 World Cup semis against the love your neighbour country and he was the most economical bowler in the match but again faltered through injury to be out of the finals. Alas !! As usual could have been a legend story continued 😔

With ever hanging fitness issues and consistently being out of Test team , Nehra made most of the opportunities in ODIs and got a real reprieve from 20-20s and the IPL through which he or the selection committee could make most of his potential and the class.

Goto Man for any cricketing captain and serving the game for almost 20 years and making a presence felt all throughout the career is the biggest takeaway for this untiring servant of the game.

For true cricketing fans ‘You are the Legend Nehra’ . Take a 🙇 🙇

- Jayawant