Going Beyond The Elements of IQ & EQ ...

My dear friend, Kishor Jagirdar wrote on Wednesday, 23 May 2007 in businessgyan under the title "Harnessing Human Capital for Performance Excellence" on what I'd spoken about the transformation of HR practices at the HR Summit organized by IHRD.

I'd mentioned the relevance of SIX SIGMA in HR processes and stressed on three core points for HR practitioners

1. Know your business ... learn to speak the business language
2. Know your environment ... continuously build Leadership Capabilities and
3. Understand the Key Drivers of Success ... build on everything that leads to Job Satisfaction

I'd suggested the use of metrics in the recruitment process, training and project management and every other facet of management practice to improve the quality of talent intake and performance bench marking ultimately resulting in well being and harmony in work life.

I'd proposed that one has to develop an HR team powered through HR as well as management expertise. HR Generalists must be a coach and counselor, a good orator, an influential, objective and ethical leader, technology savvy, a strategic planning expert and finally a business partner in the growth of the organization to meet the challenges of the next decade.

In two years the world has gone through a sea change ... and how. HR practitioners have been struck in the thick of the recent Global Financial Meltdown since the past 9 months being pulled to the fore on their strategic thinking towards cutting costs while continuously motivating key talent. While there are some signs that the recession in some countries may be lifting, most organizations continue to soldier on with reduced workforces, frozen or diminished wages and other challenges. Many organizations say it's tough to keep their employees energized and engaged in such a climate.

The competency to deal with these ambiguities has been tested to the core in our HR practitioners. As coaches and counselors they need to have four crucial elements to build what Stephen Covey calls the "Voice" of their personality. The voice, as I understand, stands for 'Executive Presence' which goes beyond the elements of human mind (IQ) and heart (EQ). Neither the IQ nor EQ give Usain Bolt his voice. It is his Physical Quotient (PQ) that makes the world sit up and listen to his thoughts. This is the same PQ that followers look up to in their CEOs and public leaders. It is the same PQ that brings down a person with the plethora of ailments that afflicts the modern manager. Finally, the fourth crucial element is the Spiritual Quotient (SQ).

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) is a legislation enacted by US in response to the high-profile Enron and WorldCom financial scandals to protect shareholders and the general public from accounting errors and fraudulent practices in the enterprise. As an after effect of this organisations have been flirting with the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in various forms including setting up organisation specific 'Code of Ethics' (CoE). But the CoE has not retarded the appetite or crudely put the greed with which the world saw the fall of Lehman Brothers or the bail out by JP Morgan Chase of Bear Stearns in September 2008 at the beginning of the Financial Meltdown. It would take these strong knocks for us to realise the importance of our SQ to create and sustain our Executive Presence in today's world and for times to come.

About Shaw Macons

Shaw Macons is a Leadership Coaching and consulting services firm specializing in performance measurement solutions that increase accountability for bottom-line business results. Whether it’s developing a scorecard for a corporate, determining return on investment for a human resources program or conducting a business impact study on an organization change initiative, Shaw Macons consultants partner with clients to create powerful measurement methodology. Please visit our web site, shawmacons.com to learn more about us.