THE IN BETWEENIE

Douglas Mc Gregor in his book “The Human Side of Enterprise” examined two types of theories; X and Y of human motivation at work.

 Let’s relate to an experience many are familiar with; the education system. In school there exist scholars that are towed to class; these have extremely low levels of motivation. They only perceive yoke to revise once exams approach, lest they be unsuccessful. They possess not an ounce of intrinsic motivation within their vessels. In the typical Ugandan education system (one I undertook).  They need a whip to be reminded they’re in school. These are whom Mc Gregor refers to as the theory X.

On the other hand, theory Y proponents are the brood that is much focused and love to study. In the Ugandan setting these don’t need a whip to apprehend the rationale for their existence in school. They manufacture results much effortlessly. Now I am not saying that the theory X proponents don’t produce results. I am simply saying the former yields much more effortlessly.

The Intrinsic and Extrinsic motivation are highly essential

Today’s work force is predominantly representative of neither of the theories. On the other hand we seem to have inhabitants of their middle ground; in between the two theories.  These I have grown to call the “in betweenies”. These neither ascribe to the X nor Y. They are in between the necessity for some sort of motivation to work and self motivation. They create a balance between the intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Their motivation is arguably seasonal.

My experience with the in betweenies in school is that they seem to pass and excel holistically. They excel past class work to other sectors of life.

According to Douglas Mc Gregor’s theories, workers that ascribe to theory X have very limited motivation to work and can hardly work without maximum supervision. On the other hand, the ones that ascribe to Y require minimum supervision to accomplish their tasks and can work effectively without supervision.

It has come to my attention that the best people to hire are not necessarily those that ascribe to theory Y but rather the “In Betweenies” since a combination of these two yields much more than any of the two.

A combination of the two yields much higher motivation.

Do not seek the extreme; the in betweenies are the way to go.

MEDITATIONS OF THE RACIST TIMES

Ever wondered what it felt like to live under racism?

 Being black, I would have been one of the most frustrated people alive. Imagine living a life whose value was determined by a ruthless master.

On the other hand, I have heard of testimonies of slaves whose masters treated with lots of respect. Then I realized not every white person then was racist. In the experience of a non-racist white man, black is white! Because of faith”…calleth those things that be not as though they are…” (Romans 4:17 KJV).

This surely was an act of faith since the bible defines faith as the evidence of things not seen and substance of things hoped for. We can verily affirm that such men had faith. How then was this faith manufactured?

Visualize with me, the white man sees black but perceives white. If we are to judge the man’s eyes. He is racist. The perceptive faculty of his mind on the other hand isn’t. Would you rather judge the eyes or the mind? In fact, had all white men of those times carried this mind, racism would not be one of those topics embedded in history text books today.

Similarly many scenarios bring a temptation of judgment and reaction by the eye. What differentiates the ideal manager is not how they see but rather how they perceive. The implication is that personal and society opinions need to be set aside for one to judge by the mind. Otherwise how would you explain a manager who still believes in their staff even when they fail at something consistently?

We ought to judge and react by perception and not sight

As a result of the faith a few white men had in the black, racism came to an end. Your sub ordinate’s success at something is highly dependent on how you react to their initial failure at it. However your reaction is entirely dependent on what you decide perceive with; the eyes or the mind.

The next time you boast of having faith in your employees (sub ordinates) be sure that it is of this kind and nothing less. Carry a testimony of them achieving what you hope them to. Don’t let their current results determine how and what you perceive them as. That is Faith!

Faith moves mountains; it moved racism and separated the red sea. An employee’s under performance is extremely micro!

THE NOW EXPERIENCE!

As a man thinketh so he is.

As a man thinketh...

This gives an experience of a man being. Not of a man hoping to become! It actually affirms that a man is as he thinks.

Well the dictionary defines branding as the process of making something.

I beg to differ; you cannot make something that is already made. A house is not made in ten years. No. The ten years are simply a process of bringing to sight what is already existent in the mind. No wonder “…things which are seen were not made of the things which do appear…” (Hebrews 11; 3 KJV)

As educators, we are constantly training staff in organizations and youth to create their own brands, they have been trained to brand themselves and therefore become that which they intend to.  Well it’s high time the order switched. Branding is not a “to-be” practice. It is a “now” experience. It is an”I am” experience and not an” I want to be/ I will be” experience.

True branding is when you make your house and spend a year building it. This clearly shows a distinction between making and building.

Make your brand!

Making is when you create something! Building is when you gather bricks together to put in place that which you have already made. Surely one cannot hire a structural engineer without an architectural plan.

In regards  to organizational branding, It is not an aspect of working towards becoming something but rather acknowledging that you are(make) and thence working towards building that which you already are(build).

The best youth empowerment team does not have to strive with actions geared towards becoming what it already is. It simply has to act and behave as the best youth empowerment team there is. That is true branding

True branding is a now experience!

Branding is a now experience. Do not act, behave, administer, talk, walk or consult a particular way to become that which you want to be. Simply make yourself and build the brand. Do not do anything to become the best banker. Make yourself the best banker. The building the brand will edify you as the best banker.

THE HONEY COMB SYNDROME

Recently I shared a moment with a friend of mine who happens to be one of the best civil engineers in the making. We shared grievances about a particular building under construction that had something he called a Honey Comb (Must be one of those engineering terms).

Filled with anguish, he grumbled at the little proportion of material the cite engineer had used in comparison to what was actually needed to set up the building’s foundation and by virtue of my limited knowledge in this field, I probably did not fully comprehend his distress.

A Honey Comb( Engineering Terms)

 I later on learnt that the only solution to a stray construction is demolition with purpose of renovation or worse still; collapse which obviously is not an option many would take  given the atrocities with which it comes. Truth infallible is there is no shortcut to solving the Honey Comb syndrome.

Going deeper, I learnt that this syndrome is rooted majorly in two factors; Time & Resources. It is a result of engineers working shadily to save either on the resources or to redeem time.

In a report made by Construction Review Online, around 60 lives were lost during collapse of buildings around Africa. The recently collapsed building along Sir Apollo Kaggwa road around Kampala city center cannot go unmentioned. Should we really put more lives at risk with dangerous buildings erected due to the Honey Comb syndrome?

An increased rate of buildings collapsing is as a result of the #HoneyCombSyndrome

Currently many managers cut down costs of staff development and training, bonding and team work because of high training costs or even claims of limited time. The bitter truth is that this only leads to failure. However the timing of the failure is highly relative.

Not until we get rid of this Honey Comb syndrome shall we hear no more of organizations failing and collapse of buildings.

Astute managers therefore ought to resolve to spend now and save much more in the future for it is wiser than saving now and spending then.

 Get rid of the Honey Comb syndrome. Take your staff through capacity training, bonding sessions, and many more.  The cost is worth it.

 Get rid of the Honey Comb syndrome.

COUNT ALL LOSS!

I have for long seen people very agitated about results in various aspects. Many a times the cause of their agitation is simply a perception of unequal harvest in comparison to sow.

The Bible says that if a man wants to build a house, they must count the cost!

“For which of you, intending to build a tower sitteth not down first and counteth the cost, whether he has sufficient to finish it?”  Luke 14:28(KJV)

 This is the reason we have architects in this world. Such is also the reason men set long and short term goal. It is the reason their exist something called B.O.Q’s. (Bills of Quantity)

Therefore if a man wants to excel at his job or even their managerial position, there is a cost that they need to incur and as the Bible says; what guarantees the success of their intention is actually foreknowledge and planning of what they need to incur.

Many a time men sacrifice and do not get as much as much result as the cost they incur. I once read that a result is simply the measure of the effort incurred. This means that it is impossible for one to work harder and reap any less.

Let’s look at the experience of a man who greatly experienced the grace of God and ended up writing a great portion of the New Testament; Paul. He says he counted all but loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Jesus Christ.

“…I count all things but loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my lord…”
Philippians 3:8(KJV)

Paul did not look to gaining mere knowledge or even mediocre knowledge of Christ but rather the excellence and for that reason he had to count all loss. This means there are times we count loss but not loss of all.

An excellent loss is an ALL loss

Therefore if we are to experience an excellence in the work we do we need to count ALL loss. Not only few things for that ultimately leads to mediocrity and ordinary results.

It is expedient to acknowledge that that which should be reckoned loss is relative depending on that which we intend to achieve.

I choose to count all!

THE FRUIT OF MANAGEMENT #1- THE OVERVIEW

”A part of the plant that contains seed capable of generating a new plant” Sound familiar? Yes! That’s the Merriam Webster definition of a fruit. The mention of a fruit brings forth a refreshing and nourishing taste. A smothering one with a relaxing and hydrating effect.

 However, it is argued among some circles that not all fruits bring forth a similar experience. “Extraordinary Facts of Plants (EFP) rates lime and lemon as the world’s most sour fruits. Isn’t it amazing that some people enjoy the lime and lemon? I guess pleasant taste is surely relative.

When one takes on or is assigned a managerial/ leadership role, a seed is sown. The manager becomes a plant that must produce fruit to be pleasantly enjoyed by the people they lead for a plant cannot enjoy its own. In fact the plant keeps the fruit for as long as it can to the point of dropping if no one plucks it.

The Fruit Of Management #1
Photo Credit; Karama Ralph

All fruits have seeds within them which can consequently grow into other plants. That is the concept of replication; the ability to replicate only that which you are. No impatient plant can reproduce a patient fruit. The beauty actually is that from one fruit can come various plants since it has multiple seeds.

Managers today ought to produce fruit for those around them to enjoy but most importantly one with seed to plant and reproduce others of its kind. That’s the concept of multiplication under the “Fruit of Management” principle.

The life of the fruit is not a straight forward one from planting to harvest. But rather does come with a number of technicalities.

Every manager should therefore commit to the process of bringing forth this fruit of management.

…

THE RECYCLE

Our comfort zones have over time proven to be our greatest hindrances to realization of our full potential. Sadly many people think that comfort zones are only those in which we place ourselves consciously. Well no! We do enter some obliviously. The worst part is when we think only the worst of these comfort zones. I now realize that a number of good things accompany our comfort zones, weaknesses and challenges.

Seat down and meditate on how strong & knowledgeable we would be if we overcame our weaknesses. Or further ponder on how much more progress we would make if we jumped out of these comfort zones. Yes! Un-measurably strong. Imagine having both your weaknesses and strengths at your mastery.

So the beauty in a weakness and a comfort zone is that it simply gives us an insight on what we can perform at and do better.

Look at it this way; Jesus knew Judas Iscariot had trust and betrayal issues but still entrusted him with the disciples’ treasury. Why? I have a feeling he wanted to prove something. The Bible says “… For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12; 10 KJV) the implication simply is that your weakest point is actually your strongest. When you think you are at your weakest is when your strength is made perfect and manifested. Overtime I have learnt that the biggest weaknesses, fears and challenges that I had turned out to be some of the greatest strengths I brag about today simply because I made an outlet for the fear in my spirit and pursued ways in which a could better my stand as far as these phenomena were concerned.

Look through your work and search out for the challenges you have long faced, the weaknesses you have long kept and the comfort zones you have for long dwelt in. Only this time do not look at them as challenges but rather strengths that await you to take the first steps into obtaining them.

A mastery of this concept will get us to the realization that our feeble areas are not weaknesses but merely residue awaiting recycle into what could be our greatest strength.

Make your fear a strength
Photo Credit: Shutter stock

Recycle them today…

RECEIVING MINISTRATION

If we are to learn, we have to get rid of the fear for being wrong.

Everyone can teach us however we do not learn from everybody. I guess that explains why we do not remember everything we were taught in school. The smartest of men is the most prudent of them. One with the ability to humbly take on a mantle handed over to them and even run faster no matter the weight and size it comes with.

 Receiving the mantle is not the issue for we all have hands stretched out to receive. The problem however is how to. Many times the ministration of feedback is done with many underlying factors; anger, personality, experience, attitude and many more. I actually know what it means to take your time writing a research proposal or even preparing a presentation just to get the most negative of feedback without the slightest salt pinch expression of gratitude.

So how do we position our spirits to be teachable and learn from anyone regardless?  Simple; HONOR.

Honor is that spell cast on oneself to humble you into knowing that a person went before you regardless of how much more intelligent and richer you have become overtime. It is the place that acknowledges how important it is to be ministered to and illuminates one’s eyes to the sight of what a blessing it is to be given feedback and take on the ministration in temperance amidst all the attitudes, moods and other disposition that it normally comes with.

 Everyone can teach you but you do not learn from everyone one. Position your spirit to be a teachable one that can learn pretty much everything from anyone. Receive the mantle with honor and humility. 

MINISTERING APPROPRIATELY

Communication, they say, is the simplifier of all complexities. Do I agree?

With two-way communication dominating management, feedback is undeniably inevitable. We however often forget the power of our tongues to slay and create.

“Human beings are spirit beings” says Noeline Kirabo. Her implication is every communication is not only ministration to the body senses but to the spirit too. I believe feedback is an opportunity especially if negative and ministered with positive intent. Having greatly profited from it, here’s how to appropriately administer a good dosage;

The first I named the “sand witch”. The name is derived from the fact that negativity is sand witched between two positives (POS NEG POS). The sender initially appreciates the recipient and further goes on to affirm the good work they have done after the negative has been brought forth. So go ahead and serve the sand witch, beef or vegetable, it’s still a sand witch.

Beef or Vegetable! Its still a sand witch!

According to Dale Carnegie, criticism has never yielded intended result for it puts the other party on the defensive. Therefore fight temptation to criticize another but rather seek to understand why they did it that way. This then gives you a right to suggest an alternative without necessarily putting the other on the defensive or eliciting resentment.

Having applied these two, I testify of reaping their fruit and believe the same will accrue to whoever dare applies. We however needn’t negate the basic principles on which feedback rotates. A Smile or jolly face while ministering feedback always comes in handy to neutralize the negativity being delivered. Descriptiveness, timely delivery as well as spot on non- ambiguous responses also do wonders.

Don't forget to smile
Photo Credit; Kyusa

On the other hand, feedback is often rendered void of its power when delivered in private. It gives an assumption of indispensableness and special consideration to the recipient. Therefore, depending on the situation, feedback that ought to be delivered publically should not be taken into private.

Avoid Giving Feedback in private

The biggest barricade to perfect ministration to spirits is failure to appreciate. Could we adopt a culture of appreciation and thanksgiving not only in thought and mind but also in speech?  Let’s learn to say “thanks” from the depth of our hearts even for the smallest of things.

Yes I agree! Communication is the simplifier of all complexities. But only when conducted appropriately. Let’s therefore simplify complexities through mastery of ministering appropriate feedback to people’s spirits.

 Start to minister...

DISEASE VS SYMPTOM

“No one deserves to feel worthless” Rebecca Black.  This expression is limitless in context, work environments inclusive. So what exactly causes one to trample over another? Render them insignificant in self- judgment and make them feel much less of what they really are- Worthy! Let’s discuss work place bullying.

Whereas rationale for bullying is extremely wealthy in content, I capitalize on the root in which all the others stem. Self-esteem! Having been a bully, many of my actions drew inspiration from a desire for appraisal and fulfillment. The place of deficient intrinsic approval caused a hunger only satisfiable by an extrinsic. Absurd though are the means through which the extrinsic was sought but perhaps “the end justified the means.”

Similarly, a multitude of workers today score low on approval within consequently leading to its pursuit without. While stories of managers sabotaging progression of their subordinates up the corporate ladder are peculiar no more, the underlying truth remains intimidation by the brilliance of the latter therefore frustrating them as reinforcement to the former’s insecurities

Work place bullying is merely a symptom 

Work place bullying is therefore merely a symptom of a latent disease accumulating within a system continuously reducing its CD4 count rendering us much more prone. Low self-esteem ought to be handled by the horns through managerial involvement in understanding employees, positive appraisal, compliments and appreciation of their work amidst several other interventions geared towards eliciting increase in their self-evaluation.

However personal initiatives such as positive self-talk, awareness of self and many others are not to be ignored for no one can do as much for us as we can.

Since it’s wiser to treat the disease rather than the symptom, may the treatment begin!

GET RID OF SHADOWS

For long we have been so caught up in the old traditional way of doing things that we have ignored the substance. We are taken up by the“how” and have long forgotten the “what”.

This the apostle Paul calls shadows. 

“ Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a holy day, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days; which are shadows of the things to come, but the body is of Christ” Colossians 2: 16-17 (KJV)

Look at the 8 hours working day. The traditional managers were long stuck to working between 9am and 5pm till the Americans invented the flexible working time prior to the industrialization period enabling workers work 8 hours a day of their convenience, this over time has proven to be one of the work styles that have increased productivity among the work force today. The beauty is that it maintains 8 hours of work in a day allowing the worker do it conveniently. Who wouldn’t want convenience? I guess that explains the high productivity levels among those subject to this work style.

However some proponents are still opposed to transformation, probably because we consider it applicable only to top management. Let’s ton it down a little. In regards to driving, I was raised to always ignite the engine, let loose the handbrake and then change gears. Now from my experience, the vehicle has never failed to move even when I loosen the handbrake after changing the gears. The Substance in this case is the car moving while the shadow is at what point the handbrake needs to be loosened. We therefore need to get rid of the shadows.

Get rid of shadows

So what is it about these traditional work styles that blinds us to the substance which is efficiency? Now, I am not ignorant of the technicalities that come with the adjusting work styles and work environments neither am I against any organizational culture, nonetheless I am aware of the returns accruing to openness to innovation and also greatly conscious of how crippling rigidity can be.

Therefore let us shine a light into our lives and work styles and ask ourselves what styles we have been so attached to for long and negated the substance which is effectiveness. This I believe is the first step to improvement of our work in regards to both production and interest.

WHY WAIT?

Monday 7^th March 2016; time check-past 9 pm, while trotting the streets on my way home, a grey Toyota Alphard parks right beside me. It’s no surprise for I know who it is in the driver’s seat. A brother, Enoch, one I appreciate and love for his contribution towards our moral development during my early adolescence. He was one of those whistle blowers. The ones this generation has termed “snakes”.

Six years down the road, I realize how lucky we were to be reprimanded for our misdeeds in school. I now acknowledge the blessing in being corrected for it streamlines you into the appropriately shaped vehicle effortlessly scampering the surface of the earth.

I then wonder whether my nationals ever take off time to appreciate Pius Bigirimana and David Sejjusa for without the screeching sound from their whistles, the OPM could have been wasted and the “Muhoozi project” a heavy bombshell.

Only while enjoying fruits of wonderful nurture do we appreciate the pillars involved in the process. Similarly, organizations’ flourishing is normally the alarm clock for appreciating the various parties that play instrumental roles in their progression.

flourishing is normally the alarm clock

We needn’t refute that whistle blowers are strong sources of information for administrations consequently contributing to organizations’ growth. So why await an alarm clock to celebrate them?

 Let Us appreciate he that blows the whistle!

WHO BLEW THE WHISTLE?

Photo Credit;Google Images

Looking back, my early adolescence was really epic! My friends and I were the epitome of naughty. From class, onto the compound and into the dormitory, we were surely at the top of our game.

Now it isn’t my intention to boast or even justify what we did but rather paint a picture of what we were. Am talking about the kind whose names would gain first mention upon the mere paranoia of the slightest possible occurrence of crime and to this I am certain Aganyira Munanura Arinaitwe&Wagalinda Charles can adeptly testify.

Everybody does have their fears and antipathies, well we weren’t any different. We hated so much prefects and any individual whose goal was to make us submit to what was right or even report any bad deed we had committed.

Similarly, organizations have these kinds of people and I am not referring to the bad people (For some organizations are pure) but rather the ones who always report! The ones that will always purvey the message to management, the ones who feel their contextual job requirement is to please the authorities with information that is preferably supposed to stay “need to know”. Such are called whistle blowers.

These blowers can either be internal or external. Externally, you could have noticed service providers like NWSC and UMEME  urging clients to call a particular number in case of poor services or even delivery trucks having a phone number on which one can call to signal  bad driving. On the contrary, scenarios like the OPM saga where Pius Bigirimana blew the whistle are clear examples of what it means to be an internal whistle blower. Furthermore, army General David Sejjusa's open declaration of the “Muhoozi” project is another clear illustration of internal whistle bowing.

Recollecting back to how it felt like to be snitched, my heart aches with itching scars that were left from wounds of betrayal every time the whistle was blown internally. What is ironic though is that the opposite did not feel any different;it’s no trouble tracing the stitches that were applied on my heart every time my heart burst because of an overflow of anger and anguish whenever it was done externally.

Undeniable is the fact that no matter how the whistle is blown, it never goes well with the victim. However, it is quite unrealistic to negate the benefits that emerge from this noble cause although those are sweaters that I have kept and will serve on a cold day.

Today we acknowledge that no one wants to be irritated by the loud screeching noise of the whistle no matter where it comes from.

WOMEN'S CLOUT

Women for a very long time have been regarded as a marginalized group by various groups of people.  The constant advocacy for women’s rights has done a great job in preaching the gospel against this primitive stereotype both in word and action. However are women really as frail as society deems them?

Stephen Rwangyezi once said that there is no need for women to strive for power with men for they were created with more power over the latter. Women have the power to make men complete and perfect, to influence them as well as to control and manage most of creation.

According to Genesis 2; 20-25 man was not complete 'til God created woman.  We see woman being given to man as a helper with whom he would manage God’s creation with ease. Furthermore, 1 Sam 19; 11-17 presents Michal playing a big role in saving David’s life when her father Saul sent his messengers to kill him. What an exhibition of loyalty!

“Nothing lasts more than a mother’s love” Love being a verb that can only be proven through action, this statement is greatly demonstrated in the greatest organizations there are, Families! We see women at the fore front of the planning, organizing, coordinating and budgeting within our homes. Furthermore, they take on the human resource function of the family through recruitment, selection, induction and training of the house helps. This only proves that women can best manage all sorts of organizations for “He who is faithful in least is faithful in much…” Luke 16; 10

Women’s eye for detail and ability to communicate effectively enables them appreciate the smallest details among their workforce as well as easily engage employees. With ladies such as Jennifer Musisi, Allen Kagina, Winnie Byanyima and Dr Maggie Kigozi having proved that there is so much transformation that women can pioneer, there is need to break the existent glass ceiling in many organizations to allow more women go up the corporate ladder and take on managerial roles in order for us to enjoy the fruit of their splendid managerial skills.

Gender equality is simply equal opportunity! Women are not any less of a gender than men and should therefore not be treated as second class citizens. If anything they have proven to be a stronger gender. Discriminatory treatment for or against women of any kind in regards to human resource functions needs to be evaded with strong policies both organizationally and nationally enacted to eradicate this despicable primitive practice. That then will be the first step into enjoying fruits of women in management.

“For there is no partiality with God” Romans 2:11

TRANSACTIONAL VS RELATIONAL

On my birthday last year I received a text message from “airtel” a local telecommunications service provider wishing me a happy birthday. Just as many who have gone through a similar experience, joy filled my heart! I felt loved. A feeling I normally get when someone shows interest in a particular sector of my life in which I do not expect them to.

 Many a times we have heard couples complain about their partners not having time to listen to each other and failing to spare time for each other. Well, who would want to be in a marriage where they are just enjoying intimacy without companionship? In the same way, employees too desire to feel a sense of belonging and companionship with their employers.

Ever wondered why during fundraisers for causes targeted towards benefiting people, organizations normally bring forth some of the beneficiaries of these programs or even share a number of success stories frequently. The trick simply is: the donors need to have a feel of the impact of their giving so as to motivate them into giving more. Similarly, imagine the magnitude of motivation that would be aroused within an employee if they are acknowledged for and shown the impact of the effort that they put into work everyday.

Accountability according to many scholars is limited to the role that needs to be played by employees in completion of the tasks and duties assigned to them. A view that I find transactional. An efficient manager is one who acknowledges that the relationship has to be rather relational where they too feel accountable to their subordinates. The latter needs to feel that they are more than just machines that are used to manufacture a good but rather a vital raw material without whom the production process can be greatly sabotaged. They need to perceive an equitable importance between the result of their effort and the effort they inject in order to achieve the result.

“…I can pretend that am not lonely but I would be constantly fooling myself…” Said Rihanna in her song “we all want love” This statement implies an inherent desire within human beings to feel loved and cherished. Similarly human resources desire to be loved and have a relational and not transactional relationship with their employers. Just as the employees meet the needs of their employers, the latter also needs to meet the underlying needs of the employees by depositing into their emotional accounts in order for them to be more productive.

Stop having transactional relationships! Make them relational!

THE BEAUTY IN CONTRAST

 Life has two sides-the stern and lax. The contrast in life “A time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance…” Ecclesiastes 4 to imagine that everybody has a serious side as well as a lax one. Moses Mukisa says “There is a call in every crisis” Ironic, huh?

 Jerry Komagum goes on to assert that within every school bully is a soft traumatized heart. The beauty of the contrast in life is that it cuts across all sectors. JP Morgan one of the men that built America stated that every business man, however rich, has a price! You just have to find it. Something he proved when he purchased “US Steel” from Andrew Carnegie at $480 million!

Oh! the beauty in the contrast of Life!

Let’s redirect our thoughts to a simple contrast of a teacher and a stand-up comedian (both noble professions). Guessing that you can distinctively tell which one is lax and the other serious, think about why you would rather spend thirty minutes listening to a comedian rather than a teacher. Simple, the comedian uses a satirical approach to bring forth a major point whereas the teacher does exactly the opposite. The former will in most cases tell a funny and hilarious story of a lady in a taxi and from this story one is able to learn a lot. In contrast, the latter normally uses an approach of the major issues before bringing in the satirical approach.

This acknowledges that every life issue is best addressed if attacked from beneath. From the basics, the simplicity, the lax bit in everything and then onto the complexities of life. Proponents argue that the best way to market a product is to relate with the customer on a personal level (depositing into their emotional account) before moving onto the complexities of the product.

Management similarly follows a similar principle. The ability to understand and address Human resource related issues is surely handicapped if we put the complexities at the fore front. There is need to understand them from the basics of their life onto the complexities of bettering their performance. Only when we make endeavors to understand what pertains the individual lives of our human resource and appreciate how they influence their performance will we be able to better their performance.

Master how to make contrast work in your favor!

ORGANISATION TO MOVEMENT

A week ago I attended a motivational session where Moses Mukisa gave insight on how to sustain an organisation for over 500 years. He shared about the difference between an organisation and a movement with the church as his major example of a movement given the fact that it has been in existence for more than 2000 years. On this note I will share some tips on how we can convert our human resource into a movement using the same tactics Christ used to grow and develop the church.

The Business Dictionary defines an organisation as a social unit of people that is structured and managed to meet a need and pursue collective goals where as Merriam Webster defines a movement as a group of diffusely organised people or organisations striving towards a common goal relating to human society. One would therefore wonder how they can get their human resource from just working towards collective goals to further getting diffused into each other working towards a shared goal. With an existent thin line between the two, this is how Christ did it;

Jesus while on earth called together twelve disciples that helped him spread the gospel in some parts of the Jewish and gentile lands while he taught and prepared them on how they would continue to spread the gospel after his departure. Mathew 16; 18 “…Peter, and on this rock I will build my church…” Managers and employers ought not only to use the assistance rendered by the human resource to enable them reach their targets but also develop task force that can continue to move the organisation forward even in their abs ensure.

 In Mathew 6; 9-13 he teaches the disciples how to pray the right way. Many times our human resource goes astray which may at times necessitate training. The manager should therefore teach the human resources “how to pray” by taking them through refresher courses or even pre-induction training in order for them to sustain the organisation. The Lord’s Prayer also enabled the disciples understand the basics of their faith which implies a need for the human resource to understand and own the vision of the organization.

In John 14; 16 Christ promises to send the disciples a helper to help them spread the gospel. Even after delegation of work, managers ought to play a mentorship, patron ship and supportive role with the human resources in order for them to ably sustain the organisation.

The church as a movement continues to grow and spread all over the world and this is greatly attributed to the foundation on which it was built. Therefore organisations that are rooted with human resources having a sense of “a movement” stand higher chances of crossing over to different generations.

MANAGING A MULTI GENERATIONAL WORK FORCE

The lord our God in Ephesians 2; 14 encourages us to live in peace no matter our differences! One would reflect upon the viability of this message, especially with today’s work places having an average of four generations according to Forbes. Difference in communication styles and mindsets being the major sources of inter-generational conflict today, managers continue to battle with minimizing and mitigating these conflicts.

With the baby boomers preferring the rigid face to face communication, technological advancement has come in as a major aggravator of the conflict since it allows the millennials practice their online communication. Similarly, the boomers’ competitive and hardworking mindset in contrast to the millennials’ cooperative and smart working does not narrow the conflict any thinner.

On that note, managers need to negate the blanket stereo types concerning the different generations and handle them in respect to their personal needs. Darren Kyeyune, a millennial sports journalist believes the first step to reducing these conflicts is appreciating the existent cross-generational differences. The managers should therefore be flexible enough in their expectations from the different generations. It would be a fable for a manager to believe that a baby boomer can learn to work with the windows XI operating system with as much ease as a millennial therefore implying a need to appreciate their differences and manage them accordingly.

Cross generational transfer of knowledge is very crucial and this justifies why many managers today need to adopt workplace mentorship programs where the millennials and the X-ers can be mentored by the boomers. Furthermore, there is need to adopt a number of work patterns such as flexi time and telecommuting that would enable generations like the Millennials who strongly subscribe to the new psychological contract ably perform work tasks from anywhere. Such patterns are even more helpful to the x-ers who in this age dominate parenthood.

“The glory of the youth is in their strength” Proverbs 20; 29. This is why managers need to actively engage the Millennials at work since it is their God given right as youth to keep engaged. Research proves that Millennials will enjoy their jobs more especially if they are greatly subjected to contextual work performance where they perform tasks outside their job description. Millennial engagement at work can further be spiced by involving them in teamwork since they are highly intrigued by team involvement.

Just as conjugal rights wouldn’t be enjoyed in the same recurrent style, Millennials have a natural tendency to easily get bored and lose interest in case of monotony. This implies the need for managers to apply different approaches of job design such as job rotation to keep their flames burning vigorously within.

With a new generation “Z” cropping up, it is paramount for managers to re position their approach towards handling multi-cultural conflicts in order to save organizations  lots of labor turnover, low productivity and poor staff rapport in the future.

A MULTI GENERATIONAL WORKFORCE

 The world`s population is continuously becoming multi generational as we grow to over 7.4 billion people. As a result, our workforce is greatly experiencing conflicts due to the difference in generations and mindsets.  We closely focus on how these different generations we have are continuing to influence our work behavior today.

Baby Boomers (51-70)

They are referred to as baby boomers because they were born during a boom of births after World War II. Stereotypes around this generation are that they are very difficult to manage because of their superiority complex and belief that they have been in the game for long.

 With these boomers dominantly taking over the public service and political offices in countries, their experience always comes in handy as it is “the best teacher” and guides them in making good political decisions for the Country.

 Furthermore, the boomers play a vital role in the cross generational transfer of knowledge through interaction with other generations. With their rigidity and negative attitude towards change, many of these baby boomers have outlived their stay in the workforce by going past their retirement age which has also led to increase in youth unemployment.

The tough global economy has therefore led many into individual ventures such as agribusiness whilst some continue to tassel out with employment.

Most saddening is their pre-dominant ignorance about technological advancement that results from their negative attitude towards learning new skills.

Generation X “X-ers” (36-50)

These were born right after the baby boom during a period within which their parents worked so hard to stay afloat and take care of the many children that had been born during the baby boom. This perhaps explains why the X-ers strive to have a very strong sense of family that they did not have. X-ers are motivated by good causes. This is evident in the fact that most social enterprises and Non-profits are started by their generation.

 They greatly value constructive feedback and prefer flexible work schedules since most of them during this age have families and desire to have a work-life balance. Their preference for flexibility often leads some of them to start their own businesses in order to have control over their work lives.

 According to “Work Place Warfare” by Ellisa Collie, the x-ers are best placed at work places because they are the most suitable for leadership since they combine their knowledge with the experiences that are passed on from the boomers.

They have a positive attitude towards change and this has enabled them adapt to the ever changing technological world giving them a favorable spot in this competitive workforce.

Millennials “Generation Y” (16-35)

With countries such as Uganda having 78% of its population below the age of 30, it is ironic that the Millennials occupy a small portion of today`s workforce. Many employers attribute this to their alleged arrogant, unethical, selfish and lazy work styles. If these allegations are anything to go by, it should be noted that they originate from the fact that the “Generation Y” has grown up with mobile phones tied to their ears and computers right in their faces. This has made them very lazy since whatever they want is just a click away from the internet.

 On the other hand, employers that have mastered the art of handling Millennials are reaping big due to the generation`s strong desire to learn, great multi-tasking ability, extreme creativity and high productivity.

 Furthermore they are awesomely comfortable with technology. They require constant financial and morale stimulation and this explains why the financial sector experiences a 25% millennial labor turnover annually according to Bernard Salt.

There is great need for managers to understand and appreciate the needs of these three different generations and work towards harmonizing them for a higher quality of productivity.