Unleashing Potential

I have struggled for the past few weeks, thinking about the topic to write about, given this is my first post here. Ideally, I should have written about reward or HR, but instead, I thought of writing about something that maybe hasn’t been talked about much. In HR, we like to do stuff that drives employee engagement, motivates employees, raises organizational performance, but to me what matters more and comes before all is “How to maximum people’s potential allowing them to truly shine and be the best they can be”. Is this something that we as individuals think about, or something that HR and organizations actively do?

Today, companies are increasingly focused on employee well-being, fostering healthy and conducive environment for great ideas and execution, driving engagement. Companies are also concerned about career development, career progression, driving right behaviors, integrity, culture and of course retaining top performers.  All of this, so they are performing at their best.

What about qualities that are innately build in people and skills & knowledge waiting to be explored and unleashed. Is it similarly not important that organizations do what’s necessary to make employees reach their full potential, which in turn can have a much larger and lasting impact on its performance? In my experience, I don’t think companies do this very well.

Life is a journey that doesn’t begin when we join an office and is not limited by the time we spend there, but somehow in my experience we are exceedingly limiting reaches of human potential at work by the rules we define there. We need to de-link ourselves from our perceptions and truly understand the depths of what people can achieve. I have found the best examples of this outside work. Passionate people engaged in hobbies and activities, things they love, are able to push themselves so much more, achieve so much more and learn so much more. I admire Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson like crazy, and find his story and life very inspiring. From having 7 bucks when he started wrestling, to being a man who can do no wrong, (Time’s 100 most influential People 2016) he was able to achieve so much by truly realizing his potential and pushing himself constantly (talk about drive, energy, and passion). It started with an opportunity in wrestling that allowed a chain reaction leading him to where he is today (of course it helps tremendously if you’re dedicated, focused and disciplined about changing your life like he was and is). But, what if no one gave him a chance, and what if he had decided to give up and let things be. Ask any top sportsman or athlete and they will tell you what all is achievable if you are passionate, and are willing to give it all. The reaches of human potential then are limitless. How many times have we heard people asking others to give them a chance? Sometimes a chance, an opportunity is all it takes to change fortunes.

Look around, how many of your colleagues do you truly know. Their aspirations, their passion and the strengths that sits within. What are companies doing to harness that potential, the passion that sits within people? How can we translate it into making work more meaningful and transform people so that it impacts their efficiency, productivity, drive and ultimately their lives?

We are often limited by how the world views our potential and what we are capable of. People unfortunately cannot find avenues to drive and explore their potential, and so much that should be achieved gets left behind. That is very sad.

Let me give you two example;

1) What happens at work often, is this notion that managers/HR/leaders have of their employees and what they are capable of. They have reasons why someone can’t get promoted, or can’t get a job they want or can’t change things about their jobs, because in “their view”, the employee is not ready or does not have the right skill. I am not saying they are always wrong, but when an employee has successfully shown, and proven time and time again their capability, learning agility, consistent good performance, what basis do others have in determining what an employee should or should not do. The job of a manager, HR and a leader is to facilitate development, ensure employees are performing their best, and constantly raising the bar. It is moments like these, we limit, what people can do. Rather than giving your own people a chance to do things they want, we get others from outside which in my experience, often leads to failures.

I know this because I have been at the receiving end. I was told I am not suitable for a job because I lacked experience in that particular role. I was fully convinced and strongly believed that I would not fail, and I had all my previous jobs to prove it. The only thing I didn’t do was fight for the role and I let it be. The perception of others prevailed, and what could have been didn’t. In such cases, imagine what it does to an employee’s motivation.

Same has happened to a friend, who despite years of good performance, still cannot get his well-deserved promotion. It’s because there is never a job for him in an organization that hires and promotes thousands every year, and every year there is a new excuse why he can’t be promoted, even though, I know he is more qualified than many others above him both in terms of experience and expertise. These are the actions by managers that cause, good and tremendous employees to leave. We intentionally prefer to let our employees sit and suffer because in our view they are not capable. I am not discounting that not everyone can and should get what they want, but in my experience many times people who truly deserved were left out. Not everyone will will shout for their rights, but it's the manager and HR's responsibility to be fair and give a chance to those who deserve it. Being an eternal optimist I always feel that people should be given a chance and they will shine. In most cases they do. People have done spectacular things when they got the right opportunities and were allowed to realize their potential.

2) You have an employee who is very passionate about community service. What if you had a program in your company that allowed employees to not only participate in company sponsored CSR events, but say get two days to go and work for their favorite cause. What if you facilitated a group of employees who love running to train for the marathon? What if you organized a cooking class at work for those who want to learn how to cook? I could go on, but I think you get my point. How often do people complain about things they want to do, what they would like to do, but cannot find the time, or have the right resources. Their dreams, passions are left undone and many hidden talents and powers left undiscovered. What if at work, there was an avenue they could use to explore these with minimum effort. Do we think it would cost organizations a lot if they supported such causes? Again, I am not saying that companies can and should cater to every need and want, but I am sure there are some that can easily be implemented. Organizations and companies are always worried about ROIs. What is the return on making your employees truly happy and helping them realize their passion?

We want our children to fly high, aim for the impossible, dare to dream big and we do whatever it takes fulfill their potential. Why can’t companies do the same for their employees? I don’t think it requires a whole lot of work to create avenues to explore people’s passion, allowing them to be the best they can be. In my view an employee who is allowed to fulfill their dreams, passion and potential at work is always better than someone who is just there to do their job. 

Maybe, in my na?ve mind, I think it’s much easier than it really is. I would love to hear your thoughts. If for nothing else, to satisfy my craving for understanding this notion deeper.

 Sajjad Parmar