Shyam Bhatawdekar | Building Leadership and Management

Competencies and Competency Matrix: The Latest Authentic Book

Posted on May 9, 2012 by Shyam Bhatawdekar

The Much Awaited Book on “Competencies and Competency Matrix” Unleashed

The famous authors Shyam Bhatawdekar and Dr Kalpana Bhatawdekar have been writing articles on the ‘competencies’ and ‘competency matrix’ for quite some time now. It has been attracting an extremely large readership till date.

Considering that such a large audience needed knowledge and its application on this subject, the authors finally decided to write a self-contained book covering all the necessary aspects of ‘competencies’ and ‘competency matrix’.

The book titled “Competencies and Competency Matrix” has been published in eBook format as well as in the print format and is available from Amazon.com. (You may like to preview the book at its preview link https://www.createspace.com/Preview/1101359)

For Owning your Copy/Copies

For owning your copy/copies of the book, you can refer the following links:

USA and rest of the world: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00814S9GO
UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00814S9GO
Germany: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B00814S9GO
France: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B00814S9GO
Spain: https://www.amazon.es/dp/B00814S9GO
Italy: https://www.amazon.it/dp/B00814S9GO

About the Book and the Authors

In this book, you will read all about building competencies to achieve effectiveness and therefore, to achieve success in professional, personal, family and social life. For this purpose explanation of a large number of important competencies and the methodology of “competency matrix” have been included in the book.

Authors, Shyam Bhatawdekar and Dr Kalpana Bhatawdekar, in their capacity of top notch business executives, highly sought after business consultants, eminent management gurus, authentic human behavior experts and prolific authors have had extensive and intensive hands-on experience of competency matrix and competency building. Therefore, the treatment that is given to this vital topic in the book has turned out to be quite authentic.

Table of Contents

Following are the contents of the book:

Competency (or Competence) Defined
Definitions of Certain Terms That Clarify Definition of Competency Better
Why Competencies?
Hard Competencies and Soft Competencies
Proficiency Levels of Competencies
Developing Competency Matrix
Value Addition by Competencies
Soft Competencies
Descriptions of Some Soft Competencies
Generally Asked Questions on Soft Competencies in Interviews

Our Various Publications

1. Classic Management Games, Exercises, Energizers and Icebreakers
2. Classic Management Games, Exercises, Energizers and Icebreakers (Volume 2)
3. Sensitive Stories of Corporate World (Management Case Studies)
4. HSoftware (Human Software) (The Only Key to Higher Effectiveness)
5. Stress? No Way!! (Handbook on Stress Management
6. Competencies and Competency Matrix
7. HSoftware (Shyam Bhatawdekar’s Effectiveness Model)
8. The Romance of Intimacy
9. Funny (and Not So Funny) Short Stories
10. Stories Children Will Love

Recession and Opportunities

Posted on April 21, 2012 by Shyam Bhatawdekar

How Recession Can Be Blessing in Disguise, How Does It Provide Opportunities?

In an earlier article titled “Recession” (http://recession-global.blogspot.in/), we dealt with the fundamental reasons for recession, the fundamental remedies to avert recession and who should take the initiatives to tackle recession. In this article now, we are looking at the brighter or positive side of recession as to how it may provide the opportunities for those who wish to use them.

Recession and Opportunities

Does the recession provide opportunities? The poser sounds a bit unfamiliar to start with, particularly when we hear everyone around cursing the recession and its negative impacts. So, can there really be any opportunity at these difficult times of downtrend in the economy? Business world has reasons to be concerned and worried as recession is having adverse impact on their business. It’s obvious because recession is a decline in a country’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth for two or more consecutive quarters of a year. Recession is also preceded by several quarters of slowing down of economy. But the moot question is: does the recession have a bright side to it? Can’t this period be used as an opportunity?

Genesis of Recession and its Manifestations

An economy which grows over a period of time tends to slow down the growth as a part of the normal economic cycle. An economy typically expands for six to ten years and then, tends to go into a recession for about six months to two years. A recession normally takes place when consumers lose confidence in the growth of the economy and are not able to spend or want to spend less. The consumers are not ready to spend as there is a strong apprehension regarding security. Businesses have slow growth or less sales and business which are not “need” based but are “want” based definitely have problems as consumers focus on need based purchasing.

This leads to a decreased demand for goods and services, particularly the “want “based goods and services. Even the “needs” are curtailed. This in turn leads to a decrease in market consumption and so there is decrease in production. The outcome of this is the lay-offs and downsizing and a sharp rise in unemployment. Again this further reduces the ability to purchase and so the demands in market reduce further, leading to vicious cycle, creating global slowdown and the crisis in many businesses. As the globalization has taken place, most of the businesses are connected to each other and so the impact is felt by most of the businesses all over the world in some measures.

Investors spend less as they fear stocks values will fall and thus stock markets fall on negative sentiment. The economy and the stock markets are always closely related. The stock markets reflect the health of the economy in a significant way.

During recession, normally the government increases it’s spending to create more jobs in many areas like building of infrastructure. Government also takes steps to help the private sector come out of the crisis.

Opportunities

Prima facie, disadvantages of recession far outweigh advantages if any. True. But why not explore if there exists any opportunity in this kind of scenario for the business world?

There are definitely some opportunities to be looked around during recession- doing that will be good for businesses. With some stretch of imagination and channeling of creativity, we can work out few things to our advantage during recession.

Decisions

During this slow down of the business, an organization should review its business goals; this is the time to take many important decisions. Business decisions regarding make or buy and externalizing the employment through outsourcing certain functions can be taken. This may enable the organization to reduce overhead and administrative costs, leading to enhanced flexibility of the organization.

Organization can scrutinize and develop short term and long term goals, get its vision and mission clarified. It can identify business cross unit synergies, partnerships and alignments. The objectives can be reviewed and redefined so that they align with the emerging business environment. Policies and practices which are misaligned can be altered and aligned.

This is the time to restructure the organization. Better and new processes and systems can be formulated and redesigned. Decisions on redesigning jobs and roles can be taken. Organizations can decide to keep training and development initiatives to help maintain morale. It increases long term productivity and also gives necessary skills to the redesigned roles.

Cost Management

Managing cost or saving is a very good habit. It is a traditional wisdom. During the growth of the economy, it helps the organization to become cash rich. At the time of recession, cost management helps to release much needed funds.

This is the time when organizations should have cost management under focus and implement the fundamentally established principles and practices of cost reduction. Management techniques like cost control, seven wastes of shop floor, inventory control (just-in-time management), lead time control, productivity improvement, resource utilization, zero defects (quality management), zero breakdowns (total productive maintenance management) etc are required to be implemented successfully. This will minimize all kind of waste and release the much needed cash (working capital). Cost of production of goods and services will reduce and selling prices can be lowered so that organization can gain advantage in the market and people/organizations can start buying again creating demand in the market.

Learning

When business growth is slow, smart organizations look for opportunities to improve flexibility and innovation to improve ability of managers and employees to tackle many business challenges. Creativity and innovation are necessary to manage the problems faced by the organization. Organizations also need to develop resilience so that they can take advantage of new opportunities that arise during periods of economic down trend.

To adapt the workforce to the emerging scenario, necessary emphasis, knowledge and skills through training can and should be imparted, so that they can be deployed in a more flexible way during recession time.

This also helps to retain the talented core employees and gives boost to their morale.

If the culture necessary for innovation is fostered and nurtured in the organization during growth time as well, then the benefits can be reaped now during the challenging economic scenario. Long term learning should therefore need not be stopped just because the organization has come across the recession; rather it should be continued during this crisis when it is required the most.

This kind of well thought out and well designed continuous training and learning also prepares a large number of employees as the new generation leaders at different hierarchical levels- the kind of leaders that are required to face the challenges of the white water conditions that get generated in the recessionary times. And mind it; this white water condition is almost a permanent white water condition in the businesses of today.

Conclusion

While cash rich organizations have an advantage with slow down of economy; many strategic mergers and acquisitions can take place thus helping to expand their business. By adopting the opportunities mentioned above, other organizations also can manage to survive and grow when they take up the challenges of the downtrend of the economy and learn to manage the change swiftly and successfully.

Every environmental condition has threats as well as opportunities. When the threats suddenly create challenges, then, organization is likely to go in the defensive mode and may overlook the opportunities. If the organization is proactive and is scanning the horizons, then it can perceive the emerging threats and can take care to protect itself. Even if the change happens too suddenly for the organization, it can manage the drastic change if it harnesses the opportunities in the environment and can emerge as winner.

For More Guidance, Assistance, Training and Consultation

Contact: prodcons@prodcons.com

Training on all the topics related to management and leadership is provided by Prodcons Group’s Mr Shyam Bhatawdekar and/or Dr (Mrs) Kalpana Bhatawdekar, eminent management educationists, management consultants and trainers- par excellence, with distinction of having trained over 150,000 people from around 250 organizations. Implementation of various HR system is also facilitated by the team of Prodcons Group.

Also refer: http://prodcons-group.blogspot.com/, http://training-development-function.blogspot.com/ and http://productivity-consultants.blogspot.com

Our Book Publications (Books authored by Shyam Bhatawdekar and Dr Kalpana Bhatawdekar)

Own your copy/copies of the following bestseller books authored by eminent management gurus and consultants Shyam Bhatawdekar and Dr Kalpana Bhatawdekar:

You may like to go to the above-mentioned titles (web links) and order your copies on Amazon.com on Internet. The books are available in printed form and also as eBooks.

Other Topics of Interest

All Management Topics (General Management, Marketing and Sales, Service, Operations/Manufacturing, Quality, Maintenance, Human Resources, Finance and Accounts, Information Technology, Life Management)

The topics are listed in alphabetic order:

Home Management Tips (Home Tips)
(Home Page for All Home Tips) http://home-tips-tricks.blogspot.com/
(Do This Today) http://do-this-today.blogspot.com/
(Entertainment: Movies) http://popular-movies.blogspot.com/
(Oscar Award Movies) http://oscar-award-movies.blogspot.com/
(Entertainment: Recommended Hindi Movies) http://unforgettable-hindi-movies.blogspot.com/
(Entertainment- Hindi Movies of Your Choice) http://hindi-movies-choice.blogspot.com/
(Plagiarized, Copied or Inspired Hindi Movies) http://copied-hindi-movies.blogspot.com/
(Health: Homeopathy) http://homeopathy-medicines.blogspot.com/
(Housekeeping at Home) http://5s-housekeeping-home.blogspot.com/
(How to Save Money) http://save-money-ideas.blogspot.com/or
http://knol.google.com/k/shyam-bhatawdekar/how-to-save-money/6txz9nck6g3/11#
(Jewelry Design) http://thejewellerydesigner.blogspot.com/
(Recipes: Easy to Cook) http://easytocook-recipes.blogspot.com/
(Recipes: Exotic) http://tastetherecipes.blogspot.com/
(Stories for Children) http://stories-children.blogspot.com/
(Travel and Sightseeing- India) http://india-tours-sightseeing.blogspot.com/
(Travel and Sightseeing- World) http://sightseeing-guide.blogspot.com/
(World Heritage Sites) http://world-heritage-spots.blogspot.com/

General Knowledge and Out of Box Ideas
(General Knowledge- GK) http://general-knowledge-gk.blogspot.com/
(General Knowledge- Top 5 of Everything) http://top-five-everything.blogspot.com/
(General Knowledge- Top 10 of Everything) http://top-ten-anything.blogspot.com/
(Out of Box Ideas) http://wow-idea.blogspot.com/
(Shyam Bhatawdekar’s Knols) http://knol.google.com/k/shyam-bhatawdekar/shyam-bhatawdekar/6txz9nck6g3/1#
(Running Commentary on the Run) http://running-comments.blogspot.com/

Posted in Boundaryless Management, Change Management, Creativity, Economics, General Management, Global Management, Human Resource Management, Human Rights, Innovation Management, Leadership, Life Management, Life Skills, Money Management, Personal Effectiveness, Personality Development, Principles of Management, Professional Counseling, Recession Management, Soft Skills, Strategy Management | Tagged Economic Growth, Genesis of Recession, Global Economy, Opportunities in Recession, Recession, Recession and Opportunities, Recession Management, Solutions to Recession, World Economy | Leave a comment

Stress Management: Dealing with Stress

Posted on April 20, 2012 by Shyam Bhatawdekar

This article contains what is stress, why the stress, what is it’s genesis and how to overcome it.

Meaning of Stress

When you are under stress or you are stressed, you are experiencing one or more of the states of mind and/or body given below. That in simple words, is the meaning of stress.

pressure
strain
anxiety
constant worry
nervous tension
tension
trauma
hassle
demands
difficulty
load
burden
effort
mental strain
uneasy
complicatedness
exertion
troubled
inconvenienced
harassed
irritation
annoyance
get on your nerves
disturbed
upset
suffering
pain
distressed
ordeal
shocked

Why Stress or Strain? (Origin or Genesis of Stress and Strain)

People around you (your bosses, colleagues, subordinates, customers, suppliers, spouse, parents, brothers, sisters, your boy friend/girl friend etc and you yourself have some or certain expectations from you.

You wish to fulfill those expectations for many reasons like feel happy, to make others feel happy, for self esteem, to improve your image on others, not become a subject of ridicule, laughter, blame, rejection by others etc. Therefore, your expectation from yourself is one of success and not failure. You want your expectations to be fulfilled.

That is the trigger to stress or strain.

The expectations in themselves do not create stress but it is your concern about the outcome of not being successful. What will happen if I don’t succeed? What the people will think of me if I am a failure? Will I be seen as incompetent, will I become a laughing stock? Will people criticize me or blame me? Will some one shout at me? Will my relationship break? Will I lose money? Will I fail in examination? Will I fail in getting a job or a good job?

If you are sure of success, there in no tension and there is no stress. But when, in your own assessment of yourself, you feel that there are chances of partial or complete failure, stresses develop- the intensity and quantum vary.

You become successful when you assess that your capabilities (your knowledge, skills or competencies and your will power to succeed- in short your “human software (HSoftware))” are matching or exceeding the demands made on you by that particular stressful event or activity or situation. Then you meet those challenges and come out as winner. There is no stress or strain.

The links for details on HSoftware: http://human-software-hsoftware.blogspot.com/

However, when, as per you assessment, your capabilities (the HSoftware) fall short of those demanded by the stressful event, activity or situation and you assess that you may be a failure or are not sure to succeed, the stresses start developing. The intensity and quantum of stresses are directly proportional to the gap between your assessed capabilities and the ones that are demanded by the stressful event, activity or situation.

More Explanation: What is Stress?

Stress has to do with demands, resources and uncertainties.
Demands are expectation and desires of self or others to be fulfilled, obligations and duties to be carried out and responsibilities and pressures to be shouldered.
Resources are your own resources like your physical strength, your knowledge, your talent and capabilities, your skills and competencies as well as any kind of physical/inanimate or human resources under your control or available for use as organizational support or social support.
Then there are uncertainties of the outcome or results in relation to the expectations, desires, obligations, duties, responsibilities and pressures as well as there are uncertainties about the existence and potency of the resources within you and outside you.
These uncertainties are then the main causes to trigger tension and stress in your mind.
In short, when your perceive that your resources will fall short of tackling the demands on you and therefore, you perceive uncertainty in meeting the expectations or you actually do not meet the expectations demanded of you, you will experience stresses.
When your resources can achieve the expectations demanded of you with certainty, there is hardly any stress. Since there may still be some uncertainty due to some unseen factors, there may still be a bit of stress but that stress will be somewhat positive type, good enough to boost adrenal level and your motivation to use your resources in the best possible manner to achieve the end result with certainty or near certainty. Such a stress is called challenge stress and it is good.
Other type of stress that is negative in nature is called the hindrance stress. This is an outcome of the hindrances in the resources to achieve the desired results. These hindrances are: lack of your capabilities, knowledge, competencies, skills and red tape in systems, lack of family or social support etc.
It is necessary to learn to manage this hindrance stress.

Causes and Sources of Stress

Demands made on you or changes happening around you making some more demands on you are the fundamental causes of stress. The list of causes and sources of stress is given below:

Environmental factors

Economic uncertainty: changes in business cycle, recession, loss of job, unemployment
Political uncertainty: impact of political systems like democracy, communism or dictatorship, instability of governments, wars, terrorism etc
Technological changes: Obsolescence in knowledge and skills of people due to constant technological changes, impact of technologies on people in variety of ways

Organizational factors

Role demands: pressures of job position, roles conflicts, transfers, promotions, job rotations, change of job
Task demands: hazards, overload, working conditions, deadlines, targets
Interpersonal demands: lack of support from bosses and colleagues, distrustful environment, politics

Personal factors

Family problems: death of loved ones, separation, divorce, marriage, pregnancy, childbirth
Economic problems: insufficient earnings, loss of job, over expenditure, debts, retirement
Personality problems: pessimism, submissive, aggressive, loner
Illness: Not well, injury

Early Warning Symptoms of Stress and Consequences of Stress

Physical symptoms

Nagging tiredness and continuous sense of exhaustion
Frequent illness
Sexual problems
Excessive worrying of real and imaginary problems

Behavioral symptoms

Escapist tendencies like shirking or avoiding responsibilities and work both at office and home
Personal negligence in terms of appearance, hygiene, safety
Extremism at work, in spending, alcohol, gambling

Emotional or psychological Symptoms

Metal fatigue
Lack of concentration
Restlessness
General apathy towards life
Irritability
Unnecessary argumentation
Excess of aggressive or submissive or defensiveness
Insecurity
Low self esteem or low self worth
Suspiciousness

Possibility of Ailments Due to Stress

Hypertension
High blood pressure
Heart attack
Migraine
Hay fever
Allergies
Asthma
Peptic ulcers
Colitis
Constipation
Indigestion
Diarrhea
Nervous dyspepsia
Diabetes mellitus
Tuberculosis
Overactive thyroid gland
Intense itching
Skin disorders
Rheumatoid arthritis
Menstrual difficulties
Depression

Tackling Stress

Prevention is always better than cure. Given below are certain tips to manage stress:

Resource sufficiency: One must continually work towards improving one’s thinking patterns, knowledge, competencies, skills and will power.
Plan (goal/target setting and time management): Set your personal, family related and professional plans properly on time line and muster the resources to achieve them accordingly. Your plans should be realistic and you should review them from time to time and modify them if necessary. Refer: (Goal/Target Setting) http://goal-target-setting.blogspot.com/ and (Time Management) http://time-life-management.blogspot.com/
Balance: Balance you personality. Your personality should not be extreme “A” type or extreme “B” types. Try to achieve a balanced personality. Refer the explanation of type “A” and type “B” personality given in the next paragraph.
Physical exercises: Get into habit of doing some or the other physical exercises for around 30 minutes to 1 hour every day. Learn to play some outdoor game. Gardening can be a good exercise. Walking is the excellent exercise. (Refer the paragraph given below titled A to Z Mantras of Stress Management”).
Relax: Take a few minutes out and learn to relax by listening to good music or meditate or lie down and practice relaxation through auto-suggestion, take deep breaths several times a day.
Entertain: Entertain yourself alone or in company by enjoying concerts, dramas, movies, games and sports etc.
Social Interactions (fellowship): Invite or get invited at social gatherings like parties, weddings, dinners. In case of any stressful problem, talk it over with someone you trust.
Take a break: Move away from your family and professional settings for while, take vacation and go for an outing, excursion or travel.
Refrain from smoking and alcohol: If you are habituated to these, stop. Refer:
(Quit Smoking) http://quit-smoking-plan.blogspot.com/

Personality Types

People can be classified having three types of personalities from the view point of stress management: type “A”, type “B” and “balanced”. One may feel least stressed after achieving “balanced” personality.

Type A

Urgency
Walks/moves quickly
Competitiveness
Eats quickly
Hates delay
Guilty when relaxing
Impatient

Type B

Relaxed
Walks slowly
Lots of relaxing hobbies
Good listener
Patient
Thoughtful
Takes time to make decisions

Balanced Personality

It will be a good idea to lead a balanced life by moderating extreme Type A or extreme Type B personalities.
Balanced personality can manage stresses well.

Action Plans For Type A & Type B Behavior to Achieve Balanced Personality

For Type A

Take a step back
Set attainable goals
Plan how to achieve your goals
Delegate
Aim to relax more
Make time for people
Say “no”

For Type B

Set quantitative goals
Stop procrastinating
Become more assertive
Assess appropriate level of quality

Therefore, “A to H Mantra” of Stress Management

Take Care of…………

A….. Anxiety: No (improve capabilities by improving competencies and skills: the HSoftware: refer URL http://humansoftware.blogspot.com/)

B….. Bottle (Alcohol): No

C….. Cigarettes (Smoking): No

D….. Diet (balanced diet): Yes

E….. Exercise: Yes

F….. Fellowship: Yes

G….. Good values and core beliefs: Yes (not necessarily associating with any religion)

H….. Humor: Yes

For various other management topics, refer: (Home Pages for All the Management Topics) http://management-universe.blogspot.com/, http://management-universe-enotes.blogspot.com/ and (Alphabetic List of All Management Topics) http://management-enotes.blogspot.com/