Thursday, January 22, 2009


The term 'Spiritual HR' gains all the more relevance in the prevailing times. To understand the term we first need to accept that the term 'Spiritual' has got nothing to do with religion and is based on three factors which are a) Unconditional Acceptance b) Compassion and c) truth

The above 3 in today's context gain that much more relevance than at any other point in time in recent memory. Today we have moved from an era of need to one of 'greed' and hoarding. We casually dismiss greed as saying progress, free market, I work hard etc.

As people in the HR domain it becomes all the more important that we inculcate the elements of unconditional acceptance in the people who work in our organizations and set-ups. The best acceptance of unconditional acceptance in recent memory is Pope John Paul - II who forgave the man who had attempted to assassinate him. In fact this act of forgiveness can be termed 'Love' which in any case encompasses the aspect of unconditional acceptance. As people in HR do we accept the Human assets under us leave alone unconditional acceptance or are we looking at ways and means of getting rid of them at the slightest opportunity!

Secondly, are we compassionate to what is happening with the employee be it personally, career wise, financially and socially? Are we empathetic to the needs of each and every Human asset that we have? Empathy is not only putting oneself in the other person's shoe but also walking a couple of miles with that shoe so that we feel the pain and the sweat! Are we building an emotional connect with the employee or are our relationships purely professional! The reason that in today's society the number of people who take their lives are increasing is simply because of the non-existent emotional connect with their colleagues, bosses, their families and friends. We live in an era where all that matters are results and results yesterday! We hardly spend any time in trying to understand all that is happening in the lives of others

Finally, are we communicating the truth to the people who are instrumental in the success of the Organization or are we building success not on principles of what is fundamentally important but on what is urgently important in most case our balance sheets! We have had enough examples in the recent past that indicate that the later is true! As HR professionals do we talk the truth and more importantly do we walk the talk? Being truthful definitely empowers, because when you do so you don't have to remember anything! We find excuses for not being or wanting to be truthful and we casually dismiss it as 'the situation demands that I should not speak the truth'.

Having said the above we need to align the principles of any organization on the 3 aspects of Spirituality in the right spirit! Not only do we have to talk the talk but also walk the walk.

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