The Future of Work – As I See It

RSOG LEADERSHIP FORUM

The Future of Work – As I See It

 with

Sajith Sivanandan

 About the Leadership Forum

“When people ask, ‘What do you do?’, tell them ‘Whatever it takes’”. Such a quote sounds simple, but will profoundly define the requirements of both employees and employers in years to come.  To the employee, it is a clarion call for them to be as agile, courageous, and positive as possible in facing any challenges ahead.  Whilst some may argue on whether or not employees should skew towards becoming the jack of all trades, the more pertinent question at hand is the value that the employee can create or add to the organisation.  For the employer, the expectation to deliver can be more demanding. The onus is placed on them to provide direction and vision to ensure the success of a company. Why should talents work for others if they can achieve more by themselves?  Has work actually changed from what it used to be, and if so, how do organisations respond to this change?  This Leadership Forum will explore Mr. Sajith Sivanandan’s wisdom in discussing future trends as far as work is concerned.

Summary

When we look at Google, we see an image of a company that is young, creative, innovative, flexible and inspiring. Google has come a long way since its inception 18 years ago. Today, the company boasts a total of 55,000 staff and have offices around the world. The speaker, Sajith Sivanandan, is one of the many young leaders in Google, managing their offices in Malaysia, Vietnam and other emerging economics. In this session, he shared his perspective and thoughts on what are the future trends in the workplace.

 He started with the mantra of Give your work MEANING. He explained that we should be motivated and inspired to perform our work. We should always spark ideas, generate discussions and continuously strive to improve our performance.  If we love the work we do, it will change the way we perceive work as an interest or something that we are passionate about rather than being a chore or for the sake of earning a living. He gave an example of when Google started their operation in Malaysia 5 years ago. The mission was to make online penetration more accessible to the masses, taking advantage of the booming smartphone industry in the country. Today, Google is the leading search engine in Malaysia and other countries.

 The speaker went on to talk about the importance of placing trust on your people. He mentioned that it is crucial to place our confidence on our team to complete their tasks. Managers should focus on the outcome instead of emphasizing on clock-in and clock-out time, micromanaging their team and monitoring trivial matters. In Google, they strive to make the workplace as conducive as possible for the staff to work. They provide facilities such as a game area, free food, hangout / discussion area in a colourful setting.

 Interestingly, in his next point, the only better than you, the speaker mentioned that it is an advantage to hire staff that are in a certain context more intelligent than the manager themselves. He believes that an organisation must hire highly competent and capable people in key management areas such as human resource and finance.

 He is a firm believer in extending the job responsibility of a person instead of merely giving a promotion for good work. He stressed that it is important to widen the scope of work for a promising staff as it is one of the ways of recognising a person’s capabilities and competency. This will benefit an organisation in the long term. He termed this as do not confuse development with promotion.

 An important point that was highlighted is the two tail focus. He reaffirms the belief that it is vital to ensure high performers in an organisation are given the necessary opportunities in terms of career development to further drive and motivate them. On the other hand, the poor performers should not be ignored and instead any constraints or problems that they face should be identified and addressed to keep them engaged and driven to perform their work. The people in the middle category who keep the engine growing should be encouraged. It is important for the managers to identify and harness the potential in them to perform better and achieve success.

 In his next point, he spoke about what he called as be frugal and generous. It is a juxtaposition of being generous in terms of providing good working environment for the staff and at the same time being frugal or saving costs in terms of sharing ones’ knowledge with others. For example, in Google, there are engineers who give free Coding lessons to their co-workers to enhance the knowledge on this subject. He suggested for organisations to encourage their staff to share knowledge and help each other to enhance one’s skill.

 In his most controversial statement yet, he spoke about the prospect to Pay Unfairly to the top performers in the organisation. In the context of rewards and compensation in Google, the best people will get disproportionately less as compared to the other staff in the organisation. The rationale is to motivate them to give their best and to cultivate a high performing culture.

 A manager or a leader in an organisation should practice the habit of giving a compliment or express appreciation when their staff has displayed good performance in their work. Such acts will be able to boost morale and motivate the staff to work harder and increase their performance. The speaker referred to this as nudge.

Nowadays, the younger generation expect certain perks to be given to them when they join a company. Gadgets such as smartphone and laptop, travel, allowances and training opportunities are considered an entitlement when they step into an organisation. Organisations have to equip themselves with the necessary requirements to package themselves in an attractive way for the younger generation. He termed this as managing rising expectations.

 Lastly and most importantly, the speaker reaffirmed the belief that we should enjoy our work. We should always be motivated and inspired to perform our work. This drive will keep us going towards achieving organisational goals and personal satisfaction.

 Key Issues Raised

• Reflective practices are encouraged for a leader especially in the context of identifying a situation where the processes could have been improved for a better outcome. This practice is vital to ensure a more informed decision is made in future regarding a similar situation.
• As more millennials enter the workforce, it is crucial for an organisation to adopt to a new working culture to cater to the needs of a diverse, opinionated, socially conscious and technology savvy workers.
• Workplace culture is an integral part of an organisation. It is also the most difficult to change because it has been deeply entrenched in an organisation. It requires time and patience to make incremental changes in an organisation.
• A prevalent issue in an organisation is the lack of trust in their people. This can cause friction, demotivation and affect the workflow, processes and efficiency of service delivery.
• The Google philosophy on leadership places great emphasis on the professional development of their people. Managers are encouraged to share their insights on the progress and development of their subordinates and maintain a transparent and open relationship.
• It is vital for a person to embody the vision and mission of their organisation to ignite, inspire and motivate them to work towards achieving organisational goals.
• The Gig economy is also part of the future work environment. It is an opportunity and provide options for future employers and workers to select jobs and work on part-time and consultancy basis.
• The best managers are the ones who are good at problem solving rather than moral policing or process management. Emphasis should be given to problem solving instead on focusing too much on process.

 About the Speaker

Mr. Sajith Sivanandan is the Managing Director of Google, Malaysia, Vietnam, Philippines and New Emerging Markets. He took up this role in April 2015, having been the Country Head for Google Malaysia since January 2011. In addition to this role, he is also on the Board of Directors of MaGIC, the Malaysian Global Innovation and Creativity Centre.  Sajith is fond of the game of cricket and had captained the SCC Lions of Singapore back in 2007, and was on the sub-committee that selects the men’s national cricket team for Singapore.  In addition to playing cricket, Sajith has published a collection of cricket stories entitled “Beyond the Boundary” with Dinesh Chelvathurai in 2009.  Sajith has an MBA in Finance from the Asian Institute of Management, an MBA in Marketing from the Fore School of Management and a B.A. in History from University of Delhi.

Contact

To get more information on this event, you can contact us via email at programmes@rsog.com.my