Hare  Rama Dharma: Hare, Rama, Dharma: HRD Redefined  

By Indu Jain  

Hare  Rama Dharma: Hare, Rama, Dharma: HRD Redefined  

Hare, Rama, Dharma or HRD is the driving force of any organisation. Hare drives away your problems, Rama invokes your own radiance and Dharma is the duty of the organisation to see that each individual performs to the best of her ability. This dharma, if followed by each organisation, will drive us from an asset-based economy to a talent-based economy. There is an old saying, '' Yatha raja tatha praja ''. Under the new definition of HRD it should be '' Yatha praja, tatha raja '' - which means it is the people in your organisation who will determine the leadership.

In today's business climate, every organisation expects superlative performances from its employees. A good leader, however, will not necessarily bring out the best from people, if they lack appropriate training; if adequate efforts are not made to develop their potential. That's why the human resources department in a company is so important - in fact, HRD can be likened to a temple. HRD helps each individual to grow by making the effort to enhance talents and improve skills. But first, both the HRD and the individual have to each recognise their own needs and aspirations. Only then can realistic goals be set in keeping with the best interests of both the organisation and the employee.

A company's HRD, therefore, should go beyond the confines of the organisation in order to serve not just the employees but to also serve the community at large. This it can do by taking an active interest in developing human skills outside the organisation as well. In fact, this altruistic approach can be extended to the entire one billion people in the country, instead of limiting itself to any one institution or organisation or even one localised community. The scope of HRD is, therefore, virtually limitless.

Taking this concept forward, the recently instituted Times Foundation purports to act as a point of convergence for industries, government, NGOs and citizens to provide HRD efforts at a national and global level. It is a movement to mine talent and develop the potential of individuals and groups, so that they can manifest their innermost divinity and work congruent to the dynamism of their innermost being. As more people become aware of the Times Foundation's mission, the greater will be its reach.

Globally, it is being recognised today that the sum total of developments achieved by organisations is, in fact, a sum total of individual development. Every one of us has tremendous potential in the form of physical and mental energy. If we could harness this potential in our organisation, we could move to a much higher level of productivity, much higher than we have ever seen or envisaged. Hence, our organisation should be known not only as a 'learning organisation', but as a 'spiritual organisation', too. We should make use of all available spiritual methods such as yoga, breath control, meditation and prayers to uplift the subtle power present in each one of us.

The works of contemporary management gurus like Robert Greenleaf and Stephen Covey are not much different from spiritual literature. The growing popularity of spiritual awareness courses such as those being offered by gurus like Sri Sri Ravi Shankar among the youth shows that there is popular interest in knowing more about spirituality and how it can help us improve the quality of life. Spiritual leaders like Sri Satya Sai Baba, Sri Aasaramji Bapu, Mata Amritanandamayi and even the Pope enjoy a wide and fervent following. Earlier, having no faith or not giving importance to spirituality was deemed fashionable. Today, the reverse is true - people take pride in admitting that they do indeed have faith in spirituality.

In fact, spirituality has even become fashionable. Bringing spirituality into the workplace will facilitate honing creativity and management skills, bringing about a work ambience free from tension and worry. Also important is using e-learning for distance education. Using information technology, millions of people can be educated, who are currently outside the domain of education. Developing a spiritual approach while keeping abreast of developments in IT- enabled skills, especially through e-learning, will make our lives less difficult, enabling employees to gain easy access to information.

Combine the insight acquired through spirituality, some e-learning and a dollop of imagination: See what wonders it will do for you as an individual, as member of a group or community, or as an employee in an organisation. The key is, therefore, holistic development - for, it is not enough to have faith in God alone; we need to have abundant faith in our own selves, too. That's how we will grow into becoming responsible achievers.

(From the keynote address delivered at the India HRD Congress held at Nehru Centre, Mumbai, on February 2)

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More from same author see: Indu Jain  

See also: Hare  Rama Dharma, Faith and Belief, Spiritual Guidance, God and Religion, Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)