Keep a slot open for the pinch hitter

An organisation should encourage ‘cousin departments’ to take up employee exchange programmes

During his international career, Javagal Srinath was promoted up the order as pinch hitter, many a time. Pinch hitters have lessons for the corporate world. Photo: V.V. Krishnan

The asking rate is climbing up as swiftly as a palm civet. The top order batsmen in the middle seem oblivious to the situation. Or, they simply can’t put the bowlers away. It’s a do-or-die situation, as the pinch hitter walks in, promoted up the order. He’s a  specialist bowler with an aggressive streak as a batsman. With an unorthodox batting style, the pinch hitter successfully hoists the ball a few times and departs. Putting some quick runs on the board has a magical effect on the mainline batsmen: they loosen their arms and score freely. Corporate teams can learn from this cricketing wisdom. Departments in an organisation function within neatly laid boundaries, for good reasons. However, these boundaries should not be too impervious to allow positive influences from other departments. Always, a slot should be reserved for the pinch hitter.

Chances slim in technical areas

In a healthy organisation, the possibility of cross-pollination of resources is never ruled out and promoted wherever possible. Such exchange of resources may not be feasible in intensely technical areas, where every employee plays a highly specialised role. It is however doable in functions that involve service, says the vice president of a service organisation.

Cousin departments make it possible

Take any organisation, there will always be departments that enjoy a natural affinity and share insights into each other’s functions.  One example: sales and marketing. Given such a situation, employees with requisite knowledge should be allowed to cross over to the other side and make contributions. The employee being ‘loaned’ is not giving up his specialisation, only being allowed to play an additional role.

Bringing a new approach

Sundar Sethuraman, general manager, personnel administration and industrial relations and safety, Schwing Stetter Pvt. Ltd., narrates how a production engineer with a BTech degree did the HR department a world of good by ‘mechanising’ the employee information system. He enabled duty charts and employee information to be displayed at the shop floor, saving a lot of time that had earlier gone into tracking employees from different units who did shifts. Sundar explains that this production engineer carried out this work, spending extra time every day, and did not allow himself to compromise his regular job.

Imparting soft skills

The area of ‘learning and development’ affords opportunities for employees to play additional roles. Many corporates have a Learning & Development (L&D) section with professional trainers, who are expected to develop human resource for greater productivity and a positive working atmosphere. However, some employees, who may possess the ability to motivate others — say, through storytelling — can contribute to training initiatives across departments. They can assist the L&D team.

Creating an internal network

For people who possess abilities outside of their core competencies to be spotted, a strong internal network has to be created. There should be forums — online and offline — for employees to display their skills.

Increased employee engagement

By recognising additional skills in employees, a company encourages them to nurture and hone those skills for its good. It’s believed that during his captaincy Mohammed Azharuddin employed Javagal Srinath as a pinch hitter many a time, which encouraged the fast bowler to give his best with the bat.