Bridge the Gap between Skills Acquired and Skills Needed : By Latika Kaul

Psychology in India is finally on the verge of receiving the recognition it deserves. It has been studied since time immemorial. It may not have been a specific, singular subject, but studying human behaviour has been a fascination of many, including mine.  And so I did. For seven long years. Finally, I completed my Post Graduation in psychology and started my very first job. After six months of

working I have come to the realization that there is a huge difference between the psychology that I have studied and the psychology that I am currently using, which amounts to almost nothing.

This has led me to wonder how many more people face this issue of being unable to apply their education to their work. Since, I have no experience in other fields; I will stick to Psychology and try to put forth reasons as to why this is happening. To understand this better, dear reader, you first need to understand my subject. So, I will try to sum it up briefly as sadly there are still many who are unaware of the relevance of this subject.

For those who have little or no idea about psychology, psychologists cannot read your minds, (that territory belongs to the psychics). We definitely cannot make your children more intelligent or your personality more attractive. And unfortunately, in most cases we are not those stylish men and women who use this behavioural science to catch criminals like they might show in popular television series like Criminal Minds or CSI (“In most cases”, there is still hope!!!).

Psychology actually comes from the Greek words, ‘psyche’, meaning life, and ‘logos’, meaning explanation or reason. Psychology can be defined as the science of human and animal behaviour; it includes the application of this science to human problems. (Morgan et al). Studying human behaviour, as you may have guessed encompasses a lot. So naturally, psychology is divided into branches or specialities and not limited to treating mental patients as many perceive it to be. These specialities or areas extend from child psychology to geriatrics (elderly) psychology, from cognitive to neurosciences, educational, clinical, industrial etc. The last branch, Industrial and Organizational Psychology is my area of work.

The APA (The American Psychological Association) defines Industrial and Organizational Psychology as:

The specialty of industrial-organizational psychology (IO Psychology) is characterized by the scientific study of human behaviour in organizations and the work place. The specialty focuses on deriving principles of individuals, groups and organizational behaviour and applying this knowledge to the solution of problems at work.
I hope by now my readers have the very basic idea of what psychology is and isn’t.  At last, I come to the crux of my article.

In my experience the issue that I and many face in regard to not being able to apply psychology to their work is because of the following reasons. 

Awareness: Lack of awareness is a root cause of many problems faced by society and unfortunately psychology is a victim of it too. Even in our so called modern times, taking help from counsellors is considered a taboo by many. So many of my own friends and relatives are unable to comprehend- “Exactly what am I studying?” or “What jobs will I get?” Let me tell you, this is very frustrating and infuriating.

Having said this, the future may not be so bleak. Many psychologists in India are doing extremely well, great researches are being conducted and various beautiful therapies are being practiced. This trend has started in a few cities and now it’s upon us to carry it forward through more advanced courses, social media, workshops, sensitization programs etc.

Educational Institutes: Let be begin by saying that we are not all together bad in this front. India has many renowned institutes that are doing great work in this field. Delhi  University, Banaras Hindu University, IIPR (Indian Institute of Psychology and Research), Nimhans (National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences) to name a few.

These are like the IIM’S of Psychology and hence it is not possible for everyone to attend them. Largely, however, there is a dearth of good institutes that have psychology courses. This problem not only creates lack of qualified graduates but also teachers.

The novelty of this field means not many are studying it or are inclined towards it, many go abroad to study it and then settle there. The few experienced and passionate professors available opt for the big institutes leaving the rest with the less qualified faculty.

Another issue that I have personally faced is the syllabus. From the time I began studying Psychology in my 11th to my Masters which is almost 7 years, there has been almost no advancement in the syllabus. I am not saying that I have studied the exact same thing but a large number of topics have been repeated throughout these years. Some of course have been more detailed as my classes advanced but some of the subject matter has been identical in all these years.
Largely, colleges do not have the resources or the faculty to offer students the various areas of psychology as subjects. Therefore, the most common psychology course one will find will be clinical psychology, industrial and counselling taking the second place. Some may provide diploma courses in child psychology and few therapies and that’s about it.

This according to me is the biggest problem that we are currently facing. Due to this we are unable to be the cool, stylish people who solve crimes by studying the criminal’s behaviour or provide the much needed psychological assistance to our soldiers, or children with cognitive disabilities, or a married couple who wants to give their marriage a second chance. All of this and more only because a select few colleges actually provide these courses.

The gap between learned skills and required skills: Is teaching and providing courses enough? Certainly not. Application is what is important.  Now, this is the problem most of my classmates and me faced this year. I must have learnt over 3 dozen theories if not more during my post graduation. I have been working for 6 months now. How many theories have I used? Probably ten or less. This is

not because I am not well versed with them. But, mainly because the application of theories was something we never practiced. This becomes a critical problem in psychology as the subject is cramped with theories without actually understanding how to practice them. I am not saying that studying has been a waste.

Many concepts like TNA, performance management, recruitment etc have been very useful in my job but I was still not prepared for the intricacies of it all. For example, we studied training but never really learned how to make a lesson plan or design the content. We were not aware of the specifications that are needed in today’s market. Yet, we were still in a better position to handle things as our professors went out of their way and the syllabus to inform us about a lot many things. Other college students were not so lucky.

has been almost no advancement in the syllabus. I am not saying that I have studied the exact same thing but a large number of topics have been repeated throughout these years. Some of course have been more detailed as my classes advanced but some of the subject matter has been identical in all these years.Largely, colleges do not have the resources or the faculty to offer students the various areas of psychology as subjects.

Therefore, the most common psychology course one will find will be clinical psychology, industrial and counselling taking the second place. Some may provide diploma courses in child psychology and few therapies and that’s about it. This according to me is the biggest problem that we are currently facing. Due to this we are unable to be the cool, stylish people who solve crimes by studying the criminal’s behaviour or provide the much needed psychological assistance to our soldiers, or children with cognitive disabilities, or a married couple who wants to give their marriage a second chance. All of this and more only because a select few colleges actually provide these courses.

Health and Neurosciences) to name a few. These are like the IIM’S of Psychology and hence it is not possible for everyone to attend them. Largely, however, there is a dearth of good institutes that have psychology courses. This problem not only creates lack of qualified graduates but also teachers. The novelty of this field means not many are studying it or are inclined towards it, many go abroad to study it and then settle there.

The few experienced and passionate professors available opt for the big institutes leaving the rest with the less qualified faculty. started in a few cities and now it’s upon us to carry it forward through more advanced courses, social media, workshops, sensitization programs etc.

Another problem arises in job opportunities. Since psychology can still be considered a new field, my classmates and I did not expect millions of job opportunities. However, most of us found jobs in the first three to four months of finishing our Masters. What we have realized, rather I have realized is that the real world is much more different from our cosy classes.

I suppose this is true for every student that makes the transition from campus to corporate. And so I don’t want to talk for everyone, even students of psychology but only from my own experience in I/O psychology. What I have identified is that there is virtually no recognition or understanding of I/O to most people. Most big companies or MNC’s may have a vague idea or some even complete knowledge of I/O but still the level of acceptance is very low. This results in fewer job opportunities for IO psychologists especially over MBA students. 

 The industries are not solely to be blamed. The root cause could be the little or complete absence of a bridge between companies and colleges. I cannot stress enough the significance of this partnership. My batch mates and I learned this the hard way. Our final year dissertations and practicum’s were a nightmare, especially for IO kids. No company was ready to give us internships or opportunities for research and data collection, even if it meant a free analysis of their company or employees. Not that it stopped us; we were quite determined to convince people about the value of our field.

We all managed to finish our dissertations and practicum case load, presented our research papers in international and national conferences and won college to state level competitions. Our clinical batch mates did not disappoint either and came up with some unique researches that were also recognized in many national and international conferences.

Besides our amazing professors, the credit for this goes to the handful of individuals and companies who were willing to accept and work with our field. One of my classmates even got an internship opportunity, wherein she got to learn a great deal and also put forth her own thoughts from various psychological perspectives.

This is exactly what is needed. If the gap between the skills acquired by students and the skills needed for the jobs are not filled, then the companies will face the problem of finding the right candidates and the students will not find jobs. Therefore, for the perfect job fit the companies and colleges need to work hand in hand. This will help in aligning the college curriculum with the current job market place, thus solving the problems faced by the students and the companies. Once, these problems are tackled there is no stopping psychology.

Psychology is slowly but steadily making progress. Many colleges are now giving psychology its due credit. And, like I said the fact that almost my entire class got jobs indicates a bright future for this subject. There is a lot of hope and scope for budding psychologists. However, now the responsibility of taking psychology further is on our shoulders.

The proverbial baton/torch has been handed to us and now it’s our duty to run our course and hand it safely and proudly to the next generation. So let’s promise ourselves that from this coming New Year we will do our best to further the future of psychology in every little way we can. As Frost said (of course my rendition of it), 

Psychology is lovely, dark and deep,

We have promises to keep,

And miles to go before we sleep,

And miles to go before we sleep.

Continuously Challenge yourself!- By Shruti Nair

This is not a motivational article that pumps you up to do great things. This is written just to show you the mere benefits of consciously challenging oneself. Of course we take up challenging tasks in our day-to-day lives, it comes naturally as we are working and ‘growing’ constantly. I am talking about the planned, defined, out-of-comfort zone scenarios that we create for ourselves. For example, taking up that job that does not compliment your strengths, rather demands you develop your weaknesses; planning a trip alone to a random place or leaving your paid job to fulfill your dream of becoming an artist.

I took up one such challenge of going on a trip alone for a week to the mountains. As the person that I am, before leaving I researched all about the place, the safety measures, experiences of other travellers but in all this, I forgot to really sit and introspect (research) about myself. Now, when I reached my destination, on day one, I visited the places I had planned for the day, ate at the restaurants I’d read about and returned to my room before dark. Around midnight I decided to sleep but I couldn’t switch off from my alert zone. Around half past midnight, I realised I won’t be able to sleep at all. The silence that existed in the room was piercing, one such I have never heard before. The kind of silence that I experienced there, brings negative emotions in you, it engulfs you in it. The three nights i spent there, I didn’t sleep for a minute.

In this trip, i saw beautiful places and made great friends but the highlight of my trip was learning something about myself. I always had trouble sleeping alone in a room. It’s not that I’m scared of ghosts, I just feel really insecure in sleeping alone. But when I returned from the trip, I can sleep anywhere, peacefully. This trip solved a problem I had, I never realised I needed to work on.

Therefore I suggest, take up challenges! You never know what you learn about yourself! Taking up challenges have many benefits:

1) You will get out of your comfort zone.

We, as humans, are conditioned to seek out comfort. Therefore it is difficult to let go of things; but letting go of things mean taking up new things, which will always lead to growth. What is the point in living the same routine life day after day? On my trip, I was thrown completely out of my comfort zone. I had to meet and talk to people, which is not my dominant nature. This made me realise I am the way I am by choice and if needed, I can adapt.

2) You will become more creative

When you take up challenges, you are basically figuring out solutions to different problems. This will force you to think out of the box, broaden your perspectives on things. You will also become more confident with 

your decisions and views on things. When you travel alone, you have to figure out everything on your own, from simple directions to dealing with language barriers. This allows you to approach problems in various different ways.

3) You will increase your strengths and work on your weaknesses.

When is something challenging to you? When you can’t do something naturally, easily, it becomes a challenge. Continuously taking up challenging tasks mean you work on your weaknesses and increase the list of strengths you posses. I was never good with handling money or saving. Travelling alone requires me to save up for these trips and manage money during trips. I’m not great at it but I’m better than what I was!

4) You will never be bored.

Regardless to say, when you take up challenges, you start working on yourself. Challenges remove the mundane nature that life easily falls into. A person who takes up challenges will never complain of a boring 

routine life. My journeys are what I look forward to and they also account for great conversation starters with people meet!

For me, going solo travelling is the way of challenging myself. How are you going to continuously challenge yourself?

Happy 69th Independence Day India

E mere vatan ke logo,

jara aankh me bhar lo paani,

jo shahid hue hai unki, jara yaad karo kurbani...

This song was meant for those brave souls who fought for our freedom over sixty decades ago. Soldiers, revolutionaries, freedom fighters to whom we owe our freedom and to whom we shall always be indebted.

On the occasion of our 69^th Independence Day, we at Search 4 Excellence want to devote a few words to the incredible men who won us our freedom and to those who are protecting it to this day.

We salute all our heroes: Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, Rajguru, Bal Gangadhar Tilak and many more who won that Independence for us.

We are also be very grateful to Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, who made the Indian Constitution which describes our rights and duties and most importantly our freedom of expression.

We salute the inspiring and moving speech of our First Prime Minister Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru.

“Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance. It is fitting that at this solemn moment, we take the pledge of dedication to the service of India and her people and to the still larger cause of humanity.”

We salute the soldiers who fought the 1947/1948 war with Pakistan

 

We salute the soldiers who fought the 1962 Sino-Indian war with China

 We salute the soldiers who fought the 1965 war against Pakistan

We salute the soldiers who fought the 1971 war for the liberation of Bangladesh (East Pakistan then)

We salute the soldiers who fought the 1999 Kargil war

We salute the soldiers and men who protected us during the 25/11 Mumbai attacks

We salute the soldiers and men who protected us during the 2010 German Bakery attacks 

“and when all the wars are over, a butterfly will still be beautiful.” ― Ruskin Bond, Scenes from a Writer's Life

And so is India!! Still beautiful, still thriving, still developing and flourishing. And we hope, pray and firmly believe that we will continue down this path in the future so that the following vision of Rabindranath Tagore is fulfilled.

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake

Jai Hind Jai Bharat.

IT'S YOUR CHOICE- By Eva Chawla

Your life is a result of the choices you make. If you don’t like your life, it’s time to start making better choices because in the end, we only regret the choices we didn’t make.

Most people may disagree with or even reject the above statement. The idea that each person’s life is directly proportional to the choices they have made is not easily digested. Most of us feel life is completely fated or it’s only the lucky few who actually get to enjoy it. It’s this feeling that gives self-assurance that we are not to blame for our current situation and that we are just pawns in a never ending chess game. Well, in this brief blog I’m going to show you how your life is what you have made it and as you realize this you can take the necessary steps to change the outcomes of your future.

A friend of mine once told me, “it would be so wonderful if our life was like the movie ‘Zindagi Na Melaigi Dobara’” and I said “It can be if you choose it to be.” it’s a statement that shook him to the core of his being. He gave me a list of reasons why the choice is out of his hands: my parents, financial situations, sister’s marriage, starting a new business, obligations to others. Just like my friend we can all relate to these reasons and hence feel our life is not controlled by us. It is not uncommon for us to be a self-saboteur and compound that with a victim mentality; this is a choice we make as well. But let me tell you one thing, if we start making choices that benefit us along with others, we will start achieving pinnacles of success we never dreamed possible.

Let’s look at how we currently make choices: say we have an aggressive boss who is super negative and only likes the sound of his own voice. What would we do in this situation? What is the choice we make? Well for most of us the choice is not even a choice, we must continue to endure the cruelty of this bull of a boss. After enduring an entire day of unhappiness we go home only feeling distraught with work and life. The bottom line: if we hold our breath and then blame others of our inability to breath, the result is only us losing consciousness.

The simple fact is, life doesn’t get better by chance; it gets better by choice. So if you are unhappy about your boss, change the way you feel or the way you think or the place you are or the way you work or the work itself or try to build a relationship with the person who causes you discomfort. The world is our oyster, we can chose the number and type of pearls we wish to have. There is no clear cut answer to any problem; there is no clear cut choice; there is only what makes us happy and making good choices that support that feeling. Life is a Roller Coaster and through its ups and downs, we can either chose to scream or enjoy the ride.

Consider this: with Choice comes Freedom; with Freedom comes Responsibility and with Responsibility comes a Choice.  The choice is always in your hands and you alone carry the responsibility for your life. Do you want to live your life from where you were yesterday or from where you want to be tomorrow? Let’s use a simple model to aid us make better choices with no regrets and reclaim the life we truly want to live.

Every Action or Choice we make has a consequence and every consequence comes with both desired and undesired effects.

Let take an example: You and you colleague had joined your organization at the same time 2yrs back. Both of you are equally qualified, skilled and knowledgeable. Both of you want to grow fast in the organization. However only one of you can get a promotion. Your colleague (who is single), knowing this starts taking on more work and spending longer hours at the office to complete his new responsibilities. Now you have a choice: taking on more work like him or decide to go home on time for you family.

What would you do in this situation? If you decide to go home, because you family comes first, that is a choice you have made

Desired Effect: spending quality time with your family, we can have work life balance, life is not all about work, able to start fresh the next morning

Undesired Effect: your colleague gets a promotion faster than you.

Some of us will chose to go home and then complain when that colleague gets promoted over us. Some of us will feel forced to stay longer hours and take on more responsibilities and then complain that work is becoming our entire life. Happiness is not based on making choices out of fear or insecurity. Happiness comes when we make choices based on what holds important to us in life. So if family is more important, make choices that support that priority, then be willing to digest both the positive and negative consequences of that decision.

Another situation: Say your boss asks you to prepare for a big presentation that will take place the next day. Your Choice: to prepare the presentation or not. This is an easy choice, we will chose preparing the presentation. Now let’s throw another element in this choice. Just as you sit to prepare, your closest friend come to your place and shows you tickets to a movie you have been longing to see. Here comes the major choice: to prepare for the presentation and not go for the movie or postpone the preparation for after the movie.

Almost everyone will choose going for the movie first, as we convince ourselves we have a lot of time and can easily work on the presentation after the movie. Let’s look at the desired and undesired effect of going for the movie first.

Desired Effect: we build on the relationship, reduce on the days stress, have some fun and entertainment and even building on some creative ideas for the presentation.

Undesired Effect: reduced time for the actual preparation, lack of sleep due to working late into the night, increased stress about the next day and the extent of content in the presentation, inability to call any person for clarification due to the late hours, increased stage fear the next day, insecurity about the outcome of the presentation and even cursing the friend for showing up at the worst possible moment.

Now if had chosen the presentation instead of the movie, all that would have happened is that we would not have ‘Fun’ or be ‘Entertained’ and all the undesired effects would move into the desired side.

Have we every told ourselves, ‘I wish I had known this earlier, I would not have made the same choice’ or ‘ I wish I could turn back time and change my choice’. Well we all know we can’t turn back time, but this action consequence model will help us evaluating the desired and undesired effects of any difficult choice we need to make.

However, even after careful evaluation we still chose to go for the movie first, we need to deal with the negative consequences as we would have made a conscientious decision.

It’s your Choice!!

THE SYMBIOTIC MODEL: NEXT MODEL OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR

Dynamics within organizations are fast changing. There is a vast difference in managerial and employee orientation in organizations. With the increase in young entrepreneurs, the need of the hour is changing drastically. Recruiters are now hunting for talent in innovation and creativity rather than just desired competencies. These changing trends call for a new model of organizational behavior which defines the intricacies of new organizations.

Organizational behavior has been present ever since the end of the Barter system and the start of the Feudal systems, although the term ‘organizational behavior’ was not coined until the 1950s. Models of organizational behavior have changed with the economic development in the world. The ever changing economic climate, now, demands a new model of organizational behavior.

The present state of the organizations

A leading magazine has published that the last decade has seen a sudden emergence of new, young entrepreneurs. Recruiters now are looking for talent that will take their organization further. The economy and technology is changing rapidly. With such changing times, it is necessary for employers to have a team of people with innovative and creative ideas. Organizations are now supporting new entrepreneurs instead of seeing them as a threat and waste for the company. Hence, the changing dynamics have opened gates for a new model of organizational behavior: The Symbiotic Model

 THE SYMBIOTIC MODEL

The Symbiotic model is based on a horizontal structure of organization where hierarchy is extinct. The components of the model are the organization and its partners who all work to accomplish a common goal. In this structure, the commitment felt only comes out of ‘symbiosis’. The partners and the organization trust each other with the divided work because each person has earned mastery in their field. Hence, there is no boss, only partners who are encouraged to give their ideas and suggestions.

The profit or the income is equally divided amongst the partners and each has a share of the organization in the market. The organization encourages its partners to open new ventures and businesses.

Basis of the model: This model is based on Autonomy. Every partner is responsible for his/her work. Thus would require people to have mastery in their field and the trust of the organization that ‘yes, the work will be the best’. Symbiotic model is based on a horizontal structure of organization; hence Autonomy is its key feature.

Managerial Orientation: The managerial orientation is partnership where the manager is present only to give support to start the work and later gains from the profit of the partner. The manager and partner work only till the time the apprenticeship is completed and then the partner is on his own.

Employee Orientation: The employee orientation is Ownership and Commitment. Since the worker or the partner has his own set-up, the partner is bound to take his work as his own baby. His sole responsibility is the completion of the work as no one else can do it.

Employee Psychological Result: Since the partners have a sense of commitment along with the reward of using one’s talent and earning every profit of it, the partner is left feeling Self-Actualized and content.

Employee needs met: According to the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, by now the partners are at the highest peak wherein all their needs are met. At this point, the partners will have the need to give back to the environment. The need is to create new things, bring about innovations and contribute in the progress of the world. The ‘creative’ need met here is the self-motivating drive that is almost non-exhaustible.

Performance Result: The resultant performance is that of beyond commitment. The partner is self driven and constantly making his/her own goals and contributing to the progress of the world through the progress of the organization and oneself.

The model of organizational behavior is in sync with developing technology and the changing need of the people. As the world’s wealth of knowledge increases, people will resist the hierarchy structure or the idea of ‘working under someone’.

In recent trends many companies are giving financial backing to their employees to start their own ventures. Companies like Google, Infosys are providing loans to their workers to contribute to the growing technology. With such growing trends, a horizontal structure of symbiosis is not far.

This study describes the upcoming trend in the organizations and its relations with its employees. It can be used to prepare oneself for the change and plan the organization to adapt to such changes. One must welcome such changes instead of resisting it; after all, history has shown us that organizations that resist change soon die out in this fast-changing world.

Hence, this study is a good start