The Writers Gateway

Consider this story:

A girl who works in a call center wants to become an Instructional Designer. Her writing skills are average. However she has this strong urge to learn. She gets motivated by creative work. She is willing to put in lot of hard work.

She finds Instructional Design interesting. She has gained some  basic Instructional Design skills and is enthused to apply her skills and is excited about securing a job.

Now such a girl goes for a test in a company that is into e-learning development. She goes there sharp at 2 pm. She is made to wait for an hour. She is then given a test. The girl attempts the test and completes it on time. The interviewer tells her she can leave and she will be called for,if she clears the test. By the time the girl leaves the company it is 7 pm.

What happened next?

The girl got completely disheartened. She assumed that she has not done well in the test because the interviewer did not tell her anything. She got  frustrated that after such a long wait, she got no feedback.

What might happen?

She might now lack confidence and might hesitate to become an Instructional Designer.

My Point

A person with poor language skills wants to become a writer. You know it is difficult. You think that person must not try to become a writer and do something else. Have you ever thought it will be great if that person becomes a writer because it is not IMPOSSIBLE?

There are so many ways in which we can thwart budding talent and discourage people. There are equally umpteen ways in which we can motivate and instill confidence in people. You can hire the best minds, the best people for your company. You might also be able to retain the best talent. Every other company is looking for “Great Instructional Designers, Great Programmers, Great Writers…. etc. etc.” What about the average crowd? What about the so called non-performers?

The real challenge is in turning a non-performer into a performer. The real success is in motivating an average mind to turn into a brilliant mind.

Are companies ready for this challenge?

A few days back Archana had written a post that had some really good guidelines to understand learners. She had written those guidelines in the context of kids and schools. I would apply those guidelines to freshers trying to enter companies.

With your permission Archana, I am rephrasing some of those guidelines here for all those who are hiring freshers.

• You do not judge the capacity of a fresher by their performance in a test or by their behaviour the first time you meet.
• Never underestimate someone’s capacity to perform.
• Give people a chance to demonstrate. That’s why you have something called “Probation Period”.
• Do not try to hire the best minds always. The so called best minds might fail to perform.
• Do not expect people to know everything. Create an environment where people in your organization continuously learn and improve.
• Do not try to fit people to your requirements. Rather hire people and train them so that they fit your requirements.
• Do not throw questions at freshers. Try to enter into a discussion and understand how much they know, how much they are interested.

The bottom line is “It is not just SKILL/KNOWLEDGE but the WILL to perform and to  put in hard work that makes for a good performer.

What say?