Alexandre Chambon photo
By
Siddhartha Rastogi
Do you want quick returns from your investments?
Do you want your company to grow every quarter at a higher pace?
Do you want your entire sales team to fire numbers at an upward trajectory?
Use a simple method – Peer Shaming – simply put, the disgracing of an employee by a colleague or peer in a public forum or on a common corporate platform.
Human beings since time immemorial respond to negative news and negative input much faster than positive ones. This is because negative news, negative feelings, negative emotions or fear arise from insecurity and, hence, threaten your survival.
And corporates are known to have unfailingly used any lever – negative or positive – to achieve the goals of the company which (OF COURSE!) finally benefits the employee in question too. Peer Shaming is no different… and the logic is as follows.
It’s universally been observed that 90% of conversations hover around criticism about someone participating and only 10% concern success stories or learnings from those stories. So the fundamental question is – how can that 90% be used to deliver desired results for the organization and for the individual who is not delivering to his or her potential?
Peer Shaming usually leads to immediate stress and the mind starts saying usual two words: FIGHT or FLIGHT.
Employees, who are not cut out for the role or for the job profile or do not enjoy their work, quit quickly. Those who choose to stay get on the course correction by figuring out things or processes that need rectification. Employees who choose to stay back tend to get out of their complacent cocoons and bring the NEW Confident Self out.
Buddha once said, “If you put pressure from outside on an egg, you end a life, but if pressure comes from within, a life takes birth.”
The famous Pareto Principle clearly talks about 80% of the outcome from 20% of the clients. Similarly, in any organization, 80% of the sales come from 20% of the top sales performers. But the remaining 80% drag the average down. Peer Shaming, hence, is vital to pull up this 80% of the sales force. For these sales people, motivation and directed efforts work for a day or for a week. As soon as these outwardly motivated people face rejection and headwinds in the market, they either give up or become complacent. Thus Peer Shaming is essential to find raw gems from stones and helps companies put concentrated efforts in the form of training, wider job responsibility and job rotation to bring the best out of employees.
The Biggest Lacunae of Peer Shaming is disruption in relationships and heightened internal politics. This has to be dealt by top management with a heavy hand without depending on hearsay and trusting the process rather than the people for the initial phase till organizational meritocracy seeps in and residual employees get used to the new path of living.
This methodology can be used effectively by highly innovative companies as well as the employees.
In the World of Investments, Peer Shaming is relevant as 3-4 companies in the same industry, having the same market opportunity and almost the same human resources available to hire, can evolve or die.
Thus the Anagogic Banker says, “Use Public Shaming effectively to bring the best out of YOU and not to quit and hide.”
Siddhartha Rastogi
Siddhartha was born to a learned middle class educated family in Semi Urban India. His father was an extremely honest man who because of his honesty had to pay the price in corporate world. Mother is a determined woman who ensured that children are being well taken care off. After a few years of birth, doctors called Siddhartha, a slow child having flat foot. He would fall more than he could walk. Determined mother ensured all therapies for her son to come out strong to fight the world. Siddhartha joined swimming when he was in 6th standard. Seeing other children of his class, he jumped in 10 feet deep pool and learnt swimming on his own, the very same day.
From that day there was no looking back. He topped his city in 12th and went to score highest in his B school exams. During his profession as banker, he became youngest branch manager of a MNC bank managing their biggest wealth branch in the country. There he found love of his life and got married. His love of his life emerged in the form of his daughter who completely changed him for good.
Siddhartha Rastogi is Director for a boutique Investment bank in India.
Siddhartha is a forward looking thinker & writer who has written a book on decision making. 8 Simple steps to effective decision making.
He writes on various social and current issues via his blog and can also be found on twitter.
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