Adverse side of Ferret syndrome – A HR message
Highlights
Too much of purpose or goal orientation of people in the corporate may ultimately kill the organization. Does it mean people should not have strong urge and passion in achieving the set goals?
Too much of purpose or goal orientation of people in the corporate may ultimately kill the organization. Does it mean people should not have strong urge and passion in achieving the set goals?
The message should not be misread or misunderstood. When HR and the corporate make people to get addicted to the goals that are set for them in the beginning of the financial year, they must remember that too much of ‘purpose focus’ is detrimental both to the employee and the organization.
Due to corporate compulsions or pressure, many people forget the bliss of life and all its essentials and work and live a ‘life’ just for the sake of the ‘goal’ or ‘target’ set for them by the corporate.
Both, such employees and the corporate are doing great damage to the either. Nature has some finest examples to tell us how a ‘mad or eccentric’ love for the goal or purpose can even cause death. Look at the life of ferrets, the solitary mammal that lives in many parts of the world, adjacent to human habitation.
During breeding season, both female and male animals come to heat. Necessarily they search for mate to accomplish the goal of procreation. An interesting breeding behaviour can be seen among female ferret. Until she finds a partner to mate, she would continuously remain in ‘heat’. The continuous production of estrous hormone in the female ferret is only facilitating the female animal to be continuously in the state of ‘heat’ until she finds a partner for mating. The ‘continuous production and retention’ of the female hormone-estrogen do cause death due to the various anomaly in female ferrets.
In brief, if the female ferret does not find a male partner during its heat period, the female ferret dies. Either ‘die’ or ‘live and fulfill’ the purpose/goal is what the female ferret appears to have been following in their life.
Is it wise to die if the purpose or the goal could not be met? Why some animals have taken such ‘extremist approach’ in their life?
Corporate and its HR must realize the great biological truth from a female ferret. When they constantly motivate and train the employees to always go after the goals, must check whether the employees are turning out be like ‘female ferrets’.
If the HR or corporate believe that ‘female ferrets’ like employees are an assent to the organization, it is farce and myth. If such employees fail to achieve the goal, the next moment, they loose all their strength, capabilities, self belief and conviction. Plenty of employees who were super performers become like an ‘appendix’ in human body due to such ‘madness or obsession’ for goal.
It is love, passion, commitment and effort one needs to generate while setting and achieving the goal and not obsession and craze. This essential message of nature, HR must understand fully and only then they can develop people for ‘total’ success than like a machine.
Dr S Ranganathan
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