Know the danger of ‘Honeyguide’ in your corporate – a HR message

Be vigilant and watch out for honeyguides in your corporate. Honeyguide is a small bird, widely distributed in African and Asian tropical forests. This bird is extremely shrewd and extraordinarily smart when compared to many other birds in nature. One may when wonders to know the smart traits of this bird must also question whether this smart bird would makes right fit to the corporate.

Like cuckoo, honeyguide is also a brood parasite. They lay its eggs in the nest of other birds like bee eater, barbets, wood pecker, kingfisher, warbler, swallow etc. Another interesting thing about this bird is that they never lay all their eggs in the nest of any single bird, instead they lay different eggs in the nest of different birds on different days.

The Honeyguide also pre-incubates the eggs in its body before they are laid in the nest of other birds. This is done only to ensure that its eggs hatch out first than the eggs of the host bird.

Another important aspect of the bird is that the young honeyguide used to kill/ destroy the eggs/chicks of the host bird and this phenomenon is called "parasitic" nesters.

Besides all the above display of ‘intelligence’ or ‘cunningness’, the honeyguide is believed to guide many other animals to the beehive or help them to know the whereabouts of the beehive. When honey badger and other animals destroy the bee hive for honey by enduring the stinks of the bees, the honeyguide would watch patiently and wait till they complete their meal. Once they have finished their meal, the bird would go and eat the beeswax and larva without any disturbance from bees.

Look at the smartness of honeyguide. While choosing the nests of other birds for laying eggs, they are smart as they never choose to lay all the eggs in the nest of any single bird. They ensure that their eggs hatch faster than the host eggs. Even if such thing happens, the chicks would destroy the eggs or chicks of the host bird. Even for foraging, they guide and indirectly employ some other animal to dare the bees and once the bees are totally removed, they go and eat their food.

Some people in most corporate do exhibit the complete behavioural traits of honeyguide. They are extremely smart in making others to do their job; they are further smart in galvanizing the fast attention of others and also know to ensure at the end that those who did their job get nothing but criticism from the bosses. They not only exhibit ‘brood parasitism’ but also are ‘parasitic nesters’.

There is no doubt; such people are extremely sharp, smart and intelligent. But if they had ever used their in intelligence ‘properly’, they can make significant difference to the organization. But unfortunately, they are ‘uni-focused’ i.e., cheat others and live smartly.

However shrewd and heartless the honeyguide may be, it follows a remarkable work ethics. It never lays all its eggs in the nest of any single bird. It chooses different birds to do the job. Only when it follows such ethics, the host bird also will have its reproductive success. Only when the host bird succeeds in its reproduction, the honeyguide can have continues success in future. Do such work ethics the ‘honeyguides’ in corporate also follow?

It is for the corporate leaders and the respective HR function to ponder upon the ‘honeyguide-ism’ that might prevail in the corporate.

Dr S Ranganathan