February 15, 2007
Know Your World: India
Let’s play a game to check your GK. How many of these words make sense to you: Holi, Eid, Bandh, Ambedkar jayanthi, Ugadi? If you are a regular American with not much connection with the outside world, you probably wouldn’t know what most of these terms meant. Well, maybe we’d give you the benefit of doubt and say you know what Eid means.
All these words are associated with India, the India you deal with on a daily basis. Names of festivals, important dates and a general strike as was experienced in Bangalore recently. (Cauvery water dispute, anybody?) Most organizations don’t seem to have an idea about the holiday system within which their Indian counterparts operate.
This attitude doesn’t pertain to India alone. How many of you know about the Philippines, China, Israel or even Russia. Very few. Beginning today, let’s examine some of the important things you need to know about the various countries you deal with.
Getting back to Indian holidays, most people don’t understand the need to exert themselves on this aspect. If you don’t mind losing productive person-hours and reduced employee satisfaction and loyalty, then go ahead and bask in your ignorance.
What most people don’t realize is that you can work around such situations and even use these holidays as a relationship-building and motivational exercise for the Indian teams. So, how do you ensure that you don’t miss this opportunity? A few tips:
- Realize that the country has an overwhelming number of holidays with each state having a different set of holidays. Try to learn the specific holidays of the company and state you deal with.
- Create an Indian holiday calendar and a plan of action for unplanned ad hoc holidays. This will allow you to recalibrate work schedules and avoid losing productive work hours.
- Understand the meaning, and observances of the various holidays. You can ask your Indian colleagues for more information. And don’t forget to greet your Indian colleagues on these occasions. Such gestures are highly appreciated.
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