Principle of HRM based on Indian

Mythology Series
SUBMITTED TO: SUBMITTED BY:
Dr. TULSI GIRI GOSWAMI ARPITA
ASSISTANT PROF. 2019MCOM002
DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT

PRINCIPLE OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT- LEADERSHIP

INDIAN MYTHOLOGY SERIES- THE ARTHASHASTRA BY CHANAKYA

Chanakya was a Indian teacher, philosopher and economist, who was also the
chief advisor to both emperors of India – Chandragupta and his son Bindusara.
He was famous for his political and economical thoughts. He is traditionally
identified as Kauṭilya or Vishnugupta. Kautilya’s Arthashatra is one of the
ancient Indian literatures which had provided some great extent of insights to
Leadership. In his Arthashatra, Kautilya maintained that a king (leader or CEO
in the context of organization) should have no self-interest, happiness and joy
for himself, his satisfaction lies in the welfare (happiness) of his people, i.e. he
has to submerge his personality into the larger personality of his people.

Some Important leadership lessons that can be learnt from this series are:

1. Energetic and Hardworking

You will find most of the leaders do possess qualities like energetic and
hardworking. I believe there is no shortcut to success, so hard work is the only
key to growth and success. Your work and working style will motivate many
people working with you. To become a good leader you need to love the work
you do. Because then only you could put all your efforts developing it, which
will give you the result. You must be sincere in all the efforts you do.
2. Effective Communication
Leaders to communicate properly on all the occasions. If you want to be a
great leader, you need to focus on your communication skills. It becomes
essential when you are managing an organization. An organization should have
various communication vehicles and mediums to reach to their customers. All
the management, including the top authorities, should available for in the
communication medium.

3. Fear of Failure & Stress Management

A leader possesses the quality of stress management and fair of failure. He or
she must be good at managing the stress in order lead the team. A leader
should not have the fear of failure. They keep them engaged in the work
without worrying about the result of their work.
Most of the people fail in their venture due to the fear of failure rather than
the actual failure. There are many examples and inspiring stories are there
around us, and all those are successful because they overcame the fear of
failure and good at managing stress.

4. Decision Making
Leaders do possess great qualities, including decision making. It is an important
aspect of business management and the art of the great leaders. They take the
decision in favor of their business and work.
You need to take quick decisions related to your business and for this, you
need to take the help of the experts in the field and those are working with
you. Any delay in the decision taking could cost you more and you may not
able to accomplish those on time. Good leaders always consider all the aspects
before taking any decision on their strategies and deals. They consult with
their experts in order for decision making.

5. Keeping employees Happy

Chanakya writes “In the happiness of his subjects lies his happiness; in their
welfare, his welfare; whatever pleases himself, he shall not consider as good,
but whatever pleases his subjects he shall consider as good.”
Being a leader you need to think of the people around you, that is your first
priority. You need to work for their happiness. This is an essential quality of
successful leaders, those always work for the welfare of others.

According to Chanakya, a leader should have qualities like:-

 An intellectual thinker with good decision making

 Aware of internal and external threats
 The disciplinarian and a man of ethics
 Will power and control over lust, anger, greed, pride, arrogance, over-
excitement
 Expert in managing power and dealing directly people
 Multi-tasker, Energetic and Vigilant
 Filled with enthusiasm, experience, and knowledge
 Philanthropist and should be equal for everyone
 Be with like-minded people but develop partnership only among equals
 Focus on execution and then speak
 Should have a long term approach and think ahead of time thinking and
never fails to seize the right opportunity
 Should value old employees but should care for new employees as well

How to handle Competition according to Chanakya:-

 Recruit the right people

 Invest in people — Train them and pay them well
 Focus on developing quality in your products, services but also profit
making
 Keep a track of your finance and protect yourself with Risk Management.
 Keep your USP a secret and maintain Trade Secrets
 Find your enemy’s weakness
 Study the competition and experiment Quietly
  Have a strong team which is always united
 Never take them for granted
 How to prepare for a war against the competition according to
Chanakya:-
 Don’t rely on tactics and develop a good long term strategy.
 Try to avoid war and resort to peace if possible.
 Prepare before going to war.
 Try to be ahead in the game of knowledge, technology, and people.

What should a leader avoid according to Chanakya:-

1. Discarding the right and favoring the wrong.

During a dispute, he should listen to both the parties and give his verdict based
on facts and not emotions since the idea is to remove wickedness and not the
wicked.

2. Punish the wrongdoers properly

Mastering the art of punishment i.e. he should know the difference between
right and wrong and hence give a balanced punishment. He must be a man of
the character himself.

3. Taking credit for the work which is done by someone else

Encouragement should be given to new ideas and give credit where its due. He
should never take credit for the innovation done by his/ her employees. Ensure
that everyone gets equal opportunities. He should make himself accountable
to himself.

4. Anything that will harm the organization

A leader should protect his people when an outsider tries to attack his
subordinates. Also, he shouldn’t rob them in any manner and reward them for
good work. He should fight for his people.

5. Overburden his employees

Although employees work for the money they also crave for respect and
challenge. A good leader should understand that employees need rest and
peace of mind. Overburdening them might result in the loss of their
productivity. He should try to give them a purpose for their lives.

6. Disrespecting elders and Principal Men

A leader should never disrespect elders. An elder here means both a man of
age as well as a man of wisdom. He should always give priority to the people
who have spent a major part of their time working for him.

7. Starting things and not completing them

A leader must stop working on the first venture because he is starting a new
business. He should give equal attention to every task he initiates. He shall
complete whatever he started.

8. Being careless
A leader should always be alert of whatever is happening in his organization,
industry, surroundings, and society. He shall keep an eye on everyone and
should be in touch with even his last men like drivers, peons, etc.

How to take care of the Employees according to Chanakya:-

 Give them work according to their capacity.

 Their Designation should be according to their ability.
 Human Resource Department should be given importance.
 The leader should act as their mentor but also understand their needs
and be there for them.
 Plan out office vacations and provide them with benefits and insurance.
 They should have job security and should get their salaries on time.
 Performance-based promotions, rewards, and awards should be given to
productive people.

CONCLUSION:
Arthashstra, written in the 4th century before Christ, is a work whose
relevance has not faded even after 24 centuries have gone by and it
deserves a continuing importance as its writer Acharya Chanakya or
Kautilya was not only a statesman of one of a kind in the east especially
in India but also was one of the best diplomat ever born. Due to
this reason, his magnum-opus has good traits of leadership
elements which are also the evidence of the intellectual capital India
possessed in its glorious past. Thus an effective leadership is but our
own traditions of the past. Though looking at from today’s
perspective, one can definitely say that his blind subordination to the
social structure is unacceptable as the current social structure is dynamic
and driven by both political and economic forces, yet his thoughts on
management and diplomacy is still commendable that can potentially
shape the figure of an effective leader of all times.