Make Your Garden Bloom: 5 Pieces of Advice from Jazz’s Head of Rewards and People Analytics
Think about your first memory as a child. Is it something that still impacts you today?
Ask Jawad that question, and he’ll talk about being his affinity for plants. That initial intrigue has turned into a gardening hobby today.
“Things you do as a kid often come back to you as an adult. Everything is connected, like an ever-growing plant or garden. When you realize those connections, you can live with even more purpose,” states Jawad.
Those are wise words, aren’t they? During our talk with Jawad, we get even more great insights about life and work. Grab a cup of tea, find some nice green space, and start reading!
1. Plant the Seeds
Question: What’s the biggest tree in the world?
Answer: It’s the S. These trees grow up to about 116 meters tall.
Why are we talking about Sequoia trees? Well, these massive trees come from very small seeds. It’s amazing how they become so large.
Now, let’s translate this metaphor. What this means for work and life is that you must plant the initial small seeds if you want to do great things. That’s what Jawad has done.
Before becoming head of rewards and people analytics at Jazz, Jawad obtained a bachelor’s degree in information technology and then an MBA with a specialization in human resources. This unique blend of skills and knowledge catapulted him to a successful career in HR.
“I didn’t want to be one-dimensional. I always wanted to have a blend of technology and business. I joined HR because that was the area where I felt I had the most potential to bring technologies to work and lead organizations into the future. My knowledge of both business and technologies enables me to serve as a bridge between the two and successfully digitize processes.”
After graduating, Jawad scanned the job market and did a lot of research. He eventually decided on Jazz (and we’re happy he did!).
“Jazz is one of the biggest organizations in Pakistan. They have a huge infrastructure and tons of learning opportunities and chances for career development. Every day is a different challenge here. Your job never remains the same.”
As you can see, Jawad first planted the seeds through his studies. That was the start of working towards his long-term goals. And by taking on a challenging first job, he gave those seeds the chance to grow and prosper.
2. Grow towards the sun
Have you ever sung the photosynthesis song? It’s pretty cool.
Anyway, you know that plants grow towards the sun for energy. That’s how they thrive.
Similarly, you should shoot for the sun (or the stars, which are suns too). Or, in plain terms, strive for greatness.
At Jazz, Jawad and the rest of the HR team aim to be extraordinary — to grow towards the sun! They’re literally one of the first to adopt people analytics and are employing technologies to draw useful inferences for people parameters.
Detailing people analytics, Jawad says: “We’re using rewards and people analytics to not only enhance current HR performance and initiatives, but also for the future of our workforce. We’re using big data and predictive analytics to help get answers to some key people questions, such as where the future talent should come from, who are the people we should focus on for different talent programs and what kind of investments we should make in our recruitment channels. This way, we can figure out how to best benefit our people and shape a better future for Jazz.”
For Jawad, analytics in HR is a game-changer. Being able to work on something so innovative is what excites him at Jazz — and why he recommends the company to others.
“Innovation is given value here. If you want to try something different, and can show its potential, you’re given resources and support to attempt to create it.”
3. Get some space
Ask experts about how to create a thriving garden, and they will mention that plants require adequate room to grow. If they don’t have space, they won’t reach their full potential.
Jawad has always made a point to give himself space to explore and test. In fact, another childhood (and current) hobby of his connects to this idea of space: cycling.
“My earliest memory is cycling as a child. It’s still one of my favorite hobbies today. I ride around town. I bike to the mountains. I’m a part of some local cycling groups. It’s great to cycle out in the open,” exclaims Jawad.
As an HR specialist, the idea of literal space — and the rising trend of open work environments — is something Jawad actively experiments with and researches. But for Jawad, open workspaces require more than just implementing a new design.
“For an open office to actually work, you must make people aware about the purpose of open workstations.”
To Jawad, open offices aren’t necessarily new or the perfect solution to maximizing productivity. Research backs this up, too.
Studies have found open offices are disliked by many workers for their lack of privacy and distractions, which reduce efficiency (that’s not too surprising). What’s surprising is that Harvard researchers also found that open workspaces stifle communication and collaboration. This is because close physical proximity means all interactions between employees are broadcast to more people, and that can distract co-workers and/or make those talking uncomfortable.
Jawad has some good ideas on how this can be fixed. He believes there’s no one-size-fits-all approach, and that it’s all about having the right mix of work spots.
“Office design really depends on the company and your people, and open designs don’t necessarily work everywhere. For instance, you could have them in some areas of the office, but not be central to the design. You must know why you want a certain office design.”
An awesome new idea for office design has arisen out of this need to have the right blend of private and public space. An architectural firm in New York believes the future office will be like a park, where there are public and social spaces, secluded work spots, and plenty of greenery and natural light (which enhances mood and productivity). That would be neat, right?
To reiterate Jawad’s main point here, give yourself space and the right environment to grow and improve. If that’s a park, go work and play there!
4. Adapt or stop growing
Have you ever wondered how climbing vines make their upwards, even when there seem to be things blocking their way?
As their tendril (specialized stem) grows upward, it uses objects, like a metal rail, as a foothold. Then, the tendril shortens by coiling up, which pulls up the plant. To continue going up, the tendril doesn’t move in one direction — the two halves of the coiled-up part move in separate directions.
That’s quite fascinating. And it’s a testament to the ability of plants to change course and still get to where they need to go. You can learn a lesson from this: the importance of adapting to what’s in front of you.
Jawad has made adapting and continuous improvement an integral part of HR processes at Jazz. He works to consistently align the rewards architecture with business needs.
“We’re working on having a competitive and adaptive rewards architecture that evolves with business needs while being attractive and relevant to employee needs.”
“We’re working on customization, but for fairness, there must be standardization of benefits too. For instance, health benefits should be the same across all levels. This should be ingrained in the culture, the idea of providing a standard experience to people. Also, we must keep evaluating our benefits.”
So, as head of rewards and people analytics, Jawad must adapt to the changing landscape in order to perform better. His career advice to younger works also reflects this idea.
“Think about innovation from the start. Radical innovation is something which is required in this industry and I think that’s the future of the industry as well. If I look at the last 10 years, I don’t see any single thing happening the way it did five or ten years back. Innovate or get left behind.”
But how do you not get stuck in your ways? To avoid that trap, Jawad says we have to maintain an innovation mindset.
“Things will keep on changing. You can’t control that. What you can control is yourself. You have to unlearn things. The rate of learning and unlearning is very important because old processes die, and we must adopt new ones. Get comfortable with continuous change.”
5. Journey outside the garden
There’s a beautiful world out there. Go see what treasures you can find.
“I went to Utrecht recently, and that place was so calm and peaceful. I also visited Moscow. The architecture wowed me. Trips like these really teach you a lot, as you can immerse yourself in another culture and meet new people,” describes Jawad.
That’s an interesting thought about learning. If you ask Jawad about how to improve the current education system, he’ll mention the importance of experiences and interactions with others.
“The current structure of assessment processes misses certain skills that students have. It’s time to repackage education. We want people who can innovate and continuously improve. Education should be more focused towards life and social skills. This way, when people reach higher education, they can connect with others and the outside world as they learn specific skills.”
In short, if you want to make your garden bloom (aka have great success), journey far and wide — and strike up lots of conversations.
What will your garden look like?
You have the guide on how to plant a seed and make it prosper. All that’s left to do is put Jawad’s ideas into action.
Just remember to enjoy the process. For Jawad, that means listening to music, traveling, caring for his garden, and cycling. So, hit the open road and start riding!
