The Hindu Business Line : Corporates turn to new age gurus

Corporates are increasingly turning to Indian gurus to learn everything from stress management to the art of living and in some cases, even management principles.

The trend of calling upon learned gurus dates back centuries. "If you look at history, even kings sought the advice and wisdom of sages. Such advice can balance the destructive forces of economics," says Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev of the Isha Foundation that offers yoga and meditation workshops. "Corporate and business leaders also seek clairvoyance and perception of the present and the future. The need to approach gurus is definitely more than a fad," he adds.

Most companies today are taking a leaf from Indian philosophies to handle interpersonal communication.

In the recent past, gurus like Sri Sri Ravishankar of Art of Living fame and Swami Swaroopananda of the Chinmaya Mission have conducted sessions for corporates. Many organisations offer separate packages for corporates. The Mount Abu-based Brahma Kumaris teach corporate clients Raja Yoga to imbibe listening, tolerance, adaptability and decision-making techniques.

"There is a renewed interest in de-stressing mechanisms and we organise yoga sessions for our employees," says R. Sivadas, Director & CEO, Scope e-Knowledge Center, an information and research organisation. Stress was the reason Scope decided to go the Yoga way. "Most youth today have weak eyesight, neck pain and sometimes even hypertension - all of which is triggered by stress," he says.

Other problems that seek the guru's attention include handling competition and teamwork besides dealing with colleagues. "There is lack of emotional co-ordination and inability to handle personal trauma," says K. K. Pant, Managing Director, Indus League, parent company of the Banglaore-based Urban Yoga Centre (UYC).

"In the West, Social Quotient (SQ) is the buzzword and we teach some aspects of that on request," says Yogacharya Arun Kumar, founder of Infinite Charitable Trust, a yoga and healing centre, and Senior Consultant with Apollo Hospitals. He has trained employees from companies such as Satyam Computers and Polaris Software Labs.

Sadguru Jaggi Vasudev feels people in top management look to enhance their perception and capabilities while those lower down need training to commit to deadlines.

Corporate programmes range from half-day sessions to one-week workshops that are usually conducted at a retreat centre. It is mostly the senior management that attends such sessions as the belief is that they can pass on the learning to their subordinates. But Yogacharya Arun Kumar thinks this approach is wrong. "The younger generation needs to know stress management more than senior management. More often, youngsters don't get their priorities right and cannot handle situations maturely."

Sessions are sometimes based on the industry (like IT-related) and have specific goals to achieve. Infinite Charitable Trust offers modules to concentrate on eight aspects - health, job, career, family, money, ego, social behaviour and spirituality. Broadly, the sessions revolve around two aspects - practical (like healing techniques) and inspirational (motivational talk).

"We help build mind-body-spirit connection by teaching simple practices, besides including counselling on how to overcome or tackle stress," says Pant of Urban Yoga Centre.

These sessions are conducted on the premise that employees must sustain what they learn. To help an employee stay committed, Larsen & Toubro (L&T) ensures that one talks of the changes that would be reflected in work after such sessions. "Through a quarterly feedback system, we assess how the person has progressed post sessions," says G.D. Sharma, Vice-President & Head, Human Resources - L&T, ECC Division.

Yogacharya Arun Kumar feels corporates must opt for long-term programmes as such short workshops are merely eye-openers. "We have a two-year programme with KCP Cements and a five-year-one with Polaris," he says. Long-term programmes, he feels, can help individuals concentrate better in their work. Such sessions can also visibly help increase productivity and energy levels of employees, says Sivadas of Scope.

Joseph Ranjan works with an IT research organisation and has been practising yoga for the past five months. "I was initiated into it through my office and a half-hour session keeps me energetic through the day. I used to do about 10 tasks a day stressfully. But now I can easily manage 12," he says. The first time his office tried to organise a yoga session, the hall was almost bare. "But the second time, it was packed," says Ranjan. He finds such sessions are a change from the sedentary and monotonous jobs. "They must be made mandatory in offices," he says.

B-Schools are also taking the lead from corporates. S.P. Jain Institute of Management and Research and Symbiosis Centre for Management and Human Resource Development have compulsory yoga modules, as their brochures show. That's laying the foundation early, and hopefully, minimising the stress the candidates may face in their careers later in life.

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