The Triguna Hiring Pedagogy

Given below is a resume excerpt of two different individuals applying for the same job role:

Candidate A:

“I am an honest individual with an empathetic heart. I am good at listening and enjoy understanding people from various backgrounds, connecting with them on a human level. I always speak the truth and believe in living by values such as simplicity, truthfulness, and punctuality. I am ambitious but not greedy. I like to read, sing, and occasionally travel to explore and learn more about myself.”

Candidate B:

“I am a postgraduate from a premier institute with superior administrative capabilities. I have extensive experience in managing teams and individuals. I possess the education and experience required to tackle any challenge. I have solid experience in managing expectations and communications. I have worked extensively with some of the largest companies and teams, bringing hands-on experience for any market situation.”

If you were to hire a candidate for the role, whom are you likely to choose? In most cases, Candidate B’s candidature might sound appealing. Let's question ourselves why.

What is the most significant aspect to look for when hiring an individual?

Is it the number of degrees, certificates, and other qualifications accumulated over a lifetime? Is it the experience they have had in previous jobs? Is it how affordable or expensive they are to hire? Or,

Is it the values they have imbibed, the behavior they display, their innate traits, natural instincts, and characteristics?

Let’s look at an interesting narrative from the Valmiki Ramayana. The text begins by recounting King Dasaratha’s rule, describing the city of Ayodhya and, in the process, describing the ministers across various ministries who were selected and hired by the King. Let us look at this part closely.

The ministers of the King’s chamber were described thus:

"The ministers chosen by the King were tactful, nimble, and always committed to the welfare of the people. They were pure at heart and actively involved in the works of the King and the kingdom. All the ministers were highly educated, yet humble, and had good control over their senses. They were people of good repute and always walked the talk. Highly enthusiastic as they were, their smiles never withered from their faces. They never lied due to greed for power or money. They were void of lust, loyal to the throne, and thus could not be swayed by any amount of riches. They were up-to-date on the happenings in their kingdom and neighboring kingdoms. The ministers were often tested by the King regarding their administrative capabilities and their networking abilities."

We observe here that while describing the characteristics of these ministers, there is no mention of experience or educational qualifications. Clearly, the hiring preferences were different. It was more important for the applicants to have ideal qualities and values displayed through their behavior, rather than having a file full of certificates that boasted of their knowledge.

The value addition came from the values and pedigree the individual innately carried, not borrowed from outside education or experience.

Can Trigunas help in hiring an individual?

Learning from these observations from ancient texts, we understand that, though educational qualifications and experience matter, what needs to be given prominence is the natural instinct of the person and the behavioral traits they display.

Natural characteristics of individuals are usually a combination of the three gunas – Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas. To put it in hiring terms:

• Sattva Guna is characterized by knowledge. The very nature of this guna is expansion through knowledge accumulation, leading to happiness. People who are Sattva-dominant have the capability to sit longer to read, research, and apply their learnings creatively. These are the entrepreneurial breed who believe in researching, interpreting, and inferring knowledge.

• Rajas provokes action. This guna is a must-have quality in an administrator. Anyone who needs tremendous decision-making capability needs a good amount of Rajoguna. It denotes aggression and the ability to get work done, by hook or by crook.

• Tamas invokes a laid-back attitude. When in abundance, this quality leads to procrastination. Tamo guna is ideal for jobs where minimal or no mind application is required.

It needs to be noted that every individual has all three gunas. However, the dominance of a guna determines their nature.

The Triguna Hiring Pedagogy

A slightly different perspective from the existing method might help us to identify and understand an individual better. Let’s take a step back and start from identifying the job role.

What if the employer categorizes the job role based on the trigunas? For instance, a job description for an R&D role could be thus:
"We are looking for:

• A knowledge seeker

• An individual who finds satisfaction in the pursuit of knowledge in the relevant field

• A creative researcher who can display research entrepreneurship

• An individual who can take decisive steps to reach the research outcome and communicate the same to the relevant teams.
  

In the above job description, the role seems to demand a Sattva-dominant nature with a tinge of Rajas involved. Similarly, in other cases, it is important for the employer to form an understanding of what exactly the job demands. What is the nature of an individual that would ideally suit this requirement? What are the qualities needed in an individual to ensure they are comfortable in the job role? Once this important aspect is identified, the employer can check for the relevant virtues in the applicant during interactions and interviews.

The advantages of this school of thought are many:

• This approach will encourage the applicant to introduce themselves, acknowledging their true nature. For instance, an applicant can introduce themselves as a researcher who loves pursuing knowledge for its own sake.

• This level of vulnerability is wonderful to achieve between employer and employee as it will help eliminate a lot of unwarranted facades in the selection process.

• The focus is shifted to the qualitative aspect of the applicant. It will also encourage applicants to connect more with their true selves and help them find a job that aligns with their natural being.

• An indiscriminate selection process is encouraged. Entry barriers and challenges faced by people are eliminated. Therefore, women on break, school or college dropouts, people who cannot afford quality education, senior citizens looking to work, and everyone else are handed a level playing field.

• Equal opportunity is given to everybody, at the same time encouraging individuals to rely on their true, natural, human potential and qualities rather than only acquired traits.
  

Picture the glee on the employer’s part when employees, just like the ministers in King Dasaratha’s kingdom, are genuinely enthusiastic, bear a smile on their face, work loyally, and are great at what they do! Not just that, but day after day, the employees also become good humans by tracing back to their true nature.

Don’t you think this will be a win-win for the company, the employee, and humanity as a whole?

Source: Valmiki Ramayana – Balakanda

तस्य अमात्या गुणैर् आसन् इक्ष्ह्वकोस्तु महात्मनः | मंत्रज्ञाः च इङ्गितज्ञाः च नित्यम् प्रिय हिते रताः || १-७-१

विद्या विनीता ह्रीमंतः कुशला नियतेन्द्रियाः || १-७-६

श्रीमन्तः च महात्मनः शास्त्रज्ञा धृढ विक्रमाः | कीर्तिमन्तः प्रणिहिता यथा वचन कारिणः || १-७-७

तेजः क्षमा यशः प्राप्ताः स्मित पूर्व अभिभाषिणः | क्रोधात् काम अर्थ हेतोर् वा न ब्रूयुर् अनृतम् वचः || १-७-८

तेषाम् अविदितम् किंचत् श्वेषु नास्ति परेषु वा | क्रियमाणम् कृतम् वा अपि चारेण अपि चिकीर्षितम् || १-७-९

कुशला व्य्वहारेषु सौहृदेषु परीक्षिताः | प्राप्त कालम् यथा दण्डम् धारयेयुः सुतेषु अपि || १-७-१०

कोश संग्रहणे युक्ता बलस्य च परिग्रहे | अहितम् च अपि पुरुषम् न हिंस्युर् अविदूषकम् || १-७-११

वीराः च नियतोत्साहा राज शास्त्रम् अनुष्ठिताः | शुचीनाम् रक्षितारः च नित्यम् विषय वासिनाम् || १-७-१२

ब्रह्म क्षत्रम् अहिंसन्तः ते कोशम् समपूरयन् | सुतीक्ष्ण दण्डाः संप्रेक्ष्य पुरुषस्य बलाबलम् || १-७-१३