D.A.R ke aage jeet hai*

New workplaces can be confusing, especially if it is your first job.

When you are in school or college, it is quite straightforward what is expected of you. You keep a good attendance in class, do your tutorials, attend the labs, prepare and deliver during the exams. Get your degree.

When you are in a new workplace, expectations are not clearly spelt out. You eventually wrap your head around KPIs, targets, appraisals, etc. But the initial few days, or even months gives you your first taste of the VUCA environment.

Let’s look at it from the employer’s perspective. It is in their benefit to onboard their employees rapidly (after the initial training of course). However, the mismatch of expectations, communication lapses, and more often than not, generational divides can delay this. There is also the transactional aspect, however I reserve this topic for another day.

I have recently been experimenting with a D.A.R framework to communicate expectations. I am not sure if there are already equivalents to this in the literature – would appreciate it if anyone can point it out, so that I may attribute any such existing works.

In my interpretation, D.A.R stands for

• D – Dependability
• A – Accountability
• R – Reciprocity

• With dependability, I tell my students that if I entrust you with a task, I expect you will take it on in its entirety, doing what it asks of you, in a consistent fashion, and also keep me informed of the progress.

• For accountability, I convey that as it is a task that is undertaken by you, you will ensure that you do so faithfully, and take full ownership of it. The fruits of the toils will then be yours – be it bouquets or brickbats. If you believe in something, you put your name on it.

• Finally with reciprocity, I communicate that just as you will be taking on the full responsibility of the task at hand, I too will fully support you with its implementation and completion. And in the true sense of reciprocity, if you see me put in effort towards the task at hand, you too put in commensurate hours, if not more.

In my opinion, the D.A.R framework brings in the element of professional values to an appraisal landscape that is otherwise overcast by metrics. KPIs may capture outcomes, but they do not capture the spirit with which they were achieved. For new employees or students, they help with reflection of their own performance, and also help see the course of executive decisions made by superiors in a broader sense. Especially when one is favoured for advancements in position or promotion over others.

Further, the D.A.R framework also softens the cliff-like threshold students encounter when they enter into the workplace (or start a PhD). Conversations can be structured around the framework, ensuring a clear communication of expectations – on part of both parties.

So far, the D.A.R framework has helped me simplify otherwise difficult conversations. They have also helped me with defining boundaries (“Hey, I have put in my hours, it is now time to do your part 😊”).

But it is also important to recognize that it is a two-way street. Employers have to hold up their end of the bargain. Leadership is witnessed, not broadcasted.   

*Title context – In Hindi, DAR or ‘डर’ stands for fear. The title is a catchphrase of a soft drink campaign, which essentially translates as ‘Beyond fear, there is victory’.

**Image from Wikipedia – Mountaineer, CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons