Spider wonder must for corporate HR

Corporate HR has lots to learn from the brilliant mimicry of a small jumping spider which is zoologically called as Myrmarachne formicaria. The interesting behaviour of this spider would amaze everyone. The spider is quite small, indeed smaller than an ant and still it would hunt ants bravely by entering alone into the ant colony.

When it enters, instead of using its eight legs to walk it uses only 6 legs and position its rest of the two legs like antenna so the ants cannot easily differentiate the spider to be a different creature.

Through such brilliant display, the spider easily fools the ants in the colony and then looks for an appropriate opportunity to catch the ant. The spider injects the venom into the ant, kills it and then it cleverly hides under the dead ant and then rolls slowly out of the colony. If the worker ants became curious and come near the spider, the spider smartly lifts the antenna of the dead ant by hides its presence underneath the dead ant and then escapes.

By hiding under the dead ant neither the presence nor the smell of the spider is detected by the ants and even the small suspicion of the ant also the spider scuttle by projecting the antenna of the ant by hiding under the ant.

The brilliant mimicry the tiny spider would have learned only through continuous exposure and seeing several of its predecessors getting killed by the ant.

It means the extraordinary camouflage the spider would have acquired only because of the existing realities in the given ecosystem and through continuous exposure. The corporate leaders have many lessons to be learned from the brilliant mimicry the spider.

When the leaders complain and blame about people being so cleaver and cunning, it is not the people but the corporate culture is to be blamed for the above traits being displayed by the people. Sometime the HR may argue that such tricks being displayed only by only the newly joined employees and not by those working in the organization for several years.

The spider that displays the brilliant mimicry with ants might have been learning and improving the tricks and such traits may have been transferred from one to the subsequent generation. Similar to the above the newly joined employee may quickly learn the culture of the corporate from the pre-existing folks and they need to adapt fast to become successful hence may be exhibiting such traits.

Extraordinary tricks and cunning leadership displayed by people in corporate should not be always linked with the character or behaviour of the individual employee but it may have been triggered by the existing culture of the organization.

If fair practice and good HR culture is developed and promoted and confidence and equal opportunity for performance and reward is assured, certainly several bad traits in people can be eliminated.

The tiny spider and its brilliant camouflage is only the symptom and therefore such symptoms should not be misinterpreted as the character and nature of people. Only the compelling realities make the people to exhibit several qualities that may deserve condemnation.

The HR function and top management must instead of blaming must own the responsibility and instead of self - whipping must engage in proper diagnosis and corrective measures. Only through such corrective measures and initiatives the corporate culture can be changed and developed.

Nature has several examples for the corporate to learn and understand therefore the corporate leaders must look at the larger picture than isolating the events to individuals and wilfully masquerade the reality where they are the real contributors of such reality.