4 HR lessons to learn from JDU’s Bihar win
The astounding victory of the JDU-RJD-Congress Mahagathbandhan over the BJP-led NDA in the Bihar elections is a clear example of right strategies being implemented at the right time.
The Mahagathbandhan was highly criticised when it was formed initially, and although being underdogs the strategies that gave them this win are lessons which could also provide HR with new perspectives in their own spheres.
There are 4 lessons to be learnt from this Bihar win.
- Leadership: What made the Mahagathbandhan succeed majorly was its leaders. The JDU-RJD-Congress unit clearly knew whom to focus on. The work of Nitish Kumar in the past 10 years in the state, credited him with bringing Bihar back on track after his 2005 elections, women empowerment in panchayats, development projects were all highlighted by the party at every level. While the BJP-Led NDA focused mainly on targeting the opponent leaders. Modi magic which wielded so much of charisma during the National elections failed to garner that support from the voters.
- Team work: While leadership attracted the voters’ attention, but the combined effort of the all the party workers shunning hierarchy is one of the reasons why the party won the elections. The party saw the teamwork between top leaders and the bottom level party workers. The three parties forgot the personal squabbles and fought the election together to uproot the BJP-led NDA.
- Choosing the right candidate for right position: When the Mahagathbandhan was announced some 19 months earlier, not much was expected out of it. But the party in their boardroom clearly chalked out the potential candidates and strategically placed them in their respected positions. The list of 242 seats was released at one go by the Mahagathbandhan which showed their seriousness and also their unity.
- Retaining productive employees: One of the major reasons why Mahagathbandhan worked was the Indian Political Action Committee (IPAC). The majority of the team under the guidance of Prashant Kishore, worked with the Modi Government when they were campaigning at the National elections. However, the same team was roped in by the JDU-RJD-Congress Mahagathbandhan to offer formidable campaigns to oust the BJP-led NDA. And it worked! Why the Modi Government decided to let go of Prashant Kishore and his team (consists of IIT and IIM graduates) is a question to debate. But letting go of the most successful strategist cost the BJP-led NDA the biggest state elections. However, the team restructured itself and split into two. Citizens Alliance, with close to 35 members, directly worked with the Bihar government to promote its achievements. While IPAC , with 27 members, worked with the JD(U) – conducted data analytics and worked across social media for Nitish Kumar, an exercise that paid rich dividends during the Modi campaign.
It is clear that management strategies can make or break your organization’s functions and reputation. The above mentioned tactics will not only help you accomplish your goals but also augment success on the whole