HR Practices – Values Learned From Star Wars Movie Series

By Dr S Dev Anand

Star Wars movie became a huge phenomenon when it was released in 1977. The characters brought by George Lucas became so popular until fans of the movie started to follow each character closely. Who can forget the evil in Darth Vader, The mentoring skills of Obi Wan Kenobi, the persuasive methods used by Han Solo, The leadership of Princess Leia, the positive attitude shown by Luke Skywalker and of the most dreaded of all… the negative influences and selfishness of The Emperor who uses his persuasive skills to lure Anakin Skywalker to join the Dark Forces and became the most feared person in the Universe. Today Star Wars series had become a cult culture where from posters to figurines and games are made. In fact there is a privately funded museum specially dedicated to Star Wars. Now…. The new movie under the latest franchise titled... Star Wars – Force Awakens is set to mesmerize fans across the globe. To me movies are not only entertainment but a medium where one can learn the values and skills which can be used in our day to day life be it at work or for personal development. In fact movies give us the so much information in short span of time that we spend in a cinema theatre. HR practitioners can learn great values and skills from movies. There are many things the HR personnel can learn, observe, study and adopt into their HR practices, policies and values. Star Wars movie series provide HR tools, skills and guidance in developing a systematic HR integrated system. Values such as team work, change management, crisis management, grievance handling, coaching, mentoring, empowerment valuable, communication and decision making skills are some of the lessons that can be learned from the Star Wars movie series. Now let us look at the salient points in Star War movie series that can be adopted as learning guide by HR practitioners. The first lesson that can be adopted by HR is on coaching and mentoring. In the first Star War series- A New Hope, Luke Skywalker was a farm boy who was raised by his foster parents. He had no guidance or direction to what are his goals and priorities. But all that had changed the moment Obi- Wan Kenobi, one of the Jedi Master came into the picture. Obi Wan gave him proper guidance and guided him to face challenges ahead and to discover his potential and talent. Here we can see how being a very experienced and resourceful person, Obi Wan used his skills to mentor Luke in becoming someone who has confidence and take ownership of any action. This is the most important part of a mentor. As a mentor, Obi Wan did not criticize or comment on Luke’s weakness but showed him a way to overcome his fear or weakness. This lesson can be used by HR in their policies and values especially on staff development and talent management. HR together with Line Managers must develop policies that focus on learning through “Peer Mentoring”. Senior staff or Managers must play this role so that the employee concern can be guided properly and taught the right work procedures and work flow. By creating a Buddy System, employees can share and learn without fear or worries of making mistakes. Part of mentoring also involves coaching. Coaching involves learning by practicing and continuous improvement. This is also another lesson that HR practitioners can learn and adopt in their HR practices. In the second and third Star War series, Return of the Jedi and Empire Strikes Back, Yoda being a very senior Jedi Master shows the characteristics of a very noble, knowledgeable and humble person. Despite being small in size and aged, he teaches Luke on the powers of good force and how the power of mind can overcome any obstacles ahead. Yoda coaches Luke by putting him to do things that he strongly believed impossible to do. Being a COACH, Yoda taught Luke the skills to develop powers that can be used to defeat the Dark Forces. HR can also adopt the same values in their Hiring and Performance Policies. They can work with Department heads to develop a job orientation and training plan to help employees to improve their job performance. Supervisors can be trained to be a competent in coaching their subordinates to bring the best out of them. One key part of COACHING is COMMUNICATION. By consistently having open communication system, employees are able to gain feedback on their performance rather than wait till things get out of hand. By allowing a two way communication, employees too can give their feedback on what they are lacking and how they can learn to improve. The above also teaches another valuable lesson for HR practitioners which is on EMPOWERMENT. Empowerment is when Managers delegate their authority together with the tasks to their subordinates. This will enable employees to make decisions with less bureaucratic process and to allow them to be creative in finding solutions to problems associated with task given. In both the movies above, Princess Leia who is given the task to assemble a team of Jedi Army had given Han Solo and his team the freedom to make decision as long as the Dark Forces headed by Darth Vader can be defeated. Princess Leia knows that being a princess she has to put her people FIRST because of her limitations on what she can do. So she relies on those who have the skills to overcome the Dark Forces of the Emperor. Though Han Solo is cocky in his character, Chewbacca who is someone loyal to Han Solo and androids- R2D2 and CP-30 only follow orders based on command mode, she shows her LEADERSHIP skills by adjusting to them to achieve her ultimate goal. HR practitioners can instill these values in their HR policies and practices on Managers Code of Conduct, where Managers can be taught about the importance of empowerment and leadership and guide them to develop a proactive working relationship with their subordinates based on TRUST, OPENESS, SHARING AND COOPERATION. The Final lesson that can be learned is about Managing Conflicts. Conflict at workplace is a common acceptance and norm as employees from various beliefs, background, education and culture will have different views and expectations. If Conflicts are not managed properly, it will lead to disputes and disruption of a harmonious work environment. Negative influence among grieving employees will lead to chaos and unwanted counter reaction that may not be good for an organisation. In the movie, Star Wars Episode III- Revenge of the Sith, Anakin Skywalker being a young Jedi was impatient to become a Jedi Master and be part of the Jedi Council that controls the Universe and is deemed as Keepers of Peace. Due to Anakin’s impatience and the urge to be Jedi Master has lured him by the Dark Forces through the Emperor who influences him to defeat the Jedi Council and Rebel Alliance and to create Galactic Empire. Obi Wan Kenobi being his mentor did not realise about the desire and the needs of Anakin Skywalker though he has been very close to him like a big brother. What happens next? Anakin than was drawn to Dark Forces until his dissatisfaction lead to grievances because no one was listening to him. The Jedi Council senior Master – Mace Windu refused to listen and trust Anakin. This lead to Anakin to take matters on his own hand and decided to follow the Dark Forces. He then goes on rampage killing everyone who crosses path. In the final epic battle between Anakin and Obi Wan, Anakin is defeated and is badly burned and injured. Obi Wan had to save Anakin’s Wife, Padme and the twin babies. Padme dies after giving birth and the news of her death makes Anakin so angry that he transforms as the Evil Darth Vader. If only Obi Wan and Mace Windu had allowed space and time to listen to Anakin, he would have avoided all this conflict. Just like the danger of Dark Forces, HR Practitioners must accept that there are possibilities for employees to be influenced by internal or external negative forces that can lead to disputes and disharmony. Any form of grievances or disputes must be dealt with immediately. This is why it is important to have an open feedback policy and system to allow grieving employees to voice out their dissatisfaction. Besides that, HR department must develop Feedback system that allows employees to give any suggestions or highlight any problems. This can be done through documented survey. By developing such policy and system, negative influences and disputes can be avoided and this will create a positive and harmonious work environment.

Dr. S Dev Anand Principal HR Consultant/ Certified Trainer Videv Consulting Sdn Bhd For any training or consulting services kindly send your queries to videvconsulting@yahoo.com.