The Modern yet Traditional Manager

Welcome to the new generation of Personal Relationship Managers – a term commonly used for those employees dealing with anything between 10 to 200 or even more consumers/ business relationships on a day to day basis. Many of us have either had some brush or been in the above (or similar) role in the past. My discussion here is about this term which is has now become so common without getting into any judgmental undertones about them as professionals.

There was a time, when we used to depend on a ‘Sharma Ji’ or a ‘Gupta Ji’ for simple to complicated service related requirements. They were usually the ones who would join an organization to spend their entire lifetime there. At times they were really efficient and at times exact opposite. However, they were people whom we had known for a long period of time and had a relationship with. We would not think twice before going to them for any kind of work. Most of our interactions with them would not be limited to work. They loved talking as much as we did and conversations would include anything and everything under the sun. What mattered was the fact that a relationship was being developed and the person could be banked upon in times of need.

When we look at how things have changed around us today one observation is that we rarely remember the names of these people who continue to play an important role in our lives. Our relationship is now with a place-holder instead of a person, which gets filled by different people over time. There is rarely a constant and with opportunities opening up in the country, the rate of such transfers is faster than ever before. What is interesting to note here is that the act of being into a relationship with a specific individual has been converted into a role which a person performs. From a time where relationships with specific individuals used to be everlasting it has now reached a stage where it is completely replaceable.

Also, it is true that the concept of ‘Relationship Manager’ finds a large amount of acceptance in India today. Had we been missing the personal touch and warmth of ‘Sharma Ji & Co.’ we would not have accepted this new definition easily. However, it is interesting to find several people who swear by their relationship managers these days.

If we try and look a little beyond the obvious, there is an interesting point to note here. The term ‘relationship manager’ is very similar to the kind of people we are today i.e. ‘modern yet traditional’. The word ‘relationship’ takes care of our traditional dislike for transactional based functional method of working. At the same time the word ‘modern’ adds the touch of professionalism, knowledge and skills, experience and expertise to the person.

With the influence of media, mobility and money we are getting better exposed, lonelier and more demanding. While our expectation from such professions increases; we are still somewhere rooted in our traditions of the past. We want the modern but not at the cost of doing away with the past. This I feel is one of the key reasons for this term becoming a part or our language today.