Sit-in to stand upright - IIPM Editorial

It would not be wrong to acknowledge that Industrial Relations as a concept largely emerged during the Industrial Revolution in the 1790s. There were social and political effects of the revolution, as it not only affected the economy but also created certain social and political implications, which in turn paved the way for trade unionism.[1] The Industrial Revolution led to concentration of population in big towns because factories and other business establishments were located there. This gave birth to housing problem. Even today, numerous workers continue to live in slum areas in major industrial towns. People from villages came to the towns in search of employment. Their close ties with the village, land and family were broken. The Industrial Revolution created conditions under which workers aimed at material progress by working in factories. This led to disintegration of joint family system.

The Industrial Revolution gave birth to two classes – capitalists and workers. There was economic inequality between the rich and poor. Gradually, class consciousness creeped in the minds of workers and they organised themselves in the form of unions to fight for their economic, social and political rights. Click here to read more..

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IIPM Think-Tank

Business and Economy

The Sunday Indian

Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri

Prof. Rajita Chaudhuri

4ps Business and Marketing

The Human Factor

The change leader!

The learning event by MTHR, Global on ‘Nurturing Geniuses: HR, the Change Leader’ was held on July 21, 2012, in association with BSE Institute Ltd., Mumbai at the historic Bombay Stock Exchange auditorium.

MTHR Global is a not-for-profit HR community powered by six HR professionals – Mr. Rajesh Kamath, Principal Consultant – L&D, Cerebrus Consultants; Mr. Ashish Gakrey, Senior Manager, Capgemini India; Mr. Vipul Agarwal, Director, Zend Consulting Services; Mr. Rajesh Gupta, DGM – Human Capital, Future Generali India Life Insurance; Ms. Preeti Malhotra, Practice Head, Great Place to Work® Institute; Mr. Keyur Jani, DM – HR, Deloitte.

Ms. Smriti Dalvi, MD, Florista India shared with the audience how her life as a senior software professional underwent a dramatic change. She decided to turn an entrepreneur after she realised that recipients of gifted flowers wanted better services.

An interaction with change guru, Mr. Alok Kejriwal, CEO Games2Win, was much appreciated as he narrated his encounters with failure and success. Another session ‘HR the Change Leader’ by Mr. Alex Rajan, Director – HR, Pfizer India, highlighted how life begins at the end of one’s comfort zone. Click here to read more...

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In this economic crisis, corporate training budgets are being tightened

Sometimes, economic crisis is the mother of great invention. This is the opportunity; training and development programmes are a costly investment which will yield rich dividends in the long run.

After analysing working trends of corporate training organisations and how they react to various economic conditions, it is important to be well-equipped with soft skills and hard skills. Our education system can be made effective if the road that we take from school to professional courses is not all theoretical and technical, but also focusses on the holistic development of an individual.

We forget to develop one’s personality to survive and grow in any industry. Today the mantra is team work, so it should be remembered that along with handling machines and issues or numbers, equal amount of attention should be paid to people training programmes or soft skills, which include techniques and methods of developing effective interpersonal skills.

Although soft skills are important for people in any profession, they are of utmost importance to the managers. This is the reason why some of the top MBA institutes have added soft skills as a special course in their MBA and PGDM programmes. But this change has to start from the grass roots level – from school to professional world. As Harvey Ullman says anyone who stops learning is old, whether this happens at 20 or 80. Anyone who keeps on learning not only remains young, but constantly becomes more valuable regardless of physical capacity.

Today, technical and behavioural skills go hand in hand therefore, it is not possible for anyone to overlook these skills. It is not just important how effectively a manager can achieve his targets, but it is equally important how effective he is in managing people. Click here to read more....

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You teach, but do they learn?

Q. You once mentioned before the parliament of Sweden that children learn in different ways, but we teach them in just one. How can teachers learn to teach in more than one way?

A. We cannot teach everyone in the same way. Different students have different interests, so we needto reorganise classrooms to deal with the differences. A traditional classroom follows the model of the holy book, where teachers teach the Bible, or another sacred text such as, the Quran. The basic model is that everyone learns one thing in one way. But when it comes to learning, students learn in different ways based on different goals, values and interests. For effective learning, teachers should be trained to work with their students’ varied interests.

Q. How can the faculty prepare for such a change? What can be the top challenges in doing so?

A. There are many challenges. In the traditional model, students – who learn in different ways and for different causes – are taught in one way and those who do not learn well in that system are considered as failures. This model ends up effectively educating only 25 per cent of students. We fail to educate 100 per cent students because we are unable to engage their interests and ways of learning. In such a scenario, teachers and schools can help students find the ways they can learn effectively. These methods can then be adopted by the institution. This new approach calls for teachers to be more dynamic and flexible, so that they can engage multiple students developing along different pathways and teach them to read, write, think scientifically and the basic skills important for success in the 21st century. Teachers need to help each student understand how he or she learns effectively instead of teaching everyone in the same way. Click here to read more..

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Turnaround situations can fail if HR management is not taken as a strategic issue to look into.

The second aspect is about the leader’s role. In the Indian context, people look up to leaders as a head of the institution, which sometimes, is considered as a family. He is expected to layout the future path, clear doubts, hear with an open mind and give a thoughtful ear to employee feedback and suggestions.

We, at NCR, have gone through turnaround situations which can be a business transformation, mergers and acquisitions or demergers. We also use this process to implement any new process and systems which require behavioural or cultural change, for example implementing an HR-shared services model.

In every scenario, a core project team is created which is a cross functional team and these teams are responsible for working on all aspects of the change much in advance.

In some cases, if it is a critical aspect where HR needs deeper insights in to issues like benefits or retention, etc, then a sub-team is formed to deep dive and recommend solutions for it.

This cross functional team is not just limited to strategise but also to implement the entire change process. As a standard policy at NCR, every team member needs to sign a non-disclosure agreement till the project is successfully completed or made public.

The author is India HR Head at NCR Corporation with 14 years of experience in different industries-ranging from manufacturing, process industry, and IT services. Before joining NCR, he had worked with IBM India as GM HR, Hyderabad, where he managed the HR function for 8,000 employees and 350 managers. He has been been responsible for providing HR leadership and strategy and taking HR initiatives and processes in addition to having good exposure for a wide range of HR verticals such as staffing, performance management, learning & development etc. At NCR, he is responsible for leading the HR function at country level and is responsible for driving the essential HR transformation and change management functions in the region. He specialises in business partnership, org wide leadership development, HR risk management, HR consulting, OD & change management. Read more..

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Importance of communication and feedback

The organisation’s willingness, desire and ability to implement change are the key to its success. During times of change, employees at various levels are exposed to the vagaries of rumours and incorrect representation of the information, etc. These have a debilitating effect on the employees, and the organisation, at large. The effects include low motivation, a demoralised team and drop in productivity levels. Our experience shows, communication should be a mix of top-down and bottom-up approach.

Owing to its closeness with employees, HR understands the impact of change on them, and hence can bring in suitable framework and initiatives. At Virtusa, there is a communication framework ‘VIRCOMM’ which is a structured, calendarised and theme based two-way communication flow. This approach helps in getting a real time feedback from the employees and to clarify any ambiguity in their minds.

Like communication, timely feedback from employees and its resolutions play an important role. Staff feedback needs to be put to action and well communicated for employees to sense the organisation’s responsibility. At Virtusa, Global Team Member Survey (GTMS) is an initiative where feedback is collected in a structured manner and action plans are drawn collaboratively by employee volunteers and leadership sponsors. This ensures transparent approach to handling change.

Change is the only constant and every organisation, at some point, will be impacted by it. Anticipation and overcoming the effects of change through a planned approach can ensure people’s involvement, motivation and focus in supporting growth and success.Read more...

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Reputation is a critical factor

Q. What are the focus areas for a CEO to help HR develop an effective business-oriented plan?
Timothy: The CEO must involve HR early in discussions regarding the strategy. HR needs to understand requirements and advise on any people/organisational issue which may impact the delivery of the strategy. These include a number of factors relating to resourcing, employee engagement, employment legislation, development, etc.

Q. How do you see HR contributing to the shareholder value?
Timothy: The key influence HR has in this area is strategic resourcing – ensuring the right people are in the right roles at the right time. The CEO needs to ensure that HR and the hiring community are aware of the critical targets so that HR and the hiring managers can work together to either recruit or develop the workforce to the required level. This includes immediate resourcing but also encompasses the broader areas of talent management and succession planning.

Q. Please share an instance when HR understood the requirements of a crisis and delivered.
Timothy: When a customer raised the level of work required and the resources were not in place to meet the request, HR was able to partner the business managers and engage the additional resource to the client’s satisfaction without compromising on the delivery.

Q. What restricts companies from having an outstanding employer brand? How can the leadership and HR work towards it?
Timothy: Reputation is a critical factor in establishing an outstanding employer brand. While many factors such as remuneration package, culture, training and development contribute to it, they fall away if the reputation perceived by employees, customers and suppliers is different. The basic role of leadership and HR demands that a competitive package is in place and leverage on any advantage other organisations might not have. HR should also check and report to the leadership the status of employee satisfaction. It can do this through employee surveys and exit interviews. HR should also make recommendations on improvements to enhance employer brand. Read more..

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The HR department has always played a vital role in an organisation, but how effective is its role as a strategic business partner, asks Sanghamitra Khan

A CEO wants the HR to be its strategic business partner. But, it has been indicated in several studies that there is a gap between the CEO’s expectations and what the HR department delivers. According to a US-based study, between 1998 and 2007, the HR’s impact on company strategy has not increased. After talks about the HR being strategic partner for nearly two decades, it is yet to get a seat at the ‘table’ where important business decisions are made. HR has a long way to go before it contributes to the corporate discussion about products, strategy and customers.

What could have been the probable reasons for such a condition? As per Geoffrey Matthews, VP – HR Strategy & Organisational Development, Merck Serono, the HR is not in the same frame of reference of executives. It has been found that the executives and the HR do not speak the same language and thus fail to be on the same page. The HR waits to be asked to contribute, making it difficult to demonstrate its effective contribution to the business. Here lies its failure to register as a key partner. Such a scenario calls for fast and effective action from the HR.

First, the HR needs to allot its time in understanding the business along with its investment in HR administrative tasks. The department also needs to understand what is on his CEO’s mind and whether it is performing to match his standard. The main areas of concern for CEOs in the current scheme of things have to be understood and the HR has to successfully contribute to those areas. HR has to inculcate the skills that can help it understand the roles its management has in the business. Ability to understand business needs is the basic requirement for developing any strong and flourishing business. So, the HR needs to understand this from the beginning.

Second, HR needs to effectively communicate its contributions, and for that it has to make its argument in business terms – not in human resources terms. HR needs to recognise the difference between the language used by it and that of business executives. Some executives say HR language consists of soft terminology and irrelevant wording which lacks measurement. Click here to read more...

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Walk before you run..

Q. What do you look for in a candidate at the time of recruitment?
A. Professional ethics, integrity, attitude one brings to the organisation, besides capabilities, competency and education.

We prefer a strong academic background. If a candidate has been serious about his career as a student, he will be serious in growing with the organisation too. We hire from the best and focus on attracting talent from the top employers and colleges.

We have a structured way of analysing people that includes personality and technical tests and various rounds of interview. We never go by democratic way of selection i.e., seven saying ‘yes’ and three saying ‘no’, as the latter could have observed something that others failed to notice.

Q. Tell us about the challenges you have experienced in India.
A. On people’s front, it is retention and growing talent. We understand that the best we have is also the best for our competitors. It is about retaining talent by ensuring that employees do not lose faith in the organisation. Re-evaluating practices, for instance, what was done last year might not be the reasons to gain success this year. Growing a business is a challenge in itself, as it is about innovation, reinventing, and how fast one can adapt.

Q. The company was recently recognised as a top employer amongst the top 20 software companies in India (as per a survey conducted by DataQuest). What are the people practices behind this achievement?
A. We have a strong mentorship and coaching programme that is implemented in the best possible manner. We have identified the core talent of the organisation, irrespective of age, experience and the company they had worked with. This is where a young guy can mentor a senior director and a senior director can mentor a middle manager. We believe in practices such as performance management, learning and development, exit interviews, and even reaching out to people who have left the company to welcome them back. Click here to read full interview...

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A Beautiful Mind

Although he may confess to being slow when it comes to making quick decisions, it gives him the opportunity to focus on a topic in-depth and come up with several good ideas in the process. Prof. Aaron Ahuvia is presently Professor of Marketing at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, where he won the 2007 Distinguished Research Award and was named the 2001 Faculty Member of the Year. He received his PhD in Marketing in 1993, from Northwestern University’s Kellogg College of Business, where he assisted Prof. Phillip Kotler with a revision of his classic textbook, alongside working on his own research. Today, he is amongst the world’s most published authors on consumer behaviour and is passionate about understanding their love for products and brands. In an exclusive meeting with The Human Factor, he shares more on the huge potential for social work in India, and the way forward for the economy.

Q. Tell us about your career journey; how did you zero in on marketing as your specialisation?
A. I was working in corporate finance at Duff & Phelps but I hated it. Maybe if I had stayed with it long enough to get to do more of the actual analysis, I might have come to like it. This is when computers were starting to come in, so I had to spend a lot of time copying numbers out of books into spreadsheets. But I am very bad at such transactions, so I went to Prof. Steve Burnett and shared my experience. He told me to get into a PhD programme in Marketing instead of finding a different job, which sounded like a wonderful idea, and off I went. At that point, I had never worked in marketing, but over the next 25 years I got a lot of chances to do so, both professionally and as a teacher. Click here to read more...

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What makes Bhiwani so different from other districts of India, indeed other districts of Haryana for that matter?

As Vijender’s semi-final match ends in a narrow defeat, Jagdish Singh, solemn but satisfied, emerges from his prayer room. Almost a legend in Bhiwani, the man, fed up with overcrowding and hidebound rules in SAI hostel, mortgaged his house and other property, took loans from well wishers and friends and started this club in 2002, where he dispenses free coaching. As the medals and accolades rolled in, his colleagues and superiors at SAI, did the most predictable thing, they initiated a departmental inquiry against him on the charges that he takes money for his coaching. Still fighting the enquiry, Coach Jagdish Singh, gets a reprieve when the news comes in that he has conferred the Dronacharya award. The reprieve is that in more ways than one, as the award carries a cash prize of 25 Lakhs. “I will use this money to pay back my loans, the rest I will invest in this club and maybe get my motorcycle repaired,” he says as an afterthought. Famous for not taking any breaks, the club is open seven days a week. Singh gets right down to business as the evening rolls in and with it come some 100 kids with stars in their eyes and dreams in their hearts. “I say, give us money and hold us accountable if we fail to produce more medals in 2012,” he says, with the supreme confidence of a man who’s been vindicated. I could be wrong, but maybe he’s the difference between Bhiwani and the rest of India.....Continue

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).



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