Let’s face it, it’s not easy being the boss. According to a study from HR provider Adecco, only 30 per cent of employees aspire to have the boss’s job. But simply having responsibility doesn’t garner respect or a working relationship. Around 37 per cent of the employees polled thought they were smarter than their boss and some estimates suggest that a staggering 80 per cent of employees leave their jobs because of their bosses. So what creates such a tension between boss and employee? Too often it’s the boss’s leadership style. Whereas leadership is all about enabling, engaging and building confidence, loudership is about belittling, controlling, and instilling fear. Without doubt, bosses who bully, intimidate and create an environment of fear will undermine the performance, creativity and commitment of their employees. In the short term, these employees will comply with the demands of their bosses. And looking ahead, they will seek out new opportunities. However, the struggle intensifies as the likelihood of finding a new job diminishes. Both performance and morale plummet and, for knowledge workers, loudership tactics cut at the very core of their identity and self-esteem. Combatting LoudershipWhen faced with a boss that practices loudership, employees typically see only two choices: 1) Do nothing. In the short term, accepting the behaviour feeds some employees’ needs to withdraw from an emotionally charged confrontation (not to mention keeping one’s job in a tough economy), but in the long term, such action (or inaction) means the boss continues on the same vein. 2) Look for another job. Whether transferring inside the company or not, this option enables the employee to look beyond the hopelessness of working for a louder. Of course, such efforts have to be carried on in secret. Nothing would embolden a louder more and motivate him to turn up the volume. Yet both of these options fail to address the problematic behaviour of each party. Accepting abuse becomes a habit that’s hard to break, and exiting the firm without confronting the boss’s behaviour fails to hold a mirror to the boss or send a message to his superiors that such behavior is acceptable. Ideally, an employee should deal directly with a boss who practices loudership in order to rectify such behavior. Consider the following strategies: Try to understand where the boss is coming from. Sometimes it’s hard to get past a venomous delivery to hear the message and decipher its origins. Is the boss reacting to others’ impossible or demeaning requests? Sometimes such behavior is a disguised plea to be listened to. Show empathy, “You must be so frustrated to be given conflicting directives,” and see if he calms down and answers your question. Listen carefully, and if appropriate, respond by going a step further and offering a plan for taking on additional tasks. Empathy can diffuse tempers and possibly trigger empathy toward you. Have a plan for dealing with difficult behaviours. Without a plan, two extremes are likely to occur: one—you crumble in the presence of a louder, or two—you match the venom and escalate the conflict (in which the power differential, doesn’t favor you). Neither is ideal. When you crumble and show fear, you give the louder ammunition: “I knew you were a baby…you’re not tough enough to run a sales organization.” Think ahead about your goal, what you are willing to accept, and what you will not… along with your counteroffer, “I’m not willing to stand here while you yell at me, but if we can have a calm conversation about your concerns over my team’s performance, I will gladly accept your criticism and work with the team to find ways to get back on track.” Confronting anyone can be difficult, even more so when the person is your boss. Know what you will say, perhaps practicing with a trusted friend or colleague to increase your comfort and confidence for the actual event. Also, consider having this conversation in a public space. The louder might be more willing to listen—as opposed to escalate the conflict—when others are watching. Document behaviours carefully. Without documentation, it’s your word against his and you’d likely lose…and be targeted for more abuse. Make a formal complaint to Human Resources to ensure that behaviors that may have gone unnoticed are finally revealed. What isn’t seen cannot be addressed, and may suggest that others have been too scared to file a grievance. Avoid complaining about the behaviour to everyone except the offender. Some make the mistake of telling the boss’s boss. This could backfire. The boss’s boss may see your behavior as politically motivated. Moreover, others you complain to may see your complaining as whining and an unwillingness to take charge of a situation, and may actually weaken your position. If you lack the courage to speak directly to the boss, find another way to deal with the stress, by talking to and getting support from a partner or close friend who has no ties with the organisation. Have an escape plan. If loudership behaviour has persisted for a long time, and your attempts to deal with it directly and diplomatically have been unsuccessful, it might be time to look for another boss or job.However, when asked the reason for your search in an interview, don’t say “because I have an impossible boss.” Rather, be prepared to discuss specific ways in which the interviewer’s company and position represent a better fit for your skills, experience, career goals, etc. Much as with leaders, there are few natural born louders. It can result from a lack of self-awareness combined with others’ unwillingness or inability to confront the louder. And, it can be exacerbated by a weak economy and increasing pressures to achieveperformance metrics that don’t reflect the current downturn. Bosses who feel their own employment at risk may eschew empowerment and tighten the reins of control to “guarantee” performance. Overcoming the loudership trap—fear breeding insecurity that manifests itself in behaviors that generate even greater fear and insecurity—means first understanding and recognizing the behaviors. Only then will there be progress for the louder—and those who are traumatized by loudership behaviors. (Suzanne C. de Janasz is Professor of Leadership and Organisation Development at IMD)
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Is your organisation paying attention to preparing its future leaders? Recent research at the Center for Creative Leadership shows that the nature of leadership is changing — future leaders will need different skills such as the ability to collaborate, resilience, learning agility, cross-cultural sensitivity, and citizenship. Unless organisations take charge of grooming sufficient numbers of upcoming managers, India’s swift business growth over the past decades could screech to a halt. Top leaders understand that an astute and well-defined business strategy is basic to organisational growth. What is not as well understood is that a well-conceived strategy will be well-executed only if a complementary leadership strategy is in place. For example, to succeed as a business, top leaders must keep an eye on their competitors and client base, noticing whether and how the profile of their competition or clients is changing. This helps them to set priorities and decide where to place their bets –such as on exquisite service to customers, product innovation, domestic or international acquisitions, sourcing raw materials competitively, diversifying product and service lines, or creating a global brand. The strategic bets that top leaders place then dictates what will be needed from future leaders – is it more customer-focus or risk-orientation or savvy about international business or operational astuteness or the cleverness to monitor the company’s public image and reputation? Strategic vision tells us what future leaders must learn to do, and what functional knowledge, skills, beliefs and values those future leaders will need. Business strategy must be coupled with leadership strategy for organisations to stay abreast of wave after wave of turbulent changes in the marketplace.Dr William Pasmore, who consults widely with global companies about strategic approaches to leadership development, has this to say: “It is not simply the number or quality of individual leaders that determines organisational success, but the ability of formal and informal leaders to pull together in the support of organisational goals that ultimately makes the difference.” He continues by noting that communication,influence and collaboration (involving formal and informal leaders) must occur up, down, and across the organization, almost as if the organisation chart didn’t exist. Pasmore’s breakthrough perspective is the starting point for proposing three ways to invest in developing tomorrow’s leaders and create sustainable competitive advantage. Query. Top leaders must continually query themselves about what they want their organisation’s future leaders to learn to do. Picture. Organisational stakeholders at all levels must have a clear picture of what generic and specific leadership capabilities look like, differentiated by function, level, and location. Create. Systems and processes have to be created so that the requisite knowledge, skills, perspectives, and values which future leaders must embody are intentionally developed. A fresh approach to crafting and enacting a leadership development strategy is urgently needed; and this calls upon top leadership to change how their organisation creates new leadership capabilities. Filling the talent pipeline is no longer about finding generically bright people with praiseworthy academic credentials and functional expertise. Instead, complex questions have to be asked: In which functions and at what levels will this talent be deployed? How will they be expected to behave? What kinds of relationships will they be asked to build so that the organisation achieves thatspecial kind of collective success that makesall its stakeholders beam with pride?Here are three overall principles and several HR practices to consider when dealing with the issues that have just been raised. Principle 1: Personal engagement and commitment from top level leaders. This is primary. By telling stories that showcase desired behaviors—such as handling media events boldly, admitting mistakes, or adjusting to expatriate life—top leaders demonstrate engagement and inspire employees to adopt new ways of thinking and acting. Whether about oneself or others, stories broadcast images of leadership in action and the leadership values of the organization.Another action is to publicly acknowledge that leadership is not produced by attending events or taking part in short-term initiatives, but must be implemented over at least a 3 to 5 year time-frame. This too signals top leader commitment to leadership development. Principle 2: Holistic development strategies. To pave the path to continual executive learning and growth, formal and informal learning opportunities must be blended. For example, participation in core leadership courses, events, and conferences must be mingled with learning from work assignments, strategic action development projects, community service, and board membership. A caveat is that the skills for learning-to-learn must be imparted first, and woven into the fabric of the manager as a person. A proper learning orientation (to all relationships and experiences) is critical for leading effectively because the workday and business environment is no longer predictable; changes cannot be foreseen; what worked in the past may not work in the future. Therefore the future leader’s qualities as a learner--rather than as a traditional leader—have become significantly more germane to successful leading. Principle 3: Installation of skillful coaching, mentoring, and feedback practices. Future leaders must apply relevant learningtoachieve business growth while helping their organization to adapt to unrelenting environmental changes and challenges. This is easier said than done. There is widespread recognition that coaching relationships help managers to apply new learning; butthe skills and resources for follow-on coachingis seldom available. Sothe power inherent in constructive instructional relationships weakens; those who coach, and are coached, are frustrated; and sadly, poor practices and poor implementation spoil the credibility of institutionalized coaching, mentoring and feedback per se. When implemented, each of the three principlesabove calls for new behaviors from everybody in the organisation. Further, new behaviors must be recognized and rewarded to take hold. For example, when managers (who believe in holistic development) delegate meaningful responsibilities to employees, are they rewarded? If employees (who have been trained in coaching best practice) take the time to build relationships and give feedback, are they praised or are they penalized? These questions illustrate that translating “knowing”into “doing” takes conscious and dedicated organizational effort. Practices, which typically falling within the purview of the HR group, also matter. Examples of practices that speed up leadership development are: calculated improvements to onboarding and socialisation of new employees; periodic use of individual and organisational assessments to uncover and meet individual and organizational needs; systems that provide sufficient support to managers during times of transition into new roles or following a promotion; processes by which individual career planning is linked to personal development; reimbursement for elective development activities; work and special assignments that are driven by developmental goals and reinforced by feedback from superiors, bosses, peers, subordinates, and others; opportunities to discuss learning strategies with coaches; and concerted efforts to involve managers in cross-functional or cross-geographical teams toinfuse themwith the mindset and skills for enacting collective cross-boundary leadership. These principles and practices may seem theoretical or idealistic. But the types of individual and organisational capabilities needed today demand a different approach to developing future leaders. Given the rapid currents of unpredictable change, tangled interactions, and paradoxical choices that future managers will be thrown into, this article sets forth an imagination of what organisations can do to enable leaders to steward their business in years to come. (Meena Surie Wilson is Senior Faculty at the Center for Creative Leadership—Asia Pacific. Ranked among the world’s Top 10 providers of executive education by Bloomberg BusinessWeek and the Financial Times and headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina)
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On 20 December, Oxford University Press with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) launched the book, An Illustrated History of Indian Enterprise, in New Delhi.The launch of the book was preceded by a panel discussion on Indian enterprise. The panel discussion saw participation from eminent personalities in the field of business and economics took part. The panel comprised eminent economist Dr. Ashok Desai, and was moderated by renowned economist Gurucharan Das. The business fraternity had able representation as well in the form of Vikram Mehta, CEO, Shell Group and RV Kanoria from Srei. The chief guest for the event was Sachin Pilot, minister of state for corporate affairs.The discussion began with a debate on the reasons behind India's success post the reforms of the early 1990s, especially when 64 other countries underwent reforms in the same time frame. The question was raised by Das. According to Dr Desai, India's case is peculiar as the country has been able to progress despite the fact that it is a relatively closed economy; especially in the context of European countries which trade a lot more among themselves. Desai also emphasised that for the growth momentum to continue India has to continue with its policy of opening up the economy. "For this we need to invest heavily in port and maritime infrastructure," he said.Another perspective was offered by Mehta who said that a big part of the success lay in the fact that Indian businesses did not follow tried and tested methods of scientific business management that succeed in the western world but are just not enough for India. He cited the example of Reliance's Jamnagar refinery which was built by the Ambanis despite studies that suggested that no such refinery could succeed in the country. "The fact remains that for the first 10 years of its operation that refinery was the most successful refinery in the world, despite the fact that prior to it beginning operations, all feasibility studies suggested that it would be an astounding failure," he said.Another interesting aspect of the discussion was the changing face of Indian business that remains mired in tradition despite modernity that is slowing creeping into it. Das cited the example of the Forbes Indian billionaire list which invariably has a dominance of people from communities such as the Marwaris, Baniyas and Khatris.The reason, said Kanoria, is because these are traditionally communities that have leanings towards entrepreneurship. However, he said that modern India Inc is increasingly looking to create a disassociation between succession and control. "This is the sign of an industry that is maturing and becoming more professional," stated Kanoria.The high point of the discussion however came when Pilot said that India and its enterprise were still at a high point despite the global ebb. "The bottomline is that of the past 8 years for 6 years we have a GDP growth of over 8 per cent and just because this has come down to 6.5 per cent this year, we are all pessimistic. Fact remains that 6.5 per cent growth is still decent in a global economy in the grips of a slowdown," Pilot said.
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Cigniti Technologies, engaged in software testing services, is a company of the future that 'gamifies' employee engagements and makes use of social networking platforms where employees are nominated on the basis of performances including special skills and professional achievements. Shashikala Kalaga, HR Head at Cigniti Technologies, believes it was her sensibility along with patience, perseverance and people-friendly attitude that helped her attain her present position in the company.Kalaga thinks her challenge lies in maintaining a symbiotic relation between the employee and the employer and believes the global downturn has allowed her to choose from a larger pool of talented resources.Excerpts from the conversation What made you choose HR as a profession?The opportunity to work with human capital is a great learning experience. In a sense it is a graceful responsibility to identify, nurture and enhance the visible and latent potential and channel it into growth for the individual as well as the organisation.What has been the biggest achievement of your career?At Cigniti we want to be synonymous with software testing. We are proud to say we have built an organisation of career testers. My biggest achievement has been to lead and own the talent management of this specialised set of skilled software testing professionals over a consistent period of time. The other significant achievement has been the development of an integrated people development plan and tracker which maps competencies and career growth of all the employees.What have been the primary traits/qualities that have helped you attain your present position?Sensible workers are the important asset to any facet of business. This belief, coupled with patience, perseverance and a people friendly attitude has helped me handle crises, large recruitment drives and to ensure high levels of employee satisfaction.What are the challenges you are facing in your organisation?Consistent and proactive employee engagement is the biggest challenge. As an organisation, we need to keep pace with the GenY aspirations,and ensure cost efficiency in overall operations. In a nutshell, the challenge lies in maintaining a symbiotic relation between the employee and the employer.What are the steps a company should take to develop and motivate future leaders?For an organisation, it is essential to identify leadership potential from the existing workforce. While competency levels may be treated with proper training, right aptitude and attitude should be identified and recognised consistently.Apart from training, leadership can be nurtured by providing opportunities to explore innovation without fear of failure.What is your rate of attrition? How do you prevent it?At Cigniti, we are deeply committed to become the world’s largest independent software testing services company. We have been able to offer a well diversified professional growth for career testers. We maintain a culture of mutual respect, peer admiration, competitive spirit and an atmosphere of growth. This has helped us retain talent at all levels in this specialised area.How do you retain talent in your company?We have a talent management framework designed to help us engage excite and encourage the talent ensuring excellence. We are committed to create a well defined career path for individuals interested in software testing. We also make significant investments in some of the best infrastructure across emerging technologies. This positions Cigniti as a preferred employer for those who wish to make a mark in software testing industry.Our belief in a future that is led by IP driven testing has helped us develop smart tools to accelerate customer’s test life cycles and build competencies across 250 different software test tools. This provides a competitive advantage for our employees to stay innovative.What sets your company apart from other companies as far as work culture goes?At Cigniti, we develop and maintain an atmosphere of togetherness. We aim to also gamify employee engagement and adopt Enterprise 2.0 to make use of social networking platforms where employees can be nominated on their performances across special skills and professional achievements.Our thought leaders and subject matter experts identify and mentor early stage leaders to maintain the talent pipeline.What is the biggest challenge you face when selecting people?Software testing is a specialised area which calls for the right attitude, aptitude, functional domain knolwedge, technical problem solving skills and ability to think beyond the normal. Finding talent of this nature is always a challenge. Disruption across technologies have resulted in newer ways of software testing. Skilled workforce is always a rare commodity in the emerging areas of software testing and automation for which we are proactively looking for talent. How do you track employees' satisfaction or dissatisfaction?We believe in inter personal communication and so we constantly talk to our employees. We have the ‘open door’ culture in our organisation where any employee can walk into any manager’s cabin for discussion. These discussions help us keep track of employee satisfaction levels and lead to policy changes.How important is HR to the bottom line of a company?HR identifies right talent, inducts, grooms and develops them for the organisation; It also aids in providing right environment to perform and flourish. This environment enhances productivity of the human assets of the organisation. The productivity reflects in enhanced bottom line as well as the top line.How has the downturn affected HR?On the one hand, we have a larger pool of talented resources to choose from when we recruit. On the other hand, we have to deal with increased apprehensions in the minds of marginal resources we are engaged with. However, we look at the downturn as an opportunity to get equipped by investing in the right talent and grooming them for the future.How should HR be integrated with the core line of business?HR function has evolved to be more of a strategic business enabler and global brand ambassador. Integrating and involving HR leaders in every touch point of organisation, be it delivery, branding, operations and sales support is what we believe in. This allows the organisation to leverage the best possible perspectives and data regarding the human capital, trends around competencies and market perceptions in achieving the end goals of the company.A recent survey has questioned HR's actual contribution in an organisation. Would you like to comment on it with particular reference to your organisation?At Cigniti, HR is treated as a very crucial function to ensure the optimal and long-term engagement of employees. Here, HR’s contribution lies in streamlining the efforts and crucial man hours into effective results which fall into the road map of growth.If you could change three things about HR practices, what would they be?1) Increase involvement of scientific methods for identifying talent rather than making decisions based on feedback and appraisals alone.2) Initiate a scaffold method for grooming future leaders in the organisation.3) Create a learning organisation and offer scope for multiple specialisations within it(As told to Poonam Kumar)
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The Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) and Hewlett Packard (HP) have developed a cloud-enabled healthcare solution to provide affordable and preliminary healthcare in remote areas that have no immediate access to primary healthcare. The first such eHealth Centre (eHC), which utilises the IT platform to integrate medical instruments that collect basic patient health data for medical diagnosis through remote videoconference consultation, has been installed in Kaithal district of Haryana, a joint statement by CSIR and HP said. Over 4000 patient visits were recorded in the first 100 days of operation of the centre, it added. “This initiative of CSIR and HP creates a platform for the fourth paradigm of science, data-intensive discovery, while bringing affordable healthcare services to the doorstep of people. CSIR, which has made phenomenal contributions in the Indian generic-drug industry and has developed the genomic landscape of the people of India, is now positioned to use the eHealth Center data for novel discoveries to create ultra affordable health care products and services. The success of CSIR-led Open Source Drug Discovery Program gives us confidence that open innovation for healthcare will play an important role in the data intensive world,” said Samir K. Brahmachari, Chief Mentor CSIR-OSDD Unit, Director General CSIR and Secretary DSIR, Ministry of Science & Technology.The eHC has been successfully implemented and tested in partnership with O.P. Jindal Gramin Jan Kalyan Sansthan, 3M India, Maharaja Agrasen Medical College (MAMC) and Orion eServices at Chausala village in Kaithal district, Haryana. According to a study conducted by the Indian Institute of Public Opinion, 89 per cent of rural Indian patients have to travel an average of 8 kilometres (5 miles) to access basic medical treatment and the rest have to travel even further. The eHC solution is expected to address these challenges. The eHC Health Cloud integrates the process of healthcare delivery and health data collection. This centralized patient information sets the platform for data-driven research such as disease surveillance by tracking disease patterns and risk factors. The health profile of the region as well as monitoring of the daily usage of the eHC is enabled by an integrated eHC dashboard, providing comprehensive yet digestible analytics that will help health policymakers.
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An HR practitioner’s job is to understand and appreciate the business managers need and help him/her by effectively utilising HR instruments, says Sucheta Shetty, VP, HR, TAKE Solutions. Shetty also thinks an HR practitioner necessarily needs to be a trusted adviser, a cultural leader, a governance wizard, merger and acquisition analyst, result driven operator, talent manager, business partner, financial acumen, outsourcing innovator, change agent, technology orientation and the most desired trait being an effective, influential communicator. That is a tall order to achieve in any role, but Shetty is confident a good HR pro is all that and more.She may sound like a text-book HR pro, but Shetty also believes HR professionals need to create a structure and system that is agile, adaptable to the ever-changing conditions rather than have systems, processes that are rigid and impedes business growth. In our series on HR practitioners, Shetty is the fourth HR head to share with us what makes HR leaders tick.Excerpts from the conversationWhat made you choose HR as a profession?Human Resource management primarily focuses in achieving the corporate strategy by effectively engaging and managing talents which are primary assets. The role is to examine and construct a framework that links people, satisfaction and engagement levels to productivity and deliver business results. HR function has undergone several changes and a HR manager is construed to be a business partner, an employee champion, a change agent as well as a consultative partner with the aim of strategically leveraging human capital. Thus the positioning of Human Capital as the heart of business need has opened up challenging and exciting career paths. HR professionals have progressed from back office support function to an enabling function finding their way to boardroom to influence people and business outcome. Hence the imperative choice was to look at HR as a profession which offers a progressive career. My extensive years of experience in the HR has been truly fulfilling, rewarding and allowed me to learn from leaders across different industries and expertise. What has been the biggest achievement of your career? The world that we are witnessing today is dynamic and ever-changing, it thus necessitates each one of us to learn and unlearn and constantly raise our bar of performance levels. It is my endeavour to persistently learn and adapt to the ever-changing economic and business conditions. Continuously striving to build a talented workforce through a culture of learning, discovery and engagement as a primary need to build institution par excellence has been gratifying and truly experiential. What have been the primary traits/qualities that have helped you attain your present position?The primary mandated traits for HR professionals are integrity, fair-mindedness and discretion. The HR practitioner necessarily needs to be a trusted advisor, a cultural leader, a governance wizard, merger and acquisition analyst, result driven operator, talent manager, business partner, financial acumen, outsourcing innovator, change agent, technology orientation and the most desired trait being an effective, influential communicator.Over the years, under the able leadership and mentorship of several executives, it has helped me in acquiring many of these critical traits for effective functioning and progression in the HR role.What are the challenges you are facing in your organisation?In light of the rapidly changing business landscape today, the challenges are endless. The role of human resources to ensure business efficiency is constantly evolving and expanding, with new challenges surfacing beyond operational HR issues. In India, there is a growing challenge of building and developing skill sets and ensuring the rate of employability at a continual basis. TAKE as an organisation is not an exception to this issue. There is framework which ensures holistic development of its talent assets by cross skilling, multiskilling (SKILL LADDER), providing rotational job assignments, leadership learning (LEAD- Excellence Centre) and maintaining a diverse talent pool that will help counter future challenges.Thus at TAKE, an agile structure is embedded in its people practices that is able to foresee and plan for future challenges by always staying on the ball of knowing what skill sets are necessary to develop and hone in employees.What are the steps a company should take to develop and motivate future leaders?It is essential to have a defined framework to induct, nurture and build leadership talent within the organisation. It is imperative in the current business landscape coupled with both environmental and economic uncertainties a skill map needs to be available providing detailed leadership competencies considering current and future realities. Leadership style needs to be understood in alignment with the organisation’s DNA, functional requirements and also needs to be assessed periodically. Organisations need to invest time and effort in developing a succession plan for critical leadership roles, career progression plan for potential leaders, invest in senior executives for identifying, grooming, coaching and mentoring budding front-runners for leadership position, assign projects to test leadership mantle as well as give them global exposure to create a pool of leadership talent within the organisation. It is necessary that a robust retention and engagement programme is developed for the current leaders and future front- runners.Leadership is the key in building a successful organisation. What is your rate of attrition? How do you prevent it?The average rate of attrition within our organisation is much below the industry average. It is a common belief that people leave managers and not organisations; hence at TAKE every manager is mandated to play the role of HR manager by actively engaging , motivating their team members. The KRA of every manager has a component of people engagement scores and attrition percentage. This has been instrumental in curbing attrition and enhancing engagement and productivity levels. How do you retain talent in your company?Leadership is the key to our organisation. We firmly believe that leaders are paramount in building and sustaining an institution par excellence. As mentioned in the earlier question, our line managers don the role of an HR manager in addition to being functional/business managers. Hence they are our primary “Talent Catalyst” . Certain attributes of our Talent CatalystAcquire , select and induct high potential talent assets: They are trained in conducting Behavioural Event Interviews to hire talents that are culturally aligned, exhibit high potential with a complete awareness of managing higher expectation of these talent assets. Coach for skill, Counsel for career progression :A skill ladder is defined with the support of these catalyst with core, functional, leadership and technical competencies required at different levels of progression. A competency dictionary is made available as a reference for creating and building a skill development plan for each role. The catalyst engage in a discussion with their associates providing feedback on skill gaps and guide them in administering those gaps. They also counsel their team members on a career progression thereby motivating and engaging them to be part of an organisation that believes its employee’s to be the most valued asset.• Catch them young: They harness the potential ofindividuals by creating assignments that pulls them out of their comfort zone, provide stretch goal thereby identifying the high potential talent pool . Once the talent capability matrix is derived there is a conscious investment on grooming these potentially talented employees for leadership skills• Going that extra mile: Talent catalyst believe that their effort towards grooming building talent asset is primarily for meeting organisational goal. . This ideology helps them surrender their best talent to be deployed to the areas that most need their expertise.By doing so, not only do they aid the organisation’s strategic plans but also contribute to the personal development of their subordinates.Engaging , Empowering and Training the leaders on managing enthusing, motivating and engaging teams have been part of a primary retention process. Apart from the engagement levels between a manager and associate the organisation has Career progression plan(STEP UP), Confluence -the town hall, Learning and Development framework , Rewards Program and TAB (TAKE A BREAK from Work –Fun activities) to name a few.What sets your company apart from other companies as far as work culture goes?The basic premise of the organisation thrives on an entrepreneurial mind-set. TAKE SOLUTIONS is known for its commitment and success in building an organisational culture that values creativity, teamwork, productivity, leadership and innovation.What is the biggest challenge you face when selecting people?As the war for talented people gains momentum, the challenge is in attracting passive onlookers. At TAKE, we have a well-rounded Talent Acquisition framework that invests time and effort in researching , identifying, engaging and creating a talent inventory for current and future needs. How do you track employees' satisfaction or dissatisfaction in your company?We believe that employees are most valued asset and believe in creating an environment that is conducive, vibrant and a feeling of “Thank God it is a Monday” which every employee exhibits We have several employee touch-points embedded within the Engagement Model . To name a few of them which have been truly beneficial are illustrated below:HR Speak: HR representatives hear the voice of their internal customersI Connect: A skip level where a manager engages with team members one level below their line of reportingOpen Door Policy: TAKEster’s are provided access to senior management executives as a part of this policyESS Survey (Employee Satisfaction Survey): A survey is conducted to understand the engagement levels of the associate and the feedback provided is understood and action are taken appropriately How important is HR to the bottom line of a company?A robust HR system is instrumental in bringing top and bottom line results. It has been witnessed through several survey results that organisations having actively engaged workforce have seen rise in their revenue and profits. HR supports the bottom and top line through tactics like targeted recruitment, compensation and rewards for revenue generating employees, as well as a variety of employee retention programs, which increase productivity, lowers employee turnover and customer satisfaction.How has the downturn affected HR?The downturn has re-emphasised the need for HR strategy and the function to be driven by the environment in which the business exists, necessarily have an agile and adaptable framework to cope with the demands of changing economic, environmental , social and business condition .How should HR be integrated with the core line of business?An HR practitioner’s job is to understand and appreciate the business managers need and help him/her by effectively utilising HR instruments such as OD, change management, talent management and engagement, rewards to help influence the leaders on how to approach the project and ultimately to how they view talent in the process. We have an important role of being a people and cultural consultant to the business providing valuable information and tools to help them make the optimal decisions related talent and the alignment of the talent into the structure, workflow processes and reward systems that best achieve the business strategy. A recent survey has questioned HR's actual contribution in an organisation. Would you like to comment on it with particular reference to your organisation?It is true that organisations which have strategically partnered with their Human Capital function have reaped enormous benefits as compared to those where HR is just another back office support function. TAKE as an organisation believes in building an institution of knowledge partners and thus understands the need to partner strategically, operationally with the Human Capital function If you could change three things about HR practices, what would they be?HR has seen its evolution since its rise. HR professionals need to create a structure and system that is agile, adaptable to the ever-changing conditions rather than have systems, processes that are rigid and impedes business growth. (As told to Poonam Singh)
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The burgeoning internet adoption and web browsing on mobile devices, businesses have opened up new opportunities to tap new markets with online sales and account-based services. However, hackers, spammers, phishing scams, virus threats, spyware threats and even cyber-terrorists, lurk on the Internet in search of easy victims. As customers increasingly choose to shop, share, bank, and view accounts online, concerns about identity theft and fraud still keep many website visitors from completing, or starting, their transactions online. There is a dire need to be reassured that the confidential information that they share will be protected from malicious activity.Apprehensions Of The Online UserAt the same time, experts predicting that online banking, and other accounts, will grow to become the primary customer touch-point over the next decade. One factor that hampers the uptake of online transactions continues to be the reluctance to conduct transactions due to concerns about protecting confidential information. Although research has proved that identity theft occurs more often in an offline world than online, many Internet users are nonetheless extremely wary of identity theft.The apprehension of an online user is easy to understand with the following behavioural patterns:• Abandoned shopping carts add up to lost sales and missed revenue.• Click-through tracking shows that potential customers reach enrollment forms, but do not complete them.• Search analytics and alerts show how brands and company names are hijacked to lure customers away from legitimate sites.The Evolved Phishing ScamWith scams on the internet becoming more advanced and sophisticated, trust which is the most important aspect of the online business ecosystem is eroded. Emails and websites are getting more legitimate in appearance to trick visitors into sharing confidential information. SSL stripping, a type of man-in-the-middle attack, redirects users to “secure” websites that are fake (i.e., some security measures have been taken, and are displayed, but the website is not really the one the visitor believes they are visiting). These types of attacks often target webmail applications, secure sites, and intranets. In the month of April this year, phishing on Indian brands was 0.22 per cent of the global phishing statistics which increased to 0.33 per cent in six the month of September. Also it is interesting to note that in May 2012, all phishing attacks on Indian brands targeted the banking sector - with 1 in 4 using a .IN domain.The Answer To Confident Online Transactions – Extended ValidationTo help prevent phishing attacks from being successful and to build customer trust, online businesses also need a way to show customers that they are engaging in legitimate business. Extended Validation (EV) SSL Certificates are the answer, offering the highest level of authentication available with an SSL Certificate and providing tangible proof to online users that the site is indeed legitimate. Most users often check visual indications that a website is using SSL – the closed padlock and “https” in the URL are examples. Fraudsters have found a way around this and abused this trust by taking advantage of lax validation policies used by some Certification Authorities (CAs), and purchased SSL certificates for fake domains. They have used these SSL certificates to create “secure” sites from which to launch phishing and man-in-the-middle attacks, thereby undermining overall consumer confidence. EV SSL certificates provide an extra layer of protection for consumers and website owners by requiring that applicants follow a strict issuance and management process, as defined by the CA/Browser Forum, prior to being issued an EV SSL certificate. Support for EV SSL has become a standard security feature in mainstream Web browsers such as Internet Explorer and Firefox, and on mobile devices on various platforms. These browsers recognize EV-secured websites and show the presence of EV in a visually distinctive way so that users can easily see that the website can be trusted.The Value Of EV SSL – The Relevance Of The ‘Green Bar’With the increase of EV SSL, the green address bar is becoming a “must have” for a wide range of industries doing business online. The ability to track impressions, clicks, and interactions make it possible to measure the return on investment in EV SSL and quantify the value of better security to any company’s bottom line. A prerequisite to convert shoppers into buyers and visitors to members requires a high degree of trust and confidence in a given website. Also, for companies that must comply with regulatory standards related to securing personally identifiable information, EV SSL certificates help reduce risk of non-compliance and communicate the implementation of rigorous protection measures against well-known threats. By using EV SSL and educating customers to look for the green bar, companies mitigate the risk of mid-stream interception and demonstrate efficacy of security measures.With the inevitable growth of online services and sales becoming key drivers of growth for businesses of all sizes across a wide range of industries, certificates with EV are a proven tool that makes it easy for online users to feel confident about sharing their personal information. They are a “must have” for businesses that want to maximize their online growth potential. Also, in and online world where fraud and scams are common, the rigorous authentication process behind EV SSL can enable a reputable online business to stand out from the rest.(The author is Director, Website Security Solutions, Symantec India)
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It is the R in BRICS. While most of us focus on the C of China, it is the R or Russia that helped India develop a strong economic foundation decades ago. It was this foundation on which reforms were launched in the 1990s.India’s relations with USSR and later Russia have been fairly consistent. While the pace of growth was low, the quality of trade and investment has been high.The bilateral trade between Russia and India is expected to cross $20 billion by 2015. Last year, it was $6.5 billion.Investment by private and state owned companies in each country has increased. The governments are encouraging joint manufacturing with the private sector.Now this decades old relationship is facing some turbulence as Russian investments in India are souring.Such is the sense of negativity that President Vladimir Putin has postponed his visit to India by a month to December 2012.Though not acknowledged explicitly, Russia is upset with India as two of its key investments are facing trouble. The Kudankulam power plant set up with Russian support still faces civil opposition. While this is being sorted out, Russians are more upset about its telecom company Sistema.Sistema has invested more than $3 billion in India as a telecom operator that operates under the MTS brand.It was the only operator that got a license for CDMA operations in 2007 and since then had been increasing its services and investment in India.But the company was sucked into the 2G scam. When the Supreme Court cancelled the licenses of all operators that were deemed to have received licenses in questionable circumstances, Sistema was included.Sistema thought this was unfair since it had not participated in the GSM spectrum allocation at all. The scam was in GSM, not CDMA allocation. Moreover, the audit by the CAG did not mention Sistema or the allocation of CDMA spectrum. Sistema was the only bidder and got a pan-India license.The Russian company feels that it lost its license for no fault of its own. Since then the company has been fighting a legal battle in the Supreme Court. All that the company seeks is that its case should be treated separately from the GSM operators.After its review petition against the cancellation of license was dismissed by the Supreme Court early this year, it filed a curative petition in May seeking a review of the dismissal. The Supreme Court evolved the curative petition mechanism to ensure that petitioners have an option of relief against a final judgement by the court.Sistema did not participate in the fresh auction for GSM and CDMA spectrum since it is expecting the Supreme Court to hear its curative petition. While the GSM auction saw a tepid response, the CDMA auction did not get a single bidder.While the company is eagerly engaging in the legal process to get its license restored, the Russian government is deeply disappointed with the attitude of the Indian government. Russia feels that Indian government has not forcefully argued the case for Sistema in the Supreme Court. Sistema is a Russian state owned company and wants India to respect and protect what it sees as a sovereign investment.The government of India has not supported Sistema’s curative petition as well. President Putin and his government see the ill-treatment of Sistema as an insult to the relationship between the two countries. For India, this could be tricky. While the government is grappling with the legal wrangle caused by the 2G scam, it may have to take some confidence building measures to protect Indo-Russian relationship.Many state owned companies from India have investments in Russia. Petroleum company ONGC has billions of dollars invested in oil fields in Russia. If Sistema issue is not resolved, Russia could take retaliatory action on Indian investment. That would needlessly upset the trade and investment momentum between the two countries.Some signs are already there. It may not just be a coincidence that Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov’s delivery to India has been delayed by a year to late 2013. India bought it from Russia for $2.3 billion and renamed it INS Vikramaditya. Officially the Russians say that it is fixing technical faults that cropped up during sea trials. But the reasons could be much deeper.To maintain its economic options, India needs Russia as a counterweight against China and US. India will have to be proactive to ensure that the R in BRICS remains a close economic ally of India.(Pranjal Sharma is a senior business writer. He can be contacted at pranjalx@gmail.com)
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