HRD News Letter | April 2007, Vol.23, Issue:1 · 2013-09-24 · | HRD News Letter | April 2007,...

| HRD News Letter | April 2007, Vol.23, Issue:1 2|


Vol - 23 April 2007 Issue - 1

EditorC. Balaji,

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Board MembersDWARAKANATH P, National President

SANTRUPT MISRA Dr., Immediate Past PresidentANAND NAYAK, Regional President (East)

GOPAL KRISHNA M., Regional President(South)SATISH PRADHAN, Regional President (West)

RAO G P, Regional President (North)VARADARAJAN S. (Raja), National Secretary

ASHOK REDDY B, National TreasurerSATYANARAYANA K, Executive Director

MAHALINGAM S, Co-opted MemberCASMIRA RAJ FR, Co-Opted MemberHARI HARAN IYER, Elected Member

PRAVEEN KUMAR K, Elected MemberRAMCHANDER M, Elected MemberNAGARAJ D R, Nominated MemberVERMA K.K. Dr., Ex-officio member

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Features

6 ........................... President’s Message6 ......................................... Editorial29,34 ......... NHRD Journal Announcements43 .................................. Book Review45 ................. Election Results Announced46 ................................. Chapter News

Column

8 ............ Workplace Insights from a SpiritualOdyssey

–– Madan Srinivasan

Lead Feature

10 ....... New Age Manager In New Millennium–– A Conceptual Study

–– Dr. B. Prakash, B. Ranjith, D. Bhoopathi

Case Study

44 ................. What Should Be Done Now?–– R. Dharmarao

Articles

12 ... Outsource the sales job: The new mantraof Indian pharmaceutical companies

–– Vishnu Kumar Balduva

13 ................... Sensing Employee Attrition–– Anoop K Kamat

16 .......... Performance Management System–– S.Sudhakar and Dr.V.R.Nedunchezhian

18 ....... How to Create Women Leaders in IT?–– C V Madhavi

19 ........ Employee Branding: Key To Success–– Tapomoy Deb

20 ............. Categorization Of CompetenciesThe Level-wise List

–– Hari Nair

21 .... I am leaving Boss! Conversation betweena 25 year old and 40 Head Retail

–– Sanjeev Nayyar

22 ..... Managing Attrition in Indian IT Industry:Some Reflections

–– Dr. A. Jagan Mohan Reddy

24 ............. Change Initiatives & ResistanceEncountered

–– Priyanka Priyadarshini

25 ...................... Reference Employment:A Cost Control Tool

–– Y. Kishore Kumar

28 ........................ Women Empowerment–– K.N.Rekha & P.Nachimuthu

29 ....... You are good, but we will not pay you!–– Shiv Kumar

30 ............... Guidelines To Mentoring In HR–– Anuradha Dhar

31 ....... HR Managers' Dilemma A Case Study–– P. Soma Raju

32 ............. Understanding Non-RespondentPopulation in Employee Survey

–– Dr. G. Pandu Naik33 .............. Buddhism & Modern Leadership

–– Dr. D Gopalakrishna, Dr. N Usha Devi

34 .................. Body Language: A Tool ForCommunication

–– Sambit Kumar Mishra35 ..................... Beyond Politics to People

–– R K Shankar

36 ................... 'International Organization'Book Summary

–– Dr. Juin Choudhury37 ...................... Retaining Corporate HR

–– S. Prabhakar39 ............. A Novel Approach To Knowledge

Management–– Suja Boobalan

40 .................... Ethics in Internet Activities–– Mr. G. Rathnakar & Mr. K. Panindra

42 .............. Dealing with Difficult Employees–– S. Preetham Sridar


The people who get on in this world arethe people who get up and look for thecircumstances they want, and, if theycan't find them, make them.

- George Bernard Shaw

This powerful statement has becomemore relevant in today's work

environment where the relationship betweenthe employee and the organisation hasundergone a significant change. Employersprovide the opportunities, tools, and supportto help employees develop their skills andmaintain their employability; the employeeshave the responsibility of managing theircareers, taking advantage of theopportunities they are given.

Again career changes at the workplacecontinue at a rapid pace. Employees needto realize the temporary nature of all jobsand the need to prepare themselves forredefined career paths that requireresilience and an ability to be self-reliant.

Career resilience refers to individual careerdevelopment--developing the knowledgeand skills required to make a visible and

personally motivated contribution to theorganization and its customers.

Attitude has a great influence on the abilityto become career resilient. People who havea highly developed resilience deliverperformance aligned with the objectives ofthe organisation while being dedicated tocontinuous learning and committed topersonal excellence.

High levels of resilience offer you a differentway of looking at difficulties that presentthemselves along your career path. Thesepeople inherently know that such challengeswill foster their own innovation, so they greetthe challenge with enthusiasm. This carriespeople who have resilience throughtumultuous times, often resulting in theirdeveloping heightened resilience to futureset backs.

By shifting your attention from what hashappened to you in your work life to whatyou are going to do as a result of the change,you can actively participate and manageyour own transition process to pave the wayfor you to experience long term careerfulfillment.

Organisations too can foster careerresilience in employees through makingemployee growth and development aprimary focus. Such organizations giveemployees opportunities for growth,challenging assignments and support forcontinuous learning. This is achievedthrough honest and open communication,and an environment that integrates thesevalues into the business strategy.

Despite concern that organizations thatenable their employees to upgrade theirskills and employability will lose them to theircompetition, employers who value highlyskilled and motivated employees are morelikely to retain them. When people are happywith their organization, they do not leave.

Building career resilience at the work placemay just be the new mantra to attractingand developing a talented performanceoriented work force that is self directed andinternally motivated.

P. Dwarakanath

Look at all those things you have done -and also those things that you have not

done though they were required to be done.These may be at work (like you having tomake photocopies of the training materialby yourself because the office boy was onleave), with friends (going for a movie thathas the heroine who you are an ardent fanof), at home (you kid wanting you to help insome project work). You will notice that youget to (or required to) do certain things thatyou don't like to do. I remember one of myteachers telling me, "If you don't get whatyou are interested in, get interested in whatyou get." Awesome words!

The question is this: How do you becomeinterested in what you get? Often, we say,"That is not interesting to me." We place

the onus of our something being interestingsquarely on that "that". What we don't realizeis that, that "that" is by itself neither interestingnot uninteresting. You don't have to go toofar to see this. Just recall something thatyou did not find interesting to do (and so didn'tdo it), but someone else did the same thingswith great enthusiasm. You will now noticethat "that" was not interesting to you but wasfor the other person.

How come? Getting interested is a functionof the meaning that is attached to that "that."Now, tell me, how does something acquirea meaning? Can you see that somethinggets a meaning only because of somehuman being makes the meaning? It is youand I who make meaning about something- everything - and whether "that" is

interesting or notdepends on themeaning we makeabout "that"!

The moral: Shouldyou find yourselfhaving to do something that "is notinteresting", you make a meaning to thatwhich makes it interesting.

Obviously we don't have to make everythinginteresting by attaching a meaning - we dohave our own priorities. This mantra isparticularly useful in matters that you havegot to do, but which you don't find interesting.Anything that is done with interest andenthusiasm is bound to turn out well!

C. Balaji


Workplace Insights from aSpiritual Odyssey

– Madan Srinivasan

Workplace insights can flash in front ofyour inner eye in the most unexpected

places in a most unexpected way, e.g. duringyour morning walk, when you are playingwith your child, at a visit to a historic site.At such times after you experience the A-ha moment, you lock them up somewherein the recesses of your mind, promisingyourself to retrieve it at an opportune time.The more disciplined among us scribble itdown for future use, as soon as they getaccess to a notepad/pencil or a PC. Kudosto them, as they immensely enrichthemselves after every unique experienceand thus become 'Learners for Life'!

Without professing to be one, I'd like to sharemy own recent experience of getting someuseful workplace insights while on a spiritualjourney, or to be more specific our first visitto the Vaishnodevi shrine in Jammu.

For starters, there were several well-wisherswho believed that we were taking too muchof a risk to plan our trip at a time when therewas unprecedented snowfall, the pilgrimagehad been closed for a few days and thefactor of young children. Our strongestargument in favor was that it was not peakperiod; hence we can get a good darshan.Painting this motivating picture to ourselvesand having a contingency plan, we keptourselves in a state of readiness - packedluggage, leave application at work, etc. Wewere 100% sure that we were indeed goingonly 1.5 hours before the time of departureof the train.

How often in organizations do we have nay-sayers for a new project/initiative, who'll havereasons - several of them valid andcompelling too - why it may fail? If the teamleading it allow themselves to get distracted,can the launch & implementation be trulysuccessful? Instead, if the team activelylistens to the expressed apprehensions/anxieties and addresses them in theirstrategy/plan, they'll not only have a betterquality plan, but would also have takenothers along the way. A laser focus on theproject end state - the desired vision - anda robust Project Management Plan canprevent the project from getting derailed.

The trip was a success in every respect onecan think of, all the more creditable becausewe had our own misgivings at the start. It

was indeed a smooth & simple travel plan,with minimal detours from the plan, everylittle detail falling in place beautifully, thejourney itself as exciting as the destination.I attribute the success to two main factorsas below. While describing them, I'll alsodraw relevant workplace insights Ipersonally came up with.

1. The Team:

We traveled with a family that has beenmaking an annual visit to the shrine forseveral years. The father confessed that thetrips were tough for them the first couple oftimes, but every visit, they learnt somethingnew - facilities available, personal contacts,do's and don'ts inside the temple premises.We at once realized the tremendous valueof this 'knowledge repository' becauseeverything worked like clockwork in this visitand the regular tips I received gave meimmense confidence that I would be able todo a good job of planning my next tripindependently.

While embarking upon a new project, italways pays to scan around & identifysomeone who's been through a similarexperience, dialog deeply, seek expertadvice and incorporate learning into theproject plan. Isn't this at the core ofbenchmarking best practices?

In the trip, there were challenges along theway that tested me personally. One of themoccurred when a few of us wanted to visitthe Bhairav temple (a further steep 2.5 kmclimb from Vaishnodevi). Since time was ofthe essence, we decided to ride it up andclimb down by foot. When my horsenegotiated a steep climb with a sharp U-turn the first time, my stomach churned andI panicked, but felt alright when the horseowner shared the technique of taking aforward bent sitting posture and utteredprecious words of reassurance.

Surely, all of us encounter resistance andobstacles during the project implementationphase; what would tide us through is faith &perseverance, equipping ourselves with theright tools and techniques and always beingthere to coach and support one another.

2. The Culture & Processes:

All kinds of people visit Vaishnodevi - oldand young, rich and not so rich, healthy and

Madan Srinivasan is based at Gurgaon. He can be reached at: [email protected]

not so healthy, solos or in groups. The climbto the main temple - a steep 13 km - can bean arduous journey even to the healthy andfit. The place has a constant stream ofpilgrims and in peak time, the number evencrosses a lakh in a day. Isn't this a huge'management' challenge?

The answer seems to lie in the fact that theunique needs of the pilgrims have beenconsidered while setting up facilities &infrastructure. For those who cannot go byfoot, the options are 'Bhitto' - where a man,usually a Muslim would carry your child/bags to the top and back, going by horse ora long palanquin carried by four men. Forthose who seek ultra-comfort or are in adashing hurry, there's the helicopter ridefrom the town of Katra to the top. There areample Vishram Ghars and Foods &Beverages Stalls along the way that allowsyou to go at your own pace. The temple isopen all day; processes like taking tokenfor darshan, security check, depositingvaluables in locker room, etc have beenstreamlined well to ensure that they cancater to peak load. All in all, one gets theimpression that PMP (Pilgrim ManagementSystem) here is quite effective and achievesits deliverables. At the same time, all aretreated fair and equal, thus fostering aninclusive culture.

Back to the workplace, while preparing thecommunication plan for the project, it'simportant to understand the unique needsof all stakeholders and tailor the keymessages accordingly. The success of anyproject implementation depends a lot onhow processes are set up and a culturecreated that can sustain the momentum inthe long term. The elements of scalability,measurability and flexibility need to beconsidered, so as to take into account notonly current but future needs.

Finally, here was a travel experience thathelped generate personal workplaceinsights. I am sure you've discovered severalof yours in an equally unexpected settingand experience a feeling not dissimilar toArchimedes as he cried out 'Eureka'! Theidea is to continue to actively seek newexperiences that stoke the zest of learningin you. Jai Mata Di!

Column

�HHHHH


New Age ManagerIn New Millennium

- A Conceptual Study– Dr. B.Prakash, B.Ranjith, D.Bhoopathi

You are what your deep driving desire is,What your desire is, so is your will,What your will is, so is your deed,

What your deed is so is your destiny!

1.0 INTRODUCTION:

The desire, the will, the deed and the destinyis the one and only for a young managementstudent i.e., the future manager.Entrepreneurial quality is a rare one withinitiative, daring and resourcefulness. It isnot necessarily inborn; often many imbibeit. But more entrepreneurs are merelyambitious without the wherewithal to meetthe changes of entrepreneurship. Thus, theperson turns out to be a successful managerwho will be having great expectations-agreat risk indeed, but not jumping into thebandwagon of business without anypreparation.

1.1 New Age Manager:

Manager is a person, as we know, a leadermoves by himself and initiates the work ofthe organization. Otherwise, the one whomakes a combination has to wait until theother is ready. But, what is the “New AgeManager”? It —-

sounds something typical than the wordManager. If we can differentiate between anordinary Manager to that of a New AgeManager, definitely we can! That’s thereason a successful manager can turn upas a New Age Manager with allentrepreneurial qualities imbibed in him.

1.2 Success & Failures:

Successes & failures are common in life;so are they in business life too. Manysuccessful businesses are the shiningexamples for others to emulate. In order, tobecome a successful manager, there is noneed to reinvent the wheel but to identifythe major pit falls in the business scenarioand minimize the risks as well. Thousandsof mistakes are said to be committed tomake a discovery. But the results ofdiscoveries are there for every one to use.It can be understood by a well-knownproverb: “If the man in front of you fallsinto a ditch, he holds the torch for you.”

Dr.B.Prakash, Principal,Mother Teresa P.G. College, Hyderabad. e-mail : [email protected]. Ranjith , Faculty, Mother Teresa P.G. College, Hyderabad. e-mail : [email protected]. Bhoopathi, Faculty, Mother Teresa P.G. College, Hyderabad. e-mail : [email protected]

Thus, a New Age Manager, if he is a NewAge Manager will follow the following needsin order to minimize risks:

i. He understands clearly one’s own role& responsibilities in a business.

ii. He identifies area of risks, so as tocautionally read those areas; and

iii. He knows the remedies to such risksand seek them promptly.

Often, it is the Manager who becomesentrepreneur one day; thus, the committedmanagement needs entrepreneurialattributes to their managers for success.

1.3 Self-Assessment:

The main quality to be possessed by amanager is the self-assessment. If he doesnot get the result he desires, he shouldcritically examine his “Part” in it rather thanrationalizing his failure. He should set thingsright himself; he should set himself right.

Opportunity, The Essence:

It is the opportunity, not the risk, which isthe essence of management.

“One who can ably, convert anopportunity into a successful Venture”

These opportunities, often when mouldedinto successful ventures can happen to bemiracles. And the successful ones of todaydid work hard for their success.

“Miracles do happen; but one has to workhard for them”

1.4 Qualities:

A New Age Manager is nothing but amanager who earns fruitful profits whereverhe invests and displays all the rays of hisbusiness prism.

For this, the foremost thing, he performs, is“choosing the appropriate type that suitshis purse”. Thus he doesn’t fruiter awayresources early and repent later because,“The inclination of resource drain is verysteep. It flows too fast to catch up with”

Secondly, he will “ Choose the type that suitsthe size of activity proposed”. It is necessary

because, it is only the manager, who applythis rule can grow small organizations intolarge empires by their own kinetic energy.

Last, but not least, to “Choose the rightkind of people” because empowerment ofpeople is the great support for a managerin order to make the dreams come true.Thus, we can build a successful pyramid ofbusiness only with the base of a strongperson called as a Manager, in the sense,a New Age Manager.

1.5 View Things Optimistically:

A Manager should view things optimistically.He should make the sunshine come-upsoon, whenever, the chips are down andthings are not going the way we plan. Hisbusiness or enterprise will be a total failureif he does not know how to keep himself &other people cheerful and friendly. Thus, wecan regard optimum as a first technique ofmotivating others to begin with you taking akeen interest in them and winning througha genuine way and cheerful behaviour.

1.6 Play Down The “I”:

A Manager gets things done through otherpeople. Especially, the New Age Manager,in order to get willing co-operation, he hasto look at things from other person’s pointof view. He has to see what the customerwant rather than what he himself isinterested in. A Manager must therefore,assiduously cultivate the habit of playingdown the “I” and playing up the “You”. Thus,concentrate on what you can do for others& you will find this approach work wonders.

1.7 Charecterise the Right Direction:

No man can hope to have a very easy lifeand also at the same time a very successfulone. Many of them think that, the life of amanager is a “Bed Of Roses”. Of course,it is a bed of roses but no one knows aboutthe thorns lying underneath. “The rewardsone gets in business life are usuallycommensurate with the efforts one puts in”.The same applies to the New Age Manageralso. It is astonishing what intelligent effortcan accomplish when channelized in theright direction. Thus, a Manager should keep

LEAD FEATURE


in view that, “ Countless effor ts bythemselves, despite countless falls, implythe power to rise”. This is the key factor forthe story of success.

1.8 Fortune Favours the Brave:

One of the most important & succeedingpoints that is to be given importance to ayoung, New Age Manager that, “ Never ventore, never win; no risk, no gain”. Fortunefavors the brave. Concentration &determination can enable him to attainsuccess in the field.

1.9 Adversity Is Truly The Prosperity OfThe Great:

A person, if strong minded, dedicated andimaginative, can definitely achieve theposition he is willing to become as asuccessful manager. “It takes plenty ofimagination, perseverance and verve to riseto the top”, of course but continuous effortof itself implies, despite countless falls, thepower to rise & win. “ Kites rise against andnot with the wind”, thus adversity is trulythe prosperity of the great. He should bedazzled with the spiritual enthusiasmsshowed by different greats in order to reachthe heights of success. It is because, all thegreat feats of human art and achievementsat which we look with awe, praise andwonder are only instance of the resist lessforce of enthusiasm, dedication andperseverance.

2.0 Never Give up:

All things are possible to him that believeth.Never give up. It is wiser and better alwaysto help than ever despair. Seeming set backsonly make the strong men wise and try stillharder. Firm must be the will, patient theheart, passionate the aspiration to securethe fulfillment of any high and lofty purpose.Thus the right quotation to be rememberedby a New Age Manager is that – “Never giveup, Never, Never, Never give up”.

Inspiring words from a statesman, whoselife was synonymous with resoundingsuccess, should echo and re-echo in therecesses of your mind. “Always chant themantra that you are born to succeed.” Suchennobling thoughts bring to the surface,irrepressible optimism.

As a result, a New Age Manager should takethe role model as Dhirubai Ambani, whohas created a new phase in Management.It is to be remembered that ambition, clarityof vision and boundless energy are nottaught in classrooms, as we discoveredeveryday, but chiseled and shaped in themind of a man who always wanted to run aglobally ranked and respected corporation.In many minds, businessmen are oftenlabeled as crooks. “Those who do notproduce wealth discredit those who createwealth.” This attitude kills productive first. A

society which condemns creators of wealthwill always remains poor & miserable.Therefore, acquisition of knowledge andcreation of wealth are part of our culture.Therefore a Manager in order to turn up asa New Age Manager, he should chant thefollowing mantras:

2.1 Growth has no Limit – KeepRevising Your Vision:

If you make one grand plan, and then stickto it without updating it with new inputs,adopting to new forces and adopting newpractices, then it is a recipe for disaster.Remember a goal is worth if only if you getthere, and growth is life.

2.2 Leap, Look, Leap:

There’s a saying that there are only threekinds of people. “ Those who make thingshappen, those who watch things happen.And those who say, what happened?” Thosethat belong to the first category, think big,project with clear vision and then move withgreat speed to achieve their goal.

2.3 Nurture & Motivative:

The youth are energetic, brimming withideas, talent and a desire to excel. Extendthem the support they need, nurture them.Each one of them has infinite source ofenergy. Create the right environment andthey will deliver with glorious returns oninvestment.

2.4 Breakout your Orbit:

The world is a series of hierarchy-stakedorbits. To be successful, you must breakexceed anything a conventional approachcan bring.

Reject Incremental Thinking:

Piecemeal, blinkered and incrementalthinking guarantees slow and stuntedgrowth. True growth can come only withlateral thinking, with multiple options andpaths to attain a goal. Always encouragepeople to think out-of-the-box. Ideas are noone’s monopoly.

Shun Pretence:

A leader is not afraid to say he/she doesn’tknow. There is no equitable distribution ofknowledge, expertise and energy. Do whatyou can do to acquire knowledge and applyit. Delegate the rest to the best.

Detail, Detail, Detail:

God is in the detail, worship it. There isn’t asingle successful individual, enterprise ornation that has succeeded without payingattention to detail. Women will argue andsay ‘ Simplify’. Simplify the process but neverforsake detail. Work with determination &perfection, and success will follow.

2.5 Achievement is History Lookahead:

This is often the out of your orbit and enterthe one above. After a spin in that orbit, youmust break into the next one and so on tillyou reach the top.

Bet on people-‘trust’ is a 5-Letter wordfor Success:

Trust is the most valuable thing will earn andit is also the most valuable thing you cangive. There is nothing like partial trust-youeither trust completely or not at all. Trust isthe foundation of growth.

2.6 Be Humble:

Humility in success is the greatest virtue.Realize that success is a matter of hard workand teamwork of employees, shareholdersand well-wishers. Never let them down andalways make them feel they are part of thefamily. In turn, they will never let you down.

2.7 Build Competencies:

Holding people hostage to corecompetencies restricts them. It is moreproductive to create competencies aroundpeople and processes to create value, thispromotes flexibility, encourages growth andthe value add-on will far most difficult toachieve but the most crucial for continuedsuccess. Any achievement in instant history;it becomes the past as soon as it isachieved. How you build on thatachievement will decide how far you go.

Because of these principles only, as in thespan of a single generation, DhirubhaiAmbani drove Reliance from a tiny tradinghouse to India’s largest private sector groupwith a turnover of Rs: 65,000 Crores, amongthe world’s top 500 companies, with leadingpositions in Petro Chemicals, Energy, Bio-Technology and Communications.

In order to achieve that height, a New AgeManager should chant the above saidmanagement mantras and shape thedesired result into the desired format.

2.8 Six New Skills for New AgeManagers

1. Creating Insight: Asking rightquestions and framing right answersfor them.

2. Sensitivity: Being sensitive to a culturecreated by people in an organisation.

3. Vision: Leaders who have vision cancreate the future for the organisation.

4. Versatility: Adapt to changecomfortable, pursue difficult skills tobe versatile

5. Focus: Focus enables leaders toinvest available resources towardsimplementing successful and longlasting change

6. Patience: Means living in the long –term.


2.9 CONCLUSION:

There is no country in the world today, whichis struggling for a change- a better andhappier status. Change can be Internal aswell as External. This change can only bebrought by a Manager who strongly believesthat success lies in the hands oforganization, as a whole, but not any oneelse. He is well known with the fact that Any firm lacking adaptability ofmanagement, every firm has to study the

changing requirements. As a result, anumber of risk management consulting firmsare on the horizon in India. Many youngmanagers will do well to take advantage ofthem and let us hope, the new managerscan achieve a “Happy ship of their Own”,sailing all over the “waves of Business” inIndia, making it perennial.

As a whole, the gist to be understood is that,a New Age Manager is to be endowed with:-

� The ability of an organizer;

� The ability of a player;

� The astuteness of a statesman;

� The tact of a politician;

� The forbearance of a philosopher, and

� The nobility of character of a saint.

These qualities turnout to be rich inqualitative as well as quantitative skills ofbusiness by sailing the Happy ship of hisown and enlightenment the paths of thebusiness of a country.

Outsource the sales job:The new mantra of Indian

pharmaceutical companies – Vishnu Kumar Balduva

Outsourcing has been the most commonthing, which is observed in every

aspect of today's business whether it isrelated to I.T., ITES, Engineering and so on.Almost all the companies are devising thevarious means where they can savesubstantial costs and time and inturn theycan focus on their core business.

In this article the author has tried to focuson the various means used by Pharmacompanies to outsource the job of sellingtheir Medicines through franchise orconsultants.

As India is a party to WTO's intellectualproperty regime from January 2005, thebasket of drugs available with a patent priorto 1995 is getting smaller. As a resultPharma companies are no longer able tolaunch drugs in plenty each year and theother option to sustain growth is to expandgeographical reach. "Pharma companieshave now started focusing on increasingtheir brand penetration and are expandingtheir geographical reach." Shailesh Gadre,Director, ORG-IMS, a market researchcompany.

In order to achieve such deeper penetration,Indian Pharmaceutical companies areoutsourcing a portion of their medicalrepresentative workforce, in order tobecome more competitive. The movesupports expansion into newer geographiesin the domestic market, and could be aimedat reducing the hold of trade unions.

Hiring contracted medical representativesis a very common practice around the world,

Vishnu Kumar Balduva, Asst. Professor at Alluri Institute of Management. He can be reached at [email protected]

also. The company has given a number ofits old products to a franchisee namedJeevan. Where the M.R.'s do the same workas the direct M.R. of the company, but aremaintained under contract.

Inspite of the various benefits such asflexibility, cost effectiveness and so onderived by the Pharma companies byoutsourcing their M.R.'s job to outsiders itis not free from ill effects such as bringingsomeone between the doctor and thePharma company, the benefits are notalways there as a direct M.R. of the companyrepresenting the same.

Unichem Labs worked with franchisees inorder to test waters in new states. Howeverthe company stopped outsourcing M.R.'sbecause of the quality of the people whichis required and was really missing.

Even the legal position of such contractualwork has been challenged by FMRAI incourt. "Outsourcing of M.R.'s leads to asignificant deterioration of workingconditions. Contracted medicalrepresentatives are discriminated against.Their salary is less and they have no jobsecurity too."

CONCLUSION: Contracting M.R.'s offersflexibility and cost advantages to thePharma companies, it however raises majororganizational issues. It is one of the mostpowerful tool to reach the newer regionshowever various experts feel that thePharma companies need to look at variousother alternatives to reach the newterritories.

however it has appeared in India in the pastcouple of years. It allows Pharma companiesto break trade unions, a very strong force inthe industry. The contract salesorganizations are fully responsible for hiringmedical representatives. The appointmentletter is from the contract sales organizationwherein the M.R. can work for any client withwhom the contract sales organization hastie-ups.

Many MNCs in India such as E-Merck tooare outsourcing M.R. work. They cannotincrease their manpower in India becauseof budget constraints. Hiring contractedM.R.'s allows them to expand their reach inthe market, without taking the liabilityassociated with hiring new people.

Bangalore based Charak Pharma wasamong the first companies in India tooutsource M.R.'s through franchisees.According to the company's sources, thecompany's UP franchisee employs over 50M.R.'s, while its Chennai franchiseeemploys around 40. It is of the opinion that"Outsourcing M.R.'s can prove to be costeffective as the Pharma company has zeroliability."

According to Federation of Medical andSales Representatives Association of India(FMRAI), a national trade union, many bigPharma companies such as Novartis,Ranbaxy, E-Merck, Nicholas Piramaloutsource part of their sales force to thirdparties.

Nicholas Piramal works with franchisees topromote some of its established products

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Sensing EmployeeAttrition

– Anoop K Kamat

Attrition in a talent-crunched economy isa major challenge that organizations are

facing today. Hewitt Associates in its study- 'Attrition & Retention: Asia Pacific Study2006' indicates that employee attrition is atan all time high in Asia. While the issue hasbeen most widely debated across variousforums, nothing concrete has emerged tilldate. There seems to be no panacea for thiswidespread concern called "attrition". Nobest practices have helped. With theeconomy booming, job opportunities areplenty in the market. This has brought mostorganizations today on the threshold ofaccepting the fact that beyond specific pointattrition cannot be controlled. The idea thatmost organizations today are toying with isto sense attrition early and proactively (EarlyWarning Signals); and takes necessaryprecautions before it reaches the climax(where the employee departs).

This article looks at providing a direction tosensing employee attrition by identifyingemployee behaviour at work. It is collationof personal experiences as HumanResources professional along with variousinputs shared by employee's in their 'exitinterview'. During the exit interview, apartfrom being asked, "Why s/he was leavingthe organization?" the focus was tounderstand - "When s/he took the decisionto look for another job?", "What promptedher/ him to look for another job?" and "Whatdid s/he go through from the time s/hedecided to leave the organization till the lastday?". It was observed that in most of thesituations the pattern/ behaviours exhibitedwere more or less similar. These behaviourswere then given a logical sequence to arriveat the attrition cycle.

The Attrition Cycle

The attrition cycle is as shown below. It isbased on the behavioural pattern exhibitedby the employee. From the preliminary stageof initial disengagement to separation,situations and behaviour patterns areidentified. These have been restricted toworkplace behaviours and situations only.

(a) Employee Trigger:

Some of the common workplacesituations that tr igger passivedisengagement are:

Anoop Kamat works as Manager-HR with a leading private-sector bank at Mumbai. He can be reached at: [email protected]

(i) Feeling cheated with regard to one'ssalary and designation on joining.Thought that one should havenegotiated better.

(ii) Culture Shock - Organization culture isvery different for what was perceivedprior to joining.

(iii) Role promised during the interview doesnot match with the role offered onjoining. No valid reasons provided forthe change in the profile.

(iv) Seeing a new joinee with a higher salaryor designation.

(v) Salary revisions where peers get higherraises though performance andachievements are at-par throughout theyear. (Salaries are no longerconfidential).

(vi) Do not foresee growth in the currentrole/ organization - learning curve is atan all-time low.

(vii) Promotions do not happen as planned.

(viii) Movement to a new role/ locationpromised does not happen. No validreasons provided.

(ix) Performance ratings are not as perexpectations.

(x) Regularly contacted by consultants/headhunters with better opportunities.Previous managers who have quit theorganization offer a better profile whichone cannot resist.

(xi) Peer-pressure or peer-comparison byfriends/ relatives.

(xii) Location of work and its toll on marriageand family.

(b) Passive Disengagement:

Employee satisfaction has only remained anHR jargon today. A lot of HR practitionershave started to re-look and re-categorize'motivators' and 'hygiene factors'. Differentemployees have different expectations fromtheir organization and in some cases thesame employee would have differentexpectations at different points of time. Net-net every organization today sees itself in asituation where it cannot satisfy its entireset of employees. Money as a motivatorstands challenged. A leading surveypublished - 'At any given moment, atleast50% of employees in an organization werekeen to know if they have betteropportunities elsewhere'. This brings us tothe word 'passive disengagement'.

'Passive disengagement' is a stage wherethe employee shows initial signs ofdissatisfaction. But the degree may be veryminor. These get demonstrated throughvarious behaviours or questions theemployee would ask his colleagues or HR.Employee behaviour assosciated with thisstage include:

(i) Perception of not being valued in her/his team.

(ii) Challenging certain aspects of workwithout any justification to do so.

(iii) Low energy exhibited at the workplace.Looking disturbed.

(iv) Needs constant follow-up to ensurecompletion of assigned work.

Fig 1.0: The Attrition Cycle.

PassiveDisengagement

IntrospectionStage

ActiveDisengagement

Decision-making stage

ExternalTrigger

InternalTriggerEmployee

Employee exits WithdrawalStage

TransitionStage


(c) Introspection stage:

An employee based on his experiencein the previous stage tends to evaluatethe situation at hand. The employeetends to question himself - "Why aparticular situation occurred?", "Howdoes it impact her/ him?", etc. This stageis assosciated with the employeeaccepting or disagreeing to certainevents or situations. In most cases itmay be a reality check for her/ him.While this stage may be for a briefduration, it is indeed very important tounderstand as it guides the employeeto decide if she/he wants to part fromor stay with the organization. Some ofthe commonly assosciated behavioursin this stage include:

(i) New joinees checking with colleagueson their view on the role, possibletransfers, etc.

(ii) Employees tend to check with the newjoinee about his background,experience, etc.

(iii) Post-salary revisions - employees donot want to discuss it, but do showdissatisfaction.

(iv) Looking for answers to various issueslike promotions, transfers, etc.

(v) Seeking details of other companies andpossible options with them.

(vi) Spending time with employees whohave already resigned.

(vii) Becoming cynical, argumentative for nospecific reasons.

(viii) Indulging in gossips and cliques.

(d) Active Disengagement:

In this stage, the employee hasmanaged to convince herself/ himselfthat the current role and/ or organizationmay not be the right place in terms ofher/ his career aspirations or personalgoals. While this decision has beenmade, she/he might have still notevaluated other job options or possiblecareer moves. There can be somehesitation in going forward and initiatingjob-search. Some of the exhibitedbehaviours include:

(i) Working as per expectations of theManager/ project timelines. There areno signs of creativity or arriving atunique solutions to the problem at-hand.

(ii) Following the work timings. No extrahour at work is a self-defined rule.

(iii) Resistance to take-up any extraworkload by citing reasons which arenot justified.

(iv) Sudden preference to work alone ratherthan in a team.

(e) Decision-making stage:The employee is now at a juncturewhere she/he believes that a decision

about continuing in the organizationneeds to be taken. Decisions wouldinclude:

� Leave immediately,� Continue for a few months (make

oneself more 'marketable' by completingthe work involved in or taking higherresponsibilities/ new assignments) andthen leave or

� Wait-and-watch when in dilemma (of notgetting a better job) and playing it safe

(f) Transition Stage (Change inpriorities):The employee now has decided to leavethe organization. Priorities change. Workbecomes secondary. Finding a job,which suits the expectations (role,profile, designation and salary),becomes the primary goal. This stagesees a marked change in the behaviourof the employee. Some of theseindicators are:

(i) Spending more time over phone/browsing the Internet.

(ii) Phone calls getting disconnectedrepeatedly within a short duration or with- "call me later, I will call you, I will getback to you".

(iii) Not attending, participating orcontributing in meeting or discussions.

(iv) Coming-in late and leaving early orcoming-in very early or regularly leavinglate.

(v) Regular unplanned leaves at shortnotice. Half-days are sudden and withno specific reason.

(vi) Productivity is affected, time schedulesare over-shot and quality of work suffers.

(g) Withdrawal Stage:This is the penultimate stage before theemployee exits the organization. She/he senses that the job-offer should beon its way and one needs to be well-

(ii) Avoid attending training programmeswithout any specific reason.

(iii) Avoid taking new responsibilities/assignments/ work-related travel andkeen to handover/ complete work at-hand.

(iv) Lack of enthusiasm.(h) Employee Exits:

The employee now has offer/s in-hand,has negotiated with the new employerand is satisfied with what she/he hasbeen promised by prospectiveemployer/s. This stage sees theemployee serving her/ his notice period(most of which is bought-over by her/his new employer) and leaves theorganization. Retaining an employeewho by now has already made-up her/his mind (broken the bond that bindsher/ him with the current organization)to leave is often difficult unless her/hisdesired expectations (core reason forleaving) are met by the organization.

Retaining Employees in the Attrition Cycle:

Retaining employees is no longer an easytask. But it is neither very difficult, as longas one is able to understand the precursor(underlying reason why an employee wantsto leave) and resolve it. It is foremostessential to engage the employee andunderstand her/ his point of view. For eachof the stages discussed earlier, below arefew of the interventions that can help anorganization retain its employees.

prepared to take the final plunge. Tillsuch a time one just needs to 'gothrough the motions'. Commonlyobserved behaviours include:

(i) Inquiring about notice period and otherpolicies related to resignation with HRand other colleagues.

(i) Communicate/ Clarify:

Employees in the stage of passivedisengagement are often dissatisfied asthey are not able to get answers to theirquestions or solutions to their concerns.Most of these arise due tocommunication gaps or absence/

inability of specific people to clarifythese doubts. It is thus the responsibilityof People Manager's (especiallyReporting Manager) and HR to ensurethat they proactively reach-out toemployees in their groups and handletheir concerns/ doubts.

Fig 2: TowardsEngaged Employees

PassiveDisengagement

ActiveDisengagement

Communicate/Clarify Re-align

EngagedEmployee

TransitionStage

WithdrawalStage

EmployeeExits

Counter-sell

Involve


(ii) Re-align:

Active disengagement is a result ofmisalignment which occurred as a resultof employee losing his way in anorganization. This is generally anoffshoot of not doing the above. Itreminds one of the Alice in Wonderlandscene, where Alice is lost in the woodsand asks the cat to help her find theway without knowing where to go. Thiscalls for re-alignment. Counselingemployees has helped employees getan organization perspective.Organizations need to ensure that theemployee's goals and aspirations arein-sync with that of the organization.Avoid giving false promises andunachievable aspirations, as it wouldonly delay the employee from attritingwithout solving her/ his problem. In midstof this, the organization might lose itsemployee's trust.

(iii) Involve:

Involvement has always been looked bymost of the employees as the highestreward at workplace. It gives anemployee a sense of being trusted. Butseldom do we see organizations whobelieve in actually involving theiremployees while taking key decisions.Involvement is also possible by providingthe employee to work on key projectswhich are beyond the current roleexpectations or job enlargement (whereshe/he has new challenges at-hand).

If this raises a question in your mind -Why involve disengaged employeesnow? The answer is simple - becauseas a Manager, it was not thought before.What should have been a normalprogression in an employee's careerchart is now force-fitted due to theprevailing circumstances. Involvementshould happen once the employeestarts understanding the organizationdynamics.

(iv) Counter-sell:

The last and the most controversialoption that an organization can pull-offto retain its employee who it believes isvery critical - Counter-sell. Most

organizations use this practice regularlyonly to understand later that it hasnegative implications and otheremployees also follow suit. Making acounter-offer (higher salary/ grade or anon-site position) does help theorganization retain an employee who isin the withdrawal stage or is serving her/his notice period. Positive result of thisaction - the concerned person tends tostay back (as personal interest has beenmet), but the negatives are far greater.The organization may have just setprecedence for other employees whobelieve that it's the only way to achievewhat one expects (by holding theorganization to ransom).

Organizations hence need to ensurethat they tread very carefully on this thin-line and practice restraint whereverpossible. Never over-commit.

While these interventions have beendiscussed independently, organizationsmay want to club these based on thesituation. Unless it is critical, one shouldrefrain from using the last option.

Mechanisms to sense Attrition:

Now that we have discussed the behavioursan employee exhibits before attriting, it isalso essential to understand how anorganization can implement mechanisms tosense these behaviours (understanding therigorous work schedules we all have) andretain critical/ core employees. Some ofthese practices are:

(i) Train People Managers: PeopleManagers should be equipped to senseand identify these attributes/ behavioursin their respective teams and takenecessary action.

(ii) Manage Internal Push: Throughprocesses like exit interviews, employeecommunication and one-on-one's alongwith employee satisfaction andorganization climate survey - HR canunderstand the pulse of employees andissues which have a potential threat ofcausing employee attrition. Thesepotential threats then need to handledseriously and resolved on war-footing.Some of the common issue could be -

issues related to working with superiors,not being fairly rated during appraisals,lack of role clarity/ growth, etc

(iii) Manage External Pull: It is also essentialfor the organization to understand thethreat its employee's face fromcompetition. These could be due tocompensation (conduct salarybenchmark exercise), offering higherresponsibilities early in one's career(talent scarcity has resulted inorganizations offering middle and topmanagement positions to the deservingearly) and possible mass exodus (duea senior employee/ colleague joiningcompetition). Understanding the hiringpatterns of the competition along withtheir current requirements (by trackingnewspaper advertisements, job portals,etc) would definitely help one be awareof possible attrition within specificgroups.

(iv) Open Culture: An organization needs tocreate a culture that makes anemployee feel safe and comfortable todiscuss their personal and professionalissues with their Reporting Manager/HR/ Independent counselors.

To summarize:

Employee attrition is no longer only an HRconcern. To tackle this growing menace,both the business function as well as HRneeds to work hand-in-hand. While business(line-staff) would need to take ownership oftheir employees, the role of HR is to equipPeople Manager's to engage their teamseffectively.

Attrition management has always beenapproached reactively. It is time to beproactive. Lead indicators of "attrition"needs to be identified. One of the mostcommon lead indicators is "employeedissatisfaction". Role of People Manager'sand HR is to sense and identify possibledissatisfaction in employees and providesolutions/ remedies before it takes anyalarming form. "Resolve dissatisfaction andarrest attrition" is the 'mantra' of the day.Treading along this path, organizations candefinitely make headway in the attritionmaze. Amen.

Dr. Upinder Dhar Joins as Director NUSTDr. Upinder Dhar has Joined as Director, Institute of Management, Nirma University of Science & Technology(NUST) Ahmedabad with effect from 9th December, 2006. He was earlier Director, Prestige Institute of Management,Indore. Dr. Dhar is an eminent Author of several books on Management and one of the most prominent academiciansof India. Dr. Upinder Dhar is instrumental in reviving Indore Chapter of National HRD Network and its successfulrunning for the last four years.

Being an eminent scholar in human behaviour, eighteen scholars have been awarded Ph.D. degree underhis supervision by various Universities so far. As recognition of his contributions, Dr. Dhar was awarded

National Fellowship by the Indian Society for Training and Development in 2002-03. He has been on the Panel of Reviewers ofnumber of journals, such as International Journal of Training and Development, and South Asian Journal of Management.Currently, he is Chairman – Programmes Committee and Member – National Council, ISTD; Member – CAAT; and President– Anthropology, Psychology and Behavioural Science Section of the Indian Science Congress Association.

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PerformanceManagement System

– S.Sudhakar and Dr.V.R.Nedunchezhian

Introduction:

In the fast paced globally competitivebusiness scenario, efforts to heightenproductivity and profitability never ends.Organizations are booming more and moredynamic in nature in order to be moreresponsive to the demands of the marketplace. And the challenges of managingpeople effectively has never been greater.Strategic HR plans are required for wisermanagement of people, they maximizingproductivity, profitability and quality. To fulfillthis responsibility, the HR function will haveto adopt a new role of strategic partners inbusiness.

Need for performance ManagementSystem:

One of the important aspect in HR isretention of talents. Attracting talents hasbecome very difficult in the current scenariodue to the increase in opportunities.Rewarding the people based on theirperformance and potention has becomevital. Of course salary is not only the criteriafor retention but plays a major role. Careergrowth is combination with rewarding ofappropriate time helps retention of talents.

Organisation take effective steps toimplement appropriate PerformanceManagement System.

Performance Management System:

Performance Management is fast replacingperformance appraisals. Organisationstoday are carrying out performancedevelopment, performance planning,performance analysis etc., as a part of theirperformance Management System. Thefocus has thus shifted from controllingperformance to developing one i.e.development of employer and facilitatingindividual growth, thus resulting in overallorganizational excellence.

Every organisation should try to fit itsapproach to performance management withthe strategic diversion of the business.Company's mission should be articulatedand vision should be refined in the contextof new opportunities. And in the light of all

Dr.V.R.Nedunchezhian is Director, Karpagam College of Engg, Coimbatore. E-Mail: [email protected]. S Sudhakar is Manager - HR with Roots Industries Ltd, Coimbatore E-Mail: [email protected]

A PRACTICAL PERFORMANCEMANAGEMENT PROCEDURE IN ANORGANISATION:

Objective

The performance appraisal is doneperiodically to continuously improvepersonal and professional efficiency of allstaff and to help them overcome theirweakness and capitalize on their strengths,which will ultimately lead to the overalleffectiveness of the organization.

Employees' potential and their contributionsin term of their performance in achievingindividual objectives or group objectives anddepartmental objectives are considered inthe appraisal. The rewards, incentives andpromotions will be driven by this appraisal.

Model of Appraisal:

PERFORMANCE

Employees are plotted in the above matrixon the basis of their potential andperformance. Those who fall under LLquadrant (Low potential and Lowperformance) have to be placed on theappropriate position or necessary HRintervention to be planned. Those who fallunder LH quadrant (Low Potential HighPerformance) have to be rewarded

appropriately. Those who fall under HHquadrant (High potential and HighPerformance) have to be promoted to takehigher responsibilities. Those who fall underHL quadrant (High potential LowPerformance) are counseled, feed back isgiven on their strengths, opportunities areprovided and sufficient time is given toimprove their performance.

these facts, Key Performance Areas shouldbe identified.

Performance appraisal criteria should alsobe flexible. Each performance objectiveshould have a distinctive set of evaluationcriteria linked to it. Only then a performanceappraisal process serves its purpose.

The focus today is also on increasingtemporarily in the performance appraisalsystem. And rightly so, performanceappraisals are still looked you with lots ofskepticism.

Involvement of individuals, therefore in theperformance appraisal process becomeseven more important particularly for thosewho are directly affected by it. Aperformance management system infact isrightly effective only when the peopleconcerned are involved in it.

Ideal Growth

H

L LH

P

C

T

E

Low

High

Low High

HH


Appraisal:

At the end of every four months appraisal isdone. The staff fills the form and also byminimum of one superior to whom the staffreports to. For the executive level functionsminimum two appraisers will appraise inaddition to the self-appraisal. The appraisalhas 3 Parts.

Part I: Potential Appraisal

This part is a measure of personal potentialof the employee. This is assessed through21 personal factors. Each factor is assessedin 10-point scale. The scores of each factorare added to calculate the total score forpotential appraisal. The average iscalculated and multiplied by 10 to convertthe score to percentage.

If the difference between the appraiser andthe appraise ratings is only 10% then theaverage of the two scores are taken as thefinal score. If the difference is more than10%, the appraiser and appraise to arrive afinal score after a review. If the ratings arenot finalised by the appraiser and appraisethen the review will be done with a HRManager.

Part II: Performance Development Plan

The second par t is individual/Teamperformance development plan. In this thestaff set the goals to be achieved in the nextone year. Wherever possible the staff canset individual goals. In cases where theachievement of a particular goal is dependsup on more people from with in thedepartment or people from otherdepartment a team can be formed by theconcerned persons to form a team goals.When the goal is chosen by the team thesame goal has to appear in all the teammembers performance development plan.The achievement of goal will be assessedby the head of the concerned departments.Equal score will be given to all the memberson the basis of the achievement of the statedgoals. No differential score is possible onthe basis of the extend of contribution of

each employees. These goals are relatedto the departmental and organisationalobjectives. The goals selected are to beapproved by the head of the department thatthe goal selected is relevant and reasonablydifficult to achieve during the period. Thesegoals should have objectively measurableparameters. The achievement of these goalsare assessed in percentage. These annualgoals are subdivided in to interim goals tobe achieved at the end of 4 months and 8months. They will be reviewed at every 4months by the reporting authority and thenecessary feed back is given. For thecalculation of appraisal score the annualachievement is considered.

Part III

This part is a measure of the department'sperformance in which he/she is working. Theannual department objectives are taken forthis purpose. The achievement ofdepartment objectives are assessed inpercentage.

The overall appraisal score is arrived bycalculating the average score of the Part I,II and III.

Feed back on performance appraisal:

The most important aspect in performanceappraisal is the feed back to the concernedby the superior. It is delicate and sensitive.Whatever is done, it never seems to be goodenough. Improving on this aspect is aconstant effort everywhere all the time.

The theoretical characteristics of the 'ideal'appraisal system are known. The feed backmessage must contain comments withexamples and suggestion for improvement.The message might be delivered in apositive environment, a context of trust.Implementing this correctly is verycomplicated.

Views expressed by Mr.R.Gopalakrishnan,Executive Director, Tata Sons (Ref: TheEconomic Times dated 20.11.06)reproduced here for a practical

understanding on this feed back system inperformance appraisal.

An executive Mr.X was working for adepartment. He was a sensitive individual.He was reporting to a Senior Manager andhe had a complaint that his immediate bosswas ambiguous in giving him a performancefeed back.

As a result he felt that he was not beingconsidered for advancement in to a generalmanagement position. He felt aggrieved.

After the ED's advice to the Senior Managerexpressed that he had given his feed backwhich was admittedly dedicate, as he didnot wish to damage Mr.X's self-esteem bybeing too direct. However, the SeniorManager agreed to try once by giving directfeed back. The boss expressed to Mr.X. thathis execution capability was limited by hisinability to get along with the peers andother departments. As a result, the bossfelt that Mr.X had became part of theproblem , not a part of solution.

Mr.X on hearing this again had a complaint.Now the complaint is different. He said thathis boss had been bruted in his feed backand there was no need to make a big dealout of one's supposed short comings.

It was amazing about the feeling of Mr.X ashe only sought a more direct feed back.After that Mr.X expressed that he has tothink and look for his future. Then Mr.X leftthe company to do jobs in a couple ofoutside companies but informations weregot that he was not achieving as muchhappiness as he employed , hence not muchsuccess.

All Managers say that they want 'frank andopen feed back' but most are unpreparedfor it. The best feed back is obtained notfrom what is stated explicitly , so that thefeed back got is without affecting the egoand self esteem. Such diplomatic way ofgiving feed back without affecting the egoand self esteem of the appraisee has to becultivated among the apparisers.

BOOK RELEASE – THE CHALLENGES OFINIDAN MANAGEMENT

By Prof. B.R. VirmaniDr. Y.V. Reddy, Governor Reserve Bank of India formally released thebook The Challenges of Indian Management by Prof. B.R. Virmani(Response Books, Sage Publications) on 17th February 2007 atAdministrative Staff College of India (ASCI), Hyderabad. Prof. Virmani isLife Member of H.R.D. Network. While releasing the book, Dr. Y.V. Reddyemphasized that two decades ago most organizations emulated theWestern model of Management. However, with the success of Japaneseenterprises, we all started looking to the Japanese style of Management,Recently there is trend to emulate the Chinese style. Dr. Y.V. Reddy felt

that there are some inherent strengths in some of the aspects of Indian Management style and many countries can draw some lessonsfrom Indian. This book by Prof. B.R. Virmani could be a seminal attempt in this direction.

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How to Create WomenLeaders in IT?

– Dr. C V Madhavi

One year back, women executives of thetop IT companies in the world gathered

at the Infosys campus in Bangalore todiscuss what could become a major problemfor India's IT sector: how to create the rightleadership opportunities for women. It wasn'ta purely academic exercise. Within fouryears, 45% of all Indian IT employees willbe women, a whopping doubling from thecurrent 21%.

These figures are no doubt insightful butmight surprise many and are seen as greatprogress for women in a male dominatedfield but they hide significant underlyingproblems. It is very unlikely that India willproduce women IT executives or leaders inany meaningful numbers.

Though women are seen growing innumbers and are better represented in theIT sector, they have not assumed significantrole and status. For one, women are wellrepresented in software programming butnot in hardware design, operating systemsor computer maintenance. Second, ananalysis of the gender situation in softwaredevelopment activities reveals that a largesegment of women are clustered in the low-end jobs; while a very small segment ofwomen are found at the higher end reflectsin a significant way the extent of the genderdivide in the IT industry. The situation isgetting better, but it's moving at glacier paceso the gap will get worse unless we can putin place concerted efforts to turn it around.

This topic was a matter of much debate atInfosys sponsored and hosted an annualevent for women in IT, IWIN (Infosys WomenInclusivity Network) - an initiative for womeninclusivity, on February 15th 2006 inBangalore at the Infosys Campus IWINwhere I was asked to share my research inthis field with other panelists from the ITindustry namely, CISCO, Infosys Australia,TCS, and WIPRO.

Unfortunately, there is no magic wand or asimple strategy that will change the situation.There are no short cuts and it won't workwell if it is based on giving specialconcessions given to potential womenleaders. Whether men or women, they needto carry out basic tasks required by their

roles. Meanwhile, women have the samecapabilities of becoming leaders as men.So, what does it take for a woman to becomea leader?

The road to the top is never smooth. Overall,it is seen that there are three factors thatcontribute to moving to positions ofleadership: The Individual; Family support;Organizational support.

Individual Ambition, Ability and Action

Ambition: Women must have the ambition,and drive to excel. It is common for womenwhen they reach a certain level, to decideto take it easy or leave because there isstress associated with growth. There is alsoa lack of that burning desire to rise to thetop. Many women seem to be satisfied withsomething lesser than the top job, andsecondly, also because they feel being atthe top might interfere further with theirfamily responsibilities. Besides, in manyfamilies women's income is still consideredsecondary to that of her husband.

Ability: A study done by Centre forOrganization Development, Hyderabad in2004 identified certain skill gaps in womenin IT at different levels. It was identified thatstrategic perspective, global thinking andflexibility are three critical skills gaps at thetop, and at the middle management level itis problem solving skills, innovative thinkingand customer orientation. The study alsoconcluded that women across the boardneed to be more assertive, self confidentand network.

Action: Consistent performance is the keyto excel. The assignments that areinstrumental in gaining recognition in anorganization are typically challenging onesand often in a highly visible leadershippositions. Seeking out difficult or highlyvisible assignments is very important. Takingup the challenge and demonstrating abilitiesto perform and succeed is critical to moveahead. Seeking opportunities to experiencesuccess could raise the confidence levelsof women in their abilities to excel.

Family support

Spousal support is the most vital aspect infamily support. This requires: (1) a spouse

Dr. C V Madhavi is Professor and Dy Director at COD, Hyderabad E-Mail: [email protected]

who has an understanding of the IT workculture and who is relatively more open andoutgoing. (2) The spouse also needs to beequally qualified or better to fight out the"inferiority complex" that may surfacesometimes. (3) If the spouse is not in anindustry that pays well, the smaller tensionsneed to be handled on home front.Expectations need to be managed to beproductive and dedicated at work.

In seeking family support, another importantaspect to take note of, is which phase oneis in. There are four major phases:

1. Before marriage

2. Initial period of the marriage

3. Kids below 10 years or so

4. Once the kid(s) are grown

Stage 4 is relatively easy to manage, ingeneral. 2 is better than 3. But, 3 is the worstor toughest to handle or negotiate.

The woman IT professional needs a supportsystem that can take care of herresponsibilities in her absence - Reliable,timely and handy. She needs to determinefor herself, how much of time her familyneeds her. A good support system is useful,but ultimately the core role or impact that amother can make, cannot be substituted ordelegated.

Organizational support

Talented women need: information,exposure and visibility.

Companies must provide opportunities towomen to participate and present their workin training programs, seminars, workshops.This gives them the opportunity to networkwith other professionals, understand andappreciate the industry trends and learn.

Women need exposure to variety ofassignments that provides them theopportunity to expand their knowledge andskill base.

Women also need visibility. In terms ofperformance measurement or expectationsthere is no distinction in professionalorganizations, but subtle biases operate. Asone of the senior persons in the IT industry


said: It is thought twice before giving highlyresponsible role to women, just becausethey have a family and they may duck at acritical point. Being in critical roles requiresone to put in extra effort beyond office hoursto consult client/customer. If there is familysupport, and is visible from individualcontribution then organization goes aheadand provides right roles and opportunities.Women are given the opportunity to workon varied assignments. Women have to

demonstrate they are willing to put in thatextra.

And above all this, organizations mustsupport its talented women with certainfamily friendly policies to help them managethe crucial phase, which is child bearing andrearing age.

Finally, consistency, focus and commitmentare what it takes to succeed. Ultimately it isthe individual's own home support system,

her personal need for achievement, ambitionand career aspiration that determinewhether a woman manager is able to marchahead. Today's successful women areexamples of having had the courage,persistence and determination to withstandthe pressures of the marriage, baby phaseand build a career. If women want a change,they must begin with their psyche, theirmindset. There is no stopping for women,once they decide.

Employee Branding:Key To Success

– Tapomoy Deb

Globalization has put immensepressures on organizations intending

to sustain their competitiveness in abusiness scenario marked by globalCorporate Olympiad. Human resources areoften an organization's competitive edge,given their immitability as compared to allphysical and financial resources which canbe easily imitated by competitors. In suchan environment, organizations areincreasingly emphasizing the value ofpeople to their long term profitability andsustainable development. Therefore, theseorganizations are increasingly on the lookout for talented people in the globalrecruitment village.

With increasing focus on human resources,the job market provides increasingopportunities to people for findingchallenging and rewarding jobs therebytransforming the character of the job marketfrom that of 'job seekers' to 'job shoppers'.However, with increasing opportunities forhigh value jobs comes enhancedcompetition amongst aspiring candidates.To win in today's and tomorrow's job marketchallenges, wiser candidates know the ruleof winning their potential employers bymarketing themselves in the "right format".This format, we call, as "EmployeeBranding". Employee Branding may bedefined as a promise of a potential hire tobring value to an organization which is betterthan competing hires and which can addimmense value to organizationalperformance and success. It indicates whata candidate is, how he is better than othersand why he should be the most sought after

Mr. Tapomoy Deb is General Manager - HR with Spentex Industries Ltd New Delhi. E-Mail: [email protected]

potential hire. As Management Guru TomPeters says, "regardless of age, regardlessof position, regardless of the business wehappen to be in, all of us need to understandthe importance of branding. We are theCEOs of our own companies: Me, Inc."

Therefore, candidates can adopt thefollowing strategies to brand and marketthemselves as mentioned below:

� Employee brand building starts withlisting, understanding and analyzingpast accomplishments and alwaysseeking new experiences strategic tobranding process;

� Making a strategic plan forstrengthening areas of improvement bygaining new knowledge and experience,either through self experience orthrough sharing of experience of wiserpersonnel;

� Going beyond basic education andtraining is critical to branding process.If a potential hire is MBA, there willprobably be thousands of othercandidates who will also be MBA.Therefore, a potential hire needs to gobeyond the basics and obtain additionaleducation, training and certificationsongoing basis.

� Seeking out through various personal,professional and social networks a goodmentor from whom appropriate adviceand valuable guidance can be obtained;

� Promoting self through variousmediums such as writing articles inprofessional journals and magazines,

bringing work accomplishments tosenior management's/CEO's visibility ina tactful manner, making oneselfindispensable to supervisor, interactingwith seasoned and buddingprofessionals in seminars, conferences,meeting of professional associations,re-designing resume as a piece ofadvertisement incorporating all keyaccomplishments, skills, and educationin an articulous and truthful manner, etc.

� Establishing as an expert in the field bycontinuous and consistent improvementof skills and competencies keeping inview dynamics of job market;

� Seeking opportunities with professionaltrainers and organizations for deliveringspeeches and presentations;

� Playing up awards and other recognitionin one's chosen field to spread themessage of being an expert andrespected personality; and

� Networking, building and nurturingrelationships with who's who in one'schosen field as a powerful tool of selfpromotion. It is worth noting that whiledoing so, it must be kept in mind thatthe network of contacts must be alsoseen from the angle of future usefulnessand not limited to present usefulnessalone.

After building employee brand, it is crucialfor candidates to continue to improve andcultivate it rigorously. Remember, wisepeople like you might be doing the samething.

�HHHHH

�HHHHH


Categorization Of CompetenciesThe Level-wise List

– Hari Nair

Mr. Hari Nair is Associate Vice President - HR at Sona Steering, Gurgaon. E-Mail: [email protected]

CORE COMPETENCIES: THE ORIGIN

C.K. Prahalad and Gary Hamel introducedthe concept in a 1990 Harvard BusinessReview article. They wrote that a corecompetency is “an area of specializedexpertise that is the result of harmonizingcomplex streams of technology and workactivity.” They illustrated it with HONDA’sexpertise in engines. Honda was able toexploit this core competency to develop avariety of quality products from lawn mowersand snow blowers to trucks andautomobiles. To take an example from theautomotive industry, it has been claimed thatVOLVO’s core competence is safety. Theircore competency might be more about theirability to source and design high protectioncomponents, or to research and respond tomarket demands concerning safety.

These competencies are derived from theoutputs of its workforce, which in-turn havea separate list of deliverables against eachcompetency at Senior and Junior Levels,few are listed below –

CORE COMPETENCIS ON BANDWIDTH

GENERALIZED LEVELS IN INDIANCOMPANIES

Level – 1 – Graduate Trainees / Fresher /New Entrants

Level – 2 – Junior Management

Level – 3 – Middle Management / SeniorManagement

Level – 4 – Top Management

LEVEL WISE SPECIFICCOMPETENCIES

LEVEL – 1 – GRADUATE TRAINEES /FRESHER / NEW ENTRANTS

1. Functional Knowledge - Soundfundamental concepts and goodacademic record.

2. Statistical Mindset - Identify anddiagnose key issues, seek relevantinformation, draw accurate conclusions/ inferences in order to find theappropriate solution.

3. Self Motivated - Is committed, resilientand energetic and has a clear sense ofwhat needs to be done

4. Optimism - Enthusiastic in acceptingnew initiatives / challenges anddemonstrates a feeling of optimism andenergy.

5. Interpersonal Skills - Involves other,team mate, shares information andideas and seeks to resolve conflicts.

6. Adaptability - Accepts changewillingly and changes accordingly.

7. Kaizen – Can think, think, think ofinnovative (think out of box), multipleoptions.

LEVEL – 2 – EXECUTIVE / JUNIORMANAGEMENT

1. Managing Self – Personally organizedand systematic, optimizes resourceallocation, anticipates resistances, workscheduling to achieve the targets/goals.

2. Systematic Problem Solving Skills –Overcomes problems and obstaclesthrough systematic analysis andbalanced decision-making. Seeks allrelevant information and finds theoptimal solution.

3. Team Mate - Understands other peopleand relates effectively to them. Sharesinformation and ideas and seeks toresolve conflicts.

4. Action Oriented - Assumes ownershipand responsibility for his job confidently.

5. Flexibility - Is open and adaptable.Looks at situations creatively andmoulds accordingly.

LEVEL – 3 – MIDDLE / SENIORMANAGEMENT

1. Networking and Concluding -Interacts, liaises and buildsrelationships with diversifiedcommunities both internal and externalto the organisation.

2. Personal Touch Shows genuineconcern and respect and is sensitive toemployees’ needs. Is committed tosupporting and protecting staff.

3. Development of Subordinates -Analyses ongoing feedback fromemployees and development and helps

team to realise its full potential throughappropriate involvements.

4. Improvement Orientation –Combination of knowledge and skillsand is proactive in ensuring theimplementation of new and better waysof achieving desired objectives. Ensuresthat learning is shared and that qualityis maintained and improved upon.

5. Integrity - completely internalises theorganizations focus of doing businessand acts as a role model inspiring othersand sets example.

6. Specialized Competence – Soundfundamental, technical and operationalissues. Updated on research orientedNew Product Development

7. Influencing & Persuading – Clearlycommunicates ideas and views acrossthe team. Establishes credibility, gainsacceptance and converts resistance toacceptance.

LEVEL – 4 – TOP MANAGEMENT / CEO /VP

1. Business Vision

Has a complete overview of theoperation and business area.Understands the specific operationalcomponents and diverse functionalresponsibilities and ensures theirsmooth integration with a long termvision

2. Work Process Orientation – Plans foreffective utilization of resources,optimizes the workflow and ensureseffective integration and alignment withother related processes. Sets goals andobjectives, monitors progress andresponds rapidly when required

3. Influencing - Is able to impact upon,gain the acceptance of, and effectbehavior changes in individuals, groupsand large audiences

4. People Management Seeks to improveand optimize man-managementprocesses and the workingenvironment.


5. Leadership by Example - Motivates,inspires, influences and pushes peopleto attain organizational and projectgoals. Leads by example and delegateseffectively

6. Organization DevelopmentOrientation - Initiates and supports acontinuous process of increasing theskill base and systems and processimprovement, effective recruiting skills,reward and development.

7. Reliability - Does whatever he/shebelieves to be right in spite of pressuresto the contrary.

GENERIC COMPETENCIESAPPLICABLE TO ALL LEVELS

1. Adaptability (Instances whereindividual had changed his/her behaviorto meet other’s expectations)

2. Communication (Confidence, Clarityand fluency in expression)

3. Customer Service Orientation(Understands Client Needs and Goesto reasonable lengths to upholdcommitments to customers)

4. Functional Knowledge (Partiallyunderstand, synthesizes and apply

technical information related to ownarea)

5. Planning & Execution (Has a basicunderstanding of project cycles, timeframes and sequencing issues)

6. Improvement Orientation (generatedinnovative idea for the benefit of theorganization)

7. Positive Attitude (Is reasonablyinvolved in seeing through the taskcompletion)

I am leaving Boss!Conversation between a

25 year old and 40 Head Retail– Sanjeev Nayyar

A 25-year-old buying & merchandising(B&M) professional called to invite me

for a bash. She had received an Offer fromAXS Retail, a soon to be launchedinternational retail chain. Inspite of a salaryhike of 100% she sounded a wee bit worriedwhen we spoke! After a two-hourconversation with Retail Head (RH)yesterday she was confused, should sheleave?

RH - Pia why do you want to leave. Areyou unhappy with?

� Your induction program.

� Your job does not allow you to leverageyour NIFT degree and prior experience.

� That you did not get a computer for sixdays after you joined.

� Your boss is neither supportive nor isadding Value to you.

� I.T. dept did not give you an email id forweeks.

� Your Salary.

Honestly Pia, everyone speaks highly of youand believes that you have a bright future.

Pia - Yes I did not like my induction, therewas chaos the day I walked into office.Neither had HR prepared a formal inductionprogram nor had they taken time from the B& M Head whom I was to meet. I wasdepressed at the end of day 1. Not having a

laptop added to the misery. Having said thatRH, I believe PZZ is a good place to work.Yet I am having some problems.

My boss does not support my work eitherintellectually or publicly. Sometimes I feelthat he sees me to be in competition withhim. He does not have time for me too. Thereis also this issue of my cell phone bills. Asper current policy we have to pay forpersonal calls. Do you expect me to spendtime checking the 800 odd calls that I makeand allocate cost? I would rather do somecreative work. Cannot a fixed sum be paidevery month?

In department meetings I am not allowed toexpress myself, fine might not be alwaysright but should be heard atleast. Since ourproducts are targeted at 25-30 age groupwould I not have a better perspective as theirpeer? Just because have only four yearswork experience am not given challengingassignments. In the last job my education,experience and intuition helped double salesin two years for twenty retail outlets of thewestern region. I believe am not realizingpotential. Lastly it is the money boss! 45kto 87k is a steep jump.

RH - Thanks for being so frank Pia. Trulyappreciate your feedback. Let me respondone by one. Cell phone policy is beingchanged from January 1. You get a fixedreimbursement of 1,500/ per month or actualbill amount whichever is lower. You are bang

Sanjeev Nayyar is the CEO of Surya Consulting, Mumbai. His email is [email protected]

on problems w.r.t. induction etc. We areintroducing sound HR processes and arecomplimenting that with competentprofessionals.

I am concerned with other points made byyou but tell me, have you not asked for aone to one dialogue with your boss. Afterall it is as important for the employee to takeinitiative as much it the employer'sresponsibility to encourage having a one toone dialogue. Have you told your Boss howyou see yourself in the current state, whatyou would like to be and got his feedbackon the same. Once he understands youraspirations am sure he would give youappropriate challenging assignments thatleverage your strengths and help you earna performance bonus.

Did you know that in the next two years wepropose to open 125 stores in India and theMiddle East? Ours is a performance drivenorganization, work speaks for oneself.

Honestly we cannot give you a 100% jumpbut what we can do is to give you a meatierjob profile and a performance bonus.Personally I would recommend that youspend a few years with us, make thelearning curve steeper, earn your stripesand thereby laying the foundations for abright future. After that you are free to joinAXS Retail or another at a much higherlevel/salary. You have to decide Pia - do youwant to be a long-term player - lambe raceka ghoda? Or a rolling stone.

�HHHHH

�HHHHH


Managing Attrition in Indian ITIndustry: Some Reflections

– Dr. A. Jagan Mohan Reddy

"Winning or losing a good recruitis like winning or losing a customer

, you have got to succeed"- Steve Ballmer, CEO, Microsoft

INTRODUCTION:

The Indian Information Technology (IT)industry, though relatively young, has madeIndia proud with its spectacular performancein recent times. This industry has grown ata frantic pace in the last decade, creatinghigh demand for software professionals.India's comparative advantage in softwareindustry development is primarily based onthe easy availability of trained and qualitymanpower at a relatively low cost. AlthoughIndia traditionally has had surplus of highlyqualified engineering and technicalmanpower at a relatively low cost, with therapid growth of the global IT industry overthe past decade, demand has outstrippedsupply for several years in a row.

The country's software services and BPOexports are projected to touch $60 billionby 2010. Further, as per the Nasscom -Mckinsey Report 2005 while the totalopportunity available to off shore centricplayers in IT and BPO space stands at about$300 billion only about $110 billion wouldactually be offshored by 2010. India has thepotential to capture over 50% of the $110billion pie by 2010 and innovation by theindustry could generate an additional $15-20 billion export revenues in 5-10 years.

What is the issue?

In the midst of enormous competitivevolatility, the human side of the business isbecoming critical for success. Customersare becoming more demanding, companiesbecoming more global, product life cyclesare shortening, competition is becomingtougher. In other words, almost every majortrend that exists strongly supports thecontention that people are the key tosuccess.

With growing shortfall of trained ITmanpower, a large number of countries andcompanies from the Western world areturning their sights towards Indian to bridge

Dr. A. Jagan Mohan Reddy is Associate Professor(HR),IPE, Hyderabad, E-Mail: [email protected]

the gap. A number of large multinational ITcompanies regularly recruit engineers andmanagerial manpower from India to meettheir worldwide requirements. Due to thehigh demand, companies have beencontinually developing novel and innovativemethods in managing the human resources.Despite treating software professionals likeassociates and par tners rather thanemployees, paying lucrative salaries,offering employee stock options, attractiveperks and a host of other benefits the ITcompanies continue to face problems ofhigh turnover, unrealistic employeeexpectations, stress generated by thetargets and deadline bound assignmentsand massive layoffs of employees.

According to the Nasscom-Mckinsey Report2005 at present, only 25% technicalgraduates and 10-15% general collegegraduates are suitable for employment inoffshore IT and BPO industry. However, themost serious concern facing the industry isthe increasing levels of attrition.

What is Attrition?

Attrition can be defined as "reduction in themember of employees through retirementresignation or death". In other words, it isthe rate of shrinkage in size or number butthe question may arise as to why it is anissue. Despite the growth in the overallemployee base, companies were strugglingto retain the existing employees. Analystsobserved that managing attrition in theindustry was important because skilledprofessionals formed the crux of theknowledge intensive industry.

The cost of recruitment and training is ahuge expenses for IT companies. Furtherattrition affects not only the quality of servicebut also leads to higher training anddevelopment expenditure. As a result ofattrition, a company incurs both direct andindirect costs that results in losses inproduction dollars and overall productionvolume as well as increased administrativecosts. Direct costs are actual money spenteach time when an employer has to attract,select and induct a replacement for anemployee who leaves the organization.Indirect costs are those expenditures

attributable to turnover affects on production- that is costs for incomplete or disruptedwork, loss of quality etc.

So, without any doubt talent attrition is acritical issue for this industry. There are twokinds of attrition. One which is faced by theindustry and the other faced by thecompany. Industry attrition is, for all practicalpurposes, very how and in fact as long asthe industry takes talent from outside it isgood. However, attrition rates for theindividual companies are on the rise. Nowlet's look into the trends in attrition.

The employee turnover in 1999-2000 inIndian IT industry was around 15-20% (8 to10% is ideal) with the cost of replacing anemployee running at over 120% of the salaryper employee. Revenues began falling inearly 2001 when the US economy suffereda massive blow owing to corporate scandalsand bursting of the internet bubble. Further,the September 11th tragedy dealt anotherblow to the US economy which was alreadyin recession and this had a long after effecton the revenues of the Indian IT industry.

By 2002 the slow down in the softwareindustry continued, with attrition rates goingdown to 12.5% in 2002 as against 14% in2001. However in July 2003 IT stocks pricesrecorded an all time high and most ITcompanies went on a hiring spree again,with top tier firms such as TCS, Infosys, andWipro hiring around 1000 employee eachin June 2003. So attrition rates also startedrising. For instance, Infosys recorded anattrition rate of 7.9% whereas Wipro andSatyam both recorded attrition rates of10.5% during 2003. By June, 2004 theattrition rate soared to 20% with the mostof the big Indian IT companies like Wiproand Infosys hiring people not only at theentry level but also at the middle and seniorlevels.

The attrition rates of 20 top IT companiesin India are given as under:

Top 20 IT Software & Service Exports fromIndia (Source: NASSCOM)

As we can see from the above for most ofthe companies the rate is higher than 10%and in the case of Genpact it is as high as


Sl. No. Company Rate Source

1 TCS 10.20% www.Infosys.com

2 Infosys 12.90% The Hindu Business line , Dt.18.10.2006

3 Wipro 17.50 % www.wipro.com

4 Satyam 16.68% www.satyams.com

5 HCL 12.00% Thehindubusinessline dt 20.04.06

6 Patni 9.60% www.patni.com

7 I-Flex 17.00% www.iflexsolutions.com

8 Tech Mahindra 17.00% Sebi.gov.in

9 Perot Systems (TSI Ltd) 15.00% Thehindubusinessline dt 21.06.06

10 L & T Infotech 9.00% expressitcomputeronline.com

11 Polaris 16.80% Infotech.indiatimes.com

12 Mastek 14.00% Ibef.com

13 Hexaware NA -

14 Mphasis 17.00% www.sify.com

15 Siemens Information NA -

16 Genpact 30.00% www.itwire.com

17 i-Gate 19.00% www.igate.com

18 Flextronics Software 20% www.hss.world.com

19 NIIT 18% www.niit.com

20 Convansys 18.59% www.ir.covansys.com

Note: Patni Computers and L & T Infotech, Polaris attritions are for 2005 and for othersit is 2006

30%. If we look at the top 5 we find whileTCS managed to keep it around 10% it is ashigh as 17.50 % in case of Wipro and 16.68%in Satyam. Keeping in view the contributionof service sector (especially IT) to GrossDomestic Product (> 50%) and the fact thatit is the knowledge workers who constituteIT industry it's all the more important thatthe problem of attrition is tackled suitably.

So with attrition rates still showing anincrease the industry is desperately in need

of effective retention strategies to control /combat attrition. Some of the importantsteps to be taken to manage / combatattrition are as under:

Steps to be taken to combat attritiona. Recruitment: Effective recruitment

strategies, that facilitate recruitment of theright workforce, can help organizations incombating employee attrition. Further,another step towards effective recruitmentis to build a positive brand image

b. Providing incentives, such as ESOPS,to motivate and retain employees.

c. Compensation and Rewards

d. Organization culture: Acknowledgingthe employee as the internal customerand aligning the organizationalstrategies with employee needs andwants.

e. Raising employees self esteem andrecognizing employee contribution canhelpstem attrition. For instance, Satyaminitiated special recognition and clubsfor its top performers.

f. Work life balance: A balance betweenwork and the personal goals and wantsof an employee contributes positively tothe retention of employees.

g. Learning and Growth: Another way toretain employers is to help them updatetheir knowledge from time to timethrough training programs.

Conclusion:

In the Indian context at one stage it wasthought that throwing money before peoplewas enough to keep them. But todaycompanies have realized that it is notenough and they need to go beyond that toretain people.

So the need of the hour is to expand culturaldiversity and develop better strategies formulti cultural workforce management.Companies would have to align their HRpractices to suit the requirements of theirglobal work force. This with increasedglobalization, the creation and retention of aglobal workforce poses new challenges forthe Indian IT industry and companies needto undertake the above listed effectiveretention strategies to manage attrition.

Thank you Smt. Vijaya Sarada Reddy garuSmt. Vijaya Sarada Reddy garu, Secretary, Nalanda Institute of Engineering & Technology and Director, Holy TrinityEducational Society has been kind enough to donate a coffee vending machine to National HRD Network, HyderabadChapter. There are many individuals in society who make money in tons, but there are only few kind and generoushearts like Smt. Vijaya Sarada Reddy garu. What is most impressive about Smt. Vijaya Sarada Reddy garu is not theamount of money donated but her immediate response during her very first visit to NHRD Network and herspontaneous positive reaction after seeing the collection of more than five thousand rarest of rare books in ourlibrary. National HRD Network places on record its sincere thanks and gratitude to Smt. Vijaya Srada Reddy garu.

NHRD symposium on Balance Score Card - Kolkata ChapterThe NHRD (Kolkata chapter) symposium held on February 26 at The Golden Park,Kolkata met with an overwhelming response. The turnout was unprecedented and thetopic of discourse "Implementing of Balance Scorecard in Indian Company- Issues &Challenges", extremely engaging and relevant to the HR fraternity. The evening wasflagged off by a brief introduction by Mr S Daspatnaik, President, NHRD, (KolkataChapter) and presentation of bouquets to the guests. The speakers for the sessionwere Arvind Mahajan, executive director, advisory services, and Arun Unni, seniorconsultant of KPMG. They took the audience through a presentation on Balance ScoreCard and its significance and implementation in today's business environment.K Nandakumar, Director ER of ITC Ltd added value to the event with his valuableinputs. The session was rather interactive in nature where the audience found amplescope to put forward questions to the speakers.

Debabrata Dash has joined ITC Limited(India Tobacco Division) as MANAGER(HR)-posted at the HO, Kolkata. Previously,he was with NALCO,corp HR asAsst.Manager(HR).

Debabrata Dash has joined ITC Limited

�HHHHH


Change Initiatives &Resistance Encountered

– Priyanka Priyadarshini

In the today's competitive world, all theorganizations are pushing themselves

towards reducing costs, utilizing thestrengths, minimizing the weaknesses,grabbing the opportunities, fighting with thethreats (internal & external) successfully andto improve the quality of product or serviceand above all to earn more profit and to bea leader in the market in someway or theother.

For all these, they are moving towardstraining and development. The organizationsnever hesitate to invest a huge sum ofmoney towards the betterment. They alwaysthink that investing a good amount for thisbetterment will bring a positive CHANGE inthe employees and ultimately in the wholeorganization. So, the whole factor focuseson bringing 'change'.

But this is also a fact that whenever humancommunities are focused to adjust to shiftingconditions, pain is ever present. Thatresistance is naturally found among all theemployees, whatever the cadre may be.

Now, the question arises, what makes theemployees resist that change!

1. Not having a clear vision in mindSometimes, the top managementpushes the employees to go for a newchange, without making it clear to themthat what could be the advantages ofthat on employees' personal as well ason professional aspects. The only thing,which comes out, is "u have to do it".The basic idea towards this is lacking,which creates a barrier withinemployees to go for that change. Ex:When the F&B employees were movingin the training room, they did not evenknow that what is going to happeninside, the only thing they knew is theremust be some lecture, and they will haveto bear it for some hours.

2. Don't want to move out from theircomfortable zone The employees arealways happy with the task they arealready performing. They mouldthemselves in that structure only, whichbecomes their comfortable zone. Thething, which comes in their mind, is

Ms. Priyanka Priyadarshini is Executive - HR with Clarks Amer,Jaipur and she can be cotacted on her E-Mail: [email protected]

5. Hesitation to interact with the trainerSometimes, the top management do notintroduces the trainer to the employees.The employee only knows that theperson is a trainer and we have to attendthe session. That's why they don't findthemselves comfortable enough toshare their problems, their experiences,and their views with the trainer. Ex: Theemployees were not aware that thetrainer himself is a very experiencedHotelier and was associated with a verygood brand. They were taking him justlike a good academician, and thus, wereassuming that he will not be able tounderstand the specific problems thatthey face.

6. Trainers are viewed as person of Topmanagement The employees considerthe trainer as a person who is presentonly to please the top management.They are of the mindset that whateverthey will share, the trainer will say allthat in front of the top management, andthen they can be in trouble. Thus, thechange initiatives do not work properlyas the trainer lacks the true face ofreality and always remains unaware ofthe current practices. Ex: When thetrainer was asking that why the F&BService people are not having enoughfacilities, then rather than telling the truestory that management was notsanctioning funds, a different falsepicture was presented.

7. Long-term goal is not clear Themiddle level management people are ofmindset that whatever funds areinvested on the trainers could beinvested somewhere else, which wouldbe more beneficial. The only problem isthe long-term goal is not clear to them.They do not understand the benefits offuture. Ex: When the trainer asked forthe separate learning center, then themiddle level people interfered inbetween, because according to them,there was no use of that investment,because the term of contract with thattrainer was near by to complete. Toomuch emphasis on cost without thinkingof the future, make the employees resist.

"when the things are already runningwell and fine, then why should wechange it?" Specially the employeeswho are working for long period, getsfixed so well with their current workingconditions, that they are scared thatwhether they would be able to adapt thenew one or not. Ex: All the operationalstaff were so comfortable in using thephrases, that they were not in a positionto adapt new phrases. Even, when thetelephone manners were taught tothem, they were of the mind set that'management thinks that we do notknow how to handle the phone, thenhow is this organization running for solong!'

3. Hurry to see the results The seniorpeople are always in a hurry to see theresults of the training program. They donot understand that every new ideaneeds some time to show its results. Thesenior people think that the new idea isworthless as the results are not veryclear. Ex: when the people of bell deskor reception or F&B Service are taughthow to receive guests or how to interactwith them, then this will not at once showits immediate result, but its effect canbe seen in the long run, when the hotelgets the guests complaints reduced.

4. The trainers changes every time It isa natural problem with the employees.The top management should alwaysmove for one specific trainer for aparticular field. Every time the trainer'schanges and the employees findthemselves moving like a pendulumfrom one trainer to the next. Thus, theystart resisting the new training becausethey believe that when the time willcome that they will be well versed withthe new methodology, the trainer willchange and again a new thing will come.Ex: One trainer came and taught aboutthe standard phrases, all the operationalstaff learnt that and star ted thatapplying, but after 6 months only, a newtrainer came and asked them to applythe new phrases. All the employeeswere confused that which is right andwhich is wrong.


8. The age factor It is very natural thatthe senior people develop withinthemselves a resistance that it is nottheir age to learn. They think that theyhave grown very old to learn. Theyassume that their learning phase is overand now it's the time for the youngstersto grasp new things. Ex: In our company,some participants of the developmentprograms were of the age group of 50-55 yrs. They were very passiveparticipants and when they were askedfor follow-ups, they started laughing,"What will u people do after training us?Now its time to retire, not to learn." Thistype of mentality generates a naturalresistance.

9. Not having confidence in theircompany Sometimes, the resistance isbecause of the sick mentality of theemployees about their own company.They think that whatever changeinitiatives the company will take, theposition will not be improved. Ex: After

training classes the employees werediscussing that "Yes, the classes aregood, but this company will not turn intoNo.1." The gossip always goes like this,but no one has a solid logic about his orher own statements. The only reason isthey think themselves small in front ofothers because of lack of confidence inthemselves.

10. Feel shy to initiate It also happens thatif a new person grasps something newafter the training sessions, they feel shyto implement that because not everyonestarts that together. So, it comes to hisor her mind that if one person will startit, then everyone is going to make funof him or her. Everyone is havingmentality of "after U". This createsresistance to implement the change.

Thus, it is can be concluded that the basicthing which creates resistance to go forchange initiatives are lack of vision for futureand lack of confidence in themselves andthe company. So, prior to arranging training

sessions for employees, it is necessary thatthe top management should alwaysconvince the employees regarding thepurpose of the change and necessity of itsimplementation. The employees should beable to find that how will that 'change'influence them, what will they get from thatpersonally as well as professionally. Onlythen they will find the sessions interestingand will actively participate in that. Moreover,rather than emphasizing on cadre, theemphasis should be on the individual. i.e.pre-screening of participants should bethere from each department. Just creatinggood number of participants never work, thething which matters is the ability to learn.

There should be regular interactive sessionsbetween top management and employees,so that the employees also know about thedreams of the company, the mission, andthe vision for future. Before bringing changeinitiatives into action, it is more important toprepare the employees for that, so that theycan carry those plans successfully.

Reference Employment:A Cost Control Tool

– Y. Kishore Kumar

Referral recruitment is nothing new. Butwhat's new is India Inc's willingness to

pay astronomical referral bonuses to theexisting employees. Many are banking onsuch a system to hire recquired talent.

Purpose:

To recruit high quality personnel in "hard tofill", mission critical, and high valuepositions.

Objective:

To provide incentives or recognition foremployees who refer qualified externalcandidates who are selected foremployment. The person you refer must listyou as their referral on their originalapplication for employment, You need tocontact human resources and give them thename of the person who will be applying,the person must be hired into a regular full-time position.

A referral award may be given to anemployee who helps to recruit new talent

by referring external candidates foremployment. The award may be granted inthe form of a lump sum cash payment afterorganization hires the candidate and he/sheremains in the position for 90 days. Cashawards are taxable income and are subjectto appropriate tax reporting and withholding.

At the Hyderabad-based Juniper Networks,the referral system accounted for 50% ofthe 290 employees hired this year."Being aproduct development company in nicheareas like IP platforms, finding the righttalent is key to their progress. Referral bonushelps encourage employees to bring like-minded people to the company. This, in turn,will improve retention rate," Besidesmonetary benefit, 'successful recruiters'within Juniper also hold a chance to win giftslike I-pods, and flat screen televisions At theVir tusa Hyderabad-based CompanyEmployees can win a holiday to any Asiancountry or a Maruti Swift every quarter, apartfrom cash incentives. The rewards alsoconsist of gizmos such as iPods and DVDs.While middle-level referrals at Virtusa can

Kishore Kumar is Asst. Professor, Alluri Institute Of Management Sciences, Warangal. He can be reached at: [email protected]

fetch RS 50,000, those referring a personwith 10 years of experience can earn RS75,000.According to David Raj, associateHR, Virtusa "It is cost effective for us to offerincentives to our employees as this systemis 25% cheaper compared to third-partyrecruitment. This year, 40% of ourrecruitment was done through referrals,against 25% last year,"

Companies have realised that they can bringdown the cost by 50% through this system.It is mostly the companies working in nicheareas or lesser-known brands that areoffering huge referral bonus as it is difficultfor them to find people. The story for the bigplayers, however, is not quite the same,large service oriented companies and bigbrands have not upped their incentivesconsiderably. Satyam, for example, offersabout Rs 25,000 for an employee referral inIndia and about $500-$750 for a referral inthe US. At Infosys, referral incentives rangefrom Rs 15,000 to Rs 50,000 depending onthe experience of the recruit.

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Women Empowerment

– K.N.Rekha & P.Nachimuthu

Empowerment is a journey not adestination

"To call women the weaker section is a libel;it is man's injustice to women. If by strengthis meant brute strength, then indeed iswoman less brute than man. If by strengthis meant moral power, then woman isimmeasurably superior to man. Has she notgreater intuition, is she not more self-sacrificing, has she not greater powers ofendurance, has she not greater courage?Without her, man could not be. If non-violence is the law of our being, the futureis with women."

-Mahatma Gandhi, in Young India, 30April 1930

WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

From pastoral society to contemporaryinformation and global society, the role ofwomen has changed drastically. The role ofa typical "Grihani"(house wife) who cateredto all the requirements of the householdsincluding rearing and upbringing of childrenin various sub roles of daughter, daughter-in-law, wife, mother, aunt, etc… has beenplayed quite efficiently. The continuity ofchanges in socio-economic and psycho-cultural aspects of human living hasinfluenced the role of women. In thebackground of gigantic transformation, thecore issue, which remains unanswered, isthat of women's rights and empowerment.

Empowerment is the widely discussed topicin the recent years after the issue of INDIA2020. But most of them don't understandwhat empowerment means. It has nothingto do with external or outside factors thatare to be imbibed in the person, to call himor her an empowered person. It has got todo with making one realize, and actualizeone's potentials and develop in anenvironment / culture of willingness to usethose potentials for personal development.

Though India is a patriarchical society, it hasa great respect and concern for women.These respect and gratitude for women aremanifested in the form of calling our countryas motherland. Also even the earth isrespected as equal to mother for its patience

Rekha is Academic Associate with ISB Hyderabad E-mail: [email protected] is faculty at Sona School of Management, Salem E-Mail: [email protected]

and the greatness of earth in carrying ourbody when one is alive and even after death.Women are naturally gifted with playingdiverse roles. But no one can replace therole of a mother. Only thing in empowermentof women is to make them realize their innerpotentials and let them come out of thechallenges and shackles of stereo-type/gender bias. This will make themempowered and thus an empowered nation.

Though they have to be empowered invarious fields like politics, legal, social,economic, first step towards that is self orpersonal empowerment.

PERSONAL EMPOWERMENT TOCOLLECTIVE EMPOWERMENT

"Individual salvation only brings in Universalsalvation"

For individual's psyche (mind) to develop,social interaction is needed and for a societyto develop, needs developed individualminds. Therefore, social and psychologicalare interrelated and interdependent.

Personal empowerment

Self empowerment has to take place beforeempowering others. This reminds me a storyof Shri Ramakrishna. A father brought hisson to Shri Ramakrishna asking him toadvice his son not to eat sweet. ShriRamakrishna asked him to come after aweek. When the father again took his son tohim after a week, Shri Ramakrishna advisedthe child not to eat more sweet. The fatherasked him why he didn't do that a week back.He replied, at that time I too was eating lotof sweet, I was not eligible to advice him.Now I stopped , so I can advice the child.Practice what you preach.

The process has to start with consciousnessraising.Women has to develop selfconfidence, self esteem. This make womengaining strength and motivation to theirempowerment. The women's thinking aboutoneself inferior about one's capacity has tobe changed. Then the process ofempowerment starts. The empowerment willnot be achieved by education or by providingemployment. The process has to work onboth an individual and collective level.

Collective Empowerment

Collective Empowerment is presumed asharder without personal or selfempowerment. It can be attained throughclose relationship with others. When thesocial interaction takes place the ideas,thoughts, experiences are shared wherebyothers will also get educated but notempowered. To get empowered requires thewillingness and interest of that person.

Education + willingness/ interest →→→→→Empowerment

"Education is one of the most importantmeans of empowering women with theknowledge, skills and self-confidencenecessary to par ticipate fully in thedevelopment process."-ICPD Programme ofAction, paragraph 4.2

The 1994 Cairo Consensus recognizededucation, especially for women, as a forcefor social and economic development.Universal completion of primary educationwas set as a 20-year goal, as wider accessto secondary and higher education amonggirls and women. Closing the gender gap ineducation by 2015 is also one of thebenchmarks for the Millenium DevelopmentGoals.

In order to fulfill the process, we need tomake them aware that, this education orones self awareness or self confidenceleads to their personal development whichin turn helps for their progress in the lifewhere by they will be motivated to do thingsto accomplish more and more. It is a lifelong process. The empowerment is ajourney not a destination.

Psychological Social


What to be done for that?

These are the four things where women hasto take firm steps in realizing one'spotentials

1. Identify the gender based quality /resources

2. Motivate to realize their genderuniqueness and feel positive

3. Exploit such resources

4. Removing hindrance and supporting

Conclusion

As mothers, they need to be careful not togive different sets of messages to their sonsand daughters. Most boys are encouragedto develop "achievement skills" that equipthem for work, whereas girls are helped to

develop their affiliative needs which helpthem to be dutiful daughter-in-laws, obedientwives and sacrificing mothers. From earlyyears, boys need to be made aware thathousehold and child rearing responsibilitiesneed to be equally shared between ahusband and wife and is not the soleresponsibility of a woman.The realempowerment is fountain of energy fromwithin, it manifests itself in social action andaims at social change. Empowerment hasto happen from within. Empowerment isfacilitating, encouraging women to articulatetheir needs, about which they are alreadyclear.

You are good,but we will not pay you!

– M. Shiv Kumar

I recently bumped into an old friend of mine,Rahul, who is working with a big Multi NationalCompany in India. He seemed rather upset,and was not quite himself. Upon questioninghe mentioned that he had received hisappraisal letter that day. He mentioned thathe had been promoted and had received asalary hike as well. I congratulated him andasked him why he was looking rather upset?He was initially hesitant and when I told him Imight be able to help him, in case it issomething to with his workplace, by virtue ofme being in employee relations.

What I heard really moved me. He told methat the salary hike that he received wasmeagre and he had expected a better hikepercentage. Being in HR for a few years, atthat moment I thought he was a whiner (likeI always meet in my profession). He wantedto speak to me in detail and I could not say‘no’. Rahul explained to me that he wasrated as an ‘Outstanding performer’ and waspromoted. He was also told that they werelooking at him taking on a larger role withthe promotion. When he went through thesalary hike details he was shattered.

Rahul explained he was given anapproximate salary hike percentage of 12.

Mr. M. Shiv Kumar, HR, OfficeTiger, Chennai, India. E-mail: [email protected]

When I stopped to explain, that it is a goodpercentage hike, he reasoned - If you wereto assume that for the rating I was given a10% so which means that for the promotionit was a mere 2%.

I explained to him that it does not work thatway, and there is a complex process whichdetermines the hike percentages which isdriven by the firm’s compensation model.

Rahul was not willing to buy that. He said -“So, the organization is telling me - you aregood and we are proud of you and hencewe will promote you, however, we will notpay you?”

I did not have anything to say at that pointin time. I told him to have a chat with hismanager on this and he could call me.

Rahul promptly called me the next day. Hetold me his boss told him - “ I know thepercentage hike is low per the companystandards, however, I cannot do anythingmuch. The budgets that we received fromthe management for salary hikes wereinsufficient to please everyone. You aretowards the high end of the salary banding.I cannot do anything much as all thedecisions were taken by the head of the

department. I know this is something thatyou do not care about, however, the factremains. I am sorry”

I was startled to hear this.

It was not Rahul’s fault that the budgets werenot sufficient? He did his best throughoutthe year to ensure that the quality of his workis the best. He spent hours in the office toensure that his work speaks for him. Thefirm acknowledges the fact that he is goodand has been a diligent worker and decidedto promote him as well. Is it his fault that heis towards the higher end of the salarybanding? If he was towards the higher endof the salary banding then why was he hiredinitially? The firm should have borne in mindthat after the annual appraisals he wouldbe looking at a salary hike and plannedaccordingly. Didn’t the firm work backwards,and calculate the budget which they wouldhave sent to the board for approvals? Or,did the HR of the firm take it for granted thatthey can speak there way out of this?

In my opinion whoever messed up Rahul paidfor it. To take a step forward - so did the firm,Rahul wants to quit the firm now.

Self awareness/Self confidence

Self development

Progress growth

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Guidelines ToMentoring In HR

– Anuradha Dhar

Imagine being a fresh, inexperiencedgraduate who has recently joined an MNC

.Who apart from his qualifications hasnothing to offer! Imagine his insecurity, feardue to lack of experience. At this crucialjuncture in your professional life anexperienced mentor can make a remarkabledifference to your Professional Quotient!

A mentor might use a variety of approaches,e.g., coaching, training, discussion,counseling, etc. to coach his mentee.

Mentoring is not a recent phenomenon, it’sbeing around from times of Mahabharta &Ramayana. Its objective is to coach, groomand advise finds relevance even today. Ourhistory is replete with instances wherebyteachers become a mentor, coach, friend andadvisor to their students. Chankaya is asfamous as his protégé Chandragupta Mauryawhom he groomed for the “Big Job”.

Mentoring is a role filled with responsibilityand duty. A mentor plays a crucial andcritical role in his/her protégés professionaldevelopment.

First Mentors

The word mentoring has originated inHomers Odyssey. The Greek legendOdysseus had a young sonTelemachus.When Odyssey went to fightthe Trojan War, he asked his trusted friendMentor to look after Telemachus for almost10 years. The word mentor has since cometo refer as a trusted teacher or counselor.

Business Mentors

The former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, LewPlatt, believes in the value of mentoring, in aletter addressing HP’s K-12 program, Plattsees “educating our children as both abusiness and a social imperative. After all,the young faces we see today are the facesof the workforce and customers of tomorrow.”He recommends getting personally involved- “Speak to a class. Be a mentor for a studentor teacher, either in person or by e-mail.”

So what does it take to be a businessMentor?

It is necessary to be interested in someoneelse welfare and growth .It is imperative fora mentor to take a keen interest in the career

Prof.Anuradha Dhar, lecturer, Atharva Institute of Management Studies.Mumbai. She can be reached at [email protected]

graph of a Mentee. Mentor is a keycontributor to the shaping of a mentee’sKnowledge, Skills and Attitude.

Who becomes a mentor? Why do theydo it?

The answers are as varied as the peopleinvolved. Some of us were lucky enough tohave had a mentor and want to repay that.Others just want to help out, be a positiveinfluence, or give something to theircommunity.

What ever your reason for being a mentor,you will find it a special experience. Nothingcan quite match the self-satisfaction you getfrom sharing your experience to help others.

Mentoring for HR

Some mentoring can occur naturally in theworkplace, but usually it needs some formalmanagement to ensure that ithappens.Mentoring benefits both the Staffand the mentors in enriching theircapabilities.

Guidelines for Mentors and ProspectiveMentors

1. The success of mentoring depends onthe quality of the working relationshipdeveloped between yourself and thenew member of staff. Your commitmentand enthusiasm will be vital to makingthe relationship a success.

2. You may find it helpful to familiariseyourself with the Organisations policiesand procedures concerning probationand promotion.

3. Mentoring is not a substitute for effectiveline management, and therefore youshould not be: the line manager orsupervisor

4. At your first meeting, clarify the level andnature of the advice and support that iswanted and that you feel able to provide.

This is in effect a meeting to decide howyou will work together, how regularly youboth might like to meet formally andinformally and so on.

5. Information, advice and guidance onOrganisational procedures andacceptable standards of work

6. guidance on departmental culture - ‘theway we do things here’

7. A sounding board for staff’s reflectionon experience

8. Encouragement to take up learningopportunities within and outside theOrganisation.

9. It is important to remember that as amentor you do not have to be an experton everything you are asked about orbe able to solve all the problems raised.

10. It is a good idea to keep a record ofyour meetings.

11.Give Constructive Critcism andFeedback

Experience suggests that the bestworking relationships are those wherethe mentor:

� Listens actively and attentively� Asks open and appropriate questions� Reflects back feelings and opinions he/

she observes� Makes suggestions without sounding

prescriptive and judgemental� Summarises the main points of

discussions� Gives constructive , positive and precise

feedback

Mentoring is a wonderful and richjourney of learning and Growth .Weshould always strive to be a effectivementor as one day a good mentee canbecome a good mentor !

On this wonderful Journey I wish yousuccess !

STAFF

Improves self-confidence

Provides advice and information

Offers professional development

Encourages reflection on practice

Provides personal support

MENTORS

Refreshes own view of work

Enhances job satisfaction

Encourages self-reflection

Develops professional relationships

Enhances peer recognition

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HR Managers' DilemmaA Case Study

– P. Soma Raju

The telephone was ringing at 6.00 a.m.and it was an early morning first call to

pick up. The moment telephone receiver waslifted, the HR Manager overheard theshouting of slogans. The Security man fromthe other side was telling in a loud voice tooffset the slogans "Sir the workmen struckwork and gathered at the factory gateshouting slogans". The HR manager wasperplexed on the sudden development. Henever expected and did not even have aniota of doubt or suspicion about theunimaginable and haywire development ofthe IR problem. Slowly realizing the need toknow the details and combat the situationbefore it fur ther deteriorates, the HRManager asked the Security man, "what isthe reason the workmen are talking aboutfor the sudden strike. The security man saidSir, the issuance of leave card". It is anotherrude shock to the HR Manager. Theworkmen struck work on this trivial issue.The HR Manager rushed to the factory totake stock of the situation and initiatedamage control measures.

A Professional company with Humanapproach

This is a real case and actual story. No frillsare added. A true account of events in thiscase will certainly place any HR managerin a dilemma. A company at Hyderabad,leader in their own business employs aboutthree hundred employees on permanentrolls and about another two hundred ascontractors workmen. The company paysdecent salaries with all statutory and manynon-statutory benefits to their employeesbesides good working environment. Aperson without any technical qualificationwas taken as a Trainee for two years and asper the policy of the company, traineeswould be considered for regular employmentdepending on the performance andvacancies. After two years satisfactorycompletion of training, his case was underconsideration for regular employment.

Sickness - the root cause of the problem

A bolt from the blue had fallen and dreamsof regular employment to the person were

P. Somaraju works for Government of Andhra Pradesh. He can be reached at [email protected].

dashed off by a sudden illness that wasfinally diagnosed as gullian barre syndrome.The lower limbs of the person werecompletely paralyzed and he was in a stateof immobility. The company with its humanapproach arranged treatment in a Super-Specialty hospital with an assurance to paythe bills. After one month of in-housetreatment, he was advised physiotherapy athome and fortnightly visits to the hospitalfor check up and treatment. The companypurchased the physiotherapy equipment forregular exercises at home and arranged carwith assistance to go for medical checkupand treatment at regular intervals as per theadvice of the doctors of the Super SpecialtyHospital. Finally the person recoveredhalfway after two years of treatment.However, the ESI doctor gave a fitnesscertificate.

Trade Unions' approach to the problem

The Trade unions in the company neverbothered even to visit the patient when hewas in the hospital. The proposal of HRManager to work extra on a Sunday tocontribute that extra days' wages for the helpand medical expenses of the person wasinitially turndown stating that he was only atrainee. It was finally agreed to after a lot ofpersuasion by the HR Manager . One daywages contributed by workmen with amatching contribution from the managementcomes to half of the total expenditure ofmore than rupees three lakhs incurred forthe treatment of the person. Themanagement was not under obligation andin fact, the person was not even a regularemployee. The human approach toemployees problems made themanagement to go far beyond the normalrules of management and rescued theperson from the shattered and battered stateof ill-health by paying the total expenses fortreatment.

Meanwhile Trade union elections were heldand the elected recognized union came intothe picture with a demand to take the personas workman. The management

is still in a dilemma, whether to take himwith all his ill-health and so called fitnesscertificate. A second opinion sought fromanother doctor about the fitness of theperson reveals that he is not fit. He is eventoday not able to walk properly. It ispreposterous to consider the demand of theunion that such a person is taken asworkman on the Shop floor. Conceding tothe demand of the union would certainlyendangers the life of the workman. Howeverthe management is considerate and kindenough to accommodate the person as aregular employee. It is not a question ofunions' demand or managements'acceptance ultimately it is the life of theperson at stake if he is considered for Shop-floor employment. The magnanimity of themanagement prevailed over the pettypolitics of the union and his case isconsidered for a white collar Job keepingphysical health of the person.

HR Managers dilemma

The HR Manager was initially not able tounderstand the demand of the union as towhy they were asking for workman statusto the person. As he was digging deep intothe issue, it is astonishing to note that theworkman has a voting right in the unionelections, whereas the staff cadreemployees do not have. There is a practicein the company to issue two different colorleave cards separately to the workmen andstaff. The person in question is given trainingin computer operations and asked to dostress free light job in the interests of hishealth and well being. When themanagement is about to give a leave card tohim that is meant for staff, the union made itan issue and resorted to strike without notice.

The strike in a company is agonizing andintriguing experience to any HR Manager.It is a million dollar question before everyprofessional HR Manager that what is theright approach to handle such a problem.Options are aplenty.

Responses from the HR fraternity aresolicited. �HHHHH


Understanding Non-RespondentPopulation in Employee Survey

– Dr. G. Pandu Naik

More and more organizations areembracing employee survey as tool for

organizational development. The findings inmost of these surveys are based on theanswers given by the respondents. Quiteoften the percentage of employeesresponding to such survey is low. In otherwords inferences are being drawn based onthe minority view without having to look atthe profiles of (majority employees) who donot respond to the survey.

Low response rate leads to several problemslike increasing the size of confidenceintervals, undermining the credibility ofsurvey results and biased sample ofrespondents. According to Newel et al(2004) the top three reasons for notcompleting surveys are; the belief thatsurveys have no impact, general apathytoward surveys, and survey length.Suggestions for increasing response ratesinclude providing feedback, increasing topmanagement involvement, shorteningsurvey length, and providing incentives.

The study of individuals who do notcomplete employee surveys appears to bea paradoxical task. It is really difficult togather substantive information about acollection of people who are not readilyidentifiable and quite elusive. Thusunderstanding the non- responding peoplein an organizational survey is a bigchallenge. This author had conducted anemployee survey in 2005, in a softwareorganization having employees spreadacross eight countries. The surveyquestionnaire was sent to all the members(census approach) and inspite of sending afollow up reminder only 25% of theemployees responded as on the date ofclosure of the survey. When the final findingswere presented to the top management ofthe organization, they were very keen toknow (1) why nearly 75% of the employeesdid not respond and (2) who were theseemployees? It was a difficult questionnevertheless it is not an un-researched areato be not able to answer.

Understanding the non-respondingpopulation

Four approaches for studying non

Dr. G.Pandu Naik, is Professor (OB & HR), PESIT Bangalore. He can be reached at [email protected]

responsive population can be typically usednamely the archival approach, the waveapproach, the follow-up approach and theintentions approach. Each approach has gotits own advantages and limitations. InArchival approach comparisons are madebetween respondents and the population onthe variables included in an archival dataset (Gannon, Northern & Carroll, 1971). Themajor limitation of this approach is that itcontains only demographic type ofinformation and not employee attitude orpersonality information.

In Follow-up approach a small segment ofnon-respondents are surveyed either byphone or mail. Individuals in this follow-upsample are compared with respondents inthe initial survey effor t. To generatemaximum response, special efforts like apersonal call from the researcher aretypically used to elicit returns (Sosdian &Sharp, 1980). The limitations in thisapproach are that the special follow-upeffor ts can lead to socially desirableresponding on the part of the respondents.Furthermore non response in the follow upsurvey is common so that itsrepresentativeness is questioned. In Waveapproach individuals who return theirsurveys prior to the survey deadline arecompared with individuals who return theirsurvey after the survey deadline (Ellis, Endo& Armer, 1970). But the limitation in thisapproach is late respondents cannot trulybe considered non respondents.

In the Intentions approach, individualsindicate an intention to complete or notcomplete an employee attitude survey fortheir employer. Regardless of their intention,participants then complete a survey for theresearcher about their organization.Therefore, the attitudes of participants whoindicated an unwillingness to complete theattitude survey for their employer arecompared with the attitudes of thoseindividuals who stated they would completesuch a survey for their organization(Rogelberg et.al, 2000). The limitation in thisapproach is that actual non respondents arenot studied.

Recently Rogelberg et.al (2003) introduced

a fifth approach named as populationprofiling. This involves creating an archivaldatabase on the organizational respondentsthat contains attitude, personalityinformation along with personal identifiersand intentions to participate in the survey.Researchers can determine who does notreturn the survey by tabulating the codenumbers after the survey.

Types of non-respondents

Researchers are of the view that there arebasically two types of non-respondentsnamely passive non respondents and activenon respondents (Mayer & Patt, 1966;Stinchcombe, Jones & Sheatsley, 1981;Brennan & Hoek, 1992). In case of passiverespondents the failure to respond is notbased on a conscious and overt decisionby the survey recipient. In fact the nonrespondent may have wanted to return thesurvey, but because of circumstances couldnot or did not. The active non respondentson the other hand are those who make aconscious decision to not respond to thesurvey as soon as the survey is received.They are the ones who express an overtunwillingness to participate and indeed donot participate in the survey when it isadministered.

Rogelberg et al (2000) found that 84% ofemployees were willing to complete a typicalemployee survey. Youssefnia (2000) hasfound that only 9% of the employees saidthat they would definitely not participate inthe survey and remaining 91% were willingto consider participation. In the studyconducted by Gliksman et al (1992) mostof the non respondents indicated that theyhad not returned the survey because theylost, had forgotten about it or that not gottenaround to completing it. According to Wallet al (1997) non-response to anorganizational survey is the function of staffturnover, sickness, absence, maternityleave, redeployment and internal addresserrors and postal loses.

It was found in a recent study this studythat active non respondent group isrelatively small that is around 15%. Activenon respondents were found to be lesssatisfied with the organization, and less


conscientious. There was also someevidence to suggest that active nonrespondents possessed greater intentionsto leave the organization and were lessagreeable (Rogelberg et.al, 2003). Thisclearly shows the lower satisfaction in theactive non response group. Passive non-respondents represent majority of the non-respondents (i.e. around 85%) and do notdiffer from respondents with regard tosatisfaction, agreeableness or intentions toleave the organization.

Early and Late respondentsThe notion that persons who respond earlyto a survey differ in their attitudes frompersons who answer later is widespread

among survey experts (e.g., Pearl & Fairley,1985, Green, 1991; Dalecki, 1993). Inemployee surveys, this notion seemsparticularly compelling, because employeeswho are not very committed to theorganization or who are highly dissatisfiedwith their job appear to have few reasons toparticipate at all in the survey. In any case,it seems plausible that extra efforts areneeded to motivate them to participate.Among such extra efforts are, in particular,repeated reminders and appeals to take partin the survey.

Newman (1962: 39) examined demographicdifferences among early and late

respondents and concluded that no generalrelationships between time-of-respondingand such variables existed: There were nosignificant differences between early andlate respondents' sex, age, income ordwelling place. Baur (1947-48) had cometo the similar conclusions on the basis of amail survey that asked some 6,000 veteranson their plans for further education andtraining. Early respondents, in particular, donot seem to be more satisfied with their jobs,nor do they have a stronger commitmenttoward their company. Nor is it true that earlyrespondents have a stronger tendencytowards extreme degrees of satisfaction ordissatisfaction (Borg & Tuten, 2003).

Buddhism & Modern Leadership– Dr. D Gopalakrishna, Dr. N Usha Devi

Abstract: In this article an attempt has beenmade to discuss leadership styles fromBuddhist point of view.

Introduction: Buddha is a great visionary– he is a practical teacher, visualized to bringpeace and harmony to the entire world.Buddha – means the “awakened one”. Hehas realized the truth - liberated throughrenunciation, of all defilements–the lobha–dosha –moha. Thus developed mettâ-(universal love), karunâ–compassion toserve the mankind. Buddha taught theDhamma “for the benefit, welfare andhappiness of many and out of compassionfor the world–Bahujana hitâya, sukkâya–Lokanukampâya”.

The Buddha is the perfect embodiment ofwisdom and compassion, virtue. Buddha iscalled the incomparable trainer ofindividuals. He is not only liberatedindividual, but also a liberator. The noblequalities of Buddha, for the welfare of thehumanity, has sacrificed his own luxuries,gone in search of truth– found out the truth–shared the Dhamma, (universal law)establishing a sangha–a democraticorganization.

In today’s management, the leadershipplays an important role in shaping/reshapingthe organization. Fur ther, focus onleadership theories shifted from onedimension of leadership to other. First it isfocused on the psychological characteristic,traits like honesty, integrity, self confidence,sharing, sacrificing, caring and ability tostructure social interactions are consideredas important qualities of a leader, to

Dr. D Gopalakrishna is Faculty, Canara Bank School of Management Studies, Bangalore E-Mail: [email protected]. N Usha Devi is Faculty, Malleswaram Ladies' Association, First Grade College For Women, Bangalore. E-Mail: [email protected]

Buddha

1. Buddha-great visionary, aimed atliberating mankind.

2 Treats root cause of all problems ofsuffering mankind.

3 Practiced what he preached. Taughtfrom own experience

4 Buddha guided people out ofcompassion, and selflessness.

5 Buddha believes in democratic, people-oriented leadership.

6 Ethically focused, value basedleadership at all levels.

7 Leadership believes in decentralizationflat structure cross-functional activities.

8 The leadership process is to dissolve ego.

9 Leadership for the welfare of many.

Modern Leadership

1 Leadership focused on achievingorganizational goals

2 Treats symptoms of the problems toachieve short term goals

3 Business leaders are more manipulative.Do not walk the talk. (But not all).

4 Self-interest guides modern leaders, toa great extent.

5 Modern leadership, to a large extent isautocratic and task oriented.

6 Values are self-centered limited toorganization.

7 To large extent believes in centralization,dignity of labor, long structure.

8 To a large extent egoistic.

9 For the welfare of few.

Comparison:

To sum up, Buddha is called yata vâdi–thathâ kâri, whatever he preached, he practiced outof compassion for the humanity. Buddha transformed many people through meditation. Heis a pathfinder, asked the people to be self-reliant and work out one’s own salvation.

influence the subordinates. Later it is shiftedto behavioral theories, which identifiedwhether the leader focuses only on task orwelfare of the employees. Another theory,(contingency leadership theory) says thatthe leadership is a complex social andinterpersonal process, the effectiveness ofthe leader depends upon the fit betweenpersonality, task, power, attitudes and

perception. In path goal theory the leadershows the path and gives direction to thesubordinates. All these theories contributestowards achieving short-term goals, whereas Buddha as a dynamic personalityfocused on broad vision of directing, guidingthe mankind towards liberation,understanding the conventional truth andultimate truth.

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Body Language:A Tool For Communication

Proximity

If we look at how close people stand to eachother when talking we notice some keycultural differences. Mainstream America,the UK and most of Northern Europe preferthe distance between people to be between18" - 3 feet whereas most Hispanic cultures(Southern Europe and Latin America) preferstanding closer, between 0" - 18". Culturesin the Middle East also prefer to standbetween 0" - 18" in order to feel comfortablewhen talking to others but most Asiansactually prefer 3 feet or more between people.

Eye contact

If we then look at the subject of eye contactwe get the following picture. Most Asiansprefer minimal eye contact whereasMainstream America, the UK and most ofNorthern Europe prefer moderate eyecontact. The Hispanic cultures on the otherhand, along with cultures in the Middle Eastprefer very direct eye contact to feelcomfortable.

TouchingSome cultures feel more comfortable whensome touching occur between the people inconversation. It is part of the rapport buildingprocess. Not surprisingly these are also theculture that like to stand closer to others, theHispanic and Middle Eastern cultures.

Lethal combinations

If we combine these three aspects of non-verbal language we get situations wherepeople from different cultures who areworking together can feel veryuncomfortable because of the intensity orlack of eye contact and the other partystanding too close for comfort and touchingor conversely too far away and avoiding orlooking uncomfortable with any touching.

Interpretation is everythingEven after some cross-cultural training thereis still a tendency to interpret other culture's

behaviour by the rules and norms of our ownculture. Our interpretation of them standingfurther away from us and not making mucheye contact may make us feel that the otherside is uninterested in us or our ideas/proposals. They may feel, on the other hand,that we are oppressive and rude for standingtoo close, touching and making too mucheye contact.

A complex business

If we can so easily get the wrong messageand feel very uncomfortable in the processwith just the body language imagine whatmay occur within the much more complexlevels of international businesscommunication.

Not enough time

You may argue that we don't have enoughtime in our Globalised business world to takethe time to learn how to communicate crossculturally well. The facts would stronglysuggest that you cannot afford not too.

Self first - then other

We need to manage ourselves carefully andwatch for signs that we are uncomfortableor uneasy with anything that is happeningor being said (or not said). Instead ofinterpreting what is occurring by our ownculture's rules and norms we need to checkon the other culture. We need to withholdjudgment. This requires us to be able totolerate sometimes high levels of ambiguity- often in important business situations suchas key client meetings or merger talks ornegotiations.

Check out your feeling and assumptions

It is preferable to delay your reactions,feelings and assumptions until you areREALLY sure that they are appropriate.Check your understanding with othercolleagues, both within your team or groupand in the wider organisation around you.Tap into the 'cultural capital' that lies with

– Sambit Kumar Mishra

Prof Sambit Kumar Mishra is Visiting Faculty, KTPAJ Viswavidyalaya, Raipur. E-mail: [email protected]

your organisation. If you have a contactwithin the other culture's organisation withwhom you are able to check yourunderstanding in confidence then do so butremember not to put them in a difficultposition.

Whose rules apply?

We need to focus on understanding theirrules (not conceding to them, justunderstanding), so when we're discussingmatters with international counterparts wefocus on the process - and not only on the'product' of communication.

Getting the other culture to help youunderstand the behaviour

Rather than asking "Why do you (the otherculture) do such and such?" it is preferableand more productive to use an indirectapproach and just recount yourobservations to your counterpart such as "Inoticed that when I asked this particularquestion in the video-conference meetingyesterday so and so did this or said that".This was very interesting or unexpected.".Then allow your counterpart to respond intheir own time. They may not respondimmediately. Rather they may come backto you after checking things or preparing aclear and structured response. Patience isvital at this point of the process.

The 80 - 20 rule

When we get the feeling that normallycomes in our culture that someone is being'difficult' it is worthwhile to remember the80/20 rule: 80% of misinterpretations andbreakdowns are owing to inefficientcommunication; only 20% of the time or lessis it likely that your counterpart is beingdifficult. As Stephen Covey says in his book'7 Habits of Highly Effective People' "Seekfirst to understand before being understood."I can think of no better way of putting thekey approach to successful internationalcommunication.

3rd Issue of NHRD JournalThe theme of 3rd Issue is “Attracting and Retaining Talent” and articles from the following persons are likely to be publishesd :

Prof S N kalra, Will Parson USA, Sanjeev Sharma, William Halal(Washington Univ.), Keith Goodall & Willem Burgers ,Ann Coombs.”AmesGross and Shawna Lepage, Mercer, Jyothi Grover,Chella Ganesh, Dr.S Chandrasekhar, Dr.Niti Singh (Gallup), Sanjay Anandram,NS Rajan(E&Y),William J Rothwell, David N(Alcatel), M Lakhmanan(EDS), B Srinivasan, YL N Pandit, Anil Sachdev, Wokhardt, Venkatesh (UNFPO), Cerebrus,R Suresh (Statonchase). Individual Life Members and Perminent Institutional Members will get a free copy for the time being. Others can sendRs.100/- per copy by DD in favour of National HRD Network payble at Hyderbad. Advertisement tariff for the NHRD Journal is on page 29

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Beyond Politics to People

– R K Shankar

Organization Politics is inevitable and isa necessary evil. The role of Human

Resources in dealing such crucial issues ispivotal. The HR Manager has to appreciatehis/her role well –though s/he should neitherplay nor create politics but resolve mattersamicably keeping in view the organizationalinterests and without any prejudice. Biggerthe organization greater the consequences& repercussions because of variousconflicts of interests and therefore the HRManager has to act as a facilitator inreaching consensus.

Reason for conflicts: - Internal politics inthe working world arises because of theprevalence of the following seven toxins inexcess:-

� Complaints � Criticism� Gossips � Backbiting� Jealousy � Interference� Ego clashes

All the above are indicators of the absenceof openness & transparency which wouldresult in unhealthy atmosphere. One has tolearn-to admire but not envy, to follow butnot imitate, to praise but not flatter, to leadbut not force , to manoeuvre but not to bemanipulative so as to avoid any negativevibration in the working environment.

How to manage the workplace toxins?:

� Complaint is nothing but an expressionof a grievance and in shor t, anaccusation. Why a person makes acomplaint-because of mental or physicaldisturbance caused by others. It is quitepossible sometimes that the perceptionof the person who makes the complaintmay be incorrect as well. In all casesHR Manager plays an important role inresolving the issue. S/he should give apatient hearing of both sides initially onone to one basis on receiving a verbal/written complaint , afterwards do thenecessary counseling, try to understandtheir viewpoints separately and later oncollectively call them to explain eachother’s position. Finally, HR Manager hasto suggest the best possible solution toremove all misgivings, to protect theinterest of the aggrieved party and toresolve the matter once for all.

� Criticism means finding faults, pointingout, analyzing and evaluating the merits& demerits of facts. The HR Head hasto find out the objective of the person/Division, who makes the criticism aboutthe other. If the aim is cynical & only tofind faults and not to find facts then it isdetrimental to the organization andhence to be weeded out at the firstinstance so as to avoid any ill-effects. Onthe other hand if the aim is to highlightcertain facts then the approach of theHR Head should be positive and toencourage all constructive suggestionsto make all possible improvements.

� Gossips… Indulge in idle andmischievous talks (by people whocannot find anything better to do),usually about the affairs and personallife of others which are purely nonproductive. The main aim is not to provea point but to disprove others, generallyto degrade & belittle others which arealways unnecessary and to be nippedat the bud through HR interventions soas not to pollute the surroundings andto ensure exemplary work culture.

� Backbiting…Making a verbal attack onsomeone behind their backs when theyare not around to defend themselves.This reflects only the person’s lack ofcourage in facing the concerned personsdirectly. It is similar to gossip, but moremalicious and with more evil intent. Itgenerally indicates a personal vendetta,a private ware-fare or feud which isdirected toward a particular person orpersons. Since the motive is ulterior theHR interventions on such issues iscrucial so that ii would not antagonizethe organization’s team-spirit.

� Jealousy…Resentfulness and hostileenvy toward someone because of theiradvantages and good for tune.Sometimes healthy disregard is fine butin most cases the concerned personshave grudging respect & total mistrustwith each other which affects the day today affairs of the organization. The HRHead has to bring this to their notice soas to emphasize the importance of teamwork.

MR R K Shankar is President, Apex Consultants based at New Delhi. E-Mail: [email protected]

� Interference is to obstruct the process,meddle and intervene in other areas ofoperations to show their importance andsuperiority which will impede & hinderprogress and therefore to be discouragedby framing suitable HR Policies to drawthe bottom-line viz:lakshman-rekha. Wemust remember, one can give his/herideas only when it is sought after andnot otherwise, however well intentionedit may be.

� Ego clashes is the reflection of thepersonality tussle and most of the timesthe conflicts arise because theconcerned individuals are self-centeredand tend to take things too personallyrather than handling the sameprofessionally. Such persons are moreconcerned about their own position inthe organization than about theorganization they serve. We mustremember no one in the organization isbigger than the organization regardlessof his/her position in the organization.Such persons may hinder even inimplementing development orientedprojects just to show their importanceand power. They may raise certain trivialobjections just for the sake of objecting.They must realize, no one in theorganization is indispensable and maybe spared in pursuit of achieving theorganizational goals. After all, businessis always different from businessmanand this has to be borne in mind in theright perspective.

Difficulty in saying ‘Yes’ or ‘No’:- Moreoften than not people accept or rejectproposals not on the basis of its merits buton their personal liking/disliking of thepersons from whom they receive suchproposals. Proposals need to be consideredpurely on its merits regardless of thepersons who have made the same.Sometimes we have difficulty in saying “NO”to certain persons just because we do notwant to displease them because of their age,experience & position. Similarly, we haveproblems in saying ”Yes” as well, whensomeone reposes confidence in us & in ourpotentials thereby gives additionalresponsibility. We shy away from taking theresponsibilities considering the same, as


additional burden & threats rather thanchallenges & opportunities and bluntlyrefuse to accede to their proposal. Ideallyspeaking, balancing act would be to extendissue based support rather than making thesame too much personalized. Saying ‘yesor No’ should have valid reasons and to besupported by logics. ‘This would not onlygive immense satisfaction to all but alsoprovide fruitful results & ensure win-winsituation.

The Role of Human Resources:- The HRHead has to understand and differentiatethe above toxins , its implications andintricacies well. S/he must realize that mostof them are related to attitudinal problemsof people and hence to be dealt judiciouslyby finding ways and means to provideappropriate solutions so as to safeguard theinterests of the people in general and theorganization in particular. S/he should know,how to make use of Kipling’s 5 Ws-What,

When, Who, Where & Why -to divulge andto Whom & How, so as to ensure effectiveresults to the organization. He should notonly act as a conduit & an ablecommunicator but also be a good listener.We must bear in mind, ability to listen ismuch more important & difficult than abilityto communicate. Once HR Head has his/her role clarity well, s/he can act as a trueenabler for a winning organization by settingaside all petty politics.

'International Organization'Book Summary

– Dr. Juin Choudhury

This book International Organization:Theories and Institutions, authored by

J.Samuel Barkin is about internationalorganizational theory & also talks about theuse of this theory to understand internationalrelations. Its goal is to review IO theory, andparticular IOs Illustratively, to suggest waysin which the theories discussed can helpus to understand the role of Internationalorganization's in international policies. Thisbook also show people who are related toIOs what are the analytic tools available tothem to understand what IOs are designedto do , how they work, what effects theyhave,and how to design then better.

The book tried to fill gap on IOs & IOs theory,a gap between introductory textbooks andprimary sources of theory. This book isdesigned to build a bridge among theseother categories of readings.

This book talks about sovereignty andglobalization, power and interdependence,regimes and institutions, efficiency andideas, the united nations & its system,collective security, human rights andhumanitarian aid, money, trade andmultilateralism, development, the technicaldetail and the fuzzy borders of inter-governmentalism.

Initially this book focusing on thesovereignty/globalization distinction. Heresovereignty and globalization is the only onethat focuses broadly on the effects of IOson governance patterns. It talks about power& interdependence, there are two primarysources of independent power for IOs i.emoral authority and information.

This book has also thrown light oninternational regimes , the rationalist andreflectivist approaches to the study of

international regimes study different kindsof regime effects.

The rationalist approach is best for studyingissue-specific cooperation among states.

It is useful for designing regimes that makesuch cooperation work efficiently.

The reflectivist approach study internationalsystem & also international organization,works broadly.

The UN system is involved in the wholerange of issue-areas in internationalpolicies.

The second half of the this book focus onthe role of specific internationalorganizations in these issue-areas.

The main security mechanism of apolygonal world is the system of collectivesecurity.

This is the platform where all participantstates agree to reject the use of force in thesettlement of some disputes & alsocollectively work against any states thatchooses to use force.

In international political economy IO is mostactive & most controversial issue. Threemost important organization in this area areWTO, IMF and World Bank

The WTO is very recent IO.It integrate theGeneral Agreement on Tariffs andTrade.(GATT). GATT is originally part ofInternational Trade Organization .

The main function of the WTO is to motivateand supervise negotiations that reducegeneral tariff levels, bring new kinds ofservices into the rules and should observehow individual countries are applying thoserules.

This also talks about IMF & World Bank,the IMF has been design to assist and tomaintain of macroeconomic stability andfixed exchange rate system, by lendingmoney to help those countries who arefacing difficulties.

World Bank is one of the biggest lendinginstitution. Its job is to lend money todevelopment projects in undevelopedcountries.World Bank is in many ways, asister institution to IMF. These twoinstitutions are referred to as theinternational financial institutes or IFIs.

This book also thrown light on Universalpostal union(UPU),the International CivilAviation Organization (ICAO), and the WorldHealth Organization (WHO).

UPU many ways a prototypical IO . itsspecially designed to increase transparencyand reduce transaction costs in internationalpostal delivery, goals shared by all of itsmembers, and generally does not addresspolitically contentious issues.

The ICAO is the same sort of transparencyto the business of international civil that theUPU provides to international mail delivery.

The WHO the UN specialized agency,function of the WHO is to health planning,coordination to functional assistance in theprovision of health services in developingcountries.

Finally this book talks about that is there apattern to Hybrid organizations? It can beseen that there are various kinds of Hybrids: like IOs & ILO is a hybrid: both states &national labor unions can be members.

Furthermore, as new hybrids are createdexisting hybrids are sometimes dehybridizedand made into traditional IOs.

Dr. Juin Choudhury, Faculty member(HR), ICFAI Business School-Kolkata, E-Mail: [email protected]

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Retaining Corporate HR

– S. Prabhakar

INTRODUCTION

The market today has become an opencompetitive market where each businessfirm has to think globally and act globally tosurvive for a longer period of time. With thissituation prevailing, Indian Corporate haveto formulate HR strategies in align with thebusiness strategies as they form the coreof any business. The more the firm practicessynergies with changing business strategiesthe more it will create social networks withinthe organization which will probablynecessitate the expansion of the BusinessHeads' role from administrative experts tostrategic partners, change agents andemployee champions. Therefore, Indiancompanies have to follow innovativestrategies and practices to compete in therace for success.

The more the organizations followprofessionalized and innovative HRpractices (recruitment, selection, careerdevelopment, maintenance of HR, etc.), themore is the development of a poo1 ofknowledge workforce and the more is thecreation of leaders for tomorrow - within theorganization. The more organizationspractice proactive performancemanagement systems, the relatively easierit is to build, retrain and redeploy talents.This article reveals the HR strategies to beadopted by Indian Corporate to make themglobally competitive and employees asStrategic Business Partners.

HR CHALLENGES FOR THE INDIANCORPORATE

The following are the HR challenges thathave to be faced by the Indian Corporate inthe light of the liberalized era and opencompetition from foreign multinationals:

� Decreasing number of committedemployees

� Finding the right people� Retention of employees.� Competitive compensation and benefits� Recruiting new talents / trades

becoming more difficult

Prof. S Prabhakar is Asst Professor - HR, Karpagam College of Engineering, Coimbatore. E- Mail: [email protected]

� Knowledge transfer from senior to neweremployees

� Problems in aligning HR strategies withthe business strategies

� Developing a HR infrastructure� Shaping and managing future applicant

pool� Transforming survey data into action

plans� Aligning educational curriculum to meet

industrial needs� Managing HR Cost and Accounting� Recruiting for critical positions� Managing retirement problems

HR STRATEGIES TO BE FOLLOWED BYINDIAN CORPORATE TO OVERCOMETHE CHALLENGES THEY FACE

� Organization should focus on talentretention more than talent acquisition byusing mechanisms to put "right people"with the "right experience' at the "rightplace" and at the "right time".

� Companies should create a competitivework environment which providesgrowth and challenging opportunities forthe employees

� Career plans/path of the Organizationshould align with individual goals whichwill help in achieving the organizationalgoals and this can be done by balancingthe expectations of the employees.

� Employees should be encouraged to pickup diverse skill sets and clearly makethem understand that organizations seekand promote people who have acquiredadditional expertise in various fields.

� The organizations should promote aperformance driven culture with adifferential reward structure.

� Organizations need to have a strongperformance ethic and a commonperformance theme around whicheveryone should rally.

� Design and utilize simple, transparentand fair appraisal system facilitating ameaningful dialogue between thesuperiors and the subordinates andbetween performance and rewards.

� Succession planning, competencymapping, training and grooming mustbe provided keeping in mind thattomorrow's world would be morecomplex than ever before

� Forum for sharing ideas, economies ofscale and recognizing cost efficienciesfor human restructuring should be thebasic ideology of an Organization.

� Keeping labor turnover at minimum levelby developing practices to meet theneeds of the employees will help inbuilding Organizational image.

REALITIES IN RETAINIG HR

The focus is back on the job and almost65% of the CEO's and heads of HR functionhave ranked providing job challenges as oneof the top two strategies for retention ofemployees as well as for creating a highperformance, result-oriented organization.

A display of strong business ethics by theorganization and complete transparencyand honesty in HR policies is a majorcontributor towards retention of highperformance employees. Over 52% of thecompanies surveyed ranked this as one oftheir two business strategies to motivate andretain their employees. Almost 45% of theorganizations did not feel that an 'excellentcompensation' is a requisite for employeeretention. 80% of the organizations felt thatemployees should be additionally givenmonitory rewards by linking it to theirperformance on the job, while 60% felt thatthe Organization must focus on giving socialrespect and recognition in addition to thecompensation or monitory rewards. Overallabout 24% of the respondents treated it asone of their top two retention strategies. Thefocus on clarity of job responsibilities, keyresulting area and career path wasmaximum in FMCG (41 %) followed by themanufacturing sector (15%).

THE TOP FIVE STRATEGIES

From among the HR building strategies, thefollowing have been earmarked as the topfive ones by most of the successfulorganisations.


1. Provide Job Challenges.2. Provide an open environment and

culture.3. Give a competitive compensation.4. Clarity of job responsibilities and career

paths.5. Continuous training and skill

upgradation.

RETENTION PROCESS

The process begins from the recruitmentstage and continuous thereafter. They needto communicate to the candidates not onlythe role and expectations of themanagement but also the cultural values.The focus is on systematically

communicating and keeping in touch withemployees and encouraging innovation whileresponding to the opportunities to upgradetheir skills. It is a reality that most effectiveretention strategies are almost cost free.

ISSUES IN EMPLOYEE RETENTION

� Bad match between the employees'skills and the job.

� Lack of opportunity for advancement orgrowth.

� Inadequate supervision and training.� Unequal or substandard pay structure� Dissatisfaction due to superior-

subordinate ego clash.

� Inadequate and uncustomized benefits.

When these issues are attended to by theorganization professionally, retention ofemployees can be materialized which aremore important to be globally competitive

CONCLUSION

Hence, it is obvious for the Indian Corporateto be globally competitive, it is better toretain the existing talent than to hirecontinuously the dearth of talent process.Thus, the focus has slowly shifted fromnumbers' to 'quality' and from 'recruitment'to 'retention', from 'training' to 'developing'and from 'guiding to 'challenging'.

Hyderabad Chapter of National HRD network announces the Executive Committee for the Next Two Years.

National HRD Network is a premier professional HRD Body of India with more than 30 Chapters spread across thelength and breadth of the country with a strength of around 7,000 members. It is now recognized internationally as oneof the leading organizations for learning through listening, linking and networking. It has collaborations with foreignUniversities like Michigan, University of South Australia, Monster.com India and with well known National Instituteslike XLRI, CII, Globarena and MDI

Hyderabad Chapter of National HRD Network which is number one in terms of financial strength and secondlargest in terms of membership has announced its Executive Committee for the next two years commencing from1st April, 2007 to 3st March, 2009. The committee has been very carefully chosen to include all the sectors of the Old aswell as New Economy and will consist of the following.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

1. Shri M Gopalakrishna, IAS (Retd) – President

2. Shri Y Satyanarayana, Dy Commissioner CommercialTaxes – Vice President

3. Shri B Krishna Murthy Naidu, Regional P FCommissioner (Retd) – Vice President

4. Dr. R Rajaiah, Director, SAVE – Vice President

5. Mr. Ajay Chandra, Dy General Manager – HR,Goldstone Technologies – Secretary

6. Dr. K Narendranath, Professor, Osmania University –Joint Secreatry

7. Prof. Naseeruddin Ahmed, Lecturer, Navabharat P GCollege – Joint Secretary

8. Prof. Sreelatha, Faculty, St Francis P G College – JointSecreatry

9. Mr. N V Jagannadhacharyulu, Branch Head, Bank ofBahrain & Kuwait – Treasurer

COOPTED MEMBERS

1. Mr. Dhruvkant B Shenoy, Country Manager – MiddleEast, Moster.Com India

2. Brig. Raj Kumar, Dean, College of DefenceManagement

3. Mr. T Muralidharan, M D, C&K Management Ltd

4. Mr. S Hanumantha Rao, Director – Personnel, ECIL

5. Prof M Firadousi, Professor, A S C I

6. J Ravikanth Reddy, Vice President – HR, GMR Group

7. Col. V R K Prasad, Dean, ICFAI School of HRD

8. Smt. Vedula Venkata Ramani, Faculty, ICFAIUniversity

9. Mr. M Ramakrishna, M D, ZCS Consulting Ltd.

10. Mr. K Panduranga Rao, Group Head – HR, IVRCLInfrastructure

11. Mr. B S V S Ramachander, General Manager – ProductMarketing, Globarena

12. Mr. I Gopinath, Zonal Manager, India Cements Ltd

13. Mr. Shiva Rao, Vice President – Marketing, Elico

14. Capt. C K Veeresh, V P – Business Operations,Computer Associates

15. Mr. C. Krishna Kishore, V P & Head – HR, I SpaceTechnologies

16. Mr. P Ashok Kumar Reddy, Dy General Manager,Neuland Laboratories

17. Smt. V Geeta Goti, Senior Manager – HR, Virtusa India

18. Mr. M Srinivasachary, Administrative Officer –Personnel, APMDC

19. Mr. V Ramachandran, Branch Manager,Higginbothams

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A Novel ApproachTo Knowledge Management

– Suja Boobalan

Abstract

Knowledge management is the hottestsubject of the day. The question is: what isthis activity called knowledge management,and why is it so important to each one of us?This article aims to highlight the importanceof KM and to develop a distributed knowledgemodel for knowledge management, whichwould support the collaborative developmentand implementation of enterprise systems.This objective can be obtained byimplementing the tasks like modeling andcharacterization of the collaborativedevelopment and implementation process,identification, analysis and modeling ofinvolved knowledge, and development of adistributed knowledge model for knowledgemanagement related to the collaborativedevelopment and implementation ofenterprise systems.

Introduction

Knowledge management - KM is theprocess to make the best use of theknowledge that is available to anorganization, creating new knowledge,increasing awareness and understanding inthe process. Knowledge Management canalso be defined as: Capturing, organizing,and storing knowledge and experiences ofindividual workers and groups within anorganization and making this informationavailable to others in the organization.

Need for knowledge management

KM is important for any organization, as themarket place is increasingly competitive.Corporations are undergoing a restructuringof their business process, with the reductionin the size of work force. Many innovativecompanies have long appreciated the valuefor knowledge to enhance their products andcustomer service. Reasons for the level ofinterest in KM is

� Globalization and competition� Sharing of best practices� Successful innovation of models� Restructuring and downsizing.

Challenges to knowledge management

It is most radical form to realize the customeror task-oriented integration of informationand knowledge within a temporal and fluid

S. Suja, Faculty, Sona School Of Management, Salem-636005. E.Mail: [email protected]

configuration, so the major challenges toknowledge management is

� To identify, open up and gatherinformation.

� To organize these sources and makethem available to the members.

� To support knowledge acquisition for thedevelopment.

� Allowing technology to dictateknowledge management.

� Business & technology strategy� Organizational control� Managerial command and control and

economic returns� Too focused on detailed process.

Why knowledge management fails

Executives are more conscious about betterjustification for investments in knowledgemanagement and expect suitable businessperformance outcomes. They even realizethat the next generation knowledgemanagement, would be based on ongoinginnovation of business value propositionsand extend inter enterprise value network.

There is a big question of how to invest inknowledge management that wouldcontribute to the adaptability of businessunprecedented and rapid change.

Execution of knowledge management

Organization, that observes rapid andradical change must adopt continuousbusiness model innovation to deliver novel,sustainable and competitively suitablecustomer value proposition. The designmust ensure that the performance outcomeoccur in alignment with changing dynamicsof the business environment. It should alsoensure the adaptation and innovation ofbusiness performance outcomes. Thedesign must be in such a manner thatprovides due consideration in moderatingand intervening behavioral and socialvariables such as motivation, creativity,commitment, attention and innovation. Thiswould help to bridge the gap between thedata, information and technology.

(Source: Yogesh Malhotra, enablers andconstraints of knowledge management inhuman enterprise)

This model of knowledge managementguided by pre-specification and pre-determination of business logic with primaryemphasis on optimizing the user of existingknowledge [reified in best practices,computational logic, data warehouses, etc.]has primarily focused on knowledge re-useover creation of new knowledge. This modelis based upon managerial focus on seeking

consensus and compliance to minimizevariance so that pre-specified businessperformance outcomes are achieved. In thismodel of knowledge management,conformance to pre-specified and pre-determined business logic is expected toensure pre-specified and pre-determinedbusiness performance outcomes areachieved.

DataInformation

Rules

Best Practices,Rules, Procedures

Pre-DeterminedMeaning(s_

Pre-DefinedAction(s)

Pre-SpecifiedOutcomes

Human and Machine Intelligence Environment

Organizational

Pre-Programmed and Controlled Stable andPredictable

MODEL 1

Figure 1. Knowledge Management for Routine and Structured InformationProcessing

Computational


(Source: Yogesh Malhotra, enablers andconstraints of knowledge management inhuman enterprise)

Model 2 provides, a better representationof reality as it takes into consideration twokey characteristics: what is done with data,

information, and best practices depends uponsubjective interpretation ("construction") ofindividuals and groups that transform theseinputs into actions and performance; and,performance outcomes need to becontinuously re-assessed to ensure that theyindeed represent best business performancefor the enterprise with respect to changingmarket conditions, consumer preferences,competitive offerings, and, changing businessmodels, and, industry structures.

Conclusion

To manage the challenge successfully,knowledge management must be in a formto adopt a holistic approach to design theorganizational system. This would enable tohave a balance of integration and flexibility.These models would then be of uniqueinterest and this may even assist in creatinginnovative business models.

Ethics in InternetActivities

– Mr. G. Rathnakar & Mr. K. Panindra

The developments of an electroniccommunication policy will enableorganizations to avoid conflicts andutilize opportunities for growth intocyberspace. Establishment of specificand uniform rules throughout the worldwill go a long way in controlling onlinebehavior and will become easy to dealwith ethical as well as legal issues.

Prelude:

With the emergence of globalization and theWorld Wide Web, the focus shifted largelyto doing business through the Internet. Anew term was coined known as "ECommerce'' through which trade andcommerce began to be flourished rapidlyWebsites sprung up and credit cards, whichwere relatively a privilege for the upperclasses of society, started becoming popularin the middle classes also. According to asurvey conducted by US market researchfirms in 2003. Product worth US 76 billionswas sold online in the US alone in 2002 andthe same reached US 96 billions in 2003.Similar trends have been observed in otherpart of the world. E-Businesses on inter offera wide range of product.

G. Rathnakar, Faculty,KITS, Warangal, he can be reach at [email protected]. Panindra, Lecturer, K.I.T.S. Warangal, A. P.

Due to the huge amount of money involved,E - business is also prone to frauds. Studieshave shown that many consumers may notshop online due to Internet frauds and othersecurity concerns. A survey conducted byMaster Card in 2003 among 1,024 adultsbetween ages 18 to 69 who had at leastone credit card, an e-mail address, anannual income of more that US 15,000 andhad shopped online at least once; found thatonly 44% were confident online shoppers.The rest 56% were skeptical about onlineshopping, mainly due to security concernsand Internet Frauds. Internet frauds are notonly stifling the growth of E - Businessesbut also causing a loss of billions of dollarsto individuals and organizations.

Conceptual View:

Every invention or discovery is meant forthe development of mankind but as timepasses, man starts misusing his boonsthere by degenerating and later convertingthem into bans. The Internet is a wonderfulmeans of communication. It is a very goodmeans for companies to communicate withtheir staff it has become useful as well as

dangerous. Its misuse is increasing. Inoffices, to the embarrassment of many,disagreeable things happen like the misuseof the Net, to watch pornography and to spoilother sites. Many pornographic sites havealso come up on the Net. One large BritishCompany discovers that it had 18000 pagesof porn on its server. Many companies havesacked employees for browsing porn siteshence ogling has become as dangerousactivity in offices, has it not only distractsthe mind from the routine work, but alsospoils the concentration and a person'smind. The corporate database and companysites have to be made secure from hackers.

E-mail can also do plenty of damage oneobvious problem is the amount of time itgobbles up. Many companies are trying tolimit that by blocking out going e-mails forseveral hours. All this leads one to ponderover the utilities of the Net and itsdisadvantages. Terrorists are using the Netto hack the sites of their enemies and putall sorts of instigating and unwanted matteron the Net. Virus is sent through e-mailsand the sites are infected and destroyed itis time that these ethical issues are dealt

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DataInformation

Rules

Best Practices,Rules, Procedures

ConstructedMeaning(s)

ConstructedAction(s)

PerformanceOutcomes

Human and Machine Intelligence Environment

Organizational Inputs

Attention / Motivation / CommitmentCreativity / Innovation

Rate and Degreeof Change

MODEL 2

Figure 2. Knowledge Management for Non-routine and Unstructured SenseMaking

Computational


with strictly by all the nations of the world.The Internet, instead of becoming a usefultool is turning into a weapon of destructionof the virtual world.

Laws Wishes the Concept:

According to National Consumers League,a watchdog agency, in 2003, in the US alonethe losses due to Internet frauds were morethan US 26.4 billion. Internet FraudComplain Center an organization jointlyestablished by FBI and National white-collarcrime Enter of Us in the year 2000, received70,000 complaints in 2002, compared to50,000 in 2001. Even in the Internationalarena according to Commercial CrimeServices Division of International Chamberof Commerce, the Internet frauds are risingvery rapidly, accounting for two-thirds of allthe cases reported.

On 26the July 2004, while taking to TimSebastian on BBC's Hard Talk Programmed,Len Hynds. Detective Chief Superintendedof the National Crime Institute of the UnitedKingdom revealed that in spite of having 55offices and an astounding 9 million workforce, only 25% companies in the UKreported a spurt in computer crime. TheElectronic Fund Transfer (EFT) processestimates US 1.575 billion is lost annuallyto telecom fraud. EFT crime offers anintellectual challenge, which as attractive tosome as the opportunity for financial gain.

Today more than 90 percent of allinformation is created in digital form. TheUS Federal Bureau of Investigation reportedthat incidents of computer related securitybreaches have increased by almost 25percent in the last two years. Not only hasthe incidence of computer related crimerose, but the use of computer technology inany kind of crime has also increased. Thestrongest reason for this is the fact that 17million people in the United States alonehave the technical capability to launch acyber attack

Organizational Point of view:

Surf Control a company based in ScottsVally, California, now claims to havedeveloped a new screening technologywhich is able to discern from skin toneswhether a picture is naughty or not. Thiswill be a relief many companies. SomeAmerican Companies are sacking thosewho dare to send e-mail with a smutty joke.

In today's world companies are becomingmore fragmented and their workers moregeographically dispersed, their managersneed a way to keep their staff together. TheInternet provides the means to do this.Internet allows companies to ensure that

every employee has access to the corporatenews, views and vision. Some companiesalso use it to teach their employees theirethical code. Boeing for instance, offers anonline "ethics challenge" where employeescan test their moral instincts on delicateissues. Such applications are a way tospread a common approach through out anorganization. Not only does the Internetallow managers to talk to their staff; it let'sthem track whether the staff are at leastpretending to listen. The Internet allows youto track to who opens e-mail and when. InBourke Vs. Nissan Motors corp., the plaintiffwas fired for sending personal messages,some of which contained sexual material,through the companies in - house system.

IT ACTS 2000 with CRAC [CyberRegulation Advisory Committee]:

Initially the existing laws in India could coveronly the following aspects of the computerHardware Contracts, Software Contracts,Liabilities, Copyright, Design right and SemiConductor Chip protection, Protection ofConfidential Information, Patent Protectionfor Computer related inventions, ComputerCrime, Evidence, Data Protection,Electronic Data interchange. These aspectsare covered through the following age-oldlaws The Indian Contracts Act, 1872, TheConsumer protection Act, 1986, TheEvidence Act, 1872, The Trade Marks Act,1999, The Copyright Act, 1957, The DesignAct, 2000.

The patent Act, 1970, The Indian PenalCode, 1860, The Law of Torts. The point wasdebated many a times whether the existinga law in India are sufficient to cover all kindsof disputes and crimes arising of Computerand Internet. Is there any fur therrequirement of laws to regulate the Internetand Communication Technology? ManyPeople believed that Internet has groomedto such a proportion as in its present forbecause it was free of any rigid bindings torestrict its growth. After months of waiting,the Government finally got into its act andnotified India's first Cyber Law. By meansof a notification on October 17th 2000, TheParliament had passed the Act, 2000 onMay 17, 2000 and said legislation receivedthe assent of the President of India on 9thJune 2000.

The Government of India enacted theinformation Technology Act, 2000. An Actto provide the legal recognition fortransaction carried out by means ofelectronic data interchange and othermeans of electronic communicationcommonly referred to as "ElectronicCommerce", which involve the use of

alternatives to paper based methods ofcommunication and storage of information,to facilitate electronic filing of documentswith the Government agencies, in addition,the Central Government also notified twodistrict kinds of rules. These rules are TheInformation Technology [Cer tifyingAuthorities] Rules, 2000 and the CyberRegulations Appellate Tribunal [Procedure]Rules, 2000. And further to amend theIndian Penal Code, the Indian Evidence Act,1872, the Bankers' Books Evidence Act,1891 and the Reserve Bank of India Act,1934 and for matters connected there withor incidental thereto. The Government, byanother notification of 17th October 2000,has also constituted the Cyber RegulationAdvisory Committee [CRAC]. Thecommittee shall advice the CentralGovernment either generally as regards anyrules or for any other purpose connectedwith the IT Act, 2000. The said committeeshall also advice the Controller for CertifyingAuthorities in framing the regulations underthis Act. It comprises, amongst other, theMinister of Information Technology, varioussecretaries of different Ministriesrepresentatives from different trade bodiesand technical bodies, director of the CentralBureau of Investigation, police chiefs fromthe states and the Controller of CertifyingAuthorities.

Conclusion:

The Internet initially appeared to be asimple, time saving innovation but is nowturning out to be more complex andsensitive. Companies now find that any taskcan be done online with greater efficiencyand less expense and to day organizationuse e-mail to connect their staff but at sametime there are many legal issues concerninguse of e-mail like the invasion of a person'sprivacy in mails, which becomes an ethicalissue also, if management monitors staff e-mail. The question that arises is should theyinform the staff or not? According to cyberlawyers an employee cannot accept privacyin the workplace and there is no legalimpediment to management's monitoring ofemployee electronic communications. As amatter of etiquette, managements whomonitor their staff's e-mail should informthem. They should seek legal assistant forformulating and ar ticulating policies,enforcing and administering them. Terroristorganizations around the world indulge inthe unethical practices of hacking thewebsites of Governments against whomthey are fighting. Virus is sent through theNet to infect and destroy websites.

Business is about loving the people who do business with you and giving them more value thanthey have any right to expect. - Robin Sharma

�HHHHH


Dealing withDifficult Employees

– S. Preetham Sridar

All managers will have to deal with difficultemployees during their careers. First,

there will always be difficult employees.Second, it's your job as the manager to dealwith them. If you don't deal the problem, itwill only get worse.

Why Are Difficult Employees Like That?

Difficult employees are that way simplybecause it is a behavior that has worked forthem in the past. They may not know anyother behavior or they may choose thisbehavior when they think it will be mosteffective. You will be successful in dealingwith difficult employees only to the extentthat you can make these undesirablebehaviors no longer effective for them. Inmany ways, it's like dealing with children. Ifevery times a child screams, its parents giveit candy, what will the child do when it wantscandy? It will scream, of course.

The same is true for the employee who "blowsup" whenever anyone disagrees with him.When he does that people stop disagreeingwith him and he thinks he has won.

How Can A Manager Deal With DifficultEmployees

� Evaluate

It is important when dealing with difficultemployees to act quickly. Often you willneed to act almost immediately toneutralize a dangerous situation.However, it is always appropriate tothink before you act. Clearly if anemployee comes to work with a gun,you will need to act more quickly thanwhen someone complains that anotheremployee is always taking credit for herwork. In either case, take theappropriate amount of time to evaluatethe situation before you act. You don'twant to make it worse.

Recognize that most employees can be"difficult" from time to time. This can becaused by stress on the job or awayfrom it. Some employees are difficultmore often than others. It is not alwaysyour least-productive employees whoare difficult. So take a moment toevaluate each situation for the uniquesituation it is.

S. Preetham Sridar is Faculty - V.L.B. Janakiammal College of Engg. & Technology, Coimbatore. E-Mail: [email protected]

� Do your homework

Always act on facts. Don't base youractions on gossip or rumor. The personspreading the gossip is a difficultemployee in their own way. If you havenot seen the inappropriate behavioryourself, look into it. Ask the peoplereportedly involved. Collect all the factsyou can before you act.

Don't use the fact that you haven't seenthe inappropriate behavior as an excuseto delay doing something. It is importantto act promptly.

Make sure you aren't par t of theproblem. It will be much more difficultto remain calm and impartial inconfronting the difficult behavior if youare partly responsible. If that's the case,be sure you acknowledge your role init, at least to yourself.

� Develop a plan

you're a manager. You know the valueof planning. This situation is no different.You need to plan the timing of theconfrontation. You need to select a quiet,private place where you won't beinterrupted. You need to decide whetheryou need to have others, like an HRrepresentative, present in the meeting.Plan the confrontation and then make ithappen.

When you have prepared, it is time to act.You do not need to act impulsively, but youmust act quickly. The longer an inappropriatebehavior is allowed to continue, the harderit will be to change it or stop it.

� Confront the problem

Don't put it off. It may not be pleasant,but it's an important part of your job. Itwill not "fix itself". It can only get worse.You have planned this confrontation.Now you need to execute.

� Deal with the behavior, not the person

Your goal is to develop a solution, notto "win". Focus on the inappropriatebehavior; don't attack the person.

Use "I" statements like "I needeverybody on the team here on time so

we can meet our goals" rather than"you" statements like "you are alwayslate".

Don't assume the inappropriatebehavior is caused by negative intent.It may be from fear, confusion, lack ofmotivation, personal problems, etc.

Give the other person a chance todevelop a solution to the problem. Theyare more likely to "own" the solution ifthey are at least partially responsiblefor developing it.

� Try to draw out the reasons behindthe behavior

As you talk with the difficult employee,actively listen to what they say. Staycalm and stay positive, but remainimpartial and non-judgmental. Askleading questions that can't beanswered in one or two words. Don'tinterrupt.

When you do respond to the difficultemployee, remain calm. Summarizeback to them what they just said, "sowhat I understand you are saying is",so they know you are actually listeningto them.

If you can find out from the difficultemployee what the real source of theinappropriate behavior is, you have amuch better chance of finding a solution.

Is once enough?

Sometimes these confrontations will gosmoothly, or at least rapidly, to a conclusion.Other times it will require several sessionsto resolve the problem.

� Repeat as necessary

Minor problems, like being late for work,you may be able to resolve with a simplechat in your office with the employee.An office bully, who has used thatbehavior successfully since elementaryschool, may need more than oneconfrontation before a solution can bereached. Be patient. Don't alwaysexpect instant results. Aim forcontinuous improvement rather thantrying to achieve instant success.


� Know when you are in over your head

Sometimes the underlying issue with adifficult employee will be beyond yourcapabilities. The employee may havepsychological problems that requireprofessional help. Learn when to keeptrying and when to refer the employeeto others for more specialized help. Yourcompany may have an EAP or you mayneed to use resources from thecommunity.

� Know when you are at the end

While the goal is always to reach amutually acceptable solution thatresolves the difficult employeesinappropriate behavior and keeps yourteam at full strength, sometimes that isnot possible. When you reach animpasse and the employee is not willingto change his or her behavior then youneed to begin terminations proceduresin accordance with your company'spolicies.

Coming to a SolutionThe desired result from confronting a difficultemployee's inappropriate behavior is an agreedupon solution. You know that this inappropriatebehavior will continue unless you and theemployee agree on a solution. The employeeneeds to know what is inappropriate about hisbehavior and he also needs to know whatappropriate behavior is. The need for a managerto communicate clearly is always high. It isespecially important in these situations. Makevery sure the employee understands therequirements and the consequences.

In today’s world of globalisation, companiesare finding it increasingly difficult to cope

with rapid changes taking place, both insidethe organizations and in the market place. Allinitiatives like TQM, Business Re-engineeringand other quality initiatives though have helpedorganisations to retain their competitive edge,but it is the people who have, and will continue,to make the ultimate difference betweensuccess and failure. Only those organisationsthat can attract, develop and retain talent arelikely to distinguish itself in the market place,apart from retaining their competitive edge.

As practising human resource professionals,we have always been led to believe that it isthe organisation’s sole responsibility to shapeand develop the career of the people, and forthis purpose, organisations are expected toinstitute a career development plan forenhancing the competencies of the people andfacilitate their growth in the organisation. Theauthor explodes this myth by arguing that theindividuals also have equal responsibility forshaping their own career and thus retainingtheir employability. She builds her theory onthe premise that career development is ideallya joint effort between the individual, themanager or leader, and the organisation. Theleader only acts as a supportive coach, and theorganisation provides the systems andinformation. But it is left to the individuals totake initiative in their development forretaining their employability.

The author builds her thesis on a six-stepprocess of developing career planning

and development programmes in anorganisation. Dr.Kaye describes how

through the following six step process one canforge the vital link between

Organisational strategic planning andindividual career planning and

development.

� Prepare a career development programmein line with the Organization’s needs

BOOK REVIEW - UP Is Not the Only WayA Guide to Developing Workforce Talent By Beverly L. Kaye

PUB: Davies –Black Publishing, Palo Alto, Pages: 293, Price: US$ 29.95

Reviewed by: K.S.Venkatachalam,Management Consultant, Vadodara

(The Preparing Stage). In the preparingstage, organisations are able to assess howan individual views his or her career andwhere the greatest problems lie. Once theassessment is done, group needs areidentified and formalised planning is drawnup to develop the human resources. In thisstage managers are prepared and apprisedof their role in the process.

� Profile an employee’s technical,interpersonal, and conceptual skills (TheProfiling stage). The competency profilinghelps employees to gain understanding oftheir own personal, technical, andconceptual skills. Employees then are ableto determine their professional strengths andweaknesses and the areas they with todevelop.

� Target suitable career goals within anexpanded range of choices (The TargetingStage). Employees develop anunderstanding of organisational goals andthe directions that need to be taken. Oncethe organisational goals are understood, theythen develop a clear understanding ofperformance criteria and performanceexpectations.

� Help employees develop a strategic actionplan (The Strategizing Stage). In thisstage, through a process of dialogue withthe immediate supervisor, developmentplans are devised.

� Provide effective skill acquisitionprogrammes (The Implementing Stage).Employees are selective about thedevelopment options they enter. Only thoseprogrammes which add value to employeesare selected.

� Develop evaluation procedures that satisfyorganisational needs (The SustainingStage). In the sustaining stage, evaluationis replaced by support systems for bringingabout improvements. Here, thecompensation system supports otherdirections besides upward mobility.

The book has lot of case studies drawn fromdifferent organisations which

Lends support to the thesis propounded by theauthor.

One of the strongest messages that the bookoffers is the self-accountability for one’s career.

The book will be very useful to HR practionerswho are involved in instituting a “developmentculture” which supports not only attractingpeople to join organisations but also help inretaining talent. This becomes even morechallenging, as more and more organizationsare doing away with too many layers for better(team) functioning and decision making. Thishas lead to few and limited opportunities forvertical growth up the ladder. It is hereDr.Kaye’s message assumes importance as shemakes it clear why employees need a range ofcareer options to be successful. She draws aclear road map through the six step process asto how one can get there!

About the Author

Beverly L.Kaye is an organisation consultantspecialising in career development andmanagement training serving numerousFortune 500 companies like Ciba-Geigy,American Express, AT&T,Chevron,Chrysler,Intel to name a few.

About the Reviewer

The reviewer is a Management Consultantbased in Vadodara. He was earlier with amulti-national company as Head of HumanResources. His contributions have appearedin The Times of India, The Economic Times,Human Capital and other professionalmagazine

�HHHHH


What Should Be Done Now?

– R. Dharmarao

M/s.Ganesh Engineering Works, anengineering firm in Maharastra, had 106employees on roll. Mr.Athley joined thiscompany as a Turner five years back andwas working on a lathe machine. Thoughhis performance was just normal, hisbehavior for the last over two years wasunsatisfactory. He was influenced by someout-side union leaders and with theirassociation he thought that he could form aunion for this company and become itspresident. There was no Union so far as theManagement was satisfactorily taking careof their employees. To start with, Athleystarted refusing the salaries with a few ofhis colleagues as the employees were notcompensated rightly. He started wearingblack badges for some months with ademand for wage revision and instigatedother workers also to wear the badges. TheManagement was afraid of taking a seriousaction against him, as his issue might leadto a disturbance in the industrial relationsand the possibility of him becoming a Unionleader. They, therefore, issued some cautionand warning letters to him which did notbring any change in his behavior. Further,he was indulging in some indisciplineactivities such as habitual late coming,absenting from duty, and at timesinsubordination. His service was found tobe very unsatisfactory but Managementcould not discipline him.

During that time, the firm procured a rareorder for supply of a part of a gear box. Theyprocured a forging of high alloy steel formaking a pinion shaft of 4 meters length,and 350 mm dia. The cost of the materialwas about Rs.6 lakhs. This job had to begiven to Athley for turning as he had goodknowledge. But, due to his carelessness,he had undercut the shaft and made it outof tolerance. It had to be rejected. TheCompany had lost an opportunity. Athley puthis Management in a very false position anddamaged their reputation.

This time, the Management, which waswaiting all these months to take a serious

R. Dharma Rao, Head, HR, ICBM. He can be reached at: [email protected]

action against him, took this opportunity todischarge him. The Administrative Officerwhile preparing the charge sheet thoughtthat if he added in the charge sheet all hisprevious mistakes also including the anti-management activities, it would strengthenthe cause for his discharge. He, therefore,framed the charge sheet by including elevencharges against him, such as absentingfrom duty without information andpermission, habitual late coming, wearingblack badges, disrespecting superior'sorders occasionally, etc. The last charge washis negligence of duty resulting to a heavymonetary loss to the Company.

Athley simply replied with only one sentencethat 'I deny all the charges'. TheManagement got puzzled and wanted tookadvice of a HR Consultant, Mr.SG Apte. Onseeing the entire file of Athley and thecharge sheet, he made a serious remark.Why did not take any action previously? Ifthey were afraid of some probable anti-management activities by his colleagues ontheir action against him, they could not runthe industry at all. Some risks werenecessary sometimes. Their wait for so long,cost the Company heavily. Further, Mr Aptewas also angry as the charge sheetcontained eleven charges occurred over aperiod of one year.

Mr Apte was appointed as Enquiry Officerand the A.O. as ManagementRepresentative. On a particular time, dateand place, the domestic enquiry wasstarted. On the first day, the EO explainedto all the parties in the enquiry on the rulesand guidelines for conducting a domesticenquiry and its proceedings. The EO saidthat the charge-sheeted employee would begiven full opportunity to defend himself. Healso explained the roles of EO and MR. Afterall these formalities were over, the MR gavea statement on the first charge, i.e.unauthorized absence from dutycontinuously for two days about a year back.

The MR produced relevant documents asexhibits. Athley flatly refused this chargementioning that he had told one of hiscolleagues to inform his Foreman. On theadvice of the EO, Athley produced hiscolleague as his first witness. The witness,in his statement, said that it was true thatAthley informed him about his urgent leave,but he forgot to tell his Foreman. All theproceedings on the first day were recordedand explained to all the parties in thelanguage they understood. As perprocedure, the EO took signatures of all theparties present on all sheets. When Athley'sturn came, he refused to sign. Further, healso said that he would fully participate inthe enquiry but would not sign on any paper.The EO explained to him that it was wrongon his part not to sign and spent quitereasonable time on this explanation. At onetime, he almost lost his patience as Athleyrefused to understand. However, all thesepoints were also recorded including Athley'srefusal to sign on any paper. After takingXerox copies of all the documents to behanded over to all parties, Athley wasprepared to accept the papers but wouldnot sign as a proof of receipt of the enquirydocuments. The EO, however, handed overthe papers to Athley, without his signatureand recorded this point also. The enquirywas postponed to the next day.

Next day, all parties including Athley werepresent. The behavior of Athley continuedthe same way as on the previous day. Onthat day, the second charge, sleeping onduty, was taken up. By the end of the day,the EO seriously informed the chargesheeted employee by being present in theenquiry and not signing any where wouldlead to 'non-participation'. The EO explainedto him in a sober voice about natural justice,etc. All these points did not bring any fruit.Apte for the first time in his life faced asituation which was very peculiar. In spiteof his excellent explanations, he could notchange the behavior of Athley. He waspuzzled.

Case Study - 16

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGEThe ultimate competitive advantage of your enterprise comes down to a single imperative - your

ability to grow and develop leaders faster than your competition. - Robin Sharma

�HHHHH


The Following Candidates are declared elected asMembers to the National Executive Board for a two yearterm from 1st April 2007 to 31st March 2009. Wecongratulate them and extend them a warm welcome..1. Mr. N Hari Haran Iyer, Senior Vice President and Culture

Officer, Sasken Communication Technologies Ltd, BangaloreTel Off: 080-6694 3212 (M) 098451-85083E-Mail: [email protected]

2. Mr. K Praveen Kumar, Deputy General Manager – HR, SatyamComputer Services Ltd, Hyderabad Tel: 040-2306 8922 (M)098490-11920 E-Mail: [email protected]

3. Mr. Maddela Ramchander, General Manager – Talent Transfer& Development, Reliance Retail Ltd, Mumbai Tel: 022-22876000 Extn 6269 (M) 093919-97737E-Mail: [email protected]

ELECTION RESULTS ANNOUNCEDWe also place on record our sincere thanks for thevaluable service rendered by the following threeoutgoing Elected Members elected for the previoustwo year term from 1st April 2005 to 31st March 2007.

1. Dr. G Pandu Naik, Professor (OB & HR), PESIT,Bangalore (M) 09243470110 E-Mail: [email protected]

2. Mr. J Ravikanth Reddy, Vice President – HR, GMRIndustries Ltd, Hyderabad (M) 098481-12984E-Mail: [email protected]

3. Mr. Sanjeev Bikhchandani, CEO, Naukri.Com, Noida(m): 98110-20189 E--Mail: [email protected]


1. Place of Publication : Hyderabad

2. Periodicity of its Publication: Monthly

3. Printer’s Name : K SatyanarayanaNationality : IndianAddress: 506, Sai Siri Sampada, 7-1-29/23 & 24, LeelaNagar, Ameerpet, Hyderabad – 500 016

4. Publisher’s Name: K SatyanarayanaNationality: IndianAddress: 506, Sai Siri Sampada, 7-1-29/23 & 24, LeelaNagar, Ameerpet, Hyderabad – 500 016

5. Editor’s Name : Prof C BalajiNationality : Indian

Statement about Ownership and other particulars about HRD Newsletter, as required underRules 8 of the Registration of Newspapers (Central) Rules 1956.

Address : 506, Sai Siri Sampada, 7-1-29/23 & 24, LeelaNagar, Ameerpet, Hyderabad – 500 016

6. Name and Address of Individuals who own the Newspapersand partners or Shareholders holding more than onepercent of the total capital: National HRD Networkregistered under the Societies Registration Act XXI of 1860(Regn No. GUJ/1236/A’bad dated 6th December 1986) andBombay Public Trust Act 1950 (Regn No. AR/1175/Ahmedabad dated 6th December 1986)

I, K Satyanarayana, hereby declare that the particularsgiven above are true to the best of my knowledge and belief

Date: March 15, 2007 (Sd) K Satyanarayana Signature of Publisher.

Letter of appreciation for Case StudiesDear Mr Dharma Rao

Your case studies are, for me, among the most valuable items in the Hyderabad HRD Newsletter. I have been reading them withinterest although I am not an HR professional. (I teach managerial communication.) With some adaptation, many of your casestudies can be excellent material for teaching managerial communication. If I used the one on JP Singh and Raman, for example, Iwould stop with the description of the problem. I would then set several communication exercises including role-plays. (The way theproblem was actually solved is but one of the various possibilities.)

Incidentally, I am working on a book called, Communication Strategies for Managers (a revised and enlarged version of my BusinessCommunication Strategies), to be published by McGraw-Hill Education. I plan to give short case studies at the end of each chapterwith questions and exercises set on each. I wonder if you would welcome my adapting some of your cases for inclusion in the book.Credit will be given explicitly both in the Acknowledgements and at the end of each case being used. If this idea interests you, pleaselet me have the soft copy of the JP Singh case. I will send it back to you to demonstrate how I adapt it and acknowledge the source.

Matthukutty M Monippally, Professor, Communications Area & Chairperson, Post Graduate Program, I I M Ahmedabad, India

LETTER TO THE PUBLISHER Balaji’s editorial in the February issue of HRD Newsletter. is extremely appropriate. Two articles in the issue illustrate the point.One is the article on the Professionalism ofManagers by Akhouri and Chandra Mouli.The quesion is relevant and has lot of scope for discussion in depth. That depth is missing. After some oft-repeated details on whatconstitutes professionalism, there is no answer to the question. The real issues as to whether professionals are expected to think alike or behave alike on issues of rights andwrongs, whether there are standards of rights and wrongs for professionals, are not touched upon. What surprises me is that the authors have not recognised that managersparticularly in current times, cannot fall back on past precedents, and have to innovate all the time and also that managers in different industries and different situationscannot be thinking uniformly. .Do such differences run contrary to the concept of professionalism?

The second article is the one on Competency Based Interviewing Technique by Hari Nair and Abhishek Gvane. I see in that article nothing more about interviewing techniquesthan what one can find in any standard text book. Anybody with experience will testify to the fact that the questions indicated in that article, will never provide insights onwhat one wants to know. S. Balachandran

[email protected]


AGRAMark-Fest a mega marketing event wasorganized by MBA students of BMASEngineering College on 20th Feb 07.Besides the NHRDN Agra Chapterinstitutional and life members whoparticipated as invitees, the studentmembers took an active part. More than 50industries belonging to different sectors-Auto, Coaching institutes including ICFAIuniversity press and ICFAI DistanceLearning, Computers and Accessories,Banking, Insurance apparels, Tradingcompanies, publishers, Eatables andBeverages established their stalls in theBMAS premises. The aim was to haveIndustry -Student interface with Win Winposition for both. NHRDN student memberswere able to acquaint themselves withindustrialists and students and facultymembers of different institutions and bringawareness in them by conveying the aimsand objectives of the Network. ChapterPresident Col(Dr) C K Singh, Vice PresidentDr. Naveen Gupta, Secretary Dr SavitaMohan, members of the executive boardand other members including studentmembers could find suitable opportunity forNetworking amongst themselves, withpotential members from different industriesand faculty and students from differentmanagement and engineering institutionsfrom Agra and Mathura.

Agra chapter organized a day long seminaron 'conflict management' on 22feb at HIMCSFarah, Mathura. Dr. Naveen Gupta Dean ofthe institute and Vice President NHRDN AgraChapter was the key speaker. It was alsodecided that NHRDN Agra chapter along withHIMCS and BMAS engineering college willinitiate a 'NUKKAD' training program formaking Agra the city of Taj- tourist friendly.The proposal was discussed in details and itwas decided that in the initial stage thetraining will be imparted to the porters, taxiand auto drivers of Agra city where studentmembers will be able to play a major role.

Welcome to new members-(a) Individual Life Members-(i) Mr. B R Mehra- Chief Manager(A&W),

IOC, Mathura Refinery.(ii) Mrs. Charul Vohra-Lecturer, HCST,

Farah, Mathura(b) Permanent Institutional-(i) BMAS Engineering College, Keetham,

Agra

(c) Institutional Annual Member-

(i) Rajeev Academy of Management &Technology, Mathura

Chapter NewsAHMEDABAD

Welcome to New Member

(A) Individual Annual Student Membership:

(i) Mr. Badal Mukund Kanage,

DELHI'Innovation' historically has been theconsistent characteristic of the ever-emerging Human Resources profession. Itis the inventive thoughts, approaches andexperiments that have led the transformationof HR function from being a time keepingfunction to a key strategic contributor tobusiness.

The spirit of the Delhi Chapter Special Event"HR in Action", held on March 21, 2007, canalso be summarized in the same word -'innovation'. This event, a novel initiative ofDelhi Chapter, was a session modeled as atown hall among the participants. Right fromthe participative approach adopted torecapitulate the 'Code of Conduct' to the verystructure of the session; novelty andexperimentation characterized the evening.The session was commenced by PankajBansal, VP, Delhi Chapter, with all participantsreading aloud the Code of Conduct and theensuing discussion was facilitated by N.S.Rajan, President, Delhi Chapter.

This session pilot-tested a new approachto experience sharing. Breaking away fromthe traditional one way approach, wherelearning is shared by recognizedprofessionals and reputed dignitaries,known for their experience andachievement, this session actually providedan opportunity and platform to theparticipating HR professionals to share theirlearning with their fraternity. The result - amedley of experiences, thoughts andlearning's were brought to the dais by adiverse lot of HR professionals.

Many speakers consistently reiterated theimportance of HR function in today'sbusiness and strategy context. Theincreasing need to enhance mutualunderstanding and sharing between linefunctions and HR was also emphasized, invarious ways, through various personalexamples and experiences. It was believedby many experienced speakers and buddingHR professionals alike, that the link betweenHR initiatives and the bottom-line isimperative, if HR has to further strengthenits position in the business context.

A mosaic of thoughts was contributed oncertain desirable attributes of HR peoplewho represent the HR function, like fairness,honesty, commitment, being a good listenerand having the ability to manage ambiguitiesand uncertainties, which confront almost allbusinesses and functions today. HRprofessionals should themselves be rolemodels and always keep their own learningavenues open for heir personaldevelopment. HR should consider eachindividual as a brand for the organization.HR function is like a mother who nurturesas well as reprimands, as circumstancesdemand.

Besides the variety in the learningexperiences shared during this session onecould clearly see the diversity in thespeakers who took the stage. From HRentrepreneurs to students, from seasonedsenior HR professionals to young middlemanagers, it was a powerful blend ofexperiences shared and synergized byabout twenty speakers.

This pioneering and truly participativechange in format of Special Event, initiatedby Delhi Chapter, was extremely wellreceived by par ticipants and createdboundless energy and enthusiasm amongstthem.

HOSURThe chapter has now fixed second Tuesdayof the month as the monthly meet day. Comerain or shine, we will stick to this day

In line with the above, an open house wasorganised on 13 March at Ashok LeylandManagement Development Centre. Thesubject: "Emotional Quotient versusIntelligence Quotient". The session beganwith introduction by Mr. Ravindran, MD ofPlacement Consultants and Chaptertreasurer. The floor was then taken over byBrig (Dr.) KS Bhoon who gave a briefoverview of the two, giving examples. Thiswas followed by open house in which manymembers expressed their opinion. Therewas some discussion on the researchfinding, which says that EQ rises till the ageof about 50 and then drops slightly. At theend of the session, President offered an EQtest to all par ticipants which waswholeheartedly taken by all members

The findings were collated and it turned outthat it generally corroborates the earlierresearch even among the Hosur HR


community. Gender bias of EQ says thatwomen have higher EQ. This could not beverified because of adequate sample size.

The session was fine example of learningby participation and results, on the spot.

The session concluded with closing remarksand vote of thanks by Mr. Sathya M. Parsa,Chapter Vice President

HYDERABADNew Executive CommitteeSee Page 38Permanent MembershipHoly Trinity Educational SocietyRepresented byYamini Reddy, DirectorVijaya Sarada Reddy, Secretary

Annual Institutional MemberDukes Products India Represented byAmruth Kiran S, Sr.Manager - HRKrishna Mohan B V, Asst.Manager - HR

MIC Electronics Ltd Represented byVenkata Ramanaiah C, Director - Tech

CentreSridevi N, JR.Executive

Life MembershipTulasi S R, Vice President - HR, ITC LimitedSrinivas R, Deloitte Haskins & SellsPrasad M M, GM(Retd) APIDCAnnual membersSamhita R Rao, VP-HR, Re-Engg, HSBCMurhty K V R, Director, KVR Info MediaSitansu Panda Prof, Lecturer, SSIMNirmla G, Sr.HR-Executive, Comake ITGopala Chowdary U V V, Vijai ElectricalsVikram Rao T, Asst. V P Ops, 24/7 CustomersRajendra Kumar K V, Manager - HR,Mahavir InfowayPremanandi Okram, Executive Trainee - HR,Shriram Bioseed Genetics IndiaRadhakrishna G V, DCM ShriramConsolidated LtdRadhika K, MBA - HR, MontessoriSai Harsha K, HR- Executive, ING VysyaLife InsuranceSravanthi V K, HR-Executive, ING VysyaLife InsuranceRaghu Potini, CEO, Knowledge CapitalMadhuri Sowjanya, Student-MBA, IIPM

The topic discussed by Mr. Gupte for themeet was " CEO COACHING ". He hadstarted his lecture explaining the correctdefinition of the Coaching. Presentation pathof his talk was :

� Myths, Cynicism, Opinion & Confusionsin Coaching

� Key assumption in Coaching.

� Typical Interferences.

� The Spectrum of Coaching skills.

� Coaching core competencies.

� Code of Ethics.

� Guiding principals.

� Modes of Coaching.

� Why do CEO's work with Coach ?

� How is Coaching delivered ?

� Methods, frequency & Tenure ofCoaching.

This talk was highly motivational andinspired the participants. The lecture meetwas well attended by around 60 participants.

KOLKATAKolkata Chapter on Page 23

NAGPURCENTRAL INDIA MANAGEMENTCONCLAVE "STRATEGISING THEFUTURE"

BY NAGPUR CHAPTER

Nagpur Chapter in association with CentralInstitute of Business ManagementResearch & Development (CIBMRD)organized two days management conclaveon 24 & 25th Feb 07. Dr. Udai Pareek, knownas father of HRD, Mr Satyanarayan, aveteran HR Professional & ExectuiveDirector of NHRD Network, Mr MurlidharanCMD C&K Management Ltd, Mr. ArunKumar Misra, Divisional Head HR SamtelColour Ltd were the main attraction of theconclave. Dr. Udai Pareek brought outMergers & Acquisitions (M&A) have throwna new set of challenges in front of HRmanagers. While interaction with mediaduring conclave he said the growing trendof M&A has put the HR managers in a verytight spot because the success of new entitylargely depends upon its HR policies.Creation of good work culture has becomethe prime role of HR managers. Mr.Murlidhan, an alumni of IIM-A & IIT-C pinpointed,. "How to channelise the educatedunemployed youth in the development of thenation is the major concern for policy makersand human resources managers." Hebrought out "We have 13 million unemployedyouth and annually 1.5 million youth getadded to this list. The solution to this problemlies in vocational training courses and

HYDERABAD CHAPTER PROGRAMMESApril 2007

05-04-07 - 6.30 p.m. Ms. Parvathy Krishnan, CEO, Cucumber Consultants, will speak onHRD Network "Is choosing a career like choosing a movie?"

12-04-07 - 6.30 p.m. Mr. Vikram Bector, Manager - HR, Satyam Computers will speak onHotel Tureeya Grand "Enhancing employee delight"

19-04-07 - 6.30 p.m. Mr. M R Shantaram, President, Intercon International will speak onHRD Network "Recruitment Processes outsourcing (RPO)"

25-04-07 - 6.30 p.m. Lt. Col. Dr. B. Venugopal, Dean, TIET, Patiala will speak onHRD Network "Building Leadership through stories"

26-04-07 - 6.30 p.m. Dr. G Rajkumar, Director, HR Footprints will speak onHRD Network " Role of HR in building leaders"

May 2007

03-05-07 - 6.30 p.m. Mr. C.S. Krishna, International Transformation Coach, NithyanandaHRD Network Dhyanapeetam, will speak on "Ananda Spurana Program"

10-05-07 - 6.30 p.m. Dr. Ravi Dasari, programme director, JNIDB IDBI, will speak onHotel Tureeya Grand "Aligning Human Capital with business Strategy"

17-05-07 - 6.30 p.m. Mr. S. Surya Kiran, AGM, Infotech Enterprise Limited, will speak onHRD Network "Management through Metrics"

24-05-07 - 6.30 p.m. Ms. Durga Bhavani Konala, Assistant Manager - HR, Nipuna- A SatyamHRD Network Company, will speak on "HR as strategic business partner"

31-05-07 - 6.30 p.m. Mr. Vishnu Murthy, Tapasya Charitable Trust, Founder Chairman,HRD Network will speaks on "Disability and Scenario"

MUMBAINHRDN, Mumbai chapter organizedMonthly Evening Lecture Meet on 25thJanuary 2007, at Welingkar Institute. GuestLecturer was Mr. Shrikant Gupte -Consultant Coach (Registered InternationalCoach).

Mr. Shrikant Gupte till recently was withPiramal Group as Group President

HR,IT,QA. Shreekant has a very successfulcareer track record. He is alumni of IIT K,and IIM C. Has worked with big brands likeAsian Paints, Marico. From a Business roleby choice Shrikant moved to HR role.Currently he has taken up very niche areaof CEO coaching as an independentInternational Coach. We are sure you wouldnot like to miss this interesting meeting withShrikant. Hence kindly keep yourselfavailable to attend this lecture meet.


continuous professional education forunemployed youth is the need of the hour."Mr Satyanarayan highlighted that allproblems of the Nation can only be soughtout through education. English is one of thelanguage which can empower our youthsto stand globally. Mr Ranjeet Deshmukh, ExPresident Maharastra Pradesh CongressCommittee & President of the Conclaveemphasized that todays corporatemanagers should work in rural areas, a goodHR policies can facelift the rural areasthrough agro processing industry and dairydevelopment and fishery activities. On firstday of the conclave the papers werepresented by the researchers,academicians and practicing HRprofessionals. The best paper presentationsaward gone to Ms. DeepShika Mahajan ofDelhi and Ms. Sonal Jaiswal of Nagpur. Onday two, the various management gameswere played by the participant Dr UdaiPareek was briefing & debriefing theparticipants through out the day. Throughthese games it was felt by the participantsone can empower oneself only by trust,empowering others and giving space toothers. One has to shake hand with thedistant person and make a wider spectrumof his activities for the betterment of his ownand society. Dr. Anwar Ali Director IMTNagpur, Mr. Arvind Jain VP Indorama, Mr.Sunil Sirsikar President MIDC IndustriesAssn, Dr. SV Gole of RKNEC were the localpanelist during conclave.

After Mr.Murlidharan, Dr. Udai Pareek, Mr.Satyanarayann & Mr.Arun Kumar Misra,Mr. GP Rao Visits the Nagpur Chapter

Nagpur Chapter is getting vibrant with thevisits of its Natational Heros. On 10th Mar07, Mr.GP Rao President North Zone,recently moved to Mumbai from Delhi madea short visit to Nagpur Chapter, whilemoderating a session, he empowered theyoung NHRDN student members. Heclarified to young members that love forhumanity, more of sublime and humaneabilities than the analytical and numericalshould be thumb rule to decide uponchoosing a career with human resources,on the question raised by them as what arethe key ingredients of HR professionals toenable them to decide on theirspecializations to Human Resources. It wasa great gesture by Mr GP Rao. It was hardlya fortnight over when Mr. Murlidharan, DrUdai Pareek, Mr. Satyanarayan & Mr.Arunkumar Misra left a historical impact onthe minds of Nagpurians during CentralIndia Management Conclave on 24th & 25thFeb 07.

PUNEThe first monthly meeting by the newlyelected body was a huge success in termsof involvement & the number of participants.The topic of the monthly meeting was "Career

Development of HR Leaders". Ms. Kathy Leck& Ms. Donna Steffey from Lake ForestGraduate School, USA, conducted thesession.

The session covered topics from Careerdevelopment for HR professionals to the HRsalignment to Business. As a part of thecareer development for the HRprofessionals, speakers suggested new skillslike embracing ambiguity, articulating visionof the company & handling changemanagement. The role, which brings HR &business together, is of a Strategist &Steward. Ms. Kethy said that in future HRwould be judged by the work environmentwhere people can do their best, retention ofkey performers, ROI & above all developmentof the generation of the next leader.

The evening culminated with the vote ofthanks by Chapter President Ms. UmaGanesh. Ms. Riya Arora gave the welcomeaddress. More than 110 professionals fromthe industry attended the meet.

NHRD - PUNE CHAPTER - ANNUALGENERAL MEETINGThe Annual General Meeting of the NationalHRD Network Pune Chapter was held onthe 9th February 2007.

It was presided over by Mr. YashwantMoodliar (Founder President) and Mrs. UmaGanesh (Current President). The mainagenda of the AGM was election &nomination of the New Office bearers forthe year 2007 - 2009.

Mr. Moodliar welcomed the members andbriefed them about the agenda and theoutcomes of the AGM. Dr. Uma Ganesh thepresident rendered the keynote address andupdated the members with the activities /achievements of the last ExecutiveCommittee.

The following members were elected as theCommittee Members.

Mrs. Uma Ganesh - PresidentAman Rajabali - Vice PresidentRiya Arora - SecretaryAnusha Chokhani - TreasurerPrameela Kalive - Committee Member

Dr Uma Ganesh thanked all the membersfor reelecting her and she welcomed andcongratulated the new committee. The newcommittee formed several task forces, whichwill work for the certain specific areas. TheTask Forces formed were -Academia Industry Partnership -Group Leader - Mr. Yashwant Moodliarsupported by Ms. Juhi Ranjan &Mr. Gowdara PanduCorporate Social Responsibility -Group Leader - Ms. Prameela Kalivesupported by Mr. Rahul Rabade &Mr. Prasad JoshiMembership Diversity & Drive -Group Leader - Mr. Aman Rajabalisupported by Mr. Harsh Kumar &Mr. Prathyush V. P.

Monthly Events -Group Leader - Ms. Riya Arora supportedby Ms. Jismi George, Mr. Anubhab Goel &Ms. Neha SinghRevenue Generation -Group Leader- Ms. Anusha Chokhanisupported by Mr. Anubhab Goel & Mr. SujitSahuCreativity & Innovation -Mr. Arun Wakhlu supported by Ms. PreetiBharghav & Mr. Yusuf MasterNew Members List To the HOWELCOME TO NEW PUNE CHAPTERMEMBERS!INDIVIDUAL ANNUAL MEMBERSShipra Maheshwari, Executive HR, TCSJennifer M Sibloon, Officer HR, TCSShivram Shantaram Ovhal, Manager - HR& Admin, Wika Instruments Pvt Ltd.Nitin Verma, Asst Manager- SyntelAmrita Chakraborthy, Senior Associate -HR, AXA Business Services.INDIVIDUAL LIFE MEMBERSJuhi Ranjan, Freelancer,Pratik Surana, CEO, Quantum InfotrainersDinkar B Nimbalkar, VP, Kirloskar BrothersINSTITUTIONAL ANNUAL MEMBERSCareer Forum Ltd Represented by -Tejaswini Kadam - VP HRKetan Hajarnavis - COOMa Foi Consulting Represented by -Sachin Joshi - Principal ConsultantMadhuri Krishnan - Sr ConsultantSymphony Services Represented by -Sarvesh Vaidya - Sr Manager - HRArti Sharma - Asst Manager - HRStarent Networks India Represented by -Pallavi Chhajed - Sr HR ExecutiveMadhavi Raj - HR ExecutiveINSTITUTIONAL PERMANENT MEMBERSEXL Service .ComRepresentated by -Shweta Deshpande - Assistant ManagerNayana Prabhu - Assistant VP.

CARTOON CORNERWhy am I so fit? You see my

husband keeps sendingme to the 'Art of Living'

workshops. His English ispoor; he thinks, it is 'leaving'!

Col. P Deogirikar, Indore [email protected]

HRD News Letter | April 2007, Vol.23, Issue:1 · 2013-09-24 · | HRD News Letter | April 2007,...

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Transcript of HRD News Letter | April 2007, Vol.23, Issue:1 · 2013-09-24 · | HRD News Letter | April 2007,...