CEOs must make HR more accountable now

Remember the famous opening lines of Dickens' classic 'A Tale of Two Cities'? Much like what Dickens saw in those turbulent times, India Inc is currently seeing 'an epoch of belief ' and at the same time an 'epoch of incredulity'.Inside our companies, we see similar volatility. One month of growth followed by another month of stagnation. Ask any of your sales people - irrespective of the sector you are in - and they will tell you of customers engaged and wanting to buy, but they are not sure the deal will close. You will see managers (in most sectors) moaning over the shortage of talent and skills but who cannot recruit, for there is an unofficial hiring freeze. Ask employees - they all think the job market has picked up a bit and yet, they can't switch jobs as easily as they used to.In such unpredictable times, CEOs must make new demands of the HR function. They must ask HR leaders to help managers, employees and others to cope with uncertainty and ambiguity in newer ways. CEOs will do well to first pause, notice and acknowledge that if times are unpredictable externally, they will be the same internally. So they need to distribute their time equally between handling external agencies (customer, regulatory, shareholders) and the most important internal constituency of their own managers and employees. This is where they must ask their HR leaders to renew employee engagement plans and do a reality check on what's happening on the ground. Chief executives must identify the inertia which usually takes over successful HR programmes,especially if they were crafted during 'good times'. 

Much of India Inc's HR functions are, of late, nicely-branded programmes - usually rehashes of the old welfare regimes. In unpredictable times, these oft-repeated gimmicks fail to fire the imagination of employees and leave them with a depressing deja vu. Unless CEOs demand more realistic and value-adding plans from HR, they will get more of the same. Here are three provocative actions CEOs could ask HR function to deliver in these unpredictable times. 

First, ask HR folks to measure everything they do. If they say, we recruit well, ask them how many of the new hires stayed in the company over two years. Ask if the cost per hire has come down over the past four quarters and at what rate. 

If your HR teams run induction and orientation programmes, ask them to measure their effectiveness in terms of reducing settling-in time of employees (measured as in new hire productivity). If you have been told you must approve budgets for a fun event, ask what the outcome will be. If you are told this will improve morale, ask how, and ask for proof. 

If CEOs engage the HR function to improve predictability of their programmes, it will reduce some degree of unpredictability that the volatile external environment has created.Second, in unpredictable times, your HR function must help you separate your men from your boys. You need to identify the 'long-term horses' (to borrow a phrase from Hindi) and do so 'objectively'. HR departmentsmust in current times re-tool themselves and show the mirror to the leaders. This is no time to hide the warts. 

Good and predictable times allow you the luxury of carrying some passengers. But in volatile times such as these, you will do well to have an HR leader who will tell you (again, objectively) who are the "horses" you should bet on. In the overall softness and socialistic hangover that afflicts most managers in our country, we see more milk of human kindness flowing out of HR departments. 

Used to the good times and believing their jobs create the feel-good in the company, HR departments don't often call a spade a spade. CEOs must ask for a fresh assessment of talent and demand heightened rigour from HR managers. 

The third is the need for building resilience in the company and the people. Ask if resilience is one of the desirable competencies in your company. Resilient people stay steady under pressure, and drawing upon huge resources of optimism, prod and persevere under the most difficult and ambiguous of circumstances. 

Resilient leaders not only cope with confusion but interpret the external environment to the employees in clearer terms. If you as a CEO see resilience in this light you will instantly recognise its immense value. So go ahead and ask your HR leaders to present a roadmap for building resilience in the company as a core competence - for the people and processes. 

We have often heard the adage: when the going gets tough, the tough get going. Intoxicated by a great run of growth, HR functions have not had time to toughen themselves. That is why you see so many cases of employee discontent boiling over. CEOs must demand a new toughness from the HR function. Caring must not be confused with pampering and HR functions must partner with CEOs in managing and defining expectations as opposed to merely catering to and appeasing. 

Well-grounded people engagement programmes with predictable outcomes will be chief executives' best bulwark against the current unpredictable external environment. 

Infosys defers joining dates of 1700 recruits

 Falling margins and an unplanned salary increase have pushed Infosys to embark on a major austerity drive. The details are not clear yet, but it certainly includes a freeze on business class air travel and deferment of joining dates of 17,000 campus recruits.

The IT major's CEO, S D Shibulal, has sent a mail to employees saying that the company's expenditure for the year had risen too high on account of its Lodestone acquisition and salary increase. The mail goes on to say that the cost-cutting measures would be implemented in a phased manner.

A company spokesperson said, "In a tough business environment, Infosys has decided to take certain cost optimization measures. These are necessary for the company to continue making strategic investments and afford the rollout of the compensation increase."

The joining dates for campus recruits have been deferred for three months from the date of joining that was communicated to them previously. Several people tweeted that their joining dates had been extended to February; some said April.

The Infosys spokesperson said the company would honour all campus offers. The company has introduced an online training programme to keep these new hires engaged till they formally start work. "The completion of this training will not only give these recruits a headstart in their career with Infosys, but also reduce their planned six months training programme at our Mysore campus by up to two months," the spokesperson said.

Anticipating a bevy of queries from thousands of campus recruits for specifics around the deferred joining dates, Infosys has set up an exclusive online chat line. "This will help us address additional queries from them and also help them gather details about our online training programme. This will be in addition to our personal communication and addressing queries through emails," the company said.

There's also a freeze on long-haul business class air travel by its senior executives, including the CEO. "Business class is a privilege available to senior leaders in the company for long haul travel. In our drive to optimize travel costs, the senior leadership has decided to lead by example and forgo this privilege," the company said.

Infosys's operating margin has been dropping consistently for several quarters now. In the quarter ended December 2011, it had a 31.2% operating margin, but this was down at 26.34% in the last quarter. The September quarter alone saw a surprisingly sharp fall of 166 basis points. The salary increase of 6% announced last month, which many believe was done under pressure because rivals had given increments earlier in the year, will increase margin pressures in the coming quarters. Infosys normally announces salary increases in April, but this year it did not do so citing uncertain business conditions.

Why India needs Arvind Kejriwal

Those who call Arvind Kejriwal an anarchist miss the point. Anarchists aim to destroy democracy. They break the law. They subvert institutions. Kejriwal does none of these. We may disagree with some of his methods — i do — but not with his intent.

The intent is clearly right: expose the corrupt, improve governance, unmask collusive politics, and undermine the nexus between businessmen and politicians. All these objectives are noble and necessary. India has for too long been a democracy of, by, and for the few rather than the many. This culture of privilege has corroded governance and created two nations: those who have it all and those who have very little.

In the middle of these two extremes is the small but growing aspirational middle class which forms the core support group of Kejriwal's constituency. It is not large enough to give him many seats in Parliament or even the Delhi assembly once he launches his political party on November 26. But it will give him enough clout to be a disruptive influence.

Disruption can be constructive or destructive. Kejriwal's modus operandi has two principal flaws. One, he exposes alleged corruption scams but does not follow them through to their logical conclusion. He says others (media, public interest litigants, opposition parties) should complete the job. That's not good enough. If you start something, finish it. If you can't , don't start it. No one else, for example, is going to nail the allegations against Robert Vadra, Salman Khurshid and Nitin Gadkari. Public memory is short, public attention shorter. These issues will eventually wither away in India's collusive ecosystem.

Two, Kejriwal often gets carried away by his own rhetoric. Calling Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit names does not enhance his credibility. Bitter medicine is necessary to cure a diseased political system but the dose must be delivered in the right measure or it could prove counter-productive . The system, for all its rottenness, has a huge capability to fight back and discredit its detractors. It is easy for it to play victim.

As a politician, Kejriwal needs to articulate a clearer vision than he and his team have done so far. Their manifesto must contain incisive ideas on economic reforms, counter-terrorism , foreign policy, the environment, defence, energy and agriculture. It must also state the team's agenda on reforming our institutions, including giving the CBI autonomy and the EC statutory powers to conduct a monthly public audit of political party funding and expenditure.

If Kejriwal wants to play a serious, long-term role in India's evolving democracy, he must shift from the politics of agitation to the politics of reform.- and that's the bottom line..

Cheers

VG

Unlikely Entrepreneurs-Amazing Success Stories

Judi Sheppard Missett

Jazzercise

The founder of this wildly successful fitness company started teaching dance classes after hanging up her professional dancing shoes. When turnout dropped, she had an epiphany. The women weren’t coming to class to learn the precise steps to a dance, but to lose weight and tone up.

Sheppard Missett picked up the pace, turned up the music, and created a fun class that was soon packed. She trained additional instructors to teach the routines she choreographed, which eventually lead to a franchise deal. The company now has over 7,500 locations worldwide, a clothing line, and an extremely loyal fan base–all from a dance class.

I shall be featuring a few Entrepreneurs who are in all ways - UNLIKELY ENTREPRENEURS...but...AMAZING SUCCESS STORIES.

let's stay KONECTed

Vivek

Dr APJ Abdul Kalam-"Dreams are not those which are seen while you're sleeping. Dreams are those which don't let you sleep."

The journey of JMD Oils started from a smalldepartmental store in the residential colony of Ramesh Nagar, West Delhi. Now the store has transformed into the JMD Group, which is worth Rs 1,500 crore. Known mostly for edible oils, the group plans to touch the turnover target of Rs 1,800 crore by 2014.

The company's refinery in Kandla, Gujarat has a refining capacity of 1,000 TDP of edible oil per day. In total JMD group has generated direct employment for more than 3,000 employees. A plan to set up another refinery, of a similar capacity is underway. Established by JR Dhingra, the group is now run jointly by his sons Gulshan, Krishan, Naresh and Sanjay.

The founder, JR Dhingra settled in Gharaunda, Karnal after migrating from Pakistan after partition. It was in 1952 that Dhingra travelled to Delhi on a bicycle from Karnal and started his departmental store in Ramesh Nagar with a partner, who broke away after four years.

The earnings of the store went up from Rs 1,900 per day in 1984 to Rs 3 lakh per day in 1994. It was in 1987 that the family floated the name, JMD Oils and ventured into the edible oil distributorship. "We started with the distributorship of Kabra Agro Industries for their soy bean oil. Then we got the distributorship of the Gujarat Cooperative Oilseeds Growers' Federation (GROFED) in the year 1988.

By the year 2000, the company, still based out of Ramesh Nagar, had established a dealership network so strong that it launched its own brand by the name of 'Lite' (palm olein oil) and 'Good health' (soy bean oil). And then came the reforms in the duty structure on imported oil. "The government increased the taxes on imported refined oil," They started importing crude oil, and outsourced the refining process and sold it under their brand name.

By now, the four sons of JR Dhingra had fully taken control of the business. The company had acquired one of the brands, which it used to distribute. "Vital was a brand owned by Britannia and later on sold to SM Dyechem. In 2004, they decided to set up a refinery of their own. In 2005, the company established their own refinery in Kandla district of Gujarat using German technology and machinery.

It was in 2008 that the company gave up the distributorship of all brands it was working for. "It was all because of backward integration. We set up market and distribution network so that there would be enough customers. The company has not limited itself to edible oil. In the year 2004, the group diversified and set up a plant for packaged drinking water and aerated drinks under the brand name of 'H2GO'. The group also manufactures salt by the name of Good Health, laundry soap, club soda and cola drinks. Today it has a distribution network of 1,200 distributors across the country and 22 depots along its length and breadth. It is celebrating the completion 25th anniversary of its inception.

Quoting former president, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, Naresh concluded, "Dreams are not those which are seen while you're sleeping. Dreams are those which don't let you sleep."

Cheers

Vivek

LAUGHING BUDDHA CONSULTING- Why??

KONECT INDIA is launching a second brand "LAUGHING BUDDHA CONSULTING" . LBC will purely consult on niche areas like Intellectual property rights, R&D(AR&D,FR&D),niche devices segments like Spine, Pulmonary Valves, Precision Ophthalmology,Oncology and the CRO sector.
LBC(Laughing Buddha Consulting) will usher a new freshness in these segments and will exhibit a never-seen-before consulting practices for the above segments.
Now ..why a second brand...well 2 reasons the first being a clear distinction in the consulting methodology for the segment and secondly..INNOVATION. one needs to constantly innovate. the lesson i learnt from NOKIA. iam a big fan of NOKIA(even now) but from numero uno a few years back to a state of groping-in-the-dark today,if one asks me.. why .. it would be INNOVATION(or lather lack of it). one needs to innovate not only the products but also the brand.a best example MICROMAX mobiles..
KONECT INDIA is purely a mass market brand(we will never dilute it), there were 2 options in front of us 1.we could have gone in to the niche segment with the brand KONECT INDIA 2. Not enter the niche segment at all.
We wanted to enter..no doubt about it.but with KI..not exactly..then we thought another entity-majority felt it would be a mistake(we still dont know if we got it right or we are doing a mistake)but then what is entrepreneurship if you dont take those chances. Then came WHAT NAME..many options were thrown in..KONECT,KONECT PLACEMENTS,KONECTing,etc. I was clear on one thing..NEW SEGMENT..NEW APPROACH,NEW IDENTITY..everything was new..so it will not have anything connected with the old brand(EXCEPT THE OWNER :) ). Hence a radically new name.
so we zeroed in on LAUGHING BUDDHA CONSULTING.

i have been told  : its a funny name for a serious business
My contention     : there is no business such as a serious business or a not-so-serious business.every   business is business..depends on how you do it.

i have been told : do you think it will work ?
My contention    : I don't believe in THINGS WORKING..i believe in MAKING THINGS WORK.

i have been told : Managing 2 brands is going to be difficult
My contention    : Think creatively..it's great fun(that's why we don't have a serious name)

i have been asked : which crazy guy's idea is this
My contention       : I just smile

i have been told  : This crazy idea might just crack it
My contention     :  I just smile

A lot of interactions, lot of thought has gone behind this move.It perfectly suits our long term business plans. I certainly hope ..He has the last Laugh..LAUGHING BUDDHA CONSULTING:).

Watch this space for more.

Cheers
Vivek..

From an IIM-A professor to a sadhvi

Subhashini Kaul, 41, who has authored several books and international papers, has renounced everything to lead a life of a 'sadhak' in a tiny apartment in Pune. Her husband Nitin, who headed human resource management at one of the biggest retail firms in the country, too, has renounced worldly allures and turned a fakir, sleeping at railway stations in different cities. 

In 2008, Kaul, who passed out of IIM-A in 1993, had filed a sexual harassment complaint against a faculty at IIM-A. The gender committee investigated the allegations and in its report in 2009, ruled against the charges levelled by Kaul. 

"It's not because of any incident that I turned a sadhak... but started feeling that all the effort one puts in the materialistic world to get ahead isn't worth it and God directed me to another way of life," said Kaul, who has worked with leading corporates and was on the advisory board of the International Congress on Pervasive Computing and Management. 

After resigning from the job in 2009, Kaul returned to Mumbai and started a consulting company with her husband, whom she married in 1998. The couple ran the company for some time before deciding to sell off their house in Mumbai and live an isolated life. 

"I moved to Pune and we hardly speak. I meditate for more than 10 hours and have forgotten everything of my past," said Kaul, who is now connected to a few friends. 

"That was a monkey world where everyone was in the rat race to get ahead. But I blame no one for the happenings in my life. I have pulled out from all relations. Now, I dance when I want to and sleep when I feel like it. An atheist earlier, now I feel closer to God," said Kaul. 

The faculty member Kaul accused in her complaint had vanished under mysterious circumstances from Devprayag in Uttarakhand last year and is still missing.