B U S I N E S S I N D I A • April 19,2009

Ex appeal W h y a l u m n i f r o m a f e w c o m p a n i e s are so p o p u l a r w i t h head -hun te rs across I n d i a I n c

Y ou'll go crazy if you try to speak to every ex-Citibanker who's at a board-level position," declares Sanjay Nayar. The

C E O of KKR India Advisors has a point. Glance through the resumes of the top professionals in the financial world and, more likely than not, you will find Citibank listed somewhere under 'Experience'. A former Citi employee himself - he was CEO, Citi South Asia, until a couple of months ago - Nayar glances through the proffered list of alumni and reels off another half-dozen names. "I'm sure there are many more I've missed," he muses.

Citi isn't the only leadership factory in India. Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) has an impressive track record in exporting talent to other consumer goods companies, even other indus­tries. Company officials believe there may be as many as 800 to 1,000 former H U L employees at board-level posi­tions across companies in India. In just the past two months , 550 alumni

signed up at a company-run dedicated website; of these, nearly 250 were senior executives and heads of compa­nies. Of course, HUL'S reputation as a 'school for CEOS' dates back several decades - the first Indian chairman of Hindustan Lever Ltd (HLL), Prakash Tandon, went on to head State Trading Corporation and Punjab National Bank after he left the company.

Citi and HUL may be the perennial favourites for poaching, but others are fast approaching their cult status. Wipro and ICICI Bank have not only groomed more than their fair share of present-day C-level executives, they are also generating a breed of entrepre­neurs who want to try their hand at creating wealth for themselves, rather than for their clients.

However, none of the CEO factories is being held up as a spectacular busi­ness success these days, ICICI Bank went though a crisis of confidence a few months ago, with rumours of impending bankruptcy. Tata Consul­tancy Services (TCS) and Wipro are

DHRUV GANDHI

worrying about the effects of American protectionist I T and outsourcing poli­cies, while Citi is surviving on US gov­ernment hand-outs. Under the circumstances, writing about these companies as talent nurseries is to adopt an exceptionally simplistic position, point out the devil's advocates in Business India.

But is it, really? After all, what has turned out to be the worst financial downturn since World War II has affected all companies across the world, regardless of whether they are leadership factories or talent importers. Even GE, which has been called the best school of management in the world, hasn' t been spared: the company's market capitalisation fell to under $100 billion in February 2009, the lowest in close to 20 years. And although the halo around Citi US has slipped and shattered, the Indian oper­ations of the financial group have remained more or less intact.

What makes organisations like these the first choice of head-hunters

• so*

B U S I N E S S I N D I A • April 19,2009 Cover Feature

THE ROLL OF HONOUR

Hindustan Unilever Ltd, Akhil Basrai. Global Head, HR IBM F •

Debashish Roy HR Director, Greater Asia Div. Colgate PatmoHve, Hong Kong

Akhil Gupta JMD and Group Director,

1 Strategy & Business Devp. J HbattiAkttL l| I : Amrit Thomas

Executive VP nitedSpirits 1

Sanjay Khosla Executive VP and President Kraft International

Sanjay Sehgal MD India and Reg Tech Ops Head APACSandoz

Debu Bhattacharya MD Hindatco

Santrupt Misra Director, Corporate HRD Aditya Blrla Group ~

ind Kripalu : President : CadburyAsia

Anjani Kumar a Choudhary

President, Farm Equipment Sector Mahindra & Mahindra

'I Anup Mathur | Senior Advisor

—ii Mahindra & Mahindra—

- >t -Ashok Venkatramani CEO

DShivakumar MD and VP \_ Nokia India

Hasit jjoshipura MD CSKPharma India

K Ramkumar Executive Director ICICI Bank

Naveen Kshatriy a CEO and M D Castrol India

R Gopalakrishnan Executive Director Tata Sons

Satish Pradhan Executive VP, HR Tata Sons

Srikanth Balachander CFO Bharti Airtel

Uday Khanna CEO Lofarge India

Utpal SenGupta Non-Executive VC Agro Tech foods

V Shankar MD Rallis India

Dalip Sehgal M D -Codrej Consumer Products

Damodar Mall CEO, Innovation and INCUBATLORI Future Croup

Ravi Dhariwal CEO Bennett, Coleman & COR-

Sadashiv Nayak CEO Food Bazar

V S Sitaram C O O Daburindia

Vlneet Taneja Marketing Head Nokia India

* The above list is not exhaustive J I N ™ ,

• Over 140 managers of IHUL currently serve Unilever globally, including Hansh Manwani, Vfndi Banga.

Sanjiv Kakkar, Arun Adhikiari and Sanjay Dube

on a recruiting spree? What is the 'cer­tain something' that sets apart senior executives horn these companies? Is it the quality of the seniors or the system that makes these leadership factories so prolific? And could the seemingly-never-ending pipeline of talent at these giants ever run dry? Business India stud­ied the issue, and came up with some interesting answers.

T h e l o w - d o w n o n t h e t o p job There's no such thing as the perfect C E O . The dream candidate to kick-start a sluggish consumer goods company during a boom phase may be com­pletely wrong for a private equity firm intent on consolidation during a downturn. Global business trends, the demands of the market, the maturity of the industry, the company profile and the targets it sets itself - all play a significant role in determining who is right for the top job at any given time. Still, without descending into stereo­type, recruiters and HR consultants agree that some basic attributes remain constant among senior managers.

At the top of the list for many head-hunters is proven cross-functional skills, the ability to manage and inspire teams and communicate effectively, and being results-driven. The best can­didates don' t hesitate to take complex decisions; they remain calm under pressure, show strong process orienta-, tion and are personally flexible in terms of mobility and willingness to learn. Oh, and they are big-picture thinkers, capable of a broader strategic vision for themselves and the organisa­tions they lead.

If that isn't a tall enough order, con­sider this. Of late, two more elements have moved across the page, from the 'desirable' to the 'imperative' column: international exposure and high levels of personal integrity. "The bar is being raised constantly," agrees MadhavSha-ran, regional market leader of the industry practice, Asia Pacific, at execu­tive recruitment firm Korn/Ferry Inter­national. "But, depending on the company's lifecycle, some skills will be more critical than others."

That's where companies like HUL, Citi, ICICI Bank, Wipro and TCS come in. Many talent brokers openly refer to these companies as "one-stop shops"

for their top executive requirements. Typically, a senioir leader's departure leaves a long tail: more resignations follow, either as his earlier team dis­bands or as he recreates it in the new organisation. Just take a look at the

management teams of HDPC Bank (ex-Citi), Mindtree Consulting (ex-Wipro) and Aviva (ex-Citi). "New companies are growing explosively, but lack the necessary internal resources, whether it is technology, people or finance. So

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Business India Sunday, 19 Apr 2009 Page# :50 Size : 1101.09 sq.cm.

B U S I N E S S I N D I A . April 19,2009 Cover Feature

they keep {going back to the well-tested, easily availlable sources," explains Sha-ran. Adds TCS vice president and head, global HR, Ajoy Mukherjee, "In a sense, TCS has b e e n the single-largest groom­ing groumd for rr professionals who have been i instrumental in shaping the Indian IT services industry."

A coup>le of disclaimers here. First, the gold sstandard of talent develop­ment amd people management

Psst! Want to be a CEO? W hich is the quickest way to the C-

suite? Working your way through the ranks at one organisation or switch­ing jobs every few years to leapfrog your way to the top? Both ideas have merit, say HR consultants and recruiters. Older, established companies like HUL, Citi, Wipro, ICICI Bank and TCS may prefer

T h e t h r e e a t t r i b u t e s o f l e a d e r s h i p A leader has the ability to .

• Demonstrate strategic sawy • Drive vallue creation for all • Build industry/

stakeholder credibility

. think strategically • Build operating muscle • Hold people to account • Confront reality decisively • Promote collaboration Sr

transparency

• Inspire h igh performance

• Understand and invest ini people

• Act as a role model

Source: BC(C experience

anywhere :still remains GE: the Ameri­can comp.any's track record in creating leaders is cover 100 years old and is still consideretd the best in the world. Sec­ond, HUL,, Citi and the others men­tioned in this article are only among the many companies that have pro­duced leaders for other Indian compa­nies in recent times. Old-timers recall how a couple of decades ago, the best bankers b o r e the Grindlays or State Bank of Iindia tag, and alumni from companies like Eicher, Asian Paints, N T P C andl SAIL were hired at a pre­mium. Incidentally, the frequently-mentione>d Tata Administrative Services (TAS) doesn't fit in here. An entry-level programme, it is supposed to groomi fast-track executives and provide tlhe base for senior managers of Tata ccompanies. But while TAS has been a useful programme for Tatas, o n c e TAS officers join individ­ual companies , they are groomed within t h o s e companies.

But t h e numbers these companies achieved don ' t really compare with those of, ssay, HUL and Citi, and they

relying on home-grown talent to fill top slots within their organisations, but newer companies and start-ups don't have the luxury of dipping into a readily available talent pool. Which means you stand a chance at a variety of companies -if you have what it takes.

aren ' t as omnipresent in today's resumes as perhaps they were some years ago. "These companies are hunt­ing grounds for talent developed in the past 20 or so years. Twenty years from now, business leaders may well come from other organisations," points out Namrita Jhangiani, partner at executive search firm Egon Zehnder International.

The portable manager Wipro and TCS professionals move on to other IT companies, and Citi and ICICI Bank executives typically stay on in banking and related financial ser­vices industries. Former Leverites, though, haven' t been bound by any such self-imposed restrictions. There is

So first, some introspection and self-knowledge. Be honest in appraising your strengths and weaknesses. Have you sep­arated yourself from the herd? Have you come to the notice of senior manage­ment or aren't they even aware of your existence? How much of what you've achieved is due to the environ­ment in which you operate, and how much is the result of your aptitude and effort? Answer these truthfully and then take the call.

Of course, a lot depends on the indus­try and function in which you operate. Some sectors reward opportunism - fre­quent job and company changes are most readily accepted as the fastest way to grow in sales and marketing. And regardless of the route you choose, don't pass up any opportunity to work abroad. Global exposure and experience in adapting to different cultures and work environments, developing cross-cultural sensitivities and managing the resultant stress are all critical prerequisites for today's leaders. "International exposure is a common denominator of all Citi leaders. It is hard to imagine a CEO of Citi India who doesn't have at least some international experience," agrees Ian Core, human resources head, Citi South Asia.

As a rule of thumb, if you are in a tal­ent-creating company and you are part of the top talent, you will do better to stick

at least one ex-HUL executive at the top deck of companies across a huge vari­ety of industries, from capital goods and heavy engineering (Hindalco, Lafarge), consumer electronics and media (Nokia, MCCS) to pharma (San-doz, GSK), automobiles (Mahindra & Mahindra), banks (ICICI Bank) and the more conventional foods and con­sumer goods (Cadbury, Kraft, Dabur and Godrej). (See The roll of honour)

What makes them extra portable and adaptable? Perhaps the variety of experiences Lever managers go through, thanks to mandatory job rotations. The managers at the helm of those companies earned their stripes at HLL between the 1960s and the 1990s, when the conglomerate was present in

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B U S I N E S S I N D I A • April 19, 2009 Cover Feature

on. This way, you get a better-than-aver-age shot at making it to the top job. Even if you're not among the stars, longevity will still pay off. By the time you reach middle and senior manage­ment, you would have had ample opportunity to differentiate yourself and not be just another face in the crowd. "Leave too early in your career and there is no guarantee you will be noticed in your next place of employment," warns Boston Consulting Group partner and director Vikram Bhaila.

Korn/Ferry International head, indus­try practice, Madhav Sharan, advocates a similar strategy. "Earlier, money was the main attraction in switching jobs. Now empowerment and growth are more important. By the time people complete 10 years in a company, they would have moved between businesses and functions and become well-rounded individuals. Some people may also realise that they will not reach the top within this organisation, so they can look outside when market opportunities come up," he says.

And there will be opportunities. The CEO factory stamp sets you apart in any case - even an average performer in a high-performing environment may be better than the top performer in a com­pany where the bar is not set so high. "Such a person may then stand a better chance of success outside," agrees Kalpana Morparia, chief executive offi­cer, jp Morgan India.

businesses ranging from industrial chemicals to animal feeds. From han­dling workers on tea estates and man­aging inventory at chemical factories to selling consumer products and dairy products, Levers executives could and did try their hands at virtually any aspect of business.

Job rotation makes a huge impact on the portability of a manager. "What you are learning is not about soap or a bank. You are learning to lead, to man­age, to create systems of control and to manage accountability. You are learn­ing to get a team to work together ener­getically; to convince a board; to give a tough message to the unions," points out Vikram Bhalla, partner and direc­tor at the Boston Consulting Group

(BCG). The emphasis at all times, then, is on creating leaders for the future.

Wired for growth Just how are these leadership factories tirelessly rolling out generation after generation of executives ready to move into C-suite across India Inc? The most important reason their assembly lines, keep moving without a hitch is, per­haps, attitude. "The wish to create leaders is a wiring issue. Either it's ini your DNA or it is not," says BCG'S Bhalla, who has been tracking talent management across several Indiarn companies for several years. He believes a large part of the extraordi­nary success of these particular compa­nies has to do with the way they were set up and the way they are run even today - the original leaders were so convinced of the importance of pro­moting talent that the idea has become ingrained into the organisations' psy­che. "Now, even when leadership changes, the thinking doesn't. For these companies, leadership develop­ment is part of the business model . They believe in hiring top quality, investing significantly in growing it and retaining only the best," he says.

Which would mean, by implica­tion, the HR department's role in peo­ple development is of a more recent origin. And although this in no way discounts the function's efforts to streamline and institutionalise the process, it would not be fair to give it all the credit for the robust talent manage­ment at these companies, say industry observers and talent scouts. In fact, specialised HR functions that go beyond mere administration and payroll activities are a fairly recent phe­nomenon at many of these talent nurs­eries, established long after practices like early responsibility, taking risks on people and rotating top performers became almost hygiene. "There was no structured training programme at ICICI when I joined (in 1975)," points out Kalpana Morparia, CEO India, JP Mor­gan, and the former strategy and com­munications officer and vice-chairperson for insurance, securities and asset management at ICICI Bank. "It was more on-the-job learning."

Indeed, the people management and development functions at the

talent factories appear to have evolved almost spontaneously, most likely as a consequence of the ideas and convic­tions of the original leaders and line managers (coming full circle to the 'wiring and D N A ' issue). "The culture of these organisations made it essential to grow talent and get high-calibre peo­ple," agrees Anita Ramachandran, C E O of human resource consultancy, Cerebrus Consults.

But rather than why, Ramachan­dran says she is more intrigued by how these companies are able to continu­ously provide talent of consistently high quality. "Keeping the average standard high is far tougher than developing the potential of a few high performers," she points out.

The answer may lie in overachiever work environments: more intense, high-powered and competitive; an emphasis on learning and the constant interaction with smart, successful peo­ple. Alumni from these companies agree with that reasoning. "The people in Citi are so good, the competition forces you to stay in touch and be up to speed on all developments," says Devinjit Singh, who last year quit an 18-year career with the bank to become managing director of Carlyle India Advisors, "HLL'S workplace is focussed on output. There is a high level of inter­nal challenge, so you need to work faster and smarter," adds V.S. Sitaram, chief operating officer, Dabur, also an 18-year veteran of the consumer goods company.

R. Gopalakrishnan's memories take h im back even further. Recalling train­ing in HLL during the 1960s, he says, "The company's depth of manage­ment meant there were people who could be icons to young trainees and junior executives. PrakashTandon and Vasant Rajadhyaksha were gods to me." Gopalakrishnan joined Tata Sons as executive director in 1998, after 31 years in HLL, the last three as vice-chairman of the company.

The top-down approach The hothouse environment plays a critical part in nurturing and growing talent, but it certainly isn't the only reason. There are also the intensive training and institutionalised talent development programmes (more on

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B U S I N E S S I N D I A • A p r i l 19 , 2 0 0 9 Cover Feature

Wipro A V S r i d h a r

rl 1 Founder, President, CEO

i Digitelne *

BVVenkatesh Founder, CEO, President Majoris Software

Rajiv Pant President, North America Hexaware—

i h A n a n t Kansai Rajendra Khare Ravi Bhat Founders (all three)

Rama Kumar Revathi Kasturi

Cautam Sinha Founder and CEO TVA Infotech

Founders (both) Tarang Software Technologies_

Ricky Bindra CEO NCEN Media Services

Anant R Koppar Founder

K B Chandrashekhar Sanjay Ananda ram Founder Founding Partner Exodus Comm. & e4e jumpStartUp Venture Fund

KTwo Technology Solutions

'. Anil Garg Amardeep Lakhtakia Founders (both) Info Knox

. . . f l

Ashok Narasimhan CEO and Co-founder

K Vaitheeswaran Co-founder and C O O Indiaplaza

Sridhar Mitta M D

e4e Labs

luly Systems

Murali Parthasarathy Sudip Banerjee C O O CEO Primus Engineers l&T Infotech

IP M Ashok Soota Chairman and Founder

*MSL. Sudip Nandy Executive Chairman CEO Mumgappa.Carpocate.Baafd Aricent

MindTree Consulting! PradeepKar Founder, CMD Microldnd '

* The above list is not exhaustive

that later), the quality of the incoming talent - also the resiult of stringent selection processes - and top leaders' commi tment to their human resources.

Analysts and company HR heads, without exception, believe that it is the last that distinguishes the CEO factories from wannabes. "Such an initiative is doomed to failure unless there is com­plete buy-in from the management committee and board on its impor­tance," says a Mumlbai-based talent management consultant. And it has to go far beyond lip service. "For a com­pany to be very successsful, talent devel­opment needs to be a management agenda, not just am HR agenda," explains Egon Zehnder's Jhangiani.

At Wipro, cha i rman Azim Premji

spends as much t ime on people as on business issues, says Ranjan Acharya, senior vice-president, corporate H R D . "He personally signs off all overseas postings and reviews performance-potential assessment for the top 200 executives," Acharya says, HUI. 'S management commit tee also spends about half its t ime on people issues. That includes issues ranging from recruitment, induction, mentoring, appraisals, target setting to identify­ing and grooming 'Listers', the com­pany's top performers, points out Leena Nair, vice-president, HR, South Asia, Unilever and executive director, HR, HUL.

At ICICI Bank, the C E O devotes five full days every year to the leadership empanelment process. Executive

directors spend close to 10 days on the same process, while the 250-odd talent scouts across the organisation tot up between 3,000 and 4,000 man-days in their quest for future leaders. The top managers are also expected to conduct leadership programmes, attend class­room Q&A sessions and be available for mentoring high-potential middle and senior managers. "For top leaders, the task of developing leaders is on par with bringing up children. That is the level of commitment you need. You should get goose bumps when your juniors succeed and have tears in your eyes when they fail," says K. Ramku-mar, executive director, HR, ICICI Bank.

If such involvement doesn't come naturally, these companies have mea­sures to ensure senior managers develop it - fast. At HUL, for instance, all employees are assessed on six criti­cal 'standards of leadership', including team alignment and their efforts at building superior talent. At ICICI Bank, a substantial portion of top managers' annual bonuses is linked to their ability to develop leaders and ensure succession cover for critical jobs.

Class acts When talent nurseries send their recruiters to the top B-schools and engineering colleges, their talent development programme is usually already underway: the process began with deciding who to hire and where to look for them. There's a double advan­tage to bringing on board the finest available talent. The young managers-in-the-making are already used to win­ning: they are relentless in their determination to succeed and are not afraid of hard work. "The Day Zero-Day One candidates at the leading schools have already been through very nar­row filters, so they really are the cream of the crop. The filters at campus recruitments then are more about cul­ture issues and fitment than technical skills," adds Korn/Ferry's Sharan.

If the recruitment is relatively uncomplicated, 'on-boarding' - when the newcomers actually join the organ­isation - is far more critical. That's because conventional wisdom holds that an individual's values and attitude to work are defined in the first six to 12 months of his career. For companies

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B U S I N E S S I N D I A • A p r i l 19, 2 0 0 9 c o v e r r e a i u r c

that place a premium on good gover­nance and ethical behaviour, this can be a heaven-sent opportunity: ensure that the newbies are exposed to the desirable culture and values and encourage interaction with senior colleagues known for their personal integrity.

HUL goes a step further. All new employees are required to complete mandatory online courses on the core values and culture of the company and what is expected and acceptable behaviour for employees, " H U L has the soul of a small company in the body of a conglomerate. We have a very down-to-earth, cost-conscious approach," says Nair. That attitude shows up in the company's management trainee programme, rechristened the Business Leadership Training (BLT) programme. Overhauled a few years ago to bring it more in line with HUL'S changing requirements, the 15-18 month struc­tured programme for freshers now includes a six-week international stint; but the original, four-week rural India spell, designed to teach budding lead­ers 'humility and sensitivity', remains unchanged.

Tailored training and induction programmes are common to the other companies as well and if they don ' t have the same cachet as the BLT and Citi's Management Associate pro­gramme (MAP), they are no less rigor-. ous. In fact, that is the hallmark of the management training programmes of all the talent providers. Citi's flagship initiative, MAP, for instance, is a two-year, high-intensity course that even bank officials concede is "not easy" and alumni describe in more colour­ful terms. "You feel like you've been passed through a churner, grinder and threshing machine - and then it begins all over again," says a former Citi executive, only half-joking. Ashu Suyash, M D , Fidelity India Fund, is more temperate. "Straight out of B-school, associates come with acade­mic knowledge. A longish induct ion brings them closer to reality and helps t hem understand what is expected of them," she points out.

Like the BLT, the MAP, too, includes international experience: associates are sent to Citi offices across Asia Pacific for four-week development training

courses. "Citi has a culture of taking in raw talent and then growing and devel­oping it. Many, if not most, of our lead­ers were recruited straight out of business school," says Ian Gore, human resources head, Citi South Asia. "The need to maintain balance and perspective while dealing with the inherent tension between creative innovation and discipline was the bedrock of the Citi school of manage­ment," adds Jerry Rao, founder and former chairman, MphasiS, and an ex-Citibanker.

Walking the talk More than the innumerable presenta­tions and classroom lessons, alumni swear by what they learnt on the job. The early experiences and real-life training that the development farms provide all their executives, and not just the high-potential candidates, help raise the performance bar organi­sation-wide - and increase the market value of their people.

It starts early, with trainees and new managers being moved regularly

between functions and businesses so they get a feel for the entire business, and also develop cross-functional capabilities, ICICI Bank's incoming CEO, Chanda Kochhar, has worked across businesses like corporate credit, infrastructure financing, e-commerce strategy and retail. In 24 years at Citi, Nayar held eight jobs across three con­tinents. Dabur's Sitaram covered per­sonal goods, soaps, detergents and foods at HLL India before moving to the strategic group at London, in over 18 years with the company. Gopala-krishnan's HLL portfolio covered IT, sales, brand management, public rela­tions, general management, interna­tional exports, running a group company abroad... "As soon as you became comfortable with one role, another challenge was thrown at you," he says.

The challenges weren't only of new areas of business. All these companies consider it a priority to define precise roles and accountability for their young recruits. "Nobody at Wipro is treated like a trainee for a year. We

G N Nagaraj Chief Technology Officer Reliance-Money -

mm | Harsh Roongta Ajay Srinivasan CEO I U h » n a Morpana CEO Apnapaisa CEO .AdityaSirtaBnanceSeiyices — IP Morgan India

A l u r i S r i n i v a s a R a o MD Morgan Stanley Pt

K S Harshan Executive Director federal Bank

Prakash Gurbaxany Founder QVC

i

Ajit Sarap RasheshShah Amey Saxena Venkat Ramaswamy jitesn Kothari Founders Retail Lahiri . .Edelweiss-Capital -Vinod Sudhindra Prakash Nene Vlvek Kumar - Corporate Director, Finance Founders (all six) ^Tk B h a r t i EnterPrises

Platinum Power Wealth tSM _ " " j ^ ^ ^ Sameer Chadha

Gaurav Deepak ^E*flHfe C O O

MP K A Chaukar . Barclays Snared Services Avendus MD . . . .

Toto Industries Shanta Valium Gandhi VP, Acquisitions & Partnerships American Express Banking

* The above list is not exhaustive

• 55<

B U S I N E S S I N D I A M April 19,2009 Cover Feature

-Adltya Purl MD

- HDFC Bank

| ? r r y R a ° _ Sanjay Nayar Founder g former ChWmarT~CEO^ - -MphgslS KKRJndia Advisors

Anil Ahuja Head of Asia Munish Sharda

Director, Direct Sales Force Aviva

^ Anil Jaqqia

; HDFC Bank

Paresh Sukhtankar Executive Director HDFC Bank

Former Head —CenttmonBank

|,j Ashu Suyash " — {. MD and Country Head

I Fidelity Fund Manager

! Devinjft Singh — J--MD

! Carlyle Croup India

Puneet Matta Head, Wealth Management Credit Suisse India

Rana Talwar Former CEO StanChart

Sunil Mehta Country Head and CEO AlCThdia

T R Ramachandran CEO Aviva India Life Insurance

i

_ j { G S Sundararajan i CEO and MD

- J JullertonJadia i

Gunit Chaddha MD and CEO

-Deutsche Bank —

Rishi Pipariya Director, Bancassurance Avbai .

Sandeep Ghosh Exc. VP, Commercial Banking Heacf-Asia Royal Bank of Scotland

V Vaidyanathan Executive Director ICICI Bank

Vikram Sud coo— Kotak Bank

* The above list is not exhaustive

believe in giving people early compre­hensive business exposure with inte­grated profit-loss responsibilities to help them grow," says Acharya. Not only do they help keep employees engaged, progressively larger responsi­bilities can also be a subtle barometer of an employee's career pa th . Hear Anil Ahuja, now head of Asia at private equity company 3i Asia, o n his initial years at Citi, "You were given responsi­bility very early. I was trade head at 27, responsible for over 200 people. But if you didn' t do that at 27, you couldn' t clear India by 35, Asia in another five years and you couldn' t b e C E O at 50. Not everyone would get thiere, but this way you at least had a shot: at it." Adds

Morparia, " ICICI has always done phe­nomenally well on spotting talent and taking risks on people. It is not limited by stereotypes of people and jobs. I experienced this first-hand when I was given effectively a supervisory role in March 1977, less than 18 months after I joined. This was followed regularly by assignments of increasing responsibility."

The wealth of experience apart, the C E O factories offer another advantage to their executives, who have recruiters queuing u p with offer letters: unsur­passed access to scale. At five years into HUL, for instance, an area sales man­ager handles business of about Rs250 crore - that 's the size of a small

company. "When these fresh bankers talk of closing dollar deals, they are referring to million-dollar deals. Gen­erations of public sector bankers proba­bly retired without ever dealing in those sums of money," adds the talent management executive quoted earlier. Not surprisingly, assignments at these companies assume a larger-than-life aspect, especially when compared to many other companies in India.

S-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g the point The initiatives towards recruitment, training and on-job direction are aimed at bettering the overall perfor­mance level in the organisation. There are also a chosen few, at every talent factory, who are singled out for star treatment. Consultants and talent hunters advise beginning the process of identifying, coaching and nurturing top talent early - preferably by Year II. That way, not only can you groom your high potential people the way you want, but by signalling that they have a bright future in the organisa­tion, you can keep them - and keep them engaged - for a longer time. Bhalla adds another reason, "You need to get into the game early. You will not get a C E O who can handle 10,000 peo­ple if you didn't teach him to handle an area with 25 people."

Nobody is rushing to tag their best and brightest, though, HUL looks at the growth potential of its BLTS three years after confirmation, while at Wipro, Acharya says leadership potential is considered only after someone has spent about seven years in the organi­sation. The young guns at TCS, too, need to bide their time. "The organisa­tional systems ensure that we identify and train potential leaders as well as key members in both the middle and senior managerial positions," says Mukherjee.

ICICI Bank hunts for leaders at three stages in their careers: the first time, within two or three years of campus recruitment, following which the can­didate is given select assignments and increased exposure across the com­pany. At middle and senior levels, suit­able candidates are considered for inclusion in a company-wide talent pool. The empanelment is a very serious three-month-long exercise

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B U S I N E S S I N D I A * April 19,2009 Cover Feature

every year, involving many levels of hierarchy, from the CEO down. "Lead­ership development requires DNA anchors - some heritage issues need nurturing and continuance and others built afresh with an eye on the future -as well as a strong structure in the form of a set of people with the ability to assess future leaders," says Ramkumar.

The talent academies depend on powerful review and selection processes that include benchmarking, 360-degree feedback, peer reviews and assessments on a performance-poten­tial matrix. Once an executive is identi­fied as high potential, he is provided with every opportunity to better him­self, his skill set and his performance, either through structured training in technical and soft skills, or through mentoring and coaching - all faithfully followed by periodic assessments and feedback to ensure the executive's career is on its correct growth path. Typically, the high-fliers are a very small, select group - certainly less than 10 per cent of any company's popula­tion, usually between 1 and 5 per c e n t -so monitoring isn't difficult. "When we talk about our very best talent with the greatest potential, we focus on a small percentage of Citi's population. There is no telephone book of names," agrees Citi's Gore.

Usually, none of these companies makes a song-and-dance of announc-. ing its star performers. (Of course, that's only the official line. Everyone in a particular industry knows who its best people are.) Individual feedback is given in some cases, but typically, more subtle signals are sent to the can­didates and their peers. At Citi, an 'orchestrated effort' is made to bring future leaders to the notice of senior management (for instance, by attend­ing meetings with board members as an observer); TCS sends them on spe­cialised programmes developed by Harvard Business School and other pre­mium institutes; Wipro sets them up with mentors from within and outside the company; and HUL does all these in part or whole measure. It also offers executives the chance to participate in 'short-term exposures' to Unilever offices in other countries, as well as informal peer group meetings back home (Beer and Brands, Lunch and

Learn, the Huddle and so on). Wipro and ICICI Bank have also set

up programmes in association with cross-industry companies like L'Oreal and GE, respectively. C-level executives from the bank also conduct leadership mentoring programmes in addition to customised programmes by external coaches like Ram Charan and C.K. Prahalad.

If top performers get special privi­leges, they are also first in line when it comes to tough assignments. Stretch assignments are an accepted practice at talent nurseries - jobs that require exceptional skills and talents. The high-flier will most likely possess a functional level of the necessary skills -

"The people w h o leave us are our best ambassadors. If you are a leader in a domain, y o u are the agenda setter and resource provider" -i c i c i ' s K. Ramkumar

certainly not enough to excel at the task. The challenge, then, is to pick up the necessary expertise on the job, which is usually among the toughest in the company. "Large successful organi­sations are trying to perfect a model where the objective is to stir-fry human talent," says Gopalakrishnan.

The more things change... If these companies are so good at developing talent and promot ing their people, why do their executives move to other organisations? (Inci­dentally, all companies maintain that attrition, at the senior and C-levels, is very, very low.)

Personal reasons, of course, are their own justification. Except one. A disin­clination to shift locations, either within the country or abroad, can be a career killer. In the current business environment, it is a decision that could transport you from the fast track to the dirt track.

At the tech majors and ICICI Bank, a number of middle and senior execu­tives leave to become entrepreneurs, a

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result of the company's culture, says Morparia, which "encourages these traits".

But the main reason top executives resign is the pyramidal corporate hier­archy. As Suyash succinctly puts it, "There is one top position. That is why you have so many Citi managers out­side." For t h e organisation, it is a logi­cal decision - given a choice between No.l and No.2 leaving, it would prefer No.2 quit. The departing candidate doesn't lose out either. With their experience and credentials, and the increasing number of start-ups and new ventures, senior and board level executives from these companies are welcomed with open arms at most companies, giving them a chance to a t tempt new challenges and new environments.

As the global downturn progresses, there may not be as many resignations. At the same time, the business environ­ment now is completely different from what prevailed earlier. "Until the mid-1990s, all good talent converged on these few organisations and they could cherry-pick talent," recalls Carlyle's Singh. That is no longer the case - busi­ness graduates today can choose from so many more options. Will these five retain their pre-eminent status as tal­ent providers to the nation over the coming decades?

There is no simple answer to that. Yes, managers have more choices. But there are also so many more managers today than there were in the 1970s and 1980s, with even more being generated every year as the number of manage­ment institutions multiplies.

How dot the companies react to los­ing some of their best people? Philo­sophically.

"The people who leave us are our best ambassadors. If you are a leader in a domain , you are the agenda setter and resource provider. You shouldn' t grumble about people being poached," says ICICI 'S Ramkumar.

The talent providers don' t consider this brain drain. In fact, it's almost a win-win situation, though they will never concede that. But think about it: as part of the company, the star per­formers make money for it; as alumni, they cont inue to make it look good.

• MEENAKSHI RADHAKRISHNAN-SWAM1