JIGYASA 2016 1
JIGYASA 2016 2
Contact us Team JIGYASA
MBA (Human Resource Development) Department of Commerce
University of Delhi, New Delhi—110007 Phone - +91 - 11 27662037 , 2766 2608
Email: [email protected] www.mibmhrod.com
JIGYASA 2016 3
About MBA (Human Resource Development) The MBA program in Human Resource Development was started in the year 1995 by the Department of Commerce, Delhi School of Economics with the objective of providing quality education to highly motivated young men and women so that they can provide professional expertise to business and industry in the twin areas of Human Resource and Organizational Development. Identified by NHRD and NTPC as premiere course in the field of Human Resource, MBA (HRD) (Previously known as MHROD) is a two-year full time professional program spread over four semesters, which combine gruelling academic schedules with proactive efforts to develop new perspectives and a higher level of knowledge and understanding. Going beyond books, theories and case studies to open new windows, MHROD helps young HR and OD experts to enter the increasingly competitive and constantly changing global economy equipped with the ability to face every challenge head on and emerge victorious.
About JIGYASA JIGYASA is an annual journal of M.H.R.O.D. The name signifies the nature and intent, which is to arouse or pacify curiosity i.e. Jigyasa. Being a non-profit, in-house, student initiative, first launched in 1997, the journal has ensured wide circulation and garnered appreciation from both the corporate and the academia. It is the compilation of articles, interviews, case studies and book reviews by stalwarts in their respective fields. It provides valuable insights and viewpoints of specialists in the field of Human Resource, Organizational Development and Management, and thus secured a place for itself in famous libraries nationally as well as internationally. The objective behind the initiation and evolution of the journal is to provide the readers with an idea of the complexities of working in the industry and to help broaden their knowledge base in the field of Human Resources.
JIGYASA 2016 4
MESSAGE FROM THE HEAD
With immense pleasure, I present forward the current issue of Jigyasa 2016, the annual journal of the Master of Human Resource and Organisational Development (MHROD) programme. Jigyasa primarily has been the platform of disseminating knowledge on Human Resource along with its varied dimensions. The journal has been successful in encouraging students, academicians, and the corporate leaders to share their ideas and opinions on various current topics on Human Resource Management and Organisational Development. In today's business environment of shifting paradigms of Human Resource, it is highly important to explore new dimensions and trends which are shaping the future of HR to be business driven. The current issue of Jigyasa touches upon various contemporary issues like Role of HR in bridging the gap in Gender diversity, HR transformation to Shared Services, Managing Below-Expectations Performance, Predictive Analytics, evolving feedback mechanisms in organisations etc. It is expected that the present issue would provide a perfect platform for deliberations on how businesses can be handled and sustained, primarily focusing and channelizing the most important asset of any organization, i.e. the Human Resource. I congratulate the Editorial Team for their hard work in producing this issue of Jigyasa and hope that it would provide a platform to professionals, students and academicians in the domain of Human Resource management and Organisational Development to express their insights on key issues pertaining to the business and Organisational Behaviour.
Prof. Kavita Sharma
Head, Department of Commerce
University of Delhi
JIGYASA 2016 5
MESSAGE FROM THE COURSE COORDINATOR
Dear Readers, Greetings from Department of Commerce, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi! It gives me immense pleasure Jigyasa (meaning curiosity) is an annual journal of MBA(HRD) (previously known as MHROD). The objective of JIGYASA is to disseminate concepts of professional management and contribute to a better understanding of the systems, resources, theory and performance of people in organizations. It encourages practitioners, academicians and professionals to share their valuable research work, knowledge, and their experiences in the corporate world to explore the new dynamics in the business arena. Current Issue of Jigyasa touches various dimensions of Human resources and include articles on Team Management, Role of HR in bridging the gap in Gender diversity, Shared Services, what they don’t teach you at Management/Business Schools, Global Mobility, Managing Below-Expectations Performance etc. from the authors associated with renowned companies like Yahoo, Titan Company Limited, Tata Steel, Reliance Jio, Xerox Technology, Averda, Ericsson, Kotak Mahindra Bank etc. Our budding managers encourage all categories of learners and learned to collect innovation of ideas and a cross cultural exploration in different facets of human resource management. The journal is an essential reading for everyone involved in personnel, training and other aspects of human resource management. I would like to congratulate the editorial team for their thrilling hard work and dedication to releasing Jigyasa on the occasion of the legendary convention of MBA (HRD). I also wish them all success in their future endeavors.
Dr. Urvashi Sharma
Course Coordinator – MBA (HRD)
Department of Commerce
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PATRONS
Prof. Kavita Sharma, Head, Department of Com-merce, University of Delhi Dr. Urvashi Sharma Course Coordinator - MBA(HRD), Department of Commerce
EDITORIAL BOARD Harshita Rai Roli Jaiswal Abhishek Chakrobrotty Tanay Tandon Sehba Iqbal TEAM JIGYASA Divyanshu Asthana Aishwarya Yadav Khushboo Mandal Rewant Katyal Abhinav Shrivastav Sahiba Sehgal
To our readers,
Human Resources has undertaken lot of change recently in various arenas like coach-ing, performance management, talent acquisi-
tion etc. as a result of changing the way to approach and do things. The thoughts, as-sumptions, beliefs, and values are evolving as
per the market conditions and this edition of JIGYASA introduce you to the shifting para-
digms of HR professionals and employees from the perspectives of eminent personalities from the business.
Moreover, this edition also highlights the
trends which will shape the future of HR which might help the companies to be com-petitive and proactive at the same time.
The credit for overwhelming success of this endeavour rests largely with the distinguished
authors who have contributed with their knowledge, thoughts, opinions and most im-
portantly, time. We hope this edition brings as much pleasure to all the authors, as it has brought to us in framing and compiling it.
We value the incomparable inputs of the con-tributors for this journal and thank them for infusing their knowledge and experience into
each article of JIGYASA .
We value your invaluable inputs and sugges-tions and hope that your journey though JIGYASA would be a pleasure
We look forward to your valuable feedback
and we are optimistic this edition of JIGYASA would be a thought provoking.
HARSHITA RAI (Editor - in Chief)
JIGYASA 2016 7
1. Retake Effect – Team Management
Harjeet Singh Khanduja, VP – HR, Reliance Jio Infocomm.
2. Human Resource Technology that connects new employees
Bala V Sathyanarayanan, CHRO, Xerox Technology
3. Bridging the Gap of Gender Diversity in the Organization – Role of HR
Kamalika Deka, Manager HR, Titan Company Ltd. 4. Success Vineet Gambhir, VP and Head, Yahoo
5. Befriend the Brain
Sudip Mukherjee, Proprietor | Trainer | Coach, Anchor NLP
6. Can Everything be Predicted?
Aparna Sharma, Director, Tata Steel Alloys Ltd.
7. Feedback….a Gift
Manager, Campus Recruiting, LinkedIn
8. What Employees want from New Recruits!
Dakshdeep Singh, Practise Head – Transitions and Consulting, People Strong
9. Positive Psychology – a field of utmost relevance for the coming decade
Vidya Muralidharan, OD and Leadership Development Consultant, Ashok Leyland Ltd
10. What they don’t teach you at Management/Business Schools in India?
Pooja Magoo, Manager – HR/ P&A, PEC Ltd
11. Transformation from Core HR to Shared Services
Neeraj Jasrotia, Sr Manager/DGM WFM/HRMIS (Unit Manager - Global Shared Services), Ericsson Ltd.
12. Information Asymmetry and Decision Making in Hiring and Succession Planning
Omar Farooq, CEO, AceProHR
13. Do not let your Employee to search Job using Company Resources: Gamify Employee’s
Performance
Reshmi Manna, Assistant Professor, IBS Gurgaon
14. Global Mobilty
Neetu Sonthalia, Project Specialist – Rewards and Talent, Averda Pvt Ltd.
15. A Leadership Crucible – Managing Below-Expectations Performance
Rishi Raj Gupta, HR Leader, Cipla Ltd.
16. Coaching – The Catalyst for Leadership Transformation
Makarand Khatavkar, Group Head – HR, Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd.
17. Why empower employees?
Vijay Kumar Shotriya, Department of Commerce, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi
18. Interview
Avadhesh Dixit, Head Global HR- Moody's Copal Amba
19. Interview
Rajan Kalia, Co – Founder, Salto Dee Fe
20. Age of Millennials and iGeneration- Changing Paradigms of HR
Juhi Jain, Student, Department of Commerce, University of Delhi
21. Cultural Impact on Negotiation
K Naga Deepika, Student, IIM – Indore
JIGYASA 2016 8
Santa was working with a soc-
cer team. Team owner and
Coach used to select the play-
ers. There were defined num-
bers of positions in the team.
Each position required a spe-
cific skill set for team to suc-
ceed. Once team was selected,
team used to sit together and
plan the strategy for the year.
The participation in the overall
strategy planning was critical.
This made each and every one
responsible and accountable.
They believed that Shared
vision brings commitment
and responsibility. Although
Santa was a mere attendant,
it was made sure that Santa
shares the common vision of
the team and is equally com-
mitted.
The culture was very open.
Everyone had clearly defined
roles and everyone in the team
was clear about each other’s
role. Processes were clearly
defined. If someone gets hurt
on the field, alternate was al-
ways ready. Team used to
work hard and practice
enough to ensure perfect co-
ordination for the moment of
truth “Show Time”. Apart from
openness, there was a brutal
performance orientation. If a
person is not performing due
to whatever reason, perfor-
mance feedback was given
and person used to step aside
for the sake of the team. Santa
was very happy with the pro-
fessional environment.
One fine day Santa got an ex-
cellent opportunity to work for
his childhood passion. Without
thinking too much, Santa left
his soccer team job for the sil-
ver screen. Santa always ap-
preciated the magnificent sets
and aura of movies. He had
read about the big budgets of
the movies and had a desire to
make big money. However
since it was his first move in
the movies, Santa compro-
mised on the salary and joined
his dream.
On the very first day, Santa
was shocked to see the shoot-
ing location for the movie. Lo-
cation was a shattered work-
shop outside the city covered
with dust and cobwebs. Hy-
giene standards were pathetic.
In middle of the chaos, there
was an elaborate set surround-
ed by cameras. Santa took
some time to come to terms
with the place itself. Then San-
ta realized that there were ex-
cellent caravans available for
stay but Santa was not eligible
for those caravans. Caravans
were reserved for Lead actors
and Director. Coming from flat
structure, this hierarchy fur-
ther added to the grief of San-
ta. Intangibles hurt more than
tangibles.
Another aspect which hurt
Santa badly was the “Time”. In
Soccer team, every one used
to practice hard for the fixed
time. Once in a while, Santa
was made to put long hours.
In movie shooting, the day
used to start late but there
was no end to it. Many a
times, Santa used to sit idle
and wait for instructions. San-
ta approached Director. Direc-
tor told him that Santa is not
HARJEET SINGH
KHANDUJA
Harjeet is a HR leader, writer, speaker and a na-tional poet. He is an alumnus of IIT Roorkee and IN-SEAD. He is cur-rently working as Vice President HR at Reliance Jio In-focomm. Harjeet is a Linked Power Profile. He is awarded for his “Outstanding con-tribution to Global Learning” by World HRD Congress and received HR Lead-ership Award by Asia HRD Con-gress
Harjeet is a SAP HCM Solution con-sultant, Six Sigma Green Belt, White Belt in Executive Coaching, Asses-sor for Predictive Index, visiting fac-ulty at NMIMS and Corporate Advisory Board Member for Chandigarh Univer-sity. This Chicken Soup writer is pub-lished in several leading HR Maga-zines.
RETAKE EFFECT—
TEAM MANAGEMENT
JIGYASA 2016 9
paid to sit idle. Santa should be
rehearsing all the time. Santa
tried rehearsing the script given
to him but Santa was not clear
of the context. What kind of
emotions Santa was expected to
deliver. Reason was that Santa
got his portion of the script not
the full script of the movie.
Santa tried to get the full script
of the movie legitimately. Santa
was made aware that script is
secret and cannot be shared.
Santa was used to phenomenon
of “Shared vision” and was not
able to appreciate secrecy. More
so, secrecy was affecting his
performance. Any time director
would call and ask him to per-
form. Santa was not able to per-
form to the satisfaction of Di-
rector due to lack of context.
Also there were no performance
standards. It was all in the head
of the Director. This used to
bring lot of public mocking for
Santa.
Santa consulted his friend Ban-
ta. Santa cursed the culture of
the movie production for hours.
Banta advised Santa not to jump
at conclusions. Banta explained
that culture is an offshoot of
the work which is being per-
formed. Soccer team culture is
open because Soccer team per-
forms in front of live audience.
All the players have to own re-
sponsibility of winning or los-
ing. In movie perfection is to be
achieved and the responsibility
of success and failure rests with
the director. Soccer team gets
multiple chances. If they lose
one game, they have a chance
of winning the next game.
Whereas movie once released
does not get another opportuni-
t y t o r e c o v e r .
Soccer team believes in perfor-
mance orientation because play-
ers have to take decisions on
the field at a split of a second,
which cannot be changed. Mov-
ie director gets a chance to
edit the bad performances.
Retakes bring in flexibility to
see what works, and suits the
best for the movie. External
environment in movies is ex-
tremely competitive and poses
extreme threat. If someone
steals the idea or script, entire
investment can go waste.
Hence secrecy pitches in and
openness in culture goes
away. In the soccer world,
alignment with the team is
competitive advantage. When
it comes to movie, alignment
with the director brings com-
p e t i t i v e a d v a n t a g e .
Santa understood that both
the cultures are unique in their
own way. Cultures are created
to serve a purpose. Organiza-
tions running continuous op-
erations work as a soccer team
to be successful, working on a
philosophy of making every-
one in the system accountable
and responsible. On the other
side, Project organizations be-
have as a movie production
house and aspire to deliver an
excellent product.
Banta further refined and said
that Purpose of organization
does have an impact on cul-
ture but the fundamental dif-
ference in culture comes from
the flexibility to correct mis-
takes in the project duration.
One can picture perfect the
project before taking it to the
customers. This flexibility is
known as “Retake effect” and
is responsible for culture dif-
ference in continuous opera-
tions and projects. After un-
derstanding the difference,
Santa found it easy to adapt to
the environment and since
then, has been doing well in
the movies.
JIGYASA 2016 10
When your company has been
in operation for more than
100 years, it is not unusual to
find processes that have not
been updated for a while. A
subset of my team did a re-
view of and discovered our
onboarding system was one of
such process.
The review soon led to a full-
blown project that involved
revamping and updating the
onboarding process to align
with the company’s current
strategy, present employee
base and modern technology.
We had discussions with our
internal technology team to
see if we could create a user-
friendly system for our new
hires.
I share this story to highlight
how technology has changed
and continues to change the
way we do Human Resources.
From hiring to onboarding,
from enabling virtual work to
providing numerous opportu-
nities for better collaboration
with colleagues globally, tech-
nology is definitely a major
determinant of successful HR
departments.
Two examples: mobility and
recognition
Mobile technology is especially
interesting to me, mostly be-
cause one of our goals in HR is
making the Xerox Technology
Business an attractive place
for millennials. It is no longer
news that millennials are tak-
ing over the workplace or that
they are addicted to their mo-
bile phones and tablets. As an
employer of top talent, it is
important that I am reaching
potential great employees
across every platform they can
be found.
It is also critical that our brand
is easy to engage with for this
subset of the global working
population, without alienating
other generations. A good ex-
ample was when our learning
program was made available
on a mobile platform, we saw
an increase of approximately
40 percent in in engagement
across the entire organization.
Another major area where HR
technology has enabled our
business success is in the area
of global growth.
As multinational firms like
mine expand their presence
and footprints globally, it is
easy for the original culture,
business values and strategy
to get “lost in translation” as
they cross borders.
For example, a company head-
quartered in the United States
might recognize its U.S. em-
ployees through a simple re-
ward system that allows them
build points that can be
cashed out at a certain level
for gift cards, cash and more.
How can this company ensure
that:
Its system of reward is
not perceived wrongly in
BALA V SATHYANA-RAYANAN
Bala V Sathyana-rayanan is cur-rently working as an Executive VP of Business Transformation & CHRO, Xerox Technology and has a work expe-rience of more than 25 years in the field of HR working with the various organiza-tions viz. Hewelett-Packard, Avavya Inc., Polaris Soft-ware, Coca Cola Inc. A recipient of prestigious Out-standing 50 Asian American in Business Award, organized by the Asian American Busi-ness Develop-ment Centre.
HUMAN RESOURCE TECHNOLOGY
THAT CONNECTS NEW EMPLOYEES
JIGYASA 2016 11
a country with a different
culture of compensation?
The differences in curren-
cy value does not lead to
unfairness in the recogni-
tion system?
With recent HR Technology,
these questions have been easi-
ly and efficiently answered with
little or no added cost. Numer-
ous organizations offer compa-
nies like mine simple technolo-
gy solutions that ensure fair
and consistent reward and
recognition across borders
As businesses try to under-
stand, comprehend and deliver
growth outcomes in today’s
global, digital, mobile, context
centric environment, HR must
step up and evolve.
Firms need to think “outside the
box” and consider a broader
tool kit with mobile, social and
analytical functionality that at-
tracts, engages and grows indi-
vidual talent if they are keen to
succeed.
That is what we are doing at
Xerox.
JIGYASA 2016 12
Anita, a post graduate from a
premier Business School is do-
ing extremely well in her pro-
fessional career. After spend-
ing 4 years in the organiza-
tion, she is on Family Way.
There has always been a sense
of insecurity in her mind
whether she would be able to
pursue her career after she
comes back from her materni-
ty break.
One reason is whether her
organization would have the
confidence to assign the
same role to her after she
comes back (Job Insecurity)
and the second is if she
would be able to manage her
family (Family Responsibili-
ties).
This is Not only the case for
Anita but for many aspiring
women in this world. Manag-
ing Career and Family is a big
challenge in women’s life.
The perception still prevails
that men have the decision
making power. Discrimination
of gender exists where women
are not given equal status. Of
the 195 independent countries
in the world, only 17 are led
by women. Women hold just
20 percent of seats in parlia-
ment globally. In India, 11 per-
cent of seats in Parliament are
held by women.
The percentage of women in
leadership roles are even low-
er in the corporate world. 4
percent of the Fortune 500
CEOs are women. In the US,
women hold about 14 percent
of executive officer positions
and 17 percent of board seats.
The gap is even worse for
women of color, who hold just
4 percent of top corporate
jobs, 3 percent of board seats
and 5 percent of congression-
al seats. Throughout Europe,
women hold 14 percent of
board seats.
In India, women hold about 5
percent of directorships
among 100 companies listed
on the Bombay Stock Ex-
change. 11 percent of the top
240 Indian companies had fe-
male CEOs.
There has been always differ-
entiation in compensation
paid to men compared to
women. In India, women earn
about 72 percent of men’s an-
nual pay. I
n 1970, American women
were paid 59 cents for every
dollar their male counterpart
made.
By 2010, women protested
and went all the way to raise
that compensation to 77 cents
for every dollar men made.
There are few countries where
women are denied from their
basic rights. It has been re-
ported that worldwide about
4.4 million women and girls
are trapped in the sex trade.
In places like Afghanistan and
Sudan girls receive little or no
education, wives are treated as
property of their husbands
KAMALIKA DEKA Kamalika Deka is work-ing with Titan Company Limited as Manager –HR based out of New Delhi. She is currently manag-ing HR Business Part-ner role for Watches & Accessories and Eye-wear divisions for North India. She has 9+ years of work experience in managing Human Re-source Function. She is part of Tata Group’s Affirmative Action Pro-gram as an Assessor and has assessed com-panies like Tata Power Delhi Distribution, Tata Steel Processing and Distribution Ltd & Tata Capital. She is also part of Ethics Committee of Titan as an Ethics Coun-sellor and member of North ICC committee for POSH. She is a member of CII’s Regional Com-mittee for Affirmative Action – North. She was awarded “Child Scien-tist” award at National Children’s Science Con-gress, 1995 and also many awards at various State-Level ( Assam), North- East level and National level debating competitions during 2003 -2004. She is a Chartered President of Interact Club of Don Bosco Don of doomdooma and life member of NHRD Net-work.
BRIDGING THE GAP OF GENDER DI-
VERSITY IN THE ORGANIZATION—
ROLE OF HR
JIGYASA 2016 13
and women who are raped
are cast out of their homes
for bringing dishonour to
their families. Some rape
victims are even sent to jail
for committing a “moral
crime”.
Coming to the workplace, at
a time there are only 31 per-
cent of organizations who
have taken action to improve
gender diversity on their
board (CIPD 2015).
In this case, it is a big chal-
lenge for HR to imbibe this
culture in the organization
through senior manage-
ment/leaders. For any
change in an organization, it
is necessary that the change
is driven from the top and
they take the whole organi-
sation with them in the
change journey. They need
to embrace the change and
constantly lead the change.
This in turn becomes the cul-
ture of the organization
where every employee from
top to bottom truly embraces
diversity. It was also found
through surveys (Executive
Online) that 33 percent of
senior officers doubt the val-
ue of boardroom gender di-
versity.
A 2012 Talking Talent Study
of 2,500 women profession-
als from the UK pound that
71percent highlighted rigid
career options and 79 per-
cent inflexible working prac-
tices as the main hinders to
career development. In such
scenarios, HR has to play an
important role in diversity
and inclusion in the organi-
zation, through innovative
policies & practices.
The word inclusion is very
important as without inclu-
sion, diversity is simply not
sustainable. Diversity and in-
clusion cannot be a long term
goal through a quota system
alone at workplace.
It is indeed important to en-
courage women to take up
higher responsibilities and at
the same time create the inclu-
sive atmosphere where women
can thrive. Employer of equal
opportunity will have a strong
say on this. It has come out in
one of these studies in 2014
that companies which have
performed financially well,
have a good proportion of
women in leadership roles.
For example, Microsoft has a
Diversity and Inclusion Council
formed by them senior lead-
ers, who are in-charge of im-
plementing programs to adapt
better diversity and inclusion.
The council drives initiatives
like mentoring them women
employees in their career de-
velopment, interactions with
senior leaders, etc.
It is very important for an or-
ganization to identify talents
within the ecosystem. This will
add more value to the organi-
zation rather than differentia-
tion at workplace.
Creating Talent Pipeline in an
organization for future and
training them through rigor-
ous talent development pro-
cess will create a sense of ex-
citement among employees
irrespective of gender differen-
tiation. This will give equal op-
portunity for all to climb up
the ladder for his/her career
development.
“ HR has to play
an important
role in diversity
and inclusion in
the organiza-
tion, through
innovative poli-
cies & practic-
es.“
JIGYASA 2016 14
Having said this, around 43
percent of women with chil-
dren leave jobs because of
their family needs. So how
do we encourage these wom-
en to come back work?
This is where HR needs to
innovate strategies. Compa-
nies like Tata, Accenture,
Birla, etc. have wonderful
programs like Second Career
Program for women who
take breaks in their career.
There is a feeling of insecuri-
ty among working women,
whether their employer will
offer the same role to her
when she returns from her
parental leave. So it is very
important that an organiza-
tion has a “Work Return Poli-
cy”. This helps in setting
clear expectations and com-
munication from both sides.
In the recently announced
new maternity benefit bill in
Parliament of India, the min-
istry has taken up to pro-
mote the concept of work
from home in order to in-
crease women participation
in the workforce. The culture
of 'Flexi' is working hours
attracts employees as it is a
step towards maintaining
their work-life balance. The
term 'Flexi working hours'
does not cater to only work
from home options, but also
many other innovative op-
tions which many companies
have adapted for improving
work life balance.
An organization also needs
to have consistent programs
in place focused for women
employees, which would con-
tribute to overall holistic de-
velopment.
These would increase the
confidence level and encour-
age taking up more responsi-
bilities. Companies need to
then also make the policies
around inclusion and making
the work place safer for wom-
en. It should be mandatory for
every organization to have a
policy on prevention of harass-
ment and anti- discrimination.
To bridge the gap of Gender
Diversity in an organization,
HR needs to take a very broad
view - starting from head
count to building up capabili-
ties. There is a marked drop in
percentage of women com-
pared to men as it goes up
from entry level to senior level
across organization drops.
Hence there is less number of
women represented in the
leadership role. Therefore, if
an organization really cares
for the cause of diversity, the
organizations need to put pro-
grammed in place to build up
their capabilities of their fe-
male employees. There
should be mentoring pro-
grams and provide for cross
functional exposures along
with many other talent de-
velopment activities, which
will make the female em-
ployees like Anita to look
forward to come back to
work after her parental leave
and give her the confidence
to take up higher responsi-
bilities and become a future
leader.
“It is very im-
portant that
an organiza-
tion has a
“Work Return
Policy”. This
helps in setting
clear expecta-
tions and com-
munication
from both
sides.
In the recently
announced
new maternity
benefit bill in
Parliament of
India, the min-
istry has taken
up to promote
the concept of
work from
home in order
to increase
women partici-
pation in the
workforce.”
JIGYASA 2016 15
On a warm summer day, a
little boy walked with his fa-
ther. Delighted to see a wa-
ter puddle on the road
ahead, he raced, only to find
it vanish. “Mirage, an optical
wonder”, smiled the father.
Successes and failures are a
whole lot like mirages.
We visualize success, imagine
what it looks like. Sometimes
we attain it but don’t realize
we have done so.
Sometimes we attain it, but
quickly move on to attain the
next one.
And sometimes, we are run-
ning towards it when sudden-
ly, failure extends a leg,
makes us trip and fall flat on
the ground. And the Tom and
Jerry chase between success
and failure goes on.
Let’s demystify this mirage.
Let’s prepare a fool proof plan
to fail. Forgets CSFs (Critical
Success Factors), let us talk
Critical Failure Factors or CFFs.
Don’t forget that robust Fail-
ure roadmap and a Failure ac-
tion plan. So what would a
great failure project plan look
like?
1. Resources: What if I cut
my project resources by
30%, 50%, 75%. What will
need to be dropped? How
would I do the work?
What alternatives do I
have?
2. Time: No deadlines
please. What is the long-
est I can delay the result?
3. Cost: WooHoo. I am on a
shopping spree. What
would I need to do to
overspend the budget?
Let me think of all the
wasteful and unnecessary
expenses
4. Speed: Snail is my hero.
How much can I drag
each task? I delay one
task and I can easily see
how the interdependent
milestones will slow
down as well.
Now we place the Mirror of Re-
ality before our Failure plan.
Yes, you got it—you are star-
ing at your best laid out suc-
cess plan.
You just thought of everything
that could have come in your
way-while you were focused on
the outcome of success.
You find this surprisingly re-
laxing, much more than when
you are defining success
where the fear of failure could
make you anxious.
VINEET GAMBHIR
Vineet Gam-bhir is the VP & Head of Tal-ent for Yahoo in APAC based in Sin-gapore. Vineet is a seasoned HR executive with over 20 years of internation-al experience in human re-sources, HR information systems and global opera-tions. Having worked in di-verse markets including the US, China, In-dia and Singa-pore, Vineet has led, built and managed HR as a stra-tegic partner for the busi-ness.
SUCCESS
JIGYASA 2016 16
You see, when we are sitting
in a room with the lights on,
we do not often plan for
darkness—when the room
plunges into darkness, we
fumble for a matchstick, a
source of light, navigational
guidance.
This is the paradox of suc-
cess. To chase light, we must
plan for darkness.
To chase wisdom, we must
plan for ignorance. To chase
fearlessness, we must plan
for fear. And similarly, to
chase success, we must plan
for failure.
By doing so, we inch even
closer to success.
“Come, let’s race to the mi-
rage ahead.” The father
dashed. Splash! His trousers
got wet. The mirage was not
a mirage after all. “Mirage of
a mirage, Dad?” “ I guess
so, I guess so” …….
“We visualize
success, imag-
ine what it
looks like.
Sometimes we
attain it but
don’t realize
we have done
so.
Sometimes we
attain it, but
quickly move
on to attain
the next one.”
JIGYASA 2016 17
“I do not teach anyone I only
provide the environment in
which they can learn”― Albert
Einstein
Meanwhile somewhere in the
Training world....
Scenario 1. You are a Manager
in the Human Resources De-
partment of a company look-
ing to get your employees
trained and hence approach
one from the plethora of
Trainers and Training compa-
nies across the country spe-
cialising in 'Team Building', or
'Communication Skills' or
'Leadership and Motivation'.
The training is loved by the
team, the Trainer posts the
pictures of happy faces all
over Facebook, LinkedIn, Twit-
ter and Instagram. After 3
days or 5 or a week, your em-
ployees are back to what they
were - all issues that were ap-
parently 'cured', fully intact as
if the training had been a
dream.
Scenario 2. You, at one point
in your life, decide that you
want to be a Trainer and/or a
coach (advice is the most
freely disbursed item in the
history of mankind - leaving
the second entity - 'smiles' -
way behind). You figure out
after deep introspection that
THIS is your life's purpose and
look around to arm yourself
with the tools of the trade.
There are innumerable certifi-
cations that claim to make you
a Trainer/Coach viz Master
Trainer, TTT, TA, NLP, Image
Consultancy, ICF, Maxwell
Goldsmith, Dale Carnegie -
you need a glass of water or
something stronger, just to
sort that kind of information!
So you select one or more such
certifications and jump in
waist deep into the madness
and as you read this article,
you will realise that no one
tells you the 'whys and hows' -
just the whats!
Scenario 3. You are a success-
ful Trainer and have been
training people from all indus-
tries in 'soft skills' and are now
looking to raise your value to
the next level. And again you
are conflicted as to what you
should do and how do you re-
invent yourself to become the
best from just 'good'.
The answer to all the three
scenarios lies in understand-
ing how the human brain
learns new things. And how
you can change existing pat-
terns and therefore help your
trainees attain the third and
fourth levels of Kirkpatricks
Levels of Evaluation (just to
jog your memory those are
Reaction, Retention, Results
and Impact).
We thus come to the question
that will address all these is-
sues and empower you to be-
come the 'Meta Trainer' - a
Trainer of a higher grade than
all Trainers because you will
know how learners learn, and
therefore can be 'in charge' of
the process of learning.
BEFRIEND THE BRAIN
SUDIP MUKHERJEE
A Trainer, Coach and a behaviour-al specialist and Consultant for Organisations seeking to raise the level of their excellence. For schools and col-leges and educa-tional institu-tions to be better educators and proactive social transform-ers. An NLP Master Practi-tioner and NLP Trainer and Reiki Master, currently working on a Ph D in Psychology and an experi-enced Coach helping get rid of self sabotaging thought pat-terns. Experience in active army op-erations, logis-tics and training for more than 21 (including a ten-ure with the Unit-ed Nations) and corporate experi-ence of being a Vice President of an airline.
JIGYASA 2016 18
What is Learning?
At the core, learning is
change. Learning changes
the physical structure of the
brain and results in its or-
ganization and reorganiza-
tion. Learning is always hap-
pening—consciously and un-
consciously. We learn a new
word, a new song, a new app
on the phone, a new route, a
new joke...Yet, when develop-
ing training for business en-
vironments, we spend most
of our time focused on the
content we want people to
know rather than how they
will learn. As a result, we fail
to engage them at the neural
pathway level, and therefore
fail to help them transfer
their knowledge into action.
Certainly, good instructional
design can go a long way to-
ward getting it right. Even at
its best, however, it misses
out on some powerful new
insights into the workings of
the brain—insights that can
help us create learning expe-
riences that are both more
effective and more efficient.
And, more often than not,
learning professionals strug-
gle to stand up to the pres-
sure to get quantities of in-
formation to learners quick-
ly.
Training buyers often feel
they get more for their mon-
ey if they can include more
content in a training session.
Neuroscience offers a way to
think about the design of
learning activities and pro-
grams. A biological approach
cuts through the clutter of
potentially conflicting learn-
ing theories. By moving be-
yond theory to empirically-
based statements, 'proven'
takes on a new meaning.
The aim of learning is NOT
retention - it is perfor-
mance! Your first reaction
after reading the sentence will
perhaps be 'what nonsense -
learning is for knowledge' or
something similar. However,
as you process this infor-
mation, you realise that you
only learn things that you will
utilise in the future (and thus
your performance). How many
of you have set the clock on
your microwave? My guess,
very few! Because you don't
need to use that clock. As op-
posed to, within no time, you
learn all the features that you
use on your new mobile phone
while there would be some fea-
tures, you don't even know ex-
ists till someone draws your
attention to it.
What changes in our brains
when we learn?
Fortunately, there have been
some fascinating insights
surfacing from the fields of
cognitive neuroscience and
educational psychology. In-
sights allowing a deeper un-
derstanding of how the brain
works, as well as how we can
develop educational practices
that take advantage of these
understandings. Neuroplastic-
ity is perhaps the single most
important concept in terms of
learning and the brain. The
knowledge that our brain is
constantly changing and grow-
ing—that cortical plasticity ex-
tends throughout the human
lifespan—shifts our under-
standing of what is possible
for adult learners. Learning is
not just changing external be-
havior, but changing the very
wiring of the brain as it relates
to those behaviors. Deep, last-
ing change is possible at all
ages.
For optimal learning to occur,
the brain needs conditions un-
der which it is able to change
in response to stimuli
(neuroplasticity) and able to
produce new neurons
(neurogenesis).
“fascinating
insights sur-
facing from
the fields of
cognitive neu-
roscience and
educational
psychology.
Insights allow-
ing a deeper
understanding
of how the
brain works,
as well as how
we can develop
educational
practices that
take ad-
vantage of
these under-
standings. “
JIGYASA 2016 19
The most effective learning
involves recruiting multiple
regions of the brain for the
learning task. These regions
are associated with such
functions as memory, the
various senses, volitional
control, and higher levels of
cognitive functioning. These
common-sense healthy hab-
its promote optimal learning
performance in two ways.
First, they promote neuro-
plasticity and neurogenesis.
Second, they keep cortisol
and dopamine at appropri-
ate levels.
The advancement in neuro-
science has also flipped the
tenets of Bloom’s taxonomy.
The human brain doesn't
work in the sequence of re-
member - understand - apply
-analyse - evaluate - create.
You can start off at create
and go on to remember. In
fact, learning in that case is
the function of the learner
and therefore more effective.
Learning begins with con-
necting with what we already
know. There is a neuronal
network in the brain for eve-
rything we know. Every fact
we know, every idea we un-
derstand, and every action
we take assumes the form of
a network of neurons in our
brain. (Remember Known to
Unknown, Simple to Com-
plex and Concrete to Ab-
stract that you were taught
in B Ed or in the TTT you at-
tended?)
Brain structure dictates that
learning design should begin
with what the learner knows.
The challenge is that one
person’s network does not
resemble another person’s
network and that these net-
works are both complicated
and tangled. Using the learn-
er’s networks as the starting
point requires a significant
shift from the view of learn-
ing as imparting knowledge.
Neuroscientists have shown
that dopamine levels increase
as we anticipate a reward.
They rise even more if an ele-
ment of blind chance deter-
mines whether we actually get
the reward. Dopamine uptake
in this specific context can
lead to heightened emotional
responses and increased en-
gagement. Moreover, tickling
the brain’s reward circuitry in
this way can enhance the for-
mation of new memories.
When we learn something,
what we’re doing is exercising
our brain in a specific way.
Just as in physical exercise, it
stimulates our body to
strengthen and grow the part
of the body being exercised.
In physical exercise, we’re not
making new muscle cells,
we’re making existing ones
stronger. Similarly with learn-
ing we’re not able to make
new brain cells although we
are able to create new connec-
tions between existing cells.
By re-visiting the information
and observing it in different
ways, we’re strengthening this
connection, a process that
helps us to further understand
the information and recall it
more readily.
So what would make you a
Meta Trainer?
Start with the brain. Under-
stand how the brain processes
information. It doesn't matter
what you want learners to do,
it matters what the brain does.
Just because you or they want
to do it, doesn't mean that the
brain will let them. You will
know what I mean if you have
used the Stroop Effect.
The brain is active. Don't pre-
sent to learners and expect
them to absorb. The brain has
limited computational power
(Remember Neuro linguistic
programming (NLP) and
“When we
learn some-
thing, what
we’re doing is
exercising our
brain in a spe-
cific way. Just
as in physical
exercise, it
stimulates our
body to
strengthen
and grow the
part of the
body being ex-
ercised.”
JIGYASA 2016 20
George A Miller's 7+2 Theo-
ry?). The brain can not pro-
cess all the information com-
ing in, no matter how intelli-
gent or focused you are. You
are going to take on a frac-
tion of the information.
There is an instant mismatch
between the information the
brain can take in and what it
can process. It's your job to
give the information that is
reasonable in terms of their
brain processing, interaction
and so on.
The problems are not with
the eye when you show infor-
mation, it's how the brain
will process it, represent it
and remember it. It's not up
to the learners to learn. It's
up to us to give the infor-
mation in a brain friendly
way for them to focus on the
learning. The learning exam-
ples you give are critical. The
brain uses this in many cir-
cumstances. The same ex-
ample, what context do you
present them in, in what syn-
tax? In different orders peo-
ple learn things differently.
More extreme on the contin-
uum is for learners to experi-
ence errors. The power of
error in the brain is that we
remember the errors and it
changes our behaviour. It's
wonderful when we make
mistakes! We learn so much.
Set them up to make mis-
takes. The brain is a dynam-
ic, plastic, experience- de-
pendent, social and affective
organ and is not just en-
gaged in, but driving, its
own learning. By extension,
the more the brain is proac-
tively involved in its learning,
the more effective it be-
comes. This is why the self-
generation of ideas, strate-
gies and actions is so critical
in adult learning. With the
focus on relevance and im-
mediacy, adults learn best by
taking a problem-centered,
rather than a subject-centered,
approach. This includes defin-
ing and analysing the prob-
lem, challenging the learners’
thinking, determining ap-
proaches to its resolution and
encouraging team debate. The
key is that ownership of the
process, as well as its out-
comes, is with the learner.
The Bersin & Associates Learn-
ing Leaders® 2010 report
states that majority of learning
actually occurs outside the
classroom/training room/
lecture theatre has come to
the fore at a time when re-
sources are tight and the value
of social interaction, coaching
and mentoring have become
prevalent - it’s like the perfect
storm. Consistent with this
trend, many organisations rec-
ognize the simple 70-20-10
rule: 70% of learning occurs
informally and on the job; 20%
of learning occurs through ob-
servation of others; 10% of
learning occurs through for-
mal training. This also high-
lights the collaborative nature
of learning; potentially 90% of
all learning occurs through in-
teraction at some level with
others, which makes learning
possible by tapping into the
varied approaches and think-
ing styles of others in a group.
Road Ahead
The brain loves
to learn - funda-
mentally, that is
its job. From the
earliest conver-
sion of the basic
sensory input an
infant sees ,
hears and feels,
to the ongoing
adaptations and
growth we expe-
rience through-
out adult life, our
b r a i n s a r e
changing, re-
structuring and
learning. When
you go to sleep
tonight, it is with
a brain that has
changed as a re-
sult of today’s
learnings and
when you wake
up tomorrow,
with new consoli-
dated memories,
more learning
awaits you.
N e u r o s c i e n c e
casts light on is
how the brain
acquires, stores
and uses infor-
mation, and what
intrinsic and ex-
trinsic factors
can limit us from
optimising this
process. By un-
d e r s t a n d i n g
more about how
humans learn,
educators and
organisat ional
Learning and De-
velopment pro-
fessionals can
tap the learning
capacities of the
brain that will
drive the learn-
ing results to-
ward which they
strive.
Be a Meta Train-
er - facilitate
change.
JIGYASA 2016 21
Times flies! There was an era
of Manpower Planning; differ-
ent techniques were used to
do so accurately to the extent
possible.
Now, we speak of Workforce
planning which is more ex-
haustive than Manpower Plan-
ning or to put it simply, Work-
force Planning includes Man-
power Planning. Sales Fore-
casting for the Annual Busi-
ness Plan (ABP), later became
Rolling Sales Plan, however,
this was a controversial one...
Since it was more about a
build up on last year, one may
have discounted sandbagging
or dumping, however, the
market was/is not always pre-
dictable! Now, it is the era of
Predictive Analytics- from hard
data like attrition, retention,
consumer demographic pat-
ters to soft data, such as con-
sumer behavior, career growth
path of a hi-PO (High Potential)
employee in the organization,
an employee’s probable tenure
in the organization-- - attempt
is being made to “Predict It
All”.
You would all agree that the
management is as much a Sci-
ence as much as it is an Art-
then, can we predict every-
thing about every human re-
source- thoughts, actions, be-
havior? What are we trying to
do & why? In HR, data entry &
computing has moved on to
become HR Analytics. We have
moved from local made HRIS
(Human Resource Information
Systems) to PeopleSoft, then
SAP, to BIG Data- Work Day
which is a Cloud based Data
system. I have tried to cover
fundamental aspects of HR An-
alytics in my maiden book
“Reality Bytes-The Role of HR
in Today’s World”* as a sepa-
rate chapter. (Chapter 7)
Predictive analytics is the
branch of the advanced analyt-
ics, which is used to make pre-
dictions about an unknown
future events. It uses many
techniques from data mining,
statistics, modelling, machine
learning, and artificial intelli-
gence to analyze current data
to make predictions about the
future. Often, the unknown
event of interest is in the fu-
ture, but it can be applied to
any type of unknown whether
it was in the past, present or
future. It is widely used to
solve real-world problems in
business, government, eco-
nomics and even science—
from meteorology to genetics.
Experts use predictive analysis
in healthcare primarily to de-
termine which patients are at
risk of developing certain con-
ditions like diabetes etc.
As super computers get more
and more super, you'd think
that eventually we'd be able to
calculate the position and in-
teractions of every atom in the
universe and be able to accu-
rately predict the future. Sci-
ence, government and private
enterprises are asking if they
can predict future events by
creatively crunching massive
amounts of data made availa-
ble by you!
APARNA SHARMA
Aparna is an independent Director on the Board of T. S Alloys Ltd. (100 percent subsid-iary of Tata Steel) and au-thor of ”Reality Bytes – The Role of HR in Today’s World ”. The Book is available on www.amazon.in or Flipkart. It is also on Kin-dle.
CAN EVERYTHING
BE
PREDICTED?
JIGYASA 2016 22
There is a frenzy around
this; we are trying to play
demi-gods by trying to pre-
dict everything including “the
art of managing people”-
Please note that it is an art!!!
Predicting turnover is the
most common area where
predictive analytics are being
used by Human Resource
professionals in organiza-
tions. Others include as-
sessing the quality of hires,
and forecasting the benefits
and return on investment of
training programs. However,
today, many companies are
still grappling with the ques-
tion of how predictive analyt-
ics can improve talent man-
agement issues.
Despite a slow start, we see
that the HR function/
professionals are starting to
embrace data. In 2013,
Deloitte reported that 57
percent of HR departments
increased their investment in
measurement and analytics.
Challenges:
Firstly, data has to be com-
piled from disparate systems
that don’t always talk to each
other and often don’t agree
when they do. Pertinent data
reside in systems tracking,
payroll, time and attendance,
applications and educational
programs, among other
things. Today, tools to inte-
grate that data are few and
far between. One does find a
few vendors offering solu-
tions in this regard.
Next, resources have to be
found to develop the tech-
nical tools required to man-
age and analyse talent and
recruitment data. That pre-
sents a challenge to many
HR departments, which are
rarely given the same priority
as sales, marketing or opera-
tions when it comes to secur-
ing IT resources since many
have outsourced this, perhaps,
the most fundamental changes
involve HR itself. While the
idea of HR becoming a strate-
gic partner to the wider organ-
ization isn’t new, the idea of
using analytics to accomplish
that the goal is. This poses
challenges both in terms of
skills and addressing issues
surrounding privacy and com-
pliance. Talent data are very
different from, say, manufac-
turing data, and companies
need to be careful in how they
present even summary infor-
mation. Talent management,
is typically viewed as a “soft
science,” but the increasing
application of data changes
that. I would say one can teach
an HR person, analytics, but
you can’t teach an analytics
person, HR. HR is unique when
it comes to data. There are
certain nuances in its struc-
tures and hierarchies. It would
be like telling a software guy
to go figure out the hardware
specs.
In summary, the good news is
that we have moved beyond
mundane data entry; report
generation to exploring more
advanced permutations &
combinations of basic data to
forecast trends, future events
in most fields that science can
explain behavior, thoughts ,
soft acts continue to be unpre-
dictable since rationale or log-
ic does not govern human be-
havior.
It is managed and motivated
by numerous factors not
found in textbooks or various
theories of management!
JIGYASA 2016 23
It’s that time of the year when
we all pen down our efforts for
the year – self-evaluation fol-
lowed up with feedback from
our peers, managers, associ-
ates, clients, vendors, etc. It is
an important part of how we
work and it definitely helps us
scale.
At LinkedIn we are encouraged
to give open, honest and con-
structive feedback and not
wait for a particular time to
give it. We give and receive
feedback on a regular basis
and this, according to me, is
one of our core strengths.
However, often times receiving
feedback could be quite taxing
on us and most of us get into
the syndrome of thinking
‘why’ the person gave this
feedback rather than ‘what’
was told to us. We fall victim
to either of the 3 syndromes.
1. Truth triggers – argue
on what actually happened
because of which we are
receiving a certain type of
feedback
2. Relationship Triggers
– We look at ‘who’ gave us
the feedback and then ac-
cept / reject
3. Identity Triggers – The
classic “that’s not me” syn-
drome
I read this interesting article
around receiving feedback by
HBR. Here is how I de-code it.
.
1. Know your tendencies –
You have being receiving feed-
back all your life. Try to find if
there is a pattern in the way
you react when you receive
feedback. If you defend your-
self for example – (This is just
wrong, this is not me) or try to
counter (how could you feel
this way?!!), often time you are
not listening to the feedback.
Once you know how you react,
you might be able to get to a
place to actually decode it.
Give yourself a day to process
the information.
2. Disentangle the “what”
from the “who” – If feedback
is honest and constructive it
shouldn’t matter who gave it.
But it does. Almost always. For
example, As kids, if our par-
ents gave us feedback we al-
most never heard it the way
we would if a friend gave the
same feedback. To utilize the
feedback we are getting, its
important to make a serious
effort to separate the who
from what.
DEYA
BANDYPAD YAY
She has 8yrs experience in HR - passionate about recruit-ments (tech & non-tech), uni-versity relations, employer brand-ing, social media hiring, process improvements. Have a diverse experience in IT Services, Manu-facturing & Inter-net industry. Currently work-ing with the or-ganization which is working on creating an eco-nomic graph & thus opportuni-ties at massive scale. A wonder-ful dream to change the tal-ent space & cre-ate new para-digms in the field of talent hiring, branding & now training. Know more about the Eco-nomic graph be-low.
FEEDBACK...A GIFT
JIGYASA 2016 24
3 . S o r t t o w a r d s
“coaching” – Some feed-
back is evaluative, like
marks or scores (rating is
3) while some is coach-
ing, (You could improve
on). Both are equally im-
portant. The tricky part is
when in doubt, we tend
to think of extreme, and
what was probably easily
coachable feedback goes
into the bin. When you
feel judged, your identity
trigger sets off, resulting
in anxiety which closes
our mind to the actual
feedback.
4. Unpack the Feedback
– Often times you do not
know if the feedback is
useful or valid. Give your-
self time to unpack all of
the information you. We
need to keep aside our
judgment and take time
to explore the feedback,
and go back to have a
constructive discussion
on where is it coming
from, how can you im-
prove so that you could
take an rational decision
to either take the feed-
back or reject it.
5. Ask for just one thing
– At times our feedback
decision is all-positive.
While that’s a wonderful
piece of information, you
wouldn’t know what to
improve on, unless you
know what could be bet-
ter. If you see your feed-
back session going on
only one way, its suggest-
ed to ask the “just one
thing” question on how
could you improve. It al-
ways changes the view of
the person giving you
feedback – they know you
are genuinely interested in
learning. You influence
how they perceive you, so-
liciting critical feedback
communicates humility,
respect, passion for excel-
lence all at the same time.
6. Engage in small experi-
ments – Now that you
know how to solicit feed-
back, its important to know
how to put them to prac-
tice. A good way to start is
engaging in smaller experi-
ments. When I was given a
feedback on communica-
tion (I spoke quite fast and
it was difficult at times for
peers to understand), I
started making it a practice
to speak to them and ask-
ing if they noticed change
almost for 4 -5 weeks.
Criticism is never easy to take.
Even when you know that it’s
essential toyour development
and you trust that the person
delivering it wants you to suc-
ceed, it can activate psycho-
logical triggers. You might feel
misjudged, ill-used, and some-
times threatened to your very
core. Your growth depends on
your ability to pull value from
criticism in spite of your natu-
ral responses and on your will-
ingness to seek out even more
advice and coaching from
bosses, peers, and subordi-
nates.
Ultimately it for your own de-
velopment and therefore treat
feedback truly is as gift!
JIGYASA 2016 25
In a competitive world driven by
rapid social and technological
change, it makes sense that in-
novation will breed new jobs in
sectors on the cutting edge of
science and technology. Yet, that
alone doesn’t explain the shift in
the skills profile required for to-
day’s world of work.
Today organisations focus a lot
on unique hiring methods. Also,
any organisation’s goal is not
only to identify and recruit best
possible talent but also to get
them assimilated within the or-
ganization’s culture and values.
While every organization has
ways of assessing knowledge
and skills, they are increasingly
looking to find more than just
right skilled candidates.
Take a moment to think about
the following scenario. You're in
the middle of a job interview.
The hiring manager looks up
from your resume and asks,
"What are your biggest
strengths?" Do you say you're
passionate, organized and a
team player? Or do you play up
your past leadership roles and
ability to think outside the box?
It turns out that, for employers,
these traits may not be the most
important ones ! A recent study
by LinkedIn reveals that when it
comes to interviewing and hiring
early-career professionals, em-
ployers aren't just considering
their education, experience and
job skills. They are also looking
for specific soft skills and per-
sonality traits. The qualities that
employers would like stressed
fall mainly under four labels: At-
titude, Curiosity to learn, Align-
ment to values and Entrepre-
neurship.
Everything is embedded in the
learning attitude. Enter an or-
ganization with the attitude to
accept ‘I don’t know’, ‘I need
to learn’, I may even need to
learn to learn and see how
things change !
Demonstrate the curiosity to
learn and willingness to learn
from practice. It is curiosity
which takes a beginner much
higher in corporate ladder
than those who start with what
to do and how to do type
questions. How well you ex-
plore new avenues to learn dif-
ferent skill sets from your own
field as well from various busi-
ness operations makes all the
difference there is. Next, be
willing to recognize, appreci-
ate and live the values which
govern an organization. In
some ways it could mean un-
derstanding the organization
as a political entity, but from a
broader point of view, appreci-
ate what drives the organiza-
tion—and that too quickly. In
short, develop business acu-
men in totality and nurture the
zeal to take that extra step
and effort to make a differ-
ence. Challenge the status quo
and keep the entrepreneurial
spirit to actively seek out
change alive. Before its time to
walk through the famed place-
ment cell corridors, prep up
for interviews in light of these
attributes and see how analyti-
cal mindset, out of the box
thinking combined with an ur-
gency to learn more and more
becomes your ticket to take
off with the first and fastest!
End of the day whatever role,
grade or expertise you bring
to the employer, the focus will
always be to look for people
who love making a difference
wherever they can, using their
leadership and entrepreneurial
skills.
DAKSHDEEP SINGH
He is currently working with People Strong as Practice Head in Transitions and Consulting. He had done MBA – HR, School of Inspired Leader-ship | Responsi-ble for business process devel-opment and tran-sitions of com-plex processes in outsourcing setup. Also re-sponsible for HRO consulting project initia-tives for various clients. Hands-on experience in key areas of the Human Re-sources man-agement, includ-ing HR Shared Services, HR Outsourcing and implementations of ERP’s like SAP and Kenexa Brassring.
WHAT EMPLOYERS WANT FROM
NEW RECRUITS!
JIGYASA 2016 26
Introduction
The attempt to find meaning
and a larger purpose to life is
not new, and has been reflect-
ed in the works of various so-
cial scientists and psycholo-
gists through the decades in
varying forms. One such body
of work that has gained promi-
nence in the last decade is
Positive Psychology. While it is
argued by some that William
James, a renowned psycholo-
gist of the late 19th
/early 20th
century, had in fact introduced
the idea of Positive Psycholo-
gy, the term, perhaps was
popularized more recently.
Martin Seligman, introduced
this term to the American Psy-
chological Association in
1998. Martin Seligman has
been a pioneer in this field in
recent times, and has devel-
oped several tools and tech-
niques, presented in his books
– ‘Learned Optimism’, and
‘The Pursuit of Happiness’.
These will be discussed fur-
ther in this article.
Definitions and Key Person-
alities in the Field
While talking about any con-
cept or area of work, particu-
larly an emerging one, it is ap-
propriate to start with a defini-
tion (s). So, here are a few.
‘Positive Psychology is the
study of how human beings
prosper in the face of adversi-
ty (Seligman and Csikszent-
mihalyi, 2000; cited by Jef-
frey J. Froh, 2004). Its goals
are to identify and enhance
the human strengths and vir-
tues that make life worth liv-
ing, and allow individuals and
communities to thrive.’
Put very simplistically, Positive
Psychology has emerged out
of an attempt to break away
from the Psychoanalysis
school of thought, which fo-
cuses on what is wrong/has
gone wrong with a person’s
mind and behavior, and at-
tempts to fix it – the Sigmund
Freud, Carl Jung school of
thought. Of course, even Carl
Jung at some stage broke
away from Freud’s thinking
and aligned with the Human-
istic movement.
Humanistic Psychology is said
to have begun formally in the
United States and Europe in
the 1950s, with Maslow being
one of its pioneers. Human-
istic Psychology is defined as
‘primarily an orientation to-
ward the whole of psychology
rather than a distinct area or
school…concerned with topics
like love, creativity, growth,
self-actualization, peak experi-
ence, courage and related top-
ics. (Misiak & Sexton, 1966;
cited by Jeffrey J. Froh,
2004).
Positive Psychology attempts
to go a step further in this di-
rection, though the pioneers
of Positive Psychology don’t
overtly give credit to the Hu-
manistic movement, as it
were. Besides William James
and Martin Seligman, the
VIDYA
MURALIDHARAN
She has 25 years of experience in the field of HR Consulting and Practice across various compa-nies and industry sectors. She is currently working as OD and Lead-ership Develop-ment consultant with Ashok Ley-land; and had worked with TCS, Satyam, Bharti Airtel, Orchid Pharma, Murugap-pa Group, Ashok Leyland; and han-dled assignments for clients across public sector, Govt., public lim-ited and Pvt ltd. Companies. She is currently under-going an OD and Talent Manage-ment program of-fered by World HR Board, Carlton Advanced Mgt. Institute and IIM-Indore.
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY – A
FIELD OF UTMOST RELEVANCE
FOR THE COMING DECADE
JIGYASA 2016 27
pioneers of Positive Psychology
who have popularized and devel-
oped concepts, tools and tech-
niques – known as the ‘Founding
Fathers’ of Positive Psychology,
are:
1. Christopher Peterson – He
was the co-author of Char-
acter Strengths and Virtues
with Seligman, and is noted
for his work in the study of
optimism, hope, character
and well-being.
2. Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi –
He is renowned for his work
on what he calls ‘Flow’ and
‘Optimal Experience’. He is
author of the bestselling
book ‘Flow, the Psycholo-
gy of Optimal Experience,
1990. It is interesting to
note that his work emerged
out of his critical life expe-
riences, including a term in
an Italian prison, stripped
of his family (weblink - Pos-
itive Psychology Pro-
The Founding Fathers of
Positive Psychology).
3. Abraham Maslow – The
term ‘Positive Psychology’
is said to have been first
coined by him in his book
‘Motivation and Personali-
ty’, 1954.
Martin Seligman’s work and its
usefulness
Any contemporary article on Pos-
itive Psychology would be incom-
plete without discussing the
work of Martin Seligman in some
detail. He is credited as the Fa-
ther of Positive Psychology and
its efforts to scientifically ex-
plore human potential. His
preeminence in the field perhaps
stems from the fact that he has
pioneered the movement to de-
mystify concepts in this field and
develop tools and techniques
that practitioners can apply in
their work with clients. In fact, in
his book Learned Optimism –
How to Change your Mind and
Your Life, 1990, 1998, 2006;
he has provided us with inven-
tories that individuals can use
to evaluate where they stand
and focus their energies in
overcoming mental blocks
therein. In this book, Seligman
shows how Optimism is not an
unchanging personality trait,
but a skill that can be learned.
He provides simple question-
naires to help evaluate one’s
prevailing predisposition, as
well as practice tools that help
build ‘Optimism’. In another of
his seminal works, ‘The Pur-
suit of Happiness’, 2002,
Seligman puts forth a theory
that there are three forms of
Happiness that can be pur-
sued – ‘The Pleasant Life – cul-
tivating positive emotions;
‘The Engaged Life’ – wherein
you identify your highest
strengths and talents, and
seek to use them in all walks
of life; ‘The Meaningful Life’ –
in which you use your highest
talents and strengths for a
cause larger than the self.
One notable contribution
made by Martin Seligman and
Christopher Peterson is their
work in creating a classifica-
tion and measurement system
for human strengths. They
have studied character
strengths and found these to
be a basis for ‘lasting happi-
ness’. It is also interesting to
note that, in their work, they
went deeper than cognitive
thinking and worked on char-
acter strengths. Application of
these character strengths
would help build lasting re-
sults in individuals and organi-
zational work. They identified
24 character strengths that
individuals would possess in
greater or lesser measure,
each individual having 3 – 5
top character strengths. Appli-
cation of these character
strengths would help build
lasting results in individuals
JIGYASA 2016 28
and organizational work. They
identified 24 character strengths
that individuals would possess in
greater or lesser measure, each
individual having 3 – 5 top char-
acter strengths. These character
strengths lead us to attain cer-
tain virtues that give a larger
sense of purpose and meaning
to life. Seligman and Peterson
identified six core virtues, which
are as follows:
1. Wisdom
2. Courage
3. Love and Humanity
4. Justice
5. Temperance
6. Spirituality and Transcend-
ence
Applications of Character
Strengths in working with indi-
viduals and organizations
The identification of character
strengths in individuals have in-
teresting implications for coach-
ing and development profession-
als working with individuals as
well as in recommending devel-
opment strategies for organiza-
tions. As opposed to the Compe-
tency Development approach,
which focuses more on identify-
ing and building those compe-
tencies that are lacking, the Posi-
tive Psychology approach in gen-
eral supports the idea of identi-
fying ‘signature strengths’ of in-
dividuals and building on those.
It recognizes the uniqueness of
each individual and works to
strengthen this very uniqueness
– thus working in the best inter-
ests of the individual and to the
advantage of organizations em-
ploying these individuals. Armed
with the unique strengths of
each individual, organizations
can attempt to place employees
in roles that are best suited to
their strengths, rather than plac-
ing them in roles and trying to
fill gaps in their competencies
relative to the role. In a practical
sense, this may of course not be
possible for mass jobs and all
roles. But, critical roles in or-
ganizations can be filled using
this approach. It is also possi-
ble to use the ‘Character
Strengths’ in conjunction with
the Competency framework of
the organization, using the
typical ‘fill-the gap, build-on-
competencies that are
strengths’ approach; and jux-
taposing it with the ‘Character
Strengths’, to find the role
most suitable for the individu-
al. Organizations can go a
step further by drawing up ini-
tiatives wherein individuals
can have as special action
learning projects, the task of
building on one or more top
character strengths on a daily/
weekly basis. For example, if
collaboration is a Character
Strength of an individual, he/
she can be encouraged to car-
ry out at least one action that
allows him/her an opportunity
to collaborate. A simple act
like this can provide the much
needed positive motivation at
work.
The idea of ‘Character
Strengths’ also has a further
benefit in that it goes beyond
mere skills and helps build
deep character in individuals.
This would form the much
needed glue for organizations
to become ‘Value-based’ and
become self-sustaining in the
long term, even as they carry
out tasks necessary to be ef-
fective in business in the short
and medium term.
Another pioneer in the field of
‘Positive Psychology’ who has
done extensive research on
what makes people really hap-
py is Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi-
He has found that people ex-
perience a condition called
‘Flow’ wherein their ‘psychic
energy is released effortlessly,
resulting in a strengthening of
the ‘Self’. This makes it possi-
ble for them to be totally in-
volved in the task at hand and
JIGYASA 2016 29
Conclusion
The essence of ‘Positive Psy-
chology’ is that ultimate happi-
ness lies very clearly in the
hands of individuals and can be
attained through the cultivation
of certain ‘Virtues’, through
identifying and building on
‘Character Strengths’, by engag-
ing in activities that help create
‘Flow’, and through the practice
of techniques like ‘Mindfulness’.
A significant aspect of the ide-
as, frameworks and practices of
‘Positive Psychology’ is that it
has distilled some ancient and
deep-rooted tenets of Eastern
philosophy and blended it with
contemporary research and sci-
entific tools created in the West-
ern world. Another aspect that
distinguishes ‘Positive Psycholo-
gy’ from earlier schools of
thought is that there is an ongo-
ing attempt to create simple,
scientific and measurable tools
that can be put to use by schol-
ars and practitioners no doubt;
but also easily understood by a
person somewhat uninitiated
into the subject.
Unlike the traditional approach
to Psychology – Clinical Psychol-
ogy - that focuses on repressed
negative emotions, and neurotic
conditions that result in mild or
extreme psychological disor-
ders; Positive Psychology, by
seeking to harness the positives
in humankind, makes for better
and long-lasting well-being. It is
therefore applicable to all cross
sections of people in a wide va-
riety of situations. Besides the
pioneers and founding fathers
of Positive Psychology, there is
a group of practitioners and
other researchers who are con-
stantly adding to the body of
knowledge, through articles,
assessment tools, practice exer-
cises and so on. One of the
most advantageous aspects of
Positive Psychology is that it can
be practiced and experienced –
even by those with little or no
background in Psychology or
the Social sciences.
There are practice exercises
that help cultivate the qualities
o f ‘ G r a t i t u d e ’ a n d
‘Forgiveness’, as opposed to
extreme desire and anger.
These kind of exercises would
be of particular use to individ-
uals and communities con-
stantly under strife. There are
assessments to evaluate quali-
ties like ‘Grit’ and ‘Resilience’;
that would be of particular use
to the youth population, to
handle adverse and challeng-
ing situations and emerge un-
scathed. Positive Psychology,
truly, is an extremely useful
body of knowledge and prac-
tice, relevant and topical in the
world of today and for future
generations; to help build a
peaceful and progressive soci-
ety. It is indeed an idea who
time has come!
JIGYASA 2016 30
Point 1- B-Schools in India
are oriented towards the pri-
vate sector. They don’t pre-
pare you to handle the dy-
namics of the public sector.
The focus of most B-Schools in
India has largely been the pri-
vate sector, be it through cur-
riculum, networking practices
and/or placement. Barring ex-
ceptions, business education
has largely neglected the pub-
lic sector, cooperative socie-
ties and non-governmental or-
ganizations. Even the term
“Corporate Culture” is collo-
quially used to signify the or-
ganizational culture of only
the private sector. The public
sector, contrary to perception
is neither an easy place to
work in nor a non- rewarding
one. It has its own rules, pro-
cedures and guidelines that,
more often than not, seem al-
ien to those who start work
there, post a B-school educa-
tion.
A few major consequences of
this inclination away from the
public sector are:
1) Mismatch between talent
and public sector require-
ment- It is so in terms of the
relative number of desired
candidates applying for a pub-
lic sector job vis-à-vis a private
sector job, the right aptitude
and knowledge of candidates
and in terms of employees
who stay on in the organisa-
tion.
Recent years have seen the
public sector on a massive re-
cruitment drive in anticipation
of the large number of em-
ployees who will retire in this
decade. The global recession,
brought about an unprece-
dented acceptance of these
job offers by droves of stu-
dents. Though it is encourag-
ing to have such talent, it is a
fact that they can’t hit the
ground running. The private
sector and the public sector
differ widely in approach, cul-
ture, work systems, rules, pro-
cedures, hierarchy, et al.
Though one banks on prior
awareness, experience, time
and training in cultivating this
talent, the process could be
made all the more fruitful if
prospective employees re-
ceived adequate, if not special-
ized education focused to-
wards this sector.
There are those who have and
will change their job every
couple of years. It is a fact,
however, that many who
joined the public sector during
the recession left for greener
pastures soon after. That has,
again, led to a shortfall of hu-
man resources and of course,
a complete wastage of ex-
penditure incurred on recruit-
ing and training the workforce
that quit. Such probable fall-
outs may be averted if there
are specialized business
courses covering the public
sector that will attract people
who wish to work there out of
choice and not mere compul-
sion. Such courses will also
serve to highlight the im-
portance of the public sector,
POOJA MAGOO
She is presently working as Man-ager (P&A/HR) in PEC Ltd., New Delhi. She has done her schooling from Mater Dei, gradu-ation in Bachelor of Business Stud-ies at Shaheed Su-khdev College of Business Studies, University of Del-hi and post gradu-ation in Master of Human Resource and Organisation-al Development, Delhi School of Economics, Uni-versity of Delhi.
WHAT THEY DON’T TEACH YOU
AT MANAGEMENT/BUSINESS
SCHOOLS IN INDIA ?
JIGYASA 2016 31
much as courses in entrepre-
neurship, digital marketing and
rural management have done.
All said and done, the talent
mismatch issue is serious be-
cause the public sector does
significant work for the country
and (for other nations, especial-
ly in the developing world in
terms of projects, supply of es-
sentials, etc.). SBI has a greater
reach than any private sector
bank. MMTC holds a gold festi-
val that lakhs of Indians throng
to, GAIL/IOL/SAIL/BPCL do
much to make and supply es-
sentials at low prices; the Indian
Railways are one of the largest
employers in the world, the
flagship programs of most gov-
ernments are made easier
through the sheer reach of this
sector and it provides welfare
benefits on the principle of
egalitarianism that most private
sector employees can only
dream of.
2) By ignoring the public sec-
tor, one actively ignores busi-
ness opportunities. For exam-
ple, conducting training pro-
grams/CSR activities/software
modules holds immense poten-
tial for the private sector- in
terms of money, reach and
learning. The set-up, however,
is different from what they are
used to.
3) Ignorance about the public
sector means fewer lifestyle
choices to choose from- Indi-
viduals, lacking knowledge
about the public sector, or
worse, harbouring incorrect as-
sumptions regarding benefits,
compensation, work, etc. don’t
join this sector. They miss out
on the fact that the public sec-
tor rewards more in terms of
time, work-life balance, welfare
facilities and job security rather
than outright money in hand.
4) An interesting way to
build your resume- A stint in
the public sector will hold val-
ue for those who are interest-
ed in a well-rounded career. It
teaches patience and a
glimpse into how much of the
country works, besides ex-
panding one’s network. This
would surely add on to the CV,
if one later wishes to work at
an international institutions
such as the World Bank or the
United Nations or even reput-
ed multinationals.
Point 2- B-Schools don’t en-
courage you to be an entre-
preneur.
Though there is the odd insti-
tute focusing on entrepreneur-
ship, and fests are organised
by students, entrepreneurship
is usually studied as a semes-
ter subject, the bottom line for
most B-Schools being their
placement records.
There is only a handful that
chooses to tread the unbeaten
path by starting its own enter-
prise. Dr. James A. Belasco,
Business Leadership Strategist
and Best-Selling Author says,
“Evaluate what you want — be-
cause what gets measured,
gets produced.” B-Schools
measure packages and not po-
tential turnovers. Thus, they
restrict themselves to the of-
ten lambasted middle-class
mindset of preparing students
for a job. The endeavour of
entrepreneurship is not given
the credence and appreciation
that it deserves.
Point 3- They haven’t discov-
ered India
Most B-Schools need to re-
discover Indian management
thought. Most of the learning
JIGYASA 2016 32
imparted is through taking the
examples, experiments, re-
search and applications from
the first world. The fact that
there are differences between
India and the first world in
terms of culture, ideology,
thinking and the general way of
life, and that these differences
impact the way systems are or-
ganised, structured and run, is
often not taken into considera-
tion.
To illustrate, there is research
and emphasis on team-spirit,
Emotional Quotient (EQ), Spiritu-
al Quotient (SQ), etc. at work.
These phenomena may be new-
found for others but not for In-
dia as community and family
play an eminent role in each in-
dividual’s life in Eastern socie-
ties. Nevertheless, they are
thrust upon as “something
new”.
“The basic unit of society in
the west is the individual and
in India is the family.”
Lt. Gen (Retd.) Shamsher Singh
Mehta
Point 4- They don’t teach you
adequate life skills, especially
not financial education.
“Academic qualifications are
important and so is financial
education. They're both im-
portant and schools are for-
getting one of them.”
Robert Kiyosaki
Taxes, saving and investment
for the individual are not
taught. That is a pity as most
students start work with educa-
tion loans on their heads. There
is the pressure to buy a car, a
house, have a big fat Indian
wedding, go on fancy vacations,
etc. It’s conventional wisdom
that it’s not enough just to
earn, one needs to save for a
rainy day, and more…
Education in these may lead to
generation of ideas and even
encourage students to launch
start-ups in the same field.
There could also be greater
focus on stress management,
balance and relationship coun-
selling, especially in the con-
text of today’s increasingly
fragile world.
JIGYASA 2016 33
15 years back HR was considered to be support function, how-
ever based on global challenges and changing business con-
text, HR is becoming partner in the business. In other words
the global business environment is experiencing unprecedent-
ed change, and human resources (HR) should develop new ca-
pabilities if it wants to remain relevant.
Our social and economic center of gravity is steadily shifting
from local ways of working to global ways of working. Analytics
offers solutions to all HR Area as shown in below Table1.
Need for Shared Service Center (SSC/GSSC - HR Transfor-
mation)
In the past, HR Transformation mostly focused on making ex-
isting HR services more efficient, effective, and compliant. The
unspoken assumption was that HR was already doing all of the
things that needed to be done; it just needed to do them more
effectively, faster, and cheaper.
Transforming HR to deliver forward-thinking capabilities like
these can help companies respond more timely and effectively
to changes in the business environment, expand their global
footprint, and increase revenue and margins. This has resulted
in improved competitiveness, profitability, and growth
NEERAJ JASROTIA
Neeraj Jasrotia cur-rently working with Ericsson Global India as DGM WFM - Unit Head (past experience HOD WFM with Network18/AonHewitt/Vertex/IIPL), with 15+ years of Shared Services/Business Strategy experience in the Telecom/Media/BPO/IT/DTH/Insurance/Benefits/HR Out-sourcing/Retailing with exposure to SLA Governance, Business Analysis, Manpower Plan-ning, Manager MIS/WFM, Contract Negotiations, Client Mgmt and Consult-ing & Transfor-mation activities across geographies (Sweden, US, UK & India). This includes man-aging Consulting Programs to im-prove Productivity & Customer Service thru a global team of Project Managers
TRANSFORMATION FROM CORE
HR TO HR SHARED SERVICE
HR Area SOLUTION (Table 1)
Workforce Planning & Analytics (WFP)
Leverage analytics to predict potential skill gaps based on past trends and current employee behavior.
Talent Acquisition (TA)
Reduce the time spent shifting through high volumes of similar CVs and improve the likelihood of selecting the right candi-dates.
Talent Reward (TR) Identify the best people for high-level leadership roles and the employees that will likely (or not) stay with the organization.
Talent Management '(TM)
Discover the reasons for turnover and identify potential chang-es in employee engagement, leadership, culture or compensa-tion.
Learning & Development (L&D)
Spot current and future skill gaps and provide leaders with a blueprint for action.
Region Data
Analytics Leader-
ship
Service Excel-lence
SME (Subject Matter Expert)
Technical Proficiency / Technology Adeptness Others
Western Europe 12% 13% 47% 21% 6% 1% Central & East-
ern Europe 0% 6% 53% 35% 0% 6% APAC 22% 16% 44% 13% 4% 0% India 20% 0% 20% 55% 5% 0%
Australasia 19% 22% 39% 11% 7% 3% North America 18% 15% 44% 13% 8% 4% Latin America/
Caribbean 17% 0% 67% 17% 0% 0%
JIGYASA 2016 34
Region wise skillset priorities
shown in below table2.
Some of the key question in
shared service scenario
How do you measure perfor-
mance?
71% of Asian based respondents
still measure performance pre-
dominantly via financial metrics.
How do you plan to optimize
services in the next five
years?
58% feel Technology is the key
Which enabling technologies
have you already deployed?
62% voted for SharePoint
Which of the following are rel-
evant to your digital strategy?
53% feels enabling end to end
process flow
Which technologies offer the
most promise to a more digi-
tal enterprise?
62% feels self-service solution is
the key to be ahead in the game
What is the biggest obstacle
to implementing digitaliza-
tion?
29% feels its cost
Where will data analytics de-
liver the biggest impact on
operations?
76% feels identify problem area
for improvement
How often do you review cus-
tomer satisfaction scores with
customers
face-to-face?
42% review it Quarterly or more
frequently
Business drivers that affect
HR Shared Service
In order to develop HR capabili-
ties that can enable a compa-
ny's business strategy, it is im-
portant to understand the criti-
cal drivers that are shaping that
strategy. This section highlights
some of the market forces and
trends that are likely to influ-
ence business strategy (and HR
Transformation) in the months
and years ahead.
Growth. Revenue and market
growth are essential for com-
petitiveness and long-term
shareholder value. In fact,
growth is so important and
pervasive that most of the oth-
er business drivers listed here
are in some way related to it.
Until recently, businesses pri-
marily grew by hiring addition-
al in-house staff. But these
days, the formula for growth
has become far more complex
— involving acquisitions, new
staffing models, new technolo-
gies, and new approaches for
finding, attracting, developing,
and managing talent. Moreo-
ver, today's companies aren't
just looking for growth; they
are looking for profitable
growth, which significantly in-
creases the challenge. For HR,
the key is to develop new ca-
pabilities that can enable the
business to expand as timely
and efficiently as possible.
Globalization and emerging
markets. As business be-
comes increasingly global,
companies should improve
their ability to build and man-
age a global workforce — of-
ten in places they have not op-
erated before. Many compa-
nies are seeing their global
footprint shift from west to
east as they pursue opportuni-
ties for accelerated growth in
emerging markets. By 2050,
the global population is ex-
pected to grow by 50 percent
— primarily driven by India
and China. Yet 70 percent of
the world's corporate manage-
ment is currently located in
Europe and North America. To
thrive in this new environ-
ment, companies need HR ca-
pabilities that can enable them
to effectively realign their
workforces with their chang-
ing global footprint. They
“ T o d a y ' s
compa n ie s
aren't just
looking for
growth; they
are looking
for profita-
ble growth,
which signif-
icantly in-
creases the
c h a l l e n g e .
For HR, the
key is to de-
velop new
capabilities
that can ena-
ble the busi-
ness to ex-
pand as
timely and
efficiently as
possible.”
JIGYASA 2016 35
should also consider creating an
operating environment in which
global and virtual teams can
thrive. Critical capabilities in-
clude improved global mobility
programs that make it possible
to move employees between
countries efficiently and easily;
standardized and repeatable HR
processes and systems for en-
tering new markets; and new
staffing models that use out-
sourcing, contingent workers,
and strategic partnerships to
improve scalability and flexibil-
ity.
Cost pressure. While cost-
cutting naturally remains a key
priority globally, with around
40% of global respondents indi-
cating it as a core target, Asia
sets itself apart by recognizing
Shared Services’ potential to de-
liver improved business perfor-
mance/added value in addition
to cost cutting.
To have a greater impact on
costs, HR should focus its spe-
cialization on people-related
costs that are outside of the HR
budget, such as pensions and
health care. Another way for HR
to contribute is by helping the
business reduce the 'cost of
work' through improvement ini-
tiatives that focus on things like
worker productivity and man-
agement of contingent workers.
Talent. Around the world, jobs
are shifting from mature mar-
kets where talent is expensive
and scarce to emerging markets
where talent is cheaper and
more plentiful. This fundamen-
tal shift requires companies to
consider developing new HR ca-
pabilities for managing a global
supply chain for talent — just as
manufacturing companies have
had to learn how to manage a
global supply chain for prod-
ucts. Demographic shifts at
both ends of the age spectrum
are also having a big impact on
talent. Companies continue to
face a mass exodus of retiring
baby boomers, even as they
struggle to deal with an influx
of young workers who have
different needs, skills, and ex-
pectations than their elders.
This changing workforce re-
quires new talent management
capabilities in areas such as
leadership development, work-
force planning, strategy align-
ment, and workforce diversity.
Innovation. The days of rely-
ing on a small, elite group of
innovators are over. In today's
business world, breakthrough
ideas and continuous improve-
ment can come from anywhere
in the organization. To tap in-
to this priceless resource,
leading companies are devel-
oping new ways to help their
employees around the world
collaborate and share infor-
mation. And more often than
not, HR is at the center of the
action. Whether the task is de-
veloping a 'people portal' that
bring employees closer to-
gether; working with the busi-
ness to create a more innova-
tive culture; or developing new
rewards programs and perfor-
mance management processes
to promote innovation, HR has
a valuable role to play in help-
ing companies use innovation
as a competitive weapon.
Emerging technologies. New
technologies such as cloud
computing, social media, and
mobile devices affect HR in
two ways. First, they help ena-
ble HR to deliver services more
efficiently and effectively. For
example, cloud computing can
reduce the cost and time re-
quired to develop new HR so-
lutions, and can improve
scalability, enabling HR to ef-
fectively and efficiently grow
or shrink its capacity and ca
JIGYASA 2016 36
pabilities in response to chang-
ing business needs. Second,
and perhaps even more signifi-
cantly, new technologies raise
the bar on what HR's customers
expect. For example, thanks to
smart phones and the Internet,
today's employees expect the
ability to access HR systems and
services 24/7 from anywhere on
the planet. Similarly, today's re-
cruits expect the ability to inter-
act with a company and its HR
function through social media.
HR can use emerging technolo-
gies to satisfy these ever-
increasing expectations, and to
deliver new innovations quickly
and affordably.
Mergers and acquisitions
(M&A). HR's goals are often lim-
ited to achieving cost synergies
and integrating workforces from
an administrative perspective.
Although such goals are im-
portant, they are just a starting
point. What companies should
really consider are HR capabili-
ties that make mergers, acquisi-
tions, and divestitures fast, effi-
cient, and repeatable. These
new capabilities should include
the ability to effectively and reli-
ably combine two distinct work-
forces into a truly integrated
organization that can help the
business achieve its growth
goals. They should also include
an improved ability to retain
critical talent.
Risk and compliance. HR must
deliver services that comply
with local labor laws and work-
force regulations — a challenge
that is magnified as a business
expands its global footprint. On
another level, HR must also
comply with broader business
regulations, such as those relat-
ed to data privacy and security.
Although these regulations are
not specifically targeted at HR,
they often have significant HR
implications due to the highly
sensitive nature of HR's work.
Finally, HR can play a valuable
role in helping a company
manage the change associated
with developing a risk-
intelligent, compliant culture
— a culture where employees
understand the full impact of
their actions and take smart
risks that are consistent with
the organization's policies and
objectives.
JIGYASA 2016 37
Middle & Senior management
hiring & succession planning
is always a challenge and its
made tougher by most firms
not having institutionalized
mechanisms to identify and
treat information asymmetry
between internal and external
prospects .If you have ever
bought a used car- infor-
mation asymmetry is the dif-
ference between what the sell-
er tells you and what you dis-
cover 3 months later ;)
If you think the above state-
ment is a bit extreme- take a
look at the churn in manage-
ment and the reasons given by
folks in exit interviews that
their company did not recog-
nize their potential but gave
someone else the "benefit of
the doubt".
And if you are looking for a
scientific basis- look no fur-
ther than Nobel prize winning
Psychologist- Daniel Kahen-
man who gave the concept of
WYSIATI -"What you see is all
there is" which means that
we take a decision based on
information presented to us -
our mind does not compare
the depth and quality of infor-
mation available.
The result is that folks who
are hired from outside are ac-
tually hired on potential but
folks who are not promoted
from inside are done so on ba-
sis of the in-depth information
available or sadly the/ biases
that form because of knowing
them so long.
But no one questions the
quality of information availa-
ble to make the comparison.
But the information was not
taken and provided in a proper
manner to the decision mak-
ers and Candidate X was left in
the lurch, he soon left and
joined a competitor and so did
most of his team and is on
track to be a CEO.
Here is a case study based on
true events.
Candidate X was a national
sales leader with a large finan-
cial services company- he was
creative intelligent and open
to new ideas; most of the sen-
ior sales team had been
groomed by him- and liked his
personal attention knowledge
sharing and training and
above all his tendency to dele-
gate and challenge. The CEO
identified him as a successor
and gave him general manage-
ment responsibility over a re-
gion to develop him. X got
them results, soon was an-
choring 65% of organizations
revenues and growing in confi-
dence and got it a bit of swag-
ger- which rubbed some of the
senior folks negatively and
might have been prudent on
the part of CEO to advice men-
tor him but since the guy was
giving results most turned a
blind eye. He had another
problem- trust his “team” im-
plicitly and soon enough one
of the entourage was discov-
ered to have serious value/
compliance issues and his first
reaction was to protect him
OMAR FAROOQ
Omar Farooq has done his masters in Hu-man Resource and Organiza-tion Develop-ment(MHROD) from Delhi School of Eco-nomics. With over 17 years of experience in HR, he is cur-rently the Chief Executive Of-ficer of AceProHR. He Specializes in Executive Search, Em-ployer Branding and Talent Ac-quisition Strate-gy.
INFORMATION ASYMMETRY AND
DECISION MAKING IN HIRING
AND SUCCESSION PLANNING
JIGYASA 2016 38
without finding the facts. And
with this first strike combined
with his swagger the winds
changed- words like immature,
arrogant and indiscipline start-
ed being used. So when the
company decided to look for a
CEO they still had him in the
panel but decided to look out as
well and guess what
Candidate X – assessment- bril-
liant strategist, sales person,
got us 65% of our revenues con-
sistently but immature, arrogant
and might have a value prob-
lem.
Candidate Y from outside- from
a good competitor good strate-
gist sales figure not so great-
but institution builder as he had
run a general management role
for longer time.
This is halo effect at its best
and also no one checks the data
available and asymmetry in the
information available. While
there were tons of data- objec-
tive and subjective for candi-
date X there were limited
sources available for Y
The only way to rectify this is
to make a level playing field
in terms of quality of data
available for both internal and
external candidates
Information needs to be
captured and displayed in
a structured manner -
Table B is a representative
template we use while ad-
vising clients
Weightage needs to be giv-
en to information source
as well
Get Panel discussions
done- they help in reduc-
ing the Halo effect
Invite Outside experts who
are immune to internal
politics and biased
When someone starts say-
ing " my gut instinct says"-
hit them with a bat - okay
don't but this is your cue
you are not talking to an
expert or someone who
has anything credible to
say
Do 360 degree discus-
sions, involve - allied de-
partments as well as
folks who might report to
the role involved.
JIGYASA 2016 39
Gamification is derived from
the word gam(e) + -ification,
which means applying game
elements and design to non-
game activities or situation to
influence human behaviour.
An effective gamification pro-
gram actually looks like per-
formance criteria super-
charged to help achieve real
business goals when it is ex-
panded beyond game mecha-
nism or game elements such
as points, badges and leader
boards.
Gamification has gain lot of
attention in domain of digital
marketing to engage custom-
ers online and retain their loy-
alty. It has tremendous power
to spur motivation and influ-
ence consumer behaviour.
Companies like Amazon, Flip-
kart are into war of digitalize
heir product, thus involving
affiliates to increase web traf-
fic for their products. To fire
the race between affiliates,
those companies have de-
signed different game to push
affiliates towards exceeding
their limits and achieve more
for business.
Similar like customers, em-
ployees are main constituents
of any company. These em-
ployees when feel neglected
by their organisation, they get
disengage and get distracted
from job easily. This will result
into lack of job involvement
and organisation commitment.
Employees will be more en-
gaged into searching alterna-
tive jobs in competitor compa-
nies using current organisa-
tion resources, leading to
wastage of human efficiency
and organisation resources.
Sometimes employees trend to
be downshift also for not be-
ing recognised for his/her
achievement. This situation
might happen unintentionally
and HR team by any way
missed to recognise employee.
But this incident will lead to
perception error about em-
ployee. Thus gamification pro-
grams are the significant tool
of engagement and motivating
employees for working into
unbiased environment in
which they receive instant
recognition and reward for
their achievements. This will
be fostering deep rooted or-
ganisation commitment and
job involvement among em-
ployees. Recently most of the
company implemented gamifi-
cation for boosting sales per-
formance, similar same effort
can be implement by human
resource department for em-
ployees to incentivize quickly,
give employee satisfactory,
reward employees for com-
pleting important tasks with
deadline, engage employee for
long time and minimize hu-
man efficiency wastage.
How HR Can Use Gamifica-
tion
Some of the area discussed
below where human resource
department can implement
gamification programme to
enhance effectiveness and lev-
erage the business goals
achievement.
Talent Acquisition and Man-
agement
RESHMI MANNA
Reshmi is an academician with 7 years of experi-ence and 2 years of corporate ex-perience in the domain of human resource man-agement. She has been actively in-volved in re-search area of behavioral sci-ence, human re-source manage-ment and busi-ness strategy. She is supervis-ing Ph.D. re-search scholars of reputed Uni-versity, Jhar-khand. She is de-veloping learning simulation tool such as case study, situation analysis etc. Miss Manna is also Conducting Fac-ulty Development and Management Development Programs for in-stitute.
DO NOT LET YOUR EMPLOYEE TO SEARCH
JOB USING COMPANY RESOURCES: GAMIFY
EMPLOYEE’S PERFORMANCE
JIGYASA 2016 40
To acquire best talent, screen-
ing of competent candidate can
be done for person-fit recruit-
ment process. This will not only
reward appl i cant s and
acknowledge them for complet
ing each game levels, but will help HR
to map potential future talents, who
have organisation commitment and
job involvement. Thus this process will
increase onboarding efficiency and can
help HR in minimising attrition rate,
mortality rate among nascent employ-
ees.
HR team can minimise talent acquisition cost
by implement gamification programme like
Referrer of the Year to reward employee
source for best talent supply.
Enhancing Cultural Competency
Cultivating strong corporate culture can only be
possible, if old employees are retained for the
long time, so that they can socialize their juniors
or subordinates to transfer the organisational
culture from one generation to others. Retaining
productive employees and keep them engaged to
make them feel important for organisation is key
to employee retention. Retaining employees will
contribute to maximisation of human efficiency,
optimisation of process by elimination of energy
waste and maintaining valuable personnel assets,
institutional knowledge, consistent performance
and avoiding costly employee turnover. The pro-
cess of acculturation promotes positive corporate
cultural competency by rewarding employees for
cross-departmental collaboration, providing pro-
cess or product improvement suggestions, or
even participating in company-wide volunteer
programs, for example contribution towards cor-
porate social responsibility cell by offering volun-
teer activities during weekends. These kind of
engagement programs which bring employee sat-
isfaction, might keep employee away for applying
job to competitors’ company.
Motivate Employees for continuous develop-
ment : Training and development programs are
often not high on priority lists among employees,
especially when they don’t find out correlation
between training programme and day-to-day du-
ties. However, gamification experience through
online learning program can spur action among
employee to perform in the game resulting into
being trained in particular competency. Employ-
ees who earn rewards and recognition for having
completed these tasks, or missions in the gamifi-
cation, are far more likely to make performance a
priority. HR team can derive benefits by checking
leaders board as compliance, without the pres-
sure of having to hound employ-
ees to complete the programs.
This establish good relation be-
tween employee and company
lead to low propbality of leading
current job.
Instant incentivize or recog-
nise employee action
The best thing about gamifica-
tion programme is visual impact
of performance among employ-
ee through leader broad, which
will tell employee, where they
stand in the competition and
how much efforts required to
reach the target or earn incen-
tive or recognition. Leader board
gives the sense of achievement
among the employees for in-
stant rewards system leading to
reinforcement of positive behav-
iour among employees and en-
hancing employee satisfaction.
Map the Path to Career Suc-
cess
Collaborative team work and
peer mentorship is a powerful
motivator that drives employees
to want to succeed. Employees
are able to see milestones of
their performance to achieve a
particular level or status. Using
gamification, HR departments
can create transparent, mission-
based career ladder that show
the steps employees have taken
to level up in the organization
either displayed through gami-
fied leader board or replacement
chart.
To some, the idea of
gamification sounds like a light-
ly covert attempt to entice em-
ployees into doing what they
should already be doing. Howev-
er, truth behind game mecha-
nism into performance are an
effective tool to stop distracting
employees from current role,
add value to bottom line of busi-
ness and combat the employee
engagement crisis in India. Gam-
ification if implemented properly
with rational action plan will
stop employee using organisa-
tion tools and resource for ap-
plying to competitor organisa-
tion.
JIGYASA 2016 41
The Global Nomad
As companies aspire to stay
competitive in this globally
connected world, an effective
talent management strategy
becomes imperative in achiev-
ing business objectives. The
explosive growth witnessed by
emerging markets in the last
decade, has contributed to a
significant increase in the
need for companies to move
people and source talent from
all around the world. More
complex and challenging con-
ditions have resulted in a
growing investment in interna-
tional expansion and rapidly
adjusting business models.
Having an international experi-
ence is now a sin-qua-non for
emerging leaders and top tal-
ent, within many organiza-
tions!
The role of Global mobility has
continuously evolved over the
years. From a traditional stage
of haphazard Global Mobility
assignment management to a
scenario where assignment
processes are consistent &
generally automated, and fur-
ther on to the current land-
scape where Global Mobility is
considered a strategic adviso-
ry function & key enabler of
business & global workforce
planning strategy, the journey
has been transformational.
The assignment landscape is
becoming more complex with
more and more of different
types of assignments such as
long-term, short-term, com-
muters, local plus and perma-
nent moves.
A recent study by Deloitte to
understand the role of Global
Mobility in key business initia-
tives revealed that 49% of the
organizations surveyed need
Global mobility to facilitate
expansion into new territories,
43% to reduce costs across
company/HR and 32% to drive
business transformation.
Key elements of a robust
Global Mobility Strategy
“You’ve got to think about big
things while you’re doing
small things, so that all the
small things go in the right
direction.”
― Alvin Toffler
Therefore, to ensure that the
small things we do are in the
right direction and align with
the ‘bigger picture’, we must
evaluate our global mobility
strategy from a new perspec-
tive.
With a plethora of complexi-
ties and varied level of techni-
calities involved in any Global
Mobility policy, it can be safely
inferred that no two organiza-
tions can have the same Glob-
al Mobility Strategy or policy.
The old model of ‘one size fits
all’ no longer works. Incorpo-
rating elements that are more
customized and relevant to
organization’s philosophy and
business objectives is clearly
emerging as the need of the
hour.
Best-in-class organizations
have reported their global mo-
bility programs have been crit-
ical to supporting new busi-
ness growth, improving finan-
cial performance, bolstering
employee engagement, suc
NEETU SONTHALIA
Neetu, an alum-nus of MHROD (Batch 2006) is currently working as a Project Spe-cialist-Rewards & Talent (Center of Excellence) with Averda - a lead-ing environmen-tal services com-pany headquar-tered in Dubai, UAE. She has over 10 years of experience pri-marily in Consult-ing and Financial Services industry in India & Middle East. In her previ-ous stint she has worked for Mer-cer Consulting as a Rewards expert in Life Sciences industry.
GLOBAL
MOBILITY
JIGYASA 2016 42
cession planning, retaining and
developing top talent, and in-
creasing diversity.
So, what should be our key fo-
cus areas while designing a ro-
bust Global Mobility program to
help us achieve the aforesaid
objectives? For the sake of sim-
plicity and more importantly my
love for acronyms, let’s look at
some of those ‘MOBILITY’ ele-
ments:
Motivate people to join emerg-
ing markets:
As we all know in the current
scenario, Growth market is
where all the action is! However,
when it comes to expanding op-
erations in emerging economies
and mobilizing staff in hardship
regions, it still lacks luster as a
preferred choice amongst as-
signees.
Companies need to innovate
and think differently as pay and
hefty mobility/hardship premi-
ums alone will not provide an
attractive carrot!
One of the clients of a leading
consulting firm introduced the
concept of allowing managers
on assignment in Ghana to take
time off to work in the commu-
nity and volunteer to help build
schools and hospitals etc. The
chance to give something back
to society proved extremely mo-
tivating & opportunities were
oversubscribed. Approaches
like these encourage people to
sign up to roles in locations that
might otherwise be unappeal-
ing.
As companies venture into new
regions, many consider how to
provide the infrastructure that
will enable the employees to
maintain an acceptable stand-
ard of living. Some of the min-
ing and oil & gas companies in
Africa operate a ‘country within
a country model’ in which or-
ganizations develop infrastruc-
ture and accommodation facil-
ities to enable assignees meet
all their needs under one roof.
In most of the cases, move-
ment of people is generated
by the need to have subject-
matter experts in a country
who possess the necessary
transferable skills, especially
in the most sought after tech-
nical/specialist roles like engi-
neers, geologists, scientists
etc.
However, organizations should
also look at aligning this with
their talent management strat-
egy and identify key talent for
such international assign-
ments for their personal lead-
ership development & career
growth.
Reinforcing the significance of
working in difficult markets
which has both the potential
and appetite for ground-
breaking work, should be a
great value proposition for
many.
Nature of the job responsibili-
ties, the opportunities for ca-
reer development and profes-
sional satisfaction that it may
bring can possibly outweigh
perceived issues regarding the
desirability of a place to live –
for a limited period, at least.
That said, the more demand-
ing a location, the more effort
is required in terms of assist-
ing assignees with the move
and supporting them through-
out their stint in the host
country.
Offer support and empathy:
Ongoing support is required
by assignees and their families
in the host location, irrespec-
tive of the tenure and type of
assignment.
In a recent study by Mercer,
managing ‘Dual Career’ x
JIGYASA 2016 43
In a recent study by Mercer,
managing ‘Dual Career’ emerg-
es as one of the top challenges
to employee mobility. Spouses/
partners want to actively pursue
their career aspirations and are
less willing to sacrifice one ca-
reer at the expense of the oth-
er. In such a scenario, it helps if
organizations remain consistent
and transparent in their com-
munication with regards to the
support they can offer to the
spouse/partner of the assignee
so that they are well informed
for e.g. – assistance in job
search through local HR and
consultants, orientation ses-
sions, introduction to local sup-
port networks etc.
Overcoming language barriers
is another critical area especial-
ly for international assignments
in locations like Japan. Most or-
ganizations encourage and are
willing to fund language lessons
to support assignees. Intercul-
tural training for assignees and
their families, still considered
by most companies to be an im-
portant part of the expatriation
process, with about two thirds
of companies provide inter-
cultural training as per a recent
survey by ECA International.
Shorter half-day to one-day pro-
grams which have been tailored
to the participants’ needs help
to familiarize the assignees with
the local cultural nuances and
challenges.
Bring in an element of Empa-
thy; Offering lucrative packages
in the form of hardship premi-
ums, cost of living, quality of
living differentials is just the tip
of the iceberg. Additionally, our
priority list may often include
providing resettlement agents/
destination services providers,
shipping assignee’s personal
items, housing, (where rele-
vant), schooling for children to
smooth the transition to a new
location.
However, it always helps to
also focus on the non-
transactional and intangible
aspects of the move. Take
time to understand the needs
of the assignee and their fami-
ly and also explain the pro-
cesses and policies involved
from the organizations per-
spective. Set realistic expecta-
tions about organizational
support. Assigning local men-
tors to support the interna-
tional assignee and family will
help to build understanding
and communication, empathy
and relationships. Most im-
portantly encourage leader-
ship to build a corporate sense
of empathy around the assign-
ees experience and keep them
included at both home and
abroad.
Business Objective:
Global mobility is an increas-
ingly important strategic ena-
bler which should align to core
b u s i n e s s o b j e c -
tives. Understanding the or-
ganization’s mission, compen-
sation philosophy, cost and
risk appetite and expansion
plans into new geographies
enables one to develop a suit-
able and customized global
mobility program most rele-
vant to the organization’s
needs.
Identify right reason for
movement:
One needs to be clear on the
reasons for the assignment
and ensure that the person
selected is entirely suitable.
Many companies rely on ex-
patriate policy segmentation
to reconcile the cost control
versus international expansion
dilemma – how to have the
same number of assignments
or more without increasing the
budget dedicated to
JIGYASA 2016 44
international mobility? Segmen-
tation means reallocating part
of the budget to business criti-
cal assignees and limits the
costs of non-essential moves.
Hence it’s important to under-
stand the various assignment
reasons which may include for
example strategic moves
(business-critical), developmen-
tal moves (which benefit both
the company and the employee)
and self-requested move
(requested by the employee but
not essential to the business). A
consistent policy segmentation
approach allows HR to present
business cases/ assignment op-
tions to management and pro-
vide a clearer understanding of
the cost and business implica-
tions of relocation for different
assignees. It could also help
manage exceptions into a well-
defined framework based on a
consistent talent management
approach.
Larger issue of Repatriation
Expatriates and organizations
alike tend to overlook the chal-
lenges and risks associated with
returning from an international
assignment. The tenure for
most long term assignments is
two years or more years. The
insatiable speed at which we
witness growth, can lead to sig-
nificant changes in the home
country environment and cul-
ture during this time period.
The assignee may develop a
broadened culture horizon that
incorporates values & attitude
of the host location and it often
tends to clash with the behav-
iors predominant in the home
country. From an exotic over-
seas assignment experience,
the returning expat may feel
demoted, develop a sense of
alienation, become more critical
of his/her workplace environ-
ment. How do organizations
handle this situation of reverse
culture shock and anxiety?
Talk to the assignee (and
spouse, if applicable) about
repatriation planning, the
company’s expectations, and
their expectations. Provide the
expatriate with opportunities
to plan career steps upon re-
turn. Work with the assignee
and HR colleagues to facilitate
the return by discussing the
assignee’s new position, po-
tential career path, and rein-
troduction to colleagues. Help
the returnee with other expat-
riates, and join expatriate or
cultural forums. In case of in-
voluntary return or trauma,
provide appropriate resources
such as the Employee Assis-
tance Programs.
Identify right compensation
approach:
It’s a constant challenge to
find the best approach appli-
cable for all international as-
signments. Moreover, dealing
with individual assignment
complexity, envisaging greater
mobility policy segmentation
and, if relevant for the compa-
ny, mapping each compensa-
tion approach to a particular
assignment in a consistent
way is a far more daunting
task.
The home-based approach still
proves useful for certain kinds
of moves (e.g. business-critical
assignments or moves to hard-
ship locations). Assignees on a
home-based approach retain
their home-country salary and
receive a suite of allowances
and premiums designed to
cover the costs linked to ex-
patriation.
Local strategies are becoming
more common but, due to the
difficulty of applying them
consistently in all transfer des-
tinations, they are used only in
JIGYASA 2016 45
some cases (moves between
similar countries, developmen-
tal moves.) and take multiple
forms as “purely local” or “local
plus” approaches. However,
their practical implementation is
often tricky and cumbersome.
Additional hybrid approaches
like international compensation
structures have emerged to ad-
dress issues of global nomads.
Trend & Benchmarks:
Keeping up to date with the lat-
est trends and challenges in
global mobility world always
helps in building best-in-class
mobility policy. Changes in ex-
ternal market dynamics like
growth of Emerging markets,
rising compliance requirements,
demographic change, need for
inclusion in talent management,
increased buzz around host-
based policies etc. are some of
the key trends worthwhile to
watch out for. That said, one
needs to imbibe the key ele-
ments to suit customized or-
ganizational requirements and
align with its overall strategy.
Benchmarks are the usual way
to establish a guideline for com-
petitiveness when defining poli-
cies as an expression of the
strategy. It serves as an indica-
tive barometer of what market
standards are. However, organi-
zations need to clearly define
who they want to benchmark
against? if it is for example a
competitor/peer in their indus-
try or similar industry, or peg
themselves against companies
with world class assignment
programs?
Benchmarks have to be consid-
ered ineffective unless they are
utilized in connection with
trends, since they only give an
overview of the market at a giv-
en point of time and do not
highlight developments over
time. When seen in conjunction
with trends, it helps to evaluate
if adopting any best practice is
workable in an organization,
keeping in mind its objectives
and priorities.
Yield/ROI:
“However beautiful the strate-
gy, you should occasionally
look at the results.”
- Winston Churchill
With growing need for interna-
tional expansion, we all unani-
mously agree that global mo-
bility adds value to the organi-
zation in multiple ways from
increasing geographic pres-
ence, to facilitating individual
career growth and improving
employee retention. But how
does one demonstrate the re-
turn on investment on these
assignments to the C-Suite?
In the U.S. and EMEA, compa-
nies are focusing on strategic
business objectives involving
global mobility, and in APAC,
the top driver for changes in
the role of global mobility is
entry into new markets. Yet
global mobility is often viewed
as a cost center rather than as
a value center, even though
more than three-quarters of
global mobility professionals
believe that their programs
deliver value to their organiza-
tions.
Some organizations do pre-
pare a cost estimate for tradi-
tional assignment types such
as long term & short term in-
ternational assignments but
still much needs to be done to
effectively track costs associat-
ed with new assignment types
like commuter assignment/
business travels. Also in most
of these cases the cost esti-
mates are ballpark numbers
which are not integrated with
the budgeting process.
As per recent study by EY in
collaboration with Harvard
Business Review Analytic Ser-
vices the top two challenges
JIGYASA 2016 46
cited for measuring mobility
ROI holistically was absence of
company-wide metrics in place
and ‘mobility ROI is not seen as
a priority’. However, one can
align certain specific business &
individual performance metrics
to global mobility to assess ef-
fectiveness of mobility pro-
grams.
Tangible metrics like increased
revenues can be easily tracked
by monitoring sales and other
measurable accomplishments of
assignees. Certain other
measures like tracking career
progression and post assign-
ment retention rates are also
very simple and cost effective
ways of showing the value of
global assignments. Providing
data to show that employees
who have been on international
assignment on average pro-
gress twice as quickly or have
an average of one performance
rating higher than their non-
expatriated peers is hugely val-
uable, and can aid in broader
strategic decision making.
Employee retention is always a
challenge. As ‘Millennials’ being
the largest demographic in the
workforce expected to account
for more than 50% of the global
workforce, organizations will be
forced to reassess their reten-
tion and attraction efforts. Many
of the Millennials seek cross-
border opportunities for not on-
ly their professional develop-
ment but their personal growth.
Demonstrating the value of
global mobility in terms of em-
ployee engagement can be a
key factor in computing ROI of
Global Mobility.
Concluding Thoughts
As we envisage a future busi-
ness world significantly differ-
ent from that of today, a radical
review of policy/processes is a
must to keep pace with the
evolving market dynamics and
to stay ahead of the curve at all
times.
Let’s rethink how best we can
utilize some of the insights
shared above to help redefine
the way we look at Global Mo-
bility and be better equipped
to embark this journey of a
‘global nomad’ across the
small world we live in!
JIGYASA 2016 47
Almost every day, we hear the
phrase – ‘performance -
improvement plan’ or PIP, as it
is famously, or rather infa-
mously, known as. Most often
than not, PIP is a scary word
for the employee in question.
And if we are talking about an
employee who is either new to
the company or role, and is
not found doing as well as it
was envisaged, the phrase be-
comes all the more grave –
again for the employee, i.e. I
have always believed that
when an employee struggles,
she needs her manager the
most. And most often than
not, it is in managing such an
employee, the people manag-
ers struggle themselves. I
agree that the onus of improv-
ing her performance is on the
employee herself to a large
extent. But what about the
role that the supervisor need
to play in making this employ-
ee successful? Aren’t her
stakes as high as the employ-
ee himself? At the same time
and even more importantly,
what is the role the senior
leader(s) play in this entire epi-
sode – the manager’s manag-
er? Because for him, the task
is two-pronged – one, to en-
sure fair chance be given to
the employee in question; and
two, to make the supervisor
and other seniors in the hier-
archy learn to deal with this
crucial leadership challenge,
thereby in the process making
them better leaders… and the
team-leader has to tread this
double-edged sword without
losing the sight of organisa-
tional goals of result -
orientation and productivity.
Some challenge, this is!
As a HR leader, I have faced
this challenge many times in
my career. Such experiences
have taught me one thing –
there cannot be any shirking
of responsibility; if the leader
really wants to make his team
successful, in all aspects. To
make this simpler, let me tell
you a story… Some years ago,
one of my lieutenants came to
see me with his subordinate,
who was herself a young, albe-
it promising people-manager.
They were confounded with a
similar challenge, as I dis-
cussed above. Her predica-
ment was a newly inducted
subordinate of hers, who
showed a lot of promise at the
outset, and was now strug-
gling within 6 months of join-
ing. Despite a lot of coaching
& support by herself and her
own supervisor, this new
teammate’s performance was-
n’t improving up to mark. And
worse, the business had start-
ed to feel the heat… A long
and intense discussion ensued
in my office. We reached an
agreement on the way ahead.
Next day, I wrote a note to this
young people manager, outlin-
ing my thoughts and an action
plan. I am reproducing it
here…
Let me share upfront; this is a
rather long note, which I felt
was required to cover my
thoughts on managing perfor
RISHI RAJ GUPTA
Rishi Raj Gupta is the HR Lead-er at Cipla. Prior to Cipla, he was associated with Accenture Consulting, Bharti Wal-Mart and RPG Enter-prises. Rishi is an alumnus of MHROD, Del-hi School of Economics, Class of 2005.
A LEADERSHIP CRUCIBLE –
MANAGING BELOW-
EXPECTATIONS PERFORMANCE
JIGYASA 2016 48
mance and developing a
high-performance team.
To assist in your reading,
I have made necessary
modifications. Other than
me, the other three char-
acters in the case are:
1.Ms. ABC – the young
people manager,
2.Mr. JKL – her manager;
also my deputy, and
3.Mr. RST – the employee whose per-
formance is being discussed.
Here goes the advise that I gave her:
Dear ABC,
Yesterday, we discussed at length the
performance challenge that you are
currently managing with RST. I heard
both you and JKL, and shared my
thoughts too. I am writing my notes,
as under, to encapsulate my thoughts
on this critical leadership challenge
that we have on hand. I have always
firmly believed in the gospel of
‘making everyone successful.’ Having
said that, to do so is indeed a daunting
task for a leader. As multifaceted as
the team becomes, no one ever seems
to behave & perform like the other!
Out of the lot, the toughest ones to
manage are those, who showed a lot of
promise & capability while being in-
ducted into the job, but have slipped
off the performance charts some-
where. Now, it requires meticulous
thought and concerted action, to bring
such team-mate back to where he be-
longs – road to success for self and
team. Firstly, let me thank both you
and JKL for showing commitment to-
wards your teammate’s development.
This is by no means a small act – re-
quires a lot of honesty and courage to
stand up and say, “Hey! My team needs
to do better, and I am game to make
them better, whatever it takes.” Thank
you, for recognizing the need for im-
provement and showing the promise to
do better.
Our first step with such a below-expectation
performer is to figure out what went wrong.
Something DID go wrong. Nearly all employ-
ees start their new job with positivity,
enthusiasm and are raring to go – we
all know RST did start like that. May-
be, something along the way dimin-
ished his enthusiasm. Or, he killed his
own enthusiasm; both are possible in
the workplace. Ascertaining the pri-
mal cause of this poor performance
will be the key; if you are committed
to help teammates like him become a
contributing member of our team
and not end up being a poor perform-
er. No employee decides to have a
miserable day at work and feel fail-
ure as he leaves the workplace daily.
Even an otherwise incompetent or
misfit employee wants to do well for
himself. Very importantly, you need
to ascertain if RST has his intentions
in right place; for, if he is really a
work-shirker, there is little hope for
improvement. However, you have all
hope if he really wants to perform
and to succeed. That said, whatever
conclusion you arrive at about the
reasons of his below-expectations
performance, you must try your level
best to turn him around.
Start by assuring him that you
have faith in his ability to succeed.
Inspire through showing the big
picture – help him see what fruits
his efforts shall bear – why should
he strive to succeed and improve.
Guide him and make him set sever-
al short-term, achievable goals;
which should be time-bound, with
clear outcomes about which you
agree. Once the goals are set, track
execution and progress. And don’t
forget the power of daily encourage-
ment – make sure he gets an oppor-
tunity to record small daily wins; that
should take care of his morale.
We also discussed the need of a writ-
ten performance monitoring docu-
ment. For those who feel that the
team-mate who needs a Performance
Improvement Plan (PIP) will never
succeed, I have many success stories
to offer – we have seen so many of
them succeed. In fact, I have used
this to my benefit many a times, in
making my team successful. So, I am
a believer in the power of a well-
JIGYASA 2016 49
planned, measurable PIP
that is reinforced by well-
intentioned and demon-
strated support and en-
couragement provided by
the manager. We dis-
cussed at length the key
ingredients of such a PIP.
Some points that I wish to
reiterate:
Clearly outline parameters of expected
improved performance. Please be objec-
tive in setting these parameters and ex-
plain clearly, leaving no room for ambi-
guity.
State the minimum expectation level of
performance.
Ensure there is an appreciation of con-
sistency of this improved performance.
This is crucial as sporadic spurts of im-
provement aren’t really sustainable.
Discuss and agree the upon feedback
mechanism. Specify the time and perio-
dicity of performance reviews. Set the
documentation mechanism of each re-
view stage.
Ensure he understands measurements
of improvement evaluation.
Specify what role you shall play in order
to make him successful.
Explain upfront if he needs to make any
changes in behaviour or attitude to-
wards work. Share examples.
Focus on ‘what if’ – clearly outline what
is the road ahead if expected perfor-
mance levels aren’t achieved on every
parameter, at various review stages.
With above parameters considered, you’d
have a robust PIP document ready. With this,
ensure you provide any other support, re-
source, training, et al, which will help him
expedite his improvement. Let me say, I have
always regarded problems as opportunities
to do better, gain experience, and learn
more, just to be a little bit smarter and per-
haps wiser on how to handle life issues and
situations.
After all, as they say, we learn best, not by
being taught and not by studying or reading,
but by experiencing and then reflecting on
what we did and what happened and then
drawing conclusions and experimenting. As a
coach, I’ve practiced this method with consid-
erable success; it helped me build and
develop stronger teams. I am quite
inspired by this leadership nugget
that I read long ago – ‘the tactics es-
poused by great managers of people
are very simple, they select people
based on talent; when setting expec-
tations for the team, they establish
the right outcomes; when motivating
an individual, they focus on
strengths; and, to develop an individ-
ual, find the right job fit for the per-
son.’
As we speak, you are currently man-
aging the second and the third as-
pect, and what will make you success-
ful is the willingness to make your
team successful. I am sure; you have
it in you do so. Please do reach out,
should you need any support from
me. Happy leading!
A rather long note, wasn’t it? How-
ever, it helped me manage the chal-
lenge at hand. Let me tell you, this
worked well for all the characters in
the story above. It helped each one
of us become better. It helped the
struggling employee receive a fair
chance to demonstrate improved
performance, guided and backed by
his supervisor’s encouragement
and intention to make her team suc-
cessful. It helped his supervisor
learn the leadership lesson in man-
aging poor performance; and
helped my lieutenant – the man-
ager’s manager – resolve a crucial
team managing issue and not miss
out on either productivity or morale
of his team. Given the fact that both
these managers were young profes-
sionals – both millennials – they
learnt the invaluable lesson on peo-
ple leadership and taking responsi-
bility for their teammates in an ut-
most well-intentioned manner, un-
like a lot of managers who consider
PIP only as route for creating docu-
mentation and exiting the employ-
ee.
And what did I get? Well, I got three
super-engaged team-mates in re-
turn. What else could a team-leader
ask for?
JIGYASA 2016 50
Disruptive changes in busi-
ness, society and nations are
possibly the strongest theme
of our time. Today, change
has become the most depend-
able reality in our lives and in
our world. The change is con-
tinuous, fast and disruptive.
This reality of today was not
true for the twentieth century
where the world seemed de-
pendable, uniform and operat-
ed with a fair degree of pre-
dictability. Organizations were
designed around central au-
thority, predictable business
models and a willingness to
follow the overarching cultural
and market rules. Today’s
VUCA world (Volatile, Uncer-
tain, Complex and Ambiguous
- An acronym coined by the US
military to describe extreme
conditions in Afghanistan and
Iran) is turbulent, unpredicta-
ble, fragile and most im-
portantly disruptive. Organiza-
tions and its leaders are oper-
ating in continual state of dis-
ruptive change led by technol-
ogy and innovation, unpredict-
ability and extreme complexi-
ty.
During the last one decade,
coaching has emerged as a
transformation tool of choice
to deal with the VUCA world
and the disruptive changes in
our ecosystem. Further, re-
search in the area of leader-
ship development points to
the fact that the old prescrip-
tive ways of developing lead-
ers based on a preset scale of
competencies does not help
them to address adaptive busi-
ness challenges in the VUCA
world. This calls for a greater
focus on building the
“capacity” of leaders to ad-
dress emerging business chal-
lenges through individual
transformation and change.
Therefore, traditional class-
room based training approach-
es may not be practical from a
business perspective and more
one on one coaching is called
for to address individual lead-
ership maturity and capacity
needs. Though cohort based
learning could support in shar-
ing best practices and learning
from peers.
There are many definitions
and perspectives on coaching.
However, the most insightful
perspective on coaching
comes from Tim Gallway, a
tennis expert. Galleway says-
“Coaching is unlocking per-
son’s potential to maximize
their own performance. It is
helping them to learn rather
than teaching them”. Every
word in Galleway’s articulation
is important: first it entails
that we must see people in
terms of their future potential,
not past performance, second,
it refers to unlocking the po-
tential which means the own-
ership for action rests with the
coachee and thirdly, coaching
is more of learning and less of
teaching. Coaching is a lot
about shifting perspectives of
the coachee and dynamically
changing the context they op-
erate from. I will elaborate
more on each of these ele-
ments, the underlying psycho-
dynamic principles, conditions
for ensuring success of coach
MAKARAND KHATAVKAR
Group Head – Hu-man Resources, heads the HR func-tion at Kotak Mahin-dra Bank Limited. With more than three decades of experi-ence, Makarand has held senior leader-ship roles at Multina-tional banks viz Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley & Merrill Lynch. Makarand has exten-sive experience in transformational leadership develop-ment, change man-agement, HR Strate-gy and executive coaching. An accred-ited coach, Makarand has
coached senior lev-el leaders across financial services, FMCG, Banking and Consulting sectors. He has passion for learn-ing and is fascinat-ed by innovation & technology. Makarand is an alumnus of Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mum-bai. He holds a post-graduate cer-tificate in change management from Case Western Re-serve University, Cleveland, USA.
COACHING: THE CATALYST FOR
LEADERSHIP TRANSFORMATION
JIGYASA 2016 51
ing and the business
benefits of coaching.
Tim also highlights the
need for a coach to
identify the inner game
the coachee plays while
concentrating on the
outer game. The inner
game which comprises
beliefs, assumptions,
fears, and the mental
chatter has to be regu-
lated and managed by
the coachee to reach
the coachee’s poten-
tial.
Coaching is based on the fundamental
principle of identifying a person’s poten-
tial. Good people managers understand
this secret and they place bets on their
high potential talent. Celebrated executive
coach, John Whitmore, affirms that while it
is important for managers to focus on peo-
ples’ potential, it is even more important
for people to recognize their own hidden
potential. Whitmore believes that only 40%
of people’s potential manifests successful-
ly at workplace. The rest of the potential
remains hidden and dormant. Both exter-
nal and internal blocks obstruct the mani-
festation of complete potential. Typical
reasons for untapped and dormant poten-
tial are lack of opportunities, restrictive HR
practices and manager’s incessant focus
on results chucking individual develop-
ment to chance. Thankfully the picture is
changing and coaching has certainly
earned respect as a key development inter-
vention in organizations. Executive coach-
ing has come a long way in last one dec-
ade. Perpetual demand on leaders and
employees to deal quickly and frequently
with paradoxes and complexities of work
and life has increased dramatically. To ef-
fectively navigate the complex change pro-
cess, the need for top-class executive
coaches has become greater than ever be-
fore. Coaches are engaged for a variety of
needs and specialities like executive
coaching, performance coaching, leader-
ship coaching, public speaking & voice
coaching, life coaching etc. HBR’s research
report identifies top three reasons why
coaches are engaged and these are:
to develop high potentials, as a
sounding board, and to address de-
railing behaviours.
Clearly executive coaching is growing
by leaps and bounds. As per ICF-PWC
(International Coach Federation) re-
search report, the coaching industry
globally is estimated over 2 billion
(USD) in revenue/ income.
Evidently, executive coaching has
earned recognition as a potent trans-
formation tool among business lead-
ers. Coaching is about bringing the
desired behavioural change in the
coachee. I would like to elaborate on
the principles on which the science
and art on which coaching is based.
The first principle is more self-
awareness creates a strong foundation
for change. Self-awareness demands
two outcomes: the ability to be con-
scious of one’s own sense of self,
emotions and behaviours providing a
congruence in our thought, speech
and action and secondly there must
be a cohesion between how we see
ourselves and how others see us.
People can regulate and change only
those patterns of behaviours they are
aware of and are willing to engage
with. This awareness helps in attitude
change, overthrow self-imposed limi-
tations and build skills for change.
The second principle of coaching is
taking responsibility for own actions
but do remember that people take re-
sponsibility when they are able to ex-
ercise choice. Deep down people want
to have choice and independence. All
the progress in the world has taken
place because humans wanted choice.
For example, passionate people make
conscious choice and this ability to
choose results in exemplary commit-
ment. In a healthy coaching relation-
ship, a coachee chooses his agenda
and acts on it. A coach merely stands
by and guides the coaches in a non-
directive way. This simple principle of
choice leading to responsibility and
commitment makes change in behav-
iour possible.
JIGYASA 2016 52
The third key principle
of coaching is- there is
no-risk path. In fact
doing nothing in itself
is a risk since one will
end up with a default
future which happens to them
and they have no influence
over. A coach pushes coachee
out of his/her comfort zone for
superior results. This is where a
skilled coach makes a big dif-
ference. As a matter fact, smart
coachees are aware of what
they need to do and what risks to take
but it takes a strong coach to transcend
beyond the self-imposed, self-limiting
and self-defying limits. Tim Galleway, in
his book “The Inner Game of Tennis”
makes a profound point when he says-
the most common complaint of sports-
men ringing down the corridors of the
ages is “It’s not that I don’t know what to
do, it’s that I don’t do what I know”.
Therefore, each of us seems to have an
inbuilt immunity to change and transfor-
mation.
The fourth key principle is all coaching
conversations are laid on a powerful
questions that open up coachee’s mind.
Skilful questioning is the best tool in the
hands of a coach and if used well can
bring about ground-breaking changes. It
is based on the well-known norm that
telling or asking closed ended questions
saves people trouble to think, however,
asking open ended questions pushes
people to think on their feet. All of us
have heard about 5W1H framework of
asking questions but let me tell you that
good coaches never use WHY question.
The reason is simple- a WHY question im-
plies criticism and makes people defen-
sive. Consider these questions asked by
a driving instructor to a learner driver:
the first question is- “Why don’t you slow
down your car near traffic light instead of
breaking hard?” The answer could be “No
I tried to slow it down” or “I don’t know”.
Now replace the question with: “How will
you mentally calculate the breaking dis-
tance as the traffic light changes?” or still
better “What should be the safest speed
of the car when you are expecting the
traffic lights to change?” Questions
without why will not only remove de-
fensiveness but will also help a new
driver improve his driving skills. As a
matter of fact, answers to questions
gives valuable data for coachee to act
and helps the coach in determining the
next line of questioning. Questions are
the building blocks of good coaching
conversation. Marilee Adams, executive
coach and consultant has aptly said
that “Great results begin with great
questions!”
Structuring a coaching session needs a
framework. The GROW model (Goal,
Reality, Options, Wrap-up) is one of the
most common coaching models used
by many great coaches. The GROW
framework provides a simple four step
structure for focussed coaching con-
versation. During the first step of a
session (Goal), coach and coachee
agree on a specific topic and objective
for the discussion. During the second
step (Reality) both coach and coachee
do reality testing thru assessments,
perspective testing and objective feed-
back. Then they move into the third
step (Options) where suggestions of-
fered to solve the problem and differ-
ent choices are evaluated. And finally
(Wrap-up) the coach and the coachee
commit to a set of actions, define a
timeline and agree on how to measure
progress. In other words, the GROW
model deals with four fundamental
questions- G (Goals) what do you want?
R (Reality) what is the present situa-
tion? O (Options) what could you do?
And W (Wrap-up) what will you do?
Coaching, if used well, can make a pos-
itive difference and save billions of dol-
lars worlwide but you must be aware of
two key challenges. Coaching practice
remains unregulated industry world-
wide and it has become fashionable for
retired executives to anoint themselves
as executive coaches (some years back
the self-awarded label was consultant!).
The second and the most important
issue is untrained individuals calling
themselves as coaches is causing huge
damage to this respectable profession.
Some international bodies are doing
JIGYASA 2016 53
their bit by offering certifications but their
effort is neither guaranteeing highest
coaching quality nor protecting some of
the best coaches. Therefore, identifying
qualified coaches with deep management
and leadership experience is a key chal-
lenge for Human Resource managers.
Making a coaching relationship successful
is a three way responsibility. It is shared by
the coachee, coach and coachee’s manag-
er. That said, there are some preconditions
for the success of coaching. A coachee
must see himself honestly - this is easier
said than done. All of us have blindspots
and unfortunately higher the executive is in
the hierarchy, more damaging the blind-
spots could be. It is very difficult to help a
coachee who is in denial mode. The second
condition is a coachee must acknowledge
his own contribution to certain dysfunc-
tional patterns of behaviour. All of us have
negative and dysfunctional patterns of be-
haviours or in other words the shadow or a
dark side of our personality. Acknowledg-
ing this shadow is a bold step. Simple
acknowledgement of the dark side is no
guarantee that improvement will happen
but awareness and acceptance of one’s
contribution to dysfunctional behaviour can
lay a solid foundation for long term behav-
ioural change. Staying in the shadow, ac-
knowledging it and identifying a way out of
it would help for individuals to overcome
the limitations that come in the way of lib-
erating themselves.
Thirdly, a cocahee must be open to feed-
back. A 360 degree feedback is used com-
monly. Some coaches even include spous-
es, children, close family members and
friends in addition to work colleagues to
identify behavioural patterns. It is im-
portant that a coachee must be self-
reflective. Making sense of highly complex
behavioural data can be overwhelming and
therefore coachee’s emotional maturity and
their level of consciousness both for their
current state of being and for the need to
transform and change becomes crucial for
individual transformation.
Finally, the coachee’s manager must also
be supportive and offer many opportunities
to experiment with new behaviours at
work. In essence, success of coaching is a
shared responsibility of coachee, coach and
coachee’s superior. Unless the manager is
able to create the appropriate environ-
ment for the coachee to operate in the
transformed space and also provide feed-
back on an ongoing basis, the coachee
will not be able to live his/her transfor-
mation and could potentially slip back
into their comfort zones.
As coaching comes of age and managing
leadership transformation for individuals
continue to remain top management
agenda, behavioural scientists are trying
new approaches to coaching. Skill, per-
formance and behavioural coaching is
practiced by coaches but honestly the
results are mixed.
Let’s understand this with a pyramid
model. A human personality can be un-
derstood at three levels. At the top of the
pyramid is observable behaviours, ac-
tions, what someone says and does. Be-
low this level are underlying drivers that
get manifested as personal style, prefer-
ences, motivations, assumptions and be-
liefs, mental models which is also re-
ferred as the person’s DNA. At the bot-
tom of the pyramid is deep life experi-
ences, childhood experiences that
shaped your personality and even abuses
that a person may have subjected to as a
child. This is a broad structure of our
personality. Most coaches operate at the
top of the pyramid. Performance and skill
coaches typically operate at this level
with occasional dabbling at the next level
of underlying drivers. Let me explain this
with a real-life example of a manager
who came to me for improving his dele-
gation skills. I taught him some tools to
help him to delegate both task and au-
thority but retain the overall accountabil-
ity. This coaching operated at behaviour-
al level. After more probing I realized
that this manager’s belief was that he
cannot go wrong and that everything he
does has to be perfect, therefore there
was a significant resistance to delegate.
Finally I realised that as a child he was
punished severely whenever he made a
mistake. This was the root cause level
intervention. After some deep, passion-
ate and personal dialogue, the manager
realized the root causes of his behaviour
and his behaviour changed. In next few
years, he became skilled at delegating
JIGYASA 2016 54
and earned well de-
served career growth.
Coaching at the bottom
of the pyramid is gener-
ally avoided and is of-
ten considered the
realm of trained psychi-
atrists. However, well
trained coaches can
help coachees touch the
deeper core of their
personality to get permanent re-
sults. The psychodynamic ap-
proach to coaching can create
positive and lasting results. This
is not to suggest that coaches
have to be trained in psychiatry
but well-trained and skilled
coaches can certainly help indi-
viduals to explore the core of
personality for lasting changes.
As mentioned earlier, the effectiveness of
the coaching process is a function of the
personal involvement of the coachee and
his/her commitment to walk on the trans-
formation path. However, sound coaching
processes operate on certain best practic-
es, and a few recommendations from re-
nowned coaches have been listed below.
These best practices ensure that the
coachee is well supported and equipped on
the journey of self-discovery
Self-Awareness and Responsibility: Coach-
ing works because it adheres to the key
principles of development, that is, self-
awareness and responsibility. In coaching
situations, these are not mere advocacy
measures but a journey of self-discovery
that a coachee must undertake. Perhaps
one of the first tasks for a coach is to cre-
ate self-awareness for coachees that culti-
vates self-reliance, self-belief and self-
dependability. Responsibility is crucial for
high performance. When we accept respon-
sibility for our thoughts, actions and conse-
quences, our commitment and perfor
mance intensifies. Stretch Goals: Profes-
sional coaches believe that people possess
more capability than they currently ex-
press. We all have seen people give their
best during crisis. The capacity exists and
crisis is the catalyst. Coaches derive the
best from coachees with carefully designed
stretch goals and actions. Coaches see
people in terms of their future potential,
not their past performance or historical
track record no matter how impressive it
might be. Transitional Space: Great
coaches create transformational changes
by creating transitional space – a place
where a coachee can experiment with
new behaviours without being afraid of
failure or criticism. No other develop-
ment tool provides such robust safety
net to experiment, reflect and learn. New
experiences and perspectives push
coachees out of their comfort zone and
trigger powerful learnings that last.
Spirit of Inquiry: A central skill of a good
coach is to ask powerful questions.
Questions could take many forms but
discovery is the foundation. Powerful
questions make coachees think creative-
ly, examine core issues and take actions.
Powerful questions open the blind spots
and encourage a coachee todiscuss
“ u n d i s c u s s a b l e s ” .
Agenda: A coach always works on the
coachee’s agenda, which makes the pro-
cess of coaching powerful than any oth-
er. The coach’s role is to influence the
agenda, not set it. The learning experi-
ence is first and foremost, for and about
the coachee. Coaches view coachees as
Michelangelo’s marble block – once you
remove the excess material, a beautiful
s t a t u e e m e r g e s .
Coaching is not merely a problem fixing
technique, but a managerial philosophy
and a powerful world view. The INSEAD
Global Leadership Centre believes that
leadership coaching is more an art of dis-
covery than a technology of delivery.
Coaching is not something that you do to
people but entails a joint accountability,
exploration and partnership.
JIGYASA 2016 55
When you enter the premises
of a public sector bank and
see few counters with heavy
rush and few others deserted,
you may feel why the load is
not shared by others. Similar
such encounters are common
at many institutions which are
governed by the government
or which traditionally have
clear-cut demarcation of the
job profiles of their employ-
ees. At times when you apply
for a service/product to such
banks or similar such organi-
zations, you are asked to wait
or visit them next day or after
few days as it involves applica-
tion handling, forwards, sanc-
tions, approvals, delivery, etc.
And all these processes are
handled by different individu-
als. So it ought to take time.
Some of the organizations
have moved towards having e-
approvals, which is relatively
faster. However the core issue
is that if the matter does not
involve some serious business
implications and the issue can
easily be handled by front of-
fice staff, what is the need of
carrying through the long bu-
reaucratic process.
Many modern day organiza-
tions have evolved processes
to provide an autonomy to the
dealing concerned person to
take the call and decide at that
level. This has been termed as
empowering employees. Em-
ployees take decisions on be-
half of organization and are
made accountable. This is a
two way sword as it develops a
sense of ownership and pride
in the minds of employees and
on the other hand helps in
faster decision making where-
by improving organizational
performance. In the process
expectations of the stakehold-
ers are met, psychological
needs of employees are ad-
dressed and service-value
needs of clients/customer are
responded well through this
mechanism. Ultimately it is
the employees who win cus-
tomers, it is they who matter
more than a customer. Only
satisfied employees can get
you satisfied customers.
Traditionally HR has not been
finding place in the board
rooms but as competition is
growing and the customers
are making informed choices
and decisions, it is becoming
crucial to address the needs of
the employees and to allow
them to take decisions at their
level. The role of HR in strate-
gic decision making has start-
ed getting prominence and HR
academics as well as practi-
tioners are sounding bullish
on making them part of the
board room. This view has
emerged from the base of al-
lowing employees to take the
call at their level and to stand
accountable for their deci-
sions.
Technology is a great disrup-
tor in nurturing the culture of
engagement and empower-
ment in organizations both for
its employees as well as cli-
ents. Most of the technology
driven companies are using
different types of prescrip-
tions, programs and platforms
VIJAY KUMAR
SHOTRIYA
Vijay Kumar Shrotriya is pro-fessor at Depart-ment of Com-merce, Universi-ty of Delhi. He is an M Com, LL B, PHD. Prof. Shrotriya is a recipient of Young Re-searcher Award. His area of inter-est is Organisa-tional Happi-ness, Leader-ship, CSR and Training & De-velopment.
WHY EMPOWER EMPLOYEES?
JIGYASA 2016 56
to engage their employees and
empowering them through
their participation in decision
making. In-house surveys are
conducted to track their per-
ception about their level of en-
gagement and empowerment.
The practices are reformulated
and followed in response to
the survey reports.
Empowering employees also helps in
developing innovative products and de-
signing new and updated services.
Google is an excellent example of em-
powering employees to innovate and
participate in product development, de-
signing and delivery. Through Google
Cafes, employees interact across teams
and are allowed to send direct mail to
any of its leaders. They have designed
Google Moderator which works as inno-
vation management tool facilitating tech
-talks and allowing anyone participating
to ask a question and there could be
voting as well on preferred answer. This
tool also provides insights into existing
pool of ideas, questions and sugges-
tions and also respond to them. This
open environment allows employees to
express themselves freely and positively
which in turn helps them develop them-
selves better. There are many such plat-
forms for employees at Google which
empower them through learning and
development. Google employees feel
highly empowered.
In India we have an organization called HCL
Technologies which provides opportunities to
its employees to raise issues and seek clarifica-
tions and guidance. Much talked about ap-
proach as advocated and practiced by their
CEO, Vineet Nayar, Employees First Customer
Second, has helped HCL technologies to have
an edge over their competitors as well as to re-
duce attrition rate effectively.
Engagement and empowerment are closely knit
concepts and widely accepted practices across
small or big organizations. It is reported that
in India only around 9-10 percent of employees
are fully engaged as against 15 percent as per
global standards and globally around 25 per-
cent are disengaged as against 30 percent in
India. We have much greater a challenge to deal
with and I believe the organiza-
tions have to develop employ-
ees through their effective en-
gagement. Their participation
in decision making and re-
sponding to the need of fellow
workers have to be tackled af-
fectionately so that their sense
of belonging and citizenship
can boost their morale to per-
form better in the interest of the
organization. And yes this also
asks for HR being part of the
board room.
Next time when you visit a pri-
vate sector bank, just observe,
do you see long queues. When
you visit a privately run organi-
zation, you may observe their
employees multitasking and
helping their counterparts who
might have more workload. If
we have to sustain better organ-
izational performance in the
competitive environment, we
have to move from disengage-
ment to engagement, we would
need to have open structures
and systems in order to allow
employees to freely interact and
express their concern on build-
ing the organization. And that
is possible only when an organi-
zation opts for new thinking
and new way to look at whole
philosophy of managing men.
The organizations have to com-
mand respect and oblige their
employees through a belief that
- We need you to remain market
relevant and to respond to the
call of the customer. And that
is possible through empowering
them to take and own decisions.
JIGYASA 2016 57
Question: How will you de-
scribe your experiences in
Human Resources so far?
How has it evolved when
you started out versus to-
day?
Answer: It has been a fantas-
tic HR journey for the last 17
years after I post graduated
from Delhi School of Econom-
ics in 1999. In these 17 years,
I have been part HR function
of some of the most admired
Indian and Multi-National
Companies. I had privilege of
managing HR both in India as
well as outside India. My roles
evolved from operational HR
to strategic HR as I moved
from one company to another.
Roles also evolved from being
highly domestic to very cross
cultural and International in
nature. All this while, HR itself
has moved from a peripheral
function to core part of organ-
ization’s strategy.
Question: As we see today,
technology is forming a very
critical part of HR. Do you
think technology can be
used to optimize various HR
processes and the way em-
ployees are serviced and en-
gaged?
Answer: Technology is chang-
ing every aspect of the organi-
zation today and is going to
continue making significant
impact on HR Function as well.
Technology has ability to en-
hance productivity by auto-
mating multiple processes that
impact employees. HR Service
delivery using technology has
already made big inroads in
the organization. We are no
longer required to push pa-
pers to employees and that
itself is a big change. I expect
technology to play bigger role
in helping HR professionals
take more informed decisions
on all aspect of the HR func-
tion like talent management,
selection, training etc. HR Ana-
lytics, which is driven by adop-
tion of technology, has tre-
mendous scope predict and
manage HR metrics. I am sure
that HR technology will shape
the way we manage and en-
gage our employees.
Question: What according to
you are the current trends
that is going to shape the
future of performance man-
agement and performance
appraisal?
Answer: Current trend in per-
formance management is
clearly towards more periodic
feedback on performance ra-
ther than yearend feedback
mechanism. We also see a
trend that companies are re-
sorting to feedback on employ-
ee from multiple sources like
peers, customers etc. to make
the feedback more complete.
We are also witnessing a big
debate on companies moving
away from normalization of
performance.
Question: How can HR Man-
agers contribute to ensure
effective performance man-
agement in the organiza-
tion? What are the reasons
for failing performance man-
agement?
Avadhesh
is a Global HR Leader with HR work experience across all HR functions. He has exten-sive International HR experience in UK and Ireland and has led HR function for USA, Europe, Latin America and Middle East.
Currently, Avadhesh is Head Global HR at Moody's Copal Amba. He is leading the HR function that is spread across India , Sri Lanka, Costa Rica and China. He is accounta-ble for HR Strategy and HR operations for the global organiza-tion with more than 2500 financial services and analytics profes-sionals. Previous to Moody's, Avadhesh was Vice President & Head HR for GE Capi-tal's BPM unit and GE-SBI JV in the space of retail cards. Before GE, Avadhesh was Head Global HR and part of Management Team at CMC Ltd. As Head-Global HR, he was responsible for HR strategy and HR Service Delivery for 12000+ employees across India, USA, UK & EMEA. Avadhesh has worked in Interna-tional HR and was based in London, (UK) for 4 years. He is Certified Global Professional in HR (GPHR) from SHRM, USA. He is active speaker on all dimen-sions of HR in various HR conferences.
INTERVIEW:
AVADHESH DIXIT
JIGYASA 2016 58
Answer: The biggest role that
HR professional can play is to
ensure that performance man-
agement is not restricted to an-
nual ritual of completing PMS
for the purpose of compensa-
tion review alone. Real value of
PMS is in constructive feedback
to employees to help improve
their performance and guide
them on development and ca-
reer planning.
Question: What are the most
important components of per-
formance appraisal ?
Answer: Most important com-
ponent of PMS is development of
employee. It’s important that
PMS becomes the basis for
meaningful dialogue with the
employee and a tool that helps
them navigate their careers. It
becomes important that employ-
ee gets feedback on his perfor-
mance from all stakeholders
and the exercise should not be
reduced to annual ritual. Out-
put from the feedback mecha-
nism should become integral
part of employee development
programs in the company.
Question: To what extent we
can link performance manage-
ment to employee’s career
progression? What are the
ways to do that?
Answer: Good PMS process will
establish clear linkages with ca-
reer development and overall
employee development. Output
from PMS must feed into Train-
ing Needs and career planning
process. PMS process should
identify people who are ready to
take up higher roles and HR
should facilitate that process
with line managers.
Question: There has been a
new wave of entrepreneurship
in India recently but most HR
processes of startups are un-
organized. What, in your opin-
ion, should be the starting
point when designing all HR
processes?
Answer: As the startups scale
up their organizations, all HR
processes should also scale up
to keep pace with the organi-
zation. HR professionals
should be at the center of
these initiative. This can
achieved through scaling up
HR technology, designing rele-
vant HR processes and build-
ing culture that supports high
growth. PMS is at the core of
building culture that supports
organizational priorities.
Starting point could be to de-
sign good and robust PMS that
supports growth.
JIGYASA 2016 59
Question: What are the traits of
an HR manager?
Answer: People who are successful
in HR must know the business. Of-
ten people forgot that they are
serving the entire business. For ex-
ample, if you don’t understand
what customers want from HR,
how are we you going to go about
hiring the right kind of salesmen!
Now, if you are working in automo-
bile industry versus in airline in-
dustry, some elements will be com-
mon and some will be different. For
one, customer service will be same.
But the technical game will be dif-
ferent. So one needs to mold him-
self according to the business.
Strategy and growth.
Secondly, HR is the flagbearer of
the organization, like the General
of an army. He is the one who peo-
ple look up to for direction. So he
should keep the company’s flag fly-
ing high.
Thirdly, HR is the one who upholds
the values in an organization. He
keep the values and boundaries of
the organization intact. Therefore,
HR manager must realize that he is
responsible for setting a culture in
the organization.
Fourth, the HR manager should be
the master of his subject. Nobody
in the organization should know
more than you because everybody
thinks they know HR. So you must
know it in depth and understand
the principles. For example, if your
CEO asks you how many goals
should we have and he suggests 8
goals, you should be able to cite
relevant studies and tell him that
people lose track after the 5th
goal.
That is the kind of grip you should
have on your subject. So always
have enough data and knowledge
to support your decisions.
Lastly, always champion the cause
of your employees. One should be
able to stand up to the manage-
ment for the rights of the employ-
ees. The leadership model that I
follow is servant-leadership
model, wherein, the leader is
the servant and not the high
command.
Question: How important is
empathy in HR?
Answer: Empathy is important
but it is not the only thing re-
quired. Empathy usually stops
at understanding. However, it
should extend to listening.
There is a concept called gener-
ative listening which is the
fourth level of listening. After
one has understood the prob-
lem, one should be willing to
come up with solutions as well.
It should not stop at taking
stock of the situation.
How do you think has HR trans-
formed when you compare the
times when you joined to today?
When I joined, there was a de-
bate on whether we require HR
or not. That debate still exists.
The companies are changing
the nomenclature of the titles
conferred on HR professionals.
I see analytics as an emerging
field. Talent management has
evolved a lot. We talk about sci-
entific ways of measuring tal-
ent, rewarding talent and keep-
ing talent. Learning and devel-
opment as a function has cov-
ered significant traction, for
example, gamification.
It is important for HR manager
to understand numbers. I have
handled Rs. 450 crores worth of
payroll. Someone in that capaci-
ty should definitely be well-
versed with financial aspects of
the business.
Something that is not taught at
B-Schools is how to interview.
Most management graduates
take their first job in Talent Ac-
quisition domain, but it is im-
perative to understand behav-
ioral patterns and develop keen-
ness to peer through one’s
mind.
Rajan is Co founder of Salto Dee Fe and is Con-sulting in the areas of
Organisation Transformation, Talent Manage-ment, Employee Retention, People Decisions and Leadership Skil-ling. He is
focused on solving "People Problems" to enhance productivity and engagement. Have recently built a revolutionary mobile application to en-hance performance of employees through changing behaviour @www.karmanotebook.com. He has served more than 40 clients in past 4 years in 18 industry segments across Asia and Eu-rope. More that 40% of our clients give us repeat business. He has more than Two decades of HR experi-ence involving in-depth work in Busi-ness HR role, Large Scale Organisation Transformation, Or-ganisation Enable-ment & Talent Man-agement (including Acquisition & Reten-tion). He is successful in working at the inter-section of Strategy & HR : Sales & HR. For over a decade directed, motivated and created value for an organization through its Human Resource function, managing a workforce of 15000+ He have experience in wide range of indus-tries - Manufacturing, Automobiles, Consult-ing, FMCG & Financial Services
INTERVIEW:
RAJAN KALIA
JIGYASA 2016 60
The metamorphosis of the traditional
HR from a humble support function
into a more powerful strategic posi-
tion has been underway for long. A
new development in the available hu-
man resources is becoming prevalent
and demands urgent attention. There
is no denying that now is the time of
millennials, and Generation Z is gear-
ing up to climb the corporate ladder. I
t is estimated that by 2020, the mil-
lennial generation will make up for
50% of the global workforce. By 2025,
that number is likely to reach 75%.
With this dynamic shift in the compo-
sition of the workforce, new trends in
the organization culture are bound to
brew.
Human Resource Management as
complex it is, not only needs to iden-
tify the gaps, but also evolve to adapt
to the requisite changes in the sys-
tem.
From wanting a flexible approach to
work and timely feedback, millennials
expect rapid progression and a liberal
workplace culture. In the data com-
piled by PiQube, the fact that stands
out is 2 out of every 3 millennials
want to take up management roles in
another three years. When this hap-
pens, it will catalyze a radical modifi-
cation in the strategic direction of the
organizations and most certainly
bring about a massive alteration in
the processes and the framework. Key
highlights in PiQube’s survey of the
trends that millennials are transport-
ing into the workplace are:
Firstly, the need to have topnotch
technology. Aptly called the iGener-
ation, updated services and solu-
tions are a must in the workplace.
Secondly, a heavier focus on results
than on hours of work is levied by
this generation. Flexible work hours
are a preference of about three
fourth of the millennial generation.
Thirdly, pay is not the deciding fac-
tor for the new leaders. More than
60% believe in non financial re-
wards and consider them as a re-
ward strategy of the future. Recog-
nition is more important than mon-
etary incentives.
Fourthly, for 88% of the re-
spondents’ employer branding
is paramount. They price
strong mission/value systems
and are willing to work for less
pay with an organization that
matched best with their ethical
and social beliefs.
Lastly, factors like work from
home and open communication
policy rank high in the list of
essentials for choosing a job.
On the other hand, the millen-
nial generation believes that
dress code does not affect their
productivity in any way.
With all these in place, the big-
gest of challenges arrive for HR
departments in terms of design-
ing an effective plan to cater to
all the different groups.
The semblance is only in terms of
the need to succeed, the path to-
wards the same is bifurcated. Var-
ied definitions of success prevail
for both the generations.
Striking a balance between man-
aging collaboratively and grant-
ing autonomy seems to be the
key. Need of the hour is to identi-
fy the potential of Generation Y
and Generation Z, and then in-
habit in the organization a cul-
ture of support which is mutually
beneficial to all age groups.
For this, HR function needs to be
robust and updated. A farewell to
the old system which weighs on
fixed schedules, obsolete paper-
work, monetary incentives and
reviews at the end of the year is
required. Stress must be on the
pace. The escalating standards
of productivity and rising bench-
marks of efficiency necessitate
transformation. It must be taken
into consideration that the expec-
tations of the new generations
focus on achievement and thus,
demand a high degree of flexibil-
ity. With more millennials enter-
ing the workplace and job-
hopping every couple of years,
companies that learn to embrace
change will be the ones who win
in the talent capitalization game.
JUHI JAIN
Juhi Jain is a first year stu-dent of MBA (HRD) at Depart-ment of Com-merce, Delhi School of Eco-nomics where she is also a member of Cor-porate Rela-tions Team.
AGE OF MILLENNIALS AND IGEN-
ERATION- CHANGING PARADIGMS
OF HR
JIGYASA 2016 61
“World War I was not inevitable, as
many historians say. It could have
been avoided, and it was a diplo-
matically botched negotiation.” -
Richard Holbrooke
Negotiation is an inevitable aspect
of business. Therefore, when com-
panies move cross-border owing
to globalization, efforts can be
marred by cultural differences
leading to businesses not achiev-
ing their desired objectives. If ig-
nored, these differences can im-
pede business transactions signifi-
cantly. Even subtle differences
need to be kept in mind, else con-
sequences can be drastic. Take for
instance a contract offered by a
Japanese cable company to an
American manufacturer. When the
order was delivered, the Japanese
rejected the consignment in spite
of all specifications been met. The
reason quoted was that the cables
looked ugly. This was beyond the
understanding of Americans, as
the cables were to remain hidden
under ground. But for the Japa-
nese, aesthetics was an essential
aspect irrespective of the product.
What led to the failure, in this
case, was that both parties ig-
nored cultural differences com-
pletely when negotiating contract
terms.
Differences can come into play not
only as ideas and beliefs but also
as processes followed. To reach
an acceptable consensus during
negotiations, these must be deep-
ly studied a priori.
Bridging the players and process-
es
The negotiating parties may be
organized in a different way. While
one party may have a supreme in-
dividual decision maker, the other
side may be team oriented and
consensus based. It is there-
fore, essential to identify the
key players and put forth argu-
ments tactically.
Also, the negotiating teams
may have other parties in-
volved who may influence the
decision. For example, private
Chinese companies most often
have a local political party offi-
cial on the team and labor un-
ion members serve as repre-
sentatives on the Board of Di-
rectors in German companies.
Even entities like the mafia in
Russia need to be considered.
The opposite party must
hence shun home-market pre-
sumptions and keep every-
one’s interest in mind.
Adapt to the Approach
When we negotiate with peo-
ple, we typically seek to influ-
ence the outcome of an organ-
izational process. These pro-
cesses can vary across cul-
tures and call for strategically
planned negotiation tactics.
If the counterparts view the
purpose of negotiation as to
build a long term relationship,
it would be worthwhile to add
efforts and explain how the
bond between the companies
would be fruitful in the long
run. However, if the goal is to
seal the deal, then relationship
building would be a waste of
time and energy. One party
trying to speed up processes
to save time may be seen by
the other as unseemly haste
and may ultimately give up on
K NAGA DEEPIKA
K Naga Deepika is a second year student of MBA Indian In-stitute of Man-agement at In-dore where she is pursuing her PGP .
CULTURAL IMPACT ON
NEGOTIATION
JIGYASA 2016 62
the deal. Also, the general
perception of people in a
country may differ. While one
party may view negotiations
as a problem-solving and col-
laborative process (win-win),
the other may see it as con-
frontational (win-lose). Hence,
tactics need to be devised to
win a negotiation based on
these views. The degree of
formality in demeanor and
attitude may also differ
across nations. While Ameri-
cans use first name-basis to
build friendly ties, Germans
are more formal insisting on
addressing people by their
titles and avoiding a personal
touch.
The way of communicating
also varies across cultures.
Japanese tend to use gestures
and body language to com-
municate acceptance or rejec-
tion. A more direct and infor-
mal party can come across as
aggressive and insulting to
them, exacerbating relations
between the two sides. Deal
makers, hence need to learn
not only the technical aspects
of negotiating but also the
softer elements such as read-
ing emotions and body lan-
guage to steer the deal to-
wards success as per indirect
responses from the other
end.
In order to tackle these differ-
ences, two approaches were
introduced. The first was
building-down, where the
complete deal is presented
and slowly chiseled as per
conditions accepted/rejected.
This method is generally pre-
ferred by the Americans. The
Japanese, conversely, wel-
come the building-up ap-
proach where a minimum
deal is proposed and gradual-
ly broadened as the other
party accepts additional condi-
tions.
Other cultural aspects that
come into play are the process
and form of building agree-
ment. As we saw earlier, Ameri-
cans place a lot of emphasis on
the contract, hence it is easy to
assume that they insist on
clearly defined terms to ad-
dress future contingencies. The
Chinese on the other hand set-
tle for broader terms and pre-
fer to use the relations built to
resolve conflicts. They view de-
tailed terms as lack of confi-
dence by the other party in the
underlying relationship.
Ultimately, it is worth noting
that cultural allegiances are not
as simple as they appear. While
national culture can tell a lot
about the person sitting across
the table, each person is an
amalgamation of varied cul-
tures, each one affecting the
negotiation style. Gender, eth-
nicity, education and profes-
sion, all play a role. But more
importantly, it is being able to
assess the intricacies of the or-
ganization, its governance and
decision-making structure, be-
hind this person, that is im-
portant. Devising a culturally-
fit strategy with arguments
aimed at the right people is
what will help strike a sustaina-
ble deal.
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