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HUMAN CAPITAL
realising business strategy through people Vol.14 No.5 October 2010
®

GLOBAL HR

Cultural compatibility
in M&A transactions

PERSONA

Profiling Nathaniel Sasikar, TRAINING

Vice President - HR, 3M
Front line sales
training for impact

Leading HR PRACTICE

Amara Raja’s
without titles unique people model
Canon, Claris and Symphony Services
encourage people to lead irrespective
of formal authority. INTERVIEW
CASE
STUDY
Avaya creates Parody
or paradox
‘Futuremakers’
Contents OCTOBER 2010 VOLUME 14 NUMBER 5
COVER STORY
22 Juggling
work and life
Organizations have always had people with titles to lead,
but, today they look for people who can lead exclusive
of titles…in fact, here are some of the best leadership
examples which are coming from within organizations
from people without any formal authority.

HR PRACTICE
10 Building a strong connect
Through its unique and impactful people strategy model,
Amara Raja has carved a niche in people practices!

FEATURES
30 Culture assessment in a
cross country deal
Exploring the role of organizational culture and cultural
compatibility in an M&A transaction.

34 Futuremaker
In a conversation with Human Capital, Pamela Craven,
Chief Administrative Officer of Avaya reflects on the how
Avaya creates its 'Futuremakers' to contribute in building
its advanced business communications systems which
shapes Avaya's future.

38 Effective front line

sales training
Organizations believe in developing their most critical
team - the front line sales workforce - by imparting the
right sales training through effective techniques that are
best in the industry

4 ■ October 2010 www.humancapitalonline.com ■

PERSONA
18 Walking the talk
For A.Nathaniel Sasikar, working in an accelerated
growth environment is fun as the experience and
learning is immense. An avid reader of psychology
helps him understand and deal with people not only at
a personal level, but, even at an organizational level
especially in managing change.

CASE STUDY
46 The dilemma within:
parody or paradox
The case discusses about the individual decision
making dilemma of an executive when more than one
good option are available. It also discusses the
opportunities and problems related to permanent
nature of mentor-mentee relationship.

COLUMNS REGULARS
54 Food for thought by Dileep Ranjekar 6 Editorial
56 A point of view by Gautam Brahma 8 On the Agenda
58 HR tools by V.S.Gurumani 62 Legal Q & A
60 HR in MSMEs by Sumeet Varghese 64 Career Tracks

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TO OUR READERS

To our readers
Organizations have always had people with titles to lead, but, today they look for people
who can lead exclusive of titles…in fact, some of the best leadership examples come
from people without any formal authority. Despite our Indian mindset, the truth is that
leadership has nothing to do with one's position or title. A person can be a great leader
without any title. Discover "Leading without titles" in our cover story for this month, with
Sasken Communication Technologies Limited and Symphony Services.
Kulin Patel & Anuradha Sriram of Towers Watson discuss issues pertaining to "Culture
assessment in a cross country deal."
And in a conversation with Human Capital, Pamela Craven, Chief Administrative Officer
of Avaya reflects on the how Avaya creates its 'Futuremakers' to contribute in building its
advanced business communications systems which shapes Avaya's future.
In "Effective front line sales training", we bring you the insider view from companies like
Kotak Mahindra Old Mutual Life Insurance Ltd., Canon India and Claris Lifesciences
Limited, who
believe in developing their most critical team - the front line sales workforce - by
imparting the right sales training through effective techniques that are best in the
industry.
The case study for the month, "The dilemma within: parody or paradox" by Manas
Ranjan Tripathy discusses the individual decision making dilemma of an executive when
more than one good option is available. It also discusses the opportunities and problems
related to permanent nature of mentor-mentee relationship. Saikat Chatterjee, Manager-
HR n South East & South West Asia, InterContinental Hotels Group and G. Inbavanan,
Founder & Chief Practice Officer, People Dimensions@Work provide individual
perspectives.
In HR Practice, we look at "The people model" of Amara Raja, which has three core
aspects, "People Engagement, People Performance and People Development".
And in Persona, we profile Nathaniel Sasikar, Vice President - HR, 3M.

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ON THE AGENDA

MDP Division
XLRI
GLOBAL DIARY Marketing Management
C H Area(East)
What's on in Oct-Nov '10 Jamshedpur-831001
Tel.: (0657) 3983329, 3983330
Real Estate Marketing Fax : (0657) 2227814
Leading Successful Change Location: New Delhi E-mail: mdp@xlri.ac.in
Organizer: INSEAD Dates: 11 - 20 October 2010 Website : www.xlri.ac.in
Fees: Euro 4,150
Date: 18 - 20 October 2010
Location: Singapore
Details: www.insead.fr MDP Division
HR Management Indian School of Business
Blue Ocean Strategy Gachibowli
Organizer: INSEAD Hyderabad-500 032
Fees: Euro 6,950 Leading into the Future: A Scenario Tel.: (040) 23007000
Date: 18 - 21 October 2010 Based Approach Fax : (040) 23007099
Location: Fontainebleau Location: Hyderabad E-mail: execed@isb.edu
Details: www.insead.fr Dates: 12 - 15 October 2010 Website : www.isb.edu

Coaching Interventions
Organizer: NTL
Fees: $795
Date: 20 - 21 October 2010 Chief Programmes Officer
Location: Metro/Washington, DC IIM Bangalore
General Management
Details: www.ntl.org Bannerghtta Road
Bangalore - 560 076
Human Interaction Laboratory: Finance for Decision Making (for Non- Tel.: (080) 6993203
Transforming Interpersonal Finance Managers) Fax: (080)6584004
Relationsships Location: Bengaluru E-mail: edp@iimb.ernet.in
Organizer: NTL Dates: 18 - 22 October 2010 Website: http://www.iimb.ernet.in
Fees: $3,200
Date: 24 - 29 October 2010
Location: Metro/Washington, DC
Details: www.ntl.org AO-CMDP
IIM Indore
Negotiation Dynamics
HR Management
Prabandh Shikhar, Rau-Pithampur Road
Organizer: INSEAD Indore 453331
Fees: Euro 6,050 Tel.: (91-731) 2439666
Date: 25 - 27 October 2010 Emerging Dimensions of Leadership Fax: (91-731) 2439800
Location: Abu Dhabi Location: Indore E-mail:webman@iimidr.ac.in
Details: www.insead.fr Dates: 20 - 22 October 2010 Website:www.iimidr.ac.in

Transforming Individual Contributors to

New Leaders
Organizer: NTL
Fees: $895 MDP Division
Date: 28 - 29 October 2010 General Management Indian School of Business
Location: Metro/Washington, DC Gachibowli
Details: www.ntl.org Hyderabad-500 032
Kellogg Program on Perpetuating the Tel.: (040) 23007000
Asian International Executive Program Family Enterprise Fax : (040) 23007099
Organizer: INSEAD Location: Hyderabad E-mail: execed@isb.edu
Fees: Euro 11,900 Dates: 25 - 28 October 2010 Website : www.isb.edu
Date: 01 - 12 November 2010
Location: Singapore
Details: www.insead.fr
AO-CMDP
Shared Leadership - Power Equity Lab IIM Indore
Organizer: NTL Operations Management
Prabandh Shikhar, Rau-Pithampur Road
Fees: $1,395 Indore 453331
Date: 04 - 06 November 2010 Tel.: (91-731) 2439666
Location: Metro/Washington, DC Pricing & Revenue Management Fax: (91-731) 2439800
Details: www.ntl.org Location: Indore E-mail:webman@iimidr.ac.in
Dates: 25 - 29 October 2010 Website:www.iimidr.ac.in

8 ■ October 2010 www.humancapitalonline.com ■


AO-CMDP
HR Management IIM Calcutta, Joka
Diamond Harbour Road, P.O.-Joka
Calcutta - 700104
Managerial Leadership & Team Tel.: (91-033) 4679189
Effectiveness Fax: (91-033) 4677851, 4678307
Location: Kolkata
Dates: 25 - 29 October 2010
E-mail:aomdp@iimcal.ac.in
Website:www.iimcal.in
MDP Division
Indian Institute of Management
HR Management
Prabandh Nagar, Off Sitapur Road
Lucknow - 226013
Tel.: (91-0522) 361889-98
Managerial Effectiveness Fax: (91-0522) 360911, 361843/40
Location: Lucknow Website: www.iiml.ac.in
Dates: 25 - 29 October 2010 E-mail: mdp@iiml.ac.in
AO-CMDP
IIM Calcutta, Joka
Marketing Management
Diamond Harbour Road, P.O.-Joka
Calcutta - 700104
Tel.: (91-033) 4679189
Marketing Skills for High Performance Fax: (91-033) 4677851, 4678307
Location: Kolkata
E-mail:aomdp@iimcal.ac.in
Dates: 26 - 29 October 2010 Website:www.iimcal.in
MDP Division
Indian Institute of Management
General Management
Prabandh Nagar, Off Sitapur Road
Lucknow - 226013
Tel.: (91-0522) 361889-98
Advanced Financial Management Fax: (91-0522) 360911, 361843/40
Location: Lucknow Website: www.iiml.ac.in
Dates: 28 - 30 October 2010 E-mail: mdp@iiml.ac.in
Chief Programmes Officer
General Management IIM Bangalore
Bannerghtta Road
Bangalore - 560 076
Valuation and Value Based Tel.: (080) 6993203
Management of Banks Fax: (080)6584004
Location: Bengaluru E-mail: edp@iimb.ernet.in
Dates: 08 - 10 November 2010 Website: http://www.iimb.ernet.in
MDP Division
HR Management XLRI
C H Area(East)
Balanced Scorecard - Making it Jamshedpur-831001
Actionable Process, Methodology & Tel.: (0657) 3983329, 3983330
Techniques Fax : (0657) 2227814
Location: Mumbai E-mail: mdp@xlri.ac.in
Dates: 08 - 10 November 2010 Website : www.xlri.ac.in
■ www.humancapitalonline.com
ON THE AGENDA
NEWS ROUNDUP
Mercer survey
on benefit
plan risk
According to Mercer's survey since
financial uncertainty highlights the
need for multinational employers to
proactively manage their employee
benefit plan risk more than three-
quarters of multinationals are looking
to better manage their global
financial, strategic and reputational
risks posed by it.
The areas of attention to achieve
governance objectives include:
decision making structures, global
policy and defined contribution (DC)
focus. Mercer's survey reveals that
around 23% of its respondents
currently have a global committee in
place (and 3% have a regional
committee structure), while 43% are
considering to establishing a
decision making structure. Secondly,
shows Mercer's survey, having a
global written policy giving clear
direction for local decision-making is
limited to a few areas of plan
management: accounting (44%);
benefit design (36%); and funding
(32%), although, 24% of
respondents have established
directional policy for the investment
of plan assets. However, a 'hands off'
approach to benefit plan
administration, member
communication and vendor
management prevails. Further, about
92% of respondents sponsor DC
retirement plans in some or all
geographies, most decision-making
on these critical DC issues remain
with local management or fiduciary
boards, with little involvement from
the corporate head office.
Respondents to Mercer's survey
confirmed the growing interest of
other stakeholders like 20% reported
increasing involvement by boards of
directors; 23% reported increasing
shareholder scrutiny; and 30%
reported growing involvement of
employees.
October 2010 ■ 9
the
people model By Arva Shikari

ight from its inception, even when Amara

R
Raja Group had no formal understanding
of HR, it had people at its centre of business
activities. This is well reflected through its
core purpose evolved 20 years back, which
reads: "To transform our spheres of
influence and to improve the quality of life by building
institutions that provide better access to better
opportunities, goods and services to more people... all
the time is driven to success by the power of its
motivated set of employees."
From this core purpose, Amara Raja developed its
people strategy model which has three core aspects
viz. "People Engagement, People Performance and
People Development". Since HR strategy is an integral
part of Amara Raja's business strategy, once it arrives
at the business strategy, the company closely examines
and analyzes what are its requirements from a people
standpoint that are required to achieve all the business
objectives. This analysis of business requirements is
Through its unique and
impactful people strategy
model, Amara Raja has carved
a niche in people practices!
done from its people strategy model. Amara Raja feels
that if it addresses the business requirements from the
three people perspectives, it not only meets its business
needs, but, also meets its people needs in the business.
Briefly, people engagement means building a
psychological contract between the employee and the
organization. "We go beyond the regular terms and
conditions and hygiene factors to attach each person
to the organization. Amara Raja makes each person
feel a part of a large family rather than working for a

10 ■ October 2010 www.humancapitalonline.com ■


business organization. And we start right from talent
acquisition…whether a candidate is selected or not, be
in a vice resident position or a worker position, we give
due respect. Also, our on-boarding process involves
making a person feel a part of the family within 72
hours of joining," says B. Jaikrishna, HR head and vice
president, Amara Raja Batteries Ltd. (ARBL). People
development refers to the learning and development
that Amara Raja continuously provides its employees
to excel in their current and future roles by its
continuous programs and initiatives that ensure
employees develop not just their current, but, even
future skills. "We do not just let employees build their
job skills, we invest in their personality building," avers
Jaikrishna. Further, he says, "We strongly believe that
if these two are well taken care of, people engagement
and people development the result - people
performance will happen automatically and in turn
shoot up business performance." In fact, Amara Raja's
all people processes, systems, initiatives and policies
are addressed from these three aspects.
This strategy was structured in the year 2005-06.
Based on the core purpose of this group the initial step
that Amara Raja took in building the people model is
first it shared and believed that people can make the
organization successful and only people can contribute
to the society - since the whole core purpose is to take
care of the society at large, and automatically the
business will serve its purpose. In 2005-06 when the
company started building its people strategy model,
says Jaikrishna, "We started working on something
called future search conference which involved leaders
across the group who came together and we talked
about our core purpose, what we want to be by 2020-
2025, how we will look like 20 years ahead from now."
This entire workshop was done five years back. Further,
he explains, "We brought in leaders across the group
and we worked on 10 workshops across two days
involving all leaders including the chairman and we
talked about how do we take this group forward, if we
want to make all this happen, what we need to do. The
theory came out that its all about people structure and
systems, which need to be in place." Thus, step zero
was the core purpose, step one was the future search
workshop, which involved leaders and from leaders
Amara Raja took it to different segments across the
organization and created buy-ins on the things which
the company needed to do. This is how the
development of people strategy model began taking
shape.
Now having developed the model, every year, shares
Jaikrishna, they build a five year plan like a 'strat-ling'
process, which means strategy alignment. Every year,
each of the businesses builds a 'strat-ling' document,
which talks about how they will take the business ahead
in a five-year period. In that, a five year strategy is
evolved that would give a clear picture of business
objectives for the next five years. Based on that, the
people strategy model is validated to see what is needed
in terms of people engagement, people performance
and people development. The people engagement,
■ www.humancapitalonline.com
HR PRACTICE
people performance and people development initiatives
are not necessarily common for all businesses. Thus,
there are five year initiatives or programs in place to
implement for a group as a whole and for different
businesses.
Today, in terms of people engagement Amara Raja
follows innovative HR practices such as the AR Speak.
Through its employee engagement survey anchored
by an external organization, employee perceptions
across levels are measured anonymously. Perceptions
are built around 19 dimensions evolved out of different
schools of thought, e.g., some are taken from the
internal leader behaviour model (which have 13
dimensions), and others are taken from two well known
industry models and others from the joint venture
company, Jonhson Control, which has great people
practices. The survey reflects all these, but, most
importantly, it leads to concrete action too. That is
what builds in the engagement level. Says Jaykrishna,
“We have a change action method i.e. based on the
survey results. We first anchor a leadership workshop,
in which the chairman and senior leadership also take
par, called the Growcom (growth committee), or the
decision making body of the entire group. In the
workshop, the external organization presents survey
results across various dimensions and shows employee
perceptions on compensation, transparency,
communication, leadership, welfare measures, etc. The
Groupcom looks at the top five aspects that have the
highest score and how to retain those. They also look
at the bottom five scores and think on how to improve
them. And then decisions are taken on these by way
Candid quotes
➡ “Performance to us is how do we achieve our business
objectives and when we say business objectives it’s not
just business objectives, but, also a person’s
transformation of their life aspirations which also comes
into perspective.”
➡ “Amara Raja is always armed and armed with solutions
and actions to ensure that the business objectives are
not hampered because of people and processes.”
➡ “Wile dealing with people challenges, it’s a fact, that
our worker level team and the leadership team both
were the most stable while executing our people
strategy model. In fact, we faced challenges at the
junior and middle management as they were inflexible,
although, currently, that is also getting stabilized.”
➡ “Currently, Amara Raja is looking at certain innovative
business projects, which are confidential, but, will help
the group towards success.”
➡ “For me people management is building skill and will.
And if organizations continue to build people’s skill and
will I think businesses will be successful. Thus, every
organization should focus on this.”
October 2010 ■ 11
HR PRACTICE

of selecting and involving people from the worker and These four perspectives are well aligned for every
staff level (change owners); functional leaders (change business and the performance appraisal takes care of
leaders); and middle management (change champions). the internal process of the employee and through the
Survey results are shared with them and they are asked balanced scorecard, Amara Raja executes the variable
for feedback on how to improve the bottom five and pay, so one's variable pay is linked to the achievement
strengthen the top five in their department and of objectives in the balanced scorecard.
functional context. These people clearly articulate The training calendar is given utmost importance.
actions plans to be taken up and they work on those If people do not attend programs despite sufficient
action plans throughout the year. Here, the employees notice, it is treated as ‘no work, no pay’. While the
are able to see these actions really happening, thus, company has rewards it has consequences too.
belief in the system becomes stronger. Every company However, generally, there is a 100% attendance because
has a change ambassador to facilitate and oversee people are keen to attend the programs, avers
these action plans. Business review meetings are more Jaikrishna.
than just ‘reviews’... they also check how well the Performance management serves as a rich source
organization is executing change action plans. Every of inputs for development of employees. Each employee
year end, when action plans are closed, the chairman is given the opportunity to explore what skills he would
is present with the leadership team and the change like to develop. This is not just connected with business
ambassadors to give away awards to people who have targets, but also inclusive of self development targets.
implemented them. These are highest levels of And employees have to ensue in achieving their self
employee engagement at work in Amara Raja. development targets. Amara Raja's training team
In terms of people performance, Amara Raja follows consolidates the training needs across the organization
an innovative HR practice, whereby employees' and comes out with a learning and development
performance is measured on calendar that is released every
three aspects: essential job year. Once the appraisal
functions, objectives/targets process is over by July, the
and leader behaviour. This is
a unique model for Amara
Future planning training calendar is released
from August to July every year.
Raja, says Jaikrishna. Leader In 2011, Amara Raja will be focusing on people The calendar anchors all sorts
behaviour includes 13 leader management in terms of building capability, of programs for e.g.
behaviours like demonstrating enhancing efficiency, and driving innovation. To communication program,
integrity; focus on customers; build capability, the company has plans to create which is conducted in-house
developing employees; focused development programs for functions and at different levels, in addition
strategic thinking; analytical individuals and if required make changes in its to internal junior management
thinking; commitment to existing learning and development programs. To programs. Besides, Amara
social responsibility; etc. Every enhance efficiency of people and more importantly Raja nominates employees for
leader is assessed and the overall productivity, the organization plans a lot of external programs. For
rating is provided to achieve automation…along with a certain amount of specific targets it has specific
an aggregate score on the business realignment to deliver on time. Thirdly, programs like a year before
three aspects by taking the since driving innovation is one of Amara Raja’s the company executed a
average of all the three. core values the company will continue its efforts program on leadership
Assuming on the executive in terms of having innovation workshops which development for its leaders.
level, Jaikrishna illustrates, if are imparted periodically. Across the globe all Amara
the leader behaviour score is Raja leaders were called at IIM
less than the total average Bangalore campus for a one
score then the leader behaviour score will be taken as and a half year program which consisted of 16 capsules.
the final score. In other words, even if one has achieved All the nominated leaders were living in the hostel,
his/her objectives and targets by compromising on working on case studies and projects by burning the
leader behaviour Amara Raja doesn't grant it. Leader midnight oil, which created a lot of bonding between
behaviour is a reflection of core values - if someone them, too, apart from learning.
is achieving his targets by rubbing people in the HR strategies at ARBL are sieved through trends
organization - he is not respected in the organization. and opportunities in the market every year to maintain
On the contrary, if an executive has a high leader its robustness. ARBL stays ahead in the league by
behaviour score and has a lower score on objectives initiating new trends and innovative practices and
and targets, also is not accepted and here the average adopting new technologies, all of which have become
score is taken as the final score. industry benchmarks over the years. For example, it's
Amara Raja also builds an ownership for business innovative fresh talent acquisition program - "Nava
performance through its balance scorecard process. It Prathibha" that helps ARBL infuse fresh talent into the
executes by connecting the scorecard to all businesses organization across different levels with different
across the group. The balanced scorecard model entails programs in line with its group business goals. For
four perspectives - the financial process, customer instance, through the Amara Raja Training Scheme
process, the internal process, learning and growth. (ARTS) fresh workmen are induced into the company.

12 ■ October 2010 www.humancapitalonline.com ■

HR PRACTICE
This is a two-years training (including classroom and
on-job) provided to unemployed youth in and around
the Amara Raja manufacturing locations in Chitttor
district. The certificate holders are free to apply to
companies other than Amara Raja, too. This creates a
pool of skilled talent and enhances the employability of
the youth in the society. The company recruited more
than 1000 shop floor members through this program
last year. Through Amara Raja's Graduate Technician
Amara Raja Group wins the “Strong Commitment to HR Excellence level, but, also, at the staff level,
Award” at a national level from CII.
Training Program (ARGTP), fresh graduates and
diploma holders are induced into the company. It
recruits trainees who are graduates for clerical positions worker level also, therefore, we started to get talent at
while diploma holders are recruited at the shop floor
and for field jobs at technician levels. And the Amara
Raja Graduate Engineer Trainee (GET) and Management
Trainee (MT) programs get fresh talent for management
level. The company recruits around 9 to 10% of its
management team strength annually from Tier III
colleges across eight states spanning from all corners
of India.
The recognition that ARBL renders on employees
are, in turn, bestowed on it by coveted HR awards like
Best Employer Awards, Continuous Innovation in HR
Strategy Award, Excellence in HR through Technology
Award and other recognition amongst multiple others.
Recently, it was commended for Strong Commitment
to HR Excellence Award from Confederation of Indian
Industry (CII) based on a national level assessment
done on a HR Excellence model.
Behind winning the 'Best HR Strategy in line with
business' award consecutively for two years in 2008
and 2009, is Amara Raja's five-year plan for its every
business strategy and linking to its people strategy
14 ■ October 2010
model. Jaikrishna shares, "By understanding our
business needs we came up with programs which were
connected to the three people aspects. The way it was
designed and structured that even the review processes
in place could take into account the changes happening
in business during the year and we could adapt quickly
to the changes and simultaneously making those
changes on our people mission - and this was well
appreciated by the jury members. In fact, in the final
presentation which we did with
a 10 member jury, they asked
questions like - How are you
changing your people needs
when the business needs keep
changing? And we were ready
with the answer."
Citing an example of
integrating business and people
needs and adapting to business
changes without getting
affected, he says, “We had
understood that we would
require inducting fresh talent
in our business - one was to
ensure that we build up a
leadership pipeline, at the
management level. Initially we
started off the program in a
structured way for the
management staff, over a
period of time we realized that
the business just doesn't need
the leadership at the
management and executive
so we quickly adapted our
design to accommodate
leadership development for the staff level. In fact, in
last two years we realized that the need has risen at the
all three levels.”
Amara Raja has also won awards for displaying
continuous innovation in its HR strategy at work again
for two consecutive years. Jaikrishna reveals: “What we
typically do on our innovative side is we scan the
business environment and say how would be the
business be in the next year as well as the next five
years and what it would look like and document it all.
Based on the environment scan we determine how the
competition would be, how the industries are likely to
perform in the next five years, then we look at how are
we performing now and how will we perform in the
next five years. From this scan we create our strategies.
Before that we see what are the likely hurdles or issues
we are going to face while we execute them? We also
proactively involve our people in it and get down to
documenting the issues and hurdles while executing
the business strategy and people strategy. Then we list
down those things and think on how we will overcome
these hurdles by designing various programs to combat
these hurdles. By using this strategy we found that 99%
www.humancapitalonline.com ■
HR PRACTICE

to 100% we were able to overcome hurdles that we Raja to ultimately deliver the customer. In fact, people
had already researched on and had an action in place keep challenging themselves and supporting each other
for them. In short, our people are very well prepared so that the SLA works smoothly.
and armed when difficulties arise since we conduct The company also makes use of technology to
serious reviews on quarterly and half yearly basis, anddefine excellence in HR. To avoid the lengthy manual
from quarter to quarter we ensure that the process of performance management process, which
performance of people and business is done Amara Raja was going through previously, the company
innovatively by the mechanical reviewing and thought of implementing a performance management
articulating i.e. the preparedness level and courage system which is diligent, fast, and paperless. It
shown by people to come out and articulate the hurdles constituted a team of HR and IT executives within the
and not pushing it under the carpet and working on organization which worked on its performance
programs to overcome it.” management system in-house. Today, Amara Raja's
This is plan A for the company; however, it's performance management system is fully an electronic
prepared with plan B which consists of overcoming process, except for the final letter that it issues to the
unexpected hurdles. Additionally, Amara Raja has built employees with their improvised compensations and a
an innovative process - an SLA or a service level description of his/her performance. This is called ARE
agreement within its HR and admin team. The pass which means the Amara Raja Electronic
company has individual processes for each team - performance appraisal system.
talent acquisition team, learning and development team, The company has implemented technology in other
team which supports payroll, MIS, etc. which are aspects of people management like it has an HR portal
documented and an agreement is signed between these - ARG - Amara Raja Group HR portal, where Amara
teams as to what to deliver in a period of time. The Raja employees can access policies, understand them,
process and delivery time is all calculated so that allthey can even ask queries on HR policies where the
teams within the HR and admin work seamlessly. This HR helpdesk clarifies with the help of an email system.
is reviewed continuously. And if there are any failuresThere is a learning phase on the HR portal. In fact,
on this front HR management takes it up very strongly many of the organizational circulars and memos are
within its team by making people improve on the not in physical form and are delivered through emails,
processes. Having the SLA within teams helped Amara except at the shop floor where prints of these are put
up. In addition, Amara Raja has an e-
induction process. Since seniors wanted to
have employees conversant with the
organization within 72 hours of joining; every
employee joining Amara Raja undergoes
through the e-induction process or he/she
doesn't get an employee code. At the end of
it he/she has to answer some questions based
on that. The e-induction is employee friendly
with written material and pictures/snap shots,
so that when the person visits a factory or an
office feels that 'I've been in this place before'.
Several other processes have been facilitated
by technology at Amara Raja which has
helped it in response time and speed.
In implementing its HR practices
based on its people strategy model, initially
there was a lot of apprehension: Will this
happen? Can we make it happen? Jaikrishna
gives an example: “Previously, Amara Raja
had only one trainee during a year, but, today,
through the Nava Pratibha program we
recruit 80-100 management trainees every
year. At first, when we documented our
model, it looked theoretical and analytical,
but, by involving our people in making the
structure, today, when we look back we feel
great. In our Nava Pratibha program all
trainees join together on one day. Many come
with their parents, which is a lovely sight to
see. Our chairman inaugurates the program
B. JAIKRISHNA formally and personally answers questions
HEAD & VICE PRESIDENT - HR ■ AMARA RAJA BATTERIES LTD. from trainees. Today, nobody believes that

16 ■ October 2010 www.humancapitalonline.com ■


Success of the
People Model
From a qualitative perspective, it has been a great journey for
Amara Raja because they have seen employee performance
and business showing in terms of results. The engagement
level year-on-year since the last five-six years is increasing
also. In the annual group wide employee engagement survey
the first thing of measurement is seen whether employees are
fully participating - in the first year there was a thumping
participation close to 90-95%. And last year, the second
survey which was completely structured saw 99.5% people
participating. Statistics shows that people are extremely keen
in providing views because they have seen that the company
has been taking actions based on the initial survey.
From the results point of view, in the last five years the top
line growth of the group has touched to 550% growth. This
was just not possible due to infrastructure or business
opportunities alone, but, people made it happen right from
bottom to top. Also, the attachment of people to the
organization has been phenomenally improving.
our people practices are a part of an HR function. This
is a transformation - we make every manager feel like
he/she is part of HR, like a sales and marketing manager
is also an HR manager for his people. Now, everyone
in the company, even while interacting with customers,
Ad Pearson Repeat
■ www.humancapitalonline.com
HR PRACTICE
is proud to say 'this is our people strategy'.” Another
challenge was in terms of belief that whether the
programs will be executed on time - we decided that
we will roll out particular dates for our people
programs, says, Jaikrishna, like for its performance
appraisals, Amara Raja announced that by 7th July all
appraisals will roll out and it was completed on time.
Here the philosophy is when you take care of people
they actively participate in all the processes.
Since Amara Raja group is into seven different
businesses, each has its own industry challenges. And
for us, the challenge is how to respond to industry
challenges from the people perspective. To overcome
this, Amara Raja designs industry specific programs.
During challenging economic times Amara Raja took
care of its people and after recovery since the
compensation levels have gone up… it announced an
average of 15% compensation increase across the
group. Here the challenge was managing the business
cost while there is an employee cost increase, too. In
fact, overall cost management is a great challenge for
HR today. In addition, the hiring activity now has shot
up even in the manufacturing industry, as an HR leader,
Jaikrishna feels that if a lot of hiring is going outside
then a lot of looking out is also happening inside the
organization. “The greatest challenge is to keep people
engaged so that that they never feel like leaving by
ensuring that every employee is provided with a great
manager and healthy working environment” he
concludes. HC
October 2010 ■ 17
PERSONA
walking the talk
or A.Nathaniel Sasikar, working in an
F
accelerated growth environment is fun as
the experience and learning is immense. An
avid reader of psychology helps him
understand and deal with people not only
at a personal level, but, even at an
organizational level especially in managing change.
Give us some interesting accounts of your academic/
education days.
My schooling until standard five was in "Little Flower
Convent" at Chennai, run by some nuns and lady
teachers. The environment was very protective and the
teachers were very gentle and loving. Since the school
held classes up to the fifth standard, I had to move to
a boy's school.
This school was run by the Raphael brothers
(Monfort) and most teachers were male. As I was used
to the kind atmosphere at the previous school, the way
classes were conducted, disciplined and handled made
me very uncomfortable in this school. I could not last
for long and had to move to another school.
Prof Clarence Motha of Loyola College influenced
my attitude towards study and made a big difference
to me. I was an average student in school and had very
limited aspirations. In college Prof Motha would
encourage us to use the library to prepare for
examinations and projects. His constant encouragement
propelled me to act on his advice to prepare for a test.
The exam was over and it was time for paper
distribution. Before distributing the paper to the class
he spoke very highly about the person who stood first
in the class. He said a dark horse has come first much
ahead of the intelligent students of the class due to
shear hard work. When he called my name to receive
the paper I could not believe that I stood first in his
18 ■ October 2010
class. While handing over the papers he advised on the
need to be consistent in the score. Ever since that day
I have been consistent in my studies and always was
among the top 10 in the class.
How did you plan your career?
My initial career plan was to follow my dad's foot steps
- a career in civil service. I took this very seriously and
decided to work towards getting an arts degree. In
college I joined the Civil service cell and was an active
participant. I did well in the first one and half years of
the course. However, I lost interest in it during the
second year of college. It was during this period that
my brother influenced me to pursue a career in human
resources and encouraged me to do a post graduation
with specialization in HR. Interestingly, my first two
appointments were for HR profiles however, within a
span of 6 months I was involved in the operations of
the business more than HR. It was only after 5 years
of work experience that I was into a full time HR role.
Now looking back, those 5 years in operations gave me
a good insight into business and its needs. This helped
me in aligning HR support to business.
Describe your experience of your first day at work
in your first job?
My first appointment was as Assistant Manager -
Personnel and Administration at Hotel Fern Hill Palace,
Ooty. I was not afraid of the responsibilities my role
involved as I had been spending two days in a week at
business establishments during the entire period of my
master's course. My boss R. E. Smith introduced me
to the staff and said he was on leave for the next three
days and I was to run the operations. He also mentioned
that Juhi Chawla was checking into the hotel that
www.humancapitalonline.com ■
 PERSONA

semesters. In 1993 I moved

Ther eafter
eafter,, ho
Thereafter w has been yyour
how our pr ofessional jour
professional ney?
journey? to Kodak to head HR for
I started my professional journey in Fernhill Palace the southern region in
Ooty between 1988 and 1990. Being a hill resort there India. In 1995 I moved
were peaks and valley's in the business. Interaction from Kodak to McDowell's
with professionals and learning was limited. Since I at Bangalore. From 1995 to
wanted to pursue a course in management, I decided 2007 I was associated with
to change jobs. I was hired as plant HR with focus on McDowell (now known as
recruitment and OD at ISEX fashion (garment exporter) United Spirits). During
for their green field project. I stepped into the shop these 12 years there were 4
floor to understand the needs for both recruitment mergers and an equal
and training. I had long discussion with Kishore Shahani, number of restructurings.
GM of the plant to firm up the plans. He was impressed The organization grew in
with my grasping of the production process and my employee strength, sales
ability to get along with people he decided that I was volume and market share.
best suited for the production role. I was initially In 2007 moved to 3M.
reluctant to move however because of his persuasion
I moved to production. In hind sight this was the best Your major achiev ements
achievements
move in my career. The following 3 years were full of have been in UB spirits
learning. Kishore passed on industrial engineering and 3M. Which
knowledge to me and under his leadership we built the opportunities steered you
plant and the organization culture. In a year our on that path?
productivity and quality were much higher than our Working in an accelerated
other plants. Any buyer coming in to check all the growth environment is
facilities would insist that their production happened always fun. The experience
only at this plant. From 90 to 93 I clocked in close to and learning is immense.
12 hours a day for 7 days a week. This really helped in Both the organizations
building a strong foundation for my career. In the offered this opportunity.
meantime I had joined part time LIBA for PGDBA Some of the high points at
course and by 1993 I had completed 4 of the 6 UB are the following:
1. Change in the profile of
the frontline sales which
supported accelerated
growth
2. Standardizing induction
through an module
3. Managing the change
during the SAP
implementation
4. Role played in integration
and restructuring
5. Being the HR Champion
and supporting the
innovation journey
At 3M some of the high
points are:
1. Scaling up recruitment,
streamlining the
recruitment process to
drive productivity and
better service tour internal
customer
NATHANIEL SASIKAR ■ VICE PRESIDENT - HR ■ 3M
2. Automation and leveraging technology to improve
evening and as she was an important guest I had to HR process efficiency, HR team productivity and
receive and welcome her. Though, I walked into the helping us to meet the scale challenge.
office confidently, fear set in when he said that he was
not going to be there for the next three days. Stephen, From your perspective what kind of barriers gets
front office turned out to be my advisor and coach for in the way of trust and collaboration in companies?
the next three days. With his help I managed the first Philosophy, principles, process and producers play an
three days. important role in promoting trust and collaboration

■ www.humancapitalonline.com October 2010 ■ 19

PERSONA

in a company. When organizations are transparent leveraged during this growth journey at 3M India. Next
and consistent, it promotes trust and collaboration. step would be to look for subsidiary outside of India
Leadership in the organization plays an important where these skills can be leveraged or an assignment
role. If the leadership demonstrates trust and with a larger geographical span where I would be able
collaboration among themselves and their team the to make an impact.
chances of the team demonstrating the same is very
high. The team based reward and recognition against You rread
ead psy chology books
psychology books.. HHoow does this help
individual based reward can promote collaboration you in your personal and professional life?
and trust. We are dealing with people
all the time. Understanding
Is there a need for ethics
in HR so that people hired
are vocal brand
In brief people, their motives helps
you in dealing with them
better at an individual level
ambassadors? and at the group level. The
Ethics is important in every NAME Nathaniel Sasikar knowledge helps me in
aspect of the organization.
We need to keep the TITLE Vice President, HR seeing through people. This
experience helps at an
organizational interest above ORGANIZATION 3M organizational level in
personal preference or managing change, drawing
interest. Our decision would EXPERIENCE 22 years your rewards and
be right only when we are
ethical.
YEARS IN HR 22 years recognition programme etc.
AGE 44 Besides, reading
Being a leader yourself,
what do you think you EDUCATION MSW, PGDBA psychology what are your
other interests?
possess as a leader that
Music is my passion besides
sets you apart from other
books. I listen to country blues and POP music. Don
leaders?
Williams, Bob Marley are my favourite singers.
1. Walk the talk - credibility I have built among all stake
holders.
2. Consistent and candidness - no favourites/I don't A family bonding experience…
shy away in telling the truth. We usually take a break twice a year to some remote
3. Open mind to listen to others point of view and scenic corner, mostly within India- Kerala is our
human in approach. particular favourite owing to its pristine environment
and food. We did not take a proper break in the years
How as a leader
leader,, do yyou
ou go about dev eloping
developing 2007 & 2008, due to job changes for both of us, and so
yourself today? when it was time to plan our vacation in 2009, we
Learning does not stop. You learn from your team, chose an unusual location- a forest guest house in
your peers and your supervisors. I am an insatiable Tekkadi, Kerala.
learner and believe in grooming my own self. Interacting The trip turned out to be a most memorable
with professionals in the other organization, and my experience as the government hotel we chose was
international colleagues and reading are some of the inside the forest with no TV and no mobile connectivity
way of learning. we were forced to spend all the time in family activities.
We had ensured that the children did not carry their
What keeps you so passionate about working in play stations and instead carried badminton racquets,
HR? playing cards and indoor games. We spent the whole
HR gives you a unique position to touch the life of time in having fun, in jungle walks and games. Even
your employees and also support the organization in small things like spotting a deer, watching squirrels and
its growth journey. There is no greater joy than seeing tree animals excited us. We began to appreciate the
your team members or employees of organization things we had always taken for granted.
growing within your organization and outside. Being in One of the unforgettable activities was a jungle
HR makes you play a part in this growth journey of an walk we took where we walked through the jungle in
individual. 3M believes that as employees in the the dark. My youngest son was so scared that he clung
organization grow, the organization will grow. to his mother for the whole duration- he was afraid of
both the dark and the animals! After the walk, we had
What are your current ambitions for the next phase to spend another 30 minutes picking the leeches off
in your career? each other despite all the protection we took.
I think my strength lies in building organizational A good family bonding experience as it took us off
capability for growth and managing the change process. the routine, in the midst of nature not disturbed by
3M in India is growing and in a few years we would be outside world and we got to spend time with each
a billion dollar company in India. My skills will be other. HC

20 ■ October 2010 www.humancapitalonline.com ■

COVER STORY

Organizations have
always had people
with titles to lead,
but, today they look
for people who can
lead exclusive of
titles…in fact, here
are some of the
best leadership
examples which are
coming from within
organizations from
people without any
formal authority.
By Arva Shikari

leading
without titles
or decades having heavyweight, flashy titles equipped with advanced sales and customer service

F
were used to attract and retain smart people
and build credibility for businesses to get
customers. Today, the scenario is changing,
Leadership 2.0 has stepped in which is
enabling employees to lead irrespective of
their job titles…in other words, undertake any project,
without a title holding them back. For example, a newly
employed retail sales assistant in a mega store was
training, which not only aided her in making a quick
start at work, but she automatically began showing her
new colleagues, by example, on serving customers more
effectively. In another company, a fresh, inexperienced
junior HR generalist saw that the company has a very
old performance appraisal system and detected that
this could affect employees and in turn business, thus,
he convinced his HR director to adopt a new system

22 ■ October 2010 www.humancapitalonline.com ■

 COVER STORY

within three months of his joining which increased the look forward for flatter structures that lessen the
performance levels in the company. In a team of hierarchical bands of titles to give way for change and
product developers, one of the junior developers came innovation. As C Mahalingam, EVP & chief people
up with the idea of a next generation product which officer of Symphony Services says, "We do have titles
became a champion in the market and was the leading for different grades in the organizations. These are
product of the company. functional titles and not necessarily hierarchical. We
Such leadership is inspired by thought leadership are non-hierarchical in our structure as we are a
that directs up, down or sideways and has nothing to product organization and innovation is the key to our
do with positions or managing people. Thought success and the success of our clients. And a hierarchy-
leadership is fundamental to bring innovative change. free culture and environment is our key to promoting
Also, it is democratic in nature as it can move rapidly innovation."
from one person to another. The best part of using People Group follows a flat organization structure
thought leadership is it can't be monopolized. In fact, with only four levels between C level and first rung.
it changes how people think; that's why no action is This definitely helps people take on more responsibility
essentially implied. Linking it to the above examples, without formal distribution of authority, says Sanjiv
people were taking initiatives, coming up with new Kumar, vice president & group head-HR of the
ideas, which were promoted to their colleagues and company. In addition, the environment of the company
bosses, thereby showing thought leadership. For one, breeds people who are self motivated to take on
thought leadership doesn't need influencing skills. Also, responsibilities and challenges who unknowingly
it helps in bringing organization-wide change. Although, become leaders who lead without titles. "Our culture
a thought leader aims to make changes on a smaller - 'The People Way' clearly defines leadership
scale like ideas for a new
product or changes in
existing ones, he/she has
power to convince others of
Global overtitling cases
it by simple use of logic, Fourteen years ago, Employco, a company in Illinois started giving fancy job titles
proof or factual to its people to attract customers. Also, since the company was having cash flow
presentation, or an problems doling out a few lofty titles served as a low-cost way to draw in bright
emotional appeal where employees and keep them. Over the decade,
necessary, or by way of Employco evolved from a start-up of
actual demonstration of a around 10 employees to an established
trial product, to gain the
business with 17,000 full- and part-
necessary support. The retail
sales assistant's leadership timers. Unfortunately, as the company
was by example and not expanded and the roles of top executives
intentional. The product became more complex, some
developer's leadership was employees weren’t up to the demands
also not deliberate. The new that came with their titles. Others lacked
product that emerged from traditional senior-level credentials altogether,
her insight was forwarded having landed their titles by default or out of need. Basically, Employco had done
upwards by someone senior “overtitling”. So, to correct the problem the president of the company decided to
from her team to convince
overhaul the company’s titling policy, giving lower titles to half a dozen senior
the management to buy it
and a totally different team staffers. Additionally, the company began to review employees in key positions,
manufactured it. The determined their lack of the skills and experience and changed their titles like the
bottom line here is that title “account executive” to “risk consultant” which the president thought is more
leadership is all about the accurate since employees holding the position assess a client’s risk coverage
initiation of new directions. related to workers’ compensation, taxes, and benefits costs. In some cases, employees
Only the HR generalist's were told that they would be sharing their title with a more experienced co-worker.
thought leadership needed The news did not go down well with all the employees. Although, no one quit on the
some strong influencing spot, but, most moved on. The best thing about this was the more specific the title,
skills, but even there, his
staffers had a tougher time comparing their titles, and paychecks, to those of their
success in convincing his
boss to change the friends and on salary surveys. The new policy had eliminated ‘overtitling’ and made
performance appraisal job requirements and expectations more clear.
system was built on facts, Doing away with titles is another option. This approach was taken by the Richards
and not inspirational Group, a Dallas-based marketing firm. It erased the titles of 560 employees and gave
influencing skills or an
company’s 20 executives the same title: principal. Some longtime employees didn’t
emotional appeal.
More than the titles itself,
approve, but, staffers did seem to be more focused on their jobs than on their titles.
nowadays, organizations In fact, the lack of hierarchical titles had also helped lure new recruits.

■ www.humancapitalonline.com October 2010 ■ 23

COVER STORY
competencies and behaviours like problem solving,
influencing people, adapting approaches and delivering
results in the day to day delivery of duties. This helps
in silently creating and strengthening leadership skills
on the job where everyone is free to take initiative, be
accountable and create measurable impact on the job.
This is demonstrated in many of our product
innovations," informs Kumar. Product innovation and
new product introductions at People Group have been
based to a large extent on the feedback and consumer
insights brought in by the client relationship officer.
The CROs are the company's first line officer who
directly interacts with its customers. Their high
customer orientation makes them think with empathy
and understand customers' psyche that finally dovetails
in customized products and solutions created by
employees.
Motivating employees to lead
To breed a title free culture, companies create an
environment that encourages their employees in
different ways to lead without titles. For instance, to
motivate each employee to lead, Sasken
Communication Technologies Limited has different
forums, committees, initiatives and cross functional
task forces, team sessions focused on ideation and
solution finding, and forums for sharing best practices
etc. which are open for all Sasians. Through these,
What makes a
thought leader
Immersing oneself in his/her
1 professional domain of expertise
and finding new things to voice
that adds value to one’s
organizational objectives
2 Using creativity as a tool to form
a new product, process, etc.
3 Initiating new directions
Proving the credibility of their
4 new idea
Willingness to risk the possibility
5 of team rejection in search of
better ways of doing things
24 ■ October 2010
SANJIV KUMAR
VICE PRESIDENT & GROUP HEAD - HR ■ PEOPLE GROUP
immaterial of roles and titles, Sasians can take part in
influencing and directly contributing to business
strategies, customer-technology offerings, process and
operational areas and so on. "Also, a formal forum for
anyone who wants to make a difference, lead and
bring in change is, thus, made available," says Ramesh
S., vice president-HR. Additionally, Sasken's reward and
recognition (R&R) programs are also structured in such
a way that leadership attributes shown by any individual
immaterial of role/title is duly recognized and nurtured.
"Change Leaders, as we call them", avers Ramesh, "are
Sasians across all levels and functions, are recognized
for the leadership roles they play, immaterial of how
big or small the impact is."
To further enhance its culture where employees
take initiatives in exhibiting leadership competencies,
People Group through its learning and training cell,
People Academy, lays emphasis on personal leadership,
coaching and mentoring. Since the company's evolving
workforce constitutes about 90% of Gen Y, it is in this
context, that the concept of leading without a title
becomes relevant for People Group. It's true that
learning to be a leader is a significant aspiration for
majority of ambitious millennials. For instance, back in
2008 a recruitment officer was shocked to know that
his latest 23-year old recruit was interested in knowing
what sorts of leadership opportunities were offered in
the company. The recruitment officer didn't
understand what a 23-year old could possibly lead.
That's because in general companies feel that leadership
opportunities only come with age and seniority.
However, Gen Y is totally indifferent of hierarchy and
titles. In fact, they expect the door to the CEO's office
to be always open, and believe that they will be
acknowledged in addition to their ideas being
considered earnestly. Nevertheless, in current times,
the request of the 23-year old does seem acceptable.
Thus, the smartest organizations, today, create
leadership opportunities even for their employees who
are fresh out of college.
Symphony has a different perspective on the
www.humancapitalonline.com ■
 COVER STORY

concept of leading without titles. While the company big titles. There is no obsession with titles, no holy
does provide its employees titles on their business cows in the organization, people can have a point of
cards which fulfils an identity need outside and a view and share it freely and the only measurement is
responsibility need inside, Mahalingam says, "We believe how these initiatives created by people help the
everyone has to be a leader and behave like a leader. organization further its commitment to its clients.
Our leadership development Furthermore, the company
framework has four tiers: (1) has a culture that tolerates
Personal leadership for all Bottom-up leadership is called as 'informal mistakes and draws lessons
employees; (2) Program influence', which is a kind of suggestion from it rather than punishing
Leadership; (3) Business box material that is fed to the real leaders it. This again reinforces the
Leadership and (4) Strategic or culture of leading without titles
who will decide upon its fate. Also, in this
Institutional Leadership. Even for Symphony employees.
leadership, a leader begins challenging
individual contributors need to
be a leader and behave like one.
upwards without antagonizing superiors. Employees taking leads
Our belief is if "people can lead Here, the leader needs subtle influencing With decades of flashy titling,
from any chair"- it does not skills to lead people who don't report to there were some instances like
have to be a managerial chair!" him/her. And any organization that depends the one in 70s (mentioned on
This explicit belief that "people on rapid innovation requires all employees ww.firstconcepts.com) that
can lead from any chair" is to exhibit leadership and the lower one is in exhibited a worker who lead
shared widely in the ranking the more one's leadership needs to without titles. When a general
organization, enabling be directed up the line. In fact, bottom-up manager from a restaurant
Symphony employees to tap industry began working for a
leadership is commonly thought leadership
on their leadership skills. bicycle distributor in the 70's
The company rewards its
in knowledge intensive businesses. he decided to learn this new
employees for initiatives on industry from the ground level
various programs, processes and organizational by starting off with the warehouse. He took off his coat
initiatives where employees have lead despite their and tie, and put on a khaki uniform. During his work
functional titles. In fact, in a product engineering in the warehouse he saw that the warehouse manager
company like Symphony, says Mahalingam, everyday is (named Jake) and his assistant (named Jared) would
full of experiences for our employees who lead without sometimes leave the warehouse to attend management

■ www.humancapitalonline.com October 2010 ■ 25

COVER STORY

meetings or handle special problems. After they would has now taken a growing interest in form of companies
leave, he noticed that the productivity would slow down not just giving opportunities to its employees to lead,
and the coordination between pickers, inspectors and but, expecting them to lead. For example, at Sasken
packers would break, although, only for a short while, Communication, who have been following this practice
as Sam, a warehouse worker would step up to fill the for years with the 'single status' concept (a story that
leadership void and soon the Human Capital covered in its
warehouse would again start October 2002 issue) for all its
its activities as before as if More and more companies have begun to employees cites a few of the
Jake and Jared had never left. many cases where its
realize that thought leadership is the main
No one had asked Sam to do employees have been leading
this, but, the workers did part of becoming a successful market without titles. Ramesh
follow him and did what leader. Organizations like Cisco are narrates: One of the assistant
needed to be done despite focused on educating prospects through managers from the internal
the fact that Sam neither had thought leadership. At Cisco it is pertinent communication team came
a title nor any authority to up with an idea for a
that each of its executives establishes
perform this role. In different centralized and integrated
industries such Sams' stand and develops himself/herself as a thought database that would address
up and lead their fellow leader by ways of public speaking, blogs, needs of the HR team,
workers. If they don't, whitepapers, etc. so that the collective business managers and
performance would suffer. thoughts, ideas and vision of its people - employees. This need was
The organizations which identified through his casual
which may be potent and often interesting
don't have Sams' to step up interactions with HR team
to the role go down the - do not remain trapped inside the and employees; he shared the
disaster lane. Practically, the company, but, are harnessed further. idea with the respective
people with titles cannot be teams; worked cross
present every minute to lead functionally to convert the
the team, thus, organizations do require its entire idea into action. He was driven by the idea and solution
workforce to exhibit leadership, if not at all times, but, to an admin issue that would impact ESAT and increase
at least certain times. operational efficiency. This had nothing to do with his
Previously, known as 'informal leadership', a tag role as an assistant manager from communications.
utilized to portray employees who take charge This and several other ideas and initiatives that have
temporarily in their teams throughout organizations come through this employee are just driven by the
regardless of having no formal authority over anyone need for making a difference and creating change.
Even engineers have
come up with new
processes and ways of
doing things within
their projects to
measure and increase
productivity; some
engineers have come
up with employee
engagement ideas,
which were passed on
to the right personnel,
although the engineers
supported and worked
with them to
implement these ideas.
Lead engineers and
project managers had
taken up the role of
internal trainers and
involved themselves in
creating content and
delivering behavioral
trainings to their
peers and juniors. An
Canon PST training exercise discussion on different types of decision makers L&D the
manager used
method of
in an organization appreciative inquiry as

26 ■ October 2010 www.humancapitalonline.com ■

 COVER STORY

a practice, by constantly using it and

reinforcing it with his team and other
leaders he interacted with. The fact that
none of the above things were a part of
their regular roles, but, focused on
creating a difference, making a positive
impact and becoming a crucial part in
the growth of the organization. Sasken
believes anyone can bring in change, can
influence, initiate, bring in an idea, a
thought, bring people together for a
purpose and make a difference. These
attributes don't essentially tie into a
specific role or title…anyone who wants
to can lead…
Since Sasians take leads through
forums, committees, team sessions, etc.
wherein they contribute their ideas and
solutions for business and technology and
on operational issues; by sharing best
practices; by influencing customers with
their thought leadership; by initiating new
practices within their team, project or
organization wide; by stretching C. MAHALINGAM
themselves to involve in initiatives beyond EVP & CHIEF PEOPLE OFFICER ■ SYMPHONY SERVICES
their role for the organizational
betterment; and by developing demos for future significant factor of innovation which leads to
business prospects during their spare time out of their competitive advantage. An associated theme that comes
own interest - creates a knowledge work environment, to mind here is that of self-organizing teams where
the fast rate of change and fosters the now critically members instinctively take the lead rather than relying

Ad Vyaktitva Repeat

HC

■ www.humancapitalonline.com October 2010 ■ 27

COVER STORY
Claris-Jaanbaaz
on formal leaders.
At Symphony, people take leads at workplace
through many initiatives, too. For example, any one
competent and talented can be an internal trainer; best
practices can come from anyone in the company and
they share it; and thirdly since it has a strong culture
for innovating for its clients, any employee can file an
idea and get it examined for its potential to become an
IP. Over 70% of our employees participate in this and
help build an innovative organization, reveals
Mahalingam. He says, "We view our organization as a
network of critical processes and the process owners
are employees with knowledge on this process. Thus,
process ownership and improvement does not call for
any hierarchical title. While title free organizations are
a bit of a far cry, I think the real success lies in creating
a hierarchy-less culture. Our continued emphasis on
why and how people can lead from any chair is a key
value we cherish and practice."
Examples of some of the employees at Symphony
Services demonstrated thought leadership and its
resultant dynamics: A Lead Consultant for a new
business of Symphony Services got involved in various
activities related to business development: pre-sale;
business planning and sales technical support; providing
technical support (in areas he wasn't an expert at, but,
developed skills over a period of time); defining and
implementing processes; interviewing for technical and
sales positions. For this Lead Consultant, this resulted
in pride, heightened self-worth, a sense of being trusted
and a promotion.
A Technical Lead at Symphony Services actively
participated in process development, business
development/presales, energizing and inspiring his
juniors. Irrespective of his title, in order to get work
done, he would overcome all hurdles. The Technical
Lead was able to create higher ambitions for himself,
which resulted in self-confidence and sense of pride
28 ■ October 2010
for the company and, of course, he
got his promotion as a manager.
Another example at Symphony
Services is that of a Program
Manager who took several initiatives
in the innovation program of the
company and got to virtually head
it. He also trained people of the
company on project management.
The Program Manager derived
immense satisfaction of maintaining
and growing business critical
initiatives and inspiring people.
As implied before and shown
here with examples, thought
leadership in combination with
innovation can yield high risk
revolutionary products to significant
changes in operating procedures for
organization, and, in the process
individual growth and development,
at both professional and personal
level required for any leader.
Challenge in India
The idea of leading without titles does sounds great
and ahead of times. However, given the Indian context,
treading on this would require some caution. For an
average employee, the personal and social identity
revolves around "designations and titles", says
Mahalingam. Thus, many organizations in India - small
and big - experimented with broad banding and fewer
grades/hierarchical levels such as Band A, B, C and D.
And employees were pigeon-holed into one of these.
Nevertheless, given the expectations that employees
wanted to get a sense of advancement reflected through
both titles as well as job responsibilities, organizations
had to revisit their strategy and introduce more and
more titles and designations inside the bands. So for
example, Band D may represent an individual
contributor role, but, employees wanted to witness
growth in titles, such as, in the IT sector, software
engineer, senior software engineers, module lead and
technical lead and the like. The appetite for changing
and bettering titles once a few years is an inevitable
part of the psyche of Indian employees. So, a title free
environment is a bit of a stretch, he views.
Despite our Indian mindset, the truth is that
leadership has nothing to do with one's position or
title. A person can be a great leader without any title.
In fact, the most successful companies have people in
each function working along side others with the same
positions who assume leadership roles every day. The
best example people can learn from of leading without
titles comes from the movie 'Rocket Singh, Salesman
of the Year' where the protagonist recruits his other
office members and offers the same level he is at,
irrespective of the fact that one of them is a sales
manager and the other is a peon in the company they
work in together. HC
www.humancapitalonline.com ■
GLOBAL HR
culture assessment in a
cross country deal
Exploring the role of organizational culture and
cultural compatibility in an M&A transaction.
By Kulin Patel & Anuradha Sriram
he business activity of a Merger and
T
Acquisition (M&A) may be likened to a
marriage. Couples need to fully understand
each other before they commit to marriage
and ensure some success in their life
together. Statistics have shown that top
issues due to which most marriages fail include
incompatible personalities or financial hardships. It
takes respect, effective communication, as well as a
common set of goals to build and sustain a future
together. Isn't M&A much like that? Not surprisingly,
in a Survey of Forbes 500 companies, CFOs assessed
'incompatible cultures' as the top challenge in achieving
synergies.
The challenge and success factors for achieving
deal value in M&A transactions are largely aligned and
consistent as below
1. Effective due diligence to ensure that the risks,
constraints and liabilities in the business are understood
2. M&A readiness
3. Selection of the top team
4. Effective leadership from top team
5. A well executed employee communication
programme
6. Integrating pay, rewards and benefits
7. Change management, and
30 ■ October 2010
8. Cultural alignment
In all these factors, cultural alignment is rated as
the most challenging people issue. Towers Watson's
recent studies also indicated that clashes between
disparate corporate cultures can be a barrier to
successful post merger integration. It was found that
even though strategic and financial aspects of a deal
are taken into account, socio cultural aspects can result
in acute inter organizational conflicts and mismatches
between HR and managerial policies and practices.
What defines the culture of an organization? It
could be taken as the sum total of the following six
aspects:-
1. Leadership
2. Mission, objectives, values and strategies
3. Organizational structure
4. Brand promise
5. Programmes, policies, practices and
6. Work environment including national culture
Unmistakably, the culture of an organization
manifests into customer experience, shareholder value
and business results. In a cross country deal, the
organizational culture of the buyer and seller could be
astonishingly divergent on fundamental and strategic
counts.
In addition to the differing cultures, the buyer could
www.humancapitalonline.com ■

be faced with varying reactions of different employee
cadres ranging from resistance and insecurity to
enthusiasm and expectation.
Cultural alignment takes time. Employees go through
a change process that puts culture and engagement at
risk. Towers Watson's global research indicates that
acquisition related activities carry a 10 percentage point
engagement risk - which equates to a 2.5 percent point
risk in lost net profit margin and a 4.1 percent point
risk in lost operating margin, easily costing an
organization millions.
Benefits of culture assessment
In order to ensure that these differences are
understood and managed to maximise short- and long-
term deal value during an M&A activity, numerous
studies have discussed the importance of proactively
managing organizational culture.
Culture assessment is the first stage of creating an
integrated high performance culture and informing
post deal integration strategy and programmes. The
use of an assessment tool to understand the current
culture would make the process more structured and
robust. Such an understanding can be used effectively
to align with the objective organizational culture by
planning for:-
● Leadership actions that will define vision, mission,
values and the brand
■ www.humancapitalonline.com
GLOBAL HR
● People/ HR systems that will include performance
metrics, pay, benefits, staffing and selection, learning
and development, etc.
● Organization structure and
● Work environment that will set the right context
through strategic communication, workshops etc.
Many cultural diagnostic and analytic tools can be
considered to provide objective data. These tools can
be used for a variety of purposes, including:-
● Towards the early stages of a deal a cultural
diagnostic can ascertain a "go/no-go decision"
● In developing integration plans, the tool can help
target specific areas warranting added emphasis
● During integration it can be used to monitor
progress, and identify specific issues requiring fine
tuning
● Understanding and manage integration in the
context of country/national culture
These analyses would provide real "business"
insights, moving beyond what may be perceived as
"soft" analysis.
In order to effectively assess the cultural fit with
other organizations, it is important to begin by explicitly
articulating the existing culture of the buying
organization. Through a web-based activity such as
Towers Watson's Culture Alignment Tool (CAT), this can
be done by asking leaders to rank order defined cultural
attributes that best describe their own organization. A
typical corporate cross match tool could be as follows:-
October 2010 ■ 31
GLOBAL HR
The advantage of the culture assessment tool is
that it ensures that such an assessment is integrated
seamlessly with the due diligence process and has
standard attributes that can be customised to the
specific industry. As the culture of an organization
comes largely from its leadership, adding these few
culture-related questions to the standard due diligence
process provides a valuable indication about the culture
and potential challenges to expect. This would help in
proper planning for actions and assessment of the
need for change that will help address cultural gaps.
During the course of a culture assessment survey
done by Towers Watson during an M&A transaction, a
typical response was "Currently the team is missing
a sense of urgency and a lack of pro activeness
which puts a lot of additional pressure on senior
staff members to push team members to achieve
results and keep promises to customers. This is
causing an engagement issue with the good staff" staff".
This feedback gave excellent insight on the level of
responsiveness of the second tier of management and
32 ■ October 2010
showed the need for instilling a sense of
responsibility and creativeness at all levels of
management.
Another typical response was "XYZ has very
inefficient, silo internal processes and tools
as well as poor cross team relationships
hence the bad customer experience. This is
due to product development programmes we
rush to complete with meagre funds and
resources. These programmes do not take
the time to implement strong business
processes to support the products." This
feedback clearly gave some understanding of
the lack of planning and budgeting processes
for product delivery.
While the cultural assessment tool is an
efficient way of eliciting these responses, it is
also critical that it is handled in the right manner, by
asking the right questions to the right people and
drawing the critical conclusions that would provide
additional business insight over and above the tangible
asset value.
The following illustration demonstrates how a
typical culture assessment would show where there is
alignment/misalignment to high performance cultures
for specific business strategies.
The assessment results would then be used to:-
● Engage senior leaders in assessment of current and
desired future culture
● Identify areas of agreement/disagreement between
senior leaders and facilitate achievement of consensus
around future culture attributes
● Prioritise areas of change, benchmarking against
other companies with similar strategic profiles
● Identify customer focus activities
● Finalise on Performance management and incentive
schemes
● Develop a communication strategy
around priorities, goals, and values
The findings would serve as a
framework for developing a merger
monitor to assess the extent to which
the current organizational culture
supports the strategic goals and
emerging change plans, and the
effectiveness of the integration activity.
In addition, the monitor could be
matched against the high performing
companies' strategies to understand
key areas where there are
shortcomings.
For example, if customer service is
identified as a top strategic priority for
the merged entity, the key cultural
attributes essential for this orientation
can be identified and assessed. These
attributes can be guided by the target
culture and the strategy adopted by
high performing companies in that
sector.
www.humancapitalonline.com ■

Case study
A typical case study of cultural assessment was done
for a global pharmaceutical company where post-
merger, the company needed to get everyone in the
new organization to think, act and feel like one company.
They also needed to create a new common high-
performance culture that was to be built upon the best
of both legacy cultures. The result was a cultural
integration programme, whose purpose was to:
● Accelerate the integration process through cultural
alignment
● Promote the building of an identity for the new
company
● Inform and link the cultural integration programme
to future aspirations and strategy
Towers Watson was asked to design and roll out a
training programme that would motivate everyone
within the new organization to live the new culture and
work towards the success of the new company.
Based on customer, employee and stakeholder
feedback, seven key behaviours were identified at the
heart of the new culture. The programme commenced
with the top 150 leaders initiating the process followed
by a phased approach to roll out these behaviours,
focusing on two priority behaviours in the first phase.
The implementation tools ranged from a one-day
"culture integration workshop" to workshops that were
built on an action learning concept.
The result had an overwhelming impact with a
complete understanding and buy-in from leaders and
managers as to what this new culture looks like and an
all encompassing agreement regarding the new culture
and how this translates into expected behaviours. This
was also made possible by action plans from each
workshop that were tied into the performance
management system.
■ www.humancapitalonline.com
GLOBAL HR
Ultimately, high-performing companies integrate
their values with the purpose (mission) and the culture
of an organization is about values, purpose, core
business principles, behaviours, structure and practices.
While the inner core elements (values) tend to be
enduring, the outer elements (practices) will evolve.
Truly world class organizations synthesize these
cultural attributes that they want the organization to
emote into brand value like the name Tata evokes
"Trust". These attributes are ingrained in the system by
the leaders by
1. Converting them into organization value
propositions like in Towers Watson where "Excellence
in all we do" is a value driven top down
2. Incorporating them in the performance objectives
of employees
3. Include them as part of the audit and review
processes
4. Periodic communication driving these cultural
values, and
5. Create that sense of pride and belonging in that
one culture
Hence where organizations grow through
acquisitions it is critical that the existing culture of the
target is assessed and aligned to the corporate culture
that is the identity of that organization. So while
multinational organizations may be different in the
language, customs and practices of people in different
countries a common thread of corporate culture would
typically unite them together. Leaders use the core
values and principles to guide decision-making and
establish appropriate structures and practices to deliver
business strategy. HC
Kulin Patel, is Head-Benefits Practice, Towers Watson India and Anuradha Sriram
is Regional Head-Western Head, Benefits Practice, Towers Watson India
October 2010 ■ 33
INTERVIEW

By Arva Shikari

futuremaker
In a conversation with Human Capital, Pamela Craven, Chief
Administrative Officer of Avaya reflects on the how Avaya creates
its 'Futuremakers' to contribute in building its advanced business
communications systems which shapes Avaya's future.
34 ■ October 2010 www.humancapitalonline.com ■

vaya Inc. is a global leader in enterprise
A
communications systems. The company
provides unified communications, contact
centers, and related services directly and
through its channel partners to leading
businesses and organizations around the
world. Avaya employs approximately 17,000 people
worldwide, including 2,500 research and development
professionals. We find out how Avaya creates a band of
'Futuremakers'.
Who is a 'F utur
'Futuremaker' at A
uturemaker' vaya?
Av
At Avaya, we consider all our associates to be potential
Futuremakers. We expect our people to be the driving
force for innovation in business communications,
focused on delivering the future now. Being the global
leader in advanced business communications systems
requires having the right team of people building on
the past and shaping the future.
Futuremakers are people with the self-confidence,
knowledge, and ability to imagine the future and then
go out and create it. By joining Avaya, our associates
join a world of Futuremakers. This is a world of
innovation, of performance-culture, of fast-paced
change, of pushing back the boundaries of what is
possible, to deliver the vision of tomorrow to our
customers.
How do you detect a 'Futuremaker' employee?
We have a new approach to help build the Futuremaker
potential of all our associates. We call it the five
conversations. These are conversations every associate
will have with his or her coach/ manager, around
future potential, development and delivering against
the goals and ambitions of the company and the
individual. In those five conversations we talk about:
● Strategy: helping associates understand the
company's strategic decisions and how their work
supports attainment of our strategy
● Results: ensuring associates understand their results
in terms of performance against objectives,
demonstrated behaviors and overall business impact
● Rewards: assessing the individual as part of an
employee-centric organization that has a performance
related approach to rewards and recognition.
● Talent: identifying which organizational and
individual skills, capabilities, and competencies are
required to realize our strategy and mapping the
individual associate appropriately
● Capability: ensuring associates have the necessary
skills to do their job effectively and know how to
develop needed competencies
Not everyone in the organisation is a people manager
- but everyone has the potential to be a leader. Leaders
must constantly develop and improve themselves to
help drive success for the broader team. The
conversations are helping to identify and nurture the
leadership potential of our associates.
In what way does your 'Futuremaker' radar help in
detecting the rright
ight 'Futur
'Futur emaker' for A
uturemaker' vaya?
Av
A Futuremaker needs to display certain key attributes.
■ www.humancapitalonline.com
INTERVIEW
Futuremakers are people who:
● are bold and take informed risks - they are original
thinkers, make connections and are ready to
experiment to achieve success
● make fact-based decisions in the interest of the
company and the customer - with a strong external
focus, and a balanced view of the evidence available
● respond with agility to competitive market
conditions - changing gears quickly to take advantage
of opportunities as they arise
● achieve cross-organizational effectiveness -
leveraging collaboration to make more informed
decisions, a more inclusive approach and better team
cohesiveness
● act empowered based on strong ownership and
personal accountability - people who stand up and are
counted, making quick decisions in an action-oriented
environment
● are transparent and use constructive confrontation
- they show unwavering integrity, build meaningful,
trusting relationships, and show a willingness to grasp
the nettle and boldly diffuse tensions
What are the methods in which an identified
'Futuremaker' employee is trained to achieve his/
her full potential?
Our main focus is on sustained performance and
potential for the future. The purpose is differentiated
development to enhance business performance. It is
directly linked to both the development and career
plans for employees and employee engagement.
Increased employee engagement leads to increase in
productivity. A key aspect of the five conversations
outlined above is to identify the development paths for
associates, and to focus in particular on those with the
highest potential to make a significant difference.
As part of the company's strong performance
culture, regular review sessions are used to assess the
potential of associates and ensure that the highest
performers are given the right opportunity to grow.
What ar e the differ
are ent oppor
different tunities giv
opportunities en to A
given vaya
Av
employees to drive them towards innovative
thinking and develop industry leadership so that
they come into the category of 'Futuremakers'?
Avaya has individual development programs that are
managed throughout the year with an associate's
manager or coach. These developmental programs
identify key career development goals and both
associate and coach work consistently to achieve them.
The big focus is on on-the-job training and
development. Additional areas of focus include clear
succession planning, opportunities for mobility and
programs like the Institute Site Leadership Program
and Employee Activity Teams which help in cross-
functional development.
What kind of innovative business communication
tools have some 'Futuremaker' employees come up
with? How successful are those?
The list is long! We have filed over 6000 patents from
Avaya Labs globally. India started contributing to the
October 2010 ■ 35
INTERVIEW
Futuremaker program
pool just last year and has filed over 60 patents in the
first year alone. Fundamental to, many of our
innovations, is a platform we call Avaya Aura™.
Introduced in 2009, this system has revolutionized the
way in which the business communications architecture
operates, enabling a company's existing infrastructure
to be leveraged, thanks to the open standards of the
Session Initiation protocol (SIP) to drive real-time
communications and collaboration. Avaya Aura
decreases costs, hardware and management
requirements to the business while increasing flexibility,
accessibility and collaboration for employees
throughout the enterprise.
The Avaya Agile Communications Environment
(ACE) uses an open Web Services approach to facilitate
the development of communications-enabled business
applications to speed business workflow. This means
that a company's existing business systems - payroll,
supply chain, production, financial systems etc. - can
communicate with one another more effectively,
delivering crucial productivity gains and cost savings.
The context-aware next-generation contact center
is redefining customer service levels as companies seek
to differentiate their offerings and safeguard their most
valuable asset - their customers. Avaya solutions for
small and medium businesses (SMBs) are delivering
the advantages of big company communications
systems at a price that matches the needs of smaller
players. Our data solutions are delivering the always-
on, scalable, efficient networks that large and small
companies need to run their businesses.
None of these game-changing solutions would be
feasible without an intense focus on innovation - and
without the Futuremakers that drive that innovation
engine.
How does the legacy of innovation at A
innov vaya mould
Av
36 ■ October 2010
new grads in the direction of inventing new ways
of communicating?
The focus of Avaya Labs - our global innovation engine
- is on leading the next generation of real time business
communications. Innovation at Avaya is accelerating,
with multiple product announcements, roadmap
developments and new solutions announced in the
eight months since our acquisition of the Nortel
Enterprise Solutions (NES) business closed. Central to
our innovation focus is the notion of people-centric
collaboration. Avaya technology supports seamless,
context-enabled interactions that enhance
communications to deliver customer service gains,
productivity improvements, and easier access to
information any time, anywhere, anyhow. People need
to be at the center of these interactions with the
technology serving their needs, not vice versa.
This represents a fundamental shift in the way
businesses communicate - a shift brought about, in
part, by the Futuremakers in our organisation. A
customer that calls into a contact center does not want
to be pushed from one agent to another, or stuck in
an automated voice-prompt system, unable to have
his/her query resolved. So at Avaya, our innovation
team has turned the contact center on its head to
ensure the customer sits in the middle of the interaction.
The agent can bring in an array of resources - experts,
additional applications, customer history and contact
preferences to ensure that the customer receives the
service s/he deserves.
Our new grads come into an environment where
the status quo is not taken as a measure of success. In
an industry which evolves at breakneck speed, thinking
out of the box, challenging norms and constantly
seeking 'next-generation' enhancements are the actions
that drive success.
There are a number of innovations that have come
www.humancapitalonline.com ■

out of our Avaya Labs centre in Pune. The team here
has made significant contributions in newer paradigms
in customer service using video, building user interfaces
for next generation endpoints and providing rich
conference control on mobile endpoints, to name a
few. We hired over 100 grads from Tier A and B colleges
last year.
How do employees view this 'Futuremaker' program
and how excited are they in participating in it?
Avaya has had tremendous response from employees
who are a part of this program. The program is critical
to our new recruitment and to ongoing employee
motivation and development. Everyone wants to be
part of an organization which is driving the future. At
Avaya we are pushing the frontiers of what is possible
in the business communications environment and every
associate has the opportunity to share in that innovation
culture. One of the programs called the Ambassador
Program that has been launched engages employees to
become the key users of our new products. Avaya also
uses social technology to share thoughts and guidance
on our new products with other employees.
One program we used to good effect at the time
our acquisition of the NES business was a 'learning
map' exercise for all our associates. Over the course of
a couple of weeks, all our associates engaged in a
group-based activity which assessed our current and
Ad Central Test Repeat
■ www.humancapitalonline.com
INTERVIEW
potential market and competitive position, assessed
our routes to success, focused on the value of our
integrated company, discussed the role that the
behaviors outlined above would play in our success -
and helped outline the key attributes of a Futuremaker.
The feedback was positive, and the fact of having our
entire workforce focused on discussing the best possible
strategy for the company was a very powerful tool.
How has this program been a benefit for the
company's bottom line?
The Futuremakers program has helped to reinforce
Avaya's performance culture. It encourages all
associates to display the attributes which drive success,
and helps to reward innovation. Associates evolve as
part of a future-looking employee development
program. Some of the key benefits are more focus on
performance, increased retention of key staff, better
customer satisfaction through enhanced service
delivery, an environment which encourages new
innovation and the evolution of a people-centric
approach to business.
Avaya is currently investing around 16% of it global
sales revenue on R&D. In order for that R&D investment
to bear fruit, the entire organisation must be focused on
achieving results, on translating that innovation investment
into sustainable, profitable growth. That is what our
Futuremaker program will help us to deliver. HC
October 2010 ■ 37
TRAINING

effective front line

sales training
ransferring corporate strategy

T
to the front line sales team Organizations believe in developing their
effort is definitely a challenge
for majority of companies. most critical team - the front line sales
In fact, a large amount of
high-performing sales teams
hold a strong sense of organization's goals
workforce - by imparting the right sales
and priorities with them, although, a
considerable gap could be present amid the
training through effective techniques
way the strategy is implemented or executed in
the company and especially its role in sales. Typically,
that are best in the industry
into that gap falls a huge portion of potential value.
Identifying that, organizations are infusing their sales industries that train their sales force effectively so
efforts with an added dynamic sense of strategy and that their sales efforts get the desired results thereby
promoting new methodologies in the process. And impacting the company's bottom line positively.
one of it is arming their sales force by imparting sales
training that creates impact as it is a vital component Kotak Mahindra Old Mutual Life Insurance Ltd.
of driving sales performance up by 19%. Thus, The company has etched out a seven day induction
companies lay down strong foundation of training module for its frontlines sales team when they join.
techniques to train their sales people to success. Here In the first seven days they get trained about what is
are three different companies from three different financial world, what is insurance, what are its various

38 ■ October 2010 www.humancapitalonline.com ■


aspects, Kotak Life Insurance (KLI products, effective
communication, etiquettes concerning different
cultures, selling skills and recruitment skills. "Integral
to this training is also a patented process at KLI
which is a need based sales approach through a
customized process which we call as cue cards which
essentially enables a person to identify a customer's
need areas," says Anand Dewan, senior vice president,
sales & management development training of the
company. Illustrating further, he says, insurance is a
product which invariably is not sold to the customer.
Dewan identifies two ways of selling. Either it can be
a sales driven process, which traditionally has always
been ? where a sales person is trying to, for the lack
of credibility, push the product to the customer. For
example, 'I have an excellent product and give me 10
minutes and I'll tell you all about it and over the next
three minutes in a single long breath I give away all
the products features, download irrespective of
whether the customer understands or not'. Here, a
sales person who doesn't know a customers needs,
background, and financial situation, how can he/she
claim that it's the best product for the customer?
And, insurance is a far more personalized decision.
Thus, KLI's sales approach is more customer centric
rather than focused on 'skilling' the sales person, and,
by default one is doing what is right for the customer
as against the traditional approach. The process of
cue cards is to capture various thought processes
that any customer would have, which usually they do
not share upfront like 'insurance for me is security
for my family just in case anything untoward happens;
insurance to me is a means to save in a disciplined
manner so that in future my children don't have a
problem, it is a means to me like say if I look at a plan
of 10 or 15 years, 'x' amount of money should be
available to me'. Now these are the thoughts inside
the customer's mind, but, if the sales person only
focuses on 'I have a great product for you', these
thoughts never come out. "So cue cards are a means
to get into the customer's head. That's what the entire
tool is about, as it puts all these scenarios in front of
the customer," emphasizes Dewan.
Once these scenarios are put in the customer's
mind KLI's sales executive requests if any of those are
in his mind currently and would he want to pick up
2 to 3 areas which he thinks are priority for him.
Once the customer picks up ? for example his child's
future, his retirement and ensuring his family is secure
? his three main need areas, then the sales executive
from the chosen cue cards shows only those KLI
products that actually meets the customer's needs.
This makes much simpler for the sales person to
focus on the customer's needs rather than talk about
what is good about the products. Thus, KLI has
adopted a process where the focus is totally on what
the customer needs are and then see how the product
meets those needs, which is what cue cards are all
about. In fact, the company has taken the lead on
developing this need analyzer based technique for its
sales team to pitch in their sale of insurance policies/
■ www.humancapitalonline.com
TRAINING
financial investments according to the customer's
needs much before the law got enforced.
The cue cards system is a five step process. It's a
4R certification process that the company follows for
its sales managers and they are supposed to
demonstrate these five steps in reality to use the cue
cards. From it the first one is to rapport build.
Whenever sales executives go with the cue cards after
the introduction they will say "investment decisions
are customer's personal choice, I have come here to
help you in making a decision. I cannot say that this
may be the best product for you. We have studied
customer priorities in the last 3 years and I will tell
the top ten priorities and you just have to tell me
what your main priorities out of these are. Then you
can decide which product best suits you, but, even
after that, if you feel you do not want to buy a
product you are under no obligation to buy it. So,
with your permission may I begin?" Thereafter, the
sales executive walks the customer through the cue
cards which have questions like Security and peace of
mind for life? Dream home? Dream car? Your
retirement? The customer collects a number of cue
cards so the sales person requests him to decide or
pick the priority ones from the selected cards like top
three out of five. Once the customer selects the top
three cue cards (which are customer's need areas
that have been identified the sales person will say
"Thank you for choosing these cards. I have certain
questions to ascertain your current investments which
enable me to give you the best product. Please may
I ask some basic questions?" "Invariably since the
cards are chosen by the customer, the customer would
want to know," avers Dewan. The questions are asked
to lead the customer to his/her choice of priority
product. Since each cue card has a question and
behind it are the KLI product that corresponds with
the customer's need here the sales person doesn't
have to struggle to remember the products for
suggesting it to the customer. "That's the cue that
that's why they are called cue cards," says Dewan.
"Although, cue cards are standard," says Dewan
"customer needs are different and they will emerge
from the priority. And the priority is zero backed
towards the product which we have and that's where
we have customization."
To instill the entire process and as a part of the
seven days induction Kotak Life Insurance trains its
front line sales managers for a half a day on cue
cards. In half a day one hour takes for delivery and
walking them through the five steps. Then, they are
broken into small groups of say two to perform a role
play with each other and they have to practice it five
times, which takes around an hour and a half. Then,
each one has to present or demonstrate the cue cards,
for example, one person has to act as a customer and
the other one as a sales person. While demonstrating
they are rated by the trainer on a scale of 1 to 3 - 1
means was not able to demonstrate, 2 means was
able to demonstrate but needs handholding, 3 means
was able to demonstrate flawlessly throughout the
October 2010 ■ 39
TRAINING

call. Therefore,
whoever gets a three
gets instantly certified.
People who get a 1 or 2
have some more days
to present as cue cards
training comes around
the third day in the
induction module. For
example, if someone
wasn't able to present
on the third day, then
there is an option of
presenting on the 4th,
5th, 6th or 7th day. But,
if someone is unable to
present even on the 7th
day then there is a need
for concern and that
sales person does not
walk away with the cue
cards and after a
month that sales
person will appear at
the branch. The Anand Dewan in cue cards session
certified ones (almost
10% of them get it on the first day and the others get the benefit. Since this is a process driven activity, for
it in minimum 4 days get the cue cards which are in example, Dewan says, "Sales people are not supposed
different languages - English, Hindi and Gujarati - to speak anything built up like if the cue cards say
depending upon which location one is handling - Protection for Family and the sales person says family
north, west and south. The company is looking at is very important, you must take protection for your
other regional languages too like Tamil, Telegu, Marathi, family, here, the sales person fails in using the cue
etc. as it plans to take it across other locations. In cards correctly as the sales person is not supposed to
fact, cue cards are undergoing through a change in sell what is on the card, but, know what's on the
September 2010 as new products will be added and customers mind, but, many sales people out of habit
most existing products are undergoing through change of speaking tend to get carried away." As a trainer for
according to the new guidelines. Thereafter, the cue Deawn it is difficult to control, but, he empathizes as
cards will become much smaller in size," informs they are so used to selling the conventional way that
Dewan. it is difficult for them to get used to KLI way. "The day
For monitoring the effectiveness of the sales a sales person learns to accept a 'no' from the
training program the company with the help of a customer the conversion ratio starts improving,"
radar that captures all the data and sales MIS is picked opines Dewan. In fact, every sales call begins with a
up every month end for monitoring sales managers customer's 'no'. Another challenge in using cue cards
results on regular basis. The radar will show the is some 10% of customers are well informed about
performance of 3 months before the training, one insurance policies/financial investments so they may
month after the training, second month after training, not value the process and just skip it entirely.
third month after training, just like a tracker.
As far as challenges are concerned, says Dewan Canon India
"People who have been long in the industry have Since Canon India is a sales organization and its
mindsets like what is this process? This process will product is its strength the company generates revenues
not work?" As a trainer he has observed that the primarily by selling off the product to end customers
higher the success, lower is the receptivity in a sales which is either sold to the direct customers, as well
person. If someone has been successful in getting as through channel partners. Thus, Canon has armed
business the traditional way then he/she feels that's itself with its new training model of front line sales
the right way and why should I look at your process, team since it is extremely important for its sales team
thus, sales training becomes challenging for successful to be effective on the field. Monica Chetal, the
people. "In contrast, sales people who are more company's senior manager, people excellence
receptive are the least successful and that's the balance explains: in order to increase their sales force
one needs to maintain," implies Dewan. However, if competencies, it is very important that the
successful people use the cue cards process then organization trains them on the right selling skills,
sales multiply, and Dewan wishes such people can see along with appropriate behaviors to be demonstrated

40 ■ October 2010 www.humancapitalonline.com ■


on the job. Selling alone is not sufficient, she stresses;
they need to have thorough knowledge of the product
as well. "Keeping this in mind, we have a very
comprehensive sales induction module for our
frontline staff as well as managers," avers Chetal.
Canon's frontline sales team programs are divided
into two broad categories: Enterprise Solutions
Division (ESD) - for the direct sales team and BIS IDC
Division - for the indirect channel. Each of these
divisions is further divided into two types each. The
ESD program is divided into front line sales staff
program and the sales managers program. The front
line sales program has three levels that comprise sales
skills, product knowledge and necessary soft skills
required on the job and the managers' level focuses
purely on managerial aspects. Level I training is for 11
days and is meant for new hires/ frontline staff joining
the team; Level II training which is of eight days is for
the existing frontline sales staff; and Level III training
which is of 11 days is for sales managers.
In Level I training out of 11 days Canon dedicates
two days on iR Essentials that talks about the product
in detail; one day is spent on Basics of Color that tells
about the product features in detail. Both the above
programs are imparted by the way of actual
demonstration of the product along with theory since
it ensures better understanding. Two days are for
Professional Sales Training (PST) which covers what is
a selling cycle, how to focus on a customer, how to
conduct telephonic and canvassing calls, how to
understand customer needs, handling objections, and
process of performing closures and three days are for
CMJ Training which is for understanding what is
solution sales, advanced preparations, understanding
customer needs, understanding the process workflow,
objectives of the company, how company's goals
should be oriented towards customer goals, and after
sales support to customers. The last three days of
training focuses on - one day on account relationship
management (I), which includes understanding the
significance of relationship and its impact on business,
importance of credibility and relationship in business,
understanding ways to build credibility, and assess
real life cases and situations; one day on internal
Canon processes; and one day on corporate finesse
that involves business etiquette, fine dining, business
attire, and power dressing.
ESD Level II training includes SPIN for two days
involving questioning techniques, feature-advantage-
benefit of the product, and selling technique of a
product. The module IST which again is of two days
covers the general workflow of six different industries
- advertising, banking, education, insurance, legal, and
logistics in detail, critical documents required, what
are each industries pain areas and key opportunities.
One day is spent on Champions of Color covering
product color features in detail, with a hands-on
session and three days concentrate on Building Sales
Effectiveness and Efficiency which includes how to
make effective negotiations; factors impacting
negotiations; sequence of sales presentation; making
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TRAINING
powerful impact during presentations; and
understanding customer perception cycle.
The BIS IDC program also has three levels
comprising of programs related to channel
management, account relationship management, and
relevant soft skills which are necessary to be
demonstrated on the job. The managers' level purely
focuses on managerial competencies. Here Level I
training is of eight days for frontline staff, who are
territory holders; Level II which is of three days is
meant for new as well as existing frontline staff; and
Level III training which lasts for 10 days is for sales
managers.
Besides training on iR Essentials, Basics of Color,
internal Canon processes, and corporate finesse as in
ESD's Level I, two days training is imparted on channel
management including decision making process of
partners, understanding points of diversion,
understanding points of success, and strategy
discussion for partners; and one day on
communication and presentation which comprises of
basics of communication, effective communication,
unearthing customer requirements - probing and
handling customer objections. In Level II, apart from
SPIN training Canon has a module on Finance for
Non-Finance for a day that includes basics of finance,
choosing channel partners, and the criteria to be kept
in mind.
Both these programs (ESD and BIS IDC) are
conducted by internal sales and HR trainers as well
as external vendors. These programs comprise of tests
and certifications. Tests are conducted at various
logical points and the minimum passing score to move
onto the next level is 70%. The performance in these
tests gives Canon a fair idea about the understanding
of participants on various modules covered. "Also, at
the end of the training program, we take feedback
from the participants," says Chetal. The trainers have
to have a rating of at least 9 on a 10 point scale. This
tells us about the effectiveness of the training
conducted.
"To customize Canon's training model," says
Chetal, "completely with its business requirements,
we first identified the key competencies required to
be demonstrated on the job for the front line sales
staff and managers of both these divisions." Further,
she elucidates, "These competencies were discussed
in detail with the concerned division heads. In fact,
we had multiple rounds of discussions with some
front line staff members, a few managers, and the
division heads in order to understand the challenges
being faced by them on the job. Then the facilitators
were given a download of the same and the content
was worked upon. The case studies which are
discussed during these sessions are real life challenges
faced in Canon context. This gives a better
understanding of the situation to the staff and they
are able to relate in a better manner. In addition, to
the training programs sales trainers spend time with
the sales staff on the field for a few days and even
shadow the staff that needs help so that in case of any
October 2010 ■ 41
TRAINING

gaps the same can be closed

immediately."

Claris Lifesciences
Limited
Being in a serious and critical
business of manufacturing
and marketing of life saving
drugs Claris Lifesciences
customers include high
profile medical professionals,
for that, it is very critical for
its sales force to have in-
depth product knowledge,
positive attitude, and humble
behaviour and of course,
excellent selling skills. Hence,
the company invests heavily
in the development of its
sales force. "Moreover, we
are a merit and value based
organization and believe in
potential of our team
members, which again by its
virtue help us drive learning
and capability enhancement
initiatives," adds Shyam
Sharma, president, HRM &
corporate communication
of the company.
For its sales team, Claris
Lifesciences training model
revolves around enhancing
the 'skill' and 'will' -
managerial skill, leadership
skill, communication, and
attitudinal and behavioural
aspects that ensures
wholesome development of
team members and in turn
growth of business. Claris
Lifesciences training model
for sales team includes a
'Jaanbaaz' program for front-line sales members (i.e. each member undergoes rigorous training including
medical representatives - Claris Lifesciences calls them classroom and outbound trainings of 16 hours a day
TSEs ? territory sales executives) for getting promoted for 10 days (divided into two modules of five days
to managerial level (i.e. TSMs ? territory sales each once in a quarter). The program covers learning
managers) and 'Saksham' program for front line sales dimensions like communication skill, interpersonal skill
managers for getting promoted to regional sales and overall personality development using techniques
manager (RSM) and 'Daksh' is a managerial like management games, role plays, case studies,
effectiveness training for second line managers i.e. presentations, assignments, in-basket trainings,
RSM for their further development to national sales exposure visits, meditation, and physical exercises.
manager and above. This encourages participants to introspect, discover
'Jaanbaaz' refers to those fighters who are ready and realize who they are, what they want to become,
to put their lives on stake for a cause; and to identify their will to work diligently, their hidden aspirations
such fighters the company initiated 'Jaanbaaz' training and the fire within.
program aimed at the wholesome development of Saksham, which means capable, aims at developing
members whereby they can learn and internalize soft the front line managers through functional and
skills and positive attitude, feel young within and fight managerial skill enhancement inputs. Each manager
against all odds, explains Sharma. Under this program undergoes nine days of training (divided into three

42 ■ October 2010 www.humancapitalonline.com ■


modules of three days in each quarter). The program
covers learning dimensions like defining roles and
responsibility, leadership skills, coaching and counseling
skills, planning and time management, team
performance management, customer mapping, and
emotional intelligence through use of case studies,
group presentation, movie screening, faculty
presentation, assignment to develop sales road
map, etc.
Claris Lifesciences ensures that transfer/
implementation of learnings is happening. For this
critical aspect of training the company has an
evaluation framework built on Kirkpatrick's 4-level
evaluation model that (a) captures immediate reactions
of participants through feedback; (b) measures
learning of participants in terms of advancements in
skills, knowledge and attitude post training by taking
feedback from faculties; (c) confirms transfer of
acquired skills/knowledge on field through feedback
from the trainee's superior and; (d) measures results
in terms of improvement in productivity/quality. To
enable this, "We make the sales trainees put down an
action plan on how he/she will implement his /her
learnings at work. In addition, the HR team monitors
the implementation of action plan through one-on-
one discussions and regularly takes feedback from
the trainees' managers," says Sharma.
Trainings can guide a person, resolve routine
queries and help identify potential challenges.
However, when it comes to handling newer challenges
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TRAINING
upfront, it becomes difficult for a person to follow set
standard methods. Hence, says Sharma, "We observe
certain cases where trained members face problems
in meeting targets and combat the challenge by
learning from it at the right time and in the right
manner." Further, he adds, "There have been incidents
where members' managers have adopted different
style of working and new members have acquired
different views due to training."
Besides, challenges like difference of opinions,
manager and member conflicts, etc. are usually
resolved by the HR team who acts as a mediator and
mentor to bring the member and manager on the
same plane through psychological treatments.
"Whatever challenges, our HR team keeps track of
various issues faced by members and tries to
incorporate such issues in future trainings by way of
customization which helps in further enhancing our
training programs," informs Sharma.
Impact of training
According to Dewan, the need analyzer method of
approach is the principal differentiator from the
traditional sales approach. Around 94% of sales
managers say that cue cards have helped them perform
their job effectively. In fact, the sales performance is
around 60%. Earlier the sales conversions were 1 in
5 or 7 and now it's increased to 1 in 3. A sales manager
from Delhi after using the cue cards felt it has a
major impact on the customer whose need is not
October 2010 ■ 43
TRAINING
identified. It is a great need analyzer. Another sales
manager experienced that the usage of cue cards
increased his conversion ratio which is 1 on every 3
calls now and previously he used to have a hard time
convincing even those customers. One more sales
manager is of the view that cue cards are very effective,
previously he had to convince the customer on his
needs, but, now it hits the customer instantly and out
of 3 calls he is able to convert 2 calls, which was not
the case before. Not only has the conversion rate gone
up even the sales team comes back with more
references. Dewan feels that with every new recruit the
company can't send a trainer on the field, but, can
send a medium with the trained person which enables
him to do things himself.
Besides, the sales team, even customers have
appreciated this process. For example, NRI's have given
feedback that they have traveled the world over and
haven't seen a process like this. They say, 'I got
interested simply because the way I have be approached
about it.' Even customers from other insurance
companies, although they have need analyzers and
financial calculators on the website they felt they
actually understood their own needs through these
cue cards. A doctor from Hyderabad commented
that "this is a very non complicated, clear, customized
way that touched me. I have insurance policies but,
I suddenly realized I had no policy for my children."
A pilot from US who is an NRI said that he has
insurance policies, but, he never picked up a policy
because he needed it. Also, people have been able to
buy the right insurance cover, not lower or higher i.e.
the customer is able to pick up the right investment
which he/she actually needs. "So the sale value also
increases," says Dewan.
Kotak Life Insurance plans to take this from its
current pilot initiative to mass level and expects an
increase in sales performance of at least 25% to 30%
and sustain at 50%.
On the other hand, Canon's sales training programs
successfully ingraining key skills of selling, negotiations,
product knowledge, importance of grooming, creating
presentations for customers that have impact, in-depth
understanding of Canon's sales management tool, iCAN,
understanding of channel business, and managing
accounts has helped its front line staff to a great extent.
"The sales team feels that they now understand the
customer and his expectations better. The training has
also aided them in understanding the sales flow well.
In addition, they are able to suggest options/ alternatives
to the customer since they have detailed knowledge
about the product," explains, Chetal. Not only the front
line sales team, even the managers understand how to
manage their teams effectively in terms of coaching
them, enable them with advanced negotiation
techniques, aligning division and team objectives with
the organization goals.
Claris Lifesciences cites several cases where
members have written to its HR team about their
implementation of learning and how they achieved
44 ■ October 2010
results. One of the TSE's from Rajkot met 45 doctors
in February 2009 and shares one interesting doctor
conversion for the 'Únibag' product on his first call.
The doctor was interested in quality products like
which Claris Lifesciences offers, so the TSE detailed
him about 'Unibag' but, the doctor was worried about
the price of 500 ml variant. The TSE immediately
responded with confidence: Your OPD has 40 patients
per day, and if daily, out of 40, even if five patients can
afford it, it will be good enough. Hearing this, the
doctor got convinced and he ordered for 24 Unibags.
The learning from Jaanbaaz helped the TSE increase
his confidence and convert the call into a sale. A TSM
from Ludhiana realized the value of time, which was
taught during the Jaanbaaz program when he met a
doctor who was always busy. When the doctor was
going towards OT the TSM asked him: Doctor, please
give me your precious 30 seconds. In that period the
TSM briefly explained about the products and in turn
the doctor gave the TSM the next day's appointment
for order booking. The TSM feels that learnings from
Jaanbaaz helped him boost his enthusiasm. Another
interesting example is of a TSE from Junagarh. Prior
to Jaanbaaz training the TSE had avoided meeting the
owner of a medical agency at Upleta who used to
purchase a competitor's product. However, after
attending Jaanbaaz, the TSE somehow convinced the
owner to meet him once and understand his
requirements. During the discussion the owner
revealed that he buys the competitor's product as the
company gives him products on two months credit
terms. The TSE shared the actual market rates and
then offered the medical agency owner products at
5% less rate from his current billing rate, which he
agreed upon and placed an order with Claris
Lifesciences within 10 days.
One of the TSMs from Ludhiana was able to use
organizational systems for development of territory
and achieve business tasks after he went through
Saksham training. Another TSM from Kerala was able
to make calls effectively that converted key doctors
into Claris Lifesciences customers who previously used
competitor's products. After undergoing through
Saksham training an ASM from Delhi was able to
sharpen his knowledge on how to use power and when
to use authority.
In terms of statistical data, half of the sales personnel
that went through Jaanbaaz training are now managers
after a year or two. In terms of sales productivity, the
average productivity of each Jaanbaaz every month
has increased by about 45%. Likewise, even Saksham
training has ensured fulfillment of 60% requirement
for second line managers from within. "The overall
analysis highlights the fact that the retention ratio, too,
has improved considerably, on account of trainings.
Barring a few, most of the trainees have shown fair
growth with output reaching to their potentials," avers
Sharma. It is indeed true for Claris Lifesciences that
investment in people leads to their involvement and
alignment with organizational goals. HC
www.humancapitalonline.com ■
CASE STUDY
the dilemma within:
parody or I
paradox
The case discusses about the individual
decision making dilemma of an executive
when more than one good option are
available. It also discusses the opportunities
and problems related to permanent nature
of mentor-mentee relationship.
46 ■ October 2010
By Manas Ranjan Tripathy
t was 7 O'clock, Thursday
evening. Professor Narendra
Bhai Thakkar is busy in his
faculty room of International
Business Institute (IBI),
Hyderabad in uploading
semester grades after a grueling
three hour MDP session on
Human Capital Management. He
was getting restive as he has to
work on a case for next day's
morning session. Suddenly, he
was interrupted by one of the
MDP participants requesting him
for few minutes of his time", Sir,
Iam thrown into a complete state
of disarray. May be, -- you may
bail me out of this situation
considering your expertise in
multi-criteria decision making ".
He narrated his predicaments.
The story goes like this-----
Lokesh Reddy, in his late
thirties presently works with a
multi national consumer durable
company Kee International as a
Joint Manager and takes care of
after sales and services at
www.humancapitalonline.com ■
 CMYK

CASE STUDY

Hyderabad. He supervises a team of twelve employees
including two Assistant Managers and reports to Regional
manager of same vertical in Andhra region. He has a
diploma in Electronics Engineering and having nearly
fifteen years of work experience in consumer durable
sector. He hails from Nizamabad district which is few
hours journey from Hyderabad. He was known for his
frankness in airing his views and never compromised
with his work. He has just completed second year at his
present organisation. He had shown remarkable diligence
at his present job. He is liked by his team members and
having very good personal equations with his boss. He
maintains cordial relationship with dealers of his area
and earned all-round appreciation for his sincerity and
commitment. The customer complaints have dropped
noticeably during the year due to his personal care and
prompt redressal of grievances. He was recommended
as employee of the quarter recently. Last month his
efforts found a special mention and were hugely
appreciated by Mr Manji, state head of Kee International
in a function organized to felicitate a handful of
employees for superior performance.
Lokesh started his career in a small manufacturing
firm at Vishakhapatnam and worked at shop-floor as a
supervisor for four years. Mr Venkatesh who was
production manager of the unit noticed this promising
young man in the beginning and personally nurtured
him.Venkatesh was a BTech from a premier institution
and was regarded as a good team leader and dynamic
manager. He was instrumental in successfully
implementing ISO at the unit. Venkatesh was in his late
twenties at that time.Lokesh enjoyed considerable
autonomy and support. He did well at his work and was
promoted as a supervisor in due course. He was also
nominated by Venkatesh to attend advanced training
programmes number of times and was consulted in
matters related to production. His innovative ideas helped
raising the operational efficiency of the unit resulting
higher production for which he got recognition including
cash award. In the mean time,Venkatesh left for higher
studies and returned back to India after completion of
one year executive MBA from a well known university
in UK.
Venkatesh joined electronics major Alfa Inc as zonal
Sales and services head for northern region in mid
1999.He asked Lokesh to join him at Gurgaon .Lokesh
though initially hesitant to relocate to North finally
agreed. He had never been to north. Culturally he felt
at a distance and local Language was a major
problem.Initialy he was jeered at by his colleagues and
customers for his lack of understanding of Hindi and
distorted pronunciation. He even resented the term
Madrasi being attributed to him by colleagues.However;
he could overcome the linguistic and cultural barrier in
a short span and assimilated well. Under the tutelage
of Venkatesh,he grew professionally and made significant
contribution to the organisation.He was very much part
of core team of Venkatesh and was involved at every
stage of planning and coordination though junior enough
in the hierarchy. Apart from his routine after sales and
services job,he was also assigned to build dealer and
distribution network. He helped Venkatesh preparing
periodic corporate presentations considering his innate
understanding of product, market, channels and
distribution network. He worked almost seven days in
a week. During his third year at Alfa,he was awarded as
best employee of the Northen region and was promoted
as an executive.However,all was not well at workplace.
His larger than life image was resented by many. His
proximity to Zonal head earned him unwanted suspicion.
Some colleagues even maintained a safe distance from
him. Seniors in the hierarchy including his reporting
supervisor never liked his acquaintance with Zonal head.
Allegations of regional favourtism were leveled as both
Venkatesh and Lokesh were from the same state. Some
even complained serious breach of authority structure
in the hierarchy.
In the beginning of 2004, Venkatesh resigned from
Alfa and left for Singapore to join a Japanese firm.He
again asked him to join him. The profile was good and
the offer was quite lucrative.However, Lokesh had his
own set of obligations. His wife was working in a public
school and he had to take care of ailing mother. He
politely declined the offer citing these
reasons.Soon,Lokesh had to face numerous obstacles
at work front. He was reduced to a mere lower level
employee with no consequence. The autonomy and
support he enjoyed earlier seemed like a distant
dream.His boss at that time Mr Rakesh Datta who was
not in good terms with Venkatesh made him a soft
target. Rakesh and Venkatesh were contemporaries to
each other and were having similar academic background
.His job profile was changing in everyquarter.He was
not allowed to maintain any further relationship with

MANAS RANJAN TRIPATHY

PROFESSOR (HRM AREA) ■ IBS, HYDERABAD
Manas Ranjan Tripathy is a Professor in HRM area with IBS, Hyderabad. He has nearly fifteen years of
combined experience in academics and research. PhD in Human Resource Management from Visva-
Bharati, Santiniketan.He was also a recipient of Junior Research Fellowship of UGC. He has also conducted
several behavioural training programmes for reputed public and private sector organisations.He has been
also a resource person for number of FDPs for different National level institutions and member of professional
bodies like National HRD Network and Indian Industrial Relations Association. He has contributed and
reviewed papers for several reputed National and international journals. His academic and research interest
include individual and organizational learning, high performance culture, case pedagogy, cross- cultural
teams and social dialogue process in organizations and communities.

■ www.humancapitalonline.com October 2010 ■ 47

CASE STUDY
various stakeholders in the process including dealers
and distributors of the company. Day and night he was
hounded. Any constructive suggestion from his side was
met with jeers. Rakesh Datta even once
remarked"Lokesh, you should know your
limitations. You are a diploma holder. There are
many people in the system who are engineering
graduates from premier institutions and having
rich professional exposure". His ratings suddenly
dropped from excellent/very good to fair and
average. In an appraisal discussion HR
manger Mr Sarkar who happened to be a
close friend of Rakesh remarked"Lokesh,
your performance is deteriorating day by
day. I wonder how you managed excellent/
very good rating over the years".Lokesh
protested and stated his expectations
without blaming anyone which
evoked no positive reaction from the
panel. The matter didn't end there.
He was given responsibility of far
flung areas for which he had to travel
almost or even more than 150 kms in
a day. All these had its obvious toll on
his family matters. He was not able to
spend time with his growing kid, neither
able to take care of his mother properly.
Lokesh finally decided to leave his
job at Alfa after these harrowing
experiences for two years. He joined
another company Xeta India which was
much smaller in size than Alfa as Deputy
manager- services based at Noida.Xeta
India's operation and market base was
limited to North India more so in
NCR(National Capital Region).Fortunately
his wife was also got a teaching job in
a nearby locality. He shifted to Noida
along with family.His office was located
adjacent to production facility of Xeta
India and he soon got additional
responsibility of production planning
and quality assurance besides after
sales services. Lokesh took up his new
job seriously.He was short listed soon
to promote a concept selling product
which was new in India but priced 30%
more than the conventional product. The infrastructure
for extending after sales service and product knowledge
of the end user was very less.
In fact, the core group consisting of four people
needed to develop the entire infrastructure to promote
this new product into the market. The core group started
working under the supervision of Vice-President Mr
Nand Kumar who had 10 years exposure in Marketing
and Sales at Dubai. Lokesh had to devote more time on
this new assignment that had the support of Vice
President.
It was a matter of sheer coincidence that Xeta India
was taken over by Alfa Inc in 2007 and the unit was
48 ■ October 2010
renamed as Alfa plus. The people in company were
apprehensive of unforeseen circumstances. Due to this
sudden development many people including
the Vice- President resigned from the
company owing to differences of opinion
with the new management even though
he was rated as an efficient
organiser.The new management
appointed Rakesh Datta as sales and
services head for Alfa Plus who in turn
reported to Zonal Head of sales and
services of Alfa Inc.The new development
was just like bolt out of the blue for Lokesh.He
was visibly disturbed hearing this news. He knew
that it would be difficult for him to get along with
Rakesh considering his earlier biases. Moreover,
Rakesh had strong likes and dislikes for no
apparent reasons and was temperamentally
autocratic in nature.Lokesh suffered again and
had to bear his daily tantrums. He was either
deliberately called to office or sent on out of
station duties on Sundays. The team which
was headed by Lokesh was reshuffled with
the new members without him being
consulted. Matters related to Lokesh was
exaggerated and he was shown in poor
light.One such occasion Rakesh even
humiliated him before the juniors regarding
non compliance of status report of a quarter
one day before the deadline. An upset Lokesh
took up the matter with Zonal head Rohtas
Kumar.He simply declined to intervene, rather
advised him to short out the issues by themselves.
Venkesh, though working abroad, was in touch
with his former protégé through mail and social
networking site ORKUT.Lokesh had shared his
extreme differences with Rakesh and the state of
affairs at the new entity. There were critical
references about Rakesh in the
conversations.Lokesh had no inkling of the
surveillance. He got a letter from HR asking him
to explain why action shouldn't be taken against
him for disclosing internal matters to an outsider.
A helpless and thoroughly dejected Lokesh finally
resigned and took up his present assignment at
Hyderabad.
Last week he got a call from Venkatesh who
has then joined back Alfa Inc as National Sales and
services Head.Venkesh joined Alfa Inc two months
before. He is in the process of restructuring and
rebuilding his core team.Rekesh was sent packing to
Eastern Zone.Lokesh was offered a higher position of
Manager with 30% raise in package and liberal benefits.
He will have to take a call within two weeks. He is in a
state of dilemma. Should he continue at his present
organisation with a lesser package and lower grade?
Should he relocate to North as his mentor is at the helm
of affairs? He also wants to revive his old network, but
feels homesick; what should he do? The puzzle seems
to be getting murkier in each passing day.
www.humancapitalonline.com ■
 CMYK

CASE STUDY

SAIKAT CHATTERJEE
MANAGER-HR ■ SOUTH EAST & SOUTH WEST ASIA, INTERCONTINENTAL HOTELS GROUP
Saikat Chatterjee is responsible for providing the overall strategic HR direction for SWA region and
offer HR support across South East & South West Asia hotels in areas of talent resourcing,
implementing employee engagement strategies, driving talent development interventions and
advancing the employer branding agenda in conjunction with the team from Singapore. Prior to
this, he was the Director of Talent Development at Crowne Plaza Today Gurgaon. Saikat has over 14
years of hospitality experience in handling hotel operations, training specialist roles as well as HR
generalist roles. He has been part of the IHG group for the past 3 years. Prior to IHG, Saikat has
worked with organizations like ITC Welcomgroup, Ananda in the Himalayas etc. Saikat is a hotel
management graduate and has also done his MBA with specialization in HR. His leisure time
interests include traveling, reading and spending time with family.

etting the foundations of an organization into interpersonal conflict, the HR management must

G
right - the values and how do we embed
these values. Values form the foundation
for everything that happens in your
workplace. Effective organizations identify
and develop a clear, concise and shared
meaning of values/beliefs, priorities, and direction so
that everyone understands and can contribute. Once
defined, values impact every aspect of your
organization.
If you want the values you identify to have an
impact, the following must occur:
● People demonstrate and model the values in action
in their personal work behaviors, decision making,
contribution, and interpersonal interaction.
● Organizational values help each person establish
priorities in their daily work life.
● Values guide every decision that is made once the
organization has cooperatively created the values and
the value statements.
● Rewards and recognition within the organization
are structured to recognize those people whose work
embodies the values the organization embraced.
● Organizational goals are grounded in the identified
values.
● Adoption of the values and the behaviors that result
is recognized in regular performance feedback.
● People hire and promote individuals whose outlook
and actions are congruent with the values.
● Only the active participation of all members of the
organization will ensure a truly organization-wide,
value-based, shared culture.
The increased focus on ethics, corporate
governance and corporate responsibility has
encouraged many organizations to establish codes of
conduct. From a wider economic perspective,
implementing codes of conduct effectively and
consistently could improve organizational performance
and control, leading to fewer irregularities and
corporate scandals and a gradual build-up of trust
between organizations and its stakeholders.
Role of HR in conflict management
It is essential to probe and understand real issues.
Organization leaders are responsible for creating a
work environment that enables people to thrive. If turf
wars, disagreements and differences of opinion escalate
intervene immediately. Not intervening is not an option
if you value your organization and your positive culture.
In conflict-ridden situations, your mediation skill and
interventions are critical.
The best way to resolve conflicts is through
negotiations. The two negotiating approaches that are
generally practiced in organizations are distributive
bargaining and integrative bargaining. Distributive
bargaining leads to win-lose situations whereas
integrative bargaining leads to win-win situations.
Some useful actions to avoid in conflict resolution:
● Do not avoid the conflict, hoping it will go away
● One should not believe, for even a moment that
the only people who are affected by the conflict are
the participants.
● Do not meet separately with people in conflict
In such situations, one should mediate and resolve
conflict in the following ways:
● Meet with the antagonists together
● As the supervisor, one must own some of the
responsibilities for helping the employees resolve their
conflict
Mediating a conflict is challenging, but as a manager
or supervisor, the role of mediator comes with your
territory. Your willingness to appropriately intervene
sets the stage for your own success. You craft a work
environment that enables the success of the people
who work there. I believe you can learn to do it.
Conflict mediation is an example of "practice makes
perfect."
Developing & grooming leaders is important
to maintain sanctity of the organization
Linking and aligning organizational values and mission
with individual goals and interests leads to better
employee satisfaction and thereby lesser attrition rates.
This positivity is reflected in employee dealings with
customers. When employees feel happy from within, it
enhances their performance as also their pride and
commitment towards the organization.
It is important to define rules of business… who is
a good performer? What are the criteria: results-focused
versus behavior-focused, what's versus the how's?
Risk taking ability of successful individuals is the
key. More than the ideas, execution is really the key for
successful results.

■ www.humancapitalonline.com October 2010 ■ 49

CASE STUDY
Fall out of lifelong mentor-mentee relationship
A mentor's job is to help the mentee reach her goals.
The relationship is mentee-centered. The mentor
listens, sometimes challenges, offers insights and
encourages. A mentoring relationship needs reasonably
frequent and consistent contact. As a dialogue, it is
interactive. Both partners contribute, change and grow.
An informal mentoring relationship often just happens,
like on my bus ride. Someone takes an interest in us,
or we in them. A formal mentoring relationship has an
acknowledged commitment of time and energy for the
purpose of guiding and sharing. Both types can be for
specific projects or for extended time periods.
Mentoring is not counseling, being a buddy or a
parent, nor is it telling the mentee "how it is done in
United Methodist Women." Poor mentoring can be
worse than no mentoring. Poor mentoring damages
self-confidence and drains enthusiasm.
The mentor-mentee partnership is a dynamic
relationship that is unique to each pair of individuals.
A mentor and mentee may decide to have an informal
relationship, one that evolves without a great deal of
organization and planning, or a formal mentoring
relationship that is well-defined.
Mentoring is often used to prepare lower-level
and mid-level managers to move up the ladder. It is
a leadership training program that goes beyond the
training class to teach and model the desired skills/
knowledge and behavior. Of course it is also used in
aide/student, beginning teachers/senior teachers, and
undergraduates/graduates at the university level.
It is important also to recognize what a mentor/
mentee relationship is not. While it is a close
relationship, it is not a friendship. The mentor is not
a psychiatrist to solve personal problems. It is not just
two people hanging out and spending time together.
Jan Cummings tells the story of a woman of Chinese
heritage with and MBA who worked in a large bank.
No matter what she did she couldn't get a way from
a position that only used her financial and technology
skills/knowledge. She wanted to become more involved
with the business of the bank. She was assigned a
mentor who was an expert in Credit. Through the
relationship she was not only able to learn more about
credit issues but she was able to become more visible.
Later on she was able to transfer to a lending area that
targeted the Chinese community. After that she moved
to another bank in charge of an international
development division.
In another company where mentoring was not
working, it was discovered that all the mentees were
woman and all the mentors were men. It was
determined that male-female issues produced problems
that were not resolved at the first meeting. These issues
may have contributed to keeping the relationships on
a superficial level.
Matching the mentor and mentee
The success or failure of mentoring is closely tied to
how well the mentor/mentee are matched. Most
50 ■ October 2010
sources agree that a mentor should not be the direct
supervisor of the mentee or that they even be from the
same department if that is possible. If the personality
types are tremendously different, there may be
problems with the relationship. In addition there must
be a sense of win-win in both the mentor and the
mentee. Both should want to participate. This
relationship can stretch over months or even years.
Special care at the beginning in matching the mentor
and mentee, as well as the use of written Mentoring
Agreement signed by both parties and clear evaluation
expectations at specific times are all vital to the success
of a mentoring program.
The value of mentoring
There are advantages for both in the relationship. The
mentee will certainly benefit both personally and
professionally from the intervention. The mentor will
learn or refresh their knowledge simply by having to
teach and answer questions about it. In addition the
mentee can provide knowledge about other areas of
the organization as well as provide a useful way to spot
future talent for the mentor.
Mentoring has proven to be a useful tool in
retention of employees. It has also shown to strengthen.
It is also a form of recognition and reward to the
mentee. It helps both the mentor and mentee recognize
their abilities and limitations and highlights areas for
future development. It can increase motivation in both
mentor and mentee Performance has been significantly
improved by all these outcomes.
Mentoring is usually an internal intervention, but
the guidance in advising and setting up a program can
easily fall to the performance technologist. There are
a number of excellent reasons to advise a mentoring
program. It is an excellent way to build the talent
bench in succession planning. It supports diversity
programs so minorities can learn unspoken rules and
norms. Mentoring is an excellent vehicle for general
corporate career development. It also allows the
participants to build relationships across functional
departments and up and down the corporate ladder.
Finally it helps to increase the retention of employees,
especially "high potential" employees.
Mentor-mentee relationship could be lifelong, it
does not have any major fall outs. One should consider
having more than one mentor who has different
expertise and can help the individuals in dealing with
multiple situations and succeed in different situations
and environment.
A key characteristic of a good mentor is his/her
ability to encourage the mentee's self-confidence. Those
who have been mentored well say the most helpful
aspect is the "I-know-you-can-do-it' attitude of the
mentor. The mentor-mentee partnership is a dynamic
relationship that is unique to each pair of individuals.
A mentor and mentee may decide to have an informal
relationship, one that evolves without a great deal of
organization and planning, or a formal mentoring
relationship that is well-defined.
www.humancapitalonline.com ■
 CASE STUDY

What Lokesh should do?
An individual can only succeed in an organization where
the personal values and beliefs of the individual are
aligned to the organizational values. Lokesh has been
successful in the past, showed initiative, worked beyond
the call of duty etc. He has the traits of an effective
manager. His values include being open in expressing
opinions, no compromise with work and is able to
manage all his stakeholders well. His motivators include
autonomy and personal achievement.
He got victimized at Alfa Inc due to professional
rivalry of Venkatesh and Rakesh. Suffered humiliation
and eventually got demotivated. Had some challenges
to adjust to the new environment and culture. He
should continue at his company in Hyderabad. Success
is not just about position or money but it is about
where an individual feels motivated and engaged to
contribute. He should leverage his relationship with
Venkatesh to get better at interpersonal skills, managing
upwards rather that just following him where he goes.
Lessons and implications from the case
● Part of growth is to enhance your leadership
capabilities.
● Find out about the organizational values before
deciding where one wants to work.
● Don't just follow an individual; one needs to be self
sufficient.
● Being successful is an organization is not just
excelling at technical skills but also being able to manage
the political environment and understanding the power
centres as well as interpersonal skills.
● Work towards improving working relationships
rather than accepting whatever comes as fate accompli.
● To grow in one's career, one needs to take risk and
once decision is taken work around ways of how one
can be successful rather than surrendering and
eventually running away.

G. INBAVANAN
FOUNDER & CHIEF PRACTICE OFFICER ■ PEOPLE DIMENSIONS@WORK
Inbavanan has over 28 years of experience in all facets of People Practice. His last corporate
assignment which concluded in end-March 2009 was with Hewlett-Packard where he was Director
of Learning & Development function of a Global Delivery vertical across the world with a multi-
national team of L&D Consultants directly reporting to him. He has worked in Polaris Software Lab
Ltd., BPL Innovision Business Group, GE, GEC Alsthom, L&T, and Britannia. Since July 2009 he and
his wife have set up an independent consulting practice focusing on Organization Development and
Effectiveness, Leadership Development, Business & Executive Coaching, Employee Relations and
Counseling. Inba has a post graduate degree from Madras University specializing in PMIR. He is an
accredited Business & Executive Coach of Coaching Foundation India and a member of International
Association of Coaching. He is certified in MBTI, FIRO-B, and PI.

entoring is a process for the informal pressure, learning can jump. Here the mentor chooses

M
transmission of knowledge, social capital,
and the psychosocial support perceived
by the recipient as relevant to work,
career, or professional development.
Mentoring entails informal communication,
usually face-to-face and during a sustained period of
time, between a person who is perceived to have greater
relevant knowledge, wisdom, or experience (the mentor)
and a person who is perceived to have less (the
protégé)". (Bozeman, Feeney, 2007).
A study of mentoring techniques most commonly
used in business was published in 1995 under the title
Working Wisdom. In the study, five major techniques
or "wisdom tactics" were found to be used most
commonly by mentors. These are:
1. Accompanying: This means making a commitment
in a caring way. Accompanying involves taking part in
the learning process by taking the path with the learner.
2. Sowing: Mentors are often confronted with the
difficulty of preparing the learner before he or she is
ready to change. Sowing is necessary when you know
that what you say may not be understood or even
acceptable to learners at first but will make sense and
have value to the mentee when the situation requires it.
3. C atalyzing: When change reaches a critical level of
Catalyzing:
to plunge the learner right into change, provoking a
different way of thinking, a change in identity or a re-
ordering of values.
4. Showing: this is making something understandable,
or using your own example to demonstrate a skill or
activity. You show what you are talking about, you
show by your own behavior.
5. Harvesting: Here the mentor focuses on "picking
the ripe fruit": it is usually learned to create awareness
of what was learned by experience and to draw
conclusions. The key questions here are: "What have
you learned?" "How useful is it?"
If we apply the above definition and framework of
mentorship to the case of Venkatesh and Lokesh, it is
evident that it will not qualify to be termed as a mentor-
mentee relationship. There will always be employees
like Lokesh and managers like Venkatesh in
organizations. This relationship works well as long as
the manager is in the same organization and the
employee in his team. Such employees become alter
ego of the manager and a very productive resource
who help the manager to achieve their objectives. In
the process, the organization does benefit. However,
the critical question to be asked will be: "Is the employee
building up capabilities to independently deliver a high

■ www.humancapitalonline.com October 2010 ■ 51

CASE STUDY
performance in the absence of the manager"? In this
case it is evident that once Venkatesh is moved out of
the picture, Lokesh is not able to perform in, what is
a hostile environment created by Rakesh. In many
cases employees like Lokesh keep following managers
like Venkatesh, wherever they go. In this case also,
when Venkatesh moved to Singapore, he offered a job
to Lokesh. It was his family situation due to which he
could not take up the offer. While such a route to
career development is not wrong per se, Lokesh needs
to be convinced that this is the best route for him.
However, Lokesh does well when he moves to a different
organization and wins laurels which indicate to his
inherent capabilities and attitudes that make it possible
for his high performance. It also means that Lokesh
can grow his career primarily through his capabilities
and performance. Moreover, the environment in his
current organization Kee International, is not only
supportive, but also encourages performers like Lokesh
by investing in their development. He has also been
recognized at the highest level as a superior performer.
Hence, when he has established so much in a short
period of two years, why should he leave to join
Venkatesh? While the offer from Venkatesh might look
very appealing at this point in time, it cannot be viewed
in isolation. In such situations an employee would
benefit if he takes a 3-Year view. Questions that Lokesh
needs to ask of himself to facilitate his decision are:
- What is the time frame in which he can become a
manager in his current company, if he sustains and
improves further his current performance?
- What will be the total compensation and benefits in
his current company for a manager? How does it
compare with the offer from Venkatesh?
- What are the risk factors in Venkatesh's joining the
same company again, Alfa Inc.?
If Lokesh were to dispassionately view the answers
to the above question, and consider the organizational
culture and the support he has received in Kee
International, the answer is very clear - he should
continue in his current company. He should explain
his inability to move due to his personal position to
Venkatesh and show it as a reason for not being in a
position to accept his offer.
This case also highlights critical issues that happen
in organizations that impacts both organizational and
individual performance.
Manager as a coach
It is well researched and accepted that the manager is
a very critical person in the career of an employee. It
is said that, "Employees join a company, but leave a
manager" - Gallup. We are presented with three
managers in this case study, viz., Venkatesh, Rakesh,
and the Manager in the current company. What is the
role that these managers played?
Venkatesh: Lokesh had worked under him for the
longest period. While Venkatesh did contribute to his
development in the initial period when he was in
manufacturing, very little attention was paid to his
52 ■ October 2010
development when he moved to Sales & Service in Alfa
Inc. While Venkatesh provided opportunities, they were
all in terms of roles and responsibilities that ultimately
helped him deliver the business goals. Very little effort
was taken by Venkatesh to help Lokesh identify what
skills and capabilities he needed to develop to assume
higher responsibilities. Venkatesh also did not expose
Lokesh's performance and capabilities to senior
leadership which could have helped him when
Venkatesh left the organization. In fact there was
considerable resentment and negative assessment that
had been created in the system due to the manner in
which Venkatesh utilized the services of Lokesh. Hence,
Lokesh was tied to Venkatesh and could perform and
grow only if he continued in the company in leadership
roles. If we assess Venkatesh through the lens of the
definition and framework of a mentor articulated in
the beginning of this analysis, he does not qualify to be
called a mentor. To him Lokesh was not a mentee but
a 'Man Friday' who could meet his needs and fulfill the
objectives of his Team.
Rakesh: A very short-sighted and vindictive manager
who had the capability to drive away talent from the
organization. His inability to distinguish the capabilities
of Lokesh and leverage him to enhance the team
performance, thereby creating an opportunity for
Rakesh to move into higher responsibilities never
crossed his thoughts. In fact as a Manager he lowered
himself by taking out his frustrations arising from
Venkatesh's success on one of his team members who
in no way contributed to Rakesh's situation. Hence, it
was not surprising that the company brought back
Venkatesh to head the sales & service function for the
entire company.
Current manager
The current manager has provided Lokesh with an
environment where his best could be delivered for
achieving the company's goals. Lokesh has not only
performed exceedingly well, but also in quick time
resolved some of the long standing problems related
to service, thereby enhancing the company's image
among its dealers and customers. His being adjudged
as a star performer within two years of joining the
company is a big tribute to his current manager's
capabilities to identify and nurture talent.
Performance & talent management processes
In this case we see the play of two systems of
performance & talent management: the first one being
that of Alfa Inc., and the second of Kee International.
The system at Alfa Inc., was driven more by personalities
than by an objective set of criteria applied uniformly
across the organization. Otherwise, how can we agree
that when an employee has been consistently rated as
a high performer and being promoted periodically in
the company, suddenly slips into low performance on
the change of a manager. In a robust system, Lokesh
would have been in the talent pool of the company
due to his consistent performance under Venkatesh.
www.humancapitalonline.com ■
 CASE STUDY

Employees in this pool are nurtured for future

leadership roles. However, what we see is the vilification
of the high performing employee by a short sighted
manager, and the absence of system and processes to
stop this from happening.
In Kee International, there is a more robust and
criteria based process in view of how in a short span
of two years, Lokesh has been able to not only perform,
but also get recognized for the performance and be
adjudged as a star performer. This is critical to building
a high performance organization.

HR's role as an 'employee champion'

According to Prof. Dave Ulrich's model, one of the
four critical roles that human resources plays in an
organization is that of an 'employee champion'.
However, in this case we are witness to the HR manager
who is a close friend of Rakesh, actually conniving with
him in the systematic destruction of a high performing
employee and bring him to a situation where he was
forced to quit the company. In such situations, when
HR sees that a high talent in the company is in danger,
it intervenes and provides alternative roles which could
take the employee under a more supportive manager
keeping in mind the track record of the employee.
However, instead of championing a high performer
the HR manager actually contributed to the exit of a
talented employee. What credibility would HR have in
the organization when the HR head plays such a role?
Ad HRDC
Could Lokesh have done things differently so that
he could have continued to reap the benefits of his
high performance and build a career? Definitely, 'yes'.
Firstly, one should not get so closely attached to a
manager in a way that the organization looks upon
him as an 'alter ego' of the manager. A professional
would ensure that he creates an independent identity
of his that is separate from that of his manager.
Secondly, one needs to have a healthy, productive
relationship with one's peers and also ensure that
performance is noticed by others and senior leaders.
This is too critical to be solely left to your manager.
Thirdly, one also needs to focus on one's own
development on a periodic basis. Lokesh should have
realized that his being a Diploma holder, would come
in the way of his growth in Alfa Inc. Taking a leaf from
Venkatesh's action who went to UK to pursue MBA, he
too should have enrolled in evening or distance
education programme for an engineering qualification.
The legendary CEO of General Electric, Jack Welch
used to exhort his employees to, "Control your own
destiny, or someone else will". Now that Lokesh has
independently established himself in Kee International
through his performance and prepared the foundation
for his growth and development; he should now focus
on acquiring the engineering degree. Giving it all up
to go and again work for Venkatesh would be
committing professional 'Harakiri' and remaining a
'Man Friday' to a very successful manager all through
his career. I personally do not see it as a very difficult
decision to make. HC

■ www.humancapitalonline.com October 2010 ■ 53

FOOD FOR THOUGHT
DILEEP RANJEKAR
The unsung heroes
he drive to Mandya was smooth - thanks
T
to the new Mysore expressway. On the way
to the District Institute of Education
Training (DIET) at Mandya - we came across
beautifully maintained, large gardens and
were wondering which authority is taking
so much initiative in maintaining the gardens.
For those who are not familiar with the concept of
DIETs they were set up with the mission to provide
academic and resource support at the grass-root for
the success of the various strategies and programmes
being undertaken in elementary and adult education
with the broad objectives of teacher preparation &
development, academic resource support, action
research in education and use of education technology.
The National Policy for Education conceived DIETs as
the crucial part of a larger plan to decentralize
education to the district level.
At the DIET, the officials warmly received us and
thanked us for being on time - the Principal of the
DIET was a quiet, confident and humble but non-
nonsense leader. While quickly climbing the stairs of
the first and second floor he informed me that he has
joined the Mandya DIET about 3 months ago and has
since reformed several processes. He was all excited
by the management development program (that is
being implemented jointly by the Government of
Karnataka and Azim Premji Foundation) has
enormously helped in implementing some of the
reforms and has re-vitalized the work force in the
DIET and in the block and cluster offices.
My colleagues and I were pleasantly surprised with
the presentation of various initiatives made by the
members of the DIET and other administrative offices.
We clearly sensed that the leadership has made the
difference in addition to the management development
program. The Principal was responsible for terminating
several unproductive and wasteful practices and
infusing seriousness in the working of the team of
about 100 people within and outside the DIET.
Everyone seemed to acknowledge the same and was
54 ■ October 2010
excited to work with the Principal. While we were
having the simple lunch that was organized, the
Principal quietly told me that he was trying his best
to infuse cost consciousness among his staff including
in organizing lunches.
Our next appointment was with the CEO of the
Zilla Parishad (ZP) because our project - Institutional
Capacity Building (ICD) for Mandya District included
studying the role that the CEO-ZP office plays in
influencing the school developing and monitoring
committees (SDMCs)
Among the most striking features of his office was
the prominent board outside his office giving his cell
number with an inscription that he could be contacted
by any person between 8.00 am and 10.00 pm for any
grievance, feedback or suggestion.
The CEO arrived a few minutes late and began his
interaction with us by apologizing for the delay. What
followed was a major learning experience. His
simplicity, his commitment, humility and genuine
desire to contribute to the development of his district
was evident through his perspective, actions and word.
His assessment of the situation was incisive, candid
and mature. Though he was narrating everything that
was not in place or not right, there was no bitterness
or rancour in his expressions. He was open in
describing the problems of corruption and went about
explaining the tendency of taking shortcuts even
among the poor and disadvantaged and how many
well-meaning programs did not reach the targeted
people etc. Through several meaningful steps, he was
trying his best to educate the panchayat members
and make things reach the poor.
The enormity of his job struck all of us. He has
huge responsibility without corresponding authority
and resources.
His focus is - how to make every rupee contribute
to the original objectives of a particular program. The
range of his responsibilities is from education to health
to water, land and forest resources. It includes
providing finances to the disadvantages. Guiding,
www.humancapitalonline.com ■
 FOOD FOR THOUGHT

coaching and mentoring the 200 odd panchayats in

the district to help the underprivileged people are
integral part of the job. And this CEO enjoys playing
it to the hilt. His face was glowing while narrating to
us - how many panchayat presidents call him on his
mobile during a live meeting of the panchayat and
how he guides them to deal with a live problem during
a panchayat meeting.
There are several barriers - the biggest among
them being the elected representatives - who frequently
come up to him with unreasonable and illegal demands
and part of his satisfaction is how he is always able
to dissuade them from such unconstitutional
demands. There was no bitterness in him for their
harassment. On the contrary he empathizes with them
since they too have pressures from their electorate
and have to deal with several illiterate and ignorant
members.
While speaking to him we also saw the wooden
board in such offices that records the several
incumbents in the office before this CEO - the average
tenure is approximately 2 years - which is grossly
inadequate for any CEO to perform with so many
complexities. This particular CEO has barely been in
the office since May 2010 and yet has mastered the
details of every complexity of the problems that he is
required to address.
While he is valiantly trying to make a difference he
also felt sad that "he did not have adequate support
from his office". Again he was not pessimistic about
Ad HRDC
his work. He said, "God has given me intellect, stamina
and the position. People have been very kind with me.
And that is what inspires me to deal with several kinds
of individual and institutional issues. I take joy and
pride in taking calls from all types of people on my
mobile from 8 am to 10 pm - after which I go to
sound sleep with a sense of satisfaction! I don't know
what difference I am making - but am confident that
I am doing something good to the system!!"
During the conversation, we learnt so much of the
lack of planning on the part of the State top
Management on vital issues such as water
management, public distribution system, the deep
rooted corruption at almost every level of execution.
We learnt how we as a society are digging our own
grave by recklessly destroying the environment around
us - completely mismanaging the resources around
us such as land, forests, water and air.
My colleagues and I had no hesitation in expressing
after the meeting - "This is the real CEO"!
If something good is still happening in the
governance of our country, it is due to people like the
CEO - ZP and the Principal of the DIET we met!
They are our last hope even though we have lost faith
in some of the highest authorities and institutions of
this country. HC

Dileep Ranjekar, Chief Executive Officer of Azim Premji Foundation, is also a

passionate student of human behaviour. He can be contacted at
dkr@azimpremjifoundation.org.

■ www.humancapitalonline.com October 2010 ■ 55

A POINT OF VIEW

GAUTAM BRAHMA

Ageing workforce:
Juniors managing seniors!
he workforce in many developed economies to do or that they will resent active supervision and

T
is ageing. Managing old workers is not the
same as managing young workers. Older
workers are more prone to illness and are
less productive in tasks demanding physical
labor unless the workplaces are modified to
suit their needs. In a previous column we saw what
BMW, the auto company, and CVS, the pharmacy chain,
are doing to make effective use of old workers. There
are other challenges associated with old workers when
they are being supervised by people younger than them.
This is the subject of recent
become less productive. This is wrong. Workers old or
young need to be given clear instructions and
appropriate performance feedback. Shying away from
this can only lead to a poor performance from the old
workers and the confirmation of a self-fulfilling
hypothesis. Supervisors just have to do all this
differently for young and old workers. As a matter of
fact, there are areas where old workers may actually
need greater attention. Typically these relate to use of
information technology devices and tools.
Another factor inhibiting

“
research by Peter Capelli effective supervision is the
and Bill Novelli summarized Some supervisors can cultural bias against directing
in their book "Managing the
Older Worker". Capelli
go to the other extreme and someone younger than
oneself. This is particularly so
teaches at Wharton Busines stop giving directions in Asia. Old workers
School while Novelli has contribute to this as well as
been the CEO of the altogether, when it comes to they are drawn from the same
American Association of old workers, assuming either culture and expect greater
Retired People. deference to their views.
Capelli & Novelli find that they already know what Supervisors can accommodate
that old workers are not to do or that they will resent this partly by changing their
motivated as much by the own management style as
promise of higher pay & active supervision and mentioned above and by
promotions, nor deterred as become less productive. This providing an opportunity to
much by the threat of old workers to mentor young
demotion or termination. is wrong. Workers old or ones. This satisfies their need
This is because they have
often seen ups and downs
and have limited needs.
This makes it necessary to
young need to be given
instructions and appropriate
“
clear to advice, guide and share
experiences. Properly handled,
old workers can be effective
resources for strengthening
manage them by logic,
performance feedback. and spreading the cultural glue
demonstrating superior that binds organizations.
knowledge, and appealing to their experience and their Finally, many managers shy away from considering
love of their craft. Supervisors have to change their old workers because they assume that they will be, on
managing style to accommodate these nuances when the average, more expensive than young workers. This
they manage a mixed-age workforce, treating them in is understandable. Till a certain age the market
some sense like volunteers. compensation rises with years of experience. However
Some supervisors can go to the other extreme and beyond that, if the nature of the job is not changing,
stop giving directions altogether, when it comes to old this monotonic increase does not hold. Old workers
workers, assuming either that they already know what playing a second innings either to meet their limited

56 ■ October 2010 www.humancapitalonline.com ■

 A POINT OF VIEW

needs or to just keep themselves active and engaged

with life, can be hired at levels comparable with their
much younger peers.
All this may seem a little unrelated to the Indian
economy where we often hear of the 'demographic
dividend' that assures an increasing supply of young
workers well over the next two to three decades.
However given the limited literacy, and the even more
limited employability of even the educated workers,
there is a scarcity of trained and competent workers
at many levels. Recently the news media has highlighted
the delays in infrastructure projects arising from the
paucity of the required human resources. The specific
scarcity in technical trades like welding and fitting has
been commented upon. The reemployment of PSU
bank employees, post-VRS, as contract staff has also
been noticed. Further, increased longevity and self-
support compulsions arising from nuclear families, is
driving many 'retired' people back into employment of
one form or the other. Many small companies that
cannot find a full-time role for senior staff in certain
functions engage older people in such roles as
consultants on call. These are effectively part-time
employees shared with other companies.
Many Indian managers are already doing a great
job managing older staff especially in blue-collar work.
This expertise just has to be available widely across all
types of industry. There is a subtle need for greater
expertise even in managing blue-collar work. Many
such managers inherit an older work force and do
their best in managing it. They are often reluctant to
hire older people or hire back retiring staff as
contractors. In an earlier column we talked of how left
to themselves, hiring managers tend to find a good set
of reasons for hiring people younger than themselves.
This will need change.
The need for change is not limited to line managers.
HR managers will have to adapt to the wide variety of
work arrangements under which old people are
normally hired. For instance what are the best reward
and recognition mechanisms for contract staff that is
beyond the age of regularization but is really a regular
employee in all but name? How should training, goal
setting and performance feedback be structured for
part-time staff that will always stay part-time? How
should employee-friendly culture-building practices like
long-stay recognitions and birthday greetings be
tweaked for old staff?
There is a need for change in the C-suite as well.
Senior managers should appreciate that their
companies offer products and services that eventually
get used by a mixed consumer base with gender, age
and caste variety. If their internal organization does
not mirror that variety they will not be able to sustain
effectiveness in designing, delivering, promoting and
supporting these products and services. It is hard to
leave out old men while crafting and selling offerings
for others like them. HC

Gautam Brahma is a management consultant.

■ www.humancapitalonline.com October 2010 ■ 57

HR TOOLS
V.S.GURUMANI
Spin the wheels you have!
ishwanath Chatterjee, VP Human Resources,
B
YZee Software, finds himself facing the biggest
nightmare of any HR professional: expensive,
difficult to train, retain and replace talent
leaving in droves from some of the critical
divisions of YZee despite his and his CEO's
best efforts. Bish, as he is popularly known, is a middle
aged, sprightly man with a goatee and an engaging smile
who has been with YZee from its inception in India in
2005. YZee itself is the Indian arm of a Silicon Valley firm
of the same name, and is just 12 years old. It was
started by two American millionaires and an Indian
professional to serve various industry segments with
mission critical, last mile data security solutions. The
Indian has since cashed out but the Americans have
steadily expanded YZee, which today has a presence in
15 countries around the world, including China, Thailand,
Japan and Philippines in Asia. YZee believes in recruiting
software developers from the market with a couple of
years under their belt. As Bish's boss Stephen Cork put
it, "This reduces the cost of our training and moderates
expectations of the staff that come in, because we are
sure that we can offer a work environment which is
better than what anyone can find in the market!" In
India, YZee is organized into eight industry verticals,
each of them contributing robustly to the total billing.
This is remarkable and a testimony to Bish's HR
management and marketing prowess of the company.
This year, for the first time, the apple cart seems to
be in danger of being upset. Out of the eight business
verticals, four seem to be heading into a serious "talent
crisis". While none of the heads had quit, one has lost
20% of the team in the last two months, another has lost
the deputy head, a real bright star with a great record
in the market, and the other two have had staff from
key positions leaving.
Though the verticals are independent in their work,
the work of one feeds the work of others. For example,
the education services vertical's work is important to the
social sector vertical. This is in addition to the market
reputation gained by every vertical doing good work and
getting recognised for its outstanding work by big clients.
Bish has had some difficult conversations with
Stephen over the last several months about these
developments. The erosion of talent is having Stephen
58 ■ October 2010
really worried. His own conversations with outgoing
staff, middle managers and business heads has not
thrown up anything seriously wrong with compensation,
working conditions or career growth related issues.
Those going out commented on the happy times they
had in YZee and thanked Bish and Stephen for
contributing to their development. They had nothing
but good words for the company and its work climate,
systems and procedures, performance management
systems and hygiene factors.
Stephen and Bish decided to go out of the office for
a full day retreat with the business heads to analyse
what exactly was going on. They got an external
facilitator who drew up an agenda including small group
work, doing some root cause analysis to answer
questions like should YZee go in for campus recruitment
like other companies, should the incentives be raised
and whether there was a pattern and clustering to the
people who were leaving. At the end of the day,
Stephen and the business heads went home with the
satisfaction of having looked at the problem in depth.
There were about a dozen recommendations, like
transfer of staff from those verticals which did not have
a high turnover to the ones which were suffering, to
balance out the available resources. A task force was
formed with Bish as the convenor and all the business
heads as members to do some emergency hunting for
replacement talent. Stephen put it like this: "I want each
of you to work your Rolodex and come up with three
times the number of people we need...based on what I
have seen, if we meet three guys, we get one to join".
All the business heads nodded vigorously.
Another recommendation was that the performance
rewards should be raised, with 5% of the staff getting
Excellence Awards, over and above the increments based
on performance assessment. Stephen felt this was doable
given the margins in the business and the health of the
company. Most of the business heads loved it, especially
when it was clarified that the 5% would be equally
distributed and one or two verticals would not be allowed
to monopolize the rewards based on their business
performance (this was necessary because some of the
verticals could naturally outperform the market due to
their business and competitive positioning).
At the end of all this, one person was left with more
www.humancapitalonline.com ■

questions than answers: Bish. He felt that all that the
recommendations would be to increase jaw boning,
meetings and work for the HR Division. He especially
dreaded the endless hours he would have to spend
administering the Excellence Awards, because while there
would be the handful who would be overjoyed with the
award, the majority of staff would feel left out. Bish was
pretty sure that the methods of Jack Welch would not
work in India.
He knew that there was something simple they were
all missing. Something that would not be difficult to
administer and would have lasting benefits... and yet he
could not put his finger on it. It was 1030 on a cold
winter night on Sunday in Delhi. On a hunch, Bish
decided to go out for a walk and clear his mind on this
seemingly intractable puzzle: why was it that some
verticals were losing people while others were not?
As he crossed the park outside his DDA flat, he
found an ice cream vendor still selling his wares. He still
did not have any clarity on how to figure the puzzle out.
He picked up a choc bar and munching on it, did some
slow walking in the cold night. He saw a sign "Saluja
Clinic"...why did that make him think of Saluja Sir, the
English teacher he had in school? What was it that he
kept saying? When things seem to be going wrong and
you have more questions than answers, don't go in for
reinventing wheels, just spin the wheels you have. That
was many years ago. Bish remembered that when he
was in a seminar on Appreciative Inquiry , that statement
came back to him. Suddenly, he could sense something
clicking in place in his mind: when they discussed the
causes of people leaving YZee in the workshop, everyone
talked of an Achievement Climate, but no one spoke of
Affiliation. What if all that was required to be done was
to see how to help everyone in YZee affiliate and identify
better with the organization, rather than just pursue
their own personal goals? Was it likely that the five
vertical heads that did not have talent attrition did
something right when it came to being a friend in the
work place for their professional staff, which the others
were not doing? What if some of those things could be
done equally well by others? Would that stop the bleeding
and be less expensive? Also, is it likely that the three
verticals which had high staff turnover were doing some
things right? Where could he get this information?
By now, Bish was excited. So excited that he could
hardly sleep the night. He was in office by 7 30 am the
next day, two hours ahead of the normal time, figuring
out where to find relevant information. He knew he
could find it in the personal files of the vertical business
heads. Their peer and 360 degree feedback would almost
certainly have information on what they were doing right!
Bish was not wrong. In an hour, he had the following
"best practices" from his homework. To his pleasant
surprise, he found they were very easy to replicate:
● Meeting the staff in the morning by walking around
the department, chatting over a cup of tea.
● Making small talk with staff who were working late,
surprising them once in a while with a snack or a cup
of coffee and offering to stay back with them, especially
if they were ladies.
■ www.humancapitalonline.com
HR TOOLS
● Having frequent staff meetings, finding out about
events in team member's families and creating occasions
for impromptu celebrations.
● Looking at the personal files of team members,
connecting with what was said about their development
needs in the last performance review and following up
on actions, both by them and YZee.
● Openly and genuinely praising good work in front of
the entire team and talking about it in meetings with
other departments.
● There was open sharing of problems and joint efforts
at solving them.
● The boss was approachable: open door, good listener,
closing loops all the time and kept promises.
● It was easy to get help in the form of additional
memory on the computer, low cost software to try out
and other job aids.
● There was a genuine effort on the part of the boss
to coach his direct reports and cascade it as part of the
departmental culture.
There were more, but these seemed to stand out.
Bish quickly put all of this together in a neat typewritten
note and convened a follow up retreat for half a day.
He decided to keep Stephen out of it as he wanted free
exchange of thoughts among the business heads and
did not want them to be inhibited. More importantly,
he took out eight best practices, and anchored it with
one business head. In the retreat, he shared his
homework and how excited he became when he went
through what they were doing well. Not once did he
talk about problems. He simply said, "Let us do more
of what we are doing well, consistently and better all the
time. I believe people will stop looking outside YZee!".
Bish had expected some argument, debate and
questioning. He thought some of the heads may think
he was oversimplifying a complex problem. To his
surprise, he had everyone agreeing with him. Not one
of the business heads showed any reluctance to
champion his assigned practice.
Six months later ...
later...
The talent erosion problem in YZee is well behind them.
Some of the staff who had quit actually want to come
back because they have heard that YZee is a "transformed
place" now. Bish is confident that because of two hours
of homework and half a day of discussion with the
business heads, he had set YZee on an upward spiral of
growth through talent retention and enhancement.
Stephen has not stopped talking about the magic Bish
had created in the company! And it looks as though
Bish will be moving on to bigger things in YZee's head
quarters in Chicago shortly.
It is another cold night and Bish is reflecting on the
last six months in YZee over a late night choc bar. He
wonders at how, despite all the debate and the one day
retreat, the entire team of experienced managers could
not zero in on a solution to YZee's problem. And how,
the simple tool of Appreciative Inquiry (Spin The Wheels
You Have and Stop Reinventing Them) gave YZee all the
answers it needed. HC
V S Gurumani is Country Director, Project Concern International India, New
Delhi. His email address is guru@pciindia.org.
October 2010 ■ 59

HR IN MSME S
SUMEET VARGHESE
Pursuit of employee hap-
piness in MSME
ith talent proving to be as important
W
as capital in a crunch economy,
MSMEs in the country have to engage
with several issues to ensure high
levels of employee satisfaction and
engagement. At one MSME where this
author conducted an employee satisfaction survey,
while 97% of those surveyed said they were quite
satisfied with their working environment, results on
some key satisfaction drivers indicated a mixed trend.
Specifically, employees reported mixed scores for
factors like:
Personal and professional development: Only 60%
of employees stated they had received some formal
training after joining the organization. Apparently, since
a bulk of this population served the company from
various pockets across India, the task of bringing them
all together for a program in any centralized location
was proving to be a major concern. However, when
this author spoke to 2 employees, one placed in Kolkata
and the other at HQ, both seemed satisfied with the
emphasis on employee training. Apparently the
employee in Kolkata had switched 2 jobs before joining
the present one. Since the 2 previous MSMEs that he
was with had no formal training programs for their
employees, he found it rather fortuitous to have
undergone one training program in the last 2.5 years
that he had spent in the present company. For the
second employee, being stationed at HQ afforded easy
access to many training opportunities that were
conducted throughout the year.
Opportunities to learn and grow: For 30-year old
Sumanta Mitra, presently working as a Marketing
Engineer with the firm, joining big brands like L&T,
Schneider or ABB was out of the question. As a student
in a Diploma Engineering college, he knew very early
that the big players would not consider diploma holders
like him. Naturally, the only choices available to him
were MSMEs that had a brand name in the market.
Interestingly, what drives his satisfaction quotient today
is the terrific opportunity to learn and grow on a daily
basis. The firm that he works for develops new products
every 6 months and that forces him to keep in touch
with the latest technology and the competition. Other
employees that were surveyed also voiced a similar
60 ■ October 2010
CMYK
sentiment. And though some of them found that
discussions over personal progress were quite limited,
each one found no dearth of opportunities to explore
and discover one's potential
Leadership capability and support: A majority of
the employees that were surveyed said they had full
faith in the leadership capabilities of the founder -
their present MD. According to Aarif Patel, a 29 year
old Marketing Engineer who has been working for over
6 years with the firm, the MD had a magnetic influence
over all those who interacted with him. Incidentally, in
an organization where there are more than 600
employees, the opportunities to interact with the MD
are far and few. But thanks to a recently launched
talent identification and development program, many
employees found themselves rubbing shoulders with
the MD. These initiatives helped to reinforce employee
faith in top leadership.
Interestingly, many employees found their
immediate bosses quite caring and supportive.
However, not all bosses reported similar satisfaction
scores. While some of those who were surveyed said
their bosses clarified job expectations at the outset,
some found their leader's communication to be quite
ambiguous and not at all effective, especially in
connection with clarity over day-to-day tasks. This is
so because, some employees at this firm regularly end
up multi-tasking or doing someone else's job, at times
with little or no acknowledgement for their effort. As
one employee put it, "it is absolutely essential to be
told at times that the occasional tasks we undertake is
not a regular part of the job and that we are stretching
to meet such requirements."
For Sumanta Mitra, critical leadership support
comes in the form of day-to-day boss inputs. Though
his boss sits at HQ, Sumanta and his team mates discuss
their daily plans over phone everyday in the morning
and in the evening. Any information or resource
support that is required is discussed almost daily during
these meetings. Infact, these group calls with the boss
are further augmented by the regular local team
meetings that provide a platform to discuss market
problems and developments and arrive at a common
solution.
Inter-departmental cooperation: A critical area of
www.humancapitalonline.com ■
CMYK
 CMYK

HR IN MSMES

concern for most employees who were surveyed was a regular basis. Obviously, this is easier said than done.
the level of cooperation they received from other What confuses and complicates such well-minded
departments. According to some employees, a critical efforts is the understanding that satisfaction is a
factor aiding inter-departmental cooperation is boss constantly moving target. However, the same can be
support. As one employee put it, "whereas it is easy to said of customer satisfaction. As customers continue
garner support from someone in another department to evolve their demands shift and accordingly their
who is at my level in the organizational hierarchy satisfaction levers evolve. Ironically, organizations spend
because of our personal rapport, it is extremely difficult more management time and money on chasing these
to get the required resource or information in time details and only a fraction of that on understanding
from someone senior. This can be more frustrating if those internal customer issues that directly impact
my boss is also unable to influence the same person. external customer satisfaction.
Consequently, this leads to an unending blame game."
Incidentally, as most of the employees who
participated in the survey had a customer-facing role,
they strongly felt that a range of customer issues that
hinged on inter and intra departmental support were
directly responsible for both customer and employee
dissatisfaction. For instance, challenges like not being
able to give clear information to the customer due to
non-responsiveness or delayed responsiveness from
other departments, not having the authority to
negotiate terms with the customer in the absence of a
clear decision matrix, or delayed resolution of customer
issues, punctured employee confidence and morale.
On a positive note though, some employees declared
that internal cooperation and support would pick up
gradually as elaborate systems and procedures were
being developed by the company to root out many
inefficiencies.
Salar y, pr
alary omotions & incr
promotions ements: An all too critical
increments:
item, not just for an SME but any large organization as
well, Compensation & Benefits oftentimes proves to be
the proverbial Achilles Heel for any professionally run
firm. While most employees surveyed found salaries
were not as competitive as they would like it to be they
were reasonably happy with the compensation and the
incentives they got. Apparently, most employees had
made the required adjustments in their expectations
given the fact that they were working for an MSME.
However, some employees did point out disparities in
the incentive structure. Quite obviously they did not
completely understand the factors directly impacting
promotions and incentives. Thus while one employee
reported receiving a 25% year-on-year raise, another
said he had received good bonuses that were directly
linked to specific sales-related performance.
Clearly, an MSME needs to work on several
employee satisfaction drivers at the same time in order
to boost overall employee engagement. While the above
analysis indicates there are 5 non-negotiable areas of
employee satisfaction that may be critical for any MSME,
there are likely to be many variances as to what really
drives employee satisfaction across employee
populations within the same firm or even between any
two MSMEs in similar or different industries. This
should not however, be an excuse for not tracking key
employee satisfaction indicators like the ones outlined
here. At a time when employee satisfaction has been
found to have a direct linkage with customer satisfaction,
it is absolutely essential for top management at an
MSME to keep themselves apprised of these factors on

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CMYK

LAW AT WORK
K. V. SINGH
Legal Q & A
Our company operates a pesticide manufacturing
plant. We take all necessar
necessary y safety measur
measures es for
ensuring health and safety of our workers, and no
ser ious health pr
serious oblem has been diagnosed till no
problem noww.
As a matter of policy
policy,, wwee take car
caree of the medical
expenses of the workers who are working at our
plant if any ailment is rrepor
epor ted. H
eported. Hoowev er
er,, w
ever e hav
we havee
recently received an unusual claim from one of our
ex-workers. This worker used to work at our
factor
factoryy ; howev
how er
er,, he rretir
ever etired two yyears
etired ears ago
ago.. NNoow, he
has been diagnosed with a critical disease which
severely infected his lungs. The worker has alleged
that he suffered this disease while working in our
factory due to inhalation of toxic fumes, and has
demanded that we pay his hospitalization expenses
and other medical expenses. Kindly advise whether
our company is liable to pay such expenses
considering that he is no more our employee?
In terms of the Factories Act, 1948 as well as the
principles of Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) as
laid down by the higher judiciary in India, an employer
or the operator of the factory is squarely responsible
for ensuring health and safety of its workers. This
responsibility becomes further stringent if the employer
/ factory is engaged in any hazardous process or any
hazardous chemicals or goods are used at the
workplace. In Consumer Education and Research center
and others vs. Union of India and others (AIR 1995 SC
922), the Supreme Court observed that though the
existing regulations, such as the Employees State
Insurance Act and the Worken's Compensation Act do
not provide for payment of compensation after
cessation of employment, the right to health and
medical aid of a worker while in service or post
retirement is his fundamental right under Article 21 of
the Constitution of India. The Court held that the right
to health of a worker and the corresponding duty of
the employer continues even after the cessation of
employment of the worker. However, there should be
a direct nexus between the ailment a worker has
developed and the workplace. In this regard, the Court
62 ■ October 2010
CMYK
directed the Asbestos industry to maintain and keep
maintaining the health records of every worker up to
a minimum period of 40 years from the beginning of
the employment or 15 years after retirement or
cessation of the employment, whichever is later.
This principle was further given effect to in Mangesh
Salodkar vs. Monsanto Chemicals of India Limited . In
this matter, a petition was filed by a retired employee
of Monsanto Chemicals of India Limited against the
company, who claimed to have suffered neurological
damage while working in the hazardous processes of
a factory operated by the company. In this case, the
Court acknowledged that the employer's obligations
towards the health of an employee continue even after
cessation of employment so far as the diseases that
such employee contracts due to his employment with
the employer in question.
Thus, your company's obligations towards ensuring
health and safety of a workman may continue even
after the cessation of his employment. However, it is
imperative to ascertain whether the disease or illness
suffered by the worker is such that he would have
contracted it while working at your factory or plant.
Accordingly, you may consider getting the concerned
employee medically examined and obtain expert
opinion on whether the disease suffered by the worker
concerned is an occupational disease which has
occurred as a result of work or occupational activity
at your factory.
I own a manufacturing unit. 6 months ago, we
faced some pr oblems with our factor
problems y manager
factory manager,,
who had embezzled a sum of Rs. 30,000/-. He
committed to having embezzled the said amount.
Ther eafter
eafter,, with the view to settle things cor
Thereafter dially
dially,,
cordially
he was asked to resign lest his services would be
terminated. At the time of resigning he repaid the
amount so embezzled by him. He has now contacted
us stating that certain amounts are due to him
including gr atuity
atuity.. Am I legally bound to pay
gratuity
gratuity to him despite his dishonesty?
www.humancapitalonline.com ■
CMYK

Please note that in terms of the Payment of Gratuity
Act, 1972 ("Gratuity Act"), gratuity is required to be
paid to an employee under the following circumstances:
(a) If an employee who has rendered continuous service
for not less than five (5) years, has superannuated; or
(b) If an employee who has rendered continuous service
for not less than five (5) years, has retired or resigned;
(c) On death or disablement of an employee due to
accident or disease.
Please note that under the Gratuity Act, the gratuity
payable to an employee may be wholly or partially
forfeited if the services of such an employee have been
terminated for any act which constitutes an offence
involving moral turpitude, provided such offence is
committed by him in the course of his employment.
We understand that since the services of the
concerned employee were not terminated on account
of embezzlement, and he had resigned in order to
settle the matter amicably, the fact of embezzlement
had not been established against the employee.
Further, you may note that in case where an
employee has caused any loss or damage to the
property of the employer, Gratuity Act provides for
forfeiture of the gratuity amount to the extent of such
loss or damage. However, since the employee in
question has already repaid the amount he had allegedly
embezzled, this provision would also not apply.
I am of the view that you would be required to pay
the gratuity to the employee, provided he had rendered
at least five years of continuous service.
We ar e NGO
are NGOss of big gr oup company
group company,, having differ ent
different
activities in the field of computer education and
other pr ojects
ojects.. We hav
projects havee ar ound 100 Aaganwadi
around
centres in different part of Orissa and Rajasthan.
Under this project we have some employees on
contract basis and issue them one year contract
letter and expand so on as per pr oject existence
project existence.. We
receive the separate fund from our parent industries
for the running the same project. Our most of the
Aaganwadi employees are in the salary range of Rs
4500-6000 and we do not deduct the PF from their
salary considering their low salary and retention.
Can we do the same or is it mandatory as per PF
Act to deduct the PF amount.
Please note that the Employees' Provident Funds and
Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 ("EPF Act") is
applicable to all establishments which employ twenty
(20) or more persons and which are notified by the
Central Government. The EPF Act provides for the
institution of provident funds, pension funds and
deposit-linked insurance funds for employees.
Your organization is a not-for-profit entity engaged
in imparting technical education in rural areas of India.
It is pertinent to note that the EPF Act also applies to
establishments registered as societies. The EPF Act has
been specifically extended to educational institutions.
Vide a notification dated March 6, 1982, the EPF Act
has been made applicable to various educational
institutes, including, inter-alia, 'any other institution in
which the activity of imparting knowledge or training
■ www.humancapitalonline.com
CMYK
LAW AT WORK
is systematically carried on'. The EPF Act would be
applicable to your organization in the event it falls
within the purview of the aforesaid entry.
Further, please note that the provident fund scheme
covers all employees whose monthly wages does not
exceed Rs. 6500/-. The EPF Act defines the term
'employee' to mean "any person who is employed for
wages in any kind of work, manual or otherwise, in or
in connection with the work of an establishment and
who gets wages directly or indirectly from the
employer…". The term also includes a person
employed by or through a contractor in connection
with the work of the establishment. Thus, in order to
determine the applicability of the EPF Act, it is
immaterial whether the employee is a permanent
employee or a temporary employee. Thus, the
aganwadi employees, employed on contract basis,
would also be eligible for the PF benefits, provided
their monthly wages are equal to or less than INR
6500/-.
The employer is required to make compulsory
contribution at the rate of 12% of the employees' basic
wages and dearness allowance to the provident fund,
subject to a maximum of INR. 6500/- per month. A
similar contribution is required to be made by the
employee. An employee becomes eligible to withdraw
the amount lying in the provident fund at the time of
retirement or discharge from service. HC
K. V. Singh is Partner at Kochhar & Co., one of the leading and largest law firms
in India with offices at New Delhi, Gurgaon, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad,
Mumbai and Atlanta (USA). The firm represents some of the largest multinational
corporations from North America, Europe and Japan (many of which are Fortune
500 companies) in diverse areas of corporate and commercial laws. The sevices
provided by the firm cover a very broad spectrum of laws and sectors including,
but not limited to foreign direct investments, joint ventures, mergers and
acquisitions, privatisation, infrastructure, employment, project fianance, capital
markets, telecommunications, real estate, energy, intellectual property and
arbitration. The firm has a substantial corporate litigation practice and regularly
represents clients in various matters in the Supreme Court of India, different
High Courts and District Courts as well as Consumer Courts, Monopolies and
Restrictive Trade Practices Commission, Board of Industrial and Financial
Reconstruction, Company Law Board and before the Income Tax Tribunals.
Email us your queries on legal issues at editorial@humancapitalonline.com.
October 2010 ■ 63
CMYK
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