Creating employment opportunities in India - An interview with Laxmikanth Venkatraman (MD, Broadridge Financial Solutions India Pvt. Ltd.)

The opportunity should be open in both the urban and the rural sectors. Though the emphasis on the urban sector is constantly growing, I think we should have a mechanism to generate employment in rural India so that we develop holistically. And of course, the need of the hour is to retain our talent advantage by creating more employable workforce.

Q. Among the Fortune 500 companies only about 15 per cent of the most senior managers and only 3 per cent of the CEOs are women. How can we increase women presence in the boardroom, especially in India?

A. I look at the increased involvement of women in corporate world as a journey. I believe, we in a certain manner have started the journey, and the advent of IT has actually paved the way for its growth. And we are not alone; the scenario is the same across the globe.

Women have started entering the boardroom and we should be creating awareness and sensitivity across levels for that. It is time taking, no doubt, but is also rewarding. It is a movement and should be sustained with the right moves, rewarding initiatives and more open mindset.

Q. What are some of the key initiatives that the top boss can take to assist HR in maintaining and improving the employer brand?

A. The top boss can instill a philosophy that everybody is a brand owner and the individual needs to feel that way. To instill that confidence in everyone and make everybody realise the vision, to my knowledge, should be the priority of any CEO.

Q. As a CEO, you focus a lot on Broadridge’s HR practices. How has this CEO-HR partnership given Broadridge an edge over other firms?

A. My journey, as I have explained, so far could be the reason for giving me an edge.

Broadridge believes that talent is a competitive advantage to run a successful business. Acquiring talent and nurturing them is one of the value propositions of the HR department here. I personally believe in strong allegiance with the HR personnel for developing and advising our associates. And that is because when you choose your team wisely, the benefits to the environment are clear – intellectual, analytical, open-mindedness, and fun; a diverse group combining all the best qualities. Click here to read more...

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Discrimination should end An Interview with Dr. M.H.Ilias (Associate Professor, India-Arab Cultural Centre, Jamia Millia Islamia)

The history of union activism in West Asia dates back to the 1920s. How do you see the evolution of trade unions in this region?
A. We have different phases of evolution in West Asia that was quite parallel to re-emergence of different interrelated movements. In the 1950s, all these movements were patronised by the State, especially in Egypt and Iraq. In the 1980s and the 1990s, these were replaced by Islamic movements. With globalisation of economies and liberalisation of polities, new forces became the social base of the state. The state could not mediate between the conflicts of market forces and society, thus a need for voice of the masses was felt. Labour forces, patronised by the state, could not fill up this void and automatically the Islamic movement came to the forefront.

Q. Is there a need for reform in the labour laws in West Asia?
A. There is discrimination among national communities and labours from different nationalities. There is inequality in compensation structure and living conditions. Therefore, a serious look is needed to mend the situation. Click here to read full interview...

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The Human Factor

The great disciple: An Interview with Bhawana Pandey, Head – HR, Protiviti Consulting Pvt. Ltd.

Q. Please tell us about your academic bacground?
A. Master’s degree in Personnel Management and Industrial Relations.

Q. How would you describe your first job?
A. An enriching experience.

Q. Your best day at work?
A. I start every day anticipating it to be the best yet.

Q. What all occupies your desk at office?
A. A calendar, watch and photograph of my son.

Q. What is that one thing that makes you happy in office?
A. Enthusiasm and passion of people around me.

Q. The most valuable people lesson you have learnt?
A.  Trust people and recognise the differences in personalities.

Q. Which has been your toughest professional decision so far?
A.  I had to leave a well-settled job after nine years.

Q. Your favourite one-liner?
A. Whatever you do, give it your best.

Q. Your career path, if not HR? Click here to read full interview

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Not just educated, but responsible citizens

Real education will not teach you to compete, it will teach you to cooperate. It will not teach you to fight and come first, but to be creative, loving and blissful, without any comparison with the other people. It will not teach you that you can be happy only when you are the first. That is sheer nonsense. You cannot be happy just by coming first. And in trying to be first you go through such misery that you become habituated to misery by the time you become first.

The above words of spiritual leader Osho Rajneesh ring particularly true, especially in today’s fast-paced, hyper-competitive world when education is crunched to mere marks and percentages, and the human element is overlooked. University heads now face the challenge of ensuring that educational agenda also takes cognisance of the ultimate goal of producing students with a holistic, selfless attitude to life, and are aware of all their duties and responsibilities and not just their rights and freedom.

Administration is not the real challenge; it is creating systems and policies that enrich students and the faculty. Developing teaching and learning resources is easy, but developing such resources that enhance development is difficult. And developing such resources that enhance quality is all the more difficult.

Many university heads possess a background in administration and in the case of some, stints in the civil services may have even taught them governance and management. Yet the challenges of education can be far more complex, even for people from meritorious background. Click here to read full article..

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Making a better India

Q. Since independence, India has progressed a lot when it comes to education, but still there exists a gap. Please share your views on how this gap can be bridged.

A. Although, today India today shows signs of tremendous growth in the education space, there still lies ample scope of improvisation in that area. The challenge for all educators today is to develop employable lifelong learners and establish world-class standards by infusing students with a sense of power, broader horizons and larger world view.

Realising the critical aspect of the Indian education system, schools today must introduce well-researched concepts with world-class infrastructure and adequate pedagogic attention to every child to be on a par with the education received globally and develop their individual skills and capabilities. Schools have to ensure that teachers are well-trained and are committed to provide personalised attention to every student to help develop their talents in the right direction.

Q. Teaching needs a lot of dedication, commitment, passion and the urge to create better human beings. Do you think teachers today nurture the same passion or do they just take it as an alternate career option?

A. Today, creating an ambience that fosters better learning is imperative. Teachers as mentors have the enormous task of motivating students through positive connections.

Teaching has always been considered as a vocation and not a profession. However, it is a pity that many teachers today look at it as a mere profession and are just concerned about finishing their syllabus. When the occasion arises, they quickly move to greener pastures. Having said that, we should not forget that even today many teachers continue to be faithful to their noble vocation as a teacher to create better human beings for a better world. Click here to read more..

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Higher bar for higher growth

Economic figures cannot be the sole narrator of a nation’s overall growth. The value-adding indicators are health and education – the non-income Human Development Index (HDI). The 2010 Human Development Report too presented that there has been very little correlation between economic growth and improvements in health and education, even after years. And countries with fairly low rank in economic growth have made much progress in the non-income HDI; Cuba and Palau have non-income development similar to the developed nations.

Look at the development index and it has a lot to do with the way things are done. If we measure what we do, we can manage the outcome up to a considerable extent. Superpower United States and Asia’s fastest-moving economy China, both have got their teeth into improving the education system. The ‘No Child Left Behind’ Act – introduced in the George W Bush regime – witnessed bipartisan support and set a “high challenging standard” for students. It also requires the states to provide “highly qualified” teachers. This two-pronged strategy also lays increased accountability on teachers.

China often faces criticism for heavy indoctrination of politics at school level, one of the many issues offsetting its many minor and major educational reforms over the years. According to a UNESCO report, between 1990 to 2000 China experienced the sharpest decline in literacy rates of any E-9 country. Today, its higher education reform, however, talks about relaxation of central control and to give universities autonomy to allow academia an upper hand in functioning of schools. It also plans to quit the dependency on a single test and adopt a thorough assessment of students using multiple tests and factors. Click here to read more...

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Performance is the essential internal engine of an organisation which wants to achieve a notable impact in its sector.

Normally, performance management systems measure what and how of doing a job. However, if we extrapolate it by measuring the potential and the readiness of an individual or plotting individuals on nine-block grid of potential performance without ascertaining its priority or applicability, a lot of management time goes unproductive. Hence, performance programme should be an evolutionary process with elements needing stabilisation.

It is essential for organisations to not only deal with the ‘high performers’ but also with their valued ‘solid citizens’ – the majority of the company’s employees who are not top performers but steady workers who contribute greatly to the overall business. The focus on high performers creates high differentiation on total value preposition. Instead, organisations will have to reward, motivate and engage these ‘solid citizens’ and effectively address poor performance, in order to build a performance-oriented culture.

Finally, if a performance management system needs to run well, organisations should invest in building capabilities of managers to coach and mentor in any kind of performance situations. Though, these days in the Indian industry we tend to create leverage structures and outsource managerial responsibilities, this practice could lead to a situation where managers become incapable of handling pressing demands of being a counsellor/manager/leader. By avoiding a herd instinct, adopting a cohesive approach to performance management aligned to organisations, and avoiding these traps one can improve on the performance culture and create an engaging environment. Click here to read more..

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