The 10 most admired corporate recruitment companies by Insights Success Media

™ www.insightssuccess.in March 2018

The

ADMIRED

CORPORATE RECRUITMENT C O M P A N I E S

Behind The Scenes

Software Outsourcing Issues and Blunders

Editor’s Pick

DS Reddy CEO

Stumbling Blocks before Management Consulting Firms

Placewell HRD Consultants Providing Effective Talent Recruitment Consulting Service

Editorial

he best practice to be ahead in any business war would be maintaining the best talent within the ﬁrm. The talent is hard to get and easy to lose, and also needs to be nurtured. To bring success to any organization, be it a public or private organization, it will have to compulsorily recognize that the employment assessment and selection process must be viewed as part of a larger, interconnected talent management strategy; where emphasis is not only on assessing, attracting and hiring top talent but also on retaining and developing excellent employees.

Corporate RecruitmentThe Backbone of Changing Indian Business Sector

Talent management implies on recognizing a person’s inherent skills, traits, personality and offering him a matching job. Every person is blessed with a unique talent that suits a particular job profile and any other position will be a misfit if he is wrongly placed. The boom in HR application and growth of technology has changed the view of the industry and redefined the role of human resource. At present, the crucial factor of identifying and managing the competitive circumstances related to business lifecycle is able with the collection, processing and analyzing of big data. To gain the increasing competitive edge the companies must use analytics to gain data-driven insights into the workforce trends and engage to achieve refine recruitment, performance incentives, and compensation to arrange the evolving interests and goals of the employees. People have evolved to deal with uncertainty by the means of cooperation, collaboration and utilizing the conflicts in a productive manner. It is essential that business encourages their employee to grow mindsets equipped towards conversation, connection, and experimentation. Human resource management moving to the cloud is hardly a new concept. Almost every major HR software dealer is contributing or planning to offer its solution in the cloud form. Cloud computing provides faster updates, increased flexibility, innovation and decrease in the cost. The HR managers could be in respites who deal with the expense of upgrading the system each year and downtime. In the coming future, India is looking at some serious development in human resources where ever talent lacks its place in any agenda. Corporate recruitment includes workforce planning, talent gap analysis, recruiting, staffing, education and development, retention, succession planning, and evaluation. Talent management offering cloud solutions in recruitment will ensure that the right people are in the right place, and are engaged and focused on the right activities to achieve targeted business results.

Shweta Priyadarshini Shweta Priyadarshini

Editor-in-Chief Pooja M. Bansal Senior Editor Shraddha Deshpande Managing Editor Shweta Priyadarshani Co-Editors Sachin Bhandare Art & Design Director Amol Kamble Co-designer Rahul Kavnekar Picture Editor Alex Noel Art Editor Sapana Shinde Visualiser Savita Pandav Business Development Manager Akansha Garewal Marketing Manager Dhruv Apte Business Development Executives Joan, Tejaswini, Ashwini, Meera Research Analyst David Circulation Manager Vivek Database Management Prashant Technology Consultant Swapnil Patil sales@insightssuccess.com

March, 2018 Corporate Ofď&#x20AC; ces: Insights Success Media and Technology Pvt. Ltd. th

Off. No. 513 & 510, 5 Flr., Rainbow Plaza, Shivar Chowk, Pimple Saudagar, Pune, Maharashtra 411017 Phone - India: +91 7410079881/ 82/ 83/ 84/ 85 Email: info@insightssuccess.in For Subscription: www.insightssuccess.in

Insights Success Media Tech LLC 555 Metro Place North, Suite 100, Dublin, OH 43017, United States Phone - (614)-602-1754 Email: info@insightssuccess.com For Subscription: www.insightssuccess.com

Cover Price : RS. 150/Follow us on :

www.facebook.com/insightssuccess/

https://twitter.com/insightssuccess

We are also available on : Copyright ÂŠ 2018 Insights Success, All rights reserved. The content and images used in this magazine should not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission from Insights Success. Reprint rights remain solely with Insights Success. Printed and Published by Insights Success Media and Technology Pvt. Ltd.

CO V E R S TO R Y

Placewell

HRD Consultants

Benchmarking Overseas Talent Recruitment

CXO STANDPOINT

Evolving From CSR (corporate Social Responsibility) To CSV (creating Shared Value) by Meena Vaidyanathan, niiti consulting Pvt. Ltd.

ENTREPRENUERS SPEAK

Gender Sensitivity And Sexual Harassment Of Women at The Workplace

CONT

BEHIND THE SCENES

EDITOR’S INSIGHTS

Software Outsourcing Issue and Blunders

Positive Changes that are enduring the Recruitment Process

TRENDING CHANGE

EDITOR’S PICK

Business is Taking India to the Next Level of Prosperity

Stumbling Blocks before Management Consulting Firms

34 Acreaty Management: Focused towards Delivering Eﬀective Business Solutions

18 Rajesh Shethia Consultants: Equipped with Experience and Skills to Identify the Best Talent

26 Stalwart Management Consulting: Creating Productive and Proﬁtable Organizations

ENTS

THE

Most Admired

Corporate Recruitment Companies

Corporate Recruitment Companies implying to Recognizing People’s Inherent Skills, Traits and Personality

ecruitment for corporate purposes may focus on internal or external job candidates who have the qualifications needed for the desired position. To perform effectively as a recruiter, it is important to understand the organization’s recruitment process and procedures. Within the organization, corporate recruiters focus on hiring talented individuals to fill in vacant positions that are available within the same company. For corporate recruiters, daily staffing support is a main responsibility and a strategic thinking approach is necessary to create an alignment between the organization’s objectives and the recruiting processes that are established to accomplish those objectives. Strategic initiatives for recruitment within the organization can include many facets such as developing recruitment policies, developing recruitment teams, determining job position tasks, responsibilities and qualifications, advertising open job positions, determining compensation structures and creating opportunities for qualified job seekers to learn about the organization. Insights Success Magazine, we have introduced The 10 Most Admired Corporate Recruitment Companies, in order to assist businesses to choose their right Corporate Recruitment Companies. Assessing the scenario in versatile perceptions our magazine has brought into light the companies, who have flaunted some excellent Corporate Recruitment. This examined list will lessen the search of organizations to have perfect Corporate Recruitment for them. In this issue, we have specially featured Placewell HRD Consultants as Cover Story. They are quite known for delivering business-ready, responsive and reliable overseas talent management solutions to valued clients on a consistent and cost-effective manner, and foster long-term professional relationships with them. Apart from this, we have chosen Stalwart Management Consulting which leverages its expertise in providing talent that suits ones need and the range of talent solutions expands from talent acquisition, advisory and consulting solutions to HR analytics and outsourcing. Acreaty Management Consultant which understands client’s businesses segments and committed to deliver the customized cutting-edge outsourcing services. Rajesh Shethia Consultants Pvt. Ltd is creating a connection between a good candidate and an organization so that both the firm and the candidate benefit and succeed. We have also encompassed, Spine Technologies, Artech, Aspiring Minds Assessment, AddRec Solutions, Ad Astra and Superior talent India. Our in-house editors have come up with some adroitly written articles such as Stumbling Blocks before Management Consulting Firms. Also, we have included articles on Gender Sensitivity and Sexual Harassment of Women at the Workplace, written by Pooja Prabhakar, Executive Editor of BCP Associates. So, flip through our magazine and explore interesting insights into the world of 3D Printing.

DS Reddy CEO

Placewell

HRD Consultants Benchmarking Overseas Talent Recruitment

‘‘We believe in clients delight: Our clients are not only our audience but also our success partner

n today’s competitive world where everyone is vying to have an upper edge over the others, quality human resource is the key to the success and growth of an organization. Recruitment of people is like sowing the seeds for the success, growth and image of the organization. Recruitment Consultants are business partners critically connected with meaningful recruitment. The Genesis Consumed by the passion to ensure the placement of appropriate talent at the right place the nucleus of Placewell HRD Consultants was born in 2004, which commenced its operations from the following year. Since then it has enabled innumerable institutions to write their success stories. Known for its high ethical standards, dedication, focus and consummate services Placewell was founded by DS Reddy to provide unparalleled enterprise solutions.

‘‘

‘‘We

accomplish growth and

conﬁdence of clients with our quality driven services by global and domestic

DS Reddy a Visionary Leader The Founder, DS Reddy is an FCA (Fellow Chartered Accountant) with distinguished career overseas as chief executive for groups of companies.While being an NRI working in East Africa he had helped over a 100 NRIs to open up their career in African countries. He finds tremendous joy helping people with career that gives them comfortable life and handsome amounts as savings. “Get closer than ever to your customers. So close that you tell them what they need well before they realize it themselves.” -Steve Jobs Conceptualizing this experience of Steve Jobs, DS Reddy derived his inspiration while building Placewell HRD Consultants to command loyalty and trust in client relations. The recruitment process with Placewell HRD Consultants is not just recruiting or giving the recruitment responsibilities away to someone else. It is under the guidance of DS Reddy that, recruitment process is much more of a relationship and is committed to boost the employment brand and to find the best talent possible, instead of filling positions and merely finding people who are qualified. DS Reddy says, “I realized the tremendous potential and demand for the Indian Professionals in Africa. There was however a great deal of study, research and interaction with various employers in Africa and Middle East where hundreds of Indian expatriates were already placed well before Placewell came into existence.” Emergence as a Formidable Service Provider “Over the years Placewell has emerged as a formidable option for both employers and job seekers. The Skilled, motivated and committed staff of Placewell together with a large data bank of pre-screened human capital resource

‘‘

delivering excellence to our

clientS

have enabled Placewell to satisfactorily serve its clientele with talented manpower in the prescribed time,” says Shekar Reddy, Director of Placewell. The team here keeps a close liaison with the Clients and understands their needs. It helps to find befitting manpower conforming to job descriptions, specifications and skills required. Placewell is also supported through a strategic network of associates and representatives globally. It is licensed by the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India as an authorized international recruitment consultant. Satisfaction of Stakeholders the Ultimate Motto The recruitment services are offered to employers only after verifying their credentials, working conditions and how they treat their employees. For Placewell reputation of employers is their own reputation. It is the same for candidates too. Only when satisfied with their worthiness in every sense that they are referred to the employers. Satisfaction of the stakeholders is Placewell’s prime motto. Placement with Perfection Placewell works closely with the clients and ensure that the right candidates are placed at the right place. The hiring decision balances between the needs of the employers and the priority of employees to fit into the successful execution of the company’s business plan. Talent search and pooling them is another great tool that they resort to. This makes it easier for Placewell to locate the best suited candidates for the job profiles in question. Core Sectors of Staffing Recruitment for the education sector has evolved as an area of prominence for Placewell HRD Consultants over the past few years. It has thus been serving hundreds of Universities and Educational Institutions across several African Countries as a very reliable partner for sourcing, screening, recruiting and placing professors and lecturers and other

teaching faculty. The other areas of it’s focus has been Oil & Gas, Engineering, Petrochemical, Construction and Manufacturing Industries. Africa and Gulf, the Two Eyes of Placewell Placewell Team is well abreast with African and Gulf regions and the clientele therein; the places from where it learnt its lessons and grew up working closely. It knows the pulse of the clientele and what they are looking for. The team also knows how to source the best for the said clientele. Today Placewell is the partner of success for several employers in Africa and Gulf. Ethiopia stands out in Africa for Placewell with more active participation. Ethiopia & Universities Ethiopia is one of two countries in Africa that has never been colonised and maintains its cultural values in tact to date. Government of Ethiopia is highly committed and focused on promoting education as the part of its national development. Policy is mainly aimed at expanding the education sector, improving quality and ensuring that educational content is harmonized with the country’s economic needs. Ethiopia, Placewell’s African Gateway For Placewell Ethiopia has a special place and is like a gateway to the African Universities. Placewell provides platform to most of the Universities in Ethiopia to ﬁnd the right faculty from its pool of Talent. Every year a large number of Professors and Lecturers are placed by Placewell with the Ethiopian Universities. Ethiopia and India share several cultural similarities and have mutual respect. Indian Teaching Faculty is highly respected in Ethiopia. There are a good number of Ethiopian students in India who love the education system here. Majority of Scholarships provided by the Indian Government to the African continent goes to Ethiopians. Placewell takes pleasure to contribute their part in promoting the education through recruitment of teaching faculty.

1 Constantly Evolving to Serve a Varied clientele Earning total confidence and trust of the clients wherever they are, Placewell HRD Consultants brings in ease in manpower sourcing. Their team is always placed at those centers overseas to be constantly meeting and discussing with clients. Apart from the international clients company’s varied and well-experienced team of subject and stream specialists provide services towards their domestic clients too. In the education sector, Placewell provides recruitment services to the employers from the universities and educational institutions across several African Countries Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Rwanda, Nigeria, Ghana, Zambia, Malawi to name a few. In India too there are few such employers whom the consultancy has served. All the Manufacturing and Processing Industries, Business Houses, Banking and other Commercial organizations fall under the other sectors. Providing Easier, Smoother and Faster Recruitment Solutions Placewell HRD Consultants provides reliable recruitment solutions that helps employers with successful manpower placements. The consultancy contributes to major part of the process of recruitment making the employers’ job much effective. Of late majority of the companies outsource their manpower requirements to placement agencies who are more focused and resourceful than struggling with in-house facilities. As a result there has been a substantial increase in the number of job consultants and agencies. Placewell finds the key to their success in providing easier, smoother and faster recruitment solutions. Providing Proven Online Services and Placement Placewell HRD Consultants provides lucid, flexible, high class job portal making the recruitment process simple and speedy and also plays a major part in finding the suitable job for the job seekers in today’s world. India being one of the rapidly growing economies in the world huge demand is being created for qualitative manpower to take it further. Placewell has the best access to those resources to serve the demand on their part, through different media with state of the art technology like social networking, LinkedIn, website

‘‘Assuring to put our utmost efforts to maintain higher levels of professional excellence in every aspect of service

‘‘

COVER STORY

Placewell CEO with Staﬀ

“We successfully tackle all the challenges and maintain a big edge over others in satisfying client needs” and job portals. Placewell HRD Consultant is considered as the thought-leaders in providing industry-rich online employer services to cater to their specific recruitment and placement needs. It has an extensive expertise in recruiting executives, professionals, technicians, support staff, draftsmen, etc. in diverse industry verticals. In the Pursuit of Excellence, Striving for a Better Tomorrow Every year the Team handles profiles of tens of thousands of job seekers and in the process of screening and evaluation come up with special data bank of 1000s of Candidates who are so smart that any employer would dream of such. The process and the methodology are again continuously evolving far reaching the expectations of the Clients. The outcome is very much satisfying which is expressed in terms of clientele appreciation. Placewell has a fair understanding of the future of the Corporate Recruitment. However, it is too volatile and nothing can perfectly be predicted in which direction the technology would emerge tomorrow. Automation is taking the place of manpower and that requires much more advanced manpower to handle the automation. Placewell HRD aims to evolve with the changing times, offer customized, cost-competitive, value-driven recruitment services to the clients while understanding candidates’ comfort levels and aptitude, so as to ensure their higher productivity and longevity.

READ IT FIRST

TODAY Never Miss an

Issue

Yes I would like to subscribe to Insights Success Magazine.

Global Subscription 1 Year.......... (12 Issues) .... Rs. 2500

6 Months ..... (06 Issues) .... Rs. 1300

3 Months .... (03 Issues) ....

1 Month ...... (01 Issue) .....

Rs. 700

Rs. 250

Date :

Name : Address :

Telephone : Email :

City :

State :

Zip :

Country :

Cheque should be drawn in favour of : INSIGHTS SUCCESS MEDIA AND TECH PVT. LTD.

CORPORATE OFFICE Insights Success Media and Technology Pvt. Ltd. Off No. 513 & 510, 5th Flr, Rainbow Plaza, Shivar Chowk, Pimple Saudagar, Pune, Maharashtra 411017. Phone - India: 020-69400110 | USA: 302-319-9947 Email: info@insightssuccess.in

THE

1 Company Name

Management

Most Admired

Corporate Recruitment Companies

Brief

Paramjit Anand Co-founder & Director

Acreaty Management Consultant which understands client's businesses segments and committed to deliver the customized cutting-edge outsourcing services.

Nirupama V G MD

Ad Astra Consultants provides end to end HR Solutions to both candidates and clients exceptional HR services & practices, enabling them to reach for the stars.

AddRec Solutions www.addrecsolutions.com

Aditya Jain Founder & CEO

Addrec Solutions specializes in project based hiring, and this service oﬀering is well suited for large number hiring, and targeted for large customers. Under this unique service oﬀering we take the complete responsibility of hiring entire team in time bound delivery schedules.

Artech Infosystems Private Limited www.artechinfo.in

Ajay Poddar Executive Vice President

Artech is a women-owned business enterprise (WBE) committed to maximizing global workforce solutions on behalf of its clients.

Himanshu Aggarwal Co-founder & CEO

Aspiring Minds Assessment is a leading assessment companies that helps organizations, governments and institutions measure and identify talent to create a level playing ﬁeld in education & employment by introducing credible assessments.

Placewell HRD Consultants www.placewell.in

DS Reddy CEO

Placewell HRD Consultants delivers business-ready, responsive and reliable overseas talent management solutions to valued clients on a consistent and cost-eﬀective manner, and foster long-term professional relationships with them.

Rajesh Shethia Consultants Pvt. Ltd www.rajeshshethia.com

Rajesh Shethia Punita Shethia Founders

Rajesh Shethia Consultants Pvt. Ltd creating a connection between a good candidate and an organization so that both the ﬁrm and the candidate beneﬁt and succeed.

Nilesh Shah Director

Spine Technologies aiming to be leading Indian brand for HR, assets & value-added softwares by technologies leadership, worldwide distribution network, customercentricity, brand & organization building.

www.stalwartmanagement.com

Divyashikha Gupta Founder & Director

Stalwart Management Consulting leverages its expertise in providing talent that suits ones need and the range of talent solutions expands from talent acquisition, advisory and consulting solutions to HR analytics and outsourcing.

Superior Talent India www.superiorgroup.in

Navin Gautham Director

Superior talent India delivers a full suite of comprehensive HR and Recruitment ProcessOutsourcing services to leading companies in INDIA.

Acreaty Management Consultant Pvt Ltd www.acreaty.com

Ad Astra www.adastraconsultants.com

Aspiring Minds Assessment Pvt Ltd www.aspiringminds.com

Spine Technologies (I) Pvt. Ltd. www.spinetechnologies.com

Stalwart Management Consulting

March 2018|

Acreaty Management: Focused towards Delivering Eﬀective Business Solutions Paramjit Anand Co-Founder & Director

he Indian recruitment industry is driven by numerous factors including the growth of key client industry, entry of multinational companies in the Indian markets, large conglomerates entering into new business domains among others. Indian economy has been growing at an attractive rate supported by growth in its key customer industries like retail, banking, IT, ITES, hospitality and health care among others. Moreover, the industry is characterized by the increasing trend of private equity transactions and a number of M & A (Mergers and Acquisitions), Join ventures, etc. Besides, myriads of companies mainly SMEs have started outsourcing their recruitment/ hiring processes to third party recruiters. With an outlook on changing needs, hiring would not be only about tracing, interviewing candidates, and getting the vacancy filled. Instead, employers will utilize data analytics and artificial intelligence tools, to increase diversity, and target passive candidates. Acreaty Management Consultant is a leading HR Consulting & Manpower Outsourcing Company providing a wide range of staffing solutions to its clients. The core set of offerings include Business Strategies, Process and People Outsourcing, Recruitments/ Executive Search, Training & ITES. Working on a strong technology platform, Acreaty Management Consultant has the capability to perform jobcandidate matchmaking and deliver world class experience

to the client’s while simultaneously managing cost and time efficiencies. It is increasingly adapting to innovative tools like video interviewing, job mobile apps (job portals, job boards, etc.) and online assessments tools (performance appraisals, etc.) that not only will increase the efficiency. The consultancy has built a strong brand position through successful business associations & delivery of quality services to various industry verticals i.e. Construction, Healthcare, Automobile, Real estate, IT, Oil & Gas, Pharmaceutical etc. The vision is to be one of the premier and international player in global hiring solutions worldwide and the main purpose is to deliver result oriented services for the most prestigious customers. It is a multinational company with global presence across countries like Africa (Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, and South Africa), United States and the Middle East (Bahrain, Philippines and UAE). An Exceptional Leader Delivering Highly Innovative Solutions Paramjit Anand, Co-founder & Director, has over 20+ years of experience, in general management of small to large size organizations, corporate development, complete HR operations, business operations, product marketing, and strategy across the globe. He is leading the global management consulting firm with a core set of offerings

March 2018|

THE

Most Admired

Corporate Recruitment Companies

Strategizing to improve and retain the talent and to deliver both eﬃciency and experience

‘‘

including Business Strategies, Process and People Outsourcing, complete HR solutions, Training & ITES. He also co- founded Ascentaz, a global business consulting & advisory ﬁrm with the focus to serve organizations globally, tend to enter speciﬁc geographies and to scale up their businesses worldwide. Prior to Acreaty & Ascentaz, he was into Strategic Sales marketing and brand empowerment with leading national & international brands like Gillette Group, ITC Limited, Cavinkare and Unilever for over 12 years.

consultancy also handles any recruitment needs, by giving one the access to resources and expert staﬀs and that to with timely delivery. To set services apart from the competitors, the recruitment consultancy completely analyzes the spokesperson; and creatively analyzes the client’s speciﬁc requirement. Acreaty always takes a complete responsibility while recruiting the best talent- starting from screening, shortlisting to employing, reference/ background check, etc. and provides HR solutions for almost all major industry verticals.

Staying Uniquely Competent

Innovating Future with Exceptional Services

As one of the leading recruitment agencies, Acreaty has faced a variety of challenges on a daily basis. Recruitment companies act like catalysts, constantly mediating between employer and potential employee. The connected pressures on this mediation of a fast-paced recruitment process and an increasingly saturated job market should not be underestimated. So, in order to stay at the top of their game, the consultancy mainly concentrates on considering what the best brands can do and then try to implement new strategies to improve the quality of hiring. Candidates are relatively easy to track down through different sources; Acreaty Recruitment Consultant is jumping up into new and leading-edge software and HR tools. The experts provide entirely unique hiring services. For junior level positions, they personally engage in field work. On the flip-side, for mid-level or C-suite, the specialist recruiters personally meet the clients, and thoroughly research about the specific roles and job descriptions. The

March 2018|

The war for quality talent is bound to strengthen and intensify in the coming decades, with more & more companies tapping to new innovative forms of screening candidates or exploring newest forms of technologies. The focus is on diversiﬁed corporate solutions & services. Companies can deliver good recruitment solutions, but can’t perform up-to-the mark, as compare to the companies, who are into hard-core HR outsourcing business. Acreaty global recruitment team is operating across diﬀerent continents with an established network of potential candidates. The consultancy is concentrating more on innovative technologies to widen the networks and communicate with potential candidate and to stay at the top of the recruitment game. Acreaty Recruitment Consultant is keenly focused towards delivering exceptional services for our clienteles.

March 2018|

Behind the Scenes

ver a short span of time, software outsourcing offshore has become an inseparable part of the modern IT business. Perhaps this is the time to look back on the usual blunders committed during offshore outsourcing. While approaching order fulfillment companies, always keep in mind initially, not entering into long-term contracts. One must have an IT strategy, which has a patrollable boundary between the outsourcing firm and your responsibilities. Also, on the basis of an established objective, get a contract which spells out performance measurements. And, it will be the corner stone of the process. Once a service or work is outsourced, leave the service provider to do his work. Never try to mess up his work by implementing unnecessary control. Always outsource your work to a firm who has an established track record or else your whole software outsourcing could end up in a disaster. Also, stay clear of offshore software outsourcing blunders as this will save you against whole lot of problems. There are several issues with respect to software services outsourcing. Starting the Contract: While considering the umpteen number of problems that may come across when an IT service provision is handed over, it will be wise to have a well-defined transition period in terms of the contract and decide the commencement date as soon as possible. Ownership: Ownership is another significant matter about software services outsourcing. In order to avoid disputes, the ownership of information and data should be cleared.

March 2018|

Licensing and Third Party Suppliers: While involving a 3rd party software supplier, care must be taken to get appropriate license. Licenses currently held by the purchaser must be extended to include the activities of the outsourcer. It must be agreed upon as to which party will administer the terms of any agreement going on between the purchaser and 3rd party supplier. Maintenance contracts also must be transferred to the outsourcer. SLA and Management: SLA’s (service level agreements) is the minimum level of service that must be provided; is the basis to measure the outsourcer’s performance. It may also be noted that both the parties must be aware about the flexibility of SLA’s and review period in the SLA to cover changing purchaser requirements and new technology. System Requirement Specification: The defining of the system as well as service specifications must be done well when it comes to software services outsourcing. Insurance: The outsourcer should have public liability insurance, in case of loss or liability through injury or damage. Warranties: The warranty must contain service quality and compliance with specification. Moreover, effective management includes reporting and review of the performance of the outsourcer, through consultation between both the outsourcer and the purchaser. So, those seeking opportunities offshore ought to be aware of the many aspects of software services outsourcing.

CXO Standpoint

The Need

ndia is the world’s second most populous country in the world, and the fifth largest economy in terms of GDP when adjusting for international price differences. However, its per capita income in 2011 is only $3,600, placing India 129 out of around 184 countries. Despite this, India’s economy grew at a pace of 7.45% between 2000 to 2011, making it the world’s second-fastest growing major economy, according to, “Indian Social Enterprise Landscape Survey 2010”. The increasing urgent need to tackle social issues in more effective ways. At present, India’s rapidly growing economy has not managed to alleviate the extreme poverty of nearly half the country’s population that lives below the $1.25 per day poverty line. There are several reasons for this, including non-uniform infrastructure, low quality public good provision by the government (especially in health and education), and resource limitations. Successive governments have dealt with the complex problems at the root of tackling and alleviating the social challenges. Despite several initiatives, social inequalities remain even as we begin 2016 and we are very far from resolving some of our urgent social challenges like homelessness, malnutrition, illiteracy, substance abuse, gender-based violence, etc. The social sector has admirably addressed many of these burning issues but they have also been woefully underfunded, despite the CSR Bill and increasing Philanthropic donations. It is imperative that we look at addressing the social challenges in an innovative manner. In the traditional bifurcated system, social needs are primarily met through grants, CSR funds, non-repayable contributions, while capital markets are focussed on financial returns and economic growth. In addition, while the industry deals remarkably with economic consequences but more often than not, it largely doesn’t take into account social consequences in its primary business models. In recent times, however, a new sector that is bridging private, public and social sector is emerging. Emergence of a New Converging Economy A rising wave of social entrepreneurship is seeking to make meaningful difference to people’s lives. India’s vibrant

March 2018|

Meena Vaidyanathan

About the Author Meena Vaidyanathan, has a double Masters degree in biotechnology and business management and a certicate holder in Social Entrepreneurship from INSEAD, has worked with Monsanto, Honeywell and HCL Technologies. She founded niiti consulting Pvt. Ltd. in 2010, with the aim of supporting and enabling programmes and organisations that create large scale social impact. Meena has led many projects with educational and healthcare institutions, NGOs, corporates and social enterprises alike. niiti also conducts training workshops on topics of social relevance for professionals like sexual harassment at work place, monitoring and evaluating social impact, CSR reporting, leveraging social media for community mobilization, etc. through its programme called Doer's Labs.

social enterprise space is young in terms of years of operation, and nascent in terms of revenue size per enterprise. According to the Beyond Profit 2010 survey, about 68% of SEs have been in existence for five years or less. The social enterprises have several innovative business models. Enterprises could have a for-profit business models like Udhyogini; include collective ownership structures such as cooperatives and producer companies, like Waste Ventures, which “incubates solid waste management companies owned and operated by waste pickers”, not-for-profit structures, which make up a fifth of all social enterprises, such as Aravind Eye Care Hospitals, or have a business model that can be categorized as hybrid, wherein two or more entities, while not legally bound, work in close synergy with each other, usually because they are both founded by the same individual or individuals, like LifeSpring Hospitals. By definition, a social enterprise is a means to achieve sustainability through earned income. However, it is important to note the financial objectives differ among organisation. Social enterprises do not need to be profitable to be worthwhile. They can improve efficiency and effectiveness of an organisation by:

March 2018|

CXO Standpoint

• reducing the need for donated funds • providing a more reliable diversified funding base; or • enhancing the quality of programmes by increasing market discipline Globally, there are multiple experiments in this space linking CSR, entrepreneurship and livelihood, including helping existing/traditional community businesses as CSR (e.g. Indian public sectors like Oil and Natural Gas CorporationONGC- trying to promote local craft); using/leveraging social innovations/businesses as an extension of the company’s business strategy with tighter alignment (e.g. U.S. company Patagonia using recycled denim for their textile products); and linking social innovation with entrepreneurship, while keeping and treating them distinct from core businesses (e.g. Tata Steel / Usha Martin’s effort to empower local communities through entrepreneurship). Many companies in India are looking to this model for bringing about sustainability to their programmes. The Concept of Shared Value could lead to Large Scale Social Innovation The concept of shared value seeks to promote inclusive growth as a key agenda in India’s economic growth story. Corporations are finding new ways to accelerate growth and increase competitive advantage through innovative business models that meet societal needs and help create impact at scale. A well-known shared value example is that of Nestle, that decided to train and assist cocoa smallholder farmers to foster rural development while ensuring a reliable supply of high quality raw materials. This rural development strategy has had a direct impact in furthering the company’s business goals while at the same time ensuring sustainability of critical stakeholders in the supply chain. Small-scale initiatives of this nature could also be important test-beds for large-scale sustainable solutions. Strategically implementing and networking among small scale initiatives can create an environment that supports large-scale change by connecting relevant stakeholders and groups, such as from the policy or business domain. Many new emerging businesses like solar energy storage and distribution, waste management, etc. were considered as small scale social innovations just a few years ago. But they are considered the sunrise industries of today. The impact investment market is currently worth around $50 billion (£30 billion) globally, but it is estimated to be worth $1 trillion (£600 billion) in the next five years. This is because the lines between investment portfolios and philanthropic objectives are becoming blurred and impact investing could soon be part of everyone’s asset allocation, according to blue and green tomorrow. This trend is gaining ground in India as well. Mahindra Finance and Marico have partnered with social venture fund Villgro to finance startups by using their corporate social responsibility (CSR) budget. The new Companies Act amendment allows such funding though incubators as CSR contributions, according to economictimes. Companies can create shared value opportunities in three ways: • Reconceiving Products and Markets – Companies can meet social needs while better serving existing markets, accessing new ones, or lowering costs through innovation • Redefining Productivity in the Value Chain – Companies can improve the quality, quantity, cost, and reliability of inputs and distribution while they simultaneously act as a steward for essential natural resources and drive economic and social development • Enabling Local Cluster Development – Companies do not operate in isolation from their surroundings. To compete and thrive, they rely on an ecosystem of players, all collaborating to create enhanced value and improved sustainability. Our future ability to meet growing needs in education, healthcare, energy, climate change, and the inclusion of vulnerable populations such as seniors, people with disabilities, requires an integrated approach to link and unlock economic and social value.

March 2018|

Rajesh Shethia Consultants: Equipped with Experience and Skills to Identify the Best Talent Divyashikha Gupta Managing Director

ecruitment in India comes with its own set of challenges. Finding the best candidate for a given position is an arduous task given the changing trends in the hiring industry. The recruitment segment poses a whole set of new challenges. The traditional “classified” approach of online job portals is not optimal for these job seekers. Many of them are not comfortable making a CV and even when they are, employers are much keener on evaluating job seekers for these roles on soft skills and preferences, which are difficult to obtain from a regular CV. Employers, are looking for solutions that help them filter and select “suitable” and “interested” candidates for the interview process. Several of these job seekers are not in a position to indicate their presence to employers. Hence a “reach-out” mechanism is needed to find these job seekers and match them against suitable jobs.

The Boatswain of the Organization Rajesh Shethia Consultants was founded by Rajesh Shethia and Punita Shethia. Rajesh Shethia Consultants was born out of their own experience of managing large team. After spending over 17 years in the corporate sector with proven record in start-ups and scaling-up off companies in the field of Business Development and Marketing and despite obvious successes Rajesh took a leap of faith and started this organization with the objective of delivering high quality sales professionals for organizations across industries. Punita has been into the field of recruitment for over a decade now starting from freelancing to setting up her own consulting firm and later joining Rajesh to fulfill their vision to build a brand that provides most reliable, customer friendly and cost-efficient solution for Talent recruitment.

Rajesh Shethia Consultants is a premier team of experts providing the best of recruitment solutions for excellence. It is a team of industry experts and HR professionals with specialization in various sectors and a believer in professional, dependable, affordable and result oriented partnerships. Working in nearly every industry sector across India, the consulting firm has succeeded among recruiting firms because it knows that success requires an understanding of local markets and have industry connects in all major cities. The enriched experience in recruitment makes it the most instrumental job consultancy in finding right candidates for the organization.

With the objective of delivering quality and result-oriented talent recruitment services for corporates, Rajesh started the Rajesh Shethia Consultants Pvt. Ltd. in the year 2014. They started the humble journey in 2014 and over the period of time have been able to carve out a niche for themselves, while building a rock solid reputation with multiple clients that the consultancy works with. Rajesh is one of those dynamic and result oriented marketing person who is always on the job looking for greater opportunities to improve business along with enhancing his marketing skills. Punita is equipped to oﬀer the best of leadership with her Management Programme for Women Entrepreneurs

March 2018|

THE

Most Admired

Corporate Recruitment Companies

‘‘

Customer friendly and cost-efficient solution for talent recruitment candidates who have handled similar roles and whose time to deliver is lowest, helping companies make better choices quickly. They find pleasure to effectively address the requirements of the clients’ most difficult business issues and this makes them the best consultancy. More than 90% of the engagements come from returning clients or referrals; and the consultancy takes pride in the successes. Every client, Rajesh Shethia Consultants have worked with is different and so has varied the engagement with them but every time the focus has been on generating impact for the clients.

Punita Shethia Co-founder & Chief Success Oﬃcer

from IIM–Bangalore. Punita plays the central role in defining and implementing the plans. She is instrumental in helping clients in realizing our effectiveness. She is actively working on improving the performance and motivating for the same. Staying Competent and Facing the Challenges The biggest challenge that Rajesh Shethia Consultants has faced is the increasing skill gaps between the changing organizations needs and the talent available in the market. Skill upgradation is at a very nascent stage amongst working professional even today. The consultancy is under a constant learning process and the learning is primarily related to the changing industry trends in business that helps the consultancy to understand and predict the human resources requirements very well in advance. Effectively Addressing the Requirement of the Clients The evolution period for employees to deliver is reducing with every passing day, keeping this fact in mind, Rajesh Shethia Consultant’s search for candidates for client’s requirements is getting more and more focused on

March 2018|

Benefits and Support to Clients Rajesh Shethia Consultants help companies build better job descriptions as preparing a compact job description is one of the finer ways of effective human resource management. It also helps them with drafting HR policies and processes as a well-defined company policy which is a smart strategy for business success. When it comes to offering the right solutions, the consultancy invests in the resources with detailed research and extensive analysis. It strongly adheres to the dynamics of the clients’ organization to deliver the outcome. The efforts are directed at providing the best recommendations and not merely numbers to the clients. The Future of Corporate Recruitment Companies The Rajesh Shethia Consultants is a concrete group of expert professional with years of experience in managing human resources, business operations and related areas. The consultancy senses that the technology will help in streamlining the entire process but the organizations will need specialized recruitment consultants to meet there demands as the skill gaps are only going to rise and the availability of good resources will reduce. To find the best resources especially passive candidates, companies will have to outsource their talent requirements. Corporate recruitment companies who have good network, understanding of the latest human resource trends and a good internal database are only going to grow.

BUS NESS is NDIA to the Next of PROSPERITY

March 2018|

Trending Change

ndia is poised to become the world’s fastest growing major economy in 2017, according to the survey. Economic fundamentals stand strong, and global investors are on the rise to invest in India. India has emerged as the number one FDI destination in the world during the first half of 2016. With FDI capital inflows of US$290.9b, India has outpaced all other economies, moving up to the premier position from being in the fifth spot during the corresponding period of the previous year. The investors ranked India as the biggest market this year, the 60% investors placed the country among the top three investment destinations. Manufacturing has regained its share in FDI capital flows in 2016, amounting to 46% approx. Investors are most optimistic about the sector, with 62% of those interested to expand market or to enter in India over the next few years, saying that they plan manufacturing activities. In few months, 55% of the surveys will reflect that the organizations were aware of the Make in India investment and growth and 69% of those who are aware of the initiative are likely to invest in manufacturing in the next five years. Business is found more attractive in 2016, compared with 2015 India attractiveness survey. Investors see India growing up the pace of becoming one of the world's top destinations for manufacturing and investing, as well as a regional hub for operations. A number of government offers are being well received by investors, who expect them to increase India’s FDI attractiveness significantly. India is on the way to provide many facilities to start-ups, according to the latest survey it’s been proved that Indian business is on the rise and global investors are heavily investing

March 2018|

in the projects in India. Even the small organization or start-ups they are getting the working environment to grow and expand their business in India. Business Scope in India The 59% of startups in India are in the B2C space, 37% are in the B2B space whereas the remaining 4% are a combination of B2B and B2C. According to a leading chain report in 2014, India’s B2B e-commerce industry will grow from $300 billion to $700 billion by 2020. B2B business works in the areas of logistics, commerce, assisted commerce, and ﬁnancial products distribution. These platforms challenge to reach the fragmented customer base. ‘Make in India’ Program a Boon for Start-Ups The government policies regarding start-ups have become friendlier. There is also great anticipation on the government support for the sector. The government has already set expectations from the entrepreneurial sector to drive big employment opportunities. Start-ups are expected to create 2,50,000 jobs in India by 2020, up from 80,000 now, according to the latest report. This, in turn, can be achieved through big investments in start-up companies while nurturing innovation and bright ideas across sectors. ‘Make in India’ a Bigger Move in Business The initiative focuses on sectors like information technology, pharmaceutical, electronics, textiles. These sectors are globally competitive. These sectors also drive huge interest from entrepreneurs and are also

attractive from FDI viewpoint. Fostering innovation is the basic objective of the initiative. It aims to support new ideas which will also bring forth the young talent in India. Building further capacity for innovation which includes new youthfocused programs and institutions dedicated to developing specialized skills. Ease of application processes such as integrating services of central government departments and, a single window IT platform for clearance of services. Filing of e-returns through a unified form and making use of digitization to make things hassle-free which give strength to Intellectual Property regime through up gradation of IT infrastructure in compliance with global standards. The prime reason is that the situation in India is very attractive where entrepreneurs are looking for investors to buy stakes in their ventures. They have the drive to get into a business and take it to a level beyond which they need to tap the capital markets for growth. Also, companies seeking venture financing in India have typically been middle- to late-stage companies, not true start-ups like those that are financed in the US. So it is a better proposition and relatively less risky. Make in India, flourished many businesses in India and the concept of the program is to raise the employment and to make stable economy by manufacturing products and goods in India. The main motive of Make in India program is to promote the external investors to invest in India and flourish the business aspects.

Stalwart Management Consulting: Creating Productive and Pro table Organizations Divyashikha Gupta Founder

n organization is only as good as the people they hire. The fate and future of any organization therefore rests in the hands of these multi-faceted human resources. Key industries such as IT, retail and banking, pharma and manufacturing are growing at a rapid pace and this combined with today’s continued focus on innovation in the Indian economy, is an interesting eco system that the country is currently observing. As a result, the demand for unique talent is increasing across many sectors to deliver rapid and sustained growth. Keeping a hawk-eye on this trend Stalwart Management Consulting has a strong industry focus, with multi-discipline teams dedicated to key industry groups in both global and national markets. Debunking the “One size fits all” approach, Stalwart Management Consulting partners with companies to hire these future ready human resources by offering customized and curated talent solutions that are industry aligned. At Stalwart Management Consulting, the aim is to offer a distinct and comprehensive array of workforce and talent solutions ranging from talent acquisition, advisory and consulting solutions, HR Analytics and outsourcing. With a definite effort at partnering with the clients to build a highly engaged and motivated workforce, Stalwart Management Consulting contributes and enhances the brand value of the clients. It is committed to partnering with clients on their growth journey by designing recruitment and talent solutions that pre-empt and meet any business challenge that is encountered. The integrated strategies are designed to increase workplace productivity by developing improved

processes for attracting, developing, retaining and utilizing people with the required skills and aptitude to meet current and future business needs. Relentless Determination and Thoughtful Approach for Leading the Organization As the Founder, Director and Principal Consultant of Stalwart Management Consulting (SMC), Stalwart Business Consortium LLP (SBCL) and Stalwart Learning Solutions (A vertical of SBCL), Divyashikha Gupta is the one behind the company’s signature characteristic. While her approach is thoughtful, open, analytical and often challenging; her insight, integrity, and candor to the partnering process have become renowned throughout the industry. Divyashikha has 15 years’ of vast experience in various facets of Human Resources and has held critical roles across APAC and Indian sub-continent in global organizations like JP Morgan, Temasek Holdings (through Fullerton Financial Holdings) and Hutchison 3 Global Services (now acquired by Tech Mahindra). Her expertise rests on Staffing (Including Leadership / CXO Level), Learning and Organizational Development, Change Management, Talent Engagement and Talent Development. At Stalwart (Group Companies), her responsibilities are client management, strategic planning, evaluation of operational capabilities, risk assessment along with monitoring and assuring profitability of the group. With an excellent analytical ability, Divyashikha has been a pioneer in her field who dares to dream and achieve the impossible.

March 2018|

THE

Most Admired

Corporate Recruitment Companies

Only a highly engaged and motivated workforce can contribute to and enhances the brand value of the clients

‘‘

Staying Competent and Facing the Challenges Stalwart Management Consulting started their journey in 2009 as a traditional recruitment company and over the years has added some very unique solutions to their talent consulting cartel and these solutions have helped maintain the UVP(Unique value Proposition). Since its inception, Stalwart has been very particular about the UVP oﬀered rather than USP (Unique Selling Proposition). Although Stalwart uses Technology, AI, Machine Learning and other disruptive technologies to make recruitment extremely fast paced, the company retains its core values by not replacing the human connect in recruitment and talent solutions.

The team at Stalwart Management understands that in a constantly evolving and changing business environment, a good recruitment and talent solutions company should help clients to be prepared for VOLATALITY, UNCERTAINTY, COMPLEXITY, AND AMBIGUITY – commonly known as VUCA in the business world today.

Innovative and Disruptive Solutions Stalwart’s bespoke, highly customized and solution based approach ensures that recruitment and talent strategy is aligned with the client’s core business. The team of functional and technical experts is committed to one of the lowest turnaround time for delivery in the industry. The consultancy provides innovative and disruptive interview solutions such as Video Interviews, Virtual Screening that has gone a long way in satisfying the clients. The mature retainer solutions of the consultancy have consistently saved 15-20% of the client’s talent sourcing budgets. Stalwart’s in-house outreach initiative extends educational and social support to the underprivileged and poverty struck masses of the society. WOW which means Women of Worth is Stalwart’s signature campaign to encourage and promote gender inclusion in the workplace. The WOW Stalwart initiative ensures that the client's diversity inclusion targets are met within the budgeted time lines. Stalwart provides exhaustive data base encompassing active and passive talent which ensures that the client's never compromise.

March 2018|

Delivering Support and Providing Benefits to the Clients Stalwart Management Consulting offers Stalwart Assessment Sheet, which is a scientific, AI- based and professional assessment of the candidates' capabilities and suitability for the respective role. This is a premium offering and it helps the clients to make an informed decision about the suitability of the profiles being shared. It is a comprehensive talent solutions company that maps the right talent for organizations.

Stalwart Management Consulting offers recruitment services such as Permanent Hiring, Contract Hiring, Payroll and Compliance, Staffing Solutions. The talent firm has various solutions to be provided in Learning and Development such as Training, Signature Modules that are experiential and impact based. Functional, Behavioral and Excellence Modules are designed and curated to meet industry and role demands. Art-Based modules which are based on Drama, Theatre, Music, Films and Reflections are provided by Stalwart. Candidates need to be assessed to determine their suitability for specific types of employment, Stalwart provides Assessment Centers with Biometric Testing, Graphology Supported Assessments, Psychometric Tests that are used for recruitment as well as Learning and Development.

The fastest way to build trust, especially with a new or potential client, is to provide clear evidence of the professional values. Value Based Consulting provided by Stalwart has Advisory & Consulting (Technology & Analytics in Human Resources), Capability Building, Learning & Talent, Change & Culture Transformation, Executive Search, Design Thinking and Innovation, CEO and Leadership Coaching. As the demand for quality talent surges, Stalwart Management Consulting continues to leverage its expertise by providing talent that suits one's needs. Their range of talent solutions expands from talent acquisition, advisory and consulting solutions to HR analytics and outsourcing, which allows the talent ﬁrm to remain the most preferred talent solutions partner for the esteemed clients.

Positive Changes enduring the that are

Recruitment Process F

or any organization, recruitment process is a major and crucial part of developing and maintaining an effective and efficient team. A well planned recruitment strategy will cut down the wastage of time and money, which would have incurred for extensive training and development of unqualified resources. According to the few reports in US “Organizations are recruiting more numbers of candidates because the organizations are expanding which require more workforces.” The companies are growing and there is a more work for HR team to recruit more who can work towards the organization development. A Report says that the growth of hiring will be more than last year. In 2017, 56% of the recruiting teams hired candidates but the survey predicts in 2018, 61% approx. will hire and only around 10% are planning to reduce. The company always require a young dynamic talent, recruiting more candidate will help in rise to the company’s strategy and it will also help to deliver more on the concept of 'More input always result’s maximum output’. The US leading magazine survey shows that 70% Organizations think, if they have more employees the success ratio will be more because they think the more employees will show more results which results in Company growth. Hiring more means more engage in work for Hire Team, their job is to give good talents to the Organization which results in growth.

March 2018|

Editor’s Insights A company will be benefitting by hiring high volume recruitment because by hiring more candidates it helps to complete work on time. The developing countries like India where organizations growing rapidly thus there is a need of huge workforce, according to India’s leading magazine “Organization like Reliance, Wipro, Adani Group and many more hiring the large numbers of employees. Changes hiring Process in India Organizations in India are running in a growing period, therefore, it becomes important to recruit the suitable candidate for the respective position. The government of India also releasing the job vacancy in the Government sector and thus the Recruitment starts their process of selection. Few media reports stated that “the recruitment process is the backbone of any successful organization”. The success of any Organization depends on the selection of employees because HR Team put efforts towards the success of Organization. With the continually increasing economy and digitization, growth allows maximum job opportunities. The strong economy has ability to fulfill their demand, 56% of employers are hiring to support business growth and only 13% are hiring to backfill. The latest report claims that 19% of employers are hiring to support account section department and 25% of employers are hiring in a Technology field. The responsibility has increased for the HR team to coordinate with the Organizations requirement. The Recruitment team divides the selection criteria into few steps. The main reason behind the growth of Organization is digitization and the rising of new technologies which give Organization to expand and grow in various fields. How Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming the hiring process Artificial Intelligence (AI) is shaking up the recruiting procedure, changing the way recruiting agencies and sources find and contract tech talent. AI and machine learning empower experts to rapidly analyze huge amount of information and settle on choices and expectations. Presently, recruiters are giving Artificial Intelligence something to work to define a job postings “ideal fit,”and to enhance their capacity to fill opening quickly. Finding the ideal individuals to changing new ideas into effective brands is depend on a test for HR offices in relatively every industry, and achieving this objective inside the limited budget makes it difficult. AI makes the task simpler, less demanding, and more effective through predictive calculations and data tool. Ensure with accuracy and flawlessness. HR software like ATS, Entelo, UltiPro and Vibe HCM are fostering quality hiring in tech-savvy enterprises. They all are superheroes in their respective fields Hirevus is also very useful for assessing the personality of applicants on various facial and verbal parameters in video interviews. Whereas UltiPro and Vibe HCM are interactive software that communicates with applicants on chatbots and based on these virtual communications they do the ranking of the candidates and help to schedule interviews with the department. The AI process is the future technology started to use in recruitment process which makes it easy and convenient in the process of selection. In the coming years ahead organization will more use the AI for hiring process.

March 2018|

GENDER SENSITIVITY AND SEXUAL HARASSMENT OF WOMEN AT THE WORKPLACE

hat is gender sensitivity? Is it the same as gender equality? Are workplaces in today’s India gender sensitive? Is sexual harassment of women in the workplace on the rise? These are some of the burning questions and issues at hand in today’s work environment. Multiple companies across all industry sectors are beginning to take note of these issues and address them. While this proactive approach is seen in some organisations, many others have been slow to recognize the need while the rest have completely ignored it. Gender sensitivity essentially refers to making women’s as well as men’s concerns and experiences an integral dimension of all policies and programs in an organization so that women and men beneﬁt equally and inequality is not perpetuated. Gender issues are sensitive and complicated and aﬀect both women and men regardless of status. The ability of an organization to identify and handle gender inequality and gender discrimination underpins its success in creating a gender sensitive and inclusive work culture. Ultimately, the goal is to achieve gender equality.

What about sexual harassment? Sexual harassment at the workplace has seen a steady rise in India. Though this has undoubtedly been the case for a while now, it is being reported more openly and bravely as opposed to a few years ago. This radical shift can primarily be attributed to the enactment of the recent law in India - Sexual Harassment of Women at the Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition & Redressal) Act, 2013. From a global standpoint, most countries have adopted some form of legislation at the national level that covers the issue of sexual harassment but 38

a growing number of countries like India have adopted a specific legislation for the same. The International Labour Organization (ILO) also has standards and guidelines on prevention of sexual harassment at the workplace. So what exactly is Sexual Harassment? Sexual harassment is a manifestation of gender discrimination and is defined by the law as: • Unwelcome acts or behavior (whether directly or by implication) such as physical contact or advances, • Requests for sexual favours and • Any other verbal or physical conduct that is of a sexual nature. The law mandates that every company that has 10 or employees is required to formulate a Prevention of Sexual Harassment policy in accordance with the Act, constitute an Internal Complaints Committee to handle sexual harassment issues, sensitize its entire workforce on prevention, prohibition and redressal of sexual harassment of women in the workplace and handle any incidents of sexual harassment as per the inquiry procedure laid down by the law. Failure to do any of the above is a serious noncompliance and constitutes a violation of the law. There are serious penalties for the organization including cancellation of their business license apart from fines. India Inc. is now in its third year of compliance with the Act. While there are a large number of companies that have implemented this law, there is still a long way to go before we can achieve total compliance. Larger corporations, both Indian and multi-national, are more pro-active and compliant than the small and medium sized organizations. Smaller companies have a tendency to think that the law March 2018|

Entreprenuers speak

does not apply to them and hence an alarmingly large number of such companies are non-compliant. Therefore, awareness is the need of the hour. Compliance to this law and subscribing to the philosophy of zero tolerance to sexual harassment at the workplace must be more vigorously advocated. Although national forums and federations are broadly addressing gender sensitivity and sexual harassment issues, a greater thrust is warranted from all the stakeholders â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the government, society, managements of companies and the workforce itself. Management personnel and employees must be made aware of the implications of sexual harassment, its impact on the individual(s) and the organization, identiďŹ cation of such behavior, appropriate handling of sexual harassment issues/incidents and the manner of conducting oneself within the work environment. It is time to recognize that women are an important and integral part of our workforce. Women bring in balance and diversity and more importantly emotional intelligence which is an essential element for corporate success. It is therefore important for every employee of every organization to be sensitive, respectful, watchful and inclusive. One must not be afraid and must speak up against any form of sexual harassment.

POOJA PRABHAKAR Executive Director BCP Associates March 2018|

Despite the existence of an eclectic attitude and approach to sexual harassment in our country and although a lot more needs to be done in this sphere, sexual harassment free workplaces can become a reality. Proactive, aware and empowered companies along with their employees can be agents of change and create a sexual harassment free workplace where both women and men are treated with dignity, equality and respect. 39

The Apollo World of Care Assuring. Advanced. Accessible WHEN IT COMES TO THE HEART TRUST APOLLO www.apollohospitals.com