People Matters: Rise of the gig economy - February 2020

VOL XI / ISSUE 2 / february 2020

BIG INTERVIEW David Rodriguez

Executive Vice President & Global Chief HR Officer at Marriott International

Why businesses should start leveraging and managing the gig workforce to augment their business growth in 2020

INTERVIEW Patti Clarke

Global Chief Talent Officer for the Havas Group

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hirty million American workers rely on gig work as their primary income source and 67 percent of full-time employees indicated interest in gig work over their current jobs, according to MetLife’s latest report on Gig Economy.

Gig is not new. However, technology has enabled it to go more widespread and flexible creating opportunities that both companies and individuals can benefit from. So much so that, the total freelancer population worldwide, according to World Bank, is estimated at around 84 million with 15 million from India alone.

So, what’s the big deal about the gig force – which according to some projections will comprise as much as 80 percent of workforce by 2030, and what does it mean for the future of work? Well, the swelling gig force has serious implications for businesses especially new focus areas it brings to the fore.

The core inducement that pulls workers to shared economy platforms is freedom and autonomy — and workers are free to do whatever and whenever they want.

This brings work-life balance debate to the front. Workplace flexibility is no more a "good to have" thing, it is a make-or-break for job applicants and one way to attain it is through gig economy. For businesses, the operating framework of gig economy does provide the advantage of low operating

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THE COVER STORY (BEHIND THE SCENE)

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That don’t impress me much!

I love it! It’s as cluttered as my mind.

YAYE! VOL XI / ISSUE 2 / february 2020

FFrroom m tth h e E d i t o r ’’ss DDeesskk 4

The ‘gig’ paradox

costs, while on the other side, it also helps in creating employment to large section of the employment market.

Aside the growing numbers and the factors driving the growth of the gig and contingent workers base across countries (especially where freelancing is booming including US, UK and India), there is a dire side to it. Although, for centuries, people have been performing short-term freelance jobs, and the fact that gig economy is set to redefine the frontiers of employer-employee relationship, there have been reports citing the challenges facing the gig force. There have been protests and strikes by Uber and Lyft drivers and that workers feel exploited because a vast majority of gig workers don’t make a living from it, as one study found.

Some argue that the so-called “freedom” isn’t real because there is no guarantee of work.

And not to mention the uneven workloads and pay schedules, lack of benefits, pensions, sick pay, holiday entitlement or parental leave. This is a big issue for any contract worker.

Having said, despite the challenges, the explosion of the gig economy continues unabated making it imperative for organizations to gear up to cash in on the big opportunity.

The cover story in this issue takes a look at the current state of the gig economy, the future of work in the context of the rising gig work, strategies businesses can embrace to leverage the potential of the millennial gig workers, the challenges for managing gig workers, and the way forward.

For the Big Interview, we have David Rodriguez, the Executive Vice President and Global Chief HR Officer at Marriott International, who shares insights on trends in the hospitality industry that are shaping the future workplace, employee experience and well-being, and more.

We also have a special interview with Patti Clarke, who is Global Chief Talent Officer for the Havas Group; and a rapid-fire interview with Nohrinyl Verzosa, Head of HR - APJC at Tata Communications.

The issue also features interviews with Cicin Ruruh Winedar, the Human Resources Director of Godrej Indonesia; Gretchen Alarcon, the Group Vice President for Oracle; Maria Sitaramayya, APAC Head HR, Unisys, and more.

As always, we would be happy to hear your reviews, comments, and suggestions regarding our stories.

BIG INTERVIEW David Rodriguez

Executive Vice President & Global Chief HR Officer at Marriott International

Happy Reading!

Esther Martinez Hernandez Editor-in-Chief follow

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Why businesses should start leveraging and managing the gig workforce to augment their business growth in 2020

INTERVIEW Patti Clarke

Global Chief Talent Officer for the Havas Group

contents The Rise of theGig

F E BR U ARY 2 0 2 0 volu m e xi issue 2

expert views

42

cover story

40

Jaya Dass, Managing Director of Randstad Singapore and Malaysia

46

Gig economy requires HR leaders to don a new hat

48

Gig economy is here to stay, but...

By Mastufa Ahmed

Gig economy has far-reaching implications for businesses

Harjiv Singh, Founder & CEO, BrainGain Global

Kathi Enderes, Ph.D., VP, Talent and Workforce Research Leader, Bersin,

Deloitte Consulting LLP 52

The growing gig economy is great news for businesses

Muhammad Vickneswaran, Director of Human Resources, Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre

54

Why gig work is rising faster than regular employment

Abhijit Bhaduri, Coach, author and one of the most followed writers in

the area of Talent Management

C O N TE N TS

56

Managing talent in the gig economy: Human capital implications

Richard Smith, Ph.D., Professor at Singapore Management University

and Deputy Dean for the Lee Kong Chian School of Business 58

The gig economy: Be careful what you ask for

Clinton Wingrove, Director of www.WantToBeGreatManager.com and

www.ClintonHR.com

24 Company culture can’t be put in a box or dictated - it has to be an inspired part of the corporate DNA the big Interview

Flexibility of where, when, & how employees work is now a business requirement Patti Clarke, Chief Talent Officer for Havas Group

David Rodriguez, Executive Vice President & Global Chief HR Officer at Marriott International

By Abid Hasan

By Mastufa Ahmed

Editor-in-Chief

Features Writers

Senior Editor

Assistant Managers, Content

Esther Martinez Hernandez Yasmin Taj

Anushree Sharma | Bhavna Sarin

Associate Editor, Print & Online

Mastufa Ahmed

Manager, design, photography, and production

Marta Martinez

Drishti Pant Neelanjana Mazumdar Design & Production

Digital Head

Jerry Moses

Prakash Shahi

Associate Editor

General Manager, Sales

Abid Hasan

Senior Features Writer

6

Senior Associates, Content

Shinto Kallattu

Manager, Content

Shweta Modgil

Manav Seth | Vallari Gupte

Rubi Taj rubi.taj@peoplematters.in +91 (124) 4148102

| FEBRUARY 2020

Manager, Sales

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This issue of People matters contains 88 pages including cover

contents

TALENT RETENTION

60

Decoding retention strategies for 2020

17 T r e n d s 2 0 2 0

People Matters’ top 10 talent trends for 2020

By People Matters Editorial 18 The gig is up!

By Manav Seth 20 Ne w s Fe a t u r e

The business case for LGBTQ+ inclusion

By Bhavna Sarin

30 Hu m a n i z i n g Te c h

With AI, the human aspect must still come first

By Mint Kang

32 i n t e r vie w ACCA’s Julie Hotchkiss on the skills gap in 2020 Julie Hotchkiss, Executive Director, People, ACCA

By Vallari Gupte

C O N TE N TS

36 L i f e @ Wo r k Why companies should encourage employees to take time off in 2020

By Gary Bury, Founder and CEO of Timetastic

66 Wo r k p l a c e p oli c ies

POSH Committee - Dealing with bias and conflict of interest

By Vikram Shroff, Leader of the HR Law (Employment & Labour) team at Nishith Desai Associates

76 L a b o r l a w s

A primer on Code on Wages

By Rashmi Pradeep, Partner and Anna Thomas, Consultant, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas 79 S a l a r y Ne g o t i a t io n

68 i n t e r vie w

Gretchen Alarcon, Group Vice President for Oracle's human capital management strategy

By Jerry Moses

By Dr. Pfeffer, Chair Professor of organizational behavior at Stanford Graduate School of Business, and Dr Muneer, Co-Founder and Chief Evangelist of the non-profit Medici Institute Foundation

How AI is going to augment work

70 T h e r o a d less t r a velle d

The (funny) business of HR awards

By Visty Banaji, Founder and CEO of Banner Global Consulting (BGC)

74 i n t e r vie w

The classic 70:20:10 rule is still relevant

The size matters for your first offer

80 O u t loo k 2 0 2 0

The Travel Risk Outlook 2020: How can organizations ensure safety of traveling employees

By Shweta Modgil

Cicin Ruruh Winedar, Human Resources Director of Godrej Indonesia

By Bhavna Sarin

62 HR Te c h n olo g y

AI in 2020: What to expect from data and AI this year and beyond

By Anushree Sharma

64 i n t e r vie w

We don't just want diversity; we want people to feel included

Maria Sitaramayya, APAC Head HR, Unisys

By Jerry Moses 8

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regulars

04 From the Editor’s Desk 10 Letters of the month 12 Quick Reads 16

Rapid Fire

84 Knowledge + Networking 86 Blogosphere

Featured In this issue Cicin Ruruh Winedar David Rodriguez Gretchen Alarcon Harjiv Singh Jaya Dass Julie Hotchkiss

Kathi Enderes Maria Sitaramayya Muhammad Vickneswaran Nohrinyl Verzosa Patti Clarke

CONTRIBUTORS to this issue Abhijit Bhaduri Anna Thomas Clinton Wingrove Gary Bury Jeffrey Pfeffer M Muneer

Prashant Bhatnagar Rashmi Pradeep Richard Smith Vikram Shroff Visty Banaji

Letters of the month

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Tailoring total rewards

I am glad that leaders are taking cognizance of the fact that rewards and benefits form a crucial lever of today’s people strategy. Furthermore, understanding what motivates people to work and designing rewards and benefits that match their expectations will be a critical component in helping HR leaders draft people policies that support business growth. Your cover story on tailoring rewards and incentives drives home the point that organizations will have to let employees drive rewards strategies instead of imposing a mass program on them. Fermin Diez rightly points out in his interaction, a talent strategy that works for everyone simply does not exist, and Abhijit Bhaduri makes a strong case for disconnecting incentives and learning. Over the last decade, we have made tremendous progress in decoding why personalization is necessary for the workplace, and to thrive in this decade, we need to start implementing lessons from the same.

- Debushree Banerjee

If we think like a machine, we will soon be replaced by a machine Dean Tong’s interview provided brilliant insights into the mind of a successful, experienced, and innovative HR leader. He is right to suggest that instead of "losing" jobs to automation, we will witness job "morphing," wherein new roles will emerge to replace existing ones. I am delighted that banks like UOB have elaborate plans in place to ensure that their workforce

learns the required skills to stay relevant.

The fact that they have already trained 26,000 employees is impressive as this will allow them to understand modern digital tools and technologies better and use them more effectively. Furthermore, this will enable people to focus on being more creative and innovative, as well. Finally, UOB’s programs #Better to create a better workforce, better workplace, and a better work-life neatly sums up the focus areas for future-proofing organizations.

- Lokesh Kaul

Status: Unemployed

The rise of the unemployment rate in the country should be a cause of concern for the government and India Inc. There are no two ways about the fact that the country’s economy is losing momentum, and urgent interventions are required to bring it back on track. It is rather tragic that nations all over the world are worrying about an aging population, and India is unable to effectively utilize its significant human capital potential and not provide meaningful employment opportunities to young people, women, and the rural population. While some recent measures taken by the government are appreciable, a lot more needs to be done to generate quality jobs. I hope that this year’s financial budget provides the right stimulus to the right people and industries and prepares to begin a new decade with renewed power and energy.

- Sanya Purohit

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| FEBRUARY 2020

january 2020 issue

5 counter-intuitive people practices from the world’s leading innovators Pavan Soni's article, which discussed instances of counter-intuitive people practices, made for an insightful reading.

While at first sight, all the methods did seem flawed, a closer look did convince me that we need to start questioning the very fundamentals of existing workforce management practices to thrive in the future of work. There is ample evidence to suggest that we have been looking at the concepts of productivity, goal-setting, and teamwork from the wrong perspective and have been focusing on what may not be necessary. As we dive headfirst into a world where innate human abilities will become even more critical, I think it is essential to remember these lessons and update management practices that reflect new ways of working. Kudos to Soni for putting together a very well-rounded article that proves the importance of being open-minded and doing things differently.

- Sachin Gupta

Interact with People Matters

Music and Management

Every business will have a virtual workforce Matt Barrie’s suggestions for employers and employees to make the gig economy work for everyone are incredibly relevant.

I have been a freelancer for over a decade now, and welcome the integration of the gig economy into the mainstream workforce. One of the most prominent signs of this development is that not just small businesses and start-ups, but large organizations are increasingly turning to freelancers as well. Similarly, the remuneration levels are also increasing as organizations are willing to invest in skilled individuals who add value.

However, since the gig economy is still maturing, both the gig worker and the organization must consider the agreement to be sacrosanct and honor it. As Matt suggests, going forward, every organization will have a part of its work done by a virtual workforce, and the sooner we devise smooth processes for such work arrangements, the better it is.

- Ojaswi Masand

- Pavan Sawhney

PoSH Act in the #MeToo era The article discussing how the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition & Redressal) Act needs to be updated to reflect the realities of the post the #MeToo era should force employers, legislators, and managers to take a second look at how we can achieve the goal of building a safe workplace for women. I am shocked and disappointed to know that the Act does not protect complaints and instances that are time-barred, and the complaint needs to be raised within three months from the incident. We need to take cognizance of the fact that some of the new situations and circumstances that have come to light, some of which were not envisaged at the time of creating the Act, need redressal as well. As the writer suggests, all stakeholders need to review the Act with a finetoothed comb to identify loopholes and must urgently revive efforts to examine the legal and institutional frameworks of dealing with matters of sexual harassment of women at the workplace.

- Vaibhav Pandey

HR and work tech: The Southeast-Asia market opportunity Your report discussing the potential of HR-tech solutions in the Southeast-Asian market was very well researched. I am pleasantly surprised to learn that small and medium businesses, along with stateowned organizations, will become the largest consumers of HR-tech solutions in the region. However, I am not surprised to find that recruitment, learning, and employee engagement are the top priorities for organizations in these markets.

Similarly, there is a clear focus on designing a unique employee experience through digital solutions as well. The fact that Southeast-Asian countries are home to some of the biggest organizations in the world and employ a significant portion of the young workforce means that the market has several opportunities for HR leaders and game-changers to create a sustainable future of work. I would strongly recommend leaders and innovators in the HR-tech industry to go through the insights of the report.

- Anmol Misra

Dr Aquil Busrai @aquilbusrai Replying to @sanjaymuthal @kritimakhija and 7 others.

Shalini... Suggest you take essential features of your Research and convert into an article and request people like @Ester_ Matters to consider publishing in reputable magazines like @PeopleMatters2 provide a link in the article for those interested in full research findings.

Tracey Fritcher @TraceyFritcher Replying to @PeopleMatters2 @Service NowAsia.

We are excited to be part of such a great conference! #TecHRSG is drawing a great group of people - thanks for all the awesome work so far!

SkyHive @_skyhive We're looking forward to bringing our workforce reskilling engine to Asia’s largest HR & work tech conference next month! @PeopleMatters2 Akrivia HCM @AkriviaHCM The Talent conversation in association with @PeopleMatters2 matters was an epic morning with people who have mastered the art of #HR industry, shared great inputs on how to leverage #technology & their impacts on the #4thIndustrialRevolution Jacob Morgan @jacobm @PeopleMatters2 says that creating an inclusive #workplace means going beyond basics and relooking at work structures, #jobdesigns, and the external #community.

l e t tqeur isc okf r t heea m d os n t h

The comparisons between organizations and orchestras by Visty Banaji struck all the right notes (pun intended)! As he brilliantly describes, the ability of orchestras to bring together a group of people with diverse skills to put on a unified show is what organizations should aim to mimic. While naturally, the role of the conductor (or leader) is crucial, so is the training, motivation, and ability of each musician (or employee) in the organization. Disciplined Orchestra-Style Teamwork & Innovation (DOSTI) is not just a cleverly-coined term, but a practical direction for leaders who want to foster discipline, creativity, and ownership in their teams, the way that successful orchestra conductors do. His observation that the combination of iridescent individual performances, when embedded in an amalgam of coordinated team contributions, makes for truly valuable modern organizations beautifully encapsulates the crux of the comparison.

People Matters values your feedback.

Write to us with your suggestions and ideas at editorial@peoplematters.in

Enrique Rubio @erubio_p Replying to @david_green_uk @People Matters2 and 9 others Great stuff happening everywhere! Thanks for sharing @hacking_hr events Ved Prakash Singh @ved_hrm 2020 #HRTech is entering a golden period in India peoplematters.in/article/outloo… #HR #FutureofWork via @PeopleMatters2 follow

M > @PeopleMatters2

{WRITE TO US NOW BY SCANNING THIS CODE} FEBRUARY 2020 |

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SKILLING

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Top skills that employers need most in 2020: LinkedIn

GENDER PAY GAP

Men dominate the higherpaid jobs in Singapore Even if the gender pay gap in Singapore has narrowed down, women still have a lower wage increase, according to the World Economic Forum. The gender pay gap in Singapore was six percent in 2018 as compared to 8.8 percent in 2002, as per regional media reports. The US shows a gap of eight percent, Canada has a differential of 7.7 to 8.3 percent, while in China, the difference is 18.3 percent.

The employment rate for women in Singapore rose to 78 percent from 62.2 percent as more women are occupying managerial and professional roles. Women still get low wage increases and men continue to dominate the higher-paying roles.

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LinkedIn Learning’s data revealed the 15 most in-demand soft and hard skills of 2020.

While task-oriented skills remain critical for success at work, employers are giving equal importance to soft skills.

While Emotional Intelligence makes a new entry to this year’s top soft skills list, creativity, collaboration, persuasion and adaptability continue to be among the most in-demand. The top five soft skills in-demand include Creativity, Persuasion, Collaboration, Adaptability, Emotional Intelligence. When talking about hard skills, blockchain is a new entrant and has made it to the top most in-demand hard skill as companies across sectors are looking to leverage it in 2020. Besides blockchain, other skills in-demand include data computing, analytical reasoning, and AI. The top 10 hard skills in-demand include Blockchain, Cloud Computing, Analytical Reasoning, Artificial Intelligence, UX Design, Business Analysis, Affiliate marketing, Sales, Scientific Computing, Video Production.

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INCLUSION & DIVERSITY

800 CEOs come together for advancement of D&I at the workplace Antares Capital’s CEO David Brackett has joined 800 other CEOs in signing CEO Action for diversity & inclusion in the workplace.

Thus, Antares joins The CEO Action for D&I which is led by a steering committee of CEOs and leaders from Accenture, BCG, Deloitte US, The Executive Leadership Council, EY, General Atlantic, KPMG, New York Life, Procter & Gamble, and PwC, who have pledged to take action to create a workplace where diverse perspectives and experiences are welcomed and respected. The coalition represents 85 industries, all 50 US States, and millions of employees globally.

HIRING

January is the best month for hiring: Glassdoor

The number of job seekers plunges in December and spikes in January, according to Glassdoor. Across nine countries represented in the data, there are 11 to 29 percent more job applications in January as compared to the monthly average. While December is probably a bad time to post a new job, January may be the best time for hiring managers to source new talent.

A study, by Australian recruiter Employment Office, found that while the number of job ads posted drops dramatically in December, the number of views each advertisement garners shoots up in January, such that the average number of daily searches increases by 2.8 million.

This dip followed by an increase might be because people take a break from work and job hunting in December, and hiring departments receive updated budgets between January and February.

The data also shows that January is when employers are less likely to post job openings. There are significantly fewer job postings in January compared to the monthly average, which suggests that employers are not taking full advantage of the availability of a larger talent pool.

If nothing changes this year, the drop in January hiring may be even greater than usual due to the subdued economic outlook around the world, which has seen employers preferring to maintain their current workforce.

LAYOFFS

OYO lets go thousands across China and India

LAYOFFS

PSA Group’s German car-making division, Opel, plans to cut around 4,100 jobs, i.e.

14 percent of its workforce of 30,000 employees. The carmaker will first eliminate at least 2,100 positions by 2025 and then take measures to slash another 1,000 workers twice in two-year increments through 2029.

Carmakers across the globe are planning to remove more than 80,000 jobs in the coming years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Joining them,

RECRUITMENT

Tech professionals are hot in Malaysia: Randstad Demand for skilled technology professionals is at an all-time high in Malaysia this year, according to a report by Randstad Malaysia. The government has been pushing for the acceleration of the digital economy by rolling out initiatives to attract MNCs in high-end tech industries, incentivizing local companies to digitize, increasing investments in digital sectors, and actively supporting tech startups.

Opel has been affected by the new stricter emission standards many German brands have been struggling to prove they're ready to meet.

15,000 employees resign as Axis Bank revamps strategy Axis Bank has seen numerous resignations in the last few months --about 15,000 employees including mid and branch-level execs have left the bank. The exits at the senior level and at the branches where in-person interactions between customers and bankers is crucial could severely impact the bank’s growth, according to media reports. The hiring spree continues with 28,000 new hires in this financial year till now and plans to hire 4,000 more in Q4 being underway. Even though the attrition rate is about 19 percent, the net hiring is 12,800 for FY 19-20.

Amitabh Chaudhry, CEO, Axis Bank, is revamping the way the bank works and has hired Deepak Maheshwari from HDFC Bank, Neeraj Gambhire from Nomura Securities, Pralay Mondal from Yes Bank, and Ganesan Sankaran from Federal Bank.

The bank is expanding at a faster rate and has hired a higher number of people as compared to FY 18-19, Rajesh Dahiya, Executive Director, Axis Bank, noted.

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German carmaker Opel to cut about 4,100 jobs

RESTRUCTURING

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Oyo Hotels has let go of five percent of its 12,000 employees in China partly due to non-performance while dismissing 12 percent of its 10,000 staff in India with plans to shed another 1,200 in India over the next three to four months, as per reports.

The downsizing and restructuring exercise is yet another setback for Masayoshi Son's SoftBank, one of the biggest investors in OYO. SoftBank’s portfolio companies have been stricken by trouble such as the one at WeWork and falling share prices at Slack and Uber.

Hotel owners in China have been protesting in front of the company’s offices, accusing the startup of violating contractual agreements. OYO has stated it will enhance communications with hotel owners and develop owner loyalty by launching the VIP owner program and contacting owners regularly.

The startup has also seen a slew of management changes in tandem with its aggressive expansion strategy. In December, it promoted its real estate business chief, Rohit Kapoor, to CEO for India and South Asia to accelerate its growth strategy.

The supply of skilled tech professionals is still unable to match the demand, and the premium on experience is high. Experienced professionals in the applications space may receive a salary increment of as much as 20-25 percent when changing jobs.

This is far above the estimated average of 17-18 percent based on a 2019 report.

Thus, companies will not only have a hard time finding candidates, they may have a hard time holding onto their existing talent as well. Skilled tech professionals are not only highly mobile in the current market but they also have high expectations and aspirations such as creating new technologies.

FEBRUARY 2020 |

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newsmaker of the month

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Why climatic change would be a business responsibility for 2020

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It is high time for organizations to redefine their CSR policies to prioritize the environment, which until a few years ago was considered just a “nice to have” aspect by many organizations, giving the annual report a feel-good factor.

| FEBRUARY 2020

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his is all wrong - I shouldn't be up here," she said. "You all come to us young people for hope – how dare you? You have stolen my childhood with your dreams and empty words.

"If you choose to fail us, we will never forgive you. Right here is where we draw the line. The world is waking up and change is coming whether you like it or not."

These are some extracts from the speech of a 16-year-old Climate activist, Greta Thunberg, where she criticized world leaders for their "betrayal" of young people through their inertia over the climate crisis at a United Nations summit.

And here we are now: • More than 10.7m hectares of land have burnt so far in Australia's bushfires – larger than the total area of South Korea, or Portugal. About 1 billion animals are estimated to be dead due to the bushfire this season.

• Statistics gathered by Inpe, Brazil's satellite agency, suggested that at least 7,747 sq km of Brazilian Amazon rainforest were cleared due to fire in 2019.

• In 2019, air pollution in India's capital Delhi reached more than 20 times the World Health Organization's safe limit.

Like it or not! Climate change is coming, and businesses need to take immediate action than sticking to just 'words'.

In fact, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink made a strong statement on climate change at the start of the new decade . In his letter to CEOs recently, the man who runs the world's largest asset manager

said: "We are on the edge of a fundamental reshaping of finance. The evidence on climate risk is compelling investors to reassess core assumptions about modern finance."

Shareholders judge CEOs by actions, not words; they want results. It's time to apply the same standard to corporate behavior on climate change.

So how can companies contribute to saving the planet?

One way to put a step forward in saving the climate is to think about how your company can focus on building an economy that sequesters more carbon than it emits. In fact, according to research, it was found that efforts to minimize carbon emission would generate more than 65 million new lowcarbon jobs in 2030, and avoid 700,000 premature deaths.

Take the example of Lyft , which is investing millions of dollars toward carbon neutrality, saying it aims to offset around one million metric tons of carbon dioxide within a year. It intends to do this through the acquisition of supervised compensatory credits (investments in activities that offset the company's emissions), making its fleet electric, using non-emission vehicles such as bicycles or electric scooters, and encouraging the use of public transport.

It is high time for organizations to redefine their CSR policies to prioritize the environment, which until a few years ago was considered just a “nice to have” aspect by many organizations, giving the annual report a feel-good factor.

HP Enterprise SG appoints new MD Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) Singapore has appointed Priscilla Chong as the organization’s Managing Director for Singapore. With more than 15 years of experience with HP, Priscilla’s most recent role was that of the Head of Sales for HPE Financial Services, Asia Pacific and Japan. She started her career at HP as an account manager and was promoted to various leadership roles.

Boeing ousts CEO, picks chairman After the two deadly crashes of Boeing’s 737 Max jetliner loom over the US-based aviation giant, Dennis Muilenburg has been ousted as the Chief Executive Officer by the board of directors.

David Calhoun, who has served as the Chairman of Boeing since October, has replaced Muilenburg as CEO and president from Jan. 13, according to a statement from Boeing.

Automation Anywhere appoints its first Chief Information Officer Automation Anywhere, a player in Robotic Process Automation, has named Yousuf Khan as the company’s first Chief Information Officer.

This is not the first time Khan has been appointed as the first CIO. He was the CIO of Pure Storage where he joined as the company's first CIO and was part of the leadership team that led the company through its IPO and international growth.

OYO Vacation Homes appoints new COO in the Europe & UK OYO Hotels & Homes has announced the appointment of Raj Kamal as Chief Operating Officer of OYO’s Vacation Homes business in the UK and Europe. Raj comes with 25+ years of rich experience across financial services, investments, strategy and consulting domains. Prior to OYO, he was Global Head of Investments at PayU, the payments & fintech arm of Naspers Limited.

LinkedIn Chief People Officer steps down The senior executive in charge of human resources at LinkedIn resigned after breaking compliance rules, according to media reports.

The reports suggest that Christina Hall left the company because of an internal compliance issue.

Hall led LinkedIn's teams responsible for hiring, developing, and rewarding top talent, including all benefits and employee experience programs.

The Hershey Company appoints a new CHRO The Hershey Company appoints Chris Scalia as the new Chief Human Resources Officer. Scalia has operated in senior executive roles leading all aspects of Hershey’s people and culture agenda including talent planning and development, data and analytics, and operational effectiveness.

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Guardian Media Group gets its new CEO Annette Thomas has been appointed as the new chief executive of Guardian Media Group. She will start her role at the parent company of the Guardian and the Observer at the start of March. “Her track record is exceptional – she has consistently delivered sustainable growth through deep engagement with end-users, championing innovative new business models…” says Neil Berkett, the chair of the GMG board.

Walmart India appoints new Deputy CEO Walmart India has promoted Sameer Aggarwal to the position of Deputy Chief Executive Officer.

This happens to be his second promotion in his almost two-year stint at the company. Aggarwal would be reporting to Krish Iyer, President & CEO Walmart India and would be in charge of overseeing operations, marketing, real estate, kirana development program, digital, e-commerce, merchandising, and strategy.

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CIMB Bank Singapore names new CEO CIMB Bank Singapore has elevated Victor Lee as the new CEO. Lee replaced Mak Lye Mun, who served as the chief executive after having served in his role for the last 10 years. Lee is also the CEO of CIMB Group’s commercial banking arm.

With more than 20 years of experience in retail and commercial banking sectors, Lee has worked in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesian banking landscape as well.

AirAsia India appoints new Chief Commercial Officer AirAsia India has named Ankur Garg as its Chief Commercial Officer (CCO). As CCO, Garg will be managing day-to-day commercial operations of AirAsia India, including network and revenue management, marketing & sales and cargo.

He was earlier the Vice-president for revenue management, ancillary revenue and distribution for India's largest airline IndiGo, a position he had quit a few weeks back.

CHA Consulting elevates Jennifer Chatt to Chief People Officer CHA Consulting, which operates in full-service engineering consulting firm, announces the promotion of Jennifer Chatt to Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer. Based in Albany, Jenn has served as CHA’s Senior Vice President of Human Resources since July 2017 and has been responsible for talent acquisition, total rewards, talent development and employee engagement. In her new role, Jenn will play a critical strategic role in helping CHA grow and build an inspired workforce.

Datamatics Global Services appoints new CHRO Datamatics Global Services (DGSL), a global IT & BPM company, announced that Dr. Rima Ghose Chowdhury has been appointed as Executive Vice President & Chief Human Resources Officer. She will be reporting to Rahul Kanodia - Vice Chairman & CEO, Datamatics. Dr. Rima will lead the Datamatics HR functions globally, which has more than 10,000 employees and operations in the US, India, Europe, and the Philippines.

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Rapid-Fire

f o u r t EE N Q u e s t i o n s

interview

Nohrinyl Verzosa

Head of HR - APJC at Tata Communications

By Neelanjana Mazumdar

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One thing that makes you passionate about HR?

Next big HR deployment Tata Communications is working around?

I am devoted to my profession not simply as a job but as a way to touch and improve thousands of lives, every day.

The newest deployment will be focused on delivering a new age employee experience which brings together all HR tools and systems into one platform which is accessible via mobile, on the go.

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What was the turning point of your life as an HR professional?

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What's your learning mantra?

Learn something new every day and teach what you have learned because, ‘to teach is to learn twice’.

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Gig Workers or Permanent Employees?

40:60

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Flexi work or 9 to 5?

Flexi but with proper governance in place to ensure people are working together, collaborating as a networked team and are always clear about their objectives.

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HR as a business partner or HR as a business driver?

HR as business driver.

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When I decided to get out of my comfort zone and move on from my first corporate job so I could stick with my career plan i.e. to pursue a regional HR role that looks after multiple countries in Asia Pacific, Japan and China.

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One must-read book for CHROs and HR leaders

HR from the outside in by Dave Ulrich and Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker.

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Learn something new every day and teach what you have learned because, ‘to teach is to learn twice’

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One tech/innovation that will transform HR?

AI and big data have been tremendously transforming how we work, the entire business landscape and our day to day lives.

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Appraisals based on rating or rating-less performance management?

Rating less and focused on regular check-ins to manage performance and drive professional development.

One leader you closely follow and one hallmark of that leader Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata, the founder of India’s largest conglomerate, the Tata Group.

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One question you ask in every interview?

How does this job align with your personal and professional plans?

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Best career advice you've ever got?

Have time to just stop thinking and do nothing to free up your mind. Be confident about the value you bring to the table.

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What's your favorite holiday destination?

Chicago

People Matters’ top 10 talent trends for 2020 If 2019 was the year which saw the rise of people analytics and employee experience, 2020 is expected to bring in some newer trends that will reshape our world of work.

Bookmark these top 10 trends in the people and work space in 2020 because they are going to be your shining beacons in the year ahead

By People Matters Editorial

The era of EX

Experts note in 2020, companies may prefer to up-skill existing staff than hire new ones. 'Learning in the flow of work' as coined by global expert Josh Bersin will become the norm.

As we enter the next decade, the paradigm will be shifting from focusing on diversity for diversity’s sake to promoting inclusivity in the organizational culture. The year 2020 will see a dynamic change as talent leaders prioritize designing workplaces that are inclusive towards not only the LGBTQ+ community but also encouraging inclusivity of thought.

Data and AI: Your best allies

HR’s mantra for 2020: Up-skill & re-skill

AI and Machine Learning have been catalysts in accelerating the growth of every industry. And HR is no exception. HR departments now can leverage data to make less biased hiring decisions, engage employees, design personalized learning journeys and career paths, and provide a personalized HR touch to every employee. Similarly, AI and ML are changing the whole function and making it more efficient, intelligent and progressive.

As organizations focus more on learning and upskilling talent, they also need to take a look inward and focus on upskilling the HR teams. There’s a strong need for a re-skilled HR team – a team that can handle the nuances of the current changes, meets stakeholder’s expectations by becoming a partner and creates a workplace which is future-ready.

From man vs. machine to man AND machine According to the World Economic Forum, by 2025, the workplace participants are expected to be comprised of about 48 percent human and 52 percent machines or algorithms. As we enter the year 2020, the lines between humans and machines are getting blurry. The division of labor between humans, machines, and AI is transforming rapidly.

Bringing sustainability at the core of workplaces Technology: From an essential to a transformation driver Technology is no more a tool that is just nice to have. Rather, it has moved to being a driver of change and transformation in all facets of work and HR and will continue to do in 2020.

Companies like Microsoft and Amazon made several changes in the way they do business.

While designing workplaces, companies are now looking to digitize the entire place and reduce the use of paper.

Gig: From big to bigger Workers around the globe are opting for remote working options because it suits their working styles, helps them to maximize output and strike the right work-life balance.

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Learning in the flow of work

Inclusivity over diversity

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As the world of work undergoes disruption, embraces digital and faces a fierce war for talent and skills, creating an employee experience (EX) that differentiates employers and actually retains talent is going to be critical in all aspects. Creating an ideal employee experience to match the needs of changing workforce dynamics at work — still seems to be undervalued and has a long way to go.

Redesigning jobs for the future of work Mercer’s Global Talent Trends Survey 2019 found that 43 percent of respondents are redesigning jobs as a way to prepare for the future of work. This trend is expected to continue in 2020 as HR and business leaders continue to wrap their heads around the changing demands of talent and the rapidly evolving business environment.

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The gig is up!

Examining the rising trend to hire non-contractual workers in India and the proposed Industrial Relations Code Bill, 2019

By Manav Seth

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recent report has brought to fore a critical employment trend in India, and an unrelated development regarding the proposed changes in the Industrial Code Relations Bill (2019) sets the tone for how workers will be hired in the future. Let’s take a closer look at the findings of the report and analyze the government’s proposal to update the existing labor laws.

What the report says

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A recent report, titled “Emerging Employment Patterns of 21st Century in India”, authored by Laveesh Bhandari of Indicus Foundation and Amaresh Dubey of Jawaharlal Nehru University, discovered some interesting trends in the hiring patterns of India Inc1. The report, commissioned by the Economic Advisory Council (EAC) to the Prime Minister, analyzed employment data from three surveys of the National Sample Survey Organization and found that since 2012, the organized sector in India has been increasingly hiring casual (or non-contractual) workers. Furthermore, the report found that the rate of employment growth (0.8 percent) has been nearly half the rate of population growth (1.7 percent) over the same period.

Traditionally, the unorganized sector hires a higher number of casual workers as this employment is neither registered nor follows labor laws.

However, as per the findings of the report, the number of non-contractual workers has been rising

in the organized sector as well; their number rose from 2.44 crore in 2012 to 3.61 crore in 2018.

In contrast, the number of contractual workers rose from 2.65 crores to 2.80 crores during the same period. This was one of the two studies commissioned by the EAC to dispel some confusion related to employment data. The other one was undertaken by Surjit Bhalla and provided conflicting results because it did not distinguish between the ‘organized and unorganized’ employment, Bibek Debroy, chairman of EAC, was quoted saying.

What these trends indicate about employment in the Indian economy Jobs in the unorganized sector in India not only pay a lower remuneration but are also devoid of any job security and benefits. Furthermore, without any formal agreement between the employer and the employee, casual workers usually do not have any legal recourse in case of injustice or injury due to lack of safe working conditions. This is partly due to the fact that the labor laws in India are rigid, unfocused, and haven’t been updated in a while.

The fact that organizations in the organized sector are also hiring more workers without a formal contract is a cause of distress as they could be cutting down on costs that usually accompany compliance with stringent labor laws, suggests an Indian Express report2.

Laveesh Bhandari says that in addition to the country’s labor laws, educated individuals might also be freelancing without signing a formal contract with their employer as well. These recent insights, coupled with NSSO PLFS data3, which says that youth unemployment between the ages 15-29 years has risen considerably, suggests that the Indian economy is not creating enough employment opportunities for its workforce, and even the ones that are being generated do not provide security or social benefits.

The number of noncontractual workers in the organized sector rose from 2.44 crore in 2012 to 3.61 crore in 2018 18

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What the government has done recently in this regard

The rise of contractual and casual workers and the changes to labor laws will most certainly require HR leaders and professionals to adapt quickly. In addition to having a uniform employment policy for all their employees, permanent and contractual, they must design relevant engagement policies to ensure consistent productivity and motivation. Similarly, the pressure to ensure compliance with the law will increase as the dispute-resolution process will speed up and include punitive meas-

ures as well. But most importantly, HR leaders will have to ensure a balance between organizational goals and workforce aspirations by providing innovative solutions to existing workplace challenges.

Efforts to regulate the gig economy, both in the organized and unorganized sector, will only intensify in the future. The recent passing of AB 5 in California9, alongside ongoing debates in the UK, shows that governments are waking up to the changing workforce composition and employment patterns. While labor reforms in India have been long overdue, the government must ensure that the interests of all stakeholders are balanced while laying the foundation to a critical component of the future of work in our country.

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The role of HR amid these changes

As per the proposed Industrial Relations Code Bill, 2019, the threshold for government permission for retrenchment has been left unchanged at 100 employees, but a provision of ‘changing such number of employees’ through a notification has been added

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Unlike the ongoing economic slowdown, the government has not specifically admitted to the challenge so far. It has defended its own figures that reflect the highest unemployment in India over the last 45 years4. Most of the programs and policies, be it the Start-up India,5 ‘Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY)6,’ or the Mudra, initiated in the last few years have also not met their expectations. However, the government has been working over the past few years to update India’s labor code and make the workforce more competitive to their global counterparts.

More recently, the Union Cabinet approved the Industrial Relations Code, 2019, which will allow organizations to hire workers on fixed-term contracts and provide them more flexibility while also giving contractual workers the same footing as that of permanent employees7. This is the third (of a set of four) codes that the government has envisioned to merge the existing 44 national labor laws on wages, industrial relations, social security and welfare, and occupational safety to increase the flexibility of the current laws and protect the rights of the workers. The industry has welcomed the proposed updates because they provide organizations with greater flexibility to hire and fire contractual workers and alter their contract as per seasonal demand. Labor unions, on the other hand, have welcomed the provision of fixed-term employment and the treatment of contractual workers at par with permanent employees.

However, critics have raised concerns over the discretion given to organizations regarding the retrenchment of workers. As per the proposal, the threshold for government permission for retrenchment has been left unchanged at 100 employees, but a provision of “changing such number of employees” through a notification has been added. Labor economist and professor of Human Resources Management at XLRI, K R Shyam Sundar says in a news report8, “The moment you provide flexibility for the applicability, then it leaves the matter to the discretion of the appropriate government (states or Centre). Then the clause can be misused. Any discretion in law leads to uncertainty, lack of clarity, discriminatory implementation, and provides scope for unnecessary usage. The government should be clear whether to increase the threshold or retain the threshold and face the consequences.

This is a kind of appeasement to both sides, which will not actually provide relief to either of them.”

Notes 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

https://indianexpress.com/article/business/study-commissioned-bypm-council-ever-since-2012-india-inc-prefers-to-hire-labour-minus-acontract-6088582/ https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/unemployment-inindia-labour-force-survey-national-sample-survey-6093731/ https://www.livemint.com/politics/policy/unemployment-on-therise-among-urban-youth-finds-survey-1559500104301.html https://www.indiatoday.in/business/story/india-unemployment-rate6-1-per-cent-45-year-high-nsso-report-1539580-2019-05-31 https://www.peoplematters.in/article/entrepreneurship-start-ups/ in-need-of-a-jump-start-the-start-up-india-program-17175 https://www.peoplematters.in/news/jobs/joblessness-haunting-modipmkvy-struggling-16428 https://www.indiatoday.in/business/story/cabinet-approves-industrial-relations-code-bill-1621061-2019-11-21 https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/labour-code-billdecoded-fixed-term-contact-workers-6130930/ https://www.peoplematters.in/article/gigtobig/regulating-the-gigeconomy-23645

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The business case for

LGBTQ+ inclusion

By Bhavna Sarin

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oston Consulting Group and Open for Business together launched a first-of-its-kind report on LGBTQ+ hiring across fast growing companies in emerging markets, at a conference hosted by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI). The report aims to highlight the present scenario, the business impact of hiring members of the LGBTQ+ community as well as what areas demand increased focus to improve the global stance on inclusion.

The conference was led by an esteemed panel including Elliot Vaughn, Managing Director & Partner, Boston Consulting Group; Seema Bansal, Partner & Director, Boston Consulting Group India; Dilip Chenoy, Secretary General, FICCI; Drew Keller, Global Program Director, Open for Business; Parmesh Shahani, Founder of Godrej India Culture Lab; and Mellissa Ferrier, Global LGBTQ+ Lead at Wipro.

It is not surprising that even today there are countries that continue to remain hostile towards the LGBTQ+ community and their allies. Yet, the fact that there exist inclusive high impact companies in these economies, there is hope to foster greater adoption of LGBTQ+ inclusion.

At present, 91% of the Fortune 500 companies have policies prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Active participation in implementing LGBTQ+ friendly workplace policies is a step towards building a progressive and safe workplace for one and all.

Let’s take a look at the highlights of the report and areas of focus to foster inclusion.

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Boston Consulting Group and Open for Business together launched a first-of-its-kind report on LGBTQ+ hiring across fast growing companies in emerging markets. Let’s take a look at what the findings reveal and what demands more attention to foster inclusion

Findings from the study The report looks at 96 leading multinationals in emerging markets, how LGBTQ+ inclusive they are and how that impacts their business success and global reach. Spread over 169 countries, these companies reach countries that in totality constitute 99% of the world’s population, with China, India, Mexico, Brazil and Turkey being home to 67% of these companies. The companies were chosen for the study basis criteria including but not limited to: FEBRUARY 2020 |

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• At least $1 Bn in annual revenue, with at least $500 Mn or 10% of revenue coming from international sales • Employee base of over 1,000 employees • Witness growth rates outpacing their home market’s GDP and average industry growth • Exceptions were made for rapidly-growing, high-impact companies that are approaching these thresholds For the purpose of the study, the companies were categorized on the basis of their stance on LGBTQ+ inclusion as below: • Tier 1: Public statement against LGBTQ+ discrimination • Tier 2: Public statement against general discrimination • Tier 3: No public statement against discrimination

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"These companies, headquartered in emerging markets, incur no economic penalty for being LGBTQ+ inclusive – in fact, they are more likely to grow faster on the world stage," said Elliot Vaughn, Managing Director & Partner, Boston Consulting Group.

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LGBTQ+ inclusion has a visible impact on multiple areas of business, right from brand image, talent acquisition, retention, financial performance, corporate governance as well as on the safety of the LGBTQ+ community at the workplace

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Key findings • Out of the 96 companies studied, it was found that 39% belonged to Tier 1 and Tier 2 each, with the remaining 22% in Tier 3 • Number of Tier 1 companies have nearly doubled since 2015, from 19 in 2015 to 37 in 2019 • 58% of the family-run companies came under Tier 1. Interestingly, family-run companies are 1.8 times more likely to support LGBTQ+ inclusion as compared to non-family-run companies • A large number of the high-potential emerging-market companies that explicitly protect LGBTQ+ employees against discrimination are based in India (these organizations supported LGBTQ+ inclusion even when same-sex acts were still criminalized in India).

"One of the most common concerns emerging-market companies have on becoming more LGBTQ+ inclusive is the potential negative impact on their reputation and financial performance.

Companies are worried that open support for LGBTQ+ inclusion could trigger a backlash from their customers. The findings from this report show otherwise," said Parmesh Shahani, Founder of Godrej India Culture Lab. "An analysis of the high potential emergingmarket companies found that LGBTQ+ inclusion enables these companies to tap into global markets and supply chains more effectively, without seeing any negative financial impact," added Shahani.

Business impact of inclusion LGBTQ+ inclusion has a visible impact on multiple areas of business, right from brand image, talent acquisition, retention, financial performance, corporate governance as well as on the safety of the LGBTQ+ community at the workplace. Voicing his thoughts on the report, Drew Keller, Global Program Director, Open for Business, shared, "This report is the first analysis

The way forward The report has identified three key areas that witness a significant boost with LGBTQ+ inclusion - innovation, talent and skills, and quality of living. Studies prove that regions that are allies of the LGBTQ+ community experience a higher concentration of talented and skilled individuals, leading to innovation. As companies strive to establish a strong global foothold, they need to be cognizant of the life they are building for employees, given a majority of the workforce often has to relocate. How flexible, inclusive and supportive are organizations in creating a safe community for all employees, will pave the way for their future on the global front.

"Being LGBTQ+ inclusive not only makes business sense, it is the right thing to do. We are excited to be at the forefront of LGBTQ+ inclusion and feel the positive results of this report will encourage more India based organizations to join us in extending LGBTQ+ inclusion as part of their D&I strategy. This will encourage more LGBTQ+ employees to bring their full selves to work and feel like they belong," shared Mellissa Ferrier, Global LGBTQ+ lead at Wipro.

As for the next steps, there is a need to drive alignment across organizations. Five key discussion themes that emerged from the study that are actively being looked into by high impact organizations include: • Supportive company policies and processes • Incorporating LGBTQ+ inclusion into recruitment and talent initiatives • Launching and supporting strong internal employee resource groups • Developing an inclusive cultural mindset, with trainings and senior leader engagement • Supporting LGBTQ+ inclusion and LGBTQ+ rights externally

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"Evidence of links between the friendliness of countries towards the LGBTQ+ community and economic success provides powerful arguments about the benefits of openness, helping promote change in greater numbers of markets," added Vaughn.

Diversity comes in various forms and there remains significant progress to be made for one particular group – the LGBTQ+ community

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which focuses on LGBTQ+ inclusive companies in emerging markets."

"The report finds that LGBTQ+ inclusive companies have significantly more revenue come from international sources without suffering any negative revenue impact. This has important implications for emerging market firms looking to globalize: In order to appeal to a global audience, you have to be LGBTQ+ inclusive," added Keller.

Going beyond the culture that inclusion creates, several organizations fear the reputation and revenue setback they will have to bear if they explicitly take a stand on their belief system with respect to the LGBTQ+ community. Shattering such myths, the report brings to light an optimistic state of affairs across the corporate world: • A Tier 1 company located in the same region and same industry as a Tier 3 company, makes 20 percentage points more revenue from international sources • Organizations that openly support LGBTQ+ inclusion suffer no obvious negative impact on revenue growth or EBIT margins • Companies focused on diversity and inclusion are reporting stronger brands and public image globally • Cities that are economically competitive, are enabling local companies to support LGBTQ+ inclusion to further tap into global markets, enhancing their competitiveness and global reach

"By bringing together different groups of people, societies cultivate an ecosystem where ideas are exchanged, creativity flows and value is unlocked through innovation. Diversity comes in various forms and there remains significant progress to be made for one particular group – the LGBTQ+ community," said Shahani.

Ensuring 100% inclusion might be a far-fetched goal for now, however, the positive impact on both business and culture will be a catalyst to encourage organizations to get past the fear of a setback and become bolder and inclusive of the community at large, without any discrimination.

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I N TERVIEW B IG

Company culture can’t be put in a box or dictated it has to be an inspired part of the corporate DNA 24

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David Rodriguez, the Executive Vice President & Global Chief HR Officer at

Marriott International, shares intriguing insights on trends in the hospitality industry that are shaping the future workplace, employee experience and well-being, and leadership in the digital era, in an exclusive interaction with People Matters

By Mastufa Ahmed

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I’m the proud son of U.S. immigrants, studied industrial psychology and started my career in HR in financial services and then moved to hospitality.

As a champion of life-long learning, I couldn’t ask for more. Our industry is thriving, Marriott is front and center, and culture is our greatest competitive advantage. HR is more strategically relevant than ever and I believe deeply in the power of opportunity, community and purpose to transform lives.

This fundamental belief sustains Marriott’s people-first culture during whatever business climate we face.

If I’ve learned anything it’s that company culture can’t be put in a box or dictated. It has to be an inspired part of the corporate DNA and everyone’s responsibility. It all starts with the conviction

What are the top trends impacting the hospitality industry and how are they shaping the future of workplace?

There are few industries as diverse, complicated and public facing as hospitality. Every day, our success hinges on the interactions between our associates and guests all over the world and we host more than one million guests every night. While we have 7,000+ properties spanning 132 countries and territories, it all comes down to our people and making sure the ~730,000 people around the world who wear a Marriott name badge are highly skilled, deeply engaged and passionate about their work.

Inspired organizations that build a strong sense of community will have an inspired workforce with the commitment and enthusiasm required to tackle the changes and challenges all businesses invariably face

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You have been in the industry for decades serving as an HR leader. How did you get into HR and what have you learned so far being at the top of people management at Marriott International?

that business success begins with the commitment we make to each other.

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avid A. Rodriguez assumed the role of Executive Vice President and Global Chief Human Resources Officer for Marriott International in 2006. Dr. Rodriguez was appointed a corporate officer in 2000, and in 2004, to the board of directors’ Committee for Excellence that focuses on advancing employee well-being and inclusion in the company.

Dr. Rodriguez joined Marriott International and assumed the role of Senior Vice President – Human Resources in 1998. In 2003, he was appointed Executive Vice President with corporatewide responsibility for various human resources functions as well as for the Marriott Lodging division. Prior to joining Marriott International, Dr. Rodriguez held various human resources leadership positions at Citicorp (now Citigroup).

Dr. Rodriguez graduated from New York University in 1980 with a Bachelor of Arts and in 1987 with a Ph.D. in industrial/organizational psychology. He is on the Board of Directors for Human Resources Policy Association and the Board of Governors for the Health Transformation Alliance, is a Vice Chair of the American Health Policy Institute and a member of the HR People + Strategy Executive Advisory Council.

Dr. Rodriguez was inducted as a Fellow of the National Academy of Human Resources in 2014 and named HR Executive of the year by Human Resource Executive Magazine in 2019.

Here are the excerpts of the interview.

We operate in one of the most significant employment sectors – Travel and Tourism -which supports roughly one out of every 10 jobs worldwide and accounts for more than 10 percent of global GDP. Recruiting and retaining talent couldn’t be more important.

I take issue with the premise that younger generations are inherently conditioned to “jobhop.” You have to fight for retention. HR professionals need to internalize that, just as marketers do. Marriott Bonvoy ended 2019 with a coveted 140 million loyalty members. Decades of leadership and operational excellence earned that and with it comes permission to expand.

Bottomline: If you’re gunning for growth, make sure you’re instilling loyalty along the way in business and people matters.

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How is Marriott different from other big companies in terms of culture? What are the top things that you follow as part of your culture and how does that align with your business strategy?

In the service industry, you’re only as good as the well-being of your people. While we’re focused on our guests, we’re equally - if not more - focused on our associates, because we know they’re our competitive advantage We don’t view “technology” as a separate dynamic. It’s the way our consumers interact with us (booking on Marriott.com – one of the world’s largest e-commerce sites and apps) and it’s the means by which we operate with colleagues, partners, etc. worldwide and often across time zones.

Since we spend so much of our waking hours at work and/or on the job, the ability to build meaningful relationships – even if they’re virtual -- is vital to our well-being and to inclusive environments that fuel innovation and performancecentric.

Companies too often spend too little time focused on this dynamic.

Inspired organizations that build a strong sense of community will have an inspired workforce with the commitment and enthusiasm required to tackle the changes and challenges all businesses invariably face. In the same way consumers are loyal to consumer-facing brands based on their customer experience, it’s interaction with each other – our leaders, teammates, colleagues – that defines the experience we have “at work” (wherever it is and whatever it looks like).

After all, the best experiences are human experiences. It’s at the very heart of all-important workforce engagement, productivity and loyalty.

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We’re laser focused on culture rooted in three things: opportunity, community and purpose. It’s what inspires us to excel, innovate and create memories for our guests.

We deliberately resist the urge to create culture by telling people how to behave in a diverse, fastchanging and disruptive world. Instead, we aim to inspire associates to translate core values into day-to-day culture, ensuring the culture is continuously refreshed and remains vibrant across geographies and generations.

Timeless core values being constantly refreshed by the people who are genuinely living them is the bedrock of long-term success.

In an ever-changing world and marketplace, we must rethink the conversation around corporate culture and constantly ask ourselves not, “What should our culture be?” but rather, “What can I be doing to inspire our people and to be a true steward of an evergreen culture of success?”

Can you throw some light on the latest initiatives that you have taken to enhance employee experience (and employee well-being) and customer experience? How do you measure the impact?

Wellness is a topic close to my head and heart.

While undergoing chemotherapy for leukemia, I used my recovery time to deeply consider employee well-being and evaluate how to best take care of people at Marriott.

In the service industry, you’re only as good as the well-being of your people. While we’re very focused on our guests, we’re equally -- if not more -- focused on our associates, because we know they’re our competitive advantage.

To this end, Marriott’s award-winning TakeCare initiative is a holistic approach to employee well-being based on the universal human need for opportunity, community, and purpose. It’s squarely aimed at yielding a sense of personal well-being, pride, and ownership in the company that leads employees to go above and beyond for customers.

While wellness programs are often aimed strictly at improving employee health and reducing medical costs, we encourage a cohesive focus on things that make employees feel good about themselves, foster relationships within the company, and advance the company’s purpose in society.

While the branded HR program initially launched in the United States, employees spread TakeCare through word of mouth to colleagues at other Marriott International hotels across brands and across the world. As TakeCare grew organically internationally, it melded to the needs and desires of each location. Beyond focusing on good physical health, some hotels emphasized emotional health, while others added diversity and inclusion programs and opportunities for community service.

A critical barometer of wellness program is how well they engage employees and TakeCare has clearly delivered. Last year, the initiative truly became universal with 99 percent of managed locations worldwide applying for TakeCare Certification.

The “care” element quickly diversified to care for the community in addition to the employees themselves, a powerful dynamic that exposes prospective employees to the TakeCare philosophy and differentiates the company from other employers.

Globally, our organization gets more than two million applications in a typical year and hires roughly 70,000 people in that same span. The hundreds of thousands of associates who make up Marriott’s ranks have reported extreme satisfaction and happiness in their work. In fact, Marriott International accepted a Legend Award from the Great Places to Work Institute for having been on the 100 Best Places list since the award’s inception

What is Marriott gearing up to build the leaders of tomorrow? What are your talent acquisition and reskilling mantra?

One unique concept we’ve greenlighted is the creation of immersive training designed to build cultural competence and confidence. Developed in conjunction with Marriott’s Multicultural Affairs Team and informed by real scenarios at actual hotel properties, Culture Days give attendees a unique opportunity to experience and appreciate appro-

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One of the hardest, but also wisest, things we’ve done is to entrust employees with the company culture. I’m a strong believer in empowering employees at every level of the organization to express the company’s core values in a way that is relevant and meaningful to them.

The best organizations authentically support their employees in their quest to learn, build new skills and grow personally and professionally. That will never change, especially in a high-tech and high-touch business like hospitality. With a million guests per night and an expansion mindset in a highly competitive environment, our operating culture is pivotal. It requires an inspired approach and shifting from a “training” to a “life-long learning” mindset.

Continuous improvement is not – by definition – a one and done exercise. People are looking for opportunities to continuously learn and grow. For many of us that may mean embracing new technologies. Research shows optimism toward technology in the workplace. Why? Largely because workers believe technology will improve their work experience just as they’ve witnessed in their personal lives. Digital curiosity and technology adoption are rooted in an appreciation for advancement and the quest for opportunity.

I’m a strong believer in empowering employees at every level of the organization to express the company’s core values in a way that is relevant and meaningful to them

B IG

What’s your take on leadership especially in the digital era given that leaders today need to deal with unprecedented changes and an unpredictable future due to the Fourth Industrial Revolution? How does great leadership look like in the digital age?

priate business and social protocols, traditions, trends, cuisine, and clothing.

Demand for this innovative initiative has skyrocketed. Conducted in cities around the world, the program is now tailored for 13+ different cultures and countries.

Cultural competence isn’t positioned as political correctness, rather it’s reinforced as a business imperative and unique opportunity to understand key differences, provide next-level customer service, reduce risk and open up new revenue channels. It’s all about having a global mindset that goes beyond culture, race or gender. It could mean knowing how to present a business card to a Japanese guest (with both hands and a bowed head) or understanding major world holidays like Ramadan or even varied sensitivities affecting

military or LGBT families or people from urban and rural areas.

In Dubai, for example, participants learn business practices in Korean culture, including how to exchange business cards. Canadian associates learn about Chinese culture and protocols. Indian Culture Day participants absorb the history and significance of henna through the work of an on-site henna artist and learn about Indian attire through a sari tying demo. There’s also discussion around negotiating contracts, family dynamics and decision making, etc.

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I N TERVIEW

Enhanced culture competence allows Marriott International to better post up against notable market opportunities. For instance, it helped us leapfrog the competition in the events business where average spending on an Indian wedding is 3X a non-Indian wedding with large headcounts (400-800 guests), more functions (3-5 events) and large weekend wedding room blocks.

Also of note, ~39 percent of our associates work in Food & Beverage roles – an area of work that traditionally has high turnover. Our recruiting team finds innovative ways to attract and retain talent within this discipline globally. They launched a creative and wildly popular “Masters of the Craft” competition spotlighting our talented F&B artisans and the innovation happening in our 10,000 restaurants and bars around the globe.

By seeing the passion, results and career growth many of our associates experience, this content helps attract top culinarians and mixologists to our hotels. Much of the content points users to engage in our Marriott Careers website to learn more about the vast opportunities.

In an ever-changing world and marketplace, we must rethink the conversation around corporate culture and constantly ask ourselves not, “What should our culture be?” but rather, “What can I be doing to inspire our people and to be a true steward of an evergreen culture of success?”

A lot of studies lay stress on the power of parity including the McKinsey study which says that $12 trillion could be added to global GDP by 2025 by advancing women’s equality. Women’s participation in the workforce and presence in leadership positions is still off the mark. What's holding us back to fulfill this imperative?

Central to Marriott International’s sustained business success is providing a world of opportunity for associates, customers, suppliers, owner and many other key stakeholders with meaningful and impactful programs. Here are just a few notable examples of HR-related programs driving missioncritical business objectives: Women’s Leadership Development Initiative: Designed to develop a strong pipeline of female leaders. Today, women compromise ~55 percent of the company’s total workforce and hold some of the most significant P&L and policy-making positions, in the company.

The Emerging Leader Program (ELP): More than 1,300 leaders have completed or are currently enrolled in this program. Overall, women have represented 56 percent of participants and minorities have represented 36 percent. Since the program’s inception in 2014, 60 percent of participants have been promoted at least once.

Exchanges: A Diverse Supplier Program – Marriott International conducts business with more than 4,000 minority- women-, LGBT- disabled-, and veteran-owned businesses annually; and has spent over $5 billion worldwide with diverse suppliers over the past decade.

The Diversity Ownership Initiative: This program introduces the hotel business to successful business owners who are women or people of color.

Today, more than 1,300 Marriott-branded open hotels are owned by diverse entrepreneurs with hundreds more in the pipeline.

TakeCare Champions: TakeCare Champions drive Marriott's people-first culture lead by example and inspire colleagues to live their best lives.

Concerted recruitment efforts led to 13,979 new Champion volunteers during 2018. The current geographic mix of Champions is 58 percent Asia Pacific, 26 percent Americas, 8 percent MEA, 7 percent Europe.

TakeCare Level 30 App: Our people are taking care of themselves and each other as part of a global well-being challenge. In 2019, we set a record with nearly 125,000 app downloads of the TakeCare Level 30 app from more than 1,400 locations worldwide.

Global Challenge The TakeCare Triathlon, a component of our annual global challenge is designed to help associates meet their personal wellbeing goals over a 4-week period by participating in one of three well-being tracks: Move, Nourish, Balance. Over 29,145 associates from 426 locations around the globe participated.

As HR becomes more strategic, can they help drive business outcomes? Are there parameters to measure and quantify this? Do large organizations have measures to gauge HR’s performance in terms of numbers?

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global HR leader see them panning out in next the five years?

Overall, commitment to company culture and mission is never more important or apparent than during rough times or exceptional circumstances.

In our case, it could be anything from a disruptive natural disaster affecting on-property operations and the personal and professional lives of hotel staff; a complex industry or humanitarian issue with broadranging safety, security and reputational implications; or the world’s largest hospitality business merger.

Our acquisition of Starwood Hotels & Resorts led to one of the biggest challenges any CHRO could ever encounter. It meant not only integrating our global business operations but also extending a strong culture dating back to our founding into 1927 to the largest influx of employees in company history.

Clashes of culture have doomed countless mergers, but we prevailed by successfully identifying, emphasizing and leveraging commonalities in our respective cultures. The end result: our brands continue to enjoy top performance with customers, owners, developers, and lenders. At Marriott, our founders’ foremost business principle was: “Take care of the employees and they will take care of the customers, and the customers will come back again and again.”

This timeless legacy reminds us that sustainable business success is dependent on engaged associates who are inspired to serve, achieve, innovate and grow.

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I N TERVIEW

Can you share some instances of challenges that you might have faced in terms of team building, creating the right culture or anything else?

How did you get over them? What are the top challenges for HR today and how do you as a

The best organizations authentically support their employees in their quest to learn, build new skills and grow personally and professionally

B IG

Absolutely. Understanding business strategy is paramount to being an effective steward of human capital. Beyond that and in concert with leadership, you’ve got to lead by example and encourage others to do the same, especially at a time and in an environment when the very definition of the purpose of a corporation is being redefined.

Case in point: Marriott International is taking on an unfortunate and pervasive global issue – human trafficking. Backed by the steadfast leadership of our CEO, it’s a revelatory example of having the courage to take on the tough stuff.

To date, more than 670,000 managed and franchised associates have been trained to spot signs of human trafficking, marking a watershed moment in the global fight against this multinational crime and a meaningful learning and development (L&D) initiative. The mandatory training has directly resulted in rescues and the removal of young people from dangerous situations. To develop and test the human trafficking awareness training program, we spent nearly a year collaborating with ECPAT-USA and Polaris – two specialized, leading non-profits. We’ve since arranged for the program to be translated from English into 16+ additional languages and ensured it can be taken either online or in a classroom setting in the 130+ countries and territories where Marriott operates.

The instruction pinpoints signs to watch for, explains effective response, and is broken down by role because the signs that a front desk clerk sees may differ from those that a housekeeper or bartender sees. Most hotel workers wouldn’t necessarily witness a human trafficker visibly restraining a victim; they would typically see a scenario that is much more nuanced and harder to detect.

This two minute video -- A MILLION EYES -highlights the collective power of 500,000+ Marriott associates – collectively more than one million eyes – on the unconscionable crime which disproportionately affects women and children.

The training is having an impact far beyond Marriott International’s workforce, a source of great pride for our associates. Law enforcement officials indicate the training helps enhance overall community security as greater awareness leads to greater responsiveness both inside and outside of hotel walls. With this end in mind, we’ve donated the training to academia and to the industry through the American Hotel & Lodging Association Education Foundation with proceeds from training tools bought by other lodging operators going back to support ECPAT-USA and Polaris.

Looking ahead, you’ll see us continue to take – empowered by Marriott Serve 360 – a comprehensive look at where and how our company can best make an impact on the most pressing issues of our time, including sustainability and environmental impact with a particular focus on food waste.

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Humanizing Tech

With AI, the human aspect must still come first That includes psychology and sociology, understanding how to manage people, understanding customer needs, and most importantly, ethics

By Mint Kang

A

I is one of the next big technological trends that is finding its way into all manner of applications around the world. But as entire countries jump onboard, with coding classes being made mandatory at primary school level and older workers urged to learn tech skills to stay current, industry experts are urging people and companies not to neglect the critical human aspect of this technology.

Before a company decides to bring in AI, its own morals must be transparent enough for people to understand the implications of introducing AI 30

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Sunita Kannan

ASEAN Lead for AI Advisory/Strategy and Responsible AI

Before good AI comes good ethics Responsible AI has to become a mainstream thing, said panelists at a recent General Assembly seminar in Singapore.

“It is not possible to separate the ethical responsibility aspect from AI,” said Sunita Kannan, ASEAN Lead for AI Advisory/Strategy and Responsible AI. She pointed out that before a company decides to bring in AI, its own morals must be transparent enough for people to understand the implications of introducing AI; the organization as a whole must recognize the need to have an ethical wall in place around whatever it is doing with the technology.

“The problems you see with AI today-bias, preferences, selecting certain types of people over others, whether in favor of majorities or minorities--those are all fundamentally human issues,” observed David Robinson, the former Chief Technology Officer of MyRepublic. “We need to put the human element together with the technology to resolve these.”

Research and education are already tackling the issue. The MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab is studying how the human mind selects and applies decision-making principles, and looking into how machines can be made to do the same. Harvard researchers have developed a framework, dubbed “Embedded EthiCS”, for incorporating ethical reasoning into computer science education in such a way that it may become part of the way future products are developed.

And after good ethics comes sound psychology

Humanizing Tech

“We need to start looking at it from a psychological point of view,” said Robinson. “You need that because you are dealing with customers, and to be able to understand human behavior and also to understand data, that’s a very powerful combination.”

He added, however, that this would likely introduce new problems simply because engineers and psychologists are trained to have diverse worldviews and approaches, and getting these two groups to work together as a team would be challenging.

It is not just pure psychology that is needed, however.

“One inherent skill that cannot be replaced is management,” said Kannan. “By management, I mean the constant review and optimization of processes and people.” She added that there is a great need for sociology and law skills in the field: sociology because of how important the human element is to develop AI, and law because of the regulatory considerations surrounding data.

“The more diversity, the more outlooks people bring to this, the better,” she observed.

David Robinson

Former CTO, MyRepublic

The problems you see with AI today - bias, preferences, selecting certain types of people over others, whether in favor of majorities or minorities– those are all fundamentally human issues

Don’t forget lessons from history There is a lot of fear surrounding AI and its parent, the so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution.

The World Economic Forum has estimated that by 2022, 75 million jobs will have been displaced by automation. But, it also estimated that 133 million new jobs would be created as a result, and a large proportion of these would be roles based on human traits: customer service, sales and marketing, training and development, innovation management.

Former CTO Robinson said of this upheaval: “Every 20 or 30 years, jobs just go away, but what happens is, new jobs appear in their place.

There is a lot of fear, it’s entirely natural to be concerned. But if you maintain a constant learning state and upskill where you can, your chances of moving into the new economy are better...This is not the first time the technology has changed.

Learn about what has happened in the past.

Appreciate the history. That’s the best way to understand what’s coming.”

Certain backgrounds will also give people an edge. Accenture’s Kannan, a quantum physicist by training before she went into tech consult-

ing, shared that her educational background had actually been the entry point for her career in data science because she was deemed well-versed in math and physics. But she cautioned hopeful jobseekers to temper their expectations, particularly if changing careers. “If you have recently acquired a new data certification, even if you have 10 years of experience in another field, you can’t expect to go straight in as a senior data engineer!” she said.

Instead, she suggested that people keen on the field should develop an attitude of constant learning instead, because that gives them the ability to stay current in a very fast-moving environment.

“You need to want to learn new things,” she said. “That automatically will give you a sense of whether something is hyped or real. When I look for people, I look for that thirst for knowledge.”

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ACCA’s Julie Hotchkiss on the skills gap in 2020 In an exclusive interaction with People Matters, Julie Hotchkiss, Executive Director, People, ACCA, shares her insights into the world of work and skills, the skills gap facing the APAC region, and how talent leaders can help bridge this gap

By Vallari Gupte

F

rom having worked on the customer service side of the job as the Director of Customer Service at ACCA, to now managing talent and people at ACCA on a global level, in her role of Executive Director, People, Julie Hotchkiss has seen the accounting world transform radically. From the stereotype of having to number crunch and pore over books, the accounting profession now requires skills such as data analytics, creative thinking, an understanding of AI and Automation, and an overview of cybersecurity measures as well.

Here are the excerpts of the interview.

i n t e r v i e w

Can you share an experience where you’ve had to unlearn, relearn, and upskill yourself in order to continue to remain relevant? What would you advise other HR professionals to do when it comes to reskilling themselves?

I studied Business and Management which proved to be a good foundation since I wanted to get into the business world. Having worked in various sectors such as insurance, telecoms, the public sector, and even since joining ACCA, I’ve had the opportunity to fulfill various roles. At ACCA, I’ve been working in marketfacing roles, interacting with members, partners, students etc. The trend that I see at present is that skills have become just as important as knowledge, especially in today’s fast-paced world where employees are choosing to switch careers more often.

Knowledge can be built on-the-go. In today’s environment, you can acquire knowledge anytime as per the requirement of the job. However, skills get transferred from one job to the other. Skills such as leadership, communication, the ability to analyze and think strategically, have been core to all the jobs that I’ve done. The knowledge that we have today would most likely become irrelevant in five years. The ability to learn has been the most instrumental skill.

The speed of change might continue to transform, however, the skills that are acquired in one job remain relevant as you move from role to role. In my experience, the key is to focus on the skills aspect of work and to be unafraid to take on new challenges, even if you don’t have the experience or the ‘knowledge’ about the job role, yet. I would advise leaders, employees, and employers to focus on the core skills and brainstorm on how those can be transferred to the new roles.

With global trends changing the way we conceptualize work, workplace, and workforce, how can CEOs and CHROs create flex32

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ible organizations and set a learning agenda to re-skill talent to adapt to change?

In your opinion, what are the major drivers of change on a global level in the world of work and people?

The biggest driver of change has to be technology which is changing the way we work and live. It is changing the way humans do almost anything and everything and that is precisely the reason why jobs are changing at a rapid pace. The economy is moving away from jobs that are essentially repeatable tasks. Automation, AI, and rapid process automation is replacing these repeatable tasks thus freeing up the brain space of the workforce to engage in thinking about analysis, innova-

The principles of the IT sector where agile working has been implemented extensively can be successfully transferred and applied across organizations in different sectors

i n t e r v i e w

As far as the CEOs and CHROs are concerned, the most important aspect is to understand the overall journey of the organization and the future strategy that the company is going to pursue.

The CHROs have a very important role to play in thinking about how the organization will deliver on its strategy: the structure of the organization-whether it is a flexible and agile company or is it a hardwired organization that is not ready for change. These factors can have a big impact on the effectiveness of implementation and delivery of the strategy.

The next thing to understand is the culture and the particular ways of working in the organization and how these need to be changed or enhanced to deliver the strategy. The aim of many of today’s CHROs is to inculcate the culture of flexibility so that the organization can be more ready for the future with the skills and organizational capabilities that would be required tomorrow.

It is crucial that CHROs ask the CEOs and the management to consider what ways of working will help the organization be more effective and the impact of any change.

The principles of the IT sector where agile working has been implemented extensively can be successfully transferred and applied across organizations in different sectors. Bringing teams together to solve a problem, bringing people from diverse disciplines together for an innovation, to review processes, is all possible through an agile workframe.

The need of the hour is to move away from focusing on succession planning and to move towards building robust talent pools. When the organization as a whole moves towards creating talent pools, there is a greater opportunity to focus on the key skills required in the company that can actually make a difference. I would sincerely encourage fellow CHROs to think about the broader talent pool and invest in the development of these talent pools. It always circles back to the types of capabilities that an organization needs to build in order to deliver the strategy. These capabilities could range from data analytics’ skills, deep leadership within the organization or even project delivery. It is precisely why, the first step is to understand the strategy and take that into the capability building strategy.

tion and strategy more than just implementing what is told. Regulation is another major driver of change. As data and technology integrates into the workplace, there are new challenges facing the corporate world such as managing, storing and using data. So this means that regulation is driving us to think and behave in a different way.

As HR leaders, we must be attuned to the employees’ behaviors and take the necessary measures to meet the requirements as stipulated by legislation and ensuring that all the practices are ethical and legal--especially in a field like that of accounting wherein data security is of primary importance.

Another driver of change is the changing persona of the consumer. As a society that is a part of the social media culture with various kinds of technology available at their fingertips, employees expect the same level of transparency at the workplace. Whether it be employee feedback mechanisms or changes in regulations or updates in the business, in this digital age, both employers and employees expect a certain level of transparency and openness.

How have the demands on professional accountants transformed as the profession also undergoes a digital revolution? What are the skills that will be required to meet these changes and demands?

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The role of an accountant is being changed by technology. Accountants now have the opportunity to focus on adding value as the repeatable tasks get increasingly automated. As part of our professional insights work, we’ve interviewed more than 2000 C-suite executives and asked them what they wanted from their accountants in the future. More and more CXOs have told us that the technical and ethical skills are essential. But they also want to see the softer skills that really add value to the organization - centered around creativity and finding creative solutions to challenges. Emotional intelligence is also a skill that is expected of accountants because the mindset has shifted from just crunching numbers to conducting in-depth analysis and helping the C-suite make decisions. Communicating what the numbers mean and what the implications of those numbers would be for the organization, is also the onus of the modern-day accountant.

There are several inherent similarities between India and the APAC region when it comes to the skills deficit. It always comes down to the employability skills or the skills that make people productive and effective in the workplace. In Asia, there is a supply of talent but a shortage of skills, in terms of producing professional accountants fast enough to catch up with the demand and growth of the country.

The skills that need to be inculcated include the softer skills such as the ability to build relationships, to analyze and present the information in a compelling manner, and the ability to communicate effectively; these are the qualities that are going to be in-demand going forward. The gaps are primarily related to the professional skills vs. possessing the technical know-how.

i n t e r v i e w

The role of the accountant of the future is to question and prepare for multiple scenarios where they are proactively thinking about enhancing the business practices in a way that is ethical in this technological age of information and data What’s the number one job skill that the next generation will need to thrive at work?

The number one skill that the next generation cannot do without is the ability to learn on a continuous basis. That is the key skill that will allow professionals to remain relevant for the rest of their careers. There are lots of studies that show that many of the jobs of today would not exist in the future. A curiosity to learn something new and taking responsibility for your own development is going to be key. Reflecting on what you’ve learned, reflecting on failure, and developing the mindset of being open to new things and being unafraid of taking the initiative to undertake unknown challenges is going to be instrumental for the next generation to become successful in the future.

How does the future of work look for accounting as a profession?

The open access to data can enrich the accounting profession’s contribution to the business.

Technology enables us all, including accountants to focus less on repetitive tasks and focus more on creative thinking. It gives us the opportunity to innovate and to think about new business models that can add value to the organization.

When we focus on the talent landscape in the APAC region, what is your take on the skills’ defi34

cit that the region is facing as we embark upon a journey into the future of work?

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Ethical behavior is a core skill or personality trait for professional accountants. As the world of work becomes increasingly digital, how can accounting professionals ensure that ethics and trust are extended across different aspects of work?

Ethics and professionalism are at the heart of ACCA’s qualification. That’s because we believe it is vital for accountants to be trusted. And this trust comes from acting with integrity and professionalism. We were the first professional body to offer an ethics and professional skills module in our qualification as early as 2008 – students have to take this module.

Ethics and trust in our digital age is therefore vital. The rise of digital poses new complexities around protecting the data, the manner in which computers are programmed to process the data, maintaining compliance with the regulators, and the ways in which this data is shared and explained. The role of the accountant of the future is to question and prepare for multiple scenarios where they are proactively thinking about enhancing the business practices in a way that is ethical in this technological age of information and data. Curiosity about cybersecurity and protecting consumer data is a crucial ingredient of an accountant’s toolkit, as they enter the data-driven digital age of 2020.

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Gary Bury

Why companies should encourage employees to take time off in 2020 Time off means rest and recuperation, and time with family and friends.

Let me offer you a few reasons why it’s in your interest to encourage your team to take time off in 2020

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@

W o r k

uropeans are notoriously great at taking holidays. To the rest of the world, they seem to understand the benefits of a well-rested workforce. Get yourself a job in Europe, and you will land a minimum of 20 fully-paid days off per year, plus public holidays – that’s the law. On the other hand, you have the United States, now the only country in the developed world to not mandate paid time off.

But even in the generous EU, it’s not all roses and rainbows. It’s estimated that nearly 40 percent of workers don’t take their full annual leave entitlement each year. This is obviously bad; we talk about work-life balance, but unless we actually take time off, we can’t achieve it. No one’s headstone will say, “Here lies Bob, who never took a day off of work.” In fact, the chances are that Bob is in an early grave from working too much.

Time off means rest and recuperation, and time with family and friends. Extra time to travel, read a book, watch a movie, or maybe just have a few extra hours in bed. So let me offer you a few

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reasons why it’s in your interest to encourage your team to take time off in 2020.

Planned time off = less unplanned time off Don’t get me wrong. Everyone wants to run a successful business; but, the chances are that everything you believe about the way to achieve that is wrong. Just look at the media; we believe

One of the main reasons why taking time off is so important for your employees is that it ultimately results in fewer unexpected days off

that to be successful, we need to work like Elon Musk – that’s up to 90 hours a week, to be exact.

But, too much is just too much. Those heavy workloads will reflect on the well-being of your employees as well, if they haven’t already. The five-day hassle is not only inefficient but also unsustainable in the long run. And what’s more: offices simply aren’t a pleasant space to be in. Do you know someone who never suffered from back pain from sitting all day, or had their allergies triggered in an office that’s not well-ventilated, too hot or too cold? And don’t even get me started on the heightened anxiety levels brought on by bad office conditions.

Flexible work hours and home offices can help slightly, but still have nothing on proper time off.

Think about it: one of the main reasons why taking time off is so important for your employees is that it ultimately results in fewer unexpected days off.

That’s right; when employees are allowed to have more paid time off, both their physical and mental health improve, meaning they are much less likely to end up on sick leave. Want a healthy workforce?

It’s simple. Give them their well-deserved time off.

A surprising increase in productivity

W o r k

Days off are the incubators of creativity and creative ideas – those that can make or break a company – don’t just appear out of thin air. They must be gently cultivated, and the best way to do so is by employing a well-rested workplace. Letting the mind wander is proven to be an effective means to come up with valuable insights. Taking a step back and analyzing everything from a different perspective tends to result in the most creative ideas — something that isn’t possible when people are stuck in yet another 5 p.m. meeting, where all you can think of how late you will be reaching back home.

@

A well-rested mind is a creative mind

As any writer, artist, or other individual in a creative profession will tell you, rest is perhaps the biggest driver of creativity. Time off to engage in any form of personal relaxation is paramount to creative ideas. Some companies even go as far as to offer monthly paid time off for “passion projects.”

Yes, people can take time off to fix that cool veteran car in their garage, write a book, or take up tai chi. Employees are then more likely to have time to truly be themselves, and give this energy right back to your company.

Do you see my point? What does your workplace do to encourage happiness and creativity? Your answer to this may be one of the most important determinants of the overall success of your business.

When it comes to paid time off, we have been taught to think that less is actually more. But don’t fall into such outdated thinking patterns. Finding the right balance between work and play is one of the biggest challenges we face as a society. You only live once – and so do your employees. So let’s live happily, healthily, and creatively. Because in the end, that’s all that really matters.

L i f e

Now, what happens once an employee comes back from a holiday? Whether it’s traveling, meditating, or spending time with family, these activities do wonders for recharging our batteries.

Disconnecting makes us more relaxed, happy, and ultimately, more productive. It’s been found that companies with state-mandated holiday actually see a more focused and productive workforce in the long run.Although some employers might wish otherwise, we are humans — not robots. No human can stay entirely focused for 10 hours a day. The semi-productive haze and procrastination are real; so, instead of turning your back on employees watching cat videos, why not just approach it differently?

If you are one of those who count everything with money, let me throw another one at you: an overworked employee might cost you more than many days off. Statistics show that over 60 percent of absenteeism at work is attributed to psychological stress and burnout. This translates to up to $350 billion in losses annually for US businesses. This just shows how our work culture has flipped upside down and we need to focus on working smarter, not longer.

When employees are allowed to have more paid time off, both their physical and mental health improve, meaning they are much less likely to end up on sick leave. Want a healthy workforce? It’s simple. Give them their well-deserved time off

About the author

Gary Bury is the Founder and CEO of Timetastic FEBRUARY 2020 |

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i n t e r v i e w

Flexibility of where, when, and how employees work is now a business requirement Patti Clarke, the Chief Talent Officer for Havas Group, shares her

take on leadership, new-age organizational cultures, and more, in an interaction with People Matters

By Abid Hasan

P

atti Clarke is Global Chief Talent Officer for the Havas Group, one of the world's largest global communications groups founded in 1835 in Paris and now part of Vivendi. She is responsible for leading all aspects of global human resources as well as talent and cultural strategy for the group’s 20,000+ employees in over 100 countries.

Patti’s experience includes a 20-year career at Dun & Bradstreet, where she was

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Chief Human Resources Officer for nine years and also ran global internal communications. In a candid conversation with People Matters, Clarke shared her thoughts on the top talent trends in 2020, learning culture in the organization and her plans to make HR agile in 2020.

You have spent over seven years at Havas Group. How has your journey been, and what were some of your major challenges?

I was thrilled to join Havas and work in an environment filled with energetic people and amazing creativity. I love the dynamic nature of the advertising industry and the fact that it’s always changing and evolving. The journey at Havas has been great as our senior management has continuously been very supportive of our talent strategy and approach.

I’d say the biggest challenge is making sure that our offering supports the growth and development of all our 20,000+ employ-

ees, as our goal is for everyone to have a meaningful work experience at Havas.

What are the core values that define the culture at Havas Group?

Collaboration is at the core of our culture and business. We have over 60 villages across the globe where our clients benefit from a broad variety of capabilities—all under one roof, with people who truly enjoy working together.

I love the fact that each village has its own unique culture and personality, but we’re all focused on one common vision: To make a meaningful difference to businesses, brands, and people.

In terms of other values, I’d say we are entrepreneurial by nature, always looking for new ways to do things and also generous—in both sharing our time and talents, and in helping each other.

employee as an individual, requiring all of us to be adaptable because the “one size fits all” model is now something of the past.

How is leadership changing in the wake of digital technologies? Do we have enough digital leaders to tackle future business challenges?

Today’s leaders have more tools at their fingertips to help them be more effective leaders for their teams. With that comes increased accountability around using these tools and insights properly. With the

Do you have any plan for 2020 to make HR more agile?

What according to you were the top talent and HR trends of 2019 and why are they important for year 2020?

Flexibility of where, when, and how employees work is no longer a trend but rather a requirement if you want to be competitive in the market. There’s also been a lot more focus on family leave for everyone—not just mothers.

There has also been an increased focus on mental health and wellness. I think 2020 will bring more offerings focused on the

Don’t expect your leader to be a mind reader—talk to them about your aspirations and develop a plan together rapid pace of change in digital, we must constantly challenge ourselves to have talent that’s cutting edge/up-to-speed on those technologies. Digital capabilities are also at the forefront of our agency offerings and our acquisition strategy. Many agencies have specific digital teams and some even have innovation labs where they experiment, test, and learn around evolving technologies and how they can support our work. Organizations are creating leadership positions in the digital vertical to ensure that they are future-ready, disruptive in solutions, offer unique content, and digitally ahead of the curve.

For someone who is looking to grow in Havas, what are the areas they should focus on?

As Global Chief Talent officer, what are the top things you do to create a learning culture in the organization?

We have a global and local approach to learning. This means there are many programs offered in our villages, ranging from formal skills development, to “lunch and learn” knowledge sharing, to wellness education, and inspirational speaker series.

We also have a range of global programs that focus on mobility, leadership development and career advancement. All our employees also have access to online training through our recently revamped Havas University platform. The courses range from soft-skills training to our proprietary programmatic and MBx media certifications; and of course, training on mandatory key compliance areas such as harassment, anti-corruption, etc.

We also created our Agora knowledge platform as an internal content hub that all employees can leverage for research and learning.

i n t e r v i e w

I am a big believer in evaluating our HR processes relative to the impact on our employees. I don’t believe in extra steps or layers because it benefits HR. It’s our job, with our talent leaders, to create a meaningful experience for our employees and sometimes that means re-thinking an HR approach so that it’s a better user experience for our employees.

In January 2018, Havas Group launched ‘Femmes Forward.’ What leverage have women employees taken from this program? And what are the future plans for ‘Femmes Forward’?

‘Femmes Forward’ is a comprehensive six-month program focused on advancing women within the Havas Group networks.

The program is a mix of skills-based training, leadership assessments, group coaching, networking and thought leadership.

The first program launched in London in January 2018 and since then has run in New York, Paris, Madrid, Asia-Pacific.

In addition, in APAC and the U.S, we’ve employed a regional approach by bringing together women from those markets. Over 125 women from 17 countries, including India, have participated in the program.

The results are impressive in that 27 percent of all participants have been promoted, and for those who have been out of the program for a year, the promotion rate increases to 57 percent. In my recent visit to India, I met a lot of ambitious, career-oriented women and, as we continue our Femmes Forward programming in 2020, our focus will continue to be on developing and supporting them and other women throughout our network.

I had very meaningful interactions with our leaders and high potential team members and I’m impressed by the diverse talent pool and their eagerness to learn and grow beyond their own discipline.

My advice is to be proactive around your development. First, don’t expect your leader to be a mind reader—talk to them about your aspirations and develop a plan together.

Second, while it is great to participate in a Havas talent development program or even attend a specific skills-based training program, there is a lot to be learned from each other in each village whether through collaborative initiatives or cross training— so don’t miss out on what’s right in front of you!

What are some of the practices that Havas Group follows to align HR strategy with organization and business strategy?

Havas Group’s vision is to make a meaningful difference to brands, businesses and people. That carries through directly to how we support our people. They are the heart and soul of bringing this vision to life, and our talent strategy is committed to cultivating meaningful work experiences for them.

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By Mastufa Ahmed

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Why businesses should start leveraging the gig workforce to augment their business growth in 2020

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The Rise of the Gig A

ccording to the World Bank’s World Development Report 2019, the total freelancer population worldwide is estimated at around 84 million, or less than three percent of the global labor force of 3.5 billion.

This includes 15 million freelance workers from India alone. The world is seeing rapid growth in the number of people working under gig arrangements and these workers perform a broad range of activities. In fact, the so-called “gig economy� is altering the way people view and perform work.

But are organizations ready to leverage this workforce to their advantage? Do they have new policies, programs, and talent management strategies to respond to the changing workplace dynamics?

The cover story takes a look at the current state of the gig economy, the future of work in the context of the rising gig work, strategies businesses can embrace to leverage the potential of the millennial gig workers, the challenges for managing gig workers, and the way forward.

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Gig economy has farreaching implications for businesses

The Managing Director of Randstad Singapore and Malaysia Jaya Dass, in an interaction with People Matters, shares insights on the future of work in the context of the rising gig economy and how businesses can leverage the millennial workforce who comprise the majority of the alternative gig force

By Mastufa Ahmed

J STORY

aya Dass joined Randstad in 2008 as a recruitment consultant and she now helms the Singapore and Malaysia offices that collectively house more than 130 recruitment consultants across multiple specializations. Equipped with strong business acumen drawn from her prior experience in business operations and development as well as audit, Jaya is known for her ability to craft future-ready business strategies and empathetic leadership skills.

How do you see the rise of the gig economy which is being debated these days more than ever?

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The growth of the gig economy coincides with the rise of social media as well as the competition to innovate. While social media has made it possible for people to connect and build relationships, it also fostered a new expectation - instant gratification. This gave rise to the on-demand marketplace that we see now, dominated mainly by unicorn start-ups such as Grab (and Uber), Deliveroo (and Postmates), Spotify, Netflix and Airbnb.

These innovators are giving traditional firms a run for their money. On-demand services are

disrupting the market and changing the way consumers interact and engage with a brand.

Companies in manufacturing, financial services, healthcare and even supply chain are investing billions of dollars into tech developments to defend their market share and meet customers’ growing expectations on brands to deliver the “next big thing�.

This new industry has also created new types of jobs for people to earn good income. Gig workers include anyone from an Uber driver or Airbnb host, to project managers and application developers who are instrumental in digital transformation projects that global companies are investing in.

By hiring gig workers and contractors (fixedterm or project-based employees), companies can be more agile in the way they respond to customer needs. They are able to bring experts with niche skills on board during the transition period, without having to bear high overheads of a permanent staff. A blended workforce, if managed well, can give the company the launchpad it needs to stay ahead of its competitors.

However, the discrepancies between the salary and benefits coverage between a permanent employee and a gig worker are becoming more obvious. Unsatisfactory employer practices such as poor insurance coverage, lack of annual leave days and late salary payments have forced some gig workers to take it up to their unions and public agencies to voice their demands.

How do you see the future of work in the context of the rising gig economy?

The key motivating factor for many gig workers in Asia Pacific is the extra income they could get from working several gigs at the same time, particularly in low-income gig jobs 42

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Within Asia Pacific, cities like Singapore, Hong Kong SAR and Shanghai would have more professional gig workers. This can be attributed to a robust education system and opportunities in the workplace for them to grow professionally

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The impact of the gig economy on the labor market varies, depending on who you talk to.

While it's easy to write "gig economy" off as a buzz phrase used by techies and founders of innovative start-ups, it is an important concept that has farreaching implications for employees and companies to come.

There's no question that, in the last several years, the gig economy trend has certainly grown.

According to the Ministry of Manpower in Singapore, the number of residents engaged in their own account work has grown from 200,100 in 2016 to 223,500 in 2017.

Some of the key industries where gig economy workers are currently employed include banking and financial services, construction and property, trade manufacturing and supply chain as well as healthcare. Specialized professionals in accounting and finance, sales and marketing as well as human resources are also more open to the idea of working on a contract term, as they can choose to work on projects that they are passionate about and get paid a premium for their expertise.

While there are some definite drawbacks of the gig economy, one thing seems certain. It's going to continue to grow and may soon become the new workforce dynamic. Companies and freelancers (self-employed) are now shifting their focus to how the gig economy is being regulated and working together to ensure that employment rights, regardless of their status, are equal and well protected.

It is critical for companies to understand what millennials are looking for in an employer and a job. I believe that young people want to work in a job that they love, with an employer whom they believe in.

Many people think that millennials are lazy and self-entitled. However, the truth is far from that. Besides having a full-time job, it is common for millennials and Generation-Z workers to have a side hustle that is more aligned with their personal interests. We have seen many millennials choosing to work as yoga instructors or graphic designers during their own time.

Employers that want to actively engage younger workers should not be punishing this behavior. Instead, they should encourage millennials to take advantage of their youth and expose themselves to new technologies and ideas. When they gain new perspectives outside of the office, they will come back with great new ideas that could improve business performance. As long as their side hustles do not interfere with the quality of their work or have a conflict with the business, millennials should be encouraged to learn and engage with other communities outside of their working hours.

In the 2019’s annual Employer Brand Research conducted in Singapore, 42 percent of millennials and Generation Z workers said that they look for employers that offer career growth opportunities.

The younger generations have a hunger for knowl-

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How can businesses leverage the millennial alternative workforce moving forward?

edge, and companies that want to engage them to build a sustainable talent pipeline need to be able to meet those expectations. Instead of in-house and on-the-job training, employers can also consider signing the youths up for conferences and networking sessions, mentorship programs and global exchange curriculums.

What are major motivating factors behind the swelling gig force? Do you see any different patterns in SEA or APAC market?

The key motivating factor for many gig workers in Asia Pacific is the extra income they could get from working several gigs at the same time, particularly in low-income gig jobs. Unfortunately, by doing so, they may actually feel like they are working in a full-time job. If not managed well, some gig workers may risk committing longer working hours than a permanent employee. This is slightly different when it comes to professional gig workers who provide consultancy services to large firms, either on a project-basis or an hourlyrate. This group of workers can choose which companies they want to work with to build their own portfolio, as well as manage their own time so that they can have a healthy work-life balance.

Many Asian countries are still in developing stages and on-demand services are gaining popularity among local consumers. Therefore, we are seeing more people in the low-income gig scene, such as food delivery drivers. The widening skills FEBRUARY 2020 |

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gap also means that there is a very limited pool of talent in the professional gig scene for companies to engage.

Within Asia Pacific, cities like Singapore, Hong Kong SAR and Shanghai would have more professional gig workers. This can be attributed to a robust education system and opportunities in the workplace for them to grow professionally.

How are talent management practices changing in the gig economy and how are organizations adapting to these changes?

The gig economy should not be seen as a longterm strategy to attract good talent. Gig workers are normally engaged on a project or hourly basis to fill skills gap in the company and they typically do not stick around once they have delivered their job. By the end of the day, if the worker’s perception of the company is poor, they will choose not to work with the company anymore and will advise their peers against doing so as well.

Employer branding is the long-term strategy to unlock good talent. Companies that invest in strengthening their employer brand will be able to

Regardless of whether the worker is a permanent employee, contract staff or gig worker, they should be receiving fair benefits. However, it would not be realistic for a company to provide the same benefits to everyone, as each of them are contributing to the company in different ways.

As a start, every employee and gig worker should receive the same basic benefits, such as insurance or medical claims, a cap on the number of working hours each day, paid leave and fair remuneration (in exchange for their contributions). Permanent employees, who have less control over their own time management, will have more access to additional employee benefits, such as parental leave and flexible work options. It is critical for employers to effectively communicate to their workers the benefits that they are entitled to and why there are differences in the type of benefits they are receiving. Companies can also consider conducting regular engagement surveys with gig workers to understand their sentiments, motivations and expectations of the organization.

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Regardless of whether the worker is a permanent employee, contract staff or gig worker, they should be receiving fair benefits.

However, it would not be realistic for a company to provide the same benefits to everyone, as each of them are contributing to the company in different ways attract more talent that they need to ensure business sustainability. When a worker feels that their expectations have been met by the employer, they will share their positive experiences with their peers. Through word-of-mouth, the candidate pool will grow in size and these companies will have more talent to engage with.

When a company has a good employer branding, they will be able to attract and engage highlyskilled talent on either a permanent or temporary basis. The 2019 global Randstad Employer Branding also noted that 80 percent of the Australian respondents said that a positive employee experience help increase trust in the organization and made it more likely that they would recommend their place of work to family or friends.

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How can businesses gear up to cash in on the big opportunity that gig economy offers?

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The feedback would give employers the opportunity to proactively tweak the benefits package for gig workers to meet their expectations.

Do you think the inroads made by technology such as AI and ML will have a significant influence on pushing some jobs out of the traditional and into the gig domain?

New technologies have definitely made a handful of administrative-heavy tasks redundant. For example, some companies have replaced customer service teams with bots that can immediately answer the enquiry from an online user, which has proved to be a huge time-saver for the retail and F&B industry.

The biggest challenge that companies in Asia Pacific is facing from the rise of the gig economy is employee integration and engagement.

When the gig economy first started, employers were not sure of how to integrate the different groups of employees together. Permanent employees feel that the gig workers will “steal� their jobs and temporary workers do not want to form new professional relationships with colleagues whom they will have to bid farewell to in a few months.

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What are the major challenges facing the big gig force? And what are the major hurdles facing organizations in terms of talent management and culture?

It would be critical that employees be willing to put in time and resources to constantly upskill themselves and stay relevant in the labor market. The gig economy is an ideal platform for people to upskill themselves

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However, instead of being fearful of how technology will radically take over jobs, we should feel empowered by it. New technologies help us be more productive at work. Because of a 5G network, we are able to connect with people across the world on video to align on next steps at work in a matter of minutes. Technology will disrupt the way we work and we will see our job scopes and responsibilities drastically evolve. The onus is up to us to keep up with the changes.

It would be critical that employees be willing to put in time and resources to constantly upskill themselves and stay relevant in the labor market.

The gig economy is an ideal platform for people to upskill themselves. If a person wants to break out of their comfort zone to acquire new skills and build a new professional network, they could consider joining the new industry as a gig worker.

It would also give them the opportunity to trial the new work environment, so that they can better decide for themselves if those new skills and work environment meet their personal career aspirations.

However, we have observed that this situation is slowly improving.

We see more employers introduce engagement initiatives which ensure that each department and team has a good mix of permanent, contractors and gig workers working together. For example, within the accounting and finance function, there would be external consultants (professional gig workers) who will work with C-level executives to develop a strategy to improve financial performance. Permanent and contract workers are both responsible for executing and following through with the strategy. It is also common for transformation project teams to have a mix of employees on different types of employment contracts due to the need for different niche skills and expertise.

When people collaborate together on the same project, they have a common goal. They will be more open to sharing ideas and constructive comments on how to best reach the goal together.

This human capital strategy will help create a collaborative work environment which encourages people to learn from each other and upskill the workforce.

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Gig economy requires HR leaders to don a new hat: CEO, BrainGain Global In an exclusive interaction with People Matters, Harjiv Singh, Founder & CEO, BrainGain Global, talks about innovative ways of managing a gig workforce, the defining trends of 2019, and the way forward for the gig economy

By Vallari Gupte

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firm believer in the power of leveraging the intersection of media, technology, and education to empower individuals, Harjiv Singh, Founder & CEO, BrainGain Global, is a serial entrepreneur. With more than 20 years of experience in business, entrepreneurship, politics, teaching, and non-profits, Harjiv has co-founded companies such as Gutenberg Communications and MDOffices.com.

Having earned his master’s degree in International Affairs from Columbia University and an MBA from the New York Institute of Technology, Harjiv also worked at GE Capital, a New York City hedge fund and Priceline. He picked up on the pulse of various organizations and understood what makes them successful.

Even though he is passionate about the power of education and technology in empowering people, he is also a political junkie and has previously worked as a campaign advisor to an Indian parliamentarian and also volunteered on Michael Bloomberg’s first mayoral campaign in New York City.

Here are the excerpts of the interview.

While most organizations have been slow in adopting gig work models as of yet, it’s an approach that the majority of business leaders are considering. How do you think the market currently fares when it comes to adopting gig work models?

The gig economy isn’t a new concept. During the last twenty years, we’ve seen the emergence of businesses staffed almost entirely by freelancers.

You also have Fortune 500 companies innovating on open-source crowd platforms, in addition to new technologies like Artificial Intelligence solving challenges. Especially during the last decade, the gig economy has been driven by such technologies, which effectively mediate interactions between consumers and providers. Given these trends, freelance skills and crowdsourcing will undoubtedly become a standard part of operating budgets.

Recent research indicates that almost a third of workers around the world identify as freelancers and the numbers are rising.

India alone has thousands of freelancers operating through online marketplaces and may

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become a key leader in the shared economy model of employment in the Asia-Pacific. The Indian gig economy has the capacity to grow up $20-30 Bn in the next six years. We have a thriving startup ecosystem that’s fuelling the gig economy by hiring talent across industries. Take the example of taxi aggregators. Virtually anyone who can drive can sign up on these platforms and secure high-paying gigs. Such a model offers employers enormous benefits, especially considering the challenge of

Given the flexible nature of the gig economy, freelancers and contract workers are likely to earn less than regular employees. This was also indicated by a recent TIME magazine survey, which showed that many employers hire contractors to reduce costs

attracting and retaining talent. But freelancing also benefits workers by offering autonomy and flexibility without the occupational hazards of a salaried job. Governments need to act on these changing attitudes towards work and make necessary policy changes. The gig economy could be an effective remedy to counter jobless growth. At the same time, it is important to note that the gig model is yet to penetrate rural India.

What challenges do you expect to emerge as the gig economy grows?

Three challenges come to mind. The first is that given the flexible nature of the gig economy, freelancers and contract workers are likely to earn less than regular employees. This was also indicated by a recent TIME magazine survey, which showed that many employers hire contractors to reduce costs.

Freelance and contract workers must also deal with the lack of security since there are no employment rights of much significance. Finally, there is the sheer time and effort that being a gig worker demands. Freelancers and contractors are entirely responsible for marketing their services, engaging

tors, entrepreneurs, professionals, students, and parents work through the same platform?

As an ed-tech start-up, headquartered in New York, we have teams across four countries in fields like design, content, editorial, marketing, and sales. The world is our oyster and we can hire excellent people across geographies, rather than limiting ourselves.

How has your experience been in managing a gig workforce and balancing business and people goals, simultaneously?

In a digital world, it is a lot easier to manage teams than it was a decade ago. Tools like Zoom, Slack, and WhatsApp make it much simpler to manage disparate teams globally. Technology has

Hiring, managing, and retaining freelancers is a daunting task. How can technology help managers and HR leaders manage their alternative workforce?

Technology has significantly altered workforce behavior over the last couple of decades. It has made it easier to hire specialized talent at low labor costs. It also allows organizations to reduce rent expenses. Communication technologies have aided the rise of remote working. You also have digital tools that help maximize productivity, streamline operations, and reduce compliance risks. Take the case of vendor management systems. These allow managers to seamlessly tap into a vast pool of gig talent and track suppliers, workers, and deliverables to effectively maximize productivity.

What role does a gig workforce play in a global organization like that of BrainGain where educa-

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with clients, and managing their contracts and finances. All these tasks eat into the time that it takes to generate income.

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Gig and contract workers shouldn’t simply be treated as temporary employees.

Leaders must take the effort to include and involve them in the organization made it much easier to ensure seamless communication and coordination between the gig workforce and full-time employees.

Any particular advice for HR leaders and people managers on how to best manage the new-age gig workforce?

The gig economy requires managers and HR leaders to don a new hat. The success of such a setup requires structure and discipline. Managers need to ensure smooth interactions between their contract workers and their regular employees, while simultaneously upholding their organization’s legal and business interests. Gig and contract workers shouldn’t simply be treated as temporary employees. Leaders must take the effort to include and involve them in the organization.

That said, gig workers and full-time employees are two categories of workers that require different management approaches. To effectively balance these, it is necessary to set realistic expectations with everyone involved and ensure that you stick to them. It is also vital for HR to create the right kind of organizational culture that accommodates the interests of gig workers and can act as the head of the company’s gig talent.

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Gig economy is here to stay, but...

It’s time organizations should focus on creating an attractive value proposition for alternative workers and strategically leveraging them to help create value for the organization, says Kathi Enderes, Ph.D., VP, Talent and Workforce Research Leader, Bersin, Deloitte Consulting LLP, in an interaction with People Matters

By Mastufa Ahmed

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athi leads talent and workforce research for Bersin, Deloitte Consulting LLP, enabling organizations to transform work and the worker experience for increased organizational performance. With more than 20 years global human capital experience from management consulting with IBM, PwC and EY and as a talent management leader in large complex organizations, she specializes talent strategies, talent development and management, performance management, and change management.

Kathi is passionate about helping organizations transition to the future of work. She holds a doctoral degree in mathematics and a master’s degree in mathematics from the University of Vienna, Austria.

Here are the excerpts of the interview.

It is projected that gig workers will comprise half the workforce by 2020, and as much as 80 percent by 2030. What do you see as the driving force of the gig economy? Why is it being debated more than ever?

In today’s rapidly evolving environment, change is the new norm. Workers and organizations alike are learning that agility is key to getting ahead in the future world of work. Skills requirements are rapidly changing, and unemployment is at unprecedented lows in many parts of the world.

Not surprisingly, 67 percent of surveyed organizations worldwide are having trouble filling open positions.1 At the same time, more people work in the open talent market as contractors, consultants, freelancers, gig or crowd workers – also known as the alternative workforce. We see gig workers as part of the open talent continuum.

Traditional

The Open Talent Continuum

best for function-specific work

Joint venture employees Organization's employees

Managed service providers

Contractors

Open

best for task-specific work

Crowd Gig workers

Source: Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends 2019 48

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The debates are oftentimes on semantics: what exactly is a gig worker, as opposed to an independent contractor, for example. Definitions are often blurry, resulting in sometimes vastly different numbers of the size of the gig economy. Whatever the exact definitions, the number of people working in non-traditional employment scenarios is increasing. In recent years, facilitated by technology platforms that match gig workers with requisitions, gig work has emerged in areas as diverse as technical development, handyman services or driving cars over technical development to legal services, management consulting or project management.

How do you see the future of work in the context of the rising gig economy?

Expansions in technology, global connectedness, and changing workforce and customer expectations are presenting new opportunities for organizations.

But expansion typically brings disruption, as well as pressures and confusion on how to best cope with change. This new reality of work provides individuals and organizations opportunities and challenges in three interrelated areas.

• The work: What work is. With the rise of automation, augmentation, and changing business needs to compete in the marketplace, the need for new skills and capabilities has required organizations to re-think how work inputs (work activities) and outputs (work products) should change as well.

To access the skills and capabilities of top alternative workers, organizations need a tailored value proposition carefully designed to workforce needs, culture and brand— unique to the alternative workforce

• T he workforce: Who can perform the work.

Workers of the future embrace opportunities to design unique career paths that do not fit in traditional talent models. Contingent work allows workers with an increased diversity of education level, geographies, skills, experiences, aspirations to access opportunities they would not have had otherwise. The workforce can span human workers and machines, working together in machine/human collaborations.

• The workplace: Where and when the work can get done. Alternative work models have required organizations to embrace workplace dispersion across time zones and physical locations, inviting new types of teaming through technology to help maximize collaboration, productivity and performance.2

According to a study, overall self-employment is likely to triple to 42 million workers by 2020, with millennials leading the way. How can businesses leverage the millennial alternative workforce moving forward?

Deloitte’s 2018 Millennials study identified that more than two-thirds of surveyed participants engage in “side hustles” to help pay the bills4. Beyond making money, alternative work offers flexibility in schedule and work location, a variety of work, building relationships and networks broadly, and a modular way to build diverse experiences, and to build their own career and network.

The 2019 Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends report shows that while 80 percent of organizations expect the use of smart technologies to increase, only 13 percent see this resulting in significant job eliminations5. More and more

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One of the promises of the gig economy is that workers have more flexibility to work when and as much as they want. What are the motivating factors behind the swelling gig force?

Do you think the inroads made by technology such as AI and ML will have a significant influence on pushing some jobs out of the traditional and into the gig domain?

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It’s important to not make the gig economy about a specific generation or a single workforce segment. Regardless of generation, the best alternative workers will have their choice of organizations to work for, and we see this as the next frontier in the war for talent. People look for more than a paycheck, they demand an engaging experience, to feel valued and respected, meaningful work, opportunities to use their strengths, access to tools and resources to help them succeed, and a balance between flexibility and predictability.3 To access the skills and capabilities of top alternative workers, organizations need a tailored value proposition carefully designed to workforce needs, culture and brand— unique to the alternative workforce. Many organizations have experience with taking a differentiated approach to attracting part-time employees versus full-time employees.

This mindset can be transferred to attracting and engaging the alternative workforce as well. It starts with understanding what the alternative workforce values, and then designing offerings around those needs.

To be able to successfully empower the alternative workforce will require cultivating ongoing relationships, even though employment might not last long. Each alternative worker should be considered as a potential customer, a positive brand ambassador, and a valued member of a team.

On the other side, many organizations try to pivot their workforce strategies to incorporate alternative workers. This approach can provide various benefits to organizations: • Potential for reduced costs • Increased organizational agility • Access to a wider range of skills and capabilities • Increased flexibility to scale the workforce, staffing for temporary needs • Greater diversity of perspectives and backgrounds.

organizations are setting their sights on the significant upsides of reinventing work itself with technology, amplifying human capabilities like innovation, empathy or collaboration through the use of smart technologies. Rather than focusing on just cost savings for the organization, forwardlooking organizations balance cost, value, and meaning in their transformation efforts, looking to create a better experience and broader purpose for their workforce and their customers. This strategic approach to evaluate work, the workforce and the workplace in conjunction with a sense of can create better outcomes for the organization, the workforce, and customers.

80% of companies, in a survey, agree that managing gig workers requires a different approach than managing full-time employees.

How can different industries settle with their unique talent mix including gig workers?

Despite all of the benefits organizations can reap from the alternative workforce in general and gig workers in particular, only about one in five organizations actually leverage the alterna-

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In the future, organizations will need to strategically evaluate how work gets done and by whom it gets done, and cater to the needs of different workforce segments in different ways in order to provide more meaningful work

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tive workforce to a large extent. The vast majority of organizations do not have a strategic approach around this workforce segment,6 or they manage and develop them inconsistently.7 Harnessing the power of the alternative workforce requires a unique value proposition, a positive experience specifically cultivated for this workforce segment and a broader workforce strategy.

This includes strategically defining • the work most suitable for gig workers • how they will interact with other workforce segments • how they will be part of teams and workgroups • how their work will be managed, rewarded and evaluated Then, organizations need to develop necessary skills and experiences within leaders, managers and employees to execute on these talent priorities.

What are the major challenges facing the big gig force? And what are the major hurdles facing organizations in terms of talent management and culture?

For individuals, gig work can provide many benefits – most importantly, flexibility in the nature, time and location of their work, variety of opportunities and a modular way to build a career and experiences. Technologies make it easier than ever to find gig work. The challenges many gig workers face are around predictability – being able to keep the schedule full but not overflowing – and a sense of belonging at work, as teams and leaders might be changing rapidly, making it hard to feel truly connected.

For organizations, the biggest hurdles are around a strategic approach to gig workers – specifically, who ‘owns’ talent management of these workers, leader capabilities to seamlessly manage various workforce segments, and concerns about often blurry legal and regulatory requirements that can be interpreted in many different ways.

Do you believe the gig economy is the way of the future? Where do you see the gig economy in the next 10 years?

While the gig economy is here to stay, it’s not going to be the destination for every person in every situation. In the future, organizations will need to continuously and strategically evaluate how work gets done and by whom it gets done, and cater

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to the needs of different workforce segments in different ways in order to provide more meaningful work – and broader value to the organization itself, its entire workforce and its customers. This can include a mindset of giving gig workers more of what employees have – the sense of belonging to a team, and meaningful work – while also giving employees more of what gig workers have – variety and flexibility of work. Organizations that purposefully design a positive, personalized experience for their entire workforce, including gig workers, have better customer and financial results, and impact the communities they serve in a positive way.8 It’s a win/win.

Organizations can rethink their workforce strategies for the gig economy: • 1. Start with outcomes. What business goal are you trying to accomplish with the alternative workforce? A balance of cost, increased value and growth, and meaning is key. Once you are clear about what you are aiming for, define how you will measure success, and keep track to continuously improve.

• 2. Imagine the possibilities. Broadening the talent pool to strategically take advantage of alternative workers presents myriad opportunities. Check your assumptions, think big, and create bold ‘what if ’ scenarios.

• 3. Compose a plan. Prioritize your starting point. It could be where there is high value for customers, where leadership is ready, where skills are particularly hard to locate, or where most flexibility is needed. From there, create a plan for activating the alternative workforce.

• 4. Activate the workforce. Access this workforce starting with a tailored value proposition.

Curate engaging experiences for the alternative workforce. Engage the workforce—high-performing organizations are 4.8x more likely to provide alternative workers with performance goals and 10x more likely to provide them with regular performance feedback.9 The alternative workforce is here to stay. To leverage the power of this workforce segment and position your organization to get the most out of the relationship, focus on creating an attractive value proposition for alternative workers and strategically leveraging them to help create value for the organization, the workforce and the customer.

Notes 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

2019 Global Human Capital Trends: Leading the social enterprise— Reinvent with a human focus, Deloitte Consulting LLP and Deloitte Insights, 2019.

Creating value and impact through the alternative workforce, Deloitte Consulting LLP, 2019 High-Impact Workforce Experience study, Bersin, Deloitte Consulting LLP, 2019.

Deloitte, 2018 Deloitte millennial survey: Millennials disappointed in business, unprepared for Industry 4.0, 2018.

2019 Global Human Capital Trends: Leading the social enterprise— Reinvent with a human focus, Deloitte Consulting LLP and Deloitte Insights, 2019, 2020 Future of Talent Study, Bersin, Deloitte Consulting LLP, 2020 2019 Global Human Capital Trends: Leading the social enterprise— Reinvent with a human focus, Deloitte Consulting LLP and Deloitte Insights, 2019.

High-Impact Workforce Experience study, Bersin, Deloitte Consulting LLP, 2019.

High-Impact Performance Management study, Bersin, Deloitte Consulting LLP, 2018.

Real Time Compliance Management Avoid non-compliances taking place than a post mortem after the damage is done.

Organizations have to adhere to many compliances under Labour Law , Factories act & similar laws. By implementing Labourworks you not only send advance Email/SMS notice about a possible non-compliance likely to happen & give an opportunity to the contractor to take corrective actions. But if the corrective action is not taken in time then you can simply block the entry of the worker & avoid non-compliances from taking place in a real time mode.

Some of the compliances that can be implemented in real time mode are

Working without a weekly off Maximum work hours exceeded in a week Contractor Labour License expired Labour License Capacity exceeded Medical Check up not done Induction training not completed Work Order expired Work Order Capacity exceeded Female worker entry during night shift Debarred worker entry

There are many more compliances which can be handled in an offline mode as well.

Labourworks™ is an Enterprise Contract Labour Management System which helps you streamline various processes using SPC Methodology™ . SPC Methodology™ are industry best practices in Security , Productivity & Compliances. Organizations have also observed up to 10%* cost reduction on Contractor billing by implementing SPC Methodology™. There are more than 350 installations of Labourworks™.

Please call on us today for a live demonstration...

SAP is a registered trademark of SAP AG

020 25281608 / 9326727467 labourworks@scrum-system.com www.scrum-system.com

The growing gig economy is great news for businesses

Muhammad Vickneswaran, the Director of Human Resources, Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, in an interaction with People Matters, shares intriguing insights on the rising gig workforce and the future of talent management

By Mastufa Ahmed

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uhammad Vickneswaran is a senior Human Resources professional with over 27 years’ experience in HR, specifically in the hospitality industry, and was appointed Director of Human Resources of the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (the Centre) in August 2017.

Prior to joining the Centre, he was General Manager - Human Resources for East Malaysia & Brunei, Dairy Farm Malaysia. Holding a Bachelor of Business Studies degree with a major in Human Resource Management from the University of Tasmania, Muhammad has also received numerous HR accolades including the ‘101 Top Global HR Minds (Hotel Industry)’ at the World HRD Congress 2019 and ‘Malaysia’s Most Talented HR Leaders Award 2018’ at the 13th Employer Branding Award 2018.

Here are the excerpts of the interview.

What’s the big deal about the gig economy which is being debated more than ever?

As the current workforce’s obsession with flexibility and freedom intensifies, the gig economy will continue to grow and disrupt businesses. The gig economy’s digital platforms consistently deliver choice, control and options for people who choose to build portfolio careers. Those who are not reliant on gig work, use it for supplemental income while those who are charmed by its flexibility and pay are seeing it as the best overall option.

The gig economy is the way of the future and will continue to flourish in the next decade as the future of the workforce will consist of more Millennials and Generation Z The rise of the gig economy is closely linked to technological change, and the future of work and the number of people in gig employment will not only be affected by how technology continues to evolve, but also by how people and society react to those very changes. The rise of the gig econ52

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omy has also encouraged employers to improve diversity in their workforce strategies. Some large companies have even replaced their permanent employees with professional contractors for some teams - so that they can tap into a more specialist talent pool, while remaining agile and competitive.

However, due to the gig economy’s nature, gig workers aren’t recognized as employees. This means they’re cut off from the benefits that go hand-in-hand with full-time employment like medical insurance and paid sick days, just to name a few. Additionally, these workers can face financial uncertainty because irregular income can make it difficult to stick to regular savings, let alone save for retirement.

As such, with the rise of the gig economy and changing conventional notions of employment, ensuring legal and social security for gig workers will be crucial in dealing with the constantly changing labor market moving forward.

How do you see the future of work in the context of the rising gig economy?

According to the Institute of Labour Market Information and Analysis (ILMIA), the gig economy in Malaysia is expected to grow by 55 percent every year and it is predicted that the industry might soon generate nearly 50 percent of the country’s economy. There are presently 2.2 million gig workers registered with the Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), but the number could be higher, so the importance of gig workers to organizations and countries cannot be underestimated moving forward. The growing gig economy is great news for businesses and workers who are ready to take advantage of all that it has to offer.

But in order to get the most out of these changes, we need to make sure that organizations don’t get too focused on cutting costs that they lose sight of everything else; treat your freelancers well to support the economy (and the people working for you) instead of squashing it, and we’ll all be able to grow together.

How can businesses leverage the potential of the millennial gig workers who comprise the majority of the alternative workforce today?

With growing skills shortages and the low birth

rate in many countries, leveraging and managing alternative workforces will become essential to business growth in the years ahead.

As the alternative workforce continues to move into the mainstream, organizations need to take a strategic approach to tapping into this important source of talent. Businesses need to use innovative approaches to move beyond “managing” contractors and freelancers to “optimizing” and “leveraging” them, creating new connections among HR, the business, procurement and IT, among others, to do so effectively. Remembering our principles for human capital reinvention, businesses must also consider issues of inclusion, diversity, fairness, and trust when constructing organizational systems around alternative work. It’s important that the entire workforce, both alternative and traditional, be treated with respect with regard to culture, inclusion, and work assignments – and that perceptions on all sides reflect these values.

What drives the gig economy and what are the top motivating factors behind the rising gig force?

How do you see the new California gig legislation which is opposed by many including the likes of Uber?

I think it is a good and necessary step to afford gig workers the same rights and protections as employees. That said, if freelancers are reclassified as employees, they could also have to trade in their freedom for structure, potentially losing their ability to set their own hours, work on terms they prefer and accept opportunities that feel right for them.

Do you think the inroads made by technology such as AI and ML will have a significant influence on pushing some jobs out of the traditional and into the gig domain?

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In addition to greater flexibility demanded by gig workers, one of the biggest motivating factors driving the fast-growing gig economy forward is the rise of automation and machine learning in the workplace, which is encouraging even the already employed to consider freelancing.

Other motivating factors include falling incomes and increasing cost of living; higher unemployment rates; and decline of pension programmes, which are influencing job seekers’ decisions to seek opportunities in the freelance market.

that incentivises business to classify workers as "independent contractors" or "non-employees", by creating incentives for businesses to classify workers as "employees", thereby strengthening the bargaining power that team members hold in the workplace.

What sorts of big interventions do we need to ensure that businesses treat the gig force the right way?

There are three key areas that businesses worldwide need to look at to create a better future workplace for all: Firstly, Corporate Responsibility to Respect Human Rights, organizations must live up to their responsibility to respect human rights, and labour rights in particular, in accordance with the United Nations (UN) Guiding Principles. At a minimum, this means that companies should correctly classify workers to ensure full enjoyment of labour rights and social protections, and refrain from challenging policies and legislation that afford such protections; put in place human rights policies and processes, remediation, and human rights due diligence processes; and provide for, or cooperate in, legitimate remediation processes, and abolish forced arbitration clauses in workers’ contracts.

Secondly, Legislative Reform, lawmakers around the world should ensure that their legislative proposals adopt a presumption in favour of employee status, and afford gig workers the same rights and protections as employees, including minimum wage, overtime, unemployment insurance, workers’ compensation, family and medical leave, and the right to collective bargaining.

Last but not least, Business Incentives, governments should shift the current paradigm from one

Yes, it will as we are living through a fundamental transformation in the way we work. The rapid advances in technological innovation, automation, robotics, AI and ML are definitely replacing human tasks and jobs, which is dramatically changing the nature and number of jobs available, as well as the skills that organizations are looking for in their people.

Do you believe the gig economy is the way of the future? Where do you see the gig economy in the next 10 years?

If the gig economy keeps growing at its current rate, yes, I do believe the gig economy is the way of the future and will continue to flourish in the next decade as the future of the workforce will consist of more Millennials and Generation Z, who prefer freelancing over full-time employment because of the flexibility and independence it provides.

All this suggests a positive future for the gig economy as a whole and now it is about finding that balances the benefits for both employees and employers.

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Why gig work is rising faster than regular employment The funnel for traditional employment is narrowing down with several tasks now being automated. Business models that have run for decades is now crumbling down and collapsing

By Abhijit Bhaduri

T

he Big Mac Index is calculated by dividing the price of a McDonald’s Big Mac in one country by the price of a Big Mac in another country in their respective local currencies to arrive at an exchange rate. The Auto Index could be an informal measure to understand what is happening in the automobile sector.

How the Auto Index for Jobs works

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For decades after independence, Indians had to choose from three makes of cars – the Ambassador, Fiat or Standard Herald. Then came Maruti and then the market opened up to a set of choices made by global brands. Having more than one car is now common.

The employment scene too progressed in parallel. Indians used to be employed by the government or the public sector and self-employment was in a couple of professions. Doctors, engineers, lawyers and chartered accountants were self-employed.

As the economy opened up, getting employed with multinationals to pursue a global career became a desirable choice. The middle class became more prosperous, and the nation’s appetite to take risks

went up. Entrepreneurs and startups became socially accepted. Now freelance work is becoming an increasingly mainstream choice. And the traditional auto sector is giving way to the autonomous vehicle. Being a gig worker or a freelancer gives a person the autonomy a job cannot.

Gig work is rising faster than regular employment Gig work has many attractive benefits. It can be a wonderful way to boost one’s earnings if one is employed. It can offer more control over one’s work hours for someone seeking to be a caregiver for a family member. India accounts for one third of the global freelancer market valued at $3 billion.

This is a market growing at an annual rate of 14 percent. India currently accounts for $1 billion of the global market. 15 million freelancers in India work in areas such as IT, programming, UX design, finance, HR, content writing, etc. According to Kelly OCG seven out of 10 talent managers using freelancers see the employer-worker relationship shifting, with talent asserting more leverage.

The funnel for traditional employment is narrowing down with several tasks now being automated. Business models that have run for decades is now crumbling down and collapsing.

Companies that have been seen as too big to fail, have been asked to leave the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

India accounts for one third of the global freelancer market valued at $3 billion.

This is a market growing at an annual rate of 14 percent. India currently accounts for $1 billion of the global market 54

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According to Kelly OCG, seven out of 10 talent managers using freelancers see the employer-worker relationship shifting, with talent asserting more leverage Build vs buy

The freelancers need to update their technical skills as well as their soft skills. If there is a change in compliance norms driven by a change in legislation, say GDPR, the freelancers will get

STORY

Soft skill gaps remain unmet

themselves certified and also let the clients know that their knowledge is up to date. A gap in hard skills is easy to sense and easy to bridge through a certification. It is not the same for a soft skill.

If a freelancer needs to improve his or her ability to communicate the value-proposition to a client, it is harder to know that there is a gap, harder to find a provider who will bridge the gap and then announce the improvement in proficiency to the client. In many cases, the freelancer does not have the awareness that the gap is becoming a dealbreaker and needs to be addressed.

Every freelancer has to be their own C-Suite.

If they do not understand the complexity of the taxes they have to pay, they can work with an accounting firm or a tax lawyer. In an organization, the Learning and Development team will assess the gaps in soft skills (along with the technical knowledge and domain knowledge) that are there for each employee and create a plan to bridge the gap. That option goes away for freelancers. They can’t assess their own skill gap in this area.

The government can allocate part of the professional taxes towards soft skills development. Industry bodies run soft skill assessment and skill-building opportunities for freelancers.

This is a growing workforce and a growing skill gap. It needs immediate attention.

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Employers have started to use freelancers and gig workers (who find work through a platform) to supplement their skill portfolio. Freelancers are being looked at as part of the talent strategy of every firm. CHROs are hiring freelancers to upskill their team members and fill up the skill gaps even as they wait for new hires to join.

The talent marketplaces like LinkedIn are horizontal. They list the resumes of people with every kind of skills and domain knowledge across sectors. In the meanwhile, vertical marketplaces are coming up that lists people for a specific industry. Blue collar job markets already exist.

UrbanClap offers hyperlocal services in several metros and major cities. Wedding photographers, yoga trainers, interior designers, dieticians, beauticians, plumbers, are all hired, screened, trained and deployed.

Expect to see the specialized job markets emerging for white collar jobs as well. There will be an equivalent for LinkedIn by expertise for each profession (eg lawyers, architects); by demographics (eg women, retirees, disability, LGBTQ); by previous experience (eg, Military service) or even by duration of employment expected (eg, a few days or weeks or for the duration of a project).

In white collar jobs, the differentiation between someone with average skills and deep expertise is immense. Currently the buyers have no method of knowing the proficiency of the freelancer who is offering services.

By displaying the certificates in their office, some professionals choose to let the clients know that they are up to date in their knowledge. But skills require a combination of hard skills and soft skills.

About the author

Abhijit Bhaduri is a coach, author and one of the most followed writers in the area of Talent Management. Follow him @AbhijitBhaduri FEBRUARY 2020 |

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Managing talent in the gig economy: Human capital implications

As digital technologies continue to open new connections and ways of working, the era of the gig economy will continue to thrive

By Richard Smith, Ph.D.

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have no idea, the company does not really have anything to do with me, and I don’t really concern myself with the company – I am just trying to get you where you want to go mister.�

This was the response from my New York City Uber driver as I asked about some of the challenges facing the company during my recent visit.

While it may not be fair to expect deep insights on the company strategy from a contingent worker, the response did highlight the increasing challenge of managing talent in this new gig economy.

Here in Asia, the gig economy is operating at full speed. Research by the Manpower Group, shows that India, Philippines, Indonesia, and China are among the top countries with contingent workforces. Even in Europe and North America, the use of contingent workers is rising to around 20 percent of the workforce. The McKinsey Global Institute suggests that by 2025 we might see gig or contingent workers representing up to 40 percent of the global workforce. Given this trend, it seems critical for HR leaders to have a clear sense of how to best manage this talent segment.

On the surface, managing a gig workforce seems relatively straightforward and has some clear

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advantages in some cases. Contingent work helps organizations save on labor and related costs. In addition, engaging gig workers can allow organizations to more quickly respond to changes and fill needs rapidly. However, managing gig workers can be a challenge as they may not have the same level of commitment, may not feel connected to the organization, and will typically not feel engaged.

It, therefore, seems critical that HR leaders rethink

Oftentimes, there is not a formal structure for contingent workforces as the size and scale can be staggering (e.g.

Grab operates with more than eight million drivers in Southeast Asia)

their contingent workforce model by considering the human capital implications of culture, leadership, structure, and talent management.

Open culture When it comes to contingent workers, how does the organization culture embrace their efforts?

In some organizations, perceptions of workforce segments can create significant divisions that fester unproductive relationships. Firms that accept diversity and have an open culture may more easily embrace the unique value and contribution of the gig workforce. Creating a culture that embraces independent workers allows organizations to benefit from their ideas, engage them in innovation, and build a sense of affiliation.

Leadership communication

Structural connection

Talent management While my HR expert colleagues will tell me that most elements of talent management (i.e. benefits, retirement, insurance, careers, performance management, etc.) do not apply to gig workers, I might suggest we reconsider. Of course, I am not suggesting that companies roll-out big benefits and employment packages to temporary or contingent work staff, but we may want to consider what else we might offer as a service. For example, one tech company offers free seminars on financial management for all employees (including gig workers) along with free access to wellness services. By taking small steps to be more inclusive with our gig workers or even considering some unique affiliation benefits (discounts at the coffee shop), we can make a bit of an impact in what might normally be a rather transactional relationship. Reviewing some of the basics in talent management for applicability in the gig workforce is a great start.

As digital technologies continue to open new connections and ways of working, the era of the gig economy will continue to thrive. As human capital leaders, we will need to challenge our conventional mindset as we consider our management practices related to employment. It is a great time to carefully review our assumptions and plans for organization culture, the orientation of leadership, the impact of firm structure, and the manner by which we approach managing talent of all types. By addressing human capital in light of the gig economy, we will be better prepared to create a great workplace for workers of all types.

Who knows, perhaps next time I use a mobile app to book a ride, I will have a driver who tells me, “This is a great company and the management is working hard to make it a good place to work for people like me!�

STORY

Oftentimes, there is not a formal structure for contingent workforces as the size and scale can be staggering (e.g. Grab operates with more than eight million drivers in Southeast Asia). An often over-looked area is defining who the leaders are for the contingent workers. In other words, most HR systems make sure we have clear reporting lines for authority and accountability for performance for our full-time staff. Who is the leader for your gig workers? Leading organizations that rely on contingent workers have very clear lines and even make sure that the C-Suite is actively engaged with workers of all types.

It is a great time to carefully review our assumptions and plans for organization culture, the orientation of leadership, the impact of firm structure, and the manner by which we approach managing talent of all types

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The leaders of organizational units will certainly have a strong impact on the culture and the views of the gig workers. If we expect the independent workforce to be engaged or at least interested in the company, then leaders need to take stock to include all types of workers in company communication and engagement. In some organizations, there is a clear accountability for the communication and engagement for the temporary staff as well as full-time employees since they are all significant stakeholders and representatives.

About the author

Richard R. Smith, Ph.D. is a Professor at Singapore Management University where he also serves as Deputy Dean for the Lee Kong Chian School of Business. He is also a Research Fellow at the Indian School of Business with a focus on Human Capital and Leadership.

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The gig economy: Be careful what you ask for

Gig work appears to be a rare win-win where companies can save on payroll and related costs, and most individuals can exercise choice. But is that really the case?

By Clinton Wingrove

T

he gig economy is here and growing fast. It is estimated that within a few years over half of the workforce will be self-employed in it.

Well, if that is the case, it must be a good thing, mustn’t it? Perhaps so. But, perhaps not.

The corporate perspective

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During periods of recession or high competition, many organizations feel forced to take cost-cutting actions. Two areas often take the biggest hit – marketing expenditure and headcount. We do this despite decades of experience showing that such actions are rarely effective (reducing marketing, if it was any good to start with, reduces sales and thus increases the need for cost cutting; and, if “employees are our greatest asset,” getting rid of them is clearly a questionable strategy).

But, the gig economy has provided corporations with a face-saving means of reducing headcount

The gig economy has provided corporations with a face-saving means of reducing headcount without fully losing access to the knowledge and skills they need 58

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without fully losing access to the knowledge and skills they need. Indeed, they have access to the knowledge and skills, on demand, combined with the benefits of not having the individuals on the payroll… and all of the ancillary costs and bureaucracy that payroll entails. They can even bring on board new individuals (e.g., specialists) confident that if things don’t work out they simply won’t have to use such individuals again.

The individual perspective There are two categories of individuals attracted to the gig economy – those without a choice and those with a choice.

Many in the former category are the fallout of the corporate downsizing and cost-cutting. For these individuals, faced with the difficulty of finding alternative permanent and full-time employment, working in the gig economy may be their only option.

However, many individuals do have a choice, and make a conscious decision to become part of the gig economy workforce. There can be many reasons why this is a preferred option including: • Greater flexibility in working hours and location e.g., to cope with personal circumstances such as caring responsibilities; • Work-life balance, especially when the consistency of earnings is not essential; • Avoiding bad experiences of working in a corporate environment (even in the developed countries, we still face a severe shortage of quality managers and leaders); • Increased earning potential. For some, selfemployment offers the chance to achieve higher earnings than could be achieved in full-time corporate employment; • Variety – the option to pick and choose the work to do.

So what?

At face value, it would appear to be a rare winwin - companies save on payroll and related costs, and most individuals can exercise choice. But is that really the case? My own experience and observations suggest that this may not be as positive a trend as we currently perceive it to be, for a number of reasons:

… all without any training in how to communicate and collaborate in virtual environments. It is not simply a matter of choosing the communication software. This is a serious skill issue.

I have two particular concerns. My first concern is that we are already seeing the dramatic impact on the nature or style of interactions. The remoteness combined with the immediacy seems to fuel brutal, often negative, communications.

I have recently seen this taking hold in a client where internal project managers started send curt, critical, and insensitive emails and texts to gig workers, using words and phrases that they would never use with staff they see face to face.

My second concern relates to the quality or rigour of communications that take place and the impact that those have. My own research showed that, in face-to-face meetings with six or more people, at any instant in time, only 50 percent of those in attendance know what has just been said (as an aside, this is one reason that I work with my clients on how to run genuinely effective meetings). No wonder meetings are viewed so negatively by almost everyone! On video conferences, that figure drops to just over 33 percent and, on teleconferences, to less than 25 percent. Over time, this will take its toll!

So, is the growth in the gig economy a good thing or a bad thing? The jury is out. There are clearly benefits to be had, for individuals and for organizations. But, like with certain medications, with the cure come the side effects. And, it is too early to say what some of those might be. Time will tell.

STORY

• Most companies face a crisis of management – individuals are still promoted for excelling at something other than managing people and then, with minimal training and development, are expected to do so. Productivity, engagement, and attrition data show us that companies are falling well short in terms of the quality of their management - of staff who are permanently on the payroll! So, how can we expect those same individuals to manage individuals with whom they have less contact and over whom they have less influence?

• Flexible working location and flexible hours are popular employee benefits that most organizations now offer to at least some of their employees. These benefits are believed to increase employee engagement, lead to increased productivity, and reduce attrition. But, at what cost? These are relatively early days and there is little robust research data to hand. However, I have seen many issues arising from such practices, which may prove to be more serious than currently thought. First, much of the research data I have seen has been collected relatively soon after implementation. I strongly suspect the positive conclusions may suffer from the Hawthorne Effect and, after time, we will see a decline in productivity and engagement as such working becomes the norm and gig workers are left more isolated.

• Managing, even just communicating, virtually is not easy. Companies happily outsource, implement flexible working locations, form collaborative arrangements across geographical boundaries, create virtual project teams, etc

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Flexible working location and flexible hours are popular employee benefits that most organizations now offer to at least some of their employees. These benefits are believed to increase employee engagement, lead to increased productivity, and reduce attrition

About the author

Clinton Wingrove is Director of www.

WantToBeGreatManager.com and www.ClintonHR.com

FEBRUARY 2020 |

59

Decoding retention strategies for 2020

Talent retention is one of the priorities for companies in the year 2020. But what should a robust talent retention strategy factor in?

T a l e n t

R e t e n t i o n

By Dhruv Mukerjee

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To understand the how of creating an effective talent retention strategy, it's important to note what lies at the core of the issue, which can then help guide the multifaceted approach towards tackling it.

Company culture is one such component.

Shifts in employers’ perspective

To understand the how of creating an effective talent retention strategy, it's important to note what lies at the core of the issue, which can then help guide the multifaceted approach towards tackling it.

Company culture is one such component In the dynamic ecosystem that companies operate in today, it’s difficult to find a single cure to the problem of retaining employees. It has to be the result of a mixture of management practices and HR initiatives that take the well-being and development of employees into account.

While an attractive compensation package remains a baseline it needs to be supplemented with future-looking practices that build employees’ buy-in to the company vision and way of working while contributing to their growth.

To do this, the first of many steps has been a cultural shift. When it comes to defining a company’s culture, it is often a mixture of both tangible and intangible components that work in tandem with each other; often improving tangible components helps better the intangibles. Poli-

The way in which employees engage with companies today is markedly different from the past. With companies today working with a multi-generational workforce, their retention and employee engagement strategies have to be diverse yet specific too. For HR professionals, this has meant to try out a range of initiatives and company policy changes to accommodate the needs and aspirations of the varied bunch of people that companies usually employ. Employee experience has become central to designing management practices, and engagement initiatives have become a priority within many companies.

Managers and senior business leaders have to be brought onboard and in many cases must be actively involved in practices to motivate their employees and build a more constructive dialogue with them to help align organizational goals with personal aspirations.

Listening to employees and catering to around their demands will become an important aspect of retention strategies moving ahead. With talent becoming an important and vital part of the success equation for companies, hearing them out and addressing their demand realistically has to be a part of retention strategies.

Many high performing companies also know how to effectively train and retain their key employees. By breaking down traditional silos of hierarchy, many enable their employees to make decisions and build in a level of accountability where employees become an important part of the company and not a component to dispense according to the situation.

Such shifts prove more than necessary in today's world where often ‘loyalty’ to businesses is a lesser hallmark of a qualified individual than their skills. In addition to suitable compensation and benefits packages that enable companies to retain talent, factors like inadequate work-life balance and the lack of professional development opportunities, all end up hampering the chances of a company to ensure it retains people with key skillsets.

FEBRUARY 2020 |

R e t e n t i o n

The relevance of company culture

cies that promote clear and transparent communication between managers and employees provide employees with career opportunities. Such initiatives have to be supported by policies like the presence of aspects like maternity benefits and flexibility in the workplace which help support employees. Such cultural considerations contribute to building an ecosystem of trust and mutual collaboration among employees and business leaders. It also helps them find a larger meaning to their work.

T a l e n t

ompanies in recent years have woken up to the importance of retaining their key employees. As skill changes dominate labor markets, business leaders have over the years realized that retaining employees that meet key talent considerations were as important as hiring new ones. It comes as little surprise that in early 2016, reports from networking platforms like LinkedIn showed that talent retention had become an important consideration for businesses and that for business leaders across the board. It was an important priority for the year.

Fast forward to the turn of the decade and one sees that the importance of talent retention has only grown. The need to attract and retain talent in a competitive labor market will continue to intensify regardless of changes that are being brought in by technological innovations through AI and automation. But such changes to the workplace are further solidifying the need to retain key talent. Developing a distinct employment brand and fostering a strong culture to attract and retain talent aren’t new revelations, but they have never been more critical.

This is not without reason. The importance of retaining talent proves not only to be a cost-effective option in many cases, but also goes on to build a good employer brand for the company. It ensures that companies are dedicating themselves to create a company culture that helps employees remain productive and aligned with the company’s vision while enabling them to be motivated to walk the extra mile. Having low turnover rates help show companies prioritize not only their bottom line performance but also put efforts towards engaging and developing their employees. The maxim of treating employees like consumers has never been truer. But often retention ends up being a by-product of employee management practices rather than its driving force behind them.

Among the many talent considerations like hiring, reskilling and upskilling, often the retention of key employees gets swept under the plethora of other employee development activities. But it is important to note that employee retention today is an equally important task in front of both managers and HR professionals.

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AI in 2020: What to expect from data and AI this year and beyond From attracting talent to hiring, engaging, developing and coaching, AI will be applied to the entire lifecycle of HR. Thus allowing HR to demonstrate greater business relevance

HR T e c h n o l o g y

By Anushree Sharma

H

R technology will continue to be “white-hot” in 2020, as per by a famous HR tech influencer. It is true because companies operating in a talent-dominated environment are continuously seeking to invest in tools to help them better recruit, develop and support their workforces.

However, despite that promising outlook, there are growing concerns about the expanding use of technologies, especially, artificial intelligence (AI) and the use of data.

The outlook 2020 predicts Data and AI to be your best allies at workplace!

AI and Machine Learning have been catalysts in accelerating the growth of every industry. And HR is no exception. HR departments now can leverage data to make less biased hiring decisions, engage employees, design personalized learning journeys and career paths, and provide a personalized HR touch to every employee. Similarly, AI and ML are changing the whole function and making it more efficient, intelligent and progressive. Right from attracting to hiring to engaging to developing to growing and coaching employees, AI will be applied to the entire lifecycle HR, thus allowing HR to demonstrate greater business relevance and accountability and impact the world of work like never before. Moving on from the era of people analytics, the shift will be towards analytics for people.

Top Trends to look out for AI in 2020 More explainable and transparent Pankaj Bansal, Co-founder and CEO of PeopleStrong shares, "Besides the more complex and powerful architectures (in AI), the focus has shifted to making AI more explainable and transparent."

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AI has undoubtedly been the technology story of the 2010s, and it doesn't look like the excitement is going to wear off as a new decade dawns Better recommendations for improving the productivity Long gone are the days when people used to get excited by a few discrete use-cases of AI. It is time for a more sustained and long-term change. Bansal further shares, "What is needed for answering the questions related to the changing landscape of the workplace is a more engaging AI that is expected to keep learning about a user and get better at recommendations for improving the productivity of the end-user."

Whitebox AI The current advancements in AI are happening in NLP (natural language processing) through machine learning, which further improves parsing. Semantic search makes it possible for even novitiate

recruiters to be masters at sourcing from big data sets. However, this will only work if the AI is built in a transparent way using HR-specific data. Hence, the shift towards “whitebox” AI that let users mintain control of how AI operates and make sure that machines are learning the right things from the data.

Personalization driven This trend is driven by the success of internet giants like Amazon and Google, and their ability to deliver personalized experiences and recommendations. AI allows providers of goods and services to quickly and accurately project a 360-degree view of customers in real-time as they interact through online portals and mobile apps, quickly learning how their predictions can fit our wants and needs with ever-increasing accuracy.

Companies can deliver a great experience for candidates visiting their career site by personalizing the job vacancies and employer branded content on display, based on previously captured data and online behavior. Job recommendations will be defined by variables like geography, skill profile or screening information, or on variables that oscillate, such as browsing history.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has undoubtedly been the technology story of the 2010s, and it doesn't look like the excitement is going to wear off as a new decade dawns.

We don't just want diversity; we want people to feel included:

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Unisys’ Maria

In an exclusive conversation with People Matters, Maria Sitaramayya, the APAC Head HR, Unisys, talks about challenges in skilling, diversity and gig workers

By Jerry Moses

M

aria Sitaramayya leads the Human Resources function across Asia Pacific at Unisys. In this role, Maria is responsible for providing end to end Human Resources support for over 8000 associates across 13 different countries in the Asia Pacific region.

In an exclusive conversation with People Matters, she talks about the talent challenges in the IT sector where continuous skilling and diversity are transforming the business.

Here are the excerpts of the interview.

What are some of the top job related trends you’re observing in the IT sector across the APAC region?

In terms of the changing market from a technology point of view, the shifts are incredibly important. When we look at India, it's about skills and new technologies. So, there’s a lot of focus on technologies like artificial intelligence or augmented reality, virtual reality, robotics, blockchain architecture, etc. And in order

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to remain relevant, it's so important for us to make sure that we have those skills and are continuously working on developing those skills.

Across the Asian market, the war on talent continues. It's something that we've always been very focused on. The war on talent has also ensured that we work towards developing and retaining our talent in-house just as much as we attract our talent.The other big trend that we've seen from our marketplace is to do with engagement. How do we make sure that we

Diversity is about being invited to the party, but inclusion means feeling free to dance at that party

are engaging our employees across diverse markets? Because what engages employees in one market might not necessarily work in another market. And then the third trend is the rising focus on diversity and inclusion. We’re looking at how we make sure that we have a diverse set of people.

We focused on gender over the last twelve months and are now looking at expanding that definition in terms of different cultures, skills and opportunity areas.

How are you enabling some of these new skills and what do you see things that companies are doing right and what are some challenge areas there?

The way we've done it is by having a learning path platform where we have enabled certification. And we are investing in our technology and making sure people actually can get certified so that they constantly grow these skills. It's important for the employee as well because they want to be marketable.

I think the bigger challenge for us is to keep up with technology updates. Often, when people are upskilling themselves,

they’re also working on their current role and that can be challenging. And there’s also a constant focus on how do we retain them once we've invested in skills? And it comes down to enabling a continuous learning culture.

Could you also talk about creating the continuous learning culture that you're trying to build? How are employees balancing work and learning? Do employees have specific mandated skills or it’s up to them?

We did both, meaning some skills are required, and we push people to be certified in those areas. But we also focus on the individual’s development plan by making sure that there's that discussion which happens between a leader and the employee to understand personal aspirations. The culture aspect is that it’s not just a once a year conversation, but it's a continuous discussion between a leader and their employees about what those skills are that they need to develop and also link it to their passion.

Our focus is really on making sure that we’re engaging in early career training for graduates. They're often the ones who come in and understand these technologies and are very willing to take on challenges.

We don't have a mandate in terms of reducing a certain percentage of the middle management, etc. But what we make sure that we are skilling at all levels of the pyramid.

In the IT sector, studies have shown that even if the entry field is 50:50 in terms of gender representation, the ratio keeps getting skewed towards the top.

How do you look at diversity and inclusion?

Diversity is about being invited to the party, but inclusion means feeling free to dance at that party. And so we don't just want diversity and, we want people to feel included and be part of something. The way we've tackled the challenge is to look at it across the employee life cycle – what are the things that we need to do from an attraction point of view, from a growth and development point of view and from a retention point of view.

From an attraction point of view, we've looked at things like unconscious bias because leaders don't go into an interview or a meeting if they will not hire that person. For leaders involved in hiring,

Companies need to make their gig workers feel engaged and aligned to the company values and mission we've made them aware of unconscious bias by using bite-size videos, and it is a part of leadership training.

We also look at something called the ‘belonging index’ – where we pulse the organization to see if people feel like that they belong at Unisys.

We started a women leadership development series, with the idea to bring together our future leaders, across Asia Pacific and we conduct forums with them on topics like – how do you put together an individual development plan? How do you brand yourself as a female? We truly believe that we need to develop those middle and senior level female leaders.

Although we did start with gender, our focus is now on going beyond gender - to different cultures, ways of thinking, age groups, skills. For example, in Australia, we're working with veterans and indigenous culture groups to ensure that we bring that in. In the US, we look at US minorities.

Could you talk about the belonging index a little bit more? Is this an internal index and what do you measure?

What we do is we actually post randomly, globally. Every six weeks, we ask them a set of questions – which is around

do you feel heard at the company, what are these things that are motivating you and engaging you? And we target our high potentials. We look at the data by gender.

The belonging index, like the engagement index gives us data to look at retention and engagement.

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There’s a trend in IT where there’s a reduction of jobs at the middle to senior level management. This is again, probably related to skilling. How do you see this?

There's another trend, within the IT sector which is the rise of gig workers. Is that something that you are seeing in the context of your company?

It's something that we as a company need to really focus on. We absolutely do see it as a trend, and actually something that we're starting to talk about. But in terms of the developing strategy, that's something that we need to work on.

One of the challenge areas with gig workers seems to be about how do you align gig workers to the culture of the company. How do you think HR leaders should address that?

I think it is about making sure that when they are with the company they feel engaged and aligned to those values and the company. Again, that's going to be a huge challenge, because we are an organization that hasn’t done a lot of work on the gig economy.

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Vikram Shroff

POSH Committee - Dealing with bias and conflict of interest The POSH Act and the rules thereunder provide that during the inquiry into a complaint, both parties should be given an opportunity of being heard. However, the POSH Act does not provide clarity about the ways to handle situations of bias or conflict of interests, if they do arise. Here are some ways to deal with such situations

Workplace policies

Employers should ensure that the IC members are adequately trained to spot any bias or conflict of interest prior to and during their investigations

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hanks to India’s POSH Act and the #MeToo movement, India continues to see a rise in sexual harassment complaints being filed at workplaces.

With that, there has also been an increase in cases brought to the courts.

Some cases have questioned the inquiry proceedings by the Internal Complaints Committee (IC) constituted by the employer. While there may be various reasons, it implies that the IC composition, the procedure followed and the inquiry report, may also be tested in the courts. The first principle of natural justice is that no one should be made judge in his own case, because it leads to a bias or conflict of interest.

Bias of IC members A bias is defined as a condition or state of mind which impairs the concept of impartiality in a decision-making process1. It may arise due to several existing prejudices which may either be conscious or unconscious in nature.

Unconscious bias occurs when a person is inherently prompted to take a decision, which is favoring a person because of certain reasons, for example having similar qualities or interests, having same cultural background or having been influenced by the majority’s views. Such behavior 66

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by the members of the IC may lead to a conflict of interest and could be detrimental to the outcome of the proceedings and unfair to the aggrieved party, besides creating legal exposure for the employer.

The law The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act (POSH Act) and the rules thereunder provide that during the inquiry into a complaint, both parties should be given an opportunity of being heard. However, the POSH Act does not provide clarity about the ways to handle situations of bias or conflict of interests, if they do arise.

If a person is made a judge in his own case or in situations where there is a conflict of interest, it is possible that the inquiry proceedings or its outcome or recommendations, may not be fair or impartial.

Case laws on apprehension of bias The Madras High Court in the case of M. Rajendran v. M. Daisyrani and Ors2. stated that the IC should be re-constituted if there is a reasonable apprehension that the enquiry may be vitiated on account of bias within the IC. In that case, majority of the IC members were sub-ordinates of the head of the institution against whom the allegations were made. It is necessary that the inquiry proceedings should be fair and impartial.

In the case of Somaya Gupta v. Jawarharlal Nehru University and Ors.3, the petitioner challenged the constitution of the IC based on the allegation of bias among the IC members. The High Court of Delhi ruled that mere apprehension is not enough and the petitioner must establish that there must be real likelihood of bias. In that case, the Presiding Officer of the IC was a witness to the incident and therefore, was disqualified from acting as a member of the IC. Pursuant to this conflict situation, the IC member recused herself and further there was no suspicion that the remaining IC members had any personal interest that would conflict with their obligations under the law. Therefore, the court held that there was no need to re-constitute the IC.

Need for clarity & training

Additional suggestions These are a few suggestions on helping employers prevent bias and conflict of interest situations: a. Given the case laws surrounding this topic, it is recommended that the IC be constituted strictly as per the requirements of the POSH Act including appointment of the external member on the IC. b. Employers should ensure that the IC members are adequately trained to spot any bias or conflict of interest prior to and during their investigations. c. Any allegation of bias or conflict received initiated by either party, should be immediately and thoroughly reviewed and the decision should be fully documented. The IC would do well to

Any allegation of bias or conflict received initiated by either party, should be immediately and thoroughly reviewed and the decision should be fully documented evaluate that the allegation of bias was considered and a view was taken before proceeding with their investigation. d. As a fallback option, employers may do well to have more than four members on their IC in order to avoid re-constituting the IC if one or more members are conflicted in any way. It must also be borne in mind that the rules to the POSH Act allow a minimum of three members of the IC (including the Presiding Officer) to be present while conducting the inquiry.

Workplace policies

The employer’s policy or internal guidance note for its IC members should ensure that there is sufficient clarity on avoiding a situation that could lead to a conflict of interest. A bias may arise prior to the commencement of the inquiry (that is, when a complaint has been received) or during the investigation (based on any evidence produced by the parties or any witness statements). For example, at times, the existence of bias or conflict may not be known upfront and may come up subsequently, in which case the IC should be aware on how to deal with such a situation.

As part of training, the IC members should be made aware of their responsibilities to immediately disclose the existence of a bias and ensure that they no longer participate in that inquiry.

Certain organizations have begun focusing on specialized training to prevent/deal with unconscious bias among the IC members. Employers ensure that the training sessions include making IC members aware about the meaning of bias, various types of bias, triggering pointers for bias, possible consequences of bias, etc. Also, it is recommended that the training is not made like a one-time training but should be like a continuous long-term process with live examples and case studies. The external member of the IC can play a critical role in terms of sharing her experience being part of the IC of other organizations, subject to confidentiality considerations.

The Hon’ble Judge in Bellarmin Case said that bias is synonymous with prejudice. It may be pertinent to note that dealing with sexual harassment complaints may be a more sensitive matter than other legal proceedings since it involves the integrity and modesty of a woman.

Notes 1.

2.

3.

A.V.Bellarmin v. Mr.V.Santhakumaran Nair, 2015 - 4- LW. (Crl.) 443 (2018) 3 MLJ 84 2018 (159) FLR 390

About the author

Vikram Shroff is the leader of the HR Law (Employment & Labour) team at Nishith Desai Associates FEBRUARY 2020 |

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How AI is going to augment work In an exclusive interaction with People Matters, Oracle’s Gretchen Alarcon talks about AI at work, the changing role of HR and leadership and new emerging technologies

By Jerry Moses

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retchen Alarcon is Group Vice President for Oracle's human capital management strategy, responsible for the development and go-to-market initiatives through the adoption of Oracle's HCM cloud apps. Prior to Oracle, Alarcon worked at Icarian, National Semiconductor, Ford, and Silicon Graphics, where she drove the management of workforce suites and aided in the redesign of worldwide human resource functions.

Oracle recently launched the findings of "AI at work", a global research study.

What stood out for you from this research study?

There's a lot of interest and awareness around AI in general. What was startling to me is that 64 percent of respondents said that they would trust a robot more than their managers. And 25 percent said they would always or very often ask AI the question, instead of asking the boss.

People are relying on AI for things like providing unbiased information or guidance on basic information. There is a sense that AI is going to be better than humans at such tasks. And that's very different from what we expected to find.

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Job automation is one of the major themes in the context of AI. By 2020, artificial intelligence will create more jobs than it destroys, according to Gartner.

What's your view on AI's long-term role in business and the economy?

AI is going to augment work. I don't see AI taking over. Some of the things that AI is doing really well are things that we ask people to do now. Tasks like allocating budgets, scheduling workers were done by humans, but AI can do it much more efficiently and effectively. If you're a store manager, for example, and scheduling was a part of your duty, I see this as an opportu-

To up-skill doesn't just mean taking a class but to grow as a community, and to find other ways to grow people

nity to give people more space to do other work. In general, most respondents see AI positively. That came through when we looked at the Indian respondents as well.

Take, for example, organizations using drones for the delivery of packages. There will be new jobs with the responsibility of managing drones, scheduling them, etc.

According to you, what are some of the top challenges that you think companies will have to deal with?

There are a number of new challenges.

There's a significant focus on the personalization of experience. Research has shown that one-third of the people are unlikely to go back to a company if they have one bad experience. That's a pretty high bar for success. When you look at it from an HR perspective, how are you giving people who are entering the company a personalized experience so that your company stays on the list of the companies they want to work at? For many organizations, there's still a sense that HR, as a business process has to be “one size fits all”. But we need technology to move to a “one size fits one” model.

One of the biggest themes in the future of work is about augmenting skills. How

do you see the rise of a new skills economy, and what are implications of this for HR professionals?

For the longest time, investment in employee development focused on high potential employees and future leaders.

But there are a lot of employees, who aren't high potential, and they aren't on the “grow-promote-move” track, but they still contribute immensely to the organization. That's where we see an opportunity to engage employees, whether you call it enrichment or skill growth. Among the things we're researching right now is the idea of an opportunity marketplace where people could say if they want to explore a new role. One could also join a task force and grow. So there's a lot of different ways to think about how growth can happen in the organization. It doesn't just need to happen on a promotion track.

One thing we introduced in our learning product is to target learning to a community – it might be people who work on the same shift and have a similar job or

people who joined the company at the same time. This helps in augmenting content and practicing skills. To up-skill doesn't just mean taking a class but to grow as a community, and to find other ways to grow people.

Do you think AI will impact soft elements of leadership — the personality traits, attitudes, and behaviors, while it's given that AI will supplant many hard elements of leadership?

The leadership job doesn't get any easier. I think the thing that changes is how AI identifies issues that can point to opportunities and recommendations. So the leader can target where they are spending their time, that's where I think there's a huge value.

So rather than saying I have to have a regular one on one for all of my direct reports and see them all the same amount of time, AI might help leaders realize that some people are more attuned to more frequent check-ins, some people respond

From your research, are there any specific observations about the APAC region when it comes to AI?

I was pleasantly surprised to see that China and India were two countries that were leading the way in AI adoption. To me, that talked about where innovation is happening. What I'm finding in my conversations with customers on AI is that they're very focused on the business process. So it's not just about awareness or educating themselves, but it's a case where customers have a specific business problem and want to know if AI could help. There's a degree of openness to augment business processes with AI. While in other countries, they're delaying adoption based on perceived challenges.

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For many organizations, there's still a sense that HR as a business process has to be 'one size fits all.' But we need technology to move to a 'one size fits one' model

better to task-oriented check-ins. It can help the leader understand what kind of leaders are best for the type of jobs that people are performing as well as what are their personal preferences.

Similarly, we see an opportunity for AI to raise flags. For example, if someone is at risk of leaving. AI can help point out the risk, and the leader may schedule a detailed conversation with them. AI might say that there are some trends that we're starting to see over time that is concerning, that a manager or leader may not see for another three months.

But AI can do something about it before it becomes a problem, so there's a huge opportunity to find those connections to the leader to suggest they take action.

There are a whole host of technologies that companies are talking about. What excites you the most, and what are you excited for the next five years?

I am most excited right now with the growth in voice technology – along with chatbots and digital assistants because if you think about it, we've only really been typing for 100 to 200 years. And people want to interact with systems. A digital voice assistant helps you navigate the HR process much more effectively – where you could talk to a device.

From an Oracle standpoint, we have already introduced digital assistant on the software so it can be leveraged across devices, whether that's your phone or any other voice bot device like Google assistant, or Alexa. Overall, the pace of technology continues to grow, and so a large part of cloud adoption has been about getting access to more technology faster. We don't see that going down.

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Visty Banaji

The (funny) business of HR awards

HR awards have proliferated greatly but several have been tarnished by providing fame on a 'pay-as-you-go plan' to recipients while raking in profits for the organizers. How can this trend be reversed so that awards once again signal extraordinary accomplishment in HR?

The road less travelled

Not all the awards are peddled for favors or cash. To establish and maintain at least some credibility for the awards, a few genuinely outstanding practitioners are inveigled into accepting the awards

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here are many good reasons awards and honors exist. They have been at the apex of social recognition before history began to be recorded and certainly before money became the preferred means of transferring and storing value. Repeated public recognition translated to status and met several needs that most humans have. "Given that … an individual’s position in status hierarchies has consequences for access to sexual partners and other fitness-relevant resources, humans likely possess evolved psychological mechanisms for status-striving and navigating status hierarchies."1 Thus, even in tribal and social animal groups, and down to our own time, the individual higher in the pecking order finds it easier to satisfy needs for food, safety and sex, than those not so esteemed.2 In the case of HR professionals, esteem based on public recognition doesn’t only meet the recipients’ needs. It provides useful signaling for the HR community at large. Even the best networked of us can make sound judgments about the worth of a just few dozen fellow professionals – certainly no higher than Dunbar’s limit of 150 people. A well-executed award scheme can provide us with

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a map of the most respected practitioners around the country (or globe) and where their particular talents lie. Such a map can be immensely helpful for us to pick people to work with, involve in professional bodies, consult, listen to or read.

Lastly, awards are remarkably cost-efficient value creators for the awarding institution. "The material costs of awards may be very low, or even nil, for the donor… but the value to the recipients may be very high when awards signal high social status."3 Of course, there is an initial investment in establishing the awareness, credibility and prestige of the award but, thereafter, the prime skills are of organization and execution and the value for the recipient has little to do with the material worth of the award.

Sounds win-win for the receiver, the giver and the professional community. What could possibly go wrong?

Effortless Awards Finding short-cuts to acquire prestigious positions and honors, which normally require years of effort and exceptional achievements, is a universal phenomenon. Some possible reasons why we are particularly adept at discovering the shortest of such cuts have been given in an earlier column.4

WhatsApp group of HR leaders to which I belong and the rest of us naturally congratulated them on the honor. Pat came the reply from one of them, who is perhaps the most highly regarded personage in HR in the country today, thanking us for our felicitations but explaining that he had turned down the anointment since the firm organizing the award had business dealings with the group where he is the CHRO. This leader is met with thunderous applause whenever he appears in any HR forum. Would it not be wonderful if people chose to emulate him instead of just applauding him?

The simplest way to break out of the declining spiral of award worths (which is the concomitant of the upward spirals of award proliferation and commercialization) is for those whose names are used to bolster the value of relatively unknown awards (as well as others who contribute to the revenues of ASSES) to turn down the honors or payment requests in certain circumstances: • First, as my renowned friend did in the example quoted at the start of this section, is to refuse to receive an award from a firm which provides any commercial service to one’s own. To this I would add, as an absolute no-no, accepting awards from ASSES who have a reputation for degrading their currency. The master-

For each award, the jury must be presented with at least three unranked and unscored candidate organizations or individuals with qualitative narratives, preferably drawn from independent testimonies and 360-type feedback

The road less travelled

Hard work and honesty are essential but not sufficient for deserving awards for HR excellence.

Some of the other ingredients are: • Conceptual Creativity and Thought Leadership • CEO Chemistry with the CHRO • Conspicuous Competencies (at the highest levels of proficiency) None of these can be commandeered into existence simply by exceptional effort. Understandably then, those who must have awards but lack any of the bright triad we have listed must look outside the 'genuine' envelope. Fortunately for them, there is a legion of award purveyors who can meet every possible taste (except that for genuineness).

Of course, these Awards / Services Selling Entrepreneurial Set-ups (ASSES for short) are not in the business of satisfying the appetites of award-hungry HR practitioners for free. The major revenue generators in the ASSES’ business model are award nomination fees (totally disproportionate to the expenses incurred in the evaluation), payments for any reports that are detailed enough to be actionable, sponsorships and advertisements (usually for the award distribution event) and fees for services (purportedly unlinked to the award and often provided by a Chinese walled part of the ASSES).

Not all awards are peddled for favours or cash.

To establish and maintain at least some credibility for the awards, a few genuinely outstanding practitioners are inveigled into accepting the awards.

But these stalwarts don’t get off scot-free: they pay with a part of their hard-won reputations when they become unofficial poster boys for the ASSES. But there is a limit to which even this ploy can work. This business model is such a money spinner (because it taps into the virtually inexhaustible cupidity of HR practitioners for fame) and there are such low barriers to entry that every Raja Tom, Rajkumar Dick and Darbari Harry wants to muscle into the action. And proliferation is the kiss of death to the exclusivity that makes awards prized. "… when several institutions are able to hand out similar awards, a typical public good situation arises. A particular donor takes into account only its own costs of providing the awards, not the costs of diminishing quality that fall upon all donors handing out awards… Each donor therefore has too low an incentive to keep the number of awards down, and thereby keep their quality up."3 This also leads to ever narrower slices of HR activity for which awards are concocted.

Worse than the tragedy of the commons which ASSES bring on themselves is the tragedy of inflation eating away the value of genuine awards.

Even awards from the most reputed awarding institutions lose their worth as the general HR audience becomes more and more jaded by the continual multiplication of awards. In the worst case, institutions that were more restrained and genuine at one time join the ASSES’ money-making bandwagon.

Self-discipline by Recipients Recently there was a list of the most influential HR thinkers in India. Four of them were in a small FEBRUARY 2020 |

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practitioners of this white-scroll trade are well known in the HR community. Avoid these 'awardpreneurs' if you don’t want your name to be a sniggering stock in the HR community.

Second, is to refuse to nominate oneself for an award or to pay exorbitant processing fees.

This denial can be practiced even by those who are not so famous (in fact the famous ones are asked for neither fees nor self-nominations).

Naturally, it is to those who are yet to be recognized in the profession that awards matter most but they need to realize they are better off without an award rather than in the possession of one which is known for its purchasability.

The other quid pro quo to be guarded against is the sponsorship or advertisement support given to ASSES or award events organized by them. There are few funnier pictures than of people receiving awards on stages where their platinum sponsorship is blazoned, in huge letters, across the backdrop.

The road less travelled

Perhaps the most important for establishing the credibility of awards is the manner in which ASSES pick and deal with their juries

What has been written here about individuals applies equally to awards that are given to firms for an activity, sub-function, initiative or the entire corporate entity. After all it is in the hands of individual CHROs to participate in and accept awards depending after assessing their provenance and quality.

Borders for Awarders While self-restraint by award recipients is a prerequisite for any retardation of the galloping inflation that degrades HR awards, lasting change in the system will require ASSES to change too.

Aesop has a fable where an ass is able to command the respect due to a lion simply by donning a lion’s skin – till he opens his mouth! The ASSES in our narrative, of course, have their mouths perpetually open (to cajole participation, ingest fat fees or hector those who will not join the jamboree) and, for those who are even minimally perceptive, their royal façade doesn’t last more than a single award event.

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In their hearts, many ASSES would welcome the respect and prestige of giving genuinely prized awards. For those of them who wish to start on the Road to Damascus there are just three borders or Laxman rekhas (with apologies for mixing religious metaphors) that they must resolve never to cross again.

The first step on the path to respectability is to stop charging fees for nominations or to make them nominal and verifiably related to the expenses of the judging process. No sponsorships, advertisements or payments in any other guise should be sought or obtained from individuals or firms that are being considered for the awards.

Somewhat less direct but equally unacceptable are the services of various sorts proffered by ASSES or their Chinese-walled consultancies.

Some of these services brazenly promise to make the firm ready for the award itself. In such cases there must be a significant moratorium (I would suggest a minimum of two years) on any business dealings with the individual or organization both

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before and after the date of the award. If ASSES find it impractical to conform to this guideline, it is a signal that there is conflict of interest between the award judgment and their other lines of business. They need to choose which one they stay with and which they relinquish.

Perhaps the most important for establishing the credibility of awards is the manner in which ASSES pick and deal with their juries. People are perennially puzzled about the worthiness of the names on award juries and the dreadful choices that are announced. The reason is not far to seek.

Even if jury members are willing and able to spend quality time on the judging process, much of the cooking has been done in advance and there is no way they can access the raw data based on which the pre-jury teams have arrived at their scores. In such situations, jury members can either rubberstamp the pre-decided awardees or resign their places on the jury – something most people find messy and undignified. One way to stop this jurymanipulation is to have the jury presented with at least three unranked and unscored candidate organizations or individuals for each award. The short-list must be accompanied with qualitative narratives, preferably drawn from independ-

The Nobel Solution If all the changes suggested for ASSES seem difficult to the point of impracticality, it’s because they are. Why would a commercially run award machine give up its license to print money just to ensure the value of awards stays high? The ASSES’ eco-system will not reform or have a shakeout till there are one or two HR award granters that leave no commercial footprint at all.

The model we need is not far to seek. I am not presuming that HR for business enterprises is in the exalted realm of the fundamental disciplines that are considered worthy of Nobel prizes but there is nothing to prevent us (as so many other disciplines have done5 with more or less faithfulness to the original model) from adopting the principles governing the Nobel awards. At their core they boil down to just two: • A substantial corpus available from inception so that the award does not need to muddy itself in commercial transactions or obligations of any sort.

• A nomination, sifting and judging process that is rigorous and uninfluenceable. There have been accusations that the Nobel itself hasn’t always lived up to these standards6 but our concern is with the normative principle.

Step one, then, is to encourage a visionary business house, individual or set of them to create a fund that permits total independence of judge-

There have been accusations that the Nobel itself hasn’t always lived up to these standards but our concern is with the normative principle ment in granting HR awards. Next would come the building of the body that that would undertake the task of obtaining nominations, vetting them and assembling an unimpeachable jury. It is conceivable that one of the professional bodies or chambers of commerce that are already running award programs of their own could be chosen as the execution vehicle, provided they give up the fee and monetization structures most of these bodies too have adopted in recent years. So how about it Mr ________. Would you like to see the most prestigious HR awards in the world named after you or your firm?

The road less travelled

ent testimonies and 360-type feedback. The jury would then be free to choose from or rank the three entirely at its discretion. The total number of people or companies evaluated and placed before the jury must also be publicly disclosed. If there are not adequate quality entries to have three deserving of each award, that award should not be allotted at all. This will also impose a salutary restraint on the heedless proliferation of awards.

Notes 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Mark van Vugt and Joshua M Tybur, The Evolutionary Foundations of Hierarchy: Status, Dominance, Prestige, and Leadership, Chapter in D M Buss (editor), Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology (Second Edition), Wiley, 2015.

Christopher von Rueden, Michael Gurven and Hillard Kaplan, Why do men seek status? Fitness payoffs to dominance and prestige, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 22 July 2011, 278(1715): 2223–2232.

Bruno S Frey, Giving and Receiving Awards, Perspectives on Psychological Science, Volume: 1 issue: 4, 1 December 2006.

Visty Banaji, Gaming goals can kill businesses, People Matters, 25th November 2019, (https://www.peoplematters.in/article/life-at-work/ gaming-goals-can-kill-businesses-23839).

Wikipedia, List of prizes known as the Nobel of a field, https:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_prizes_known_as_the_Nobel_of_a_ field Burton Feldman, The Nobel Prize: A History of Genius, Controversy and Prestige, Hachette Book Group, 2000.

About the author

Visty Banaji is the Founder and CEO of Banner Global Consulting (BGC) FEBRUARY 2020 |

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The classic 70:20:10 rule is still relevant: Cicin R. Winedar, Godrej Indonesia

Find out how Cicin Ruruh Winedar, the Human Resources Director of Godrej Indonesia, implements effective learning opportunities across a multi-generational workforce, and more

By Bhavna Sarin

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organizational development, watching talent she nurtured, grow and establish themselves as leaders, gives her a sense of fulfillment.

Discussing with People Matters the current talent and learning trends in the SEA region, Cicin deep dives into what qualities she looks for in potential hires and what she is most looking forward to in 2020.

Here are the excerpts of the conversation.

You have a background and a keen interest in psychology. Can you share an instance where having a psychology background helped you navigate through an issue?

Many instances. Our work life is always in constant relation with people – whether our superiors, team members, peers, or other stakeholders. Understanding human psychology helps me a lot in managing my own emotions through challenging times, keeping myself positive towards difficult conversations, and reminding me to stay humble through moments of self-vulnerability.

Carrying this mindset will also provide me a bandwidth of keeping myself calm (and happy) throughout various experiences.

What trends defined 2019 for you as a leader?

In this uncertain world, we cannot guarantee our future success by only relying on the past glory. As a leader, it is important for me to

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n experienced human resources leader with nearly two decades of experience across talent management, performance management, organizational development and succession planning, Cicin Ruruh Winedar, the Human Resources Director of Godrej Indonesia, is also a certified psychologist.

Cicin’s experience spans a notable career at a major local organization in Indonesia as well as a blue-chip multinational company, prior to joining Godrej Indonesia. In line with her interest in 74

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High degree of learning agility, resilience, and ability to manage change are the most important aspects that I look for in candidates

continue pushing myself to acquire new knowledge, skills, and competencies that are relevant.

As an HR professional, I’m responsible to nurture both an organization as well as people capabilities to set them off ready for future challenges. One important aspect that we need to accelerate is the work around digitalization and data analytics, so we can speed up the right actions for our business in the best possible ways. Having valid and reliable data points will also help us provide a good platform for design thinking and experimentation in every aspect of our business.

This will lead to a multiscale of outcomes at the end.

Finding the right talent aligned with the longterm organizational goals remains a key priority for talent leaders. What are the core qualities you look for as you hire new talent?

High degree of learning agility, resilience, and ability to manage change are the most important aspects that I look for in candidates. These qualities will enable them to grow high both in their functional expertise and leadership.

I think the classic 70:20:10 rule is still relevant.

Moreover, understanding individual learning needs based on their business priorities, gap, and to find the most engaging ways to accelerate their learning will be very critical. There should be flexibility in the method of our learning deliveries as well. I always believe that no single approach fits all. Hence knowing your target audience is a must.

What are some of the major talent-related challenges facing the SEA region?

We are still experiencing an imbalance between talent demand and supply, in specific for certain leadership levels. In fact, I experience talent scarcity for several specialist roles as well. There is a visible mismatch between our education system and job market, so a constant pressure always comes back to the industry to create a robust learning platform for our people from the very first day of joining the organization. Therefore, talent acquisition and leadership succession plans are still our main challenges.

How can leaders work towards building the future of work and workforce?

Creating a purposeful organization will help us build talent sustainability for the future. Building organization culture that enables diversity, inclusivity, and work-life balance is the key. The young generation would like to work with organizations that provide them this. This will allow them to bring their whole selves to their work. When people feel fulfilled, they will be the most energized and motivated employees aiming for delivering their best.

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The employee base today constitutes individuals from across generations, from baby boomers to Gen Alpha. With such a cross-generational workforce, how are you enabling effective learning opportunities?

There is a visible mismatch between our education system and job market, so a constant pressure always comes back to the industry to create a robust learning platform for our people from the very first day of joining the organization Several European companies and most recently Microsoft Japan experimented with the four-day work week and observed significant improvement in productivity. Can this new trend become a globally accepted workplace norm?

It should be. I think human needs of living purposefully will go beyond country boundaries.

Organization has to find creative ways to encourage this through their policies and practices, so their people will stay engaged with the company and self-motivated to reach their best performance.

What’s your take on alternative workforce? Do you think global businesses are ready to leverage the gig economy?

I see different industries having different stages of readiness on this. The nature of the work sometimes limits the possibilities. However, clearly the movement in that direction is happening across.

What are your priorities for the year 2020?

As a leader, I would like to be more effective in providing sufficient space to grow for my team. As a mother of two, I would like to see both of them grow as individuals who are kind, happy, and independent.

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A primer on Code on Wages

Rashmi Pradeep

Anna Thomas

In this exclusive article, legal experts unpack the code on wages – the number of laws it is replacing, the possible impact and the most commonly asked questions

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By Rashmi Pradeep & Anna Thomas

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he Ministry of Labor and Employment is in the process of codifying 44 central labor laws into four codes to govern wages, industrial relations, social security and welfare, and occupational safety, health and working conditions. Out of the four proposed labor codes, the Code on Wages, 2019 (“Wage Code”), consolidating the laws relating to wages and bonus has been passed by both houses of the Parliament, and it received the President’s assent on August 08, 2019.

The Wage Code will come into force on such date as the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, appoint and different dates may

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be appointed for different provisions of the Wage Code. The Wage Code has been formulated after wide consultations with trade unions, employers, and state governments. It subsumes four legislations primarily dealing with remuneration of employees namely, the Payment of Wages Act, 1936 (“Payment of Wages Act”), the Minimum Wages Act 1948 (“Minimum Wages Act”), the Payment of Bonus Act, 1965 (“Payment of Bonus Act”) and the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976 (“Equal Remuneration Act”). The Payment of Wages Act, Minimum Wages Act, Payment of Bonus Act, and the Equal Remuneration Act will stand repealed on such date as the central government may appoint.

Background The complexity and rigidity of Indian labor laws are a major impediment to investments and growth of business in India. Under the Constitution of India, certain labor and labor welfare matters are matters within the concurrent list, meaning that both the central and state government can legislate on the same. As a result, there are more than 50 central labor legislations and over 200 state labor laws governing various aspects of labor and employment matters in India, many of which are outdated. In addition to the sheer volume of labor laws that employers have to deal with, there is also uncertainty on the applicability of labor laws, which

depends on various factors including workforce threshold, wage ceiling, type of establishment, and varying definitions of employees, wages, etc. in each statute. This often leads to difficulties in the implementation of the statutes resulting in protracted litigation and also employers having to grapple with various procedural requirements while also ensuring substantive compliance.

Given this background, the consolidation of labor laws is seen as a key step towards promoting inclusive growth, investments, and business in India.

Salient features of the Wage Code

and the arduousness of work. By foregoing ‘type of employment’ as one of the factors for fixation of minimum wages, over 2000 minimum wage rates existing as of today are expected to reduce to 300. Further, the Wage Code introduces the concept of floor wages, whereby the central government will fix floor wages taking into account the minimum living standards of a worker for different geographical areas. The minimum rates of wages fixed by the state governments will have to be not less than the floor wages fixed by the central government.

Inspection: The Wage Code provides for randomized web-based inspections, and information relating to the inspection may be called for electronically. It is expected that this will reduce the potential for corruption and harassment that a physical inspection entails.

Streamlining of procedural compliances: With the consolidation of the Payment of Wages Act, Payment of Bonus Act, Minimum Wages Act and the Equal Remuneration Act into the Wage Code, multiple filings, and maintaining multiple records and registers under each of the four legislations is reduced.

Penalties: Non-payment of amounts due to an employee under the Wage Code

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The consolidation of labor laws is seen as a key step towards promoting inclusive growth, investments, and business in India

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Definition of employee, worker: The Wage Code defines the terms ‘employees’ and ‘workers.’ The term ‘employee’ has been given an expansive meaning by including even persons employed in a managerial, administrative, and supervisory capacity. The term ‘worker’ excludes managerial and supervisory employees and includes sales promotion employees and working journalists. The provisions on payment of minimum wages, payment of wages, payment of bonus, the prohibition of discrimination in matters of remuneration, recruitment, and conditions of service are applicable to ‘employees.’

Payment of minimum wages and timely payment of wages: The Wage Code aims to ensure the “right to sustenance” for every employee by universalizing the provisions of minimum wages and timely payment of wages. The provisions of the Payment of Wages Act and the Minimum Wages Act apply to workers earning below a particular wage ceiling or if they are working in scheduled employment.

However, the Wage Code does not make any such differentiation. As a result, the directives in the Wage Code on payment of minimum wages, the timeline for payment of wages, salary payout upon cessation, and manner of deduction from employee’s salary will now be extended to employees as defined under the Wage Code including those in high paying jobs. Industrial or other establishments, if so notified by the appropriate government, will be required to pay wages to its employees by cheque or by direct credit to their bank account.

No discrimination on the grounds of gender and sex: The Wage Code prohibits discrimination of employees on the grounds of gender in matters relating to wages, and prohibits discrimination on the ground of sex in matters of recruitment and conditions of employment, for the same work or work of similar nature.

While the Equal Remuneration Act extends protective provisions in favor of women, the Wage Code has taken a gender-neutral

approach by prohibiting discrimination on the ground of gender in matters relating to wages.

Payment of Bonus: The Payment of Bonus Act applies only to employees earning less than INR 21,000. While Section 26(1) of the Wage Code stipulates that employees earning below the salary threshold to be notified by the state government, will be eligible for payment of bonus, Section 26(2) of the Wage Code provides that where the wages of the employee exceeds the notified salary threshold, the bonus payable to such employee shall be calculated as if his wage were such amount, so determined by the appropriate government or the minimum wage fixed by the appropriate government, whichever is higher. It may be noted that the state governments may, by way of a notification, exempt employees of any establishment from the application of the chapter relating to the payment of bonus, having regard to the overall benefits under any other profit-sharing scheme available in such establishments.

Fixation of minimum wages and floor wages: For fixing minimum wages, the appropriate government shall primarily take into account the skill of workers

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The authorities to be appointed under the Wage Code for determination of claims are empowered to order payment of compensation in addition to the claim determined, which may be up to ten times of the claim determined.

The Wage Code is being hailed as a historic step towards labor reforms and ease of doing business in India without diluting any basic rights of employees. The Wage Code aims for enforcement of labor laws with transparency and accountability, and it is expected to reduce the cost of compliance for employers significantly.

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is punishable with a monetary fine, which may range up to INR 50,000. Other contraventions are punishable with monetary fines, which may range up to INR 20,000 depending on the type of contravention.

The Wage Code criminalizes only repeat offenses, that is, when a similar offense is committed within five years from the date of commission of the first or subsequent offense, after conviction, in which case imprisonment and a higher penalty may be imposed. Before initiation of prosecution for the offenses under the Wage Code, the employers are to be given an opportunity, by way of a written direction to be issued by the Inspector-cum-Facilitator, to comply with the provisions of the Wage Code within a specified time period (provided it is not a repeat offense) and if the employer complies with such direction, no prosecution proceedings shall be initiated against the employer. This would come as a relief to employers as they are given an opportunity to cure any inadvertent non-compliances before initiation of prosecution. The Wage Code also provides for compounding of offenses for which imprisonment is not prescribed as a penalty.

Claims: The existing labor legislations prescribe six months to 1 year as a period of limitation for filing claims, and some are silent on the period of limitation. Under the Wage Code, employees may file claims at any time within a period of 3 years from the date on which the claim arises. The Wage Code also expressly provides for filing of a single application on behalf or in respect of any number of employees employed in an establishment, subject to any prescribed rules.

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The Payment of Wages Act and the Payment of Bonus Act prescribe a salary threshold of INR 24,000 and INR 21,000, respectively, for their applicability.

Does the Wage Code apply to employees depending on their salary threshold?

The provisions pertaining to payment of minimum wages, timely payment of wages, deduction from wages, fixation of wage period applies to all employees irrespective of the wages they earn. With respect to bonus, as per the Wage Code, an employee who has put in at least 30 days work in an accounting year and who earns less than the salary threshold to be separately notified by the appropriate government is eligible for a bonus. However, Section 26(2) of the Wage Code provides that where the wages of the employee exceeds the notified salary threshold, the bonus payable to such employee shall be calculated as if his wage were such amount, so determined by the appropriate government or the minimum wage fixed by the appropriate government, whichever is higher.

Do the state governments have a role under the Code on Wages?

The Wage Code confers power on the state governments to make rules for carrying out the provisions of the Code; this includes without limitation providing for the manner of calculation of wages, manner of excess deductions, the procedure for making deductions

However, the Wage Code is still more of an amalgam of existing statutes and does not address new-age forms of employment and engagement such as flexitime, work from home, dual hatting, aggregator models, multiple employers/freelancing, etc. The efforts of the central government could also be undone with the state governments promulgating multiple state amendments and varying state rules, which would again result in employers having to comply with multiple statutory requirements across states.

from wages, forms of registers, records to be maintained, inspection scheme. The Wage Code also confers upon the state government the power to fix minimum wage rates at a rate not less than the floor wages fixed by the central government and the minimum wages fixed by it earlier.

Are any establishments specifically exempt from the applicability of the Wage Code in its entirety?

The Wage Code defines establishments as any place where any industry, trade, business, manufacture, or occupation is carried on and includes government establishments. The said definition of establishments is broad enough to cover most establishments. Therefore, any persons employed in such establishments and falling within the definition of ‘employee,’ which includes persons employed in, inter alia, technical, skilled, managerial, administrative, supervisory capacity, will be governed by the applicable provisions of the Wage Code. Presently, there is no blanket exemption given to any specific establishment from the applicability of the Wage Code in its entirety. However, the Wage Code exempts certain establishments from the applicability of specific provisions thereunder. For instance, government establishments, establishments in the public sector, universities, and other educational institutions, non-profit institutions, etc. are exempt from the chapter on payment of bonus under the Wage Code.

About the author

Rashmi Pradeep is the Partner and Anna Thomas, Consultant, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas

The size matters for your first offer Your initial offer is vitally important to your financial well-being. It is the initial stock grant that will vest and that will form the basis for the percentage raise

By Jeffrey Pfeffer & M Muneer

Tomes of research on gender inequality on pay suggest that women are particularly reluctant to negotiate their initial offers, which provides one reason why they earn less than men

Salary Negotiation

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former student of Stanford Graduate School of Business who held a senior position in Uber overseas is now back in San Francisco Bay Area. When we asked him why he left the unicorn, he replied that he wanted to return to the U.S. and that there was little financial incentive to stay at Uber abroad.

He had been in this position for four long years. His options, as is standard, had

a four-year vesting schedule, so he was completely vested. When we asked him about refresh options, he said that Uber, like all companies public and private, had a refresh program but it was quite minimal.

Then he noted that salary raises were typically presented in percentage terms, and there were limits as to how large a percentage increase anyone could get in a single year.

This is not unusual and is the case virtually everywhere for the following reason: Companies typically manage their salary budgets by looking at where they stand (using some benchmarking survey) and considering what wage and price inflation has been and is going to be. Then they set a target raise budget as a percentage of their total salary spends, which may or may not be a percentage of expected revenue overall. Each department gets about the same percentage increase and has to distribute it across its people. With pressure to give everyone at least something, and with raise budgets typically in the single digits, you can see why it is almost impossible for any person to receive an enormous percentage raise in a given year.

The obvious implication from the vesting and raise conversation: Your initial offer is vitally important to your financial well-being. It is the initial stock grant that will vest – do not count on significant refreshes or new grants. It is the initial salary that will form the basis for the percentage raise. If your boss gives you a 10 percent raise, they will think they have treated you generously. If your initial salary was much below your expectations, you will have an impossible burden to catch up.

Various data also show that subsequent employers will benchmark their offering to you based in part on your last drawn salary. There is no zero-based calculation or based on what value the position they are offering you is worth to them. Incidentally, this is one of the biggest obstacles to the gender pay parity. Although you will not necessarily be trapped for life if you start low, the persistence of the effect of your initial salary and option grants over time may be larger than one can imagine.

Tomes of research on gender inequality on pay suggest that women are particularly reluctant to negotiate their initial offers, which provides one reason why they earn less than men. And the compounding effect of that initial offer means they can easily get even more disadvantaged over time.

There are many other related reasons too for the inequality. But it is not just women who can be reluctant to negotiate their initial offer. If you have a job offer from a prestigious enterprise, you will naturally feel happy and grateful. Moreover, many people are reluctant to come across as pushy by trying to negotiate better initial entry terms. In India, many MBA graduates from premier institutions feel it will reflect poorly on them, as greed is associated with asking for more money.

If you come to your negotiation table with good information about what others like you are getting in the market, and if you can construct a narrative around your value to the company, you will appear confident but not pushy, and confidence is a trait valued by organizations.

So when you are on the market and thinking about accepting an offer, remember that the terms of that offer matter a lot – not for just the current year, but have an effect on your financial well-being well into the future.

About the authors

Dr. Pfeffer is chair professor of organizational behavior at Stanford Graduate School of Business, and Dr Muneer is Co-Founder and Chief Evangelist of the non-profit Medici Institute Foundation. Twitter @MuneerMuh FEBRUARY 2020 |

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The Travel Risk Outlook 2020: How can organizations ensure safety of traveling employees In a globalized world becoming more complex day by day, the key challenge facing organizations is to strengthen their resilience, ensure safety of their employees and to ensure continued operation and survival in the face of risks

By Shweta Modgil

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n 2020, global mobility has become mainstream and almost every organization in the world, big or small, is venturing everywhere to conduct business. But given the complex global geopolitical and climatic situations, the risks from globalization to businesses have also increased manifold.

Just as foreign direct investment inflows in different countries have increased, the economic impacts of global risks are rising too. The Travel Risk Outlook 2020 research by International SOS, leading medical and travel security risk service company for corporate employees, reveals that non-communicable diseases are predicted to result in a cumulative lost output of $47 Tn between 2011 and 2030. Similarly, the costs of extreme weather events regularly exceed $1 Bn.

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As per Arnaud VaissiĂŠ CEO, International SOS, thus the key challenge facing organizations is not to be so preoccupied with global opportunities that they lose sight of their Duty of Care to their people. Organizations need to strengthen their resilience to ensure continued operation and survival in the face of risks while ensuring their employees are safe.

Global Businesses, Global Risk As businesses go more global in 2020, the risk outlook is ever-evolving, and so should the preven-

Organizations need to strengthen their resilience to ensure continued operation and survival in the face of risks while ensuring their employees are safe

CHANGES IN RISK TO TRAVELLERS

To deal with risk associated with natural disasters, to protect the safety of their mobile workforce, organizations should also ensure that employees travelling to or based in areas at risk from natural hazards should be briefed on what to do in the event of an emergency, and understand the support available and its limitations

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tative and protective approaches of organizations.

As per the Travel Risk Outlook 2020 research by International SOS (based on original research conducted by the Ipsos MORI Corporate Reputation team, as well as supplementary research ‘pillars’ which draw on International SOS’ case data and on-the-ground intelligence), noteworthy predictions for travel-related risk for organizations in 2020 are• Risks borne from geopolitical shifts will be the most important mobility challenge for businesses in 2020. More than half of organizations surveyed (52%) believe geopolitical threats and civil unrest will be among the most likely causes of modified travel in 2020.

• Climate change will exacerbate the occurrence of environmental disruptions in 2020.

Half of the organizations (51%) believe that natural disasters will be among the most likely causes of modified itineraries in 2020.

• Infectious disease outbreaks from established and newly emerging pathogens will increase in 2020 due to multiple factors, including climate change, increasing urbanization, diminishing vaccination coverage and security instability.

• Bleisure travel: The debate whether an employer is responsible to cover bleisure as part of employee Duty of Care will amplify in 2020. Yet only 22% of organizations include ‘bleisure travel’ in their travel policies.

Compared to other regions, Europe is the best performer for including this (27%).

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Source: Business Resilience Trends Survey 2020, Ipsos MORI & International SOS

• High profile Duty of Care legal cases will increase in 2020. This would mean that there will be a greater focus from organizations and employees around their Duty of Care in order to mitigate risk for companies and to make it an attractive place to work • Startups and SMEs that are under-resourced and inexperienced will struggle to meet Duty of Care obligations in 2020. Because smallmedium sized companies are less aware of the issues and potential risks and threats and are also less able to invest in systems to help manage these.

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Geopolitical shifts in 2020 that organisations need to consider

Source: Travel Risk Outlook 2020: Ten Predictions, International SOS

Geopolitical instability, social and civil unrest, coupled with climate change will be a crucial disruptor in 2020 for traveling employees.

We can already see the impacts of such activities in various countries around the globe, including India

The report further adds that the unifying trend behind why geopolitical shifts are seen as so risky to travelers is due to the general sense of instability, unpredictability and speed of change in this space. Issues such as increased terrorism, elections and associated instability, and relations between states (e.g. US, China, Russia, Middle Eastern countries) will be major geopolitical risks that organizations need to consider.

In order to deal with the uncertain geopolitical landscape in 2020, organizations should seek to understand which of these are most likely to impact them. This should be based on their industry and geographic exposure to such areas.

They should analyze and plan travel and business based on the risk the events may pose to them and their people.

Similarly to deal with risk associated with natural disasters, to protect the safety of their mobile workforce, organizations should also ensure that employees travelling to or based in areas at risk from natural hazards should be briefed on what to do in the event of an emergency, and understand the support available and its limitations.

What can you do as responsible organizations to mitigate travel risk for employees?

It is clear that an organization’s role in mitigating risk for travelers will increase in 2020. Not only there is a need for organizations to recognize an increasing awareness of Duty of Care, but also to provide more training, information, preparation and communication. In addition, it also needs to 82

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THE GREY ZONES OF TRAVEL RISK Emerging traveller habits, both domestically and internationally, and diversification of the workforce are creating Grey Zones of risk.

As responsible employers, you can • Clarify and communicate your policy: Decide whether or not you will cover travelers on leisure travel, and/or if they extend a work trip • Provide resources to your employees: Ensure that your employees have access to learn about the risks in the destinations to where they are headed and can access alerts for their destination. This can be useful in understanding areas to book accommodation, which places to avoid on their free time, to identify appropriate modes of transport or to stay apprised of any changes to the risk landscape while they are in a country such as demonstrations, terrorist attacks, natural hazards.

It is time for organizations in India to realize the need to ensure responsible employee travel policies and identify potential risks in advance that adhere to not only to Duty of Care obligations but also to optimize risk management costs, to ensure safer business travel in 2020

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be clear where the employers’ Duty of Care begins and ends.

Neeraj Balani, Managing Director, International SOS India says, “Geopolitical instability, social and civil unrest, coupled with climate change will be a crucial disruptor in 2020 for traveling employees. We can already see the impacts of such activities in various countries around the globe, including India. This is also expected to give rise to multiple travel and medical challenges for the companies. Hence, it is time for organizations in India to realize the need to ensure responsible employee travel policies and identify potential risks in advance that adhere to not only to Duty of Care obligations but also to optimize risk management costs, to ensure safer business travel in 2020.”

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Source: Business Resilience Trends Survey 2020, Ipsos MORI & International SOS

• Where possible, capture travel itineraries: Organizations could make sure employees are forwarding their personal travel itineraries or uploading them to corporate tracking tools (if available), or at least can proactively notify the organization where they are (mobile check-in).

• Keep updated emergency contact information: If unsure about whereabouts of an employee after they have concluded the business travel portion of their trip, ensure you can reach out to someone who knows where they might be.

• Assist first, cover costs later: If you have an employee in need of urgent, emergent care or assistance, and you are able to assist, provide them with the resources to help as a priority; whether the costs will be covered by your organization can be discussed after the situation has stabilized.

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Past Month's events

Knowledge + Networking

Strategizing Your Digital Transformation Roadmap: The How & Why

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People Matters and Darwinbox 29th & 30th January & 4th February 2020 Westin, Gurgaon, Sofitel, Mumbai & The Ritz, Bangalore Every business model is getting turned on its head and people have to adapt to these changes in real-time. The need of the hour today for every organization is to devise a digital transformation strategy roadmap that can help it adapt to these changes and stay agile. But before HR initiates a transformation exercise, it needs to build a case for transformation.

This roundtable by People Matters & Darwinbox discussed the priorities that organizations need to undertake transformation. The discussion also involved taking up business cases for transformation and presenting it to the stakeholders. Most importantly keep checking on the outcomes while going through the transformation.

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Building a culture of trust at the workplace in a digital age

Technology: The Transformation Driver for today’s HR

People Matters and C2C-OD 24th January 2020 Taj MG Road, Bangalore As businesses become more digital and technology becomes all-pervasive, are the fine lines between monitoring and surveillance diminishing? Does technology increase emphasis on transparency or is it leading to the creation of more grey areas as far as building trust is concerned?

And how can organizations build a culture of trust to deal with challenges that may arise because of the all-pervasiveness of digital?

We hosted the People Matters & C2C-OD roundtable, in partnership with Reina – A Trust Building Consultancy, which discussed in detail about the tools to build trust. The session also deep dived into a research-based ‘Three Dimensions of Trust: The Three Cs and behaviors that build them. The attendees were taken through the method of scientifically assessing the level of trust-related issues in a constructive way.

People Matters and Akrivia 23rd January 2020 Taj Krishna, Hyderabad With the emergence of a global digital economy, the rise of artificial intelligence and automation, and the transformation of work and job roles, HR leaders are entrusted with a graver responsibility to ready themselves to adapt to the changing world of work before they ready the workforce. In this age of dynamic transformation and shifts at the workplace, how can HR leaders leverage technology to power their own reinvention on a daily basis? How can technology be leveraged to bring about a mindset shift in HR? To reflect on the question and to discuss how technology can be leveraged effectively for this mindset shift, People Matters and Akrivia came together for this roundtable to discuss the different ways you can deep dive into a strategic role that technology will play a considerable role in transformation of HR. The session involved sharing inputs on some of the most critical implications of tech in the organizations and how HR leaders can transform their daily jobs in the 4th Industrial Revolution.

Upcoming events Yi The Future

Visit CII official website for more info

Goa Institute of Management and People Matters 15th & 16th February 2020 Goa Institute of Management Anveshan is The National Level HR Business Symposium, organized by HRiday – The HR Club of Goa Institute of Management (GIM). What started with humble beginnings eight years ago, metamorphosed into being India’s Biggest Live HR Case study competition along with a plethora of other events under the banner of Anveshan. Anveshan will host the following events: Samiksha: The Flagship event of Anveshan. It is India’s Biggest National Level Live HR Case Study. Competition with the largest prize money that no other B-School offers – ₹50,000. For the past six years we have understood the woes of companies such as Syngenta, Make A Difference and Sanofi, and have written case studies in collaboration with them.

These case studies were then rolled out to B-schools across the country, and the companies were given exclusive rights to the solutions provided by the students.

Margdarshan: With a tremendous response in its inception year and an

even better one in the years that followed, Margdarshan promises to be a notch higher in its fourth edition at Anveshan 2020.

Strategizer: The format of the event deals with an industry-student-learning connect. An HR professional from the industry would train a team through a simulation and compete against other ‘Industry professional-student’ teams that are also running through this simulation.

Gyaanodaya: The opening ceremony graced by an eminent speaker who is an industry stalwart, shares their business acumen with the students and opens a minefield of learning for the audience.

Yukti: Certified workshops organized by the best in the industry for nurturing and learning of the students. Past workshops include: HR Analytics , An Introduction to REBT, Transforming HR practices.

Drum Circle: An Interpersonal development and team building workshop.

InQuizitive: National level HR Quiz competition conducted in two rounds.

This competition is conducted online and attracts participation from around 250 B-schools across the country.

Knowledge + Networking

CII 10 February 2020 IDCO Vashi, Navi Mumbai Yi The Future will be a flagship national event of Yi. The Summit will address the need of the Nation to build an ecosystem for fostering innovation and leveraging it to build our youth’s future in the digitally connected world. Yi The Future will discuss the role of youth in creating the future of everything-Humans, Tech, Design, News, Information, Art, Peace, Explorations and Education.

The platform will convene creative collaborators trailblazing entrepreneurs, futurists, exponential thinkers, leaders of tomorrow, technologists from across the nation and the world, science fiction writers, illustrators, designers, and futurists to create new ideas and bring new worlds to life where these ideas will, should, or may exist.

Anveshan – 2020’ - The National HR Business Symposium

People Matters TechHR Singapore 2020 Conference & Workshop People Matters 9th - 21st February 2020 Marina Bay Sands Convention Centre, Singapore The future is on everyone’s minds-what lies ahead and what will be its impact on people and work? How can we be future-ready by design? It is these questions People Matters TechHR Singapore 2020 will explore and hope to find the answers to. People Matters TechHR Singapore 2020, Asia’s largest HR and WorkTech conference is back in a bigger and bolder format. Themed around ‘By Design’, the conference will examine the purpose of technology, its impact on business, accelerating change in talent practices as well as the way in which we architect digital culture while keeping an eye on what technology brings to the fore. The conference will

also stimulate conversations on completely rethinking how we run our business, how work gets executed and how we create seamless experiences for our customers and employees. Speakers like Jason Averbook, CEO & Co-Founder, Leapgen, Cassie Kozyrkov, Chief Decision Scientist, Google, Nora Manaf, Head, Group Human Capital, Maybank, Nadiah Tan Abdullah, CHRO, S P Setia Berhad and more will share with us their thoughts. Additionally, we also have People Matters TechHR Certification Workshops planned for 19th February as part of People Matters TechHR Singapore 2020. We are privileged to launch full-day certification workshops for all registered delegates. Get an opportunity to learn from the best in the HR and Work Tech space at the Marina Bay Sands, Convention Center, Singapore at a special offer price of SGD 395. Also, we have planned an immersive

learning experience for our delegates through People Matters Study Tour 2020, dated 21st February. Renowned organizations like Netflix, OCBC, Unilever, Olam International, SUTD and many more on board already with us. Each of these organizations will share their digital success stories and best practices which make them the most desired organization to work for.

https://singapore.techhrconference. com/register

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Blogosphere

>> Prashant Bhatnagar

Bugs and Features: Spot the difference For some among us, fitting into the cannon may be viewed as a “bug” i.e. a flaw or imperfection while for others, it can be a “feature” they actively seek

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n a circus, the Bearded Lady and the World's Tallest Man fell in love and decided to start a family. A few weeks before she was due to give birth, the Bearded Lady and the circus ring-master were talking.

"How's it going," the ring-master asked, "Are you well?"

"Yes thanks - very excited," said the Bearded Lady, "We have so many plans for the baby - we want to be supportive parents."

"That's nice," said the ring-master, "Do you want a boy or a girl?"

"Oh, we really don't mind as long as the bay is healthy," said the Bearded Lady, "And it fits into the cannon."

For some amongst us, fitting into the cannon may be viewed as a “bug” i.e. a flaw or imperfection while for others, and in this instance, for the Bearded Lady, it was a “feature” she actively sought in the newborn. At work, similar scenarios play out as well – attributes regarded as a “feature” can also be graded as a “bug”. For example, during annual performance discussions, one commonly hears that “XXX is detailoriented and covers all the bases”. Feedback on the same individual from her team may suggest that “XXX micro-manages the team who do not feel empowered”. Sample another, “YYY is a perfectionist who sets a very high bar” contrasted by, “YYY is inflexible who is set in her own ways”.

Granted that in above examples, there were two sets of observers with as many observations. But at work, we individually also witness “feature” and “bug” transformation by the same beneficiary. For example, teams are gifted at reading when their manager woke up from the wrong side of the bed. Or the instance when they must put in all their requests as the manager seems to be in a good mood. How must one

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reconcile with this incongruity? In my experience, there are three things at play: • Personal preferences: The observer and the target have personal preferences through which they operate under most situations. For example, I prefer spending time on framing the problem, securing agreement on the parameters including constraints, finalizing resources (time, budget, people, etc.), and aligning on the end outcome. I am comfortable and offer the choice of selecting the “method” (i.e. how) to the team. In this instance, my awareness and subsequent articulation of this preference to the team saves everyone the trouble of discovering this “bug”.

• Context: Continuing with the same example, when working with a senior and tenured team (context), this personal preference is often regarded as a “feature”.

The team feels empowered as they apply faculty with enough room to manoeuvre.

However, when working with junior or new (to the firm) team, this preferred approach could easily be classified as a “bug” as team’s lack of experience or familiarity with organizational construct warrants greater involvement by the lead (i.e. me in this example). Likewise, when introducing a change, be it in product, process, people, etc., the leader is likely to be involved in detail, having greater say on the methods.

The same leader will most likely revert to their preferred approach when cruising on calmer seas.

• Expertise: The difference in (perceived) expertise level of leader and her team (or two different teams or even individuals) has a direct bearing on its categorization as “feature” or a “bug”. Bigger differences get classified as “features” while smaller ones get relegated as “bugs”.

A blind man had been waiting a while at a busy road for someone to offer to guide him across, when he felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Excuse me," said the tapper, "I'm blind - would you mind guiding me across the road?"

The first blind man took the arm of the second blind man, and they both crossed the road. We all have “features” and “bugs” that enable and disable us, like clockwork.

What appears to be an apparent “bug” might actually be a “feature”, waiting to reveal its beneficial utility. Are you spending time in defence of your “bugs” or raising awareness of them in the specific context?

Be honest, are you bugged by its feature?

About the author

Prashant Bhatnagar is Director Human Resources at Credit Suisse

RNI Details: Vol. XI, Issue No. 2, R.N.I. No. HARENG/2010/33504. Price Per Copy: Rs. 150/- Printed and Published by Mahesh Kumar on behalf of People Matters Publishing Pvt. Ltd. Published at 501, 5th Floor, Millennium Plaza, Tower A, Sushant Lok-1, Sector-27, Gurgaon - 122009, Haryana, India. Printed at Polykam Offset, C-138, Phase - I, Naraina Industrial Area, New Delhi - 110028. Editor: Esther Martinez Hernandez

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