Table of Contents From the Editor’s Pen
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The Human Resource Mix Article by: Anirudh Vats
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Dealing with Pay Inversion Article by: Arijit Mukherjee & Vipul Khanna
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Following Dreams v/s Falling for Packages Article by: Dr. Arnav Singh Tanwar,
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A talk with the esteemed Alumni
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Whistleblowing & the Role of HR Professionals! Article by: Arushi Arora,
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The Dark Knight shall Rise to the Labor Union Article by: Shubhi Tripathi
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So Mr. Leader…. What Choices are You Making? Article by: Aparna P and Vibhu Gangal
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Winning the War for Talent Article by:Raashid Sherif
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Article by:Saumya Maurya
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Gender Counts
Fun Section
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From the Editor’s Pen Editor, HR Mesh Greetings from the HR Forum, Welcome to the HR Mesh August Edition, The dawn of the new academic year commences the knowledge transfer among students, faculty, academicians, researchers and the corporates alike. There are an abundance of topics, issues, challenges and current affairs to discuss about and create a repository of knowledge. The Manesar Incident, for one is a burning issue that is being discussed these days to 'death'. The HR Mesh aims to streamline these ideas and the many varied perspectives into a concrete body of knowledge to feast upon. Thus, we bring you the August edition of the HR Mesh. The August edition is always special for the HR Forum because primarily it is the first issue of the new academic calendar and secondly we have new members joining the Forum as a part of junior team. For these reasons, the August issue is always more fresh and more creative. This time the MESH is bigger, better and larger for the fact that we have added some new sections like Alumni Talk and the Light reading section. The Alumni Talk is a detailed interview with the alumni of SCMHRD who are successful in their respective fields. Light Reading section is devoted to an article not related to HR; but open to themes such as philosophy, spirituality or any other creative theme. In this issue we have, an article on, 'Following Dreams vs. Falling for Packages'. The volume as well as the variety of HR related articles has also considerably increased. We have articles ranging from topics like Pay inversion, Whistle
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blowing, Choices of a Leader and Talent Management to topics like The Dark Knight rising to the Labour Unions, Women in Management and The Human Resource Mix. With this variety, we intend to explore the world of HR more thoroughly. I would like to express my views regarding the ugliness of the Manesar incident which included the brutal death of the senior HR Manager, Mr. Awanish Kumar Dev. This highlights the issue of workers finally revolting against the employers at the factories. There has been tremendous amount of unrest in the plant previously. After several instances of repressions and provocations from the management, the workers have ultimately retaliated. This instance must serve as a wake-up call to other companies which deal in blatant disregard towards their workmen. This incident will serve as a catalyst of the transformation from Industrial Relations to Employee Relations in India. Moving forward, we do hope this edition enhances the readers' understanding and fulfils HR Mesh's aim of being a repository of knowledge. As always we are eager to hear your remarks, suggestions and comments about the articles and above all to catch up with you! So feel free Editorial Team to write to us at: Varun Chandar hrforum@scmhrd.edu Shubhangi Acharya
Umang Kotriwala So until we see you next time ... Happy Reading!!!!
Designed By Umang Kotriwala
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The Human Resource Mix Anirudh Vats, PGDM (2012-2014) International Management Institute, New Delhi “Every man is a volume if you know how to read him” sit & think for a moment, we would at least be able to -William Ellery Channing enlist the major reasons, since there were many timebred factors that culminated into this murderous Good Morning Mr.Rabbani! How's your cold now? outcome. How have been your son's exams? Yes I was talking to I will now take you through what I have conceptualized Mr. Rabbani when he had just arrived for the as “the human resource mix”. Well, though morning shift. I remember he was one of the “For any industry, the it would look like an ill treated character set, humans are its most the fact is that, it is! Because the idea most sincere operators the company had in important asset & all the division. So who am I here? Am I one of originates from what we call the marketing investments are his fellow operators? His supervisor? His handicapped without mix for a company. a productive Immediate boss/ shift manager? the HR workforce. The manager? or one of the departmental As pointed out earlier, the workers / human component heads? Though I can be anyone of these but I operators are those who are trained to therefore needs a would like to assume the role of the shift different treatment.” operate the machines to produce the manager, the lowest known level of required intermediate/final entity which is management in a manufacturing firm (by profile, then sold into the market (that is where marketing though the designation may vary). By conversing with comes into picture). The marketers are well equipped him, I was trying to establish a connection so as to with various skills to understand the psychology & engage him with the workplace, in a casual manner. behavior of the “People outside the Organization”, Yes it did take few minutes of my & his productive time, whom they broadly define as consumers. On the other but was it worth? I will take you through my basic side, Human Resource managers take care of the reasoning for doing this. human resource issues within the organization. So, in a sense these two groups are using the same tools, but For any industry, the humans are its most important to achieve diverged & rather disconnected outcomes asset & all investments are handicapped without a (in a positive sense). Also, many Organizations, in their productive workforce. The human component relentless quest to satisfy the consumers, fail to get therefore needs a different treatment. Human their workers (lowest level) onboard in the sense that Resource Managers have been trying to address this, they don't feel as being a part of the organizational one of the biggest concerns for the organizations. The ecosystem. This gives rise to a new idea of “intra recent incident at Maruti's Manesar plant highlights organizational marketing” which aims to market the the importance of the issue I am trying bring to light. company's values to the lowest level workforce so as to But it's not the Human Resource Department alone, integrate them into the organizational system. The that should be held responsible for what led to this ideal outcome of this effort would be the elimination bizarre situation. Although there might be many of the trade unions, which were held as the major reasons that the enquiry shall reveal, but if we can just culprits for the Maruti fiasco.
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of the trade unions, which were held as the major culprits for the Maruti fiasco. This is akin to a rehabilitation exercise that would in turn help in easing out the furore that the union system has created, in a phased manner. A psychological conditioning of these employees, on a substantial scale, would result in a de-stressed workplace environment that will ultimately manifest itself into reduced damages & higher productivity. The so called human resource mix will be an intuitive blend of the Marketing & Human Resource Methodologies to instill organizational value system within this lowest stratum of organizational hierarchy. Especially the managers directly involved in
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the shop floor activities need to be trained in these diverse skills, so as to enable them to carve out effective behavioral tools to handle these COWORKERS well. All in all, this simple effort will promote a culture of mutual understanding & coexistence within the respective organizational functional domains & will result in bonded rather than fragmented organization. REFERENCES Borden, Neil H.. (1964). The Concept of Marketing Mix Robbins Stephen P., Judge Timothy A., Vohra Neharika. (2012). Organizational Behavior, Chapter 8, Motivation: From Concepts to Applications, Employee Involvement, p 240, India, Pearson Kotler Philip, Armstrong Gary, Agnihotri Prafulla Y., Haque Ehsan Ul, (2010). Principles of Marketing, 13th edition, Chapter 3, Analyzing the Marketing Environment, p 56 - 81, India, Pearson
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Dealing with Pay Inversion Arijit Mukherjee & Vipul Khanna, XLRI Imagine the junior you guided and took under your What is pay inversion?-Consider the employee who wings during your college life landing up in the same has worked hard for several years in an organization, organization as yours and getting paid 25% more than received high evaluations and suddenly the company you. That would surely be de-motivating for hires a new, less experienced, less qualified “Pay inversion occurs anybody and more so for an aspiring young when employees who worker and pays him a higher salary. This professional. But, to cover up for these are similarly or less unfortunate phenomenon happening in anomalies HRs commonly use the argument qualified than current many organizations (especially during employees are paid recessionary times) is called pay inversion. that their workforce is intrinsically more for the same motivated or the classic “our employees are job.” motivated by the quality of work and not Pay inversion occurs when employees who rewards and compensation.” But, mostly it's are similarly or less qualified than current the case of turning a blind eye to an important issue. employees are paid more for the same job but note that the definition of inversion excludes paying new With another financial downturn looming large, its hires more because they have greater experience or high time HRs addresses this issue and not repeat the skills or clearly exhibit the potential to rapidly mistakes of last time. outperform current employees.
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Although they are no perfect solutions to the inversion problem but we would try to provide a strategy to deal with the same.
Salary rises: First, firms could base raises on total contribution to the organization. Using a broad definition of contribution, even if new employees are performing well based on traditional output Our strategy provides for paying market rates for new measures, they are most likely making a smaller total employees but base future rewards of each employees contribution than established employees since as including new hires on his or her total contribution to already stated total contribution employees make the organization. By paying market rates, a firm can includes job and organizational knowledge and hire new employees and achieve its goal of being existing employees are expected to outperform new competitive in the hiring market for the current year. employees on these parameters. As a result, base And, by basing future rewards on overall raises for established employees would turn organization contributions, the firm may be out to be higher. The key to making this “Employees' total able to motivate employees to excel into compensation consists approach successful is to all employees, remain loyal, thereby achieving the goal of of a beginning salary particularly the new ones, that the firm and three other high organizational efficiency. components: salary bases pay raises on a broad definition of performance. rises, non-salary There are two important advantages to this monetary awards and Second, companies may address inversion non-monetary approach. First, it recognizes the economic by allocating a specific amount of the raise rewards.� reality of the market place. Second, it is budget to inversion-affected employees consistent with motivational theory if the until the impact of the high, market-driven firm defines both performances and compensation beginning salary is erased and salaries reflect total broadly. Reinforcement theory states that contribution to organization. Although this approach organizations should reward employees based on their does not eliminate inversion instantly, it may generate performance, by broadly defining performance as the goodwill among current employees by showing that total contribution employees make to the organization the company values them, recognizes the problem and rather than traditional output measures, employees is doing something about it. could also be rewarded for job and organizational Non-salary monetary rewards: Companies may also knowledge, past contributions, organizational boost inverted employees' total compensation by citizenship behaviours and loyalty. In addition, equity providing additional non-salary monetary rewards. theory states that employees' fairness calculation For example, firms can grant stock options to current, considers all the rewards receive. underpaid highly productive employees. Non-monetary rewards: In granting non-monetary Thus, if companies also take a comprehensive view of rewards, anything that shows appreciation or compensation, they can offer employees more recognition of employees' contributions can help rewards thereby improving employees' equity ratio. offset the negative effects of inversion. Examples We describe employees' total compensation as include choice of work assignments, verbal or written consisting of a beginning salary and three other praise, additional work/life balance options, and first components: salary rises, non-salary monetary choice of vacation times, offices and working awards and non-monetary rewards. conditions.
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Of course, no single non-monetary reward is likely to be so significant that it would overcome a big salary deficit. In addition, according to expectancy theory companies must make sure that the rewards they offer are valued by employees. Otherwise, they expectancy theory companies must make sure that the rewards they offer are valued by employees. Otherwise, they will not be motivated. However, in the long run, the accumulation of these non-monetary rewards, especially in combination with the monetary rewards discussed above, could restore equity in the mind of current employees.
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REFERENCES Is pay inversion ethical? A three-part exercise by: R. Bruce McAfee ,Myron Glassman ,Marian W. Boscia Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, Volume 33, 2006 Employee Compensation: Theory, Practice, and Evidence by Barry A. Gerhart,Harvey B. Minkoff,Ray N. Olsen,Centre for Advanced Human Resource Studies,1/05/1995 Ibid Kabanoff, B. (1991). Equity, equality, power,and conflict. Academy of Management Review,16, 416441.
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Following Dreams v/s Falling for Packages Light Reading Dreams (Not the ones that Freud tried his best to interpret) Are the culmination of our expressed and repressed desires. Their shapes, outlines, structure can't be defined and carved in stone they are in fact a dynamic entity. Still there are some dreams that originate really early and stay engraved for the rest of our lives. One such dream is of taking up the profession that we love. There is a lot of hue and cry in the film and media industry regarding the importance of working at something which gives you heartfelt satisfaction. But does this rosy picture translate into reality in the real world Most of us here in India, especially those who don't come from very liberal households, would like to disagree. The harsh reality is that as we grow up physically, the child in us is suppressed and condemned to be locked away while the 'mature' adult is extracted out of us. With the loss of this childish innocence, we lose our will to fight for what is close to our hearts and succumb to the needs and norms of this world. We are forced into the illusion that going after money and other materialistic pleasures
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Dr. Arnav Singh Tanwar, M.B.B.S Human Resource Management (Class of 2012-14), XLRI ('Fat packages') is the only way to experience true joy. Is it right to castigate this popular belief in its entirety? Is it right to go after pursuing a failing career in rock music while you can't afford to feed or educate your child? To answer this, we can consider the applications of Maslow's theory; How he describes the importance of the basic physiological needs; How they affect our professional behavior; How he describes the fact that basic needs are to be addressed first. All these needs are linked very closely to one's economic concerns. So where does the problem lie? The problem lies in the fact that we are trying to observe this problem in black or white. The reality lies in the finer shades of gray. What really happens is that while in the pursuit of this 'happyness' (As Will Smith wonderfully puts it There should be a Y in 'happiness') we tend to overshoot and overemphasize on the needs that were meant to be just essential ones. The priority goes from sustaining oneself to seeking a life of plenty. Consequently the child in us never gets a chance to express him/herself. On the contrary we exploit the dynamic nature of our dreams to fool ourselves into believing that the materialistic pleasures that we
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now possess (as a result of the pay packages) are what we have always wanted. That the dream to 'paint' or 'play for a band' was just a naïve fantasy which had no real place in this world. This tragedy is further aggravated by the enormous pressure of society which believes that we need to be 'saved' from 'ruining' our lives in running after mirages.
mildly all satisfaction from pursuing one's deepest desires is rendered bitter if one doesn't have a happy sustenance to enjoy it. So where does one's greed end? What is the utopia of all professional problems? How does one find the middle ground? Till when does one keep running this 'rat-race'?
The aspiring student is forced to conform to the standards set by the society for an ideal life. He is forced to comply with them, lest he be tagged a maverick. His free spirit is bound by invisible chains and never realizes how he gets sucked into this very system which he had thought of revolutionizing.
The questions are many, the answers few. But all I can say is that there is no age to follow something that's close to your heart. The busiest man finds time for everything. We can always strive to strike a balance between sustaining ourselves and giving shape to our dreams. A balanced approach in life with a dedicated focus on our dreams can help us achieve most, if not all, that we aspire for. All we need is the belief in our dreams, the vision to give it a mental shape and the will to pursue it with all our heart.
To give you the other side of this picture there is also the fact that there is no joy in serenading your lady with a guitar while she has not been well provided for. The joy one derives out of seeing his family happy and content is beyond any that comes from pursuing any dream one might have. To put it more
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“You have the sunshine, you have the rain work on your dreams now, you will never grow up again!”
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A talk with the esteemed Alumni Alumni Interview The HR Mesh delves deep into SCMHRD's Alumni treasures and finds a gem of an alumnus, Mr. Ajay Dhanak, Assistant Manager, L&D at Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd. He had graduated from SCMHRD in 2009 and has since been associated with Dr. Reddy's. Mr. Dhanak shares his valuable insights, experiences and wisdom with the HR Forum . 1. Can you please give us a brief overview of your qualifications and prior work experience? I was a fresher when I had joined SCMHRD after completing my B.A in English from St. Stephens College in Delhi University. I graduated in 2009 with a specialization in HR and have been with Dr. Reddy's ever since.
2. Could you comment on the platform that SCMHRD has provided you in the corporate realm? SCMHRD has provided me with an excellent platform from where I could start off my career. Their course curriculum is up to date and very industry-relevant. When you come out of SCMHRD and step into the corporate you don't feel out of place. I found the course content is very well structured. In fact, all the concepts that I have applied here at Dr. Reddy's had been covered in great detail while I was at SCMHRD. Some of these concepts were Balanced Scorecard, Performance Capability Maturity Model and Six Sigma, to name a few. The Faculty members too were helpful, always approachable and very knowledgeable. I feel SCMHRD has developed over many years and
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Words of Wisdom
Mr. Ajay Dhanak Assistant Manager, L&D Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd. has become a brand name in itself. Many of the corporates which I have interacted with, rate SCMHRD as one of the best B-schools for HR graduates in India.
3. Could you describe what your job as an L&D professional entails at Dr. Reddy's? Here at Dr. Reddy's, the L&D team is in charge of developing an end-to-end design cycle of training projects as well as conducting training needs analyses for certain projects. We have three major verticals here Global Generics, Pharmaceutical Service Active Ingredients & Proprietary Products. The L&D Team's job is to cater to the training and development needs of these three verticals. Our team has been trained at the Leadership Academy that equips the HR Managers with the required skills necessary to manage the workforce of Dr. Reddy's. My job is based on multiple projects and multiple assignments which go on for a long period of time. I take care of the training and development needs of the Russia business of Dr. Reddy's. I'll talk about some of the projects that I have undertaken at Dr. Reddy's.
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Firstly, I had compiled an easy to read Booklet that explains the A-Z of the pharmaceutical industry, which was copyrighted and received very good feedback.
and analyzing every issue is important before I jump to conclusions. I ensure that I do complete justice to the issues that come my way and do not succumb to pressure.
Another project involved developing Case Studies ranging from Product specific cases to Acquisitions in order to facilitate Organizational Learning.
6. Where did you do summer internship? I interned at Heinz where I did a project on benchmarking the training process and induction process across the FMCG sector. 7. How did your summer internship help you in your career development? This was my initial exposure to the corporate world and I got a lot of opportunities to explore. I interacted with many professionals and most importantly understood how the business works. I was able to relate the theory that I had learnt in college to the real world.
I had also developed Leadership and soft skill programs as well as programs on Business Etiquettes and Presentation dynamics. Furthermore, I had developed the '6 Leadership skills' framework which was mapped to the roles in order to facilitate role based training. I also did conduct audit investigations of product failures that took place in the plant due to quality issues. This was done to capture the learnings of the incident.
4. What aspects of your job do you find most challenging? Many business representatives assume that employee output is linked to training programs and expect that the L&D Team can fix this issue in a jiffy. In order to understand the issue we have to frequently conduct training need analyses so that an informed decision can be made and the further course of action can be decided. Secondly, a big challenge is to decide if a problem can be solved by training or not. Some problems arise due to behaviors and it would be detrimental to design training programs for these issues.
8. What do you think are the essential qualities/skills required from a person of your post? In my opinion, the essential qualities are:Empathy - HR managers must be able to relate to the problems of the employees and come up with solutions that benefit both the employees and the organization. Counseling skills - HR managers must be able to talk to the employees and listen to their problems. Let them feel that you actually care. Exploring mindset -HR managers should understand and examine every issue carefully and be logical in their approach. Ownership of their actions - The HR Managers need to own up to their own actions and then go forward and manage their workforce.
5. How do you deal with these challenges? As an HR manager, I accept challenges head on and deal with them proactively. Understanding
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9. The pharmaceutical industry has changed in the past few years. Where do you think the changes will happen in the next five years? The major innovator companies in the pharmaceutical industry such as Pfizer and Glaxo Smith Kline had launched a lot of products in India at around 2004. However, by 2014, the patents for these medicines will expire which will be a breakthrough for companies that produce generic medicines. Generics mean that these companies develop the duplicate version of the medicines once the patent of the medicines expires. There has been a major shift from innovator companies to generic companies which gives us a huge opportunity to explore the market. Secondly, there is a huge potential in the Biopharmaceuticals market. Within 10 to12 years this market will be a great opportunity for Dr. Reddy's. 10. What are your views on attrition in the pharmaceutical industry? The pharmaceutical industry will remain evergreen because the consumption of medicines does not get affected by recession. As a result there are many job opportunities available in the market which allows lateral job shifts in the industry. Employees are regularly moving from one company to the other in search of better opportunities. Among the manufacturing employees the attrition is healthy at around 12% whereas for HR and Sales functions the attrition rates are higher at around 25%. I would like to point out that some percentage of attrition is healthy and 15% is considered to be ideal. Healthy attrition leads to recruitments of new
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employees with fresh perspectives that ultimately benefit the business.
11. What are your thoughts on the Manesar incident? I think this whole issue is due to the mistrust between the employer and the workmen. In order to maintain good employee relations with the workmen, I believe the following points should be considered: Firstly, we need to see how efficiently and effectively the IR Manager is able to address the issues of the workmen. Then, the HR Manager must be able to listen to the laborers and empathize with them And lastly, the workmen should have confidence and comfort with the HR Managers. For that the HR Managers must have a rapport with the workmen. Engagement is important in this context. The HR Manager should be interactive in his approach. He should listen to their problems and proactively addressing them. The contract laborers don't feel engaged and connected to the organization since they know that they are working in the organization tentatively. The employer also doesn't care that much about these contract laborers. These contractual laborers must be managed well otherwise it may result in destructive outcomes. Thank you so much sir for taking off time from your busy schedule and providing us with your valuable “Words of Wisdom�.
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Whistleblowing & the Role of HR Professionals! Arushi Arora, International Management Institute PGDMHR(2011-13)
When TIME magazine illegitimate practices under the n a m e d W o r l d C o m ' s “Today we are moving beyond these traditional control of their employers, to views of whistleblowing, and many of the Cynthia Cooper and persons or organisations that organisations have in fact started viewing Enron's Sherron Watkins may be able to effect action' internal whistleblowing as a positive thing.They two of their “ People of the encourage such actions before things become Year” for 2002, they were It is these very corporate public or largely blow out of proportion.” in fact, acknowledging the scandals in the past which have importance of internal called public attention to whistleblowing a practice by employees to bring the whistle-blowing world over and led the US be the first wrongdoing at their own organizations to the country in the world to protect private sector whistleattention of superiors!. blowers by the passing of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.While the US and UK are comparatively At WorldCom, Cynthia had gone ahead with an progressive on whistleblowing policies,related laws internal audit, and alerted the Board of Directors and procedures,sadly,the same is not something Auditing Committee to problems, despite being asked which is dealt with an equal gravity in Indian b y t h e c o m p a ny ' s C F O t o p o st p o n e h e r organisations. investigation.The “Fortune” magazine noted that , "If Cooper had been a good soldier, the whole incredible Whistle-blowing in India - especially in public sector mess might have been concealed forever." At Enron, enterprises and government agencies has actually accountant Sherron Watkins revealed the company's proven to be quite costly. The murders of Satyendra problems in a memo to its -CEO Kenneth Lay. (Lilanthi Dubey and Shanmughan Manjunath would make most 1) whistle-blowers in India think ten times before doing anythig . It was these very incidents that made an article in Business Week called 2002 the "Year of the “Dubey, an engineer, was murdered in November Whistleblower" and in fact quoted Stephen Meagher, 2003, after he exposed corruption in the National a former federal prosecutor who represents Highways Authority of India's Golden Quadrilateral whistleblowers, as saying that "the business of project. Two years later, Manjunath, an official of whistleblowing is booming." Indian Oil Corporation, was shot for opposing an According to CF Alford ,the essential feature of adulteration racket.” (“case for whistleblowing law in whistleblowing is the 'disclosure by organisation India”) . members (former or current) of illegal, immoral or
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Perhaps,as one can see, one of the potential deterrents to whistleblowing is the fact that current legislations in our country do not actually guarantee protection of the whistle-blower's identity. Even in the private sector, the corporate governance guidelines of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) just recommend whistle-blower policies for listed companies in the country, but does not make them mandatory. In a 2012 survey on “fraud in India” by Ernst and Young, 68 per cent of respondents identified whistle-blowing as a “highly effective tool for detecting malpractice in organisations”. However, the fact remains that “not even half of the respondent companies had a whistle-blowing mechanism in place in India,”as quoted by Arpinder Singh, Partner and national leader of fraud investigation and dispute services. "Out of all fraud detected, nearly 30 per cent surface due to the anonymous whistle-blower mechanism," says Dinesh Anand, Partner and cohead of forensic services at KPMG India. (“bhuva,rajiv :whistling in the wind”). As recorded in the early research and overseas “even the most noble employee is justified in thinking twice about coming forward. Predictably, the wrongdoing exposed might be controversial and damaging and its disclosure could provoke conflicts that involve negative outcomes for all involved. For whistleblowing to be properly encouraged, it is clear that these natural disincentives to reporting must be reduced, removed or overcome”(Vinten,Gerald ). Just as Terance Miethe quotes in his book, “Whistleblowing at Work”, “many people see the
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whistleblower as a "snitch," or a "a lowlife who betrays a sacred trust largely for personal gain." The same attitude was also illustrated by an arbitrator in a whistleblowing case, where an employee was told that you cannot "bite the hand that feeds you and insist on staying on for the banquet.” Fortunately, today we are moving beyond these traditional views of whistleblowing, and many of the organisations have in fact started viewing internal whistleblowing as a positive thing.They encourage such actions before things become public or largely blow out of proportion. Whistleblowing to any external entity by employees, such as the media or government agencies, has been a hazardous activity, both for the individual and the organization. So, the question really is that apart from the enforcement of laws and policies by the prevailing governments and other regulating authorities, what do organisations today do, to prevent the scandals, mishaps and acts of external whistleblowing by employees ?.What should they do to create a culture that actually encourages employees to ask questions early ,to point out issues or show courage in confronting illegal or unethical practices happening inside the organisation? And , finally, who are the chief people in an organisation, who act as an interface between the employees and senior management and who do the work of catalysts for bringing such an environment in shape? It is here that a strong and a proactive role played by the HR department comes into picture .While the company board and people responsible for corporate governance frame the rules and policies required for internal whistleblowing and various other ethical parameters, it is in fact the HR managers who are responsible for execution and building these into the culture and the DNA of the organisation. It is HR
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managers in coordination with the top who have the subtle onus of ensuring that it is not just about the mere presence of documents, templates, forms or guidelines with regard to whistleblowing or reporting issues in a company, but the existence of an environment where people feel free to speak out when they are right, or in fact feel intimidated on doing something unethical or wrong. Easier said than done, there are a lot of dynamics that influence the approach of HR employees towards such issues at the workplace. The ground reality is that even today, most HR departments seem to only advocate something if they are really told to, or if it fits into the traditional "personnel administration" job family. The issues of whistleblowing and serious concern about corporate ethics do not always or in fact usually fit within those narrow job parameters. So what should be the ideal approach, duty and responsibility of an HR manager in this case?... The HR manager can in fact play a pivotal role in aiding prospective whistle-blowers.The following are a few perspectives that any hr employee can and should bear in mind, while vouching for an ethical and healthy organisational environment in the context of whistleblowing1. ENSURING THAT PROPER MECHANISMS ARE IN PLACE The first thing that any hr person can ideally do is to convince top management and the board to have proper mechanisms in place for employees. This is to ensure that employees do not wander or loose the acceptable track,in case,they feel like reporting something. Such mechanisms include things like internal audit departments, ombudsmen,exit interviews,conduct code declarations with annual administration, opinion surveys, legal compliance monitoring systems, and direct whistleblowing mechanisms. The last includes confidential phone hotlines and write-ins.
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2. ENSURE ACTUAL IMPLEMENTATION OF POLICIES IN
THE WORKPLACE HR managers need to shift their focus from only seeking approvals for making policies around whistleblowing to actual implementation of these policies through strong communication practices and ethics. In fact, looking back and reviewing some of the archaic policies in the organization and framing new ones; for instance non retaliation policies , can definitely prove to be instrumental in establishing practices that help in creating a culture of integrity and transparency. Again, having a proper code of conduct and making it clear and accessible to all employees lies at the very core of this effort. There has to be a disciplined approach to making interaction between employer and employee more frequent and create forums for the same. 3. HAVE A WHISTLEBLOWING POLICY IN TANDEM WITH
THE EMPLOYEE POLICY As explained above, ensuring a proper whistle blowing policy in place (in the likes of American Express or Maruti; for instance)can ,illustrate to the company that you expect management as well as all of your employees to conduct themselves in an ethical manner. Having the organization's whistleblowing ethics stated in a clear manner will create a culture that encourages employees to come forward in case they see something unethical occurring,without being scared or without thinking of going to external people first. Posting the policy on the walls in the employee break or probably a lunch room may allow for easy recall as well as access to the policy. Some organisations have even started putting their whistleblowing policy on the intranet for the ease of use by employees. 4. TRAINING THE LINE The line managers need to be trained in terms of the various legal processes that can go around in terms of
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any reporting being done. The HR also needs to ensure trainings so that they know how to investigate grievances properly and objectively to ensure a diligent response. They need to be receptive to employees' complaints, since even a casual comment by the supervisor can send the wrong message and worsen the situation.
even they need to learn how to react when people raise concerns. One mistake that the hr manager can actually do is to judge the veracity of the claim on the very onset ,at the moment it's made!..Without a proper preliminary enquiry, probing or investigation, the HR should not really jump to conclusions or blow the issue to any extent.
5. ENSURE INTERNAL COMMUNICATION CHANNELS
8.ENSURE AN OPEN AND HONEST CULTURE To create a culture that breeds openness and integrity, it is extremely vital that employees hear about the policies regularly,and senior managers actually walk the talk.The HR and senior management can make every effort to talk about the commitment to ethical behaviour in memos, newsletters , and speeches to employees. In fact,open acknowledgement and rewarding employees who pinpoint ethical issues can be one way to send the message that management is serious about addressing issues before they become endemic for the organisation.The HR can take personal care in seing such practices are followed and such behaviours are reinforced amongst employees.To add to this, a clear nexus should exist between an organization's code of ethics and performance measures. For instance,in the performance appraisal process, employees can be held accountable not only for meeting their goals and objectives but also for doing so in accordance with the stated values or business standards of the company.This will ensure that the organisation is actually valuing ethical behaviour. To conclude, “although one may be inclined to assume that organisations would appreciate such disclosures, and would respond positively, the experience of most whistleblowers suggests otherwise. Numerous cases of whistleblowing demonstrate that they are in fact not appreciated but severely victimised by their employers. In reality employees who become aware of misconduct face a moral dilemma, which might
Employees should actually know how to report whistleblowing internally in the business. HR managers, working with compliance and ethics officers , must persuade employees that it's safe to report wrongdoing through internal channels. There needs to be clear communications about the process of voicing concerns, such as a what is the specific chain of command, or who is the specific person in the organisation, such as an ombudsman or a particular HR professional. There should also be Clear communications about negative consequences for retaliation. 6.PROTEC T EMPLOYEES FROM POSSIBLE
HARASSMENT AND RETALIATION Even if legal protection for a whistleblower might be available, he/she may face retaliation in subtle ways ; ie, being shunned by other co-workers or being closely supervised, or just feeling alienated. This can result in a great psychological damage for the employee and this may in fact prove to be fatal for the organisation in the long run. The HR manager should provide repeated verbal and non verbal assurances that the employee is safe and in fact his action is appreciated by the organisation. Any direct retaliation should be penalised and the HR manager can act as an agent for the same. 7. BE EQUIPPED TO HANDLE ISSUES MATUREDLY Generally, the HR managers are the first ones to hear complaints and grievances of employees .However,
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discourage them from blowing the whistle” (Johnson 55)..Given the current scenario and the rising pressure to encourage internal whistleblowing by companies, the HR managers need to act as proactive change agents, provide an appropriate interface and take the role of personal caretakers of the whistleblowers in the organisation. Acting in such a capacity can certainly assure the deserved status of being a “business partner” in the real sense of the word.
REFERENCES Alford, C.F. Whistleblowers: Broken lives and organizational power. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2001.Print
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Bhuva,Rajiv. “Whistling in the wind.” Business Today Online Partner. India Today Group.24 June 2012. Web.29 July 2012 “Case for Whistleblowing Law in India.”. Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative.n.d.Web 28 July 2012. Johnson, R.A. Whistleblowing: when it works- and why. London: Lynne Riener Publishers,2003. Google book search 27 July 2012. Ravishankar,Lilanthi. “Encouraging internal whistleblowing in organisations.” Markkula Centre for Applied Ethics. Santa Clara University 29 July 2012. Vinten, Gerald, ed. Whistleblowing: Subversion or Corporate Citizenship? New York: St. Martin's Press, 1994 Ebrary 29 july 2012.
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The Dark Knight shall Rise to the Labor Union Shubhi Tripathi, PGDM Finance ( 2011-13) IMT Ghaziabad. “To remember the loneliness, the fear and the insecurity of men who once had to walk alone in huge factories, beside huge machinesto realize that labor unions have meant new dignity and pride to millions of our countrymenhuman companionship on the job, and music in the hometo be able to see what larger pay checks mean, not to a man as an employee, but as a husband and as a fatherto know these things is to understand what American labor means.” ADLAI STEVENSON, speech, Sep. 22, 1952 This thought is true in current scenario as well as Indian context. We will understand this as the article reads further. The worst enemy of a human is a human. The death of an HR manager at Maruti Suzuki's Manesar plant, who was brutally beaten and burnt to death with 65 other executives severly injured says it all. This poses a thought to ponder that : ”the tone of the labor is becoming so desperate to be heard that they are now they are resorting to killing executives as their vengeance and microphone” To contemplate on this I came across a movie. I could draw a similarity in events while I was watching Christopher Nolan's “The Dark Knight Rises” where Bane tries to free Gotham City from the sins of the rich and affluent by influencing the citizens of Gotham city and killing some good innocent bystanders. The mob of the city resented and announced only two types of punishment: death and death by exile. It is acknowledged that the movie is the work of fiction and can be an exaggerated one but in the Indian scenario of what has happened in Maruti Suzuki's Manesar plant was equally troubling. Is the Indian
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Labor Union unrest going through the same type of impatience? Let me assure you that there will be no Batman who will come and save the city magically here. We all know that it is the income disparity between regular workers and contract workers along with poor working conditions that are leading to continuous series of unrest in Maruti Suzuki's Manesar plant, but what was witnessed on July 18th 2012 was truly unimaginable. This could really be seen only in cinema. It shows that acumen of human beings can really take a back seat when it comes to understanding the difference between a job profile and the actual management decision makers. Here the HR manager had to bear the consequences. What was the outcome: few people taken into custody and a grief struck family with a sadness for life. As a child, I was always taught a lesson by the elders of my family that every conversation can be brought to end on a positive note and a middle path should be followed taking into consideration the benefits of both parties involved. Why is it so difficult for Maruti management to come to a positive end by considering wage and independent labor union related negotiations? With rising inflation hovering around 7.25%, one cannot expect the income disparity among the workers to remain silent for a long time. This is simmering toxic for the employees and also at a cost of tarnished brand image. Customer loyalty of Maruti Suzuki is losing luster on account of supply demand issues. Along with switching customers, the CAGR of
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the company has also fallen miserably with a drop in June quarter earnings.
organized in such a way as to be able to get along under a leadership composed of average human b e i n g s .” .
The point of concern is that why are these incidents rising repeatedly in Maruti Suzuki's Manesar plant. Are the working conditions are so bad that a small casterelated tiff over tea, between the supervisor and worker, raises itself with a snowball effect to such a brutal level.
- Peter Drucker
The relationship of trust between a worker and management executive is also being tarnished in such course. Such issues have been properly catered in enterprises like Tata Motors in Gujarat where they have measures to bring prosperity to workers by providing proper milk storage units to the workers' subsidiary business. Improved lifestyle of the labor can lead to peaceful conditions. This means that there is a no deadlock in labor cases and if desired by both parties, a positive end can be brought to this topic, by thinking locally about the conditions of the workers of the state of Gujarat and simultaneously thinking out of the box. If not controlled, the state governments will also slack in industry relations and render an unfortunate image for investors to perhaps have a ripple effect over the economy if such labor issues are not taken care of. A change in the ancient 1971 labor law can be one of the solutions that could provide more rights, job security and benefits reaching to the workers. We definitely need the acumen of the Maruti Suzuki's management and the determination of the government to rise as the Dark Knight in this scenario as the losses in this scene are both in terms of human and monetary basis. “No institution can possibly survive if it needs geniuses or supermen to manage it. It must be
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The management guru also speaks that superhuman effort like that of the Dark Knight is not required to restore conditions to normal state. Maruti Suzuki's management has shown a powerful stand by taking strict actions. Termination and dismissal of the workers, who were involved in random acts of violence, projects an image of a tough management. The action is welcomed. This will make sure that the worker-management relationship is seriously taken by workers in future The damages done to property and equipment, along with loss of a life was definitely uncalled for. An important lesson taught in any Leadership class of a management school is on how to take care of your team and make them a part of your ride towards the success of your company. It says that one should make sure that the team is happy and satisfied. One should be able to get the work done within the prescribed deadline. The management should analyze from this uprising that their workers are not contented with the way they are being taken care of. Hence Maruti Suzuki's Management should make sure that they conduct welfare programs on similar lines of Tata's as mentioned above in the article to get the faith and trust of the workers back. Hence “Rebuilding the Relationship” with Labor should be a top criteria for the management. Also, an orientation program should be conducted for the supervisors should be placed so that a proper
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behavioral conduct is followed while they interact with the workers. The movie “ The Dark Knight Rises” ends by giving us all a reflection that if there is goodwill and humanity in the hearts of even a few people, a radical positive change can be brought and peace can be restored in this world on equality. In realism, if the Management and the Labor live together in harmony taking care of each other, no Bane can disrupt the life of any Gotham city of the world. Everything in the world expects to settle down with peace and bliss. Therefore I truly believe that “There is a Dark Knight in all of us to protect us”.
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REFERENCES Ross Douthat, The Politics of “The Dark Knight Rises”, The New York Times, July 23rd 2012 Vikas Dhoot, “Rise in contract labour causing unrest”, The Economic times , 26th July 2012 Malini Goyal, “Maruti's Manesar plant unrest: Possible impact on rivals, contract labour, Gujarat & industrial relations”, The Economic times , 29th July 2012 Arlene Chang, “Manesar unrest: Real issue is workerexecutive pay disparity”, July 23rd 2012 Veeresh Malik, “Maruti Suzuki industrial unrest at Manesar: The inside story”, Money life
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SO MR. LEADER…. WHAT CHOICES ARE YOU MAKING? Aparna P (MBA-HR) and Vibhu Gangal (MBA-Finance) SCMHRD, Pune In corporate world, at some stage of career, one shall be in the leader's shoes. Every leader encounters some situations where he/she is supposed to make a difficult choice. For a leader, the questions to be answered are, first whether one is able to identify the situation(s) to be thought upon for making a choice at the right instant, and then, whether one is able to make the right choice or not- speed and accuracy. The article below tries to explore how these elements of the back end thought process of a leader influence the 'decisions' taken and eventually how the 'results' get (mis)driven due to these decisions. So Mr. Leader…. What choices are you making? Are you sure you are appraising 'yourself' the right way? To make a quick relation with the context, let's consider this. In Nov 2009, Sachin Tendulkar hit a massive 175 against Australia at Hyderabad. In the presentation ceremony, despite being declared the man of the match, he had a sulky disinterested face, for the only reason that India failed to win the match. He had the choice of being a content man who achieved the milestone of being a MOM. But then, his priorities were different. Sachin displayed traits of transformational leadership- emphasizing the greater good of the team. Now, here's the choice Mr. Leader. Do you view your success in 'you' scoring a century or in victory of your 'team'? In a company, do you carry out the operations in a way which enables 'you' to leave the office in time
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or which facilitates comfort for your 'team'? What's your immediate goal for the year? To earn a seven digit annual salary for 'yourself', or to have your 'project' earn an n-digit revenue? Is your company's vision about promoting 'your' ideals or 'its'? In technical parlance, it's the difference between transactional and transformational leadership. To prefer the first alternative in each case is not essentially incorrect or unethical. It's just that, your focus is tuned to enjoying the fruits of your new status. However, for a leader, the team/project/company has to be a going and growing concern. Driven by personal targets, the leader can undoubtedly take the team to new heights, but the success is short-lived then. Once the 'leader' reaches the desired individual status, the downfall of the team, in terms of results, is inevitable. How do you evaluate your direct reports? Are you 'convinced' about your metrics of evaluation? Do you need to be 'convinced' or be 'clear'…? Let's take this situation, which is very common in India.Inc these days. A company's management deciding to lay off its finance manager because the returns or the earnings do not quench its monetary expenses for the last few months (say 9 months). Questions to the management: In consonance with your financial constraints, did you enhance your expectations from your finance head? In last nine months, did you make the concerned employee 'consistently' realize that there is a huge deficit
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between expectations and reality? If not, then were you NOT concerned about the company's financial targets? If yes, then were you scared of being harsh to your subordinates? If yes, then Mr. leader, its critical to know that a leader is there to hold direct reports 'accountable' rather than making oneself 'endearing' to them. You are simply worried about being confrontational, owing to highly formalized structures that were, until very recently, the norm. The assumption is that in our culture, people tend to be defensive, and more formal than not. Also, being entirely task-oriented or entirely people-oriented is not the point. It's a misconception that a happy-happy situation can get wonders done. In fact, a recent study by Gallop, a reputable consulting firm, says that new employees are a lot more engaged than older employees. In Indian context, that is difficult to swallow, as most of the previous generation have spent their entire career in a single company. So, where does all this leave the leader? To put it simply, make the right choice, the difficult choice- as it may come to be. Communication of objectives, honest appraisal and feedback helps encourage the talent and ensures that the right people stay back. In effect, either you choose to delight your subordinates for nine months or then land up in a situation to fire him after having stumpy results or you can choose to hold them liable throughout the year, preventing a bad show. On the other hand, If the fault lies at your door, then were you 'clear' about your company' s financial aims and plans? If not, then why not? Weren't you 'convinced' about the plans at your end? Did you fear
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having a plan which may later prove you 'wrong' in front of your team? If yes, then Mr. Leader, lets attack the root cause. A leader who doesn't know what exactly he expects from his subordinates can never hold them 'accountable'. A leader, even if he surpasses the lure of being lovable amidst the team, can falter badly if he chooses to be 'sure' of his plan. Its compounded further when he waits to communicate the plan till he is certain of it. Mr. Leader, its fine if the plan is subjected to changes later. But at any instant, having a definite plan is THE need to have accountability. And as a leader, even though one takes some erroneous decisions, with time and practice, the probability of making right decisions in one shot rises. In a nutshell, its better to be 'clear' than being 'convinced' or being 'sure'. Clarity by means of goal-setting, delegation and timelines in tandem with performance based incentives this is a norm rather than exception in theory, but putting it to practise and actually driving it as an organizational culture- that involves visionary leadership. For instance, OP Bhatt revamped the entire system at SBI, and brought SBI to a level PSUs could never dream of at that time. Do you dislike discord and disagreements in meetings and discussions? Yes..? Then, this is the toughest trap for you, Mr. Leader, to beat. Some time back in Europe, there was a company manufacturing bicycles. At its inception, an estimate of its break-even was given according to which after 15 months, the company will be able to generate surplus. The company did make surplus money after 15 months, but they realized that the money now they had was insufficient to carry out present operations and meet current expenses as now the same expense demanded more, on account of inflation. To meet the
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requirement, they borrowed money and committed to repay after two years. Production and sales targets for two years were made again ignoring the fact that the targets should be set keeping in mind the after-effects of inflation and the firm found itself in trouble again after two years. Later it was discovered that finance department, despite being highly apprehensive, never discussed this concern with sales and the sales department could never imagine about this concern of Inflation…!! Probing further, the root cause was that people feared getting into arguments since conflicts were either discouraged or never encouraged. As a leader, one not only needs to 'encourage' disagreements, but going a step further, needs to 'like' them. By disagreements, we do not mean fights and heated arguments. We mean those fruitful incongruities, which bring out 'comprehensive' results and decisions. Constructive conflict is necessary, so is a healthy discontent - the cause for change. For churning out cream out of milk, milk has to be agitated. One cannot imagine cream being whipped out of milk in a 'settled' state. Again, maintaining so called 'harmony' is not a bad idea. But then one needs to choose whether one wishes to get cream out of milk or not…
criticism and people who avoid feedback are generally insecure by nature. As a trend, rather as a misconception, aversion to criticism is considered as an indicator of insecurity. People, when they observe confident colleagues, they fear to challenge them as then they shall be tagged and viewed as 'insecure'. It's actually about cognizance of the fact that it's generally ideas that are criticised, not people. Unfortunately, many miss that part. Now, as a leader, one should attack from the other side. Be open to criticism for 'your' ideas during discussions and let this mean 'insecurity' to others. When the highest 'perceived' member of the team (leader) is seen as one NOT scared of being branded insecure, why would anyone else hesitate to be so? The reason for which this is most difficult knot to disentangle is, it takes a really big heart and a lot of patience to be consistently capable of being one as described above. But this is the cost, Mr. Leader, you'll have to pay for tossing up your people from their comfort zone to a state where stirring out the best ideas becomes 'their' priority. And that's why, they call YOU the Leader and not everyone else.
Essentially, character and connect comes before reasoning-because, leaders cannot be who they are if Why is this trap the toughest one? they do not reach beyond what is strictly business. This trap might appear to be the same as the attraction Leading by example, connecting with mates, having a to be endearing, but no, it's drastically different. Here vision, setting targets, chasing those, be it any other as a leader, one needs to get the 'team' out of this aspect of leadership, all these are simply deep-rooted lure to be liked. manifestations of a leader's thought process. In each of these aspects, a leader has to make a choice, which But how? Of course, one cannot tell this verbally or if delayed or taken with even slight carelessness, can If it's true that we are here to help others, writethen this in awhat mail. However, not conveying can be here be disastrous. exactly are thethisothers for? fatal as seen in the example above. All right, let's go a To concentrate just on manifestations, or to polish layer deeper. Why would one resist to challenge a the thought-process that leads to effective statement and be disliked (even though temporarily)? manifestations, is again a choice for all Leaders to This is because challenging someone might invite make…!!
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Winning the War for Talent Raashid Sherif, PGDM (HR) II Year IMT Ghaziabad “Today's marketplace is incredibly competitive in every industry around the globe. The difference between success and failure is talent, period” - Indira Nooyi, CEO, PepsiCo
they work. The gist of their findings relating to talent can be put in 2 sentences. Great managers recruit for and focus on the employees' talents. Each individual has certain strengths or talents, which managers should capitalize on, rather than futilely trying to remove his weaknesses or develop new talents.
In today's world, where wars are fought not so much for military supremacy, as they are for economic supremacy, a new trend is developing, and that is the Different recruiters have different ways of identifying war for talent between the players in the economy. If talent during interviews. As a matter of fact, there is any constraint to phenomenal growth in an recognizing talent is a talent in itself. However, most economy, it is more often the lack of talented human good interviewers do certain things in common. One resources, than it is the unavailability of thing is asking open ended questions. financial resources. The recent demise of “There can be no substitute Open ended questions are questions that to getting to know one's do not have a definite answer and that's it, Steve Jobs illustrated just how difficult it potential employees at a but rather they are left open for the is to come across great talent and how personal level and rare a commodity genius is. In such an interviewee to elaborate upon. They also understanding their goals economic scenario, the need of the hour ask for specific behaviour instances from and objectives, if one wants to enter into a is for a strong strategy to be put in place their life, that support general claims that fruitful and long term by organizations to better position the interviewee makes about herself. association with them.” themselves to win the battle for talent. Since talents are recurring patterns in the This involves the attracting, identifying, life of the individual, the interviewee integrating, developing, motivating and maintaining of should not have any difficulty in providing instances for talent in the organization. the same. Perhaps the most difficult part of a recruiter's job is the identification of talent. This is because talent cannot be measured and has not yet been fully understood by behavioural scientists. Pioneering work in the field of talent identification was triggered by the Gallup polls, and put forth in two books, 'First, Break All The Rules' (Buckingham & Coffman, 1999) and 'Now, Discover Your Strengths' (Buckingham & Clifton, 2002). The Gallup organization interviewed over eighty thousand managers and about a million employees to obtain various vital statistics of organizations and the way
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Getting talent on board is only a battle half won, if an organization is unable to continuously utilize that talent for productive purposes. This is where integration, development and motivation come into the picture. Integration involves the seamless induction of the talent into the workplace and the formation of a high-performance
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Culture into which the talent can be assimilated. If this induction program is too lengthy, it can sometimes have ill effects on people who have a high drive to perform, as they would like to get their hands dirty from day one. Development should ideally be an ongoing process, where the employee gets regular feedback on her performance and ways to improve. Skill sets can be imparted where necessary, as it is very important, as indicated by the Gallup polls, to give the employee whatever she needs to do the job effectively. Motivation, in the case of highly talented employees usually means a lot more than monetary benefits. Most of the time, demotivation arises from an employee's not being allowed to use her talents, and the more effectively she is able to use her talents, the more fulfillment and motivation she acquires. For instance, if someone is a good communicator, but she is given a back office job where she does not have the opportunity to interact with people and use her communication skills, she is not likely to stick around for a long time. Our discussion on the war for talent, however, would be incomplete without a reference to the weapons being used in this war. Gone are the days when the classified section of the newspaper was the main tool for talent attraction. Today, the internet and social media have taken over in a large way, and the web is being used as both a mode for portraying a good
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picture of the employer to potential employees as well as a means to find out more about the potential employee. While this is a good trend and can go a long way in bringing efficiency to the talent acquisition process, it is important that the human aspect of talent acquisition is not left out along the way. There can be no substitute to getting to know one's potential employees at a personal level and understanding their goals and objectives, if one wants to enter into a fruitful and long term association with them. The use of scientific tools, such as personality profiling in selection is also a step taken by companies to ensure that they are not faltering in their recognition of talent. This whole paradigm shift can be summed up nicely with a quotation from a research paper, 'Strategic Partners for High Performance' written by Jerome Rosow and John Hickey and published in 1994. They say, “Most other major components of co m p et i t i v e n e s s a r e u n i v e r s a l l y available: natural resources can be bought, capital can be borrowed and technology can be copied. Only the people in the workforce, with their skills and commitment, and how they are organized, are left to make the difference between economic success and failure�. REFERENCES Rosow, Jerome M., & Hickey, John V. (1994). Strategic Partners for High Performance. Work In America Institute.
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Gender Counts: Women in Management- Does Biased Inclusion in Institutes serve the Purpose? Saumya Maurya, PGDM 2011-2013 2nd year, IIM Kozhikode The above question had recently gained a loquacious platform when several forums on social networking A study suggests women are more motivated to get sites related to management admissions were clogged along and men are motivated to get ahead. with discussions, Considering the current scenario of the emergence of albeit more with flatter organisations, institutes with more number of the venting of female students may, thereby, be called potential frustration by breeding terrains for successful future managers some aspirants, owing to the diversity in academic and social profiles of at having not the batches. The economic progress of our nation has made it to the top been fuelled by the participation of women in institutes because at the time of their conception, the management in the past years. One cannot possibly X-chromosome decided to get along with ignore the contribution of the likes of the Y. But alas for the sake of their “Inclusion of more women in Simone Tata to the practically nonknowledge, women and men were existent cosmetic industry of the 1950s the higher positions in created equal but with a different set of workplaces would ultimately in form of Lakme or Kiran Mazumdarassist the thwarting of qualities and idiosyncrasies. Thousands Shaw who started one of India's first patriarchy and what better of people clamouring for women equality biotech companies, Biocon. Whether it place than a premier and notions of 'upliftment' of women educational hub that could is the illustrious efforts of Anu Aga for a have no idea that it cannot be achieved. be the herald in the process.� company like Thermax in its turbulent Creating second class versions of a male times or her present struggle for equity would only lead to loss in creativity potential of the in the quality of education imparted through Teach For human race because, after all, an imitation is an India, a woman's touch has always left a reverberating imitation. The benefit has to reaped by the interaction impression in the style of management of the of the two sexes, wherein women contribute with a organization. A young Priya Paul was the picture of mind more open to discussions, opinions and courage and determination when she took over the perspectives and with an ego that, though, has been position of President of the Apeejay Surrendra Group weathered since centuries but holds a candle in this after her father's demise in the year 1990. The respect. If acknowledgement of such facts does not conventionally male dominated fields like finance and come from premier institutions of our society, it is technology is seeing multiple successful women like nothing less than a matter of derision for the so-called Neelam Dhawan- Managing intellectuals who operate the wheels of society's development.
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Director of Hewlett-Packard India, Kalpana Morparia-CEO, JP Morgan India, Lalita GupteChairperson of ICICI Venture Funds Management Company Limited, and so on and so forth. Inclusion of more women in the higher positions in workplaces would ultimately assist the thwarting of patriarchy and what better place than a premier educational hub that could be the herald in the process. Irony and hypocrisy are the harnesses that come along with the discussion on change in socio-cultural order. It is the change in outlook that can contribute and this can only be brought about when the male mind is held against something that jolts it out of its comfort zone.
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“What would men be without women? Scarce, Sir ..... Mighty scarce.” -Mark Twain If women are so indispensible to the humanity, why think whether the question put forward in the first place has relevance at all. An increasing sex-ratio in the management institutes is a sign of an increasing amount of perspicacity, so let us all rejoice in the transformation. REFERENCES Top 10 women entrepreneurial leaders of India. (n.d.). Retrieved July 28, 2012, from youthkiawaaz.com: http://www.youthkiawaaz.com/2011/01/top-10women-entrepreneurs-and-leaders-of-india/ Women entrepreneurship in India. (N.d.). Retrieved July 28,2012,from womenweb.in: http://www.womensweb.in/articles/womenentrepreneurship-in-india/
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Fun Section CROSSWORD ACROSS 1-Process of transfer of routine or peripheral work to another organisation. 3-A word to describe a period when moral value is at its low. 4-It's a future oriented plan for interacting with the competitive environment to achieve organizational goals. 5- A word for all the people working in an organization. 7- Science of analysis.
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DOWN 2-Systematic and planned introduction of employees to their jobs. 6-A word for determination of worth of a job. 8-A series of actions or steps taken to achieve an end. 9-Capacity to gain an accurate and deep intuitive understanding of a person or things. 10- Something that can be used for support or help.
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28 Solution To the CrosswordACROSS 1-OUTSOURCING 3-DECADENCE 4-STRATEGY 5-WORKFORCE 7-ANALYTICS DOWN 2-ORIENTATION 6-EVALUATION 8-PLANNING 9-INSIGHT 10-RESOURCE
Fun Section - Dilbert