Volume4 issue 18 corporate citizen

Insight

Dr Srinivas Kandula, CEO, Capgemini India, on the Next Wave of Work Excellence Volume 4, Issue No. 18 / Pages 68 / www.corporatecitizen.in

December 16-31, 2018 / `50

Star Session

Cricket Strategies for Corporates Woman Power

What Successful Women Leaders Do

CII Survey-Success Strategies of Women Leaders Unique challenges women face and the way they surmount them

VVS Laxman, Former Indian Cricketer on management lessons from cricket INTERVIEW

Prakash Lakhiani, Associate Director – HR, CBRE South Asia LOVED & MARRIED TOO

Jashank and Pooja Shah Bhandari – partners in life and at work RAPID FIRE

With five illustrious corporate women leaders

2 / Corporate Citizen / December 16-31, 2018

feedback

Mix of the best

Comprehensive panel discussions the USP of CC

I am a corporate professional who has a tremendous thirst for knowledge. I like to constantly upgrade myself. A few times a year, my organisation sends me to attend business conferences. I find them to be extremely interesting and I always come back having learnt something new. Unfortunately, it is not possible to attend all the business conferences that happen in a year. That is where Corporate Citizen comes in. Every edition, CC covers at least one session from a seminar or conference in comprehensive depth. I am able to stay abreast of this treasure trove of wisdom through the magazine. I feel that the magazine is worth buying for this itself. Apart from the sessions, I enjoy the excellent interviews which are always anecdotal in nature, which gives me an insight into the mind of corporate leaders I look up to. I wish the entire team of CC the very best and I look forward to more such excellent coverage in future editions.

— Anil Kirti, Operations Manager

CC a ‘Must Read’

INTERVIEW: ARuN SINgh, hEAd - humAN RESouRcES & AdmINISTRATIoN, FoSEco INdIA December 1-15, 2018 / `50

Volume 4, Issue No.17 / Pages 68 / www.corporatecitizen.in

SESSION

NHRDN panel discussion on how organisations must combat the waves of change

SuRVEy

deloitte-Global human capital trends Survey 2018

dyNAmIc duo: 79 MAjo RP

I clearly see your esteemed publication one level more than the prevailing business magazines/dailies on the undermentioned three counts: 1. The views expressed by the interviewee are extremely forthright and transparent.

2. The magazine clearly brings to the surface tracing the roots of the interviewee the various organizations with which he/ she is connected.

3. The photographs are very sharp and strongly reflect the personal connect the interviewee with his/her family.

All the above makes CC a “must read” and distinctive by any parameters or standards.

— Minoo Titina, Sr. VP, Enarr

S

vindAch Go A

td.)

(Re Ri

I was discussing with my colleague regarding the business magazines in India and how they are very technical and are read by specific people only, which are not many in number due to its complexity to understand the content. Only the people who are able to relate to it and deal with it on a daily basis are only the ones who are willing to read such magazines. But, Corporate Citizen is a magazine which not only covers corporate articles but also of numerous genre. This is a unique approach to bring out a magazine, which stands by the line, ‘The cool side of business’. Great work, keep it up.

— Vidyulata Bhosale, Mumbai

‘Made in the Indian Army’ Meera and Major PS Govindachari (Retd.), on how Army life proved effective in their successful entrepreneurial venture

cOrpOraTE STraTEgy

Chhatrapati Shivaji’s lessons for corporate leaders

Loved & Married Too

Major Gagandeep Kaur and Lt. Commander Manu Sharma, on their life journey together

Corrigendum It is nice to see the NIPM Panel discussion chaired by me reported very comprehensively in the Corporate Citizen issue dated Nov 16-30. However there are some errors. They are: the Sri Lankan experience was presented by Dhammika Fernando, President, IPM, Sri Lanka. It is wrongly reported as Ajantha Dharmasiri; in my talk I mentioned Isha Foundation, Coimbatore. It is reported as Disha Foundation. I have passed on copies of your report to other panellists and in case of any other feedback I will pass the same on to you.

—T V Rao, Chairman, TVRLS

Circulation NOTICE to ‘Corporate Citizen’ Subscribers

We hereby inform our esteemed subscribers of ‘Corporate Citizen’ magazine that we have Postal Registration Licence. Under this registration the date of posting is 15th and 30th of each month from Pune. Please allow minimum seven (7) days to reach your destination in India. If subscribers do not get copy of any fortnight, do alert us by email at: circulations@corporatecitizen.in OR call on 67117604/9. Just send your subscriber number or full postal address with name. Make sure to email only.

Dhammika Fernando, President, IPM, Sri Lanka

We look forward to your feedback

We at Corporate Citizen, believe that information should not be a one-way street. Your opinion and views about this issue are most welcome. Your ideas and new thoughts you may have, to enhance the content quality of our magazine, are most welcome. We rely on you to keep Corporate Citizen, on the positive and cool note, through your interaction on this page—just as you trust us with the content that we bring you, every fortnight. Mail us your views on: corporatecitizenwriters@gmail.com

December 16-31, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 3

Editor-in-Chief’s Choice / S. Raghuraman and V. Anantha Nageswaran

Will B-school teachers rise to the challenge?

Dr (Col.) A. Balasubramanian

I

n 1998, American biologist E.O. Wilson, in an influential book, pointed out that the greatest endeavour of the mind has been and will be the attempted linkage of the sciences and humanities. He called it “consilience”, borrowing the term from philosopher William Whewell, and described it as a “jumping together” of knowledge across disciplines. Fragmentation of knowledge, he argued, has been a big stumbling block in our attempts to provide holistic solutions with greater certainty.

The walls of scholarship erected around academic disciplines to provide focus and depth have, inadvertently or otherwise, barred cross-fertilisation of ideas.

As a result, the solutions that we formulate for key issues remain short-sighted and possibly inconsequential, or worse, harmful in the long run.

4 / Corporate Citizen / December 16-31, 2018

Take the case of two fields of studies—business education and liberal arts. In most universities these disciplines are far removed, which is unfortunate as there is immense potential for joining hands and to shape the minds of students to look at issues with multiple lenses. This is a process essential for generating critical insights on complex issues.

Today, the world that management graduates step into is increasingly, to borrow the military expression, VUCA—volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. The dots that need connecting have increased exponentially. Issues that were non-existent a few years back are heated topics of discussion in boardrooms today.

For instance, Google’s issues with data privacy are no longer just a ‘customer’ issue. The contours of this

problem touch multiple uncharted areas: contested definitions of privacy, what constitutes ethical use of data, regulatory oversight of data usage and storage.

A map to navigate terrains like these, which are what the future holds, does not exist. It has to be created.

Current business education provides useful tools to grapple with these issues, but most of the financial, organisational and strategic frameworks are, as an Aspen Institute report (Charting a new course for next-generation business leaders, 2018) pointed out, tied to the logic of the marketplace and typically short-term oriented.

A typical case study that is used in business schools would describe the organisation, the problem situation, and financial and non-financial data relevant to the situation. It would expect the students to arrive at a decision that would help the shareholder maximise value.

No doubt, it helps to sharpen analytical skills. However, for the wicked problems we face today there is a need to go beyond. Maybe, question what shareholder value is and at whose expense is it maximised, how might this solution look for a different stakeholder,

does the solution have within it seeds for future problems and how to connect or contextualise the current solution in the light of learning from other subjects.

In other words, what students need is development of multiple perspectives, synthesis of views, engagement with ethical frameworks and dilemmas and creativity—skills that liberal art disciplines offer.

Some attempts have been made at business schools to incorporate disciplines like ethics, environment and business history into the curriculum. They are useful to sensitise the students and are good first steps. But, they remain as stand-alone courses. Or they are seen as another course to be completed for successful graduation.

The structure of these courses is, as Anne Colby and others in a Carnegie Foundation report on business education write, like a barbell—academic disciplines on both ends, but with a slender connection.

However, synergy can be derived only if disciplines get together.

There are trends that show the way. The Aspen Institute report documents some of these innovations.

For instance, some universities have created course pairing or curricular pathways that encourage students to look at one big topic, say, ‘corporation’, from multiple lenses such as business law and political theory.

Some others offer an interdisciplinary capstone course that encourages students to synthesise learnings from multiple disciplines and apply it to a real-life problem. These courses are jointly taught with faculty members drawn from across the university.

But, having taken a step in this direction, it also has to be recognised that there are numerous challenges in this journey.

Resistance to change is a key challenge. Entrenched disciplines and academicians often find it difficult to come out of their territory to explore something new.

Turf wars and personality issues can come in the way of co-teaching courses.

The eternal perception war of the superiority of ‘hard’ courses (for example, quantitative or mathematical) versus the ‘soft’ ones will be an obstacle. Consilience is going to be hard but it is inevitable and, importantly, it is desirable. If students have to be taught how to think holistically and how to connect the dots, teachers need to be able to do both well and be comfortable doing so. Co-teaching—and that just does not mean dividing the course between two teachers— is the best way to set an example to students.

Changing our own belief structures is a critical prerequisite to changing the institution’s belief structure. All change must start from within to have a lasting impact.

S. Raghuraman and V. Anantha Nageswaran are, respectively, professor and dean, IFMR Graduate School of Business, Krea University.

(Article link: https://www.livemint.com/Opinion/9I7sae80PcZjyrYspxmbNI/Opinion--Will-Bschoolteachers-rise-to-the-challenge.html)

Resistance to change is a key challenge. Entrenched disciplines and academicians often find it difficult to come out of their territory to explore something new. Turf wars and personality issues can come in the way of co-teaching courses”

December 16-31, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 5

Contents 18

WomAn Power

What Successful Women Leaders Do CII Survey – Success Strategies of Women Leaders, to understand the unique challenges corporate women face and the way they surmount these challenges

9 COLLYWOOD Chatpata Chatter from the Corporate World 14 WAX ELOQUENT Who said what and why 16 EXPERT VIEW The role of RBI and the Government in contributing positively for India’s growth and the relationship between the two wings 6 / Corporate Citizen / December 16-31, 2018

Volume 4 Issue No. 18 December 16-31, 2018 www.corporatecitizen.in

28 PILF SESSION Pune International Literary Festival, panel discussion on trends, gimmicks and reach of the book publishing sector

14

32 INSIGHT Dr Srinivas Kandula, CEO, Capgemini India, on the Next Wave of Work Excellence

44

36 INTERVIEW Prakash Lakhiani, Associate Director – HR, CBRE South Asia, on his career journey and capabilities required for HR professionals today 42 RAPID FIRE A fun-filled rapid fire session with five illustrious corporate women

28

32

44 STAR SESSION V.V.S. Laxman, Former Indian Cricketer on how lessons learnt from playing cricket could well serve corporate management too 52 UNSUNG HEROES A beggar becomes a celebrated saint for donating his alms collection 53 MY FIRST BOSS Mira Swarup, Impact Communication Coach, recalls on what she learnt from her first boss, in her career journey

36

54

54 LOVED & MARRIED TOO Jashank Bhandari and Pooja Shah Bhandari, on what it takes being partners in life and at work 56 CAMPUS PLACEMENT Priya Shukla, on her campus placement and how for her nothing is impossible

56

16 December 16-31, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 7

contents

Editor-In-Chief Dr (Col.) A. Balasubramanian Consulting Editor Vinita Deshmukh vinita.corporatecitizen@gmail.com Assistant Editor & Senior Business Writer Rajesh Rao rajeshrao.rao@gmail.com

61

Senior Sub-Editor Neeraj Varty neeraj.varty07@gmail.com

58 ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT Sonali Rudra, Senior Principal Research Scientist, TCG Life Sciences, remembers her alma mater for shaping her career

Creative Direction Sumeet Gupta, www.thepurplestroke.com Graphic Designer Shantanu Relekar Writers Delhi Bureau Archie Banerjee archiebanerjee@gmail.com/ Sharmila Chand chand.sharmila@gmail.com

60 PEARLS OF WISDOM The call of life is Onward, Forward and Godward 61 MOBILE APPS The best apps to buy organic food in India

53

Pune Bureau Joe Williams / Kalyani Sardesai / Namrata Gulati Sapra

66 LAST WORD Managing talent transformation

Advertising and Marketing Manager Delhi: Mohamed Rizwan riz.mohamed@hotmail.com

66

Chennai: Anil Kumar Menon anil.menon@corporatecitizen.in

58 Be A Corporate Citizen

How do you like this issue of Corporate Citizen - The Cool Side of Business?

Send in your views, news, suggestions and contributions to corporatecitizenwriters@gmail.com.

We would love to hear from you!

8 / Corporate Citizen / December 16-31, 2018

Kolkata Bureau Sangeeta Ghosh Dastidar sangeetagd2010@gmail.com

Manager-Circulation circulations@corporatecitizen.in West : Jaywant Patil, +91 9923202560 North : Hemant Gupta, +91 9582210930 South : Asaithambi G, +91 9941555389 On Cover Page Kashmira Mewawala Website / Online Subscription www.corporatecitizen.in For Advertising, Marketing & Subscription queries Email: circulations@corporatecitizen.in (Corporate Citizen does not accept responsibility for returning unsolicited manuscripts and photographs. All unsolicited material should be accompanied by self-addressed envelopes and sufficient postage.)

Tel. (020) 67117601/9

collywood

People in the news

Paytm Payments Bank taps Satish Kumar Gupta as MD and CEO

Paytm Payments Banks, a unit of One97 Communications Ltd., has appointed veteran banker Satish Kumar Gupta as Managing Director and CEO, the company said in a statement. Gupta would be succeeding Renu Satti, who had stepped down as the CEO of Paytm Payments Bank to head the new retail segment at the company as Chief Operating Officer. This is the third CEO appointment at Paytm Payments Bank in the span of two years after

former Central Bank executive Shinjini Kumar left Paytm in May 2017. Gupta joined the State Bank of India in April 1979, where he held several positions for more than three decades. In February 2011, he deputed to the National Payments Corporation of India to create India’s own card-RuPay. With over 35 years of experience in the field of banking, Gupta’s expertise will help Paytm realise the vision that it has set out for its payments bank.

AirAsia India appoints Sanjay Kumar as COO AirAsia India has appointed Sanjay Kumar as its Chief Operating Officer (COO). The former IndiGo executive, whose previous assignment as Chief Commercial Officer, has over 25 years of experience in the aviation industry. Commenting on the move, AirAsia India Chairman, S Ramadorai said, “We are thrilled to welcome Sanjay to the AirAsia India leadership team. He joins us at a time when the airline is in a growth momentum with an aim to venture forward in international operations.”

Earlier, AirAsia India announced the appointment of Sunil Bhaskaran, a Tata Group veteran, as Managing Director.

Havas India hires Rana Barua as Group CEO Paris-headquartered multinational advertising and public relations company Havas Group has announced the appointment of Rana Barua as its first group CEO in India. Barua will report to Vishnu Mohan, Chairman and CEO of Havas Group, India & Southeast Asia, and work closely with the existing leadership teams. Mohan said, “Rana’s appointment is a key milestone in the Group’s ongoing efforts to build agile teams and integrated structures to deliver the most impact for clients. Rana is an ideal candidate as his expertise will build on what we have already achieved in India and take Havas Group India forward in its next phase of growth and expansion.”

Prior to this assignment, Barua held CEO roles with Contract India, Creativeland Asia, as well as worked with agencies like Ogilvy, Rediffusion Y&R, McCann, JWT and held leadership profiles in leading Radio stations such as Red FM and Radio City.

“The growing complexity of platforms and channels calls for a multi-dimensional approach to marketing and advertising and the Havas Village model of collaboration and integration is exactly what clients are looking for. I am extremely excited to be a part of Havas Group’s futuristic agency model and looking forward to working with the team to start a new chapter for Havas Group in India,” said Barua.

December 16-31, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 9

collywood Nair joins Practo as head-HR Vinesh Nair, former Head-HR at redBus, the online bus ticket and hotel booking company, takes over as Head-HR, at Practo. A graduate in psychology from Gujarat University, Nair is a certified learning and development manager from the Carlton Advanced Management Institute, USA. His experience in the area of training and development include a four-year stint with Idea Cellular as Assistant Manager, training & quality, a four-year stint with Hitachi Consulting as Manager, learning & development followed by a significant tenure as Global Manager, learning & development at Sierra Atlantic. He has also served as L&D Manager at Mars for two years, after which he joined redBus in September 2012. Nair has six years association with redBus. Practo helps healthcare providers build their presence, grow establishments and engage patients deeply. Practo facilitates to assess health issues, find the right doctor, book diagnostic tests, obtain medicines, store health records and even master new ways to lead healthier lives.

Ajay Kumar HR chief of Continental Ajay Kumar takes over as Head-HR of the technology company, Continental. He will be responsible for both the Automotive and Rubber Groups in India, covering over 8000 employees spread across 15 locations, eight manufacturing plants and eight legal entities. He will be spearheading initiatives to build transformational leadership and a progressive work culture. Kumar will also ensure deployment of solutions to enhance competence, performance, and employee engagement. Earlier, Kumar was Head-HR for Continental’s Technical Centre India (TCI), the in-house R&D centre for Continental globally. He was instrumental in leading TCI’s rapid growth in India, bringing the headcount to over 3000 engineers supporting all three automotive divisions of Continental, for its global and regional markets. TCI is well on its way to becoming a centre of competence for different technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and ADAS technologies. Having completed his graduation in economics and statistics from the University of Calicut, this college topper of his batch did his Master’s in human resource management from Pune University. Kumar joined Continental India in 2015 and has over two decades of HR leadership experience. In addition to leading the rapid growth of TCI, he was also instrumental in streamlining HR practices at TCI for which the organisation received several industry accolades for best HR practices from premier industry bodies. He himself is a recipient of several prestigious HR leadership awards.

Commenting on the appointment, Prashanth Doreswamy, MD and India market leader, Continental India, says, “In Kumar, we see a progressive leader who will be at the helm of steering Continental’s strong value system, complementing the organisation’s accelerated growth. We have a focused vision for human relations at Continental called ‘Future Work’, which includes diversity, leadership, flexibility, and learning as its key components. With his expertise and an impressive track record, I am confident that Kumar will drive Continental India towards realising this vision.”

10 / Corporate Citizen / December 16-31, 2018

Greif ropes in Bala as global CHRO Greif, a global industrial packaging products and services has appointed Bala V Sathyanarayanan as senior Vice President & Chief Human Resources Officer. Bala will also be a member of the executive leadership team. He will be based out of the company headquarters in Columbus, Ohio in the US. Prior to this, Bala was executive Vice President, Human Resources for North American Operations at Xerox Corporation.

At Xerox, Bala has led several initiatives that drove business transformations, built winning cultures and provided superior delivery of business outcomes throughout the enterprise. Bala, an engineering graduate and an MBA in general management from Madras University, also holds an MBA in HR from Rutgers Univer-

sity and is graduated from the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School. He has over 27 years of experience and has worked in a variety of human resources, talent management and operational roles. Prior to joining Xerox, Bala was with Hewlett Packard Inc as Head of Human Resources for HP’s Americas Region. In this role, Sathyanarayanan provided HR leadership to the business management teams within the region, including those in USA, Canada and all other Latin American countries. He has a proven track record of success in helping management teams align their HR strategies with their overall business strategies.

Ex-IBM executive to head Wipro’s health Unit Bill Stith, the former International Business Machines Corp (IBM) executive will revive the fortunes of the Bengaluru-based company Wipro’s healthcare and life sciences division.

Stith headed IBM’s healthcare and life sciences business in the US. He will be the third top external hire after Chief Executive Officer Abidali Neemuchwala, which is also Wipro’s third top-level management change in 2018. Neemuchwala, who took over as CEO in 2016, has hired Christophe Martinoli as the Head of Continental Europe and Harmeet Chauhan as the Head

of Industrial and Engineering Services business division. “Wipro confirms the appointment of Bill Stith as Senior Vice President and Global Head of Health strategic business unit,” said Wipro’s spokesperson while confirming the development. This move was an initiative after the Wipro’s head of healthcare and life sciences division, Jeffrey Heenan-Jalil resigned early this year. In another move, Wipro also appointed Sanjeev Singh as the head of its state-run enterprises India business. Singh was formerly the CEO of Aegis for India and Sri Lanka.

WhatsApp appoints Bose Abhijit Bose will join WhatsApp early next year as its India head.

According to WhatsApp, Bose will develop the first full country team outside of California, and it will be based in Gurugram.

“WhatsApp is deeply committed to India and we are excited to keep building products that help people connect and support India’s fast-growing digital economy. As a successful entrepreneur himself, Abhijit knows what it takes to build meaningful partnerships that can serve businesses across India,” said Matt Idema, Chief Operating Officer of WhatsApp. Bose’s appointment comes less than a month after a meeting between India’s information technology minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, and Chris Daniels, WhatsApp’s Vice President.

In the meeting, Daniels had told Prasad that WhatsApp had incorporated a local unit in India whose operations would begin soon. In an earlier meeting with Daniels, Prasad had requested him to come up with ways to trace the origins of fake messages on WhatsApp. Daniels rejected this demand, but said that WhatsApp would set up a local corporate entity and appoint a grievance officer to address complaints to curb the spread of rumours. Bose has a big responsibility, as the Indian government has blamed WhatsApp for not doing enough to curb the spread of misinformation. Rumours circulated on WhatsApp had resulted in numerous mob-lynching related deaths across India this year. “WhatsApp is special and can be a major partner for financial inclusion and economic growth in India.

It’s not only how so many families stay in touch, but increasingly it’s how businesses are engaging with their customers. WhatsApp can positively impact the lives of hundreds of millions of Indians, allowing them to actively engage and benefit from the new digital economy,” said Bose, who graduated from Cornell University, and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School. He had previously worked at Oracle and Bain & Co. He co-founded a digital payments solutions provider Ezetap in 2011, where he also served as CEO. December 16-31, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 11

collywood Top brass exodus at Yes Bank There has been an exodus of top brass in Yes Bank with its non-executive chairman, Ashok Chawla calling it quits after his name figured in a CBI chargesheet filed in the Aircel-Maxis case, which was followed by an independent director Vasant Gujarathi, tendering his resignation on the same day. Following these two in the exit mode, the former Telecom Secretary, R Chandrashekar resigned from the board, citing personal reasons. As per the initial information it is given to understand that both the promoter groups led by its Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Rana Kapoor and Madhu Kapur are in favour of a clean-up and overhaul of the Yes Bank board. The new board members will be acceptable to both the promoter groups, which are in favour of overhauling the Yes Bank board to weed out under-performing members and address past governance issues, according to people aware of the development. Earlier, former

Flipkart hires Smriti Singh as HR head

State Bank of India Chairman, OP Bhatt resigned from the panel set up by the bank to find a successor for Rana Kapoor. It may be recalled that Bhatt is under the CBI’s scanner in connection with loans given to the now defunct Kingfisher Airlines, promoted by fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya. The central bank has asked the private sector lender to find a replacement for its founder Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer by Jan 31.

Berkshire brings money to Paytm Berkshire Hathaway, CEO, Warren Buffett is well-known for keeping a keen eye on value creation. So it is good news for India’s largest digital payment platform Paytm, after the multinational conglomerate acquired a 4% stake by investing about $300 million in Paytm last August. Now Vijay Shekhar Sharma’s company could see its valuation hit $16 billion as it has started seeing a surge in investor interest. Paytm’s parent company, One97 Communications is also said to be in talks with investors from US and China regarding a secondary share sale. Earlier, while confirming the investment by Berkshire Hathaway, One97 Communications said that it is an “endorsement from the world’s most respected investor for Paytm’s journey, and India’s long-term growth story.” Now, Todd Combs, Investment Manager at Berkshire Hathaway has joined Paytm board

of directors that includes Joseph Tsai, co-founder and Executive Vice Chairman, Alibaba; Eric Jing, CEO, Ant Financial; Mark Schwartz, Chairman, Goldman Sachs Asia and Pallavi Shroff, managing partner, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas.

Paytm founder, Vijay Shekhar Sharma said, “We feel both excited and humbled by this endorsement. Berkshire’s experience in financial services, and long-term investment horizon is going to be a huge advantage in Paytm’s journey of bringing 500 million Indians to the mainstream economy through financial inclusion. It is my honour to welcome Todd to our board, where he will bring his wealth of experience to guide our management team.”

Impressed by Paytm, Combs said, “I am excited about being a part of Paytm’s growth story, as it looks to transform payments and financial services in India.”

12 / Corporate Citizen / December 16-31, 2018

A top leadership position which was lying vacant for the past 18 months at Flipkart has finally been filled with the appointment of Smriti Singh as the new Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO). The former HR-Head for Sony Pictures Networks India, will report to Flipkart CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy, and will head a team of five senior directors. She will hold overall responsibility for Flipkart people, talent, rewards, and the L&D charter.

She is expected to join Flipkart in December. Singh has an experience of over two decades, having started her professional journey with Xerox. During her career, she has worked with Genpact and NBC Universal. She has even held the position of HR leader at GE Healthcare, Asia Pacific.

Singh’s appointment comes after former COO, Nitin Seth, quit in May last year. After Seth’s exit, Krishnamurthy took the additional charge of the HR division.

Compiled by Joe Williams, Archie Banerjee

Contact Us

86672 25780

sales@binwavetech.com Binwave Technologies provides a Product authentication platform to avoid a Counterfeit problems for your elite brand by using our product

Key Features of Our Product • Gen U Check Free Application To End Customers • Labels With Authentication Capability For Manufacturer's • Genuiness Check To The End Customer • Data Analytics For The Manufacturer • Detect the Possible Duplication Hub's

RECOMENDED PRODUCTS Health Care Pharmaceuticals Electronics Automobile Spare Parts Cosmetics Branded Packaged Foods

TM

wax eloquent

Spirit of Optimism

Take a look at what our corporate leaders have to say about recent trends and their experiences in the business world

Responsible growth

“It is based on simple imperative - that responsible growth is the only model that will succeed in the current context and in a world of changing societal expectations. We believe that business growth should not be at the expense of people and the planet.”

Adapting to unpredictability

“I learned that sometimes you’ve just got to throw your hands up and let the roller coaster do its thing.

There’s no guidebook for anything.”

Sanjiv Mehta, chairman and MD, HUL

Michelle Obama,

Courtesy: Economic Times

former First Lady of USA Courtesy: Times of India

Way people view jobs is changing

The game will change

“Technological disruption will happen and until we fix that we can’t grow. The lines between media and technology are getting blurred—ecommerce companies are getting into media and media companies into ecommerce. Display or watching whether on mobile, PC, and TV will be single marketplace.”

Subhash Chandra,

founder, Zee Entertainment and chairman, Essel Group Courtesy: Business Standard

14 / Corporate Citizen / December 16-31, 2018

“The way people view jobs is changing now. They are willing to take up jobs to meet their immediate requirement knowing that they will grow into a better job in the future.

That attitude and approach help them to see this as a stepping stone. The industry is also willing to accept attrition as part of this process. Migration of people across the country is significant, including at the engineering level.”

Srivats Ram, MD, Wheels India

Courtesy: https://www.thehindu.com

Just do it—better opportunities will follow “You cannot put a good gut down for long. They will make anything look different from before. So, instead of cribbing and losing more of your passion, you ought to think positively and creatively to solve routine problems in a smarter way. Every constraint is an opportunity to prove your abilities. Just do it. And better opportunities will follow.”

Organic growth, life blood of a successful company

“Those that fail with digital and AI will get caught in a commodity rat race where margins get squeezed and growth flatlines. They will get caught in a race to the bottom.”

“Going forward, we are interested in strong organic growth—that, to us, is the life blood of a successful company.

Organic growth tells you how much in favour you are with the consumers.

It’s a sign of health and we are dedicated to that and it’s always been a lead metric at Nestle.”

Courtesy: The Economic Times

Ulf Mark Schneider,

Prabir Jha, president and global chief people officer, Cipla Courtesy: Mint

Adopt digital early to emerge as winners

Phil Fersht, CEO, HfS Research

CEO, Nestle

Courtesy: Times of India

The hierarchy has imploded GDP is growing not by magic

“GDP is growing not by magic. Should there be more done, and should skill development be the area of focus— definitely. But to say no job is happening is not correct. We haven’t solved the problem, but it is not as bad as we make it look like.”

Aditya Puri, MD, HDFC Bank Courtesy: Economic Times

India believes in learning and self-improvement

“Seeing what happened in India over the next couple of decades, surging confidence on the global stage, people building these amazing world class companies and just a whole generation coming through with optimism and talented in many different fields. There is a beautiful spirit of optimism here. It’s a country that believes in learning and self-improvement.”

Chris Anderson, Curator, TED Talks

“In the knowledge era—whether the top management teams want to accept this or not—the hierarchy has imploded. There is nothing to say that knowledge resides only at the top of the organisation. Those who engage their frontline staff and empower them are more likely to win in this environment.”

Sujaya Banerjee, CEO, Capstone People Consulting Courtesy: Times of India

Courtesy: Times of India

When leadership will matter “The most important attribute that any leader needs to have—and it is often underestimated—is the need to create clarity when none exists. You don’t need a leader when everything is well defined and it’s easy, and all you have got to do is follow a well-written plan. But in an ambiguous situation, where there cannot be complete information, that is when leadership will matter.”

Satya Nadella, CEO, Microsoft

Courtesy: http://www.newsindiatimes.com

Taking hard decisions India a beacon market for our global transformation

“The reason I come to India once a year is because I see India as a beacon market for our global transformation. My sense of how India works is—it’s entrepreneurial, it’s a market that believes and cares about brands, it’s a market that wants to learn.”

John Seifert,

global CEO, Ogilvy

Courtesy: https://www.campaignindia.in

“As a CMO my preference is always to take decisions based on data and intuition. However, sometimes we don’t have the liberty of perfect information and we need to embrace the ambiguity and take the best decision we can.

There are times when some innovative concepts look great on paper, but do not look ideal post execution. At these times, take a hard call and drop the concept in the interest of the brand and the customers.”

Veetika Deoras, CMO, Marketing, Category and Digital,

Tata Starbucks

Courtesy: The Economic Times

World can learn from India “We’ve seen fantastic growth here. But what I and the company have learnt from the Indian operations is how to build seamless and flexible teams that deliver client solutions and build brands. So, I would say the world can learn from India and not so much the other way around. The world has become more local. And that’s very exciting when you think of the impact that India is having on the world.”

Tamara Ingram, Worldwide CEO, JWT

Courtesy: Economic Times

Indians are most aspirational people on earth

“I believe that Indians are fascinated by achievement and success and are among the most aspirational people on earth, and I’ve regularly written about people who start with nothing and fight their way to the top.”

Jeffrey Archer,

British politician-turnedbestselling author Courtesy: Times of India

Compiled by Rajesh Rao rajeshrao.rao@gmail.com

December 16-31, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 15

Expert View

RBI & Govt – The Driver & the Seat Belt

by S K Jha

(IRS (retd) and former Chief Commissioner of Income Tax)

Due to the very nature of the mandates of the RBI and the Ministry of Finance of the government, the two wings can never see eye to eye. The Finance Ministry’s mandate is political, to maximise employment and generate rapid growth in the economy while the RBI’s mandate is economic and its one prime role is to minimise inflation

T

he Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is in the spotlight these days. The reason being the ongoing discussions on the relationship issues between it and the government. The questions being raised are, whether the autonomy of the Central Bank, that is the RBI, under threat? Whether the government is likely to give direction to the RBI under section 7 of the RBI Act, which has never been invoked earlier? Whether the Governor of the RBI will resign? Such questions are making headlines in newspapers and television debates. Opposition parties have also joined the fray and accusing the government that financial institutions are under threat.

To analyse the issues involved, let us begin with some understanding about the RBI (Central Bank). The RBI came into being with effect from April 1, 1935, in accordance with the Reserve Bank of India Act 1934, with the ownership lying in the hands of private shareholders. The central office of the bank was initially headquartered in Calcutta (now Kolkata) and later moved to Bombay (now Mumbai) in 1937 with office at Mint Road. The bank was nationalised with effect from January 1949 after independence. The banking operations in the country and the role of the RBI are covered by the Banking Regulation Act 1949. The RBI is a banker’s bank and also the bank of the government. It is the financial regulator that assumes the role of watchdog on banking matters.

Many roles: Its functions are best summarised by its Preamble which reads: ‘To regulate the issue of bank notes and keeping of reserves with a view to securing monetary stability in India and generally to operate the currency and credit system of the country to its advantage to have a modern monetary policy framework to meet the challenges of an increasing complex economy, to maintain price stability while keeping in mind the objective of growth.’

For the public in general, RBI is seen as an institution regulating interest rate which affects their EMI, but the fact of the matter is that it has many caps on its head like that of monetary authority, regulator and supervisor of financial sta-

bility, currency management authority, foreign exchange authority. The executive head of the RBI is the Governor who is assisted by the Deputy Governors and there is also an apex body of a Central board of directors of maximum 21 members. The board is constituted by the Governor, with a maximum of four Deputy Governors, two senior officials of the Ministry of Finance, four directors from four zonal boards of the RBI and ten directors from different walks of life appointed by the government for four years. Governors are appointed for a normal period of three years which can be extended.

At loggerheads: Due to the very nature of the mandates of the RBI and the Ministry of Finance of the government, it has normally been seen that these two wings normally never keep a friendly relationship. The Finance Ministry’s mandate “The government sees is political, to maximise from the wider perspecemployment and generate rapid growth in the economy tive while the Central while RBI’s mandate is Bank must see that economic and its one prime government is not going role is to minimise inflation. wrong in its economic These are two mutually contradictory mandates. decisions. In the words Fiscal policy and monetary of Dr Raghuram Rajan, policy make for uneasy bed the RBI works as a seat much under control fellows. Since the inception and as a result there of the RBI, five governors belt for the driver, which was no credit off-take. have quit their jobs. These is the government” Employment has been include Osborne Smith (first the biggest challenge for the government and in governor), Bengal Rama Rau, S Jagannathan, the absence of industrial expansion for which soft RK Puri, and Ram Narain Malhotra, popularly credit is essential, it was being felt that the RBI known as R N Malhotra. These facts show was not on the same page with the government. historically that the relationship between the two The sudden discovery of huge accumulation of wings (RBI and the government) have remained NPA (Non Payment Assets) due to the improper far from cordial. If seen in the historical provisioning by the banks in the past was one of perspective, the present strained relationship the reasons. The government felt that even the between the two wings is not an isolated one.

RBI (Central Bank) should take some blame for not monitoring properly.

Not on the same page: The situation was heating up for some time as the government had Heated exchanges: The case of Nirav Modi a feeling that the RBI was not doing enough to added to this point of view, as the auditors give boost to growth. Interest rate was not being of the RBI failed to detect a systemic failure. reduced despite the fact that inflation rate was

16 / Corporate Citizen / December 16-31, 2018

Government officials were seen expressing their views and diplomatically targeting the RBI. The strained relationship came into public view when an RBI Deputy Governor delivered a lecture where he clearly warned that the autonomy of the RBI should not be tarnished and he gave an example of the Central Bank of Argentina.

There was also a response from the government that directions can be given to the RBI for the betterment of the national economy and if the need arises, even the never used article 7 of the RBI Act can be invoked.

There was a heated board meeting, just pre-

ceding the meeting of November 19. The situation cooled down and there was a professional discussion in the board meeting on 19th after the Finance Ministry clearly spelt out that there was no threat to the autonomy of the RBI and that article 7 would not be invoked.

Irking issues: The pressing concerns of the government were articulated and categorically conveyed to the RBI. After the problem of Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Limited (IL&FS), it was seen that non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) and even some Mutual Funds which are exposed to them are facing heat due to liquidity problems. Some public sector banks which have become weaker due to NPA were seen to be experiencing more pain due to the Prompt Corrective Action

(PCA), a scheme announced by the RBI as they were directed not to give additional loans till the problem of NPA was cleared or there was more introduction of capital. Then there was an issue of urgent consideration of loan restricting by MSMEs due to the liquidity issue. The circular issued by the RBI in February, 2018 where even a one day default by the borrower in repaying to banks would make the loan an NPA and its provisioning as a result would make the bank a loss making entity, was seen as uncharitable to the financial sector.

Last and not the least was the issue concerning

the capital framework of the central bank. There is a point of view that reserves of about `10 lakh crore accumulated by the Central Bank is much in excess of the established norms of capital formation by other central banks of other countries. A study in 2014 said that about 1.14 lakh crore is in excess even applying the most liberal parameters.

There was a lot of discussion in the media that the government wanted to take a sizeable amount of Rs three lakh crore from the reserves of the RBI in the election year to do more spending and also bridge the looming fiscal deficit. There was some cooling down when the government clarified that it is not interested in taking any part from the accumulated reserve, but it only wants that there should be a scientific framework for adding to the reserve in the future and that excess profit should go to the government as logical dividend and not

as ad hoc dividend. Both, the government and the Central Bank have seen maturity and have decided to consider the issues rather than create any situation which will harm the image of the country.

The meeting of the RBI Board on 19th November 2018 is a step in the right direction. (This column is written before the next meeting scheduled to be held on December 14, 2018). The issues raised were discussed and a press release of the RBI after the meeting is self-explanatory about the concern shown by the RBI to address them.

The press release: “The RBI Central Board met today in Mumbai and discussed the Basel regulatory capital framework, a restructuring scheme for stressed MSMEs banks health under Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework and the Economic Capital Framework (ECF) of the RBI. The Board decided to constitute an expert committee to examine the ECF, the membership and terms of reference of which will be jointly determined by the government of India and the RBI. The board also advised that RBI should consider a scheme for restructuring of stressed standards assets of MSME borrowers with aggregate credit facilities of up to 25 crore. The Board while deciding to retain CRAR at 9% agreed to extend the transition period of implementing the last tranche of 0.625% under the Capital Conservation Buffer (CCB) by one year i.e. up to March 31, 2020. With regard to banks under PCA, it was decided that the matter will be examined by the Board for Financial Supervision (BFS) of the RBI.�

Discussion a must: In a democratic country discussion between two wings of the government is necessary to evolve the right recipe for a healthy nation. There can be disagreement on some issues but that does not mean that there is anything wrong in the system. The government sees from the wider perspective while the Central Bank must see that government is not going wrong in its economic decisions. In the words of Dr Raghuram Rajan, the RBI works as a seat belt for the driver, which is the government. Section 7 of the RBI Act is for an extreme situation if something good needed for the country is not being considered by the Central Bank despite advisory meetings.

Today, India is the fastest growing major economy in the world. It is the sixth biggest economy bypassing France. In the ease of doing business index, India has quickly jumped many steps in a short time of four years. This is possible only when all the wings of the nation contribute positively and this means that both RBI and the Finance Ministry are doing good work collectively and harmoniously. Adverse publicity of some heated situation should be avoided for the sake of the good image of our country.

December 16-31, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 17

Woman Power

What successful Women Lead

do

Women leaders have shown their mettle in the industry by climbing the ladders of success, shattering the glass ceiling and proving that they are just as capable of heading organisations as their male counterparts. That being said, things are far from perfect, as women still have to address a host of challenges in the workplace. With a view to understand the unique challenges women face and the way they surmount them, CII has prepared the Success Strategies of Women Leaders report. Corporate Citizen brings you the results

Compiled By Neeraj Varty Findings

This extensive research with around 50 C-suite women leaders helped CII discover a pattern around the strategic approach they followed in their course of success journey.

A majority (84.62%) were above 50 years age and 92.59% with more than 15 years of work experience.

Networking Activities: Women leaders mostly acknowledged that they give a great deal of importance to networking activities in their everyday schedules. A rating of 7.79 out of a maximum of 10 was given in the sample on "Importance of networking". The most preferred modes of networking were participation in professional bodies and networking events (34.17%) and establishing collaborative relationships at work (33.79%).

Direct and Clear Communication: C-suite women demonstrate their authenticity with a strong preference for direct and clear communication and say it like it is, and sometimes make situational adjustments in tone and content of communication. A few avoid negativity and the least preferred style was to be indirect and use softeners and frequent smiles and nods.

Business Etiquette: Women leaders gave maximum importance to their reputation and image being cultivated through hard work and conscious effort. It is highly important too, to follow business etiquette and codes of professional conduct and to take care over dress and ap18 / Corporate Citizen / December 16-31, 2018

pearance. They do not much like to invest in expensive branded apparel and give low priority to presence on social media.

Glass Ceilings: All respondents acknowledged that that subtle forms of gender bias and cultural misogyny does exist, ignoring women and in a very imperceptible manner, inhibiting their growth. They acknowledged the presence of glass ceilings that prevent women from reaching the top.

Work-life Balance: Women strive to create work-life balance and help manage things with a network of family and paid help. The second priority for achieving work-life balance is to have flexible work-life options to provide time for family, work and leisure commitments. A large chunk of women have reported that they do not like to work late hours because it does not help with family commitments, and they always felt that they have given priority to family life at the cost of career.

Career Break: In keeping with global trends, 42.86% of women leaders have taken a career break, 33.33% for maternity and 25% for childcare, followed by 16.67% for spouse relocation and the same number for sabbatical. Eldercare (8.33%) was the second lowest reported reason for career break and 0% for educational reasons; 66.67% of the career breaks were for 1-2 years, 25% for 2-5 years and 8.33% for more than five years. Re-entry was largely for coming back to full time jobs (69.23%) and 23.08% look for flexi-time, women friendly jobs. Only 7.69% started

ers To be able to succeed in today's hyper-dynamic work places, build the network of professional and personal relationships based on trust, transparency and shared vision Chandni Jafri, CEO, Mumbai Angels Network

December 16-31, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 19

Woman Power their own business so they could be in charge of their time allocation.

Financial Independence: A huge majority of Women leaders (56.67%) reported that they plan their finances and financial futures independent of other members in the family. 38.71% took all financial decisions jointly with spouse/ father/partners, and only 6.45% contributed towards family earnings and allowed their money to be managed by the spouse/ father/partner.

Women leaders tend to adopt more transformational leadership styles and empower teams to take independent decisions or create democratic participative decision-making by consensus. They also liked to delegate activities and hold team members accountable. The least preferred leadership style was direct control and supervision, which is more transaction and control oriented.

Ninety per cent of women leaders give time towards working for the cause of other women by mentoring, coaching, and counselling to inspire those who need, and many initiatives taken by them to create women-friendly policies in their organisations.

“Try not to imitate the behaviour of your male colleagues at work so as to gain acceptance.

Be yourself unapologetically!

Methodology

The overall purpose of the survey was to have conversations with successful women leaders to understand the networking patterns and communication styles, how to strike a balance between professional and personal life, their ideas on image management, leadership styles and values they adopt.

The survey also sought to understand how they dealt with gender based challenges that they encountered, and how they are inspired to work for the cause of contribution to the betterment of women co-workers.

Who Are The Respondents?

Age Distribution(%)

Veena Sharma, Senior Advisor, Alvarez & Marsal (A&M)

7.69 7.69

7.41

92.59

More than 15 years

Less than 30 years 10-15 years

• Women leaders needed to be at a minimum of C-suite level in organisations which have at least `50 crore turnover. CEO's and Board Directors were also included.

• Women leaders who have climbed through the ranks through effort and competence were selected. Women entrepreneurs were included if they had been around for 10 years, and achieved over 10 crore turnover.

A little more than 50 women leaders were interviewed or responded to a survey questionnaire. The women leaders’ demographics on age and experience indicate that leadership comes with a degree of maturity. A large chunk of women leaders (84.62%) are more than 50 years old and there are none who are less than 30 years of age. However, there are significant but small number of women (7.69%) between 30 to 40 years and an equal number between 4050 years.

Networking in Professional Circles Networking Priorities(%)

14.14 84.67

33.79 19.33

Less than 30 years

40-50

30-40 years

More than 50 years

In the search for women leaders who would have success stories to share, the following criteria were used: • An intentionally drawn sample through brainstorming of list of women who are successful in corporate life and business.

20 / Corporate Citizen / December 16-31, 2018

34.17

After office hours, informal

Professional bodies, Networking events

Company organised official

Collaborative relationships at work

19.33

There are many perceptions that women do not network as much as men do, and it is well known that networking is the #1 unwritten rule of success in corporate life. Often it is stated that networking is harder for women than men.

Many a times, women are told that they will not be successful unless they have a certain amount of networking in their professional circles.

Often, women are already juggling professional and personal responsibilities and usually, networking after office hours takes away time from personal commitments and upsets work-life balance too.

During the survey, they mostly acknowledged that they give a great deal of importance to networking activities in their everyday schedules. A rating of 7.79 out of a maximum of 10 was given in the sample.

A great deal (34.66%) of time was given to networking in professional bodies and networking events, with a close second of 33.57% spent on taking time out for creating collaborative relationships with colleagues at work. As expected, after office hours informal networking was the least priority for the Women Leaders.

Communication Style 1.00

2.00

3.00

4.00

Direct (Say it like it is)

3.26

Make situational adjustments

3.12

Avoid negativity

2.71

Think before speaking

2.65 2.38

Indirect (Use softwords and smiles) It is sometimes said that open and transparent communication from women can help break down gendered perceptions and open new leadership opportunities for them. The research conversations with successful women leaders revealed that these women had the strongest preference for direct and clear communication and say it like it is. It is perceived as a mark of honest authenticity and helps in clarity of relationships and communications with others. The second preference was for making situational adjustments to the communication depending on

the purpose and person with whom they are communicating. These situational adjustments create rapport and help establish emotional connect with the other.

The least preferred style was to be indirect and use softeners and frequent smiles and nods without coming directly to the point. Communication needs to be spontaneous and not always thought through before speaking. Avoiding negativity was also not a route to success as it inhibits authenticity.

Work-Life Balance 1.00

2.00

3.00

4.00

Reputation and image cultivation through hard work

3.98

Important to follow business etiquette

3.56

Take care over dress and appearance

3.50

Invest in premium brands and expensive things Attention to image on social media Most people will agree that the work you will do will be the ultimate determinant of your success. However, knowing how to dress, behave, communicate and present yourself well will help you stand apart from the crowd and ante a positive impression. For a woman, a positive image is crucial for success as it complements her personality and multiplies her power of influence manifold. CII’s research questions delved deeper into women's perceptions about building a personal brand and an iconic style of dress,

2.71 2.41

voice, mannerisms and appearance. Social media also plays a role in managing image and reputation. Women leaders gave the maximum importance to their reputation and image being cultivated through hard work and conscious effort. It is highly important too, to follow business etiquette and codes of professional conduct and to take care over dress and appearance. A significantly lower rating was given to investment in premium brands and expensive clothing as not seen as essential to a good image.

First, imbibe the cardinal principle that you are responsible for whatever happens in your corporate life.

Don’t look for crutches or concessions�

Kalpana Jaishankar,

Chief HR Officer, Tata Consulting Engineers

December 16-31, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 21

Woman Power Challenges Encountered 1.00

2.00

3.00

Subtle forms of gender bias ignoring

2.56 2.09

Less women at the top (Glass Ceiling) Women are often paid less than men Unwelcome sexual advances Sexist remarks from colleagues at work Women given "Women friendly" roles

Stay focused, experiment in learning, build your unique skillset and do not indulge in gossip / politics to climb up the ladder�

Discussing gender inequality and related challenges can be difficult in professional environment. Many women prefer to avoid this topic and not rock the boat.

However, in times of #MeToo, every study undertaken supports the fact that women are still subject to bias in the workplace. These challenges are unique to women and generally not recognized by men. Perhaps for this reason, the survey results point to generally low ratings from women leaders for the various challenges they encountered as we wished to explore these with them.

The under representation of women in leadership roles is mute testimony to the fact that subtle forms of gender bias does exist, ignoring women and in a very imperceptible manner, inhibiting their growth. Women leaders have given complete recognition to this fact as the largest challenge encountered by them. Cultural misogyny

1.97 1.82 1.68 1.56 is acknowledged to be the main challenge and the most difficult to counter.

Six per cent of directorships, 4% of CEO Roles, and 4% of C-Suite roles go to women. Lower down the pyramid the representation of women can be as high as 30-40% although, almost 40% of urban workforce are women.

The research reveals that the glass ceiling effect does exist and has been encountered by the women leaders.

Economic gender parity ensures that women are often paid less than men for the same jobs. World Economic Forum monitors country index on economic gender disparity. In India, many initiatives inform that we have closed 67% of the economic gender gap, but still dropped to 108 in 2017 from 87 in 2016.

Work-Life Balance

Simi Thapar,

Head -Equipment Leasing and Financing Solutions, Tata Capital

4.00

1.00

2.00

3.00

Family/paid help in place

3.32

Work flexibility allows work-life balance

2.79 2.76

Spouse takes equal responsibilites Don't feel guilty if I am not available to family

2.50

Spouse takes full responsibility

2.41

Working late hours

2.35

Never compromised family at the cost of career While the excitement of work, dreams and ambition can be a great motivator to succeed, the responsibilities of leading in business added to the responsibilities in personal life can be a great stressor.

It is apparent that a supporting structure that can help with childcare and elder care is an essential part of the success story. Women leaders have worked hard to create a network of family and paid help in the form of nannies, maids, day-care to support them in the balancing act. A top strategy to create work-life balance and help manage things.

22 / Corporate Citizen / December 16-31, 2018

4.00

2.03 The second priority for achieving work-life balance is to have flexibility to manage family, work and leisure commitments. Even at the top of the ladder, a balance of leisure and family is important. So, it’s not always about work alone.

It also helps if the spouse takes equal responsibility for the burden of multitasking and juggling the various roles and commitments needed. Attitudes of men who are partners to successful working women have recently changed.

Re-Entry Strategies Career Break (%)

Length of Career Break (%) 8.33

57.14

25.00

42.86

66.67

Took a break in career

Did not take a break in career

Reason of Career Break (%)

1-2 years

More than 5 years

2-5 years

Re-entry Strategy (%) 7.69

16.67

23.08

33.33

8.33

25.00

16.67

Maternity

Organisational Politics

Spouse relocation

Child care

Higher education

Elder care

Sabbatical Numerous studies have documented that, after investing in undergraduate and graduate studies and establishing careers, women are leaving their chosen professions at increasingly higher rates. The fact that work is more demanding and employees spend long hours at work in today's competitive environment makes it highly difficult for Indian women to have career continuity and they opt out when faced with family, children and social pressure.

For women, leaving a good Job may be particularly damaging to their career. Women leaving the workforce usually find it difficult to 'opt back in' at commensurate job levels. The barriers to re-entry further perpetuate and exacerbate gender inequalities. This was a crucial part of the conversations with women leaders where CII tried to map out the dynamics of taking career breaks and strategies for re-entry.

Women often take a break in their careers for different

69.23

Looked flexi-time, women friendly job

Started my own business

Came back to fulltime job

reasons. As much as 42.86% of the top management women executives had taken a break sometime during their careers.

There are two top drivers that forces women to leave the organisation, maternity and childcare issues. These two factors have the most to contribute to the "opt-out" decision.

Delving deeper into the reasons for the career break, of the 42.86% women, 33.33% had taken it for maternity reasons and 25% for childcare. The role of being a mother is compelling indeed.

Other reasons for career break are spouse relocation (16.67%) and sabbatical (16.67%). A small but significant percentage (8.33%) was for elder care.

Dreams, ambition and passion are hard to put off for an extended period of time. The need to return back to career is sometimes urgent. neeraj.varty07@gmail.com

“I think young working women should realise that each one has different priorities and should not try to imitate each other but should plan their own corporate life based on their own situation�

Ketayun K Fallahzadeh,

Group Head - Risk Management and Internal Audit, Tata Power Company Limited

December 16-31, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 23

Woman Power

The Future is There are many revelations within this piece of CII-IWN research, nuggets of insights that each From Left to Right: Dr Aneeta Madhok, Kashmira Mewawala, Vibha Padalkar, Renu Basu, Pallavi Jha, Ninad Karpe, Richa Arora and Ipsita Dasgupta

24 / Corporate Citizen / December 16-31, 2018

HERS woman executive can relate to. Read more...

December 16-31, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 25

Woman Power At the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII)’s 3rd WomeNation held recently, its Western Region chapter undertook a research on success strategies deployed by successful women leaders. An overview by Dr Aneeta Madhok, Vice Chairperson, CII IWN Maharashtra Chapter, and Managing Director, Open Space Consulting Ltd (the knowledge partners in this survey) on the overview and details of the survey.

Celebrating Success

It’s not often that we get to see the positive side of things and celebrate success and recognise the hard work it took to get there. It’s especially rare to have a compilation of these success stories from women leaders, first hand. It’s even rarer to have a compilation of these success stories and analysed scientifically to map the strategies and practices adopted by the women in their endeavour to realise their dreams and ambitions. For women leaders it is particularly difficult as there are so many challenges along the way posed by both the corporate world where the majority are men as well as society and culture that has so far not encouraged them to succeed in business and career.

For me, it was an inspirational project because in many of the stories we heard, I also found similar echoes in my life and work. It’s only when the stories are shared, we realise that we are not alone. The thought is empowering indeed. I hope with this work, there is a small step taken towards inspiring other women on the success path to find that their individual actions can create a wave of change I keeping with the trends we find here.

Choosing samples for the survey

I researched a lot to understand a document, and create an inspirational storyline, in the strategies that women require in the pursuit of their dreams and achievements, and they did it. How we did it-we had dialogues and conversations centred around the theme; we had nine themes in all, where we captured qualitative as well as quantitative data against the survey questionnaire and the sample consisted of women leaders in the corporate and business world. It was intentionally drawn, as we had to brainstorm and seek them out, seek their support. The sample also consisted of a few women entrepreneurs with a proven track record.

Let’s just say that 93 per cent of our sample had more than 15 years of work experience. You see, success doesn’t come instantly. It takes time to get to the sweet spot.

Themes of the conversation

We had nine themes in all: • The first theme was networking and professional orientation and we found that 35 per cent of networking by successful women, happens through membership and participation in professional events. Only 34 per cent of networking is about building collaborative relationships with colleagues at work. So proper use of these two ideas will give you enough leverage of networking to make you more successful.

• Authenticity is very important in and within the com26 / Corporate Citizen / December 16-31, 2018

For me, it was an inspirational project because, I found similar echoes in my life and work.

It’s only when the stories are shared, we realise that we are not alone – Dr Aneeta Madhok

munication styles-direct communication that says things as they are, and not just whitewashing the truth and avoiding the negativity, and being pleasant and soft in your communication. So, saying the same things as they are reflects the kind of maturity that our women leaders have, because • More than 50 women leaders say that they have given top importance in cultivating their image and reputation through hard work and effort. So, it is not that I can do whatever I please and be whoever and be anything randomly; they spent time and effort in creating and cultivating their own image. This is the certificate of professional conduct and is very important, we need to understand and try to go with the flow rather than being out of track.

• Care is taken over dress and appearance in our research sample. We take a lot of pride in dressing up, but the one factor of dearest importance, as one of the panellist said was Facebook Likes, which I think is not important at all.

So the lowest importance was given to rankings on social media, on Facebook and Twitter.

• The next theme was about the challenges encountered.

The biggest challenge that our women encountered in our sample was cultural misogyny. Subtle forms of cultural bias where women are excluded from certain conversations, they are not considered when their name comes up for promotion; there are subtle forms of put-down and subtle forms of side tracking women for instance - that was the biggest challenge that the women in our sample encountered.

And it is so subtle that it becomes very difficult to counter sometimes.

• Each one of them also talked about the glass ceilings and how difficult it was for each one of them as they are actually in competition with men, gender disparity; this gender gap, economic gender gap is actually acknowledged.

• I would also mention that sexual advances and sexist remarks and sexual harassment from male colleagues were not so much encountered surprisingly. I do believe that even if it is encountered very often, we must come out and share these things. We do talk a lot about it in society today, but a lot of times women do say that we do not encounter sexual harassment and eventually they do not want to talk about it. So I am not sure about the numbers here-a large number of women have said and actually declared that they have not encountered too much of sexual harassment.

• The lowest rating was given to glass walls, where soft women were not given challenging hard assignments. As one of the panellist pointed out in the previous session, women don’t take up sales jobs, they don’t take up hard jobs which men usually do but that’s not true with our women leaders. To have success they have no squirms in taking up hard jobs and shun these soft women friendly roles.

• The next theme of our conversation was work-life balance, so I think what our panel said in their résumé is very consistent with our findings as well-make your family your network of support, ask help, your friends, relatives, neighbours, teachers, let them all support you in ways that encourage you to go out more and work more confidently, and if you encounter flexible arrangement, you can take your kids out on Saturdays and that’s what a lot of our women leaders do.

• As for the re-entry strategies for women in the workforce, 57 per cent of the women have taken a career break at some point of time or the other. Biologically, you have to have children, you have to look after the children and you have to nurse the child and they get a break for one or

two years ony; 33 per cent of our women take a break for maternity, 25 per cent for child care. So motherhood is important for our women leaders. Whether you are bearing a child, or rearing a child, it is important. So a majority of the breaks are only for motherhood. For spouse relocation, career break was only 16 per cent; 69 per cent of our women return to full time jobs; they don’t look for flexible careers.

• When it comes to financial matters, 57 per cent of our women leaders have said that they are financially independent, and my money is my money, it doesn’t go for contribution to the family kitty. If you are moving towards financial independence, don’t be guilty; you are not alone. 37 per cent of the women say that they took financial decisions along with their partners, only 7 per cent reported that their finances are managed by their partners, they contribute to the income of the family and that they were managed by the male members of the family.

Over the years we have heard that one of the hurdles that hold women back from realising their potential is the lack of authentic role models they can relate to.

This project is an appropriate vehicle to carry the inspirational stories – Kashmira Mewawala

Kashmira Mewawala, Chairperson, CII Indian Women Network (IWN) –Western Region and Head, Business Development & Chief Ethics Counsellor, Tata Capital, on, why the survey?

At CII IWN, we hear unique, fascinating narratives of women succeeding in the corporate/business sector, but not all make it to the headlines. It was felt that sharing accounts of successful women from varied streams of corporate and business with a larger audience would inspire emulation. It would also help us to celebrate the women who surmounted impediments, smoothened their journeys, and laid the path for more women to tread and achieve professional success.

Over the years we have heard that one of the hurdles that hold women back from realising their potential is the lack of authentic role models they can relate to. In my view, this project is an appropriate vehicle to carry the absorbing and inspirational stories and the voices of successful women to an audience that can benefit from them. Many of the accounts are from women who have not just transformed their own lives, but also assisted their colleagues, employees and even communities along the way. vinitapune@gmail.com

CC

tadka Maharashtra gets its first internet de-addiction centre A De-Addiction and Rehabilitation Centre working in the field of addiction has started in Pune. The reason behind this step is to control the increased usage of the internet. Earlier, Internet De-Addiction centres have started in Delhi and Bengaluru. However, a team of experts is still working on issues like e-addiction, brain feedback, meditation, consulting, issues of teenagers, fear-anxiety and instability.

December 16-31, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 27

PILF Session

Exciting times for

Authors & Readers

(Left to right) Vishal Soni, Preeti Chaturvedi, Julia Kostova and Dipankar Mukherjee

As per my knowledge, self-help books and literary fiction are doing pretty well. This bifurcation is quite evident. Later, I can also say that people like reading fiction books - Vishal Soni 28 / Corporate Citizen / December 16-31, 2018

The industry is going under a tremendous transformation. This positive change has given rise to a welcoming revolution, content and format. And it is nice to see that books are being published at a greater rate - Preeti Chaturvedi

The book publishing industry has been here since days and their fine prints have always kept the readers entertained. The boom of technology, variations in the taste of readers, mushrooming publishing houses and author’s gripping content has provoked a mesmerizing change in the book publishing industry. As the book publishing sector accounts for an annual revenue of over $100 billion, or about 15% of the total media industry, it will be interesting to know to what the future holds for this sector. In a session at the recently concluded Pune International Literary Festival (PILF), sector bigwigs like Dipankar Mukherjee (Session Moderator), founder Readomania, Vishal Soni, CEO, Vishwakarma Publications, Pune, Julia Kostova, editor and literary scholar in NYC and Preeti Chaturvedi, AVP-marketing and publicity at Penguin Random House India, spoke widely about the trends, gimmicks and reach of the book publishing sector. Corporate Citizen provides the excerpts

By Ekta Katti Dipankar Mukherjee: The publishing sector has come a long way. What is the current scenario like? How is the global market upscaling?

Preeti Chaturvedi: The industry is going under a tremendous transformation. This positive change has given rise to a welcoming revolution, specifically in our country. There has been an explosion of new content and format. And it is nice to see that books are being published at a greater rate.

The inception of online retail has completely changed the scenario. The transformation has given rise to many questions like – how important digital media is, how important are different formats, what is the role that online retailing will play and so on. All said and done, I am happy to see that the book publishing industry is promising the authors and readers with exciting times. Being a part of a publishing giant, our issue is not of printing or reach. As a publisher, I feel the challenge would be of understanding the consumer and what triggers or motivates them to pick a certain book.

Also, there should be optimization of books which are put up in the market.

Vishal Soni: As far as my knowledge goes, there are no issues related to the operations of this industry. The main problem that the sector is facing is of reaching their readers. There is an influx of tremendous books. The readers are bombarded with options. Settling down on one option seems to be a task. The reader when in pursuit of the book should find the right one. When a person is searching for a book online, there are plenty of hurdles. Sometimes due to the sponsored ads, it becomes difficult for the reader to fetch the right book. Meanwhile, if you enter a bookstore, you'll only find the books which receive prominence. As a publisher, I feel there aren't any challenges as we are printing enough books.

These days, even the authors and publishers are working hand in hand. The authors are not only willing to work with the publishers but they are not afraid to work independently also - julia Kostova

Pics: Yusuf Khan

Julia Kostova: Although I am handling the publication in the US, I am exposed to different avenues in this field.

And having been through the various stages, I can say that we both (Indian and foreign publication industry) face the same challenges but in a different way. Publishing is not an autonomous industry, hence it varies from region to region.

It depends on the income, education, technology, media and others. So even though we are facing the same challenges, the regional barriers cannot be overlooked. For instance, in a country like Bulgaria, there is a tremendous demand for December 16-31, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 29

PILF Session books. However, the costs are sky rocketing. In regions like South Korea and Japan, most the industry happens in electronic format. That's the main way the content is consumed there. This certainly doesn’t apply to the Indian market.

When you come to a place like Ethiopia, their challenges are completely different. They lack the basic infrastructure to set up library or bookstores. They are basically facing the issue of accessibility. The industry is coming to the terms that there's a technological shift, which is changing the way we consume content. Also, there’s a huge change in how we access the content.

A balanced approach is key to attain discoverability. The approach shouldn’t be skewed in favour of one channel or platform. Discoverability of title should be planned across all the mediums–media, digital and retail - Preeti Chaturvedi

Do you think the way books or content is discovered has changed over time. What does the future look like?

Juila: It has indeed changed a lot! This in turn has brought in new challenges. One of them being-how to provide relevant content to the readers. We are into printing content related to scientific research. I wouldn't say that print is dead, but most of the matter is shifted online. The online medium is vast than an ocean. To achieve visibility, we are teaching the authors how to write content which will easily catch the reader’s eye. Also, in this day and age, if your matter does not exist on the first page of the Google search, it's as if that you don't exist. It's a matter of learning and unlearning to adapt to the new change. We are also educating the authors as for how to write a perfect and discoverable title which will could go viral. These days, even the authors and publishers are working hand in hand. The authors are not only willing to work with the publishers but they are not afraid to work independently also. They are building their own network and publicizing through their channel.

Preeti: A balanced approach is key to attain discoverability.

The approach shouldn't be skewed in favour of one channel or platform. Discoverability of title should be planned across all the mediums-media, digital and retail. When the book is in its nascent stage, the digital medium plays a big role when it comes to discoverability. Later, when the book is out on the stands, an equal amount of traditional and non-traditional mediums of discoverability-like airport and metro stores, independent book stores and authors indulgence in the sale, takes the driver's seat. This is a very dynamic sector and behind every successful book there is a team who works relentlessly. The author also becomes an equal stakeholder in the profit. Discoverability becomes optimum only when all the teams work in tandem.

A lot of research goes into understanding what the readers want. However, the authors should also write what they like. There are rumors that the poems don’t sell. But there always is a niche crowd who reads them - Vishal Soni 30 / Corporate Citizen / December 16-31, 2018

Vishal: A lot of research goes into understanding what the readers want. However, the authors should also write what they (authors) like. There are rumors that the poems don’t sell. But there always is a niche crowd who reads them. The medium has changed, the way books are sold is changed, and the only way to keep up with the pace is to adapt to the change. Also, for the smooth working of the industry, the publisher and the author have to work in tandem. This is will assure that the readers will be provided with the best content.

In terms of content, is there any specific trend?

Vishal: As per my knowledge, self-help books and literary fiction are doing pretty well. This bifurcation is quite evident.

Later, I can also say that people like reading fiction books.

shlokas are in English, imagine if there was QR code which could translate that written format into audio. It would make a world of a difference. As times are changing, the author has to be present on all formats irrespective of the readership.

Juila: Right from when the book is written, till the time it reaches its reader, the complexity involved in publishing cannot be understated. Again, don’t go with the rumors, I assure you print is not dead. Nonetheless, I feel the future will be certainly taken over by the mobile medium owning to its availability. It will be the platform of the 21st century.

The fact this platform is readily available gives us room for experimentation. These days we are seeing a lot of multimedia not just as a catalyst for the text but also as an enhancing platform. Audio books are growing at a faster rate and there is a tremendous hope. This format has had a greater uptake in America than anticipated. It would be interesting to see how upcoming technologies like augmented and virtual reality will be incorporated in this sector.

Right from when the book is written, till the time it reaches its reader, the complexity involved in publishing cannot be understated. Again, don’t go with the rumors, I assure you print is not dead - Julia Kostova Over the last few years, there are several formats mushrooming. Print still takes the lead, however, formats like e-books and audio book are on the rise. How are the other formats and platforms working for the industry?

Preeti: I feel the present scenario is the best we have seen so far. Instead of competing, people are looking for collaboration and synergy. In the recent past, we have seen several examples within Penguin as to how content being adapted across formats has rekindled interest in our books. The case study of the web series Sacred Games is apt for this.

Everything worked in their favour-right from the backing of Netflix, their splendid campaign and the audience.

Courtesy of the hype created around this series, the same book is in the bestsellers list. This is what synergy can do across formats. Another great instance is of the release of the novel ‘Calling Sehmat’, which was adapted into a critically acclaimed spy-thriller Hindi film titled Raazi produced by Dharma Productions. Both the movie and novel, which was released at the same time, ended up benefiting each other and topping the charts respectively. It would be great to explore such synergies.

Vishal: What I personally do is to make available the e-books when the book is to be released. The format of audio books is still picking up in India. However, in certain parts of the country, it’s doing quite well. The current trend of the adaptation of books into movies and series has broadened the reader's horizons. It would be interesting to see the fusion between print and audio/video. For instance, there are some Sanskrit shlokas in my Garbha Sankar book. Although the

How is the retail environment morphing over time for books?

Preeti: No doubt there are challenges, but there are several retailers in this sector. What would work in our favour is to identify the right product for the right kind of retail segment. When we are talking about retailing, three board classifications are large stores like Landmark and Crossword, small stores which have a huge loyalty, and the interesting of all is the airport-the transit retail. Given the fact that there is the morphing of online retail, intelligent segmentation is an easy way to address the challenge. For instance, hypothetically, if an international book, or self-help and business books are doing well in the transit retail. Then the publishers have to see that there are adequate books for these kinds present at the airports. However, online retailing most depends on discoverability and promotions.

Has the industry managed to decipher what is the market basket of a customer?

Juila: I think we are still trying to figure it out. Come to think of it, this is both a challenge and an opportunity. The print is something that the readers are still attached to it.

There's nothing more amazing than a good-looking cover. ektaakatti@gmail.com

CC

tadka

India surges 23 places in ease of doing business rankings India has leapfrogged 23 places to 77th rank in the World Bank’s global Ease of Doing Business rankings, a feat which is likely to boost the government’s reform credentials and raise the country’s attractiveness for investors. The report released lists India and China as the two large economies which are among the 10 biggest reformers among 190 countries. New Zealand, Singapore and Denmark were on top of the list.

December 16-31, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 31

Insight

Future of

Work

Excellence Pics: Yusuf Khan

As organisations are moving from people-driven to process-driven activity, it has put forth challenges and opportunities for the organisations and the HR professionals to be future ready. At the recently held 21st NHRDN National Conference 2018, at HICC, Hyderabad–Capgemini India, CEO, Dr Srinivas Kandula, shared his views on the theme, “Next Wave of Work Excellence”.

He highlighted on the transformation needed for ensuring future of work, the leadership required and the role technology will play in the process development and implementation. Corporate Citizen brings the excerpts of his riveting presentation focusing on People, Leadership, Technology and Future of Work

By Rajesh Rao

32 / Corporate Citizen / December 16-31, 2018

In entire history and mythology of India, there is only one person in Dvapara Yuga, who could foretell what would happen and that is Sanjaya—who use to be with Dhritarashtra, the King of Kuru Kingdom of Hastinapur, in Mahabharat epic—who would narrate what is going to happen.

I am not Dhritarashtra and nor I am Sanjaya. We are in the Kalyuga, where people change jobs, shifting from company to company and sector to sector—to reach what destination is quite uncertain. Now here, I am asked to predict what are going to be the waves of future of work excellence—let me make a humble effort.

How the economy is moving

If we want to understand what is going to be the future of work, first we need to understand, being a corporate person, how the economy is moving. I have divided our growth story into three phases, in order to explain my idea. I call till 1990 as the past and from 1991 when we kick-started the liberalisation till 2009, as the present, and 2010 onwards the future. We cannot start or stop any phase, because it is a continuum. So, we moved from past agrarian economy to industrial economy and now we are in tech-enabled service economy. And we seem to be moving from socialistic economic policies to very pro-market polices, to very competitive policies. Therefore, we moved from public sector dominance to private sector emergence, to complete corporatisation, as we are in today. Even unorganised economic activities are getting completely organised, like retail. So, as the economy is moving, the GDP is also growing rapidly.

As all these is happening, therefore the workforce profile is changing.

Profile of the workforce is changing

One generation wants job security, other generation wants compensation benefits and third generation wants high career growth— their preferences and their motivators are quite different.

Therefore, no longer authoritative leadership can work, no longer democratic leadership can work— the only leadership that can work is the First Among Equals

In the past we used to have majority of people working in agriculture sector—now majority of people will be moving to service sector. Probably by 2025 it is estimated that 48 per cent of the workforce will be working in tech-enabled service economy. If the profile of the workforce is changing, it is causing change in the principles of work—the basis for any people management and the basis to design any HR policies or practices. The past was riddled with standardisation, then we moved to de-standardisation and customisation.

We want to standardise whatever we have produced by way of activities, then we wanted some kind of de-standardisation to get out of the monotony, and now we very quickly moved to customisation. People want customised automobile, textile, healthcare—they want undivided attention. The organised sectors are moving from centralisation to decentralisation. What we used to think permanent during my younger days—like somebody constructs a house they do it for generations or they buy a wristwatch for generations to come. Yes, we moved quickly to the change, where people now want to change everything.

Moving from collectivism to individualism to objectivism

There is a book called “Machine that changed the world”, it is about future of the automobile. When you start changing your car, you get an idea why don’t I change my job—why don’t I change something. So, now staying at one place or being permanent is seen as very inefficient and unintelligent behaviour. Now, we are slowly moving to a large scale transDecember 16-31, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 33

Insight formation. When I started my career as an HR professional, never a single individual came to me to negotiate on salary, benefits or anything. For last 15 years, I have never seen trade union leader approaching me for anything other than individual employees demanding variety of things. So, we quickly moved from collectivism to individualism and now people have started moving to objectivism very quickly.

Activities used to be very mechanical and people with mechanical skills would get highly paid—that quickly moved to spontaneous skills, like that of cine actors, singers, musicians, writers etc. Then we started moving to something called creative, wherein we want our leaders to behave very different from the normal people—unlike the US, where they want their leaders to behave like middleclass people.

In India, if you are a middleclass person, you can’t afford to have more than one wife, but if you are a leader, you can have multiple. In the US, if you are a middleclass, you can have as many wives as you can afford, but if you are a leader, you can’t do that.

Principles of work are changing

The way you are defining the work—in the past you can simply motivate people by Hygiene Motivators. But, as we quickly moved, they need a combination of hygiene and motivators and now we have quickly moved into exclusively for motivational factors—no longer hygiene can motivate the people. The principles of work are changing very quickly from one way to another and if you want to excel in your people management, you need to quickly grasp what are those principles of work, that can impact. Therefore based on this, I hypothesised seven waves that could shape the future of work.

Waves that could shape the future of work

1 - Human-Robot task distribution The biggest competition for the human beings is not the workforce that is going to come from other workmen, but from machines. If you visit today a car manufacturing unit, in India, like Volkswagen or Ford, the robots are manufacturing millions of units. Professional service company, KPMG, has done a study, which indicates that our entire IT services industry in India is based on a business model called ‘Labour Arbitrage’. The moment you bring in the machines, the cost efficiency is as high as 30-40 per cent.

Therefore the biggest competition we are facing is not from other IT companies, but from automation of service offerings like testing, infrastructure management services, the famous enterprise resource planning etc. In the coming 5-8 years, you will see that coding will completely disappear and you will not require any human workforce over there.

In the UK the number of robots shipped into the country, is getting doubled—EU no longer requires visas, emigration, regulations etc. While some people are quite bothered about this kind of regulations, on the other hand what is going to happen is not quite sure, but the machines are completely taking over the work. Now, you may have to redefine or retackle human resource management as human-robot management, may be in the future. So, you need to understand, how you are going to distribute the work between the robots and human. A study has been done in UK on what work could be automated. The sales activity, which is the centrally associated intelligence, also can be automated 34 / Corporate Citizen / December 16-31, 2018

The only thing that is left, where you cannot automate or you find extremely complex to automate, is the social intelligence.

Here is the gateway for the HR professionals and here they can make a huge difference

to a great extent. The reality is there will be more robots than human workforce and as HR professionals we need to figure out the interaction between these two and what will be the chemistry.

2 - Defining the human workforce creativity Today creativity is as big a challenge, as illiteracy was in the nineteenth century. We created coaching centres, colleges and schools, who have mastered the art of killing creativity decisively. If you send your child to any of the coaching centres, you will successfully and completely kill the creativity in them. And now if human beings don’t have creativity, what else they will have, when the rest is taken over by machines. There is a study done by McKinsey, wherein the creativity scores are positively correlated with an organisation's performance—the growth rates are quite steep and the Ebitda is quite steep compared to those organisations where creativity scores are lower. So, I hypothesise that the second greatest wave that is going to hit—in organisations, societies, and governments—creativity is the king and whosoever can hold the power of creativity, will rule the world and rest have to follow them. If you look at India today, we are lagging behind in Intellectual Property (IP), while in countries like the US and Japan, there only focus today is building a knowledge economy, building innovation, and they have pushed manufacturing plants, the routine and low-end work, to the developing countries.

3 - Co-working of multi-generations The third wave that will shape human resource profession, as well as the work, is that there will be co-working

are you going to organise the performance management.

How are you going to organise them to bring them on to the board and to produce the kind of things you want. It is going to be quite an interesting phenomenon. We are expecting in India by 2030, around 23 per cent of the workforce will be freelancers.

6 - Focus on end customer or end users Anyone paid highly must be carrying out a meaningless job.

People getting less paid, must be carrying out a meaningful job and that’s what the data shows. Now people don’t need to barter on salary, to get good quality work done. They are going to focus on how it is going to impact the end customer or end user.

of multi-generations. Given the early entry of the people into the workforce and given the longevity of life, you will find the late exit of workforce and at least five generations working in the same institution. Now these generations come with their own beliefs, their own behaviour and assumptions, which can come into conflict. In terms of their basic beliefs, how are you going to forge collaboration and teamwork?

4 - First Among Equals leadership One generation wants job security, other generation wants compensation benefits and third generation wants high career growth—their preferences and their motivators are quite different. Therefore, no longer authoritative leadership can work, no longer democratic leadership can work—the only leadership that can work is the First Among Equals. To bring conflicting groups together and to make them very functional and productive, would be possible only through First Among Equals leadership.

5 - Freelance and Gig Economy By 2020, around 43 per cent of the workforce in the US, would be freelance employees. They chose when to work, they chose the place to work, they chose who they want to work with. They are no less than a specialised doctor, who consults different hospitals during the day—they chose there working days. And given the deficiency of highly skilled people, there is no way but to engage these creative people in multiple organisations. Therefore, HR people need to figure out when people are not members of one particular institution and as there are freelance employees, how

Now, you may have to redefine or retackle human resource management as humanrobot management, may be in the future. So, you need to understand, how you are going to distribute the work between the robots and human

7 - Social Intelligence The only thing that is left, where you cannot automate or you find extremely complex to automate, is the social intelligence. Here is the gateway for the HR professionals and here they can make a huge difference. The data shows that people with high source of intelligence will get paid five-times more than a good mathematician. And their probability to get jobs is very high. Unfortunately, we so much believed in Stanford-Binet IQ, that we started training people only on quantitative attitude and some linguistic proficiency. And we started giving everybody 90 or 99 per cent—there is a huge academic inflation, known as a James Flynn Effect.

When I was doing my 10 standard, in a government runschool—there were 50 of us and hardly 1-2 per cent would get first class rankings and 5-6 people in second class, and half of the class use to fail. Today, I visited the same school and I found that out of 50 students, 40 pass with distinctions. The number of engineering colleges built between Chennai and Bengaluru, I do not know what we will do with them—may be later we have to convert them into cyclone shelters or marriage halls. Now the issue is allowing people to build fundamental skills, fundamental curiosity to know something and to observe something, so one can create artificial intelligence for the machines. Don’t give up, create artificial intelligence from the humans.

These are the seven waves that will shape the future of work and this are my ideas of future of work. rajeshrao.rao@gmail.com

CC

tadka

Indians most vacation deprived in world: Survey Overall, 75% Indians feel vacation deprived, the highest in the world, followed by South Korea (72%) and Hong Kong (69%). Also, Indian workers rank five to leave their vacations unused after Japan, Italy, Australia, and New Zealand. "Most people from Mumbai (51%) do not take vacations because they do not get time off work while 40% do not go for vacations as they can make money in exchange of unused vacation days and 88% Mumbaikars feel vacation deprived," said the survey.

December 16-31, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 35

Interview

Building innovating AND corporate HR tracks

An expert in the areas of Human Resource Management (HRM), Employee Relations and Employee Welfare, Recruiting and Sourcing and a Corporate Verification Consultant, Prakash Lakhiani, Associate Director - HR, CBRE, South Asia, believes that HR professionals have the advantage of not being too industry specific and are capable in their implementation of their HR skills, be it in real estate, finance or any other industry. Never a follower, he advocates that relationships are the key to everything in this world-be it personal or corporate and is extremely positive about the work culture prevalent in India. Prakash shares his career journey starting as an an engineer and aspiring businessman in his heydays, who not only managed to change his career tracks to HR but also excelled in it. An excerpt from the interview

By Shantanu Relekar 36 / Corporate Citizen / December 16-31, 2018

Pics: Ahmed Shaikh

December 16-31, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 37

Interview

“We in HR need not be industry specific as such. ‘HR’ is ‘HR’ and we can be in any industry and that is possibly one of the reasons why I chose HR, as well as I didn’t want to necessarily be a part of any particular sector whether, finance industry or any other. An HR person in a finance organisation can equally implement the same things as an HR personnel in CBRE as well” Share your career journey and educational background.

From a career standpoint, I am an engineering graduate. But, when I did my engineering, my father ran a small motor and scooter parts business, which I possibly thought would take it forward. However in 2003, when the government slapped restrictive measures on industries to protect the Taj Mahal and the city of Agra from the ‘blackening’ impact of pollution, my father had to shut down that particular business. That is when I started to wonder on my next career move and did my Masters in Human Resources and was subsequently picked up by J P Morgan from campus. I also did an internship with them and J P Morgan became my first company to have engaged with from an insurance standpoint.

I was with J P Morgan for about three years, post which I joined Bank of America. I then moved to the US for a while and worked with Steve & Barry’s for about a year and then I came back to India and was heading HR for Regus (Business Centres) across India, Singapore and Malaysia. It was in 2011, that I joined CBRE India and I have been with them for the past seven years. I head the entire acquisition and the gamut of their HR Business partnering across the West Southern region as associate director.

How did you decide switching from a finance to the real estate sector?

Luckily, HR people need not be industry specific as such. ‘HR’ is ‘HR’ and we can be in any industry and that is possibly one of the reasons why I chose HR, and also I didn’t want to necessarily be a part of any particular sector whether, finance industry or any other. An HR person in a finance organisation can equally implement the same things as an HR personnel in CBRE as well. CBRE being one of the Fortune 500 companies ranks 207 currently in the Fortune 500 list. It has been a great journey from when I joined them-then they ranked 497 on the Fortune 500 list. When I joined CBRE, we were

around 1270 odd employees but today we have a strength of more than 8000 employees-it has been a great journey and a learning expereince for me in these years.

What kind of cultural differences did you face when working across different international regions?

Well, I am based in India as of now and I really like India than any other country. I would love to continue in India itself and not move to any other country for work-related purposes. I keep travelling a lot to other countries and my experiences working in Singapore or Malaysia was fantastic. However, I truly believe that the kind of culture, the kind of team work which exists in India is better. It is a more practical setup in those countries and is difficult to find anybody to be with you after your working hours. In India, we have a lot of bonding between our colleagues which is perhaps missing in the other international work setups.

Did you find any skill differences or difference in working habits in the cultures?

No, I don’t feel there is any difference in working habits or culture. But, I just feel that there is a more open culture in India where we can share our thoughts and views without being judged constantly by others. In foreign countries, for example in Singapore-people in office speak very softly. In India, we are very simple as a culture and can relate more to each other.

Do you mean that it’s a relatively free flowing work-culture in India?

‘Free’, would not be the right word. Yes, we are governed by certain systems, policies in our work culture and so on, but, I think the bonding, the team work, the dependency and the level of comfort, which we have with each other is much better in India. And, I think if you have that, the end result would be much better as well.

38 / Corporate Citizen / December 16-31, 2018

What are the challenges that you came across in your career path?

I always say that you come through on your own because of the challenges. Why do you need a manager? I think, challenges are the only reason why I am employed. If there are no problems, there is no manager required, then all executives can come together and execute and then everything would be hunky dory, won’t it? I am thankful to God and to organisations that we have challenges. Every day is a challenge and every day you have to provide a solution. Challenges are problems. If you have a practical solution then apply it. But, if you don’t have a problem or a solution to that problem, the best thing to do at times is to do nothing at all. It would be even better if you are able to hold back in that situation.

Can you exemplify what you mean by ‘holding back’ in a particular situation, in the face of challenges?

I always tell my team members, especially the younger ones—if there is an email which is a positive feedback or a stinker email. Most of these young people always say-“I will reply back or I haven’t done this XYZ, etc..” In such situations, I always tell them to hold back for a

to come in and help. But, I am someone who kind of pushes others to get into the pool and tell them to swim-you can’t learn swimming standing outside the pool. That’s the way I look at solutions.

What are the qualities that you consider for hiring a person?

I look for flaws, I look for cultural fitment and certain factors that implement these. If someone is extremely aggressive, say with his selling skills, I might not even get back to such candidates. I would rather say that they are not a ‘cultural fit’ to my organisation because we are not aggressive as an organisation. I would then ask the candidate if he/she had a softer approach or if they could tone down in this case.

Human resources comprise of two words, so if you do not get the ‘human’ right, there is a big problem. ‘Resource’ equals skill, but, if you do not get the ‘resource’ right, you can still teach the skill. If you don’t know how to do certain things, I can probably teach you those but, if I do not get the right person from a cultural fitment point of view, will I be able to change a person moulded from age one to age 21? So, I seek individuals with appropriate cultural fitment within my organisation.

Do you think there is a gap between what institutes are teaching and what industry wants?

“At the end of the day, I need to connect with everybody and I spend a lot of time on relationships; as I believe relationships are the key to everything in this world—not only for corporates but any industry. If you have great relationships and if you are able to take feedback positively and work upon that—I think the outcomes should be great!” while because you replying would not provide any particular solution at that time. So, how long can you hold back? It would be determined by the one’s level of composure on how one can deal with challenges. Because, if there was a solution to a particular problem, it would have already been implemented. You learn these only through experience. No book would actually teach you how to do this.

Do you advice your colleagues?

I never advice them, and I don’t believe that office life is any different from personal life.

I do not advice even my three-year-old son either. I let them be themselves as I do not believe in micro-management. If somebody comes to me for a particular suggestion, I do suggest but, I also tell them that there are 15 ways to try and apply your creativity, apply your mind and be yourselves. Do not try to be ‘Prakash’ or ‘Jayamalini’, or ‘Mukesh Ambani’.

Be whoever you are as an individual and use your own creativity to get there. So, don’t try to use the solution that I have given you and apply that. It might not always work. However, if you get stuck somewhere, I am always there

Yes, for some of the institutes. I have a problem with those institutes that teach students ‘this is the right way’ to answer, to something that ‘there is no right or wrong answer to any question’ and this is my personal view which might be completely wrong-it is just about fitting in. During my engineering course, one of my batchmates asked a professor on why engineers working for a firm get paid in lakhs

CC

tadka

Domestic air traffic growth slips Domestic passenger traffic grew 13.3% year-on-year during October 2018, the slowest in 15 months. This was largely due to a high base in the year-ago period, when Diwali was celebrated. According to the data released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Thursday, a total of 11.84 million passengers preferred to use air transport during October. The Diwali month, which typically witnesses maximum air traffic, was celebrated in November this year. Domestic air traffic had grown 20.5% y-o-y during October 2017.

December 16-31, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 39

Interview Pics: Yusuf Khan

“Be happy and spend as much time with people whom you are close to and this holds true for your work environment too. If you are contentlife gets easy” than say, the local electrician or the plumber, who is given a mere `100 for fixing something?

“Because the engineer knows exactly which screw to fix in a bundle of say 50 screws; he will not fix all 50 but just the relevant one”, was the professor’s prompt answer. This is the difference in knowledge that I am trying to highlight between what I am looking for and what the related outcome of this exercise is. That is why people do engineering! Otherwise, the job an engineer does can be done by anybody. That is the key and spells well for other faculties like management too. It comes with knowledge and experience.

While hiring, do you look at the merits or the competency of the candidate?

Of course, we do look at merits but that is not the ‘whole and sole’ of what we are looking at-personality matters the most. Personality does not mean somebody who speaks crisp English-absolutely not. Personality means how you are as an individual. I had met one of the students from a MBA college sometime back and I asked her why she had chosen HR. Her reply was, “As a personality, I am very calm and composed, I don’t think I was meant for marketing or finance but, meant for HR.” I think that’s possibly the right way to go about it. Well, because you should fit into what you are. You should have inherent passion to do what you want to do and if that is not there, it will fizzle out whatever you got.

So, you look more towards skills?

I look more for the passion than skills but, I look at skills too!

You sure must be having a very busy schedule, how do you balance it all?

Frankly speaking, I do not have a busy schedule because if I have to make time, I will make time for anybody and everybody. But, it is just that schedules are decided in terms of workloads and if workload is upon you then how you delegate and manage this workload is dependent on you. If someone has too much on their plate 40 40 // Corporate CorporateCitizen Citizen // December December16-31, 16-31,2018 2018

then how do you give that to somebody else and how do you manage relationships, also, there has to be camaraderie and friendship among team members. There has to be a bond which you build with each and every team member of such that they do a particular task with all happiness and not because they have to do it.

What are your views on the job-hopping culture ?

Even though my bread and butter is into talent acquisition, I am not too strong in judging people-if they thought that it was the right thing to do at that point in time and if they did it, then I think it’s great if they are getting something out of it. They are able to make more in terms of money or designation and go faster in their goals then, I think it is great that they hop. If it works out for them then it is a win for them and if it was not a win, they should learn from this experience.

How can the mindset of the younger generation be integrated with that of the organisation? And what is your say on their urge to go job-hopping in short spans?

I love the younger generation. With changing times, we have to change as well and not tell them what they should or should not be doing.

We are speaking as if we are everyone’s grandfathers-but, we are not. My view is to give them space; it’s a relationship and they will make those mistakes. If it is a mistake, maybe they will benefit out of that job hopping, maybe it might remain a mistake they can learn from-just like my three-year-old son who runs, he falls, he gets up and runs again. Younger generation will definitely learn from your experiences and it will benefit them in their future.

How do you bring out older employees from their comfort zones, and make them technology enabled?

Technology is one of the answers to that. Older employees do not want to log on to the computers to put in a requisition, to mark attendance or to mark anything at all, but that’s all right. So, I have to become an enabler by not forcing them. Because I have built Peoplesoft, they need not have to compulsorily mark their attendance through that if they don’t want to.

We have to avoid expressions like-“If you don’t mark attendance we will cut your salary.” What will happen is that they will probably start doing that, out of fear. But, if tomorrow a survey is rolled out then what have I become in their eyes? Am I an inspector or have I joined an army to fight with them. No, I am an HR and an enabler, and I have to see how I can make it easier for them.

Older employees do not enjoy technology from a software point of view so we bring in apps, which connect the technology to that app, so that they can go and mark attendance through their mobile phone. If they are averse to that then they can continue making entries on the register, which my team would translate.

So, give them options and again, don’t be dictators. HR is an enabler and if somebody who does not understand that then they are in big trouble. I feel HR has to bridge that gap between the employee and guide them-we are not here to slap do’s and don’ts on them!

How does your day start and end?

Starts with my son and ends with him. When it comes to work, over a period of time, a lot of

I keep unwinding with my children and I have a lot of activities, which I do with them. I go to a certain club and play some sports everyday whether it is swimming, squash or table tennis.

We used to watch a lot of movies but with two young children it is very difficult now.

What is the philosophy of your life?

Only thing that I have learnt over these years, is not to go in with expectations. This can be called as my philosophy of life, but I would not call it o. I do respect a lot of people who have the required need for wealth. We all obviously do, and I too need it as well, but for me, money is just paper and metal. My philosophy in life is not to set out for something which is linked to commercial gains because to achieve that,

“Challenges are problems. If you have a practical solution then apply it. But, if you don’t have a problem or a solution to that problem, the best thing to do at times is to do nothing at all. It would be even better if you are able to hold back in that situation” things get into motion and lot of things are set, so you know how things would be working.

But, every day comes up with a new challenges-a lot of issues crop up across some other cities, in some other countries or some other software related issues and so on. Therefore, you need to go prepared with a fresh mind everyday so as to hear out and accept that I will be facing a lot more today and how would you come out of that? That’s how my day spans out.

Honestly, I am not extremely organised as a person like someone who likes to follow a calendar. In fact, I do not like to follow anybody in this world; I am not born like that and I do not come in the follower category. So, in that regard, I do not even like to follow time. I do understand the importance of time-I will be on time for every activity but, I do not like to follow anyone. I like to keep my interviews and meetings fixed but, at the end of the day, I need to connect with everybody and I spend a lot of time on relationships, as I believe relationships are the key to everything in this worldnot only for corporates but any industry. If you have great relationships and if you are able to take feedback positively and work upon that then I think the outcomes should be great.

How do you relax?

you will not be able to achieve contentment.

Your desire for 10 crores, will become 50 and from that to 100 crores and you will lose all contentment. Be realistic and live life for today. Be happy and spend as much time with people whom you are close to and this holds true for your work environment too. If you are content-life gets easy! shantanu.relekar94@gmail.com

CC

tadka India is fastest growing e-com mkt: Report India has the fastest growing online retail market among top global economies. The country’s online retail market witnessed a CAGR of 53% for the period 2013 to 2017, according to a latest report by consultancy firm Bain & Company. The rapid growth, albeit over a small base, has been driven by aggressive discount-driven e-commerce marketplaces, advances in delivery infrastructure and increased smartphone penetration and data usage.

December December16-31, 16-31,2018 2018// Corporate CorporateCitizen Citizen // 41 41

RapidFire Rapid Fire

beyond shoptalk

Women in business and corporate life, and also in the sectors of education, sports and politics et.al., have celebrated their presence and achieved recognition in the past decades. And, to reiterate the same, the CII Indian Women Network (IWN), Western Region, Mumbai celebrated the ‘3rd WomeNation Summit—Celebrating Success’, recently, bringing forth the many facets of women in establishing a successful career for themselves that also highlighted their other challenges and work-life balance. The session on ‘Power Panel-Celebrating Success’, saw participation from five illustrious women across sectors who brought forth the essence of being a woman, a family person and at the same time wearing their caps in the corporate world by effectively contributing to the profit margins of their respective firms. Adding a special punch to the session was Ninad Karpe, Director Aptech India, who conducted a fun-filled rapid-fire Q&A session with the eminent ladies—the result showcased a bunch of happy corporate ladies who not only knew their professional chips but, also had time for their passion and did not hesitate to spell out their favourite movie or cricket stars. Corporate Citizen brings out a slice of the joyful moments with Renu Basu, Senior Vice President, Global Sales, Indian Hotels Company Limited, Richa Arora, Chief Operating Officer, Consumer Products Business, Tata Chemicals Ltd., Pallavi Jha, Chairperson and Managing Director, Dale Carnegie Training India, Ipshita Dasgupta, President, Strategy & Incubation, Star India and Vibha Padalkar, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, HDFC Life By Corporate Citizen Network

42 / Corporate Citizen / December 16-31, 2018

Rapid Fire with Successful Women Leaders - Moderated by Ninad Karpe, Director Aptech India

R A: Compliance with law.

women to be successful in their corporate career -support at home or support at the work place?

Ipshita Dasgupta: Support at home.

N K: Work is worship or, family first?

R A: Work is worship.

N K: Gender diversity-Is it a destination or a journey?

I D: A journey.

N K: Higher CTC or challenging work?

R A: Challenging work.

N K: Alia Bhatt or, Hima Das? R A: Hima Das.

N K: There is gender wage gap in India-agree or disagree ?

I D: Agree.

Renu Basu,

N K: Pro Kabaddi or IPL? I D: Pro Kabaddi.

Senior Vice President, Global Sales, Indian Hotels Company Limited Ninad Karpe: What is more important for successful woman leaders-impact or recognition?

Renu Basu: Impact.

N K: There is a need for more successful woman as role models-agree or disagree?

R B : Agree.

N K: What is more difficult-managing expectations or managing performance ?

R B : Manging expectations.

N K: Would you prefer a 2000 worded long Press Release or a 140 letter tweet?

R B: A tweet

N K: Instagram or FB? I D: Instagram.

Pallavi Jha,

Chairperson and Managing Director, Dale Carnegie Training India Ninad Karpe: So, have women broken the glass ceiling across sectors or, only in a few sectors?

Pallavi Jha: Few sectors.

N K: Initiatives like second careers, like Godrej’s Career 2.0 are successful, Yes or No? P J: No.

N K: Friday Night or Monday Morning?

R B: Friday Night.

N K: So, more Facebook ‘Likes’ or more Impacts?

P J: More impacts.

N K: Varun Dhawan or, Richard Branson R B: Varun Dhawan – I am a big Bollywood fan.

N K: Plush Office or Starbucks?

P J: Starbucks.

N K: A cricket question and I know you are not a cricket fan - Prithvi Shaw or Sachin Tendulkar?

P J: Maybe (Prithvi) Shaw.

Richa Arora,

Chief Operating Officer, Consumer Products Business, Tata Chemicals Ltd.

Ninad Karpe: Is it lonely at the top or success attracts friends?

Vibha Padalkar: Lonely at the top.

N K: In certain specific roles ; women are more successful - agree or disagree?

V P: Disagree.

N K: Women are at a disadvantage when it comes to networking - Yes or No? V P: No. N K: Customers First or Employees First?

V P: Customers first.

Ninad Karpe: Women entrepreneurs are born or made?

Richa Arora: Made.

N K: What is more prevalent-friendly gender diversity or compliance with law?

Vibha Padalkar,

Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, HDFC Life

N K: Long career breaks/hinders success – agree or disagree?

V P: Disagree.

N K: Fun at work or fun on weekends?

P J: Fun on weekends.

N K: Success means different for women and men-agree or, disagree?

R A: Yes, for sure!

N K: Priyanka Chopra or Indra Nooyi?

I D: Indra Nooyi.

N K: Managing boards or managing results?

V P Managing results.

Ipshita Dasgupta,

President, Strategy & Incubation, Star India Ninad Karpe: What is more important for

N K: Leadership is influence or authority?

V P: Influence.

N K: Amitabh Bachchan or Satya Nadella?

V P: Amitabh Bachchan.

December 16-31, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 43

Star Session

Cricket Strategies Corporates for

On the back drop of the 2nd test match, Australian tour of India, 11-15 March 2001, Eden Gardens, Kolkata, where the epic partnership between VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid at Kolkata was one of India’s greatest test wins against Australia, former cricketer VVS Laxman outlined the learnings he and his team had in that match and the subsequent series. And, these learnings, he felt had all the trappings of leadership quality, patience and individual talent that harnessed future games. Speaking at the 21st NHRDN National Conference: Star Session – Straight Drive on Leadership Nuggets, at Hyderabad recently; he shared his thoughts on how lessons learnt from playing cricket could well serve corporate talent management too

R

By Neeraj Varty & Sangeeta Ghosh Dastidar

eminiscing on the 2001 India – Australia Test series, which heralded VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid, as saviours not just for their epic 376-run stand but, changed the course and the winning fate of Indian Test cricket internationally.

“It was a good start but still, we required to score a lot of runs to come back into the game”, said VVS. On questioning people who watched the match, VVS would often get dual answers. While some would say, “We knew that you and Rahul Dravid will have a partnership and we knew that you will bounce back and win the test match.” Others, however, honestly said that they had expected India to have crashed out of the match by the end of 4th day afternoon. He shared that the learning from the match and the game of cricket was even greater.

“Personally, if you ask me when I went out to bat, in that situation, I was not thinking anything, I was not thinking about the situ-

ation we were in and I was not thinking that we were 274 runs behind. I was not thinking that we will bounce back and save or, win the test match. My focus, that day was about playing each ball on its merit and also playing each session at a time and hopefully bat as strong as possible…But, after the innings and after the test match, it was a great learning experience for all of us involved in that test match and after that whenever we were in a situation similar to that of the Kolkata Test match; we applied a formula which we learnt from that test match.”

panic, you stop thinking and when you stop thinking; you will not have any thoughts at all-whether positive or negative, which is a separate story. You will not have any thoughts at all,” he said.

Be Realistic

The Winning Formula

“The second thing is that you have to be realistic about the situation, if you are not then you will never ever accept the problem that you are facing and, if you don’t, then how do you devise a strategy? I think that accepting a problem, not only in cricket but in any walks of life, for every problem–there is a solution. It’s important to be positive and devise a solution.”

Do not Panic

Communicate

VVS said that the formula when one is in a tough situation irrespective of the walks of life one belongs to and is facing a challenging situation, “The first and foremost formula is, you should not panic. Because when you

44 / Corporate Citizen / December 16-31, 2018

“Cricket is a game where as a batsman, you are not playing alone, and you will have a partner. So once you have a solution, you will have to communicate that solution to your partner. Idea is to break that solution

Pics: Yusuf Khan

“When you are in a tough situation, patience is a very important ingredient which we have to exhibit. So, when you patiently absorb the pressure, you will suddenly come to a point where the opposition team is then feeling the pressure.

And , that’s when you, as a batsman and a player can capitalise on that moment” December December16-31, 16-31,2018 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 45

Star Session

“Cricket is a game where as a batsman, you are not playing alone, and you will have a partner. So once you have a solution, you will have to communicate that solution to your partner. Idea is to break that solution into smaller goals and then try to achieve those which is always easy. At that particular moment, you perceive that it is a very tough goal or a target to achieve. So, break that big target into small goals. It is very easily achievable and following that you then have to absorb the pressure” into smaller goals and then try to achieve those, which is always easy. At that particular moment you perceive that it is a very tough goal to achieve so break that big target into small goals.

It is very easily achievable and following that you have to then absorb the pressure.”

Absorb Work/Game Pressure

Picking a point from the iconic game, he added,“There was pressure on us because, you are facing the best bowlers in the world cricket at that time. Steve Waugh was attacking with his bowling options, was tackling and trying to get our wickets. Therefore, if you do not absorb the pressure, you can also very easily succumb to the pressure.”

Exhibit Patience

“So, how do you absorb the pressure? “By showing a lot of patience, because when you are in a tough situation, patience is a very important ingredient which we have to exhibit. So, when you patiently absorb the pressure, you will suddenly come to a point where the opposition team is then feeling the pressure and that’s when you, as a batsman and a player can capitalise on that moment”, he adds.

Avoid Complacency

He said, “Once when you start capitalising, then it’s also very important not to be complacent because till you finish a goal, even though you have achieved your personal goals or personal milestones like I got my 100th run, Rahul got his 50th, finally to score my 281 and Rahul his180th. Our goal was to bat the entire 4th day and take India into a position of strength from where we can put pressure on the Australians and hopefully win the game. So, we were not supposed to be complacent even once, especially when you feel that the opposition team is now feeling the pressure. I think this is the formula which we learnt that day and this is something which we have practiced whenever the team was in a tough situation.”

“I was very fortunate that during my career, I was in similar positions and situations and I was able to help the team to either bounce back and win the matches from certain situations such as in the Adelaide and Mohali in 2010 and again in Durban in 2010. I think it gives a lot of satisfaction and the true test of the character of a person is exhibited whenever he or she faces such challenging situations.”

Vital Nuggets

• Play ball to ball • Play session to session • Do not go for the bigger targets • Be realistic • Be positive • Have patience • Create pressure for the opponents

Partnership

VVS Laxman said that in his long innings of 281 in that epic match, he was fortunate to have got somebody like Rahul Dravid. “But, every time you don’t get a Dravid. The partner is very important. Because, if you don’t have a partner, you are back in the dressing room and your innings is folded. How much ever you bat well, I think, the partner is very important and not only while batting. While cricket is an individual game, it is also a very interesting game. As a bowler, you have the ball in your hand and you try to get the wicket but the wicket is completed only when someone takes a catch! And, as a batsman, you have the bat in hand, but you can only be there at the wicket so long as your partner is there with you.”

Team Spirit

“I was very fortunate in my career because when you are in a team game, you do not necessarily play the role that you always like to do or which you prefer to do. I always wanted to be a No. 3 batsman. Right from my childhood playing domestic cricket, I was always the No. 3 batsman.

But, when you play for India, there is so much of

46 / Corporate Citizen / December 16-31, 2018

competition and there are so many capable great players and you know you only have six batsmen in the playing 11. I was asked to open early on in my career and I batted at No. 3, then at No. 5 also at No. 6 and sometimes No. 7. When you are batting at No. 3 or if you are opening, you usually bat with the best players in the team.

So, I was very fortunate and privileged to play with probably the best players that world cricket has seen. They are all legends and exceptionally talented players – Virendra Sehwag to Gautam Gambhir; Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh – you name it all.”

Team Dynamics

VVS spelt the many challenges and the team dynamics and individual characters that shape the team. “There is a challenge when you are batting, especially when you have partners who were exceptionally talented players. For instance, Virendra Sehwag’s approach is totally opposite to the way I approach my batting. For Sehwag if the first ball is outside the off-stump – it will go for a six, over the point. However, the first ball which is outside the off stump, will be a ball which I will leave.”

my partnership with Sachin at Sydney in 2001 and again in 2004, was a 300 runs partnership.

But, in these partnerships never ever will Rahul come and tell me not to play a particular shot or I will tell Rahul not to do so or play a bowler in a certain manner.”

“All we do is come in between the overs and punch our gloves and go back and follow our own method of scoring runs and the only one thing which we remind each other is on the situation the team is in and that it is our responsibility to do our best for our team.”

Understanding Individual Strengths

Team Support

“The important thing is that you cannot be carried away by what your partner is doing. Because, you have to understand, what your strengths are.

So, while you are playing for the team and while the common goal for all of us is to score runs for the entire team’s benefit, we also have our own individual styles of having a game plan, preparing for a match or approaches on how one can play against each and every bowler. So, it is very important to understand your strengths and (fall) back on everyone’s strengths.”

Respecting Individuality

“The good thing about all the legends mentioned is that they never ever interfered with the other man’s game plan. Rahul Dravid and I had a 300 plus partnership at Eden Gardens (2001);

“If suppose, someone is getting distracted which happens, because in cricket, there is a lot of distraction and also there is pressure put by the opposition, which includes the bowlers and the fielders. Besides, when you score a beautiful boundary, you are very pleased with that shot and then you can get distracted and in the bargain, you may lose focus and your concentration and it is the partner’s responsibility to come and tell you to hang on, you are batting well and not get distracted because they have to do something special for their team. That’s very important because when you are out there, you are two batsmen against 11 fielders. But, never ever interfere in the way the other batsman approaches and never ever sort of discourage them playing their natural game.”

Hierarchy (Batting Order) Challenges

“The other challenge I had was playing at No. 6”, said VVS. “That’s something which I am very very proud of, as in the first instance, you are batting with very established and talented batsmen and also think that batting at No. 6 never came natural to me because I was not like a ‘Dhoni’ or ‘Yuvraj’ who could easily hit sixers at will.”

“I was more a touch player and would always look for boundaries and looking to play the shots along the ground. So, at No. 6, you are with a set batsman when you go out to bat and then comes the wicket keeper who would bat at No. 7 and you have the bowlers who come at positions 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th. Therefore, for me the challenge initially was that although, I am batting well and what if the bowlers (in lower batting orders) don’t do well, then I am stranded. And which happened to me a lot of time in my career when I am stranded at 30 runs or 40 runs. I am batting well but, I lose my partners. So, how do you encourage your partner here whose primary skill set is bowling, and his secondary skill set is batting?

“Any player will focus a lot on his primary skill set. For me, my primary skill set is batting and not bowling. So, when I am partnering with a bowler, I try to empower the bowler with whom I play, and I was also very fortunate to play with the bowlers who also took a lot of pride in their batting.”

Skill Set Challenges and Win-Wins

On harnessing an individual’s primary or secondary skill set, VVS also speaks on empowering team mates in their ‘not-so’ natural skills.

He said, “So how do you empower? First and foremost, you try to help them to become a better batsman and how does it happen? Not only through words but also through actions.”

CC

tadka

MS catches up with Apple in m-cap The Satya Nadella-led Microsoft surpassed Apple to become the world’s most valuable publicly traded company. All it took was a $300-billion rout. After briefly claiming the top spot, Microsoft shares rose 0.6% Tuesday, pushing the company’s market value to $828.1 billion at the close. That exceeded by more than $1 billion the value of Apple, which has tumbled this month on concern about iPhone unit sales. The last time Microsoft’s market capitalisation was bigger than that of Apple was in 2010, according to Bloomberg.

December 16-31, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 47

Star Session “I used to go and probably take them through extra throw downs, practice sessions, ask the coach to give them extra batting during practice sessions so that they began to become better at their secondary skill set. Now, you do all this in preparation and convince them that they are good batsman and that they are equally talented as a batsman to score runs. But, now they lay in the middle line orders and it’s only when you give them strike and then they can you show that you do believe in their abilities. That’s something which I learnt and was very fortunate with the bowlers with whom I played with and they were fiercely competitive. Because, as a bowler, your technique may not be as good as that of a batsman but, if you don’t have a brave heart then you will not survive.”

“Therefore, I think that communication with the bowlers is something which I am proud of ”, he said. VVS gave an example of their Perth match. “ Perth is supposed to be the fastest wicket in cricket world and I remember in the 2007-08 series, we had just lost the Sydney test match and were in a comfortable position in Perth and in the 1st innings Australia bounced back. In the 2nd innings we had to get another 100 runs but suddenly, we had a mini collapse.

I was joined by R P Singh, the fast bowler. We were still not in a comfortable position from where we could dictate terms or assure ourselves of a win! However, that partnership that I had with RP is something I am very proud of because Australia had Bret Lee, Stuart Clark and one of their quickest bowlers, Shaun Tait. They also had Michael Clark and Andrew Symonds.”

“Communication is very important when batting and so I asked R P Singh on the bowlers, he was not comfortable with. RP Singh replied that he was comfortable with all including Shaun but, not Bret Lee. That’s where I took the majority of the strike when Bret Lee was bowling and whenever other bowlers bowled, we took singles. RP went on to score 31 runs in that partnership and I scored 30 runs and put up a 70 runs partnership. Well, there were some extras too. That 70 odd run partnership helped us to take a substantial lead and we went on to win that match!”

in the cricketing world, the coach, the team captain and the players; each of them has their own distinct or respective targets and styles and integrating these become the key to the common outcome.

“I think the leadership is extremely important. In cricket, the leadership or the management of the team usually rests with the coach and the captain, but good teams are the ones who don’t necessarily rely on the coach and the captains. Good captains or good coaches are the ones who create a code rule. So, while the captain might be the designated person who goes out and does the toss, he is also responsible and accountable as the designated captain to have the final say as far as decisions are concerned.

However, a good captain or a good team has a

Vital Nuggets

• Empower (the partner/team member who may not be as talented).

• Enable (others to do better irrespective of skills, types or individual competency).

Leadership and Management

VVS brought out the nuances of style and strategy of individual team members viz managers and how they could be integrated to maximise outcomes.

He said that in the corporate world, so also 48 / Corporate Citizen / December 16-31, 2018

core group of leaders that indirectly inspire the other players in the team and this is the key. So, the players, the captain and the coach everyone should be in sync.”

“Every coach or a captain may have a different style, but their style should not be conflicting to each other. We have seen in the past that if the coach and the captain are conflicting in the way they want to approach or the way they want to build the character of the team, it indirectly affects the team members and that team always suffers. There is no security in the team, there is a discord between the communication from the top management to the bottom rung because the top management involving the coach and the captain are speaking different language.”

“In decision making, the first and foremost objective is to know and understand the leadership. “Understand who the leader of the ship is. Invariably, in a critical situation, it is the captain’s decisions on field that are more important than what happens outside the field. The responsibility of the coach is to create a good atmosphere in the dressing room where everyone is relaxed and is preparing as to when to take up a challenge in the course as put forth by the opposition team’’ Decision Making

He said that the first and foremost objective is to know and understand the leadership. “Understand who the leader of the ship is. Invariably, in a critical situation, it is the captain’s decisions on field that are more important than what happens outside the field. The responsibility of the coach is to create a good atmosphere in the dressing room where everyone is relaxed and are playing with a lot of freedom, where everyone is preparing as to when to take up a challenge in the course as put forth by the opposition team.’

“As far as strategy is concerned or game plan is concerned, the accountability will be with the captain and it is very important. But, above all there is something which I really admired when Sourav Ganguly and John Wright were the captain and the coach. The first time that John took over as the first foreign coach of the Indian team, we had a wonderful camp, probably the best camp I ever attended in 2001 before the 2003-04 tour to Australia. John joined us in 2000 when we played against Zimbabwe in November 2000. In the first two matches, he was just observing each and every player in the team and then after that series for three months he went around the country. He watched all the domestic cricket, understood how Indian cricket functions, who are the good players in the system etc.

Following which we had a camp before the Australia series in 2001 in Feb before the memorable Australia series. “And for the first time, the coach and the captain (before it always used to be dictatorial style as to what we are going to do with the players), along with 13 probable players who were identified and for two days, the team did not even go out of the hotel but sat in the board room of the hotel discussing what we wanted to do as an Indian team and that’s something which is very important. That was the goal setting exercise we had and the goal setting was done not by the captain and the coach alone but by each and every player in the team who were involved in the goal setting.”

Goal Setting

VVS views that the outcome is positive when an entire team is involved in goal setting.

“When only the captain and the coach sets the goals and conveys to the players, it is often the targets and goals of the captains and the coaches and the same need not be that of the players.

Whereas, if everyone is open and contributes in the goal setting then it’s the goals set by the players and they take accountability of each and every goals they set. Once they themselves set the goals, it is mandatory for them to go out and work to achieve that goal. Because, it was their decision and their goals it became the turning point in the way the Indian team performed during the year 2000 and beyond and the following decade.”

Building Team Character

VVS reiterated that an important aspect lies in building character so as to identify or define the character of the team. He said, “Every team will have a different character, a Pakistani team will have a different character compared to an Indian team; whilst an Australian team will have a different character to that of an English Team.”

need towards achieving any goal. He said, “You also want to know what you want to achieve as a team? So, in 2001 (pre-Australia Series), as part of that meeting, what we wanted to achieve was to become the No. 1 test playing nation in the world. We had played well in the year but we wanted to beat the best not only in India but wanted do the same overseas in their challenging conditions, we had to play out of our comfort zone.”

He then speaks on having an ideal level playing field for the team’s need to achieve the ultimate common goal. “It’s important that there is no hierarchy and each and every member of the team, right from the coach including the junior-most member of the team is speaking the same language. And that everyone defines the character of the team and each one takes responsibility of setting the goals and achieving these goals. Involving the team in its purpose creates character of the team!” neeraj.varty07@gmail.com, sangeetagd2010@gmail.com

CC

tadka

Thriving in Diversity

He said that cultural nuances too play a significant role adding certain diversity to players and their team’s character. “It is very important to identify what comes naturally so you can’t say Indians cannot be like Australians or they can’t be like the Indian team as they are of certain psyche, the mindset and the emotional feelings of the players will be totally different, especially when you compare the different cultures of the different countries. I think it is very important to understand the mindset and psyche of the players and then you can define the characters of the team.”

Collective Goal ….

VVS also put forth the mantra for a collective

Dharavi to get big facelift The Maharashtra Government has invited global tenders for the ambitious ` 20,000-crore Dharavi Redevelopment Project (DRP), to transform and beautify Asia’s largest slum in central parts of Mumbai. Dharavi is sprawled over 104 hectares and is home to an estimated over 60,000 structures, around 70,000 families, some 5,000 business establishments.

There are estimated 15,000 single-room tiny factories, producing textiles, potteries, fabrication, leather good, plastic recycling and garbage segregation.

December 16-31, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 49

Corporate Health

8 Wellness Activities for Corporates The Corporate World has woken up to the idea of wellness of its employees that forms the key to the success of the company.

Here are some tips being used worldwide

I

n the modern workplace, corporate wellness programmes are becoming more important for retaining top talent and improving employee performance. From offering healthy snacks and fitness classes to adding scooters and mini trampolines to your office, there are plenty of choices for what wellness activities to include. Beyond anything else, wellness activities bring an element of fun and energy to the office.

It’s important to note that your programme doesn’t have to be all about fitness. Allowing flexible employee scheduling or telecommuting can work wonders for employee wellness, too.

Helping your employees stay happy and healthy will lead to a more engaged and productive workforce, as well as reduced absenteeism and better overall performance. It’ll help your bottom line as well. As noted in Inc, 56 studies on wellness programmes found that businesses can expect an average ROI of $5.81 for every $1 spent on employee wellness.

Whatever you choose, you’ll be sure to reap the benefits of implementing your workplace wellness programme. Here are eight fun wellness activities to add into your corporate health programme.

1. Walking meetings: Even if you have a standing desk, it pays to get moving during the work day. Incorporating walking meetings into your workplace wellness programme is a novel way to make sure that everyone gets up and moving throughout the day. A little fresh air might even help stimulate your creativity.

2. Fitness challenges: A bit of healthy competition never hurt anyone. Fitness challenges can be as simple as tracking the number of steps taken with pedometers, or as ambitious as clocking how many miles everyone runs in a week. Don’t forget to provide a healthy prize for the winner.

3. Cooking classes: Healthy eating is just as important as fitness for maintaining employee wellness. Nutritious snacks are almost a given for any wellness programme, but hiring a chef to offer a healthy cooking class can be a fun way to mix things up and get everyone engaged.

4. Meditation breaks: Stress management should be an important part of any workplace wellness programme. Taking a ten-minute break for meditation or implementing “no-talk times” during the day can help employees destress and refocus their energies for improved productivity.

5. Mid-day fitness: Help employees get some physical activity in during the workday by offering on-site fitness classes during breaks or lunch hours. For example, a Vancouver-based tech company, Mobify offers yoga classes for its employees twice a week, for a double-whammy of fitness and stress relief.

6. Flu shots: Everyone’s favourite activity.

Prevention is the name of the game when it comes to workplace wellness programmes, and providing vaccinations during flu season is a great way to emphasise that. If you can, bring a nurse on-site to administer the shots, and don’t forget to provide reminders for employees to opt-in.

7. Wellness challenges: Fitness challenges can be fun, but wellness challenges are another activity to help improve employee health and performance. Examples from Snacknation

50 / Corporate Citizen / December 16-31, 2018

include the eight-glasses-of-water-a-day challenge and the 7-hours-of-sleep-per-night challenge (whoever does the task for the most days during a 30-day period wins a prize).

A smoking cessation challenge could be another option for employees who smoke. Alternatively, “wellness” could relate to financial wellness, too. Challenging employees to cook more meals at home rather than eating out not only improves dietary health, but it helps save money as well — the opportunities are endless!

8. Employee surveys: No matter what you include in your employee wellness programme, feedback should be a key element. It’s important to know what’s working and what needs to be changed, and opening channels for employees to have a say can be key to programme engagement.

Monthly surveys, suggestion boxes or idea boards can be helpful. Town-hall style meetings might also be an effective way to get employee feedback, depending on your company culture.

On top of all these healthy offerings, making sure you have a competitive and generous benefits plan can go a long way towards ensuring your workforce is healthy.

Benefits like Flexible Spending Accounts or subsidised gym passes can help employees get access to the resources they need to stay fit. Further, regular massages, dietary consultations, and wellness counselling can help ensure that your team and your business are healthy for the long term.

(This article is originally published in www.rise. com. This is the link: https://risepeople.com/ blog/8-activities-to-incorporate-into-your-workplace-wellness-program/)

Unsung Heroes - 16

This Beggar—

The Biggest Donor!

A centenarian, Dobri Dobrev is a beggar who has become a celebrated saint in Bulgaria, for donating his alms collection of tens of thousands of euros to the Bulgarian Orthodox Church

A

100-year-old beggar in a threadbare coat, Dobri Dobrev, is already celebrated as a saint in Bulgaria—a symbol of goodness in a country ravaged by poverty and corruption. For over 20 years, Dobri has been begging on the streets of Sofia, collecting alms worth tens of thousands of euros. And he has given it all to the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. This has made him the largest private donor of the golden-domed Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, even as he maintains an ascetic lifestyle. “He gave us 35,700 leva (€18,250 / $24,900) in 2009, while living a life deprived of all comfort,” says Bishop Tikhon, Chairman of the Cathedral’s trustees board. Several smaller monasteries and churches also say that they have received between 2,500 and 10,000 euros from the small man wearing peasant leather sandals. It was only recently discovered that he has donated every penny he has collected—over around the churchyard which is piled with lumber and tools 40,000 euros—towards the restoration around. The roof repair is now finished, but there is still work to of decaying Bulgarian monasteries and be done to restore the old building. Despite his old age, he actively churches, and the utility bills of orphanhelps in the hard work of reconstruction and maintenance. ages. Incredible as it may sound, he While he was young, Dobri Dobrev regularly travelled the dishas been living entirely off his monthly tance from Baylovo to Sofia on foot. It exceeds 25 km, but he now state pension of €80 and the kindness of cannot rely on his legs and uses a bus. Keeping in mind his selfless others. These sums are considerable in service, drivers often do not even ask him for a ticket. He relies Bulgaria, which remains the European on the generosity of passers-by to give him food for the day. In Union’s poorest member seven years afthe summer, Dobry is often seen eating a ripe watermelon. He ter joining the bloc, and where an aver- The old man lives in a spends his days asking people for money, but he doesn’t keep a age monthly income is about 420 euros. small room furnished cent. The old man radiates kindness and meekness. He is ready The background of this man, who simply with a bed and a to kiss a child’s hand with a smile. He loves to talk about God refuses any interviews, is patchy. Born with every passer-by. When someone drops a coin into his box, in the summer of 1914, he partially lost table, next to the church he thanks them from the core of his heart, for the charity. his hearing in one of the bombings of the in Baylovo, which was The media has dubbed Dobri “The Living Saint from BayloBulgarian capital during World War II. renovated with the 10,000 vo”, and his name—which comes from the Bulgarian word for “This made him pious in his own way,” leva that he donated “good”—has become a symbol for goodness in a country where said Elena Genova, a distant relative, in religious faith has been on the rise since the fall of communism their native village of Baylovo, 40 km east 25 years ago. “God gave him the gift of clairvoyance: he told one mother of Sofia. She affectionately calls him ‘Grandpa Dobri’ and often helps him where to find her missing daughter,” added Maria Zabova, who rings the count the alms he has collected. bells at Alexander Nevsky.

The old man lives in a small room furnished simply with a bed and a He does not rely on strangers to save his body, but he wants to save their table, next to the church in Baylovo, which was renovated with the 10,000 souls. A man like him, who has forgotten his needs and is raising money for leva that he donated. Dobri opens and closes the church every morning and a lofty mission, can’t be called a beggar. To donate to the church means to night. Although there is a bed, he prefers to sleep on the floor and does not ensure the future of generations, without expecting anything in return. He want to use any modern day facility. On the table in the modest room, there is a living angel and a saint, who is worthy of worship. is only a piece of bread and a slice of tomato, but they are enough for him to The above story is featured in “Unsung Heroes-Real stories to inspire survive another day. Now one of his daughters takes care of him. you” ISBN 978-81-7108-902-4 by Maj (Retd) Pradeep Khare (pradeepOn cold and uninviting winter mornings, he can be seen with the sleeves khare2011@gmail.com) .It is published by Better Yourself books, Mumbai. of his tatty old black coat rolled up, carrying buckets full of sand and boards 52 / Corporate Citizen / December 16-31, 2018

My First Boss

The benefits of a managermentor Through both of her careers as a Clinical Research Associate and Impact Communication Coach, Mira Swarup still recalls on skills, her first manager had taught her

By Mira Swarup,

Impact Communication Coach

I

t was during a campus recruitment drive in March 2007 that I first met Dr Nayanabhiram Kalnad from Johnson and Johnson. He was on the interview panel, and he selected me to join the multinational pharma giant as a Clinical Research Associate.

“Work on every submission as if it was a school project”, were his words that resonate with me till date, and he deserves credit for timely sowing that seed, which now has taught me to double check every email or proposal before I hit the send button. It was a critical and formative career experience for me. I watched him in awe as he beautifully blended medicine and management, and led many operational teams as senior operations manager.

Amongst the many lessons in leadership I learned from him, the fore- Dr Nayanabhiram Kalnad most one was the power of a well-organised and effective communication. He would use the power of words and phrases to ensure his communication was more understandable and had people spellbound. It wasn’t just his oratory skills, From him, I learnt how to gain people’s reit was his ability to cut through people’s firmly held spect by asking the right questions. I vividly beliefs. He was a magician in stealth mode who had remember him walking around office popthe power to charm and ensure his team members ping questions like - “What is that one thing drive their deliverables to completion by the dates you would like to change in office?” His earthey committed to, and look for opportunities to nest need to know what others were thinking, streamline and speed their work. showed me how much that mattered. And there Another habit he displayed was to be forthright were also those moments where he taught simin conversations and balance it with tact. The mople tricks that helped one see how they could score brownie points with customers, which I ment he sensed that the office environment was now term as “social capital” in my workshops. affected by someone’s behavior, he would call that person into a room and have an open talk. His fan He turned out to be my ultimate manager-menfollowing was driven by his innate ability to listen tor. Years later, I switched careers to become a to people no matter what their past. I learnt the communication coach. I still recalled on skills Dr power of acknowledgment when he would leave Kalnad had taught me. I needed to know my cusnotes of appreciation for the team members on tomers, respect their opinions, and use my selling sticky notes and give them a pat on the back for skills to persuade them that communicating efa job well done. I saw compassion when he would fectively was as important. In other words, I still spot flagging morale and urge others in the team to needed to close the sale. help him or her lift his or her spirits.

(As told to Archie Banerjee)

Mira Swarup

“He was a magician in stealth mode who had the power to charm and ensure his team members drive their deliverables to completion by the dates they committed to” CC

tadka

Xiaomi nears `23k Cr in revenue within four years of operations Chinese phone giant Xiaomi’s revenue in 2017-18 has touched nearly Rs 23,000 crore in just four years of its operations in India, making it one of the fastest scaleup recorded by a consumer electronics company in the country. The company, which leads the smartphone market, is now cornering sizeable share in the television segment, studying the possibility of making a big splash in the consumer durables and appliances space.

December 16-31, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 53

Loved & Married too

Of goals shared,

It is not often these days that a college romance fructifies into wedlock. Corporate Citizen unlocks the story of love that has culminated into marriage, for we believe in the stability of a relationship and family unit. We bring to you real-life romances that got sealed in marriage

and dreams multiplied

Married for three years, Jashank Bhandari and his better half Pooja Shah Bhandari are not just partners in life but also at work. Despite coming from two exceedingly strong business backgrounds themselves, the young and dynamic couple (both 30) have independent entrepreneurial ambitions.

Together, they are not only nurturing their startup, Prendo, but also taking Pooja's family business of premium bespoke menswear, More Mischief a few notches higher

By Kalyani Sardesai

E

ver since he was a little boy Jashank remembers his grandfather urging him not to rest on the family's considerable laurels (given their real estate and automobile business and not to forget Pune's iconic Mercedes showroom BU Bhandari). Instead, the venerable patriarch would urge Jashank to spread his own wings even as he contributed to the family business.

Years have passed since, but the advice has stayed on in the youngster's mind. What's more, he is ably and enthusiastically assisted by his wife Pooja Shah Bhandari in carving out a piece of sky to call their own. Thus was born Prendo–an online luxury handbag rental service that offers you the novel option of renting a luxurious brand of handbag instead of owning it.

In fact, says Jashank, the idea took seed during a family wedding they were attending a high profile do. "As the ladies at the party moved around, toting a luxurious handbag each, we realised just how much of an appetite the well-travelled Indian had for designer handbags. At the same time, we realized that millennials and gen Z valued experiences over ownership in order to be able to have everything without being tied down to them. Considering that each brand could cost thousands of rupees or even lakhs-offering the ladies a chance to rent the bags instead of buying them would be definite value for money," he shares. That you can unleash your inner stylista everyday of the week without breaking the bank.�

"Jashank is a man who acts on an informed opinion in all aspects of life and business.

This, to my mind, makes him a very trustworthy person. His thoughts and actions are in sync with each other. You can totally rely on such a person to be there for you" - Pooja

54 / Corporate Citizen / December 16-31, 2018

As of now, Prendo exists in Pune, Mumbai and Bengaluru and is going from strength to strength on the wings of careful nurturing and patience.

"The one thing we both know is that brands take time and lots of hard work to grow," says Pooja.

"There's no skipping the process and that's the first rule of entrepreneurship: you have to be passionate enough to wait."

It helps that both Jashank and Pooja have suitable credentials. Both have completed their BBA from Pune's Symbiosis Centre for Management Studies. While he went on to work in advertising and marketing before pursuing his MBA abroad from the world’s No. 1 School for Entrepreneurship - Franklin W. Olin Graduate School of Business, Babson College. Pooja pursued her Fashion Styling in Italy from Istituto Europeo di Design. (a natural choice perhaps considering her family owns the noted menswear brand, More Mischief)

Back to the beginning

two families are alike-there are bound to be differences in their rituals and lifestyles. It's up to you whether you want to accept it or fight it," she expresses. "Actually, it's not that tough at all. When you make a bit of an effort for others, they reciprocate and welcome you within their fold."

Work life balance is a priority for the couple. This is all the more important given that they work together on Prendo and More Mischief. "While it's ok to discuss work at home, it's not ok to bring stresses and tensions to the dining table. That invisible but strong boundary line between the personal and professional must exist," she says.

Quality time consists of exploring new destinations and unwinding at the end of the day with their favourite TV and web shows together. "This really helps us reconnect and relax," says Jashank.

This love story was first scripted on the campus of Pune's Symbiosis College where both Pooja and Jashank were pursuing their BBA. It wasn't quite The happy couple love at first sight though more a case of a friendHaving the talk ship that gradually developed into romance over Like all married couples, they have "We both come from traditional time, conversation and shared values. "We both discussed kids and the changes they come from traditional setups despite the fact that setups despite the fact that I am Mar- will bring to their family and lifestyle.

I am Marwari and she a Gujarati. We realise the "By next year I think we should be all wari and she a Gujarati. We realise importance of taking family along in all we do. set to welcome a little one," says Pooja. the importance of taking family At the same time, we share a creative orientation "I think we are settled enough at work and wanted to come up with something of our along in all we do. At the same time, as well as within our relationship to be own," shares Jashank. able to do justice to the child." we share a creative orientation and The differences too were suitably compliThe couple is firm about being wanted to come up with something mentary. "She's a people's person whereas I am hands on parents. "Honestly, the more of the analytical one," he continues. "Toidea of a child being brought up by a of our own" -Jashank gether we make a good team." nanny isn't appealing at all," they say. son who is utterly professional at work and very Nevertheless, Jashank's family felt they were What they plan to do is make a child caring at home. No matter what the context, she too young at 23 to take the plunge. "They wanted friendly space at work so that they can manage seems to know just how to give the task on hand me to complete my MBA first," he says. And so a both home and baby. "Growing up, I spent a lot appropriate weightage." few years would pass before they completed their of time at dad's place of work after school. This Both root for honesty at all times. "First comes postgraduation and acquired their respective life not only ensured I stayed close to my parents but trust," says an emphatic Pooja. "When you trust experiences. helped me build a foundation in fashion and the your partner, everything else, inThus, when they finally did tie ethics of business. Both Jashank and I want that cluding love and romance, follow. the knot it was with their families for our kid," she rounds off.

Unto that end, both of them believe blessings at "just the right time." kalyanisardesai@gmail.com in speaking their minds to each That this is evidently a marriage other-openly and fearlessly. "You founded on friendship is evident ought to be able to tell your spouse from their mutual appreciation of CC what's on your mind without woreach other in matters big and small. rying about upsetting them. When The building blocks of a marriage • Trust criticism and analysis are taken in "Jashank is a man who acts on an the right spirit, there is nothing to informed opinion in all aspects of • Acceptance worry about," says Jashank. life and business. This, to my mind, So how challenging has it been to makes him a very trustworthy per• Shared goals adjust post marriage? "Adjustment son," says Pooja. "His thoughts and and dreams India is poised to be world’s biggest sugar is key to everything, actually," says actions are in sync with each other. producer country and will very soon Pooja. "Whatever the relationship, You can totally rely on such a person overtake Brazil, which is now the world’s • Honesty there is give and take. When you to be there for you; he's rock-solid top. For the first time in 16 years, it is and open predicted that Brazil’s output may tumble marry into a family, you realise that and dependable." communication 21 per cent to 30.6 million tonnes because you have to form an equation with On his part, Jashank lauds her for of adverse weather. each individual member, Plus, no her balanced outlook. "She's a per-

The mantras of marriage

tadka

India to become world’s largest sugar producer

December 16-31, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 55

Campus Placement

F

or Priya Shukla, her mother, who is a source of positive energy and father, a role model, have been the two live wires behind her success story. A graduate in Electronics and Communication, Priya started her journey into the corporate world spending two and a half years with TCS Mumbai before she moved to Balaji Institute of Modern Management (BIMM), a private business school in Pune.

Now she is working with Infosys Ltd., settled in the city with her soft-spoken husband Harsh Jain from Jaipur, a software Analyst at Fiserv Pune. Hailing from Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, Priya has a younger sister who is a professional singer and a pet, Osky, a Labrador, which she feels is a wonderful and the most compassionate canine.

‘Never refrain from trying,’ has been her motto since kindergarten as she recalled her first reward, a Mango Bite for her act of thinking something out of the box. Today, when she goes back down her memory lane, it is not the reward, but the smile and the affection of her teacher which counted the most. Priya’s urge to learn has made her someone special in everyone’s life, her husband being one among them in a very special way.

Early life…

Daughter of a banker, she did not have a ‘settled’ life as her father kept moving to new places. This meant that she enlarge her friends’ circle, time and again, and in the process gave her and her sister everything new-friends, neighbourhood, different cultures, every time. Priya always wanted to excel in everything and this saw her

Never whine

for what you lack

Life is all about making the best of what we have. There is nothing we can’t achieve. With the right attitude and positive mindset, one can even move mountains, believes Priya Shukla, who has made it into Infosys, which she always wanted. She talks to Corporate Citizen about her journey into the corporate world By Joe Williams

try her hands at everything she found interesting. She actively took part in competitions such as singing, dancing, painting, debates, speech and even hand-writing competitions. She learnt calligraphy just because she found it a novel and non-conventional hobby.

Even during her MBA internship, she religiously did her market research project, drafted the report, prepared the file, presented the supporting data and documents and aced the presentations with an all-time high score of 91.

She gives credit to her teachers right from the

56 / Corporate Citizen / December 16-31, 2018

time she stepped into the four walls of a class room till her MBA. Mathematics had been her favourite subject. After her four-year graduation stint, she did get the first taste of campus placement at TCS Mumbai, and it was here she realised her hunger for more. She did not want to spend her entire life as an engineering graduate working in an IT firm in Mumbai.

She wanted to upgrade her skills, profession, degree, and status. And she decided to pursue higher studies in management. She was selected at BIMM, one of the elite MBA colleges in

Pune where she took up MBA in marketing. It was here she discovered the value of time and family, and started enjoying everything around her.

Placement blues…

Having got the taste of placement after her graduation, the second innings at the same was not as pleasant. It was a torture for Priya. Due to some unfortunate events she couldn’t appear for the first 70 companies for placement. As the firms came and went, Priya’s worry escalated, it was a very hard time for her.

But there was a silver lining to all this as it taught her patience and gave her time for self-realisation.

‘Nothing is permanent’, she felt. All these difficult times do come but gradually fade away.

Everything fell in place one day when she submitted her resume for Infosys. She always wanted to be there. After having lost out on many companies, this was her first and last chance and she wanted to make the most of it. She spent sleepless nights learning all about the organisation, the policies, its turnover, about the CEO, the place it held in Gartner’s matrix, its strength and the areas of improvement. Her market research came in handy as she created a project of her own on Infosys. But as judgement day approached tension had filled the air. Many questions were asked, but her internship project did it for her as she saw that the person interviewing her was impressed. The confidence and positive approach of Priya saw her make it to the most sought after organisation in the IT Industry, the company offering one of the highest packages and for the role of a Consultant. She called up her father who was equally anxious and gave him the news. Drowned in accolades and hugs and congratulations from her friends she got emotional; it was a beautiful father-daughter moment, one of the happiest moments of her life.

With her sister Riya

Priya with her parents With her friends

Life to me is all about making the best of what we have, not whining about what we lack and working hard to achieve what we long for. There is nothing we can’t achieve, with the right attitude and positive mindset, one can even move mountains What is life?

“Life to me is all about making the best of what we have, not whining about what we lack and working hard to achieve what we long for. There is nothing we can’t achieve, with the right attitude and positive mindset, one can even move mountains,” she says. She wanted to be a judge, a journalist, an architect and even the president of the country-the wish list went on. “Unfortunately, I was not amongst the lucky ones who knew from the very beginning what they wanted to become. I just kept enjoying life, lived the moment, gave my 100% to what I did, and destiny kept paving the way for me, and finally everything fell in place.

“Today if you ask me about my career, I guess I am doing pretty well in the organisation and have received quite a few awards and recognitions in a short span of 15 months. I love my job. Love what I do, love taking challenges, love overcoming the problems because the joy we experience at the end of the road is worth the pain,” she says.

Advice for juniors…

• Never shy away from moving out of your comfort zone.

• Real challenge lies beyond the boundaries, and with real challenge comes real opportunity.

• Always keep a positive and can-do attitude.

• Follow your instincts. Instincts will never fail you.

• There are no shortcuts because smart work also requires hard work.

• Never compromise with your values and learn from your mistakes.

Joe78662@gmail.com

CC

tadka

T-Series king of YouTube Indian music label T-Series will soon become the most-subscribed channel on YouTube. T-Series is presently ruling the world of YouTube with as many as 28 channels excluding its main Bollywood channel.

The company’s videos have already been viewed, in total, over 53 billion times and gaining over 100,000 subscribers a day, as per a New York Times report.

December 16-31, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 57

Alumni Spotlight-9 Sonali Rudra, alumnus, Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), Pilani

Strengthening roots in medicinal research

A career spanning over 25 years as a trained medicinal chemist in pre-clinical R&D in pharmaceutical companies and across graduate schools in India and the U.S. dedicated to the spheres of medicinal chemistry and new drug discovery processes is what defines Sonali Rudra, Senior Principal Research Scientist at TCG Life Sciences, Kolkata. She professes in a role equivalent to that of an associate director and is highly motivated and extremely passionate about the unmet medical need in different diseases and the related drug discovery research processes. Having heralded positions with Ranbaxy Research Laboratories (Gurugram) and Chembiotek (Kolkata), she considers Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani (BITS), as the Alma mater that has shaped her up, having laid the foundation stone in her career in medicinal chemistry and allied research By Sangeeta Ghosh Dastidar

S

onali Rudra, Senior Principal Research Scientist, TCG Life Sciences, Kolkata, says, “The quality of education and the environment of the academic institution where you study has a huge role to play in the success of an individual’s career in the long term. It has been over 25 years since I graduated from BITS Pilani but I’m also connected via social media platforms like WhatsApp and Facebook with my batchmates.

My observation is that having studied from a premiere institute like BITS Pilani, almost everyone is quite successful in their lives, quite financially well off and most importantly are very happy pursuing their passions.”

She is also armed with Ph.D degrees in Chemistry from Jamia Milia Islamia and Ranbaxy Research Labs. She also has double M.S. degrees -an M.S. in Medicinal Chemistry from the State University of New York at Buffalo, and a second M.S. in Pharmaceutical Sciences from Northeast Louisiana University, Monroe, Louisiana, U.S. and other certifications enhancing her professional acumen.

Stepping Stones

At BITS Pilani, Sonali had the freedom and flexibility to pick and choose courses to her interest in specialised areas that she envisaged could steer her career towards research in Medicinal Chemistry. She also graduated from BITS with the highest honours in pharmacy and was a recipient of two gold medals for her academic feat.

“I had joined the B. Pharm (Hons) degree programme as I wanted to discover a new drug and make a difference to people’s lives”, she said. As a young wannabe-scientist, Son-

ali took baby steps in new drug discovery research and acknowledges BITS, in helping pave her path.

“I underwent special study-oriented projects in Quantitative Structure Activity Relationships (QSAR) models in drug designing and lab projects in peptides synthesis which gave me the initial understanding towards research in medicinal chemistry and the exposure to the broader area of new drug discovery research.” It was at BITS that she had the opportunity to co-author two peer reviewed journal articles in a leading international journal when a part of the research work she had done on QSAR was published while pursuing her Pharm. (Hons.) degree.

Academic Transitions

Post BITS, Sonali embarked upon an illustrious academic journey whilst pursuing her career goals in her chosen field. She summarised the contributions of each of the institutions that prepared her to take on future challenges.

Pursuing her M.S. in Pharmaceutical Sciences at the Northeast Louisiana University, U.S., she specialised in Medicinal Chemistry. “I got introduced to advanced concepts in medicinal chemistry and studied courses in drug metabolism, molecular pharmacology and advanced medicinal chemistry which helped immensely to gain a broader appreciation in new drug discovery research. Writing research proposals and thesis helped me gain the confidence and the know-how to take up and start any new research project, conduct the literature background survey and prepare research plans to kick-start a project.”

“School of Pharmacy at SUNY, Buffalo was

58 / Corporate Citizen / December 16-31, 2018

“At BITS Pilani, I underwent special study-oriented projects in Quantitative Structure Activity Relationships (QSAR) models in drug designing and lab projects in peptides synthesis which gave me the initial understanding towards research in medicinal chemistry and the exposure to the broader area of new drug discovery”

then one of the top five Pharmacy schools in the U.S. I came here to pursue my Ph.D but due to personal reasons I discontinued mid-way.”

However, her prior extensive research work was good enough to get her a second master’s degree. “My research here entailed working on a cutting-edge concept in bio-organic chemistry and drug delivery and I was again able to publish the research in Journal of the American Chemical Society-one of the top chemistry journals in the world.”

She continued to gain recognition for her published work, a feather in her cap especially when she had to seek new jobs. “My published work in this journal was also highly appreciated by my colleagues during my industrial stints.”

She also learnt advanced and current concepts in Organic Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry and Biochemical Pharmacology, which helped Sonali during her industrial research work. She

was also able to learn and further develop on these concepts during her professional stints at R&D centres.

She then acquired her Ph.D. in Chemistry from Jamia Milia Islamia while working at Ranbaxy in their New Drug Discovery Research Division, New Delhi. “This degree helped me get the stamp that I was academically equal to my peers; although I had been supervising the chemistry work of Ph.D’s at Ranbaxy much before I was awarded my Ph.D.”

Overcoming Monotony

She further pursued an Executive Programme in General Management from IIM-Lucknow.

“For a long time, some 15 years; I was focussed mostly towards research in medicinal chemistry and synthetic organic chemistry, and there came a point when I felt stagnated and bored in my professional career. So, I undertook this course to refresh my academic skills and broad-

en my knowledge. This was a pretty junior level course and many of the concepts I was already familiar with, but it helped me refresh my knowledge and skill sets in quantitative analysis, improve my understanding towards organisational behaviour and also pick up some basics on financial management.”

Future-Scape

Sonali’s personal interactions with academic researchers and professors has led to the conclusion that much of the research at academic institutions have very little application or impact on immediate industrial problems or practical problems that are of national importance.

“Most of the academic institutions may lack job accountability at every level. I think every department in academic institutions should have advisors from industry and vice-versa such that the academic-industry bonding is strong and the problems at each side and their solutions can be collaboratively worked upon.”

Rapid Fire CC: Are you connected with any of your Alma maters?

Yes, with people in BITS Pilani and my professor at SUNY, Buffalo

Are you member of any of the Alumni groups?

Yes, the BITS AA group.

Do you contribute to your academic institutions?

Monetarily. Yes, I have donated small amounts for charitable causes in BITS Pilani.

Do you participate in CSR activities?

Not currently active on CSR, but often suggest or give ideas towards the betterment of BITS. sangeetagd2010@gmail.com

CC

tadka

Amazon’s gross sales in India 21% higher than Flipkart’s

Five years after setting foot on Indian soil, US online retail giant Amazon has emerged as the leader in the domestic e-commerce market, zipping past Flipkart in gross merchandise value (GMV), or gross sales, on its platform. Amazon’s India unit clocked gross sales of $7.5 billion in the year ended March 31, 2018, while rival Flipkart’s sales stood at $6.2 billion, according to report by Barclays published recently. The report, however, did not include sales of Flipkart’s subsidiaries Myntra and Jabong.

December 16-31, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 59

Pearls of Wisdom By Dada J P Vaswani

Accept, Move On… This is a lesson that each one of us has to learn. There are so many situations and circumstances in life that are not to our liking. But, how long can we allow ourselves to wallow in

sorrow and self-pity? The call of life is Onward, Forward, Godward! Close the door to the past, hat is done is done. What is gone open the door to future, take a deep breath, step is gone. One of life’s lessons is on through and start a new chapter in your life. always moving on. Moving on A very dear one passes away, suddenly he is doesn’t mean you forget about snatched away from us, how long will we keep things, it just means you accept what happens on weeping about it? and continue living happily.

There was a woman who came to me and A couple was going to visit a friend. They said, “Three months ago I lost my husband and waited for a bus at the bus stop. Suddenly, the I have been weeping, shedding tears day and husband realised that his wallet was missing. night.” And she said to me, “I am not exaggerThe wallet contained probably a good amount ating but I tell you literally during these three of money and naturally he was upset. He tried months I must have wept at least three buckets to look into all his pockets. He was quite sure he of tears.” Three buckets of tears, just imagine! put it in his left pocket when he left home, but I said to her, “You have wept three buckets of where is it gone? He called his son at home and tears, has your husband come back?” She said, asked him to check his drawers to confirm he “How can my husband had not left it there. He come back. They took even re-traced a few steps The call of life is him to the cremation to see whether the wallet Onward, Forward, ground, they burnt the had accidently dropped body, all we got was a litdown. But the wallet was Godward! Close the tle ash that is all.” Then I nowhere to be found. De- door to the past, open said, “What is the use of jected and disheartened, the door to future, shedding all those tears? he stood there wonderWhy don’t you put your ing what to do. The bus take a deep breath, feelings to some useful which he had to board step on through and purpose?” came by, he wouldn’t get Her husband was a into the bus. Another start a new chapter in leader of his community bus came, he wouldn’t your life and I told her, “There are get into that bus either. A so many things that you must be knowing about third bus came and he wouldn’t get into the bus him that are not known to the people, why don’t until his wife said to him, “Are we going to sit and you sit and write your reminiscences.” She liked cry here all the time or are we going to go on? the idea and started doing that. She came to me Are we going to be here worrying about the lost after a year, on the first anniversary of her huswallet or are we going to move on?” band, she had that book published. And her face This is a lesson that each one of us has to was wreathed in smiles. She said, it is a wonderlearn. There are so many situations and cirful suggestion that you gave me, and I feel so cumstances in life that are not to our liking. But, happy, ever since I have followed it. how long can we allow ourselves to wallow in

W

60 / Corporate Citizen / December 16-31, 2018

I remember how one day Gurudev Sadhu Vaswani visited a bookshop. As we were looking at the new arrivals, I came across a book, entitled, ‘My Philosophy’.

So I took this book to him and said, “This is a new arrival, may be you will be interested in it.

This book contains philosophies of many great ones, but tell me what is your philosophy?” He answered, “My philosophy! The philosophy of acceptance, I know of nothing higher. Nothing outer can hurt you for the universe is not merely just, the universe is essentially good. The cosmic soul is love and humanity is his bride.”

True acceptance in the right spirit is a dynamic concept which encourages us to do our very best, to put forth our best efforts to achieve what we desire. But, if we cannot achieve those results, you must accept it as the Will of God, in the knowledge that there must be some good in it. As I always say, there is a meaning of mercy in all the incidents and accidents of life.

CC

tadka PM-AASHA to procure 44 lakh tonnes of oilseeds and pulses Food Corporation of India and National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED) will procure 44 lakh tonne of oilseeds and pulses unde the aegis of the scheme called the Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay SanraksHan Abhiyan (PMAAASHA) . This is meant to bring assured returns to farmers, officials said. To that end, the Cabinet has already sanctioned an additional guarantee of `15,500 crore.

Mobile apps

Best Apps for

Organic Food How your food is grown or raised can have a major impact on your mental and emotional health as well as the environment. Organic foods often have more beneficial nutrients, such as antioxidants, than their conventionally-grown counterparts and people with allergies to foods, chemicals, or preservatives often find their symptoms lessen or go away when they eat only organic foods. At a time when corporates and young professionals find it increasingly difficult to devote more time towards their health, it becomes even more essential to watch what you eat. With that in mind, Corporate Citizen lists the best apps to buy organic food in India

By Neeraj Varty

Healthkart Healthkart is an Indian online and offline store that offers a huge range of products like cosmetics, medicinal and much more.

They also sell a few reputed organic food brands. This is one of the most trusted online sites that offer amazing discounts and free shipping (terms and conditions apply) to its customers.

Godrej Nature’s Basket This is an organic food store that specializes in offering everything organic—spices, flour, sweets, recipes, mixes, rice, ghee, oils, tea and much more.

This is a one stop organic food store for online shopping lovers. It offers a hand at famous organic brands like Borges, Dolce, Olitalia, Sundrop, Nutrilite, Dabur homemade, Nandini and Keya.

Amazon Amazon is not just the place to buy electronics and clothes, you can also get various organic food items from leading international brands. A few worth mentioning brands that are available at Amazon are Nutiva, Earth’s Best Organics and Viva Organic. Amazon also frequently offers special discounts to its customers on the purchase of organic food items, especially if you are an Amazon Prime customer.

FreshGreen Cart This online organic store offers organic food items, beverages, health supplements and much more. The app provides completely handpicked fresh fruits and vegetables instantly at your doorstep. The best part is that there are no delivery conditions (no minimum order criteria), so you can use this app even for small quantities of products and not only for bulk purchase. neeraj.varty07@gmail.com

December 16-31, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 61

Dr (Col.) A. Balasubramanian

From The Mobile

A tale of two seas

62 / Corporate Citizen / December 16-31, 2018

S

itting in the Geography class in school, I remember how fascinated I was when we were being taught all about the Dead Sea. As you probably recall, the Dead Sea is really a lake, not a sea (and as my Geography teacher pointed out, if you understood that, it would guarantee four marks in the term paper!) It’s so high in salt content that the human body can float easily.

You can almost lie down and read a book! The salt in the Dead Sea is as high as 35% almost 10 times the normal ocean water. And all that saltiness has meant that there is no life at all in the Dead Sea. No fish. No vegetation. No sea animals. Nothing lives in the Dead Sea. And hence the name: Dead Sea. While the Dead Sea has remained etched in my memory, I don’t seem to recall learning about the Sea of Galilee in my school Geography lesson. So when I heard about the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea and the tale of the two seas-I was intrigued.

Turns out that the Sea of Galilee is just north of the Dead Sea. Both the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea receive their water from river Jordan. And yet, they are very, very different.

Unlike the Dead Sea, the Sea of Galilee is pretty, resplendent with rich, colourful marine life. There are lots of plants. And lots of fish too.

In fact, the Sea of Galilee is home to over twenty different types of fish.

Same region, same source of water, and yet while one sea is full of life, the other is dead.

How come?

Here’s apparently why. The River Jordan flows into the Sea of Galilee and then flows out. The water simply passes

through the Sea of Galilee in and then out - and that keeps the sea healthy and vibrant, teeming with marine life.

But the Dead Sea is so far below the mean sea level, that it has no outlet. The water flows in from River Jordan, but does not flow out. There are no outlet streams. It is estimated that over seven million tons of water evaporate from the Dead Sea every day.

Leaving it salty. Too full of minerals. And unfit for any marine life.

The Dead Sea takes water from the River Jordan, and holds it. It does not give.

Result? No life at all. Think about it.

Life is not just about getting. It’s about giving. We all need to be a bit like the Sea of Galilee. We are fortunate to get wealth, knowledge, love and respect. But if we don’t learn to give, we could all end up like the Dead Sea. The love and the respect, the wealth and the knowledge could all evaporate. Like the water in the Dead Sea. If we get the Dead Sea mentality of merely taking in more water, more money, more everything the results can be disastrous.

Good idea to make sure that in the sea of your own life, you have outlets. Many outlets. For love and wealth and everything else that you get in your life. Make sure you don’t just get, you give too.

Open the taps. And you’ll open the floodgates to happiness. Make that a habit. To share. To give.

Psychiatrist’s advice for well-being Simple tips to help prevent suicide; everyone can help.

All of us feel suicidal at times.

Nobody is immune. If you haven’t felt it so far, give life a chance.

As of now, we don’t know precisely what causes the final act of suicide.

People reach that point through various pathways.

One thing is sure, loneliness and hopelessness contribute a lot to final stage.

So, whenever you realise that your friend, acquaintance, lover, student, neighbour, relative, is avoiding people, you should ask if they are okay.

If you are wondering about their suicidal thoughts, ask. Asking is the best way to help. You will NOT be inducing suicide by asking.

Offer to talk, brew a cup of tea/ coffee/hot meal. Don’t advice. Just hear them out. At the end, thank them for trusting you with all the information, thoughts and feelings.

1 2

3 4 5

6

7

Ask what you can do to help them feel better. It is a simple question but a powerful one at the end of patient and helpful listening.

Keep in touch.

8 9

If you feel overwhelmed, don’t be afraid of saying something like: “This is too much to experience, just listening to you is overwhelming for me, and I don’t know how you brave it all. Tell me how do you cope with this?”

When you feel worried about their safety, call a helpline. All cities have suicide prevention helplines.

Lastly, remember, company and patient listening are the most powerful tools to prevent suicides.

A supportive hand in hand, and a patient ear goes a long way. Get professional help whenever it crosses your desire to help.

Dr Bhooshan Shukla Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, Pune.

10 11

15 Ironies that only exist in India  It’s dangerous to talk to strangers but it’s okay to marry one! P oliticians divide us, terrorists unite us!  You have to look both ways to cross a one way street!  It’s okay to piss in public but not okay to kiss in public!  Everyone’s in a hurry, but no one reaches on time!  Priyanka Chopra made more money playing Mary Kom than Mary Kom made in her entire career!  Swear in English and people think you are cool; swear in Hindi and people think you are uncouth!  Most people who fight over the Gita and Quran have probably never read either of the books!  I n our election, we don’t vote for the candidate we like the most; we vote for the one we dislike the least!  Ours is a country where sayings like ‘ladki ghar ki Laxmi hai, ladki baap ka bojh hain’ coexist!  We’d rather spend more on our daughter’s wedding than on her education!  The shoes we wear are sold in air conditioned showrooms and the vegetables we eat are sold on the footpath! Y ou need to have studied till 8th class to become a peon; you don’t require any educational qualifications to be an MLA, MP or Minister.

December 16-31, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 63

Claps & Slaps Corporate Citizen Claps for the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) for asking all industries in Tamil nadu (TN) to declare their premises as “plastic free zones” from January 1, 2019 and pasting stickers prominently in sync with this compliance

This would entail industries to overhaul themselves and campaign in and around their industrial vicinities up to a 10 km radius and make sure that they along with the public in their vicinity stay clear off plastics. The directive puts the onus on the companies to provide notices to their suppliers, customers and visitors, by detailing or listing out banned plastic items and enable measures to use alternate to banned plastic items. The TNPCB states that, “They (industries) must ensure that the banned plastic items are not used in canteens, offices, official meetings et.al. Industries should form a “one time use and throwaway plastics avoidance committee” comprising top, middle and lower level officials with responsibility to create and spread awareness among the employees and community around 10 Km radius.” The environmental Watchdog also added that industries could carry out the no-plastic awareness drive under their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), initiatives too. “Further it is informed that the above activities carried out by the industry will be considered for ‘Green Awards’, as was issued to make Tamil Nadu industries completely be plastic free zones from January 1, 2019. P Nataraj, chairman, Southern India Mills’ Association said that while reducing usage of plastic is good for the environment, it could be done in a time-bound manner by giving enough opportunities for users to change in the long run. However, some industry watchers also noted that, “There is no alternative to plastic used in packing as of now.

It is not clear whether this plastic is exempted. “If plastics used in packing are banned, the industry will come to a standstill. However, the TNCPB is firm on its decision and has notified industries to carry out the awareness programme among and also seek alternatives for banned plastics, utilising the services of NGO’s, NGC and ECO clubs. Whether TN companies ‘walk’ the Watchdog’s ‘talk’ will hold responsible for ushering in a green revolution – ‘One State’ at a time – just maybe!

64 / Corporate Citizen / December 16-31, 2018

Corporate Citizen slaps the apathy of citizens across Indian cities that dared to defy or complied partially to the recent Supreme Court’s (SC) new cracker code for a green Diwali

Most cities failed to enforce the code that allowed bursting firecrackers within a two-hour window with police action against violators. Post-Diwali, air pollution levels doubled in Kolkata, Guwahati, Ahmedabad, Agra, Hyderabad and Chennai, primarily due to the use of crackers. While Delhi’s air quality did improve, recent data from AirVisual, which tracks global air quality, shows that New Delhi continues to top the list in the past post-Diwali weeks, with Kolkata and Mumbai also figuring amongst the top polluted cities. While kudos goes to the cops and their brigade for nabbing violators of the recent SC directive-much remained wanted from the citizens themselves! The result was a smoky but, a less noisy Diwali. Despite warnings, recordings by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB)’s air quality index (AQI) bulletin showed that Patna, Lucknow, Bulandshahr, Noida, Greater Noida, Ghaziabad and Faridabad were in ‘severe’ category with the readings going past 400.

“The air at these ‘very poor’ (AQI 301-400) and ‘severe’ (AQI 401500) levels becomes hard to breathe even for healthy people.” While children and young adults were seen wearing protective masks; strict adherence to the cracker code could have helped ‘mask’ the already poor air quality across Indian cities. In Kolkata alone, nearly 2,500 kg of banned firecrackers were seized and at least 1,029 people arrested on days marking Kali Puja and Diwali. Data indicate that over 7,900 kg of illegal firecrackers, including over 2,500 kg on Diwali, were seized from various parts of Delhi as the SC order had a ban on sale of old crackers too. Mumbai witnessed a noisy Diwali this year despite the ban while Tamil Nadu topped amongst the Southern states in the number of cases filed for violation of SC’s time-limit on Diwali day with 2,190 FIRs. However, none were booked in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. “All I can say is that the Supreme Court’s guidelines were flouted, but the state government and its machinery tried their best to check people and adhere to the permissible time limit,” said Sumaira Abdulali, environment activist and founder, Awaaz Foundation. What are we citizens then waiting for? It is time now to pull up our socks!

(Compiled by Sangeeta Ghosh Dastidar)

Subscribe for Corporate Citizen and grow in Life

To, Circulation Manager Corporate Citizen (Business Fortnightly) Krishna Homes Housing Society, Flat No. 2 & 4, Near Iskcon Mandir, Sector 29, Ravet, Akurdi, Pune - 412101. Tel. (020) 67117604/9.

Email : subscriptions@corporatecitizen.in Website : www.corporatecitizen.in Subject : Payment for Subscription of Corporate Citizen NAME:

SUBSCRIPTION FORM

POSTAL ADDRESS:

CITY:

Building Name- Apt. Number / Bungalow Name-Number

STATE:

Landline No.:

Society Name

PIN CODE: Mobile No:

E-mail Address: DOB:

(d d)

/

(m m)

/

(y y)

Profession (If any) :

Designation (If any) :

Company/Organisation (Where Applicable): I want to subscribe :  For One Year (24 Issues)  For Two Years (48 Issues)  For Three Years (72 Issues)  For Ten Years (240 Issues)

: : : :

Yes / No Yes / No Yes / No Yes / No

- - - -

Subscription Amount Subscription Amount Subscription Amount Subscription Amount

: : : :

`1,200/`2,300/`3,400/`10,000/-

I am remitting a sum of `

through a bank draft / cheque bearing number dated drawn in favour of ‘Corporate Citizen’ towards payment of the subscription amount for One / Two / Three / Ten years, subscription.

Date :

64 / Corporate Citizen / October 1-15, 2018

Signature of Subscriber

CRADLE OF LEADERSHIP

PROF. SUDHIR K SOPORY, VICE CHANCELLOR, JAWAHARLAL NEHRU UNIVERSITY (JNU) Volume 1, Issue No. 21 / Pages 68 / www.corporatecitizen.in

January 1-15, 2016 / `50

CORPORATE CULTURE

Chanda Kochhar, MD & CEO, ICICI Bank on women in leadership and gender diversity

INTERVIEW

An in-depth interview with Vishal Parekh, Marketing Director India with Kingston Technology and Rajeev Bhadauria, Director, Group HR, at Jindal Steel & Power

Dynamic Duo 21 MEERA SHANKAR AND AJAY SHANKAR

UNFLINCHING SUPPORT

December 16-31, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 65

the last word

Ganesh Natarajan

Managing Talent Transformation Career aspirations are a moving target with most millennial young employees and one should not be surprised to get a completely new perspective on job roles that attract people every six months

E

very time we conduct a top management workshop, in India or the US these days, the topic inevitably veers to the subject of transformation.

Digital transformation is often the overarching theme but it involves technology, process, data and cultural transformation and of all these transformation, talent transformation is possibly the most interesting and yet the least amount of time and money is spent by senior leadership on making it happen.

Talent, entering organisations has changed dramatically. The millennials who populate most functions in the organisation are interested primarily in being challenged with new tasks every day and even large increments and frequent promotions cannot motivate them to stay unless they see opportunities for learning and mentoring coming their way. And what about the Gen Z, twenty-somethings who join the organisation from campuses or after a couple of years in another company? Once the initial excitement of the new job fades, they are already wondering if their role in the organisation is appropriate and wouldn’t it be better and faster to find a different role elsewhere!

This is where the crux of the talent transformation challenge lies. How does one create an environment in the organisation where everyone from the newest recruit to the senior management has a role that adds value, has access to skills that enable good performance and

Ganesh with skills pros Mukta and Ruchi

target with most young employees continuous learning and is providand one should not be surprised to ed with coaching and mentoring get a completely new perspective that reaffirms their importance to on job roles that attract people evthe organisation and makes them ery six months. It is easy to get frusperform at their best? This places trated with this frequent change of an onerous role on the human remind but the truly dynamic organsource function to recruit the right isations of tomorrow will recognise people, enable them to perform at the needs of the restless mind and their best and retain the best talent constantly give them opportunities even as non-performers get helped to evaluate possibilities and assess or weeded out in time to keep the what it takes to succeed and get that organisation performing to potencoveted promotion in the current tial. And the trend in these times is role or re-skill and succeed in a difto see how much of the contextual ferent role. This automatically profunctions of HR management can vides a segway to the third critical be outsourced so that employees get a seamless experience while The millennials who populate most the organisation functions in the organisation are leadership fointerested primarily in being chalcuses on the core lenged with new tasks every day transformation agenda in line with business requirements. feature which is skills and learning The four key pillars on which this on demand at the time and pace of rests are employee branding, career the employee rather that the schedmanagement, skills and support uling skills of the employer. The communities. The first is of course days of training centres and senda reflection of the quality of maning people for expensive weeks of agement and the visibility the leadeducation in business schools are ership team has as innovators and fast ending and it’s “just-in-time” the reputation they build as good learning personalised to the changemployers in the communities they ing needs of the day and the differoperate in. At the company I ran for ent styles of each learner that makes fifteen years, Zensar Technologies, for effective skills development. we had a focus on the triple bottom Finally, the concept of creating line of Profits, People and Planet communities is still largely igand the accolades we received for nored by traditional organisations our work with people and society who still suffer from the paranoia made us one of the great employer of unions and employee collusion brands in the city and industry. against the wishes of management.

Career aspirations are a moving In a world where communities are

66 / Corporate Citizen / December 16-31, 2018

being formed hourly on Facebook, and every other form of social media, organisations that enable communities are more likely to retain employee and keep them happy.

Three types of communities are becoming popular-peer communities for knowledge sharing and learning from each other’s experiences, communities led by coaches and mentors and even alumni communities that discuss progress of the organisation with leaders and offer themselves for roles when new opportunities emerge in fast growing organisations.

If all this looks too complex for the average HR department to handle, many medium size and even large companies are considering outsourcing of many of these functions to organisation who can use a judicious combination of expertise, technology and tested processes to provide better HR outcomes. One organisation in Southern India which has already done an RPO (Recruitment Process Outsourcing) effectively is now outsourcing these four functions to an organisation which will install a digital platform for all employees that enable them to explore alternate career options within the firm, explore learning through multi-media and choose mentors and peers to help them on their learning and career journey. No shortage of excitement for the leaders of tomorrow.

Ganesh Natarajan is Chairman of 5F World and SVP India.

Printed and published by Dr (Col.) A. Balasubramanian on behalf of Sri Balaji Society. Editor: Dr (Col.) A. Balasubramanian.

Published from : 925/5, Mujumdar Apt, F. C. Road, Pune - 411004, Maharashtra.

Printed at Magna Graphics (I) Ltd., 101-C&D Govt. Industrial Estate, Hindustan Naka, Kandivali (W), Mumbai - 400067.

December 16-31, 2018 / Corporate Citizen / 67

RNI Regd. No. MAHENG/2014/60490, Postal Regd. No. PCW/179/2018-20. Published on 1st & 16th of every month and Posted at BPC, Pune CSO 411030 on 15th & 30th of every month.

Licenced to Post without Pre-Payment Licence No. WPP-252.

Corporate Citizen, Krishna Homes Housing Society, Flat No 2 & 4, Bulk land No 4, Near Iskcon Mandir, Sector 29, Ravet, Akurdi, Pune 412101. Tel. (020) 67117604/9. or Post Box No-4, Dehu Road Cantt. Pin - 412101.

68 / Corporate Citizen / December 16-31, 2018