MAXICON VOL 14

Volume 14

our mantra

consumer

focus Office politics

Learn some easy hacks to play smart and win the game

time fOr bOnding

celebrations at work

lighting up lives

ste ps to s uc c e s s AlwAys engAging And inspiring Dear readers, We hope you are enjoying our editions of Maxicon. Through this internal magazine, we bring to you all the events and activities @ Max, what’s new in fashion, a peep into what inspired our leaders and some fashion for all of you.

This edition covers, apart from the regular articles, our Recognition Program ‘The People Icon Awards’ where we reward the stars in the region during a fun-filled evening. The Regional Confluence meet was a platform to exchange innovative ideas and share organisational strategies. Continuing our commitment towards building an equal and empowered society, this year’s three CSR initiatives were focussed on the areas of health and education.

With the growing pace of business and the need to engage employees in a quick manner, to nurture and develop talent, we at Max are introducing the ‘Learning Management System’ which will compel employees to learn at their pace and time and thereby grow with the organisation.

As you flip through the pages of the magazine, read interesting bits on Fun@work activities, festive celebrations, mental health wellness tips, engaging ideas for office breaks and our take on handling office politics. The overall aim is to create a buoyant office atmosphere, to strengthen team work and acknowledge the victories.

Do share your feedback with us so that we can continuously improve and bring the best for you.

Nandini Mehta

HR 1

contents Speak’ with 04 MrTopJiten Mahendra ‘

As VP Marketing, Mr Mahendra lives by the motto “customer is king-emperor”. He shares how he works at customer relationships.

06 Fun @ work

Max India’s ‘Fun At Work’ programme aims to bring workers together on non-work platforms. Through a series of activities, employees enjoy interacting with each other in a meaningful break from work.

Read all about the latest happenings.

for office 10 Hacks politics

Employees may face office politics at some point or another.

But there is no need to dive right

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into its seedy underbelly. The cover story tells you how to win the game by playing smart...

14 Workplace wellness

Take some time out and follow these simple tips at work for mental, physical and spiritual health. This one is for the bosses to implement!

10 with 16 Take Mr Ganesh Babu

The VP of Finance is a man of ambition and curiosity. He has had an incredible life of battling many odds to make it to where he is today. This serious professional also has a lighter side: he lists as a highpoint of his life to be his acquisition of a Harley Davidson!

Know more about this multi-faceted person.

18 Celebrating employees

The thought-provoking Regional Confluence aimed at sharing organisational strategy.

‘People Icon 20 The Awards’

These were held for the first time

ever and sought to recognise talent in myriad areas.

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Keep it fresh with modern learning

Max’s new Learning Management System - Max Your Learning - is an interactive, user-friendly platform that brings together everything that you need to know to do full justice to your role .

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Top 10 things to do during o ffice b reaks

Clear your head of all the work stress with these smart ideas.

And while you’re at it, also learn new things or simply indulge in some feel-good - great to boost productivity.

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Marketing scores a super high

This year’s marketing campaigns celebrated tradition with a splash of colour, along with modern and trendy takes. Read on to know all that happened under the marketing umbrella.

Mall 28 ‘Forum employees are

warriors!’

The Forum Mall store, the most successful in the region, has grown to become the ‘anchor store’ of the mall. The spirit of the employees has led the store to be fondly called the ‘Forum Fighters’!

30 Spreading awareness

While fashioning a strong business is the top goal for the Landmark Group, it gives priority to social causes with an aim to create a better world. Three initiatives in the fields of health and education have recently been started. Learn more...

trends to note in 32 Five the apparel industry

The key focus areas of the apparel industry include constant innovation, understanding the consumers and sustainability.

Here are the top 5 research-backed trends which can help you score high.

concept, content & strategy: shveta sahu, Manjira Dutta creatIVe DIrector: renu singla DesIgn & proDUctIon: Vipin gupta eDItorIaL: ruman ali, poonam Kashib, neharika Mathur prInters: Vishwakala printers no 28, 2nd stage, Industrial suburb, yeshwantpur, Bangalore

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toP sPeAk

Long live the customer!

Yes, in all businesses, and especially in retail, the customer is indeed king-emperor. And no one knows this better than Jiten Mahendra, VP, Marketing at Max Fashion, India .

As the Marketing Head, Jiten has a keen eye on the problems that beset LFL stores. For instance, as the stores mature, LFL growth becomes challenging and the only way to achieve it is by getting new customers and increasing repeat purchases through CRM. 4

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With this objective, the focus of CRM moved from occasional campaigns to platform-based standardized programs. The team designed two programs – First Time On-boarding and Green Engagement to increase stickiness – one to get in the first-time shoppers;

and the other aimed at the top 30% of the existing customer base. “The design philosophy of both these programs is to communicate to the customer in a personalized, contextual manner. We aim to reduce churn in both these buckets

by 3% this financial year with the help of these programs,” says Jiten.

The beginning of the year’s third quarter throws up the biggest challenge for a value fashion brand e focus and th s e in tl u o such as Max - it’s the sale season Jiten h Customer es to do wit su is for all retailers, and the brand has d te la r re nagement o a M ip to overcome the competition of sh n o Relati .. y. tl c reduced prices. in c e CRM suc rands requir

stickiness, b m.

• To ensure Max believes in deeper customer arding progra o -b n o g n o tr a s t engagement and enjoying along en st and consi • Relevant e with them as a community, h on during t

es k communicati a m 18-24 being one of the growth hat process is w e h on-boarding t drivers for max. One of the most h it w ip relationsh successful CRM programs or breaks the . er m o was the College Fash Bash st cu g high-value in g a g en f o campaign aimed at promoting nto • The goal urture them i n o t sales during July-August, and is s er m custo -shoppers. er w o p l tapping into the college-going ya o l becoming his t d n ra b a customers. “College Fash to g loyalty e im et if • Increasin l d n Bash was the first digital-led retention a way ensures campaign executed by Max s. er ustom value VOF c Fashion India. The strategy

was divided into three categories – Impact and Awareness, Sustenance and Recall,” says Jiten. The campaign used a mix of media such as banners, influencer chain-activity and launch films that were heavily promoted on social media.

The marketing team took the innovative approach of on-boarding 40-college influencers to promote this ‘Back to College’ campaign. The influencers styled themselves in ensembles from the range – Grunge and Athleisure - infused with a fresh and youthful energy. The activity directly engaged with the target groups and inspired them to get their wardrobes fitted with pieces from the collection.

The popular campaign delivered a unique reach of 65.17 million and 75,000 new customers.

Max EML 2018: HigHLigHts

The total engagement was with the loyalty base of 1.7 million youth across the country.

On ground, auditions reached a staggering 7,000.

Association with top 15 fashion influencers & 40 micro influencers across all metros were part of the programme.

The reach-out for registration covered 170 colleges and 20 malls.

Store promotions amounted to more than 270, the highest so far.

The campaign reached out to 6.5 million with an engagement rate of close to 28%.

ReSulT: ReACh – 13.9 MilliOn; TOTAl iMpReSSiOnS – 38.5 MilliOn lAkh HR 5

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fun@work

We at Max strongly believe in balancing work and play. Our Fun@Work program gives everyone a well-deserved break to enjoy various activities that bring people together to celebrate the little things.

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landmark day 2018

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Landmark Day was celebrated on October 22nd, 2018 across all the stores, warehouses and regional offices to celebrate the anniversary of our parent company that made everything possible and to cherish and relish the spirit of the teams behind Max’s ongoing success.

It was a great way to

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start the week with the celebration, bringing everyone together for a day of fun-filled games and exciting cultural activities to participate in.

After the cake-cutting ceremony, employees were treated to a delicious spread of food and a slice of creamy cake – a tradition in all celebrations.

north Kerala

lighting heart forup the diwali

Max celebrate s Diwali with a lot of zeal, co mplete with fe st ive decorations, diyas to light up the cubicles and employees dre ssed in colourful tra ditional outf its.

All store and regional office employees wer e invited to in dulge in a mouth-w atering feast .

Gifts and sweets w ere distribute d to everyone after a day of joyo us activities, wit h prizes bein g awarded for the best decor ations and the best dressed!

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birthday baSh!

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For a chance to celebrate each and every individual in the team, Max hosts birthday celebrations every month in stores, warehouses and regional offices. The aim is to show employees how special they are and to appreciate how much they contribute. Cake-cutting is always a big part of the day since no birthday is complete without a slice of a cake (or two!).

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tamil nadu east & Ci

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Max sweepstakes ‘I Love Max’ was the theme for this year’s Independence Day contest.

Each store nominated a team of 10-15 employees to represent their store.

The customer entrance of every store was decorated making use of three mannequins – a man, a woman and a child dressed in colours that reflect the theme

which made up the ‘hot spot’.

Photographs were eagerly sent to the HR team in the hope of winning one of the exciting prizes.

The RO VM team chose the best hot spots. The top 3 winners of the region won `5,000 worth Zeta GV per store while the top 3 winners across India won `10,000 worth Zeta GV per store.

Nothing is more fun than a contest between stores that inspires creativity, breaks the monotony of the day and wins you exciting prizes to become the talk of the town

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a simple a ct kindness of

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There’s nothin g more fulfilling tha n giving back to the commu nity during th e period of ‘Th e Joy of Givin g ’.

All stores had a wish tree with a variet y of wishes displayed to w hich employe es contributed w hat they could in cash or kin d. A group of employees vis ited the NGO to hand over th e donations. east & ci

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Say yeS to team bonding north

team outings aren’t just a fun day out to get away from busy work schedules.

It’s also a great way to create a healthy competitive environment for better collaboration and to get to know your teammates better.

Lively activities and outings that bring everyone together are planned in advance by the Regional HR Manager, so that everyone can be a part of the opportunity to enjoy these special get-togethers. west

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Don’t Dive right into the seeDy unDerbelly of office politics.

Win the game by playing smart... reaD this but With a pinch of salt!

Just because you do not take an interest in politics does not mean politics will not take an interest in you. Unfortunate as it may sound – if you are in office, you are in politics! So get set to co-exist, combat and survive the murkiness with guile, brilliance and sometimes with clever silence. Here are 15 tips to make life at work a smooth sail even through choppy waters...

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Just Don’t play: Sometimes static is power. So just be, do not take sides, ignore the rumours, have a poker face to gossip and cleverly pretend to be uninformed. Being an everyman’s man and nobody’s man at the same time is an art that can beat politics at its own game.

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be in the KnoW: It may be a bad idea to participate in politicking but it is even worse if you are not able to figure out what is going on. Be thoroughly informed.

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There are always allies, rivals and groups. So watch, listen intently, summarise and know who is aligned to whom and only then act.

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never choose a siDe: Howsoever apolitical you may be, you are often pushed into one group or the other. But don’t choose a side as that would be counterproductive too. Understand the rules of the game, identify the players and their thought process and then emerge as the harmless soul who is perceived

to be no good either way. Steer clear of simmering rivalries.

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builD alliances: A prudent plan to stave off politics – build strategic alliances to have a foot in as many political camps as possible.

Develop a personality such that major players should rely on you, no matter which political camp may be winning at a given point. Reliability comes with work acumen and utility: the two safety guards against being sucked into the murky rigmarole.

Hacks For

e c i f f O ics t i l PO POLITICS DETECTORS:

Who has lunch together?

Who gets invited to important meetings, and who doesn’t?

Who is always the first to know about coming changes, and who’s the last?

What are the hot buttons that get tempers to a boil?

Tackle Board:

1. Conflict is defined as a battle of wills between warring groups or individuals. Break this perception.

Replace “me vs you” with “we”.

Team up and be a unit instead of individuals fighting to win.

2. Deciding to stay out of office politics isn’t always possible; it is there to get you. And, as long as it’s going on around you, you’re going to be hit by it. The deal is to be a competent and conscious player and not become a pawn, if being a bystander becomes impossible.

3. Don’t be fooled into compromising “just this once,” and

indulging in gossip that travels faster than light, because once is all it takes to lose control and be sucked into the cauldron.

4. Be the person people would want to sit next to at lunch. If perceived as arrogant or anti-social, your colleagues will not cover your back or warn you of impending danger and, sometimes, even sabotage your work. So be the sociable, harmless colleague who everyone wants on their side.

5. Power and influence are extremely shifty. So, stay tuned into office dynamics at all

?

times. Be visible with influencers and continue building strategic networks.

vy. ally sav Be politic ews is dn The goo a skill, is that this You can it. a r t a not it acquire learn it, it, and ed and emb eed to ’t n n o you d ise your comprom doing so. in integrity

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Figuratively Speaking...

According to one study, the estimated productivity loss because of politics-related stress is more than $100 billion in the United States alone. While that statistic is alarming, most companies are yet to truly understand the connection between politics and performance.

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Be PrinciPled: Let’s admit it.

On the face of it, office politics looks like fun and often comes in as a good time pass. But good things come to a fast end and what’s left is the onerous task of garbage clearing.

So, before going into any act charged by office politics, question yourself. Is it fear, revenge or jealousy that’s consuming you? Then don’t do it. Stick to your principles, value your beliefs, talk yourself back into fair play. Do not get involved.

Period! Like everything else, this too shall pass, so learn to bide your time and emerge the ultimate winner.

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Be The Feel-Good Person: Everyone likes ego strokes – hearing nice things about themselves. It’s especially true of the ones prone to politics at your workplace. So engineer masterstrokes. Sometimes, faking it is a good move. Even if your personal opinion about your colleague is zilch, never let him or her know. Go the extra mile to build a working camaraderie with all.

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MaTch Body lanGuaGe WiTh Words: Actions speak louder than words. You can’t just say “you’re awesome” and accompany

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it with negative body language.

Remember, non-verbals make more impact. There can be nothing worse than getting caught being a fake. Say good things with a smile, a friendly nod, a positive back pat...

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no caMPinG in oFFice: Never ever join any camp, group or dispensation emerging out of or embedded in politics.

Remember, mostly, it is ungainly power struggles that fuel office politics. Usually, the fight isn’t about any issue at hand. It is just one-upmanship gone wrong and obsessive. So develop the ability to merge into any “camp”. Don’t get involved and you are sure to get out of the line of fire.

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Be nice To all: This is the hardest skill at work, to be nice to all not-nice people. But where there is politics there is need for this guile. Hide your emotions and display on the monitor things that do not disrupt moods. Develop the art to catch flies with honey and not vinegar. Temper the need to strike back and eventually the barkers will become more tolerable because you never gave them that reason to attack you.

Chilling Fallout

After the 1986 Chall enger explosion, NASA launched an investigation to determine its cause.

The testimony of scientists and engin eers who worked on the space shuttle wa s chilling. It showed that some people wh o worked closely on the project had be en worried about the craft’s worthiness.

Others just felt tha t it shouldn’t be launc hed. However, tho se interviewed never spoke up because they feared the political ramifications of do ing so. They felt that the programme needed to look successful and a delay would ruin that image.

While many peop le could have suggested stopping the launch, nobody wanted to face the personal ramificati ons of doing so. Such a call would not have been grounds for dis missal, but it would have meant “caree r limiting” politics around their statem ent.

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arT oF consTrucTive criTicisM: Meetings often lead to fracas, discontent, groupism and eventually politics. Shed the tendency to criticise people and not the ideas. They are not bad even if their idea seems to be. Question them about the idea instead of running them down. Come out of the meeting room with friends, not foes.

Gossip no, Work yes: Gossiping, backstabbing and manipulating may look good on a secret resume, but they are not the things needed to win at office politics. Keeping your eyes on the goal, doing your work diligently and being largely unaffected and unruffled by the goings-on around you will help you deal with your workplace’s unique political atmosphere.

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Understand their Psyche: Usually, the politicking kind are either without work, shirkers or people who are miserable within. Understanding them and empathising with them could be one politically viable hack. There is a background to mean behaviour. And they may do the damage with a holier-thanthou attitude. Treat them with caution.

Maintain a distance and strike a balance.

Be a Good Listener: Talk less. Be that person all camps would go to for emptying out their baggage of woes, their onslaughts to situations and co-workers, their frustrations and their need to lash out. Listening also helps you know what’s going on and where tempers are restless. Steer clear and you will be good to go.

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BLind trUst is FooLish: Always assess people and the situations they can create. Listen, observe and always tread with caution if you are sharing information. Never let an unguarded moment creep into any kind of boss talk. It is sure to travel, all spiced up!

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shed oFFice at oFFice: Office politics almost always ruins your life outside office.

Carrying a nasty mood back home is doom-some for your spouse, children and friends, not to mention your mental health. Leave politics in the office dustbin. They’ll be there when you return!

Crippling Effect

According to a European study, office politics has been a crippling force that has retarded big decisions in companies. It has inhibited an organisation from being consistently profitable over time by undermining its decision-making process.

According to another five-year-old study, the impact of office politicking on individual workers is huge. The more politicised work becomes, the less responsible workers become. Instead, they grow psychologically disconnected from their jobs and learn to work just for their pay check. They rarely put in extra effort and stop taking risks and thinking creatively.

Political Anxiety According to a study conducted by leading recruiter Adecco, 33 per cent of workers in the UK said office politics was a major contributing factor to unhappiness and they dreaded going to office because of that. As many as 28 per cent of workers admitted to calling in sick because of politics-related anxiety.

Such negative feeling was impacting working lives with 29 per cent workers spending every Sunday thinking about the next Monday.

Thirty six per cent said they were seriously considering leaving their employer due to severe anxiety and, quite alarmingly, 9 per cent had already quit because of office politics.

Asked how they felt about the new working week, 44 per cent said they felt depressed, anxious or stressed as compared to 23 per cent who said they had prepared themselves to manage office politics and its many fallouts.

25 per cent said they would like more managerial support in their team

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Workplace Wellness

The fact is that good health – mental, physical, spiritual – goes a long way for a healthy work-life balance. Several studies have shown that a happier, healthier workforce is more productive. This one’s for the bosses to implement...

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Eat Light, Feel Right Obesity, heart disease, diabetes... all common health issues in our overworked lives. Ditch the fried and sugary foods in your canteen and make way for healthier meals and snacks so your employees get wholesome foods instead of reaching for those chips or fizzy drinks.

stretch it out

Beat the stress of hectic schedules, strict deadlines and impossible clients. Make some space and roll out mats to hold yoga classes a few times a week. Maximise all the health benefits since yoga not only cures what ails the mind but also the body.

Think PosiTive Burnout, bullying and absenteeism are only a fraction of problems your employees could be facing regularly. Up the group activities, team outings and even one-on-one conversations to boost the team spirit and camaraderie.

A meditation room for some peace and quiet also helps to nurture well-being.

surviving these long hours isn’t always an easy task.

Interactive games or even a ping-pong or foosball table will get them off their devices and help recharge their batteries.

Take iT easy Most people work more than eight hours a day, and

Be Active:

People with desk jobs are no strangers to the aches and pains of sitting too long, staring at a screen all day or typing furiously that can lead to long-term problems. Take breaks, drink water or just catch-up with a colleague to break the monotony.

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Take 10

get to know more about the life and work of the ambitious, ever-learning ganesh babu, the vice president of the finance department.

1

Please share some highlights of your life’s journey.

Qualifying as a Chartered accountant tops the list. next on the list would be the time when i went from finding it too hard to hold a bar of soap due to neurological issues to gaining enough strength to lift my teenage son and embarrass him.

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what are the toP 3 things that have set aPart your time at max? to me, the first, second and third thing that sets max apart is the balance between passion and committment everyone brings to the table. no matter how passionately one believes in his/her views, once a decision is made, everyone commits to it wholeheartedly and works towards the common goal. that is the outcome of an inclusive environment where all employees are engaged

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and can bring their authentic selves to work.

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how would you advise your Colleagues on managing their Personal finanCes? when investing, always remember that the safety of the capital is more important than the potential returns. in the case of personal finance, if something sounds too good to be true, it more often than not is indeed that.

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what has really insPired you and left a lasting imPression? when i was young, i read the book Papillon that details henri Charriere’s wrongful conviction, incarceration and subsequent escape from prison. it is a story of how he never gives up on his escape to freedom despite numerous failed attempts. that book had a huge impact on me and on the importance of perseverance against all odds.

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Max Fashion is all about upholding FaMily values. tell us a little about your FaMily. i’m from the southern part of tamil nadu, near rameswaram. growing up, life was not easy but it taught me the core values that keep me grounded till date and stop successes from going to my head. the most important of those is to find contentment and remember to appreciate what we have, while aiming to reach high. it is this value that i would like my son to uphold as he grows up and faces the world out there. in this world of instant gratification, it is very easy to take what we have for granted. i want my son to know that happiness and contentment is a choice only he can make for himself and that it has to come from within.

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What is a typical day oFF like For you? it really depends on my mood. some days especially when my son comes over, the whole day could be spent showing off my culinary skills. other days, it could be a long drive or a walk exploring new places. there are also some days when i laze around and catch up on my sleep.

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hoW do you recharge and stay Focussed? a few years ago, i took a break and went to uk and europe. i learnt the importance of getting your priorities right and finding your work-life balance as a routine and not necessarily just through vacations. since then, i always make it a point to find my work-life balance and stick to it.

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What do you think about the iMportance oF physical Fitness? physical fitness is very important in my view. it goes back to what i said

I think every child should find his/her own way in their life. The role of a parent is to be there for them through thick and thin and remain non-judgemental about work-life balance, but also to the fact that being fit physically gives you confidence in your personal and professional life. in my case, my day typically starts early at around 5 a.m. i spend at least an hour at the gym, come back home refreshed, recharged and ready for the day.

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What deFines a stylishly dressed person to you? style is individual to everyone. dressing comfortably and based on what suits you is more important than dressing based on trends.

What makes a person stylish is the confidence with which they carry themselves.

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rate yourselF as a proFessional, a FaMily Man and boss on a scale oF 1-10. i would rate myself 9 as a professional, 6 or 7 as a family man and 8 as a boss. i rate myself highly as a professional as i never allow any personal bias come in the way of my integrity even if it can potentially have a negative personal impact for me. professional integrity is something i never compromise on. it is for the same reason i rate myself highly as a boss as well. you have to take difficult decisions which may affect the people you work with.

Work took me to various places in india and overseas. i didn’t spend as much time as i would have ideally liked to with my family especially during my son’s childhood days. that is why i rate myself lower there, but life is not always fair and you have to make difficult choices.

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when like minds meet Regional Confluence this year brought Max employees together for a thought-provoking conference held over two days with the aim of sharing the organisational strategy with the regional and store teams and to work on an execution plan based on the

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key strategies. The event was held for the Regional Functional Heads, Store Heads and the RO members.

After a values re-launch, there were interactive presentations, a cultural program performed by the participants and a speech by an external speaker.

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celebrating people The People Icon Awards were

held for the first time this year as part of Regional Confluence.

Employees were awarded in three categories – individual, store and special category. The individual category included seven awards such as

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best staff member and cashier while the store category included spotlight and retention. The special category was region specific, with awards going to the most valued

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staff of the year along with a Max Value Certificate. The year’s effort came together with the Clash of Icons representing each season. It was followed by a gala dinner for all the members present.

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Keep It Fresh with

Modern Learning Learning has never been easier with Max’s new Learning Management System, Max Your Learning, that brings together everything that you need to know for your role. A modern take on training, the interactive platform is user-friendly and accessible wherever you need it.

A Learning Management System (LMS) is your one-stop-shop that provides an effective method of sharing all training and learning content efficiently on a digital platform. Over the years, LMSs have become a powerful tool that 22

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is easily accessible by a group of employees to stay engaged with new content at their own pace.

Our Learning Management System, ‘Max Your Learning’ aims to digitalise the process of training

and learning by creating a platform for all existing content that is updated when required to meet the needs of the variety of roles our employees fill. Besides the current e-learning content available, new content is organised into bite-sized

modules with small self-explanatory courses that are made available to all employees who use the system. The LMS provides an easy way to deliver this tailor-made content, enroll users to role-specific courses and create a well-defined career path for each of them to pursue. It’s equally beneficial for the management to monitor and assess employee performance and achievements and track their progress.

After much work done to provide the best source of training and content, ‘Max Your Learning’ has been crafted to be more userfriendly. The personalised platform allows you to easily find what you need without having to scroll through the plethora of information available online. The self-initiated system is accessible at all times for your convenience and all employees at the stores and the regional office will be able to make use of the new system except for those who have joined Max after March 31st, 2018.

The ‘Career Progression’ section is one of the main features available on our LMS. This tab is dedicated to

The ‘Career Progression’ tab has several subsections such as ‘Certification Training Content’ that contains all the modules, assignments and assessments for a specific role. The ‘Checklist’ has brief descriptions of tasks the employee will have to complete on their jobs while the ‘Training Assessment’ section covers multiple-choice questions.

‘Progression Assessments’ not only has multiple-choice questions but also subjective assessments that are available for use only once the

This is a self-initiated and personalised platform for easy access to training modules and e-learning. defining an individual career path for each employee who logs into the system. Employees will be able to see a trajectory for their career based on the role they are currently employed in. All the various activities associated with the role that have to be performed through the tenure of the role are included.

HR department has confirmed the courses. For Regional Office employees, this tab is more focused on units on ‘Functional Induction’ apart from the ‘Mandatory E-learning’ for their roles.

To improve performance and productivity amongst in-store employees, Max Your Learning easily tracks data such as selection ratings, promotion ratings, performance, manager feedback, achievements, initiatives, observations and feedback.

The ‘Career Passport’ section captures all the relevant details HR 23

in an employee’s life cycle. This section stores all employee personal data including your competencies, interests, aspirations, skills and Individual Development Plans (IDPs). ‘Career Passport’ is divided in a way to personalise content for store employees, senior store employees and regional office employees wherein all store employees have a similar list of categories available to them. To improve performance and productivity amongst in-store employees, the interface easily tracks selection ratings and feedback, promotion ratings and feedback, performance and manager feedback, achievements, initiatives, and observations and feedback. While store employees only have a category dedicated to the training they have attended, senior store employees also have one that has the training which has been conducted too. There are separate tabs for career progression in the company and store-and

Max Your Learning is easily accessible wherever you are so download the app on your Android phone and learn on the go. department-wise trackers. Similar to the ‘Career Progression’ tab, regional office employees only have sections on the training that they have attended, observations, feedback and their career progression, apart from their personal data.

The ‘Learning’ tab contains the

ade Tailor-m just content ou for y ur Track yo s ie it activ ing and trainles schedu Assess employee performanc and progres e s

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learning modules and training content for all the various roles in each department, but once a user is registered, he or she will only have access to the content that is relevant to their role like the rest of the platform. The ‘Learning’ tab is divided into ‘My Courses’ and ‘Course Library’. The ‘My Courses’ tab contains a list of all the mandatory courses a user has to complete which could include Certification Courses and Assigned Courses. On the other hand, the ‘Course Library’ is a repository of all the training modules that are applicable to a certain role that an employee can undertake as and when it is required.

The last tab that makes up all the main features of the LMS is the ‘My Calendar’ tab that has an overview of the upcoming training schedules for any user who is using the platform. The platform is easily accessible on your computer by logging in with your employee ID and password. You can even download the app on your Android phone so you can use it on the go.

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10 Things to do during office breaks

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Get that ‘Me time’: Treat yourself to your favourite snack or drink (non-alcoholic for sure!).

Choose a quiet spot to savour every bite or sip of it.

Clear the clutter: Organise your drawers and trash old papers, pens, clips and everything you haven’t used for the last six months.

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Meditate or exercise: Learn a few desk exercises to loosen those strained muscles or simply deep breathe for a few minutes and relax.

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Play a game: Not cricket for sure! Adventure Quest, PubG, The Room Series or all-time favourite – Candy Crush. If screentime is not for you, try another classic - Rock-paper-scissors.

Read something motivating: Make it a habit to flip through at least 4-6 pages of a book that truly inspires or motivates you. Don’t forget to share a snippet of wisdom with your colleagues.

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Make a friend in a queue: Out for lunch or coffee, make waiting time worthwhile. Engage in a friendly chat with the person standing before or after you. Helps you relax.

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Challenge a colleague: There are a bunch of brain-teaser games available online such as Lumosity, Brain Wars, TriviAlist.

Download one and challenge a colleague.

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Decorate your workstation: Personalise your desk with pictures, plants, motivational posters or colourful stationery. It will instantly lift your mood.

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Call a love d one: Get away from your desk and m ake that lo ng pending c all to your sibling, pa rent or frie nd.

You’ll be s preading happiness ...

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Listen to music: Create a playlist of your favourite songs. Plug in those earphones to indulge in music therapy.

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marketing scores a super high With neW seasons come neW campaigns... a big Winner this time Was celebrating tradition With a splash of colour, modern and trendy takes bringing back vintage denim, and the fash bash line that kept college kids looking cool and stylish 26

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College days are all about breaking free from expectations and finding yourself. To capture that feeling, ‘College Fash Bash’ was launched to celebrate the carefree days with lively prints, trendy cuts and modern fabrics.

To reach out to college kids, Max led a digital-first campaign promoting the grunge and athleisure collections. ‘Fash Bash’, the launch film, bumper ads, banners and influencer chain activity were all part of the strategy with a powerful call-to-action and incentive that related to youngsters – a free pair of Avengers headphones.

All the Max stores, malls, youth hang-out areas and colleges were splashed with catchy advertising.

College Fash Bash was featured online with the digital reach touching a whopping 65.17 million.

Even organic searches for the

across 30 sites in 5 cities. LEDlit Pookalams were a common element across all consumer touchpoints. With a total on-air presence of 9.4 hours across the top seven channels during the highest rated shows, the two engaging TV commercials – ‘Mother and Daughter’ and ‘Couple Selfie’ brought the campaign in focus.

Online roadblock displays added to the draw. The digital campaign had a reach of 200,000 with 1.2 million video views.

The ‘Denim It Up’ campaign came with in-store and online advertising and exciting offers, including a movie voucher worth `600.

From College Fash Bash to Max Diwali... here’s a bird’s eye view of all the marketing campaigns. website soared to 2.6 million.

With an achievement of 18% sales contribution and 23.5% LMR enrolment, the campaign was a hit, especially in youth-centric markets such as Pune and Mumbai.

To bring in the festive season, the Onam campaign – 3 weeks of television commercials, in-store and outdoor advertising – lit up the streets. Vivid displays, gate arches and outdoor advertising featured models in traditional patterned flair skirts and colourful blouses

In-store displays were covered in shades of blue to reinvent campus cool with asymmetric cuts, slogans and badge patches. A reach of close to 7 million and 5.3 million video views was achieved with digital marketing. Facebook advertising saw close to 20 million impressions, a reach of 6.8 million, 4,582 new fans and 24,830 likes. YouTube had 1 million impressions, 539,568 video views, 440,192 new channel views and 133 new subscribers.

Instagram that promoted denim dungarees and jackets saw a

2.2% growth in followers and 6,947 new fans.

Celebrating the diversity in Indian festivals, Max launched the ‘Pujo Shuru Max E’ campaign featuring traditional Indian wear with intricate embroidery and bright colours. The TV commercial had over 990 spots across popular channels such as Zee Bangla, Star Jhalsa and Jhalsa Movies. The face of the mall branding, gate arches and in-store advertising was Nusrat and Jisshu, two famous stars in Bengal. Exciting gifts with purchases was another draw.

The hoardings were in regional languages to ensure better connect.

There was something festive for everyone in the 4-page catchments written in local dialects and distributed at RWA and High Street. Kids too were a focus.

Then came the ‘Dussehra Utsava Max Jotege’ and ‘Max Diwali Khushiyo Wali’ campaign to promote the festive collection for families - complete with outdoor advertising, mall branding, TV commercials and multiplex videos.

There were hoardings for four weeks in more than 50 sites per city in all key locations. The multiplex video screened in over 300 multiplexes across India reached over 25 million. As part of the campaign, a special festive video was shot in four languages and captured real-life situations during the Diwali season.

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IN FOCUS: Forum Mall Store

‘Forum mall EmployEEs arE Warriors!’

Spread over three floors with an approximate retail area of 13,400 sq. ft., the Forum Mall store is the most successful store in the region.

Following its opening in September 2014, the store’s success has grown over the last few years, and now it enjoys the status of being the ‘anchor store’ in the mall.

This Maharathna store catches the attention of all regional stakeholders as the store’s success is said to be the benchmark of the region’s success. This success is sweeter for the many challenges 28

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it faces. A big challenge is the presence of stiff competition in the mall, including international brands and key retail players.

Another significant challenge is keeping up with hygiene requirements and ensuring that the merchandise display is the best.

The high number of customer walk-ins through the day – 2,5003,000 – is a blessing doubtless, but comes with its own problems!

With all this in play, the Forum Mall store still lures customers

with the eye-catching merchandise presentation and stock availability.

As the store’s popularity grows, plenty of interventions have been planned and piloted to make sure that targets are achieved and bottomlines delivered.

It’s no wonder that the spirit of the Forum Mall store and its employees is captured by the following, “If retail is war, Forum Mall is a war zone and the store employees are warriors!”, and that the store is fondly called ‘Forum Fighters’ throughout the region.

Contagious Enthusiasm I joined the company in 2012 and the last six years have been an enlightening and enriching experience in learning and development. My career has taken me to Inorbit Mall and Dilsukhnagar Thirumalghery, but my dream has always been to work with Forum Mall store since it’s considered to be the flagship store of the region and one with the most challenges. I was lucky enough to be chosen to be part of the Forum Fighters in early 2017 when the SM left.

It’s been a long leap from where we started in September 2014.

Forum Fighters has emerged a winner despite limitations of space, and competition, only because of its committed team which helped us win “The Best Maharathna Store Pan India” at the People Icon Awards 2017.

‘Customer Delight is Our Mantra’ ‘The Forum Mall store is undoubtedly one of the best stores in the AP & TS region. I don’t think our success would have been possible without the dedicated work of the team, and good peoplemanagement. The Store Leaders and floor staff should be given all credit because they have done their best and made the store what it is today. Having said that, I still believe that there is an enormous potential to fine-tune our efforts to further our innovative practices.’

Prashant Paul, AssistAnt Vice President, AP&ts region

It’s been an honour for me to lead and be part of the store.

The team really inspires me to go that extra mile to keep customers

happy and smiling which is one of the reasons that the store is the most preferred shopping destination.

Each team member has a remarkable sense of ownership which comes from our continuous engagement – two-way feedback, performance, career paths and goals.

Under an able leadership and capable team, Forum Fighters has been able to achieve many milestones such as SPD jump from `8.8 lakhs to `10.25 lakhs in 2017; the fastest achievement of `1 crore in 5 days in the same year; the highest single-day sales (31.80) SPF (100 RS) and stock turn (12 in the country) and five staff members promoted to ADMs. With a team like this, this is only the beginning - there’s more to be achieved. We hope this year is eventful. We are known for surprising everyone and we are determined to do so again.

Vinay Kumar Cm, store MAnAger

Going the Extra Mile Malls have become the talk of the town these days, and the best place to shop in Hyderabad is the Forum Mall because of the number of brands available, food courts and movie screens. The Forum Mall Max store is undoubtedly the flagship store of the AP & TS region.

The enthusiastic team inspires everyone to do more to create a great shopping experience for customers - this is why I’m so honoured to be a part of the Forum Fighters team. The strength of the team and its focus-driven approach is the reason behind its consistent success. The milestones we have achieved - including having created a `4.42 lakhs LMR database in the current year - are among the many other achievements under our belt. aswani Kumar, AreA MAnAger

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HR Social Initiatives

SPREADING AWARENESS

Henry David Thoreau, the famous American essayist and historian had once said, “Goodness is the only investment that never fails”. At Landmark Group, while fashioning a strong business has been the top goal, our priority alongside has always been to create a better world.

Keeping in sync with this quest, three initiatives in the fields of health and education were started under the aegis of the Landmark Group.

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SPREADING AWARENESS ABOUT DIABETES A special social initiative in the health sector spearheaded by the group was ‘Life Ahead’, a program with an objective to encourage women dwellers in slums to inculcate healthy living practices leading to a fit lifestyle for themselves and their families. Implemented in a cluster-approach, the program included blood sugar tests for those prone to high sugar. The need for the same was underlined to the women by specialised trainers. Programmes were held to empower women with knowledge and know-how about dealing with diabetes. Keeping in mind the mix of people, training sessions were conducted in Kannada, Tamil and Hindi languages. The program enables the beneficiaries to become ‘Health Champions’ in their communities, incentivising them to work more to spread awareness. In the current year alone, capacity-building sessions have been completed for 4,387 women.

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making healthcare simpler

To further create awareness about Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD), Landmark Group has the ‘Get Active’ program, under which camps were conducted for industry workers in slum communities in Bengaluru, Delhi/NCR, Coimbatore, Kolkata, Pune and Vijayawada.

Making healthcare simpler and easier, the program helped 2,65,775 people get tested in 2018 for anemia, hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease (CVD) and dyslipidemia – special emphasis was laid on enhanced diagnostics for diabetes and CVD.

a BaCK-TOEDUCaTION PROGRaMME

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This was the first initiative in the last season and was undertaken in collaboration with IIMPACT, a Girls Education Project. By providing primary education to 300 out-of-school girls from classes I to V in Vikas Nagar and Sahaspur districts in Uttarakhand, we aimed at creating an atmosphere and culture of knowledge. The project saw learning centres being set up in the aforementioned locations, giving the young ladies an opportunity to study in an atmosphere similar to formal government school systems. By helping them with the relevant initial assistance and tutelage, the setting aimed at encouraging them to continue their education.

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5 trends to note

in the apparel industry Constant innovation, understanding the consumers and sustainability are few key focus areas in the apparel industry. To stay on top of your game and ahead of your competitors, we focus on the top 5 research-backed trends which will help you score high.

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return of personalisation: Provide a customised user experience that touches the individuality of the customer.

This has to be the key point in the personalisation strategy that focuses on the overall one-on-one consumer interaction.

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Brand loyalty with customers: High expectations and more choices pose a challenge of retention.

Brands have to build trust among customers and positive impact to foster strong loyalty with them.

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staying competitive in the market: Apparel brands are facing more competition from peers than in other sectors. There’s a lot more aggression to grab top billing. The answer is to prioritise innovation; and increase tapping into consumer needs.

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start-up thinking mode: Traditional business models are passÊ. The industry needs to adapt to the start-up operational styles – innovative ways of working, hiring talent, partnerships and investments.

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omni Channel experience: Backed by technological innovations, create a strong strategy to integrate all consumer touch points (social media, store, online, mobile) seamlessly. This requires a holistic view of your customer behaviour on these channels.

a spirit of camaraderie, of healthy competition, goes a long way to enhance productivity