People Matters: Big shifts for 2020 - December 2019

VOL X / ISSUE 12 / DECEmber 2019

big Interview Nigel Vaz

Global CEO, Publicis Sapient

InterviewS Paul Dupuis

CEO & MD, Randstad India

Bin Wolfe

Managing Partner of Talent for EY in Asia-Pacific

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Special Feature

People Matters L&D 2019 Awards Winners

WA R D S AWARDS

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f you are to choose one thing that you would focus on as a people manager in 2020, what would it be? Well, be it leveraging data analytics or fostering relationship with robots, becoming agile, crystalizing your employer branding, or improving the well-being of your employees, you will end up touching upon “employee experience”. If you look at tech giants and industry leaders like Facebook, Google, and Amazon, these are the brands that build their entire core structure and organizational ethos around the experience of their workforce. Interestingly, this is the one topic that has seen mentions from almost all CHROs and people leaders we interacted with in 2019. As a matter of fact, the industry has seen advances on this front such as appointment of chief experience officers across several companies. Industry experts increasingly feel it is time to give employees a voice.

Because, top talent desires work experience that resonates with and reinforces the passion they have for their work.

To lead this effort, HR is partnering with all stakeholders including marketing, IT, finance, and heads of admins to create one seamless experience for their employees. This is helping them amass data from across touchpoints and make

| DECEMBER 2019

THE COVER STORY (BEHIND THE SCENE)

It’s not techtonic shifts!

Trippy and high were you?

Ummm...

VOL X / ISSUE 12 / DECEMBER 2019

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Workforce experience 2020

informed decisions about their employees, thanks to digital transformation drives that have given HR the access and power to bet on insights from the data deluge.

The actionable insights help them boost their employer brand, mend recruitment channels, offer positive touchpoints, and facilitate better communication. While many think workforce experience is about engagement, it is actually much more that encompasses the lifetime value of a talent. It is about giving them the optimum experience to make sure they are productive at their best at work and that they have the tools necessary to get their job done.

The cover story in this issue takes a deep dive into the defining trends of 2019 and what you should look forward to in 2020.

For the Big Interview this time, we have Nigel Vaz, the Global CEO of Publicis Sapient who discusses the myths about digital business transformation and change management strategies.

We have a special feature on the ban on romantic relationships at workplaces that have become prevalent since the #MeToo movement grabbed attention worldwide. We also have an in-depth interview with Lekha George, Head of People & Communities, ASEAN and Korea at Cisco, who shares insights on the talent landscape in APAC, the role of employee engagement in the digital world; and an interaction with Parminder Singh, the Chief Commercial Officer and Digital Leader at Mediacorp Singapore.

This issue also carries a rapid-fire interview with Norlida Azmi, the CHRO of HSBC, Malaysia.

Finally, we have a special feature on the winners of People Matters L&D Awards 2019, featuring companies that have used innovative learning programs to solve critical talent challenges.

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

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contents cover story

D E C E MB E R 2 0 1 9 volu m e x issue 1 2

48

42

Catching up to workforce 2020

By Jason Averbook, Leading analyst, thought leader and consultant in the area of human resources and the future of work

50

What benefits worked in 2019 will help plan for 2020

By Cedric Luah, Managing Director, Head of Health & Benefits,

Asia and Australasia, Willis Towers Watson 52

By Richard Smith, Ph.D., Professor at Singapore Management University where he also serves as Deputy Dean for the Lee Kong Chian School of Business

54

C O N TE N TS

The defining trends that impacted the world of work this year and what to look forward to in 2020

By Mastufa Ahmed

Lifelong Learning: A tri-sector responsibility for ensuring relevance

The big step businesses need to take in 2020 to fix the skills gap

By Kelly Palmer, Chief Learning Officer of Degreed and

co-author of The Expertise Economy: How the Smartest Companies use Learning to Engage, Compete, and Succeed 56

Business Horoscopes are easy to write

By Abhijit Bhaduri, Author, columnist and management

consultant 57 expert views

44

46

By Nigel Oseland, Co-Founder of Workplace Trends

The next talent agenda

By Dave Ulrich, Rensis Likert Professor, Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, and a partner at the RBL Group

L&D needs to move from a ‘supply chain’ approach to a continuous learning ecosystem

By Deb Bubb, IBM’s Chief Leadership, Learning and Inclusion

58

Asia Pacific 60

2020 – So, what for HR?

By Clinton Wingrove, Director of

www.WantToBeGreatManager.com and www.ClintonHR.com

Editor-in-Chief

Features Writers

Senior Editor

Assistant Managers, Content

Esther Martinez Hernandez Yasmin Taj

Manav Seth | Vallari Gupte Anushree Sharma | Bhavna Sarin

Associate Editor, Print & Online

Mastufa Ahmed

Manager, design, photography, and production

Marta Martinez

Senior Associates, Content

Drishti Pant Neelanjana Mazumdar Design & Production

Shinto Kallattu

Manager, Content

Digital Head

Jerry Moses

Prakash Shahi

Associate Editor

General Manager, Sales

Abid Hasan

Senior Features Writer

6

Employee experience to remain a priority for businesses in 2020

By Lara Hernandez, Senior VP, Human Resources, Hilton in

Officer

Shweta Modgil

Businesses will continue to focus on employee wellbeing and performance

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

| DECEMBER 2019

Manager, Sales

Saloni Gulati saloni.gulati@peoplematters.in +91 (124) 4148102 Manager, SUBSCRIPTION

Neha Yadav subscribe@peoplematters.in +91 (124) 4148101 Printed and Published by

Mahesh Kumar on behalf of People Matters Media Pvt. Ltd. Owned by

People Matters Media Pvt. Ltd. Published at

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Note to the readers The views expressed in articles are those of the authors and do not reflect the views of People Matters.

Although all efforts have been made to ensure the accuracy of the content, neither the editors nor the publisher can take responsibility for consequences arising from errors

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Reproduction in any manner without prior permission from the publisher is prohibited.

Printed at Polykam Offset C-138, Phase - I Naraina Industrial Area New Delhi - 110028 Published at 503-505, 5th Floor Millennium Plaza, Tower A Sector 27, Gurgaon-122009

This issue of People matters contains 104 pages including cover

contents 24

the big Interview

interview

Stay connected to the people that you are leading

India is a land of unpredictability

Nigel Vaz, Global CEO, Publicis Sapient

Randstad India

Paul Dupuis, CEO and MD of

By Abid Hasan

By Bhavna Sarin

17 G I G E C O N O MY

SPECIAL FEATURE

Workers without borders:

78

What makes gig workers tick?

By Joanita Lawrence

Horizontal growth will be an essential component to employee happiness and fulfillment

By Dhruv Mukerjee

40 Support employees

Ben Reuveni, Co-founder, Gloat

By Shweta Modgil

Are our employees emotionally intelligent?

to achieve ‘work-life harmony’

20 The state of digital skilling

By Jerry Moses

C O N TE N TS

30 I n t e r vie w s

18 Ne w s F e a t u r e

Bin Wolfe, Managing Partner of Talent for EY in Asia-Pacific (APAC)

By Jerry Moses

29 Rese a r c h

Don’t give away your power

By Jeffrey Pfeffer, Leadership guru & professor of organizational behavior at Stanford Graduate School of Business and M. Muneer, Co-Founder and Chief Evangelist of the non-profit Medici Institute

36

62 Naomi Climer on the

future of work and skills

66 T h e r o a d less t r a velled

Naomi Climer, Co-chair of the Institute for the Future of Work

By Vallari Gupte

34 HR s t r a t e g y

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

62 Workforce reskilling

By Sivakumar Palaniappan, Founder Director at Thinkfluence Global

88 L E ARN I NG & D E V E L O PM E NT Galvanizing learning & development

The power of being a Deep Generalist

38 T a le n t Ac q uisi t io n

Reinventing talent acquisition

By Saurabh Dwivedi, Director at Deloitte India

Corporate India’s mental health crisis

By Dr. Swatee Sarangi, Head, Capability Development at Larsen & Toubro

92 Wo r k p l a ce Rel a t io n s h i p s

The McDonald’s debacle

By Anushree Sharma

should be a big priority for businesses

Lekha George, Head of People & Communities, ASEAN and Korea at Cisco

By Mastufa Ahmed 84 It is a ‘Hit Refresh’ scenario Manu Wadhwa, CHRO, Sony Pictures Networks India

By Bhavna Sarin

90 Stay out of the way of regulars

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

Rapid Fire

98 Knowledge + Networking 100 Blogosphere

8

talent to foster their development & growth

Featured In this issue

| DECEMBER 2019

Ben Reuveni Bin Wolfe Deb Bubb Douglas Foley Kiranmai Pendyala Lara Hernandez Lekha George

Manu Wadhwa Naomi Climer Nigel Oseland Nigel Vaz Norlida Azmi Parminder Singh Paul Dupuis

CONTRIBUTORS to this issue Abhijit Bhaduri Cedric Luah Clinton Wingrove Dave Ulrich Jason Averbook Jeffrey Pfeffer Joanita Lawrence

Kelly Palmer M. Muneer Richard Smith Saurabh Dwivedi Sivakumar Palaniappan Dr. Swatee Sarangi Visty Banaji

Douglas Foley, Sr VP, HR & Administration, Intercontinental Exchange and Kiranmai Pendyala, Head of Human Resources and Site Administration for India, Intercontinental Exchange 95 Collaboration is the key to

the future of work

Parminder Singh, Chief Commercial and Digital Officer of Mediacorp

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Letters of the month

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

Skills gap: Bridging the chasm

Your cover story aptly highlights the vitality of organizations to ensure that their training and skilling programs are in-sync with the rapidly changing business environment. It was interesting to learn how global leaders are tackling the challenge of inculcating a culture of continuous learning and the strategies they are deploying to upskill their workforce without disrupting the day-to-day business. All the experts featured in the story agree that to bring about any discernible change, the L&D function must align the learning needs of individuals with that of the business. Further, we must use modern technology to facilitate the development of personal, democratic, and collaborative learning journeys that retain the human element. Even for someone like me, who has been in the L&D domain for almost a decade, the story had new insights and brilliant suggestions to offer. I recommend all L&D leaders and practitioners to go through the interviews with a fine-tooth comb and identify the best practices that they can apply in their organizations.

- Sandeep Sharma

The new age of learning and India’s slow steps forward The speed with which technology has changed businesses and made certain roles redundant has necessitated urgent changes in the way we are imparting skills to the current and future workforce. The challenge is compounded further in India owing to a large number of people that enter the workforce each year, and these challenges manifest in different forms.

The only effective way to get through disruptions is to provide relevant training

to people and equip them with skills that enable them to work alongside technology.

Government and business leaders need to realize that it’s not just the jobs that are at stake, but the entire paradigm that helps millions of people earn their living. If we are to design an inclusive and successful future of work, we need a cohesive and collaborative strategy that involves the academia, the government, and the corporate sector to anticipate the skills needed in the future.

- Shikha Bhatija

We can no longer find ‘best practices’

I agree with Wiwik Wahyuni that relying on ‘best practices’ followed by peers, and industry leaders is no longer a viable approach, especially in HR. The rise of new workplace cultures and processes, alongside changes in the workforce composition, have led to challenges that vary uniquely from organization-to-organization. Today, talent management has become an integral part of the organizational strategy to survive and sustain in an increasingly unpredictable world. And that puts the onus on HR leaders and professionals to design engaging and innovative people policies that help the workforce leverage their collective learning and respond to challenges in a timely fashion. Thus, HR has to solve the challenge of balancing the changing talent dynamics with evolving business requirements, and one of the most effective ways to do so is by building a highimpact learning culture.

- Piyush Chawla 10

| DECEMBER 2019

NOVEMBER 2019 issue

The unseen plight of the gig economy The article discussing the challenges faced by gig workers raises several crucial questions regarding the conditions of gig workers. Having been a gig worker for almost a decade now, I can attest to the lack of formal structures, rules, and processes in Indian organizations to accommodate contractual workers seamlessly within the existing ecosystem. While things have improved somewhat in the last couple of years, the pace has been glacial, and a lot more remains to be done to ensure that gig workers are treated fairly. I am glad that business leaders and organizations have identified the potential of utilizing the skills of the enormous gig talent pool and have started the process of formalizing their role in business. However, we need clear laws and regulations to ensure that the playing field is level for everyone and that gig workers have protections in place.

- Sneh Jha

Interact with People Matters

Workplace after Section 377

- Himanshu Garg

The cost of presenteeism I was in for a rude shock when I read the article on presenteeism because the reallife examples quoted in the same are all too familiar. We’ve all pushed ourselves to turn up to work for an important meeting or because of a lack of leaves, only for our health to take a turn for the worse.

As someone in the HR profession, I see people pushing themselves even when they should be recuperating at home. While naturally, our existing workplace and business culture is at fault, I believe, the situation has gotten worse with the advent of new-age digital work processes, which do not allow employees to disconnect from their work completely. The romanticization of working long hours, running on fumes, and operating on caffeine needs to be reversed and be replaced with the concept of living a balanced life. However, this would require organizations, HR leaders, and employees to come together and design a workplace that promotes wellbeing and productivity.

- Himani Vij

Artificial Intelligence and automation will help make work much more meaningful Steven Hatefield’s observation that AI and automation can help us make our work more meaningful is finding wider acceptance. We have seen the narrative shift from doomsday predictions to ambitious skilling targets in the business world as well. However, as he rightly points out, to be adequately prepared for the future, we must invest in skilling, learning experiences, innovation, and begin the process to shift away from hierarchies. We must focus on building the right culture, the right workplace, and the right employee experience to ensure maximum productivity in the workforce. I also agree with him on the fact that leaders must be authentic enough to admit their shortcomings and develop modern capabilities like venture management, complex systems thinking, pattern recognition, etc. Lastly, his advice to CHROs and business leaders on how to prepare for the future is invaluable for existing, and the next generation of leaders to fully harness new work models and manage their teams effectively.

- Ashutosh Luthra

Are data-driven decisions the best decisions?

The study which analyzes the merits of data-based decisions has an important reminder for all HR professionals: do not doubt your instincts. No matter how advanced data analytical tools become, the results they provide should always be contextualized with human experience and emotions. While I agree that collecting and analyzing data has significant benefits, making data the center of everything obstruct optimal decision-making as well. The authors of the research rightly suggest that the implementation of databased decisions must be done after taking into consideration the contextual realities.

Thus, objective data, numbers, and information must be supplemented with human knowledge and experience to reach the right conclusion. And as we discuss how to keep the ‘human’ element alive in an increasingly-digital HR, this is a lesson we must not forget.

- Aishani Gupta

SumTotal INDIA @SumTotalIndia Brilliant conversations by big minds on aspects of culture, people managers, millennials, automation and human in HR on today’s RT. Thanks to all our guests for being such a participative audience. @SumTotalIndia @PeopleMatters2 RT Thyagarajan Bhaskar @bhaskarbluesky Partnering @PeopleMatters2 for the #PMLnD for 4 years in a row. Never failed to deliver. Kudos to @Ester_Matters @pushkaraj7 and team for a fab event once again. We're coming back next year. Bigger and bolder.

SivakumarPalaniappan @sivaspeaks2 Had a lovely day at #PMLnD in Mumbai learning and meeting some of the best minds in L&D. Got to win a Google Home in the Twitter Contest. Hope all my day's tweets were of great help for you guys in leveraging your learning. Thank you @ Ester_Matters and @PeopleMatters2 team.

The Outstanding Speakers' Bureau @The_OSB "Superior products, superior pricing or superior service is the way to gain advantage. Create people offering superior service for your company to flourish." #TOSBSpeaker @gurcharandas @PeopleMatters2 LnD Conference 2019. #PMLnD #SparkANewThink Ashish Vidyarthi @AshishVid Far... Wide... Beyond... Human beings can travel, if they can dive into the unknown .. Learning and development when it is untethered from past frameworks, creates value on a real time, need basis. We at avidminer.com curate such workshops. @PeopleMatters2 #pmlnd19

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

I am glad to know that the challenges faced by members of the queer community have started to lessen since the Supreme Court’s ruling on Section 377 last year. While there has been a shift in the mindsets of leaders and the workforce, I agree that we still have a long way to go as people are still afraid to assert their identity in the workplace without the fear of discrimination and harassment. Organizations must formulate apt policies to ensure that queer employees are not discriminated against and build advocacy groups that address their concerns in the workplace.

I am sure that with increased awareness and better understanding, people will become more supportive of the LGBTQIA+ colleagues in their vicinity. If businesses envision to build genuinely inclusive workplaces and want to make the most of a diverse talent pool, they must, as Suresh Ramdas says, bring the conversation of LGBTQIA+ employees to the table.

People Matters values your feedback.

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

Vijai Pandey @vijai_pandey Well done @PeopleMatters2 @Ester_ Matters and all the active participants of this wonderful discussion. #PMLnD is trending at #3 in India. follow

M > @PeopleMatters2

{WRITE TO US NOW BY SCANNING THIS CODE} DECEMBER 2019 |

11

ECONOMY

q u i c k

r e a d s

HK reports recession in Q3, job losses on horizon

In light of the escalating anti-government protests and US-China trade war, Hong Kong’s economy is caught in the crossfire and is facing the first recession in a decade. The country is facing a recession for the first time in 10 years during Q3, according to the government data. The

FUNDING

AI-based recruitment optimization technology startup Jobiak raises $2.3 Mn Jobiak, the creator of an AI-based recruitment optimization technology for search and social media platforms, has raised US$2.3 Mn in a seed funding round led by a group of private investors and entrepreneurs including Jane Hirsh (former CEO/Chairman of a major pharma), Raj

12

economy shrunk by about 3.2 percent in the period from July to September as compared to the previous quarter. The GDP reduced for the second quarter consecutively, thus meeting the criteria to qualify as a recession situation. The protests are likely to continue to take place through the rest of the year and analysts believe that it would result in a steeper slump almost akin to the time when the global economy was facing a financial crisis in 2008/2009 an during the SARS epidemic in 2003.

The store closures are likely to result in job losses and the uncertainty surrounding the trade-war in addition to the anti-government protests are likely to impact the overall economy is a major way. It remains to be seen whether the government-backed stimulus measures introduced to fuel the economy in the right direction would bear fruit.

| DECEMBER 2019

Surapaneni (private equity), Joe Beard (Perot Jain PE), Rajat Gupta (Former MD McKinsey & Co) and Shafiq Lokandwala (successful HR tech entrepreneur).

The founder, Venkat Janapareddy, has invested an additional $500K in this round.

Headquartered in Burlington, MA, with offices in India, Jobiak has a platform designed to directly publish job postings to Google for Jobs, maximize their ranking, and accelerate the flow of qualified candidates.

What Jobiak's machine learning platform has done is that it automated the entire process of meeting Google for Jobs' requirements, resulting in turning Google for Jobs into a very cost-effective recruitment channel for enterprises and their recruitment channel partners.

With this proposition, Jobiak is banking on partnering directly with search and social media platforms and recruitment channel partners to make available the benefits of its AI-based job scraping/ posting and optimization engine to the entire recruitment industry.

EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE

75 percent employees satisfied with their jobs in 2018: Report

In the latest Monster Salary Index, 75 percent of respondents said that they are satisfied with their respective jobs.

Out of the various factors contributing to this level of satisfaction, employees were most satisfied with the relationship with colleagues and superiors, at a level of 92 and 87 percent respectively in 2018. It has been observed that the satisfaction with the level of pay has fallen to 21.6 percent. However, pay, job security, and life-as-awhole-satisfaction are the only values below 70, indicating a rather satisfying work-life even if, overall, there’s a slight decrease of satisfaction in all the categories in comparison with 2017.

Out of all the sectors, education and research have registered the steepest fall in the satisfaction level to 53 percent in 2018 from 73 percent in 2017, while manufacturing and financial services, banking and insurance sectors have registered a six and four percent fall in the level of satisfaction by the respondents.

The analysis is an indicator of industries where satisfaction levels are the lowest and where they are the highest, providing food for thought to HR leaders to deliberate what could be the steps taken to improve employee sentiment in their respective industries.

JOBS

REMUNERATION

Tata Steel to cut up to 3000 jobs across Europe To combat the stagnant steel demand in Europe and global overcapacity, Tata Steel has laid out a restructuring and costcutting strategy, which includes job cuts of up to 3,000 across its European operations.

About two-thirds of the job cuts would be in office-based roles. However, Tata Steel didn't reveal where the job losses would be made and operations of which all locations will get affected. Currently, the company has steel-making facilities in the UK and the Netherlands, as well as other manufac-

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS

SKILLING

Demand for emotional intelligence skills soars six folds As new technologies automate more traditional and routine tasks, executives and employees recognize that emotional intelligence (EI) skills – such as self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship management – will be a key requisite for success in the future. While demand for EI skills is set to increase by six times in the next 3-5 years, recruitment and training in this area has mostly

Many in the US government believe that Huawei's equipment, particularly its 5G networks, pose a security risk. The quality of the products has been in question because of company's allegedly close ties to the Chinese government. While Huawei has denied that Chinese government plays any role in its operations, it has been banned since May. To lift this ban, Huawei is ready to invest in employees who help it build alternative products. The cash rewards are likely go to R&D teams and employees working to shift the company's supply chains away from the US. This move by Huawei highlights the increased importance of innovation. What the telecom provider needs currently are employees who are able to think out of the box and work together to come up with alternative solutions. From innovative solutions to alternative supply chains, Huawei needs to transform the way it does business.

failed to adapt. This is set to leave many companies unable to reap the benefits EI offers in terms of employee satisfaction, revenue generation, lower attrition and cost reductions. The “Emotional intelligence – the essential skillset for the age of AI” report from the Capgemini Research Institute recommends that companies must combine technology with the talent to develop relevant skills among their employees. The research highlights four key areas on which organizations should

cial Services, and Consumer Products sectors stand out for the highest year on year growth. The Energy sector is expected to see a jump from 8.5 percent in 2019 to 9.3 percent in 2020, the Financial Services is projected at 9.7 percent in 2020 from 9 percent last year and the Consumer Products sectors is expected to see an increase from 9.5 percent in 2019 to 9.9 percent in 2020. Median salary increase at the Executive level for 2020 is projected at 10.1 percent, a noteworthy increase from 9.6 percent in the previous year. For Middle Management, Professional and Support Staff, an increase from 10.1 percent in 2019 to 10.4 percent in 2020 is projected. The employee group of Production Manual labor is also projected to receive a higher salary increase of 10.3 percent as compared to 10 percent last year.

Moreover, on an average, 25 percent of the salary increase budget is being allocated to top performers, which represents 11.5 percent of employees in India.

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One of the world's largest telecoms equipment provider, Huawei has announced that it will hand out 2 Bn yuan ($286 Mn) in cash rewards to staff working to help it move out of a US trade blacklisting.

turing operations. Tata Steel is not the only one to have been impacted by the stagnant steel demand in Europe. Earlier, in May this year, British Steel Ltd, the UK's second largest steelmaker, was liquidated and taken over by China's Jingye Group Co.

Salaries in India are projected to rise 10 percent in 2020, according to a survey by Willis Towers Watson. The increase is marginally higher than the actual increase (9.9 percent) in 2019, according to the latest Q3 2019 Salary Budget Planning Report.

While most sectors like General Industry, Chemical, High Tech and Pharmaceuticals can expect salary increases around average mark of 10 percent, Energy, Finan-

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Huawei to extend $286 Mn bonus to employees who will help in lifting the US ban

Willis Towers Watson predicts a 10% increase in salary in India 2020

focus to build a more emotionally intelligent workforce such as: customizing existing learning programs to integrate EI, making them accessible for all, modifying recruitment processes to include the evaluation of EI, applying an EI lens when promoting and rewarding talent, in addition to leveraging technology and data in order to build a high EI culture.

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newsmaker of the month

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Are policy flops cracking the Indian Telecom sector?

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I The telecom giant’s loss from India business has expanded to 692 Mn Euros in April-September 2019 as compared to 133 Mn Euros in the same duration last year

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n light of the Supreme Court order to Vodafone Idea, instructing the company to pay $4 Bn of fees in past dues, the group’s Indian business arm may soon be headed towards liquidation, according to the company’s CEO. Back in October, the Supreme Court ruled that non-core items should be included in computing AGR (Annual Gross Revenue). This led to Vodafone Idea facing a license fee due of more than Rs. 28,000 crores in addition to more than Rs. 11,000 crores in spectrum usage charge dues. It is interesting to note that the company’s revenue for the quarter ending in June was at Rs. 11,300 crores.

Nick Read, the Vodafone CEO, pointed out that there are “significant uncertainties” when it comes to the company’s capacity to generate a healthy cash flow which would enable them to settle the court fees by refinancing its liabilities, etc.

“VIL is seeking relief from the Indian government, including, but not limited to, granting a waiver of interest and penalties relating to the AGR judgment,” added Read.

Vodafone Idea is already $14 Bn in debt in Newbury and another airwave auction is fast approaching. The England-based company has thus decided not to put more money into the business. As a price war is being waged in India’s telecom industry since the launch of the lowprice model by Reliance Jio Infocomm by Mukesh Ambani, who also happens to be Asia’s richest man, the path forward for one of the most highly regarded mergers in the telecom industry appears to have hit a roadblock.

The telecom giant’s loss from India business has expanded to 692 Mn Euros in April-September 2019 as compared to 133 Mn Euros in the same duration last year. These dues come at the backdrop of a decade-old Rs. 20,000 crore dispute with the Indian government for withholding taxes over its acquisition of Hutchison Whampoa’s stake in order to make its way into India, back in 2007.

“If you don’t get the remedies being suggested, the situation is critical. If you’re not a going concern, you’re moving into a liquidation scenario –can’t get any clearer than that,” said Nick Read, Vodafone CEO. Vodafone, which also owns about 45 percent of Vodafone Idea, has asked for a two-year delay on spectrum payments and a lowering of license fees and other taxes. Moreover, the company has asked the courts to spread those spectrum payments over 10 years and is also looking for waivers on interest and penalties.

Headed by cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba, a government committee is looking into the request made by Read. If the situation continues to be "critical" the company could close down its operations in India, he added. This move could have a serious impact on the telecom sector jobs in the country which have already seen a steady decline in the last two years.

The Vodafone-Idea merger was announced in 2017 when the two companies had a joint goal of becoming India’s largest telecom operator with the widest network. However, turbulent times have haunted the telecom sector since then wherein about 1.5 million jobs were lost between JanuaryApril 2017. Vodafone itself had then taken the step of axing 1,400 people as a part of the merger.

By 2018, the team that handled the merger of Vodafone India and Idea Cellular advised the two companies to lay off about 5,000 employees between April 2018 and June 2018.

During these turbulent times for the telecommunication sector, Vodafone’s future plans in India continue to remain uncertain. As the landscape of work and definitions of job roles evolve, the nature of future jobs in the telecom sector is also likely to transform radically.

Read has reiterated that the company remains committed to India’s business and telecom sector in addition to the digital transformations taking place in the country on the communication and technology front, provided that the conditions are right.

McDonald’s fires CEO for violating company policy McDonald's has fired CEO Steve Easterbrook for violating company policy by having a relationship with an unidentified employee.

The US fast-food giant stated Steve Easterbrook "demonstrated poor judgment", as the company prohibits senior management from having relationships with other workers, whether they are under their direct supervision or not.

Jeffrey Goh steps down after eight years After working with the company for eight years, Jeffrey Goh, Group Chief Executive Officer of Network for Electronic Transfers announced his resignation from his role and all other appointments within the group effective. Goh would be moving on to pursue opportunities outside of the company and the group.

Google India appoints new Country Manager Former Star and Disney head Sanjay Gupta has been appointed as Country Manager for Google India. His appointment comes after the top India position remained vacant for eight months after Rajan Anandan quit in April this year to join Sequoia Capital. Gupta will also serve as Vice President of Sales and Operations for India.

Accor appoints new Vice President Commercial for India & South Asia Accor has appointed Kerrie Hannaford as Vice President Commercial for Accor India & South Asia. An industry Sales and Marketing veteran, Kerrie has been part of the Accor family for the past 15 years. In 2007 Kerrie was appointed to head sales, distribution & revenue management for Australia and then moved to New York City as the Vice President of Global Sales for North America.

TCR2 Therapeutics appoints new Chief People Officer Prior to joining the company, Dr. Justice was Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer at Surgery Partners, Inc. Dr. Justice will be responsible for leading all aspects of TCR2’s human resources function including the development and execution of Human Capital strategy.

Athletico Physical Therapy appoints new CHRO Athletico Physical Therapy announced Khymberly Booth as the organization’s new Chief Human Resource Officer. Booth will oversee all aspects of talent management and organizational effectiveness for the company’s 5,000 employees working in over 475 clinics across 12 states.

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Australian mining giant BHP appoints new CEO Henry will assume the role of CEO and Executive Director effective 1st January 2020, replacing Andrew Mackenzie who will retire as CEO on 31 December 2019.

Henry has 30 years’ experience in the global mining and petroleum industry, spanning operational, commercial, safety, technology, and marketing roles.

PeopleStrong appoints ex-Aon Hewitt CEO Sandeep Chaudhary as President Work and HR Tech brand PeopleStrong has appointed former Aon Hewitt CEO Sandeep Chaudhary as President and member of the board. This appointment comes as a part of PeopleStrong’s continuing effort to invest and drive accelerated growth in India and across Asia.

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Citi promotes Peter Babej to CEO for AsiaPacific Citigroup has named Peter Babej, the U.S. bank’s global head of financial institutions group, as its new Asia Pacific Chief Executive Officer. Babej joined Citi in 2010 as co-head of the financial institution group after having previously worked at Deutsche Bank and investment bank Lazard, according to the memo sent to staff by Citi global CEO Mike Corbat.

Chief Brand & Marketing Officer of Fabindia quits Retail chain Fabindia’s Chief Brand Officer Karan Kumar decided to move on from his role.

After working with the company for around three years, the marketing veteran chose to step down from his position. Before joining Fab India, he was working with ITC Limited as Head of Marketing, E-commerce, Portfolio, Digital experiences in retail.

Aon names Lisa Stevens Chief People Officer Global professional services firm Aon has appointed Lisa Stevens as Chief People Officer to further strengthen alignment and accelerate momentum in bringing its Aon United growth strategy closer to clients around the world. Stevens joined Aon last year from Wells Fargo where she was a 29-year veteran leading the Western region of the United States.

Chief Human Resource Officer of Flipkart quits After working with Flipkart for a year, the Chief Human Resource Officer, Smriti Singh, has stepped down from her role. The senior HR leader was managing people, talent, rewards, and learning and development in the company.

Akamai Technologies appoints new CHRO Akamai Technologies has appointed a new CHRO. Anthony Williams, current Vice President of Global Talent Acquisition and Diversity, will succeed James Gemmell as Chief Human Resources Officer, effective January 1, 2020.

DECEMBER 2019 | december

15

Rapid-Fire

TWELVE Qu e s t i o n s

interview

Norlida Azmi

Head, Human Resources, HSBC, Malaysia

By Neelanjana Mazumdar

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One thing that makes you passionate about HR?

Next big HR deployment HSBC is working around?

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Making a difference and the positive impact on people and the corporate culture, infused with energy and passion – resulting in both financial and people engagements automatically becoming natural outcomes.

Transformation of HR where people management is empowered at people managers level; with HR focusing on value-added roles that drive ‘Change the Bank’ goals.

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Appraisals based on rating or rating-less performance management?

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

My first formal job in HR was as CHRO; my CEO had confidence I could do it because of my people manager experiences that was my turning point.

Rating-less performance management; needs an optimal level of organizational maturity and people manager fairness and quicker link to rewards.

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One tech/innovation that will transform HR? Agility and digital competencies ‘barometer’ as we execute and re-execute.

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3 key talent priorities for HSBC, currently?

Driving customer-centricity in customer experiences, enhancing digital & sustainability acumen, and building a diversified talent in line with our D&I, digital and ESG goals.

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Gig Workers or Permanent Employees?

Combination, depending on the type of industry. Governance and control functions may need permanency. The people-gig-robot combination.

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I am a firm believer in the fact that we should be measured by our outputs

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Flexi work or 9 to 5?

Definitely flexi-work, I am a firm believer that we should be measured by our outputs - producing at high standards and within timeline.

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

Business driver; business goals today are defined by customers, employees and communities collectively.

Nuanced people management is a key lever.

How do you make decisions when you don’t have all the necessary information?

I extrapolate on what I have and weigh the pros and cons. And then proceed on in good faith.

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What percentage of decisions (approx) taken by HR heads are based on insights?

More than 50% and increasing that’s why the age of data analytics is so opportune/ timely where first level of insights is readily available.

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Things HR professionals must keep in mind while implementing tech in any HR process?

Complemented by strong change management and communication; co-creation and early engagement.

Joanita Lawrence

Workers without borders: What makes gig workers tick?

Understanding the motives and aspirations of gig workers and discussing how to best manage them

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The courage to earn a living as a freelancer only comes when an individual has immense belief in their skill set

The courage to earn a living as a freelancer only comes when an individual has immense belief in their skill set. Therefore, freelancers seek jobs that can challenge them and offer tasks that will motivate them to put their best foot forward. Considering that motives such as seeking promotion or developing a good equation with the boss are irrelevant to them, freelancers are solely focused on the task at hand. Therefore, organizations should ensure that they identify the skill set of a freelancer well and assign them tasks that keep them truly engaged. Also, the individual managing the freelancers needs to be aware of the current open market rates for the work being done commensurate to the experience of the freelancer, the time taken, the quality of work delivered, etc.

Tangible perks and non-wage benefits These include the same pay scale as regular employees, healthcare and life insurance coverage, paid time off, family leave, bonuses, and retirement packages, among others. However, healthcare coverage tops the list of valued benefits for part-time staff and contingent workers. Although some organizations offer healthcare insurance, it usually doesn’t provide extensive coverage. The legal ambiguity over the rights and entitlements of freelancers and independent professionals in India further adds to

E C O N OMY

Challenges & commensurate reward

their misery. In this unfavorable context, gig workers prefer companies, which provide access to healthcare coverage by letting them pay monthly premiums for a group health plan. This ensures a certain level of protection as well as financial security.

Bonuses also serve as a significant motivating factor for gig workers. These can come in various forms, including cash bonuses, gift cards, vouchers, personalized gift hampers, sponsored vacations, etc.

GIG

t has already been a decade since the term ‘gig economy’ was first coined

by Tina Brown, and yet it still seems like a wave of fresh air that is changing the way work is done.

Today, the employee-employer relationship has become more flexible than ever before as freelancers are working only on a particular task, for a defined period, and a specific purpose. Reacting to the more nimble global working environment, the Indian ecosystem is also gradually changing, and a strong freelance worker base is beginning to thrive in the country. In fact, India ranks as the 2nd largest freelance workforce after the US, with over 15 million people, significantly boosting the growth of start-ups while also providing expert services to top corporations across the globe. Freelancers, as the name suggests, are not committed to a longterm engagement with any organization.

They are skill-traders who are looking for opportunities that make the best use of their skills and the most suitable compensation. for the same As a result, it often becomes difficult for enterprises to retain a freelancer that they like for a prolonged period of time.

So, the question arises, what are professionals in the gig economy looking for in the organization of their choice?

While gig workers may not have access to certain benefits reserved for fulltime employees, they still expect to be recognized and rewarded. The recent protest of Google employees over the company’s unfair treatment of its temporary, vendor, and contract workers (TVCs) has furthered this discussion. If Google, a brand known for being arguably the most employee-friendly in the world, can’t get its ‘freelance’ equation right, then it merits some serious discussion.

Taking a cue from Google’s experience, let us look at what freelancers and independent contractors seek from their employers to develop a sustained relationship.

Intangible incentives Gig workers are more likely to join companies that offer intangible incentives. Access to learning resources, training sessions, upskilling and reskilling programs, and social events are great ways to attract contract workers and freelancers. Gig workers cherish their independence, yet they crave a sense of belonging. Their dream workplace is one that gives them freedom but makes them feel like a full-time employee at the same time. Especially for millennials, intangible incentives hold more value than monetary compensations.

Traditionally, engaging gig workers has never been as much of a priority for organizations as engaging regular employees is.

However, in the changing workplace landscape, taking a proactive approach towards freelancers and contingent workers has become essential.

About the authors

Joanita Lawrence is the Sr Manager HR at Haptik DECEMBER 2019 |

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Are our employees emotionally intelligent?

With AI becoming a strong force of change in the business world, can preparing our workforce to build emotional intelligence help them contribute more in an increasingly digitized world?

By Dhruv Mukerjee

important to note that such a gap occurs both in the case of technical skills that make working in a digital economy possible and in case of other “softer skills” which often get ignored but whose importance is bound to grow in a heavily digitized world. Chief among such skill consideration is the requirement on Emotional Intelligence (EI) among the workforce of tomorrow.

EI and its importance in case of an AI-driven future

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Emotional Intelligence encompasses a whole set of skills that show emotional and cognitive depth in handling often complex and unstructured territories of business processes. With the potential of AI to slowly automate much of the regular mundane aspects of current jobs, employees are freed up for more transformational and strategic work. To truly add value in such times, having a higher EI

T

he advent of the digital age has had a ripple effect on how businesses operate, spreading through the length and breadth of companies and reshaping processes in its wake. But such an impact is not only limited to how businesses work, but rather transcends organizational boundaries to reshape the economy at large. Technologies such as AI and automation are slowly becoming an important part of modern-day companies with projections stating their rate of adoption across business processes is only going to go up. This has been the result of successive innovations and technological growth.

For companies, such a market disruption has resulted in a fairly rapid transition of skill considerations. Skillsets, mostly technical in nature, that were once considered indispensable are being fast replaced. Accessing the right talent has become a top priority for companies. Or as a recent IBM report notes that “one of the greatest threats facing organizations today is the talent shortage.”

What is creating such a skill shortage?

Looking at the skills gap given the ensuing tech adoption, led by AI and automation today, it’s

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Skills like persuasion, social understanding, and empathy will soon become an important part of businesses would help employees relate to customers better and tweak internal functioning to maximize customer value.

Skills like persuasion, social understanding, and empathy will soon become an important part of businesses. So much so that it might become what differentiates a successful company from one that’s not in times where artificial intelligence and machine learning take over our other tasks. Unfortunately, these human-oriented skills have generally been viewed as a second priority in terms of training and education.

And executives and business leaders are already waking to this business need. Over 76 percent of executives in a recent Capgemini report1 on EI agreed that AI and automation will increase the demand for EI skills as employees will have a more client/people-facing role. This pace of change is dependent upon the rate of AI adoption but looking at companies today, the study reveals that many lag behind in focusing to develop EI among their employees.

To begin with, there is an explicit focus among

The growing need of EI in the world that is fast being dominated by tech comes as much needed a way of looking back at the importance of human talent. The concerns of employability and job loss under the threat of such technologies, although not unfounded, often paint a picture of heavy displacement of human capital for its machine counterparts. But it is important to note that as tech evolves, so does the need to have qualified individuals with the right skills within the company.

Advanced technologies require people who understand how they work and can innovate, develop, and adapt them. To do this, employee require both a mixture of “soft” and “hard” skills.

A McKinsey research suggests that through 2030, the time spent using advanced technological skills will increase by 50 percent in the United States and by 41 percent in Europe. Thus having

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Part of a larger skills shift

Emotional intelligence offers concrete benefits to employees and organizations in terms of higher productivity, higher job satisfaction, and lower attrition, among others. However, organizations have yet to tune their hiring, learning, and performance management to this emerging skillset

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companies to focus on specific positions where they have deemed that EI is currently required.

Although automation and AI will impact all career levels, the Capgemini report notes that organizations currently focus more on building EI skills at senior levels than at non-supervisory levels.

It's important to note that for most organizations, EI remains less of a focus area and many do not adequately assess or hire non-supervisory employees based on their EI skills either. Neither do they conduct enough training in building EI skills for employees across grades, and particularly for those in non-supervisory roles. This, when employers believe that over 76 percent for their employees will have to develop EI skills as they will have a more client/people-facing role, shows that although many have recognized the importance of EI, there remains a lag in its development among employees.

A Mckinsey report2 assessing the impact of AI shows that for most employees an AI-driven future of work means that they will need to completely evolve their skills base. Human job roles will require employees to do more tasks that require emotional intelligence skills which cannot be automated.

As businesses converge on leveraging potential benefits out of techs like AI and automation, it’ll be a skilled workforce—with not just domainspecific knowledge but rather a holistic skillset, including high EI. To have a workforce with high EI means better customer value and understanding of the markets in a better way to create profitable ventures. And for this to happen, such skills must not remain locked in the hand (minds rather) of just senior-level leaders.

EI offers concrete benefits to employees and organizations in terms of higher productivity, higher job satisfaction, and lower attrition among others. However, organizations have yet to tune their hiring, learning, and performance management to this emerging skillset and addressing this gap becomes an important challenge in front of employers and HR professionals alike.

basic digital literacy is a key part of solving the skill gap equation. The report goes on to note that in the case of IT and programming skills, the growth in their demand in developed markets of the west could grow as much as 90 percent between 2016 and 2030. In the case of Indian companies too, a similar trend, albeit to a lesser extent is noted.

However, there is also a significant need for everyone to develop basic digital skills for the new age of automation. But while basic digital skills are the second-fastest-growing segment other studies find that little can be achieved with just technical skills only. They need to be tempered with the right EI and other skills like complex problem solving, critical thinking, and creativity to make employees truly productive. With machines growing intelligent enough to automate most of what employees do in a day, employees need to grow and develop other skills that helps them add value. And sooner companies begin taking note of emotional intelligence, the better prepared they are to make the best of an increasingly automated and digitized future.

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The state of digital skilling

This research feature looks at the key challenges, and opportunity areas that companies face while skilling their employees on digital technologies

By Jerry Moses

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apidly changing technologies are transforming the modern workplace.

According to the World Economic Forum, the combination of machines, humans and algorithms will create at least 133 million new jobs, and these new roles will require a blend of technical, creative, and problem-solving skills. This shift is changing business priorities and streamlining workflows, while improving product quality and customer service.

First, companies need to identify the right opportunities. Then, it’s imperative to find the right talent.

Digitally mature companies are making the most of the latest trends that are impacting their respective industries. They understand how to be data-driven but also understand that there are limitations. For companies just embarking on this transformational journey, keeping an eye out for

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future developments in digital technology is critical for success.

“Digital skill-building is no longer a luxury or pioneering strategy, but a necessity to remain relevant. As we step into the future, the role of humans and machines will become deeply intertwined, and how quickly we learn to work alongside machines will determine our readiness for the future of work,” said Pradeep Josiah, HR-GAMA; Learning & Development, UST Global. To understand where companies are on their digital journey, People Matters and Simplilearn launched a survey on “Skilling 4.0 – A Study on Digital Readiness.” The study is based on input from over 100 companies regarding the approaches that leading organizations are adopting to integrate their employee learning strategies with their digital business goals.

Here are some of the key findings of the study:

Trend 1 Rising demand for digital skills but lack of clear roadmap for training The demand for digital skills is clear. 87 percent of the companies we surveyed said that “Digital Skilling” is important or very important. Whether it’s

pharmaceuticals, banking and financial services, or information technology, the need for digital skills is resounding.

However, 65 percent say that they do not have a clearly defined roadmap. As companies turn to digital skilling programs, they are still unsure of which modalities to choose when embarking on the journey.

For the most part, survey respondents identified a functional leader or a C-suite member as the owner of the learning program. Only two percent said line managers, and four percent said employees were driving these initiatives. This clearly shows that digital skills are important enough that such programs are being driven by the top levels of leadership. “There is talent disparity between industry and academia; only a fraction of the students graduating each year have readily deployable skills. This puts tremendous pressure on the limited quality of talent as product-based organizations usually recruit the best talent in the market,” said Pradeep.

“Organizations need intense and engaging programs for existing mid-level leaders to transform project managers and delivery managers into digital project leaders,” he added

remains that apart from a handful of industries (like information technology) that have access to robust learning roadmaps and experts at the forefront of digital transformation, the technical know-how is limited. Another key challenge is aligning learning to the needs of the business. Again, companies that have access to both in-house and market experts are better positioned to align courses to business needs.

The quality of courses (26 percent), leadership buy-in (30 percent), and learner engagement (30 percent) are a few areas that are not on the top of the agenda for many companies. This shows how far along on the journey that companies are with respect to L&D. It also shows that there are now more choices in the market for many vendors with the increasing use of technology to improve learner engagement through tools like gamification that are changing the landscape.

While companies have identified their challenges, which jobs are they recruiting for?

The survey shows that the most in-demand jobs are: Digital Business Analysts (63 percent), Data Scientist (59 percent), AI and ML Engineers (54 percent) and Digital Marketing Experts (52 percent). Jobs that are in lower demand, include, Full Stack Developers (17 percent), Cloud Archi-

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For companies that have already started a training and upskilling program, the top priority is “training and upskilling existing talent,” with 85 percent of respondents saying that it is critical for their business. This is closely followed by “enabling a digital mindset at the leadership level” with 74 percent of the respondents identifying it as a key priority. At 61 percent, “hiring the right digital talent” ranks third.

“From a leadership standpoint, it is important to create the right environment – where there is recognition for innovation and new ways of working,” said Suraj Chettri, HR – Head, Airbus India In terms of readiness, HR departments feel more prepared to initiate conventional talent acquisition (TA) and learning and development (L&D) programs. When asked about other modes of learning, like mentoring and coaching, they are not as ready. Other challenges include the ability to accurately benchmark existing skill levels in the organization and enabling a digital mind-set in leadership.

- Pradeep Josiah, HR-GAMA; Learning & Development, UST Global

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Trend 2 Training and Upskilling is the ‘No. 1’ Talent Priority in the Context of Digitization and Automation

Digital skill-building is no longer a luxury or pioneering strategy, but a necessity to remain relevant

Trend 3 63 percent say “learning awareness” and “aligning learning to business” are top digital skilling challenges When asked about the practical challenges that learning teams encounter when providing digital skilling courses, a majority of respondents highlighted that “learning awareness” is a key challenge.

Knowledge of courses and knowing when and what to learn can be a challenge unless companies are already employing resources to track shifts or are interfacing with industry entities. The fact DECEMBER 2019 |

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and practice to truly master new skills needed for specific roles within the organization.

Increasingly, companies are giving importance to “experiential/ hands-on” learning courses. In fact, 89 percent of companies say it’s either important or very important. And, 80 percent say that expert mentorship for learners is also important or very important. Companies are also employing a variety of learning approaches for digital skilling. 80 percent of respondents say that they use a combination of online video learning, instructor-led classrooms, and virtual learning sessions.

Although companies show an interest in incorporating practical, hands-on learning and mentorship courses, it is worth noting that these were also among the key challenges they identified. “Creating mentoring opportunities” was ranked as a top challenge area that HR teams are not prepared to handle. And, 37 percent of companies also said that the ‘lack of mentorship’ opportunities is a key challenge.

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Trend 5 Impact of the digital skilling program is determined by “Job-ready employees,” “Retention” and “Engagement”

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tect (30 percent), Digital Project Manager (24 percent), etc.“Emerging technologies such as data science, AI, and ML have the potential to unlock multiple possibilities. While they are still at a nascent stage, and we are still understanding of the impact that these technologies could have, organizations are increasingly building digitalcentric teams to accelerate their journey,” said Vikram Rao, Learning and Development Lead, JCPenny

Trend 4 Longer courses that use a blended-learning approach to teach role-based competencies are the most preferred Most companies (59 percent) prefer digital skilling programs that last between six to 12 months, thereby providing the learner with enough content

From a leadership standpoint, it is important to create the right environment – where there is recognition for innovation and new ways of working

- Suraj Chettri, HR – Head, Airbus India

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When asked about how they define the success of a digital skilling program, 63 percent said that a combination of three measures will determine success – ‘employees ready to be deployed to projects immediately’, ‘retention,’ and ‘improved engagement with employees’.

As mentoring and hands-on training become the new norm in digital skilling, it will be easier for companies to link these metrics to their learning programs. Without a robust system to train and practice these skills, learning outcomes will be attenuated.

The impact of a digital skilling program is also determined by the culture that is fostered at work. Are employees incentivized to learn? What kinds of opportunities are they exposed to after completing a learning program? In this regard, 74 percent of the companies surveyed said they already have a rewards and recognition program associated with the digital skilling program.

Many companies employ internal and external recognition (48 percent) while linking digital skilling programs to performance reviews (41 percent) and new job opportunities (43 percent).

“One crucial aspect is to redesign existing learning and training methods by including hackathons, innovation labs, and microlearning. Organizations must also offer co-payment models to fund expensive skilling programs and encourage their employees to enhance their skills through external platforms,” Pradeep said.

In light of the above shifts, companies also need to proactively measure the effectiveness of their learning models - the shift to continuous learning needs to be complemented with continuous tracking as well as continuous feedback.

The state of digital skilling This study is based on inputs from over 100 companies on their approach to digital business goals

Importance of digital skilling in your organization

87%

9%

Very important / Important

Ideal timeframe to upskill your employees on digital skills

4%

Neither

Up to 3 months

Not important

3 to 6 months 6 to 12 months

Do you have a clearly defined digital skilling roadmap for your workforce?

15% 26% 37%

Rewards for completion of courses on digital skills

No

65%

Yes

35%

CEO CHRO Employees Line managers

Link to performance review

Reimbursement of course fee

41%

41%

Special rewards

All of the above

22%

17%

f e a t u r e

26% 24% 22% 22% 4% 2%

Functional heads

43%

48%

Who owns the responsibility for digital upskilling in your company?

Head – L&D

New job opportunities

n e w s

Internal & external Recognition

Most in-demand jobs Challenges for digital learning skills

63%

Digital Business Analyst

59%

54%

Data Scientist

AI and ML Engineers

Awareness of the learning need

Aligning courses to business need

Learner engagement and training completion

Lack of practical exposure

Lack of mentorship

Quality of courses

Senior leadership buy-in

Talent priorities in the context of digitization and automation

85%

Train and upskill existing team members

74%

Enable a digital mindset at leadership level

61%

Find or hire the right digital talent

59%

Benchmark current skills and align jobs

50%

Create mentoring opportunities for employees

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Stay connected to the people that you are leading: Nigel Vaz Having led multiple leadership positions with Sapient, Nigel Vaz, Global CEO, Publicis Sapient, discusses the myths about digital business transformation, change management, and more, in an interaction with People Matters

By Bhavna Sarin

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igel Vaz, Global CEO of Publicis Sapient serves as Publicis Groupe’s Global Lead of Digital Business Transformation. Having held a variety of leadership positions with Sapient prior to its acquisition by Publicis Groupe, he now serves as a member of its Executive Committee, charged with identifying opportunities to help clients drive growth and efficiency and evolve the ways they work in a world where consumer behavior and technology are catalyzing social and commercial change at an unprecedented pace.

In his current role leading a business with expertise spanning technology & engineering, consulting and experience, Nigel acts as a strategic advisor on complex transformation initiatives that accelerate the businesses of clients. Prior to Sapient, he was a successful entrepreneur – co-founding a public company with interests in telecoms, consulting and connectivity solutions. He has also been a key advisor for a number of companies including AT&T/Cingular, McKinsey and Company, Orange, Siemens, Telkom SA, Verizon Wireless and Vodafone.

Our people are our only assets, so people can never be resources.

That's why our people teams have never been called human resources. Instead, they are addressed as People Success because their job is to make the rest of our people successful 24

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In a candid conversation with People Matters, Nigel shares his journey with Publicis Sapient, sheds light on how the organization has stayed true to its core purpose of creating an impact on the world through multiple transformations and talks about how he is leading a startup club for a couple of nine-year-olds in London.

You began your journey with Sapient in 2002.

How's your journey been so far, and what would you describe as the highlight of your journey here?

I think what's incredible about Sapient is that when I met our founders before I started at the company, I had some long conversations with them about clients and opportunities. For me, what was really interesting is that the company was designed very thoughtfully to have a culture that was about constant learning and evolving and was built around a purpose to create a bigger impact in the world. If I look at what stayed constant through my journey it's our purpose and values and how people work with each other. I feel like I've had five jobs in that time period in different companies because while we've kept the core of who we are, the markets that we choose to work in, the focus that we've had has evolved pretty dramatically.

We were, back in the nineties, in the internet and dotcom business and then we moved from there to building a new kind of consulting model and then to disrupting the agency space, to now being a transformation partner. So, I describe it as having the opportunity to work in many different startups with the same parent company.

Who has been the most influential leader in your life? What were some of the learnings you took from them that you could implement in your career?

It's very hard to pick one. I would say, there have been a few over the course of my career. You need to take the perspective of a person that you admire

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Sapient has been in the business of digital transformation and has itself gone through several transformations from SapientNitro to SapientRazorfish and now Publicis Sapient.

What is the one thing that has remained constant within the organization through all these changes?

To implement change you need to first lay out the context. Then explain to people all of the choices that they need to make and the changes required as an organization in the context of the first. And the last step is to constantly measure everything you execute in a particular context. Like Jerry Greenberg, the Co-founder of Sapient used to say, "you got nothing more important to say when a client's talking."

And I think that's just a fascinating piece of advice.

You've got two ears and one mouth in that ratio for a reason, you're listening more than you're speaking, you're asking questions, and you're trying to learn. And in the context of people, Sapient’s other founder Stuart Moore, was very much the architect of a lot of our cultural frameworks. He always talked about the fact that ultimately we are a people business. Our people are our only assets, so people can never be resources. That's why our people teams have never been called human resources. Instead, they are addressed as People Success because their job is to make the rest of our people successful.

As I look back at the situations I’ve found myself in, I've always been very fortunate to be able to draw from leaders that were really fantastic in all of these different aspects. Thus I wouldn't say there was one particular leader, but certainly in the context of my professional career, Jerry and Stu, Sapient’s co-founders were really pivotal influences.

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I think when Sapient was founded, the purpose of the company was articulated in many different ways. However the articulation, the purpose of the company has always been to have a really transformative impact on the world. And that was the raison d'être, the genesis of Sapient. What's been fascinating as I've had the opportunity to spend time with Maurice Levy, who's the chairman of Publicis Groupe and Arthur Sadoun, the CEO of the Groupe. Their focus on having an impact on an industry that has been around for so many years is equally powerful. Today the stage that we're playing on is so much bigger because we're part of a much bigger entity. And these leaders, from a Publicis perspective, share that same passion that was always true of the Sapient DNA, which is how are we going to make a difference in the world.

How are we not only going to change our company, but potentially change the industry and create a new model for people to follow.

What lens do you apply when you are contemplating enforcing a large scale change in the organization?

I think the first thing is that change becomes extraordinarily hard when people don't have two things. One, a very clear vision of where you're going. And second, why are you going where you're going? So, to implement change you need to first lay out the context. Then explain to people all of the choices that they need to make, and the changes required as an organization in the context of the first. The last step is to constantly measure everything you execute. So basically, when I think about change management, it is about - context, choices, execution. Those are the three buckets.

How different are the risks for well-established organizations vs relatively newer organizations or startups?

I think there are individual advantages and disadvantages. If you are a startup, one of the biggest advantages you have is the ability to imagine or reimagine a future entirely from the ground up. And that's what we see startups do very well.

The challenge that most startups have is to go from a startup to scaling up and becoming a successful and& profitable company. The odds are very small.

Not because startups don't have the ability to imagine, but there is a big gap between imagining something and executing it. And then there is an even bigger gap between executing something at small scale and scaling that up.

Larger organizations have successful businesses, so they have a lot to lose. Therefore, they have a lot of people focused on protecting the status quo and not enough people pushing the business to fundamentally re-imagine themselves.

The first thing that I do is spend time with people to learn about their perspectives. Like a town hall is not just about the business, it’s also an opportunity for me to learn and understand about our people through my interactions with them.

You have to stay connected to the people that you are leading. It can't ever become an ivory tower exercise. The minute people become some kind of numbers in a spreadsheet that you don't really have much perspective about, there's a risk.

The other is that we're very fortunate in today's day and age where we have access to a large number of resources to learn from. I'm a huge believer in continuous learning, so I'm always keen to understand what's the next generation thinking about? What are the tools they're using?

I run a startup club for my nine-year-old son and some of his friends at school where every weekend we get together for a couple of hours and we'd come up with ideas for how a group of nine-year-olds think that the companies that they interact with every day and every week, could be better. And it's amazing what you can learn from a group of kids. Today we have access to a ton of knowledge coming from everywhere, it's always an opportunity to learn, to understand, and develop your own perspective.

Well see it's a tough situation because I think you can't have one without the other. I'd say you can't have a good customer experience unless you actually have a good employee experience. Let me give you an example. If you actually look at an amazingly well-designed website, show me any website around the world that you think is a really good website, and behind that website I will show you a really well-designed content management system, which is really easy for the people who are managing that website to use so they can drag and drop content and it's easy for them to upload and move stuff around. Because the people who are designing the system understood that if you don't design the experience for the people who are going to create the experience for the customers, the experience that the customers will have is bad.

One of the things that's shifting now is that experience is no longer linear. What I mean by that is, if you're the customer and I'm the person

Larger organizations have successful businesses, so they have a lot to lose. Therefore, they have a lot of people focused on protecting the status quo and not enough people pushing the business to fundamentally re-imagine themselves

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How do you as a leader invest in upskilling yourself as you lead a global workforce through transformation, split across multiple geographies and generations?

In a world that deems both customer experience and employee experience a priority, how do you as a leader prioritize without letting one impact the other? How do you strike that balance?

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I think for me the balance is when you get both those things happening together.

If you look at Netflix, the company has done an amazing job of going from delivering DVDs to providing streaming services and today producing their own content. Imagine the kind of people you need in a company when you're posting DVDs back and forth to when you're streaming and then when you're making your own content. It's a big shift, right? But as a startup, they had the ability to kind of reimagine all of the time.

On the other side of the spectrum, you have a company like Disney, which has been around for a long time, has a tremendous amount of legacy, owns properties like Pixar, Marvel and Lucas Films, which are long franchises of content. They also have these theme parks. What they are trying to do is figure out how to transform themselves to be a more digital business. And they are starting to move what is a very big physical business into the digital space. They are now launching Disney Plus.

And Disney Plus is basically saying, we're going to take all the assets we have and compete in the digital world with a platform that is similar to Netflix.

Success isn't necessarily determined by a startup approach or a large company transforming approach. Success is determined by the characteristics of being able to have a vision and the ability to disrupt yourself. The narrative that people often like to talk about in the corporate world is a startup versus a behemoth organization. But the reality is it's not that, it's the more successful ones versus the ones that will die.

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who's building a product or a service for you, it's less important that I'm here all of the time for you and I create the tools and the support systems for you to be able to do something. Taking banking as an example. Why do banks work from nine to five? Because they can't have somebody sitting there 24 hours a day. But then we moved from that kind of banking, to online banking where there's no person, but there's a system and this system allows you to do banking 24 hours a day because there's no people involved in it. So it's better for the person and it's a better experience for the customer. Because you know what, if I want to transfer money, I don't have to wait till the bank opens tomorrow morning and call the person in the branch. I can go online and set it up now and maybe it'll happen tomorrow. But from my perspective, it's happened now. I don't have to worry about it tomorrow. So I think we're going to see a lot of situations where companies are starting to be very thoughtful about the experience of their employees because the experience of their employees, in turn, is going to actually make a difference to the

We're going to see a lot of situations where companies are starting to be very thoughtful about the experience of their emplo yees because the experience of their employees, in turn, is going to actually make a difference to the customer at the end customer at the end. I don't think they are going to be either or. I don't think there is a situation where you can say I have to make a choice between a good employee experience or customer experience.

Those two things go hand-in-hand.

With digital transformation becoming an industrial revolution in itself, what myths and mental blocks do people need to overcome?

When we talk about digital transformation it is nothing but transformation in the context of a world that is entirely digital. However, the first assumption is that it's got to do entirely with technology, when in fact the first place it starts is with people and human behavior.

As a consumer, our behavior is changing at an exponential pace, so is our behavior within companies, because we as people are changing. So our expectations of the kind of companies we want to work in, the tools we want to use are dramatically shifting. There is a change in human behavior and people behavior. That's one driver. The second is access to capital or new economic models. Now

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some might argue that there's too much money being thrown into business models that don't work.

But by and large, if you don't have new business models, it's very hard to imagine this transformation taking hold because otherwise a lot of companies would protect the status quo. Let me give you an example. If I told you 10 years ago that I could stay in your house when you're not there and I live in it for a while, and you could stay in mine and we would never have to know each other. That would seem like an insane proposition. But today Airbnb is proving that model works just fine. Millions of people are staying in each other's homes without ever having met and not having much to do with each other. Speaking of startups, a massive unicorn that's public is Uber and Uber has no inventory of cars, yet its valuation is greater than some of the biggest car companies. These business models are happening because there's access to capital and the opportunity to create new models, but it's also predicated on consumer behavior. And then the final leg of that three- legged stool, which creates the platform effect is technology and the ability of technology to help realize these interesting business models and enable this behavior that people are trying to adopt.

If all those three things didn't happen at the same time, you wouldn't get this exponential effect.

So when you talk about myths, one of the things that companies often think about is that this progression is happening in a linear fashion. And the reality is the progression is exponential. And that's very hard for businesses to get used to. The minute it becomes exponential, you get explosions.

We're not actually geared to deal with that exponential challenge. People, by and large, were never designed to move at an exponential pace. And now that is effectively what we're being forced to do.

You're talking to entire companies, whether they're fashion or healthcare or retail and basically asking them to unlearn everything they've learned and relearn it every few years. Everything that you learned three years ago, four years ago, is irrelevant. You've now got to relearn. I think that that is the hardest challenge to overcome in the context of transformation, to recognize that the rate of change is exponential and the scale of change is greater than it's ever been.

What are you most looking forward to in 2020?

What I am always excited about is the talent and the capability we bring into the organization and the people that we develop over the course of that year. So at the end of 2020, I'm looking forward to seeing who are the leaders that we would have grown and developed and who are some of the new people we’ve brought into the business that become our people. And then ultimately seeing the kind of transformational impact we create. I love reflecting at the end of the year on the impact we created in the world for companies that wouldn't be as successful had they not been working with us.

And as I go into any year, I love to visualize which companies we’d want to transform the next year.

Don’t give away your power Research shows that modest people are more helpful and better liked than those who are boastful and that self-promotion is perceived negatively by others

By Jeffrey Pfeffer & M. Muneer

Why people don’t self-advocate Research shows that modest people are more helpful and better liked than those

Research by U. C. Berkeley Professor Cameron Anderson and colleagues shows that exhibiting self-confidence, even when it is unwarranted by objective reality, nonetheless helps people attain and hold onto leadership positions who are boastful and that self-promotion is perceived negatively by others. Many people want to be liked, and likeability is useful in interpersonal influence.

Jim Collins’ analysis of Level 5 leaders in Good to Great described the best leaders as those characterized by fierce resolve but also with great modesty. Collins noted that many of the leaders he highlighted in his best-selling book were not well-known in the business press because they generously gave credit to others and remained in the background.

Moreover, modesty – and not over-claiming credit – is considered a virtue in many religions and cultures. Therefore, people

The evidence Research by U. C. Berkeley Professor Cameron Anderson and colleagues shows that exhibiting self-confidence, even when it is unwarranted by objective reality, nonetheless helps people attain and hold onto leadership positions. Other research shows that narcissism, the opposite of modesty, reliably predicts hiring, promotions, and even some dimensions of job performance.

The logic: Emotions are contagious.

People who display confidence engender confidence on the part of others who observe them. Moreover, people like to be associated with success. Of course, figuring out who is going to be successful is difficult. People who seem confident in their own abilities and success attract others by improving the odds that observers will see them as already, or going to be, successful.

So, what shall you do?

1. For people worried about seeming boastful, get others (even paid agents) to sing one’s praises. Having others make positive comments about a focal person projects that individual more likable and overcomes the self-promotion dilemma – the need to present oneself positively while not seeming boastful.

2. Understand that while being liked is obviously good, it is not really essential to building influence. As former casino company Caesar’s CEO Gary Loveman has said, “if you want to be liked, get a dog.” Famous U.S. football coach Steve Spurrier noted, “If people like you too much, it’s probably because they’re beating you.”

3. Most importantly, never, ever, use words or phrases that might be taken by others as downplaying your accomplishments and abilities. If you don’t think well of yourself, if you are not going to advocate for yourself, if you do not have confidence in your capabilities, why should anyone else?

r e s e a r c h

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very day we see women – and men – giving away their power by talking about themselves in self-deprecating, circumscribed ways. An individual who had overseen about 20 health and fitness facilities, employing 650+ people, who then returned to school to get a master’s in organization development, described herself as a graduate student. Another person who had run an extremely successful marketing analytics project at Apple consistently referred to herself in conversations as the youngest and least senior person in her unit and the only woman at her level. Surprising in this age of social media where people puff up their image.

People will act on these delimiting selfperceptions, believing that they do not really deserve greater opportunities at work. Even more importantly, others will not give those who fail to advocate forcefully for themselves sufficient credit. A 2002 study titled “Social Identity Complexity” found that people not making positive assertions about themselves were taken as a negative signal about their abilities.

Thus, people’s career opportunities can be limited through their own behavior.

Self-deprecation is fine once someone has built an enormous reputation and holds a role of great power. Before that, people should heed the wisdom of the late Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir: “Don’t be so modest, you’re not that good.”

learn, in a variety of ways, not to boast and, in fact, to downplay their accomplishments.

Getting out of your own way is the first important stuff on a path to having more power and career success.

About the authors

Dr. Pfeffer is the leadership guru and professor of organizational behavior at Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Dr. Muneer is Co-Founder and Chief Evangelist of the non-profit Medici Institute.

Twitter @MuneerMuh DECEMBER 2019 |

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Horizontal growth will be an essential component to employee happiness and fulfillment: Ben Reuveni, Gloat

In an exclusive interaction with People Matters, Ben Reuveni shares his thoughts on how Gloat is helping enterprises deliver a happier, more satisfied and productive workforce while simultaneously improving company retention rates i n t e r v i e w

By Shweta Modgil

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en Reuveni co-founded Gloat in 2015 with a vision of bringing AI and data science to career development. Founded in 2015 and based in New York and Tel Aviv, Gloat is building the workplace of the future and pushing the boundaries of career expectations. The AI-based career development platform matches a user with personalized open career opportunities in real time while they remain completely anonymous. The platform and app compare a user’s skill set and career history with millions of others to provide data driven recommendations for smart career moves. Gloat recently released its InnerMobility platform, enabling employees to enhance their skill sets and grow within their current place of work.

In an exclusive interaction with People Matters, Ben Reuveni shares his thoughts on how Gloat is helping enterprises deliver a happier, more satisfied and productive workforce, while simultaneously improving company retention rates.

What was the tipping point behind creating Gloat?

Having worked on an advanced AI-based recruiting system for the Israeli army as part of my service in the elite 8200 intelligence unit, I knew that technology could be used to drastically enhance the HR space

i n t e r v i e w

Over the past five years the workplace has rapidly changed. The needs of millennial and Gen Z workers differ substantially from previous generations, and employers have been at a loss on how they should adapt to recruit and retain talent.

Having worked on an advanced AI-based recruiting system for the Israeli army as part of my service in the elite 8200 intelligence unit, I knew that technology could be used to drastically enhance the HR space.

Initially, at Gloat we focused primarily on utilizing technology to provide unique opportunities for those looking to advance their career - smartly matching people to new jobs that will offer real value for their long-term ambitions, while they remain anonymous.

We have since turned our attention towards tackling an even bigger issue in the industry and that is internal growth and retention. It is clear that companies and corporations are struggling to retain their top talent and are confined by notions of old on how a workplace should operate. They are often out of touch with their employees needs and expectations and thus suffer immensely from highturnover and unproductive, stagnant employees.

Gloat created InnerMobility to address this problem and enable companies to be responsive to their employees’ demands while simultaneously improving their output and growing their business. Beyond salaries and perks, today’s workforce expects employers to provide them with a variety of development experiences that will bolster their skill set and ensure they are constantly learning and growing. InnerMobility meets this challenge by leveraging AI and machine learning to prompt a radically different work environment characterized by fluidity and personal growth.

Through our two-sided internal talent marketplace that identifies personalized opportunities across a company, employees are provided a wealth of opportunities to take on new challenges

and grow. From job swaps to mentorships, to parttime projects and full-time job changes, InnerMobility provides employees with the framework to meet their long-term career ambitions within the company. With millennials already the largest generation in the workforce, future-focused companies must adapt to keep their employees happy and motivated at work or risk being left behind. InnerMobility provides a win-win solution for employees to achieve their career dreams within the company, while companies can significantly increase their output, grow their business, and prepare for the future of work.

How exactly does Gloat help companies to deliver a better talent and employee experience?

Please explain in layman’s terms.

Gloat is helping enterprises deliver a happier, more satisfied and productive workforce, while simultaneously improving company retention rates.

How? By providing access to new opportunities for employees to develop themselves professionally on their own terms without leaving the company.

InnerMobility is a two-sided marketplace that uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to smartly match employees with exciting opportunities for individual career growth such as part-time DECEMBER 2019 |

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projects, mentorships, job swaps, and full-time positions, across functions and geographies.

Enabling part-time projects through InnerMobility empowers employees to take part in cross-functional projects that interest them often out of the scope of their daily jobs which develops new skills, helps foster diverse human connections, and facilitates horizontal growth.

As millennials and Gen Z’s come to dominate the workforce, horizontal growth will be an essential component to employee happiness and fulfillment, as it facilitates the constant growth and variety of experiences employees crave. The positive impact horizontal growth has on employee happiness results in substantial bottom-line improvements. A recent study from the SM Foundation showed that employee happiness results in a 20% spike in productivity across the board. This number spikes even further with salespeople, with up to 37% of them producing better results than their unhappy counterparts.

Not to mention, in an environment of low unemployment, individuals unsatisfied at work

With horizontal growth opportunities, employers are demonstrating a commitment to their employees, by providing them with the opportunity to expand their skill sets far beyond their core role, and constantly progress

i n t e r v i e w 32

can simply leave their companies altogether.

According to recent research, it costs $12,000 to replace an entry-level employee making $36,000 and $20,000 to replace a manager making $60,000 a year.

Think of the costs of high turnover rates at large enterprises. By creating an environment in which employees want to grow internally and be the best they can be, companies can transform their future forecasts.

Furthermore, a 2018 report on Workplace Learning by LinkedIn showed that 93% of employees will stay at a company longer if it invested in their careers. With horizontal growth opportunities, employers are demonstrating a commitment to their employees, by providing them with the opportunity to expand their skill sets far beyond their core role, and constantly progress. This is crucial as 87% of millennials think professional growth and development opportunities are top priorities, according to Gallup. The InnerMobility platform is giving employees the opportunity to do what interests them in their careers, be happier, more satisfied, and thus more productive in the workplace.

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How has the traction been since its founding?

How many customers does Gloat have? How do you monetize the platform?

Since founding, our traction has been excellent with over 600 leading companies including Cisco, Mobileye, and Yahoo utilizing the Gloat recruitment platform.

For our InnerMobility solution specifically, traction has been growing rapidly since it first went live less than two years ago. We license the product to a company and work closely with them as they roll out the platform to their employees based anywhere in the world. Our team assists with the communications and engagement efforts along with the companies’ as this kind of democratization of talent experiences requires change management and a cultural shift in most companies. Currently, the InnerMobility platform is being used by several Fortune 500 companies, including industry leaders like Unilever and Schneider Electric.

What differentiates Gloat from competitors that offer similar solutions?

What are going to be your future plans as far as product and expansion are concerned?

We recently launched our mentorship feature on the InnerMobility platform, enabling employees to connect with one another based on targeted skills and experiences they’d like to gain. Work mentorships have profound effects for employees across the board, including making them feel happier, more satisfied, and better compensated for their work.

91% of respondents to a recent Workplace Happiness Survey, who have mentors, claimed to be satisfied with their jobs. Moreover, 59% of them reported being “very satisfied,” and among those who don’t have a mentor, each of those numbers fell by double digits. 71% of employees with a mentor reported their company provides them with excellent opportunities for career advancement, while just 47% of those without a mentor said the same thing.

How do you see talent recruitment space changing in the coming years? What will be some of the trends? What do you see are some of the challenges in this space?

Over the past few years, the talent recruitment space has undergone a technical revolution.

Companies are not only utilizing AI and advanced tech to recruit new employees, but to help employees at their companies advance their skill sets and fill positions internally. Innovative programs like interactive L&D platforms and internal talent marketplaces such as the InnerMobility platform are examples of this technological revolution and the shifting focus of companies away from recruitment towards retention and career development.

Advancing employees’ skills through the use of technology and providing them continued learning experiences will help people future-fit their careers as well as expand the horizons for opportunity of the workforce

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Gloat’s InnerMobility solution is really in a league of its own as our AI is two or three years ahead of competitors in this space targeting the internal talent mobility and retention market.

Our two-sided talent marketplace matches employees with highly personalized career development opportunities, providing unprecedented visibility on internal opportunities and concrete opportunities to enhance targeted skills.

InnerMobility is the best way for individual employees to future-proof their careers, while upskilling themselves and making real strides to achieve their career dreams within their current companies.

With InnerMobility, enterprises gain full visibility of their talent, close impending skills gaps, and empower their employees to achieve happiness and maximum productivity at their organization, increasing satisfaction, retention, and business growth.

The benefits of workplace mentorships are very clear, and this is a feature we are extremely proud of. The fact that our AI platform is based entirely in the cloud allows people to connect across functions, departments, and geographies.

We can’t wait for more employees to find their mentors at work to increase their happiness, productivity, and advance their careers.

The advancement of employee skills through the use of AI will help companies remain agile as automation advances and both eliminate and create roles - a key challenge ahead. A recent IBM study found that up to 120 million professionals need to be reskilled to deal with AI and new digital business environments. Another challenge facing organizations now is an overall shortage of qualified young professionals - according to a recent McKinsey study, in 2020 companies in Europe and North America will need 16 to 18 million more educated employees than are going to be available.

Advancing employees’ skills through the use of technology and providing them continued learning experiences will help people future-fit their careers as well as expand the horizons for opportunity of the workforce. In this regard we see the use of AI as a key trend in the industry that, if harnessed correctly, will prove crucial to the future of work and the companies who thrive in it.

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Sivakumar Palaniappan

The power of being a Deep Generalist

hr strategy

The most of humankind's significant breakthroughs haven't come from specialists, they have come from multifaceted individuals

D

on't be a jack of all trades; you'll end up becoming master of none", is a bit of usual advice you might have often received. In fact, "jack of all trades" is a figure of speech used about a person who has picked up many skills, rather than gaining expertise by focusing on one. So, the point conveyed is don't be in too many things, pick up one domain of your interest and build deep expertise. Become a specialist and don't be a generalist.

But in reality, most of humankind's significant breakthroughs haven't come from specialists; they have come from multifaceted individuals. Many of the world's several significant contributors were polymaths, whose knowledge spans across several subjects and complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific problems. Polymaths excelled at several fields in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and arts.

Leonardo Da Vinci is likely to be the most talented Polymath ever in history. His areas of interest were painting, architecture, science, invention, music, sculpting, engineering, math-

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Many stories of successful people show that very narrow specialization can suppress creative thinking and problem-solving abilities.

But that's what the world needs today people who can solve complex issues that blend everything

How to become a modern-day polymath?

In today's world of super specialisation, it's tough to find a polymath. As we make our way through school and college, we are always told to pick up one domain or one subject and narrow down to one single topic. Lots of career advice these days focus on finding your niche and specialising on that.

Here are some ways to become a polymath.

1. Learn new languages. You need not be an expert, but it would be good to know the basics and common vocabulary to strike a casual conversation with a native speaker.

2. Learn to be artistic. Take some piano lessons or get into drawing, painting or sculpting.

3. Learn Psychology and Philosophy. Build curiosity about human beings, evolution, history and culture.

4. Learn Science and Physics. Have an explicit knowledge of fundamental physics with the ability to understand and rationalise.

5. Focus on learning from high-quality literature and not just superficial reading.

6. Have an actively involved social life contributing to your community.

Study the science of art. Study the art of science. Develop your senses - especially learn how to see.

Realize that everything connects to everything else - Leonardo Da Vinci

Need for deep generalists in today's workplace

hr strategy

ematics, anatomy, literature, botany, astronomy, geology, history and many more.

Benjamin Franklin was an author, printer, politician, inventor and scientist whose scientific contributions have influenced physics and electricity. His inventions also include bifocals, the lightning rod, the glass harmonica, the odometer, and the first public lending library in the United States.

Founders of some of the largest companies in the modern world - Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Larry Page, and Jeff Bezos are all polymaths.

Since the term Outliers became popular after Malcolm Gladwell's book, many believe that to become world-class, one must complete 10,000 hours of deliberate practice. However, this could be true in the domains of repetitive-tangible skills but not in the fields of deep cognitive learning.

Many stories of successful people show that very narrow specialisation can suppress creative thinking and problem-solving abilities. But that's what the world needs today - people who can solve complex issues that blend everything from human behaviour to physics to technology to design to transportation to environmental science.

Modern polymaths build atypical combinations of knowledge and skills across diverse fields and then integrate them to create breakthrough ideas and even brand-new fields and industries.

Elon Musk is a classic example of a modernday polymath, who has combined an understanding of physics, engineering, programming, design, manufacturing, and business to create several multibillion-dollar companies in entirely different fields from Cars to Space Shuttles.

"Study the science of art. Study the art of science. Develop your senses - especially learn how to see. Realise that everything connects to everything else." - Leonardo Da Vinci

Organizations are in dire need for professionals who could blend in-depth specialist knowledge and a broad understanding of business and connected disciplines. If you could become competent in two or three diverse domains and integrate them into a top one percent skillset, you are more likely to be successful than single domain specialists.

Automation will continue to wipe out repetitive tasks once performed by skilled workers.

Entry-level jobs will become scarce; specialists will have a huge competition as there will be too many specialists in almost all the domains of work.

According to a World Economic Forum survey of leading global employers, the top five most in-demand skills by 2022 will be: • Analytical thinking and innovation • Active learning and learning strategies • Creativity, originality and initiative • Technology design and programming • Critical thinking and analysis Building all the above skills for the future can only be possible by someone with diverse interest and passion for continuous learning, which is the essential quality of a Generalist who could also go more in-depth to become a Specialist. It’s obvious that future is for Deep Generalists.

About the author

Sivakumar Palaniappan is the Founder Director at Thinkfluence Global DECEMBER 2019 |

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P

aul Dupuis is the CEO and MD of Randstad India, with more than 25 years of professional experience in Asia across Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea and now India. He has gained extensive industry experience and network from handling key leadership roles in recruitment, strategic planning and business development, spanning renowned organizations.

Here are the excerpts of the interview.

What are the primary leadership qualities that helped you grow within Randstad in the last two years?

In the last two and a half years since I have arrived in India, I have clearly grown as a leader, and have developed a few skills.

• Agility – the ability to navigate this very rapidly changing economy and society.

• Resilience – India is a land of unpredictability – but with that comes both opportunities and challenges. It is very important to be resilient and bounce back every day.

• Optimism – This is critical to be successful in an everchanging environment like India.

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Can you take us through the growth story of Randstad in the India market?

India is a land of unpredictability: MD & CEO, Randstad India In an exclusive interaction with People Matters, Paul Dupuis, the CEO and MD of Randstad India, shares his thoughts on high-performance organizations, the future of work and his upcoming book on leadership

By Abid Hasan

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When I look at our success in India, it is less about volume and more about value. At Randstad, we have always set out on a clear ambition to be the most trusted and the most admired company in our industry. Nowhere in our vision do we say that we want to be the biggest in India. We believe that growth is an outcome of assembling the right people, right strategy, crystal clear vision – or the North Star – and giving them the tools to achieve great execution and success. And the outcome has been the remarkable growth that we have clocked. What we are seeing in India is the result of a strategy that is based on a narrow and deep philosophy, strategic partnerships with clients, and earning the trust of both clients and candidates.

Yes, we are growing ahead of the market and rank as the fastest growing countries in Randstad –but not because we only aimed for growth. Smart and sustainable growth is what we look at. We aim to build a company that will be here for many, many years to come – a company that will continue to take the leading position of the most trusted and admired organization.

What according to you is the role of leadership in building a high-performance organization?

Before anything, we need to define what high performance is. It is not about driving the top line – or even the bottom line – at all. High performance is about infusing your people with a clear and shared vision. I call this the North Star. This is the first ask of leadership.

Everyone moving towards the vision should have a purpose and impact. Ultimately a high performing organization delivers on its promise – and does so with good values. So, it’s not only about the “what” – it’s also about the “how”. It’s about the behaviors that drive the performance. At Randstad, our growth and performance are driven by a compelling and shared vision – and supported by strong values to make it sustainable.

How do you see the future of work and the new skills economy?

When we look at the future of work, it’s important to understand that it is no longer about today and tomorrow. It’s really about the day after tomorrow. The workplace, the way we work, where we work, and how we work is changing at a rapid pace. Gone are the days of lifelong employment. Instead we

have today a flourishing gig economy, fluid contracts, and more. Already we have seen a change in the physical workplace, with plugand-play “hot desking”. We also see innovative approaches to work – where people not only choose the desk from which they want to work, but also the project in which they want to work, and even the leader they choose to work under. What we do know is that the workforce of the future will join, stay in, and leave a company because of people.

When we look at skills that will support the new economy in the future, these are skills that don’t exist yet. However, what we need is an agile workforce that is able to adapt, learn quickly and apply their experience for the future. Agility is a critical characteristic that will be the trigger for and drive success in the future of work.

What is the one crucial thing that the government should do to trigger job growth in India?

What are some of the biggest leadership challenges you have faced personally? What did you take away from those moments?

Like any senior leader, I have faced many significant challenges in my career.

When I made my move to Singapore to join a medium-sized company earlier in my professional life, it called for significant adjustment. Joining a large and global organization like Randstad had a different set of adjustments to be made. And coming to India from Japan - where the business

India is a land of unpredictability – but with that comes both opportunities and challenges.

It is very important to be resilient and bounce back every day With new trends changing the way we conceptualize work, workplace, and workforce, how can CEOs and CHROs create flexible organizations and set a learning agenda to re-skill talent to adapt to change?

In a rapidly changing economy and society, the interests and needs of the future workforce is bound to be different from the past. This includes both the workplace and the environment. We need to be ready for this.

Our research in Randstad shows that in India, particularly the younger generation job seekers look to join a company that demonstrates a compelling cause. Further, they want to join a leader who they can admire. A leader who will spend time with them, coach and mentor them. And so, it is vital that companies and leaders invest in their people – specifically in learning and development. They need to create

opportunities for high performance, for growth in the organization with flexibility.

CEOs need to work closely with not only the CHROs but also with the senior leadership teams across the four corners of their companies. They need to ensure that the environment is effectively future-proofed.

The undeniable truth is that learning organizations and diverse organizations are very strong – this has been proven time and again, across industries and across boundaries. Diversity and learning constitute a powerful combination.

What are the trends you foresee for the year 2020? Which sectors will have a positive job growth?

When we look at the Indian environment today, we at Randstad are unanimous that we can build sustainable organizations – especially in the wake of a growing economy, a burgeoning and young workforce, and a clear ambition and vision by the government to foster growth. Add in the inevitable introduction of data protection laws, and the increasing legitimacy of the staffing market – you have a truly compelling opportunity. When it comes to jobs, we see a significant buzz and lift in the e-Commerce, IT services and BPO sectors. The pharma and telecom industries are also witnessing an upward tick.

There is a big demand for professionals in the emerging technologies. In the wake of the government’s stimulus programmes, we also find an increased confidence among manufacturing organizations.

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When it comes to the labour market, India today faces both significant opportunities and challenges, As the fastest growing economy in the world with a young workforce that is growing rapidly (one million people enter the workforce every month), India is poised to be a force to be reckoned with in the global economy.

However, there is one critical challenge that India faces – the skill gap. In order to support the pace of growth, it is important that the country develops a well-trained workforce that is ready for tomorrow and beyond. There is a disconnect between the government’s growth ambition and the schools that educate people for the future.

We need to close this gap. To foster job growth, I believe the government should look at the educational system and vocational schools to ensure that the curriculum is well matched to meet the needs of the labour market. The “Make in India” initiative specifically shifts the spotlight towards a highly capable workforce. This can raise India’s potential to be the global manufacturing centre and the exporter to the world – high not only in volumes but also in quality.

was successful in a stable environment and a predictable society – called for a lot of learning. While India, in many ways, is a land of unpredictability, it offers something unique. There is an eagerness in India that is unrivalled across the world.

Being a leader in such an environment requires specific skills.

I arrived in India leaving an environment where I had credibility, familiarity and followership. I arrived in India literally knowing no one, including the team I was going to lead. It thus began with a need to earn credibility – and it was a significant professional challenge, with practically no combat weapons. But I was warmly welcomed by my team, and so was able to accelerate business with success.

Today, we have big plans for growth in 2020 and beyond.

What are your thoughts on becoming a game changing leader?

There is a difference between a competent manager and a game changing leader.

The competent managers are the majority of leaders out there in the world. They plan to deliver on the expectation and meet the expectation, they deliver on the KPIs, they follow all the rules, play the game well and try to play the game better. Whereas the game changer leader literally changes the game and they don’t only meet the expectations but they take it to a new level.

Tell us something about your upcoming book on leadership?

I am a passionate student of leadership, not only in the business context but also in the sports environment because I am the captain of our ice hockey team. Last year, I was doing an executive training at London Business School on transformation of leadership. In one of the coaching sessions with the professor we discussed ideas and values of leadership. That discussion prompted me to write a book and it’s about the five Es of effective leadership.

DECEMBER 2019 |

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Saurabh Dwivedi

Reinventing talent acquisition Technology has the potential to transform the traditional recruitment processes, yet only a few utilize the best in class technologes

A

T a l e n t Ac q u i s i t i o n

s the economy continues to grow and unemployment remains low in developed countries, recruitment has become harder than ever. This year, 70 percent of respondents to the Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends Survey cited recruitment as an important issue, and 16 percent highlighted it was one of the three most urgent issues their organization is likely to face in 20191.

This is rightly so, as in the age of the knowledge economy and changing workforce dynamics, hiring the right people at the right time can be the difference between a successful enterprise and a failed one.

In the fast-paced scenario, it is important to find the right fit for a role from a saturated labor pool quickly. Due to the record low unemployment rates in the developed world, the pool of qualified candidates to choose from has shrunk. For example, China’s unemployment rate was 3.8 percent in Q4, 2018. Further, the demand for technical skills combined with managerial prowess is a unique skill set which not many in the labor market possess.

Around 60 percent of the respondents to the Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends Survey feel that the biggest challenge in recruitment is ‘finding qualified experienced hires’.

It is in this context, that technology has the potential to become a driver of transformation in hiring practices across businesses.

The unutilized talent pool Broadly, the traditional talent pool can be classified into internal hires and external hires. When we talk about recruiting, the focus of most companies is on finding the right person from outside the organization. There are head-hunters, job posting websites, intermediaries, etc. to which companies often end up paying huge fees and yet end up hiring sub-optimal talent.

Companies often overlook the internal talent pool. Research has shown that it costs 1/6th to retrain an internal resource than hiring an external talent1. The DHCTS also shows that 56 percent of the respondents believe that it is easier to find a job outside the organization than inside. The question then is, how can we leverage technology to encourage internal hiring?

Alternate workforce: the talent pool of tomorrow Contingent workers and other non-traditional arrangements form the alternate workforce. This tactic of working is gaining popularity not just among companies, but also amongst workers.

This provides companies the flexibility they want in managing their balance sheets and meeting the legal requirements and provides workers

The war for talent is raging more fiercely than ever. Winning the battle requires more than execution; it demands reinvention—not just of the talent acquisition process, but of the talent acquisition mindset 38

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the flexibility with their timing and workload.

However, how do companies access this labor pool of the future, is the biggest question. Perhaps it is one that can be answered through technology.

Leveraging technology for the talent pools

The single biggest change in the recruitment scenario has been brought in through the advent of data analytics, machine learning and Artificial Intelligence; however, study finds that only six percent of respondents believe that they utilize best in class processes and technologies Recruiting must accept new technologies and capitalize on these capabilities to hire the right people and reduce the cost of hiring for the company. Companies must figure out a way to tap into the alternate workforce so that they can leverage the talent pool that exists in the gig economy.

T a l e n t Ac q u i s i t i o n

Perhaps the single biggest change in the recruitment scenario has been brought in through the advent of data analytics, machine learning and Artificial Intelligence (AI). Companies are leveraging these technologies to make hiring more scientific and accurate. However, in spite of this recognition, the Deloitte study has found that only six percent of respondents believe that they utilize best in class processes and technologies.

In this scenario, it is pertinent to have a look at some ways in which recruitment is being changed by technology: Screening of candidates: Gone are the days when companies used applicant tracking systems to help catalog employees. Now technology exists which makes the screening process more scientific, robust and scalable. For example, there are tools in the market which use publicly available information about a candidate to create a profile of the candidate which can then be mapped to relevant roles in the organization. Many HR Tech Startups with AI-based chatbots, claim to reduce the time taken to screen candidates by 30-50 percent. This time can be spent on other critical hiring processes like interviews, and bringing the “humane” element back into recruitment.

Conducting Interviews: Video interviews are being used to screen candidates and to assign them to roles that are the best fit for them. A few tools can be used not just to identify coding prowess of future employees, but it also offers a tool for online interviewing1.

Internal Hiring: The most overlooked component of hiring can be greatly reformed by technology. Often, companies are unaware of the talent pool inside the organization. In this scenario, an AI-based assessment system can help organizations in mapping the competencies of their employees and find the right fit for roles from within. One of the largest global consumer goods organization has already used such tools for hiring external candidates who may not have college degrees but may be well suited for specific roles.

Organizations should consider making AI-enabled competency mapping for employees a must so that they find the right talent in-house and cut down the time and cost of on-boarding of employees.

Tapping the alternate workforce: Use of job networks can help companies tap into talented employees who want to return to work but maybe not on a full-time basis. Similarly, talent network sites provide access to a wide talent pool that prefers alternate work arrangements. Companies need to consider tapping into these networks to hire workers on a short-term basis to complete non-critical tasks. Companies would need to use tech solutions to tap into these networks, screen the right person and get them working immediately.

Conclusion In today’s world of changing jobs and skills, organizations have an opportunity to take a fresh look at how they approach talent acquisition, exploring new approaches to determining what talent they need—and where and how to find it.

The war for talent is raging more fiercely than ever.

To win requires more than execution; it demands reinvention—not just of the talent acquisition process, but of the talent acquisition mindset. To do this, organizations would need to rethink how to access existing internal talent, reset traditional expectations on where talent can be found and what it looks like, and rewire the recruiting process by taking advantage of advanced technologies like AI. The talent is out there if you know how to look.

Note

1. Leading the social enterprise: Reinvent with a human focus, 2019 Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends

About the author

Saurabh Dwivedi is the Director at Deloitte India DECEMBER 2019 |

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Support employees to achieve ‘work-life harmony’: Bin Wolfe In a conversation with People Matters, the Managing Partner of Talent for EY in APAC talks about the new emerging roles for HR and the challenges that they are likely to encounter

By Jerry Moses

B

in Wolfe is the Managing Partner of Talent for EY in Asia-Pacific (APAC). Working closely with the Area Managing Partner and the APAC Operating Executive, she oversees all EY’s human resources-related functions and processes to support EY’s Asia-Pacific Area which comprises more than 40,500 people, including 1,800 partners, working

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across seven Regions and 22 countries.

Bin is a member of EY’s Asia-Pacific Area Operating Executive and the Global Talent Executive Committee.

In an exclusive interaction with People Matters, she spoke about how the world of work is changing in response to technology, how EY is getting ready for gig workers and continuous upskilling and the unique challenges that Asian companies face.

You’ve had a long career in HR –starting in the US, China and now leading Asia-Pacific. What are some of the biggest shifts that you’ve witnessed in the ‘people and work’ space?

With the rise of technology, the way people work, what we do and how we do it, has changed. When I think about when I first joined the talent function, for the most part, work was done by the end of the

day. Today, work and life are much more blended. It has created “workplace flexibility”. And how we support employees to manage ‘work-life harmony’ has had an impact on the culture of the organization.

Another shift has to do with our agility and speed to deliver. The expectations of our workforce are really different. As talent professionals, we need to be ahead of the curve. There’s a lot of interest in how quickly skills are changing. It requires us to be a lot more agile.

Today, HR is in the boardroom as a strategic partner to the business. And that’s a big shift. The talent function has become more central and more relevant to the business. As a function, we have really used technology to drive data-driven decisions.

We are using technology to screen and we are charting new territory every day. The future is going to be so radically different.

When you look at the external world which is changing so fast, how are you getting ready internally – in terms of process, ownership, and gig workers?

You spoke about skills change and how learning is going to become a continuous process. How do companies think holistically about learning and how do they design organizational structures to compliment the change?

Skills are the new currency for talent.

One of the things we have done is to make EY badges, which encourages our people to shape their careers and prepare themselves for the future — whatever it may bring –by becoming better equipped and differentiated in the market. Since the program’s launch in 2017, more than 13,000 EY Badges have been earned, and over 55,000 more are in progress.

EY Badges opens a world of possibilities by enabling our people to earn digital badges at bronze, silver, gold and platinum level for attaining future-focused skills such as data visualization, data science, and artificial intelligence – skills that will help them in today's working world.

We also recently introduced several new badges for skills related to technology and innovation, and for skills that are sector-specific. Badges can be displayed on internal EY profiles as well as on external professional profiles and social media

We want to ensure that the time the employee is in the organization – whether that’s their whole career or just two to three years, they have a fantastic experience sites. Our people can also take their badges with them if they leave EY. Earning a badge involves participating in required learning, fulfilling required experiences and making a contribution to the broader community – such as teaching or coaching colleagues, presenting to clients or publishing an article that educates others about the acquired skill.

We are also focused on developing the right kind of mindset that you have the curiosity. Because we are going to be in the environment that you have – that whatever we do today, the skills that we have today, a lot of it is going to be obsolete.

From a tactical perspective, we are very quickly digitizing a lot of our learning.

And we are leveraging mobile technology and having a blended kind of approach.

When we look at learning it’s about knowledge and its application. We create opportunities or forums for people to come together, to apply that learning.

Given that there’s a greater market opportunity when compared to established markets in the west. What are some talent focus areas that business and HR leaders need to pay attention to?

Context matters. Most multi-national organizations may have a certain western orientation. But now there are a number of growing companies that are headquartered in Asia. But if were to cut through

all of that, probably one of the key things is how do you accelerate the development of leadership. From a leadership perspective, it’s about how do you accelerate the process in a way that it supports the fast growth in the Asian business market. So you’re going to have leaders who come into the business and attract talent in a whole different kind of way. You’re going to give people a career path that’s going to be much more accelerated. And I think organizations struggle with that. So that’s a challenge that we need to navigate.

In Asia, a lot of our leaders who are making business and people decisions, they are more embedded in the traditional way of working. And when you have a group of millennials, they demand a voice at the workplace and they want things to move fast. And some of our more traditional Asian leaders are not great at that. There is a need to be transparent with information.

When I first went to Asia, I realized that the culture is paternalistic. So the question then is, how do we keep the best that it has to offer? Because it is very caring, nurturing and that’s important.

But how do we empower the employee at the same time? Asian work cultures are different, people are little more reserved and respectful in terms of hierarchy, even with millennials it comes across differently.

So how do we bring in diverse voices and perspectives?

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When you join as a graduate, it’s not a guarantee that you’re going to rise through the ranks to become a partner in the firm.

And we acknowledge it because we feel the need to be authentic. And we know that people come and go for shorter periods of time. What we really want to focus on is the time they are here. We want to make sure that they’re going to have a fantastic experience. That’s our declaration. As a firm that operates in over 70 countries around the world, our focus is on how we can deliver that experience as consistently as we possibly can.

Gig workers is a focus area for us.

We developed a platform called GigNow which captures the contingent workforce.

GigNow is EY’s innovative solution that enables a quick engagement with contractors for all service lines. It is a global solution that helps EY transform the contractors' hiring experience and it helps build a quality contractor talent base. It is disrupting market norms and driving outcomes of improved quality of contractors, risk management, cycle time, analytics and cost savings. GigNow is built for purpose by leveraging advanced technologies, processes, team, and analytics, and allows our GigNow recruiters to source, match, hire and engage high-quality contractors.

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C iOVER n t e r STORY v i e w

The defining trends that impacted the world of work this year and what to look forward to in 2020

Employee experience has become the new mantra for how employees respond to work.

If you could have put a tattoo on your body in 2019 that captured everything, it would be “DESIGN�.

- Dave Ulrich, Rensis Likert Professor, Ross School of Business, University of Michigan

- Jason Averbook, Leading analyst, thought leader and consultant in the area of HR, and the future of work

By Mastufa Ahmed

Lifelong learning is a tri-sector responsibility for ensuring relevance.

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

In 2020, organizations will need to keep a sharp eye on the impact on the sustainability of their workforces, productivity, and all health related metrics.

- Clinton Wingrove, Director of www.WantToBeGreatManager.com and www.ClintonHR.com

In 2020, one key focus area for businesses should be to create meaningful opportunities for every team member to grow.

- Lara Hernandez, Senior VP, Human Resources, Hilton in Asia Pacific

Leadership looking to prepare their benefit programs for 2020 should ask "is the benefit package suitable for their workforce in the long-term".

- Cedric Luah, MD, Head of Health & Benefits, Asia and Australasia, Willis Towers Watson

- Kelly Palmer, Chief Learning Officer of Degreed

STORY

- Nigel Oseland, Co-Founder of Workplace Trends

C OVER

Businesses will continue to focus on employee wellbeing and performance in 2020.

Leaders and managers across industries are realizing that to compete in the future, their workforces must constantly be engaged in learning new skills.

HR leaders should consider greater integration of AI and cognitive decision support to mitigate bias in talent acquisition.

- Deb Bubb, Chief Leadership, Learning & Inclusion Officer

Very soon hiring the correct robots will become an important part of Talent Acquisition. But it may not be HR that will be taking this decision.

- Abhijit Bhaduri, Author, columnist and management consultant

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The next talent agenda From unconscious bias to the use of digital technology, there have been a few key themes that have shaped the talent agenda in the past. Here’s what the future talent agenda looks like

By Dave Ulrich

C iOVER n t e r STORY v i e w

T

he focus on talent (workforce, individual competence, employee) continues to gain attention. In the last year, there have been some talent-related themes that shape how people think, act, and feel within their organization, including unconscious bias (evolution of diversity agenda), employee experience (evolution of morale, motivation, commitment, engagement agenda), types of workers (evolution of full time vs. part time/contractor employees agenda), use of digital technology to innovate employee interactions within the firm, and employee analytics to predict employee behaviors.

Many have and will comment on these, and other talent-related innovations.

My bias is to look forward and envision the next talent agenda.

Employee guidance Many of the talent initiatives listed above focus on employees to help them have a better experience in their organization.

We have found that a key to talent sustainable experience comes from thinking about talent from the outside/in to better justify talent investments. Talent choices, practices, and activities deliver value to customers and investors, or seeing talent from the outside/in. Some of this outside/ in logic correlates employee experience

Going forward, I envision more focus on employee guidance rather than activity. In this scenario, HR might propose a host of talent-related investments 44

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with customer experience (usually in the .6 to .8 range) and includes employee experience as it impacts investor confidence.

Going forward, this outside in logic should lead to better employee guidance.

Guidance is a fascinating concept for many groups: For students wanting career guidance, families wanting investment guidance, or investors seeking corporate guidance. In these and other settings, guidance implies setting a direction (career goal, financial independence, or corporate performance), then building a pathway (or pathways) to that direction.

Going forward, I envision more focus on employee guidance rather than activity.

In this scenario, HR might propose a host of talent-related investments (staffing, training, career planning, communication, performance management, and so forth), then an assessment can be made as to the relative impact of these investments on stakeholders who matter (customers, investors). This combines digital HR and HR analytics into a forward looking,

outside in perspective on talent. When HR has limited resources to invest in talent, they should focus on those talent related activities that deliver the most value to key stakeholders.

Employee experience Employee experience has become the new mantra for how employees respond to work. While it builds on previous work on employee motives, motivation, commitment, and engagement, there are a few trends for employee experience that should emerge going forward. One evolution will be employee responsibility for their experience. This has led Marshall Goldsmith to add the personal choice antecedent (“Did I do my best…?”) to traditional employee sentiment questions about boss, pay, and working conditions. Employee experience may also open the way to synthesize more clearly how to help employees respond favorably to their work setting through the essence of their experience—the extent work increases their ability to believe,

Today’s work world sees an onslaught of technological innovation. The speed and power of computing increases, producing digital concepts that include cloud/big data, social media, gamification, internet of things, robots/chatbots, virtual or augmented reality, blockchain, artificial intelligence, cognitive automation, machine learning, deep learning, and so forth. Through these digital tools, the use of technology has evolved from focused reasoning to statistics to deep neural learning systems. When technology can mimic the brain function, machines can even create deep learning. The human brain is wired with about 100 billion neurons and 100 trillion synapses. Computers currently have approximately 1 billion synapses— not close to human brain capacity. Thus technology is an assistant (enabler, supporter, partner, helper) and not a replacement for people. Though it will not match neurological brain power, as technology evolves, it will have the capacity to use data to make decisions and to learn (e.g., IBM’s “Watson” learned to play chess as well as or better than a human being).

What does technological and digital revolution have to do with workforce plan-

1: Strategy Where do we compete? How do we win?

2: Capability What are the unique capabilities we require?

3: Strategic Positions What are the strategic positions for winning?

4: Tasks What are the key tasks of the strategic positions?

5: Decompose Tasks A B C D E F

Full-time Employee Part-time Employee Consultant Employee Outsourced Employee AI (Technology)

With a variety of ways of doing work (including technology), the focus of talent management is less on planning a workforce than on accomplishing work tasks Culture over talent Talent matters, but organization matters more to key results. In the Academy Awards, about 20 percent of the time, the movie that includes the Best Actor or Actress wins Best Picture. In the NBA, about 20 percent of the time, the team with the top scorer wins the NBA championship. Further, when Michael Jordan led the league in personal scoring but his team did not win the NBA championship (3 times), he averaged 34.55 points per game. But when Jordan led the league in personal scoring and his team won the championship (6 tines), he averaged only 30.5 points per game. When he personally scored less, the team won the championship. Teamwork wins.

Like movies and basketball (all sports actually), business today requires teamwork. In our research (see Victory Through Organization) on 1200 businesses, we discovered that organization capability had four times (yes four times!) more impact on business results than individual competence (talent). Organization capability may occur in a plant, in a function, in a division, in a business unit, in a geographic unit, or enterprise wide.

So, talent advocates will be increasingly sensitive to the organization settings where they work, with attention on organization capabilities like innovation, collaboration, agility, customer centricity, external sensing and to creating the right culture.

I am sure that these four future focused agendas are a small snippet of future oriented talent focus. They are conceived continue to invest in talent as a way to help both people and organizations grow.

STORY

Worktask planning

Figure 1: Worktask Planning

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By meeting belief, become, and belong personal, employee needs, organizations increase employee sentiment that delivers value to customers and investors.

I envision even more focus on employee experience as a lead indicator of customer experience and investor confidence. The research on how employee experience links to customer experience is not new but can be reinvigorated with the new employee experience work to demonstrate the business impact of leaders attending to their people.

ning? In today’s companies, work can be accomplished in many ways: by full-time employees, part-time employees, contract employees (outsourced, consultants), and now AI (robots, augmented reality, machine learning). With this variety of ways of doing work (including technology), the focus of talent management is less on planning a workforce than on accomplishing worktasks. The logic of worktask planning has six steps, as shown in figure 1.

Worktask planning brings technology into the talent world. Workforce planning is about placing people in the right job at the right time with the right skills.

Worktask planning focuses more on how to accomplish a take either with people or through technology.

6: Work Options to do Tasks

become, and belong. These three dimensions offer a typology about what makes a positive employee experience.

Based on the past and creating the future, organizations give employees a sense of: • Believing: An employee finds personal meaning from organizations because employees realize that their personal values derive from and align with the organizations’ purpose and values.

• Becoming: An employee learns and grows through participation in organizations because they enable employees to pursue new talents through opportunities.

• Belonging: An employee has a personal identity and develops new relationships because organizations put employees in contact with others.

About the author

Dave Ulrich is the Rensis Likert Professor, Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, and a partner at the RBL Group.

DECEMBER 2019 |

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L&D needs to move from a ‘supply chain’ approach to a continuous learning ecosystem In an exclusive conversation with People Matters, IBM’s Chief Leadership, Learning and Inclusion Officer Deb Bubb talks about how emerging technologies are transforming the landscape of learning and development, and the role of leaders in encouraging learning

By Mastufa Ahmed

C iOVER n t e r STORY v i e w

HR leaders should consider greater integration of AI and cognitive decision support to mitigate bias in talent acquisition, leadership selection, and employee development

D

eb Bubb is the Chief Leadership, Learning and Inclusion Officer at IBM. She leads the organization responsible for executive leadership succession, executive search and integration, management and leadership development, and diversity and inclusion. In addition, Deb provides HR leadership for North America Sales and IBM’s Corporate Units, driving people and culture solutions.

Here are the excerpts of the interview.

What are the top talent and HR trends of 2019 that can make a mark in 2020?

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Digitization, Automation, and AI: These will continue to influence all industries and every sector of business, including HR and Talent. The consequences aren't future challenges. They’re here now, affecting how businesses and organizations attract, develop, and retain talent.

And with the half-life of skills decreasing and employee expectations for development and career support increasing, the implications for HR in terms of engaging, including, developing, and leading the workforce are immense.

Decision Augmentation: More busi-

nesses will realize the need to incorporate data into every talent decision. To do this at scale, businesses will need to use AI to uncover insights that will empower leaders to make data-driven decisions. Incorporating more AI will enable personalized, consumer-grade experiences and free up employees to focus on value-driven activities, including designing solutions and developing in-demand skills.

Automation: Robotic process automation and Agile workflow design will increase quality and efficiency to fuel new investments.

Diversity and Inclusion: The business case for diverse and inclusive cultures has been clearly established, with improvements in driving innovation and generating better business results. Plus, polarization and increasing activism puts culture at center stage. The competitive talent landscape will increase the importance of diverse and inclusive leadership and commitments to each.

What according to you should be the focus areas for HR in the year 2020?

Embracing a data-driven, science-based, and human-centered approach to all offerings and services.

This requires skill building in people analytics, expertise in human-based sciences (social, psychological and neuroscience), and experienced-based design to create the conditions where employees feel like they belong and can achieve their highest potential. HR leaders should consider greater integration of AI and cognitive decision support to mitigate bias in talent acquisition, leadership selection, and employee development. This will enable more informed decision making and insights that can improve employee engagement and performance.

Given the complexity of the talent landscape, using AI to improve Talent Acquisition will be a competitive advantage while reskilling, upskilling, and continuous learning rise in importance.

How is leadership changing in the wake of digital technologies?

L&D is challenged to move from a ‘supply chain’ approach to a vibrant, continuous learning ecosystem. We have to make learning and development offerings simple, sticky, and scalable so that employees can easily find and consume what and when learning is needed. Doing so will allow Learning & Development to attract, develop, and retain talent through a compelling employee learning experience. And it will harness the curiosity and career aspirations of employees to

Technology and analytics are core to powering reinvention across an entire organization. With a modern learning ecosystem, analytics can be used to generate insights that lead to content decisions, investment choices, and identifying and matching the right skills with the right learners. By leveraging the broader knowledge of career progression, organizational priorities, and a holistic people perspective that includes motivations and personalities, L&D becomes an integral component of HR and people systems. At the same time, AI-infused learning will bring together elements of social learning, behavioral science, and digital nudging capabilities to create a culture of continuous learning. This technology will better enable a compelling learning ecosystem, created by L&D and complemented by data analytics, that inspires employees to learn new skills.

thrive in a rapidly changing marketplace and adopt the skills that the businesses of tomorrow will require.

What’s new in learning and why businesses should embrace them?

AI and advanced analytics are revolutionizing learning. Today, workers embrace and expect learning as a key enabler of their success at work. Employees demand consumer-grade experiences for learning content. Businesses are tasked with creating an ecosystem that provides compelling content and inspires continuous learning.

Whether it’s an in-person immersive experience where the social, networked interaction is necessary, to the live virtual events that connects a global team, learning is now a 24/7 journey for employees. And since learning directly impacts employee engagement and productivity, skills development, and career mobility, businesses

In the last year, my team has launched Positive Leadership Edge, a new program that’s focused on driving cultural change by enabling IBMers to thrive and deliver exceptional results. Based on five elements that have independently been core to IBM for a long time – Growth Mindset, Resilience, Engagement & Inclusion, Agility, and Trust & Transparency – this program is designed to strengthen the behaviors that drive better outcomes, motivate and inspire our employees, and create the conditions for sustained high performance. Since we launched Positive Leadership Edge last year, thousands of IBMers have participated and shared valuable feedback. We are already seeing the results of the program’s global impact on the way our businesses and our units operate – culture change at scale.

We’ve recently launched Your Learning Boost, a mobile enhancement to our learning management system that acts as a "Fitbit for Learning." IBMers can set daily learning goals, receive reminders to keep them on track, and build a dashboard of success with skills-based digital badges.

Your Learning Boost will be supplemented by a digital nudging capability that will provide a highly personalized support system, encouraging continuous learning, & a sustained focus on improving skills.

DECEMBER 2019 |

STORY

What is the most critical thing that the L&D function needs to do to enable organizations to reinvent for tomorrow?

How can technology and analytics be leveraged for L&D to power reinvention and make an organization-wide impact?

Can you share some latest L&D initiatives that you have taken recently /planning to take at IBM?

Do we have enough digital leaders to deal with future business challenges?

Innovation requires quality positive leaders, meaning human-centered leadership at every level where employees role model courage and empathy and create an environment where leadership is an action, not a role. Building digitally fluent leadership means investing in business, technology, and personal leadership skills.

must consider learning and development as strategic assets and dedicate proper support and funding.

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Gone are the days when leadership was defined by a role or title, and often required significant administrative focus, task management, and process controls.

Today, the rate and pace of change and innovation require more distributed leadership – that is, the ability for everyone to lead and adapt to client needs and market opportunities. As a result, we need leaders at every level who not only have modern leadership skills, deep industry expertise and technical acumen but also the human skills – empathy, communication, collaboration, and inclusiveness – to cultivate environments where people can innovate, learn and adapt.

By leveraging the broader knowledge of career progression, organizational priorities, and a holistic people perspective that includes motivations and personalities, L&D becomes an integral component of HR and people systems

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Catching up to workforce 2020

What did we do in 2019 to move our organization toward the Future of Work which is actually happening now?

By Jason Averbook

C iOVER n t e r STORY v i e w

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e’re fast approaching a new decade of work, and we’ve been waxing poetic about the Future of Work what seems like forever. What have we accomplished in the two decades since Y2K? What did we do in 2019 to move our organization toward the “Future of Work,” which is actually happening now?

We begin every year with lofty goals for the organization and for our people function. I hope, like performance reviews of old, we don’t evaluate past performance and plan for ongoing performance only once per year and through the rearview mirror. I hope we are looking around corners, focused on a future state and common vision, continually optimizing our strategy and practices based on realtime observation and timely reaction to what we’re seeing and how the market is shifting. That being said, it helps to understand the broad-sweeping shifts shaping our industry and function. Reacting to the demands of the business and the expectations of talent will leave us chasing the last decade rather than proactively shaping and creating Workforce 2020 and beyond.

That’s where trends and insights play a key role. If we understand the needs of our modern organizations, the evolving expectations of the workforce upon whom we rely to deliver to the market and our customers, and the availability of innovative solutions and techniques to power experiences and drive outcomes, we can better shape an organizational digital strategy that spans our workforce goals. In other words, these themes shape our people priorities. More importantly, they help us close the gap between the world we live in outside of work and the world of work.

Stop thinking technology, start thinking digital That’s why every year I aim to forecast and explain the major shifts we’ll see in Human Resources and Digital Transformation. Last year was no exception: How true that Mindset, People, and Process would emerge as the most important part of Digi48

| DECEMBER 2019

tal Transformation in 2019. “Digital Transformation is going to be on the headline of every magazine,” I asserted, and technology is only one small piece of the equation for success. If we think about technology alone, we’re missing the biggest opportunity of true transformation, which is Workforce Experience.

Digital transformation requires both a complete approach and a shared vision for the future, one that arcs every function: IT, operations, HR, and so on. This digital vision should be focused on the personas of your people with an understanding of how, where, and why they work. Your workforce is diverse and multifaceted. You need to understand who makes up your workforce, how they work, in what channels they best receive information, and the moments that matter most to them. This is how you transform workforce experience. Technology is the fuel for this, not the vehicle.

will help you hire them, train and develop them, make them want to stay, and deliver excellent service to your customers. Experience is 20 percent transaction (completion of tasks) and 80 percent interaction (where trust is built).

• We got more specific in the definition and applications of AI in 2019. We know the acronym as Artificial Intelligence, but we’re not there yet and don’t need to be if you consider the value of augmented intelligence. This more narrow sense of AI, where machines augment our intelligence and capabilities, has the ability to improve experiences when working with systems.

Using math, logic, and pattern and anomaly detection, “AI” defined as Augmented Intelligence can create an improved transaction for a better experience.

If we understand the needs of our modern organizations, the evolving expectations of the workforce, and the availability of innovative solutions and techniques to power experiences and drive outcomes, we can better shape an organizational digital strategy that spans our workforce goals This pivotal DIGITAL theme permeates everything else we saw come about in 2019: • The shift to a digital way of thinking allows us to fully and finally embrace workforce experience as the most important HR/people priority. Workforce Experience is not a buzzword.

We live in an experience economy, and designing and delivering experiences for people and how they feel when they work in your organization is what

• The market is no longer buying HR tech because they have to for compliance purposes but because it supports an overall organizational people strategy.

The value curve for the HR technology is changing. We don’t need to buy one solution to support 100 percent of our needs. We live in an app-driven, point solution world. Getting stuff done requires a lot of different capabilities, and you may not get them all in one

•

•

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your body in 2019 that captured everything, it would be “DESIGN.” Design is the single ingredient that drastically increases the likelihood of success in everything else. Design also begs the concepts of intentionality and sequencing. Design with intentionality to get the desired outputs and the sequence through which we complete actions.

Intentionality is the difference between designing a 3-bedroom house and designing a house for the way you actually live.

• People Intelligence is slow to move to center stage, but it still needs to. Why does Amazon or LinkedIn know more about your people than you do? Because

If you could have put a tattoo on your body in 2019 that captured everything, it would be “DESIGN.” Design is the single ingredient that drastically increases the likelihood of success in everything else they have a very specific intent about what they want to do with the data they collect. We need the same intent where we look to gain insights that are predictive and prescriptive. This is how to think about analytics; not reporting for the sake of reporting, leaving the user to figure out how to use the data. Data needs to be clean, organized, leverage augmented intelligence, and interpreted to tell the right story. That kind of surgical precision and approach leading to action is what will move HR data & analytics to people intelligence.

STORY

It’s also personal in that it allows each of us to share with others, allowing learning go viral, not relying on the organization to discover, organize, and deliver it alone. This personalization, delivery, and experience is data-driven, placing even more emphasis on the need for a data strategy.

• Make way for experience CoEs. In a traditional Center of Excellence, there’s strategy, policy and delivery. Employees don’t care if they’re talking to Employee Relations or Compensation or Recruiting or Performance or Comp or Learning or You-Name-It Department, yet we silo every one of our Centers of Excellence in this way. We need to centralize delivery if we want the workforce to have one seamless, frictionless experience. Look for the advent of Experience Agents, an Experience COE, and Experience Leaders.

• When you do all of the above, your HRBPs can be proactive, focus on predictive intelligence versus data, and tied to the business rather than tied to the HR department. This is where you find balance between high-touch digital versus high-touch human. If you’re truly changing experience, you can’t allow HRBPs to continue to do work for people. You need to address HRBPs including their work and skills - as you shift focus to servicing the workforce.

• The role of the HRBP has changed forever. If you could have put a tattoo on

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place. HR needs to decide what they want to be great at versus what it’s OK to be just OK at - then select best in breed technology where they need to be best of class. Don’t get me wrong: a consistent user interface is important, but a consistent workforce experience is even more important.

Yes, that means back to the future for integrations. Our experience layer, what the workforce interacts with, is going to drive integration and a return to best in breed buying strategy.

Digital Transformation has stolen the show over technology transitions. Technology transition gets our business nowhere except on a new piece of technology. Think beyond the technology; Phase I is more important than ever.

If Phase I (the experience) doesn’t add more value than what’s already being delivered today, you’ve gone nowhere.

Reinvent versus re-do as you move from one technology to another. That’s the shift from technology to digital.

Talent Management 2.0 is still being born, but there’s progress. Talent Management 1.0 was about automating things that had previously been done on paper and were not tracked electronically, like performance reviews.

1.0 afforded us the ability to know if they were getting done (compliance), but we had no way of knowing whether they were being done effectively (business value). Talent management 2.0 sees the center of gravity shifting from completing transactions and tasks to a new mindset where technology can be leveraged to promote better experience, engagement, and improved performance of the organization. This requires we design for the customer, your business/line managers/team leaders, and not for the simple sake of HR getting the data they need. Talent Management 1.0 is taking a physical once per year; Talent Management 2.0 is looking at your heart rate with a wearable heart rate monitor so you can make decisions today, in real time, not after your annual physical.

Knowledge management and learning management have been freed from old shackles. There’s too much left on the table if we leave it to organizations alone to push out information, knowledge, and learning in traditional boxes.

Knowledge and learning in the outside world is real-time, online, with video and rich content. At work, learning is starting to become similarly personalized; it understands what job and role you’re in, where you might want to go and what skills you might like to build.

All of these shifts require a new mindset and new skills for HR: skills like value creation and marketing, storytelling, persona design to capture the mindset of people in your workforce, enhancing process design as an experience path, and design capabilities. An experience economy requires developing these skills as core capabilities within our organizations.

And all of this requires Empathy. Shifting our focus to the workforce. Thinking differently. Designing an experience for the empty chair rather than for the HR user.

Workforce 2020 will be about the workforce, and it’s about time.

About the author

Jason Averbook is a leading analyst, thought leader and consultant in the area of human resources and the future of work. He is the Co-founder and CEO of Leapgen, a digital transformation company.

DECEMBER 2019 |

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What benefits worked in 2019 will help plan for 2020

In 2020, organizations should expect to put a greater focus on data management and integration for their benefit programs. In Asia Pacific, this is an emerging priority second only to the ongoing concern for legal and regulatory compliance

By Cedric Luah

C iOVER n t e r STORY v i e w

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he present is a living and changing thing, providing new possibilities and opportunities for a rapidlyapproaching future. Leadership navigating this landscape requires not only understanding the situation as it is now, but also noticing the trends that give a glimpse of what is to come.

In 2019, we saw organizations in Asia Pacific update their benefit programs, a process that is likely to continue in 2020.

The task calls for employers to pay attention to current trends and the impact these could have on how benefits are viewed, experienced and understood.

Leadership looking to prepare their benefit programs for 2020 and beyond should ask questions such as: • Is the benefit package suitable for their workforce in the long-term in view of the changes in their workforce?

• Can the organization sustain the costs of the programs with their varied employee needs for the future?

• Is the organization prepared for disruptions that technology will bring to the way it manages and delivers their program?

• What should an employer do to prepare for the changing landscape of broadened benefits design definition and how can they design for the future?

ity required to succeed in it. Using data as a modern-day oracle for the future of benefits gives employers the necessary foundation to build atop of and can provide clues as to what should be built above that foundation.

Understanding the present to predict the future Any attempt to understand what 2020 will bring requires looking at what is already here and what trends are likely to continue. For benefits, healthcare will remain a high priority and one key driving force, but the experience is one that is likely to be transformed with the advancement of technology. Ideas that were science fiction less than a decade ago are becoming healthcare realities.

Employees are the other major driving force in shaping the future of benefits, making it crucial to understand how they

There are reasons to be excited about what the future will bring while also keeping in mind the planning and adaptabil-

The need to move benefit programs away from the traditional scope of benefits emerged in Asia Pacific in 2019, with a total of 68% of employers in the region looking to implement broader, more flexible benefit programs for their workforce 50

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interact with programs and what they need. It also pushes for in-depth study of the design, with an eye towards accessibility and encouraging engagement. A daunting task, to be sure, but one that can be treated as a long-term investment that yields a breadth of returns.

Willis Towers Watson utilized research data to piece together a clearer picture of benefits as they stand in Asia Pacific and what direction the region is potentially headed. The data shows that some things remain as they are, some things are changing and organizations in the region have already begun to implement new programs or are planning to do so.

Developments shaping the future of benefits Just what can organizations expect or plan to implement in 2020 and beyond? What challenges can they expect to face? And what immediate impacts will they need to prepare for?

Broader benefits definition, greater personal choice The need to move benefit programs away from the traditional scope of benefits emerged in Asia Pacific in 2019, with a total of 68% of employers in the region looking to implement broader, more flexible benefit programs for their workforce.1 Choice is becoming a prominent theme in benefit programs that are focused on delivering an inward employee-centric experience rather than a broad and outwardfacing approach.

Thirty four percent of employers in Asia Pacific plan to offer employees a choice in benefit level, with an additional seven percent already implementing this change.1 The freedom to determine how much is spent to fund which benefits drives employee engagement and lets them prioritize according to their needs and situation that is relevant to their current life stage.

Flexible benefit programs are planned by 36 percent of organizations, with six

How are employers adapting?

value on their benefit programs in the same period.1

The road ahead for employers in 2020 Any benefits modernization effort should be comprehensive, placing a focus on design and factoring in the costs, workforce experience, legal compliance and metrics of success. The use of new technologies and focused on enhanced communications can be a boon for employer and employee alike, driving efficiency and convenience, as well as improving engagement and experience. Organizations should position themselves to negotiate more favourable terms for employees while also driving effective benefits utilisation and awareness within their own organizations.

A modern benefit program does not require reinventing the wheel; it needs an approach that embraces the forward momentum of technology and employee needs, using that understanding to deliver a more impactful experience. Employers in 2020 will make their way through their

STORY

Technology is an enabler that allows for improved ways to engage employees and deliver benefits. Thirty seven percent of employers planned to use technology solutions to simplify benefit offerings, avoiding the pitfalls of overloading with choices.

Using technology as a means of educating employees and drive engagement is also planned by 32 percent of organizations.1 In 2020, organizations should expect to put a greater focus on data management and integration for their benefit programs.

In Asia Pacific, this is an emerging priority second only to the ongoing concern for legal and regulatory compliance.1 Aligning the employee perception with that of the employer will remain on the agenda for organizations in 2020. Three in four employers plan to survey employee opinions on their benefit programs, both ongoing offerings and planned changes.

An increased importance of “value of investment” will drive employers to use non-traditional metrics to better understand how best to evaluate their benefit programs’ effectiveness.1 Rising costs of benefits remain a primary concern for employers, with 69 percent citing it as critical in their future.

58 percent of organizations plan to focus on managing operating costs in 2020 and the foreseeable future, while 53 percent plan to focus on generating a return of

Technology is an enabler that allows for improved ways to engage employees and deliver benefits. Thirty seven percent of employers planned to use technology solutions to simplify benefit offerings, avoiding the pitfalls of overloading with choices

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percent having implemented them already and another 16 percent maintaining them from previous years.1 Freedom of choice and the ability to choose what to prioritize again drives this option, permitting employees to choose how employer money is used to either fully or partially fund selected benefits.

Voluntary benefits will also gain more prominence, with 32 percent of employers planning to act on this in the future.1 This allows employers to leverage on their purchasing power to curate lifestyle and personalized benefits items that will bring value to employees even though the employees will fund these optional benefits on their own, but the delivery and facilitation of them is still typically coordinated by the employer.

In addition, employees today are also looking at other areas such as inclusion and diversity practices of the organization they are working for. For example, whether they can be involved in Corporate Social Responsibilities, flexible work arrangements, extended dependents coverage, and health and wellbeing activities. Even personal lifestyle choices and services are also creeping into the scope of benefits design.

challenges and utilize data to focus inward and deliver a benefit portfolio that meets the needs of their diverse workforce.

Organizations are moving towards a benefit program that is aligned with the personalized needs of their employees where the approach and attitudes are very different from conventional thinking. The more successful employers will be those that have a clear focus on an employeecentric strategy and be able to communicate benefits in a way that is well understood by the employees on the value of the program.

Benefits in 2019 and the past few years have been about coming to terms with changes. As we move into 2020 and beyond, benefits is about generating value for employers and employees alike.

1 Willis Towers Watson 2019 Benefit Trends Survey – Asia Pacific About the author

Cedric Luah is the Managing Director, Head of Health & Benefits, Asia and Australasia, Willis Towers Watson.

DECEMBER 2019 |

51

Lifelong Learning: A tri-sector responsibility for ensuring relevance

When changes cause reduction or elimination of skilled employees, the impact on the business, employees, and local community can be significant.

How do we work toward preventing these situations and who is responsible?

By Richard Smith, Ph.D.

C iOVER n t e r STORY v i e w

Most governments spend significant amounts on education, but this typically stops after university age. It would be great to see more ongoing support of vocational and professional education that is available for citizens later in life

I

n the learning and development circles, there is quite a bit of discussion about the importance of lifelong learning these days. While this is not necessarily a break-through idea, there is a critical question that is fuelled by access to microlearning opportunities as well as the ease of tapping into digital platforms for developing new skills. The key question is who has the responsibility for lifelong learning?

Businesses provide support for current jobs, the government provides support for educating youth, and non-profits support those in need. When it comes to developing new skills when your career is disrupted by technology advances, there is not a clear solution. In other words, it is up to you to maintain your relevance over the lifetime of your careers.

This may sound okay, but most individuals do not have the discipline, means, or know-how to develop future skills. When autonomous vehicles arrive, who will facilitate the re-skilling of lorry drivers? While

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individuals clearly have a role, lifelong learning is really a tri-sector responsibility as the government as a vested interest in keeping people employed with good skills; the businesses want people with good talents, and the non-profit organizations benefit from ongoing skill development and progress. Let’s consider a lesson from history.

When the Boeing experienced a significant downturn in 1970, they released 35,000 employees, who were suddenly faced with a challenge of finding new employment in the Seattle Washington area. If you only know how to build airplanes, how easily can you find a similar occupation? This layoff was devastating for the city of Seattle due to the ripple effect on all the suppliers and supporting businesses, it had a significant impact on the economy and government. Non-profit agencies kicked in with some retaining efforts and the unemployment pay-outs from the government affected the entire state. We have seen

other such layoffs around the world over the years as businesses are sometimes forced to make rapid adjustments due to shifts in the economy, technology disruption, or simply poor planning. When changes cause a reduction or elimination of certain skilled employees, the impact on the business, employees, and local community can be significant. How do we work toward preventing these situations and who is responsible?

Hence the importance of lifelong learning to maintain relevance as the cycles of disruption are coming more frequently to economies and industries all around the world. Of course, individual employees must take care to look out for themselves, but employers and government agencies should also do their part to support lifelong learning. Since all sectors have a vested interest in the human capital in their region, it would be great to see more tri-sector support for lifelong learning by government, businesses, and non-profit organizations:

Many countries have social systems to help people who are unemployed by providing retraining and perhaps other services to assist in the job search.

However, this is often too late and can be a challenge as resources are often limited.

Most governments spend significant amounts on education, but this typically stops after university age. It would be great to see more ongoing support of vocational and professional education that is available for citizens later in life.

One example of this is in Singapore. The country has been proactive with its “Skills Future” program that provides annual funding for all Singaporeans to attend qualified courses and training in areas that may be useful for a current or future career. Investing in skills becomes a critical economic lever to attract and retain businesses in today’s globally connected world.

Business Role Large companies will provide training and on-the-job learning for employees for skill and professional development. In some cases, firms have corporate universities

with courses tuned to fit the needs of the business and industry. While these are a great benefit for both the employee and the company, most organizations are not thinking about course offerings to help people find their next career. Yet, that is exactly what is needed when we consider lifelong learning. Recently, some proactive firms have started to recognize their role in ongoing learning of all types. For example, the global consumer products firm, Unilever, recently announced the introduction of an internal talent marketplace called “Flex Experiences” based on an AI-powered platform. The new capability allows employees to explore new areas with strong company support.

STORY

Government Role

resources to provide proactive re-skilling services on a proactive basis. However, an initiative across the EU called the Lifelong Learning Platform has sponsored a network of non-profit providers to join forces in addressing cradle to grave education needs. The ambitious vision for the Lifelong Learning Platform is to ensure equity and social cohesion as well as active citizenship.

It is encouraging to see some examples from governments, businesses, and non-profit sectors supporting the lifelong learning needs of individuals. As technology advances accelerate and global shifts in the industry occur, it will be even more important to create new opportunities to develop skills or perhaps reskill.

Of course, individuals must be proactive in seeking out opportunities to remain relevant and develop new competencies in their areas of interest. However, it is a trisector responsibility to provide opportunities and to encourage people to take the initiative. Working together, it would be great to see more efforts to support society’s needs for learning, developing, and preparing for the future.

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As technology advances accelerate and global shifts in the industry occur, it will be even more important to create new opportunities to develop skills or perhaps reskill

Non-Profit Role Many of the non-profit organizations are concerned with the welfare of those in society who may have special needs or require support. In many cases, these organizations receive both government and donation funding with a mission focused on an unmet need for a group of citizens. While there are several associations to help the disadvantaged youth and elderly in society, there is often not enough

About the author

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

DECEMBER 2019 |

53

The big step businesses need to take in 2020 to fix the skills gap

Skills gaps are threatening the future of numerous businesses, and can drag down economies, both at the national and global levels

By Kelly Palmer

C iOVER n t e r STORY v i e w

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n 2019, as I’ve traveled around the world working with businesses, I’ve seen powerful signs that when it comes to confronting one of their most pressing challenges – perhaps the most pressing challenge – they’re finding themselves in the same proverbial boat. Leaders and managers, across all sorts of industries, are realizing that to compete in the future, their workforces must constantly be engaged in learning new skills.

Workforces are not adequately prepared for the future. With new technologies bringing disruption at an unprecedented pace, any organization can lose market share and face a sudden downfall when a competitor springs up that offers a whole new, better way to provide a product or service. Skills gaps are threatening the future of numerous businesses, and can drag down economies, both at the national and global levels.

Early in 2019, the Society for Human Resource Management made clear what a struggle this can be for the United States.

In a survey, the vast majority of HR professionals (83 percent) said they were having difficulty recruiting suitable job candidates. Among those who reported having this problem, three quarters said candidates had skill gaps and more than half (52 percent) said the problem was getting worse.

This same problem is rearing its head just about everywhere. “Skills gaps across all industries are poised to grow in the Fourth Industrial Revolution,” the World Economic Forum reported earlier this year.

More than half (54 percent) of all employees “will require significant reskilling by 2022,” the forum said.

A wide array of efforts are underway. In India, for example, the forum has created a task force to tackle the skills gap. The need for reskilling is having a major impact on, among other things, global corporations that set up offices in the country. Talent availability “is the single most important factor in determining job locations for international businesses with operations

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It’s time for companies to embrace the new science of learning.

Instructor-led training – in which employees pack into a room to sit through lectures and watch PowerPoint presentations – are rarely very effective in India,” the forum said, adding that “67 percent of businesses surveyed expected to outsource functions by 2022 in response to changing skill requirements.”

All these new efforts, and the slew of studies pointing out the scope of the problem, show that the message is starting to penetrate. New efforts in L&D are needed.

Degreed, where I serve as Chief Learning Officer, pointed out in our How the Workforce Learns report that 80 percent of business leaders believe more innovation is needed learning and development.

Mixed reports on financial commitment But are these leaders putting their money where their mouths are? On this question, the reports are mixed.

Spending on workplace training dropped this year to $83 billion in the United States, a decrease of 5.3 percent from a year earlier, according to Training Magazine. But globally, a different picture emerges. Industry analyst Josh Bersin reports that learning and development worldwide is “now over a $240 billion market,”

up seven percent from a year earlier. And “LinkedIn research shows that 87 percent of organizations are growing or flat, only 13 percent reducing cost,” he notes.

We also may see a big increase in spending on L&D in the coming years, including inside the United States, given announcements from prominent corporations in 2019.

Among the latest is PricewaterhouseCoopers, which has committed to spending $3 billion on job training for all its 275,000 employees over the next three to four years. Earlier in 2019, Amazon announced that it will spend $700 million by 2025 to train 100,000 workers. Accenture plans to “retrain nearly every worker at risk of losing a job to automation, using a large portion of the nearly $1 billion the firm spends on training each year,” the Wall Street Journal reported.

JPMorgan Chase, meanwhile, announced that it will spend $350 million on a “global initiative” to help develop a variety of programs to help people build critical skills for the future of work. “The new world of work is about skills, not necessarily degrees,” CEO Jamie Dimon said.

Spend it wisely All this pledged money can make a big difference. But the key is to spend this money wisely.

Fortunately, on this front we’re seeing positive developments. For example, companies have been moving away from older methods of learning and investing more in modern tools. The 2019 Workplace Learning Report from LinkedIn found that most companies have increased their spending on online learning (59 percent reported an increase, while only nine percent reported a decrease). And 39 percent of companies have reduced their spending on instructorled training, while 24 percent report an increase.

This is good news. It’s time for companies to embrace the new science of learning. Instructor-led training – in which employees pack into a room to sit through

For newly learned skills to last, employees need the chance to apply them to real life situations. So once people have gone through the process of learning, practicing and fine tuning, they need opportunities inside their company to put those skills to use.

Far too many businesses are failing to do this. Many don’t collect even data on which employees are even learning which skills, let alone search for ways to help them implement those skills.

ing soft about them. In the digital transformation, as technologies are taking over more and more of the jobs that exist today, the uniquely human skills will become even more important for people to have.

These include communication; empathy; the ability to give and receive feedback; thinking creatively and critically; curiosity and more.

In fact, LinkedIn found that “creativity is the single-most in-demand skill for companies to cultivate in their employees.”

Some of the fastest-growing roles, such as sales development, customer success, and customer experience jobs, are largely based on skills like creativity, persuasion, analytical reasoning, collaboration and adaptability.

In talks for corporations and conferences, I often explain that the most important skill of all these days is learning agility, the ability to continuously learn and build skills all the time. The future is unpredictable. But one thing we can count on is that as artificial intelligence, machine learning

Skills gaps across all industries are poised to grow in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the World Economic Forum reported earlier this year.

More than half (54 percent) of all employees “will require significant reskilling by 2022,” the forum said Value and address ‘power skills’ When we talk about skills, we often think of the traditional “hard skills” that involve the details of how jobs are done. These days, for example, data science often comes to mind as companies respond to technological disruption.

Fresh reminders of gaps in traditional “hard skills” pop up all the time. The National Center for Education Statistics recently released a striking report about findings in a major international study: 29% of U.S. adults performed at the lowest level of numeracy and 19% performed at the lowest levels of literacy. Among those who felt comfortable taking the assessment on a computer, 24% lacked “basic digital problem-solving abilities.”

Obviously, these are huge gaps that must be addressed. But they aren’t the only kinds of skills in demand. In fact, there’s an even greater need for what I call “power skills.” In the past, these have been referred to as “soft skills.” But there’s noth-

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Put those skills to work - at work

This often leads employees to leave a company. They want a chance to apply their new skills, and if they can’t find it at their current business they’ll look elsewhere. As Gallup notes, millennials in particular “want jobs to be development opportunities.” And part of that development is having the chance to make using new skills a part of their workday.

To make this happen, companies should continuously collect data on who is learning what. This is a necessity to determine where the skill gaps lie and what’s being done to fill them. Next, build an internal career marketplace that helps employees match their new skills to jobs and projects at the company. A good example of this kind of marketplace is eBay, where employees are allowed to keep their current role while taking time to work on a different project. In the year ahead, businesses of all kinds should build similar systems. They also need to make sure that their L&D operations are focusing on the full gamut of skills that businesses need today.

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lectures and watch PowerPoint presentations – are rarely very effective.

For our book The Expertise Economy, my co-author David Blake and I looked into what the research teaches about the most effective training. William Jeffries, Senior Associate Dean for Medical Education at the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine, explained that he was once a big advocate of lectures, but has changed his mind. “We’ve seen much evidence in the literature, accumulated in the last decade, that shows that when you do a comparison between lectures and other methods of learning—typically called ‘active learning’ methods—that lectures are not as efficient or not as successful in allowing students to accumulate knowledge in the same amount of time,” he explained. Jeffries and his colleagues set about phasing out lectures in favor of “active learning,” in which employees put their learning into practice.

We recommend that companies make similar changes. First, rather than focusing on compliance training – required courses that all employees must take – give them the chance to choose which skills they want to learn. Put them in the driver’s seat. When they make these choices, they’re much more likely to be devoted to learning.

Next, give them the time and resources to engage in learning by reading articles, watching TED Talks, listening to podcasts, and more. Also, help them find subject matter experts (SMEs) inside the organization who are willing and excited to teach the skills they know. Teaching is a great way for people to brush up on the skills that they have expertise in.

Then, make sure these employees have the chance to practice the skills they’re learning, and to get helpful, thoughtful feedback from people they trust who are already experts. This kind of feedback will help them hone, improve and fine tune as they go.

Then comes the next big step. And it’s here that businesses need to take especially big steps forward in 2020.

and other emerging technologies change how business is done, companies that learn to harness them most quickly - and use them to innovate - will have a huge leg up on the competition.

We’ve entered a new era. Skills are the currency of this economy. In 2020, let’s aim to make big changes take hold. Let’s work to build societies in which workers have what they need to learn, develop and contribute in entirely new ways – to help their companies, industries, nations and the world build a stronger future.

About the author

Kelly Palmer is the Chief Learning Officer of Degreed and co-author of The Expertise Economy: How the Smartest Companies use Learning to Engage, Compete, and Succeed.

DECEMBER 2019 |

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Business Horoscopes are easy to write

Business horoscopes have become all too easy to write

By Abhijit Bhaduri

C iOVER n t e r STORY v i e w

I

want to start with a confession that I am not a believer in horoscopes. My belief got shaken because a friend read out the predictions for my zodiac sign. He read aloud, “This year will see significant changes. Big opportunities will come your way.” I went home a happy bunny. I knew just what my year would look like. I was all set to hit the big league. A week later my friend showed up sheepishly and said that he had got the dates mixed up. The relevant prediction for Scorpio (my zodiac sign) was ominous. It predicted, “Get out of your comfort zone. Face the challenges headon.” Even that sounded fairly relevant for my life.

That day I decided that I would read the weekly forecast for every zodiac sign and the one that sounds the most optimistic is the one I will believe is my forecast for the week. It keeps me motivated.

Large clunky enterprise systems have to be replaced by HR tech that is open, connected and part of the employee’s work.

Getting information must be as easy as asking a friend. HR Tech products in the space of Talent Acquisition, Workforce Management, Talent Management are transforming even huge enterprises within 6-9 months. HR Tech changes the experience of work. 2020 must bring that clarity of vision.

IBM's Institute for Business Value recently conducted a worldwide study of more than 5,000 executives on closing employee skill gaps. They speak of the

Business horoscopes Every year in December, the best of magazines and newspapers begin to look like tabloids that publish horoscopes. Business horoscopes have become all too easy to write. If I told you that your organization will be disrupted by startups using Artificial Intelligence, I would sound like Nostradamus. Or if I said, “A Fortune 500 company will lose its credibility because of a cyberattack”, you know that I will be right. It is safe to say that humans and robots will be working together. Very soon hiring the correct robots will become an important part of Talent Acquisition. But it may not be HR that will be taking this decision. Amazon had 88,000 people in 2012 and no robots. A year later their human workforce grew to 117,000 and they had 1000 robots. In 2019 they had 750,000 people on their rolls and 200,000 robots. The growth rate of robots is way higher than humans.

From farming to fashion every business has to be reimagined. The ones who are not doing it will go bankrupt the way Forever21 did. The market is not going to stay the same forever – not even till 2021. The time is short.

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Invest in HR Tech

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Very soon hiring the correct robots will become an important part of Talent Acquisition. But it may not be HR that will be taking this decision

major gap in soft skills – not technical.

Having a workforce that is adaptable to change can build nimbleness and agility in the employer. In a time-starved world, being able to prioritize can help build speed in the organization. The ability to create the data that will help HR take better decisions in every aspect of talent management should be a priority for the CHRO. Even as the organization gathers the data, having the right investments in cybersecurity and data privacy have to become part of the business agenda. All businesses are becoming tech businesses.

All jobs are becoming tech enabled. So, must HR. There are hundreds of startups that are leveraging AI to solve discovery problems. Sourcing candidates based on their social media presence is a great place to start. Scheduling interviews with multiple stakeholders, finding the right fit are all easier with AI-driven solutions.

AI can be used to find candidates for jobs. But the bigger opportunity is to match jobs to candidates. Humans look at qualifications and experience to find a fit.

AI can use thousands of variables to find such a fit. The possibilities are endless.

I have one question to ask you …

Businesses may change but Human Resources will remain unchanged, would that prediction be valid for your organization if we compared notes a year later?

About the author

AbhijitBhaduri works with organizations to transform their leadership teams, talent strategies and culture. He is the most followed writer from India with more than 850,000 followers on social media.

Businesses will continue to focus on employee wellbeing and performance We are seeing more focus on reducing workplace loneliness and mental health, and an increase in diversity policies, says Nigel Oseland, Co-Founder of Workplace Trends, in an interaction with People Matters

By Mastufa Ahmed

N

igel Oseland is a workplace strategist, environmental psychologist, and change manager. Nigel campaigns for workplaces that support all personality types. He firmly believes in evidence-based design and has been researching the impact of the environment on individual and organizational performance for over a decade.

Nigel Oseland is an international speaker, and author or co-author of several papers and books, including “Improving Office Productivity – A Practical Guide for Business and Facilities Managers”. Back in 2003, he set up the Workplace Trends series of conferences which grew into a must-attend event for workplace design and management professionals.

Here are the excerpts of the interview.

How has the year been for L&D professionals? How can they reinvent for the future?

Train their staff in i) using new technology and collaboration tools ii) working effectively when away from the office iii) being more cognizant of diversity issues.

How has the year 2019 been in terms of defining trends and what implications will they have for the year 2020?

I believe we will continue to see a focus on how we can provide working environments that enhance employee wellbeing and performance. This may be through offering better work-life balance by implementing agile working or adopting wellbeing accreditation such as the WELL Standard or FitWell. As employers continue to battle for the best talent, the workplace and workstyles will be used as an enticement for attracting new talent.

What should businesses and HR focus on in the year 2020 and why?

More organizations are now employing neurodiverse people with high cognitive functioning and will need to accommodate their specific workplace requirements.

Loneliness is an epidemic in the UK (and the USA) and costing UK businesses £2.23 billion per annum in lost productivity. We are seeing more focus on reducing workplace loneliness and mental health, and an increase in diversity policies.

We recently held the first edition of Workplace Trends in India facilitated by our India partner, Tushar Mittal & Studiokon Ventures, on 15th November

in Delhi. The discussions narrowed in on rapidly changing trends, the raging war for talent acquisition, topical HR concerns, and expectations of the employee from the employer.

How is leadership changing in the wake of digital technologies?

Digital technology has resulted in more digital working environments, with people working more remotely, across the globe, and less dependent on coming to one office.

This has resulted in challenging leaders to manage remote workers, whom they will meet in person less often. In my experience, those who have been trained and have good management skills will be less affected by those less competent managers who depend on their staff to be present and nearby. Managers will need to plan better, move to performance (rather than time) management and ensure remote workers are motivated and loyal to the company.

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Most businesses are becoming technology-oriented businesses, we have seen the rise of the fintech and, more recently, pharmatech, industries. Furthermore, the legal sector is adopting AI and needs technologists to support them. Work is changing and the make-up of the organization is too.

Recruitment will need to entice this new talent through the workplace and workstyle.

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Are the traditional strategies for hiring and recruitment changing to adapt to the changing times? What should we look forward to in 2020?

How do you see the role of AI and nextgen businesses? Will AI in the future turn out to be a threat or a partner for businesses?

My understanding is that AI may replace the more mundane and process-driven task and roles that can be automated. However, organizations will still value and require more original through, creativity and innovation. “Partnering” with AI should create more time for such pursuits or training in new skills.

Enterprises today live or die on their ability to adapt. How will being agile help businesses moving forward?

The nature of work has always been in flux and is even more so with rapid changes in technology. Organizations must be dynamic and agile to respond to changing market needs, motivate staff and encourage innovation. Only then will they out survive their competitors and fresh new businesses.

I believe that agility also attracts and entices new staff, whilst reducing property costs and risks.

DECEMBER 2019 |

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Employee experience to remain a priority for businesses in 2020

Lara Hernandez, Senior VP, Human Resources, Hilton in Asia Pacific, in an interaction with People Matters, talks about the top trends of 2019 and the focus areas for businesses in 2020

By Mastufa Ahmed

matters. When you’re in such a culturally rich region, you must listen in order to maneuver through the different cultural nuances and inter-generational dynamics to better understand each other and collaborate. It’s only by doing this that you can pick up on the nuances and then create initiatives and talent management strategies that truly resonate at the local level.

What are the top trends of 2019 and what should be the focus areas of 2020 for HR?

C iOVER n t e r STORY v i e w

I have observed employee engagement and experience to be a recurring trend for years, and I have no doubt that it will remain a top priority for corporations in 2020. The reality is that besides spending time with our friends and family, we spend a big part of the day at work. How our team members feel about working at Hilton is especially important to us, and we want to be able to make their experience here as seamless and inspiring as possible.

Another key focus area is to create meaningful opportunities for every team member to grow and excel in different, sometimes unexpected directions. Ultimately, the employee experience is all about empowering team members to fulfill their aspirations and creating a real sense of belonging.

L

ara Hernandez is a strategic global leader with over 20 years of experience in the hospitality industry across the Americas, Asia, Middle East, Africa and Europe. Currently based in Singapore at Hilton’s Asia Pacific headquarters, Lara oversees talent development of over 50,000 Team Members, with a focus on People and Culture.

Lara has led and overseen multiple disciplines in the hospitality industry around the world. Lara believes that HR serves as the business partner to the wider organization, enabling the building of a strong culture focused on robust purposeled talent strategy.

Here are the excerpts of the interview.

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How do you view the current HR and talent landscape in Asia Pacific? How are they different from other regions?

Asia Pacific is an incredibly diverse region, with a mixture of contrasting cultures. Being in the region allows us to tap on the tapestry of diverse perspectives that come from our team members, and this creates remarkable outcomes for the business. Having worked with teams from all over the world during the span of my career, I have found that having a variety of opinions in the workforce is a fundamental principle all companies should work toward.

I’ve found that it’s especially important to listen and then speak where it really

What is next in recruitment and hiring?

Do you see a change in how employers are revisiting their employment strategy in the digital era?

As we move forward in our plans to recruit and hire talent, we need to acknowledge the changing nature of our workforce, which is now made up of multiple generations of various ages.

Having a diverse workforce in the business encourages us to enhance our recruiting processes to consider and interact with the varying skill levels, as well as the cultural and generational nuances.

It's about making a conscious choice to be inclusive in our hiring practice, because I truly believe that when team members have a real sense of belonging from the get-go, the business would definitely see an upturn in outcome and productivity.

With agility becoming the characteristic of a successful organization, how will this help businesses moving forward?

We currently live in a time of continuous digital enablement. It is amazing to see technology advancements have made tremendous changes in the hospitality industry and workplace on a whole, enabling us to reach beyond our potential.

With technology playing a key role in all that we do in the workplace, it is an opportunity for leaders to tap on that to enhance business objectives and enable efficiency where possible.

Regardless of size and industry, advancements in technology are driving change in leadership roles. Leaders need to accept this reality and take action in order to facilitate that change, in order to thrive.

While this would mean embracing new strategies especially in companies that are not fully digital to begin with, it is a necessary change in order to drive business results, and better prepare the company for any obstacles that come their way.

Will AI in future turn to be a threat or a partner that will help make businesses become more meaningful?

AI will for sure be more meaningful for businesses. No matter the industry you are in, people want to be serviced at

anytime, anywhere. The sooner they can get answers to their questions, the better it is. AI is a wonderful thing, because it can retrieve a lot of information quickly, and supplement the answers to any questions in a heartbeat.

Today’s travelers expect personalized digital interactions and we have since addressed that accordingly through our innovative offerings such as Digital Key, which allows our Hilton Honors members to skip the line at the front desk and unlock their hotel door using their smartphones, and Connected Room, a first-of-its-kind hotel room that allows guest to control their stay from one central point – their mobile phone. But that’s not to say that AI and technology will run the show for us as we are afterall, in the business of people serving people.

How do you see gender equality panning out in 2020? Will the disparity shrink in 2020?

Increasingly, businesses are taking gender equality more seriously – workplaces have had and are having many necessary conversations about equality and inclusion. With more organizations

actively ensuring equality at the workplace, we are definitely seeing an uptick in progress towards achieving a more equal and balanced world, however, there is always room for growth.

While there has been substantial progress by corporate entities, more can be done to ensure a significant decrease in disparity in 2020 and beyond. Truth is, ensuring gender equality within the organization is a constant work-inprogress and as the belief goes “what gets measured, gets done”. It is necessary for organizations to actively keep a clear view of the vision in mind in order to continue towards equality within the workplace.

Ultimately, the glass ceilings and barriers women impose on themselves will not disappear overnight – it requires a collective effort to change mindsets, including that of women’s own expectations and priorities. Beyond that, we recognize that a supportive environment does not just stop at the intake. It also entails putting in place a conducive environment and an inclusive culture so that there is a complete ecosystem to grow and achieve a significant decrease in disparity in 2020 and beyond.

DECEMBER 2019 |

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How is leadership changing in the wake of digital technologies? How are business leaders dealing with digital challenges?

As we move forward in our plans to recruit and hire talent in 2020, we need to acknowledge the changing nature of our workforce which today comprises of people of multiple generations

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To me, an agile business is customercentric, and is one that can respond quickly and effectively to opportunities that arise without losing its vision towards the end goal. Organizations need to understand that agility is important, especially in a world where change is constant across all aspects – from shifts in stakeholders’ and customers’ demands, advances in technology and the increasing competition among companies to attract and retain the best talent.

With human interactions serving as the basis of our business, we need to be prepared for changing preferences and demands of our customers, employees and the communities we operate in. We need to ensure that measures are set in place that gives us space to embrace and adapt to change, turn uncertainty into opportunity and fill up the gaps in order to ensure continued success. In order to do so, a key step would be to always stop and listen.

Listen and understand the needs of these individuals around us and being open to be flexible enough to adjust any measures or plans to one that meets their needs.

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2020 – So, what for HR?

In 2020, organizations will continue to face the macro challenges that have faced them for a number of years

By Clinton Wingrove

C iOVER n t e r STORY v i e w

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e, HR professionals, are yet again about to be caught up in the surprise of a new year approaching. It happens every year. And, yet little changes. Global trends continue. But, step-changes in our organizations suck up our time between now and January … and, then, fade away within a few weeks as we settle back into our comfort (or perpetual discomfort) zones, whichever applies.

In 2020, our organizations will continue to face the macro challenges that have faced them for a number of years: • Continued growth in the economy will demand that organizations resource themselves with the best possible talent to meet demand. Whilst the population growth outstrips economic growth, insufficient education, training and development will continue to constrain the talent pool. Organizations are going to have to become smarter in their approaches to each of the three key areas, (i) attracting top talent to want to work for them, (ii) selecting the best talent available i.e., not making recruitment errors, and (iii) retaining their top talent, not merely exploiting and then losing them; • Increased overseas demand for skilled

As we enter 2020, organizations will need to keep a sharp eye on the impact on the sustainability of their workforces and productivity, and monitor all health related metrics 60

| DECEMBER 2019

talent e.g., scientific, clinical, and IT will encourage emigration of our best talent - reducing the average level of skill available for domestic roles and potentially pushing up the cost; • Increasing competition from other low employment-cost nations such as China, and other eastern countries will continue to keep prices for products and services low. Increased trade sensitivities with the west will encourage China and those other eastern countries to look for other markets in which to compete, potentially reducing our revenues and profit margins. A new focus on productivity will become an imperative; • Demand to educate and reskill the existing population will increase more rapidly. The World Economic Forum’s report “The Future of Jobs 2018”, still applies. It explains, for example, that more than half of Indian workers will require very substantial reskilling to

meet the talent demands of 2022 and beyond. This will impose unavoidable financial demands on many organizations; • Imbalance of wealth and employment opportunities between urban and rural communities will create dramatic social pressures, the impact of which is not yet foreseen. However, as digital connectivity is extended, many organizations will have the opportunity to educate, employ and develop low-cost virtual workers from these areas; • Physical and mental health, especially within the poorer and rural communities will continue to be a major concern. Severe issues will still exist in terms of hygiene, nutrition, and availability of general health care services.

Organizations will need to keep a sharp eye on the impact on the sustainability of their workforces and productivity, and monitor all health related metrics.

• Actual or perceived corruption. Signifi-

•

1.

I started by pointing out the obvious – that every year, the start of the new year catches us by surprise. I’ll end by stating the equally obvious: • “If we keep doing what we always did, we will always get what we always got.” As HR professionals, we must step outside of our comfort zone, focus less on asking employees to be more innovative … and be more innovative ourselves. Let’s stop implementing and tweaking processes that don’t work and find new ways of optimizing the contributions and development of our workforces.

• “The significant differentiator of sustainably successful organizations is the quality of their leadership and management.” Every one of the many challenges that we face demand highly skilled, ethical, and morally sound people managers and project managers. There is no long-term sustainable alternative. Now is the time to focus on that one critical issue. In 2020, HR

2.

3.

4.

5.

•

1. Productivity – unit of output per total investment per unit of labor. Despite massive investments and advances

in technology and communications, productivity worldwide still lags behind; 2. Development – despite cost pressures, increased investment in upskilling must take place to achieve the levels of skills needed for the future. In the short term, monitoring training & development activity will have to precede seeing the results of it; 3. Talent availability – coverage for all critical and most senior roles. As difficulties in acquiring external talent increase, we must ensure a ready internal supply, retaining and growing the talent we have.

4. Management quality. A range of metrics are available e.g., attrition, short-term absence, wellness, productivity trends, role coverage...

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cant improvements have been made but India at large has yet to shake of an image of being one of the more corrupt business environments. In a global economy, where concerns for ethical, moral, and socially responsible performance are rising significantly, this poses a challenge for each individual organization.

professionals must unite to drive a stepchange improvement in the quality of those we honor and reward with the title of “Manager” and in whose trust we place the productivity, well-being, and happiness of the workforce and their extended families.

Being an HR professional gives us no rights but places on us huge responsibilities. So, as HR professionals, we too must continually upskill ourselves, not only in HR knowledge and specific skills but in five other areas: Technology acumen – knowing and understanding the behavior-engineering power it has and how best to deploy that to increase productivity and development; Analytical acumen – knowing and understanding how to collect quality HR data and to use that to drive sustainable process improvements and make better HR decisions; Business acumen - knowing and understanding how to present HR initiatives to line management in a way that excites and persuades them; Courage – to demonstrate confidence in what we propose and to fight to get it approved, and; Personal effectiveness – to prove our worth and get things done that make a positive difference.

So, three critical metrics must be monitored throughout 2020:

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The significant differentiator of sustainably successful organizations is the quality of their leadership and management.

Every one of the many challenges that we face demand highly skilled, ethical, and morally sound people managers and project managers

2020 offers to be another exciting year in the world of HR. We have a choice – face it, make an impact, and grow as professionals – or, we can be reactive and merely do what is asked of us. Which will you choose?

About the author

Clinton Wingrove is Director of www.

WantToBeGreatManager.com and www.

ClintonHR.com He may be contacted via: clinton.wingrove@ WantToBeGreat.com Or LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/clintonwingrove DECEMBER 2019 |

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Naomi Climer on the future of work and skills S p e c i a l In t e r v i e w

In an exclusive interaction with People Matters, the co-chair of the Institute for the Future of Work, Naomi Climer, shared her take on the types of skills needed for the future, advice for up- and-coming engineers, and employers who are gearing up for the Fourth Industrial Revolution

By Vallari Gupte

F

rom reel tapes to satellites to now, the cloud, Naomi Climer, CBE (Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire), continues to inspire her peers and future generations of engineers with her robust experience in broadcast, media, and communications technology.

Having played a crucial role in helping organizations such as BBC and Sony Professional Solutions to transition into the digital age, Naomi Climer became the first woman President of the Institution of Engineering and Technology, in 2015.

Here are the excerpts of the interview.

What are the top trends that you think would redefine the space of engineering jobs in the future?

The trend of interdisciplinary mindset is permeating the engineering field. Even at an engineering level, you may need to know a little of chemical, civil, electric, and maybe even mechanical engineering. Whether you are building a bridge or a software, you need to understand a lot of disciplines. The focus has become wider than before. Now, the focus is on understanding the human impact. Systems Thinking is a trend wherein even though you might be a deep specialist, there is a

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need to think broadly as an engineer. In research and development, you need to have a working knowledge of many more disciplines and be good at teamwork.

The second trend is around AI and automation. It’s the kind of man-machine interface idea.

From an engineering perspective, how do you design things that are not only suitable for people but also in terms of finding the most productive balance between man and machine. The key is to develop an incredibly symbiotic relationship. In the future of work, learning to work with machines is not only going to prove beneficial for the company but also for the employability and wellbeing of the individual.

Diversity of thought is going to be another redefining trend wherein understanding different viewpoints make for a richer engineering solution. And, this concept can be applied to just about any profession. A wide variety of thinking is going to be important and will bring in much better results. This is going to be an even more significant trend and this one here to stay!

If a particular activity can be done by machines, then it is prudent to move our collective attention towards developing skills that cannot be performed by machines! The kind of skills we do need are emotional intelligence, resilience, adaptability and being able to apply the learned knowledge to the right task. The machine may possess the knowledge, but to have the knowledge and knowing how to apply is core to humans. One of the struggles that the UK education system faces is that these human skills seem to be quite difficult to teach. One of the reasons that it feels hard to teach is because it is hard to measure. You can measure the scores on a Math test. Something like resilience is not quite easy to test! There are emerging voices now that say that you can teach these skills and measure them.

However, it requires a more sophisticated teaching methodology in order to measure whether these skills have been inculcated.

One of the beauties of technology is that you can begin to think about hyper-individualized education! You can use AI to help in understanding the progress made by each student and then understand their performance in terms of adaptability, resilience, and emotional skills. I don’t believe that you can replace people with machines but I do think you can augment learning with AI and machine work.

The key focus for the future of work would be to leverage this technology at scale.

What are the significant changes that you’ve faced over the course of your career first as an engineer and then as a people manager?

The things I have found the hardest throughout my career are the ones related to people. Influencing people, persuading people, and motivating people: these challenges have also been the most

In the future of work, learning to work with machines is not only going to prove beneficial for the company but also for the employability and wellbeing of the individual

S p e c i a l In t e r v i e w

Where do you see the challenges or skills’ gaps arising from?

interesting. From the engineering perspective, if there is something that I have been struggling with and want to learn about, it is essential to have an organization that can facilitate that learning experience. For me personally, it has been easy to access information and training when it comes to the technical aspect of the job. However, gaining the experience of managing human situations is the thing that I have had to learn year after year. I am probably still making mistakes in learning in that sphere.

Any other challenge that you foresee going forward in 2020 that leaders should be aware of for the future?

Managing the growing remote workforce and distributed ways of working is going to be a challenge that all leaders need to prepare for. When I was working at Sony, you might have a manager in a different country whom you saw perhaps just once a year or in some cases, you never met! For both employees and managers, it is different when you are in the same room than when you are in different continents. That’s why getting better at managing relationships in a distributed workforce is going to be key.

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Another idea that leaders should embrace is that of complete career changes. Given the recent changes in the demand for various skills, there are professionals who reinvent their careers every 10 years. People now have the opportunity and the motivation to switch their careers, get skilled in a different discipline and leverage their experiences from various industries.

Any particular global or APAC related challenges that perhaps even the UK is facing at the moment?

S p e c i a l In t e r v i e w

When we look at the landscape of skills in demand and the talent shortage, there are regions in the UK where there are real skill issues and shortage of work. There are several areas where there is not as much highly skilled paid work, for example in the north of England. While in the south of England, there is more work available.

At present, we are trying to map our regions and understand whether there might be particular skills that are emerging. For example, on a global level, there is a lot of work being done in the wind energy sector and in the UK a lot of that is out at sea. Thus, the coastal lines of the UK might develop expertise in renewability.

Another trend that had redefined the talent scenario back in the day was globalization and now the trend is back to nationalization. I am a great

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believer of trends going in cycles. I assume that we will be coming back to globalization at some point.

What would be your advice to business leaders and engineering professionals who are navigating through the competitive landscape of work and skills in 2020?

Engineers generally have fantastic transferable skills. They have analytical skills; they have to have the ability to learn because technology has been changing the whole time, and thus are used to learning and evolving continuously. Skills such as process management can be transferred easily from the engineering profession to any other.

At the same time, I can understand how someone who has been a specialist and built in-depth expertise might feel if their skills are no longer relevant. My encouragement to such professionals would be to venture out and explore new fields. It’s not too late for anybody to become a revered expert in a new discipline. If somebody is motivated to do that because things are changing all the time, there is always something new that needs knowledge and unique expertise. Having the willingness to let go of something that you took decades to build up, requires courage. At the same time, a large piece of what you already know is bound to be helpful in the next field you choose. There is so much that will come with you when you move to something new.

Managing the growing remote workforce and distributed ways of working is going to be a challenge that all leaders need to prepare for

| DECEMBER 2019

The key to excel in this transition would be to break out of the silos and gather together as individuals, organizations, government officials, and academics on a unified platform. Events such as this, IET’s Engineering the Future of Work, is creating awareness about this need, while providing a platform for everyone to engage and discuss our future actions.

Having worked with the BBC and Sony Pictures, can you share some insights about the engineering side of the media space?

When I was working at the BBC, the challenges revolved around moving from tape to digital.

That was a major transition. These days, the industry is thinking about how to leverage AI in data reporting. Identifying patterns in numbers and giving global contexts to stories has become easier with the help of AI in sorting out relevant data. The space where human intelligence is going to play a part is in the vetting of the stories and identifying the accurate information in an age where anyone can submit a news story with their mobile phone.

In my case, the various technologies that I was involved in was a question of just following my interest at the time, and I guess, the next step was making the transition into management where I almost had to step away so that I could take up my technical expertise and start honing the people. As I moved towards more senior roles in management, the engineering in my brain has helped me make better decisions and that has made me better at leading people. At some point in their career, people have to decide if they want to go on the path of the expert or into the management route. Maybe in the future people might be able to do a bit of both and be flexible about it. Although I am still fond of and interested in tech and I am always looking for new angles to explore, the people side of it has captured my imagination.

In my role as the co-chair of the Institute for the Future of Work (IFOW), I am always looking for new angles to explore when it comes to technology but am also enthralled by the ways in which human intelligence can make a difference in Industry 4.0. Speaking of diversity of discipline, at the IFOW, I am one of the few engineers and we have experts from various walks of life –lawyers, trade union members, economists, investors, policy experts, etc.

What would be your advice for people in the HR profession?

To an HR person, it is self-evident that they are aware of good work rather than just work. The more research we do, the more apparent it is that good work leads to good health, good economy and productivity. From an HR standpoint, it is being conscious of good work and not just work that is

Given the changes in the demand for skills, there are professionals who reinvent their careers every 10 years. People now have the opportunity and the motivation to switch their careers, get skilled in a different discipline and leverage their experiences from various industries

S p e c i a l In t e r v i e w

How did you make the skill transition from worrying about Satellite trucks on remote locations to where you are today?

substantial business benefits in paying attention to the quality of work that they are offering to the people.

As a matter of fact, the Institute for the Future of Work has issued a Charter which basically includes 10 points that act as a framework for practice and policy-orientation in order to encourage business leaders and HR professionals to work towards protecting the components of good work, especially as we enter the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Employers can use the charter as a checklist which can be used to create a human-centered approach towards using technology, the right way.

I believe that access to good work, fair pay, fair conditions, workplace equality, dignity of labor, autonomy to make decisions, wellbeing, receiving required support, employee participation, and guidance in continuous learning, are truly the key components of good work that will set us up for success in the impending ever-changing nature of the future of work.

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Visty Banaji

Corporate India’s mental health crisis How technology can provide a breakthrough

The road less travelled

A 2016 study involving over 6,000 employees in multiple cities [in India], found that 80 percent of the respondents exhibited symptoms of anxiety while 55 percent had symptoms of depression

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here have been many suicides by managers and employees in corporate India but it took the death of Cafe Coffee Day owner-promoter V G Siddhartha on 29 July 2019 to focus national attention on the pressures and tribulations of business leaders. The press and the public speculated not only on the myriad tensions he experienced but on why he did not seek help from family, friends or mental health professionals to find a less tragic resolution to his problems. While there is no doubt that people at the apex of the corporate pyramid face a unique set of anxieties, there is no reason to believe that employees in less exalted positions find their problems any less terrifying and for many of whom asking for help is as unthinkable as it was for the ill-fated Siddhartha.

"A 2016 study involving over 6,000 employees in multiple cities [in India] … found that 80 percent

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of the respondents exhibited symptoms of anxiety while 55 percent had symptoms of depression. A bigger worry! The study found that between 2008 and 2016, the risk of suicidal behavior in India nearly quadrupled —from 2.1 out of 10 employees to 8.21…. 'Mental health is the single most important health issue in the workplace. This is not only because mental health problems, including substance abuse, are a leading cause of lost productivity and sickness, but because workplace practices can worsen or enhance the mental health of workers,' says Vikram Patel, professor and research fellow, department of global health and social medicine, Harvard Medical School."1 This column will seek to explain why the problem of mental illness in corporate India is rapidly growing to crisis proportions and the reasons it is likely to be immune to our existing cures. We shall then look at some newer tech solutions as well as suggest how a few, long-underutilized remedies can be deployed in new ways to address this growing menace.

Causes and aggravators Several of the mental health problems associated with work have been with us at least since the time mass production became the preferred technology for high-volume manufacturing and some even go back to the industrial revolution

not surprising 'burnout' rates have been creeping up steadily.

Women face one more source of mental stress and consequent trigger for mental illness. Particularly those who break any glass ceiling for the first time have to cope with closed clubs, snide comments and having to deliver twice as much as the dominant population in order to be accepted.

Some take solace from comparing the fire they draw to Nelson’s Redoubtable as it revolutionized naval tactics by heading the column of British ships against the Franco-Spanish line at Trafalgar.6 Others are sobered by thoughts of being kissed by Hardy at the end of the proceedings. Jokes apart, women are only the first exemplars of the discriminatory pressures every outgroup faces, particularly when its numbers are too small to find companionship and support from similar others. The tragedy of Payal Tadvi at Nair Hospital in early 2019 is a sad case in point of the mental stress that can be caused by dominant group exclusionary pressures.7

Unlike physical ailments & disabilities, which employees rarely expend too much effort in concealing because they are generally received with sympathy and helpfulness from colleagues and supervisors, mental illnesses are hidden away for the justifiable fear of the reactions they elicit in the workplace

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The road less travelled

itself. Who can forget the twitching malaise and the nervous breakdown that afflicted the tramp (played by Charlie Chaplin) in Modern Times? The sad fact is that a hundred years later, with all the advances in management theory and work psychology, we have come no closer to finding answers to the mental devastation caused by deadening work.

Not only have we continued to allot repetitive work to the majority of the operatives in the remaining non-automated shop floors in India, the other jobs we have created in high numbers (e.g. the delivery staff for e-tailers) are no less routine and even more stressful.2 If we could have ever taken solace in the fact that soul-destroying work was the lot of those who neglected to educate themselves adequately, the last couple of decades have seen unedifying spectacles such as the mass underutilization of hundreds of thousands of people qualified as engineers, being subjected to the drudgery of routine coding by our software majors.3 At forums where HR practitioners need to impress each other, we extensively expound the benefits of 'flow'.4 We would do well to remember that 'antiflow' is an equal reality: one predominantly caused by repetitive work that uses substantially less than the full potential of a human being.

Going further back, industrialization itself brought many mental maladjustments, some of which are evident even today.5 The crop of mental maladies harvested by the first waves of people moving from the relative self-regulation of agricultural work to the regimen demanded by factory jobs tended to become less acute in a generation or two. On the other hand, psychological ailments brought on by the uncertainties surrounding progression, earnings and even tenure, were hardier plants and have occupied even larger parts of the work landscape in recent times. Impermanency of tenure, in particular, has received a hugely ruinous fillip with the growing contractualization and GIGification of work.

Another causal factor aggravated considerably nowadays is what is frequently referred to as 'burnout', which is supposed to be an acceptable (and sometimes even desirable) term for describing mental health problems at middle and senior levels in organizations. The 70-80 hour workweeks, impossible job demands and terrifying supervisors that are prime predictors of 'burnout' were very much present in the seventies when some of us started our careers. What saved us and our predecessor executives were our spouses, who took on less demanding jobs than they were fully capable of doing and managed domestic affairs so well that we scarcely had had to deal with any significant demands from that front.

Gender opportunities have rightly become more (if not yet fully) equal since those thoughtless days.

Not only does this put an additional demand on men to give priority to home and family matters (which people of my generation had blithely ignored), but is even more taxing for women seeking to make careers because (even if their spouses are more understanding) society still puts the prime onus for home management on them. It is

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The last major source of mental illness at the workplace, which earlier generations did not have to cope with, is brought on by technology and particularly the social media. "Numerous studies identify connections between social media use and negative outcomes such as increased depression, anxiety, compulsive behavior, loneliness, and narcissism."8 There are many interpretations of the causal linkage between social media use and the form of mental illness it accentuates but no one (other than Zuckerberg, perhaps) doubts the beginning and end point. Particularly in the younger generation, it is not only the aberrations directly caused by social media that can be damaging. It is equally worrisome that a large range of mentally, physically and socially rejuvenating activities are crowded out by the solipsistic, cloud-based confinement imposed by (over)smart devices.

The road less travelled

Another problem that has no name A single word captures the reason mental illness is among the least tractable problems for corporates to solve or even ameliorate. Stigma. Unlike physical ailments and disabilities, which employees rarely expend too much effort in concealing because they are generally received with sympathy and helpfulness from colleagues and supervisors, mental illnesses are hidden away for the justifiable fear of the reactions they elicit in the work-

Since most health insurance schemes do not cover mental illnesses, the complication of bringing insurance companies into the workflow would probably be avoided

place. "Persons with mental illness often have to struggle with a double problem. First, they have to cope with the symptoms of the disease itself.….

Second, the misunderstandings of society about the various mental disorders result in stigma…. As a further complication, some people with mental illness may accept the common prejudices about mental illness, turn them against themselves, and lose self-confidence. The latter is referred to as ‘self-stigma’…."9 When persons suffering from anxiety, depression or even more serious mental health problems cannot admit even to themselves that they need help, it is extremely unlikely that they will turn to their friends, leave aside the counselors and other organizational support options provided by progressive corporates.

Before blaming the afflicted with cowardice or worse for not facing up to their problems and seeking readily available help, let us look at the rational reasons that justify such concealment. I personally know cases where supposedly closest friends started distancing themselves from the individuals who made the mistake of revealing their condition or whose symptoms could no longer be concealed.

The reactions of those in arm’s length working relationships, with no affect capital to dissipate in the first place, are far crueler. Mentally ill people can, if anything, be even more sensitive to and less capable of coping with the malicious humor that roasts them behind their backs but ultimately trickles back to them through tattlers whose intentions may be bona or mala-fide but whose impact is invariably devastating. Worse still are the unfeeling office comedians who think their innuendos and jibes in the presence of the persons concerned will not be picked up by the latter or who couldn’t care if they are.

What about more senior managers and HR? Surely, they have a more sympathetic and helpful attitude to mental illness. Don’t bet on it. Of course, they pay lip service to progressive views, line up counseling services and sometimes even extend medical insurance cover for mental illness treatments. But ask them (or yourself for that matter), if a choice has to be made between two people for a top role and one of them has been availing of the company’s progressive mental health counseling program, which of the two will be picked for the prized position? Do we seriously expect people to come out with their mental health problems and openly seek help? It ain’t gonna happen.

The only way to crack this nut (poor choice of idiom) is to provide an avenue that guarantees absolute anonymity to the persons who need such assistance.

Tech to the rescue We have already seen how the ubiquity, round-theclock presence and self-image seesaws imposed by tech (particularly social media) take a heavy toll on mental health. Fortunately, recent tech breakthroughs also provide the means to break through the Chakravyūha of the stigma that impedes us 68

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Until Indian industry shakes off its addiction to the excessive use of contract labor, HR managers will have to share the guilt for the inescapable mental trauma suffered by huge swathes of the Indian working population

The road less travelled

in tackling mental illness substantively and on a large scale.

With rapid improvements in Artificial Intelligence, each passing day brings more sophisticated and convenient apps for both diagnosis and preliminary treatment of mental illnesses.10 A considerable body of research is already available in support of the efficacy and ease of dissemination of these delivery modes.11 While lowering of costs and helping to cope with the shortage of mental health specialists are obvious advantages, from our point of view, assured anonymity is the biggest breakthrough bot-based diagnosis and basic therapy brings to employee wellness programs.

Here is one model for putting these technological advances to work. Each organization would need to provide access to a mental health platform for all employees, regardless of level and type of contract. Under conditions of total anonymity, the platform would provide the following five services: 1. A diagnostics module that would help an employee figure out whether s/he has a mental health issue, how serious it is and its tentative classification.

2. A preliminary guidance module which would provide AI-based suggestions of simple dos and don’ts as well suggest activities which can give relief to the specific types of disturbance the diagnostic module reveals. The next section suggests the kind of therapeutically useful activities organizations can consider providing.

3. An interphase bridge to an array of telephonic counseling services from which one or two would be recommended for the individual based on the diagnostic outcome. In terms of sequencing, this may precede or substitute the preliminary guidance module.

4. An interphase bridge to a panel of clinical psychologists and psychiatrists. While it would theoretically be possible to trigger this bridge immediately after the AI diagnostic, it would more usually be preceded by the telephonic counseling bridge.

5. A module for following up therapy sessions and providing on-line exercises for ongoing lowintensity support.

Apart from the platform itself ensuring anonymity, it is important that the bridges (3 and 4 above) do not yield employee identities or individual diagnoses to the company (collective data could be useful for remedial policy initiation).

Hence the algorithm built into the platform would need to be able to assign telephonic counselors or psychotherapists based on the monetary limits and other guidelines adopted by the company for which the individual works. Since most health insurance schemes do not cover mental illnesses, the complication of bringing insurance companies into the workflow would probably be avoided.

The platform requirement would essentially be the same for all companies, bar the cost parameters that might be differently specified for the bridge interfaces to counselors and therapists. As such, it would be pointless and inefficient to incur the platform development cost separately in each company. Moreover, a platform hosted outside the DECEMBER 2019 |

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company would further assure employees that the information they put into it or the treatments they derive through its agency will remain confidential.

I have already suggested to one of India’s leading chambers of commerce and industry to develop such a platform for its members. If they choose not to do so, it might be a very viable commercial proposition for health providers or medical insurance firms to consider.

Promoting mental health

The road less travelled

Having signed up for the kind of platform we have described and configuring its linkages and limits with counselors and therapists, can HR wash its hands of the matter? Not by a long shot.

In the first place, we have the concentrically widening set of employment-related stressors, starting from repetitive, distasteful and hazardous work, progressing through toxic supervisors, peers and team members (who are extra-lethal for disadvantaged groups), with a way-point at unreasonably pressured targets with the bell-from-hell to toll the demise of laggards and culminating with zeroprivacy (eg fish-bowl open offices) or extremely isolated (including overmuch working from home) working environments. None of these are individually sufficient to disturb the mental balance of all employees – otherwise we would have no sane ones left. However, what is equally incontrovertible is the mental havoc these factors can play in combi-

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nation with the equanimity of those employees who are already high-strung, anxious, depressed or undergoing familial and other strains. Making substantial improvements in all of these mental health hazards is highly desirable but may not be easy of achievement – at least in the short run. Hence it becomes all the more important to provide a sense of corporate purpose and belongingness, remove the most noxious supervisors and create spaces where social interactions can relieve work-environment handicaps. In the last resort, HR can also seek to doctor recruitment profiles to choose people whose personality-skins are thick enough to withstand the particular malaise which that organization or job particularly causes. There is one super-stressor, however, which no palliative measure can remedy – the one caused by insecure and contingent employment. Until Indian industry shakes off its addiction to the excessive use of contract labor12, HR managers will have to share the guilt for the inescapable mental trauma suffered by huge swathes of the Indian working population.

There are also positive steps HR can take to ameliorate work stress and provide non-stigmatized therapeutic activities. There was a time when most large corporates in the country ran hobby centers, dramatics societies and adventure clubs, without realizing the mental health benefits these provided. In our heedless efforts to prune expenses

The greatest benefit of tackling the mental health impairments that have so far been resistant to corporate ministrations may not come simply from making a large number of sub-performers deliver adequately

| DECEMBER 2019

The real idea generators and creative geniuses may need just a touch of adjustment and interpersonal capability enhancement to be converted from ridiculed loners to highly valued contributors to the organization’s core competencies

Freeing beautiful minds The greatest benefit of tackling the mental health impairments that have so far been resistant to corporate ministrations may not come simply from making a large number of sub-performers deliver adequately. It will be the result of freeing the most brilliant minds that have been shackled by their mental fears and dark moods from giving their best at work. John Nashes may be far and few between but each organization has its share of geniuses, many of whom are held back by some or other kind of mental block for which they are too petrified to seek help. After all, as Aristotle wrote, "No great mind has ever existed without a touch of madness."

I would not hold much hope that leaders who are themselves tinged with a degree of psychopathology15 (and who are responsible for some of the mental strain on the rest of the employee population) will turn to our platform in large numbers.

Unless such psychopathic leaders face a major transformative experience or crisis (and perhaps not even then) they are unlikely to think any entity outside of themselves can provide them guidance or succor. If at all they seek counsel, however, it is more likely to be from a source that has no connect with their own company and its people.

On the other hand, the real idea generators and creative geniuses may need just a touch of adjustment and interpersonal capability enhance-

ment to be converted from ridiculed loners to highly valued contributors to the organization’s core competencies. There are some who feel that a tortured mental condition or at least a degree of mental imbalance is essential for truly unique outcomes, particularly in the domains of art and music. A more balanced hypothesis is a shared vulnerability model, the idea that a person's chances of mental illness and of being creative may stem from the same factors (eg high IQ or strong memory) but that neither is the cause of the other.16 If that be so, countering mental illness symptoms should give more play to creative impulses rather than diminish them. An interesting, if anecdotal, substantiation can be found in Ellen Forney’s account of her struggles with bipolar disorder and the preservation of her creativity through it all.17 The platform and adjunct changes described in this column should make it easier for mavericks and potential inventors among employees to contribute their innovative best as their mental health burdens are lightened. Perhaps no words drive home this conclusion better than the ones Rob Siltanen crafted for Apple’s 'Think Different' campaign: "Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits.

The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do."18

The road less travelled

that could not be convincingly allocated and explained as individual CTC, these fell by the wayside or became ill-funded ghosts of their former selves.13 Many of these will have to be revived in more modern avatars if we are to provide costeffective and stigma-free therapeutic options on a mass scale. There is now research-based evidence to show how, apart from the activities mentioned earlier, art, dance, meditation, exercise (though there is an unhealthy form of excessive exercise that needs to be guarded against), expressive writing and volunteering can, very economically, prevent mental illness or aid in recovery from it.14

About the author

Visty Banaji is the Founder and CEO of Banner Global Consulting (BGC) DECEMBER 2019 |

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Workforce reskilling should be a big priority for businesses Lekha George, Head of People & Communities, ASEAN

and Korea at Cisco, in a conversation with People Matters, shares insights on the talent landscape in APAC, what employee engagement means in the digital world, and the talent management strategies they follow at Cisco

By Mastufa Ahmed

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F ui tn ut r ee r voi f e wHR

ekha George is the Head of People & Communities, ASEAN and Korea at Cisco. Lekha is a senior HR professional with extensive multinational and multicultural experience spanning Asia, Middle East and Europe.

Here are the excerpts of the interview.

How do you see the HR and talent landscape in Asia Pacific? How are companies in the region redesigning their talent management strategies?

Can you share a few examples?

The talent landscape is evolving rapidly across the globe, and we are witnessing this across the Asia-Pacific region as well.

Business shifts and disruptions across markets and industries as well as macro-economic uncertainties are impacting the region. While economies are at varying maturity points in APAC, great talent is critical to help make transitions and transformations happen.

Needs of business and nature of work is getting redefined with market disruptions and increased pace of change. There is a greater need than ever to align talent to value; identifying, developing and engaging key talent is especially critical as is the need to explore agile ways of working by incorporating technology, working in dynamic teams that cut across silos.

Talent evolution is happening on a few key fronts including the nature of the work we do, and the way do it.

The first trend is being led in large part by the ongoing adoption of technology by businesses, especially those powered by artificial intelligence (AI). These technologies are already delivering productivity gains for businesses. As these technologies continue to improve further, they will result

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in major benefits for businesses and prosperity for the region. However, their adoption also means that the nature of many existing jobs will change, some may even become redundant, and many new roles that don’t exist today will be created. In fact, we are already seeing this start across many sectors. As a result, there is a high need for talent agility and reskilling of talent for work of the future.

At the same time, the way we work is undergoing a profound shift. The concept of effectively carrying out your job by coming into the office during a specific time is getting redefined. An increasing number of companies, from start-ups to established names like Cisco, are allowing their employees to work from anywhere, at any time and using any device.

There is a growing global skill gap due to rapidly evolving and changing markets. Hence our current talent needs to continuously learn and adapt to meet the changing needs of the business

These trends are having an impact on talent management strategies. The technology-driven evolution means that skillsets required by employers in five years’ time are likely to be very different from those needed today. There is a growing global skill gap due to rapidly evolving and changing markets. Hence our current talent needs to continuously learn and adapt to meet the changing needs of the business. We also need to think about and plan for new roles that might be created in the near future and how we build might sustainable pipelines to address those.

I also firmly believe that we can no longer just think only about ourselves and the businesses that we operate in. We impact the communities that we belong to and are a part of and therefore need to play a role in shaping the communities and in giving back. It is also critical for industry and government to work together to address the challenge of reskilling our workers with the necessary skills to succeed today and in the future.

What does employee engagement mean in the digital world? Can you shed some light on the employee engagement and productivity measures that you take at Cisco?

o f HR

As we empower our employees to work from anywhere, employee engagement is critical.

This translates to close alignment within teams, a shared sense of purpose and excellence, and a feeling that teammates have each other’s backs

F u t u r e

While businesses go about embedding technologies and enabling working in multiple ways, there is also a responsibility to ensure that everyone feels valued and welcome.

As we empower and enable our employees to work from anywhere, employee engagement is critical. This translates to close alignment within teams, a shared sense of purpose and excellence, a feeling that teammates have each other’s backs and that they play to their strengths in a high performing culture. At Cisco this is achieved by an understanding of our strengths via a Stand Out assessment (a one-time survey that helps team members identify their top “StandOut Roles” – essentially, where they are at their best based on their natural reactions and behaviors) and also how best to leverage each others’ strengths.

Our online platform, Team Space, helps team leaders regularly connect with their teams through weekly Check-Ins by understanding their priorities, their ‘loves’ and ‘loathes’ and support needed by the team. Our team leaders use Performance Snapshots as a simple way to capture their experience of a Team Member’s performance, right there in that particular moment. By capturing a series of snapshots over time, they can see trends and patterns in the performance of a Team Member, which is more reliable than assigning a one-off rating in a single moment in time. As Cisco pivoted towards a team and strengths-based approach, we did away with annual performance reviews and pivoted towards quarterly conversations on performance, career aspirations, team’s behaviors with respect to Cisco’s Principles, impact to the teams we work in.

Conducted quarterly, Team Leaders use Engagement Pulse surveys to keep informed of how their team is feeling collectively about key elements of their work that impact engagement. This includes

how they feel about: the company mission, team camaraderie, job fit, recognition, and growth. We know that leaders and teams who regularly focus on elevating these aspects of work will experience improved engagement, which translates to greater performance.

The biggest proof, to me, came with Cisco being recently named as the world’s #1 Best Workplace to Work For globally by the Great Place to Work (GPTW). According to surveys done by GPTW, 93 percent of employees worldwide said Cisco is a great place to work, outpacing the rest of the winners who registered an 89% score.

We are seeing a massive change in data, analytics and artificial intelligence and their impact on people and work. How do you leverage next-gen technologies to streamline your HR operations?

Cisco’s Leadership and Team Intelligence (LTI) team researches how our teams across the world can work better. LTI constantly leverages data and

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analytics to understand how teams are performing and how we can make more teams like the best teams in the company.

The Team Space tools and rituals helps to achieve those goals by helping leverage each other’s’ strengths and helping teams have a shared sense of purpose.

To address the growing global skills gap due to the rapidly changing and evolving market, changes to traditional structures and approaches to work, we realize the need to capture new business opportunities that demand greater speed, agility, and skills and to create visibility into current and future skills needed to attract, retain and develop our employees’ talent.

With organizations shifting their culture to become more focused on building capabilities for innovation, and the ability to act like owners, do you think culture can actually be a competitive advantage?

F ui tn ut r ee r voi f e wHR

It is often said that culture eats strategy for breakfast. I fully agree. At Cisco, we take a lot of

As our business changes, and as expectations of our people change, we need to be nimble and agile as well. People across the globe want to work for companies that have a positive impact on the communities that they operate in, both internal and external pride in our culture being a true differentiator.

Culture in Cisco is our way of life. That is why we have increasingly pivoted towards what we proudly call Conscious Culture.

The three key tenets of Cisco’s Conscious Culture are: • The Environment we all work in – with dignity, respect, fairness and equity as the foundation • Cisco’s unique characteristics that make the company stand-out and that are often reasons people choose to join or stay at the company.

Some of our traits is our culture of kindness and of giving.

• And the specific experience we all have as individuals through our direct engagement with our manager, team, and the work we do every day.

There are discussions about how HR is going agile. Can HR leverage this model which is mostly used in the tech world?

Human Resources as a function has evolved

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over the years. In the 1910s it was all about personnel management, administration and dealing with trade unions. In the 1980s it evolved to ‘human resources’ considering people as ‘assets’ and finding ways to best utilize a company’s resource – its people.

While it mostly stayed as Human Resources, in the 1990s we saw more automation and a recognition of HR as part of the company’s strategy.

In the 2000’s we saw the emergence of HR Technology, influence of digitization and the growth of Shared Services.

At Cisco today, we recognize a few seismic shifts .. the need for transforming work and the absolute critical need for innovation, the criticality for addressing skill gaps, for continuous learning, digitizing HR and for defining Conscious Culture.

We realize the as our business changes, and as expectations of our people change, we need to be nimble and agile as well. People across the globe want to work for companies that have a positive impact on the communities that they operate in, both internal and external. At Cisco, this is a key focus area for us.

What are your talent acquisition and reskilling mantra? Any specific initiative that you have in mind and plan to implement in the coming times?

I believe that the best talent acquisition strategy is to become the company that everyone wants to work for. That way the best talent is pulled towards you, rather than you having to find it. We have made great strides on that front.

Cisco has been named as the world’s #1 Best Workplace globally by the Great Place to Work (GPTW).

However, attracting talent is just the first step.

It is equally important to then help employees experience Cisco as the best place to work. We make an ongoing commitment to our employees through our People Deal framework. Simply put, this is a commitment to our employees on what they can expect from Cisco. As a deal between two parties, it also clarifies what the company expects of them.

The People Deal commits to Connect Everything, Innovate Everywhere and Benefit Everyone.

We commit to connecting our employees with other people, information and opportunities needed to succeed, to setting the direction to meet our customers needs, with the speed required in today’s market, and change the world for the better. It also expects the employees to align their work to business goals and customers’ needs, and that they connect with their peers to deliver the best outcomes and results.

We continue to focus on reskilling of employees. Employees are given opportunities to continue to upskill themselves in their areas of specialization. At the same time, they are actively encouraged to pursue training and development in areas of their aspirations.

We pride ourselves in the motto of One Company, Many Careers. As an example, one of the colleagues from Talent Acquisition team, picked up skills in cybersecurity and is now part of our cybersecurity sales organization.

Our belief is that when we attract the best talent and empower them to succeed, they become our biggest advocates. They attract others to join, who experience the culture, see the growth, and then spread the word further. It is the kind of cycle companies can only dream of.

What are the barriers in particular for women in APAC organizations to rise to key leadership positions? Are they more about cultural inhibitions that hold women back from

HR

The adoption of new and existing technologies over the coming years will trigger shifts in the workforce and create demand for new skills required for new and even current jobs. The

o f

What will be HR’s biggest challenges in the year 2020?

We pride ourselves in the motto of One Company, Many Careers. As an example, one of the colleagues from Talent Acquisition team, picked up skills in cybersecurity and is now part of our cybersecurity sales organization

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achieving excellence and assuming leadership roles?

We recognize that adequate representation of women in leadership, especially in the technology sector, has been a challenge. I think there is a lot of work being done to address that by companies, and by the industry. We have come a long way, but we need to continue to address it.

I am proud to work for a company that is leading from the front on this. We have several women in senior leadership roles in the Asia Pacific region, including our President for the region. The success can be attributed to many factors. Firstly, our hiring policy ensures we have diverse interview panels and talent pools for all roles. In addition, there are opportunities for mentoring, sponsorship and development programs dedicated to supporting women employees, including an Employee Resource group called Women of Cisco. Our flexible work arrangements also play a big role in supporting women, especially young mothers, pursue successful careers.

As part of our efforts to support women in technology sector, we are committed towards inspiring, supporting and encouraging the next generation of diverse talent to join the industry.

We actively promote STEM subjects in schools and encourage girls to consider technology careers through programs such as the Cisco Networking Academy and Women Rock-IT. The Cisco Networking Academy provides a broad range of IT curriculum for students of all backgrounds, teaching them hands-on technical and business skills. With many industries experiencing a shortage of IT talent, Cisco Networking Academy seeks to give students the skills that are in demand and helps create a trained, diverse workforce to power the digital economy. Since its inception more than 20 years ago, the program has reached more than 2.5 million students in Asia Pacific, 27% of whom are female.

challenge is for industry and government to come together to solve the issue of skills gaps by skilling and reskilling the workforce.

All these changes are also bound to induce uncertainty, anxiety and increased stress levels among employees, especially mid-career professionals, about their future. HR practitioners will have to increasingly address the holistic wellness of the employees in addition to professional growth. There will be an even greater need for integration of work and rest of life and hence the need for flexibility and a trust based approach. The needs of a full spectrum of employees in terms of work, experiences, skills and aspirations will need to be catered for and HR will need to rise to the challenge of addressing these in a thoughtful manner.

Finally, the momentum and pace of change will only go up. HR professionals will need to be continuous learners themselves. In many cases we will have to learn, unlearn and relearn within a short span of time and repeat this cycle multiple times during our careers. Our willingness and ability to do that will define our success, and that of our companies, in the years to come.

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The answer is in the learning

This special L&D 2019 feature profiles the People Matters L&D 2019 Awards winners – companies that have used innovative learning programs to solve critical challenges

By Manav Seth

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• Best in On-boarding Solution: Wockhardt • Best in Future Tech Skill Building: Bosch • Best in L&D Technology and Analytics: L&T • Best in Building Self-Learning Culture: Collins Aerospace • Best in Leadership Transformation: VIP Industries Limited

People Matters extends its heartiest congratulations to all the winners! Despite the varied objectives and strategies, the practices implemented by these organizations confirm that the foundation of an effective learning approach is made of innovation, personalization, new-age digital tools, and alignment between personal and organizational goals. Furthermore, the benefits of an effective learning program go beyond simply skilling the workforce and extend to increased engagement, lower attrition, lower costs, and competitive edge. We thank all the applicants and winners who took the time to be a part of this exciting process. A special note of thanks to all the jury members who evaluated the application and awards process. Let us take a closer look at the journeys and experimentations of the winners and analyze the ingredients of what makes an effective learning program.

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The winners of the People Matters L&D 2019 Awards are:

The annual People Matters L&D conference aims to help HR leaders foster right mindsets, design processes, and put enabling structures in place to build a future-ready workforce

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he one thing that has stood the test of time, and has helped humankind develop, is the idea of learning. We are inherently wired to explore more, discover more, learn more, and question more than we already know. This desire to know and learn has fueled the discovery and invention of ideas that remain indispensable to how we live. And in today’s world, this notion of learning has become perpetual, wherein the only way to be sure of success is to continuously keep learning and updating ourselves, by challenging what we are already aware of.

The People Matters L&D 2019 special feature pays homage to the winners of the People Matters L&D 2019 winners and discusses the strategies they adopted to stay at the top of their game. These organizations not only successfully managed to design and implement an innovative learning approach but also helped their employees become agile learners in the process. The awards recognize excellence in the best on-boarding solution; best in future tech skill building; best in L&D technology and analytics; best in building self-learning culture; and, best in leadership transformation.

The People Matters L&D Awards 2019 had more than 400 applicants pitted against each other. The applicants were thoroughly vetted by renowned L&D and HR leaders through several stages. The applicants had to demonstrate the tangible impact of their practice to the judges, and in each of the five categories, applicants were shortlisted to present their case in further detail. One winner from each category was selected in the final round, and the results were announced at the People Matters L&D 2019 conference, held in Mumbai on 6th November 2019. The People Matters L&D 2019 conference brought together leaders, experts, and organizations to discuss the latest trends, innovations, and best practices in the L&D function. The annual People Matters L&D conference aims to help HR leaders foster right the mindsets, design processes, and put enabling structures in place to build a future-ready workforce.

People Matters L&D Awards 2019 Jury Members • Aarif Aziz - CHRO, Diageo India • Amit Narain - Head of Human Resources India, Nestle • Avishkar Mehrotra - Chief People Matters, Walmart India • Emrana Sheikh - Enterprise HR Head, Johnson & Johnson, India & South Asia • Indrajeet Sengupta - Executive Director and CHRO, Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages • Jaspreet Bakshi - Director HR & Regional Head - People Services, India, RBS • Manu N Wadhwa - CHRO, Sony Pictures & Networks India • Prasad Menon - Chief People Officer, Cleartrip.com • Sudip Ghose - Managing Director, VIP Bags • Vinay Deshpande - EVP & CPO, Mahindra Finance

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Wockhardt

Best in

On-Boarding Solution

Building the perfect launchpad for new employees A strategic and extensive on-boarding program designed by Wockhardt helped solve a crucial challenge in the organization

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ockhardt is a global pharmaceutical and biotechnology organization based in Mumbai with manufacturing facilities and subsidiaries in several developed and developing markets.

With a worldwide strength of nearly 9, 000 employees, sales representatives play a crucial role in promoting the company products and generating revenues.

However, new sales employees usually registered a dip in their performance, and the attrition rate of new sales talent was high as well. Let’s take a look at how Wockhardt solved this challenge by creating a unique onboarding and training solution.

The challenge The organization noticed that the initial phase, when a new sales representative started their work, witnessed a decline in their performance. This was attributed to the lack of skills and expertise of the new employee since the role required domain-specific knowledge of science and business. New employees waited anywhere between two and six months to get adequately trained, and it took them a long time to reach the desired level of productivity. One of the primary reasons for the same was the lack of a structured orientation and training program, and it was leading to diminished confidence and sustained underperformance in the first few months. As a result, the infant attrition rate (an employee leaving within the first six months) was extremely high within the sales team.

These challenges not only mounted the recurring cost of recruitment and training but also made it difficult for the organization to ensure knowledge retention and introduce new product portfolios. Furthermore, combined with high competition among pharmaceutical companies for skilled sales talent and a changing disposition of health professionals towards sales representatives, the organization realized that it was time to make a radical change to the existing system.

The intervention The training team at Wockhardt devised an inclusive and well-structured induction module to help new employees overcome 80

the initial challenges and accelerate their learning journey. Thus, the Wockhardt Orientation Workshop (WOW) 10 was envisaged as an extensive ten-day induction program towards the same. A blendedlearning approach is followed to design WOW 10, which consists of a mix of classroom learning, e-learning, on-the-job training, experiential learning, and simulationbased learning. The responsibility and accountability of the program are given jointly to Regional Training Managers and Regional Managers.

The WOW 10 program is based on the foundation of the following pillars:

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• Compact Design: The entire 10-program is split into two parts: four days of classroom training and six days of on-the-job learning • Systemized Digital Training Centers: Four systemized digital training centers at the zonal offices in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai have been set up to ensure access and support.

• Using an Engaging LMS: WGenie, an internal learning management system, has been set up to help the training team deliver customized product knowledge training modules to new employees all across the country.

• 360 Degrees Measurement and Tracking: Every learner is required to record a video of their respective presentations in a simulated setting.

The learners provide anonymous feedback after one month of the program, and senior sales, both within and outside the sales team, seek regular feedback as well.

This continuous flow of relevant feedback helps change the program to make it more useful and practical.

The result Jagmohan Singh Rishi, AVP - Global L&D and Digital Strategy, Wockhardt

The WOW 10 program has helped new employees gain confidence, supported regional managers in gaining clarity on their mentorship role, and above all, helped foster a sense of belongingness for new employees, leading to better employee engagement and motivation

The initial decline in sales of new sales employees has been arrested, and the cost of hiring and training has also reduced.

The mandatory program has helped new sales representatives become productive much more quickly and has also brought down the infant attrition rate by 16 percent. The program has helped new employees gain confidence, supported regional managers in gaining clarity on their mentorship role, and above all, helped foster a sense of belongingness for new employees, leading to better employee engagement and motivation.

The WOW 10 program has filled a critical gap by ensuring the smooth onboarding and training of new sales personnel and supporting them in integrating smoothly into existing processes. As for the future, the organization will focus on providing more support to weak learners, more prominent training on soft skills, and create live dashboards for leaders to keep track of their progress.

Bosch

Best in

Future Tech Skill Building

Competence building for the digital transformation of business The Bosch EDT Competence Model has enabled the organization to build critical future tech skills and facilitate the digitalization of business processes across the spectrum

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osch India is a leading supplier of technology and services in mobility solutions, industrial technology, consumer goods, energy, and building technology. With more than 31,000 associates, ensuring the digital competence of its workforce was a matter of relevance and sustainability to the organization. Here is how Bosch India used smart learning to build digital competencies for the present and the future.

The runaway success of the Bosch EDT Competence model has encouraged the organization to set even more ambitious goals for the next year

The challenge

A new digital competence-building model, based on the existing one, was designed to focus on digitally transforming the organizations. It encompasses thirteen new competencies; six technical skills like Software Engineering (SWE), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Digital Transformation (DT), Cloud computing, etc. and seven cross-functional competencies i.e., Business Modeling, User Experience (UX), Agility, Change Management, etc. A clear pathway was developed to build these competencies across all levels of hierarchy and function.

Bosch’s EDT Competence Model is designed on the following features: • EDT Self-Check Tool: A tool to facilitate learners evaluate their digital competence as per 13 competencies included in EDT Competence Model.

• Basic and Advanced Programs: Learning programs to help learners basic and advanced skills in a variety of digital competencies and also provide measures of learning for each function and competency.

• Expert Qualification: Using eUniversities and external learning platforms to help learners build expertise in their competencies, bringing in external perspectives on knowledge.

• Digital Transformation Information: To help build awareness and mindsets among learners to prepare for a digital transformation & help them realize the importance of learning and upskilling.

• Training for Management: A one-day training setup to trigger digital business modeling in leadership for all senior and middle managers.

Across all hierarchies of leadership and management, the mentioned tools, resources and learning suites are being provided. However, there was an additional challenge of ‘cultural change’, which was suitably addressed by nominating department-wise ‘change agents’. Other challenges like investments for these learnings, learning architecture and infrastructure were also overcome by creating an organization-wide ‘buy-in’ by the L&D team.

The result The learning interventions at Bosch are not only optimizing existing business processes and improving efficiency but also enabling employees and leaders to develop and implement digital business models independently. With more than 90 percent of the learning forecast of 2019 already achieved, hundreds of learners have gained expertise in complex digital competencies, like the Internet of Things (IoT), cybersecurity, Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality (AR/VR), artificial intelligence, and data analytics. While 130 senior and middle managers have gained skills in digital business modeling. That’s not all; the management has identified digital products and customers for all business units and has also digitized several processes for partners and stakeholders. Digital transformation is expected to script a change in the organization’s culture, mentorship, and learning approaches as well. Among the workforce, several ‘DigiMonks’ (digital champions) have been identified in each business division, and they are playing a pivotal role in helping their peers self-evaluate, observe ‘digital days’, and experience digital immersion.

The runaway success of the Bosch EDT Competence model has encouraged the organization to set even more ambitious goals for the next year, as more than 1500 associates will be made digital business modeling competent and more than half of the company’s leadership will be equipped with digital skills to drive digital business models independently.

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The intervention

Lalit Chaturvedi, L&D Head and Senior General Manager, HR, Bosch Group India

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In an increasingly competitive world, Bosch was struggling to integrate the economies of the digitalization into its core business processes as its workforce was operating primarily on fuzzy definitions of new-age business and digital dynamics. The organization’s decade-old traditional automotive manufacturing culture was further making it challenging to implement an organization-wide change. However, the company already had in-house expertise for the Internet of Things (IoT), strong business fundamentals, and a new business model for ‘digital mobility’ the business of the new era. The challenge then, naturally, was to focus on the top weaknesses and threats, while simultaneously improving existing strengths and maintaining the market leadership position. Since this was a challenge that the organization was facing in all geographies, the global leadership at Bosch decided to make digital competence building the focal point of its plan to devise new systems, processes, and models of business operations.

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L&T India

Best in

L&D Technology & Analytics

Using analytics to coursecorrect learning programs and provide personalized learning L&T India’s innovative learning program, ALTNext, is laying the groundwork for stable and sustainable growth in a disruptive digital future

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arsen and Toubro (L&T) is a multinational conglomerate with more than 45, 000 employees all over the globe. The organization is spread across several different verticals and needs to ensure that its diverse workforce is equipped with the most relevant skills to be future-ready. It has started on the right foot towards achieving its long-term goals to ensure that the organization is ready for a digital-first future. Let’s take a look at how L&T used technology and analytics to achieve its learning and upskilling goals.

The challenge The organization’s ‘Lakshya 2021’ and long-term plan Perspective - 2026 feature digitalization of learning, competency development, and upskilling as key themes. The objective is to impart training to the entire workforce in a cost-effective manner as per L&T’s competency framework. An integral part of this program is to use data analytics to gain insights and uncover hidden data patterns to suitable learning interventions. Thus, the challenge was to create an effective learning program that was aligned to the organization’s overarching business goals and continually improve it using advanced data analytics.

B.S. Saluja, Head-Learning& Development, Corporate HR, L&T, and Dr. Rajiv Sinha, Head-Business Excellence, Coporate HR, L&T

L&T’s use of the latest digital technologies in ALTNext shows that a learner-oriented platform can enhance user engagement, knowledge retention, and save costs

The intervention L&T created a learning portal, ALTNext, for its employees that was based on four fundamental pillars: • Personalized learning paths: The data generated from the user behavior was used for personalizing the training by corroborating the physical and digital usage patterns, identify buddies and mentors, and improve searches and recommendations.

• Curated content: In addition to following the visual-auditory-kinesthetic (VAK) model of learning, the learning platform provided curated content to all learners, which was uniquely suited for their learning needs.

• Robust Metrics: A very robust and comprehensive index was developed to 82

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track the learner's progress and measure the improvement in competencies.

• Social learning: AI and ML-based virtual personas were developed for all employees, alongside gamified leaderboards, and interactive dashboards that displayed the progress made.

Another vital factor to consider is that the organization did not rush through the process of creating or rolling out the platform. It took almost one year for the portal to roll out across the organization, before being piloted with 5,000 learners across ten competencies. The data generated during the pilot were analyzed to gather insights on how learners used the portal to enhance it further. Additionally, HR council

members and HR heads facilitated intensive one-on-one discussions to identify the value proposition for each stakeholder. All the data generated in these exercises were used to enhance the program design and execution.

Naturally, it wasn’t a smooth ride. The biggest challenge was altering existing behaviors and user patterns, increasing the adoption rates, and curating relevant learning content for a diverse workforce.

Furthermore, multiple active directories meant that the IT landscape was dispersed, and there were multiple sources of data.

Then, restricted internet access at some office locations and project sites also added to the challenges.

The result Despite its relatively young age, ALTNext has shown tremendous results and potential. Here are some of the most notable successes: • In FY18-19, nearly 35 percent of the workforce completed at least one program • The learning portal receives more than 5,000 unique hits every month • More than 1,000 learning courses are completed every month • More than 1500 buddies and mentors are currently active on the portal and are helping their peers • Talent discovery within the organization has increased, based on learning index parameters • The learning portal has helped reduce learning expenses significantly since its launch Currently, ALTNext has more than 125 courses across 46 competencies and more than 7,000 pieces of web-curated learning content. As per the user engagement and consumption trends, this year will have higher usage and savings as compared to the last. L&T’s use of the latest digital technologies in ALTNext shows that a learner-oriented platform can enhance user engagement, knowledge retention, and save costs.

Collins Aerospace

Best in

Building Self-Learning Culture

Helping employees and leaders curate their learning paths Collins Aerospace’s differentiated learning programs establish that welldefined and curated learning journeys can help inculcate a culture of self-learning and excellence

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ollins Aerospace, a unit of United Technologies Corp., is a leader in technologically advanced and intelligent solutions for the global aerospace and defence industry.

This is the journey of Collins Aerospace from a lack of focus in employee engagement and thereby disinterest in learning to facilitate a culture of self-learning, continuous feedback, and increasing productivity.

The challenge

To help everyone in the organization curate their learning journeys, the company did not opt for off-the-shelf learning programs. Different learning journeys were designed for senior leaders, mid-level managers, and employees.

Stimulation-based programs: These were training-based programs that took place very often are based on the specific training needs identified for employees.

These programs consisted of relevant and bite-sized e-learning modules, and employees could personalize their learning paths.

Similarly, habit-inducing notifications were pushed based on learning patterns to sustain motivation and competition.

Building managerial capability: Intended for mid-level managers across functions, these programs lasted between six to eight months and aimed to foster

Divya Saxena, Manager, Human Resources, Collins Aerospace

Collins Aerospace’s differentiated learning paths for its employees demonstrate that learners need to be engaged with relevant, personalized, and autonomy for learning interventions to be effective

The result The learning programs showed a discernible improvement in the overall engagement, learning, and productivity across the organization. Here are a few achievements: • 96 percent of the learners liked the content and found it useful • 95 percent felt that their confidence increased and 85 percent were able to do work of better quality • 80 percent of the employees improved their relationship with their managers and peers • Managers and leaders have driven a culture of feedback and self-learning across the organization, leading to significant decreases in the drop-out rates for programs • The demand for most programs has grown, and most are now waitlisted • The targets set for improvement in customer satisfaction, financial results, and service excellence have all been met or exceeded.

• There has been an increase in the training target by three to five percent each year

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The intervention

All these programs came with their own set of obstacles. While employee and managers programs faced adaptability and motivation struggles, it was challenging to devise learning paths for diverse country leaders. Similarly, adoption to the learning platform, alongside robust review mechanisms, were some of the other impediments.

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A dip in the quarterly employee survey scores, alongside feedback from HR and employees on various forums, helped the top leadership identify the need to inculcate a culture of self-learning across all levels in the organization. This was also an opportunity to build a culture of innovation, ownership, and meaningful feedback.

The challenge was, thus, to design learning programs that were not only relevant for employees, but also senior and middlelevel managers, and could stimulate every employee to learn more than they know.

The objective was to introduce new-age skills, share real-life knowledge, retain knowledge, and build a sustainable culture of self-learning.

managerial effectiveness. The training programs consisted of 10 percent classroom learning, 70 percent learning through practice (projects and assignments), and 20 percent through coaching.

Leadership capability: Two-day workshops were held for senior leaders from across the country to help them socialize the attributes of a great leader and help them percolate the self-learning culture through the entire organization. Different methodologies, like storytelling, sharktank, and theatre-based approaches, were used to help leaders understand performance management and drive a culture of feedback.

The organization will continue with its approach of curated training to develop a culture of self-learning. Collins Aerospace’s differentiated learning paths for its employees demonstrate that learners need to be engaged with relevant, personalized, and autonomy for learning interventions to be effective.

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VIP Industries

Best in

Leadership Transformation

Cultivating a layered leadership pipeline

VIP Industries’ comprehensive leadership building program, Gurukul, identified and nurtured effective leaders that led the organization to success

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hen faced with external and internal challenges, VIP Industries knew that it had to act quickly. The L&D team, comprising all three members, set out on an ambitious journey to cultivate leadership and ownership across the organization to further the overarching business goals. Here’s a look at how they succeeded in their objectives.

Much like any endeavor, the program faced challenges and obstacles along the way. The launch saw a limited adoption of mobile learning, and since the learners were new to using some of the technology, they required frequent nudging. Similarly, it was a challenge to schedule the training of a geographically-diverse team that relied heavily on internal content. However, the L&D team was quick to identify and remedy these challenges to make the program a success.

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The challenge VIP was tackling several internal and external disruptions that led to an eroding market share and lower profitability in recent times. The overall macroeconomic slowdown’s impact on the travel industry, the weakening national currency, and the standoff between the US and China; all these factors were contributing to a challenging business environment.

Internally, the workforce was at risk of burning out under high pressure and strict targets. Furthermore, a majority of the employees did not view training and development as an opportunity to advance professionally, and there were no avenues to help them build new career paths within the organization. Simply put, the entire L&D function was not seen as a business driver, and instead of being essential to drive results, it was ineffective. The leadership in the organization identified the need to cultivate a new generation of leaders to inculcate a culture of ownership and innovation.

The intervention VIP launched ‘Gurukul,’ an organizationwide program to identify and nurture leaders. The program aimed to build leaders at four levels in the leadership pipeline based on Ram Charan’s Career Turns Model: • Leading Self: These leaders were trained to focus on improving their performance and engagement by breaking silos between learning and engaging. The line managers of these leaders co-facilitated the learning programs and aimed to develop an overall sense of well-being using varied learning approaches, including gamified mobile learning through VIP DOST (Development of Skills using Technology).

• Leading Teams: The leaders at this stage were supported in expanding their 84

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The result

Dheeraj Goyal, Vice President-Human Resources, VIP Industries

learning and knowledge from other teams, inculcating a growth mindset, developing work-life balance, and how to develop strength in team members.

• Leading Managers: The leaders in the level were trained on the importance of feedback, performance conversations, biases in decision-making, and employee wellness using a blended learning approach that involved classroom training, MOOCs, peer learning, reflection journals, interaction with senior leaders, etc.

• Leading Functions: These leaders underwent executive education programs and coaching sessions from top business schools in India and abroad to develop and implement projects of their own. Further, role rotations were encouraged as part of the new talent management strategy. Leaders were also a part of the D&Ilogues, a program to champion diversity within the company. Finally, senior leaders were encouraged to participate in industry forums to share their wisdom and enrich their perspectives.

For each of these career turns VIP used the 3 levels of Leadership model developed

by James Scouller to develop the Public, Private and Personal Leadership behaviors relevant to the group.

Gurukul has helped VIP establish stability and confidence throughout the organization. Not only have the sales displayed an impressive uptick, but the organization has been able to establish itself in the premium segment on the back of remarkable employee performance. Here are some of the highlights of the many milestones achieved: • 1500+ employees, comprising of nearly half the workforce, were trained in 50+ classroom programs across 18 locations last year; this year, the number has already touched almost 1800 • The sales promoters who were a part of the training earned higher incentives as compared to the previous year • Despite facing a low adoption initially, mobile learning has touched 55 percent, with each participant spending three minutes every day to undertake ‘micro’ learning • There has been a 15 percent increase in the engagement levels and a 32 percent increase in the overall training and development scores • A certification-based training school has been launched in VIP Bangladesh.

On the radar is bringing employees from non-sales function into the fold and identifying internal learning enthusiasts who can drive the leadership development agenda by co-creating learning programs.

The team attributes this success to its passion for learning as a driver of engagement and business results, its focus on metrics that mattered and bringing play into blended learning journeys that were a part of Gurukul.

It is a ‘Hit Refresh’ scenario In an exclusive interaction with People Matters, Manu Wadhwa, the Chief Human Resource Officer, Sony Pictures Networks India shares her thoughts on the changing work scenario, the leadership lessons that guide her and discusses why agility is the keyword in today’s environment

By Bhavna Sarin

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eading the way in a candid conversation with People Matters, Manu Wadhwa, Chief Human Resource Officer, Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN), reflected on some of the key leadership lessons that guided her in her journey so far and highlighted the key leadership traits essential to survive and thrive in the digital age.

With over two decades of experience in the human resources function across various industries and countries, Manu has piloted workplace and people agenda of globally dynamic organizations like GE and American Express. Her expertise lies in Organization Design & Effectiveness, Talent & Development, HR Transformation, Change, and Digital Innovation. Interestingly, she started her career in 1996 in Tata Unisys as a financial analyst.

Alumni of SCMHRD, Pune and the GE Human Resources Leadership Program, Wadhwa is a member of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) – National Leadership & HR Committee, Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) – Asia Pacific Advisory Board, Chandigarh University Corporate Advisory Board as well as the Jombay Think Tank Forum.

Read on to know why Wadhwa emphasizes agility, her advice for talent leaders as they navigate through the digital storm and what was the trigger for her shift from finance to HR.

In the early years of your career, what triggered the move from finance to HR? Since childhood, I was drawn towards taking up roles, which enabled people in my ecosystem to thrive and prosper and bring out their best selves in whatever they did. However, given the natural career choices expected from a family of entrepreneurs – I took up my first job in finance/ accounting at Tata Unisys. While interacting with students, who would be considering course choices in technology, very soon, I realized that my natural passion thrived in counseling them towards making the right career choices. This was the tipping point for me to further my education as well as building a career in human capital management.

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What are some of the leadership lessons that guided you in your journey so far? Who is the one leader you look up to?

I have been blessed to have worked with the best minds across the world who have acted as a constant source of inspiration and motivation. Some of the key learnings that have stayed with me are: • Leaders should harness the power of teams through connecting individual’s own purpose to organizational goals • Trust & empowerment can be the biggest sources of driving exponential results and excellence in teams • Encourage your teams to fail; share their learnings from it and move on. In a nutshell – fail fast, recover faster • Be the best version of yourself. Tap into your inner potential and wear your individual identity with confidence every day.

In my view, to lead the agile transformation, the key capabilities leaders need are: • Agility: Being aware of the surrounding ecosystem and espousing a more creative mindset to change, which fosters innovation and value creation as opposed to solving business exigencies.

• Self-awareness & development: Being holistically focussed, proactive in maintaining relationships and keeping abreast with times, technology savvy and reverse mentoring are essential. It begins with embracing your ignorance and being a learner/student throughout one’s life • Collaborative mindset: Instil and work with a sportsman demeanor. Identify common strengths and rally the teams around/join the forces to win.

It is all about developing relational expertise, creating conditions for effective teamwork, breaking silos and solutioning for the unknown.

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Having worked with global organizations like Sony Pictures, Coca-Cola, American Express, GE, among others, what are some of the recurring workforce concerns you have encountered?

Leaders need to have an ear to the ground, listen to people and take care of their needs. It all begins with ‘raison d'être’ - the reason for being Considering the current pace of things that are impacting the world of work, what are the three key qualities that leaders should have?

In this age of Industrial Revolution 4.0, rapid technological and workforce composition change means an increasing number of sectors are approaching a tipping point at which companies must become agile to compete and survive.

There is an increasing need to transform internally as well as externally by being consumer and employee centric, and at the same time efficient and profitable. To form and lead an agile transformation successfully, leaders need a new approach.

The mindsets and skills they have carefully honed over years of experience are necessary but not sufficient to lead 21st-century organizations.

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I would like to term these as challenges and opportunities. Following are the key recurring factors: Accessing talent: Recruiting the right talent with apt skills and culture fit. It has been about mobilizing and leveraging internal resources though planned internal movements, finding talent from across industries and strategically leveraging technology to augment sourcing and boost recruiting productivity. In recent years, it’s also been a lot about leveraging talent in the alternative workforce to meet the ever-changing talent demands across businesses.

Employee engagement: The high correlation between employee engagement and business results is often witnessed to be validated. However, one size does not fit all and what may work in one organization/group may not work in another. Additionally, in today’s age of extreme consumer focus, the internal consumer expects a similar experience it receives from the best in class product/ service organization – hyper-personalized.

Productivity: Every organization at various phases of evolution/maturity has the need to evaluate its processes and structures to look for efficiency to build meritocratic teams. The solutions can range from intensive studies and application of six sigma methodologies or to simpler tactics like training or basic solutions like boosting team morale.

However, keeping a laser-sharp focus on these is critical as the real competitive advantage in any business comes from people. You cannot win with product/ strategy alone, it’s the contribution of people behind the scenes who make it a winning product/strategy.

How can leaders build a scalable culture that can be replicated across geographies?

Leaders need to have an ear to the ground, listen to people and take care of their needs. It all begins with ‘raison d'être’ - the reason for being. Since the “why” is clear, even with the growth in numbers or geographies, the culture would percolate. When it comes to ensuring it permeates consistently and stays, some rules of thumb work invariably.

• Tell stories: Stories have the power, to help imagine, inspire people and re-live experiences.

• Reward right behavior: Reinforcement comes well if the right behaviors are rewarded and employees feel appreciated for their contribution • Consistent communication: Across levels and geographies, use opportunities beyond hiring and orientation to talk about culture. Ingrain it in organization policies, processes, and interventions.

• Be inclusive: While culture is defined into expected values and behaviors, it still needs to be flexible and have scope to adapt for nuances in businesses and, be sensitive and inclusive of cultural diversity

What would your advice be for talent leaders as they strive to build a digital workforce?

While the above is important, one key message would be to not lose your sanity in this time of supersonic change.

What is your take on the long-term impact of AI and other emerging technologies on jobs, people and the future of work?

When it comes to work, jobs, workforce, people, and the workplace, it is a ‘Hit Refresh’ scenario.

At the cost of sounding repetitive, “Junk the Job description”, it is already time that we look at skills and experiences gathered beyond job titles. As predicted, AI would lead to the creation of more, however different jobs. In the long- term, jobs would become “Super jobs”- jobs that need to focus on the human dimension of work and AI would be able to provide significant productivity gains. The next-gen workforce will need to embrace this rapid change and also upskill to understand AI-driven technology and be prepared for the redesigned roles.

What are your top priorities moving towards the Industrial Revolution 4.0?

It is a great time to be in the workforce when we are transitioning to Industry 4.0. We are witness to

the changes that are transforming organizations, and as leaders responsible for managing the ambiguity and volatility with speed and agility.

Refresh: leadership context: My focus as a member of the leadership team is to leverage our collective ability to develop and foster organization performance. It’s about how we as leaders can combine our experiences and traditionally seek expectations with new leadership competencies to help our organization pursue success and work on more integrated solutions.

Rewire: the way we work: Collaboration is multiplication, the need for cross-pollination for solutioning is the way to work. New mindsets and technologies are easing the shift to new team-based models of work. The focus is to build on talent practices and behaviors that fully support a teambased operating model.

Reimagine: engagement & learning: Changing demographics, employee expectations and the war for most talent has challenged organizations to appeal to the most in-demand and diverse workforce. What we are focusing on is curating new and hyper-personalized experiences, movement within and between jobs and nonlinear career portfolios to appeal to talent. Also, new models of lifelong learning where we look at alternative forms of learning for the workforce should be geared up for the new roles which will help bring purpose to work.

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The keyword in today’s environment is Agile.

• Agile leadership: Since one cannot predict the future, being proactive can help us in being prepared for the future • Agile teams: While relying on a stable foundation organization structure, it is important to work towards building non-traditional, nonhierarchical swarm teams which will ensure scalability and flexibility • Agile learning: Getting personalized learning and building models of lifelong learning which incentivize and motivate employees to invest in developing new skills

The next-gen workforce will need to embrace this rapid change and also upskill to understand AI-driven technology and be prepared for the redesigned roles

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Dr. Swatee Sarangi

Galvanizing learning & development Today it’s not about managing training programs or providing training courses.

Role of L&D is to design enriched learning and leadership journeys

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he ultra-competitiveness, incessant advancement in technology and increasing workforce diversity are on the rise. People are at the centre of all changes and transformations. They can make or mar organizations. Stories of organizational success and failure are scripted based on people’s satisfaction and contribution. The need to make PEOPLE purposeful, passionate and progressive is more today than ever before. There is where Learning and Development(L&D) is poised to play a more prominent role. They are the real game changers who can make people capable to multiply value in challenging times.

As the talent development equation is more mystic than clear, more dynamic than static and surely more complex than simple, I envisage new roles of L&D being scripted. These roles will help in galvanizing not just the function but also business.

Strategy accelerators L&D function not only aligns with business strategy but also shapes it. CEOs today are interested in bottom line, revenue growth, innovation and customer centricity. For them, people and talent are important agendas which directly impact business.

Today L&D is proactively involved in forecasting and delivering work, workplace

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and workforce needs. Having a performance consultant mindset using an OD lens helps L&D professionals diagnose contextual demands and design best solutions for business. Having continuous conversations with business, help them emerge as competent path finders who understand both the stated and unstated needs. Applying learning analytics to compute ROI helps ascertain value of L&D interventions for dimensions of quality, quantity, time, scale, reaction and more making them more credible. This helps in continuously improving the design and value of the investment and measurable performance of people in the learning experience.

As co-pilots of business they build leadership pipeline for critical positions and develop essential capabilities which help leverage business opportunities. As businesses witness a range of new thrust areas from mergers and acquisitions, diversification, new geography penetration and expansions, L&D function must rise and

strategize. Acting as business confidants, they can positively influence the outlook of business and help in continuously raising the bar on how people can contribute towards dynamic business performance.

By shaping long term, strategic, ethical and sustainability issues, L&D can multiply business growth and value.

Talent and leadership catalysts Harnessing people’s strengths and aspirations and converting them to valuable resources is at the core of L&D. Today it’s not about manging training programs or providing training courses. Role of L&D is to design enriched learning and leadership journeys. They are ace content curators and learning resource providers who help sculpt value added learning experiences.

Applying principles of design thinking they empathize and prototype personalized learning journeys for diverse audiences across generations and gender. Armed with wide array of technology-enabled and learner centric tools, they amalgamate

Culture architects Culture is what we learn and not something we are born with. Learning must be continuous rather than episodic. L&D can be the fountain of culture by facilitating a conducive environment where people think, feel and act in ways to stay and soar together. Giving life and meaning to organizational values, processes and practices by developing corporate citizens is championed by L&D. Penetration and internalization of values is beyond formal on-boarding programs. It is fostered through sharing stories and celebrating successes.

Capability developed through communities of practice and social learning is powerful.

These informal learning methods provide impetus to curiosity. When people feel empowered to question and explore the known and unknown, intellectual restless results and learning becomes a habit.

L&D can make high impact to business by nurturing a winning culture. Scripting winning cultures where people decode and disseminate what makes them succeed is an important contribution. Sharing stories of success and adversity can help in scoring more, stretching higher and soaring beyond. When companies go global and workforce virtual and millennials in the workforce are on the rise, role of L&D in building and sustaining a values-based

inclusive culture based on social purpose is crucial. During M&As, L&D can play a role in evangelizing culture integration by ironing out cultural dissonance, clashes and confusion. Augmenting collaborative learning can help employees can align with their new roles, bond with their new colleagues and contribute towards changing business goals in such scenarios.

Change activists L&D plays a dynamic role in change by focusing on people and culture who are at the heart of organizational development and transformation. The more connected and conversant people are towards change, easier it for them to adopt and manage it.

L&D significantly contributes in making change happen by honing both mindsets and skillsets. Unlearning and Relearning must be emphasized over learning and upskilling and reskilling over skilling in changing times. Enabling people to visualize and execute change in today’s volatile world is increasingly difficult. L&D interventions targeted at creating awareness and desire for change can open minds, hearts and create willingness for change.

Nudging people to think and explore can evoke drawing of critical insights. Providing exposure and experience to diverse and demanding roles can help people learn how to learn. People can stretch their imaginations of thinking and acting with alacrity when provided with opportunities of working on break -through projects. People, teams and organizations can become change ready when they learn to overcome resistance and gain momentum for change. In my experience, developing finer nuances of human intelligence can help in moving the needle in digital transformations. Both hard and soft skills contribute in developing outside in and inside out perspectives for leading change. Creative pursuits, innovation strategies and new business models using digital tenets can result from the learning experiences of people both inside and outside classrooms.

Enabling people to visualize and execute change in today’s volatile world is increasingly difficult. L&D interventions targeted at creating awareness and desire for change can open minds, hearts and create willingness for change Today L&D is one the most vital and value adding HR function. L&D professionals need to be strategic and creative.

They need to operate systemically. Having vertical fitment with business and horizontal fitment with other HR functions. As dynamic players, they should be in quest of adding value in changing contexts. As valuable integrators they can help connect people, technology, strategy and business in symphony. Having flair and ability to draw insights from best practices and design best fits for people and organizations will be useful. Most importantly they themselves need to be perpetual learners who seek to learn from both theory and practice and life and work. I believe, they need to take charge by initiating actions for generating excitement and energy for business results. They can create learning organizations which will succeed by cherishing and celebrating, learning is growth and growth is Life. Playing roles and demonstrating competencies extolled will truly galvanize L&D. This will future proof organizations and help them succeed in turbulent times.

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dimensions of classroom, e-learning, simulation, gamification, coaching, mentoring, bubble assignments, and projects. They strive to create immersive and engaging experiences where learning is transferred.

As catalysts they unleash true potential and enable people to become better version of their own selves. I strongly endorse leadership competencies to be developed across levels and not confined to senior positions.

In fact, in most organizations talent and leadership development is viewed as a critical component of Total Rewards.

Providing impetus to learning in informal settings and contexts is rewarding.

L&D can provide people best learning moments at work by providing opportunities to experience stimuli through multi sources. From macro to micro, chunk to byte, classroom to on the job, learning happens when people are on the go and in the flow. L&D should enable realization of individual development plans by providing resources and support for talent to flourish. Linking learning and performance can put the spotlight on learning. Not just high potential leaders, solid citizens who stay and contribute need to be developed to become better versions of themselves.

These endeavours help in enhancing the brand value of the business.

About the author

Swatee is the Head, Capability Development at Larsen & Toubro DECEMBER 2019 |

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Stay out of the way of talent to foster their development & growth In a recent interaction with People Matters, Douglas Foley, Sr VP, HR & Administration, Intercontinental Exchange and their Head of Human Resources and Site Administration for India, Kiranmai Pendyala, discussed how tech revolution has impacted the talent priorities in the financial services industry

By Drishti Pant

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s the financial services industry copes up with the tech revolution it went through in the last couple of years, both the business and the talent priorities of various companies have also changed manifold.

Douglas Foley, Sr VP, HR & Administration, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) discussed how the tech revolution has impacted the talent priorities in the financial services industry. He along with Kiranmai Pendyala, Head of Human Resources and Site Administration India, ICE, highlighted top skills and competencies the business requires and shared how they nurture them among their employees. They also shared some of the HR focus areas for ICE in the coming year.

Artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, and blockchain are expected to take the financial services industry to the next level. How do you think tech has revolutionized the industry?

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Douglas: From analog to digital, we have come a long way and hence, ICE has also been through immense transformation. Technology has enabled us to replace inefficient infrastructures.

Technology can be deployed to better connect, to create a more efficient marketplace, and to better connect market participants.

How has this tech revolution impacted the talent priorities in the financial services industry?

Douglas: From us, from a global perspective, the biggest challenge has of course been, the dearth of tech talent available to help meet our business needs.

In many instances we know how to solve the problem, but the skills required for that are not available at the right time.

Our biggest challenge has therefore been, finding the right tech talent at the right place at the right time.

Among the markets we operate in, certainly, the US is where we are struggling the most in finding the right skills we need. More recently, the challenge has aggravated in that region because of a combination of immigration policies and the lack of talent in STEM degrees.

Kiranmai: Surely, the nature of jobs is changing and so is the demand for skills.

Hence, what the industry across the globe is facing is a shortage of skill and not talent. There are enough people out there, however, they are either not ready for the job or for the industry. In India, especially, we have the demographic dividend in our favor. But there is a huge gap in skills from a demand and supply perspective. So,

now the most important question for us to address is: How do we hone this talent?

The top talent priority is, therefore, to do a skills diagnostic. Identify the industry-relevant skills and dialogue and interface with the schools and universities to help them redesign the curriculum and ensure more job-ready workforce.

Even for business, it is important to invest in the talent’s learning and development. Unless you don’t quickly upgrade yourself, you can’t progress. For industry, it is the need of the hour. Upskill or perish!

The only mantra for everyone to cope with are the challenges of today and the future is “continuous learning”-be it organizations or individuals.

To discuss this year in particular, what were some of the top skills in demand for you?

Douglas: Firstly, when we talk about the top skills our business needs, we focus on both the technical skills and behavioral

Amid talent crunch, how do you ensure that you have the right skills and capabilities the business needs? How do you nurture competencies like collaboration, communication, and problemsolving?

Douglas: To begin with, we try to embody all these competencies from the top. These values are both preached and practiced by the leaders starting from the CEO himself. Besides regularly communicating and highlighting these values through communication tools and on the intranet, we often have one on one interventions if the need arises. Through individual coaching, we are able to make the employees see how they could have approached a situation differently.

Then, of course, we do all the basic things to empower our employees, from paying them well to investing in their learning and development. But one thing we do differently to nurture our employees’ growth is we stay out of their way.

investing in it now and testing certain use cases now. With the aim of creating electronic and transparent financial markets, we have also made a great investment in cryptocurrency and digital assets. What’s there to look forward to next year is how the trend of digital assets grows and whether or not mainstream moves towards them. With the business undergoing such a tech revolution, going digital will be a top priority for HR as well. While we have not gone deep down in adopting AI and ML for talent management, we are surely on the journey of automation. Currently, we are stitching together the current systems used by various teams and ensuring those systems and teams work together to simplify and synergize all efforts towards scaling our business and growth.

Exploring how AI and ML can be used, restructuring HR processes and workflows will be our top priorities in 2020.

Kiranmai: As ICE has just forayed into the Indian market, sourcing and nurtur-

competencies, which otherwise often gets ignored. For ICE, competencies like collaboration, communication, and problem solving are top priorities.

Being a tech-driven company, our business challenges also require the talent to have digital skills. The demand for AI and ML skills are surely in demand, similar to the industry trend.

Kiranmai: Some of the best-known companies which have lasted and made strides ahead even amid uncertainty and in this VUCA world we live in, are the ones who have always found to unknot a problem. Surely, the nature of jobs will change and so will the demand for skills. There is a huge demand for people with digital skills.

But even that is not sufficient if those skills are not combined with competencies like problem solving and collaboration.

We are on the lookout for people who think digitally, love to solve complex problems and simplify tasks and processes.

One thing we do differently to nurture our employees’ growth is we stay out of their way. We give the development team the most complex business problems to solve along with the resources, the latest and greatest tools they would require to solve them. Then we ensure that there is no bureaucracy or barriers delaying their decision-making process. We try to give them a lot of space to practice, experiment, fail, learn and innovate. We do have a set of guidelines, but we don’t indulge in and encourage unnecessary oversite.

What are some key trends that you think will shape the talent decisions of most companies in your sector in 2020?

How is Intercontinental Exchange preparing for these trends?

Douglas: As different companies are on their own journey, for ICE one of the trends I really look forward to in 2020 is deployment of AI & ML. We are heavily

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The nature of jobs is changing and so is the demand for skills. Hence, what the industry across the globe is facing is shortage of skill and not talent.

There are enough people out there, however, they are either not ready for the job or for the industry ing talent are definitely key priorities for us.

While we have already gamified our recruitment process to some extent, in India, the HR team’s priority will be on gamification for both sourcing and onboarding. I would look at introducing hackathons for complex problem solving both as a campus hiring strategy as well as an open-sourcing strategy. These hackathons will also enable us to set the expectations for the talent so that there are no surprises later. With most of the workforce in India being ‘Millennial’, our focus is on creating and communicating the culture they resonate with. As per the latest researches, they like to be challenged and are driven by a purpose to solve problems.

2020 for me is, hence, about creating the campus hiring strategy and strategy blueprint for talent sourcing with a focus on gamification and hackathons. Through gamification of these processes, we aim to source the right talent, groom them and nurture them to help them become competent, confident and committed.

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The McDonald’s debacle

By Anushree Sharma

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n average worker spends 90,000 hours at work over their lifetime. Further, with new technologies coming in, the line between professional and personal is getting blurred and people end up spending more time with their co-workers than with their family and friends. Given the amount of time that colleagues spend time together, workplace relationships have become common. Office relationships have given us people like Bill and Melinda and Barack and Michelle.

Last month McDonald’s announced that CEO Steve Easterbrook was ousted for engaging in a consensual relationship with an employee. In an email to employees, Easterbrook acknowledged he had a relationship with an employee and said it was a mistake. “Given the values of the company, I agree with the board that it is time for me to move on,” Easterbrook said in the email.

Another event that grabbed the headlines was of Democratic congresswoman Katie Hill who resigned after her own consensual affair was revealed.

#MeToo The ban on romantic relationships at workplaces has become prevalent since the #MeToo movements have grabbed attention worldwide. However, do steps like forbidding a consensual romantic relationship really work to prevent workplace harassment?

According to Marianne Cooper, Ph.D., a sociologist at the VMware Women's Leadership Innovation Lab at Stanford University, “A no-dating policy in the workplace cements in people’s minds that this is about sexual desire. But it is sexual harassment that is about people abusing their power. It is not, ‘I asked her out.’

When companies get stuck there, they’re not addressing the real problem.”

The birth of a policy like this stems from an assumption that those women don’t know the difference between an unwanted sexual advance from an office mate and a consensual relationship with a coworker.

These bans can also come up with a false narrative that any type of fraternizing with a woman at the office is risky. In 2019, 27 percent of men avoided one-on-one meetings with DECEMBER 2019 |

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The ouster of McDonald’s CEO Steve Easterbrook over an admitted consensual relationship with an employee reflects the growing prevalence of company dating policies in the #MeToo era

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female colleagues, which is an excellent way for women to get left behind at work.

In fact, according to a survey done by Cosmopolitan, where they asked more than 800 women aged between the ages of 18 and 35 how they view love on the job. Eighty-four percent were totally down to date someone at their company as long as they’re not on the same team.

Unequal power

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The last few years have been difficult for top league CEOs who were ousted not for their performance but for ethical disputes and getting into romantic and sexual relationships. For example, Brian Krzanich, Intel Chief Executive, was asked to leave when he was found to be having an extramarital affair with a subordinate. As earlier quoted, Esterbrook also indulged in dating with a colleague at a junior level.

One of the reasons for framing this policy around the pact that forbids C-suite level executives to develop a relationship with junior employ-

The ban on romantic relationships at workplaces has become prevalent since the #MeToo movements have grabbed attention worldwide ees can be understood from the incident where Best Buy’s CEO was fired for a relationship with a 29-year-old employee. According to reports it was found that his favoritism towards “concerned person” diluted her supervisor’s ability to manage her.

The challenges with workplace relationships According to a survey conducted by XpertHR on workplace relationships, it was found that the key challenges for employers to bar any kind of relationship are: Complaints of favoritism from co-workers: When employees perceive that there is favoritism in how they are treated by management, a sense of unfairness creeps in. It raises the question, “Why didn’t I get that project/promotion/corner office?”

This brings down company morale because favoritism is understood to mean that no matter what you do, your efforts won’t be rewarded if you’re not one of the favored few.

Bullying or unpleasant behavior between employees: Often employees who get into a rela94

tionship or share family bonds are bullied and mocked for getting professional advances even if that is not a case. We need to be mindful that while these relationships can impact the morale of employees who feel their potential is being overlooked, it can also impact employees being in relationship with an influential person as they got often blamed for sharing a relationship but never being praised for their capabilities that they bring to work and business.

Couple’s productivity decreasing: Relationships often include fights and sometimes end on a bad note and impact both personal and professional life. It is easy to get distracted from work because of depression, anxiety, and simply seeing your new ex at work and overanalyzing communications—or miscommunications. In such a scenario it gets obvious that office productivity will fail under any negative circumstance, especially when both parties in a failed romance work at the same office.

Claims of sexual harassment: The whole idea about framing policies around “not dating

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employees/co-workers” is eliminating workplace harassment. However, a different lens to look at the entire situation can also be reducing the fake allegations around harassment. According to various incidents that got highlighted during the #MeToo movement, there were certain cases got highlighted where colleagues under the rage have made false allegations of sexual harassment.

While there may be enough reasons to avoid workplace romance binding it to eliminating sexual harassment and favoritism at the workplace, there still lie some points which require deliberation from employers and HR. Are these policies really solving the issues of sexual harassment at the workplace? Also, this raises debate over how much power over employees wants to give their employers on their private lives. While Easterbrook got dismissed on the grounds of violating company policy, the specifics about that policy have not been released. Even without knowing the details, the fusion of romance with harassment is bizarre, given how more than 80 percent of people report meeting a romantic partner through work.

Collaboration is the key to the future of work: Mediacorp’s Digital Officer

I foresee real-time collaboration across organizations to be the norm in the future, where employees can utilize tools that will allow them to work on projects together, in real-time, across geographies and organizations, says Parminder Singh, the Chief Commercial and Digital Officer of Mediacorp, in a conversation with People Matters

By Mastufa Ahmed

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arminder Singh currently holds the dual portfolio of chief commercial officer and chief digital officer at Singapore’s public broadcaster, Mediacorp.

He is responsible for driving Mediacorp’s businesses across TV, radio, digital and outdoor, besides leading its digital transformation initiatives.

Prior to Mediacorp, Parminder has also held top management positions in global blue chip technology companies like Google, Apple, Twitter, and IBM. As Twitter’s MD for Asia, Parminder set up the social networking company’s operations in its high-growth markets. As MD for Google, he grew the display advertising business into a multibilliondollar operation in APAC. Parminder was one of the driving forces behind the IPL-YouTube partnership. He has been actively involved in exploring the use of technology for good and is the founding member of @incrisisrelief, a citizen-led disaster relief technology initiative.

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Can you share your story of how Mediacorp has evolved into Singapore's largest multi-media platform, spanning TV channels, radio stations, and digital platforms? What are the learnings for business leaders?

We recognize that the media landscape has changed dramatically, and with it, consumers’ tastes and preferences. With this in mind, it is imperative that we be bold and have the gumption to do things very differently: Co-creation of content: Firstly, we don’t try to create all the content ourselves. Instead, we actively seek partners to co-create content – a concept based on the theory of ‘cognitive surplus’ (by author Clay Shirky), which advocates tapping on the spare intellectual capacity of people around you to develop new forms of collaboration. In this also lies the need to have “content fluidity”, i.e. not only pushing out our content but also at bringing in content from DECEMBER 2019 |

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external creators, such as in the case of our partnership with ESPN where we import their content to serve our audiences.

Distribution of content across multiple platforms: The evolving mediascape is also such that content can no longer be constrained to distribution on one medium; instead, we constantly look at putting them across multiple platforms to accommodate the media consumption habits of the modern audience. This includes exploring platforms beyond Mediacorp ones, such as YouTube, with whom we have an existing partnership for the live-streaming of our content.

Transmedia advertising: In the advertising space, we no longer sell ad space for individual platforms such as TV, radio and digital. Instead, we have moved to selling on a transmedia scale, which recognizes the multi-platform way in which people consume content in this day and age. In this regard, it is worth highlighting Mediacorp’s innovative blended cost-per-viewer (CPV) model, which offers advertisers a screen-agnostic media buying solution that maximizes target audience reach at the most cost-effective rate.

What are your thoughts on the current pace of digital transformation in the industry especially in Southeast Asia?

Southeast Asia is a very diverse region, and across the many countries and their different industries within, the pace of digital transformation is generally varied. In the case of Singapore, we are without a doubt one of the most wellconnected countries not just in the region, but in the world. For example, we are one of the world’s leaders in the domain of digital audio, with one in four people listening to audio content via digital means, such as podcasts. Our network infrastructure is also excellent, with fast internet speeds and

At Mediacorp, we have implemented a single-sign-on system that allows our clients to access the gamut of Mediacorp properties via one single entry point.

Besides making it far more convenient, it also helps us to have a unified view of who our audiences are so that we can serve them the right content In sum, the takeaways for business leaders are: • Be open to all partnerships, even those that are non-intuitive (such as with competitors); and • Know your consumer well. Try to anticipate their concerns; and if that’s not possible, respond to them quickly and effectively.

Do you think disruptions to the world of work that digital technologies are likely to bring about could pose significant challenges to policymakers and business leaders?

Yes. Across different fields and industries, we see Artificial Intelligence and machines gradually taking over manual, repetitive and standardized work currently performed by human beings.

For both policymakers and business leaders, I think what is important is that they: • Have a good understanding of what these digital technologies are in the first place, the consequences they bring, and how to leverage them to their advantage; • Consider whether they have equipped their workforce with the skills and knowhow to benefit from these digital technologies. If not, invest in training them;

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• Possess the courage to make tough decisions surrounding adopting these technologies, while considering the potential impact on workers and their livelihoods; and, • Keep in mind the adage: “Technology brings short term pain, but long term gains”. In other words, know what the gains are and harness them, but do as much as you can to minimize the pain.

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superior connectivity, which also helps accelerate the country’s overall digital transformation.

What has been the most significant technology integration/implementation so far, at your organization? And did it impact your employee efficiency, customer satisfaction, and profit margins?

Mediacorp has several digital properties and assets providing us multiple touchpoints with our audiences. This also means we have to have the right tools and technologies in place to connect the dots and ensure we have a unified and comprehensive view of our audiences’ likes and preferences.

Why is this important? Because this allows us to bring more relevant content and our advertisers to serve more relevant ads to the audience. This has been an important priority for us and we have invested significant resources towards this.

We have implemented a single-sign-on system that allows our clients to access the gamut of Mediacorp properties via one single entry point.

Besides making it far more convenient, it also helps us have a unified view of who our audiences are so that we can serve them the right content

that is aligned with their tastes and preferences.

We have invested in tools that help us collect data points from both internal and third party sources to better understand the preferences of our audiences. We have invested in the right recommendation engine technologies to surface the right content to the right person. And finally, tools that allow better ad targeting.

In all this means a great experience for our audience and greater returns on their investment for our advertisers.

How do you envisage the future of work with technology impacting almost all facets of work?

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

How did you get over them?

In the media industry, the job of media planning has evolved in large part due to the onset of automation. Where once media planners mainly performed operational duties like drawing up a media schedule and pricing plan for clients, they now need to put on the hat of a storyteller and create a narrative for clients to address their actual business challenges.

For employees who have been doing traditional media planning for many years, making this shift may prove to be a steep learning curve for most of them. The challenge then, for a leader, is how to

W o r k

An almost universal problem affecting businesses in this digital age is being able to stand out from the noise in the online sphere to capture the attention of consumers with limited attention spans. This is extremely challenging given the deluge of information that is out there today, all competing fiercely for audiences’ eyeballs.

Organizations like Mediacorp have a huge responsibility to help the audience sieve out the wheat from the chaff and provide content that is meaningful and interesting to them, given the limited amount of time they have each day. We are actively engaged in exploring technologies that help us weed out fake news and ensure the authenticity of source and genuineness of content.

o f

What are some of the common digital challenges businesses face today? And do they get over them?

I advocate fostering a culture of experimentation, where people should have both the courage and license to try new things and not be afraid of failing

F u t u r e

I foresee real-time collaboration across organizations to be the norm in the future, where employees can utilize tools that will allow them to work on projects together, in real-time, across physical/geographical space, across organizations. This will potentially be a huge boon to organizations in terms of raising productivity and reducing costs.

That said, I think it is important to recognize that the greater talent is always outside your organization, which again brings me back to the concept of tapping on the wealth of cognitive surplus out there in the world [refer to the response to Q1]. So in essence, non-ownership (of talent) is the key to owning the future.

harness the best of what these people have to offer from their wealth of experience accumulated over the years while getting them excited and motivated to embrace the new way of doing things.

I also personally advocate fostering a culture of experimentation, where people should have both the courage and license to try new things and not be afraid of failing. This is vital when dealing with prospective clients in the competitive advertising industry. It is not always feasible to develop a complete and foolproof solution before presenting it to a client lest the opportunity slips away. In such contexts, speed is a greater imperative than attaining perfection. Work with your client towards a joint solution, even if your present proposal is imperfect and half-baked. Ultimately, what clients expect from us are consultation, co-creation, and collaboration.

What is your philosophy/approach to people management?

I believe that you need to: 1) trust; 2) enable; and 3) empower your people. In other words, to place confidence in your people and give them the leeway to experiment (and possibly, fail), because you trust that they genuinely want to do well and succeed.

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Past Month's events

Knowledge + Networking

The era of self-directed learning - What’s HR’s new role and strategy People Matters & Degreed Friday, 29th November DoubleTree By Hilton, Gurugram “Improving learning and development” is a top-rated challenge according to Deloitte’s 2019 Global Human Capital Trends Report. At a time when the emphasis on learning is aligned to life-long and continuous learning programs, the driver of the learning road-map is the individual.

In this era of self-directed learning, what is the role of the L&D team? How should HR professionals curate learning? And how can they enable their learners to take charge?

This roundtable focussed on how learning and development are evolving as changes in technology and skills impact the new world of work. The role of HR and L&D leaders becomes more important in how they can help talent upskill in line with future skills and competencies. This round table discussion by Degreed discussed the aspects of the importance of investing in your modern workforce.

Understanding their needs and providing them a personalized learning experience. The session also deep-dived into finding out various methods of aligning their goals to the overall organizations’ success.

Using new-age incentives for creating a better employee experience People Matters & Sodexo 27th November 2019 Online According to Glassdoor, extravagant perks and incentives attract talent. 57 percent of candidates report benefits and perks being among their top considerations before accepting a job. In order to keep their valuable members, a lot of companies provide perks like a company car, flexible work hours, designated parking space, bonuses for successfully accomplished projects or implementation of cost-reduction measures, and loads of other perks and incentives that should keep the employee happy with the status in the firm. However, with a changing workforce, common incentives can chase the talent off, rather than pulling them towards the decision to stay or join the company. This webcast by People Matters and Sodexo, we learned about the new-age incentives to attract the new-age workforce. Additionally, the webcast also discussed about the impact of employee incentives in winning the war of talent. Our speakers, Suvarna Mishra, VP - HR, Sodexo BRS India, and Lipika Verma, Director Rewards, Global Supply Chain, Schneider Electric shared with us some new and emerging employee rewards plan which would in turn help increase the overall retention index.

Curation as a foundational skill: Creating personalized, targeted & learning experiences People Matters & Degreed 26th November 2019 The future of learning is more personalized. It is about how to integrate personalization into your own learning ecosystem. As learning professionals, we need to be able to understand what good curation looks like and develop an

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approach to help our learners grow into lifelong learners. The session was graced

by Darren Nerland, Learning Strategist, Degreed wherein he discussed the theory and practice behind good curation. Also, he shared his thoughts on how curation will create a positive impact on the overall journey of any professional.

IIM Ranchi HR Conclave 2019 IIM Ranchi 10 November 2019 Aryabhatta Auditorium, Ranchi University HR Conclave 2019 organized by the Indian Institute of Management, Ranchi is the flagship event of HiRe, the HR Club of IIM Ranchi and was held on Sunday, November 10, 2019 at the Aryabhatta Auditorium, Ranchi University. Senior HR professional and faculty of IIM-R, Dr. Asit Mohapatra inaugurated the event by marking out that “The HR Conclave is an interface to amalgamate classroom experience with industry expertise in order to evolve a blended learning model."

The theme for this year's conclave was ‘Future of Work, Workforce & Workplace’ –inspired by the synthetic and dynamic nature of the global employment sector.

IIM Ranchi hosted an elite panel of industry experts along with the keynote speaker Dr. Debi Saini. The first half saw the inaugural address followed by a speech by Dr. Debi Saini, who discussed all factors impacting the future of work, workforce and workplace in great depth. Dr. Saini was followed by Ramesh Kumar (Head HR, Wells Fargo), Rashmi Mansharamani (CHRO, The Wave Group) and Deepayan Sensharma (Director HR, Marsh & McLennan). Post the presentations by the speakers, there was a discussion between the speakers and the audience through an open Q&A session.

Among the highlights of the discussion was Rashmi’s statement: “Challenging the status quo is what leads to the disruption in business and eventually transformation.” Apart from this, Deepayan painted a very interesting picture of the future of work with his statement: “Human cloud – you plug and play’, which forms the basis of the gig economy will be a major change in the workforce for the future”.

Upcoming events Smart HR Summit

CII 17th & 18th December 2019 Hyatt Regency, New Delhi Digital transformation (DX) is not just about disruptive technologies, but above that it is the profound transformation of businesses and organizational activities, and their operating models to leverage the change technology is bringing to enterprises and accelerating its impact across the sectors. India’s digital infrastructure is coming to life through a combination of policymaking and technological innovation. To stride with the needs of citizens in the 21st century, enterprises must embrace digital transformation; which is fundamentally changing the way people operate in a digital-first world. The DX Summit & Awards 2019 which would be a two-day summit from 17th - 18th December, and will bring together key stakeholders from all tiers of Government, IT/ ITeS industry, civil society, experts and academia from India and abroad. The summit would provide a unique platform for the exchange of experiences and ideas, challenges and opportunities in making the Indian enterprises digitally empowered. Visit the website to know more.

Leveraging Technology for Empowering Talent in the 4th Industrial Revolution People Matters & Akrivia Wednesday, 18th December 2019 Leela Palace, MRC Nagar, Chennai With the emergence of a global digital economy, the rise of artificial intelligence and automation, and the transformation of work and job roles, HR leaders are entrusted with a graver responsibility to ready a workforce that is geared to adapt to the changing world of work. In this age of dynamic transformation and shifts at the workplace, how can HR leaders leverage technology to power reinvention and talent development in the 4th Industrial Revolution? People Matters and Akrivia have organized a round table discussion, to better understand and explore the implications of technology and the required mind shift to understand the strategic role that technology plays in HR transformation. Focus on how HR leaders can leverage tools of the 4th Industrial revolution towards higher engagement, empowerment and thereby enhanced productivity would be the key driver during the conversations.

Knowledge + Networking

CII WUP Friday, 13 December 2019 at Delhi NCR In recent times, almost every company is undergoing a digital transformation. Cloud and mobile computing, artificial intelligence, and increasing automation have created the potential to transform nearly every aspect of a business. Therefore, the role of HR is crucial to adapt the process of change and implementation as per the organizational needs.

HR Leaders and other business professionals need to embrace new solutions, smart methodologies, AI and a wide variety of organizational transformation. The Summit will give you insights on the topics like: Changing Role of HR in the New Age Organization; Emerging technology and AI in HR; Future of change- is HR ready?; Data Analytics in HRM; Skilling & Reskilling of Workforce; HR’s need to build a successful plan for the future of the organization. With disruptive content, unique session formats, and a focus on tech, the Summit is designed to help you achieve excellence by building a winning people strategy. Visit the website to know more.

Digital Transformation Summit 2019

People Matters TechHR Singapore 2020 Conference & Workshop People Matters 19th to 21st February 2020 Marina Bay Sands Convention Centre, Singapore The future is on everyone’s minds. What lies ahead and what will be its impact on people and work? How can we be future-ready by design? It is these questions People Matters TechHR Singapore 2020 will explore and hope to find the answers to. People Matters TechHR Singapore 2020, Asia’s largest HR and WorkTech conference is back in a bigger and bolder format. Themed around ‘By Design’, the conference will examine the purpose of technology, its impact on business, accelerating change in talent practices as well as the way in

which we architect digital culture while keeping an eye on what technology brings to the fore. Speakers like Jason Averbook, CEO & Co-Founder, Leapgen, Cassie Kozyrkov, Chief Decision Scientist, Google, Nora Manaf, Head, Group Human Capital, Maybank, Nadiah Tan Abdullah, CHRO S. P Setia Berhad and more will share with us their thoughts. Additionally, we also have People Matters TechHR Certification Workshops planned for 19th February as part of People Matters TechHR Singapore 2020. We are privileged to launch full-day certification workshops for all registered delegates. Get an opportunity to learn from the best in the HR and Work Tech space at the Marina Bay Sands, Convention Center, Singapore at a special offer price of SGD

395. Also, we have planned an immersive learning experience for our delegates through People Matters Study Tour 2020, dated 21st February. Renowned organizations like OCBC, Unilever, Olam International, SUTD and many more are already onboard with us. Each of these organizations will share their digital success stories and best practices which make them the most desired organization to work for. https://singapore.techhrconference. com/register

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Blogosphere

>> Sandeep Bharadwaj

Gig Economy is a win-win solution to the age-old problems of the inherent organizational inefficiencies on one side and employee dissatisfaction on the other

MBA 2.0: Joining the workforce without a job

M

b l o g o s p h e r e

umbaikars are often taken by surprise at the early morning scenes around their locality where they find about 50 to 100 workers, hanging together on the sidewalk for no apparent reason. On close investigation, one realizes that these workers are plumbers, electricians, masons, carpenters etc., skilled in their particular profession waiting for work. Soon enough, the contractors arrive and hire them for a fixed contract at the contractor’s site.

The rates for the services rendered are generally pre-decided, usually on time-based remuneration.

Every day, all but few are ‘hired’ and they leave for work. The contractor is free to hire anyone based upon the skills he needs while the worker is free to work for any contractor whose working conditions are better. The worker can work for more than one contractor at a time and yet not be bound by any organizational diktats.

Welcome to the world of Gig Economy where people work without a job.

The daily for-hire contract worker model is now being replicated across the board to all kinds of white collared jobs. Gig Economy is a win-win solution to the age-old problems of the inherent organizational inefficiencies on one side and employee dissatisfaction on the other. More and more organizations are reluctant to recruit full time employees due to rising salaries and overheads, complacency, internal conflicts and high training costs. Employers would gladly buy an IT system that costs lakhs of rupees than employ a person(s) to do the job. Hiring people is becoming the ‘last’ resort.

The demand from the industry is for deep learning instead of wide knowledge of generic subjects.

If a student graduates with in-depth knowledge of, say, Analysis of Financial Statements, then this skill can be offered to multiple companies who need to analyse their own as well as competitor’s financial statements. Why does this resource need to be employed full-time in the finance department

B-Schools ought to adapt to the new economy by altering the MBA curriculum to face the challenges of the gig economy.

The industry is forcing them to re-look at their course curriculum which still reflects the old economy 100

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The MBA graduate has to believe in the adage that “Cream rises to the top”. Irrespective of short term setbacks, there will always be demand for imbibed skills of MBA curriculum is the internship program.

Current practice includes a student spending eight to twelve weeks in a corporate, understanding its entire structure, management, departments, strategies etc. The MBA of tomorrow will be hired for his/her ability to contribute to a process.

The internship project should be guided by the in-house faculty and completed for cross-section of the companies.

Lastly, the soft skills to be taught should include dealing with failure (remember, few workers were left with no work). The MBA graduate has to believe in the adage that “Cream rises to the top”.

Irrespective of short term setbacks, there will always be demand for imbibed skills. Along with this, they ought to be taught to have the patience and confidence of living through the Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous times. It may bring in lots of insecurity but those of us who have spent time in corporates know fully well that job security is also a myth in so-called permanent jobs.

b l o g o s p h e r e

and expected to do uninteresting things for forty hours a week?

B-Schools ought to adapt to the new economy by altering the MBA curriculum to face the challenges of the gig economy. The industry is forcing them to re-look at their course curriculum which still reflects the old economy. The drastic changes have shaken the organization structure where employers are ready to ‘buy’ skills and not bring a bunch of people together in the hope that they may perform (that too as a team!). Gig economy demands continually updated skills and not a ‘manager of skills’, which B-Schools still take pride in producing. Introducing specializations at a very early stage of MBA should be the first step in modifying the curriculum and this should be followed with super-specialization in later semesters. In terms of ‘other’ areas of management, only connectors with the subject should be taught.

Taking the earlier example forward, the Financial Statement Expert should be able to know how does the contribution from other departments affects the Balance Sheet and vice versa.

Extending the above logic further, the entire course can be offered as a sectoral MBA and not a generalised version of management education that is in existence today. For instance, an MBA in Business Analytics has much more appeal to interested employers who want to analyse big data rather than an MBA who superficially knows about thirty two subjects, a majority of which will never be put to use.

Students in a B-School typically do projects and assignments for multiple subjects. Preparing the students for the gig economy will entail the student working on projects only in the chosen specialization. These projects will have to be completed for various industries in different sectors. This will ensure building expertise in their area of choice.

They can then produce these projects as evidence of their skills in their bio. An important aspect

About the author

Sandeep Bharadwaj is the Dean-Academics, Vivekananda Education Society’s Institute of Management.

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1. Emotional intelligence– the essential skillset for the age of AI- Capgemini Research Institute 2. Skill shift automation and the future of the workforce-Mckinsey Global Institute

4. M ihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, Harper Perennial Modern Classics, July 2008.

5. M Obschonka, M Stuetzer,P J Rentfrow, L Shaw-Taylor, M Satchell, R K Silbereisen, J Potter, S D Gosling, In the shadow of coal: How large-scale industries contributed to present-day regional differences in personality and well-being, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, November 2018.

6. D avid Davies, A Brief History of Fighting Ships, Robinson Publishing, March 2002.

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66 Corporate India’s mental health crisis 1. N elson Vinod Moses, Bosses must take care of employee mental health, The Mint, 6 September 2018.

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3. V isty Banaji, The Golden Lotus under India’s software deities, People Matters, 17th November 2016, (https://www.peoplematters.in/

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9. N icolas Rüsch, Matthias C Angermeyer, Patrick W Corrigan, Mental illness stigma: Concepts, consequences, and initiatives to reduce stigma, European Psychiatry 20 (2005) 529–539.

10. A rtificial Intelligence In Mental Health Care, The Medical Futurist, 25 June 2019.

11. J ohn A Naslund, Kelly A Aschbrenner, Ricardo Araya, Lisa A Marsch, Jürgen Unützer, Vikram Patel and Stephen J Bartels, Digital technology for treating and preventing mental disorders in low-income and middleincome countries: a narrative review of the literature, Lancet Psychiatry.

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15. K aren Landay, Peter D Harms and Marcus Crede, Shall We Serve the Dark Lords? A Meta-Analytic Review of Psychopathy and Leadership, Journal of Applied Psychology, August 2018.

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17. E llen Forney, Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, and Me: A Graphic Memoir, Avery, 6 November 2012.

18. R ob Siltanen, The Real Story Behind Apple's 'Think Different' Campaign, Forbes, 14 December 2011.

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