Author: Kartikay Kashyap | HRKatha

Culture is built over the years by the people of the organisation. It starts with the first bunch of employees and it keep shaping up as new members join the gang. What happens when a company decides to implement a strategic culture change for business reasons. Is it possible to bring in this change overnight? Former HR leader, and now co-founder, Fundflo Technologies, Rattan Chugh, believes it is possible and he has done it in his previous stint at Times Internet. Satyan Gajwani, the then CEO of Times Internet, wanted to shift the mindset of the company from being just…

Mindfulness is an old practice that originated in the Buddhist culture. From a culture point of view, the behaviours and characteristics of people in the West and in the Asian part of the world are very different from each other. The Western, that is, the American way of thinking is very independent, where ‘I’ is at the centre — It is all about ‘Who I am’, ‘What I want’ or ‘How I live’. Asians, on the other hand, think differently, interdependently. For them, ‘We’ is always the focus — ‘How are we going to do this?’ ‘How do we see…

Bizongo, an early startup co-founded by three IIT pass outs, providing supply chain technology, has initiated a leadership development programme, to harness the power of executive coaching not only for its senior executives, such as the VPs and directors, but also its first-time managers and mid-level managers. The first batch of the programme started in the beginning of this year itself. A total of more than 30 leaders are currently taking this leadership-development programme, of which 17 are part of the senior leadership team and around 15 are first-time managers. Each leader has been provided an individual coach, to ensure…

The age of flexibility is definitely here to stay. Over the last two years, many companies were forced to allow their employees to work from home. Now, even though the pandemic is on its way out, many organisations have made some of their roles permanently remote or have decided to give their workforces, or at least a part of them, the liberty to choose to work remotely. With this level of flexibility, companies are now offering flexible benefits instead of fixed ones. Be it financial wellness, insurance covers or medical and healthcare benefits, organisations are allowing their employees the flexibility…

In the field of sports, it is observed that members of all well-performing teams have a great connect and bonding with each other. Comrades can actually read each other and anticipate moves. This relation of trust, commitment and cooperation is needed in management as well. At workplaces also, close affiliations between team members that foster strong relationships lead to great teamwork. Ultimately, such teams perform well. However, the saying ‘excess of anything is bad’, applies to camaraderie amongst team members as well. A small study conducted in Philadelphia, with 20 senior-level executives from Fortune 500 companies, suggests that camaraderie amongst…

An American journalist’s article published in the New York Post said that in the pre-COVID era, she used to crib about business travel, as travelling for long hours to complete official tasks used to exhaust her. She did not really find it fun then. However, now when she thinks of it, she realises that she really misses all that travelling. In fact, she observed that she visited most of the big cities in the US during work trips, and not during her usual vacations. While this feeling may differ from person to person, for many employees business travel was a…

It all started in 2015, when RPG Group — the Indian conglomerate with diverse businesses in various sectors, with CEAT tyres being one of its popular brands — changed the way it led its employee-engagement agenda. Talking to HRKatha, Supratik Bhattacharyya, chief talent officer, RPG Group, shares how the Company opted to change its employee-engagement model to that of employee happiness. This change, according to Bhattacharyya, was led by none other than Harsh Goenka the chairman of RPG Group himself, truly believing in the same and leading the initiative from the front. Bhattacharyya reveals that the reason to change to…

It was in 2011 that GE endeavoured to initiate a digital transformation effort. The Company started a new venture called GE Digital, in 2015, and poured in billions of dollars into the business. The goal was to become a digital power house leveraging technology and data. However, despite investing so much time and money on bringing in the best of technology and thousands of people, the stock price of the Company kept falling. The stakeholders were worried and eventually the then CEO had to step down. What was the real reason for the failure of GE’s digital transformation journey? It…

Many IT giants, such as TCS and Infosys are keen to call all their employees to the office. In fact, they are prepping to open their office starting September 2021. However, we still have to understand and acknowledge the fact that irrespective of divided opinions on ‘return to office’ and the ideal capacity at which to operate, it has been almost a year and a half since people started working from home. At first, most employees were really delighted that they could avoid the cumbersom commute to work and spend more time with their family members, but after working remotely…

As Manoj Kumar Sharma, CHRO, Aarti Industries, shares with HRKatha, the Company works in a very niche sector in the chemical industry itself. It is involved in making some niche products for certain businesses, because of which, building talent capability is a crucial part of the Company’s talent-acquisition strategy. It is very difficult for the company to find ready made talent from the market that is why, campus hiring is the main source of talent pipeline development for the firm. Sharma reveals that the kind of raw material the company uses to manufacture such products is very different from other…

The growing problem of work stress and remote work fatigue pushed IRIS, the Indian IT and software firm, to declare a ‘No Work Hour’ period for all its employees on August 6, from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. confirms Sharad Verma, VP & CHRO, IRIS Software. According to Verma, the Company observed that excess of remote working was leading to extended working hours for the employees, resulting in excessive work stress and mental health problems. As per Verma, the HRBPs had been on their toes for the last one and a half years, and people had been observed to be…

From the beginning itself, the founders and chairman of Syrma Technology, which is an electronic manufacturing services company and part of the Tandon Group, have believed in and fought for increasing employment amongst India’s women, especially those from the rural areas. When it comes to manufacturing, there is a misconception that the sector is meant for and dominated by men. Most people can imagine only men working at the shop floors. The automotive industries are still ruled by men. At Syrma Technology, the story is different. Only about 10 per cent of its workforce at the manufacturing units comprises men!…

Imagine if the workplace were all about ‘work’ alone! Nobody would actually like to go to such a workplace every day. In fact, it is often the friends at the workplace that contribute majorly to making the workplace enjoyable. The thought of meeting our workplace friends brings happiness to us, and happiness at work automatically leads to a high level of engagement. There are several studies and researches that say that working in a team comprising some close friends, increases the productivity of the overall team. Since the team members know each other well, it is assumed that the output…

An ex-serviceman can offer a variety of skills and competencies to employers in the corporate world. In the last half a decade or so, many companies in India have opened their doors to hire ex-servicemen. These companies are mostly MNCs, especially from the financial services sector. Wells Fargo, Religare Health Insurance, Goldman Sachs and UBS already have programmes in place, that focus on hiring veterans. In addition, in the technology sector, Microsoft and Amazon have also shown interest in hiring people from a military background. As mentioned, these days, the defence sector has a variety of talent that can be…

Just as every company has a culture of its own, Axis My India, a market research firm, also has a culture of its own. Pradeep Gupta, chairman and managing director, Axis My India, calls it a ‘military-like culture’. Its people are highly disciplined in life and focus on their goals without any distraction, especially during work. Being part of an industry fraught with challenges, in terms of the work precision it requires, the Company needs people who are highly focussed and also self-motivated, so that they can thrive in a start-up like culture. For the same reason, the Company has…

While everyone talks about productivity, profits and performance, only a few are really concerned about being happy at work. Aviva Life Insurance is one of those few companies that has started a conversation around why employees should be happy at work. The Company has also initiated steps to educate its employees about the importance of happiness at work, to stay engaged and deliver better. The second wave of the pandemic was so devastating that it took a toll on people’s physical and mental health. Add to that the challenges posed by remote working, and people ended up worried, anxious, stressed…

Many organisation boast about having ‘one company one culture’. Big conglomerates with diverse businesses have often said that even if they have diverse businesses, their culture remains the same. However, that is not really true. Within a big workforce, there co-exist various other subcultures in the company. Just as there are different departments, professionals, geographies and roles, there will also co-existing subcultures which are common across teams, departments and locations. Many HR leaders that HRKatha spoke with, are of the opinion that in all big organisations, irrespective of the field or domain they operate in, there can never be any…

Given the positive signs in the form of decline in daily number of positive cases and deaths due to COVID in the country, many companies are considering bringing employees back to office. In fact, IT giants such as TCS and Wipro have revealed their intentions to resume work-from-office starting September. When organisations start opening up, they will naturally want if not all, at least more than 50 per cent of their employees to be fully vaccinated. Still, some employees may be quite reluctant to get vaccinated for various reasons, such as health implications, religious beliefs or superstitions, and even lack…

A high-performing culture is what organisations seek, and none are willing to settle for anything but the best. Given the competitive nature of the market, it is but natural for organisations to want to have top performers in their teams, but is it always wise to hire the top talent? Certain facts and research suggest that hiring top-performing talent or star performers from outside is not a wise thing to do at all. An HBR research, which analysed and tracked star performers across professions — research, CEOs, public relations, advertising, law, management consulting and investment banking — observes that whenever…

Any organisation, after a certain stage, feels the need to establish a strong HR department, which can further handle all the HR processes of the firm. At the start, when a company has a small bunch of people working in the organisation, all the HR processes — which majorly include talent acquisition, that is, hiring and payroll — are carried out by general managers of the company who end up wearing multiple hats. In many cases, these HR processes are carried out by the CEOs or promoters themselves. However, when the company reaches a certain level, it becomes difficult for…

Given the name and fame that back star leaders, the organisations that hire them definitely stand to gain. Not only does their reputation get a boost, but even their processes are impacted and they gain a positive outlook overall. It is just like hiring a hot shot CEO or a CMO, where the clients, customers, internal stakeholders and the employees of the company themselves start taking pride in the person hired. So, yes, in the case of CXO roles, the impact is definitely significantly positive, but what about star CHROs? Like in any other domain, there exist some very popular…

All leaders who reach the top of their careers go through many stages of leadership before achieving the top spot. In all these stages or phases of the corporate journey, these leaders are required to demonstrate different kinds of leadership skills. In fact, whenever one goes up a notch on the corporate ladder, there is a change in the requirements and skills that one is expected to demonstrate. Typically, the first step of leadership begins when one is appointed the team leader of a small cohort. With time, one grows and goes on to manage larger teams, and then groups…

Who would not wish to hire from the top B-schools or tech colleges in India? It is assumed that the country’s top talent are found within the hallowed precincts of the elite universities and institutions. Does that mean all those students who pass out from the lesser-known universities —tier 2 and tier 3 colleges and institutes — are less capable than the IIM and IIT pass outs? Certainly not. Human resource leaders also agree that the alumni of elite universities do have an edge and a head start in their careers, with big brands more inclined to lure them with…

Welspun, a global conglomerate with diverse businesses in line pipes, home textiles, infrastructure, warehousing, oil & gas, steel, advanced textiles and flooring solutions, has launched a digital-leadership programme. Launched on June 29, the first session of the programme — on ‘The Post Digital Era’ — took place on June 30, 2021. Need for the digital-leadership programme The digital-leaders programme consists of a large overall programme and two main tracks post a mandatory journey. The programme is meant for mid-level and senior-level leaders. It is designed to equip leaders with the latest learning in digital technology in operations such as how…

Quick Heal Technologies, the Indian cybersecurity software company, works in a very niche market. This makes it difficult for it to acquire 100 per cent ready talent. Why? The main reason is that, in India, there are very few universities and institutes that impart functional knowledge related to cyber security threats. Second, it is not wise for any company to keep on buying talent in a skill area, which is scarce, as the cost is too high. Therefore, the Pune-headquarter company decided to build a talent pool rather than buy talent from external sources. As per Reetu Raina, CHRO, Quick…

There is a significant and visible shift in people’s mindsets in the automobile industry. Companies are breaking stereotypes and challenging the status quo. Bajaj auto is one such firm. Six years ago, Bajaj Auto had very few women in its workforce, especially at the plants and in the engineering department. In fact, the male-dominated automobile industry has always underutilised women. It was only around 2014 that the Company realised the urgency to address this issue. With the time being right to turn around the narrative, the Company decided to gain competitive edge in the talent marketplace. The responsibility to achieve…