Author: Puja Bothra | HRKatha

Business organisations are taking productive measures to curtail the spread of the pandemic and keep employees safe. Prompt alterations in the mandate and timely reshuffling of priorities are helping deal with the rising menace of the virus. Crisis The last update on the official World Health Organisation (WHO) website reports a total of 1,18,322 positive cases worldwide, and 4292 dead as on March 11, 2020. While the confirmed cases in China total 80,955, the rest of the world accounts for 37,367 The director-general of WHO, in his regular media briefing, stated that WHO has been assessing this outbreak around the…

Extreme actions lead to extreme reactions even in the corporate world, and summary dismissal is one such example, where employees are penalised for their misdemeanour. In other words, employees who act unethically and immorally are asked to terminate their services immediately revoking the contract of employment. Employers generally categorise negative behaviour into misconduct and gross misconduct. The latter becomes the basis of summary dismissal inciting zero tolerance from them. Although what qualifies as gross misconduct can vary from organisation to organisation, certain actions set the foundation for summary dismissal, such as theft, gross negligence, vandalism, fraud and illegal activities. Senior…

Diversity is a raging issue at workplaces across the globe and the question that we need to ask ourselves is, ‘Have we done enough to increase the number of women in employment?’ Apparently, leaders along with philosophers, academicians and scientists have been professing a change and this issue has received its due share in the many leadership events that have taken place globally, including the World Economic Forum. Amongst the multitude of reasons for a sluggish representation of women in the workforce, the one that surprises us the most is the uncooperative policy on women’s dress codes. Citing an example…

The Health Ministry has confirmed two cases of coronavirus here in India, both of which were self-reported. While one person is from Delhi and had travelled to Italy, the other one is from Telangana, and had been to Dubai recently. In addition, an Italian man who arrived from his country on 29 Feb has tested positive in Jaipur! Coronavirus, renamed as COVID-19, has spread panic throughout the world and corporates are bringing forth strategies to keep their people safe and curtail the spread of the disease. It is no ordinary task, as all businesses today are global organisations. Employees are…

The uncommon is the new common for employee policies and practices, and this is definitely keeping HR professionals on their toes. Interestingly, many of them are thinking out-of-the-box to churn up unconventional ideas aimed at enhancing employees’ experiences at work and improving their work-life balance. There are many facets to employees’ life at work. Experiences are created in many ways, right from a simple cup of morning coffee to more serious affairs, such as career progression. In addition, there are matters relating to the organisation’s exit policy and its stand on transparency, to name a few. We are looking at…

Krishna Raghavan has been elevated to the position of chief people officer, Flipkart. Prior to this, he was the senior VP, engineering, fulfillment and services in the Company. He was responsible for engineering and product for the Group’s services— ekart, FSE and Jeeves— with the aim to transform the Group’s consumer experiences through investments in the next generation of platforms and capabilities. Since November, 2019, when Smriti Singh exited from Flipkart, the position of CHRO has stayed vacant. Singh, who was reporting to Kalyan Krishnamurthy, barely completed a year at Flipkart, and now the position has been filled by bringing…

Total rewards policies are critical for all businesses that aspire to acquire skilled talent—agile and competent— possessing the capabilities to drive synergies, to transform their organisations into future-ready workplaces. Human resource leaders are cognizant of the process being an ongoing one, and are unanimously working towards a more holistic practice, through continuous brainstorming. Globalisation blurs geographical boundaries between nations, giving an opportunity to leaders in the emerging markets to identify the best practices of leading organisations. Being their agile best, HR leaders are swiftly adopting futuristic practices with a people-first attitude.  HRKatha spoke to Srinath Krishnan, compensation and benefit head,…

Sriharsha Achar, director-HR, Apollo Hospitals, has decided to move on. He is taking on a new role as chief human resources officer (CHRO), at HDFC Ergo General Insurance Services. At Apollo Hospitals, Achar used to lead the entire HR function, which included talent acquisition, talent management, HRBP, compensation & benefits, as well as compliance. He was responsible for developing the HR — culture, systems, frameworks and service-delivery capabilities, to support the overall business goals of the Group. Achar is a result-oriented professional with a robust record in aligning HR strategy with business goals. He has been instrumental in strengthening employee…

The term ‘layoff’ finds its way into newspapers and headlines quite often these days. A humane approach to the exercise is becoming a hot topic of discussion. While it is not uncommon for organisations to downsize, a few go off the beaten path becoming torch bearers for others. Oyo, is one such company. Having made headlines, not long ago, for laying off thousands, it has been lending its employees much-needed support during these tough times. Handholding The Company thought through the process and defined principles to facilitate a smooth departure, which included a fair and humane approach, financial protection —…

With four generation of employees at the workplace, the game has changed drastically for organisations today. There is a greater need for the leaders to retain their workforce and keep them engaged by providing learning opportunities for each of these generations. Since the age gap between the youngest and the oldest employee, at the workplace, is nearly 30 years, there cannot be any one strategy to engage all of them. Baby-boomers and Gen X have been interested in hierarchical growth and have always craved a career path that would take them to the next level. Millennials, on the other hand,…

Rarely do businesses and organisations present their employees with an opportunity to go beyond their call of duty and perform a patriotic deed for their country. Air India did exactly that. Recently, people showered their blessings on the employees of the national carrier, on a popular social-media website. They congratulated the staff for the heroic act they performed as part of their regular operational work. These Air India employees displayed grit by risking their lives for their fellow country men. They were part of the two flights that flew to Wuhan, China, to evacuate Indians from the quarantined city. Since…

Tanaya Mishra, who was heading HR at Accenture, has now joined Essar Projects in Dubai. Between Accenture and Essar, she was making a living as a consultant. Speaking to HRKatha from Dubai, on what prompted her to change tracks from consulting to the corporate world, she said, “I needed some time to take care of my ailing mother who was everything in the world to me. She was in ICU for about four months and then intermittently. I needed that time to myself, and therefore, chose to be a consultant. Unfortunately, she passed away in July,” said Mishra. An emotional…

Every leader aims to have a high-performing team. After all, only team effort can lead to victory in a championship. With leadership continuously disrupting itself, the focus now is on certain key attributes required to enhance the leadership quotient amongst the employees. A rule of thumb to begin with is, acceptance. “Yes, there should be cognizance for value brought through diversity, an acceptance that people may fail and also a reality change takes time,” says Samriti Malhotra, AVP-global HRD, Denave. Leadership insight Denave believes in guiding people and sculpting their thought processes in order to deliver the predictable outcomes. Malhotra…

Organisations are slowly waking up to deal with the multitude of social problems that exist in the ecosystem, both inside and outside the organisation. Every organisation can be a social enterprise, the responsibility to lead the way rests with HR. Some companies are more than a hundred years old, but they are transforming their policies and practices to give momentum to the shift. Somewhere, the credit for this goes to the young entrants who have recently joined the workplace. The millennials, despite being the youngest at the workplace, make sure that they are heard loud and clear. They are notably…

Amit Vaish, who has been heading HR for operations and technology (O&T) at Barclays, has decided to change track. He will soon be leaving the organisation, where he has spent four-and-a half years. At Barclays, Vaish worked closely with the Group’s O&T leadership teams to ensure operating model alignments, articulation of strategic objectives and delivery of a compelling talent value proposition. He has been responsible for building the local leadership team in India, overseeing performances and also creating the culture shift required to achieve the Bank’s growth objective. An industry veteran, Vaish started his career in HR with ITC in…

Procrastination has been long considered, one of the greatest hurdles people face while trying to accomplish tasks. Although a pressing load of work is waiting to be done, people often tend to avoid tackling it. Moreover, they are also aware that by not working on it, they will face consequences that will impact their performance. This tendency surfaces very early on in our lives, but we realise it only when it looms large — in high school or college, and at work, when it becomes our dual personality. In a business organisation, a line manager is responsible to get work…

Businesses cannot produce same results consistently. They go through cycles of high to low profits, and vice versa. And as they cannot run in isolation, their success is impacted by the changes in the economy. Add to this the various factors that force businesses to scale down operations, and there is no doubt that the challenges are many. Irrespective of what the cause is, it is not uncommon for organisations to discontinue a part of their business at some point. While a downturn in the business is part and parcel of every organisation’s fate, for some, such phases are an…

Sun Life Asia Service Centre (ASC) has launched Utopia — a unique employee-centric three-year programme—focusing on the key aspects of employee growth and development. Its initiatives revolve around wellness, people engagement, mental health, learning, and rewarding. The key programme under Utopia is a series of parenting workshops for employees, aimed at guiding them to become better parents. Sun life ASC has launched a unique initiative, in collaboration with Parwarish, the parenting institute. In March last year, it introduced quarterly parenting workshops to help the employees who are parents live healthier lives by managing their responsibilities better, both at the workplace…

Young millennials are dismissing the baby boomer generation through this catch phrase. How is corporate India responding to this phenomenon? Can it destroy the culture at the workplace? ‘Ok Boomer’ is a response that has an entire generation feeling offended. The digital world, which is known for notoriously fading geographical boundaries to spread news, also has the ability to create a phenomenon that can impact human behaviour. ‘OK Boomer’ is one such statement that has escaped living rooms and common public places, and entered the jurisdiction of more serious environments, such as workplaces and governmental proceedings. As an organisation,…

Diebold Nixdorf has appointed Ranjan Mishra as HR director, India. He will oversee all people operations in India, encompassing commercial business, shared services and global delivery centre, starting 18 February. He will report to Gillian Pang, VP-HR, APAC, based in Singapore. Prior to this Mishra was EVP-human resources, at Vodafone Idea, taking care of HR for technology, shared services centre and the You broadband business. Diebold Nixdorf is an American multinational strategic, collaborative end-to-end provider of services, software and hardware for the financial and retail industries. Speaking to HRKatha about his mandate at the new organisation, Mishra says, “I will…

Accountability, responsiveness, transparency, innovation and collaboration are the five pillars on which the culture of SE2 rests. The acronym, ARTIC, is therefore abundantly used reminding the employees constantly about the organisation’s culture. SE2 is a US-based company in the insurance tech space with several life and annuity products. Being very bullish about its India counterparts in Gurgaon and Pune, it is investing $10 million each year. With the Gurgaon office having close to 600 employees, the ongoing synergies with the overseas parent company help shape the core culture, based on the ARTIC principle. Stressing more on creating positive experiences for…

Growth-oriented business organisations demonstrate high degrees of agility, which keeps them in the fast lane. They are quick to change and are able to successfully tweak even the most inflexible and old practices. They are led by visionary leaders who are committed to making their teams future ready. Such leaders are experts in people sciences and focus on continuously upskilling their employees. They rely heavily on technology-led learning and development (L&D) programmes to develop their internal talent. The L&D solution for each individual is personalised, based on her/his requirement. It is seen that employees lose interest in learning programmes when…

Liberal arts is becoming a preferred choice for undergraduate students, world over. Following the trend set by the US— which houses many renowned universities, both private and public, known for their liberal arts programmes—India is now catching up too.  Ashoka University and Flame University are pioneer institutes in the country, which offer four-year undergraduate programmes in liberal arts in the same spirit as the ones offered in the US. As the name suggests, liberal arts offers students the independence to choose the subjects they would like to study from arts, social sciences, physical sciences and mathematics. Irrespective of the subject…

According to a Deloitte report on women’s representation on the boards, Norway scores the highest and Qatar the least. The business world has witnessed big changes in the last few years. Artificial intelligence (AI) has disrupted people business and left its mark on employee engagement, talent acquisition and benefits. But has it contributed enough to improve the diversity ratio on the ‘board’, is the big question. A recent study (2019), by the Deloitte Global Centre for Corporate Governance, published the sixth edition of Women in the Boardroom, a report that brings to light the countries that have made great progress…

Business organisations need competent talent to meet their growth projections. In the ever-changing business environment, companies find it very challenging to ensure that profits rise. Moreover, the increasing burden of costs and competition keeps the senior leaders on their toes. In this respect, acquiring competent talent ranks very high on any leader’s mandate. Not only do organisations compete with each other to get the best slice from the talent pool in any industry, they also devote time, energy and resources to retain the existing talent. Team leaders and HR play a very active role in keeping the attrition rate low.…

Subhankar Ghose has come a full circle, by re-joining his first employer, Tybros, this time as director-strategy & people, for Eon Resorts and Morphosis Projects. Ghose started his career in July 2003 with Tybros and worked there for a little less than three years. After that, he changed his direction by moving to the BSFI sector and worked for ICICI Prudential Life Insurance and Muthoot Fincorp. In both these companies he was responsible for the HR function. Prior to the current move, he was the chief people officer, Zoom Insurance Brokers. Thus, he has largely worked in the BSFI sector…