Human Capital December 11 Issue_Low Res

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HUMAN CAPITALHUMAN CAPITAL realising business strategy through people Vol.15 No. 7 December 2011

CASE

STUDYPg 68

Creative onboardingwith work shadowingat Nokia IndiaPage 60

Using assessment centersto map competenciesPage 32

Shouvick MukherjeeVP & CEO of Yahoo! Indiaon breathing innovationPage 52

Democratizing leadership:A young leaders visionPage 56

India Inc. gears up to create a talent pipeline


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4 December 2011 www.humancapitalonline.com

Contents December 2011Volume 15 Issue 7COVER STORY

18 Mentoring for 2020 workplacesA look at how mentoring can create a strongand talented workforce for the future...

www.humancapitalonline.com 4 December 2011

68

FEATURES

32 Mapping competencies with

assessment centres

Assessment centres have become a pertinenttool for organizations to make better decisions

about hiring and developing people at various

levels of their work life through methods that align

well with the role and business objectives!

42 Redefining careers in indiaEmployees hitting a career advancement ceilingposes a serious challenge to companies in India.An overemphasis on managerial careers may beone factor driving this persistent trend.

48 Political savvy

Winning when only hard work and talent isnot enough.

56 Democratizing leadership

The momentum of democracy that is deep

rooted in many historic political settings has nowentered the spheres of corporate world. Forinstance, the process of voting is not new tobusinesses - there have been shades of voting inshareholder and board meetings, however, withthe incarnation of social media, voting is utilizedin everything from what goes into a product to

18

what goes into management. Dell's IdeaStorm is one of theimpressive examples of organizations directly seeking votesfrom their customers to determine what to produce. AtIdeaStorm one can contribute new product ideas, review andvote the product ideas for Dell to produce. This method ofseeking the votes of consumers (and stakeholders) isestablished to be a competitive advantage for businesses.

McKinsey describes this as 'Big Data' - 'the method ofgathering and applying inputs of each customer interface andtransaction'. In fact, a great management thinker, Professor C.K. Prahalad has coined the word 'co-creation', and we arewitnessing 'the democratization of the industry', where'organizations are built for, by and of people'. Similarly, 'voteleadership' has to become the focus of organizations in orderto achieve co-creation in corporates. Democracy is allencompassing. Policy makers can start looking at workplacepractices that are well suited with democratic values. SangeethVarghese, a young globally acknowledged leadership thinkerin a tete-a-tete with Human Capital, shares his views on theneed to democratize leadership in Indian corporates and how

to go about achieving it!


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CASE STUDY

68 Dual reporting puzzleThe reporting structure of an organization describeshow power and control is run throughout theorganization which displays how the lines of controlreach the different functional areas and geographies.Akin to the problems of a matrix organization, the quoteof an anonymous person, "Credit is drawn upwards, but,problems are pushed downwards" suits this case well!

10 Food for thought by Dileep Ranjekar

64 Psychology at work by Manavi Pathak

66 A point of view by Gautam Brahma

78 HR tools by V.S.Gurumani

88 HR in MSMEs by Sumeet Varghese

COLUMNS

PERSONA

80 A change of courseMoving from the education and marketing sector,Shalini Kamath has made her mark as a successful

human resources professional. Her aspiration: towork as a catalyst to change people's drive towardsbeing passionate about what they choose to do.

HR PRACTICE

60 Shadowing at NokiaNokia India promotes a one week window into the worldof Nokia top leaders for new joinees!

80


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Iwas thrilled to read the news itemon the front page of leading Englishdaily today. The heading screamed"Minor Girl Recovered from theHouse of a Businessman in

Mangalore!"The girl hailed from a very poor

family of a remote place in Karnatakaand was recovered from a bigbusinessman's house. She has beensent for medical examination andwill be also evaluated for any physicalabuse. The details are not known

and may be the businessman had noillegal motives.

What is important is that thelabour department in collaboration with the home department raidedthe house on information that sucha minor girl was being deployed aschild labour and that they areinvestigating the matter further.

I wish similar raids are made onthe houses of the senior Corporatemanagers in several cities in India. Iknow of some senior managers

deploying minor children to performhousehold chores, after havingtransported them from their nativeplaces. These children perform allkinds of duties such as taking care ofyounger children (sometimes barelya few years younger than them) orcooking or fetching grocery items orcleaning the house. In return, thechildren are provided with meals(that are often leftovers),substandard living conditions andpractically no salary.

Above all, they don't think thatemploying these children amounts toemploying child labour which is acriminal offence. Some of them think- they are doing great favour to thechildren by providing food, clothingand shelter - which they otherwise would not have gotten. It does notoccur to them that - like their ownchildren, they too have a right to beeducated and right to a childhoodthat is pleasant, informative and filled with love and care.

What is worse - I know the storyof one senior colleague in thecorporate world - who, alongwith hiswife, used to regularly beat the younggirl in their house - for severalreasons - ranging from eating sugarwithout their permission to not beingable to stop the crying of theiryounger daughter.

Probably the most hilariousincident was of our interview with asenior Human ResourcesProfessional. He had expressed a

keen desire to work with the socialsector. Within the social sector, hehad chosen to work for the rights of young girls and boys who areexploited by the society. On somemore discussion we found that his wife, after a gap of about 6 years, was planning to rejoin employmentas an IT professional. This had helpedthe HR professional to take financialrisks. Since he had a five year oldchild, we were discussing how heplanned to take care of the child. He

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Dileep Ranjekar

Social reforms begin at home


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December 2011 11www.humancapitalonline.com

explained that he has brought a young girl from hisnative place to look after his child. After he saw theexpressions on the faces of the members of interviewingpanel he instantly felt ashamed of what he was stating.He agreed that it was not proper - but defended thatin the given situation, he and his wife had not option

I remember the pleasant surprise that weexperienced when we had invited His Excellency thePresident of India as the Chief Guest for an All IndiaLearning Conference that Azim Premji Foundationorganized in 2003. The purpose of the conference wasto promote the concept of "quality school education inIndia" and provide a platform to present severalexperiments and views on the same. We boldly explainedto the office of the Honourable President of India thatwe would not be following several formalities in the saidfunction. We explained that we would not be arrangingthe usual ceremonial high back chair, there would be nored carpet, no garlands, no lighting of the lamp etc. And

we were told that the Honorable President would bevery happy if we don't do any of these. It was such apleasure dealing with a simple person. We carriedconviction that as a not-for-profit organization, we mustinitiate that change.

I would also like to immensely laud what theorganizers of the recently concluded National HRDNetwork Conference in Bangalore did. Here is a mailthey sent to each speaker in the conference:

Dear friends:

Thank you for accepting our invitation to speak at theNHRD National Conference. It is customary in

conferences to honour speakers with a memento.Moving away from tradition, we have decided to insteadsponsor in your names, the education of 15 under-privileged children in SOS Children's Village http://www.soscvindia.org/ for one full year. By being a speakerat the "NHRD Network 15th National Conference" youwould be making a significant difference to our valueddelegates and to the education of deserving children.

A question was also raised in the Education Sessionof the conference - as to what NHRDN, Industry Association and the HR Professionals could do tocontribute to education status in India. It is an importantquestion that shifts the focus to "How can I contribute

to a national problem" instead of having a generaldiscussion.

If we want to make a change in the society - wehave to begin it from ourselves.

I think each one of us has a responsibility and "power"to contribute to national and social issues. And it canbegin from a simple act of being responsible, beingsensitive to fellow citizens, not breaking the law or helpingsomeone in leading a better life. Rather than feelinghelpless at the enormity of the problem, we can justaddress the issues within "our sphere of influence".

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Dileep Ranjekar, Chief Executive Officer of Azim Premji Foundation, is also a

passionate student of human behaviour. He can be contacted at

[email protected].

HC


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RESEARCH

men had adopted the full

range of advancementstrategies attributed to an ideal worker. Furthermore, half ofthose exemplifying an ideal worker were also includingin their repertories external scanning activities- seekingadvancement opportunities whether in their currentorganization or elsewhere. However, men benefittedmore than women when they adopted the proactivestrategies of the proverbial ideal worker. Even whenwomen used the same career advancement strategies-doing all the things they have been told will help themget ahead-they advanced less than their malecounterparts and had slower pay growth.

To determine what individuals do to advance in their

In its study, The Myth ofthe Ideal Worker, Catalystreveals that more thanhalf of both women and

employers: They are more likely thanthe overall workforce to be satisfiedwith the organizations for which they work, yet also more likely to beconsidering leaving them. Theseinsights come from nearly 30,000 workers in 17 geographic markets

during the fourth quarter of 2010through the second quarter of 2011.Nearly 10,000 workers across fivemarkets in Asia Pacific were surveyedincluding Hong Kong, Singapore,India, China, and Australia.

According to the survey findings, workers aged 34 and younger aremore likely than their oldercolleagues in all 17 markets to bepondering an exit from theiremployer. In response to thequestion, "At the present time, I am

seriously considering leaving myorganization," the youngest workers(age 16-24) recorded scores ofagreement that average 10percentage points higher than the

Mercer's What's Workingresearch shows that youngworkers worldwide present anunusual paradox for

Young workersworking patterns

overall workforce worldwide, whilescores for workers aged 25-34displays an average five percentagepoints higher. In India and Singapore, workers aged 16-24 scored twelveand fourteen percentage pointshigher, respectively, than the overallmarket scores, while in Hong Kongthose 25-34 years of age scored

seven percentage points higher than

overall market score. Yet despite this propensity to

leave, when asked about overallsatisfaction with their organizations, younger workers registered

satisfaction scores higher than theoverall workforce in most markets.Scores for employees aged 16-24were higher in 14 of the 17 markets worldwide by an average of fivepercentage points. Scores for

employees aged 25-34 were higherin 11 of the 17 markets by anaverage of two percentage pointsglobally. Once again, this trend isparticularly prominent in India andSingapore where employees aged16-24 scored seven and twelvepercentage points higher,respectively, compared to overallmarket scores across all age groupswhen asked about overall satisfaction with their organization.

These same two age groups are

also more likely to recommendtheir organization as a good placeto work. Scores for employees aged16-24 were higher than the overall workforce by an average of sevenpercentage points globally, and theirscores were higher in all 17 markets.Meanwhile, scores for workers aged25-34 are higher in 13 of the 17markets by an average of threepercentage points above the overall

workforce scores. In Singapore,employees aged 16-24 scored fifteen

percentage points higher andemployees aged 25-34 scored sixpercentage points higher when askedif they would recommend theirorganization as a good place to work.

careers, the survey clustered nine tactics grouped intocareer advancement strategies. The first being 'get trainedthrough experience' i.e. to ask for a variety of workassignments to increase knowledge and skills. Secondbeing 'gaining access to power', which includes identifyingthe most influential people in the firm; seekingintroductions to people in the firm who can influencethe career; building a network of contacts with importantpeople in the firm; learning how things "really work"inside the firm; and pushing to be involved with high-profile projects. The third is to 'make achievements

Playing field

for women...


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RESEARCH

visible', comprising of things like ensuring the manageris aware of my accomplishments; seek credit for workdone; request additional performance feedback; ask tobe considered for a promotion when I feel it's deserved.The fourth is 'blur work-life boundaries' i.e. tocommunicate my willingness to work long hours and/or

weekends. The fifth strategy is to 'get formal training'like proactively develop new skills through training suchas courses and workshops. Then, sixth is to 'plan career'by developing a career plan for the next several yearsand seventh strategy is to 'seek advice when needed' i.e.to seek career advice from co-workers, family, or othersabout how to improve future work prospects. The eighthstrategy is to 'scan for opportunity outside the company'including monitor job advertisements to see what isavailable outside the firm; maintain an active outsidenetwork; stay in touch with executive search firmprofessionals; and remain informed about my marketvalue. The last one is 'scanning for opportunity inside

the company' involves reviewing job postings at my firmto see what career opportunities are available.

These career advancement strategies are furthergrouped into four distinct strategy profiles: Climbers,Hedgers, Scanners, andCoa sters . Climbers seek toadvance in their currentcompany. Almost one-third of high potentials were "Climbers" (32%of men and 31% of women). Climbersactively used tacticsstrategically to help

them advance withintheir currentorganizations, such asasking for a variety of work assignments,ensuring theirsupervisors knowthey are willing to work long hours,actively networking with others, and seeking outopportunities for greater visibility. Hedgers use bothinternal and external career advancement strategies. One-

quarter of women (26%) and men (25%) fell into the"Hedgers" category. Relative to their peers, Hedgers byand large scored highly on all career advancement tactics,focusing their energy on potential opportunities bothwithin and outside their current organization. Scannerskeep a finger on the pulse of the job market. Approximately one-quarter of high potentials were"Scanners" (28% of women and 24% of men). This groupconsulted with others on how to improve their futurework prospects and conducted continual scans of other job opportunities. They were poised to at least change jobs, if not also organizations. Indeed, on average theHedgers and Scanners-who were doing external scans

for new opportunities-had worked at more companies

since completing their MBA than Climbers, whosestrategies focused on their current employer. Coastersput less emphasis on all tactics. A perhaps surprisingnumber of these high potentials were "Coasters,"relatively inactive when it came to their use of careeradvancement strategies (19% of men and 14% of women).

This group was the least likely to proactively try to advanceand scored lowest when compared to their peers onevery single career strategy.

The findings revealed that only men advanced furtherand faster when they did "all the right things." For women,adopting the prescribed proactive strategies didn't havethe same payoff, although it was slightly better than notdoing much at all. Like men in the most proactive group-Hedgers-received the greatest advancement payoff.Twice as many men Hedgers (21%) as women Hedgers(11%) had advanced to senior executive/CEO level by2008. Additionally, compared to other men, male Hedgershad advanced furthest, getting more of a payoff for

employing both internally and externally focusedadvancement strategies, followed by men Climbers,Coasters, and Scanners. Not only did women lag menHedgers in advancement, there was no differencebetween women Hedgers, Climbers, or Scanners. Whilewomen in the Hedgers group did advance further than

Coasters-women doingcomparatively less toget ahead-beingproactive didn'tprovide as great anadvantage for womenHedgers as it did for men

Hedgers. In addition tothe discrepancy inpayoffs between menand women Hedgers,

women lagged men ineach of the other threeprofiles as well. Across allstrategy types, men weremore likely than women tohave reached the seniorexecutive/CEO ranks.

The study foundthat women were less satisfied with their careers than

men, which suggests that they aren't intentionally seekingslower career tracks. If they were, we'd expect them tobe as satisfied as men with their advancement andcompensation growth. Even among the most (Hedgers)and least (Coasters) proactive, men were more satisfied with their advancement than were women. AmongHedgers, 82% of men were somewhat or very satisfied with their rate of promotions compared to 71% ofwomen.

Women were also less satisfied than men with theirsalary and rate of compensation growth. Across allstrategy groups, 77% of men were somewhat or verysatisfied with their progress at increasing their salary

compared to only 66% of women.


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RESEARCH

ecently, a new study shows arising tide of work in 'thirdplaces' that are neither home,nor the company office.R

Indians find newflexi 'workplaces'

Business people in India areincreasingly opting for a "ThirdPlace", a flexible working option ata convenient location within thereach of their homes, to reducetravel time and improve their work-life balance. These 'third places'encompass business centres, clubs,libraries and informal areas suchas coffee shops. Moreover, thereport also reveals that 'thirdplace' working brings a widerange of benefits, includingimproved work-lifebalance, reducedstress and improved

productivity for theemployee, as well ascost-effectiveness,scalability andreduced propertycommitment forbusinesses. In fact,the research reportfrom ZZA ResponsiveUser Environmentshas scotched themyth that flexible working means

home-working. Thereport, whichcombines data froma global 17,000-strong businesssurvey with in-depth qualitativeinterviews with business peopleacross the world, demonstrates that working in 'third places' - neitheroffice nor home - is the new normal.Major findings from the report: By far the majority ofinterviewees did not want to work

at home. They wanted to work

amongst other people who are working, motivated by the synergyand common purpose of otherpeople working around them, withno distractions, benefitting fromaccess to technology and facilitiesnot available at home, and the

freedom to focus on their work ina non-domestic, professionalenvironment.

Digital migrants - people who frequently use

third spaces -come from all

age groups;

the research showed no correlationbetween third place usage and age. Being able to work in a placeclose to home radically improvespeople's work-life balance, jobsatisfaction and productivity.Convenient location was cited by73% of respondents globally as the

top benefit of third place working,

and 68% in India. Being close to home helps thirdspace users to reduce stress, avoidtime-wasting commutes, avoidcongestion and reduce their carbonfootprint. In India, 30% ofrespondents preferred the third

place as it reduced their travellingtime. 14.3% of Indian respondentsopted for a third place for a 'greenerlifestyle' as against 7% globally. 52% of third place workersglobally use business centres andlounges for some or all of their working time as against 49.1% inIndia. 73.8% respondents in India said

they preferred business-likeenvironment of a business

centre compared to 64%of their globalcounterparts. 72% of these third placeusers spend 3+ days a week in their favouritebusiness centre or otherthird place, and 70% ofbusiness centre users findthem more productiveenvironments comparedto more informallocations.

As homes are toodiffusely spread fororganizations to ownspace close to all of them,the productive strategy is

to leverage professional third placeson a supported and coordinatedbasis. For corporations, third place working reduces propertycommitments, allows flexible use offacilities on demand, and yetmaintains a highly professional

business image.


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Mentoring, which has beenfollowed from centuries now hasredefined itself in the recenttimes, in terms of the way it isexecuted. Even though one-on-

one mentoring is still a powerful means todevelop employees/leaders, organizationshave come up with new forms of mentoringlike reverse-, micro- and group- mentoring.Some companies have started job shadowing,peer mentoring, and career mentoring, too.

This means mentoring is and will increasingly

BY ARVA SHIKARI

become significant for several reasons - theapproaching talent shortage, communicationtechnology advancements, high use of socialmedia, globalization, and changingdemographics and so on. Plus, theorganization of the future will be dependenton superior collaborative working and moreglobal teams. The changing demographics will demand more flexible working. Fromthis, it can be determined that the key tosuccess will be agility - the ability to

respond quickly to changing needs -

2020mentoringf

or

workplaces

COVER STORY


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COVER STORY

customer focus and innovation. Thismeans that organizations have to focusmore on developing their existing high-performing staff. In this context, it'sperhaps not surprising that talentmanagement is a high priority in today's

organizations says Hay Group's researchreport 'Tomorrow's People'. About 63%of respondents said it was a high priorityfor their chief executive; 70% recognizethey need to do things differently if theyare to compete effectively for the peoplethey need in the future; 61% say theirorganizations believe that talentmanagement will be integral to theirsurvival. If talent management exists tocultivate the skills needed to compete inthe future, then it isn't working. Thisresearch highlights that less than a quarter

of participating organizations believe theircurrent talent processes will deliver theleaders they need. In fact, 70% of themfeel they needed to change theirapproach.

The report also reveals five critical journeys that talent management mustnow take to deliver the results expectedof it along with one stark warning to talentleaders. The first is from supply todemand. Talent management needs togrow by considering more than the supplyof talent (developing talent and building a

pipeline). The challenge is to translatestrategy into what it means for actual jobsand people. Talent processes need toactively forecast the number, type andchallenges of future leadership roles tobe filled. A deep understanding of jobs,and how their accountabilities translateinto capabilities, will be a key skill. Thesecond journey is from today totomorrow. Talent management needs tomove beyond today's skills and capabilitiesto consider those the organization willneed to survive and compete in the future.

Forecasting capabilities which may lookvery different from the ones needed todayis critical to a successful talent strategy.The third journey is from focus todiversity. Organisations need to focus theirresources on those most likely to succeedand perform, but, they also need to lookinto new places for their talent. If there isa shortage of talent, then diversitybecomes a competitive as well as anethical issue. Thus, ignoring any source oftalent cannot be afforded. Moreover,there is a need to rethink the design of

jobs to permit more people to thrive

within them. The fourth journey is frompotential to potential for what? One ofthe greatest obstacles to the delivery ofresults is an over focus on potential ratherthan performance (i.e. potential for what?). There are many obstacles to the

realization of potential, many derailmentson the career path to the top. Talentmanagement needs to be built on detailedassessments of current performance onthe 'next best' move for individuals - thus,delivering performance and progressingcareers. And the fifth journey is from HRto line managers. HR holds the expertiseand the processes, line managers hold therationale for and the means of operationaldelivery. Armed with data and sharedaccountabilities, both must work togetherto give talent management focus and

purpose.

Further, Accenture predictstomorrow's company will be very differentfrom today's. The new generation ofpeople coming through who have differentvalues and expectations, and theunderstanding what it will mean to havea much wider range of people workingfor organizations. The move is from man-power to knowledge-power. A future in which knowledge replaces roles and inwhich organizations are grappling with thechallenges outlined above will requiredifferent skills and leaders. The role of

experts is to pass on their knowledge. Ithas to be self-sustaining. Customers don't want to have to go back for the sameinformation again and again. They wantto deal with experts. The pendulum hasswung back in recent years, away fromthe notion of a professional manageralmost exclusively focused on process, tosomeone who is an expert in a particularfield. The challenge is finding people whoare experts, but, who can also buildrelationships.

Also, agile organizations need agile

people who can go beyond their technical

A look at how mentoring can create a

strong and talented workforce for the

future...


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COVER STORY

guiding relationship in many globalcompanies; it is a process of building workplace relationshipsto developpersonal and professional abilities,achieve performance goals at increasinglyhigher levels," says Dr. Shalini Sarin, the

vice president - HR country partner ofSchneider Electric. Further, she feels"Mentoring helps in sharing and retainingknowledge from the senior employees tothe younger members; it also helps tocreate a continuity of culture and finallyensures adequate supply of leadershiptalent." Also, since mentoring allows older workers to share their knowledge with younger workers, this prevents loss ofintellectual capital and enables continuousmaintenance of legacy systems and tools.

Even though, mentoring has redefined

itself in terms of the way it's executed, itsbasic nature remains same - indirectlearning. A mentor is never amentor if he or she guides explicitlyto the mentee. As a mentor's job isto present his/her viewpoint andthe interpretation is totally left tothe mentee, for example, Gandhijiand his three monkey's symbol."While the basic nature still remainsthe same, there have been hugechanges in the way mentoringrelationships are seen in

organizations today," saysNathaniel A Sasikar, vice president,human resources and office servicesfor 3M's operations in India and SriLanka. He throws light on thefactors that redefine mentoring.First, he says is, "Communicationtechnologies like e-mentoring haveredefined mentoring relationships.With its advent, the mentor-menteerelationship is no longer restrictedby physical presence. Many mentor-mentee relationships have been

sustained even after eitherindividual in the relationship hasmoved on to other responsibilitiesin different parts of the world. Withemail and web conferencingfacilities available, e-mentoring iscommon practice where companiesare looking at building globalmentoring programs to createglobally integrated enterprises. At3M our collaborative culture allowsemployees from emerging marketsto be paired with senior employees

from developed markets. Secondly,

skills. The world of work is increasinglyfluid, whether that's the economic climateor one's career, so people have to becomfortable with uncertainty and see it asan opportunity, not a threat. People willneed a natural appetite to be teachable.

Hence, looking at someone's path, nottheir position when they joined, but, theirrate of progress since then is a muchneeded line of action. This is wherementoring could be one of the greatestsource of developing talent. "Mentoring isno longer just a courtesy offered bynurturing executives to a few promisingup-and-comers. It's a crucial strategy fortransferring wisdom and growing talent inevery department of the company andprovides a solid foundation for advancingfuture business growth. Besides,

mentoring is used as a developmental

DR SHALINI SARIN Director - HR Schneider Electric


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COVER STORY

even formal mentoring programs are onthe rise as many organizations areformalizing mentoring. As organizationsgrow at a faster rate, there is a need foran institutionalized process that is goaloriented according to an individual's

career growth needs. Many companiestoday, have formal mentoring programsand some of them are focused on womenemployees too." McDonald's, for example,has promoted the development of femalemanagers in Asian countries. Even itsleaders are committed to creating anenvironment that will leverage the talentof its female workforce in order toprovide growth opportunities and becomecontributors to its success.

In addition, women are at timessponsored. As Catalyst research

'Sponsoring women to success' revealsthat sponsorship can serve as a highlyeffective intervention to accelerate women's career velocity. For example,Deutsche Bank's Accomplished TopLeaders Advancement Strategy (ATLAS)sponsorship program was launched in2009 with the goal of improving the genderbalance at senior levels and increasingthe pool of women eligible for the most

senior positions in the firm. ATLASprepares high-performing women fromall business units globally for executiveleadership positions by pairing them witha member of Deutsche Bank's GroupExecutive Committee (GEC) from a

different business line. Deutsche Bank'sGEC members sponsor ATLAS women bychampioning them to lead the firm andadvocating for them to fill senior mostpositions. Josef Ackermann, DeutscheBank's CEO, is the ultimate sponsor of ATLAS. To initiate women into theprogram, he personally sends a letterinviting them to attend an opening eventand dinner with himself and the GEC,which provides high visibility for the group.Participants for this year-long programare identified and selected via a rigorous

nomination process. The nominationcommittee comprising senior-level women and men from across the firmreviews each nominee's career history andaspirations, leadership qualifications, andfuture career goals. ATLAS' structurednature and clear business goals ensurethat the program is strategically alignedwithin the firm's 'social aspects' work andincludes the following elements: In-depth


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COVER STORY

board of directors' decision-makingprocess. Group session: Once a year, theentire ATLAS cohort (all past and currentparticipants) meets in a joint session tonetwork with and learn from one another.For example, one group session focused

on building strategic networks. Toprepare, ATLAS women examined theirown networks to determine how strategicthey are-that is, to what extent thenetwork helps achieve career goals andhow effective it is at bringing otherDeutsche Bank women up through theranks. The sessions also encourageparticipants to challenge men andmanagers in lower positions to give more

thought to women's careeraspirations. To ensure that ATLAS women are giving back to the

broader community of women atthe firm, Deutsche Bank assigns ATLAS participants as informalmentors to new women managingdirectors (MDs). This strategicalignment between executiveleadership sponsoring and informalmentoring at the management levelunderscores the firm's commitmentto women's leadership andemployee development. ATLAS hashad a positive impact onparticipating women and their

sponsors. The program provideshigh-potential women withheightened visibility and contact withinfluential Deutsche Bank leaders, which, in turn, increases the women's competency andconfidence. Across the entire ATLAScohort group, 45% of womenparticipating are now in new orexpanded roles.

Also, Citi has implemented aformal program tied toorganizational goals around talent.

Its global initiative Women LeadingCiti is a targeted effort to supporthigh-performance womenparticipants who possess thepotential to move into seniorleadership at Citi. This effort fosterssponsorship relationships betweenhigh-potential women, globally, andsenior 'advocates', who can bewomen or men executives. The 18-month program pilot was launchedin November 2009. The program'sgoals were: exposing women

participants to others in senior

assessment: Throughout the course of theprogram, ATLAS women undergo variousassessments to help them and theirsponsors identify specific goals and areason which the pair should focus. Examplesinclude gaining broader industry exposure

and raising visibility. A career consultantis also assigned to each participant toassist with the assessment process.Regular meetings: Several times over thecourse of the year, ATLAS women arebrought together to meet as a group. Inaddition to a kick-off session, thesemeetings focus on a variety of strategictopics, including the difference betweenmanagement and leadership and the

NATHANIEL A SASIKAR Vice President - HR3M's operations in India & Sri Lanka


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management; broadening seniorwomen's visibility; providing careerdevelopment and enhancedleadership skills; and supportingfirm-wide efforts around talent andmobility.

Another change in mentoringthat is seen is the boss or supervisoris no longer a mentor. In Accenture,almost every employee above acertain job grade has a mentor whois not their boss. Besides, Sasikarsays, "Organizations realize the value

of a mentoring relationship where a

demonstrates the organization'sinterest in developing him or her inthe long term. The factor is the rapidgrowth in organizations resulting ininexperienced supervisors. Asorganizations grow rapidly,employees with less experience arerising to supervisory roles. In suchscenarios, mentoring relationshipsplay a huge role in helping youngeremployees imbibe company culture,providing different perspectives totheir career growth and

development needs and preparing

senior, experienced employee isinvolved as he or she will have anunbiased interest for mentee'sdevelopment. The mentor-menteesystem provides an opportunity tothe employee to establish a stronglink with the organization in two ways - one through his or hersupervisor and the other throughan experienced person in theorganization who very often livesthe organizational culture. Theemployee feels better taken care of

by the organization as this

COVER STORY

BUSTING MYTHS OF MENTORINGThere can be only one mentor

In todays world its very uncommon that peopleonly have one mentor. In fact, several people

have quite a few mentors they turn to. The

network of mentors can be large or small

depending upon the mentee. Multiple mentors

can be helpful in getting a variety of perspectives

on an issue.

Mentoring needs to formal & long-term

Globalization and the fast paced working

environments where people move from oneorganization to another makes this unrealistic.

Also, mentoring can be a one-hour session

and need not go on to six-months or one year

or more. Presently, mentoring has become

more like Twitter and less like having a

psychotherapy session. Certainly, the advice

and guidance may be richer and more relevant

if it comes from someone who knows the

mentee well and understands the mentees

goals. However, building relationships with

many others prove to be fruitful as when one

needs advice the connections are in place.

Also, there are times when we meet people

we dont know well or at all, but, get mentored

informally through them.

Mentoring is for junior people

Previously, people thought that mentors are forstarters like fresh graduates or MBAs. However,

today people at every stage benefit from thiskind of assistance through reverse mentoring.The reality is there are times in a corporate careerwhen one needs a mentor. Getting perspectiveson while making a career change, taking on anew role, or contemplating leaving a job can beuseful. Sometimes, a mentor is needed when

the environment is altering quickly and the

mentee didnt get the opportunity to keep upwith the changes or even when one needs tonavigate the complexities of the organization.

Mentoring is done by experienced people

Mentoring should be valuable to both mentorand mentee. Prior to looking for a mentor, thementee needs to know what he/she can offer

the mentor i.e. in terms of whether the menteeis able to give a unique perspective on the

organization or mentors role; any valuableinformation from external sources that may aid

the mentor to be better in his/her job; or may be

an assurance of future help, if and when its

needed, can be adequate to influence a mentor

to put in his/her time and energy.

Source: HBR


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COVER STORY

them for bigger responsibilities in future. Also, the attrition rates are higher thanever before. Today, employees havemultiple options and are often seen jumping jobs looking for betteropportunities. Mentoring is now beinglooked as a great way to provide a stronganchor for the employee to cement hisrelationship with the company."

In fact, mentoring has been found tobe the number one way employees wantto learn. And, millennia's love this form oflearning. Thus, forward-thinking

organizations are applying innovativementoring methods to be able to scale inmass proportions to prepare for the futureworkplace.

New forms of mentoringTo meet the demands and challenges ofthe 2020 workplace organizations arepreparing to develop their employees/leaders to reach their potential by usingnew forms of mentoring that can aid inachieving all the above mentioned goalsof talent management. One of the most in

vogue is the formal mentoring programs.

It is found that around 71% of fortune500 companies have a mentoring program("Mentoring Programs Still Have a Placein the 21st Century," Lydell Bridgeford,Employee Benefit News, August 1, 2007).For example, MindTree practices learner-centric mentoring through its programcalled MentorMe. The MentorMe programaims on a two way learning approach andinvolves the mentor-mentee to walktogether beyond their formal domains attimes. It targets the holistic developmentof a mind at two levels: intellectual and

emotional covering both the career andpersonal front. Also, Deutsche Bank hasa formal mentoring system where eachmember of the bank's top managementteam is allocated a mentee from middlemanagement. In this system the mentoris required to set aside a specific amountof time for the mentee. Capgemini, too,follows a formal mentoring program.Schneider Electric also has been usingmentoring successfully as adevelopmental tool for its leadership team. Also, Hindustan Unilever having a 900-

strong middle-management pool, has a

Men who had a mentor were 93% morelikely to be placed at mid-manager level orabove than men without a mentor. Women witha mentor increased their odds of being placedat mid-manager or above by 56% over womenwithout a mentor.

Women and men alike had current mentoringrelationships, but men's mentors had moreclout.

Women and men were equally likely to havean active mentoring relationship. Over half ofsurvey respondents reported having an activementoring relationship (58% of women and55% of men).

More men than women never had a mentor(24% of men versus 17% of women).

Women were more likely to have had a

mentoring relationship lapse (24% of womenversus 20% of men).

Women and men found their mentors insimilar ways like 67% of both women and menfound their most helpful mentor on their own.And 17% found their mentor through a formalmentoring program.

When left to their own devices, individualschoose to associate with others like themselves.Thus, men are more likely to affiliate with othermen and women with other women. High-potential men were more likely than women tochoose male mentors (91% male mentorsversus 9% female mentors); high-potentialwomen were more likely than men to choosefemale mentors (65% male mentors versus 35%female mentors).

Source: A research study by Catalyst

MENTORING NECESSARY, BUT NOT ENOUGH FOR GROWTH


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COVER STORY

mentoring program called 'Alchemy' forall its high potential middle managementemployees wherein they are allocated asenior manager who directs and supportsthem through their leadership journey inthe company.

Even 3M India's key leadership teammembers are linked to internationalmentors from other 3M subsidiaries tohelp them deliver their current roles muchbetter. Sasikar says, "The mentoringprogram also includes building the talentpool of internal mentors in theorganization who can mentor highpotential employees to scale up in theirresponsibilities. The HR department worksclosely with the businesses and identifiesthe training needs for the high potentialemployees. They are then assigned

mentors after discussions with theirsupervisors." Furthermore, globally, 3Mhas a mentoring system that encouragesmentoring partnerships and providestraining, tools and networks to supportmentoring across the company. Inaddition to assisted and self-directedmentoring programs, 3M also sponsorsdirector and executive diversity mentoringprograms designed to support and

accelerate professional development ofemployees among 3M's diverse employeepopulation who have demonstrated thepotential to assume greater leadershiproles. In addition, explains Sasikar, "The3M Global Mentoring System clearly

outlines the roles and responsibilities of amentoring partnership. The detailedprocesses that outline meetingresponsibilities, frequency of meetings,modes of communication, etc help instilthe rigour in the partnership. In fact, eachmentoring partnership meeting isrecorded, goals are set at the start of thepartnership and re-evaluated, tips areprovided for mentoring, steps areprovided for feedback, even the expectedbehaviours in the mentoring partnershipare outlined, and guidelines to deal with

challenges or issues that typically ariseare also provided. The mentoring programalso includes videos on how to mentor,and workshops on mentoring orientation.The tools help in laying down the processand the expected outcomes of theprocess. This helps in clarifying theboundaries of the relationship. This alsostandardizes the process across theorganization. Electronic resources helps


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prepare the mentor for therole and also supports themin adding value to thementee. The mentor knows what kind of resources areavailable and where. This

helps connect the mentee tothe right resource."

In contrast, Capgemini'sCEO believes in doinginformal mentoring andtherefore has opted out ofthe formal system thecompany has created, andinformally mentors fourprotgs. The CEO's menteesare continuously coming upwith fresh ideas, new actionplans, but are at times

restrained by their owninadequate experience. TheCEO tries to help them viewthings from a largerperspective. Even the countryhead of HSBC follows aninformal system ofmentoring. Sasikar, who is astrong supporter of formalmentoring programs says,"Formal mentoring programshelp make mentoring a partof the organization culture.

Sharing stories of goodmentoring partnershipswhere mentees talk about thebenefits of having mentorscould inspire moreemployees to seek mentoringopportunities as way toenhance their peoplemanagement skills." Also, ina developing country likeours, where there is a huge war fortalent and personal career ambitionis one of the factor which drives

attrition. "The supervisor's role isbecoming complex and challengingin emerging markets (high growthexpectation with limited resource ina constantly changing market).Developing and retaining talentbecomes critical for success. Thus,existence of a formal mentoringprogram will aid/supplement theefforts of the supervisors indeveloping and retaining talent,"believes Sasikar.

Some other forms of mentoringinclude reverse mentoring which

creates powerful relationshipsbetween younger and oldergenerations. Here the younger

employees mentor senioremployees/leaders in things such ashow to use new technology, likesocial media tools to connect withcustomers and other new methodsof work. And since youngergenerations like sharing their ideasand voicing their opinions, if theyare invited to give constructivefeedback, seniors get a differentperspective on their leadership styleand try to unlearn and learn newthings. Forward thinkingorganizations give support for career

development, joint processenhancement projects andother efforts that permitmultigenerational employeesto interrelate, communicateand work together more

effectively.In group mentoring people

connect with different peopleincluding peers and seniorsand learn from them at thesame time. This can be builton any number of electroniccommunications platformsor in person group sessions.The anonymous/on-demandmentoring relationshipinvolves higher level ofdiscloser and more candid

interaction as the anonymityfrees up the mentor of beingjudged wherein he can freelyshare his experiences,achievements and mistakes.Also, here mentors have anagenda-free interest in theprotg's professionaldevelopment. However, theprotg may become moreopen and start discussingproblems and worries theyexperience. The peer-to-

peer mentoring is quitepopular amongst themillennia's. Here, the sameage group people sharetheir ideas and experiences with each other to learnabout different things.Nowadays companies have

started to use shadowing asmeans of mentoring. Here,

the mentee shadows the mentor(leader/manager) everywhere atworkplace to learn the intricacies of

that job, how it's executed and howit is connected with the organization.The end result is a much clearerunderstanding of the business of theorganization and builds personalownership for creating successfuloutcomes. Nokia in India usesshadowing in its induction process,where new joinees are mentored bytop leaders for one week. The newemployee assists the leader as theirshadow - accompanying them onall business meetings and other work related activities which

COVER STORY

IMPACT OF MENTORINGThe Each one teach one mentoringprogram at Satguru Partap Singh Apollo

Hospitals has had signficant results: In comparison to 2010 the attritionamongst mentors has reduced by 50%in 2011.

An increase in productivity is seen likethe health care associated infections havereduced drastically in comparison toprevious year like the ventilator associatedpneumonia by 85.8%; central line blood

stream infection by 68.8%; surgical siteinfection by 57.10%; catheter relatedurinary tract infection by 7.29%. Even thecases of pressure ulcers have declinedby 32% in 2011 in comparison toprevious year. There is a decrease inblood transfusion reactions from 0.13%in the period of January to May 2011 to0.10% in the period of June to September2011 as a result of trainings on blood

transfusion. There is a 30% reduction in patientsfall.

Administration errors have reducedby more than 15%.


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familiarizes the new Nokiaemployee with the businessenvironment, work ethics/values ofthe company and helps in buildinghis/her confidence and trust in theorganization.

Some people use careermentoring. An executive in Swedenwhose own company was acquired wanted to pursue her childhooddream of doing medical researcheven though she did not possess anMD. One day she heard aboutSweden's prestigious researchhospital, the Karolinska Institute,merging with the university hospitalin Huddinge and decided she hadto explore the possibility of amedical PhD. So, she contacted

multiple mentors (three) to get theirperspectives on this potential careerchange. All three encouraged herand one of them helped her ingetting connected to his researchand medical network, and inparticular to an entrepreneurialprofessor in medical management.Now, she is about to complete her

PhD at the Karolinska Institute. Also, social media is playing a

crucial role in mentoring. It hasimmense potential for one toconnect to mentors not only fromone's own organization, but also

from outside. It augmentsconnectedness and presentsinformal and personal learningenvironments leading to achievetangible results for business.Organizations planning to use socialmedia for mentoring can dividetheir employees into variouslearning communities depending ontheir learning needs and the kind oflearning needed. Then, accounts canbe created for every group andmade accessible, plus, these groups

can connect to other groups in caseof cross-functional learning needs,too. Mentors can make theirexpertise available by givingsolutions for diverse situations. Thisenables people to link with manyexperts in their field instead ofdepending only on one mentor andadds to their learning opportunities.

Here the mentees with a particularlearning can pose a question anddraw out responses from severalpeople and if the answers vary theycan discuss their views with constantinteractions. Also, from web-based

conferencing tools, comprising ofaudio and video, employees can getmentored effectively.

Companies also use 'buddyship'as part of mentoring which isprimarily used at the time of on-boarding and integrating newemployees. "It helps SchneiderElectric integrate the new employeesto our culture, brings them up tospeed on the unwritten codes ofconduct within the organization. Italso goes a long way in developing

a sense of belonging, comfort andtrust within the work environment.The process has had a considerableimpact which has been experiencedat various levels. It has helped ussend a message to the organizationthat our focus is not just 'here andnow', we believe in long termobjectives and value our people to

COVER STORY


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take us there. It has provided aplatform for people to introspectand reflect, not only on theircapabilities, but, also on the 'worldof work' they have thrived in so far.Mentors have grown as better

leaders, though, the process andrejoice in the successes of theirprotgs who gain from earningtrust and finding security throughsupport systems within theorganizational maze is amazing,"says Sarin.

Lastly, one-on-one mentoring isstill a powerful way to developemployees especially millennia's asthey like structure and stability.Here, mentors must lead byexample, invite protgs to shadow

them, have protgs observe themconduct a meeting or presentation,provide protgs suggestions of e-books to read, and periodicallycheck how protgs are performing.One-on-one mentoring can use newtechnologies like mentors canconduct meetings via Skype,introduce protg to others viaTwitter or Facebook, when imparting webinars invite the protg toparticipate in it, or writing/blogginga piece about the protg.

Future challengesThere are various challenges thatare encountered in mentoring likethe CEO of Capgemini feels thatformal mentoring programs are toomuch of a scheduled thing as theyrequire a fixed number of mentor-mentee meetings and many timespeople find that difficult especiallyif one is constantly travelling. Thecore of the mentor-menteerelationship is one of friendship, but

in the formal mentoring programsthe HR department plays the roleof a matchmaker.

Even the matchmaking seems tobe a challenge, says Sarin, "Matchingis a key challenge where determiningthe fit between the protg and thementor in terms of personality,availability of time, and mode ofcommunication can be a dauntingtask. Additionally, the time involvedin formulating the learning plan,learning deliverables and steps for

facilitating learning is quite

significant." Also, 3M faces thechallenge to establish a good rhythmto get these relationships going."Mentors/mentees often find itdifficult to find time to devote totheir mentoring relationship while

handling their existingresponsibilities," assents Sasikar. Theother challenge, he says, "Is the issueof mentees seeing a value in therelationship with the mentor andbeing committed to the process."However, to overcome the challengesSasikar recommends, "Often theonus for the success of therelationship is on the mentor andmentee. A good goal setting andmonitoring system can help providethe necessary support to the

individuals to sustain theirrelationship. Since everyone doesn'tnecessarily have a flair for mentoring,training mentors can help themdifferentiate their roles of being amentor vs. a supervisor. And, asorganizations take on the path offormalizing mentoring, mentoringneeds to be set as a role expectation,included in the individual's goalsetting process."

"The mentee's conviction in theprocess is another key factor to make

this partnership successful. At 3Mthe mentoring program is "mentee-driven," which means the mentee isresponsible for determining thedirection and focus of the mentoringpartnership. An employee interestedin furthering his career wouldcertainly be expected to take theinitiative in seeking a mentor and anorganization's formal mentoringprogram provides the right channelto do that," says Sasikar.

Other key issues in mentoring

relationships could be, "Mentoringmay not work in companies that aretoo hierarchical in nature as theywould see the dual relationship as aconflict of interest for the youngeremployee. The question still remainsas to how open Indian managersare to their reports having a dualrelationship. Also, in organizations where a strong culture ofcollaboration exists, there is alwaysthe fear that the mentee might takeadvantage of his or her relationship

with the mentor. In fact, Indian

companies are typically dependenton individuals and not on systemsand processes, which is the way ofthe future. This could prove to be adeterrent in organizations that arelooking to setting up a mentoring

program," highlights Sasikar.Nevertheless, the Indian industry

is gearing up to the idea ofinstitutionalized mentoringprograms. Sarin feels, "Mentoringwill be a key to India sustaining itsadvantage as the global businessleader in segments of industry likeinformation technology, pharmaresearch, BPO, manufacturing,automobiles, petroleum industry,telecommunications, etc. It will alsohave a critical impact on raising the

bar for Indian businesses to becomeglobally competitive. Also, thesystem as a whole will benefit inproviding a broad-based foundationfor an excellent business workforcefor the future, instead of a few high-potential individuals, who are notsufficient to deliver the magnitudeof talent that corporate India willrequire from its future workforce.Indian companies seem to haverelegated the mentoring function toa lower priority. While this is

understandable given the highbusiness pressures on HR emergingfrom recruitment/ retention/compensation issues, a company willbe unable to build long-term talentcompetencies for supportingbusiness growth without thementoring function. Similarly,despite talent management issuesbeing a top challenge today for mostIndian CEOs, there are only a fewCEOs who give high priority to thedelivery of mentoring from their HR

directors. So, commitment of topmanagement is the key. They act asguides and provide support andsecurity. However, in practice,budget crunches and executionfocus takes precedence while thepeople focus gets lost in the midstof numbers and margins."Nevertheless, one of the key successfactors for mentoring would be theorganization's acceptance of it asan important process for businesssuccess and the commitment of

leaders to the process.HC

COVER STORY


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HR & BUSINESS

Assessments of candidateshave been going on fordecades and the primaryroute that was adopted was many rounds of

interviews in order to know about

an applicant's aptitude and acumen.For example, an organization waslooking for a candidate with a specificsoftware skill. Out of four shortlistedcandidates one was put through fourrounds of interviews. The entireprocedure took 20 days and evenafter that the candidate was informedthat she will be on one month trialperiod. The candidate did notentertain this and said that if theorganization after four rounds ofinterviews cannot make up its mind,

it is not worth joining. Theorganization kept looking for an aptfit and may have by now lost theproject too. To avoid this kind ofsubjective judgments or

group discussions, which measuredimensions like leadership, planning,sensitivity, problem solving, decision-making, creativity, sociability, and soon. Or nowadays companies havetheir own competency framework on

which assessment centres, internalor outsourced, map differentcompetencies for companies. Forinstance, "Virtusa has developed anintegrated approach 'Work-Home-University' to assess competenciessuch as technical/skill proficiency,domain expertise, behavioural/leadership competencies and corevalues called PIRL (pursuit ofexcellence, integrity, respect andleadership through empowerment),"informs Ramesh Kannan, director -

HR of Virtusa. Further, he says,"Virtusa uses varied exercises like 360degrees feedback, role basedcertifications, expert interviewing,simulation exercises, whitepaper

best suit the expectations of ourGen-Y workforce. We are leveragingon "personal excellence" to achieveorganizational excellence. In theprocess, we provide clearexpectations framework that is

specific and unambiguous to theGen-Y workforce, who loves candidexpectation management andassessment coupled withconstructive feedback."

The assessment centre conceptis effectively used in Europe and Asiato select interns, too. However, thisis a challenge for HR execs as it isone of the most difficult of selectionsowing to the interns or freshgraduates lack of prior appropriate work experience. In situations like

hiring laterals or senior/leadershippositions the approach is supportivein recognizing which persons maymake it to leadership-type roles whilesupporting others to continue on the

BY ARVA SHIKARI

mapping

competencieswith assessment centresindecisiveness to prevail and withoutlosing time get the right candidateorganizations opt for assessmentcentres which provides their HRexecs and line managers to makeerror-free judgements while

identifying people for differentpositions based on data and facts. Also, assessment centres not onlymakes evaluations about skills, but,behaviours too. In comparison tonormal interviews, assessmentcentres judgements about behavioursare made by several trained assessorsutilizing exclusively developedsimulations like role-play, in-basket,fact-finding, different types ofpsychological tests, managementgames, oral presentations on

different topics, report writing, and

presentation, case studies andassessment tests to measure

individual competencies that isdetermined as important which area mix of task specific competencies(how they do the job), and contextspecific competencies (how theywould fit with what is wanted in the wider organization)." Also, Virtusato spot talent has initiatives such asMASHUP contest and TechFest thatare very popular and welcomed byits Gen-Y employees. Commentingon managing aspirations for Gen-Y workforce, Kannan says, "We have

created our assessment processes to

functional career path. Like, "Forleadership roles at Virtusa, we follow360 degrees feedback process toidentify leadership skills whichencompass six leadership traits(entrepreneurship, clarity of thought,

client centricity, self awareness,communication, building highperformance teams) and on thevalues of PIRL." ACs provides a window to cross-check or test thedata acquired through self reportslike interviews. For instance, acandidate might have shownexperience of leadership in abehavioural interview, but, whenplaced in a team exercise he/shemay be observed to control, not takenote of what others have to say and

disregard the non participative team


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research shows that executivesconsistently rank the employeeperformance ahead of productivityand technology. Yet, very few feelthey have enough talented managersto fully pursue their most pressing

market opportunities and businesspriorities. To overcome that hurdle,forward-looking organizations seekto increase 'bench strength', andcreate high-performance workcultures by evaluating managementand/or leadership talent. According to Hay Group suchorganizational talent reviewsfrequently provide leverage inhelping achieve large-scale shiftsin organizational focus broughton by events such as an IPO,

merger, or a significant changein strategy.

Mapping competenciesAssessment centre is one of themost scientific and accuratemethods of mappingcompetencies as it uses a seriesof multiple tests for assessing asingle competency. The use ofmultiple tools to assesscompetencies increases theaccuracy of measurement.

Typically, in an assessmentcentre, as Mishra explains, "Theparticipants are evaluatedagainst a competency model ona behaviourally anchored RatingScale (BARS). Multiplicity ofassessors and exercises ensureshigh degree of reliability andassessment against competencymodel by trained observers ensuresvalidity of the data." For example,the competency 'communication'can be measured in a behavioural

event interview (BEI), groupdiscussion and case presentation. "Aperson who does not speak in a largegroup may still communicate in aBEI or small group. The inferencehere is that the person lacks theconfidence to communicate in a largegroup and that becomes the trainingneed under the communicationcompetency," says Misra. Also,"Research indicates there is nosubstitute for objectively observingand systematically measuring how

potential employees will actually

perform 'on the ground'. A well-designed assessment centre is themost effective tool available forassessing individuals in bothindividual and group-basedenvironments, for both selection and

development. Assessment centresare one of the most robust andeffective ways to determine if acandidate is a good fit for a role.They also offer the candidate anopportunity to get a better sense of

spread over three days. The first dayis spent on various exercises, roleplay, case studies, presentations,some psychometric tests, and BEI.The second day goes in analysis,summarization and feedback. Finally,

a joint development plan for theindividual in form of an IDP ischalked out on the third day. Themethods adopted are well researchedand are extremely successful.Further, our assessment centre

results are measured in termsof different potential categories- A, B, C1 and C2, of which A isthe best rating. Similarly, ourperformance measures aresummarized into score rangesof 0 to 5, 5 to 7.5 and 7.5 to 10.

A correlation is establishedbetween these two consideringall cases over a four-yearperiod, which gave rise to a highcorrelation coefficient. Also, wemonitor on-job performance ofindividuals' vis--vis theircompetency scores. We havefound a very high coefficient ofcorrelation between the two."

HDFC Life out of its total10 competencies (called Mantra10) assesses specific levels of

candidate/role. "We use 4-5competencies in each of theexercises. In all four to fiveexercises that are used in one AC gets sufficient evidence ofthe competencies that we lookfor to prove the potential ofcandidates to take up higherroles being assessed for. Trained

assessors (equal numbers of externaland internal assessors) then observethe candidates through each of theexercises and record their findings.

At the end of each exercise theassessors observing candidatesmoderate their records and assignpoint scores to each of thecandidates. Generally, 2.5 to 3.0 on afive point scale are considered to bethe benchmark score to declare anycandidate to be successful in AC. InHDFC Life, we have been using ACsto decide elevations for last morethan two years. We fill more than40% vacancies from within and use ACs as one of the important tools,"

reveals Ghag. Director-human

HR & BUSINESS

ASHISH SRIVASTAVA

Director-HR Canara HSBCOriental Bank of Commerce Life

Insurance Company Ltd.

what is involved in the role theyapplied for," adds Saurabh Singh,head - talent assessment of PearsonTalent Assessment (PTA).

Competency mapping isimplemented through multiplestages. Explaining the various stagesof assessments at JK Paper Limitedis the company's vice president (HR),Dr. T.K. Mandal "It is extremelyimportant to work out the referenceset of competencies. We have sets of12 competencies (behavioural/generic) across three levels -frontline, mid level and leadershiplevel. Our assessments are handledby external assessors to avoid any

internal influence and are typically



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resources of Canara HSBC OrientalBank of Commerce Life InsuranceCompany Limited, Ashish KumarSrivastava feels, "Assessment scoresneed to go one step further, i.e.instead of just communicating the

score, it is vital to enable the personto understand it's meaning andrelevance to his immediate present,and how he/she can change this,should it be desirable!" Also, saysMisra, "If follow-up actions are nottaken then not only will the moneyspent on assessment centres go waste, but it can also make

employees cynical towards anyfuture interventions."

HSBC utlizes assessment centresfor hiring by an open andtransparent system of competenceassessment with career development

through training. It has clearlydefined 13 competencies that thebank expects to have in its managers.To evaluate these competencies itapplies a series of aptitude tests,psychometric tests, group exercisesand every test may assess more thanone competency and everycompetency is measured more thanonce during the procedure. Theassessments are conducted by seniorline managers and a candidate isoffered a job only if the candidate

meets the minimum standard on a

core technology and practice teams.At Virtusa, we assess each candidateagainst the competencies and theirfit to our corporate values andculture. This ensures that ourcompetency management has a 360

degrees perspective of thecandidate's abilities and helps inchannelizing the employee's abilitiesin an effective and efficient way. Thisapproach supports the careerprogression for our employees andalso contributes to the organizationalgoal of developing leaders fromwithin. About 70% of the leadershiproles are fulfilled internally. Also, theWork-Home-University approachhas helped our employees in meetingtheir career aspirations," explains

Kannan.In external assessment centres

competencies are mapped by doinga detailed study of the organizationand the context helps ascertain andclearly define the objective forundertaking an assessment centreactivity. "This stage also provides anin-depth understanding of thecompetency framework, KRA's andfactors related to job performance.This preliminary information is thenused to create a behavioural

framework wherein the technicaldetails of the role are separated outand the competencies are brokendown into observable behaviours.Here, it is critical to define thesuccess parameters after theseparameters are whetted andapproved by the organization'sstakeholders. It is against theseparameters that a candidate'spotential is assessed," elucidatesSingh.

In a case that PTA handled, it had

to design an assessment centre foran UK-based IT-KPO firm for itsinternal job postings at a manageriallevel. Besides, developing customizedassessment tools, PTA offered toolsto assess critical thinking anddecision making skills and personalitytest to assess workplace personalitycharacteristics combined withpersonal and interpersonal valuesthat drive a person's workplacemotivations. This information wasthen used to create an engagement

framework for employees that will

Why an assessment centre works? High predictor of job performance Highly relevant, observable and comprehensive details about a

candidate's current and future potential

Transparent and comprehensive information from multiple

judgements

High value engagement and internal branding exercise for the

organization to convey employees are being taken seriously and

treated fairly

Effective preview of the role or job level

Developmental payoffs to candidates arising out of a self-evaluationand self-insight model

Completely audited and legally defensible framework

(Source: PTA)

majority of the competencies. HSBCemploys assessment centres torecruit on campus too. Also, co-relation studies are conducted tomatch performance at an assessmentcentre with consequent performance

on the job. Then the assessmentcentres goes on to include employeedevelopment. Thereafter, a follow upis done by high potential managerswith a focus on career development.HSBC attempts to include it withleadership, company goals and itsbusiness strategy. Competencies aremapped on the basis of business

requirements and company goalsafter extensive discussions with linemanagers and high potentialmanagers. The bank's line managersare prepared to sharpen theirassessed skills and thus, they are

made completely dedicated to theprocedure.At Virtusa, Talent Assessment and

Appreciation is facilitated by anintegrated approach built on "Work-Home-University" model. "Work- Assessment of deliverables/outcomes happens in a project/account, home-assessment ofbehavioral and leadershipcompetencies happen at each of ourlocation and University-Assessmentof technical/skill/domain

competencies are supported by our

HR & BUSINESS


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motivate them as per theirpersonal motivations, with thelong term results manifesting inhigh productivity and lowturnovers. Based upon thefindings of assessors, this firm

realized the relevance of theassessment centre was notlimited to the current jobpostings. It decided to expandthe application of theassessment centre findings tocreate a development model where all high potentialemployees were assessed on thecustomized tools as well as thecritical thinking and personalitytests for the purpose ofsuccession planning and to

create better engagedemployees, respectively.

In another case one of theleading FMCG companies insnacks segment wanted toidentify the most competentterritory sales in-charge (TSI) withcapability and competencies to takeup the responsibility of a sales officer.It also wanted to create a

development plan for the remainingTSIs so that they could be trained.There were six competencies on which the TSI were to be assessed

viz. interpersonal influencing,team management skills,analytical thinking, problemsolving, commercial acumen,relationship building, andcustomer centricity. Thomas

Assessments used individual casestudy, role play, BEI, groupsimulation including team gameand group case study,psychometric assessments,behavioural profiling, andtrainability assessment to assessall the competencies. Theassessments were done in oneday. Based on the results ofassessments, a merit list wascreated and promotions werecarried out. Subsequently, one to

one feedback was given andindividual development plans were created for all theemployees.

Room for enhancementAC is time consuming and resourceintensive and this could be a hugechallenge for any company that wants to put into practice the

TK MANDAL

Vice President-HR JK Paper Limited

HR & BUSINESS


25/65


assessment centre system forresourcing purposes. In addition,Mandal says, "Any process involvinghuman beings is prone to judgmentalerrors. Since assessment centres arelargely centered on assessors,

elimination of all kinds of bias isextremely important, although thisis minimized to a large extent withthe involvement of more than oneassessor per assessee and use ofmultiple tools to measure eachcompetency. Extensive education onthe competency framework,definition, processes, purpose, etc.across organization is anotherimportant step needing priority. Also,lack of transparency invariably leadsto avoidable cynicism and loss of

trust."Suman Rudra, the India HR

Leader of NCR India feels, "Thechallenges are in establishing thelinkages between the tools andorganizational competencyframework. It also lies in creatingreal business issues and leadershipspecific challenges to NCR thatincumbents shall encounter in their

HR & BUSINESS

experiment with sum or partsof it, the results are different inquality. The primary challengeremains with the finalexperience at an individual,team and at an organizational

level. The individuals with priorexperience of AC, if negative orpositive, hugely impact theimplicit and explicit 'perceivedvalue' and 'fairness' of an AC.It's imperative on all counts toensure absolute transparency. And we can only achieve thatby simplification and eschewing jargons. Also, the organizationhas a huge responsibility toensure appropriateness. It's amust to sensitize, make the

assessors and the participantsaware of its finer nuances thatcan make or break itseffectiveness. At the end, theonly measure is benefitsperceived by the person."

The question: how longshould the outcome of an AC isconsidered as valid is anotherchallenge. Kannan suggests that,

RAJENDRA GHAG

Executive Vice President-HRHDFC Standard Life Insurance

roles and how they are able tonavigate them."

However, Srivastava says, "As you


26/65


"Duration can be about 12 monthsand then we can look at a re-validation exercise after it.

To truly maximize the value ofassessment for business purposes,there are several significant

considerations that must be taken intoaccount. Smita Affinwalla, the headof consulting at DDI India gives a fewfacets. Assessments must be aligned withbusiness purpose: For instance, testsare cost-effective when their purposeis to screen out the unqualified, or toidentify those who are likely to dowell in later evaluations. Alternatively, assessments used forprofessional development tend to bemore in-depth than those used for

selection. In developmentalassessments, candidates receivedetailed insights into theirperformance across a broad rangeof competencies. In times ofsubstantial organizational and jobchange, to assure accuracy andfairness, assessment results are oftenblended with information about

current performance as the criteriafor placement and downsizingdecisions. Multiple assessment methodscreate better prediction anddevelopment insights. The skills

required for a role or a job is broaderthan what can be measured by anyone technique. All facets of success-competencies, experience,knowledge, and other personalattributes-should be systematicallyevaluated to make reliable hiring,promotion, and successionmanagement decisions, and toprovide sound developmentalinsights. Selection has a greater impactthan development. Though

assessment tools are effective whenused for both selection anddevelopment, greater value is realizedfrom applying assessment techniquesto selection because of the impactgood selection decisions have on anorganization's success. Validity and utility of assessmentsmust be demonstrated. For

simulations and interviews, a job-analysis process should link jobactivities to assessment tools andtargets. For tests and inventories, linksshould be established to the jobperformance. When it comes to

choosing assessments to maximizeperformance outcomes, the accuracyof the process and the decision rulesthat are used to determine pass andfail points, are as important as thelegal considerations surroundingassessments. Also, a means ofdemonstrating return. Technology enhances theassessment process. Technologycontinues to advance our ability tocollect and track information aboutpeople, presenting vast benefits. An

integrated set of automated tools thathelps administer recruiting, hiring,on-boarding, performancemanagement, and talent developmentcan create abundant efficiencies andnew opportunities to use assessmentinformation to guide anorganization's human capitalprocesses. HC


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In late 2010 Nokia in India startedinducting its employees throughits Shadow program. As part ofthe program, every new employeeis assigned to a person from the

top/senior leadership team of Nokia

as a mentor for a week. Theemployee assists the leader as theirshadow - accompanying them on allbusiness meetings and other workrelated activities. This familiarizes thenew Nokia employee with thebusiness environment, work ethics/values of the company and helps inbuilding his/her confidence and trustin the organization. Most often, theshadow and the leader are pickedfrom different functional areas as thishelps the new joinees in

understanding cross-functionaldependencies that exist and arecritical to meeting businessobjectives. At a personal level, thisinitiative, allows the shadow to builda rapport with the seniormanagement as they act as a mentorto them for the particular week. "Ourobservation is that both shadow andhost continue their engagement evenafter the program gets over," says Anu Pires, head-HR of Nokia India.

Since Nokia feels that its people

are amongst the biggest assets it

shadowing atNOKIA

HR PRACTICE

BY ARVA SHIKARI

ANU PIRES

HR Head Nokia India



28/65

invests heavily in engaging with themat various levels. And one of the waysis to engage right at the beginning ofa person's journey at Nokia as "Withinthe larger mandate of employeeengagement, inter-team interaction

and training and development arekey focus areas for us," says Pires. And the Shadow program providesan opportunity for new joinees tocreate a connect with Nokia leadersand network; assists in theirassimilation and learning process byhelping them understand the leader's

functional area and how it interlinks with other functions and Nokia'soverall strategic focus in the country;understand the ways of working atNokia and its culture; and buildcomfort and a sense of connect withthe organization. "The ShadowProgram may be short-term, but, it

is high on engagement that allowsthe employees to benefit from it indifferent aspects," feels Pires.

Further, the idea of the Shadowprogram is that the new joinees willbe a part of the daily work-life of theleaders; therefore, leaders areencouraged to continue with theirwork the way they usually go aboutit and not tailor their work plans while they are with a shadow. As,"We want the new joinees to get acomplete view into the lives of the

assigned leader," reasons Pires. Also,the Nokia management team hasbeen very accommodating andenthusiastic about the initiative, rightfrom the start. And the HR teamnever had to convince the leaders toparticipate in the Shadow program.This positive attitude helps the NokiaHR team to build a connectedorganization.

The program is extended acrossall divisions and positions in Nokia. And, it goes on a continuous basis.

The number of people undergoing

the Shadow program varies on thenumber of new joinees and theavailability of the leaders. The HRteam at Nokia works out all thedetails of the program like identifyingthe attendees for the Shadow

Program, reaching out to the hostsand request them to block time ontheir calendars for the identified week. After receiving theconfirmation from the leaders, theschedule and program details arecommunicated to the joinees. Inaddition, the HR team also briefs

and debriefs the participants on theprogram. The nature of the programis to not over burden the leadersevery week with the initiative;therefore, a rotational process isadopted of giving them a shadow.However, the HR team ensures thatevery leader has at least one shadow

a month, if not more.To break away from thetraditionally followed inductionprograms and undertake aninitiative that has a morepractical application to it gavebirth to the Shadow program which would help in theeffective induction of anemployee into Nokia India. Theprogram goes beyond justtalking about an organization's work culture, direction and

lineage in a closed room. Thisgives new joinees a first-handexperience of the organizationfrom the best view possible -right from the top, allowing thenew joinees to experience thecompany from a higher level.It not only adds to the learningprocess of an individual, but,introduces new joinees to theNokia culture and in turn, helpsthem connect with thecompany. In addition, the

program also is an opportunity

for the leaders to self-reflect andanalyze his or her management style,connect and engage with employeesfrom cross functional teams and geta fresh perspective/feedback onexisting practices.

"The program is tremendouslysuccessful within Nokia India.Employees eagerly look forward tobeing a part of this program. Therehas been a lot of positive buzzaround the program, which is dueto its concept of greater learning andthe opportunity to engage with thetop/senior management," informsPires. In fact, she adds, "All new joinees look forward to being a partof the program as everyone wants apeek into the day-to-day professional

life of a leader. As it is an opportunityto see and learn about how theyconduct their daily business, resolveissues, manage conflicts andcollaborate with other functions toachieve business objectives." Thepopularity of the Shadow programhas increased so much that even theolder employees within theorganization want to be part of theprogram.

Additionally, Nokia's HR teamprovides a peek into the feedback

from the participants. Jithender

HR PRACTICE

Nokia India promotes a one week window

into the world of Nokia top leaders fornew joinees!


Tips for shadowsCapture the usual work habits of thehost in a shadowing record

See for the associations in all facetsof work

Observe the core capabilities of the

host in actionWatch the informal and formalinteractions

Take note of the situations thatsurprise or challenge your thinking

Record events without inferences orjudgements

Write down questions you want to

ask later

8/2/2019 Human Capit

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