The Chanakya March 2012

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In This Issue

Public Affair ModelMr. Aditya K V

Emotional Stabili ty: Modern Adaptationof a Traditional ConceptDr. Ashutosh P Bhupatkar

HRIS - A strategic toolkit for redesigning

HRM functionsProf. Shailaja G. Hiremath

Employees First and Customers NextDr. S. G. Bapat

RetirementMr. Bhooshan Khadgi

Impact InterviewBalajee Sampath

The Path to PassionMr. Sumit Roy

Managing the IKEA wayMr. Devashish Bajaj

On The EdgeProf. Atul Kulkarni

VOLUME 12 ISSUE 14 MARCH 2012

The

Kir loskar Inst i t u t e of A dvanced

M anagement Studies Enriching Lives


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The Chanakya, March 2012

KIAMS

he months of January and February have been extremelybusy months on the co-curricular activities of KIAMS.There was the alumni meet (Samanvay 2012), held in PuneT

for the first time. Harihar also hosted the Nostalgia journey forthe latest three pass-out batches. Placements were happening allover the place, engagement with the K-Group on MDPs,

Competency Mapping and the Assessment Center for identifyingtheir next crop of fast trackers.As assessors for the Fast Tracker program, we could observevarying shades of behavior, endeavors and performance. Therewas one interesting observation about performance in, and as, agroup. The activity was termed as roller coaster where thechallenge was to transport a marble through cut pipes to a finaldestination. Naturally, the exercise was hemmed with all types ofconstraints which challenged managerial competencies to performwithin these constraints. One particular constraint was that allcommunication should cease at the halfway mark and one had owork in silence. The penalty for violating this was to start all overagain.The groups already being formed, initially there was a lot of

storming instructions, cross-instructions, advise, encouragementall were bandied about with very little result. The habit ofchattering was difficult to discard even after entering the silencezone, and quite a few re-starts were there due to the silence zoneviolation. In one group, suddenly a sane voice (proved 'sane' inretrospect) was heard: Look, we are only creating confusion withour talk and also violating the climb, egged on by a raucous crowdshouting motivation and encouragement but they would slip downat some point or the other. One outstanding frog determinedlyclimbed to the top and the crowd silence zone unwittingly. Novalue is being added with all the shouting and encouraging, as weare not performing And so he set the norm Lets be silent rightfrom the start line.

F rom the D irectorBelieve me, the performance shot up dramatically and they wereable to perform the delivery multiple times. Having got sensitizedto this, I became acutely aware that the silent groupsoutperformed the vocal ones. Other groups too adopted silencefrom the first and they too performed brilliantly.There were two types of chatter the ones where ideas were

exchanged on the Operations front of how to get the job done,which turned out to be value-adding. Then there was all the chatterof motivating, recriminating, expressing disappointment, verballywondered at his achievement. On being asked how he achieved it,the champion from signaled that he was indeed deaf.I supposewhen you have to perform, all extraneous aspects have to be keptout. Imagine Arjuna shooting the bird if his well meaning brotherswere shouting encouragement to him. To my mind, when someoneshouts motivation to me (which could very well be 'at me', if only Iwere deaf), s/he is burdening me with the weight of her/ hisexpectation. And then s/he either gets disappointed or patronizingyou will do it next time piling on the expectation. There is ofcourse the alternate Hanuman syndrome where the monkey Godneeds to be reminded of his strength before he deploys it (or so I

have heard that this is his characteristic!). But here too it is amotivation based on facts rather than an expectation, forHanuman is expected to have those strengths which only needs awake-up call.I may be out of step with many but I really abhor external

motivators. Paradoxically, there are many who find me a goodmotivator but the crux is they claim to be motivated (or inspired)not by anything I say but what I do.In conclusion, I read the piece by Atul Kulkarni of his experience ofrappelling. What I got was that to perform, his whole being shut outfrom the outside world, barring the sane instructions of the anchor.Neither claps nor exhortations reached his ear

Dr. Gopal Iyengar

E ditorial

You can't expect your employees to exceed the expectations of

your customers if you don't exceed the employees' expectations

of management. Howard Schultz.

With these insightful lines, Team Chanakya brings forth the March

issue which reflects the complete example of integration of both

campuses working effortlessly to make this issue a success.

While reading this issue, the festival of colour will be knocking

your door Holi which imparts the amalgamation of differentcolors, in the same way the students of KIAMS have come from

different regions, cultures and act like one big family now.

This Chanakya's edition explores the theme of HR. Human

Resource is a product of the human relations movement of the

early 20th century, when researchers began documenting ways of

creating business value through the strategic management of the

workforce. The function was initially dominated by transactional

work such as payroll and benefits administration, butdue to

globalization, company consolidation, technological

advancement, and further research, HR now focuses on Strategic

Initiatives like mergers and acquisitions, talent management,

succession planning, industrial and labour relations, diversity and

inclusion. Over the years, highly skilled and knowledge based jobs

are increasing while low skilled jobs are decreasing. This calls for

future skill mapping through proper HRM initiatives.

Indian organizations are also witnessing a change in systems,

management cultures and philosophy due to the global alignment

of Indian organizations. There is a need for multi skilldevelopment. Role of HRM is becoming all the more important.

Human Resource in this competitive era has turned out to be the

most important asset of any industry and it is going to be more

precious with time. As machines are the heart of any organization,

Human Resource are the limbs, without which target cannot be

achieved. With this message, we wish everyone a great HOLI. We

also wish a successful corporate life ahead to all the passing out

students of B-13. Happy Reading !

The Editorial Team

.

1


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n a country filled with misconceptions and misunderstandings

of the corporate way of life, nothing is more mistreated/Imisunderstood than the field of Public affairs. The confusion arises

as the field is popularly associated with the suitcase basedlobbying, which is prevalent on a large scale in the third world

countries. A public affairs consultant guides his client through the

complex structure of a country's government. He understands the

nuances of the 3 main pillars in a democratic country i.e. the

judiciary, the legislature, the civil society and is able to

comprehend the sentiment of the fourth estate (the media).

With businesses growing manifolds and multinationals crossing

boundaries to enter the business environments of other countries,

the businesses entities need handholding to navigate the complex

streams of multiple structures that we see govern us both at thefederal and at the state level.

This field finds its origins in the lap of Public Relations whichth

originated formally in the wake of the 19 century and spread like

wild fire under the firm guidance of Edwards Bernays (the nephew

of Sigmund Freud), Ivy Lee, John W. Hill, and Carl Byoir, who got

their start with the Committee on Public Information (also known

as the Creel Committee), which organized publicity on behalf of

U.S. objectives during World War I. Today, public affairs

consultants strive to eradicate rumours and create a congenial

atmosphere for business growth deriving from the same principles

of solid research and message based activism.

Post the Liberalisation era, when one of the largest markets in

terms of population had opened up to the world, the world

economy may not have been prepared for the culture shock that

they had in store for them; the variance in socio cultural fabric

which had a dynamism every 50 kms and multiple regional

governments and the largest constitution in the world which

dictated the basis of the way life functions in the country. It also

required a keen sense of understanding of the Babudom which

controlled the initiation, change and maintenance of the public

policy in the country.

This is why India as a country presented a challenge to Public

Affairs consultants, it meant to break into the fiefdom of lobbying

which was controlled by political pimps and was majorly

individualistic in nature.

The major objectives that needed to be addressed:

a) Address the socio pol it ical fabr ic and in it iate

opinion change.

b) Build relations based on mutual benefit and for

greater good.

C) Catalyze economic growth.

For this, a list of duties was charted out for all the

consultants who wanted to address the problems

professionally in each of their organisations andwere implemented

The major duties of a Public Affairs consultant are listed

below:

a) E st ab li sh t he k ey s ta ke ho ld er s i n ev er y

proposition,

b) U n d e r s t a n d th e la w s of th e la n d (B o t h

constitutional and financial),

c) U nd er st an d t he s tr uct ur e o f t he co un tr ie s

government,

d) Profile the major decision makers with respect to

the clients requirement,e) Analyze the sentiment in the general public and

media about their current proposition,

f) Predict any objections arising out of the socio

cultural fabric of the society,

g) Evolve an official communication system which

may connect the major stakeholders to the client's

needs,

The evolution catalyzed as many leaders had emerged in

pockets who looked at development as a tool for appeasing people

rather than free sops, the best example of these can be shown in the

leadership of Mr N. Chandra Babu Naidu who ran a super efficient

regime in the state of Andhra Pradesh which took its decisions

based on the research paradigm and was objective oriented in its

development. As more leaders of such calibre emerged, doors were

opened for many Public affairs consultants to present their cases on

behalf of their clients and research took the front end.

Emergence of Social Media and its impact on Public Affairs

It is predicted that in the year 2012, social media users in India shall

reach a staggering number of 45 million. Facebook alone has over

43 million users already and India stands at the number 2 position

in the world for Facebook users and over 80% of Social media

users take the mantle of being creators (they create content and let it

flow, content here might be out of individual opinions, social

cultural conditions, upbringing etc). They comment, tweet and

blog about EVERYTHING, in the sense that daily millions of

thoughts are being exchanged about the way the country functions

and how the policy tweaked and how can it be influenced.

The recent success of Anna Hazare campaign can be the best

example of how India woke up and challenged its own

government. It is quite essential to understand that at this point of

time; the User Generated Content (UGC) had reached quite

proportional heights.

2

Publ ic A f f a i rs M odel


KIAMS

Mr. Aditya K V


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Below is a basic cycle of a campaign:

3

Mr. Aditya K V,

Strategy Head & Communication Consultant,

Hyderabad.

Fake bank account statements were circulated, fictional

biographies were created to demean and scandalize political

leaders. In short, India created what it believed and reality

wasmanufactured out of home computers.

In such a scenario it is essential to address the general public with

facts and not opinions. A public affairs consultants' prime motive in

such scenarios, where reality is manufactured, is to bring to lightthe facts concerning the case and to educate the public which is

being swayed by sentiment.

Tomorrow the fate of nations would be decided by the opinion a

person posts on his Facebook wall or a single utterance on tweets.

In the viral world, it is important that Public affairs consultants are

ever ready to face a cyber attack on their clients and to be ready to

retaliate with affirmative action.

The Flipside

Since the function of Public affairs is in constant touch with the

denizens of the country to record sentiment, they serve as a perfect

vehicle for research for the political contingent of the country as

well. For the past few years the political contingent has employed

professional brand management, advertising agencies to control

their communication output. Leo Burnett created the Aam

Aadmi campaign for Congress and it has shown how political

advertising has come of age in India similar to the West and how

politicians rely on creating brands for effectively communicating

to the public.

Pollsters and opinion researchers (in their own capacity) advise the

politicians to take action according to the current issue and mood

prevalent in the country. Though this professional environment of

functioning is still far behind their counterparts in the west but has

started off in a positive note in India where Public affairs

consultants advice the leaders in their image building, opinion

crafting and media presence.


KIAMS


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E mot ional St abi l i t y : M oder n A dapt at ion of a Tradi t ional Concept

Abstract: American literature around Emotional Intelligence hasattracted attention of the corporate sector in India. Indiantradition, notably the one around Bhagavad Gita has emphasizedthe importance of equanimity. Yet there are differences in the way

the tradition looks at Emotional Stability and the manner in whichEmotional Intelligence as a concept has been deployed. This paperattempts to place the traditional view in the modern context.

IntroductionThe term Emotional Intelligence has attracted a lot of attention inIndia and there are numerous instruments that test and tell aboutyour Emotional Intelligence. There is very little theoretical workthat supports the notion of Emotional Intelligence; yet it matterslittle to the corporate world which is interested in using the notionfor selection of talent either at recruitment stage or for careerprogression. It is thus in the same league as the other popular notionof Competencies, which are supposed to distinguish superior

performers from the average ones. Much more theoretical workneeds to be done to develop a model of how performance isdependent upon factors like Emotional Intelligence andCompetencies. At the same time, the singular focus onPerformance in the Western world has proved to be the undoing ofthe high and mighty in recent times.The means adopted to achieve Performance have many times beenat variance with norms of honesty and integrity. In many cases,what is shown as Performance is a projection from blatantfalsehoods. The surprising aspect, however, is that in general,Indian management shows little willingness to learn from theexperience of Western counterparts. Catch up with the West hasbeen its Mantra for a long time. Exceptions are heartening.

Emotional IntelligenceLet us look at some definitions of Emotional Intelligence. Here Iam excluding entirely the work published by Daniel Goleman, as itdoes not fall under the category of academic work. Here is the onedeveloped by Mayer, Salovey and Caruso.Emotional intelligence refers to an ability to recognize themeanings of emotion and their relationships and to reason andproblem-solve on the basis of them. Emotional intelligence isinvolved in the capacity to perceive emotions, assimilate emotion-related feelings, understand the information of those emotions, andmanage them.(1)You will notice the emphasis on instrumentality of intelligencefor an external outcome such as problem solving. It is perfectly

valid to take such a view from a paradigm of instrumentality:everything is a means to an end. There is another paradigm whichregards human sensibilities as an end and not as a means. Forinstance, I want to feel wholesome, not because it leads To goodhealth, but because that is my aim: to feel wholesome. If we look atIndian (and Asian) traditions, the emphasis is on ends and thenfollows a consideration of the means. Here I would like to takeBhagavad Gita as an exemplar of the Indian traditions. I am quiteaware that the Indian philosophic tradition has many strands ofVedic and non-Vedic thought. Even within Vedic tradition, thereare different philosophic positions such as Samkhya, Nyaya and soon.

Steady IntellectConfusion envelopes Arjuna on the battlefield and reduces him toimmobility. Krishna attempts to dispel the web of confusion and

advises him to approach the epic battle with a steady intellect. Headvances a number of arguments in support. But after all thepragmatic reasons are advanced, Krishna turns to a philosophicdiscourse to convince Arjuna.Get ready for the battle and avert from the path of sin, by beingindifferent to happiness and sorrow, gain and loss and victory anddefeat. (2)(II, 38) What is the basis for becoming indifferent?Krishna answers the doubt by saying that our control extends onlyto our work. Outcomes are beyond our rule. So we need to performour duty unmoved by the thought of outcome. This equanimity isthe way to connect with the Supreme principle. Shed theattachment and become established in the equanimity and thenperform your duty unmoved by the thought of success and failure.(II, 48) To become established, you need to be rid of all the desires

that arise within. When, O Arjuna, he gives up all desires for sensegratification produced within, and experiences fulfillment withinthe self, his intellect has become steady (II, 55)So there are tworelated yet different strands of thought here. First, attachment tooutcome is based on a shaky foundation, since outcomes arebeyond our control.Secondly, desires create an attachment in the mind to the thoughtsof enjoyment and deprivation.There is a chain reaction that creates volatility in the mind. If we ridthe mind of attachment, then the intellect would become steady. Inthe context of Mahabharata, Krishna is persuading Arjuna to getdown to battle by getting rid of the confusion.Later, Krishna describes the behaviour of his ardent devotee in

Chapter 12 in more specific terms. He envies no one, bearsgoodwill towards all and is compassionate. He is not possessive,nor does he have a false ego. He is unmoved by distress orhappiness and has a forgiving nature. (XII, 13) Thus a steadyintellect is the result, first of a person's relationship with himselfand then of his relationship with fellow-beings.

Emotional StabilityIn the modern adaptation of this traditional view of steady intellect,we choose to focus on behavioral Elements and sideline purelyintellectual tendencies. The reason is the difficulty in assessing thelatter. So we focus on Emotional Stability, which is one facet of aSteady Intellect.Performing one's duty unmoved by the thought of success orfailure is the essence of an Internal Commitment. Compassionand a forgiving nature combine to create Empathy. Not beingpossessive, freedom from attachments and Release from a falseego all point to a high degree ofSelf Awareness. There is also aquality of being Content within oneself in such a person. He enviesno one and bears goodwill toward one and all. So Contentmentcan be the fourth element of Emotional Stability. Thus EmotionalStability can be conceptualized as shown below. It is conceivablethat these elements would have some interactions between andamong themselves. It would be an interesting exercise to studythese relationships through research and testing. In the diagramabove, the possibility of interactions is shown by dotted lines.

4

Dr. Ashutosh P Bhupatkar


KIAMS


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In the scheme of the Taittiriya Upanishad, the body is made up of

natural elements and is enlivened by the breath. Its activity isdriven by the mind, but controlled by the intellect in order toachieve fulfillment and bliss. Emotional Stability is largely in thesphere of the Mind, while a Steady Intellect would belong to therealm of the Intellect. Again taking recourse to the teachings of theGita, one could state that Emotional Stability is not of the passivekind, but has an active orientation, stemming from the clearunderstanding of one's place in the scheme of life and byimplication, of one's role in the organization in which one issituated. Internal Commitment provides that anchor towardperformance.

Dr. Ashutosh P BhupatkarVisiting Faculty

Kirloskar Institute of Advanced Management Studies

References :l

l

l

Mayer, Salovey, Caruso (1999):http://www.unh.edu/emotional_intelligence /EI%20Assets/Reprints...EI%20Proper/EI 99MayerCarusoSaloveyIntelligence.pdf

www.bhagavad-gita.org Taittiriya Upanishad, Mysore www.archive.org

F irst w e t hought t he PC w as a ca lcu l at or. Then w e f ound

ou t how t o t u r n numbers in t o let t ers w i t h A SCI I - and w et hought i t w as a t ypew ri t er. Then w e di scov ered graphi cs,and w e t hough t i t w as a t elev ision . W i t h t he W or ld W ideW eb, w e've reali z ed i t 's a brochu re.

~ D ouglas A dams

5

ImplicationsWe saw earlier that EmotionalStability is one facet of a SteadyIntellect. The other facet is anI n t e r n a l R e a l i z a t i o n ( acons idered phi losophica lunderstanding or a world-view)of one's place in the scheme oflife. We have a role to performand it is our duty to perform itwithout attachment or aversion.This realization cannot tie usdown to inaction, but rathermake us fearless in action.A l m o s t a l l m o d e r nc o m m e n t a t o r s f r o mVivekananda to Tilak to Gandhihave stressed this aspect of theteaching of the Gita.

ConclusionA brief attempt is made here top r o p o s e a n a l t e r n a t i v econception of EmotionalStability based on our tradition.It has the merit of fitting into ourcultural psyche. Care has to be

taken to ensure that we use it in anon-instrumental manner. Itwould mean that we regardE m o t i o n a l S t a b i l i t y o f individuals as a goal by itselfand not as a means to superiorperformance. That is no meantask.


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H R I S- A st rat egic t oolk i t f or redesign ing H R M f unct ions

anagement Information System (MIS) has evolved as aMgreat strategic tool for many organizations and has changedthe way of business operations including Human ResourceManagement. Human Resource Information System (HRIS) orHuman Resource Management System (HRMS) is a subset of MIS.

During 1960's, many large companies were looking forcentralizing their Human Resource data as it was difficult to keepthe record for various regulatory needs. Enterprise ResourcePlanning (ERP) software had gained its popularity in largebusiness organizations by 1980's because of its capacity to processlarge data on real time basis. So, HRIS also gained the momentumduring the same time.

Business organizations started realising that HR information canempower companies with HR intelligence for better decisionmaking. Software vendors like Oracle, PeopleSoft and SAP startedintroducing HR modules in their ERP software to suit their client'sHR requirements. Today there are hundreds of vendors developingcustomised HRIS software for big as well as small companies.

HRIS consists of large employee databases. Depending on the sizeand nature of any organisation, HRIS system might consist of asingle database or a number of interconnected ones. Thesedatabases will store basic employee information (such as personaldetails, job profiles, company role, salary etc), as well asinformation regarding benefits administration, payroll and analmost limitless range of other aspects of human resources.Furthermore, a good HRIS system will allow the HR professionalsto keep track of employment applications; for example, to store andreview CVs, and search for suitable previous applicants when anew vacancy arises.

One of the major benefits of an HRIS system is that it will offerhuman resources department an access to visual representations ofattendance and leave figures, as well as performance history foreach employee. Furthermore, more advanced HRIS systems willallow to pinpoint employees with particularly high potential, orthose who are exceeding their targets. This will help to makedecisions more based on facts rather than assumptions. HumanResource Management has evolved from record keeping functionto strategic function which enhances employee productivity andsatisfaction. So, one can see the increasing features in HRISsoftware including various functional modules aimed atrecruitment and selection, performance Management system,career planning, competency mapping, payroll and so on.

Today organizations' believe in empowering customers,employees, managers, suppliers and vendors, with direct access todata at the enterprise level, through self-service electronicmediums such as the Internet/Intranet. This flexibility has giventhe competitive edge to organizations. Indian organizations areembracing the change in management style and introducingsystems, new management cultures and philosophy as a result ofglobalization. This has lead to the need for multi skill development.

Human Resources Management is increasingly becoming a morestrategic business partnerassisting top executives by providingcritical data for better business decisions. This paves the way forhaving a robust HRMS in place in an organization. Mostorganizations today, have a HRMS in place, catering to their variedneeds. It helps to manage relationships, streamline processes andimproves the use of information to make strategic and operational

decisions.

According to Vani Sathvik, VP-HR and Administration, EkaSoftware Solutions, HRMS plays an important role in the changingneeds of the industry by enhancing organizational capabilities andmanaging systems as well as people. This paves way for matchingthe customer's and strategic needs"

Trends in the HRIS space are moving from transactional tostrategic support, from recruitment to e-recruitment, towardsstandardization of HR Application and providing substitutes likeHR BPO's to in house HRMS so on.

In the current competitive era where companies have spread acrossin multiple geographic locations and working in distributedmodels, HRMS is going to play a very vital role. It would play acrucial role in managing the huge resource database, financial dataof the company, HR process implementation mapping, etc. Stillmany small and mid-sized companies in India are managing Suchinformation using Excel sheets. But, this trend would definitelychange as automation of various processes and alignment of thoseto the HRMS will be required.

When an organisation implements the HRIS, its focus is not justlimited to short term benefits like

l

l

l

managing the employee data, butthere is a long-term perspective from its many advantages in termsof:

Optimal deployment of human resources

Speed of operations, accuracy and decision-making

Process consistency

There are certain questions that need to be addressed beforeimplementing appropriate HRIS software in any organization,like:

l

Does the organization really need automation in HRdepartment?

lWhether organization has a capacity to invest in HRIS?

lWhether organization has right IT infrastructure to implementHRIS?

Once the organizations set the requirement for HRIS, then there aremany factors that should guide the selection of HR managementsolution, following are few critical ones:

lInception of the idea

lFeasibility Study

lSelecting the project team

lDefining the requirementslVendor Analysis

lTraining for employees

lTailoring the HR Management system

lCollecting the Data

lTesting the system

lStarting up

6

Prof. Shailaja G. Hiremath


KIAMS


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l

lEvaluation of the HRIS

Some of the HRIS Software includes:

lABS (Atlas Business Solutions)

lAbra Suite

lHRSOFT

lHuman Resource Micro Systems

lORACLE- HRMS

lSAP HR

lSPECTRUM HR

lVANTAGE HRA

Now it's high time for HR professionals to become IT savvy toeffectively manage HR functions. Use of technology goes beyondthe context of just the payroll system and attendance management.Today, organizations use HRIS as an effective tool for talentmanagement and a means for increasing employee productivity

and skills. Employee Self Service Modules help in employeeempowerment by making HR information accessible toemployees.

Upgrades & Maintenance H.Venkatesan, Senior VP, Global HR, ISGN, rightly said ITplatforms free the HR professionals from being mere book-keepers of labour statistics. They provide them with anopportunity to play a key role in organizational renewal andrevitalization". So, HRIS acts as a strategic tool in redesigningHR functions in any organizations for enhanced employeeproductivity

Prof. Shailaja G. HiremathVisiting Faculty

Kirloskar Institute of Advanced Management Studies

References:

lhttp://www.erp.asia/hr-evolution.asp

lhttp://www.aboutemployeebenefits.co.uk/what-hris-

why-important.html

lhttp://www.expresscomputeronline.com/20080922

/market04.shtml

lHuman resources information systems (HRIS)-For

better HR operations by by Prof. Dileep Kumar

lhttp://www.expresscomputeronline.com/20070917/

technologylife01.htmls

.

I f you w ant t o bu i ld a sh ip , don t d rum up peop let eget her t o coll ect w ood and don t assi gn t hem t ask s

and w ork , but rat her t each t hem t o long f or t heendl ess immensi t y of t he sea

- A nt oin e de Saint -E xupery

7The Chanakya, March 2012

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E mpl oyee Cent ri c Organi z at i onsI bm, H ew let t Packard, A nd Sap L abs

Mr. Ravi Santosh

ay by day HR is evolving with newer initiatives to retain the

'good to have' skills. Our big conglomerates do not consider

Dsales as heartache and as a good enough reason to give time off thework. But they do have a lot of interesting benefits for the

employees who other traditional industries only can dream of, such

as-maternity leaves, privilege leaves, sick leaves, clubs & gym

memberships.

The new set of benefits offered by the organizations today are

extended maternity leaves, vacation donations, cab drops during

pregnancy, adoption maternity leaves and even bereavement

benefits. Being socially aware can be a rewarding experience in

IBM. IBM offers an adoption maternity leave for those who

choose to bring someone else's child into their families.

Unfortunately, this benefit is for women employees only, as single

men adopting children is at a nascent stage in India.

Every women employee would be eligible for four weeks of

maternity leave in case of adoption. This has to be availed within

one month of adoption and is applicable to women employees

working out of IBM-India locations. Hewlett Packard also offers

the same benefit, and is believed to even pay up to a certain amount

towards the legal expenses incurred while adopting a child.

The proof of the act, in form of an adoption deed or an adoption

order by a court, and an approval from the manager is all it takes for

an employee to enjoy four weeks of uninterrupted time with the

adopted child to form bonds that just might last for a lifetime.

In case of Maternity leaves, IT companies offer one unique thing

that is hardly found in other sectors. If maternity leaves aren't

enough, a female employee who just had a baby can take up to a

year of leaves without pay as she copes with being a mother. At

IBM, the post-maternity leave is capped at six months while those

like Infosys give you a year off work, keeping your job secure as

you can enjoy the warmth of being a mother.

SAP Labs offers support even before you become a mother. In the

last two months of pregnancy, you can get a chauffeur-driven car to

make your commute to office and back more than a little easier.

While the arrival of a new member to the family is definitely

celebrated by IT majors Through these small ways, they're not far

behind when it comes to sympathizing with employees for the loss

of a loved one. Most of these offer bereavement benefits if an

employee loses a close family member. At IBM, a grieving

employee can get time off work if the managers can sanction it. In

addition, Big Blue also offers an interest-free contingency loan of

Rs 5,000 for such an employee. The loan will be deductible in 20

installments of Rs 250 per month, says the mandate.

SAP Labs gives you five days of paid leave should you lose a family

member. The bereavement benefit is offered by most IT companies

but in various forms. Leaves are a benefit that workers of most

companies are eligible for. Healthy employees and workaholics

usually let their casual and sick leaves lapse at the end of the year.

But if you're working at Qualcomm, you can borrow some leaves

from colleagues whenever you need them.

The vacation donation programme, as it is called, is a system

wherein colleagues can donate their vacation time, up to a

maximum of five days, to other employees who have exhausted

their leaves and need additional leaves. Here's an example of this

benefit. An employee suffered a major illness and needed

additional leaves. Other employees got together and because of the

vacation donation option, accumulated about 105 days of leaves for

the employee in this case. So instead of allowing leaves to lapse,

you can donate them to your colleagues and spread some cheer

around. SAP Labs also offers an interest-free personal loan of up to

Rs 75,000 to its employees in need. For IBM, the amount is Rs

50,000. Big Blue also offers something called a 'hardship

allowance', which is meant for employees who choose to work in

strife-torn or 'hardship' locations. An employee of IBM working in

Jammu, Srinagar, Leh, Assam or Northeast India would get

8 The Chanakya, March 2012

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between Rs 12,000 and Rs 15,000 a month over and above his or

her salary. India Inc may not give you a chance to sob your broken

heart out, but it sure meets you halfway in many other ways.

Google, a seven year old internet communications and Technology

Company based in Mountain View California, tops the fortune 100

Best Companies to 'Work For' list. Let us look at the latest trends in

employee care at Google. It gives Up to $8,000/year in tuition

reimbursement. On-site perks include medical and dental

facilities, oil change and bike repair, valet parking, free washers

and dryers, and free breakfast, lunch and dinner on a daily basis at

11 gourmet restaurants. Google offers unlimited sick leave. It

allows 27days of paid time off after one year of employment.

Global Education Leave program enables employees to take a

leave of absence to pursue further education for up to 5 years and

$150,000 in reimbursement. Free shuttles equipped with Wi-Fi

from locations around the Bay Area to headquarter offices. Google

conducts classes on a variety of subjects from estate planning and

Home purchasing to foreign language lessons in French, Spanish,

Japanese and Mandarin.

DEUTSCHE BANK

Deutsche Bank employs over 80,000 people worldwide. To better

meet employees' needs, the company offers a host of family-

friendly measures, including flexible working time a range of

childcare services, professional training and extended unpaid

parental leave.

Flexible benefits and working policies

Since 1990 Deutsche Bank's female employees are entitled to

reduce their working hours following maternity leave subject to

agreement with their manager. Also, a dedicated 'Child Care

Assistance' payment has been designed to encourage employees to

return early from parental leave. In addition, women on Parental

leave may take part in further company training initiatives:

Deutsche Bank's 'return programme' offers women an individual,

flexible reintegration into the company after their family leave.

This takes the form of three to six months on-the-job training in

order to become qualified in technical knowledge and new

products.

Commitment to family and business

The family-friendly measures implemented by the Deutsche Bank

are a response to the results of a survey carried out in 2006, which

revealed low retention rates of women after pregnancy. The new

measures seem to have worked well and nowadays nearly 80 per

cent of Deutsche Bank's female employees on family leave return

to the company after finishing their leave two-thirds of them on a

part-time basis. Deutsche Bank's Family Network, established in

2005, provides a support structure and information exchange about

topics such as coping with the often difficult toddler years and

dependent care. Other direct child care benefits frequently include

childcare vouchers, emergency child care and, in larger Deutsche

branches, a workplace nursery. Feedback from families indicates

Deutsche Bank's family benefits are broadly popular, impacting

positively on employee morale and productivity, and providing

value for both employer and employee in terms of tax efficiency. In

September 2009 Deutsche Bank was named among the 100 Best

Companies of 2009 by Working Mother magazine, underscoring

its dedication to family-friendly benefits and programmes

supporting work-life balance. Several of Deutsche Bank's

programmes are highlighted in issue magazine, including the

Bank's adoption assistance benefits, backup family careprogrammes, maternity / paternity and adoption leaves, and its

Phase Back to Work Programme.

SIEMENS

As an attractive employer, Siemens respond flexibly to the

different life phases and the diverse needs of their employees. They

support them in their desire to balance their career and family, and

provide them with an excellent work environment with flexible

work conditions.

Childcare centers near the workplace

Child or career: Many employees at Siemens no longer want to

make that kind of choice. Their answer would ordinarily be both

child and career, but in order to realize this, employees need

excellent and most importantly flexible daycare. For mothers and

fathers to be able to quickly return to work after the birth of a child,

they need to know that their child will receive the best of care.

9The Chanakya, March 2012

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Siemens is the leader in Germany in terms of the number of

childcare centers it provides close to the workplace. As of February

2011, they have more than 500 childcare spaces in 26 facilities at

13 different locations. These facilities are supplemented with

company-sponsored childcare spaces at smaller locations. They

target is to increase that number of spaces to roughly 800 by the end

of 2011.They have a wide array of childcare facilities, from nursery

schools to mixed-age facilities for children ranging from babies to

age twelve, to cooperatives with communities and other

companies, to parent-initiated groups started by Siemens

employees. There are nursery schools, preschools, daycare

facilities, vacation childcare, emergency care, a babysitter

exchange, and child lunch programs.

In all of their childcare facilities, flexibility plays a very important

role when it comes to daily hours of operation and annual holidays.In addition, the facilities are always situated as close to Siemens

sites as possible to keep travel time between the childcare facility

and the workplace to a minimum. And Siemens has high standards

when it comes to theeducational quality of the facilities: Even the

youngest of children will feel safe and secure in their nursery

schools, and preschoolers are given the room they need to

experiment and explore.

But Siemens is hungry for more. In the next few years, they wants

to significantly expand its SieKids program, which already standsfor high-quality company childcare, to include even more

childcare facilities located close to the workplace throughout

Germany.

The SieKids concept

During school vacations, Siemens help parents out by offering a

wide range of childcare options. Around 2,500 children

enthusiastically take part in these on-site programs every year.

Many employees even choose to book vacations for their entire

families.

Returning to work after parental leave

They help their employees return to work after a parental leave of

absence. They offer re-entry programs that specifically target

employees who want to quickly return to work after a parental

Leave, and combine those programs with a wide range of flexible

work-time models. They also make it possible for employees to

stay up-to-date while on a parental leave. Using Stay connected,

all employees can access the intranet and their company e-mail.

To give parents the opportunity to join a comprehensive exercise

and wellness program to keep their energy levels high, Siemens

offers its employees a special company health-spa program with

childcare.

Help for family members in need of care

Due to demographic changes, the care of family members is

becoming increasingly important. In many locations, Siemens

offer an Elder Care program in some cases, in cooperation with

external placement agencies to provide their employees with

information, counseling, and concrete care arrangements. In this

respect, their Erlangen location has taken a pioneering role:

Among other things, Erlangen offers employees emergency care

for elderly family members as well as a lecture series and family

training programs. Employees with family members in need of

care or assistance can visit during Elder Care consultation hours to

talk to specialists.

They also offer a program to employees with family members who

have critical needs, which allow those employees to take up to

twelve months off to care for their loved one.

Flexibility in the workplace

A modern work environment calls for flexibility: Siemens offers

a wide range of work-time models to meet the requests and needs of

our employees. At Siemens, employees even those in

management positions can telecommute and work part-time.

Other work-time models they offer include flex-time models, job

sharing, and sabbaticals. In addition, with its flex-time honor

system, the company makes its employees responsible for getting

their own work done to the benefit of both parties

Mr. Ravi Santosh,

PGDM I, KIAMS (Harihar Campus)

References:

lhttp://blogs.siliconindia.com

lwww.deloitte.com

lwww.deutsche bank.com

lwww.siemens.com

10

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his background paper is inspired by the following

quotation from The New Pioneers by Tania Ellis,TDanish British Prize winning writer.

The world is changing and so is humanity. We are

reaching a critical mass of people who are conscious about the

consequences of humanity's unsustainable growth and want to do

something about it. Old and new paradigms co-exist, and this

creates paradoxes. But, paradoxes give us the opportunity to

progress. Just like optimism and utopias do. The future is not

something we predict. It is something which we collaboratively

design and co-create. A will to change is the first step. The next is to

take action.th

20 Century Lessons

Most of us have understood by now, that, the last century

thhas offered some lessons to us. A quick review of 20 Century

means: Exploitation of weak countries by strong countries through

the World War I and World War II. On the industrial front,

employers exploited employees for a fairly long time. Then it was

employees and their Unions' turn to exploit the employers. Soon,

employers and employees joined hands to exploit the customers! (aside effect of the sellers' market). It is very interesting to observe

that before the turn of the Century; Employers Employees and

Customers joined hands to exploit the Nature and create Pollution!

thObviously two lessons can be drawn from the 20 century

Exploitation.(A) Exploitation requires 'energy'. Perhaps, in the last

century, we misdirected our energies to exploit varioussections of the society.

(B) Experimentation is the real answer. It also requiresenergy one which is well directed towards innovationand creativity for sustainable development.

st21 Century: A Century of Experimentation:

Some visible trends are

(A) Management does not mean exploitation. It means

responsible behavior for achieving sustainable

development without exploiting anybody.

(B) Most of the business and industrial organizations are

slowly but surely marching towards professionalization.

E mpl oyees F i rst and Cust omers N extDr. S. G. Bapat

(C) Both at thinking level and acting level, we are

moving from: Owners first and Owners last, and / or

Customers first and Employees next and owners last to

Employees First and Customers next (Owners'

contribution duly recognized)

Looking Back-

It was a general understanding that a CEO has special

obligations towards shareholders / Board of Directors. One

implied assumption was : If a CEO can look after the interests of

shareholders and work hard for offering more and more dividend to

the shareholders, (s)he is the most successful and effective CEO.(S)he will get more autonomy.

thBy the end of the 20 century, management thinkers,

academicians and practicing managers started describing the word

CEO as Customers first Employees Next and Owners last. A

great awakening about Customer came only when Sellers'

Market was steadily replaced by Buyers' Market. One can read

the under currents! Mahatma Gandhi long back remarked:

Customer is the very Purpose of Business but industry absorbed

the concept in a 'Selfish' manner! (I am sure, that you are going to

say: who is NOT selfish?)

HR Conclave 2012

The current conference (jointly organized by RCU and

BETGBS in Belgaum) discussed the various aspects of the new

concept Employees First- Customers Next not merely as a

slogan but as a new concept of Leadership. The credit obviously

goes to Mr. Vineet Nayar who successfully explained the concept

and is pioneering to advocate it through facts and figures.

Can we ignore corruption?

A casual observer is struck by the following statistics:

Harshad Mehta : 40 Crores

Fodder Scam : 900 Crores

Madhu Koda : 4000 Crores

Satyam Computers : 14,000 Crores


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Stamp Paper : 30,000 Crores It has been fully recognized that there are three sets of

Commonwealth Games : 77,000 Crores employees that all of us will come across

2 G Spectrum : 1,76,000 Crores (1) Ready and willing to Change

One cannot dare to make a total and divide the same by India's (2) Those who will resist any change, and

Population. Let us leave this exercise to the statisticians! (3) Those who will be on the fence.

What can we do? If we want to achieve transformation, we have to respect

A good question but no good answer is available. On all the three categories of employees and create a culture of change.

th150 anniversary of Swami Vivekanand, one can quote his often In this very city (Belgaum), there is a shining example of 'Business

quoted statement Ashram' run successfully by Mr. Suresh Hundre, Managing

Western Efficiency and dynamism combined with Indian spiritual Director who primarily pays Rs. 50,000/- per hour as a tax

values will create the best management system in the World(1984) willingly and smilingly and offers an example of Employee

A remark in the visitors' book of International Exhibition Empowerment. This can, well, be described as Spiritual

in France makes a great mark. Management.

Peep into the Future I am sure, that, the discussions and deliberations in this

As all of us know, J. M. Keynes said It is better to be conclave will open the doors for Culture of Change and perhaps,

roughly right than precisely wrong My prediction is based on this it will inspire the delegates to Lead the Change

statement. Business Leaders and managers of today have realized Dr. S. G. Bapat,

that it is necessary to shift from Individual Leadership to Team Lead Faculty,

Leadership. It is both, challenge and an opportunity. Dr. S. G. Bapat & Associates

There is a positive power in the vision of Vineet Nayar References:

who is advocating Employees First and Customers Next as a lThe New Pinoneers Sustainable business Success through

philosophy of collective Leadership. In his book, Vineet has social innovation and Social Entrepreneurship by Tania Ellis p.p

spelled out various steps of achieving the success in implementing 187 188.

the concept. lRe-inventing India by Dr. Raghunathi Mashelkar p.p. 402 403

l Employees First Customers Second by Mr. Vineet Nayar

"On e t hi ng t hat mak es i t possi ble t o be an opt im i st i si f you hav e a cont i ngency pl an f or w hen al l hel l

breaks loose."

- R andy P ausch

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R et i remen t

etirement, by definition means to withdraw from one's

occupation, business or office as for rest or seclusion.TheRconcept of retirement does not always exist. According to a survey

done by a group of archaeologists, - 'In the early era of human

evolution about 30000 to 40000 years ago, the life expectancy was40 years'. People did not retire at that time; they just had a shorter

life span.

As we know every product in market has its own life cycle with

different phases like Introduction, Growth, Maturity and Decline;

the career of a human being can be identified with the career life

cycle exploration, establishment , mid career, late career ,decline

(retirement).

Retirement is not a completely new concept and it has some roots in

ancient times. According to Hindu Mythology, a human life can be

identified with four different phases called as Ashrams namely,

Brahmacharya, Grihastha, Vanaprastha and Sannyasa.The first part of life Brahmacharya is the stage of a student where

a student used to spend in celibate, controlled, sober and pure

contemplation under the guidance of a guru and building up the

mind for spiritual knowledge. Second stage is Grihastha which is

householder's stage. The third stage is Vanaprastha which is

called as retirement stage, a gradual detachment form material

world and finally Sannyasa the stage of asceticism, where one

renounces all worldly attachments to find the Divine or the

Moksha.

Similarly in career life cycle, a human starts as a student, as a

learner, gets exposed to theoretical concepts, learns and develops a

career interest where he wants to contribute for a long term. After

formal education a person joins organization to contribute his

learning and to grow and develop. Learning and development in

human life perpetual process and it goes with all phases of life

cycle or career life cycle. It gives a person opportunity to grow, to

succeed and he achieves maturity level in his career when he

experiences high level of expertise and responsibility. After

serving one or more organizations at various phases of career for

various roles, a person finally retires voluntarily or involuntarily.

Initially during early industrial revolution, retirement did not have

any pre notions of age limit and persons announced retirement as

per their own preferences. In 1889, a 74 year-old German

Chancellor, Otto von Bismarck started an old-age social insurance

programme and set bar for a retirement age in western world. He

set the retirement age at 70. Anybody over that age was eligible for

retirement benefits.

During the great depression of 1929, a doctor Mr. Townsend who

himself lost his job was witnessing the Sufferings of old people

during that period. He then Proposed a great scheme whereby

people above age 60 would be paid $200 per month as a monthly

pension. Over 5 million people supported this campaign, Franklin

Roosevelt got the Social Security Act passed and the Congress had

set the retirement age at 65.

Why Do People Retire?

1) Health Issues: A widespread belief exis ts

that a considerable amount of people who leavegainful employment before age 65 do so because of

poor health. They may be no longer able to

work due to poor health or injury.

2) Personal Commitments: Sometimes people in

work have high level of responsibilities or

commitments for their family members or

society.

3) Leisure: Some people love to live their life as

they want. After working for years a few of them

prefer to pursue their long time interest and enjoy

their hobbies.A retirement decision of a person often depends on his

financial stability, his wealth and assets, savings and

dependents.

Impact of Retirement on Economy:

In countries like US, under the Social Security Act, a retired person

gets financial security though they are not contributing directly to

Nations Economy. Similarly in India under the Pensions Act,

retired persons from organized sectors get one time Provident Fund

and per month fixed pension without any contribution to nation's

production of goods and services. This is a liability to the

Government. In India, the Central government pays pension to 3.8billion retirees and a spending of $ 12.1 billion is expected in next

financial year approximately 26%more than the last financial year

spending on pensions.

As retirees increase the expenditure of the Government, recently

world has witnessed increase of retirement age by various

countries. Spain announced that it would increase retirement age

from 65 to 67. In 1998, the Central Government of India increased

retirement age of the central government employees from 58 to 60

and now they are in talks to increase this age to 62. In 2010, France

increased retirement age from 60 to 62. Germany has also

increased retirement age.

Effect of Retirement on Individual:

While several studies shows effect of health on retirement

decision, a few studies explain effect of retirement on health in post

retirement times. After retirement an average person is likely to

enjoy leisure time and experience drastic changes in his lifestyle.

People experience decline in physical activity and social contacts.

Studies show that complete retirement leads to 5-16 percent

increase in difficulties associated with daily activities, 5-6 percent

increase in illness conditions and 6-9 percent decline in mental

health over an average retirement period of 6 years. Studies also

13

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Show that adverse effects are mitigated if someone is married andhas social support. Such persons are likely to indulge in physicalactivities and likely to maintain social contacts through socialmeetings, community work, or part time work. Some people whofail to adopt post retirement lifestyle face financial problems astheir monthly income after retirement supports only moderateexpenditure.

What happens to Organization when people retire?

Undoubtedly, ageing workforce impacts organizations differentlyand its impact depends not only on the organization's currentmanpower but also its internal demographics and future ability oforganizations to attract future staff. An impact analysis of ageingworkforce in organization including the analysis, who is eligible toretire, which positions are likely to be vacant in near future andhow it would affect organization's ability to carry out its vision andmission may help individual organizations to design better HRpolicies from recruitment to retention while identifying gaps in HRPlanning.As employees retire from an organization, the institutionfaces potential loss of knowledge. Unfortunately manyorganizations do not realize the loss unless impact is felt bydecaying efficiency or setbacks for important goals.

Recently engineering giant L&T revealed that it is grappling with

quickly greying top management and by September about 200 ofits top senior and middle managers will retire. L&T is not the onlymanufacturing firm to face this problem but some of the PSU's likeNTPC and some private players like JK Group are struggling withsame issue.

The retirement of top executives is visible and organizations faceproblems to find their successor, as these positions hold power andleadership that drives employees in direction of the vision andmission of the organization. But, the bigger worry is retirement ofmiddle level executives, as these are in sizable numbers and suddenloss of this chunk may lead to the organization's operations inshambles as it is hard for organizations to replace large number ofemployees. A sizable number of retirement within short time leadsto younger, inexperienced workforce that affects production andservice delivery. If hired from outside, newly recruited middlelevel managers take time to learn new skills, organizations culture.If employees hired within organization by job enlargement and jobenrichment the new managers may face huge pressure workresulting in decaying efficiency at work.

Knowledge loss to organizations:

The highly impacted area in organization due to retirement andturnover is knowledge loss. Organizations face the risk of potentialknowledge loss due to retirement. It is really difficult to develop aplan to combat knowledge loss, if organizations are not aware ofrisk of knowledge loss. Also organizations cannot realizeknowledge loss until they see a negative impact of knowledge loss.The following figure shows impact of knowledge loss:

14

A study conducted by International Public ManagementAssociation for Human Resource on impact of knowledge loss onorganizations mission revealed that more than 70% of respondentsresponded loss in efficiency due to critical knowledge loss andmore than 50% respondents replied with goals not reached. So howdoes an organization will secure its vision and mission and avoidknowledge loss?

Knowledge Management:

It is a popular concept and is defined as any effort related to captureand maintenance of institutional knowledge. A typical knowledgemanagement plan consists of following key components like:-

lDocumentation of Policies and Procedures.

lCross training.

lCentralized record keeping system.

lJob shadowing or mentoring.

To work on these key factors, organizations need to determine,which information to get from whom, how to organise it and how tomake it available to those employees who need it.

A typical example of knowledge management can be given as; anew employee is trying to determine how to be best at his job.Knowledge management effort must not only focus on efficiently

organising explicit knowledge (e.g. facts, figures, policies,procedures) but also it must focus on efficiently organizingcontextual information, best practices, identification of subjectmatter experts to be useful for that employee. Simply capturing anddigitizing reams of data and content under the guise of knowledgemanagement cannot be effective. Rather, it would be veryexpensive.

Methods to counter Retirement:

The most common methods practiced by organizations to assessappropriate resources and knowledge are:1) Succession planning.2) Skill gap analysis.

3) Performance measurement.

4) Knowledge transfer.Out of these four, Succession Planning and Knowledge Transferare directed to identify new leadership and to fill managementroles. These two methods soothe the path of transition of employeeto new role. Performance Measurementand Skill Gap Analysis areused when organizations would like to be more proactive, knowmore about their own resources and want to prepare plans for thefuture. Skill Gap Analysis allows organizations to act strategicallyby focusing on resources, skills and talent needed by organization.

Conclusion:

Retirement breaks formal relations of employee and organization.Initially both of them grapple with changed conditions. Tomaintain proper health post retirement, an individual should notallow drastic changes in his lifestyle and should indulge in physicaland social activity.Organizations should take a proactive and directapproach while dealing with the issues associated with ageingworkforces. Organizations should assess and understand impact ofretirement in context of their own organizations. Organizationsshould have a pre-planned strategy to face retirement with a scopeof proactive measures to be included as a flexible strategy torespond to a dynamic global change and issues like turnover andattrition

References :

l www.economictimes.comlwww.ipma-hr.org

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Mr. Bhooshan KhadgiPGDM-I, KIAMS (Pune Campus)


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IMPACT INTERVIEW

His commitment and honesty in trying

to t ackle important social issues are both

inspirational as well as infectious. The

impact of his work has been seen in

several villages, where technology is

actively used, and which are now able to

generate their own funds and are able to

s u s t a i n t h e i r o w n c o m m u n i t y

development progr ammes

r. Balaji Sampath, while a graduate student at the University local community. If you look at our organization structure we haveDof Maryland, was instrumental in expanding AID's chapter mix of people. We have graduates who studied abroad, in reputedbase to many cities across the US. Upon completion of his Ph.D. in institutes along with other would did not pass their twelfth1997, he returned to India as an AID Fellow (Jeevansaathi). Based standard, but struggled very hard to survive and support theirin Chennai, Dr. Sampath works with the Tamil Nadu Science families. So this mixture works out very well, many otherForum, particularly in the areas of community health, education organizations do not have this. Right now I am outside our coreinitiatives and women's savings groups. He, as part of AID committee room, which consists of three people from IIT's andChennai, was instrumental in organizing the national-level BITS, six people from villages who take vital decisions. We feelworkshop of the People's Health Assembly in Nov-Dec 2000, and is that ultimately what we have done and experience is what matters.a key coordinator of the block-level developmental initiatives of This mix gives us a lot of belief and commitment. Even when wethe All India Peoples Science Network (The Hundred Block Plan). did not have enough funds, their commitment reflected when they

worked two or three years without salary, and these people are fromCan you give us a brief about AID? those families who did not have more that thousand rupees a month

to live, they continued to work because they feel strongly towardsAID India started off in Chennai 1997, this started when I was the cause.involved with a group called AID in America. It started as a groupof active graduates to raise funds and support activities all over What makes graduates leave corporate world and renderIndia. I was involved in writing chapters for India. At that time I felt social service?strongly that I should come back to India. So in 1997 I came backand started AID India. Initially we helped many organizations and That's an easy question. I always wonder what makes those peoplelearnt how to do work, and then we started doing many direct who undergo real difficult times who survive leave the betterprogrammes. One of the main focus areas is education, but we also opportunities and come here. See, though we are into this ourwork on health and livelihood. families are well off with our brothers and other family members

earning revenue, it's not like I would go hungry tomorrow. OurHow can you differentiate this with other organizations? volunteering and commitment is looking at others who when

working here their families would go hungry, they still do it. I haveI don't think that we must differentiate. I will give you how we do seen many people come to organization stay for some time and godifferentiate since I was asked this question many times but I back to their lives here or abroad. Thus the real challenge is to stay

personally feel that there should not be differentiation because we here and stick to the job. Here you see people from villages evenneed many organizations working together for cause like this more motivated, when working with them you will understand thatbecause these problems are huge. Unfortunately there aren't many you can also make very significant contributions in the field andorganizations. Many NGO's have started but they mostly don't that keeps you motivated. When I ask my team members one timefocus and deliver results. There are not many such organizations or other they tell that they have to make a difference. The biggestwhich are committed to reduce poverty or provide better education contribution to success is that those who have stuck to our causeand hence I don't think there is a need to feel competitive about it. have been with us for a very long time. They look at the amount of

commitment these native people bring in. For example one of ourIf you are asking how we raise funds or run operations I would say associates was working in a large software firm happened to meetthat at implementation level we have couple of principles. Firstly two of our on field volunteers. She was amazed to see the amountwe believe that whatever projects we implement we need to have of time and energy they were devoting toward the cause, and thenlot of local level participation in it, not just nominally or these volunteers are from families who depended on them to getfinancially, we need people who take decisions. When we conduct them out of poverty instead of devoting to their our families theyevening classes we need them to come, participate and ask are working for betterment of society and others. Then she gotquestions, especially the parents. Most of our volunteers are from inspired to quit the job and devote full time with us.


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So when you see others are doing it you fell motivated to do it How can you measure the impact that you create in theyourself. society? Both qualitatively and quantitatively?

What according to you is the biggest problem faced by There are parameters to measure our success. We see how muchsociety today? our children have learnt when compared to before. We keep

checking very regularly, it gives you numbers and its veryAccording to me the biggest problem is Inequality in Education.important for us to keep track of how much we are progressing. ButWhat happens is kids from well to do families, are getting access toeverything cannot be measured in numbers. Sometimes you needlot of resources, the amount of inputs they have is huge, apart fromto measure what impact this has made in lives of families, in termsthat is parents are not satisfied they go for more resources other

of values, in terms of what they believe in their kids in their houses.than school. But kids from poor families at government schools I think all of this is qualitative. And actually how many of ourcannot generally add or subtract even after five years of schooling.friends went to government offices to argue regarding how muchThere is such a huge gap in learning and education is going toimprovement is needed in the schools. These are not direct impactcreate next generation of inequality. Now we are talking about nextparameters. But they are very important indicators as they tell howgenerations of kids going though schooling. When even after 5-6much change we have brought about in mind set of individuals.years they cannot substantiate their learning they drop out. Now inChanging people's minds is one other very important impact I thinka world which is going to become even more competitive whatit's one of the softer parameters as we cannot measure it directly.would these kids do and already parents are poor, if their kids areWe believe that we should measure our outcomes especially hardnot even going to get basic skills, these kids are going to worse thanoutcomes and work towards them, but there are lot of softwhat their parents did. So this is a huge problem that needs to beoutcomes which you cannot measure easily. But it's also important;addressed. It's not like parents are not interested in sending theirsometimes it's even more important than hard outcomes.kids to schools. There are many other problems obviously, but if

you ask what is the single biggest problem which is going to affect Can you please give today's youth a message, which canus in 20-30 years to come, then this is a biggest challenge. 20 years encourage them in serving society?back being illiterate is different because they did not have access or

I won't tell them to leave all that they are doing and come to serveawareness of education. Now this generation kids had access to society. Let them do all of that, also spend some time wherever youschools but still cannot add or subtract. At that time world was also are now towards society. Don't say that after 20 years I would dovery different. Now there is this cut throat competition wherever and all that. Do it from where ever you are now, at this point. It's notyou go. like society is going to change just because some five people haveYes sir, Most of the kids who got quality education quit their jobs abroad and come to serve society. Society willthemselves are facing so many problems, we cannot even change when millions of people make small changes in their lives;imagine about poor kids. basically make a small effort to make society better. Make sure

that opportunities are given to poor people equally. That is going toYeah, now this is going to lead to a bunch of other issues. Like thismake a very large scale and long term impact. For that you cannotnaxalism etc., because they strongly feel that they were denied theexpect everyone to quit their lucrative opportunities for this. Evenopportunities. This is going to create big threat to the country in theif it is a small thing, need not be a large thing but do it now. May befuture.you can go to a small school nearby and help children learn there.

How will you describe the ideal situation for this problem? Even if its five children at least you can help them. Then you canbring about a transformation in their life and also in your life. If youI think at this point the government should take action in very big

can start doing that then you can aim for bigger and larger things.way. So whenever you go and talk to them, not just for this issue, It's impossible to make people stop writing competitive exams. Butoverall government reacts in a very defensive mode. For example ifit is even more difficult to help other people.Anna Hazare is been raising corruption issues, government's

reaction is to affect people who are raising it. It is not like society is Sir, you received the many prestigious awards like Ashokabringing this up; let's see what we can do to change it. Same Fellowship, Lemelson Innovator's Award etc., Can you shareproblem is happening in education. And I don't think that this with us the amount of hard work and determination whichproblem would be so big that it cannot be solved. It can be solved resulted in this kind of recognition.easily if there is some political will for it. And the full implication

Actually I don't believe in these awards. They are more of a teamcannot be realized until it is too late. I feel that the seriousness thatcontribution more than an individual. Unfortunately many peopleshould be there is missing.give them as individual awards. I think that if you keep working to

Sir, you mentioned that the core committee consists of highly your purpose rewards would automatically come. It is foolish toqualified individuals along with those who haven't even aim for the rewards and try to get them and it's also not possible.completed their formal education. Can you tell me how you You just keep on working for the cause and if recognition comes itbring them together? What values and beliefs they work on? comes and if it doesn't come it's OK. The real recognition for me is

when I see these children learning and transforming into betterWhat brings them together is a strong commitment to the cause. individuals. The satisfaction that I am able to make difference inFor example working in Tamil Nadu they believe that every childtheir lives, this recognition coming from within is far moreshould get very high quality education. They realize that theyimportant, than any other awards. These awards are also useful tomight not have gone through very good education they believe thathelp raise funds, build awareness, outside credibility etc., but otherevery other kid in village should get good education. Thatthan that it's not of great value. If the recognition comes fromcommitment basically bonds everyone together. The fact that theoutside you have to doubt yourself. If recognition comes fromentire team works for a cause like this and is also highly committedinside like your team members, friends and others then it is realenhances the bonding force. And then there is a lot of friendship, so

lot of help is exchanged between individuals. But of course this didnot happen overnight. Initially it took a lot of time for individuals

-As told to Siddhartha S Modukuri,even to believe that it is possible.

PGDM I, KIAMS (Harihar).

.


KIAMS


18/36

tudying in a B school is a beautiful experience. And we all can

feel it. Some of us had adapted to the new environment quicklySand some of us might have taken a bit more time. But after a short

span, it is like a huge family. We like this because we canexperience it. When we visit a place which we like, we are in joy.

Again it's because we are experiencing it. So, experience is the

main objective for us. Well, let us talk about placements. Why we

look forward to good placements? Because we will be able to

experience the life we want to live. And ultimately this

experience is the root cause of why we are here. The purpose was

to experience the life we wanted (at a point in the past). We are here

(at present), surrounded by specific circumstances because we had

actually wanted that. Ok, now it might be a little hard to get into.

The fact is whatever is happening with you, or whatever you are

experiencing, is simply because you are the one who had wanted it

to happen at a certain point of time. Our entire life is a super

complex matrix of choices surrounded by wishes. All these,

connectively, are creating the present situation for us to live in.

That means whatever life you are leading (happy or frustrated) is

nothing but the summation of end results of some actions and

thoughts of yours in the past.

Now, I know, you will argue that where is the free will then, that the

masters and yogis talk about? Then what is the meaning of life, if

everything flows like a program? Well, free will exists and the case

can now be viewed from a different dimension. And that is left

there for us to experience. Because, in tough circumstances, people

will apply their free will and they will again want something or the

other to experience. Depends on the nature and concentration of the

will power, you will again take some decisions and will thus start

creating your future in the microcosm. For the explanation,

microcosm refers to your world, your own perceived world.

Whereas macrocosm refers to the entire universe where we exist,

as an individual. So, now it is becoming a web. And believe it, we

are in a web.

So, who are we? Why we exist after all? And again why we chose to

be here, right in this present situation, in our life? Who is forcing usfor our priorities and our choices? When we face with a situation

(might be motivational or negative), we decide to act and behave

based on out thoughts. Some of the actions that we undertake are

immediate and some are long term (like career plans). But while

taking the fast decisions, how do we understand the choices? How

do we evaluate about the actions that can be undertaken in the given

context. That is based on our level of maturity and the depth of our

knowledge. Knowledge' of what? It's the knowledge from the

views, knowledge of life and knowledge that is being acquired

through the life time.

Thus, we can see that facing similar kinds of situations, two or

more individuals will choose to act differently. This is simply

because they had analysed the situation differently and had

perceivedthe situations differently. (Had Bill Gates been in myplace today, he would have different priorities and choices.) Thus,

essentially it is us, who are creating our life continuously by

choosing to act / respond in a particular way that is being guided by

that individual's accumulated knowledge and perceptions and

views. And then, when we can't achieve something we either blame

GOD or blame luck. Remember, luck is nothing but chances. You

can never live on unknown chances.

Hence, to have complete control over our life, we will have to

consciously create chances for us. You have to take the control and

will have to be in charge of the beautiful journey called life. The

most pertinent question now is how. As it has been told earlier,

our life is nothing but the summation and implications of the

choices we made, hence the most appropriate way is to make better

choices. For better choices, we need to have better knowledge (of

life in broad), better analysing skill, better understanding to

comprehend. And we can't alter the accumulated knowledge which

we have, instantly. But of course we can have better perceptions

and thus better understandings if we use titanium processors,

instead of Celeron one. That means, if we can visualise the things

as whole (not just dots), we will grasp the bigger picture. And this

requires our processor to be more powerful and operating with

newer technologies. So, how to do that? Ok, it's actually simple.

Take the example of a microprocessor. Think about a computer.

After working for a certain span, it needs rest (restart, shutdown

etc) for better performance. Our body needs rest after a certain time

to get back the energy. And remember, our mind also needs rest. If

you can consciously reboot your mind, you will experience

freshness. You will feel energy in soabundance that will force you

to think why you did not try for it earlier. To put in simple words, it

is like becoming the tour guide, rather than continuing as an

unknown traveller in the beautiful journey of life. Suddenly you

will realize that you are viewing and perceiving things in totalityinstead of viewing in subsystems. Our mind exists in different

dimensions. The more high you raise, the more complete view you

can have and thus more complete understanding. Thus, you can

have the sense of the bigger purpose and you will realize what is

your job and why you exist after all. Your life will become an

awesome journey with full control.Forcing the mind to operate in

other dimensions or planes requires disciplined efforts, at those

realms that are unusual to us. The mind is infinitely more advanced

than the microprocessors which are now available.

F or Joy , A bet t er l i f e

Mr. Supratim Kundu


KIAMS


19/36

The mind has a superior capability to upgrade itself, provided you

wish to. The fundamental aspect is to restart it from time to time.

We think, in sleep, we are taking rest. That is right for the body. In

order to rest the mind to an extent, we need to have disciplined

sleep everyday and still this is a slow process. Because, sleep is an

unconscious process and is guided by nature as a natural process.

We are going to be professionals and enjoying 7hrs disciplinedsleep every night might not be the best alternative. Again

remember, sleep is a slow process and there we are not in charge. In

sleep we get dreams and feel uneasy if we are in difficult situation.

So take rest, but be conscious. Apart from sleeping, also make

effort to take rest consciously. Consciously force your mind to

operate and withdraw it. Remember, your mind is just like a slave

to you. We can order it anytime. Rather, in most cases we choose to

become the slave of mind. That view needs to be changed. The

mind is gifted to us so that we can use it. It is there as a tool to do

work for us. Consciously try to take the control and make the mind

work. Make the mind operate at a higher realm to serve you better.

Choose a particular time in a day. Be with yourself and this is really

important. Completely be with yourself and don't let your mind to

think about any unwanted things. Be calm and start observing your

breath. Observe only your breath. Think about nothing. The breath

comes in and then goes out. Keep on observing the inflow and out

flow of breath. This breath is the biggest mystery of life. We know

that we cannot exist without it. Breath connects our mind to the

physical universe, i.e., to our body and the surroundings.

On the other hand, we also know that we all had lived without

aerial oxygen (in mother's womb). What a paradox! The full grown

embryo (after 7-8 months) stays within the fluid in the womb. But

now, we cannot think of even staying without aerial oxygen even

for 1 day. After coming out of the womb, then, if we don't breathe,

we will not survive. In reality, we can exist both with and without

breathing. There are many such happenings in our life that showsthe beautiful nature of ours. The single connecting feature between

nothing (space) and us (consciousness) is the mind. Thus the

more advanced the mind is, the more satisfying your life will be.

The mind can do such things for us that we generally perceive as

being super-human. Think nothing during the exercise. If you force

your mind to think nothing (void) and still continue observing (no

feeling, simply observe) for sometime, your mind will start

functioning without your emotions. It will start following your

order like a gentleman. This is called conscious rest of the mind.

This is conscious withdrawal of the mind from the matrix. If you

can continue your practise, you will realize that you have never

been so active. You will start realizing that your mind actuallycreates the entire life for you. You will start experiencing the higher

realms of your-self. With practice, after attaining certain

perfections, in higher stages you can even command your mind to

create the life you want and the situations you want to be in. We

judge the entire universe and the life through our mind. So if we can

sharpen it, it will sharpen our choices and priorities. This just needs

your wish to practise. Practising the art of becoming the master of

yourself. You will ultimately, understand the difference between

happiness and joy

Mr. Supratim Kundu

PGDM I, KIAMS (Harihar Campus)

18

.

Th e cardin al responsibi l i t y of leadershi p i s t o i dent i f y t hedomin ant cont radict ion at each point of t he hist or i calprocess and t o w ork ou t a cen t ral l i ne t o resol v e i t .

-M ao Tse-Tun g


KIAMS


20/36

The P at h t o P assi onMr. Sumit Roy

19

re we asking the question 'why should we follow the path' or granted and never question our purpose of being.

we are ok to be blind or we do not have a choice or we are What it means to live with passion?Ascared to choose and walk the path of our choice? It reminds me of Rumi's poem:

Passionate people are passionate because they have chosen a path. When you find yourself with the Beloved, embr

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