From the Notes of Yesteryears- 2 Human Asset: The Key Differentiator in Service Industry

This is the gist of a talk I listened to some time back of Mr Jagadish Kini, then Executive Director of Airtel. The speaker started out by reminding the significance of the service industry that contributes to 40% of the GDP of the country.He said that in the service industry, more than in any other industry 'customer delight' is paramount.In this connection 'IDEA'  and constant ideation of the employees to make the customer experience better and better is the key.The idea ( I do every action)  also needs to be translated into action to be of value. Any small idea is a big idea if implemented!

Building up on the concept of IDEA , the speaker suggested providing opportunities to ideate, away from the mobile, laptop and the 'madding crowd'-  A think tank room to dream, to ideate and to wait...There is a need for all of us  to take time out to dream; for it is dreams that generate passion. Mr Kini recommended dreaming in colour;when you dream in colour you look for details.He said that in Airtel, they are seeking to develop a culture of dreaming.


As the human assets are the key differentiators, we need to ensure their motivation and energy levels.After they have gone home in the evening after work, the next morning should seem exciting and motivating with  employees happy to remain with the organization.Do we respect our employees? We do pooja to the machines on Ayudha pooja day; similar pooja and devotion needs to be shown to employees. These people who make 'customer delight' possible should be given customized attention to ensure high motivation levels.

Towards the above intention there is a need for honest, forward looking, inspiring and competent leadership  at the top with clarity of  goal and a vision. The key to success is value added competence or in other words having a new way or outlook for looking at anything.Another important requirement in this connection is 'Fun at work' with people really enjoying their work.Performance management that includes talent management  and crossfunctional exposure is also important.

Today aspirational management is a big challenge with attrition levels ranging from 25-30 % in the service industry.It is here that the concepts discussed in the earlier paragraphs would help considerably.Customizing development plans for each employee and working on their strengths rather than the weaknesses would yield good results.

Live IR Experiences and Insights

In the industrial relations summit organized  jointly  by  NIPM and the Karnataka employers's association in 2015 and also during the talk of Mr K. Ramkumar, National President NHRD in a Hosur meeting on the subject "Future of HR", it was opined that IR will come back in a big way.I have been of the opinion that although in India we have had a wealth of experience in IR matters, there is hardly any documentation of the same for the benefit of students specializing in HR or for the fellow practitioners.In this connection i felt that it would be worthwhile to contact those who have had IR exposure and elicit from them details of how they handled various situations.

In this connection I requested a former colleague,Mr  N.Srinivasan , presently working as Manager (HR) to share his experiences.He readily agreed to share his experience and insights on the subject.  The account of Srinivasan as related by him is given below:-

“I joined a manufacturing MNC in 1998 as HR Coordinator whose work was mainly maintaining time office / leave mgmt. of the workers and also taking care of employee’s welfare.

 I then moved to Industrial Relation Department in the year 2008 and worked there for 5 years. I believed that I had a good rapport with all workers and a natural flair to easily move with the workers at all levels. Hence I opted for a department that had many IR issues and where many senior workers were working. I strongly believed that such a department would give me a lot of opportunities to learn in the field of IR.

After taking up the new assignment, I began one to one discussion with all workers. During the discussion I first told them about my family, native place, my career so far in the company. It was a surprise to me that some of the workers were very open and shared intimate details of their personal life such as father has two wives and hence “I have additional responsibilities and personal commitments in my life”. These discussions enabled me to get to know the employees better.

The period 2007-2010 saw a tough time in IR, since a rival group a CITU based Union was fighting for their recognition. A good number of workers were members of this union and started creating problems. I was able to assertively state the management position without fear in spite of the reluctance of employees to accept the management stand. A group of workmen even submitted a complaint letter against my behaviour. However, I was able to function without much difficulty in a hostile situation mainly on account of the rapport build up earlier due to frequent interactions. Frequent interaction with workmen on the shop floor is a must for maintaining good IR. It is my submission that an IR or HR representative should listen to the views and grievances of employees and respond suitably. If there are shortcomings from the admin side, it should be accepted and corrected.

Case study

I had taken action against one of the workers who was addicted to alcohol and frequently absent from work. I thought that taking disciplinary action will improve his attendance. But this did not happen in spite of his being warned and suspended many times. One day he reported for duty after a long period of absence. He stated that he had been ill and I asked him to get fitness from company Chief Medical Officer. Simultaneously I explained to the Medical officer that he was alcoholic and a case of frequent absenteeism. Doctor asked him to undergo a liver function test to get fitness. After two days he came and met the doctor with the report. Doctor immediately called me and before me informed him that his liver is severely affected and his life is under risk.

The employee was scared on hearing this and did not reply for a moment. Doctor enquired about his family, children and other details. He was touched by the personal concern exhibited by us. Subsequently, with his voluntary consent we moved him to a de-addiction center. There, he cooperated well and underwent the treatment wholeheartedly. Separate counselling was provided to his wife. After a month he recovered and reported to work as normal person. Presently his attendance has improved considerably and he makes it a point to often thank the Management. When I visited shop floor, he tells me that he now has more time to spend with his daughter and wife and has been able to begin life afresh.

Interestingly, the employee  started counselling his friends working on the shop floor and they also moved away from alcoholism. He also visits the de-addiction center and explains about life before and after stopping alcohol. There are similar success stories of employees who had become slaves to alcohol. In such cases getting the employee to accept the grim situation and creating in them  a desire to come out of it is very important. Counselling of the spouse in order to get her support to the deaddiction process is equally important.”

It is worthwhile to note that the examples and experiences shared by Mr Srinivasan is related to aspects that straight away impacts the production.Solving the live issues on the shopfloor which are connected to the day to day concerns of your customer  is a  sure way  to get his appreciation and he will look up to HR to solve more issues and contribute more to his success and success of the organization.I hope to bring more of such live experience sharing in future posts.

From the Notes of Yesteryears- Power of Ethics in HR Management

Ms Padmaja Iyengar or Paddy as she is known in poetic and literary circles, had written on the blurb to my book "Straight from the Heart- thoughts and Experiences of an HR Professional" as also in a comprehensive review on the book later appreciating my 'documenting and knowledge sharing skills'.I have been sharing the information gained from attending a seminar or conference from the time I started writing  my blog in september 2012. It suddenly struck me that during earlier periods also I had taken notes from live seminars as also from books that I had read.It would be worthwhile to share these with readers and  it would help me also to go back and read them easily.

I start this  series with an interesting and enthusing subject "Power of Ethics in HR management". The speaker was Anil Sachdeva, CEO, Grow Talent and the period was around 2000- 2001 The speaker  stated that there is great strength in the (1) Power of unconditional love (2) Power of appreciation  and (3) Power of inspiration which need to be leveraged.. The biggest strength of India is its population.If the people of India are inspired, it could shake the world.Character is bigger than all the material wealth.The biggest role of HR is in creating character- remind people of the goodness within them.Every person is u nique and  has a role to play;every human being who works for you has a unique quality.HR's  focus should be on "How do you get ordinary people to recognize their greatness and the purpose of their taking human birth.

A person's real wealth are his values.The stakeholders look at the reputation of a company which in turn is dependant on organisational  values and values of its people.In a corporate scenario,  we should keep in mind that producing more with less is the  ultimate knowledge and ethics involves 'giving more than what you take.'  Businesses are places in which you discover who you are.Good ethics is living by your values; corporates with vision and values ensure sustainable development.

'Talent' which includes unrealised (potential) and realised ( competency) talent,  can be described as as a sum of capacities and values and.ethics is the key to make full use of talent. It is imporatnt to listen to stakeholders and act on them as "action speaks louder than words." Practising ethics requires the appropriate architecture with the work place being in harmony with values.This enables building of trust and HR has an important role in building  this environment.

We need to ask the question "What legacy are we leaving behind? Practising ethics is smart business and in giving, you always get more.HR should focus on weeding out inappropriate and unethical  behaviour.While hiring, developing,rewarding and recognizing people,  HR should keep in mind that they have the right values.Sharing the right stories and instaling the appropriate symbols is an important role of HR.

Addressing Real Needs of Customers

In My book "Straight from the Heart-Thoughts and Experiences of an HR professional" and also in my
blogs in general, I have been calling attention to the fact that our internal customers do not perceive HR as meeting their "Real needs". In stead of  facilitating and making their jobs more comfortable, line managers  see HR personnel as those who  wake up now and then to implement another bright idea or the latest fad  that will reinforce the relevance of their existence.

In this connection even the routine activities pursued and followed up by HR, as for example the performance appraisal process,  is seen by the line as a  pain in the neck. Its completion is achieved within  the deadline through arm twisting  and  threats of denying  annual raise  in salary in case of  failure to do so. No effort is made during downtime to explain to the internal customers the significance of the process and how atleast in the long run, it would enable line managers to have competent people in their team.

Many years ago in 1996, I joined a central PSU as HOD of training department. Couple of months in to the role, I suggested to the GM at corporate office, my reporting officer, that we organize a Line-HR workshop which could throw up the real needs and issues of the production departments.Addressing these needs would earn respect for HR.It would also be an opportunity to clarify and correct any misconceptions or  unrealstic expectations that they may have from HR.As for example, many line managers, even today do not want to know and understand at a personal level about employees working in their department.The moment an IR or HR issue comes up, the tendency is to refer it to the HR department and wash one's hand off. It is similar to referring to the maintenance department, the moment a maintainance issue crops up.

Yet, the fact remains that involvement of the production staff before and during a machine breakdown by providing inputs to the maintenance engineer makes a big difference.Information as to when the problem was first noticed, the symptoms observed  about the problem etc goes a long way in helping the maintenance engineer to set right the problem faster and more efficiently. Similarly, many HR/IR related issues can be known sufficiently in advance, and nipped in the bud if the production  managers and supervisory staff are actively involved.Infact, to my mind, in view of the  line managers and supervisory staff being the first contact of employees, it is most essential that they are  equipped with the minimum human relation skills.Engineering colleges would do well to include this as one of the subjects in the curriculum.


Coming back to my offer to organize the HR-Line Workshop, the GM was aghast that I even  thought it fit  to make such a suggestion- "What is the problem now? Are there any issues between HR and line? Are you trying to create problems between the two functions?." Thus my proposal got a silent burial even before it was born. I exhort youngsters of  today to take up such an   initiative and those in leadership positions to support them  as this  could show HR in a proactive light instead of being seen as  'reactive' most of the time to the 'Real needs' of customers.

I would like to end with the submission that HR needs to continually engage and dialogue with its internal customers to find out their real needs on the ground and offer home grown creative solutions to them.Nothing much will happen if new ideas are introduced because someone somewhere has done it or because it sounds good to claim to the world that the latest fad has been implemented in one's company.It is high time that HR seeks inputs from production / line departments as to how an issue can be addressed, instead of insisting on playing the role of the expert, providing readymade solutions every time.

A Comprehensive Review of My Book in RML

On this auspicious day (it's 25th Dec in India) , I share with readers a comprehensive review of my book "Straight From the Heart" by Ms Padmaja Iyengar, former senior executive banker, poet and writer.in the Rate my Literature.com site. The Link is given below:-



http://www.ratemyliterature.com/magazine/read/book-review--rajeev-moothedaths-straight-from-the-heart---thoughts-and-experiences-of-an-hr-professional_8143.html




This is the link for purchase of the book from Amazon.in
http://www.amazon.in/dp/8182535999

For those ordering on Amazon .com (outside India) it is

http://www.amazon.com/Straight-Heart-Thoughts-experiences-professional/dp/8182535999/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1451025731&sr=8-1&keywords=Straight+from+the+heart-Thoughts+and+experiences+of+an+HR+professional

Industrial Relations Summit-2015- Make in India Challenges for sustained Industrial Relations.

I attended the IR  summit organized jointly by NIPM Karnataka Chapter and the Karnataka Employers'Association from the evening of 19th November to the evening of 20th November 2015.On the first day there was an inaugural address by Justice Ram Mohan Reddy,High court of Karnataka and a  panel discussion in which Mr P.Dwarakanath, CMD of BEML Ltd, Mr Chamola Director HR, HAL and Mr A.S. Girish, Head (HR), Appolo Tyres and National Vice President NIPM participated.The discussion was moderated by Mr S.Raghunath,Professor IIMB.

At the outset, Justice Reddy acknowledged that a congeniality between the workmen and management is a must to keep things going and to have an atmosphere of growth which is most essential in today's scenario.He also drew attention to the fact that  industrial relations today cannot ignore the non- unionised workmen who contribute considerably to the success of organizations.According to the speaker today more than at any point of time "Money works and it is an important aspect of maintaining harmonious IR."

Justice Reddy traced the history of unionism and how political parties had seen unionised workmen as ready made vote bank.However the influence of political parties in this connection has come down considerably. Whether, we like it or not, the ease of doing business has become a need and a reality that is required to be addressed.The speaker said that Indians need to introspect on the culture that has set in over the years and need to take corrective steps.As for example even driving licenses are issued in the country based on bribes putting at risk so many lives of  the general  public.

Similarly, we should insist on employing competent persons who are perfect matches for the requirements of the  jobs. Today substandard manpower is coming out from the colleges whether it is engineers, ITI trained persons or other professionals. The speaker pointed out that the quality of the faculty in teaching institutions are compromised and  persons who have passed out this year are employed as teachers in the next academic year. "What can be expected of their prowess in teaching?" he asked. 

HR has to play an important role in challenging this mediocrity. IR problems would not arise on a later date if the right kind of people are  employed as a correct fit for the jobs. HRDians have a big role in changing the mindset in the industry towards getting the right people and keeping them motivated. Justice Reddy said that the share of GDP(Gross Domestic Product)  of the manufacturing sector was only 16% in India  as against 1/3 rd in China.The partnership of workmen is to be obtained for the cause of raising the contribution of industry to the GDP.

Justice Reddy opined that seemingly India has a lot of opportunities in the coming days given the fact that 20% of the young people of the world,  in the age group 18-22 will be from our country.Yet, in order to leverage the advantages adequate attention should be given to strengthening the education system and the core values.Today only 10-15% of the graduates are employable and even this small  number of candidates have raised their competency levels by their own efforts with hardly any  contribution from the colleges.He said that countries which see India as a serious threat are resorting to destablisation tactics  to blunt the advantages she has  in terms of a young poulation.As for example, he revealed that 65% of the youngsters in Punjab are drug addicts.The figures are 35% in Bangalore for those between the age of 7 and 16 years.

Another imporant aspect touched upon by the speaker was about the land acquired for industrial purposes and the way we treat the farmers who have given their land.The approach in Karnataka seems to be"I have taken the land from the farmer and paid compensation.I am not bothered about what happens to him afterwards" The farmer has known only one source of livelihood for ages and he needs to be supported to acclamatize him  to the new reality.In Raipur, Chattisgarh state,while taking land for developmental activities, the farmer is taken into confidence and a continuing  relationship is maintained.Employment is given to one member of the family.Care is taken to see that the farmer's houses are not broken and facilities such as electricity connection, cement concreting of roads are provided  by the industry to the farmer who has given land .

Jusice Reddy concluded his address with a few suggestions or prescriptions for ensuring a vibrant and harmonious industrial relations- (1) There should be better and regular communication with the workmen that will serve as a means of education and building trust.It also serves to create motivation and commitment to the company(2)  Investment to be made in enhancing the skills of workmen and also on retraining them (3) The contract labour laws need to be reviewed to make it more objective & rational, removing aspects that only trouble managements (4) Laws to be made more flexible for incorporating the needs of fluctuations in production needs, (5) Guidelines to be developed for payment of bonus based on productivity and teamworking results (6) Modify the trade unions act to correct the problems of multiplicity and politicisation of unions (7) Modify the laws to make them more transparent and removing the 'inspection Raj'.

In the panel discussion"Make in India challenges- IR Perspective", Mr P.Dwarkanath CMD,BEML Ltd stated that in the challenging scenario, BEML has been focusing on developing pride in the employees about their work and the company. By paying attention to 3 aspects namely (a) Training (b) 'Can do philosohpy'(c)Pride in work- "My work is the best work" employees derive satisfaction from work instead of having feelings of conflict.
He said that "Design in India" is as important as "Make in India". Towards this objective, BEML is collaborating with IITs and other institutions of repute.A recent feather in the cap of BEML is the home grown design for 200 tonne dump trucks.

Mr Chamola, Directer(HR) of HAL Ltd declared that the credibility of the management built over the years decides the outcome of IR. He said that while  collective bargaining is is a natural aspect of IR and will continue to be important, the right of the management to run the organization cannot and should not be compromised.
Mr Chamola said that HAL which already has around 32000 employees and 10000 officers is not looking at adding more work force.Infact recruitment would be bare minimum in niche areas with encouragement to effective outsourcing.In this connection HAL is focusing on strengthening the supply chain by motivating the vendors to be partners who are willing to take risks, put in money and share in the prosperity/ realities of the business.

Mr A.S.Girish,Head(HR) Appolo Tyres in his trade mark  humourous style reiterated the importance of IR which he said will be playing a prominant role not only in manufacturing but in all sectors of the economy.He said that the IR climate has to change from one of mistrust where both sides are talking to each other, holding bombs behind their backs to one of trust and openness with an intention on both sides to genuinely solve issues.
Mr Girish said that if IR fails in a unit, that unit will be shut down while the business itself will prosper, moving to a more favourable state or climate.

The second day started with the theme "IR to be part of the business strategy at board level" with a panel of speakers consisting of Mr Pratik kumar, CEO Wipro Infrastructure and Mr Kamal Bali MD, Volvo India and the moderator being Mr Pramod Mahatme, ER Wipro enterprises.Both the speakers touched upon the present economic scenario and gave considerable information comparing the GDP figures of India with other countries including details visavis various sectors and said that corrective steps need to be taken with regard to the labour laws making it in tune with the 'ease of doing business'.Since the theme for discussion was on "IR being a part of the business strategy at board level, i expected inputs on whether IR is presently considered important in the overall business strategy of the company.If yes, to what extent anf if not, what  IR/HR  people need to do differently  to get it included as a part of business strategy.

The second session on the second day-  "IR Experience in manufacturing sector and service sector" was for me the most rewarding session in the summit.The speakers were Dr Chandrashekar, President & Global Head (HR).Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Mr H.N.Srinivas,Advisor-Tata Group and Dr Manjunath,Director Jayadeva institute Bangalore.The moderator of the session was Mr Nagendra, Dean BMS Management School, Bangalore.

Dr Chanrashekar began his talk by underscoring the importance of hiring.Recruiting the right people with care lays the foundation for good HR work.Justice Reddy had also drawn attention to this important aspect of people management.I have myself felt that corporates tend to take the process of recruitment lightly and do not give it the respect and importance  it demands. My thoughts on this was expressed in my poem "Interview", the link to which is given below.

http://corporatepoem.blogspot.in/2012/11/interview.html

Another valid and important point articulated by Dr Chandrashekar was on the need to not separate or break people issues in to compartments such as HR hires, IR deals with the workmen, L&D focuses on training etc,A holistic approach is necessary to leverage the best from the HR function..

He spoke about the need for HRDians to invest  time and effort  to develop a solid team for the organization. The policy of merely poaching talents from competitors by paying more, backfires in the long run as the available talent is limited. Instead HR needs to build teams from the scratch recruiting people with care- catching them young. preparing them for the corporate environment and inculcating appropriate values.This exercise is what can be called "Sustainable employability" and investment on these lines will receive reciprocation from the employees who will see the company as genuinely interested in their welfare and growth.

Dr Chandrashekhar wound up his talk with the following gems:-
1) Managers should become more consultative, collaborative and engaging and  shed the fuedal mindset..Managers sabotage their own work by cutting the thread of reciprocal relationships.
2) Integrity displayed on the small activities is more important than clever strategies.

Mr H.N.Srinivas started his talk by giving an insight in to the  Tatas approach to  employee relations.As early as in 1890,Tata steel had a social audit done to understand the living conditions,traditions and aspirations of the local people who were mainly from the tribal population.In 1902, Sir M.Visvesvaraya drew up the strategic plan for the Tatas.All the stakeholder's needs were addressed in the plan.In 1920,.the Tatas Steel Workers'union was formed. Subhash Chandra bose  served as its president in 1922 The top priority of the management and union was concern for people, nation and the organiz ation in that order.The company had a collaborative relationship with the union. TQM and other initiatives were introduced  with support from the union.The Malcolm Baldridge excellence framework  was adopted by Tatas.

Moving on to the hotel business, Mr Srinivas  gave information on the "Taj Model' and the challenges of a service industry.78% of the employees in sevice industries are in touch with customers 24 x 7 aiming for customer delight.This has been made a sustainable management practice for the 24,000 Taj hotel employees.78% of the interaction with customers happen outside the purview of supervision.It is an industry in which 'word of mouth' is ten times more powerful than advertising.Out of 100 dissatisfied customers 95 do not complain to the  hotel but tell others.In such a scenario, it is very important that the internal communication is robust and employees know clearly what is expected of them with reference to the goals of the organization.The policy is to hire people for values and train them for skills.There is no compromise on values.

The challenge in respect of Tata Steel is relating to 78,000 employees in multiple locations for achieving the mission of  "lowest cost producer of quality steel in the world" in the next 3 years.what do you do differently to achieve this goal? The policy has been to reward 'customer excellence' and to reward 'goal achieving work' eg goal of ' lowest cost'.The speaker said that when he had visited Tata steel ( not working for Tata Group then)  as an external  ISO quality assessor along with a team, ordinary workmen very low in the hierarchy could explain how their work impacted the company goal of 'lowest cost producer'.A workman  said that the change in the way he is picking the ore has resulted in increase in productivity.He showed a chart exhibited at the department  which indicated figures of how much was saved in the last 3 days.The team interviewed union representatives to know how much they knew about the goal and to what extent they supported it.They said "Irani saheb (CEO) has made everything clear. He  meets us every week and we in turn tell employees of current situation and encourage them  to work hard for the goal."

Dr Manjunath, Director,  Jayadeva institute of  Cardiology shared the challenges of running a quality insttitution in the Government sector. The organization  is a government owned autonomous institute that has a strength of 640 beds, 5 cathlabs, 7 operation theatres, noninvasive laboratories and 24 hour ICU facilities.. On an average,80 angiograms/angioplasty and 15 open heart operations are done in a day at the hospital. The vision of the institute is "Quality care at affordable cost." It has NABH( National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers) accredition and by a patient centric approach has  achieved  a high level of satisfaction index.The focus has  been on quality,charity, subsidy and humanitarian approach.

Being a Government funded institution, decision making can be very slow & painful since no one wants to try anything new or take risks. Dr Manjunath, however stuck his neck out to introduce differential payment for  all classes of the employees, from doctors to to support staff  based on their  performance & involvement.  .This improved the motivational and energy levels in the organization.Dr Manjunath exhorted the audience to "take decisions if you are empowered" and gave instances of how he practises what he preaches.

Today, jayadeva institute has a single window OPD evaluation block for attending to ECG, X ray and other tests without delay.It has 40 full time cardiologists with no attrition in the last 8 years.As against 8 seats in All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, the Jayadeva institute has 21 seats for the DM (Doctor of Medicine) Cardiology course.While the Government funding is for a sum of Rs 60 crores, the institute has been able to generate 40 crores on its own through donations etc.

President Obama applauded the Jayadeva institute after he received  an E mail from a  US based non resident Indian informing  that the institute had treated him effectively( treatment  included ECG & other tests)  and with care by a  team of two cardiologists and support stafff. He was shocked when he was  charged only Rs 92 (US$2). .Dr Manujunath concluded his success story with the remark "We need to be system driven and not individual driven for sustained growth."

The last session of the summit was on "Labour reforms and the way forward" with the speakers being Dr Krishnamurthy IR consultant Mumbai and Mr B.C. Prabhakar, Lawyer & president Karnataka employers'association.The session was moderated by Mr Deenadayalan,Consultant.The first speaker spoke more about the approach to IR than on the subject of labour reforms.He suggested  that it is not laws  that will ultimately matter but relationships.He said that since conflict is natural and normal, people need to be taught how to handle conflict.

Mr B.C. Prabhakar in his talk underscored the importance of reforming the labour laws to facilitate 'ease of doing business.'.In this connection he said that the denial of right to close down an unviable business should be done away with.Similarly most of the provisions of  the outdated laws that date back to to the 1940s have to be done away with.However, he  expressed his apprehensions as  to whether this will actually happen, as the proposals of the government of the day are for fusion of a few statutes into one which retains the basic features of the original statutes.

At the valedictory session the Guest of honour was Mr Radhakrishnan Nair,Dean Sathya Sai institute.He is a product of XLRI who worked for Federal bank, Tata Group and other corporates before settling for an educationalist role.Mr Nair's valedictory address was in a way a fitting finale as it was  from a man who has seen it all and has reached a state of introspection.He wanted the HR practitioners to do the same .Mr Nair pointed out that somewhere we have failed to rise to the nobility of our vocation..HR, teaching and other such vocations, according to him  are more than just a profession.It calls for dedication.It gave me some satisfaction that I had discussed similar  issues in my book "Straight from the Heart- Thoughts and Experiences of an HR professional "published by cyberwit ( www.cyberwit.net/publications/790)

The speaker traveled down the memory lane to the times when he was a student at XLRI when his professor Neelima advised the students 'to become union leaders' She wanted that the role of educating workmen, looking after their interests and guiding them on the right path be played by educated people.Mr Nair said that it took a long time for him to understand what she really meant (create education in the masses).The speaker  opined that today, there is a disconnect between the employees of the company.Life styles have gone up and there is a huge gap between the first employee(CEO) and the last employee.Taking a cue from the theme of the IR Summit, Mr Nair exhorted the HR professionals to utilize this opportunity to educate people on what is good for our country.

A Summit to Cherish- The Jyothi Summit 2015

On 5th October 2015 when I visited the Jyothi Nivas College, a premier Womens’college in Bangalore for a guest lecture on “The Law of Attraction”, Dr Rose Kavitha, Dean of the MBA department told me about the summit. The college organizes a summit annually on different focus areas. This year it was to be on the theme “Quantum Leap in IT-2020 - Beyond digital shift”.

Later the Director, Dr.Sr Lalitha Thomas and the Dean invited me to attend the prestigious summit. Although I said “Yes”I was apprehensive that not being an IT professional, most of the proceedings would go above my head. Dr Kavitha , however assured me that the discussion would be general in nature with focus on the trends in IT and the practical challenges for the future. It turned out that attending this summit on October 10th was one of my most rewarding experiences.

During the welcome address, the Director Dr.Sr Lalitha Thomas underscored the importance of the subject and the additional significance of it being organized in the Golden jubilee year (50 Years) of the college. After the customary lighting of lamp the key note address of Dr Joseph shields, Managing Partner, Leadership Matters inc on the topic “Trends driving the future of information technology” set the tone for a robust discussion on the present and future trends in IT and the challenges ahead.

Dr Shields started his talk with some advice for the students telling them to always acknowledge and remember with gratitude all the people who invested in them and their wellbeing, be it parents, teachers or a distant relative. He said that one of the key shift in the general trend is that on account of technology, there are higher expectations from customers in terms of look, feel and usability of the product which need to be consistently met.

He gave the example of Tesla, the fastest car in the world. This high end luxury car provides customers an opportunity to design their own car, play around with colour combinations and the interiors of the car. Similarly, in the accommodation space, AIRBNB, Oyo Rooms & Zo rooms have revolutionised the   manner of booking accommodation wherein the customer can see in detail the interiors of the rooms and decide on the suitability. Similarly, technology has removed the long wait to meet a doctor which can be ‘just in time’ with prior appointment.                

Dr Shields stated that one of the most revolutionary changes that has happened is cloud computing in which “My data is stored somewhere else and not on my PC”. Data is becoming the world’s new natural resource with 500 million GBs of data being generated daily, 1 trillion connected objects and devices and 85% of new software being built for the cloud.

In the changed scenario while the traditional players  in IT had a 4% increase in growth, the new players like Amazon and Google grew by 28%.The key today has become big data analytics; in its absence the data is just wild data. It is expected that there would be a 57% increase in the data analytics market by 2019 and the maximum share in this connection would be Asia Pacific market with 39.1 %( next highest Europe by 14.4%).

The analytics would be done in different languages and for different demographics. Data analytics can contribute to both predictive and prescriptive analysis. Based on the data it becomes possible to predict when a person is likely to get a heart attack or when a disease is likely to show up. Weather forecasts can be predicted with better accuracy with analytics. Similarly in the area of finance; ROI, return on stock, when the next market crash is likely etc. can be predicted and enable discussions on the required reforms.

Based on the data analytics, the consumer pattern of customers can be analysed; as for example whether he tends to use more of late night calls or is a compulsive chatter’ Once the pattern is known suitable schemes can be prescribed or suggested to the customer that best meets his unique needs. Flipkart is taking advantage of this technology to find out what products consumers have searched on the net and then send quotes for the same. Google and other companies are bound to adopt this strategy in the near future. App town markets with ‘pay for use’ concept is on the rise.

The speaker pointed out that another area in which considerable changes have happened is with respect to the use of devices and the use of smart wearable devices. It is expected that between 2014 and 2019 there would be 40% CAGR (Compound annual growth rate) and the wearable smart devices would increase from 31% to 59% in 2019. The popularity and convenience of the IPad has been leveraged by the Andhra Pradesh Government in the form of Akash tablets.

Another impact of technology, according to Dr Shields is the reduction in distance between people with the availability of video streaming, audio streaming & mobile videos with 80% of data being available in cloud. Netflix has provided a fresh new experience of movies. There has been considerable growth in the global machine to machine growth and mobile to mobile connections with LPWA (Low power wide area network) evolving in a big way. With these advancement, smarter cities like Masdar in UAE (Abhudhabi) have evolved. Water recycling has been possible and provision for automatic switch off of street lights on the arrival of sun light. With technology, you can operate the washing machine from your office.

Dr Shields said that today, we have the IBM Watson, a computer that speaks back to you when you talk to it. It plays an important role in health care. It not only reduces big data to useful manageable levels but also helps in other areas such as oncology treatment and clinical trial matching. He concluded his excellent key note address laced with humour, with the observation that one needs to take up IT only if passionate and not merely as a profession. 

“Do you love technology? “Is the key question. If not, there are other ways to make money. Possession of knowledge does not necessarily mean progression. He cited the example of AT&T, the American telecommunication multinational which was one of the first to acquire knowledge of mobile technology but have allowed other more enterprising players to leave it behind. The speaker therefore advised the students to look beyond the obvious and focus on the application of technology and its possibilities in new areas.

The next session was a panel discussion on the subject “Leveraging the digital transformation to enhance work place productivity”. The session was moderated by Mr Patrick Pitchappa, VP technology Division, Goldman Sachs and the members were Mr K.B.Unni, VP, Business model Redesign, Wipro Technologies, Mr Samson Selwyn, Practice Lead-Volvo IT and Mr Beniston Joel, Program Manager-CISCO

Kick starting the session the moderator Mr Pitchappa underscored the fact that work place has changed forever with the advent of technology. He said the truck drivers in the west who drive 18 wheelers, now have on their dashboard android touch screen. They  can go to Facebook, skype, check weather, do the diagnostics of the vehicle and be warned of state borders. The technological transformation has made insignificant the disability of a physically challenged person to contribute at work.

The first question posed to the panel was “What matters most in a digital economy?” The question was answered by Mr Samson who declared categorically that business result was what mattered the most- increased revenue and more satisfied customers. IT is in the process of moving from a supporting, enabling role to a results role. The results discussed here includes those from the customers ’point of view of which speed is a minimum expectation. Mr Samson stated that the difference between IT and business is going away.

I found this part of the discussion very interesting; normally, it is in HR forums that member’s breast beat and say “we are not sufficiently business oriented. We need to improve considerably in this regard.” The fact is all the functions, whether production, IT or HR had been focusing for a long time on their own area of specialisation, ignoring the basic purpose of the business. In fact in a country like India which started out with the Nehruvian Socialism, ‘profit‘ was believed, though not openly stated to be a dirty word and public sectors used to pride themselves  that their primary purpose was to provide employment. Time has come for all functions to look at the holistic picture and connect whatever they do with the business objectives of the organization.

Mr Samson who is working for Volvo gave practical examples of what it means to be business results oriented- The IT professional working in Volvo should concern himself with the following questions: - How many Volvo vehicles are being sold? How safe are they? How can IT support the said goals of the company? If presently a new application takes two weeks to roll out; can IT do it in just one day in future with the help of latest technology?

The next question viz what are the 4 big changes that has happened in the field of IT in the last decade? was taken by Mr Beniston who said that the (1) Growth of the internet (2) the changes in the quality and reach of devices (3) Changes in the way we share information and (4) Influence of Social media are the 4 big changes. He related stories of the earliest computers that were huge in size and difficult to carry. In sharp contrast are today’s lap top.Benistion said that in the future we may not have a specific work place with employees working from the lawn, cafeteria or any other place. IPad and high end devices may replace laptop and employees working across the globe.

The changes in the way information is shared can be traced to the times of the highly unreliable floppy disks to the requirement of burning CDs to the present USB devices with high storability. There has been a transition from legacy systems (that could be applied only in one area)  to a scenario where are all are automated and large scale network migrations are  possible.

The question “What are the big hurdles in implementing DT in work place was put to Mr K.B.Unni. He replied that India is not a country that is same in every way; there are multiple India within India with varying aspirations, exposure and understanding of technology. Therefore technology cannot answer fully all the needs of the people.

 However personal life is much more enabled today whether it is with regard to railway ticketing or ordering things on the net. The metric has shifted from looking at everything from the point of view of the cost to the ease and need of the user. He said that enterprises need to be even more customer centric and from B to B; the focus has to move towards B to B to C. (Business to business to consumer).

 To another question as to whether “Digital India would be a reality?” Mr Unni answered in the affirmative and he said the initiative of  leading banks in AP was encouraging. Trust and the gradual change in the mind-set of people would yield results.He answered in a similar vein the question as to "what extent technology would touch lives of an uneducated man on the street?". The common man will also start using technology when he starts seeing the advantages in terms of saved time, money and energy. The fisherman and the vegetable vendor has started using it and this will increase in the days to come

The question “What are the expectations from the new knowledge worker was answered by Mr Samson. He said that IT is becoming a business skill. He advised students to look at it as more than a technology and look at ways and places of its application. There is a need to develop skills of people to people interaction .The focus needs to shift from “Look at me world “or “What’s in it for me?” to the real purpose of unleashing the technology. He also advised the students  connect with the network of providers-“Scan the environment to know latest needs” The question to oneself should be “How do I innovate every day?”

The panel discussion was very impressive and there was a natural flow in the proceedings. In one of my earlier blogs on “Business Agility”, I had shared as to how a discussion organized by the Madras School of Social Work in 2014  in which I also happened to participate as member of the panel was very effective .( http://hrdian.blogspot.in/2014/02/business-agility.html ) On that occasion, the success was more by chance than design as we the panel members were meeting for the first time on the morning of the program. I was told that the Jyothi summits leave nothing to chance and that the panel members had met previously to ensure that the discussion flowed purposefully and each member complimented what the other was speaking.

The last session in the forenoon before lunch was by the scientist, Dr Krishna Chandra Gouda of C-MMACS who spoke about the impact of technology in analysing data and improving predictions. There was a loud cheer from the audience normally reserved for rock stars when this speaker took the mike. I was told that he had on occasions previously addressed them. However, the secret to such applause became evident soon after he started speaking for every other line was loaded with humour.

Dr Gouda started off by stating that innovation should help the common man whether it is the farmer ( predictions on monsoon, hybrid seeds etc) or the consumer on medical matters. He said that handling big data is the key and shared with the audience research done by him and his organization on weather and other trends including that of the connection between pollution and population.

 Another aspect for leveraging the benefits of technology is networking so that connection is made with the person who has the need and his needs addressed. In this connection Dr Gouda explained the theory of “Six degrees of separation” which postulates that “everyone and everything is six or fewer steps away, by way of introduction, from any other person in the world, so that a chain of "a friend of a friend" statements can be made to connect any two people in a maximum of six steps. By applying this concept we would be able to connect the person who has a need with the one who can give the solution.

Post lunch we had an inspiring presentation by Mr Resington, Industrial Automation Consultant under the caption “Meet the Trend setter”. The speaker explained about an App he has developed to warn Indian fishermen when crossing over to Srilankan territory. We frequently hear of our fisherman being intercepted and jailed in Srilanka for unauthorised crossing over the border.

 SOR (Save Our Race) App, enables Indian Fishermen to know the direction in which he is sailing, the speed and position where he is at a particular point of time.SOR has a graphical representation of India- SriLanka Boundary (As per UNO agreement signed on 1976) and the current distance (in Nautical Miles) between the user's boat and the Indo - Sri Lanka Maritime boundary.

SOR will give warning in the form of Coloured Text in Tamil ( Green if inside Indian territory, Yellow for a warning and Red if vessel goes  outside our territory) and also a Siren Sound, if and when the fishermen gets close to the India-SriLanka Maritime boundary.

SOR has a data logger through which the user can store 5000 Logs in every 5 minutes of Interval. In an emergency, if the user receives mobile signal, the fishermen can send a SOS (Save our Souls- an emergency message) to the pre-stored mobile phone in the shore. This message contains, Date, Time, Latitude, Longitude and the IMEI Code, which information will be very useful to rescue them as soon as possible. 

Mr Resington informed that except for the SOS message for which internet connection was required, all other features work in flight mode without internet. The App introduced from Dec 6, 2014 is free and available in play store. I joined the audience in passionately and  spontaneously  applauding this noble initiative. Coming from a coastal area in Tamilnadu, himself, Mr Resington  could understand the needs, trials and tribulations faced by the fishermen in this belt and come out with a solution.

Yes, here was a summit to cherish with its immense knowledge sharing, excellent ambience and quality of speakers. The icing on the cake was a Bharatanatyam and Peacock dance performance by the students of the College. As I thanked the organizers and bid farewell, I knew for sure that this was one experience that I would long cherish!