Celebrating the spirit of Intraprenuers

On the world map, if there is any nation which epitomizes entrepreneurship or the presence of business acumen, it has to be India. Americans might be the capitalist but there cult of greed took them away from their greens. India on the other hand is a land where business prevails in the entire 130 crores of the human mass present. From Mumbai dabbawallas to Mumbai Indians, everything has a business case to it.  From the unorganized versions of making livelihood to the most organized ways of living in mansions, entrepreneurship encompasses one and all.
       
                        India has been celebrating the spirit of entrepreneurship since we got freedom. Off late with the advent of the wave of globalization and the world becoming flat, things have started to change.  Business started to organize; MNCs started entering India and India Inc began took note of the first major challenge of business. The challenge was not in doing business; it was also not in beating the competition but in preserving and maintaing the human capital for sustainable development. With the spirit of doing business, India saw a lot of talent dropping out of their highly paid jobs and started on their own.  The workforce wanted to break free from mundane jobs, routines and create ,innovate and think which could add meaning and value to their lives and lives around. Quite surprisingly a lot of these also could succeed in their ventures .Hence the realization of this fact lead the organizations to a very important question “ What should a company do to prevent its cream from leaving and starting on their own “

                                                             After a lot of research and brainstorming and introspection, India Inc came out with a solution. They decided that every entrepreneur has to learn to create entrepreneurs within. He/She has to create or provide opportunities or the same meaning which the cream of the organization is longing for. Only by doing so this migration could be curtailed. Thus a journey has been traveled; from entrepreneurs we have now given birth to INTRAPRENUERS.

                    In Simple terms when an organization or entrepreneurs decides to offer opportunities, resources, tolerance to failure and space for new ideas, we say he is creating Intraprenuers. This is one of the most futuristic approaches an organization can implement. The underlying premise is an internal VS external parity concept. It means that any organization is like a tight rope walker; on one hand they have their external customer and on the other hand internal customers. So far they have been spending their lives getting as many external customers as possible. Advertising campaigns, blue ocean strategies and guerilla warfare in the market place, all this and much more only for the external customers. Today we exist in an ecosystem which is driven by the customer’s pocket, his whims and fancies and not by the organizations. Hence the customer pool is different and ever changing. In such times what remains constant or at least can be kept constant is the pool of internal customers. No customer from the external side stays with you for 5 or 7 years, only an employee does. This is the time when we need to plan internally first and then let the internal customers plan the external ones. The thinkers of the organizations or the visionaries need to have a vision for their people first and then the business shall follow automatically.   

        When I say celebrate the spirit of Intraprenuers, I simply mean that internal customers have to be given the space and the liberty to emerge as entrepreneurs within. However the trick lies in finding out the potential Intraprenuers and honing them to cultivate, create and innovate a space which is not only monetarily feasible but adds that value and meaning to his life.

                   The future for India Inc is bright and shiny for reasons more than one, but one reason which I feel is the harbinger of success is: India Inc has learnt the art of channelising the embryonic creativity and innovation in socially acceptable and desirable ideas and services. From Anna Hazaare to facebook we have celebrated every idea and that’s what I call the world of Intraprenuers.

“There are three kinds of people in the world, first who live in boxes all their lives, second who live out of the boxes all the time and then the third those who make their own boxes and then the world lives in them.”

From Great to Greater to Greatest value

“Leave the Rest; I feed myself, as I AM THE POOREST.”

The above adage is a reflection of how business used to happen in India till a few years back. Organization, institutions were happy feeding their right hand with their left hand. The Wealth which was created inside was used for paying salaries, dividends, and bonuses to keep various stakeholders merry and chirpy. Like always it was on the government to redefine how the society looked, the standard of living and creating a better eco systems. If asked to contribute and add value to the poor they used the above adage “I AM THE POOREST “though not literally but was a comfortable excuse to shrug off the philanthropically influenced wish of society. After quite a few years passed and industries made merry, government opened different sectors and the business became consumer dominated, these behemoths realized the importance of the so called PHILANTHROPIC DREAM.

                                                Coming back to the present, we see things have changed, transformed and business has been migrated to the world of IRS. IRS stands for Indispensable Responsibility of Society, yes THE WORLD CALLS IT CSR. In India, it has not been an overnight change, its one of most gradual realizations which the industry seems to have gone through. This time its not about making hospital and schools and letting them run , its really about handholding the society , the environment , the ecosystem , just like you handhold your customer .

                                                            The idea of Corporate Social responsibility has taken magnanimous dimensions today. There aren’t any organizations that have not extended their arm to add that incremental value to the society. Whether it is eco friendly air conditioners, energy saving lighting solution, e-CHOUPAL, recycled paper or the EARTH HOUR.  Every corner of our lives, directly and indirectly have been touched by solutions which are a value to the society. The economic aspect has been handheld in form of rural banking and GRAMEEN FINANCE schemes. The Social aspect is taken care by the vocational education initiatives to make India employable. And finally enviornement is being touched by green fuel, green engines and green offices. So far so that now it’s the turn of ecoprenuers rather than entrepreneurs.

                                                            However, what is more interesting is the why?  Why has the industry taken charge of society or their social responsibilities? Why is it that, every organization is willing to invest and divert their funds towards society. What makes them ecoprenuers and humane organizations? To answer these questions, we need to divulge into the dynamics of business and society. The major reason which triggered CSR is the failure on government’s part to deliver on their commitments. (Though it’s not new for the largest democracy on this earth). But when there is unskilled manpower backed by highest drop out rates in primary education and the youth comprising of 65 percent of population, the industry just couldn’t afford to let go of this strength. Hence the educational initiatives to have a better working class thereby increase in disposal incomes. On the other hand when the world talks about global warming and depleting ozone layer, just at that moment the prescription is green fuel, appliances, automobiles and offices. The point here is simple, create a better education system so that the it affects the GDP of the country which in turn means that more people buy the goods and services these players produced. Secondly, making the society a better place is the best and the most cost effective way to position yourself as the HUMANE ORGANISATION. From refrigerators, bulbs to air conditioners, everything has a touch of green to it. All this and much more to express to the society that apart from the government there is some one else who CARES. Today synchronizing your business processes with social objectives is the best way to create a warm and responsive customer base for yourself. So, without an iota of doubt there is also a business case in CSR. That’s exactly my last point is. The business of business is to do business .They should be left to do that. Reforming the society and providing basic amenities or uplifting has never been the blue eyed areas of any investor. Inspite of this when they take charge and add value they create a platform where they stand proudly to do their business and multiply their wealth AND THEN no one complaints.

To summarize, India has traveled a journey of value creation, from great to greater and finally greatest value is being added, through, by and for the society. I not as businessman or any industry expert but as a common man proudly admit that our industry has finally learnt to take the society, economy and the nation along with their pursuit of maximizing wealth.

Strategy: A difficult word for difficult people!!

It has almost been a decade; I have been in the consulting side of business. I kind of have lost count of the no of organization with whom we partnered and made them up and running .Not only that, few have opened their businesses using our backbone. From manpower to consumer insights and to marketing strategies, we gave them all. If I were to say my organization did 360 degree overhaul of India Inc …I wont be wrong or overestimating my deliverables.

                                                However, what still surprises me or my acumen is a strange word in the language of business. This word has always made me feel alien to the world of business. What so ever it means, this word has always meant something which is not to be decoded or cannot be decoded. The word which is in mention here is STRATEGY. Well!! We all grow up hearing and adoring this word. Management graduates worship this in books, organization worship this in context of their CEO’s and consulting firms have mastered the art of producing and reproducing strategies.

                                                            Quite honestly, somewhere and somewhat, at the back of my mind I have termed the word strategy as the most overrated, highly publicized and a perfect gimmick for selling any product/service in the market place.

I do not deny the presence of ideas or the brilliance through which they get executed.

What I detest, loath or despise is the aura of the word which dissects or disconnects a common resource in an organization in contributing to the value chain. To make it crystal clear … a simple question is what I seek answers for … ask a normal average employee…

KINDLY FORMULATE A STAREGY FOR THE DROP IN SALES BY TOMORROW?

After this question, pat comes the unsaid reply …”strategy making is not my job, these are to be made by experts, those people who have been there and done that, so why should I bother myself “

In simple terms, we have just disconnected the resource by putting the onus of this heavy word on his shoulders.

On the other hand, if the question would have been,

I WOULD LIKE TO HAVE YOUR VIEWS ON PICKING UP THE SALES, LET”S SEE WHO IS MOST CREATIVE. SO JUST LET YOUR MIND FREE.

GIVE ME THE MOST INNOVATIVE SOLUTION?

The difference here is quite simple. The first method has an alienated feel to it, as the word strategy needs to have experience, knowledge and expertise so on so forth. However the latter is more inclusive in nature. It connects the human capital with the problem. It also gives the leverage to think as innovatively as possible.

The point here is simple, I request the organizations and India Inc to help me decode or redefine the word strategy into a more user friendly expression. We need people from bottom to top who can think on their feet and come out with ideas every second. Every simple idea which originates in a mind, irrespective of its qualification/experience/expertise is termed as a strategy only when it is accepted in the market. Only when that idea becomes commercial viable, it is called a STRATEGY. Before its execution and success or failure it’s just a simple idea. Hence let’s just treat ideas as ideas and not make them into rocket science by calling them as strategies. If we need more so called strategies, then we need to have more of ideas and to have more ideas, we need to have less of strategy.

Difficult???? ….Yes Strategy is a difficult word for difficult people.

The battle between 50 crore or 50,000: Choice is yours?

A lot has been spoken and written about the warfare in the markets. So much so that experts have compared the competition to the military warfare. Few call it the clash of the titans and few name it as the battle for survival. Organizations in almost all sectors since time immemorial have waged war against competitors, for just one single thing……CUSTOMERS and CUSTOMERS. For instance, telecom industry now realizes that its impossible to convince someone to buy their network services, hence the idea of mobile number portability. These players know for a fact that incoming calls and messages cant run their shops , so now they have been seducing customers with value added service and war of applications . On the other hand the consumer durable sector has also been trying to find out some share of our pockets by offering us eco friendly air conditioners and energy saving lighting solution. Even the retails players through their predatory pricing and thin line margins want to enter every household. In amidst this entire race there is an indispensable point which our India Inc seems to ignore. Every innovation or creativity is important so is its commercial viability but there is something which is even above all this. The so called battle will not be won by better products or better innovation or spending more on research and development. The point which all of us seem to ignore is that the external customers have been and will remain the same. The same set of customers for telecom, the same set for retails and consumer durables. However what differs is the internal customer. Each organization today has its own set of internal customers. These internal customers define and decide what is to be sold and how it is to be sold. For all said and done they are the fabric of the organization. In such an ecosystem, every employee leaving is like a customer in the market buying your competitor. Not only that along with him two other also will buy your competitor that means, leave your organization and serve someone else. The battle out there can be only controlled (not won) by making new products, offering new solutions, new value adds and better services. For those organizations who have to win the war and hoist their flag up and high, they need to build a strong force of internal customers. Before they worry about their dwindling sales, they should worry about the workforce movement. They need to understand that for a sustainable growth and unbeatable competitive advantage, an organization’s internal customers have to be their first priority. An internally bleeding organization will never be able to win over the external customers. The differentiating factor more than anything is the respect an organization gives to its human capital.

Any war can be won in two ways. Make a huge dent in the army of your opponent or have the best army yourself so no one dares to fight with you. What organizations have been doing is trying to make a dent in the opponent by fueling the competition day in day out .However, its very simple, make the best army and create a sustainable advantage for yourself for the longest time you can imagine. Even the numbers state the fact: external customers can be anywhere between 5lacs to 50 crore, on the other hand internal customers will not be more than 50,000. Just ask yourself, is it easy to manage 50 crore or 50,000. I Say just manage the 50,000 and they shall manage even 500 crore for you.

Thus the battle is not just external but internal as well.

To come out and fight it hard the way goes from within deep down inside.

Using social media for recruitment

The internet has come a long way from where it had started in 1969. It has evolved and has come to be an indispensable part of our daily lives today. India has close to 100 billion internet users today, and a research says that 4 out of 5 English speaking persons in urban India are hooked to the World Wide Web. The internet has penetrated all aspects of our lives, spurred by a rash of cheaper devices and affordable broadband plans, and is an indelible part of life today. Business today depends a lot on the internet in terms of marketing and reaching out to its customers. Every aspect of business has a virtual arm today, and it is only natural, that HR and recruitment have also found its place in the vast interlinked network of the internet.

Networking over the social media is considered to be important today, and it too has evolved from merely serving as a platform to find old friends, to making business connections and associations. Almost every internet literate person today has a social media presence and this is used as an opportunity by recruiters to do a background check on potential employees. A web presence today comes with equal boon and blessing. Whilst it gives a person the necessary and required presence and exposure to headhunters, it also can work against him if loose or banal information is provided on the person’s personal page.

Advantages of social media recruitment:

• Job candidates can be searched geographically and found with higher accuracy than before, narrowing the number of candidates and adding to recruiting effectiveness.
• Available jobs can get filled quicker, lowering vacancy rates because of social media's high usage rate and immediate response time.
• Social media recruitment has a low cost with high ROI.
• High number social media users are college students, creating a great way to attract fresh talent for entry level positions.
• Access to the top job candidates is faster, helping a company's ability to attract talent versus competitors.
• Increases the employer's brand visibility online and establishes a leading-edge image for the brand.
• Open positions will be seen and read by a larger number of qualified candidates.

Like everything, there are two sides to this coin too. A scouring of one’s social media page can throw up some details that one would like to keep away from the recruiter’s eye. Looking at recruitment over the social media from the candidate’s point of view, one might conclude that it is no more enough to create a web profile of your choice, which would cater to only friends and serve to increase your social network.

Today, one needs to be careful about the kind of matter that one adds into his profile, and the kind of comments that he makes online. One also needs to take care to choose communities and associates online carefully, as recruiters today are prone to do a background check on a potential employee to see whether the said person is on the same page as the organization’s culture.

                                                                                 

Employer Branding !!!

What defines an employer brand? First publicly introduced to a management audience in 1990, the term has come to be associated with a favorable perception that an organization succeeds in creating for its existing as well as potential employees. It has been defined as “the package of functional Economic and psychological benefits provided by employment, and identified with the employing company.”


Employer branding- creating an image of the organization
Every organization has to create something unique to attract and retain their main capital- the employees. It essentially constitutes what the employee gets out of the organization over and above the monetary compensation for providing his services.

Employer Branding- why is it necessary?
Every company needs to compete in today’s world to get the best manpower possible. It is not only about the job-seeker who needs the job, it is also about the organization capturing and retaining the right talent at the right time. Shortage of skilled manpower post-recession and rising costs have made employer branding a necessity among the HR personnel the world over. Building up a brand for your company and fulfilling the promises keeps the current employee happy and attracts new, talented ones.

Cost Cutting: Creating a brand gives the organization an edge over its competitors to bargain for lesser compensation packages. Employees want to work for a brand, irrespective of salary levels.

Hiring the right talent: People are the primary asset of a company and hiring and retaining top performers will only contribute to the organization’s growth and profitability.

Brand association: Professionals want to work for a company which has been able to create an image for itself in the market, as a responsible and honest employer. The employer brand intertwines with the consumer brand, as job-seekers increasingly try to associate themselves with a brand.

The key to business success: Creating a brand image separates an organization from the clutter of competition. Employees remain ever loyal to a power brand employer compared to its lesser counterparts.

How to become the employer of choice through effective branding?
The first step calls for research within and without the company amidst the target group. Research needs to be done on the following parameters:

• Know how the target group perceives the employer

• Learn what the target group wants and needs from the employer

• Discover where the employer is positioned in relation to its competition

• Ensure that the research is updated regularly

The next step is to zero in on a unique offer or the Employee Value Proposition (EVP). This helps the organization to differentiate itself from its competition. Every company should have something to offer which its competition doesn’t. This will help employers attract a premium talent pool and increase employee engagement, besides decreasing salary costs.

Communication channels are the next most important deciding factor in building up an effective employer brand. An effective medium of communication needs to be set up. Various media can be used; it could be the corporate website of the channel, a seminar in a college, a newspaper advertisement or taking part in an event- the medium needs to be determined in tune with the target group.

Existing employees are also an important medium for advertising one’s brand. An organization conscious of building its brand in the perspective of its employees needs to works on two parameters where it comes to the existing employees:

• What an employee knows about the organization and

• What he/she feels about it

Positivism on these parameters brings on an emotive engagement towards the organization, which makes the employees ambassadors of the employer brand. The organization thus succeeds in creating an impression of itself, when the top management is transparent in its ideas and actions.

The most important resource for a company is its employees, and if the company takes care of the employee, the employee will in turn take care of the company. Like Bill Marriott of Marriott Hotels says, "Take care of the associates, and they'll take good care of the guests, and the guests will come back."

Succession Planning !!!

The show must go on. Handing over the baton at the right time to the right person is a tightrope walk. India Inc. understands the importance of running the show without interruptions; hence companies like Tata Sons, HCL, Godrej group and RPG enterprises have succession plans in place and are in the process of working out names of successors who will take over the respective companies once the currents chiefs retire.

Succession Planning is essentially a process for identifying and developing internal people with the potential to fill key leadership positions in the company. Planning a replacement for a key role in an organization is the crux of succession planning. Needless to say then that the entire process requires that employees be recruited keeping a long term plan in mind and also adequate training provided for the future handling of responsibilities.

Besides providing a platform for the smooth running of the business, succession planning has some other advantages as well. They are as follows:

• It helps employees understand the long term goals and objectives of the organization
• A plan helps identify the developmental and training needs of future leaders
• It is beneficial for employees too, as it helps them understand what qualities the company is looking for in a person to fill in the leader’s shoes. It gives them an idea of what skills and talents are highly valued and what they need to work on to qualify themselves for future roles.

Succession Planning in family held businesses traditionally targeted only key leadership positions. But with the evolution of business and decentralization of departments in organizations, it has become imperative that top positions in all categories of jobs be considered for succession planning.

It is important to keep the motivation levels high and focus on retention of high-potential employees in an organization; especially so if the company is looking at a succession plan. A well placed retention plan creates a highly motivated workforce and a more productive work environment. This in turn enables the company to put in place a well-thought out succession plan for the future.

There are a few steps to creating an effective succession plan. Since this kind of strategy has to be thought out well in advance, it is important that the organization has a loyal workforce and can stem attrition, at least from the middle level up.

Identification of leadership qualities is the most important factor in a succession plan. Certain skills and managerial qualities need to be identified in employees to determine the competencies required for success at key positions.

An organization also needs to identify whether or not it has a pool of competent and qualified candidates ready to assume leadership positions when the need arises. Managers play a big role at this stage of a succession plan. They might have to identify top-performers on their teams, who can pick up the reins when required.

Training is important, as it enables employees to learn more and handle additional responsibilities which prepare them for future roles as leaders. Retention and hiring of high potential employees is also important in the etching of a succession plan.

The overall business plan of the organization needs to be kept in mind while designing a succession plan. A strong development program needs to be put in place that will ensure that the right people with the right qualifications are able to take up responsibilities at the right time.