Untold : HR THROUGH DETECTIVE ROUTE

Untold : HR THROUGH DETECTIVE ROUTE: Seven Multi National Companies (from same origin) joined hands in 1992 to bridge the gap between what they want and what they get from acad...

HR THROUGH DETECTIVE ROUTE

Seven Multi National Companies (from same origin) joined hands in 1992 to bridge the gap between what they want and what they get from academia at entry level. My company was one of them. Through a national advertisement prospective trainees were made to apply for a company of their preference. National test at seven locations was carried out simultaneously. Those qualified were further interviewed and finally selected.

My company had committed for two trainees. The arrangement was, for a two-year management program (not approved by AICTE), Sponsoring organization will bear all the expenses of deputed trainee/s, including monthly stipend. Also it was mandatory to absorb the trainee/s after successful completion of the course in suitable grade, in a department of his/her choice (even if there is no vacancy in that department).

SHE was selected for the first batch. Five trimesters at Mumbai and equal nos. at Pune in my company was the course structure. She was good at academics, good at grasping organizational work (although was not from engineering background). No doubt, she completed the course with flying colors. We attended the convocation function at Mumbai and congratulated her.

On her return, she signed a three-year service bond with us (part of our arrangements). She was given choice and she selected Internal Audit Department. Her qualifications and background hardly matched this choice. We tried to convince her but she was firm.

She got into Audit. Started travelling (with her male colleagues) all over India (my company had seven manufacturing locations and a network of zonal and branch offices). Feedback from her Manager was somehow not encouraging. She was carrying the baggage of her unique course and expecting special treatment. To me, it appeared that her choice of department had gone wrong. Rectification was possible, we started getting indications from her Mumbai Principal as well.

Before some steps could be taken, she stopped reporting for duties. During training, I was her reporting manager and also responsible for her leave etc. Now the scene had changed as she was our regular employee.

Routine HR processes were followed. Letters sent to her "LAST KNOWN ADDRESS." ( They bounced back since she had not updated her new address with the company.) This was breach of contract as she was to serve us for three years after the course. Now as per the condition of the contract recovery of Rupees 1,84,000/- from her (towards stipend and other expenses of her two-year program which were taken care by the company) was mandated. 

Then came an idea of appointing a detective agency in Pune to get her whereabouts. Neither her address was known nor the details of her new job were known. First time in my life, I found out one such agency (about which I had only read in Detective Novels). The arrangements were worked out. (New type of agreement).

After about three weeks, the agency gave us a report about her employment. She had joined a financial firm in Camp area.

I approached her employer and narrated entire episode seeking his help. He refused to cooperate us. The last step was to file a case against her in court. ( so that it becomes a glaring example for next batches of trainees and the message is loud and clear.) We approached our advocate and filed case.

It went on for almost three years. She was hardly present for hearings. Meanwhile she left that job also.

Finally she pleaded in the court that she was ready to repay the amount with interest to the company. But since she was jobless, she cannot afford to pay few lacs of rupees in one go.

The court accepted this and ordered her to repay few hundred rupees per month.

I also left that organization after few years, but I am sure, in case she is religiously repaying, then the episode must still be going on !  

Untold : HR DIMENSION OF BUSINESS- STORY FOUR

Untold : HR DIMENSION OF BUSINESS- STORY FOUR:



PROMOTIONS LINKED WITH RETRENCHMENT



 During my tenure as Head- HR with a family owned business, I was summoned one fine morning by our Ch...

HR DIMENSION OF BUSINESS- STORY FOUR

PROMOTIONS LINKED WITH RETRENCHMENT

During my tenure as Head- HR with a family owned business, I was summoned one fine morning by our Chairman.

" Nitin, we have more headcount. Lets plan down sizing. My target is around 20-25 people in staff category to be sent home in next month. Please work out."

My past experience of two organizations came handy and I prepared a detailed proposal. Also identified a tentative list, based on their performance and kept it with me.

Then I called a meeting of all heads and informed them about Management's plan.  I requested them to identify and give me a list of name/s from their departments, whom they would like to terminate. Rest HR will handle.

Shock for almost all. Something new was going to happen and hardly they had participated in similar exercise earlier. I shared with them standard HR Criteria for such kind of situation and assured all possible help to see that the sailing is smooth.

Almost a week went. No response, no names, no lists. HODs and departmental managers were still confused and probably were not ready to enjoy bad name. 

Again I was summoned by chairman to know the update on this front. I told him the facts. The old man lost his cool and immediately called a meeting in his chamber. Around 10-12 HODs came- totally clueless.

Chairman looked at me and instructed- " If you do not get name/s from any HOD by end of day, then put that person's name in retrenchment list. If no one in any team is bad performer then either my departments are world class and hence they do not need any manager to supervise them or my HODs are incompetent to assess and spot a poor performer from the team. In either situation, I do not want such HOD with me."

The meeting got over. All approached me. I once again extended help to them. One very pertinent question came-
" Since you are Head- HR, are you going to start from your department?"

Being a seasoned HR professional, I had anticipated this question. I simply replied- " Yes ! A team of five reports to me for looking after all India HR operations. One of them will go.So I am cutting my strength by 20%."

Their last hope also failed. Some how, I got 20-25 names from all departments. They were more or less matching my personal list.

Rest process was confidential. We succeeded in right sizing. There was obvious resistance, but finally things fell in place.

I did one more thing- "transfer of ownership." The retrenchment process (either through resignation or termination with all legal formalities) took place in presence of respective HOD. Otherwise, I would have enjoyed bad name (I was obviously prepared for this because as HR, I am never on popularity track. If HR is responsible for ENTRY, then they must accompany the employee till or beyond EXIT.) I told each HOD- " If you are issuing increment and promotion letters every year to your teammates proudly, then be prepared for issuance of retrenchment letters as well. Do not try to be in good books of out going employees giving them a feeling that HR is the bad man. This is pure professional act and we are not their enemies. "

Before next appraisals, I devised a new rule- Each HOD while submitting me a list of employees to be considered for promotion (with due justification) should also submit me another list (with justification) of people (poor performers) to be removed. Then the balance can be achieved. You are appreciating good performance at the same time you are not soft to non performers. The message was loud and clear and it worked.

When I look back, I realize, the reasons behind working of this rule were- Chairman's much needed support and a very strong PMS (Performance Management System). All in all, we linked promotions with retrenchment !   

Untold : HR DIMENSION OF BUSINESS- STORY THREE

Untold : HR DIMENSION OF BUSINESS- STORY THREE:



WORKMEN COMPENSATION ACT CANNOT ADDRESS THIS !



Shift end activities were at peak. Next day a big consignment was to leave for USA. Paper...

HR DIMENSION OF BUSINESS- STORY THREE

WORKMEN COMPENSATION ACT CANNOT ADDRESS THIS !

Shift end activities were at peak. Next day a big consignment was to leave for USA. Paper work was in progress. By the time it was ready, the clock was showing 7 pm. The team decided to visit the authority's place to obtain signature and approval. The official used to stay at a district place, about 45 km away from the plant. Two persons took company's jeep to reach him. He was informed over phone and he had consented to oblige.

At night around 1 am, we got phone call. Our jeep had met with a severe accident on the highway and all three persons in the jeep died on the spot.

We rushed. The scene was unbelievable. Jeep had crashed. The dead bodies were beyond any identification. Police were informed. We went to government hospital. Postmortem and other formalities went on till 7 am. Meanwhile we were trying to find out about this accident. The government official confirmed that around 9.30 pm he had cleared all documents. May be jeep planned for return journey so as to reach before midnight. What exactly went wrong, nobody knows but there was collision on the highway and the truck driver managed to vanish as usual. Probably the bodies continued lying on the road for some time for want of help.

Finally, some vehicle stopped. No mechanism was with them to identify and report. They managed to locate our company's logo on the dashboard of jeep. Somehow I-cards were also traced  and then the news came to security gate.

Hearts of family members were obviously broken, when our ambulance reached company. Such scene always makes me uncomfortable. That is " professional hazard " for HR fraternity. Meeting body pieces of colleagues ( with whom we have shared lots of moments of joy in the past) is nothing worst than sin. Words have no voice, when it comes to speaking to their family members on such occasion.

The real question was- If two employees had booked company jeep and prepared gate pass, after official permission, where does the THIRD person come in picture ?

One canteen boy, after finishing his daily routine, just requested them and accompanied- without intimation, without permission. The most unfortunate person that day, who had invited his death- a young 20-21 year old boy, that too a person working on our premises through a contractor. He was not even our employee.

Final rituals were performed. Legal matters initiated. With heavy heart, our routine started. As per the provisions of Workmen Compensation Act, we settled two cases. Wife of one of the employees was even offered a job as clerk on humanitarian grounds.

Question was about the canteen boy ! Who will take the responsibility of his compensation? We found out a solution- appeal was made for personal contributions to all the employees. Whatever few thousands thus collected, were handed over to his father. Nowhere match to the loss ! Only a small satisfaction, that we continue to be " HUMAN".

Legislation never thinks of such situations while being framed or amended.     

    

Untold : HR DIMENSION OF BUSINESS- STORY TWO

Untold : HR DIMENSION OF BUSINESS- STORY TWO:                                                LESSON IN "BEING HUMAN"                                                          ...

HR DIMENSION OF BUSINESS- STORY TWO

                                               LESSON IN "BEING HUMAN"
                                                                                                              Dr. N. H. DESHPANDE

Khedkar was my one of favorite workers in final assembly department. Silent, polite, cooperative, productive and hardly seen in any union politics. He used to confine himself to his work.
Only one bad habit- chewing tobacco ! I used to shout at him, but with a smile on face he used to neglect that.  

Out of 12 stages on main line, he had an important place- trailing arm sub- assembly.
A new ambitious two-wheeler product was launched by the company. Huge booking and a healthy waiting list. Naturally all were excited and under pressure also.  I was assembly In charge and we used to hardly assemble 55 vehicles/shift. The humble beginning was from 5 vehicles/shift and now management wanted us to reach 100 vehicles/ shift as early as possible.

That morning, there was something wrong with Khedkar. He was extraordinarily silent. Did not wish me at the start of shift. Directly started work at his stage. Frequently going to wash room and tobacco chewing was continuous.

In a hour or so from the start of shift, I noticed that line speed is slowing down. Vehicles were getting accumulated at Khedkar's stage. Naturally next stage operators were idle. Unless Khedkar completes and fits his trailing arm assembly, petrol tank, seat, engine fitment stages were not moving. I tried to push him, but he was somewhere.

Around lunch time, our half day production was nearing 16 vehicles. At this rate, it was next to impossible to achieve daily target of 55 vehicles. I again asked him whether he wanted some support or should I change his stage? He simply said " I am trying to do my best ! You are also observing me. Cannot be faster than this." I kept mum.
Post lunch, I was trying to push production so that we can reach a comfortable figure. Khedkar continued to be bottleneck.

Around 2 pm, I lost my cool and shouted at him. Blamed him for loss of production and told that he will be held responsible. He just said " do whatever you want to do ! I don't care." This was insult to me in front of entire assembly team. Had hardly completed a year and half, after my engineering and as such was not able to bear it.

I sent Agarwal in his place to make up the production loss and asked Khedkar to take up sub assembly (little away from main line). He refused and said that he will not change his stage. Upon insistence,  he came to my table, pulled out a blank sheet and wrote his resignation, handed it to me. Soon after that he left.

The day was down. With mere 28 as daily production, we ended the shift and got mentally ready to get mouthful from Plant Manager. The environment was tense and all were speechless. The high voltage drama of Khedkar left us blank.

After 4-5 days, I was in second shift. Around 9 pm, I got a call from security, that there was trunk call from Sangli for me. It took ten minutes for me to reach main gate. Khedkar was on the line.

" Sorry sir ! that day I misbehaved with you. " His voice- full of apology was sounding original. This was MY Khedkar.

Now it was my turn. I blasted him with interest. He was silent. He simply asked- " Can I resume tomorrow?"

I told him- " No need ! His resignation has been forwarded with recommendations for acceptance. " He urged to call back that paper and he would meet me next day and explain.
  
Next day, Plant Manager called me. Khedkar was already in his cabin. Boss said:
" Khedkar has said sorry. He needs job badly. So I am not accepting his resignation. " Then turning to Khedkar, PM said " Go to your department and start working. Submit leave application for your absence."

After Khedkar left, he calmly told me " Nitin, do you know the reason behind Khedkar's outburst that day? Did you try to find out, why he was erratic and misbehaving? Was it not against his normal nature?"

He continued- "Previous evening of that day, his wife had ran away with her boy friend. His marriage was hardly three month old. Two of them had recently settled in Pune, after marriage. Now tell me, how can he give you 55 trailing arm assemblies?"

I was shocked. Never imagined this reason, although had guessed that something was disturbing.

PM said " You are not only line supervisor, but you are also HR person ( although the word HR was not coined in those days and my company was happy with " Personnel Department" tag) of your team. Be human first ! Targets can occasionally wait. Respect feelings and emotions of your people. Try to study and find out- why people behave the way they behave at workplace? Many cannot have two water tight compartments namely home and work place. They carry home at work place and take work place while going home. No perfect ON-OFF switch. Learn empathy. Have you ever thought of putting your feet in Khedkar's shoes? What will be your reaction, if you were to face his situation?"

I was not married then, so was stretching my imagination. Preferred to keep silent.

Nonetheless Khedkar had gone to Sangli after throwing his resignation, had informed his family. After a search of day or two, his wife returned to her in laws place, realizing her mistake. Now everything was in place and story had happy ending. All this, of course, I came to know afterwards.

First lesson of my life, which probably forced me to HR career at a later stage.  
  
  

Untold : HR DIMENSION OF BUSINESS- STORY ONE

Untold : HR DIMENSION OF BUSINESS- STORY ONE: My Multinational Company in Pune took over a Valve Manufacturing Company in Kerala as a part of business expansion. As Head- HR, I was depu...

HR DIMENSION OF BUSINESS- STORY ONE

My Multinational Company in Pune took over a Valve Manufacturing Company in Kerala as a part of business expansion. As Head- HR, I was deputed for smooth transition, grade equivalence, salary band matches etc etc. I was greeted by the Owner. Stay arrangements at company guest house were comfortable. Sight seeing was organized, since it was my first visit to Kerala- God's own land. Then started the hectic routine. I was to finish the assignment in less than a week and return to Pune. I was taken care of with good hospitality, humble services. I finished my job, and informed my Dy. M. D. ( who was at Coimbatore). He came next day. The new appointment letters ( with new designations, new job profiles, new salary structure) were ready. My Dy. M. D. signed letters of senior team to be handed over to them. New Organizational Chart prepared by me was also approved.  The senior team of Valve company was invited to Conference Hall.  They were anxious. Now their future was tied up with a German Multinational. Diversity, politics, culture, policies all new for them. The knot was tied and they wanted to know- what after this change? Although the jobs were protected, but what next? How they will be received and accepted in new environment?

The owner was also in the audience. He was courteous  during my week long stay, was curious to understand our ways of thinking and working, also was giving me some tips and hints. In short, he was travelling the distance with me.

After the formalities, my Dy. M. D. started distributing the appointment letters. He called the owner first (who incidentally had decided to take up a job, in new structure and hence I had prepared letter for him also, with new designation, pay package etc.)

He came on the Dias, received his letter, had a cursory glance at it and then he looked at me. His facial expressions, especially eyes were beyond description. Owner of yesterday, had become an employee of today. What a mental status transformation ? I could imagine, what was going on in his mind ! he might be tracking all the journey and milestones. The company which he owned so far, was no more 'HIS. The relationship now was new, Employer- Employee.

Unique experience for me. I was not able to look at him.    
  

Untold : Tragic death of another MBA student of mine

Untold : Tragic death of another MBA student of mine: He got campus placement. He went to Mumbai for initial introductory session with his prospective employer. DOJ was mutually worked out. Mea...

Tragic death of another MBA student of mine

He got campus placement. He went to Mumbai for initial introductory session with his prospective employer. DOJ was mutually worked out. Meanwhile he came back to Pune for Holi celebrations with his batch mates.

Institute was having holiday. Students were busy in celebrations. Next day, it was festival of colors. He also enjoyed colors all around. Full day fun, masti and time pass. As if he was having last few moments of his life and he wanted to Live those moments. I had no reason to know this entire story.

In the evening, all friends went near Khadakwasala Dam for swimming. He was to return to Mumbai next day for his first job. Some where something went wrong. He never came out of water. I got the news. Entire Institute rushed to the spot. His friends were also speechless. We got help from local people. Police was informed. No clue !

Two days search operation was going on. His family at Nagpur were also intimated about the mishap. They were not ready to believe the news. He was a good swimmer. They said " Nothing will happen to him." They even refused to come to Pune.

After two days, the news of one dead body came. We reached there. It was HIS !! Friends could make it out from his wrist watch.

Police case- postmortem ! All formalities completed. On informing his family members, they were not ready to believe. Also they were not ready to come to Pune due to some reasons.
One ambulance from Pune, with one of my faculty members, two students accompanied the dead body to Nagpur. I can just imagine the scene at his home !!

My students were shocked, so was I. Death of two students in one year of Directorship of MBA Institute in Pune was my destiny ! Still carrying it with me. 

RADHA MOHAN & HELMET

In January 2005, I reached Delhi in the morning and soon received a call from my deputy. One of our students, Radha Mohan had met with an accident early in the morning and has been hospitalized. He is in coma and is suffering from head injury. Doctors have advised surgery and my directives are needed.

By the way, I was Director of a MBA Institute in Pune then and had gone to Delhi for a week long stay, in connection with placements of my first batch, which was to pass out in May. I had at least 30 appointments lined up for next week or so, all in New Delhi, Noida and Gaziabad. My back office team in placement office had done a wonderful job and had handed over to me date and slot wise list of all big names, to whom I was scheduled to meet and invite them to my campus for placement of students. The Institute was new (so was I, in the capacity of Director) and placement of first batch mattered most to us, since fresh admissions are purely based on track record of placements.

I was stuck and helpless too. I just got the entire story over phone.
Previous night, Radha Mohan had gone to one of his friends and while returning to his room on bike at around 3 am, he met with an accident. Luckily one taxi saw him on the road. From his last number dialed, the driver contacted his room partner. Soon he was hospitalized.

I gave necessary instructions to my deputy and also president of student council. My students were with him in hospital for 10-12 days. They had also contributed money for treatment of Radha Mohan. Institute had its share. The brain surgery estimate was to the tune of 1.92 L.

His parents from a village near Chennai were informed and brought to Pune. My students took care of them and counseled as well. ( Radha was the only son and parents came from rural back ground). I was also in touch over phone with the doctors treating him. The surgery was successful but he was still in coma for around 10 days. Doctors had kept their fingers crossed. We were all immature to handle such situation, which was one of its kind and I had come across it for the first time.

On return to Pune from Delhi, I rushed to the hospital, met the doctors, his parents and also my students. "Death would be better option for him." Doctors informed.

Finally his struggle for life ended and one morning, I got his death message. Then there were police formalities. I had no courage to face his parents. We all joined the funeral. His father with folded hands and tearful eyes sought my permission to address all students who had assembled.

He uttered only one sentence- " Please always wear helmet while driving a two wheeler. I have lost my only son, but it should not happen with anyone."

I can not forget first death incidence of my student till date.

TEAM WORK- Theory and Reality

I took my Raipur MBA students for Out Bound Training Program in 2009. Entire day, all management games, exercises and lessons through them. Students enjoyed like anything. The learning experiences were encouraging. Additionally it helped them to unwind and refresh from college routine. We played lot of team building exercises.

In the evening, we were returning by bus- all exhausted but cheerful at the back of mind. One of my students had some mischief on the road with a village guy. Within few minutes, we were surrounded by a large no. of local villagers, abusing us. They wanted to attack our bus and teach a lesson to our erring student. The boy was hiding and none from a lot of 40-45 students had guts to protect or to take head on the mob. Somehow we managed to pacify them and escaped from the scene.

Day long team work and team spirit experienced washed away.

                                                                                                   - Dr. N. H. DESHPANDE 

Which B School should I join

 - Dr. N. H. DESHPANDE

Just like in 80s everyone wanted to join engineering courses, now the buzz word is to pursue MBA. At times without assessing self, thousands of graduates/postgraduates are seen chasing this dream and going through the process of preparing for B-School admissions. While interviewing many such students since 1993, I have noticed that generally they hardly have any knowledge of the programme, they are undecided on their career objectives, do not know which B-School to join and why, more importantly which specialization to opt for.

With more than 1000 B-schools around and the number continues to increase year by year in the country, the confusion is proportionate. Two things that are compounding this confusion are (a) B-School ranking and (b) B-School branding.

A no. of steps I wish to suggest ending this dilemma, especially when the admissions are in full swing these days deciding the careers of many students.

a    a) Know thyself: - The first and most important is to ask yourself why do I wish to pursue this programme? Just because others are pursuing, or due to compulsions from parents and other family members or for lucrative pay packages? Is it a stop-gap arrangement (in case of some girl students, I came across, it is so- till she gets married, she wishes to pursue this course) or just because the course is in the city, so sometimes the students take admission with a hope that they can support their parents in the family business and also manage to get MBA. The point is one should first decide career objectives and then start the search for a B-School. The course is rigorous and demanding. Am I mentally and physically prepared (and fit also) to undergo the schedules? A good MBA programme may engage you 12-15 hours every day in some or other form of activities for two years. This is a kind of rehearsal of next 25-30 years of your corporate life where we are on 24x7x365 kind of work mode. If till graduation, you are happy-go-lucky kind of person, think twice. There is no point in complaining afterwards. Remember pay package and designation comes only after compelling efforts. You cannot expect general manager’s salary with that of working hours of a peon or clerk. In short find out first, are you a MBA material? If the answer is affirmative, go ahead or look at other career options which are equally, if not better these days.

b    b) Know the expenses: - B-school fees must match your pocket. Majority of students’ today eye for bank loans. Look at the financial component of this learning process and then choose the school. Generally the expenses are few lacs of rupees depending on the duration of the course and obviously return on investment is bound to be one consideration. Otherwise part-time MBA or Distance-learning programme can be the option.

c    c)Know the B-School: - Over and above branding and ranking, which I have referred above, please go through the website and prospectus of the school minutely. The vision, mission, core value system of the top management of the school is most important and is a key differentiator. The qualifying entrance examinations which the school recognizes, the quality of faculty, track record of examination results, the placement record all matters. The courses offered and their quality should match your career objectives. The teaching pedagogy, staff/student ratio, the kind of practical exposure offered during the course, the finishing touches practiced to polish your personality and enhance your employability is all that matters and hence is equally important. The infrastructure, the facilities, the library, the computer centre, the amount of industry exposure of faculty, the no. of class hours (on and off campus) etc .cannot be ignored too. If possible, visit the campus to see it yourself, ask questions and get them answered rather than wasting two years at a later stage at a wrong place. These are some of the indicators of quality of schools and course/s that they offer. Significantly the past and current students of the school can also be authentic source of information who can share with you a lot about the school that normally may not be there on the website or printed brochure. If possible, try to talk with the employers of past students of that B-School, who can also give you unbiased piece of information. In case of all, but especially for girl students the environment, the safety/security concerns are always at the back of mind of their parents.

Finally my personal opinion and based on experience I feel taking MBA after some experience to understand it better is desirable. Fresh graduates going to MBA without any exposure, may find it difficult to connect with the course.

It is high time to take a call before you repeat the mistakes of others and find yourself in a mismatch situation. Remember the course is unique and so are you!

SHUBHASTE PANTHANA SANTU!

                                                                                                       

Knowledge Management

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

                                                                            

-Dr. N. H. DESHPANDE

                                                                  

When everything is changing fast and when we are surrounded by uncertainty, probably the only constant is Knowledge. The companies which can create consistently new knowledge are successful today. What we know, why we know and how we know matters these days. Human minds can alone produce and process knowledge.
Knowledge is a mixture of experience, beliefs, value systems, information and expertise; it is the core asset of every company. Knowledge is neither data nor information alone. Data represents facts and figures which are true and cannot be changed. Information comes from data organized in a meaningful manner. It may or may not be processed. Knowledge is the next step where information is clubbed with past experience and validated on its basis. The last step obviously is wisdom.

Knowledge can be tacit or explicit. Tacit knowledge is personal in nature. Tacit knowledge is subconsciously understood and applied, is difficult to articulate, developed from direct experiences and actions, and is generally shared. Contrary to that explicit knowledge is formal and systematic.

Knowledge is crucial for continued operation and development of organizations. Obviously it is expensive and comes with a price tag. Knowledge is interchangeable, sharable and expandable.

How to create and sustain knowledge in an organization is the million dollar question these days. One way is socialization, formal or informal wherein one individual shares his/her knowledge with another. It can be transferred by observation, imitation and by practicing. Thus other employees begin to internalize it.
Generally after attending an external training programme, we ask the participant to make presentation of his/her learning experience in front of his departmental colleagues. This is one good form of knowledge management. This serves three purposes-

• Development of internal faculty within organization
• Sharing can devise plan of action of what newly learnt/acquired knowledge can be implemented/practiced within department/organization.
• Decisions regarding future deputation or otherwise by HR Department based on the transfer of knowledge that has taken place.
  
  Another form is when an individual combines discrete pieces of explicit knowledge into a new whole.

Typical problems associated with knowledge can be-

1. Execution:
   If one spends time in locating appropriate knowledge base, then the speed of execution becomes slow.
2. Lost Business Opportunities:
   Inability of marketing team to respond customer queries may lead to lost sales.
3. Time to Market:
   If expertise is not available at opportune time, the entire new product development cycle may get delayed.
4. Knowledge bottleneck:
   Shortage of a particular skill or expertise can jeopardize the entire operations in an organization.
5. Retention Issues:
   Organizations often fail to retain knowledge acquired and lessons learned in the past. People just resign/retire and carry the entire knowledge bank with them outside company gates.
6. Sub standard decisions:
   If knowledge application fails it leads to sub standard decisions taken by the policy makers. This primarily happens since the organization is not aware of what knowledge resources it has and how to capitalize on potential new initiatives.

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

Organizational success is prima facie decided by the intellectual and system capabilities it owns rather than mere physical assets. How an organization manages its human intellect and converts it into products/services is fast becoming the success mantra.

The process of generating organizational wealth from optimum utilization of knowledge and intellectual assets of an organization is called as knowledge management.

There are five major area of Knowledge Management:
1. Knowledge Acquisition
2. Knowledge Utilization
3. Knowledge Enhancement
4. Knowledge Facilitation
5. Knowledge Implementation

Knowledge Acquisition: It is the starting point of any knowledge management assignment. How knowledge is acquired from various sources and its synthesis is primarily important here.

Knowledge Utilization: Mere acquisition of knowledge will be useless unless it is shared through various ways and means among employees at all levels periodically. What matters is Knowledge transfer.

Knowledge Enhancement: It involves gap analysis between desired and actual knowledge base of the employees. The current and potential knowledge requirements of the employees are systematically and scientifically evaluated with a view to upgrade them in a phased manner.

Knowledge Facilitation: Organizational climate, employee relations, transparency in communication all equally matter when it comes to building knowledge base. A lot depends on enabling processes that take care of the array of emotions and feelings, likes/dislikes, attitudes, sentiments etc; which the employee brings to workplace.

Knowledge Implementation: This is the visible component and comes into existence only when practiced. Alone technology cannot succeed in this process. How the knowledge possessed by employees becomes a part of products, systems, solutions and services is equally important. It has to add value to the end customer.

PHASES OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

(1) Information Technology Based

Management information system using artificial intelligence, reengineering is fast growing and is IT assisted.

Augmentation and Automation ensure that resources are optimally utilized.

Various knowledge tools and technologies go beyond data and information. They facilitate organization of knowledge processes, codification and transfer.

(2) People Based

Philosophers, Psychologists and Management Practitioners emphasize upon acquisition /sharpening of various skills and improvement in human behavior through knowledge route.
They suggest continuous learning and managing of skills and behavior at both levels- individual as well as organizational.

Though knowledge bases are becoming effective support tools, human beings are still necessary for this process to take place. Human intervention is necessary for interpretation and application. Selecting and buying “KM" software, is not the crux of the problem, the issue is how to make it work for the organization sustainable.

Recognizing this, it is better to focus on human resources rather than technologies or processes.

EFFECTIVE KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

Knowledge Management is complex and thus should not concentrate on just one aspect.  Effective management of knowledge requires hybrid solutions of people and technology.

Human beings are quite accomplished at certain knowledge skills. When we seek to understand knowledge, to interpret it in a broader context,
to combine it with other types of information, or to synthesize various unstructured forms of knowledge, human beings are recommended tools.

Computers and communications systems, on the other hand, are faster when it comes to highly structured knowledge.

Thus for effective Knowledge Management a combination of technology, employee involvement, the infrastructure and culture of an organization is essential.

Advantages of Knowledge Management

1. Supports innovation.

2.   Reduction in cost of new projects.

3.   Enhancement in employee productivity.

4.   Replication of best practices.

5.   Change acceptance and adaptability enhances.

______________x_____________x____________x__________

INDIA SKILLS REPORT-2017

FEW HIGHLIGHTS OF INDIA SKILLS REPORT-2017

(Coverage- 5, 60,000 students across 29 states& 7 Union Territories and 125+ Employers)

Objective of the report:

To create standard reporting guidelines on potential skill supply-demand gap, that can provide insights into the hiring trends of the market while understanding the needs of the job seekers and organizations.

Preamble:           With “ PeopleStrong” as Knowledge Partner , “AICTE” as Academic Partner and “ CII” as India Partner with support from “ Wheebox” ( Online Talent Assessment Company of India) has come up with this report.

Technical Education growth has been phenomenal in the recent past. Total No. of Engineering (UG) and Polytechnics approved by AICTE till the AY 2016-17 are 3285 & 3925 respectively with sanctioned intake of 1553360 and 1244778.

Making this talent pool employable is really a task. The India Skill Report 2017 brought up by CII, People strong, Wheebox, UNDP & AICTE is a step in strengthening the skill landscape through Quantitative and Qualitative assessment of the demand and supply sides of the labor market. It brings on surface, a no. of eye-opening facts which we all should understand thoroughly.

The report highlights the employability factor of the youth from across the country with different educational backgrounds and also highlights needs and expectations of the employers’ thereby facilitating better match.

Facts:    Despite large cross section of population being eligible to work, a no. of jobs simply remain unfilled in the absence of right candidate. India Skills Report 2017 is an effort that aims to take stock of the talent landscape of India-its challenges and impact on economy growth. It captures the skill levels of the supply side, the employability skill assessment test and needs of the demand side of the Talent Supply Chain as captured by India Hiring Intent Survey.  

The survey was carried out across 29 states and 7 Union Territories, 3000 educational campuses all over the country and about 5.6 lakh candidates were assessed on Parameters such as Knowledge, skill aptitude and behavioral components. Skill gaps that emerged out depicted an overall picture of how the students rank in terms of skills that would be imperative to gauge the employability in the coming years.

The other side approached close to 125 employers from 11 major sectors (Manufacturing, IT, ITES, BFSI etc.)

A Brief Snapshot :

The report indicates skill expectations from industry in general. It is interesting to see that domain expertise alone is playing a small role. Other attributes such as Learning ability, performance focus (result orientation), adaptability, interpersonal skills, integrity and values, communication, numerical and logical ability, cultural fitment occupy more space.

The employers have underlined following requirement of skills-

·         Learning Ability (12.78%)

·         Domain expertise (19.30%)

·         Integrity & Values (15.29%)

·         Communication (13.78%)

·         Numerical & logical ability (9.77%)

·         Cultural fitment (10.28%)

·         Adaptability (6%)

·         Result orientation (8.52%)

·         Interpersonal skills (3.76%)

The industry is also clear on its sourcing channels-

Source	Percent
Referrals	23.83%
Job Portals	21.6%
Consultants	20.35%
Social Media	13.76%
Campus	12.75%
Job Fairs	2.7%
Others	5.02%

The report also tries to bring couple of interesting facts. When it comes to capturing best performers in skills, the picture that emerges out is something like this-

English	Numerical Abilities	Critical Thinking	Computer Skills
W.B.	W.B.	Delhi	Rajasthan
Maharashtra	Delhi	W.B.	Delhi
Rajasthan	Maharashtra	Rajasthan	Maharashtra
Telangana	Bihar	Maharashtra	W.B.
U.P.	Haryana	Karnataka	Karnataka
Karnataka	U.P.	Kerala	U.P.
Haryana	A.P.	H.P.	A.P.
A.P.	Kerala	A.P.	T.N.
T.N.	H.P.	Haryana	Telangana
Gujarat	Rajasthan	M.P.	Gujarat

It is interesting to note that states like Maharashtra, Delhi, W.B. and A. P. are there in all the lists, three states (Maharashtra, W.B. and A.P.)have featured in top 10 states based on overall scores. These states therefore are attractive hiring destinations.

AGE WISE EMPLOYABILITY ANALYSIS

Age Group	States having most employable candidates
18-21	W.B. Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Karnataka, U.P. A.P., Haryana, Telangana, Gujarat,  T.N.
22-25	Delhi, U. P. Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Haryana, A.P. T.N. Kerala, W.B.
26-29	Delhi, W.B. Haryana, Bihar, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, U.P. A.P. T.N.

STATES WITH MAX. MALE & FEMALE EMPLOYABLE CANDIDATES

MALE                                                            FEMALE

W.B.                                                                 Rajasthan

Maharashtra                                                      A.P.

Haryana                                                            Karnataka

U.P.                                                                   Telangana

Karnataka                                                         Maharashtra

Gujarat                                                              W.B.

Rajasthan                                                          U.P.

Telangana                                                         Haryana

A.P.                                                                   T.N.

T.N.                                                                   Gujarat

The report further indicates expected salary ranges, which can direct the employers to those states for their hiring requirements-

Salary expected up to 2 L	Salary range 2- 2.6 L	Salary > 2 L
T.N. U.P. Maharashtra A.P. Gujarat	T.N. Maharashtra U.P. A.P. Karnataka	Maharashtra T.N. U.P. A.P. Rajasthan

               

Conclusion:        The Skills Report has created an interesting repository from Industry and Academia on one platform. Some facts that the report has highlighted are- No. of employable candidates has marginally improved over last year. Hiring sentiments are positive with approximate 10% increase in hiring from last year’s numbers. The report has a special segment on female skilling and job market participation which can be discussed separately in near future.

Dr. N. H. DESHPANDE

(SOURCE- INDIA SKILLS REPORT 2017)

Note:- For more details please refer the report.