People Matters

Ranked happiness

By Elango R.

May 1st 2013

When People Matters sent me the theme for this month, it brought to my mind my childhood obsession with ranks. What is your rank in class? What rank does the school have? Which place is the house that I am in? How were we doing as a family against the chosen comparison for that summer? Life seemed like an unending march of ranking – real, imagined and forced upon.I would love to dismiss this against our school grading system where the first is celebrated each year. But how do I explain t... Read more »

Do business school rankings matter?

By Abhijit Bhaduri

May 1st 2013

Quick, give me the name of the best hospital in the country. Now write that name on a piece of paper. Once you have done that, let me ask you about the factors that you have used in coming up with that name. You may have gone by your brand perceptions of the hospitals and may have been influenced by very positive or very negative experiences you may have personally had (even if that makes it a statistically insignificant number) with that hospital or a doctor. You may have been influenced by o... Read more »

The Counsellor by Vivek Paranjpe

May 1st 2013

Vivek Paranjpe, Consultant & Strategic HR Advisor to Reliance Industries answers professional and ethical dilemmas faced by our readers at their workplaceQ) My boss, who is a very respected and inspirational role model in our field, is leaving the organisation for another role elsewhere. As someone who has worked with him for many years, I would like to move with him to the other organisation since I think I would get to work on much better projects there and continue to learn from him. H... Read more »

3 factors to help develop talent

By Santhosh Babu

May 1st 2013

Every chief executive knows that the right talent for the right position is the most important asset of an organisation. Talent development has become a mission-critical company process. The term – talent development pipeline architecture – is gaining popularity as organisations have become more serious about building leadership capabilities.Underscoring the importance of talent, PepsiCo CEO IndraNooyi said,“Perhaps the greatest challenge business leaders face today is how to... Read more »

Select L&D services that justify Investments

By Vikram Choudhury

May 1st 2013

Five critical components help an L&D manager justify investments - objectives, delivery, capabilities, scale and accountabilityWhile every single business function has come under the cost scanner in the last two years, the organisation’s L&D function speaks a different story. Market studies suggest that despite tight budget monitoring, the outlook for L&D in the coming times remain positive.Vinay Kumar, Principal Consultant at C2C Consulting, a learning consulting firm, says,... Read more »

Learning must take place at all levels

By Yogesh Sood

May 1st 2013

There should a clear focus on learning and development at each level, even at the level of the chief executive officer who should continually impart learning on values, mission and vision of the organisation.The annual L&D plan must have a strategic perspective on the desired business impact from such activities. This also needs to be linked to organisational priorities and determine who will undergo what type of learning, how the measurement will take place and what will be taught by exte... Read more »

An approach with sustainable impact

By Anupam Sirbhaiya

May 1st 2013

Over the last decade, HR leaders have invested a lot of thought and energy on how to make HR a valuable business partner. A major part of this effort has been around aligning structure and processes; and now learning & development is emerging as the critical piece of the jigsaw. Some essentials that help create a credible and high impact L&D are follows. Alignment with business: A leadership strategy that supports the business strategy provides alignment at a high level. An aligned L&... Read more »

Shifting trends in new hire training

By Mohit Garg

May 1st 2013

Engaging new hires and onboarding them into the organisation is both a challenge and an opportunity for companies today. Research has shown that an employee’s long term commitment and longevity at an organisation is influenced significantly by the experience during the first 90 days of employment. Even though most organisations realise the importance of a well-designed onboarding programme, it rarely gets implemented due to several practical constraints. The reasons are manifold, but pri... Read more »

Success of an L&D plan is in your hands

By Anu Wakhlu

May 1st 2013

A Learning and Development (L&D) plan must be derived from the business context and the company’s current and future business plans. For example, if the company is planning to diversify, then the competencies related to that goal must be part of the L&D plan. Besides this, the plan should be linked to bridging the competency gaps and must have a clear deliverable and a strategy on how the L&D interventions would be implemented.Many companies find it hard to decide whether the... Read more »

OD Consultant transforms business growth plans

By Ashish Patel

May 1st 2013

I have tried substantiating my premise of assumption with a real case study for OD Scope & its potential impact in business growth and transformation.One of the renowned business groups had undergone a major business crisis since one of their largest customers turned into competition.The situation had worsened since the customer had taken away majority team members across the levels. The client organisation is known to believe in retaining internal resources, encourage employment opportuni... Read more »