People Matters

#6 American Express: The Diversity Express

Aug 16th 2010

Most people would think that a complex set of processes and procedures are followed to maintain the stature of American Express. What would surprise one is that this financial empire is based on a few simple guidelines which assist them in reaching the highest echelons of customer and employee satisfaction. For American Express, which is ranked #6 in the Great Place to Work® Institute’s Study, #1 in the Industry Category of the Banking/Credit Services sector, and is also recognised i... Read more »

#7 NTPC: The Power from Within

Aug 16th 2010

Over the years, NTPC has emerged as a hallmark for quality in the Indian economy by demonstrating its excellence in all spheres such as setting up a power station in record time, its turnaround capability, manpower productivity and building a conducive and people inclusive environment. This year NTPC ranks #7 in the Great Place to Work® Institute’s Study and #1 in the Industry Categories of Manufacturing & Production sector, Best Company in Large Organization (with more than 10,0... Read more »

#8 PayPal: Spirit of Togetherness

Aug 16th 2010

The Indian journey for PayPal, the global leader for online payment solutions, began five years ago, when the organization decided to expand its global footprint and setup a Research and Development centre in Chennai. Pleased by the early success of the PayPal Chennai Development centre, eBay, the world’s largest online marketplace also joined its subsidiary in Chennai and set up the eBay India Product Centre, three years back. Their common vision was to find a model that blended local e... Read more »

# 9 Ajuba Solution: Caring for Values

Aug 16th 2010

Recession or no recession, our people practices have remained exactly the same, whether it is appraisals or compensation revisions. Our employees have not really seen or felt the ill-effects of recession!” One cannot but notice the exuberance in the voice of Devendra Saharia, Co-founder & President, Ajuba Solutions India Pvt. Ltd. With a deep domain expertise of over 1,800 employees trained and certified in US Healthcare, Ajuba Solutions not only made a re-entry this year into the Gr... Read more »

# 10 SAS Institute: Respect and Empowerment

Aug 16th 2010

With a team of more than 600 technology and domain experts, SAS Institute has been in India since 1997 working with organizations across industries and offering them critical enterprise intelligence to fuel innovation and meet their business objectives. Ranked #10 in the Great Place to Work® Institute’s Study, SAS Institute is also ranked #4 in the Industry Category of the IT sector. Over the past decade, the ITeS industry has not only mushroomed but enjoyed a dominant position in In... Read more »

Cover Story : India Skilling

By Tejasvi Mohanram & Ester Martinez

Jul 1st 2010

The labour situation in India – one with an estimated 240 million additional skilled workforce requirement over the next 10 years and with 250 million workers currently untrained and underemployed – has all the makings of a socio-economic disaster. Over the last couple of years, policy makers have awakened to the reality of an outdated vocational training system that falls way short of the demand for skilled manpower. People Matters talks to people from government, industry, indu... Read more »

Cover Story - The View From Government

Jul 1st 2010

On Vocational TrainingMeera Shenoy: Most of government training in the past, whether ITI or otherwise, has suffered from being “training for trainings sake” or done at the end of the year to exhaust budgets. The other problem has been many trainings have been in traditional areas without moving in pace with the new economy demands. Slowly, change is happening. ITIs are being successfully turned around in a PPP mode with companies adopting ITIs and overhauling outdated curriculum.&n... Read more »

Cover Story - The Industry View

Jul 1st 2010

Demand-Supply Mismatch V.M. Kaul: The problem is that most of the work going on is being executed through contractors. We don’t manufacture our own towers but outsource them. While we do a lot of induction and training, we find that there is a big skill gap with our contractors. But these contractors are not keeping pace and do not have many skilled labour to effectively manage operations. So the gap is prevalent from that front. Quality of work depends upon the skills of the person who... Read more »

Cover Story - The Facilitators View

Jul 1st 2010

Organization’s mandateDilip Chenoy: NSDC is mandated to do three different things. We have to create and set up institutions in places where none exist. Second is to enable institutions to train people in a sustainable manner so that they are employable. So we are not looking at things such as grants, aid or charity. It is really a business model to help people break the supply gap that exists. The third element is concentrating on the area of standards and accreditation. Under the Natio... Read more »

Cover Story

By Tejasvi Mohanram & Ester Martinez

Jun 2nd 2010

A relentless blaze of virtual collaboration and networking technologies is re-defining our interaction with peers, colleagues and customers. Conferencing tools and collaborative virtual environments blur the traditional boundaries of workplace and work time.How can businesses harness this power for cost efficiency, employee productivity and employer branding?Bangalore, Monday 4:30am: Yash wakes up at this ‘unearthly’ hour and turns on his laptop. As he invites his Sydney-based clie... Read more »