We hope 2011 will be a glorious year – for business, organizations and the economy. We look forward to the year with an ambitious plan to expand on the range of leadership and people management issues covered in People Matters.
The year starts on a somber note – with a topic that, while critical of the state of affairs, is far too crucial for leaders, managers and for organizations at large, to be given a miss. The cover story of this issue, Ethical Storm Brewing, highlights the ethical deficit in governance at all levels in India and specifically, the nexus between politicians, promoters, media and shareholders in the ‘discount sale’ of public assets to private enterprise.
The story attempts to build on the definition of corporate governance beyond protecting shareholders wealth to a broader definition that encompasses more stakeholders and takes responsibility for the long-term sustainability of the economy and society it operates in. It takes the view that while ethical behaviour is warranted irrespective of any incentives, the ‘market way’ of enforcing a collective corporate responsibility may lie in a collective understanding of the long-term economic setbacks that arise from such ugly practices.
Also included in this issue are the complete findings of this year’s Global Employee Engagement Survey conducted by BlessingWhite and HR Annexi. Apart from some insightful recommendations for employees, managers and top level executives, the report introduces some interesting engagement models and sheds light on engagement levels of different population groups in Indian organizations.
In Rewards Special 2011, People Matters invites experts to share their views on top trends, the potential pitfalls of Pay-for-Performance plans when not designed and executed diligently, the importance of creating an emotional connect as a foundation for any reward program and finally the ‘must know’ about ESOPs to make long term-equity incentive plans work. In this special, as with every alternate issue of People Matters, HR professionals will find a detailed description of the top service providers in the area of rewards.
From this issue onwards, and with special thanks to Dr. Pritam Singh and Dr. Asha Bhandarker, People Matters starts a new leadership series based on the systematic and intensive research captured in their newly launched book “In Search of Change Maestros”. The series focuses on identifying leadership traits of the seven Change Maestros studied by the authors (KM Birla, M. Damodaran, S. Jindal, KV Kamath, Sunil Mittal, Anil Naik and Kiran Mazumdar) and the characteristics of the organizational culture they have created.

We would love to continue hearing views, suggestions, criticism and comments; do write to us at editorial@peoplematters.in