CEO as Chief Talent Officer - IV edition

The fact that talent is any CEO’s most important priority is no longer a revelation. This year’s CEO as the Chief Talent Officer 2014 Survey, which is the fourth edition of this study in partnership with Monster.com, only reinforces the fact that talent has gradually merged into each and every aspect of a CEO’s thought process. Macro-economic factors such as a positive outlook of the international market, a new pro-industry government at the Centre and high growth prospects have all contributed to the fact that CEOs just cannot detach talent from any of their business plans any more. This year’s CEO as Chief Talent Officer Study covers a pan-industry survey among 54 CEOs and Heads of businesses across sectors. The trends present a comprehensive representation of the times to come and whether CEOs are investing enough and investing right on talent.

While the previous years’ surveys reveal that CEOs were more concerned about sustenance and business resilience, the coming months will likely see them focus on growth. While growth was previously focused solely on hiring, this year’s survey reveals a change in a CEO’s approach to growth. It appears that Indian CEOs no longer consider growth and hiring as a one-to-one equation and do not view hiring as the most important engine of effective growth. Indian CEOs across the spectrum of industries believe that their organizations require a much deeper and more committed involvement of their time and attention to talent. Not only are CEOs spending more time and effort on talent management, they personally drive and track talent initiatives, which improve the organization’s brand, make employees happy and prepare leaders.

In the coming 12 months, hiring numbers are likely to go up, competition for talent will become tougher, and leadership and succession will be the key themes for a CEO. CEOs in Indian organizations reveal that to keep pace with these developments, there will be several initiatives that they will need to drive personally. This story presents the key insights from this year’s investigation.

100 per cent of the CEOs surveyed this year have personally driven talent initiatives in their organizations in the last 12 months. It is no surprise that compared to last year, the amount of time CEOs spend on talent has increased. A staggering 88 per cent of CEOs taking the survey reveal that their time investment on talent-related activities has either remained the same or increased since last year. In fact, 53 per cent actually reveal that they invested more time on talent management now compared to last year.

To be an effective head of a business, the CEO’s talent focus will no longer remain limited to mere symbolism. A CEO will be at the helm of affairs working both in collaboration with line leaders and the talent management teams, besides owning and driving specific initiatives. Building the organization’s culture, engagement and retention of key talent and mentoring leaders will be among the top priorities for Indian CEOs in the next 12 months.

In terms of measurement too, this year’s survey reveal that talent metrics are no longer “good to have” inclusions in a CEOs scorecard. India CEOs are actively tracking engagement scores, retention of key talent, and impact of succession plans in their scorecards. Besides that, CEOs are also tracking the impact of talent-related initiatives such as diversity and corporate social responsibility. This indicates a clear shift away from the erstwhile approach of CEOs from ‘overseeing’ to ‘practicing.’ The survey shows that the top three things that CEOs in India track in their scorecards are employee engagement (62 per cent), succession planning (53 per cent) and workforce costs (47 per cent).

Interestingly, CEOs in start-ups and SMEs/MSMEs demonstrate an even more ‘hands on’ approach. More than 70 per cent of CEOs in start-ups and SMEs/MSMEs indicate that they participate actively in managing wage costs, while about 52 per cent of such CEOs also indicate that they personally drive initiatives to solve grievances and conflicts. The qualitative interviews indicate that across the breadth of the Indian industry, CEOs have taken the reins of building organizational culture in their own hands. A key contributor to this trend is the fact that growth is deeply dependant on measures that are long-term and sustainable including employee happiness, a good employer brand and most importantly culture.

A strong culture that promotes meritocracy, respect, and pride of working in the organization will be a CEO’s core focus areas in the coming year. D Shivakumar, Chairman & CEO, at PepsiCo India, says, “For any business in today’s environment, brand and people are the only two real assets. People are at the cornerstone of any brand business. As good talent is finite and healthy growth is anticipated in the coming times, a CEO’s role in building the culture of the organization into one of meritocracy, ownership and respect has become paramount.” Shivakumar himself drives several personal initiatives to instil the sense of meritocracy and pride at PepsiCo. Two of his most popular initiatives are floor town halls and weekly insights e-mail. In the floor town halls, the CEO walks into the “floor” in any of PepsiCo’s offices and addresses the floor and answers questions. These townhalls are web casted to other locations too in real-time and employees can directly ask their CEO any question regarding the company, about their work, or anything else. Shivakumar also writes weekly insights for all his employees in the e-mail newsletter, which can include anything from simple advice to lessons of the week. A few employees we interviewed at PepsiCo reveal that they look forward to these weekly insight e-mails every Friday as a source of knowledge, inspiration and wisdom.

CEOs are also personally involving themselves in connecting with key talent in the organization. 68 per cent of CEOs across industries plan to personally drive mentorship initiatives in the organization. Besides that, retaining and engaging key talent (65 per cent) and succession planning (62 per cent) will also be among the top three priorities of Indian CEOs in the next 12 months.

Sanjay Modi, Managing Director, Monster India/SEA/HK and Middle East maintains a personal scorecard of 80 of his key talent in his organization. “My personal scorecard of key talent in the organization,” explains Modi, “is independent of the one that my CHRO maintains.” In his personal key talent scorecard, Modi tracks how engaged each individual is, how her/his progress in the organization has moved over the months, and how s/he generally feel about working in the organization. These insights are gathered solely from personal interactions with these 80 individuals over short conversations. These conversations are mostly informal and free-flowing and usually do not carry any underlying agendas.

At Tata Power Delhi Distribution Ltd., its CEO, Praveer Sinha is personally in-charge of the initiative that sends key talent in the company for external courses and certifications. “I drive all initiatives that can provide key employees the opportunity to attend higher education courses. At times, I even partner with line leaders during selection and approval processes,” adds Sinha.

Indian CEOs have started personally driving initiatives that maximize the effectiveness of the workforce. CEOs realize that meritocracy is key to enabling growth and profitability. CEOs involve themselves not just with the strategy of hiring right, but also with how the organization grooms talent. Rajdeep Endow, Managing Director, Sapient India, wants to ensure that all the people in his organization view development differently. Development traditionally has been viewed as a push from an organization to the employee. Endow’s personal vision is to change that model and create an environment where talent chooses and pulls development. “My role in the coming months is to personally drive the change inside the organization and create a talent marketplace where individuals drive their own personal development,” says Endow. He envisions the marketplace to match their need to what is available and choose a development path, with help and support from the organization.

CEOs want to maximize their workforce’s effectiveness; this is reflected in the fact that 38 per cent of CEOs track talent productivity and effectiveness as an active component of their CEO scorecards. At LinkedIn India, Country Manager Nishant Rao drives an initiative named CPL or Culture of Perpetual Learning. The premise of the CPL initiative is based on passion and interest for self-development. Rao adds, “I have run sessions in the organization for business acumen and leadership. For a talent-centric organization such as LinkedIn, where there is a great deal of emphasis on hiring the best talent in the country, it is absolutely necessary to make the workplace a dynamic and perpetually improving one.”

Deeper investigation reveals that more than 60 per cent of CEOs in the professional services industry track the productivity and effectiveness of the workforce. It is not too difficult to conclude that CEOs in organizations that believe in hiring the best talent in the country will invest a great deal of time, energy, and effort in development. These CEOs will either personally drive coaching sessions or be actively involved in developing the talent development strategy.

When asked about their top priority for the coming months, 70 per cent of CEOs have “talent” as their key priority, while “growth and expansion” came a close second with 52 per cent citing that as the top priority of the business. This indicates a more mature approach toward business expansion and sustainability. Indian CEOs have started involving themselves in several initiatives which traditionally were never within the gamut of a CEO’s role. “Outside of hiring and retention,” says Modi, “many CEOs I’ve spoken to in the past year have involved themselves in several initiatives that make the organization a good social citizen. Diversity is a big theme for CEOs this year as organizations look to make their mark in the women and differentially-abled talent pools. Another key area where CEOs will look to involve themselves personally is Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Indian CEOs are personally tracking how and where the organization is investing in improving the overall conditions and environment of the business.”

Seen as the key leader, a CEO automatically becomes a source of inspiration and brand equity for talent both within and outside. Sinha says, “By instilling pride of working in the organization, a CEO automatically drives all other talent levers.” All the leaders we interviewed are unanimous in stating that a CEO has to drive ownership among staff. Nitin Jain, President & Head, Edelweiss Financial Services believes that higher EQ leads to higher ownership. Jain personally drives initiatives that are specifically targeted at the percolation of the firm’s strategy and vision at all levels of the organization. “I drive an initiative called ‘Netritva.’ I make phone calls and in-person interactions with branch managers in my company and maintain a regular cadence. The idea of these conversations is to make them act and behave like CEOs of their own small establishments,” says Jain.

Indian CEOs are no longer sitting in the side-lines to watch talent initiatives unfold. They are thick into the action, driving initiatives and connecting with talent in the company like never before. These are initiatives that CEOs are executing independent of their CHROs and talent management teams. In fact, the survey reveals that more CEOs are driving these initiatives through their line leaders than their CHROs or any other leader in the company. 53 per cent of CEOs are driving these initiatives through their line leaders compared to 38 per cent who rely on their CHROs. This is perhaps a big indicator that the role of the CEO as the Chief Talent Officer is only bound to grow in the coming months.