Andrew Levermore, the expat CEO of Bharti Retail puts in his papers

He's moved out of Bharti, and Bharat too. In a sudden move, Andrew Levermore, the expat CEO of Bharti Retail, has put in his papers and is headed back to home country, South Africa. Levermore had joined the fully-owned subsidiary of Bharti Enterprises as chief operating officer in July 2010. Says a Bharti spokesperson: "We can confirm that Andrew Levermore has moved on from Bharti Retail as he wanted to return to South Africa to start his own business venture. The company will appoint an appropriate replacement in due course." This is Levermore's second exit from India. The first was in mid-2008 when he quit K Raheja's HyperCity Retail after a four-year stint. Any bets on whether he will be back a third time?

Dearness allowance: Government approves 6% hike

In a bid to provide relief from high inflation, the government today increased dearness allowance (DA) by 6 per cent to 51 per cent, benefiting over 50 lakh central government employees and 38 lakh pensioners.

"The decision to hike DA was taken by the Union Cabinet at its meeting here," a Union minister said.

The combined impact of the hike will be Rs 5,715.90 crore per annum. However in the next financial year, the burden on the exchequer would be Rs 6,668.52 crore after the additional 6 per cent DA payout is factored in from January 1 to March 31 this year.

The increased DA, which will be effective from January 1, is provided to government staff and pensioners to compensate them for rising prices.

Presently, the DA is paid at 45 per cent of basic pay. The increase in DA by 6 per cent would be in accordance with the formula prescribed by the Sixth Pay Commission for central government employees.

The decision will provide direct relief to around 50 lakh employees and 38 lakh pensioners.

The DA is revised twice a year, on January 1 and July 1. The relief came amid high retail prices, as inflation has been ruling above 9 per cent.

The Consumer Price Index ( Industrial Workers )), which is the basis for revising dearness allowance, was 9.47 per cent in December and 9.30 per cent in January.

Headline inflation, based on movement in wholesale prices, was 8.31 per cent in February, much above the comfort level of 5-6 per cent. Food inflation, too, was hovering above 9 per cent.



From: The Economic Times

IT will employ more than a crore

If figures tell a story, the technology services’ tale has been spectacular: less than $4 billion in 2000 to $62 billion today; an average of 22% yearly growth; from less than 100,000 to over two million employees; an almost non-existent domestic market has grown to $10 billion-a-year opportunity.

Technology bellwether Infosys was 3,000 people in 2000. At the close of the decade, it has grown manpower 40 times to more than 1,25,000.

Next 10 years will strengthen India’s position as global technology services hub, with Nasscom projecting the industry size at $225 billion by 2020. “IT will employ one crore people,’’ says Nasscom president Som Mittal.

Global tech giants such as IBM , Cisco , Dell, Microsoft , Intel , Oracle, HP and Google have their largest employee base outside the US , in India — tweaking code, developing software products, filing patents and now eying the local market. Homegrown companies such as Infosys, Wipro , TCS and HCL, which never found a mention in global technology and business reports, are now on Rs top quadrant’ of Gartner, Forrester, Everest, BCG and others.

“We started with a narrow set of applications, development and maintenance services, and now do pretty much everything,’’ says Infosys Technologies’ co-founder & CEO, S Gopalakrishnan. And ‘everything’ includes aerospace design, re-doing global retail and pharma, maintaining and improving banking systems and systems integration for the manufacturing sector.

TCS signed a $250-million contract with ABN Amro in 2005 and followed it up with Pearl Assurance deal worth $847 million. In a $250-million deal, Infosys acquired captive centres of Philips in 2007. The same year saw 66 PE deals in the technology space. In 2008, HCL bought out UK-based SAP consultant Axon for $658 million.

Growth has been “unstoppable,’’ says Gopalakrishnan, despite the do tcom bust and economic slowdown. The business case was compelling and the sector weathered all anti-offshoring noises as well.

“Over the decade, there has been a greater acceptance of the global model of working at a distance,” says Mittal. However, the only bad patch was the Satyam episode. “That was an aberration,’ says Mittal.

Shelly Singh

With the industry set for a more than four-fold growth in the next decade, it will have to gear up with new business models. “80% of the opportunity will be in new areas — new markets, new technologies and from smaller companies as well,’’ says Mittal.



From: The Economic Times

Organisations introducing new forms of leave for employees

Once upon a time, there was casual leave, sick leave, privilege leave and earned leave: pretty much the annual quota of in every organisation. But as evolved, newer varieties set in. Like bereavement leave, stint-oriented leave, parental leave, sharing of leaves amon employees, leave for reward and recognition, study leave and, of course, paternal leave. In fact, the anticipated trouble following the Ayodhya verdict may have thrown up a new kind of emergency leave, with most IT offices allowing employees to go home early, or declaring a half-day at work.

Some of the country’s leading business houses and companies are now innovating on their paid leave component as a way to improve work-life balance in the belief that it will boost productivity. Employees are not complaining either, for even as they work hard, there are now many more opportunities to take a day off with the reason that suits best!

“Leave has taken on a different connotation, a way to provide a level of comfort to employees,” says veteran HR professional and director (human capital) P Dwarkanath. The Max Group, for instance, has conceptualised self-development leave of up to one month for employees to attend short-term courses and reward recognition leave whereby they are sent on a fully-reimbursed holiday along with family. It is also reviewing possibilities to allow accumulation of sick leaves to make its leave policy more employee-friendly.

Accenture has recently launched ‘Hours That Help’, that provides employees an opportunity to receive additional or extra leave from fellow employees during a medical crisis or emergency. As part of this, employees can voluntarily donate their leave to fellow employees who require availing such leave beyond their stipulated ones.

Accenture has created an internal system whereby all employees will receive a notification when an employee in crisis requires additional leave.

“The programme is expected to promote a spirit of caring, sharing, community help and supports our core values. It responds to a vital need of employees who are confronted with crisis situations, ranging from medical emergencies to health-related concerns,” says Accenture India lead (human resources) Prithvi Shergill.
Analysts say the tendency to come up with newer and innovative leaves is more in the services and knowledge-intensive sectors like IT.

“In the services industry, the manpower component is more critical in relative terms. For instance, in the capital-intensive automotive sector, human resource accounts for only 7-10% of the total cost, whereas in services it is almost 50%,” says NS Rajan, partner, national head and EMEIA leader, people and organisation, . Rajan says leaves are one of the main levers that help to enhance employee engagement. Other levers include the employer brand, possibility of learning and development, relationship with seniors, quality of team, overall culture of the organisation and growth prospects.

president HR Adil Malia feels such newer types of leave are possible due to the coming of age of advanced technology like the BlackBerry and Skype, which allows employees to operate beyond the physical workstation of their office. The need for physical presence in office is now not an absolute necessity, he says.
“Productive employees are those who are satisfied with their family life and meet their social obligations. Hence, these type of leaves allow the employee to fulfil his/her duties as a professional, social being and family person. It also builds an emotional connect with the company,” says Malia.

India Inc upbeat on recruitment

The majority of employers in the country anticipate the creation of new jobs in the coming months of this year, according to a survey released on Tuesday.

Painting a robust hiring scenario in the country, a survey by global staffing firm Manpower showed that employers are planning to hire at a robust pace this year.

Manpower's employment outlook survey stated that globally, India is the most optimistic in terms of recruitment intentions for the fourth quarter, after China and Taiwan.

"The job market remains robust in India as a result of strong domestic growth and recovery in key global markets. But employers in other countries are reporting strong hiring forecasts as well," Manpower India managing director Sanjay Pandit said.



India's net employment outlook — an indicator of employers' hiring intentions — stood at 38% on a seasonally-adjusted basis for the next three months. For the third quarter, the outlook stood a little higher at 41%, the Manpower survey stated. "Employers began recruiting at a steady pace in the first half of 2010 and confidence levels were high. The findings indicate sustainable new job opportunities in remainder of the year and job seekers can look forward to a favourable hiring environment," Info Edge senior vice-president, corporate communications Sumeet Singh said



From: The Economic Times

Indian firms' hiring plans stay strong

Indian companies' hiring intention for the next three months has weakened compared with the current quarter but remains strong over the year-ago period, says a survey by consulting firm Manpower.

India’s net employment outlook (NEO), which indicates hiring intentions, stood at 38% for the October-December 2010 period, a marginal decline from 41% recorded by the previous quarterly survey for the third quarter of 2010.

The latest Manpower Employment Outlook Survey, that covered almost 5,400 employers in the country, also revealed that hiring intention has improved 8% compared with the fourth quarter last year, when the economy was still recovering.

“The job market remains robust in India as a result of strong domestic growth and recovery in key global markets,” said Manpower India MD Sanjay Pandit.

Sectors where companies are likely to see strong recruitment include public administration & education followed by services besides finance, insurance and real estate. Employers in sectors such as transportation, utilities and wholesale & retail trade are less likely to create jobs in the coming months.

In terms of regions, employers in the South have strong hiring plans with NEO of 41% for the coming quarter, while those in North have an outlook of 37%, followed by East (36%) and West (32%). NEO is derived by taking the percentage of employers anticipating total employment to rise, minus the percentage expecting to see a decline in employment at their location in the next quarter. It also takes into consideration the seasonal adjustments in employment.

The global survey revealed that hiring intentions in the entire Asian region is stronger as compared to the past few quarters. India that has been top of charts in terms of employers’ hiring plans in the past two years, has slipped to the third position behind China and Taiwan.

But increase in hiring intent in other APAC countries is good news for Indian job seekers, said Mr Pandit. “We have seen a surge in cross-border opportunities for job seekers from key global markets. Once you combine strong domestic hiring along with improved international opportunities, we see one of the best scenarios that Indian job seekers could have imagined,” he said.

With NEO of 47%, China has the brightest hiring outlook, followed by Taiwan at 40%. Of the 36 countries surveyed, 28 nations showed positive hiring trend for the next three months. Employers in Greece, Italy, Czech Republic, Spain and Ireland reported the weakest hiring plans.


From: The Economic Times

India Inc vies for multi-generation workforce to get maximum output

Things were different in our times,” is a favourite line of any generation while disapproving any trait of the younger generation. Often dismissed as light-hearted banter, such talk can, however, reflect a real concern in the corporate world.

Four or more generations, with different approaches, value systems and thought processes are sometimes thrown in together, posing a challenge for companies to get them to work in unison and maximise output.

For instance, how does a 20-something sales manager engage the members of his team who can range from 23 to 58 years? Besides, a new generation, Gen Y, born post-1990, will soon start entering the corporate world, calling for managerial skills that require tuning in to their world.

Companies are working at strategies to handle multi-generation teams, from encouraging diversity to actively eliminating biases. Persistent Systems, a Pune-based outsourced product development company, frequently sensitises employees about the company’s goals, gives senior staffers the freedom to choose roles, uses social networking tools for communication and conducts informal sessions to foster bonding.

“For the first time, we are seeing a sizeable number of 45+ year-olds in the industry while the number of young people is growing simultaneously,” says chief operating officer Nitin Kulkarni.

This is a challenge for the IT industry in particular, which is still maturing in India, he adds. “Things are changing fast. We find there is something like a generation gap between every batch of freshers, from one year to the next.” Kulkarni says the key is to accept that each generation has unique strengths and create a framework to harness them.

“When you have a team between ages 20 and 50, the boss’ job is to ensure that juniors and seniors respect each other for strengths like enthusiasm and experience, and he respects both,” says Devendra Chawla, head of the private brands business at Future Group.

Traditionally, a span of 20 years was considered to be a generation gap. But with rapid developments in various fields and social changes, the span has reduced to 10 or even five years in some cases. Demographers have divided generations into Traditionalists (born after 1950), Baby Boomers (post-1960), Gen-Xers (post-1970) and Millennials (post-1980). Each of these generations is so different from its preceding one that it actually precipitates a culture shift.

Most managers believe encouraging bonding between employees can help reduce this divide. At Peerless Mutual Fund, forums are organised for employees to come together and discuss non-work ideas, says CEO and MD Akshay Gupta.

Companies need to eliminate characteristic biases and deal with each person on merit, he says. “That is a habit we try to inculcate in our employees, to remove any generation differences,” says Gupta.

At Bajaj Electricals, too, employee bonding is taken seriously. “Everyone’s contribution is important and the leader should acknowledge that. We need to make people feel they are wanted, energise and empower them with knowledge,” says executive director R Ramakrishnan.

He points to a youngster, on the sidelines of a product launch, saying that he was brought there despite not having any specific role assigned. “I brought him here so he understands how events are organised. These are small things, but help the leader in building his team,” he says.

Fujitsu Consulting India (FCIL), an IT consulting company, has devised two programmes to work around generational differences.

In the “role-based” programme, the right people are appointed to leadership positions, which they would otherwise have occupied in two-three years, says head, human capital management, Anagha Wankar. Here, employees are groomed to handle people older and more experienced than they are.

As part of the “employee manager” programme, senior team members, apart from performing their regular roles, act as guides to other members across teams and help identify potential leaders, she says.

FCIL also allows experienced professionals who don’t want expanded roles to continue doing what they are, while giving them senior designations so their image is not hampered.

For multinational companies, though, this doesn’t appear to be much of an issue. “Coming from the US, we were not accustomed to age-based hiring, so the issue of how to handle multi-generational teams was already taken care of in our hiring policies,” says Chetan Shah, chief operating officer, Synygy India.

“As companies go global, the multi-generation challenge will cease to be a challenge,” he says. But in this rapidly globalising world, even MNCs cannot deny the truth in what Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric (GE), once said: “Any company trying to compete... must figure out a way to engage the mind of every employee.” This is as true for India Inc as it was for GE.


From: The Economic Times