A majority of Indian professionals are likely to quit their jobs this year due to lack of promotional avenues despite good work results and a lack of communication and involvement by their top managements, according to a survey .
For 59 per cent of respondents, finding that the next rung in the career ladder is a no-show was the top "get me out of here" factor, a survey by Regus, revealed.
Lack of communication and involvement by top management was the other big reason for most professionals to quit their existing jobs, 50 per cent of respondents said.
Another 30 per cent said that they would leave a company which lacked 'vision'.
The job market in India is likely to get crowded after the summer vacation as Indian professionals may quit their existing jobs unless they are promoted, it said.
Over 15,000 business respondents from the Regus global contacts database were interviewed during the February-March 2010 period and the survey was managed and administered by Marketing UK, an independent organisation, Regus said in a press release issued here.
Regus ia a leading global provider of innovative workspace solutions.
Regus' Country Head, Madhusudan Thakur, said "as workers pack up their swim-suits and towels after the holidays, they are more likely to dwell on the pros and cons of the job that is waiting for them at home."
According to reports, one of the effects of the economic recovery taking shape presently is that many more employees have started quitting their jobs and looking around for new ones, Thakur said.
"Businesses that are not providing all the trimmings may be heading for a brain-drain of their best talent," he added.
As the economy perks up, employees will flock to businesses that promise them better conditions and not necessarily the biggest wage, he said.
The survey also asked workers what companies could do to avoid a brain-drain of their best talents.
Aside from a pay-rise, in India, 42 per cent of the respondents said that flexible work timings are increasingly becoming important for them. They declared that the ability to flex their work-hours was top of their wish-list.
Other factors that make professionals leave their jobs are bosses who take credit for their (professionals') work and shabby premises. A fifth of respondents would also leave if their commute was too long or administrative support was lacking (20 per cent), the Regus survey said.
From: The Economic Times
Comfort Jobs
Friday, September 3, 2010
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
More and more corporates shifting to academics
It’s three years since Prithwis Mukerjee quit his cushy job in the corporate sector to take up academics full-time.
Today, the former partner at PwC and director at IBM is a professor, teaching management information systems at IIT Kharagpur’s Vinod Gupta School of Management (VGSOM). After 18 years of what he calls “being a footnote in the Great Indian Software Story”, he couldn’t be happier.
“The greatest satisfaction is the freedom to choose what I want to do,” he says. “In the software industry, the greatest tragedy is that once you become a manager, or partner, or director, you are effectively a man manager. For a technically oriented person like me, this is claustrophobic. Then also, you have to follow the clients’ dictates. That is where academics scores hands down. You have the luxury to focus on and work with things you really like.”
For some like Mukerjee, it’s the lure of the freedom. For some others, it’s a calling, a way of giving back to society. Then there are those for whom it’s a recipe for a more balanced life. The reasons vary. Notwithstanding that, educational institutes, mostly B-schools, are seeing an increasing number of people who have spent years in the corporate world, quitting their jobs and joining academics full time.
Take IIM Ahmedabad, for instance. The institute has over 22 full-time faculty with 2-5 years of industry experience and 21 with more than five years’ experience. At IIM Calcutta, 55% faculty have prior industry experience with an average stint of 8.5 years.
They represent a spectrum of areas including economics, marketing, finance, human resource, general management, management information system, operations, law and strategy. MDI Gurgaon has 18-odd faculty members with over 10 years industry experience. Other leading institutes, from the IIMs to Narsee Monjee to XLRI Jamshedpur, all have a significant number of faculty members with corporate backgrounds.
HR experts say this trend has started gaining momentum as academic salaries have been on the uptrend. It’s still a far cry from the UK or the US where a star professor can earn over a half-a-million dollars a year, but the differentials with the corporate sector have narrowed.
Leading HR firm, Ma Foi Randstad director and president E Balaji says, “Earlier an academic job would probably pay just about 20-30% of a corporate one, given the same qualifications. That was a huge entry barrier. Today, that has become 65-70%. So a lot of people are making the shift.”
The move is happening primarily at two levels. Those who have spent the bulk of their careers in the corporate world, and now want to give back to society and work with young people. Then there are also those who are in their 30s-40s, at the peak of their career, but still want to make a change. “For the latter, with relatively lesser savings, the transition is more difficult,” feels Balaji.
According to several such people who have bid the corporate world goodbye, an academic environment is intellectually more stimulating.
Also, there’s the fact that most leading institutes now offer plenty of scope for consultancy, more so to those with a strong corporate background. Like BB Chakraborty, professor of finance at IIM Calcutta, who spent 24 years in the manufacturing and financial services sectors, out of which five years were spent as president. After teaching in IIMC as visiting faculty for three years, he joined the institute as a permanent faculty, a job he’s continued for the past nine years.
“The freedom here to pursue one’s interests is enormous. What’s more, you’re in a community of great students and colleagues. As opposed to the corporate world where you are more delivery-oriented, here you have to be a thinker and also work for the community. My only regret is I didn’t join earlier.”
The transition for corporate professionals to academic life has also been helped by the fact that institutes are actively looking out for teachers with industry experience. “Management education is not just about lectures, but pedagogy that requires you to be in direct contact with the industry. Those with a corporate background are in demand,” says a professor with a leading Mumbai-based B-school.
Some have benefited in other ways. For Samiksha Ojha, finance faculty at MDI Gurgaon, the decision to make a shift to academics after spending 14 years in the corporate world across India, Dubai and Abu Dhabi and even running her own management consultancy, was prompted by a desire to give more time to family. “Corporate life was very demanding and I thought it would be the right option,” she says.
Overall, she says it’s been a wonderful experience. “You get to interact with like-minded people, be in constant touch with your subject and being with the students, you keep going back to your own student life.”
At 43, will she ever consider going back to corporate life? “No, but sometimes, when I see some of my classmates at the CEO level, I do feel that maybe I could have been there. I’m already moving more to the training side, and maybe in the future, I’ll become a visiting faculty. But I’ll never give up teaching. I love it.”
From: The Economic Times
Today, the former partner at PwC and director at IBM is a professor, teaching management information systems at IIT Kharagpur’s Vinod Gupta School of Management (VGSOM). After 18 years of what he calls “being a footnote in the Great Indian Software Story”, he couldn’t be happier.
“The greatest satisfaction is the freedom to choose what I want to do,” he says. “In the software industry, the greatest tragedy is that once you become a manager, or partner, or director, you are effectively a man manager. For a technically oriented person like me, this is claustrophobic. Then also, you have to follow the clients’ dictates. That is where academics scores hands down. You have the luxury to focus on and work with things you really like.”
For some like Mukerjee, it’s the lure of the freedom. For some others, it’s a calling, a way of giving back to society. Then there are those for whom it’s a recipe for a more balanced life. The reasons vary. Notwithstanding that, educational institutes, mostly B-schools, are seeing an increasing number of people who have spent years in the corporate world, quitting their jobs and joining academics full time.
Take IIM Ahmedabad, for instance. The institute has over 22 full-time faculty with 2-5 years of industry experience and 21 with more than five years’ experience. At IIM Calcutta, 55% faculty have prior industry experience with an average stint of 8.5 years.
They represent a spectrum of areas including economics, marketing, finance, human resource, general management, management information system, operations, law and strategy. MDI Gurgaon has 18-odd faculty members with over 10 years industry experience. Other leading institutes, from the IIMs to Narsee Monjee to XLRI Jamshedpur, all have a significant number of faculty members with corporate backgrounds.
HR experts say this trend has started gaining momentum as academic salaries have been on the uptrend. It’s still a far cry from the UK or the US where a star professor can earn over a half-a-million dollars a year, but the differentials with the corporate sector have narrowed.
Leading HR firm, Ma Foi Randstad director and president E Balaji says, “Earlier an academic job would probably pay just about 20-30% of a corporate one, given the same qualifications. That was a huge entry barrier. Today, that has become 65-70%. So a lot of people are making the shift.”
The move is happening primarily at two levels. Those who have spent the bulk of their careers in the corporate world, and now want to give back to society and work with young people. Then there are also those who are in their 30s-40s, at the peak of their career, but still want to make a change. “For the latter, with relatively lesser savings, the transition is more difficult,” feels Balaji.
According to several such people who have bid the corporate world goodbye, an academic environment is intellectually more stimulating.
Also, there’s the fact that most leading institutes now offer plenty of scope for consultancy, more so to those with a strong corporate background. Like BB Chakraborty, professor of finance at IIM Calcutta, who spent 24 years in the manufacturing and financial services sectors, out of which five years were spent as president. After teaching in IIMC as visiting faculty for three years, he joined the institute as a permanent faculty, a job he’s continued for the past nine years.
“The freedom here to pursue one’s interests is enormous. What’s more, you’re in a community of great students and colleagues. As opposed to the corporate world where you are more delivery-oriented, here you have to be a thinker and also work for the community. My only regret is I didn’t join earlier.”
The transition for corporate professionals to academic life has also been helped by the fact that institutes are actively looking out for teachers with industry experience. “Management education is not just about lectures, but pedagogy that requires you to be in direct contact with the industry. Those with a corporate background are in demand,” says a professor with a leading Mumbai-based B-school.
Some have benefited in other ways. For Samiksha Ojha, finance faculty at MDI Gurgaon, the decision to make a shift to academics after spending 14 years in the corporate world across India, Dubai and Abu Dhabi and even running her own management consultancy, was prompted by a desire to give more time to family. “Corporate life was very demanding and I thought it would be the right option,” she says.
Overall, she says it’s been a wonderful experience. “You get to interact with like-minded people, be in constant touch with your subject and being with the students, you keep going back to your own student life.”
At 43, will she ever consider going back to corporate life? “No, but sometimes, when I see some of my classmates at the CEO level, I do feel that maybe I could have been there. I’m already moving more to the training side, and maybe in the future, I’ll become a visiting faculty. But I’ll never give up teaching. I love it.”
From: The Economic Times
Monday, August 30, 2010
Is your salary politically correct?
Are you satisfied with your current salary? The answer depends on who is asking it and when. If your current or prospective employer poses this question, the answer would be an unequivocal ‘NO’.
But if you were to respond to this query among friends and relatives, chances are that you will nod in the affirmative.
“Happiness is relative (in case of salary),” says Kris Lakshmikanth, founder CEO and chairman of Headhunters India. “It’s in the basic nature of the human being not to be satisfied with what they have in hand.”
Considering the brouhaha created by our Parliamentarians, who were given a 300% hike in their salaries and were yet unsatisfied with it—in spite of the ‘perks’ one gets as an MP—Lakshmikanth’s words appear insightful. However, grey areas remain.
According to PayScale, a global salary data syndicate, the appropriate employee compensation can be calculated by taking into account factors like the company, location, experience, industry and education of the candidate.
The US-based syndicate currently places the pay structure of financial and IT sectors at a premium. However, these are also the sectors where attrition rate is the highest. Clearly, Indian parliamentarians are not the unhappy lot.
According to Surabhi Mathur-Gandhi, vice president, Teamlease Services, an average employee’s discontentment with salary has jumped manifold. “Only a handful of people are happy with their compensation package,” she says.
“Misaligned expectations and peer pressure are the prime reasons for this growing unsatisfaction. The tendency to compare salary with classmates, family cousins has mismatched equations for people.” Mathur-Gandhi adds another interesting aspect with the discontentment factor.
“If one maps out the EQ of compensation structure, it would come in a bell curve shape. The most discontent are people with experience of five to eight years. The most satisfied are people with 8-15 years of experience, people who are middle-aged and have settled with family and children.”
The argument seems well placed. The primary factors seen as the trigger to salary dissatisfaction are peer pressure, heightened career expectations, excess job-hopping and a wrong choice of profession.
A young professional is more prone to be influenced with these while at middle age such issues are hardly a bother. For K Ramkumar, chief HR officer at ICICI Bank, the concept of satisfaction with wealth is a utopian one.
“It is possible that at certain points of time in life one may concede that what they receive is fair and equitable, but it will only last till the hunger for more surfaces again and any feeble evidence of relative imbalance is perceived by the mind,” he says.
With over two decades of experience in HR industry, Lakshmikanth agrees. “For an average employee, the grass is always greener on the other side. Even corporate biggies are not immune to this phenomenon,” he says, adding that even siblings fight for supremacy in the corporate world.
“For them, a happy business is when they outperform the other. Recently, one of our software clients was looking for the global sales head. The company even offered the incumbent double the compensation package. Yet, the person refused to join as his definition of happiness was not getting fulfilled.”
HR experts argue what is sufficient for one in a big organisation need not be acceptable in another. Any attempt to assess whether all employees are satisfied at a given point of time is misplaced. “What is need for one is greed for the other; what is sufficient for one may be inadequate for many,” says ICICI’s Ramkumar.
From: The Economic Times
But if you were to respond to this query among friends and relatives, chances are that you will nod in the affirmative.
“Happiness is relative (in case of salary),” says Kris Lakshmikanth, founder CEO and chairman of Headhunters India. “It’s in the basic nature of the human being not to be satisfied with what they have in hand.”
Considering the brouhaha created by our Parliamentarians, who were given a 300% hike in their salaries and were yet unsatisfied with it—in spite of the ‘perks’ one gets as an MP—Lakshmikanth’s words appear insightful. However, grey areas remain.
According to PayScale, a global salary data syndicate, the appropriate employee compensation can be calculated by taking into account factors like the company, location, experience, industry and education of the candidate.
The US-based syndicate currently places the pay structure of financial and IT sectors at a premium. However, these are also the sectors where attrition rate is the highest. Clearly, Indian parliamentarians are not the unhappy lot.
According to Surabhi Mathur-Gandhi, vice president, Teamlease Services, an average employee’s discontentment with salary has jumped manifold. “Only a handful of people are happy with their compensation package,” she says.
“Misaligned expectations and peer pressure are the prime reasons for this growing unsatisfaction. The tendency to compare salary with classmates, family cousins has mismatched equations for people.” Mathur-Gandhi adds another interesting aspect with the discontentment factor.
“If one maps out the EQ of compensation structure, it would come in a bell curve shape. The most discontent are people with experience of five to eight years. The most satisfied are people with 8-15 years of experience, people who are middle-aged and have settled with family and children.”
The argument seems well placed. The primary factors seen as the trigger to salary dissatisfaction are peer pressure, heightened career expectations, excess job-hopping and a wrong choice of profession.
A young professional is more prone to be influenced with these while at middle age such issues are hardly a bother. For K Ramkumar, chief HR officer at ICICI Bank, the concept of satisfaction with wealth is a utopian one.
“It is possible that at certain points of time in life one may concede that what they receive is fair and equitable, but it will only last till the hunger for more surfaces again and any feeble evidence of relative imbalance is perceived by the mind,” he says.
With over two decades of experience in HR industry, Lakshmikanth agrees. “For an average employee, the grass is always greener on the other side. Even corporate biggies are not immune to this phenomenon,” he says, adding that even siblings fight for supremacy in the corporate world.
“For them, a happy business is when they outperform the other. Recently, one of our software clients was looking for the global sales head. The company even offered the incumbent double the compensation package. Yet, the person refused to join as his definition of happiness was not getting fulfilled.”
HR experts argue what is sufficient for one in a big organisation need not be acceptable in another. Any attempt to assess whether all employees are satisfied at a given point of time is misplaced. “What is need for one is greed for the other; what is sufficient for one may be inadequate for many,” says ICICI’s Ramkumar.
From: The Economic Times
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Are IT jobs losing sparkle?
After trimming payroll and tightening perks to cope with the economic slowdown last year, software companies are finding that a rising number of engineering and management graduates are transferring their affections to vocations such as manufacturing and banking — a shift that could force tech firms to scramble harder than ever before for talented employees.
For years, college graduates and professionals working in India’s $50 billion ( 2.3 lakh crore) outsourcing sector moved from one tech firm to another, often getting 20-30 % higher salaries in the bargain. Now, recruitment experts and industry officials say the churn of experienced staff from IT to other sectors has increased by 15-20 % over the past year. The main reasons, they say, are the perceived job security in the core sector and rising salary levels in manufacturing and telecom companies.
Among those who made the switch is Amit Bhargava, 29, who quit his job as business analyst at one of India’s top tech firms last month to join a multinational bank’s technology centre in Pune. The technology sector has not really lost its sheen, he says, but he wants to build specialist banking skills.
“And it is not as prone to export risks,” he adds, referring to his new vocation. Another reason for the shift away from IT companies is that they are now visiting college campuses for recruitment only during the eighth semester of the course, giving an opportunity to firms from other sectors to attract the best talent before them. Software industry grouping Nasscom asked its members last year to recruit graduating students during their final, eighth semester and not disrupt academic sessions.
Until two years ago, top Indian software firms competed aggressively with each other to hire engineering graduates. With the halo around working for a tech company beginning to fade, the competition is getting fiercer. Infosys Technologies alone plans to hire 36,000 employees in the fiscal to March and its chief executive S Gopalakrishnan has listed the competition for talent as the industry’s top challenge.
From: The Economic Times
For years, college graduates and professionals working in India’s $50 billion ( 2.3 lakh crore) outsourcing sector moved from one tech firm to another, often getting 20-30 % higher salaries in the bargain. Now, recruitment experts and industry officials say the churn of experienced staff from IT to other sectors has increased by 15-20 % over the past year. The main reasons, they say, are the perceived job security in the core sector and rising salary levels in manufacturing and telecom companies.
Among those who made the switch is Amit Bhargava, 29, who quit his job as business analyst at one of India’s top tech firms last month to join a multinational bank’s technology centre in Pune. The technology sector has not really lost its sheen, he says, but he wants to build specialist banking skills.
“And it is not as prone to export risks,” he adds, referring to his new vocation. Another reason for the shift away from IT companies is that they are now visiting college campuses for recruitment only during the eighth semester of the course, giving an opportunity to firms from other sectors to attract the best talent before them. Software industry grouping Nasscom asked its members last year to recruit graduating students during their final, eighth semester and not disrupt academic sessions.
Until two years ago, top Indian software firms competed aggressively with each other to hire engineering graduates. With the halo around working for a tech company beginning to fade, the competition is getting fiercer. Infosys Technologies alone plans to hire 36,000 employees in the fiscal to March and its chief executive S Gopalakrishnan has listed the competition for talent as the industry’s top challenge.
From: The Economic Times
Saturday, August 28, 2010
FMCG companies hire in small towns to fire up growth
Small towns are emerging as the new big hiring zones, as consumer goods companies drive deep into the country. Companies are hiring field staff in areas like Kalpa in Himachal Pradesh, Mangaliya in Madhya Pradesh, Kota in Rajasthan and Shirdi in Maharashtra to sell products as diverse as shampoos, edible oil and even pizzas.
The triggers are a combination of a good monsoon this year, farm-loan waivers, higher disposable incomes in rural India, media penetration, low-priced unit packs of 5 and 10 and government programmes like the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.
Consumer goods giant Hindustan Unilever is hiring 25,000 ‘shaktimaans,’ or sales and field staff, to sell its products in nearly 1.5 lakh villages, while Dabur India intends to hire 200 ‘feet on street’ and indirect employees through its stockists in villages and small towns.
“Our share of top line from semi-urban and rural markets is touching almost 50%. Naturally, we are looking at these consumers very closely,” says Dabur’s vice president-HR V Krishnan.
Marico has just finished hiring a support staff of 220 in towns like Kalod and Rangwasa in Madhya Pradesh. Fast-food company Domino’s plans to hire 1,000 employees in cities like Ranchi, Kota and Gangtok in the next 12 months. Others like ITC, Nestle, GlaxoSmithKline and Emami are talking of doubling their direct employee strength in small towns and villages.
Hindustan Unilever intends to triple its rural coverage to 15% in 2010. It is hoping the plan to hire ‘shaktimaans’ will help it sell products like Pepsodent toothpaste and Wheel detergent, which are losing share to rivals and smaller players in big towns and metros.
“WE have embarked on an enormous coverage expansion project, facilitated by digital maps, to identify potential markets to be brought under direct coverage,” says an HUL spokesman.
Of the million outlets across India the company directly covers, 0.25 million are in rural areas. Shaktimaans , who are already at work in Orissa, will distribute products to villages adjoining an earmarked ‘Shakti’ village. Villages are tracked through a geographical information system, and the employees have been given bicycles. HUL’s Project Shakti had tapped 45,000 rural women (Shakti ammas) in 2000. Now, it is wooing the men in the families to turn into shaktimaan entrepreneurs.
Dabur has already hired 150-180 additional ‘foot soldiers’ over the past 12 to 15 months. It has also increased the number of stockists by 11-12 % in rural and semiurban markets, who in turn, are serviced by superstockists in big cities. The company will sharpen its focus on small towns and villages in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Punjab and Haryana, with a population of at least 3,000. “We will ramp up our field force depending on the increase in business volumes,” says Mr Krishnan.
From: The Economic Times
The triggers are a combination of a good monsoon this year, farm-loan waivers, higher disposable incomes in rural India, media penetration, low-priced unit packs of 5 and 10 and government programmes like the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.
Consumer goods giant Hindustan Unilever is hiring 25,000 ‘shaktimaans,’ or sales and field staff, to sell its products in nearly 1.5 lakh villages, while Dabur India intends to hire 200 ‘feet on street’ and indirect employees through its stockists in villages and small towns.
“Our share of top line from semi-urban and rural markets is touching almost 50%. Naturally, we are looking at these consumers very closely,” says Dabur’s vice president-HR V Krishnan.
Marico has just finished hiring a support staff of 220 in towns like Kalod and Rangwasa in Madhya Pradesh. Fast-food company Domino’s plans to hire 1,000 employees in cities like Ranchi, Kota and Gangtok in the next 12 months. Others like ITC, Nestle, GlaxoSmithKline and Emami are talking of doubling their direct employee strength in small towns and villages.
Hindustan Unilever intends to triple its rural coverage to 15% in 2010. It is hoping the plan to hire ‘shaktimaans’ will help it sell products like Pepsodent toothpaste and Wheel detergent, which are losing share to rivals and smaller players in big towns and metros.
“WE have embarked on an enormous coverage expansion project, facilitated by digital maps, to identify potential markets to be brought under direct coverage,” says an HUL spokesman.
Of the million outlets across India the company directly covers, 0.25 million are in rural areas. Shaktimaans , who are already at work in Orissa, will distribute products to villages adjoining an earmarked ‘Shakti’ village. Villages are tracked through a geographical information system, and the employees have been given bicycles. HUL’s Project Shakti had tapped 45,000 rural women (Shakti ammas) in 2000. Now, it is wooing the men in the families to turn into shaktimaan entrepreneurs.
Dabur has already hired 150-180 additional ‘foot soldiers’ over the past 12 to 15 months. It has also increased the number of stockists by 11-12 % in rural and semiurban markets, who in turn, are serviced by superstockists in big cities. The company will sharpen its focus on small towns and villages in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Punjab and Haryana, with a population of at least 3,000. “We will ramp up our field force depending on the increase in business volumes,” says Mr Krishnan.
From: The Economic Times
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Comfort Jobs: Companies using incentive trips as a motivational ...
Comfort Jobs: Companies using incentive trips as a motivational ...: "As the liner edged out into the deep blue waters of the Atlantic, an excited Manoj B and his wife watched the receding shoreline from the to..."
Companies using incentive trips as a motivational tool
As the liner edged out into the deep blue waters of the Atlantic, an excited Manoj B and his wife watched the receding shoreline from the top deck along with hundreds of others. The North European cruise was indeed a once-in-a-lifetime experience and something, which Manoj knew, he would probably not have done on his own. Manoj’s overseas trip was courtesy the ICT company he worked for in India. “Money I can always earn, but I would still choose such an amazing trip over a cash payout any day,” he says.
Incentive travel is going places, specially overseas trips, as a reward for good work. That, to many, is sweeter than two wads of currency notes which vanish even before you open them. Increasingly, Indian companies are beginning to realise this.
On the one hand, it’s a motivational tool to encourage employees to go that extra mile for incremental business and service. On the other, it aims at improving the quality of work, foster employee loyalty and reduce attrition. White goods, banks, insurance, telecom, IT, liquor, garments — companies across sectors are becoming more aggressive on this front. “Incentive trips have become part of accepted sales management practice. It is a good way to motivate, very visible, aspirational for many, and with possibilities of learning and exposure and team building in some cases,” says Bimal Rath, founder of HR consulting company Think Talent Services.
With great deals up for grabs and discounts of 20%-plus on bulk corporate bookings, foreign travel is becoming that much more accessible. HR circles say that since bulk bookings in nearby locales like Colombo, Bangkok or Sri Lanka cost almost the same as domestic ones, companies are getting more excited. “Since costs are so competitive, management nowadays rarely frowns on such foreign trips,” says Prabir Jha, senior VP and head of HR at Tata Motors.
At the entry level, there are destinations like Thailand, Hong Kong and Malaysia, which are finding plenty of takers, while South Africa, Mauritius, Switzerland are the more premium picks. While popular destinations like Hong Kong see as many as 120 groups monthly, even relatively offbeat ones like Istanbul are seeing 30-40 groups per month, claim travel circles. If Mahindra Satyam sent its top performers to the Fifa world cup, a leading MNC bank recently sent its employees to Switzerland, Istanbul or Malaysia based on performances
From: The Economic Times
Incentive travel is going places, specially overseas trips, as a reward for good work. That, to many, is sweeter than two wads of currency notes which vanish even before you open them. Increasingly, Indian companies are beginning to realise this.
On the one hand, it’s a motivational tool to encourage employees to go that extra mile for incremental business and service. On the other, it aims at improving the quality of work, foster employee loyalty and reduce attrition. White goods, banks, insurance, telecom, IT, liquor, garments — companies across sectors are becoming more aggressive on this front. “Incentive trips have become part of accepted sales management practice. It is a good way to motivate, very visible, aspirational for many, and with possibilities of learning and exposure and team building in some cases,” says Bimal Rath, founder of HR consulting company Think Talent Services.
With great deals up for grabs and discounts of 20%-plus on bulk corporate bookings, foreign travel is becoming that much more accessible. HR circles say that since bulk bookings in nearby locales like Colombo, Bangkok or Sri Lanka cost almost the same as domestic ones, companies are getting more excited. “Since costs are so competitive, management nowadays rarely frowns on such foreign trips,” says Prabir Jha, senior VP and head of HR at Tata Motors.
At the entry level, there are destinations like Thailand, Hong Kong and Malaysia, which are finding plenty of takers, while South Africa, Mauritius, Switzerland are the more premium picks. While popular destinations like Hong Kong see as many as 120 groups monthly, even relatively offbeat ones like Istanbul are seeing 30-40 groups per month, claim travel circles. If Mahindra Satyam sent its top performers to the Fifa world cup, a leading MNC bank recently sent its employees to Switzerland, Istanbul or Malaysia based on performances
From: The Economic Times
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