Carpooling – The Good, the Bad and the Environment

Fuel prices have been stable for the past couple of weeks, but this trend is not going to continue nor is it going to go backward (wishful thinking). Some newspapers have already carried the news that we should be prepared for a substantial hike in fuel prices once the election season is over. The lull in price fluctuation was enforced by the Election Commission of India and comes under its code of conduct, which was lifted last week.

When faced with news, especially bleak news – there are two ways a person can go about dealing with it. Accept it or take steps for change. In this scenario, we can either accept that fuel prices will keep on rising. After all, that’s how it’s always played in the past OR we can take concrete alternative steps to counter it. The rise in fuel prices is just one of the many reasons why we should start looking at ways to share our daily commute. Look at it this way, more people in one automobile = less number of cars on the road = less chances of a traffic jam happening. More people reaching on time to their destinations is just one of the many positive outcomes arising out of this practice.

What’s stopping us from making group commuting a habit? Not only are we saving money, resources and time – we are making sure we leave a small carbon footprint in our country (more on carbon footprints here: http://www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.aspx).

The only challenge I can see can come in the form of organizing everyone’s time and habits when heading out together in a single vehicle – but technology can help us here with many online services coming out to help us in this regard. One of the more helpful ones is - http://www.carpooling.in/

Here at Hero BPO, we have a culture of our employees travelling to and fro from work and home in company cabs – highlighting our commitment to group comminuting. People living in the same neighborhood travel together saving costs and thus helping leave a leaner carbon footprint.

“We're in a giant car heading towards a brick wall and everyones arguing over where they're going to sit” ― David Suzuki

One Citizen, One Vote

They are here and there is no way you can miss them.

The Indian general elections 2014 are already being tagged as the ‘biggest elections’ in world history. There are some staggering figures that go with this mammoth activity for e.g. these also will be the longest and the most expensive general elections in the history of the country with the Election Commission of India estimating that the election will cost the exchequer INR 35 billion! 

The promotions for the two biggest political parties in India are not just hitting television and internet but the online and social space as well. Massive rallies and ground activations are in full swing.

The real question to be asked here is – how much are you as an individual being swayed by it to actually go and vote for the candidate of your choice?

We can never downplay the importance of voting – your future and the country’s future are directly affected with your decision. If you have an opinion which resonates with the thinking or views of a candidate, then it’s your moral obligation and duty to vote for that person and see through that your opinion gets a voice in the parliament. Voting also helps democracy to prevail and if you don’t make that decision to vote, then the chances increase of you getting ruled by by someone who wouldn't necessarily represent your opinions or have your interests at heart.

The reason to vote cannot be overstated. Here at Hero BPO, we have decided to give all the employees and the staff, whose shifts are in the morning and afternoon, an off on the day of the election. This would make sure that our employees go out and exercise their responsibility to vote as they should.

“One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.” - Plato

Smart People. Smart Solutions.

It’s a highly competitive world out there. There is a need to differentiate yourself. A need to create brand equity for your organization. To win markets, old and new. If ever Charles Darwin’s theory of Survival of the Fittest was true, it’s now. But then how must one survive? How do you make yourself or your business ‘unique’? The answer to all these questions lies in the age-old saying, ‘Customer is the king’. It has been and still continues to be the fundamental base on which the empires of successful enterprises are built.

But it isn’t that easy, mind you. The markets have become complex and so have we, the customers. Today we are smarter, technologically more equipped, with our ever-evolving needs. From the way we live and work to our preferences and choices, everything has transformed significantly over the years.

Smart People. Smart Solutions. – Our motto at HeroBPO didn’t just come from thin air. It’s a motto we live by. This weekend I glanced upon this quote and it some how got stuck with me. It goes like this:

"Surround yourself with smart, dedicated people - to build something isn't a one-man show. It's more important to have smart people who really believe in what you're doing than really experienced people who may not share your dream." - Niklas Zennstrom

True isn’t it? In my 20+ years, I have seen changes that might astonish you, developments that would make you sit in awe. I have learnt a lot, tried a lot of things but one thing that I have not underestimated is the power of the customers. One can’t do this alone. You need a team – a team of like-minded individuals. It will not be wrong to say that the key to winning partnerships lie in the ability to understand, customize and then service according to the consumers’ needs.

But how is this possible? To be able to create a winning product it is crucial to catch the pulse of what the consumer needs and what could make his or her life better, simpler. Though, we have many tools at our disposal to generate consumer insights, it would add a lot of value if we step out into the market, personally spend time with customers and get insights. Once the need is understood, the next step is customization. Categorizing customers as one homogenous lot can be useful as it helps streamline operations, however, one can not ignore the fact that each customer and his/her requirement is different from the other.

The question that arises is ‘How far are you willing to customize your offering?’ This flexibility has to be built in into organizational culture. Only when you are able to customize, you can truly deliver a superlative experience to the customer. People have become smarter, it’s time we offer them smart solutions as well.

Communication – The corner stone for all businesses

Way back in the 1980s, Robert H Lengel and Richard L Daft came up with a theory known as the Media Richness Theory. The essence of the theory is simple. It says that the richness of a communication media is directly proportional to its ability to reproduce information. Also, the selection of communication medium depends on the task at hand or the situation that an organization is facing.

Communication, today, is a corner stone for businesses around the world. It will not be an exaggeration to add that it is the game changer that makes or breaks any business. The way you communicate with your employees, business partners and customers, determines your success. Though, every firm strives to be a trusted brand and a great place to work, there is a tendency to view communication as an afterthought. The popular perception is that the communication part will be taken care of once ‘we put the process in place’. Is it a wise move?

I believe that the above-mentioned approach makes the communication strategy uni-dimensional in approach. Instead, what will work best for any organization, irrespective of the area of work, is rich communication, as it helps lay a foundation for trust with various stakeholders. Again, I would refer back to the Media Richness Theory by Lengel and Daft as an example.

I have always believed that seeking inputs from your employees, who interact with the customers and thus have their insights, adds tremendous value to the growth of the business and is a boon to the overall strategy. Not to forget that it’s almost certain that your employees will not only feel valued, but also be more responsive to the new strategy when you finally roll it out.

I would stress that rich communication has to be the norm for any organization or firm that wants to be successful in today’s cutthroat competition. During tough times, silence results into suspicion, unilateral communication creates confusion, whereas rich communication provides hope and generates trust. Rich communication, therefore, has to be the defining feature of an organization. It encourages open culture and transparency in the company.

I am proud to add that rich communication is what has help establish Hero BPO as a trusted brand today. Over the years we have been successful in developing a rich communication culture internally as well as externally by listening and engaging on a continuous basis with our customers, our employees and the communities we operate in, to not just provide innovative products but also add value to each and everyone’s lives.

India gets its “Chak De” moments

Hockey, a sport that bought India its greatest moment back in history, has lost its sheen and now all that is left of the great sport is a few sepia-tones reminisce of the past.

But amidst this scenario comes a ray of hope. The young girls, virtually unknown even among the hockey followers in India, have brought back the hockey glory to the nation.

Source:Indiatimes.com

The young athletes surprised everyone with a performance that made the rest of the world prop-up to cheer the players on field. Although they lost tamely to the Netherlands in the semis, they did not lose heart and played their hearts out in beating England 3-2 for the bronze medal. And to top it all, our Rani Rampal was also adjudged the best player of the tournament!

Till this triumphant win broke in the news, did you know when was the last time an Indian hockey team won a medal at the World Cup in hockey? The last real big one was a good 38 years ago, a really long period of wait for a nation that gave birth to the great Hockey legend Major Dhayanchand.

Unfortunately, since this was no cricket nor was the media in an overdrive to proclaim that our team was actually in the semi-finals of a world tournament, the sports channels too chose to ignore it and real followers had to depend on the live stream available on the world hockey body’s website.

These girls will return back as heroes and would be feted, and deservedly so. What comes now is the wait, a wait for accreditation for nimble yet mighty players who rightly deserve the best an athlete can be offered. What makes all worry is that the authorities simply don’t have it in them to help the hugely talented youngsters take the next leap, into a world beating competition at the senior level in the near future.

 Some good has happened though. The Hockey India League last year was a resounding success. It brought to India some of the best players in the world. They played alongside our players, juniors, seniors, upcoming. No doubt our youngsters learnt, not just by playing alongside, but spending time with them, how they train, their dietary habits, their discipline and all else. To be fair to the reviled officials, they did a great job in giving the hosting rights of the semis and the finals to Ranchi, which, apart from Punjab and Bhopal, and to some extent Coorg, is easily the nursery of real hockey talent in the country.

The good news for the Hockey players doesn't end there; Hockey India announced that each member of team will be rewarded with a cash prize of Rs One lakh.

So, let us savor the great achievement of these talented girls and hope this is just the beginning of the many more laurels they would get us.

The Game of Blame

Elected politicians and bureaucrats are important pillars of governance. These two pillars need to work in synergy to run the country efficiently. Innumerable time’s initiatives taken by individuals or organizations for the betterment of the society or country at large are hampered or faced with hurdles put up by some elements of society.

The Mid-day meal crisis was not only a horrific tragedy but a revelation. It brought to light the cracks in the implementation of the initiative right from its inception. The countless number of issues regarding the hygiene and nutrition that have come to be known only prove to show how complaints made to the government falls on deaf ears. Seeing the callous implementation of the plan in not only one but all states makes it clear the problem was the core of this programme, the sync between the government and the bureaucrats was missing. The misappropriation of funds, delay in the delivery of recourses and the lack of quality check by the government in all states has lead to such an incident to take place. The government of Bihar claims it to be conspiracies of the bureaucrats while the bureaucrats believes it to be the failure of the administration and the lack of the authority of the law on the people.

But here in India not only initiatives undertaken on a national level but acts attempted by individuals or small group of people to improve society are brought to a standstill by people with power.  The latest example being of IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal who took on a powerful sand mafia in the state and helped curb the illegal mining activities happening in the state.  Soon after which she was suspended by the state government stating it was for ordering the demolition of an under-construction mosque wall in a village in Uttar Pradesh.  Transfer of bureaucrats by politicians is not something unheard of, at least in India. Some of the representatives of the government are actually famous for their tendency to transfer and try and exercise their powers over bureaucrats.

Such incidents and situations give people infinite opportunities to begin the blame game.  Political parties and bureaucrats try and wash their hands of such situations by accusing each other for causing the incident. Many a times it is done to tarnish the others image or is a well thought political move or with personal agenda. Politicizing any situation is not a solution to a mishap. 

We are aware about such incidences but we do not understand the degree to which they are a hindrance to the growth of our society. This leaves me disheartened with a lingering thought, why can’t politicians and bureaucrats forget their personal agenda and instead take accountability for their actions and look out for the public at large.

The politicians and the bureaucrats should come together and rectify this situation and ensure such incidents don’t take place again instead of taking potshots at each other.  Only if they work together and not against each other can such situations not occur in this country. The attention needs to be diverted from accusations to solutions

The Supreme Court does CLEAN-UP ACT

In a ‘landmark judgment’, the Supreme Court of India has said people convicted of crime cannot hold parliamentary positions.

The ruling is indeed a milestone in the country’s political history since there are quite a lot of corrupt and convicted politicians holding offices and important parliamentary positions in India. This is probably one of the many characteristics the countries politics is wrongly known for.

This judgment broadly states that a person cannot fight the Lok Sabha or assembly elections from jail even if not convicted, the Supreme Court has ruled, signaling an end to the practice of politicians contesting polls from behind bars awaiting trial.

Though legislation in India pertaining to convicted lawmakers was more or less the same, that is, the politicians found guilty of a crime were allowed to stay as long as their cases were pending in courts. The different clause this time around is that they can't stay on regardless of appeals to higher courts which is a good step since many politicians in India use their influence and ‘resources’ to constantly keep the appeals alive.

While According to a report out of the 4,835 MPs and MLAs in the country, 1,448 are facing criminal cases. This staggering figure is the highest in the world.

The ruling, which spells more trouble for the political class in an election year, may be yet another check on criminalisation of politics but has the potential to be misused. Political rivals, especially the ruling party or combine, can target each other in the run-up to elections.

Corruption cases mostly don’t even enter the judicial system in India. Even if they make it, the entire process is incredibly slow. Sometimes the documents get lost, witnesses change their statements or complainants withdraw their allegations over death threats.

Apparently this particular ruling passed by the Supreme Court will not allow the corrupt politicians to prolong the cases filed against them. They will not be able to buy time to complete their term in office which is great for the people and will definitely help to clean up the political system but only if the legislation is actually used.

The Election Commission has, in its reports from time to time, been seeking amendment of the law for removal of the incumbent advantage to elected MPs and MLAs convicted of various offences.

But political parties have been resisting change on the ground that ruling dispensations bring false charges to keep rivals out of election process. The political class has welcomed the verdict the Supreme Court verdict.

Yet the fact that a cleansing of the political system was long overdue cannot be denied. This might be a signal to political parties themselves to develop their own internal checks.

The Supreme Court has only made an effort to check the creep of criminality in the legislatures as there has been progressive erosion of public trust of politicians, reinforced by the widespread belief that nothing will set right the political system in control of corrupt politicians. Amidst this cynicism, the Supreme Court’s judgment is a beacon of hope. The right way forward is surely for the top court to devise and enforce procedures that ensure quick, time-bound justice.