My Humble Two Cents for the Millennial CEO

I would have used the word ‘advice’ if this post weren’t addressed to millennial CEOs! But that’s thing you see, this league of talent extraordinaire wouldn’t pay heed to patronizing know-it-alls. And rightly so! 

As someone who built a business around and about the millennial mind-set, tapping in to the kind of raw, immense potential they bring to the table, I’ve been a keen observer of the startup space in India. It’s heartening to see the scene explode with ideas and talent showcasing newer, unexplored ways to counter problems. This new breed of entrepreneurs is bold, innovative and unabashedly honest about their dislike to “set in stone rules”. These are people who've dared to dream and taken big risks early in life. They have also been scoffed at and made their fair share of mistakes. Undeterred, they have made it to the other side.

I have always believed in a saying, “Be so good they can’t ignore you” and today I see the younger lot passionately believing in the same. And every year they get younger and better- 19 is the new 23!

At the same time, I see these young men and women struggle to cope with the stress and pressures of funding, competition, marketing, the list is endless. I was all of 29 when I first became CEO so I can vouch for one thing- it isn’t easy and it sure as hell is not a job. It doesn’t come with an off button. But that’s what is great about it!

Here are certain characteristics that I adopted along the way- that have made a huge difference in the way I have dealt with the constant pressures and asks of the job.

Listen to Others and Embrace Differences

I know you are passionate about your ideas and in all probability they are pretty great ideas. But keep an open mind; listen to other people’s thoughts and inputs.  Even if they are different from yours. Especially if they are different! It’s important to overcome the tendency to conform and embrace differences.

Continue to Learn and Create things.

Always have a clear focus in mind and lay the foundation on how to go about achieving your goals. What’s the skill set required? Can you learn the basics of coding over the weekend just to be able guide your tech team better on an upcoming project even when you are an English major? 

Build Your EQ

As you grow, you are expected to have solutions to the more complex challenges of the world. And these are usually to do with human resource, building a team that resonates the same spirit as your organization. Yes, IQ is important but empathy and emotional intelligence are needed to unleash that wit and IQ.

Believe in those who believe in you

It’s not always easy to believe in yourself, but if you are as lucky as I have been- there will be people who follow you and trust your judgement. Honor them. In doing so, you embrace the idea of letting go of self as the end of the story and actually prepare the road for others to succeed.

Digital Detox – the need of the hour!  

We are all there constantly checking emails, on social- sharing, interacting and engaging on different platforms for different purposes. And although I am firm believer that any leadership should be present on social, especially Twitter and LinkedIn- I abstain from any digital interactions before 8am- It’s your time to have a dialogue with yourself, the world isn’t going anywhere.

Welcoming Aboard a New Hire

Welcome aboard!

An effective onboarding program makes new hires feel valued and involved and is a good bet for long term retention…..

It is said that any new recruit irrespective of the level, decides to stay or move on within the first seven days. I have personally experienced this several times in my professional life.

 The first few days are very like the seasoning period when either the new joinee gets accustomed to the new environment, tries to adapt the organization’s culture and smoothly fits into the groove, or on the contrary might just out rightly reject it. The reasons could be many, which would go beyond the pay and perks.

This makes it imperative for any organization to have an impactful onboarding program in place, although, I am an advocate of not having something which is too methodical, instead the focus on creativity and touching the employee’s heart, while giving him the relevant information.

For instance, if someone comes to our home, do we always go as per the plan – 7’o clock tea, 9’o clock breakfast, 12.30 lunch and so on. No we don’t. Instead, we let our guest or the new member to feel at ease and ask for his opinion. Our intention is to make the person feel comfortable and as a good host we would try to accommodate as per our guest’s preference.  Similarly I believe that there can’t be a fixed routine to the onboarding program. Having said that it’s equally important to have a plan in place so that there is no chaos at the end moment, but we should all use your creative judgment in deciding what best suits our new colleague – the new member of the family.

He has to feel invited in the new set-up.

It’s not that only an entry level executive would feel lost in her new job, but even senior employees could feel the same way if her onboarding is not done the right way.

For instance, if a senior executive joins from a competitor’s place. It is likely that he would have several apprehensions in joining your organization irrespective of the hike; he or she may have been offered. So now how do you welcome this new person. Should you start with how the competitor has had all wrong practices in place and your company has got it all right. Or should you make him feel so important on the first day that you show him how you were just waiting for him to come and change the fortune of your company.

I have seen many of my industry colleagues behaving in a similar fashion during such instances. Either they portray a very humble behavior or turn out to be too regimented, and cold.

In my opinion, the new person should be given some time to settle down in the new place and meanwhile you can also take time to evaluate him better.

So here is what I propose to have an effective onboarding program which should be beneficial in retaining employees and achieving business goals.

1.    Soak in the company culture:

Every company has two aspects of the culture. One is the set of rules framed by the company which every employee is expected to follow and on the other hand, there are some unwritten rules. It’s important for the new employee to understand both, and at times it may take a year to get things in place.

I know of a large IT company, where the company especially deputes a co-worker, who takes the new employee through the established guidelines and also the unwritten rules. It’s like you have moved into a new city or a country and how a friend would take you through the brighter and darker sides of the city.  What a great idea of inviting people to your organization and also make them feel comfortable. In such a scenario, it will be much easier for the new employee to adapt the new culture. 

I strongly recommend fostering social relationships with co-workers in making employees feel comfortable from the initial day at work.  Winning organisations consider these relationships as enriching as they make new hires feel invested in their work and the company. As part of the onboarding, companies may organize a team lunch or an evening outing on the first day, which will allow the new hire to mingle with her team, acclimatise with the company culture, work ethics and build positive working relationships. PepsiCo is one such company that I can recall that has developed an online portal called “

“Pre start”. Here new hires can find useful information on company values, culture, organizational structure, etc. In addition, it has also assimilated social media to make them feel like a coherent group.

2.     Try gamifying the process

These days it’s new trend that’s gaining momentum across industries and sector. It's not always about the bottomline, it about engaging the new hires and keeping their enthusiasm atop from day one.  That is why a lot of companies are trying gamified tools for the onboarding process.  These includes, learning challenges, games competitions and contests for the new hires. The passing and sharing of knowledge between the company and the new recruit becomes much easier with this. It eventually changes the boring onboarding process to a fun filled activity and the experience tends to linger on. Like everyone remembers the first day at college, people also keep the memory of first day at work afresh for long. This whole engaging exercise has a positive end goal.At DBS bank, for instance, to engage the new hire’s interest level as well as create curiosity around the induction program, the organization has built Stereoscopic 3D effects on select screens along with engaging videos, personalized welcome messages from department heads help in personalizing the onboarding program as well as boost performance and retention

3.    Treat it like a never-ending process

One common folly that most organizations tend to commit is that they assume that an onboarding process ends on the new hire’s first week on the job. Rather, successful onboarding programs can even span over several months to reap its benefits. The duration of onboarding programs vary in terms of organization. While for some, it may last for a week, for some, it may stretch to four months. In any organisation, the culture is built over years. So how can one expect that a new employee would come and embrace the culture in a few weeks. Every person has his own personal traits and would need a personalised approach to this. 

Assigning a manager/mentor to track employee’s initial months on the job helps to understand their comfort level on the job as well as how things are done at their workplace is also an effective way.  At different stages, the assigned manager/mentorcan ask the new hire about his experiences with the hiring process, if the induction met his expectations, any challenges or issues he may be facing. This will help the organization in understanding the level of engagementor connect the new hire has developedwith the organization. Every onboarding program has to be continually fine-tuned at different stages to keep enhancing its impact and benefits and most importantly, a successful onboarding process is never really over. L’Oreal is one such organization that supports an extended onboarding program. It has a two-year, six-part integration program called “L’Oreal Fit” which builds lasting relationships as well as develops employees for bigger challenges.

While I believe that there are no set onboarding designs or approaches that will work radically for any organization. However, from a business standpoint, it makes no sense to invest on hiring a talent, pay an exorbitant remuneration, lose productivity and then finally lose the employee because the relationship fails to take off on the right foot right at the beginning. To avoid such pitfalls, invest on your people who will help you reap the rewards of a stellar onboarding prgram. 

Ten Areas Where HR Managers Need To Improve Immediately

The past two decades have seen personnel departments transform into human resource departments, and focus shifting from industrial relations to employee relations. More recently, the focus has gone beyond employee relations to employee engagement. Human resources is now a highly evolved discipline. However, in spite of a burst of knowledge, practice is still proving elusive.

Here are 10 things HR managers may not be doing, but need to start implementing immediately.

1. Earn a seat at the table
Many HR departments complain about being a siloed function. However, to get a seat on the table they need to earn it. HR managers need to take initiative in understanding core business issues, which involves learning the nitty-gritties of finance, operations, etc. HR managers also need to show their impact in monetary terms, be it through minimised TATs for recruitment or impact of training on productivity.

2. Re-examine your core role
Traditionally, HR has been a risk mitigator; they handled ‘labour’ issues to protect the interests of the company. Companies, especially those in the service sector, are as only good as their people. HR’s role is no longer that of a disciplinarian, but of that of an enabler to maximise productivity. This can only be done by developing a culture of trust where talent can thrive. Remember talent is your strategic differentiator. 

3. Leverage technology
Most companies are automating most backend HR functions like payroll, leave management and benefits, giving HR more time to focus on improving employee engagement. Technology is also bringing about a shift in how employees can work – working from home, virtual teams, etc. and HR needs to be sensitive and proactive in implementing such a change at the workplace.

4. Hire for heart
For millennials, money is no longer the top motivator. Their prime motivator is their passion. HR should also be recruiting for attitude. Skills are essentially transferable and a skill gap can mostly be covered through training and coaching. However, a gap in attitude will always lead to sub-optimal performance. 

5. Recognise and reward good people management
Impressive business school degrees and work experience don’t always translate into competencies in people management. HR needs to take responsibility for recognising and developing people management skills to develop strong leadership bench strength. Unfortunately, most reward and recognition is done for end results; but, how those results are achieved is equally important if sustainability is to be achieved. 

6. Balance between data and the human touch
HR departments are either too data driven, or too subjective. This is often a factor of the size of the company. However, HR managers in all companies, irrespective of size, need to balance being objective and factual while keeping an emotional connect with employees. 

7. Offer a career, not a job
Attrition is one of the biggest HR challenges. HR managers are not usually able to communicate the ‘what’s in it for me’ for staying loyal to the company. A paradigm shift that is getting implemented in variousHR departments is creating defined career paths with set parameters for progression.

8. You can’t improve what you don’t measure
Peter Drucker gets quoted ad nauseum, what gets measured, gets done.  The investment involved in measuring employee engagement often leads to companies using ineffectual interventions to engage employees based on subjective assessments. The cause for demotivation may often be operational or interpersonal, which an offsite or a R&R ceremony can’t fix.

9. Employer branding
There are several companies in the B2B space that advertise heavily to get attention of prospective employees. External and internal branding is crucial to attract the right talent. Employees are your best ambassadors. Focus on maintaining relationships during exits, as it may cause more doors to close than what it seems on the surface.

9. Maintain neutrality
HR departments are often partial to top management or towards the rank and file. They are neither supposed to be ‘yes men’ for top management nor blind champions for employees. It is essential for the HR department to remain neutral and look out for the best interests of all stakeholders.

- This article was written by me for Times Ascent as a guest blogger

A recap of this year's MindMine Summit

Another year and another MindMine Summit gone by and I’m already looking forward to what people will achieve this year from what they took back. The two days went by in a blur with some of the nation’s brightest minds discussing India’s future economic landscape and how each and every one of us contributes in our own way.

A tradition we are all familiar with is the lighting of the lamp prior to any event. So to start off the event on an auspicious note, Mr Sunil Kant Munjal, Mr Pawan Munjal and Mr Nitin Gadkari along with the first session panellists carried out this ceremonial deed. Prior to the beginning of the summit, Mr Sunil Kant Munjal gave a short address to the gathered intellectuals to reiterate the theme of the MindMine summit and the true purpose of such summits. That it is imperative that we keep ourselves updated and ready to adapt in this highly volatile landscape to ensure that this is India’s decade. We started the summit with an attention-grabbing speech by Mr Nitin Gadkari highlighting the various ways in which the government is toiling away to ensure the sustained growth for India. From on the ground negotiations for reduced material costs to creating untapped logistics sources, it is quite clear that this government is focused on delivering promised growth for the country. After that eye opening speech, we had a stimulating discussion led by Mr Nitin Gadkari about India 10 years down the line. How the initiatives put in place have already caught the eye of various institutions such as Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s. But for any such growth, we need supporting infrastructure. Mr Suresh Prabhu highlighted the uphill battle that the railways has in its hands to upscale India’s logistics and various steps taken to overcome them. All this infrastructure in coordination with the Make in India policy is designed to promote the manufacturing industry. Mr Amitabh Kant reiterated the various initiatives the government has taken to ensure foreign interest in manufacturing in India. However, without the skill and ability to scale quickly none of the infrastructure matters as highlighted by Mr Ravi Shankar Prasad. He recapped us on the goal of the Digital India initiative. How it will along with a new certification system in government organisations will ensure people are skilled to handle the various job roles they face.

Nowadays demand for all those manufactured goods is not driven by the weekly family visit to the mall. But rather the mouse clicks or the smartphone taps that has brought convenience of purchasing to the masses. From the Nike’s to the Gucci’s; bringing both access to brands and affordable prices e-commerce has tapped our increasingly disposable income quite effectively. However, while we spend our hard earned money getting the latest fad in fashion, our borders are protected by soldiers using aging equipment outclassed by lawless militants. Despite that they ensure we are sleep in peace. Keeping this in mind, the government has reviewed the defence budgets and will be revamping the armed forces. From importing the latest equipment to developing and manufacturing in the homeland to ensure safety and independence. This will not only help creating jobs but also help us in maintaining peace in the region.

Smartwatch Wars : Disruption Is At Hand

I won’t deny the fact that I like gadgets from Apple, and have been following up on the updates about their much anticipated smartwatch - Apple Watch (which is slated to go on sale from April 24). The thing that intrigued me more than the updates on Apple Watch was the flurry of renowned watch brands like Tissot and TAG Heuer announcing their own versions of smartwatches in the past couple of weeks. It is natural for the likes of Samsung and Motorola, who are direct competitors to Apple, be in the arena of smartwatches. However, seeing the legendary luxury watch brands jump on to the smartwatches bandwagon appears as if these luxury watch brands deem Apple Watch to be a threat!

We are all living in the age of ‘disruptive innovation’, where an innovation carves a market for itself by finding a new customer base and displaces an existing market. The likes of Uber and Ola cab-rental services are examples of disruptive innovations where they introduced a non-traditional way of functioning with no hassles of maintaining a cab fleet or any fixed assets.

Likewise, the wristwatch segment has been subjected to some really interesting disruptive innovations in the past few years. Couple of years back, Pebble released a smartwatch that communicated with the user’s smartphone via Bluetooth and displayed notifications about emails and text messages, allowed controlling music and tracking fitness, etc. And that had set the trend for devices not working in a stand-alone but inter-connected way, communicating with other devices, particularly smartphones. Now you don’t have to flick out your smartphone from the pocket each time it buzzes; you get notified on your smartwatch about the incoming call or text and you can take the appropriate action right from your watch.

I don’t see smartwatches as a fad that will fizzle out soon because it is a sensible extension of a device which has become an integral part of our connected lives – a smartphone. Smartwatches will not be an additional device that we will have to carry, but ultimately will be a natural replacement to traditional wristwatches. Smartwatches have graduated from gadget enthusiasts’ market to become more mainstream, with both Google and Apple launching their own versions of smartwatches. Till now these smartwatches were in the price segment of USD 150 – USD 350. Much under the price segment of luxury watches like Tissot, Rolex, etc. Whereas Apple Watch will start at a price point of around USD 350, and will go up to USD 12000 for its 18-karat rose-gold edition. The foray of Apple Watch entering into the price segment where the luxury brands operate is a worrying factor for these brands. They cannot afford to ignore the smartwatch trend. If someone is buying an Apple Watch priced at USD 1000 or more, it will definitely be replacing a luxury wristwatch, as no one will wear two wristwatches.

For industry trend analysis I often cite the example of Kodak, a renowned film-based camera manufacturer which didn’t gauge the digital photography market well and was beaten by Canon and Nikon. In the same vein, a threat looms over the traditional wristwatch manufacturers if they ignore the trend of smartwatches. Tissot and TAG Heuer are taking the right measure by being cognizant of disruptive innovation brought by smartwatches which can negatively impact their market share.

It pays more to take risks rather than becoming a sitting duck to a trend that is going to impact your business.

How can we create a more Compassionate & Inclusive Society?

“A social inclusive society is defined as one where all people feel valued, their differences are respected, and their basic needs are met so they can live in dignity.” ~ The Social Inclusion Act, Canada

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Before talking about having a compassionate and inclusive society, there are multiple differences to be addressed first. One important aspect of an inclusive society is the integration of the people into the mainstream irrespective of their physical and mental abilities. Mother Nature is not equal to each human, some are not blessed with full functionality of their body from birth, while some are unfortunate to lose some of their body ability to incidents. Their physical disability becomes a challenge for them to be treated equally in the society. Due to which our society still has a long way to go to be termed as an ‘inclusive society’.

The presence of physical and social barriers prevent the integration and participation of the disabled people in the community. Right from places of education to public transport to office premises, all are built without any consideration for physically disabled ones. Lately, we have made significant progress in implementing barrier-free accessibility for disabled people in all walks of life, be it public transport or buildings. However, public transportation system is still not completely barrier-free for disabled people; for instance public transport buses are not wheel-chair friendly. The same can be said for older buildings that still are not disabled-friendly. I give kudos to the disabled who tread their way to offices daily despite so many physical barriers.

In my opinion a greater role should be played by private sector by opening avenues of opportunity for people with disabilities. Across industry sectors there are specific areas where people with disabilities can be incorporated into the workforce. The BPO sector has been a game changer in providing self-reliance to persons with disabilities. It is the only sector which has a very high diversity in terms of people who are differently-abled, and not on basis of gender, caste and creed. There are success stories of BPO companies that have almost 90% of workforce with disabilities. By enabling people with disabilities to become self-reliant and have opportunities to earn their own living we can work towards eradicating social barriers for them to be included in society, and in turn also help in economic growth of the country.

What I feel is that we as a society have literally treated differently-abled persons differently. Right from childhood a differently-abled person is treated differently, different schools for them, different seats in public transport, etc. What is important is that we become more compassionate towards them as humans rather than being sympathetic towards their disabilities. It is important to encourage the removal of physical and social barriers within the society, rather than to fix the disability or health of the concerned person. The more steps that we take to make their daily walks of life easier and make them feel equal; that will take us more closer to ultimately become a compassionate and inclusive society.

Indo-US Business Opportunities - The Road Ahead

President Obama became the first US President to grace the Republic Day celebrations as Chief Guest last month by accepting the invitation from PM Modi. And when he arrived in Delhi PM Modi set aside the protocols to greet him personally at the airport. The media has been abuzz by their surprise friendship and bear hugs, but the fact of the matter is they share a good rapport. This rapport between the leaders of the two largest democracies in the world seems to strengthen the relationship and collaboration between the two nations – India and United States.

Both Obama and Modi share some similarities besides their excellent oratory and people connect skills. One of them is that both had come to power by making strong promises for the growth of their country’s economy. While President Obama had failed in delivering some of them, it would be interesting to see if PM Modi would also follow the suit or will be able to deliver on his promises to bolster the Indian economy.

I’m impressed by how PM Modi recognizes the importance of the role that US can play in the further growth of Indian economy and the efforts he has made to woo the American investors to do business in India are commendable. With a bullish Indian economy and the past year showing revival from recession for the US economy; the business opportunities are there between the two to benefit from. In my opinion there’s a huge potential for PM Modi’s ‘Make in India’ campaign to boost the Indian manufacturing sector from US investments.

The steps taken by the Modi government to make the process of starting business in India easier and faster; are the steps in the right direction to build trust and attract foreign investments. But certain lacunae needs to be addressed first; like the delay in implementation of uniform Goods and Service Tax, lack of stable policy on labour and taxation laws etc. act as deterrent to foreign investors from coming to India. The Indian market had been optimistic till now from the entire positive environment that Modi government had brought. It is action time now for the Modi government to deliver on the promises made. PM Modi will have to address the roadblocks from the way of his ambitious ‘Make in India’ campaign of making India a global manufacturing hub; and investments from US businesses can help in realizing this dream.

The success of the bear hugs of the two leaders will be gauged by the trajectory the trade volume between the two countries takes over the year. Still the road ahead for Indo-US business relations appears to be bright, and would be of smooth ride too if the policies and agreements to increase trade by both countries could be implemented soon.

The time is now for India to ‘Shine’!