Leadership begets loyalty. That’s conventional wisdom. How valid it today amidst high attrition rates in even the best of the companies? After all no one can fault leaders, e.g.. Infosy for deficiency in their leadership skills. I feel that the people, who today are beginning their careers or in early years of their careers, are not really thinking in these terms. Their whole lexicon is different. They have jobs to do, money to earn, things to acquire and enjoy. They have to move on with their lives. In some high pressure sectors like IT and BPOs, they have serious hurdles in getting into serious and stable relationships. How will “loyalty” be perceived them? I feel just as people are inventing new languages to express and think, those who wish to lead them also must invent new ways of doing their leadership jobs. Watch out for more on this. Hemant
QUOTE Have CEO who cooks & drives you to work- The Economic Times NEW DELHI: Cafeteria lunches by a five-star chef, special movie screenings, family day out — employees never had so much fun. There’s more. India Inc is doing all it can to attract, retain and motivate workers by adopting unique HR practices . That includes not just spotting and training CEOs, but also getting them to cook breakfast for select employees. END QUOTE Read the entire news item in the ET. Click on the link above, read, but come back! Else… There is obviously more than that meets the eye. Some shop-talk apart, what all it means? Watch out this space for more in terms of precise implications… action points… tools. Hemant
If you haven’t taken the caption seriously, please read the following or better still, follow the link for a full news item in the Economic Times. Does your company pamper you?- The Economic Times Quote It’s hard to imagine what on earth could motivate a company to invite around 100 ex-employees, some of who flew down from across the world, to join current employees in celebrating its Rs 1,000 crore turnover mark. Or for that matter to imagine that a global consulting firm would throw a Valentine’s Day party for students at a business school campus. But that’s exactly what Marico and AT Kearney did in the recent past. The answer is simple. This is the age of employee consumerism, where the best talent isn’t yours for the asking. There are scores of other companies vying for the brightest individuals, and instead of you choosing your employee — and this one’s going to be pretty hard for most HR heads and CEOs to swallow — the brightest get to choose, or reject you. And, just like marketers who’re out to woo consumers in every possible way, recruiters have no choice but to make themselves attractive to likely candidates. Unquote Do you agree with all this? Are you aleady on this bandwagon? At Exponient, we have a different take on the subject. While it is true that in this age of talent shortages companies have to ‘brand’ themselves with not just customers in mind but also with employees as target audience. But it is not just some bashes and parties here and there…as marketers have discovered… you can’t throw money at the problem. At Exponient we take far more strategic approach. Please write to me or post you comments here. Hemant
