Saturday, March 27, 2010

Filament - Initiating a new era in the field of Workplace Branding & Organizational Communications

I wanted to talk about the Organization where i currently work; a firm that was started by one of my closest friends and one that i believe has the potential to become one of the biggest names in the field of Employer Branding/ HR Communications in the near future.

Filament is a firm offering niche services in the space of Workplace Branding and Communications. It was founded by XLRI Jamshedpur alumni in 2008, catering to this drastic need of Human Resources. A great employer brand attracts great people, retains the best employees and greatly reduces employee costs. Oh and yes, it also helps the organizations that little bit in terms of employee motivation to make the company become stronger.

At Filament, we believe in the vital role of communications and workplace branding in the strategic role of HR. With our promise of continuous research, we help companies decide Why, When and How to communicate their employer brand.

We cater to a spectrum of communication needs across Employee/ Organization policy manuals, On-boarding Kits, Recruitment Brochures, Career Websites, Corporate Videos, Campus Presentations and branding/recruitment campaigns across print, radio and digital mediums etc. It is our endeavour to bring the ‘What’s New’ in the world of Employer Branding to everyone associated with this exciting change happening in Human Capital management. It has become imperative in this day and age to continuously brand and position ourselves, both the Employer and Employee.

So now if you have understood our Organization and want to know more about it or more importantly engage us in a creative project, you can reach out to us at the following co-ordinates:

Website: www.filament.co.in
Mail Us: Contactus@filament.co.in
Call Us: +91 80 41506017
Location: Based out of Bangalore but will 'Cater to the Wide World' :)

Friday, March 26, 2010

My Imagined Life - A life of Sound :)

If i had to live an entirely different life, I would aspire to be a professional musician...This is how it would have ideally panned out - (No harm in living out your fantasies through a blog...isn't it ;) )

I have always had a fascination for music and consider myself to be good Vocalist. I have been a part of various music bands throughout the years and in ideal circumstances would have continued to create music. Mixing reality with fantasy, the following would have been the imagined life:

I would start vocal training at the age of 8 years and in due course would join the school music band. I would also start experimenting with writing lyrics while in high school.

After joining college, i would be quickly noticed by the existing college rock band and take the role of the lead vocalist and songwriter. This group would win many laurels for the college in a few years after which we would convert ourselves to a professional outfit upon the recommendation of scouts from Music companies which support rock music in India. To support ourselves financially, we would perform at various festivals and concerts and keep promoting our music. We would finally get an album deal and get the recognition that we desire.

At our Zenith, we would be recognized as one of the great Indian rock bands who gave Indian music a worldwide name while experimenting with its different forms.

Later on in our lives, we would start an organization to give a chance to niche Indian musical talent to showcase themselves. This would be our way of repaying the musical debt. At the same time, our band would keep on playing for as long as it can for the joy it brings us.

My Definition of Leadership

In my opinion, a leader does not have any right to be called a leader if the person does not have the respect of their peers, superiors and subordinates. And this respect comes only from Humility and not getting stuck to a Title or Position; a disposition to be humble and a lack of false pride.

Leaders do not need to shout from the top of the roof about their leadership values. People will automatically ask a person to lead them if they respect him/her and the judgment. In most cases, a leader is given this power by either other people, by acts in organizations, by laws or by force. In each case, the power should be considered finite, particularly in the last three cases since the leadership is not really of the person, it is of the position, which will be taken away with time. However, if a person wants to build a lasting legacy in whichever field, it’s the respect of others which will define the leadership. Mahatma Gandhi never had any position in the British or Indian government but he is still the person who got India her independence and is considered the Father of the Nation.

There is a good chance that a person will get alienated if s/he tries to hold on to the position. The reason is simple. The person will be striving for the survival of the position than doing work selflessly to help others. More often than not, these very people are responsible for the leader and vice versa. Probably a reason why politicians are such a derided lot, at least in my country!

When a leader works to help others, it is those others who actually carry the person along when in dire need. There are so many examples of people who have rallied around a call of a leader and have been ready to even sacrifice themselves. These people know in their hearts that the one they are following is aiming for their collective success and not just their own. A leader needs to show humility simply because it’s the collective might which always gets the work done. Leadership qualities will come to naught if the support is not there. Something a leader should always remember however good that person is.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

What a Eulogy & What prose by W.H. Auden

Fell in love with this brilliant Eulogy that was delivered with so much passion in the movie 'Four Weddings and a Funeral'. The Eulogy is mostly a piece by W.H. Auden which is bound to move even the most hard hearted individual. Brilliant...

Matthew talking about Gareth:
"The most splendid, replete, big-hearted, weak-hearted as it turned out, and jolly bugger most of us ever met. As for me, you may ask how I will remember him, what I thought of him.

Unfortunately there I run out of words. Perhaps you will forgive me if I turn from my own feelings to the words of another splendid bugger: W.H. Auden. This is actually what I want to say: "Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone, Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bonel, Silence the pianos and with muffled drum Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come. Let the aeroplanes circle, moaning overhead Scribbling on the sky the message 'He is Dead'. Put crepe bows 'round the white necks of the public doves, Let traffic policemen wear black, cotton gloves. He was my North, my South, my East, and West. My working week and my Sunday rest, My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song; I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong. The stars are not wanted now; put out every one, Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun, Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood; For nothing now can ever come to any good. "

The White Tiger by Arvind Adiga - A Massive Massive Disappointment

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga (Harper Collins) is the first thing that comes to my mind when i think about undeserved international success. The book won the Man Booker Prize for Fiction in 2008.

The White Tiger tells us the story of Balram, a chauffeur. It tells us of his journey from the bitter village life in India to a life of riches in the city. The book is darkly humourous and nearly every page presents a superb phrase or commentary. The concept of the narrative being a letter written by Balram to the Chinese Premier is also brilliant since it aptly captures the socio-political differences between the two countries.

The problem is good phrases and choice of narratives do not really make a great book. What this book lacks is objectivity. This is disappointing since Mr. Adiga has been a journalist who are known for objective reporting. In his enthusiasm for 'showing' the real India, Aravind goes overboard with the extremely negative aspects of India. In fact after a certain number of pages, the book just starts looking like a vicious attack on India using literary means.

The book does not seem well researched about the lives of village 'Bihari' people who are nearly depicted as savages. I belong to the same state in India and know well of the suffering that these villagers go through every day. However they are still extremely gentle people and depicting them as viciously as in the book is plain wrong.

Finally, it does not seem to present any clear message in the story. A very 'Unreal' Indian outlook makes this a highly un-readable book.

Fall of Lehman Brothers, The Subsequent Global Recession & Impact on India - Developments that have influenced my thinking massively in recent times

The current financial crisis, precipitated in 2008 leading to the fall of Lehman Brothers on September 15th and beyond, which culminated in a full blown global recession not seen since the Great Depression has been a veritable eye opener for me. This is not least due to the fact that it directly impacted me in terms of my work experience while working as a consultant. More than that, it has shaken my complete and ardent belief in free market economics. I would not say that I have had a complete ‘U turn’ and become a believer in all the principles of ‘Socialism’. However it has definitely encouraged me to think beyond the concepts of a completely free market economy, one that has important aspects of government regulations and systems in place.

My formative years saw the turbulent period of the post financial reform years which started in 1991 after the balance of payments crisis which led to the opening up of the Indian economy. We had heard so much of the ‘Hindu rate of Growth’ till then, which remained at around 2-3% throughout the 1970-90 period. I belong to a middle class background and our consciousness then was shaped by the life that we saw possible for the first time as western goods and services started entering our country. Socialistic principles overnight started getting derided by us. Over the years, I have always believed that the choices that became available to us in terms of opportunities in education, jobs etc was because of these reforms that took place under the guidance of the World Bank.

I slowly started believing that the government was being mostly irresponsible by stalling the completion of the reforms process. I could see India moving forward only when the Government uncoupled the regulations stifling the Indian businesses, particularly manufacturing and financial institutions. There were examples of Industries like Telecom and Information technology doing extremely well just because they were outside the ambit of too many regulations and left to their own devices. Free economy was the buzzword and I had the belief that the domestic industries would do well if they were given a chance to compete with the organizations abroad. Indian businesses would not suffer because our products were of high quality and competitively priced, was what we had been told by our business leaders and I believed them.

This optimism was not pierced even when the IT bubble burst in 2000. It was seen as a small hiccup since the impact was hardly felt by a few people. Also the Asian economy crisis in 1997 was not looked at as an example since we were barely affected if at all. There were various discussions that mentioned that our subsidies predominantly to the farming community was not feasible in the long run and it was better spent on other important areas like building infrastructure etc in urban areas. It also needs to be understood that at this point of time, my understanding of the inequalities in India was restricted. I had seen the agrarian communities of North Indian states like Punjab and Haryana which seemed extremely well developed and suitably ‘rich enough’. Hence I had a belief that the government should have focused on removing the problems of the urban communities and make these cities really ‘world class’.

There were false hopes throughout the early part of the first decade of 21st century that somehow the reforms process would be pushed forward. After all the economy had been growing at close to 9% over a 5 year period and our foreign exchange holdings were touching new highs daily. There were even plans of creating a special vehicle for financing some of the immediate infrastructural woes. However, a concrete direction somehow did not materialize. It would not be wrong to suggest that my understanding of the situation was at complete odds with the governments view and hence my interest waned in the economics of various policies that were being debated. This continued till 2008.

On 15th September 2008, when the proverbial ‘all hell broke loose’ and Lehman brothers collapsed, the entire financial market in United States and Europe seemed to collapse very rapidly. However, strangely enough, the Indian Financial institutions except a solitary one remained mostly stable. There were fears of Bank runs and share price collapses but nothing of the same happened. This was particularly true of the state run financial institutions. As far as my perception is considered, they remained almost indifferent. This piqued my curiosity and made me realize that it was because of the fact that they were highly controlled organizations were they able to manage the crisis. To give a background, most state controlled financial institutions in India are former private banks which were nationalized in late 1970’s and early 1980’s. They are strictly regulated as to their investments and their liabilities since they manage a very large volume of retail accounts of low income households and hence their risk taking abilities are curtailed. Hence terms like credit swaps and derivatives are generally a strict no for them.

Suddenly, the logic behind government control and relatively high regulations starts becoming clearer. This signaled a major change in my thinking about various economic and social policies. The clincher in this argument was when the financial crisis led to the global economic recession. It is obviously correct to state that there are hardly any countries which were unaffected by the crisis. However, it is also very true that India survived and along with that kept the economic growth rate to an acceptable rate of 6-7%. I consider this to be a relatively high growth rate considering the scenario that confronted us all. What has also helped is the turnaround in terms of employment growth which was sagging considerably 8-10 months ago. The investor confidence is back and there is currently a possibility of FDI and FII inflows increasing. I realize today that I had simply been wrong about the policies of the state and had been blindly following arguments about the reforms process which were not grounded in reality. In fact I would not be able to talk about such contrasts if it had not been for the global recession to jolt us in our thinking.

Essentially what this meant is that the socialistic tinged policies of successive governments had come good. The regulations that had been place in the economy had made sure that there was no hyperactive growth which could not be sustained. The banking institutions were properly funded and hence they were able to meet their obligations while at the same time providing credit for small and medium enterprises which had suffered. Even sectors which had been relatively badly hit were able to manage the situation by securing large contracts from public sector undertakings which were flush with finances. This was definitely the case with the IT sector. State policy also had a significant role in making sure growth rates did not plunge. An example in this case is the focus that had been provided to the rural households a few years earlier by better irrigation and drought management facilities. Subsidies in the form of cheap fertilizers and free power had been provided so that the food security and employment did not suffer. A scheme called the NREGA (National rural employment guarantee act) was put in place where a minimum employment of 100 days in a year was guaranteed to people below the poverty line. This was to supplement the income of landless farmers and people in rural areas and was to provide payment even if no work was available, though at variable rates. It was a massive form of subsidy by the government considering our per capita GDP and there had been murmurs against it when this scheme had been launched. However, today it is feted as a landmark regulation even by the private sector. The reason being, it has boosted rural incomes and spending power. Hence while there is a recession outside the country, the organizations have been able to target these rural areas to keep their growth rates on target. As per various estimates the difference in GDP growth due to such rural targeted schemes is between 1.5-2% per annum.

It must be kept in mind however, that the successes have been made possible due to the opening of the economy which started in 1991. The schemes were made possible because very simply, we now had the money to finance them. Our economy had been on a very healthy growth rate for over a decade and a half and the money that it had generated was ready to be of use. However, the state had made sure that regulations were going to be a part of the system and free economy was tinged with protectionism. To just contrast the aspects that have been mentioned here with those of USA, it has come to light that even when the American economy was growing in the early 21st century, it was mostly impacting approximately only the top 2% of the population. Again this was the segment which was worst hit during the recession and hence the overall scenario got magnified. It had a cascading effect on the large number of indirect jobs that were dependent on these jobs. Looking at India, we had been able to target both the rich as well as the poor so the interrelationship was probably stronger and hence one could rely on the other to bail them out. Even China has been able to keep up its strong growth despite interdependence with the US. This is because of its regulated and protectionist economy. As I mentioned earlier, I have not taken a complete change in direction and have started advocating policies being completely aligned to socialism. I am still a believer in the reforms process and governments not interfering too much with the economy. Is the Government completely right? – No, Is it on the right track? – Yes. I now believe that a balance has to be struck somewhere between regulation and free reign. Concepts like the bottom of the pyramid have a place in economics. The target for all entities, be it the government or the industries, should be all levels of this pyramid. Obviously, there might be some inconsistency in the targeting but no one should be forgotten completely. Theories which were popular earlier like the trickledown effect which talked about the money flowing from the top to the bottom of the pyramid will have to be discarded or heavily modified. Else, the economic inequalities will keep becoming larger with rich becoming richer and poor becoming poorer.

Going slightly tangentially, since my changed understanding of the situation, I have been working with my father on a business plan to target employment of semi urban & semiskilled people. This is a ‘for profit’ venture which my father will undertake post retirement in a couple of years. Although this is in a very rudimentary stage, we came to the idea about training of such people who have skills but do not find avenues for employment. Also there is a huge requirement for such people like mechanics, plumbers, machinists, drivers, construction workers, healthcare workers etc who can be given proper and updated training and then gainfully employed as per the requirements. This idea was an extension of targeting the rural people by the government and other organizations. Also importantly, I have been able to think on those lines only when I understood their importance in our continued success in growing the economy. This would have not been possible had it not been for the collapse of Lehman Brothers on that fateful September day.

My Aspirations in Life

Personal

My aspiration is to have a fulfilling life where, when i am 60 years old, i can look back and feel happy about the richness of it all. Live a life where I have been able to travel across the world and experience peoples and cultures. A life full of learning and knowledge which i have used to makes others life better. A life where i hope to find a loving companion and give my parents the respect and comfort that they deserve. I want to achieve most of my dreams while simultaneously earn the respect of the people around me.

Professional

The 2 professional aspirations i have are lifelong learning and starting a venture in India in the future to help the not so privileged. My passions are in the field of Business Strategies, International Relations and Human Resources. Consulting is a field of work where i want to earn great reputation and expertise while helping companies break boundaries across the globe. I would like to end my career with a Training & Development firm to help the unemployable educated Indian youth hone their skills to end the talent shortage that we are going to face in the future.

Financial

Though i have never had an aspiration to be very rich, i would like my parents and family to have a comfortable life in the future. I would like to earn enough to reach a stage where i can start my own social venture in India without feeling any financial pressures so that i can simply concentrate on my work. Money is definitely important for me but not to the extent of lusting after it. However, i would like to reach a stage financially where i am able to help any person or institution that is in need of it.

Rivalry between India & Pakistan; A perspective on the Indian Subcontinent and a South East Asian Union

If I ever get the opportunity to speak to Dr Manmohan Singh, the Prime Minister of India, my first question would be a very simple one and something people have been asking for close to 5 decades, though i am aware that the answer is going to be extremely difficult - How does he intend to solve the Kashmir dispute with Pakistan and further promote peace in the Indian subcontinent. Additionally, can India take the lead in creating a South East Asian Union on the lines of the European Union comprising of Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Maldives, Bangladesh and India?

The cost of this military engagement has been very high for both India and Pakistan; socially and economically and has also started involving the neighboring countries in this conflict. Thousands of lives have been lost on both sides and there has been a huge expenditure incurred on maintaining standing armies; a cost which should be considered reprehensible particularly when we are struggling to provide basic sustenance to a large population in India. Further we have not been able to have a good economic bloc in the subcontinent where we can have proper trade and commerce with our neighbours.

Kashmir today has a very low economic capability since no organization wants to set up offices there fearing attacks from terrorists. Tourism, which before 1989 was one of the most important sources of livelihood has dwindled considerably, providing a lot of hardships to the local people. Obviously this has led to a large unemployed group, many of whom have started joining fundamentalist groups to create trouble across India, Pakistan & Afghanistan. Another major problem that has cropped up because of this conflict is the fanning by extremists of the religious intolerance which is leading to doubts being sown amongst various religions in existence in the subcontinent, particularly between Hinduism and Islam. There have been recent surveys where it has been shown that this suspicion is slowly making lives for Indian Muslims hasher and that their economic development indicators has dropped significantly compared to others. This is causing resentment amongst the people. This has also started affecting other countries in the region and makes it a dangerous cycle.

It also makes other countries have to choose between warring nations and this puts policy making on a knife edge; something that was clear during the last 5 years in Bangladesh where a pro Pakistan government had largely reduced trade with India. Today after the elections, it has again gone up after a government change. These changes are definitely not favourable for the common people in the subcontinent. We can only imagine the number of opportunities that would become available to entrepreneurs in all countries to reach out the nearly 2 billion people this South Asian bloc, most of whom are in need of goods and services to improve their quality of life. There are so many jobs that will be created if there is a continuity of trade leading to economic upliftment for all while at the same time removing the chance of having a nuclear war in the most militarized zone in the world.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Great Social & Environmental Advertisements

Got these pictures in my inbox as a forward. Really nice advertisements on social and environmental issues.

The advertisements on the environment served as a reminder on how fragile our world has become and the tipping point that we have reached. We have to act now...or it will be really too late. Similarly, the adverts on social issues, at least for me, reminded me of an obligation to act in a better way towards the repressed and the under privileged. This is particularly so considering that India is becoming richer and we today have the means to make the lives of others much better.

www.FunAndFunOnly.org

www.FunAndFunOnly.org

www.FunAndFunOnly.org

www.FunAndFunOnly.org

www.FunAndFunOnly.org

www.FunAndFunOnly.org


www.FunAndFunOnly.org


www.FunAndFunOnly.org

www.FunAndFunOnly.org

www.FunAndFunOnly.org

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Life @ XLRI

Found this small'ish' presentation on my drive and just thought would convert it to a video and upload it to my blog. It gives a wonderful idea about the greatest 2 years of my life and the institution that shaped many of my beliefs and made me stand up in life with greater confidence...it also gave me friends that i know will be with me for life....

Here is to the greatest period of my life till date...Thanks for all the cherished memories XLRI :)