Leaderboard

Having been a trainer in leadership for the last 20 years, a visiting faculty in leadership related behavior at organizations like the IIM and ISB, having consulted and coached in over 20 countries in Asia and Africa, also heading my own organization and having a business degree from IIM Calcutta I do believe I have a grip on what leaders need to have in the new era which is coming up birthed through covid, but already popular through terms like the VUCA era. It becomes imperative that organizations need both left brain and right brain leaders who can manage in these troubled times and lead organizations through the shoals of uncertainty and volatility. let’s get down to the list and see why these may be the key skills all leaders need to build What will your second career in the Gig economy world look like Motivate Others And Building High Performing Teams Analytics Skills Emotional Intelligence Digital Intelligence And Technology Skills Innovation And Design Thinking

First Job always has a special place! The one thing that we desperately wait for during our entire high school and college life is that first job. We have hopes and dreams, aspirations and expectations, slightly nervous, the excitement level is on the highest peak you we imagine. Our first job, whether it's an internship or a full-time one is important for many reasons. It determines your career. Getting exposed to an industry: More important than the employer is the industry in which we’re getting into. If we go to work for an insurance company, we’ll gain knowledge and eventually some expertise in the insurance field. Likewise, if we go work at a company like Facebook, we’ll be in tech and more specifically in the media space. Whatever job we choose, make sure we have some interest in the industry to which the employer belongs and think about where we like to spend some meaningful amount of time. Doing the job itself: The actual work we’ll be doing will move us to specialize in a certain area and we’ll gain a specific set of skills. Having an idea of what kind of work we’ll do in a job will give us insight into what types of skills we’ll acquire over time. Make sure these are the skills we want to develop. Building your professional network: Our first job is not just about what we do but also about whom we do it with. Having good colleagues with whom we can collaborate makes all the difference in the world. These are individuals who will help us in our career. The right group of co-workers can help increase chances of being successful both at our current job and throughout our career. My first job is very special to me 🙂 , I was BTECH student when I started my career as Trainee in Human Resources Department. I went for an interview for random tach profile but I was shortlisted for HR Trainee on temporary bases. Whatever I am today all I have learnt from this job and company (good team members, nice environment) overall happy but struggling as well. I was not aware what HR do in the company. I learned, I made mistakes, I thought so much what I am doing but in the end I grow and now I am working as HRBP in MNC. I believe if we dedicate our self in what we have to do and our goal is clear we can achieve anything then. 🙂 First jobs are the hardest, yet the most loved 🙂

The year 2020, has been a roller coasting year across the world due to COVID-19 Its time to get some additional leadership capabilities to focus on fostering today’s talent for tomorrow’s challenges. There are a few leadership strategy would help stimulate to future leaders. 1. Spanning boundaries “We know that we need to move faster. But a lack of cross-functional working is holding us back.” “boundary spanning” is the ability of leaders to rapidly create alignment, commitment and direction across boundaries. Success no longer hinges on the contribution of individual superstars. It’s about how effectively people work across boundaries and how quickly project-focused teams can form, perform and re-form to deliver their objectives. 2. An outside-in perspective The things that can really hurt us are what we haven’t thought about.” Disruption can come from any direction due multiple external factors such as global competition, rapidly evolving needs of customers or market dynamics. Leader may not have enough time prepare. Be aware that they don’t know what they don’t know and challenge those around them. 3. Leads with purpose “There’s a real disconnect right now between values on paper and our behavior in practice.” For leaders, authenticity matters. People can easily spot when the words don’t match the music. And they remember when leaders say one thing and do another. People need to feel they are contributing to something greater than themselves that actually makes a difference in the world. 4. Inclusion and psychological safety the leader “hears about all the stuff that’s going well — but not the real problems facing the business,” There’s no team without trust. Trust is about treating people with dignity and respect so that people feel they can speak up and take risks without fearing negative consequences. when these are lacking, people hold back. Tensions simmer. The team pulls in different directions. Inclusion means making people feel that they belong and they’re valued, seeking out diverse perspectives, and drawing on the range of knowledge and experience in the team. 5. Leader as coach New leaders with the challenge of “learning the role while leading it.” Given that 70% of a leader’s development is through on-the-job experience, the solution is not simply to put people through development programs. Instead, this capability is part of creating a coaching culture where leaders develop leaders and support one another in navigating the real-world challenges they face. 6. Agile execution “The external environment is so fluid and volatile right now that it demands a more agile, flexible approach and thinking. leaders who are able to act quickly are two times as effective at making change happen. There’s no lack of great ideas in organizations, but a limited pool of people who excel in translating ideas into reality, quickly. Leaders need to get sharper at executing change at speed. This is not just about ruthless prioritization, decisiveness and a bias for action Those who can get things done quickly excel at winning hearts and minds at all levels and navigating resistance.

This blog is written on the basis of a video lecture hosted by Ms Nandita Sanker. A Delhi University Graduate, she has an Advanced Strategic Management Qualification from IIM Indore. She started her career with Global Advertising Agencies like Saatchi and Saatchi and RK Swamy BBDO in the creative function, extremely successful she grew quickly into the role of a creative director. Her interest in Training caused a mid-career switch to Learning and Development which has been her forte for the last 20 years. A global Trainer and Consultant she traverses the globe conducting training and Organizational Development interventions in countries like Egypt , Jordan , Australia , Indonesia and India. She has worked with over a 1000 organizations conducting open workshops and In-company interventions. This blog is co-authored by Ms Nyaya Praharsha, Masters Graduate in the field of Mass Communications and Media Studies from MCC, Chennai. With extensive experience in media, both written and spoken, she has developed the skills required for content creation. Every trainer, tutor and teacher have always come across different types of participants or students. We’ve broken down all the different types of participants trainers encounter and made a list of 3 major types. This blog speaks of the 3 different types of problem participants that trainers encounter in their sessions and also gives tips on how to handle these types of participants, Type 1: The WASPS: W: Willing A: Active S: Smart P: Persistent S: Show offs This particular type of participants are not necessarily negative. They are extremely enthusiastic participants who are hyper active in classes. They know all the answers and do not hesitate in showing it off. This active, extroverted nature could hinder the learning process of a few participants who aren’t all that quick or active. Tips to Handle WASPS: You don’t want to shut them down completely. Sometimes this enthusiasm even boosts your spirits to teach. But there are times you want them to tone down a little. These tips are useful for those times. 1. Give them recognition 2. Look and smile at them. 3. Incorporate their ideas in your summaries 4. Tactfully interrupt 5. And if it does not stop, avoid eye contact. 6. Make sure that your body language shows them that they need to tone down a little but not in a way to discourage them completely. Type 2: The SLUGS: S: Slow L: Lethargic U: Uninspired G: Gloomy S: Sad These types of participants are usually very disinterested in the happenings around them. They seem absent minded and just not present in the moment. They pay no attention to what the trainer is saying. They don’t bother involving themselves in the activities either. They usually bring down the energy in the other participants and also sometimes the trainer. And for this reason, these types of participants and their behavior must be acknowledged and stopped. Tips to Handle SLUGS: No matter how old your audience and how mature they are, it is up to the trainer to keep up the pace in any session. Handling this type of participants and not letting the energy levels of the class slip down is one of their responsibilities as well. 1. Encourage involvement 2. Ask them simple questions 3. Maintain extra eye contact 4. Talk to them privately and see if there is a personal issue hindering their attention levels. 5. Team them up with a WASP. Type 3: The TOADS: T: Turned off O: Obstinate A: Aggressive 😧 Demanding S: Smart-Alec This is the type of participant that no trainer would want to have in their classes. They constantly have an attitude that makes the host lose grip over what has be taught. These are also the participants that need to be shut down quickly so that the entire session is not disrupted or lost. Tips to Handle TOADS: It is important to know how to tactfully yet sharply control your participants solely because they are all professionals and definitely experienced. But it is necessary for the trainer to maintain control over his classes and participants. 1. Remember to take the remarks and attitude of TOADS professionally rather than personally. 2. Speak with them one-on-one with them and try to understand the root cause of their behavior 3. Acknowledge their concern. Keep these types of participants and tips to handle them in mind the next time you take a session. That way you as a trainer will have control over your sessions and it will flow more smoothly.

This blog is written on the basis of a video lecture hosted by Ms Nandita Sanker. A Delhi University Graduate, she has an Advanced Strategic Management Qualification from IIM Indore. She started her career with Global Advertising Agencies like Saatchi and Saatchi and RK Swamy BBDO in the creative function, extremely successful she grew quickly into the role of a creative director. Her interest in Training caused a mid-career switch to Learning and Development which has been her forte for the last 20 years. A global Trainer and Consultant she traverses the globe conducting training and Organizational Development interventions in countries like Egypt , Jordan , Australia , Indonesia and India. She has worked with over a 1000 organizations conducting open workshops and In-company interventions. This blog is co-authored by Ms Nyaya Praharsha, Masters Graduate in the field of Mass Communications and Media Studies from MCC, Chennai. With extensive experience in media, both written and spoken, she has developed the skills required for content creation. This blog gives a step by step break down of the most effective ways to script an educational video. With the outbreak of Covid 19 more and more learners now prefer virtual learning. These tips can help anyone who wants to be an online tutor. According to a study done by Microsoft, the average attention span of an average person was 12 seconds in 2000 and drastically dropped to 8 seconds in 15 years. Based on those statistics, we can say that the attention span of an adult in 2021 would be around 5-6 seconds or 7 at the most. Adults these days are picky in the content they watch or listen to. It barely takes a few seconds for a person to switch to a different channel. Especially if it is an educational video, it can be very tricky to grab the attention of your audience and retain it. Here are a 5 steps that will help you achieve exactly that. But before we talk about the effective steps for video scripting, there is some information you need to gather about your audience. You basically need to know and understand your Target Audience. So here is what you need to know prior to making an educational video: What do adult learners really want? They DO NOT want to waste time. You can’t beat around the bush. You need to get straight to the point. Importance of what you’re teaching SHOULD be made clear. You need to make sure that the content you are teaching is actually useful for your audience in real time. You NEED to structure your content in a way that it is easy for your audience to assimilate the information that you are trying to give. Adults these days WANT to be involved in their learning because it is easier to learn through practice than just through blind theories. So having an interactive learning would also be highly useful. Repetition is a MUST. That is how anyone can retain what you are saying. Now that you understand your audience, we can go ahead with the 5 steps to effective educational video scripting. STEP 1: PLANNING YOUR CONTENT. As simple as it may look, planning your content is actually a very tricky thing to deal with. You need to ask yourself a few questions first. Who is your Target Audience? What should be the logical flow? How much information is essential and how much information is nice to have? How does the video tie up with the rest of the program? STEP 2: WRITING YOUR SCRIPT Writing your script affects your video content. This is where you decide what information can be kept and what can be removed. Your script also decided the timing of your video, whether or not you need a video that is short or more descriptive. One of the simpler ways of doing is this to have a fixed format to your scripting. For example TIMING AUDIO VIDEO The next pointer to keep in mind is the Language and Tone of your video. You should have a conversational tone. By doing this, you are interacting with your audience rather than it just being one sided lecture. You should use short words like you would when you are having a conversation rather than using words that are big and hard to understand. Use more action words. This way your tone is conversational. For example: Brazil was beaten by Spain (passive voice) (versus) Spain beat Brazil. You see that the second statement is simple quick and easy. STEP 3: TOOLS OF ENGAGEMENT This is basically the tools that you use to engage you audience during the video. It is could include Power Point Presentations or quizzes etc. The mistake that most designers tend to make is overly decorating the tools of engagement. The basic idea to keep in mind is to not let the audience get distracted from the main point. So it is vital to keep few points in mind. Keep your tools of engagement simple and elegant. This way the audience can focus on the content while also being captured by the visual appeal. Use info graphics to maintain clarity in subject. By using info graphics or mind mapping, the learners will easily grasp what is being taught. Use polls and recorded role plays for better interaction and understanding. Other tools that can be used are case studies, small exercises, quizzes etc. STEP 4: GETTING IT RIGHT The worst disservice one can do to their audience is not putting time and effort into your script. Public speaking may come easy for some but most times it is different with making videos. You tend to lose your flow or forget what you want to say because you can’t visually see your audience or their reaction. For that you need to make time and do two things compulsorily. They are: Practicing your script. By doing this you will know what you have to speak when. You won’t lose your flow of speech or have to beat around the bush. You will keep things straight to the point. Read slowly. By doing this, you are giving you audience time to sink what you are saying and what you want them to know. You will also have enough time to remember what you have to say next. STEP 5: RECORDING AND EDITING The implementation of all the above steps is seen in this final step. But for this there are of course other external factors that will help you make your video even better or sometimes even help your videos stand out from the others. They are simple yet highly vital. Choose good equipment. Consider this as an investment for the long run. In the world of 4G speed and 1080HD, your audience will expect a video that is extremely well made and clear. And the way to do this is through getting good equipment. Ensure your recording studio is sound proof. By doing this you will cut out the excessive white noise that creates a disturbance to the audience. Your voice should be the only thing your audience should focus on. So by shelling out a little for a sound proof room, you will reap the benefits of a better quality video. Appropriate lighting is one of the most underrated factor that contributes massively in the quality of your video. By having the right lighting on the right point, you will make sure that the audience focus is not distracted to unnecessary white noise/objects. Actual recording. Without the above factors, this factor might go for a toss. To quote Abraham Lincoln.” If I have 8 hours to cut down a tree, I will spend 6 hours to sharpen the axe.” This is exactly how you need to work in order to make a good video. By following these 5 steps, you will be able to make better quality videos that are more likely to reap the benefits of your efforts and also gain the attention of your audience

HR and the Innovation Process Five ways in which HR can influence innovation One of key values which enable a company or product to stay ahead in the market is innovation. Innovation is vital for not only differentiating products and services in the market, but it also a catalyst for true culture of value creation in any organization. How could HR pitch in to drive Innovation? Some ways in which HR processes could drive innovation is described below. Rewards & Recognition The aspect needs to take Innovation as a key indicator of performance. Promoting innovation could be ingrained into the goals and thereafter in the annual rewards mechanism. Innovative ideas need to be promptly recognized as it occurs by formal appreciations to the employee. PMS Innovation could be a key competency requirement for PMS. This aspect needs to be embedded in the short- and long-term goals of the staff. Innovation specific projects need to be part of goal setting planned by line and functional managers. An act of innovation could be recorded and spelt out in performance ratings and incorporated into the formats. Recruitment Innovation is a competency very difficult to assess in shorter framework of interviews. A BEI could give some insights about the innovative mindset. However, these qualities can be assessed effectively with in basket exercises and roleplays during assessment centers. An innovative mindset could be a vital requirement for certain type of job roles and start up organizations. These could be earmarked a key competency to look for during recruitment processes in certain high potential roles. L&D Innovation is a vital change agent for businesses willing to create a mark in the market. It very important hence to keep this as a competency to work for in the IDP plans across functions and verticals. This need is to be hence developed and promoted through a training methodology which can bring innovation as a measurable output. Culture and Engagement Tracking innovation within large organizations become cumbersome until and unless, it is in the DNA of the organization. Innovation is a value proposition and should hence be part of the vision and mission statements. An innovative culture drives the process across various levels making it easier to develop and obtain innovation to grassroot levels. To summarize, Innovation is not a standalone value that could be done at a functional or team level. This needs to be ingrained in the organizational processes and products.HR has a key role to play in promoting Innovation by getting the right talent, nurturing it, and also rewarding the deserving employees who have the innovative mindset. Lt Col R Sudhir (Retd) Life , Executive and Career Coach

Mental and Emotional Health is the most ignored aspect of people's life. In fact, most people don't know that physical health is an output or effect, and emotional imbalances and mental patterns are the cause or input. Aware of the pandemic's toll on Employee lives , Companies are helping them improve their physical, mental, emotional and financial wellbeing. Visit www.getwellthyindia.com to start your wellness journey by finding out your wellness score. Also find out where you stand vis-a-vis the Wellness Index of India.

Introduction: As Douc Conant rightly points out “To win in the market-place you must first win in the workplace”.An organisation’s success and sustained performance is a complex process, predominantly characterised by its product/service offerings, which is directly proportional to the tangible and intangible inputs employed by the firm for desired output. While most of the tangible elements (raw materials, equipment, activities, processes, technology,and policies) are quantifiable and their corresponding results measurable, it is the intangible inputs - human capital, reputation and organisational culture that contribute to enhancing, and sustaining competitive advantages since they are difficult to emulate, lacks flexibility and are non-transferable.Human capital being the core component of the vital activities in an organisation therefore holds strategic importance. Structure: Employee experience commonly referred to as full spectrum of experiences or encounters and observations of an employee (for eg: conversations with superiors and colleagues, interaction with technology and systems) throughout his tenure within an organisation, is an important aspect that impacts the productivity and business goals of the organisation.Employee experience affects business outcomes in the following manner: 1) An engaged and satisfied workforce is more productive and motivated to deliver as per the organisation’s expectations and standards. Unhappy employees do not give their best at work. 2) Happy and energised employees give better customer service leading tocustomer retention and more business 3) Positive and energised workforce tend to be more agile and adaptable to changes and supports innovation in business requirementsthereby benefitting the business 4) Satisfied employees are the foundation stone of creating a strong organisation culture and aligns all to organisational goals and objectives 5) Positive employee experience helps in retention of scarce talent in the organisation thereby reducing attrition and associated costs. Also, happy employees spread positive word of mouth publicity which helps in creating credible brand identity. Conclusion: Organisations are realising that employees are the most valuable asset and the non- negotiable differentiating factor which will set them apart from competition. Hence, investing in the employees, engaging them and giving them unparalleled positive employee experience will not only enhancethe business results but will also help in carving their niche and building a brand image par excellence.

Jack Welch had once said, “An organization’s ability to learn, and translate that learning into action rapidly, is the ultimate competitive advantage” Speed of translating learning into rapid action is one of the major bastions of competitive differentiation. The shifts that are happening in business today are groundbreaking! We are all swimming in the treacherous and unpredictable Lake Michigan together! However, our abilities are different and that’s an incredibly good news! Most of us operate under the illusion that life remains constant and very much within control; what do you think? According to me, this is far from reality. Everything is actually aggressively transmuting. Often the seemingly available choices and situations are murky, uncertain and unclear. Therefore, to succeed in this eruptive environment, we have to learn to swim substantially better than the others. That’s exactly how we shall be able to get to the shore faster than the rest. This definitely requires display of an addictive penchant for learning! Learning fast and furiously, the techniques, tactics and tricks of the trade of swimming in ambiguous conditions and applying them swiftly will only determine whether we are going to stay afloat or not. And not only that, as swimmers we need to be enormously open minded and combative to teach and implement the learning even faster so that we can outshine the rest in the game. GE’s value rose 4000% in 20 years during the tenure of Jack Welch! The data is simply Intriguing! But, facts are facts. Numbers don’t lie. What did he do? Jackis an open minded leader who is comfortably comfortable with uncertainty and change. He surely possesses the “integrative capability” to knit together evidently unrelated pieces of information and ideas. He is an adept craftsman in translating vagueness into robust propositions and at the same time hammering out novel and innovative solutions out of them. He had displayed monumental confidence in making spot decisions even in the absence of compelling and complete data when GE was going through difficult times. He has always been an authentic listener and was able to adapt exceedingly well to situations. He has always been an incredible problem solver and thought leader. And most importantly he always had a laser sharp focus on where he wanted to go with the organization. In other words, he was undoubtedly learning agile and a trail blazer and above all, he was a true visionary! It is therefore essential that we focus on two very important capability areas in order to succeed; the first one is,figuring out which direction we want to steer our organization so that it reaches the desired destination on time and the second one is,honing our ability to learn fast and apply the learning even faster. This quote by Seneca proves the point so beautifully well! He says, “If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favorable” So the question is, why should one be so clear about the destination she/he is travelling to? Or in other words, why is there a need for us to have a solid purpose? Well, when we set goals, we inevitably acquire a long term vision and at the same time some short term motivation to stay afloat. It also helps us in organizing the most important available resource, time, and certainly the other related resources as well so that we can make the most out of ourselves in reaching the marked destination! However, there is a towering hazard! If we start assigning too much value to the paraphernalia that is anyways necessary to aid us pursue our intent, there is a fair possibility of getting super abundantly entangled in the same. Such as, the obligatory facts, information and skills that we secure to help us fulfill the eventual and crucial objective of reaching the journey’s end! The point of disembarkation could be entering a new market/Geo, targeting a new industry segment, building a new solutions stack, mergers and acquisitions, restructuring the organization and its processes, rethinking the business strategy, diversification or for that matter even re-architect the learning ecosystem; anything for that matter to steer the business in the right direction! It is therefore, relevant to stay intensely connected to the fundamental aspiration and design while intelligently leveraging the tools, proficiency, learning and wisdom to succeed in attaining our fateful port. Honing our ability to clearly define our destination is therefore, incredibly important so that we don’t get swayed away by temptations and prejudices. Staying sharply focused on where we want to go will automatically help us strengthen the other related skills. Next is to perfect our ability to learn and simultaneously apply that learning quickly in order to stay relevant. Seymour Aubrey Papert, who spent most of his career teaching and researching at MIT had once commented, “You can’t teach people everything they need to know. The best you can do is position them where they can find what they need to know when they need to know it” As responsible leaders we do carry the obligation to impart knowledge to our people. But, at the same time, is it possible to tutor them on everything they need to know? The answer is ‘impossible!’ The objective should be to enable the workforce with artifacts that they can access at will and their convenience. So, how do we create an environment where our people feel empowered 24/7? How can we ensure that these learners are able to find stuff they need in order to strengthen their knowledge on specific subjects? One of the ways to make certain that learning resources are easily available is to begin curating them. But, then we need to assume the additional burden of maintaining and securing a robust and stable repository. The other option is to go mobile. Mobile is the future of workplace learning. It is not just a casual statement, but something the L&D world today strongly believes in. Well the medium doesn’t really matter. It is all about kindling the desire in people to learn. Self-learning definitely requires the learner to take responsibility for learning. The foremost element is awareness. Our efforts should be directed towards creating this much needed cognizance among our work force so that they are able to discern, decipher and synthesize. Automatically, we’ll see a positive change in their ability to manage themselves as well as the ecosystem effectively. Once our people are able to internalize these two very important skills, we can surely look forward to growth and success in business as well as in personal lives.

One of the primary responsibilities of an HR Head is take stock of the existing Welfare measures and to introduce new measures as appropriate depending upon the Organizational affordability and Employee desirability . In today’s contemporary era ,where we have multigenerational workforce handling the business it becomes more imperative and challenging to introduce any welfare amenities that suits all category of Employees. Therefore the role of HR head becomes more crucial. What should an HR Head do to enjoy the confidence of both the Management and the Employees in such a tricky scenario. Here are some useful insights that might be helpful. ·Workforce statistics and list of Welfare measures provided : The preliminary step is to keep data on the number of Employees in each category viz., Baby Boomers, Gen X, Gen Y and Millennials. One has to also keep a list of various Welfare measures provided by the Organization like Term Insurance , Health Insurance , Superannuation benefits, Gift vouchers , Annual Medical Check-up (AMC), Holiday vouchers, Education Assistance (EA), Retention Bonus etc . Percentage of benefits utilized by each category : The next activity is convert the benefits utilized by each category of Employees in terms of percentage to get a holistic view. This will give the Organization an idea of what benefits are to be retained and what benefits are to be eliminated. Bucketing of Benefits : It is a wise idea to bucket the benefits into various categories depending upon the percentage of Employees in each category and provide the choice to Employees to select the option of basket which will best suit them. It is prudent to review this also on a periodical basis to find out whether it works or the bucketing has to be revisited. Benefits to CTC : Every Organization has its own policy with respect to benefits whether to keep it as a part of Cost to the Company (CTC) or to extend it as a standalone measure. It varies from Organization to Organization. Whatever the philosophy one has to carefully evaluate the legal implications associated with it . There are certain benefits that are mandated by law and there are certain benefits which are not. It should also be borne in mind that the benefits once extended cannot be withdrawn as desired since it will result in displeasure among Employees. Role of HR Head : The role of the HR Head is one of a recommendatory and communicative. HR Head should think twice before rolling out any welfare amenity whether this will be appreciated /welcomed by all or only a certain group/category of Employees. HR Head should keep Organizational interests above his personal choices. All the benefits should be periodically communicated and reiterated to the Employees to ensure that they are aware of all the schemes and its usage so that each one can make the optimum use of the same.

Identifying backups for top level positions in organizations is often confused as Succession Planning. It ie not! In fact, you are resorting to only what is a Replacement planning. Succession Planning goes beyond that. It delves to develop potential talent to create a database of ready resources for several positions in future. – Succession Planning enables both career path planning of employee and aims at planning for various grades/ profiles coming up in future. The more difficult to fill vacancies will be aimed for first to create a ready bench strength. Succession planning adopts a systematic process using various performance and behavioural measurement tools and data for identification. It is a long term process and may involve training, on the job transfers, learning, job enrichment. It helps create multiple skilled talent in the same internal pool of resources. In summary, while replacement planning is reactive in approach, succession planning is proactive. Succession planning motivates team as they are increasing their skill sets in various profiles, possibly also for more senior profiles. Also these people are usually hi-potential teams who are more energized being part of the recognized group being trained for various roles, leading to better loyalty and lesser attrition. For any succession planning to be successful, the senior management must own the process, duly communication with all team members on its importance, along with HR team which rolls it out and evaluates periodically. Success of any organisation is dependent on highly charged, well trained team, keen to take on changes and challenges, and Timely Succession Planning helps in moving in the right direction to achieve the same.

In the fast paced environment of hiring nos. / filling candidates as per Project requirements, there are instances where the candidate turns out to be best performers / failures on the floor post recruiting. If the Recruitment team has to go beyond the resume, first of all the team should be adequately trained and provided with the required resources in terms of Time, Manpower and support. About RESUMES How a Resume looks in general • A brief resume which talks about personal details and not in detail about professional achievements • A resume, where the resume talks about both personal and professional details in brief • A resume where the details run in pages giving a detailed description of all personal and professional achievements How to Go “BEYOND THE RESUME” • As a Recruiter / Interviewer, he/she has to go through the resume, prepare notes on the questions to be asked or the detailing to be done. • Once done, the candidate shall be called and a detailed discussion shall happen covering all aspects right from schooling to the recent job and the achievements. • Recruiter / Interviewer should spend at least 30-60 minutes with each candidate to understand the Strengths / Areas of Improvements / Career highlights / expectations and record the same • The details should be shared with other Interviewers so that they can add their comments / suggestions • Prepare a detailed notes / synopsis of each candidate culminating as a CANDIDATE PROFILE, so that the candidate is known thoroughly By religiously following the procedure, the details can be captured and the candidate can be placed in the right position by providing right environment All teams in the Organization should plan well in advance about the requirements, so that Recruitment team is provided adequate time to hire the right candidate. Above all, the Recruitment Team should be trained enough in mastering the art of going “BEYOND THE RESUME”

Workplace experience will complement academic studies by providing another way of learning outside the classroom. It will also provide you with crucial knowledge, skills and personal attributes. Lesson which Corporate world and my my first job as a HR Trainer taught me: 1. Sticking to deadlines: Deadlines can be flexible and taken up easily when I was in school or college. But when its work, deadlines are to be concentrated and assigned task should be submitted by the given deadline. In my first job, I always give utmost priority and one should learn to follow and submit work by the deadline. 2. Smart worker: I always learn to stick to deadlines but I have also learn from my first job to work in a smarter way and finish work without errors. It is important to give the right output by the assigned time rather than just completing the job. 3. Communicating with others: My first job teaches me many things but the most important thing the first job teach me was communicating with others. I learn the ways to speak with other employees, managers, and bosses. Effective communication in a fast-paced environment is something that I learned. 4. Hard work: Everyone learns hard work in their initial job. Whatever job it may be hard work is to be contributed which turn brings more respect and satisfaction. After entering into my first job, hard work is usual as I was enthusiastic and energized. 5. Carrying a notepad or notebook everywhere: During my first job, it is the start of my career and I was new to the office environment and hence I learned to carry a notepad or a notebook wherever I goes in the office as I need to write all the aspects and important points that are taught to me. And hence a first job teaches me to carry a notebook without fail to meetings and other places. 6. Do not be afraid to make mistakes: It is a true fact that a person can learn from mistakes. In my first job there may be instances where I had made mistakes. Mistakes are unavoidable and one should never be scared to make mistakes. Mistakes are initiators that help to learn many things. 7. Getting used to problems: In my first job I had faces a number of challenges and problems. I gets used to facing problems and finds a solution for the same. Hence the first job teaches me to handle issues and challenges with a positive point of view. Thus, I had learn a number of aspects from my first job. All these things which I learned from the first job is the stepping stone which helps me to build my career and elevate in my job. Every single quality adds experience to my job role. Hence everyone should focus on everything in their first job to add knowledge to their career. Other than this steps, there are many other things that we learn from our first job. Habits, technical skills management handling people, discipline, manners and lot more. Anyone who are stepping into their first job should make sure to concentrate on every aspect.

How learning can make employees join back in the “New Normal” with high confidence? One fact that we have to acknowledge that the current pandemic of COVID – 19 has shaken the confidence of people. In organizations, lack of confidence may work negatively and it may result in to resistance to change, absenteeism, attrition and thus further interruption in the business. It is true that despite all the arrangements made by the organizations to ensure employee safety, employees may not carry the same zeal and confidence that they had before . Therefore, organizations must strategically develop interventions that can develop the morale of their workforce. Various organizations must be working on a variety of initiatives to boost employee confidence including training which is the most promising one. While organizations endeavor to develop learning intervention, it is also important that the L&D professionals or the instructional designers should have a very focussed approach on their selection of learning areas within the competency framework. As we know, competency is a set of Knowledge, Skills, and Behaviour and below we discuss the careful selection of key learning elements around it: A: Knowledge: Knowledge gives a logical view-points to perceive things in the right direction, hence the first thing that the learning professional should do is to demystify the knowledge about; 1. Situation 2. Challenges 3. Reality B: Skills: Skill works like an energy booster for employee confidence. Knowledge will help them know what to do and skills will help them learn how to perform. Certain skills are necessary in the current times such as; 1. Digital skills 2. Inter-personal 3. Communication including filtered listening 😄 Behaviour: Training may not change the behaviors directly but if the programs can develop some deeper insights, it can definitely work. While developing such behavioral programs, professionals should consider; 1. Resilience 2. Flexibility 3. Emotional Intelligence 4. Learning agility 5. Goal orientation Conclusion: The key focus is to ensure that employees should be educated enough about the right knowledge of the facts, learn ways to deal with it skilfully, and don’t give up. Humans have evolved as supreme to other species because of their ability to learn and change.

As we move forward in an ever changing globalized business environment, L&D as a function has come a long way - managing a fine balance between the traditional approach, methodology, and structures, retaining the core value proposition with equivalent focus onto the local business/workplace requirements unique to each organization whilst at the same time evolve as a strategic business partner to organizations, building and leveraging on best in trade practices and linking them to core organizational strategies and business plans. Upscaling the skillset and competencies of the workforce in the VUCA world has emerged as the key differentiator, and unformidable strength and an opportunity to navigate through the cut-throat competitive service-oriented organizations. A Four A framework for a successful competitive L&D function: Agility: Creating a dynamic learning environment focusing on the changing requirements/needs of the workforce, strategizing learning initiatives around the key focus areas/ gaps, proactively organizing customized, relevant and meaningful interventions to engage employees and scale up their skills required for future growth and transformation of the organization. Alignment: The learning strategy should be in alignment with the talent transformation strategy and the organizational business plan. All L&D plans and activities of conceptualizing and implementing new learning interventions, creating goal-oriented employee-centric continuous learning experience, and Enabling the workforce with requisite skills and knowledge to intrinsically support and drive the objectives of an organization should be measurable & impactful - having specific outcomes which are woven around the long- term organizational goals and in tandem with the values and vision of the organization. Adherence: Establishingpolicies/processes/procedures and related matrices to measure the learning success, compliance to organizational mandates along with the business impact it intends to create on key stakeholders, innovation & creativity in designing & delivery of learning journeys helps in maintaining desired quality standards in accelerating organizational transformation. Ambidextrous: L&D function of evolving organizations should follow ambidextrous approach in their regular operations which involves exploiting present capabilities while being open to breaking with the past and ready for new opportunities Learning and development plays an important role in giving shape, direction, and context to the organization. Hence, it is crucial for the function to be flexible, versatile, responsive, and aligned to the current and anticipated future requirements of the organization for a stable and continued growth.

Today’s 21st century global business model requires companies to operate beyond the brick-and-mortar structure by having virtual settings to accommodate telecommute workforce. This trend has generated controversies regarding implementation of virtual teams mainly due to talent management challenges. In order to mitigate these challenges, companies need to think through some of the key questions – 1.Do we have telecommute work policy with guidelines clearly framed out? Orientation/on-boarding process, regular work hours; check-in systems; periodic in-person meetings; measurement of work production and implications in failing to attain work objectives/milestones 2.Do we have the right fit of employees with the necessary personality, attributes and traits to work in a remote work culture? Research and surveys conducted in organizations have shown that interdependent work teams thrive in a virtual work settings. Some of the key attributes/traits of individuals in virtual work setting include self-direction, self-motivation, accountability, past experience in remote work setting, collaboration, flexibility and strong communication skills Research has also pointed to the fact that companies can hire diverse and specialized skill set individuals as there is no location constraint. 3. Is our technology advanced and supportive of remote work culture? Well-established servers, cloud technology, VPN access, privacy and security settings, high-end video and audio conferencing, chat rooms and fast internet and dialing speed with minimal layers to bypass through remote server/s to access the work application/s Advanced Intranet that consists of online policies/guidelines, dashboard and metric systems and remote project management systems (like Basecamp, Asana) to facilitate performance management, social connections like blogs/forums and two-way communication systems 4. Are the managers/ supervisors/ leaders and Human Resource practitioners trained and developed to manage telecommute workforce? Management by objectives and ROWE (Result Oriented Work Environment) Social Intelligence to enhance a collaborative work environment Facilitation of self-managed teams Virtual workforce can be a boon to an organization, provided the systems and policiesare implemented in a well-structured way. Hence, leaders and HR professionals need to come up with innovative strategies to build a globally diversified virtual workforce that fosters a culture of responsibility, engagement and success.

There is but no doubt that this ‘first pandemic of the modern world’ is a huge disruptor of the way we work and the way we live. And as a result, organizations and business models will be much more resilient than ever. And so, will be the individual. The L&D function has always been a ‘necessary expenditure’ for the business and now with dwindling budgets and cost cuts, it will be even more scrutinized. However, this might just be the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reinvent L&D and evolve from a ‘cost center’ to a ‘value center’. Here are some of the key shifts that will happen within the L&D to stay relevant and bring value to the business and the individual alike, 1. Let Go: Traditionally L&D has been guilty of holding on to an overused, predictable and yet very inefficient way of functioning. L&D will now require working in close partnership with the business and operations team like never before. The business will look for a much more competent team of L&D. One of the biggest handicaps for the L&D function has been the lack of thought leadership. Most L&D Heads come with a very ‘canned’ approach towards the function killing innovation and slowing change. Time for a vision test and treat the ‘myopia’. Time for a thorough ‘competency assessment’ within the function and this will bring up a young generation of innovative L&D leaders. 2. Let In: The year 2020 and the subsequent period will be a huge opportunity to bring in a completely new way of driving the learning agenda. As more and more individuals start preferring less contact, it is imperative that the age-old classroom will have to be deserted. And so technology-driven learning will be more explored. It is the right time to build digital and virtual learning infrastructure. Mobile learning, VR & AI-enabled content, and teleclasses to name a few. Less of training, more of learning. Less of classroom more of broadcast. These are some ideas. The short term and the long-term approach must be clearly laid out. The concerned L&D and HR heads should constantly abreast themselves of the changes in the business and quickly course correct. To summarize the key changes that will take place in L&D this year are, the fall of the traditional and the canned, and rise of the innovative, technology-driven methods and people.

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Yes we are in the year 2020, and yet we are still discussing measurement of training, the facts about human psychology state the results driven attitude of Sr.Executives/Founders/C-Suits in general, these individuals are value driven, they want everything that reflects on the bottom line, I am not talking about progressive visionary exceptional directors, I am talking about the majority of executives we meet on daily basis. So measuring training within this context is a means to an end, it is the way we justify the importance of specific trainings, and to show it’s value to the Board of Directors, I can talk about how important training is, and how valuable, and everyone in the room will nod and agree, but the moment things get tough in the company, the first budget to go Bye Bye will be the training budget, but we if we show them how the ROI (Return on Investment) on every training in relation with the organization’s bottom line, we will win the audience, I have tried it, ex (It takes 3 days to make sure a certain injection machine is ready to work with the required quality, after the training it takes now 3 hours, the ROI measured was magnificent effective to the organizations overall cost/profit) Not only does measuring training win you top management, but it also aligns line managers with the company’s direction, if the way you perform your TNA (Training Needs Assessment) is dependant on interviews, appraisals and requests, you are under the threat of delivering training programs that suit the line manager’s view but not necessarily the organization’s direction, but the moment you measure training, you can easily spot how important are training requests received from line managers are, and accordingly they only communicate trainings they can translate into organizational value.

With the rise of the Internet and its accessibility among the masses, the ‘modern learner’ became prone to the ‘information overload’. Eventually, the learning focus shifted from the traditional model of transferring knowledge to a defined model of achieving specific learning objectives. In response, Micro and bite-sized learning became the new buzzwords over this decade throughout the L&D realm; but what do they really mean? To simply put, Microlearning is a holistic approach dealing with relatively small learning units and involves short-term-focused strategies especially designed for learning only the most essential parts of the skill, concept, or idea. This highly focused learning approach is made up of bite-sized (easily consumable) learning nuggets or exercises. Usually delivered through digital learning apps and websites, types of microlearning content include text, presentations, infographics, video, and audio. Teaching through interactive games, short webinars, technical talks, and podcasts are a few other good examples. Coming to the benefits of these approaches, a study at Dresden University of Technology found that short content drives over 20% more information retention than long-form content. These learning approaches take less time to consume and are more flexible as learners need to consume only those topics that are meaningful to them and can access them in an order that meets their needs; in short it supports learners accessing information “just-in-time”. From the learning providers’ point of view, these contents are much quicker to produce and easier to maintain than larger modules thereby reducing the production costs. However, Microlearning and Bite-sized learning are not devoid of risks. As these approaches consist of multiple small pieces of learning, training providers can be prone to develop trainings that may lead to learners feeling that they are missing the big picture or even create an experience of inconsistency across the types of micro contents used. This can be avoided by building clear connections between the various micro contents and identify related or suggested training towards the end of each learning unit. Organizations have started using these approaches most popularly for Compliance trainings, ‘Smart’ Onboarding in high-turnover scenarios, and even for New Product knowledge training. As digital devices become smarter, there is a clear value for Businesses and a good market for Providers to adopt these modern learning approaches.

Once a Client Director won a deal of $2 billion from one of the European client. His team was all excited to work towards a plan in setting up a project team which can match the client expectations and help the company make more profits. But soon they realized that they would be unable to do so without – right people. This scenario is common to any business that we may operate in. What we fall back on, is setting the right WORKFORCE STRATEGY that has been every CEO s concern since past few years. Considering the change in demographics, economic & political scenarios that every business is going through today, it is crucial that we design our workforce strategy around talents. Finding skills is no big deal, there is loads of it in the market, but to find the right one at the right time is a challenge. In addition, 80% of the skills that are available in the market is suitable for low-medium complexity jobs. To find the right talent for high complexity jobs, is an uphill battle! Solution? It’s high time, the recruitment focuses on the human aspect of talent. Trying to incessantly, meet the client requirements, we tend to ignore the fundamental aspect of hiring a talent, their competency and mindset. The building blocks of right strategy centers on skills fungibility, coaching and mentoring and most importantly, rewarding the HiPos. Millennials today are more demanding in their careers, they value their career track and flexibility more than dedication & long service. As per the latest statistics, US loses around $30.5 billion per year due to turnover of millennial employees. Corporations need to be willing to embrace the uniqueness that this age group provides. A strategy is nothing if hasn’t factored in the human element of the assets that we own – our people. Hence it’s very important for us to start acting on these human aspects than focusing only on business strategies and profits.

We live in our work culture, we spend most active years of our age at different workplaces &we build memories at workplaces. Having said that, it makes workplaces the important part of our life where we grow, we learn, we network, we develop and we achieve success. Creating a community culture at workplaces is one thing organizations should accomplish. What is the right work culture? Can we define it? How can the work culture be categorized to ensure that an employee feels encouraged to perform and to achieve? In order to create a community work culture an organization should consider: ADFHS (A)Adaptability – Provide an open culture to the employees so that they can adapt to it. An open culture like No SIR /MAM, One to One Discussion, inviting ideas from cross departments, etc gives confidence to employee to become adaptable. (D) Diversity – Creating a group of diverse employees not only results in increased productivity but it also fosters creativity. Different ages, cultures, religions, geographies, languages, regions, genders makes an organization’s culture unique and makes workplaces; FUN! (H) Harassment–This needs no introduction. Whilst we are aware of different forms of Harassment, what can we do to ensure that an employee feels safe is not the concern instead How can we bring employees to the comfort zone of standing against any kind of harassment? Is! (S) Sensitivity – Being sensitive means noticing every small thing, caring for employee’s feelings and thinking before talking. When creating a culture, all levels should be taught about beings sensitive to all above as every employee is different. In every organizations, the culture should be driven by top to bottom as it is always LEAD By EXAMPLE and not the other way round. Building a community culture by following ADFHS will make a workplace GO TO place for employees which will result in higher productivity & lower attrition.

Improvisation and expansion of present skillset or adding any new skill to the professional branding of employees is the new “Learning Investment Scheme” in the business world. The process of up and re Skilling refers to “upgrade” or “upscale” one’s skill to next grade or scale whereas “recalling” or “recycling” existing skill into new skill to gain a competitive edge. In India, the figure of millionaires reached 400 million-born after 1982 co-work with the first digital age band of India; GenZers who born between 1995-2012. Both are very different from each other’s skill set needs. But the similarity of both cohorts like high confident learning of new skills, positive buttressing attitude, and high economics. In the process of adapting and learning marketplace for ourselves as well as for others; there should be to reappraisal in all possible dimensions and directions. It should be implemented at each hierarchical level of the organization. The focus should be on sync of skills provided that with the rate of business disruptive like form podcasts, conversational artificial Intelligence (AI),Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), Robotics Process Automation (RPA), virtual communication channels (Google Meet, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Trello, GQeues), (Internet of Things (IoT), work from home (WFH), work form anywhere (WFA), block chain, crypotcurrency, computer clouding, big data, to ArogyaSetu app (mobile applications) to track and fight against the Covid-19. Any misalignment may lead to wastage of resources, currency, opportunity, burnout and psychological lockdown. Let’s ‘look over “APACE”into the need of the hour (A)Awareness: awareness and understanding of pictures of cultural, political, industry, community and world will help to predict “hot skills” and maintain re-skills (P)Problem solving: Initiatives toward solving problem bring long-life learners’ and more resourceful environment. (A)Analytical Skills: “Data is the new oil”, undoubtedly data, numbers, images, words and even thoughts can be mapped to scrutinize and prognostic the future trends, (C)Communication Skills: “How we speak is more important than what we speak”. Therefore body language, vocal skills, written skills is very important. (E)Emotional Intelligence: The awareness of self and other emotions at the workplace create ‘emotional empathy’, ‘mirror thinking’ and provide space for healthy thinking. In nutshell, we have to “value the skills” in which are cultured in the 21st century and be part of the future by doing little learning today.

In the fast paced environment of hiring nos. / filling candidates as per Project requirements, there are instances where the candidate turns out to be best performers / failures on the floor post recruiting. If the Recruitment team has to go beyond the resume, first of all the team should be adequately trained and provided with the required resources in terms of Time, Manpower and support. About RESUMES How a Resume looks in general • A brief resume which talks about personal details and not in detail about professional achievements • A resume, where the resume talks about both personal and professional details in brief • A resume where the details run in pages giving a detailed description of all personal and professional achievements How to Go “BEYOND THE RESUME” • As a Recruiter / Interviewer, he/she has to go through the resume, prepare notes on the questions to be asked or the detailing to be done. • Once done, the candidate shall be called and a detailed discussion shall happen covering all aspects right from schooling to the recent job and the achievements. • Recruiter / Interviewer should spend at least 30-60 minutes with each candidate to understand the Strengths / Areas of Improvements / Career highlights / expectations and record the same • The details should be shared with other Interviewers so that they can add their comments / suggestions • Prepare a detailed notes / synopsis of each candidate culminating as a CANDIDATE PROFILE, so that the candidate is known thoroughly By religiously following the procedure, the details can be captured and the candidate can be placed in the right position by providing right environment All teams in the Organization should plan well in advance about the requirements, so that Recruitment team is provided adequate time to hire the right candidate. Above all, the Recruitment Team should be trained enough in mastering the art of going “BEYOND THE RESUME”

The COVID 19 pandemic has made the world stand still, but we can take advantage of this serious crisis to do things that you think you could not do before. The virus has forced learning heads and business leaders to rethink the learning experience of the individuals employed by the company by adopting different strategies to improve productivity. Strategy 1: Redesign Organizations as a learning perspective must create a response team. The team should be cross-functional in nature and members include learning officials, HR business partners, IT, and other operational departments. This team will be assessing current programs, deciding what is critical to learning success, and changing the program(s) and each program must discuss in detail. Members should determine what offerings are essential and easily adaptable to a virtual or digital-only format. Strategy 2: Digital Learning organizations must look for opportunities to create, grow, or enhance digital learning opportunities. According to Technavio (a UK based market research organization) report that the eLearning market is expected to increase in size by 2025 reaching $325 billion. So L & D heads to take inputs from the core team mentioned in the strategy 1, find new ways to create engaging experiences which are experiential and fun by incorporating more gamification, virtual reality and augmented reality for corporate learning.” Where required companies will create an ecosystem devoted to creating an AI-powered skills inventory, reskilling and exploring new private partnerships with traditional and non-traditional institutions of learning, as well as Ed-tech startups.” Summation Life as we know it no longer exists and a new one has taken its place due to the impact of the coronavirus. L&D department will play a major role in equipping their knowledge-based workforces with the thinking, the knowledge, the best practices, & the skills to achieve the organization’s goal. Learning must continue and teams need to be transparent and agile as the days and months move forward. Continue looking at new options and technologies to ensure your employees are able to develop and reskill in this new environment.

As per the dictionary, mindset means – an established set of attitude(s) held by someone. This also emphasizes the fact that each one of us is different in their own unique perspectives. In today’s times, we are too busy but very less occupied, having no time for ourselves. We are running in a rat race to be the best, to stand out from the crowd, forgetting the fact that it’s us, which makes the crowd and the society. On the contrary, our society has set some minimum acceptable standards with respect to age groups, success factors, financial concepts, family and even social fundamentals. The standards are so diverse that we are unable to fit into it in one go. Can we not believe that every mindset is good? Complete? Acceptable? Unique? We do not need to create winning mindsets, because every mindset has the potential to win. Relating to the ADDIE model of Instructional Design its five phases are as below: • Analysis – Here, the instructional problem is clarified, instructional goals and objectives are established. • Design –This phase deals with assessment instruments, exercises, content, subject matter analysis, lesson planning and media selection • Development –This is where the developers create and assemble the content assets that were created in the design phase. • Implementation - This is where the developers create and assemble the content assets that were created in the design phase. • Evaluation –This consists of two parts: formative and summative. The training field majorly emphasizes on the reskilling and upskilling of individuals rather than creating new individuals. “There is no greater suffering than constantly measuring yourself and coming up short, except perhaps the realization that your suffering is hurting others. But where do we learn these things? We don’t come crying out of the womb because of our birth weight or because we have no money in this brand new world. We learn to measure and we learn to attach our self-worth to those measurements.” To sum up, let us be more open and acceptable to all mindsets and perspectives, and win together…

When someone is all Numb with No Alternates, Be the light in the midst of their Darkness. Setbacks are positive interruption which leads to a new path, it always gives a chance to work on yourself and to triumph over. When someone explores all the ways to overcome it, this is where “The Comeback” takes over, with more learning and experiences, without any doubts! If anyone has faced Setbacks – Thank the Stars, because that makes you a Living Person! We always grow vigorous out of our weaknesses and setbacks. At times, when Organizations look towards their people, they place the focus on deficit and invest in filling the gaps, they habitually focus on their knock-back. While one should help them to work on their shortfall, it is a must to see their rebound and use their potential to hammer out a distinctive mark! Let’s take a look at how organizations can help their mates to Turn their Setbacks into Comebacks: • Keep the Trust/Faith on your mates, as every individual have their own competencies to outshine the rest • Don’t Disgrace your People • Offer them a helping hand and lift them Up – Two heads are Better than One • Discuss Ideas and give Suggestions, that might help them in their Comeback • Counsel them and help change their mindset • And many more… If they’ll take advantage of what they learned along the way, their actions will definitely help turn their setbacks into tomorrow’s Victory. If someone faces a knock-back, instead of criticizing them - Empathize, as everyone in their life, face it once. So, Organizations must try to embrace their strength and think about ways to help their people, also for the reason that it could lead to a very successful event. After following the above activity, your people will be able to look up to you and that’s a sign that may result in their grand “Comeback” after all.

In the fast paced environment of hiring nos. / filling candidates as per Project requirements, there are instances where the candidate turns out to be best performers / failures on the floor post recruiting. If the Recruitment team has to go beyond the resume, first of all the team should be adequately trained and provided with the required resources in terms of Time, Manpower and support. About RESUMES How a Resume looks in general • A brief resume which talks about personal details and not in detail about professional achievements • A resume, where the resume talks about both personal and professional details in brief • A resume where the details run in pages giving a detailed description of all personal and professional achievements How to Go “BEYOND THE RESUME” • As a Recruiter / Interviewer, he/she has to go through the resume, prepare notes on the questions to be asked or the detailing to be done. • Once done, the candidate shall be called and a detailed discussion shall happen covering all aspects right from schooling to the recent job and the achievements. • Recruiter / Interviewer should spend at least 30-60 minutes with each candidate to understand the Strengths / Areas of Improvements / Career highlights / expectations and record the same • The details should be shared with other Interviewers so that they can add their comments / suggestions • Prepare a detailed notes / synopsis of each candidate culminating as a CANDIDATE PROFILE, so that the candidate is known thoroughly By religiously following the procedure, the details can be captured and the candidate can be placed in the right position by providing right environment All teams in the Organization should plan well in advance about the requirements, so that Recruitment team is provided adequate time to hire the right candidate. Above all, the Recruitment Team should be trained enough in mastering the art of going “BEYOND THE RESUME”

Learning- is every day, everywhere and it happens every moment. Learning is an incessant activity, atleast for some. For me, every activity ends up teaching you something or the other. We either learn deliberately something that needs to be grasped for task fulfilling and there are some other things that are gathered on the go. And, I truly feel the gathered ones- those are the real skills you learn- to tactfully encounter any situation. Few things that the corporate world taught me and will always work wonder for anybody are: Boss is always right. Your ideas are not well accepted if your relationship with your reporting boss is strained; always stay in his good books with your commendable job and you will learn and grow incessantly. Good work will only help you and don’t get me wrong…and do not ever get into the buttering job.. this doesn’t last long. Be Realistic Being realistic to the situation helps me to set and get the real value. The term of being positive has not always worked for me. Simply hoping for positive and doing nothing to fix the glitch or just staying positive and not doing anything to work out for the results seems to be idiocy. It is better to train your mind to be realistic and encounter the real situation. This empowers you not to shatter down and get the things done after taking 360 degree perspective. Probationary period This period is meant for you to get into the right path. Utilize this period for you to understand the company culture & your boss and refrain yourself from not doing the wrong thing at the wrong time. It is not obligatory that you do the right thing at the right time… but it is very important that you may not end up doing something at the wrong time. Mind your own business to a certain extent. You got a profile- understand the same, master in the same and leave your imprint in your job works. Be Adaptable Accommodate yourself to the company culture and if doesn’t fit, look for something that fits you in well. [very much required] Being Coo-operative. At the first instant, get cooperation from everyone and ensure your involvement doesn’t annoy others and then slowly & steadily cut down the path for your ideologies. Make way for buy-in for all your ideas. Diplomatic behavior It’s nothing- but to be tactful, thoughtful and judicious before performing the act… a smart move…and many a times, your call is to handle the situation that very moment. Your diplomatic thought or act should be purely based on the demand of the situation and basically, one thing to bear in mind is – keep the organizational objective on top. Now, I understood- being a HRP, one needs to be diplomatic also and only then you can be a mediator and be a connector between your employees and the management. To be an Employee advocate, you need to have a complete control on your rational behavior and hence one logic is very clear- advocacy is diplomacy. The world of HR, where you are dealing with people and not with machinery makes you different and demands you to be diplomatic. Unlike machineries, people are not programmed, people and their behavior are not predictable and thus you need to handle them tactfully, discreetly and diplomatically. Be Objective It is not about just being nice to everyone all the time. You need to be work-oriented, people-oriented and finally it makes the difference when you are goal-oriented. This is indeed a matter of being ethical. Being ethical is not always easy and comfortable. You will find yourself in such a station where you can find things circumstantially right but certainly unfit for the position. At times, this will put you in a fix and will be quite trying at times. These lessons certainly doesn’t demand you to do anything unethically. Do it at your pace considering others pace at the same time. However experienced you may be, every new company premises promises a new ground for you to perform and excel.