Story of a Brand (by Rakhi Singh)

Tommy Hilfiger India is a success story for the brand. TH was one of the first premium international designer brands that entered India (in 2004). The focus was not immense on the Asian markets. However with its American heritage and appeal it connected very well with Indian customers in the super premium segment. The product range is varied across menswear and women’s wear categories of top wear, bottom wear and footwear. 

The line is further divided into sportswear and denim. While sportswear caters to the urban, peppy, matured customer the denim line with its street and sexy edgy styling is more targeted at teens and youngsters who are in their early 20s. Some key categories include men’s shirts, women and men’s knits, denims, pants and dresses. They also make accessories like bags, wallets, belts, caps, stoles, sunglasses and watches.

The $4.6-billion Tommy Hilfiger, a unit of PVH Corp, operates in more than 1,000 stores in over 90 countries in North and South America, Europe, Asia Pacific among others.

A quick look at the history of the brand:

Murjani brought Tommy Hilfiger to India in 2004 through an equal joint venture with Arvind Brands, Arvind Murjani Brands, for apparel only. Murjani has also licensed the brand for accessories and other products to various players, including Eastman Export group for innerwear, Titan Industries for watches, and Creative Portico India for home textiles and furnishings range, among others.

The association of Tommy Hilfiger with Murjani goes back to 1984 when he roped in Hilfiger to design jeans line for his firm Murjani International. Four years later, Tommy Hilfiger, Mohan Murjani, and two others formed a new company, called Tommy Hilfiger Co. Inc, buying out Murjani International. Murjani exited the next year, but retained the rights of the brand in India in perpetuity.

In 2006, Tommy Hilfiger sold his company to Apax Partners for nearly $1.6 billion due to declining sales, and last year PVH Corp bought it from the private equity company for nearly $3 billion.

India was not part of these global transactions because Mohan Murjani had the rights for India.

The company roped in Sailesh Chaturvedi from Benetton HongKong, as its CEO in 2006. An engineer & MBA by education, Sailesh has been working in the apparel industry for the last 18 years.

In 2011 Tommy Hilfiger bought out the 50% stake of the Murjani group in the joint venture (Arvind Murjani Brands). Though Tommy Hilfiger did not disclose the terms of the deal, it is believed to be between $50 million to $60 million (around Rs 250 crore). Arvind will continue to remain as a joint venture partner and the redefined joint venture will continue its existing businesses going forward and take on the management of the other sublicenses in India.

In 2011 the JV applied to the Registrar of Companies for a change of name from Arvind Murjani Brands to Tommy Hilfiger Arvind Fashion. Now, the alliance has filed an application with the DIPP seeking approval to open Tommy Hilfiger branded stores in India via the window for single-brand retailing.

Growth Plans

The $89 bn Indian Textile and Apparel Industry is expected to o become $221 bn by 2021. Apparel in organised retail sector is growing at the rate of 23%. There are many factors contributing to the boom in this sector. As the lifestyles of India’s prospering urban consumers has evolved, their clothing needs have broadened, reflecting more varied usage occasions. More Indians are travelling abroad and are exposed to different cultures and way of life and thereby more brands. Moreover increased consumerism with a capacity to spend on luxury items and increased spending power in the hands of Indians has also contributed to the growth of this sector. Many brands are flocking the country and many existing brands are strategising on how to increase presence across the country. At the same time there are leading brands that are still struggling or are in a phase out stage despite having strong product lines. The story of survival is different for most.

Let’s understand Tommy Hilfiger:  The 320 crore  brand has shown robust financial performance over the years and has clocked 50% growth consistently in the last few years and is growing aggressively. It clearly followed the strategy of first establishing its presence in India through a known local partner followed by integrating the Indian market into its global platform.

Tommy Hilfiger has been one of the early movers among international lifestyle brands. They have a substantial lead as compared to any other international brand in India which has given them a deeper understanding of the Indian consumer than most of the other competitors. They were the first ones to bring the international shopping experience to India with the same collection, the same store look and the same service standards. The brand ‘s unique blend of youthfulness, spirited energy and vibrancy appealed to the customer and very soon they were able to establish a loyal base. The brand stayed away from much discounting in the initial years and created a loyal following across metro cities.

The buyout of the Murjani group's stake in its India business clearly signals the brand's intention to grow fast in India. It shows an effort to integrate India into its global platform for design and sourcing. This move also supports its strategy of consolidating brand management and approaching the markets in a more coordinated manner. They did the same in China in 2011. Tommy Hilfiger plans to add 500 stores in India over the next five years to capitalize on the brand's surging popularity, Tommy Hilfiger Arvind Fashion Pvt Ltd, a 50:50 joint venture between Tommy Hilfiger and Arvind ltd will invest Rs 60 crore in 45 company-owned stores and a significant number of the stores will be opened through franchisees. Currently, Tommy Hilfiger operates 58 franchisee outlets and over 60 shop-in-shops in other department stores. The expansion will take Tommy Hilfiger's presence to 631 points of sale by 2016-17.

News on the Pharma sector

Driven by high growth witnessed by chronic therapies — anti-diabetics, cardiovascular, vitamin and neutraceuticals, dermatological and to some extent anti-malaria drugs — the domestic drug market continued to grow at a healthy 15.6% in July. For the 12-month period ended July, the Indian drug market grew at a robust 17% to touch R66,357 crore, according to pharma market research firm Aiocd Awacs.

“From a therapy perspective, chronic therapies have done continued to do well for the month of July, with anti-diabetic (29.7%), cardiac (21.5%). The vitamins and nutrients market, neuro drugs and derma segment have clocked over 18% for the month, while the anti-malaria market for the month registered a fast growth of 30%,” said Hari Natarajan, head, pharmaTrac, Aiocd Awacs. He said companies with a strong chronic drug portfolio have expectedly experienced high growth for the month of June. In contrast, anti-infectives have grown by 8% in the month.
Sun Pharma, one such company with a heavy tilt towards chronic therapies vis-à-vis acute therapies — prone to seasonal fluctuations — has grown 27% in July. 

Are you suffering from Affluenza

Wikipedia has this definition of Affluenza 
Affluenza, from affluence and influenza, is a term used by critics of consumerism. Sources define it as follows:

affluenza, n. a painful, contagious, socially transmitted condition of overload, debt, anxiety and waste resulting from the dogged pursuit of more.

affluenza, n. 1. The bloated, sluggish and unfulfilled feeling that results from efforts to keep up with the Joneses. 2. An epidemic of stress,overwork, waste and indebtedness caused by the pursuit of the American Dream. 3. An unsustainable addiction to economic growth.

Proponents of the term consider that the prizing of endless increases in material wealth may lead to feelings of worthlessness and dissatisfaction rather than experiences of a 'better life', and that these symptoms may be usefully captured with the metaphor of a disease.

Oliver James the writer of the book "Affluenza" describes it as:

an obsessive, envious, keeping-up-with-the-Joneses - that has resulted in huge increases in depression and anxiety among millions. 

His book has some interesting points which give us a picture of the bane we are facing around the world where we are expected to perform in our workplaces and become what is perceived as successful by the world at large. Being perceived as successful becomes so important to us that we start to neglect a lot of things which could actually make us happy, like staying home with our kids, or painting or travelling the world, and creates untold stress in both us individually and in the society. He gives examples of highly developed societies with gender equality to a great extent (like Denmark) where women are forced to leave their kids home and go to work because they are expected to. That is what fulfills them. This he argues, is a wrong notion of fulfillment on the one hand, and on the other, women are over stressed because they end up doing everything in the house and out. His solution is that dads take more time out and devote it to their kids. Only if mums and dads share the burden of childcare, will the working solution be also a happy one. He also advocates being happy with what one has and not aspire to more, as "more" never quite ends. He also warns of having our kids pushed into schools and day care centers too early, something which most of us, including myself, have no choice about.

Another book about this subject is Affluenza: When Too Much is Never Enough is a 2005 book by Professor Clive Hamilton and Richard Denniss. According to them most Western society is addicted to over consumption and it is costing them their relationships, happiness and health. Lifestyle diseases are an inevitable outcome of this.

So how do you know if you have Affluenza? Here are some questions which Oliver James poses in his book. If you answer "Always" to any of these you are highly affected.

• Recently, have you felt so down that no amount of anything made you feel more chipper?
• Have you felt irrationally worried about things?
• Recently have you been so irritable or jumpy that feeling relaxed is impossible?
• Recently have you felt pathetic or useless or incompetent?
• Is living your normal life exhausting?
• Have you recently cursed yourself for being stupid, fat or lazy?

Book Review: Camilla Lackberg- A study of Gender equality and paternity leave in her thrillers

Camilla Lackberg is the best selling Swedish author specializing in crime fiction. The specialty of her books are that all the books are in sequence. The characters develop over the years and over her books. Not all her books are available in English and even less in India at present, but hopefully that will change, for finally, after Agatha Christie, I find myself loving a series in this genre again!
How is this series different from most other Scandinavian crime writing? Say for eg, Stieg Larsson? Lackberg, like Christie, uses domestic settings for her crimes, friends and neighbours, local police, local detectives, the snoopy neighbour who provides clues. Even when she goes beyond the immediately domestic, say, in :The Hidden Child" where she deals with the Nazi threat on Sweden in the 1930-s and 40-s, it is still rooted in the characters surrounding the locality.
The books available in India are- The Ice Princess, The Preacher, The Stone Cutter, The Stranger, The Hidden Child. (The Drowning has not yet come to India)
The protagonist is Erica Falck, a writer by profession, who moves to her native Fjallbacka in the first book where her childhood friend is found dead in typically horrifying conditions, frozen in the cold in her own bathtub with her wrists slashed. Here we see Christie once again, the blood spilled red on the pristine white bathroom floor, the ice in the bathtub and the particularly beautiful murdered young woman. Erica gets involved involuntarily in this investigation and with the investigator, Patrik Hedstrom. Of course I had started with a later book, and by then Erica and Patrik are already married. By "The Preacher" Erica is pregnant, and in Hidden Child she is married to Patrik and pregnant for the second time while Maja, her daughter is one year old.
I could go on about how great her books are and how well her characters have developed over the series, but this is not the platform for that. What I did want to discuss here are the practices used in the workplace in Sweden as becomes quite obvious in the books. Erica is a writer of course and writers are the same lot in any country. A statement made in The Ice Princess says- writers are not a well paid lot, and Im sure lots of writers around the world will agree with that.

But what becomes stark in the books is the practice of paternity leave. Sweden has the practice of giving fathers 60 days off specifically, and 480 days off per child, which can be shared between father and mother. Here is what the Baby Project blog http://www.npr.org/blogs/babyproject/2011/08/09/139121410/parental-leave-the-swedes-are-the-most-generous has to say about paternity leave and about Swedish practices in particular:

In the U.S., federal law allows men and women to take three months. Some work places will allow for more, unpaid. But the law doesn't mandate that companies pay anyone time to spend with their babies — and many people simply can't afford to take time off... Of course, the time allotted varies country to country. Some places, like the United Arab Emirates and Tunisia, give new moms 45 days or fewer.As NPR's Phil Reeves reports tonight on All Things Considered, Sweden has some of the most generous parental leave laws in the world — and the government not only considers the mother, but also the father.

Parents are allocated a total of 480 days per child, which they can take any time until the child is 8 years old. They can share these days, although 60 are allocated specifically to the father. And they are entitled to receive 80 percent of their wages, although this is capped at a certain level.

Paternity leave around the world is harder to chart than maternity leave. In some cases, fathers can tap into the same benefits that mothers get. In other cases — such as Sweden, Norway and Iceland — they have time specifically dedicated to them. Yet in many countries, fathers don't have any time allotted to them at all. A few examples of paternity policies are listed by the International Labour Organization (see page 46).

In Sweden, Reeves reports that dads seem happy. He spoke to men who say the law has really helped them bond with their kids... Still, Swedish men still tend to be better paid than women; this means the family loses more income if fathers take the leave. This helps explain why, according to Swedish government figures, women still take 75 percent of the allocation.

The bit about paternity leave in Sweden rings true in the books. Patrik takes his paternity leave and though he is pulled to work by interest, he is repeatedly told by his colleagues that he should not be coming in and he should use the time to bond with his daughter. 
This is the time when even Erica gets back to her writing having spent a year taking care of the baby. Gender equality glares me in the face, especially due to the lack of it in India. India of course has 3 months paid maternity leave and no paternity leave. In fact, even now, fathers are not expected to be equal in child rearing. Their role is quite limited to taking kids out on weekends and paying for the tuition. (Though I have a colleague who devotes half the day to his sons, and has become an equal partner in spending time with his kids, very few men can even afford to do that, even if they wish.) If the mom has to devote her time to rearing the kids, the dad automatically becomes the bread winner, and his responsibilities ensure that he cannot take time off. It is too risky. However dads do know how to change diapers nowadays (the dad of my daughter does not, his excuse is that I do a great job anyway, so why try to fix something that is not broken) and would willingly take over part of child rearing. Times are changing in many families, and dads would love to have an equal opportunity in seeing their babies grow, be there to watch them take their first step and say their first word, even if it is MAMA!

Gender equality and the difference in the generational attitude towards it is also evident in the mystery series. And these are things you wont find in statistical anlyses. The older generation thinks some jobs are meant for men- in the church, for example, or in the police force. This is reiterated in many places. However our generation (or Erica and Patrik's generation- they are 35) think differently and women do join everywhere and do a good job of course. The Ice Princess also describes how the woman preacher does a much better job in holding the attention of a non believer by her positive sermon, than the older male preacher who scared the religion out of the child Erica, by his account of hell fire. In Hidden Child a lady police officer has joined the tiny Tanumshede police station, and she is gay, to boot. The much older, previous generation head of the station is initially against a woman on the police force but changes his mind in the course of the book. And the way he handles the gay situation is commendable and shows a real development in the character at this point in the series. 

However, on the negative side of society, the Neo Nazi movement is touched upon, and shows how foreigners are targeted by these groups and the threats posed to them in the workplace. This is probably the case in most countries where underground extremist groups target another group of people. India itself is full of extremist groups targeting "difference"- in caste, religion or language. Shiv Sena in Maharashtra, which recently targeted Biharis and other North Indians are not even underground. 

Being mostly domestic, there is not too much information about workplace, but the potent ones which comes out, are very clear and expressive of the open and equal society in Sweden.

Get Hired 3: What not to tell your consultant

There are good consultants and bad consultants, and how do you know the difference? Apart from the names which are well known in the market, or if you are going to someone with a reference, then there are some straight points which will tell you if you can trust your consultant to get the best for  you.

1. Their website: will be world class, will give you list of people they have and their expertise

2. Their clients: will be usually listed on their website. A good consultant will have a mix of all industries and all types of clients, but will definitely have clients who demand the best out of their vendors

3. The seniority of candidates: this might be biased coming from me, since I am an executive search consultant, but here's the truth. A placement firm provides CVs to the client by the dozen. An executive search firm usually checks your background, does the due diligence, and then calls you to ask your opinion on the job. Only when you are fully convinced, is your profile sent to the client. As such this is a much longer drawn process, taking up to a working week, and hence, the number of profiles sent to the client is very less, sometimes 2-3 at one go. But your profile will no doubt be relevant to the position on offer. Thus, this very detail makes the process to get hired one step closer.

4. Communication- written or oral: A good consulting firm will have impeccable mailing and communication procedures. The documentation will usually be templated, hence all details are neatly arranged for quick reference. Oral communication is supposed to be clear and lucid, detailed and informative, as well as transparent. Confidentiality MUST be assured.

Once these basic criteria are met by the consultant, one must keep in  mind that one must not keep anything secret between you and your doctor, lawyer and consultant. It might come back to haunt you later. A good consultant will send an analysis of your profile to the client company to give your match to the role and culture of the company. Hence you have to answer all questions. A good consultant will make it clear that nothing confidential need be told at this level. Hence all figures (present company turnover, department revenues, client size, client names etc) may be approximate and names may not be revealed. 

A few days back I got to interview a lady from a big IT firm living in Hyderabad, wanting to relocate to Mumbai. She was at a Senior Manager level. I mention this to show the seniority of the person. We usually ask the family details of the person, male or female. If the person is married, what the partner does, if he/she has children. This is not just for curiosity, if there is relocation required in the position in question, these details become imperative. Like it or not, a person with 2 kids of school going age might not want to change cities, while a singleton who is married with no kids, might find it easier. Kids' age matter, since school going kids will have more problems relocating, than toddlers, due to more than one reason, finding good schools,  or getting torn from established friend circles.

We have asked these questions to every one till date and very few people do not understand that as a consultant it is important for me to know your family history. In job interviews in colleges, students are sometimes asked about their parents, their interests, even the type of music they have listened to. This establishes the cultural and social background of the candidate and will determine the match of the candidate to the over all ambiance of the company they want to join.

Anyway, this particular lady who is 40 years old, took offence when I asked her if she is married. She told me " I am 40, I better be married". Taking offence at being asked about marital status is very feminist, however her statement clashes wildly with feminism. How is being 40 equated with marriage? What will the 40 year old single women of the world have to tell her? I assured her that I am not trying to be personal, it is part of our evaluation process. I should have stopped there. But I went ahead and asked about kids. For the next half hour I had to hear a one sided tirade about why I should not ask this question and how offensive it is. I told her, "Maam if you find it offensive, please mention that and you dont need to answer it."
Truth is, these informations are necessary for us to overall understand how difficult a case of change and relocation a candidate will have. But the option is always there to say that you would rather not answer it since it is against your principles. Any good consultant will whole-heartedly respect this. But no consultant will want to hear about your principles for half an hour. Its a waste of your time, and her time and energy. However I did apologise to her on the phone and by sms afterwards, also assuring her that I would take the topic up with my management. If it had stopped there I would have even supported her point of view.

But this is not where it stopped. You might think she was just against personal questions. But next day I called to get her work details on the kinds of clients she has closed sales deals with. She is doing BPO sales, and she has applied for a Sales job and it is MY job to understand if her experience matches the requirements my client has- aggressive sales to large companies and quick deal closing capabilities. She said "why should I give you that information". Whatever answer I expected this was not it. It took me some time to tell her "Because I am your consultant"

So in the end she refused to give me any detail and went on another tirade about how I ask stupid questions which are not necessary. At the end I had to tell her that I would like to disconnect the call. She called up 5 minuted later to tell me not to forward her profile, but by then I had already decided that she was a danger to be presented to our client. 

Morals of the story:

1. Your consultant is looking to help you, not hinder your prospects for the job.

2. When your consultant assured you of confidentiality, it is in your best interest to trust her. You have no option once you send your work details anyway.

3. Please LISTEN. You might be missing the point.

4. Please for heavens sake. DONT BE RUDE. That really does not help anyone's purpose.

5. If you dont want to answer something, please mention that frankly. It will be appreciated, and you will not be pushed.

6. Your work details are important for being profiled for a job. Please share. No one will ask you confidential client details.

Stress and the Woman

There was a time when the man was the bread winner and the woman was the child bearer and nurturer. Roles were defined and everyone was happy. And then we, the women, decided we can do whatever we put our minds to. And we put our minds to being independent and having control of our finances, along with our homes, bodies and minds. And so we reached a state where we handle the home and hearth, the kids and we go to work to earn our daily bread. That's actually doing 3 peoples work single handedly. No wonder we are stressed all the time.
A 2011 study by Nielsen shows that:
"An overwhelming 87% of Indian women said they felt stressed most of the time, and 82% had no time to relax.  The survey, conducted early this year, covered 6,500 women from 21 developed and developing countries like Sweden, the US, the UK, France, the BRICS economies. It was conducted online among women (over 18 years of age) and cut across social and income class."
While women all over the world work unthinkably hard, Indian women have it worst. Social expectations have risen to a point when women with a level of education are "supposed" to work. But in India, this happens without the accompanying support system of family, husband, good childcare systems, nannies or creches. Apart from that most women are expected to prepare the household food, care for the children, do the shopping, over and above their hours in office. I know of women who wake up at 4 am to prepare breakfast for the family (in South India, that means Dosa/ Idly etc), lunch boxes for kids and husband, lunch for in laws, then prepare their kids for school, then go to office. They return in the evening at about 7 pm and then prepare dinner for the family. I have seen many women in local trains cutting vegetables on their journey home, to keep the work a little ahead.
Even for those who do not have to cook and clean at home, or who dont have kids, the stress of doing everything is catching up with us. The old adage that to get half the distance, women have to work twice as hard, is true, since the mentality of people both at home and at the workplace have not changed. Ambition seems to be a dirty word if it is used for a woman, but the truth is more and more women are option to go the hard way and do it all, than sit at home and let their education go to waste.
So how do we deal with stress? Here are some tips:
DONT TRY TO BE PERFECT: Perhaps something we need to tell ourselves everyday. It is not required to be perfect in everything we do. The clothes can wait on the line overnight if you are too tired. The ppt need not have that exact shade of sky blue. The child can have one portion fruit less today. It will not matter tomorrow, or for that matter, after an hour. Learn to give in to a bit of imperfection.
EXERCISE: However busy your day, take an hour out and so something physical. Run, walk, cycle, take the baby out to the park, dance, whatever squeezes some sweat out... exercising in any form releases happy hormones in the body which can then unwind from extreme stress easily. It will also give the much required me-time that, as a busy working mother, I realise I absolutely need. Also if possible, do YOGA or MEDITATE.
SLEEP: this one needs no explanation. Sleep is a natural healing time for tissues and for the brain to recharge. 6-8 hours sleep is absolutely essential.
DONT SMOKE OR DRINK: Too many people Ive seen smoking provide the easy excuse of stress release. However, smoking or drinking just masks stress and does not ease it. In fact, that may lead to other complications and health problems which might make things worse. A civil engineer wouldnt want to have to spend the day on site, inspecting the buildings in scathing sun, having to cough away due to too many cigarettes smoked.
WORK SMARTER: I find that planning my day even before I get to work, makes it a lot less stressful to start off the day with. After that, regular jotting of things to be done, and ticking them off (in itself an act which provides such satisfaction that I divide my to-do list to the bare smallest tasks.) is a good way to keep tab of your time.
STAY CONNECTED: Delegate, share work, share ideas. Or just take a break to chat with like minded people if you feel you are getting too stressed.
DONT STAY CONNECTED 24/7: Keep regular hours and dont work late more than 2 nights a week. Take 2 days to unwind and forget about work. Try not to answer work calls on your off time. Everyone should know and respect your time off. Otherwise its not a worthy place to work. When you give time to your family or child, give 100%. They will be the ones to stay. In 10 years time this job will not be what is important. Know your priorities. You only work for the money, it does not define your life.
VOLUNTEER AT THE LOCAL CORPORATION SCHOOL: social service has been found to be the biggest stress relief. The thought of doing something for the good of someone else, gives us a sense of purpose and makes us happier. It helps put things in perspective too. The feel good factor gives a huge high which may last through the week. Little acts of kindness, like helping an old man cross the street or giving up your seat to the pregnant lady, or even feeding the hungry little kitten which has lost its mother... all small acts which makes one truly happy and gives a kick to the day. Another means is to have a hobby. I read... sometimes till the wee hours but I love it so much that I wouldnt give it up for anything. Some people garden, some feed cats, some cook, all sorts of people do all sorts of things, but a hobby helps you unwind at the end of the day or week and recharges your mind.
THINK SOLUTION NOT PROBLEM: If your job is under threat, think of your exit strategies and prepare for emergencies. Dont sit and worry. Utilise the time to research other companies and jobs available.
BE POSITIVE: Know your limitations but be positive about it. Know when to stop. Know to say NO. All this is acceptable if done with a positive frame of mind. Nothing will go wrong if you fail. The world will not stop. Your child will not stop growing, you wont lose your job. Stop worrying all the time, go out, smell the flowers, watch the clouds. Force yourself some time off during the day, take a nap. Anything which works for you. Learn to control but dont become a control freak. You can rise 5 minutes early to get that elusive 8 am bus, but you cant stop the rain from falling. You can work to keep your job, but if the company goes under, its not in your control. Let go and learn to live.

More women required in the Indian workplace

More on my favorite subject... here is an article from Business Standard which shows that good things are in store for tomorrows women workers.

Various companies, including Vodafone India and Mahindra and Mahindra, have begun focussing on getting more women at senior leadership position.

“We are out in the market recruiting senior women talent. Gender diversity is a focus for us. We are working through availability, location and choice of role aspects,” said Ashok Ramchandran, director (human resources), Vodafone India.

Ramachandran adds women at the top of various management levels bring plurality, different thinking, different focus areas and leadership styles and values. So, while Vodafone strives to hire from outside, a major task at hand is also to build talent within the company.

Currently, women in senior management positions at Vodafone India form six per cent of the work force. The company plans to raise the number to 15 per cent in two years.

At automotive major Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), a 50: 50 gender ratio is being considered. “A diverse work force is important, as harnessing the potential of diversity produces powerful business results, enables deeper discussions among work-teams and produces richer results,” said Rajeev Dubey, president (group HR, corporate services and after market), M&M.

Head-hunters reckon it is the services sector that has been very active in hiring more women for senior positions. “There are more women in the labour market, and more females pursuing higher education. So, there are more women contenders for senior posts. However, this kind of participation is absent in sectors like oil & gas and manufacturing,” said E Balaji, managing director and chief executive, Randstad India.

Business schools have not only been preaching this concept, but practicing it as well.

For instance, at the Indian School of Business (ISB), the percentage of women in the management programme rose from 25 per cent to 29 per cent in the last five years. The batch of 2012 had 167 women students, accounting for 29 per cent of the batch.

“Women today have a lot more opportunities than in the past. There is increasing acceptance in different quarters about their abilities, and the value they bring to the work force,” said Ajit Rangnekar, Dean, ISB. He adds while this percentage is high compared to other Indian B-schools, it falls short of the figures in global B-schools such as Wharton (45 per cent) and Harvard (39 per cent).

“Currently, our workplace reflects a healthy diversity, with almost 50 per cent women in the staff. We must just replicate this in our classrooms, too,” he said.

At the Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode (IIM-K), director Debashis Chatterjee has been saying women make better managers and they have learnt to be more competent in a diverse set of skills and attitudes. The institute has been increasingly emphasising on more women students in the campus. In the first post-graduate programme at IIM-K in 1999, there was only one woman student in a batch of 42.Consequent to the changes in the institute’s admission policy, the 2013 batch has 36 per cent women.

In its International Business Report, global accountancy firm Grant Thornton had recently said businesses in India had the least number of women in senior management (14 per cent), compared with the global average of 21 per cent. It added economies such as India, Japan and Mexico had low female economic activity rates, with the India’s proportion of female adults in the labour force at 33 per cent.

Get Hired 2- Women's special

On the occasion of Women's Day, why not have a special on our blog too. After all Spearhead Intersearch is 60% female, and that too, now, after the conscious effort to have "gender balance" the other way round!

It is a well known cliche that women have to work twice as hard to go half as far as men. One of my earlier blog posts deals with disparity in pay among women and men workers in India. In the organized sector women still usually get roughly 60% of the salary that men get doing the same job. There are still lot less women in higher positions than even equal opportunity providers would want. Even in companies with woman CEOs, there are so few women in the pipeline for the top jobs, that it is unnerving.
It has been noticed that there are three kinds of women who get into the workplace as far as career goes.

• The first is the women who would like to work till they have kids and settle down. These form the bulk of the working women's population.
• Then there is the kind who work for some time, take a break for kids and then come back to work. For them working is more of a financial or personal necessity, after they have taken care of their responsibilities.
• Then there is the third kind, the companies' dream woman-worker- the careerist- who keep to their job with sincerity, with the driving ambition of rising to the top. This is the kind of employee who is encouraged to achieve, in quite a few companies today. The drive and ambition of these women are an inspiration for young girls around the globe.

But everyone is not made of the stuff Indra Nooyi has. Therefore, what about mortals like us, who have to handle home and hearth, children, shopping, and almost everything one can think of?

• One of my daughters friends mum is a mother of two. She works in a software firm in a mid-management position, where she has reached after 8 years of hard work. Now with a child in Std 2 and another is UKG, she is struggling to cope with the pressures of motherhood and work. She told me to look for a job for her which would allow her to work part time, or work from home. It was only saving grace that her husband works on UK timings and is usually there to bring the kids home from school. Today she was there at 3.30 pm at the school and told me her company has shifted her timings from the usual 9- 6pm to 7 am to 3 pm three days a week. Now she can be there to get her kids home and be with them for 3 of the 5 working days too. She loves her workplace, she wants to rise in her career, but she does not want to let go of the joys of motherhood either. Her company must be commended for keeping all her dreams in place.
• A friend of mine joined a bank from campus, and in the last ten years has quickly risen to the position of VP. The birth of a daughter came as a blessing and joy to the couple, but without family to support them in Delhi, she quickly had to decide to take a break till her daughter is old enough to put in play school.
• My cousin, another bank employee for about 15 years now, is a branch manager in Bangalore. Was, I should say, for the only way she was going to work in a city like Bangalore was having her parents from Dehradun over to look after her 4 year old. It was only a matter of time before they all realised it was not feasible any more, and now she has taken a sabbatical till she can rejoin.

Here too, these women are valued employees in a very woman- friendly environment. Their jobs will probably be waiting for them when they get back, probably they would have missed out on a couple of promotions and increments, but still, they have made their mark and they will survive.
I was lucky enough to be in a company which allows women to work from home when they have problems. But what if my company didnt allow me to work from home. With no family in Chennai and a small kindergarten going child, I would have two options- leave my child in the care of help at home or in a creche, or to leave my job and stay at home till the time my child was old enough to fend for herself. I would not have chosen the first option. What if I just needed the time off to recover from an illness.

• One of my candidates had to leave her job after her rat fever would not let her work for months. Now after 6 months of rest and recovery she is back to searching.

What if I just need the rest after having slogged for years, after all, any woman does the job of three men. Wife, home maker, mother, cook, cleaner, driver... name it. What if you just need the holiday to recahrge your batteries for a year.
So what is in it for women like us all over the country. How do we get back to the workplace after 2 or 3 years of break. Here are some tips:
Be positive: It always helps if you approach your renewed search with a positive frame of mind. It will clearly show in your interviews and reflect in your communications. A confident attitude will impress any panel. Whatever you did in your sabbatical, you know what you bring to the table and the company should know it too.
Take a course: There might have been something you would like to brush up on while you had been on a sabbatical. An online course would be an added qualification and send the message to your prospective employer that you are not just wasting anyone's time.
Prepare your CV anew: Nowadays most employers appreciate the need to take time off for ones children, to upgrade skill sets. But it should reflect in your profile. Update your profile with relevant skill sets for the company or industry you would like to present yourself to. In other words- customize. You should write a clear opening statement which would state that your time off has given you the opportunity to think of the growth path you need to take and hence you are looking for that kind of an opening. It does not matter if this statement is the whole and indelible truth.
Get your references in order: A good reference in often the clincher for a job. Make sure you have the best references you can offer right there in your profile. Keep your references informed that they might get calls from consultants or company HR. The words "Available on request" will not help, trust me.
Be aggressive in your search: Approach consulting firms. Call old colleagues, friends and people in power, whoever would be able to help you. Repeat after me- There is no shame in linking with someone after a period of time in order to get a job.
Start off temporary if you wish: Maybe your child needs you half the day but you can take the morning to work. Look for temp jobs if they are available instead of waiting for the time when you will get the whole day off. This will be a hue positive in your profile when you want to get back full time.
Know that it will take time: It would definitely take more time than, say if you were actively searching for a job while you were working. Take it in stride and dont lose hope. A probable time line would be about 6 to 7 months.
And then just follow the steps to get hired that I have enumerated in my earlier blog.

Get Hired- How not to get lost in the resume crowd and to get the job

Are you a dynamic sales professional who has worked in the finance industry for the past 14 years and worked your way up from trainee to Regional Manager? Are you an IT professional who would love to get into a start up kind of environment to use your 15 years experience to build a company as an intrepreneur? Are you looking for a job change, and felt that monster.com would be the right place to start?

Well, guess what. A million other people had the same bright idea.

Have you ever been to the monster/ naukri/ jobsahead-s of the world? As consultants we have. And if I am looking a for a dynamic sales manager for a leading bank to handle regional level sales- chances are that I might find you but the chances are much higher that I never will. All those "highlighted" or "premier" profiles included.

If you have something unique to offer, if you value your experience, then, in a pile of resumes is the last place where yours should be. By all means, post your profile (At senior levels, its a different story altogether, we will tackle that in a later post) but there are ways to get a much better result for your job search efforts.

Head hunt the Head hunter: If you are at mid management level waiting for your next big break, then search out those who will be able to give you the break. There are the placement agencies who usually have all levels of jobs at most companies. There are some specialised agencies who deal with particular segments, like there are some firms who deal only with insurance companies. There are executive search firms who deal with senior level assignments. The last usually have fewer options, but usually they have the best options and would deal with your resume in the most professional manner.

Where will you find them? Usually a google search will suffice. Otherwise, look out for editorial articles in business papers and job supplements. They have quotes from consultants and search company managers and heads. Find them out on the net, call into their offices and ask to talk to a consultant in their office. Sometimes a company will have consultants who are experts in a particular industry. But often any consultant will help you out at this step, either by pointing you to the right person or asking about your details.

Choose how many places you would like to send your profile: If you are desperate to move, I would suggest choose the top 10 consulting firms from every metro city, especially if location is not a constraint. If you are keen on any city, target the top 10 firms from that city. If you are taking it slow, 2-3 consulting firms, the best available in the cities, should be targeted. It is wise not to limit yourself to one or two consulting firms overall. No firm would have their finger on the pulse of every good company in any industry out there.

Be clear in your communication: It is important for the consultant to immediately know the following: your industry, number of years of experience, designation, company, city, age, more often than not your ctc, and what you are looking for. So if you are a Regional Head of Sales in ABCD Bank, XYZ division, in Chennai, with 12 years experience at 16 lakhs ctc per annum, and you are looking for a bank or any financial institution at a national role which will give you required growth in career and ctc, and you can move to any metro city: all this needs to be mentioned.

You should be asked to send in your profile. Please mention that it needs to be confidential and any further action on your profile needs to be taken with your go ahead only. Give all details on your profile as to your requirements (location, role, CTC) in the very beginning in a short note addressed to the consultant. For eg: if you dont want to go to Delhi, please mention in on the profile itself. That makes it much easier to remember you and chances of your being contacted for a Delhi job are minimised. If you dont have any such hassle, dont mention anything. If you have a limited period choice, mention the time period. Eg: "Cant move out of Chennai till 2013. After that, location not an issue." Always mention date in your profile.

Follow up, Follow up, Follow up: You need the job. You need to be seen, to be remembered. The buzz word here is "top of mind recall". Whenever I have a finance opening, I should think of you. The trick is to keep yourself in the mind of the consultant without becoming irritating. I would suggest calling weekly at the beginning and then sending weekly mails and calling up occasionally. Hopefully, you wont have to wait for that long, but the average time to get interviews after one starts searching aggressively is 3-4 months. So stay in the "top of mind" till then.

Be honest with your consultant: The three people you should hide nothing from: Your doctor, your lawyer and your consultant. Complete honesty is not just advisable for your benefit, it is also necessary for the consultant to fight on your behalf. Believe me, your consultant would love it if you got the job. She gets the bonus on your joining. Make friends with her and she will fight your case for your dream job, even if you took a two year break in between to go see the world!!

Ensure that your profile is treated with due respect: Make sure that you will be asked and consulted with before your profile is sent to any company. Ensure that full confidentiality will be maintained. You dont want your boss finding out about your job search. If you are not sent the Job Description and company details in a mail after the consultant calls, drop the consulting firm from your list. It is your career on the line, and any good consultant would respect that more than anything else.

So dont just wait for some random person to catch you on the internet. Get out there and start making your own opportunities.

What is the age for entrepreneurship- 25 or 45?

Mark Zuckerberg started Facebook at age 19, Larry Page and Sergey Brin started Google when they were both 23. But the image of the young entrepreneur is just that... an image, as new research suggests. Turns out, the average founder of a high tech start up is not a brash brilliant young-un, but a mature 40- something.

Vivek Wadhwa is a Duke University scholar who studied 549 technology ventures. It turns out that a 40 year old engineer or businessman with family is just at the right age to get tired of working for another company and starting off on their own. And they have better success rates too. They are the ones who have the industry and domain knowledge in the fields they are starting off in. They also have a wide network which they can put to good use, including financial support and capital.

This is from Time magazine which reported some time back that in US, the highest rate of entrepreneurship has shifted to the 55- 64 age group, with people above 55 almost twice as likely to found successful companies than people in the age group of 20- 34.

In India, a study by National Knowledge Commission, done among 155 entrepreneurs had one fourth under the age of 35. The median age at which they became entrepreneurs was 27. Usually in US as in India, older entrepreneurs deal with complicated technological companies in IT hardware, biotechnology, heavy engineering or energy. Whereas younger entrepreneurs will have tech start ups with hugely popular software or hot apps or other easy to understand products. In the Indian study ‘Idea-driven’ motivators were found to be more significant for entrepreneurs above the age of 35 and exert a minimal influence on those below 35. Further, ‘market opportunity’ was a far significant motivating factor for the below-35 age-group compared to those above that age.

There is a huge advantage due to this for our rapidly ageing demographic. Whereas across the world the population is ageing, India's population is still relatively young. (50% of its population below the age of 25 and more than 65% hovers below the age of 35. It is expected that, in 2020, the average age of an Indian will be 29 years, compared to 37 for China, 39 in USA, 45 in European Union and 48 for Japan) And that means, as this generation ages, innovation will increase and hopefully, there is likely to be a boom in entrepreneurship and business in this country in the next 10-30 years.