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Boss from Hell: Dealing with bad boss (Anger management in the workplace: Part 2)

In the previous blog post I had talked about the colleague from hell which makes one lose ones marbles in the workplace. But a bad workplace is just as bad as a bad boss. The top reason why a person leaves a job is a bad boss. So what do you do when...

YOUR BOSS SHOUTS AT YOU FOR NO FAULT OF YOURS

One might immediately think of harassment. One might think that one’s boss is bullying. The immediate reaction may be anger and frustration. One might think of resigning or even shouting back.

Think: If it is a genuine case of harassment or bullying, the first reaction should be no reaction at all. If it is a regular incident, one can gather evidence to support the claim and then take it to a higher authority. One can even garner support from colleagues and fellow supporters.

If however, it is a one off case, and not severe or lasting, one may bring it to the notice of the boss. If the boss had no intention of hurting, he/she would immediately understand if an explanation is given to the innocence of the victim/ employee.

Do:Communication is essential. If the issue is harassment or bullying, help should be sought. Otherwise, there should be free and frank discussion with the boss about the behaviour which might dissipate the situation. In case of an apology from the boss, the employee may be gracious in acceptance.

Dont do: Make false allegation of harassment. If the case is one off and not severe or lasting, this might result in the termination of employment for false allegation. One should never lose ones cool and shout back at a boss. One should also not stay silent and let him/her get away with occasional abuse.

And what do you say of the boss who will inevitably call you when you are in the middle of a romantic candle-lit dinner, and ask you to make a client call RIGHT NOW!

WHEN YOU GET A WORK-RELATED CALL ON A VACATION

Resentment and frustration may be the result of work spilling on to weekends or vacations.

Think: It is now a common thing to be working on weekends or vacations for many. Sometimes if the vacation is quite long, more than 5 days or so, one might be expected to clear ones mailbox periodically. Also one should realise, people do not remember differences in time zones or movements of others all the time. If it is urgent, try to delegate the work to someone in the know. If it is not urgent, one may want to remind politely that one would deal with this once he or she is back.

Do: This is not a potentially damaging situation. If it is very urgent situation which require only ones own involvement, then one needs to put in that work. Otherwise one may either delegate or push the work till the date of return to office.

Dont do: Shut down all communication especially if it is a long vacation.

Also, use of racial or gender biased words or comments in the workplace is a definite no-no. It is not just disrespectful, it also shows lack of self confidence and perhaps also low self esteem in the person doing it. One is often tempted to say something rude and hurtful to the cause of the anger, but it is always going to be construed into your being unprofessional and irrational.

So while it is never a good thing to give in to the anger boiling within you, it would be easier on your career and image to take a deep breath, count backward from 100, and channelise the wrath into constructive matters.
The Hindustan Times Brunch article can be found here http://www.hindustantimes.com/Brunch/Brunch-Stories/Why-so-angry/Article1-1087690.aspx

Colleague from Hell: Dealing with bad colleagues (Anger management in the workplace: Part 1)

Recently I was sent a questionnaire on Anger Management in the workplace by a journo who would base her article on my answers. While answering the questions, I found them quite pertinent and useful for us, who struggle in the workplace with various issues but cannot get them out in the open. The top reason for a person leaving a job may be a bad boss, but nasty colleagues are not far down the line. I have seen people leave their jobs after being hounded for years by one or a team of colleagues who had grouped up against them and made every passing day a nightmare. I have been (mostly) lucky to have worked with friendly, guiding and kind people, mostly, some of whom have turned out to be lifelong friends. Not always, though.
From the beginning of my career I have worked with people who would never come in on time, even if a team was waiting for him to start a meeting, would always sulk, would always be calling the boyfriend of the moment, would always be fighting over candidates, would always be saving yahoo chats for future (blackmailing) purposes, would always be complaining about everything at work, would always be negative, would always be gossiping... And I am talking of different people.
However, mostly I have had good working relationships in the workplace. Not everyone is as lucky and I know of more than one person who have gone through hell in the workplace and lived to tell the tale.
There are the colleagues who will not help you when you need help, there will be the groaner and complainer, who makes the air toxic with negativity, there will be the drama queen who always needs attention all the time, or the back stabbing type who will try to grab all the attention. Here are some situations you may face in the workplace and how to deal with them and most importantly, how to manage your anger in such situations:

WHEN A CO-WORKER REFUSES TO COOPERATE

Reaction: The immediate reaction might be anger and a feeling of revenge. One might even take it to the next level and talking to the supervisor to mediate and solve the issue.

Think: Refusal to cooperate might just be stemming from a lack of communication or from a conflict of interest between two people. One must try to gauge if there is a feeling of competition or fear of the other person being better. One might be trying to just do a good job but the perception of competition might create a conflict.

In such a scenario, one might want to resolve the conflict of interest. Keeping in mind the other persons needs, wants and desires, one might want to back off for a moment to see if there is a lack of training involved, or if there is any real issue. If the issue is only fear, then one might want to allay the fear by identifying the other person’s interests.

Do: The best way would be to show empathy and to align both people’s interests. A frank talk about the conflict of interest might solve the issue in an amicable fashion.

Dont do: Definitely do not increase tensions by taking it on ones ego and increasing the miscommunication. Not to strain the relationship further by not talking about it or by talking about it to others. 

WHEN YOUR COLLEAGUE IS RUDE/NASTY TO YOU

Reaction: Shock or anger. If the behaviour is chronic then it might lead to bad relationships with the colleague. Take it personally.

Think: React with dignity. Talk to the manager and explain the situation with objectivity. With the colleague, act with confidence and say that this behaviour is not professional and not appreciated. Remember that it is not personal.

Do: Damage control has to be usually done by the rude colleague. Communication is key with one keeping line managers and HR in the loop about chronic rude people. Otherwise, just a frank talk should suffice.

Dont do: Dont be rude or nasty in return. Or talk behind the colleagues back.

WHEN YOUR COLLEAGUE TAKES CREDIT FOR YOUR WORK

Reaction: Frustration and anger. 

Think: One should always keep a written record of one’s work. This should be shared regularly with the manager at intervals. For credit thieves, one should tackle them directly and correct misconception with colleagues and seniors.

Do: Again, communication is required. One should clear misconception among others about the work. One can also talk to the colleague in question and ask him or her to stop the behaviour.

Dont do: Talk behind the back of the perpetrator. Spread rumours.

WHEN COLLEAGUES BITCH ABOUT YOU BEHIND YOUR BACK

Reaction: Feeling offended, angry and reacting by saying something in return. 

Think: Usually not to react is the best reaction. The gossip monger/s should be tackled with dignity. It is also important to laugh about oneself to make the situation light and diffuse it. Also one may keep a distance with these colleagues. Remember people bitch when they are jealous of ones success.

Do: Deal with any rumours being spread by making it clear to all that the behaviour will not be tolerated. If it is a potentially harmful rumour then one should talk to the person it may reach and harm you most, and clear the air. Otherwise ignoring such behaviour is the best way.

Dont do: Spread gossip or bitch in retaliation.

The Hindustan Times Brunch article can be found here http://www.hindustantimes.com/Brunch/Brunch-Stories/Why-so-angry/Article1-1087690.aspx

Is technology killing intuition: a perspective on recruitment: Excerpts from and based on the article 'Healthy Hire or Miserable Failure' in Indian Management Magazine

Many years ago, a Europe based client in the infrastructure domain gave us a list of “desirable attributes” for a candidate for the position of COO. Among them were- a given number of years of experience and seniority, leadership skills, specific knowledge of niche technology etc. Among the first 2 or 3 candidates that we presented to them, was a lady with much fewer years of experience but having, what I thought was, adequate team handling experience and all the other skills which I understood would be necessary for the job at hand. The client however matched her in their own internal, and should I add, international parameter tool- a technology they were using for some years, across the board, in every country they operated. All my efforts to have them see sense fell on deaf ears. For months we tried to give them a solution which matched all their criteria but somehow did not fit into their indian remuneration brackets.

After about 6 months of desperate searching, I again insisted that they revisit the first lady. Something told me, she was “the one”. This time, she was interviewed by some other people too and they decided she was the right fit, tech or no tech. So, all was well that ended well. But this gave rise to this thought in my mind. Is technology over riding the role of plain vanilla intuition as far as recruitment is concerned?

But here is the catch. Intuition is never plain vanilla. It is the effect of years, indeed, decades of knowledge, experience, and sheer hard work. Only we call it ‘intuition’ because we cannot really follow the pattern of the mind as it analyses gigabytes of data in our brain.

We see it all the time in nature and our surroundings. One pertinent and rather sad example is from the devastating tsunami which lashed the shores of Indonesia, Sri Lanka and India in 2002. It was seen that some tribes of the Andaman Islands could escape the waves since they had moved to higher land in time. When probed, it was realized that they had relied on traditional wisdom and had heeded the warning of the birds and animal behavior and had moved. However, those so called more developed areas, where technology was present but still not used to that extent, people relied on it, and had been dulled into the state of mind which didn’t allow their intuition to dictate their moves. Is it true then that technology makes us forget our natural ability to follow our intuition? What about the West now waking up to the fact that Asians are more adept at mathematical calculation and do much better in school and aptitude tests simply because they did not depend on calculators in school? And how does this dichotomy of technology and intuition relate to our workplaces?

Especially in hiring, intuition has time and again proven to be that something which goes beyond the framework. A successful hiring is not just about the educational qualification, or years of experience or about the number of people led, nor is it just about the technological knowledge of the incumbent. These are important, but what makes a person successful in a company in the long run is what we call the “right fit”. That is a combination of the attributes of culture, character, communication and how they interact with others. And this is something which technology cannot determine. There are a lot of psychometric tests today which can go a long way in getting a fair idea about the characteristics of a person but turning it all into data. It works in most cases. Yet, the human brain has the capability to understand and process tiny movements of muscle along with words and actions, which, say, for a very good candidate on paper, may say “something is not quite right”. And that “not quite right” finally turns out to be a false CA certificate, as was the case with one of our hirings for a CFO for a hotel group.

Many arguments have been made on the greatness of intuition, case in point being ‘Blink’ by Malcolm Gladwell, but his examples only goes to strengthen this point- great intuition only comes from great experience.

There is also talk of, if too much technology may be harmful for the business. Recently a manufacturing plant upgraded their computer processors for better speed and spent more than Rs 40 lakhs for the same. However the plant workers uses simple spread sheets and databases, so this up gradation was wasteful expenditure. Technology is only valuable if it can make your business faster or better or make more money. In fact, where you make use of technology itself is up to the gut feeling of the manager in charge!

Intuition may also be a bad weapon in the hands of a bad hiring manager. Only a person with years of experience in handling both sides of the table- the client and the candidate- can make these very subtle distinctions and catch the nuances. Today with the advent of technology in the social sphere in the form of networking sites which are being used in almost every company for their hiring purposes, it becomes even more important for the screening process to be even more stringent. Ironically, this screening is best done by an experienced head hunter, who, I dare say, can easily separate the wheat from the chaff, even from a linkedin.com or a monster.com!

My view is that which intuition is infallible and will always be, it has now found a good partner in technology. Intuition is good in the hands of a person who second guesses, doubts himself and searches for data to validate his or her decision. One must remember that intuition also comes from the mistake one makes throughout ones career. Therefore, a wise person will not only use his or her gut feeling to make a decision but will also corroborate this decision with proper analysis and use of data. Intuition followed mindlessly can become dangerous for the company as well as or the person.

Jyorden Misra
Re-worded in parts for reproduction by Payal

Why making the right hire is so important

Have you heard of this one? Supposedly one bad hiring costs the company Rs 20 lakhs.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/business-news/CorporateNews/One-bad-hiring-costs-Indian-companies-over-Rs-20-lakh-survey/Article1-1058966.aspx

While the corporate world is still divided as to the importance of having a good executive search firm, it is now proven what a bad hire can do to the financials of your company.

"As per the study conducted by global human resource consultancy CareerBuilder, 88% companies in Russia said they were affected by bad hiring last year, followed by 87% in Brazil and China and 84% in India.

The percentage of such companies in the US was much lower at 66%.

The study further said that three in every ten Indian companies (29%) reported that a single bad hire -- someone who turned out not to be a good fit for the job or did not perform well -- cost the company more than Rs. 20 lakh ($37,150) on an average.

In comparison, 27% of US employers reported that a single bad hire costs them more than $50,000"

Recently we were approached by an NBFC in Chennai, a start up firm, and in my meeting with them, their HR Head confided that they have been trying from some recruitment CV sites and some networking sites to get solutions to their hiring requirements, but after trying for over a year, the "proper fit" has eluded them. What they get instead is a landslide of resumes from candidates who are remotely connected with the industry, function or any JD mentioned. Usually they are not equipped with the experience, time or energy to sort through this bombardment of resumes.

While global search firms do come at a price, (which you are not paying for your linkedin hire, or for the person your in-house executive searched from monster.com), it is still an experienced search consultant who is equipped with the knowledge of how to use the tools of the trade best. 

"When you add up missed sales opportunities, strained client and employee relations, potential legal issues and resources to hire and train candidates, the cost can be considerable," said CareerBuilder CEO Matt Ferguson. "Employers are taking longer to extend offers post-recession as they assess whether a candidate really is the best fit for the job and their company culture," he added.

It has been seen that apart from poor performance, a hire becomes a failure when there is a skills mismatch. There might also be a culture difference. That is why the experience of a hiring manager is very important. If you are using external agencies for your hiring purposes here are the things to remember: 

• providing a clear job description, and stick to it. Take time to build the right job description. Many companies are not sure of their JD when they send it out to consultants and then keep changing with time. Try and avoid that scenario. It makes it difficult for everyone involved and is a waste of time for you, the consultant and the candidate being considered.
• meeting with the consultants to give an idea of the company culture
• being clear and precise in the hiring brief is very important
• spending time with the candidate, usually more than one meeting is necessary to even check the basic skills. Multi level meetings are required to understand the cultural background and attitude of a person
• checking soft skills like working in a team and attitude
• wooing the right candidate. It may translate to more money but the cost will be more than made up.

When it comes to hiring the right person, you need not leave anything to chance. A good agency and a good HR manager will ensure you get the right fit without having to swim through a sea of bad resumes and wasting any time. 

CEO SUCCESSION PLANS IN COMPANIES AROUND THE WORLD

INTERSEARCH SURVEY

Fewer than half – just 45 percent – of executives from 34 countries around the world say their companies have a process for conducting CEO succession planning, according to a recent survey by InterSearch Worldwide, a leading global executive search organization operating in more than 45 countries.

"Forward-thinking, responsible companies have robust processes for CEO succession planning, so it may astonish some readers that fewer than half of the companies represented in our survey actually do," said InterSearch Chairman Frank Schelstraete. "Our advice to the 55 percent that do not: never let an emergency situation catch your company by surprise. Executives can resign or even pass away unexpectedly. Establishing a CEO succession plan should be a fundamental obligation of public and private companies – of any size, in any region – and their boards."

Data by company size

In terms of company size, the larger the company the more likely it was to have a CEO succession plan. Among the largest companies in the survey (those with annual revenue of more than US$500 million or approximately 400 million Euro), 73 percent have a CEO succession plan.
The data were more evenly split among medium-sized companies (those with annual revenue between US$50-500 million or approximately 40-400 million Euro) with 49 percent having such a plan.
And among small companies (those with annual revenue under US$50 million or approximately 40 million Euro) only 17 percent had a CEO succession plan.

Data by geographic region

By geographic region, 38 percent of companies had a CEO succession plan in place in EMEA, which includes a wide range of countries from this diverse region.
In the Americas, where respondents came primarily from the United States, Canada, and a few South American companies, 74 percent of companies had such a plan.
And in Asia, 53 percent indicated their companies had a CEO succession plan. This region's respondents came primarily from Australia, Japan, India and South Korea.

Other data

Nearly three-quarters (73 percent) of all respondents say their companies review and/or update their CEO succession plan at least every three years, with a majority (56 percent) doing so once every year. Twenty-seven percent do so only as needed.
Most companies generally think their CEO succession planning is satisfactory or better. Seventy-nine percent of all respondents rate their plans as good (43 percent), very good (33 percent) or excellent (3 percent). Nineteen percent rated their plans as fair (16 percent) or poor (3 percent).
Comments from survey respondents describing the effectiveness of their company's CEO succession plan in identifying qualified internal and external candidates included:
"My estimation is that we have a good process in place. Internal candidates are monitored and assessed regularly [and] we have a programme to attract external talents."
~Large private firm, Switzerland
"The updated and regularly reviewed database provides good number of qualified persons. External candidates are not properly followed."
~Large private firm, United States
"Both the succession plan as well as standardized nomination and handover processes are established. As always, there are situations where the defined process is violated."
~Large private firm, Austria
"The process [has been] clear and consistent over the years. The succession plan usually considers internal candidates who have been growing in the organization [in] high responsibility roles."
~Large private firm, Italy
Of the respondents, 70 percent came from private companies while 30 percent came from publicly traded companies. Of those, just 38 percent of private companies said they had a CEO succession plan, compared to 61 percent of public companies that did.
InterSearch conducted the online survey of executives around the world during the two months from 1 December 2012 through 31 January 2013.
Additional survey results can be found here:
https://intersearch.org/images/documents/news_releases/CEO_succession_IS_survey_statistics.pdf
https://intersearch.org/images/documents/news_releases/CEO_succession_planning_for_midsize_companies.pdf

About InterSearch

InterSearch Worldwide is a global organization of executive search firms consistently ranked amongst the largest retained executive search practices in the world. InterSearch is currently operating in more than 45 countries, staffed by local professionals selected for their experience and reputation in their own markets and their ability to operate internationally. For additional information, please visit www.intersearch.org
Media contact: Eric Sodorff +1 847 922 4370 E.Sodorff@intersearch.org

Spearhead Intersearch is 

Mothers at Work: An Indian Perspective on the Working Mom

Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer is again in the news for having scrapped the work from home policy of her company. Earlier she had returned to work days after delivering her baby and got panned by women’s groups for setting the wrong precedent. Then she made waves when she opened a day care center for her infant son next door to her office. She now runs WiT, Women in Tech, a volunteer group that helps talented women enter and stay in the workforce. 

Indira Nooyi, CEO PepsiCo, in a recent interview, confessed that she would not have been able to concentrate on her career if not for the help and support of her husband in childcare for her sons.
In contrast, the Mumbai local train ladies coup is a revelation. On a return trip from work, while a group of girls chatter about college, the older women have work to complete, before they reach home. Some of them catch up on much needed sleep, they hardly get 5 hours a night. One woman has the rice out, sifting through it, readying it for cooking. She will bring out the dal next. And some even have vegetables out on their laps, slicing and cutting them for curry to be cooked at home. They reach home too late to cut and cook the dinner.

Welcome to the world of the Indian working mother. More and more companies are waking up to the daily travails of the woman at the workplace in spite of the 12 weeks maternity leave provided by the Indian Government, and now realize one of the main cogs in the wheel to keep women in the workforce is to address the issues faced by the working mother.

India traditionally, has had low economic activity rates. Even now, a woman with a high level of education drops out of the race because they are overcome by the pressures of handling baby and work. 

A 2011 Nielsen study showed that 87% Indian women are stressed most of the time and 82% had no time to relax. The pressures of dealing with childcare without the accompanying support system of family or husband or proper infrastructure in the country in the form of nannies or crèches, adds to the stress. And still the number of working women has doubled in the last 15 years. There are about 5 % more women in senior levels in 2009 as compared to 2008 in Indian companies while Indian MNCs have seen a 15-20 % increase, a study by WILL, Women in Leadership forum has showed. 

However the problem lies at the mid level, where women, mainly in their 30s are seen leaving the work talent pool. Studies have showed that one of the main factors preventing women to return to work was childbirth.

What are the difficulties faced by the working mother

• Childcare and proper support during periods of illness of the child
• Stress of balancing motherhood and work, additional stress of domestic responsibilities
• Lack of exercise or proper nutrition leading to health problems
• Lack of support from family
• Lack of infrastructure in childcare

Companies are trying to bridge these gaps where they can. 

• A lot of companies like Wipro, Infosys and HUL, have day care centers and crèches where mums can leave their children and come and check in on them at intervals. 
• Various firms, including Vodafone and Mahindra and Mahindra have begun focusing on getting more gender diversity at senior leadership positions. This includes giving these women availability, location and role choices, as Ashok Ramachandran the HR Director of Vodafone India has said. The thought is that women bring plurality and different thinking in leadership style and values. Vodafone, which has 6% of their workforce as women, now plan to raise it to 15%.
• Cisco is concentrating on developing business practices that reflect Indian culture and that include sense of family, while Sodexho believes in providing work life balance in order to win their search of good talent and hire women in leadership positions. The trend is to provide the opportunity to work part time, work from home, or telecommute by which employees can work from home 1-2 days a week. Other measures include relaxation rooms, lactation rooms or special car parking privileges to new mothers or pregnant employees. 
• Zensar adopted such initiatives which have showed them remarkable results, increasing the percentage of women returning after maternity leave from 15 to 89%.
• TCS global HR Head, Ajoy Mukherjee concentrates on increasing the presence of women in their global work force. He is proud that 11% of senior management in the company comprises of women. This has come with the flexibility offered by the company in terms of role by job rotations, and by not breaking the service record of women who take a sabbatical due to family pressures and want to return after a period of time. DAWN or Diversity and Women’s Network, a TCS initiative focuses on inclusion and helps women grow in their profession in the company.
• PepsiCo has set up a Female Talent Council where women come together to share their experiences and provide help and support to each other. PepsiCo’s core senior team of 15 comprises 30% women. 
• Accenture has an Hours That Help program by which their employees can donate their leave hours to their colleagues who need additional paid leave for any reason, including child birth and caring for a new child. The company provides medical cabs and escorts for expecting mothers.
• While Google India offers insurance for all delivery and new born health related matters, IBM arranges workshops to train in house nannies and ayahs in order to provide better care for children at home while their mums are at work.
• Companies are even taking into account couples who adopt babies by including “adoption leave”. The employee gets 3 months paid leave when they adopt a child. Google also takes care of the adoption expenses, including legal fees.
• SAP India’s VP HR Bhuvaneshwar Naik has talked about the clear association between benefits to the working mother and retention. In 2007 19 of 61 women who went on maternity leave, came back to work. In 2012, the number was 128 out of 134.

This goes to show that if a company shows that it cares about its women employees and makes it easier for them to work after childbirth, more women will be interested in coming back to work and concentrate on their careers. While more can be done, like mentorship programs for new mothers or paternity leave, for instance, these companies have shown the path in terms of best HR practices which actually retains talent where it is lacking most- middle and senior management of the company. This is not just a fresh change in the Indian workplace but also great news for mothers who would like to continue working or return to work after having children.

Kellogg's new top level hires in India: Can this finally turn its tide?

In mid January Kellogg made news in hiring circles when it hired at the top level, even as their sales kept dipping. Here is the news item.

"The company this week appointed Harpreet Singh Tibb from packaged goods giant Hindustan Unilever as its marketing director. It has also hired TS Venketram from biscuits maker Britannia to head supply chain, Kenny Abraham from PepsiCo to head sales and Deepak Shrivastav from GSK Consumer to head legal divisions."

All top personnel hand picked from top competition of Kellogg's in India. 

This leads us to think... Kellogg's now will be betting big on these new honchos to lead- Sales, Marketing, Supply Chain- the three mainstays of their business in India, and also legal of course. Is this going to set a trend for our companies who are not faring so well. Maybe a shake up is what is needed for companies to turn around and start performing. Who knows maybe with better perspective at marketing, better targeted advertising, Kellogg's will finally rid itself of the issues which has haunted it since its launch in India. Will its gamble pay off?

Most important is what this will prove in about a year: WAS IT A GOOD IDEA TO HIRE BIG WHEN A COMPANY IS LOOKING DESPERATELY FOR A TURNAROUND

Much has been said of how Kellogg's, a worldwide phenomenon, failed to perform from the very beginning in India. Kellogg's launched in India in 1994 and pegged itself as an alternative to our traditional breakfast. Now, Indian's and in fact Asians found having breakfast cereals to be a novelty. What happened in India was- one group of people refused to have cereals at all, they are still much too enamoured with their rotis, puris or idllis. One group of people bought a pack or two as a novelty and either didnt like it or found it much too expensive a habit to continue. The third group likes having corn flakes for breakfast, but India already had some good quality, much cheaper brands of corn flakes available, which gained in popularity. In fact, in that era, I preferred Mohun's corn flakes to Kellogg's because the former was tougher in texture and retained a crunch even with milk and bananas. And it was priced at a fraction of Kellogg's.

Its first range of products were launched without much ado. Chocos were a favourtie at the time, but none of the other variants made a mark in the market. Even their Mazza variant, made for Indian markets, fizzled out because of the lack of marketing support. In 2012, they tried again to localise their product which was still alien to our culture. They had already launched their oats, but as a spokesperson for a competing oats brand said, they didnt really try to capitalise of their first mover advantage in the oats segment either. However in 2012 they came out with different Indian taste variants of oats, like pudina, tomato and garam masala.

Says ET: "Since Kellogg's first attempt at localisation, the convenience foods market has exploded. The breakfast segment alone is estimated at Rs 600 crore, growing at 18-20%, with Kellogg's the leader with a roughly 55% share. Others angling for a slice of this segment include PepsiCo, Marico, Bagrrys, Dr Oetker, Britannia and McCain."

In this highly competitive market, Kellogg's currently brings in an estimated revenue of about Rs 350 crores plus. After 18 long years in the country, this might be worrying the company management. Also recently their overall sales have dipped in the last 18 months. They have come up with some advertising with high recall but it is hardly enough. In the meantime competition keeps closing the gap in market share.

Can Kellogg's finally change the view point of the Indian breakfast eater? Or will it change its course and get into more biscuits and snacks category. That remains to be seen. But in the meantime, all eyes will be on the new top slots and how they perform in the next year or so.

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.