“Any new reform in India is often clouded by debates and discussions about its need and viability. Opposing a change comes naturally for the self appointed so called public messiahs of the country. One such reform that has not been able to meet its due fate is the issue of FDI in retail. Anaggh Desai shares an interesting take on the benefits of FDI from a customer perspective”…..This article appeared as a Perspective in StoRai magazine Jan-Feb 2012.

A debate on this question has been going on for a long time; with government wishing to introduce the bill, it just gathered momentum recently.

The past couple of weeks, every platform/gathering somebody or other has asked me the question ‘Why should FDI be allowed in India?’ I do not object to the question on principle, it is quite amusing to note that everyone has a view about why it should be allowed/not allowed – mostly like East Bengal & Mohun Bagan match in Kolkatta. Read the rest of this entry »

This article first appeared in StoRai magazine page 44 and can be read here.

In the past year or more, I have received more then 100+ mails/requests from different sources (excluding of course the Linkedin ones) asking for assistance to either find a job, provide an introduction to get a job. Except some freshers, most of them were from people who were looking for a job in desperation or had been laid off.

Whilst I tried my best, not being in the placement/executive search was not able to do justice to all of them. Observing some of them directly, through friends, on social network, made me realize that it is an social embarrassment in India (though that seems to be changing) which in turn leads to fair amount of negativity and even depression.

I do not profess to be a doctor or adviser, however thanks to experience over the years one can think of the following:

Don’t take a trip into self pity One of the easiest thing to do and which people hate to listen to, leading to your being avoided.

Don’t take things out on your family or kids A fall out from the first point, at times due to expectations from the family, but it is important that you remain calm, seeking their support rather than taking it out on them.

Put things in perspective Take time to introspect, you cannot be right always, see where you were wrong, how that affected your career & carry those learnings forward. Also evaluate if there is an entrepreneur lurking inside you?

Read/Renew Hobbies/check out with NGO’s Join a library, borrow books read; check your hobbies, something that you have forgotten or left aside in your rat race. See if you can contribute positively in an NGO’s - this would keep you grounded when you see people less fortunate than you.

Look after your health This is of paramount importance and should not be compromised at any point of time.

Lastly, Network with friends, acquaintances, your extended family. This ideally should be an ongoing exercise, however in the rat race and whilst in a ‘position’ we normally tend to forget. Keep your ego aside, listen to some advice and move forward.

Do you have points to add, do let me know & would like to add them.

Oh! Don’t forget to keep networked.

In order to fuel our rapid expansion, I have been involved in a lot of interviews in the recent past.

Over the past year or so when Retail was in the dumps, so to speak, there were a lot of people who were on the look out for jobs and ready to compromise on salaries, designation, area of expertise. Some of them had been without a job for a couple of months.

Whilst doing this, glancing through the resumes, talking to the candidates, many of them had ‘Skills’ mentioned on their resume or would say that I Upskilled my self during the past 3 months, which got me thinking to ask the question - Do people really understand the meaning?

Most describe ‘knowledge of computers’; ‘knowledge of tally’ as a skill.

Upskill meant ‘learning internet’; attending ’seminar’ amongst others.

So I started asking
“What do you know in Tally?” - Data entry
“What do you know in computers?” - Email
“How did you upskill?” - attended so & so lecture

After wading through hundreds of them, I can conclude NO, people do not understand the meaning of Upskill.

A peer who was introduced by a friend not so long ago, subsequently became a friend said that “He considered me his mentor”

Whilst this pleased me no end, it also raised the above question in my mind. Over the past 20 odd years, I have had the opportunity of working with a lot of bright sparks, who have eventually moved on to different organizations, industries or geography.

However it has been a constant source of pride that they have kept in touch with me & vice versa, calling upon when the need to bounce of ideas, thoughts becomes strong.

And so this friend asked me how was I able to manage, keep the connection live and more importantly Did I not feel insecure, it set me thinking, to write down some thoughts that may be useful.

1) I have always accepted the fact that I am not a Star but an actor.
2) I am a Snob & hence prefer to be surrounded with intellectual bandwidth.
3) I avoid comparing responsibilities, accountability, package with peer group.
4) I do not stifle growth by using the personal loyalty card.
5) I definitely keep the professional & personal element separate, becomes easier for decision making.

From an organization perspective it is important to see that the seniors allow exceptional talent to flourish, since if they become insecure & ignore it, the death knell sounds. If not so drastic then it would be a organization based on mediocrity rather then meritocracy.

Do let me have your thoughts.

I do not know about many others, but this is a constant fight which eats away into my time continuously.

Identifying, Recruiting, Training, Retaining seems to be a constant fight, more so when you realize that there is an ever decreasing pool of talent available on a particular day, week.

And why is that? Mostly because the curriculum laid down by the HR ministry and taught through the degree & professional colleges are not in tune with the corporate requirement that keeps evolving with the changing business and environmental needs.

So by the time, someone graduates, they are already out of sync except probably in the consulting, finance etc. where theory would be consistent.

That really brings me to the main question:

Why can’t corporate help bridge the gap between skills & expectations.

Job are disappearing globally but less so in India at this point in time. However the real concern that with 15 million youngsters hitting the job market every year any prolonged slow down in job creation is bound to result in social discord which some faced and was visible over the past couple of years.

Whilst not an expert, personally I see no reason why transformation of professional education for the services industry BPO-KPO, hospitality, health care, retail, media & entertainment should not be feasible

Industry should constantly come forward with internship opportunities, projects, whilst colleges & universities should insist on at least 30% of practical work experience.

Skill gaps not huge, and corrective action today will build base for improvement in employability in years to come, which would be of great use to the young generation as well as cut down the learning curve for Industries as well.

But, unfortunately except some of the Indian MNC’s who have initiated this, nobody really wants to invest time, effort and money in this.

Some thoughts on Networking, Social Media in Financial Express

Last Friday I had an extremely interactive discussion with a medium sized company’s owner about his Branding & Marketing processes. Whilst, he had done some innovative things, the basics were still lacking. Having convinced him of them, decided to pen down those thoughts.

Product and promotion

Offline:
• Branding
• Image through communication
• Image through medium used

Online:
• Branding and colors on the site
• Branding and colors on the newsletters
• Branding and colors used for any new application or module

Place and physical evidence

• Sign board at the entrance of Office, Stores
• Entrance to be maintained consistently
• Reception, needs to be clean & maintained so there are posters, reading material of relevant products –
necessary to get the visitor to feel that he/ she has come to a great place!
• Security to greet customers well
• Receptionist to greet customers well and cater to the basic courtesies – ask for tea/coffee/water; ask what
they have come for; keep the area for brochures and newspapers in order.
• To keep the reception area well stocked with brochures and any reading material so that the customer’s wait is
pleasurable and worthwhile.

People in service

• The concerned person should not keep the customer waiting for long
• Each and every employee to make the process easy for the customer
• Every employee to adhere to dress code so a uniform and desirable image is formed
• People to adhere to the selling process steps strictly while attending a customer.

Process in service

• Whether it’s online or offline, every department to make the process easy and pleasurable for the customer

I am sure this is not a complete & comprehensive list. But it is the bare minimum. It is extremely easy to get a lot of ideas, however to execute ONE of them takes a lot of effort & time. All products, companies that are BRANDS today are because of CONSISTENCY.

It is an addiction, study shows a third of office workers were stressed by the volume of message & that’s only email.

Trust me, Being ‘always on’ does affect productivity & create stress.

With your notebook, multiple phones, that constantly beep, it is very difficult to switch off. And when you switch off the office work, there is Face Book, Twitter that needs your attention or else you are not with the times.

It is funny to see 3-4 friends sitting over coffee or drinks & 2 of them are texting, whilst the others are speaking on the phone; then why meet? You could might as well do that on the phone.

I am constantly asked “How do you manage official work, email, Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter, Partying & even writing a Blog”.

And I say “EVERYTHING IS FINE IN MODERATION”

Some of the rules that I follow to disengage & recharge myself, at the same time have me time:

1) I check & respond to your emails just 3-4 times a day, this includes laptop & smartphone.
2) As for FB; Linkedin, Twitter I just go cold turkey.
3) I leave my phone behind when I go on the gym floor.
4) I use Tech to the maximum - program email, blog, phone to garner maximum productivity.

Because, I believe - Be the one to control devices & not the other way around.

Last month I of all the people along with @chhavi was asked by Techtree to discuss the popular social media trends they expect to see in 2010. You can watch it here

And then in the same week, CNN IBN featured me amongst a lot others in Virtually yours. You can watch it here.

Do let me have your comments:)