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.

2008 is going to present an Exciting, Challenging & sometimes Frustrating market conditions. In many cases all three situations will be present at once. Such business environment demands the best from Professionals.

To succeed in such exciting times, lets see what skills do a manager needs to refine. The following skills listing are not in any particular sequence of importance. Some of you may find the last one to be of top priority, while for others this may be just the right sequence! I leave it to your judgment.

1: Hiring (& keeping) the best.
As products (& or services) become similar, its the people who will make the difference. Read the rest of this entry »