|
The Future is Here |
Last decade was about preparing and discussing the future - the tomorrow after the recession of 2008-09, ascendancy of Asian leadership, the global impact of local companies, etc.
In 2011, that future is here. We are now faced with the aftermath of the recession, the opportunities presented by reducing global barriers, realities of surging capital flows and currency wars.
Over the past ten years, our work with customers has also evolved. Today, organizations are mindful of not just money, but also the time that is invested into learning and development. As a result, linking capability development to business impact has become imperative.
We connected with two leading organizations, and also our long-time customers, from industries that are at the helm of burgeoning growth in India: Tata Consultancy Services (IT) and PepsiCo India Ltd (FMCG). Following are excerpts of discussion with thought leaders from the companies - Suchitra Rajendra, PepsiCo India Ltd., and Sharada Ganesh, Tata Consultancy Services. |
|
 |
| Suchitra Rajendra |
| PepsiCo India Ltd. |
|
|
| Sharada Ganesh |
| TCS Ltd. |
|
|
|
| Over the past ten years, there has been a paradigm shift towards viewing people development as a strategic and business-linked requirement rather than a to-do-task. Do you think this has been achieved in India? |
| Sharada: To a large extent, yes it has. In the IT industry in particular, we know that the environment is fast growing. The global business models are transforming, the organizations are also moving up the value chain, and given this the ability to go beyond the defined models becomes critical. It is the people that carry an organization through winds of change and therefore have to respond to the changing nature of business consistently. Hence, people development has undergone a fundamental change in its orientation to become business linked our leadership model looks at setting bench marks in We also specific streams and domains as well. |
| Suchitra: It has been widely recognized amongst the Best-in-Class organizations that the only competitive edge today is the Talent Edge. Technology today can be quickly replicated, and even improved upon in a matter of days. Ideas are available and shared online! Strategies are blogged about in open forums; and venture capitalists are waiting in a queue to invest in the next big discovery! So what differentiates a Great from Good? It is only the Talent the inspirational leaders that create the vision, the managers who drive the strategies and the employees who flawlessly execute the plans each and every day in the market. Organizations in India have not only understood this, but have also completely embraced this concept and are leveraging it to their advantage in a multitude of businesses. |
| What do you see as some of the pressing issues in leadership development/talent management in 2011 that organizations must address? |
Sharada: Though we are a 1.2 billion people country, our talent pool for leaders remains miniscule. This is largely because we tap talent only from the 'English speaking' premier MBA pool. This is akin to saying that though we have a large number of rivers, lakes and water bodies; we shall all drink from only one well!
There is a huge opportunity waiting to explode. Think about it, the French leaders are not those who can speak English and the Chinese definitely do not restrict themselves to choosing English speaking locals as their business leaders. So why in India do we have this mind block that only those who can articulate in English can think, manage and lead?
Once organizations start investing in people from diverse backgrounds and develop them we will unleash energy, a potential, a momentum that will completely change the game.
Getting this talent to articulate in English will become a trivial non-issue just as the mobile companies are not concerned with whether their customers talk in English on their mobiles! |
Suchitra: There are both lead indicators and lag indicators that are measured to determine the effectiveness of leadership development. The lead indicators are the engagement of the leaders and senior Leaders in deciding and owning the learning agenda for the year, i.e., the amount of time and energy they invest in drawing up the curriculum and deciding the learning opportunities of their people.
The lag indicators are the impact on behaviors measured through the 360 degree or Manager Quality metrics or the organization-wide cultural surveys.
The earlier indicators on number of days of training only tell us what proportion of time is being invested in the employees' growth and the ratings of the training program indicate whether the design of the program can be improved or not. |
There is a huge opportunity waiting to explode. Think about it, the French leaders are not those who can speak English and the Chinese definitely do not restrict themselves to choosing English speaking locals as their business leaders. So why in India do we have this mind block that only those who can articulate in English can think, manage and lead?
- Suchitra Rajendra,
PepsiCo India
|
|
|
| How are companies developing and preparing its leaders for the local and global challenges expected in the next decade?
|
The waves of transformation come and go so quickly that there is barely any time to consolidate the change. In this scenario, organizations have to create leaders that can anticipate the future environment. Leaders must be flexible and nimble enough to adapt to changes and also preempt and prepare for them. Creating thought leaders in that sense has become critical, whereby the leadership is aware of the larger perspective of their actions from a national and global perspective.
- Sharada Ganesh
Tata Consultancy Services
|
|
Sharada: The advantage for our industry is that given the global operations our talent pool works with diverse geographies and clients early on. The understanding of the nuances of our global clients and understanding of operations in different geographies comes very handy when we identify them for leadership roles. We are also working on synergizing the global workforce with focus on with the local hires outside India. It is important to integrate the leadership pool across geographies so that right outputs can be achieved universally. |
|
Suchitra: PepsiCo is known for its leaders and the intensive leadership development that our team undergoes. This has resulted in PepsiCo India exporting over 60 leaders to its global branches and over 30 CEOs to other organizations within India! The list of other Senior Leaders who started their careers in PepsiCo is innumerable.
We are known for this because we believe in investing in Best-in-Class Leadership Academies at every transition stage of an employee's career. For instance, when there is a jump shift expected from an individual contributor as he or she moves to a manager role or from a manager to a manager of managers or then as they grow into functional leaders or business leaders, we have custom-designed 52 week long interventions. The classroom component is barely 10% of the design; 70% of the learning comes from key projects that are integrated within the structure of the academy. And the balance 20% comprises of the coaching and mentoring of the team.
Apart from these critical Leadership Academies, which enable our employees to grow into leaders we, also have a bevy of leadership and functional programs that enable the employee to gain critical skills. These are reinforced through action plans that enable employees to demonstrate and live the behaviors learnt during the workshops.
|
| Indian companies have been expanding overseas and have to deal with global cultural diversity. What challenges do you think that Indian leaders face as a result of this? |
| Sharada: Managing Diversity is always a challenge and as new talent is induced into the organization integration, retention and development is critical. We have been operating in a global environment early on this gives us the advantage to groom our leaders and create the talent pool across different regions and cultures. At TCS we focus on three aspects Exposure, Experience and Education. There are well laid out programs and plans to put this philosophy into practice. A talent pool is identified and through role rotation, leadership programs and shadow resourcing. We consciously groom them and prepare them to take higher roles. |
Suchitra: As I had indicated above, PepsiCo India has been in the forefront of exporting talent as
CEOs and Senior Leaders across the PepsiCo globe. Our leaders have been extremely successful in
leading absolutely diverse talent. What makes PepsiCo India successful is our believe that Indians grow up in diversity with each of our states being mini-countries with their local languages, customs and cultures. Exposure to different parts of India and leading teams in different states and regions exposes our managers to differences and encourages them to appreciate the strengths that are inherent in a diverse team. Our Guiding Principles include Winning with Diversity and Inclusion and Treating each other with Respect. This reinforces the behaviors that we need to demonstrate when we are dealing with people of different cultures.
The exposure gained in India by managing different teams is then reinforced by giving the employee exposure to different countries through projects and career opportunities. The development gaps are addressed through one-on-one mentoring and coaching given by Senior Leaders who have gone through the journey themselves.
|
| How do you measure the effectiveness of leadership development? Has this changed over the past ten years? |
| Sharada: We have now begun to focus more on the input-output correlation. There is more effort into pipeline development and enhanced preparation to increase the readiness of leaders to move into higher roles. Development also cannot be one-off; it needs to be sustained and tracked. A tracking mechanism is in place for this to monitor the transfer of learning from classroom to real life. |
Suchitra: There are both lead indicators and lag indicators that are measured to determine the effectiveness of leadership development. The lead indicators are the engagement of the leaders and senior Leaders in deciding and owning the learning agenda for the year, i.e., the amount of time and energy they invest in drawing up the curriculum and deciding the learning opportunities of their people.
The lag indicators are the impact on behaviors measured through the 360 degree or Manager Quality metrics or the organization-wide cultural surveys.
The earlier indicators on number of days of training only tell us what proportion of time is being invested in the employees' growth and the ratings of the training program indicate whether the design of the program can be improved or not. |
|
