HR learning: 26 Sep, 2016

1.

Leadership development: The new rule book

Companies across the globe are now realising the difference between managers and leaders, and also looking at different ways to groom leaders. 

Often organisations assume that a manager is also a leader. However, the two cannot be put on the same pedestal. A manager is the one who is more hands-on and responsible for the day-to-day operations. A leader, on the other hand, has a bigger goal to achieve— to inspire and motivate the workforce.

So how does an organisation differentiate between a manager and a leader? After all, the leaders of tomorrow will grow from among today’s managers.

There are certain traits that differentiate a manager and a leader. For instance, a manager might have a great idea, but it is the leader who will implement that idea. Similarly, a manager would always like to communicate to the employees but the leader will always persuade the followers. However, there is nothing sinister about being a manager. After all, the leader and the manager need to work together to drive the organisation.

Having said that it is also a fact that while managers are easy to find, leaders are difficult to groom.

These are some of the new global trends in leadership development

Redefining of leadership

Collective leadership 

Individual ownership

Technological advancement

Voluntary leadership 

2.

Learn the science of competency mapping

Quick pointers on competency mapping framework for organisations to enhance the effectiveness of their processes manifold.

While competency mapping helps an individual to identify his/her own strengths and weaknesses, it also lays the foundation for multiple HR practices such as talent acquisition, talent management, and learning & development. A well-crafted competency framework can go a long way in enhancing the effectiveness of these processes manifold.
Here are some quick tips to develop an effective competency mapping framework.

• HR verticals must have their basic processes in place before they get started. For instance, one should have signed off job descriptions for all roles and framework for training need identification ready.

• Competency mapping frameworks have to be driven from the top in alignment with the vision and mission of the organisation.

• Create a common framework for behavioural competencies for the entire organisation. This goes a long way in building a sound organisational culture and common behaviours. For instance, customer centricity will be an organisation wide competency that will help in building customer focus as a theme in the organisation.

• Functional competencies are function specific and should be crafted accordingly. Involvement of senior leaders as well as line manager will help to ensure that the framework is a robust one.

• Define the scope of the project by clearly stating the areas (functions, sub-functions, etc.) being covered. Also, decide on whether the project will be carried out by internal experts or with external partnership.

• Ground work by the facilitating team to understand the vision, mission, strategies, functional strategies and focus area, challenges, market scenario is vital. Focus group discussions to gauge the perspectives of senior leaders as well as target group for the competencies is essential.

• Involve external industry experts while finalising the competencies to ensure that the same addresses future requirements and also add value.

• Anchor the competencies to processes while designing to ensure time efficiencies and better synchronisation.

• Simplicity ensures effective usage. While deciding on proficiency levels, one must limit it to three or four levels.

• Sign offs by senior leaders and trials at various stages ensures that the final model is launched without hiccups.

3.

How role plays help learning in real time

Role plays can be powerful learning tools as they engage the participants and sustain their interest.

After spending a decade and a half in the learning profession, I continue to be amused with the difference that I observe in participants who attend a technical training and a soft skills session. In the former, there is often rapt attention seen at the start (missing only in those who come in with a hostage mentality).  In case of a soft skills session, on the contrary, the attitude is mostly that of, “Oh, I know it”. 

From a learning stages perspective, participants at technical trainings are ‘consciously incompetent’ while at the soft skills sessions they are ‘unconsciously incompetent’. A good behavioural trainer is quite adept at moving the participants from unconscious incompetence to conscious incompetence as quickly as possible, since without the awareness and acceptance that one does not know, no learning can happen. Various experiential learning techniques like simulations, games and outbound activities support this move/ shift. Role play is one such experiential tool used widely in learning sessions.

HR News: 26 Sep, 2016

1.

PharmEasy to double its employee base in six months

The company plans to expand its talent pool to 500 from a current strength of 200, which is further expected to grow ten times over the next two years.

PharmEasy, a digital facilitator connecting local pharmacies with consumers, recently announced that it plans to rapidly expand its team in the next six months. In its bid to further facilitate and make the process of accessing medicines hassle-free, the company plans to more than double its talent pool to 500 from the current strength of 200. This number is expected to further grow ten times over the next two years.

The online health aggregator looks on course to achieve this goal, having already doubled its talent pool in the last two months by adding over 100 associates in its team. Since April last year, when PharmEasy started its operation as a five-member team, it has grown to 200 employees already.

The diversified recruitment drive in PharmEasy, has been mainly catering to two branches — tech and operations. In the former, back-end engineers, front-end engineers, Android developers, iOS developers and data scientists have been inducted. In the latter, process management, city operations, area operations and strategic initiatives personnel have been incorporated.

2.

1400 jobs on offer for Porsche’s electric car

These jobs would cover the developing, building and selling of the battery-powered Mission E.

In line with its parent Volkswagen's (VW) efforts to overcome its emissions scandal, Porsche is planning to develop zero-emission cars. This will boost the number of jobs for its first all-electric model by more than half of the previous targets.

The automobile giant recently revealed that it plans to create about 1,400 jobs to develop, build and sell the battery-powered Mission E, a rival to Tesla's Model S, that is due to roll off the assembly line at its Zuffenhausen base in 2019.

Porsche has set up a unit specifically to develop mobility concepts and uncover new business areas, for which it is looking to hire another 350 digital experts.

3.

Digital hiring to attract youth

Snapplication is aimed at reaching out to the digital savvy youth, who are early adopters of newer social media platforms.

The path of digital hiring, especially social media recruiting, has been treaded by many. However, there is always scope for innovation in the ways potential candidates can be reached through digital platforms. Following the trend, WATConsult, a digital and social media agency that’s now part of the Dentsu Aegis Network, recently concluded a digital recruitment campaign, ‘Snapplication’.

This campaign was targeted at the tech-savvy youth, specifically in the age bracket of 21–24. The campaign with two interesting phases was able to generate enough curiosity among the target audience. It received a massive turnout on social media with the Facebook Page receiving nearly 3000 organic likes and engaging 80, 515 users daily. The daily page impressions went up to 9, 07,107. On Twitter, #Snapplication trended for three hours creating 18.7 million impressions, 2337 tweets and 126 re-tweets. Average tweets per day counted up to 824 tweets.

HR Movements: 26 Sep, 2016

1.

Ashwani Dahiya joins Cipla as the chief talent officer.

Dahiya was the former senior VP & group head (performance, reward & organisation development) at Reliance Industries. 

Ashwani Dahiya, who recently resigned from his position as the senior VP & group head (performance, reward & organisation development) at Reliance Industries Limited, has joined the global pharmaceutical major, Cipla, as the chief talent officer today, according to sources close to the development.

It's today, September 22, when he takes over his new role.   

“He brings with him vast expertise in talent management and a rich pedigree of experience across functions in HR and will prove to be a great asset to the company,” the source said.

2.

Airtel appoints Roy Masamba as CHRO, Africa

The former director-resources at Safaricom, comes with over 20 years of global experience in HR.

Airtel, the Indian global telecom major recently appointed Roy Masamba as the chief human resources officer for its Africa business.

Roy started his career at British American Tobacco in Zimbabwe in 1992, where he served in several roles in production before moving to human resources. He took the role of group human resources director-Zimbabwe, and thereafter, as human resources and administration director at British American Tobacco, Angola.

His stint in the telecom industry began with the Zain Group in January 2006, as group human resources director, Africa Operations, based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. He then moved on to geography roles in Nigeria and Bahrain.

In December, 2009 Roy joined Vodafone and was based in London, UK where he was promoted to the position of vice president HR – Verizon Vodafone Enterprise Service. In November 2012, he was seconded to Safaricom (an affiliate of Vodafone Group) as director resources (HR, facilities, fleet, health and safety), a role he held until accepting his appointment at Airtel Africa.

3.

Sheen Akkara joins CMS as CHRO

Akkara moves in from Nielsen where he was executive director, human resources-India & South Asia.

CMS InfoSystems, India’s largest and the world’s fifth-largest cash management company has got a new CHRO in the name of Sheen Akkara. Akkar quit Nielsen in July, where he was executive director, human resources-India & South Asia.

A seasoned HR professional with expertise in industrial relations, Akkara’s experience spans 25 years. In the past, he has worked with companies, such as Reliance Communication, Sutherland Global Services and Deloitte. In fact, prior to Nielsen where he stayed put for five years, Akkara was vice president-talent, at Deloitte.

On assuming leadership of the company’s HR function, Akkara says in an official communique, “There are unique possibilities and opportunities at CMS. This is a team that has grown exponentially over the years and boasts of diversity, especially in skills and demographic profiles. The work that the company does is critical to the society, and people are at the heart of it.”

HR learning: 19 Sep 2016

1.

How to maintain the learning curve for Gen X

Gen X is unique in the sense that they have had hands on experience of the both the old and new world, which has enhanced their adaptability quotient and also makes them amenable to various tools and approaches for learning, rather than sticking to one way only..

In any organisation, there are minimum three generations of employees working together. Generation X, namely those born between mid-60s to late 70s (or early 80s), would form a sizeable number of the employee population, especially at middle and senior levels. Addressing their learning is essential not just from the perspective of their individual development, but since in many cases these employees would be responsible for driving the learning of their teams, it has organizational imperatives as well.

Means to drive the learning curve of Gen X

Link learning to their role and growth – A standard menu card approach will not work with this group. A clear linkage to their role requirements and how it will aid them in their growth is essential. One needs to look beyond the classroom, at broader aspects of learning and give the GenXer visibility to the same.

Blended learning

Cross-functional learning 

Field based learning

Reverse Mentoring

Opportunity to teach 

Peer learning 

Involve academia

Periodically sensitize them to the learning potential available online 

Feedback based learning 

Certification and recognition 

2.

Toyota transforms raw talent into world class skill champions

At the Toyota Kirloskar Motors Gurukul, raw talent undergoes structured training to become job ready and emerge as specialist skilled workers.

The company believes that when students pass out from their Industrial Training Institutes (ITI) and enter the automobile industry seeking employment, it’s a whole new world for them. This is because, the present education system focusses predominantly on the knowledge aspect while the students themselves lack employable knowledge and skills.

In the first phase, Toyota Kirloskar identifies raw talent from ITI’s Karnataka campuses and puts them under a structured training module, making them not just job ready but also specialist skilled workers.

The training structure at TKM Gurukul, is purely designed based on member role and skill requirements with respect to their designations. The overall training structure is classified into two segments — corporate and functional.

Under the corporate training, held by the HR, the focus is on skill development of all the employees. These include Fundamental Skill Training (FST), Element Work Training (EWT) and Standardised Work Training (SWT), in addition to culture-based trainings, such as Toyota Production System, standardised Work and Kaizen, Team Leader Role and Group Leader Role. There is also a training on basic Microsoft Office, Cross Culture Awareness, Planning and Scheduling, Toyota Way Foundation, Power Your Presentation Skills, PDCA and A-3, Toyota Business Practice, Deputy Managers Development Programme and Post Promotion for Managers.

The functional training, which is managed by individual sections and departments, is mostly need-based, for instance, Auto-CADD, Macros, Robotics Training, Taxation, and Budget Impact.

The company has also adopted adult pedagogy to make learning easier for the employees. As per this approach, visual manuals are specially developed to make the trainees understand the concepts and their application in an effective manner. Similarly, emphasis is on experiential learning, for example, hands-on-experience, simulations, activities and competitions.

TKM’s learning model is composed of on-the-job development, self-initiated projects and classroom training.

Everyone who works in Toyota undergoes 70 per cent development through the job itself; and the experience serves as a driving force in developing the next generation.

Further, self-initiated projects to cultivate self-motivation and enhance communication skills (20 per cent) and classroom training (10 per cent) supplement the learning needs of the employees, which cannot be covered by OJD. There is special focus on the development of specialised knowledge, ability and skills for the accomplishment of work operations.

The learning needs of employees are assessed as a first step of development and the content is set accordingly. Opportunities are created for them to implement their learning in their respective jobs. Continuous monitoring ensures that complete learning utilisation is achieved.

The training programme is divided into three stages.

The first stage comprises fundamental training, wherein employees are imparted basic skills and knacks to perform the job. Following this, they become eligible for elementary work training where the focus is on developing a combination of fundamental skills in a single job. In the third stage, which is standardised work training, all employees need to work in the same manner repeatedly since manufacturing happens on a conveyor line.

In every step of this training programme, employees have to pass through various tests. Then, on-the-job development occurs on the shop floor, offline. After gathering adequate knowledge and skills, the employees finally get to perform their job.

3.

Training the managers, the Tesco way

An internal study reflected a gap in terms of deliveries, as the retail environment required leaders capable of working effectively across organisational lines and also contributing to customers and colleagues.

Tesco Hindustan Service Centre (HSC), the worldwide operations and technology centre for the British retailer, Tesco, claims to have found the formula to enhance the capabilities of its managers through a nine-month programme.

Its operations in India, which employ around 6,500 personnel, had conducted a colleague engagement study called ‘What Matters to You’ (WMTY) in 2013, to obtain feedback and insights on the needs of managers from across functions.

It was found, that there was a certain gap somewhere in terms of deliveries as the retail environment required leaders to be able to work effectively across organisational lines and also contribute to their customers and colleagues.

“This is when we turned our attention to get more managers to ‘step up’ and expand their ability to manage more complex operations in a changing retail environment,” says, Anju Sethi, head, learning & development and recruitment, Tesco HSC.

This led to the creation of a programme, ‘Being a Great Manager’, which was finally rolled out in 2014.

This programme blends the use of self-assessments, individual coaching, developmental sessions, simulations, and individual action learning assignments — all designed to help stretch the high potential manager.

This nine-month long programme starts with essential management skills, followed by an individual action-learning assignment for approximately 2–3 months.

In the second step, the participating managers enhance their coaching skills, and finally end up gaining developmental experience with understanding, accountability and courage.

In the dynamic retail market, which demands immediate attention to problems, managers are often seen fire-fighting or meeting short-term objectives. In the process, they always miss out on the larger scheme of things. This programme claims to play a role in enhancing the farsightedness of managers and providing long-term perspectives in terms of team management and relationship building.

The programme has several other aspects, such as the ‘leaders teaching leaders’ model, where the senior managers of the company are asked to act as facilitators and teachers. This has led to a situation where not only is the senior management comfortable teaching within their areas of focus or expertise, but they have also become adept at facilitating and modelling open dialogues and exchange.

The learning is not limited only to internal resources; external experts are also called in as and when required.

In addition, creative simulations are practised to spark out-of-the-box thinking among the participants. They are also made to get hands-on experience on the application of tools and practices, which is blended into the design of both formal and informal sessions.