Saturday, November 25, 2006
Premji sued over 'dating allowance'
25th November, 2006 - Economic Times
IT bellwether Wipro Ltd denied it had any "dating allowance" for its employees and declined to comment on reports of a summons issued by a court on a complaint by the spouse of an employee.
In a statement here, the company said it had not received any notice from the Kanpur court so far.
"We would like to categorically state we don't have a dating allowance in any form and hence cannot elaborate on this alleged issue. We have no formal intimation on this, the statement said.
The denial came following the reported summons from chief additional metropolitan magistrate of Kanpur Ravindra Kumar to Wipro chairman Azim H. Premji and human resource department head Pratik Kumar on a writ petition filed by Tripti Nigam from that city alleging the company was providing a dating allowance to her husband, Gaurav Nigam, working in Wipro Technologies as a software engineer.
The complainant had alleged that her husband was keeping away from her and has not been visiting Kanpur since he was getting a dating allowance from the company.
IT bellwether Wipro Ltd denied it had any "dating allowance" for its employees and declined to comment on reports of a summons issued by a court on a complaint by the spouse of an employee.
In a statement here, the company said it had not received any notice from the Kanpur court so far.
"We would like to categorically state we don't have a dating allowance in any form and hence cannot elaborate on this alleged issue. We have no formal intimation on this, the statement said.
The denial came following the reported summons from chief additional metropolitan magistrate of Kanpur Ravindra Kumar to Wipro chairman Azim H. Premji and human resource department head Pratik Kumar on a writ petition filed by Tripti Nigam from that city alleging the company was providing a dating allowance to her husband, Gaurav Nigam, working in Wipro Technologies as a software engineer.
The complainant had alleged that her husband was keeping away from her and has not been visiting Kanpur since he was getting a dating allowance from the company.
Bosses lick the cream off cos' profits
25th November, 2006 – Economic Times
While CEO salaries have been a topic of public debate in the West, they haven’t caught the attention of shareholders back home. It’s time they did, though. An ET study found that there are several corporates whose top executives draw a remuneration ranging from 10% to 70% of their reported profit after tax.
Take the case of optical storage media manufacturer Moser Baer. Promoter cum managing director Deepak Puri grossed an annual package of Rs 2.08 crore in FY06, which is 44% of the company’s net profit. Add executive director Ratul Puri’s pay packet of Rs 1.25 crore, and the duo took home 71% of the company’s net profit last year.
Other examples where executives’ annual package is disproportionate to the company’s net profit include iGate Global’s CEO Phaneesh Murthy, Ashok Chaturvedi of Flex Industries, Ashok Goel of Essel Propack, S Narayanan and H Nandi of MRO-TEK, Kalyan Ganguly of United Breweries, Hemendra Kothari of DSP Merrill Lynch, Kalanithi Maran and Kavery Maran of Sun TV, and Prathap Reddy of Apollo Hospitals.
The ET study looked at 400 corporate directors from 245 companies who have declared annual packages of Rs 1 crore plus as per their annual reports and calculated their compensation figures as a percentage of net profit.
While, on an average, the percentage worked out to a reasonable 0.61%, the interesting part is that this percentage figure is being skewed by about 60 companies where the compensation to profit ratio is low. These are primarily the big Sensex companies as well as some other large companies.
What’s noteworthy is that in many cases, the promoters of the companies are paying big cheques to themselves. This works out as a double bonanza for them as the fat pay packets come in addition to the company dividends they get as shareholders.
There are a clutch of listed companies whose board members account for more than 10% of the net profit. While individually they may or may not make it to the most disproportionately paid CEOs of India Inc, as a group they burn a significant sum.
These include companies like TajGVK, Mercator Lines, JK Paper, Omax Autos, Shree Cement, Amara Raja Battery, Hindustan Sanitaryware, ABC Bearings, EMCO, India Glycols, Gandhi Special Tubes, Ratnami Metals, Rico Auto, Sharda Motor, Saraswati Sugar and ZF Steering among others.
There are also some companies whose executives and directors are grossing more than the profits that these companies are netting. UK Modi, chairman and president of SBEC Sugar, has earned Rs 1.65 crore when the company reported profit after tax of Rs 0.11 crore for 18 months ended September ’05.
While CEO salaries have been a topic of public debate in the West, they haven’t caught the attention of shareholders back home. It’s time they did, though. An ET study found that there are several corporates whose top executives draw a remuneration ranging from 10% to 70% of their reported profit after tax.
Take the case of optical storage media manufacturer Moser Baer. Promoter cum managing director Deepak Puri grossed an annual package of Rs 2.08 crore in FY06, which is 44% of the company’s net profit. Add executive director Ratul Puri’s pay packet of Rs 1.25 crore, and the duo took home 71% of the company’s net profit last year.
Other examples where executives’ annual package is disproportionate to the company’s net profit include iGate Global’s CEO Phaneesh Murthy, Ashok Chaturvedi of Flex Industries, Ashok Goel of Essel Propack, S Narayanan and H Nandi of MRO-TEK, Kalyan Ganguly of United Breweries, Hemendra Kothari of DSP Merrill Lynch, Kalanithi Maran and Kavery Maran of Sun TV, and Prathap Reddy of Apollo Hospitals.
The ET study looked at 400 corporate directors from 245 companies who have declared annual packages of Rs 1 crore plus as per their annual reports and calculated their compensation figures as a percentage of net profit.
While, on an average, the percentage worked out to a reasonable 0.61%, the interesting part is that this percentage figure is being skewed by about 60 companies where the compensation to profit ratio is low. These are primarily the big Sensex companies as well as some other large companies.
What’s noteworthy is that in many cases, the promoters of the companies are paying big cheques to themselves. This works out as a double bonanza for them as the fat pay packets come in addition to the company dividends they get as shareholders.
There are a clutch of listed companies whose board members account for more than 10% of the net profit. While individually they may or may not make it to the most disproportionately paid CEOs of India Inc, as a group they burn a significant sum.
These include companies like TajGVK, Mercator Lines, JK Paper, Omax Autos, Shree Cement, Amara Raja Battery, Hindustan Sanitaryware, ABC Bearings, EMCO, India Glycols, Gandhi Special Tubes, Ratnami Metals, Rico Auto, Sharda Motor, Saraswati Sugar and ZF Steering among others.
There are also some companies whose executives and directors are grossing more than the profits that these companies are netting. UK Modi, chairman and president of SBEC Sugar, has earned Rs 1.65 crore when the company reported profit after tax of Rs 0.11 crore for 18 months ended September ’05.
Indian managers storm another bastion
25th November, 2006 – Economic Times
If this continues any longer, Indians could be penalised for breaking one glass ceiling too many. The latest one to crack under the weight of their talent is that of management committees of global mega corporations.
Citibank has nine Indians, including India CEO Sanjay Nayyar, in its 40-member council. Rivals StanChart, Deutsche and HSBC have one Indian each in their management councils.
StanChart has Jaspal Bindra, who is one of the only two members outside the board of directors to be part of the governing body. Anshu Jain, the head of Deutsche Bank’s global markets, is the only Indian in the bank’s eleven-member management council. HSBC has SN Mehta, a group MD who is an integral part of the group management board.
Guess how many Indians are part of Arcelor Mittal’s management committee? Well, the steel behemoth has five Indians in its 24-member global management committee — CEO Lakshmi Mittal and son Aditya, along with group HR co-head Inder Walia, M&A head Sudhir Maheshwari, and Asia and CIS CEO Narendra Chaudhary.
Now, guess which sector has the least number of Indians in management committees? Believe it or not, it’s the IT industry! Apart from Vyomesh Joshi, who is part of HP CEO Mark Hurd’s 12-member management team, not many tech companies have Indians in their management committees. Companies like Accenture, IBM, Microsoft and Cisco have no Indians in their management committees despite having a large number of Indians in their ranks, and a large presence in India too.
The management committee is a body of senior executives responsible for delivering growth and profit numbers, and working directly under the board. These managers are often key geography heads, and leaders of major functions who decide on operational issues and bring together a global perspective in MNCs. Resource allocation in the company is one of the key functions of management councils. While banking leads the way, Indians are entering the hallowed management circles in other sectors too.
FMCG major Procter & Gamble has Ravi Chaturvedi, the North Asia president in its committee. Rakesh Kapoor, executive vice president of category development, is part of Reckitt Benkiser’s nine-member management committee. And of course, Unilever has two Indians in its eight member executive committees — Vindi Banga and Harish Manwani.
Experts say that the trend is another vindication of Indian talent at the global level, and the rising importance of India globally. “It’s recognition of India as an important cog in the global economy, as well as of the impact of Indian managerial talent in global corporations,” says Atul Vohra, managing partner, Transearch.
“It’s a natural progression. A lot of these non-resident Indians have been working in global corporations for over 10-15 years, and they are now hitting the management councils,” says Accord CEO Sonal Agrawal.
And in some cases, the experience of working in a challenging environment like India that has both scale and complexity, is just the skill set these executives are looking for in managing a global enterprise.
If this continues any longer, Indians could be penalised for breaking one glass ceiling too many. The latest one to crack under the weight of their talent is that of management committees of global mega corporations.
Citibank has nine Indians, including India CEO Sanjay Nayyar, in its 40-member council. Rivals StanChart, Deutsche and HSBC have one Indian each in their management councils.
StanChart has Jaspal Bindra, who is one of the only two members outside the board of directors to be part of the governing body. Anshu Jain, the head of Deutsche Bank’s global markets, is the only Indian in the bank’s eleven-member management council. HSBC has SN Mehta, a group MD who is an integral part of the group management board.
Guess how many Indians are part of Arcelor Mittal’s management committee? Well, the steel behemoth has five Indians in its 24-member global management committee — CEO Lakshmi Mittal and son Aditya, along with group HR co-head Inder Walia, M&A head Sudhir Maheshwari, and Asia and CIS CEO Narendra Chaudhary.
Now, guess which sector has the least number of Indians in management committees? Believe it or not, it’s the IT industry! Apart from Vyomesh Joshi, who is part of HP CEO Mark Hurd’s 12-member management team, not many tech companies have Indians in their management committees. Companies like Accenture, IBM, Microsoft and Cisco have no Indians in their management committees despite having a large number of Indians in their ranks, and a large presence in India too.
The management committee is a body of senior executives responsible for delivering growth and profit numbers, and working directly under the board. These managers are often key geography heads, and leaders of major functions who decide on operational issues and bring together a global perspective in MNCs. Resource allocation in the company is one of the key functions of management councils. While banking leads the way, Indians are entering the hallowed management circles in other sectors too.
FMCG major Procter & Gamble has Ravi Chaturvedi, the North Asia president in its committee. Rakesh Kapoor, executive vice president of category development, is part of Reckitt Benkiser’s nine-member management committee. And of course, Unilever has two Indians in its eight member executive committees — Vindi Banga and Harish Manwani.
Experts say that the trend is another vindication of Indian talent at the global level, and the rising importance of India globally. “It’s recognition of India as an important cog in the global economy, as well as of the impact of Indian managerial talent in global corporations,” says Atul Vohra, managing partner, Transearch.
“It’s a natural progression. A lot of these non-resident Indians have been working in global corporations for over 10-15 years, and they are now hitting the management councils,” says Accord CEO Sonal Agrawal.
And in some cases, the experience of working in a challenging environment like India that has both scale and complexity, is just the skill set these executives are looking for in managing a global enterprise.
Here today, gone tomorrow
25th November, 2006 – Economic Times
Bang in the middle of a massive expansion, there is one thing that can spoil India Inc’s party. No, it is not about getting business. Nor is it about funding issues or a spoilsport government.
But it is all about getting the right people on board, at the right time. In a knowledge-led economy where business ramp-up is fast and attrition is rising, that too among top performers, employee strategy is one of the most critical factors in swinging the game for India Inc.
Says T Hari, vice-president, human resources, Satyam Computer, “Our business target is constantly moving, and based on it we need to constantly update our employee needs.” Though it looks simple, most companies don’t get it right. The Hewitt Retention & Attrition Study ’06 shows that most companies are way off the mark in forecasting and budgeting for attrition.
The fast pace of the economy’s growth has made it all the more critical. Almost every sector of the economy is clocking high double digits growth. From Dell to SAP and Deloitte, companies are talking about doubling their headcount in a short span of time. All these make it critical for companies not just to plan their investments in physical assets, but also in human capital, a scarce resource today.
This is accentuated by the complexity of today’s business environment. With global outsourcing deals, India Inc’s clientele is spread far and wide and their needs and demands vary substantially. Since most of these deals are more project-based than continuous relationships, the ability to quickly ramp up and scale down the workforce is important for all businesses today. Add to this the dynamics of the fast-changing technology.
If today an IT major needs hundreds of Java experts, tomorrow it could be the turn of SAP experts. With this in mind, Satyam’s BPO subsidiary Nipuna has developed a flexible forecasting model. “This takes into account the monthly and even the weekly needs of a particular skill set,” said Naresh Jhangiani, head (HR) at Nipuna. All these mean that companies need to align their business forecasts with their employee forecasting and plan accordingly.
“A lot of effort goes towards projecting attrition... all these to ensure that our future employee requirement is ready at least a quarter in advance,” said Achuthan Nair, VP (strategic sourcing), Wipro Technologies.
This isn’t just about IT industry though. It is fast becoming critical in other sectors as well. Professionals in pharma and FMCG sectors have marketing and sales acumen, which are in demand in emerging sectors like telecom, insurance, financial services and retail as well. “Hence, qualitative forecasting is undertaken to identify sectors and companies that might be a future threat to us. This ensures better planning for skill requirement and retention,” said P Dwarkanath, director (HR) at GSK Consumer Healthcare.
Manufacturing firms are evolving qualitative forecasting models along side the quantitative model. “We extrapolate data to understand which employees are likely to leave the company within the next one year. This is done based on parameters like age, number of years in service and salary increase,” YV Verma, director (HR), LG India, said.
Certain sectors, however, have specific parameters for forecasting. A telecom firm like Bharti Airtel looks at the key productivity indicator of customers serviced per employee. For the retail sector, much of the forecasting is based on expansion of the retail space in square feet.
“Though it is quite complex, typically, a hypermarket spread over 50,000 sq ft will employ 220-odd people. However, planning skill requirement will assume more importance as it will become more difficult to control attrition as sectors grow,” said Sanjoy Jog, HR head at Pantaloon Retail India. All these may force companies to keep a buffer stock of employees for critical functions.
Bang in the middle of a massive expansion, there is one thing that can spoil India Inc’s party. No, it is not about getting business. Nor is it about funding issues or a spoilsport government.
But it is all about getting the right people on board, at the right time. In a knowledge-led economy where business ramp-up is fast and attrition is rising, that too among top performers, employee strategy is one of the most critical factors in swinging the game for India Inc.
Says T Hari, vice-president, human resources, Satyam Computer, “Our business target is constantly moving, and based on it we need to constantly update our employee needs.” Though it looks simple, most companies don’t get it right. The Hewitt Retention & Attrition Study ’06 shows that most companies are way off the mark in forecasting and budgeting for attrition.
The fast pace of the economy’s growth has made it all the more critical. Almost every sector of the economy is clocking high double digits growth. From Dell to SAP and Deloitte, companies are talking about doubling their headcount in a short span of time. All these make it critical for companies not just to plan their investments in physical assets, but also in human capital, a scarce resource today.
This is accentuated by the complexity of today’s business environment. With global outsourcing deals, India Inc’s clientele is spread far and wide and their needs and demands vary substantially. Since most of these deals are more project-based than continuous relationships, the ability to quickly ramp up and scale down the workforce is important for all businesses today. Add to this the dynamics of the fast-changing technology.
If today an IT major needs hundreds of Java experts, tomorrow it could be the turn of SAP experts. With this in mind, Satyam’s BPO subsidiary Nipuna has developed a flexible forecasting model. “This takes into account the monthly and even the weekly needs of a particular skill set,” said Naresh Jhangiani, head (HR) at Nipuna. All these mean that companies need to align their business forecasts with their employee forecasting and plan accordingly.
“A lot of effort goes towards projecting attrition... all these to ensure that our future employee requirement is ready at least a quarter in advance,” said Achuthan Nair, VP (strategic sourcing), Wipro Technologies.
This isn’t just about IT industry though. It is fast becoming critical in other sectors as well. Professionals in pharma and FMCG sectors have marketing and sales acumen, which are in demand in emerging sectors like telecom, insurance, financial services and retail as well. “Hence, qualitative forecasting is undertaken to identify sectors and companies that might be a future threat to us. This ensures better planning for skill requirement and retention,” said P Dwarkanath, director (HR) at GSK Consumer Healthcare.
Manufacturing firms are evolving qualitative forecasting models along side the quantitative model. “We extrapolate data to understand which employees are likely to leave the company within the next one year. This is done based on parameters like age, number of years in service and salary increase,” YV Verma, director (HR), LG India, said.
Certain sectors, however, have specific parameters for forecasting. A telecom firm like Bharti Airtel looks at the key productivity indicator of customers serviced per employee. For the retail sector, much of the forecasting is based on expansion of the retail space in square feet.
“Though it is quite complex, typically, a hypermarket spread over 50,000 sq ft will employ 220-odd people. However, planning skill requirement will assume more importance as it will become more difficult to control attrition as sectors grow,” said Sanjoy Jog, HR head at Pantaloon Retail India. All these may force companies to keep a buffer stock of employees for critical functions.
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Switching jobs, not companies
23rd November, 2006 - Business Line
Workplace: The RPG Group is enabling people to change jobs within its fold, instead of having to opt out
As part of a business review, the RPG Group recently put in place an aggressive talent management programme. The aim: to give employees opportunities to change jobs within the group rather than have to look outside.
“Why should people look for jobs outside when our group offers vast opportunities within?” asks Arvind Agrawal, management board member, president- corporate development & HR, at RPG Enterprises. People can now apply for job vacancies in group companies without going through their bosses.
This has begun yielding results: “Twenty-two per cent of vacancies are being filled through this process, while our target is 35 per cent.” The group is now firming up a blueprint to market the programme more aggressively.
“It will be driven more through the Net and the idea is to see that applications do not get caught in the maze of bureaucracy and that people do not get caught up with stereotypes about how someone from the tyre division goes to retail,” explains Agrawal. People have done that already, only the desired level of change has yet to happen.
He thinks this is not too far away, since the top management has already moved across businesses and is open to change, though the process has to get more streamlined. But that’s not the only innovation afoot at the Rs 9,500 crore conglomerate. It has recently also put in place an e-learning programme.
“This is being done with help of SkillSoft, which specialises in providing organisations learning packages that aid development. Already, 247 people have registered themselves to benefit from this,” says Agrawal.
The idea was to have a learning programme that was consistent in quality and delivery and open to all, even those based in remote locations.
This has its underpinning in the initiative unleashed five years ago, when the group roped in UK-headquartered Seville and Holdsworth to help the company ensure development for all, and spot high-calibre talent (called hi-fliers) early on in their careers.
The RPG group comprises 20 companies with 2,000 managers, of whom 170 are GMs and above. It spans sectors such as power, tyres, cables, power transmission, plantations, carbon black, pharma, retail, IT and entertainment. And the problem was a lack of ‘line-of-sight’, where people could not clearly see where the talent was.
Besides, each segment had a unique requirement that needed specific skill sets, grades, remuneration and domain knowledge. However, the flip side was the vast opportunity that the group held— where it could offer its talent a multiple and diverse industry opportunity.
“We felt it was very necessary for us to work towards a situation where we could fill up our senior management positions from within, build a leadership pipeline by spotting talent early in their career, putting them on a fast track and developing their skill sets,” says Agrawal.
For this, the group divided its managers into three groups: managers, senior managers and GMs/VPs. The people put in these were those who had already been rated high (through a performance appraisal based on mutually agreed targets).
There were three distinct development centres for each of these groups. For the hi-flier the agenda was to develop an action plan, introduce a ‘one degree’ change in job and then put them through a leadership programme at IIM-Bangalore (the drill was the same for all three groups, but of course with a different training requirement for each).
For the hi-flier senior managers, the involvement went a step further and included an interview with the chairman of the group. For the GMs and VPs there was an intensive development action plan.
The tracking progress is taken through a 360 degree orientation. “We track the progress of people identified and have put in place an e-learning management system,” says Agrawal, adding: “We find that over time the leadership scores of managers have improved on most parameters.”
In effect, the group has come to a situation where there have been career change moves by managers within three years on the job up to 42 per cent.
Workplace: The RPG Group is enabling people to change jobs within its fold, instead of having to opt out
As part of a business review, the RPG Group recently put in place an aggressive talent management programme. The aim: to give employees opportunities to change jobs within the group rather than have to look outside.
“Why should people look for jobs outside when our group offers vast opportunities within?” asks Arvind Agrawal, management board member, president- corporate development & HR, at RPG Enterprises. People can now apply for job vacancies in group companies without going through their bosses.
This has begun yielding results: “Twenty-two per cent of vacancies are being filled through this process, while our target is 35 per cent.” The group is now firming up a blueprint to market the programme more aggressively.
“It will be driven more through the Net and the idea is to see that applications do not get caught in the maze of bureaucracy and that people do not get caught up with stereotypes about how someone from the tyre division goes to retail,” explains Agrawal. People have done that already, only the desired level of change has yet to happen.
He thinks this is not too far away, since the top management has already moved across businesses and is open to change, though the process has to get more streamlined. But that’s not the only innovation afoot at the Rs 9,500 crore conglomerate. It has recently also put in place an e-learning programme.
“This is being done with help of SkillSoft, which specialises in providing organisations learning packages that aid development. Already, 247 people have registered themselves to benefit from this,” says Agrawal.
The idea was to have a learning programme that was consistent in quality and delivery and open to all, even those based in remote locations.
This has its underpinning in the initiative unleashed five years ago, when the group roped in UK-headquartered Seville and Holdsworth to help the company ensure development for all, and spot high-calibre talent (called hi-fliers) early on in their careers.
The RPG group comprises 20 companies with 2,000 managers, of whom 170 are GMs and above. It spans sectors such as power, tyres, cables, power transmission, plantations, carbon black, pharma, retail, IT and entertainment. And the problem was a lack of ‘line-of-sight’, where people could not clearly see where the talent was.
Besides, each segment had a unique requirement that needed specific skill sets, grades, remuneration and domain knowledge. However, the flip side was the vast opportunity that the group held— where it could offer its talent a multiple and diverse industry opportunity.
“We felt it was very necessary for us to work towards a situation where we could fill up our senior management positions from within, build a leadership pipeline by spotting talent early in their career, putting them on a fast track and developing their skill sets,” says Agrawal.
For this, the group divided its managers into three groups: managers, senior managers and GMs/VPs. The people put in these were those who had already been rated high (through a performance appraisal based on mutually agreed targets).
There were three distinct development centres for each of these groups. For the hi-flier the agenda was to develop an action plan, introduce a ‘one degree’ change in job and then put them through a leadership programme at IIM-Bangalore (the drill was the same for all three groups, but of course with a different training requirement for each).
For the hi-flier senior managers, the involvement went a step further and included an interview with the chairman of the group. For the GMs and VPs there was an intensive development action plan.
The tracking progress is taken through a 360 degree orientation. “We track the progress of people identified and have put in place an e-learning management system,” says Agrawal, adding: “We find that over time the leadership scores of managers have improved on most parameters.”
In effect, the group has come to a situation where there have been career change moves by managers within three years on the job up to 42 per cent.
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
BPOs' no-poaching pacts fall apart
21st November, 2006 - Economic Times
The BPO industry’s much-touted no-poaching pacts seem to have come a cropper. BPOs that have inked such deals say they exist only on paper. HR honchos in the sector are now declaring that these tie-ups are largely ineffective in retaining talent due to their cosmetic nature.
Large BPOs, including IBM Daksh, Dell and EXL, have declared the collapse of such pacts and are, instead, vouching for self-governance as an effective tool for employee retention.
IBM Daksh, for instance, self regulates its hiring process without going in for any official agreements with competitors. “IBM Daksh doesn’t believe in no-poaching agreements. However, we specifically avoid recruiting people from organisations which provide support to our clients as an alternate vendor,” says DP Singh, vice president, strategic, HR at IBM Daksh.
Banking on ethical standards, EXL Services has never encouraged no-poaching agreements, says its HR vice president, Deepak Dhawan. “The industry is coming to an understanding and is moving towards a code of conduct that restricts companies from targeting each other. We discourage any kind of poaching,” he claims.
Agrees Dell, which says that it has no-poaching agreements only in cases where it sub-contracts some part of its work to another vendor. “But there are no such agreements outside that framework, as Dell believes that no-poaching agreements are unlikely to work in today’s volatile BPO environment,” says Dell International Services MD Romi Malhotra.
The non-performance of no-poaching pacts is also being endorsed by HR consultants like Hewitt Associates. “BPOs have tried these agreements in the past, but haven’t gained too much from them. Doling out soft incentives and a better career growth works better, and that is what we advice our clients,” says Rakesh Malik, practice leader, Hewitt India.
And even in instances where BPOs have inked no-poaching deals, they have remained more on paper than in practice. Industry observers feel that one reason why no-poaching agreements have not found favour in the industry could be the need for sudden ramp-ups that follow major client wins.
“At times, client orders trigger a recruitment binge of over 100 agents within weeks. Companies realise that beyond the freshers, they would need experienced hands to execute such contracts. In such cases, the headhunting firms usually land up picking professionals from rivals,” says an industry analyst.
However, industry body Nasscom feels that ramping capacity through poaching is an unsustainable practice that more often than not leads to significant salary escalation in the labour market. “In many cases, companies do not even insist on relieving letters from previous employers. The solution lies not in no-poaching agreements, but in insisting on proper relieving letters and notice periods,” says Nasscom vice president Sunil Mehta.
The BPO industry’s much-touted no-poaching pacts seem to have come a cropper. BPOs that have inked such deals say they exist only on paper. HR honchos in the sector are now declaring that these tie-ups are largely ineffective in retaining talent due to their cosmetic nature.
Large BPOs, including IBM Daksh, Dell and EXL, have declared the collapse of such pacts and are, instead, vouching for self-governance as an effective tool for employee retention.
IBM Daksh, for instance, self regulates its hiring process without going in for any official agreements with competitors. “IBM Daksh doesn’t believe in no-poaching agreements. However, we specifically avoid recruiting people from organisations which provide support to our clients as an alternate vendor,” says DP Singh, vice president, strategic, HR at IBM Daksh.
Banking on ethical standards, EXL Services has never encouraged no-poaching agreements, says its HR vice president, Deepak Dhawan. “The industry is coming to an understanding and is moving towards a code of conduct that restricts companies from targeting each other. We discourage any kind of poaching,” he claims.
Agrees Dell, which says that it has no-poaching agreements only in cases where it sub-contracts some part of its work to another vendor. “But there are no such agreements outside that framework, as Dell believes that no-poaching agreements are unlikely to work in today’s volatile BPO environment,” says Dell International Services MD Romi Malhotra.
The non-performance of no-poaching pacts is also being endorsed by HR consultants like Hewitt Associates. “BPOs have tried these agreements in the past, but haven’t gained too much from them. Doling out soft incentives and a better career growth works better, and that is what we advice our clients,” says Rakesh Malik, practice leader, Hewitt India.
And even in instances where BPOs have inked no-poaching deals, they have remained more on paper than in practice. Industry observers feel that one reason why no-poaching agreements have not found favour in the industry could be the need for sudden ramp-ups that follow major client wins.
“At times, client orders trigger a recruitment binge of over 100 agents within weeks. Companies realise that beyond the freshers, they would need experienced hands to execute such contracts. In such cases, the headhunting firms usually land up picking professionals from rivals,” says an industry analyst.
However, industry body Nasscom feels that ramping capacity through poaching is an unsustainable practice that more often than not leads to significant salary escalation in the labour market. “In many cases, companies do not even insist on relieving letters from previous employers. The solution lies not in no-poaching agreements, but in insisting on proper relieving letters and notice periods,” says Nasscom vice president Sunil Mehta.
Monday, November 20, 2006
Now, `stay interviews' is a trend
20th November, 2006 - Business Line
Changing times in HR
HR is now looking at the `pull' rather than the `push' factor among employees. In other words, companies are realising that information on what makes employees stick to a job is as vital as why they quit. At Bangalore-based Symphony Services, for instance, the HR department conducts `stay interviews' regularly to get `top of the mind positives of the company' from employees.
Says Mr C. Mahalingam, Senior Vice-President, HR, Symphony Services, "We kicked off this concept about 15 months ago and are creating an employee engagement model based on employee feedback."
While exit interviews are more of a post-mortem exercise, stay interviews give valuables that help in strengthening our systems, he says.
The concept is based on the Hawthorne Effect, which states that people who are given attention are a motivated lot. "Lend people an ear and they feel good about being heard," explains Mr Mahalingam.
Dr Pallabh Bandyopadhyay, Chief People Officer, Scandent Solutions, agrees that stay interviews are becoming a trend and that they are used to reinforce good HR practices within the company.
"One of the methodologies used here is appreciative inquiry which is usually done by consulting firms."
Dr Bandyopadhyay says this exercise creates a positive energy for change. Some companies are also looking at reverse mentoring where juniors advise senior employees on building company culture, according to him.
Though the concept is not new to HR managers, not many are actually experimenting with it, says Mr Mahalingam. At Philips Software, for instance, the exercise, called `Celebrating the positives,' was a one-time affair where 20 per cent of the employees were asked their opinion. "At Symphony, we're trying to make it an on-going process," he says.
Changing times in HR
HR is now looking at the `pull' rather than the `push' factor among employees. In other words, companies are realising that information on what makes employees stick to a job is as vital as why they quit. At Bangalore-based Symphony Services, for instance, the HR department conducts `stay interviews' regularly to get `top of the mind positives of the company' from employees.
Says Mr C. Mahalingam, Senior Vice-President, HR, Symphony Services, "We kicked off this concept about 15 months ago and are creating an employee engagement model based on employee feedback."
While exit interviews are more of a post-mortem exercise, stay interviews give valuables that help in strengthening our systems, he says.
The concept is based on the Hawthorne Effect, which states that people who are given attention are a motivated lot. "Lend people an ear and they feel good about being heard," explains Mr Mahalingam.
Dr Pallabh Bandyopadhyay, Chief People Officer, Scandent Solutions, agrees that stay interviews are becoming a trend and that they are used to reinforce good HR practices within the company.
"One of the methodologies used here is appreciative inquiry which is usually done by consulting firms."
Dr Bandyopadhyay says this exercise creates a positive energy for change. Some companies are also looking at reverse mentoring where juniors advise senior employees on building company culture, according to him.
Though the concept is not new to HR managers, not many are actually experimenting with it, says Mr Mahalingam. At Philips Software, for instance, the exercise, called `Celebrating the positives,' was a one-time affair where 20 per cent of the employees were asked their opinion. "At Symphony, we're trying to make it an on-going process," he says.
Dealing with office politics
20th November, 2006 - Business Line
Effective organisations create systems that keep a check on office politics
Recently, a young man who had completed his studies in hotel management in Switzerland came to me seek some counselling about job opportunities. He had put in two years of service in a hotel. He said that one reason he had quit his previous job was the degree of politics in the organisation. He was really fed up with it and felt it was better for him to quit. In his words, "We are taught in schools and universities the right way of doing things. But when we go into the working world, all we learnt seems to be unreal. It is not what you know, but who you know that makes the difference."
I tried to console him by saying that politicking is a way of life in almost all organisations. One must not be dejected or demoralised by it, but learn to cope with it. It is not long before one learns the ropes and become part of it or learns to cope with it. Still, there can be other ways of dealing with office politics.
When organisations become more and more professional, there seems to be a lesser degree of politicking. A friend of mine jokingly said that politicking puts some fun into corporate life. Without politics, there are no gossips. And without gossips, corporate life will be dull. But when office politics becomes malicious and vicious, then morale problems set in.
Christopher Parker, the author of Power, Politics and Organization, contends that many individuals need to accept the process of political influence as a fact of modern organisational life. Underneath the superficiality of organisational culture are subtle, but more strong currents of politics. It appears that technical skills and educational qualifications alone will not suffice for promotion. One may also need a degree of political skill. Unfortunately, no firm or institution teaches the fundamentals of office politics.
Jeffrey Pfeffer, author of Power in Organizations, says that students graduating from business schools are often insensitive to the (political) game that is being played in organisations and its rules. This may be true in the initial stages of organisational life, but people are gradually indoctrinated into the office or factory politics. During this process, they look around for the political forces which have power and try to identify with them. It is somewhat similar to the mentor system in Japanese organisations. The mentor provides political support in addition to counselling, advice and other kinds of assistance. But the Japanese system is formalised, understood and recognised, unlike the politicking process, which is disguised and subjective.
How people enter into some political force in an organisation is interesting. The entrants may pass some vital information gathered in gossip sessions to the members of the group in control or go to lunch or coffee breaks with that group or render some personal favours.
Organisational politics drains quite a bit of energy and effort. It demoralises the people who are outside the group. The overall results can be low productivity, poor morale, high degree of absenteeism and turnover. If people cannot quit or be absent from work, the next alternative is to be at work and engage in counter-productive activities, which in some circles known as `goldbricking'. Such activities may even amount to withholding of information or resources or forming a coalition of forces outside the power structure.
Certain individuals and organisations rise above the level of politicking. They tend to be objective, show concern for people and their problems regardless of their make-up and keep themselves away from power groups.
Effective organisations create systems to keep people involved in organisational life on an equal basis. The feelings thus fostered help organisational health in the same way good feelings sustain the psychological health of individuals. People at the top must ensure that no one group dominates in the organisation. They must carefully review the decisions, recommendations and activities of the groups that try to gain mileage out of politicking. Channels must be developed to crosscheck the views of these groups and develop objective measures whether it is for promotion or any personnel action.
Unless people at the top realise the real damage caused by political forces in the organisation and break them, individuals, alone, cannot overcome this illness. If you are a good boss, you already will know where such politics exist or operate in your organisation and once you know it, nip it before it causes more damage to your organisation.
If you are a member of such a political force, remember that membership will last only for a while. If you are outside such a force, seek more constructive outlets than brooding over office politics. Cheer up!
(The writer is a professor of management and international consultant to some global organisations. He has authored a number of books on management)
Effective organisations create systems that keep a check on office politics
Recently, a young man who had completed his studies in hotel management in Switzerland came to me seek some counselling about job opportunities. He had put in two years of service in a hotel. He said that one reason he had quit his previous job was the degree of politics in the organisation. He was really fed up with it and felt it was better for him to quit. In his words, "We are taught in schools and universities the right way of doing things. But when we go into the working world, all we learnt seems to be unreal. It is not what you know, but who you know that makes the difference."
I tried to console him by saying that politicking is a way of life in almost all organisations. One must not be dejected or demoralised by it, but learn to cope with it. It is not long before one learns the ropes and become part of it or learns to cope with it. Still, there can be other ways of dealing with office politics.
When organisations become more and more professional, there seems to be a lesser degree of politicking. A friend of mine jokingly said that politicking puts some fun into corporate life. Without politics, there are no gossips. And without gossips, corporate life will be dull. But when office politics becomes malicious and vicious, then morale problems set in.
Christopher Parker, the author of Power, Politics and Organization, contends that many individuals need to accept the process of political influence as a fact of modern organisational life. Underneath the superficiality of organisational culture are subtle, but more strong currents of politics. It appears that technical skills and educational qualifications alone will not suffice for promotion. One may also need a degree of political skill. Unfortunately, no firm or institution teaches the fundamentals of office politics.
Jeffrey Pfeffer, author of Power in Organizations, says that students graduating from business schools are often insensitive to the (political) game that is being played in organisations and its rules. This may be true in the initial stages of organisational life, but people are gradually indoctrinated into the office or factory politics. During this process, they look around for the political forces which have power and try to identify with them. It is somewhat similar to the mentor system in Japanese organisations. The mentor provides political support in addition to counselling, advice and other kinds of assistance. But the Japanese system is formalised, understood and recognised, unlike the politicking process, which is disguised and subjective.
How people enter into some political force in an organisation is interesting. The entrants may pass some vital information gathered in gossip sessions to the members of the group in control or go to lunch or coffee breaks with that group or render some personal favours.
Organisational politics drains quite a bit of energy and effort. It demoralises the people who are outside the group. The overall results can be low productivity, poor morale, high degree of absenteeism and turnover. If people cannot quit or be absent from work, the next alternative is to be at work and engage in counter-productive activities, which in some circles known as `goldbricking'. Such activities may even amount to withholding of information or resources or forming a coalition of forces outside the power structure.
Certain individuals and organisations rise above the level of politicking. They tend to be objective, show concern for people and their problems regardless of their make-up and keep themselves away from power groups.
Effective organisations create systems to keep people involved in organisational life on an equal basis. The feelings thus fostered help organisational health in the same way good feelings sustain the psychological health of individuals. People at the top must ensure that no one group dominates in the organisation. They must carefully review the decisions, recommendations and activities of the groups that try to gain mileage out of politicking. Channels must be developed to crosscheck the views of these groups and develop objective measures whether it is for promotion or any personnel action.
Unless people at the top realise the real damage caused by political forces in the organisation and break them, individuals, alone, cannot overcome this illness. If you are a good boss, you already will know where such politics exist or operate in your organisation and once you know it, nip it before it causes more damage to your organisation.
If you are a member of such a political force, remember that membership will last only for a while. If you are outside such a force, seek more constructive outlets than brooding over office politics. Cheer up!
(The writer is a professor of management and international consultant to some global organisations. He has authored a number of books on management)
'IT's' time to work from home
20th November 2006 - Economic Times
Ravi was working in a Pune-based IT company as a senior team leader when his wife was transferred to Mumbai. He decided to move with her, but his company wanted to retain him and made him an unbeatable offer.
Soon Ravi was working from the comfort of his Mumbai house with a company provided laptop and a broadband connection, while attending meetings via video conference. He also travels to Pune, when required, on company expense.
Working from 9 to 6 is no more mandatory nor is warming the office seat, it seems. IT companies are now increasingly open to the idea of working from home and flexi-timing. Such evolving HR policies are reaping in benefits too, not just for employees but also for the employers. According to HR observers, the benefits are several: increased productivity, lower attrition, less number of leaves taken, cost savings on infrastructure and a happy workforce.
“At Unisys, we allow flexi-timings as long as 40 hours per week are clocked in and quality and nature of work are not compromised upon,” says Unisys MD, Mukul Agarwal. If employees request to work from home for a day or two, the company immediately provides them with a laptop and broadband connection. Unisys even has associates working in Mumbai, Pune and Kerala who are flown in on company expense when required.
Employees, who are adjudged sincere and hardworking, are allowed to work from home. Some companies are even allowing people who have moved out of the city due to personal reasons to continue to work from home. “As long as the employee makes himself available for meetings and conference calls, he or she is free to work from home,” says an Intel spokesperson.
Advantages include not just flexibility and convenience for the employee but also increased productivity and lower attrition. If an employee is given the option to work from home, it would cut down leave time and productivity is not hampered.
Attrition is greatly reduced and employees who have to leave work either for personal reasons can continue to work from home. “Practices like telecommuting will also enhance efficiency and save costs on infrastructure,” says Wipro technologies vice-president (talent engagement and development) Joseph John.
However, the idea is not without its challenges. Work from home is more the norm in case of individual work. The idea is still to gain currency in the case of hardcore team-based projects. “Though most companies are opening up to the concepts of flexible timings and working from home, employee attendance is still quite important especially in a team scenario,” says Sierra Atlantic vice-president Sanjay Khendry.
In this industry, effort spent is one of the determinants of a project’s value at the micro level and company profitability at the macro level. Time sheets, for example, are a precursor to billing in many projects and work in lieu of an attendance system. “There are also security aspects like hacking and viruses, of which the clients may be concerned about,” adds Mr Rao.
What is clear, however, is that “the 9-6 work period is no more sacrosanct, as long as the desired amount of work is pumped in,” according to AppLabs Technologies vice-president (HR) Arun D Rao.
Though work from home is still mainly availed of by women employees, it will not be long before the policy becomes more holistic and include men who want to shoulder responsibilities at home would adopt it, he says.
Ravi was working in a Pune-based IT company as a senior team leader when his wife was transferred to Mumbai. He decided to move with her, but his company wanted to retain him and made him an unbeatable offer.
Soon Ravi was working from the comfort of his Mumbai house with a company provided laptop and a broadband connection, while attending meetings via video conference. He also travels to Pune, when required, on company expense.
Working from 9 to 6 is no more mandatory nor is warming the office seat, it seems. IT companies are now increasingly open to the idea of working from home and flexi-timing. Such evolving HR policies are reaping in benefits too, not just for employees but also for the employers. According to HR observers, the benefits are several: increased productivity, lower attrition, less number of leaves taken, cost savings on infrastructure and a happy workforce.
“At Unisys, we allow flexi-timings as long as 40 hours per week are clocked in and quality and nature of work are not compromised upon,” says Unisys MD, Mukul Agarwal. If employees request to work from home for a day or two, the company immediately provides them with a laptop and broadband connection. Unisys even has associates working in Mumbai, Pune and Kerala who are flown in on company expense when required.
Employees, who are adjudged sincere and hardworking, are allowed to work from home. Some companies are even allowing people who have moved out of the city due to personal reasons to continue to work from home. “As long as the employee makes himself available for meetings and conference calls, he or she is free to work from home,” says an Intel spokesperson.
Advantages include not just flexibility and convenience for the employee but also increased productivity and lower attrition. If an employee is given the option to work from home, it would cut down leave time and productivity is not hampered.
Attrition is greatly reduced and employees who have to leave work either for personal reasons can continue to work from home. “Practices like telecommuting will also enhance efficiency and save costs on infrastructure,” says Wipro technologies vice-president (talent engagement and development) Joseph John.
However, the idea is not without its challenges. Work from home is more the norm in case of individual work. The idea is still to gain currency in the case of hardcore team-based projects. “Though most companies are opening up to the concepts of flexible timings and working from home, employee attendance is still quite important especially in a team scenario,” says Sierra Atlantic vice-president Sanjay Khendry.
In this industry, effort spent is one of the determinants of a project’s value at the micro level and company profitability at the macro level. Time sheets, for example, are a precursor to billing in many projects and work in lieu of an attendance system. “There are also security aspects like hacking and viruses, of which the clients may be concerned about,” adds Mr Rao.
What is clear, however, is that “the 9-6 work period is no more sacrosanct, as long as the desired amount of work is pumped in,” according to AppLabs Technologies vice-president (HR) Arun D Rao.
Though work from home is still mainly availed of by women employees, it will not be long before the policy becomes more holistic and include men who want to shoulder responsibilities at home would adopt it, he says.
Sunday, November 19, 2006
No guarantee on contract employees’ extension
19th November, 2006 - Economic Times
The Supreme Court has ruled that employees on contract cannot seek continuation of their services even though they may have completed 240 days in such employment. Such contract for a fixed period automatically stood terminated after the expiry of the stipulated period, the apex court said in a ruling on Thursday.
Contractual employees are not regular employees and their termination is not retrenchment, the court said while upholding automatic termination of the service of a contract worker by a PSU in Karnataka. A bench comprising justice AR Lakshamanan and justice Altamas Kabir set aside the order of the labour court which was upheld by the Karnataka High Court. The labour court had directed the authorities to re-instate the contractual employee on the ground that he completed 240 days in such service.
Setting aside the re-instatement order, the apex court said, “Even assuming that the he had worked 240 days continuously, in our opinion, he cannot claim that his services should be continued because the number of 240 days does not apply to the case inasmuch as his services were purely contractual.”
Mahadeva Laxman Raval was appointed by the Karnataka Handloom Development Corn, a PSU for various spells of fixed periods on a fixed honorarium as an expert weaver to train the weavers in the unorganised sector. He was appointed on contract basis for a period of 200 days only, on a fixed pay of Rs 400 per month with a stipulation that the contract of appointment automatically expires on the 201st day.
Then the Karnataka government introduced “VISHWA” programme to train and rehabilitate the weavers. He was again appointed specifically under the scheme on contract basis in February, 1993, for three months with a pay of Rs 1,000 per month. He was again appointed on contract basis for 9 months as per the terms set out in the letter of appointment. After the expiry of the contract of appointment, on August 31, 1994, he was not appointed again.
This led to a industrial dispute being raised by Raval. Challenging non-nenewal of service, he said that he had worked from 1987 to 1994 for more than 240 days as contemplated under Section 25B of the Industrial Disputes Act and, hence, his dismissal amounted to retrenchment.
The Supreme Court has ruled that employees on contract cannot seek continuation of their services even though they may have completed 240 days in such employment. Such contract for a fixed period automatically stood terminated after the expiry of the stipulated period, the apex court said in a ruling on Thursday.
Contractual employees are not regular employees and their termination is not retrenchment, the court said while upholding automatic termination of the service of a contract worker by a PSU in Karnataka. A bench comprising justice AR Lakshamanan and justice Altamas Kabir set aside the order of the labour court which was upheld by the Karnataka High Court. The labour court had directed the authorities to re-instate the contractual employee on the ground that he completed 240 days in such service.
Setting aside the re-instatement order, the apex court said, “Even assuming that the he had worked 240 days continuously, in our opinion, he cannot claim that his services should be continued because the number of 240 days does not apply to the case inasmuch as his services were purely contractual.”
Mahadeva Laxman Raval was appointed by the Karnataka Handloom Development Corn, a PSU for various spells of fixed periods on a fixed honorarium as an expert weaver to train the weavers in the unorganised sector. He was appointed on contract basis for a period of 200 days only, on a fixed pay of Rs 400 per month with a stipulation that the contract of appointment automatically expires on the 201st day.
Then the Karnataka government introduced “VISHWA” programme to train and rehabilitate the weavers. He was again appointed specifically under the scheme on contract basis in February, 1993, for three months with a pay of Rs 1,000 per month. He was again appointed on contract basis for 9 months as per the terms set out in the letter of appointment. After the expiry of the contract of appointment, on August 31, 1994, he was not appointed again.
This led to a industrial dispute being raised by Raval. Challenging non-nenewal of service, he said that he had worked from 1987 to 1994 for more than 240 days as contemplated under Section 25B of the Industrial Disputes Act and, hence, his dismissal amounted to retrenchment.
Inevitable battle for job quotas
19th November, 2006 - Economic Times
India is firmly in the grip of vote-bank politics. So, the clamour for job reservation for scheduled castes and tribes in the private sector will grow as we approach the state election in Uttar Pradesh next March. The clamour will be couched in the language of social justice, but will be largely about winning a critical election in India’s largest state.
The major chambers of commerce and industry say they favour affirmative action, but not job quotas. They have proposed an affirmative action plan to provide training and entrepreneurship development for Dalits and tribals. They have suggested public-private partnership for setting up new industrial training institutes.
They say they are seeking lessons from the best affirmative action practices in the US and South Africa. But, they point out, neither the US nor South Africa has ever mandated job reservations — that would be too destructive of quality and competitive standards. Rather, those countries seek to improve the skill levels of historically oppressed communities.
So far, the government has gone along, or at least not disagreed, with this approach. Yet, commerce minister Kamal Nath was quick to say last week that legislation would be used if necessary to enforce job reservation. This shows that the Congress Party simply cannot let itself be outflanked on this issue by its rivals.
Two years ago, I appeared on a TV panel discussion along with steel minister Ram Vilas Paswan, who (as a Dalit) favours job quotas in the private sector for scheduled castes and tribes. He said, correctly, that it was a disgrace that Dalits and tribals remained an entrenched underclass after more than 50 years of Independence. He then said, incorrectly, that India should follow the US in mandating job quotas in the private sector.
I found I was the only one in the panel protesting that there were no job quotas in the US. Others, who had heard of affirmative action in the US, assumed that the minister must be right in his assertion. When I protested that this was not so, the minister laughingly waved a copy of the US law against discrimination, and said the facts were there for all to see.
This was not an isolated example of perverting the facts about US affirmative action. Shortly afterwards, I appeared on another TV discussion on job reservations along with CPI leader D Raja. The two of us had a short exchange before the TV recording began. Raja waved a copy of the US law under my nose and said it was outrageous that the US had job reservations for oppressed classes in the private sector but India did not.
India is firmly in the grip of vote-bank politics. So, the clamour for job reservation for scheduled castes and tribes in the private sector will grow as we approach the state election in Uttar Pradesh next March. The clamour will be couched in the language of social justice, but will be largely about winning a critical election in India’s largest state.
The major chambers of commerce and industry say they favour affirmative action, but not job quotas. They have proposed an affirmative action plan to provide training and entrepreneurship development for Dalits and tribals. They have suggested public-private partnership for setting up new industrial training institutes.
They say they are seeking lessons from the best affirmative action practices in the US and South Africa. But, they point out, neither the US nor South Africa has ever mandated job reservations — that would be too destructive of quality and competitive standards. Rather, those countries seek to improve the skill levels of historically oppressed communities.
So far, the government has gone along, or at least not disagreed, with this approach. Yet, commerce minister Kamal Nath was quick to say last week that legislation would be used if necessary to enforce job reservation. This shows that the Congress Party simply cannot let itself be outflanked on this issue by its rivals.
Two years ago, I appeared on a TV panel discussion along with steel minister Ram Vilas Paswan, who (as a Dalit) favours job quotas in the private sector for scheduled castes and tribes. He said, correctly, that it was a disgrace that Dalits and tribals remained an entrenched underclass after more than 50 years of Independence. He then said, incorrectly, that India should follow the US in mandating job quotas in the private sector.
I found I was the only one in the panel protesting that there were no job quotas in the US. Others, who had heard of affirmative action in the US, assumed that the minister must be right in his assertion. When I protested that this was not so, the minister laughingly waved a copy of the US law against discrimination, and said the facts were there for all to see.
This was not an isolated example of perverting the facts about US affirmative action. Shortly afterwards, I appeared on another TV discussion on job reservations along with CPI leader D Raja. The two of us had a short exchange before the TV recording began. Raja waved a copy of the US law under my nose and said it was outrageous that the US had job reservations for oppressed classes in the private sector but India did not.
Alarm bells ring for BPOs again
19th November, 2006 - Economic Times
They are the face of 21st century India. Thousands of youngsters sitting before flickering monitors, all wired with headphones, talking to clients across the world at that witching hour when the city is asleep.
But all’s not well in this kingdom. Though call centre employees are vulnerable to lifestyle diseases, a recent survey also found that BPO workers may be prone to seizures which could lead to epilepsy.
About 5.7% of first seizure cases, it found, were from call centres. A person is diagnosed as epileptic after two seizures, say doctors.
The survey, done between January 2004 and June 2006 by Dr Arun Garg, consultant neurologist, Max hospitals, covered 908 patients. All were first-time seizure cases, out of which 74 were call centre employees between 18 and 30 years. All had joined the current job six months before the episode.
‘‘Symptoms ranged from violent movements of hands, loss of consciousness, tongue bite to incontinence of urine and being in a confused state,’’ says Garg. All complained of sleep disturbance, fatigue and irritability. Considering that some 4.15 lakh are employed in the BPO sector, it’s a worrying issue.
The problem was serious enough for 10 to quit the job. None had seizures during the follow-up period. Eight switched to day shifts and were advised to avoid late nights or bright lights. Of the remaining 34, 18 had seizures during the follow-up period and all were put on medication.
Garg, in fact, recorded a surge of seizures in young adults from call centres. ‘‘After mapping them for two years, I realised they were more prone to seizures than other professions and most got it early morning.’’
Visual sensitivity (to monitors) appeared to be a catalyst, besides environmental factors. Twenty-two had a previous cause for seizures and were excluded from the study. In the remaining 52, MRI was normal and they were studied further. What triggers seizures among BPO employees are late nights, stress, bright lights, addictions, sleep deprivation, etc, says Garg.
In fact, sleep deprivation, says Dr Vinay Goel, associate professor, neurology, AIIMS, ‘‘is known to be a precipitating factor for seizures. Young call centre employees often don’t follow a healthy regime and cut down on sleep. This generally won’t be the case with long-time night shift workers whose bodies get attuned to odd working hours.’’
Plus, while working on computers, multiple factors are at work. Many were probably photosensitive and when exposed to visual stimuli for some time, couldn’t adapt to it, says Garg. The stimuli include patterns, colours, flickers or movements, often from TV or computer screens. Flashing screens can also trigger seizures. Brighter screens also were harmful.
Other factors adding to seizure potential include cognitive activity, programming and reading. ‘‘Ideally, EEG must be performed in these subjects while they’re working on the computer,’’ he says.
Doctors advise call centre employees to: avoid unpredictable schedules; keep a distance of 2m from computer screen; use dark blue/green glasses as it blunts the effect of the colour screen; take frequent breaks; keep room well-illuminated while working on computers; avoid stress, extreme fatigue, sleep deprivation and addictions.
Employers are also advised to change their CRT screens to LCD ones, says Garg. ‘‘An LCD monitor produces a much sharper, less-flickering image,’’ he says. A wake-up call for this sunshine industry?
They are the face of 21st century India. Thousands of youngsters sitting before flickering monitors, all wired with headphones, talking to clients across the world at that witching hour when the city is asleep.
But all’s not well in this kingdom. Though call centre employees are vulnerable to lifestyle diseases, a recent survey also found that BPO workers may be prone to seizures which could lead to epilepsy.
About 5.7% of first seizure cases, it found, were from call centres. A person is diagnosed as epileptic after two seizures, say doctors.
The survey, done between January 2004 and June 2006 by Dr Arun Garg, consultant neurologist, Max hospitals, covered 908 patients. All were first-time seizure cases, out of which 74 were call centre employees between 18 and 30 years. All had joined the current job six months before the episode.
‘‘Symptoms ranged from violent movements of hands, loss of consciousness, tongue bite to incontinence of urine and being in a confused state,’’ says Garg. All complained of sleep disturbance, fatigue and irritability. Considering that some 4.15 lakh are employed in the BPO sector, it’s a worrying issue.
The problem was serious enough for 10 to quit the job. None had seizures during the follow-up period. Eight switched to day shifts and were advised to avoid late nights or bright lights. Of the remaining 34, 18 had seizures during the follow-up period and all were put on medication.
Garg, in fact, recorded a surge of seizures in young adults from call centres. ‘‘After mapping them for two years, I realised they were more prone to seizures than other professions and most got it early morning.’’
Visual sensitivity (to monitors) appeared to be a catalyst, besides environmental factors. Twenty-two had a previous cause for seizures and were excluded from the study. In the remaining 52, MRI was normal and they were studied further. What triggers seizures among BPO employees are late nights, stress, bright lights, addictions, sleep deprivation, etc, says Garg.
In fact, sleep deprivation, says Dr Vinay Goel, associate professor, neurology, AIIMS, ‘‘is known to be a precipitating factor for seizures. Young call centre employees often don’t follow a healthy regime and cut down on sleep. This generally won’t be the case with long-time night shift workers whose bodies get attuned to odd working hours.’’
Plus, while working on computers, multiple factors are at work. Many were probably photosensitive and when exposed to visual stimuli for some time, couldn’t adapt to it, says Garg. The stimuli include patterns, colours, flickers or movements, often from TV or computer screens. Flashing screens can also trigger seizures. Brighter screens also were harmful.
Other factors adding to seizure potential include cognitive activity, programming and reading. ‘‘Ideally, EEG must be performed in these subjects while they’re working on the computer,’’ he says.
Doctors advise call centre employees to: avoid unpredictable schedules; keep a distance of 2m from computer screen; use dark blue/green glasses as it blunts the effect of the colour screen; take frequent breaks; keep room well-illuminated while working on computers; avoid stress, extreme fatigue, sleep deprivation and addictions.
Employers are also advised to change their CRT screens to LCD ones, says Garg. ‘‘An LCD monitor produces a much sharper, less-flickering image,’’ he says. A wake-up call for this sunshine industry?
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