When the going gets tough the tough get going….

A tough client brings out the best in you, said someone. And so does a tough situation like the tough market as we have witnessed over the past year and more. The year gone by has brought a deeper, more visceral understanding to phrases and terms learnt during my MBA and subsequent working years. And then it has brought with it, fragments of understanding that add up to a bigger learning than probably any other.
What can you do when the market does not want your services?
I remember for instance how the severe downturn the auto components industry faced in the `90s served as the foundation for its later success. As the local market dried up, suppliers like Bharat Forge and others tried to sell their wares to international players. To be able to get a piece of that huge market they needed to upgrade their quality. As there was no easy way out, all of them worked to manufacture global quality parts. Today India has a very healthy share of this market.
I learnt two things here- one, look what the market yet wants or needs to have despite cost-cutting and provide it; and two, don’t let your communication and connection with clients or potential ones break down. In short, DON’T STOP.
I learnt this year to look at the retail market and also expand my services into the language product sector. It earned me my bread and butter. And now, as the market opens up, I have a slew of new products in this area when until recently I did not even know of the huge, latent demand in this segment. This year I hope I will be able to earn a bit of jam and ham too.
I have learnt that truly, as Franklin Roosevelt said, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Life does turn around. If there are downs there have to be ups. It’s just about being ready and waiting when the door of opportunity opens up again.

Sign of times to come

Excellent,' I cried. 'Elementary,' said he.
—Sherlock Holmes and Watson in Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle

This is a special thank you note to all the people who took the time off to respond to my questionnaire that tried to assess the HR landscape.

The findings are excellent or elementary, depending on which side of the dark period of the worldwide recession you look from.

Everyone agrees that in these tough times that have yet to completely go away, the most important task has been to retain employees, to keep their morale up. It has been the singularly most important HR task and nobody has put any other job before it. So how was this done? Offering company-sponsored activities has been the most dominant. But some companies tried to go a step forward and offer role changes wherever possible to bring some excitement to the otherwise sombre mood. Some forward-looking ones continued to invest, as always, in external training and talent development.
Employees, on their part, responded with full enthusiasm. It has been well-understood that everyone, on both sides of the HR table, will have to work together to be able to generate enough momentum to exit this depressed market. In a way, this has led to learning lessons we would otherwise not have time to imbibe. Or let's say in good times, lessons of oneness, of 'United we Stand' etc are inspirational thought. But in the down period they are the straws we have to clutch to because we know we will otherwise go down.
Some HR managers have reported that employees went a step ahead and invested in self development on their own too.
This kind of skill development, mostly the development of the softer issues like team spirit, leadership, attitude and communication has definitely made for a better-equipped work force. So tomorrow is already looking bright for more than one reason.
When the markets open up, everyone is obviously waiting to bulk up the sagging top and bottom lines. HR says that it will pursue new business first before adding people.
This time of duress is proving to be one of lessons truly well-learnt. Difficult times always help build character, as the wise say. Now the time has come to open the doors, let the sunshine stream in and brace ourselves for the future that we readied ourselves in the past couple of years.

Brand Ego

Brand ego: What employees often are afflicted with when they cannot distinguish between themselves as the people they are and the brand they represent.
It is interesting to note how this disease comes with people who feel an extreme, often bloated sense of importance especially when dealing with people outside the company. Its usual symptoms are talking down to the person across the table, coming ill-prepared for a meeting, being callous about remembering names and details of earlier interactions among others. This leads to a spread of an epidemic. These behavioural aberrations are contagious and lead to a reciprocal callousness from the other side. So the meeting leads to discussion of data that was anyway earlier exchanged on mail. In an advanced case, it leads to the afflicted talking and asking for services very different from what was earlier communicated. The outside, service provider by now is pretty clueless about where the meeting is leading to. He obviously wants the business and cannot afford to offend this critical loop in the business chain so he continues to agree with whatever is being said, irrespective of whether it makes sense or not. The meeting rambles on and on. Then it ends when the afflicted has to head for another similar meeting. The deliverer of services promises to put all the thoughts down on a mail and send it "ASAP". He will now step out of the office, curse a bit and then start to wonder what to say so that some business comes his way because he has invested half a day to get through this meeting. But he knows deep inside his heart: this sort of a meeting never leads to anywhere. It is merely a downward spiral that will finally disappear. He will send a mail, he will receive one back after a week that says nothing that is a continuation of the previous one and it will go on till either he tires or the afflicted leaves the company and proceeds to greener pastures (or better known brands) after a "very successful stint".

Boss vs. the rest of the world!

Who is the most important person in your work life? I ask myself this question as I wait in a corporate office lobby, it has been over ten minutes and the person I had to meet- with a fixed and re-confirmed appointment- continues to be busy. Another ten minutes pass and things are pretty much the same. By now I am beginning to get restless. And definitely my annoyance is starting to show because the receptionist sheepishly gives me another weak smile in apology. She then volunteers that unchallengeable reason: He is with the Boss. If the Boss has called you and you have a fixed appointment a few minutes what is the fairest thing to do? You can tell the Boss that someone is waiting for you? You can step outside and tell the person waiting for you that you are sorry but you may need a few minutes? Or can you just keep someone waiting because he has come to you for business? Sadly, basic courtesy has no place in the iron-clad hierarchy of the Indian corporate space: Client- Me- Vendor. It is not apparently taught at any management college. If it is a client you drop everything thing and comply with every wish. Ditto with Boss. You don't say anything to him as if a word could cost you your job and entire career. But you can keep a vendor waiting without any consideration. And when you go to the clients' you are also ready to face this ignominy because you actually believe it is OK. I personally think civil behaviour and politeness cannot be argued away and everyone feels good when someone behaves well with them. And if we give it a try we may be surprised that the Boss appreciates this decency and does not see it as a slight against his superiority!

Life balance vs. achievement and failure

In the past two days, top-seed tennis star, Venus Williams, comeback princess, Kim Clijsters and six-time title holder, Roger Federer were ousted in the earliest rounds of the Wimbledon. That's how fast it can go. There's going to be endless debate in open and closed forums on it for probably a lot of money rested on their able shoulders. On this side of life, I think we can easily draw a parallel to the corporate scene: yesterday's success is no surety for even a fair performance, forget winning, today. You are only as good as your last sale or last seminar or last whatever-you-do. In an increasingly competitive scenario competition can come from unexpected quarters. All these three stars were beaten by people who are almost 100 ranks below. It can happen to you and me. So what can be done to reduce the chances of such shocks? I suppose there aren't any new ideas- only new ways to look at old, time-tested ones. To be prepared, to keep in good physical and mental shape, to train and upgrade skills continuously even when the market is low and there's no real pressing demand for it. I do a bit of stock checking every night and see where in my skill set or life did I make an improvement in the previous 24-hours. But above all, I think the most important thing to be the winner even when you lose is to get your life's philosophy in shape. I face the challenge all the time of balancing desire and ambition with a fair dose of nonchalance and equanimity. I don't want to hang myself because I did not achieve my target. But I don't want to regret not reaching anywhere close to it. So how do you balance your ambition with common sense? Share your ideas for all of us to learn.

Current trend - heartening?

It’s been a while since I WROTE THE LAST ENTRY AND I AM GLAD FOR IT. Glad because finally work is beckoning in a volume enough to keep my schedule tight. Last few weeks have witnessed a plethora of meetings with the bigwigs. My observations of the trends just setting in: 1) Existing clients are returning to their regular vendors, opening their doors albeit cautiously. Interestingly however, instead of the basic programs, the requests have been for the higher-end customized products. The programs are for middle and high-level employees, up to CEO level.
2) New, potential clients have responded to our proposals after a hiatus of silence. There is a growing need for language services. We had tied up with a like-minded language school last year, observing this need. It is now coming into force. We hope it will grow into a full-fledged movement. It is beyond any argument that the average, Indian employee loses out considerably because of his lack of command over English.
3) Things may be coming to a full circle. After years of fragmentation in the training industry, we are happy to hear from clients that they are now looking for a one-stop shop. Are the days of dealing with many vendors and constantly evaluating them are receding into the sunset? I don’t know. What do you think?

Right time?

A friend of mine has just quit his job to go on his own. And so has another one. And then another. Three people I have spoken to in the past two months have quit their assignments to follow a dream that has been developing for some years
It may be the tail end of the recession and yes in India we did not feel it that hard but yet it may seem foolhardy to dump a safe assignment when all around people are looking for jobs and companies for business.
But adventurers don’t seem to think this way. And that is why history will always give them a special place. But romantic wanderlust aside, is there any recession-proof self employment possible?
Well there are enough examples and data available to believe it is. The gym I go to has expanded membership enough to move to a space twice as big as the first one. It has no big brand name behind it. In fact it is a start up by a young couple. People continue to stream in everyday when I go for class.
Big brand names of today started as recession time start ups.
Hyatt Corp. opened its first hotel’s doors at the Los Angeles International Airport during the Eisenhower recession (1957 to 1958). The chain now operates more than 365 hotels in 25 countries. Before that in 1954, Burger King Corp., began operations when James McLamore and David Edgerton opened a Burger King restaurant in Miami, Fla. Iin 1957, the company introduced its successful signature burger — the Whopper. Today, the company operates more than 11,100 locations in 65 countries. Similarly,
GE was established in 1876 by famed American inventor Thomas Edison in the middle of the Panic of 1873and is now the third largest company in the world. HP was inauspiciously born in a Palo Alto garage at the end of the Great Depression. It became the first technology business to exceed $100 billion in revenue, earning $104 billion in 2007 More? In 1975 Microsoft Corp. was just a little company in Albuquerque. In recession-plagued 1980, CNN was a little-known station called The Cable Network News. It revolutionized how people received information when it premiered as the first 24-hour all-news channel. Today, 1.5 billion people across the globe watch CNN.

There is a logic in these successes. People look for value for money products when the chips are down. This could mean seeds instead of plants, smaller sized containers of treats, less fancy paper wrapping that helps cut cost. So Tesco is selling raw fruit at better prices that consumers can ripen at home because ripening them costs it a lot more money. And then education, food and health products are still absolute necessities. Besides, people- all afflicted by the same recession- want to use their pennies safely to feel good about life. If you can do that with your products and services, you may beat the downtrend. Advice abounds on the Internet on how to go for it. But yet whether you win or lose lies in the attitude of the person setting out to run that new business. As they say, leading the way isn’t easy.