The 25 most difficult questions you'll be asked on a job interview

The 25 most difficult questions you'll be asked on a job interview
Being prepared is half the battle.

If you are one of those executive types unhappy at your present post and embarking on a New Year's resolution to find a new one, here's a helping hand. The job interview is considered to be the most critical aspect of every expedition that brings you face-to- face with the future boss. One must prepare for it with the same tenacity and quickness as one does for a fencing tournament or a chess match.

1. Tell me about yourself.
   
   Since this is often the opening question in an interview, be extracareful that you don't run off at the mouth. Keep your answer to a minute or two at most. Cover four topics: early years, education, work history, and recent career experience. Emphasize this last subject. Remember that this is likely to be a warm-up question. Don't waste your best points on it.


2. What do you know about our organization?
   
   You should be able to discuss products or services, revenues, reputation, image, goals, problems, management style, people, history and philosophy. But don't act as if you know everything about the place. Let your answer show that you have taken the time to do some research, but don't overwhelm the interviewer, and make it clear that you wish to learn more.
   
   You might start your answer in this manner: "In my job search, I've investigated a number of companies.
   
   Yours is one of the few that interests me, for these reasons..."
   
   Give your answer a positive tone. Don't say, "Well, everyone tells me that you're in all sorts of trouble, and that's why I'm here", even if that is why you're there.


3. Why do you want to work for us?
   
   The deadliest answer you can give is "Because I like people." What else would you like-animals?
   
   Here, and throughout the interview, a good answer comes from having done your homework so that you can speak in terms of the company's needs. You might say that your research has shown that the company is doing things you would like to be involved with, and that it's doing them in ways that greatly interest you. For example, if the organization is known for strong management, your answer should mention that fact and show that you would like to be a part of that team. If the company places a great deal of emphasis on research and development, emphasize the fact that you want to create new things and that you know this is a place in which such activity is encouraged. If the organization stresses financial controls, your answer should mention a reverence for numbers.
   
   If you feel that you have to concoct an answer to this question - if, for example, the company stresses research, and you feel that you should mention it even though it really doesn't interest you- then you probably should not be taking that interview, because you probably shouldn't be considering a job with that organization.
   
   Your homework should include learning enough about the company to avoid approaching places where you wouldn't be able -or wouldn't want- to function. Since most of us are poor liars, it's difficult to con anyone in an interview. But even if you should succeed at it, your prize is a job you don't really want.


4. What can you do for us that someone else can't?
   
   Here you have every right, and perhaps an obligation, to toot your own horn and be a bit egotistical. Talk about your record of getting things done, and mention specifics from your resume or list of career accomplishments. Say that your skills and interests, combined with this history of getting results, make you valuable. Mention your ability to set priorities, identify problems, and use your experience and energy to solve them.


5. What do you find most attractive about this position? What seems least attractive about it?
   
   List three or four attractive factors of the job, and mention a single, minor, unattractive item.


6. Why should we hire you?
   
   Create your answer by thinking in terms of your ability, your experience, and your energy. (See question 4.)


7. What do you look for in a job?
   
   Keep your answer oriented to opportunities at this organization. Talk about your desire to perform and be recognized for your contributions. Make your answer oriented toward opportunity rather than personal security.


8. Please give me your defintion of [the position for which you are being interviewed].
   
   Keep your answer brief and taskoriented. Think in in terms of responsibilities and accountability. Make sure that you really do understand what the position involves before you attempt an answer. If you are not certain. ask the interviewer; he or she may answer the question for you.


9. How long would it take you to make a meaningful contribution to our firm?
   
   Be realistic. Say that, while you would expect to meet pressing demands and pull your own weight from the first day, it might take six months to a year before you could expect to know the organization and its needs well enough to make a major contribution.


10. How long would you stay with us?
    
    Say that you are interested in a career with the organization, but admit that you would have to continue to feel challenged to remain with any organization. Think in terms of, "As long as we both feel achievement-oriented."


11. Your resume suggests that you may be over-qualified or too experienced for this position. What's Your opinion?
    
    Emphasize your interest in establishing a long-term association with the organization, and say that you assume that if you perform well in his job, new opportunities will open up for you. Mention that a strong company needs a strong staff. Observe that experienced executives are always at a premium. Suggest that since you are so wellqualified, the employer will get a fast return on his investment. Say that a growing, energetic company can never have too much talent.


12. What is your management style?
    
    You should know enough about the company's style to know that your management style will complement it. Possible styles include: task oriented (I'll enjoy problem-solving identifying what's wrong, choosing a solution and implementing it"), results-oriented ("Every management decision I make is determined by how it will affect the bottom line"), or even paternalistic ("I'm committed to taking care of my subordinates and pointing them in the right direction").
    
    A participative style is currently quite popular: an open-door method of managing in which you get things done by motivating people and delegating responsibility.
    
    As you consider this question, think about whether your style will let you work hatppily and effectively within the organization.


13. Are you a good manager? Can you give me some examples? Do you feel that you have top managerial potential?
    
    Keep your answer achievementand ask-oriented. Rely on examples from your career to buttress your argument. Stress your experience and your energy.


14. What do you look for when You hire people?
    
    Think in terms of skills. initiative, and the adaptability to be able to work comfortably and effectively with others. Mention that you like to hire people who appear capable of moving up in the organization.


15. Have you ever had to fire people? What were the reasons, and how did you handle the situation?
    
    Admit that the situation was not easy, but say that it worked out well, both for the company and, you think, for the individual. Show that, like anyone else, you don't enjoy unpleasant tasks but that you can resolve them efficiently and -in the case of firing someone- humanely.


16. What do you think is the most difficult thing about being a manager or executive?
    
    Mention planning, execution, and cost-control. The most difficult task is to motivate and manage employess to get something planned and completed on time and within the budget.


17. What important trends do you see in our industry?
    
    Be prepared with two or three trends that illustrate how well you understand your industry. You might consider technological challenges or opportunities, economic conditions, or even regulatory demands as you collect your thoughts about the direction in which your business is heading.


18. Why are you leaving (did you leave) your present (last) job?
    
    Be brief, to the point, and as honest as you can without hurting yourself. Refer back to the planning phase of your job search. where you considered this topic as you set your reference statements. If you were laid off in an across-the-board cutback, say so; otherwise, indicate that the move was your decision, the result of your action. Do not mention personality conflicts.
    
    The interviewer may spend some time probing you on this issue, particularly if it is clear that you were terminated. The "We agreed to disagree" approach may be useful. Remember hat your references are likely to be checked, so don't concoct a story for an interview.


19. How do you feel about leaving all your benefits to find a new job?
    
    Mention that you are concerned, naturally, but not panicked. You are willing to accept some risk to find the right job for yourself. Don't suggest that security might interest you more than getting the job done successfully.


20. In your current (last) position, what features do (did) you like the most? The least?
    
    Be careful and be positive. Describe more features that you liked than disliked. Don't cite personality problems. If you make your last job sound terrible, an interviewer may wonder why you remained there until now.


21. What do you think of your boss?
    
    Be as positive as you can. A potential boss is likely to wonder if you might talk about him in similar terms at some point in the future.


22. Why aren't you earning more at your age?
    
    Say that this is one reason that you are conducting this job search. Don't be defensive.


23. What do you feel this position should pay?
    
    Salary is a delicate topic. We suggest that you defer tying yourself to a precise figure for as long as you can do so politely. You might say, "I understand that the range for this job is between $______ and $______. That seems appropriate for the job as I understand it." You might answer the question with a question: "Perhaps you can help me on this one. Can you tell me if there is a range for similar jobs in the organization?"
    
    If you are asked the question during an initial screening interview, you might say that you feel you need to know more about the position's responsibilities before you could give a meaningful answer to that question. Here, too, either by asking the interviewer or search executive (if one is involved), or in research done as part of your homework, you can try to find out whether there is a salary grade attached to the job. If there is, and if you can live with it, say that the range seems right to you.
    
    If the interviewer continues to probe, you might say, "You know that I'm making $______ now. Like everyone else, I'd like to improve on that figure, but my major interest is with the job itself." Remember that the act of taking a new job does not, in and of itself, make you worth more money.
    
    If a search firm is involved, your contact there may be able to help with the salary question. He or she may even be able to run interference for you. If, for instance, he tells you what the position pays, and you tell him that you are earning that amount now and would Like to do a bit better, he might go back to the employer and propose that you be offered an additional 10%.
    
    If no price range is attached to the job, and the interviewer continues to press the subject, then you will have to restpond with a number. You cannot leave the impression that it does not really matter, that you'll accept whatever is offered. If you've been making $80,000 a year, you can't say that a $35,000 figure would be fine without sounding as if you've given up on yourself. (If you are making a radical career change, however, this kind of disparity may be more reasonable and understandable.)
    
    Don't sell yourself short, but continue to stress the fact that the job itself is the most important thing in your mind. The interviewer may be trying to determine just how much you want the job. Don't leave the impression that money is the only thing that is important to you. Link questions of salary to the work itself.
    
    But whenever possible, say as little as you can about salary until you reach the "final" stage of the interview process. At that point, you know that the company is genuinely interested in you and that it is likely to be flexible in salary negotiations.


24. What are your long-range goals?
    
    Refer back to the planning phase of your job search. Don't answer, "I want the job you've advertised." Relate your goals to the company you are interviewing: 'in a firm like yours, I would like to..."


25. How successful do you you've been so far?
    
    Say that, all-in-all, you're happy with the way your career has progressed so far. Given the normal ups and downs of life, you feel that you've done quite well and have no complaints.
    
    Present a positive and confident picture of yourself, but don't overstate your case. An answer like, "Everything's wonderful! I can't think of a time when things were going better! I'm overjoyed!" is likely to make an interviewer wonder whether you're trying to fool him . . . or yourself. The most convincing confidence is usually quiet confidence.

52 PROVEN STRESS REDUCERS

52 PROVEN STRESS REDUCERS

1. Get up fifteen minutes earlier in the
morning. The inevitable morning mishaps will be less stressful.



2. Prepare for the morning the evening before. Set the breakfast
table. Make lunches. Put out the clothes you plan to wear, etc.



3. Don't rely on your memory. Write down appointment times, when
to pick up the laundry, when library books are due, etc. ("The palest
ink is better than the most retentive memory."- Old Chinese Proverb)



4. Do nothing you have to lie about later.



5. Make copies of all keys. Bury a house key in a secret spot in
the garden. Carry a duplicate car key in your wallet, apart from your key
ring.



6. Practice preventive maintenance. Your car, appliances, home and
relationships will be less likely to break down "at the worst possible
moment."



7. Be prepared to wait. A paperback book can make a wait in a post
office line almost pleasant.



8. Procrastination is stressful. Whatever you want to do tomorrow,
do today; whatever you want to do today, do it now.



9. Plan ahead. Don't let the gas tank get below onequarter full,
keep a well- stocked "emergency shelf'' of home staples, don't wait
until you're down to your last bus token or postage stamp to buy more, etc.



10. Don't put up with something that doesn't work right. If your
alarm clock wallet, shoe laces, windshield wipers-whatever-are a constant
aggravation, get them fixed or get new ones.



11. Allow 15 minutes of extra time to get to appointments. Plan to
arrive at an airport one hour before domestic departures.



12. Eliminate (or restrict) the amount of caffeine in your diet.



13. Always set up contingency plans, "just in case." ("If
for some reason either of us is delayed, here's what we'll do..." Or,
"If we get split up in the shopping center, here's where we'll meet.")



14. Relax your standards. The world will not end if the grass doesn't
get mowed this weekend.



15. Pollyanna-Power! For every one thing that goes wrong, there are
probably 10 or 50 or 100 blessings. Count 'em!



16. Ask questions. Taking a few moments to repeat back the directions
that someone expects of you, etc., can save hours. (The old "the hurrieder
I go, the behinder I get" idea.)



17. Say "No!" Saying no to extra projects, social activities
and invitations you know you don't have the time or energy for takes practice,
self-respect and a belief that everyone, everyday, needs quiet time to relax
and to be alone.



18. Unplug your phone. Want to take a long bath, meditate, sleep
or read without interruption? Drum up the courage to temporarily disconnect.



(The possibility of there being a terrible emergency in the next hour or
so is almost nil.)



19. Turn "needs" into preferences. Our basic physical needs
translate into food, water, and keeping warm. Everything else is a preference.
Don't get attached to preferences.



20. Simplify, simplify, simplify.



21. Make friends with nonworriers. Chronic worrywarts are contagious.



22. Take many stretch breaks when you sit a lot.

23. If you can't find quiet at home, wear
earplugs.



24. Get enough sleep. Set your alarm for bedtime.



25. Organize! A place for everything and everything in its place.
Losing things is stressful.



26. Monitor your body for stress signs. If your stomach muscles are
knotted and your breathing is shallow, relax your muscles and take some
deep, slow breaths.



27. Write your thoughts and feelings down on paper. It can help you
clarify and give you a renewed perspective.



28. Do this yoga exercise when you need to relax: Inhale through
your nose to the count of eight. Pucker your lips and exhale slowly to the
count of 16. Concentrate on the long sighing sound and feel the tension
dissolve. Repeat 10 times.



29. Visualize success before any experience you fear. Take time to
go over every part of the event in your mind. Imagine how great you will
look, and how well you will present yourself.



30. If the stress of deadlines gets in the way of doing a job, use
diversion. Take your mind off the task and you will focus better when you're
on task.



31. Talk out your problems with a friend. It helps to relieve confusion.



32. Avoid people and places that don't fit your personal needs and
desires. If you hate politics, don't spend time with politically excited
people.



33. Learn to live one day at a time.



34. Everyday, do something you really enjoy.



35. Add an ounce of love to everything you do.



36. Take a bath or shower to relieve tension.



37. Do a favor for someone every day.



38. Focus on understanding rather than on being under stood, on loving
rather than on being loved.



39. Looking good makes you feel better.



40. Take more time between tasks to relax. Schedule a realistic day.



41. Be flexible. Some things are not worth perfection.



42. Stop negative self-talk: "I'm too fat, too old, etc..."



43. Change pace on weekends. If your week was slow, be active. If
you felt nothing was accomplished during the week, do a weekend project.



44. "Worry about the pennies, and the dollars will take care
of themselves." Pay attention to the details in front of you.



45. Do one thing at a time. When you are working on one thing, don't
think about everything else you have to do.



46. Allow time every day for privacy, quiet and thinking.



47. Do unpleasant tasks early and enjoy the rest of the day.



48. Delegate responsibility to capable people.



49. Take lunch breaks. Get away from your work in body and in mind.



50. Count to 1,000, not 10, before you say something that could make
matters worse.



51. Forgive people and events. Accept that we live in an imperfect
world.



52. Have an optimistic view of the world. Most people do the best
they can.

How to Prevent your Team member from Leaving Team

Different people have different views on this and the most common one is better salary and company. But it is a fact that people leave Managers and not company.

Friends, I have tried this and it works believe me. If you want to retain your team have all local team members in your tem. Means if your office is in Pune have team members who are from Pune and not members who have migrated from other states or cities. The reason of not having local team members is the real reason why most people leave the company.

Believe me friends people leave not because they are not happy with job, profile or salary but because the Managers make comments about the in time and out time of member, taking holiday or half day for birthday, marriage/death of relative even neighbors etc. Local people have to do because he has a social life. Migrated people are mostly without family and are staying alone or with friends. They do not have any social life; since they are miles away from their hometown they have excuses of distance for every social obligation. Also since they do not have any thing to do at home they sit till later nights and also come to office on weekdays and holidays as being at home they will get bored and at office they get free phone/ internet to chat with their families back in their hometown, free tea coffee , Air condition etc. This helps them save their money. Also when they go on leave it is for months and local employee have to do overtime to do his part of work.

The problem starts when Manager gives examples of the migrated members to others local members like he sits late, doesn’t take holidays/ half days frequently, come even on holidays and weekends etc. Which hurts the local member has even if he wants to he cannot give excuse to escape from his social obligation as he is present in the city. This spoils his relation with friends, wife, parents, family etc. So an employee tries to move to a company were he will considered human and not machine. An excuse is given of better pay, company etc. Everyone knows that how much pathetic and might be the Manager the company will never listen against the manger. So the members leaves the company without ant comments about the manager.

Friend the other side is migrated members should be put in one team. This team should be only of migrated team members only, no local members.

Let them prove to company and management that they are loyal and dedicated which in reality is not true. As 90 % late sitting members are not local and they are doining their personal work more than companies work.Let the locals have a peaceful environment to work for.

This way the point you wish to raised is the reason why people migrate to cities will be solved and also we can have a stable and dedicated team, with less members leaving the team.

At the end of Day having a team to support the company and save our job is more important than having feelings and sympathy towards the people who are migrating to cities.

What If It All Came Crashing Down

The real measure of our wealth is how much we'd be worth if we lost all our money.
- John Henry Jowett, preacher (1864-1923)

Imagine it!

Donald Trump, poor. He’d just be an annoying boor. No, no, he’s that already. I meant a poor, annoying…..No, everyone would just ignore him.

Bill Gates, poor. Once the world’s richest man, Bill has been giving away billions of dollars to charities over the past few years, not the least huge sums for AIDS research and literacy projects (through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation). He’s an entrepreneur, someone who scooped great ideas from other people and turned them into a worldwide empire. Bill would make out alright because he knows how to manage people, to make them feel good about being successful working for projects he operates.

In 1929, with the crash of the stock markets and the beginning of the Great Depression, so many paper-wealthy men went broke overnight that many of them jumped out of windows in their top floor offices on Wall Street. That’s a statement not about their not wanting to be poor, but about the value they placed on their own lives without a great deal of money to throw around.

I see hordes of people in North American cities (my home continent, so those are the people I see in person and on television) creating lives for themselves based on the values preached to them by industries. The descriptive word I can’t escape from to attach to their lives is pretension. They are the people they believe they are. They live the lives that industry wants them to live, holding the values and beliefs that industry teaches them by various means. They have none of their own.

They have no idea of their basic human worth, other than as they compare themselves to others according to their financial net worth and their ostentatious possessions.

Poor people, on the other hand, seem to have a clear grasp of who they are in real terms. They know they are at the bottom of the heap socially as well as financially. Many of them use their position to their advantage, accepting social assistance from governments who collect tax money from the rich. Others, especially those on whom poverty has come to stay due to misfortune, health problems or physical/intellectual limitations, see their lives as one continual climb out of the pit that life has thrown them into.

Perhaps the people who have the clearest idea of who they are and the value they have to the world are the homeless, especially those who have been homeless for several years. They form friendships, bonds and working relationships based on what they can offer to others and what they can get from others.

The homeless are valued as people, among themselves, more than any other social group because all they have to offer anyone else is themselves. They value each other and who they are in relation to the others in their lives. To the homeless, a smile has a value beyond anything a rich person could imagine.

True, some can’t survive in that atmosphere. They turn to drugs and alcohol, paid for by robbing others and from begging. That’s a form of self destruction, a long, slow death wish fulfilled by their own choice. They can’t make it, even among the community of the homeless, because they don’t believe they have anything of value to offer to others. The best some can do is to offer drugs or drink to others like them, giving themselves the same sense of self worth as the rich.

Imagining ourselves as suddenly without any source of income and sustenance is an exercise that each of us should indulge ourselves in once in a while. It can help us to be humble about who we are and appreciative of what we have. Most importantly, it can help us to calculate who in our lives loves us for ourselves and not for what we have or can give to them.

It could happen, that kind of life altering tragedy. A power outage that lasts for several weeks could cause us to turn to our baser instincts in our drive to survive. A pandemic disease of the type that medical science keeps warning us about, one that kills millions of people in a short period of time, could change everything we know about our civilization.

Staying in touch with reality, not the kind that industry wants us to believe but the kind we could use in case of some dire emergency, should be on the agenda of each one of us once in a while.

It tells us who we really are, what we stand for and who would stand with us if the world we know shattered.

Life IS Overcoming Problems

"The problem is not that there are problems. The problem is expecting otherwise and thinking that having problems is a problem."
- Theodore Rubin

So, here's the problem (so to speak). Most of us tend to believe that having problems causes us to remain removed from a better life, one without problems. The problem is not our problems, but what we believe is a better life.

A life without problems is either death or the slippery slope on the way to it. Our bodies and our brains are both built to tackle problems, to face down challenges, to overcome difficulties on the road of life. We are built to struggle.

If we do not struggle with problems or some form of challenges, both physical and mental, on a regular basis, our abilities and our faculties atrophy and degrade until there isn't enough left of us to maintain our health.

Those who do not work all parts of their bodies regularly become achy, lame and weak in their old age or before. Those who do not exericse their brain regularly fall into senility. These are proven facts. For most of us, these failures of our physical and mental abilities in middle and old ages are preventable.

Our immune systems need a good workout, especially when we are young, to develop immunities against various diseases. Our immune systems are built t0 withstand many kinds of illness in childhood and early adulthood so that they will be strong as we get older. In other words, we are designed to get sick as children and adolescents. And to recover, building our immune system's defences as we do so.

Our emotional development is likewise designed for hurt as well as for joy. Those who do not experience much in the way of emotional hurt during their lives do not develop an equal scope for joy and happiness when it presents itself. Emotions are like a pendulum, they swing as far one way as the other. If development of emotions is hampered in one direction, it fails to develop much in the other. People who experience great tragedy and hurt also have the ability to experience joy far greater than those who have "sailed through life."

Don't curse your problems. They give you the opportunity to live life to the fullest, to experience happiness and fulfillment. Without them, your life would be relatively dull.

No one says you should enjoy your problems. That would be a psychological problem in itself. But you can face them with some degree of equanimity knowing that they will pass and happiness will be available to you in the future.

Art Of Correspondence

Art Of Correspondence

Letter writing is one of the oldest arts of communication. And even though it is used most often in business or official dealings, many of us fail to get even basic letter writing right. Here re a few tips.

With rare exceptions and regardless of the subject, the goal in all letter writing should be to keep it short, factual, and to the point. Don’t write more than one page in length, unless necessary.

Detailed information can be relegated to attachment that can be referred to by name in the body of the letter. Stick to the absolute essential facts in the main letter.

Prepare a rough draft before the final. Then carefully review and revise it. Put yourself in the place of addressee. Imagine yourself receiving the letter. How would you react to it? Would it answer all of your questions?

Does it deal with all of the key issues? Are the language and tone appropriate? Read it aloud to check whether the words used sound right.

Check for spelling and grammar mistakes. A letter is a direct reflection of the person sending it, and the organization that person works for. Once you have decided on the final content, run it through a spelling and grammar check. A letter with obvious spelling and grammar mistakes looks unprofessional.

In such cases, the recipient can’t really be blamed for seeing this as an indication as to how you and your organization probably do most other things. Follow these rules to make sure that your letter doesn’t end up in the "read later" pile or a waste paper basket.

• Use simple and appropriate language.
• Use simple straightforward language for clarity and precision.
• Use short sentences.
• Each paragraph should contain not more than three or four sentences.
• Use language and terminology familiar to the intended recipient.

Do not use technical terms and acronyms without explaining them, unless you are certain that the addressee is familiar with them. Now-a-days most business communication is through internet and the same rules can apply. The draft stage can be checked before the final 'send' click.

Body language at work

Body language at work

A person need not always has to speak to convey your feelings. Most of the time person’s body gestures are doing the talking which is even mentioned by cricket commentators while the game is going. While verbal communication has its own impact, it’s the gestures and involuntary movements of body parts or non-verbal communication that convey the strongest messages. The person or persons receiving the communication remember the body gestures (language) more than words. It is true as concluded by many experts in the field.

This is the reason why it is very important to have the right body language when you plan to make an impression or do not wish to be interpreted wrongly in an office environment.

It gives them an insight into the confidence or discomfort of the person communicating. It tells them about how much the person believes in what he is saying and whether he wants to be offensive, defensive or a partner.

What is conveyed through gestures is important because people who don’t know the communicator very well are likely to misinterpret the silent messages the body sends out. That’s why it helps to be aware of and control one’s hand and eye movements and facial expressions.

Facial expressions reflect emotional side – a smile on the face with some relevant content is an effective weapon.

Here are some tips to train your body to- give the right message:

What you say and how you say is important. Conviction and depth in voice assures one’s determination and interest in the subject.

Be confident and relaxed in an office meeting. However, don’t appear to be too relaxed as it gives the impression that you are not interested in what’s going on.

If you are in an interview and want to talk about your achievements, look your interviewer in the eye while talking otherwise the interviewer may doubt your claims.

In prolonged meetings, make sure that your body language doesn’t convey your is like of boredom with the proceedings.

Greet your interviewer or a prospective client with a firm handshake. Limp and clammy hands convey your nervousness.

If you are in a meeting and the other person gets a call, try and look away or appear busy as it gives her a sense of privacy. But do not ask if you should go out of the room.

Beware of using too many hand gestures as they lead people to believe that you are angry or are getting aggressive.

An assertive behavior, go-getter tactics and pleasant appearance is always preferred over a blunt looking, difficult to figure out behavior.

Body Language

Interestingly, while words or verbal communication have their own impact, it’s the gestures and involuntarily movements of body parts i.e. non-verbal communication that conveys the strongest of messages.

Hence, social scientists have given great impetus on understanding body language of people to know exactly their state of mind. In a corporate set up too, HR managers are being trained in grasping the subtle messages that prospective recruits as well as existing employees convey through their hand and body movements.

Even a simple observation as to how a person sits in a chair can convey a lot about his or her personality. Understanding this can help HR managers identify whether the person is right for a particular job or not.

According to studies done by psychologists, over 90% of the communication is done through body language only.

Almost all interviews give importance to body language in evaluating candidature. Some interpretations of body language are ads follows:

• An erect walk conveys confidence.
• Raising eyebrows means probing/interest.
• Tilted head signifies doubt.
• Touching nose with a finger conveys doubt.
• Biting nails is a sign of nervousness.
• Folded hands are a sign of defensiveness.
• Hands in the pockets mean dejection.
• Hands on hips while standing shows aggression.
• Legs crossed while sitting signifies boredom.
• Legs apart while sitting shows you are open.

Psychologists state that when it comes to expressing feeling: 55% of the communication-n consists of body language; 38 % is expressed through tone of voice and only; 7% is communicated through words.

That means we express 93% of our feelings in a non-verbal way. A solid reason to mind the way we gesticulate.

Honesty Goes A Long Way

The Seed

A successful business man was growing old and knew it was time to chose a successor to take over the business. Instead of choosing one of his directors or his children, he decided to do something different.

He called all the young executives in his company together.

"It is time for me to step down and choose the next CEO," he said. "I have decided to choose one of you."

The young executives were shocked, but the boss continued. "I am going to give each one of you a seed today - a very special seed. I want you to plant the seed, water it, and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from the seed I have given you. I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next CEO."

One man, named Jim, was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed.

He went home and excitedly, told his wife the story. She helped him get a pot, soil and compost and he planted the seed.

Every day, he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. After about three weeks, some of the other executives began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow. Jim kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew.

Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by, still nothing. By now, others were talking about their plants, but Jim didn't have a plant and he felt like a failure.

Six months went by - still nothing in Jim's pot. He just knew he had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing. Jim didn't say anything to his colleagues, however. He just kept watering and fertilizing the soil - he so wanted the seed to grow.

A year finally went by and all the young executives of the company brought their plants to the CEO for inspection. Jim told his wife that he wasn't going to take an empty pot. But she asked him to be honest about what happened.

Jim felt sick at his stomach. It was going to be the most embarrassing moment of his life, but he knew his wife was right.

He took his empty pot to the board room. When Jim arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by the other executives. They were beautiful in all shapes and sizes. Jim put his empty pot on the floor and many of his colleagues laughed. A few felt sorry for him!

When the CEO arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted his young executives.

Jim just tried to hide in the back.

"My, what great plants, trees, and flowers you have grown," said the CEO.

"Today one of you will be appointed the next CEO!"

All of a sudden, the CEO spotted Jim at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered the financial director to bring him to the front.

Jim was terrified. He thought, "The CEO knows I'm a failure! Maybe he will have me fired!"

When Jim got to the front, the CEO asked him what had happened to his seed. Jim told him the story.

The CEO asked everyone to sit down except Jim. He looked at Jim, and then announced to the young executives, "Here is your next Chief Executive! His name is Jim!"

Jim couldn't believe it. Jim couldn't even grow his seed. How could he be the new CEO the others said?

Then the CEO said, "One year ago today, I gave everyone in this room a seed.

I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds; they were dead - it was not possible for them to grow.

All of you, except Jim, have brought me trees and plants and flowers.

"When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Jim was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new Chief Executive!"

If you plant honesty, you will reap trust
If you plant goodness, you will reap friends.
If you plant humility, you will reap greatness.
If you plant perseverance, you will reap contentment
If you plant consideration, you will reap perspective.
If you plant hard work, you will reap success.
If you plant forgiveness, you will reap reconciliation.

Branding Decisions

Branding Decisions

Branding is an important strategy to differentiate the product from its competitors. Its a name ,logo ,trade mark, even patent number or package design, intended to identify the firm’s products or services from others. It represents to the customer the source of the product which leads him to associate with the brand. In taking brand decisions, the firm has to consider the target market, cultural influences on the market and the role the brand will play in its business strategy. Foe example, a brand name which is culturally alien will find difficulty in getting accepted in the market, like in the case of Kiss and Tell brand of cosmetics that failed in the Indian market. Besides, a firm has to ensure that a brand name is not banned because it represents either a national leader or the country.

The brand decisions a firm has to take are:

1.Manufacturer’s name ,i.e whether to have its own name on all products ,or
2.Marketing organization/Distributions brand name ;or
3.Adopt a combination of the two.

Manufacturer’s Brand Policy or National Brand Policy

This policy is based on the assumption that the manufacturer had built a reputation in the market, has strength in distribution and the firm had adequate financial resources to establish a new product in the market. Customer confidence in the firm is the prime factor in the manufacturer deciding to brand the production his own name. When the firm markets this product in its own name ,nationally, this may also be called the national brand policy Common examples are all leading national brands of all well known firms in India.

The options available to a firm here are :

1.Family brand name ;or
2.Independent brand name.

The strategy of family brand name works when its name brings positive associations in the mind of the consumer. To the customer ,it represents quality, reliability and assurance of meeting specific standards.

The strategy of an independent brand name is therefore advisable. This can also help to penetrate different markets segments which may buy the firm’s product for different reasons. This strategy can also ensure that the firm doesn’t lose its original position. For example ,if Hindustan Lever would have introduce different detergent powders under the name of Surf for different market segments and differentiated them only on the basis of price it could have run the risk of losing even the original positioning of an economical detergent powder to an economy conscious middle-class housewife

Even in the same market segment ,a firm may offer different brands of the same product but with different benefits and appeal. Consider for example ,Hindustan Levers’ Liril and Lux brand of toilet soaps in the premium market .Lux has traditionally been positioned as a beauty soap while Liril offers benefits of lemon. Thus, an independent brand offers extensive benefits without endangering the corporate image.

Mixed Brand Policy

The two options is for the firm to enter into a strategic alliance with a well-known marketing firm and let it market the product under its brand name in a defined geographical area .The manufacturer also continues to market the product under his own name nationally. This is done to fight regional competition .Consider Kelvinator’s strategy of marketing refrigerators in its own name and also that of others like Blue Star, Leonard and Spencer ,Whirlpool also lets Mirc Electronics market its washing machines under the name ONIDA.

This strategy allows the firm to take benefits of both the options spelt out earlier.
Brand decisions are central to new product launches and have to be carefully taken. These represent investments in future and also the degree of control the manufacturing firm wants over its marketing operation.

Positioning

Another decision in commercialization of a new product is how to differentiate it in the midst of an already over-communicated society of ours, where an average consumer screens out most of the messages .The strategy to differentiate the brand or product is to place it in an appropriate cell of the human mind so that whenever the customer recalls the product, the firm’s brand id the first to be recalled. This strategy is called Positioning .Positioning is the act of communicating company’s offer so that it occupies a distinct and valued place in the customers mind.

The concept of positioning was first advocated by Al Ries and Jack Trout ,two advertising executives in their articles titled The Positioning Era: A View Ten Years Later in Advertising Age in 1972 and later in their book Positioning :The Battle For Your Mind in 1982. According to them :

Positioning is not what you do to a product. But what you do to the mind of the prospect .That is, you position the product in the mind of the prospect.

Ries and Trout believe that marketing is like a war which is fought in the mind of consumers. They advocate that the marketer should perceive each consumer to mentally have a product ladder. The customer often knows brands in the form of this ladder. There is a brand on the top of the ladder (brand leader) and there are others that occupy the second and the third step in this ladder .Sometimes the top slot may be vacant and at other times there may be two or three brands vying for this pr4estigious slot in the customer’s mind .The rush for the top slot is understandable as people remember number one.

Advertising Decisions

Advertising Decisions

Advertising objectives

The starting point in any planning exercise is one of setting the goals or objectives .In evolving an advertising plan, objectives have to be set as they help in measuring the performance of an advertising campaign .It is important for the strategist, to know how the strategy fared and the only way to know is how far did it go to achieve the objectives. Objectives or goals are also necessary to justify financial resources that are required for an advertisement campaign. The only way to counter skeptics s to state what it would cost to achieve a specific objective ,say a 20% increase in awareness in the target audience.

Objectives are also required for coordination purposes .As we have mentioned earlier ,advertising is just one of the communication tools and to achieve desired marketing objective of sale or market share all elements of communication mix must be coordinated .Each element should have both, a short term and a long term goal.

So ,to be meaningful, advertising objectives have to be measurable and communicated .Measurability is important or else performance cannot be evaluated.

Let us consider a few objectives for advertising.

Sales objectives

Marketing’s prime objective is to increase the firm or brand’s sales, market share and profits .Hence marketing activities have to be directed this goal. By the same logic, the advertising goal should also be to increase sales. This goal gives credibility to advertising expenditures and may even subdue the complaints that 50% of advertising expenditure is a waste of money .But this goal for advertising has a problem. As we mentioned, sales is a function of a firm’s marketing mix, competition activity and consumer behavior Hence ,to attribute increase or decrease in sales to advertising alone is like attributing success or failure in a game of football to just one single player, when it is really a team game. Besides, the effect of advertising on sales is lagged one ,in the sense that an advertisement may continue to have a demand pull even after it has been withdrawn. It is never that sales start and end immediately after the campaign has got off the ground or comes to an end. In other words, the impact of an advertising campaign may not be known for certain until considerable time has passed. According to one of the researches for frequently purchased consumer non-durable products like soft dinks, tea ,coffee toiletries, etc, the effect of an advertising exposure can take upto nine months to get dissipated.

Typically, an advertising campaign mat attract new customers to the brand, or it might help develop more positive attitudes in the target market towards the brand or may even generate trial purchases. All these together will lead to an increase in the brands; sales. Isolating these effects and conclusively show that the advertising campaign has led to an increase in sales is a difficult proposition.

In case of financial instruments advertising or the direct marketing campaign or even individual classified advertisements—the kind one often sees in the print media ,the results are more tangible.
Thus ,but for the above situations ,it is perhaps incorrect to define advertising goals in terms of sales.

Sardar and Cancer

Sardar and Cancer

Santa Singh went to his doctor after a long illness. The doctor, after a lengthy examination, sighed and looked Santa Singh in the eye and said, "I've some bad news for you... you have cancer and it can't be cured. I'd give you two weeks to a month."

Santa Singh, shocked and saddened by the news, but of solid character, managed to compose himself and walk from the doctor's office into the waiting room. There he saw his son who had been waiting. Santa Singh said, "Puttar, we Surds celebrate when things are good and celebrate when things don't go so well. In this case, things aren't so well. I have cancer and I've been given a short time to live. Let's head for the pub and have a few pints." After three or four pints, the two were feeling a little less somber.

There were some laughs and more beers. They were eventually approached by some of Santa Singh's old friends who asked what the two were celebrating. Santa Singh told them that the Surds celebrate the good and the bad. He went on to tell them that they were drinking to his impending end. He told his friends "I've only got few weeks to live as I have been diagnosed with AIDS."

The friends gave Santa Singh their condolences and they had a couple more beers. After his friends left, Santa Singh's son leaned over and whispered his confusion, "Dad, I thought you said that you were dying from cancer? You just told your friends that you were dying from AIDS!"

Santa Singh said, " I am dying from cancer, puttar. I just don't want any of them around your mother after I'm gone."

Developed vs Developing Markets

Developed vs Developing Markets

The needs of the emerging or developing world represent huge potential markets for food, clothing, shelter, consumer electronics, appliances and other goods. Many market leaders are rushing into Eastern Europe, China, and India. Colgate now draws more personal and household products business from Latin America than North America

The developed nations and the prosperous parts of developing parts of developing nations account for less than 15% of the world’s population. Is there a way for marketers to serve the other 85%, which has much less purchasing power? Successfully entering developing markets requires a special set of skills and plans. Consider how the following companies are pioneering ways to serve these invisible consumers:

Grameen Phone markets cell phones to 35,000 villages in Bangladesh by hiring village women as agents who lease phone time to other villagers, one call at a time.

Colgate Palmolive rolls into Indian villages with video vans that show the benefits of tooth-brushing; it expects to earn over half of its Indian revenue from rural areas.

An Indian-Australian car manufacturer created an affordable rural transport vehicle to compete with bullock carts rather than cars. The vehicle functions well at low speeds and carries up to two tons.

Fiat developed a "third-world car," the Palio, that far outsells the Ford Fiesta in Brazil and that will be launched in other developing nations.

Corporacion GEO builds low income housing in Mexico. The two-bedroom homes are modular and can be expanded. The company is now moving into Chile and southern U.S. communities.

A Latin American building supply retailer offers bags of cement in smaller sizes to customers building their own homes.

These marketers are able to capitalize on the potential of developing markets by changing their conventional marketing practices to sell their products and services more effectively. It cannot be business as usual when selling in developing markets. Economic and cultural differences abound; a marketing infrastructure may barely exist; and local competition can be surprisingly stiff. In China, PC maker Legend and mobile phone provider TCL have thrived despite strong foreign competition. Besides their close grasp on Chinese tastes, they also have their vast distribution networks especially in rural areas.

Smaller packaging and lower sales prices are often critical in markets where incomes are limited. Hindustan Unilever’s 4-cent sachets of detergent and shampoo have been a big hit in rural India, where 70% of the country’s population still lives. When Coke moved to a smaller 200ml bottle in India, selling for 10 to 12 cents in small shops, bus-stop stalls, and roadside eateries sales jumped. A western image can also be helpful as Coke discovered in China. Part of its success against local cola brand Jianlibao was due to its symbolic values of modernity and affluence.

Recognizing that its cost structure made it difficult to compete effectively in developing markets, Procter & gamble devised cheaper, clever ways to make the right kinds of products to suit consumer demand. It now uses contract manufacturers in certain markets and gained eight points in Russia for Always feminine protection pads by responding to consumer wishes for a thicker pad. Due to a boom in consumer spending, Russia has been the fastest growing market for many major multinationals including Nestle, L’Oreal, and IKEA.

The challenge is to think creatively about how marketing can fulfill the dreams of most of the world’s population for a better standard of living. Many companies are betting that they can do that.

After launching Buick in China in 1999, GM poured more than $2 billion into the region over the next five years, expanding the lineup to 14 models, ranging from the $8,000 Chevrolet Spark mini car to high-end Cadillacs. Although competition in the third largest car market is fierce, GM was able to secure 11% market share in 2004 and reap sizable profits. But initial gains in the Chinese market do not necessarily spell long term success. After investing to establish the markets, foreign pioneers in television sets and motorcycles saw domestic Chinese firms emerge as rivals. In 1995, virtually all mobile phones in China were made by global giants Nokia, Motorola, and Ericsson. Within 10 years, their market share had dropped to 60%. To secure and build on its gains, General Motors pledged to invest another $3 billion in the region to boost capacity and build its reputation.

Credit Cards

Credit Cards

When applying for a credit card it is always a good idea to know your personal credit score, since this will affect your ability to negotiate beneficial terms for your credit. If your credit score is poor – e.g. due to unpaid bills, a habit of paying your bills to late or an earlier filing for bankruptcy – you will most likely end up with a high interest credit card, if your application is accepted at all. If your credit card score is poor, it is therefore advisable to try to rebuild you credit score.

You might already have received a lot of different credit card offers through the mail, on the Internet or from credit card promoters in malls or on campuses. Simply choosing the credit card company that has the flashiest online commercial or the one that is handing out balloons at your local mall every Saturday may however not be the wisest decision. Always compare several credit card offers before you make up your mind. The credit card that is ideal for you friend might be highly unsuitable for you, your financial situation and your lifestyle. Do not only choose among the credit card companies that shower you in commercials and promotional gift. Instead, you should always contact your bank and ask about their credit card offers for long time customers. By applying for a credit card from a bank that knows your financial history and current economical situation you might be able to negotiate a better deal. This is however not a strict rule, and you should always compare the offer from your bank with offers from other credit card companies.

The credit card application will usually be sent to you by ordinary mail, since you need to sign it. Today, there is also the possibility to apply online or over the phone. Be very careful when you fill in a credit card application, regardless of if it is to be mailed, transmitted online or over the phone. You will share highly personal information in your application and you do not want this information to end up in the wrong hands. There are many examples of dishonest websites gathering personal information from unsuspecting individuals. This information is then used for fraudulent undertakings and can seriously harm your financial situation. In cases of severe identity theft, you could even face charges and it can take a long time to establish that you are in fact innocent and that someone else have been using your name, address, social security number etcetera.

Only fill out credit card applications for credit cards that you actually need. Filling out applications as a “test” or to get some promotional gizmo is unadvisable since each application will be noted on your personal credit record. Having a large amount of different credits can make creditors perceive you as a high risk person. Having a lot of different credit cards is also generally a bad idea, unless you know from experience that you are a very neat and organized person that will keep track of all your different debts regardless of how many credit cards you use. Only use several credit cards if you actually gain something from it.

Resume for a job

Resume for a job

While one page resumes are surely nice to see, they are not always a rule. Once you’ve had one or two jobs, coupled with your credentials, education, professional affiliations, and so on, you’re easily on two pages. This is perfectly acceptable and very much the norm.

While you succeed in cramming more content in less space, you’re compromising on the readability of your resume and overloading the reader with too much information. If you have trouble reading your own resume, recruiters too will. A 12 – point type size and a one-inch margin all around is the norm. For extra space, you can slightly reduce the top and bottom margins or reduce the volume of information but never reduce type size or font.

Just about any resume even one used with success before can benefit from careful scrutiny and periodic revision. Your resume mirrors your career graph and should evolve as you do. In addition to acquiring new skills, experiences, and accomplishments, you may have shifted in your professional focus or interests. Perhaps you have gained insights into what employers are really looking for in your line of work.

Above all, your resume should be revised so that it is tailored to the employer who will receive it. Even if you have little to add in the way of content, you can always improve your resume by refocusing it on the specifics of the position you are seeking, and by strengthening its wording and overall appearance.

Objectives are fast becoming a thing of the past. Why? Because everyone’s objective says almost the same thing: "Looking for a position where I can use all my skills and experience in a challenging environment with opportunities for advancement where I can deliver high quality work"?. The sentence is vague and meaningless. And even if you provide specifics, you will need to modify your resume every time you look for another type of job. Mention your particular interests in your cover letter instead.

This is another interesting item that many of us seem to be attached to. In truth, if prospective employers want references, they will ask. Usually, it is understood that you will have references, which you will provide if asked. Eliminate it as a way to un-clutter your resume.

Don’t let misconceptions come in between your resume and your next important job opportunity. Much of resume writing style is based on hearsay rather than expert advice.

TRAINING AIDS AND ADVANTAGES – EMPLOYEE TRAINING

TRAINING AIDS AND ADVANTAGES – EMPLOYEE TRAINING

Films, Slides, Projectors, Movies, Stills
Charts, Graphs, Flash Cards, Flannel Boards, Pictograms
Pamphlets, Brochures, Handbooks, Manuals
Libraries and Reading Rooms
Teaching Machines, Closed Circuit TV.
Exhibits ,Posters and Displays.
Notice Boards, Bulletin Boards, Enlarged Drawings.
Cartoons, Comic Books, Books.

Follow –up

The final step in most training procedures is that of follow-up .When people are involved in any problem or procedure,it is unwise to assume that things are always constant.Follow-up can be adopted to a variable reinforcement schedule in the discussion of learning principles .The follow-up system should provide feed-back on training effectiveness and on total value of training system shown below

Advantages of Training

The contribution of imparting training to a company should be readily apparent .The major values are:

1.Increased Productivity: An increase in skill usually results in an increment in both quality and quantity of output. However, the increasingly technical nature of modern jobs demands systematic training to make possible even minimum levels of accomplishment.

2.Heightened Morale: Possession of needed skills help to meet such basic human needs as security and ego satisfaction .Collaborate personnel and human relations programs can make a contribution toward morale ,but they are hollow shells if there is no solid core of meaningful work down with knowledge , skill and pride

3.Reduced Supervision The trained employee is one who can perform with limited supervision. Both employee and supervisor want less supervision but greater independence is not possible unless the employee is adequately trained.

4.Reduced Accidents: More accidents are caused by deficiencies in people than by deficiencies in equipment and working conditions. Proper training in both job skills and safety attitudes should contribute toward a reduction in the accident rate.

5.Increased Organizational Stability: The ability of an organization to sustain its effectiveness despite the loss of key personnel , can be developed only through creation of a reservoir of employees. Flexibility , the ability to adjust to short-run variations in the volume of work requires personnel with multiple skills to permit their transfer to jobs where the demand is highest.

Indian stock market

Indian stock market

The working of stock exchanges in India started in 1875. BSE is the oldest stock market in India. The history of Indian stock trading starts with 318 persons taking membership in Native Share and Stock Brokers Association, which we now know by the name Bombay Stock Exchange or BSE in short. In 1965, BSE got permanent recognition from the Government of India. National Stock Exchange comes second to BSE in terms of popularity. BSE and NSE represent themselves as synonyms of Indian stock market. The history of Indian stock market is almost the same as the history of BSE.

The 30 stock sensitive index or Sensex was first compiled in 1986. The Sensex is compiled based on the performance of the stocks of 30 financially sound benchmark companies. In 1990 the BSE crossed the 1000 mark for the first time. It crossed 2000, 3000 and 4000 figures in 1992. The reason for such huge surge in the stock market was the liberal financial policies announced by the then financial minister Dr. Man Mohan Singh.

The up-beat mood of the market was suddenly lost with Harshad Mehta scam. It came to public knowledge that Mr. Mehta, also known as the big-bull of Indian stock market diverted huge funds from banks through fraudulent means. He played with 270 million shares of about 90 companies. Millions of small-scale investors became victims to the fraud as the Sensex fell flat shedding 570 points.

To prevent such frauds, the Government formed The Securities and Exchange Board of India, through an Act in 1992. SEBI is the statutory body that controls and regulates the functioning of stock exchanges, brokers, sub-brokers, portfolio managers investment advisors etc. SEBI oblige several rigid measures to protect the interest of investors. Now with the inception of online trading and daily settlements the chances for a fraud is nil, says top officials of SEBI.

Sensex crossed the 5000 mark in 1999 and the 6000 mark in 2000. The 7000 mark was crossed in June and the 8000 mark on September 8 in 2005. Many foreign institutional investors (FII) are investing in Indian stock markets on a very large scale. The liberal economic policies pursued by successive Governments attracted foreign institutional investors to a large scale. Experts now believe the sensex can soar past 14000 mark before 2010.

The unpredictable behavior of the market gave it a tag – ‘a volatile market.’ The factors that affected the market in the past were good monsoon, Bharatiya Janatha Party’s rise to power etc. The result of a cricket match between India and Pakistan also affected the movements in Indian stock market. The National Democratic Alliance led by BJP, during 2004 public elections unsuccessfully tried to ride on the market sentiments to power. NDA was voted out of power and the sensex recorded the biggest fall in a day amidst fears that the Congress-Communist coalition would stall economic reforms. Later prime minister Man Mohan Singh’s assurance of ‘reforms with a human face’ cast off the fears and market reacted sharply to touch the highest ever mark of 8500.

India, after United States hosts the largest number of listed companies. Global investors now ardently seek India as their preferred location for investment. Once viewed with skepticism, stock market now appeals to middle class Indians also. Many Indians working in foreign countries now divert their savings to stocks. This recent phenomenon is the result of opening up of online trading and diminished interest rates from banks. The stockbrokers based in India are opening offices in different countries mainly to cater the needs of Non Resident Indians. The time factor also works for the NRIs. They can buy or sell stock online after returning from their work places.

The recent incidents that led to growing interest among Indian middle class are the initial public offers announced by Tata Consultancy Services, Maruti Udyog Limited, ONGC and big names like that. Good monsoons always raise the market sentiments. A good monsoon means improved agricultural produce and more spending capacity among rural folk. The bullish run of the stock market can be associated with a steady growth of around 6% in GDP, the growth of Indian companies to MNCs, large potential of growth in the fields of telecommunication, mass media, education, tourism and IT sectors backed by economic reforms ensure that Indian stock market continues its bull run.

Organizations must be family friendly

Organizations must be family friendly

Employees today are asking for a workplace that helps them balance the demands of their work and family lives, rather than forcing them to choose one over the other. Organizations have also accepted that among the many other aspirations of employees, the most important is one that seeks to be able to ‘provide well’ for their families Amongst the many schemes that organizations have introduced for their employees, having special schemes for their children is the latest addition. While some are offering various schemes like scholarships, medical benefits, and training some young kids to accompany their mothers to work. Many organizations boast of instances where they have gone out of their way to extend special help to the child of a particular employee.

At NIIT, one would witness various examples of how these commitments have been actually put into practice. Little NIITian is a special name given to the kids of NIITians (read: employees), who are a special part of NIIT. The company’s ‘calendar’ is dotted with many fun activities which encourage active participation from these little ones. No matter what the occasion, if it touches and concerns a NIITians or his / her family, the company tries to be a part of it. Amongst the many schemes which the company offers towards employee welfare, the one which was found most special was the one wherein on the birth of a little NIITian, the company contributes a sum as investment in the name of the new born. NIIT also has schemes like ‘Little NIITian Care Leave (LNCL)’ under which, the NIITians can avail half time working hours on half pay, to take care of a child at home. The leave can be utilized for a maximum of six months period for half days till the child is one year old.

High expectation levels, increasing attrition rates and increasing demand for work life balance has forced organizations to look beyond run of the mill HR interventions. Objective is to create ‘Home away from Home’, an atmosphere where the basic needs of employees are met and they don’t have to be bothered about the daily routine tasks. Under the ‘Child Care Support’ scheme that the company offers, crèches, workplace nurseries, out-of-school care, holiday play schemes and after school clubs are included Similarly, Cellebrum proposes to have scholarship programs, wherein the child of a meritorious and tenured employee with good academic records will be given scholarship fees based on the company’s policy. “Cellebrum has already initiated tie ups with various schools / institutes to take care of the child’s admission at the time of relocation. There is also a ‘Career Counseling Cell’ which provides in-house career counseling options for children of employees.

Amongst the various schemes that 24/7 Customer has initiated for the families of its employees, some of the most prominent ones include ‘Family insurance Scheme’, ‘Employee Welfare Fund’,’ Family Oriented Reward Program’, ‘Reward & Recognition,’ ‘Parents Day’ and ‘Daycare Centre’. 24/7 Customer is the only BPO in India to provide extended insurance to the employee and their families (employee plus four dependents). Under the ‘Employee Welfare Fund’, employees in any kind of medical emergency or need can avail it as a loan. There are instances when one of the family members of an employee had to undergo a major surgery and the amount from this scheme proved to be very helpful. Every month, on Parents Day, the family members of employees are invited to spend a day with their children/spouse/sibling.

Multinational Corporations

Multinational Corporations

Multinational corporations (MNCs) have their headquarters in one country but their operations are in many countries. Of the ten largest multinational industrial corporations, ranked by 1985 sales, eight are American. The ten are (1) General Motors, (2) Exxon, (3) Royal Dutch / Shell Group (Dutch-English), (4) Mobil, (5) British Petroleum (English), (6) Ford Motor Company, (7) International Business Machines (IBM), (8) Texaco (9) Chevron, and (10) American Telephone and Telegraph.

In its early stages, international business was conducted with an ethnocentric outlook; that is, the orientation and type of operation was based on that of the parent company. The polycentric attitude, on the other hand, is based on the notion that it is best to give foreign subsidiaries, staffed by local nationals, a great deal of managerial freedom. It is assumed that nationals have the best understanding of the local environment. Region-centric orientation favors the staffing of foreign operations on a regional basis. Thus, a European view may be composed of British, French, German, and Italian influences. The modern multinational corporation has a geocentric orientation. This means that the total organization is viewed as an interdependent system operating in many countries. The relationships between headquarters and subsidiaries are collaborative, with communication flowing in both directions. Further more key positions are filled by managers of different nationalities. In short, the orientation of the multi-national corporation is truly and goes beyond a narrow nationalistic view point.

Multinational corporations have several advantages over firms that have a domestic orientation. Obviously, the MNC can take advantage of business opportunities in many different countries. It can also raise money for its operations throughout the world. Moreover, multinational firms benefit by being able to establish production facilities in countries where their products can be produced most effectively and efficiently. Companies with worldwide sometimes have access to natural resources and material that may not be available to domestic firms. Finally, the large MNCs can recruit management and personnel from a world wide labor pool.

Despite the increasing competition and the cost advantages of some foreign corporations, a number of US companies have done very well in the international environment.

Fortune studied a number of large companies that earn more than 20% of their revenues from overseas operations. The reasons for the success of these firms differ greatly. IBM’s size makes it possible to dominate the market. Coca-Cola is very adept at opening up new markets rather rapidly. McDonald’s on the other hand, does not rush into the market but carefully assesses the potential for success. Hewlett Packard and Boeing bring foreign managers to the United States to expose them to their organizational culture.

The MNCs that were studied structure their organization very carefully to suit the needs of each individual country. In addition, these firms are flexible in their product design and marketing. It should also be noted that the operations abroad were largely managed by foreign nationals.

Managerial Functions in International Business:

Evidence shows that management fundamentals may be applicable in different countries. However, the practice of carrying out the managerial functions of planning, organizing, staffing, leading, and controlling differs considerably in domestic and international enterprises.

Planning requires setting objectives and then selecting strategies, policies, programs, and procedures for achieving them. A critically important activity for the MNC is the assessment of opportunities and threats in the external environment. This is a complex task even for a domestic enterprise, but it becomes much intricate when many different, ever changing world markets must be scanned.

External threats and opportunities must be matched with the internal strengths and weakness of the firm. For example, a poor educational system makes it difficult to find qualified personnel. Similarly, cultural orientation towards time will affect planning. Specifically, cultural attitudes that emphasize a short time perspective will not be conducive to long range planning. Finally, political and economic instability in a country makes it difficult to forecast and will discourage long term commitment of resources.

Overcoming Office irritations

Overcoming Office irritations

Employees of some companies have to face unfortunate situations to be working in a company where on the pretence of providing a better work life, all the employer does is serve a birthday cake or allows a 15 minute break in the recreation room daily.

Well, practices may not be bad, but they will definitely not turn ones workplace a place where one wants to be for a long time. If one loves what he is doing and want to continue in the same place for a long time, then here are few things one can try to make to be happy at work.

An employee must get himself assigned to a project. He can go to his boss and suggest a project of his interest and which will further enhance company’s progress as well. If one loves talking to people, a research project can be suggested.

An employee can tell the employer that to keep ahead of competitors he wants to do research and find out the need of customers and solution to solve their problems. This will give a chance to step out and speak to people and the employee can interact with people on line or simply get busy on the telephone or go and meet them.

Sometimes it is just not the day when one feels like going to work. If that’s the case and if ones work permits then all one has to do is work from home. Do the work in the same fashion as watching TV or play with ones child and send in reports twice in a day. If ones boss resists, explain that this style of working is helping him get the work done efficiently and could not attend work because of minor health problem.

Jump into multi tasking: If one does not like some aspects of his job, then he can try to find out if one can exchange his assignments with a colleague with mutual consent and employer’s permission. Weakness of an individual can be someone else’s strength and vice-a-versa. By exchanging job assignments the work is done efficiently while both the colleague and the employer can be happy with the results.

An individual’s colleagues at work must know that he enjoys listening to others and likes to help them. One will find that there are many at his workplace who will appreciate an ear where they can unburden their worries and take a breather. This will enable him to get a whole hearted cooperation from all his colleagues at the work place and he can discharge his duties not only successfully but much faster.

One never knows but he may end up making a close friend in the deal and find himself enjoying at work. Take the newfound friend to lunch or catch up for a drink after work. This will help one unwind and relax.

Change work environment makes an employee feel more like home and he will enjoy working at his desk or cubicle for eight hours. Adding colors, pictures or favorite items to work-desk energize him and give positive vibes, helping to do the job to the best of ones ability.

And, if after doing all this one is still unhappy at work maybe it’s time to look for a new job.

Changing a job is possible up to certain age and beyond that companies may not be in a position to absorb experienced people until and unless they are being considered for a top management positions. If a senior person is having professional reputation he can soung a few consultants indicating his desire to change that too it becomes essential. Otherwise a senior management person must have the art of getting along under all circumstances in the work environment. Otherwise he would not have reached that position at all. The organization under normal circumstances would not like to lose any top level person say a General Manager or Executive director. But for the junior and middle management cadres we have suggested tackiling the problems in the above paragraphs.

Interviews can reveal candidates’ market value

Interviews can reveal candidates’ market value

Interviewing for a new job can reveal the true market value of an individual’s skills and experience—if he is well prepared to negotiate his salary

Everybody loves a good pay hike. Since he is highly unlikely to get as many increments in a year as he may like, he might consider switching jobs. He may figure that a new employer would value him more, and send off a resume. How well prepared will he be when it’s time to talk about money?

The interview is going the individual’s way, and he is able to impress everyone. Then the human resource (HR) manager shoots the big question: how much remuneration he is expecting? Usually, money is discussed only when the interview reaches the negotiation stage.

The candidate’s answer to that question can make or break the deal. HR managers believe it’s a loaded question. During the negotiation stage, managers rate him for individual personal qualities on the basis of the remuneration he demands. While the individual is justifying his demand, the managers are assessing his mindset towards money, as well as rating his knowledge, self-assurance and understanding of the current demand-supply scenario for jobs in the industry.

How much to ask for? In most people-oriented industries where retaining employees is tough, a hike of 25-30% above an individual previous salary is acceptable. Yet HR managers are not necessarily put off by interviewees who ask for more than the industry norm.

It is expected the interviewee to have given good thought about how much his paycheck should be. People should be asking for remuneration according to their abilities, liabilities and future goals. Their salaries should help them move forward in life.

Their demand will not always be in tandem with industry standards, but that should not deter them from asking what they think they deserve. Lying about an individual’s previous salary is not at all recommended in fact prohibited. Many people resort to this, since the higher salary at the new job would be based on the previous salary. Not only is lying legally and morally unacceptable, but it is also unlikely to work if he is seeking to switch to a reputed company. For most companies, it is now the norm to ask for an individual previous salary slip, Form 16, and reference letters from people in the individual’s field of work.

Some multinationals in fields like real estate, where salaries are sky-high, even hiring a third party investigator to check on the credentials of new recruits. In such a scenario, an individual’s best option and one that is legally unimpeachable is to switch jobs after getting an increment at his old job. Salary structure today is decided on a “cost to company” basis. This means companies look at the total expenses they would incur on an employee which include medical expenses, leave travel allowance, and sometimes even office space.

Trying to decipher exactly how much cash will actually flow into an individual hands may seem confusing at first glance, as he run down the list of sub-heads like car fuel, entertainment, attire, and other allowances. It is, of course, a good idea to make the effort to understand the salary structure. But if he really wants to save all the fretting, let the new employer know the “take home” that he would like each month.

Leave the fine tuning to the accounts department. Tax benefits Interaction with the accounts department, however, is inevitable, because a candidate needs to know the tax implications of his salary. Employees are often so engrossed in their jobs that they forget to inform the accounts department about their investments, home loans, and so on. Then they get a surprise when they see the tax deductions in their first paycheck.

When a individual joins a new company, he needs to declare the tax benefits he is eligible for. Proof of those investments can come later, so long as it is before the end of the financial year. Cash in hand depends on ones ever growing needs— a house, a car, a better lifestyle. Having more cash in hand is becoming an imperative, leading to a new trend among employees to prefer cash in hand, rather than gratuity and provident fund (PF) contributions by the employer.
Employee stock ownership plans have lost some of their allure, because of the fringe benefit tax on the profit, starting from this year. This is paving the way for higher take-home salaries.
There is more good than bad in going for interviews. Interviews that reach the monetary negotiations stage enable one to know his market value. Some interviewees may go ahead and accept the offer for a new job. And others will use their new-found market value to get that elusive pay hike from their existing company.

BPO policies- what works

BPO policies- what works

The biggest challenge that HR managers working for BPO companies face is that of attrition. How to tackle attrition? Which HR policies work best? To start with, there are no easy answers. Nor should we expect any standard policy package to work for all companies. Each company needs to work out the HR policy package that would work best given the company’s specific character. A few general guidelines can, however, be suggested.

It is first necessary to point out that in the Indian BPO industry, attrition is more of a problem in voice operations and not so much in non-voice operations. Second, most Indian BPO companies operate in the low-end of the information food chain or the low end of the knowledge spectrum and rates of attrition are highest in these firms and, therefore, they pose a problem for HR managers. Attrition is not really a problem in high-end BPOs. Thus, the problem of attrition is most acute in call centres and, therefore, what we really need is a policy package to tackle attrition in these firms.

Many HR managers in such firms believe that high rates of attrition in Indian call centres are a phenomenon peculiar to India. It is not so. Various studies have shown that if the average rate of attrition in Indian call centres is in the region of 30-35 per cent, it is around 25-30 per cent in the US or UK. Moreover, in call centres in other countries competing with India (for example Philippines) the attrition rate is again at least as high as it is in India. Thus, high rates of attrition is a kind of given in the call centre industry around the world.

Studies show that Indian BPO firms which have been able to tackle the problem of attrition successfully adopt policies which can be grouped into two basic categories:
(a) policies that are based on the basic strategy of “learning to live with it”, and
(b) policies that are based on the basic strategy of “learning to tackle it”.
The emphasis in the first group of policies is on constant recruitment and training and not on retention while in the second group of policies the emphasis is on retention rather than on constant recruitment and training.

Studies also show that in call centres, the basic strategy of “Learning to live with it” works best while the basic strategy of “Learning to tackle it” works best for non-voice operations and in firms engaged in high end processes. In call centres, adopting a basic strategy that emphasizes retention can be suicidal because however much HR managers may try, call centres will have high attrition rates. Hence, spending too much on retention will only result in hiking costs and thereby eroding the very cost arbitrage that is the basis of the call centre business while it will not help in reducing the attrition rate appreciably. On the other hand, if the emphasis is on constant recruitment and training, costs can be kept down without affecting operations even if the attrition rate is in the region of 30-35 per cent.

Studies also show that one third of all attrition in call centres are because of high stress levels and the desire to pursue higher education or alternative occupations while two thirds can be attributed to better job opportunities in the industry. In short, a large majority of people quitting go to another call centre. This is the reason why many call centre HR managers fall into the trap of putting emphasis on retention thinking that if they can implement good retention policies then the two thirds of the people going to other call centres for better job prospects would not do so. These HR managers fail to realize that irrespective of the retention policies, two thirds of the people will still leave for better job prospects and that beyond a point spending more on retention would only eat into margins and erode the basic profitability of the business.

In this context some facts are worth noting:

(a) most Indian call centres need no more than graduates and there is no dearth of graduates in India so that there is no basic shortage of manpower as long as the call centre company does not make the mistake of recruiting over qualified people for their operations. Such over qualified people will leave anyway after a few days or weeks once they realize that their expectations do not match with the reality.

(b) Most Indian call centres need to train people for no more than three months to get them to become fully productive as long as the raw recruit had basic English language skills, especially verbal communication skills. Moreover, in many low-end processes where the script is given by the client and agents have almost no discretion, even basic skills of communication in English is not required since almost anybody can be trained to read a prepared script with a certain specific accent and diction. Hence constant recruitment and training is cost-effective even with attrition rates of around 30-35 per cent.

(c) In most Indian call centres, the majority of the agents are in the age group 18-26 and their focus is on the here and now. Such employees prefer to get their entire compensation in cash and not through such rubrics as provident fund, medical cover, superannuation benefits etc. Hence, call centres need to structure their compensation package in a way that most of the benefits go to the employee in the form of cash or through such things as company credit cards, easy car/housing/consumer durable loans, club membership etc. For this reason, proprietory firms have an edge over corporates as it is easier for proprietory firms to structure a pay package with a larger “here and now” cash component.

(d) Since most employees are young they are emotionally less stable than older employees and are prone to switch jobs for the most trivial reasons. Instead of spending a lot through higher pay packages in a bid to retain talent, call centres would do well to concentrate on constant counseling at the workplace to help young employees realize the virtues of patience and the fact that even a call centre job can lead to a long term career.

(e) Again instead of continually increasing the pay package, call centres would do well to try and create opportunities for upward mobility not just through scaling up of operations but also through moving up the value chain in terms of processes handled (this should anyway be a strategic goal for any BPO unit irrespective of whether it is facing a problem of attrition or not).

(f) The usual stress busting mechanisms should be in place – work should be fun – partying, get togethers, sporting events, facilities for yoga and aerobics exercises, good food and cafeteria facilities, etc help in a big way to retain younger people.

Space limitations do not permit a fuller discussion, but some of the basic issues have been covered above. From what has been said so far it should be obvious that what kind of policies a firm must choose to tackle attrition depends a great deal on the kind of processes it is handling. The problem of attrition is highest in the firms engaged in low end processes while those engaged in high end processes do not have so much of a problem. Also, while firms engaged in low-end processes would do well to adopt the basic strategy of “learning to live with it”, firms engaged in high-end processes would do better by adopting the basic strategy of “Learning to tackle it”. For those adopting the second strategy, talent retention policies would tend to be similar to standard policies adopted by most companies such as a fast track promotion policy, frequent hikes in the compensation package etc. For firms engaged in low end processes, the key to success is to realize that emphasis on retention will not work and, therefore, it is better to concentrate on constant recruitment and training.

Interview questionnaires

Interview questionnaires

When a wide geographical coverage is required and a large number of people have to be contacted, the most efficient and convenient method is to collect data through mail/web questionnaires. The Researcher or Surveyor (RS) can send thousands of questionnaires at a comparatively low cost. Since RS cannot seek further clarification as in the case of interviews, RS should take utmost pains in preparing the questionnaire.

The following hints will be of help:

1. Each question should be clearly framed and should seek to elicit the information related to the topic of RS report.
2. It should be precise and not vague. For example, if RS askS, “Do you see films regularly,” RS’s respondent will not understand what RS means by ‘regularly’. And suppose he says ‘yes’ how will this answer help RS? But if RS says, “How often in a month do you see a movie?” he will understand what RS wants to know and his answer will be precise and useful.
3. Avoid leading questions – questions which suggest or anticipate answers and thus conditions or prejudice the respondent’s mind. For example. “Do you read The Hindustan Times?” is an attempt to lead the respondent. A better question to ask would be, “Which daily newspaper do you read?
4. As in the case of interviews, do not ask any questions which may embarrass the respondent. Questions about sex habits, religious beliefs, personal income etc are better avoided. When RS have to write a report touching on such matters, obtain the consent of the respondent beforehand if possible and keep the information secure and confidential. In all situations avoid asking questions which may hurt the respondent’s self respect pride or ego.
5. Since RS are making a demand on the time of strangers, ensure that questions are easy to answer and the questionnaire is brief and convenient to handle. Leave plenty of space in it for answers. It would be irritating for the respondent to find that he cannot write what he wants. Often questionnaires remain unanswered because of this defect.
6. Arrange RS’s questions in a logical order and get them cyclostyled or printed neatly. Mail the questionnaire in an attractive envelope along with a covering letter, courteously seeking the respondent’s cooperation and help. In many respects this letter should be similar to a sales letter. It should be able to attract the respondent’s attention, make him feel important and induce him to fill in the questionnaire and return it to RS promptly. Courtesy demands that RS should enclose a postage paid envelope for reply.

BPO Policies: 5 Emerging Trends

BPO Policies: 5 Emerging Trends

Watch out for the next three years! A turbulent phase of global consolidation and aggregation should see Indian BPOs and KPOs emerge bigger and stronger. Some may even become MNCs and global industry leaders. Human resources will, however, be the key challenge at the industry level as well as for the individual HR professional. Successful HR managers will have to be prepared for five emerging trends.

Deepak Wadhwan, consulting advisor, KPMG, points out in an article in The Economic Times a few key trends which he claims may get overlooked. The top five are:

• The next three years will see a lot of mergers and acquisitions in BPO space worldwide.
• Most new voice/data BPOs will be at least 1000 seaters while KPOs serving any specific domain, 100 seaters.
• Attrition will rise in the middle and top levels leading to a talent war.
• Most top Indian BPO/KPO companies would have multicultural/multinational operations/workforce.
• Bottomline: Those who focus on brand building will perform, others will perish.

HR managers who are better prepared to handle these trends are more likely to perform rather than perish. That means, they must be prepared for:

1. M&As
2. Scalability
3. Talent War
4. Multicultural Ops
5. Brand Building

Not that all factors will be applicable to all organisations in BPO/KPO space. Each business will have its own strengths and opportunities and weaknesses and threats. The individual HR manager too has to asses what his/her organization specifically needs. A proactive manager will try to outguess the board and keep some plans ready even before they are actually asked for.
An M&A human resource impact study keeping in mind any one/several possible victims/predators in mind is a good example. M&As are complex and traumatic affairs from a HR point of view. In case one’s organization has any chance of becoming a participant in any M&A event in the near future, a little early planning can prove to be a big help.

Similarly, being all ready to ramp up overnight, as it were, due to some early preparation on your part, can only earn you kudos from the guys who matter. The same can be said about each of the other big trends such as the possibility of talent war or multicultural and multinational operations. The key issue is to correctly asses which way your own organization is headed and then to be specifically prepared for it.

Some companies will not bother much about brand building – either because they don’t need it or care for it, for some reason or the other – but most others would do so. That would mean an additional set of headaches for HR professionals. Apart from the many intangible values that add up to create robust brand equities, some very necessary and tangible aspects are getting certifications of various kinds, following industry best practices and maintaining/improving delivery standards. Achieving these goals will require constant development of HR systems and processes. In plain English that simply means more work for the HR professionals.

Managing human resources in an HR and knowledge intensive BPO/KPO industry was never easy, but with a period of turbulence about to set in, its just going to get tougher! But then being forewarned is being forearmed – just ride out the storm.