how do you ?

how do you retain people; or rather why do people leave the organisation. many reasons have been sited, bad manager; career growth; emoluments; lack of challenging work... the list is endless. in the past long service was the norm now frequent jaunts has become the norm.

what is so significantly different has happended that has made the difference. some say the globalisation; some say internet. however I have observed the professional internet groups have accelerated the migratory trend. And why not, each one of us, including you have the prerogative to the best and life is about striving to get the best.

number game

waiting for an elevator and in the que was something I was not prepared for. However we had no other option but to que and wait for the elevator to reach the 26th floor. on calling up our contact he said come over to 35th floor. once again began the wait for the right elevator; climb down to 9th floor and then jump to another elevator for 35th floor climb. it reminded me of hopping from one bus to another to reach university. however on 35th floor the contact was no where neither the name of his company reflected on any of the offices. on further calling; contact said he is waiting in lobby but we did not find a soul in the lobby. and suddenly the entire conversation started from the begining. which floor you are on ? 35th floor. is it 3 and 5 = 35th. no it is 3 and 1, 31st...................... a quick mis-communication made the difference. however there is a lesson in it.

waiting for an elevator to climb upto 31st floor or correcting 35th cell in excel sheet, with the mult-culture demograhic and 150 + nationalities in UAE; it is imperative to breakdown the conversation into shorter; explicit and understandable sentences; specially the number game over the phone.

grow leaders faster than the competetion

Here’s an abstract of Ramalinga Raju’s interview published in The McKinsey Quarterly, September 2007:

In an interview with Prashant Gandhi and Joydeep Sengupta, published in The McKinsey Quarterly, Raju explains that he comes at business from a slightly different perspective than some of his competitors—his background is not in technology but in business. He believes that business value can be created through the proper balance of three critical tasks: Thinking (strategy and innovation), Doing (operational excellence) and Communicating (connecting intimately with stakeholders), which Satyam calls the TDC model.
In many companies, he says, most of the thinking and communicating is done at the top, with most of the doing being done by those at the bottom. But in knowledge industries, this hierarchical structure does not work. At Satyam, a different leadership model is followed, with leaders created throughout their organization. The advantage of a distributed leadership model is the ownership of results resides with the leaders closest to the stakeholders (who may be colleagues, investors or clients). And with everyone in the company educated in the same philosophy, the hope for result is a "One-Satyam" experience for all the stakeholders.
What is intriguing about this type of organizational model is it empowers people at all levels of the company to act in the best interests of clients, investors and their colleagues. It is not enough to just act in the interest of the client or the investors, if that focus has a negative impact on employee morale and motivation. Moreover, with roughly 2,000 groups at Satyam (dubbed "Full Life Cycle Businesses") operating from the same set of principles and taking full responsibility for creating value for their particular business, they have a workforce that can be disassembled and put together again—like LEGO blocks—to achieve consistent results on the next project they find themselves assigned to.
"We consider ourselves in the business of building leaders," says Raju. "The most effective way of realizing our goals and objectives is to grow leaders faster than the competition." With a shortage of experienced personnel expected to be a growing global problem, this fine-tuned focus on leadership will be key to long-term business success.

wise words

This evening I met a dear friend working for an IT company and our discussions focused on gross profit earnings by sales. And I said, your team earns a good gross profit, how do they achieve that? And he said focus on managed services.
Then the discussions centered around the key ingredients for success of managed services. The answer was a good team. And how do you build a good team? Other than the right professional skills and experience; what else do you look for in the team members and the answer came, the most important ingredient is respect for team members, empathy for the team member. The team members should understand not to be rude to the fellow member. And it is imperative that if you find a team aspirant to be rude take him out of the team even at the risk of loosing a good skill, because you don’t risk a team for an individual skill.
Another discussion point was how to retain a good skill other than through benefits and compensation. The answer came as; engage the skill with the right skilled team members so he feels part of a family, a knowledgeable family.
Thank you friend, for the wise words.

appreciation

Mc Clelands achievement theory; Herzberg's two factor theory; Maslow's Heirarchy of needs. However there is no better & practical theory than "theory of appreciation". a simple thank you; job well done; excellent performance. little words of appreciation go miles over the motivational theories.

My subbordinate said i am feeling suffocated. such big order and no celeberation; no appreciation; in my last company it would have been a celeberation. He further said even my vendor was ecstatic but i got no response from my seniors and then he went on to say how challenging was it to get the order ?

everyone needs motivation right from grade 1 to grade 10. how do you do that ? by investing little words of appreciation every day. may be choosing the words for the day and investing them on people around. a simple thank you; job well done; brilliant performance

identity change who's next ?

I normally do not take king Faisal road – sharjah for obvious reason of traffic jams. However being the Friday morning; it was fine. I noticed three banks with new logos side by side and it made me ponder how does the bank translate its new identity and what values do they attach to the new corporate identity. So I goggled and found something.

Dubai Islamic Bank: The launch of the new identity coincided with DIB's 30th anniversary. the new identity the Alislami 'circular shape' and reflects the design of the first ever Islamic coins known to history, thus reiterating DIB's position as the first Islamic bank in the world. The newly-added brighter green and yellow background aims to represent DIB's spirit of modernity, evolution and customer friendly services. The Arabic typeface has been changed to Al Thuluth, a very distinct and original Arabic font, which is easy to interpret and read.

Commercial Bank International: The new corporate identity reflects the core values of CBI's retail, commercial and corporate units, which revolve around progress, customer-centric service and flexibility for making changes. . By the year 2010, the bank is committed to reaching an outstanding position within the banking industry in the UAE, and become one of the leading banks in the UAE that provides customers with differentiated services of the highest quality.


Al Masraf: The new corporate identity is represented through the Trade mark “Al MASRAF” in Arabic and English presented in a specially blended blue color arranged vertically and separated by a golden yellow line and the circular shape with Arabesque links circling the Cinquefoil in golden yellow color with a blue background logo. The golden yellow links circling the Cinquefoil conveys unity, collaboration for knowledge and prosperity. Also, it represents a coordinated system of people, activities, information and resources working together towards the goal of delivering a product or service to the client while the series of links symbolize the unified leadership of the bank.

Sharjah Islamic Bank: The new identity symbolizes the 'Islamic bank for everyone'. The new logo combines traditional Islamic calligraphy and contemporary graphics. The design not only reflects the bank's growth but also the fusion of traditional Islamic culture and modernity. The typography in the new logo communicates rich heritage and forward-moving vision, and reflects NBS's goal of being a progressive company. The falcon has been a symbolism of NBS's tradition for the past 30 years. The graphic element, conveys the upward-sweeping profile of a falcon, and symbolizes strength and stability. The blue color represents strength, stability and trust; the orange symbolizes renewal and creativity, and together blue and orange represents leadership and clear vision. a lot has been reflected in the change the new corporate identity.

UAE is home to over 20 local banks. Many banks have changed corporate identity in the recent past like RAK bank; DIB; SIB; Al Masraf; CBI; NBUAQ. and every identity change statement makes an interesting read and reflects mindshare of the bank for the next 5 years if not 10.

identity change who is next?

flip the coin

loosers. family time; passion time and quality time. somehow in our paced environment we are loosing quality time with our loved ones and time for our passion.

every morning commuting between dubai and sharjah; you can listen to the " TRAFFIC JAMS" trvails of the commuters on the FM. this weekend when RJ asked who would you like to be stuck in the elevator. one of the listener said that with his wife. why ? because he spends upto 6/7 hours commuting between his residence and the workplace. and few moments left late late & late in the day is either spent preparing for next day or with his 2 years young kid. however elevator time may the only quality time he may get to spend with his spouse.

however no one intends to be a looser. i dont intend to be either. the 2 days weekend has been a blessing to flip the coin and be the winner.