Europe is mired in debt and America is teetering on the edge of another recession. The Indian economic engine too is braking from its promised GDP growth of 9% to under 8% in the last quarter. While most economists still point to the country?s robust fundamentals and the fact that a weakness in two quarters need not take away from the long term promise the country?s economy holds, there is no doubt that employees in all sectors particularly those who are relatively new entrants will feel the tremors as corporate chiefs start to look at cost cutting aggressively and talent management takes a back seat.
It is exactly in these times that a steady hand is needed at the tiller of a ship in stormy waters. Enabling and supporting human resources particularly the young folks who may joined the organisation straight from technology or business schools and even those who may have switched companies or sectors in search of a better future is an imperative. Young people need assurance that their future is secure and that leadership is wise enough to ensure that there are always rich roles and opportunities available for meritorious talent in the organisation.
Having taken over as CEO of Zensar in 2001 at a similar time of panic in the IT services industry with the dotcom collapse creating a vacuum in the projects business and young people feeling that their careers were doomed in the aftermath of the World Trade Centre tragedy and the general downward drift in the economy, one experiences a sense of d?j? vu. Then as is true now, there was no predictability about the future and contrary to today, when our organisation is now on a strong growth path with unshakeable business fundamentals and a strong leadership and associate base, those were the days when we were a fledgling organisation with an attrition weakened leadership and a few hundred employees waiting for more work.
We embarked on a process then which has recently been presented as a case study at the Harvard Business School. We formed a Vision Community of eager young and old employees charged with the goal of creating a new vision and agenda for the organisation. The enthusiasm with which this task was approached and the early steps towards building the truly connected organisation we have become today demonstrates beyond all doubt the power of collective thinking and shared vision creation at any time in any organisation. Today we credit over 70% of our strategies over the years to the successive Vision Communities which have added richness to our thinking at all times.
There have been many more path breaking employee engagement initiatives that we have experimented with and continue to support today which have processes and outcomes worthy of emulation in any organisation struggling to manage the aspirations and ambitions of the millennial generation. A culture which we call Five F?Fast, Focused, Flexible, Friendly and Fun, lies at the base of the collaborative environment which encourages people to give of their best at all times. Each of these culture building Fs lend themselves to multiple initiatives, some predictable and many unique! Building exceptional career paths for fast track movers, providing coaching and mentoring to enable every young person to be the best they can be, having a very objective key result area and balance business score card based performance managed system and creating an environment of transparency in appraisal and reward systems can all create the environment of ?business as usual? that serves companies well in business times.
Initiatives that are ?out of the ordinary? which we have started and stuck with even through difficult patches include celebrating ?arsonists? who can point to bureaucratic bottlenecks that need to be burnt to make way for simpler employee friendly policies and processes, a ?Crazy Times call for Crazy organisations? initiative that suggested radical new products and services and internal reward mechanisms specific to prevalent situations and a new ?iZen? initiative we have launched across the organisation to build better leadership skills and action teams that make participative decision making a reality.
In global organisations, the need for better connectivity across geographies and cultures becomes even more critical since every nationality responds to economic difficulties in a unique manner and a ?one size fits all? approach is bound to cause more pain. A strong Diversity & Inclusion Policy that enables committed cross-cultural groups to put every action and response under the microscope to test for appropriateness also gives the employee base in each geography the confidence that the leadership means well and while mistakes may be made the intentions will always be genuine. Above all the availability of leaders to extend a helping hand and maintain a friendly willingness to help groups or individuals through periods of stress is never forgotten by the organisation and creates the kind of
loyalty that no amount of money given in happier times can foster.
The next six months or so will separate the truly tough organisations in corporate India from the ordinary ones. Indian CEOs have time and again demonstrated that we have what it takes to lead the
organisations and the economy in times of crisis. We will come through again!
The writer is vice-chairman & MD of Zensar Technologies and co-chair of the National Knowledge Council of the CII