According to him, `people development' holds the key to business excellence.A well-informed and multi-skilled HR base will empower an organisation togarner a larger share of the market, which is becoming competitive by theday.

Numan was in Delhi recently to make a presentation on `Building competitiveskills in people--the globally trusted way', organised by Aptech Consultingand Tack International--India Operations. Speaking on the occassion, thetraining expert observed that ``companies in India are indeed waking up tothe reality that their people need to be equipped with world classskills.''

To become world class, the focus has to be on the following areas: ``Visionof the CEO, customer focus in all departments, strong asset use focus,effective cash flow, low vulnerability, clear business concepts, deep marketunderstanding, clear profitable strategies, deep knowledge of competition,distinctive market edge, dedication to success, open-minded culture,customer oriented system and experience in new product ideas.''

``HR must deliver against these parameters,'' he said.

Numan felt that organisations often make the mistake of working in astraight-jacket fashion. He cautioned managers ``not to mistake the edge forthe horizon''. ``Make every vision possible,'' he said and added that it wasthe vision that gave Compaq the lead over IBM in introducing personalcomputers in the market. IBM was too caught up with `mainframes' and thoughtlittle about ``these boxes on steroids''.

Numan underlined the importance of managing information for bringing aboutbetter business results. ``To manage a business well is to manage itsfuture, and to manage its future is to manage information,'' he said.``There is an incredible flow of information today leading to thepossilibility of paralysis by analyses. To overcome this, information needsto be segmented,'' he added.

Further, you must learn to follow the right kind of information. ``Would youdrive a car blindfolded and follow the directions given by a person lookingout of the back window,'' he asked.

``It is important for companies not only to choose the right strategies, butalso carry them out efficiently,'' he said. ``Some companies,'' he observed,``choose the right strategy, but implement them inefficiently. This is thecase with a large number of companies in India.''

Numan felt that such situations can be set right with the help of fewcorrective measures. ``However, there are companies that adopt a wrongstrategy, but carry it out efficiently. Success in this case would depend onhow the market behaves''.

According to him, the worst situation is when a company adopts a wrongstrategy and implements it inefficiently. ``This is a sure recipe fordisaster,'' he said.

Tack International conducts a large number of short-duration programmes forbusiness executives and managers. The main areas covered by the organisationare sales and marketing, negotiation skills, leadership, personaleffectiveness and team building. Tack International has 50 years ofexperience and conducts its training programmes in 35 countries in 18different languages.

What is special about the Tack International programmes? ``The training weprovide is practical, with all kinds of business simulations,'' Numan said.``The expectations from our programmes are very high. Delegates come to thesessions virtually with grenades. But, we have been able to meet theirexpectations,'' he said.

``Complacency is one thing that we steer clear off. After all, if you see alight at the end of the tunnel, it could be the light on a train hurtlingtowards you,'' the expert said.

Among the various paradigm shifts that have taken place in the businessworld, Numan underlined the change in selling styles across the world.``From selling products, sales professionals now seek to build long-termpartnership with their buyers, based on mutual trust and value,'' he said.``Buyer-seller relations are shifting from the competitive to thecooperative mode,'' he added.

Are companies really interested in training their professionals in thesetimes of business slowdown? Chandan Chatterjee, vice-president, AptechLimited, Pune, observed that ``the poor business scanario makes it all themore necessary for companies to give training to their sales professionals.Sales is directly linked to revenue. So, the more you invest in your salesteam, the better would be the results.''

``Of course, things like executive development programmes do go on theback-burner when business slows down,'' Chatterjee said.

Aptech Consulting, a division of Aptech Limited, works in close cooperationwith Tack Training International--India Operations. Aptech Consulting hasthree branches in India, at Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore, and one overseasbranch at Dubai.