Human Capitatl August 2015 issue

100www.humancapitalonline.com
realising business strategy through people Vol.19 No. 3 August 2015
®
INTERVIEW
Rakesh Khanna
COO, Syntel
22 HR PRACTICE
I Speak
InterGlobe
52 PERSONA
Vaijayanti Naik
ICICI Securities
68
M&As are complicated times, but if the financial aspects are balanced out well
with the human aspects, organizations can surely crack the best out of them

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CONTENTSAUGUST 2015 VOLUME 19 ISSUE 3
www.humancapitalonline.com ■4 N August 2015
14 HR - the gluing agent in M&As
A closer look at mergers and acquisitions from the HR lens,
focusing on the issues and concerns; and the vital role HR
managers play in waiving off the insecurities and anxieties
while keeping all the weak links glued together
COVER STORY
22 Fostering faith in Syntellers
Human Capital in conversation with Rakesh Khanna, Chief
Operating Officer, US-listed IT firm Syntel, on the
organization's human resource strategy, its hiring practices
and how its philosophy of 'Acquire, Nurture and Grow' has
been weaved in to the very core of its existence. He dwells
in to the organization's talent management initiatives and
what it takes to be a 'preferred' company for employees.
28 Blended learning: Are we ready for it?
Some individuals thrive in a self-paced distant setting while
others depend on the assistance of the trainer. Every learner
ought to have a general plan or learning style that closely
fits his or her own skills.
32 New age leadership competency:
mindfulness decoded
Mindfulness decoded provides a practical approach to
understand mindfulness in an organizational context and
give insights into what a leader can do to develop it as a
leadership competency.
FEATURES
52 Speak up!
InterGlobe Hotel' initiative 'I Speak', as part of its whistleblowing
mechanism, encourages employees to commit to the
organization's Code of Conduct and report any incident of
actual or potential violation of the CoC or any other laws
governing InterGlobe.
HR PRACTICE
34 Permanent job an impasse!
The winds of employment are changing course as individuals
are seeking time-bound assignments based on their skills
and employers are opening up to the idea of hiring consultants
or free agents for specific requirements rather than clinging
to permanent employees.
38 Achieving inclusive growth in this
digital era
The biggest responsibility of organizations is to ensure that
digitization is leading to an inclusive economy and society
and are enabling crossing the digital chasm. It is therefore
for organizations to develop human capital effectively for
progress and economic growth.
42 The “people lie, numbers don't”
approach to HR analytics
HR professionals must closely study the kind of work being
done by their Marketing and Customer Service Analytics
teams to figure out that Big Data Tools have evolved to a
point where they rarely ever care a byte if your data is
structured and/or unstructured.
48 The heart and soul of a business
organizational culture
Facts, statistics, practices, perspectives and more...

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www.humancapitalonline.com■ August 2015 N 5
6 Editorial
10 Research
12 On the agenda
20 Debate
64 Life beyond work
72 Law at work
REGULARS
68 An enterprising leader
Vaijayanti Naik, Senior Vice President and Head of HR at
ICICI Securities is a true example of resilience, who earned
her spurs despite her personal and professional journeys
been closely intertwined.
PERSONA
56 Uniting culture with diversity
Culture being a resilient element cannot be changed overnight
with generic prescriptions. While M&As are meant to enhance
the economic value, aspects like culture on post-merger or
acquisitions are not given significant weightage as they
come under the manageable propositions.
CASE STUDY
COLUMNS
8 Food for thought by Dileep Ranjekar
37 Career management by Abhay Gupta
37 Gen-Y speak by Sakshi Sood
46 Psychology at work by Manavi Pathak
63 Guest column by Ankita Tewary Rathod

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August 2015 ● Volume 19 Issue 3
To our readers
MUKESH JAIN
Human Capital's August Cover Story 'HR - the gluing agent in M&A'
takes a closer look at mergers and acquisitions from the HR lens,
focusing on the issues and concerns; and the vital role HR managers
play in waiving off the insecurities and anxieties while keeping all the
weak links glued together. As mergers and acquisitions bring together
companies of different scale, size and culture, the entire workforce
undergoes an extensive yet unspoken turmoil of psychological,
emotional and professional anxiety. Mergers may bring about
opportunities and threats for both the organization and its people.
In this issue, we have interviewed Rajesh Khanna, Chief Operating
Officer of US-listed IT firm Syntel, on the organization's human
resource strategy, its hiring practices and how its philosophy of
'Acquire, Nurture and Grow' has been weaved in to the very core of
its existence. He dwells in to the organization's talent management
initiatives and what it takes to be a 'preferred' company for employees.
In the HR Practice section, we look at InterGlobe Hotel' initiative 'I
Speak', which is a part of their whistleblowing mechanism. It
encourages employees to commit to the organization's Code of
Conduct and report any incident of actual or potential violation of the
CoC or any other laws governing InterGlobe. The initiative enables the
employees to red flag anything, which is not aligned with the ethics
and professional way of working at InterGlobe.
In the HR & Business section, Unmesh Pawar and Purnima Kumar of
Accenture in India in their article 'Achieving inclusive growth in this
digital era' talk about how the biggest responsibility of organizations is
to ensure that digitization is leading to an inclusive economy and
society and are enabling crossing the digital chasm. It is therefore for
organizations to develop human capital effectively for progress and
economic growth.
In the Persona section, we have featured Vaijayanti Naik, Senior Vice
President and Head of HR at ICICI Securities. In this section, we
sketch her professional and personal lives. Having held key positions in
different organizations, and managed bigger responsibilities back home,
she never allowed professional commitment to play second fiddle to
her personal obligations. True to her work as much to her family
responsibilities, her dedication and her ability to multitask has made
her a clear winner in life and work.

We've got mail!We've got mail!
MAILBOX
(Your feedback is valuable for us. Send across your views and suggestions for India's most respected HR publication at
feedback@humancapitalonline.com or editorial@humancapitalonline.com )
Congratulations to the entire HC team for putting
together a great July issue. A varied collection of
views on the Cover Story pertaining to
Mid-Career Crisis was fantastic with good
examples and variety of comments
from senior HR professionals.
Among various other
interesting pieces in this
issue, I glanced through
the article 'HR practice',
which had interesting pieces
of information to note. Also
it was interesting to read
some great articles by HR
Leaders. Besides, 'Persona' was as usual a good
piece to read.
PRAVEEN PUROHIT
Group - HR, Vedanta, Sterlite Industries India (LTD)
Fab July issue…
I am a regular reader of your magazine and I
really like it. Being a trainer, I would like to
mention that in your L&D section; probably you
could cover how L&D can provide solutions for
SMEs facing a host of challenges. That would be
interesting to read because L&D is not given much
importance, by SMEs in my perspective.
K. S. BHASKARAN
Freelance Trainer, Oscar Muphy
Importance of training
I have been reading Human Capital for almost ten
years now. I appreciate the overall structure of the
content and the rich inputs included in the stories.
I have also noticed lately, that you have been
covering many topics
beyond HR from diverse
perspectives. However, I
would like to suggest that
your publication could also
cover the in-depth scope of
HR, and best practices in
PSUs, apart from the
private sector. Overall, it is
a wonderful publication!
VINOD VERMA
GM- Corporate affairs, Aditya Birla group
Appreciate the efforts!
A great publication, Human Capital is
quite trendy with respect to what is
going on in the industry in the fast-
changing times. It also offers varied
perspectives. What I would particularly
like to read in the coming issues
would be articles on Gen-Z HR
practices in companies, as Gen
Z would be taking over the
world of work in a few
years from now!
K. RAMARAO
TCS
Myriad views
I really like reading your magazine. As a student, I
find the magazine really helpful and
informative. I particularly like the columns
and the feature stories in the magazine.
I have introduced many of my
friends to the magazine. We find
the 'Case Study' the most
helpful as it prepares us
to handle particular
situations.
AKASH
Student, Sharada University
Awesome read!

I
Boycott these
products and services
BY DILEEP RANJEKAR
t was an early morning flight and I
settled down in my seat to read the
morningnewspaper.Asusualthere
was an ugly large sticker stuck
haphazardly on the front page that
obstructedreadingofthenews.Itried
to carefully take it off. However, it was
so badly stuck that it tore off a
significant part of the front page and
in the bargain, took off a substantial
part of the news with it. I was really
angry with the insurance company
that was eventually responsible for
placingthestickerasanadvertisement
and vowed never to use the services
of that company. In my opinion, the
insurance company should take the
responsibility for its advertisement
stickers and the nuisance caused by
them.
I also get irritated with TV
advertisements as they tend to
interfere especially when I eagerly
wanttoseeDhonihittingthewinning
six on the last ball in the World Cup
match. It somehow deprives me of
the joy of seeing the repeat of the last
ball for no reason. I am fully aware
that these companies go out of the
way to pay a huge premium for their
advertisementsbeinginsertedatsuch
strategic moments.
In the current times of
communication explosion, we come
acrossseveralkindsofadvertisements
constantly flooded on practically
every possible medium ranging from
the TV to the newspaper. As a matter
of interest, when I measure the
proportion of advertisements to the
actualnewsinmanynewspapers,Iget
appalled to note that the
advertisements account for up to 60
per cent of the total available space.
Manyoftheseadvertisementsarerank
objectionable and they hurt our
sensibilities - each time we come
across to them.
I would classify these
advertisements and organizations in
the following manner:
Communication without any
sense of propriety
These are organizations who try
reaching out to their so called "target
segment" at any cost. Illustratively,
they would place their hoardings at
suchtrafficjunctionsthatwouldcause
distractions in a manner that it could
even lead to accidents. I remember a
particularly huge hoarding of one of
the cigarette companies displayed at
a fly-over near Guindy in Chennai -
which reportedly used to create such
accidents. There are others that
display their advertisements at
locations where pasting posters is
specifically prohibited. And there are
others who do not hesitate in pasting
incongruent posters - such as
paediatrichospitaladvertisingoutside
a crematorium.
Communication that creates
irritation
I know of several organizations that
bombard the radio listeners with
innumerableinsertionsinashortspan
of time - say 10 times in 30 minutes.
This happens especially in the
programs that have the highest
listenership. These advertisements
could be completely incongruent to
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
the mood and emotion of the
program - thereby significantly
depriving the listeners the real
enjoyment of the program. The
repetitive and inordinately long
advertisements stretch a two hour
movieto3.5hoursbreakingthemovie
into small fragments that cannot be
coherentlyenjoyed.Iwonderwhythe
companies don't understand the
futility of such advertisements. Why
don't the management consultants
advise these companies the
ineffectivenessofsuchadvertisements
thatonlyirritatetheviewers?
Advertisements that give
anti-social messages
In one of the TV programs a few years
ago, as a panel member I was asked
my opinion about the Corporate
Social Responsibility work by some
large multinationals. I expressed a
view that if the organization is truly
socially oriented, it should first
conduct its business in a responsible
manner. This would include selling
and promoting products that do not
promote products and services that
are contrary to the constitutional
principles of our society - such as
equity, justice and humanity. They
should also not promote
unacceptable stereotypes.
Illustratively, I mentioned that the
organization under discussion must
stop promoting its "fairness cream"
andencouragethenotionthatpeople
with fair skin are better than those
with dark skin. There are
organizationsthatregularizeviolence
against women and children directly

or indirectly. They even convey
traditional concepts of "rich" and
"poor"classesinacrassmanner.Some
of them are insensitive of the issue of
"cruelty" to animals.
Constant attempts to beat
the law
This is a conspiracy between these
companies and the law enforcement
authorities.Illustratively,manyliquor
companies promote alcohol but
camouflageitasanadvertisementfor
either some mineral water or soda or
playingcardsofthesamebrand.Even
a 4th standard child realizes that the
advertisement is of liquor. It does
influencechildrenabouttheglamour
of consuming alcohol. The insurance
companies are supposed to inform
certain features and terms and
conditions of the insurance they sell -
buttheymanagetohurriedlydescribe
the T&C in a way that nobody grasps
them. It just comes across as
"gibberish" on the radio. Many
organizationsmaketallclaimsthatare
not supported by the results. Many
fairness cream, mosquito repellent,
deodorant and soap advertisements
fall in this category. The claims are
such that they fool a vast majority of
masses and yet, the law enforcing
machinery is unable to do much to
them.
High on commitments and
low on delivery
A large number of real estate
developers bombard the aspiring
buyers with all kinds of promises on
facilities and amenities that are not
eventuallydelivered.Theirbrochures
promise "the moon" and project an
imaginary world of gardens,
swimming pools, play area for
children, gyms etc. As the
construction progresses, the project
get delayed, at times de-prioritized,
basic conditions of quality are not
adhered to. Unreasonable and one-
sided legal documents are forced on
the buyers. The buyers are left with
no option and inordinately wait on
hopes of moving into their so called
"heavenlyapartments".Storiesofhow
badly they were cheated are floated
all over by the buyers. However, the
Dileep Ranjekar, Chief Executive Officer of
Azim Premji Foundation, is also a
passionate student of human behaviour.
He can be contacted at
dkr@azimpremjifoundation.org.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
HC
buyers don't come together and
decide not to buy the property from
such builders / developers. Despite
unfairtreatment,thebuyersdon'ttake
the developers to the court.
I strongly feel that we all must
cometogetherandseriouslychallenge
these organizations. We must build
social and market pressure against
them, act in unison as and when we
suffer from these unscrupulous
entities and if required seek legal
recourse without fear. We must also
quickly share our bad experiences to
existing and future customers.
The least we can do is to boycott
the products and services of such
organizations to bring them to their
senses. In the absence of such
resistance from us, the organizations
would continue to violate our
sensibilities and get bolder in
spreading undesirable messages to
unethically promote their products
and services.

Burgeoning middle-class
growth will pose the biggest challenge
for Indian workplaces by 2030
Growth markets such as India and China present a host of
special challenges for global enterprises and ambitious local firms
alike. The Latest research by Steelcase shows that the type of
work many companies perform in these countries becoming
increasingly more sophisticated,
putting a premium on creating
workspaces that can help keep
valued employees be happy and
productive. The resulting unique
challenges will have an enormous
impact on businesses and work.
By 2030 India's middle-class
growth is expected to accelerate
and reach 475 million. This
number consists of mainly
India's Gen Y post 80s and
90s who mix traditional values
with a Western outlook. For this
younger generation, the work
they do is as important as the
reputation of the company and
the salary paid. They strive for
differentiation through education, reputation, brands, technology
and especially money.
Additionally seven of the 10 most expensive real estate
markets are in Asia. As a result, businesses in growth markets
have limited space for large employee populations. Steelcase
suggests that enhancing employee wellbeing even in a very high-
density workplace begins with offering a
"palette" of different types of spaces
that can spur creativity and foster
teamwork, and a "modular"
approach to office design can assure
resiliency in the context of constant
change. Tata Sky, created a space
for its 190 headquarter employees
with designated areas for game
playing and socializing. Its
unusual circular floor plan
gave a feeling of
openness, with the
company's
branding
prominently displayed.
Jason Heredia, VP Marketing, Steelcase APAC notes that, "a
major hurdle to providing diverse workspaces is density, an
overriding fact of life in Asia that often governs not only working
conditions inside the office, but also employees' daily experiences
outside of it. The office, can be something of a sanctuary for
employees, making it especially important to "humanize the
density."
Deficient in digital
and diversity - Boards
need 21st century upgrades
to meet today's challenges
A new report released by Grant Thornton finds
that the composition of boardrooms around
the world needs upgrading to reflect today's
digital economy and diverse business
community. The report highlights significant
opportunities for improvements to performance
and growth to those who meet the challenge.
It also points out that, without revision, boards
will struggle to meet the diversity of thinking
and skills required to effectively advise
management teams in meeting the challenges
of today's economy.
Grant Thornton's new report, Corporate
governance: The tone from the top draws on
interviews with business leaders and board
members around the world. The research
reveals a desire for board members to have
current industry knowledge - 62% of those
surveyed cite this as an important factor.
Furthermore, 86% think board members
should bring new ideas to the table with which
to challenge management. However, a
significant concern raised in interviews with
board directors is the lack of technology
experience among boards today.
Harish HV, Partner - Leadership team at
Grant Thornton in India, commented:
"The role of boards is not only to set the
tone from the top, but also to advise and guide
management teams. A lack of digital savvy in
the boardroom is a glaring gap . Digitalisation
has disrupted markets, and the way we do
business, but it hasn't yet changed boards.
The digital sector is also among the most
entrepreneurial; generating ideas and
innovation. Companies with digital acumen
on the board will be better placed to embrace
and exploit new technologies to drive
productivity and performance.
RESEARCH

RESEARCH
Facilities Management
crucial to improving quality of life
FM has a significant impact on improving quality of life in the
workplace, according to new research from Sodexo and the Royal
Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) published onWorld FM
Day.
The survey of international FM professionals sought to uncover
attitudes of those working in the field, revealing how FM is
increasingly becoming a strategic management discipline crucial in
helping increase organizations' productivity and wellbeing.
The majority of those questioned (61%) said that improving the
workplace environment and employee well-being would have a
high impact on their organisation over the next two years.
Improving workplace environment and services can enhance social
interactions among colleagues (cited by 30% of respondents),
improve ease and efficiency in daily tasks (22%) and promote a
positive impact on health and wellbeing (22%). These are among
the dimensions of quality of life identified by Sodexo, which the
Group's services can impact.
According to survey respondents, the most important
advantages of integrated or bundled outsourcing are cost
efficiencies (75%) and the creation of a single point of contact for
clients (68%), which simplifies supply chain administration and
avoids duplication of management systems.
Satya Menard, CEO of Service Operations worldwide for
Sodexo, said: "We are delighted to have commissioned this research
and to publish it onWorld FM Day. The findings highlight the fact
that many companies are moving to implement robust industry
standards and best practice in their FM planning strategies. More
and more, clients are looking for IFM partners who can provide a
workplace environment where employees feel engaged, safe,
healthy, happy and productive - where their quality of life is a
priority. This confirms what we see every day around the world
with our clients."
New Global Scorecard
Shows Gender Gap
Persists Limiting
Economic Potential of
Women Entrepreneurs
Dell announced the findings of the Global
Women Entrepreneur Leaders Scorecard at its
sixth-annual Dell Women's Entrepreneur
Network (#DWEN) Summit, revealing gender-
based differences stifle the growth of women-
owned businesses across all 31 countries
measured. The Dell-sponsored Scorecard is
the first worldwide analysis focused on the
challenges and opportunities for women
business-owners to launch, scale, create jobs
and disrupt industries. The goal of the
Scorecard is to provide a diagnostic tool that
will advise leaders, policy-makers and law-
makers on how to improve conditions in their
countries and enable businesses founded by
women to thrive. The 2015 results offer a
comprehensive view on the conditions for
women entrepreneurs around the world,
highlight best practices, identify data gaps and
provide actions countries can take to improve.
Building on the research Dell
commissioned in 2013 and 2014, the 2015
Scorecard evaluates 31 countries across five
key categories: relative business
environments, access to resources, leadership
and rights, pipeline for female entrepreneurship
and potential for high-growth women-owned
businesses. The new Scorecard also looks at
key factors proven to unleash high-impact
female entrepreneurship and estimates the
number of jobs created by women-owned
businesses if they reached their growth
potential.
More than 70 % of the 31 countries in the
study score below 50 percent demonstrating
a significant growth gap between female and
male-owned businesses worldwide (76 % of
global GDP is covered by the study). And
while the United States is no. 1 on the
Scorecard due predominantly to a favorable
business environment overall and women's
job mobility in the private sector, it still only
scores 71 % overall. If American women
started growth-oriented businesses at the
same rate as men, the nation would gain an
estimated 15 million jobs in two years.

Effective Trade Union Management
Location: Hyderabad
Dates: 7 Sep, 2015
ASCI Hyderabad
Administrative Staff College of India
BellaVista
Raj Bhavan Road, Khairatabad,
Hyderabad -500 082, India
Tel: +91-40-66533000
E-mail:poffice@asci.org.in
Website:www.asci.org.in
General Management
Creativity and Innovation as Core
Competence: Developing Personal
and Organizational Capability
Location: Ahmedabad
Dates: 25-28 August, 2015
Manager, MDP
IIM Ahmedabad
Vastrapur
Ahmedabad 380 015 INDIA
Ph: 91-79-6632 4071-7 / 6544 9057
E-mail: mdp@iimahd.ernet.in
Website: www.iimahd.ernet.in/mdp
Website: www. fsm.ac.in
Organizational Behaviour (OB)
Leadership skill development
Location: Hyderabad
Dates: 3 August, 2015
ASCI Hyderabad
BellaVista
Tel: +91-40-66533000
Organizational Behaviour (OB)
Personality Development
Location: Ahmedabad
Dates: 21 Sep, 2015
Manager, MDP
IIM Ahmedabad
Vastrapur
Ph: 91-79-6632 4071-7 / 6544 9057
HR Management
Manager, MDP
IIM Ahmedabad
Vastrapur
Ph: 91-79-6632 4071-7 / 6544 9057
3TP: Emerging Leaders' Program
Location: Ahmedabad
Dates: July 26-August 22, 2015
General Management
Doing Business Abroad
Location: Ahmedabad
Dates: August 19-21, 2015
Manager, MDP
IIM Ahmedabad
Vastrapur
Ph: 91-79-6632 4071-7 / 6544 9057
Business Policy
GLOBAL DIARY
August - October
2015
Achieving Outstanding Performance
Organizer: INSEAD
When: 31 Aug 2015 to 04 Sep 2015
Where: Fontainebleau
Fees: € 8,500
Details: www.insead.edu
Leading for Results
Organizer: INSEAD
When: 14 Sep 2015 to 18 Sep 2015
Where: Fontainebleau
Fees: € 8,950
High Impact Leadership Program
Organizer: INSEAD
When: 31 Aug 2015 to 04 Sep 2015
Where: Singapore
Fees: SG $ 13,500
Human Interaction Laboratory
Organizer: NTL
When: Sept 13-18, 2015
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Leadership Agility
Organizer: NTL
When: Sept 16-18, 2015
Where: DC Metro
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Authentic Leadership Development
Organizer: Harvard Business School
When: 30 AUG-04 SEP 2015
Where: HBS Campus
Fees: $13,500
Details: www.exed.hbs.edu
Corporate Social Responsibility
When: 18-21 OCT 2015
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Advanced Management Program
When: 08 SEP-28 OCT 2015
Where: HBS Campus
Fees: $75,000
ON THE AGENDA

Digital & Social Media Marketing and
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Strategy/General Management
Creating High Performance
Organizations
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General Management
The second weekend of August 2015
will see IIM Bangalore becoming an
oasis of new ideas from across the
nation as the institute gears up for the
8th edition of its Annual
Entrepreneurship Summit, Eximius
2015. The Entrepreneurship and
Innovation Cell organizes Eximius in
close association with the
internationally acclaimed N S
Raghavan Centre for Entrepreneurial
Learning (NSRCEL) at IIM Bangalore.
This year, the summit goes with the
theme, “Let’s get started”, and aims to
encourage Start-ups and students from
across the country to think big and take
the plunge. The two-day engagement
will feature over 150 startups and is
expected to get a footfall of 4500+
individuals, from across the country,
participating in over 30 events. The
events give hands-on exposure to
participants on various aspects of
starting and running a business.
IIM Bangalore’s popular business plan
contest, Bzzwings promises a continued
engagement between the institute and
aspiring entrepreneurs. The contest,
which will have its first round in
Eximius, is spread over 2 months and
will be an excellent platform for budding
entrepreneurs to learn through insightful
start up boot camp workshops,
mentorship from NSRCEL and also get
equity funding and incubation
opportunities should they win the
competition. The competition Disrupt-
It aims to encourage and provide
incubation opportunities and attractive
cash prizes to start-ups that have the
potential to disrupt existing business
models in the industry.
Eximius will also host eminent speakers
such as acclaimed historian and Padma
Bhushan Awardee Dr. Ramachandra
Guha, renowned investor and branding
guru Mahesh Murthy and CEO and Co-
founder of one of India’s most admired
e-commerce firms Mukesh Bansal.
IIM Bangalore’s National
Entrepreneurship Summit
Eximius 2015
ON THE AGENDA

F
rom time immemorial business mergers and
acquisitions have been generally viewed in
financial terms while the one big aspect that gets
most affected in such scenarios has always been
- people! As mergers and acquisitions bring together
companies of different scale, size and culture, the
entire workforce undergoes an extensive yet unspoken
turmoil of psychological, emotional and professional
anxiety. Mergers may bring about opportunities and
threats for both the organization and its people. In
fact a KPMG study showed that 83 per cent of
mergers and acquisitions failed to produce any
benefits - and over half actually ended up reducing
the value of the companies involved. While on the
other hand, for every eight failures, there is a case
where both companies emerge stronger. Yet mergers
and acquisitions are inevitable events in the life of a
business and may take place owing to various reasons
like ensuring survival or a long term growth.
A recent report by PTI shared that over 190
mergers and acquisitions (M&A) totalling to USD 2.27
billion took place in India's technology sector since
January 2011 and the trend would continue to fill
technology gaps and talent requirements. This being
the case of a single industrial sector one can only try
and imagine the scope of mergers and acquisitions
industry wise and globally. Nevertheless, here we are
BY LIPI AGRAWAL KHANDELWAL
COVER STORY
A closer look at mergers and acquisitions from the HR lens, focusing on the issues
and concerns; and the vital role HR managers play in waiving off the insecurities and
anxieties while keeping all the weak links glued together
HR - the
gluing agent
in M&As
trying to focus on the fact that while it may seem
like a normal way of life for businesses, it poses great
challenges for the people involved therein. They
experience various insecurities regarding role
transitions, cultural changes, existing vs. new
workplace policies and much more. What may
financially appear as a win-win situation at the tip,
might be hiding a huge emotional and psychological
chaos beneath. In situations like this, what is it that
keeps the cart running?
The answer is simple. The guardian angels who
can bring respite in such situations of professional
crisis and insecurity are - the HR managers! Needless
to say the role of HR becomes very crucial in such
times as they don different faces like that of a
controller, counsellor, legal expert, talent expert,
grievance manager and a mentor while handling
anxieties regarding roles, responsibilities, work
policies, appraisals and the changing organizational
culture.As Rajeev Dubey, President (HR & Corporate
Services) & CEO (After-Market Sector), Mahindra &
Mahindra Ltd shares, "HR plays an active role in
ensuring smooth transition and building connect
between the acquired and the parent organization".
Navigating the new path
While the entire organization is busy addressing the

financial concerns
and benefits in a
merger or an acquisition,
HR needs to be the one
ensuring that the human issues
don't get overlooked. That is why
HR needs to take up various
responsibilities right from the beginning
of a merger or acquisition and even post
that. Dubey explains this as, "The process
of a merger or an acquisition is usually very
intense. Certain key strategic value drivers are
carefully examined before a decision is made and
human capital is one of the central value drivers in
this exercise. Hence, it becomes critical that HR is
involved right from the beginning and across all
phases of M&A such as pre-deal planning, target
company evaluations, due diligence and post-merger
integration".Strengthening the same idea, Pooja Gupta,
SVP - Human Resource, Myntra, suggests, "I would
recommend that HR be brought into the process as
early as possible".
To make an organization and its people
experience a smooth ride during and after a merger
or acquisition, the roles that HR needs to take up in
the different phases can be broadly categorised under
a few heads, as Mangesh Bhide, Technology HR
Head, Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd elaborates, "At each
of the stages of a merger or an acquisition, the role
of HR evolves from being an administrative expert, to
being a legal expert and then transitioning into that
of a change management expert and last but not the
least, as a counsellor for employees as well as a
shrink for the management".
Here's a closer look at the sensitive focus areas
that call for both attention and action from human
resources during the different phases of mergers and
acquisitions.
Cultural analysis
To avoid any conflicts beforehand, it is very
crucial to map the cultures, and take into account
any differences that may affect the two organizations
involved in a merger and acquisition. Sharing insights
from the Myntra Flipkart merger, Gupta explains, "An
important part of the due diligence is around the
cultural tenets of the merging organizations. Trying to
force fit divergent cultures is hard and requires much
more thinking and managing. In our case, the
common DNA - an entrepreneurial spirit and high
bias for action in transparent, non-hierarchical and
meritocratic ways - helped the process immensely".
Since culture forms the most sensitive aspect of
any organization, and when handled inefficiently
during mergers can be the cause of a sink in trust
both internally and externally, it calls for careful
measures to control conflicts. Dubey says, "The role
of HR leadership begins with assessing the culture of
the target company. This can be done by
disaggregating culture into assessing management
practices and HR practices. This will throw up any
cultural and organizational differences that need to
be kept in mind".
Talent assessment and distribution
The talent needs undergo a significant change when
mergers or acquisitions take place. Tough decisions
have to be taken at times, if the organization goes
the rightsizing or the downsizing way. Even otherwise
HR should do a talent assessment before any
manpower repurposing. For forecasting the most
relevant talent distribution strategies, it is also very
important to gauge talent capabilities as required by
the parent company. As Dubey suggests, "A broad
talent scan can be done in the initial stage which
involves evaluating people on various parameters
including their capabilities, leadership style, and their
COVER STORY

organization/HR would take to help them achieve the
same. On the other hand, HR needs to convey the
employee concerns to the top management showing
them the real picture from the ground level, making
them aware of the impact of their decisions on the
employees and how that affects productivity and
overall organizational growth. In this regard, Dubey
advises, "HR has to work towards building credibility
of the parent company in the eyes of the employees
of the acquired entity. Communicating the employee
value proposition over a period of time with
reiteration of key messages helps to build employee
trust and maximizes employee awareness to create
buy-in. Having identified the right mix of mediums to
communicate, HR can also ensure that the messaging
from all stakeholders is clear and consistent".
Connecting all stakeholders
HR in such times acts as the connecting thread not
only for the top management and the staff but also
becomes an active voice of all other stakeholders. As
Bhide elaborates, "By being sensitive to the voice of
employees and simultaneously being the voice of
management, HR also needs to ensure that due
regard is given to the voice of customers. Ultimately
by taking care of these three HR can also be
cognizant of the voice of investors, which altogether
makes a business streamlined and conflict-free".
Post-merger counselling
The role of HR develops into a more important one
post-merger, as that is when employees need a lot of
mentoring, support and sometimes even a bit of
hand-holding to help them settle in their new roles,
culture and work-groups. "Post the merger, HR's role
is to do an in-depth talent scan to understand senior
managers and key contributors. The role post-merger
also involves mentoring and coaching", says Dubey.
Summing up
Though mergers and acquisitions are no child's play,
if the financial aspects are balanced out well with an
equal focus on the human aspects, organizations can
surely crack the best out of them. For this balancing
act, it is the human resources that holds the skills to
bring about harmony and contentment amongst the
two joining organizations. However the complexities
in bringing together two organizations are such that
HR needs to be very sensitive and yett actful enough
to get things into place without getting their hands
burnt in doing so. There could not be a better way
to sum it up than quoting the words of Bhide, as he
says, "Considering the complications, sensitivities and
various internal and external factors playing parts,
transitions in mergers and acquisitions can be seen as
equivalent to 'getting married and getting divorced'
because while you're getting ready to welcome
someone and surrender to someone, in some cases
you're also letting go of people whiletrying to
maintain your sobriety and finesse!"
COVER STORY
compatibility with the parent company". For further
rightsizing or redistributing people among new roles
or levels, Bhide explains, "There may be cases of role
transitions or structural changes where HR should
communicate to the employee about the repurposing
of manpower into revised bands by virtue of (a)
assessment centres, (b) tests and interviews, and (c)
training and development. By doing this HR can
ensure they are giving enough chance to people. In
such cases HR also needs to do a lot of sensitive
expectations setting".
Proactive communication
Often during mergers, employees start thinking about
their positions in the merged organization or outside
the same which leads to increasing anxieties and a
drop in productivity. This is when HR needs to be
proactive in fending off these insecurities through
transparent and timely communication about the
changes that are about to take place. In this regard
Bhide says, "HR as a change-management expert
needs inclusive communication that tells the
employees as to what is in it for them, why is the
organization taking those decisions, what are the
external factors that are making the organization take
such a decision, what will the new management or
hierarchies look like and how will that impact them".
Providing people a clear picture beforehand
provides them the much required comfort amongst
the anxieties and builds trust in the organization.
Sharing what Myntra and Flipkart did for ensuring a
clear and credible communication to employees,
Gupta says, "It is important for HR to understand
and communicate the intent driving the merger. For
us, understanding that the merger was driven by
trust and mutual respect and as a strategic choice
for both parties was very important in setting the
right context. From providing information and
context to planning and ensuring things don't fall
through the gaps, especially in terms of employee
impact to playing the role of a sounding board and
listening to people's anxieties - and finally to hand-
holding through the process - HR had a key role to
play throughout".
Bridging the staff and management
When two organizations come together or when one
is taken over by the other, the biggest fear that looms
on its people is the insecurity regarding their roles or
even worse, the fear of losing out on their jobs. In
such times, not just the productivity gets hampered
but organizations even risk losing great talent to
apprehensions, if not for appropriate counselling and
guidance regarding future roles.This further requires
HR to communicate effectively with employees, having
one on one discussions to understand their fears,
helping waive off any unnecessary insecurities,
showing them a future growth path and letting them
understand the various measures that the

COVER STORY
W
hat are the different kinds of
insecurities employees face
during M&As and how does
HR manage the same?
Needless to say, during mergers or
acquisitions,emotionalupheavals,
especially amongsttheemployeesof
theacquiredorganisation,create
differentkindsofinsecuritiesduringthe
integrationphase,someofwhichare:
G Leadership change: Employees
may have apprehensions about the
permanency of their leadership team
and about the changes in the hierarchy
G Job security: One of the biggest fears
people face
G Compensation & benefits:
Employees may have questions on
whether their salary structure would
remain the same
G Organizational culture & best
practices: There could be uncertainty
with respect to the new organization's
work culture and continuity of some
best practices
G What's in it for me: One would like
to know how he/she would benefit
from this acquisition.Will the change
bring growth and development for
employees or will it be people agnostic.
Will there be opportunities for
promotion or will it lead to role
dilution?
HR plays a crucial role in creating a
'culture of trust' between the acquired
company and the acquiring company
and this can be a major factor in
making or breaking the merger/
acquisition.
How does HR bridge the cultural gaps
in a cross - cultural/ethnicity/
national merger or acquisition?
HR plays the pivotal role of an enabler
and facilitatorinensuringthatasmooth
communicationprocessisestablished
betweenthetwocompanies.Itiscritical
that HR considers the unique strengths
that each party brings to the table. Also,
understandingtheculturalgap
especiallywhendealingwithcompanies
acrossgeographiesandsensitisingthe
senior management on how to evolve
certainpeoplestrategieswhichwill
resultinasmoothertransitionhelps
streamlinetheintegration.Thiscanbe
donebyintegratingculturesbycreating
teams comprising members from both
companies to work on short -term
projects to yield quick results, rather
than a prescriptive workshop listing the
dos & don'ts. HR should move swiftly to
build this trust and cooperation.
HowdoesHRhandlesensitivesituations
like hierarchical/ structural changes,
downsizing and global mobility?
The most critical activity in the first 100
days is for the parent organization to
'build bridges' between the two entities
and agree on certain critical
interventions to make the merger
successful. These involve large scale
restructuring or sometimes just small
changes. Regardless of the magnitude of
the intervention, HR needs to be
equipped with a robust communication
plan to get all concerned stakeholders
aligned so that the transition is smooth.
It is extremely essential for all situations
to be handled by HR in a forthright,
open and transparent manner.
Counselling sessions, On-site HR
presence and participative focused
group discussions can also help to
sensitivelyhandlethesesituations.
What role does HR play in handling
change-management?
HR has four distinct roles in handling
changemanagement
G Preparing for change by assessing its
impact and getting senior
management'ssupport
G Planning for change and setting up a
change management structure
G Implementingthechangeby
assessingchangereadinessand
thereafter standardizing only those HR
processes that are adaptable to both
cultureswhileretainingsufficientdegree
offlexibility
G Sustainingthechangebydeveloping
a culture to embed that change,
measure progress and plan corrective
actions - an important part of this
wouldincludeidentifyingchangeagents
building a network that can make a real
difference in breaking down resistance
across the organization, engaging and
inspiring the organization to embrace
the needed change.
More and more communication is
the key enabler for HR while actively
pursuingchangemanagement.
Communication-thatislargelyfocused
onactivelylistening,connectingwiththe
employeesandhandlingthewhole
changemanagementprocesswith
sensitivityandtact. N
Experts Speak
CREATING A
'CULTURE OF
TRUST'
In conversation with
Rajeev Dubey, President
(HR & Corporate Services) & CEO
(After-Market Sector), Mahindra &
Mahindra

H
ow does the role of an HR
professional evolve in the
different phases of M&As?
M&As bring about dynamic situations
that make the role of HR ever evolving,
beginningasadministrativeexperts,
moving on to being a legal expert then
transitioningintoachangemanagement
expert and then as a counsellor for
employees as well as a shrink for the
management.
While administrative experts prepare
all the data related to people and the
acquired company or the employees
therein, the legal expert takes care of all
the rules and laws that need to be
abided by. The role of a change-
management expert requires the ability
to communicate in a way that's inclusive
while answering the questions of all
employees regarding the decisions
organization takes. This role requires
HR professionals to proactively reach
out to employees taking care of their
anxieties.
What are the different kinds of
insecurities employees face during
M&As and how does HR manage the
same?
Here are a few insecurities that
employees face during mergers and
acquisitions:
G Fear of being laid off - Losing a job is
the greatest taboo in our society and the
concern most employees face is
whether their transition will be managed
carefully, whether it will be made public
or will it be taken care of discreetly and
if being laid off, how would the
company ensure that the employees'
next prospect is not compromised.
G Financial insecurity - It arises
followed by a fear of being laid off. In
cases when an employee has to be
dismissed of their duties, the
organization could extend some
support by keeping the employee on its
payroll for an extended duration say
thee to six months till the employee
secures another job. HR needs to set
such propositions with the
management,ensuringawin-win
situation for both thereby securing the
future possibility of having the same
people back on-board when need be.
G Insecurity regrading role transition -
During hierarchical changes, employees
fear having to be accommodated a level
or two below their existing positions.
Here, HR needs to help employees
understand their position in the
organizational matrix, showing them a
career growth path, ensuring fulfilment
despite the change in hierarchy.
How does HR handle structural
changes, downsizing and global
mobility?
In times of downsizing, one has to take
into account the 'survival syndrome'.
When HR decides to let go of some
people based on certain business
decisions, they should also be able to
foresee that employees who are not
part of that list and have been
consistently performing well, also begin
feeling insecure as they tend to project
similar consequences for themselves.
This may lead to confusion amongst
the better performing lot and
organizations may lose on their much
sought after talent. In such scenarios,
HR needs to have two sets of
communication clearly laid out - one to
the employees who are to be laid off
and another to those who need to be
retained. For efficiently managing
global mobility, HR needs to initiate
cultural sensitization programs for
people moving to different locations.
For employees travelling abroad to take
up new roles, it is critical for them to be
aware of the cultural norms and
settings to be able to better adapt to the
newlocation.
What role does HR play in change-
management?
With a sensitive, proactive and
transparent approach to all employee
concerns and anxieties and acting as a
tactful bridge between the
management and the staff, HR can
ensure that a merger or an acquisition
brings together the two companies in
the most harmonious ways. It is exactly
like 'getting married and getting
divorced' because be it welcoming new
people and surrendering to someone
or letting go of some people, it all has
to be managed with sobriety and
finesse! N
Note: The views expressed herein are
solely of the spokesperson and not of his
organization.
Experts Speak
M&As ARE
LIKE 'GETTING
MARRIED AND
GETTING
DIVORCED'
Mangesh Bhide, Technology HR
Head, Reliance Jio Infocomm
COVER STORY

Experts Speak
COVER STORY
H
ow does the role of an HR
professional evolve in the
different phases of M&As?
During mergers and acquisitions no
matter whether the organization is a
buyer or the one taken over, human
resources from both sides have a
crucial role to play. HR not only helps
sail through a lot of people challenges
as the process unfolds, it also keeps
everything held together in times of
confusion and crisis. I recommend
that HR be brought into the process
as early as possible. In case of Myntra
and Flipkart, it was the common DNA
- an entrepreneurial spirit and a high
bias for action in transparent, non-
hierarchical and meritocratic ways
that helped streamline the process
immensely.
It is also important for HR to
understand and communicate the
intent driving the merger. For us,
understanding that the merger was
driven by trust and mutual respect
and as a strategic choice for both
entities was very important in setting
the right context.
What are the various insecurities
employees face during such times and
how can HR balance out the same?
In spite of the mutual trust, it is
however natural for people to bear
certain insecurities during a merger.
There is a lot of uncertainly about
role parity and role redundancy in the
new scheme of things and HR can
play an important role in
communicating clearly how things will
get mapped in the new environment.
Open communication about both the
positives and even the challenges
ahead is always much appreciated. If
possible, building early connects
between groups that will need to work
together helps in creating trust.
Communication from the
leadership across both organizations
to show their commitment to the
merger is most importantly the
binding agent and HR can sensitize
leaders to the importance of both
formal and informal and continuous
communication through this period.
In our case, both Myntra and Flipkart
leaders addressed employees together
from a common platform and helped
answer employee queries with
consistent messages. This helped
people approach the merger with
more confidence.
How can HR bridge the cultural
gaps in cross-cultural M&As?
HR plays a critical role in managing
cultural changes and in helping
people adapt to them. Culture is
about the tangible and intangible ways
in which things get done. Making
these known to people, organizing
sharing sessions in small groups
across both entities, creating common
rituals, ensuring leaders role-model
desirable behaviours and sensitising
people to different ways of living and
working are helpful in binding folks
over time.
How does HR handle situations such
as structural changes or downsizing?
All tough decisions such as for
structural/hierarchical changes or any
downsizing decisions should be
communicated in clear, transparent
ways so everybody understands why
they need to be taken. Swift but
humane action is helpful in ensuring
resentment does not linger. Getting
business leaders involved to ensure
the rationale for decisions is
extremely important. Also, keeping
communication channels open and
answering any questions (especially
the hard ones) that people have on
their minds, helps. Providing
specialized support whether through
helping outplacement or career
counselling also helps.
How important is it for HR
professionals to be able to commu-
nicate well alongside accepting
employee feedback in such times?
Itis very important for HR
professionals to have a deep
understanding of the business
rationale for the organization and
people decisions; and to be able to
communicate those effectively. It is
important to be transparent and
honest about both the pluses and the
challenges in the way forward. A
belief in the commitment to tackle
issues and resolve them is more
effective than painting an unrealistic
picture or remaining vague about
things as people's careers are
involved. HC
A MERGER
DRIVEN BY
TRUST AND
MUTUAL
RESPECT
Pooja Gupta, SVP - HR, Myntra

Is HR losing its
‘human’ aspect?
In a world that is increasingly becoming automated, a blend of technology
and human touch can help HR to manage their quantitative information and
'human capital' more effectively.
Helps in a more focused connection with
people
Organizations are becoming increasingly complex and are
going through a huge cultural transformation with a
rising global workforce and increasing customer
demands. Businesses need to continuously
innovate and make smart decisions in order
to stay ahead in the market in terms of talent,
and service delivery. Herein arises the need
for sophistication and technology
intervention in one of the most vital
corporate functions - Human Resources.
With the growing need to hire better talent
and retain the existing valued resources, it is
vital to aggregate, understand, and use data in a
much more scientific manner.
In modern-day enterprises, decision making is absolutely
data-dependent; and HR Analytics is the new way of
managing global talent recruitment, creating successful
employee engagement programs and charting out
employee career paths. Moreover, datafication is
instrumentalinequippingemployeesacrosslevelstomake
quicker decisions. Gradually organizations are finding it
difficult to rely on instinct or manually keep track of the
ever evolving potential and existing talent base, along with
organizational best practices. Hence datafication of HR is
inevitable.
Analyticsdrivendata,specificallypredictiveanalyticsmodel,
actually helps in a more focused connection with people.
The employee connect process is also changing from
"connecting with everyone and keeping everyone happy"
to "focused connect with people, understanding different
levels of expectations and accordingly tailoring actions to
achieve results". This provides the decision makers with
the business intelligence required to drive change as well.
Does not deprive the HR function of the
human essence
Datafication does not deprive the human resources
function of the human essence. Companies now are
migrating from transactional to a relationship
based approach. Datafication with the help of
big data and analytics assist companies in
this migration.
According to a survey conducted by Harris
poll and released by CareerBuilder, more
than 20% of the 2,000 hiring managers and
HR professionals surveyed reported having
replaced workers with automated
technologies. Of the 68% of companies that
have substituted automation processes for staff
say they've also created new positions as a result
of new workplace technologies and 35% of companies
reported creating more jobs than they had been prior to
automation.
Data analytics in HR is extremely vital in developing
strategies, forecasting and minimizing risks. Storage,
analysis, and utilization of data in the right manner yields
business growth and efficiency. It gives insight to each of
the specific units attached to the employee life cycle.
However, we can achieve the desired outcome in the best
possible form, when it is executed by incorporating the
'human' element in it.
HR professionals need to realize the value of the analyzed
data and should be well versed in utilizing it. Effective
utilization of the analyzed information is beneficial for
achieving the HR goals and company's vision. Human
interaction will never be replaced unless we have people
working in organizations and not robots. It will always be
a part of the process.
AASHISH KALRA
Chairman - Cambridge Technology
Enterprises
Aashish Kalra is the Chairman of Cambridge
Technology Enterprises. He is a pioneering equity
investor in Technology, Infrastructure, Real Estate,
Energy, Logistics and Hospitality. Initially, at CTE
LLC, Aashish Kalra was also one of the co-
founders of Cambridge/Samsung Partners, one of
the earliest independent venture capital firm.
Ramaswamy Kavalapara is a human resources
generalist with 26 years of experience in all
areas of HR, including exposure to global
locations. He specializes in resource
management, C&B design & Implementation,
organization realignment during M&A, cost
optimization strategies.
BY SANNITA CHAKRABORTY SAHA
DEBATE
RAMASWAMY KAVALAPARA
Head - Human Resources
Xchanging-APAC

Luxuryindustry:
Abudding careeroption
T
he Indian luxury industry is
growing exponentially. With
such a high magnitude
growth, study suggests that by the
year 2022, Indian Luxury Products
& Services Segment will be
requiring manpower to the count
of 1.76 million heads. With the
ever burgeoning retail sector and
the myriad number of
international brands entering or
expanding their base in India,
there is a considerable need for
trained professionals in the luxury
retail and service sector.
Any industry that you work in,
it is always admirable when you
work your way from the bottom
up. It is possible to put a spin on
whatever position you currently
hold but the luxury industry
requires a different spin from that
in finance or any other. It will be
impossible to break into the luxury
sector, having never had
experience in it before.
Working for a luxury brand
requires a certain attitude. One
has to be well educated, well
behaved, always look good and
have a passion for excellence. One
needs to know and like the
products one sells. Promoting
them has to be something one
enjoys. Advising someone on what
to wear requires creativity and
imagination. Besides, one needs to
develop good inter-relational skills-
one will spend your days
interacting with people so one
better inspire confidence.
Being a good listener and
having customer service awareness
BY ABHAY GUPTA
Abhay Gupta is the Founder & CEO of Luxury Connect
Business School, India's first and only Luxury B school.
HC
CAREER MANAGEMENT
working in this field to set a high
standard of maintaining good
quality customer relations and
efficient time management skills.
However, this sector also
possesses its own set of challenges.
One of the key challenges that the
Luxury Industry is facing in the
emerging markets is shortage of
skilled personnel who has
exposure or dedicated knowledge
in Luxury. The existing manpower
lacks in professional expertise and
at times is unable to maintain the
standards of a luxury brand.
Opportunities are many times
more than the supply! Poaching is
rampant, which creates a drill
down affect further resulting in a
high employee turnover rate.
Hence there is a considerable
need to train professionals and
specially prepare them for the
luxury retail & service sector.
The big question today is will
the luxury industry be able to
meet the need? How does one get
into the luxury industry? What are
the key skills required to make a
career in this industry?
With the ever burgeoning retail
sector and the myriad number of
international brands entering or
expanding their base in the
emerging markets, there is a
considerable need for trained
professionals in the luxury retail
and service sector.
Come make a career in this
lucrative and challenging industry!
is the most important. Having a
strong personality is also
mandatory as one will be working
for customers with strong
personalities.
A brand wants people with
ambition, determination and a
career drive, besides loving their
job. People with strong academic
background are always preferred
so do not neglect studies.
Mastering two languages including
English will always give you an
edge. Most famous fashion brands
are international and one may
need to interact with people in
other countries. Since Luxury
Career options
Management: Brand Manager, General
Manager, Regional Manager, Design Head,
Country Head, and Asia Head
Backend: Logistics Head
Operations: Marketing Manager, Creative
Manager, Finance Manager,
Merchandiser, and Distributor
Front-end: Area sales Manager, Store
Manager, Sales ambassador, Customer
relations' manager, Sales Staff
brand management involves a high
level of customer interaction, those
with a natural flair for networking
especially with the corporate class
and the ability to build up a
rapport with key decision makers
will do well for themselves in this
industry. Luxury houses possess
zero tolerance for anything that is
below average or of low quality.
Thus it is essential for an individual

INTERVIEW
S
Fostering
faith in Syntellers
the clients, Syntel harnesses on passion, talent, and
innovation to reach its goals. While the company works
dedicatedly to create the right environment to reach its
goals, its employees strive to deliver quality that exceeds
their customers' expectations through dedication and
passion for work.
In an already established Indian ITes market, how has
Syntel continued to leverage the power of its global
yntel, a global information technology services
and knowledge process outsourcing company,
believes that its people are its most valuable asset.
With a mission, to create new opportunities for
BY SANNITA CHAKRABORTY SAHA
Human Capital in conversation with Rakesh Khanna, Chief Operating Officer, US-
listed IT firm Syntel, on the organization's human resource strategy, its hiring
practices and how its philosophy of 'Acquire, Nurture and Grow' has been weaved in
to the very core of its existence. He dwells in to the organization's talent management
initiatives and what it takes to be a 'preferred' company for employees.
brand name to position itself as a preferred employer
in this sector?
As a global organization, Syntel has institutionalized a
unique innovation process to deliver tangible business
results to all our customers on every engagement -
Syntelovation®. Syntelovation is part of our DNA, and
our employees have generated hundreds of ideas and
deployed game-changing services, components and tools
that have delivered cost savings and new efficiencies for
our customers.
At Syntel, we tell our prospective employees to "Come
Grow with Us." That's not just a slogan - many of our
leaders that are responsible for multimillion dollar

businesses got their start as Syntel
campus hires. Based on their
performance, they moved up
through the ranks to become VPs,
Department Heads, and Business
Unit Heads. We also have a high
percentage of recruits coming to us
as referrals, which is an indicator of
happy employees that have referred
their family and friends to Syntel.
There are tremendous
opportunities for employees to
contribute and grow in this
competitive global environment. We
encourage our employees to be
flexible, acquire the latest skills,
provide stretch roles, training inputs
to avail of these unique opportunities
for growth and learning. All of this
contributes to Syntel's status as a
preferred employer.
In a time, when the ITes is not really
at its helm as it used it be a decade
back, what kinds of challenges have
emerged over the years while
sourcing talent and retaining
them?
The IT and KPO service industry is
highly competitive and fragmented.
The evolving industry standards, too,
adds to the volatility of the sector.
The business space in IT and BPM
INTERVIEW
space is undergoing a radical change
and a fundamental shift.
Cost arbitrage, which was the
mover and shaker of this industry,
has been thrown in the backburner.
The "value add" to customer has
started driving growth, and the
mindset of growing by cost arbitrage
has become passé. We are on the
cusp of a digital revolution and the
transformation of the old mindset is
one of the biggest challenges for all
HR pros. The new business
environment will require new sets of
technical, domain and behavioural
skills. The challenge will be to multi-
skill and cross skill employees to
remain relevant and competitive in
the changing environment.
The IT and KPO space has grown
by 13-15 per cent CAGR for the last
10 years, and finding top talent has
been the perennial challenge for all
enterprises. Hiring from campuses
both in India and onsite geographies
and grooming them into technology
and business roles will continue to
be the primary strategy for building
and retaining talent.
Many leaders in this space have
grown rapidly with the industry
growth, but have not acquired
leadership competencies for the next
generation of growth. This is
currently the biggest challenge for
the industry. Concurrently,
succession planning and leadership
pipeline will become a major
challenge to fuel growth.
Tell us about Syntel's philosophy
of Acquire, Nurture and Grow. How
has it been ingrained in the
workforce?
Our vision, strategy and values which
resonate with our stakeholders are
aligned to our philosophy of
"Acquire, Nurture, and Grow." This
philosophy is embedded in our talent
engagement model and is gauged
annually though out Syntel Employee
Engagement Survey (SEEQ).
Acquire
At Syntel we believe in unique value
propositions and lasting relationships
with clients and employees alike. We
seek out the right talent and the right
mindset among candidates. Career
progression and a role-based growth
strategy is laid out from the start for
our employees. We invest in
employees and encourage them to
grow with the organization while
maintaining a good work-life
balance. Our philosophy of openness

INTERVIEW
Rakesh has over 26 years of experience in the technology
services industry and has held a variety of leadership roles
in North America, Europe and Asia. He is guided in his
passion for his work by the philosophy of Peter Drucker, who
once wrote "The purpose of a company is to create a
customer. The only profit center is the customer." He joined
Syntel in 2005 from i-flex solutions where he was part of the
leadership team and he spent 10 years in various roles.
Prior to his work at i-flex solutions, Khanna worked with Tata
Burroughs Limited where he managed projects in the US,
UK, Belgium, Malaysia and India for several banks and
financial groups, including BACOB Savings Bank (Brussels),
Nat West, Skipton, Yorkshire
Building Societies (UK),
GWB, and Tata Share
Registry (TSRL). He
holds a B.E. (Mechanical
Engineering) from
Victoria Jubilee
Technical Institute
(VJTI) and an M.B.A.
(Marketing) from
NMIMS, Mumbai. He is
an active member of
the Academic Council
and Board of Studies
for IT, NMIMS.
“At Syntel, we fully embrace change and
recognize it as essential to thrive and grow
as an organization. To keep pace with the
rapidly changing business world, modern HR
functions need to implement adaptable and
flexible talent management strategies.
”Rakesh Khanna | Chief Operating Officer | Syntel
and transparent communication goes a long
way in building a deeper bond with our
employees.
Nurture
We have a holistic approach to nurture talent
within Syntel right from the induction stage.
Employees are given a clear view of their
learning roadmap to prepare them for
growth. We also establish learning pathways
to help employees understand the pre-
requisites of their career path in Syntel. This
helps them benefit from our in-house
leadership and development initiatives. We
provide a platform to learn and develop in
behavioral, technical and leadership skills.We
use simulations, online and classroom
training to groom our employees.
G Employees get Knowledge Bytes on
industry specific information to bring an all-
encompassing growth path - through learning
initiatives and self-learning mode
G Employees are a part of Knowledge
Fridays, an informal session for smaller
groups in the organization
G Our culture of innovation and
optimization encourages employees to
nurture technical expertise, process maturity,
best practices, and continuous improvement
through Syntelovation.
G Health and wellness initiatives like SynFit
bring lifestyle changes, and have been
specifically designed to improve the wellbeing
of our employees.
Grow
G Syntel Talent Engagement Program (STEP)
- Includes setting targets, providing timely
feedback and developing team members,
while allowing us to prepare our succession
plan.
G Succession Planning - An exercise to
identify leaders. Succession planning is aligned
with STEP and creates a roadmap in the
individual development plan.
G Surge & Altitude - An in-house career
management approach and practice. It is an
objective approach by conducting multi-
method, multi-rater, multi-trait assessment
for career progression.
Being an employee - centric organization,
what kinds of interventions and HR
program have been designed to create an
employee friendly atmosphere?
At Syntel, our standards of performance
delivery and customer orientation are high.
With offices on four continents, Syntel hires
and nurtures people from the local talent
Knowing Rakesh Khanna

pool. Employees are also
deputed to other regions to
maintain a multi-cultural
workforce, which gives every
candidate a fair chance to
succeed - irrespective of his
institute ratings. It has also
encouraged socio-cultural
equality, gender equality and
equal opportunity for challenged
individuals.
At Syntel, we understand that
it is critical for employees to be
healthy, happy and positive. Our
health and wellness mission
follows "three E's" for a holistic
lifestyle - Empower, Enable and
Enrich. The Empower series
creates awareness about
underlying preventive healthcare
issues like cancer awareness,
diabetes and self-defense. The
Enable series offers courses on
yoga, meditation while the
Enrich series encourages alternative
therapies such as music and arts -
all with the view to create a happy,
healthy, enthusiastic workforce.
Another effective channel is the
CEO Connect initiative that connects
Syntel's CEO with every employee
through frequent email
communications. This enables our
CEO to share a vision for the
company, as well as to share
achievements and other milestones
at both an individual and an
organizational level. Employees can
also use this platform to interact with
our corporate leaders and the CEO.
Further, employees who display
Syntel's values and integrity are
recognized through the Achiever's
Club - our reward and recognition
program. From Syntel's perspective,
personal and corporate integrity are
two sides of the same coin. We
believe that integrity is binary and
unconditional, and there is zero
tolerance for a lack of integrity at
Syntel.
How does Syntel source its talent
amidst so much of talent crunch
worldwide?What has been your role
in managing talent at Syntel?
As Jack Welch said: "If the rate of
change on the outside exceeds the
rate of change on the inside, the end
is near."
At Syntel, we fully embrace
change and recognize it as essential
to thrive and grow as an
organization. To keep pace with the
rapidly changing business world,
modern HR functions need to
implement adaptable and flexible
talent management strategies.
The key to success in sourcing in
such circumstances is taking a
diversified approach with the right
mix of tools and strategies. Syntel
uses what I could describe as a "fork"
approach to source talent. We have
a dedicated Talent Sourcing team
spread over geographies that
engages with talent in the external
market using both conventional and
unconventional channels. This team
identifies talent with the skills that
we are hiring for and invites them to
the discussion table.
The business and technical
leadership also contributes by
personally contributing to the search
process. Today, talent sourcing is a
candidate's market. Good people
want to work with great people. Very
often, it is the business or technical
manager who has the best
information about the skills and
experience that a new person can
get in the company. So, our
leadership works closely with the
recruitment function to identify
and engage with candidates.
As part of the leadership
team, I often address the
employees at the Syntel town
hall meetings. The town hall is a
forum where employees can ask
questions and clarify queries on
future plans and new
interventions. Questions are
addressed immediately and
wherever action is required, the
leaders and their teams take
note and reach out to individual
employees.
As an employee
engagement initiative, we
organized #MeettheCOO
campaign. This allowed Syntel
employees to engage in a Twitter
conversation with me on
technology and innovation. The
campaign was followed by a
meeting in an informal setting.
The campaign helped me learn a lot
about Syntellers and their forward-
looking approach to work and
technology.
How have social media and micro-
blogging sites such as Facebook,
LinkedIn and Twitter helped in
sourcing talent across levels and
age mixes? Are they really effectives
in comparison to traditional
methods of hiring?
Today, companies can target and
approach the right kind of talent -
the type that fits perfectly with their
philosophy, value and requirement.
Social media engagement can help
employers gauge a potential
candidate's suitability for an
opportunity at their organization.
Even as the traditional hiring
methods bring in a steady flow of
talent, the increasing focus on
acquiring the right talent with the
right mix of skills means they often
fall short.
Social media and micro-blogging
sites increase the reach of recruiters
to almost every potential candidate
who is a mobile user, whether
actively in the job market or not.
The increased accessibility and
growing trend of being on-the-grid
makes it easier to start conversations
with passive job seekers. Mobile
Sourcing talent at Syntel
Syntel acquires its talent resources through a
number of different programs:
I MITR/SYNPALS - Employee referral
programs
I Syntellect - A
revolutionary
pan-India hiring
initiative
I Alumni Network
- Community of
former Syntel
employees
I Syntel Career
Acceleration
Engine (SCALE)/ IJPs - Provides employees
with an opportunity to apply for vacant
positions in different locations and other
teams, thus shaping their career paths
INTERVIEW

recruiting platforms provide an
incredible brand value and
visibility, and have helped us
build healthy relationships with
candidates and provided access
to a vast talent pool not available
to traditional hiring channels.
Social Media Analytics can
aid head hunting by utilizing
user responses on the various
forums, message boards and
social networking sites, even, for
instance, before a CV or resume
is uploaded. The sea of
information shared, uploaded
and gathered from social media
channels enables companies to
draw a clear picture of
prospective applicants.
However, the real power of
social media is yet to be
explored and will increase
multifold in the future.
How does the talent acquisition
team at Syntel attract the most
valuable and talented
candidates across senior levels,
especially when it is a huge
challenge to identify, process,
convince and win candidates
in the face of competition?
Syntel has positioned itself as a
strong technology solution
provider, with company growth
rivaling or exceeding the entire
industry. However, Syntel has never
been the biggest. Instead, we focus
on select industries and service lines,
enabling us to deliver the best
possible solutions to meet our clients'
needs.
We believe in giving stretch roles
and fast track growth to our high
potential employees, based on
performance, competence and
potential, not on seniority. Most of
our senior leaders are groomed from
within the organization.
Opportunities for larger roles than
what is available in industry are the
USP for attracting and retaining top
talent.
We consider leadership
development as an investment in the
future growth of our company.
Being part of the company's
transformation journey provides
business exposure and challenges
which attracts leadership talent.
Syntel's global recruiting network
is enabled to attract and hire
technical and domain experts and
leaders as per our business strategies
and project needs, unencumbered
by geography, culture and time
zones.
At the leadership level, we have a
model where the recruitment and
business teams collaborate from the
very early stages of the search. Once
a requirement is identified, a
structured step-by-step process kicks
in, which involves pre-hiring
brainstorming by the business and
recruitment teams. For leadership
roles, we predominantly use
LinkedIn to gain access to suitable
candidates. The delivery and business
teams step in early to start engaging
with good talent at the beginning of
the discussion. These are multi-
faceted discussions ranging from the
opportunity, the work culture at
Syntel, to personal and
professional growth
opportunities.
This holistic collaborative
strategy to hire leadership has
resulted in a strong hiring
pipeline at Syntel.
What is your assessment of the
availability of ready-to-hire
talent versus fresh talent in the
Indian market? How often has
it influenced your hiring
strategies?
In the face of resource crunch
amongst lateral or ready-to-hire
talent, the Indian market is
teeming with promising fresh
talent. Although they may lack
hands-on experience or the
ability to hit the ground running,
they have a very high aptitude
for technology and motivation
to innovate. It also gives us an
incredible opportunity to invest
in our employees from the very
beginning. At Syntel, we give
paramount importance to the
intake of fresh talent. We view it
as a great opportunity to invest
in our employees from the very
beginning of their careers, to
nurture their talent and abilities,
and build a long lasting
relationship filled with possibilities
and growth.
Syntel's strategy on taking fresh
talent is predominantly guided by a
few key factors, namely, giving an
online platform to every eligible
candidate out there to be able to
apply and explore a career with us.
Our competitive advantage is
achieved by using some of the most
comprehensive and complex
regression-based techniques to select
candidates. We deploy a
methodology of testing applicants
using an online platform, and later
use the results to regress with
performance in the company over a
three, six, twelve and twentyfour
months period. This allows us to
develop appropriate and scalable
hiring processes.
At Syntel, the workforce is multi-
generational, what kinds of talent
management initiatives have been
INTERVIEW
Values @ Syntel
Syntel is founded in integrity and focuses
on five core values, which play an important
role in defining the work and attitude of
every Synteller:
SIMPLE - Complex problems often have
simple solutions. Syntellers aim for solutions
that can be readily understood and executed
effectively.
SMART - Syntellers are bright, creative and
proactive. Smart people and innovative
ideas stand out.
SPEED - Syntellers demonstrate
responsiveness and act faster with flexibility,
keeping quality and costs in mind.
STRETCH - Every Synteller is encouraged
to rise beyond expectations, always raising
the bar and aiming for excellence.
SYNERGY - Syntellers know that the sum is
greater than the parts. Solve the problem
as a whole, not in isolation.

HC
designed to groom and engage
young talent at various levels?
Organizations today need to take an
innovative and effective approach to
talent management.
G Our flagship learning platform,
Syntel University, enables broad-
based skill and domain learning. We
analyze business requirements and
demand forecasts to enable resource
up-skilling and cross-skilling through
Syntel University. Our programs
intrinsically motivate employees to
acquire new age and in-demand
skills. In fact, we have trained over
10,000 employees in Agile in less
than two years.
G STEP captures employees'
individual contributions and
performance. Employees are asked
to assess their own contributions
through the assessment period. It
measures demonstrated Syntel
values and facilitates evaluation
discussions between employees and
managers.
G The Syntel Young Leaders
Acquisition & Management Program
(SY-LAMP) helps acquire young
talent from premier B-schools in
India and coaches them through a
structured nurturing program to
help them evolve as change
champions.
G The Syntel Personal Achievement
through Competency Evaluation
(SPACE) is our strategic initiative to
provide employees with a clearly
defined career path and focused
career opportunities.
G Coaching and mentoring is
essential to polish this learning, and
Syntel has a structured need-based
coaching and mentoring program
which stems from the Individual
Development Plan (IDP).
G Syntel has internally developed
the concept of Internet of Learning,
driving automation, gamification,
digitization and social learning
training methods. Syntel's Lab on
Cloud facilitates remote learning and
allows our resources to up-skill and
re-skill themselves in a simulated
environment.
Since the cost of losing a trained
on the job employee is huge for
any organization. What are the
various retention policies and
program at Syntel that helps in
retaining top talent?
We are a metrics-based company,
which puts an emphasis on
managing, measuring and rewarding
employees based on metrics. This
helps everyone keep an eye on the
ball - on outcomes - and gives our
clients a superior delivery
experience.
Besides clear opportunities for
career growth and advancement,
Syntel employees are encouraged to
participate in meetings and focus
group sessions with business leaders
and team members.
In order to minimize attrition,
Syntel has established several
programs that aid in retention and
boost employee satisfaction.
G Compensation benchmarking,
based on comprehensive market
research, competitor's pay structure
analysis and Syntel pay structure.
G Training and continuous
education with enhanced training
plans that cover domain certification,
e-learning, technical training and soft
skills.
G Career progression programs like
SURGE - Syntel's Career
Acceleration Program.
G Leadership training programs
such as Leadership Effectiveness
Acceleration program (LEAP) - a
blend of workshops, coaching and
classroom sessions.
G Reward and recognition
programs to applaud exceptional
performers with special incentives to
help attract and retain the best talent.
G Structured skip level meetings and
forums with our leadership team and
HR business partners to freely voice
opinions and get an opportunity to
understand and align to the strategic
vision of the organization.
G Onsite/Offshore Rotation
Opportunities: Syntel encourages
moving its offshore employees and
deputing them onsite at agreed
periodic intervals, which provides
opportunities for employees to work
with client business groups.
What kinds of training and
development initiatives do you
have in place to train and develop
your people and ensure their career
growth?
Our Learning and Development
Team ensures employees
continuously work on polishing their
technical skills and domain
knowledge, which is critical to the
success of the organization. Syntel's
HR team designs coaching and
training programs according to our
organizational goals and possible
impact. We offer various blended
learning initiatives, which range from
in-class sessions to project work to
online discussion forums. To ensure
learning is a top-down approach and
a more effective intervention, we
involve managers as part of our
employees' learning journeys.
Syntel has a multi-focused
training strategy which is deployed
at different levels based on context,
relevance and requirement. Some of
these initiatives are:
G Executive Coaching and Manager
as Catalyst
G Grooming & Communication
Academy
G Sr. Manager Development:
Building our senior managers to
enhance operational excellence
G Corporate Leadership programs:
LEAP - Leadership development
programs run company-wide
We have various projects being
run as part of leadership programs
to sustain learning and ensure
effectiveness after the session.
Calendar programs are planned
based on the input collected through
appraisals, from clients, and from
business units.
G Knowledge Group Sessions for
groups of like-minded professionals
G Knowledge Bite Session: Quick
knowledge bites on industry,
leadership etc.
G KnowYour Business: Sessions for
business context and awareness
G Blended learning with classroom
training and mentoring, such as our
Buddy Programs for sustained
learning and implementation
The HR team measures training
effectiveness through pre- and post-
training assessments, cognitive
assessments, feedback from reporting
managers, client feedback and three-
month error tracking report.
INTERVIEW

Tdevelopment of the web. The controversy
between the two learning designs has gone
on since the start with both sides having its
devoted advocates.
Some individuals thrive in a self-paced
distant setting while others depend on the
assistance of the trainer. Every learner ought
to have a general plan or learning style that
closely fits his or her own skills
Blended Learning (BL) is a term used to
describe the way online learning (e-learning)
is combined with traditional classroom
methods (Instructor-led learning) and
independent study.
Instructor-led learning (IL) has stood the
test of time with educational institutions and
organizations still prefer it due to its own
he issue of selection between
the conventional classroom
instructor-led learning and the
self-paced e-learning has been
steady ever since the appearance
of computers and the
Some individuals thrive in a self-paced distant setting while others
depend on the assistance of the trainer. Every learner ought to have a
general plan or learning style that closely fits his or her own skills.
Blended
learning:
Are we ready for it?
BY V RAVI
LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT
merits and compliances.
Online Learning (OL) is also known as e-
learning or computer based learning has
picked up well during the last decade and half
due to extensive use of computers.
Here is a fictitious conversation between
advocators of IL and OL initially each
defending and questioning the efficacy of the
their own learning systems with the advocate
for BL joining later in the merit of having a
blended approach to ensure that the learner
is better engaged and is driving his/her
individual learning experience.
IL: I don't understand why there is a need for
having e-learning, the fact that the classroom
learning still is relevant since time immemorial.
It allows you to teach employees in a safe,
quiet, clean environment, away from the noise
and pressures of the work area. Besides, the
classroom environment provides the
important "human touch," which is often
missing in technology-based training.
OL: E learning is the in-thing now. It is

possible in e-learning? In fact, it is
possible to tailor a course to
different sets of learners- beginners
or advanced the latter who can
skim over it and concentrate that
time on something feel need to
work more at. Everyone is able to
learn at their own pace.
IL: A lot of questions are easily
answered when face to face with
someone when you can guarantee
an instant answer. E-learning often
doesn't allow that with trainers often
having to answer numerous
questions all of the time and only
doing it within working hours -
where a lot of learners may prefer
to do their learning out of working
hours. This feeling of isolation can
often demotivate individuals. In a
class room set up, they feel, they
have the necessary support and
reassurance that the physical
presence of a trainer provides.
OL: But since you aren't using a
more flexible - e-learning can be
done in short chunks of time that
can fit around one's daily schedule.
For class room training you need to
pull employees off the job, which
cuts into work time and production
schedules. While I agree that the
classroom environment is
conducive to focused learning, it's
also removed from the equipment,
processes, and materials that
employees actually use on the job.
Lack of hands-on experience is
frequently an obstacle to adult
learning.
IL: But group interaction enhances
learning. Employees learn from one
another as well as from the trainer.
The group setting also teaches
employees how to interact with one
another in a professional,
productive, cooperative way, which
is something e-learning doesn't
often provide.
OL: As e-learning can be done on
laptops, tablets and phones - it is a
very mobile method. Learning can
be done on the train, on a plane or
any other time that could normally
be wasted. Whilst you used to be
confined to the classroom, the
whole world can now be your
classroom. Group learning can still
happen without anyone needing to
travel, saving money on the costs
of travel and accommodation for
external courses.
IL: In e-learning, there is lack of
control. For, learners with low
motivation tend to fall behind when
using e-learning as there are no set
times to be doing it. Moreover, it
doesn't appeal to all learning styles-
so some learners will not enjoy the
experience. Some may prefer
images, some prefer just reading
words and some prefer to talk about
or actually do a task in order to
learn.
OL: Why do you think this is not

with the learning. This is going to
increase the costs. With heavy
reliance on computers that e-
learning brings, comes the potential
risks that comes with it. You need to
ensure that all learners have a device
that is able to support the training
module to be set out at the
beginning. Poor Internet connection
and unavoidable random faults also
can interrupt learning.
BL: Wait minute gentlemen! I have
been listening to your arguments. Let
me propose a learning method that
provides an integrated platform for
online and face to face learning, that
can leverage the merits and delimit
the demerits of the two.
IL: This could only lead to confusion!
There could be lack of a firm
framework to encourage students to
learn. When compared to the face-
to-face learning, the learning process
is less efficient. Too many cooks spoil
the broth. A high level of self-
discipline or self-direction is
required.
OL: I agree with IL. There is the
need for the learner to be actively
involved in learning through both the
systems, and increased lead-time
required for feedback. More over
where does he have time for both
when we have challenges in his taking
e learning or the class room training
due to other priorities.
BL: I understand. The successful
implementation of blended learning
relies on many factors. There has to
be a percentage between the
traditional classroom and the online
settings. Regardless of the
proportion, an important factor is
the segment (the target segment) of
learners catered. Not all have the
adequate and right motivation to
engage actively in learning. To this
segment I agree, the blended
learning is a weakness.
IL: Don't you think BL that the
instructors and course developers
must re-examine their course goals
and objectives, design online
learning activities to meet these
goals and objectives, and effectively
integrate the online activities with
the face-to face meetings.
Instructors must make the
transition from lectures and
presentation to a more student-
centered active learning. Do they
have the competencies?
OL: Instructors need to learn how to
facilitate online discussions and small
group activities, and re-examine
traditional methods of assessment to
take into account the new learning
environment. Also, managing the
dual learning environment also adds
additional scheduling and
communication challenges as
courses meet both online and face-
to-face. Instructors and content
developers must also take care not
to overload themselves and their
students.
BL: I agree these are the challenges;
In fact, instructors must be prepared
to help understand their active role
in the hybrid system, assist learners
in keeping their work on time and
on track, and be prepared to offer
strategies for trouble-shooting new
course technologies. What are most
important in blended learning are
the motivation and segmentation in
crafting an innovative curriculum
and also the assessment.
In a career spanning 29 years, V
Ravi currently heads the learning
and development function for
Reliance Project Management
Group. His interests include TQM,
value engineering, individual and
organizational learning.
V Ravi
Vice President & Head - L&D, RPMG
G Blended Learning (BL) is a term used to describe the way online learning
(e-learning) is combined with traditional classroom methods (Instructor-led
learning) and independent study.
G Instructor-led learning (IL) has stood the test of time with educational institutions
and organizations still prefer it due to its own merits and compliances.
G Online Learning (OL) is also known as e-learning or computer based learning
has picked up well during the last decade and half due to extensive use of
computers.
G It is imperative for every training manager and trainer to modernise their
mindsets to embrace and execute a blended learning for their own survival.
trainer's time or any room or
equipment don't you think, e-
learning tends to be the much
cheaper option? If you and your
company are on a budget squeeze,
this can be the ideal option for you.
Equally for companies that have
thousands of employees then it can
reduce the cost per head for training.
IL: The computer based nature of
training means new technology is
being introduced all the time to help
takeaways

Human Capitatl August 2015 issue

Human Capitatl August 2015 issue

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