OFCCP Compliance Issues
July 29, 2011
With changes to the regulations surrounding OFCCP compliance several years ago, and particularly to changes in job posting rules, government contractors can occasionally have a difficult time keeping up. Here is the specific note from the Department of Labor website:
Contractors are to fulfill their job listing requirement by listing job openings with the appropriate [...]
Linkedin’s apply button and the India effect
July 27, 2011
Image via CrunchBase
This will depend on usage by corporate career sites – typically career sites in corporate websites are not maintained well… If Linkedin has to impact the process then careers sites need to be much more dynamic
The other issue is that in places like India middle management and upper management search is still confidential – and these posts are never put on career sites
There are more Indian CEOs than any other nationality except American
July 26, 2011
Time magazine claims CEOs are India’s new export
The Banga brothers are two of a growing roster of global Indian business leaders, a roster that includes CEOs such as Citigroup’s Vikram Pandit and PepsiCo’s Indra Nooyi as well as the deans of both Harvard Business School and INSEAD. Yes, ArcelorMittal’s Lakshmi Mittal had the advantage of growing up in the family business, but now the family business has grown into a global powerhouse under his leadership.
What factors account for the rise and rise of India-trained business minds? “Our colleagues in our Asian offices are asking the same question,” laughs Jill Ader, head of CEO succession at the executive-search firm Egon Zehnder International. “Their clients in China and Southeast Asia are saying, ‘How come it’s the Indians getting all the top jobs?’” It could be because today’s generation of Indian managers grew up in a country that provided them with the experience so critical for today’s global boss. Multiculturalism? Check. Complex competitive environment? Check. Resource-constrained developing economy? You got that right. And they grew up speaking English, the global business language.
It’s risky to generalize about India, a subcontinent of 1.2 billion people, just as it’s simplistic to stereotype the Western executive or the Chinese business leader. Motorola’s Sanjay Jha or Berkshire Hathaway’s Ajit Jain, one of those tipped as Warren Buffett’s successor, succeed due to talent and drive, not because they’re Indian. And bosses like Nooyi spend most of their formative career years outside the country. Is it that they may just happen to be Indian? As Ajay Banga notes, “You are who you are because of what you do, not the color of your skin.”
The data suggest Indians are scaling corporate heights. In a study of S&P 500 companies, Egon Zehnder found more Indian CEOs than any other nationality except American. Indians lead seven companies; Canadians, four. Among the C-suite executives in the 2009 FORTUNE 500 were two mainland Chinese, two North American Chinese and 13 Indians, according to a study by two professors from Wharton and China Europe International Business School.
For multinationals, it makes good sense to have leaders experienced in working with expanding Asian markets. And India is already the location of many of their operations. “If you look at companies like Pepsi or Hewlett-Packard or IBM, a huge chunk of their global workforce is sitting out in India,” says Anshuman Das, a co-founder of CareerNet, a Bangalore executive-search company. “India and China are also the countries of future profits for the multinationals, so they may want their global leaders to come out of them.”
Competitive and complex, India has evolved from a poorly run, centrally controlled economy into the perfect petri dish in which to grow a 21st century CEO. “The Indians are the friendly and familiar faces of Asia,” says Ader. “They think in English, they’re used to multinationals in their country, they’re very adaptive, and they’re supremely confident.” The subcontinent has been global for centuries, having endured, and absorbed, waves of foreign colonizers, from the Mughals to the British. Practiced traders and migrants, Indians have impressive transnational networks. “The earth is full of Indians,” wrote Salman Rushdie. “We get everywhere.” Unlike, say, a Swede or a German, an Indian executive is raised in a multiethnic, multifaith, multilingual society, one nearly as diverse as the modern global marketplace.
Unlike Americans, they’re well versed in negotiating India’s byzantine bureaucracy, a key skill to have in emerging markets. And unlike the Chinese, they can handle the messiness of a litigious democracy. “In China, you want something done, you talk to a bureaucrat and a politician — it gets done,” observes Ajay. “In India, if you talk to a bureaucrat or a politician, there are going to be 600 other people with their own points of view.” There’s an old saw about Asian business cultures: “The Chinese roll out the red carpet; Indians roll out the red tape.”
Maybe that’s why Indian managers are good at managing it. They have cut their teeth in a country ranked 134th by the World Bank for ease of doing business. To be fair, it’s also the reason some of them left home. They’re practiced in the exasperating culture of local, state and national permits. “To build a factory in China, a CEO will have to get two or three different permissions from various departments,” observes Signe Spencer, a co-author of The Indian CEO, a 2007 study from the HayGroup consultancy. “An Indian CEO may have to get 80 different permissions from 80 different places.” No wonder Indian executives spend much of their time networking and lobbying — tasks Western CEOs leave to their corporate public-affairs departments.
India’s economic liberalization, which began in 1991, was another blessing for this generation of executives. It gave them exposure to a young and fast-growing consumer market. “Liberalization unleashed a level of competition that makes you stand on your toes,” recalls Vindi. “We had to learn to compete with international players but also with very good, extremely fast local ones.” In 1987, when Vindi was CEO of Hindustan Unilever, the company’s leading detergent, Surf, faced off against Nirma, a locally produced brand. “It didn’t cost 5% less, or 10% less,” says Vindi, shaking his head. “It cost a third of our product. We had to make a product that was better, for the same price.” Within 12 months, they had.
What Students think about careers
July 26, 2011
· Are career-minded
o 81% are “constantly” or “frequently” thinking about their future career
o 12% think about their career only “occasionally”
o Not a single respondent reported “rarely” or “never” thinking about it
·
Feel careers should be personally fulfilling
o 80% believe a career should be something that brings enjoyment and fulfillment to their life
o 72% want a career that aligns with their passion
o 53% believe their career will play a role in defining them as an individual
· Don’t believe their parents have this privilege
o 57% said their parents either “like what they do, but suspect they’d rather do something else” or “don’t like what they do, but feel they need to do it for the money” (as compared to 25% who believe their parents “love what they do”)
· Connect career success with enjoyment of work
o 78% believe they will achieve the most success in a career for which they have a passion
o When identifying specific motivators for successful people, the largest group of respondents (58%) believe “enjoyment of the work itself” as the primary motivator for career success over money and a desire for power, influence, and respect among other choices
· See their studies as steps to career fulfillment and success
o The majority (55%) believe that knowing their ideal career path will improve their college performance
o For specifics on what motivates them to study, the largest group of respondents (27%) cited “interest in the subject” as their primary motivator compared to only 9% who cited “getting into a good college”
· Gain clarity about their career direction from assessments
o 72% reported they were more enthusiastic about their future career after taking CPP’s Strong Interest Inventory assessment
o 85% said they became aware of more appealing career options after reviewing their assessment results
o 50% reported that knowing their results made them more likely to study
Superstitious Learning
July 26, 2011
“Superstitious learning takes place when the connection between the cause of an action and the outcomes experienced aren’t clear, or are misattributed. For example, consider a manager in a company that fortuitously entered a growing market just at the right moment. This manager appears successful and is rewarded with several promotions into the senior ranks. Obviously, the guy must know what he’s doing, because he has always experienced success, right? Actually, no — one of the least fair realities of modern business is that it is entirely possible to have good outcomes without being particularly skillful (why else would Dilbert be so popular?). Often, the only antidote to everyone thinking the person is golden is to have some kind of setback take place. Let this manager encounter a problem, and his or her true abilities will emerge to be tested.”
The Human reasons why M&As fail
July 26, 2011
1. Failure to acknowledge what’s happening
Acknowledge, preferably in a public way, that you know the merger hasn’t been easy. Tune in to how people respond, and show them that their views matter. A little acknowledgment can go a long way in helping employees feel better.
2. Failure to hear people out
Provide employees with non-threatening environments to express their feelings so emotions don’t go underground. Regular feedback sessions at all levels can help people reflect on what it will take to regain their confidence, commitment, and energy.
3. Failure to provide information
Make sure no one is moving ahead blindly. Help employees feel involved and in the know by sharing as much as information as possible.
4. Failure to put the situation into a larger context
Help workers see the bigger picture by sharing the business reasons behind the merger or acquisition — why it’s happening, what makes it the best course of action, and how the company will be better as a result.
5. Failure to take responsibility
Own up to your mistakes and, by creating a safe, open environment, help employees do the same. Acknowledge lessons learned and, as an organization, commit to concentrating on problem solving, not blaming.
6. Failure to help people move on
Challenge employees to buy into the company’s future, starting with the new opportunities it can offer them. They may not soon forget the present perils and pitfalls, but they can choose to look forward rather than stay stuck in the past.
7. Failure to walk the talk
Successful M&As demand artful, authentic leadership, and that starts with consistently walking your talk. If your actions don’t match the vision and values you claim for yourself and the company, your credibility as a leader is lost.
Have you worked in a post M&A organization? What do you think makes it work or not?
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