Is this the Inevitable End ??

For over a decade, the Information technology Industry has been accountable for the consumer revolution in India. Accounting to over $40 Billion, the outsourcing industry is responsible for 8 % of the GDP. The Information Technology (Software) Industry employs 1.5 Million professionals and has been accelerating for more than 30 % every year and a steady increase in the cost of talent!

The cost of Talent is now a major issue that the Indian Information Technology Industry is currently facing. The cost of talent and the steady inflation has led to software giants thinking out of the box.

The Times today posted an article stating that Tata Consultancy Services widely know as TCS has now opened a software development centre in Guadalajara, Mexico where they will outsource close to 500 jobs this year and will extend to 5000 over a period of five years.

Mr. Gabriel Rozman, President of TCS, Latin America quoted that

“We see costs rising in India and people becoming less available,” and “That’s why we’re going to places like Latin America, which has professionals and reasonable costs.”

According to The Times, a stronger rupee, rising costs and a lack of talent is causing the move. Tata competitors including Infosys, Satyam and Wipro have already moved some of their operations to mainland China.

Is this a sign of shift focus of exploitation of third world counties? Is this the first sign of IT Slump in India?

Time will tell...

Source: The Times & The Inquirer

Technorati Tags: Times, News, Career, IT, Work

Want to Vent about your Job??

JobVent is the web site for people who are about to start looking out for a new job or want to see what employees think of their target companies. JobVent is an anonymous site and if you got experiences that are truly memorable / discontented; this is the place to be!!

The layout does not surely give you a Web 2.0 kind of a feel but the site is very user friendly. JobVent already has 1000’s of companies already mentioned and more than 5000 reviews across the world. I am glad that people in India have also started using this web site. I managed to find 3 reviews of companies in Bangalore and Mumbai. I am sure I am going to find a lot more companies soon and also that this medium can be used effectively!

So Happy Venting!!

Related Post also on TechCrunch

Technorati Tags: Jobs, Careers, Web 2.0, Career 2.0

Employee Ratings of Senior Management Dip

According to Watson Wyatt, employees ratings of Senior Management has started to dip slightly in 2006.

Results show that about 49% from 2004's 51% of employees did mention that they are loosing trust and confidence in their Senior Management. The dip is surely a matter of concern for HR Professionals and Senior Management. Another interesting finding was that the communication with senior management is also decreasing...

A snapshot of the finding:-

Employees’ Favorable Ratings of Senior Managers Decline Slightly

Question	2004	2006
Employees have trust and confidence in the job of senior management	51%	49%
Senior management makes changes to stay competitive	57%	53%
Senior management takes steps to control costs	59%	55%
Senior management behaves consistently with the company’s core values	57%	55%

The War of Talent has begun and employers who can ensure confidence of their employees will emerge successful.

Link: Watson Wyatt

Notice Period Chaos

I had a chance to read Gatuam's Blog on Notice Period issues. This is one point where different companies have different policies. I have heard of notice period upto 3 months :) It might sound quite weird to somebody who is not from India, but must say that this is quite possible.

I do understand Rashmi's point here, but i am still wondering why will any HR guy talk with respect to numbers. This is ridiculous, if it is true!

My thoughts are as under :-

Any policy with regards to Notice period has to be standard and efficiently practiced. The notice period could be a month, 15 days or even a week. The policy should be designed keeping in mind the nature of the industry. As an employer, as Gautam quoted "Of course, the employer is free to fire you without a day's notice too."

I still feel that Employers should practice notice periods but I surely think that it should be around 15 days.

PS - I just served a 2 months notice period and i must say for those of you who haven't experienced this, it is No Joke :)

Let me know what you think should be the right notice period.

What Tampers Employee Satisfaction?

HR Solutions complied a Employee satisfaction survey wherein 2.2 Million respondents were surveyed covering 2,100 organizations worldwide and the top 10 results are as under:-

• Higher salaries – pay is the number one area in which employees seek change.
• Internal pay equity, particularly having concerns with “pay compression” (the differential in pay between new and more tenured employees).
• Benefits programs, particularly health/dental, retirement, and Paid Time Off/vacation days. Specifically, many employees feel that their health insurance costs too much, especially prescription drug programs.
• “Over-management” (A common phrase seen in employee comments is “Too many chiefs, not enough Indians”).
• Pay increase guidelines should place greater emphasis on merit.
• The Human Resource department needs to be more responsive to their questions and/or concerns.
• Favoritism.
• Improved communication and availability (both from their supervisors and upper management).
• Workloads are too heavy and/or departments are understaffed.
• Facility cleanliness.

I personally think that the top 3 always have to avoided in any Employee satisfaction survey as its always obvious to be related with Salary and benefits ....... as nobody is a Saint :)

Read the full article here...

Are Employees Assets ?

I often see that the top management of various organizations seeing Employees as Assets. I read an article by Mr. Kevin Wheeler and was shocked but convinced about the point he was trying to make.

He says's Employees are not assets

• Employees are Investors
  
• Employees are assets till the point they are gaining.
  

These points are very simple, precise and you will always think that this is something you already knew, but often ignored.

HR professionals should also treat them as investors rather than assets which would ensure creativity and growth for everyone at the organization.

Is your reputation on Stake ??

If you think your reputation in Cyberspace is affected and you want to rectify things. Reputation Defender will do that for you. This is a new startup which would erase your identity on the Cyberspace.

Now the tricky question here is, How are Recruiters going to tackle this, considering recruiters using Blogosphere, Google and other search engines to know more about the potential employee?

Interesting article of the 10 Biggest Sins Managers Commit !

Badbossology.com conducted a survey of 900+ employees and published the 10 most Sinful crimes Manager's commit. CNN reports the report on the same. An interesting read...

The survey finds the managers who take the Buddy approach the worst of the lot and as guessed most of the wish list of most of the respondents was the trust of his/her own boss.

What cannot be explained is the habit of "micromanage" which typically is not an issue with MNCs and Large corporates.

This answers high attrition rates seen in the industry which brings about a War for Talent across the globe.

Would love to hear your thoughts on your experiences on the same too...

Whototalkto - A Job Referral Exchange !!

Lot of Recruiters have used various online sources to recruit such as Job Sites, Job Boards and other traditional ways to recruit. The issue that most recruiters must have faced more than once is getting 500 resumes per job posting with 99% of irrelevance. This has always troubled sources and recruiters to shortlist and hire.


Whototalkto was conceptualized with a vision to eliminate the following:-

(Handpicked from th website)

1. Building a job board around the needs of the job seeker first and foremost. I wanted a model that would allow job seekers a way to do an end run around the automated job-application process and would allow them to take direct control of their job search.
2. Designing a system that incorporates the job-search mechanisms that have proven to be the most effective: networking, personal connections, referrals and word-of-mouth.
3. Creating a system that allows job seekers and employers to find each other directly, stripping away all the layers of filters and faceless automation in the current online job search models.

How it Works:-

You post one referral about someplace you've worked or someone you know who's hiring. That gets you a point. Then you search the database of existing referrals for one that matches your interests. If you find one you like, you can exchange your points to see the full details of the listing with the Hiring Manager and the Company details.

I feel that this is an interesting way to refer Jobs and could be the first potential Job Referral Exchange !!

I wish Brian McCullough (Founder) the best and congratulate you on this lovely concept!!

Why employees leave !

Employees are the most sought over assets worldwide today and not to mention they know it well. There used to be times wherein employers could offer fat packages at plush offices, the best of the cafeteria and shuttle services for employees. But now, it’s the bare minimum any talented individual is going to look at.

Talent shortages can be up to 35 - 50% in developing nations considering the fact that there are a lot of investment opportunities now. But the key question unanswered is why do employees leave??
This is a critical question various organizations are trying to answer. Some of the key issues might be:-

• Growth Opportunities: - This is a typical issue faced by most employers and is 7/10 times avoidable. What I mean to say here is that, the managers 8/10 times know the expectation of an individual and is 6/10 times ignored.
  Fact: About 41% of employees look out because of lack of growth opportunities / opportunities not in line of individual's career path.
• Organization Culture: - Firstly, people love change. They also understand that change is the only thing that is not constant. If the organizational culture, ethics, morale are changing for the good, this point would not be on the list. This point is on the list as about 36 % of ex-employees feel the same.
• Immediate Boss: - Practically speaking, if your immediate boss does not challenge you, I’m sure you’ll quit. This is again a syndrome lot of companies in India are currently facing
• Boredom: - If the leadership team of your company is constantly colorless regardless of the company's growth or the goals achieved, there’s trouble for sure. All employees want money and to be challenged but they don't want to have to self-motivate 100% of the time.
• Challenge: - If they are too challenged or unchallenged there is an issue. If the immediate senior does not ensure this then it’s a worry again. My personal experience here, about 50% of people at bench are always key targets and those who don’t have a work life balance are always frustrated and tend to make hasty decisions.
• Faith: - Seldom, but does exist in few upcoming organizations, key people move on due to the “lost faith in the senior management” too…
• Money: - Quite obvious, but interestingly only close to 35% of employees mention this as the key reason. Employees know their worth, if you don't compensate them, somebody else will :)
  

If you can think of more, please do let me know so that i can add the same... Awaiting your comments and thoughts