Learn and Lead

Sharing with you a list of HR, Training, Learning conferences in India. Most of these are annual conferences.

Drop me a note in comments section in case I missed out a conference that you feel should be added to the list.

Many years ago a recruiter connected with me. During our conversation he asked me what's my tag line. My tag line, what's that? I asked. He said, you know, like someone is a "Problem Solver", or "Deal Closer" etc. You need to have a tag line that describes you, he said to me.

The conversation got me thinking. Before that time I had never thought what was my tag line. After some thought, I chose "Enabling People" as my tag line. I like to enable people deliver better, by creating an environment that enables them to succeed, by sharing knowledge, by learning from them, by encouraging free ideas and thoughts, This could be my team, my clients, or my friends and family.

What's your tag line?

My interview published in Times Jobs site on 12 May 2016. You can read the original article here.

‘India still gives more importance to degrees than skills’

Comments

I recently wrote an article on the Retail sector in India and the employment opportunities it provides. Here's the link to the original article on ET Retail.

Few months ago, a small paanstall mysteriously appeared on the footpath near our office. I saw a young man at the helm, selling paan, cigarettes, chewing gum and some toffees. As I walked by his stall in the evenings, I occasionally bought a packet of chewing gum to encourage his endeavour. In a short time, I found that he didn't need much encouragement from me. I saw the number of people visiting his stall grow and now he has packets of popular namkeen and chips, cold drinks and mineral water. In just a few months, I saw his stall growing significantly to cater to the office crowd in the area. He still smiles at me and offers me free chewing gum to show his gratitude for encouraging him in his early days.

This young man's journey is also the story of Indian Retail Sector which over the last decade or so has gone through a major transformation. Shedding the initial fears of large corporations displacing small shops, there is now a noticeable shift towards organized retailing. Suddenly you notice malls in every nook and corner, displaying large billboards and proudly lit up at night. Indian brands compete unabashedly with their multi-national counterparts. The un-organized retail has also stepped up, with even the small time kirana stores modernizing themselves in terms of display and operations to keep pace with the growing demands of the customers.

Today, the retail sector accounts for about 22% of India's GDP. According to a recent KPMG report on Indian retail, the overall size of the industry is estimated to be $534 billion in 2013-14 with a CAGR of 15% over last five years. Going forward, the overall retail sector growth is likely to witness a CAGR of 12-13 %, which would be worth $948 billion in 2018-19.

A number of factors have influenced this dramatic growth. Growing youth population, nuclear families in urban areas, a growing middle class with rising incomes and the resulting purchasing power, and higher brand consciousness have driven the demand for retailing. Opening up of FDI has created conducive regulatory environment for the sector. This coupled with rapid real estate infrastructure development, better efficiency in supply-chain, R&D, innovation and new product development has fueled the supply side.

All this translates to the many opportunities for the youth in the country. As per a report by NSDC, India will need around 56 million strong work-force for the booming retail sector. The sector will have one of the highest incremental human resource requirement of 17.35 million by 2022, offering opportunities in sales, merchandising, store management, central management and procurement.

For the youth to avail the upcoming opportunities and pursue a promising career in retail industry, it is important they equip themselves with the right training as different lines of retail business require distinct skill-sets. Some skills and interests that one must have before joining the retail industry are:

1. Enjoy working with people 
2. Enjoy constant customer interaction 
3. An enthusiastic, flexible and positive attitude 
4. Ability to step in another person's shoes 
5. Empathy and understanding towards a distressed customer

Formal education is not as essential in the retail industry as it is in other areas of marketing. Many senior executives in this industry are people who were hired as retail staff. Their sincerity, hard work, enthusiasm, speed and experience,and an unwavering customer-centric focus resulted in their growth. So with the right attitude, one can easily hope to make it big in the retail industry. Typically, one can enter the retail industry as a class Xth or X11th pass out and with the right attitude and training, over a period of time,can advance to specialized jobs or management positions that offer higher remuneration.

Major proportion of the employment in the retail sector is in front-end/retail assistant profiles in stores. Store operations account for 75%-80% of the total manpower employed in the organized retail sector. Although the skill requirements may seem similar across segments, the type of product retailed, format of the store and customer involvement impacts the intensity of skill requirement across various functions. Soft skills such as communication and interpersonal skills are the key criterion for employability for both the entry-level and middle-level jobs at the retail store.

Retail industry in India has the potential to provide employment to a large number of youth. The latest announcement by the government to allow 100% FDI in retail (e-commerce, wholesale and in the marketing of food products) has already indicated a surge in employment opportunities in this sector. A direct result of FDI would be increase in the number as well as the formats of retail, which would result in the generation of jobs in multiple categories. This development brings with it an unprecedented need for nation-wide availability of skilled labour and an increased demand for comprehensive skills training.

My article originally published in Deccan Herald on 21 Jan 2016.

Prosperous countries with high GDP and per capita income tend to have high skill capital. This also translates to better quality of life and growth in the Human Development Index. As economies evolve from being commodity centric to knowledge centric, growth is increasingly dependent on availability of skills.

Our country has a great opportunity in terms of its demographic dividend. While we are growing to be the most populous country, expected to overtake China between 2022 and 2028, the opportunity lies in the fact that we will also be the youngest country with the median age of population at 32. Almost 64 per cent of our population will be in the working age group by 2021.

India is expected to have a workforce surplus of 47 million people against the workforce deficit in most large economies. In addition to being the youngest country, India is also expected to be the fastest growing economy. This year, we expect our economic growth rate to overtake that of China. India, therefore, is sitting on a huge opportunity of a large and young workforce surplus complemented by a fast growing economy. It is critical that India focuses on skill development both for economic growth as well as social development.

A sure way to achieve inclusive and sustainable growth is to provide a mechanism to acquire skills, empowering the disadvantaged sections with skill development opportunities and developing a skill growth programme for continuous education and productivity enhancements. A skilled workforce aligned to industry needs will maintain the growth trajectory and competitiveness of various sectors of the Indian economy.

However, the challenge ahead of us is equally huge. The enrolment in educational institutes drops by almost half at each stage of critical development of children and youth between age groups of 5-14 years and 15-19 years. Most of these drop-outs join the workforce, which results in its illiterate to semi-literate profile. Almost 64 per cent of our workforce is primary level educated or illiterate, leaving only 36 per cent with middle or higher level education.

Even as our Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) is rising over the years, the current GER suggests that almost 80 per cent of our youth never go to college. While the number of universities and educational institutes are rising, our teacher-student ratio is one of the lowest in the world. Additionally, in the working population of 15 to 29 years, only about 2 per cent receive any formal vocational training and 8 per cent receive non-formal vocational training. This is dismal when compared to other countries like Korea (96 per cent), Germany (75), Japan (80) and United Kingdom (68 per cent) where a large part of the working population receive formal vocational training.

Lack of skills 

The big challenge is that even if we push and create workforce that has formal education, will they be employable? A recent survey found that almost half our youth were not sure if their post-secondary education has improved their chances of finding a job. On the flip-side, in another survey of the industry, almost 40 per cent of employers say lack of skills is the main reason for entry-level vacancies. Employability of graduates of our current education system is a major concern.

To overcome these challenges, it is imperative that skill training be mainstreamed into school and higher education system. As the government aims to impart skill training to 500 million people by 2022, it has launched many schemes that are focused towards building a strong base of skill training with mainstream education. The vocationalisation of school education, community college and B Voc schemes, Kaushal Kendras to encourage skill courses in colleges are some steps in the right direction. In addition, NSDC funded vocational training providers have been set up in the last few years to support this endeavour.

For effective implementation of policies, on-ground programme management support is crucial to enable linkages between the stakeholders and ensure that the big picture is kept in mind. The use of technology should be used to enable scale, quality and consistency of training for high-demand entry and middle-level jobs.

This training should primarily be developed with industry inputs since they are the main recipients of the workforce. Industry driven, technology enabled solution that is integrated into mainstream education will go a long way in preparing us to leverage the skilling-led opportunity ahead of us.

If you have been following the Delhi state's political situation, you would know that the Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his party are constantly at logger heads with the political powers at the Center. Given the nature of how the capital state is governed, not everything is under the Chief Minister's hierarchical control. It's a bit like matrix structures in large organization. There have been many public spats between the Delhi Chief Minister and the Police Department (which is under Central rule). There is a widespread acrimony between the two. There is a constant one-upmanship going on between the two, with each trying to do better than the other. Even though each is trying to show other as inferior (and corrupt, and inefficient), they are doing this by improving their game better than the other. In the process, both are providing better service to the public at large. This is different from the situation where opposition party trying to pull down the ruling party in parliament, wherein the strategy is primarily to point out negative things without any accountability of the opposition to deliver (whilst they are not in power).

What happens when we see similar acrimony at workplace? I observed that each person tries to prove themselves in their role. There is constant push to do better than the other person. Email responses are faster and there is a clamouring to provide better customer service.

Is it possible that acrimony in team can lead to higher performance?

Of course the side effects of acrimony is low trust amongst team, fewer ideas generated in open discussions, fewer open discussions, and in general, not a fun environment to work in. Unless the people are stuck in the jobs (like the Chief Minister and the Police Dept), there is a good chance that people in the team will just give it up and leave the organization.

There is a divergence of devices. We are no longer limited to the desktop or a laptop. Mobile devices have overtaken the desktop and laptops. These mobile devices may be tablets or phones. Wearable devices is no longer a thing of the future. We have devices that control refrigerators, air conditioners and a host of other appliances. We have devices controlling our television and even our automobiles. The devices are everywhere. The Internet of Things is here.






And yet, we want the same information on all devices. Whether we are using laptop, or tablet or phone, we want the same information available in each device, be it email or bookmarks. We install apps on our mobile using our laptops. We want continuity in what we watch on a laptop or mobile and what we watch on the television. We want to control our appliances using our phones. We want to alerts about our automobiles on our tablets and laptops. We want the same information irrespective of the device we are using.

1. Calendar: While there are many Calendar apps available, I settled for native HTC Calendar app as my preferred app. The native app allow me to sync multiple accounts. I synced Microsoft Exchange for my office calendar. You can additionally sync Google, Outlook.com and Yahoo for your personal calendars. I found useful the ability to search for location on Google Maps directly from the calendar invites if the location was entered in the meeting invites. It is also extremely easy to dial conference call numbers by simply clicking on the numbers within the invite text. The HTC native app shows me the invite text while making the call so I don’t have to remember the call dial-in codes while making the call.
   
2. Email (Mail, Gmail, Outlook): When on the move, you need access to email. Technically you could use one email client for all your work and personal email accounts. However I prefer to use different email clients for different email accounts. For my office Exchange account I use native Mail app. There is an email client for most services so you can use the ones you prefer. Interestingly as I write this post, I notice that there is a pre-release version of OWA for Android, which I believe will allow for better integration with Exchange and Office 365. Currently the ratings and reviews aren’t flattering but the app looks like a promising one to improve productivity.
    
3. OneNote: I use OneNote for taking notes. I can create different notebooks and within that organize my notes in sections, sub-sections and pages. If you aren't already using a software to organize your notes, I would highly recommend OneNote. You can sync your notebooks with your Outlook.com account and then access them on your phone using the OneNote app. You could also try Evernote which is also a popular app, though I haven't used it much since we use OneNote at work. 
    
4. Google Keep: While OneNote is a full featured notes organizer, I just love Google Keep for its simplicity. Keep is a much lighter note taking app. This too can be synced on multiple devices so you have your data available on all devices whenever you need it. A very handy app for quick note taking.
    
5. Task: I tried a few To Do apps but finally settled for native HTC Tasks app. I can sync multiple accounts and have my tasks with me all the time. the app has the usual end dates, reminders etc. If you sync to your office Exchange server, just remember to save your tasks on the server and not in the local PST while using your laptop.
    
6. Online drives (Microsoft OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox): I am a late user of online drives that have been around for a while now. If you need to access your files wherever you go and on whichever device you use, you gotta use one of the online drives to store your files. Based on your preference, you can use Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive or Dropbox. All three have their laptop interfaces and mobile apps that allow you to sync and access files from any device. I use OneDrive since it works better with Office365.
    
7. Editing files (Microsoft Office Mobile, Polaris Office): While I don’t edit or create documents too often on my phone, but on the few occasion that I needed to, I was really thankful that I could actually edit document, spreadsheets and presentations on my phone. I started using Polaris Office for editing documents since this came pre-installed with my phone. It is a simple to use app and does the work just fine. I have since also discovered Microsoft Office Mobile that I prefer to use because of its better integration with OneDrive and Dropbox. If I need to edit documents on my online drives, it is easier to use Microsoft Office Mobile. If you are using Google Drive, you can always use Google Docs.
    
8. Gesture typing / Trace keyboard: Not really an app but a feature on Android phones is Gesture typing (on most Android phones), or Trace Keyboard (on HTC). This allows you to type by simply tracing your fingers over the keyboard letters without lifting your finger. This is a great feature to start typing faster and I would recommend you get used to this feature. It is easier to use this feature if you are comfortable with the QWERTY keyboard layout. I am not sure if the iPhone has this built in feature, but I discovered Swype app on iTunes that allows you to type without lifting your finger.
    
9. Conference Caller: If you are on conference call bridges a lot, then you need to give Conference Caller a try. Conference Caller works like a general phone book for your conference call meeting details. Each phone book item consists of name, conference code and (optional) pin. I stored details of my various conference call bridge numbers in the app. It makes dialing in to a conference call bridge a one touch affair since the app dials your conference ID and pin numbers after dialing your conference call bridge number. You may need to experiment with settings for your conference call service but once you manage to do that, this makes getting on to a conference call so much easier.
    
10. Pocket: Online bookmarking has been around for a while now, even though it no longer seems to be very popular now. However I found Pocket really handy. While browsing online either on the laptop or the phone, I can send/share any link to Pocket. The app has a neat interface to access my saved links. You can tag your saved links for better retrieval.

The year 2014 was the year when I feel I actually started using my smartphone smartly. I could get much of my work done on my mobile, many a times not requiring me to switch on my laptop. In the new few posts I will share with you my top apps for networking, productivity, music, photography, chats, reading/news and games. Since I use an Android phone, the links below are Google Play links. I am sure you can get most of these apps for iPhone and perhaps Windows Phone.

My Top 10 Mobile Apps that I used and liked most in 2014 are:

1. CamCard Business Card Reader: I collect a lot of business cards as part of my job. It is hard to manage these physical cards even though I have a nice card file. After trying out a few card scanning apps, I have narrowed down to CamCard Business Card Reader. I can just take a photograph of the business card and the app will scan and store the info in different fields. I can save the contact details in my Google account and they will then automatically appear in my phone book. The free version allows you to scan only 5 cards in a day and up to 200 cards.
   
   
2. Merriam-Webster Dictionary: What use is a smart phone if it doesn’t have a dictionary? I use the Merriam-Webster Dictionary app to quickly browse words and even hear their pronunciation. This app has been really handy for me and my savior when my kids ask me the meaning of any word.
   
   
3. Google Maps has become my most favorite companion on my drives every day. Almost every time I get into the car, I switch on the GPS on my phone and feed in the destination in to Google Maps. I use this primarily to check the traffic and it gives a fairly accurate time to destination. I have found the ETA is very accurate for shorter distances and reasonably accurate for longer distances, given then unpredictability of Delhi traffic. The Greens, Yellows and Reds representing the traffic are quite accurate. At times I have used it to follow the shortest route to my destination but I wouldn’t recommend it for the weak hearted. It has taken me through the smallest of the lanes in Delhi that I didn’t even know existed.
   
   
4. Waze Social GPS Maps & Traffic is another cool navigation app that I used during the year. This is an interactive and social navigation app. You can see other drivers online, you can see other drivers sharing hazards on the road (like an accident, or construction on the road). You can connect with friends, share your destination, and see each other’s ETA. The few drawbacks I felt it has is that the traffic situation is not as accurate as Google Maps, the connection to the server seems to keep breaking and there aren’t enough other people using this app in India to really get the benefit of social driving.
   
   
5. Delhi Traffic Police app is really useful to get alerts about Delhi traffic. You could get the same alerts on Twitter or Facebook, but it is useful having an app just for these alerts. I found these updates quite current and extremely useful.
   
   
6. HTC Sense TV app is really useful if you always have trouble finding your TV or Satellite set top box remote. Since I use HTC phone, I use the HTC Sense TV app, but you should check out other similar TV remote apps. I can set up the phone as the remote for TV, Set Top Box, and the Home Theatre system. It configures well with Indian DTH providers and once configured, it provides complete program guide too.
   
   
7. Truecaller Called ID & Block: The DND directory hasn’t been very helpful in stopping unwanted calls and SMSs. I have been relying on app to help me get rid of unwanted spam calls and SMSs. The app not just identifies the called, it even tells how many other people have blocked that number. It also helps identify the caller even if you don’t have the number stored. Don’t expect it to work on ALL numbers, it is not an official telephone directory. It works on the basis of reading and uploading your address book (with due permission from you, thankfully).
   
   
8. Sync.ME also propagates itself as a Caller ID and Block app. However I have found this app most useful to link contacts to Facebook or LinkedIn accounts. You can sync your accounts with Facebook and/or LinkedIn and it will show you the latest picture and other info about your contact.
   
   
9. Unit Converter: This is fantastic app to convert almost any unit of measure, even currency conversion. The app gives you a long list of units that you can convert. You can add to favorites the most used ones to access these quickly.
   
   
10. Flightradar24 is a cool app just to play around with, and a really useful app if you are going to pick up someone at the airport. You can see planes around the world move in real-time on a detailed map. In the paid version of this app, you get detailed info about each flight, including ETA. The cockpit view is a simulated view and it quite cool initially. After the initially euphoria, you don’t find it much useful. You can even point the phone above the horizon to see planes around you, but this is also just a pizazz feature rather than anything really useful.

Also see:
• My Top 10 Productivity Mobile Apps for 2014
Look out for my other soon-to-be-published lists:
• My Top 5 Social Networking Mobile Apps
• My Top 5 Reading and News Mobile Apps
• My Top 5 Music Mobile Apps
• My Top 5 Chat Mobile Apps
• My Top 10 Camera and Photos Mobile Apps
• My Top 5 Mobile Game Apps

Dear Vodafone :just gave up trying to get a post paid I phone connection from you because you have the worst helpline in India .Shameful!
— vir sanghvi (@virsanghvi) October 28, 2014

Yes Vodafone was kind enough to tweet and offer to help.This is my response . pic.twitter.com/6uCJf7iW4G
— vir sanghvi (@virsanghvi) October 28, 2014

I recently got a query on LinkedIn about needing help with decision between insourcing and outsourcing elearning content development.

I have a small request - is there a way to get a ball-park figure to develop one hour of e-learning content in India using rapid development software such as Articulate Studio/Storyline?

We have been doing e-learning development in house and our new VP of HR wants to consider the possibility of outsourcing it. I am in the process of doing a cost-benefit analysis and so, need this information.

I did go through the Chapman Alliance presentation and Karl Kapp's articles - however, I felt that it is better to hear from a practitioner & expert from India.

I wish the decision of insource and outsource was as simple as cost comparison. First of all, it is really hard to get a ball-park figure to develop one hour or elearning. It really depends on many many things, including the partner you chose. The range of price for one hour of elearning in the market is very wide and could even vary 10 times. Cost could even be significantly more if you include video, game based learning and high end simulations. So you can imagine taking this decision itself will be hard.

While comparing cost of insource and outsource efforts is important, another big factor is that whether all the skills required to develop elearning content are available within the organization. How you are currently structured and what the current utilization of the L&D staff is within the organization will also play a big role in insource vs outsource decision. If the utilization is sporadic, it would make sense to outsource instead of carrying the cost of unutilized time.

You should also consider what you want to achieve in the long run. Are there tasks that are not being accomplished because the internal team is busy with content development? Are there key strategies that are being left unattended that might get the much needed attention if you outsource?

And finally, what’s the really the volume of development the organization wants to create in what timeframe will also play a role in determining insource or outsource decision. Is it a one-time initiative to develop a critical mass of content for the organization? Are there enough volumes to justify outsourcing content?

Hope the above provides you with some pointers to taking the decision.

1. Write your goals and make them visible to you all the time (e.g. pin them on your soft board).
2. Break down your goals into smaller goals with timelines.
3. Celebrate small successes in your journey to reach your goals.
4. Share your goals with someone you trust. Enroll them to work with you on your goals.
5. Assign time in your daily routine to work on your goals.
6. Keep some time aside to reflect on your journey to your goals. Evaluate your progress and plan as required.

1. Critical Thinking and Problem Solving: Critical Thinking is all about knowing how to ask really good questions, how to ask the right questions, not necessarily get the right answers.
2. Collaboration across Networks and Leading by Influence: Teams are no longer led by supervisors. They are led by peers through influence.
3. Agility and Adaptability: Schools are in complete contrast with this requirement of the world today with their unchanging environment and syllabus.
4. Initiative and Entrepreneurial-ship: Companies are not looking for employees who set 4-5 goals and meet all of them. They are looking at employees who set 10 stretch goals and succeeds 7-8 out of them.
5. Effective Oral and Written Communication: The kids can’t write today because they don’t know how to think. They are also not writing with voice, which is putting their passion and perspective in the conversation to be more persuasive.
6. Accessing and Analyzing Information: We need to teach the students to be able to search the Internet for information.
7. Curiosity and Imagination

I am starting to follow a lot of sales blogs lately. One interesting blog I am now following is The Sales Hunter by Mark Hunter. In one of his posts he talks about 5 types of people you should never negotiate with. Useful categorization if you are in sales.

According to Mark, the 5 types of people you shouldn't negotiate with are:

1. The person who will take your offer to the decision maker.
2. The overly emotional person.
3. The committee.
4. The low-price champion.
5. The “we can’t give a decision as to when we will buy” person.

I have come across four of the five types of people listed above. I wasn't sure who an overly emotional person is. I haven't come across this type of person.

Read his full post here: 5 Types of People You Should NEVER Negotiate With